Here's a partial list of the donors to Libby's $5 million dollar defense fund that TPM derived from the Washington Post.
The advisory committee of Libby's trust is made up of developers, investors, publishers, think-tankers. There's former senator Fred Thompson, the "Law & Order" star and Republican presidential aspirant -- who even held a fundraiser for Libby at his McLean home, according to Carlson.... There are former Cabinet-level officials, including Ed Meese, Jack Kemp and Spencer Abraham. There is conservative thinker Bill Bennett and political philosopher Francis Fukuyama. There's Ron Silver, of "West Wing" fame. There's Mary Matalin, a former Cheney adviser, and Nina Rosenwald, chairwoman of the Middle East Media Research Institute. There is Steve Forbes, who knows a thing or two about writing checks.
I would have wanted to know more about the "developers, investors, [and] publishers" because that's where the money to pay Libby's fine is going to come from. I would also bet that those people are providing plenty of money for Republican think tanks and lobby groups as well. What's a quarter mill among friends?
Higher taxes on the wealthy anyone?
Posts
1 comment:
At the risk of offending the person who was so insensed at the thought that someone would post a comment in agreement with what you write here Ric, I choose to do so again. That last line, "higher taxes anyone?" My answer, as far as the wealthy are concerned, is a resounding yes. The gap between rich and poor is now bigger than it has been since the 1930s. Ninety-eight percent of the 1980-2002 gain in total household income went to the wealthiest twenty percent of households. The remaining 2% gain in total household income was shared by the remaining 80% of households. ( U.S. Department of Labor) Extreme inequality of income and wealth has given economic and political power to big corporations and the richest families and has drastically weakened the American sense of community.
America ’s Middle Class is growing smaller and more desperate. The middle 60% of live just on the brink of financial ruin. ( U.S. Department of Labor, Congressional Budget Office.) Consumer debt on credit cards has skyrocketed in recent years. But it doesn’t stop there. People in this group take out mortgages, sometimes two mortgages on homes they could barely afford in the first place, in order to buy things. So, we have these middle-class folks, while undeniably living reasonably well, who know that if their job is lost or pay is cut, they are going to be in default and maybe foreclosure. On top of that, Middle-income families are under even more constant strain because costs of the most basic items have risen far faster than their incomes. some leaders in America , using very twisted logic claim that inequality is good for low-income people because it makes them work harder. The sick rational for this hypothesis is that low-income people will see how well the economy rewards others thereby giving them an “incentive” to try to earn more. The current economy with its “Negative Job Growth” refutes that claim. The poverty rate is up. The poorest 20% of American families have lost more of the total share of income in the United States than any other group whereas the only groups that show a gain during the same period are the top 25%. ( U.S. Department of Labor) Beyond economics, class stratification and racism have many traits in common in large part because African-Americans, already existing at higher rates of poverty than white Americans are kept in poverty by a very backward economic policy. This is no accident. At a minimum, from Jan 20, 1981 until Jan 20, 1993, and then again beginning on Jan. 20, 2001 and continuing to the present, the neo-conservative movement in government has pursued a strategy of supporting and strengthening big business on the false premise that the benefits will “trickle down” to the middle class and the working poor. That hypothesis has been tested at least three times since Jan 20, 1981 and has proven to be an utter failure in terms of its stated goals. Wealth does not trickle down to the bottom eighty percent. It stays where it is. This does not stop corporations from using this fallacy to enhance their bottom line. The language is Orwellian. “Jobless recovery.” “Negative job growth.” But relax, the “millionaire tax cuts” will get things back on track. Like they did in the eighties. The role of government is to protect citizens. Instead, we have been getting the flip-side of that coin. Government has become the servant of big finance, big business, and big wealth. I once heard it described as “corporate socialism,” an apt description. If government aid to the poor is wrong, and those currently in charge seem to think it is, then government aid to corporations is positively immoral. Of course government aid to the poor is not wrong and a society that moves toward economic and social empowerment of working class and middle class African-Americans and whites is a truly moral society. But this society is not doing that. Just the opposite in fact. Gains for ordinary citizens have been made at times when the national will was strong such as the “Progressive Era” of the early twentieth century, the great depression which led to the many reforms and achievements of FDR’s New Deal. The nineteen-sixties, Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty, Great Society, and Civil Rights legislation. Even the Clinton era while certainly not the time of great change that was experienced during the Johnson era, was a time of gain for people whose lot in life had been stagnant after 12 years of Reagan-Bush, pro-wealth policies. But aside from these all-to-fleeting moments of progress, this government has been the servant of wealth and power. the wealthy gain greater wealth and the rest of society either stays where they are or lapses into economic free-fall as has been the case over the past five years in particular. Under President Bush, America is becoming more unequal. Poverty is spreading and growing deeper. Homelessness is up. Hunger is up. The ranks of the Working Poor are up. Mr. Bush does not support an increase in the minimum wage. His administration and its Congressional allies are openly hostile to workers trying to organize unions. This government has given the corporations and wealthy individuals what they have always wanted. They are free to make money anywhere in the world and treat the workers who produce the goods and carry out the services any way they wish with impunity. A tax-code that is progressive in name only could, at any time, have been made truly progressive but it has not been, indeed, it has been taken in the opposite direction. My own Democratic party could, any time it chooses, build a true People’s coalition of Middle Class, Working Poor, African-Americans, and Immigrants so that the differences among these groups would no longer be exploited by the ruling class but would be used in a positive way by people of good will seeking a truly “Great Society,” but it has not happened yet. Not in quite some time. Why? Because everyone who holds office must be elected and they cannot do it without large sums of money. The people who put up these large sums of money expect that their priorities will be met and they are. We got here because of wholesale failure to repair a very broken political system where money is God and people are an afterthought to whom table scraps must occasionally be thrown in order to keep them calm.
We are economically deprived because the wealthiest members of our society demand the greatest share of the nation’s resources. We are intellectually deprived because the powerful in the corporate world don’t want us to think, they want us to consume. As for political rights, we ignore them thereby rendering them utterly impotent. Every move made by the neocons makes the poor more poor and further weakens the middle class. This further cements the power of the super-rich and large corporations. SO, TAX HIKES ON THE WEALTHY? DAMN RIGHT!!
Post a Comment