THE GOP AND OUR CONSTITUTION

REPUBLICAN POSITIONS ON THE CONSTITUTION Minimum Wage ~ Conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, and many other prominent Republicans, believe that the minimum wage law is unconstitutional. This understanding of the Constitution is a throw-back to almost 100 years ago --- pre-New Deal. Whites Only-Lunch Counters ~ Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) claimed on The Rachael Maddow Show on MSNBC that the ...

BRAVO MR. BUFFETT

Though we’re not among the top 400 income-earners in our country, we are willing to pay more in taxes to ensure that our nation survives this current economic disaster. We agree with V.P. Joe Biden when he said in 2008 that it is patriotic to pay taxes. It is past time for the very, very wealthy to pay their fair share to help our country get out of this debt that unfettered capitalism has cre ...

NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS — SO YESTERDAY!

Germany announced on May 30th that it will shut down its nine nuclear power stations by 2022 --- in a major policy change that follows the recent nuclear accidents in Japan.  Germany’s action reminds us that the U.S. has no energy policy.  Or industrial policy.  Or climate change policy for that matter. And while our country continues its gridlock on many issues, Germany is already awash in sol ...

INCOME INEQUALITY AND THE ECONOMY

Think Progress compiles the data: "Tax rates on the richest Americans have plunged in recent years, and millionaires today pay tax rates that are 25 percent lower than they were in 1995. Meanwhile, income inequality is the worst it’s been since the 1920s, with the top 1 percent of Americans taking home 25 percent of the country’s total income. Just the richest 400 Americans hold more wealth than t ...

THE GOP’s SHIFTING POSITIONS

GOP's PAUL RYAN READY TO RAISE REVENUE? Following the recent S&P downgrade, Republican budget-hawk Paul Ryan has indicated on Fox News that he would consider raising revenues as part of a deficit reduction plan. The deal he said he could support is eerily similar to the one that his party walked away from in the Boehner/Obama negotiations just weeks ago --- which sparked the S&P downgr ...

GOP ECONOMIC MYTHS

OBAMA STIMULUS IS ONLY 7% OF FEDERAL DEBT! It’s past time for us to explode right-wing economic myths: “raising taxes is ‘job killing’; we have a spending problem, not a revenue problem; tax-cuts pay for themselves by bringing in more tax money to the government.” Our best path to clarity is for President Obama to use his bully pulpit even more vigorously. The poll numbers flipped on approv ...