“I’m President Barack Obama. And I too want to slow-jam the news.”
this. is. my. president.
Re-blogging for the morning crowd because this is just too good.
Obama Approves Rule for Universal Contraception
Today is a monumental day for women.
“The average income of the top 1 percent has gone up by more than 250 percent to $1.2 million per year … For the top one hundredth of 1 percent, the average income is now $27 million per year. The typical CEO who used to earn about 30 times more than his or her worker now earns 110 times more. And yet, over the last decade the incomes of most Americans have actually fallen by about 6 percent.”
—President Obama speaking in Osawatomie, Kansas, yesterday about what he calls a “make or break moment” for the middle class
The Missing Piece in the Private Finance Analogy
In their dueling speeches on the debt ceiling impasse, both President Obama and Speaker Boehner reached for a very familiar analogy between the government and private actors. President Obama analogized our situation to that of a family that is maxing out on its credit card. Speaker Boehner contrasted the responsible behavior of companies that balance their books with the behavior of governments that do not.
As any competent macro-economist will tell you, the analogies are deeply flawed. Individual families and businesses do not have the capacity to manipulate interest rates and the money supply, but the government does. Individual families and businesses acting in ways that don’t correlate with the behavior of others do not cause contractionary cycles through the paradox of thrift when they save money. But drastic government reductions in spending in a recession can trigger that effect. Etc.
Nonetheless, with polls showing that most Americans don’t really understand the debt ceiling debate, it’s understandable that politicians would try to frame the issue in simple terms. I tend to think that the framing favors the Republican position right off the bat, because it cuts out the unique role that the government can play, but that fight is probably lost already, with very little appetite in DC for more stimulus.
Even accepting the framing, though, there’s an obvious piece missing. Consider the following line from Boehner’s remarks: “if you’re spending more money than you’re taking in, you need to spend less of it.” Well, yes, sometimes, but doesn’t it depend what you’re spending the money on? Suppose you’re spending more money than you’re taking in because you’re unemployed, and you need to spend some of your savings now to eat, pay rent, and look for a job. Wouldn’t you be better off continuing to spend on these necessities, even if to do so you need to borrow some money?
(Source: azspot)
Taitz: Long-Form Birth Certificate Should Say 'Negro' Not 'African'
In a development that will surprise no one, it turns out that President Barack Obama’s decision to release his long-form birth certificate hasn’t quieted members of the “birther” movement who promote the conspiracy theory that he wasn’t born in the United States.
“Look, I applaud this release. I think it’s a step in the right direction,” so-called “birther queen” Orly Taitz told me in one of her many media interviews this morning. “I credit Donald Trump in pushing this issue.”
But she still has her suspicions. Specifically, Taitz thinks that the birth certificate should peg Obama’s race as “Negro” and not “African.”
O_O
These people just won’t stop.
(Source: lickystickypickywe)
Raise America's Taxes
NYTimes’ Nicholas D. Kristof addresses President Obama’s speech, Republican Representative Paul Ryans’ proposed budget plan, and argues taxes needed to be raised instead of cutting essential programs like Medicaid.
This isn’t just an argument to get the country out of debt. We live in a society that is so apathetic we don’t even care if senior citizens can’t afford health care and proper medical attention because we don’t want to pay higher taxes.
In the end, it’s not about socialism, capitalism, etc. It’s about a common decency and humanity we’ve all lost.
