Politics Plus

Few of the Republican arsenal of lies are more insane than spreading the belief that Obama is not a US citizen.  Yesterday, Eric Cantor had an opportunity to exercise authentic leadership by calling for the many Republican politicians and pundits still spreading the lie to stop and debate real issues instead.  To his credit, Cantor finally admitted that he thinks Obama is a US citizen and that the President wants what’s best for the country.  But on ending the insaniTEA, Cantor quacked.

This morning on NBC’s Meet the Press, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) repeatedly refused host David Gregory’s invitation to call questions about President Obama’s citizenship illegitimate, and he also declined to call such rhetoric “crazy,” saying “I don’t think it’s nice to call anyone crazy, ok?” After several prompts from Gregory, Cantor eventually said he believes the president “is a citizen of the United States”…

…Watch it:

 

Cantor’s first attempt to deflect blame for birther conspiracies onto the media and “others in this country” is a dishonest denial of the fact that birth certificate conspiracies have distinctly right-wing origins, as Gregory notes. The theories frequently bubble up at Tea Party rallies and on popular conservative websites like World Net Daily [Teabuggery delinked]. Fox News also frequently traffics in conspiracy theories about the president’s birth certificate.

In addition, there are several elected officials who have raised questions about Obama’s real birthplace, including several Republicans in the House of Representatives that Cantor leads. For example, Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) has said “I really don’t know” if Obama was born in the United States. Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) has also said he doesn’t know if the president is a citizen. In fact, a tally [Teabuggery delinked] kept at World Net Daily claims that the following members of Cantor’s caucus doubt the president’s citizenship: Reps. Bill Posey (R-FL), Dan Burton (R-IN), Ted Poe (R-TX), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), John Campbell (R-CA), John R. Carter (R-TX), John Culberson (R-TX), Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Randy Neugebauer (R-TX), Trent Franks (R-AZ), Louie Gohmert (R-TX), and Kenny Marchant (R-TX)… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Think Progress>

Once again, the basic civility to call for honesty exceeds what the Republican leadership is willing to do.

The “recovery” seems well on the way.  Stocks are up.  Banksters are bonusing more than ever before.  Corporations have ready cash to invest.  The problem, of course, is that unless you’re rich, it doesn’t make any difference where you live.  For you, everything is going up except your income.  We have a Wall Street recovery with no evidence that the benefits will, or reasons why the benefits should, trickle down.  Republican regimes should have taught us by now that “trickle down” always means “gush up”.  Robert Reich has written an excellent editorial with suggestions for Barack Obama’s SOTU speech that resembles plans that I have submitted here.  If Obama takes his advice, or mine, which I doubt, I respectfully suggest that a toilet be placed under every Republican in the chamber to prevent an environmental catastrophe of draconian proportions.

PRESIDENT OBAMA will have to devote a big part of his State of the Union address to the economy, but which economy?

Corporate profits are up, in part because of reduced costs, especially payrolls, so jobs and wages remain in the doldrums. People with lots of financial assets or who are deemed “talent” by large companies are enjoying a solid recovery, but most Americans continue to struggle. In order for the public to understand what must be done, Mr. Obama has to be clear about what has happened and why.

The Great Recession accelerated trends that started three decades ago: outsourcing abroad, automating work, converting full-time employees to temps and contractors, undermining unions and getting wage and benefit concessions from remaining workers.

Mr. Obama should point out that the United States economy is now more than twice the size it was in 1980, but the real median wage has barely budged; that in the late 1970s, the richest 1 percent of Americans got about 9 percent of total income, while by the start of the Great Recession the richest received more than 23 percent; that wealth is now even more concentrated. And the economy is bogged down because most Americans, unable to borrow as before, no longer have the purchasing power to get it moving again.

The president should make it clear that corporations aren’t to blame; they’re meant to make profits. Nor is it the fault of the rich who have played by the rules. But he should stress that a future with no jobs or lousy jobs for most Americans is not sustainable — not even for American corporations, whose long-term profitability depends on broad-based domestic demand.

The solution is to give average Americans a better economic deal. For starters, he should propose to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit (essentially, a wage subsidy) all the way up through the middle class. And he should suggest making the tax system more progressive: The rate on the $50,000 to $90,000 income bracket should be cut to 10 percent; on the $90,000 to $150,000 bracket, to 20 percent; on the $150,000 to $250,000 bracket, to 30 percent. Make up the revenue by increasing taxes on the $250,000 to $500,000 bracket, to 40 percent; from $500,000 to $5 million, to 50 percent; and anything over $5 million, to 60 percent. Tax capital gains the same as ordinary income.

In addition, he should call for strengthening unions by increasing penalties on employers who illegally deter them. And he should make college affordable by allowing federal loans to be repaid as 10 percent of earnings for the first 10 years of full-time employment… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <NY Times>

I can’t say that I agree with all his ideas.  He omits help for America’s most needy, the people who have been most harmed by the Republican recession.  There is no indication that there will ever be sufficient openings to provide jobs for all who are willing to work.  Therefore, to provide for the general well being, the federal government must either provide work in community service or provide a decent standard of living to those who cannot find work and a decent standard of living for those unable to work.  I also prefer an educational system under which anyone who so chooses may have an education at taxpayer expense as high as their ability merits, to be paid back with their choice of community or military service, while receiving a decent income, the length of which depends on the level of education received.

Yesterday I posted that it seemed obvious that Keith Olbermann had been forced from his job at MSNBC with virtually no notice.  When I’m wrong, I say so.  While he may have been forced from his job, he apparently negotiated his departure from MSNBC for some time, weeks even.

The latest on Keith Olbermann’s departure from MSNBC, via the New York Times:

For the last several weeks, Mr. Olbermann and the network have been in negotiations to end his successful run on MSNBC, according to executives involved in the talks who requested anonymity because the talks were confidential. The deal was completed on Friday, and Mr. Olbermann made the announcement on his final “Countdown” hours later.

Friday’s separation agreement between MSNBC and Mr. Olbermann includes restrictions on when he can next lead a television show and when he can give interviews about the decision to end his association with the news channel.

The executives involved in the discussions confirmed that the deal carries limitations for Mr. Olbermann in terms of when he can next work on television, though he will be able to take a job in radio or on any forum on the Internet. The deal also prohibits the host from commenting publicly on the deal, the executives confirmed.

Mr. Olbermann did not respond to requests for comment Friday or Saturday.

Sounds like we won’t be hearing directly from Olbermann, if this account is correct.

According to anonymous Comcast officials, the separation had nothing to do with the Comcast/NBC merger. In fact, the Times account claims the company is worried that it will be seen as exerting pressure to fire Olbermann… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Daily Kos>

I’ll still miss him.  I’ve heard buzz that he may be planning an online presence in the form of a major blog, but I was unable to confirm a source I do not know sufficiently to trust, so I’ll present that as speculation only.

Also this does not mean that Keith left of his own free will, and I still consider it likely that either he was forced out, or that he was presented with editorial restrictions that violated his sense of integrity.

I’ll keep watch for his reappearance.