Eric's shared items in Google Reader

Side Effect Of Cutting So Many Trees

2011-07-24T13:18:00Z

Waiting For Their Turn

The Chart That Should Accompany Every Discussion of Deficits

2011-05-12T01:39:43Z

All the time, and every day.

It's this one, from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, released yesterday (and also highlighted by Andrew Sullivan and Ezra Klein today).

Why does this chart matter? Because it makes clear, in that wonderful "worth 1,000 words" way, two realities that are fundamental to sane discussion of public finance, but that most of the public doesn't realize and that the Republican leadership is actively working to obscure. They are:

- The very large, but temporary and self-limiting, expenditures for TARP and other measures proposed by both the Bush and Obama administrations to avoid a second Great Depression, plus Obama stimulus spending. And;

- The very large, but permanent and worsening, budgetary impact of the "Bush tax cuts" -- which when first proposed back in the pre-9/11 era, were supposed to end in 2010 and were in response to what back then seemed to be the "problem" of a burgeoning surplus in federal accounts! Since "extending" those cuts just sounds like business as usual, I think it is hard for most people to envision the profound and growing effect they have. The chart above helps toward that end -- and doesn't even go into how heavily those cuts are skewed to the "haves" of society. Last year Austan Goolsbee had a marvelous chart of his own on that point.

And, as a bonus half-point, the chart clarifies that budget problems would be on the path to self-correction, if the Bush cuts had lapsed as originally planned.

So: print out this chart. Carry it around. Take it to Tea Parties and say you share their determination to get to the root of this deficit problem. Make sure people at least have to grapple with the argument it conveys. Ross Perot changed people's minds with charts 20 years ago. These things make a difference. Thanks to reader Bruce Johnson.

And here's one more for good measure, from the same CBPP source:

The Phony Budget Crisis

2011-03-02T23:15:08Z

The Phony Budget Crisis: Forget Austerity, Tax the Rich

by Ted Rall

Everywhere you look, from the federal government to the states to your hometown, budget crises abound. Services are being slashed. Politicians and pundits from both parties tell us that the good times are over, that we’ve got to start living within our means.

It’s a lie.

Two case studies have made news lately: California, where new/old governor Jerry Brown is trying to close a $25 billion shortfall with a combination of draconian cuts in public services and a series of regressive tax increases, and Wisconsin, where right-winger Scott Walker says getting rid of unions would eliminate the state’s $137 million deficit.

Never mind the economists, most of whom say an economic death spiral is exactly the worst possible time for government to cut spending. Pro-austerity propaganda has won the day with the American public. A new Rasmussen poll funds that 58 percent of likely voters would approve of a shutdown until Democrats and Republicans can agree on what spending to cut.

The budget “crisis” is a phony construction, the result of right-wing “starve the beast” ideology. There is plenty of money out there—but the pols don’t want it.

There is no need to lay off a single teacher, close a single library for an extra hour, or raise a single fee by one red cent.

Every government can not only balance its budget, but wind up with a surplus.

The solution is simple: tax the rich.

Over the last 50 years tax rates for the bottom 80 percent of wage earners have remained almost static. Meanwhile the rich have received tax cut after tax cut after tax cut. For example, the rate paid by the top 0.01 percent—people who currently get more than $6.5 million a year—fell by half (from 70 to 35 percent).

Times are tough. Someone has to pay. Why not start with those who can most afford it?

Europe has the world’s best food, its best healthcare system and its best vacation policy. It also has one of the fairest ways to generate revenue for government: a wealth tax. In Norway, for example, you pay one percent of your net worth in addition to income tax.

What if we imposed a Norwegian-style wealth tax on the top one percent of U.S. households? We’re not talking upper middle class here: the poorest among them is worth a mere $8.3 million. This top one percent owns 35 percent of all wealth in the United States.

“Such a wealth tax…would raise $191.1 billion each year (one percent of $19.1 trillion), a significant attack on the deficit,” Leon Friedman writes in The Nation. “If we extended the tax to the top 5 percent, we could raise $338.5 billion a year (one percent of 62 percent of $54.6 trillion).”

But that’s just the beginning. Wealthy individuals are nothing next to America’s money-sucking corporations.

Business shills whine that America’s corporate tax rate—35 percent—is one of the world’s highest. But that’s pure theory. Our real corporate rate—the rate companies actually pay after taking advantages of loopholes and deductions—is among the world’s lowest. According to The New York Times, Boeing paid a total tax rate of 4.5 percent over the last five years. (This includes federal, state, local and foreign taxes.) Yahoo paid seven percent. GE paid 14.3 percent. Southwest Airlines paid 6.3 percent. “GE is so good at avoiding taxes that some people consider its tax department to be the best in the world, even better than any law firm’s,” reports the Times‘ David Leonhardt. “One common strategy is maximizing the amount of profit that is officially earned in countries with low tax rates.”

America’s low effective corporate tax rates have left big business swimming in cash while the country goes bust. As of March 2010 non-financial corporations in the U.S. had $26.2 trillion in assets. Seven percent of that was in cash.

The national debt is $14.1 trillion.

Which is a lot. And, you see, entirely by choice.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/03/02-14

Are we going to East Troy, WI ?!!

2011-02-27T05:50:00Z

Is this where we're going this Summer??!!! Never been but looks nice... Heard alot about the place.... Should I bring a jacket???!!! I'll talk about it on the next podcast.... stay tuned!!!!

Dog Eat Doug - 21 February 2011

2011-02-21T05:46:44Z

Rep. Paul Ryan's Wisconsin State Worker Riots - revealed

2011-02-19T04:15:45Z

On February 17, 2011. Wisconsin District 1 Representative Paul Ryan said on MSNBC's "The Morning Joe" that Madison had turned into "Cairo" and there were "riots." After some careful examination of footage collected during the last week of protests over Governor Scott Walker's plan to take collective bargaining rights away from public sector employees, we can now show you the Wisconsin riots.

Calvin and Hobbes - 12 February 2011

2011-02-12T06:29:05Z

Peanuts - February 11, 2011

2011-02-12T07:37:02Z

Fun Stuff To Do at a Department Store

2011-01-27T17:36:00Z

This is too funny to not post. Abraham Piper finds some good stuff.

Sponsor:

Close to Home - 26 January 2011

2011-01-26T06:27:12Z

Jay Cutler Proves Naysayers Wrong By Defeating Shittiest Team Ever To Make Playoffs

2011-01-21T19:00:00Z

CHICAGO—Silencing once and for all the multitude of critics who said he did not have what it took to be a postseason quarterback, Bears quarterback Jay Cutler led the Bears to the NFC Championship Game last Sunday by defeating the 8-10 Seattle Seaha...

My Twitter Account is MAGICAL!

2011-01-20T03:35:00Z

In lieu of Pack Fan / Bears Fan, we bring you a Tale From Twitter.So, during the Packers – Falcons game, I was on twitter (@cavittation) finding out what kind of “insight” I might gain from Jason Wilde or Aaron Nagler or Chris from Packers Therapy to calm my nerves. The following is a timeline of those events. I’m serious…it’s not interesting enough for me to have made this up.It all started

Stephen Colbert on American, Republican-style Christianity

2011-01-02T03:56:05Z

We don’t have intellectuals in America, but we have brilliant comedians like Colbert who can slice it right to the bone. Bravo!

Please FB share and tweet far and wide, won’t you?

Via The American Jesus

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T14:54:35Z

Merry Christmas, everyone. Open presents. Watch the TV channel that plays Christmas songs and sing along! If time permits, read this. Enjoy food, family and eggnog. Indulge in the NBA.

Aerial Video Footage of New York Taken By RC Plane

2010-12-24T04:39:00Z

kkleiner writes with this fun bit from Singularity Hub: "Expert remote control pilot Raphael 'Trappy' Pirker recently took his 54 inch Zephyr model plane on a harrowing tour of Manhattan and the surrounding area. The best part: his RC vehicle was fitted with a camera that wirelessly transmitted an amazing recording of everything it saw – Pirker was piloting his craft with this visual feed. As you can see in the video, the results were spectacular. The plane looks to be flying within a few feet of buildings and whizzing past bridges with ease. You have to check out around 2:01 when he starts to buzz right by the Statute of Liberty."

Study Confirms That Fox News Makes You Stupid

2010-12-17T04:57:26Z

A new survey of American voters shows that Fox News viewers are significantly more misinformed than consumers of news from other sources.

LOLNFL: Week 12 2010

2010-11-30T15:54:33Z

All images via Yahoo! Sports.

Glass

2010-10-29T00:00:00Z

Los Alamos

2010-10-22T00:00:00Z

Real Life Adventures - 23 September 2010

2010-09-23T05:39:09Z