You Won't Believe These Suez Canal Conspiracies
4 years ago
Friday, August 31, 2012
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Paul Ryan’s brazen lies
Paul Ryan’s brazen lies
click link
But that’s not all. He attacked Obama for failing to keep open a Janesville GM plant that closed under Bush in 2008. He hit him for a credit-rating downgrade that S&P essentially blamed on GOP intransigence. He claimed that all taxpayers got from the 2009 stimulus was “more debt,” when most got a tax cut (and the stimulus is known to have saved between 1.4 and 3.3 million jobs). He derided the president for walking away from the Simpson Bowles commission deficit-cutting recommendations when Ryan himself, a commission member, voted against those recommendations.
And of course, he riffed on the tired central lie of the GOP convention: that the president said “government gets the credit” for small businesses, not the business owners themselves.
Other than that, it was a great speech.
Interestingly, for all his lies, Ryan didn’t repeat the Romney camp’s false claim that Obama did away with the welfare system’s work requirements. Maybe he ran out of time.
click link
But that’s not all. He attacked Obama for failing to keep open a Janesville GM plant that closed under Bush in 2008. He hit him for a credit-rating downgrade that S&P essentially blamed on GOP intransigence. He claimed that all taxpayers got from the 2009 stimulus was “more debt,” when most got a tax cut (and the stimulus is known to have saved between 1.4 and 3.3 million jobs). He derided the president for walking away from the Simpson Bowles commission deficit-cutting recommendations when Ryan himself, a commission member, voted against those recommendations.
He blamed Obama for a deficit mostly created by programs he himself voted for – from two wars, tax cuts, new Medicare benefits and TARP.
Other than that, it was a great speech.
Interestingly, for all his lies, Ryan didn’t repeat the Romney camp’s false claim that Obama did away with the welfare system’s work requirements. Maybe he ran out of time.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Ron Paul’s army revolts, again
Ron Paul’s army revolts, again
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Delegates from Maine protest during the presentation of rules during the Republican National Convention in Tampa. (Credit: AP/Lynne Sladkey)
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Delegates from Maine protest during the presentation of rules during the Republican National Convention in Tampa. (Credit: AP/Lynne Sladkey)TAMPA — “In fact, we just actually had a young guy from Massachusetts physically assault a little old lady from North Dakota trying to steal the minority report from her,” said Dudley Brown, a Colorado delegate on the rules committee here at the Republican National Convention, indicating just how heated things have gotten over a rules dispute that threatens to upset the carefully choreographed event. ”I had to step in and literally grab it out of his hands and sit him down forcefully. I told him, that’s not what men do to women, especially little old ladies, from my state. I don’t know what they do in Massachusetts,” Dudley, the executive vice president of the National Association for Gun Rights, told Salon on the floor of the convention.
“Hostile takeover”: Ron Paul’s fans react
“Hostile takeover”: Ron Paul’s fans react
click link
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TAMPA — Chaos and turmoil may have befallen the Ron Paul delegation — members of which frantically scrambled about the Tampa convention floor Tuesday to exert their influence — but much of the party establishment seemed unmoved by their plight. For example: I spotted Sen. John Thune of South Dakota striding around the exterior ring of the building, and asked if he felt the Paul People’s grievances were legitimate. “Well, perhaps in their minds,” the senator replied. “I think that there’s a process, everyone followed it. Everyone did it according to the rules.”
click link
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TAMPA — Chaos and turmoil may have befallen the Ron Paul delegation — members of which frantically scrambled about the Tampa convention floor Tuesday to exert their influence — but much of the party establishment seemed unmoved by their plight. For example: I spotted Sen. John Thune of South Dakota striding around the exterior ring of the building, and asked if he felt the Paul People’s grievances were legitimate. “Well, perhaps in their minds,” the senator replied. “I think that there’s a process, everyone followed it. Everyone did it according to the rules.”
Virtually every Paul supporter I have encountered thus far would stridently disagree with Thune’s assessment. Generally, they range from somewhere between perturbed to violently apoplectic over GOP insiders’ skulduggery.
What Chris Christie didn’t tell you
What Chris Christie didn’t tell you
click link
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click link
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Chris Christie, who has previously spoken about the 2016 presidential race as if it’s a foregone conclusion that there will be no incumbent Republican running and that the GOP nomination will be wide open, delivered a keynote address Monday night that reeked of personal ambition.
The praise he directed toward Mitt Romney seemed perfunctory and almost incidental, with the heart of Christie’s speech devoted to extolling his own achievements in New Jersey. His intent was the same as that of any governor with presidential ambition: to portray his own executive leadership as a refreshing model of innovation, bipartisanship and results, one that the current occupant of the White House refuses for some strange reason to emulate.
“We need politicians to care more about doing something and less about being something,” Christie said. “Believe me, if we can do this in a blue state with a conservative Republican governor, Washington is out of excuses.”
It’s a compelling premise, obviously, but it’s also very misleading. It’s not that Christie hasn’t managed to achieve anything in New Jersey. He has, and his governorship has been unusually consequential. But almost nothing about how this has happened applies to the current situation in Washington.
Monday, August 27, 2012
Karl Rove predicts historic loss for Todd Akin - Jennifer Haberkorn - POLITICO.com
Karl Rove predicts historic loss for Todd Akin - Jennifer Haberkorn - POLITICO.com
click link
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0812/80193.html#ixzz24oGe8Leb
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TAMPA, Fla.— Karl Rove on Monday predicted Rep. Todd Akin will lose by the widest margin of any Republican candidate in modern history if he remains in his Missouri Senate race against Sen. Claire McCaskill.
“What he said was indefensible and the way he handled it made it worse,” Rove told POLITICO’s Mike Allen at the first POLITICO Playbook Breakfast at the Republican National Convention.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0812/80193.html#ixzz24oGe8Leb
Missouri delegates angry at Mitt Romney over Todd Akin - Manu Raju - POLITICO.com
Missouri delegates angry at Mitt Romney over Todd Akin - Manu Raju - POLITICO.com:
click link
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Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0812/80203.html#ixzz24oGLCy6p
click link
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TAMPA — Missouri GOP delegates are rejecting the heavy-handed push by Mitt Romney and national Republicans to boot Todd Akin from their state’s Senate race, revealing a split among Republicans that could imperil the party’s effort to take back the chamber in the fall campaign.
In interviews with POLITICO, delegates argued that Akin could still win the race in the conservative state, pushing back against the notion that his remarks on rape were a death blow to his Senate candidacy. Several delegates here in Tampa seemed angry at the national party, saying the decision to withhold millions of dollars in campaign funding is the real impediment in their effort to oust Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill in November.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0812/80203.html#ixzz24oGLCy6p
Romney talks about Bain slave labor
[LEAKED VIDEO] Mitt Romney talks about using Chinese slave labor to profit Bain Capital
Mitt Romney Talks about Using Chinese Slave Labor to Profit His Bain Capital Company.
It's Called "The Bain Way" and Mitt Romney wants to apply the same ideas to fix the American economy.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Free Flu Shots at Barnes-Jewish - 2011
note: been going here for years. pretty much truth and not a long wait
expect same in 2012
am going with some of the soar folks hopefully after monthly meeting
Social Security Online History Pages is social security just another tax?
Social Security Online History Pages:
click link
Fleming vs Davis ruled the following. yes, congress can change the rules and if they wish to eliminate, make private or anything; they can do so
one suggests folks pay close attention to the upcoming elections. one can say same of medicare or any other social program
Fleming vs Nester and others pretty much say the same
click link
Fleming vs Davis ruled the following. yes, congress can change the rules and if they wish to eliminate, make private or anything; they can do so
one suggests folks pay close attention to the upcoming elections. one can say same of medicare or any other social program
Fleming vs Nester and others pretty much say the same
[Flemming v. Davis, 363 U.S. 603, 609 (1960)]
3. Furthermore, payments made by employers for each of their
employees are NOT matching to be credited to the account of the
employee, but constitute an EXCISE TAX on the employer's right to
do business. Consequently, his so-called "contributions" go
directly into the general fund of the treasury.
4. People participating in Social Security payroll deductions
do NOT acquire property rights or contractual rights through
their payments, as they would if they were paying on an insurance
policy or contributing to an annuity plan. Simply put, there are
no guarantees! The Congress does have power to deny benefits to
citizens even, though they had paid S.S. taxes. Also, the amounts
of benefits granted are at the option of Congress. Flemming v.
Nestor, 363 U.S. 603, 610 (1960).
5. Benefits granted under Social Security are therefore NOT
considered earned by the worker, but simply constitute a gratuity
or gesture of charity. As the Court states:
"Congress included in the original Act, and has since
retained a claim expressly reserving to it the right to
alter, amend, or repeal any provision of the Act".
[Flemming v. Nestor, 363 U.S. 603, 610-11 (1960)]
corporations are people Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific R. Co. - 118 U.S. 394 (1886) :: Justia US Supreme Court Center
Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific R. Co. - 118 U.S. 394 (1886) :: Justia US Supreme Court Center
click link
snip from wiki==other source
Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company, 118 U.S. 394 (1886) was a matter brought before the United States Supreme Court - but not decided by the court - which dealt with taxation of railroad properties. A report issued by the Court Reporter claimed to state the sense of the Court - without a decision or written opinions published by or of the Court. This was the first time that the Supreme Court was reported to hold that the Fourteenth Amendment equal protection clause granted constitutional protections to corporations as well as to natural persons, although numerous other cases, since Dartmouth College v. Woodward in 1819, have recognized that corporations were entitled to some of the protections of the Constitution. In the opinion, the Court consolidated three separate cases:
click link
snip from wiki==other source
Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Supreme Court of the United States | ||||||
| Argued January 26–29, 1886 Decided May 10, 1886 | ||||||
| Full case name | Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company | |||||
| Citations | 118 U.S. 394 (more) 6 S. Ct. 1132, 30 L. Ed. 118 | |||||
| Prior history | Error to the Circuit Court of the United States for the District of California | |||||
| Holding | ||||||
| The railroad corporations are persons with the intent of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. | ||||||
| Court membership | ||||||
| ||||||
| Case opinions | ||||||
| Majority | Harlan, joined by unanimous court | |||||
| Laws applied | ||||||
| 14 Stat. 292, §§ 1, 2, 3, 11, 18 (an Act of 1866 giving special privileges to the Atlantic and Pacific Railway Corporation) | ||||||
- Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company
- California v. Central Pacific Railroad Company
- California v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company
Editorial: After Akin, then what? GOP needs moderating influence : Stltoday
Editorial: After Akin, then what? GOP needs moderating influence : Stltoday
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That's a question that should be pondered by U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, and former Sens. John Ashcroft, Christopher "Kit" Bond and John C. Danforth. Those four men, the elder statesmen of the Missouri Republican Party, urged Mr. Akin to leave the race against Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill in the aftermath of Mr. Akin's horribly wrong statement about what he called "legitimate rape."
The cynic would see their failed attempt to push Mr. Akin out of the race as pure political survival, separating their party from the albatross that Mr. Akin has become to save the rest of their statewide ticket.
Missourians, whatever their political persuasion, should hope there's more to it than that. These four men have records of leadership far different than the extremism of Mr. Akin and the demagoguery embodied by many others in their party today.
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bipartisanism is a myth. only in true crisis mode does this occur.
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That's a question that should be pondered by U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, and former Sens. John Ashcroft, Christopher "Kit" Bond and John C. Danforth. Those four men, the elder statesmen of the Missouri Republican Party, urged Mr. Akin to leave the race against Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill in the aftermath of Mr. Akin's horribly wrong statement about what he called "legitimate rape."
The cynic would see their failed attempt to push Mr. Akin out of the race as pure political survival, separating their party from the albatross that Mr. Akin has become to save the rest of their statewide ticket.
Missourians, whatever their political persuasion, should hope there's more to it than that. These four men have records of leadership far different than the extremism of Mr. Akin and the demagoguery embodied by many others in their party today.
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bipartisanism is a myth. only in true crisis mode does this occur.
Friday, August 24, 2012
The Lost Decade of the Middle Class | Pew Social & Demographic Trends
The Lost Decade of the Middle Class | Pew Social & Demographic Trends:
click link above this is study that caused media flap yesterday
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The downbeat short-term perspective is not surprising in light of the heavy economic blows delivered by the Great Recession of 2007-2009 and the sluggish recovery since. About four-in-ten (42%) middle-class adults say their household’s financial situation is worse now than it was before the recession, while 32% say they are in better shape; an additional 23% volunteered that their finances are unchanged. Of those who say they’re in worse shape, about half (51%) say it will take at least five years to recover, including 8% who predict they will never recover.
click link above this is study that caused media flap yesterday
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Falling Behind, Moving Ahead
When middle-class Americans size up their personal economies, they see themselves as both moving ahead and falling behind. It all depends on the time frame. Over the short term, their evaluations tilt negative. Over the span of the past decade, they’re mixed. And over the full arc of their lives, they’re positive—albeit less so now than in the past.
The Great Recession officially ended three years ago, but most middle-class Americans are still feeling pinched. About six-in-ten (62%) say they had to reduce household spending in the past year because money was tight, compared with 53% who said so in 2008.
The downbeat short-term perspective is not surprising in light of the heavy economic blows delivered by the Great Recession of 2007-2009 and the sluggish recovery since. About four-in-ten (42%) middle-class adults say their household’s financial situation is worse now than it was before the recession, while 32% say they are in better shape; an additional 23% volunteered that their finances are unchanged. Of those who say they’re in worse shape, about half (51%) say it will take at least five years to recover, including 8% who predict they will never recover.Secret Bain documents reveal that Mitt Romney is rich - Salon.com
Secret Bain documents reveal that Mitt Romney is rich - Salon.com:
click link above
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click link above
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Some of the documents lend support to a common interpretation of Mitt Romney: That he’s just playing pretend with all this conservative anti-Keynesian stuff. One fund Romney has a million or so dollars in sent its investors a letter acknowledging that the economy is “still highly dependent on fiscal support” — or, in other words, the stimulus worked. (Though that’s just what some money manager thinks. Romney picked Ryan, I think conservatives needn’t be worried.)
Oh also some of the funds in Romney’s retirement package from Bain Capital were created years after he “retired.” (One as late as 2008.) Obviously Romney’s incredibly sudden/lengthy and drawn-out ex post facto 1999/2002 Bain retirement is still a matter of some confusion, and this won’t help matters. As Cook says:
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Share of middle class income shrinking : Stltoday
Share of middle class income shrinking : Stltoday
click link
"The job market is changing, our living standards are falling in the middle, and middle-income parents are now afraid that their children will be worse off than they are," says Timothy Smeeding, a University of Wisconsin-Madison economics professor who specializes in income inequality.
He said that many middle-income families took a big hit in the past decade as health care costs increase, mid-wage jobs disappear because of automation and outsourcing and college tuition mounts for those seeking to build credentials to get better work. Meanwhile, more-affluent families have fared better in net worth because they are less dependent than lower-income groups on home property values, which remain shriveled after the housing bust. Wealthier Americans are more likely to be invested in the stock market, which as a whole has been quicker to recover from the downturn.
"These are the disaffected middle class who work hard and play by the rules of society, but increasingly see their situation declining by forces beyond their control," Smeeding said in an interview. "No matter who is president, the climb back up for the middle class and the recovery will be slow and often painful."
The Pew study is just the latest indicator of a long-term trend of widening U.S. income inequality. The Census Bureau reported last year that income fell for the wealthiest — down 1.2 percent to $180,810 for the top 5 percent of households. But the bottom fifth of households — those making $20,000 or less — saw incomes decline 4 percent.
The new study reviewed 2010 data from the Census Bureau and Federal Reserve, defining "middle class" as the tier of adults whose household income falls between two-thirds and double the national median income, or $39,418 to $118,255 in 2010 for a family of three. By this definition, "middle class" makes up about 51 percent of U.S. adults, down from 61 percent in 1971.
click link
"The job market is changing, our living standards are falling in the middle, and middle-income parents are now afraid that their children will be worse off than they are," says Timothy Smeeding, a University of Wisconsin-Madison economics professor who specializes in income inequality.
He said that many middle-income families took a big hit in the past decade as health care costs increase, mid-wage jobs disappear because of automation and outsourcing and college tuition mounts for those seeking to build credentials to get better work. Meanwhile, more-affluent families have fared better in net worth because they are less dependent than lower-income groups on home property values, which remain shriveled after the housing bust. Wealthier Americans are more likely to be invested in the stock market, which as a whole has been quicker to recover from the downturn.
"These are the disaffected middle class who work hard and play by the rules of society, but increasingly see their situation declining by forces beyond their control," Smeeding said in an interview. "No matter who is president, the climb back up for the middle class and the recovery will be slow and often painful."
The Pew study is just the latest indicator of a long-term trend of widening U.S. income inequality. The Census Bureau reported last year that income fell for the wealthiest — down 1.2 percent to $180,810 for the top 5 percent of households. But the bottom fifth of households — those making $20,000 or less — saw incomes decline 4 percent.
The new study reviewed 2010 data from the Census Bureau and Federal Reserve, defining "middle class" as the tier of adults whose household income falls between two-thirds and double the national median income, or $39,418 to $118,255 in 2010 for a family of three. By this definition, "middle class" makes up about 51 percent of U.S. adults, down from 61 percent in 1971.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Flu Shot Clinic - Free Flu Shots for the Community - Barnes-Jewish Hospital
Flu Shot Clinic - Free Flu Shots for the Community - Barnes-Jewish Hospital:
click link for full listing
click link for full listing
On-Site Locations
Sunday, September 30
9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Adult & Pediatric vaccinations (6 months & up)
Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital, Medical Office Building 2
10 Barnes West Drive, Creve Coeur, MO 63141
Parking is available free on site.
9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Adult & Pediatric vaccinations (6 months & up)
Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital, Medical Office Building 2
10 Barnes West Drive, Creve Coeur, MO 63141
Parking is available free on site.
Monday, October 1 - Friday, October 5
7 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Adult vaccinations only (18+ years old)
Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Main Floor Lobby
One Barnes-Jewish Hospital Plaza, St. Louis, MO 63110
Parking is available in the South Garage for $1.50/hr
7 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Adult vaccinations only (18+ years old)
Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Main Floor Lobby
One Barnes-Jewish Hospital Plaza, St. Louis, MO 63110
Parking is available in the South Garage for $1.50/hr
Monday, October 1 - Friday, October 5
8 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Adult & Pediatric vaccinations (6 months & up)
Center for Advanced Medicine, 3rd Floor Lobby
4921 Parkview Place, St. Louis, MO 63110
Parking is available in the North Garage for $1.50/hr
8 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Adult & Pediatric vaccinations (6 months & up)
Center for Advanced Medicine, 3rd Floor Lobby
4921 Parkview Place, St. Louis, MO 63110
Parking is available in the North Garage for $1.50/hr
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Please don’t go, Todd
Please don’t go, Todd
click link
comment: todd won primary and I would stay in race were it me
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Conservatives are already trying to explain all this away. “No state is going to ban abortion in the case of rape even if Roe v. Wade is overruled — and even if Akin were elected to the Senate. Everyone knows this,” the National Review staff wrote in its call for Akin to step down. Really? Thanks to a purge of moderates in the last primary under the guidance of Gov. Sam Brownback and the Koch brothers, Kansas, for one, would be poised to do just that. Several states have already passed absolute bans on abortion after 20 weeks, well before viability, without exceptions for rape and incest, and the stated intent is to keep moving that line closer and closer to fertilization. Even if voters rejected “personhood” amendments in Colorado and Mississippi, that hasn’t stopped the movement from trying again and again, down to spreading falsehoods that common forms of birth control are tantamount to abortion.
click link
comment: todd won primary and I would stay in race were it me
snip
Conservatives are already trying to explain all this away. “No state is going to ban abortion in the case of rape even if Roe v. Wade is overruled — and even if Akin were elected to the Senate. Everyone knows this,” the National Review staff wrote in its call for Akin to step down. Really? Thanks to a purge of moderates in the last primary under the guidance of Gov. Sam Brownback and the Koch brothers, Kansas, for one, would be poised to do just that. Several states have already passed absolute bans on abortion after 20 weeks, well before viability, without exceptions for rape and incest, and the stated intent is to keep moving that line closer and closer to fertilization. Even if voters rejected “personhood” amendments in Colorado and Mississippi, that hasn’t stopped the movement from trying again and again, down to spreading falsehoods that common forms of birth control are tantamount to abortion.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Americans Trail World in Paid Time Off as 40% Don’t Get Money - SFGate
Americans Trail World in Paid Time Off as 40% Don’t Get Money - SFGate:
click link
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Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/business/bloomberg/article/Americans-Trail-World-in-Paid-Time-Off-as-40-3796292.php#ixzz245r7gTxA
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note: when you get rid of unions what do you expect
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The report underscores how the U.S. is lagging on such policies. It’s the only advanced economy without a national leave policy guaranteeing a break for employees, said John Schmitt, a senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington. Austria guarantees as many as 43 paid days off, and a young German worker can take as many as 40.
“Of the 15 most economically developed countries, 14 have sick and vacation time off,” Schmitt said in a telephone interview. “We’re the outlier.”
The report shows that employees in some industries fare better than others. The 8.1 million Americans working in the financial industry in 2011 were twice as likely as the nation’s 8.7 million construction workers to have paid time off, according to the bureau’s American Time Use Survey, which attempts to track how much time U.S. residents devote to activities ranging from job-searching to dog-walking.
The lowest rates were in the leisure and hospitality sector, where fewer than one in four workers reported receiving paid vacation or sick days.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/business/bloomberg/article/Americans-Trail-World-in-Paid-Time-Off-as-40-3796292.php#ixzz245r7gTxA
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note: when you get rid of unions what do you expect
Conservative Activists Call On Akin To Quit Race After ‘Legitimate Rape’ Comment | TPM2012
Conservative Activists Call On Akin To Quit Race After ‘Legitimate Rape’ Comment | TPM2012:
click link above
click link above
Conservative strategists and activists did not rally to Rep. Todd Akin’s defense Sunday after the Republican Senate nominee in Missouri said that “legitimate rape” victims have a biological defense mechanism to prevent pregnancy.
Instead, a growing chorus is calling for him to withdraw from the race.
On Twitter Sunday, many Republicans reached the conclusion that Akin is no longer a viable Senate candidate. Until Sunday, Akin was the favorite to take incumbent Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill’s seat as Missouri grows increasingly conservative. But both sides of the aisle seem to think Akin’s rape comments could cost him the election.
Republican strategist Patrick Ruffini recommended that a new nominee be subbed in for Akin:
Todd Akin Talks About Elections, Civil Right And Voting RightsLaws | FOX2now.com – St. Louis News & Weather from KTVI Television FOX2
part two
akin statement
click link above
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this is full Akin interview and one akin claims he misspoke
rape comments are a bit much and so is more
this is full Akin interview and one akin claims he misspoke
rape comments are a bit much and so is more
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Friday, August 17, 2012
Ryan budget would hurt poor and elderly, critics say - KansasCity.com
Ryan budget would hurt poor and elderly, critics say - KansasCity.com
click link
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Ryan's allies say he keeps the safety net intact through free enterprise and federalism. His critics say he shreds it.
A group critical of the plan says that 62 percent of the $5.3 trillion in non-defense budget reductions over 10 years that it calls for comes from programs to assist low-income Americans. According to the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, many of the programs targeted for $3.3 trillion in cuts, such as Medicaid, food stamps, public housing and Medicare, anchor the nation's safety net of public assistance programs for the poor, elderly and disabled.
Programs that assist middle-class families, like Pell Grants and job training, would likely face cuts as well, according to Ryan's plan.
"This budget is actually a very extreme proposal," said Paul Van de Water, a senior fellow at the center. "The extent to which it would scale back virtually all the basic functions of government, including programs that are highly important to middle-income people, like Medicare, is just something that is unparalleled."
click link
snip
Ryan's allies say he keeps the safety net intact through free enterprise and federalism. His critics say he shreds it.
A group critical of the plan says that 62 percent of the $5.3 trillion in non-defense budget reductions over 10 years that it calls for comes from programs to assist low-income Americans. According to the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, many of the programs targeted for $3.3 trillion in cuts, such as Medicaid, food stamps, public housing and Medicare, anchor the nation's safety net of public assistance programs for the poor, elderly and disabled.
Programs that assist middle-class families, like Pell Grants and job training, would likely face cuts as well, according to Ryan's plan.
"This budget is actually a very extreme proposal," said Paul Van de Water, a senior fellow at the center. "The extent to which it would scale back virtually all the basic functions of government, including programs that are highly important to middle-income people, like Medicare, is just something that is unparalleled."
A look at who pays when health-care tax hikes kick in
A look at who pays when health-care tax hikes kick in
click link
s nip
When: 2013
"Cadillac" plans
Who pays: Insurance companies or businesses that provide plans with premiums of more than $10,200 per person or $27,500 per family, not including dental or vision coverage. Employees covered by these so-called "Cadillac" benefits probably will feel the pinch.
How much: 40 percent excise tax on any amount of premium that exceeds the threshold. Expected to raise $111 billion over five years.
The lowdown: The majority of health plans aren't affected because they don't cost enough: Workplace family coverage now averages about $15,000, including the portion paid by the employer, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation's survey.
But some middle-class workers, especially those with strong union contracts, have health plans that exceed the threshold. Also hit are corporate bigwigs whose employer-paid plans cover virtually all expenses and lots of perks, akin to tax-free income.
Some employees will pay more for their share of insurance costs because the tax will get passed along to them. In other cases, businesses will trim benefits to bring their plans under the tax cutoff.
Economists predict that many of the affected workers will get higher pay as a trade-off - but those raises would be subject to income tax.
The tax will affect more workers as time goes by. It's indexed for inflation, but rising health-care prices will probably outpace that.
When: 2018.
click link
s nip
When: 2013
"Cadillac" plans
Who pays: Insurance companies or businesses that provide plans with premiums of more than $10,200 per person or $27,500 per family, not including dental or vision coverage. Employees covered by these so-called "Cadillac" benefits probably will feel the pinch.
How much: 40 percent excise tax on any amount of premium that exceeds the threshold. Expected to raise $111 billion over five years.
The lowdown: The majority of health plans aren't affected because they don't cost enough: Workplace family coverage now averages about $15,000, including the portion paid by the employer, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation's survey.
But some middle-class workers, especially those with strong union contracts, have health plans that exceed the threshold. Also hit are corporate bigwigs whose employer-paid plans cover virtually all expenses and lots of perks, akin to tax-free income.
Some employees will pay more for their share of insurance costs because the tax will get passed along to them. In other cases, businesses will trim benefits to bring their plans under the tax cutoff.
Economists predict that many of the affected workers will get higher pay as a trade-off - but those raises would be subject to income tax.
The tax will affect more workers as time goes by. It's indexed for inflation, but rising health-care prices will probably outpace that.
When: 2018.
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Paul Ryan didn’t build that!
Paul Ryan didn’t build that!
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Mitt Romney’s running mate, he attacked President Obama’s “you didn’t build that” remark about the role of government in supporting private innovation. But while Republicans have been clamoring to make this election a false dichotomy between the private sector and the public sector, Paul Ryan — heir to a private fortune made by building public highways — is a gaping pothole in that plan. Paul Ryan is a living, breathing GOP example of how public infrastructure and private entrepreneurship work hand-in-hand.
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Mitt Romney’s running mate, he attacked President Obama’s “you didn’t build that” remark about the role of government in supporting private innovation. But while Republicans have been clamoring to make this election a false dichotomy between the private sector and the public sector, Paul Ryan — heir to a private fortune made by building public highways — is a gaping pothole in that plan. Paul Ryan is a living, breathing GOP example of how public infrastructure and private entrepreneurship work hand-in-hand.
Paul Ryan’s great-grandfather started a construction company to build railroads and, eventually, highways. According to the Web site of Ryan Incorporated Central, the company was “founded in 1884with a single team of mules building railroad embankments in Southern Wisconsin.” And in the 1800s, railroad construction was subsidized by the federal government. Mid-century, President Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act into law, providing taxpayer dollars to fund the construction of a transcontinental railway. All railroads thereafter connected to, and benefited from, that public investment.
At the turn of the century, Ryan Inc. turned to road building. A subsidiary family corporation, Ryan Incorporated Southern, states on its Web site, “The Ryan workload from 1910 until the rural interstate Highway System was completed 60 years later [and] was mostly Highway construction.” The $119 billion spent by the federal government on the Interstate Highway System was, by one account, “the largest public works program since the Pyramids.”
Romney’s Taxes + Ryan’s Budget = Democratic Delight - Bloomberg
Romney’s Taxes + Ryan’s Budget = Democratic Delight - Bloomberg:
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As for helping his rich brethren, Romney, like all conservatives, favors letting taxpayers keep more of their own money and decide how to allocate it. It’s self-evident that individuals spend their own money more efficiently than the government can. Stronger growth lifts all boats. It’s a compelling argument, if Romney chooses to make it.
The Republican Party has never been good at selling ideas: powerful ideas, such as freedom, individual responsibility, opportunity, a bigger economic pie. Find people who exemplify your ideals, who pulled themselves up by their own hard work and ingenuity, who did build that business, and drag them to campaign events. Let them tell their inspirational stories.
The idea that the GOP goal is to help the rich at the expense of the poor defies logic. The party’s ideas on how to help the poor may differ from the Democrats’: better education through school choice; creating incentives to work rather than to loaf. But to endure the ordeal of a presidential campaign to help the rich get richer? They may earn the lion’s share of the income, but they don’t control a majority of the votes.
Then there’s Medicare. On Sunday, Obama (or his tweeter- designate) posted a “Twitter pic” with the following: “Fact: Paul Ryan would end Medicare as we know it by turning it into a voucher program costing seniors up to $6,350 a year more.”
The voucher part is true. But Paul Ryan isn’t going to end Medicare as we know it. Medicare is going to do that on its own. The Medicare Trust Fund has been running a cash-flow deficit since 2008 and will go bust in 2024, according to the 2012 report of the trustees of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds.
PressTV - Krugman: Ryan budget proposal 'just a fantasy'
PressTV - Krugman: Ryan budget proposal 'just a fantasy':
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Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, announced Ryan, a Wisconsin congressman, as his running mate on Saturday. Ryan has led the Republican Party's charge to shrink the size of government, including cutting spending on welfare, Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, while slashing taxes for the wealthiest.
Krugman wrote in another blog post published on Monday afternoon that Romney chose Ryan in order to dupe the media into making "Ryan's unjustified reputation for honest wonkery...transfer to the ticket as a whole."
Ryan has been praised as a deficit hawk, but his budget proposal would raise $2.2 trillion less in tax revenue over the next 10 years than President Obama's budget, according to the Washington Post's Brad Plumer. To offset that lost revenue, Ryan also has proposed spending $5.3 trillion less over the same time period, but has not specified exact cuts.
Ryan's budget would slash all federal spending -- outside of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security -- by 70 percent by 2050, perhaps an unrealistic assumption considering that Romney has promised to keep defense spending above those levels, according to Washington Post columnist Ezra Klein.
Ryan also has proposed cutting individual and corporate tax rates and getting rid of taxes on corporate income, capital gains, estates, interest and dividends, according to Bloomberg. Ryan's budget proposal also promised to close tax loopholes, but declined to specify which ones.
Ryan's budget is generous to the wealthiest Americans. Romney, for example, would have paid an effective 0.82 percent tax rate in 2010 under Ryan's budget, thanks to the elimination of the tax on capital gains, the Atlantic's Matthew O'Brien notes. The Huffington Post
Monday, August 13, 2012
Mailers Mislead on ‘Obamacare’ Opt-Out Amendment
Mailers Mislead on ‘Obamacare’ Opt-Out Amendment
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A conservative group misleads Kansas voters in campaign mailers that claim a failed proposal to amend the state’s Constitution would have allowed residents to opt-out of “Obamacare.”
No state law can do that. The U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause explicitly states that federal law is the “supreme Law of the Land.”
The proposed Kansas Health Care Freedom Amendment, like several similar state proposals and laws,declared that no law can compel Kansans to buy health insurance or require them to pay a fine for lacking it.
The legislation failed in the Kansas Senate in February by one vote, preventing it from appearing on the November ballot for final voter approval. Law professors and the Congressional Research Service have said such laws would have “no effect” on the federal law.
Some of the mailers attack moderate Republican state senators who voted against the amendment. Other fliers support conservative Republican lawmakers who voted for it. Two of the mailers we received go too far in their description of what the amendment could have done for Kansans.
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note: Missouri passed one of these symbolic measures some time ago
Does Romney Pay a Lower Rate in Taxes Than You?
Does Romney Pay a Lower Rate in Taxes Than You?
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A new ad from the Obama campaign claims that Mitt Romney “paid only 14 percent in taxes—probably less than you.” That depends. Romney paid a federal income tax rate that is higher than the income tax rate paid by 97 percent of tax filers. But if you include a combination of income taxes and payroll taxes — which make up the bulk of federal taxes for most taxpayers — the ad is accurate.
The ad, called “Stretch,” is the first to feature a report from the Tax Policy Center that concluded a plan like Romney’s proposal for across-the-board tax cuts, together with the goal of remaining revenue neutral, would ultimately raise taxes on people making less than $200,000 a year. The ad contrasts those findings with data from Romney’s 2010 tax return.
Is Romney to Blame for Cancer Death?
Is Romney to Blame for Cancer Death?
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As we have written repeatedly in the past, Romney left day-to-day operations at Bain Capital in early 1999 to head up the Salt Lake City Organizing Committee, and we have criticized the Obama campaign for blaming Romney for the offshoring of jobs by Bain-controlled companies after that time. But this case is a little different. Although the steel company declared bankruptcy in 2001, the debt was incurred at GS Industries under Romney’s leadership.
Was it the debt load that doomed the company? Some analysts cited by Reuters said it certainly didn’t help. Others blamed the union or competition from Asia. In a 1999 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company stated, “Distressed economic conditions in other countries, particularly Asia, have resulted in record levels of imported steel products into the domestic market causing dramatic declines in selling prices industry-wide.”
It was a very bad time in general for the steel industry in the United States. A 2003 report from the U.S. International Trade Commission found that between 1999 and 2003, “31 steel companies producing products subject to the safeguard measures [including tariffs on foreign imports] have filed for bankruptcy protection.”
In short, whether Romney or Bain is responsible for the demise of the company is a matter for legitimate debate.
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Mitt Romney chooses Paul Ryan as running mate
Mitt Romney chooses Paul Ryan as running mate
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NORFOLK, Va. – Mitt Romney unveiled Saturday morning Representative Paul Ryan as his choice for running mate, a bold move that comes at the end of an intense selection process and is likely to shake up a presidential race out of the summer doldrums.
Romney sent out the announcement, which began to leak early this morning, through a smart-phone application, alerting supporters simply: “Mitt’s Choice for VP is Paul Ryan.”
Romney and Ryan are slated to appear together on the waterfront here, with the USS Wisconsin serving as the backdrop. Lines formed in the early hours of the morning, with supporters snaking around the Nauticus Museum where the announcement was scheduled to take place.
Romney’s campaign also sent out a press release branding Romney and Ryan as “America’s Comeback Team” and providing a brief biography of Ryan, who has been a prominent seven-term congressman but is also relatively untested on the national stage.
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NORFOLK, Va. – Mitt Romney unveiled Saturday morning Representative Paul Ryan as his choice for running mate, a bold move that comes at the end of an intense selection process and is likely to shake up a presidential race out of the summer doldrums.
Romney sent out the announcement, which began to leak early this morning, through a smart-phone application, alerting supporters simply: “Mitt’s Choice for VP is Paul Ryan.”
Romney and Ryan are slated to appear together on the waterfront here, with the USS Wisconsin serving as the backdrop. Lines formed in the early hours of the morning, with supporters snaking around the Nauticus Museum where the announcement was scheduled to take place.
Romney’s campaign also sent out a press release branding Romney and Ryan as “America’s Comeback Team” and providing a brief biography of Ryan, who has been a prominent seven-term congressman but is also relatively untested on the national stage.
Friday, August 10, 2012
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Could Romney’s Effective Tax Rate Really Be Zero? | TPMDC
Could Romney’s Effective Tax Rate Really Be Zero? | TPMDC:
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That’s according to Ed Kleinbard, a tax law professor at the USC School of Law who earlier this year participated in a conference call organized by the DNC. He thinks the literal reading of Reid’s allegation is unlikely.
“We know that by 2010, he had lots of other income,” Kleinbard said. “[H]e had something like $20 million in other income…. What [the TPM reader] wrote is may be true but it has nothing to do with the $20 million on the return in 2010.”
That year, Romney paid a nearly 14 percent effective rate on his taxes. But those numbers likely understate the degree to which Romney’s financial circumstances improved that year. It wouldn’t account for the appreciation of assets he decided not to sell in 2010, and if Bain bought company shares back from Romney’s IRA, that money wouldn’t show up anywhere.
“What’s in the IRA is invisible on the return,” Kleinbard says.
Other experts largely agree.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
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