Can They Prevent the Tax Cuts?
By louisehartmann
You need to know this. House Democrats are for the first time trying to implement majority rule within their own party. Congressmen Peter DeFazio – Jim McDermott – and Jay Inslee are circulating a letter in opposition to President Obama’s tax cut deal. They hope to convince 60 members of the House Democratic Caucus to sign on to it and force a vote within the caucus on whether or not the tax cut package should be brought to the House floor. As Congressman DeFazio says, “We want to have a record vote in the caucus on a resolution that says this resolution should not go to the floor without a majority of Democratic votes." Democrats have been in the majority in Congress for two years. Yet - the legislative proposals supported by the majority of the party - have repeatedly been torpedoed by the interests of a minority of Blue Dogs. Progressives are right to ensure that this vote – likely to be one of the last of a Democratically controlled Congress - reflects the majority will of the party. If they had used this strategy earlier – the 2010 midterms may have turned out differently.
Comments
#2
this was predictable, on obama's part.
one reason i supported hillary, rather than obama, was that i expected that she would want to establish her own identity as president and was therefore much less likely to simply have a bill clinton redux type of presidency. imho, obama has always been a darker - in lots of ways - version of bill clinton.
one thing that congressional democrats may have remembered today, when they rejected the tax cut agreement was this: for the first time in a generation, they were decimated and locked completely out of power in congress, largely as a result of walking the plank on the measures that clinton used in order to establish himself as triangulator-in-chief. while that strategy worked out fine for big bill, it was suicidal and disasterous for the congressional democrats who were simply tossed under the bus.
the democratic party has never really recovered from the clinton presidency, and obama is attempting to pull himself up at the expense of the party in the same way that clinton did.
it looks as though some dems have taken notice of the similarities between the two situations and have at least attempted to put a brake on going full speed over that cliff.
#3
“it is not necessary to hope in order to persevere.” - William of Orange
'Recovery begins with realism' and there is nothing to be gained by 'hoping' for Obama to come to his senses. Galbraith asks who Obama is really working for.- James K. Galbraith is right!
Thom's Blog Is On the Move
By webmaster
Hello All
Thom's blog in this space and moving to a new home.
Please follow us across to hartmannreport.com - this will be the only place going forward to read Thom's blog posts and articles.
Images of Thom
At Mondragon - both the mountain and the cooperative city - in Spain (written about in "Threshold" book)
Mueller's favorite place to pray (written about in "Prophet's Way"), and the roof of the room where the Last Supper is reputed to have happened.
From Cracking the Code:
"No one communicates more thoughtfully or effectively on the radio airwaves than Thom Hartmann. He gets inside the arguments and helps people to think them through—to understand how to respond when they’re talking about public issues with coworkers, neighbors, and friends. This book explores some of the key perspectives behind his approach, teaching us not just how to find the facts, but to talk about what they mean in a way that people will hear."
From Screwed:
"I think many of us recognize that for all but the wealthiest, life in America is getting increasingly hard. Screwed explores why, showing how this is no accidental process, but rather the product of conscious political choices, choices we can change with enough courage and commitment. Like all of Thom’s great work, it helps show us the way forward."
From Screwed:
"If we are going to live in a Democracy, we need to have a healthy middle class. Thom Hartmann shows us how the ‘cons’ have wronged this country, and tells us what needs to be done to reclaim what it is to be American."
Forget tax rates. You think it is time for a revolution? Really? Ok! then think outside the box about what will work. Marching? No. Pick a weapon that will work MONEY!
STEP 1
Demand a change for 100% of all owner occupied home loans to 2%, 30 yr fixed. NO FEES!
We would free up Billions of after tax income every month to pay off our mortgages early or pay down our credit cards and our every day bills. We would instantly stop all foreclosures and short sales, reduce inventory, stabilize the #1 asset in American! We will NOT increase government debt 1 penny! We will strengthen 70% of the economy; create demand which will create jobs!
The banks will not do this voluntarily. The government will NOT TAKE ACTION to make this happen. WE THE PEOPLE need to make this happen!
HOW? Simple, we tell the government (Fannie and Freddie already own 51% of all mortgages) and Wall Street this is what we want and they have until February 1st to get it done. IF Wall Street and the Government fail to meet our demand we will protest by stop paying our mortgages! Let's see how long the banks can hold out without our money. Screw our credit scores we don’t care! I believe in the American people not Wall Street! If we are given the tools we need to recover and grow we will get the economy fixed. We will GET IT DONE!