Majority of tea partiers support extending tax cuts and unemployment benefits

Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 passes
(Dan here: I am traveling right now and am posting things late or maybe not as tidy as I would like. But posts are coming.) by Linda Beale Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 passes crossposted with Ataxingmatter No big surprise here.  The House on December 16 passed the Senate-approved TRA by a vote of 277-148, clearing it for the President's signature.  The bill extends the Bush Tax Cuts for two years and reduces the number of estates ...

Dave Johnson: The Debt-Ceiling Threat To Gut The Things Government Does For Us
This post originally appeared at Campaign for America's Future (CAF) at their Blog for OurFuture. I am a Fellow with CAF. The country's huge Debt was caused by Tax Cuts for the rich and increases in Military Spending. But debt-cutting recommendations from the D.C. Elite never suggest restoring taxes on the rich and cutting Military Spending. Go figure. Instead they suggest cutting the things government does for We, the People. The D.C. Elite is not We, the People. Let's stop this in its tracks...

Happy Holidays to the Super Rich
Happy Holidays to the Super Rich Tuesday, 12/21/2010 - 12:54 pm by Bryce Covert | Post a Comment Are you in the top of Income Distribution in the US? Then happy holidays! You just got a nice fat gift from your government. Roosevelt Institute Senior Fellow Thomas Ferguson talked to the Real News Network about President Obama’s Tax Cut deal with the Republicans, which he just signed into law. Who comes out on top in that bargain? Tom says, “The super rich. That’s obvious.̶...

Warner, Chambliss push deficit commission recommendations
Despite the general failure of the catfood commission to fulfill its mission, coming in neither on time nor with the number of votes it needed, Washington appears ready to embrace it as though it had come up with real solutions for getting the nation back on track, like creating actual investment in jobs and infrastructure. But no, slash and burn is in vogue, and that's what the "Bipartisans" on Capitol Hill intend to do. Here's the latest. Sens. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) ...

Unemployment Checks Resume For Some Jobless While Others Go Without For Holidays
Ken Watson said the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services notified him Sunday that on Monday he'd receive the Unemployment checks Congress kept from him with its dithering the past two weeks. "I didn't know what they were gonna do," said Watson, a 46-year-old laid-off IT contractor with five kids in Batavia, Ohio. "I didn't really count on it coming back." More than a million people relying on federally-funded extended Unemployment Benefits had their checks interrupted after Congress all...

Poll: Tax bill popular, though most say it does too much for wealthy
Opinion Research Corporation for CNN. 12/17-19. 1,000 American adults. MoE 3%. Congress has passed and President Obama has signed into law a bill that would extend Tax Cuts for all Americans, reduce the Estate Tax, extend Unemployment Benefits, and reduce the Social Security tax that workers pay. Taking into account all of those provisions, do you favor or oppose that bill? Favor: 75% Oppose: 23% Do you think that bill does too much for wealthy Americans, does about the right amount, or does ...

CNN Poll Shows GOP Won Far Better Deal on Tax Extension
The latest CNN Poll (PDF) is amazing proof that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell got a much better bargain than President Obama on the Bush Tax Cut deal. According the poll the major “concession” Obama won from Republicans — an extension of Unemployment Benefits — is extremely popular. A full 76 percent of respondents favor the extension while only 22 percent oppose. What Obama received in turn from McConnell was Republicans “willingness” to support an extreme...

Support for Tax Cuts, Except for the Wealthy
An overwhelming majority of Americans support the Bush tax-cut Compromise that President Obama brokered with Republican congressional leaders, a new CNN/Opinion Research survey finds -- though Americans have wide-ranging views on the compromise's individual provisions. Some 75% of respondents said they like the deal, and 23% said they oppose it. When it comes to individual provisions, respondents said they overwhelmingly favor extending the Bush Tax Cuts for family income up to $250,000, 89% to...

While Americans Support Tax Deal, Majority Says It Does Too Much for the Wealthy
Now that the deal extending the Bush-era Tax Cuts for all Americans, including high-income earners is a reality, here is the verdict from the public, according to a new CNN/Opinion Research poll: 56 percent says it does too much for wealthy Americans compared to 35 percent who say its treatment of them is "about right." Nine percent said it did not do enough for them. But overall, when the package negotiated between the White House and congressional Republicans is taken as a whole, 75 percent su...

Senators Hatch & Lugar Targets In 2012?
I’d like to think this is a rhetorical question, but somehow I get the feeling that Politics Daily correspondent Tom Diemer honestly hasn’t seen the handwriting on the wall. “Does the Tea Party movement have senior Republican Sens. Orrin Hatch and Dick Lugar in its crosshairs?  Sen. Orrin Hatch would have plenty of piano time in Retirement A conservative-leaning Washington Tabloid says Hatch and Lugar — both Veterans of 3½ decades on Capitol Hill — should ...

Bipartisan Group Aims to Revive Deficit Reduction Plans
Talk of reducing the Deficit fell by the wayside this month when President Obama unveiled a plan to extend all of the Bush Tax Cuts -- but a Bipartisan pair of senators are reportedly hoping to revive the Deficit discussion next year. Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia and Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia have been leading a group of more than 20 senators in a discussion about Deficit reduction for months now. The group quietly deliberated over the issue while a Bipartisan comm...

Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 passes
(Dan here: I am traveling right now and am posting things late or maybe not as tidy as I would like. But posts are coming.) by Linda Beale Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 passes crossposted with Ataxingmatter No big surprise here.  The House on December 16 passed the Senate-approved TRA by a vote of 277-148, clearing it for the President's signature.  The bill extends the Bush Tax Cuts for two years and reduces the number of estates ...

FCC Passes Net Neutrality
Article I Section 1 of the US Constitution states very clearly “All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.” Article I Section 7 explains the lawmaking process very clearly. Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not ...

Larry David "praises" tax cuts for rich in NY Times
The liberal television icon took to the editorial pages of the New York Times on Tuesday to declare -- sarcastically -- that his life was finally getting better now that the Obama administration has extended Bush-era Tax Cuts for two years. "There is a God! It passed! The Bush Tax Cuts have been extended two years for the upper bracketeers, of which I am a proud member, thank you very much ... This is a life changer," David wrote in a missive headlined "Thanks for the Tax Cut!" Forbes Magazine ...

9/11 health bill passage could come tomorrow
The Senate is expected to clear a procedural hurdle Wednesday that could lead to final passage of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act later in the day. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has assured both New York senators a vote on the bill will occur after the Senate finishes work on the START nuclear arms treaty with Russia. That’s expected to happen either late in the afternoon or early evening Wednesday. New York Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand ha

Saving Social Security: Stopping Obama's Next Bad Deal
President Obama insists that he is a really bad negotiator, therefore the deal he got on the 2-year extension of the Bush Tax Cuts and the 1-year extension of Unemployment benefits was the best that he could do. This package also came with a 1-year cut in the Social Security tax. This cut will seriously threaten the program's finances if next year, the Republican Congress is no more willing to end a temporary tax cut than this year's Democratic Congress. The logic here is straightforward. Und...

Saving Social Security: Stopping Obama's Next Bad Deal
President Barack Obama signs the Tax Cut Compromise bill on December 17, 2010. (Photo: Chuck Kennedy / Official White House Photo) President Obama insists that he is a really bad negotiator, therefore, the deal he got on the two-year extension of the Bush tax cuts and the one-year extension of Unemployment Insurance benefits was the best that he could do. This package also came with a one-year cut in the Social Security tax. This cut will seriously threaten the program's finances if, next year,...

Saving Social Security: Stopping Obama's Next Bad Deal
Monday 20 December 2010 by: Dean Baker, t r u t h o u t | News Analysis President Obama insists that he is a really bad negotiator, therefore, the deal he got on the two-year extension of the Bush Tax Cuts and the one-year extension of Unemployment Insurance benefits was the best that he could do. This package also came with a one-year cut in the Social Security tax. This cut will seriously threaten the program's finances if, next year, the Republican Congress is no more willing to end a temp...

Unemployment benefits extension in tax-cut deal only goes so far
While Bipartisan tax Legislation signed by President Obama on Friday reinstates Unemployment Benefits for about 1 million it doesn't provide any additional help for those who have exhausted all 99 weeks. The $858 billion measure provides for an extension of federal Unemployment Benefits through the end of 2011 but only for those who have exhausted their 26 weeks of state jobless Insurance or who are working their way through the federal tiers. The White House, Democratic lawmakers and advoca...

31 States Have Borrowed Money From Federal Government To Cover Unemployment Benefits
Over the weekend CBS ran a fantastic piece about the impending financial collapse of State Governments. Add into the mix this report indicating that 31 states have now had to borrow money from our bankrupt Federal Government, which in turn is borrowing it from international creditors, to pay the bill for expanded Unemployment Benefits: Since the current Recession began, 31 states have borrowed just under $40 billion from the federal government to fill their depleted Unemployment trust funds. It ...

31 States Have Borrowed Money From Federal Government To Cover Unemployment Benefits
Over the weekend CBS ran a fantastic piece about the impending financial collapse of State Governments. Add into the mix this report indicating that 31 states have now had to borrow money from our bankrupt Federal Government, which in turn is borrowing it from international creditors, to pay the bill for expanded Unemployment Benefits: Since the current Recession began, 31 states have borrowed just under $40 billion from the federal government to fill their depleted Unemployment trust funds. It ...

32 states borrow billions from feds to cover unemployment benefits...
BY MALIA ZIMMERMAN - Hawaii has applied to be the 32nd state to borrow from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration to pay state Unemployment Benefits. Hawaii will temporarily take up to $30 million this December to cover payments to the state’s 17,000 unemployed workers who lost their jobs within the last 26 weeks. That is the beginning of what will likely be an 18-month borrowing streak, says State Department of Labor and Industrial Relations Interim D...

How Our Trillion-Dollar Empire Is the Cause of Our 'Deficit Problem'
We could make the Budget Deficit disappear and fully fund Social Security and Medicare without raising taxes, if we only outspend our biggest Military rival by threefold. Joshua Holland AlterNet December 8, 2010 | The United States spends more on its Military and security services than the rest of the world combined, yet in the midst of a major debate over our fiscal situation, that enormous drain on our national treasure isn't really "on the table" in any serious way. Obama's Deficit commiss...

Government liabilities rose $2 trillion in FY 2010: Treasury
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government fell deeper into the red in fiscal 2010 with net liabilities swelling more than $2 Trillion as commitments on government Debt and federal benefits rose, a U.S. Treasury report showed on Tuesday. The Financial Report of the United States, which applies corporate-style accrual Accounting methods to Washington, showed the government's liabilities exceeded assets by $13.473 trillion. That compared with a $11.456 Trillion gap a year earlier. Unlike the norm...

How Our Trillion-Dollar Empire Is the Cause of Our 'Deficit Problem'
Sign up to stay up to date on the latest headlines via email. The United States spends more on its Military and security services than the rest of the world combined, yet in the midst of a major debate over our fiscal situation, that enormous drain on our national treasure isn't really "on the table" in any serious way. Obama's Deficit commission recommended cutting the Pentagon's purse, but the thrust of its focus was on Veterans' pensions and health-care -- rather than, say, mai...