Rachel Awesome
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I also recommend Rachel’s follow-up talk with Richard Engel for a summary of how screwed up Iraq still is.
Posts Tagged ‘politics’
Disgruntled Democrat
I just dumped one of the left-wing blogs I’ve been reading for a long time. I’m fed up with progressives who blast other progressives for being fed up with Obama. During the eight years of Bush, it was such a relief to find any Republican dare to be critical of the administration. It was proof that sanity can exist at both ends of the political spectrum. Most Republicans hated to hear any criticism from their own ranks. Democrats were presumably more open-minded. It turns out they’re not. Any Democrat who doesn’t go out and only tout all of Obama’s historic accomplishments is a bad soldier. I’m really disappointed with this President for lots of reasons I don’t care to write ten pages about right now. I’m more disappointed with a political party that berates me for expressing disappointment with this President.
I’m seriously thinking of dumping the Democratic Party all together. It’s a label I don’t know that I want to embrace anymore. Conservatives probably rejoice when they hear such a proclamation. I’m certainly not embracing the other side. I don’t think my voting habits would change much. I’d probably even switch back to being a Democrat when primaries rolled around. But living with the label 24/7/365 adds stress. Or at least it does to me. I care a lot about politics, but, frankly, I really wish I didn’t. Perhaps looking at Democrats as a group that would woo me for my vote is more comforting that feeling that they expect my vote.
Oh, and at the local level, I’ve got no faith in the party, either. The Durham County Commissioners are all Democrats, and a majority of them are awful.
Jon Stewart Gives Up
Wow. This should be required viewing for anyone planning to ever vote again, though, after viewing, you may decide it’s not worth ever voting again.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| I Give Up – 9/11 Responders Bill | ||||
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Bush Tax Cuts (cont’d)
Implement Obama’s tax policies in 2011, and my friends earning over $300,000 will see a tiny tax hike. The rest of us get a tax cut.
SO, TEA PARTY–WHY DO YOU HATE OUR TAX-CUTTING PRESIDENT SO MUCH?
This is from that socialist rag The Wall Street Journal (via Bob Cesca)
Bush tax cuts (cont’d)
I cannot in good conscience support a tax cut in which so many of the benefits go to the most fortunate among us, at the expense of middle-class Americans who most need tax relief.
- John McCain, May 2001
Obama wants to let the Bush tax cuts on the wealthiest expire at the end of the year, while extending the cuts for the middle-class. Of course, the GOP labels what the Democrats want to do as “the largest tax cut in history”. Given that the after-tax income of the top 1% has gone up 281% over the past 30 years, I think they can afford it.
Tuesday night politics
After multiple Republicans filibusters, the Democrats finally passed an extension of unemployment benefits, even though it was supposed to be a “jobs bill” (see Ezra Klein) and had been heavily watered down just to get the 60 votes to break the filibuster. This fall, Republicans will ask, “Where are the jobs?” and all the Democrats can say is, “Well, it would be worse if we had done nothing, and we would’ve done more if you guys didn’t get in the way.”
So people are supposedly going to enthusiastically vote for Republicans in November, but on what premise? More tax cuts? Tax cuts were the legacy of George W. Bush. Shall we just try that again?
Tax Cuts vs. Stimulus
This is from conservative financial type folks:
(h/t Bob Cesca)
I’m really pissed that Democrats have caved time and time again over the last 18 months. The stimulus needed to be a lot bigger. They couldn’t sell it. Health care needed to be bolder. They couldn’t sell it. And basic measures to try to push the economy along are token measures.
But they’ve a least got the country pointed in the right direction, if not headed there. I don’t see how putting Republicans back in power can possibly help.
Spending way too much time looking into the Bush tax cuts
Inspired from one of those things I starred in Google Reader:
There’s no evidence whatsoever that the Bush tax cuts actually diminished revenue. They increased revenue because of the vibrancy of these tax cuts in the economy.
- Senate Minority Leader Mitch McDonnell (R-KY)
(TPM via Ezra Klein)
It’s legitimate to praise the Bush tax cuts if your goal as a conservative is to enhance the wealth of the wealthy. If you are wealthy or you aspire to be wealthy and like to think that your hypothetical wealth would grow unbounded, the tax cuts look pretty vibrant. If you’re not in the top 10% of earners, not so vibrant:
As for that deficit that Tea Partiers are so upset about, that they’re so certain mostly composed of Obama’s socialist agenda:
Here’s another fancy chart (click to see it in all of its full fanciness):
Technically, McConnell is correct, in that IRS receipts went up over the past decade. This chart is from a right-wing website, which, like McConnell, touts how revenue increases followed the tax cuts.
I am obviously no economist, but tax revenues would’ve gone up anyway. All raw economic numbers are always going up. So this is a pretty silly argument, right? I’m inviting a conservative to chime in and tell me why it’s not a silly argument. And if it’s not a silly argument, the CBO numbers on the impact of the tax cuts on the deficit are still pretty damning. Conclusions on the numbers on their effect on income-inequality are subjected to one’s political philosophy, I suppose.
Geez, this amateurish in-depth analysis took up a lot of my time tonight. No wonder I usually stick to Sarah Palin sound-bytes.
All Apologies
Many in the GOP are distancing themselves from Congressman Joe Barton for his apology to BP, but Barton will be the chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee if the Republicans take back the house.
The can-do spirit of America
This is depressing…a great history lesson…a very deflating history lesson…
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| An Energy-Independent Future | ||||
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