6053 Dead, 1196 since 1/20/09
2011-06-03 04:46:20 UTC
http://www.readersupportednews.org/opinion2/279-82/6133-republican-budget-
extremist-and-cruel
Republican Budget Extremist and Cruel
By Sen. Bernie Sanders, Reader Supported News
02 June 11
Sen. Sanders calls out GOP and Dems on corporate tax rates, breaks
for wealthiest.
Statement and Senate Floor Remarks by Sen. Bernie Sanders
ongress and the White House are now focused on how we deal with our huge
deficit - a crisis brought about over the last 10 years by two wars, tax
breaks for the rich, the Wall Street bailout and a prescription drug
program - all unpaid for. The deficit also increased as a result of the
declining tax revenues during a current recession, caused by the greed
and illegal behavior of Wall Street.
The debate over deficit reduction comes at an unusual moment in American
economic history. While the middle class is in rapid decline and poverty
is increasing, the wealthiest people in our country and largest
corporations are doing phenomenally well. Over the last several decades
almost all new income created in this country has gone to the top 1
percent, who now earn more income than the bottom 50 percent. Further,
the United States now has the most unequal distribution of wealth of any
major country with the top 400 individuals owning more wealth than the
bottom 150 million.
Given the reality of record-breaking corporate profits and the growing
gap between the very rich and everyone else, it should be a surprise to
no one that every recently published poll suggests that the overwhelming
majority of the American people want the deficit to be addressed through
shared sacrifice. They do not believe that the deficit should be reduced
solely on the backs of working families, the elderly, children, the sick
and the poor - many of whom are already suffering as a result of the
recession. Unfortunately, that is exactly what the Republicans have
proposed.
The Republicans passed a budget in the House that is breathtaking in its
degree of cruelty. It would end Medicare as we know it by giving senior
citizens inadequate vouchers to buy health insurance from private
companies. The result is that seniors would, on average, see their out-of-
pocket expenses more than double - increasing by over $6,000 a year. It
would also cut, over 10 years, $770 billion from Medicaid, vastly
increasing the number of uninsured Americans, and threatening the long-
term care of the elderly who live in nursing homes.
The Republican budget would also make savage cuts in education,
nutrition, affordable housing, infrastructure, environmental protection
and virtually every program that low- and moderate-income Americans
depend upon.
Amazingly, while the Republican budget writers waged a vicious and
unprecedented attack on the needs of working families, they do not ask
the wealthiest people in this country, whose tax rates are now the lowest
on record, to contribute one dime more for deficit reduction. Nor do they
propose to do away with any of the loopholes that enable extremely
profitable corporations (like General Electric, Bank of America, Exxon-
Mobil, Chevron and many more) to pay little or no federal income taxes.
Quite the contrary! The Republican budget actually provides $1 trillion
more in tax breaks over the next 10 years for the very rich.
Further, at a time when defense spending has more than tripled since 1997
and now consumes more than half of the discretionary budget, the
Republican budget does nothing to reduce unnecessary military spending.
http://www.readersupportednews.org/opinion2/279-82/6133-republican-budget-
extremist-and-cruel
Republican Budget Extremist and Cruel
By Sen. Bernie Sanders, Reader Supported News
02 June 11
Sen. Sanders calls out GOP and Dems on corporate tax rates, breaks
for wealthiest.
Statement and Senate Floor Remarks by Sen. Bernie Sanders
ongress and the White House are now focused on how we deal with our huge
deficit - a crisis brought about over the last 10 years by two wars, tax
breaks for the rich, the Wall Street bailout and a prescription drug
program - all unpaid for. The deficit also increased as a result of the
declining tax revenues during a current recession, caused by the greed
and illegal behavior of Wall Street.
The debate over deficit reduction comes at an unusual moment in American
economic history. While the middle class is in rapid decline and poverty
is increasing, the wealthiest people in our country and largest
corporations are doing phenomenally well. Over the last several decades
almost all new income created in this country has gone to the top 1
percent, who now earn more income than the bottom 50 percent. Further,
the United States now has the most unequal distribution of wealth of any
major country with the top 400 individuals owning more wealth than the
bottom 150 million.
Given the reality of record-breaking corporate profits and the growing
gap between the very rich and everyone else, it should be a surprise to
no one that every recently published poll suggests that the overwhelming
majority of the American people want the deficit to be addressed through
shared sacrifice. They do not believe that the deficit should be reduced
solely on the backs of working families, the elderly, children, the sick
and the poor - many of whom are already suffering as a result of the
recession. Unfortunately, that is exactly what the Republicans have
proposed.
The Republicans passed a budget in the House that is breathtaking in its
degree of cruelty. It would end Medicare as we know it by giving senior
citizens inadequate vouchers to buy health insurance from private
companies. The result is that seniors would, on average, see their out-of-
pocket expenses more than double - increasing by over $6,000 a year. It
would also cut, over 10 years, $770 billion from Medicaid, vastly
increasing the number of uninsured Americans, and threatening the long-
term care of the elderly who live in nursing homes.
The Republican budget would also make savage cuts in education,
nutrition, affordable housing, infrastructure, environmental protection
and virtually every program that low- and moderate-income Americans
depend upon.
Amazingly, while the Republican budget writers waged a vicious and
unprecedented attack on the needs of working families, they do not ask
the wealthiest people in this country, whose tax rates are now the lowest
on record, to contribute one dime more for deficit reduction. Nor do they
propose to do away with any of the loopholes that enable extremely
profitable corporations (like General Electric, Bank of America, Exxon-
Mobil, Chevron and many more) to pay little or no federal income taxes.
Quite the contrary! The Republican budget actually provides $1 trillion
more in tax breaks over the next 10 years for the very rich.
Further, at a time when defense spending has more than tripled since 1997
and now consumes more than half of the discretionary budget, the
Republican budget does nothing to reduce unnecessary military spending.
The Republican House budget is the most radical right-wing extremist
budget ever passed in the modern history of our country, and the more the
American people learn about it the more they are rejecting it. The
question is, however: Where are the Democrats? Where is President Obama?
Will the president remain strong in his demand that any deficit reduction
agreement include an end to Bush's tax breaks for the wealthy? Will he
really fight to eliminate corporate tax loopholes? Will he end the absurd
policies which allow the rich and large corporations to avoid paying tens
of billions in taxes by establishing phony addresses in off-shore tax
havens? Or, as he has done within the last year, will he give Republicans
almost everything they want at the expense of ordinary Americans.
As Vermont's senator and a member of the Budget Committee, I will not
support a plan to reduce the deficit that does not call for shared
sacrifice. At least 50 percent of any deficit reduction plan must come
from increased revenue from the wealthy and large corporations.
Instead of ending Medicare as we know it and making savage cuts to
community health centers and children's health care programs, we must ask
the top 2 percent of income earners, who currently pay the lowest upper-
income tax rate on record, to start paying their fair share of taxes.
Instead of making it harder for working families to send their kids to
college, we must end the foreign tax shelters that enable the wealthy and
large corporations to avoid paying tens of billions in U.S. taxes.
Instead of making major cuts in job creating programs in infrastructure,
public transportation and sustainable energy we must do away with a wide
variety of loopholes that allow Wall Street executives, whose profits and
compensation packages are soaring, to have a lower tax rate than middle
class workers.
The deficit crisis is real and must be addressed. But it cannot be solved
on the backs of the weak and vulnerable. Every segment of our society,
including those who have money and power, must contribute and must
sacrifice.
The Republican House budget is the most radical right-wing extremist
budget ever passed in the modern history of our country, and the more the
American people learn about it the more they are rejecting it. The
question is, however: Where are the Democrats? Where is President Obama?
Will the president remain strong in his demand that any deficit reduction
agreement include an end to Bush's tax breaks for the wealthy? Will he
really fight to eliminate corporate tax loopholes? Will he end the absurd
policies which allow the rich and large corporations to avoid paying tens
of billions in taxes by establishing phony addresses in off-shore tax
havens? Or, as he has done within the last year, will he give Republicans
almost everything they want at the expense of ordinary Americans.
As Vermont's senator and a member of the Budget Committee, I will not
support a plan to reduce the deficit that does not call for shared
sacrifice. At least 50 percent of any deficit reduction plan must come
from increased revenue from the wealthy and large corporations.
Instead of ending Medicare as we know it and making savage cuts to
community health centers and children's health care programs, we must ask
the top 2 percent of income earners, who currently pay the lowest upper-
income tax rate on record, to start paying their fair share of taxes.
Instead of making it harder for working families to send their kids to
college, we must end the foreign tax shelters that enable the wealthy and
large corporations to avoid paying tens of billions in U.S. taxes.
Instead of making major cuts in job creating programs in infrastructure,
public transportation and sustainable energy we must do away with a wide
variety of loopholes that allow Wall Street executives, whose profits and
compensation packages are soaring, to have a lower tax rate than middle
class workers.
The deficit crisis is real and must be addressed. But it cannot be solved
on the backs of the weak and vulnerable. Every segment of our society,
including those who have money and power, must contribute and must
sacrifice.
extremist-and-cruel
Republican Budget Extremist and Cruel
By Sen. Bernie Sanders, Reader Supported News
02 June 11
Sen. Sanders calls out GOP and Dems on corporate tax rates, breaks
for wealthiest.
Statement and Senate Floor Remarks by Sen. Bernie Sanders
ongress and the White House are now focused on how we deal with our huge
deficit - a crisis brought about over the last 10 years by two wars, tax
breaks for the rich, the Wall Street bailout and a prescription drug
program - all unpaid for. The deficit also increased as a result of the
declining tax revenues during a current recession, caused by the greed
and illegal behavior of Wall Street.
The debate over deficit reduction comes at an unusual moment in American
economic history. While the middle class is in rapid decline and poverty
is increasing, the wealthiest people in our country and largest
corporations are doing phenomenally well. Over the last several decades
almost all new income created in this country has gone to the top 1
percent, who now earn more income than the bottom 50 percent. Further,
the United States now has the most unequal distribution of wealth of any
major country with the top 400 individuals owning more wealth than the
bottom 150 million.
Given the reality of record-breaking corporate profits and the growing
gap between the very rich and everyone else, it should be a surprise to
no one that every recently published poll suggests that the overwhelming
majority of the American people want the deficit to be addressed through
shared sacrifice. They do not believe that the deficit should be reduced
solely on the backs of working families, the elderly, children, the sick
and the poor - many of whom are already suffering as a result of the
recession. Unfortunately, that is exactly what the Republicans have
proposed.
The Republicans passed a budget in the House that is breathtaking in its
degree of cruelty. It would end Medicare as we know it by giving senior
citizens inadequate vouchers to buy health insurance from private
companies. The result is that seniors would, on average, see their out-of-
pocket expenses more than double - increasing by over $6,000 a year. It
would also cut, over 10 years, $770 billion from Medicaid, vastly
increasing the number of uninsured Americans, and threatening the long-
term care of the elderly who live in nursing homes.
The Republican budget would also make savage cuts in education,
nutrition, affordable housing, infrastructure, environmental protection
and virtually every program that low- and moderate-income Americans
depend upon.
Amazingly, while the Republican budget writers waged a vicious and
unprecedented attack on the needs of working families, they do not ask
the wealthiest people in this country, whose tax rates are now the lowest
on record, to contribute one dime more for deficit reduction. Nor do they
propose to do away with any of the loopholes that enable extremely
profitable corporations (like General Electric, Bank of America, Exxon-
Mobil, Chevron and many more) to pay little or no federal income taxes.
Quite the contrary! The Republican budget actually provides $1 trillion
more in tax breaks over the next 10 years for the very rich.
Further, at a time when defense spending has more than tripled since 1997
and now consumes more than half of the discretionary budget, the
Republican budget does nothing to reduce unnecessary military spending.
http://www.readersupportednews.org/opinion2/279-82/6133-republican-budget-
extremist-and-cruel
Republican Budget Extremist and Cruel
By Sen. Bernie Sanders, Reader Supported News
02 June 11
Sen. Sanders calls out GOP and Dems on corporate tax rates, breaks
for wealthiest.
Statement and Senate Floor Remarks by Sen. Bernie Sanders
ongress and the White House are now focused on how we deal with our huge
deficit - a crisis brought about over the last 10 years by two wars, tax
breaks for the rich, the Wall Street bailout and a prescription drug
program - all unpaid for. The deficit also increased as a result of the
declining tax revenues during a current recession, caused by the greed
and illegal behavior of Wall Street.
The debate over deficit reduction comes at an unusual moment in American
economic history. While the middle class is in rapid decline and poverty
is increasing, the wealthiest people in our country and largest
corporations are doing phenomenally well. Over the last several decades
almost all new income created in this country has gone to the top 1
percent, who now earn more income than the bottom 50 percent. Further,
the United States now has the most unequal distribution of wealth of any
major country with the top 400 individuals owning more wealth than the
bottom 150 million.
Given the reality of record-breaking corporate profits and the growing
gap between the very rich and everyone else, it should be a surprise to
no one that every recently published poll suggests that the overwhelming
majority of the American people want the deficit to be addressed through
shared sacrifice. They do not believe that the deficit should be reduced
solely on the backs of working families, the elderly, children, the sick
and the poor - many of whom are already suffering as a result of the
recession. Unfortunately, that is exactly what the Republicans have
proposed.
The Republicans passed a budget in the House that is breathtaking in its
degree of cruelty. It would end Medicare as we know it by giving senior
citizens inadequate vouchers to buy health insurance from private
companies. The result is that seniors would, on average, see their out-of-
pocket expenses more than double - increasing by over $6,000 a year. It
would also cut, over 10 years, $770 billion from Medicaid, vastly
increasing the number of uninsured Americans, and threatening the long-
term care of the elderly who live in nursing homes.
The Republican budget would also make savage cuts in education,
nutrition, affordable housing, infrastructure, environmental protection
and virtually every program that low- and moderate-income Americans
depend upon.
Amazingly, while the Republican budget writers waged a vicious and
unprecedented attack on the needs of working families, they do not ask
the wealthiest people in this country, whose tax rates are now the lowest
on record, to contribute one dime more for deficit reduction. Nor do they
propose to do away with any of the loopholes that enable extremely
profitable corporations (like General Electric, Bank of America, Exxon-
Mobil, Chevron and many more) to pay little or no federal income taxes.
Quite the contrary! The Republican budget actually provides $1 trillion
more in tax breaks over the next 10 years for the very rich.
Further, at a time when defense spending has more than tripled since 1997
and now consumes more than half of the discretionary budget, the
Republican budget does nothing to reduce unnecessary military spending.
The Republican House budget is the most radical right-wing extremist
budget ever passed in the modern history of our country, and the more the
American people learn about it the more they are rejecting it. The
question is, however: Where are the Democrats? Where is President Obama?
Will the president remain strong in his demand that any deficit reduction
agreement include an end to Bush's tax breaks for the wealthy? Will he
really fight to eliminate corporate tax loopholes? Will he end the absurd
policies which allow the rich and large corporations to avoid paying tens
of billions in taxes by establishing phony addresses in off-shore tax
havens? Or, as he has done within the last year, will he give Republicans
almost everything they want at the expense of ordinary Americans.
As Vermont's senator and a member of the Budget Committee, I will not
support a plan to reduce the deficit that does not call for shared
sacrifice. At least 50 percent of any deficit reduction plan must come
from increased revenue from the wealthy and large corporations.
Instead of ending Medicare as we know it and making savage cuts to
community health centers and children's health care programs, we must ask
the top 2 percent of income earners, who currently pay the lowest upper-
income tax rate on record, to start paying their fair share of taxes.
Instead of making it harder for working families to send their kids to
college, we must end the foreign tax shelters that enable the wealthy and
large corporations to avoid paying tens of billions in U.S. taxes.
Instead of making major cuts in job creating programs in infrastructure,
public transportation and sustainable energy we must do away with a wide
variety of loopholes that allow Wall Street executives, whose profits and
compensation packages are soaring, to have a lower tax rate than middle
class workers.
The deficit crisis is real and must be addressed. But it cannot be solved
on the backs of the weak and vulnerable. Every segment of our society,
including those who have money and power, must contribute and must
sacrifice.
The Republican House budget is the most radical right-wing extremist
budget ever passed in the modern history of our country, and the more the
American people learn about it the more they are rejecting it. The
question is, however: Where are the Democrats? Where is President Obama?
Will the president remain strong in his demand that any deficit reduction
agreement include an end to Bush's tax breaks for the wealthy? Will he
really fight to eliminate corporate tax loopholes? Will he end the absurd
policies which allow the rich and large corporations to avoid paying tens
of billions in taxes by establishing phony addresses in off-shore tax
havens? Or, as he has done within the last year, will he give Republicans
almost everything they want at the expense of ordinary Americans.
As Vermont's senator and a member of the Budget Committee, I will not
support a plan to reduce the deficit that does not call for shared
sacrifice. At least 50 percent of any deficit reduction plan must come
from increased revenue from the wealthy and large corporations.
Instead of ending Medicare as we know it and making savage cuts to
community health centers and children's health care programs, we must ask
the top 2 percent of income earners, who currently pay the lowest upper-
income tax rate on record, to start paying their fair share of taxes.
Instead of making it harder for working families to send their kids to
college, we must end the foreign tax shelters that enable the wealthy and
large corporations to avoid paying tens of billions in U.S. taxes.
Instead of making major cuts in job creating programs in infrastructure,
public transportation and sustainable energy we must do away with a wide
variety of loopholes that allow Wall Street executives, whose profits and
compensation packages are soaring, to have a lower tax rate than middle
class workers.
The deficit crisis is real and must be addressed. But it cannot be solved
on the backs of the weak and vulnerable. Every segment of our society,
including those who have money and power, must contribute and must
sacrifice.