The Hollywood Liberal

Police Remove Occupy Boston
The police swept into Occupy Boston’s campsite early Saturday morning, bringing one of the country’s largest continuous demonstrations inspired by New York City’s Occupy Wall Street protest to an end. Boston police said 46 people had been arrested during what the city’s police commissioner, Edward Davis, said was “by and large” a peaceful eviction. “The first thing I heard was the sound of a knife ripping through a tent,” said Mike Hipson, a demonstrator who stayed through the night. A group linked arms and awaited arrest as police officers backed vans into the camp.

The Base
our up-to-date list of what the Republican base is for, judged by audience response.

Your up-to-date list of what the Republican base is for, judged by audience response:

* As many people executed as possible;

* Attacking Iran – repeatedly;

* Assassinations are awesome too;

* Hating Muslims;

* Letting the uninsured die;

* And just this Saturday, Child Labor;

And against:

* American soldiers, engaged in tactics other than invading and occupying Islamic nations.

At least most of them will be out of my home-state in three weeks.

?

Lakeside Diner
A variety of links to articles/interviews on current topics that may, or may not, be of interest.

Wakey Wakey (photo: esapekka/flickr)

The coffee’s freshly ground, there’s a wide selection of teas and the sticky buns are homemade.

• “Negotiators agreed to start work on a new climate deal that would have legal force and, crucially, require both developed and developing countries to cut their carbon emissions. The terms now need to be agreed by 2015 and come into effect from 2020.” My understanding is that we’ve got 5 years before it’s too late to start implementing policies. The US has been an absolute disgrace in dealing with climate change. The government as a whole would rather let corporate whores like Sen Inhofe (Asshole-OK) run the show.

• France has a presidential election in 2012. Mayhaps Osterity can get a few tips from the candidates. He might actually learn something from the socialist candidate. Or not.

• Real News talked to Dr. Heiner Flassbeck (Director, Division on Globalization and Development Strategies, UNCTAD) about the Euro Crisis. This guy knocked my socks off, and I don’t wear socks. Not what he said but that he said it. This guy’s the quintessential neoclassical economist fer cryin’ out loud. Then they link to a little talk he gave. You won’t believe what he says in the last 5 minutes.

• “Nick Clegg [deputy prime minister] promised to rebuild the government’s shattered relationship with the rest of Europe and risked opening a coalition rift by going public with his “bitter disappointment” at David Cameron’s decision to block a new EU agreement.” This could get interesting.

• Million women are ‘missing’ from Britain’s workforce. For those who’ve watched any of the speeches Prof Richard Wolff has given on the current economic crisis this is related to the reasons women went into the workforce in such great numbers in the 1970s.

• “Writing from the very region that produces more clichés per square foot than any other “story” – the Middle East – I should perhaps pause before I say I have never read so much garbage, so much utter drivel, as I have about the world financial crisis.” Tell it, Mr Robert!

If anybody hasn’t noticed yet, it’s the Christmas Season. when we celebrate the birth of Jesus by going further into debt to buy the ones we love some thing. PETA has a guide to cruetly-free clothing and accessories. We don’t have to kill animals to dress ourselves.

Editorial cartoon.

The truth will set you free but first it’ll piss you off.

?

Late, Late Night FDL: Man of Constant Sorrow
Bob Dylan – Man of Constant Sorrow

Bob Dylan – Man of Constant Sorrow

Dylan’s first national appearance…!

What’s on your mind tonite…?

?

Latest New York Tax Reforms Disproportionately Benefit the Rich
Many in the media are touting a recent overhaul of the state of New York’s tax scheme as a sign of a new age of increased burden for top earners and a victory for the 99 percent. But close inspection reveals that such comparisons exclude the contributions of a soon to expire, 3-year-old “millionaires’ tax,” and the new codes favor the rich. Along with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, those reporters are calculating their claim on New York’s old base rate without including the millionaires’ surtax. When the surcharge is included, we see that the new rates will reduce taxes across the board, but deliver considerably higher savings to the wealthy. Those earning between $500,000 and $2 million annually will see their taxes drop by 2.12 percent, while those making between $40,000 and $150,000 will get a meager .4 percent reduction. So the new codes serve the rich much more than they do the middle class. Plus, the revenue they will generate will be less than half of what was collected by the expiring surtax. —ARK ProPublica: Cuomo has said he believes the tax overhaul will help to close the state’s deficit and stimulate the economy by cutting taxes for the middle class. And it’s true; his tax plan indeed has the wealthy paying more than they would if the surtax had been allowed to expire. But in reality, as The Times points out a few paragraphs into its story, the cuts for individuals in the lower tax brackets are modest, and the revenue to be produced by the tax-code changes — projected at about $1.9 billion — is about half of the $4 billion raised annually by the expiring surtax. Read more

Many in the media are touting a recent overhaul of the state of New York’s tax scheme as a sign of a new age of increased burden for top earners and a victory for the 99 percent. But close inspection reveals that such comparisons exclude the contributions of a soon to expire, 3-year-old “millionaires’ tax,” and the new codes favor the rich.

Along with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, those reporters are calculating their claim on New York’s old base rate without including the millionaires’ surtax. When the surcharge is included, we see that the new rates will reduce taxes across the board, but deliver considerably higher savings to the wealthy. Those earning between $500,000 and $2 million annually will see their taxes drop by 2.12 percent, while those making between $40,000 and $150,000 will get a meager .4 percent reduction.

So the new codes serve the rich much more than they do the middle class. Plus, the revenue they will generate will be less than half of what was collected by the expiring surtax. —ARK

ProPublica:

Cuomo has said he believes the tax overhaul will help to close the state’s deficit and stimulate the economy by cutting taxes for the middle class. And it’s true; his tax plan indeed has the wealthy paying more than they would if the surtax had been allowed to expire.

But in reality, as The Times points out a few paragraphs into its story, the cuts for individuals in the lower tax brackets are modest, and the revenue to be produced by the tax-code changes — projected at about $1.9 billion — is about half of the $4 billion raised annually by the expiring surtax.

Read more

Related Entries

• December 11, 2011 Late Postal Service
• December 10, 2011 Time Is Up

Quarreling EU

By Martin Sutovec, Cagle Cartoons, Slovakia

Related Entries

• December 11, 2011 Late Postal Service
• December 10, 2011 Time Is Up

Robert Redford: Keystone XL and Jobs: Just More Pipe Dreams
This week the GOP leadership, once again, has sided with Big Oil against the will of the American people. They are trying to circumvent President Obama’s decision to further investigate the impacts of the controversial Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. GOP leadership is instead advocating for granting the permit now, or else they will hold up important legislation meant to benefit real people’s real lives. They want you to believe it’s about jobs, but that’s not what the facts bear out. Is there anything more cynical than Big Oil and its Washington allies playing on heartland hardship by pretending a dangerous tar sands pipeline can put folks back to work?

Rick Perry Calls Company A Country, Mispronounces Name
Hours after Saturday’s presidential debate in Des Moines, Iowa, GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry continued his string of memorable campaign gaffes. CNN Political Ticker reports…

Richard (RJ) Eskow: Mr. President, Stop Protecting Bankers From These Law Enforcement Officials
Lately we’ve been hearing some strong words from the President about Wall Street crime. But when the cameras and lights aren’t around, his Administration’s been…

Dem Senator Finds House Defense Bill Riddled With Earmarks
WASHINGTON â?? House Republicans banned earmarks, a top symbol of congressional profligacy, after they won control of the chamber last fall in a wave of…

Gas Drilling In Ohio Brings Jobs, But At What Cost?
COLUMBUS, Ohio — After a childhood spent moving around, Patti Gorcheff vowed that she’d never uproot her daughter. But she says wastewater disposal in her…

Corzine Testifies On MF Global Collapse: ‘I Simply Do Not Know Where The Money Is’
Jon Corzine denied any knowledge of what happened to the estimated $1.2 billion in customer funds that went missing in the days before MF Global went bankrupt, telling a congressional panel on Thursday he “was stunned” when he heard about the funds, but “I simply do not know where the money is.”

Bill O’Reilly On Umbrella Incident: ‘This Guy Could’ve Had A Knife!’ (VIDEO)
Fox News host Bill O’Reilly explained his now infamous encounter with a protestor on his program on Thursday night, claiming he used his umbrella to shield himself because the man carrying a hi-definition camera and asking him about a Newt Gingrich fundraiser “could have had a knife.”

Will Dems be “sucker-punched”?
If you think that (somehow) the results of the 2000 and the 2004 Presidential elections were rigged, what makes you think that with everything they want riding on the next election; they wouldn’t want to cheat again to win it all?

Perry Goes for Broke in Iowa
With three weeks until the Iowa caucuses, Rick Perry “has retooled his message from the strict jobs focus he began with in August to one promoting him as a conservative outsider,” the AP reports.

“And he’s doubled down on television advertising for the home stretch, having already spent more than $2 million in Iowa only to see his support remain in single digits. Perry’s revamped charge to the Jan. 3 caucuses is a sign of the pressure he faces to revive his faltering national campaign. And it’s far from clear whether it’s working.”

Amateur Dirt Digger
Jason Zengerle profiles Andrew Kaczynski, hobbyist oppo researcher.

“The 22-year-old spends most of his time pursuing a history major at St. John’s University. But when he’s not in class or studying, he holes up in his Briarwood studio apartment, plops down in front of his MacBook, and dives into C-SPAN’s extensive online archives. Kaczynski’s hobby is watching old political videos, the most memorable of which he uploads to his YouTube channel. It sounds harmless enough, unless you happen to be a 2012 Republican presidential candidate with a long video record. Then Kaczynski’s hobby can ruin your news cycle, or worse.”

“Just ask Newt Gingrich, who had to fend off attacks on his small-­government bona fides after Kaczynski unearthed video of him offering support for a health-insurance mandate (during an appearance with Hillary Clinton!) back in 2005. Or, better yet, Mitt Romney, whose 2004 lecture on the art of flip-flopping — he was talking about John Kerry, but could have just as easily been talking about himself — showed up on countless political websites, and then in a Jon Huntsman attack ad, after Kaczynski resurrected it. Indeed, the words ‘via Andrew Kaczynski’ may now be the most unwelcome phrase in Romney headquarters.”

Obama’s Woman Problem
The president shamefully uses his daughters to justify limiting the healthcare options of America’s young women.

Massey Gets Away With Murder: Time To Revoke their Charter
$209 million isn’t enough. Revoke Massey’s corporate charter.

Obama Administration Continues to Abuse State Secrets Privilege to Cover Up Misdeeds
The State Department response to the ACLU’s FOIA requests for WikiLeaks’ cables reveals the absurd abuses of state secrecy.

Crony Capitalism in the Air
After trying to push it through as part of the debt ceiling debacle, then in the super committee, Republicans are now trying to attach spectrum auction provisions to the payroll tax holiday bill. Their bill is about as clear an…

Mitt’s Mythical Math on Health Care and Defense
All right — I wasn’t going to blog on the Wednesday afternoon before Thanksgiving until someone tweeted me Igor Volsky’s great piece at Think Progress eviscerating Mitt Romney’s assertion that he would save money by cancelling the Obama health plan…

Bachmann Twice Refuses To Say She Would Support ?Newt Romney? If Either Man Gets The GOP Nomination
In an interview on CBS’s Face the Nation this morning, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) would not pledge her support to either Newt Gingrich or Mitt Romney if either of her two top rivals received the GOP presidential nomination. After repeatedly referring to the two men as “Newt Romney” throughout the interview, Bachmann dismissed them as […]

In an interview on CBS’s Face the Nation this morning, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) would not pledge her support to either Newt Gingrich or Mitt Romney if either of her two top rivals received the GOP presidential nomination. After repeatedly referring to the two men as “Newt Romney” throughout the interview, Bachmann dismissed them as part of the “big government frugal socialist wing” of the party, and then twice refused to answer moderator Bob Schieffer when he asked if she could “support either one of them if it came down to one of them.” Watch it: