Archive for middle class squeeze

Wisconsin bill would allow spying on bank accounts of unemployed

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walker world

Rep. Dan Knodl, a Wisconsin Republican, co-authored a bill that, once again, illustrates the hypocrisy of the GOP.

That would be the same GOP that scu-REAMS about how French, commie, fascist, Marxist, Kenyan, abortionist, evil Big Government is coming to get you, so get out yer shootin’ irons and rev up them Second Amendment Remedies while shrinking government down to drownable-in-bathtub size…

…As they snoop into out-of-work Wisconsinites’ bank accounts. No hypocrisy there.

Watch out workers and middle class, they’re at it again.

small government my ass

Via the Wisconsin State Journal:

A bill that is speeding through the state Legislature would require jobless people to provide more proof that they are seeking work, and make it easier for the state to recover overpayments — including those made because of government errors — by allowing officials to peek into unemployed people’s bank accounts. [...]

The Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee on May 13 approved a provision in Gov. Scott Walker’s budget proposal that would make Wisconsin the fourth state in the country to require jobless people to apply for four jobs a week — the current standard is two — to get benefits.

Not only that, but if someone fails to accept a job offer, their benefits would be cut and they’d be ineligible until they find a job that pays them six times their weekly benefit rate. Currently, it is four times.

Be proud, Republicans. Stickin’ it to the little guy should help that new image of yours like nobody’s business.

reinvention my ass

More here.

H/t: Taegan

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VIDEO: DCCC ad campaign slams GOP supporters of Paul Ryan budget. Happy April Republicans’ Day!

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“Help the rich get richer. Soak the middle class and seniors.”

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is launching online ads that slam 17 GOP lawmakers for supporting and voting for Paul Ryan’s insane budget. How insane? Via the wonderful Heather at C and L:

Rep. Alan Grayson: Paul Ryan wants sick poor people to die. This is why Grayson was elected… again. He sticks up for the 99% and has no qualms about being blunt about it.

Via The Hill:

Republicans say this budget is the best way to communicate their ‘governing philosophy,’ so we’re telling the people what that means: more for millionaires and corporate special interests, less for the middle class and seniors,” DCCC spokesperson Emily Bittner said in a statement. “That might be the Republican Congress’ governing philosophy – but it certainly isn’t the right philosophy for America’s middle class.

Catering to their wealthy corporate buddies and trying to kill Medicare are what sank the GOP previously, so of course, they’re repeating the effort, and then some. All those claims of an Extreme Makeover (extremist makeover?) and showing how much they “care” about us are just words on paper that they have been ordered to read. They say ‘em but they sure don’t believe ‘em. They need votes.

Maybe it was all one big April Fools joke, like the party itself.

How’s that reachy-outy thing workin’ for ya, GOP?

extreme makeover my assKudos to the DCCC for drawing attention to the 2014 elections rather than speculating about a Hillary Clinton presidential run. Happy April Republicans’ Day!

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Bernie Sanders: Grand bargain could be grand sellout

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bernie sanders social security

Bernie Sanders wrote a piece that is up at his website about the not-so-grand “grand bargain.” I’ve never been a fan, nor has he, nor have most Progressives I know.

Why there hasn’t been more attention paid to the Congressional Progressive Caucus’s Back to Work Budget is beyond me. The Progressive describes it as “the humane budget”:

This is a fundamentally humane proposal. It has a stated goal of eradicating poverty, and a target of cutting poverty in half in ten years.

It puts the problem of the jobs deficit ahead of the budget deficit, and makes a major investment in infrastructure.

In many ways, it makes good on the promises that won President Obama both his first and second terms. [...]

As the Progressive Caucus puts it: “This is what the country voted for in November. It’s time we side with America’s middle class and invest in their future.”

Please link over and take a look.

Now back to Bernie Sanders’s piece:

The media appear fixated about when and if a so-called “grand bargain” on our economy will be reached. Wrong question! The question we should be asking is: What should be in a “grand bargain” that works for the average American?

At a time when the middle class is disappearing, 46 million Americans are living in poverty and the gap between the very rich and everyone else is growing wider, we need a “grand bargain” that protects struggling working families, not billionaires. [...]

We must not cut Social Security, disabled veterans’ benefits, Medicare, Medicaid, education and other programs that provide opportunity and dignity to millions of struggling American families. [...]

[T]he United States has the most unequal distribution of wealth and income of any major country on earth and that inequality is worse today than at any time since the late 1920s. [...] The distribution of income is even worse. [...]

We need a budget that puts millions of Americans back to work in decent-paying jobs by rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure and transforming our energy sector away from fossil fuels and into renewable energy and energy efficiency.

We need a budget that keeps the promises we have made to our seniors, veterans and the most vulnerable by protecting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits. [...]

We need a budget that makes sure that the wealthiest Americans and most profitable corporations pay their fair share of taxes. [...]

We must reject any approach that continues the economic assault on working families.

I chopped this one to bits, so please link over to read it in full.

bernie sanders chained cpi social security

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CHART: “America’s middle-class jobs have been decimated since 2007, replaced largely by low-wage jobs.”

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This country’s leaders could speed our economic recovery up and do so more effectively, but as President Obama pointed out in his press conference today, Republicans are doing their usual obstruction thing:

“And let’s be clear: None of this is necessary. It’s happening because a choice that Republicans in Congress have made. They’ve allowed these cuts to happen because they refuse to budge on closing a single wasteful loophole to help reduce the deficit.

Via WaPo’s WonkBlog:

The U.S. job market is slowly improving, and most economists expect that gradual recovery to continue this year. Yet one of the most disturbing trends of the recession is still very far from being reversed. America’s middle-class jobs have been decimated since 2007, replaced largely by low-wage jobs.

A recent presentation from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco lays out the situation clearly. The vast majority of job losses during the recession were in middle-income occupations, and they’ve largely been replaced by low-wage jobs since 2010:

chart job losses, gains during recovery

Much more at the link.

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Under Gov. Scott Walker, WI private-sector job creation “slowed markedly,” and his income tax cut helps rich more

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scott walker no jobs

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker made a major campaign promise that his state on his watch would add 250,000 private-sector jobs by the end of his term.

How’d that work out for you, Scotty?

JSOnline:

Job creation in Wisconsin slowed markedly between July and September, according to the most recent available government data deemed credible by economists. [...]

Friday’s report also contained the weakest reading since the 12 months of September 2009 to September 2010 – a period that overlapped with the last recession. [...]

The last time that Wisconsin appeared in a national ranking of the Quarterly Census, it was for the 12 months through June 2012. Then, Wisconsin ranked 42 out of the 50 states in private-sector job creation, a decline from a rank of 37 in the previous period, from March 2011 to March 2012.

That makes Wisconsin a laggard in job creation even by the glacial standards of the national recovery, which has moved far too slowly to absorb the millions of unemployed left over from the 2007-’09 recession.

See how well union busting and austerity work?

but wait there's more

According to the Wisconsin State Journal and an analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy done for the Wisconsin Budget Project, Walker’s full of crap. But then we already knew that.

TheNorthwestern.com explains:

Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed income tax cut would give more money back to the rich than it would the poor, despite his billing it as a boon to the middle class, a new analysis shows.

promises promises smaller

Andrew Reschovsky, a UW-Madison professor of public affairs and applied economics:

“There is no evidence that the tax cut will do much to encourage growth and job creation.”

Mark Schug, a UW-Milwaukee professor emeritus who now consults in the area of economic education:

[S]uch a cut is not likely to be an economic boost. “I do tend to think that the income tax reduction is not sufficient.”

Of course, even after all these stats and expert opinions, Walker’s fellow Republicans will undoubtedly continue to march in lockstep, livelihoods of the 47%/99% be damned:

[T]he Republican-controlled Legislature will now take the next four months making changes before voting on it likely sometime in June.

They’re nothing if not predictable. Be proud, Koch brothers.

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VIDEO: Dear Democrats, please stick to these 8 principles

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Acclaimed author, Berkeley professor, and Clinton-era Secretary of Labor Robert Reich lays out the what, why and how of the Fiscal “Cliff”, the showdown in Congress that Republicans created to demand painful cuts in vital domestic programs in exchange for raising taxes on the top 2%. Learn the facts, and the best way out of this forced showdown.

Jobs come first. Prosperity, not austerity. Makes sense to me.

Oh, and it’s a fiscal crossroads, not a cliff. At worst, it’s a slope or a curb… or a hiccup. This is a self-created “crisis” that the GOP is trying to use in order to cut programs that are there for the health and welfare of American citizens who need assistance in order to, you know, live.

Via MoveOn.org:

The first thing to know about the so-called “fiscal cliff” is that it’s not a cliff—it’s a choice. It’s a choice between making the 1% richer at the expense of everyone else, or lifting up 100% of Americans. It’s a choice between American prosperity and European austerity.

In this sharp new video, former Labor Secretary Robert Reich breaks down the fiscal choice in 2 minutes and 30 seconds—with pictures too. And he gives Democrats the inside scoop on how to fight and win this fiscal showdown for the middle class.

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VIDEO– Romnopoly: To Mitt Romney, “your job and our economy are just a game.”

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“Your job and our economy are just a game.”

This is a memorable, creative recap of Willard M. Romney’s economic priorities, from gutting education to “let Detroit go bankrupt” to his bankrupting-companies days at Bain to cutting retirement programs to pay for tax breaks for the very rich.

Check out the dog-on-the-car-roof game piece. Gold.

(Democratic super PAC ):

From opposing the auto recovery plan and laying off workers during his time at Bain to gutting education to pay for tax cuts to the rich, the ad runs through the many reasons that if Mitt Romney wins, the middle class will lose.

Learn more, please visit Romnopoly.org

Supporting Facts for “Romnopoly”:

Romney Wanted To “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt” And Said The Demise Of The Auto Industry Would Be “Virtually Guaranteed” By A Government Bailout. According to Romney, “If General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye. It won’t go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed. Without that bailout, Detroit will need to drastically restructure itself. With it, the automakers will stay the course — the suicidal course of declining market shares, insurmountable labor and retiree burdens, technology atrophy, product inferiority and never-ending job losses. Detroit needs a turnaround, not a check.” [Romney Op-Ed, New York Times, 11/19/08]

Bain Owned GS Industries Filed For Bankruptcy And 750 People Lost Their Jobs. “Bain acquired GS Industries in 1993. The steelmaker borrowed heavily to modernize plants in Kansas City and North Carolina, as well as pay dividends to Bain investors. But as foreign competition increased and steel prices fell in the late 1990s, the company struggled to support the debt, according to Mark Essig, the former CEO. GS filed for bankruptcy in 2001, and shut down its money-losing Kansas City plant, throwing some 750 employees out of work.” [Boston Globe, 1/27/08]

Workers at the paper plant in Marion were fired hours after Bain Capital purchased the plant. According to the Boston Herald, “Hours after Bain-owned Ampad Corp. bought the plant July 5 from Smith Corona Corp., the plant’s 250 union workers were fired and told they could re-apply for their old jobs. Ampad scuttled Smith Corona’s contract with the United Paperworkers International, seeking to make wage and labor conditions similar to its three other non-union plants. Drug tests were also required.” [Boston Herlad, 9/23/94]

Tax Policy Center: Romney Tax Plan Would Raise Taxes On Families With Children With Income Below $200,000 By $2,041. According to a Tax Policy Center analysis of Romney’s tax plan and promises, families with children that earn below $200,000 a year would see tax increases of $2,041. [Tax Policy Center, 8/1/12]

Tax Policy Center: Top 0.1% Would See $246,652 Tax Cut Per Year Under Romney Plan. According to a Tax Policy Center analysis of Romney’s tax plan and promises, the top 0.1% would receive a tax cut of $246,652 per year. [Tax Policy Center, 8/1/12]

Romney Held Investments In Off-Shore Tax Havens And An Unusually Large IRA In Places Like Switzerland, Bermuda and The Cayman Islands. According to Bloomberg, “Romney’s extensive investments in tax havens are drawing intensifying media scrutiny at the same time that revenue- starved governments around the world are cracking down on such practices. In recent weeks, Romney has faced increasing pressure to release additional years of tax returns because of questions over his 13.9 percent personal tax rate, his Swiss bank account, an IRA valued at as much as $102 million and his investments in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands.” [Bloomberg, 08/06/12]

Romney Said He Would Not “Promise” Government Money To Help Students Pay For College But Suggested They Shop Around For Schools. According to New York Times, “The high school senior who stood up at Mitt Romney’s town hall meeting here today was worried about how he and his family would pay for college, and wanted to hear what the candidate would do about rising college costs if elected…The answer: nothing. But his warning was clear: shop around and get a good price, because you’re on your own. ‘It would be popular for me to stand up and say I’m going to give you government money to pay for your college, but I’m not going to promise that,’ he said, to sustained applause from the crowd at a high-tech metals assembly factory here. ‘Don’t just go to one that has the highest price. Go to one that has a little lower price where you can get a good education. And hopefully you’ll find that. And don’t expect the government to forgive the debt that you take on.’ There wasn’t a word about the variety of government loan programs, which have made it possible for millions of students to get college degrees. There wasn’t a word urging colleges to hold down tuition increases, as President Obama has been doing, or a suggestion that the student consider a work-study program.” [New York Times, 3/5/12]

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