Yes, but the last I heard, it doesn't defund Planned Parenthood. That's a
low bar, but that's how I keep my sanity.
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Miriam Vieni
Sent: Thursday, December 17, 2015 7:14 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] This Ominous Omnibus Bill Is a Holiday Giveaway
to the Wealthy
Published on
Thursday, December 17, 2015
by
Common Dreams
This Ominous Omnibus Bill Is a Holiday Giveaway to the Wealthy In budget
compromise, we're witnessing an orgy of predatory, omnivorous bipartisanship
by Bill Moyers, Michael Winship
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, (R-KY) speaks during an interview by
Politico at the Grand Hyatt on December 15, 2015 in Washington DC. (Photo:
Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
There is an unwritten rule in Congress that before you do even a little for
the working class you must do a lot for the donor class. So while the $1.1
trillion - yes, that's a "t" - budget bill now winding its way to passage
contains some tax breaks for low-income workers, in reality, it's a bonanza
for Big Business.
Congressional leadership actually split the bill in two with one devoted to
spending and the other devoted to cuts. "That way," Paul Singer writes in
USA Today, "Republican conservatives can vote against the spending bill,
Democratic liberals can vote against the tax bill, and both bills still pass
and a government shutdown is averted."
Let's start with the fossil fuel industry. For 40 years, Republicans and
some Democrats have been demanding an end to the ban on crude oil exports.
The omnibus bill lifts that ban just as the world community meeting in Paris
agreed that emissions released from fossil fuels must be lowered if the
planet is to escape incineration. Selling off cheap oil abroad is - you
should excuse the expression -like throwing gasoline on the fire.
But in Congress, the energy giants have money to burn, and that cash speaks
louder than threats to the earth or its inhabitants. In the 113th Congress
(2013 and 2014) the fossil fuel industry spent $326 million and change on
lobbying and political campaigns. In return, they received government favors
totaling $33.7 billion. Do the math: According to the advocacy group Oil
Change International, for every dollar the oil, gas and coal industry spends
on influencing Washington, it gets back $103 in subsidies. With this new
spending bill, expect another gusher of donations to be coming in any day
now.
We're witnessing an orgy of predatory, omnivorous bipartisanship.
Thanks to the Republican-controlled House, and to the applause of the
firearms industry, even in the wake of San Bernardino and every other mass
killing this year, the bill still bans federal funding for public-health
scientists to study the causes of gun violence (and continues to allow
people on the no-fly list to buy guns).
These are just a couple of the goodies being sold at the congressional big
box store. We're witnessing an orgy of predatory, omnivorous bipartisanship.
To show us - all evidence to the contrary - that they are not dysfunctional
and can collaborate to keep Republican fanatics like Senator Ted Cruz from
shutting down the federal government again, the two political parties have
mounted a raid on the US Treasury, largely for the benefit of the moneyed
interests that bankroll their campaigns.
As Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal
Budget, a non-partisan watchdog, told The New York Times' David Herszenhorn,
"Anyone who wants to get anything done, who has already been frustrated by a
virtually nonfunctioning Washington, is trying to cram whatever they can
into this bill."
The "whatever," reports The Washington Post, includes some 50 expiring
business and individual tax breaks that both Democrats and Republicans want
to extend. As we suggested at the outset, in order to include tax breaks for
children, college students and low-wage families, party leaders apparently
have agreed to make some expiring business tax credits permanent. This has
prompted Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to rub his hands in glee and
predict that this will make it easier next year - an election year, when
more money is collected for campaigns - to achieve even further tax breaks
for business.
It's a bipartisan borrowing spree, says Maya MacGuineas, and it will add
about a trillion dollars to the nation's debt, as Democrats insist on
spending more and Republicans refuse to raise taxes to pay the bills and
cover the cost.
Meanwhile, behind the closed doors of those back rooms of Congress, the
wheeling-dealing grew more frenzied as the clock ticked down. Wall Street
wolves prowled the Hill seeking obliging politicians who would insert into
the spending bill a rollback of reforms enacted after the financial crash of
2008. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which was born of that
crisis to do what its name implies, remains a constant target. Stealth
mercenaries wanted to kill or cripple it, and promised tote bags of cash if
it's done by the next election.
By such are we governed today: soulless puppets dangling from the rich man's
string, their wooden hands outstretched, palms upturned. As we speak they
are writing in secret new rules to perpetuate the rule of the few.
There's more. Had the food industry gotten its way, the spending bill would
have gutted state laws requiring that genetically modified food be labeled.
They were held at bay, but a second health safeguard was removed. Back in
2008, Congress passed a farm bill requiring food sellers to tag meat with
the name of the country of origin. That requirement has just been scuttled.
The website Talking Points Memo quotes a lobbyist for the US Cattlemen's
Association, which supports identifying the meat as a public safety measure:
".We could have Chinese chicken within the year on shelves and no one will
know where it came from." Perhaps some lonely but brave soul in Congress can
insert a last-minute rider requiring that when the initial shipment of
chickens arrives, they first be served to customers in the Senate and House
dining rooms.
Beginning, we would suggest, with good old Senator Mitch McConnell of whom
we were just speaking. The worst of all the sneak attacks on democracy
unfolding right now on Capitol Hill has his itchy trigger fingerprints all
over the bombsight. McConnell, who ever since he arrived has been auctioning
Congress off piece-by-piece to the highest bidders, has seen to it that the
spending bill includes two provisions to emasculate efforts by the Internal
Revenue Service and the Securities and Exchange Commission to require public
disclosure of large political donations by individuals and corporations.
In other words, as the Los Angeles Times' Michael Hiltzik suggests,
McConnell agrees not to shut down the government only if the millionaires
and billionaires are permitted to continue buying the government in ever
greater secrecy.
By such are we governed today: soulless puppets dangling from the rich man's
string, their wooden hands outstretched, palms upturned. As we speak they
are writing in secret new rules to perpetuate the rule of the few.
How long do we suffer them?
How long?
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
License Published on Thursday, December 17, 2015 by Common Dreams This
Ominous Omnibus Bill Is a Holiday Giveaway to the Wealthy In budget
compromise, we're witnessing an orgy of predatory, omnivorous bipartisanship
by Bill Moyers, Michael Winship
. 4 Comments
.
. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, (R-KY) speaks during an
interview by Politico at the Grand Hyatt on December 15, 2015 in Washington
DC. (Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
. There is an unwritten rule in Congress that before you do even a
little for the working class you must do a lot for the donor class. So while
the $1.1 trillion - yes, that's a "t" - budget bill now winding its way to
passage contains some tax breaks for low-income workers, in reality, it's a
bonanza for Big Business.
. Congressional leadership actually split the bill in two with one
devoted to spending and the other devoted to cuts. "That way," Paul Singer
writes in USA Today, "Republican conservatives can vote against the spending
bill, Democratic liberals can vote against the tax bill, and both bills
still pass and a government shutdown is averted."
. Let's start with the fossil fuel industry. For 40 years, Republicans
and some Democrats have been demanding an end to the ban on crude oil
exports. The omnibus bill lifts that ban just as the world community meeting
in Paris agreed that emissions released from fossil fuels must be lowered if
the planet is to escape incineration. Selling off cheap oil abroad is - you
should excuse the expression -like throwing gasoline on the fire.
. But in Congress, the energy giants have money to burn, and that cash
speaks louder than threats to the earth or its inhabitants. In the 113th
Congress (2013 and 2014) the fossil fuel industry spent $326 million and
change on lobbying and political campaigns. In return, they received
government favors totaling $33.7 billion. Do the math: According to the
advocacy group Oil Change International, for every dollar the oil, gas and
coal industry spends on influencing Washington, it gets back $103 in
subsidies. With this new spending bill, expect another gusher of donations
to be coming in any day now.
We're witnessing an orgy of predatory, omnivorous bipartisanship.
Thanks to the Republican-controlled House, and to the applause of the
firearms industry, even in the wake of San Bernardino and every other mass
killing this year, the bill still bans federal funding for public-health
scientists to study the causes of gun violence (and continues to allow
people on the no-fly list to buy guns).
These are just a couple of the goodies being sold at the congressional big
box store. We're witnessing an orgy of predatory, omnivorous bipartisanship.
To show us - all evidence to the contrary - that they are not dysfunctional
and can collaborate to keep Republican fanatics like Senator Ted Cruz from
shutting down the federal government again, the two political parties have
mounted a raid on the US Treasury, largely for the benefit of the moneyed
interests that bankroll their campaigns.
As Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal
Budget, a non-partisan watchdog, told The New York Times' David Herszenhorn,
"Anyone who wants to get anything done, who has already been frustrated by a
virtually nonfunctioning Washington, is trying to cram whatever they can
into this bill."
The "whatever," reports The Washington Post, includes some 50 expiring
business and individual tax breaks that both Democrats and Republicans want
to extend. As we suggested at the outset, in order to include tax breaks for
children, college students and low-wage families, party leaders apparently
have agreed to make some expiring business tax credits permanent. This has
prompted Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to rub his hands in glee and
predict that this will make it easier next year - an election year, when
more money is collected for campaigns - to achieve even further tax breaks
for business.
It's a bipartisan borrowing spree, says Maya MacGuineas, and it will add
about a trillion dollars to the nation's debt, as Democrats insist on
spending more and Republicans refuse to raise taxes to pay the bills and
cover the cost.
Meanwhile, behind the closed doors of those back rooms of Congress, the
wheeling-dealing grew more frenzied as the clock ticked down. Wall Street
wolves prowled the Hill seeking obliging politicians who would insert into
the spending bill a rollback of reforms enacted after the financial crash of
2008. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which was born of that
crisis to do what its name implies, remains a constant target. Stealth
mercenaries wanted to kill or cripple it, and promised tote bags of cash if
it's done by the next election.
By such are we governed today: soulless puppets dangling from the rich man's
string, their wooden hands outstretched, palms upturned. As we speak they
are writing in secret new rules to perpetuate the rule of the few.
There's more. Had the food industry gotten its way, the spending bill would
have gutted state laws requiring that genetically modified food be labeled.
They were held at bay, but a second health safeguard was removed. Back in
2008, Congress passed a farm bill requiring food sellers to tag meat with
the name of the country of origin. That requirement has just been scuttled.
The website Talking Points Memo quotes a lobbyist for the US Cattlemen's
Association, which supports identifying the meat as a public safety measure:
".We could have Chinese chicken within the year on shelves and no one will
know where it came from." Perhaps some lonely but brave soul in Congress can
insert a last-minute rider requiring that when the initial shipment of
chickens arrives, they first be served to customers in the Senate and House
dining rooms.
Beginning, we would suggest, with good old Senator Mitch McConnell of whom
we were just speaking. The worst of all the sneak attacks on democracy
unfolding right now on Capitol Hill has his itchy trigger fingerprints all
over the bombsight. McConnell, who ever since he arrived has been auctioning
Congress off piece-by-piece to the highest bidders, has seen to it that the
spending bill includes two provisions to emasculate efforts by the Internal
Revenue Service and the Securities and Exchange Commission to require public
disclosure of large political donations by individuals and corporations.
In other words, as the Los Angeles Times' Michael Hiltzik suggests,
McConnell agrees not to shut down the government only if the millionaires
and billionaires are permitted to continue buying the government in ever
greater secrecy.
By such are we governed today: soulless puppets dangling from the rich man's
string, their wooden hands outstretched, palms upturned. As we speak they
are writing in secret new rules to perpetuate the rule of the few.
How long do we suffer them?
How long?
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
License
