Pressure against Bush tax cuts for wealthy gaining support on Capitol Hill

President Obama’s tax cut deal with republican leaders has riled democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill. While democrats like Vermont Congressman Peter Welch have been publically vocal on their objections to the budget-busting compromise, Republicans have remained silent on the plan which will add $900 billion to the federal deficit.

“The deal to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for two years includes a bevy of additional credits and deductions that will reduce the burden on nearly all households. But the tax benefits will flow most heavily to the highest earners, just as the original cuts did when they were passed in 2001 and 2003. At least a quarter of the tax savings will go to the wealthiest 1 percent of the population,” according to the New York Times.

Independent Senator Bernie Sanders told MSNBC that the GOP tax plan will not create jobs and republicans will use the debt added to the federal deficit as an excuse to go after Social Security and Medicare.

"For a Democratic president, Democratic House, Democratic Senate, to be following the Bush economic philosophy of tax breaks for millionaires, billionaires is absolutely wrong public policy, absolutely wrong politically, and I gotta tell you, I will do whatever I can to see that 60 votes are not acquired to pass this legislation.”

Sanders added, "Millionaires and billionaires do not need huge tax deductions, that's the simple truth," according to the Huffington Post.  "If we're serious about creating jobs in this country, which should be our main priority, that's the worst way to do it. Much better to take that money, invest in our roads, bridges, railroad systems, infrastructure -- you create jobs doing that."

Welch and Sanders are bringing attention to the flaws of the republican deal to extend the Bush tax cuts to the wealthy to the American people in hopes of applying public pressure to defeat the legislation.

Obama makes deal: Unemployment extension in exchange for tax cuts for millionaires

Image by Barack Obama via Flickr

President Obama has struck a deal with republican lawmakers who had promised to block all legislation unless the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy were extended. The compromise announced by the president on Monday, includes a 13 month extension for unemployment benefits and a 2 year extension of the Bush tax cuts for all Americans, including the wealthiest top 2%.

Other parts of the Obama deal include a 2% reduction in the employment tax. However, the president said he was not happy about extending the Bush tax cuts for the rich because they will increase the federal deficit.

Republican leaders claimed that increasing taxes during a recession would have a negative effect on the economy, and that the wealthy are the ones who create jobs.

In September, the National Bureau of Economic Research announced that “The recession ended in June 2009, 18 months after it began in December 2007,” according to the Washington Post. ” Yet there is little physical evidence to suggest that the statement is supported. The US department of Labor said the national unemployment rate increased in November to more than 9.5%.

If the tax breaks for the wealthy the republicans pushed so hard for do not create the promised jobs, they may face serious political fallout in the 2012 elections.

Related articles

• Obama signals compromise on extending tax cuts (thehill.com)

Lame Duck Democrats cave on defense of middle class

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People who vote for democrats expect them to act like democrats. That means they stand up for the middle class and protect the programs that help the middle class. After winning control of the House of Representatives in the 2010 midterm elections, the republicans took their victory as a mandate from voters to fight any democrat who dared to act like a democrat defending the middle class.

In the midst of what continues to be what economists have dubbed the Second Great Depression, the GOP is doing what they do best, which is to fight for the wealthy and special interest groups that funded their campaigns, and defeat democrats who try to protect the middle class.

On their path to waging their war on the democrats, the republicans have stated clearly that they want a balanced budget. However, here is where blatant hypocrisy walks in. The GOP insists that the Bush tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires be exempt from their budget balancing efforts, although none of them have actually validated justification for spending borrowed money and tax breaks for the people with the most money – including themselves.

“In this time of emergency, President Obama needs to add a word to his working vocabulary: sacrifice. Sacrifice is an important American tradition that embraces the virtues of patriotism, puts national interest ahead of self-interest, and encourages everyone to share the burden in perilous times,” according to the Huffington Post.

Lame Duck democrats need to act like democrats and expose the republican schemes of hypocrisy for what they really are; a double standard that works better for special interests than it does for the electorate.

Newt Gingrich pushes GOP to cut Food Stamps as more Americans go hungry

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In the richest nation on earth, nearly 20% of the population can no longer afford to buy enough food for their families. A new study says, one out of every eight Americans is now on Food Stamps. Yet there is talk among Washington politicians that budget cuts should take aim at the poorest Americans.

Former Republican House Leader, Newt Gingrich, recently said, “This year, the House Republican’s Pledge to America has set the stage for a powerful, symbolic closing argument for candidates seeking to unseat the left-wing, big spending, job killing Democrats: paychecks versus food stamps. It is an unassailable fact that in June, more food stamps were distributed by the government than ever before in American history. Which future do I want? More food stamps? Or more paychecks?” according to Politico.

Americans dependent on Food Stamps to keep from starving are hoping that Mr. Gingrich does not get the future he wants.

The Huffington Post said, “A staggering 18 percent of Americans surveyed last month said there have been times over the past year when they could not afford to put food on the table, recent Gallup data shows.”

The divide between the Republican anti-government entitlement agenda, and traditional Democratic safety net policy could not be wider. As Republicans prepare to take control of the House of Representatives in January, the ultra-conservative leadership more likely to cut the Food Stamp program. If that happens, 20% of the American population may actually starve.

Story continues below

Related articles

• Newt Gingrich Calls Democrats "The Party Of Food Stamps" (alan.com)
• Jeff Bridges Continues Speaking Out For 'No Kid Hungry' Campaign (ecorazzi.com) 
• Obama sellout to GOP on tax cuts explodes budget deficit  
• Medicare cuts raise concerns over health care choices for the elderly

 

Will the party of “No” say yes to Bush tax cuts for the rich?

The Bush tax cuts were never paid for which is why the deficit exploded when they went into effect in2001 and 2003. They are still unfunded so they will add about $800 billion to the deficit. So why are Republicans who campaigned on fiscal responsibility pushing so hard for an extension of tax breaks, particularly for millionaires and billionaires?

“In an interview with the Huffington Post on Monday, Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Ohio), a freshmen member of Congress who was defeated in her re-election bid, said the time had come to "draw a line in the sand" with respect to the Bush tax cuts.”

In other words, it’s time for the GOP to put up or shut up. If they are serious about getting America’s financial house in order, they need to start by putting what’s best for the country ahead of partisan politics and discounts to millionaires.

Newly elected Republicans have to overcome more than a massive budget deficit, continuing high unemployment and a restless electorate. The GOP has to show America that they can move the country forward. And if they want to be known for being more than the party of “No,” the first thing they are ready to say yes to should not be making the deficit worse.

Related articles

• Kilroy: Pelosi, Not Shuler (huffingtonpost.com)
• Congress wavers on killing tax cuts (dispatch.com)
• Paul Krugman: Obama Didn't Fight Hard Enough Against Tax Cuts For The Rich (huffingtonpost.com)
• Campaigns Try to Exploit GOP Pledge (online.wsj.com)

What happens when lobbyists complete their takeover of America?

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As recent polls suggest, America is indeed heading in the wrong direction. A confused and manipulated electorate is being brainwashed into believing that the United States of America should no longer be ruled by its people for the greater good. Instead the masses are being led to believe that every inch of our nation should be run by, and for, profit.

When votes no longer count toward serving the will of the people, we will see the end of Democracy. Some believe we have already arrived.

The conservative Republican agenda is pro-big business and pro-deregulation. On the other side of the isle, Democrats have traditionally been the party of the middle-class, but even that platform has become clouded with the rise of the Blue Dog Democrats. In reality, party affiliation matters less and less since millionaire lobbyists are influencing more decisions in Washington than constituents. The trend seems to be running away like a loose horse in the marketplace. Whatever gets in the way is trampled and crushed.

What exactly does this mean for average Americans who have to work for a living?
There is no clear-cut answer as to where our corporate-owned US government will ultimately take us, but if we consider the foreclosure epidemic and 2010 Census data showing poverty at its highest level in 100 years, the direction is down for all but the super rich in our fading Democracy.

Back in 1999, “An agreement between the Clinton administration and congressional Republicans, reached during all-night negotiations which concluded in the early hours of October 22, set the stage for passage of the most sweeping banking deregulation bill in American history, lifting virtually all restraints on the operation of the giant monopolies which dominate the financial system.”

The move was orchestrated by lobbyists in “the best-financed campaign of influence-buying ever seen in Washington.” But only until the health care reform debate began.
“In the first quarter of 2009, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America spent $7 million dollars lobbying against the President’s proposal. Pfizer came in second spending more than $6 million.”

There is a pattern here that should terrify most Americans. Things being discussed in today’s political arena that were considered political suicide a decade ago are now getting serious attention. Dismantling Social Security, repealing the 17th Amendment of the US Constitution and the Americans with Disabilities Act, and lowing or eliminating the national minimum wage. All these are targeted at giving more money to millionaires and less to the general public. America’s safety net is the enemy of big business because accommodating it cuts into corporate profits.

Sources and recommended links:

Republican Senate candidate wants to lower minimum wage?
Clinton, Republicans agree to deregulation of US financial system

2010 Census: Poverty and foreclosures rip America

GOP wants to give Social Security to Wall Street gamblers

Republican Pledge to America drafted by lobbyist in bed with AIG, Exxon Mobil, drug makers

Michelle Bachmann fueling republican drive to eliminate Social Security