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Wednesday, March 31, 2004 |
FEATURED ARTICLES
- Daniel Ellsberg sees a new trend -- telling all while the issue is hot, SF Chronicle
- Advertisement Urges Palestinians to Refrain from Violent Reprisals, Ha'aretz
- THE BUSH TAX INCREASE, Bouncing through the web with no by-line
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"Emotional appeals about working families trying to get by on $4.25 an hour are hard to resist. Fortunately, such families do not exist."
- - Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX), House Majority Whip
(During a debate on increasing the minimum wage, Congressional Record, H3706, 04-23-96)
KNOW YOUR HISTORY - MARCH 31st
1933 -- The low point for America's economy during the Great Depression was in March 1933. Industrial production was dropping dramatically with output nearly half of the previous year and unemployment mounting to 15 million. The bank crisis deepened with banking holidays blanketing the nation and one-third of the country's railroad mileage in bankruptcy. With the inauguration of Franklin Roosevelt on March 4, 1933, and his summoning of a special session of the 73rd Congress, the New Deal policies of economic reconstruction began. On March 31st, 1933 the US Congress authorized the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) to relieve the rampant unemployment.The program was designed to provide jobs for young men in the national forests, conservation programs & national road construction. One of President Franklin Roosevelt's first New Deal programs, it lasted until World War II. At its high point in September 1935, the CCC had 2,514 work camps across the U.S. with 502,000 men enrolled. In its nine years of existence, the CCC had 2.9 million men aged 18 to 25 enrolled.
1971 -- Daniel Ellsberg obtained a copy of the Pentagon Papers, commissioned by then-Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, from his former pentagon colleagues & showed it to NY Times reporter, Neil Sheehan.
1995 -- President Clinton visited Haiti declaring the U.S. effort to restore democracy there a "remarkable success."
RHINO HERE:
Today a new feature begins in Rhino's Blog. A simple addition suggested by a reader. Each issue I'll attempt to include at least one article excerpt & link that would be suitable to send to our Republican friends & relatives. Those articles will be noted with: "SEND THIS ARTICLE TO A REPUBLICAN!"
Today's RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE is the first of those pieces, dealing with the Bush Tax Cuts, but more correctly entitled "The Bush Tax Increase." A well documented collection of info on the real effects on the pocketbooks of the American tax payers. But first, a couple choice excerpts & links.
A hero-storical whistleblower; Daniel Ellsberg, shares his take on Rhino's most current hero, Richard Clarke, & a trend in whistleblowing; doing it soon & loud.
Daniel Ellsberg sees a new trend -- telling all while the issue is hot
by Matthew B. Stannard, SF Chronicle, March 29, 2004
When famous whistle-blower Daniel Ellsberg boarded a plane to Cincinnati earlier this week, he took along a little light reading: a stack of articles about former counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke, who has stirred controversy with allegations in his book and testimony before a special panel that the Bush White House was somewhat indifferent to al Qaeda before Sept. 11 and obsessed with Iraq afterward. Ellsberg, who in 1971 leaked the Pentagon Papers documenting government misrepresentations about the Vietnam War, sees Clarke as part of a trend: well- placed individuals in the government who have gone public with books or interviews outlining their concerns and criticisms about their country's government -- while that government is still in power. Ellsberg is not alone in that observation -- observers from across the political spectrum, whether they support Clarke's actions or not, agree that a new willingness exists to tell all far sooner, and far more publicly, than in the past.
MORE: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/03/29/MNGK75SR5A1.DTL
Things look bleak in Israel after Israeli Defense Forces assassinated Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. The 68 year old, nearly blind & wheel chair stricken Yassin was said to have been adamant that Hamas limit their attacks to what he called the occupying country; Israel, bucking opinions of younger Palestinians that U.S. interests should also be targeted for the U.S. financial support of Israel. The good news, such as it is, was the following report that a coalition of Palestinian leaders were urging their people to refrain from retaliation.
Advertisement Urges Palestinians to Refrain from Violent Reprisals
Ha'aretz: "Over 60 prominent Palestinian officials and intellectuals Thursday urged the public to refrain from retaliation for Israel's assassination of Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, saying it would ignite a new round of bloodshed that would only hurt Palestinian aspirations for independence. A half-page advertisement in the PLO's Al-Ayyam newspaper called on Palestinians to lay down their arms and turn to peaceful means of protest to end Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The ad reflected apparently growing sentiment among many Palestinian leaders and intellectuals that military struggle is not helping the Palestinian cause... The intellectuals who signed the ad - including Nablus Governor Mahmoud Aloul, Geneva Accord co-author and PLO Executive Committee member Yasser Abed Rabbo and Abbas Zaki, a leading member of Arafat's Fatah movement - said such revenge attacks would lead to a strong Israeli retaliation and further hurt the Palestinian cause."...
MORE: http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/408728.html
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"SEND THIS ARTICLE TO A REPUBLICAN!"
THE BUSH TAX INCREASE
Bouncing through the web with no by-line
President Bush said on 2/12/04 that "we cut taxes, which basically meant people had more money in their pocket." However, for the majority of Americans, the tax cuts meant very little. By next year, for instance, 88% of all Americans will receive $100 or less from the Administration's latest tax cuts. But even above and beyond this, the tax cuts and the deficits they have created have forced the Administration to raise fees and cut services for most Americans - which is an effective tax increase on average Americans. In many ways, the Administration's fiscal/budget policies are actually taking more money out of people's pockets. DIRECT TAX INCREASES PROPOSED IN THE BUSH BUDGET: President Bush's 2004 budget proposed an increase of $5.9 billion in fees on taxpayers from just one year ago. In 2005, the Bush budget assumes the "government will take in 13% more in taxes and fees next year than in fiscal 2004." [Source: WP, 2/19/03, Boston Globe, 2/3/04]
STATE TAX INCREASES, BROUGHT ON BY BUSH BUDGET: The latest Bush tax bill/budget proposes a 3% decrease to federal grants to states, a $16 billion decrease in state tax revenues - all while proposing between $23-$82 billion in unfunded mandates. Because of this "millions of American individuals and businesses face tax hikes this year... wiping out the savings that some taxpayers would otherwise see on their federal 1040." Since President Bush took office, states have raised taxes by a total of $14.5 billion, after 7 consecutive years of cutting taxes. The total 2003 net tax increase was $6.9 billion for the 42 reporting states - following a 2002 net tax increase of $9.1 billion. Seventeen states raised taxes by more than 1% with four states raising taxes by at least 5%. USA Today reports "squeezed by tight budgets, Republicans in at least a dozen state legislatures across the country are feuding over the party's bedrock principles of holding down spending and not raising taxes." Similarly, the Wall Street Journal noted, Republicans in states all over the country "are undercutting the election-year message: They are for raising taxes...Worried about declines in schools and basic services, many Republican leaders in the states say they have little choice." [Source: CBPP, 10/17/03 ( http://www.cbpp.org/10-17-03sfp.htm ), 6/3/03 ( http://www.cbpp.org/6-3-03sfp.htm ) & 2/3/04 ( http://www.cbpp.org/2-3-04sfp.htm ); Christian Sci. Monitor, 2/2/04; NCSL, 2003 ( http://www.ncsl.org/programs/fiscal/presbta03.htm ); USA Today, 2/9/04 ( http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-02-09-gop-taxes_x.htm ); WSJ, 2/20/04 ( http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB107724124060934820,00.html?mod=politics_primary_hs )]
TAX INCREASE ON STUDENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES: Since President Bush took office, state colleges and universities across the nation imposed their "steepest tuition and fee increases in a decade" - some as high as 40%. Tuitions rose at public institutions in all of the 37 states responding to a recent nationwide study, almost all due to federal/state budget cuts in the state budgets. In the 2003-04 academic year, college tuition and fees increased an average of $579 at public universities, $1,114 at private institutions, and $231 at two-year public colleges. Meanwhile, the Administration proposed a rule change that would deny Pell Grants to 84,000 students, while freeze funding the program. Bush's latest budget also proposes to "prohibit agencies from waiving a 1% Stafford Loan fee and forces students to collectively pay $1 million in interest each year." [Source: Washington Post, 7/22/03; U-Wire, 2/6/04]
TAX INCREASE ON VETERANS: "Two years after tripling the co-payment that veterans pay for prescription drugs the Department of Veterans Affairs wants to raise it again." Specifically, President Bush's 2005 budget would increase prescription "drug co-pays from $7 to $15 for many veterans." In 2002, the co-pay went from $2 to $7." Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ) said the proposal raises questions about the impact on "near-poor" veterans whose incomes are just high enough to require that they pay the new premium. Meanwhile, the American Legion called it "utterly ridiculous." [Sources: Cleveland Plain Dealer, 2/7/04; WP, 2/19/03]
PROPERTY TAX INCREASES: The Administration has left a $9 billion hole in funding its own education bill. That unfunded mandate, along with "cuts in federal taxes and programs have shoved some of the tax burden down to states and municipalities" forcing them to "hike property taxes to pay for schools and other services." As one expert noted "county and city governments have been raising taxes" with "property tax collections rising more than 10%" last year alone. [Source: Christian Sci. Monitor, 2/2/04; PPI, 2003 ( http://www.ndol.org/blueprint/2003_number_3/03_shakedown.html )]
TAX INCREASE ON LOW-INCOME FAMILIES & KIDS: According to the National Association of State Budget Officers, 32 states have effectively increased taxes on low-income families by raising their Medicaid co-payments. Additionally, "50 states reduced or froze payments to Medicaid providers, 34 states have reduced or restricted Medicaid eligibility, 35 states have reduced Medicaid benefits." In Florida, for instance, deficits caused by tax cuts have left more than 80,000 kids on waiting lists for health care. Overall, because of these tax Medicaid fee increases and deficits, 1.7 million people could lose minimum health coverage. [Source: National Association of State Budget Officers, 12/2003 ( http://www.nasbo.org/Publications/fiscsurv/fsfall2003.pdf ); CBPP, 3/20/03 ( http://www.cbpp.org/3-20-03sfp.htm )]
CEMENTING TAX INCREASE ON USERS OF PUBLIC PARKS: The Bush Administration proposed to make "entrance fees at some national forests and parks permanent, opening the door to new charges at some locations." [Source: WP, 19/03]
TAX INCREASE ON SMALL BUSINESSES: The Bush Budget proposes to eliminate funding for the Small Business Administration's "flagship 7(a) loan program" - a program "which backs 40% of all long-term lending to the country's small businesses" - and instead fund it by a massive fee increase on borrowers. Because of the cut, "hundreds of small businesses have been caught in a vise." According to Rep. Nydia Velasquez (D-NY), ranking minority member on the Small Business Committee, the move "leaves small businesses shouldering yet another tax" at the same time President Bush's supposed "small business tax cuts" leave roughly 96% of small business with almost nothing. [Source: States News Service, 2/2/04; Chicago Tribune, 2/2/04; CBPP, 5/3/01 ( http://www.cbpp.org/5-3-01tax2.htm )]
DEFICITS MEANS TAX INCREASES TO COME: Reagan supply side guru Bruce Bartlett "is beginning to sound the alarm that Bush's tax-less, spend-more budgets are unsustainable and will force the president to raise taxes." As he says, "These tax increases, when they come, are the result of conscious deliberate decisions this Administration made." His bet for next year or the year after: "A tax increase of more than $100 billion a year." [Source: Wall Street Journal, 2/19/04 ( http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB107714710806633229,00.html?mod=politics_secondary_stories_hs )]
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6:50:00 AM
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© Copyright 2005 Gary Rhine.
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