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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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 Posted: Sat May 22, 2010 4:09 am Post subject: Alan Grayson Proposes the War is Making You Poor Act |
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Article here.
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Today, Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) introduced bipartisan legislation called the �War Is Making You Poor Act,� which aims to call attention to a) how much money is being spent to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and b) how budget gimmicks are used to pay for them. Grayson�s legislation would slash the $159 billion request for supplemental war funding and use that money to deliver a tax break for all Americans. Grayson demands the Pentagon use its currently existing $549 billion defense budget to fight the wars. Speaking on the House floor today, Grayson underscored that the point of his legislation is to highlight the costs of the wars:
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GRAYSON: So I believe that the thing we need to do is to take that $159 billion that the President has set aside � we�re not saying he has to stop the war, we�re not giving a cut-off date for the war � we�re simply saying you need to fund that out of the base budget of $549 billion. And we take 90 percent of that and give it back to the American people.
And I think most people would be surprised to learn that that is so much money that we�ve been spending on the war in Afghanistan and the war in Iraq that every single taxpayer in America will be get his first or her first $35,000 of income completely tax free. |
Grayson�s bill, which is currently being co-sponsored by Reps. Ron Paul (R-TX), Walter Jones (R-NC), Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) Barbara Lee (D-CA), John Conyers (D-MI), and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), would also cut the federal deficit by $15.9 billion. �There is no longer any need to go beyond the exorbitant base defense budget,� Grayson said. �It is not necessary. Enough is enough.� |
Anyone who doesn't sign on but still complains about either taxation or budget deficits is pure political peacock. This is far less than needs to be done, but would still be a good step in the right direction, and it's an intelligent way hopefully push more Americans to think about these wars in economic terms instead of purely emotional ones. |
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bacasper
Joined: 26 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Sat May 22, 2010 7:47 am Post subject: |
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| Fox wrote: |
| Anyone who doesn't sign on but still complains about either taxation or budget deficits is pure political peacock. This is far less than needs to be done, but would still be a good step in the right direction, and it's an intelligent way hopefully push more Americans to think about these wars in economic terms instead of purely emotional ones. |
OK, I'm guessing that will be about 95% of Congress or more. Only these "wackos" will sign on.
Trying to mess with the multi-trillion dollar defense industrial complex? Grayson is singing his death warrant. How about a pool on what month he'll be assassinated/killed in a plane crash/die mysteriously? |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Sat May 22, 2010 6:09 pm Post subject: |
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| bacasper wrote: |
| Fox wrote: |
| Anyone who doesn't sign on but still complains about either taxation or budget deficits is pure political peacock. This is far less than needs to be done, but would still be a good step in the right direction, and it's an intelligent way hopefully push more Americans to think about these wars in economic terms instead of purely emotional ones. |
OK, I'm guessing that will be about 95% of Congress or more. Only these "wackos" will sign on.
Trying to mess with the multi-trillion dollar defense industrial complex? Grayson is singing his death warrant. How about a pool on what month he'll be assassinated/killed in a plane crash/die mysteriously? |
I wonder. One could have said the same thing about the Audit the Fed bill, and that went pretty far before being neutered into something virtually meaningless.
In any case, though, I think you're right that it probably won't pass, but it's at least hypothetically possible, since it combines two very alluring elements from a political perspective. |
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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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| Posted: Sat May 22, 2010 6:41 pm Post subject: |
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I like Greyson. The bill is sensible. To fend off war it would be useful to force a law that requires wars to be paid with taxes and not increased debt or inflation.
Gawd damned wars. They'll never end. |
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The Happy Warrior
Joined: 10 Feb 2010
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| Posted: Sat May 22, 2010 9:21 pm Post subject: |
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| mises wrote: |
| I like Greyson. The bill is sensible. To fend off war it would be useful to force a law that requires wars to be paid with taxes and not increased debt or inflation. |
There's no way to do so, except by putting it in the Constitution. In America, even WWII was funded by bond issues.
But funding wars by issuing debt to foreign nations/entities? That's very perilous, and there's something even just unseemly about it.
Greyson is a bit obnoxious but as you can see he certainly has his virtues. He's like the loud-mouthed, showman version of Russ Feingold. |
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bacasper
Joined: 26 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Sun May 23, 2010 2:18 am Post subject: |
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| bacasper wrote: |
| Grayson is signing his death warrant. How about a pool on what month he'll be assassinated/killed in a plane crash/die mysteriously? |
I got December 2010. They love to do this stuff around the holidays. |
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Sun May 23, 2010 3:04 am Post subject: |
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| bacasper wrote: |
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| How about a pool on what month he'll be assassinated/killed in a plane crash/die mysteriously? |
I got December 2010. |
Put me down for November 2011. Double or nothing it'll be "health related". The initial push over this won't go anywhere but the congressional and presidental election in '12 won't have to deal with a revival of this issue once its knocked down this year. |
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geldedgoat
Joined: 05 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Sun May 23, 2010 5:55 pm Post subject: |
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That's a great idea, and one that I sincerely hope makes it past the president's desk. I don't hold the opinion that war is always unnecessary, but I do think our citizens should come before the citizens of other nations in regards to our money and discretionary wars.
I do have one question though: Where does the other 10% go? |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Sun May 23, 2010 6:17 pm Post subject: |
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| geldedgoat wrote: |
That's a great idea, and one that I sincerely hope makes it past the president's desk. I don't hold the opinion that war is always unnecessary, but I do think our citizens should come before the citizens of other nations in regards to our money and discretionary wars.
I do have one question though: Where does the other 10% go? |
Well, it says the amount they want to cut is $159 billion. It also says that the bill will cut the deficit by $15.9 billion. I would assume that's the 10%, given that's 10% of $159 billion. |
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geldedgoat
Joined: 05 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Sun May 23, 2010 7:02 pm Post subject: |
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 Fair enough. |
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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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| Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2010 2:56 pm Post subject: |
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/25/us/politics/25jobs.html?hp
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Congress Fails to Pass an Extension of Jobless Benefits
WASHINGTON � The Senate failed to pass legislation Thursday that would have extended unemployment subsidies for hundreds of thousands of Americans who have exhausted their jobless benefits, as Democrats and Republicans traded bitter accusations about who was to blame for the legislative stalemate.
The measure failed when Republicans got enough votes to prevent it from going to the floor of the Senate.
The bill's failure came after the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, introduced yet another version of the legislation on Wednesday night, including important tax changes, in his continuing bid to persuade at least a few Republicans to support the bill. But it ultimately failed to attract Republican support.
The extension of unemployment benefits would have cost an estimated at $35.5 billion.
Citing data by the National Employment Law Project, Democrats say that without Congressional action, 1.2 million Americans will exhaust their jobless benefits by the end of the month.
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Leon
Joined: 31 May 2010
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| Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2010 3:14 pm Post subject: |
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| I wish something could be done about defense spending and earmarks. I can't remember where I read this but in the budget is paying for some planes that the DOD doesn't want because the plant is in some key senators state. Also there is the ridiculousness of the hundred some dollar hammers and things of that nature. |
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