Magpie

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Where was Sarah, hmmm?

Here's the latest sign that Republicans know what a disaster Sarah Palin is as a VP choice: While Dem VP nominee Joe Biden was all over the media after last night's debate, praising Obama's performance, Sarah Palin wasn't anywhere to be seen.

Palin's absence from the debate postmortems isn't all that surprising, given this item from progressive radio host Ed Schultz:

The campaign has held a mock debate and a mock press conference; both are being described as "disastrous." One senior McCain aide was quoted as saying, "What are we going to do?" The McCain people want to move this first debate to some later, undetermined date, possibly never. People on the inside are saying the Alaska Governor is "clueless."

This magpie is, of course, anxiously awaiting Palin's performance in next week's VP debate—allowing, of course, that the Republicans don't find a way to keep her from fulfilling her obligation.

Labels: Elections, GOP, Incompetence, McCain, Politics, Sarah Palin

| | Posted by Magpie at 11:54 AM | Get permalink

Make the bastards pay for their own bailout.

It doesn't take an MBA or degree in economics to figure out that people in the US are pissed off at the possibility that they'll have to shell out hundreds of billions of dollars to bail out the big financial institutions responsible for the current economic disaster. Given this, you'd think that the Dems could come up with a response to the Dubya administration's bailout plan that relieves the average taxpayer from paying the costs of any bailout, wouldn't you? But no. Democratic leaders in Congress are instead settling for minor tweaks to Dubya's bailout—tweaks that leave most of us holding the financial bag.

This magpie isn't a financial genius, but I've been paying attention to proposed solutions that some really smart people are making. Here are some of those ideas:

Put a 0.25% tax on the transfer of stocks, bonds, and other financial instruments. According to estimates I've seen, this could raise US $160 billion each year—enough by itself to pay for a bailout on the scale of what Dubya's administration is proposing. This tax should be made permanent.
For at least five years, put a 10% income tax surcharge on any individual whose pre-tax income is US $500,000 or more.
Instead of lowering the capital gains tax (as proposed by right-wing Republicans), add a 25% surcharge to the existing tax for any individuals whose pre-tax income is US $500,000 or more. This capital gains surcharge should last at least five years.
Lastly, impose a windfall profits tax on the obscene profits being made by the oil industry. No, this isn't directly related to the bailout. It's a good idea, though, and one that would be broadly supported—especially if the proceeds from this tax were used to help taxpayers meet the high cost of heating oil and gasoline.

This 'modest proposal' to the Democrats puts the cost of the bailout on the people and institutions responsible for—and who have reaped financial benefits from—our current economic problems. Just as importantly, it prevents the Republicans from tying Barack Obama and the Democrats to Dubya's unpopular bailout plan.

What do you think?

Labels: Bailout, Economy, Politics, Wall Street

| | Posted by Magpie at 11:51 AM | Get permalink