A Long List And An EMIS Update October 19, 2011March 25, 2017 9-9-9 The numbers are in. Based on a just-released analysis by the Tax Policy Center, the lowest-income fifth of Americans would pay $1,854 more in federal tax each year under Republican front-runner Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan; the middle fifth would pay $4,330 more; but the fifth with the highest income would pay $14,442 less. Meanwhile, those of us in the top 1% would save, on average, $238,422 on our taxes each year and the top tenth of a percent would see average annual savings of $1,356,078. A LONG LIST Here’s a recent list of Obama accomplishments. I leave further introduction to Professor Watson: THE OBAMA RECORD Like all presidents, Barack Obama has enjoyed accomplishments but also made mistakes. As a presidential historian, however, I have been struck by claims being put forward by Obama’s many critics and the news media that he has accomplished little when, in fact, his presidency is easily one of the most active in history. As such, with all the misinformation circulating on talk radio, at town hall meetings, and in the blogosphere about the President, here is a fact-checked list of some of President Obama’s initiatives. At the end are some interesting factoids and misconceptions about the President. — Robert P. Watson, Ph.D., Lynn University October 4, 2011 BUDGETING • Ordered all federal agencies to undertake a study and make recommendations for ways to cut federal spending (2009) • Ordered a review of all federal operations to identify wasteful spending and practices (2009) • Established a National Performance Officer charged with saving the federal government money and making federal operations more efficient (2009) • Signed Weapons Systems Acquisition Reform Act (May 22, 2009) • Overturned the Bush-era practice of not listing certain federal programs in the federal budget (2009) (2010) * Note: Bush did this (so did Reagan) in an effort to hide programs and make the budget look smaller; such “off budget” items are now included in the annual budget • Full appropriations for war are now included in the budget (2009-2011) * Note: Bush did not list many of the appropriations for Iraq, Afghanistan and the War on Terror • Funds for emergency appropriations are now included in the budget (2009-2011) • Signed statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act (Feb 12, 2010) after urging Congress to adopt “Pay-Go” (whereby each dollar of spending is offset by a dollar in cuts or revenues, which was used in the `90s but abandoned in the `00s) • Proposed a three-year freeze on federal discretionary spending beginning in 2011 (2010) • Is in the process of cutting 120 federal programs identified as either wasteful or unnecessary (2010-2011) • Established a bipartisan commission on fiscal responsibility, staffed by House and Senate members and private citizens, tasked with submitting proposals to balance the budget (2010) * Note: In the face of Republican opposition, the powers of the commission were watered down • Established a bipartisan commission on the future of Social Security, tasked with submitting proposals to preserve and strengthen Social Security (2010) * Note: In the face of Republican opposition, the powers of the commission were watered down • Cut $20 billion from federal budget and has pledged to cut at least this much every year (2010-2011) • Signed Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act (July 22, 2010) • Ultimately decided to cancel planned new presidential helicopter fleet and stick with Marine One (2010) • Freezing all discretionary spending for next three years, except on national security (2010-2011) • Presidential Memoranda to freeze discretionary awards, bonuses, etc. for federal political appointees (2010) • Measures to promote savings in government contracting (Jan 30, 2011) • Measures to reduce size of federal budget/signed Budget Control Act (Aug 3, 2011) CONSUMER PROTECTIONS • Ended the Bush-era policy of protecting credit card companies (2009); signed Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act (May 22, 2009); credit card companies are prohibited from raising rates without advance notification or arbitrarily if customers are paying bills on time (2010) * Note: In place of the old policy, new consumer protections were instituted and the industry’s predatory practices were banned • Instituted a new focus on mortgage fraud (2009) • Signed the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act (May 20, 2009) • Signed Prevent Deceptive Census Look Alike Mailing Act (April 7, 2010) • Signed measures detailing what mailed items can be marked “Census” (May 24, 2010) • Signed Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (July 21, 2010) • Signed Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act (July 27, 2010) • Signed Social Security Number Protection Act (Dec 18, 2010) • Signed Truth in Caller ID Act (Dec 22, 2010) • Protections from online shopping fraud (Dec 29, 2010) • Signed FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (Jan 4, 2011) • Enhancements to Consumer Protection Safety Commission (Aug 5, 2011) DISASTER RESPONSE • Ordered a review of hurricane and natural disaster preparedness (2009) • FEMA once again reports directly to the president (2009) * Note: Bush removed FEMA (prior to the Hurricane Katrina disaster) from this status • Demonstrated an immediate and efficient response to the floods in North Dakota and other natural disasters (2009) • Ordered that funds be released and red tape be streamlined for the ongoing Hurricane Katrina recovery effort in the Gulf Coast (2009) • Timely and massive relief effort in response to the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti and ensuing humanitarian crisis; signed emergency Aid to American Survivors of the Haiti Earthquake Act (Jan 27, 2010) Components of the response: • The FBI’s National Center for Disaster Fraud was tasked to look into possible fraud with organizations soliciting funds for relief • Announced the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund • Established an emergency Haiti Task Force in the State Department • Established a website with information, resources, and a posting of a “person finder” online to help families and friends to locate loved ones • Joint aid and relief planning with the U.K. • Sponsored a resolution in the UN Security Council for additional security and police forces in Haiti • Dispatched the US Navy floating hospital (USNS Comfort) and, within 5 days, 9 naval and relief ships, 5 Coast Guard cutters, 8 Coast Guard aircraft, and 12,000 US military personnel • Initial dispatch of several ships and cargo planes full of humanitarian aid and supplies, 6 search/rescue teams (500 personnel), and 265 Department of Health & Human Services personnel for emergency medical and aid support • Established a mobile US air traffic control center at the destroyed airport in Port-au-Prince • Signed Tax Breaks for Haiti Donations Act (Jan 22, 2010) • Signed Haiti Debt Relief and Earthquake Recovery Act (April 15, 2010) • Signed Haiti Economic Lift Program Act (May 24, 2010) • Signed Help Haiti Act (Dec 8, 2010) • After the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a freeze was placed on new deep water projects (2010); established a national commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon spill to examine facts and report a plan of action; new efforts to prevent offshore spills (2010) • Executive Order to establish new security measures to minimize accidental release of bio and chemical agents; new strategies for public health and bioterrorism response (2010) • After a slow start in responding to the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the White House is promoting a long-term plan to reconstruct the damaged Gulf and negotiated with BP the establishment of a multi-billion dollar trust fund for victims of the spill (2010-2011) • Signed Disaster Relief and Summer Jobs Act (June 3, 2010) • Extended national flood insurance program for those in need during current economic crisis (2010); signed National Flood Insurance Program Extension (July 2, 2010) ECONOMY • Increased infrastructure spending (roads, bridges, power plants…) (2009-2010) * Note: Bush was the first president since Herbert Hoover to not make infrastructure a priority • Authorized the US auto industry rescue plan and two GMAC rescue packages (2009) • Authorized the housing rescue plan and new FHA residential housing guarantees (2009) • Authorized a $789 billion economic stimulus plan (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) (Feb 17, 2009) * Note: 1/3 in tax cuts for working-class families; 1/3 to states for infrastructure projects; 1/3 to states to prevent the layoff of police officers, teachers, etc. at risk of losing their jobs because of state budget shortfalls • Instituted a new rule allowing the public to meet with federal housing insurers to refinance (in as quickly as one day) a mortgage if they are having trouble paying (2009) • Signed the Serve America Act (April 21, 2009) • Authorized a continuation of the US financial and banking rescue plans initiated at the end of the Bush Administration and authorized TARP funds to buy “toxic assets” from failing financial institutions (2009) • Authorized the “Cash for Clunkers” program that stimulated auto sales and removed old, inefficient, polluting cars from the road (2009); due to large response to program, signed Cash for Clunkers Extension (Aug 6, 2009) • Convened a “jobs summit” to bring experts together to develop ideas for creating jobs (2009) • Placed a 35% tariff on Chinese tires and a few other products such as pipes after China was found to be illegally “dumping” exports below cost (2009) * Note: Clinton, Bush I, and Reagan all refused to “get tough” on China’s predatory trade practices; Bush II refused four times during his presidency • Ordered the FDIC to beef up deposit insurance (2009) • Authorized the federal government to make more loans available to small businesses and ordered lower rates for federal loans to small businesses (2009) and signed a temporary extension of the Small Business Act (March 20, 2009) • Signed Jobs for Main Street Act (Feb 24, 2010) • Efforts to protect US firms’ trademarks, patents, and copyrights; signed Trademark Technical and Conforming Amendment Act (March 17, 2010) • Secured authority to compensate certain furloughed federal employees (March 11, 2010) • Signed Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act (March 18, 2010) • Signed Airport and Airway Extension Act (April 30, 2010) • Enhanced antitrust penalties and reforms (June 9, 2010) • Signed Small Business Investment Act (June 17, 2010) • Homebuyer Assistance and Improvement Act (July 2, 2010) • Extension of Unemployment Compensation (July 22, 2010) • FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act (Aug 10, 2010) • Signed US Manufacturing Enhancement Act (Aug 11, 2010) • Signed Small Business Jobs Act (Sept 27, 2010) • Signed Worker, Homeowner, and Business Assistance Act (Nov 6, 2010); signed • Extended unemployment benefits for one million workers and expanded coverage for some existing homeowners who are buying again (Nov 2010) • Called on Congress to deliver a comprehensive “Jobs bill” (2010) • Signed a bill to extend unemployment benefits set to expire (2010) • Signed historic Wall Street reform bill (2010) * Note: Designed to reregulate and end abusive practices and promote consumer protections • Signed the HIRE Act to stimulate the economic recovery (2010) * Note: The bill includes: tax cuts for small businesses who hire someone unemployed for at least two months; small businesses can write off their investments in equipment this year; etc. • National Export Initiative established to enhance federal support (technical assistance, training, trade missions, etc.) and coordination efforts to help US businesses export products and services (2010) • Forwarded initiatives to promote a “Wireless Broadband Revolution” (2010) * Note: Among other things, broadband is finally being considered as necessary infrastructure, with efforts to expand use, access, and spectrum… • Expanded agricultural credit to farmers during current economic crisis (2010) • Signed US Manufacturing Enhancement Act (2010) • Signed Single Family Housing Mortgage Insurance (2010) • Signed Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act (Dec 17, 2010) • Signed America Competes (Reauthorization) Act (Jan 4, 2011) • Extension of funding for federal support of transportation programs (Sept 16, 2011; March 4, 2011…); extension of funding for airports and airways (several piecemeal increases Aug 5, 2011; June 29, 2011; May 31, 2011 March 21, 2011… because of Republican opposition to full funding of construction, expansion, and improvements) • Announced a comprehensive jobs proposal: cut payroll taxes for working families; incentives to hire the unemployed; reform unemployment insurance; incentives for businesses to hire “returning heroes,” federal supports to states to prevent loss of thousands of teachers and essential public workers; funding for infrastructure repair and construction and school modernization and construction projects; temporary payroll tax holiday… (September 2011) EDUCATION • Authorized construction funds for high-speed, broadband Internet access in K-12 public schools (2009) • Increased funding for school construction (2009) • Increased funding available for student loans (2009) • Expanded the national youth service program (2009) • Streamlined the federal student loan process to save $87 billion over the next 10 years (2009) • Changed the rule to allow students struggling to make college loan payments to refinance their loans (2009) • Discussions with Congress for education reform (2009-2011) * Note: Much of Obama’s education reform has been sidelined by opposition in Congress • Initiated a “Race to the Top” competitive federal grant program for states who develop innovative policies (2009) • Instituted a “judgment review” allowing families with student loans to petition to have their current financial status determine the loan rather than the previous year’s finances (2009) • Launched “Educate to Innovate,” a public/private partnership making $236 million available for science, mathematics, and technology education programs (2009) • Proposed capping the maximum amount students must pay on student loans (as percentage of their income) (2010) • Proposed reducing student loan obligations for individuals going to work in community and public service jobs (2010) • The federal government changed the system to offer direct student loans, cutting out the cost of private banks (“middle man”) who increase the costs in order to make a profit (2010) • Increased investment in technologies for schools/education (2010) ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT • Removed a ruling that now allows individual states (like California) to enact automotive fuel efficiency standards above federal standards (2009) • Offered attractive tax write-offs for those who buy hybrid automobiles (2009) • Overturned Bush-era rule that weakened the Endangered Species Act (2009) • Announced plans to purchase fuel efficient American-made fleet for the federal government (2009) • Ended the Bush-era policy of not regulating and labeling carbon dioxide emissions (2009) • Signed a measure requiring energy producing plants to begin producing 15% of their energy from renewable sources (2009) • Announced that the federal government would reengage in the long-delayed effort to clean up “Superfund” toxic waste sites (2009) • Announced the long-term development of a national energy grid with renewable sources and cleaner, efficient energy production (2009) * Note: Much of Obama’s energy reform was killed by Senate Republicans • Proposed a new refuge for wild mustangs (2009) • Cancelled several Bush-era mountain-top removal and mining permits (2009) • Reengaged in international treaties and agreements to protect the Antarctic (2009) * Note: Bush had withdrawn from such efforts • Asked Congress for an energy reform and “cap and trade” bill (2009) * Note: The Congress failed to pass such a bill • Developing plan to lease US coastal waters for wind and water-current energy production (2009-2011) • Signed the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act that protects millions of acres of scenic, historic, and recreational lands and trails (March 30, 2009) • Signed Energy and Water Development Act (Oct 28, 2009) • Overturned Bush-era policies that allowed uranium mining near national parks such as the Grand Canyon (2009) • Expanded the Petrified Forest National Park (2009) • Requiring that government buildings and facilities be retrofitted to save energy costs (2009) * Note: These green retrofits are moving very slowly • Authorized studies in several western states to determine how to support large-scale solar installations (2009) • Attended the Copenhagen talks and, after the talks were stalled, negotiated an international (voluntary) agreement on reducing carbon emissions and raising funds to assist developing nations in offsetting carbon emissions (2009) • Banned importation of pythons in response to a growing population of pythons damaging the Florida Everglades (2009) • Committing the federal government to increasing research and use of renewable, clean energy sources such as wind, biomass, etc. (2009) • Executive orders establishing a federal initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in all federal operations (2009-2011) • Called for exploring the possibility of additional off-shore oil drilling in the Gulf, Atlantic, and off Alaska (but not in ANWR) (2010) • Authorized use of funds for Deepwater Horizon oil spill from Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund (June 15, 2010) • Signed North American Wetlands Conservation Act (March 25, 2010) • Agreed to consider increases in nuclear energy production and requested a study on the feasibility of nuclear power plant construction (2010) * Note: Nearly all energy initiatives were defeated by Republican opposition in Congress • Increased investment in clean energy projects (2010) • Executive Order to develop a new strategy for and commitment to ocean and lake resources, and for scientific research on water quality (2010) • Signed Asian Carp Prevention and Control Act (Dec 14, 2010) • Signed Truth in Fur Labeling Act (Dec 18, 2010) • Species protection measures for sharks and other animals (Jan 4, 2011) • Signed Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (Jan 4, 2011) • Measures to reduce levels of lead in drinking water (Jan 4, 2011) • Signed Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (Jan 4, 2011) • Executive Order for an interagency effort on domestic energy sources (July 12, 2011) ETHICS • Ordered the White House and all federal agencies to respect the Freedom of Information Act and overturned Bush-era limits on accessibility of federal documents (Jan 2009) • Instructed all federal agencies to promote openness and transparency as much as possible in the release and availability of government documents (Jan 21, 2009) • Placed limits on lobbyists’ access to the White House (Jan & Feb 2009) • Placed limits on White House aides working for lobbyists after their tenure in the administration (Jan 21, 2009) • Signed a measure strengthening registration and reporting requirements for lobbyists (2009) • Ordered that lobbyists must be removed from and are no longer permitted to serve on federal and White House advisory panels and boards (2009) * Note: After saying he would not hire lobbyists, a few have been hired in the Administration • Companies and individuals who are delinquent on their taxes or owe back taxes are no longer allowed to bid for federal contracts (2009) • Established a special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) (April 24, 2009) • Enhanced the role and powers of the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction (June 30, 2009) • Signed the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act (May 20, 2009) • Initiated the “e-Rulemaking Initiative” (in cooperation with Cornell University) to allow for online public “notice and comment” of federal laws and initiatives (2010) • Issued the “Open Gov Directive” ordering all Cabinet departments to promote transparency and citizen participation in their policies (2010) • Signed extensions on banning lobbyists from serving on agency boards (2010) • Developed the “Do Not Pay List” with data on contractors and recipients of federal funds who are deemed to be ineligible because of fraud and abuse (2010) • Signed the Anti-Border Corruption Act (Jan 4, 2011) • Opened additional presidential records to the public (Jan 21, 2011) FOREIGN POLICY • Closed the Bush-era “secret detention” facilities in Eastern Europe (2009) • Ended the Bush-era policy allowing “enhanced interrogation” (torture); the US is again in compliance with Geneva Convention standards (2009) * Note: Obama has permitted some controversial interrogation techniques to continue • Restarted international nuclear non-proliferation talks and reestablished international nuclear inspection protocols (2009) * Note: Bush withdrew from non-proliferation talks and dismantled the inspection infrastructure • Reengaged in the treaties/agreements to protect the Antarctic (2009) * Note: These were suspended under Bush • Reengaged in the agreements/talks on global warming and greenhouse gas emissions (2009) * Note: These were suspended under Bush • Visited more countries and met with more world leaders than any president in his first six months in office (2009) • Banned the export of cluster bombs (2009) • Overturned Bush-era plans to increase the US nuclear arsenal (2009) • Authorized the Navy SEALS operation that freed by force the US shipping captain held by Somali pirates (2009) • Restored the US commitment to the UN population fund for family planning; overturned the ban on providing funds internationally for family planning (2009) * Note: The family planning efforts were suspended under Bush • Instituted a new policy on Cuba, allowing Cuban families to return “home” to visit families (2009) • Extended an offer of engagement (free from sanctions and penalties) to Iran through December 31, 2009 (Iran did not accept the offer) (2009) • Sent envoys to the Middle East and other parts of the world, reengaging in multilateral and bilateral talks and diplomacy (2009) • Authorized discussions with North Korea and the private mission by former president, Bill Clinton, to secure the release of two Americans held in prisons (2009) • Authorized discussions with Myanmar and the mission by Senator Jim Web to secure the release of an American held captive (2009) • Renewed lucrative loan guarantees for Israel (2009-2011) • Signed the USIFTA trade agreement with/for Israel, which offers Israeli products preferred status (2009-2011) • Authorized a $550m advance for Israel (six months prior to the scheduled date) in order to accommodate Israeli’s economic and financial needs (2009) • Continued agreements with Israel for cultural exchanges, immigration, commercial cooperation, security/military cooperation, counterterrorism supports, joint military exercises (“Juniper Cobra” in Oct 2009), etc. (2009-2011) • Spoke on Arab television, spoke at an Egyptian university, and met with Arab leaders in an effort to change the tone of US-Arab relations (2009) • Ordered the US to finally pay its dues to the United Nations (2009) • Attended the Summit of America’s meeting in Trinidad and Tobago (2010) • Provided missile defense supports to Israel (2010); including $205 million for Israel to develop short-range rocket defenses (“Iron Dome”) (2010-2011) • Dispatched several envoys and initiated talks with numerous nations (2010-2011) • Signed a nuclear limitation treaty with Russia (2010) * Note: The agreement calls for both countries to reduce their nucs by one-third (1,500) and launch systems by half (800) • Hosted nuclear non-proliferation summit for several nations (2010) • Rejected international calls to condemn or use sanctions on Israel after the “Turkey flotilla” incident (2010) • Executive Order to establish support offices in the State Department to assist the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan (2010) • Issued memoranda to continue drug interdiction support with Columbia (2010) • Secured largest “foreign military funding” allocation to Israel in history (2011) • Proposed a two-state solution in Mideast based on the 1967 borders with clauses for either side to amend the borders (“Mutually agreed upon swaps”) and develop security arrangements, designed to move the process forward before the UN (in Sept 2011) proposes and votes on a Palestinian state (May 2011) • Executive Order for additional sanctions on Iran (May 23, 2011); ditto with North Korea (April 18, 2011) • Initiative to promote US exports (June 15, 2011) • Executive Order imposing certain sanctions/transaction prohibitions on Syria (Aug 18, 2011) GOVERNANCE • The White House website now provides information on all economic stimulus projects and spending, along with an unprecedented amount of information on our government (2009) • Ended the Bush-era practice of circumventing established FDA rules for political reasons (2009) • Ended the Bush-era practice of having White House staff rewrite the findings of scientific and environmental regulations and reports when they disagreed with the results (2009) • Limited the salaries of senior White House aides (salaries cut to $100,000) (2009) • Has been holding open meetings with Republican leaders, although they complain of a lack of access and information (2010) • Signed the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act (2010) * Note: To curb wasteful spending • Tasked federal agencies to develop plans for disposing of unneeded real estate and then to eliminate unnecessary or non-economical lands, properties, etc. (2010) • Signed Fair Sentencing Act (Aug 3, 2010) • Signed Federal Judiciary Administrative Improvements Act (May 27, 2010) • Mandated federal agencies to write in “plain English” and documents be written in “plain writing” (Oct 13, 2010) • Signed Access to Criminal History Records for State Sentencing Commission Act (Jan 4, 2011) • Initiative to increase efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability of federal government (June 13, 2011) HEALTHCARE • Removed Bush-era restrictions on embryonic stem cell research (2009) • Federal support for stem cell and new biomedical research (2009) • Expanded the SCHIP program to cover health care for 4 million more children and signed Children’s Health Insurance Reauthorization Act (Feb 4, 2009) • Established an independent commission to make recommendations on slowing the costs of Medicare (2009) • The First Family initiated several personal projects to promote healthy lifestyles, including planting a garden for the White House’s vegetables and flowers, installing a swing set/playground for the Obama daughters and children of White House employees, and promoting exercise and fitness for children (2009) • Reversed some of the Bush-era restrictions that prevented Medicare from negotiating with pharmaceutical firms for cheaper drugs, allowing government to again competitively bid (2009) * Note: Obama had promised to lift all restrictions but, while he did negotiate with drug companies for them to lower their costs, the deal only lifted some restrictions • Expanding government vaccination programs (2009-2011) • Issued new disease prevention guidelines and priorities for the CDC (2009) • Authorized the FDA to finally begin regulating tobacco (2009) • Tasked federal labs to prioritize research on and deployment of H1N1 vaccines (2009) • Signed Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (June 22, 2009) • Established a new council on National Prevention, Health Promotion, and Public Health to be chaired by Surgeon General and charged with promoting healthy lifestyles and integrative healthcare (2010) • Assisted Social Security recipients with claims; signed Social Security Disability Applicants’ Access to Professional Representation Act (Feb 27, 2010) • Signed Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act (Feb 27, 2010) • When accusations to the contrary arose, an Executive Order was signed to reaffirm that federal funds are not to be used for abortion services (2010) • Signed the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act (March 31, 2010) • Signed the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act (Oct 8, 2010) • Signed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (Dec 13, 2010) • Signed the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Act (Dec 22, 2010) • Extended healthcare and compensation for 9/11 responders (Jan 2, 2011) • Established National Alzheimer’s Project (Jan 4, 2011) • Signed a reauthorization of the Combatting Autism Act (Sept 20, 2011) • Asked multiple congressional committees to bring forward a healthcare reform bill; held dozens of public hearings and town halls on the issue (2009-2010); signed Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (March 23, 2010); healthcare reform bill is $940 billion over 10 years (2010) * Note: 32 million additional Americans will receive healthcare coverage and costs will be lowered for most Americans, but many of the goals are phased in over four years Components of the bill: • Prevents insurance companies from denying coverage to individuals/family members with pre-existing health conditions; a temporary plan is being developed to cover high-risk individuals with pre-existing conditions until the full reforms go into effect in 201 • Prevents insurance companies from placing lifetime limits on benefits • Bans “rescission” so insurance companies can’t cancel coverage if individuals keep their policies current or if they become ill • An individual’s out-of-pocket healthcare expenses are capped • Closes the “donut hole” (Part D) for Medicare prescription drug coverage (under Bush, Medicare helped pay for drugs up to $2,600 and above $4,550, but individuals had to pay 100% of the costs in between these amounts); now Medicare helps cover costs irrespective of the amount – seniors will now pay only 25% of drug costs up to $4,550 and only 5% of drug costs above that amount • In 2010, an emergency provision will offer seniors a $250 rebate on the costs incurred within the “donut hole” • Individuals living at or below the poverty line were eligible for healthcare under Medicaid, but by 2014 individuals/families living slightly above (making up to $14,404/$29,327) the poverty line will also be eligible for benefits • Individuals/families making less than $43,320/$88,200 per year will qualify for government subsidies to help purchase health insurance • All individuals must have health insurance or face a government fine; all large (over 50 employees) employers must offer health insurance to employees or pay a fine • Small businesses can get a tax credit if they offer health care • There are hardship exemptions if individuals can’t afford health insurance • Families can keep their children in college on their plans through age 26 • Promotes health insurance “exchanges” so consumers can buy “wholesale” • Creates consumer assistance offices to help consumers file complaints or appeal decisions from insurance companies; beginning in 2011, insurance companies can no longer make excessive rate hikes without justification and approval, and those doing so may be barred from participating in new health insurance exchanges Funding sources: • Large employers (over 50 workers) that don’t offer health benefits will be charged a $2,000/worker fee; if the employer offers coverage but employees instead purchase federally subsidized insurance the fee is $3,000/worker receiving federal subsidies or $750/worker (whichever is lower) • Annual fees on pharmaceutical companies ($27 billion), health insurance companies ($60 billion), and medical device-makers ($20 billion) • Annual penalties on individuals who do not have health insurance (up to a maximum of $695/person) • Increase in the Medicare payroll tax from 1.45% to 2.35% for individuals making $200,000+ and families making $250,000+ • 3.8% tax on unearned income for millionaires • Insurance companies will be subject to a tax on each high-end insurance plan (so-called “Cadillac” plans) they offer Miscellaneous: • Illegal immigrants are not eligible for insurance or subsidies • By Executive Order, such federal funding can’t be used for abortion • The federal government will assist states by covering all of the increased expenses of expanding Medicaid coverage (90% of costs after 2020) IRAQ & AFGHANISTAN • Began the phased withdrawal of US troops from Iraq (2009); fulfilled campaign promise to have combat troops (90,000) out of Iraq by August 31, 2010; over 100,000 combat troops withdrawn by late 2010; continuing the withdrawal (2011) • Authorized the deployment of 17,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, which had been pending for months during the Bush Administration (2009); begin withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan (August 2011) • Changed the US military command in the Afghan conflict (2009) • Tasked the Pentagon to reorganize US policy in Afghanistan; the new policy included 30,000 additional troops deployed, priority training of Afghan forces, developing agriculture and infrastructure, limiting aerial bombing, etc. (2009-2010) • Ordered the Pentagon to send additional helicopters to assist US Marine units and Special Forces in Afghanistan (2009) • Increased unmanned drone strikes on Taliban and al-Qaeda targets in Afghanistan (2009-2011) • Ended the Bush-era “stop-loss” policy that kept soldiers in Iraq/Afghanistan longer than their enlistment date (2009) • Visited US soldiers in Afghanistan (2010) MILITARY & VETERANS • Ordered the Pentagon to cover expenses of families of fallen soldiers if they wish to be on site when the body arrives back in the US (2009) • Ended the Bush-era “blackout” imposed on media coverage of the return of fallen US soldiers (2009) * Note: The media is now permitted to cover the story pending adherence to respectful rules and with the approval of the fallen soldier’s family • Ended the Bush-era “black out” policy on media coverage of war casualties (2009) * Note: Full information is now released for the first time in the War on Terror • Ordered better body armor to be procured for US troops (2009) • Signed Korean War Veterans Recognition Act (July 27, 2009) • Signed Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act (Oct 22, 2009) • Funding new Mine Resistant Ambush Vehicles (2009) * Note: The old Hummers were very vulnerable to roadside explosives and an alarming percentage of our soldiers lost in Iraq were on account of IEDs • Increasing pay and benefits for military personnel (2009-2010) • Improving housing for military personnel (2009-2010) • Signed Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act (Oct 22, 2009) • Signed Military Spouses Residency Relief Act (Nov 11, 2009) • Expanded veterans’ reimbursement for non-VA emergency care (2009 & 2010) • Initiating a new policy to promote federal hiring of military spouses (2009-2010) • Ordered that conditions at Walter Reed Military Hospital and other neglected military hospitals be improved (2009) • Beginning the process of reforming and restructuring the military to a post-Cold War, modern fighting force (2009-2011) * Note: Bush announced in 2001 his intention to do this but backed off the reforms after 9/11, which include: new procurement policies; increasing the size of Special Ops units; deploying new technologies; creating new cyber security units; etc. • Ended the Bush-era practice of awarding “no-bid” defense contracts (2009) • Improving VA staffing, information systems, etc. (2009) • Authorized construction of additional health centers to care for veterans (2009-2011) • Suspended the Bush-era decision to purchase a fleet of Marine One helicopters from foreign suppliers in favor of American-made helicopters (2009) • Ordered a review of the existing “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays in the military (2010) • Supports for blinded veterans (April 7, 2010); improvements in services for blind veterans; established Major Charles R. Soltes Blind Rehabilitation Center within the Department of Veterans Affairs (May 7, 2010) • Increased cost-of-living adjustment and compensation for veterans (Sept 30, 2010) • New GI Bill for returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan (2009-2011) • Signed bill providing assistance for caregivers of veterans wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan (2010); signed Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act (April 23, 2010) * Note: The omnibus bill does the following: Training, funding, and counseling for caregivers; promoting pilot childcare programs for women vets under treatment at the VA; independent oversight to prevent abuse; readjustment counseling for National Guard and reservist units; etc. • Eliminated co-payments for veterans who are catastrophically disabled (2010) • Established enforcements for minimum essential care for veterans (May 27, 2010) • Established a new interagency task force to assist veterans owning small businesses (2010) * Note: The efforts include promoting federal contract opportunities, improve access to loans and capital, mentor assistance programs, etc. • Signed The Families of Fallen Heroes Act, which covers the moving costs of immediate family members of those lost in service (military, intelligence, and security personnel) (2010) • Signed the For Vets Act (Dec 22, 2010) • Measure to help prevent military families and vets from losing their homes (Dec 29, 2010) • Proposal to offer tax breaks for businesses that hire unemployed Iraq/Afghanistan veterans; job training support for Iraq/Afghan vets (2011) • Signed Restoring GI Bill Fairness Act (Aug 3, 2011) NATIONAL SECURITY • Phasing out the expensive F-22 war plane (which wasn’t even used in Iraq/Afghanistan) and other outdated weapons systems (2009) • Announced his intention to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay (2009) * Note: The closure has been delayed due to opposition but it remains on the agenda. • Stated his interest in housing terrorists at a new federal “super max” facility in the US (2009) * Note: this has been delayed due to opposition but it remains on the agenda • Cut the expensive Reagan-era missile defense program, saving $1.4 billion in 2010 (2009) • Cancelled plans to station anti-ballistic missile systems in Poland and the Czech Republic (2009) • Signed Weapons Systems Acquisition Reform Act (May 22, 2009) • Replacing long-range, expensive missile systems with more efficient smaller systems (2009-2010) • Increased US Navy patrols off the Somali coast in response to pirating (2009-2010) • Established a new cyber security office and appointed a cyber security czar (2009) • Ordered the first nation-wide comprehensive cyber threat assessment (2009) • Signed a one-year extension on some provisions of the controversial PATRIOT Act (2009;and again on Feb 27, 2010 and May 26, 2011) • Authorized the use of more unmanned warplanes/drones (Predator, Reaper, etc.) in the War on Terror (2009); eliminated more terrorist targets in same time period than the Bush Administration • Instituted a new Nuclear Posture Review, revising US nuclear deterrence policy to encourage more nations to join the 1996 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (2010) * Note: Components of the policy include: a pledge to stop nuclear testing; a pledge to not build a new generation of nucs; identifying nuclear terrorism, rather than a launch from another nuclear state, as the major threat; a pledge to not use nucs on a non-nuclear state in a conventional conflict; etc. • Signed Executive Orders to block payment, transfers, exports, etc… of individuals and organizations supporting the regimes of North Korea, Iran, Somali pirates, and other foreign threats (2010) • Signed Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act (July 1, 2010); signed related measures for sanctions and divestment Act to deal with other foreign regimes like North Korea (2010) • Additional funds and supports for southwest border security (Aug 13, 2010) • Signed First Responder Anti-Terrorism Training Resources Act (Sept 30, 2010) • Presidential Memoranda to extend certain provisions of The Trading with Enemies Act which was to expire in September 2010 (2010) * Note: This includes freezing assets and banning trade that benefits the Cuban regime; however further efforts at normalizing travel to Cuba are supported • Signed bill for southwest border security and increased funds and agents on the Mexican border (2010) • Ordered another review of efforts to close Guantanamo Detention Facility (Jan 22, 2011); review of unlawful interrogations (Jan 22, 2011); review of Guantanamo detainees (March 7, 2011) • Authorized bombing of military targets in Libya in support of rebels; support NATO mission against Qaddafy regime (winter 2011) • Many terrorists and senior leaders of al-Qaeda and the Taliban have been killed on Obama’s orders and on his watch (Osama bin Laden, Anwar al-Awlaki, Abus Hafs al-Shahri, Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, Ammar al-Wa’ili, Abu Ali al-Harithi, Ali Saleh Farhan, Harun Fazul, Baitullah Mahsud, Noordin Muhammad Top, Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, Saleh al-Somali, Muhammad Haqqani, Qari Zafar, Hussein al-Yemeni Dulatin, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, Sheik Saeed al-Masri, Hamza al-Jawfi, etc.; many others were captured including Abdul Ghani Berader, Younis al-Mauritani, etc.) RIGHTS • Instituted enforcements for equal pay for women (Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act) (Jan 20, 2009) • Appointed Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina, to the Supreme Court (2009) • Held the first Seder in White House (2009) • Appointed a diverse Cabinet and diverse White House staff (2009) (4 women, 2 Latinos, 4 African Americans, 3 Asians in Cabinet) *Note: Obama offered 3 Republicans Cabinet posts, but only 2 accepted • Signed Civil Rights History Project Act (May 12, 2009) • Established protections and incentives for adopting children with special needs (May 15, 2009) • Spoke at the annual dinner of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights organization (2009) • Signed the first major piece of federal gay rights legislation that includes acts of violence against gays under the list of federal hate crimes (2009) • Reversed the Bush-era practice of politicizing Justice Department investigations and prosecutions against political opponents (2009) • Pushed for some of the 9/11 perpetrators to be tried in federal court (2009-2010) * Note: The process moved at a snail’s pace and, in the face of opposition, Obama has remained quiet • Signed an extension of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act to provide federal research and support for treating the disease (Oct. 30, 2009) • Allowed the State Department of offer same-sex benefits for employees (2009) • After eight years of neglect, the Justice Department and EEOC are again enforcing employment discrimination laws (2009) • Convened the White House Tribal Nations Conference, inviting representatives from 564 federally-recognized Indian tribes (2009) • Provided increased school projects for Indian lands and increased funds for the Indian Health Service (2009) • Signed an Executive Order mandating that his Cabinet develop plans to work with and consult Indian tribes on issues impacting Indian lands (2009) • Signed Human Rights Enforcement Act (Dec 22, 2009) • Proposed that the Pentagon repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy; placed a “freeze” on current efforts to remove alleged homosexuals from the military (2009); commissioned a study to develop alternatives to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (2010); signed Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act (Dec 22, 2010) • Called for federal agencies to look into recognizing gay partnerships in terms of benefits (2010) • Signed an Executive Order for the President’s Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (2010) • Increased funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (2010) • Signed Executive Order to promote the federal government as a “model employer” when it comes to hiring the disabled (2010) * Note: This includes new efforts to increase the recruitment, hiring, and training for the disabled • Programs to assist Spanish speakers with the US Census (2010) • Elena Kagen appointed to Supreme Court (2010) • Tasked all federal agencies to develop new strategies to address HIV/AIDS (2010) • Signed International Adoption Simplification Act (Nov 20, 2010) • Signed Fair Sentencing Act (2010) * Note: The Administration continues to deescalate marijuana interdiction and raids; increased dramatically the amount of cocaine one must possess to be sentenced to jail; eliminated mandatory sentencing for first-time drug abusers and simple possession • Signed Hoh Indian Tribe Safe Homelands Act (Dec 22, 2010) • Additional supports for housing for the elderly (Jan 4, 2011) • Executive Order for notification of employee rights under labor laws (Jan 30, 2011) TAXES • Negotiated a deal with Swiss banks to permit the US government to gain access to records of tax evaders and criminals (2009) • Ended the Bush-era policy of offering tax benefits to corporations who outsource American jobs (2009) * Note: The new policy promotes in-sourcing investments to bring jobs back to the US • Signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act which provides small tax cuts for 95% of “working families” (2009) * Note: The tax cuts were not as big as was suggested during the 2008 campaign • Convened an advisory board that is looking into simplifying the tax code (2009) • Ordered the closing of offshore tax safe havens (for individual and business tax evaders) (2009) • Reduced taxes for some small businesses to stimulate the economic recovery (2009) • Extended the Home Buyers Credit for first-time home buyers (2009) • Proposed doubling the child tax credit (2010) • Called for the repeal of the capital gains tax for small businesses (2010) • Proposed rolling back the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans (2010) * Note: This would be for families earning over $250,000/year and would return their tax rates to the 1990’s level; however, the President backed off proposal in late 201 because of Republican opposition • Proposed “Buffet Rule” which requires millionaires to pay a fair/minimum tax (Sept 2011) * Note: Many take advantage of tax laws to pay less than or lower percentages than middle class Americans OTHER INITIATIVES • New federal funding for science and research labs (2009) • Signed national service legislation; expanded national youth service program (2009) • Increasing opportunities in AmeriCorps program (2009) • Signed Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act (April 21, 2009) • Ordered the DEA to stop raids on medical marijuana usage (2009) • Ordered a review of existing “mandatory minimum” prison sentencing (2009) • Signed an order to limit airport tarmac delays and the time passengers had to sit in the plane/on the tarmac during delays (2009) • Restored the EPA to “Cabinet level” status (2009) * Note: Bush removed the EPA from this status • Beginning discussions with Congress for comprehensive immigration reform (2010-2011) * Note: Much of Obama’s immigration reform had been stalled by opposition in Congress • Commissioned expert panels and reports from NASA; announced a new direction for human space flight that involves funding a new heavy lift-launcher and jettisoning the Ares 1 program; boosting NASA’s budget by $1 billion in 2011 (2010) • Signed a bill so that members of Congress would NOT receive a cost of living adjustment in FY 2011 (May 14, 2010) • Signed Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act (May 17, 2010) • Ordered a ban on text-messaging for all commercial truck and bus drivers (2010) • Signed Special Agent Samuel Hicks Families of Fallen Heroes Act (June 8, 2010) • Signed FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act (2010) • Executive Order to seize transactions/property of criminal organizations (July 25, 2011) • Signed Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act (Sept 20, 2011) FACTOIDS & MISCONCEPTIONS • Online/talk radio claim: The Obamas demanded and spent more money than any first family to move into the White House. Fact: The Obamas paid for the renovations of the private living quarters in the White House with their own money rather than using the funds provided to all new first families. • Online/talk radio claim: The Obamas are Muslims (some emails claim atheists) who did not allow Christmas to be celebrated in the White House. Fact: The Obamas are Christian and celebrated Christmas in a very traditional way during each holiday season at the White House. They also recognized celebrations and customs from other religions. What was different about the Christmas celebration was that the Obamas reused many Christmas ornaments from previous White House trees rather than buy new ones and used LED energy-saving lights. • Online/talk radio claim: Obama received extra money as part of his Nobel Peace award and he pocketed it all. Fact: Obama received the same award as other Nobel laureates, but donated the award money for the prize to several charities. • Online/talk radio claim: Obama has been secretive and unwilling to allow public or media access. Fact: In only his first year in office, Obama held 23 town hall meetings, gave 158 interviews, and held 42 press/news conferences, as well as 411 speeches, comments, and remarks * Note: Official numbers are not available on such things, but this seems to be a new record high in the White House • Online/talk radio claim: Obama vacations more than any president. Fact: In his first year in office, Obama took only 26 days of vacation (2009) * Note: Official numbers are not readily available on such things, but this seems to be a new record low and far lower than Bush • Online/talk radio claim: Obama was not born in America and is some sort of international “Manchurian” plant who supports other countries over America. Fact: Obama was born in Hawaii in 1961. He has been an internationalist president insofar as he took 10 foreign trips to 21 nations and met with 74 foreign leaders in only his first year in office (he also took 46 out-of-town trips to 58 cities and 30 states in 2009). • Online/talk radio claim: Obama has not kept any of his campaign promises. Fact: Official numbers are not kept on such things historically, but it appears Obama made more promises and discussed more policy issues during his campaign than any other presidential candidate. But, it also appears he has kept more promises than perhaps any other president. (As of 10/4/11) Obama has kept 147 of his campaign promises and another 197 of them are currently in progress; but he has broken 49 of them and compromised with Republicans on 44 of them; another 69 of his campaign promises have been stalled by Republicans. (Source: PolitiFact) • … and in case you were wondering Obama promoted the celebration of the Reagan Centennial and established the Ronald Reagan Centennial Commission (June 2, 2009) EMIS The stock retreated. What now? Guru: “The negative result was from the osteoarthritis trial (the second one) which I never expected to work. We are waiting for the results from the osteoporosis (brittle bones) trial. Expected in the fourth quarter, probably next month. There I do expect it to work, though with biotech there is always significant risk.”
Herman Cain, Warren Buffett October 18, 2011March 25, 2017 9-9-9 Leaving aside the difficulty President Herman Cain might encounter getting Congress to slash the top tax bracket from 35% to 9% (and from 15% to zero on their capital gains) . . . and leaving aside the unfairness of funding those cuts with tax hikes on the poor and middle class . . . and leaving aside the irony of allowing “charitable giving” as the one remaining deduction (taxing the poor to fund breaks for the rich seems anything but charitable*) . . . and leaving aside the uncertainty such a drastic proposal would cause as decision-makers wondered whether it could actually pass and, if it did, how long it could survive and what its impact would be (uncertainty, the Republicans tell us, is what’s paralyzing the economy**) . . . leaving aside all that, there is this: Herman Cain told “Meet the Press” host David Gregory Sunday that his 9% federal sales tax – on things like bread – would not cost the poor anything. He explained that taxes on the corporation that made the bread would be lower, and on the company that delivered the bread would be lower, and on the bodega owner that sold the bread would be lower . . . so, he said, competition would force them to pass on the savings and the price of bread would go down. Don’t you understand competition? he more or less asked David Gregory. But here’s the thing: Those taxes are not a cost of producing the bread. Yes, if the cost of wheat went down, it’s possible some of the savings would be passed on. Wheat is a cost of producing bread. If bakery or stockroom wages were reduced (say, by allowing child labor and abolishing the minimum wage), competition might drive down the cost of bread. But tax on the profit from making (or delivering or selling) the bread is not a cost of making (or delivering or selling) the bread. Owners will still have the same incentive to maximize profits they always did; and will be no more eager to share their profits with consumers than they ever were. Did your landlord lower your rent, or your parents’ rent, when his tax bracket fell from 70% under Carter to 28% under Reagan? As a shareholder, did you expect management in the bakery you own to lower prices when the tax rate on your dividends fell from 39.6% under Clinton to 15% under Bush? It’s a fine notion to simplify the tax code.*** I’m all for it. But one piece of the code that could hardly be simpler is having higher rates for rich people than for poor people. It would not in fact strain the nation’s computing capacity to have several rates, with the very highest reserved for income over, say, $10 million a year. That may seem a bum deal for such people; but one day this week I hope to tell you the story of Warren Buffett’s genie. *And, by the way, a 9% rate would diminish charitable giving, the after-tax cost of which for rich people would spike up to 91 cents for each dollar given, from an after-tax cost of 65 cents today. **In fact, of course, it’s not uncertainty over taxes and regulation that are paralyzing decision-makers, as the Republicans claim, but uncertainty over whether our political system is up to the challenge of setting the economy on a sustainable path. Things like modernizing our crumbling infrastructure, making 100 million homes and offices energy efficient, and teaching our kids the skills they’ll need to compete in a global economy – things that can’t be done by lowering taxes or laying off teachers. ***In that interview he also said poor people would save on the cost of tax preparation. A cost they do not, of course, have. I think what he meant was that the overall cost of everyone’s tax compliance, including corporate tax compliance, is $430 billion – that was the number he used. To the extent that number is fair – and it seems to me that at about 3% of our overall GDP it must be stretched to the limit of a variety of aggressive assumptions – I don’t think it’s realistic to think business will ever run without accounting of any kind. So just how much of that $430 billion would be saved, and how much of that saving would lower the cost of a poor person’s bread, I hesitate to weigh too heavily. But, yes: let’s simplify the tax code. WARREN BUFFETT’S CHAIN LETTER This is not that story. This is the story of an email I got yesterday from a widely-known national journalist, passed on to me and a long list of others at the purported urging of Warren Buffett, urging each of us to pass it on to a minimum of 20 others. The email begins this way: Warren Buffett, in a recent interview with CNBC, offers one of the best quotes about the debt ceiling: “I could end the deficit in 5 minutes,” he told CNBC. “You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election.” The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only 3 months & 8 days to be ratified! Why? Simple! The people demanded it. That was in 1971…before computers, e-mail, cell phones, etc. Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took 1 year or less to become the law of the land…all because of public pressure. Warren Buffet is asking each addressee to forward this email to a minimum of twenty people on their address list; in turn ask each of those to do likewise. ☞ Well, no. I checked with Mr. Buffett and he has not in fact encouraged anyone to forward this email. I replied to my well-intentioned journalist friend . . . If you read the full CNBC transcript you’ll see that, yes, Warren is frustrated that Washington has allowed our national finances to grow so precarious. But he is not literally working to amend the Constitution this way. At a two-hour Obama fundraising dinner that he headlined for us recently, he never mentioned it. (Rather, he said now is NOT the time to put a sharp brake on government spending.) [BTW, this nightmare began when Reagan/Bush quadrupled the National debt in 12 years by overdoing tax cuts for the best off . . . righted itself when Clinton raised their taxes somewhat and moderated military spending, handing Bush 43 and a Republican Congress “surpluses as far as the eye could see” . . . then became a disaster as Bush 43 further slashed taxes for the best off, squandered the surplus, and handed Obama three remarkable gifts: $4 trillion more in debt; a baked-in $1.5 trillion 2009 budget deficit; and an economy on the brink of depression.] We +all+ share Warren Buffett’s frustration . . . I venture to say none of us more than the President himself. And we all want simple solutions. (Here’s one I like: how about putting millions of people to work – for private companies – doing work that desperately needs doing? Like repairing 158,000 substandard bridges and 35,000 substandard schools.) But forcing Congress to limit the deficit to 3% of GDP even during emergencies (like now) is a terrible idea that could, among other things, make the deficit WORSE as it plunged us into depression. MOST years, for sure, the debt needs to grow slower than the economy, so over time we shrink the debt relative to the economy as a whole. In 1930 it was 30% of the GDP. In 1940, after all the WPA projects and such, it was 40% — but then WW II came along, which we simply had to win (and which many believe provided the stimulus to end the Depression), and we ran the Debt up to 121% of GDP by 1946 . . . when we began a 35-year period of gradually growing the debt slower than the economy . . . handing Reagan a 30% ratio of Debt to GDP when he took office in 1980. Right now we need LOADS of government spending — ideally, on productive infrastructure that will last 50 or 100 years — to win +this+ “war” to make the country efficient and competitive again. (Which sure beats borrowing to build tanks and bombs to blow things up.) But leaving aside how insane it would be to throw the brakes on the economy right now — even as we all agree we need to chart a sustainable +long-term+ post-recovery path — what of the +mechanics+ of this Constitutional Amendment? Kick out all 435 representatives and the entire institutional memory of the place all at once, swearing in 435 freshmen/women and complete political chaos? And when? In the election right after the budget is passed but before it has played out? The election five weeks after the offending fiscal year has ended? (The fiscal year ends September 30.) And with what accounting tricks allowed or not allowed to +calculate+ the budget deficit and GDP? And with what Supreme Court challenges +to+ those calculations? And what if the GDP were revised upward or downward months later, as usually happens? Undo the whole thing if it turns out to have been a 2.92% deficit instead of 3.06%? We need “fair districting” so centrists once again have a chance at being elected and working together. (The Florida fair-districting initiative many of us worked hard to pass may eventually undo much of the gerrymandering in that state — if we can beat back the Republican attempts to subvert it.) We need to get rid of anyone who signs an anti-tax pledge. That can be done next November. (We need to start NOW registering millions of voters and helping millions more overcome the obstacles-to-voting that Republicans have been erecting.) And we need, I humbly submit, to channel our frustration constructively. Warren Buffett is headlining fundraising dinners to help elect Democrats. And he recently sent in his own max-out check. If you think he’s a smart guy and a rational capitalist — and I happen to think he’s the +smartest+ guy (and most rational capitalist) — then I’d encourage you to follow his lead and support the President. (We take smaller contributions, too.) Please push back on those who sent you this email. Their intentions are surely good; and they will want to correct the impression that Warren Buffett has asked them to forward it. ☞ The purported “Warren Buffett email” went on to list 7 other measures – not just the 3% deficit cap – to include in a Constitutional Amendment aimed at members of Congress. E.g., no Congressional pensions. Even for those already receiving them. Just cut them off. There is anger in the land, and frustration, and suffering. But can we be clear about one thing? It is not suffering on the part of the handful of billionaires funding much of the Republican push to shift ever more wealth and power to the already rich and powerful.
Nein, Nein, Nein October 17, 2011March 25, 2012 The fatuousness of Herman Cain’s presentation on yesterday’s “Meet the Press” — and the notion that he now leads, however fleetingly, the Republican pack — have left me temporarily speechless. Please come back tomorrow.
Nine Cheers for the New York Times October 14, 2011March 25, 2017 The first three for this: Editorial No Jobs Bill, and No Ideas It was all predicted, but the unanimous decision by Senate Republicans on Tuesday to filibuster and thus kill President Obama’s jobs bill was still a breathtaking act of economic vandalism. There are 14 million people out of work, wages are falling, poverty is rising, and a second recession may be blowing in, but not a single Republican would even allow debate on a sound plan to cut middle-class taxes and increase public-works spending. The bill the Republicans shot down is not a panacea, but independent economists say it would have a significant and swift effect on the current stagnation. Macroeconomic Advisers, whose forecasts are often used by the Federal Reserve, said it could raise economic growth by 1.25 percentage points and create 1.3 million jobs in 2012. Moody’s Analytics estimated new growth at 2 percentage points and 1.9 million jobs. Those economists say that Republican ideas for increasing growth would have no measurable effects in the next year. The Republicans offer no actual economic plans, only tired slogans about cutting regulations and spending, and ending health care reform. The party seems content to run out the clock on Mr. Obama’s term while doing very little. On Tuesday, Mr. Obama’s campaign manager, Jim Messina, accused Republicans of trying to “suffocate the economy” in hopes that the pain would work to their political advantage. They are doing little to refute that charge. Their lack of serious ideas was on full display in both the Senate and the presidential debate on Tuesday night in New Hampshire. The debate was ostensibly about the economy, but when the freshest and most-talked-about idea is Herman Cain’s ridiculous “9-9-9” tax plan, it is clear that the economy they were debating is not the one Americans are forced to live in. Mr. Cain — whose rise in the polls says everything you need to know about the amateur-hour decline of his party — wants to replace all federal taxes with a 9 percent levy on corporate income, personal income and sales. As Bruce Bartlett, an economist who has worked in Republican administrations, recently wrote in The Times, it is a formula designed to cut taxes for the rich and increase them for the poor, raising the deficit and doing nothing for growth. The other candidates were no less vacuous. Mitt Romney offered an ash heap of used ideas, saying he would push a balanced-budget amendment, cut back on regulations, and go chest to chest with China on trade. Rick Perry, when he could be stirred to speak, vowed to somehow put 1.2 million people to work in the energy industry, as if the whole country were Texas and drills could pop up on every block. Republican candidates fear the Tea Party too much to acknowledge that economists are solidly behind government intervention to awaken growth. The jobs bill rejected by Republican leaders will now be reintroduced piece by piece, and Republicans are not likely to go along with much more than an extension of the payroll tax cut (which is opposed by Mr. Romney). But at least the record is increasingly clear who is advocating real ideas and who is selling an empty vessel. ☞ Yesterday I linked to the Roubini piece, which takes more than a few minutes to read. So today, the Cliff’s Notes edition, or in this case the Joe Nocera edition – one of the best financial columnists around. Again, from the New York Times: This Time, It Really Is Different By Joe Nocera Published: October 10, 2011 The title of the white paper is, admittedly, a mouthful: “The Way Forward: Moving From the Post-Bubble, Post-Bust Economy to Renewed Growth and Competitiveness.” It was commissioned by the New America Foundation, which hoped that it might “re-center the political debate to better reflect the country’s deep economic problems,” according to Sherle Schwenninger, the director of the foundation’s Economic Growth Program. Its authors are Daniel Alpert, a managing partner of Westwood Capital; Robert Hockett, a professor of financial law at Cornell and a consultant to the New York Federal Reserve; and Nouriel Roubini, who is, well, Nouriel Roubini, whose consistently bearish views have been consistently right. It is scheduled to be released on Wednesday. I don’t know that anything at this point could re-center the political debate, so unyielding are the two parties. But as Congress prepares to take steps, through the deliberations of the already deadlocked supercommittee, that will likely further wound our ailing economy, “The Way Forward” ought to at least give our politicians pause. Its analysis of our problems is sobering. Its proposed solutions are far more ambitious than anything being talked about in Washington. And its prognosis, if we continue on the current path, is grim. “Unless we take dramatic steps, it will be Japan all over again,” says Alpert. “Continuous deflation, no economic growth, in and out of recessions. And high unemployment.” Adds Hockett: “It will be like the economic version of chronic fatigue syndrome. A low-grade fever all the time.” The paper’s central premise is something I’ve been hearing from Alpert for more than a year now: this time, it really is different. What he and his co-authors mean by that is that the bursting of the debt bubble three years ago was not just a severe example of the ups and downs that are an inevitable part of American capitalism. Rather, it was the ultimate consequence of the modern global economy. Chief among the changes that have taken place is the integration of China, Russia, India and other countries into the global economic mainstream. The developed world once had maybe 500 million workers. Today, say the authors, we’ve added another two billion people to the global work force. That change alone has had a great deal to do with the stagnant wages, income inequality and the oversupply of labor in America that was masked by rising home prices and access to credit. The bursting of the bubble exposed how much the American economy depended on cheap credit. Now that the curtain has been pulled back, cheap credit alone can’t fix our problems. The country is in a deflationary cycle that is very difficult to get out of: as wages decrease (or more workers become unemployed), people become afraid to spend. Assets like homes drop in value. Businesses react by lowering prices and laying off yet more workers — which only triggers a new round of deflation. The only thing that doesn’t change is the unsustainably high debt that was accrued during the bubble. How can we break this cycle? Like most mainstream economists, Alpert, Hockett and Roubini roll their eyes at the calls for immediate government deficit reduction, which led to the creation of the supercommittee. Reducing government spending in the short term will only make things worse. Instead, they believe that this is perhaps the best time in recent history for the government to take on a sustained infrastructure program, lasting from five to seven years, to create jobs and demand. “Labor costs will never be lower,” says Hockett. “Equipment costs will never be lower. The cost of capital will never be lower. Why wait?” Their plan calls for $1.2 trillion in spending — not all by the government, but all overseen by government — that would add 5.2 million jobs each year of the program. Alpert says that current ideas, like tax cuts, meant to stimulate the economy indirectly, just won’t work for a problem as big the one we are facing. Indeed, so far, they haven’t. Their second solution involves restructuring the mortgage debt that is crushing so many Americans. It is a complex proposal that involves, for some homeowners, a bridge loan, for others, a reduction in mortgage principal, and, for others still, a plan that allows them to rent the homes they live in with the prospect of buying them back one day. Finally, they call for a “global rebalancing,” which includes a radical change in the current dysfunctional relationship between creditor and debtor nations, and even a new global currency that would be administered by the International Monetary Fund. It is impossible to do justice to “The Way Forward” in this space. It is rich in supporting data, deeply nuanced, with as clear-eyed a view of our economic predicament as I’ve ever read. Though it is not exactly beach reading, by academic standards it is quite accessible. You can find it at [here]. You should read it — even if your congressman doesn’t. ☞ Hey, everybody: subscribe to the New York Times. With home delivery or digitally. FRANK AND PAULA I don’t want the week to end without saying goodbye to Paula Ettelbrick, long a leader in the fight for LGBT equality; and Frank Kameny, who had the courage to picket the White House for gay rights – in 1965, for crying out loud, when virtually nobody talked of such things, let alone in public, with signs. And who, even earlier, had had the courage to sue the government and take his case to the Supreme Court in 1961. Can you imagine? As someone who, a dozen years later, and four years after the Stonewall riot, lacked the courage to use his own name when writing about such things, I barely can. I saw Paula August 13 at a fundraiser for the Stonewall Community Foundation. I knew she was in the late stages of her illness, but there she was, clear-eyed, clear-throated, and clear-headed as ever, thanking 49 folks who had just swum 4 miles across from Long Island to Fire Island to raise money for Stonewall’s good works, and inspiring us – with a smile – to keep on keeping on. She died last Friday. Whenever I saw Frank – whenever anyone saw Frank – he made a point of pitching his signature phrase: “gay is good.” Modeled on, “black is beautiful.” Increasingly, even though the phrase hasn’t necessarily caught on, the concept has. Gay is good. Frank Kameny was not nearly as well known as he should have been, but upon his death his photo made the front page of . . . yes . . . the New York Times.
911 October 13, 2011March 25, 2017 $1.2 TRILLION PLAN TO SAVE THE ENTIRE WORLD Here. And it starts with infrastructure. How complicated is this, really? A million construction workers out of work, 158,000 bridges and 35,000 schools of modernize – not to mention all the other stuff that needs doing. What are we waiting for? The Senate Republicans vote unanimously to kill the President’s jobs bill. The House Republicans are taking up abortion today (yet again) – jobs can wait. INFRASTRUCTURE That Roubini paper is a handful. But this next item is a sit-back-and-be-entertained/enlightened/enraged 7 minutes: Rachel Maddow Tuesday reporting on the Occupiers not allowed on a Boston bridge – lest it collapse – and a panel of business heavyweights calling for investment in infrastructure but the Republicans unanimously blocking it. Try to find the 7 minutes to watch. MITT EMBRACES TED KENNEDY’S HEALTH CARE VISION Here. Not now, of course. YOUR FILE Based on the information I have on file for you, here’s what I know: If you take the age you turned or will turn this year (you omitted it when you signed up for this page), add 100 if you are pre-pubescent (and kudos to you, little man, for your interest in money and politics), add the number of muffins in a baker’s dozen, subtract the number of great grandparents you have or had (even if you never knew them) – are you getting all this? following the instructions carefully? – add the two-digit year you were born, reverse the order of the result (so, e.g., 479 becomes 974), add 300, and then dial that number from any phone if you ever need emergency services, help will be quickly on its way.
Failing Forests October 12, 2011March 25, 2017 THE MOUNTAINTOP Opening on Broadway Thursday with Samuel L. Jackson and Angela Bassett, this play about Martin Luther King, Jr. by the remarkable young Katori Hall is not what I expected – I don’t want to give it away by telling you more – and not to be missed. WE’RE LOSING OUR PLANET The forests are dying. “Experts are scrambling to understand the situation,” reports the New York Times, “and to predict how serious it may become. Scientists say the future habitability of the Earth might well depend on the answer. For, while a majority of the world’s people now live in cities, they depend more than ever on forests, in a way that few of them understand.” I know: the last thing most of us need to start the day is more concerning news. But wouldn’t it be nice to be remembered as the generation that came to grips with its problems in time to preserve the habitability of the planet and save humanity?
Denying Dorothy Cooper Her Vote She's 96 October 11, 2011March 25, 2017 WHICH MITT Do you ever wonder which Mitt Romney will show up? Visit WhichMitt.com and take the quiz. Quick and stark. DENYING DOROTHY COOPER HER VOTE The right-wing hopes to disenfranchise 5 million poor people and students next year – people like 96-year-old Dorothy Cooper – to gain a lock on all three branches of government. It is a stunning story. Watch. If they succeed, say good-bye to the Supreme Court for the next 25 years, should liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg – 78 and a survivor of both colon and pancreatic cancer – retire and be replaced by a young conservative. Have I mentioned that Robert Bork co-chairs Mitt Romney’s advisory panel on such things as Supreme Court Justice nominations? (Yes, in fact, I have.) “Robert Bork’s America,” Ted Kennedy took to the Senate floor to say at the time Judge Bork was nominated, “is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens’ doors in midnight raids, schoolchildren could not be taught about evolution, writers and artists could be censored at the whim of the Government, and the doors of the Federal courts would be shut on the fingers of millions of citizens.” Dorothy Cooper doesn’t want to see that kind of America, and the Koch brothers, Karl Rove, Clarence Thomas, et al, don’t want her to be able to vote. THE MYTH OF VOTER FRAUD How dare the other side disenfranchise millions of citizens based on a myth that those at the top, at least, know is a myth. Have they no shame? Have they, at long last, no shame? Here it is, from yesterday’s Times: It has been a record year for new legislation designed to make it harder for Democrats to vote — 19 laws and two executive actions in 14 states dominated by Republicans, according to a new study by the Brennan Center for Justice. As a result, more than five million eligible voters will have a harder time participating in the 2012 election. Of course the Republicans passing these laws never acknowledge their real purpose, which is to turn away from the polls people who are more likely to vote Democratic, particularly the young, the poor, the elderly and minorities. They insist that laws requiring government identification cards to vote are only to protect the sanctity of the ballot from unscrupulous voters. Cutting back on early voting, which has been popular among working people who often cannot afford to take off from their jobs on Election Day, will save money, they claim. None of these explanations are true. There is almost no voting fraud in America. And none of the lawmakers who claim there is have ever been able to document any but the most isolated cases. The only reason Republicans are passing these laws is to give themselves a political edge by suppressing Democratic votes. The most widespread hurdle has been the demand for photo identification at the polls, a departure from the longstanding practice of using voters’ signatures or household identification like a utility bill. Seven states this year have passed laws requiring strict photo ID to vote, and similar measures were introduced in 27 other states. More than 21 million citizens — 11 percent of the population — do not have government ID cards. Many of them are poor, or elderly, or black and Hispanic and could have a hard time navigating the bureaucracy to get a card. In Kansas, the secretary of state, Kris Kobach (who also wrote Arizona’s notorious anti-immigrant law), pushed for an ID law on the basis of a list of 221 reported instances of voter fraud in Kansas since 1997. Even if that were true, it would be an infinitesimal percentage of the votes cast during that period, but it is not true. When The Wichita Eagle looked into the local cases on the list, the newspaper found that almost all were honest mistakes: a parent trying to vote for a student away at college, or signatures on mail-in ballots that didn’t precisely match those on file. In one case of supposed “fraud,” a confused non-citizen was asked at the motor vehicles bureau whether she wanted to fill out a voter registration form, and did so not realizing she was ineligible to vote. Some of the desperate Republican attempts to keep college students from voting are almost comical in their transparent partisanship. No college ID card in Wisconsin meets the state’s new stringent requirements (as lawmakers knew full well), so the elections board proposed that colleges add stickers to the cards with expiration dates and signatures. Republican lawmakers protested that the stickers would lead to — yes, voter fraud. Other states are beginning to require documentary proof of citizenship to vote, or are finding other ways to make it harder to register. Some are cutting back on programs allowing early voting, or imposing new restrictions on absentee ballots, alarmed that early voting was popular among black voters supporting Barack Obama in 2008. In all cases, they are abusing the trust placed in them by twisting democracy’s machinery to partisan ends.
Maybe the Bahaman Stock Market Is Closed Today October 10, 2011March 25, 2017 Has Wall Street no respect for Christopher Columbus? The man took an insane risk, endured tremendous hardship, and discovered the Bahamas. And he didn’t get Aquaventure or his fourth night free. But if the stock market’s open, this site is open. I’ll spare you politics for a day, but offer two updates: BOREF I have not ordered this book, because the hardcover is $4,295 and the e-book costs $3,995 to download. I doubt the Borealis team has ordered it either. But they’re excited: Look at the author’s conclusions (which we share): 1: The motors being used now are for enthusiasts and are unsuitable for the competitive mass market. 2: AC Induction (asynchronous) motors will dominate for larger vehicles down the road – for the reasons we have given (cooling being a key one). And then he lists *one* advanced asynchronous motor technology: 2.3.1. Advanced asynchronous motor variant – Chorus Motors and we get a second mention: 2.4.4. In wheel motors for aircraft. ☞ I have no idea if this means all that Borealis hopes it does, or anything much at all. But Borealis does own Chorus and – based on what little I know of livestock – it’s better than a kick in the head. DVAX Guru: “Friday, they reported the data from diabetic patients in their hepatitis B vaccine trial. It is the first time data from diabetic patients has been studied prospectively. Their vaccine was dramatically superior to the currently approved vaccine at all time points. In particular, at the prespecified time point of comparison – 12 weeks with just one booster shot for DVAX and 32 weeks with two booster shots for the currently-approved vaccine – DVAX showed protection in 79% versus 11% in the currently approved vaccine group!” So it was much more effective and reached its effectiveness level much faster. “The diabetic issue is important because later this month, the CDC convenes to vote on whether to require that all diabetics be vaccinated for Hep B. The committee made such a proposal in June, but did not take it to a formal vote. The formal vote comes later this month and is almost certain to be ‘yes.’ Today’s data show DVAX to be the clear choice. DVAX’s only problem appears to be that it is a small cap stock in a bear market. I continue to expect significant appreciation over the next year as it gets approved and launched. Separately, DVAX recently received money from Astra Zeneca to move ahead on a program to treat asthma and has partnerships with Glaxo and Novartis, also in early human trials, showing that there is a nice pipeline behind its leading product for Hep B.” ☞ With hindsight, it would have been nicer to pay Friday’s $1.83 for DVAX, say, than $2.77. But as I previously reported, Guru says he agrees with this $8 valuation, so I sit pat.
Swapping DVDs October 7, 2011March 25, 2017 STEVE JOBS AGAIN He narrates this 60-second spot that could hardly be more fitting. THE OCCUPIERS AGAIN I ended yesterday’s comment about the Occupiers with: “Crowds make me nervous. Simple answers to complex problems make me nervous. But enough is enough.” I’d like to add anger – anger makes me nervous. Anger, even when fully justified, doesn’t always lead to the best thinking or the best outcomes. One of the good things about what I’ve seen of the peaceful protests so far is that they don’t seem to be about anger so much as determination – a recognition that things are broken and need to be fixed. So as I said yesterday, it’s about time. I’m not an activist, and I’m sure not brave. But how on Earth were there not left-of-center activists protesting on the steps of the Supreme Court day and night, rain and shine, from the day of the shameful Bush v. Gore decision to the day, more than eight years later, Bush left office? With signs reading, “Thieves!” Not so much to accomplish something specific – the Court would not reverse itself after reading those placards – but still. You know that if the situation had been reversed, the protesters would have been there. And where were the activists when President Bush and his surrogates told everyone that “by far the vast majority” of the benefits of his tax cuts would go to people at the “bottom” of the economic ladder? With signs saying, “You Lie!” (Not during the State of the Union, certainly. But 24/7, for years, outside the White House?) Where were they as the public option was being blocked, Elizabeth Warren was being blocked, the debt ceiling “crisis” was being manufactured – it’s a very long list. So it’s about time. As I suggested yesterday, the Tea Partiers are the unwitting agents of Karl Rove and the Kochs, working to squeeze ever more juice from the middle class and poor. If you didn’t have a chance to watch that Karl Rove clip, please try to watch at least up to the part where Rachel shows you the actual context out of which it is pulled. Stunning in its dishonesty. And there will be hundreds of millions of dollars more such ads coming our way over the next 13 months, compliments of the Rove / Koch / Clarence Thomas / Sarah Palin / Rush Limbaugh extended family. All that said, crowds do make me nervous, and now that there’s this first statement from the Occupiers. I find lots in it not to fully support. For example, the very first of the specific enumerated grievances against our corporate overlords: “They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.” Well, sort of. But are those who willingly took out mortgages saying they didn’t take out those mortgages? Or that the fair and honorable thing to do, if the mortgagees can’t locate the paperwork, is to welsh on the loans? Or . . . “They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.” Well, some have. But many work pretty hard at doing this right (last month Walmart added transgender provisions to its employee nondiscrimination policy). I know: moderate, qualified statements do not a rousing declaration make. But still. Or . . . “They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.” Well, again – I mean, where does one even start to qualify a statement like that? Other than perhaps to highlight the terrific way President Obama has improved the student loan system (against, as always, Republican opposition to helping anyone but the rich). Does every human have a right to a college education? If so, what sort of education must it be and how do we pay for it? Must this education involve a leafy physical campus or could it be web-based at a fraction of the cost? Did the students themselves have any responsibility in taking out those loans? Did the parents, in guaranteeing them? And on and on. But the fact remains that these peaceful demonstrations are great. Let’s just hope their energy is channeled constructively. If they are, Barack Obama just might win reelection with enough coat tails to take back Congress – so there’d be at least some prayer of getting on with the business of solving our problems and rebuilding the middle class. (Though, realistically, even a Senate Republican minority, if determined to do so, would still be able to bring the country to its knees.) TRADING BOOKS, CDS AND DVDS Larry Francis (whose email tag-line is: “A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station.”): “Two unrelated things for your consideration. First, paperbackswap.com lets members (free membership) swap over a million books for the price of media mail (usually about $2.41). Hardback books and audio books are fine, too. The more books you list and swap, the more credits you get to swap for more books – or for CDs and DVDs on SwapaCD.com and SwapaDVD.com. There are more neat features, but that’s a taste. . . . Second, science and health have again lost to Tea Party politics here in Florida. Pinellas County (St. Petersburg, Clearwater) just voted to stop fluorodating drinking water, despite the pleas of dentists and doctors. The taxpayers will save a few dollars on chemicals, but lose a lot to dental health bills. Today’s St Pete Times explains that this is a Tea Party agenda item. Apparently, they see it as their local step in overturning ObamaCare.”
Karl Rove Exposed October 6, 2011March 25, 2017 R.I.P. I met Steve Jobs once. For a short while, we were neighbors. What a phenomenal contribution he made to the world and to my own life. Talk about a great American! OCCUPY So the Tea Party folks demonstrate to keep people from having health care, to lay off teachers and police and firefighters, bust unions, keep poor people from voting, and – most important – protect tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires. Pretty neat trick how the billionaires more or less organized and financed their movement and, by harnessing their justifiable fears and concerns, gulled them into doing it. (See Karl Rove, below, for an example.) Now come the “Occupiers,” or whatever they will be called, who share many of the same fears and concerns – and a few of the same bogeymen – but seem by and large to be taking the other side of these issues. Maybe we should put construction workers back to work rebuilding our schools and bridges. Maybe we should pass the American Jobs Act “right away” to help the middle class. Maybe it should be paid for by Warren Buffett and other wealthy folks who are paying taxes at a lower rate than their secretaries. Maybe Paul Krugman knows more about economics – and has the average guy’s interest more sincerely at heart – than Sarah Palin. Well, it’s about time. Crowds make me nervous. Simple answers to complex problems make me nervous. But enough is enough. KARL ROVE EXPOSED If you don’t have the full 13 minutes to watch this, please try to watch at least up to the part where Rachel shows you the actual context out of which Karl Rove pulled the clip designed to deceive you. It is stunning in its dishonesty. And there will be hundreds of millions of dollars more such ads coming our way over the next 13 months, compliments of the Rove / Koch / Clarence Thomas / Sarah Palin / Rush Limbaugh extended family. And if you think it’s odd to include Clarence Thomas (and his wife) in that family . . . THE KOCH CLARENCE THOMAS CONNECTION Here. FCSC AGAIN Here’s a report that may prove wildly too optimistic, but that makes more or less the same case Guru did yesterday. SMBC AGAIN Yesterday’s item was updated mid-day to be clearer and to include a caveat. If this kind of stuff interests you, go back and read the improved version.