The Deficit of Truth About Obama’s Budget

By
AdLib
-
158
18

If one was to only get their news from The Huffington Post (a wholly owned subsidiary of AOrweLlian Corp), one would be left with a black and white description of Obama’s budget plan that falls just short of wanting to kill your granny.

For the world of the corporate MSM, profits are generated from Republican power and generating conflict to stir up greater viewership. Both of these are antithetical to our coming together to solving our economic problems as a nation. They don’t want a solution, they want the status quo to continue because it will keep elevating them at the expense of 99% of Americans. And that “running America off a cliff” thing? No need to worry about falling until you hit the bottom.

So, even though the thrust of the Obama budget is across the board cuts AND tax increases on corporations and the wealthy, the game this time with Obama’s budget is to scream bloody murder only at the cuts to the social programs that impact those with moderate to lower incomes. And to damn the tax increases with the faint praise of “modest tax increases”.

The same “modesty” could be applied to some of these social cuts as well but the manipulation is to try and drive a wedge between those who support Obama and Obama, getting hysterical about the cuts affecting likely Obama supporters and playing down the cuts and taxes that affect Republicans.

It is very cynical and folks had better get used to it because this is what we’ll see a lot more of as 2012 rolls around.

Now we know how HP and other conservative outlets want us to view the President and his financial agenda. Meanwhile, witness an AP article from Yahoo which describes a whole different Planet Earth we’re living on (is HP actually just Bizarro World?):

Obama budget resurrects rejected tax increases

By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama’s budget proposal resurrects a series of tax increases on certain corporations and the wealthy that were largely ignored by Congress when Democrats controlled both chambers. Republicans, who now control the House, are signaling they will be even less receptive.

The plan unveiled Monday includes tax increases for oil, gas and coal producers, investment managers and U.S.-based multinational corporations. The plan would allow Bush-era tax cuts to expire at the end of 2012 for individuals making more than $200,000 and married couples making more than $250,000. Wealthy taxpayers would have their itemized deductions limited, including deductions for mortgage interest, charitable contributions and state and local taxes.

Obama’s proposal would extend tax credits for college expenses and expand them for child care. A more generous Earned Income Tax Credit for families with three or more children would be made permanent.

The plan would enhance and make permanent a popular business tax credit for research and development, and would provide tax breaks for investing in manufacturing and for making commercial buildings more energy efficient.

In all, the budget proposal would impose about $730 billion in new taxes on businesses and wealthy individuals over the next decade, while cutting about $400 billion in taxes on middle-income families, the working poor and other businesses, for a net tax increase of about $330 billion.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., called Obama’s proposal a missed opportunity to address the nation’s fiscal problems.

“We need a government that finally does what every other American has to do in their households and their businesses, and that’s to live within our means,” Cantor said in a statement. “Instead, President Obama’s budget doubles down on the bad habits of the past four years by calling for more taxes, spending and borrowing of money that we simply do not have.”

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110214/ap_on_re_us/us_obama_taxes

Now let’s get this straight, top Republicans oppose Obama’s economic agenda because it allows too much spending on social programs and other government spending. And HP also opposes it? Ain’t hard to figure out who’s going home with whom after last call.

This is why it is so hard for America to ever solve it’s profound problems. When someone tries to do what’s needed, when sacrifice is needed for us to prevail, you have the wealthy who demonize sacrifice, the MSM who exploit the outrage over it for profit and the ordinary American who is fine with sacrifice and is frustrated with why it’s taking others so long to sacrifice instead of them.

There is the same mentality here that blew up our economy. There is a day of reckoning somewhere down the line where our deficit spending will reach a point of no return. Instead of putting down the money vacuums for enough time to assure stability, corporations turn them on at double strength to get all they can before the house collapses. Which of course, hastens the collapse.

It is this sociopathy, this utter lack of conscience and responsibility for how they are ruining the nation and the lives of most Americans in their pursuit of greed that needs to be confronted and attacked on a daily basis.

We have met our domestic enemies, and they are US corporations. Not all corporations but those that undermine our economy, press and democracy to satisfy their insatiable greed.

Al Qaeda destroyed the Twin Towers and thousands of innocent lives. Corporate America has destroyed thousands of neighborhoods and Main Streets all across America and destroyed millions of lives.

It is an undeclared war with a great deal of camouflage, subterfuge, sabotage, false flags, fragging and of course propaganda. This is the true war we’re in, the others pale in comparison and in some cases, are intended to be distractions (“The War on Terror?” How about “The War on Bad Dreams?”).

Corporate America is fighting with everything they’ve got to win this war against the American People and the politicians that represent them. It’s our duty as Americans to accept that challenge and come together to defeat it.

158 COMMENTS

  1. AdLib…I had just written a long reply and comment to you and when I hit submit…..they could not find this website……for over an hour….so all that effort was lost.

    So hopefully this much shorter and more meaningless comment will get through. I thought perhaps Big brother had taken over…….could not get onto any political website, not even HP.

    BRAVO!! thank you for putting this blog out here . It is among the finest and most truthful I have seen. After being at HP exclusively for years and watching people get so pissed off about a tilted headline and not even check the article itself, your observances and words are totally refreshing.

    Needless to say I welcome the facts and am in total agreement…Thank You 🙂

  2. Referring back to the main article: It would be wise to keep a balanced view. For example, Obama has in fact offered a very deep cut in the Low Income heating program that will severely affect huge numbers across the northern part of this country. If it was all cut out you can count on people dying. In the meantime the richest get their tax cuts.

  3. I feel as though there has been too much reaching out and attempt to compromise. The Dems seem to have no message- and when they do, they are tongue-tied.
    Our rights have been compromised by everything from the Patriot Act to the SCOTUS.
    Perhaps the budget is not as grim as it’s presented, but when we are spending as much as every other country combined on the military complex.
    When corporations like Halliburton are in possession of billions of dollars of no-bid contracts, and no one chooses to take an ax to that stinking piece of pork- I give up.
    Bad budget-good budget- it makes no difference..

    I am almost bone-weary from all the controversy and hatred.
    Today is one of those days.
    Today, I will put it all aside and let them kill one another. May nobody win.

    • This posting says at the beginning in part “sober assessments are proving the proposal to be less horrible than advertised.” Why should this President be proposing ANY cuts that are horrible to ANY degree ? That is not why we elected him !

  5. Obama’s mistake (if there was one at all) Would be that he thought he could beat the conservatives using rational plans. Conservatives are addicted to their wealth. They will not fight “rationally” or “fairly” …in any way.

    You can’t “outfox” an enraged, addicted, charging elephant. You can only “blow it away” with equal brute force…

    • Hi Peabody, agree with the first part but another way to outfox a charging elephant is to have planned ahead and camouflaged a trap right where it’s about to stampede.

      Check out what happens with this budget face off, the Repubs stampeding for slashing things that benefit a majority of Americans to preserve tax cuts for a small minority.

      They’re running right into the trap Obama has set for them.

      • AdLib- In my first engineering class the outgoing Industrial Engineering dept. head, a 90 year old guy who instead of using the powerpoint dusted off the overhead projector. He said the way they catch elephants is to dig a circular pit, build a bridge to the center where a pile of bananas is bait, then when the elephants are happily eating you pull the bridge.

  6. AdLib – excellent, well written post that covers so much of how I feel about what really goes on in this country due to the Republican controlled and owned media in this country! They have cleverly managed to spin stories to push their points of views just to score political points, designed to simultaneously fatten theirs and the rich corporate friends pockets – at the expense of the rest of us.

    When I was at HP and watched them with the sensationalized headlines done to constantly bash and discredit President Obama and his administration – I was constantly horrified to always find that Democrats and left leaning posters were so very gullible and bought into a lot of the garbage, and would immediately go on the attack against President Obama. I constantly wrote about the fact that as much as I despised conservatives, I could admire them for being at least loyal to the Republican party, and I’m saying this without in any way intimating that I want Democrats to become sheep-like, mindless followers of our President and the Democratic Party.

    But at some point we have to be a little bit more patient and understand that the grave problems that our President inherited when he took office, couldn’t possibly be fixed in 2 years…..especially considering the fact that he had the misfortune of having to work with an opposition party that clearly has no adults in charge, or anyone who appears to care about fixing the very problems they’re mostly responsible for creating.

    We really have to be smarter about not supporting our President in his efforts to better the lives of all Americans – because as I’ve also often said at HP – if anyone who believes in our Democratic principles think that paving the way for a Republican President in 2012 is worth it, we will all see for ourselves that nothing could be further from the truth.

    I’ve often said I am a strong supporter of President Obama, and I can’t wait to proudly cast my vote for him again in 2012….and I will never deviate from that! Have I been disappointed by President Obama at times? Absolutely, but not enough to not understand appreciate the insurmountable task he has in running the country!

    AdLib, thanks again for your thought-provoking post!

    • I understand the human nature of criticism. I get it. People tend to only see the things they don’t like to see. Not me because of my life story but most people are like that.

      But to hear the Pavlovian responses you hear at HP that this budget makes Obama a secret Republican are pure above the fold hyperbole. Republicans are offering ZERO tax increases and ZERO investments. Not to even mention the GOP are far more draconian in the cuts they are asking. So that simplistic meme is absolutely factually wrong yet it’s repeated over an over like the big lie.

      Again the MSM corporate media including AOL are missing the real story here. Republicans have no strong leader in their ranks and like with HCR I doubt very much they will offer a budget of their own because the Republican establishment and teabaggers never agree on anything. They got elected for jobs jobs jobs and deficit reduction but they still would rather sit on the sidelines not offer anything to stay under the radar and let the media cut Obama with 1000 cuts.

      • Agreed. And I don’t think it’s accidental that the MSM isn’t publicizing that much more accurate story.

        They want Republicans in and Obama out so they can finish the job that was started in the fall of 2008, kill the golden goose, grab all they can and let the masses turn on each other.

        We won’t let that happen, no Repub is winning the WH in 2012, it’s going to be a real fight for the future of this country and there will be a huge wave of people blocking those corporations from advancing any farther on DC.

    • Thanks so much islandleogirl!

      We are indeed on the same wavelength. I have been just as dismayed by the malleability of our colleagues at HP. Now, even after the pied piper of division has revealed herself to be a Republican in Dem clothing…many are still dancing to her tune.

      They have been played, the goal was to undermine Obama and the Progressive agenda and in truth, it did not succeed. Much was accomplished in just 2 years, much more than in most 8 year presidencies.

      But we can’t accept the game of division and hold resentment towards our fellow Dems, we need to unify again to win strongly across the board in 2012.

  7. Another issue is Cay Johnston, tax.com, blogger. He says that families making $6,000 pay 4% in taxes which went up after the December tax deals…This makes no sense at all. While he may be a very well informed tax guy… working with families in that tax bracket, I know that this is a falsehood, and wonder what his agenda could be to spread such lies. Those that make from $6000-$12000 don’t have 4% for taxes and may not pay any taxes at all once they receive child credits.

    He says: Consider a single worker who makes $6,000. That was the average wage of the bottom third of workers in 2009, the Medicare tax database shows. Killing the Making Work Pay credit in favor of the payroll tax cut amounted to a tax increase of $252, or 4 percent of total income.

    I know that the families that I work with do not pay that..so where is he getting this information. According to him, it’s a pdf file he has inserted on his tax.com website.

    Perhaps it’s reality versus academics or it’s just all hyperbole. All of it!

    • I suspect it’s like the so-called “fair tax”, Its insane proposal is based on the current “average” tax of (approx) 27% for a median income. However, poverty-level families curently pay less than that (can’t quote the exact number, but something like 18%.)

      That means the “fair tax” would significantly increase taxes on poverty-income families. Not surpising, since most supporters of the “fair tax” hate the poor….

  9. Hi everyone, just picked this out from the Repubs budget “suggestions”
    Rep Cory Gardner (R-Colo)
    Would DENY salaries to Fed employees who develope HC exchanges under last years HC Bill.
    It is one of a series of amendments aimed at impeding the implementation of the HC Bill.
    Un-effing-believable.
    Are these Repubs naturally stupid or do they have to practise?

  12. Ya gotta love the right wing. From Americans for Tax Reform.

    President Obama released his budget this morning. Rather than focusing on Washington’s over-spending problem, the budget calls for higher taxes on families and small businesses to pay for even more government spending. Under the Obama budget, tax revenues will grow from 14.4% of GDP in 2011 to 20% of GDP in 2021. By comparison, the historical average is only 18% of GDP.
    Tax hike lowlights include:
    Raising the top marginal income tax rate (at which a majority of small business profits face taxation) from 35% to 39.6%. This is a $709 billion/10 year tax hike
    Raising the capital gains and dividends rate from 15% to 20%
    Raising the death tax rate from 35% to 45% and lowering the death tax exemption amount from $5 million ($10 million for couples) to $3.5 million. This is a $98 billion/ten year tax hike
    Capping the value of itemized deductions at the 28% bracket rate. This will effectively cut tax deductions for mortgage interest, charitable contributions, property taxes, state and local income or sales taxes, out-of-pocket medical expenses, and unreimbursed employee business expenses. A new means-tested phaseout of itemized deductions limits them even more. This is a $321 billion/ten year tax hike
    New bank taxes totaling $33 billion over ten years
    New international corporate tax hikes totaling $129 billion over ten years
    New life insurance company taxes totaling $14 billion over ten years
    Massive new taxes on energy, including LIFO repeal, Superfund, domestic energy manufacturing, and many others totaling $120 billion over ten years
    Increasing unemployment payroll taxes by $15 billion over ten years
    Taxing management capital gains in an investment partnership (“carried interest”) as ordinary income. This is a tax hike of $15 billion over ten years
    A giveaway to the trial lawyers—not letting companies deduct the cost of punitive damages from a lawsuit settlement. This is a tax hike of $300 million over ten years
    Increasing tax penalties, information reporting, and IRS information sharing. This is a ten-year tax hike of $20 billion.
    Add it all together, and this budget is a ten-year, $1.5 trillion tax hike over present law. That’s $1.5 trillion taken out of the economy and spent on government instead of being used to create jobs.
    The “tax relief” in the budget is mostly just an extension of present law, and also some refundable credit outlay spending in the tax code. There is virtually no new tax relief relative to present law in the President’s budget.

    Read more: http://www.atr.org/obamas-fy-budgetbr-taxes-more-a5844##ixzz1E0xR2qfb

    • I would love to here from these clowns how taxing international corporation profits take jobs from the US.

      What they totally fail to mention is that all these taxes are not going to be used for any spending. These tax increases are going to be used to make up for the AMT fix. So in essence they are taxes to pay off tax breaks to the middle class. Which mean the net tax increases are really ZERO.

    • So, the RW decries all the giveaways and taxes and the stealth RW (the MSM including HP), claim it’s an attack on Obama’s constituency.

      A scissors action. We need to break them at their hinge, expose the connection. More people are turning off the MSM and turning to the internet and their circle of friends.

      Just like Egypt: The Planet, Facebook, Twitter, let’s use social media to reach, build and educate.

  14. It’s like a drug I say; the dramatics of all the politics since Obama came into office that is. I can’t recall a time when more people were more interested and more involved, which is good and bad. It was like waking up from a nightmare that continued on into reality (The transition of Bush to Obama).

    I mean, so many people are just so in the dark about how everything works… its pretty depressing actually. There is no excuse for it! Here is the whole world of information, right at their fingertips, and still people refuse to inform and educate themselves about the inner workings of this world we live in.

    I’ve never really identified with any one party, because I am more of a Carlinist, George that is. We are the blind, hungry masses willing to be fed any bullshit that sounds slightly appealing all for the sake of entertainment value. You can’t even watch the news anymore, no, instead it gets SOLD to you.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yi6XV8yBFoU

    If I had a dime for every time I’ve tried to get people to watch this and realize it isn’t just a comedian talking, but a man telling you the truth, I’d be in ‘The Big Club.’

    • Kelly, Even though what Carlin says is true, I have trouble picturing myself as one of these completely helpless blindly accepting peons. Of course the “owners” don’t care about me but I don’t care about them either. The people that own this country spend all their time trying to own more of it…one could argue that they’re prisoners too, of their own greed. I don’t care about that stuff. I live a pretty simple life and don’t need a lot of big expensive toys. I’ve got what I need. I don’t want to sit around thinking about all the billions that the “owners” have and that I don’t have — it’s just crazy-making. What would I get from that except to become cynical and hopeless? I don’t want their life, and they’re gonna die one day just like me.

        • That is where I was headed. They all have us chasing this ‘dream’ of owning the biggest TV, the newest phone, the latest version of, well, whatever.

          Meanwhile, our most basic needs aren’t being met for the most part, and we happily ignore those for the sake of having all of those above items that don’t give a person a quality of life.

  15. The worse part is in the noise of the debate thanks to the hysteria key elements of the budget are not even understood. There is a huge tax increase on the rich and big business in the president’s proposal on order of $321 billion over 10 years that will be used to reconcile the AMT which would have come directly from new borrowing.

    But we still hear the narrative “on the heals of extending the Bush tax cut” progressives are mad at the spending cuts. When that extension itself has been mitigated by almost half in the proposed budget.

    • Excellent point, KQ. I haven’t read the budget or even a detailed summary of it. Your post is the first mention I’ve heard of those tax increases. Ed Schultz is on TV right now, bloviating against it. I think he is anyway, I have it muted, which is how I always handle Ed.

  19. I finished reading Michael Moore’s Dude Where’s my Country last week which he wrote in 2003. It was good to read it and be reminded of all the lies told leading up to the wars, regarding the bush tax cuts and how our media was complicit in spreading the lies then. IMO, the media is worse today.

    Our possible salvation, outlets like Current TV and folks like Hal Sparks and his Saturday morning 2 hour show utilizing the web to broadcast as well as radio and TV, at least for now. I’m sure there is plotting in back rooms to eliminate dissenting non right wing voices as I post this without causing an uproar.

  20. Hello!

    Wow! How great to see so many familiar “faces”. Thanks for turning me on to this site via suggestions on HP. And thanks AdLib for not going down the silly inflammatory road that has become the HP main highway.
    The defense spending has me annoyed but I am gonna wait this out and see what the right comes to the tale with…hahaha like that will be a big surprise.

    Oh boy spell check too! dawg knows I needs it. But how do I get my Avi up so people recognize me? (hint I am a Big Cat with blue eyes)okay happy to be here reading some of my favorite posters!

  21. Ah Ha. You can run but you can’t hide. How nice to see so many of hp people on this site. I just signed up & haven’t looked around yet to get the hang of things here. Cher, thanks for letting me know about this site.

  23. And about those Pell Grant cuts, Steve Benen has a lot to say:

    Does the White House plan undercut Democrats’ criticism of the GOP plan? Not really.

    What Republicans are proposing is straight-up slashing of the Pell grant program — those who rely on the grants to pay tuition will just be out of luck. The administration’s proposal only cuts Pell grants for summer classes, and it’s based on the belief that the grants cost more than expected, but didn’t, in practice, produce the intended result (improving graduation rates).

    The administration decided that the answer was no and that eliminating the program was the kind of budget cut that the government should be making, given the deficit. One reason to be skeptical that summer grants are making a big difference is that enrollment in summer classes has risen only marginally in the last year.

    Jonathan Cohn added:

    [I]f Obama gets his way, Pell Grants would provide basically the same academic-year assistance to basically the same population that it does now. The one key difference would be grants for summer tuition. They are a new feature of the Pell Grant program and many low-income students now use them. Obama would eliminate those grants.

    But Obama’s proposed cut comes after two years of bolstering student aid. And it is far smaller than the reduction than the GOP would impose. While House Republicans haven’t provided details of their long-term plans for the program, their rhetoric and their existing proposals suggest they would cut Pell Grant funding at least in half. Awards would drop dramatically, starting with next fall’s grants, and making it difficult if not impossible for millions of students to attend college.

    But all of that is so wonky and boring, right? So much easier to just bellow.

    More here:

    http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/

  24. Rupert Murdoch and Arianna Huffington: walking examples of why we need more stringent immigration control.

    And – I have to say it – all this crap coming down since January 21, 2009 has been because our President is black. Sorry, but that’s true.

    The Right can’t stand the fact that there’s a black man in the White House, who isn’t a waiter; and the ueber Faux Left can’t stand the fact that there’s a black man in the White House who’s smarter than everybody else and who isn’t doing THEIR specific bidding.

    Either way, it’s racist.

    • No question that racism has a lot to do with what’s going on but so does the fact that the corporate candidates, meaning, those who corporations have been investing in for years or heavily vested themselves in, in 2008, lost.

      Yes, Obama has received contributions from corporations but not from the beginning and he also received an enormous amount from the people. He is not wholly owned by them and that is why he has been seen as a serious threat since his election.

      He is not THEIR president, they don’t own the presidency as they have in the past. That makes Obama a huge threat and in 2012, they will do everything they can to stop him because without concern of re-election, they may fear how far he may go to support the people.

      • Ok Adlibe…we can actually discuss the problem of racism here…will wonders never cease.

        🙂

        I agree, racism has been in issue in our nation, since it’s inception, so to pretend it is still not alive and well today, is utterly dishonest.

        Racism and classism is at play. We have a hidden caste system in this nation and until we actually honestly acknowledge these inequities, how are we ever going to solve anything?

        I also think you make a great point about his being a threat to the established status quo…he’s got to work within the system he is in and truly does need the backing of the people, to make real change possible.

        Which is why I support him, even when I don’t agree with him…I remember many of his speeches where he said he needed our help to make things happen. In my opinion, we have to take some incremental steps FIRST and then we can try to make larger changes. HOWEVER, he needs to know WE the people have his back…otherwise he can’t do much as the established order is so entrenched..and they use EVERYTHING at their disposal to keep it that way…including racism, classism, religion and every thing they got!

        • Hi Abby so good to see you.

          My simplistic theory is that the corporations are smart enough to take advantage of the narrow minded views of certain white Americans. Some may call them racists and seeing their signs and interviews it is difficult not to share that view.

          Bottom line IMO Smart, rich corporations taking advantage of low information voters, who seemingly will do the rich guy’s bidding.

    • Marion, you call it racism and right above that you point out the “otherness” of Murdoch and Arianna Huffington. It is not their nation of origin, but the nature of their character, that should be pointed to.
      Besides, you and I are both immigrants, of a kind, and I’ve no doubt we have both (most certainly in my case) experienced prejudice from the closed minded among our host country’s citizens.

  25. The nihilists on the right speak.

    Republicans Respond To Obama Budget: ‘It Would Be Better To Pass Nothing’

    I’m sure they hate the idea of cutting subsidies for big oil, the new bank taxes and increased taxes on the wealthiest going to the middle class. Not to mention the spending increases he proposed.

  26. From an old rant…

    Fire, ice, asteroids, volcanoes, global climate change, pole shifts, war, gay rights, race, religious disputes, oil disasters, financial collapses, American Idol, political parties, Jersey Shore, riots in Greece… they are all bogeymen with which we distract ourselves from the real threat of our time.

    In an age when everyone invents his own truth, there is no community, no commons, only factions and fractures.

    Without community, without a sense of commons, there can be no consensus to resist the greedy, the envious, the cynical, the solipsistic and power-mad narcisists who sieze control and turn the institutions of civilization into a series of doom machines, real or imagined.

    The question each of us needs to ask ourselves is, which side of this very real conflict are we on?

    Do you honestly believe that “every man for himself” and “I’ve got mine” are real answers, and that the civilization that allows you to operate that way is actually beneficial and will be self-sustaining if everyone thinks and behaves that way?

    Or, do you believe that we ARE our brothers’ keepers, and that by fostering that belief, and by building a true commons we can all share in order to prosper, we will all end up in a better world?

    To me, this is the fight, this is what is really underlying all the details we scrap over every day.

    • PW, nicely said! This is the core issue, if Americans can find a way to come back together as a community, so much can be confronted and solved.

      We only have power in solidarity, as individuals vs. billion dollar corporations, we don’t stand a chance. As 99% of America, we could not be defeated or denied.

      That is why the wealthy in this nation are vested in keeping us divided, it is an insurance policy on their maintaining and building control.

      If even 51% of this nation stood up and said, “No more plutocracy!”, the reversal of corporate power would begin.

      We do indeed need the strength that comes from numbers, we really need to come together to solve the big issues that will make our nation, our lives and our futures better.

    • @Pocket Watch: Thanks for your old rant! Suspect most of us here are on the same page, believing that we not only NEED to stand together, but we all WANT to stand together. Wish more of us humans agreed on that. Wisdom is too often wasted by reaching only those wise enough to seek it isn’t it?

    • Fantastic “rant”, PW! This attitude permeates society in every way, at every level and poisons everything it touches, from very small personal interactions to the very big-ticket-items, community, National and International agendas.

      It is this underlying attitude we need to fight. Because it is an idea, an attitude, we fight with words, with talking, communicating with each other, with our friends, fams & neighbors, left, right and center, self-proclaimed progressives and self-proclaimed teapartiers alike. Some people refuse to change, to be educated, but some people can see the light, I believe.

      Thanks for this. It is so well put, would you mind if I cut and paste it and keep it for future debates?

  27. AdLib, I couldn’t agree with you more…there are corporate monsters amongst us who are determined to return to a new feudal order of things…with them in charge of their fiefdoms and the hell with everyone else.

    As you said, not all corporations behave like this, there are good companies out there that recognize their place in the world and want to make money for their shareholders WHILE providing for their employees and being good corporate citizens. BUT for every good company there are just as many that are run by sociopaths who are determined to “win” and amass great power for their own selfish gain, and consequences to the rest of the world are of NO interest to them.

    • You’re right, there are some good corps and CEOs out there but it seems clear that they are in the minority.

      We saw from the economic crash that in general, Wall Street and the banks have no conscience about destroying all around them as long as it means they can fill their pockets fuller.

      They are the most powerful entities in this nation and they are sociopaths (since we’re forced to accept that they are “people”).

      We have to work to wrench the reins of power out of their hands or they will continue to happily ride us off steeper and steeper cliffs.

      • Adlib, I actually lived through such a dichotomy. I went in to business with two men…one wore a white hat, one a black one…the funny thing is the one wearing the white was the bad guy. The black hat was really the good guy, but he didn’t know how to express himself properly and thus many thought he was the bad guy…eventually the guy in the white hat showed his true colors, but by then the damage was done.

        I fear that is what is happening in many businesses today…there is a guy in a white hat who isn’t really what he pretends to be…a false prophet of sorts.

        One of my favorite books is “Wicked” by Gregory McGuire, which tells the story of the Wicked Witch of the West, from her perspective. She really wasn’t wicked, but she looked it and those who really were wicked, looked benign.

        We all need to be careful of false prophets, especially in business.

  28. More facts I could find.

    Department; Total 2011; Total 2012; % Change From 2011.

    Agriculture 147.8 145.6 -1.5

    Commerce 9.2 10.4 13.9

    Defense 772.1 727.4 -5.8

    Education 49.1 68 38.5

    Energy 31.2 27.2 -12.7

    EPA 9.9 8.8 -11.2

    Health and Human Services 895.6 886.8 -1.0

    Homeland Security 43.5 44.3 1.8

    Housing and Urban Development 55.9 47.2 -15.5

    Interior 12.4 11.8 -4.4

    Justice 32.6 31 -5.1

    Labor 149.5 108.8 -27.2

    State 74.2 73.6 -0.7

    Transportation 76.5 128.6 68.1

    Treasury 467.3 520.3 11.4

    Veterans 123.4 129 4.5

    Social Security 803.1 818.3 1.9

    NASA 18.9 18.7 -0.9

    Legislative Branch 4.8 5.2 6.9

    Judiciary 7.3 7.6 4.3

    Army Corps of Engineers 4.9 4.6 -6.1

    Other Agencies 120.7 131.5 8.9

    TOTAL 3,651 3,685 0.9

  29. Isn’t it just possible that some people are genuinely unhappy with the cuts to social spending right on the heels of extending tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans. I simply do not see a vast right-wing conspiracy here, determined to drum up support for the GOP by convincing us that Obama isn’t “lefty” enough for us. :/

    • It doesn’t offset the costs nearly enough but more facts about the proposed budget.

      The largest tax hike proposed for this coming year targets wealthy individuals. Obama hopes to raise about 1 percent of GDP, or roughly $150 billion, by limiting the amount that the rich can deduct from tax bills for things like charitable deductions and mortgage interest. This revenue would be used to provide a three year “patch” on the alternative minimum tax, or AMT. Patching the AMT prevents taxes from going up on the middle class. Congress typically passes a one-year patch every year.

      You know that redistribution of wealth socialist in the white house.

    • Maybe…but the problem is the corporate media (including Huffington Post and MSNBC) who pretend to be progressive FOCUS on these things and exclude anything that might bring TRUTH to the discusion. Thus the attitude that “there is no difference between the parties.” This is exactly what the Republicans want you to think. And many are all too willing to fault our guy first, rather than thinking about the political realities or really take a good hard look at what the Republican are really doing. In truth the Republicans want to freaking KILL us! Wake up!

    • Of course it’s fair and reasonable for people to be unhappy about the cuts on social spending. Put I find it dishonest to only focus on those to engender outrage. It is an across the board cut.

      As to it coming on the heels of the tax cuts for the rich, I’m sure not happy about that but to get any tax cuts passed and make sure unemployment insurance wasn’t cut off, he and Dems in Congress agreed to a two year only continuation.

      It is not the best of all possible worlds, agreed.

      I would suggest that you go over to HP and read their article and let me know if you think it’s content and title is fair about the across the board cuts in Obama’s budget or slanted.

      Please note, HP does not give much attention to ending tax cuts for the wealthy which Obama’s budget addresses. Why is that?