Category Archives: Politics

A Tale of Two Presidents

22 Wednesday Sep 2010

Posted by in economy, Obama, Politics, Wall Street

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There’s good news and there’s bad news. First, the good:

“White House officials expect Lawrence Summers to leave his job as the president’s National Economic Council director after November’s congressional elections, according to three people familiar with the matter.”

Now the bad:

“Administration officials are weighing whether to put a prominent corporate executive in the NEC director’s job to counter criticism that the administration is anti-business, one person familiar with White House discussions said. White House aides are also eager to name a woman to serve in a high-level position, two people said. They also are concerned about finding someone with Summers’ experience and stature, one person said.”

A “prominent corporate executive?” To “counter criticism that the administration is anti-business?” A tale of two presidents. President Franklin Roosevelt:

“We had to struggle with the old enemies of peace—business and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering….Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me—and I welcome their hatred.”

President Barack Obama: ‘If I give them this maybe they’ll stop saying mean things about me.’

Let’s see, a prominent corporate executive with Summers’ experience and stature who’s a woman. Just convince Bob Rubin to have a sex change and you’re there.

Krugman: “Sacrifice is For the Little People”

20 Monday Sep 2010

Posted by in budget, Congress, Democrats, economy, Politics, Republicans, Taxes, Unemployment

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Never mind this, let’s just be sure we keep rich people’s taxes low.


And it’s not just Republicans. Why? Paul Krugman explains:

“You see, the rich are different from you and me: they have more influence. It’s partly a matter of campaign contributions, but it’s also a matter of social pressure, since politicians spend a lot of time hanging out with the wealthy. So when the rich face the prospect of paying an extra 3 or 4 percent of their income in taxes, politicians feel their pain — feel it much more acutely, it’s clear, than they feel the pain of families who are losing their jobs, their houses, and their hopes.

And when the tax fight is over, one way or another, you can be sure that the people currently defending the incomes of the elite will go back to demanding cuts in Social Security and aid to the unemployed. America must make hard choices, they’ll say; we all have to be willing to make sacrifices.

But when they say “we,” they mean “you.” Sacrifice is for the little people.”

Democrats Losing the Message Battle—As Usual

14 Tuesday Sep 2010

Posted by in Congress, Democrats, economy, Politics, Republicans, Taxes

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This is why Democrats consistently lose the message battle—theirs is not cohesive and it’s too convoluted and complex for non-political junkies to understand. One “senior House leadership aide” tells Talking Points Memo that there won’t be a vote on extension of the Bush tax cuts, another says there may be a vote after all. Make up your mind.

After John Boehner’s alleged “misstep” on Sunday when he said he would vote for an extension that didn’t include those making over $250,000 a year “if that were the only option” it would appear that Democrats have an opportunity to make Boehner put his money where his mouth is, so to speak.

Not so simple when one of those “senior House leadership aides” says Democrats don’t want to “force his hand” by scheduling a vote on the extension, they just want to use it as a campaign issue. Dumb de dumb dumb.

“You don’t need a vote in the House to say the party is blocking tax relief for the middle class – you can just point and say, ‘Look! Senate Republicans blocked it,'” the aide said. “If Republicans killed a tax cut, that could be potentially game changing for Democrats in both chambers.”

Wrong. Here’s where Democrats get too cute by half and get too far into the political weeds with their message. The average voter who doesn’t follow this stuff every day doesn’t know and doesn’t care about how the Bush tax cuts were written by Republicans with an expiration date, and that if they are allowed to expire it will actually be Republicans who have raised taxes.

The average voter doesn’t get, and doesn’t care about, all the intricacies of who did what and why. They don’t know and don’t care about parliamentary procedures and filibusters. They know this—Democrats are in charge of both Houses. If nothing gets passed, taxes go up on everybody. Therefore, Democrats raised their taxes. Nobody wants taxes raised, so throw the bums out, which is the simple to understand Republican message.

If Democrats would use their head, and if they really wanted to take advantage of the apparent “rift” between Boehner and McConnell on this issue (I say apparent because it’s not really a rift, it’s a kabuki dance designed to set a trap which Democrats are stepping into) they would introduce a simple piece of legislation in both Houses. The Bush rates remain in effect for people making under $250,000 and go up for those making over that amount. Make Republicans go on the record as being in favor of tax cuts for rich people, a simple message that everyone can grasp.

KISS. And for once, get everybody on the same page. Please.

Beware Wannabe Speakers Bearing Gifts

13 Monday Sep 2010

Posted by in budget, Congress, Conservatives, Democrats, economy, Obama, Obama administration, Politics, Republicans

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Speaker-in-waiting (he hopes) John Boehner says a few reasonable sounding words on Face the Nation and the headlines are about a ‘shift in policy,’ a ‘crack in Republican solidarity,’ a ‘victory for the Obama administration,’ and ‘Republicans caving on the tax cut battle.’ Three words of advice:

Don’t buy it.

First, why would anyone believe a word Boehner says? Then look at the entirety of his comments. Yes, he said,  “If the only option I have is to vote for some of those tax reductions, I’ll vote for it.” He also added, “But I’m going to do everything I can to fight to make sure that we extend the current tax rates for all Americans.” One hand giveth, the other taketh away.

Here’s what the Orangeman is doing as I see it. One, he’s taking a campaign issue away from the Democrats. He’s not going to let them beat the GOP over the head with ‘defenders of the rich’ for the next seven weeks, so he appears to show willingness to compromise.

Two, Boehner uses the qualifier “if the only option I have is…” because he knows that’s not the only option he’s going to have. He knows that, like everything else, the battle over extending the tax cuts is going to be in the Senate, not in the House. He knows that there are already 4 Democratic Senators—Bayh, Conrad, Nelson, and Webb—plus Joe Lieberman, who have come out in support of extending all the tax cuts for at least some period of time.

That’s why he also said this during the interview: “I don’t control the agenda on Capitol Hill. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid do…”

Here he’s painting the Democrats into somewhat of a corner. He and the Republicans can say, ‘See, it’s not us, it’s them. We’re not the obstructionists here. We’re willing to compromise but the president can’t get members of his own party to go along with him.’

Boehner hasn’t turned reasonable, it’s all a political calculation. Caveat emptor—let the buyer beware.

Making Sense of the Tax Cut Extension Contradictions

11 Saturday Sep 2010

Posted by in Congress, Democrats, economy, lobbyists, Obama, Politics, Republicans, special interests

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A couple of things don’t make sense in this debate over letting the tax cuts for the top 2% expire. Don’t make sense on the surface, that is. Dig a little deeper and it becomes perfectly clear.

Why is there such angst in Congress about raising taxes on the wealthy? Members of both the House and the Senate in both parties say they are so concerned with the deficit, but yet extending the cuts will add about $700 billion to the deficit. Many say raising taxes will kill job creation, but those same cuts led to little or no job creation during the 9 years they have been in effect. So what’s the big deal about raising taxes on millionaires?

Because they would be voting to raise taxes on themselves. One percent of Americans are millionaires, but 44% of the members of Congress are millionaires—237 out of 535. They would be voting not only to raise taxes on themselves, but their friends, their associates, and most importantly to them, the people who write the large campaign contribution checks.

Here’s the other thing that doesn’t appear to make sense. Naturally, most Republicans are against letting the cuts expire, for no other reason than that President Obama is in favor of it. But why are an increasing number of Democrats coming out in favor of an extension? Besides the fact that many if them are included in that number of millionaires, that is.

I know some probably get tired of me beating the drum for the importance of organized labor, but unions were once the largest constituency group and voting bloc who stood up and spoke out for working and middle-class people. Into the “vacuum” left by decreasing union membership and its influence on politicians and policy has stepped corporate interests and their money. From Winner-Take-All Politics via Kevin Drum at Mother Jones:

“Unions…are the particular focus of business animus. As they decline, they leave a vacuum. There’s no other nationwide organization dedicated to persistently fighting for middle class economic issues and no other nationwide organization that’s able to routinely mobilize working class voters to support or oppose specific federal policies.

With unions in decline and political campaigns becoming ever more expensive, Democrats eventually decide they need to become more business friendly as well. This is a vicious circle: the more unions decline, the more that Democrats turn to corporate funding to survive. There is, in the end, simply no one left who’s fighting for middle class economic issues in a sustained and organized way. Conversely, there are lots of extremely well-funded and determined organizations fighting for the interests of corporations and the rich.”

In my opinion, this also explains why some who vote Republican and support Republican policies, other than those who are simply anti-anything Obama related, are against raising taxes on the wealthy even though very few would be affected by an increase on those making over $250,000 a year. They’ve bought into the corporate-interest saturated media theme that unions are evil and that the wealthy special interests are looking out for them.

It’s 1938 All Over Again

07 Tuesday Sep 2010

Posted by in Congress, economy, Obama administration, Politics

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Any of this sound familiar?

“The U.S. economy has been crippled by a financial crisis. The president’s policies have limited the damage, but they were too cautious, and unemployment remains disastrously high. More action is clearly needed. Yet the public has soured on government activism, and seems poised to deal Democrats a severe defeat in the midterm elections.

[…]

Gallup polling… [a]sked whether government spending should be increased to fight the slump, 63 percent of those polled said no. Asked whether it would be better to increase spending or to cut business taxes, only 15 percent favored spending; 63 percent favored tax cuts.”

The result?

“And the…election was a disaster for the Democrats, who lost 70 seats in the House and seven in the Senate.”

The year was 1938. The president was Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Now here we are again:

“More stimulus is desperately needed, but in the public’s eyes the failure of the initial program to deliver a convincing recovery has discredited government action to create jobs.”

So what is the Obama administration proposing as a solution for a stagnant economy and insufficient job creation? Tax cuts, tax cuts, and more tax cuts:

“With just two months until the November elections, the White House is seriously weighing a package of business tax breaks – potentially worth hundreds of billions of dollars – to spur hiring and combat Republican charges that Democratic tax policies hurt small businesses, according to people with knowledge of the deliberations.”

Good, sound political strategery—let the opposition define the terms of engagement and play into their theme that tax cuts are the prescription for whatever ails the economy. And speaking of political strategery, how the hell is anybody still unclear on this subject?

“If administration officials can agree on a policy path, it is not clear that it would be approved in the current environment on Capitol Hill.”

Aaaaarrrggghhhh!!

Krugman concludes:

“But always remember: this slump can be cured. All it will take is a little bit of intellectual clarity, and a lot of political will. Here’s hoping we find those virtues in the not too distant future.”

That’ll be the day.

The REAL Sign of the Apocalypse

30 Friday Jul 2010

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From the Huffington Post:

Mr. LaHaye is mistaken. A newly-discovered, ancient manuscript has recently come into my possession that foretells the actual sign of the end of the world. It reads as follows:

“And these shall be the signs when thou shalt knowest that the end of the world is near.

A child shall be born on an island in the midst of the Great Ocean (allegedly). He shall grow in wisdom and in stature in the city on the shores of the Lake that is called Michigan where he shall organizeth the community in which he dwelleth.

He shall achieve a great and miraculous victory against the lioness of the tribe of Clinton, and shall ascend to the throne which hath previously been ordained to be the sole dominion of those of the Caucus region.

This shall cause much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth among the Caucasians, and shall bringeth forth many false prophets from under every rock and low place who professeth to be followers of Christ but acteth not in accordance with his teachings.

And the false prophets and hypocrites shall prophecy that the ascension of the child from the island in the midst of the Great Ocean (allegedly) to the throne previously held by the Caucasians is the sign of the apocalypse. But the end of the age is not yet nigh.

There shall arise a woman from the North Country. She shall be dim of wit yet big of mouth, and she shall say many strange and confounding things and shall give much refudiation to many. When this woman from the North Country ascendeth to the throne, then thou shalt surely know that the end of the world has come.

So it is written, so it shall be.”

Unemployed “Sitting Back and Waiting”

29 Thursday Jul 2010

Posted by in Politics, Unemployment

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Is there no end to these heartless pricks who think unemployed people are lazy?:

“This past Tuesday, Rep. Zach Wamp (R-TN), who is also a leading candidate for the GOP nomination for governor, joined a conference call with the right-wing National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). When the subject of extending unemployment benefits arose, Wamp complained that giving people unemployment insurance was “creating a culture of dependence which we do not need.” He then said that he wants “people out there scraping and clawing and looking for work and not just sitting back waiting”:

Wamp […] said small business, the NFIB and he as governor “must resist… any more mandates to small business to help the unemployed — that we have continued to extend on a federal level, I think, unemployment compensation so long that there’s disincentives for people to actually re-enter the workforce or go out and look for a job.

“And this is creating a culture of dependence which we do not need. We want people out there scraping and clawing and looking for work and not just sitting back waiting. And so we’ve got to not allow any more mandates.”

Asshole.

Republicans Say “No” to 9/11 Victims

29 Thursday Jul 2010

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This time it’s a bill that extends medical care for first responders and victims of 9/11. Republicans oppose it because it “creates a massive new entitlement program”  and is paid for with a tax that would result in “potential job losses.” Politico has the story:

“The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2009, sponsored by New York City Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D), provides medical monitoring to those exposed to toxins at Ground Zero, bolsters treatment at specialized centers for those afflicted by toxins on 9/11 and reopens a compensation fund to provide economic loss to New Yorkers.

“But this bill, according to Republicans, “creates a massive new entitlement program, exposes taxpayers to increased litigation, and is ‘paid for’ with tax increases and potential job losses.”

And it’s all paid for by closing a tax loophole on foreign companies with U.S. subsidiaries, Democrats say.

But according to Republicans it’s a job-killing growth of government that creates a new entitlement and wastes taxpayer dollars.

[…]

Republicans continue to believe that those who responded to the WTC attack should get the treatment and liability protection they need because they dutifully answered a call for help,” the policy statement reads.”

Whatever it is, they’re against it.

A $3.8 Trillion Republican Tax Hike

29 Thursday Jul 2010

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Before House Republicans left Washington for their August recess yesterday, Rep. Mike Pence handed out his 22-page plan for how Republicans can disseminate their propaganda get their message out to voters over the break.

“The recess document…lays out key topics to address in the dog days of August and early September: “Week One: Jobs. Week Two: Government Reform. Week Three: Spending. Week Four: National Security. Week Five: Healthcare. Week Six: JOBS.”

[…]

Under the heading “Job Creation,” Republicans call the expiring tax cuts, set to lapse at the end of this year, a Democratic plan “on increasing taxes by $3.8 trillion.”

Job creation? If I were a Democratic strategerist, I would have every candidate carry a copy of this chart, and every time a Republican parroted how tax cuts create jobs, throw it in their face and say, ‘Really? What happened here?’.


About the alleged Democratic plan to increase taxes–wrong again. If President Obama and the Democrats did nothing, if they extended none of the tax cuts (which isn’t going to happen, but for the sake of argument say it did) the tax increase would be a Republican tax hike, not a Democratic one. Republicans wrote the tax cut legislation, and a Republican president signed it into law—with an expiration date. Why? Because they had to pass the cuts through budget reconciliation and that required a little sleight of hand trickeration. Ezra Klein explains:

“In order to maximize the size of the cuts, Republicans had to minimize the influence of minority Democrats on the package. So they chose to run the bill through the reconciliation process.

But that posed some challenges. Budget reconciliation had never been used to increase the deficit. In fact, it specifically existed to decrease the deficit. That’s why one of its rules was that you couldn’t use it to increase the deficit outside the budget window. Republicans realized they could take that very literally: The budget window was 10 years. So if the tax cuts expired after 10 years, they wouldn’t increase the deficit outside the budget window. They’d also have the added benefit of appearing less costly in the Congressional Budget Office’s estimates, as the CBO duly scored them as expiring after 10 years, which kept the long-range budget picture from exploding.

But the plan was never to have the tax cuts expire. Instead, the idea was that people would get used to the new tax rates, and no future Congress would want to allow a big tax increase, so when the time came, either Republicans in office would extend the cuts or Republicans in the minority would hammer Democrats until they extended them.”

Which is exactly what they’re doing now.

And when Republicans get to their faux concern about the national debt, present them with this. Two economic scenarios–one with the cuts expired and one with the cuts extended:


Oh, but I forgot. Tax cuts don’t count against the debt, just unemployment benefits. Never mind.