An alternative to the Ryan budget

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Monday August 13, 2012 · 9:20 PM PDT

2012/08/13 · 21:20

So I was browsing through the comment section of intrade's page on Obama's reelection, partly for amusement. There is a very intelligent commenter, supak, who schools the assorted wingnuts and Gary Johnson diehards that seem to haunt the list.

The topic of the day, of course, is Paul Ryan, and there are all sorts of delicious tidbits such as this quote:

There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.

But what impelled me to share here was supak's mention of Rep. Raúl Grijalva's (or the Congressional Progressive Caucus's) proposal to balance the budget. I haven't found a diary about it this year, though it rates a mention in Meteor Blades' column about a philosophically similar Bernie Sanders budget.

It occurs to me that now is a good opportunity to tweet and otherwise pass on a proposal that balances the budget without causing further pain to the poor and the middle class. Here's a summary of the summary given on the front page:

[The People's] Budget Eliminates the Deficit and Raises a $31 Billion Surplus In Ten Years Our budget protects Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and responsibly eliminates the deficit by targeting its main drivers: the Bush Tax Cuts, the wars overseas, and the causes and effects of the recent recession.

Trains teachers and restores schools; rebuilds roads and bridges and ensures that users help pay for them

Invests in job creation, clean energy and broadband infrastructure, housing and R&D programs

Ends the recently passed upper-income tax cuts and lets Bush-era tax cuts expire at the end of 2012

Extends tax credits for the middle class, families, and students

Creates new tax brackets that range from 45% starting at $1 million to 49% for $1 billion or more

Implements a progressive estate tax

Eliminates corporate welfare for oil, gas, and coal companies; closes loopholes for multinational corporations

You've heard it all before. But it's nicely encapsulated in this document, and it could get some traction if we use the Ryan budget as a "teachable moment."

How Chase cheats ex-customers

codairem

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Monday April 30, 2012 · 2:56 PM PDT

2012/04/30 · 14:56

Quick diary here as I'm on a deadline. I just came back from Chase where they reverted, with apologies, an incorrect (but hardly innocent) $10 finance charge they applied to an account I closed last month. There were no late checks or anything -- it was entirely Chase's doing.

As I was clearly in the right they made no fuss, but I'm SURE every other customer who closes an account is hit with the same fee, and many probably don't have the time or stomach to argue. So that's a pretty nice little racket. I wonder what can be done about it.

A few more details below the fold.

codairem

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Friday February 10, 2012 · 12:38 PM PST

2012/02/10 · 12:38

A few weeks ago, the Research Works Act (RWA) was introduced in Congress. This legislation would forbid federal agencies from insisting that publications arising from research supported by their grants should be freely available to the public. It would therefore contribute to the trend of increasingly exhorbitant costs of access to most research publications.

In part because of the outcry against the RWA, there is a now a competing bill that goes in the opposite direction, and that deserves enthusiastic support: the (revised) Federal Research Public Access Act, or FRPAA. Here is the text of the bill and here is a good explanation.

For background, details, and a call to action, see below.

(Full disclosure: I work for MSP, a nonprofit publisher. Our goal is to make scientific research widely accessible at a low cost to the reader.)

codairem

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Wednesday March 10, 2010 · 11:03 AM PST

2010/03/10 · 11:03

The sole purpose of this diary is to call attention to another diary - please go there and recommend it, and then pick up the phone and call your Congressional Rep and the Ways and Means Committe (202-225-3625) to express support for Alan Grayson's HR4789.

Suggested phrasing for the tongue-tied (not that are many kossacks in that category):

I've learned that Representative Alan Grayson has introduced a bill that would allow all Americans to buy into Medicare. It's HR4789. I'm calling to encourage the committe to act on this bill quickly so it comes to the floor. This bill is a very good thing and does not stand in the way of any other health care initiatives!

Then make sure they got the number (HR4789) right. Easy as pie!

Silvio Levy

Why this isn't 1993

codairem

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Friday December 18, 2009 · 1:23 PM PST

2009/12/18 · 13:23

I have read many diaries and comments to the tune of

Killing this bill takes health care reform off the table for at least another 15-20 years.

and

Watch when this bill fails. Then you will see a death spiral [for Democrats]. You may be too young but 1994 was beyond comprehension.

(For the record, I'm 50.)

Since these claims are being used as a club to beat into submission those who believe the flaws in the current bill outweigh its benefits (which may be 2/3 of the American public if the polls are correct), they deserve careful scrutiny.

I believe they represent a serious misreading of history, and I will try to explain why.

codairem

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Wednesday July 30, 2008 · 1:33 AM PDT

2008/07/30 · 01:33

Somewhere in the bowels of a diary enthusing over the (very ambiguous) WaPo piece about "lack of evidence" for McCain's charges against Obama, there was a comment with a link to today's Richard Cohen column. I made the mistake of following it, and won't be able to sleep anymore.

"Just tell me one thing Barack Obama has done that you admire," I asked a prominent Democrat. He paused and then said that he admired Obama's speech to the Democratic convention in 2004. I agreed. It was a hell of a speech, but it was just a speech.

On the other hand, I continued, I could cite four or five actions -- not speeches -- that John McCain has taken that elicit my admiration, even my awe.

codairem

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Friday July 11, 2008 · 9:23 AM PDT

2008/07/11 · 09:23

Last night someone called to survey my opinion about politics. The man, who had an African-American accent (and who occasionally had difficulty reading the questions -- whether this reflected tiredness or poor education I don't know) announced his affiliation (Voter Consumer Research) and said he wanted to ask "a few questions" about my opinion on the upcoming elections.

After a couple of real questions everything else was a statement followed by a request to rate my reaction to the statement as "very positive, somewhat positive, somewhat negative, or very negative" (no neutral option).

It didn't take me more than two questions of this type to realize it was a push poll, because the questions were heavily biased. Some statements were outright falsehoods. After answering a few of the questions with a brief argument about why the statement was false or misleading, I decided to go the whole nine yards and spent some 45 minutes spelling out my views about McCain. I decided to spend the time because it was fun - I don't usually get to talk politics - and to tie him up. Maybe even to try to put some sense into his head, though for all I know he might be pro-Obama already.

More on the questions, as far as I can remember them:

codairem

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Wednesday May 21, 2008 · 11:28 AM PDT

2008/05/21 · 11:28

Bush has vetoed the farm bill, which also contained some modest help for middle- and low-income Americans. Here is the link to the the NYT article

The reason he gave is that "the legislation is fiscally irresponsible". But what strikes me is that the New York Times article...

codairem

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Tuesday March 18, 2008 · 7:54 PM PDT

2008/03/18 · 19:54

Hardly did any work today. Instead spent the day reading dozens of diaries and hundreds of comments on DK, and following links (even the press seems to have recognized gold this time around, with the predictable exception of Rush Limbaugh). And reveling in the pure joy of rereading and reciting parts of the speech.

RSS

An alternative to the Ryan budget

How Chase cheats ex-customers

Support the Federal Research Public Access Act

Help make Medicare buy-in a reality

Why this isn't 1993

Richard Cohen the tool

my first experience with push-polling

Bush vetoes farm bill

All right, no more good speeches for a month.