Political Heat

"Tax brackets" don't indicate true level of taxation on Americans One of my favorite articles on the subject of effective tax rates -- the rates people actually pay on ALL taxes, not just income taxes -- is by Ezra Klein, a columnist with the Washington Post. Written in April 2010, the article is a little dated but still provides a clear picture of just what we're arguing about when we talk about raising taxes on the top 1 percent. We'll come back to that in a minute though. First, a little background. People argue that the rich don't deserve a tax hike because they already have a tax rate of 35 percent, well above other rates available. Firstly, that tax rate is a bit deceiving -- only the richest of the rich actually pay that amount. The tax system is designed so that you are taxed a certain amount of dollars for the income you earn, and THEN all income earned after a certain amount is taxed at your respective rate. For instance, a person earning $300,000 i...

It's been a remarkable journey writing for this blog. Since 2009, I have posted 500 blog posts under the title of "Political Heat." It's been a pleasure doing so, and I look forward to writing another 500 -- or more. I wanted to take the time on this occasion to say a few words about where we stand as a country, as a state, and as a people in general. We're living in some pretty exciting times, though they are very polarizing and upsetting as well. Whether you're a Republican, Democrat, liberal, conservative, independent, or anything else for that matter, one thing is for certain: people are upset with the way things are in our society. Jobs remain a primary focus for many -- nearly 1 in 10 are without employment and are actively seeking it. In Wisconsin, we're fortunate that less are unemployed...yet it still is a significant problem, especially for parts of the state hit hardest by the economic downturn of 2008. Economic disparity is also a significant i...

Beck's comments suggest shooting massacre in Norway are dismissible I didn't have a chance to respond to this story earlier in the week, but I think it's important to get it out there still. The actions of people like Glenn Beck, who believe in their ideals so passionately, need to be addressed, condemned by as many people as possible as just plain wrong, detrimental even to our society. Glenn Beck recently made a statement on his radio program regarding the bombing in Oslo and the shootings at a youth camp in Norway. What he said actually says so many things in just three short sentences, especially when you dig deeper into the mechanics of his statement : [The camp] sounds a little like, you know, the Hitler Youth or whatever. Who does a camp for kids that's all about politics? Disturbing. Let's examine this closer. Beck is saying that the camp itself is absurd, comparing it to the Hitler Youth camps of Nazi Germany. Political organizations for the young, however,...

Most support raising taxes on rich, oppose cuts to Medicare The Washington Post performed a poll recently that asked respondents how they thought we should go about fixing the deficit our country is currently facing. Not surprisingly, most Americans support fixes that call for a sacrifice from everyone, not just the working and middle classes. Some highlights from that poll: Only a quarter of Americans feel we should cut Medicaid spending, while more than 7-in-10 oppose such a measure. The numbers flip when people are asked about raising taxes on those earning more than $250,000 per year: 72 percent support such a plan while 27 percent oppose it. Even more remarkable than that, more than 55 percent said they "strongly" support such a move, while only 17 percent were "strongly" opposed to it. To fix the Social Security situation, two-thirds of Americans support "raising the amount of Social Security tax paid by people with incomes over $107 thousand a year. So ...

Thirteen percent of Americans feel the president isn't liberal enough, driving approval down Recent polling for President Obama reveals that a majority of Americans disapprove of his job performance . 45 percent of Americans believe the president is doing a fine job, while 54 percent believe that the president's handling of the country has been poor. So does this mean that Obama is set to lose his re-election bid come 2012? Don't go there yet: there's reason to be concerned, but further reading into the polling data reveals something that many news outlets forget to mention. The poll went beyond the traditional questioning and asked further of respondents WHY they disapproved of the president's job performance. A full 38 percent of the population felt that the president was "too liberal" in his decision-making process. 13 percent believed that he "wasn't liberal enough." Combined with the number of people who believe the president is doing ju...

Democrat Dave Hansen wins in landslide, defending his seat against recall challenger VanderLeest In the first of nine recall elections the state has to experience between now and August 9, Democratic incumbent Dave Hansen has defeated Republican challenger David VanderLeest . At this time, with 76 percent of the precincts reported, it seems Hansen has walloped VanderLeest by a margin of 2-to-1. With Hansen's victory comes less pressure for Democrats overall to win every single recall contest out there. Those that are challenging Republican incumbents in recalls will need to flip at most five of the six Republican seats in order to take back the State Senate. That number could decrease again to four or three, depending on whether other Democratic incumbent senators are able to defend their own seats in the remaining two elections set up against Sens. Bob Wirch and Jim Holperin. Of course, Democrats will still try to defend every seat they already have and gain as many of the six sea...

GOP candidate for president believes communities have right prevent religious worship Republican Party Presidential candidate (and pizza entrepreneur) Herman Cain believes that local communities should have the right to deny religious groups (specifically Muslims) the right to build centers of worship within their limits. He is wholly, and without a doubt of any kind, wrong. Our founding fathers believed strongly and passionately in the individual's freedom to worship any belief they deemed proper. The state's interference in such matters, even when endorsed by a democratic majority, couldn't curtail the rights of an individual to make this choice. The right of people to peaceably assemble, too, was also deemed infallible by our founders. It was seen as tantamount to the preservation of our democratic rights, as not only a permissive act but one that was also necessary in order to foster a free exchange of ideas. So important were these two ideals to our founders that they...

Resolving the debt crisis needn't take away benefits to those requiring them The current debate in Washington is centered upon ways to lower our national debt. Democrats want to raise taxes, but Republicans refuse to move forward without severe cuts to social programs designed to help the disadvantaged. For what it's worth, I'm not an economist. I understand what people are talking about when they have these discussions, but I'm not one to sit around with a calculator by my side, endlessly figuring ways out that we can change things for the better in our country. Still, with that caveat in mind, I did want to present just a few ideas that I believe could make our country financially solvent again -- or at the very least on the path towards that goal. 1. PERMANENTLY LOWER Social Security tax rates to 4 percent, ELIMINATE the Social Security cap altogether. As it stands right now, you only pay 6.2 percent of your Social Security taxes on the first $106,000 you earn (thou...

Junior senator from Wisconsin forgets true assaults on liberties during his lifetime Ron Johnson is a political novice, even while serving as a U.S. Senator for Wisconsin. Flashy talking points and exaggerated statements make for good campaign fodder, but it does little to solve societal ills or even accurately describe supposed "problems" within our country. RoJo was recently on Bloomberg's "Political Capital with Al Hunt," a program that focuses on the federal government. Anyone who has followed Johnson knows the senator loves to say "Obamacare" is the single greatest assault on Americans' freedom in his lifetime. It is a Johnson classic; his "Stairway to Heaven." For the record, in the senator's lifetime, America has endured segregation, the Cold War and the threat of terrorism (Emphasis added). That fact was not lost on Hunt, who pressed Johnson about his oft-repeated refrain and asked him specifically about the threat of commun...

GOP should consider stalling redistricting process Following the election of now-Gov. Scott Walker, then-Gov. Jim Doyle put on hold the plans to begin a high-speed rail project between Madison and Milwaukee, as well as plans to repair the rail line between Chicago and Milwaukee. Doyle cited Walker's plans to halt the project once he became governor as reason to stop before his own term expired, even though it went against his own preferences. In December before the new legislative term was set to begin, two Democratic legislators halted a vote that would extend the contracts of state government workers. Citing that "one of the worst things you can do is poke a sharp stick in the eye of a new employer," then-Sen. Majority Leader Russ Decker , a Democrat, voted against the bill (alongside fellow Democrat Jeff Plale and the entire Republican Senate caucus) because he felt union contracts would be best negotiated with the new governor rather than rushing it through the last ...

Delay tactic by Republicans posing as Democrats allow GOP agenda to carry on Recall primary elections for the Democratic Party are being held today...but in my opinion, they are a total sham. Don't take this the wrong way...I love democracy. Any opportunity to vote should be taken, should be granted for the people to help determine who they want to legislate on their behalf. And if I lived in a district where such Democratic primaries were taking place, I'd proudly cast my vote today for someone like Sandy Pasch or Jessica King . The reason for the recalls is evident: Republican legislators are taking our state in a direction not appreciated by their constituents. The reason behind the primary elections for Democrats, however, is what makes today a sham. Republicans posing as Democrats forced these elections being held today. They are unnecessary and serve just one purpose: to grant Republicans facing the threat of removal more time to carry out their agenda in Madison. Indee...

Local Madisonian has chance to work with Bear (Double Rainbow guy) A friend of mine who I worked with (canvassing various neighborhoods throughout Wisconsin, promoting progressive causes) has accepted an internship with Bear, better known as the Double Rainbow guy. During her internship, she will be learning techniques in farming, including managing chickens, fruit plants, and legal marijuana, as well as learning how to use social media to its fullest extent, video blogging her exploits alongside Bear during the duration of her time there. But Lisa Erin Brown needs a little bit of help as well. The internship will provide for her lodging and other forms of hospitality, but it cannot pay for her transportation. So to help get her out there, Lisa has set up a donations page via PayPal. You can find that page here . Here is a video of Lisa that explains more about her opportunity: And here is a link to the blog she manages: Escaping Fate This would be a great opportunity for Lisa, who si...

Pledge asserted slave families better-off than present-day African-Americans Two Republican presidential contenders are heeding some warranted criticism after recently signing a marriage pledge. Michele Bachmann from Minnesota and Rick Santorum from Pennsylvania both signed "The Marriage Vow - A Declaration of Dependence upon Marriage and Family." The vow encourages candidates who have signed it to "defend" marriage (in a conservative view), supporting among other things the overall aim to dismantle the same-sex marriage movement. There's no surprise that both Bachmann and Santorum were fast to sign the pledge -- both have been steadfast opponents of same-sex marriage for quite some time. But controversy beyond their stances seeped into this whole event when, apparently unbeknownst to the pledge signers themselves, the vow included commentary on slavery. One line in the preamble of the pledge stated quite unequivocally that : Slavery had a disastrous impact on ...

Potential for gerrymandering, lawsuits seen as inevitable Republicans in the state legislature have released the redistricting maps that will redraw the legislative boundaries within the state. The process, which is performed every 10 years in accordance to both U.S. and State Constitutional mandates, oftentimes benefits the party that gets to draw the maps. Gerrymandering, the art of politically drawing legislative districts in favor of your party, is likely to become a topic of great discussion within the next couple of weeks, perhaps entering the every-day vernacular of Wisconsinites across the Badger State. It will be interesting to see what will come out of these maps. Northern Wisconsin and Milwaukee both lost a number of residents since 2000, but the Fox Valley and Dane County also saw gains. (Fun fact: The state as a whole grew by 320,000) It's my hope that the maps will be drawn fairly and proportionally, not in a way that could benefit either party. But with the Republica...

Independence Day -- a day of celebration, of remembrance, of reflection and patriotism. A day when we recognize the birth of America, the foundations of our country and the beliefs that our founding fathers held when they determined that tyrannical rule would no longer be acceptable on this continent. But what does that mean exactly? They’re pretty words -- they conjure up emotions of pride for many. Yet, to two different people (or 300 million) they can mean totally different things. “Patriotism” to one person can mean something completely different to another. One person may view patriotism as an unyielding respect for the nation you reside in; another may see it as reason why you must never yield complete respect, must always strive for improvement within your homeland. This wide range of definitions, derived just from a single word, is why the Fourth of July is perhaps more meaningful than any one ideology can come up with. For it isn’t the definition of Independence Day that matte...