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.
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