In Pauls opinion, high taxes and inflation deprive Americans of money that they would otherwise give to charity. Programs like Medicare, he says, brought about the demise of “voluntary charities and organizations, such as friendly societies, that devoted themselves to helping those in need” during the early 20th century. These civic groups, he claims, “flourished…
Author: TRP
REPORT: How The Right-Wing Uses Misleading Numbers To Claim The Rich Are Unfairly Taxed
First of all, these numbers apply only to federal income taxes — which Wallace, to his credit, acknowledged. But the distinction is often elided, allowing the impression that this applies to all taxes to slide by uncontested. Rove, for instance, never mentioned it. It’s just in the fine print of the charts. And…
Stupid voters enable broken government
We have to move away from easy-to-repeat campaign slogans and promises of easy solutions, because we’re a country with more than 300 million people, a complicated racial and religious history and the world’s largest GDP. There are no easy solutions. So if you’re the kind of person who likes to say “I don’t follow politics,”…
CHART: Obama Economic Plan Raises Less Revenue Than Plans Conservatives Support
“If we’re just going to do class warfare and get tax increases out of this, then I don’t think much will come of it,” said House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI). The press, meanwhile, described Obama’s plan as “[giving] his liberal critics exactly what they wanted,” and “a direct appeal to his…
73 Percent Of Americans Support The ‘Buffett Rule,’ Including Two-Thirds Of Republicans
Overall, the Buffett Rule receives 73 percent approval, according to a new Daily Kos/SEIU “State of the Nation” poll conducted by Public Policy Polling and released today. Republicans have labeled the increase as “class warfare,” despite the fact that the richest Americans continue to see their incomes rise and their tax rates plummet. via 73…
Senators pass bill to avert government shutdown
The agreement ensured there would be no interruption in assistance to areas battered by disasters such as Hurricane Irene and last summer’s tornados in Joplin, Mo., and also that the government would be able to run normally when the new budget year begins on Saturday. The Senate approved the resolution after a day…
Facebook to form its own PAC to back political candidates
Facebook confirmed it filed paperwork on Monday to start its own political action committee. “FB PAC will give our employees a way to make their voice heard in the political process by supporting candidates who share our goals of promoting the value of innovation to our economy while giving people the power to share and…
The President’s Plan for Economic Growth and Deficit Reduction
I am sending to the Congress this detailed plan to pay for this jobs bill and realize more than $3 trillion in net deficit reduction over the next 10 years. Combined with the approximately $1 trillion in savings from the first part of the Budget Control Act, this would generate more than $4 trillion in deficit…
Obama: I’ll Veto A ‘One-Sided Deal,’ It’s Time ‘To Do What’s Right’
Saying that “Washington has to live within its means” and that lawmakers must “cut what we can’t afford to pay for what really matters,” President Obama just introduced what he says is a plan to cut an additional $3 trillion from budget deficits over the next decade. And he vowed to veto any…
Elizabeth Warren on Debt Crisis, Fair Taxation
via Elizabeth Warren on Debt Crisis, Fair Taxation – YouTube.
Spreading Freedom: Google And The War For The Web
You can’t swing a dead cat video in Washington lately without hitting a lobbyist, consultant, attorney or adviser on retainer to Google or one of its tech rivals. Google, whose top executives have long been a bottomless cup of campaign coffee for Democrats, is finally entering its bipartisan phase, theatrically hiring Republican operatives…
Obama Says GOP Would ‘Cripple’ America : NPR
President Obama charged Sunday that the GOP vision of government would “fundamentally cripple America” as he tried out his newly combative message on the liberal West Coast. Aiming to renew the ardor of Democratic loyalists who have grown increasingly disenchanted with him, the president mixed frontal attacks on Republicans with words of encouragement…
August Unemployment Rates Fall in All of Michigan’s Regional Labor Markets
From August 2010 to August 2011, unemployment rates fell in all of the state’s 17 regions. Rate drops ranged from a half percentage point to 1.8 percentage points and were significant in a number of regions over the year. The median reduction since August 2010 was 1.2 percentage points. The largest declines over this period were posted in…
Wall Street Protesters Penned and Maced
While on a peaceful march near Union Square in downtown Manhattan, multiple female protestors were penned up in the street by orange mesh baricade, then maliciously maced. The women were peaceful and unarmed. They were secured by barricade with an overwhelming police presence. And they were then sprayed directly in the face with pressurized mace……
Obama lets states opt out of No Child Left Behind
President Obama unveiled the most significant changes to U.S. education policy in a decade, using his executive authority to give states more flexibility to opt out of some provisions of the controversial No Child Left Behind program that was a signature initiative of President George W. Bush.”We cant let another generation of young people fall…
Badly-needed water funding dries up for Texas
On paper, at least, Texas is well-prepared to meet the water needs of its rapidly expanding population — even when Mother Nature lays down a harsh and lengthy drought. The price tag on the plan: $53 billion. State money allocated: $1.4 billion. If there were funds, Texas would be able to build the dams, reservoirs,…
Most States Experience Significant Rise In Levels Of ‘Deep Poverty’
The closer one looks at the Census data on American poverty, the more discouraging it becomes. It was already known that the national poverty rate climbed to 15.1 percent last year, the greatest percentage since 1993, and that the actual number of Americans living in poverty had hit 46.2 million, the highest number…
10 Suburbs With The Highest Poverty Rates: Census
Suburbs have long been associated with white picket fences and manicured lawns. But for many living in suburbia today, the reality is much bleaker. This month, it was reported that 15.1 percent of Americans live below the poverty line last year, the high level since 1993. And while the majority of the 46.2…
Solyndra Executives Refuse To Testify At Hearing : NPR
Top executives from a bankrupt California solar energy company have declined to testify before a congressional hearing investigating their half-billion dollar government loan. Solyndra CEO Brian Harrison and the company’s chief financial officer, Bill Stover, both invoked their Fifth Amendment right to decline to testify to avoid self-incrimination. Harrison told the House Energy…
During Court Hearing, Conservative Fifth Circuit Chief Judge Shouts Down Progressive Colleague, Telling Him To ‘Shut Up’
The Fifth Circuit is probably the most conservative federal appeals court in the country. It recently sanctioned a cheerleader and alleged rape victim because she sued the school district that required her to cheer for her alleged rapist. Its judges frequently attend “junkets for judges” hosted by an oil-industry funded group. And the…