"Richard Wolff" - The Truth about 'Class War' in America

Published on Tuesday, September 20, 2011 by The Guardian/UK

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/sep/19/class-war-america-republicans-rich

Republicans claim, in Orwellian fashion, that Obama's millionaire tax is 'class war'. The reality is that the super-rich won the war

by Richard Wolff

Republicans and conservatives always fight back against proposals to raise taxes on corporations and rich individuals by making two basic claims. First, such proposals amount to un-American "class warfare", pitting the working class against corporations and the rich. Second, such proposals would take money for the government that would otherwise have been invested in production and thus created jobs

Neither logic nor evidence supports either claim. The charge of class war is particularly obtuse. Consider simply these two facts. First, at the end of the second world war, for every dollar Washington raised in taxes on individuals, it raised $1.50 in taxes on business profits. Today, that ratio is very different: for every dollar Washington gets in taxes on individuals, it takes 25 cents in taxes on business. In short, the last half century has seen a massive shift of the burden of federal taxation off business and onto individuals.

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"Agence France Presse" - Republicans Cry 'Class Warfare' Over Millionaire Tax

Published on Monday, September 19, 2011 by Agence France Presse

http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/Republicans-cry-class-warfare-afp-2078887871.html

Leading Republicans on Sunday spurned as "class warfare" an administration proposal dubbed "the Buffet rule" that would ensure millionaires are taxed at the same rate as the middle class.

President Barack Obama was expected to make the proposal on Monday, picking up on a repeated complaint by billionaire investor Warren Buffett that he pays taxes at a lower rate than his secretary, White House officials said.

"If he's feeling guilty about it, I think he should send in a check," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Buffet on NBC's "Meet the Press." "But we don't want to stagnate this economy by raising taxes."

Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, dismissed "the Buffet rule" as "just a political move by the president."

Increasing taxes on millionaires would add "a de minimis amount of money to the Treasury to pay off the debt," he said on CNN's "State of the Union" talk show.

"Tax code should be reformed for one purpose -- generate jobs. When you say we'll tax one percent of the economy, that's class warfare," said Graham, who called for reforms that would eliminate deductions and flatten income tax rates overall.

Echoing Graham, Representative Paul Ryan, a Republican from Wisconsin, said the administration's proposal was "going in the wrong direction."

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" Paul Rosenberg" - 10 Signs God Is Furious With the Right

By Paul Rosenberg, AlterNet
Posted on September 16, 2011, Printed on September 18, 2011
http://www.alternet.org/story/152414/10_signs_god_is_furious_with_the_right

Why is it that whenever disaster strikes, right-wing religious nuts seem to have all the fun? Some might say it's just because they're sadists, but they always seem to find the silver lining. 9/11? God's calling on America to repent! (No, not for it's foreign policy, you dummy!) Hurricane Katrina? It was that darned homosexual parade the organizers forgot to tell anyone about!

Whatever disaster strikes, there's always an up-side in religious rightland, always somebody to point the finger at with glee. How come they get all the fun?

So when the East Coast got a one-two punch last month, earthquake-hurricane within a few days of one another, it got me thinking. When another hurricane followed up afterward, it was more than I could bear. And so, I offer you a list of God's Top 10 Targets from a not-so-right-but-possibly-more-righteous point of view. 

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