Former UK finance minister Alistair Darling stated yesterday that the punitive taxes his government assessed to executive bonuses had no effect on excessive pay.
Jan Randolph, a UK banking annalyst, added this in an interview with American Media's "Market Place",
It seems that if you want to get at the root of the problem [of excessive executive pay], you're going to have to do much more than just provide an annual tax. And all it's done is provide a little bit more revenue for the government. It hasn't fundamentally changed incentives and behavior.
This was all said with a somber disappointment regarding the effectiveness of the program in curbing executive pay. But this is great news for Mark Dayton and the democrats in the debate over tax policy in fixing our budget crises. Why? Because what this "failed experiment" in the UK is telling us is that raising taxes on the wealthy, even to as high as %50, has little or no economic impact other than to raise revenue for the government. These addition funds can then be invested in programs that DO have a significant economic impact, such as early education or deficit reduction.
I wonder if anybody in the Dayton camp will pick up on this golden trump card? Hmm, probably not.
After posting my 1st blog ever I was exhilarated by the rapidity of which I would learn my very next lesson.
I learned that many of the True Blue, Uber Informed liberals have an ardent allegiance to the parade of mediocre candidates and tepid election campaigns that plague the Democratic party. This lesson really stunned me.
The Minnesota DFL have been getting absolutely schooled by the Republicans for the last 25 years and most of the party faithful are busy pointing fingers at everybody but themselves or touting razor thin victories as a job well done.
Read the writing on the wall. In 2004 Kerry barely took Minnesota. In 2006 we lost the Gubernatorial race in a year of unprecedented Democratic landslides. In 2008, again a year of significant Democratic gains, we actually lost seats in the Minnesota house. And to consider Franken a victory is like saying that winning a coin toss is an accomplishment. It could have gone either way. This trend began in the mid 80's and has culminated in a nut case extremist like Emmer polling in the mid to high 30%'s. That would have never happened 20 years ago. Any one remember how Quist was laughed out of the 92 primary?
REMEMBER PEOPLE! THIS WAS A SOLIDLY BLUE STATE AT ONE TIME!!
When will it dawn on the DFL to try something different? Getting better phone systems or knocking more doors in key areas has its limitations. Those of you who do the work in a campaign know what its like talking to the Delegate, who is active and informed, as well as average voter, who is disengaged and ill-informed. What rank and file Democrats complain about most is not our policies or our tactics, its our message and our strategies. Instead of trying to win public office we should be trying to win over public opinion.
Our enemy isn't Emmer, or Pawlenty, or Coleman. Our biggest enemy is the public perception of who we are.
Turning on the news, we know the 1st thing we're gonna hear from any right of center talking head; "Big Government, Higher Taxes" . Every stinking time no matter the speaker, the topic or the venue, it's always the same statement. And do you know what the Democrat is going to say? NO. You don't know. Because nobody knows. But you DO know what you WON'T hear. You won't hear an effective marginalization of the right wing mantra. You won't hear a consistent or compelling argument for better ideas.
Change needs to come from the bottom and that is as true in the Minnesota DFL as it is in Washington. And speaking truth to power is as important, if not more so, in our own circle of friends as it is in the greater population. Because of that I've learned that I want to use this blog to help change the debate, help shift the perception, help make Minnesota a center-left state again.I don't see it happening by digging up more examples of how the Republicans are myopic, corrupt, greed mongering liars. That's just not a news flash. I believe we need to change the message to show that we want to move in a direction that is more prosperous, peaceful and free for our state and our country. Hopefully some of you feel the same way or I'll just sound like one more ranting lunatic on a cyber soap box.
Paul Krugman had a column yesterday in the New York Times about the unfairness of the current round of attacks on Social Security.
Krugman ends with this ringing call to action:
So let's beat back this unnecessary, unfair and - let's not mince words - cruel attack on working Americans. Big cuts in Social Security should not be on the table. *
It's a good read and worth your time.
But what too many such articles don't focus on is how we got here and the basic fact that current proposals to unilaterally renegotiate the terms of Social Security eligibility and payments represent:
1. A betrayal of a promise used to justify 30 years of tax increases on the middle and lower income workers in America.
2. An almost inconceivable assumption that the US Treasury Bonds held by the Social Security Trust Fund are worthless or toxic assets (an assumption that could undermine faith in our country's willingness and ability to make good on its debt to other lenders that hold those same assets (including China and Japan) which could trigger the very soveriegn debt crisis that is used as justification for fiscal parsimony and poltical fear-mongering.
My last article focused on the economy and how to grow business. In my second run for State Representative, I have heard some say, "Why can't government run more like a business?" The concept is strange because most businesses fail within five years. The question most mean is, "Why can't government cut back expenses?"
The Humphrey Institute poll just released information that Mark Dayton leads the DFL race for governor over both Matt Entenza and Margaret Anderson Kelliher.
http://minnesota.publicradio.o...
The poll included 701 Minnesota adults. It was taken May 13 - 16, 2010. Some think that the result is a slap in the face to the DFL party, since Dayton is not the endorsed candidate and since he did not pursue the endorsement at all.
On the other hand, Mark Dayton has always been very popular among Minnesota Democrats for his 34 years of public service to Minnesotans. He has a very strong history of truly caring about Minnesota and the issues we face.
Dayton has served Minnesotans as a legislative assistant to Sen. Walter Mondale (1975-76), on the staff of then-Governor Rudy Perpich (1977-1978), and was the Commissioner of Economic Development (1978). Next he served as Minnesota Commissioner of Energy and Economic Development (1983-1986) and was Minnesota state auditor from 1991-1995. He was elected to the Senate in 2000, defeating Republican incumbent Rod Grams.
(Mr. Cox writes: "Republicans certainly did no harm to those at the top. Everyone else pretty much got creamed." -- yep. - promoted by TwoPuttTommy)
By Wayne Cox
Governor Tim Pawlenty and Republican leader Rep. Kurt Zellers gave one of their "black is white" press briefings after Pawlenty agreed to a budget deal Sunday night. They claimed the principle they followed in the budget deal was "do no harm."
That must mean no harm to Governor Pawlenty's hope of gaining the Republican nomination for President. Most Minnesotans, however, will find tough times just got tougher--for vulnerable people, for businesses, for hospitals, for cities, for school children, for jobs and for taxpayers.
By rejecting the Medicaid option, Governor Pawlenty blocked efforts to do right by the tens of thousands of Minnesotans he had placed in health care limbo. He rejected a plan that would have returned financial stability to health care and hospital services. He rejected the 20,000 private sector jobs that the plan the DFL sought would have provided. He turned his back on $1.4 billion of desperately needed federal dollars. He seems to think federal aid is tainted money. He's right. It's money that taint coming here.
That's the amount Minnesota Senate Democrats are proposing to cut the state's $2.7 billion budget gap by tax increases. The rest would be in spending cuts and shifting payments. Yet, Governor Tim "Read My Lips" Pawlenty repeated his threat to veto any bill that included any tax increase, going as far as telling commissioners to prepare for a government shutdown.
What the matter, T-Paw? You worried you won't be invited to any more Teabagger parties if you budge a little on this? I think the Senate meeting you a little better than half way here.
Let's face it, $2.3 billion in cuts are still going to be painful and will surely effect some of the state's most vulnerable. So I'm sure your reputation will still be safe.
My advice, Tim, is to this offer and run with it. Hell, at will give your anti-tax buddies something to run on, this election.
The MN legislature is apparently planning to pass a budget package, with something of a balanced approach, again, and here's what MN Governor Tim Pawlenty had to say, again:
"The DFL's proposed tax increase is like Jason in 'Friday the 13th' - it's scary and it keeps coming back.
"I know the DFL doesn't look to me for advice but here's a tip: people want government spending cut, not taxes increased.
"The DFL tax increase plan would give Minnesota the fifth highest income tax rate in the country, would deter small businesses from growing jobs, and would lead to more unemployed Minnesotans. I look forward to vetoing this DFL tax increase."
This article has all the ways people want "government spending cut:"
And here are results of Gallup's polling, over the years, regarding what "people want" in the matter of making the rich man start to pay up. Is Timmy deliberately lying, or just ignorant and stupid? Does it matter?
Here is Marty Seifert's seven point plan for our state. This is what will be enacted in Minnesota should Seifert be elected governor. After reading it, I'd like your input as to which of these points are the scariest for not only Democrats but for Minnesota as a whole.
(Thanks to BP for the post and check out his blog, Bullied Pulpit. - promoted by The Big E)
The STrib reports that Gov Pawlenty spoke at a conservative anti-tax group in Iowa Saturday. He touched on all the usual anti-tax, anti-spending points that are standard GOP fare these days. In particular, he hit on a favorite idea of his, an "economic bill of rights" that would require the federal budget to be balanced and a super-majority in congress to raise taxes or the debt level. He also spoke of the need to make permanent the entirety of the Bush tax cuts.
I'll take a close look at these proposals below the fold.
Despite not finding any temp work over the holidays, 2009 wasn't a bad year for me income wise. The pension came through like usual, thanks to Obama's actions that moved the stock market up and kept many pension funds solvent. I also, thanks to Obama and the DFL majority in congress, received some unemployment.
But none of that was subject to witholding, so over the past few days I've seen just how much I'm paying in income taxes... And wondering if I'm getting my money's worth?
It's Tax Day! Time for protests and rallies and...
Well, not really. April 15th is the deadline for filing your federal tax return. It's a requirement, but for most of us it's the deadline for finding out how much we've overpaid last year's taxes and are thus owed. That new fence you've been thinking about installing? Maybe you'll get a big enough chunk back to afford it. Maybe you've underpaid your share of the burden and owe a little bit. That happens; adjust your withholding rate a bit next year.
Of course, the simple, not-so-exciting reality of the day doesn't stop the zealots and crusaders from decrying federal overreach and evil Obamaism. Most of the folks showing up at the Tea Party rally today in St. Paul probably won't be able to accurately gauge how much average families pay in taxes each year, and likely don't know or don't care that tax rates for 2009 actually went down under the Obama Administration's economic stimulus program.
There's also the "47% of Americans don't pay federal income taxes ZOMGZ" canard. Yeah, about that...
Focusing on the statistical middle class - the middle 20 percent of households, as ranked by income - underlines this point. Households in this group made $35,400 to $52,100 in 2006, the last year for which the Congressional Budget Office has released data. That would describe a household with one full-time worker earning about $17 to $25 an hour. Such hourly pay is typical for firefighters, preschool teachers, computer support specialists, farmers, members of the clergy, mail carriers, secretaries and truck drivers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Taking into account both taxes and tax credits, the average household in this group paid a total income tax rate of just 3 percent. A good number of people, in fact, paid no net income taxes. They are among the alleged free riders.
But the picture starts to change when you look not just at income taxes but at all taxes. This average household would have paid 0.8 percent of its income in corporate taxes (through the stocks it owned), 0.9 percent in gas and other federal excise taxes, and 9.5 percent in payroll taxes. Add these up, and the family's total federal tax rate was 14.2 percent.
Tax policy is an incredibly complex area of our public discourse. It's easy to sit back and say "Leave me alone with my hard-earned money!" and more difficult to explain how the taxes we pay repair roads, support schools, and support programs that the Tea Party activists themselves claim to love and support, like Medicare, Social Security, and (gasp!) the military.
And yet we must strive to explain that a balanced approach -- sometimes a new program requiring new revenue is the right way, other times efficiencies can be found in government by deleting or combining programs -- is better than the black-and-white, absolutist approach.
Each and every one of us paying our fair share for the things we all value is part of what America's all about.
The Tea Party Express sure has been making a lot of noise lately, especially here in Minnesota, and ever since the politically impossible became possible when the Obama Administration-backed and Democratically lead Congress passed Health Care Reform and it recently became law of the land.
So what is the Tea Party Express national bus tour all about, anyway? Well, according to their website, the purpose of the tour is to "highlight some of the worst offenders in Congress who have voted for higher spending, higher taxes, and government intervention in the lives of American families and businesses." Their slogan is, "Just Vote Them Out."
With all the images of Tea Partiers carrying guns, signs of Obama as Stalin/Hitler/pick your favorite socialist or dictator, and shouts of "baby killer", "Armageddon," and "anti-Christ," at the rallies, I could help but wonder, "that's it?". On Wikipedia, their positions and goals are summed up in two sentences "...constitutionally limited government generally,[12][13] and more specifically is anti-stimulus,[14] anti-deficit,[15] anti-bailout[16] and anti-health reform."
OK then, I get it. No taxes, hence the April 15th rally at the nation's capital, and pretty much against anything else our government is trying to do for the people based on what the majority of folks actually voted for. Wow. I really miss the days of 2008 when a lot of my friends, oh so young and idealistic, were a part of the Ron Paul Revolution, and we had real substantive debates about inflation, the Federal Reserve (they converted me on that one), monetary policy, excise taxes, cuts in spending (including military), tariffs, civil liberties, and even health care. We often found common ground, like breaking up the government-enforced monopolies of HMOs and pharmaceutical companies, over a pint of friendly beer.
So who the heck is Ron Paul, anyway, and where is he? He used to be "America's #1 defender of individual liberty fighting for us in the nation's capitol!" Dr. Paul is a physician and Republican Congressman for the 14th congressional district of Texas, and made a spirited run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, when I first heard of him. He was sort of like the Dennis Kucinich of the right field. You know, a true maverick.
On the surface, Ron Paul seems like the perfect leader for the Tea Party movement; he's experienced nationally, extremely bright and knowledgeable of the issues, has a great Netroots base and is a surprisingly strong fundraiser. He even one this year's coveted Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) presidential straw poll, eking out Mitt Romney who won the prize the previous three years. Paul seems like a Libertarian's Republican, and is pretty candid in front of the cameras for that red meat 24-hour cable news factor, O'Reilly or otherwise. Well maybe that's the problem.
You see, today's Tea Party "leaders" (speakers) are more about getting air-time then getting results for the country. It's really just a front for Dick Army to raise large sums of money for his PAC to elect even more far-right Republicans of the status quo. If this was a true revolutionary movement (democratic and nonviolent), then why won't Rep. Ron Paul be caught dead near one of their rallies? Or maybe he was never invited?
In a fairly recent interview, Ron Paul noted that, "Neocon issues in public policy are not exactly dead these days," and, "Everybody likes to join what looks like a popular movement, then they want to come in and influence that movement," Paul continued. So don't expect Sarah Palin to be advocating to end to drug war, or to have the Federal Reserve Bank audited any time soon. Never mind a thoughtful discussion on foreign policy, border security, or energy policy. It's all still "drill, baby, drill" from here on out for the Tea Party People, as Sarah Palin spouted today in her key note speech at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference.
At least Ron Paul will be on all those serious news shows, like Kucinich still is from time to time, right? Well, Fox News, Limbaugh, Beck, etc. seem keep his voice down and the Bachmann's and Palin's of the world at full volume. Just sit back and watch, Republicans and the Tea Party will actually protect the Fed, Wall Street and the Banksters in the next-up national debate on financial services reform, justifying much-needed regulation as a "government takeover." Yawn. We could really use a substantive debate from conservatives and libertarians right now. However, we've been getting pretty much a watered-down version from some centrist and corporate Democrats.
And that's a shame. Not so much for Progressives like myself, who's voice has been pretty coherent and unified as of late, but rather for the thousands who attend these Tea Party rallies who have legitimate concerns about the role of government. It's really too bad they don't have any new ideas to address those concerns, other than "just vote them out," although Ron Paul certainly does. Instead it's just the same old, same old, Tom Delay/George W. Bush ideas of the past. But this time, the difference is lipstick.
Less than a month ago the taxpayers paid for a slick campaign mailer from Erik Paulsen masquerading as a Health Care Survey sent out after the House had voted! This "survey" was part of Paulsen's $413,000 expenditure of taxpayer funds, the third highest in the whole House.
Today I received another "Survey," this one for seniors. He wants to know if I would serve on an Advisory Committee and if I'm in favor of one of the Republicans favorite red herrings - a Constitutional Amendment requiring balanced federal budget, Oh yes, there is a question about protecting Medicare. Otherwise it's pure campaign, as slick as the government can buy.
Apparently his concern for government expenditures does not include his reelection campaign. Of course he hangs on to his socialized medical care courtesy of the taxpayer.
Recent sage, learned commentary about the lying, rich man's bootlicker that is MN Gov. Tim Pawlenty:
- The Mesabi Daily News is unhappy about TBag and an ally raiding the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board fund as part of his budget proposal.
- The Cucking Stool, on TPaw and education. I don't know that he and other conservatives really want to 'destroy' public education. But they'd certainly like to see it include a much larger helping of right-wing indoctrination, especially in the early grades. In fact, that may be about the only chance for the long-term survival of 'movement conservatism.'
The Tea Party Express sure has been 
Recent sage, learned commentary about the lying, rich man's bootlicker that is MN Gov. Tim Pawlenty:
