By Sahil Kapur
April 15, 2011
In what he reportedly thought was a private conversation at a fundraiser Thursday night, President Barack Obama called into question the fiscal seriousness of House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI), the author of the GOP's budget plan that dramatically cuts government spending under the guise of deficit reduction.
"When Paul Ryan says his priority is to make sure, he's just being America's accountant," Obama told his supporters at the event, according to remarks relayed on a live mic and reported by CBS News [1] pooler Mark Knoller.
"This is the same guy that voted for two wars that were unpaid for, voted for the Bush tax cuts that were unpaid for, voted for the prescription drug bill that cost as much as my health care bill -- but wasn't paid for. So it's not on the level," Obama said.
Obama gave a nationally televised speech Wednesday [2] laying out his misgivings about the proposal and offering a plan of his own. But the president didn't question Ryan's credentials as a deficit hawk.
Last year, Obama publicly praised Ryan's "roadmap" -- a blueprint upon which his current budget was based -- as a serious plan. "Paul, for example, head of the budget committee, has looked at the budget and has made a serious proposal," Obama said [3].
Ryan's ten-year proposal would cut trillions in federal spending while privatizing Medicare, slashing Medicaid, and reducing taxes on corporations and the highest income earners. He's been [4] praised [5] as a bold, visionary and serious thinker who's deeply concerned with the debt.
Yet the Bush tax cuts, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Medicare Part D program -- all of which Ryan voted for -- have been among the most significant drivers of today's $14 trillion national debt.
Nobel Prize-winning liberal economist Paul Krugman has called the Ryan plan a "fraud [6]," alleging that its deficit numbers are cooked and its underlying assumptions are unrealistic.
The proposal has been touted by Republicans as the most serious plan on the table to reduce the deficit in the long term. It has become a pinata for Democrats who say it leaves seniors and poor people out in the cold while giving tax breaks to the wealthy.
It's poised to pass the GOP-controlled House Friday, but it is seen as a nonstarter in the Democratic-led Senate.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Friday, April 15, 2011
During Bush Presidency, Current GOP Leaders Voted 19 Times To Increase Debt Limit By $4 Trillion
After pushing the government to brink of shutdown last week, Republican Congressional leaders are now preparing to push America to the edge of default by refusing to increase the nation’s debt limit without first getting Democrats to concede to large spending cuts.
But while the four Republicans in Congressional leadership positions are attempting to hold the increase hostage now, they combined to vote for a debt limit increase 19 times during the presidency of George W. Bush. In doing so, they increased the debt limit by nearly $4 trillion.
At the beginning of the Bush presidency, the United States debt limit was $5.95 trillion. Despite promises that he would pay off the debt in 10 years, Bush increased the debt to $9.815 trillion by the end of his term, with plenty of help from the four Republicans currently holding Congressional leadership positions: Speaker John Boehner, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl. ThinkProgress compiled a breakdown of the five debt limit increases that took place during the Bush presidency and how the four Republican leaders voted:
June 2002: Congress approves a $450 billion increase, raising the debt limit to $6.4 trillion. McConnell, Boehner, and Cantor vote “yea”, Kyl votes “nay.”
May 2003: Congress approves a $900 billion increase, raising the debt limit to $7.384 trillion. All four approve.
November 2004: Congress approves an $800 billion increase, raising the debt limit to $8.1 trillion. All four approve.
March 2006: Congress approves a $781 billion increase, raising the debt limit to $8.965 trillion. All four approve.
September 2007: Congress approves an $850 billion increase, raising the debt limit to $9.815 trillion. All four approve.
Database searches revealed no demands from the four legislators that debt increases come accompanied by drastic spending cuts, as there are now. In fact, the May 2003 debt limit increase passed the Senate the same day as the $350 billion Bush tax cuts for the wealthy.
When Bush was in office, the current Republican leaders viewed increasing the debt limit as vital to keeping America’s economy running. But with Obama in the White House, it’s nothing more than a political pawn.
But while the four Republicans in Congressional leadership positions are attempting to hold the increase hostage now, they combined to vote for a debt limit increase 19 times during the presidency of George W. Bush. In doing so, they increased the debt limit by nearly $4 trillion.
At the beginning of the Bush presidency, the United States debt limit was $5.95 trillion. Despite promises that he would pay off the debt in 10 years, Bush increased the debt to $9.815 trillion by the end of his term, with plenty of help from the four Republicans currently holding Congressional leadership positions: Speaker John Boehner, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl. ThinkProgress compiled a breakdown of the five debt limit increases that took place during the Bush presidency and how the four Republican leaders voted:
June 2002: Congress approves a $450 billion increase, raising the debt limit to $6.4 trillion. McConnell, Boehner, and Cantor vote “yea”, Kyl votes “nay.”
May 2003: Congress approves a $900 billion increase, raising the debt limit to $7.384 trillion. All four approve.
November 2004: Congress approves an $800 billion increase, raising the debt limit to $8.1 trillion. All four approve.
March 2006: Congress approves a $781 billion increase, raising the debt limit to $8.965 trillion. All four approve.
September 2007: Congress approves an $850 billion increase, raising the debt limit to $9.815 trillion. All four approve.
Database searches revealed no demands from the four legislators that debt increases come accompanied by drastic spending cuts, as there are now. In fact, the May 2003 debt limit increase passed the Senate the same day as the $350 billion Bush tax cuts for the wealthy.
When Bush was in office, the current Republican leaders viewed increasing the debt limit as vital to keeping America’s economy running. But with Obama in the White House, it’s nothing more than a political pawn.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
150 Years Later, Tea Partiers Still Aren’t Over The Civil War
April 12th was the 150th anniversary of the Civil War’s beginning, when secessionists fired on Union troops at Fort Sumter, South Carolina. According to a new poll from CNN, the Civil War’s legacy remains unresolved. The poll finds that Republicans and Tea Party supporters are more likely to support the Confederacy and confederate leaders than Democrats or Independents.
According to the poll, nearly one in four Americans sympathize with the Confederacy more than with the Union. That number grows to nearly four-in-ten among white Southerners. Among Tea Party members, 26 percent sympathize with the Confederacy more than the Union, and that number grows to 28 percent among Republicans.
Meanwhile, while respondents overall viewed slavery as the main reason for the war by a 54-42 margin, Tea Partiers and Republicans held different views. Fifty-two percent of Republicans believed slavery was not the main reason, and that number rose to 54 percent among Tea Partiers.
The poll comes at a time when Republicans and Tea Partiers are rehashing the battles that both led to and came out of the Civil War. Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) and others have come out in support of nullification laws. In both Texas and Tennessee, lawmakers have floated the possibility of secession. And across the country, Republicans have attempted to revoke the 14th Amendment guarantee of birthright citizenship. And, of course, there was Rep. Paul Broun’s (R-GA) reference to the “Great War of Yankee Aggression” on the House floor.
Even though these battles are radical and out of the mainstream, it isn’t that shocking that these Republicans are attempting to refight them. According to these poll numbers, that’s exactly what large segments of their base want them to do.
According to the poll, nearly one in four Americans sympathize with the Confederacy more than with the Union. That number grows to nearly four-in-ten among white Southerners. Among Tea Party members, 26 percent sympathize with the Confederacy more than the Union, and that number grows to 28 percent among Republicans.
Meanwhile, while respondents overall viewed slavery as the main reason for the war by a 54-42 margin, Tea Partiers and Republicans held different views. Fifty-two percent of Republicans believed slavery was not the main reason, and that number rose to 54 percent among Tea Partiers.
The poll comes at a time when Republicans and Tea Partiers are rehashing the battles that both led to and came out of the Civil War. Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) and others have come out in support of nullification laws. In both Texas and Tennessee, lawmakers have floated the possibility of secession. And across the country, Republicans have attempted to revoke the 14th Amendment guarantee of birthright citizenship. And, of course, there was Rep. Paul Broun’s (R-GA) reference to the “Great War of Yankee Aggression” on the House floor.
Even though these battles are radical and out of the mainstream, it isn’t that shocking that these Republicans are attempting to refight them. According to these poll numbers, that’s exactly what large segments of their base want them to do.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Shock poll: 46% of Mississippi Republicans think interracial marriage should be illegal
By Stephen C. Webster
Thursday, April 7th, 2011
A new poll out of Mississippi finds that in a bastion of America's south, many Republican voters have tightly held onto the old, hateful views of race as a dividing line in society.
A full 46 percent of Mississippi Republicans said they believe interracial marriage should be illegal, according to the left-leaning survey group Public Policy Polling. Only 40 percent said they thought it should remain legal, with the rest unsure.
Republicans who said they were in favor of banning interracial marriages were most frequently supporters of Fox News contributor Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor (R) who quit half-way through her first term. Their least liked candidate was Mitt Romney, the former radio executive and Governor of Massachusetts (R).
Romney, Palin and Fox News employee Mike Huckabee are widely considered to be the top three most likely Republican front-runners. None of them have officially announced their candidacy.
The poll found that overall, Mississippi Republicans want Gov. Haley Barbour as their nominee over other potential candidates. Barbour won 37 percent of the survey's respondents, compared to 19 percent for Huckabee and 10 percent for former Fox News contributor Newt Gingrich, the one-time Republican Speaker of the House.
Barbour's popularity may have something to do with the mentality of his constituency in Mississippi. For instance, in a state where almost half of the Republicans believe interracial marriage should be illegal, Barbour has praised a civil rights-era group that fought against segregation and refused to denounce an effort to get a state license plate to honor a former leader of the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan terrorist group.
Barbour was most recently in the headlines after it was revealed that he spent over $300,000 on out-of-state travel in 2010, campaigning with fellow Republicans and meeting with wealthy benefactors.
Thursday, April 7th, 2011
A new poll out of Mississippi finds that in a bastion of America's south, many Republican voters have tightly held onto the old, hateful views of race as a dividing line in society.
A full 46 percent of Mississippi Republicans said they believe interracial marriage should be illegal, according to the left-leaning survey group Public Policy Polling. Only 40 percent said they thought it should remain legal, with the rest unsure.
Republicans who said they were in favor of banning interracial marriages were most frequently supporters of Fox News contributor Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor (R) who quit half-way through her first term. Their least liked candidate was Mitt Romney, the former radio executive and Governor of Massachusetts (R).
Romney, Palin and Fox News employee Mike Huckabee are widely considered to be the top three most likely Republican front-runners. None of them have officially announced their candidacy.
The poll found that overall, Mississippi Republicans want Gov. Haley Barbour as their nominee over other potential candidates. Barbour won 37 percent of the survey's respondents, compared to 19 percent for Huckabee and 10 percent for former Fox News contributor Newt Gingrich, the one-time Republican Speaker of the House.
Barbour's popularity may have something to do with the mentality of his constituency in Mississippi. For instance, in a state where almost half of the Republicans believe interracial marriage should be illegal, Barbour has praised a civil rights-era group that fought against segregation and refused to denounce an effort to get a state license plate to honor a former leader of the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan terrorist group.
Barbour was most recently in the headlines after it was revealed that he spent over $300,000 on out-of-state travel in 2010, campaigning with fellow Republicans and meeting with wealthy benefactors.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Glenn Beck Booted Off Fox News: What this says about America
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University
I admit feeling a bit of glee upon hearing that Fox News is going to part ways with Glenn Beck. After watching his ratings decline, the network decided that it’s best that Beck take his chalk board elsewhere and find something new to do with his time. The departure is likely good for America, for Beck became one of the most divisive figures in the country.
What can’t be overlooked in Beck’s break from Fox is the fact that the decision was likely a financial one. Fox was losing millions when advertisers decided to boycott Beck’s show, largely because they didn’t want their products to be affiliated with a man with such extremist viewpoints. According to ColorofChange.org, Beck has lost 300 advertisers, primarily because of comments he has made about President Obama having a hatred of white people. Remarks like this one, along with other conspiracy theories Beck threw at the nation every afternoon, likely led to his demise.
I once watched Beck’s show with my head cocked to the side, wondering how a man with such ridiculous views could have such a loyal following. I thought, “Do tea partiers really believe the stuff this guy is saying?” While there are likely millions of Americans who are in lockstep with Beck on every issue, there are quite a few who chose not to continue to ride with Beck on the Ridicu-bus. For those on the right who at least try to engage in some degree of rational thinking, I applaud them for rejecting the antics of a man who is nothing more than a walking cartoon character.
Oddly enough, Glenn Beck’s boot off of Fox News does say something good about America. First, it says that via concerted efforts like those of Color of Change, the National Action Network and the Your Black World Coalition, we can counter the hatred being spewed by the Right Wing. It also says that there is some degree of decency among American corporate leaders who are choosing not to be affiliated with a man who is dead set on undermining both the presidency and our country. Finally, it says that there are some on the political right who want to pursue their ideas with courtesy and mutual respect, rather than the kind of vile, nasty attacks that we’ve seen being thrust upon our president. It is possible to critique President Obama’s performance without seeking to destroy America in the process. Glenn Beck’s poison is the kind of thing that ultimately tears down a nation.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Professor at Syracuse University and founder of the Your Black World Coalition.
I admit feeling a bit of glee upon hearing that Fox News is going to part ways with Glenn Beck. After watching his ratings decline, the network decided that it’s best that Beck take his chalk board elsewhere and find something new to do with his time. The departure is likely good for America, for Beck became one of the most divisive figures in the country.
What can’t be overlooked in Beck’s break from Fox is the fact that the decision was likely a financial one. Fox was losing millions when advertisers decided to boycott Beck’s show, largely because they didn’t want their products to be affiliated with a man with such extremist viewpoints. According to ColorofChange.org, Beck has lost 300 advertisers, primarily because of comments he has made about President Obama having a hatred of white people. Remarks like this one, along with other conspiracy theories Beck threw at the nation every afternoon, likely led to his demise.
I once watched Beck’s show with my head cocked to the side, wondering how a man with such ridiculous views could have such a loyal following. I thought, “Do tea partiers really believe the stuff this guy is saying?” While there are likely millions of Americans who are in lockstep with Beck on every issue, there are quite a few who chose not to continue to ride with Beck on the Ridicu-bus. For those on the right who at least try to engage in some degree of rational thinking, I applaud them for rejecting the antics of a man who is nothing more than a walking cartoon character.
Oddly enough, Glenn Beck’s boot off of Fox News does say something good about America. First, it says that via concerted efforts like those of Color of Change, the National Action Network and the Your Black World Coalition, we can counter the hatred being spewed by the Right Wing. It also says that there is some degree of decency among American corporate leaders who are choosing not to be affiliated with a man who is dead set on undermining both the presidency and our country. Finally, it says that there are some on the political right who want to pursue their ideas with courtesy and mutual respect, rather than the kind of vile, nasty attacks that we’ve seen being thrust upon our president. It is possible to critique President Obama’s performance without seeking to destroy America in the process. Glenn Beck’s poison is the kind of thing that ultimately tears down a nation.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Professor at Syracuse University and founder of the Your Black World Coalition.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Standing with Martin Luther King and strong unions
April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King was shot, assassinated at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. Martin Luther King was not in Memphis, Tennessee for tax cuts for the rich. He wasn’t there to cut domestic spending programs. Martin Luther King was there to stand up for sanitation workers. The sanitation workers were protesting unequal wages and abysmal working conditions. In essence, Martin Luther King was supporting a union walkout.
Today, more than 40 years later, unions continue to be under attack. They’re under attack from multiple sides. There are people who just don’t understand how unions work and why they’re beneficial. There are Americans who always stand with the rich and powerful and these Americans understand that the only way to level the playing field is if all the workers speak in one voice – unions.
Now, more than ever, we need unions. A report in the Washington Post today reveals that wages are stagnant and inflation is squeezing Americans and not squeezing big business. Their profits are up. The only way that we can raise our standard of living is by standing together and demanding fair wages. Sure, there are some corporations that are rich and generous. They will always pay a living wage. Unfortunately, they are in the minority. The majority of corporations are out to squeeze workers to increase profits. Strong unions can fix this. Strong unions are needed now more than ever. I stand with Martin Luther King and tens of thousands of Americans who believe that strong unions are a requirement for a strong vibrant middle class.
Today, more than 40 years later, unions continue to be under attack. They’re under attack from multiple sides. There are people who just don’t understand how unions work and why they’re beneficial. There are Americans who always stand with the rich and powerful and these Americans understand that the only way to level the playing field is if all the workers speak in one voice – unions.
Now, more than ever, we need unions. A report in the Washington Post today reveals that wages are stagnant and inflation is squeezing Americans and not squeezing big business. Their profits are up. The only way that we can raise our standard of living is by standing together and demanding fair wages. Sure, there are some corporations that are rich and generous. They will always pay a living wage. Unfortunately, they are in the minority. The majority of corporations are out to squeeze workers to increase profits. Strong unions can fix this. Strong unions are needed now more than ever. I stand with Martin Luther King and tens of thousands of Americans who believe that strong unions are a requirement for a strong vibrant middle class.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Malcolm X and the Wars at Home
Malcolm X and the Wars at Home
A Black Agenda Radio commentary by BAR editor and columnist Jared A. Ball
“Nothing that Malcolm X gave his life fighting to destroy has even been weakened since he was killed.”
Next week, on April 4th, we finally get to see the awaited biography Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention by Manning Marable. For years many of us have been hearing of this book’s eventual publication and engaging in all the kinds of pre-hype discussion that often accompanies ambiguity. But now, apparently, the wait is coming to an end and not a moment too soon. For just as those gathered this weekend at the Black Is Back Coalition’s “National Conference on The Other Wars” described in great detail, nothing that Malcolm X gave his life fighting to destroy has even been weakened since he was killed.
An honest book about Malcolm X published on April 4th during yet another Western invasion of the African continent beautifully synthesizes so much of the contradiction and hypocrisy that accompanies imperialism. April 4th of course marks the date in 1967 when Dr. King most publicly unveiled his staunch and lonely stance against imperialism. And, of course, it is also on that date a year later when he would be made to pay with his life for that position. But a beautiful contradiction is also found in this nation’s attempt to freeze King in one moment, one mention of a dream, just as it has come to freeze Malcolm in one moment, one mention of prayer in Mecca, to distract us from the specifically anti-imperialist politics of either man; all while again bombing an African nation on the orders of a son of Africa who is also the first Black president.
Town halls both live and conducted via all forms of media must be convened on Marable’s book. What it reveals anew or simply reminds us of Malcolm X must be discussed as widely as possible and precisely within this context of Malcolm’s anti-imperialism. These town halls should not only encourage deep analysis of Malcolm’s life and work but should also encourage that more of us follow the patterns established by that life and work. The wars he struggled against continue, in fact, they intensify. And we are simply not being well-enough prepared, educated and or organized to resist.
“Malcolm X said that ‘the police do locally what the military does internationally.’”
The Black Is Back Coalition’s “National Conference on the Other Wars” powerfully made these points and more. And that this was done so soon before the publication of Marable’s book only increases the urgency and anticipation. Malcolm X was among the first of the major figures of the era to speak so openly and caustically against the hypocrisy of this nation’s claims to be fighting wars for democracy while warring against its own captives right here. King too would eventually reach those same conclusions with equal hostility to them. And here too those gathered at this weekend’s conference seem similarly positioned and similarly distinct from much of the prevailing wisdom of the day.
Those gathered at this weekend’s conference were cognizant of this fact. Its conveners clearly stated their opposition to and distinction from the liberal left, Black and white, who refuse to acknowledge the continuity of Western imperialism and the wars at home caused by that imperialism. So everything from police brutality and mass incarceration to the daily rounding up of 35,000 so-called “undocumented” Mexicans, to gentrification or social and ethnic cleansing, to even domestic food insecurity were all placed in this context of U.S. and Western imperialism. And given some special attention at the Conference on the Other Wars were some of those other wars occurring in blacker and, therefore, less popular regions of the world like Somalia and the Congo where tens of millions have been killed, displaced and looted by African forces from Uganda and Rwanda all serving their U.S. sponsors.
Malcolm X said that “the police do locally what the military does internationally.” The imperial circle drawn in full. It is the analytical equivalent to bearing witness today to a Black president bombing our African home while presiding over wars waged at home against Black people.
We can only be helped by critical readings of Malcolm’s words and words written about Malcolm. We need mass public discussion of Marable’s book on Malcolm X and even more organization around his legacy
A Black Agenda Radio commentary by BAR editor and columnist Jared A. Ball
“Nothing that Malcolm X gave his life fighting to destroy has even been weakened since he was killed.”
Next week, on April 4th, we finally get to see the awaited biography Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention by Manning Marable. For years many of us have been hearing of this book’s eventual publication and engaging in all the kinds of pre-hype discussion that often accompanies ambiguity. But now, apparently, the wait is coming to an end and not a moment too soon. For just as those gathered this weekend at the Black Is Back Coalition’s “National Conference on The Other Wars” described in great detail, nothing that Malcolm X gave his life fighting to destroy has even been weakened since he was killed.
An honest book about Malcolm X published on April 4th during yet another Western invasion of the African continent beautifully synthesizes so much of the contradiction and hypocrisy that accompanies imperialism. April 4th of course marks the date in 1967 when Dr. King most publicly unveiled his staunch and lonely stance against imperialism. And, of course, it is also on that date a year later when he would be made to pay with his life for that position. But a beautiful contradiction is also found in this nation’s attempt to freeze King in one moment, one mention of a dream, just as it has come to freeze Malcolm in one moment, one mention of prayer in Mecca, to distract us from the specifically anti-imperialist politics of either man; all while again bombing an African nation on the orders of a son of Africa who is also the first Black president.
Town halls both live and conducted via all forms of media must be convened on Marable’s book. What it reveals anew or simply reminds us of Malcolm X must be discussed as widely as possible and precisely within this context of Malcolm’s anti-imperialism. These town halls should not only encourage deep analysis of Malcolm’s life and work but should also encourage that more of us follow the patterns established by that life and work. The wars he struggled against continue, in fact, they intensify. And we are simply not being well-enough prepared, educated and or organized to resist.
“Malcolm X said that ‘the police do locally what the military does internationally.’”
The Black Is Back Coalition’s “National Conference on the Other Wars” powerfully made these points and more. And that this was done so soon before the publication of Marable’s book only increases the urgency and anticipation. Malcolm X was among the first of the major figures of the era to speak so openly and caustically against the hypocrisy of this nation’s claims to be fighting wars for democracy while warring against its own captives right here. King too would eventually reach those same conclusions with equal hostility to them. And here too those gathered at this weekend’s conference seem similarly positioned and similarly distinct from much of the prevailing wisdom of the day.
Those gathered at this weekend’s conference were cognizant of this fact. Its conveners clearly stated their opposition to and distinction from the liberal left, Black and white, who refuse to acknowledge the continuity of Western imperialism and the wars at home caused by that imperialism. So everything from police brutality and mass incarceration to the daily rounding up of 35,000 so-called “undocumented” Mexicans, to gentrification or social and ethnic cleansing, to even domestic food insecurity were all placed in this context of U.S. and Western imperialism. And given some special attention at the Conference on the Other Wars were some of those other wars occurring in blacker and, therefore, less popular regions of the world like Somalia and the Congo where tens of millions have been killed, displaced and looted by African forces from Uganda and Rwanda all serving their U.S. sponsors.
Malcolm X said that “the police do locally what the military does internationally.” The imperial circle drawn in full. It is the analytical equivalent to bearing witness today to a Black president bombing our African home while presiding over wars waged at home against Black people.
We can only be helped by critical readings of Malcolm’s words and words written about Malcolm. We need mass public discussion of Marable’s book on Malcolm X and even more organization around his legacy
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