Yesterday I spent at least one labor-intensive hour handwriting post cards to the Senators Chambliss, Coburn and Crapo, the three cancerous Cs of the U.S. Senate, also three of the "Gang of Six," urging that they have a heart,
You want to cut benefits for me and the disabled so that Jamie Dimon and Lloyd Blankfein will be able to save as much as $1.9 million a year on their tax bill, rising to more than $3 million a year if the top rate is cut to 23%.
The European Union is considering imposing financial speculation taxes to reduce the power of the financial industry and raise more than $40 billion a year in revenue. ... but then, they are civilized and advanced, not slavering, knuckle-dragging sycophants to the rich.
not realizing that the heartless little bastards were minions of Ratmeister Grover G. Norquist and couldn't possibly have a heart. All of my arguments were stolen from economist Dean Baker.
Chambliss, indifferent to any concept of ethics, provided evidence of his minionship in two letters on his website:
Feb 17 2011
Sens. Chambliss, Coburn and Crapo sent the following letter to Grover Norquist today in response to his charge that a rumored proposal to address our nation's mounting debt and deficit by cutting spending, reforming entitlements, lowering tax rates, simplifying the tax code and eliminating special interest deductions will violate Americans for Tax Reform’s Taxpayer Protection Pledge.
.... When the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform released its final report in December, those of us who supported the report were pleased to have the chance to discuss with you the full details of the report, our reasons for supporting it, and the particular provisions in the report that we continued to have strong concerns with, despite our support for the overall package. Our doors continue to be open to you and all interested parties to discuss important issues facing our country, like debt and deficit reduction, and tax reform.
... Your letter that we received this week is based on a news article that provides rumored details of a proposal that this bipartisan group of Senators is suggested to be developing. We did not contribute to this article. And, as you are aware, we have released no legislative proposal to this point. ...
The solution to our economic and fiscal problems will be based on both spending reduction and economic growth. Like you, we believe tax hikes will hinder, not promote, economic growth. And, as you know, the current tax code has become burdensome and complex and filled with provisions which only benefit a limited portion of Americans, at the expense of higher rates for all Americans. Proposals that simplify the tax code, broaden the base, lower all individual and corporate tax rates, and make our corporate tax code more competitive for U.S. business will create a surge in economic growth, which will not only generate more income for the American people and businesses, but more revenue to the federal Treasury, which, as your website notes, is not only allowable, but greatly desired.
Our pledge is to protect taxpayers, not special interests... Contrary to some press reports or the interpretation by some, we do not believe our efforts intended to avert tax increases on hardworking Americans violates any pledge we have taken, but rather affirms the oath we have taken to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, of which our national debt may now be the greatest. If and when there is a legislative proposal to be presented to Congress and the American people, we look forward to again working with you and all interested parties to support a proposal where any increase in revenue generation will be the result of the pro-growth effects of lower individual and corporate tax rates for all Americans.
http://chambliss.senate.gov/...
The Norquist letter to the three Cs accused:
I was disappointed this morning to read an article by Jonathan Weisman of the Wall Street Journal (“Deficit Plan Details Emerge”) in which you were implicated as parties to a bipartisan budget deal containing a net tax increase. As reported by Weisman is the following:
The tax-writing committees would be given two years...
Needless to say, support for such a deal would most likely be a violation of your Taxpayer Protection Pledge. That Pledge which you made to your constituents and the American people obligates you to “…oppose any net reduction or elimination of deductions and credits, unless matched dollar-for-dollar by further reducing tax rates.” A net tax hike of $180 billion over a decade is simply inconsistent with that promise....
Finally, Washington has an over-spending problem, not an under-taxing problem. ..
The issue of whether or not the pledge to Norquist contravenes a U.S. Representative's pledge to defend the U.S. Constitution is ambiguous. To who do these three Cs owe their first allegiance.
Methinks their Supreme Ruler is Ratmeister Norquist, speaking of slavering, knuckle-dragging sycophants.