Frontline Explains The Nation's Debt

Obama often talks about what he inherited. Well, Frontline says he inherited so many problems that it's a wonder he even wanted to be president. We've borrowed from everyone. We borrowed from China to pay for the Iraq war, while Bush cut taxes for the wealthy--one of the largest tax cuts ever. The Bush administration used reconciliation to cut taxes and Dick Cheney cast the deciding vote.

Bush pushed through Medicare part D (a prescription drug benefit) without a way to pay for it. It's projected to cost $8 TRILLION over time. Hello!

This video explains who did what when it comes to the national debt. Economist Greg Ip said Bush put politics ahead of economics. I would say that describes republicans perfectly. Republicans put politics ahead of everything. At the end of this video, you'll have an idea of the breadth of the problems Obama faces. This video is about 50 minutes but I highly recommend it. It is eye opening:

Michael Steele Hacks Away at Democrats

Steele has a solution for the stimulus bill. He suggests, guess what..... you guessed it, tax cuts!
I'm beginning to like this stimulus more and more, just based on the republicans response to it. Here's a link to the video.
In case you hadn't heard, the Senate struck a deal on the package with a group of moderate republicans. Hurray for them:

The bipartisan deal was cut after two days of talks and would cut more than $100 billion from the $920 billion bill, dropping its cost to about $820 billion, if amendments added on the Senate floor are retained.

Most Republicans remained strongly opposed to the compromise bill, saying it was too costly and ineffective, and Democratic leaders were counting on just three GOP votes for the plan as of last night but hoped to expand the number before a final vote. WaPo

The fact that republicans strongly oppose the stimulus will have to stand. They aren't the people with ideas, as we've come to know.

They're pretty much a one-solution bunch-- Tax Cuts! It's an ideology that's not about to change any time soon, so bipartisanship on this bill, is out.

It's too bad that the republicans are so rigid because they could actually do the American people a service. But their unbending Bush-like tendencies will continue to do more harm.

Fact Check on McCain's Tax Cut Claims

mccain is off course, out of touch, crazy eights...
he's been running around all day saying this and that....blah, blah, lower taxes, blah, blah, blah, gas tax holiday, blah, blah....he makes me crazy.

aside from ruling his claims as exaggerations and distortions, here's what factcheck says:

McCain says that eliminating the Alternative Minimum Tax will save "more than 25 million middle-class families more than $2,000 every year." But McCain's "middle class" includes families making up to $200,000 per year, and the $2,000 figure is an average. Those earning more money will see the lion's share of the savings. McCain also leaves out the fact that the proposal could cost as much as $1.6 trillion over 10 years.
By the measure most economists prefer, McCain is wrong in his claim that Sens. Clinton and Obama want to implement "the single largest tax increase since the Second World War;" it would be the fifth largest. At a more basic level, it's misleading to tag Clinton and Obama for something that was scheduled during the Bush administration – the expiration of the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts, which by law will occur at the end of 2010.

McCain also repeats the mantra that cutting the capital gains tax rate will increase government receipts. In fact, rate cuts produce a spike in revenue, but it's only temporary. McCain also falsely claims that higher capital gains tax rates will affect 401(k) plans.

McCain was the first to announce the now widely discredited proposal to suspend federal gas taxes. The proposal wouldn't lower prices at the pump and would result in (effectively) an $8.5 billion windfall to oil companies.

McCain Towing the Line

"i'm tired of playing defense all the time," obama said. he says he's tired of workers not getting healthcare insurance and losing jobs. "i want to play some offense."
mccain used to say tax cuts for the wealthy violated his conscious. but now he's towing the line.