Grappling with the mish-mash of American politics
With each new bit of regulation proposed a screeching chorus rises from industry pronouncing the dire consequences set to befall the country if even the slightest utterance of such rules are dared spoken. How many times have these warnings of cataclysm been heard? And how many times have they come to pass?
A year after Wisconsin exploded in protest over Republican legislation to gut collective bargaining for public employees, a Wisconsin judge has nullified the law, ruling on Friday that it violates workers’ equal rights under the Constitution.
Those dramatic union reforms and the political theater it sparked last year turned Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker into a Republican hero and helped balance the state’s budget.
With its focus on a signature Republican law, Friday’s ruling also highlights a series of state and federal rulings over the last year that have turned back major tenets of a Republican agenda fueled by the massive electoral victories the party brought home in November 2010, when it took over the House of Representatives and won nine governorships.
Romney tax plan would shift burden to poorNEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Mitt Romney’s tax plan would provide large tax cuts to the very wealthy, while increasing the tax burden on the lower and middle classes, according to a study released Wednesday.
The report — produced by researchers at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center — illustrates just how difficult it would be to recoup government revenue lost under Romney’s plan.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee’s tax plan calls for 20% cuts to today’s Bush-era income tax rates. He would also eliminate the Alternative Minimum Tax.
Those tax cuts would lead to a sharp decline in government revenue. Yet Romney insists he will make up the difference in-part by limiting deductions, exemptions and credits currently available to top-level income earners.
An interesting article tracing the evolution of the Republican Party’s love-hate relationship with the individual mandate from their 20 years supporting it to their paradigm shift as it became part of the Democrats’ health care reform.
On March 23, 2010, the day that President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law, fourteen state attorneys general filed suit against the law’s requirement that most Americans purchase health insurance, on the ground that it was unconstitutional. It was hard to find a law professor in the country who took them seriously. “The argument about constitutionality is, if not frivolous, close to it,” Sanford Levinson, a University of Texas law-school professor, told the McClatchy newspapers.
A new ad attacks Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., on the health care law and claims to have “the facts.” But then it trots out a series of well-worn distortions.
The ad is from an outside spending group called American Commitment, which said on its website that it supports “free markets, economic growth, constitutionally limited government, property rights, and individual freedom.” It’s a 501(c)4, so it doesn’t have to disclose its donors. (For more details about American Commitment’s connections and spending, check out this report from the Washington Post.)
In light of the growing number of Republican governors’ refusals to implement provisions of the Affordable Care Act, the most prominent of which being Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Rick Perry of Texas, it becomes prudent to contemplate the trends of access to care, residents’ health status and the political leanings of individual states across the country.
The health care reform debate continues even after the Supreme Court ruled on its constitutionality. Republicans have stood firm on their vow to “Repeal & Replace” yet their problems begin when asked about the replace portion of that promise. Both Mitt Romney and Republican leadership have touted “common sense“, step-by-step reforms. They promise to implement interstate commerce of insurance, keep insurers from denying coverage, allow young people on their parents’ insurance, implement industry cost-saving measures. The interesting part of these common sense reforms is that they are already in the Affordable Care Act.
As the eve of the Affordable Care Act’s fate fast approaches, both sides of the partisan divide eagerly wait upon baited breath to pounce on whichever decision is laid down. Republicans have vowed to settle for nothing short of complete elimination since the law’s inception. The Supreme Court may do what GOP has been unable to do on their own. Whatever direction the Court takes, the Reform’s opponents promise to “repeal quickly and replace slowly” but with what is unclear.
by Michael Lind
A “Kinsley Gaffe,” named after the journalist Michael Kinsley, occurs when a politician accidentally blurts out what he really believes. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney recently committed a classic Kinsley gaffe when he criticized President Obama: “He wants another stimulus, he wants to hire more government workers. He says we need more firemen, more policemen, more teachers. Did he not get the message of Wisconsin? The American people did. It’s time for us to cut back on government and help the American people.”
Romney blurted out the unstated premise of America’s anti-government conservatism: many tasks of government could be performed more cheaply and efficiently by private firms competing in competitive markets.
Mashed Potato Bulletin 
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