Franken, Klobuchar back unemployment extension/tax-cut compromise

HUGE disappointment.

Detroiter’s are just sick to see the millionairs we elected to office taking presidence of lower taxes over putting food on the table for the unemployed.

Just makes us all sick, but there is nothing in our stomachs to toss up!

Huge disappointment – yes, but at least there was kinda, some sort of compromise. Can you even imagine what will happen next year with Republicans in charge? Compromise will become a forgotten word. The age of darkness will begin.

I also agree that these two failed to stand by their principles and merely did what was politically expedient. I guess I am done voting for Democrats. Bring on Palin and Bachman so we can get this American decline over with.

Compromise is over-rated; try consensus instead.

There is never a good time to start tackling the deficits and the national debt. The question is WHEN?

It is awful that we as a nation cannot find the $14 billion to fund the one-time $250 for each SS recipient, but have no issues with the $855 billion+ give-away to the wealthy.

why contribute and work for dems when they cave and or dive at the first sign of conflict with the money crowd?

Rob C…where are you going after you leave the dfl/dems?

Income taxes on the wealthy are the ultimate sin tax-you’re only taxed on what you keep, not what you give. Jesus said it’s hard to get into heaven if you’re rich. He said to be His disciple we should renounce all our processions. The wealthy are free to earn all they can of course. What they earn is only taxed more if they choose to keep it instead of give it.

If they choose to keep more than $250,000 for themselves, then they get taxed more. If they make $10 million and give all but $200,000 to charity, what they give isn’t counted as income anyway. They can deduct what they give.

Just wanted to introduce the thought of taxing excessive income that is kept could be a sin tax…. I don’t know where I fall on this logic..but I think it’s worth debate.

Our wonderful two-party “system” keeps costs down for those trying to buy the government, but doesn’t give us much choice, does it? Looks like the Green Party is going to get my vote.

To Rob C and anyone else who is tired of the Democrats betrayal on, well take your pick, this Bill, Continued Wars, Corporate Healthcare Bills, Corporate Give-a-Ways, Loss of Rights etc etc etc.

There are groups of us working to build you a home to go to. The basic building work has already been done. All we need are people with the political courage and integrity needed to get the real work done now.

Interested, then contact myself at ollamhfaery@earthlink.net

Deadly serious.

As an aside on the Andy Birkey, MN Independent series of apologist articles, such as this one. What I call the golden microphone rules. If you have gold or carry water for those who have the gold, then you gain access to the golden microphone.

I have one simple, direct question.

Have you done an article on Senator Bernie Sanders courageous 8 and 1/2 hour long
mini-fillibuster in the US Senate? Has anyone dared to pose the question as to why Senator Al “Stewart Smalley” Franken or Senator “I Bend at Every Whim” Klobuchar not joined Senator Sanders? Is politics in the United States really just Kkabuki Theatre now?

Would this publication ever allow that question to be posed? Or are you all too busy carryinng water for those who have the gold?

Michael Cavlan: Your leftier-than-thou schtick is getting old. I’m pissed off that Obama and the Dems caved on the Bush tax cuts, too, but it’s beyond me how you think you’ll ever get elected to office with your vitriolic, judgmental, presumptuous appeal for a third option. I’d never vote for a sourpuss like you, and I’m pretty far to the left. As for this piece, why is it apologist? It states, but does not praise, the responses from Minnesota’s sitting senators on this compromise.

Carrie

My message is only for people who are sick and tired of the long list of betrayals of the Democrats and Republicans.

If you and others are not sick and tired of it, then please carry on with them. With an occasional foot stomping cry of being “disappointed.”

I am looking for people who are not disappointed in the pseudo democracy Kabuki Theatre. I am looking for folks who are quite rightly pissed and willing to do something about it.

George Carlin put it right.. It’s a big club folks and we ain’t in it. That may be OK with some but not with me. I am a huge fan of the Chris Hedges train of thought. Resistance to the pro-war, corporate plutocracy is never wasted.

Oh and again I ask the question. Will the Andy Birkley and the Minnesota Independent ask the question of did Klobuchar and Franken join with Bernie Sanders in his 8 and 1/2 hour attempt at a real filibuster?

Simple, very direct question..

By Michael Collins

Michael Collins

Some of us have known this for a long time. Some of us just found out and some will find out very soon. There are few, if any, elected officials who really care about our interests unless we’re one of the few thousand ultra rich who control Congress and the White House.

The Obama-Republican tax plan was just approved in the United States Senate. It will become law soon. What did we lose?

The Senate put the Social Security system at risk with a 33% cut to employee payroll taxes, from 6.2% to 4.2% of wages. Social Security is doing well with a $2.5 trillion surplus. But this major change begins the starvation of the system. Those who voted in favor will turn around sometime soon and say that Social Security is faltering. Of course, their cynical actions will be at fault. They’ll conveniently avoid mentioning that.

The Obama-Republican plan keeps the tax rate on investment income (capital gains) well below the rates for income taxes and below the capital gains rates in 2000. Wall Street ruins the economy with their shady deals then gets more tax breaks on their shady stock deals.

The wealthiest citizens get an extension of the “temporary” Bush era tax cuts.

Employment levels by Michael Collins

We’re told that these huge tax cuts are worth it because they’ll get the economy going again by producing jobs. We had nearly 10 years of the Bush tax cuts and guess how many new jobs have been added to the economy? None, when you factor in population growth.

These tax cuts will cause $900 billion in lost revenues. Supporters of these tax breaks will talk your ear off about balanced budgets. Apparently, they see no connection between giving away $900 billion and increasing the budget deficit.

This legislation has nothing to do with new jobs or a balanced budget. It’s all about enhancing income of those at the very top.

Heroes

Senator Bernie Sanders said he’d stop the madness. Last Friday he stood up and spoke for hours outlining the glaring problems with the Obama-Republican program. People thought it was a filibuster. It wasn’t. There was no legislation to filibuster on Friday. Yesterday, when it really counted, Senator Sanders sat on his hands as the one sided brawl between The Money Party and the people took place on the Senate floor. There was no filibuster. Mighty Bernie had struck out.

But Sen. Sanders performed a valuable public service for those in charge. He provided the appearance that there might be at least one principled Senator left who was ready to hold the line.

We need our “heroes.” Without them, we might realize that we’re entirely on our own in the fight against the wholesale theft of the peoples’ hard work and wealth.

Before Sen. Sanders, there were the liberal Democrats in the House of Representatives. They promised to vote against the president’s health care reform bill if it didn’t have a viable public option. Guess what? They sat on their hands just like Senator Sanders as health care reform became a health insurance industry bailout.

Before Sanders there was presidential candidate Obama. He was the breath of fresh air, the sincere man for the people with the brains to pull off real “change.” But we had to have “hope” and before that, we had to believe him.

These public figures and many more promised to correct the chaos and depravity of the Bush era. It’s all a scam. A new war, more bailouts for Wall Street, the continued assault on the Constitution, and lower taxes for the super rich are what we got.

One Winner Only

opednews.com

The appearance of a political opposition is the essential window dressing required to fool people into thinking that there’s actually more than one side that will be heard on any public issue. There isn’t. The ultimate winners are the great accumulations of wealth represented by that bipartisan coalition that has no permanent friends or enemies, just permanent interests – The Money Party.

Nation’s Income Gains to Top 1% by Rebel Capitalist

The Money Party is on a roll. From 2002 through 2007, 70% of the nation’s income growth has gone to just 1% of the population. That 1% wants an end to Social Security, even more tax cuts, and capital gains tax rates well below the income taxes the rest of us pay.

There is no time to feel disappointed, upset, or betrayed by the big con game masquerading as democracy. There is no reason to expect that any political leader will be honest. For those we allow to lead, the only incentive for honesty is a fear by politicians that they’ll be tossed out of office and prosecuted for fraud if they fail to do their jobs.

The United States is still a great country because the vast majority of people are hard working, honest, and willing to live peacefully with their neighbors and, when given a chance, with the rest of the world. The enemies of greatness and progress are the politicians and their patrons who insist on having their way on every issue, who take every thing that isn’t nailed down; and, who create fake dramas and diversions to further the distortions and censorship of the corporate media . They will not go quietly into the night. They will employ every trick available to retain power.

An effective movement for real change should express the positive values of the vast majority. Of fundamental importance, it requires citizens who trust elected and appointed official only while those officials prove their fidelity to the peoples’ interests and the laws of the land. If you want heroes to do the job, just remember all the false heroes we’ve endured.

If we’re willing to reach the end our life justified by the fight rather than the victory, informed by principals rather than personalities, we acquire an enduring wealth beyond the reach of those in charge.

END

Well said, Mr. Collins. If “getting elected” continues to require ruining the country and appealing to the fears and ignorance of the electorate, then I suggest that we need to do more than get elected. No real choice or solutions are being offered by our political system. It seems designed to keep us mired and to allow those with the money to, not just maintain the status quo, but to keep altering the laws and rules to their benefit.

We have two choices. Begin real change or wait for the revolution. Right now, real change (not Obama change) seems a very long way off.

> The Senate put the Social Security system at risk with a 33% cut to employee payroll taxes, from 6.2% to 4.2% of wages. Social Security is doing well with a $2.5 trillion surplus.

Correction.

As of 2010 (and 2011 as well), the total Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) tax is 12.8% split between the employee (6.2%) and the employee (6.2%) on wages up to $106,800. The 2% payroll tax holiday applies only to the employee portion; the employer will still pay the full 6.2% – and is for one year only.

It is unwise to take this dedicated tax, and use it for a totally different purpose – i.e. a one-time economic stimulant that may or may not work. Though the Social Security trust funds are in the trillions, that money has already been spent – borrowed by the federal government in the form of special bonds that allow the Social Security Adminstration to redeem these bonds at ANY time when it needs to do so to pay out the benefits on time. Given the ongoing deficits, the out-of-control national debt and the lack of discipline among the politicians and the American people who are “tax-averse,” it is quite possible that the federal government may soon be unable to pay those bonds back in time. This is one of many reasons why the extension of Bush tax cuts even for two years along with this payroll tax holiday just cannot be justified especially since the giveaways to the wealthy in the past have not resulted in more high-paying jobs on American soil.

I wish I could wave a magic wand and rid the world of all jealousy and envy, of people obsessing over how someone has more than they do.

Because with the world rid of envious people the democrats would never win another election.