The Hollywood Liberal

Meyerson: GOP Favors Tax Hike
Harold Meyerson: America’s presumably anti-tax party wants to raise your taxes. Come January, the GOP plans raising taxes of those earning $50,000 a year by $1,000, and those making $100,000 by $2,000. … Republicans like to complain that Democrats practice “class warfare” and “the politics of division,” as House GOP leader Eric Cantor argued on this page Monday. What the Republicans’ position on the payroll tax makes high-definitionally clear is their own class warfare on working- and middle-class Americans.

Late Late Night FDL: In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
Iron Butterfly — In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (1968).

Iron Butterfly — In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (1968).

What’s on your mind?

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They’ll truly appreciate your support
As you may have noticed Firedoglake is having a membership drive. I mention this because earlier this month I received an email from Michelle Obama mentioning it was her husband’s birthday (50th) on August 4th. Today I received an email from Cindy McCain stating that Monday, August 29th is her husband’s birthday (MMXIVth).

pic via jessica mullen at flickr.com

As you may have noticed Firedoglake is having a membership drive.

I mention this because earlier this month I received an email from Michelle Obama mentioning it was her husband’s birthday (50th) on August 4th.

Today I received an email from Cindy McCain stating that Monday, August 29th is her husband’s birthday (MMXIVth).

What could honor both of them more, than to join an entity they both “appreciate” so very much? It’s a lot better argument for funding than what the Department of Defense has come up with now. And you can get a T-Shirt.

And you’ll have more friends than Glenn Beck has attendees.

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Obama Can’t Win for Winning
It’s remarkable how reluctant Obama’s opponents are to acknowledge that despite all the predictions that his policy of limited engagement in Libya could never work, it actually did.

By E.J. Dionne, Jr.

It’s remarkable how reluctant Obama’s opponents are to acknowledge that despite all the predictions that his policy of limited engagement in Libya could never work, it actually did.

Related Entries

• August 25, 2011 The FBI’s Terrorism Factory
• August 22, 2011 DA Seeks to Drop Charges Against DSK

Welfare Reform in a Jobless Economy
Although the recession has increased demand for social programs such as food stamps, welfare rolls have not kept pace with the drastic increase in human misery. Long story short: Welfare reform, launched 15 years ago in a booming economy, broke the system, which is not working in a time when jobs are hard to come by. Miller-McCune: Reform came with a change in culture, Loprest said, both on the part of state agencies that actively sought to limit enrollment and on the part of would-be participants, who shied from the stigma of public assistance and the declining value of its benefits. Assistance has remained flat since 1996, meaning it’s now worth less in inflation-adjusted dollars. In 1996, more than 80 percent of families eligible for the program enrolled in it. By 2005, that figure had fallen to 40 percent. In some states, the caseload decline during the recession has simply been an extension of that trend. The data have varied dramatically by state, as welfare reform’s new block grant formula gave individual states much greater control over how they operate the program. In 2009, 80 percent of poor families in California participated. In Texas, 8 percent did. Read more

Although the recession has increased demand for social programs such as food stamps, welfare rolls have not kept pace with the drastic increase in human misery. Long story short: Welfare reform, launched 15 years ago in a booming economy, broke the system, which is not working in a time when jobs are hard to come by.

Miller-McCune:

Reform came with a change in culture, Loprest said, both on the part of state agencies that actively sought to limit enrollment and on the part of would-be participants, who shied from the stigma of public assistance and the declining value of its benefits. Assistance has remained flat since 1996, meaning it’s now worth less in inflation-adjusted dollars.

In 1996, more than 80 percent of families eligible for the program enrolled in it. By 2005, that figure had fallen to 40 percent. In some states, the caseload decline during the recession has simply been an extension of that trend. The data have varied dramatically by state, as welfare reform’s new block grant formula gave individual states much greater control over how they operate the program. In 2009, 80 percent of poor families in California participated. In Texas, 8 percent did.

Read more

Related Entries

• August 25, 2011 The FBI’s Terrorism Factory
• August 22, 2011 DA Seeks to Drop Charges Against DSK

George Pataki May Do Something 2012ish This Weekend, So Gird Your Loins, America
Everyone who is anyone can tell you that the GOP base doesn’t care for the current slate of candidates on offer. Or, at the very…

Alan Grayson: Freedom — Defined by Cash Back Rewards
A great deal of advertising, just like a great deal of political discourse, reads like assault and battery on the English language.

On The Jersey Shore, Chris Christie Drifts Away From The Tea Party
When it comes time for a press conference, New Jersey politicians can’t get enough of the beach. Sen. Frank Lautenberg went to the Belmar boardwalk….

Cheney Writes He Told Bush To Bomb Syria In 2007
Former Vice President Dick Cheney says in a new memoir that he urged President George W. Bush to bomb a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor site…

Obama Derangement Syndrome: Earthquake Edition

Right-wing media attacked President Obama for happening to be on a golf course at Martha’s Vineyard when a magnitude 5.8 earthquake rattled much of the East Coast. From attacking Obama over such things as putting Dijon mustard on a burger to using environmentally friendly eggs at the White House Easter Egg Roll, the right-wing media have a long history of these absurd attacks.

Right-Wing Media Attacked Obama For Being On A Golf Course When Earthquake Struck …

Drudge: “Obama Was On Golf Course.” On August 23, minutes after a magnitude 5.8 earthquake with an epicenter in Mineral, VA, struck, causing tremors throughout the East Coast, Matt Drudge posted the following links at the top of the Drudge Report:

[CBS News,

[Ace of Spades HQ,

[Twitter, 8/23/11]

… And Incorrectly Claimed Obama Family Was “Biking” During Earthquake

Hoft: “Earthquake Rattles Washington DC — Obama Goes Biking.” In an August 23 post on his blog Gateway Pundit, blogger Jim Hoft noted that a “5.8 quake hit Washington DC this afternoon,” then incorrectly claimed that “[t]he Obama family was biking.” Hoft included a Yahoo News picture of Obama going for a bike ride with his daughter Malia. Hoft also linked to the White House schedule for the president, which states “No public schedule” under August 23. [Gateway Pundit, 8/23/11]

Right-Wing Media Often Attack Obama For Trivial Reasons

Obama Derangement Syndrome: Dijon Mustard. In May 2009, conservative media attacked Obama as an elitist because he ordered a hamburger with Dijon mustard. [Media Matters, 5/7/09]

Obama Derangement Syndrome: Wal-Mart Healthy Foods Initiative. In January, right-wing media accused the Obama administration of threatening or “bullying” Wal-Mart when the company announced a healthy food initiative that would make “thousands of the packaged food items that it sells more healthful and affordable by 2015,” according to The Washington Post. [Media Matters, 1/21/11] 

Obama Derangement Syndrome: Latin America Jobs Trip. In March, the right-wing media attacked Obama’s long-planned jobs trip to Latin America as a “vacation,” even though the trip was focused on economic opportunities for the U.S. and trade relationships with Latin American nations. [Media Matters, 3/18/11]

Obama Derangement Syndrome: Children’s Easter Egg Roll. Also in March, Fox & Friends attacked the White House Easter Egg Roll, a family event, for making the souvenir eggs more environmentally friendly and encouraging children to exercise. [Media Matters, 3/30/11]

Obama Derangement Syndrome: Osama Bin Laden’s Death. In May, The Washington Times attacked  Obama following the successful raid in Pakistan that killed Osama bin Laden, complaining that he golfed before the mission took place and that he “snub[bed] Bush” in his speech following bin Laden’s death. [Media Matters, 5/3/11]

National Science Foundation Clears ‘Climate-Gate’ Scientist Of Any Misconduct
The National Science Foundation has cleared climatologist and Penn State professor Michael Mann of any misconduct in the “Climate-Gate” controversy, which became a lightning rod for climate change skeptics in 2009….

Wasilla City Councilman Won’t Resign After Drunkenly Trashing Hotel Room
Steve Menard, a City Councilman in Wasilla, Alaska, is being forced to repay the city for damages to a Sitka hotel room that was found trashed after his stay there.

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News of the Future: The Two Ricks in 2013

Cheney Memoir Leaked
The New York Times “obtained” a copy of former Vice President Dick Cheney’s memoir, In My Time, which is to be released next week and reports the book “opens with an account of Mr. Cheney’s experiences during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, when he essentially commanded the government’s response from a bunker beneath the White House while Mr. Bush — who was away from Washington and hampered by communications breakdowns — played a peripheral role. But Mr. Cheney wrote that he did not want to make any formal statement to the nation that day.”

Writes Cheney: “My past government experience, had prepared me to manage the crisis during those first few hours on 9/11, but I knew that if I went out and spoke to the press, it would undermine the president, and that would be bad for him and for the country. We were at war. Our commander in chief needed to be seen as in charge, strong, and resolute — as George W. Bush was.”

Quote of the Day
“It’s going to survive. It’s not going to be repealed.”

— Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), quoted by the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, noting the Obama health care law will remain even if the Supreme Court declares the individual mandate unconstitutional.

As Economy Gets Worse Under Obama, More Still Blame Bush
A new Associated Press-GfK poll finds that 86% of adults see the economy as “poor” with about half — 49% — saying it worsened just in the past month.

Nonetheless, there has been no significant change in the number of people who say President Obama deserves re-election: 47% as opposed to 48% two months ago. That’s a statistical dead heat with those who favor a change in the White House.

And more Americans still blame former President George W. Bush rather than Obama for the economic distress. Some 31% put the bulk of the blame on Obama, while 51% point to his Republican predecessor.

Another Poll Has Perry on Top
A new Economist/YouGov poll is the third poll this week to show Rick Perry leading the Republican presidential field nationally.

Perry leads with 23%, followed by Mitt Romney at 15%, Ron Paul at 11%, Michele Bachmann at 9%, Herman Cain at 8% and Rudy Giuliani at 6%. All other candidates have less than 5% support.

Nurses Union Calls for Nationwide Action September 1 to Rebuild Main Street
Enough kowtowing to Wall Street, say 170,000 members of National Nurses United. It’s time for a financial transaction tax–and national protests in support.

Are We Killing Drug Addicts Like Amy Winehouse?
Statements by Winehouse’s parents and a new study on addiction reveal how common misconceptions about addicts’ ability to get clean can be deadly.

By Not Creating Jobs, Obama Is Not Doing His Own Job. So Do We Have A President or Not?
Instead of making jobs Priority No.1, Obama put Wall Street banksters first, dumping trillions of dollars from public funds into saving those who crashed our economy.

How Rick Perry Created His State’s $27 Billion Budget Crisis
Since Perry is running for president on a record of fiscal responsibility, it’s important to understand his 2006 decision that wreaked havoc on his state.

Why the President Doesn’t Present a Bold Plan to Create Jobs and Jumpstart the Economy
Americans are deeply confused about why the economy is so bad – and their President isn’t telling them. In fact, the White House apparently has decided to join with Republicans and blame it on the long-term budget deficit. Before I…

Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Home Economics Not the Same, No?
These are all different spheres that work differently, right? How long will we keep hearing these analogies about balancing household budgets or belt-tightening? Aside from the fact that it often makes sense for households and businesses to take on debt,…