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
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