Fair Taxes, Not Flat Taxes

The law of increasing & decreasing tax impact simply means that the more a person makes, the more in tax impact he or she can absorb, while the less a person makes the less in tax impact he or she can absorb. This law is one of the main reasons the wealthy should pay a much higher percentage on a progressive and fair tax scale.

For example, Gov. Mitt Romney’s recently released tax returns showi that in 2010 he earned $21. 7 million but paid only 13.9 % or $3 million on his income, because it's classified as capital gains. In fact, many of the super rich live off of investments that are taxed at a lower rate than earned income, plus those wealthy Americans who do live off of earnings from work are able to pay well below the current top rate of 35% due to a host of loopholes and deductions.

However, rather than present abstractions, let’s compare Gov. Romney to a person who earned $20 thousand in 2010, and let’s suppose that person paid the same rate as Gov. Romney, 13.9%. That person’s tax bill would be $2,780. On the face it looks as though Gov. Romney took a much bigger tax hit than the person earning just $20,000--and in raw dollars he did. But the tax impact on his lifestyle and the ability to sustain himself and his family is infinitesimal, because Romney is still left with nearly $19,000,000 to cover the basics in life---and way beyond the basics. On the other hand, the person making $20,000 suffered far more impact, because his or her tax burden of $2,700 truly is big money to him or her, leaving the person with only $17,300, making it more difficult to cover life's basic needs.

Now, let’s give the individual earning $20,000 five children, which is what the governor and his wife once had at home. That person is almost $10,000 dollars below the poverty level for a family of six as per 2010 statistics, and is left with less than $3000 to feed, clothe, and house each person in the home for the year. On the other hand, the Romneys ---if their five children were at home---would have over $3,000,000 to feed, clothe, and house each member of the family. Obviously, the Romneys can absorb far more tax impact than the vast majority of American families and should pay a significantly higher percentage than the vast majority of American families in order to cover our nation’s expenses.

The law of increasing & decreasing tax impact shows why a flat rate is unfair and a progressive rate is fair. Those Americans who have reaped great material reward from our system should completely absorb the poor person's tax burden, and they should partially and substantially absorb the middle class person’s tax burden by paying a higher percentage, whether earned off of labor or money. Furthermore, when there is a demand put on a nation’s expenses, whether due to war or economic downturn, the wealthy have the responsibility to have their tax impact increased, because as stated earlier, they have reaped the lion’s share of the rewards; in short, they have to money to spare.

- Jim Jacobs

Overturn Citizens United

Community Gathering to End Corporate Power

Amend Constitution to Be Held December 13

WHEN:
Tuesday, December 13, 6 PM to 7:45 PM

WHERE:
Upstairs at the Galesburg Public Library, 40 E. Simmons

WHAT:
Following up on over 200 similar gatherings nationwide on Nov. 9, local residents will be hosting a meeting to End Corporate Power, in coordination with hundreds of similar events that will take place nationwide. The purpose of the event is to build momentum for a constitutional amendment to overturn the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which lets unlimited corporate funds flood our election system.

The gathering, which is expected to draw 100 or more people, will feature a short video called “The Story of Citizens United vs. the FEC,” and discussion and handouts detailing how best to help get the money out of politics, and the Supreme Court back under control of Congress. There will be time for a discussion about organizing a local action to take place on Jan. 21, 2012, the two-year anniversary of the Supreme Court decision.

Jerry Ryberg, an organizer of this event, said, “85% of Americans think that corporations have too much influence on our democracy. The more that people understand about how the Supreme Court has enabled the corporations to control Congress, the sooner they will act to change it".

WHO:
The local gathering is being hosted by Jerry Ryberg, Jim Jacobs, and Joel Ward, as well as the national groups: Public Citizen, People for the American Way, Common Cause, Free Speech for People, and Move to Amend. Information about Citizens United and the call for a constitutional amendment can be found at www.democracyisforpeople.org, www.movetoamend.org, http://www.pfaw.org/GovernmentByThePeople, www.commoncause.org or www.freespeechforpeople.org.

Galesburg - Occupied!

Joining protesters nationwide, citizens from Galesburg, Monmouth and Sherrard came together at the intersection of Losey and Henderson in Galesburg on Sunday, October 30, for Occupy Galesburg.

Nearly forty people showed up during the three-hour protest between noon and 3pm, carrying printed and homemade signs expressing a variety of protest ideas. Pro-labor and anti-war messages blended with anti-corporate influence signs. A large American flag flew all afternoon, brought and donated by one protester to the event.

Mike Nache of Galesburg organized the protest event and, despite the rapidly changing weather - cold rain lashed the corner protest several times - kept spirits up with cheerful messages via his megaphone. Dozens of cars honked while drivers and passengers waved in support of the gathered protesters.

Members of the Knox County Progressives and the American Dream movement stood shoulder to shoulder with their fellow citizens.

A larger Occupy event with a march is planned for the same location on Saturday, Nov. 5, from noon to 3pm. All four corners of Losey and Henderson will be occupied and a march will take place at 2pm to the intersection of Fremont and Henderson. A permit has been applied for to the City of Galesburg.

Members of both the Knox County Progressives and the American Dream movement joined other local citizens in Galesburg yesterday to support the Occupy movement with Occupy Galesburg.

Contact Mike Nache at mike.nache@gmail.com for more information or visit Occupy Galesburg at http://www.occupygalesburg.org or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/groups/240950492621114.

KWQC Channel 6 covered the Occupy Galesburg event. Please read their story here: http:// www.kwqc.com/Global/story.asp?S=15910827

Occupy Galesburg - Sunday, 10/30/11

OCCUPY GALESBURG is happening!


Sunday, Oct. 30, 2011
Corner of Henderson & Losey
Noon to 3pm

Occupy Galesburg

The Occupy Movement has made it where we need it most - home.


Occupy Galesburg is here.

When: Monday, October 17. 2011
Time: 3pm to 6pm
Where: Public Square, Galesburg, Illinois 
(Click for map)

Thank you for your explanation, the mere attempt to contact me has helped to build a level of trust that both you and I can appreciate. I look forward to continuing your wonderful service in the future.
Sincerely,
Terry Haywood

Bulkeley Doesn't Prove Charges Against Obama

Judge Harry Bulkeley's may have retired from the bench, but his lawyer's skills haven't dulled. His August 27th prosecution of President Obama in the Register-Mail for allegedly lacking leadership characteristics was a doozy of a summation. Of course, if all an attorney has is a dazzling closing backed by flimsy evidence, then the case won't be made, and Judge Bulkeley came up short proving his charges against the president.

The judge says that a leader must have a vision. Agreed. He claims President Obama doesn't have one. Wrong. President Obama wants to reverse the thirty-year shrinkage of our middle class as jobs have been exported to nations where workers toil for beggar's wages so corporations can bloat profits.

Where's the evidence Obama's committed to his vision? Start with the car companies. Using reasonable oversight, the president saved GM and Chrysler, and according to the Center for Automotive Research spared over a million good paying jobs. Moreover, he stood his ground against critics. Mitt Romney, for example, coldly titled a 2008 New York Times editorial, “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.” In other words, Romney would have put millions of Americans out of work. Also, the editors of the Economist initially criticized the president's plan, but in August, 2010, the magazine admitted, “An apology is due to Barack Obama: takeover of GM could have gone horribly wrong, but it has not.”

Judge Bulkeley accuses President Obama of not leading on major legislation. But the evidence doesn't support the charge. No, President Obama isn't the type to squeeze into a flight suit and strut around an aircraft carrier. What he's calmly and consistently said is recovering from the worst downturn since the 1930's takes time. However, he's also taken action. In January 2009, as President Obama entered office 820,000 jobs were lost according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Instead of waiting on the invisible hand of the market, as its fingers twiddled with its thumb, Obama worked with Democrats and a few willing Republicans to pass the Recovery Act. By March, 2010, the economy added jobs for the first time in over two years. Since then, the BLS reports over two million private sector jobs have been created. A study by economists Mark Zandi and Alan Blinder concluded that without government intervention – including Obama's Recovery Act – we'd have experienced a second Great Depression. Clearly, Judge Bulkeley 's accusation that the president hasn't focused on jobs simply doesn't hold water. In fact, the judge's own testimony refutes the charge when he says, “Congress passed a massive stimulus package barely a month after his [Obama's] inauguration.” That's correct – a stimulus that independent firms such as Moody’s estimate created or saved millions of jobs.

Sure, mistakes have been made. The president shouldn't have said unemployment would max out at 8%, just as President Reagan shouldn't have promised balanced budgets before tripling the national debt. All presidents make mistakes. However, President Obama has informed his approach by the mistakes of past presidents. For example, from President Bill Clinton he learned that straight-arming Congress won't fly. Clinton came into office with large Democratic majorities in both houses, but he didn't give Congress ownership of his centerpiece, health care reform. The result was collapse of the initiative. Obama on the other hand counseled with congressional leaders, intervened when necessary (getting the pharmaceutical companies to ante up billions), and achieved what presidents before him failed to accomplish---passage of health care reform. Furthermore, he did this though Rahm Emanuel, White House Chief of Staff, got weak-kneed. Jonathon Alter in his book The Promise, says Emanuel begged Obama not to tackle health care because it was too bold, but the president told him, “[I] wasn't sent here to do school uniforms,” a reference to Clinton’s emphasis on small-ticket items such as wanting public school students to wear uniforms after he lost the health care fight. In other words, President Obama led.

Throughout Judge Bulkeley’s indictment of Barack Obama, he referenced Martin Luther King as a model of great leadership. Bulkeley says, “In the face of …opposition [King] persisted. Even when it was unpopular.” Fact is, that is the characteristic that President Obama has demonstrated. The president’s auto rescue was criticized, but he persisted – and it worked. He's faced calculated opposition at any attempt to halt economic bleeding, but he's kept going, and America dodged a depression. Some wanted him to abandon health reform, but he persisted, and thirty-two million previously uninsured Americans will receive coverage according to the Congressional Budget Office. Simply, Barack Obama has shown vision and a plan to reach that vision. He has persisted in the face of often hateful opposition. Respectfully, Judge Bulkeley is wrong. President Obama is a leader.

Mitch McConnell and Infrastructure

Did anybody notice Mitch McConnell's on-air comments yesterday? He called President Obama's jobs bill "a trap:" (paraphrasing) if we vote for it we'll partially own this economy, if we vote against it the Dems will blame us for not helping to create jobs.

I haven't heard it from a pundit yet, but isn't there another narrative here? This comment is completely devoid of any concern for the plight of Americans; it is totally about 2012 presidential politics. McConnell (accidentally) uttered the truth: they (the "R's") don't care about the situation of Americans in this economy, only electoral success. Mitch McConnell baldly declared that he did not care about the people he represents. I hope one or two of them (at least) gets that.

If the Democrats had any sort of message discipline, wouldn't they jump on self-serving, DC-centric comments like this? But they don't, so such awful utterances go unchallenged.

Support Our Local Teachers!

Thanks to everyone who stepped up (literally) and marched with the Galesburg teachers on Labor Day in support of their struggles with District 205. But the teachers still need help.

If you can, please join them again. They will be gathering before the Monday, September12 School Board meeting in a show of strength and solidarity. Any and all community support is appreciated.

DATE: Monday, September 12, 2011
TIME: 6:30pm
PLACE: District 205 Board Offices, Lincoln Education Center, 932 Harrison St

This is a great opportunity to support the goals of the American Dream movement as well as progressive principles about public education and the value of union organizing and labor for American prosperity!

Signs will be available!

Power In the Union!

A musical message from Billy Bragg to workers of the world everywhere!