Not caving? This is not the kind of compromise our Country can afford! I don't care anyway you slice this, it's still a stale loaf of bread and it still shows that Democrats have folded like a bunch of cheap party chairs.
Deficit battle shaping up as GOP victory
It's not the headline that bothers me, the narrative that the mainstream media is what they want it to be, but the reality is, this compromise will hurt all the wrong people. It's just that simple.
But even if Obama were to gain all the tax-law changes he wants, new revenue would make up only about 15 cents of each dollar in deficit reduction in the package.
I don't care if Republicans go against their no new taxes pledge or how it gets spun as a victory for the Administration or Democrats. It's still a huge loss for all those people who are hanging on by a thread.
But substantively, budget experts note, the plan would still be dominated by cuts to government programs, many of them longtime Democratic priorities, such as Medicaid and federal employee pensions.
And yes, I get that we started out this way, it's a "balanced" approach. Sure, we may call this a victory, but I can't.
"This is not just a numbers debate," Obama said Thursday in Philadelphia. "This is a values debate."
Yes it is, and as I stated in a diary earlier, my values are going down the drain when it comes to leaving the 25% of children who are living in poverty to go to bed hungry.
How is this acceptable?
The White House is seeking about $300 billion in new revenue over the decade, less than half the amount it sought when Obama first outlined his goals last spring, based on the proposals in negotiations.
Obama once targeted the wealthiest Americans, the top 2% who earn beyond $200,000 a year, proposing to cap their income tax deductions.
But weeks of closed-door talks have diminished that goal. Now, even a deduction cap on those Americans earning beyond $500,000 a year — just 1.3 million Americans, fewer than 1% of all taxpayers — has been dashed. The latest offer on the table would be a more limited cap, to generate an additional $130 billion.
With just a few weeks remaining to reach an agreement, Democrats now are fighting mainly for the most populist tax reforms: ending tax subsidies for oil and gas companies, eliminating a tax break for hedge fund managers, closing an ethanol loophole and changing the way businesses write off inventory, according to those familiar with the talks.
I think we all deserve better, I want better! And unfortunately, during a recession such as this, the last thing we should be cutting is anything that is helping people in need. This is what we will face no matter how it turns out.
Regardless of any tax concessions President Obama achieves, the end result would favor Republican goals of cutting spending and government services.
This is what the mainstream media will push. We need to push back, we need to push for LESS cuts.
It is not enough to merely support The President!
We must support the values we say we so deeply hold close out us. That we do not let our children go to bed hungry, that we don't let our middle class drown in mortgage and student loan debt (damn the national debt, it should be our last concern right now, if the middle class grows, that debt will shrink!).
The Republicans fear the Tea Party?
It's time the Democrats listened to us! It's time we did what was important to more people than Corporate Jet Owners and Hedge Fund Managers.
It is time we rebuilt the dream. I am making this connection, I am putting these two things together because rather than just complaining, I am saying we can have an answer and giving you something to support!
Somebody has to do it, we have to say that enough is enough. This is what the President needs us to do!
Rebuild the Dream. Join the movement.
Stop letting this kind of compromise be enough for us.
Thank you to Van Jones and others for launching this important project, we need an antithesis to the Tea Party and we need to organize around this, something that is positive and something that is not the Democratic Party. I should have meant running more progressive Democratic candidates just as the "Tea Party" run under the Republican Party. Hope this clears up the confusion. I am not ready to give up on Dems, yet.
We need this.
I need this.
And I believe it with my whole being that this is true, that this is what the American Dream is about and what we should be fighting for:
This is perhaps the most beautiful part of Van Jones’ presentation from our launch last week. Jones talks about the moral argument for our movement, that we want a better America for everyone, even our opponents. We don’t want anyone to live in a neighborhood without police or fire protection. Nor do we want anyone’s children to go to school in a classroom with 45 kids, 6 books, and no chalk. We remember that the pledge doesn’t stop with the word “liberty”; it ends with the words “and justice for all.”
I was so inspired and awed when I saw Van Jones at NN10 last year because of his positive message. I am tired of the negative, the negativity here. Lets push for better, we can DO BETTER.
Demand it.
And when people say, well have progressives put forth something better? Uh, yes. There is an alternative that we can support as well.
The people's budget.
The People’s Budget eliminates the deficit in 10 years, puts Americans back to work and restores our economic competitiveness. The People’s Budget recognizes that in order to compete, our nation needs every American to be productive, and in order to be productive we need to raise our skills to meet modern needs.
Our Budget Eliminates the Deficit and Raises a $31 Billion Surplus In Ten Years
Our budget protects Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and responsibly eliminates the deficit by targeting its main drivers: the Bush Tax Cuts, the wars overseas, and the causes and effects of the recent recession.
Our Budget Puts America Back to Work & Restores America’s Competitiveness
• Trains teachers and restores schools; rebuilds roads and bridges and ensures that users help pay for them
• Invests in job creation, clean energy and broadband infrastructure, housing and R&D programs
Our Budget Creates a Fairer Tax System
• Ends the recently passed upper-income tax cuts and lets Bush-era tax cuts expire at the end of 2012
• Extends tax credits for the middle class, families, and students
• Creates new tax brackets that range from 45% starting at $1 million to 49% for $1 billion or more
• Implements a progressive estate tax
• Eliminates corporate welfare for oil, gas, and coal companies; closes loopholes for multinational corporations
• Enacts a financial crisis responsibility fee and a financial speculation tax on derivatives and foreign exchange
Our Budget Protects Health
• Enacts a health care public option and negotiates prescription payments with pharmaceutical companies
• Prevents any cuts to Medicare physician payments for a decade
Our Budget Safeguards Social Security for the Next 75 Years
• Eliminates the individual Social Security payroll cap to make sure upper income earners pay their fair share
• Increases benefits based on higher contributions on the employee side
Our Budget Brings Our Troops Home
• Responsibly ends our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to leave America more secure both home and abroad
• Cuts defense spending by reducing conventional forces, procurement, and costly R&D programs
Our Budget’s Bottom Line
• Deficit reduction of $5.6 trillion
• Spending cuts of $1.7 trillion
• Revenue increase of $3.9 trillion
• Public investment $1.7 trillion