President Obama's Weekly Address - December 8, 2012

Congress Must Extend the Middle Class Tax Cuts

President Obama's Weekly Address - December 1, 2012

Urging Congress to Extend the Middle Class Tax Cuts

President Obama's Weekly Address - November 17, 2012

Working Together to Extend the Middle Class Tax Cuts

President Obama's Weekly Address - November 10, 2012

Extending Middle Class Tax Cuts to Grow the Economy

Mitt Romney the Liar - Tax Cut Edition

 You're welcome.

President Obama's Weekly Address - June 16, 2012

Ending the Stalemate in Washington

President Obama's Weekly Address - February 11, 2012

Extending the Payroll Tax Cut for the Middle Class

President Obama's Weekly Address - December 3, 2011

Extending and Expanding the Payroll Tax Cut

President Obama's Weekly Address - July 2, 2011

Cutting the Deficit and Creating Jobs

President Obama's Weekly Address - January 8, 2011

Tax Cuts Kicking In

Ass-Kicker in Chief

POSTED BY JHW22

The President took to the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room today to answer questions about his tax compromise and as the briefing progressed, so did his anger. Granted some people never realized that he has some asses to kick on the left so now many are outraged and quite upset that he could possibly chew their asses. But, hell, when you question the man's values based on some narrowly confined spectrum of liberal idealism that excludes the ideals of fellow Dems, well then, you're going to get some of that fight you've been demanding. It's funny how many Dems said he needed to grow a pair and are now pouting because he called them out. Looks like those big, tough liberals are the real pussies. Can't take a lecture from the President, eh? Tough shit. Grow a pair and grow up. ;)

I, personally, LOVED his take down and was sure to email and call the White House with my support of his compromise and the press conference.


EDITOR'S UPDATE: Here's the video.

Sanders to Fight Tax Cuts Compromise

Yesterday on MSNBC's The Ed Show, Senator Bernie Sanders said he would do all he could to prevent the tax cuts compromise bill brokered by President Obama from passing, but didn't use the word "filibuster" when asked.

"I think it is an absolute disaster and an insult to the vast majority of the American people,” Sanders told Schultz, adding that Democrats opposed to the deal “are right. We're talking about social justice. They're talking about more tax breaks for billionaires who don't need it.”

While Sanders did not explicitly say he would filibuster the bill, he made his intention clear, saying, “I've got to tell you, I will do whatever I can to see that 60 votes are not acquired to pass this piece of legislation.”

While I agree with President Obama's position that he cannot play with the lives of 2 million people whose unemployment benefits would expire at the end of the year like the Republicans are doing, someone has to draw the line somewhere.

 My only disagreement in the President's statement yesterday was his assumption that after two more years of Bush taxs cuts for the wealthy, the public would come to realize that they are unsustainable and want them expired.

 Two points: 1 - He's assuming that the general population is intelligent and pays attention to these sorts of matters, and 2 - the public is already aware that keeping the tax cuts in place for those making over $250,000 yearly would add $70 billion a year to the deficit and the latest poll shows that 67% of those polled think the tax cuts should expire for those making over $250,000 or expire altogether.

President Obama's Weekly Address - December 4, 2010

... brought to you by Vice President Joe Biden.

Tax Cuts & Unemployment Insurance

Through The Looking Glass

Welcome to Bizarro World, where a vote to continue tax cuts for the middle class is a... tax hike!

Michael Steel, a spokesman for John Boehner, emails a response to the news that House Dems are planning to hold a vote just on extending the middle class tax cuts:

"The last thing our economy needs right now is a massive tax hike on families and small businesses -- and that's what this plan would mean."

Take That, Beck's Chalkboard!

POSTED BY JHW22

Personally, I think this should be viewed by every American. Will you do your part and share it? Or do I need to throw a whiteboard eraser at you?!

President Obama's Weekly Address - April 10, 2010

Relief for the Middle Class at Tax Time

Framing the Debate: Why Does the GOP Hate the Middle Class?

We find ourselves in the middle of an economic crossroads, arguably the hardest financial crisis the country has had to face since its founding. 3.6 million jobs have been lost since December 2007 and half of those were in the last three months alone, which means the problem is accelerating. Basically, we are facing another Great Depression if nothing is done to try and stem the tide.

And yet for the last three weeks, while debating an economic recovery bill that will attempt to create jobs, give tax breaks to middle and lower income workers and try to kick start the economy with some consumer spending, there has been nothing but resistance from the Republican Party. I really don't understand that. Are the Republican leaders in Washington so isolated that they think doing nothing and letting this economic storm run its course is the way to go? Are they so obtuse that they think corporate tax cuts, the same type of cuts that we experienced for the last eight years, are the solution to losing 600,000 jobs a month?

For all those three weeks, I personally heard nothing from GOP leaders except whining and moaning about how much this bill was going to cost our children and our grandchildren. I heard about how it was so full of pork, it wasn't really a stimulus bill. I heard about how the real way to get the economy going again was a round of tax cuts for businesses one minute and then crying that there were too many giveaways for the "corporate high rollers" the next, thank you very much, Senator John "The Fundamentals of Our Economy Are Still Strong" McCain.

And the news outlets and cable news talking heads and pundits were all too eager to frame the narrative in the same fashion, repeating GOP talking points about money for "grass on the National mall" and criticizing Medicaid family planning money as "$200 million for contraception." And after all the grousing, and President Obama acquiescing because he knew that the sooner we could get this bill passed, the sooner we could make our way back on the road to economic recovery and the better off we would all be, he still got absolutely zero support from his supposedly distinguished colleagues across the aisle.

Well, the bill passed anyway and out of all the Republican members of Congress, the bill only received three Republican votes. Three. So now it is our turn to frame the narrative. Every Democratic Congressman and Senator should be shouting this from the mountaintops:

The GOP just voted against the biggest middle class tax cuts in history!

Why does the Republican Party hate the middle class? Why are cuts for businesses and the wealthiest Americans not a problem for the GOP to vote for, but they can't bear the thought of giving a break to middle and lower income earners, the people who need it most? Keep repeating until it becomes second nature and you say it in your sleep. It's time to take over the narrative.

(H/T Bob Cesca)

Adding...

And I'm tired of hearing wingnuts complain that there wasn't time to read the bill that was written behind closed doors. Are you telling me that Senators and Congressmen don't have enough interns or staff to take the 400 or so pages that were amended and break it down into 40 page sections to get through it in an hour? They wasted their time on the news outlets crying and moaning about the "spending" in a stimulus bill instead of reading the fucking thing. They certainly seem to have time to make up lies about what's in the bill or sling mud at the Speaker of the House. Studying field mice? A Pelosi vacation trip to Europe?

Stop wasting time making shit up and start using your time constructively and do some fucking work. Sorry, I'm not going to take the "no time to read the bill" crap as an excuse when they have plenty of time to make shit up out of whole cloth, and can spare a staffer to run to the pet store for a furry cat toy play mouse to use as a prop on the House floor.

These rats are circling the drain. Next stop: November 2010.

They Picked A Winner!

After a series of votes, the Republican National Committee picked former Maryland lieutenant governor Michael Steele as their new GOP chairman. Well, it looks like they picked a real winner.

Steele: And first off the government doesn’t create jobs. Let’s get this notion out of our heads that the government creates jobs. Not in the history of mankind has the government ever created a job. Small business owners do, small enterprises do. Not the government. When the government contract runs out, that job goes away. That’s what we’re talking about here and those 2 to 4 million jobs that are projected? Won’t happen, trust me.

Hmmm... not in the history of mankind has the government ever created a job? That's a pretty broad statement.

I suppose Steele was a volunteer for his lieutenant gubernatorial service in Maryland. As well as his staff... as well as every other elected official and their staffs in government from dog catcher to President. Oh, and I didn't realize that the current 1.5 million active armed forces personnel weren't getting paid for their efforts.

Hey Mike, you mean to tell me we get our mail for free? Awesome! And the next time I walk past a beat cop I'm going to thank him for volunteering to risk his life every day just for the pleasure of it... and firefighters too. Hell, I knew the New York City transit system claimed they're in dire financial straits, but I didn't even realize they weren't paying their bus drivers and train conductors or engineers.

But I'm so glad they picked Michael Steele for his smarts and not because they're trying to show how much their party has changed by electing an African American to the position.

(H/T Think Progress)

Morning Joke™ (The Madness Continues...)

This morning on Morning Joke™, Mika and her merry band of morons were poo-pooing the Obama recovery bill which Joe Scarborough categorized as "unprecedented, a total all-out socialist bill as I've ever seen in my life," and that it rewards those who don't make enough income to pay income tax, but still pay payroll taxes and sales tax for "doing absolutely nothing." The video on BobCesca.com via Media Matters is ridiculously fearmongerish.

How is it that with such an intelligent person for a father, Mika Brzezinski so easily falls into the propaganda vomit vat that is Joe Scarborough's mouth?

One of the commenters on Cesca's thread, "GIthe Joe" now "GItheScholar," is an Iraq veteran and was livid about this particular issue. He ranted on his comment (and a good rant it was) but asked for help revising his comments in order to send to Morning Joke™. Seeing as I had nothing on my plate this afternoon, I thought I'd oblige. Here is the letter sent by GI the Scholar, with contributions from Carl of Broadway and information (and a paragraph or two) provided by Bob of the Cesca.

Dear Morning Joe Crew,

I am an American soldier. I have honorably served my country while being deployed to Iraq for two tours of duty. I, and the countless others like me, am eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit because 100% of my income while in a combat zone was non taxable income. The same is true for every soldier, Marine, and airperson that makes less than $88,000 of base pay in a combat zone.

I was extremely grateful to receive this tax credit. It felt like the government was helping me, honoring me for my service to this nation. But we are not the only "do nothing" workers that can benefit from the EITC.

According to the Brookings Institution, "Together, the EITC and ACTC [Additional Child Tax Credit] provided more than $51 billion to low-income workers in tax year 2005, acting as critical wage supplements for working poor families throughout the country. Proposals to expand and streamline these credits to help more working families across all types of communities—urban, suburban, and rural—deserve consideration from policymakers, practitioners, and researchers."

For two years during the presidential campaigns and primaries, all we heard from mainstream media and cable news were phrases like, "Why can't Obama close the deal with rural Americans?" and "Obama isn't 'one of us'." And now President Obama and the Democrats want to give the working poor a tax break and other forms of relief as outlined in the recovery bill, the very people the cable news pundits claimed with which he was "so out of touch."

In tax year 2005, the greatest number of EITC filers lived in the suburbs of large metropolitan areas. In the South and West, rural taxpayers were most likely to receive the EITC. These are the people most likely to need help, and most likely to spend the money to stimulate the economy. Here's another example: For every dollar invested in Food Stamps, the stimulus return is $1.73, but for every dollar in corporate tax cuts, you get a negative return of $0.30 on the dollar.

But we hear from the informed pundits like Mr. Scarborough and Mr. Buchanan that they would rather spend this money on tax breaks to corporations. Buchanan, point blank, asked John Podesta on the February 2nd edition of Morning Joe why "they can't give the $80 billion to corporate tax cuts."

Mr. Scarborough, you shamelessly categorized tax credits the working poor of this country, those who work the fast food registers or pump gas to try and survive week to week, as receiving money from the government for "doing absolutely nothing." But I suppose in your world, these are the plebians who have no name; they live only to serve you. In your world, while sitting behind your desk making a seven figure income may be "work" to you, dodging improvised explosive devices and small arms fire is far from "do nothing" work for me.

Perhaps thinking before opening your mouth would make for a better show.

It's Time For Joe The Plumber To Shut The Fuck Up

Okay, Joe (if that is your real name) I've had it with you. You've far exceeded your 15 minutes.

When you first came on the scene, I thought it was a bit interesting. Here's this everyman that is obviously a Republican who doesn't know any better and votes against his own best interests. That's cool. There are many other people like you who do. You approached Barack Obama while he was walking in your neighborhood, and although you seemed to show a little less respect than I personally would like to have seen shown to a sitting United States Senator, you got your question across and made your point. You thought Obama would raise your taxes if you made over $250,000 a year after you bought your boss' s plumbing business.

But little did you know how your life would change after your hero, John McCain would invoke your name 21 times in the last presidential debate. Throngs of reporters gathered outside your home to get a little Joe the Plumber (if that is your real profession) wisdom. JOE THE PLUMBER! JOE THE PLUMBER! JOE THE PLUMBER! McCain was giddy with Joe the Plumber mania. He finally had a working class guy at his side he could exploit, and exploit you he did.

Did you not expect anyone to check out your background after your name and face became the new McCain campaign slogan? And then we started finding out the truth about Joe the plumber.

Joe "The Plumber" Werzulbacher asked about Obama's tax plan over $250,000 but only makes $40,000.
Joe "The Plumber" Werzulbacher hadn't made a decision on who he was voting for yet, but wasn't even registered to vote and had donated $100 to the McCain campaign.
Joe "The Plumber" Werzulbacher owes $1,100 in back taxes so what difference is Obama's tax plan going to make if he doesn't pay taxes anyway?
Joe "The Plumber" Werzulbacher DOESN'T HAVE A PLUMBER'S LICENSE!
Joe "The Plumber" Werzulbacher's real name is Sam.

After watching the full video of Obama explaining for over five minutes in great detail how you might even pay less taxes than under McCain's plan with your false 'quarter of a million dollars-buying a business' scenario, all you took out of it was the "spread the wealth" comment that was a tack on at the end of the conversation. And that's all the McCain campaign took out of it too, but we expect that from a campaign, not an honest, hard working guy like you, Joe.

So what happens next? All of a sudden Joe the non licensed plumber is an expert and getting called to appear of Fox News... well I suppose he's as good an expert as anyone else at Fox News. He's given major exposure. He starts campaigning for Sarah Palin even though McCain said it was Obama that had put Joe in the spotlight. He's a hot commodity. So what do you do, Joe? Joe the plumber hires Jim the publicist. Joe the plumber wants to make a country album.

But then the tide starts to turn, doesn't it, Joe? All of a sudden you start getting asked important questions. Questions that you don't know the answers to, McCain policy questions that had you actually been interested in knowing and understanding, might have made you look like less of a fool than you look now. Foreign policy questions you have no clue about, and instead of keeping your mouth shut and saying you don't have enough knowledge to answer, after all you're just a plumber, you agree with someone who says that a vote for Obama equals death to Israel. OOPS! And when you're called on it by a Fox news anchor who somehow had the decency to stick to the facts, you took the Sarah Palin approach - the non answer answer.



Joe, it's time for you to shut the fuck up. You have thrust yourself into the national spotlight. You weren't forced. You were asked and accepted without knowing the consequences. And now your putting yourself out there as being knowledgeable on the issues (when dare I say you might know less than George W. Bush) and agreeing with nutjobs that think Israel would be in danger in an Obama presidency.

You don't know the answers to any of these questions and yet you dare to say that people should go and get the information themselves and make their own decision, but you haven't done it yourself! You want them to have their own opinion while spouting your own uninformed one. Thank Jebus that Shepard Smith was honest and decent enough, even though he works at Fox, to straighten you out and make sure that people viewing knew you are full of shit as he stated Obama's stance on Israel.

I'll leave you with Keith Olbermann's take on Sam the non licensed plumber but before I do, I just want to say one more thing to Joe/Sam:

Joe, I don't know what I'd do if I were in your position. The spotlight can be addictive, the attention you are receiving is probably like nothing most of us will ever experience. But I'm asking you for the sake of the country to shut the fuck up. Stop speaking about things you know nothing of.

Take your own advice, Joe, and really research the issues. Try to understand the complicated policies and plans, figure out what best suits your needs and goals. And after all that, if you want to vote for McCain, then vote for him. But make sure that you're voting for McCain because he speaks to your issues and not against Obama because you've heard he's a radical Muslim Socialist Communist because Sarah Palin said so.

After two years of campaigning, don't you think the guy has been vetted to the point that this would have already come up during the primaries? It's been debunked. Let it go. Stop perpetuating the lies and start thinking about the real concerns, the real problems our country faces, and what you can do as an individual to make the world a better place your future generations.

Your fifteen minutes were up twenty minutes ago, Joe. It's been a fun ride but now it's time to get off.