Category: Politics

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Politics taxes

America – Used, Abused and Abandoned By The Wealthy

If America was a woman, right about now she will have every right to feel used, unwanted and abused. A new report is projecting that wealthy Americans – those who received the most financial benefits from the tax laws and tax loopholes that allowed them to become wealthy – these people are projected to abandon America at a record pace this year.

Startling new data from Uncle Sam show that defections by Americans are expected to double this year, largely to avoid any stiff tax bills resulting from the proposed 55 percent hike on the rich — as well as the likely expiration on Dec. 31 of the Bush era tax cuts.

As many as 8,000 US citizens are projected by immigration officials to renounce in 2012, or about 154 a week, versus 3,805 in 2011, or about 73 per week.

“High-net-worth individuals are making decisions that having a US passport just isn’t worth the cost anymore,” said Jim Duggan, a lawyer at Duggan Bertsch, which specializes in protecting assets of the wealthy.

“They’re able to do what they do from any place in the world, and they’re choosing to do it from places with much lower tax rates,” he said.

If this is not a slap in the face of a nation that, in many cases, made these people rich, then I don’t know what is.

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Mitt Romney Politics

After A Romney Takeover, Fired Employee Admits Feeling Like He Built His Own Coffin

Priorities USA, a SuperPAC supporting President Obama produced the following ad that features a former employee of a company Romney bought when he was head of Bain Capital. The employee is referred to as “former” because of course, Mitt Romney fired all the employees after the purchase was made.

Watch and listen below as the former employee details the circumstances surrounding his termination.

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Health Care Politics

More Americans To Suffer If Supreme Court Repeal Health Care

Thanks Republicans!!!

Sarah Lewis is fed up with American health care: “I’ve completely removed myself from the system,” she said. “I don’t want to be a patient anymore.”

Lewis, a 55-year-old single mother of two daughters, has been through the wringer. It started with a diagnosis of anal cancer in September 2010. Then came the denials from her insurance company, the fights with the insurer, the hospitals and the doctors over money, and the debt collectors chasing at least $20,000 that she owes. Not to mention the grueling chemotherapy and radiation therapy that, so far, have saved her life. She ultimately gave up on health insurance this year.

“I’m hoping that I don’t get sick again or anything happens because I’m trying to stay out of the system because the system failed me,” said Lewis, who lives in Dover, N.H., and was self-employed as an book indexer but has not worked since she got sick.

The system will likely fail Americans like Lewis again and again, if the Supreme Court overturns President Barack Obama’s health care reform law next week. Without its rules that will prohibit health insurance companies from discriminating against people with pre-existing conditions starting in 2014, Lewis and others who are sick or have suffered serious illnesses in the past can be shut out of the health insurance market. As many as 122 million working-age Americans have pre-existing conditions that could get them rejected by health insurance companies, according to a Government Accountability Office analysis issued in March.

[More]

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Barack Obama Politics

If You Can’t Stand The Heat…

Do you remember the pundits and knobheads who, only a few short months ago, compared Barack Obama to LeBron James? Their major point was that both of them were overhyped, overpriced, underperforming, middling losers who were somehow primed to disappoint their fans and constituents. These know-nothings were sure that neither man would ever rise to greatness.

Look how that turned out.

I can understand disagreeing with a politician over issues or policy or implementation and not liking an athlete because of his style, team or relations with the public. But the comparison of these two obviously talented men moves beyond these fair points and veers off into, well, what? Jealousy? Contempt? Disdain? Outright hatred? Where’s the respect for what they’ve accomplished? Obama’s rivals give some grudging admission that he’s a political force, but then dismiss him as a guy with a pretty voice. LeBron’s detractors focus on his subpar performance in last year’s NBA finals without regard to his place as the game’s number one attraction and performer (on both ends of the court).

It’s disturbing, and now that LeBron has forever earned his place in NBA history and Obama his obvious place in the political realm, it’s time to expose the naysayers as the bad losers they are. Clearly they underestimate these two exceptional men who are at the pinnacle of their fields. It’s true that Obama might lose, but I’m not going to bet against him. He has more skill than Mitt Romney and right now we’re in the equivalent of the early playoffs in the presidential race. In September, you’ll see a different Obama; confident and pugnacious against an opponent who’s never played in the big leagues before. That’s a mismatch.

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Mitt Romney Politics

Romney To Republican Governors – Downplay Job Gains In Your State. It Helps Me Win

Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign asked Florida Governor Rick Scott to tone down his statements heralding improvements in the state’s economy because they clash with the presumptive Republican nominee’s message that the nation is suffering under President Barack Obama, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Scott, a Republican, was asked to say that the state’s jobless rate could improve faster under a Romney presidency, according to the people, who asked not to be named.

What’s unfolding in Florida highlights a dilemma for the Romney campaign: how to allow Republican governors to take credit for economic improvements in their states while faulting Obama’s stewardship of the national economy. Republican governors in Ohio, Virginia, Michigan and Wisconsin also have highlighted improving economies.

Scott should follow the advice of the Romney campaign and it won’t undermine his own message, said Mac Stipanovich, a political strategist and lobbyist in Florida.

“This is one of those situations where you could have it both ways and there’s enough truth in it that it would resonate,” Stipanovich said. “It would be better if everybody was singing from the same hymnal.”

[Bloomberg]

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Politics presidential

President Leads Romney By Double Digits Among Likely Voters – Bloomberg Poll

Barack Obama has opened a significant lead over Mitt Romney in a Bloomberg National Poll that reflects the presumed Republican nominee’s weaknesses more than the president’s strengths.

Obama leads Romney 53 percent to 40 percent among likely voters, even as the public gives him low marks on handling the economy and the deficit, and six in 10 say the nation is headed down the wrong track, according to the poll conducted June 15- 18.

The survey shows Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, has yet to repair the damage done to his image during the Republican primary. Thirty-nine percent of Americans view him favorably, about the same as when he announced his presidential candidacy last June, while 48 percent see him unfavorably — a 17-percentage point jump during a nomination fight dominated by attacks ads. A majority of likely voters, 55 percent, view him as more out of touch with average Americans compared with 36 percent who say the president is more out of touch.

[Poll]

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Politics

President Obama Asserts Executive Privilege Over Fast And Furious Documents

The Justice Department requested that Obama assert the privilege in refusing to turn certain documents over to Congress concerning the botched gun smuggling operation

The news comes as House Republicans consider holding Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt over the Fast and Furious dispute.

In a letter to Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calf., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, a Justice Department official said executive privilege applies to documents that explain how the department learned of problems with the investigation.

I write now to inform you that the President has asserted executive privilege over the relevant post-February 4, 2011, documents,” writes Deputy Attorney General James Cole. “We regret that we have arrived at this point, after the many steps we have taken to address the Committee’s concerns and to accommodate the Committee’s legitimate oversight interests regarding Operation Fast and Furious.”

[More]

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Mitt Romney Politics

New Ad – Mitt Romney Did Cut Taxes… On Millionaires Like Himself

Apparently, Mitt Romney was telling the truth all along. Yes, he definitely cut taxes when he was governor of Massachusetts, but the people who enjoyed the benefits of the Romney Tax Cuts was Romney himself and his very rich friends. For the rest of the state – also known as the middle class and the poor, Romney raised their taxes and instituted over 1000 fees – on everything from school bus rides, Nurses, Hospitals and Funeral Homes.

Well of course the fees went up. Someone had to pay for the Tax Cuts he received!

Categories
Mitt Romney Politics

Obama Is Back

This guy is a political genius, and the right-wing just can’t stand it when President Obama acts presidential or outmaneuvers them on policies and public opinion. They pilloried him for evidently making gas prices go sky-high, prompting Mitt Romney to blame him for economic pain, then he gets gas prices to plummet by 30¢ at the pump, and magically, the issue goes away.

Obama’s move on immigration was an election year masterstroke. It was a blatant political move meant to shore up the Latino base and it had the intended effect of highlighting the split in the Republican Party between radical fence builders and the more moderate wing that see that demographic fleeing from the GOP. And Romney again has nowhere to go on this issue because, while he might have been sympathetic during his sensible years, he’s since staked out a claim in Santorumville that requires drivers only to make hard right turns.

The president is also beginning to hammer home the differences between his economic plan and Romney’s. It might be true that independent voters see Obama’s policies as hindering economic growth, but it’s still early in the campaign. Once he highlights the effects of Romney’s cut first plan and a more pragmatic vision that includes cuts and investment, those voters will come back in sufficient numbers to win him the election.

And the horse race numbers? Yes, they are close, but Obama is ahead in enough states now to capture 270+ electoral votes. Michigan is not going red and neither are Colorado, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin nor Virginia unless we get terrible economic news over the summer. In fact, the economies in the swing states are outperforming the national economy. That favors the president.

The Supreme Court’s decision later this month will shape the race, but it will also emphasize Romney’s opposition to protections for people with pre-existing conditions and will force him to move farther right on health care. Most Americans do still oppose the individual mandate, but they also need affordable coverage. Obama offers that; Mitt doesn’t.

And there’s one final reason why we know Obama is turning his campaign around: Rush Limbaugh says that the president is panicking.  The right must be very nervous.

Please join the fun at www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives and on Twitter @rigrundfest 

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Immigration Immigration Reform Politics

Americans Agree With President Obama’s Immigration Policy

President Obama’s new immigration policy is getting high marks.

According to the Bloomberg poll, 64% of likely voters agree with Obama’s announcement Friday to end deportations of illegal immigrants brought to the USA as children; another 30% disagreed.

Independents also backed Obama’s executive order by a margin of more than two-to-one.

Bloomberg reported that “the results underscore the challenge facing Mitt Romney and Republicans as they try to woo Hispanic voters, who are the nation’s largest ethnic minority and made up 9 percent of the 2008 electorate, according to a Pew Hispanic Center analysis of exit polls.

[More]

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Politics taxes

The Romney’s Horse Was A $77,000 Tax Write-Off

We are beginning to see glimpses of why Mitt Romney was hesitant to show his Tax returns. Besides the fact that he is storing his money in offshore bank accounts, we are now seeing that Mitt Romney wrote off $77,000.00 in 2010 as a business expense. That is okay. Mitt Romney is a multi-millionaire and that kind of money being written off as a business is expected. What raises eyebrows is what the business expense was.

According to The New York Times, Romney’s horse Rafalca was the business expense. The Romney’s tax returns showed they lost $77,000 for the care and feeding of their horse. The Times reports:

As millions tune in to the Olympics in prime time this summer, just before Mr. Romney will be reintroducing himself to the nation at the Republican convention, viewers are likely to see “up close and personal” segments on NBC about the Romneys and dressage, a sport of six-figure horses and $1,000 saddles. The Romneys declared a loss of $77,000 on their 2010 tax returns for the share in the care and feeding of Rafalca, which Mrs. Romney owns with Mr. Ebeling’s wife, Amy, and a family friend, Beth Meyers.

If we are to take the Romney’s lead, can we write off the care and feeding of our dogs or cats or even our horses at tax time? Can we label Rover as a dependent and ask Uncle Sam to give us a bigger refund because we spent money to feed and take care of Fluffy? Try it next year. After your audit, please tell me about the experience.

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Health Care Politics

No Matter What The Supreme Court Decides About Healthcare, Americans Will Be Unhappy

Poll Results

A new Pew Research Poll found that the public is unlikely to be satisfied with the Supreme Court’s upcoming ruling on the 2010 Affordable Care Act – no matter what the Court decides. Whether the Court decides to uphold the entire law, overturn the entire law, or reject the “individual mandate” while allowing the rest of the law to remain in place, fewer than half of Americans say they would be happy with the decision.

The public’s expected reactions track along partisan lines. Most Democrats would be happy if the law is upheld, while most Republicans would be happy if it is thrown out.

But the other widely discussed possibility – that the court could reject the part of the law that requires individuals to have health insurance while keeping the rest – does not satisfy either side. Among Democrats, 35% would be happy with this outcome, while 56% would be unhappy. Republicans, who have consistently opposed the individual mandate, are not much happier: 43% would be happy if the court strips only this provision, while 47% would be unhappy.

 

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