@Thom_Hartmann #ThomHartmann blog: Time to Tax the Rich
by Thom Hartmann,posted Nov 8 2012 3:50PM
That’s the essence of what Vice President Joe Biden said following the Democrats’ big wins on Election night. Speaking to a pool of reporters on Wednesday, Biden said Democrats clearly have a “mandate” on tax reform. And this issue of taxes will have to be settled soon, as Congress returns for its lame duck session next week and the so-called fiscal cliff looms at the end of the year. Democratic Senator Patty Murray, who was the architect of the Democrats election strategy in the Senate, argued that Democrats now have a much stronger hand after the election as they head into negotiations with Republicans over what to do about the expiring Bush tax cuts and automatic spending cuts coming down the pike.
Murray told reports, “If we can’t get a good deal—a balanced deal that calls on the wealthy to pay their fair share—then I will absolutely continue this debate into 2013.” In other words, Democrats aren't caving this time. Unless the Republican Party is still living in an alternate reality – which is likely – they have to accept that they failed at making President Obama a one-term President by stifling the economy. They should take Tuesday’s election as a rejection of their obstructionist agenda and strike a deal with Democrats to raise taxes on the wealthy.
If they don’t – and if they continue their economy-crashing agenda – then they’re committing political suicide and, tragically, risk taking the country down with them.
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Program Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL 1600.
It seems that everybody wants to know what's been going on at the NSA. Everybody, that is, except for 53 US Senators. Last week Senators were given a briefing by high-ranking intelligence officials about the surveillance programs. Only 47...
Tea Party senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) says that "restoring faith in government" is "the wrong solution." Well then by all means, keep talking, Senator. Instead, Johnson says "we need to engender that healthy distrust, that healthy...
Senator Elizabeth Warren is fighting hard for government transparency, and it has nothing to do with the NSA. On Thursday, Senator Warren sent a letter to President Obama's U.S. trade negotiations nominee, calling on the Administration to...
While signing a Merry Christmas bill in June, legalizing usage of phrases like 'Merry Christmas' on school property, Texas Governor Rick Perry took the opportunity to appeal to his evangelical base. "I'm proud we are standing up for...
The Supreme Court ruled that human genes cannot be patented, because they are a product of nature. However, the offered a compromise which allowed synthetic, complementary DNA, known as cDNA, to be protected by patent law, because it is not...
Before last week, very few people knew the name Edward Snowden. Not the case now. It seems he's either a hero or traitor, depending on who you talk to and their political ideology. No matter what you think of him, however, we owe him a...
The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives will do anything to avoid getting any actual work done. As if 37 votes to repeal Obamacare didn't waste enough taxpayer time and money, the House GOP has decided to vote on a...
We need to have a debate over surveillance. Even more, we need to have a debate over exactly who is doing the surveilling. Government surveillance can be worrisome, but it's much more worrisome when the surveillance is being done by private...
Today, the United States Senate will begin debate on the so-called comprehensive immigration plan. Senators will consider the overall legislation, and dozens of amendments, before a final vote can be reached. The debate is likely to last...
Is Edward Snowden a whistleblower or a leaker? This story still has a lot of gray areas. For now, he's something like a whistle-leaker. To some people, Snowden is a hero, to others he is a traitor. To most Americans, he's the guy whose face in...
