The Middle Class Task Force

Go to http://www.whitehouse.gov/StrongMiddleClass/ to see what Joe Biden is doing on this task force. You can also submit ideas.

Two Santa Clauses and "Voodoo" Ecomomics

Thom Hartmann wrote an excellent article detailing the economic maneuvers by Republicans over the last 30 years (click title link to see full article). He takes us from supply-side theorist Jude Wanniski thru George W. Bush, and how his theories propelled the Republicans into office for 30 years. Some facts that should make you stop & think:

1. To promise tax cuts in order to get elected (15% maximum on the rich under Bush)
2. To focus on the capital gains tax (rich folks plow their extra money in stocks, not jobs)
3. To ignore federal budget deficits (it was under a trillion dollars in 1980, but almost 3 trillion by 1988)
4. To cut the power of labor unions (represented 25% of the workplace in 1980 to about 8% today)

According to Hartmann, "In reality, his tax cuts did what they have always done over the past 100 years – they initiated a bubble economy that would let the very rich skim the cream off the top just before the ceiling crashed in on working people."

Sources:
Thom Hartmann,Two Santa Clauses or How the Republican Party Has Conned America for Thirty Years, http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/01/26-0

Who Watches the Watchmen?

So, what does the Warner Bros movie, coming out next month, have to do with politics? If you have Rorschach or Ozymandias on your butt, who do you go for protection? These DC Comics comic books took the comic world by storm around the early 90's. 10 years later, we all fell asleep while our fearless leaders played havoc with the Constitution. Don't repeat history. Start watching the "watchmen."

Track your Senator and House Rep votes, so you're better informed.

Jobs and More Jobs

The headlines have blared about it; the Senate and the White House phone lines have been jammed because of it. It's called a Stimulus Plan, but the common term should be a JOBS PLAN.



The way to improve the economy, as nearly every economist will tell you, is to sustain and create jobs. They'll also agree that "government spending is stimulative." 1 In January alone, over 1/2 million jobs were lost. That's 1/2 million folks now going on unemployment, facing foreclosure, and many without healthcare. This is not a bailout for big-salaried CEO's and, in fact, once the Jobs Bill is passed, you can go to a new Recovery website to see where your tax dollars are being spent.

The tax breaks (multi-millionaire Warren Buffett pays 18% while his receptionist pays 33% 2) over the last 8 years (and really, since the Reagan Administration) haven't worked for anyone except the rich.3 We're living proof of this. The rich have gotten richer, while the middle-class has eroded to a shadow of its former self. Trickle-down didn't work; it's time for trickle-up (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63Do7L1yh-I for Obama's video on a strong middle class). If you give a rich person $1000, he'll pocket it. If you give a poor person $1000, he'll pay his bills. Which one stimulates the economy?

Does job creation stimulate the economy? History has already shown that it does (witness the Great Depression, where 3 Republican administrations ran the country into debt and reduced oversight and regulation until Wall St. & banks collapsed). It took a Democrat (Roosevelt) to clean up the mess. 4

Sources:
1. Media Matters at http://by119w.bay119.mail.live.com/mail/InboxLight.aspx?FolderID=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001&InboxSortAscending=False&InboxSortBy=Date&n=2062644410.
2. http://www.bestsyndication.com/?q=111507_warren_buffett_asks_government_for_tax_rate_increase_for_the_rich.htm
3.Citizens for Tax Justice, Year-by-Year Analysis of the Bush Tax Cuts, http://www.ctj.org/html/gwb0602.htm
4. Timelines of the Great Depression, http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/Timeline.htm