Friday, February 02, 2018
The New Tax Law Is Still Not Very Popular
Republicans tried to frame their arguments in favor of their new tax law as being beneficial mainly to the middle class. But Americans are not that stupid. They know that most of the tax cuts go to the rich and to corporations -- not the middle class. And as this poll shows, the tax law is still not popular among Americans (most of whom don't think they'll benefit from it), and is unlikely to help the GOP this November.
These charts reflect information in a new Reuters /Ipsos Poll -- done between January 12th and 23rd of a random national sample of 5,254 adults, and has a 2 point margin of error.
In An "Alternate Universe" Would The GOP Be As Forgiving ?
The following is part of an op-ed by Bret Stephens in the New York Times. He poses an interesting and thought-provoking question -- what if Hillary Clinton had been elected and acted in the same manner that Donald Trump has acted? He writes:
Late last year, Tom Nichols, a professor at the Naval War College and a NeverTrump conservative, proposed a little thought experiment for Republicans skeptical of Robert Mueller’s investigation of the Trump campaign’s Russia ties.
“Let’s play Alternate Universe,” he wrote on Twitter. “It’s 2017, and President Hillary Clinton is facing charges that Chelsea met with Russians who offered oppo on Trump. Chelsea didn’t call the FBI; and Clinton nat sec adviser Jake Sullivan lied to the FBI about talking to the Russians.”
Nichols laid out the unfolding drama over a series of tweets. President Clinton fires the F.B.I. director after he declines her request to “let it go” on Sullivan. “Then, at least three other Clinton campaign officials end up indicted. All of them are tied in some way to a hostile foreign power.” Later, she threatens to “yank FOX’s license” because she didn’t like its critical coverage.
“I’m sure … totally sure …” Nichols added with no little irony, “that stalwarts of the G.O.P. would say: Look, this is a nothingburger, you can’t define ‘collusion,’ it’s just ‘the coffee boy,’ and on and on.”. . .
So let’s play Alternate Universe again, and bring Nichols’ scenarios up-to-date.
Imagine that President Hillary Clinton had agreed to release a partisan Democratic intelligence memo over the objections of Republicans in Congress and her own top F.B.I. officials that disclosure could harm national security.
Would conservative pundits and politicians:
(a) Praise President Clinton for abandoning her old habits of secrecy and standing strong on the side of transparency in government?
(b) Call for her impeachment on grounds that she had compromised national security for shamelessly self-serving political reasons?
Imagine, next, that the Clinton campaign had named as a foreign policy adviser a little known figure with scanty business or academic credentials but with strongly pro-Putin views and curious links to senior Russian officials. Imagine that this same adviser later testified to Congress that the Clinton campaign had asked him to sign a nondisclosure agreement after a trip he took to Russia during the height of the campaign. Imagine also that senior Clinton campaign officials at first denied and later had their memories “refreshed” about knowing him.
Would conservative pundits and politicians:
(a) Agree with Clinton administration spokespersons that, while the campaign had named him as an adviser, he had no role in anything and that his links to Russia were purely incidental?
(b) Agree with Democrats in Congress that the F.B.I. had no business whatsoever in surveilling him because a political dossier might have served as one basis of suspicion, and that his civil liberties had been seriously traduced?
(c) Note that his presence on the campaign was of a piece with Clinton’s disastrous “reset” of relations with Russia under the Obama administration, and that it suggested a policy of appeasing the Kremlin at America’s expense?
Imagine, finally, that after firing James Comey for insufficient loyalty, President Clinton had asked the deputy director of the F.B.I. how he had voted in the election in an Oval Office meeting. Imagine that after learning that he hadn’t voted, she unleashed a campaign of public invective and belittlement aimed at his wife for having once run for state office as a Republican. Imagine, in this same connection, that the effort to oust the deputy director was only a warm-up to getting rid of the deputy attorney general, a well-regarded, straight-shooting Democrat who had appointed the special counsel looking into Clinton’s Russia ties.
Would conservative pundits and politicians:
(a) Applaud President Clinton for taking a belated but necessary step to clean up a “politicized” Justice Department that had interfered against her at the end of the campaign, while also agreeing that the party affiliation of an F.B.I. official’s spouse is a legitimate basis to suspect the official of disloyalty and partisan motives?
(b) Cast aspersions on the deputy attorney general for defending the work of the special counsel against the wishes of the president?
(c) Accuse the president of obstructing justice by smearing and effectively ousting upstanding public servants whose only sin was to do their jobs to the best of their abilities while, in one case, being married to a woman with political ambitions?
I think we all know the answer. The Republicans would be screaming for her impeachment. That exposes their hypocrisy in defense of Trump.
Thursday, February 01, 2018
Americans Know That Wealth Inequality Is Growing In U.S.
Donald Trump would have Americans believe that the American economy is fair to everyone, and will be even fairer now that his tax plan has been passed. He even called that tax plan a "middle class tax cut", even though almost all of the cuts went to the rich and to corporations.
I think most people are happy that they will get a few more dollars in their paychecks this year, but that does not mean they think the economy is fair (or that Trump's tax plan was fair). In fact, this new poll shows just the opposite. By a huge 36 point margin, the public believes the wealth inequality is increasing -- not decreasing. And they don't believe the rich pay their fair share of taxes in this country.
The people know that the economic playing field (thanks to GOP policies) is tilted to favor the rich, and they understand that Trump's tax plan will just make that worse.
The charts above are from a new Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between January 28th and 30th of a random national sample of 1,500 adults (including 1,264 registered voters). The margin of error for adults is 3 points, and for registered voters is 2.9 points.
Trump Shouldn't Demand Loyalty From FBI Or Fire Mueller
Donald Trump has been furious that he can't demand loyalty from federal government law enforcement agencies. He fired James Comey, who wouldn't swear loyalty to him. Now, he has pressured the FBI to fire their Deputy Director after asking him who he voted for in the presidential election (and berating him because his wife ran for state government as a Democrat). Trump believes the Justice Department and the FBI should act to protect him, instead of investigating him for wrongdoing.
Trump's efforts to block the investigation of his own wrongdoing is not winning him any new friends in the American public though (even though it may makes his followers happy). Americans don't want their law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, to be politicized. By a 42 point margin, they say FBI officials do NOT have to be "loyal" supporters of the sitting president.
They don't believe who a law enforcement official voted for (or didn't vote for) should have anything to do with how they do their job. By even larger margins, Americans say it is inappropriate for an employer (even the president) to ask who a person voted for -- and it is inappropriate for an employer (even the president) to fire a person because of who they voted for.
Trump was out of line in his actions against FBI officials, and now it is believed by some that Trump wants to go further and actually try to fire Robert Mueller (the special prosecutor investigating him). He tried to do that last June, but was talked out of it by the White House counselor. If he does try that, he will just make the public angry (and convince them he's trying to obstruct justice. By a 34 point margin, the public says he should NOT fire Mueller, and all three political groups agree (including Republicans by a 5 point margin, Independents by a 33 point margin, and Democrats by a 62 point margin).
Trump is already a very unpopular president, and his attempts to influence the FBI and obstruct justice will just make that worse.
The charts above are from a new Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between January 28th and 30th of a random national sample of 1,500 adults, with a margin of error of 3 points.
Transcript Of The Democratic Rebuttal To Trump's SOTU
Republicans cheered as their favorite racist, xenophobic, misogynistic, corporate-loving dinosaur gave his State of the Union speech Tuesday night.
To give their rebuttal to Trump's sad speech, the Democrats chose one of their rising political stars -- Rep. Joe Kennedy of Massachusetts (the grandson of Senator Robert Kennedy). Here is what he had to say:
We are here in Fall River, Massachusetts, a proud American city. An American city built by immigrants. From tech tiles to robots, this is a place that knows how to make great things. The students that are with us here this evening in the autotech program carry on that rich legacy. Like many American hometowns, Fall River has faced its share of storms. But the people here are tough. They fight for each other, they pull for their city. It is a fitting place to gather, as our nation reflects on the state of our union. This is a difficult task. And many have spent the last year anxious, angry, afraid.
We all feel the fractured fault lines across our country. We hear the voices of Americans who are forgotten and feel forsaken. We see an economy that makes stocks soar, investor portfolios bulge and corporate profits climb, but fails to give workers their fair share of the reward. A government that struggles to keep itself open. Russia knee-deep in our democracy. An all-out war on environmental protection. A Justice Department rolling back civil rights by the day. Hatred and supremacy proudly marching in our streets. Bullets tearing through our classrooms, concerts and congregations. Targeting our safest sacred places. And this nagging, sinking feeling, no matter your political beliefs, that this is not right. This is not who we are.
Folks, it would be easy to dismiss this past year as chaos, partisanship, politics. But it's far, far bigger than that. This administration isn't just targeting the laws that protect us, they're targeting the very idea that we are all worthy of protection. For them, dignity isn't something you're born with, but something you measure. By your net worth, your celebrity, your headlines, your crowd size. Not to mention the gender of your spouse, the country of your birth, the color of your skin. The god of your prayers. Their record is a rebuke to our highest American eye deem, the belief that we are all worthy, that we are all equal, that we all count, in the eyes of our law and our leaders, our god and our government. That is the American promise. But today, ladies and gentlemen, today that promise is being broken. By an administration that callously appraises our worthiness and decides who makes the cut and who can be bargained away.
They are turning American life into a zero-sum game where for one to win, another must lose. Where we can guarantee America's safety if we slash our safety net. Where we can extend health care in Mississippi if we gut it in Massachusetts. We can cut taxes for corporations today if we raise them on families tomorrow. Where we can take care of sick kids if we sacrifice Dreamers. We are bombarded with one false choice after another. Coal miners or single moms. Rural communities or inner cities. The coast or the Heartland. As if the mechanic in Pittsburgh, a teacher in Tulsa and a day care worker in Birmingham are bitter rivals rather than mutual casualties of a system forcefully rigged toward those at the top. As if the parent who lies awake, terrified that their transgender son or daughter will be beaten and bullied at school is anymore or less legitimate than a parent whose heart is shattered by a daughter in the grips of an opioid addiction.
So, here is the answer that Democrats offer tonight. We choose both. We fight for both. Because the greatest, strongest, richest nation in the world should not have to leave anyone behind. We choose a better deal for all who call our country home.
We choose a living wage and paid leave and affordable child care your family needs to survive. Pensions that are solvent, trade pacts that are fair, roads and bridges that won't rust away, a good education that you can afford. We choose a health care system that offers you mercy, whether you suffer from cancer or depression or addiction. We choose an economy strong enough to boast record stock prices and brave enough to admit that top CEOs making 300 times their average worker is not right. We choose Fall River. We choose the thousands of American communities whose roads aren't paved with power or privilege, but with honest effort, with good faith and the resolve to build something better for your kids.
That -- that is our story. It began the day our founding fathers and mothers set sail for a new world, fleeing oppression and intolerance. It continued with every word of our independence, the audacity to declare that all men are created equal. And imperfect promise for a nation struggling to become a more perfect union. It grew with every freedom rider's voice and with every weary soul we welcomed to our shores, and to all the dreamers out there watching tonight, let me be absolutely clear -- you are part of our story. We will fight for you. And we will not walk away.
America, we carry that story on our shoulders. You swarmed Washington last year to ensure that no parent has to worry if they can afford to save their child's life. You proudly marched together last weekend, thousands deep, on the streets of Las Vegas and Philadelphia and Nashville. You sat high atop your mom's shoulders and held a sign that read, "Build a wall and my generation will tear it down." You bravely say, "Me too." You steadfastly say, "Black lives matter." You wade through floodwaters, battle hurricanes, brave wildfires and mudslides, to save a stranger. You battle your own quiet battles every single day. You drag your weary bodies to that extra shift so that your families won't feel the sting of scarcity. You leave loved ones at home to defend our country overseas, patrol our neighborhoods at night. You serve.
You rescue. You help. You heal. That, more than any law or leader, debate or disagreement, that is what drives us towards progress. Bullies may land a punch, they may leave a mark, but they have never, not once in the history of our United States, managed to match the strength and spirit of a people united in defense of their future. Politicians -- politicians can be cheered for the promises they make. Our country will be judged by the promises we keep.
That is the measure of our character. That is who we are. Out of many, one. Ladies and gentlemen, have faith. Have faith. The state of our union is hopeful, resilient and enduring. God bless you. God bless your families. And may God bless the United States of America. Thank you.
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