GOP Tax Cuts Are Not For Thee And Me

At what point in time are the American people going to take a look at our nation's history and realize that eliminating taxes for billionaires and multi-national corporate oligarchies combined with deregulation and non-enforcement of regulation as tools to stimulate the economy doesn't work? Not only does it NOT work, but it has the opposite desired economic effect?

Reference the chart from the Institute for Policy Studies, that demonstrates the distribution of wealth in America as of 2007. Over the last three decades, inequality has grown by almost all measures. Historically, while those at the top of the income distribution have enjoyed far higher average incomes than everybody else, the gap between the top and the bottom has grown enormously in recent years, driven both by slowdowns in income growth at the bottom and middle, and rapid acceleration of income growth at the top. (Interactive chart at When income grows, who gains?)

In recent decades, as Pres. Reagan's "trickle down" economic theory that cutting taxes for the rich, deregulating banks and deregulating Wall Street best stimulates growth has been implemented in state and federal governing policy, the bulk of income growth in America has gone to the top 10% of families.

We've all heard Gov. Perry and every Texas Republican claim that cutting government spending cutting taxes improves the business environment, which in turn creates jobs, improves the standard of living for the working people in Texas and generates enough more tax revenue to meet budget needs for things like public education. Texas Republicans have repeatedly said that continual cuts to government spending combined with business tax breaks result in more jobs being created, higher wages for the average worker, and an overall upturn in our economy. It's at the heart of trickle-down theory Pres. Reagan championed in the early 1980's.

Since taking office in 2001 Gov. Perry has signed every tax cutting Texas budget passed by Republican legislators, who have been in full control of Texas government since 2003, but those tax cuts have not been for thee and me.

U.S. House Republicans Declare Government Coup d'état

The Tea Party Republicans in the House of Representatives -- according to their own declarations -- absolutely revere the United States Constitution. One of the bedrock separation of powers within the Constitution is that "every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the President of the United States...." Not withstanding that constitutional requirement, House Republican leaders have announced they'll be voting on a bill this Friday entitled the "Government Shutdown Prevention Act" that contains an attempt at a government coup d'état -- that the Republican controlled House of Representatives can declare something to be the "law of the land" without any input or action from either the Senate or President Obama.

From the Washington Post blog:

As negotiations on funding the federal government continue in fits and starts ahead of an April 8 deadline, House Republican leaders on Wednesday announced that they plan to pressure the Senate by voting Friday on a measure that they have termed the "Government Shutdown Prevention Act."

"What this bill says is it reiterates again the deadline, and that the Senate should act before the deadline, and that's what the American people are expecting," House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said Wednesday morning at a news conference with other House Republican leaders. "The bill then says if the Senate does not act, then H.R. 1 [the House-passed bill that cuts $61 billion] will be the law of the land. In addition to that, it says that if all else fails, and the Senate brings about a shutdown, then members should not get their pay."

Of coarse Senate Republicans are threatening to filibuster any budget legislation, thus stalling legislative business in that body. So, the Republican game is still to stop all legislative business unless they get everything they want without compromise and then blame Democrats for shutting down government, if they don't cave in to Republican demands.

Some of what Republicans want to pass in their uncompromised version of the budget include cutting federal money from going to Planned Parenthood, cutting the Environmental Protection Agency to end its monitoring air and water, and inspection of coal mines, cutting Social Security, Medicare and other social safety net programs, cutting unemployment benefits, cutting public education funding and more.

All those cuts on top of cutting taxes paid by billionaires, Wall Street, Oil Companies and multinational corporations who are reporting record profits. All that on top of tax payer give-aways to Wall Street, Oil Companies and multinational corporations like GE who reported worldwide profits of $14.2 billion, paid little tax on that income and claimed a tax benefit (tax payer give-away) of $3.2 billion.

GOP Deny The Average Recorded Temperature Of Earth Has Been Going Up For Years

When the nonpartisan National Academy of Sciences reviewed climate research data a year ago, it concluded: “A strong, credible body of scientific evidence shows that climate change is occurring, is caused largely by human activities, and poses significant risks for a broad range of human and natural systems.”

Climate change is driven by "global warming," the average recorded temperature of the earth, which has been going up for years. This warming of the globe leads to climate change, which doesn't necessarily mean all areas will become warmer. Due to the highly variable and interdependent nature of the world's weather patterns, warming in some areas could lead to, for example, much colder winters in others.

The Los Angeles Times reports that a number of conservative scientists are bucking conventional wisdom "that liberals accept climate change and conservatives don't" by warning the public that climate change is real and seeking to debunk attacks from climate-change deniers.

Education Cuts And Recall In Wisconsin

The video is a one-minute spot created by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) and Democracy For America.

PCCC co-founder Stephanie Taylor said in a statement that the ad reflects a revolt against "Republican policies that give millions to big corporations in tax cuts while forcing middle-class families, schools, and communities to pay the price."

"As a Republican my entire life I am appalled at what Scott Walker and the Republicans did," says a corrections officer in the ad. "This hurts my family. It's about my kids in school." "Republicans have declared war on the middle class and with this recall campaign we are fighting back and we are going to win," says a woman at the end.

The ad is running in Wisconsin as part of an effort to recall state Republican lawmakers who voted to strip the collective bargaining rights of public employee unions and to make deep cuts to public education spending.