Them's The Breaks

This chart from the Center for American Progress shows 10 safety-net programs facing huge cutbacks versus the tax breaks for the wealthy that face no cuts at all.

I just got finished watching Jon Stewart interview Rand Paul (here's the link). But all I gather is that trickle-down theory is as popular as ever, and Republicans have a whole lot of sympathy for the wealthy.

See those proposed cuts for supplemental nutrition for poor families, LIHEAP, and community health centers? Cutting those programs will directly harm the elderly, poor and disabled. Hey Palin, I think I found those death panels, and your Republican pals are the directors.

Our Sputnik Moment

Senator John Kerry was on Meet the Press with a message that all Democrats should be pushing every day in front of every camera:

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Kerry pointed out the difference in the economic return of tax cuts versus unemployment insurance. Why hasn't this fact caught on with people? Because it's not being said loud enough.

But the next part about us, the U.S., not even being in the game with solar technology despite the fact that it was invented at Bell Labs 50 years ago is downright frightening. We're not even investing in green tech and China is. Where are our new jobs going to come from? You know, those high-tech, high-paying jobs that many people would like their children to have a shot at one day.

Sorry but the success of the iPad isn't going to fuel our economy.

Libertarian Utopia

Apparently Tennessee is the Libertarian promised land. South Fulton firefighters stood by and watched an Orion County home burn down because the owners had not paid their $75 fire protection subscription fee. The homeowners offered to pay on the spot, but were refused. The family’s three dogs and a cat died.

Mayor David Crocker said, "if homeowners don't pay, they're out of luck."

Or we're all out of luck. Because if one house is on fire, the whole neighborhood is at risk. Fires are tricky devils and don't check policies or town hall records before igniting home after home. People who don't pay or can't pay -- for whatever reason -- endanger themselves, their neighbors, and even the firefighters -- it's easier to put out one small house fire than a neighborhood ablaze.

Likewise for highly contagious diseases. We can't protect ourselves piecemeal. We have to protect the entire herd equally.

Call it socialism if you want, but socialized fire care is an idea whose time has come... or came, actually, in the 19th century. The U.S. had private fire companies back then, and that system didn't work for shit. Time was wasted summoning the correct company, or none at all, and fires would spread. The public demanded some kind of central command of fire companies. Of course, I don't think anybody screamed "socialism" back then. It was just good common sense that taxes in a civilized society should go towards services for the public.

But thanks to the teabaggers and Glenn Beck, these matters are now some kind of modern debate in which compassion and the common good are open to ridicule and mockery.

Getting Our Priorities Straight

I should have seen this coming. A small political movement with strong anti-tax, anti-establishment sentiments, and many angry, heartless, selfish supporters is running out of money. Yeah, I'm talking about the teabaggers again:

Some leading tea party activists are concerned that their efforts to reshape American politics, starting with the 2010 elections, are being undermined by a shortage of cash that’s partly the result of a deep ambivalence within the movement’s grass roots over the very idea of fundraising and partly attributable to an inability to win over the wealthy donors who fund the conservative establishment.

Apparently their fiscal myopia combined with the blatant opportunism of their leaders is draining their coffers. Do we need any more proof that they're really neocons?

And do we need any more proof that their ideas about taxation are the bane of this country? Paul Krugman recently wrote about how all this anti-government rhetoric is harming us:

The anti-government campaign has always been phrased in terms of opposition to waste and fraud — to checks sent to welfare queens driving Cadillacs, to vast armies of bureaucrats uselessly pushing paper around. But those were myths, of course; there was never remotely as much waste and fraud as the right claimed. And now that the campaign has reached fruition, we’re seeing what was actually in the firing line: services that everyone except the very rich need, services that government must provide or nobody will, like lighted streets, drivable roads and decent schooling for the public as a whole.

He calls is an "unlit, unpaved road to nowhere," but while Republicans stand strong against the tiniest of aid to state governments, Americans in Afghanistan get paved roads and more for their Humvees.

Tea Party Ghost

And now it's time for a story. It's kind of like "The Night Before Christmas," but for tax day. From the creative mind of P.J. O'Rourke:

He stood on the stage bathing in the adulation of the assembled dignitaries. The Nobel Prize! At last, his body of work had been given the honor it deserved. As the standing ovation went on he thought of his critics. He knew they were watching. Did this great hall look like the rubber room where they said he’d spend the rest of his days bouncing? Ha! His struggle had been so worth the effort…

Glenn Beck was awakened from his dream of adequacy by the sound of a man clearing his throat. He sat up and, as his eyes adjusted, saw a glowing white Colonial ghost standing beside his bed.

“Who are you?”

“My friends call me Ben. We have been watching you for some time, and see how loyal you are to our cause. I have been sent to grant you the privilege of attending the real Boston Tea Party, that you may then be able to advance our cause with more familiarity and fervor. We haven’t much time. Touch my sleeve and join the cause.”

Read more...

I hope this story becomes a tradition.

Teabagg'n Again

A year ago I wrote my first post about teabaggers. It was also the first post where I used "LOL," which I hope was forgivable given the absurdity of the carnival-like protests. But I guess I was assuming the teabaggers and their "parties" would have faded into history by now. I assumed these people would have moved on after getting their tax cuts, but I overestimated their logic skills.

However, many of us cynics realized the "tea party express" was a marketing gimmick and money making tool of the Republican establishment, and well -- yeah, we were right:

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But what was not outwardly clear was that teabaggers are, according to a new New York Times/CBS News poll, "wealthier and more well-educated than the general public." In other words, they are elitists looking for wealth-care and not health-care.

Do I believe it? Maybe. It actually fits with the few teabagger types I know: white, married, own a McMansion with an SUV parked out front. They went to college and earned some kind of degree but never cared to be educated outside their narrow vocational focus. They go to tanning salons often, and wouldn't have gotten through college if I didn't help them with their math classes. (Ok, I admit I'm thinking of one friend in particular.)

The poll results also show that their beliefs are very different than non-teabaggers: Only 26% of all responders think Sarah Palin would be an effective President, but 40% of teabaggers do. 27% of all responders have a favorable view of George W. Bush, but 57% of teabaggers like him. Only 18% of all responders have a favorable view of Glenn Beck. Unsurprisingly, 59% of teabaggers like him.

The numbers also show teabaggers have very conservative views on social and economic issues. But here's the funniest statistic: 78% of self-identified tea party supporters have never attended a tea party rally or meeting nor donated to the cause. So really, that 78% is just the same GOP we've always known.

And what about the angry ones attending the rallies with their hilariously misspelled signs? They must be the unemployed and undereducated portion of this sham of a "movement." Which makes sense -- conservative lawyers, bankers, and executives always leave the dirty work to the peasants.

Reading The Signs

After flipping through TPM's Photo Gallery of Tax Day Tea Parties, I have to agree with John Amato who called the national event The White Man's Protest: "I've been trying to figure out when FOX News actually covered a bona-fide live protest that they didn't condemn or ridicule. Can you think of one? How many anti-war protests were held since the Iraq war began in which FOX proclaimed that they would give it wall to wall coverage because they just cover news events?"


Of course, Fox covered the event because they promoted it -- not because it was relevant or even made sense. I'm amazed by the absurdity of these protest signs. What was the message? What were they protesting? Ostensibly taxation, but it came across as the oddest piece of performance art, or maybe we've all been Punk'd?

Down with socialism, fascism, tyranny and all that. But gosh they've got a strange definition of tyranny:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Tea Party Tyranny
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

I have no doubt that a year ago these same people would have proclaimed that America is the greatest bestest country in the whole world... but how could we do it without some taxes? In the above video, that one nice lady agrees with John Oliver who says "we just don't see where the money is going." We have a strange capacity to take our lifestyle for granted...

Why is it that current protests, even the real attention grabbers with a clear message, seem less meaningful and less powerful than the protests from 30 to 50 years ago? Two very effective protests come to mind:

• The Greensboro Sit-Ins launched a movement that spread to 54 cities in 9 states and signaled the start of the civil rights movement.
• The sit-ins at the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare in San Francisco in 1977 are little-known, but were instrumental in the fight for the civil rights of the disabled.

How does teabagging compare? Maybe for a protest to work you have to really mean it. You have to be truly fighting for your liberty. You have to be willing to make the world stop and listen to your message.

You have to have a message. "We have a black president and we're scared that the world is changing" is not enough.

Teabagg'n

It's Teabagg'n eve, and has there ever been anything so LOL funny about the wingnuts? Let me list the ways this brouhaha is tickling my bone-china funny bone.

Fox News denies that they are promoting the event despite headlines like "Time To Party Like It's 1773."

We all know the 1773 Boston Tea Party was about "taxation without representation" and an unpopular Tea Act which gave the English East India Company a monopoly. In a vaguely similar way, the 2009 revolt is about taxation (with representation) and TARP, but some teabaggers are hilariously off message.

They're also out of sync. Americans have the most favorable views of income taxes since 1956. And why not? 95% of American families get a tax cut under Obama's plan, and higher taxes for those at the top are no barrier to sustained economic growth.

Only a sucker would believe these tea parties spring from a grassroots coalition of "regular Americans." In reality, the movement was launched with a bang and a web site proclaiming, "the tea party protests, in their current form, began in early 2009 when Rick Santelli, the On Air Editor for CNBC, set out on a rant to expose the bankrupt liberal agenda of the White House Administration and Congress. Specifically, the flawed 'Stimulus Bill' and pork filled budget."

You know what you call the opposite of a grassroots movement? Astroturf! Like fake grass, the instant public support was manufactured. And the manufacturers are slick, conservative, well-funded, lobbyist-run think tanks called Americans for Prosperity and Freedom Works.

With all those wealthy Republicans putting their money where their mouth is (ahem), you'd think they could come up with a better name than "teabagging!" That name is possibly the biggest LOL factor of the whole crazy brew (watch video below or on DailyKosTV):

A Plumber or a Plant?

During last night's Presidential debates, we all learned about Joe the Plumber. We were told that Joe was the common hard-working man who would be hurt by Obama's tax plan. Throughout the rest of the debate, McCain and Obama both addressed Joe the Plumber more than 20 times as if he was some kind of stand-in for the whole entire nation.

As Samuel J. Wurzelbacher (that's his real name, but I'll call him Joe) enjoyed his 15 minutes of fame today, we were treated to a smorgasbord of his opinions on issues ranging from social security to the war in Iraq. Watch this collage of Joe's greatest hits from the Daily Show, and then tell me if Joe really represents you. He doesn't represent me:



The Daily Show hit on some of today's revelations about Joe: he's not an undecided voter, his real first name is Samuel, he doesn't have a plumber's license, never completed an apprenticeship and does not belong to the plumber’s union, which has endorsed Barack Obama. Also, Joe, who owes back taxes, is unlikely to have an income level that would qualify him for a tax increase under Obama's plan, and if he does make over $250,000... well, then I think he should count his blessings.

Anyway, I don't understand the uproar over Obama's comment regarding "spreading the wealth around." You can watch the entire conversation between Obama and Joe on YouTube. I realize that any talk about redistributing wealth freaks out conservatives, but we've had a progressive tax in this country since the passage of the 16th Amendment, and 81% of economists support progressive taxation. So whether we have Obama's plan or McCain's plan, we're still spreading the wealth around!

One last topic before I attempt to close the door on Joe the Plumber. Was he a plant? I mean is he really an ordinary guy looking for an honest answer, or did the GOP put him up to this? A few blogs are saying he has a relationship to Charles Keating. Of course, guilt by association sucks, but McCain's campaign should have vetted this guy before making him their mascot.

Updated 11/13/2008: Ooops. The entire Keating relationship was a hoax started by a man who is himself a hoax. The MSM also fell for his tricks, so I guess I'm in good company or bad company depending how you look at it.

Plate of Pork

So is the Emergency Economic Stabilization bill a bailout, a bribe, a rescue, or a rape?

The legislation that aims to save Wall Street was originally criticized for costing $700 billion. How did lawmakers make it more appetizing? By adding pork! (About $100 billion in pork also known as earmarks.) Congress then overwhelmingly passed it and Bush quickly signed it.

What are we getting for our money? I'll just cut and paste a few portions of the bill:

TITLE III--EXTENSION OF BUSINESS TAX PROVISIONS

• Sec. 301. Extension and modification of research credit.
• Sec. 302. New markets tax credit.
• Sec. 303. Subpart F exception for active financing income.
• Sec. 304. Extension of look-thru rule for related controlled foreign corporations.
• Sec. 305. Extension of 15-year straight-line cost recovery for qualified leasehold improvements and qualified restaurant improvements; 15-year straight-line cost recovery for certain improvements to retail space.
• Sec. 306. Modification of tax treatment of certain payments to controlling exempt organizations.
• Sec. 307. Basis adjustment to stock of S corporations making charitable contributions of property.
• Sec. 308. Increase in limit on cover over of rum excise tax to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
• Sec. 309. Extension of economic development credit for American Samoa.
• Sec. 310. Extension of mine rescue team training credit.
• Sec. 311. Extension of election to expense advanced mine safety equipment.
• Sec. 312. Deduction allowable with respect to income attributable to domestic production activities in Puerto Rico.
• Sec. 313. Qualified zone academy bonds.
• Sec. 314. Indian employment credit.
• Sec. 315. Accelerated depreciation for business property on Indian reservations.
• Sec. 316. Railroad track maintenance.
• Sec. 317. Seven-year cost recovery period for motorsports racing track facility.
• Sec. 318. Expensing of environmental remediation costs.
• Sec. 319. Extension of work opportunity tax credit for Hurricane Katrina employees.
• Sec. 320. Extension of increased rehabilitation credit for structures in the Gulf Opportunity Zone.
• Sec. 321. Enhanced deduction for qualified computer contributions.
• Sec. 322. Tax incentives for investment in the District of Columbia.
• Sec. 323. Enhanced charitable deductions for contributions of food inventory.
• Sec. 324. Extension of enhanced charitable deduction for contributions of book inventory.
• Sec. 325. Extension and modification of duty suspension on wool products; wool research fund; wool duty refunds.

I've only highlighted the ones I found most crazy. But the craziness doesn't end there.

TITLE V--ADDITIONAL TAX RELIEF AND OTHER TAX PROVISIONS

Subtitle A--General Provisions

• Sec. 501. $8,500 income threshold used to calculate refundable portion of child tax credit.
• Sec. 502. Provisions related to film and television productions.
• Sec. 503. Exemption from excise tax for certain wooden arrows designed for use by children.
• Sec. 504. Income averaging for amounts received in connection with the Exxon Valdez litigation.
• Sec. 505. Certain farming business machinery and equipment treated as 5-year property.
• Sec. 506. Modification of penalty on understatement of taxpayer's liability by tax return preparer.

Subtitle B--Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008

• Sec. 511. Short title.
• Sec. 512. Mental health parity.

TITLE VI--OTHER PROVISIONS

• Sec. 601. Secure rural schools and community self-determination program.
• Sec. 602. Transfer to abandoned mine reclamation fund.

Again, I'm just highlighting the ones I found most crazy. They are all crazy because they have little or nothing to do with bailing out Wall Street! They were thrown in without any debates. I think something like mental health parity should have been discussed.

This bill was rushed because we were told it was urgent. I heard very few voices questioning the urgency. We were told something needed to be done. When the original bill failed, the Dow lost a record 777 points. But after the new bill was approved by Congress, the Dow ended down 157 points. We're so fickle!

What doesn't the bill have? There is little about new oversight, little to rescue families facing foreclosure, and little to curb executive pay.

Can you remember back about a month ago when John McCain and Sarah Palin wrote a piece for the WSJ titled We'll Protect Taxpayers from More Bailouts? Can you remember back when McCain vowed that as president he would veto every single bill with earmarks? But by casting his first vote in months, he broke those vows.

I guess he shouldn't criticize Obama now for voting on that earmark-laden energy bill that included tax breaks for oil companies while also providing investment for alternative energy.

There are many reasons to criticize this bill and the politics that brought it to us, and I just can't bring myself to call it a bailout or a rescue. That only leaves my other two choices.

Change is Coming?

Overall, McCain's speech wasn't bad. It certainly wasn't as awkward and painful as that one in June, but when "the maverick" starts railing against big government, corruption, and policy failures, my first thought is that he has amnesia. He's forgotten about the last 8 years and thinks he still has to vehemently fight the evil Democrat in the White House. Then I realize he's subtly trying to divorce himself from the Bush administration:

"I'm grateful to the president of the United States for leading us in these dark days following the worst attack in American history."

That was his only mention of George W. Bush. That's a good sign. However, it doesn't mean I trust McCain. Because when McCain talks about fighting lobbyists, I worry that few voters understand that his principal foreign policy adviser is Randy Scheunemann -- a man who Pat Buchanan describes as "a foreign agent whose assignment is to get America committed to spilling the blood of her sons for client regimes who have made this moral mercenary a rich man." In other words, McCain's foreign policy adviser is a lobbyist! Regardless of what you might think of Buchanan, that linked article is an informative one and worthy of a read.

Regarding corruption, McCain said, "I've fought corruption, and it didn't matter if the culprits were Democrats or Republicans. They violated their public trust, and they had to be held accountable." I wonder if that means he'll be seriously considering prosecuting anybody from the Bush administration? Joe Biden, on the other hand, recently said that criminal violations will be pursued.

The remainder of McCain's speech was unremarkable and humorless. He said the usual stuff about taxes -- Democrats are "tax and spend" -- but personally I've come to prefer that to the Republican policy of "borrow and bomb" which I firmly believe McCain will be sticking to.

McCain also took the standard Republican call to drill here and drill now:

We'll attack -- we'll attack the problem on every front. We'll produce more energy at home. We will drill new wells off-shore, and we'll drill them now. We'll drill them now.

We'll -- we'll -- my friends, we'll build more nuclear power plants. We'll develop clean-coal technology. We'll increase the use of wind, tide, solar, and natural gas. We'll encourage the development and use of flex-fuel, hybrid and electric automobiles.

I won't pretend to be a body language expert, but I have a good intuition about expressions. Did anybody else notice the little eye twitch when McCain said "electric automobiles"? It was more like an eye roll that showed disregard and said to me "yeah! right!"

Finally, I was noticing the handmade signs in the audience. Here were a few of my favorites:

You Can't Win An Occupation
McCain Votes Against Vets
The Mavrick

(That was the actual spelling on the last one.) Anyway, this concludes my coverage of the conventions, but I'll keep on blogging about the world as I see it.