Sunday, December 30, 2012

GOP Will Destroy America's Solvency Unless The Social Security Retirement Age Is Raised

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

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.

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

Reagan's "Welfare Queen" FOUND!



Reagan's "Welfare Queen" FOUND!

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

The Obscenely Rich Men Bent on Shredding the Safety Net



The Obscenely Rich Men Bent on Shredding the Safety Net | Alternet

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


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

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.

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.






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








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

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

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.

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 [...]

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?



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

Republican opposition to the DISCLOSE Act ‘a predictable response’



Republican opposition to the DISCLOSE Act ‘a predictable response’ | The Raw Story