taxes

Eric Cantor's Extreme Makeover Interrupted by Ghost of Reagan

Tue, 01/03/2012 - 1:36pm — AnnabelPark

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor set out to "humanize" his image by doing a 60 Minutes interview with Leslie Stahl that aired on New Year's Day. This is how Stahl explains the context of the interview: "President Obama has made Eric Cantor the face of Republican inflexibility."

Although it did not go entirely as planned, it's clear what Cantor and his press team wanted: Cantor presented as a nice guy, a family man, a reasonable politician who is trying to do what he thinks is best for his country.

The interview contains the usual elements of a Washington PR makeover: Cantor the "cool" dad who listens to rap, Cantor the devoted husband, Cantor the cyclist, Cantor as a boy who wanted to fit in at school, Cantor the statesman who stands for his principles, Cantor the straight-shooting populist who rails against those who game the system and include "provisions in the tax code that favor their industry," etc.

But, something goes awry: the Ghost of Ronald Reagan makes an appearance and, like x-ray vision, reveals the cracks in Cantor's story.

STAHL: What’s the difference between compromise and cooperate?

CANTOR: Well, I would say cooperate is let’s look to where we can move things forward where we agree. Comprising principles, you don’t want to ask anybody to do that. That’s who they are as their core being.

STAHL: But you know, your idol, as I’ve read anyway, was Ronald Reagan. And he compromised.

CANTOR: He never compromised his principles.

STAHL: Well, he raised taxes and it was one of his principles not to raise taxes.

CANTOR: Well, he– he also cut taxes.

STAHL: But he did compromise–

CANTOR: Well I –

OFF-SCREEN ANGRY VOICE: That just isn’t true! And I don’t want to let that stand!

The voice that breaks the fourth wall belongs to Cantor's press secretary, Brad Dayspring. After the interruption, 60 Minutes immediately cuts to Reagan in 1982 announcing a tax raise and the need for compromise. To millions of viewers, it felt like Reagan had cooperated with CBS News to give Cantor and the House Republicans a good bonk on the head.

Despite the best laid plans of the Cantor media team, the Ghost of Reagan stole the show and revealed the chasm that separates Reagan from Cantor, and the ideological conservatives of today from the principled conservatives of yesteryear. The biggest difference between Reagan and Cantor is that Reagan, in his approach to tax policy and the economy, had the strength of character to do what was right for the country, even if powerful special interests disagreed. Where is that strength of character now?

Reagan said of his '82 tax increase, "I support it because it is right for America. I support it because it is fair."

Fairness. What's right for America. Those are the kind of principles that ought not to be compromised. A pledge to powerful bankers and corporate lobbyists is not a principle; it's a backroom deal.

Our country needs more revenue to heal an economy in cardiac arrest. We can address the deficit as the economy heals from emergency surgery and is up and walking again. We need to put job creation and economic growth before backroom pledges and ideological rigidity. That's what Reagan would do if he were president today, and that is what Cantor should do if he really, truly wants an image makeover.

The Truth About Taxes and Job Creation — Great Reporting by NPR

Sun, 12/11/2011 - 1:22pm — EricByler

by Eric Byler

Okay, stop reading this now. Stop reading this, and take 11 minutes to LISTEN TO THIS STORY. It begins with a charming character sketch on venture capitalist Nick Hanauer (Amazon.com). After that, it's 11 minutes of absolute genius.

As we watch the struggle within the Republican Party in Congress over extending the Payroll Tax Cut for America's middle class and working class, the argument we hear over taxation is shifting in a fascinating way. What used to be "taxes are always bad" is now "taxes on the wealthy are always bad but taxes on everyone else are okay if it means obstructing the Obama administration."

Partisanship is boring. Sometimes you have to look past it and get to the facts. Will Rice, recently wrote in his Coffee Party Commonwealth essay titled "The Rich Don't Need a Free Ride"

The reason usually offered for taxing passive income at a lower rate than wages, salaries, and small-business income is that such preferential treatment encourages investment and job creation. And that may be true of entrepreneurs who start businesses, seek investors, and then sell off their creations and start all over again.

But I don't do any of those things, and there are millions of rich people like me who don't either. Like a lot of them, I inherited stock in big companies like IBM and General Electric. I support myself primarily by going to my mailbox, picking up dividend checks, and depositing them. Occasionally I sell some shares at a profit. And conservative tax reformers believe I should be rewarded for this great exertion by exempting me entirely from taxation.

So not everyone in the "1%" creates jobs and shielding our aristocracy from the levels of taxation we had when our economy was strong and our budget balanced doesn't make a lot of sense. Point taken. But what about those members of the "1%" who do create jobs? Hanauer shrewdly adds to Rice's argument that businesses do not create jobs unless economic conditions force them to. He says this about 7 minutes into the story:

Business people do two things with their time fundamentally. The first is that they try to create sales, right? Revenue: the key to business. But the other thing they devote their time to, equally, is cost containment: that is how to NOT create jobs, because the fewer jobs you can create for the revenue you can create, the more profit you make. The only time that businesses create jobs is when middle class consumers essentially put a gun to our heads in the form of orders for products that we cannot make ourselves. And THEN, we hire people to create jobs.

The goal of America is freedom: here is how we get there

Fri, 09/16/2011 - 9:17pm — AnnabelPark

Dear America,

We are in the middle of a great struggle for the soul of our country.

It is easy to read the news each day and become a little more disheartened, if not downright demoralized about our future. Elected members of our government are telling us that we don't deserve disaster relief, clean air, fair wages, healthcare, jobs, or homes. We are not part of the "productive class," and thus the tax dollars we contribute should not be invested in our families or our futures.

Our struggle is often presented as an economic struggle. The top 1% vs the rest of us. In many ways, it is that. But, like many conflicts between people and power throughout history, it is also a struggle for identity, as individuals and as a nation.

The ruling class in America wants to determine what we deserve or don't deserve as human beings. They malign social programs — paid for with our taxpayer money — as "entitlements" that, for some reason, we no longer deserve. In the aftermath of the Wall Street financial crisis, somehow We the People have become less deserving of the fruits of our labor. Instead, our money goes to those who created the crisis — the "money guys" as former Senator Alan Simpson refers to them. [READ MORE]

Enough Is Enough! Citizens Intervention @ US Capitol #Oct29

Wed, 09/14/2011 - 8:01pm — AnnabelPark

This is the blog post that started it all, but please check out our new
official website for the Enough is Enough: Citizens Intervention
on Oct. 29, 2011 on the West Front Lawn of the US Capitol.

The People's turn to speak #Oct29, a few minutes at a time

Mon, 09/05/2011 - 6:33pm — admin

America, you are invited: SIGN UP TO SPEAK
at the Enough Is Enough Rally, October 29, 2011 at the U.S. Capitol West Front Lawn

"Our struggle is often presented as an economic struggle. The top 1% vs the rest of us. In many ways, it is that. But, like many conflicts between people and power throughout history, it is also a struggle for identity, as individuals and as a nation."

— Annabel Park [READ MORE]

CLICK HERE for the latest update on the #Oct29 Enough is Enough Rally.

Momentum builds for #Oct29 Enough is Enough Rally at U.S. Capitol

Mon, 09/05/2011 - 6:27pm — EricByler

by Eric Byler

With 8 weeks to go, we already have 250 people signed up to speak at the Enough is Enough Rally #Oct29 and 3,400 signed up to help organize. They are coming from all across the country, even Hawai'i! Pre-registrants will be given priority over walk-ups, so click here to reserve your spot before publicity and advertising begin. Here are some updates:

Annabel Park's new video and letter to America have provided us with the perfect opening statement: "Our struggle is often presented as an economic struggle. The top 1% vs the rest of us. In many ways, it is that. But, like many conflicts between people and power throughout history, it is also a struggle for identity, as individuals and as a nation."
A team of volunteers has developed a social media strategy to attract the attention of speakers we'd like to attend such as Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, and Dylan Ratigan. CLICK HERE to do your part.
Thanks to your donations, we are hiring professional event planners and mainstream media consultants to help ensure that the People's voice will at last be heard.
We are facilitating satellite rallies, particularly in parts of the country that are far from DC. Local meet-ups have already begun, including planning meetings for local speak-out events and group travel to the D.C. #Oct29 (we will be raising travel funds for interested groups).