Link Roundup 2.1.05 - From Zack

Hightower at his best. This on our huge trade deficit and the increasingly outrageous Orwellian doublespeak coming from the administration. Check this out:

"This guy is farther out than Pluto. When it was announced recently that the U.S. trade deficit has set yet another record, Bush's top economic official rocketed off into deep space claiming like some alien goofball juiced up on jimson weed that ­ woo woo! ­ bad news is good news. In 2004, the American economy bought $600 billion more in products from foreign countries ­ especially China ­ than we sold to them. This is the exact opposite of a good business plan."
 
Bill Moyers isn't through yet...thank god for that. Another powerful op-ed on the administration, the environment, and our future. One of our last true journalists alive today. This is largely a rehash of the one he wrote a few months ago, but if you didn't read it then, please do now. Here's a piece:

"The news is not good these days. I can tell you, though, that as a journalist I know the news is never the end of the story. The news can be the truth that sets us free - not only to feel but to fight for the future we want. And the will to fight is the antidote to despair, the cure for cynicism, and the answer to those faces looking back at me from those photographs on my desk. What we need is what the ancient Israelites called hochma - the science of the heart ... the capacity to see, to feel and then to act as if the future depended on you. Believe me, it does."
 
Frank Rich of the NY Times writes on the inauguration and how it contrasts to the reality in Iraq and the country. Oh, like people being killed on a daily basis and another generation of young american that will be physicall and emotionally scarred for the rest of their lives. Otherwise, let's celebrate! This is great...here's a clip:
 
"They do this by moving the goal posts for "mission accomplished" as frequently as they have changed the rationale for us entering this war in the first place. In the walk-up to the Inauguration, even Iraq's Election Day was quietly downsized in importance so a sixth V-I Day further off in the future could be substituted. Dick Cheney told Don Imus on Inauguration morning that "we can bring our boys home" and that "our mission is complete" once the Iraqis "can defend themselves." What that means, and when exactly that might be is, shall we say, unclear. President Bush and Prime Minister Allawi told the press in unison last September that there were "nearly 100,000 fully trained and equipped" Iraqi security forces ready to carry out that self-defense. Condoleezza Rice told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this month that there are 120,000. Time magazine says this week that the actual figure of fully trained ground soldiers is 14,000, but hey: in patriotism as it's been redefined for this war, loving the troops means never having to say you're sorry - or even having to say the word Iraq in an Inaugural address."
 
And, my man Russ Feingold speaks out AGAINST the Death Penalty. This guy would make a great Presidential candidate. A clip:
"At the beginning of 2005, I cannot help but believe that our progress has been tarnished by our Nation's not only continuing, but increasing use of the death penalty. We are a Nation that prides itself on the fundamental principles of justice, liberty, equality and due process. We are a Nation that scrutinizes the human rights records of other nations. Historically, we are one of the first nations to speak out against torture and killings by foreign governments. We should hold our own system of justice to the highest standard.
 
Watch this awesome ad by MoveOn.org on Bush's Social Security "plan":
 
Our President everybody! An interview clip...huhhh????:
Lamb (of C-Span): "The longer you're in this White House, with all those that have gone before
you, do you see ghosts of past presidents?"
 
Bush: "Well, I quit drinking in '86. ... It's just really hard to project back into somebody else's shoes. So, no, I guess I don't see ghosts."
 
A story on Boxer's rise...this is great, just what i've been saying...if Dems would start standing and fighting they would see a groundswell of support like they never dreamed...and that's what happened, and this should help other Dems do the same! Here's a piece:
 
Boxer Not Willing to Pull Punches
The Los Angeles Times
The California senator's challenge of electoral votes and Condoleezza Rice has helped fill
Democratic Party coffers.
 
WASHINGTON - A new blog is promoting her for president. NBC's "Saturday Night Live"
spoofed her hair and her props. Some senatorial colleagues are secretly urging her to "go, girl, go."
And Democratic coffers are filling up with her every volley.
 
With liberals dusting themselves off after their November setbacks, California Sen. Barbara Boxer has emerged as the Left's new flamethrower. Maybe it's not that Boxer's gotten louder but that other Democrats can barely be heard at all. At least, that's what some of her supporters are saying.
 
Whatever the explanation, Boxer, 64, has never been more in the spotlight. At a time when
Republican dominance of Washington politics is nearly complete, a Marin County liberal who drives a hybrid car and opposes almost everything the GOP does has become a newly prominent face of the Democratic Party. Leading the charge for the opposition isn't new for Boxer. As a Brooklyn newlywed, she once organized fellow apartment building tenants to petition for carpeting. As a House member in 1991, she led fellow congresswomen up the steps of the Senate to demand hearings into Anita Hill's sexual harassment claims against Clarence Thomas (news - web sites). She led recent opposition to drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (successfully), and against the ban on what opponents call partial birth abortion (unsuccessfully).
 
As progressives we often talk about what we're against, here are some progressive tax proposals that would help get us out of our current economic mess:
 
A Plan for Progressive Reform

Over the last four years, President Bush's tax schemes have made the system more complex, shifted more of the burden to the middle class and exploded the federal deficit. We can do better. Today, American Progress is releasing a plan for progressive tax reform that proves it. The American Progress plan is fiscally responsible reform that significantly simplifies the system, restores fairness and increases economic opportunity. Here are the highlights:

SIMPLICITY ­ REDUCE THE NUMBER OF TAX BRACKETS: President Bush has added over 10,000 pages to the federal tax code. The American Progress plan would make the system far simpler. The number of tax brackets would be reduced from six to just three ­ 15 percent (for income up to $25K), 25 percent (for income between $25K and $120K) and 39.6 percent (for income over 120K).

SIMPLICITY ­ CLOSE LOOPHOLES: The plan would close loopholes in the corporate income tax code, including the "Bermuda" loophole that allows U.S. firms to avoid paying taxes by moving their operations overseas. By closing individual loopholes, the plan would also eliminate the need for the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) ­ a special rate initially created to ensure that the very rich pay some taxes. Without reform, the AMT would impact 36 million Americans by 2010.

FAIRNESS ­ TAX ALL INCOME THE SAME: Under the Bush administration's tax policies, middle-class Americans are shouldering more of the burden. The American Progress plan corrects that by simplifying the rate structure and taxing each source of income the same ­ whether it is dividends from investments or wages.

FAIRNESS ­ ELIMINATE REGRESSIVE SOCIAL SECURITY TAXES: One of the most regressive components of our tax system is the employee Social Security payroll tax. The flat 6.2 percent tax employees pay on their first $90K of income imposes an effective tax rate four times larger for middle-income workers than the top 1 percent. The American Progress plan would eliminate it. Social Security funding would be strengthened by eliminating the cap on employer contributions (currently there is no employer contribution for income in excess of $90K) and devoting 2.25 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from general revenues. The plan would not only preserve Social Security funding but cut the program's long-term deficit in half.

FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY ­ REDUCE THE DEFICIT: The federal government is on pace to rack up another $1.4 trillion over the next ten years. The American Progress plan is fiscally responsible, reducing the revenue shortfall by $478 billion compared to the administration's budget. At the same time, the American Progress plan would include a tax cut for the 70 percent of Americans who earn up to $200,000, providing an average cut of over $600.

OPPORTUNITY ­ INCENTIVES FOR ALL AMERICANS TO SAVE: The American Progress plan would create new opportunities for tens of millions of Americans to save and create wealth. The current deduction system is upside-down ­ providing a greater incentive to save if you have a higher income (and pay a higher marginal tax rate). The plan would create a new across-the-board 25 percent refundable tax credit for retirement savings. This would provide the same incentives for every American ­ whether an investment banker or a secretary ­ to save, including the 33 million Americans who don't earn enough to have income tax liability.

OPPORTUNITY ­ INCREASE TAKE HOME PAY FOR LOW-INCOME TAXPAYERS: The American Progress plan provides more take home pay for those who need it most. Currently, more than 20 million of the country's poorest children receive less than the full benefit from the child tax credit, and 8 million children receive no benefit at all. The American Progress plan gives every family earning over $5,000 a year access to the child tax credit. It also makes sure that single working parents who receive the Earned Income Tax Credit don't lose their benefits just because they get married.