Romney’s Vulture Capitalist

 Politics
Feb 182012
 

We have heard quite a bit of late about Newt Gingrich’s personal billionaire, Sheldon Adelson, and Santorum’s personal millionaire, Foster Friess, but many may not be aware that Romney hasa a personal billionaire too, and like Romney, his billionaire is also a vulture capitalist.

18RomneyVanderslootFrank VanderSloot is an Idaho billionaire and the CEO of Melaleuca, Inc. [Rip-off delinked] , a controversial billion-dollar-a-year company which peddles dietary supplements and cleaning products; back in 2004, Forbes, echoing complaints to government agencies, described the company as “a pyramid selling organization, built along the lines of Herbalife and Amway.” VanderSloot has long used his wealth to advance numerous right-wing political causes. Currently, he is the national finance co-chair of the Mitt Romney presidential campaign, and his company has become one of the largest donors ($1 million) to the ostensibly “independent” pro-Romney SuperPAC, Restore Our Future. Melaleuca’s get-rich pitches have in the past caused Michigan regulators to take action, resulting in the company’s entering into a voluntary agreement to “not engage in the marketing and promotion of an illegal pyramid”‘; it entered into a separate voluntary agreement with the Idaho attorney general’s office, which found that “certain independent marketing executives of Melaleuca” had violated Idaho law; and the Food and Drug Administration previously accused Melaleuca of deceiving consumers about some of its supplements.

But it is VanderSloot’s chronic bullying threats to bring patently frivolous lawsuits against his political critics — magazines, journalists, and bloggers — that makes him particularly pernicious and worthy of more attention. In the last month alone, VanderSloot, using threats of expensive defamation actions, has successfully forced Forbes, Mother Jones and at least one local gay blogger in Idaho to remove articles that critically focused on his political and business practices. He has been using this abusive tactic in Idaho for years: suppressing legitimate political speech by threatening or even commencing lawsuits against even the most obscure critics (he has even sued local bloggers for “copyright infringement” after they published a threatening letter sent by his lawyers). This tactic almost always succeeds in silencing its targets, because even journalists and their employers who have done nothing wrong are afraid of the potentially ruinous costs they will incur when sued by a litigious billionaire… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Salon>

For Mitt Romney, this is a perfect match, because both achieved great wealth from crushing other people with lies inspired by greed.  VanderSloot defines the kind of person for whom Mitt Romney will exclusively govern if elected.  He will NOT represent YOU!

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 Posted by TomCat at 12:01 am  10 Responses »  Tagged with: , , ,

The Deal

 Politics
Feb 162012
 

After Democrats blocked Republican attempts to poison the payroll tax cut extension with the Keystone XL Pipeline, mandatory drug tests for unemployment benefit recipients, and more.  Republicans finally found that they had boxed themselves into a political corner from which they escape only by giving-in, which they did on all but one thing.  They still refuse to make millionaires, billionaires and corporate criminals share the burden that their greed has imposed on the rest of us.  And already, Republicans are lying about it.

16TheDealLast year, when Democrats and Republicans were negotiating a short-term extension of the payroll tax holiday, multiple Republicans pushed the false idea that extending the payroll tax cut would undermine Social Security by robbing its trust fund of vital revenue. Those claims were repeatedly debunked by media outlets, members of Congress, and even the Social Security Trust Fund’s chief actuary.

Republicans, however, either missed that debunking or have willfully ignored it. With Congress nearing a deal to extend the cut through 2012, GOP leaders like Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), who as the House Budget Committee chairman has positioned himself as the party’s top budget and finance authority, is again pushing the false notion that the payroll tax cut will hurt Social Security, as The Hill reported today:

Ryan warned that the the move could erode the Social Security Trust Fund, which is funded by the payroll tax.

“Members on our side of the aisle are divided on this question. I personally have a problem with what happens with the Social Security trust fund. So people are divided on this; the Democrats agreed to it, I’d say I don’t really know what the number of Republicans are that agree to it, so they basically decided to bring it to the floor and let Congress work its will, and let people vote however they want to,” Ryan said during an interview with WLS Radio in Chicago.

As Jared Bernstein, the former chief economist to Vice President Biden, wrote in December, the payroll tax holiday was specifically crafted to protect Social Security by requiring the nation’s general fund to replace any lost revenues in the trust fund… [emphasis original]

Inserted from <Think Progress>

Two days ago I was mistaken that losses to the trust fund would not ne replaced, because I did not yet know that the deal has a provision to replace all lost revenues in the trust fund from the general fund.  So when Ryan says that it will erode the Social Security trust fund, he is lying, although Ryan lying will surprise nobody.

I do find breaking the wall between the trust fund and the general fund disturbing, but I find that far less disturbing than Republicans protecting the super rich from sharing the sacrifice.

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 Posted by TomCat at 12:04 am  8 Responses »  Tagged with: , , ,

Open Thread–2/16/2012

 Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Feb 162012
 

Yesterday I felt very tired and rested, except for doing my research.  I’m current with replies, albeit briefly.  Today I need to go purchase items for a witch’s to prepare for a medical procedure next week.

Jig Zone Puzzles:

Yesterday it took me 4:33 (average 5:30).  To do it click here.  Today it took me 3:56 (average 4:56).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From LA Times: A $260-billion, Republican-drafted House bill is facing opposition from the left and the right, forcing GOP leaders Wednesday to put off a final roll call while they scramble to line up the votes to pass it.

The White House on Tuesday threatened a veto, saying the measure "jeopardizes safety, weakens environmental and labor protections and fails to make the investments needed to strengthen the nation’s roads, bridges, rail and transit systems." If the bill gets to the president’s desk, the White House budget office said, his senior advisors will recommend that he veto it.

This is the monstrosity that even Ray LaHood said was the worst he had ever seen.

From Washington Post: A Connecticut human-rights commission has rebuked a mayor who made a disparaging remark about Latinos.

The state Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities said Tuesday it unanimously approved a resolution condemning East Haven Mayor Joseph A. Maturo Jr. for saying last month he might have tacos as a way to do something for the community.The Republican mayor made the remark in response to a reporter’s question after the arrests of four police officers on charges they harassed Latino residents and businesses. He received criticism from all quarters, including Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.

Just another example of Republican racism.

From Huffington Post:

Lisa Chan, the actress who appeared in a political ad that was widely criticized for furthering negative stereotypes of Asian-Americans, has apologized, calling her participation "a mistake."…

…"I am deeply sorry for any pain that the character I portrayed brought to my communities," Chan wrote on her Facebook page, as first reported by the Angry Asian Man blog. "As a recent college grad who has spent time working to improve communities and empower those without a voice, this role is not in any way representative of who I am. It was absolutely a mistake on my part and one that, over time, I hope can be forgiven. I feel horrible about my participation and I am determined to resolve my actions."

I’m glad that Chan has apologized, but even though he has pulled the ad, Peter Hoekstra still refused to apologize and continues to double down on his Republican racism.

Cartoon:

16Cartoon

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 Posted by TomCat at 12:03 am  8 Responses »  Tagged with: , , , , ,

A Win for Democrats?

 Politics
Feb 142012
 

House Republicans appear to have caved in on the payroll tax cut extension, because they say they are willing to pass it without paying for it.  While this seems to be a win for Democrats, I’m not so sure.  There are things about this that do not satisfy me, because they leave a future minefield.

14UnemployedRepublican leaders in the House of Representatives on Monday dropped their demand for spending reductions to pay for extending a tax cut for 160 million American workers, setting up a likely breakthrough for agreement with Democrats.

The about-face cleared the way for the Republican-led House to vote this week to renew for 10 months the tax cut set to expire on February 29.

The Democratic-led Senate would likely support the payroll tax extension as laid out by the Republicans, even though they prefer including in the deal provisions on jobless benefits and payments for doctors treating Medicare patients that Republicans now want to negotiate separately.

Notably, the offer was issued by both House Speaker John Boehner, the top Republican, and his deputy Eric Cantor, who has often taken a more hardline approach in budget negotiations with Democrats over the past year… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Reuters>

Here are the problems.  First, the Republican offer does not pay for the extensions.  That means that either the Social Security Trust Fund will not be reimbursed, or it will be reimbursed out the general budget.  The former weakens Social Security’s viability, giving Republicans a talking point.  The latter ends the Democrats’ claim that Social Security is paid for exclusively by contributions, also giving Republicans a talking point.  We need to pay for the extensions with a tiny income tax surcharge on people making over $1 million.

Second, it separates out unemployment benefits and Medicare’s ‘Doc Fix’.  Unless these are included, Republicans maintain a hostage to use in more economic terrorism, especially leaving the unemployed out in the cold.

Ezra Klein and Brian Beutler are just as suspicious as I am.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I certainly agree that Democrats must look this gift horse in the mouth, and modify it to include unemployment benefits and the ‘Doc Fix’.

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 Posted by TomCat at 12:01 am  7 Responses »  Tagged with: , , , , ,

The Obama Budget

 Politics
Feb 142012
 

I won’t have a real handle on the Obama budget for several days at best, but what I do understand about it at this point impresses me.  I am pleased that it will increase revenue, by rising the rate on and closing loopholes that benefit the 1%.  I have no problem with his intent to reduce the nominal corporate tax rate, because the loopholes it closes and corporate giveaways it ends actually raise the effective tax rate for the large corporations, that have evaded paying their fair share, while lowering them for small companies.  I like the investments in infrastructure, job training, and technology development.  I especially like that the cuts to Medicare spending come exclusively through reducing Drug company profits.

14budgetIn the last annual budget of his term, President Obama for the first time projects a deficit below $1 trillion and foresees the federal shortfall declining to sustainable levels by 2017.

To help reduce deficits and offset the costs of his proposed spending on job-creation initiatives for infrastructure, job-training and innovation, Mr. Obama uses his budget for fiscal year 2013 to call for raising $1.5 trillion over 10 years from the wealthiest taxpayers and from closing some corporate tax breaks, chiefly for oil and gas companies. For the first time he proposes a higher tax on dividend income of the wealthiest taxpayers, which would raise about $206 billion over 10 years. The budget proposal leaves him short of his goal to cut the deficit in half by 2013.

Later this month, the administration will propose an overhaul of the corporate tax code to root out many tax breaks and lower the 35 percent rate, but Mr. Obama is proposing that the change would not raise any more revenues than the current system, despite the nation’s chronic deficits…

Inserted from <NY Times>

Ed Schultz covered this story with Bernie Sanders.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

As usual Bernie is spot-on.

The best analysis I have encountered so far comes from Ezra Klein and Peter Orzag, who compared the Obama and the Romney budgets.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Is there any question about who represents Main Street and who represents Wall Street?

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 Posted by TomCat at 12:01 am  7 Responses »  Tagged with: , , , ,

Cheers for Gov. Mark Dayton

 Politics
Feb 132012
 

Given that Republicans have taken over the legislatures of so many states in 2010, largely because so many people stayed home, we seldom have occasion to cheer for state officials.  However one state, Minnesota, retained a Democrat in the State House, and we owe Governor Mark Dayton major kudos!

13ALEC_PrintsIf there’s any lesson Democrats should have learned this time around, it’s the importance of turnout for gubernatorial races. Thank God we still have some Democratic governors to stand up to the kind of crap ALEC has peddled around the rest of the country:

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Gov. Mark Dayton Friday vetoed four lawsuit liability limit bills, after branding them "partisan political ploys" by the Republican majority in the state legislature.

"The real impact would be to reduce the rights of law abiding citizens and businesses to seek justice from the wrongdoing of others," Gov. Dayton told reporters at the Capitol.

The four pieces of legislation were designed to lower the exposure of businesses to legal actions by consumers, including shortening the statute of limitations, capping interest rates on some judgments and requiring legal fees to be proportionate to the actual amounts paid.

… [emphasis original]

Inserted from <Crooks and Liars>

Here’s the video.

 

Dayton obviously isn’t the world’s best public speaker, but he certainly did the right thing by standing up to ALEC.

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 Posted by TomCat at 12:01 am  13 Responses »  Tagged with: , , ,

Tax Cut Draws More Republican Obstruction

 Politics
Feb 122012
 

As the deadline fast approaches, there is still no agreement on the Payroll Tax Cut Extension for two reasons.  First, Republicans are threatening Main Street America with this tax increase, unless they can get some welfare for corporate criminals as a trade off.  They want to attach the Keystone XL Pipeline.  Second, Republicans accuse Democrats of having no way to pay for it.  That, of course is a lie.

12shared-sacrificeLawmakers agreed in December, after much bickering, on a two-month extension, but that runs out at the end of this month. Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday that Congress "needs to stop this middle-class tax hike from happening. Period. No drama. No delay."

Obama said the economic recovery must not be jeopardized by a failure to stop payroll taxes from rising, and he urged listeners to add their voices.

"I hope you’ll pick up the phone, send a tweet, write an email, and tell your representative that they should get this done before it gets too late. Tell them not to play politics again by linking this debate to unrelated issues. Tell them not to manufacture another needless standoff or crisis," Obama said. "Tell them not to stand in the way of the recovery. Tell them to just do their job. That’s what our middle class needs. That’s what our country needs."

Lawmakers have made halting progress on legislation to extend the tax cut. The bill also would renew jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed and prevent doctors from a 27 percent cut in their payments from Medicare, the government health care program for the elderly. But the plan costs $150 billion-plus and lawmakers will have to find a way to pay for it… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <USA Today>

Here is the video, or if you prefer, the transcript.

Democrats, do have a way to pay for this, a tiny surcharge on people making over $1 million per year, but Republicans insist on blackmail.

12GOPBlackmailCongressional Republicans said Thursday that negotiations over extending a payroll tax cut were going so poorly that it was possible the tax break — along with added unemployment benefits — could expire at the end of the month.

If the benefits are allowed to lapse, it will be a stunning coda to a battle that has lasted months on Capitol Hill over whether and how to extend a two-percentage-point tax break for nearly every working American and to provide additional unemployment benefits for millions more. A temporary agreement forged in December cost Republicans politically and left both parties locked in another round of fights over how to cover the costs.

In addition, Republicans are seeking numerous policy changes connected to unemployment benefits — like a mandatory high school equivalency program and possible drug testing for beneficiaries — that Democrats have rejected out of hand. They would also reduce the benefits to 59 weeks, far less than the 79 weeks sought by President Obama… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <NY Times>

This is not difficult to understand.  Republicans want tax cuts for millionaires, billionaires, and corporate criminals only.  Republicans want to raise YOUR taxes.  They face the problem that the public is solidly against them on both extending the tax cut and on how to pay for it.  So they are casting about, desperately seeking a way to pick YOUR pocket and blame it on the Democrats.

I urge you to support Obama’s request and make some noise.

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 Posted by TomCat at 12:09 am  19 Responses »  Tagged with: , , , , ,
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