Good kids, good tidings.

Finding ways to effect change

When you're weary... feeling small... when times get rough... when you're down and out... (I know, butchering Simon & Garfunkel lyrics for fun and no profit) This is actually a heartening, "I can do SOMETHING," one-piece-at-a-time call to action:

I believe that the time is right to begin to explore these small and doable fixes and try, slice by slice, to fix fundamental problems that prevent the federal government from effectively serving us and our country. [Dina Rasor for t r u t h o u t]

Bernie into the fray

With Bernie leading the charge to block Obama/GOP tax "deal" with filibuster intentions:

"We are protecting the middle class by waging this fight and saying, 'You can't grow the national debt so that the Republicans can come back and slash benefits or move toward raising the retirement age or making other cuts in Social Security.'"

Hitchin' up our collective pants

The outrage really only goes so far, so it's time to start looking at solutions and directing energies into positive channels. But having ammunition for cogent arguments (even if whomever you're having a discussion with doesn't seem to adhere to the basic tenets of logic and facts) is nonetheless useful. What do you say, Dylan Ratigan?

When anyone starts lecturing you that the US has the highest tax rate in the industrialized world, just turn around, walk away, and pretend you never heard of them. This person is either ignorant about this country's taxation system, or is deliberately trying to deceive or mislead you.

According to a report released by the Internal Revenue Service, America's tax collection agency, the top 400 individual tax returns filed in 2009 reported an average gross income of $358 million each. The average amount of tax paid by these individuals came to under 17%, less than half the maximum Federal rate of 35%, which kicks in on annual income over $372,950 (click here for the 2009 tax tables).

This explains why Warren Buffet pays a much lower tax rate than his secretary. It really is true that in America, only the poor people pay taxes. [quoting The Tax Rate Fallacy on Zero Hedge]

And Michael J. O'Neil weighs in on the real equations at work vis-a-vis tax cuts for the rich, job creation, profit and the choices businesses make:

We are asked to believe that these businesses will no longer have the money to hire new employees if they don't get to keep these 2.2 cents on the dollar. Really?...[H]ow does any tax on profits inhibit the hiring of additional employees? In fact, quite the opposite is true. Incrementally higher taxes on profits actually are a slight incentive to hire additional employees. It costs a company in the 40 percent tax bracket about 60 cents to pay $1 in additional wages.

But I wouldn't make too much of this modest incentive. In thirty years of running a business, taxes on profits have never played any role whatsoever in decisions to hire new employees. Not ever. Why? We hire new people when our workload requires it. And for no other reason. And I find it hard to imagine any rational business making hiring decisions on any other basis.

Sally Kohn has some ideas on extending Bush tax cuts on tippy-top earners and a nifty Founding Father quote, along with advice on Dem pols to collectively grow a pair:

The strongest argument against extending tax breaks for the rich is the most obvious -- these tax breaks have been in effect the entire recession and have not spawned jobs and growth. What delusional insanity makes anyone think giving more money to the rich with magically help the economy now?

...John Adams, one of our Founding Fathers, wrote, "Government is instituted for the common good; for the protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness of the people; and not for profit, honor, or private interest of any one man, family, or class of men." The tyranny from which the Founders sought to protect our nation was not the tyranny of government but the tyranny of wealthy elites. Remember, the King of England was a king. America was founded on hard work and community, not royalty. So why are our political leaders bowing to the financial kings and queens of our day with reckless and wasteful tax breaks?

At least crazy Iowa "conservative" Steve King has a finger on the pulse of what's wrong with the country:

In an interview with Right Side News, King was asked if he supported a recent conspiracy-laced speech by conservative media mogul Cliff Kincaid, in which he argued that the next Republican Congress should bring back the House Internal Security Committee in order to combat "the ugly spread of Marxism in America." King responded, "I would. I think that is a good process and I would support it."

The House Internal Security Committee was the followup to the highly controversial HUAC, a congressional body meant to serve as a counterpart to the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee in which McCarthy was heavily involved. The HUAC was notoriously involved in a Hollywood investigation of actors, directors and writers that were allegedly communist sympathizers.

Amy Dean proposes a useful broad strategy for progressives moving forward:

If progressives are going to rebound in 2012, we need to move beyond this and begin laying the groundwork for resurgence at the base. That means presenting an agenda, one that is compelling to working and middle class Americans. Progressives positioning themselves as being against Republican proposals will not be enough. We must be able to present a convincing program detailing what we are for.

Eric Margolis points out WikiLeaks' importance as well as potential weaknesses, outsized blustering reactions to the recent diplomatic cables, and some of the most notable information to be gleaned from them:

The US media and Congress have been blasting WikiLeaks for "treason" or "terrorism," and demanding it be silenced -- while gleefully using parts of the leaks to promote war against Iran. US media and Congress seem to have forgotten about free speech. Or the right of Americans to know what their government is really up to around the globe.

Some of America's dimmer Republican politicians called for charges of "terrorism" against WikiLeak founder Julian Assange. Terrorism has become America's catch-all charge for annoying or rebellious activity, much as the Soviets used to charge people with being "enemies of the state."

The uproar over WikiLeaks may also well spur efforts by the hard right to impose censorship on the internet.

...Meanwhile, WikiLeaks is at least doing part of what America's elected leaders and supposed free media should have been doing: telling citizens what's really going on.

Closing with some eye-opening commentary from retiring North Dakota Dem Senator Byron Dorgan on a topic the media keeps, well, ignoring (in favor of, say, Kate + 8 joining Sarah Palin in "her" Alaska) - fraud involving private military contracts for even the most insignificant stinking things. Hello? Deficit hawks? Is this thing on?:

Halliburton was to purchase towels for the troops, hand towels. You know, they were purchasing hand towels to be awarded to the troops. So he ordered some white hand towels for the troops, and his boss said: Well, you can't order those white hand towels. You have to order the hand towels that have the logo of our company, ``Kellogg, Brown & Root,'' on the hand towel.


Mr. Bunting said: Yes, but that would quadruple the cost.


His boss said: That doesn't matter. This is a cost-plus contract. Order the towels. Put our company name on them.

I mean, this is such a small but important symbol of the behavior that went on for most of the decade that fleeced the American taxpayers

What is it with me and 4am?

If the Beltway chatterers thought the "professional liberal left" was on Obama's case before, they'd better look out for the average amateur progs. Time for whomever is running the administration's show to open up their eyes. A few good reads here:

Obama's Choices: Big Weeks Ahead (Mike Lux)

The next couple of news cycles will be dominated by the deficit commission report, the attempts by Bowles and Simpson to round up votes on the commission for it, and the Obama administration's reaction to it. The way Obama reacts to this, in particular, will be one of the most consequential and politically significant early signs of which path the administration wants to take going forward.

Abdicating to the Right: The Ascendant American Aristocracy (Kathleen Reardon)

The Republican Party has staked out a position where anything to the left of extreme selfishness is on the slippery slope to socialism. But it hasn't occurred to Democrats to counter with the more real scenario of creeping aristocracy.

Obama's Naivete on Bipartisanship Has Finally Caught Up to Him (Howard Fineman)

There were some, including some in the media, who listened to President Obama's account of yesterday's meeting with Republicans and concluded that there was hope for a surprisingly bipartisan conclusion to the lame duck Congress. My questions are: What planet do he and they think they are on? And have they paid any attention to Sen. Mitch McConnell?

[note from me: I don't think his political naivete is the problem, though, since I've got ZERO political experience and can plainly see what Fineman observes - otherwise agreed.]

Why Exactly Is President Obama Acting Like George McFly? (Bob Cesca, with political commentary Griffin might be interested in)

[B]ipartisan cooperation in this era has been entirely redefined to the point of virtual extinction. There's no such thing as mutual cooperation between both parties. Modern bipartisanship is all about one party, the Democrats, flailing around and desperately struggling to appease the Republicans who return the favor by smacking the textbooks out of the president's hands then kicking him in the ass while he picks up his crap off the floor -- embarrassed and chuckling while muttering, "Oh, you guys."

The Big Economic Story, and Why Obama Isn't Telling It (Robert Reich)

Quiz: What's responsible for the lousy economy most Americans continue to wallow in?

A. Big government, bureaucrats, and the cultural and intellectual elites who back them.

B. Big business, Wall Street, and the powerful and privileged who represent them...

...B is closer to the truth. But A is the story Republicans and right-wingers tell. It's a dangerous story because it deflects attention from the real problem and makes it harder for America to focus on the real solution -- which is more widely shared prosperity.

Same words, different meaning: the bipartisanship gap between the GOP and Obama (Michael Maslansky)

The president [is] speaking to a more hopeful strain of political thought - that through discussion and compromise, the best ideas will often rise to the top. (Not coincidentally, this language is very consistent with the language he used as a candidate in 2008. It is fairly distinct from the language he has used for much of his first two years in office, where partisanship has been more the rule than the exception.)

While the language used by both sides appears similar, the implications are very different: Republicans concede common ground, but make difference a main point. Obama concedes difference, but makes common ground his main point.

Ted Strickland: Democrats Suffering From 'Intellectual Elitism'

Talking, unprompted, about the debate over the expiring Bush tax cuts, Strickland said he was dumbfounded at the party's inability to sell the idea that the rates for the wealthy should be allowed to expire.

Makes me wanna holler

We all know it's true - now here's someone brave enough to speak it. Seriously. What's the world to do with obnoxious old human sexuality experts?

Daily Caller: Draft lesbians, then turn them straight



Real mature, Senate Republicans. That's the way to govern.

Senate Republicans Plan To Block Virtually All Democratic-Backed Bills



I need a drink. It's 5:00 somewhere, right?