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Monthly Archives: June 2011

The President’s Press Conference

30 Thursday Jun 2011

Posted by Craig in budget, economy, Obama, Politics

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$10 billion a month, $300 million, Afghanistan, Bush tax cuts, carried interest, class warfare, college scholarships, corporate jets, inventory, President Obama, press conference, revenue increases

A review of President Obama’s press conference yesterday from one W. Shakespeare: “Sound and fury signifying nothing.” Meaningless rhetoric and duplicity, with a dose of class warfare red meat to stir up the base for the 2012 election thrown in for good measure. And by my reading of the reactions from the Obama faithful in the blogosphere this morning, it worked.

The president mentions “taxing the rich” and his supporters voice their approval with a hearty, “Yeah, it’s about time, go get ‘em.” But he’s not talking about what they’re thinking about. He’s already refused to been forced to not let the Obama Bush income tax cuts expire—twice. If he was serious about deficit reduction, as Willie Sutton once said, that’s where the money is.

The “revenue increases” Obama is referring to are trivial amounts like his oft-repeated slam at the tax break for corporate jet owners. By my count he mentioned this one in particular 4 times yesterday. Eliminating this break will bring in about $300 million in additional revenue–that’s million—a year. I’m not defending the owners of corporate jets by any stretch, but $300 million out of a $1.5 trillion deficit? Talk about a drop in the proverbial bucket.

A couple of the other “revenue raisers” that the White House is floating are an adjustment in the taxation of inventory and an increase in the tax rate on carried interest. The first would bring in about $7 billion a year, the second about two. Add those to the corporate jet tax break and the total comes to around $9.3 billion a year. By comparison, the tab for the war in Afghanistan is somewhere in the neighborhood of $10 billion—-a month.

How many college scholarships would that pay for, Mr. President?

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Obama Takes Tax Rate Increases Off the Table

28 Tuesday Jun 2011

Posted by Craig in budget, Congress, economy, Obama, Politics, special interests, Taxes, Wall Street

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Bush tax rates, debt limit negotiations, Dylan Ratigan, forced, hedge fund managers, hostilities, loopholes, Obama, pro wrestling, revenue increases, tax breaks, The Hill, user fees

From The Hill yesterday:

“The White House, seeking an agreement to raise the nation’s $14.3 trillion debt ceiling by Aug. 2, on Monday said it would not insist that any deal include an end to former President George W. Bush’s controversial tax rates on the wealthy…The White House said the president is pushing the GOP to agree to eliminate some tax breaks for businesses and loopholes for wealthier taxpayers, but is not seeking to eliminate the across-the-board rates introduced by President Bush. That means taxpayers who earn more than $250,000 annually have gotten a reprieve.

Obama still wants to scrap the Bush-era rates, but with time running out on the debt-ceiling talks, he made clear Monday that he has a new range of targets.“

Translation: He’s being “forced” into it—again. Do you get it yet, Democrats? Is it starting to sink in? President Obama doesn’t want to end the Bush Obama tax rates. This makes two–count ‘em two–opportunities he’s had to make good on the smoke he blew during the 2008 campaign about ending the tax cuts. Both times he’s passed. In short, he’s just not that into you. On the other hand, he’s very much into these guys. Wake up and smell the coffee.

Oh sure, there will be some “revenue increases” included in what Dylan Ratigan appropriately calls the “pro wrestling” debt limit negotiations. Appropriate because the outcome is pre-determined, what we see now is just the preliminary theatrics. But like with so many other things the president says—like his creative interpretation of what constitutes “hostilities” for example— you have to carefully parse his words.

There will be “revenue increases” in the form of a few tax breaks ended, a few loopholes closed, and a few fees raised, but nothing that amounts to much in the big picture. Piddling amounts like this:

“Obama’s budget wants $85 billion in new user fees over 10 years, including raising the airline passenger security fee from a maximum of $5 per one-way trip to $11. Other proposals range from Food and Drug Administration food inspection fees to duck hunting fees. The $85 billion also includes federal auction of parts of the broadcast spectrum and the sale of surplus federal property.”

This is also being floated:

“The administration also would tax private equity or hedge fund managers at higher income tax rates instead of lower capital gains rates..”

Yeah, right. President Obama is going to raise taxes on the same guys he sucks up to at $35,000 a plate fundraisers. The same guys he plays kissy-face with to get contributions for his re-election campaign. That’ll be the day.

If you need further evidence of how seriously this whole song and dance is being taken by the powers that be, despite the screams about the alleged financial catastrophe that will happen if an agreement isn’t reached by August 2:

“Complicating matters is the congressional schedule. While the Senate is in session, the House is off this week ahead of the July 4 holiday. The House is scheduled to return next week when the Senate will be away.”

Pro wrestling indeed. The Hulkster would be proud.

SCOTUS Overturns California Ban on Sale of Violent Video Games to Minors

27 Monday Jun 2011

Posted by Craig in Supreme Court

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California ban, minors, Supreme Court, violent video games

From the ‘Even a Blind Squirrel Finds an Acorn Now and Then’ department, the Roberts Court gets one right:

“The Supreme Court says California cannot ban the rental or sale of violent video games to children. The high court agreed Monday with a federal court’s decision to throw out California’s ban on the sale or rental of violent video games to minors. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Sacramento said the law violated minors’ rights under the First and Fourteenth amendments.

The law would have prohibited the sale or rental of violent games to anyone under 18. Retailers who violated the act would have been fined up to $1,000 for each infraction. The court on a 7-2 vote said the law was unconstitutional.”

Here’s a novel concept. Whether or not children have violent video games should be up to the, hold on to your hats, parents, not the government.

Americans Still Dying in Iraq

27 Monday Jun 2011

Posted by Craig in Iraq

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combat operations, deadliest month, deaths, Iraq, June

In spite of the alleged “end of combat operations” June has seen both the deadliest day and the deadliest month in Iraq in over 2 years:

“Two American soldiers were killed Sunday in Iraq, the military command said, making June the worst month in combat-related fatalities for United States forces in Iraq in more than two years. The casualties also reflected the dangers ahead as the United States prepares to withdraw all its troops from Iraq by the end of the year.

[…]

In a statement issued Sunday night, the American military said the two soldiers were killed “conducting operations” in the north. It did not elaborate, but that terminology is usually meant to indicate the deaths were caused by enemy attack. In the deadliest single-day death toll since 2009, five soldiers were killed June 5 when a rocket struck Victory Base Complex, the military’s base near the Baghdad airport. A sixth later died of his wounds.”

I guess it all depends on what the definition of “combat operations” is.

It’s All About Priorities

27 Monday Jun 2011

Posted by Craig in budget, economy, Unemployment

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budget, Endless War, infrastructure, unemployment

What about this is so difficult to understand? There is work to be done and millions of people are out of work.

“Experts say $2 trillion of infrastructure work is needed just to catch up. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Infrastructure Report Card, says a $2.2 trillion investment is needed to bring the country up to current standards. ASCE says, “Years of delayed maintenance and lack of modernization have left Americans with an outdated and failing infrastructure that cannot meet our needs.”

And while our “leaders” fiddle…

“The United States is falling dramatically behind much of the world in rebuilding and expanding an overloaded and deteriorating transportation network it needs to remain competitive in the global marketplace, according to a new study by the Urban Land Institute.

[…]

As Congress debates how much should be spent and where to find the money, China has a plan to spend $1 trillion on high-speed rail, highways and other infrastructure in five years. India is nearing the end of a $500 billion investment phase that has seen major highway improvements, and plans to double that amount by 2017. Brazil plans to spend $900 billion on energy and transportation projects by 2014.”

But then again, infrastructure spending might cut into the Endless War budget, and we can’t have that. Priorities.

TSA Makes 95-Year-Old Terminal Cancer Patient Remove Adult Diaper

26 Sunday Jun 2011

Posted by Craig in Civil Liberties, Police State, TSA

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

95-year-old, adult diaper, Florida, leukemia, pat down, TSA, wheelchair

Have you no sense of decency, TSA? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?

“A woman has filed a complaint with federal authorities over how her elderly mother was treated at Northwest Florida Regional Airport last weekend. Jean Weber of Destin filed a complaint with the Department of Homeland Security after her 95-year-old mother was detained and extensively searched last Saturday while trying to board a plane to fly to Michigan to be with family members during the final stages of her battle with leukemia. Her mother, who was in a wheelchair, was asked to remove an adult diaper in order to complete a pat-down search.

 [H]er mother was first pulled aside into a glass-partitioned area and patted down. Then she was taken to another room to protect her privacy during a more extensive search, Weber said. She said security personnel then came out and told her they would need for her mother to remove her Depends diaper because it was soiled and was impeding their search. Weber wheeled her mother into a bathroom, removed her diaper and returned. Her mother did not have another clean diaper with her.”

[…]

“Sari Koshetz, a spokeswoman for the Transportation Security Administration in Miami, said she could not comment on specific cases to protect the privacy of those involved. “The TSA works with passengers to resolve any security alarms in a respectful and sensitive manner,” she said.

Koshetz said the procedures are the same for everyone to ensure national security. “TSA cannot exempt any group from screening because we know from intelligence that there are terrorists out there that would then exploit that vulnerability,” she said.”

Seriously? You know from intelligence that terrorists are recruiting 95-year-old terminal leukemia patients in wheelchairs to smuggle explosives onto planes in their adult diapers? That has nothing to do with any definition of “intelligence.” It’s about the humiliation and degradation of another human being—just because you can.

It’s time to do away with the TSA.

This Date in History

26 Sunday Jun 2011

Posted by Craig in History

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Ich bin ein Berliner, JFK

June 26, 1963. JFK’s “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech in West Berlin.

The War in Libya Drags On….Illegally

26 Sunday Jun 2011

Posted by Craig in Congress, Constitution, Libya, Obama, Obama administration

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admiral, Article II, Constitution, de-funding, Gaddafi, Glenn Greenwald, House, Libya, regime change, Ron Paul, War Powers Resolution

As, “days, not weeks” in Libya enters its fourth month, and now that the top U.S. admiral in Libya has admitted that the goal is regime change, despite this…

“Of course, there is no question that Libya – and the world – will be better off with Gaddafi out of power. I, along with many other world leaders, have embraced that goal, and will actively pursue it through non-military means. But broadening our military mission to include regime change would be a mistake.”

…and this:

“Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser, issued a statement acknowledging that President Obama would like to see a democratic government in Libya, but explained that the aim of the U.S. military’s intervention there is not to enact regime change.”

Glen Greenwald asks this question:

“Would this be an example of a President misleading the nation into an (illegal) war?  Or did the goal of the war radically change oh-so-unexpectedly a mere few weeks after it began?  Everyone can make up their own mind about which is more likely.”

Greenwald also has an explanation for the failure of Friday’s de-funding bill in the House. One that I hadn’t considered, but which makes sense:

“The so-called “de-funding” bill the House rejected yesterday was not really a de-funding bill.  It would have barred the spending of money for some war purposes, but explicitly authorized it for others.  That’s why… dozens of anti-Libya-war members in both parties voted NO on the de-funding bill: not because…they were cowards who did not have the courage of their anti-war convictions; and not because the bill would have approved some spending for a war they oppose (though that is true), but rather because they were worried (appropriately so) that had that “de-funding” bill passed, Obama lawyers would have exploited it to argue that Congress, by appropriating some money for the war, had implicitly authorized Obama to wage it.

As Ron Paul — echoing the spokesperson for House progressives — said in explaining his NO vote on “de-funding”, the bill “masquerades as a limitation of funds for the president’s war on Libya but is in fact an authorization for that very war…instead of ending the war against Libya, this bill would legalize nearly everything the president is currently doing there.

That was the reason so many anti-war members of Congress — including dozens of progressives — rejected the “de-funding” bill despite opposition to the war in Libya: because it was a disguised authorization for a war they oppose, not because they cowardly failed to check executive power abuses.”

And as Greenwald also points out, regardless of the outcome of the de-funding vote, the war in Libya is still illegal:

“Congress does not need to de-fund a war to render it illegal.  Under the law (and the Constitution), military actions are illegal if Congress does not affirmatively authorize them (either within 60 days or at the start, depending on one’s view).  The fact that the President has failed to obtain that authorization renders his ongoing war-waging illegal — period.  

[…]

Of course it’s true that Congress should act to stop a President who is waging a war in violation of the law and/or the Constitution, but Presidents shouldn’t wage illegal wars in the first place.  It is frequently asserted that Article II of the Constitution vests the President with the power and obligation to defend the nation, even though nothing in Article II (or any other provision of the Constitution) actually does that.  But there is an obligation which Article II does explicitly impose on the President: “he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.”  That includes, by definition, the War Powers Resolution (and Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution).”

Just a Man of the People

25 Saturday Jun 2011

Posted by Craig in Obama, Wall Street

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Daniel, fat cats, fundraiser, Obama, Wall Street

FDR: I welcome their hatred. Obama: Let’s kiss and make up.

“Last night Obama headed to the Upper East Side to wine and dine Wall Street. The DNC fundraiser at tony restaurant Daniel cost attendees $35,800 each, and a source told Ben White at Morning Money that the event netted $2.4 million. So his calculations were that at least 67 financiers had come to the party.

“Wall Street may hate Washington but sources tell M.M. that last night’s $35,800 per-head event… was a boffo success packed with hedge fund and private equity types.”

[…]

The dinner was part of Obama’s plan to win back the group of financiers that helped him cruise past McCain in 2008, many of whom were turned off by the President’s labeling of them as “fat cats” near the beginning of his term.

Obama is hoping to win over hedge fund titans who were previously bundlers for the Clintons, as well as a much more challenging task — winning Republicans. Though Democrats won’t be so easily wooed this time around, apparently…

“One Democratic financier invited to this month’s dinner… said it was ironic that the same president who once criticized bankers as “fat cats” would now invite them to dine at Daniel…”

Here’s a little tip that might help the fat cats (oops, sorry) and their hurt fee-fees. Something I learned a while back. Don’t listen to what this president says, watch what he does. Those two streets seldom intersect.

Some Things Never Change

25 Saturday Jun 2011

Posted by Craig in Afghanistan

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Afghanistan, corruption, oligarchy, organized crime, UN

‘Twas ever thus, and thus ‘twill ever be:

“The farmer picking apples in the outskirts of Kabul must pay the Taliban $33 to ship out each truckload of fruit. The governor sends in armed men to chase workers off job sites if the official bribes aren’t paid. Poor neighborhoods never get their U.N.-provided wheat, long since sold on the black market.

These are some of the elements, large and small, that together form the elaborate organized crime environment Afghans contend with daily. And despite the hoped-for success of the U.S. military surge and President Barack Obama’s claims of significant progress, Afghanistan’s resemblance to a mafia state that cannot serve its citizens may only be getting worse, according to an upcoming report by the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think tank.

[…]

“Nearly a decade after the U.S.-led military intervention little has been done to challenge the perverse incentives of continued conflict in Afghanistan,” the research group says. Rather, violence and the billions of dollars in international aid have brought wealthy officials and insurgents together. And “the economy as a result is increasingly dominated by a criminal oligarchy of politically connected businessmen,” the report concludes.”

Sounds a lot like us.

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