Frank Rich, NYT:
on the Bush Tax Cuts....
The G.O.P.’s arguments for extending the Bush tax cuts to this crowd, usually wrapped in laughably hypocritical whining about “class warfare,” are easily batted down. The most constant refrain is that small-business owners who file in this bracket would be hit so hard they could no longer hire new employees. But the Tax Policy Center found in 2008, when checking out similar campaign claims by “Joe the Plumber,” that only 2 percent of all Americans reporting small-business income, regardless of tax bracket, would see tax increases if Obama fulfilled his pledge to let the Bush tax cuts lapse for the top earners. The economist Dean Baker calculated that the yearly tax increase at the lower end of that bracket, for those with earnings between $200,000 and $500,000, would amount to $700 — which “isn’t enough to hire anyone.”
Jon Walker, FireDogLake:
$1,000 to everybody....
I have a counter-proposal to the Republican demand that we must temporarily extend all the Bush tax cuts. They want to include tax cuts for those making over one million dollars a year, for the next two years, despite the fact that it will add hundreds of billions to the deficit. I suggest President Obama demand that instead of using the money to extend tax cuts for the rich, that it be used to mail every taxpayer a $1,000 check.
Helen Philpott: Margaret and Helen
on bringing the country together...
For there to be common ground, both sides have to be looking for it. Kind of hard when the new Republican leader John Boehner has declared that Republicans will not compromise. Funny. They’ve been compromising on their principles about smaller government for years. Why change now when compromise is exactly what we need?
Sometimes I just scratch my head and wonder how much better life would be if Americans still had to turn a page in a newspaper rather than flip a channel on the boob tube to get the news. But such is life. You live and you learn. And at my age you learn too much. For instance, I have learned that when Democrats over-reach, we end up providing health insurance coverage for children who have pre-existing conditions. When Republicans over-reach, we go to war.
When a liberal activist judge over-reaches, a disenfranchised group of Americans have their constitutional rights restored. When a conservative activist judge over-reaches, the country’s elections get handed to corporations on a silver platter.
Sour grapes? Maybe. I never said I was without prejudice. In fact, I have openly admitted to being a bitch. But the difference between my being a bitch and Sarah Palin being a bitch is huge. When I am a bitch, a few people get a good laugh over an old lady’s blog writing. When Sarah Palin is a bitch, some of God’s most beautiful handiwork gets reduced to a line item on Exxon’s annual report.
I have lived all my life speaking my mind. And I don’t intend to stop now. You want to know what I really think? I think Fox News has no problem telling lies. And I think a whole lot of white people don’t like having a black President. And I think gay people scare straight people. And religious people forget the basic teachings handed down by the founders of their religion. At the crossroads of every major religion, you’ll find the Golden Rule. Too bad they’ve deleted it from their GPS.
Do you really expect me to believe that a bunch of Republicans were swept into office because Democrats covered pre-existing conditions for children? Or because Health Insurance Companies can’t drop you when you are no longer profitable? Or that Cap and Trade is killing our country? Please. I bet you can’t find 10 Tea Party voters who can even tell you what Cap and Trade is. I know for damn sure that bitch from Alaska can’t.
Michele Bachmann is a lunatic who wants Democrats investigated. Sarah Palin quit her job as Governor so she could get rich. Sharron Angle told a bunch of hispanic students that they looked a little Asian – as if the Asians got together with the Hispanics to create a bigger voting block ??? I mean what the hell was that all about anyway?
Wake up America. John Boehner is orange for goodness sakes. Orange people don’t have to be asked because you can tell just by looking at them. Where is Michele Bachmann’s investigation on orange people?
And this lot is better than Obama? I’m not buying it.
Ten percent of the vote came out of a nation frustrated by unemployment. The other 90% remains divided. As soon as the jobs return we’ll be back to dealing with the hard problems: Racism. Sexism. Ageism. Religious fanaticism. Ignorance…ism. And Sarah Palin.
Two years ago, the pundits predicted that the Republican party had become a regional party reduced to the southern states. Clearly they were wrong. Why? Because hate has no boundaries and Sarah Palin found a flight out of Wasilla.
Today the pundits are saying that Democrats are out of touch with the main stream. Guess what? So were abolitionists. Pundits come and pundits go. I’ve been around for more than 80 years. Deal with it.
For everyone who is currently considering removing their Obama sticker from the back of their car… for every Democrat who made the effort to get out the vote and today is feeling a little down… for every progressive American who is thinking about moving to Canada…. I say this:
Christine O’Donnell might not have been a witch, but Sarah Palin is definitely a bitch. Three steps forward. One step back.
We’re still two steps ahead of the game with a Senate and a White House. Washington will be grid-locked for the next two years, but the ground war just came to the States. Democrats need to stop looking for middle ground and start looking for higher ground. And for goodness sakes, grow a pair and quit apologizing for it.
As I see it, the Democrats have one job between now and the next election - figuring out how to get those who stayed home mad enough to get off their asses. Democracy isn’t a spectator sport. I mean it. Really.
AMEN and Hallelujah!!!!!
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