June 2, 2013

5 Policy No-Brainers for the GOP

Dear GOP,

I hear you talk about fiscal austerity and repealing Obamacare on a daily basis. You've voted to repeal Obamacare (and health insurance for 30 million people) 37 times now. In 2010 it was "jobs, jobs, jobs," and now it is "scandals, scandals, scandals." Well here are some no-brainer bills you could pass today and maybe win back a bit of credibility.

1. Investing in education. Education is the key to the future of the economy, and should be a right for all citizens. The educated make more money, and contribute more tax revenue over their lives. They also contribute more to the private economy. But schools need money and resources to do their job. It's a no-brainer!

2. Keeping low interest rates on student loans. Subsidized loans allow students an affordable education. I know your position is that colleges have a liberal bias and that only the rich should have an education, but the economics don't lie. Students are already paying that money back to the government with interest, and then go on to make more money to contribute more to the economy and tax coffers of the government. Easy peasy.

3. Immigration reform. You see, illegal immigrants can live in the country and pay no taxes. Aside from the obvious moral reasons to allow a path to citizenship (especially for college graduates with student visas), there is an economic argument to be made here too.

4. Infrastructure investment. What allowed the economy to boom after World War II was the infrastructure investment under the likes of Eisenhower (a Republican, notably). He left office in 1961 (52 years ago), and that infrastructure is outdated and crumbling. You cannot outsource the construction jobs it will take to make the improvements that are desperately needed.

5. Invest in science. What is the driver of an economy? Innovation, and doing it BEFORE other countries get the patents. This will solve the problems of disease, our energy crisis, the global warming crisis (which IS real), allow us to explore and colonize space, and more. Austerity has led to cutbacks in this critical research while the rest of the world plows ahead. Don't you want America to be a leader? Not to mention the jobs innovation leads to: there are jobs today that didn't exist a decade ago because of breakthroughs in technology.

These should be no-brainers that we can all agree on and that will produce real results that will improve the economy and create jobs. Will you come out against it, and focus on bogus scandals and repealing Obamacare again?

Sincerely,

TOL

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May 14, 2013

Jon Stewart Rips Fox for Hyping Benghazi Part 2

After ignoring 54 attacks and 13 deaths against U.S. diplomatic targets under the Bush Administration, the Right are pushing Benghazi as bigger than Watergate. What does that make Bush? Jon Stewart takes them to task for their insanity.

See Part 1 here.

The Daily Show with Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Bill O'Reilly Gets Mean
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May 9, 2013

Jon Stewart Rips Fox for Hyping Benghazi Hearings

(Watergate + Iran-Contra) x 10 = Benghazi? Not so, according to Jon Stewart. He takes on the needless speculation which the right-wing media have been hyping for months with nothing behind it. Watch the clip below.

See Part 2 here.

The Daily Show with Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The Big Benghazi Theory
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full EpisodesIndecision Political HumorThe Daily Show on Facebook

The Daily Show with Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The Big Benghazi Theory - "If"
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full EpisodesIndecision Political HumorThe Daily Show on Facebook


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January 1, 2013

Happy New Year! (Or Perhaps Not So Much)

News broke last night of a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff. With just 3 hours to go, Congress finally got their job done. Not that the bill was voted on, but the first is a federal holiday, and no markets are open to trade. So the sequester will not happen and the markets won't have to react to bad news when they resume later this week. Congress will return and (hopefully) pass the bill to avoid this all happening. Millions won't see a tax rise, and millions won't go without their unemployment benefits (which they have paid into all their careers, by the way).

Which is all fine and dandy. Except in a couple of months, we'll face another fight to raise the debt ceiling. In any sane universe, it wouldn't even be a question (especially after we've defaulted once and the GOP have seen the consequences): we pay our bills. The debt ceiling isn't a penny of new spending, it is paying for what we've already bought. We'll face a fight. We will wait to the last second, and maybe even go over the cliff again. This is the new normal in Washington: we'll keep setting up these scenarios where we'll keep risking self-inflicted wounds, whether it is defaulting by not raising the debt ceiling or bombing the economy by budget sequestering.

Cliff-diving is the new normal. I hope you like the adrenaline, and I hope you brought a parachute. Happy New Year, folks.


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November 27, 2012

I Am the 51 Percent

Many of you reading this are my Facebook fans. I try to keep an anonymous, low profile because of the career field in which I work. But here are some things you should know about me.

I am a college student, studying music education.

I am underemployed, working in a minimum wage job.

I want to be a teacher because I love working with children, I believe their successful education is the key to our future as a nation, and because I am passionate about music and the life skills it teaches.

My minimum wage job is as an office temp work-study position on campus.

I believe that teachers should have the right to collectively bargain, and that they should have the resources to allow their students to blossom. I believe the government should invest in education, as it is doing for me through Pell Grants, student loans, and through the work study program. The future of our country is dependent on a well-educated work force.

To Wall Street, I am the 99%. To the GOP, I'm the 47%. But I am actually 51%. The 51% of Americans who believe in change. Who believe government can give a leg up to people like me. Who believe that social programs like Social Security have done their job in keeping the elderly out of crushing poverty. Who believe everyone should have access to health care. Who believe in workers' rights, collective bargaining and living wages. Who believe that education is they way to prosperity. And who believe we need to reach prosperity responsibly, without damaging the environment or risking the entire economy. I am the 51%, the 332 electoral votes which reelected Barack Obama in a landslide victory. And I believe in America.

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