Conservatives ramp up rhetoric to accuse Obama of reverse racism in schools

Link:

The Daily Caller: Obama backs race-based school discipline policies

The conservative “media” is at it again.  They are blatantly espousing more disinformation – yes, disinformation and not misinformation – about a campaign to ensure students are punished fairly in our schools.  The author, Neil Munro, would have you believe that President Obama wants to punish white kids more, but a read through the above link will show you only a fool could fall for such rhetoric i.e. the conservative base.

The quote Munro uses from Obama states that he wants to promote "a positive school climate that does not rely on methods that result in disparate use of disciplinary tools." 

If anything, the quote Munro uses contradicts his story. 

Great journalism there. 

Theory v Fact: Analyzing austerity and stimulus

Link:

Yahoo: The varying impact of austerity and stimulus

"...the best way for a government to put austerity into effect is by cutting subsidies and raising taxes for low earners, and the best way to carry out stimulus is by cutting taxes for high earners."

The article presented is ridiculous for no other reason than it only addresses theory and not facts. This is a typical tactic by conservatives -- rhetoric -- as facts have a liberal bias. We have over seventy years of historic policy that would -- and has -- refuted trickle-down theory.

Three things:

1.) Tax cuts do not create jobs. They never really have. Go back to 2001, or go back to the eighties when Reagan was forced to raise taxes after cutting them.

A similar fate awaited Bush I.

Unfortunately, Bush II made that same mistake TWICE while sending us into TWO wars (not to mention Medicare Part D which holds the country hostage to pharmaceutical companies) thus having to borrow from China to fund them.

Brilliant.

Oh yeah, no job creation from the tax cuts despite what the article would have you believe.

There's that liberal bias again...

2.) The article does not address consumer spending...you know...that little thing that attributes seventy percent of GDP.  This is kind of important when dealing with job creation as spending creates a demand; demand creates jobs.  Stimulus helps consumer spending; it’s implicit. 

3.) Which brings us to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.  In 2010 alone, the nonpartisan CBO reported job growth from the stimulus at upwards of 3.6 million jobs and unemployment reduced upwards of two percent (despite more investor and consumer confidence driving more people into "unemployed" status).

And I'm not sure what country the author is living in, but we have had six-digit job growth almost every month for some time now.

I haven't even touched the auto bailout.

Again, the bottom line is that the author only writes in theory. I just don't understand why he ignores past policy...unless he just doesn't like the facts being presented.

America’s ghost organization strikes again: Will the Trayvon Martin case shine a light on government’s puppet master?

www.sodahead.com

Link:

New York Times: Lobbyists, Guns, and Money

Paul Krugman had an interesting op-ed the other day concerning America's little known ghost organization ran by the Koch brothers:  the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).


For those of you unfamiliar with this institution, the supposed "nonpartisan" ALEC is a steamroller for the American ultraconservative movement containing a lobbying arm, a corporate arm, and an arm made up of legislators.

People for the American Way informs us that “in 2009, of the 826 ‘model bills’ that were introduced in state legislatures [by ALEC], 115 of those bills were enacted into law.”  In some cases, these laws were written almost word-for-word by ALEC.

Regardless of your opinion on the Trayvon Martin case – I am of the opinion of letting the law handle it since neither of us were there and neither of us are Floridian legal scholars – one can’t simply ignore ALEC’s involvement with Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law. 

Changes to PfP: Introducing People for Polity Mobile!

Link:

People for Polity Mobile

You may have noticed that we made a few minor changes here at PfP.  It you will look below the title banner, you will see three new tabs:  Home, Images, and PfP Mobile respectively.

The "Home" tab is self-explanatory.  Click it, and it takes you to PfP's home page.  If you click on the "Images" tab, you will be able to view various images sent by our readers.  If you would like to submit an image, email peopleforpolity@gmail.com.

Lastly, clicking on the "PfP Mobile" tab will take you to PfP's newest feature:  People for Polity Mobile.  

PfP Mobile allows our members to post to People for Polity on-the-go from their mobile phones!  For more information, click on the above link.

As always, if you have any questions or submissions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Solidarity!  

The American Revolution and the American Counter-Revolution: Past, Present, and Future

[Today, we welcome back SWR!  PfP would like to thank him for his contribution!  As always, if you would like to contribute to People for Polity, email peopleforpolity@gmail.com.]


I want, here, to try to speak of something that bothers me about American history and how it is presented to and understood by the common person that no one ever talks about and then how this relates to the contemporary United States.

Often, people like to speak about and present the current U.S. Constitution like it is the document that embodies the values and goals of the American Revolution.

That, however, is not really true.

The true document of the revolution -- besides the Declaration of Independence -- was the Articles of Confederation.

Myths, deception, and lies: Rhetoric and the conservative right [VIDEO]

filipspagnoli.wordpress.com 

Link:

Robert Reich debunks 6 big GOP lies about the economy

UpTakeVideo recently posted a video on YouTube of former Secretary of Labor, professor, and author Robert Reich speaking at the "Summit For A Fair Economy" in Minneapolis, Minnesota on September 10, 2011.  In the video, Reich details 6 big GOP lies about the economy.

The lies as detailed by Reich and the video's description:

1.) Tax cuts to the rich and corporations trickle down to the rest of us.  (No it doesn't, and it never has.)

2.) If you shrink government you create jobs.  (No, you get rid of jobs that way.)

3.) High taxes on the rich hurts the economy.  (No, the economy grew when the US did this under Eisenhower.)

4.) Debt is to be avoided, and it is mostly caused by Medicare.  (No, if debt is properly used to grow the economy, it becomes a smaller part of the budget because of increased revenue, and Medicare has the lowest overhead of any health insurance plan out there.)

5.) Social Security is a Ponzi scheme.  (No, it's solid for 26 years. Social Security is solid beyond that if the rich pay the same percentage in social security taxes as the rest of us do.)

6.) We need to tax the poor.  (This is what Republicans have been proposing when they say any "tax reform" needs to involve all Americans, because poor people pay no income tax. The poor have no money, and taxing them will not solve our budget problems.)

More after the break...