Politics & Money
Ezra Klein explains the Obama “Tax Cuts for the middle class” aka partial Bush tax cut extension are actually a tax cut for everyone.
Obama’s “tax cuts for the middle class” aren’t actually tax cuts for the middle class. They’re tax cuts on all family income up to $250,000. So if you make $300,000 a year, you’re getting a tax cut on $250,000. That’s a serious tax cut!
via Ezra Klein – Tax cuts for the middle-class are also tax cuts for the rich.
Longtime economic advisor Austan Goolsbee has been appointed as head of the CEA to replace Christina Romer.
Despite his pedigree from the historically conservative University of Chicago, Republicans aren’t likely to cheer his stance on taxes. During the 2008 presidential campaign he strongly backed the president’s plan to increase taxes on those earning more than $250,000 a year. Meanwhile, much of his academic research has attempted to counter arguments that tax cuts pay for themselves and that raising taxes on high-income individuals reduces long-term government revenue.
At the same time, Goolsbee has been an advocate of free trade. During 2008, he took some lumps when a Canadian government memo surfaced, citing Goolsbee saying that Obama statements on scaling back the North American Free Trade Agreement amounted to “political positioning.” Obama took a hit from then-opponent Hilary Clinton, but many economists were relieved.
Taxes. That’s the battle we fight now and one of the better features of Goolsbee becoming a higher profile figure is that he is solid on TV. If you have been paying attention the last three Augusts, you know that’s way more important than it should be. Here is Goolsbee on Rachel Maddow discussing the expiration of Bush’s Tax Cuts and the Obama Middle Class (<$250K income) tax cut.
What do you get when you mix Chinese UN Diplomat Sha Zukang and an open bar? A Scene from the new Bravo show “Real Diplomats of the United Nations”:
The outburst by Sha Zukang at a retreat for top UN officials in the Austrian ski resort of Alpbach left senior UN officials cringing in embarrassment as others tried to convince him to put down the microphone, according to Washington-based Foreign Policy magazine.
“I know you never liked me Mr. Secretary-General – well, I never liked you, either,” said Mr Sha as Mr Ban looked on, smiling and nodding awkwardly during the 15-minute toast attended by the UN’s top brass.
Mr Sha, who was appointed the UN undersecretary general for Economic and Social Affairs in 2007, also made no secret of his fractious relationship with Mr Ban, although did say he’d grown to respect the South Korean.
“You’ve been trying to get rid of me,” said 62-year-old Mr Sha according to the senior UN official present, “You can fire me anytime, you can fire me today.”
Later in his impromptu speech Mr Sha turned to an American colleague, singling out Bob Orr, from the executive office of the secretary-general.
“I really don’t like him: he’s an American and I really don’t like Americans,” he said.
via China’s UN diplomat in drunken rant against Americans – Telegraph.
He then went on to tell the ambassador from India that he wasn’t “all dat”.
Report cards are here for infrastructure. We get a solid D.
2009 Grades
[…]America’s Infrastructure GPA: D
And we need 2.2 trillion in funding over 5 years to fix it.
Barry Riholtz invites David Rosenberg to deliver the bad news at The Big Picture. Headline: It’s A Depression.
Finally, you know it’s a depression when, 33 months after the onset of recession…
• Wages & Salaries are still down 3.7% from the prior peak
• Corporate profits are still down 20% from the peak
• Real GDP is still down 1.3% from the peak
• Industrial production is still down 7.2% from the peak
• Employment is still down 5.5% from the peak
• Retail sales are still down 4.5% from the peak
• Manufacturing orders are still down 22.1% from the peak
• Manufacturing shipments are still down 12.5% from the peak
• Exports are still down 9.2% from the peak
• Housing starts are still down 63.5% from the peak
• New home sales are still down 68.9% from the peak
• Existing home sales are still down 41.2% from the peak
• Non-residential construction is still down 35.7% from the peak
Ordering the "George Hamilton" 10% more expensive thanks to socialist Obama
He can be a spokesperson for the Americans victimized by the oh so brutal tan tax. Maybe he can have a Beck type rally for leathery “skinsecure” people everywhere.
An aptly titled Calculated Risk post: Another Housing Tax Credit. It’s time to stop propping up the housing market.
Depressing.
The Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet, and this summer its sea ice is melting at a near-record pace. The sun is heating the newly open water, so it will take longer to refreeze this winter, and the resulting thinner ice will melt more easily next summer.
At the same time, warm Pacific Ocean water is pulsing through the Bering Strait into the Arctic basin, helping melt a large area of sea ice between Alaska and eastern Siberia. Scientists are just beginning to learn how this exposed water has changed the movement of heat energy and major air currents across the Arctic basin, in turn producing winds that push remaining sea ice down the coasts of Greenland into the Atlantic.
Globally, 2010 is on track to be the warmest year on record. In regions around the world, indications abound that earth’s climate is quickly changing, like the devastating mudslides in China and weeks of searing heat in Russia. But in the world’s capitals, movement on climate policy has nearly stopped.
Democrats in the Senate decided last month that they wouldn’t push for approval of a climate bill. In Canada, Australia, Japan and countries across Europe, the global economic crisis and other near-term concerns have pushed climate issues to the back burner. For China and India, economic growth and energy security are more vital priorities.
Climate policy is gridlocked, and there’s virtually no chance of a breakthrough. Many factors have conspired to produce this situation. Human beings are notoriously poor at responding to problems that develop incrementally. And most of us aren’t eager to change our lifestyles by sharply reducing our energy consumption.
via Op-Ed Contributor – Near the North Pole, Looking at a Disaster – NYTimes.com.
Utterly depressing.
(video courtesy WhiteHouse.gov)
President Obama’s original statement at the White House Ramadan Iftar on the evening of Friday, August 13, 2010 is not walked back by his statement on the tarmac. It is held back by the press’ inability to process and summarize complex thoughts to convey the general public. Note’s Greg Sargent (bold mine) (by way of The Urban Politico.)
To be clear, I agree entirely with Ben Smith and others who say that today’s quote was probably a political misstep. The media is mostly framing this story as: Did Obama “endorse” the project or didn’t he? That’s an overly simplistic framing, but you work with the media you have, not the one you want. Today’s quote was bound to be interpreted as a walkback in the face of intense pressure. What Obama should have said was this: “I’m not commenting on the wisdom of the project. Nor is it my place to do that. But now that they have decided to proceed, we must respect their right to build the center and welcome them in accordance with American ideals.”
That would have been more desirable, and in some ways more directly consistent with his brave stance yesterday. But even so, based on what he did say, I’m just not seeing a serious walkback or contradiction here.
via The Plum Line – Did Obama walk back his support of Cordoba House?.
Here is video of Obama’s original statement in the White House:
…and on the Tarmac in Florida on Saturday, August 14…
“In this country, we treat everybody equally in accordance with the law regardless of race, regardless of religion. I was not commenting and I will not comment on the wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque there. I was commenting very specifically on the right people have that dates back to our founding. That’s what our country’s about and I think it’s very important that as difficult as some of these issues are we stay focused on who we are as a people and what our values are all about.”
To Imam Feisal: We write with an unshakable commitment to religious freedom, and to your right to exercise it in meaningful and concrete ways. We have great appreciation for the progressive and inclusive interpretation of Islam to which you speak. We have read with care your own words about the purpose of the Cordoba House. We take those words as our starting point for the issues we raise in this letter, as we appeal to your senses of decency, empathy and prudence—and to those of all Muslims of goodwill.
Your stated goal of interfaith and cross-cultural understanding is a good one—one that we all share and have devoted considerable energy to furthering. It may well be that this goal would be furthered still by the building and operation of Cordoba House. However, while we will continue to stand with you and your right to proceed with this project, we see no reason why it must necessarily be located so close to the site of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
[…]Our deeper concern is what effect Cordoba House would have on the families of 9/11 victims, survivors of and first responders to the attacks, New Yorkers in general, and all Americans. As you have seen in the public reaction to the Cordoba House, 9/11 remains a deep wound for Americans—especially those who experienced it directly in some way. They understandably see the area as sacred ground. Nearly all of them also reject the equation of Islam with terrorism and do not blame the attacks on Muslims generally or on the Muslim faith. But many believe that Ground Zero should be reserved for memorials to the event itself and to its victims. They do not understand why of all possible locations in the city, Cordoba House must be sited so near to there.
Many New Yorkers and Americans will conclude that the radical interpretation of Cordoba House’s purpose is correct. That belief will harm what you have articulated to be Cordoba House’s core mission. Rather than furthering cross-cultural and interfaith understanding, a Cordoba House located near Ground Zero would undermine them. Rather that serving as a bridge between Muslim and non-Muslim peoples, it would function as a divide. Your expressed hopes for the center not only would never be realized, they would be contradicted from the start. Insisting on this particular site on Park Place can only reinforce this counterproductive dynamic.
Another site—not just away from Ground Zero but also closer to residential neighborhoods—would serve your institution and the city better. Worshipers would be closer and the communities that need help would also benefit from proximity. We stand ready to help you select and secure another site, to overcome regulatory hurdles, and to make up for any lost time.
via Dan Senor: An Open Letter on the Ground Zero Mosque – WSJ.com.
Senor and King may have general public opinion on their side and they may indeed be proven correct by erection of Cordoba House near Ground Zero. People may be offended when the center is built. A Cordoba House near ground zero may fail to foster more tolerance between Muslims and the general public. All that may occur in spite of the fact that Muslims died on 9/11 and in spite of the fact that there are two Mosques, (one pre-dating the construction of the World Trade Center and both pre-dating either WTC attack), mere blocks away from ground zero, and in spite of the fact that Muslim soldiers are fighting under our flag in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq.
Obama’s argument is that it is the right of any American to express their self religiously in accordance with the law.On both Friday and Saturday, Obama said he believed in the right of Imam Feisal’s group to build the Cordoba House. It is the right of any American to seek any of the positives Imam Feisal sees as resulting from construction of Cordoba House. It is the right of any American to risk all of the negatives that Senor and King see as the likely response to a Cordoba House cultural center near Ground Zero.
The neo-cons want to argue that there is a lack of wisdom, sensitivity and common sense behind the Cordoba house initiative because with leading poll questions and cable news appearances they can sway public opinion. Obama is asserting that the matter is settled by First Amendment rights and first amendment rights only. He can’t win an argument against people’s personal feelings about Islam and he is right to explicitly stress that this a matter of constitutional rights. I feel he’s choosing not to argue with fools.
Last week, Ben Quayle son of former Vice President Dan Quayle, was a great babysitter. Now, he alleges that something called tax cartels are in Washington, and he is going to “knock the hell” out of the whole darn city. (video courtesy Hullabaloo)
Quayle also let’s us know he was “raised right”. Unless you are Mr. T or The Juggernaut, claiming you will “knock the hell” out of an entire city falls into category of “Don’t write checks your ass can’t cash”.
Funny thing about claiming you were “raised right” while running for office in the self proclaimed party of “family values” one of your hobbies probably shouldn’t have been blogging under the pseudonym “Brock Landers” for “frat-tire”/NSFW site Dirty Scottsdale. Apparently The Dirty founder Hooman Karamian aka Nik Richie is pissed off that Quayle tried to deny any connection to him or The Dirty.
Is Rand Paul a co-ed kidnapper? Does he forcibly drug his victims after he kidnaps them? Was he involved in a drug fueled crime spree? Paul calls the charges “Reefer Madness” in this Fox News interview…(Video courtesy Think Progress)
It’s not slander because I ended every sentence with a question mark! (Writing headlines about stupid sh*t like this can’t be that enjoyable for cable news producers, can it?)
The real answer is: who cares. Paul is an awful candidate for all types of substantive reasons. In having to answer these questions about his young adulthood, Paul is only suffering from the unnatural confines of the sanctimonious public persona that is required to be a GOP candidate.
Ben Quayle, candidate for the House of Representatives in AZ-3, is former Vice President Dan Quayle’s Son and some people say he is pretending to have kids in two of his new campaign mailers. Maybe he just showing off his babysitting skills (the kids are allegedly children of a staff member). Either way, it’s ridiculous a guy who is recently married and without a child doesn’t feel he can just run as a married guy without kids yet, but that’s part of the hackneyed right wing view of what a politician should be and conservatives have fully embraced it. Which I guess is what led Quayle to use this faux-family picture in an official campaign mailer.
Ben Quayle and someone else children's "A New generation" mailer for his House Of Rep. run in AZ (Courtesy Arizona Capitol Times)
Ben Quayle: he won’t feed your kids too much ice cream.
MI-13 Won’t have Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick to kick around anymore!. And that’s a good thing.Her son was disgraced former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick who was a classic study in arrogant corruption.The victor: State Sen. Hansen Clarke.
Roy L. Beasley wants to change the fundamental mission of HBCUs to reflect the nature of the desegregated higher education system.
It’s time to leave the “historical” HBCUs to history. Whereas back in the early 1970s, over 80 percent of African American college students still attended HBCUs, not even 20 percent do so today; and the long-term trend is further downward. In other words, the days in which HBCUs were the largest suppliers of postsecondary educational opportunities for African Americans are over. Given the magnitude of the new challenges, the nation would be well advised to stimulate the development of a number of innovative institutions which, for now, I will call “BCUs.” Their core mission would have two components, the first of which would be to develop, demonstrate, and disseminate more effective methods for educating the nation’s African American students. Please note that the following paragraphs propose specifications for BCUs that are already met in whole or in part by many existing HBCUs, but their core missions are different.
Beasley has some interesting ideas, including a few specific proposed changes in core mission that would mark an institution’s change an HBCU to BCU:
[BCU’s would have a] commitment to conducting high-quality research on issues that have disproportionately negative impact on African Americans and on other peoples of color in Africa and throughout the African Diaspora. BCUs would also offer masters and Ph.D. programs whose students would learn how to extend or apply this research.
The F.B.I. alleges that Wikipedia’s display of its seal in a reference article violates US Code Title 18,701:
Whoever manufactures, sells, or possesses any badge, identification card, or other insignia, of the design prescribed by the head of any department or agency of the United States for use by any officer or employee thereof, or any colorable imitation thereof, or photographs, prints, or in any other manner makes or executes any engraving, photograph, print, or impression in the likeness of any such badge, identification card, or other insignia, or any colorable imitation thereof, except as authorized under regulations made pursuant to law, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both
You would immediately say they can’t be serious. but apparently..they are.
FP Passport’s Joshua Keating poses and answers the question: Do old terrorists ever get to retire? Apparently, Yes.
Get ready to see an article with following theme: This appearance on The View has already found Obama in the hot seat! Chelsea Clinton didn’t invite President Obama to her wedding! Hillary 2012?!!?!
Our “tough on crime” laws are actually tough on municipal, local and state budgets…
I don’t think it can be hammered home enough how anomalous America’s incarceration rate has become in the world, and in history. Russia is the only other “superpower” that incarcerates its citizens at a rate comparable to ours. There is no Western European country, no Asian power, no large Latin American country in the Top Ten — on this metric, at least, America truly is exceptional. The chart also reflects the end result of fairly recent developments; the U.S. did not historically have an unusually high incarceration rate. (For that chart, click here or see this Christian Science Monitor piece).
via Mass Incarceration: Breaking Down the Data by State « Prison Law Blog.
Number one in jailing means we have about 2.3 million Americans in prison. That is a prison population a bit larger than Latvia and a bit smaller than Jamaica fully paid for and housed by tax payer dollars. It’s like if you took the city of Houston and made it into a giant prison. And as the chart from the CEPR study shows, even as crime is falling, our incarceration rate is skyrocketing.
CEPR Analysis of BJS Data: Change in Violent and Property Crime, inmate and Total Population 1960 - 2008
Reducing prison populations by right sizing our sentencing and rehabilitation efforts for non-violent offenders would be an excellent way to reduce public expenditures at federal state and local levels in the medium to long term (5 to 20+ years).