Willard’s Tax Plan Would Blow Up Deficits and Give Millionaires $150K
Posted by Richard Warnick in 2012 Elections, Economic Exploitation, Federal Budget, Mitt Romney, National Politics, Tax Policy, This Blog on January 6, 2012
Via Think Progress.
Willard (“Mitt”) Romney’s plan would give millionaires a $150,000 tax cut, while raising taxes on many low-income families. Can you say “Reverse Robin Hood”?
According to the Tax Policy Center, Romney would raise taxes on 20 percent of the $10,000 to $20,000 income group, and about one-third of those in $40,000 to $50,000 group. Almost every millionaire would get a tax cut averaging roughly $150,000. As a group, those making $1 million or more would receive nearly half the benefit of Romney’s tax plan. Those in the richest 0.1 percent would get an annual tax cut of nearly half a million dollars.
The Romney plan hits hardest those making less than $40,000, and primarily those households with children, as he would undo President Obama’s expansion of the child tax credit.
In 2015 alone, this plan would add $600 billion to the deficit.
Remember that Romney himself still refuses to say how much he pays in taxes on the millions of dollars he gets every year as a retired partner in Bain Capital.
Evolution and the GOP (Again)
Posted by Nathan Erkkila in Conservative, Evolution, Neocons, Republicans on January 6, 2012
In either situation, that makes for a bad president who has to make decisions based off of facts every day. And if a president can deny facts or they are too uneducated to understand those facts, then that harms the nation.
Favorite Candidate of the 1 Percent Calls NLRB Members ‘Union Stooges’
Posted by Richard Warnick in 2012 Elections, Barack Obama, congress, Contractors Military, Corporate Socialism, Economy, Jobs, Labor Unions, Liars (politics), Mitt Romney, National Politics, Party Politics on January 5, 2012
The latest lie from Willard (“Mitt”) Romney, who has taken to wearing jeans and posing as a member of the middle class:
“The National Labor Relations Board, now stacked with union stooges selected by the President, says to a free enterprise like Boeing, ‘You can’t build a factory in South Carolina because South Carolina is a Right to Work state.’ That is simply un-American. It is political payback of the worst kind.”
Boeing makes most of its profits from government contracts, not “free enterprise.” Their South Carolina factory is already built. And the NLRB resolved the Boeing issue last month when Boeing and the Machinists union reached a contract extension and the NLRB dropped its legal action. Yesterday President Obama appointed Sharon Block, Terence Flynn, and Richard Griffin to the NLRB so that the board would have enough members to function despite Republican obstructionism. Flynn is a Republican.
A key role of the board is to supervise union elections and referee disputes between the nation’s private-sector employers and employees, in part by deciding cases brought to the agency. Without a quorum, the board can’t rule on cases or create major new regulations.
…Mr. Griffin is the general counsel for International Union of Operating Engineers and serves on the board of the lawyers coordinating committee for the AFL-CIO labor federation. In the early 1980s, he served as a counsel to NLRB board members.
Ms. Block is the Labor Department’s deputy assistant secretary for congressional affairs. She was previously the senior labor and employment counsel for the Senate Committee on Health Education Labor and Pensions, where she worked for the late Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.
Mr. Flynn, who was nominated by Mr. Obama in January 2011, is chief counsel to the NLRB’s lone Republican member, Brian Hayes.
UPDATE: Waiting for brewski to come along and tell us the correct term for NLRB members is “union thugs.”
UPDATE: Obama Fails On Minimum Wage Pledge. After the 2008 election, the President promised to raise the federal minimum wage to $9.50 an hour by the end of 2011 and index it to inflation, “to make sure that full-time workers can earn a living wage.” The minimum wage remains where it was when Bush left office, $7.25 an hour. If it had kept pace with inflation since 1968, it would now stand at around $10.
UPDATE: Boeing has announced the closure of its Wichita, Kansas factory complex after promising Kansas Republican members of Congress that it would build Air Force tankers there if awarded the contract. They got the contract, but reneged on their promise.
Praise Jeebus! Everyone assume the Tebow position!
Posted by Shane Smith in 2012 Elections on January 4, 2012
“I think Tuesday night people are going to see a miracle.”
—Michele Bachmann
(CNN) — Michele Bachmann ended her bid for the Republican presidential nomination Wednesday, hours after a disappointing sixth-place finish in the Iowa caucuses.
To be fair, she also thinks the earth is 6000 years old, that there is scientific debate about intelligent design, and that global warming is a hoax. There was a miracle Tuesday night. People failed to drag her around back and eliminate her from the gene pool before she could do any more harm.
WTF Faux?
Posted by Shane Smith in 4th Estate (Media), Barack Obama on January 4, 2012
I know that if there was a truth in naming rule they would have to drop “news” from their name, but still, WTF?
http://nation.foxnews.com/president-obam…
It is a cute picture, and I would publish it too, but you have to love how Faux can’t let there be news that Obama did something they should support without changing the slant. Watch next week for the headline “Obama kills natural born US citizen” next to the picture of him stepping on a spider.
President Obama Defies GOP Obstruction, Will Appoint Cordray Today
Posted by Richard Warnick in Barack Obama, Economy, National Politics, Party Politics, Republicans on January 4, 2012
Via TPM:
The White House confirmed Wednesday morning that President Obama will announce a recess appointment for Richard Cordray to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau at a speech in Ohio later today.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was established by the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The Bureau was the brainchild of former Harvard Law School professor and and bankruptcy expert, Elizabeth Warren (now running for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts). So far, Republicans have used the threat of a filibuster to prevent Cordray from being confirmed as the director of the CFPB.
In exercising his recess appointment power, President Obama is calling the Senate’s bluff. According to a bipartisan agreement the Senate is in “pro forma” session, gaveling in and out every three days to avoid a technical “recess,” which is supposed to prevent a recess appointment. Obama’s action today will defy that obstructionist tactic.
UPDATE: President Obama Has Made Far Fewer Recess Appointments Than Any Recent President
UPDATE: President Obama Still Has All The Legal Authority He Needs To Make A Recess Appointment Right Now
UPDATE: President Obama in Ohio (Cordray’s home state):
“Now is the time to do everything we can to protect consumers and prevent a financial crisis like the one we’ve been through from ever happening again,” Obama said. “And that starts with letting Richard Cordray do his job.”
UPDATE: Willard displays a stunning lack of originality, even for him, calling the appointment of Cordray “Chicago-style politics at its worst.” If the favorite candidate of the 1 Percent thinks consumer protection is a bad idea, is that news?
UPDATE: Obama Suddenly On A Recess Appointments Roll – The administration just announced that Obama will appoint Sharon Block, Terence Flynn, and Richard Grifin to the National Labor Relations Board, preventing it from being crippled indefinitely thanks to Senate Republican intransigence.
Is The Book of Mormon Really Just A Bad Novel?
Posted by Glenden Brown in This Blog on January 3, 2012
I the Book of Mormon good literature? I found this fascinating short article by Alan Wolfe at Slate when I was searching from something else.
The Book of Mormon has a complicated structure. It is divided into three major parts: the small plates of Nephi, the words and books of Mormon himself, and the additions and books provided by Moroni. Those who lean toward dismissing the Book of Mormon as the work of a confidence man point to its repetitive nature; the same stories are told over and over again because Smith, for all his wild imagination, was lacking in talent. Hardy offers an alternative interpretation: Read the rest of this entry »
He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named
Posted by Richard Warnick in 2012 Elections, American History, Barack Obama, Bush Administration, Disaster, George W. Bush, National Politics, Republicans on January 3, 2012
Today an AP article notes a curious aspect of the GOP presidential race so far, which is that the last Republican to occupy the White House is never mentioned. Like Lord Voldemort, the Worst President Ever is one whose name is never uttered out loud.
Bush, a two-term president who left office just three years ago, has gone all but unmentioned. While the candidates routinely lionize Ronald Reagan and blame President Barack Obama for the nation’s economic woes, none has been eager to embrace the Bush legacy of gaping budget deficits, two wars and record low approval ratings — or blame him for the country’s troubles either.
“Republicans talk a lot about losing their way during the last decade, and when they do they’re talking about the Bush years,” said Jack Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont-McKenna College. “For Republicans, the Bush administration has become the ‘yadda yadda yadda’ period of American history.”
Of course we all know “yadda yadda yadda” from the fictional Elaine Benes on “Seinfeld.” It was how she made a long story short:
Elaine: I met this lawyer, we went out, I had the lobster bisque. We went back to my place, yadda yadda yadda, I never saw him again.”
Jerry: “You yadda yadda’d over the best part.”
Elaine: “No I didn’t. I mentioned the bisque.”
So we met this guy in 2000, we went out, had the tax cuts, went back to our place, yadda yadda yadda, never saw him again.
More info:
America’s Voldemort: George W. Bush Rules 2012 From The Shadows
UPDATE:
On New Year’s Eve, President Obama quietly signed the National Defense Authorization Act. This horrifyingly bad law violates the First, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, plus the constitutional guarantee of habeas corpus. The Worst President Ever has competition!
A Piano Player With Guts
Posted by Larry Bergan in American History, American People on January 2, 2012
Time’s running out! You can only see this performance online until January ninth.
Sometimes I think George Gershwin tried to make his compositions impossible to play, but that can’t take away from the fact that they are musically perfect.
You’d have to be a madman to agree to play – not one – but two of the most complex piano pieces ever written LIVE on new years eve, but that’s what happened.
I caught only three mistakes.
Watch New York Philharmonic Bernstein and Gershwin New Year’s Eve on PBS. See more from pbs.
Posted sans comment
Posted by Shane Smith in Capitalism, Economy, Poverty, This Blog on January 2, 2012
Part something in the never ending series…
Ezra Klein asked economists and politicians to submit their favorite charts. Here’s Robert Frank’s submission:
My entry is the attached graph of what I call the Toil Index. It’s an index I constructed to portray the most dramatic element of the middle-class squeeze — the effort required to rent a house served by a school of average quality
America in a State of Institutional Breakdown: Anomie, Sclerosis and Atomie
Posted by Glenden Brown in This Blog on December 31, 2011
From Otto Scharmer’s Theory U:
. . . the three-part syndrome of anomie (loss of norms, values), sclerosis (lack of renewal), and atomie (destruction of community and structure) that seems such a familiar picture in both the Global North and South today.
The political class in the United States has been infected with Scharmer’s three part syndrome.
Anomie – the loss of norms and values, was clear in the 1990s and has become more so in the intervening years.
Sclerosis – the lack of renewal is made more apparent every day. There is a tremendous reservoir of energy, ideas and renewal available in the US yet our political leaders keep fighting over the same basic set of proposals they’ve been feuding over since 1980.
Atomie - the destruction of community and structure – is perhaps the most painfully undiscussed part of the problem. Congress has become so unable to deal with basic issues they create ad hoc committees, call them things like Super Congress, and expect them to solve the problems.
Unable to even discuss the real problems of the nation, Congress this year has played repeated games of brinkmanship, empty, caustic politics at the expense of the American people.
Voter ID = Voter Suppression
Posted by Richard Warnick in Authoritarianism, Elections, Equality, National Politics, Republicans, The Constitution, This Blog, Utah Politics, Voting Rights on December 29, 2011
Right-wing voter suppression is with us. Thirty states now have voter ID laws. There is no reason why anyone should be asked for identification on Election Day. There is no reason to hold up the line. Why not simply sign next to your name on the list of registered voters like we used to? Has there ever been a case in Utah of a voter using an assumed name?
Voter picture ID laws are designed to cause voter disenfranchisement. About 10 percent of eligible voters do not have any photo ID, and these are disproportionately low income and people who don’t own cars. That’s why Utah’s right-wing politicians made it a requirement for registered voters to produce ID before being allowed to cast a ballot.
In Utah, you must present a current valid Utah driver’s license, or current valid identification issued by the state or federal government (or a Utah concealed weapon permit). Some forms of non-photo ID are allowed, but you have to know the rules. If you can’t produce acceptable ID on the spot, you may cast a “provisional ballot” that will not count unless you provide valid voter identification to the election official within five days after the election (it takes three weeks to obtain a Utah ID card).
Those who say it’s no big deal to obtain a driver’s license or an official ID card might not have been to the DMV lately:
As a new resident of Utah, I have been attempting to acquire a Utah driver license. The Utah Driver License Division website lists the identification requirements: (1) legal status (birth certificate); (2) Social Security card; (3) residency verification (two statements proving your Utah address, such as a bank statement, utility or property tax bill); and (4) driving experience (valid driver license from another state).
First attempt: I was rejected because both my bank statement and utility bill had been printed from the Internet (only one Internet document is allowed). I then had my nearby bank print out a statement, and it was rejected because it had not been mailed to me.
Second attempt: I brought my property tax bill instead. It was rejected because it was older than 60 days, even though the website says property tax bills have to be dated “within one year.”
Third attempt: They took all of the above, but rejected me again because I did not have my 40-year-old marriage certificate. Is every married Utah woman required to show her marriage certificate?
Why doesn’t Utah simply accept two government-issued identifications (California driver license and Social Security card) as proof of citizenship and identity?
All this is of course unconstitutional because it’s a poll tax. The fee for a Utah ID Card is $18.00. A driver’s license costs $25.00. Forcing an American citizen to pay in order to vote is a clear violation of the Constitution’s 24th Amendment: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or the other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.”
Of course,Republicans claim that voter ID laws are designed to prevent voter fraud. This claim is easy to debunk. Brad Friedman:
[I]f “voter fraud” was truly a concern of the Republican Party, surely they would require that Iowa caucus goers present a photo ID before casting their vote. But, because such laws have never been about “voter fraud,” once again this year, the Party will not bother to require Iowa Republicans to present any such ID before voting in the all-important caucuses next week.
More info:
Wikipedia: Voter ID laws (United States)
Tennessee Agency Charges 86-Year Old Veteran An Unconstitutional Poll Tax To Obtain Voter ID
93-Year-Old Tennessee Woman Who Cleaned State Capitol For 30 Years Denied Voter ID
Republicans Require No Photo ID To Vote In Republican Iowa Caucus
Related One Utah Post:
ID-ocracy in Utah?
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