Monday, August 6, 2012
Senate Bill Continues Tax Breaks For NASCAR, Rum, And Offshoring Profits
Senate Bill Continues Tax Breaks For NASCAR, Rum, And Offshoring Profits: Last week, in what Reuters called “a rare show of bipartisan unity,” the Senate Finance Committee approved a package of so-called tax extenders by a 19-5 vote. The extenders package contains a variety of expiring tax provisions that are regularly renewed. The senators on the committee were slapping themselves on the back for achieving some [...]/p
Tea Party Group Jokes About Beating Obama To Death
Tea Party Group Jokes About Beating Obama To Death: A local tea party group in Pennsylvania called Northeast Pennsylvania Spirit of 1776 is sending out an email alert in which it imagines the Founding Fathers beating up President Obama in Heaven for being a “radical, socialist leader”: ThinkProgress spoke with a member of the group, who confirmed that the organization sent out the mailing [...]/p
Rick Perry Factors Into State Budget Obamacare Funds He Had Pledged To Reject
Rick Perry Factors Into State Budget Obamacare Funds He Had Pledged To Reject: Eight days after the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate and ruled that the federal government cannot penalize states that refuse to expand Medicaid, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) announced that he would not open the program to more applicants. But while he was making a public show of [...]/p
Is Michigan Tea Party Candidate Clark Durant's Genesis Foundation Legit?
Is Michigan Tea Party Candidate Clark Durant's Genesis Foundation Legit?
"Durant is bathed in all sorts of hero gel for setting up charter schools in urban Detroit, but closer examination of the records reveals a brilliant illustration of everything that's wrong with charters and why candidates like Durant have a vested interest in being elected to the United States Congress. With people like Durant in office, billionaires don't even have to pay lobbyists. They just elect one of their buddies whose strings they've already been pulling for years, and just like that, their will be done."
"Durant is bathed in all sorts of hero gel for setting up charter schools in urban Detroit, but closer examination of the records reveals a brilliant illustration of everything that's wrong with charters and why candidates like Durant have a vested interest in being elected to the United States Congress. With people like Durant in office, billionaires don't even have to pay lobbyists. They just elect one of their buddies whose strings they've already been pulling for years, and just like that, their will be done."
Why Does Mitt Romney Want To Restrict Voting Rights For More Than 900,000 Ohio Veterans? | Alternet
Why Does Mitt Romney Want To Restrict Voting Rights For More Than 900,000 Ohio Veterans? | Alternet
"In short, Mitt Romney supports efforts to make voting more difficult for the very people who have put their lives on the line after swearing an oath to uphold our Constitution and democracy."
"In short, Mitt Romney supports efforts to make voting more difficult for the very people who have put their lives on the line after swearing an oath to uphold our Constitution and democracy."
GOP Senate Candidate Refuses To Release Economic Models Backing Up Her Jobs Plan
GOP Senate Candidate Refuses To Release Economic Models Backing Up Her Jobs Plan: Republican Senate candidate Linda McMahon has released an analysis of her jobs plan purporting to show that it would save $1.7 trillion over nine years for the federal government. However, the campaign has thus far refused to release the economic models backing up its assertion: Republican U.S. Senate candidate Linda McMahon, as part of her [...]/p
Reports: Sikh Temple Shooter Was A White Supremacist, Part Of Growing Trend Of Anti-Sikh Violence
Reports: Sikh Temple Shooter Was A White Supremacist, Part Of Growing Trend Of Anti-Sikh Violence: Several reports out this morning indicate that Wade Michael Page, the army veteran who is suspected of killing six and injuring three at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, WI, over the weekend, was a white supremacist and a “skinhead.” According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Page — who was killed in a firefight [...]/p
Republican Congressional Candidate Compares Obama To Hitler
Republican Congressional Candidate Compares Obama To Hitler: Dr. Marisha Agana, a pediatrician, is challenging incumbent Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) in the newly drawn Ohio District 13. The Republican candidate is a staunch conservative who believes that “this government has already planted the seeds of this kind of autocratic takeover of our lives.” But on Sunday, Agana went a step further and compared [...]/p
Is Citi Engaging in Criminal Abuses of Active Duty Servicemen on Their Student Loans? | Alternet
Is Citi Engaging in Criminal Abuses of Active Duty Servicemen on Their Student Loans? | Alternet
"Given all the varieties of bank-perpetrated mortgage fraud that have come to light in recent years, one that got comparatively little attention were abuses under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. SCRA shields active duty servicemen, who cannot be the target of civil until their tour of duty has been completed. That means, among other thing, bankruptcies, foreclosures and even divorces are put on hold. Recent amendments include capping the interest rate on most types of debt at 6%.
"Given all the varieties of bank-perpetrated mortgage fraud that have come to light in recent years, one that got comparatively little attention were abuses under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. SCRA shields active duty servicemen, who cannot be the target of civil until their tour of duty has been completed. That means, among other thing, bankruptcies, foreclosures and even divorces are put on hold. Recent amendments include capping the interest rate on most types of debt at 6%.
Despite the clear provisions of the law, mortgage services were found to be violating on a widespread basis, both by failing to reduce interest charges to 6% and on foreclosing on military personnel who were deployed."
Right-Wing Rhetoric Heats Up, As Talk of Nazis Enters the Conversation | Alternet
Right-Wing Rhetoric Heats Up, As Talk of Nazis Enters the Conversation | Alternet
"In any case, revolution, even if for some only literarily, has been on the mind of a wide range contemporary conservative evangelical and Catholic leaders for some time. It is a conversation that seems likely to continue."
"In any case, revolution, even if for some only literarily, has been on the mind of a wide range contemporary conservative evangelical and Catholic leaders for some time. It is a conversation that seems likely to continue."
Sikh Temple Shooting: At Least Six Worshippers Killed in Wisconsin | Alternet
Sikh Temple Shooting: At Least Six Worshippers Killed in Wisconsin | Alternet
"At least six people were killed and more wounded when a gunman opened fire on worshippers at a Sikh temple in the US."
"At least six people were killed and more wounded when a gunman opened fire on worshippers at a Sikh temple in the US."
Right-Wing Plan for Defeating Obama: Gin Up the Hate | Alternet
Right-Wing Plan for Defeating Obama: Gin Up the Hate | Alternet
"Stuck with a lackluster candidate, Tea Partiers focus their rage on the president."
"Stuck with a lackluster candidate, Tea Partiers focus their rage on the president."
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Obama v. Romney: Two Radically Different Visions Of America's Future | Alternet
Obama v. Romney: Two Radically Different Visions Of America's Future | Alternet
"The future of our nation is at stake. We must openly and regularly talk about the function of the public. And we must repeat the fact that the public constitutes the people working together to better their lives. The public is and has always been, requisite for our freedom, our success and our humanity as a nation. Every candidate for office and every patriotic American should be saying this out loud, over and over. The role of the public is the central issue in this election. It is the issue that will determine our future."
"The future of our nation is at stake. We must openly and regularly talk about the function of the public. And we must repeat the fact that the public constitutes the people working together to better their lives. The public is and has always been, requisite for our freedom, our success and our humanity as a nation. Every candidate for office and every patriotic American should be saying this out loud, over and over. The role of the public is the central issue in this election. It is the issue that will determine our future."
Huckabee Continues Spreading the Lie That ACA Insurance Mandate Pays for Abortion
Huckabee Continues Spreading the Lie That ACA Insurance Mandate Pays for Abortion
"So naturally Huckabee brought the guy on Fox along with his lawyer to lie to his audience and tell them he was going to be forced to pay for "abortion-inducing" drugs. And his attorney is from the Alliance Defending Freedom, which recently changed its name in July of this year. They were formerly called the Alliance Defense Fund and Media Matters has more on them here from back in 2005: What is the Alliance Defense Fund, and why does Bill O'Reilly advocate donating to it?"
"So naturally Huckabee brought the guy on Fox along with his lawyer to lie to his audience and tell them he was going to be forced to pay for "abortion-inducing" drugs. And his attorney is from the Alliance Defending Freedom, which recently changed its name in July of this year. They were formerly called the Alliance Defense Fund and Media Matters has more on them here from back in 2005: What is the Alliance Defense Fund, and why does Bill O'Reilly advocate donating to it?"
Top GOP Strategist Pushes Romney To Release More Tax Returns: ‘Two Years Is Not Enough, Obviously”
Top GOP Strategist Pushes Romney To Release More Tax Returns: ‘Two Years Is Not Enough, Obviously”: Longtime Republican strategist Ed Rollins today joined 20 other Republicans by saying Mitt Romney should “absolutely” release more years of tax returns. Despite increasing pressure from both Democrats and Republicans, and 61 percent of voters who want to see more taxes, Romney has refused to release more than two years. In an interview with Fox [...]/p
Swing voters want their Social Security, Medicare and good government
Swing voters want their Social Security, Medicare and good government
"A new survey of American suburban and swing voters by Hofstra University's National Center for Suburban Studies demonstrates just how mainstream the progressive vision for the country on the role of government really is. On issues of income inequality, the social contract, government regulation of industry for health and safety of the public, these swing voters demonstrate that, while they don't like these concepts in the abstract, they support the specific programs at issue, and want to keep them strong."
"A new survey of American suburban and swing voters by Hofstra University's National Center for Suburban Studies demonstrates just how mainstream the progressive vision for the country on the role of government really is. On issues of income inequality, the social contract, government regulation of industry for health and safety of the public, these swing voters demonstrate that, while they don't like these concepts in the abstract, they support the specific programs at issue, and want to keep them strong."
Climate Change is Here — and Worse Than We Thought | Common Dreams
Climate Change is Here — and Worse Than We Thought | Common Dreams
"n a new analysis of the past six decades of global temperatures, which will be published Monday, my colleagues and I have revealed a stunning increase in the frequency of extremely hot summers, with deeply troubling ramifications for not only our future but also for our present."
"n a new analysis of the past six decades of global temperatures, which will be published Monday, my colleagues and I have revealed a stunning increase in the frequency of extremely hot summers, with deeply troubling ramifications for not only our future but also for our present."
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Another Republican says Mitt's hurting himself by not releasing his dang tax returns already
Another Republican says Mitt's hurting himself by not releasing his dang tax returns already
"The longer it drags on, the more it looks like Romney really does have something to hide."
"The longer it drags on, the more it looks like Romney really does have something to hide."
Outcry as Walmart OK's Monsanto GM Corn | Common Dreams
Outcry as Walmart OK's Monsanto GM Corn | Common Dreams
"Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, has confirmed to the Chicago Tribune that despite protests from environment and food-safety advocates, it will not restrict sales of genetically modified corn in its stores."
"Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, has confirmed to the Chicago Tribune that despite protests from environment and food-safety advocates, it will not restrict sales of genetically modified corn in its stores."
Congress Fiddles While the Post Office Burns | Common Dreams
Congress Fiddles While the Post Office Burns | Common Dreams
"Americans have heard a lot in recent days about the “default” by the United States Postal Service. And the way that much of the media covered the story would lead those who have not followed the wrangling over the USPS’s future to imagine there’s a problem with the post office."
"Americans have heard a lot in recent days about the “default” by the United States Postal Service. And the way that much of the media covered the story would lead those who have not followed the wrangling over the USPS’s future to imagine there’s a problem with the post office."
Mathematics Impossible: Economists, Analysts Pile On Romney's Bogus Tax Plan | Common Dreams
Mathematics Impossible: Economists, Analysts Pile On Romney's Bogus Tax Plan | Common Dreams
"The Tax Policy Center, after assessing Mitt Romney's tax reform proposal this week, saidflatly that the plan "would provide large tax cuts to high-income households, and increase the tax burdens on middle- and/or lower-income taxpayers"."
"The Tax Policy Center, after assessing Mitt Romney's tax reform proposal this week, saidflatly that the plan "would provide large tax cuts to high-income households, and increase the tax burdens on middle- and/or lower-income taxpayers"."
You've Got Mail -- Or Not: Why a Job-Killing Congressional Attack May Close Your Local Post Office | Alternet
You've Got Mail -- Or Not: Why a Job-Killing Congressional Attack May Close Your Local Post Office | Alternet
"The U.S. Postal Service is a 200-year-old institution that directly provides jobs for half a million people and many times that number in industries that depend upon it. The Postal Service receives not a penny of taxpayer money, and even made a tidy profit in the first quarter of this year. Yet this trusted federal agency is under siege from a phony "fiscal crisis" created by Congress in an unjustified attack on workers and much-need services. It's no surprise that those seeking to further privatize universal public services and weaken labor unions are leading the charge .
"The U.S. Postal Service is a 200-year-old institution that directly provides jobs for half a million people and many times that number in industries that depend upon it. The Postal Service receives not a penny of taxpayer money, and even made a tidy profit in the first quarter of this year. Yet this trusted federal agency is under siege from a phony "fiscal crisis" created by Congress in an unjustified attack on workers and much-need services. It's no surprise that those seeking to further privatize universal public services and weaken labor unions are leading the charge .
It's time to set the record straight."
Why a Major Food Organization Is Teaming Up With Monsanto and Friends to Block Your Right to Know What's in Your Food | Alternet
Why a Major Food Organization Is Teaming Up With Monsanto and Friends to Block Your Right to Know What's in Your Food | Alternet
"Big Food companies like ConAgra, Smucker, Hormel, Kellogg, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo want to block consumer protection legislation."
"Big Food companies like ConAgra, Smucker, Hormel, Kellogg, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo want to block consumer protection legislation."
How Mitt Romney Got Rich Destroying American Jobs and Promoting Sweatshop Capitalism | Alternet
How Mitt Romney Got Rich Destroying American Jobs and Promoting Sweatshop Capitalism | Alternet
"Republicans claim that Mitt Romney's entrepreneurial activities at Bain Capital have been good for Americans. The truth is that Romney has spent his career offshoring and outsourcing American production processes -- and associated jobs -- to countries like China where human labor is valued in the market at a very low wage rate.
"Republicans claim that Mitt Romney's entrepreneurial activities at Bain Capital have been good for Americans. The truth is that Romney has spent his career offshoring and outsourcing American production processes -- and associated jobs -- to countries like China where human labor is valued in the market at a very low wage rate.
Mitt Romney’s tenure as Bain’s CEO has long linked him to offshoring and outsourcing. Even today, although he is no longer in that position, Romney still makes a nice profit on undertakings done long after he left the day-to-day management of the firm."
Friday, August 3, 2012
Major Banks Help Clients Hide Trillions in Offshore Tax Havens
"US media and politicians mostly ignore massive untaxed wealth that big banks help rich move to tax havens"
The State of America's Children 2012 | Common Dreams
The State of America's Children 2012 | Common Dreams
"when we looked closely at poor children across the nation, ten states plus the District of Columbia had child poverty rates of 25 percent or higher: Mississippi was the highest at 32.5 percent, followed by D.C., New Mexico, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, and West Virginia. Only New Hampshire had a child poverty rate of 10 percent or lower. When it comes to ensuring equal chances for children everywhere in our country we have a long way to go. And when we realize that nationwide a child is born into poverty every 29 seconds it should sound alarms from coast to coast."
"when we looked closely at poor children across the nation, ten states plus the District of Columbia had child poverty rates of 25 percent or higher: Mississippi was the highest at 32.5 percent, followed by D.C., New Mexico, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, and West Virginia. Only New Hampshire had a child poverty rate of 10 percent or lower. When it comes to ensuring equal chances for children everywhere in our country we have a long way to go. And when we realize that nationwide a child is born into poverty every 29 seconds it should sound alarms from coast to coast."
Big Business Tries To Stop Florida Paid Sick Days Initiative Before It Even Reaches Ballot
Big Business Tries To Stop Florida Paid Sick Days Initiative Before It Even Reaches Ballot: Residents of Orange County, Florida, are trying to get an initiative on the November ballot that would require all businesses with more than 15 employees to provide paid sick days to their workers. Predictably, big businesses are joining forces and working hard to stop it. More signatures are still needed before the Earned Sick Time [...]/p
Veterans’ Unemployment Falls To Lowest Level In More Than Three Years
Veterans’ Unemployment Falls To Lowest Level In More Than Three Years: Even as the national unemployment rate ticked up ever so slightly in July, the unemployment rate for veterans fell to its lowest level in more than three years, dropping to 6.9 percent. That figure is the lowest monthly unemployment rate for all veterans since before President Obama took office. The Obama administration has championed legislation [...]/p
A Democratic Country Should Put Public Education Before Corporate Profits
A Democratic Country Should Put Public Education Before Corporate Profits
"The headlines this summer are full of gloom and doom about the upcoming 2012-2013 school year.
"The headlines this summer are full of gloom and doom about the upcoming 2012-2013 school year.
Schools are closing. Teachers are being laid off. State and local governments are cutting like crazy and Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin has released a report warning about the looming sequestration of the federal education budget.
It shouldn't be like this."
Gore Vidal Dies at 86 | Common Dreams
Gore Vidal Dies at 86 | Common Dreams
"American novelist, playwright, media critic, political historian and pundit Gore Vidal died at his home in Los Angeles on Tuesday following complications with pneumonia. He was 86."
"American novelist, playwright, media critic, political historian and pundit Gore Vidal died at his home in Los Angeles on Tuesday following complications with pneumonia. He was 86."
Gore Vidal and the Unfinished American Revolution | Common Dreams
Gore Vidal and the Unfinished American Revolution | Common Dreams
"Vidal, who has died at age 86, was a great man of letters, an author, playwright and groundbreaking essayist on the literature of his native land and the world. He was, as well, a bold and unrelenting challenger of the Puritanism that he regarded as the ugliest of American tendencies."
"Vidal, who has died at age 86, was a great man of letters, an author, playwright and groundbreaking essayist on the literature of his native land and the world. He was, as well, a bold and unrelenting challenger of the Puritanism that he regarded as the ugliest of American tendencies."
America Has Hundreds Of Thousands Fewer Teachers Than It Had Three Years Ago
America Has Hundreds Of Thousands Fewer Teachers Than It Had Three Years Ago: The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced this morning that the United States economy added 163,000 jobs in July, a positive if not large enough step in the nation’s economic recovery. But while the private sector continues to add jobs, federal, state, and local governments continue to shed them. The public sector lost 9,000 more jobs [...]/p
How the For-Profit Education Business Is a Complete Taxpayer Rip-Off | Alternet
How the For-Profit Education Business Is a Complete Taxpayer Rip-Off | Alternet
"ou’ve got to love congressional understatement. Sen. Tom Harkin released a massive report lacerating the for-profit college sector on Monday — the freshest, most comprehensive look yet at how career schools are abusing both American taxpayers and students. The report includes individual breakdowns of the numbers at 30 of the biggest for-profit schools, including Corinthian, which was the subject of a Salon feature two months ago."
"ou’ve got to love congressional understatement. Sen. Tom Harkin released a massive report lacerating the for-profit college sector on Monday — the freshest, most comprehensive look yet at how career schools are abusing both American taxpayers and students. The report includes individual breakdowns of the numbers at 30 of the biggest for-profit schools, including Corinthian, which was the subject of a Salon feature two months ago."
Does Mitt Romney Think He Is a Son of Abraham and That the Land of Zion Will Be his Inheritance? | Alternet
Does Mitt Romney Think He Is a Son of Abraham and That the Land of Zion Will Be his Inheritance? | Alternet
"Conservative Christianity teaches “ supersessionism,” the idea that God’s covenant with Christians replaced his covenant with the Jews and now Christians are the Chosen People, the spiritual heirs of Abraham. Mormonism takes this a step further, teaching that Mormons are not only the spiritual heirs of Abraham, they are his physical descendants as well."
"Conservative Christianity teaches “ supersessionism,” the idea that God’s covenant with Christians replaced his covenant with the Jews and now Christians are the Chosen People, the spiritual heirs of Abraham. Mormonism takes this a step further, teaching that Mormons are not only the spiritual heirs of Abraham, they are his physical descendants as well."
Federal Court Blocks Most Of Texas Voter Suppression Law
Federal Court Blocks Most Of Texas Voter Suppression Law: A federal judge in Texas has blocked a key provision of the state’s recent voter suppression law that limited the ability of outside groups to register new voters. The law, which was passed by the Republican-held legislature in an emergency session last year, placed new restrictions on groups like the League of Women Voters, making [...]/p
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)