Long Live Squallywood!

THE LIE OF SUPPLY SIDE ECONOMICS (Or "How to Rack Up $13 TRILILION in National Debt in 30 Years")

Fri Jun 17, 2011 5:32 PM EDT

First of all, let's be clear about one thing: three Republican Presidents (Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush and George W Bush) are directly responsible for approximately $12T of the current $14T that is the National Debt (ND). Keep reading to see that math. As betw …

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The "Briar Patch Theory" of Obama's Political Strategy

Sat May 28, 2011 5:41 PM EDT

The simple fact is that the Federal budget (and the National Debt that goes up every year there is a deficit) has become a runaway train and it will take many years to slow down in order to reach a balanced Federal budget and start reducing the overall National Debt. …

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Why Oil and Gas Prices Rose So Fast (Again)/OPEC and Gas Prices

Sat May 28, 2011 5:32 PM EDT

I know that the following won't do anything to lessen the "pain at the pump" we are all experiencing, I just think alot of people don't understand how complex the problem really is. Like most of the problems facing our country (both short and long term) there are no simple …

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The Common Sense Guide to Social Security Â« FDR Democrats

Seeded on Thu Apr 21, 2011 1:49 PM EDT (fdrdemocrats.org)

President Obama's commission has recommended that Social Security benefits be cut by as much as 22% over time, a reduction of more than $50,000 for the average recipient. President Obama and Congress may act soon to make these recommendations into law.

bankruptcy, politics, obama, bankrupt, fdr, trust-fund, solvency, debt-commission, social-security-s, social-security-solvency

Wonk Room Â» Marist Poll: 73 Percent Of Republicans Oppose Cuts To Medicare

Seeded on Wed Apr 20, 2011 9:20 PM EDT (Think Progress)

A new McClatchy-Marist poll finds that Americans oppose cuts to Medicare or Medicaid by a margin of 80 to 18 percent, including 73 percent of Republicans and 75 percent of Independents. In fact, just 28 percent of Tea Pary suppoerts backed the plan, while 75 percent opposed it:

poll, medicare, politics, gop, medicaid, republican, democrat, tea-party, raising-taxes, mcclatchy-marist-poll

Paul Ryan Gets Booed By Constituents For Opposing Tax Hikes On Rich (VIDEO) | TPMDC

Seeded on Wed Apr 20, 2011 8:15 PM EDT (Talking Points Memo)

In a video posted by ThinkProgress, an attendee at the event this week told Ryan that he believes the rich should pay higher taxes to help close the deficit and strengthen Social Security.

democrats, politics, gop, republicans, video, ryan, tax-cuts, rich, thinkprogress, bush-tax-cuts

Jonathan Chait for Democracy Journal: The Triumph of Taxophobia

Seeded on Tue Apr 19, 2011 11:52 PM EDT (democracyjournal.org)

The conservative movement's embrace of taxophobia is probably the most important development in American political life over the last three decades. It is the one quality that most distinguishes American conservative elites from conservative elites in other countries.

politics, ronald-reagan, republican-party, jack-kemp, tax-cuts, supply-side-economics, laffer-curve, keynes, supply-side, voodoo-economics

David Madland for Democracy Journal: Growth and the Middle Class

Seeded on Tue Apr 19, 2011 5:53 PM EDT (democracyjournal.org)

For progressives to win arguments about the economy, Americans need to understand that a strong middle class leads to economic growth, and not the other way around.

politics, progressive, middle-class, economic-growth, trickle-down, trickle-down-economics, jobs-issue, progressive-economics

Andrei Cherny for Democracy Journal: Individual Age Economics

Seeded on Tue Apr 19, 2011 5:31 PM EDT (democracyjournal.org)

While individuals have been thrown back upon themselves, both progressives and conservatives have acted as if the economy still functions from the top down.

business, hamilton, small-business, economics, jefferson, corporations, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, middle-class, new-economy

Paul Abrams: Perfect, Mr. President: Not Just the Speech, But the Timing and Strategy.

Seeded on Thu Apr 14, 2011 5:40 PM EDT (The Huffington Post)

But it was not only his speech, but its timing and its underlying strategy that were also perfect.

politics, gop, republicans, strategy, obama, president-clinton, reagan, republican-congress, paul-ryan, presidents-speech

Myth vs. Fact: Health Care Reform in Massachusetts

Seeded on Thu Apr 14, 2011 5:35 PM EDT (Center for American Progress)

The Massachusetts health reform law is a success story from every perspective.

politics, healthcare, health-insurance, obama, premiums, healthcare-reform, health-insurance-coverage, government-healthcare, employer-sponsored-health-insurance, cost-of-healthcare

Tax Cuts for the Rich on the Backs of the Middle Class; or, Paul Ryan Has Balls | Rolling Stone Politics | Taibblog | Matt Taibbi on Politics and the Economy

Seeded on Thu Apr 14, 2011 5:26 PM EDT (Rolling Stone)

No matter what, Ryan's gambit, ultimately, is all about trying to get middle-class voters to swallow paying for tax cuts for rich people. It takes chutzpah to try such a thing, but having a lot of balls is not the same as having courage.

politics, gop, obama, ryan, tax-cuts, republican, paul-ryan, tax-cuts-for-the-rich, eric-cantor, president-obama

How Obama's Recent "Defeats" are Anything But Actual Defeats/The "Briar Patch Theory

Thu Apr 14, 2011 5:05 PM EDT

The simple fact is that the Federal budget (and the National Debt that goes up every year there is a deficit) has become a runaway train and it will take literally decades to slow down in order to reach a balanced Federal budget and start reducing the overall National Debt.

Continue reading this entry ...

politics, deficit, debt, obama, boehner, federal-budget, political-theory, briar-patch, paul-ryan, uncle-remus

How Obama Beat The Republicans At Government Shutdown Chicken

Seeded on Thu Apr 14, 2011 4:54 PM EDT (politicususa.com)

Congratulations Speaker Boehner, you just won yourself more animosity from the ideologues in your own party.

politics, gop, republicans, obama, right-wing, budget-deficit, boehner, national-debt, federal-budget, government-shutdown

ThinkProgress Â» During Bush Presidency, Current GOP Leaders Voted 19 Times To Increase Debt Limit By $4 Trillion

Seeded on Thu Apr 14, 2011 4:31 PM EDT (Think Progress)

[W]hile the four Republicans in Congressional leadership positions are attempting to hold the increase hostage now, they combined to vote for a debt limit increase 19 times during the presidency of George W. Bush. In doing so, they increased the debt limit by nearly $4 trillion.

bush, senate, politics, gop, house, republicans, kyl, debt, obama, boehner

Daily Kos: Boehner: When we say 'privatize' Medicare, we don't mean 'privatize'

Seeded on Thu Apr 14, 2011 4:01 PM EDT (Daily Kos)

The most popular position in the GOP's coalition isn't that Medicare needs a complete overhaul, as Ryan thinks. It isn't that it needs major changes, or even that it needs minor changes. It's that we shouldn't try and control costs at all.

poll, medicare, politics, obama, vouchers, boehner, president-obama, privatizing-medicare, privatization-of-medicare, preferred-approach-to-medicare-poll

Mr. Prudent: Obama Preaches Deficit Sanity - TIME

Seeded on Thu Apr 14, 2011 3:57 PM EDT (TIME)

"This enduring Republican low-tax fetishism has come to seem quite delusional: we've tried this scenario twice before, in the 1980s and 2000s, and both times the budget deficit exploded.

senate, medicare, politics, gop, house, republicans, social-security, tax-cuts, supply-side-economics, tax-reform

Rethinking Budget Cutting - Pew Research Center

Seeded on Thu Apr 14, 2011 12:14 AM EDT (pewresearch.org)

An article and associated poll numbers from the Pew Research Center about Americans attitudes on federal spending and cuts to spending.

economy, politics, obama, budget-cuts, pew-research-center, federal-spending, poll-numbers, pew, cutting-spending, deficit-debate

Daily Kos: Jon Stewart's must-see takedown of Paul Ryan

Seeded on Thu Apr 14, 2011 12:03 AM EDT (Daily Kos)

Jon Steward does it again! The absolute lunacy of the GOP's refusal to even consider letting the Bush era tax cuts expire revealed and parodied as only the Daily Show can do. Video included (and it's a good one)!

medicare, politics, daily-show, gop, deficit, debt, jon-stewart, obama, parody, bush-tax-cuts

10 Republican Lies Debunked

Seeded on Wed Apr 13, 2011 9:35 PM EDT (perrspectives.com)

An article (with links) debunking 10 of the biggest lies perpetuated by the GOP.

politics, small-business, ronald-reagan, republican-party, obama, reagan, charitable-giving, congressional-republicans, fdr, new-deal

GOP Leaders: Don't Raise Taxes To Reduce Deficit

Seeded on Wed Apr 13, 2011 5:56 PM EDT (The Huffington Post)

The "Party of No" is at it again!

politics, gop, obama, boehner, debt-ceiling, debt-limit, debt-reduction, paul-ryan, eric-cantor, tax-increases

He Went There! Obama Attacks the 1%

Seeded on Wed Apr 13, 2011 5:26 PM EDT (Daily Kos)

A look at President Obama's speech from Wednesday April 13, 2011.

politics, obama, tax-increases, raising-taxes, spending-cuts, president-obama, budget-speech, deficit-speech, debt-speech, cutting-debt

Debt Ceiling | Boehner: Obama now open to debt ceiling vote with strings attached | The Daily Caller - Breaking News, Opinion, Research, and Entertainment

Seeded on Wed Apr 13, 2011 5:08 PM EDT (dailycaller.com)

Yet more evidence that President Obama is serious about cutting future spending by the Federal government.

budget, politics, deficit, debt, debt-ceiling, debt-limit, cutting-spending, budget-negotiations, ryan-white-house-council, cutting-federal-deficit

Full text of President Obama's deficit reduction speech | The Daily Caller - Breaking News, Opinion, Research, and Entertainment

Seeded on Wed Apr 13, 2011 4:56 PM EDT (dailycaller.com)

Full text of President Obama's deficit reduction speech on April 13, 2011.

congress, politics, social-security, baby-boomers, american-dream, debt-reduction, pell-grants, america-i, obamas-speech, deficit-reduction

Wisconsin previews 2012 chaos - Alexander Burns - POLITICO.com

Seeded on Wed Apr 13, 2011 1:35 PM EDT (Politico)

in a period of less than two months, Kloppenburg went from an extreme underdog to a candidate who nearly tied the incumbent and won 19 more counties than the Democratic candidate for governor last year.

politics, wisconsin, recall, scott-walker, prosser, recall-election, wisconsin-politics, kloppenbuerg, wisconsi-supreme-court-election, wisconsin-recall-election

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