20. January 2012 by admin.

The field of Teapublican “presidential” (and I use the term loosely) candidates have proven, once and for all, that Teapublicans are almost completely devoid of ethics. I’d call them hypocrites, but we’re talking about Teapublicans here, so, for their benefit, I’ll try to use small words.

Teapublicans famously fight for so-called family values, yet many support Newt Gingrich who is twice divorced and whose second wife stated that Newt demanded an “open” marriage. In other words, a marriage that would allow him to boink anyone he wanted. So much for the “sanctity” of marriage issue.

Gingrich also admitted to 84 ethics violations while Speaker of the House and resigned in disgrace. Most of these violations were the result of Newt gaming the system to enrich himself. So much for the anti-Washington, anti-corruption issue.

Turning to the front-runner, Teapublicans are furious with so-called “Obamacare.” But what did President Obama use as a model for his health care reform? Why “Romneycare,” of course. You simply can’t be against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and support Mitt Romney. So much for the government health care issue.

Romney is also a “Vulture Capitalist” (Newt’s words, not mine) who led a private equity firm that purchased undervalued corporations with other peoples’ money, saddled the corporations with large management fees then sold off their assests while laying off thousands of American workers. So much for the jobs issue.

In addition, Romney has admitted to “parking” large amounts of money in off-shore bank accounts to avoid paying taxes. And though he has not yet released his tax returns, he estimates that his tax rate is “somewhere in the area of 15 percent.” Given that Mitt is a multi-millionaire, that’s a nice area to be in, especially considering that much of the middle class is taxed at a rate of 30-35 perecent! And, if Romney is elected and allowed to institute his recommended tax policies, his tax rate will dramatically drop while the tax rate for the middle class will remain virtually unchanged. And the tax rate for the poor will actually go up! Moreover, Romney’s tax plan will add tens of billions of dollars to the deficit. So much for the deficit and debt issues.

Voter support for these two only shows that Teapublicans are not really for anything. They’re simply against Obama. And many of them don’t even know why.

Posted in Current Events, Religion, Teapublicans, President Obama, Taxes, Deficit, Labor, Politics | Print | No Comments »

29. November 2011 by admin.

1 - Re-institute the Glass-Steagall Act.

The Glass-Steagall Act was initially signed into law in 1933 to prevent a repeat of the conditions that led to the Great Depression. The law created a firewall between banks of deposit and investment banks, recognizing that a bank of deposit is entrusted with maintaining the financial security of its deposits while an investment bank, such as a stock brokerage, engages in inherently risky activities. When the same financial institution is allowed to participate in both acitivities, the deposits are placed at risk. And since the government insures deposits through the FDIC, it’s also at risk.

Unfortunately, the law was repealed in 1999 and the lax regulation of the Bush administration allowed banks to collapse as the result of the very conditions the law was designed to prevent.

2 - Return Capital Gains Taxes to Reagan-era levels.

During the Reagan administration, the maximum rate on capital gains (money derived from investments) was raised to 28 percent. But, to reward their wealthy masters, Teapublicans have cut the rate to just 15 percent and they want to eliminate capital gains taxes altogether.

Since the wealthiest 1 percent of our population makes most, if not all, its money from capital gains on investments, that means millionaires and billionaires pay an income tax rate of 15 percent or less. On the other hand, many of us who make money from salaries or as sole proprietors pay an income tax of up to 33 or 35 percent, not including payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare. See the problem?

3 - Return Income Taxes to Clinton-era levels.

Under Reagan, the maximum federal income tax rate averaged 65.70 percent. Under Clinton, the maximum income tax rate was 39.60 percent. Under Bush, the maximum income tax rate dropped to 35 percent leading to massive federal deficits.

Obviously, our current maximum tax rate has weakened our economy.  And unless we find ways to generate more revenue, we will be unable to decrease our debt or repair our infrastructure.

4 - Eliminate the cap on Social Security Withholding.

For the past several years Social Security taxes are withheld on only the first $106,800 of taxable income. By eliminating the cap, we would generate a great deal more money for Social Security, and by paying benefits to only those who actually need them, the Social Security trust fund would be solvent well into the forseeable future, perhaps permanently.

5 – Cut unnecessary duplication of city, county, state and federal offices.

If you want to build a commercial operation today, you may have to trek to as many as four offices to obtain the necessary permits. That’s because each level of government has its own unique regulations. Since environmental issues are necessarily different between Los Angeles, CA and Siren, WI, the need for different regulations is understandable. But why not streamline processes by combining similar functions in a single office? This would not only cut red tape, it would increase efficiency and cut costs.

6 - Buy local.

For the past 40 years, US manufacturers have shipped raw materials to other nations.  Then shipped the finished products back to the US.  This is not only destroying our economy, it is destroying our environment.  In fact, a case can be made that an enormous Hummer SUV is more environmentally friendly than a Prius.  That’s because the Hummer is made primarily in the US.  Eschewing foreign-made products would do wonders for American workers and everyone who breathes.

7 - Buy small.

Walmart, Target, Amazon, etc. are killing local retail stores which has led to the hollowing out of our central cities and the loss of jobs.  Yes, “big box” stores hire many employees, but they often pay less, provide fewer benefits and contribute less to the local economies.  Moreover, by emphasizing cheaper foreign-made products they continue to depress US manufacturing. 

Everyone likes lower prices and greater selection.  But who wouldn’t be willing to pay a bit more if it means our family members, friends and neighbors can keep or get a decent job? 

Posted in Deficit, Taxes, Politics, Government, Social Security, Economy | Print | No Comments »

10. November 2011 by admin.

Absolutely the best article I’ve ever read on the origins of our economic problems.  Once again, Rolling Stone is responsible for great investigative journalism!

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/how-the-gop-became-the-party-of-the-rich-20111109

Posted in Tea Party, Teapublicans, George W. Bush, Current Events, Taxes, Government, Politics, Deficit, Economy | Print | No Comments »

17. October 2011 by admin.

I confess that I’ve long been confused about the intense (and, I believe irrational) hatred of President Obama, when it appears to me that he has been guilty of nothing more than trying to correct the problems created by the previous administration.

Upon reflection, I believe it stems from the Right’s unfailing belief in the so-called “free” market.

When the economy, led by the housing market and a lack of common-sense regulations, careened off a cliff in late 2008, the Bush administration recommended a bill to Congress that called for the US to spend billions in order to prop up the failing banks. Lacking the support of Republican leaders in Congress, the measure initially failed. But when the stock markets crashed as a result, enough Congressmen were persuaded to change their votes and the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) went into effect.

The program ultimately stabilized the markets and the economy enough to prevent the Great Recession from turning into a second Great Depresssion. Yet many Republicans were furious. They believed TARP to be a government intrusion into the infallibility of free market principles. When President Obama subsequently offered government-backed loans to General Motors and Chrysler in order to stave off the collapse of the American automobile industry, the free market Republicans and Libertarians went ballistic.

Capitalizing on an idea by a Republican strategist, groups such as the Koch-funded American FreedomWorks spent millions to rally free market believers to protest. They labeled the movement a modern day Tea Party. It turned out to be the perfect way to inspire the Republican base which was dispirited following the 2008 elections.

Teapublicans deluded themselves into believing that the Great Recession was not the fault of the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act or the Bush administration’s lax oversight of the financial industry.

They focused, instead, on President Obama’s attempts to fend off an economic Armegeddon. In addition, they convinced themselves that the national debt, which had doubled under President Bush, was now the fault of President Obama. They believed the auto bail-outs and economic stimulus were evidence that the administration was moving toward socialism. The President’s eventual signing of a bill to reform the out-of-control healthcare system added even more fuel to the torches being carried by the Tea Party.

When viewed in context, the Teapublican fears seem irrational. But when viewed through a partisan lens and slavish devotion to free market principles, regardless of their consequences, the fears are understandable, if not logical.

Moreover, this helps to explain why so many lower and middle class Americans vote against their self-interest by supporting Republican candidates determined to transfer wealth upward through tax breaks for the wealthy.

Over many years of listening to Fox News pundits and Rush-to-the-table Limbaugh, these people have become convinced that all of their problems will be solved if only we rid ourselves of government intrusion and allow Teapublican leaders to work their free market magic. Indeed, these voters are likely convinced that the only thing standing between them and unimagined riches are evil Democrats, who in their Teapublican minds, are trying to replace capitalism with socialism, or worse yet, communism or fascism.

Never mind that many of these people don’t have a clue of what any of these “isms” actually mean. Hence the Tea Party signs that read “Keep your government hands off my Medicare.”

Posted in Current Events, President Obama, Tea Party, Teapublicans, George W. Bush, Media, Culture, Health care, Medicare, Government, Politics, Deficit, Economy | Print | No Comments »

10. October 2011 by admin.

Despite the fact that our $14 trillion debt was largely created by Teapublican presidents, now that we have a Democratic president, the Teapublican-controlled Congress is dead set on forcing enormous budget cuts at any cost.

Set aside for a moment that their primary agenda is to end regulations for their corporate masters and to starve only those departments that are contrary to their ideology (primarily the EPA and the Dept. of Education). The real concern is what such draconian cuts will do to our economy.

If you want to see a preview of the consequences, you need only to look to Greece.

As you likely know, the Greek government is in danger of default. To “cure” its ills, Germany along with the other nations that are part of the European Union, agreed to bail out Greece. But only if Greece would enact drastic spending cuts and large tax hikes.

The result? It would seem that the “cure” is in danger of killing the patient. Indeed, the cuts have put the entire European Union in recession. And the symptoms have spread to the US. Every time the European Union sneezes, our markets react.

The problem is that the new austerity measures have resulted in more Greeks losing their jobs. And without jobs, the Greeks are unable to pay the increased taxes. Many have been forced to pay taxes out of their savings (if they have savings). Many can’t pay their taxes at all. That only results in more deficits, more spending cuts, more tax increases, and so on.

Although Greece is the most extreme example of an economy in trouble, it’s not alone.

Ireland’s economy is also particularly weak. You may remember that before the global recession, Ireland was called the “Celtic Tiger” having built its reputation by luring foreign corporations (many from the US) through some of the lowest corporate taxes in the world. Indeed, Teapublicans have repeatedly cited Ireland as a model for reforming our own corporate tax structure.

One would hope that our nation could learn from these examples of what not to do. But, since Teapublicans mostly ignore anything beyond our borders (except for oil deposits), I’m not hopeful.

Posted in Corporations, Tea Party, Teapublicans, Taxes, Deficit, Government, Politics, Economy | Print | No Comments »

30. September 2011 by admin.

“Cutting Medicaid and Medicare will save money.”

Anyone who would say this is either lying or doesn’t understand how the healthcare industry works. 

If you kick millions of people off of Medicaid and raise the cost to seniors for Medicare, they will put off going to the doctor as long as they can. Minor ailments then become major ailments. When they’re finally forced to seek help, they have no place to go except the Emergency Room where the costs of treatment can be as much as 100 times that of a doctor’s office or clinic. Since most hospitals are mandated by law to accept all patients, regardless of their ability to pay, the costs are passed along to patients who have health insurance.

So the Teapublicans who don’t want to help pay for someone else’s healthcare treatments through an efficient, well-managed government program will actually wind up paying much more through the rise in premiums for their health insurance policies, through increased taxes, or both.

Our nation’s healthcare costs are already four times the cost of healthcare in other advanced nations. Cutting Medicaid and Medicare will only make things worse.

“Obamacare” (more precisely, Nixoncare, Dolecare or Romneycare, since they proposed the program first) will definitely help. It will offer healthcare insurance to 55 million people who are currently uninsured, and it will institute some cost containment measures to an industry that has seen costs rise at a rate more than ten times the rate of inflation.

But it doesn’t go far enough.

According to a hospital CEO whose opinion I respect, this nation needs to return to a form of managed care (Health Maintenance Organizations). Under the system, the healthcare providers would be charged with keeping us healthy. The providers would also be charged with following best practices, which have been shown to produce the best outcomes, and limiting unnecessary or unproven care.  (Or, in Teapublican terms, “death panels” with the responsibility to review extreme procedures that are proposed for patients with terminal diseases.)

This is one of the most important steps in solving our healthcare crisis as noted in a 1990s study by the MIT Sloan School of Management.  That study showed that, in the US, more than 70 percent of all healthcare expenditures occur in the last six months of a patient’s life. In other words, we tend to ignore our health until something goes drastically wrong.  Then we spare no expense to prove that the diagnosis of a fatal condition is essentially correct.

It’s clear that we need an entirely new approach to healthcare and ”Obamacare” is an important first step.  Repealing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will only make things worse. So will the other Teapublican proposals.  We can’t throw the poor off of Medicaid, cut Medicare for the elderly, maintain our out-of-control health insurance system and cut the deficit.

The healthcare industry and the economy are like a large, overinflated balloon. If you push one place, it expands somewhere else.  To make improvements, you have to change the entire entity at once.

Posted in President Obama, Current Events, Tea Party, Teapublicans, Taxes, Deficit, Medicare, Health care, Government, Politics, Economy | Print | No Comments »

23. September 2011 by admin.

“The US government is going broke.”

In May 25, 2001, Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform told National Public Radio’s Mara Liasson, “I don’t want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.”

Teapublicans have been trying to bankrupt the government ever since.

Yet, despite their efforts, the United States still has the world’s largest economy with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) estimated at nearly $14.7 trillion in 2010. That represents approximately one quarter of the global GDP.

Our current problem, as economist Paul Krugman has stated, is “insufficent aggregate demand.” As a result, we do not have enough revenue to cover our spending.  Moreover, much of the money spent is misallocated. To fix our economy, we need to increase tax revenue from those who can most afford it. And we need to create jobs by spending on necessary projects while interest rates are at all-time lows.

But, instead of dealing with the real issues, Teapublicans are using the debt crisis they created to destroy labor unions, to eliminate employee benefits, to depress salaries and eliminate our safety nets (the so-called entitlements).

Contrary to Teapublican accusations, these programs are not responsible for our growing national debt. Social Security and Medicare are funded by payroll taxes while our defense spending is not. 

According to estimates, our annual military/security budget is $1.1-$1.2 trillion, or 70-75 percent of the federal budget deficit. It has doubled since 9/11. And much of the defense budget is squandered through poor oversight, lack of planning and corruption. In fact, the Commission on Wartime Contracting stated that as much as $60 billion was lost to waste and fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past decade!

The US is not broke.  But if we keep electing Teapublicans, we soon may be.

Posted in Current Events, Taxes, War, Military, Teapublicans, Tea Party, Labor, Deficit, Medicare, Economy, Social Security, Government, Politics, Terrorism | Print | No Comments »

19. September 2011 by admin.

“Most Americans don’t pay taxes.”

Lately, Teapublicans have been saying that 51% of Americans don’t pay any taxes at all. They say that those Americans should be forced to “have some skin in the game.” They call them the “Freeloader Class.” And they blame them for the nation’s economic woes.

While it is true that 51 percent of Americans did not pay federal income taxes for tax year 2009, it is not true that they did not pay taxes. It’s not even true (as Teapublicans suggest) that they are lazy, welfare recipients content to sponge off society. In fact, many of those who paid no federal income taxes in 2009 were among the wealthy and the upper middle class!

From an article by PolitiFact.com, Bob Williams, a tax policy specialist at the nonpartisan Urban Institute-Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center, said there are lots of popular tax breaks, which are sometimes called tax expenditures. “We estimate they total more than a trillion dollars a year in reduced taxes and, in fact, the bulk of those go to the top end of the income distribution,” said Williams.

As for the rest, they are mostly the elderly living on Social Security and those working at minimum wage jobs that don’t make enough to pay federal income taxes. (According to the 2010 Census, one in six Americans now lives below the poverty line.) Yet these people still pay taxes. Many pay payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare. All pay sales taxes. Many pay state income taxes and property taxes (even if they rent). And most pay gasoline taxes, beer and liquor taxes, etc. So they do, indeed, “have some skin in the game.”

The real freeloaders are those who are living off the hard work of others – those who have inherited fortunes from their ancestors, Wall Street bankers who are paid enormous bonuses to gamble with others’ money, and those who, by a stroke of luck, have found themselves in a position of power – and taking advantage of a host of tax shelters created by politicians to protect their benefactors.

Posted in Current Events, Tea Party, Teapublicans, Culture, Taxes, Government, Politics, Deficit, Economy | Print | No Comments »

16. September 2011 by admin.

“Raising taxes on millionaires will hurt small business.”

After all, most small businesses are owned by millionaires, right? Rrrrright!

This whopper seems to stem from the Teapublican definition of small business. You see, they define small business by ownership rather than brands, offices, employees or income. In other words, since Cargill is a closely held, privately-owned company, Teapublicans define it as a “small” business. Similarly, they define Koch Industries as a “small” business. In case you don’t already know, these are the two largest privately-held corporations in the world! Both measure their profits by the billions. Yet Teapublicans lump them into the same category as the owners of the small clothing store on Main Street or the corner café!

In the interest of full disclosure, I’ve been a small business owner since 1987. Moreover, I’ve served hundreds of small businesses as clients. As it happens, I have also completed projects for Cargill and Koch Industries. I can tell you beyond the shadow of a doubt that those companies have absolutely nothing in common with small businesses. And I can tell you that 99 percent of the other clients are not owned by millionaires, let alone billionaires.

So, President Obama and Congress, go ahead, raise taxes on millionaires and billionaires. Most small business owners will thank you for it.

Posted in President Obama, Current Events, Tea Party, Teapublicans, Corporations, Taxes, Government, Politics, Deficit, Economy | Print | No Comments »

14. September 2011 by admin.

“President Obama’s economic stimulus failed.”

You’ve heard this over and over again from the mouths of virtually every Teapublican. They all loudly proclaim President Obama’s stimulus plan “a complete and utter failure.” They make it sound as if Democrats wasted $787 billion of taxpayer money. But as you’ll see, it’s just another Teapublican lie. To learn the truth, I turned to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

In the second quarter of 2010 (one year after it’s passage), CBO estimated that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) had:

- Raised the level of real (inflation-adjusted) gross domestic product (GDP) by between 1.7 percent and 4.5 percent
- Lowered the unemployment rate by between 0.7 percentage points and 1.8 percentage points
- Increased the number of people employed by between 1.4 million and 3.3 million
- Increased the number of full-time-equivalent (FTE) jobs by 2.0 million to 4.8 million

Similarly, in the second quarter of 2011, the CBO estimated that ARRA’s policies had the following effects compared with what would have occurred otherwise:

- Raised real (inflation-adjusted) gross domestic product by between 0.8 percent and 2.5 percent
- Lowered the unemployment rate by between 0.5 percentage points and 1.6 percentage points
- Increased the number of people employed by between 1.0 million and 2.9 million
- Increased the number of full-time-equivalent (FTE) jobs by 1.4 million to 4.0 million

And even though CBO has said that the employment effects will wane in 2012, it estimates “ARRA will raise real GDP in 2012 by between 0.3 percent and 0.8 percent and will increase the number of people employed in 2012 by between 0.4 million and 1.1 million.”

Some failure!

The real question about the economic stimulus is, “Where would we now be without it?”

Posted in President Obama, Tea Party, Teapublicans, Labor, Deficit, Government, Politics, Economy | Print | No Comments »