Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s tax proposal would add $600 billion to the U.S. budget deficit in 2015, according to a study released today by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center in Washington.
The analysis compares the revenue that Romney’s tax-code changes would generate compared with expected U.S. revenue under current law, which assumes that several income tax cuts will expire as scheduled at the end of 2012.
The numbers were released five days before Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, seeks to solidify his front-runner status with a win in the New Hampshire primary.
The analysis said Romney’s plan would “reduce federal tax revenues substantially” though not as deeply as some of his opponents. In a separate study released Dec. 12, the Tax Policy Center said former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s proposed tax regime would add $1.3 trillion to the budget deficit in 2015.
Social Justice: Current Affairs, Business, Politics, and all the reasons in the world to Thrive on Creative Discontent!
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Tell Google: Quit the Chamber of Commerce. Help block the INTERNET Censorship Act
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is at the forefront of efforts to pass the Internet Censorship Act, which fundamentally threatens the internet as we know it.
If the bill passes, corporate copyright holders would be able to demand the government shut down a website based on nothing more than an allegation that the website contains copyrighted material. And the government could do this even without a court order.
The free speech implications of this kind of extra-judicial government censorship of the internet is chilling. It's nothing short of an outright attack on our free internet.
Google, which is strongly opposed to the Internet Censorship Act and has an unofficial motto of "Don't be evil," is a member of the Chamber of Commerce. But the Chamber's all-out support of this incredibly dangerous legislation has reportedly caused Google to consider quitting the rightwing organization in protest.
If Google leaves the Chamber, it will further reveal that the Chamber is nothing more than a front group for a small handful of wealthy corporate special interests. And this will further chip away at the Chamber's grandiose claim to broadly represent the interests of the American business community.
We've already seen a number of big corporations including Yahoo and Apple leave the Chamber, and it's a very big deal that Google is reportedly considering the same thing right now.
This is a case where the business interests of Google align with the needs of all of us who depend on the free and open internet.
Progressives have any number of reasons to want to see the influence of the Chamber of Commerce diminish.
As the election season heats up, we'll almost certainly see the Chamber run vicious smear campaigns against people running against any number of rightwing extremists.
But more fundamentally, whether it's shilling for Big Oil or the tobacco companies or media giants, the Chamber is the poster child for how wealthy corporate money corrupts our system of government.
We have a chance now to help Google to do the right thing and quit the Chamber. Now's the time to speak out. Tell Google: Quit the Chamber of Commerce.
If the bill passes, corporate copyright holders would be able to demand the government shut down a website based on nothing more than an allegation that the website contains copyrighted material. And the government could do this even without a court order.
The free speech implications of this kind of extra-judicial government censorship of the internet is chilling. It's nothing short of an outright attack on our free internet.
Google, which is strongly opposed to the Internet Censorship Act and has an unofficial motto of "Don't be evil," is a member of the Chamber of Commerce. But the Chamber's all-out support of this incredibly dangerous legislation has reportedly caused Google to consider quitting the rightwing organization in protest.
If Google leaves the Chamber, it will further reveal that the Chamber is nothing more than a front group for a small handful of wealthy corporate special interests. And this will further chip away at the Chamber's grandiose claim to broadly represent the interests of the American business community.
We've already seen a number of big corporations including Yahoo and Apple leave the Chamber, and it's a very big deal that Google is reportedly considering the same thing right now.
This is a case where the business interests of Google align with the needs of all of us who depend on the free and open internet.
Progressives have any number of reasons to want to see the influence of the Chamber of Commerce diminish.
As the election season heats up, we'll almost certainly see the Chamber run vicious smear campaigns against people running against any number of rightwing extremists.
But more fundamentally, whether it's shilling for Big Oil or the tobacco companies or media giants, the Chamber is the poster child for how wealthy corporate money corrupts our system of government.
We have a chance now to help Google to do the right thing and quit the Chamber. Now's the time to speak out. Tell Google: Quit the Chamber of Commerce.
Republicans aim to bust Unions in Indiana
A clash over labor rights in Indiana is taking shape in the state Capitol as House Democrats try to stop a measure that would prohibit union contracts from requiring that workers pay dues, a top priority for Governor Mitch Daniels and fellow Republicans.
When the legislative session opened yesterday in Indianapolis, Democrats remained in caucus, preventing the House from conducting business. The opening-day maneuver recalled last year’s session, when the Republican-dominated House shut down for five weeks after Democrats fled the state in opposition to bills restricting union rights. It extends battles over unionism throughout the Midwest to a new arena: private businesses.
While the House is scheduled to convene today, Democratic leader Patrick Bauer said yesterday his members would return if public hearings on the bill are held throughout the state, not just in the Capitol in Indianapolis.
“We refuse to let the most controversial public policy bill of the decade be railroaded through and the public denied fair and adequate input,” Bauer said in a statement.
“There is no urgency to schedule this bill for passage so quickly,” he said.
The measure, which prohibits contracts at private work sites from requiring workers to contribute to a union, is scheduled for a committee hearing tomorrow.
When the legislative session opened yesterday in Indianapolis, Democrats remained in caucus, preventing the House from conducting business. The opening-day maneuver recalled last year’s session, when the Republican-dominated House shut down for five weeks after Democrats fled the state in opposition to bills restricting union rights. It extends battles over unionism throughout the Midwest to a new arena: private businesses.
While the House is scheduled to convene today, Democratic leader Patrick Bauer said yesterday his members would return if public hearings on the bill are held throughout the state, not just in the Capitol in Indianapolis.
“We refuse to let the most controversial public policy bill of the decade be railroaded through and the public denied fair and adequate input,” Bauer said in a statement.
“There is no urgency to schedule this bill for passage so quickly,” he said.
The measure, which prohibits contracts at private work sites from requiring workers to contribute to a union, is scheduled for a committee hearing tomorrow.
Oh Ahmadinejad خداحافظ
European governments have agreed in principle to ban imports of Iranian oil, EU diplomats said on Wednesday, dealing a blow to Tehran that crowns new Western sanctions months before an Iranian election.
The prospective embargo by the European Union, along with tough U.S. financial measures signed into law by President Barack Obama on New Year's Eve, form a concerted Western campaign to hold back Iran's nuclear program.
The prospective embargo by the European Union, along with tough U.S. financial measures signed into law by President Barack Obama on New Year's Eve, form a concerted Western campaign to hold back Iran's nuclear program.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Rick Santorum = a man of the 1% !!!!
Million-dollar-plus 2010 income included payments from a lobbying firm, an energy company engaged in controversial "hydrofracking" and a hospital conglomerate that was sued for allegedly defrauding the federal government.
Muzzle off the WATCHDOG.... Who let the dog out??? Obama!!!
On Wednesday, President Obama broke through a Republican blockade on confirming any director by appointing Richard Cordray for the job during a Senate recess and giving the new agency its full authority.
The move was applauded by consumer advocates, who had been pushing the White House to take the muzzle off its new watchdog.
"Congress wanted the bureau to protect consumers no matter where they shopped for financial products," said Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director at the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. "With a director, the public can now have confidence the consumer bureau is ready, willing and able to investigate their financial problems."
The move was applauded by consumer advocates, who had been pushing the White House to take the muzzle off its new watchdog.
"Congress wanted the bureau to protect consumers no matter where they shopped for financial products," said Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director at the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. "With a director, the public can now have confidence the consumer bureau is ready, willing and able to investigate their financial problems."
99% Time to be Heard; Time to FIGHT; For those of us with credit cards, mortgages, or student loans -- be heard NOW!!!
Today the President appointed former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
For months, Senate Republicans -- with Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum right behind them -- have fought this bureau every step of the way, and their latest strategy is to refuse to allow even an up-or-down vote on this nomination.
The issue isn't his qualifications: Cordray has bipartisan support from elected officials across the country and a clear majority of the Senate behind him. They won't allow a confirmation vote on any director -- because they don't want the agency to exist at all. YOUR ONLY PROTECTION FROM EXPLOITATION!!!!
We can't afford to continue allowing Wall Street to write its own rules. But today's action by the President is already coming under partisan attack, which we expect to intensify in the days to come.
Without a director, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is legally prevented from doing its job to protect millions of Americans -- including those of us with credit cards, mortgages, student loans, or home equity lines. But with Mr. Cordray at the helm, the agency will make sure payday lenders, private student loan providers, debt collectors, and the like have to play by the rules.
That's what this campaign is all about: electing a President who makes sure everyone plays by the same rules and gets a fair shake.
But Mitt Romney apparently doesn't think consumers deserve any protection at all from predatory lenders and other bad actors. His plan to fix the economy is simply to deregulate it. His proposal for the housing market is to let it "hit the bottom" so that investors can come in and make a quick buck.
The President thinks we need a cop on the beat preventing the reckless behavior that helped cause the financial crisis and so many problems for middle-class families in the first place. The President is RIGHT!!!
But if the past is any guide, the GOP and Romney are not going to let this happen without a fight. They'll be doing everything they can to stand in Cordray's way.
For months, Senate Republicans -- with Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum right behind them -- have fought this bureau every step of the way, and their latest strategy is to refuse to allow even an up-or-down vote on this nomination.
The issue isn't his qualifications: Cordray has bipartisan support from elected officials across the country and a clear majority of the Senate behind him. They won't allow a confirmation vote on any director -- because they don't want the agency to exist at all. YOUR ONLY PROTECTION FROM EXPLOITATION!!!!
We can't afford to continue allowing Wall Street to write its own rules. But today's action by the President is already coming under partisan attack, which we expect to intensify in the days to come.
Without a director, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is legally prevented from doing its job to protect millions of Americans -- including those of us with credit cards, mortgages, student loans, or home equity lines. But with Mr. Cordray at the helm, the agency will make sure payday lenders, private student loan providers, debt collectors, and the like have to play by the rules.
That's what this campaign is all about: electing a President who makes sure everyone plays by the same rules and gets a fair shake.
But Mitt Romney apparently doesn't think consumers deserve any protection at all from predatory lenders and other bad actors. His plan to fix the economy is simply to deregulate it. His proposal for the housing market is to let it "hit the bottom" so that investors can come in and make a quick buck.
The President thinks we need a cop on the beat preventing the reckless behavior that helped cause the financial crisis and so many problems for middle-class families in the first place. The President is RIGHT!!!
But if the past is any guide, the GOP and Romney are not going to let this happen without a fight. They'll be doing everything they can to stand in Cordray's way.
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