The real battle is coming over the debt ceiling, as Republicans will demand buts to Social Security and Medicare benefits. Obama has already agreed in principle with some of these cuts (raising retirement age and the chained CPI), but Democrats in Congress remain united against them.
Lindsay Graham: I Will Destroy America's Solvency Unless The Social Security Retirement Age Is Raised | ThinkProgress
Sunday, December 30, 2012
GOP Kills "Fiscal Cliff" Deal with Social Security Cuts
The GOP has killed the "fiscal cliff" deal by insisting on cutting Social Security benefits via the "Chained CPI", which OBAMA supports... (luckily the Democrats seem united so far against it, at least in this fiscal cliff deal, but it will be a major fight on a deal to raise the debt ceiling.. that is when the sh*t will hit the fan...) I can't understand WHY Obama is supporting the GOP plan to CUT Social Security benefits, except it is the most he wants to cut without other major cuts or raising the retirement age, but it is still a cut in future benefits, and he SHOULD stand fast against it, but he is not. We have to put a lot of pressure on progressives in Congress to stand firm against ANY cuts to Social Security or Medicare BENEFITS. Be calling and writing your representatives in Congress and prepare for battle.
Friday, December 28, 2012
GOP Senators Want To Take Debt Ceiling Hostage In Order To Raise Retirement Age
TN Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker are leading the GOP charge to hold the deficit ceiling hostage to cutting Social Security and Medicare benefits
GOP Senators Want To Take Debt Ceiling Hostage In Order To Raise Retirement Age
Monday, December 17, 2012
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Sandy Hook School Shooting: Adam Lanza Kills 26 And Himself At Connecticut School
Sandy Hook School Shooting: Adam Lanza Kills 26 And Himself At Connecticut School
It's time to take on the NRA and the Gun Lobby
Join The Brady Campaign
Coalition to Stop Gun Violence
12 Facts About Guns and Mass Shootings in the U.S.
The NRA's Wayne LaPierre Has the Blood of Connecticut Children on His Hands
How the Right has Twisted the Second Amendment
If Not Now, When is the Time to Talk About Gun Control?
WE ARE BETTER THAN THIS
Monday, December 10, 2012
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Republicans Go After "Entitlements" (i.e., The Working Class, Poor and Senior Citizens)
Sen. Corker: Debt ceiling is Republican ‘leverage’ to cut ‘entitlements’ | The Raw Story
"Moderate" Republican Sen. Bob Corker is willing to go along with raising taxes on the top ONLY to get what he and the Republicans really want, "entitlement reform," i.e. CUTS to Medicare and Social Security BENEFITS. This is the "Grand Bargain" that the GOP will try to get President Obama to agree to again, and if progressives don't push harder from the left to oppose ANY CUTS to SS or Medicare BENEFITS, Obama will probably cave.
Monday is a national day of action to call Congress and ask representatives in the House and Senate to OPPOSE any cuts to Medicare and Social Security benefits, and let the "Bush Tax Cuts" on the top 2% expire.
GOP Offers to Throw Middle Class, Elderly Over the "Fiscal Cliff"
The Obscenely Rich Men Bent on Shredding the Safety Net
Debt and Deficit Delusions
4 Ways to Leap the "Fiscal Cliff" to a Better U.S.A.
Robert Reich: Understanding the Fiscal Cliff
10 Things Republicans Don't Want You To Know About the "Fiscal Cliff"
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
UNDERSTANDING THE FISCAL CLIFF
Democrats, here are eight principles to guide you in the coming showdown over the fiscal cliff:
ONE: HOLD YOUR GROUND. The wealthy have to pay their fair share of taxes. That's what the election was all about, and we won. It's only fair they pay more. They're taking home record share of national income and wealth, and have lowest effective tax rate in living memory.
TWO: NO DEAL IS BETTER THAN A BAD DEAL. You're in a strong bargaining position. If you do nothing, the Bush tax cuts automatically expire in January, and we go back to rates during Clinton administration. Which isn't such a bad thing. As I recall we had a pretty good economy during the Clinton years.
THREE: MAKE REPUBLICANS VOTE ON EXTENDING THE TAX CUTS JUST FOR THE MIDDLE CLASS. After all the Bush tax cuts expire, have Republicans vote on an extending the Bush tax cut just for the middle-class. If they refuse and try to hold those tax cuts hostage to tax cuts for the wealthy, it will show whose side they're on. They'll pay the price in 2014.
FOUR: DEMAND HIGHER TAX RATES ON WEALTHY, NOT JUST LIMITS ON DEDUCTIONS. Don't fall for Republican offers to limit some tax deductions on the wealthy. Demand we go back to higher tax rates on the wealthy and eliminate their unfair tax loopholes, so they truly start paying their fair share.
FIVE: DON'T CUT SAFETY NETS. Don't sacrifice Medicare or Social Security, or programs for the poor. Americans depend on these safety nets and can't afford any benefit cuts.
SIX: DON'T CUT INVESTMENTS IN OUR FUTURE PRODUCTIVITY. Education, basic R&D, and infrastructure aren't spending; they're investments in our future prosperity. If the return on these investments is greater than the cost, they ought to be made, period.
SEVEN: CUT SPENDING ON MILITARY AND CORPORATE WELFARE. You want to cut, cut spending on the military -- which now exceeds the military spending of the next 13 largest military spenders in the world combined. And cut corporate welfare -- support to agribusiness, oil and gas, Big Pharma, big insurance and Wall Street.
EIGHT: PUT JOBS BEFORE DEFICIT REDUCTION. Finally, Don't cut the budget deficit as long as unemployment remains high. Otherwise you'll cause the economy to contract, making the deficit even larger in proportion. That's the austerity trap Europe has fallen into. We need to create American prosperity, not European austerity.
Remember: Jobs come first.
ROBERT B. REICH
Sunday, December 2, 2012
To Move Forward, We Must Learn from Our Progressive Past
To Move Forward, We Must Learn from Our Progressive Past | NationofChange
In The Rich Don't Always Win: The Forgotten Triumph over Plutocracy that Created the American Middle Class, labor journalist Sam Pizzigati sums up the incredible feats past progressives accomplished. They "soaked the rich" at tax time. They built a union movement that acted as a real check on corporate greed. They even tamed Wall Street. Here he summarizes some proposals to build on the past achievements and promises of the American progressive movement and get back on track.
Five Ways to Beat the Plutocrats
Friday, November 30, 2012
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Obama-Romney Debate Won By President
Obama-Romney Debate Won By President
CNN Poll: Obama Won
CBS Poll: Obama Won
Instant Polls Show Win for Obama
Business Insider: How Romney Lost the Debate
FACT CHECK:
Romney's 31 Lies
Moderator Corrects Romney: Obama DID call Benghazi Attack "Act of Terror"
Mitt Romney LIED about the "Binder" of Women in MA
Romney's 'New Math" for Jobs Plan Doesn't Add Up
Romney's "Six Studies" on his Tax Plan Debunked
Romney's Proposed Medicare Reform Would Raise Costs for 60% of Seniors
Monday, October 15, 2012
At The Vice Presidential Debate: Ryan Told 24 Myths In 40 Minutes
At The Vice Presidential Debate: Ryan Told 24 Myths In 40 Minutes:
Paul Ryan spoke for 40 of the 90 minutes during Thursday night’s vice presidential debate and managed to tell at least 24 myths during that time
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Progressives Pan Obama Following Dismal Debate
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Monday, September 17, 2012
Mitt Romney vs. the 47%
Mitt Romney Insults Half the Country
Mitt Romney Video: Barack Obama Voters 'Dependent On Government'
Mitt Romney tells his base about the 47% who will not vote for him:
47% pay no taxes, think they are victims and depend on government handouts?
Can we say "Elitist"?
Thursday, September 13, 2012
White supremacists to gather in Tenn.
White supremacists to gather in Tenn. – USATODAY.com
Yes, Islamic fundamentalists can be ignorant and violent, but so can U.S. Christian fundamentalism. Of course most, but not all, of these ignorant white racist Christians have renounced the use of violence, but they have a history they are trying to white wash.
More than 30 white supremacist organizations operate in Tennessee, representing the five strains of supremacists, according to the Anti-Defamation League. They are neo-Nazis, racist skinheads, "traditional" movements like the Ku Klux Klan, racist prison gangs and "Christian identity" groups that espouse the belief that God favors white people.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Bernie Sanders on the Independent in Politics
Bernie Sanders on the Independent in Politics
And why we need to build a stronger progressive movement..
And why we need to build a stronger progressive movement..
Bernie Sanders on the Independent in Politics from BillMoyers.com on Vimeo.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Monday, September 3, 2012
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Greed and Debt: The True Story of Romney and Bain Capital
MUST READ article by the great Matt Taibbi on the REAL Mitt Romney
Greed and Debt: The True Story of Romney and Bain Capital | Common Dreams
GOP Convention: Lyin' Ryan
Paul Ryan told a pack of LIES at last nights GOP Convention. Here's a sample:
1. Lie: President Obama is the "greatest threat" to Medicare.
Truth: Obama didn't make any cuts to Medicare benefits; he made cuts to provider reimbursements, to improve cost efficiency and extend the fiscal security of Medicare by eight years. According to the Medicare actuary, "[Obama's] Affordable Care Act makes important changes to the Medicare program and substantially improves its financial outlook."
But Ryan actually does want to cut benefits. He proposed dismantling Medicare and replacing it with a voucher system, leaving millions of seniors to come up with more money to pay for care out of pocket.
2. Lie: President Obama didn't save a General Motors plant in Wisconsin.
Truth: First, Obama wasn't even in office when the GM plant closed. Second, Obama never made a promise to save it.
3. Lie: President Obama ignored recommendations of a bipartisan debt commission.
Truth: Paul Ryan actually sat on that commission. And he led Republicans in voting down the commission's own recommendation. So the commission never gave a report to Obama, because Ryan himself voted to kill the report before it could.
4. Lie: President Obama is responsible for the downgrading of the U.S. Credit Rating.
Truth: House Republicans, including Paul Ryan, held the full faith and credit of the United States hostage to try to ransom it for trillions of dollars in cuts to social programs without increasing taxes on the wealthy one dime. Standard & Poor's said specifically, "We have changed our assumption on [revenue] because the majority of Republicans in Congress continue to resist any measure that would raise revenues." That's why our nation's credit rating was downgraded.
5. Lie: Ryan wants to protect the "weak."
Truth: Ryan's biggest feat in his political career was proposing a budget with dramatic cuts to programs benefiting the poor. He'd cut Medicaid by one third, take away health care insurance from 30 million Americans, and cut Pell Grants for 1 million students. All so that he could give more tax breaks to the rich.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Monday, August 20, 2012
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Monday, August 13, 2012
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Romney Picks Ryan: Romney/Ryan
So Romney has picked his running mate, Paul Ryan, and embraced an Ayn Rand social darwinist who wants to CUT Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Food Stamps, Education, etc. (all the things we need to re-build our economy and working class) to give MORE TAX CUTS to the corporate rich. It presents a startling choice in the class war: Tax Cuts for the Rich vs. Social Programs for everyone else. That is the choice.
The question is will Obama and the Democrats DEFEND the legacy of FDR and LBJ or cave in to the corporatist demand that the budget be balanced on the backs of seniors and the working class?
Paul Ryan, Seriously?
The Romney-Ryan Plan to End Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid
Five Things You Need to Know About Paul Ryan
Meet Paul Ryan: Climate Denier, Conspiracy Theorist, Koch Acolyte
How the GOP Plan to Kill Medicare and Medicaid Would Work
Everything You Need to Know About Ryan's Budget
CBO: Ryan Budget Would Set Nation on Path to End Most Government Programs other than Social Security, Healthcare and Defense by 2050
Ryan Gets 62 Percent of His Budget Cuts from Programs for Lower-Income Americans
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Romney Lies: Welfare Reform
Romney tells a new Welfare whopper
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Democrats see victory in GOP primaries
Will the Tea Party wing-nuts screw the GOP chances of taking the Senate again?
Rachel Maddow: Democrats see victory in GOP primaries
Rachel Maddow: Democrats see victory in GOP primaries
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Memphis Gay Socialist Running Write-In Campaign for Senate
Memphis gay, socialist activist Jim Maynard is running another write-in campaign for U.S. Senate, this time against Bob Corker, after the TNDP failed to put forward a viable candidate..
Queer Notes: I'm Running for U.S. Senate (Again)
Jim Maynard for Congress on Facebook
Queer Notes: I'm Running for U.S. Senate (Again)
Jim Maynard for Congress on Facebook
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Tennessee’s Democratic Party (RIP)
Rachel Maddow on the embarrassment of the Tennessee Democratic Party
Rachel Maddow: Tennessee’s ‘orphan state’ problem
Rachel Maddow: Tennessee’s ‘orphan state’ problem
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Mixed Messages From the August 2 Election Round-What Now?
Mixed Messages From the August 2 Election Round | Politics Beat Blog
Sad to see progressives like Mike Kernell, Beverly Marrero and Jeanne Richardson loose their primaries for the Tennessee legislature. Even more shocking is that the Tennessee Democratic Party could not find any candidates who could raise enough money to run a state wide campaign to inform voters, and instead ended up with a right-wing nut as their nominee just because he was at the top of the ballot and people didn't know who to vote for:
Tennessee Dems Nominate Anti-Gay Conspiracy Theorist for Senate
Tennessee Democratic Party Disavows Senate Nominee
Now the TNDP must find some way to rally Democratic Party voters around a WRITE-IN candidate, and I suggest one of the three Shelby County progressives who lost: Mike Kernell, Beverly Marrero or Jeanne Richardson.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Dems Nominate Anti-Gay Conspiracy Theorist for Senate
Dems Nominate Anti-Gay Conspiracy Theorist for Senate | Mother Jones
Since the Tennessee Democratic Party allowed a right-wing nut to win the primary for U.S. Senate against Republican Bob Corker, I suggest a write-in campaign in TN for Mike Kernell, Beverly Marrero or Jeanne Richardson for U.S. Senate.
Since the Tennessee Democratic Party allowed a right-wing nut to win the primary for U.S. Senate against Republican Bob Corker, I suggest a write-in campaign in TN for Mike Kernell, Beverly Marrero or Jeanne Richardson for U.S. Senate.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Monday, July 30, 2012
Happy (47th) Birthday Medicare!
Happy 47th anniversary for Medicare! It's a good time to fight for Medicare for All! We need a single-payer, national health insurance plan, Medicare for All!
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
GOP on Taxes: It Gets Worse
GOP on Taxes: It Gets Worse:
Republicans Will Raise Taxes — Just Not on the Wealthy As we discussed recently, Republicans are holding middle class tax cuts hostage in order to give the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans yet another extra tax cut. If that wasn’t bad enough, the Republicans are now affirmatively proposing to raise taxes on tens of millions [...]
Republicans Will Raise Taxes — Just Not on the Wealthy As we discussed recently, Republicans are holding middle class tax cuts hostage in order to give the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans yet another extra tax cut. If that wasn’t bad enough, the Republicans are now affirmatively proposing to raise taxes on tens of millions [...]
Sunday, July 22, 2012
American Crisis: Poverty Rate Highest Since 1960s
The ranks of America's poor are on track to climb to levels unseen in nearly half a century, erasing gains from the war on poverty in the 1960s amid a weak economy and fraying government safety net.
Census figures for 2011 will be released this fall in the critical weeks ahead of the November elections.
The Associated Press surveyed more than a dozen economists, think tanks and academics, both nonpartisan and those with known liberal or conservative leanings, and found a broad consensus: The official poverty rate will rise from 15.1 percent in 2010, climbing as high as 15.7 percent. Several predicted a more modest gain, but even a 0.1 percentage point increase would put poverty at the highest level since 1965.
Why are American politicians ignoring the growing numbers of poor people and refuse to address the issue of poverty?
Saturday, July 21, 2012
After Colorado Massacre, Calls for Urgent Gun Reform
After Colorado Massacre, Calls for Urgent Gun Reform | Common Dreams
The NRA Has America Living Under the Gun (Bill Moyers)
Colorado Killer Got Guns With Ease (thanks to the NRA)
"Gun's Don't Kill"?
Thank You NRA!
Brady Campaign: Want Action, Not Sympathy, from Elected Officials
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
What's Romney Hiding in His Tax Returns?
What's Romney Hiding in His Tax Returns? - Businessweek
National Review Calls for Romney to Release Tax Returns
Romney Dismisses Republican Calls to Disclose Tax Returns
Eugene Robinson: Problems of Mitts Own Making
OK, my hunch is that Romney is hiding something, probably several things, in his tax returns back to 2000-2001. He probably paid little on no taxes some of those years (2008-2009), he put a lot of money in offshore accounts to avoid taxes, he has over $100 million in an IRA (retirement account) which is questionable if not illegal, he also likely reported income from Bain Capital, during the time he claims he was not connected with Bain at all, and when they "outsourced" a lot of American jobs.
And this is all another reason why Mitt Romney was the worst candidate the GOP could pick in this election (for the GOP). Romney exemplifies everything WRONG with capitalism today: "collateral debt obligations," "credit default swaps," outsourcing, growing inequality and poverty, low taxes on the rich while the debt grows, calls for austerity for the working class, but more tax cuts for the corporate rich... they couldn't have picked a worse candidate (well, there's Sarah Palin, but even she's looking pretty good to the the GOP right now..)
Romney may be toast.. the GOP is panicking.. they may need to withdraw his nomination and choose another candidate at the GOP Convention. I'm going out on a LONG, SMALL limb and predict now that if Romney is forced into releasing his pre-2010 tax returns, he will NOT be the GOP nominee.
Jim D. Maynard
Monday, July 16, 2012
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Monday, July 9, 2012
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