Thom's blog

Ignoring the lessons in Europe...

The United States is set to jump into an austerity economic death spiral this year. Already – thanks to Republican hostage scenarios forcing deep spending cuts, the United States is set to swallow $348 billion in austerity measures in 2013. That includes $200 billion in spending cuts and an additional $125 billion from the expiration of the payroll tax cut.

So-Called Deal on the So-Called "Fiscal Cliff"

The House of Representatives needed overtime – but late Tuesday night, they agreed with the Senate and passed legislation to avert half of the so-called “fiscal cliff.” And despite President Obama and some Democrats declaring victory after Republicans were forced to sign on to a small tax increase for the wealthiest Americans, this fiscal cliff deal is actually a dream come true for billionaires and banksters.

The Unemployed Are Screwed

The first casualties of going over the so-called “fiscal cliff” will be more than two million unemployed Americans who depend on extended emergency unemployment benefits.

When it comes to the so-called “fiscal cliff,” the stakes just got a lot higher

Secretary of Treasury Tim Geithner announced on Wednesday that in addition to the fiscal cliff deadline at the end of the year, the United States will also hit its borrowing limit on December 31st, meaning the debt-limit will have to be raised a lot sooner than previously believed.

The Republican Party self-destructed in front of the entire nation last night...

As Speaker of the House John Boehner failed to get his members in line to vote on a plan to avert the so-called “fiscal cliff.” It was a bad idea to begin with – a plan to let the Bush tax cuts expire for millionaires – but let those same millionaires keep generous tax loopholes, while getting rid of many of the tax breaks used by the middle class.

The Political Theater of "Plan B"

All eyes are on Speaker of the House John Boehner to see if he has control of his Republican Party. Today, Boehner will try to bring his "Plan B" to the floor for a vote – a proposal that will extend the Bush tax cuts for all Americans who earn less than a million dollars a year, while allowing the tax cuts for millionaires to expire at the end of the year.

Barack Obama might have been named TIME Magazine’s Person of the Year...

But he’s also making a run at capitulator of the year. Fallout continues one day after the White House proposed turning the austerity knives on Social Security Insurance in their latest “fiscal cliff” proposal.

Not only does the gun lobby have no shame...

Following the Sandy Hook massacre of twenty first graders with an assault rifle, but the gun lobby is now threatening violent revolution. Appearing on MSNBC on Monday, the executive director of Gun Owners of America, Larry Pratt, argued that the right to bear arms is necessary to make our democratic government cower in fear of gun owners.

NOW is the time for leadership.

In a memorial speech on Sunday for the 26 victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, President Obama called the nation out. He asked the question of whether or not we as a nation are doing enough to keep our children safe.

Was Right-to-Work-Less Just a Distraction?

We all now know about Right-to-Work-for-less laws in Michigan, thanks to Republican Governor Rick Snyder and the corporate oligarchs. But, believe it or not, Right-to-Work-for-less may not even be the most radical, anti-democratic law that passed in Michigan this week.

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