You can fool some of the people all the time, and that's our target market. On no issue has that time-tested Republican strategy been more consistently applied than the impact of tax cuts on the national debt. But even after oceans of red ink washed away George W. Bush's bogus contention that "You cut taxes, […]
Month: February 2012
By almost any measure, Texas has one of the worst health care systems in the nation. Its 26 percent uninsured rate - no other state is even close - put its dead last. Overall, health care in the Lone Star State is ranked 44th by America's Health Rankings and 46th by the Commonwealth Fund. Two […]
Everything you need to know about the economic plans of the Republican White House hopefuls is conveniently contained in two headlines. In October, the McClatchy Newspapers revealed, "GOP presidential candidates' tax plans would benefit the rich." Last week, the Washington Post bookended that analysis with another finding, "Debt will swell under top GOP hopefuls' tax […]
Just two days out from the all-critical Michigan primary, Mitt Romney headed to Florida Sunday to make a pre-race appearance at the Daytona 500. But for Romney, the trip wasn't just an obligatory pilgrimage to woo the conservative fans who booed Michele Obama and Jill Biden at another event last year. More importantly, Romney was […]
During last week's Republican debate in Mesa, Arizona, GOP co-frontrunners Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney claimed "courage" and "resolute" as the single words which respectively best described them. If so, the two rivals might want to take a look back at their records on Social Security. After all, in 2005 Santorum was the GOP point […]
Back in 2007, Bush press secretary Dana Perino famously admitted her total ignorance of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Now as they ratchet up their rhetoric towards Iran, Perino's conservative allies seem to have forgotten the lessons of that critical Cold War confrontation. Then as now, many voices across the political spectrum proclaimed that war […]
Last year, GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney unveiled a plan to extend the Bush tax cuts, eliminate the estate tax and slash corporate taxes. But that proposal, one which would deliver 60 percent of its benefits to the top one percent of taxpayers while draining $6.6 trillion from the U.S. Treasury over ten years, was blasted […]
With their presidential primary process devolving into a farce, Republicans are turning to rising gas prices to bludgeon President Obama. While Newt Gingrich thundered that "gasoline prices are unacceptable," Rick Santorum charged that "We need a president who is on the side of affordable energy." Sadly for the GOP messengers, the data suggest that something […]
As a quick glance at January's presidential fundraising numbers confirms, the unlimited cash flowing into SuperPACs is fundamentally distorting the 2012 election. The millions flowing into conservative SuperPAC coffers are not only far outpacing the GOP candidates' own campaigns, but continuing to overwhelm their Democratic counterparts. But for the likes of Charles and David Koch, […]
For the perpetual tax-cutters of the Republican Party, last week's surrender on the payroll tax cut extension for 160 million working Americans was an especially damaging one. While tried if untrue GOP talking points that "tax cuts pay for themselves" and "never need to be offset" were thoroughly debunked, new polling shows the large Republican […]