Tax Cuts

Does The Republican Party Have No Shame? The 9/11 Responders Health Legislation Rejected In The Senate! :(

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One always likes to think that the Republican Party of 2010 has SOME conscience and decency, but it is obvious that this party, which is soon to gain control of the House of Representatives, and six more seats in the Senate, has ABSOLUTELY no shame or sense of dignity! 🙁

The “Party Of NO” has just filibustered, and prevented the passage of 9/11 Responders Health legislation in the US Senate, declaring they cannot back it because of its COST! 🙁

The fact that these “first responders” sacrificed their health, and many sacrificed their lives, to help the victims of the attack on the World Trade Center, does not seem to be enough of a reason to support any and all health coverage that these heroes need. 🙁

The fact that the tax agreement reached with President Obama by the GOP will add tremendously to the national debt does not perturb Republicans, as the super wealthy MUST have their outrageous tax cut, but the first responders are simply not that important, even though the GOP is quick to support action in Afghanistan and Iraq, costing more than a trillion dollars added to the national debt over the past nine years.

But, apparently, anything involving health care for ANYONE is not the business of the American government, and veterans in our military should keep that in mind, as they apparently do not do, assuming that the GOP will support veterans AFTER their service, which historically they have NOT done. 🙁

When, oh when, are military people, and the American people at large, finally going to realize that the Republican Party is ONLY concerned about the wealthy among us, and give not a damn about those who sacrifice for our country, whether on September 11, 2001, or on the battlefields far from home? 🙁

Two Senators Threaten Filibuster On Tax Bill: Bernie Sanders And Jim DeMint!

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The controversy over the negotiated tax bill between President Barack Obama and the Republican opposition has reached the stage of a possible scenario which is preposterous on its surface!

Imagine this: Socialist independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Tea Party favorite and conservative Republican Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina both plan to filibuster the bill, obviously for different reasons!

Sanders is outraged by the continued tax cuts to the rich, while DeMint is resistant to the reinstituting of the estate tax and the continuation of unemployment compensation, which he believes discourages people from looking for work, so he wishes to end it completely!

DeMint’s reasons are totally outrageous, while Sanders, a good, decent man, and one of the favorites of the author, is understandably upset over the tax bill, but his move to filibuster is counterproductive!

But this scenario shows the turmoil that exists in Washington, DC, and this is BEFORE the Republicans take over the House of Representatives next year! 🙁

Liberals, Progressives, And The Reality Of American Politics

Ronald 2 Comments

Liberals and progressives in large numbers are denouncing the agreement reached between President Obama and Congressional Republicans on the issue of the so called Bush tax cuts being continued for another two years.

The author is not happy with this agreement, which will raise the national debt by nearly a trillion dollars, take money away from the Social Security reserves by the fact of a lower collection of Social Security taxes, and allow the further stratification of America by making the rich richer, the poor poorer, and the middle class further exploited! 🙁

However, the restoration of the estate tax, the continuation of unemployment compensation for the millions out of work in the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, the retaining of other tax credits for the poor, and the two year limit on the extension of tax cuts, are all good points in an unpleasant but realistic compromise for the moment, so that taxes do not go up for everyone on January 1!

Barack Obama made clear yesterday at his news conference that he felt the GOP were “hostage takers”, but that the American people would be further victimized by the GOP, which he said only cares about the super rich, if he did not make a temporary deal!

Obama made clear that the battle over taxes was just delayed, not resolved, and that he would make it an issue in the 2012 campaign. So although he may be seen by many as “caving in” and “surrendering”, his contention is that the fight will be brought to the GOP in the next election, and it sounded as if he was prepared to be Harry Truman a la 1948, and “give them hell”!

Certainly, his rhetoric was aggressive and confrontational regarding the GOP. But it was also critical of the “purist” progressives and “pie in the sky idealists” who are criticizing his strategy!

Obama pointed out that he has either accomplished what his goals were, or has made progress on those that are not achievable in the short term. He is looking to the long term, and he feels that he has kept the promise of his campaign to bring change, or start to bring change in many areas where the politics make it impossible for now to accomplish success!

Obama said compromise is unavoidable in American politics, and that playing politics alone would not bring about desired results. We would not be the nation we are if not for compromise, Obama asserted. In that, he is absolutely right!

And when one looks at the history of the Democratic Party and the progressive and liberal crusade for a better America, one unfortunately MUST realize that this nation is fundamentally a conservative nation slow to react to the need for change! 🙁

Progressives, liberals, and the Democratic Party have accomplished great things since the 1930s, but the resistance and opposition to these changes has been fierce, and therefore, progress has been incremental, often delayed and often frustratingly slow! 🙁

But one thing is absolutely clear: When Democrats, progressives and liberals fight and divide amongst themselves, the right wingers of this country triumph! 🙁

When discontent leads to a decision to work against a Democratic President because everything is not ideal and perfect, the Republican Party wins! 🙁

It happened in 1980, when liberal opposition to President Jimmy Carter, as exemplified by Ted Kennedy and Jerry Brown, helped to lead to Ronald Reagan in the White House!

It happened in 1968 when liberal opposition to Lyndon Johnson and Hubert Humphrey led to Richard Nixon in the White House!

It led to Al Gore losing Florida in 2000 when Ralph Nader, a true “pie in the sky idealist” took enough votes away to throw the state to George W. Bush!

So do we want Barack Obama to be damaged and cause his loss for 2012 and get a far less desirable Republican in the White House? 🙁

Certainly, a second term of Obama will bring more chance of change and reform than if a Republican is elected!

If nothing else, the Supreme Court and lower federal court judge appointments will be a lasting legacy, which would be better under the control of Obama than a Republican President from 2013-2017!

So the reality of American politics is that compromise is often essential, as only TWICE has a Democratic President had enough of a margin of his party to be able to accomplish most of his goals: Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s and Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1960s!

Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and now Barack Obama have had to work within the framework of a strong opposition blockading a lot of change!

This is the sad truth and reality of American politics, and progressives and liberals NEED to recognize this and work with President Obama and give the Republican Party “hell” over the next two years and in the Presidential Election of 2012!

Economic And Political “Pearl Harbor” For Progressive Cause: The Surrender Of Barack Obama! :(

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Today, December 7, marks the 69th Anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, forcing this nation into World War II!

Today also marks the first day waking up and realizing that Barack Obama has surrendered to the Republican Party and the conservative movement by his so called “compromise” to prevent a rise in taxes on the middle class and to allow unemployment compensation extension for 13 months!

Obama came into office declaring no more tax cuts for the super wealthy, but now he has caved in, sadly, and will likely see many progressives and liberals abandon him, perceiving him as weak, ineffective, wimpy, lacking “cajones”! 🙁

There was no easy answer, of course, and one must realize that the nation overwhelmingly repudiated the Democrats in the midterm congressional elections!

But the hope and promise of the Obama Presidency seems to have been spent, and he seems unlikely to accomplish much more in the next two years! 🙁

Meanwhile, another estimated $900 billion will be added to the national debt, only worsening the long range prognosis for this nation’s economy! 🙁

We are rapidly moving toward the possibility of economic bankruptcy, but the super wealthy will not be harmed by it, only the middle and lower classes! 🙁

The country is being “raped” by the upper class elite, and the danger is that when the middle and lower classes finally “get it”, there could be bloodshed and violence as a result, and the nation could rapidly decline as a super power and defender of freedom around the world! 🙁

So this is a moment to mourn, not only for the losses at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, but for our long term losses economically and socially in future years, because of what the voters in November stupidly did, and the “surrender” by President Obama last evening! 🙁

Disillusionment About Barack Obama: Is He Destined To Be Jimmy Carter? :(

Ronald 2 Comments

The decision of President Obama to make a deal with the Republicans, keeping the tax cuts for all, including millionaires and billionaires for two years, but also gaining an extension of unemployment compensation for 13 months, and gaining a few other tax breaks for working Americans, has enraged many liberals and progressives. They are sorely disappointed that Obama appears to them to be weak, spineless, too willing to compromise and apologize, too wimpy, and too willing to cave in to opposition demands! 🙁

There is a growing belief that some progressive will challenge Obama for the 2012 Democratic Presidential nomination, an action which would weaken the President and his party. While the odds would be that he would win the nomination, the likelihood of defeat in the election would be enhanced, as that scenario led to defeat of Presidents William Howard Taft, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and George HW Bush! 🙁

There is great disillusionment developing, and many wonder if Obama is destined to be another Jimmy Carter, ineffective much of the time and weakened greatly by inter party opposition within the Democratic Party!

Republican “Blackmailing” Of Congressional Agenda: Hostage To Tax Cuts For The Wealthy! :(

Ronald 1 Comment

Immediately after the White House conference this week of Democratic and Republican leaders to promote cooperation over the next two years with a split Congress, Republican leaders made clear that they would NOT cooperate during the Lame Duck session on ANYTHING, unless the Democrats and President Obama agreed to extend the so called Bush tax cuts to all taxpayers, rather than the Democratic plan to only give tax cuts to all but the top two percent of taxpayers!

So the GOP is holding “hostage” the following: “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in the military; the START Treaty; the DREAM Act for undocumented children of illegal immigrants; unemployment compensation extension for those who have run out of benefits completely; and even a child nutrition bill for the poor and needy school children! 🙁

The Republican leadership in the Senate has no limits to its arrogance and willingness to hold up action until they get what they want! Barack Obama apologizes to them, and they respond by making his life a total nightmare! 🙁

It is one thing to be the “loyal opposition”! It is another thing to promote a total blockade, a total refusal to cooperate on the emergency conditions that exist in this country, and only be concerned that super wealthy people continue to gain a greater concentration of wealth unseen in the entire history of this nation! 🙁

Is this a country for only the top two percent, the millionaires and the billionaires, or is this a government “of, by and for the people”, including the middle class and the poor, the sick, the elderly, the young, the disabled, what was called in the past the “common man” during the time of Andrew Jackson, and the “forgotten man” during the time of Franklin D. Roosevelt?

This is a bad omen for the 112th Congress, when it now looks more likely than ever that NOTHING will be accomplished, and the nation will suffer for it as the bad economic conditions continue to plague the future of America! 🙁

Is Federal Worker Pay Freeze A Wise Action? Not Really! :(

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President Obama has initiated a two year freeze on the pay of federal government workers, except for the military fighting our wars!

This cheers conservatives and Republicans, who have been condemning federal workers, and adding to the public image that the “bureaucracy” is being overpaid as compared to the average worker in the private sector, when actually they are being paid 24 percent less on the average!

As usual, though, the Republicans and conservatives are being deceitful, and spreading myth and propaganda, as the federal work force in reality is NOT receiving higher wages as an average! 🙁

The federal government worker, and the federal government itself, has become a “whipping boy” for the Tea Party Movement, which wants to take us back to the time of small government and low taxes and low spending, except when it affects their interests! 🙁

The Republicans, conservatives, and Tea Party Movement are pure hypocrites, who have no problem with keeping the massive tax cuts for the wealthy, which have a lot to do with putting this country’s economy in the horrible mess it is now in! 🙁

Even as they applaud Obama for giving in to their demands, these hypocrites seem to be oblivious to the fact that continuing the massive tax cuts to the super rich will add $700 billion to the national debt that they are constantly complaining about! 🙁

Meanwhile, what is likely if the pay freeze continues, is the loss of talented, intelligent specialists–a “brain drain”, as it is called! 🙁

What is meant by “brain drain” is that the top scientists, doctors, lawyers, and technology geniuses who work for the US government for LESS than they could in the private sector, who make a sacrifice to help their country, will decide that they will leave the government and make that great difference in money since the government and the American people do not appreciate their sacrifice!

In other words, the policy of a pay freeze is “penny wise and pound foolish!” 🙁

The Lame Duck Session Of Congress: Crucial Issues That Need To Be Addressed!

Ronald 1 Comment

The lame duck session of Congress began yesterday, with the Democrats having their last opportunity to control both houses of Congress and get something done, before the Republicans take over the House of Representatives in January!

There is much that needs to be addressed, including:

1. The question of the Bush tax cuts, which if extended to the top two percent of the country, will put America in the hole for $700 billion over the next ten years, worsening the national debt tremendously!
2. Funding of the national government for the present budget year which began in October.
3. Restoration of Medicare payments to doctors at a rate that will keep them willing to accept Medicare patients.
4. Dealing with the issue of unemployment compensation extension to long term unemployed people who will have no income if it is not extended.
5. Passage of the DREAM Act, which would allow children of illegal immigrants who have grown up in this country to have the possibility of attending college or entering the military and avoid deportation to countries they have no memory of, since they left those nations when infants.
6. Abolition of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in the military, an issue which has been dragged around for two years now, but must be repealed by Congress if discrimination is to end for gays.

The problem is that much of this agenda is unlikely to pass other than the first two items, as the GOP has the ability to stall and filibuster everything else, a very frustrating potential scenario! 🙁

Hopefully, there will be progress on the last four topics, but with a turnover to the GOP in the House in January, it is clear that if these issues listed above are not resolved now, they may never be in the next two years! 🙁

Barack Obama And The Bush Tax Cuts: If Extended For The Rich, A Political Disaster For The Democratic Party! :(

Ronald Leave a comment

President Obama will meet next week with Republican and Democratic leaders of Congress after his return from his Asian trip, and he MUST stand strong against the GOP demand for continuation of tax cuts for the top two percent of Americans, who already have too much of the entire national income!

Just because the Democrats lost approximately 60 seats in the House of Representatives, the most since 1938, does not mean that we need a Democratic Party which acts as if it is the step sister of the Republican Party!

If Obama caves in on this matter, he will lose much of the base of his party, and endanger future economic recovery, and cause the likelihood of a challenge in the Democratic Presidential primaries in 2012!

If that happens, while Obama would almost certainly win the nomination–as William Howard Taft did in 1912 over Theodore Roosevelt, Gerald Ford did in 1976 over Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter did in 1980 over Ted Kennedy and Jerry Brown, and George HW Bush did in 1992 over Pat Buchanan–it would certainly weaken him for the election campaign, and likely cause his defeat, as it did for all four of the above Presidents challenged in the past century for the nomination of their party!

No one can seriously consider that Obama intends to do anything about the burgeoning national debt, if he permits an additional $700 billion to be added to the debt over the next ten years, just to keep “peace” with the Republican party, as that party has no interest in cooperation, and has made clear their major goal is to cause Obama to be a one term President!

So, Mr. President, show some guts and courage, and do NOT cave in to the GOP! Refuse to go along with tax cuts for the wealthy who do not need it! Show principle and conviction, and know that loyal Democrats will be there defending you, and know that the average middle class American, including many Independents, who are struggling to survive and keep his or her employment and housing, will regain their senses by 2012, and reward you and your party for being truly the party of the middle class, unwilling to continue the GOP plot to enrich the top two percent at the expense of the rest of the population!

The Growing Inequity Of Wealth In America: New Report! :(

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In the midst of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s, and with Republicans wanting to extend the Bush tax cuts to the wealthy while calling for cuts in government spending, a new economic report by an economics professor shows just how much the Bush tax cuts to the wealthy in the past ten years have made for an extremely stratified society! 🙁

The report shows that the top 20 percent of the population now control and own 85 percent of the wealth of this country!

The next 40 percent own or control about 14 percent of the wealth!

The bottom 40 percent have less than one percent of the wealth, with many in that category having negative wealth with no hope of bettering their lives at any time in the future! 🙁

Considering the seriousness of the inequity of wealth and income in this country, how can anyone justify more tax cuts to the wealthy, which would add $700 billion to the national debt over the next ten years, requiring even greater cuts in social programs? 🙁

How can anyone justify such proposals as to end unemployment compensation, eliminate the minimum wage, privatize Social Security and Medicare, gut the new health care law, and cut education funding, among other terrible suggestions by the Republican party? 🙁

If this kind of social injustice is allowed to continue, it is really going to make many people desperate, and that endangers the public safety, as desperate people will turn to crime and bloodshed to feed and house their families! 🙁

You cannot kick people around endlessly, and show lack of concern for fellow human beings, and expect a peaceful, nonviolent response in return! 🙁