Tax Rates, Tough on Crime, Bull Connor Award

2008 BULL CONNOR AWARD

For those too young to remember, "Bull" Connor was Police Commissioner of Birmingham, Alabama in the 1950's and 1960's. He became famous during the civil rights marches in the early 1960's. When peaceful marchers would come through Birmingham he would meet them with fire hoses, attacking police dogs, and/or cattle prods, followed by mass arrests. This was all dutifully recorded by national TV news and broadcast into our living rooms. By outraging anyone of conscience, Bull Connor probably did as much to gain passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act as anyone. Of course, that was the exact opposite of his intent. The Bull Connor Award is thus given to that individual or those individuals who pursue policies that are so wrongheaded or ineptly administered that they achieve the exact opposite of what the practitioner desires. The 2008 Award is given to Karl Rove, Grover Nordquist, George W. Bush, and Dick Cheney, who sought to gain a permanent Republican majority but instead have achieved a Democratic renaissance. If it wasn't for the incredible lasting damage that these idiots have inflicted on our nation, progressives would thank them. Next time, the Jeane Kirkpatrick Award for 2008.

IT IS TIME TO BE TOUGH ON CRIME

When recently asked about enforcing the law, President Obama said that he preferred to look to the future rather than dwell on the past. I say, Let's Enforce the Law! It is time to hold criminals accountable for their actions. Failure to do so means a violation of his oath of office, it is a serious ethical lapse, and it tells future criminals that they don't have to worry about punishment. We know that the crimes have occurred, we have admissions of guilt and corroborating evidence, it is time to crack down! Specifically, the new Attorney General has said what everyone with a brain already knows: waterboarding is torture. In addition, a Bush appointee in the Defense Department has halted prosecution of a detainee at Guantanamo because she said he was tortured, and that didn't even include waterboarding. Bush and Cheney have admitted that they approved of waterboarding and we know that Rumsfeld and Rice were also involved. Torture is a violation of U.S. law and the Geneva Convention, which is part of U.S. law. A Los Angeles private detective was recently given serious prison time for illegally wiretapping citizens. During the 2004 campaign, President Bush said 'When we're talking about wiretapping, we're talking about warrants," and we know now that he had approved warrantless wiretaps in early 2002. We now know that the NSA has illegally searched emails, phone conversations, and other communications of literally millions of U.S. citizens who have no connection to terrorism or any other crime. People responsible for the above policies belong in jail.

HOW TO RECOVER OBSCENE BONUSES

It has recently been revealed that Merril Lynch executives doled out tens of millions in bonuses as their company was going bankrupt and right before Bank of America bought them out, using taxpayer money. This is only the latest example of corporate greed gone wild. I have heard commentators asking, "how can we get our (taxpayer) money back?" Meanwhile, a recent news report said that the top 400 taxpayers made an average of $260 million last year and paid only 17% in taxes on their income. This is twice the average that the top 400 made ten years ago. In 2006, the top 25 hedge fund managers made, on average, $570 million and they pay only 15% in income taxes(Free Lunch by David C. Johnson, p. 246. See also Bad Money by Kevin Phillips). Personally, I think it is possible to live on less than $570 million per year, or even less than $260 million per year. In fact, if someone made one tenth of either of those amounts in a lifetime, they would be quite fortunate and happy.

One of the major concerns that Republicans have about the Stimulus Bill is how much it will add to the national debt. This is a long term problem. The solution should be obvious: raise the taxes on the super-rich. This will help close the deficit and get some of our money back. After all, these are the people who got most of the benefits from the Bush tax cuts. Up until 1963, the top marginal tax rate on incomes was 91%. From 1964 to 1981, the top rate was 70%, then went down to 50% in 1986, 38.5% in 1987 and is now 35%. Let's raise the rate back to 70% for all income (no exception for capital gains) above $10 million per year. The rate should be 50% for incomes between $5 million and $10 million per year. There are all sorts of good reasons why we should do this. It will close the gap between rich and poor and, in the long run, greater equality means more stability and greater economic growth, to name a couple.

Rationale

WHY I STARTED THIS BLOG

Over the last several years I have become increasingly disenchanted with the increase of uninformed blather that one sees in print, on TV, or listens to on the radio. All too often I see or hear opinions unsupported by facts or even contradicted by facts. There has been a disturbing lack of critical analysis in much of the mainstream media. Too many opinion pieces are not logically coherent. Time and again I find myself wondering in amazement, does he or she actually get paid for this?

There are many examples I could cite. Herewith is one glaring example of lack of critical analysis. When Colin Powell made his presentation to the U.N., I looked in vain afterwards for any critical analysis of his presentation. Because I have some knowledge of intelligence, my first reaction after his presentation was "that's the best they've got?!" I recognized immediately that there was almost nothing of substance there. Why didn't any of the major news sources interview people with knowledge of intelligence? All the major commentators just accepted what he said. Didn't anyone remember the Gulf of Tonkin?

Here's an example of opinion lacking in supporting facts. Almost everything said or written about the insurgency in Iraq seemed unaware of the basic principles of counter-insurgency. It's as if there was a national collective amnesia about the Vietnam War. Astoundingly, it appears that General Patraeus is the only major staff officer in the U.S. Army who knows anything about guerilla war. None of the well-known pundits seemed to show any awareness either. I went and read 8 books on guerilla war and/or terrorism and my recollections of the lessons of Vietnam were confirmed. There is at least one journal devoted entirely to this subject. There are a number of academic experts who have spent their professional careers studying this area, but I never saw any of them consulted in the media. Even Thomas Ricks in his fine book, Fiasco, showed little knowledge of the basic principles of guerilla war. I think it is past time that we have informed opinions in the marketplace of ideas and I hope to contribute to that.

I will be basing my opinions and commentary on knowledge and facts. There are some people who are doing a good job in this area and I will cite them and recommend them.

WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS BLOG

In addition to my background education and training, I read two daily newspapers, Newsweek, several monthly magazines and watch several of the better commentaries on TV (Kieth Olbermann and Rachel Maddow, e.g.). I also read history and current affairs books as much as I have time for. I have also found that on occasion I have ideas or takes on events that I have not seen anywhere else. So, I hope to occasionally add some new ideas to the debate.

NEXT POSTING

In my next posting I will be revealing my pick for the Bull Connor Award for 2008.