The deal -- so far -- in Congress

We still have no idea what the House will do, but here's what the Senate has passed.

"Senate Overwhelmingly Passes 'Fiscal Cliff' Deal." By Lori Montgomery and Paul Kane, The Washington Post, January 1, 2013
http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/320-80/15327-senate-overwhelmingly-passes-fiscal-cliff-deal

No one is happy with ALL of it.

"Lousy Deal on the Edge of the Cliff." By Robert Reich, Robert Reich's Blog, January 1, 2013
http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/279-82/15328-lousy-deal-on-the-edge-of-the-cliff


The following author heads PIMCO, which runs the largest bond mutual fund:

"This stopgap measure would reverse the worst of the 'fiscal cliff,' when tax increases and spending cuts kick in. But it would not provide what America needs to fulfill its considerable domestic economic potential and prosper again. It is also nowhere near enhancing the country's ability to dominate in a highly competitive global economy."

"Honey, We've Shrunk the Grand Bargain." By Mohamed A. El-Erian, CEO and co-CIO, PIMCO, December 31, 2012, 8:50 p.m.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mohamed-a-elerian/honey-weve-shrunk-the-gra_b_2390740.html?utm_hp_ref=daily-brief?utm_source=DailyBrief&utm_campaign=010113&utm_medium=email&utm_content=BlogEntry&utm_term=Daily%20Brief

David

Denying health care - why?

"GOP Governors Deny The Poor Health Care In Opposing Obamacare's Medicaid Expansion." Huffington Post, December 29, 2012
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/28/gop-obamacare-medicaid_n_2347933.html

In a part of the nation that proclaims its "Christianity" from every politician's podium, how is this possible?

American Nations, by Colin Woodard (New York, 2011) describes the cultural "nations" [see the attached map] that make up the United States (sometimes spilling over into Canada and Mexico), established by the dominant European colonizers and carried over into the politics of the present day (as later immigrants were assimilated into the culture rather than changing it).

From the Penguin paperback edition, pp. 264-267:

     "Scholars have long recognized that 'the South' as a unified entity didn't really come into existence until after the Civil War. It was the resistance to Yankee-led Reconstruction that brought this Dixie bloc together to ultimately include even Appalachian people who'd fought against the Confederacy during the war.

     "Their institutions and racial caste system under attack, Deep Southerners and Tidewaterites organized their resistance struggle around the one civic institution they still controlled: their churches. The evangelical churches that dominated the three southern nations proved excellent vehicles for those wishing to protect the region's prewar social system. Unlike the dominant denominations in Yankeedom, Southern Baptists and other southern evangelicals were becoming what religious scholars have termed 'Private Protestants' as opposed to the 'Public Protestants' that dominated the northern nations, and whom we'll get to in a moment. Private Protestants — Southern Baptists, Southern Methodists, and Southern Episcopalians among them — believed the world was inherently corrupt and sinful, particularly after the shocks of the Civil War. Their emphasis wasn't on the social gospel — an effort to transform the world in preparation for Christ's coming — but rather on personal salvation, pulling individual souls into the lifeboat of right thinking before the Rapture swept the damned away. Private Protestants had no interest in changing society but rather emphasized the need to maintain order and obedience. Slavery, aristocratic rule, and the grinding poverty of most ordinary people in the southern nations weren't evils to be confronted but rather the reflection of a divinely sanctioned hierarchy to be maintained at all costs against the Yankee heretics….

     "The southern clergy helped foster a new civil religion in the former Confederacy, a myth scholars have come to call the Lost Cause. Following its credo, whites in the Deep South, Tidewater, and, ultimately, Appalachia came to believe that God had allowed the Confederacy to be bathed in blood, its cities destroyed, and its enemies ruling over it in order to test and sanctify His favored people…. The righteous cause was, conveniently enough, to promote the folkways of the Deep South to the greatest degree possible, upholding the classical Roman idea of the slaveholding republic, prescribing democracy for the elite and obedience for everyone else....

     "While a Dixie bloc was coalescing around individual salvation and the defense of traditional social values, a Northern alliance was forming around a very different set of religious priorities. It was spearheaded by the clergy and intellectual elite of Yankeedom, but it found a ready audience across the Midlands, the Left Coast, and New Netherland.

     "From the time of the Puritans, the Yankee religious ethos focused on the salvation of society, not of the individual...."

David

"Fiscal cliff" elements

"The Fiscal Cliff: Absolutely everything you could possibly need to know, in one FAQ." Washington Post, December 3, 2012
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/11/27/absolutely-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-fiscal-cliff-in-one-faq/#solve

Breaking news: Application of a "chained CPI" to Social Security (instead of continuing the current CPI), which would have reduced the annual cost-of-living increases in benefits, apparently is "off the table." (Social Security doesn't borrow so doesn't affect deficits; so it never should have been "on the table.")

David

Fwd: [Team Rural] How the State of Georgia Declared War on Its Poorest Citizens

A textbook application of the conservative worldview: "If you need help, there must be something wrong with YOU, so you can't have help."

David

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jeana Brown <notification+zrdoze6rzvce@facebookmail.com>
Date: Fri, Dec 28, 2012 at 9:52 AM
Subject: [Team Rural] How the State of Georgia Declared War on Its Poorest Citizens
To: Team Rural <teamrural@groups.facebook.com>

Jeana Brown posted in Team Rural Jeana Brown 9:51am Dec 28 How the State of Georgia Declared War on Its Poorest Citizens www.slate.com When the economy crashed in 2008, millions of Americans lost their jobs. Applications for food stamp... View Post on Facebook · Edit Email Settings · Reply to this email to add a comment.

Fwd: Mr. President, no deal is better than a bad deal

Apparently the President and possibly Democrats in Congress are once again in the throes of "compromise" fever, this time throwing into the pot things that have NOTHING to do with deficits but are decades-long ideological goals of the Right. The Right will sacrifice whatever they have to if they can begin disassembling Social Security and Medicare AND -- AND -- implicate Democrats in that destruction. If this happens, in future elections, the Democratic Party will have lost all credibility as protector of economic security for the 99%. If this is just a game of Bluff, why even offer to cut Social Security and Medicare and expose a lack of any firm principles -- that we are willing to cut them?

(OK, I'm gonna take a breath now.)

David

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Rashad Robinson, ColorOfChange.org <info@colorofchange.org>
Date: Mon, Dec 24, 2012 at 11:08 AM
Subject: Mr. President, no deal is better than a bad deal
To: David Robinson <gdavidrobinson@gmail.com>

No deal would be better than a bad deal. Tell President Obama and Congressional Democrats to defend the social safety net:

Dear David,

President Obama and Congressional Democrats are about to gut the social safety net and entrench record levels of inequality¹ for decades to come — and they've got absolutely no reason to do so.

With his historic electoral win on November 6, Democratic control of the Senate, and a decisive mandate to raise taxes on the wealthy,² President Obama is in perhaps the best position he's ever been to stand up to Republicans' bullying.³ The current debate over the so-called "fiscal cliff" is just the latest in a long string of GOP-manufactured crises⁴ designed to whip up public hysteria and put the president on the defensive.

We don't need to settle for a bad deal that both doubles down on decades of failed tax policy favoring the super-rich and punishes our communities for a deficit we didn't create.⁵ No deal would be better than a bad deal.

Tell President Obama and Congressional Democrats: reject the right wing's "fiscal cliff" scare tactics and keep your promise to preserve the social safety net.

The so-called "fiscal cliff" is the year-end deadline for Congress to pass a budget deal redistributing the pain of $1.2 trillion in required spending cuts; if Congress doesn't act, we'll see automatic cuts of 8-10% across most federal agencies beginning January 2nd. Importantly, the automatic cuts can't touch Social Security, veterans' benefits, or critical low-income assistance programs like food stamps and Medicaid.⁶

Negotiations on an alternative to the "fiscal cliff" have been hijacked by the extreme right wing of the Republican Party. While vilifying the elderly, unemployed and working poor as undeserving "moochers" — and demanding that currently-protected social safety net programs go up on the chopping block⁷ — the GOP is working furiously to ensure continued tax breaks for the super-wealthy.⁸ Seemingly buckling under pressure, the president has gone from offering $350 billion in cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other entitlements to a whopping $750 billion.⁹

If a deal goes through, Obama will be the first Democratic president in history to cut Social Security.¹⁰ There is no reason to touch Social Security other than to expand it: this highly-successful, self-funded program is legally incapable of growing the deficit, and is running a multi-trillion dollar surplus.¹¹ At the same time, the president is wavering on his central campaign promise: to ensure the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share by restoring Clinton-era tax rates on the top 2%.¹²

Such policies can only serve to deepen economic inequalities Black families have experienced for decades. Black folks are still experiencing unemployment at nearly twice the national rate,¹³ and throughout the recession too many of us have seen hard-fought economic gains disappear, with devastating effects on decreasing household wealth, personal savings and retirement options. Just one year into the recession, the median net worth of Black households had fallen by 83 percent — to merely $2,170.¹⁴ At Friday's press conference on the breakdown of fiscal cliff negotiations, President Obama quipped that "Everybody's got to give a little bit"¹⁵ — a remark that cuts deeply for those of us who have already given up so much.

We fought hard to reelect a president who promised that no matter what, "We're all in this together"¹⁶ — and categorically rejected the right-wing fraud that America can solve its economic problems by taking from the poor to give to the wealthy. Please join us in telling President Obama and Congressional Democrats to stand up for our communities and protect the social safety net.

Thanks and Peace,

-- Rashad, Matt, Arisha, Charlene, Kim, Fanna and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
   December 24th, 2012

Help support our work. ColorOfChange.org is powered by YOU—your energy and dollars. We take no money from lobbyists or large corporations that don't share our values, and our tiny staff ensures your contributions go a long way.

References

1. "It's the Inequality, Stupid: Eleven charts that explain what's wrong with America," Mother Jones, 03-01-11
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2025?t=9&akid=2765.518239.WmXBUF

2. "Obama Wins Almost 50% Republicans on Tax Mandate in Poll," Bloomberg, 12-11-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2026?t=11&akid=2765.518239.WmXBUF

3. "What to do when you can't get what you want," Washington Post, 12-11-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2027?t=13&akid=2765.518239.WmXBUF

4. "Fiscal Cliff Fictions: Let's All Agree to Pretend the GOP Isn't Full of It," Time, 11-30-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2038?t=15&akid=2765.518239.WmXBUF

5. "Never Mind the Fiscal Cliff, the 'Reverse Subsidy' Is the Real Crisis," Colorlines, 12-11-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2039?t=17&akid=2765.518239.WmXBUF

6. "The Sequester Explained," Bipartisan Policy Center, accessed 12-21-12 (.pdf)
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2040?t=19&akid=2765.518239.WmXBUF

7. "Stuck Between the Fiscal 'Cliff' and a Hard Place — But There's Another Way," Huffington Post, 11-27-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2041?t=21&akid=2765.518239.WmXBUF

8. "'Fiscal cliff' efforts in disarray as U.S. lawmakers flee," Reuters, 12-21-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2042?t=23&akid=2765.518239.WmXBUF

9. "CHART: All the fiscal cliff offers and counteroffers," Washington Post Wonkblog, 12-19-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2043?t=25&akid=2765.518239.WmXBUF

10. "Explaining the Pure Cruelty of Obama's Gimmick, 'Chained CPI' in Simple Language," AlterNet, 12-20-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2044?t=27&akid=2765.518239.WmXBUF

11. "Don't Cut Social Security — Double It," The Atlantic, 12-20-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2045?t=29&akid=2765.518239.WmXBUF

12. "The President Negotiates With Himself," New York Times, 12-18-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2046?t=31&akid=2765.518239.WmXBUF

13. "The African-American Unemployment Crisis Continues," ThinkProgress, 11-03-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2047?t=33&akid=2765.518239.WmXBUF

14. "African-American Economic Gains Reversed By Great Recession," Huffington Post, 07-10-11
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2031?t=35&akid=2765.518239.WmXBUF

15. "Still Time To Dodge The Cliff, Obama, Boehner Say," Associated Press, 12-21-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2048?t=37&akid=2765.518239.WmXBUF

16. "Bill Clinton gives thumping endorsement to Barack Obama," The Guardian, 09-06-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2049?t=39&akid=2765.518239.WmXBUF

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Fwd: [North Georgia Democrats] Lack of significant solid research leaves all of...

It's so simple, if you're in Congress. If research might make your point of view look irresponsible, just kill the research. ("Damn gummint -- tellin' people stuff they don't need to know!")

"Decades of research have been devoted to understanding the factors that lead some people to commit violence against themselves or others. Substantially less has been done to understand how easy access to firearms mitigates or amplifies both the likelihood and consequences of these acts....

"The nation might be in a better position to act if medical and public health researchers had continued to study these issues as diligently as some of us did between 1985 and 1997. But in 1996, pro-gun members of Congress mounted an all-out effort to eliminate the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Although they failed to defund the center, the House of Representatives removed $2.6 million from the CDC's budget—precisely the amount the agency had spent on firearm injury research the previous year. Funding was restored in joint conference committee, but the money was earmarked for traumatic brain injury. The effect was sharply reduced support for firearm injury research.

"To ensure that the CDC and its grantees got the message, the following language was added to the final appropriation: 'none of the funds made available for injury prevention and control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may be used to advocate or promote gun control.'

"Precisely what was or was not permitted under the clause was unclear. But no federal employee was willing to risk his or her career or the agency's funding to find out. Extramural support for firearm injury prevention research quickly dried up....

"When other agencies funded high-quality research, similar action was taken....

"In 2011, Florida's legislature passed and Governor Scott signed HB 155, which subjects the state's health care practitioners to possible sanctions, including loss of license, if they discuss or record information about firearm safety that a medical board later determines was not 'relevant' or was 'unnecessarily harassing....'

"...a little-noticed provision in the 2011 National Defense Authorization Act...prevents military commanders and noncommissioned officers from being able to talk to service members about their private weapons, even in cases in which a leader believes that a service member may be suicidal."

David

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Tom McMahan <notification+zrdoze6rzvce@facebookmail.com>
Date: Sun, Dec 23, 2012 at 2:04 PM
Subject: [North Georgia Democrats] Lack of significant solid research leaves all of...
To: North Georgia Democrats <146559605414829@groups.facebook.com>

Tom McMahan posted in North Georgia Democrats Tom McMahan 2:04pm Dec 23 Lack of significant solid research leaves all of us grasping in the dark JAMA Network | JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association | Silencing the Science on Gun. jama.jamanetwork.com Author Affiliations: RAND, Washington, DC (Dr Kellermann); and Department of Pediatrics, Child Healt... View Post on Facebook · Edit Email Settings · Reply to this email to add a comment.

Fwd: [True Blue Party- Georgia] Read that 2nd amendment again....

It took the NRA 31 years -- from 1977 to 2008 -- to get a radical reinterpretation of the Second Amendment accepted by the U.S. Supreme Court. Of course, this also was made possible by the political realignment of the Court itself, another example of the persistence of the Right.

Progressives can be persistent, too: Labor rights, the women's vote, civil rights, now health care reform. It just seems to take us much longer. We persist in extending the rights and freedoms said to be America's ideals. The Right persists in trying to stop or even reverse what we've achieved and, particularly in the case of guns, in pushing ever harder for an "every man for himself," "you're on your own" morality.

Is their persistence better organized than ours? Why is that?

David

valuesmessage.org

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Penny Armstrong Bernath <notification+zrdoze6rzvce@facebookmail.com>
Date: Tue, Dec 18, 2012 at 10:47 AM
Subject: [True Blue Party- Georgia] Read that 2nd amendment again....
To: True Blue Party- Georgia <194464157304926@groups.facebook.com>

Penny Armstrong Bernath posted in True Blue Party- Georgia Penny Armstrong Bernath 10:47am Dec 18 Read that 2nd amendment again. http://m.newyorker.com/online/blogs/comment/2012/12/jeffrey-toobin-second-amendment.html? So You Think You Know the Second Amendment? www.newyorker.com Does the Second Amendment prevent Congress from passing gun-control laws? The question, which is su... View Post on Facebook · Edit Email Settings · Reply to this email to add a comment.