Tax Cuts, the Reagan Mantra

The Daily News Record: Editorial Opinion

My response to the opinion piece:

@editor - The mantra of tax cut theology started by Mr. Reagan goes like this: Anything wrong with the economy can be fixed by tax cuts. That would be the best solution, the next best solution and of course the solution of last resort.

Tax Cuts are simply the redistribution of the nation's wealth upward. Look up the stats on the income gap. Do the math with regard to the proportion of tax relief going to the citzenry. Who gets the most benefit from tax cuts? More importantly, what are the costs, both in money, and in quality of life? Who actually bears the costs?

Tax Cuts don't now nor have they ever paid for themselves.

It is simply stupid to say that taxes are the reason for ..... anything.

Removing the tax burden from the wealthy defunds the government so that, guess who, needs to step in to provide services for a healthy profit. Individual freedom at that point will be pretty much what you can afford. No money, no freedom.

This is not a serious argument Mr. Editor. It's a stupid one... Any semblance of fiscal sanity has disappeared from the conservative's arguments on this. There is no sanity left and no room for any type of economic recovery with these simplistic, theological arguments in place.

From Think Progress:

David Stockman, who led the all-important Office of Management and Budget under Reagan and was a chief architect of his fiscal policy, criticized today’s GOP for misreading Reagan’s legacy by adopting a “theology” of tax cuts. Stockman has spoken out before, but took perhaps his strongest stance yet against his own party today, saying “I’ll never forgive the Bush administration” for “destroying the last vestige of fiscal responsibility that we had in the Republican Party.” He also broke with Republican orthodoxy on a number of key issues:

– We need “a higher tax burden on the upper income.”
– “After 1985, the Republican Party adopted the idea that tax cuts can solve the whole problem, and that therefore in the future,deficits didn’t matter and tax cuts would be the solution of first, second, and third resort.”
– The 2001 Bush tax cut “was totally not needed.”
– On claims that Reagan proved tax cuts lead to higher government revenues: “Reagan proved nothing of the kind and yet that became the mantra and it just led the Republican Party away from its traditional sound money, fiscal restraint.”
– Former Vice President Cheney “should have known better” than claim the Bush tax cuts would pay for themselves.
– “I’ll never forgive the Bush administration and Paulson for basically destroying the last vestige of fiscal responsibility that we had in the Republican Party. After that, I don’t know how we ever make the tough choices.”

It's a pretty sad day for me to be quoting Reagan Republicans to rebut this type of fiscal lunacy from the radical right.

t r u t h o u t | E.J. Dionne, Jr. | The Thanksgiving Wars? Just Say No

t r u t h o u t | E.J. Dionne, Jr. | The Thanksgiving Wars? Just Say No:

"This argument over Thanksgiving strikes me as a symptom of our failure to acknowledge that the American story is not all one thing or all another.

It is, instead, a tale of a healthy and ongoing tension between our love of individualism and our reverence for community. Capitalism is part of our story, but so is solidarity and the idea that no one ever really 'goes it alone.' Our rights are embedded in a web of social bonds and obligations that enrich us. We have a responsibility to take care of ourselves and our families, but also to look out for one another. And we hope that if we run into trouble, someone, maybe even the entire community, will look out for us."

So... what to blog about on Thanksgiving? I like E. J. Dionne. He's always a clear and patient voice of moderate liberalism. His view that the American experience is not all one thing or the other seems wishy washy when contrasted to the political minefield he navigates on a daily basis. This time it's a good thing to hear that right and left are both necessary to the success of America and those who stubbornly insist on one way or the other are wrong.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Deficit Panic Disorder | The Nation

Deficit Panic Disorder | The Nation

At last! Some common sense! Leave it to the Nation to make sense of the crisis de jour, "The Deficit." I just finished listening to the NPR call in show and a caller railed on and on about the debt we are leaving to our children and grandchildren, and that something just must be done!

The danger of a silly punditocracy is on display with all the deficit peacockery and proud strutting of the folks who promise to cut spending and lower taxes and get government off our backs. NONE OF THESE FOLKS KNOW OR CARE IF THEY KNOW what they are talking about.

The mindless recitation of Luntzian messaging is having a tragic, but predictable effect on the American psyche. Most will believe it simply because most believe. How are they convinced? A pervasive echo chamber, some very deep pockets, and a massive and massively expensive advertising campaign designed to turn spin into truth.

The best tool of the wealthy elite is to use their money to control the narrative, create the spin, and push the ideas that help them preserve themselves with ruthless malice towards the rest of us.

Where is the ruthless scepticism of the press corps? A little of it is shown in this editorial. On the NPR show, the commentators did not engage the commenter or inquire into the reason for the earnestly held position. NPR simply nodded and solemnly agreed that the deficit is indeed terrible and that anything we can do to fix it will be OK.

That is insanely stupid.

ThinkProgress Poll: Republicans Who Want To Repeal Health Care Law Should Opt Out Of Gov’t-Sponsored Health Plans

ThinkProgress  Poll: Republicans Who Want To Repeal Health Care Law Should Opt Out Of Gov’t-Sponsored Health Plans

Here's a great example of Republicans campaigning on ideology and talking points and then thudding back to earth to deal with reality. It isn't pretty, and the folks that supported them are probably wondering, WTF!

The emotionalism and energy of the Tea Party was just the steam squealing out of the kettle. It's vanished once the the tea hits the cup. Now they have to drink it. I hope they like tea...

Insider Trading: 'Steal A Lot, They Make You King'

Insider Trading: 'Steal A Lot, They Make You King':

"The smart kids in school, we have learned, went into major-league banking and invented brilliant financial machinery that effectively turned smoldering waste into gold. They lent money to any would-be homeowner with a signature and bundled these lousy loans together. Then they refashioned these malodorous piles of trash into new securities that complicit ratings agencies deemed as safe as Uncle Sam's savings bonds. They sold their inventory to pension funds, municipalities and other institutions that saw a AAA rating and dug no deeper. By the time the world figured out that the bankers had been peddling garbage, somebody else owned it."

Bob Dylan is truly a sage. This is the best simple explanation of the Wall Street Robber Barons I've seen so far.

Decision Points: The Rebuttal

Dan Froomkin :The Two Most Essential, Abhorrent, Intolerable Lies Of George W. Bush's Memoir:

"WASHINGTON -- These days, when we think of George W. Bush, we think mostly of what a horrible mess he made of the economy. But his even more tragic legacy is the loss of our moral authority, and the transformation of the United States of America from global champion of human rights into an outlaw nation.

History is likely to judge Bush most harshly for two things in particular: Launching a war against a country that had not attacked us, and approving the use of cruel and inhumane interrogation techniques.

And that's why the two most essential lies -- among the many -- in his new memoir are that he had a legitimate reason to invade Iraq, and that he had a legitimate reason to torture detainees."

Dan Froomkin was famously fired from the Washington Post when he insisted on a journalistic standard that was more rigorous and critical of the media narrative than could be allowed.  He's now the Washington chief for the Huffington Post.

I've always appreciated Dan's work, though I'm not always in agreement with it.  In this case, his thorough reporting over the entire breadth of the Bush Administration comes to bear.  He once again revisits the debates that occurred during the startup of the Iraq War and with the discovery of the Torture program.  I certainly wasn't very difficult for him to review the mistakes and tragic consequences of the Bush policy decisions.

He takes it one important step further however in dramatically stating that the revisionist version of history surrounding these events is now in the public eye and receiving little critical analysis. His fear is that an apathetic public and a do-nothing-about-it Obama Administration will allow this disinformation campaign to succeed.

I'm very glad for Mr. Froomkin's analysis and that it is in a national forum.  It should have been on the front page and it should be Mr. Froomkin sitting with Matt Lauer on the Today Show issuing his rebuttal.

Thanks Dan.

Tax Cuts, They HURT more than help!

Robert Creamer: Economic History Shows Clearly that Tax Cuts for Rich Hurt the Economy:

"In fact there is a body of empirical, historical evidence that proves clearly that tax cuts for the rich not only do nothing to spur economic growth - they actually do substantial damage to the prospects for economic growth."

The two main points of Mr. Creamer (and many other actual economists) are concentration of the wealth in a small segment of the population and the starvation of the public sector and the subsequent reduction of disposable income (the infamous "demand" half of the supply/demand equation).

Tax cuts equal high unemployment and economic stagnation. Empirical evidence, anecdotal evidence, and real substantiated economic principles back this up.

When you're in a recession, the problem is that demand is too low, so spending that increases demand really boosts the economy, since it creates demand that entices businesses to hire people who then spend more money and create more jobs -- and so on.

But when you give tax breaks to the rich, they don't spend most of those breaks like a family that needs unemployment. They save and invest a substantial portion. But in a recession you don't need more savings or investment, you need more demand.

Time to change the narrative.

The Media Narrative or Reality? Was it really a Landslide?

t r u t h o u t | What Landslide?: A Closer Look at the Midterm Election Results:

"In reality, higher deficits are more the result of a weak economy - both in terms of decreased revenues, increased demand for government benefits (unemployment insurance, Medicaid, Food Stamps, etcetera), and the political necessity of stimulating (or at least maintaining) aggregate demand. One can see how some voters, lacking a clear understanding of this reality, might easily misread the causality and opt for new 'managers of the economy.'"

There is much more to the recent election than meets the eye. The media narratives say one thing, the reality speaks a different story. The "analysis" of the media leaves out almost everything that doesn't fit their mutual consensus (the infamous narrative).

There was no landslide. The American People have remained silent once again. The Honkers and Squeakers have stolen the show. Sadly, our apathy, and our collective willingness to be swayed by this minimalist narrative delivered with breathless vigor by a zealous minority has brought us this political nightmare.

The election was about the economy. The narrative says that the Democrats have mismanaged the recovery. The reality says that the economy is recovering slowly, despite the consistent and stubborn attempts to continue its decline on the part of the Republican minority. The narrative says that Republicans are the fiscal conservatives and good managers of the economy, but the reality says that Democratic policies have been much more effective at job growth, expansion of GDP, and deficit reduction.

Collectively, we must learn to look past the narrative and find the voices in the media that bring the realities to light. Peel back the narrative and see what the real issues are. As the 2012 election cycle approaches, will the narrative win the day? One thing's for sure, if it does, the country will be much, much worse off than even now.

TSA At The 'Tipping Point': Passenger Anger At Airport Pat-Downs Threatens To Boil Over

TSA At The 'Tipping Point': Passenger Anger At Airport Pat-Downs Threatens To Boil Over

I'm sorry, but this is amusing. The terrorists have wrought upon us the ignominy of forcing us to grope each other. They've caused us to turn on each other and accuse ourselves of terrorism. There must be some merriment in the caves of Pakistan when news of this comes to Al Qaeda.

Don't we have a better way? I see in a side article that Hillary Clinton would not submit to a groper. See who really has the "balls?"

Amusing....

Warren Buffett: I 'Should Be Paying A Lot More In Taxes'

Warren Buffett: I 'Should Be Paying A Lot More In Taxes'

I just have to keep asking... Who are the Republicans trying to protect from high taxes? What country do they really live in? Is the Confederacy winning the Civil War?

The Fake Scandal of Climategate

The Fake Scandal of Climategate

This website is a go to source for any and all who find themselves in need of some good, logical, scientific arguments concerning the whole climate debate. The deniers have convincing arguments that sound like common sense. They've uncovered a scandal that gives them further cover. They've found their narrative and are sticking to it.

Peel back the layers a little though, and the evidence tells a different story. This site sorts through the denier arguments and rebuts them in several different ways, using scientific theory, guest writers, and a clear and substantial explanation. You can get a simple version of each point, or if you have some patience, you can get a thorough research report laden with science talk and jargon. Either way, there is stuff here that needs to be pointed out over and over again.

I just donated. You too?

Associated Press Debunks The ‘Birth Tourism’ Myth

Wonk Room � Associated Press Debunks The ‘Birth Tourism’ Myth

I appreciate Andrea Nill's work on this issue. As Rep. Steve King and South Carolina's Senator Linsdsey Graham gear up to change the constitution to suit their homophobic fear of "anchor babies," it would be good to shine the light on the truth of this issue.

As with lots of good rightist ideas, this much is true: no one thinks the IDEA of anchor babies is fair or just. The problem with this is that the reality just doesn't support the idea. The problem doesn't exist! The AP debunktion shows that so few of these babies exist that to change the constitution and suffer the unintended consequences would turn this small problem into a serious one.

To review: Rightists want to change the constitution to protect America from "anchor babies" that don't exist in significant numbers. They would seek to declare them "persona non grata" and therefore subject only to the jurisdiction of their home country. Any one want to see Mexican police roaming the streets of your home town looking for foriegn criminals? Maybe every now NOT-illegal immigrant will have diplomatic immunity. No green card needed....

Funny how the Rightists can be the wrongest...

Amusing...

Paycheck Fairness Dies in the Senate | The Nation

Paycheck Fairness Dies in the Senate | The Nation

So what could have possibly caused all Republicans to vote against this bill? Not good for business? Not good for the weathy? They might have to pay for more litigation against their corrupt business practices?

The face of fascism....

Of Nazis and Fascists

Fox News Chief Roger Ailes Blasts National Public Radio Brass as ‘Nazis’ - The Daily Beast

Perhaps some new words need to inserted into the debate now.  Mr. Ailes is a prominent member of the media and has done his utmost to define the debate according to his opinion and observations.  I think it would be perfectly fair to characterize his position as fascism.


Fascism is literally an authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization.  Mr. Ailes is without a doubt as right a right winger as you can find.  I think folks could argue this point, but Mr. Ailes is certainly as close to being a Fascist as Mr. Obama is a socialist, or NPR is a Nazi organization.

Let's make a vow.  Anytime you hear socialist or nazi applied to someone who holds liberal social views, lets feel free to point out that the the right wing partisans who hold rightist views are just as likely to be fascists.  It is what it is folks.

Stop the Earmarks - America has Spoken

The Daily News Record: Editorial Opinion

Actually no. Not nearly so fast.  America has responded to a bad economy and lots and lots of hubris from those who only seek to regain power.  America has sheepishly (Really Mad Sheep... I'll admit) responded once again with a "wave" election that seeks to fruitlessly "throw the bums out." Not much will change.  I do hope that the earmark process can be brought under control though.

The earmarks that get a bad name are in the form of kickbacks to cronies, bribes to wealthy constituents or "pay for play" money channeled in and out of congressional offices. The issue is more  of Congress policing itself through ethics enforcement than curbing the legitimate use of the House funding authority. That's a much harder issue to demagogue when all Republicans are required to march lock-step and view their political mission as all out warfare against Democrats. I conjecture that lots of those shady deals and bribes in the form of earmarks are simply funding the "battle" in the view of those who use them.  

The earmarks that come back to congressional districts as "bacon" are not the congressional excesses that most Americans are objecting to. Let's talk about junkets overseas to proselytize dictators, or Cold War weapons systems that are kept around as jobs programs, or subsidies and bribes in the form of tax breaks for the wealthiest citizens, or, most especially, the imperialistic warfare waged in foreign countries that represent no threat to our national security.

This little sliver of the budget Mr. DeMint and our editor are so willing to nobly slash represents the government working for it's citizens. Check our own representative, the good Republican Mr. Goodlatte's, "bacon" that he's brought to our district through earmarks. Here's just a small sample:

"For example, Goodlatte’s fiscal year 2008 earmarks included $294,000 for the Wayne Theatre Alliance in Waynesboro for renovations to the Wayne Theatre, $245,000 for renovations to a historic theater at the Lynchburg Academy of Music and $245,000 that Goodlatte says was used to make street improvements to the historic market in downtown Roanoke." (source)

Even Mr. Goodlatte, who would like to reform the process, is still in favor of using the earmark process to do good things for the citizens of his district. He realizes that some of his colleagues abuse the privilege but he also realizes that it is one way he can represent his constituents in a direct, meaningful way. In this area, he's doing a good job.  Here's a question for our editor, "Is even Mr. Goodlatte now too liberal for you sir?"

Three Good Ideas And Three Not So Good Ideas From The Chairmen Of The Debt Commission

Three Good Ideas And Three Not So Good Ideas From The Chairmen Of The Debt Commission

At long last, the debate we should be having. Revenue and Spending. We need to decide as a nation what we need to do together, and what we simply wish we had. Then we need to figure out a way to pay for it. Simple.

The best point made in this post by Michael Linden is the cuts in the Defense Budget. It's guns and butter. In this case, the average American would not feel any of the defense cuts. They would not affect any part of anyone's life except the folks actually working in a defense plant and the fat cats pushing needless and pointless weapons programs as a "jobs" program.

Cutting health care, education, science, food and drug safety, and law enforcement actually does make our lives much more insecure and dangerous. Our lives depend on all of the above in a much more real and personal way than anything the bloated defense budget can offer us.

It's time to protect the common folk and not so much the imperialistic capitalists who need to expand their profit base in foreign lands.

On the revenue side, at long last comes the recognition that there must be a way to pay for the things we choose do to together as a nation.  The government must be made to work efficiently FOR the American people who aren't the wealthiest and most powerful.  The government must protect the interests of those who are pretty much powerless to protect themselves.

This is a pretty good start. 

GOP and Health Care - Rampant Endemic Hypocrisy

Richard Cohen - Boehner's health delusion

Yes, let's return to the health care debate. Mr. Cohen accurately points out the realities of the status quo. This is the GOP position. They want to roll health care reform back to where it was in 2009, The Status Quo. Babies don't reach their 1st birthday. Don't get asthma, diabetes, or kidney disease because your chances of recovery are much less than in rest of the world. Don't expect to live as long or as healthy as the rest of the "1st World." Let millions go without adequate health care until it's too little, too late. Allow wealth to determine health and well-being.

According to the GOP, a weak and struggling working class is just fine. They must think if we're a little hungry and something hurts, we'll work for less and be happy to take the crumbs from the rich man's table. According to the GOP, no reform is the best reform. According to the GOP, socialized medicine is only for Senators and Congressmen (including Mr. Boehner and his fellow in the Senate, Mr. McConnell).

If they have their way, the most important government employees of all, soldiers, would be cast adrift in the sea of private health care. "Thanks guys, your sacrifice means nothing to us after we've chewed you up and spit you out. We, after all, are the ones who gave you that chance for glory on the field of battle. You should thank us for the opportunity and then gratefully disappear."

Yes, let's return to the health care debate. Show us your answers. Show us your plan. You didn't like the Democratic Party's plan too much, especially after you filled it so full of shit that even Democrats almost helped you kill it for stinkin'. Can you guys even be serious about this? Do you really have a fatal case of Rampant Endemic Hypocrisy?

Yes, this is a Conservative Country.

The Daily News Record: Editorial Opinion

The Daily News Record: Editorial Opinion

Yep. Most of us say we are conservative. Conservative is the act of conserving what is important to our safety and well-being as a society, conserving our natural resources so that they will sustain us long into the future, and conserve our financial resources so we can pay for what we need as well as some of the things we want.

@editor. You sir are not a conservative. You are a radical capitalist. Good for business is not always good for society. Government is not the enemy, it is us. Hating government is hating its citizens, its ability to govern itself, and its ability to protect and defend us all.

I have just been accused of being a communist on these pages, yet I would say that I am more conservative than my accuser and more conservative than you, sir. I would conserve the rights and freedoms of ALL of our citizens, not just the most privileged. I would conserve our natural resources so that we can be secure and have what we all need to survive. I would conserve our national wealth so that taxes could remain low, and our debts could be paid.

I would approve of a conservative national defense that would protect our interests but not engage in imperialistic nation building. I would approve of a conservative fiscal policy that would rein in Wall Street and the biggest banks by not allowing them to gamble the national treasure on risky swaps and fuzzy financial schemes. I would conserve the nations health by ensuring that every citizen is able to have adequate health care without fear of bankruptcy.

Mr. Editor, I agree that most Americans are conservative. Your advocacy of the radical right has little to do with anything close to conservatism. This blowout you are predicting will not lead to any solutions to the nation's problems. No one knows what the folks that are coming into leadership will do. What does "cut spending" mean? What does "smaller government" mean? How does this translate into actual governance? I don't know, the country doesn't know, and I pretty certain that you don't even know.

I wish us the best. We've survived one "Contract for America," we'll survive this one.