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“The idea that taxes are high right now is pretty much nuts”

By
lowkell
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11

Courtesy of USA Today:

Amid complaints about high taxes and calls for a smaller government, Americans paid their lowest level of taxes last year since Harry Truman’s presidency, a USA TODAY analysis of federal data found.

Some conservative political movements such as the “Tea Party” have criticized federal spending as being out of control. While spending is up, taxes have fallen to exceptionally low levels.

Federal, state and local taxes – including income, property, sales and other taxes – consumed 9.2% of all personal income in 2009, the lowest rate since 1950, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reports. That rate is far below the historic average of 12% for the last half-century. The overall tax burden hit bottom in December at 8.8.% of income before rising slightly in the first three months of 2010.

“The idea that taxes are high right now is pretty much nuts,” says Michael Ettlinger, head of economic policy at the liberal Center for American Progress. The real problem is spending, counters Adam Brandon of FreedomWorks, which organizes Tea Party groups. “The money we borrow is going to be paid back through taxation in the future,” he says.

Actually, the “real” problem – and this is most definitely NOT difficult to comprehend, unless you’re trying not to comprehend – is our long-term, structural imbalance between expenditures (too high) and revenues (too low). On the expenditures side, it’s almost all health care and other “entitlements” spending, plus the military and interest on the debt. Other than that, “non-defense discretionary spending” is tiny and not growing significantly, so even if we wanted to cut all our national parks, roads and bridges, agricultural subsidies, education spending, homeland security, etc., we’d still face the same structural problems (e.g., aging population, skyrocketing health care costs) we do now.

Which brings us to the revenues side of the equation, where we’re at the lowest relative levels since 1950, despite fighting two wars (unpaid for), cranking up spending on “homeland security,” and dealing with the aforementioned health care cost spiral. In short, as much as the “taxed enough already” crowd wants to complain, the fact – and it is a FACT – is that taxes are actually very low by historical standards. Not that this will get in the way of the right wingers’ sob story; the facts rarely do with those people.

The bottom line is that, as much as conservatives think that all this is super complicated, a combination of rocket science and brain surgery, it’s actually very simple. To solve our huge budget problem, we need to rein in rising health care costs, pay for the wars we fight and security we require, and stop implying that we can all have “something for nothing” while maintaining the lowest tax rates in 60 years.  Or, we can continue on our current path of borrowing from China and against future generations.  But that would be as “nuts” as “the idea that taxes are high right now.”

Sen. McEachin Calls Out Fred Malek For His “recent unlawful activity”

By
lowkell
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0

Apparently, the DPVA has decided to abdicate its responsibility for responding to Republican craziness, defining a narrative, doing its job, etc. Fortunately, we’ve got Sen. Donald McEachin, one of the best and brightest in the General Assembly, on the case, calling out Bob McDonnell and Ken Kookinelli whenever they do something heinous. Sad to say, these people are so crazy, McEachin can hardly keep up. Still, he’s doing what he can, with very little help (if any) from DPVA.

Fred Malek is “Wrong Man, Wrong Commission, Wrong Time,” Senator McEachin Asserts

Richmond – Senator A. Donald McEachin today expressed his very strong reservations about Fred Malek chairing Governor McDonnell’s Government Efficiency Commission. Senator McEachin stated, “While recognizing and sharing the concerns of my colleagues about Mr. Malek’s troubling past regarding discrimination, I am more dismayed and disturbed by Mr. Malek’s recent illegal behavior. In light of his recent unlawful activity, Mr. Malek is the wrong person, especially for this position which involves government monies and operations. Just a few short years ago, Mr. Malek was forced to pay a personal fine of $100,000 for violations of the Securities and Exchange Act while his company paid an additional $150,000.  In these turbulent times, in which people have legitimate concerns about government and government monies, Fred Malek is the wrong man, wrong commission, wrong time.

I call on Governor McDonnell to replace Mr. Malek to restore Virginians’ faith in this important endeavor so they can be confident that it will be an honest, credible process, executed with integrity.  As long as Fred Malek is chair, with his questionable recent behaviors, everything this commission does will be clouded with doubts and concerns.

For more on Malek and the defrauding of Connecticut state pension funds of $75 million, see here.

P.S. If you like the great work Sen. McEachin is doing – not to mention his crucial support for Jim Webb in early 2006 – you can support his reelection here. Thanks.

“Astro-turfers” on the Move

By
KathyinBlacksburg
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0

Now that there is no limit to how much money corporations can pour into political campaigns, we have our first astro-turfer-for-governor campaign.  If he succeeds, watch for more of this.  

Remember astro-turfer Rick Scott? Fronting for corporations, Rick Scott brought disinformation about health care reform and helped stir up the ill-informed tea party crowd.  His group, “Conservatives for Patient Rights,” an oxymoron if ever there were one, actually worked against real patient rights, and for the interests astro-turfer Scott fronts for.

During the health care non-debate, or rather one-sided shout-out by Tea Partiers, Scott paid to bus tea-bag-heads to rallies.  He also spent $5 million on an ad campaign designed to defeat the public option and health care reform in general.

Now he wants to gain political office.  He’s running as a so-called “outsider” against Republican AG Bill McCollum for Florida’s governor (no real choice there on the GOP side). Some outsider!  

Talking Points Memo reveals:


The McCollum team is hoping that Scott’s checkered past will stop his well-financed campaign dead in its tracks. While he was CEO of Columbia HCA, the company was forced to pay $1.7 billion in government fines after it was accused of overcharging Medicare. For his part, Scott is willing to talk about the scandal, telling the Times in an interview that “I learned hard lessons, and I’ve taken that lesson and it’s helped me become a better business person and a better leader.”

Hard lessons.  Yeh, that’s it (snark).  And the citizens should therefore trust him with the public purse of that state?  Have you ever noticed that, while they use the word “accountability” at nearly every turn, there is no real accountability for/by Republicans?

So, the Tea Parties are all about Republican politics and not about helping the citizens of America. But we knew that.  Tell it to the corporate media who shill for them. Scott’s ventures now appear clearly as the self- and corporate-serving manipulations they were and still are.

Video: Bob McDonnell’s “Public Square” on Reforming State Government

By
lowkell
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0



This video is from the Richmond Times-Dispatch’s “Public Square” forum last night with Bob McDonnell. The stated subject was “the push to reform state government,” but as you can see from the video, the questions ranged all over the place, from cow manure to alcoholism to health care coverage to covenant marriage to illegal immigration. At least one blogger in attendance was not impressed, tweeting “Higher gene pool needs to attend next time though.” and “The McDonnell supporters are a freak show. Wow.”  Watch the video and decide for yourself.  Also, see Richmond Times-Dispatch reporter Jeff Schapiro’s Twitter feed here.

Cooch is “the very model of a mad Attorney General”

By
lowkell
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4

Hilarious, great job by Bart Hinkle skewering Ken Kook-inelli!

I am the very model of a mad Attorney General,

My politics are paleoconservative and visceral —

I’ll sue the pants off Democrats and wreck their plans historical

With writs and briefs that I’ll compose, tendentious and rhetorical . . . .

I’ll stop environmentalists from regulating greenhouse gas

By proving carbon dioxide does not have an atomic mass —

That solar-radiative forcing’s nothing but a liberal plot

And dendroclimatology is superstitious tommyrot.

I’ll prove the EPA is overrun with Commie militants

Who haven’t shown a single lick of scientific diligence —

In short, in matters legal, ecological, and federal

I am the very model of a mad Attorney General.

More lyrics here – sing along!

Fred Malek: Jew-counting “Enforcer” of the GOP

By
Elaine in Roanoke
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2

In 2006, Colbert King wrote an extensive op-ed piece about the past career of Fred Malek, the man Bob McDonnell has placed at the head his recently named committee to “streamline” Virginia government. The occasion for the renewed interest in Malek in 2006 was a discussion surrounding the return of major league baseball to the nation’s capital.

Several groups of investors wanted the opportunity to become the new owners of the franchise that was moved from Montreal to Washington. The ownership group put together by Malek lost out to a group led by Maryland real estate developer Theodore Lerner.

Many of us by now have heard how Malek, who was called the “enforcer” of the Nixon administration where he was the deputy undersecretary for management, obliged Richard Nixon with a count of the Jews at the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nixon, surely our most paranoid president, thought “disloyal” Jews at BLS were undermining him by noting that a drop in the unemployment figure in 1971 might just be a statistical fluke. Since the comment was made by a man named Harold Goldstein, Nixon and his henchmen jumped to their anti-Semitic conclusion.

Enraged, Nixon demanded to know how many Jews worked at the agency. Fred Malek was tasked with the duty of uncovering the number of Jews at the agency and reporting back to Nixon.

Malek has stated many times that he regrets that action. I don’t question that. I wonder, however, if he regrets other things in his past as a Republican operative acting at the edge of legality, things like being deep in the Watergate slime.

Malek’s past includes a “responsiveness program”in 1972, a plan designed, organized and implemented by Malek to use grants, federal contracts, and even employment to further Richard Nixon’s reelection. Those who played along were rewarded, while others were punished. Malek was investigated by the Senate Watergate committee. His conflicting answers to questions about what he did back then came back to haunt him at 1982 hearings held on Ronald Reagan’s nomination of Malek to become a governor of the U.S. Postal Service.

A Republican-led Senate committee in 1982 refused to act on Malek’s nomination, citing the conflicting statements he had given to questions about the Nixon “responsiveness program.”

At those hearings, Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) called Malek’s actions in 1972 “unethical, immoral and improper,” adding that Malek had led a “calculated, systematic effort” to sell government favors and to punish those who refused to go along with what the Nixon White House wanted in regard to the election in 1972.

For those who care about freedom of the press, you might also note that in 1971 Malek had ordered the FBI to investigate veteran CBS correspondent Daniel Schorr. Evidently, the Nixon administration was angry because Schorr had dared to criticize the president.

How about Malek’s activities in the last couple of years? Well, he was the financial manager of John McCain’s campaign in 2008. Plus, he became a vocal defender of Sarah Palin as people questioned her ability to be a national candidate. He even defended her decision to ditch her day job as governor of Alaska to become a highly-paid speaker and Fox News [sic] commentator. Malek has bacome one of Palin’s senior advisers.

Perhaps Bob McDonnell has become worried that his ticket mate, Ken Cuccinelli, was wrapping up the kookie vote too much and decided he should join him on the far-right edge of their flat earth. Thus, Virginia now has some sort of “cut government” committee led by a former Jew-counting, vicious “enforcer” of the Nixon White House and present apologist for Palin ignorance – who also happens to be a multi-millionaire private equity guy who donates to politicians.

Elections have consequences.

National Tragedy Demands Real Response

By
Heather TaylorMiesle NRDC Action Fund
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2

( – promoted by lowkell)

One of my first real memories of tragedy was when the space shuttle Challenger exploded. My entire school was cheering on teacher Christa McAuliffe, and when the shuttle blew up in midair, I remember standing with my sobbing classmates, trying to make sense of what we had witnessed.

As an adult, I felt a similar connection the day after September 11. In the midst of a national crisis, Congressmen from both parties and both chambers stood on the Capitol stairs and sang “God Bless America.” I will never forget that moment and the sense of common cause it inspired in all who heard it.

Shared national experiences are pretty powerful things.  Although one can’t really compare a terrorist attack on our nation to a mechanical failure that causes catastrophic loss, the experience of communal mourning is still similar…denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.  But what this list does not mention is “resolve”.  No one can deny that regardless the nature of the event, when this nation marches to the same drummer, it creates a powerful beat that can move mountains.

Yet I didn’t feel that sense of common cause last month when the Deepwater Horizon exploded and killed 11 people.  I didn’t feel it when the oil erupted like a volcano, gushing endlessly into the Gulf of Mexico. And I still don’t feel it even as the local tourism industry shuts down, fisheries are closed, water is endangered and the ecosystem is in peril.

Plenty of people are concerned about the Gulf, but it hasn’t permeated the national mood yet. In fact, instead of honoring the loss of life and examining the ongoing risk, some lawmakers seem to want us to forget all about this tragedy.

House Republicans have responded to the situation in the Gulf by talking about gas prices and calling for expanded offshore oil drilling.  The Energy Rapid Response team they have assembled doesn’t even include a member from the Gulf Coast–only landlocked lawmakers who aren’t affected by the pain of oil spills.

It must be easy to whine about paying more at the pump when your constituents aren’t dealing with cleaning up an oil slick that is spreading by the day.

In all fairness to the droning, disconnected Energy Rapid Response team, we do have some elected officials actually from the area who are choosing to side with the oil companies instead of their constituents.

Senator Mary Landrieu, also known as the oil industry’s PR director, is begging people not to rush to judgment even as her state’s wildlife refuges are coated with oil and Louisiana’s economy is threatened.  She claims to be on the side of the mom and pop drillers.  Wow.  If a big oil company like BP is having a tough time cleaning up their massive, historical mess, can you image what would happen if this kind of explosion happened to a small driller?

If there is one Member of Congress that gives me some hope it is West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd, who has met tragedy with the courage to stand up to negligent, dirty energy companies.  West Virginia was the site of the April 5, 2010 collapse at the Upper Big Branch coal mine that killed 29 people and injured 2 others.

Senator Byrd took time to reflect on the tragedy.  Instead of being an apologist for Massey Coal Company, he is representing the best interests of his constituents by demanding that dirty energy is made to pay for their mess and that West Virginians reexamine the role of the coal industry in their state.

Dirty energy has consequences.  We see that very clearing in the Gulf and in West Virginia.  We see how we pay the price for dirty oil and coal in losses: the loss of life, the loss of fishing and tourism jobs, the loss of economic growth and the loss of ecosystems that sustain us.

Loss is what happens when you make a pact with dirty energy. And even though we may not necessarily have a national drum beat quite yet, Americans are beginning to recognize that we can break this dangerous pact. Seven in ten say that it’s time to break our dangerous addiction to oil by fast-tracking clean energy legislation and by increasing our use of sustainable and renewable power and fuels. We can shift to cleaner technologies–things like fuel-efficient cars and renewable power–that will slash our reliance on oil and coal.

I would much rather see Americans rally around the promise of clean energy than yet another fossil fuel disaster. Wouldn’t you?

Heather Taylor-Miesle is the director of the NRDC Action Fund. Become a fan on Facebook or Twitter.

New Poll: Public Support for Clean Energy Legislation Is Strong

By
lowkell
-
0

Courtesy of the Natural Resources Defense Council, this is excellent (albeit not surprising) news.

As Gulf Coast oil catastrophe continues to unfold, the Clean Energy Works campaign released a new poll by the Benenson Strategy Group today showing overwhelming public support for comprehensive clean energy legislation. The poll also found that the public is more likely to blame Congress for the oil spill than lobbyists or corporations. And, comprehensive clean energy legislation is likely to be an important electoral issue.

These findings come as Senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman are expected to unveil new legislative text for a comprehensive clean energy and climate bill this week.

Among the topline findings of the poll are:

* Overall, 61% of 2010 voters support and just 31% oppose a bill that will limit pollution, invest in domestic energy sources and encourage companies to use and develop clean energy. It would do this in part by charging energy companies for carbon pollution in electricity or fuels like oil.

* When asked who they blame for our dependence on oil, voters are more likely to blame Washington politicians who are protecting special interests

that fund their campaigns (33%) than big oil companies and lobbyists trying to protect their profits (27%).

* 54% of respondents said they would be more likely to re-elect their Senator if he or she voted for the bill (just 30% would be less likely to re-elect). And, 51% would be less likely to reelect their Senator if he or she voted against the bill (just 30% would be more likely).

By almost two-to-one, voters agree that now is the time for Senators to act:

o 59% of voters agree that “Now is the time for Senators to take action. Oil companies and lobbyists have fought energy reform for decades to protect their profits. Our dependence on oil hurts our economy, helps our enemies and puts our security at risk. It’s time to put America back in control with clean energy that’s made in America and works for America.”

The poll was conducted nationally between May 4-5, 2010 among 650 registered voters.

You can see additional findings from the poll here.

President Obama Nominates Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court

By
lowkell
-
12



I don’t agree with Elena Kagan on everything, but I have no question as to her qualifications for the Supreme Court. I’m still thinking through my views on this nomination, but for now, I’d recommend that you read “Why Kagan Makes Sense: Citizens United”, “Myths and falsehoods about Elena Kagan’s Supreme Court nomination” and “Elena Kagan’s Goldman Sachs ‘Connection'”. Also, for a dissenting view from the left, see Glenn Greenwald’s “The latest on Elena Kagan”. Finally, keep in mind that Kagan was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as Solicitor General by a 61-31 vote on March 19, 2009.

UPDATE: First reactions to Kagan’s nomination.

UPDATE #2: Mark Warner’s office issues a statement.

I believe the President has made a solid choice in nominating Elena Kagan for the Supreme Court. I first met her when she served as the dean of Harvard Law School, and she is very highly regarded across the ideological spectrum for her impressive background in government service and her strong academic and legal credentials. Last year, the Senate voted to confirm Elena Kagan to serve as Solicitor General, and I look forward to prompt Senate consideration of her nomination to the Supreme Court.

UPDATE #3: It looks like the RNC, under the inspired leadership of Michael Steele, has decided to attack Elena Kagan for opposing/criticizing slavery. Or something. For more on the RNC’s “thinking” regarding this attack, see here.

McEachin: Cooch’s Assault on Prof. Mann “ludicrous and frivolous”

By
lowkell
-
4

Great statement by Sen. Donald McEachin. I agree 100%, and look forward to the General Assembly passing legislation to rein in our out-of-control Attorney General.

Senator McEachin Says the Attorney General Should Allow Virginians Their Constitutional Rights and Liberties

Richmond- Senator A. Donald McEachin (D-Henrico) today issued a statement condemning Attorney General Cuccinelli’s harassment of the University of Virginia scientist, Professor Mann. Senator McEachin said, “This is not only ludicrous and frivolous, wasting more taxpayer dollars and trampling on academic freedom, but the Attorney General has deprived Mr. Mann of his constitutional rights. In this country, based on our Constitution, we have an adversarial system of justice that gives defendants certain rights. Those rights include the ability to ask the plaintiff for information, to file motions and, most importantly, to have a frivolous lawsuit quashed. However, because the Attorney General, who has sworn to uphold the Constitution and the Virginia Constitution, as he has frequently reminded us, has chosen to ignore and circumvent that system, Mr. Mann has lost those rights. If Attorney General Cuccinelli had filed this as a lawsuit and then issued subpoenas based on that lawsuit, Mr. Mann would be able to ask the judge to dismiss the lawsuit and, in the small likelihood it was not dismissed as ludicrous, Professor Mann could then file his own motions and request certain information from the Attorney General. If he can go after Professor Mann, then no Virginian is safe from the oppressive reach of the Attorney General’s strong arm and the invasive powers of his office.”

“Don’t misunderstand,” Senator McEachin continued. “I think this is a terrible abrogation of academic freedom and I strongly believe that research is necessary for our civilization to move forward. Not all research is ‘correct’, but for a hypothesis to either become a theory or to be disproved there must be research. Copernicus and Galileo also once found themselves under this kind of attack, where the powers that be did not believe or felt threatened by their research. I cannot and will not speculate on why the Attorney General feels threatened or uncomfortable about Professor Mann’s work, but I will stress that research is important and valuable.

We must allow science to move forward, to cure disease, to unlock new sources of energy, to create safeguards against natural disasters. Just this spring we have seen the importance of research for the health and safety of our communities. Research allowed scientists to know the extent of the ash cloud and where it was spreading, preventing potentially fatal airline crashes. Research is helping, albeit too slowly, cap the leaking oil in the Gulf and, hopefully, continued research will show us how to better manage an oil spill to protect human, animal and plant life. Even better would be research that develops alternative energies so we don’t need to be drilling offshore, risking our coastal communities.

Next Session of the General Assembly, I will introduce legislation to protect all Virginians. Professor Mann is this week’s victim; we don’t know who next week’s or next month’s will be. My legislation will mandate that the Attorney General must go to court and file a lawsuit to subpoena any Virginian’s records. Then and only then will the justice system we believe in and the Constitutional rights of Virginians be protected from the heavy-hand of the Attorney General.”

UPDATE: The Washington Post reports, “The University of Virginia is ‘exploring options’ in responding to the civil investigative demand issued by Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) to the University of Virginia, seeking documents related to the work of climate scientist and former university professor Michael Mann, a university spokeswoman said this morning.”

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