While there are a pile of partially reported news items taking up the media landscape right now, we wanted to point out today two major issues: one that isn't being talked about but should be, and one that will likely a get lot of attention - and really shouldn't.
The news item you're not hearing a lot about, from any media outlet (except maybe this one), is the growing level and type of issues from veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.
In the links we provide with our daily e-mail edition, we regularly point out both positive news and negative news about what our vets are facing when they come home and leave military service - like the unemployment stats for recent vets. The sad fact is, no one really knows if the most recent dip in unemployment for veterans is a trend or a data mistake, because we haven't had enough months of real data to make that call. Either way, that rate is far higher than we think it should be.
The last thing our service members need from Americans who haven't recently served - or who never served - is to have to fight, when they get home, to get the benefits those servicemebers earned by doing the dirty business of our nation. Yet we keep seeing stories of Iraq and Afghanistan vets whose disability claims have been buried under a mountain of paperwork, or who've been looking for a job for several years now and still can't find one. If you're looking for stories of how badly America is failing its recent veterans - in both the public and private spheres - you won't have to look far.
It's not as though we didn't know these service members were coming home. Yet, we haven't prepared for their homecoming needs, as a nation - a fact that will be hitting us like a blast from outer space, very soon. But we doubt there will be any major media coverage of this sad fact - or any major movement from any political party to fix this issue.
What you will find a great deal of coverage of, over the next few months, are the exploits of a rich white man, that few people trust, trying to bully the current President of the United States, and anyone else that gets in his way - namely, Mitt Romney.
What else would you call a man who just a few years ago bragged about being a progressive-minded Republican, but on Tuesday pandered to an extremist right-wing media group, claiming there's now a 'vast left wing conspiracy' aligned against him?
This is the same man who actively went after the endorsement of right-wing extremist rock star Ted Nugent - but now that Nugent has threatened death if President Obama wins again in November, Romney is disavowing any connection with the extremist rocker, hunter, and commentator. Nugent isn't the only conservative figure on the right Romney is throwing under the bus, now that his path to the Republican nomination seems clear.
Kansas Secretary of State and well-known anti-immigration activist, Kris Kobach, has been a major advisor to Mitt Romney on his immigration policies. Yet, now that Romney is the presumptive nominee for the Republican Party, the Romney campaign has tossed Kobach under the metaphorical campaign bus, in an obvious attempt to pivot back towards the political center.
On top of all this, now Romney's campaign has said that they are going to be literally following President Obama around, trying to get in his face, like a rich-boy bully, every day, for the foreseeable future. Romney could simply request a debate, or go around the country promoting his own best qualities. Instead, Romney will be chasing after Obama in real life, just as he is in many polls.
Mitt Romney's history of being on all sides of every issue - being as untrustworthy as the worst smarmy used car salesman you can imagine - is well known, and really shouldn't be in the news on a daily basis. It surprises us how any Republican who values honesty can even support Romney, knowing his history. Yet, Mitt will be the GOP nominee for president this year, whether Republicans like it or not, as we noted nearly a year ago.
Now, both of these stories - the needs of our veterans and Mitt Romney's increasingly untrustworthy actions - are important.
But we all know which one we Americans should truly be focusing our energies upon - and which one will be receiving more media attention over the next year.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Taxing Thoughts
Today, in the United States, it's Tax Day 2012, the last day that Americans can legally submit their completed income tax returns - or, if you're like Mitt Romney, the last day to get an extension until nearly the end of the Presidential campaign, which he may very well extend again past the end of the campaign.
There are a great many Americans thinking about important topics like taxes and tax fairness today - though we highly doubt you'll be hearing much honest discussion on these subjects in much of the mainstream media. Today, some of the media is still dwelling on the 'Mommy Wars', the fake hypocritical outrage we briefly noted yesterday. Many of the others are falsely claiming the Presidential horse race is closer than you might think - which is stupid, considering Pres. Obama leads Mr. Romney 52-43 in the latest CNN poll, Reuters has Obama up 47-43, Obama leads Romney by at least 16 points among women (25 points in the latest WaPo/ABC poll)... and it's only Tax Day, in April.
Don't expect Senate Republicans to be caring much about taxes either, today.
In fact, if you were expecting the Republicans in the U.S. Senate to care about subjects they've given lip service to for years - like fair tax rates, America's debt & deficit, or the federal government's need to collect more of the income it already claims to collect (but doesn't actually collect, for a host of reasons)? We're sorry to say the Republicans in the U.S. Senate - as expected - let you down again Monday night.
Yes, on Monday night, the GOP minority in the United States Senate did the only thing they've proven they're regularly capable of, as they once again filibustered legislation, this time the Buffett Rule, the proposed law designed to bring about tax fairness.
There has been some discussion in the media recently that a tax policy like the Buffett Rule may at best have made a measurable dent in the budget and deficit , and at worst, might have simply made Americans feel their tax system is less unfair. Whether either of those were accurate or not, Senate Republicans didn't want their colleagues to actually vote on the Buffett Rule - so we'll likely never know what the real effects of such a law might have been.
Thankfully, Ezra Klein at the Washington Post, and the group Citizens For Tax Justice, proved they do actually care about taxes, as CTJ once again pulled out their annual 'Who Pays Taxes in America' column, and Ezra simplified it for everyone.
In short, based on Gallup's annual survey on attitudes about taxes, the majority of Americans actually think the level of income taxes they pay are fair. Those Americans who feel their tax burden is the least fair, are those Americans that congressional Republicans want to make pay more in taxes, poor Americans.
Of course, right-wingers often claim that the poorest half of Americans don't pay taxes - which is complete baloney. Thankfully, CTJ and Ezra gathered and simplified those numbers too.
In fact, if you take into account the total tax burden of all Americans, they're surprisingly close - and the wealthy are paying more than anyone else, overall - but not by much. Not surprisingly, the largest burden is being carried by those in the middle and upper-middle classes.
That's exactly the kind of problem the Buffett Rule aimed at fixing - and exactly the legislative action congressional Republicans didn't want to give the Senate a real chance to vote on.
What taxes us most at times like this, are that the things Americans really seem to care about most boil down to having a fair chance to improve their lives, and the lives of their friends, family, and loved ones, today.
The things the Republican politicians seem to really care about boil down to how much of a drag the rest of American society is on their personal financial success.
There are a great many Americans thinking about important topics like taxes and tax fairness today - though we highly doubt you'll be hearing much honest discussion on these subjects in much of the mainstream media. Today, some of the media is still dwelling on the 'Mommy Wars', the fake hypocritical outrage we briefly noted yesterday. Many of the others are falsely claiming the Presidential horse race is closer than you might think - which is stupid, considering Pres. Obama leads Mr. Romney 52-43 in the latest CNN poll, Reuters has Obama up 47-43, Obama leads Romney by at least 16 points among women (25 points in the latest WaPo/ABC poll)... and it's only Tax Day, in April.
Don't expect Senate Republicans to be caring much about taxes either, today.
In fact, if you were expecting the Republicans in the U.S. Senate to care about subjects they've given lip service to for years - like fair tax rates, America's debt & deficit, or the federal government's need to collect more of the income it already claims to collect (but doesn't actually collect, for a host of reasons)? We're sorry to say the Republicans in the U.S. Senate - as expected - let you down again Monday night.
Yes, on Monday night, the GOP minority in the United States Senate did the only thing they've proven they're regularly capable of, as they once again filibustered legislation, this time the Buffett Rule, the proposed law designed to bring about tax fairness.
There has been some discussion in the media recently that a tax policy like the Buffett Rule may at best have made a measurable dent in the budget and deficit , and at worst, might have simply made Americans feel their tax system is less unfair. Whether either of those were accurate or not, Senate Republicans didn't want their colleagues to actually vote on the Buffett Rule - so we'll likely never know what the real effects of such a law might have been.
Thankfully, Ezra Klein at the Washington Post, and the group Citizens For Tax Justice, proved they do actually care about taxes, as CTJ once again pulled out their annual 'Who Pays Taxes in America' column, and Ezra simplified it for everyone.
In short, based on Gallup's annual survey on attitudes about taxes, the majority of Americans actually think the level of income taxes they pay are fair. Those Americans who feel their tax burden is the least fair, are those Americans that congressional Republicans want to make pay more in taxes, poor Americans.
Of course, right-wingers often claim that the poorest half of Americans don't pay taxes - which is complete baloney. Thankfully, CTJ and Ezra gathered and simplified those numbers too.
In fact, if you take into account the total tax burden of all Americans, they're surprisingly close - and the wealthy are paying more than anyone else, overall - but not by much. Not surprisingly, the largest burden is being carried by those in the middle and upper-middle classes.
That's exactly the kind of problem the Buffett Rule aimed at fixing - and exactly the legislative action congressional Republicans didn't want to give the Senate a real chance to vote on.
What taxes us most at times like this, are that the things Americans really seem to care about most boil down to having a fair chance to improve their lives, and the lives of their friends, family, and loved ones, today.
The things the Republican politicians seem to really care about boil down to how much of a drag the rest of American society is on their personal financial success.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Unexpected Events
This past weekend was filled with both expected and unexpected events, from coast to coast. As scheduled, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony happened in Cleveland, and as expected, legendary troublemaker Axl Rose did not show up, even though his band was inducted into the Hall.
In the NBA, NHL, and MLB, there were more than a few surprises over the weekend, too. Of course, the biggest sports surprise may have happened Saturday, when storms roared through Nebraska, and cancelled the Husker Football Spring Game for the first time in its 62 year history. Even though the University of Nebraska lost nearly four hundred thousand dollars due to the cancellation, Athletic Director Tom Osborne tried to feed the fans - for free - who had already showed up on Saturday. It may not have seemed like much, but it was not a surprise to us that Osborne tried to take care of the Husker faithful.
Another much less positive event, that was also not a surprise to us, happened late Friday in Nebraska, when Republican Governor Dave Heineman - a man who claims to be pro-life when it's convenient - vetoed LB599, a bill from the Nebraska Legislature to give pre-natal care to poor women in need.
We've spoken about this bill a great deal lately, in part because we've been so happily surprised at how clearly the fight over this bill is exposing the blatant hypocrisy within the Republican Party.
In Heineman's veto letter, the Governor argued that if LB599 passes, Planned Parenthood might potentially get taxpayer dollars to help poor women with pre-natal services. Planned Parenthood often offers those services at its clinics around the country. However, Planned Parenthood of the Heartland confirmed to the Omaha World Herald that it does NOT offer those services at either of its Nebraska clinics - which exposes Heineman's hypocrisy completely.
The reaction from one of Nebraska's most historically powerful opponents of Planned Parenthood - Nebraska Right to Life - was explosive, as they blasted the Governor for his stance on this bill.
For once, we completely agree with Nebraska Right to Life on Heineman's actions on the Prenatal Care bill - something that you, our readers, may also find unexpected. We don't think you should really be surprised, though. Heineman's past legislative history is not that of someone who is truly concerned about the life of pregnant women, or even someone honestly concerned about immigration.
If Heineman were truly concerned about immigration, he would have brought forward bills during the last decade to crack down - with severe penalties - on agribusiness corporations that hire undocumented immigrants and pay them under the table. He could have done that, or any number of other things to try and work with the Federal government to solve Nebraska's undocumented immigrant problem. Instead, Heineman has done nothing significant regarding immigration since he got into the Governor's office in 2005.
Simply put, Heineman has always done little more than give lip-service to those groups - like Nebraska Right to Life - that he claims to be so closely aligned to. To him and those who think like him - like state Sen. Tony Fulton, or GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney - political advocacy groups are merely political pawns, to be played in a game whose only goal is to win, not to govern.
Unsurprisingly, Romney himself got caught in yet another example of his own hypocrisy over the weekend, as video footage of Mr. Romney from January of this year, contradicted what he and his campaign have been crowing about since the end of last week.
In that January video, Romney said that mothers should be required to work outside their homes, so they can "have the dignity of work" - as though women who work at home don't have dignity. That footage proves Romney and the Republican Party's latest fake indignation about the "Mommy Wars" is just like Gov. Heineman's claims of being pro-life or against illegal immigration -- just another desperate political pander, that they don't truly believe in.
As we've said previously, this kind of hypocrisy is something we've come to expect from the modern, twisted version of the GOP. If you're honestly surprised about Heineman's or Romney's actions, you haven't really been paying attention.
It's long past time that you do.
In the NBA, NHL, and MLB, there were more than a few surprises over the weekend, too. Of course, the biggest sports surprise may have happened Saturday, when storms roared through Nebraska, and cancelled the Husker Football Spring Game for the first time in its 62 year history. Even though the University of Nebraska lost nearly four hundred thousand dollars due to the cancellation, Athletic Director Tom Osborne tried to feed the fans - for free - who had already showed up on Saturday. It may not have seemed like much, but it was not a surprise to us that Osborne tried to take care of the Husker faithful.
Another much less positive event, that was also not a surprise to us, happened late Friday in Nebraska, when Republican Governor Dave Heineman - a man who claims to be pro-life when it's convenient - vetoed LB599, a bill from the Nebraska Legislature to give pre-natal care to poor women in need.
We've spoken about this bill a great deal lately, in part because we've been so happily surprised at how clearly the fight over this bill is exposing the blatant hypocrisy within the Republican Party.
In Heineman's veto letter, the Governor argued that if LB599 passes, Planned Parenthood might potentially get taxpayer dollars to help poor women with pre-natal services. Planned Parenthood often offers those services at its clinics around the country. However, Planned Parenthood of the Heartland confirmed to the Omaha World Herald that it does NOT offer those services at either of its Nebraska clinics - which exposes Heineman's hypocrisy completely.
The reaction from one of Nebraska's most historically powerful opponents of Planned Parenthood - Nebraska Right to Life - was explosive, as they blasted the Governor for his stance on this bill.
For once, we completely agree with Nebraska Right to Life on Heineman's actions on the Prenatal Care bill - something that you, our readers, may also find unexpected. We don't think you should really be surprised, though. Heineman's past legislative history is not that of someone who is truly concerned about the life of pregnant women, or even someone honestly concerned about immigration.
If Heineman were truly concerned about immigration, he would have brought forward bills during the last decade to crack down - with severe penalties - on agribusiness corporations that hire undocumented immigrants and pay them under the table. He could have done that, or any number of other things to try and work with the Federal government to solve Nebraska's undocumented immigrant problem. Instead, Heineman has done nothing significant regarding immigration since he got into the Governor's office in 2005.
Simply put, Heineman has always done little more than give lip-service to those groups - like Nebraska Right to Life - that he claims to be so closely aligned to. To him and those who think like him - like state Sen. Tony Fulton, or GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney - political advocacy groups are merely political pawns, to be played in a game whose only goal is to win, not to govern.
Unsurprisingly, Romney himself got caught in yet another example of his own hypocrisy over the weekend, as video footage of Mr. Romney from January of this year, contradicted what he and his campaign have been crowing about since the end of last week.
In that January video, Romney said that mothers should be required to work outside their homes, so they can "have the dignity of work" - as though women who work at home don't have dignity. That footage proves Romney and the Republican Party's latest fake indignation about the "Mommy Wars" is just like Gov. Heineman's claims of being pro-life or against illegal immigration -- just another desperate political pander, that they don't truly believe in.
As we've said previously, this kind of hypocrisy is something we've come to expect from the modern, twisted version of the GOP. If you're honestly surprised about Heineman's or Romney's actions, you haven't really been paying attention.
It's long past time that you do.
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