https://www.dailykos.com/user/mikeg2000/rss/index.xml News Community Action Copyright 2005 - Steal what you want Mon, 27 Jan 2020 15:24:07 +0000 Mon, 27 Jan 2020 15:24:07 +0000 Daily Kos rss@dailykos.com (Daily Kos) Daily Kos rss@dailykos.com (Daily Kos) https://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/8/10/1558753/-Gerrymandering-Your-Votes-Don-t-Matter <p><strong>Cross-Posted from <a href="http://www.leftitup.com" target="_blank">Left It Up</a> — </strong><a href="http://wp.me/p7KqgD-L" target="_blank" title="">wp.me/...</a></p> <p>According to a national NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released last Friday, 47% of polled voters want Democrats to lead Congress - 4% more than the 43% who want Republicans to control the legislature.</p> <h2>The Problem</h2> <p> Despite this, it's highly unlikely that even if this holds, Democrats will take back the House. Over the past decade, Republicans have mobilized at the local level to control a majority of the state legislatures that control the drawing of congressional districts. These new congressional maps are drawn in a calculated way - concentrating Republicans to create a district that is heavily Democratic or spreading Democrats out among districts so that they will always come close to winning but never actually do.</p> <p>Because of Republican gerrymandering, it is nearly impossible for Democrats to take back the House. However, this doesn't mean that Democrats should try to gerrymander as well. It makes strategic sense, but is as unfair to the Republicans as Republican gerrymandering is to the Democrats.</p> <h2>The Solution</h2> <p> The solution to this is a non-partisan, criterion-driven commission similar to the one in California. This is the fairest way to set congressional boundaries.</p> <h3>Power to the People</h3> <p> Legislatures should not decide the boundaries of congressional districts because they have a personal stake to set the boundaries to favor themselves. It's like you let the kid who cheated on a test to set his or her own punishment.</p> <p>If incumbents set their own district's boundaries, of course districts favor incumbents. This is why there are so few competitive districts. After chopping up the map, all the leftovers are made into a district. Because that district is probably the most diverse, it is the most competitive.</p> <h3>Real Standards</h3> <p> These commissions won't just decide on a whim. The California plan established criteria for how the boundaries should be decided based on population equality, the Voting Rights Act, geographic contiguity, geographic integrity, and district compactness. This ensures that the process is transparent.</p> <p>Previously, with legislature-controlled redistricting, law makers could make a congressional map that suited their interests behind closed doors. Of course there would be public hearings and perhaps controversy, but there was nothing that forced lawmakers to justify their decisions.</p> rss@dailykos.com (mikeg2000) 2016 Congress CongressionalElections Gerrymandering House Rescued _1558753 Wed, 10 Aug 2016 16:35:54 +0000 https://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/7/28/1553740/-Thank-You-Mr-President <p>Cross Posted from <a href="http://leftitup.com/thank-you-mr-president/" target="_blank">Progress Central</a>.</p> <p>President Barack Obama gave one of his last high-profile speeches of his presidency and he knocked it out of the park. He balanced establishing his legacy, full-heartedly endorsing his former rival Hillary Clinton, and attacking Trump in an artful and persuasive speech.</p> <p>Yet the end of the speech was also bittersweet. Obama said it himself:</p> <blockquote>America, you have vindicated that hope these past eight years.  And now I’m ready to pass the baton and do my part as a private citizen</blockquote> <p>So as Obama's time in public office comes to end, let's take a look back at these past eight years.</p> <h2>The Economy</h2> <p>The economy is the clearest part of Obama's legacy. He came into office in a record recession and a financial crisis. In the midst of the crisis, <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/09/news/economy/jobs_december/">half a million </a>jobs were being lost every month with a peak of <a href="http://www.bls.gov/spotlight/2012/recession/pdf/recession_bls_spotlight.pdf">10 percent unemployment</a>.</p> <p>He will leave office with the economy adding jobs and maintaining a 5% unemployment rate. His critics say that wages are stagnant and that the long-term unemployed still aren't being helped. However, regardless of these true criticisms, shepherding an economy from the brink of disaster to stability is a real accomplishment.</p> <h2>Health Care</h2> <p>Obama's crowning achievement is the Affordable Care Act. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/health-insurance-obamacare_us_56d8a717e4b0000de403d404">20 million people</a> now have health insurance because of Obamacare with the share of the uninsured dropping to <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2016/03/21/health-insurance-gains-due-obama-law-not-economy/VhrEy0D0eaqSqgXLLfoV0M/story.html">9 percent</a>.</p> <p>The price of health care continues to go up. The average premium increased by 9% for the 2016 health care plans. Luckily, Obamacare will give an <a href="http://www.ibtimes.com/how-much-does-obamacare-cost-average-premium-rose-9-percent-affordable-care-act-2276264">annual tax credit</a> of $294 for 2016 plans and bring the final monthly total to $113.</p> <p>Now, there are still <a href="http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/33-million-americans-still-dont-have-health-insurance/">33 million Americans</a> who are still without insurance. There is still work to be done because as effective as Obamacare was, it wasn't enough. But it sure was a step in the right direction.</p> <h2>Foreign Policy</h2> <p>Foreign policy is a weak spot in the Obama legacy. ISIS is growing in power. The Syrian refugee crisis remains unresolved. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan never seem to end. It is unquestionable that the Middle East is more unstable than it was when Obama took office.</p> <p>However, Obama has made significant strides in other parts of the world. At the very least, while it may have negative economic effects, if implemented, the TPP would increase American influence on the Asian markets. Obama's leadership at the Copenhagen Summit last year has made America a leader on global climate issues with results to show. Most clear is his overtures to Cuba - attempting to restore decades of diplomatic separation.</p> <h2>Judgement</h2> <p>The fact is that Obama has done some good work, but there is a lot more to be done. The progress made in the past seven and a half years is just a starting point, not an ultimate success.</p> rss@dailykos.com (mikeg2000) DemocraticNationalConvention demsinphilly DNC Economy Obama Obamacare Obamalegacy _1553740 Thu, 28 Jul 2016 19:09:36 +0000 https://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/7/25/1552334/-DNC-Expectations-Three-Way-Hillary-Can-Make-Her-Convention-Great-Again <div>Cross Posted From <a href="http://leftitup.com/2016/07/25/dnc-expectations/" target="_blank"><u>Left It Up</u></a>​</div> <div></div> <div></div> <div>After months of long campaigning, the end is nearing - at least for the primaries. Last week, Donald Trump accepted the Republican nomination for president and this coming week, Hillary Clinton is expected to accept the Democratic nomination at this year's national convention.</div> <div></div> <div>The conventions are really where the general election starts - where the nominees drop the "presumptive" from their title. Normally, these conventions are four days of uninterrupted free advertising. There's almost no way to bungle it. However, it's also very difficult to capitalize on the opportunity. In order for the Clinton campaign to do so, they need to: <h3>1. Don't Screw Up</h3> <br> The "Hippocratic Oath" begins with the words "Do No Harm". That's exactly what Hillary's team needs to be focused on not only for the convention, but for the rest of the election.</div> <div></div> <div>Nate Silvers, a pollster who predicted the winner of all but one of the 2012 swing states correctly, on the polling website FiveThirtyEight, finds that Clinton has a 58% likelihood of winning the presidency.</div> <div></div> <div>This is not a message one of complacent. In fact, it's the opposite. It's a message to be constantly vigilant for anything that might screw things up.</div> <div></div> <div>It becomes even clearer after just looking at the convention. After the debacle that the Trump campaign put on last week, just making it through without <a title="" href="http://www.vox.com/2016/7/19/12221566/melania-trump-michelle-obama">pretty clear allegations of plagiarism</a> would be a win. The Trump campaign set a very low bar. <h3>2. Attack Trump</h3> <br> We can't be afraid to attack Trump. Sure, the attacks will most likely be personal, but that's because Trump has no policy.</div> <div></div> <div>Voters need to know that Trump defrauded students in his <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=4&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=0ahUKEwiGzrvD0o3OAhUn94MKHXRcAckQFggzMAM&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fthinkprogress.org%2Fpolitics%2F2016%2F04%2F26%2F3772946%2Ftrump-university-case-goes-forward%2F&amp;usg=AFQjCNGy7rVPF_dk5Xndns-CDnG0xIsa6g&amp;sig2=XQyxEImbbZSc9pu2bvJQrg&amp;bvm=bv.127984354,d.amc">Trump University scheme</a> , <a href="http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/jun/21/hillary-clinton/yep-donald-trumps-companies-have-declared-bankrupt/">went bankrupt</a> more than four times, and has a long list of racist, sexist, and intolerant remarks.</div> <div></div> <div>This also has the added benefit of bringing over some Sander's holdouts. There should be a clear message that we simply can't allow Trump to become the next president.</div> <div></div> <div>It shouldn't be too hard... <h3>3. Make America Hope Again</h3> <br> Trump's convention was, at the every least, unorthodox. Never has there been such a doom and gloom convention. America is losing. ISIS is winning. There's lots of death. <blockquote>“The world has lost confidence in us. The inevitable consequence: weakness, decline, and, ultimately, chaos and oblivion."<br> -South Carolina Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster (7/21)</blockquote> <br> This type of negativity can't be attractive. Who wants to vote for a candidate who only thinks about what's wrong with America, instead of what is right about it? A message of pessimism just isn't motivating to any voter.</div> <div></div> <div>Clinton has to contrast Trump's despair with something more optimistic - almost like Reagan's "Morning in America" that won him the White House. She needs to embrace the progress made under President Obama on a 5% unemployment rate, increased tolerance for LGBTQ individuals, and a repaired image of America on the global stage.</div> <div></div> <div>At the same time, the convention needs to recognize that there are still many problems - race and inequality to name two. However, those problems must be framed as challenging but not insurmountable. The convention has to give people hope that their vote matters - that they can do something about these problems by electing a Democratic White House, Senate, and House.</div> <div></div> rss@dailykos.com (mikeg2000) 2016 DemocraticNationalConvention DNC dncinphil HillaryClinton TimKaine _1552334 Mon, 25 Jul 2016 21:37:40 +0000 https://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/2/9/1363147/-Obama-s-International-Tax-Plan-Attacks-Offshore-Tax-Havens <div class="dkimg-c"><span class="image_container"><img src="http://images.dailykos.com/images/128272/large/20586086_BG11.jpg?1423417359" alt="Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks to LULAC on Tuesday, July 8, 2008 in Washington. (WDCPIX.COM/Lauren Victoria Burke)" width="550" height="412" /></span></div> Cross-Posted from Progress Central: <a href="http://wp.me/p4J2yq-eg">http://wp.me/...</a> <p>In President Barack Obama's 2015 budget is a reform to the way the United States taxes international and multinational corporations and people. Here's all you need to known about Obama's international tax plan:<br /></p> <h1>Global Minimum Tax:</h1> <br /> In Obama's international tax plan is a global minimum tax of 19% on all foreign profits of US-based corporation, which according to the <a href="http://www.brookings.edu/research/opinions/2015/02/05-us-corporate-tax-reform-obamas-good-ideas-dont-add-up-pozen" target="_blank">Brookings Institute</a>, would raise $206 billion. <p>The global minimum tax is exactly what the name means: a minimum tax that every multinational corporation has to pay. For example, if a multinational corporation puts its earnings in a country with a 0% tax rate, they still have to pay the US government a 19% tax rate to make up the difference. Conversely, if a multinational corporation puts its earnings in a country with a 25% tax rate, they wouldn't have to pay taxes to the US government because they already paid those taxes to the foreign country.</p> <p>This a sensible solution because in almost all situations, corporations choose to put their profits in countries with a lower tax rate than the US. However, Obama's plan would make tax havens less attractive because even if these corporations chose to use places like the Cayman Islands and Switzerland, these corporations would still have to make up the difference between the United States' global minimum tax and the foreign country's tax rate.<br /></p> <h1>Transition Tax:</h1> <br /> Obama's plan also has a provision to levy a one-time, mandatory 14% on all the foreign holdings of multinational corporations. Obama wants to use the $268 billion from this transition tax to pay for a bill that would help fix our crumbling infrastructure. <p>Doing so would obviously create jobs but also would increase productivity. <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/news/2011/09/22/10231/now-is-the-time-to-fix-our-broken-infrastructure/" target="_blank">Heather Boushey of the Center for American Progress</a> explains:</p> <blockquote>Investing in infrastructure not only creates jobs; it increases the productivity of businesses small, medium, and large. At the most basic level, infrastructure investments make it possible for firms to rely on well-maintained roads to move their goods, on an electricity grid that is always on to run their factories, and water mains that provide a steady stream of clean water to supply their restaurants.</blockquote> <h1>Changing the Insane Status Quo:</h1> <br /> Right now, multinational corporations can defer payment on taxes on their foreign earnings until they bring their profits back to America. Unfortunately, these corporations have no incentive to bring their profits back because they don't want to pay taxes on them. Therefore, they keep their dollars in these tax havens indefinitely, dodging taxes time and time again. As the <a href="http://www.brookings.edu/research/opinions/2015/02/05-us-corporate-tax-reform-obamas-good-ideas-dont-add-up-pozen" target="_blank">Brookings Institute</a> explains: <blockquote>Under the current deferral system, U.S. multinationals have a powerful tax incentive to construct facilities and buy companies located outside the United States. If deferral were ended, these companies would make locational decisions based on business factors, rather than tax rates. Thus, a substantial portion of foreign profits of U.S. multinationals would likely be brought back to the United States to build plants, buy technologies and pay dividends.</blockquote> rss@dailykos.com (mikeg2000) Economy Taxes White House WhiteHouse _1363147 Mon, 09 Feb 2015 20:30:05 +0000 https://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/2/2/1361924/-Leading-Republican-Senator-Chuck-Grassley-on-Current-Obamacare-Challenge-That-s-Ridiculous <p>Cross-Posted from Progress Central: <a href="http://wp.me/p4J2yq-ea">http://wp.me/...</a></p> <p>Leading Republican Senator Chuck Grassley called <em>Burwell v. King</em> the current challenge to Obamacare before the Supreme Court "ridiculous". The Supreme Court will rule by June 2015.</p> <p><em>Burwell v. King</em> is a challenge to Obamacare's tax subsidies provision. The plaintiffs in this case say that the law's subsidies are only for the state-run exchanges while supporters of the law say that the writers of the bill meant for the subsidies to be for both the state-run and the federally-run exchange.</p> <p>Steven Brill, writer of a book about the Affordable Care Act,&nbsp;outed Grassley's views on a TV interview on MSNBC.</p> <blockquote>According to Brill, when he asked Grassley about King, the senator initially "didn't even know what the suit was about."<br /> Once Brill explained the suit to Grassley, the senator responded "oh, that's ridiculous. We obviously meant that the subsidies would go to the federal exchange and not just the state exchange," according to Brill.<br /> Nor was Grassley alone in this view. Rather, Brill says that when the suit was filed, he asked "all the Republican staffers" who worked on the bill about this suit, and "they laughed at it." <p>-<a href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/02/02/3618050/gop-senator-chuck-grassley-reportedly-called-supreme-court-case-attacking-obamacare-ridiculous/" target="_blank">Think Progress</a></p> </blockquote> Grassley was one of the leading obstacles to the passage of Obamacare in 2009 and 2010 and knew the inner details of the legislation. When he, as one of the most ardent opposers of Obamacare, says that this challenge to Obamacare is ridiculous, then it is ridiculous. <p>However, Grassley isn't the only Republican who thinks&nbsp;that the plaintiff's case is ridiculous.</p> <blockquote>A short list of Obamacare opponents who previously indicated that the law provides tax credits regardless of who operates a particular state’s exchange includes Republican <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/01/29/3617008/state-officials-trying-gut-obamacare-get-caught-making-false-claims-supreme-court/">Governors Dave Heineman (R-NE), Nikki Haley (R-SC), Bob McDonnell (R-VA) and Scott Walker (R-WI)</a>, Sen. <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/01/23/3614791/top-republican-senator-explains-supreme-court-challenge-obamacare-garbage/">Orrin Hatch</a> (R-UT), former vice presidential candidate <a href="http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/paul-ryan-obamacare-supreme-court-king-burwell">Paul Ryan</a> (R-WI), and the conservative <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/01/30/3617343/heritage-foundation-rejected-central-claim-lawsuit-trying-gut-obamacare/">Heritage Foundation</a>. <p>-<a href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/02/02/3618050/gop-senator-chuck-grassley-reportedly-called-supreme-court-case-attacking-obamacare-ridiculous/" target="_blank">Think Progress</a></p> </blockquote> But if the court does choose to decide against the opinions of the actual writers of the bill from both sides of the aisle, the effects will be far-reaching and devastating. <blockquote>Nearly 5 million Americans who chose an insurance plan through the federal exchange using a premium tax credit would lose that credit - and probably their health insurance. <p>-<a href="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1408958" target="_blank">New England Journal of Medicine</a></p> </blockquote> The law, facts. and politics on this issue are&nbsp;simple. Obamacare is working and because the even Republicans in Congress have given up on repealing it, an elite group of conservative and corporate "activists" are challenging the law in the courts. However, the plaintiffs have no case. The Affordable Care Act's subsidies provision were crafted for all exchanges, including and especially the federally-run exchange. <p>For once, Chuck Grassley and liberal Democrats actually agree on something, that this challenge is simply "ridiculous".</p> rss@dailykos.com (mikeg2000) Affordable Care Act AffordableCareAct Health Care HealthCare _1361924 Tue, 03 Feb 2015 04:55:48 +0000 https://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/1/29/1361080/-Thanks-Obama-Executive-Action-Doing-Wonders-for-the-Economy <p>Progress Central - <a href="http://wp.me/p4J2yq-e4">http://wp.me/...</a></p> <p>The recent executive action taken by President Barack Obama to allow 4 million undocumented immigrants to stay without fear of deportation in America is great for our economy.</p> <p>On November 20, 2014, President Obama took executive action on immigration to make sure that undocumented immigrants who are DREAMers and parents of citizens to earn their way to work permits and eventually residency through paying fines, taxes, and passing background checks.</p> <p>Check out this <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2015/01/26/heres-how-presidents-actions-immigration-will-impact-your-state">White House link</a> to see how much your state’s GDP will increase because of Obama's executive action.</p> <p>For summary, in my state of Texas, a deep-red state that hates Obama and his executive actions, we will see a $8,200,000,000 increase in GDP because of the Obama’s executive actions on immigration. Overall, the national GDP will grow by .4% or $90 billion dollars over ten years.</p> <p>According to a <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/cea_2014_economic_effects_of_immigration_executive_action.pdf">November 2014 study</a> from the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, these executive actions will increase the average wage for all US-born workers in Texas and around the nation by $170 a year while having no negative impact on the amount of jobs or the availability of jobs. Further from the study, his actions will reduce the deficit by $60 billion over a decade</p> <p>This presents an interesting paradox. Why aren’t Republicans who say they want to grow the economy, jumping on board for President Obama’s actions? In fact, why aren’t they supportive of congressional action on immigration that will be far more overreaching and create far more economic benefits?</p> <p>The massive economic benefits of President Obama’s executive action on immigration can be just the beginning if Republicans stop obstructing and start working with Democrats on comprehensive immigration reform.</p> rss@dailykos.com (mikeg2000) Congress Immigration White House WhiteHouse _1361080 Fri, 30 Jan 2015 03:58:26 +0000