If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
America's seniors, who have worked so hard to build a strong economy and democracy in their lifetimes, need reliable and robust government in their golden years.
The path of least resistance is for congressional Republicans and the president to agree to kick the can down the road -- keeping everything as it is (current spending, the Bush tax cut) until a date in the not-too-distant future -- say, March 15.
The hard truth is that the pummeling the GOP got in the election hasn't moved them one inch from their stuck in cement tax orthodoxy that raising taxes on the rich kills jobs and does little to shave down the trillions racked up from the budget deficit.
The nation requires more tax revenue to address the nation's fiscal problems and, by doing this, we can advance toward the goal of guaranteeing that everyone has the property necessary to lead a meaningful human life.
Raising taxes on the rich, who usually pay a lower rate than everyone else because of the loopholes available to them, is not about redistribution of wealth but about creating a level economic playing field for all Americans.
According to a scientific opinion poll Small Business Majority released this week, strong majorities of entrepreneurs are concerned about nearly every fiscal cliff issue they were asked about.
The U.S. spends almost as much money on its military as all other nations in the world combined. Roughly 54 percent of the federal budget goes for past, present, and future wars. Why do we spend so much?
I do believe that there is a clear trend in the White House toward thinking it is better for Democrats to be unified in policy fights with the Republicans, simply because they keep getting rewarded politically when they are.
We have a jobs problem, not a deficit problem. The best way to deal with the deficit is to put Americans back to work. The real job creators are working people with money in their wallets. We can't cut our way to growth.
Negotiating does not mean caving into the Republicans' demand that you meet more than halfway. This election gave the Democrats a mandate to demand that the Republicans meet you more than halfway. We elected you to fight for us and expect nothing less.
Start diversifying your savings today while tax rates are still low. The good news is there still time to take advantage of 2012 tax rates, which may turn out to be the lowest we see in some time. Here are three strategies to help diversify before the end of the year.
The "left" is not divided on the need to oppose austerity and the Great Betrayal. Third Way is not left or center or even right. It is Wall Street on the Potomac.
Assuming the goal in the Grand Bargain is $4 trillion of deficit reduction over the next decade (that's the consensus of the Simpson-Bowles commission, the Congressional Budget Office, and most independent analysts), here's what the President should propose.
Holding a one-year extension of the Bush middle-class tax cuts hostage to an extension of tax cuts on incomes over $250,000 , as House Republicans have done, creates dangerous economic risks with little economic upside.
To move forward, America's security and prosperity depend on our children's ability to drive the economy of the future. Leaders must craft budget solutions that will protect the already porous safety nets on which so many children and families rely.
I had naively assumed the election would put an end to the games, but obviously not. Yet Obama and the Democrats are holding most of the cards now. Let's hope they use them.
