Gingrich 2010 Tax Return reported $3,162,424 total income

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Featheriver


GingrichThe headline number was 31.45%.

That’s the percentage of the couple’s total income — $3,162,424 — they owed in federal income taxes. Their total tax bill was $994,708.

Gingrich’s opponent Mitt Romney said this week that he estimates his effective federal tax rate is about 15% — a number driven down by Romney’s millions in investment income, which is typically taxed at a lower rate than ordinary income such as a salary.

By contrast, the vast majority of Gingrich’s income — more than $2.5 million — came from money he earned from his businesses, the biggest of which is Gingrich Productions. And at least a portion of that income was likely taxed at ordinary income tax rates, which run as high as 35%.

Read more: http://www.wisn.com/politics/30256756/detail.html#ixzz1k19JDSJd

That would appear Gingrich is a member of the 1%.

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Fact Check of GOP Presidential Debate in South Carolina

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Featheriver

Facts were sometimes used as blunt instruments as the four remaining GOP presidential candidates hammered away at each other in the last debate before Saturday’s South Carolina primary.

  • Santorum and Romney tangled on the Massachusetts health care law. Santorum wrongly claimed it was a “government-run” program. Romney erred when he said everybody was covered by private insurance, ignoring Medicare and his own expansion of Medicaid.
  • Santorum also fouled up when he claimed the state has “the highest health insurance premiums of any state in the country.” Seven states and Washington, D.C., were higher in 2010, the most recent year for which figures are available.
  • Gingrich claimed Romney appointees “funded” an abortion clinic. The truth is that an autonomous state agency approved a tax-exempt loan — not direct taxpayer funding — and Romney said he wasn’t aware until after he left office.
  • Gingrich, slamming Jimmy Carter, said “unemployment went to 10.8 percent.” It did — nearly two years after Ronald Reagan took office. But it never exceeded 7.8 percent under Carter.
  • Gingrich claimed that “none” of the ideas on the website of his Center for Health Transformation resemble Obama’s program. Actually, we found a call there for an individual mandate, which Gingrich himself repeated as recently as last May.
  • Romney slammed Gingrich’s claim to have “helped” Reagan create jobs, saying Reagan mentioned Gingrich only once in his published diaries. That’s true. Reagan wrote that the young congressman’s 1983 suggestion to freeze spending “would cripple our defense program,” and he rejected it.
  • Ron Paul, a physician, claimed medicine “worked rather well” in the early 1960′s. That was before Medicare, when in fact rising health care costs were forcing many of the elderly onto public assistance or charity care.

Note: This is a summary only. The full article with analysis, images and citations may be viewed on the FactCheck Web site:

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Super PACS

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Featheriver


Super PAC s are changing the political landscape of the United States. The impact of ordinary voters on who will represent them in the federal government is rapidly declining. The impact of “elite” voters on will represent them is rapidly increasing.

In other words, the 1% is beating the 99%. The rich are growing more powerful than the rest of us. Money largely determines who is elected to congress or the presidency. The rich have the money to spend, the rest of us do not.

The determination of who will be the Republican Party’s nominee for President is being made by the wealthiest of America. It is being done with Super PACs.

“This election season is the first presidential race to feel the influence of Super PACs, political action committees that can receive unlimited money from individuals, corporations and unions.  Some of these Super PACs have morphed into powerful outside organizations working solely on electing a presidential candidate of their choosing.  While a campaign supporter can only donate $2500 directly to a presidential candidate, he or she can donate unlimited amounts of money to a Super PAC supporting the same candidate,” reports Jessica Hopper of Rock Center with Brian Williams.

“Every major GOP presidential candidate has a Super PAC supporting their campaign.  Super PACs are supposed to operate independently of the candidates, meaning they can’t communicate directly with the politicians and their campaign staff.  Super PACs have been effective even with the communication barrier, because they are often run by people who already know how the candidates think.  A look at whose running the Super PACs reveals a roster of former staffers and advisers to the presidential candidates.”

Restore Our Future, a Super PAC supporting Mitt Romney’s campaign, will have raised between $300 and $350 million by the end of January, said one of its key strategists, Carl Forti.  Forti, a former political director for Romney, helped launch the ‘Restore Our Future’ Super PAC in 2010. Do you, as an ordinary mortal, want to donate your $25 contribution to Mitt Romney directly or send it to the Restore Our Future Super PAC? Better yet, if you really want to improve your chances of having Mitt Romney take your telephone call then send $25,000 to the Super PAC. You can via their website.

That is the modern way this Republic now operates. It is the way the 1% control the United States government. Restore Our Future, will have raised between $300 and $350 million by the end of January it is reported. In 2010 Citizens United against the Federal Election Commission, the Supreme Court ruled that the government could not limit political spending by corporations. Romney’s Restore our Future Super PAC blasted Newt Gingrich with negative ads dropping him from the lead in Iowa to 4th place in the Iowa caucus.

Stephen Colbert, comedian, formed his own Super PAC , and told reporter Ted Koppel “It would be stupid to be in the 2012 campaign or want your voice heard in the 2012 campaign and not have a Super PAC,” Colbert said. “I mean, the RNC, the DNC, those organizations really don’t mean much anymore.  Karl Rove has more money than the RNC.”

And, you, a member of the 1% won’t know who donated to the Super PACs until after you vote.

Also, as a member of the 99%, you don’t really count for much in the 2012 election. You aren’t worth as much as a member of the 1%. The 1% will decide for you who your next President, Senator, or Congressman/woman will be.

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From Nevada to California

Posted on January 8, 2012 by Featheriver

All things must come to an end. My wife and I are in the process of moving from Pahrump, Nevada back to Paradise, California from whence we originally came. This blog’s focus will switch its political views to our new venue. I’ll be making some necessary changes in the makeup of the blog as time progresses. I’ll leave the url alone, at least for the moment.

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Votes of Nevada’s Congressional Delegation

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Featheriver


 

December 12, 2011

In this MegaVote for Nevada’s 1st Congressional District:

Recent Congressional Votes

  • Senate: Cloture on the Nomination of Richard Cordray to be Director, Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection
  • Senate: Motion to Proceed; Middle Class Tax Cut Act of 2011
  • Senate: Motion to Proceed; Temporary Tax Holiday and Government Reduction Act
  • House: Regulations From the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act of 2011
  • House: Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act of 2011

Upcoming Congressional Bills

  • House: Payroll tax cut extension
  • House: Defense authorization
  • House: Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Consolidated Appropriations Act, FY2012

Recent Senate Votes

  

Cloture on the Nomination of Richard Cordray to be Director, Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection – Vote Rejected (53-45, 1 Present, 1 Not Voting)

The Senate failed to reach the sixty votes needed to move forward on the nomination of Richard Cordray to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The CFPB, which was created by the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory overhaul, is responsible for overseeing financial products like home loans and credit cards.

Sen. Harry Reid voted YES……send e-mail or see bio
Sen. Dean Heller voted NO……send e-mail or see bio
Sen. Dean Heller voted NO……send e-mail or see bio

Motion to Proceed; Middle Class Tax Cut Act of 2011 – Vote Rejected (50-48, 2 Not Voting)

The Senate rejected a motion to move forward on this Democratic proposal to reduce the employee share of the payroll tax from 4.2 to 3.1 percent for 2012. The employer share would stay at 6.2 percent. The payroll tax funds the Social Security trust fund. A law passed in December 2010 is set to expire at the end of 2011 that reduced the employee share from 6.2 to 4.2 percent.

Sen. Harry Reid voted YES……send e-mail or see bio
Sen. Dean Heller voted NO……send e-mail or see bio
Sen. Dean Heller voted NO……send e-mail or see bio

Motion to Proceed; Temporary Tax Holiday and Government Reduction Act – Vote Rejected (22-76, 2 Not Voting)

The Senate rejected a motion to move forward on this Republican proposal to freeze the employee share of the payroll tax at 4.2 percent. The proposal offsets the cost by freezing federal pay and reducing the federal workforce by attrition.

Sen. Harry Reid voted NO……send e-mail or see bio
Sen. Dean Heller voted YES……send e-mail or see bio
Sen. Dean Heller voted YES……send e-mail or see bio

  

Recent House Votes

  

Regulations From the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act of 2011 – Vote Passed (241-184, 8 Not Voting)

This bill would require congressional approval of federal regulations that are expected to cost the economy $100 million or more or have a significant effect on consumer prices. Currently, regulations take effect unless both Congress and the president approve a resolution disapproving of them. The White House opposes the bill.

Rep. Shelley Berkley voted NO……send e-mail or see bio

Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act of 2011 – Vote Passed (268-150, 15 Not Voting)

This House-passed bill would prevent the EPA from revising air standards concerning dust from farm operations for one year. The Senate is unlikely to take up the bill. The White House has also issued a veto threat.

Rep. Shelley Berkley voted NO……send e-mail or see bio

  

Upcoming Votes

  

Payroll tax cut extension – H.R.3630

The House is expected to take up a payroll tax bill this week.

Defense authorization – H.R.1540

Congress may wrap up work on the conference report for the 2012 fiscal year defense authorization bill.

Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Consolidated Appropriations Act, FY2012 – H.R.2055

Congress may also wrap up work on this $900 billion omnibus spending package that combines the nine remaining annual appropriations bills. The current stopgap spending bill runs out December 16.

  

Recent House Votes

Regulations From the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act of 2011 – Vote Passed (241-184, 8 Not Voting)

This bill would require congressional approval of federal regulations that are expected to cost the economy $100 million or more or have a significant effect on consumer prices. Currently, regulations take effect unless both Congress and the president approve a resolution disapproving of them. The White House opposes the bill.

Rep. Mark Amodei voted YES……send e-mail or see bio

Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act of 2011 – Vote Passed (268-150, 15 Not Voting)

This House-passed bill would prevent the EPA from revising air standards concerning dust from farm operations for one year. The Senate is unlikely to take up the bill. The White House has also issued a veto threat.

Rep. Mark Amodei voted YES……send e-mail or see bio

Recent House Votes

  

Regulations From the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act of 2011 – Vote Passed (241-184, 8 Not Voting)

This bill would require congressional approval of federal regulations that are expected to cost the economy $100 million or more or have a significant effect on consumer prices. Currently, regulations take effect unless both Congress and the president approve a resolution disapproving of them. The White House opposes the bill.

Rep. Joe Heck voted YES……send e-mail or see bio

Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act of 2011 – Vote Passed (268-150, 15 Not Voting)

This House-passed bill would prevent the EPA from revising air standards concerning dust from farm operations for one year. The Senate is unlikely to take up the bill. The White House has also issued a veto threat.

Rep. Joe Heck voted YES……send e-mail or see bio

  

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Nevada Congressional Delegation Votes

Posted on December 10, 2011 by Featheriver


Recent Senate Votes

National Defense Authorization Act, FY2012 – Vote Passed (93-7)

The Senate passed this bill authorizing $662 billion in defense spending for the current fiscal year. The bill contains provisions requiring suspected terrorists to be held in military custody and places sanctions on Iran. The House passed its version of the bill in May. A conference committee will meet to work out a compromise bill.

Sen. Harry Reid voted YES……send e-mail or see bio
Sen. Dean Heller voted YES……send e-mail or see bio
Sen. Dean Heller voted YES……send e-mail or see bio

Recent House Votes

Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act – Vote Passed (235-188, 10 Not Voting)

The House passed this bill that would build in a waiting period between the time workers file petitions to unionize and the time the vote occurs. The Senate is unlikely to take up the measure.

Rep. Shelley Berkley voted NO……send e-mail or see bio

To reduce Federal spending and the deficit by terminating taxpayer financing of presidential election campaigns and party conventions and by terminating the Election Assistance Commission – Vote Passed (235-190, 8 Not Voting)

This House bill would terminate taxpayer funding of presidential campaigns and conventions. Public funding began in 1976. The bill would also eliminate the Election Assistance Commission, which was established in 2002 to help states to update their voting machines. The Senate is unlikely to take up the measure.

Rep. Shelley Berkley voted NO……send e-mail or see bio

Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act of 2011 – Vote Passed (263-159, 11 Not Voting)

This bill would allow the Small Business Administration to intervene in the regulatory process when small businesses are affected. The Senate is unlikely to act on the measure, which is also opposed by the White House.

Rep. Shelley Berkley voted NO……send e-mail or see bio

Regulatory Accountability Act – Vote Passed (253-167, 13 Not Voting)

The House passed this bill that would require federal agencies to choose the “least costly” option when writing new federal regulations. Agencies would also be required to provide indirect cost estimates and predictions of job gains or losses. The White House opposes the bill.

Rep. Shelley Berkley voted NO……send e-mail or see bio

Recent House Votes

Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act – Vote Passed (235-188, 10 Not Voting)

The House passed this bill that would build in a waiting period between the time workers file petitions to unionize and the time the vote occurs. The Senate is unlikely to take up the measure.

Rep. Mark Amodei voted YES……send e-mail or see bio

To reduce Federal spending and the deficit by terminating taxpayer financing of presidential election campaigns and party conventions and by terminating the Election Assistance Commission – Vote Passed (235-190, 8 Not Voting)

This House bill would terminate taxpayer funding of presidential campaigns and conventions. Public funding began in 1976. The bill would also eliminate the Election Assistance Commission, which was established in 2002 to help states to update their voting machines. The Senate is unlikely to take up the measure.

Rep. Mark Amodei voted YES……send e-mail or see bio

Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act of 2011 – Vote Passed (263-159, 11 Not Voting)

This bill would allow the Small Business Administration to intervene in the regulatory process when small businesses are affected. The Senate is unlikely to act on the measure, which is also opposed by the White House.

Rep. Mark Amodei voted YES……send e-mail or see bio

Regulatory Accountability Act – Vote Passed (253-167, 13 Not Voting)

The House passed this bill that would require federal agencies to choose the “least costly” option when writing new federal regulations. Agencies would also be required to provide indirect cost estimates and predictions of job gains or losses. The White House opposes the bill.

Rep. Mark Amodei voted YES……send e-mail or see bio

Recent House Votes

Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act – Vote Passed (235-188, 10 Not Voting)

The House passed this bill that would build in a waiting period between the time workers file petitions to unionize and the time the vote occurs. The Senate is unlikely to take up the measure.

Rep. Joe Heck voted YES……send e-mail or see bio

To reduce Federal spending and the deficit by terminating taxpayer financing of presidential election campaigns and party conventions and by terminating the Election Assistance Commission – Vote Passed (235-190, 8 Not Voting)

This House bill would terminate taxpayer funding of presidential campaigns and conventions. Public funding began in 1976. The bill would also eliminate the Election Assistance Commission, which was established in 2002 to help states to update their voting machines. The Senate is unlikely to take up the measure.

Rep. Joe Heck voted YES……send e-mail or see bio

Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act of 2011 – Vote Passed (263-159, 11 Not Voting)

This bill would allow the Small Business Administration to intervene in the regulatory process when small businesses are affected. The Senate is unlikely to act on the measure, which is also opposed by the White House.

Rep. Joe Heck voted YES……send e-mail or see bio

Regulatory Accountability Act – Vote Passed (253-167, 13 Not Voting)

The House passed this bill that would require federal agencies to choose the “least costly” option when writing new federal regulations. Agencies would also be required to provide indirect cost estimates and predictions of job gains or losses. The White House opposes the bill.

Rep. Joe Heck voted YES……send e-mail or see bio

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Danny Tarkanian entering Nevada CD#4 Race for House

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Featheriver

Danny Tarkanian

Danny Tarkanian is gearing up to enter the race in Nevada’s new 4th district (which includes Nye County). He released polling this week that showed him ahead in the GOP primary and in a test of the general election.

The poll of likely GOP primary voters conducted by Public Opinion Strategies showed Republican Tarkanian ahead of Republican state Sen. Barbara Cegavske 73 percent to 9 percent. The poll’s margin of error among GOP primary voters was 5.4 points.

Tarkanian also led a hypothetical matchup with Democratic state Sen. Steven Horsford (D) 47 percent to 36 percent. The margin of error among likely voters polled was 4.9 points.

Democrats hold a 13-point voter-registration edge in the new district, which was added as a result of reapportionment. President Barack Obama would have won it in 2008 with 56 percent, and it has 23 percent Latino and 14 percent African-American voting-age populations.

[Source: Roll Call]

I’ve lived in Nevada for the past eight years. Danny Tarkanian is a perpetual Republican candidate. He has never won an election in those eight years. Even so, the Nevada Republican Party should not be under estimated. Since the creation of Nevada’s Congression District #4 following the 2010 Census Democrats have a slight margin advantage over the Republican Party. But that is no reason for Nye County Democrats to breathe a sigh of relief. If you are keeping up with political events you can readily realize that the Republican Party is resourceful. So, unless you want more of the same here in Nye County you must get resolute and resourceful yourself. If you don’t you have no one to blame but yourself. Get with it and do what you can to ensure no more Republicans get elected in Nye County. Check out the Nye County Democratic Party’s website and get involved.

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Santorum: Undocumented Immigrant Families Should Be Broken Up

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Featheriver

Rick Santorum and his family

Rick Santorum, a Republican contender for the GOP’s Presidential nomination is a sorry excuse for a human being. [Source: Rick Santorum The Courage to Fight for America] His campaign website cites “Faith Family & Freedom.” But his family values is lacking. His website also claims, “An accomplished author, Senator Santorum penned the 2005 New York Times Best Seller It Takes a Family. But of all his accomplishments, Rick is most proud of his role as a husband and father. Rick and his wife of 21 years, Karen, are the parents of seven wonderful children: Elizabeth, John, Daniel, Sarah Maria, Peter, Patrick and Isabella.”

How can he possibly square that claim about families and yet hold the following views?

At a campaign stop in Spencer, Iowa on Wednesday, former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) joined the game of one-upsmanship his fellow GOP presidential contenders have been playing for weeks to see who can come up with the most draconian immigration proposal. According to Santorum, the solution to America’s immigration problem is more broken families:

When asked how to handle someone who is brought to the country illegally by their parents, Santorum said they continue to break the law by having fake documentation and also accused fellow presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich of having “false compassion.”

“You can’t be here for 20 years and commit only one illegal act … because everything you’re doing while you’re here is against the law …” Santorum said. “I understand Congressman Gingrich saying, ‘Well, you know, people have been here and they’ve been good citizens and paying taxes.’ Yeah, under somebody else’s Social Security number because you stole it.”

Families should be broken up when the law is broken, which includes illegal immigration, he added.

Santorum’s new broken families proposal is the mirror image of a proposal he offered last week. Then, he said on Fox News that he “doesn’t want to break up families.” And he would be OK with the family being deported together because he added, “we’re not sending them to any kind of difficult country.”

Setting aside the heartlessness of Santorum’s broken families policy, it’s also a horrible waste of money. Thousands of immigrant children already languish in the U.S. foster care system after their parents were deported. And it would be enormously costly for the nation to deport everyone who is in the nation illegally — as Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry have suggested — on top of the strains it would put on the foster care system. Deporting every undocumented immigrant in the country would cost a massive $285 billion over five years. [Source: Think Progress]

I cannot understand how such a man can be so cruel to another’s family. And he claims to be a “Champion of Faith and Families.”

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Heck and Amodei block unemployment payments to desperate people

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Featheriver

 

Joe Heck

Mark Amodei

Mark Amodei

It is incomprehensible to me that the GOP is blocking extension of unemployment benefits for people that are unemployed, can’t find work, have families to feed and are desperate.

“At the end of this month, those federal benefits will go away unless (Congress) passes a reauthorization,” said Nevada State AFL-CIO Executive Secretary-Treasurer Danny Thompson. “If (they) don’t act, on Jan. 1, 26,200 Nevadans are going to go without anything. They’re going to be on the streets and this community can’t afford any more people on the streets.”

U.S. Representatives Joe Heck, and Mark Amodei, both R-Nev., have opposed an extension of the unemployment payments with other House Republicans, into passing the extension.

Becky Daffer, a Henderson resident and single mother of four, said the unemployment benefits are crucial in helping her feed her family and pay for other necessities. She said she’s not sure how she’ll make ends meet if her unemployment benefits expire. A plumber and pipefitter, Daffer was laid off a year ago and has spent the past 12 months applying wherever she can — at places ranging from McDonald’s to Home Depot. But she’s been unsuccessful, often hearing back that she’s “overqualified,” she said.

“The benefits have allowed me to pay the power bill, the gas bill and to barely buy food for my kids,” Daffer said. “If I lose them there’s no telling where I’ll be.”

John Allen, who has been unemployed for more than two years, says he wants to go back to work and has done everything he can to make himself a more marketable candidate.

He’s gone back to school, applied for hundreds of jobs and even started the process to become a cab driver. But the former plumber said he’s had no luck finding steady employment.

“I worked for 30 years without taking unemployment,” he said. “I want to go back to work. Without unemployment insurance though, I will lose my house. Then what? Am I suppose to disappear?”

Pahrump people have the same problem as those in Las Vegas and Henderson. One man I personally know is unemployed, is looking for work in the medical field, cannot find employment either. His unemployment payments has ended, he cannot pay his rent.

Leadership of the GOP, the Grand Obstructionist Party, is blocking attempts by congress to extend unemployment benefits to help people survive. What kind of men and political party can be so heartless? Joe Heck and Mark Amodei must be removed from office. [Source: Las Vegas Sun]

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Gingrich and Child Labor and Social Security

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Featheriver

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Rachel Maddow Show

Newt Gingrich wants every state to open a work-study college where students work 20 hours a week during the school year and full-time in the summer and then graduate debt-free.

In poverty stricken K-12 districts, Mr. Gingrich said that schools should enlist students as young as 9 to14 to mop hallways and bathrooms, and pay them a wage. Currently child-labor laws and unions keep poor students from bootstrapping their way into middle class, Mr. Gingrich said.

“This is something that no liberal wants to deal with,” he told an audience at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard on Friday, according to Politico.

“You say to somebody, you shouldn’t go to work before you’re what, 14, 16 years of age, fine,” Mr. Gingrich said. “You’re totally poor. You’re in a school that is failing with a teacher that is failing. I’ve tried for years to have a very simple model. Most of these schools ought to get rid of the unionized janitors, have one master janitor and pay local students to take care of the school. The kids would actually do work, they would have cash, they would have pride in the schools, they’d begin the process of rising.”

Gingrich, who back in 1994 proposed bringing back orphanages for children on welfare, was quickly labeled “Dickensian” by people commenting on Twitter.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, called Mr. Gingrich’s proposal “absurd.”

“Who in their right mind would lay off janitors and replace them with disadvantaged children — who should be in school, and not cleaning schools,” Ms. Weingarten said. “And who would start backtracking on laws designed to halt the exploitation of children?” [New York Times]

Continue reading →

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