Politics & Society

Responsibility instead of Tax Demagoguery

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Neil Hanson continues his series of posts about the shared ground he sees between progressives and those he calls “true conservatives.”We would also like to draw your attention to Paul Krugman’s column “When Zombies Win” today, which clarifies the danger of President Obama compromising on ideology, not just on actions taken. By Neil Hanson
Like an addict who can’t focus on anything but his drug once it’s time to feed his addiction, Congress has whipped itself into a frenzy to once again do the bidding of the right-wing media, and continue to draw the knife of certain bankruptcy across the throat of the American future. This knife has a name, and it’s called continued revenue reduction, or lower taxes. It’s unfortunate that the voice from the Progressive movement in the country seems to be primarily focused on the lack of “fairness” in the fact that the tax cuts are being extended to the uber-wealthy along with the other 98% of us. I say unfortunate, because what this does is provide the right-wing media with exactly the soundbite they need to continue to paint Progressives as the movement that wants to tax people.

Politics & Society

How the Tax Bill, Don't Ask Don't Tell, and Civil Cooperation are Related

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Extending unemployment benefits: $57B. Extending tax cuts: $208. Changing the tone in Washington enough to enable the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell: priceless. I’m currently reading the book Common Groundby Cal Thomas and Bob Beckel. Written before the 2008 election, they predicted that the time is coming for a growing public demand for bipartisan cooperation in Washington.

Politics & Society

Why Progressives Should Run Against Obama and "Blue Dogs" in the 2012 Democratic Party Primaries

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Crossposted from Huffington Post. While making a deal to protect billionaires from $145 billion in taxes that they might otherwise have used to solve pressing domestic problems or to create over 3 million jobs at $30,000/yr., some Democrats and their advisers pointed out that the progressives who dissented from the deal Obama had worked out with the Republican leadership — and which, despite the non-binding vote in the Democratic caucus on Thursday to oppose the deal, is likely to retain most of its giveaways to the rich — had really no place to go in 2012 but to blindly support Obama, so why take seriously all their huffing and puffing about Obama’s list of betrayals? Sure, they said, Obama had led peace and justice-oriented liberal and progressive movement people to believe he would end rather than escalate middle east wars, punish rather than ignore those who had lied us into the Iraq war and those who had ordered or carried out torture, end discrimination against gays in the military and elsewhere, secure rather than undermine domestic civil liberties and human rights, fight for rather than duck serious changes in immigration and in environmental protection, and insist on at least a public option in health care and lowered prices for pharmaceuticals. But, hey — those people who paid attention to these details were only a small minority, and they would rally around Obama no matter what, giving him no incentive to listen to them. After all, Obama was just being “realistic” about the limitations of his power.

Politics & Society

George Voinovich – The Loss of a True Conservative Will Hurt Progressives

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By Neil Hanson

Largely unnoticed in our world of polarized politics today is Senator George Voinovich, Republican from Ohio. One of the last true conservative voices in Washington, he’s retiring early next year. This is significant today, as many of us hold our nose in disgust at the compromise reached by Obama and Republicans that will extend the so-called “Bush tax cuts”. Voinovich voted against the tax cuts in the first place. He has stated that he will vote against any extension of the tax cuts.

Politics & Society

Superman Can't Fly

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I’m tired of the excuses being made for Barack Obama’s presidency. I didn’t buy the excuses made about George W. Bush’s term from my friends and family on the Right and I won’t buy into these exhausted reasons as to why we should suck it up and support Obama, “sink or swim.” So many believed in this “Man of Steel,” but this Superman cannot fly. Obama had a majority Democratic Congress when he first stepped in, yet not much has changed. Our president of “change” has become such a lame duck that even Rev. Jim Wallis of Sojourners has stated:
“Time and again, we heard Barack Obama on the campaign trail say that Washington was broken, and he was running for President of the United States to change it.

The Economy--Wealth & Poverty

Two important things to do during your Thanksgiving holiday to help fight world hunger

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Thanks to our friend Dave Kane at the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns for sending us this:
Two urgent situations require quick action from those who are concerned about world hunger. Your action can help counteract the massive presence of banking lobbyists in Washington. At a time when we give thanks for food on our plates, let’s help make sure that is a reality for people across the U.S. and around the world. In 2008, price bubbles in food and energy prices led to $4 gasoline in the U.S. and, according to the UN, forced over 130 million people around the world to go hungry. A significant factor behind those price bubbles was excessive speculation in food and energy commodity markets.

General News

National Day of Action Against Wage Theft: Today!

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After receiving visas to work in the United States, a number of immigrant workers found themselves working seventeen-hour days at the New York State Fair for $2 an hour, living in a cramped, bed bug-infested trailer, and lacking access to a sufficient supply of food and water. These workers came to the Workers’ Center of Central New York this fall in a state of malnutrition and dehydration and filed suit against their employer, Pantelis Karageorgis, who allegedly denied his workers thousands of dollars in wages. According to a news piece published last week by In These Times, the U.S. Attorney’s office has dropped the criminal charges and is currently negotiating a “modest settlement” for these workers. While New York state is no stranger to wage theft, this particularly egregious case has emboldened Interfaith Worker Justice’s (IWJ) — and Rebecca Fuentes’ — call to action. Fuentes, Director of the Workers’ Center of Central New York in Syracuse, emphasized the severity of the crimes committed against these workers in a press conference yesterday.

Politics & Society

I just eliminated the deficit. Wanna try?

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The New York Times has an interactive feature where you can go through and make the tough decisions on ways to eliminate the United States budget deficit. I just solved the problem. You can see the choices I made by clicking here. Beyond armchair budgeting from folks like us, the Times also provides 16 experts with their opinions on ways to eliminate the deficit. Click here to read that article.

Politics & Society

Progressives and Conservatives – A Case For Exquisite Harmony

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Tikkun readers may recall Chet Bowers’ article The Trouble With Liberals in our JanFeb 2008 issue. Bowers messed with our readers’ minds by arguing that environmentalists are conservatives, Native Americans rights activists are conservatives, but “conservatives” like Bush, Cheney and the American Enterprise Institute are market liberals and not conservative at all. They are distinct from social justice liberals, but like them support high growth industrialism. Here’s another piece that is trying, in a different way, to redefine how we use these terms in the interests of shaking us up and getting us to recognize potential allies:
Progressives and Conservatives – A Case For Exquisite Harmony
by Neil Hanson

If weʼre to have a chance at salvaging something of the secular, pluralistic democracy that founded this country a couple of hundred years ago, a couple of groups whoʼve been tricked into thinking theyʼre opponents need to see past a few minor differences into the vast common ground they share. They then need to turn their combined attention toward the real source of dissonance and destruction in our culture.