Why Dems in Congress Should Not Compromise on the Tax Cut for the Very Rich

In my opinion, the graph above tells us just about everything we need to know about why most people are feeling a bit stressed. It shows the percentage of income received by the top 10% of income earners (I use that term advisedly) between 1917 and 2007.

First, look at the period up until WWII. The proportion of income peaked in 1929 at just under 50%. The Roaring Twenties were just great if you happened to be in this lucky cohort.

Now look at what happened in the Depression. The top 10%'s share fell, but only into the mid-forties.

The post-WWII era, known as the 'Great Compression' in the literature lasted from 1941 to 1979. The top 10%'s share fell to below 35% of total income. Later we can discuss why this occurred. I am open to your opinions in the comments section. Recall, however, that the top marginal tax rate in the fifties under Eisenhower was 90%. Hmmm...might there be a correlation between high top marginal tax rates and the creation of a middle class?

Then we had the Reagan Revolution with the Bush II effort to complete it by giving massive tax breaks to this group and, lo and behold, by 2007 we managed to top the 1929 figure. Goodbye Middle Class.

The stressed Middle Class has two options. Republicans and their propagandists on talk radio and Fox would have the Middle Class believe the shrinking share of income they receive is because Democrats tax them and give their money to poor people. Democrats claim their shrinking share is a result of the Reagan Revolution that altered a tax structure that had created the Middle Class in the first place. In other words, the Middle Class has shrunk because Republicans have taken our money and given it to the top 10%.

OK, I admit this is a bit of an oversimplification. Nevertheless, I think it is an oversimplification that drives to the heart of our current political crisis.

I am told that the current political debate over whether or not to extend the Bush tax cuts to the top 2% will not resonate in this political climate. Why? Because most people don't believe that the above graph has anything to do with their declining economic condition. I am told that this issue is too rational or too cerebral to have resonance. I am told it does not grab people emotionally. I just hope Democrats in Congress follow President Obama's lead and give us the opportunity to test this. My bet is, if they do, the Republicans will back down. This is a worthwhile goal on its own terms. The added bonus of having the tea party portion of the Republican Party become further disenchanted with their apparently 'reasonable' elected leaders is just a bonus.

The Tax-Cut Racket By PAUL KRUGMAN

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/17/opinion/17krugman.html

Excerpts...

Mr. McConnell, who was self-righteously denouncing the budget deficit just the other day, now wants to blow that deficit up with big tax cuts for the rich. But he doesn’t have the votes. So he’s trying to get what he wants by pointing a gun at the heads of middle-class families, threatening to force a jump in their taxes unless he gets paid off with hugely expensive tax breaks for the wealthy.

Most discussion of the tax fight focuses either on the economics or on the politics — both of which suggest that Democrats should hang tough, for their own sakes as well as that of the country. But there’s an even bigger issue here — namely, the question of what constitutes acceptable behavior in American political life. Politics ain’t beanbag, but there’s a difference between playing hardball and engaging in outright extortion, which is what Mr. McConnell is now doing. And if he succeeds, it will set a disastrous precedent.

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In response, President Obama is proposing legislation that would keep tax rates essentially unchanged for 98 percent of Americans but allow rates on the richest 2 percent to rise. But Republicans are threatening to block that legislation, effectively raising taxes on the middle class, unless they get tax breaks for their wealthy friends.

That’s an extraordinary step. Almost everyone agrees that raising taxes on the middle class in the middle of an economic slump is a bad idea, unless the effects are offset by other job-creation programs — and Republicans are blocking those, too. So the G.O.P. is, in effect, threatening to plunge the U.S. economy back into recession unless Democrats pay up.

What kind of political party would engage in that kind of brinksmanship? The answer is the same kind of party that shut down the federal government in 1995 in an attempt to force President Bill Clinton to accept steep cuts in Medicare, and is actively discussing doing the same to Mr. Obama. So, as I said, the deeper explanation of the tax-cut fight is that it’s ultimately about a radicalized Republican Party, which accepts no limits on partisanship.

Newburyport Charter Commission 9/22/10 from 7-9 p.m. at City Hall

From Charter Commission Clerk Sheila Mullins to Ed Cameron (Chair Newburyport Democratic City Committee) and Larry Giunta (Chair Newburyport Republican City Committee):

Since the ChCom is nonpartisan, I am requesting that the 2 political chairs post on their blogs the following:


The Newburyport Charter Commission wishes to extend an invitation to all Newburyporters for a public hearing on 9/22/10 from 7-9 p.m. at City Hall Auditorium. The Commission will be discussing the survey, the preamble that has been created, presentation of remaining timetable, what has been discovered thus far, what has been done, executive & legislative options, citizens’ safeguards, & number of wards. There will be a question & answer period as well.

This may be a rare occurrence of the local R's and D's being on the same page;-)

OH MY

South Carolina Senate President Dresses Up Like Confederate Soldier With Black Slaves At GOP Event

This past weekend, the National Federation of Republican Women (NFRW) “held its annual fall Board of Directors meeting in Charleston, S.C.” In attendance at the event were major Republican leaders throughout the state, including Gov. Mark Sanford, who spoke to the audience gathered there.

One shocking moment at the NFRW meeting involved a special event called “The Southern Experience.” In this event, attendees dressed in clothing reminiscent of the Civil War and the antebellum South. As FITS News reports, South Carolina Senate President Glenn McConnell (R) participated in the event by dressing up as a Confederate General, and at many points posed with African Americans dressed as slaves:

The National Federation of Republican Women (NFRW) held its annual fall Board of Directors meeting in Charleston, S.C. last weekend – a decision the organization is likely regretting after several controversial pictures from one of the meeting’s sponsored events began surfacing on the internet. One of the pictures shows S.C. Senate President Glenn McConnell – who FITS readers will recall enjoys dressing up as a Confederate General – posing in his Rebel garb with a pair of African-Americans dressed in, um, “antebellum” attire.

The event in question – dubbed “The Southern Experience” – was held last Friday evening at the Country Club of Charleston. Hosted by the South Carolina Federation of Republican Women, it was included on the national conference’s official itinerary. In addition to McConnell, S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford attended (and spoke at) the event – although it was not listed on his weekly public schedule. S.C. Republican Attorney General nominee Alan Wilson also attended.

FITS News shares the picture in question, which it uncovered:

Uh Oh

NYT: Time for This Big Dog to Bite Back

September 11, 2010
Time for This Big Dog to Bite Back
By FRANK RICH

NO, he can’t. President Obama can’t reverse the unemployment numbers by Election Day. He can’t get even a modest new stimulus bill past the Party of No, and even if he could, there would be few jobs to show for it until (maybe) 2011. Nor can he rewrite the history of his administration. Its signal accomplishments to date are an initial stimulus package that was overrun by the calamity at hand and a marathon health care battle as yet better known for its unseemly orgy of backroom wrangling than its concrete results. While that brawl raged, the White House seemed indifferent to the mounting number of Americans being tossed onto the Great Recession scrapheap.

And so the odds that Obama’s party will survive the midterms seem less than Indiana Jones’s in the Temple of Doom — as we are reminded hourly by the Beltway herd flogging the latest polls. The Democrats are facing a “historic” rout, an earthquake, a tidal wave — well, you know the drill. End of story.

Unless it’s not. On Labor Day, the fighting Obama abruptly re-emerged, a far cry from the man whose Oval Office address on Iraq days earlier was about as persuasive as a hostage video. Speaking to workers in Milwaukee, the president finally started giving voice to the anger of America’s battered middle class. And he even let loose with a little anger of his own. The unspecified “powerful interests” aligned against him, he said, “talk about me like a dog.”


The entire piece is here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/12/opinion/12rich.html

Stay Focused---Deval Patrick