Links of the Week

GOP Only for Rich Tax Cuts
The GOP's current platform comes down to "we are not democrats". When asked for a specific plan on how to turn the economy around, the best they can come up with is "tax cuts", specifically make the Bush Tax Cuts permanent. The only problem with this plan is it clearly has worked in the previous 10 years and added around $2.5 trillion to the deficit. Considering the party's sudden love for deficit reduction, further tax cuts present a problem since there are no means to pay for them. Basically a tax cut = increased deficit. So you think when they actually put forth a tax cut plan they would device a means to pay for it right? Nope, as the lovely chart on the right illustrates, their plan isn't really any different than the Democrat, at least until you hit the $500k threshold. The Democratic plan pays for itself and may reduce the deficit because the rich don't benefit anymore than any other tax group. The Republican plan basically goes "you rich? Here have more money!". It’s that trickle down axiom of there that has never worked. After all, what happens to a tax cut that doesn't get spent? It doesn't trickle down. What happened to the previous 10 years of tax cuts? As the economy shows, they clearly didn't trickle down. Instead of listening to the Limbaughs of the world that have 99% opinion and 1% fact, look at the facts. Ignore my words, just look at the chart and noticed the huge difference and ask yourself "does this make any since?" and "Isn't this the opposite of fiscal responsibility the GOP claims to believe in?".

GOP Doesn't Understand the 1st Amendment
It is funny how the GOP claims to be the only people that care about the Constitution. They consider it sacrosanct...at least until those beliefs is actually tested. When it comes to the warm and fuzzies of the illusion of safety, they get behind the Patriot Act that eliminates the Bill of Rights on a whim. When it comes to immigration, suddenly the 14th amendment is wrong. When it comes to getting who they want in the Senate, the 17th amendment has got to go. And now, thanks to a Muslim Community Center being built blocks away from Ground Zero (not at ground zero like they claim), suddenly the 1st should be ignored. At the link, Newt even tossed up the obligatory Nazi reference, forgetting that if someone wants to throw up a Nazi symbol on private property, they can. It too is protected by the 1st. Its seems that the GOP don't get that ideals should be able to withstand even the strongest tests. If you believe in what America stands for, then even something as ugly as a "Nazi sign next to the Holocaust Museum" gets as much protection as a Mosque, a Church or anything else. If your ideals can withstand such tests, then you really don't have any ideals. If the last 10 years have shown, the conservative movement doesn't have any ideals as they toss them with ease every time something challenges them.

Operation Iraqi Freedom Ending
Yesterday the last Stryker Brigade left Kuwait, signaling "an end to the United States' active combat role" in Iraq. The plan is to keep to Obama's promise of ending the combat mission by August 31st, 2010. A plan that the Iraqi government supports. I guess history will decide the final end date but it seems one of the longest wars in United States history will be considered to have ended on that date and it is about time. It was a fiasco from beginning to end, not because of the troops, but because of the Bush Admin and the war being an excuse to throw money to contractors that didn't deserve it and abused the trust the American people put into the Bush administration. The war was pretext for a money grab and sadly we lost a lot of good soldiers because of it.