President Obama used his weekly address to talk about ways his administration is working to protect the middle class. And he mentioned actions being taken against Payday Lending as one way of protecting American workers.
But he also mentioned the recent budget by Congressional Republicans and the ways this budget is engineered to take from the middle class and give to the rich, and the president vowed to use his remaining time in office to fight against these tactics.
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Paul Krugman writes: Suddenly it’s O.K., even mandatory, for politicians with national ambitions to talk about helping the poor. This is easy for Democrats, who can go back to being the party of F.D.R. and L.B.J. It’s much more difficult for Republicans, who are having a hard time shaking their reputation for reverse Robin-Hoodism, for being the party that takes from the poor and gives to the rich.
And the reason that reputation is so hard to shake is that it’s justified. It’s not much of an exaggeration to say that right now Republicans are doing all they can to hurt the poor, and they would have inflicted vast additional harm if they had won the 2012 election. Moreover, G.O.P. harshness toward the less fortunate isn’t just a matter of spite (although that’s part of it); it’s deeply rooted in the party’s ideology, which is why recent speeches by leading Republicans declaring that they do too care about the poor have been almost completely devoid of policy specifics.
Let’s start with the recent Republican track record.
The most important current policy development in America is the rollout of the Affordable Care Act, a k a Obamacare. Most Republican-controlled states are, however, refusing to implement a key part of the act, the expansion of Medicaid, thereby denying health coverage to almost five million low-income Americans. And the amazing thing is that they’re going to great lengths to block aid to the poor even though letting the aid through would cost almost nothing; nearly all the costs of Medicaid expansion would be paid by Washington.
Meanwhile, those Republican-controlled states are slashing unemployment benefits, education financing and more. As I said, it’s not much of an exaggeration to say that the G.O.P. is hurting the poor as much as it can.
What would Republicans have done if they had won the White House in 2012? Much more of the same. Bear in mind that every budget the G.O.P. has offered since it took over the House in 2010 involves savage cuts in Medicaid, food stamps and other antipoverty programs.
Still, can’t Republicans change their approach? The answer, I’m sorry to say, is almost surely no.
This week’s Presidential address focused on the Middle class and how to continue building on the progress of the last four years. President Obama stated three areas where that focus on the middle class must continue: jobs, skills and opportunity.
The President:
A very dramatic video of an ice sculpture forming the words, Middle Class. As we watch the symbolic melting of the middle class, we hear the voice of iconic Barnie Sanders in the background, speaking about the threats to middle class America. Senator Sanders;
There is a war going on in this country and I’m not referring to the war in Iraq or the war in Afghanistan. I’m talking about a war being waged by some of the wealthiest and most powerful people in this country against the working families of the United States of America. Against the disappearing and shrinking middle class of our country.
The reality is that many of the nation’s billionaires are on a warpath. They want more, more, more. Their greed has no end. And apparently there is very little concern for our country or for the people of this country if it gets in the way of the accumulation of more and more wealth and more and more power.
This is part of a speech Mr. Sanders gave on the Senate floor back in December 2012. He is one in a few that is brave enough to stand up and speak up on behalf of the American people. If all in Congress followed Sander’s lead and did what the people sent them there to do, America will truly be a shining beacon on a hill.
President Obama urges Congress to extend the middle class income tax cuts for 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent of small businesses without delay, making it clear that a balanced approach to deficit reduction means that Republicans in Congress must agree to ask the wealthiest Americans to pay higher tax rates.
Warning that “the clock is ticking,” House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi on Sunday threatened to bring about a House vote on a bill that would extend the Bush-era tax cuts for families making $250,000, but would allow the tax breaks to expire for those above the threshold.
The Democratic-controlled Senate already passed its version of the bill in July, with strong support from President Barack Obama.
“If Speaker Boehner refuses to schedule this widely supported bill for a vote, Democrats will introduce a discharge petition to automatically bring to the floor the Senate-passed middle class tax cuts,” Pelosi said in a statement.
Under a “discharge petition,” a bill can be brought to the floor without going through a committee or without approval of House leadership. The bill would need an absolute majority — 218 votes — to pass.
h/ CNN
Picking up right where he left off before the election, President Obama continued his call for maintaining the middle class tax cut, while asking the rich to pay their fair share. He once again called on Republicans to get on board, instead of holding the middle class “hostage” in their effort to pander to the rich.
When it comes to taxes, for example, there are two pathways available.
One says, if Congress fails to act by the end of the year, then everybody’s taxes automatically go up – including the 98% of Americans who make less than $250,000 a year. Our economy can’t afford that right now. You can’t afford that right now. And nobody wants that to happen.
The other path is for Congress to pass a law right away to prevent a tax hike on the first $250,000 of anyone’s income. That means all Americans – including the wealthiest Americans – get a tax cut. And 98 percent of Americans, and 97 percent of all small business owners, won’t see their income taxes go up a single dime.
The Senate has already passed a bill like this. Democrats in the House are ready to pass one, too. All we need is for Republicans in the House to come on board.
We shouldn’t hold the middle class hostage while Congress debates tax cuts for the wealthy. Let’s begin our work by actually doing what we all agree on. Let’s keep taxes low for the middle class. And let’s get it done soon – so we can give families and businesses some good news going into the holiday season.
Michael Steele, the former head of the Republican National Committee is not buying into the Republican talking points. Ever since the Supreme Court came out supporting the President’s healthcare reform law, Republicans have been on a rampage telling everyone who would listen that this law – also called ObamaCare – will be the biggest tax on middle class America. And not to be outdone, Rush Limbaugh, the unofficial official mouthpiece of the Republican party is telling his faithful radio following that ObamaCare would be the biggest tax “in the history of the world!”
Of course it’s all a lie, but that’s not stopping these Republicans from using fear to control their base. So imagine my surprise when Michael Steele went on MSNBC’s Hardball and told the truth!
Asked about the law and the fact that Americans are buying into the Republican lie, Steele admitted that the tax/penalty would only be on a small group of Americans who decides not to follow the law.
there is that element of confusion that now exist out there. You’re talking about a small percentage of people, those who does not comply with the law who would be subject to this penalty/tax. But the broader population thinks it applies to them.
It’s Monday, and the Obama re-election campaign has released another ad with a simple message – we are not there yet, but we are heading in the right direction.
The ad begins looking at the state of the economy before the President took into office. It also mentions that compared to where things were and where they are now with over 4 million jobs created, a rebounding auto industry, ending the war in Iraq and capturing Osama Bin Laden, the nation is coming back.
The ad will run in the battleground states of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Nevada, New Hampshire, Iowa, North Carolina, Florida and Colorado.
Born in 1889 in London England, Charlie Chaplin is known today for his silent shows and movies. But in the clip below, the voice of Charlie Chaplin is heard speaking to us all. Speaking truths that are just as needed today as they were back then.
Listen to his words and apply what he said to our present economic and political environment.
No matter how much he tries, Willard Romney will never be able to hide who he really is. He often boast about living his life in the private sector, and based on what we know about his time at Bain Capital, there are a lot of Americans who lost their jobs because of Willard’s actions.
Today, Willard made a statement that brought a certain unease to the working middle class. “I like being able to fire people who provide services to me,” Romney was heard saying, as he addressed the Chamber of Commerce.
For context, Romney was talking about the freedom of “firing” or chosing one insurance provider over another based on his preference. But the firing statement should never be used when it’s coming from a man who built his personal wealth acquiring smaller business and shipping Americans jobs overseas for cheaper labor. And such a statement should never be used when coming from a man who holds the dubious distinction of being number 47 (out of 50) in job creation when he was governor of the state of Massachusetts.
Here we go again. In another effort to negotiate in good faith with Republicans and get some agreement on extending the payroll tax break, CNN is reporting that President Obama and the Democrats will drop the millionaire surtax the President has called for over the last few months.
In what would be a major concession, President Obama and Senate Democrats will drop their insistence that a surtax on millionaires pay for extending the payroll tax cut, a Democratic source tells CNN. This would be part of a new Democratic offer.
The move comes after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other top Senate Democrats met with President Obama at the White House earlier today.
Based on this President’s past, one would assume that Republicans should chalk this one up as another win. But I will caution my fellow Americans. Until we get a full understanding of what they agreed upon, let’s not pass judgement on this administration just yet.
I remember other situations where we thought the president had given up too much. And although there may have been times when we wished he had held out a little longer and stood his grounds against these Republicans, we must admit that when we looked at the overall picture, the president, most of the time, seemed to come out on top. Thus, we hear all the time, “while everyone played checkers, the president was playing chess.”
