Washington Post reporter Dan Balz (4/10/11) presents the Obama/GOP budget deal asevidence that the White House wasmerelyrespondingto public opinion:
Most important was showing the country that he could make Washington work. "Like any worthwhile agreement, both sides had to make tough decisions and give ground on issues that were important to them," he said.
At the same time, knowing that the public also favors reduced spending, Obama pointed to the size of the cuts in the new agreement while noting that his priorities had been preserved. The budget, he said, would "invest in our future."
Balz also notes that "the battle was fought on turf far more hospitable to Republicans, given the country's concerns about spending that contributed to the Democrats losing the House in November."
This was the conventional wisdom about the 2010 election, but it has very little to support it. Most public opinion polling shows far more concern about job creation than the deficit or national debt. As Jim Naureckas noted here, budget cuts will cost jobs, not create them. But in the minds of reporters like Balz, the public has lined up to back drastic spending cuts–and the media don't seem interested in talking much about the likely effects of such cuts.
About Peter Hart
Dear Misleader says these cuts will be painful.
Remember "I feel your pain"?
I'd sure as hell like to help him to, but I couldn't get close enough, could I?
The Associated Press left out key context in an article released today on the budget battle in Washington. It noted multiple times that Obama's budget will cut Medicare and Medicaid but made no mention of the other (more popular) steps Obama supports to reduce the deficit. They also make no mention of the drastic cuts to Medicare and Medicaid in Ryan's 2012 budget. Read my full anaylsis at Truth Matters.
http://jasonbeets.blogspot.com/2011/04/associated-press-leaves-out-important.html
As apparent as warts on a toad – This attack on the least able to bear the pain- just to protect the lack of civility, that seem the mark of the GOP, and their wealthy backers! I expect this will breed a yet unknown and nasty event.
[...] we've pointed out before, public opinion polls indicate that voters mostly want someone to do something about jobs. The [...]
[...] we've pointed out before, public opinion polls indicate that voters mostly want someone to do something about jobs. The [...]
You can dress like an elephant or a donkey,but the plutocrats in power don't care.Their job is to continue the transfer of wealth from the poor and middle class to the uber-rich.
So far they're on track to take us back to the era before the Great Depression.
Class warfare ,only its more like economic rape.Watch as it unfolds,or do something about it NOW!
the "people's budget" name is taken by the fact that – according to an interview I've heard on Pacifica – the priorities given to cuts and increases has been derived by tracking many public opinion polls – so it is a very apt name (and "we the people" are the first words of the constitution, so to deny that this country has been created by the people is un-american… and that it is a republic "of the people" is also unamerican, besides being legally wrong).
I've been fuming at the lack of main stream media reporting on this budget, ever since I heard the interview yesterday (I didn't even know there was a "third way"!).
Unfortunately I'm unable to share articles on facebook these days because of my location, but I would like very much to receive a moveon or other organization email that says "click here to send an email to your representatives asking them to pay attention to the people's budget" – anything that allows my voice to be heard!
And yet, even grassroot organizations have been remarkably silent in bringing this budget to their subscribers attention. Even the FAIR email I've gotten, which led me here, included a number of articles and I had to purposefully look for one about this budget.
If anyone knows of any place on the web where I can channel my voice in support of an open discussion of this budget please post it here!
I find it most difficult to respect President Obama who talks about peace but offers more war, who talks about closing Guantanamo but keeps it functioning, who talks about bank accountability but demands none, who talks about ending the bush's obscene tax cuts for the wealthy but extends these cuts, and who provides other talk but no action. It would not hurt too much if I hadn't invested $1,200.00, hours of work, travel time and proselytized, argued, cajoled, and voted for the man–all on a $500.00 a month Social Security retirement check. I plan to sit out the 2012 election in a pub: I\'m not so sure I won\'t find that more satisfying.
You have to give it to these congressmen,are they good or what? They propose a budget that cuts out everything for everyone but the rich,the pentagon and themselves. Not hard to figure out who really counts is it? Bush runs the deficit up higher than the water that drowned New Orleans (when are we going to repair that town? oh yeah I forgot after Iraq,afghanistan and Libya) on his phony war based on lies and the pentagons waste and wars for profit are not even mentioned, but its "assumed" that the war costs will be down by 50 billion a year by the time the budget cuts take effect or the country goes under.In light of the fact that we are already wasting some 900 million(or more) in Libya, you can guess which one will happen first cant you? Obama and Boehner put on a good show for a few weeks, a lotta bombast and threats as they waved their chainsaws,but after a few behind the doors meetings where John assured Barack that the T party were nothing but pawns and Barack assured John that the wars were safe they traded in the chainsaws for penknives blamed each other and parted each saying "we're gonna get you next time pal.The media ate it up.
And the only thing that got really screwed was big bird and elmo. I guess its ok to give 450 million of your tax dollars to Jerry Falwells university(didnt know that did you?) but not 420 to NPR. So the house passes Ryans bill all the while knowing that it stands no chance in the Senate and Obama will veto it anyway. If they thought it had a chance they never would have passed it,because if it did become law there wouldnt be any republicans in the house come 2012 to vote to overturn it. So what have we learned? That its politics as usual,both parties are alike and your left once again arguing over things you cant change, and it wouldnt make much difference if you could change them.The masters make the rules for the wise men and the fools and both groups are wearing clown suits. You figure the rest out.
The PEOPLE want the government to STOP paying private corporations to do jobs, from military jobs to clerks at the desks of Social Security offices 10s or even 100s of TIMES the amount it WOULD COST for public workers to do those jobs.
We want government haters who are only in it for the money and to enrich their fat cat billionaire friends to stop gutting government services for profit for a few while taking those dollars from the rest of us for which WE get nothing in return.
I don't want to live in a country where mercenary private armys are running out of control on our streets instead of our local law enforcement doing the jobs THEY are trained to do with the proper restraint. I want to live in a country where the amount of money a person has isn't the determinate as to whether he/she will be held to the same laws the rest of us have to live by. I want to live in a country where it is more important to make sure the food we feed out children is safe to eat than it is for some fat cat corporate CEO to make a bigger profit.
Comments from people that are still so un-aware that they don't get the fact that congress does not work for us. Particularly the Republican side because they have taken on the Holy Graile that corporate wealth increases translate into middle class wealth increases. The past few decades have proved that this is just not the way it works.
It could work though with some fairly strict overview by the Federal Government, but they would choke rather than admit that.
They in fact have a history of currupting any meaningful oversite of corporations, banks and wall street, and it is still going on today with the current budget they are turning out.
We need election reform badly so people start demanding their representatives work for them.
Action is need by "we the peole" if we are going to preserve the American way of life. A new American revolution, not the phony tea party. Protests, rallies.
I think its time to bring the whole house of cards down. No more voting, being nice, being polite, passively accepting our fate. Screw it – if they're going to destroy the poor, the weak, the lower and middle classes, then we should just start fighting back by destroying everything they hold dear. I and a lot of other people are ready for a revolution now.
Dani,
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…/the-peoples-budget_b_846573.html
http://www.cpc.grijalva.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=70§iontree=5...
http://www.grijalva.house.gov/uploads/The%20CPC%20FY2012%20Budget.pdf
dani, as you will find out, the links I referred you to is about the progressives alternative to the Ryan plan.
dani, I apologize the second doesn't work, but this does:
cpc.grijalva.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=70§iontree=5…
dani, sorry but the previous post was wrong the link doesn't work, and I cut and pasted it from google.????
But the other two links in a previous post do work.
Read; THE GOP WILL BENEFIT FROM THE BUDGET DEBATE by Karl Rove.It says it all.
Ted…….You better calm down.Your believing this class warfare nonsense. Give ya a hint;Obama may shovel it, but he doesn't believe it.He is very rich.Has always done a good job at securing the best in tax situations for himself(look at his crooked land deals).Has never been charitable .Not even within his own extended family.Made most of his money in book deals(now there is a real working man for you). Weaseled his way in some way I still cant figure into Harvard(his grade were not high enough to get in). Entered politics and has pissed away every dime of the HUNDREDS of million of dollars he was handed in Chicago.Every program a bust. Was the highest spending Senator. Became So while he leads this elitist life of riches and grandeur.Now he is spender and chief of all the American people.And he is carried on the shoulders of those less fortunate because he is your savior who feels your pain?Sweet dancing Jesus give me a break .Believe me his little girls are going to Ivy league schools.They will marry rich ,and or enter cushy overpaid jobs just like mommy dearest. There will be no social workers in this family.
As far as his budget it is no such thing.It was a campaign speech pandering to his base.It was devisive ,angry ,and filled with class warfare rhetoric. Just what libs wanted.Also a complete non starter.More wasted time
How far does a rightwinger have to shove his rightwing head up his rightwing ass to think that Karl Rove is worth reading?
The wealthy, their Teabagger water carriers and the Republicans denounce anything resembling fairness in a Democratic budget proposal as "class warfare" in an attempt to provide cover for the class war they're waging on everyone not in the top 2%. If someone dare point that out they get labeled as "angry" or "divisive."
dani- link for taking action in support of the people's budget
http://capwiz.com/pdamerica/callalert/index.tt?alertid=41361501
Also I would recommend we take Michael Moore's lead and show up at a local rally near you! A link to finding such events can be found in this article:
http://www.opednews.com/articles/This-Tax-Day-Make-THEM-Pa-by-Michael-Moore-110416-952.html
We must take action, make a large public presence across the nation if we are ever to be heard. The time to sit back is over. If we do nothing or pray that the vote alone or simply contacting our representatives by email is enough and will save us, we are greatly mistaken. Freedom is earned not given. We have nothing to lose at this point since most of our heads are already nearing the chopping block. To prevent that, we must be bold and be courageous, assemble peacefully but loudly and in great numbers!
Abe…How far does a left winger have to shove his leftwing head up his leftwing ass to think that president Barrack Obama is worth listening to….or voting for…..or reading, or just about anything I can think of?I'd match Roves brain against that pinhead any day of the week ,and twice on Tuesday.And that is as straight up As I can put it.
Helen really are you still using filthy words to describe those you disagree with?Tell me please how you look ,or sound?Your nationality, or race or sexual proclivities?Im sure there are any number of filthy words including those for woman we could use to make you feel right at home.It is sad that this is what we on the right must contend with from the left.Being called filthy names.Think about it.
As far as the top 2% Id bet they would be willing to pay what you demand of their worth just to shut you up.But that is not how it works.They would always have more.You would always want more.You would always point to the person who has more than you as the evil enemy even if it were 10 cents.That is the essence of class warfare.And then of course it would be the top 10% and so on.This is not Communism.How many people should Bill Gates support?A thousand?10 thousand?100thousand?Or as many as he can?This is a complete misunderstanding of Capitalism.If you want a different system,constitution and so on say so.The conversations would be more civil.
As for Rove and the GOP coming out of this smelling like roses or major media calling this latest Obama capitulation to the right the will of the people, forget it! Major media represents the major corporations like GE(MSNBC) who is evading incomes taxes in a record profit year and might actually get a huge tax rebate on top of it. The GOP are the servants of these same corporations, some of whom donate huge chunks of campaign finance to Barrack Obama. When Lockheed Martin praises this Obama speech, it isn't because they expect spending cuts to the Pentagon or a hike in corporate taxes or that Social Security and Medicare won't be gutted. Obama's base(most of us) is broke. This is why the president is so quickly willing to "compromise"(fold his hand again and again) to most of the large corporations and their GOP brokers. He is expecting a one billion dollar political war chest, all given to him by the biggest income tax evaders, the same people who created this financial crisis purely from greed and then got bailed out by us and trust me when I say none of these corporations give a flying damn about Social Security and Medicare or anything else that doesn't make them more money.
Cant argue with you Mike .It might not be all about the money……but it is a lot.
I watched the GOP declare that we must reduce our budget by eliminating entitlements, reducing taxes on the super wealthy and ending most of our social programs. It is a crazy budget. Way over the top. No Christian charity for the poor and suffering. no jobs, no bullet train, no healthcare, no safety net, no reduction in taxes for the middle class, no rebuilding America, is it possible the GOP leadership actually believe their own falsehoods. Could it be, the billions of dollars spent in advertising, creation of the tea party from the old John Birch society wing nuts, and the bills handed to them at fundraisers, has clouded their view of the world around them? Town hall meetings are basically supporters, when do they see the opposition except on talk shows or in the legislature. We are talking lots of demands for their time. No time or desire to check on reality. We are talking a shift of lots of wealth. 400 of our citizens own as much as 155 million of countrymen. It\'s a business plan that doesn\'t include humanity. The GOP doesn\'t see individual suffering, except when it\'s personal. The super rich cultural group is real hard to get in. Once achieved it could mean generations of super wealth. For the greedy leaving a cultural class that doesn\'t feel financial pain, is worse than death. Each leader in the GOP wants the top rung of our culture. They want their lineage to praise them as the one who put the family out of the financial reach of the masses. So they took the fast track. The GOP became the lap dogs of the extremely wealthy. Like David Koch and the Walton family, saints of the wealthy. Their Evangelical Christian religion applauds their greater good of being Saved by their religion. They consider humanity a lesser good. The great works of Gandhi and Mother Teresa are a lesser good. So if you are Saved by religion and do bad things to your fellow human you will still go to heaven. The GOP is even off the hook to God. They don\'t have to worry about guilt or shame. I believe they think they are bulletproof. The GOP leaders are playing with fire. They think they can get away with their meanness. The GOP will soon find out that slick advertising and a lock on the game, is not a winning hand when so many of our citizen\'s lives are shattered.
Bob that is the the biggest load of Bullbleep i have ever read
"You would always point to the person who has more than you as the evil enemy even if it were 10 cents."
You're making things up again there. You do that a lot.
On the one hand, in their new budget Republicans propose massive tax cuts for the rich and a dismemberment of our major healthcare safety net programs while shifting the cost to middle and lower income Americans and this is considered brave, non-partisan and in no way class war.
The fact that the Ryan plans cuts health care to pay for his tax cuts goes unmentioned. Everybody gets a cut! Fairness! Shared sacrifice!
On the other hand, Obama calls the GOP out on this and then proposes modest tax increases on top earners and that is seen as wildly….disgracefully….partisan class war.
Funny how that works.
No I disagree, the media is being completely honest, they just left out a key word by mistake. It should have read "OBAMA/GOP budget cuts are what the people on top ordered" There we go, all fixed now
Helen…I dont see where the Rs have done what you claim in their budget.And I also think you are misreading Obamas budget.Although the Devil is always in the details I would say the R budget is trying to roll back the clock in spending.No new taxes..stop spending!Trying to not burden any faction of our people with new taxes.Trying to better fund/save programs now in place.The hope is that by removing governments heavy hand they can re ignite the economy and jobs therefor growing the tax base.Will it work?Some of it is great.Some of it is trash.Some of it is somewhere in the middle.
Obama was forced to respond ,and basically landed on his next campaign motto response which is shared responsibility.Love the sound of it.Bottom line is no cuts in spending or entitlements.No turning off the spigot of green flowing down the rat hole.No rolling back to pre Bush levels.No promises to stop borrowing or printing money.And the only concrete proposal is tax the rich .Ho hum.Any economist who runs the numbers will tell you that will accomplish little.Feel good moment.I would love for him to say "If the rich pay 5% more i will totally back off".He never would because it is not about money.It is class warfare for political capital.You would think the top 10% in this country pay exactly 0% of the federal taxes the way Libs go on.Soak the rich is all wet Helen.We must only grow the tax base through growing the economy.
Questions
What percentile of federal taxes do the top 1%now pay?Pick the closest number
a)1%
b)5%
c)20%
d)38%
What percentage does the top 10% of earners pay?
a)1%
b)5%
c)20%
d)50%
What percentage pays no federal taxes?
Just answer forget the ABC and D Crappola.It is around 45 %!
If you confiscated all the wealth of the rich how long could you run the government.
a) 1 week
b)2 weeks
c)5 months
d)till the stars burn out
Questions like this make one think.
Income taxes and federal taxes are not the same thing. Everyone with a job pays federal taxes.
The richest 1 percent pays 28 percent of federal taxes, and gets 19 percent of pretax income.
http://www.cbo.gov/publications/collections/tax/2010/AverageFedTaxRates2007.pdf
Total household wealth in the U.S. is about $55 trillion, of which the richest 1 percent control roughly a third. The federal government spent about $3.5 trillion in 2010, so at that rate you could go for a little more than five years on a confiscatory program.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_in_the_United_States
http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2012/assets/tables.pdf
It does make one think.
You figures are wildly inflated,and of course you are talking about running the government NOT paying down the debt.If you meant to run the government ,and pay down the debt you would last only days.And of course all your top producers would then be broke needing government assistance.Even your figures are startling.To believe that even if you confiscate all the rich and their belongings you would last little more than one presidents term shows how stupid this thought process is.Killing the goose that layed the golden egg.
Today 45% are paying no federal taxes.In essence 20% are paying for a huge part of all the rest.
"Today 45% are paying no federal taxes."
This is, for at least the sixth time you've said it, wrong.
"Today 45% are paying no federal INCOME taxes."
If you can't understand the difference……
Statistics consistently show that Federal taxes are at a historic low.
For the past two years, a family of four earning the median income has paid less in federal income taxes than at any time since at least 1955, according to the Tax Policy Center. All federal, state and local taxes combined are a lower percentage of per-capita income than at any time since the 1960s, according to the Tax Foundation. The highest income-tax bracket is its lowest since 1992. At 35 percent, it's well below the 50 percent mark of much of the 1980s and the 70 percent bracket of the 1970s.
The right has long looked at federal income taxes in isolation to argue that only the rich pay federal taxes, which is miles and miles from the truth.
The bottom 80 percent of the earnings ladder paid around 9 percent of their incomes in Social Security taxes; the top one percent paid just 1.6 percent of theirs.
http://www.alternet.org/story/150625/
How much are the Bush tax cuts worth to millionaires? They\'re worth an estimated $32.7 billion this year alone, according to an analysis the Joint Committee on Taxation
Jonathan Chait
There's really one clear issue here that encapsulate both the intellectual and the political vulnerablity of Paul Ryan's "Path to Prosperity,": It contains a massive, regressive tax cut.
Ryan does not want to talk about the tax cut. His video touting the plan focuses entirely on the debt, and makes no mention whatsoever of the tax cuts…
Ryan doesn't mention the tax cuts, of course, because they unravel the entire rationale for his proposal. Ryan understands he can only make his plan acceptable if those cuts are seen as necessary to save the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
Ryan's level of cutting goes far beyond what's needed to preserve those programs, and it does so in order to clear room for a very large, regressive tax cut. He is making a choice — not just cut Medicare to save Medicare, but also to cut Medicare in order to finance a huge tax cut for people who don't really need it.
http://www.tnr.com/blog/jonathan-chait/86270/the-achilles-heel-the-path-prosperity
Stating the obvious here….if the GOP was serious about balancing the budget. the last thing they would suggest is another massive tax cut.
Underdiscussed fun fact about Ryan's plan….depending on how you run the numbers, it will take between 28 and 38 years to balance the federal budget.
Heard some Republican bragging about reducing the debt $4 trillion in the next 10 years…..gone unnoted…the GOP added $5.7 trillion to the debt [at the least] during the eight Bu$hco years….
Anyone who thinks the federal income tax is the same thing as (all) federal taxes shouldn't be discussing tax policy with the grown-ups.
"I would say the R budget is trying to not burden any faction of our people with new taxes."
Quite. Heaven knows the rich have suffered enough.
Dick and Helen of course you know i mean INCOME tax.What is it we are discussing-The tax on the federal program for turtle hatching?And stop with the tax cut.There is no effective tax cut.He answered that question at length ,in depth,with great specificity last week.There will be no tax hike.To Dems that is the same thing.
Now lets get to the crux of the matter.You say the rich have the best tax rate in years.GOOD!!!I t's their frigging money.We should all have the best tax rate ever.WE are in a recession. The government has proven again and again on both sides of the isle to be a horrible steward of OUR MONEY! They(top 1-10%) also are paying the largest percentage of the whole EVER!!!You forgot that little matter.I ask again…. and I will keep asking till you admit what it is you want to confiscate from the most successful among us. What is YOUR top rate? The final go-no-higher number?Im in effect pulling you out into the sunlight. Then explain to anyone listening the pro's and cons of what that will accomplish. And please don't scrimp on the cons. Don't play stupid.
By the way our pin headed president earned 1.5 million last year(mostly on book sales)His savings on the BUSH tax cuts came to 100 thousand! Now ask me if he gave it back to the Federal government that he so believes can use the money better than he himself can. The answer in no.He kept it. And that leads me to my last idiot lesson. Any Dem ,rich or poor, has the right to give far past what the government takes.Be my guest. Especially you my president.Mr vice president.Mr Gietner….Mrs Pelosi. The Dem senate(Mr Carey) and Congress.All the tax cheats in mr Obama's cabinet. And the other millions of libs believing in these lying hypocrites.Be my guest. Lead with your wallets not your God damn mouths. Maybe we will be so impressed we will follow you in a patriotic fervor. Want to know how many of our unbelievably rich legislators on the left refused the tax "breaks"?At last count exactly zero! How can you be so stupid as to believe in,and vote in this nest of snakes?
michael e: Any Dem ,rich or poor, has the right to give far past what the government takes
__________________________________
That's a two-way street isn't it: any deficit-hawking big-business Republican is free to give 'til it hurts, too. Heck, the way some of 'em like to start expensive wars, you'd think the least they could do would be to kick in a few bucks– 'cause, for the most part, they ain't kicking in their sons and daughters to the fight.
Perhaps you may want to get off this "The Dems are hypocritical and therefore should be scorned" policy. It's politics, dude: hypocrisy is its lifeblood.
"How far does a left winger have to shove his leftwing head up his leftwing ass to think that president Barrack Obama is worth listening toâ┚¬Ã‚¦.or voting forâ┚¬Ã‚¦..or reading, or just about anything I can think of?"
a whole lot of the usa must be left wing now
from today's washington post/abc news poll:
Q 11
Do you think Obama's views on most issues are too liberal for you, too conservative for you, or just about right?
Too liberal Too conservative About right No opinion
4/17/11 39 8 48 4
whoops! fair ate the formatting again
from today's washington post/abc news poll:
Q 11
Do you think Obama's views on most issues are too liberal for you, too conservative for you, or just about right?
Too liberal 39%
Too conservative 8%
About right 48%
No opinion 4%
so 39% think he's too liberal while 56% think he's right where they would like him to be or think he should be more liberal…..
michael to jim: "You figures are wildly inflated,and of course you are talking about running the government NOT paying down the debt.If you meant to run the government ,and pay down the debt you would last only days."
the total wealth in the u.s is $55 trillion. the fy2011 federal budget is $3.7 trillion. 2011 gdp is $13 trillion. the national debt is approx. $14 trillion.
even if we paid the debt down to zero tomorrow using the public's money we would have 10 years worth of budgets left…assuming that gdp also went to zero…which it won't.
ps
which of jim's numbers were wildly inflated?