Archive for September, 2011
Seven Compelling Reasons Why the Wealthy Should be Taxed More (right now)
Obama’s new stimulus package includes components that will supposedly raise taxes on those above 200k, and includes a “Warren Buffett” clause concerning capital gains tax. The merits of the specific plan will have to wait, as we don’t know the specifics yet. However, the debate surrounding the abstract ideas of raising taxes on only the [...]
Rehashing the “elitist” attack
(1) During the 2008 presidential election, the Clinton campaign, and then later on the McCain Campaign, often characterized Obama as a Harvard-educated elitist who was out of touch with regular working-class Americans. This talking point was enlivened when Obama nonsensically called Western Pennsylvanians “bitter” while trying to sympathize with them over their economic difficulties. For [...]
Is Social Security a Ponzi Scheme?
In his book, and the Republican debates, Rick Perry has made headlines by characterizing Social Security as a Ponzi scheme. This has led to a big uproar about the nature of Social Security, and a debate over whether or not that characterization is a fair one. Mr. Charles Ponzi has gotten a great deal of [...]
Is “Ponzi Scheme” Really Not Hurting Perry?
I think that a lot of pundits aren’t taking this latest Gallup Poll seriously, which finds that 19% of Republicans and 32% of Independents are “less likely to support” Rick Perry after learning about his characterization of Social Security as a Ponzi scheme. They argue that since 19% of Republicans are “more likely to support” [...]
For Christie, this should not be the Situation
Ideologically speaking, the last few months have been a trying time for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Only a year ago Christie was the original Tea Party Presidential favorite. He defeated both Sarah Palin and Ron Paul and became the winner of the first ever Tea Party Straw Poll held in Virginia. Now, he can’t [...]
Pinning Blame on the Elephant
So 45% of voters believe that Republicans in Congress deserve the most blame for “what’s gone wrong in Washington,” according to a recent Bloomberg News Poll. I have a feeling that number is going to rise as long as Republicans continue to justify not passing legislation for the sole reason that it’s backed by President [...]
Shattering Illusions About Tea Party Freshmen
A few gee-whiz’s at Politico decided to chart the voting patterns of Tea Party freshmen against the voting patterns of veteran Republicans and found that the Tea Partiers aren’t as unkempt as they let on: On 100 key House votes, Republican freshmen rarely stand out, bucking the party line at almost the same rate as [...]
Getting your money’s worth
The New York Times published an unflattering article yesterday on the practice of the government contracting out services to private companies. The article examined the findings of a study done by a nonprofit organization called the Project of Government Oversight, and found, in 33 of 35 occupations, the government actually paid billions of dollars more [...]
Pro-Life?
CNN/Tea Party Express Debate (9/12/2011): Blitzer: Let me ask you this hypothetical question. A healthy, 30-year-old man has a good job, makes a good living, but decides, “You know what, I’m not going to spend $200 or $300 a month for health insurance because I’m healthy, I don’t need it.” Something terrible happens, all of [...]
Mitt Romney: Protector of Social Security?
Mitt Romney has decided to make a ruckus out of Rick Perry’s insistence that Social Security is a “Ponzi Scheme”. In a flier disseminated to Republican voters in Florida, the Romney campaign asserts “Rick Perry: How can we trust anyone who wants to kill social security.” Here’s a snippet from the flier: It’s no secret [...]