Since I graduated college (trust me a long time ago) there has been no real economic gain for me or any of the rest of the 98% plus Americans in the bottom 95% of our culture. Our earnings, our earning power has dropped 11%! And the top 2% want a tax break? Give me a break!
Hey but don’t take my word for it. There are some really smart guys out there that I trust and so share their words, concepts and ideas with you. (Scarier yet Obama is talking “fixing” the tax system! The smart guys say when that happens run for the hills---a lopsided economy is going to get even more so!)
It confirms the Republican worldview.
Americans want to know what happened to the economy and how to fix it. At least Republicans have a story -- the same one they've been flogging for thirty years. The bad economy is big government's fault and the solution is to shrink government.
Here's the real story. For three decades, an increasing share of the benefits of economic growth have gone to the top 1 percent. Thirty years ago, the top got 9 percent of total income. Now they take in almost a quarter. Meanwhile, the earnings of the typical worker have barely budged.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/post_1408_b_794177.html?utm_source=DailyBrief&utm_campaign=120910&utm_medium=email&utm_content=FeatureTitle&utm_term=Daily+Brief
What Is Wrong With Cutting Taxes?
By Simon Johnson
“The president and congressional Republicans have reached a deal that would cut taxes “for all Americans.” Their argument is that this package will stimulate the economy, create jobs and help lead to economic recovery and sustained growth.
This proposal, which seems likely to pass Congress, is not a good idea. Why? (To see me explain these points in a five-minute video, click here.) Vice President Dick Cheney said, loud and clear, in 2002: “Reagan proved deficits don’t matter.”
He was right that Ronald Reagan showed the Republican Party that you can get away with running significant deficits as a result of tax cuts – exactly the strategy of President George W. Bush.
But Mr. Cheney was completely wrong with regard to the implication that there are no economic consequences of sustained fiscal deficits.
I suggest you talk to the Greeks (now in the International Monetary Fund’s emergency ward) or the Portuguese (who are headed in that direction.) For that matter, listen to any policymaker in the European Union – they are all focused on bringing down deficits in a credible manner. And watch the European financial markets – people there are doubting and testing the fiscal credibility of all governments throughout the euro zone.
In fact, try persuading any responsible policy analyst anywhere in the world outside the United States that cutting taxes in the United States from current levels will boost growth so much that the cut will pay for itself” and end up reducing or at least controlling the fiscal deficit (the proposition of the Laffer Curve). You will be met great skepticism.
If the I.M.F. could speak truth to authority in the United States, it would tell you this most forcefully.”
http://baselinescenario.com/2010/12/09/8372/#more-8372More on the Tax Deal
Apparently Obama is upset at people on the left for insisting on purity. In his view of the world, he drew a line in the sand: he was going to protect tax cuts for the “middle class,” and he succeeded. Maybe he did. Maybe we should be giving him credit for getting what he wanted. But if that’s the case, he’s drawing moderate-Republican lines in the sand. His priorities, as reflected in his policy decisions, are lower taxes (for everyone, not just the rich) and the smaller government that necessarily implies. And that’s why the left is angry.
http://baselinescenario.com/2010/12/08/more-on-the-tax-deal/#more-8362Temporary Tax Cuts For The Rich? No.
Second, this is obviously — obviously — a setup. The whole point is to avoid a vote on the middle-class tax cuts while Democrats control the House; when and if Republicans regain control, they can refuse to let anything but a full extension reach the floor. So the goal is actually permanent extension; what they’re offering isn’t a compromise, it’s a trap.
Paul Krugman: Don’t Give In To GOP Blackmail. Let The Tax Cuts Expire
Meanwhile from Bexar County so brave college students efforts notwithstanding the DREAM Act seems little more than that, a dream.
The Effort to Claim That Economists Support Obama's Capitulation on Tax Cuts for the Wealthy
William K. Black - You know the administration is desperate when it creates a web page citing economists who support its capitulation on taxes.The web page cites the support of five economists. Peter Cardillo, the Bank of America, Greg Mankiw, and Wells Fargo (are the second through fifth economists on Obama's list). Who are these supporters and why is the administration proud of their support? Cardillo is an economist for an investment firm, Avalon Partners. Avalon's web site states that it specializes in "wealth management" for "affluent investors...to meet the unique needs of high net worth individuals...." Yes, the wealthiest one-hundredth of one percent of Americans -- the truly, uniquely needy.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-k-black/the-effort-to-claim-that-_b_794862.html?utm_source=DailyBrief&utm_campaign=121010&utm_medium=email&utm_content=FeatureTitle&utm_term=Daily+Brief
Mr. Sanders goes to Washington
Saying he was prepared to speak "as long as possible" against a tax deal between the White House and congressional Republicans, Bernie today took to the Senate floor to make the case against deepening the deficit and widening the income gap in America by extending Bush-era tax breaks for the very wealthy. "I think we can do better, and I am here today to take a strong stand against this bill, and I intend to tell my colleagues and the nation exactly why I am in opposition to this bill. You can call what I am doing today whatever you want, you can call it a filibuster, you can call it a very long speech. I'm not here to set any great records or to make a spectacle. I am simply here today to take as long as I can to explain to the American people the fact that we have got to do a lot better than this agreement provides."
http://mail.aol.com/32992-211/aol-1/en-us/Suite.aspx
http://baselinescenario.com/2010/12/10/who-wanted-what/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BaselineScenario+%28The+Baseline+Scenario%29&utm_content=Yahoo!+Mail
Even a broken clock is right twice a day. Here's Obama ceding the high ground at the right time: "One year ago, I was humbled to receive the Nobel Peace Prize - an award that speaks to our highest aspirations, and that has been claimed by giants of history and courageous advocates who have sacrificed for freedom and justice. Mr. Liu Xiaobo is far more deserving of this award than I was." www.huffingtonpost.com
The carefully, expertly negotiated tax cut deal---not so much. Obama only forced them into conceding that they (GOPers) could as usual have everything they wanted and more. Oh well, curses foiled again.
Told you you should have voted for Ralph Nader.
From Texas Red: a cratered landscape of prisons, deplorable apartheid public education, lack of healthcare and politicians and majority population intent on keeping it that way…
Hasta Siempre,
Hasta Siempre,
More:
WikiLeaks backers threaten more cyber attacks
Is the Payroll Tax Holiday a GOP Trojan Horse?
SENATE FAILS TO OVERCOME DADT FILIBUSTER, STAND ALONE BILL INTRODUCED - "We're here! We're queer!.... Oh wait, now we're not here." A repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell was blocked on Thursday 57-40 by Senate Republicans after negotiations over a deal to pass the bill failed. A number of moderate Republicans who said they supported a repeal, including Scott Brown and Lisa Murkowski, voted instead to filibuster. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) was the only Democrat to vote against moving forward with the defense authorization bill, which contains the DADT repeal.
www.huffingtonpost.com
Less bang for buck at some schools
The top local rating was four stars for Northside ISD, which demonstrated as much or more academic progress than 91 percent of all Texas school districts and posted an “average” spending index, according to the report. North East, Alamo Heights and Southside ISDs received 3.5 stars.
San Antonio, Edgewood and South San Antonio ISDs garnered 1.5 stars.
The cycle is self-perpetuating and vicious and pointed downward. Shouldn’t it matter to you?
http://www.amazon.com/Peoples-History-United-States-P-S/dp/0061965588/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1290505605&sr=1-1
BILL MOYERS JOURNAL | Hunger in America | PBS
Aftershock: The Next Economy and America's Future
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_24?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=winner+take+all+politics&sprefix=winner+take+all+politics
“However, James W. Marquart, Sheldon Ekland-Olson, and Jonathan R. Sorensen offer a more complex thesis. In their book, The Rope, the Chair, and the Needle: Capital Punishment in Texas, 1923-1990,[5] they argue that Texas' execution rate reflects the Southern "cultural tradition of exclusion," and that "[s]uch exclusion was a basic element of the legacy of slavery."
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_35?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=the+powers+that+be+david+halberstam&sprefix=the+powers+that+be+david+halberstam#/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_46?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=the+best+and+the+brightest+by+david+halberstam&sprefix=the+best+and+the+brightest+by+david+halberstam&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3Athe+best+and+the+brightest+by+david+halberstam
