Eclectablog chart
Over the past several days, Michigan has seen the imposition of financial martial law -- and preparations for it -- in a string of troubled cities. In Flint, the emergency manager took the elected mayor and city councilors off the payroll and canceled city council meetings from now until he decides to hold them again.
The state began its preliminary financial review of Detroit last week. Inkster's on the way. Chris Savage of Eclectablog runs this chart, a snapshot of the towns that either already have an emergency manager or have been put on notice by the state. By his calculation, 50.7 percent of African Americans in Michigan would no longer be represented by elected officials if the state pulls in Detroit and Inkster. Democracy will not for them, not for now. Chris writes:
I'm asked repeatedly "What is YOUR answer then, if you don't like the Emergency Manager law.". My answer is this: solving a municipalities problems does not start from the baseline that the locally-elected, democratically-elected officials are not a useful part of the process, to be shoved aside. Everything that happens should begin at the baseline that democracy is not just important, it's essential, even if it's not always pretty and even if it's sometimes inconvenient in the rush to privatize everything that isn't nailed down to funnel taxpayer money to private companies.
The Republicans and their financial managers seem quite comfortable, really, with the role of tyrant. It's for your own good, after all.
(Chart: Eclectablog)
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we better stop these people ASAP>>> many will say it is THEM (right now African Americans) not ME>> well today yes it might be.. but tomorrow.. watch out.. these people are very dangerous.. and this country is in a very bad situation if they can do these things so easily...
Rachel,
We have a friend in Flint-- He is very actively fighting this-- The governor of a state CAN"T, in a Democracy have this kind of power!! This would be equal to Obama throwing out Congress, taking away pay and benefits and appointing a CZAR to make all the decisions that Congress now does.
Fascinating idea Bates.Our federal government is a little bit overloaded with checks and balances creating gridlock. I don't know about Michigan but I do know that California and many other places require an impossible super majority for some key functions, putting an obstructionist minority in charge. Break down of civil process is a call to repair the process not an excuse to throw it out.
Bates 62 ... You're right. Maybe (for our own good!) Obama should unilaterally establish single-payer health care, institute a 50% tax rate on taxable income in excess of $1 million, commit billions to infrastructure construction, put the "Dream Act" into effect, and declare "card check" to be the law. While he's at it, how about throwing a bunch of banksters in jail for their role in the financial mess.
I'm good with that!
Where is the ACLU in this?
Where is the SCOTUS on this!!!
The corrupt SCOTUS is owned by the right wing through its activist judges. Don't look to the current SCOTUS for anything even approaching "justice" until they can be removed. The SCOTUS is not on the side of the 99% or the Constitution.
You're preaching to the choir. I like these things before the SCOTUS so we can see how right wing biased they can be. More food for thought.....or perhaps they would be forced to actually support our Constitution. Hummm.
".....or perhaps they would be forced to actually support our Constitution."
Not a chance, at least on the part of four of them. They're bought and paid for by corporate interests. Any relationship between Scalia/Thomas/Alito/Roberts and justice for anyone outside the 1% is purely coincidental. And, as Kennedy showed in Citizens United, he's pretty much on that train, too.
Cases must go through the State Courts first before the matter goes to the Supreme Court and that august body has its own kind of blurry criteria for deciding what cases to take and what ones to leave alone. This isn't gonna go before the U.S. Supreme Court for a while
I understand that GEORGE WASHINGTON once said, "Asking the private citizen to vote for President is like asking a blind man to choose a color of paint." I presume that Washington recognized the "folly" in having the man behind the plow in the field in Georgia or in a New York factory to have sufficient awareness to select the most qualified individual to serve as the Nation's chief exectutive & commnader-in-chief.
What may have seemed reasonable in Washington's time is certainly not reasonable now. In this age, we possess a much higher degree of knowledge and understanding of our political environment. The only major problem is that many people choose not to use that knowledge to ensure they are well represented.
Added to that is the fact that the aristocracy, whatever its form, has always underestimated and undervalued the wisdom (and temperament) of the 'common' men and women of the land ... right up to the point that they lost their heads over it.
We are more than capable of selecting our leadership, we just need to do so wisely.
These decisions should be left to the 1% they are known for looking out for the peasants
Zing! by frank jacobson ;-)
Anybody that spends their time wishing they were like Snooky or the Kardashians, now less than the farmer ( that are actually working) in the fields.
This is terrifying on so many levels.
How long before OCP actually exists? This is waaaay too scary to let slide. I agree with the other Michael. It may be African Americans now, but that seems to be nothing more than an accident of geography and demography. They WILL come for you and your town.
I don't think it's accidental at all. While it is true that the quest for power will expand, the fact is that disenfranchising the African-American community has been a tactic for a long time. This is not an "accident of geography and demography". This is a focused tactic, due to the overwhelming recent history of African-American votes trending Democratic in the voting booth.
Can we for once leave race out of the discussion. It may so happen the communities are predominantly black, but they also have another thing in common - financial distress. It seems to me a logical approach would be for the state to appoint a manager, but retain the elected officials. In working out a solution, the manager would only have a veto if state funds were being requested. Otherwise, the local officials should decide
I don't think we can leave race out of it. It is not merely a coincidence that the communities which are worse off economically are also those which are not white. If race and class in the US were to be put into a Venn diagram, the overlap would be nearly total.
Tom,
That is exactly the problem - many want to "take out race" from the conversation when actually the ACTION initiated is primarily race driven in the name of "not being racist". Calling a kettle just a kettle when it is indeed black - does not mean the kettle is not in fact black.
And Tom, I must also ask: Should ANY governor be allowed to take your vote and declare emphatically that it does not count at all? That he in fact supercedes your vote? That is what is happening in Michigan.
I said the elected officials should remain and only be over ruled if state funds are involved
A basic Republican belief is that democracy is inefficient. All that damned consensus building and compromise! Just have some tough-minded CEO run things, like a proper authoritarian dictatorship. Yeah, that's the ticket.
The civil rights of the ditizens of Michigan, have been violated by those sworn to uphold them, Impeachment and criminal charges should be brought. Michigan no longer abides by "Of the People, By the People, For the People.
To be fair - this has been done before. The States, by law, create local governments, unless local government structures are clearly and expressly defined in the Constitution of each of the respective State. You're not constitutionally guaranteed a democratically elected local government by the federal constitution, but many state constitutions tend to do so. I haven't actually seen the Michigan State Constitution, but I would not be surprised if it allows the State to do such a thing temporarily. Let's be fair-minded and try to see the other side - I'm a democrat and I'm one of the biggest liberals you can find - but this is not a wholesale assault on democracy or on our rights. Democracy lives another day. This is a State trying to help ensure the financial health of its cities - you can criticize it as a policy, criticize it as misguided or ineffectual - but I doubt that saying "these are the enemies of democracy in our midst" is truly the most constructive sentence we can say.
Also - let's not make this a racial issue. Detroit and Flint are old auto-manufacturing cities. They're big cities, some of the biggest in the State. In the case of Detroit, it is the biggest. And, if the State only took over those two cities - we still would have had a major portion of the State's African-American population. That does not mean that this State Action was racially motivated. There are grave, objective problems in both of these cities, and others in Michigan. The death of the auto-manufacturing industry in that region has caused great poverty and expansive unemployment. Detroit never recovered from the race riots of 1960's. Detroit and Flint and other cities have suffered from white flight for decades on end. The financial problems of those cities are obviously caused by longstanding structural problems. If what is necessary to remedy the effects of these structural problems is drastic action such as this - then so be it. Simply because a lot of African-Americans reside on those cities - does not mean that this was racially motivated. Post Hoc Ergo Proctor Hoc - "After, therefore, because of" is a rhetorical fallacy. Let's remember that, and act up to higher standards.
Perhaps, but I don't believe a totalitarian solution is the best way to proceed in a democratically-based society. And, without the checks & balances that normally (or, at least sometimes) exist in our form of government - who's to say this solution will leave these communities any better off than they were before?
A 'temporary' take-over of a community on any level will have little chance of long-term success if the community members are not actively included in the process of repairing the community. This pattern of 'emergency management' is not good, or effective, leadership. The process may fix something in the short term, but disenfranchised citizens are more likely, and justifiably so, to reject any solutions offered by the current regime, and return to familiar patterns once the enforced leadership is removed.
A better call would have been to appoint temporary leadership that works effectively with those communities in repairing their financial systems and installing transparent, effective governance that the entire community can buy into. Putting in someone who essentially fires everyone and then starts issuing commands from 'on high' will do little more than galvanize the community against the very people and processes that are supposed to exist to help them.
Ultimately, they must become the answer to their problems. Not someone else.
And, I would not be so quick to rule out race as a factor here. It tends to be one even if we don't think it can or should be. Even if the state government doesn't take it into consideration, the appearance of racism can be just as harmful as the existence of racism. Failing to consider it in the process is risky at best. We may not think it matters, but if the people of these communities do, then it matters.
Do not make it a race issue or a class issue. No matter what DENY,DENY!!! Oh and use a bunch of mumbo - jumbo to make it sound learned.
The manager law does not abrogate democracy. It is the temporary suspension of a city's right to manage itself. The law does not affect elections in any way. City managers cannot dictate election law for any other government entity. The only way a city manager can affect elections is if the manager dissolves the city as an entity in which case only local elections for the city are affected. Many states have laws concerning consolidation of school districts which are similar. However, this raises the question whether a town can reincorporate itself after dissolution. But we don't know how this law operates with respect to dissolution. I still question how these managers are chosen and who determines when a city needs a manager.
Racism is a structural problem. If you don't see it that way, you're not as big a liberal as you think.
The first takeover under the Emergency Manager legislation was in Benton Harbor, MI. The first act of the emergency manager was to seize a public park donated to the city for the enjoyment of the children of Benton Harbor. The emergency manager's intention was to sell the park's land to a development company for the $500 million golf course and residential development called Harbor Shores. Whirlpool, which pulled out the rest of its manufacturing in the area last March, is using razing those old facilities for Harbor Shores.
What's interesting about the Benton Harbor takeover is that the legislation that allows it was sponsored by Al Pscholka, who has some interesting ties to the Benton Harbor community. He is a former VP of the development company building Harbor Shores. He is a former aid to Congressman Fred Upton, the heir to Whirlpool, and represents the area, including Benton Harbor. He was also on the Board of Directors for a non-profit org involved in the development of Harbor Shores. At best, it sounds like a conflict of interest.
Some have argued that the legislation was designed specifically for the Benton Harbor takeover. It's just a bonus that it can be employed in other key areas of the state.
Snyder isn't racially motivated. He's quite clearly fiscally motivated. That doesn't mean that there isn't collateral damage, including stomping all over the democratic process in cities that are majority black.
Attributing altruistic motives to a politician that has been so singularly focused on stripping his constituents of power is laughable. Not funny, just laughable.
This is actually both political and racial. It is both the republican need to continue seeing black people as children who need to be taken care of, and sheer, unadulterated greed for political power, money and real estate.
There is nothing altruistic about these power grabs.
I could see suspending normal democratic functions for the purpose of performing finanacial and political surgury for the purpose of restoring economic health to the municipality. What is going on looks far more like the auctioning of organs of a corpse that isn't even cold yet.
Very simply, these bastards are not to be trusted.
All across the United States the Republican Governors and Legislators are limiting the powers of local government, forcing minority communities into bankruptcy and gradually consolidating what used to be local decision making into state functions. Local zoning, health and safety regulations over businesses are being preempted regularly by state law. Business come in, over ride local wishes by bribing state legislators and governors, extract whatever wealth they want from the community, provide minimal public or societal benefits, extract the profits out of the community, leave an environmental mess to clean up and expect the taxpayers to foot that bill. That is government in the US today, because communities are so grateful to get jobs they will tolerate poisoning their children, polluting their water and air, having regular industrial accidents causing damage to life and limb, all for a few pitiful dollars. The same products could be obtained reasonably, safely with minimal damage to the community or to humanity if only the demand for profit were reduced a bit. What an absurd concept, putting human life and well being ahead of maximization of profits.
I just love how no one can even tolerate the idea that a republican action can be even somewhat principled, or at least, well-meaning. All I said, was that you don't have to call them racists and totalitarians. This is not a totalitarian solution - this is a choice of the elected State representatives of a way to solve a problem. You may be right - it may be misguided - the people of those cities may go right back to their old ways of managing their finances after this program is gone, and it will be all for naught - you may be right, this may all be a corrupt bargain made for the profit of a few - you may be right, this might be absolutely wrong in terms of solving the problem.
But the fact of the matter is that we do not have to question whether our opponents love their state or their city, or whether our opponents believe in democracy, or whether our opponents believe in innate rights - in order to oppose their policies. That kind of rhetoric, that kind of mistrust - which arises on both the right and the left, and definitely more so on the right than the left, but nonetheless on the Left also - that kind of rhetoric only further exacerbates our problems, alienates people who might otherwise be involved in politics and our liberal cause, and further distances us from conservatives, who regardless of what some might wish, we still have to live with and who are still our fellow countrymen.
I understand all your complaints. But let's target our attacks - because questioning whether the conservatives believe in democracy is going to achieve nothing but inflame them to retort right back at you the words "communist," "socialist," "anti-American," and "fascist."
People do not have a constitutional right to local government. It's that simple. If a States sees that the only way to save a few cities from bankruptcy is to initate such shattering action as to appoint a "city manager" aside from the city council or elected city officials - then that policy may be drastic and misguided, but it's not an attack on democracy or civil liberties.
As for racism - I was simply noting that the biggest city in the State - Detroit - is majority African-American, Flint, another large city in Michigan, is also majority African-American. The fact that those two cities are having extreme financial difficulties due to longstanding, historical, structural problems alone - means that a substantial portion of the State's African-American population will be included in this program. But simply because a substantial portion or majority of the State's African-American population is included in a program, or because a program unequally affects or includes a certain minority - does not mean that program is racist. Welfare affects minority families more heavily than white families because minority families are, unfortunately poorer - does that mean that the welfare program was conceived in a malignantly racist fashion? No. Post Hoc Ergo Proctor Hoc.
Lastly, I had some people say "maybe you're not as liberal as you think." I support a naitonal infrastructure corp, a new stimulus bill, affirmative action, gay rights, better education, higher-paid teachers, college made within reach for all Americans, foreign aid, and environmental regulation, among a host of other liberal causes. I know that racism is a structural problem. I know that poverty is a vicious cycle. This kind of attack is unwarranted. Achnowledging the other side as sincere, as something more than base, as principled, as having a point of view does not mean we are surrendering our argument. It is the only basis that can enable us to disagree, while working together, stand at opposing ends, but still be united. It is the only basis upon which we can solve problems and move this country forward.
And the fact that manufacturing has been leaving America for foreign shores has nothing to do with the straits that these communitees are in, right? And if it is necessary to destroy these communities to save them, so be it, right? Representative democracy is a privilege not a right, yeah?
Make like an auto-affixing lightbulb and go screw yourself.
This is a grab for wealth more than anything. The group (pawns) it's being snatched from is least able to fight it off. Rest assured, the monies once used to help prop-up these communities will find its way directly into the pockets of the private corporate when the "dust" settles.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
Taken from the Declaration of Independence, from the part most people don't read.
Manly firmness. That's a new one on me.
There's no escape from "male enhancement" spam.
So in other words "To hell with democracy" these financial burdens did not all happen because of city mismanagement. In fact I'm pretty sure It's because of unemployment,corporate/big bank bailouts and the like but to arbitrarily take over a city or town because in your opinion it would be better as if you are a god and you know best is akin to what happened to begin WW2. If you suspend liberties as we have been doing for the last 10 years there is no democracy. America is is headed down a slope that we have never seen thanks to the "It's for your own good crowd."How long will it be before they say you don't need an education it's for your own good. And while you may think that I'm taking this to an extreme, answer this question if you please.How many times have you seen education budgets gutted for inner city public schools in the name of it's for your own good.
Please do not misunderstand me I really do believe in fiscal responsibility but at what price. In this case it's DEMOCRACY. Those people elected their leaders and if persons on the state level do not like the way that the persons duly elected are handling the situation then they should move to that local and cast a vote.
As for the race thing you could see it if it were your shoes
Fan, Put them in a ghetto and don't waste money on schools because they will never amount to anything anyway. They don't bother to say it's for their own good, just they're not worth it. BTW walk in his shoes is a little worn. I prefer just open your eyes.
Reasonable people work to solve problems together, not to impose one universal set of solutions on what may not be the problem to be solved. Local government financial problems tend to result from unfunded state and federal mandates combined with reductions in federal and state funding sources. If there is an expectation that cities, with declining tax bases can somehow increase services while reducing expenditures, then someone is going to be headed for a big wake up call. We either get it right, or start abandoning cities now because austerity and plutocracy will not work to get financially troubled communities back on their feet. The only thing that will work is cooperation of people of good will who actually understand government is merely the collective undertaking of tasks we cannot do alone. As long as we've got banksters and their cronies who only view government as another way to steal the resources of humanity, we as a nation are headed for third world status as soon as our ability to finance our military runs out. China is not going to keep paying for our wars.
While voting with ones feet is highly effective, for those who are in the most dire straits, it is all but impossible.
In the wake of Brown v. Board of Education which mandated the intergration of schools, whites voted with their feet and moved to the suburbs so there would be a little less coffee in the cream when it came to educating their children.
And actually that was fine. In the cities there were factory jobs and the schools, under the Johnson Great Society mandate were of high quality even in the black neighborhoods and white flight was partially mitigated by Magnet schools, which brought kids into black schools from the suburbs in return for special programs that benefited the black kids as well.
But then Reagan got elected. Unions got busted, factories got closed, the social safety net got shredded and public education got gutted. This was the birth of the brave new world called the inner-city. There was suffering worse than that seen during the Great Depression which was fertile soil for the Crack Epidemic.
Mobility remains the issue. For those in the hardest hit areas, the only chance they have to leave their neighborhood is the Dept of Corrections. Voting with your feet is an effective choice, but not always a viable one for those most in need and short of being absolutely homeless.
Your blog fits nicely with a quote from Thomas Jefferson...
"God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion.
The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is
wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts
they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions,
it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. ...
And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not
warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of
resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as
to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost
in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from
time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
It is its natural manure."
November 13, 1787, letter to William S. Smith, quoted in Padover's Jefferson On Democracy, ed., 1939
Mistakenly duplicated.
I ask you: "In the United States of America, the federal government has rights over "states rights"; The states have "rights" other than the "federal rights" that supersede "states rights"; Therefore, is it possible for the federal government to take over a state and throw out the "elected officials" of that state because the state is financially in distress? I'm 69 yrs old. I have seen Indiana bail out Illinois because they went broke, but I never saw the government take over the state and throw out the elected officials. Where is the precedence for this thought, or action?
People of Michigan, People of the USA, this needs to be addressed now!
Check your history from 145 years ago.
Enlighten me please!?!
Well, 145 years ago would be 1866, so maybe DC is referring to Reconstruction.
This is coming to every state..for this is nothing less than what has been planned from the beginning.
This is the NWO and it's just the beginning .
The United States Congress tends to do that when they are considering a territory for statehood. Congress forced Utah to get rid of polygamy, if forced Arizona to give Las Vegas to Nevada, it forces Colorado to give water to California. Michigan is a creation of the United States Congress in that it was once a territory, however once created it is entitled to all constitutional protections of other states. Personally I kind of like the Republicans being stupid enough to keep doing dumb ass things like attacking peaceful protesters, taking over local government, ignoring citizens, suppressing the vote, shrinking the individual safety net while expanding corporate socialism....all these things will just bring about the revolution quicker. A system run by visionless incompetents and criminals that continues to make the same destructive mistakes year after year is not sustainable and will fall under its own weight.
I don't know where you got that one. It would have been a neat trick, because the State of Nevada's borders were defined long before Arizona was split off from the Territory of New Mexico and both became States just about 100 years ago.
The state of Nevada needed a port, so the border of Nevada was extended southward into the Arizona Territory to give Nevada, Las Vegas and it wasn't like Arizona objected all that much. It was part of the deal when the State of Nevada was created so the Union would control the silver there.
Rachel’s show sometimes blows me away with how excellent her arguments are. But today I am blown away by her blog and your excellent comments. I wish sometimes
she would put one comment from her blog on her show. It wouldn’t take but 20 seconds and it would help her advertise the blog.
Let's reconsider this whole "financial martial law" thing. There are, after all, plenty of States having trouble balancing their budgets in this economy. Maybe it's time for them to be taken over by the Federal government: disband the Legislatures, furlough the Governors, etc.
I don't see why American conservatives couldn't line up to support that plan.
If the President were a Republican and the state legislature were controlled by Democrats along w/ a Democratic governor then they probably could. Otherwise it'd be tyranny.
All of the militia groups should be crawling out from under their rocks over this. But the fact that it is predominantly black communities being taken over keeps them mollified. If it was a white town or if it was being done by a democratic governor would have bloodshed in the streets.
Relax, comrades!
Comrade Valdimir Ilyich knows what's best for all of us.
When he appoints Comrade Joseph Vissarionovich to run your collective the people will rejoice and sing praises to the motherland!
Or else.
This article is very misleading and inflamatory. There are currently four cities in Michigan with Emergency Financial Managers. The EFM's for three of those cities, Benton Harbor, Ecorse, and Pontiac were appointed by Democratic Governor Granholm. The fourth, Flint, was appointed this year by Republican Governor Snyder. To imply this is a Republican effort to take over minority cities is just plain dishonest.
Thank you Michigan. We can't afford them, take them off the payroll
@Prolixity Split: You wrote:
"The first takeover under the Emergency Manager legislation was in Benton Harbor, MI. The first act of the emergency manager was to seize a public park donated to the city for the enjoyment of the children of Benton Harbor. The emergency manager's intention was to sell the park's land to a development company for the $500 million golf course and residential development called Harbor Shores. Whirlpool, which pulled out the rest of its manufacturing in the area last March, is using razing those old facilities for Harbor Shores."
Just for the sake of accuracy, this is not what happened. The leasing of the park land to Harbor Shores was not done by an Emergency Manager. That happened around 2008 and Joe Harris was not put in as the EFM until 2010.
I am willing to bet, things will get worse before they get better. The above posts were interesting but too many people have their own facts. I don't know who to believe.
Actually, what I want to know - have any white neighborhoods been targeted? Is this truly a one-sided attack against minorities?
If no white neighborhoods have been targetted - then this is definitely a ploy to end democracy in Michigan. If the Republicans succeed here, I think you will see this more and more in other states as well - especially since this is really not making much news anywhere except the Rachel Maddow show. Fox News has made no metion of this at all, period.
Why is an emergency financial manager needed?? Because the liberals who were running Michigan for decades drove it into the financial black hole. This is just the beginning of bankruptcies or near bankruptcies of our cities and municipalities, thanks to bloated salaries, pensions and retirement health care. Many cities in the liberal, union dominated state of California are going bust. But go ahead. Keep supporting those unions until every city is belly up.
For you to so blindly say that it is all the Unions fault!
Economics 101:
You have $100 per month in bills in your household but you only are taking in $70 per month to pay those bills. Now, keep in mind, that $85 in bills are your necessary monthly bills and cannot be defunded easily, like rent, food and gas.
Do you:
A) Make sure you have income coming in that equals at least $100 or more?
B) Cut spending ONLY.
c) Take in less money AND cut spending to lower your monthly bill.
d) Increase the amount you are taking in AND cut spending where you can.
The Republican plan: B
The Democratic plan: D
That is the problem with our current system in a nut shell. Not unions!
Salaries, pensions and retirement health plans make up over half of many city and municipal budgets. We are at the start of seeing many of these go belly up. The public sector workers in Vallejo, California made 20-30 cents on the dollar when that city filed for bankruptcy.
Contessa you are talking about Wall Street and projecting it to people who actually work for a living. I guess in contessa's mind the only people in this country who deserve a living wage, a reasonable pension and health plan are those who earn their living off the sweat of other people's labor. Please change your nickname contessa, your lies, misrepresentations and ignorance are getting old. Its pretty obvious you are not going to change your style, so give us a new personna, this one is getting tiresome to deal with.
Contessa is the handle of someone who purported to be a man under the name of eap1. One of his more outstanding comments was that he will be glad when the federal govt fails and they quit printing greenbacks because that will make them increase in value like baseball cards. Then he'll be rich. And he claims to be a patriot while hoping the federal govt dies.
By implication, he also believes that the heroes of 9/11 are to blame for the state of the economy because they were all public union members.
Au contraire. Cutting spending is very important. And when the economy is strong, a millionaire tax may be implemented. With a strong economy though, comes much better revenue. Repubs are focused on making the economy strong again. Tax rates have been all over the place throughout the years, and despite this, tax revenue per GDP has remained fairly stable at 18%. The key is a strong economy which one does NOT get with European style socialism. Facts are facts.
contessa, what facts? not a fact in the post, and actually tax revenue as part of GDP in the US is the lowest it has been since 1964 and is somewhere around 27% where the average for industrial nations is about 45%. You cannot just make up numbers contessa, someone is going to check them. You seem not to understand that more than $20 trillion taxpayer dollars were stolen by Ben Bernanke and the banks in 2008, under your lover GW Bushes's watch, but then you still think Clinton was president on September 11,2001. You are beating a dead horse contessa. That is the American Style socialism you support contessa, steal from 150 million taxpayers to give welfare to 400 families. Your heroes stole more money in 2008 from the taxpayers than every penny of individual welfare in the past 40 years.
Let me get a qick bit-slap in. http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/02/income-inequality-in-america-chart-graph