Eldridge Edison: U.S. Representative Bernie Sanders: On The Earned Income Tax Credit (1993)

U.S. Representative Bernie Sanders, Democratic Socialist, Socialist Republic of Vermont

U.S. Representative Bernie Sanders, Democratic Socialist, Socialist Republic of Vermont

Source:The New Democrat

Anyone who actually interested in helping to move people out of poverty in America would be in favor of the Earned Income Tax Credit. Unless you’re an Ayn Randian who says that government has no role in dealing with poverty in America. Why? Because the EITC encourages low-income and low-skilled adults to actually work and not just get, or stay on Welfare, or Unemployment Insurance. Because it takes roughly twenty-million people off of the Federal income tax rolls and tell those workers that if they work, they won’t have to pay Federal income taxes and instead get about two-thousand-dollars back in the paychecks every year. Which of course they’ll spend, because they can’t afford not to, because they have bills that have to be paid and struggling just to survive to begin with.

If you’re against the EITC from either a Far-Right perspective where you believe that government has no role in dealing with poverty, or that everyone should pay income taxes even if they can’t afford it, or come from a Far-Left perspective in opposition that says big government is entitled to tax all income and that government should encourage people to work, because that would just encourage independence from government, then of course you would be against the EITC. But the two most successful as well as bipartisan policies that have passed Congress and were signed by the President in the last forty-years, are the EITC and the 1996 Welfare to Work Law. Because again both policies encourage people to work. And says that being low-skilled and being low-skilled with kids, is not a good enough excuse to go to work and at least try to take care of yourself.

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Commentary Magazine: Noah Rothman- The Party of Religious Freedom?

The Donald

Source:The Daily Review

The First Amendment- Prohibits making any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion. That is just covers Freedom of Religion in the United States under the First Amendment.

I don’t like blogging about Donald Trump, because he’s not a real presidential candidate. He’s simply looking to further his own one-man reality TV career and perhaps get another book and documentary that of course is all about The Donald. As if there’s nothing else going on in the world and no one else to write about. And if you watch CNN on the regular basis, you might get that impression from them anyway. But The Donald is pandering to a group of Americans on the Far-Right inside the Republican Party who believes only they have Freedom of Religion in America. And everyone else is subjected to what big government will allow them. Karl Marx would be proud.

The Republican Party and I think the establishment has already figured this out, but the party as a whole needs to decide are they going to be a party of Freedom of Religion, or are they going to be a fascist party that only tolerates religion and speech that they agree with. In other words is Freedom of Religion real for all believers and non-believers, or just for fundamentalist Evangelical Christians. Does Freedom of Speech cover all speech including offensive and critical speech of minorities, but speech that could come off as even anti-American to Democrats. Or just speech that Republicans agree with. Do Republicans want to be a party of freedom, or a fascist party that only supports the rights of people that Neoconservatives and the Far-Right already agree with.

With The Donald, again a one-man reality TV star that is keeping CNN and MSNBC in business all by himself, but shouldn’t be taken seriously as a presidential candidate. But the Far-Right, the Ann Coulter’s, Alan Keyes, Pat Buchanan’s, etc of the world actually believe in this, garbage (to be kind) and would have no problem with either shutting down Mosques and rounding up all Muslims and perhaps Arabs in general. Either through executive force, or passing a couple constitutional amendments to do that, because neither one is constitutional right now. And that is what makes a pander and demagogue like Donald Trump dangerous. Because he will never come within a thousand delegates or more of winning the GOP nomination for president, or 270 votes of winning the Electoral College of winning the presidency as an Independent. But there plenty of people out there on the Far-Right who take him seriously and are using him for their own means.

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USA Today: Dan Carney: ‘Football is Foreign to American Values’

NBC's SNF

Source:The Daily Review

I can’t think of another sport other than maybe baseball that represents America better than American football. Think about it, America represents almost everything that Americans love about America. Winners and losers, finale, hard work, teamwork, reward for success, physical play, toughness, violence, fair play, the game is designed for TV, for if no other reason that the field is a hundred yards long and roughly fifty yards wide. Not that different from an average TV set today. American football, is a working man’s game and even a working women’s game as well. It is a sport for hard-working middle class Americans which most of us are. Unlike golf and even soccer, which is about as yuppie and coffee-house a sport as there is anywhere in the world.

I can see why Socialists in and outside of America don’t even like football, or prefer soccer, or even a combination of those things. For the reasons why football represents America so well. With Socialists, the idea of winning and succeeding is somehow considered selfish if it is done on a an individual basis. With soccer, the idea is not to win and to even score, but to prevent your opponents from winning and scoring. Ties, are like kissing your sister, or eating a cheeseburger dry, or without fries. Somehow doesn’t seem satisfying in America. But for Socialists, “what’s wrong with a tie? Not about losing, but about how you play the game.”American football can’t be that bad if you got a billion people or more every year watching our Super Bowl. America only has three-hundred and twenty-million people and still growing.

Americans, are a people on to themselves. Other than maybe Canadians I think you’re going to have a hell of a time finding a nationality that is anything like us. We are the true rebels on this planet where we actually expect to get out of life what we put into it. Unlike most of the rest of the developed world where it is not about individual success, but about how everyone else is doing. With American sports and football is the perfect example of this, we expect one team to win and to know who had the better team at least for that one game. Because again we like winners and losers and whole concept is very foreign to especially Europeans who prefer soccer and collectivism. It’s easy to see why soccer is so loved in Europe and the rest of the developed world outside of America and Canada. But there isn’t another sport again other than maybe baseball that better represents America and Americans like American football.

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Conservable Economist: Timothy Taylor- ‘Capitalism for Growth, Government for Fairness’

Economics

Source:Your Guide To Economics– Different economic systems.

Source:The New Democrat 

“When I hear discussions of how to encourage economic growth, along with equality and fairness, I sometimes feel as if the discussants are in the grip of a category confusion, like someone who rinses their vegetables in the shower and then tries to bathe in the kitchen sink. Here’s the confusion as expressed in an October 1990 opinion column by Donald Kaul, who was a prominent opinion columnist, mainly with the Des Moines Register, from the 1970s through the 1990s. Kaul wrote”

From Conservable Economist

Airbnb_ How the Sharing Economy is Redefining the Marketplace and Our Sense of Community

Source:The Aspen Institute– Talking about the sharing economy.

“Airbnb does business in 34,000 cities, has a valuation of over 10 billion dollars, and in a very short time has disrupted the world of hospitality and travel. Its co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky envisions the future city as a place where sharing is front and center — where people become micro-entrepreneurs, the local mom and pops will flourish once again, where space isn’t wasted, but shared, and more of almost everything is produced, except waste. But the journey from here to there won’t be all smooth sailing. What are the ups and downs of the sharing economy, as businesses like Airbnb confront critiques about regulation, economic development, and fairness? What role might businesses play in creating more shareable, more livable cities? How will the sharing economy, with its de-emphasis on ownership, be a tool for addressing urban inequality?”

From The Aspen Institute

You need a healthy private enterprise capitalist economic system for any economy to do well. That has been proven for a hundred-years now. Marxist state-control of the economy simply doesn’t work. A big reason why the Soviet Union collapsed is that they ran out of money and their republics wanted a different life for themselves free from Moscow’s central planning and economic control. The People’s Republic of China, figured that out as well forty-years ago and moved to a more private enterprise economic system. And the same thing with Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Communist Republic of Cuba ten years ago under Marxist dictator Fidel Castro.

So the question is not whether you should have a capitalist private enterprise economic system, or not, but what type of private enterprise system you should have. And what is the role of your national government in the economy to make sure that as many people as possible have the tools that they need to do well in live on their own and paying taxes and not just payroll taxes so when people are struggling, you have the resources to help out the people who truly need it. Instead of having a superstate designed to take care of physically and mentally able people. Who could take care of themselves if only given the opportunity.

You don’t want government managing industries. You don’t want government doing practically nothing either. You don’t companies to be able to legally pollute the air and water, or pass those costs onto taxpayers. Or get away with not paying their workers for the work that they do. You also don’t want taxes so high that encourages people not to work and be successful at work. What you do want is as many people as possible to be as economically successful as they can be. You want to encourage people to finish and further their education.

You want to encourage people to do well at work. The larger your middle and upper classes are and the lower your low-income class is, the stronger economy you’ll have. Because the more people you’ll have that can afford to purchase the products they make. Pay their bills, have a good time like vacationing and eating out and so-forth, putting money away and the stronger economic growth that you’ll have.

The reason why I believe in limited government is because I only want government what it should do based on what its good at and what we need it to do. Government, should just be a referee, national insurance system and investor. Laying out the rules for how companies and individuals should relate to each other and the people who work for them and their consumers. But not try to run their business for them.

An insurance system for people who truly need and are out-of-work. Help them get back on their feet and get a good job, but not try to manage their lives for them. Investing in things like education, infrastructure, trade, job trading, people, by empowering people in need to get themselves on their own feet. The more people you have doing well in your economy, the stronger your economy will be, because of all the workers and customers that you’ll have who are independent, on their own and living in freedom and not off of government.

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New York Daily News: S.E. Cupp: Breaking up With The Constitution

Don & Ben

Source:The New Democrat

Damn! I agree with S.E. Cupp on something. Perhaps its time to reëxamine my political beliefs and news opinions. No, not really, but she makes a great point here about the Republican Party and two of their, to be nice eccentric presidential candidates in Donald Trump and Ben Carson. I say on a regular basis as a Democrat that I miss the days of Newt Gingrich. Forget about Ronald Reagan, I would just like to go back to the mid and late 1990s with Newt.

Because as partisan as Newt was he’s also a very intelligent man and someone who not just believes in government, but knows how to govern. He knew he had a Democratic president, he knew he had fairly small Republicans majorities in the House and that Senate Republicans had tight majorities as well. Meaning that there was only so much that Congressional Republicans could do by themselves with a Democratic president and tight majorities in Congress. Yes, Speaker Newt Gingrich did shutdown the Federal Government in 1995, because he couldn’t sit with President Clinton on Air Force One. But he learned from his mistakes and they passed Welfare to Work together in 1996.

But forget about Newt for a minute. It would be nice just to go back to 2011-12 and instead of hearing Republicans talking about threat of Islam inside of America and having the U.S. Government trample the First Amendment and our Freedom of Religion, something that Republicans say they support, but would have the Feds break into Mosques and round Muslims and Arabs in general like the Japanese, Italians and Germans were in World War II, we would hear Republicans claiming to be Constitutional Conservatives.

Even with all of their new big government constitutional amendments to the Constitution. (Michelle Bachmann and Rick Santorum come to mind) Like putting the Federal Government in charge of marriage and what people can watch on TV and do in their free times. At least they were talking about the Constitution. And again in Newt’s case he actually understands the Constitution. But at least the GOP was talking about the importance of the Constitution and claiming to support it. Even as they were proposing to rewrite it even in the same speech. Like with Representative Bachmann, when she announced for president in the summer of 2011. And calling same-sex marriage a threat to national security. At least she claimed to love the Constitution.

But no! We can’t even have the good ole days of big government Republicans proposing to outlaw same-sex marriage and pornography and even gambling from the Federal level. They’ve gotten even crazier with The Donald and Dr. Ben, proposing to close down Mosques, round-up Arabs and tell college students what they can think and hear while they’re at college. Speaking of political correctness and fascism, that is what it looks like from the Far-Right in America. The GOP, the party of religious freedom, just as long as they agree with your religion and your religious beliefs. At least with the Far-Right.

S.E. Cupp, is a true Conservative and so is Senator Rand Paul and several others in Congress, because they not just believe in the Constitution, but understand what they actually believe. With Donald Trump, 2016 is about his latest realty TV show or documentary called, Who Wants Donald Trump For President? In a theater or on a TV near you in 2017. With Ben Carson, welcome back to the 1950s and giving Joe McCarthy a good name by comparison. The Founding Fathers, our Founding Liberals, would be shitting asteroids if they saw what some of the Republican presidential candidates were proposing today.

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Mal Partisan: ‘Our American Republic- The Federalists’

OAR

Source:Mal Partisan– Our Liberal Democratic Federal Republic.

Source:The New Democrat 

“This episode of Our American Republic will discuss Federalism and the origins of our Federal System. It remedied issues stemming from the Articles of Confederation by outlining unique roles and responsibilities for each part of the American Constitutional System. How are we currently doing at preserving the original balance as conceived by the founders?”

IMG_5314

Source:Mal Partisan– Our Founding Fathers. (The real Liberals)

From Mal Partisan

I believe the way the American federal liberal democratic republic was formed is based on what we were before the United States was created and what our Founding Fathers (our Founding Liberals) wanted to escape from.

The United Kingdom as it is today, but lot freer now than it was in the 1770s, was a unitarian, big government, authoritarian, monarchy. Britain, still is a unitarian, big government, monarchy, but now with a social democratic feel to it where governmental authority now rests with civilians and no longer the monarchy.

But in the 1770s the U.K. had an authoritarian London knows best about everything big, unitarian, government. With England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and the American Colonies, having very little if any say in their own state domestic affairs.

The Founding American Liberals, wanted to move away from that top-down big government approach. And create a system where the states would have a lot more say in what goes on in their own states. Which is why the Federal American Republic was created to create a country where so much power was not in the hands of one central national authority. But where the states would have real authority over their own affairs.

Federalism, is not anti-government and even anti-federal government. The opposites are actually true. With federalism you get a set of rules and real governing guidelines for what the Federal Government can do, what it should and certain things that only it can do. Like defending the country, regulating interstate commerce, prosecuting interstate crimes, foreign policy, national infrastructure. But where the states and localities are responsible for what goes on in their own jurisdictions. Short of being under attack from a foreign power, or handling their own currency and things that only the Feds should be doing.

And even though federalism is not anti-government, it is anti-big government and anti-socialist. Because America will probably never have that top-down big centralized unitarian government, where so much power both economic and social, is centralized under the control of the national government. With so many so programs designed to take care of the people for themselves. Giving people the freedom not to responsible for themselves. Which is what is common in Britain and Scandinavia.

What federalism says is that in a huge diverse country like America states should be responsible for what happens in their own states, because they are on the ground and know what’s going on. The Feds can play a constructive role and assist, but not be there to run the program for each and every state. And the Federal system has worked very well for us most of our history.

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NBA-TV: Kobe Bryant Retiring From The NBA After 2015-16 Season

Source:The Daily Review

Probably easy to say this now, but Kobe Bryant’s time to retire from the NBA has been here for a while. And it was really just about him finally seeing that and deciding to give up what has been one of the great NBA careers of all-time. As far as what he’s personally accomplished and what the Los Angeles Lakers have accomplished with him. At least arguably the team of the 2000s winning four NBA Finals and six Western Conference Finals. The player of the 2000s at least if not post-Michael Jordan. 2008 MVP, 11 times All-NBA First team. But the Lakers haven’t made the NBA Playoffs since 2012 and have been pretty bad since. Actually being the second best team not just in Los Angeles, but at Staples Center with the Clippers becoming a real force in the NBA. Yes the Clippers and you’re not seeing that, because you’re high right now. Either on Red Bull, or something illegal.

Kobe, has been beat up the last few seasons, because of age and so many miles that he’s piled up on the NBA court which takes a toll on anyone’s body even great players who accomplish superhuman feats. So Kobe I believe is late on this and the Lakers still aren’t very good and again looking like one of the worst teams in the NBA at 2-13 right now. Headed to their fourth straight non-playoff season in a league where 8-15 teams make the playoffs in each conference. All you have to do is be mediocre to make the NBA Playoffs and the Lakers aren’t even that right now. So as great of a career that Kobe has had and I at least believe the best player post-Michael Jordan, at least in the 2000s. But not the greatest Los Angeles Laker ever. Both Kareem and Magic are better, but it has been time for Kobe to call it a career.

I grew up watching NBA basketball in the 1980s just outside of Washington with the Lakers being my second team behind the Wizards, who were called the Bullets back then. And fell out of love with the Lakers when they signed Shaquille O’Neal and went to a more ball control half court style of offense. Which was common for most NBA teams in the 1990s. But I’ve always have a lot of respect for Kobe Bryant, because he was truly a great player and not just a great talent. He was a gentlemen and professional basketball player in an era of realty TV and pop culture celebrity wannabes who played basketball really just to get on ESPN Sportscenter, be celebrated online and further their NBA careers. Kobe, is very similar to Tim Duncan in how he presents himself as the constant professional who lets his game speak for itself. He was a great player who would have thrived in the NBA hey day of the 1980s just like Big Tim and will be surely missed.

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The Daily Conversation: Bernie vs Hillary On The Issues

Bernie Sanders vs Hillary Clinton

Bernie Sanders vs Hillary Clinton

Source: The Daily Review

The differences between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton? Well which Hillary Clinton are you talking about. 2000, 2002, 2006, 2008, hopefully not as Secretary of State. Don’t want 2016 to be about Libya for her, assuming she is the Democratic nominee for president. I actually like the 2015-16 Hillary quite a bit. She’s even now in favor of legalizing marijuana at least at the state level. Has publicly admitted that the Iraq War was a mistake, even if she privately knew that in 2006.

The 2015-16 Hillary looks like the Pragmatic Progressive. But I still prefer the Progressive With Results from Martin O’Malley. And if he can ever get a non-relative to endorse him for president and give his campaign money, he might still make a run for the Democratic nomination. Because he’s already accomplished as Governor of Maryland what Bernie and Hillary say they want to do, but have never actually accomplished anything.

With Bernie Sanders, like him, dislike him, hate him, love him, terrified of him and would never want to let him see your wallet and financial information for fear that all of your money would suddenly disappear after Uncle Sam takes what he wants from you, you have to at least respect him. Because here’s a real-life politician not a made up Hollywood politician, but a real-life human being and politician at the same time, (which might be a newsflash for a lot of Americans) who actually knows what he believes and says what he thinks. For the most part.

I mean free college, free health care, free health insurance, I think he’s at least smart enough to know that people will have to pay for all of their new government services and that of course they won’t be free. These will not be Christmas presents from their rich Uncle Bernie. But their Socialist Uncle Sam, or Bernie, who’ll have new taxes to pay for these services. Two guarantees in life, death and taxes, at least in America. And taxes are bills that Americans have to pay to get the free government services. Free government services is like trying to take a bath with dirt and playing football in the bathtub. It simply doesn’t exist for anyone whose a taxpayer.

Hillary Clinton vs Bernie Sanders, to me at least looks like Bill Clinton vs George McGovern, or Jerry Brown, from back in Jerry’s hippie radical days in the 1960s and early 70s. Hard to imagine that once Bernie after he finally picks a number by how much he wants to expand the Federal Government in size and in money, assuming that ever happens, that he could beat Hillary anywhere outside of New England and San Francisco. And perhaps just Vermont and San Francisco. Too bad for Bernie that New York City is not a state, because maybe he could beat Hillary there.

Because Americans and even Democrats, are learning that to create all the new big government that Senator Sanders wants to create, the rich won’t pay for all of that. Their money will be in other countries even before some committee in Congress like Ways and Means, or Finance, looks at his proposals. So of course the middle class Americans will get stuck with the tax bills for all of these new programs. Hillary, is already scoring against Bernie in the debates on this. About whose going to pay to being Sweden to America. Hillary can say, “I have friends in Congress both in the Senate and House who I’ve worked with on these issues in both parties. And we can work together on these issues.” With Bernie it will an all or nothing approach that will die in Congress faster than a constitutional amendment to repeal both the first and second amendments.

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The Richest: The Worst Black Friday Disasters

Black Friday

Source:The Daily Review

Black Friday, the official start of the Christmas shopping season in America and as someone who has some experience working in retail I know how crazy it can be. It is that one day of the year where Americans can go crazy and not look crazy, because they must have whatever the current OMG product is out there. Generally having something to do with new technology. And if they don’t get that product, they’ll look like so old school, or 2014 or whatever the year is compared with people who already have that new smart phone, iPad, or whatever the hell it is. It is that one day of the year that people find great deals on stuff that they don’t need and buy it. To wake up the next day to figure out they don’t want or need whatever the thing is that they just found a great deal on. And besides, what they just bought is already old school compared with whatever the latest thing is.

It is that day of the year where people can camp out the night before so they’re in at Best Buy, Macy’s, or whatever the store is, the second it opens and be able to buy whatever they think they’re looking for at that second, to find out they don’t want it, or need it when they get home. Or perhaps its a present and they think to them self, “why would this person want this.” Black Friday, is 21st Century pop and valley culture gone wild, where everyone has that one day to be more like whatever their favorite current celebrity is until they find a new one the next day. Despite all the stupidity that comes from Black Friday with all the faddism that comes from it, as someone smart once said and I’m paraphrasing, but that idiots are useful. Black Friday, puts money in people’s wallets, saves people money if they spend their money wisely on stuff they can actually use and need and it also creates a lot of jobs. Things that we still need a lot of as a country.

For Social Justice Warriors, (speaking of useful idiots) Black Friday is not a racist holiday. It is not some racial slur at African-Americans and anyone else of African descent. It is also not some day that promotes economic greed and the weakness’ of private enterprise, capitalism and corporate greed. It is a great use to the American economy, because it creates jobs and keeps business’s successful. It puts money in average Americans wallets and saves money for a lot of Americans who spend the day wisely. Yes, private business’s end up doing very well on this day, but that’s called private enterprise and capitalism. And workers and consumers don’t do well when business’s don’t do well. These things go together. And someone not a fan of this system should explain what they would do differently. Perhaps try to find some state-run business that has real competition that does well on Black Friday. Or Rainbow Friday, or whatever the politically correct term would be for it.

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Stephen Crowder: Thanksgiving- A Politically Incorrect Guide

Thanksgiving

Source:The Daily Review

To start off on a positive note before I send everyone to back the Great Depression. Actually, it won’t be that bad, but I just want to say Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who doesn’t view this great American holiday as a racist holiday. For the rest of you, please seek help and perhaps smoke a joint and learn to relax. But to the Social Justice Warriors, Canada which many Progressives or Social Democrats celebrate as some great utopian social democratic utopia, celebrates Thanksgiving. So who are the racists now? America, or Canada, perhaps both in a Social Justice Warrior’s peanut-sized brain. Thanksgiving, is not about celebrating the Europeans victory over the Indians. But celebrating what we all have to be thankful for.

Thanksgiving, is really one of those handful of holidays that we have in America where families get together and drive each other crazy. Leaving people to remember why they haven’t seen their uncle in a whole year. Perhaps brother, sister, aunt, in-laws, parents even. As well as to remember how thankful they are to have relatives that will drive them crazy. Not to get drunk and celebrate European victory over the Indians. This is a great holiday a day when Americans can feel proud to eat, drink, watch football all day, not bother to exercise. Not a day to celebrate the fact that Europeans conquered America and left the Indians to live on reservations. By the way, American-Indians are free to live with other Americans in America. European and otherwise.

Thanksgiving, is that great American holiday that actually brings Americans together in a very divided country. Where people who believe Barack Obama is destroying America, break bread with people who believe minorities are entitled not to be offended. People who believe that ObamaCare, or the Affordable Care Act its supporters such as myself, is a Marxist government takeover of the health care system, can break bread with people who believe the ACA is a good thing and will make the American health care system look like Germany. Where you have to cover your own health care costs, but get to choose how you pay for it with a market of different health insurers. This is not a holiday to jump into an American-Indian’s face and say, “ha! We won and you lost!” If there is one holiday that should unite all Americans that everyone can take one day off and just relax and enjoy themselves and give thanks, its Thanksgiving.

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