by Pamela Powers Hannley Last week was an outrageous news week for our country with the Boston Marathon bombings on Monday, the explosion at a Texas fertilizer plant on Wednesday, and the shoutout, manhunt, killing, and capture of the bomber brothers at the end of the week. Whew. This Monday on MSNBC, Chris Hayes offered … Read more
Remember the Super Congress? It was a gimmick that Congressional Republicans came up with after the huge debt ceiling and budget battle in August 2011.
The Super Congress was supposed to balance the US budget during the fall of 2011, but they failed to do so. As a result, the country is now facing "sequestration"– a fancy name for automatic budget cuts and tax increases that were trigger by the Super Congress' failure and the regular Congress' failure to negotiate and agree on humane budget cuts coupled with revenue-generating and economy-growing measures.
Thanks to Congressional foot-dragging, sequestration is upon us. The biggest budget that is up for trimming is the military budget. Although hawks are wringing their hands over potential cuts, the US military budget is by far the largest in the world. In fact, in 2011, the US spent more on the military than the next 13 countries combined! Wonkblog has provided great charts and background information on military spending– perfect ammunition for anyone who in more invested in peace than war. Check out it out after the jump.
Eleven European countries, who collectively account for two-thirds of the EU's economy, have passed a new financial transaction tax.
Also known as the Robin Hood Tax in the US, a financial transaction tax charges a small percentage fee for every stock market deal. The new European law will charge a rate of 0.1% on any trade of shares or bonds and 0.01% on any financial derivative contract, according to an article in Think Progress. These tiny percentages would raise an estimated 57 billion euros per year if all 27 of the European countries adopted the law. (At an exchange rate of 1 EU = $1.33, that is an estimated $75.8 billion in US dollars per year of revenue generation.) In addition to raising funds, the financial transaction tax discourages speculative computerized trading. Also know as "rent seeking," computers are set up to buy stocks and sell them quickly– sometimes when the profit is just pennies. If you do enough of this automated micro-trading, you can make a bundle of money; but this speculative behavior adds volitility to the market and produces nothing except fot the gamblers who are in the game. The Ed Schultz Show has a great explanation here.
In all, 40 countries worldwide have adopted a financial transaction tax. The 11 countries who have passed the Robin Hood Tax recently include two European powerhouses– Germany and France– plus Spain, Portugal, Italy, Belgium, Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Greece, and Estonia. The financial problems facing Greece, Spain, and Italy have been in the news for years. This tax will help cash-strapped governments to become more stable.
Gosh, what other country is facing dire financial choices and needs an infusion of cash? Find out how the Robin Hood Tax would help the US economy after the jump.
Now that the 2012 elections are over, the US Congress must face the "fiscal cliff".
What is the fiscal cliff? The fiscal cliff is a collection of financial provisions– including the infamous Bush tax cuts and the mandated "sequestration" cuts (brought about because the Super Committee couldn't reach a compromise)– that either expire–or take effect– between now and December 31, 2012.
The Congressional Progressive Caucus has proposed the Deal for All to mitigate the impact of fiscal cliff decisions on the middle class and the poor.
After the jump, watch a video of a hearing on the Deal for All and read an explanation of their ideas.
by Pamela Powers Hannley
Sometimes you just don't know what you're going to find on the Internet. I was looking for something completely different, and Goggle gave me this…
After the jump, watch a 2010 video of Republican Congressional candidate and Mexican immigrant Gabriela Saucedo Mercer voicing her support for SB1070. (She also takes the opportunity to dump on Councilwoman Regina Romero and Congressman Raul Grijalva, her current opponent in the CD3 race.)