Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Ben Nelson Retiring Ahead Of 2012 Election
Ben Nelson Retiring Ahead Of 2012 Election One less conservative Democrat who opposed progressive legislation like a public option for health insurance and often voted with Republicans, but he was one of the 60 votes that stopped progressive legislation dead in the U.S. Senate. He was a pathetic corrupt politician.
Monday, December 19, 2011
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
A Fair Shot v. You’re-On-Your-Own Economics
A Fair Shot v. You’re-On-Your-Own Economics: pA Truly American Idea: An Economy That Works For Everyone “I hold that while man exists it is his duty to improve not only his own condition, but to assist in ameliorating mankind.” “The absence of effective State, and, especially, national, restraint upon unfair money-getting has tended to create a small class of enormously wealthy [...]/p
Obama's speech in Kansas echos progressive Republican Teddy Roosevelt, and reflects the Occupy movement's focus on income and wealth inequality.
Obama's speech in Kansas echos progressive Republican Teddy Roosevelt, and reflects the Occupy movement's focus on income and wealth inequality.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Right-Wing Playbook on OWS
OWS Series | Right Wing Watch
People for the American Way has a great series on the Right-Wing Playbook on Occupy Wall Street
Monday, November 28, 2011
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Tea Partier to Occupier: 'Y'all ought to be joining us' - US news - Life - msnbc.com
Tea Partier to Occupier: 'Y'all ought to be joining us' - US news - Life - msnbc.com
Midsouth Tea Party has it wrong though, they should join the Occupy Movement and quit defending the corporate rich!
Midsouth Tea Party has it wrong though, they should join the Occupy Movement and quit defending the corporate rich!
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Republican Debate: GOP Presidential Candidates Face Off In Michigan (LIVE UPDATES)
Republican Debate: GOP Presidential Candidates Face Off In Michigan (LIVE UPDATES)
Rick Perry is Toast, Herman Cain is a sexist...
Michelle Bachman wants the poor to pay more taxes...
Geez... this is the best the GOP has?
Lucky Obama
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Monday, November 7, 2011
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Friday, October 28, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Norris-Todd Co-Sponsor Arrested in Nashville for DUI
Norris-Todd Co-Sponsor Arrested in Nashville for DUI: State Rep. Curry Todd (R-Collierville), booked into Davidson County Jail, also faces handgun charges.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
With Record Number Of Americans Falling Into Poverty, Rand Paul Says The Poor Are Getting Rich
With Record Number Of Americans Falling Into Poverty, Rand Paul Says The Poor Are Getting Rich: pCensus data revealed today that a record 46.2 million Americans were living in poverty in 2010. But in an aptly-timed hearing entitled “Is Poverty A Death Sentence,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) flat out rejected the idea that poverty in the U.S is worrisome. As the Ranking Member of the Senate Health subcommittee, Paul offered a [...]/p
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Monday, August 29, 2011
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Bush + Tea Party = Rick Perry!
Bush + Tea Party = Rick Perry
Would American voters elect another dumb Texas governor who thinks GOD wants him to be president to preside over the Rapture?
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Friday, August 5, 2011
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Monday, August 1, 2011
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Misleading Americans About the Debt Limit
House Republicans shift responsibility for a crisis THEY created
Misleading Americans About the Debt Limit
Misleading Americans About the Debt Limit
Friday, July 29, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
The Last Word: Rep. Marsha Blackburn LIES on MSNBC
Watch this video on VideoSurf or see more Marsha Blackburn Videos or Lawrence ODonnell Videos
MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell calls out Rep. Marsha Blackburn for her response to Obama's debt plans.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
ALEC EXPOSED
ALEC EXPOSED(TN) See what the corporate backed "American Legislative Exchange Council" has been up to in Tennessee.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Pres. Obama Tells GOP: "Don't Call My Bluff"
President Obama to Cantor: "Don't Call My Bluff"
As debt ceilimg talks break down, President Obama calls the GOP's Bluff
As debt ceilimg talks break down, President Obama calls the GOP's Bluff
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Sunday, June 12, 2011
"Justice For All" Rally Seeks to Unify Progressive Causes - WREG
"Justice For All" Rally Seeks to Unify Progressive Causes - WREG
A coalition of progressives groups representative women, labor, immigrants, and the LGBT community, organized a rally Saturday in Memphis to protest recent actions by the conservative Republican Tennessee legislature to restrict the collective bargaining rights of public employees, cut funding for Planned Parenthood, and to rollback and prohibit local laws to prohibit discrimination against gays and lesbians and LGBT people.
In addition to anti-gay and anti-labor legislation at the state level, the Memphis City government is considering proposals to privatize sanitation services and destroy the local AFSCME labor union that Dr. MLK came to Memphis to march with to protest low wages prior to his assassination.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Monday, June 6, 2011
GOP Can’t Handle The Truth: Taxes Are Lower Under Obama Than Reagan
For seven of Reagan’s eight years in office, the top tax rate was higher than the current 35 percent. In six of those years, it was 50 percent or more. And every year that Regan was in office, the bottom tax bracket was higher than the current ten percent.
For a family of four, the “average income tax rate under Reagan in 1983 was 11.06 percent. Under Clinton in 1992, it was 9.18 percent. And under Obama in 2010, it was 4.68 percent.” During Reagan’s time, income tax revenue ranged from 7.8 to 9.4 percent of GDP. Last year, it was 6.2 percent and is not projected to climb back to 9 percent until 2016. In fact, in 2009, Americans paid their lowest taxes in 60 years.
Republicans are very fond of saying that the U.S. has “a spending problem, not a revenue problem.” But the truth is that revenue has plunged due to the recession and to continued misguided tax cuts, and revenue needs to be raised to eventually bring the budget into balance. And Reagan knew that taxes were an important part of the budget equation. After all, he “raised taxes in seven of his eight years in office,” including four times in just two years.
Thom Hartmann vs. Ben Ferguson
Memphis right-wing butthole Ben Ferguson "debating" liberal talk show host Thom Hartmann on jobs. A good example of how a thoughtful liberal argument cannot "win" against a loudmouth right-wing idiot.
CNN: Hartmann vs. Ferguson
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Judge: Corporate Donations Ban Unconstitutional | Common Dreams
Judge: Corporate Donations Ban Unconstitutional | Common Dreams
We can kiss "democracy" goodbye, until we amend the Constitution to make it clear that corporations are NOT "people"!
Move to Amend
We can kiss "democracy" goodbye, until we amend the Constitution to make it clear that corporations are NOT "people"!
Move to Amend
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Tennessee Green Lights Discrimination
Tennessee legislature passes and governor signs bill overturning and prohibiting cities from passing non-discrimination ordinances or policies to protect LGBT people from discrimination.
Gay Rights advocates began calling out companies that were part of the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce which supported the bill. Many of the issued statements opposing the bill and asking the governor to veto it, AFTER the bill was already passed and signed!
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Mr. Ryan’s Neighborhood -- In These Times
Mr. Ryan’s Neighborhood -- In These Times
House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) star is rising fast, as Beltway pundits describe his plan to cut $6.2 trillion in federal spending over 10 years as a “courageous” and “thoughtful” strategy to hold down spending on “entitlements.”
But in contrast to his climb to prominence, Ryan’s district—like many across the United States—continues to decline and shows few signs of economic recovery. To understand the implications of Ryan’s proposed “Path to Prosperity” budget, which passed the House in April, let’s examine whether it would help his own constituents.
The 1st Congressional District in southeastern Wisconsin is in dire straits. Prolonged unemployment—14.1 percent in Racine—has exacted a painful toll on family and community life. The region has been plagued by plant shutdowns and relocations, like the 3,800-worker Delphi plant closing in Oak Creek and the 1,800 workers who lost their jobs when General Motors shut its Janesville plant in 2008. Child poverty has risen sharply in recent years. In Ryan’s hometown of Janesville, 50 percent of school children are eligible for free or reduced-cost lunches. Similarly, the HealthNet free clinic in Janesville has faced a 77-percent jump in the number of people seeking healthcare between 2008 and 2010. Most tragically, Janesville has experienced a near-doubling in suicides over the past two years. “We were seeing a lot of them who had just lost their jobs or were unemployed and couldn’t find work,” coroner Jenifer Keach told the Janesville Gazette in March. “For a lot of people, right now, financial pressure is just huge.”
With his district in need of new family-supporting jobs and social services, Ryan claims that his budget plan will unleash economic growth—although nearly two-thirds of the cuts would fall on poor families, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP).
So how does Ryan’s bill promise to turn around the crises facing his district? For the 1st District’s nearly 33,000 jobless workers, Ryan claims to be an advocate of “life-long learning” to help people adapt to the jobs of the future. But his “Path to Prosperity” would cut funding for job-training programs around the country.
“The cuts he is proposing would have a devastating effect on the hardest-hit workers in Wisconsin, with cities like Racine and Beloit way above the national average in unemployment,” says Robert Borremans, executive director of the Southwest Wisconsin Workforce Development Board. “The cuts would mean that displaced workers would be shut out of new opportunities.”
Ryan is also pushing for cuts to Pell Grants for education, which the CBPP considers one of the most effective ways to help low-income students enter the middle class. Funding for Head Start, the program for poor pre-school children, would be reduced by the equivalent of 218,000 pupils under his plan.
Lack of healthcare is also a problem in the district, as employers have reduced coverage for many full-time workers, and most part-time workers are not eligible. But rather than supporting government programs to provide healthcare to all who need it, the “Path to Prosperity” would de-fund and repeal the healthcare reform law signed by President Obama in 2010. And in spite of the growing hunger problem reported by food pantries in his district, Ryan would reduce spending on emergency food programs by more than $125 billion over 10 years, the CBPP reports.
For future retirees, Ryan proposes replacing Medicare, which essentially guarantees almost all care needed by senior citizens, with a voucher to buy insurance. By 2030, seniors would have to pay two-thirds of their healthcare costs compared with 25 percent under the current system.
The congressman does, however, offer assistance to corporations by lowering their maximum 35-percent tax rate to 25 percent, while continuing the massive Bush tax cuts to the rich.
At an April 20 town hall meeting in Milton, Ryan’s proposal for these tax cuts drew a chorus of boos when he tried to label them as essential to “creating jobs.” Six days later in Kenosha, outside another public meeting, constituents held up signs that read: “Hands off my Medicare,” “Ryan Hood steals from us to give to the rich,” and “Paul Ryan stop lyin’. “
House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) star is rising fast, as Beltway pundits describe his plan to cut $6.2 trillion in federal spending over 10 years as a “courageous” and “thoughtful” strategy to hold down spending on “entitlements.”
But in contrast to his climb to prominence, Ryan’s district—like many across the United States—continues to decline and shows few signs of economic recovery. To understand the implications of Ryan’s proposed “Path to Prosperity” budget, which passed the House in April, let’s examine whether it would help his own constituents.
The 1st Congressional District in southeastern Wisconsin is in dire straits. Prolonged unemployment—14.1 percent in Racine—has exacted a painful toll on family and community life. The region has been plagued by plant shutdowns and relocations, like the 3,800-worker Delphi plant closing in Oak Creek and the 1,800 workers who lost their jobs when General Motors shut its Janesville plant in 2008. Child poverty has risen sharply in recent years. In Ryan’s hometown of Janesville, 50 percent of school children are eligible for free or reduced-cost lunches. Similarly, the HealthNet free clinic in Janesville has faced a 77-percent jump in the number of people seeking healthcare between 2008 and 2010. Most tragically, Janesville has experienced a near-doubling in suicides over the past two years. “We were seeing a lot of them who had just lost their jobs or were unemployed and couldn’t find work,” coroner Jenifer Keach told the Janesville Gazette in March. “For a lot of people, right now, financial pressure is just huge.”
With his district in need of new family-supporting jobs and social services, Ryan claims that his budget plan will unleash economic growth—although nearly two-thirds of the cuts would fall on poor families, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP).
So how does Ryan’s bill promise to turn around the crises facing his district? For the 1st District’s nearly 33,000 jobless workers, Ryan claims to be an advocate of “life-long learning” to help people adapt to the jobs of the future. But his “Path to Prosperity” would cut funding for job-training programs around the country.
“The cuts he is proposing would have a devastating effect on the hardest-hit workers in Wisconsin, with cities like Racine and Beloit way above the national average in unemployment,” says Robert Borremans, executive director of the Southwest Wisconsin Workforce Development Board. “The cuts would mean that displaced workers would be shut out of new opportunities.”
Ryan is also pushing for cuts to Pell Grants for education, which the CBPP considers one of the most effective ways to help low-income students enter the middle class. Funding for Head Start, the program for poor pre-school children, would be reduced by the equivalent of 218,000 pupils under his plan.
Lack of healthcare is also a problem in the district, as employers have reduced coverage for many full-time workers, and most part-time workers are not eligible. But rather than supporting government programs to provide healthcare to all who need it, the “Path to Prosperity” would de-fund and repeal the healthcare reform law signed by President Obama in 2010. And in spite of the growing hunger problem reported by food pantries in his district, Ryan would reduce spending on emergency food programs by more than $125 billion over 10 years, the CBPP reports.
For future retirees, Ryan proposes replacing Medicare, which essentially guarantees almost all care needed by senior citizens, with a voucher to buy insurance. By 2030, seniors would have to pay two-thirds of their healthcare costs compared with 25 percent under the current system.
The congressman does, however, offer assistance to corporations by lowering their maximum 35-percent tax rate to 25 percent, while continuing the massive Bush tax cuts to the rich.
At an April 20 town hall meeting in Milton, Ryan’s proposal for these tax cuts drew a chorus of boos when he tried to label them as essential to “creating jobs.” Six days later in Kenosha, outside another public meeting, constituents held up signs that read: “Hands off my Medicare,” “Ryan Hood steals from us to give to the rich,” and “Paul Ryan stop lyin’. “
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Newt's In, Huck's Out
Mike Huckabee Not Running for President in 2012
Probably so he can continue to rack in money on Fox. Not to worry, he will be the VP pick of the nominee.
But Huckabee's decision not to run doesn't leave the GOP with many qualified or electable candidates for 2010. Mitt Romney has flip-flopped from a "moderate" pro-choice, gay rights Republican to a fake "family values" conservative, who once supported "Romneycare" before Obama borrowed it and made it national law. Newt Gingich has his share of flips and flops, including several marriages and adulterous relationships. Neither has much of a chance of winning the support of the Tea Party Right, or the primary. That leaves... Ron Paul? No chance. Tim Pawlenty? Who? I'm starting to feel sorry for Republicans in 2012.
Mike Huckabee's Exit Further Widens GOP Presidential Field
Friday, May 13, 2011
Rachel Maddow: GOP Engaged in Culture War
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Eyes on Memphis Wed. 8 AM KWAM 990
Be sure to listen to Eyes on Memphis
KWAM 990, Wed. 8 AM
with your hosts Lexi Carter & Cheri Delbroco
Your ONLY liberal/progressive talk radio show in Memphis
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Monday, April 4, 2011
43rd Annual March Honoring MLK in Memphis April 4 2011
MLK came to Memphis to stand WITH public workers and unions representing sanitation workers in Memphis. It was his last stand for justice and equality.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Madison Rally Bigger than Biggest Tea Party
Police estimated up to 100,000 people turned out in Madison, WI yesterday to protest Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) assault on unions, making it bigger than any protests the city has witnessed, even those during the Vietnam War. The Madison rally is part of a much larger Main Street Movement of average Americans demanding fairness in labor laws, social spending, and taxation that has emerged in Ohio, New Jersey, Florida,Michigan, and elsewhere. But yesterday’s rally in Madison is noteworthy because at 85,000-100,000, it was bigger than the biggest tea party protest, the September 12, 2009 rally in Washington, D.C., which turned out only an estimated 60,000-70,000. A photo of the Madison rally yesterday:
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Tea Party Leads Assault on Tennessee Education Association
Following the national agenda of the Tea Party and Right-Wing Republicans, Tennessee conservatives, led by the Tea Party, are attacking the Tennessee Education Association and the NEA. This assault on the right of teachers unions to collectively organize and bargain for better pay and working conditions is party of a national strategy by the Republican Party and anti-union Libertarian corporate groups to destroy labor unions, especially those representing public employees, by blaming them for the state deficits.
Social conservatives, like the Eagle's Forum and the Family Action Council of Tennessee, are also attacking the TEA and NEA for being too "liberal" on issues like teaching evolution and acceptance of homosexuality.
The real agenda is the effort by the Republican Party to destroy the ability of the Democratic Party to get campaign funds from unions to counter the corporate funders of the conservative movement and the Republican Party.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
CPAC 2011: Republicans Court Wing-Nuts
It's another CPAC convention, with the Republican Party and potential GOP candidates courting the wing-nuts of CPAC. There was some controversy over whether the right-wing gay GOProud should even be allowed in the convention, several of the religious right conservatives couldn't accept such "liberalism" and stayed away. GOProud was rewarded by listening to one anti-gay speech after another, as the GOP candidates tried to prove how conservative and intolerant they are.
The Tea Party alliance with the Republican Party has not got off to a good start, as the GOP leaders in Congress have backed off or broken almost every pledge they made from cutting $100 billion from the budget (only $32 billion so far), following the U.S. Constitution on every bill, open debate, etc.
Did they Tea Party really think corporate stooges like Boehner and McConnell were really going to support their "revolution"??
Here's some highlights of the wing nut convention:
Media Matters: CPAC 2011 Coverage
Tea Party Welcomed by the Republican Party
11 of the Tea Party GOP's Most Ridiculous Policy Ideas (So Far)
12 Examples of Stunning Hypocrisy from Tea Party Republicans in One Short Month
Sorry Tea Partiers--The GOP Only Cares About their Corporate Paymasters and the Rich (like the Koch Brothers)
Sunday, February 6, 2011
The Reagan Myth
It's the 100th birthday of Ronald Reagan, and the right-wing Reagan revisionists are hard at work distorting the real history and record of Reagan. It is odd that the Tea Party would celebrate the President who brought historical deficit spending and raised taxes 11 times, not to mention his support of "amnesty" for illegal immigrants and his palling around with the Communist leader of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev, with whom he pledged to rid the world of nuclear weapons.
Reagan campaigned against "big government" and the debt, and in eight years he more than tripled it from $700 billion to $3 trillion! In fact, Reagan ran up more debt than all preceding U.S. presidents combined!
His version of "supply-side" economics ("Reaganomics") was a disaster that failed to increase enough revenue to overcome his doubling of the military budget and other expansions of government. And it was Ronald Reagan who supported the doubling of the payroll tax to save the "socialist" Social Security system which is still a target of the right-wing corporate elite.
His administration was plagued by scandals and crimes, including the Iran-Contra scandal, which uncovered an illegal secret government operating in the basement of the White House to support the contra terrorists in Nicaragua by selling military arms to the Iranian government, all in violation of U.S. and international law.. in fact the Reagan administration was found guilty of supporting terrorism against the Nicaraguan government by the World Court! And somehow he was saved from impeachment by an inept Democratic congress which could not impeach him for illegal actions they largely supported.
So here's to the 100th birthday of Ronald Reagan!
Revisiting the Reagan Nightmare
The Unfortunate Truth About Ronald Reagan
Five Myths About Reagan's Legacy
10 Things Conservatives Don't Want You to Know About Reagan
Reagan: Morning After in America
Ronald Reagan's 30-Year Time Bombs
Ronald Reagan: Enemy of the American Worker
Reagan Celebration Hides Brutal History
The Real Reagan Legacy
The Real Ronald Reagan
The Reagan Record
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
The State of the Union: Obama vs. Progressives
President Obama's SOTU speech received mostly positive reviews from the mainstream press, but progressives were not happy with the President's "move to the center," and embracing of much of the Republican talking points on cutting spending and corporate taxes, or his championing of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, which he is NOT ending as promised. Mostly, the democratic left was disappointed that Obama failed to take on Wall Street and the financial organizations that were responsible for the current economic crises, and that he did not speak out against outsourcing of U.S. jobs overseas. Like the last corporatist Democratic President, Bill Clinton, Obama is embracing the rhetoric and worldview of his opponents in the Republican Party on "free trade," and American "exceptionalism."
Obama did give a weak defense of Social Security, making it unclear if he would go along with the recommendations of his own deficit commission to cut SS benefits or raise the retirement age.
Obama's Corporate State of the Union
Was the President's Address Total Hogwash?
Obama Defends Social Security, But Aligns with Wall Street on Exporting American Jobs
The Obama/GOP Consensus
Obama Rehashes Dubious Claims About Wars
Obama Calls for Corporate Tax Cuts
The "Sputnik Moment" That Wasn't
But At least Barack Obama was not as bad as his GOP & Tea Party Opponents:
Paul Ryan's SOTU Rebuttal: The Best They Got?
Michele Bachmann's "Rogue" Tea Party Response
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Republicans Forgo Jobs for Cultural War
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Monday, January 24, 2011
The Tea Party Republican Road to Disaster
Look who the Republican Party chose to present their rebuttal to President Obama's State of the Union Tuesday--Rep. Paul Ryan! Ryan is best known for his "Roadmap for America's Future" which called for privatizing and cutting Social Security and Medicare, a plan that was so radical no major Republican endorsed it!
Think Progress Has more:
Ryan's Radical Vision
Republicans announced last Friday that Rep. Paul Ryan (WI), chairman of the House Budget Committee, will deliver the GOP's response to President Obama's State of the Union address tomorrow. According to reports, GOP leaders chose Ryan because he is supposedly a "champion of slashing government spending." The seven-term Wisconsin congressman gives Republicans a "chance to emphasize their core message: government spending must come down to reduce the nation's annual deficit and long-term debt." House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said Ryan -- who has been given "stunning and unprecedented" power to shape the budget -- is "uniquely qualified to address the state of our economy and the fiscal challenges that face our country." Ryan is known as the GOP's numbers guy in the House, and he laid out last year what he calls a "Roadmap" to fiscal health. But as the Washington Post's Ezra Klein notes, "The more they elevate Ryan, the more they elevate Ryan's Roadmap. And that document is a timebomb for them."
PRIVATIZING ENTITLEMENTS: Ryan's Roadmap puts Americans on the path of privatizing entitlement programs, such as Social Security. The plan boasts about "the creation of personal investment accounts for future retirees" that are "the property of the individual." (Emphasis in the original document). "Individuals will be able to join the investor class for the first time," the Roadmap says. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) notes that "the Ryan plan proposes large cuts in Social Security benefits -- roughly 16 percent for the average new retiree in 2050 and 28 percent in 2080 from price indexing alone." It "initially diverts most of these savings to help fund private accounts rather than to restore Social Security solvency." CBPP also notes that the Roadmap "would eliminate traditional Medicare, most of Medicaid, and all of the Children's Health Insurance Program" by creating a private voucher system that won't keep up with the cost of health care. By 2080, under Ryan's plan, the Medicare program would be reduced by nearly 80 percent below its projected size under current policies. CBPP summed up Ryan's plan: The Roadmap's cuts "would be so severe that CBO estimates they would shrink total federal expenditures (other than on interest payments) from roughly 19 percent of GDP in recent years to just 13.8 percent of GDP by 2080. Federal spending has not equaled such a low level of GDP since 1950, when Medicare and Medicaid did not yet exist, Social Security failed to cover many workers, and close to half of the elderly people in the United States lived below the poverty line."
MIDDLE CLASS TAX INCREASES: Citizens for Tax Justice found that Ryan's Roadmap would raise taxes on 90 percent of taxpayers and drastically lower them for the richest Americans. The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) recently reported that the rates for the middle class would be higher than those for the rich under Ryan's plan. "Middle-class families earning between $50,000 and $75,000 a year would see their average tax rate jump to 19.1% (from 17.7%) under this plan -- an increase of $900 on average," EPI says, while at the same time, "Millionaires would see their average tax rate drop to 12.8%, less than half of what they would pay relative to current policy." As EPI's Andrew Fieldhouse concluded, under the Roadmap, "a long tradition of progressive taxation would be abandoned; millionaires and Wall Street bankers would pay significantly lower tax rates than middle-class workers. ... Income inequality would soar." In another giveaway to the rich, the Roadmap calls for a total repeal of the estate and corporate taxes and would introduce a national sales tax. Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ) said this idea "would eat up a much larger percentage of total income for poor and middle-class families than wealthy families" because the former "spend most or all of their income on consumption," while "high-income families are able to save much more of their income." Ryan's plan claims federal tax revenue will be 19 percent of GDP, but the Tax Policy Center found last year that his proposal would only bring in "approximately 16 percent of GDP, which amounts to a $4 trillion revenue shortfall over ten years."
LESS REVENUE, MORE DEBT: Despite raising taxes on 90 percent of Americans, the federal government will lose $2 trillion in revenues over the next 10 years under Ryan's plan, according to CTJ. "It's difficult to design a tax plan that will lose $2 trillion over a decade even while requiring 90 percent of taxpayers to pay more. But Congressman Ryan has met that daunting challenge," CTJ wrote. Looking at the most optimistic figures, the Roadmap won't balance the budget until at least 2063 and it won't reduce federal debt for decades, exceeding 100 percent of GDP before starting to come down. While proposing drastic cuts to entitlement programs, Ryan said he wants to reduce discretionary spending -- which includes such expenditures as education, homeland security and other defense spending -- but he has no idea what programs to cut. "I can't tell you the answer to that," he said earlier this month. However, anticipating the plan's unpopularity, GOP leadership isn't publicly embracing Ryan's plan but at the same time, it appears willing to allow it to go forward. During the midterm election campaign, the GOP dropped Ryan's Roadmap from its "Pledge to America" scheme and as the conservative National Review noted last week, "praise for the Wisconsin Republican comes easy and often, full-scale endorsement of the roadmap less so." But while Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) said last week that he supports only "elements" of the plan, he said yesterday on NBC's Meet the Press that "we need to embrace" its direction. And last year, Boehner wouldn't endorse the Roadmap, but at the same time couldn't name any specific part he disagreed with. But if Boehner dislikes Ryan's plan so much, it's unclear why he made him chairman of the House Budget Committee and gave him new and unprecedented powers to unilaterally set spending limits instead of subjecting those limits to a vote on the House floor. Speaking of Ryan's new power, Budget Committee Ranking Member Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) said, "Unfortunately, the House GOP is reverting back to the same arrogant governing style they implemented when they last held the majority and turned a surplus into a huge deficit."
PRIVATIZING ENTITLEMENTS: Ryan's Roadmap puts Americans on the path of privatizing entitlement programs, such as Social Security. The plan boasts about "the creation of personal investment accounts for future retirees" that are "the property of the individual." (Emphasis in the original document). "Individuals will be able to join the investor class for the first time," the Roadmap says. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) notes that "the Ryan plan proposes large cuts in Social Security benefits -- roughly 16 percent for the average new retiree in 2050 and 28 percent in 2080 from price indexing alone." It "initially diverts most of these savings to help fund private accounts rather than to restore Social Security solvency." CBPP also notes that the Roadmap "would eliminate traditional Medicare, most of Medicaid, and all of the Children's Health Insurance Program" by creating a private voucher system that won't keep up with the cost of health care. By 2080, under Ryan's plan, the Medicare program would be reduced by nearly 80 percent below its projected size under current policies. CBPP summed up Ryan's plan: The Roadmap's cuts "would be so severe that CBO estimates they would shrink total federal expenditures (other than on interest payments) from roughly 19 percent of GDP in recent years to just 13.8 percent of GDP by 2080. Federal spending has not equaled such a low level of GDP since 1950, when Medicare and Medicaid did not yet exist, Social Security failed to cover many workers, and close to half of the elderly people in the United States lived below the poverty line."
MIDDLE CLASS TAX INCREASES: Citizens for Tax Justice found that Ryan's Roadmap would raise taxes on 90 percent of taxpayers and drastically lower them for the richest Americans. The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) recently reported that the rates for the middle class would be higher than those for the rich under Ryan's plan. "Middle-class families earning between $50,000 and $75,000 a year would see their average tax rate jump to 19.1% (from 17.7%) under this plan -- an increase of $900 on average," EPI says, while at the same time, "Millionaires would see their average tax rate drop to 12.8%, less than half of what they would pay relative to current policy." As EPI's Andrew Fieldhouse concluded, under the Roadmap, "a long tradition of progressive taxation would be abandoned; millionaires and Wall Street bankers would pay significantly lower tax rates than middle-class workers. ... Income inequality would soar." In another giveaway to the rich, the Roadmap calls for a total repeal of the estate and corporate taxes and would introduce a national sales tax. Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ) said this idea "would eat up a much larger percentage of total income for poor and middle-class families than wealthy families" because the former "spend most or all of their income on consumption," while "high-income families are able to save much more of their income." Ryan's plan claims federal tax revenue will be 19 percent of GDP, but the Tax Policy Center found last year that his proposal would only bring in "approximately 16 percent of GDP, which amounts to a $4 trillion revenue shortfall over ten years."
LESS REVENUE, MORE DEBT: Despite raising taxes on 90 percent of Americans, the federal government will lose $2 trillion in revenues over the next 10 years under Ryan's plan, according to CTJ. "It's difficult to design a tax plan that will lose $2 trillion over a decade even while requiring 90 percent of taxpayers to pay more. But Congressman Ryan has met that daunting challenge," CTJ wrote. Looking at the most optimistic figures, the Roadmap won't balance the budget until at least 2063 and it won't reduce federal debt for decades, exceeding 100 percent of GDP before starting to come down. While proposing drastic cuts to entitlement programs, Ryan said he wants to reduce discretionary spending -- which includes such expenditures as education, homeland security and other defense spending -- but he has no idea what programs to cut. "I can't tell you the answer to that," he said earlier this month. However, anticipating the plan's unpopularity, GOP leadership isn't publicly embracing Ryan's plan but at the same time, it appears willing to allow it to go forward. During the midterm election campaign, the GOP dropped Ryan's Roadmap from its "Pledge to America" scheme and as the conservative National Review noted last week, "praise for the Wisconsin Republican comes easy and often, full-scale endorsement of the roadmap less so." But while Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) said last week that he supports only "elements" of the plan, he said yesterday on NBC's Meet the Press that "we need to embrace" its direction. And last year, Boehner wouldn't endorse the Roadmap, but at the same time couldn't name any specific part he disagreed with. But if Boehner dislikes Ryan's plan so much, it's unclear why he made him chairman of the House Budget Committee and gave him new and unprecedented powers to unilaterally set spending limits instead of subjecting those limits to a vote on the House floor. Speaking of Ryan's new power, Budget Committee Ranking Member Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) said, "Unfortunately, the House GOP is reverting back to the same arrogant governing style they implemented when they last held the majority and turned a surplus into a huge deficit."
Needless to say, Rep. Paul Ryan is NO FRIEND to Social Security!
GOP Timebomb: How Republican Star Paul Ryan's Radical Roadmap would Dynamite Social Security and Medicare
STOP the Austerity Craze: Massive Budget Slashing Could Lead to Economic Disaster and Social Upheaval
Thursday, January 20, 2011
GOP House Votes to Repeal Affordable Healthcare for All
As expected, the new Republican House voted 245 to 189 to repeal the Affordable Healthcare Act passed by the previous Democratic House and Senate last year. And they continued to LIE about it!
The GOP's 5 Most Absurd Lies About Health Care Reform
GOP Health Care Repeal: A Fact-Twisting Crock
"Obamacare" and the Big GOP "JOB-KILLING" LIES
Health Reform By the Numbers
And before the right-wing Tea-baggers take their argument that the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional, they should read this:
Congress Passes "Socialized" Medicine and Mandates Health Insurance--in 1798!
The GOP's 5 Most Absurd Lies About Health Care Reform
GOP Health Care Repeal: A Fact-Twisting Crock
"Obamacare" and the Big GOP "JOB-KILLING" LIES
Health Reform By the Numbers
And before the right-wing Tea-baggers take their argument that the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional, they should read this:
Congress Passes "Socialized" Medicine and Mandates Health Insurance--in 1798!
Sunday, January 16, 2011
MLK: A Real Progressive
Even most conservatives now praise Dr. Martin Luther King as a good man who stood for equality and civil rights, etc. But MLK had a lot more to say than just judge people by the content of their character not by the color of their skin. He spoke truth to power--he stood for economic and social justice for everyone, not just racial equality. And he was an outspoken opponent of the Vietnam War.
By 1967, King had become the country's most prominent opponent of the Vietnam War, and a staunch critic of overall U.S. foreign policy, which he deemed militaristic. In his "Beyond Vietnam" speech delivered at New York's Riverside Church on April 4, 1967 -- a year to the day before he was murdered -- King called the United States "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today."
Time magazine called the speech "demagogic slander that sounded like a script for Radio Hanoi," and the Washington Post declared that King had "diminished his usefulness to his cause, his country, his people."
While conservatives, even right-wing Tea Party leaders like Glenn Beck, claim to defend MLK's dream and legacy, the truth is MLK was what they would call a "Socialist." King called for CUTTING military spending, increasing social spending to END poverty, redistribution of wealth, and an end to U.S. militarism. King condemned the individualistic, selfish, greed that defines modern conservatism and the Tea Party movement. He would support a single-payer national health care system, not private insurance companies. He would support raising taxes on the rich to provide healthcare, education, etc. for the poor, not more tax cuts and austerity plans to roll back the New Deal and Great Society. He worked with and supported socialists and communists.
In fact, MLK challenged so much of the mainstream views of America, that you will not hear about any of that on the national MLK Holiday in the United States.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Who will Stand UP to the NRA?
It is time to stand up to the NRA and the Gun Lobby! Guns DO KILL!
If the automatic weapons ban was not allowed to expire, Jared Loughner would not have been able to LEGALLY purchase a Glock semi-automatic pistol with a 30 round clip!
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence
Gun Crazy: NRA and Pentagon
Only One Fact: Loughner Got a Gun
The Second Amendment Demands Gun Control
More on Gun Control at Huffington Post
Monday, January 10, 2011
Right-Wing, Guns & Violence
Of course, the right-wing, especially the Tea Party, is on the defensive disclaiming any blame for the hateful political tone in the United States in the aftermath of the mass murder in Tucson, Arizona. The right-wing is very good at turning reality upside down, and is trying now to blame LIBERALS for inciting hate and violence, despite a lack of any evidence.
No one on the political left, certainly no major media or political personality, has said anything remotely inciting violence. But listen to the right-wing Tea Party candidates Sharon Angle ("Second Amendment Solutions") and Michelle "armed and dangerous" Bachmann. Or the crazy rantings of right-wing lunatic Glenn Beck, who actually calls for the murder and assassination of liberals and progressives on his national TV and radio shows!
Has anyone on the liberal/progressive left made any statements like these?
1. Rush Limbaugh: "I tell people don't kill all the liberals. Leave enough so we can have two on every campus – living fossils – so we will never forget what these people stood for."
2. Senator Phil Gramm: "We're going to keep building the party until we're hunting Democrats with dogs."
3. Rep. James Hansen on Bill Clinton: Get rid of the guy. Impreach him, censure him, assassinate him."
4. John Derbyshire intimated in the National Review that because Chelsea Clinton had "the taint," she should "be killed."
5. Ann Coulter: "We need to execute people like John Walker in order to physically intimidate liberals, by making them realize that they can be killed, too."
6. Ann Coulter: "My only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times building."
7. Bill O'Reilly: "ll those clowns over at the liberal radio network, we could incarcerate them immediately. Will you have that done, please? Send over the FBI and just put them in chains."
8. Clear Channel radio host Glenn Beck said he was "thinking about killing Michael Moore" and pondered whether "I could kill him myself, or if I would need to hire somebody to do it," before concluding: "No, I think I could. I think he could be looking me in the eye, you know, and I could just be choking the life out -- is this wrong?"
NO, not one!
The Tea Party and the right-wing are defensive because they KNOW they are guilty of promoting violence and hatred toward liberals and progressives.
Gabrille Giffords, a centrist Democrat, was "targeted" by Sarah Palin and the Tea Party both literally and figuratively. After the vote on healthcare reform, Giffords was among a dozen Demcrats who were the victims of vandalism and threats of violence from the Tea Party wing-nuts. When asked if Giffords had any political enemies, her husband said, "The whole Tea Party." He was right.
How Right-Wing's Rhetoric Fueled Arizona Mass Murder
Hate and Violence are Encoded on the DNA of the American Right
The Tea Party and the Tucson Tragedy
Hate Speech: The Right's Magic Bullett
And the real issue is how did a psychopath like Jared Loughner get an automatic weapon? You can thank the right-wing militia backed NRA for that too! In 1994, Bill Clinton signed into law an assault weapons ban, which would have made the Glock-19 30 round pistol Loughner used to kill five people illegal. Under George W. Bush, that law was allowed to expire.
Only One Fact in Arizona: Loughner Got a Gun
The Giffords Gun Clip: How a Weapon of Mass Destruction Became a "Second Amendment Solution"
Gun Control Timeline: 7 Big Events in the Federal Gun Control Debate
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