Republicans demand higher taxes. No, really!

Republicans want to raise your taxes. Republicans want to raise your taxes. Republicans want to raise your taxes.

Tell your family and friends - especially the conservatives you know - because it's true.

As part of last December's deal that extended the Bush tax cuts by two years, employees' share of the payroll tax was temporarily decreased from 6.2% to 4.2% for 2011.

As most of you know, the payroll tax only applies to the first $106,800 earned per year, meaning the more you make above that cap (which President Obama has expressed interest in lifting), the less of an impact you will feel from a change in that rate (compared to the amount you actually make). If the payroll tax cut is allowed to expire at the end of this year, those with smaller incomes would be disproportionately harmed.

Naturally, that's what congressional Republicans want:

Many of the same Republicans who fought hammer-and-tong to keep the George W. Bush-era income tax cuts from expiring on schedule are now saying a different temporary tax cut should end as planned. By their own definition, that amounts to a tax increase.

We've all heard the argument from Republicans that tax cuts create jobs. It's been ten years since the Bush tax cuts (which disproportionately benefit the wealthy) went into effect, and during those ten years, five of my relatives have lost jobs (to end up with lower-paying jobs). Meanwhile, my employment at the moment consists of bartending 2-3 times per month - not a job for me.

But tax cuts for the lower and middle classes make more sense. What do those who aren't as well off do with the money they make? They usually spend it or pay off debts. Unlike those who are wealthy, they can hardly afford to save much. Thus, reducing the payroll tax and reducing income taxes on those who are less well off is more likely to help the economy than trusting in trickle-down economics - based on a theory which has failed time and time again.

But with an election nearing, and congressional Republicans making having admitted that defeating Obama is their #1 priority, said Republicans have come out in support of something they have traditionally opposed: Higher taxes!

The 12-month tax reduction will cost the government about $120 billion this year, and a similar amount next year if it's renewed.

That worries Rep. David Camp, R-Mich., chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, and a member of the House-Senate supercommittee tasked with finding new deficit cuts. Tax reductions, "no matter how well-intended," will push the deficit higher, making the panel's task that much harder, Camp's office said.

Yep, facing the likelihood that the President will be re-elected if the economy gets better, Dave Camp is suddenly worried about the impact that tax cuts on ordinary people might have on the deficit.

Then why did Camp and other Republicans enthusiastically support the Bush tax cuts of 2001, which were more than 10 times as costly to the government and which have contributed more to the national debt than even the costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan?

(Of course, why did Camp and other Republicans enthusiastically support the wars in Iraq in the first place? But I digress.)

It all comes back to the sentiment expressed in Mitch McConnell's infamous statement that "The single most important thing we want to achieve" is to make Obama lose in 2012. Not to focus on job creation, not to focus on reducing the deficit (which would happen if more jobs were created), but to stop this President from winning next year.

To them, the threat of a double-dip recession brought on by woes in Europe is not as dangerous as the threat that the most successful president in decades (per Rachel Maddow) just might be given a second term by the nation that decisively voted him in three years ago.

To them, denying the Nobel Laureate a second term is more important than doing what makes economic and moral sense.

To them, stopping our freely elected President from serving our country for another four years is more important than being patriotic and doing what's best for our country.

To them, making the less fortunate suffer is okay (even though the Bible, in which they claim to believe, says otherwise) if that's what it takes to defeat this President.

To them, defeating the constitutional-law-professor-turned-Chief-Executive is worth walking back their anti-tax pledges and other 'principles.'

Amash blasts both parties, then raises money for one of them just hours later

What say ye, Congressman?

I've had enough of each party blaming the other for this debt crisis that they jointly got us into. I implore my colleagues to cut back on the partisan rhetoric and think instead about the American people, who are on the brink of ruin because of Congress' persistent refusal to act responsibly.

Interesting that Amash would say that.* Especially given that just a few hours after he posted that, he raised some cash for the Party of Palin.

Young Republicans who want to meet Calley will have a chance Monday at a $100-a-head fundraiser hosted by “The Young Party-ers,” the Kent County GOP’s new initiative to recruit young professionals.

Calley, the second-youngest lieutenant governor in state history, will be joined by U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, the second-youngest member of Congress, at the Republic Restaurant, 45 S. Division Ave.

This is probably not the first you've heard or read of the 'both-parties-are-at-fault-for-what's-going-on-in-Washington' canard. And I'm sure it won't be the last, since polls show that Americans blame Republicans for the economic mess we're in, the mess DC's in, and so forth.

But it's interesting that Amash would raise money for a Party he blames for the deficit.

*I actually agree with him on the second sentence of his status. – Congress (or at least many leaders thereof) have not done their jobs. Still, it's a heck of a stretch to say that both parties "jointly got us into" the debt.

Bits of Tid: June 5, 2010

• John Fugelsang has some good tweets on Twitter. One good one recently:
  
  

  The spill isn't Bush or Obama's Katrina. It's Deregulation's Chernobyl.

  
  
• Steve Benen raises an important question: Why is President Obama being criticized for doing what other Presidents were not criticized for doing? Examples Benen cites include bowing; appointing 'czars;' and even casual dress.
  
• Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Rep. John Dingell have taken steps to declare on a governmental level that Andres Gallaraga did, in fact, pitch a perfect game. Normally I'm against that kind of thing, but if this is all Dingell or Granholm had done this year, they still would have done more to stand up for what's right than certain other politicians.
  
• Alice Corey died this week at 59. Those of you who live in Michigan's 3rd Congressional district, she was one of our delegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver. I won't soon forget the passion she showed when she was elected as a delegate in April of that year.
  
• John Wooden, who also died this week at 99, gave us so many good quotes that I can't decide which is my favorite. One I like:
  
  

  Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.

  
  Wooden would know.
  
• Finally, for some good news: I have been elected the new Grand Knight for Knights of Columbus Council 4362! That means I will be in charge of the Council starting on July 1.

Hypocrisy

Rosie O'Donnell posted this on her blog. She got it from someone else.

You didn't get mad when the Supreme Court stopped a legal recount and appointed a President.

You didn't get mad when Cheney allowed Energy company officials to dictate energy policy.

You didn't get mad when a covert CIA operative got outed.

You didn't get mad when the Patriot Act got passed.

You didn't get mad when we illegally invaded a country that posed no threat to us.

You didn't get mad when we spent over 600 billion(and counting) on said illegal war.

You didn't get mad when over 10 billion dollars just disappeared in Iraq.

You didn't get mad when you found out we were torturing people.

You didn't get mad when the government was illegally wiretapping Americans.

You didn't get mad when we didn't catch Bin Laden.

You didn't get mad when you saw the horrible conditions at Walter Reed.

You didn't get mad when we let a major US city, New Orleans, drown.

You didn't get mad when we gave a 900 billion tax break to the rich.

You didn't get mad when the deficit hit the trillion dollar mark.

You finally got mad when the government decided that people in America deserved the right to see a doctor if they are sick. Yes, illegal wars, lies, corruption, torture, stealing your tax dollars to make the rich richer, are all okay with you, but helping other Americans...oh hell no!

Bits of Tid: December 27, 2009

• Dear wannabe spammers: No, I do not want to see Miley Cyrus sans clothing.
• It's the third day of Christmas! Where are my French hens? Where are my turtle doves? Where is my partridge in a pear tree? Mr. President, you promised me all of this! I am this close to never voting for another Democrat ever again! {/snark}
• From an email - Ten Signs Your Kids Don't Like Their Christmas Presents:

  10. There's something half-hearted about the way they say, "Oh wow -- Q- Tips".
  9. They spend Christmas morning making up games involving wrapping paper.
  8. They hire a Gambino family hit man to break Santa's kneecaps.
  7. You see them trying to shove everything back up the chimney.
  6. Spelled out in Legos on the front lawn are the words "You're Cheap!!!".
  5. Moments after they unwrap gifts, you see them for sale on E-Bay.
  4. Your son simply refuses to understand why you couldn't get him two hours alone with Cindy Crawford.
  3. They cite your gifts as a major factor in their decision to convert to Islam.
  2. You wake up and find the head of Elmo in your bed.
  1. They ask, "Where'd you buy this stuff -- Crap `R' Us?"

• I hope Jonathan Chait is right:
  

  The Republicans eschewed a halfway compromise and put all their chips on an all or nothing campaign to defeat health care and Obama's presidency. It was an audacious gamble. They lost. In the end, they'll walk away with nothing. The Republicans may gain some more seats in 2010 by their total obstruction, but the substantive policy defeat they've been dealt will last for decades.

• Pete Hoekstra says what happened the other day near the Detroit Airport was a terrorist attack. Even though he wasn't briefed on it, and even though the attempt cannot be described as anything but an epic fail. I'm guessing Hoekstra wants us to see this as an attack that happened under Obama - with all the bad that is supposed to represent - and forget what happened during Bush's first year in office.
  
  More on conservative attempts at exploitation here.
  

Bits of Tid: July 26, 2009

• The Free Press has a good article on efforts to promote Michigan-made products.
• Conservative 'fiscal restraint' at its finest.
• Here's another article from the Free Press, this one on Isle Royale National Park.
• Could things be looking up for Ford?
• Want to save some money? Wash your clothes in cold water. In one year, using hot water to wash your clothes wastes enough energy to drive a car 3,600 miles.
• Want to save some money? Wash your clothes in cold water. In one year, using hot water to wash your clothes wastes enough energy to drive a car 3,600 miles. Cold-water washing is just as effective as warm- or hot-water washing.
• Starting today, Governor Granholm has less competition in the Hottest Governor contest. Yep, today's the day Sarah Palin steps down. Of course, Palin was no competition for JG in the Smartest Governor category.
• Speaking of which, Granholm will appear tomorrow night at 9PM on CNBC's special, Meeting of the Minds. Granholm and four other intelligent people, as well as Bill Frist, will discuss healthcare reform.
• The Tigers, who came into Friday in a tie with the White Sox for first in the AL Central, have taken the first three games of this weekend's series to leap into a 3-game lead. Going into tonight's game, their magic number to clinch the AL Central is 63.
• The good news:
  
• The bad news:

Double standards

From an email I just received:

Black teen pregnancies? A 'crisis' in black America.
White teen pregnancies? A 'blessed event.'

If you grow up in Hawaii you're 'exotic.'
Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, you're the quintessential 'American story.'

Similarly, if you name your kid Barack you're 'unpatriotic.'
Name your kids Trig and Track, you're 'colorful.'

If you're a Democrat and you make a VP pick without fully vetting the individual you're 'reckless.'
A Republican who doesn't fully vet is a 'maverick.'

If you spend 3 years as a community organizer growing your organization from a staff of 1 to 13 and your budget from $70,000 to $400,000, then become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review,create a voter regstration drive that registers 150,000 new African Amerian voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, then spend nearly 8 more years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, becoming chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, then spend nearly 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of nearly 13 million people, sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you are woefully inexperienced.
If you spend 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, then spend 20 months as the governor of a state with 650,000 people, you've got the most executive experience of anyone on either ticket, are the Commander in Chief of the Alaska military and are well qualified to lead the nation should you be called upon to do so because your state is the closest state to Russia.

If you are a Democratic male candidate who is popular with millions of people you are an 'arrogant celebrity'.
If you are a popular Republican female candidate you are 'energizing the base'.

If you are a younger male candidate who thinks for himself and makes his own decisions you are 'presumptuous'.
If you are an older male candidate who makes last minute decisions you refuse to explain, you are a 'shoot from the hip' maverick.

If you are a candidate with a Harvard law degree you are 'an elitist 'out of touch' with the real America.
If you are a legacy (dad and granddad were admirals) graduate of Annapolis, with multiple disciplinary infractions you are a hero.

If you manage a multi-million dollar nationwide campaign, you are an 'empty suit'.
If you are a part time mayor of a town of 7000 people, you are an 'experienced executive'.

If you go to a south side Chicago church, your beliefs are 'extremist'.
If you believe in creationism and don't believe gobal warming is man made, you are 'strongly principled'.

If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.
If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years with whom you are raising two beautiful daughters you're 'risky'.

If you're a black single mother of 4 who waits for 22 hours after her water breaks to seek medical attention, you're an irresponsible parent, endangering the life of your unborn child.
But if you're a white married mother who waits 22 hours, you're spunky.

If you're a 13-year-old Chelsea Clinton, the right-wing press calls you 'First dog.'
If you're a 17-year old pregnant unwed daughter of a Republican, the right-wing press calls you 'beautiful' and 'courageous.'

If you kill an endangered species, you're an excellent hunter.
If you have an abortion you're not a christian, you're a murderer (forget about if it happened while being date raped)

If you teach abstinence only in sex education, you get teen parents.
If you teach responsible age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.

Don't you DARE get your prescription drugs from Canada!

From Democratic Underground last year:

A car company can move its factories to Mexico and claim it's a free market.

A toy company can out source to a Chinese subcontractor and claim it's a free market.

A shoe company can produce its shoes in Southeast Asia and claim it's a free market

A major bank can incorporate in Bermuda to avoid taxes and claim it's a free market.

We can buy HP Printers made in Mexico.

We can buy shirts made in Bangladesh.

We can purchase almost anything we want from 20 different countries.

BUT, heaven help the senior citizens who dare to buy their prescription drugs from a Canadian or Mexican pharmacy. That's called anti-U. S. and illegal and our politicians want to stop it!

How Republicans prove their (lack of) patriotism

Here's a snark piece from Daily Kos:

1. Being accused of sexual misconduct (so long as you are a Republican) and criticizing others of sexual misconduct (so long as you are a Republican and the "others" are Democrats).

2. Avoiding military service.

3. Campaigning for your father when he is running for President. Like Mitt Romney said, his sons are fighting the War in Iraq and fighting terrorists by helping Willard try to become President. What could be more patriotic than that?

4. Blindly supporting a war that has made America weaker and more vulnerable, killed thousands of Americans, destroyed hundreds of thousands of American lives and killed tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis.

5. Attacking the miltary service of Americans if those Americans have the gall to run for political office as a Democrat.

6. Helping rich people get richer.

7. Talking about Jesus but failing to follow his examples.

8. Divorcing your wife and marrying your girlfriend shortly thereafter. Did you hear that Mr. McCain and Mr. Gingrich?

9. Hating brown, black, olive and other "different" people--except for those "different" individuals who actually embrace everything Republican including the self-hatred of "different" people. Did you hear that Michelle Malkin? (Qualifier: the aforementioned exception does not apply to gay people. Gays are simply too different to be included with the other "different" people above. I mean, even the "different" people do not deserve to be lumped in with the gays.)

10. Always trusting government officials in everything they do (so long as those officials are Republicans) and never trusting government officials in anything they do (so long as those officials are Democrats).

GOP hypocrisy on display yet AGAIN

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid met with President Bush last week and had this to say about the situation in Iraq:

"I believe myself that the secretary of state, secretary of defense and -- you have to make your own decisions as to what the president knows -- [know] this war is lost and the surge is not accomplishing anything as indicated by the extreme violence in Iraq yesterday," said Reid, D-Nevada.

Obviously, leading Republicans didn't exactly like what Reid said. Here's how Reid's Republican counterpart responded:

"I can't begin to imagine how our troops in the field, who are risking their lives every day, are going to react when they get back to base and hear that the Democrat leader of the United States Senate has declared the war is lost," said Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky.

Surely no conservative would say that the war is lost, now would they? Would they?

Well, if by 'they' you mean former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, then they would.

ANDREW MARR: Do you think there is any hope left of a clear military victory in Iraq?

HENRY KISSINGER: If you mean by clear military victory an Iraqi government that can be established and whose writ runs across the whole country, that gets the civil war under control and sectarian violence under control in a time period that the political processes of the democracies will support, I don't believe that is possible.

Oh my Mr. Secretary... How dare you say that! Surely your fellow Republicans will make you pay for that statement!

Or will they?

I have yet to hear one example of a Republican criticizing Kissinger for saying that the war is lost. And yet when Reid says it, what do we hear? Whining.

Not that they don't know a thing or two about hypocrisy, of course.

Actual excerpts from the 2000 Republican platform (I kid you not)

For those of you who don't know what a political party's platform is (I imagine most people who read this know - but if you don't), it's basically a statement the party issues just before every presidential election, showing where it stands on key issues. (Here's the Democratic Party platform from 2004.)

Here's an interesting piece I found on Democratic Underground.

Honest Government

“Trust, pride, and respect: we pledge to restore these qualities to the way Americans view their government.”

Keeping Intelligence Free of Politics

"Nor should the intelligence community be made the scapegoat for political misjudgments. A Republican administration working with the Congress will respect the needs and quiet sacrifices of these public servants as it strengthens America's intelligence and counter-intelligence capabilities…”

Diplomacy and Maintaining Allies

“The arrogance, inconsistency, and unreliability of the administration's diplomacy have undermined American alliances, alienated friends, and emboldened our adversaries."

Endless Military Missions, Exit Strategies and Troop Readiness

"The current administration has casually sent American armed forces on dozens of missions without clear goals, realizable objectives, favorable rules of engagement, or defined exit strategies.” (Emphasis added.)

"Sending our military on vague, aimless, and endless missions rapidly saps morale. Even the highest morale is eventually undermined by back-to-back deployments, poor pay, shortages of spare parts and equipment, inadequate training, and rapidly declining readiness. When it comes to military health, the administration is not providing an adequate military health care system…"

Restoring the Rule of Law and the Justice Department

The rule of law, the very foundation for a free society, has been under assault, not only by criminals from the ground up, but also from the top down. An administration that lives by evasion, coverup, stonewalling, and duplicity has given us a totally discredited Department of Justice. The credibility of those who now manage the nation’s top law enforcement agency is tragically eroded. We are fortunate to have its dedicated career workforce, especially its criminal prosecutors, who have faced the unprecedented politicization of decisions regarding both personnel and investigations.”

Gas Prices (then $1.55 per gallon)

“Today, gas prices have skyrocketed, and oil imports are at all-time highs....By any reasonable standard, the Department of Energy has utterly failed in its mission to safeguard America’s energy security."

Other than a sole appearance by the word Republican, It looks like a compilation of excerpts from the Democratic platform... but no, these excerpts are indeed from the 2000 Republican Party platform.

Fast-forward seven years. Few people trust the government; our intelligence systems have been compromised by what appears to be politics; our stature in the world is dwindling; Iraq is obviously a mess; the rule of law has been neglected; and don't get me started on gas prices.

As Republican President Dwight Eisenhower once said, "How I wish the Republican Party was still the GOP, the "Grand Ol' Party."

GOP congressman visits Syria while his party criticizes Pelosi for doing the same

As you know, Nancy Pelosi is now the #3 person in US Government, behind Bush and Cheney. As such, she has announced that she will meet with the President of Syria, Bashar Al-Assad. Republicans have complained about Pelosi's planned visit.

And guess what? They're being hypocritical.

While U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's upcoming visit to Syria has caused the White House to bristle, a little-publicized rendezvous took place Sunday between Syria's president and Lancaster County's congressman.

And though Bush administration officials have been criticizing Pelosi, it's not clear what role the White House and the U.S. Department of State played when U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts and two other Republican congressmen met with Syrian President Bassar Assad.

(snip)

The House Speaker's office criticized the Bush administration for focusing their criticisms — until Monday — on Pelosi, the top House Democrat, for leading a congressional delegation to meet with Assad later this week.

"There's a Republican trip going before her, and no one is criticizing that," Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said. "So clearly the White House's motives here are in question."

Oh quit whining, Republicans. If Americans wanted another do-nothing Congress, they would've voted Republican. Pelosi's doing her job. Don't like it? Tough.