Steven –

Last December, when President Obama made a deal with Republicans to continue the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, I said there was no shared pain in the agreement. I called it the easy way out for everybody. And I emphasized it’s not fiscally responsible in addressing the deficit, the biggest long-term threat to America.

Now, Republicans are pushing for well over $50 billion in cuts to the budget, which would result in the loss of 700,000 jobs nationwide according to leading economists. They won’t even consider cutting the $53 billion the Republicans have used to subsidize
the oil industry or eliminating projects out of the defense budget that even the Pentagon says it doesn’t need and doesn’t want. Instead, they want cuts on everything from local law enforcement to community health centers, from food assistance to low-income women, infants, and children to rural development investment. And of course, they made it clear over and over again, that cutting Social Security benefits must be on the table.

Republicans have gone from being fiscally irresponsible to morally reprehensible in only a few short months. Their goal appears to be the death of civil society by a 1,000 cuts.

It’s time for Democrats to stand up and hold their ground. Republicans in Congress can’t balance the budget on the backs of the poor and middle class — there must be shared sacrifice.

Join me, and our partners at CREDO Action, in calling on Democrats in Congress to accept no new budget cuts while we continue to give tax breaks to people who make a million dollars a year.

ADD YOUR NAME NOW

This approach to shared sacrifice is backed up by the support of the American people. A recent Washington Post poll shows the vast majority of Americans believe the best way to reduce the deficit is through a combination of spending cuts and increased taxes on America’s most wealthy.

But it’s not about polling. It’s about responsibility. If there is one thing we’ve learned from years and years of Republican misleadership, it’s that you just can’t trust Republicans with your money.

Republicans don’t know how to balance budgets. They never have. I’ve balanced budgets. I did it as Governor for 12 straight years. I’m not the only Democrat with a strong fiscal record. Republicans like to forget that the last President to balance the budget and create a surplus was Democrat Bill Clinton.

Democrats can get the job done as long as we stand up for what we believe and never back down.

JOIN ME IN CALLING ON DEMOCRATS TO STAND UP AND NOT BACK DOWN

Make no mistake about it; the Republicans’ obsession with cutting the federal budget at all costs may be good short-term politics, but it’s bad policy and not the best course for the country.

It’s up to Democrats in Congress to stop them. It’s up to us to make sure Democrats know where we stand.

Thank you, Steven, for everything you do.

-Howard

Governor Howard Dean, M.D.

Founder, Democracy for America

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The headline on Robert Parry’s article is How the US Press Corps Lost Its Way.

Given the media’s eulogies for David Broder, I think it appropriate to emphasize what Parry had to say about him.  That is why I used the headline, How David Broder Lost His Way.

My editing of the subtitle of the article is “The eulogies for Washington Post columnist David Broder: an unintended commentary on what went wrong with the U.S. news media.”

The beginning of Parry’s indictment of Broder is:

Broder personified the cult of centrism, a faith in “The System” that ignored how hollowed out its institutions had become, at least in terms of any moral or democratic values.

For many years, I have been unable to stand listening to or reading columns of David Broder.  Robert Parry’s article is a good explanation of why I have felt this way.

According to the article Bradley Manning’s Military Doctors Accused Over Treatment published on the UK Guardian’s web site:

Official records kept at the brig, released recently by Manning’s lawyer, reveal that between last August and January military psychiatrists made no fewer than 16 recommendations to their military commanders that Manning should be taken off the PoI restrictions because he was no threat to himself.

Only once in that five-month period did the psychiatrists conclude that the prisoner should be subjected to the restrictions. Despite the clear medical opinion given, brig commanders have repeatedly ignored the advice and retained the harsh regime. That is, Physicians for Human Rights says, an indication the US government is breaking its own clear rules.

The accusation against the doctors is that they are not doing enough to prevent the mistreatment of Bradley Manning.

President Obama’s defense of this treatment verges on the criminal.  Had I known we would be electing George Bush lite, I never would have voted for Obama.  What a disappointment he has turned out to be.

Your job may be in more danger than you thought.

Thanks to RichardH for sending me the link to this video.

Do you think this ad will wake up working families?

Sturbridge Library Friends is holding its 4th Annual Swirl & Curl Wine Tasting on April 7th.

You can see the flyer and purchase tickets online at The Friends Web Site.

Guitar Hero and Rock Band creator, Eran Egozy recently invited From the Top‘s Christopher O’Riley to the offices of Harmonix to play Rock Band 3. While rocking out to Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” Chris had a chance to pick the brain of one of the most innovative game creators of our time. For more information the Rock Band series and Harmonix, visit www.harmonixmusic.com.

The article Infographic: Tax Breaks vs. Budget Cuts compares the size of some proposed budget cuts along side some tax breaks for the wealthy.

I’ll give you one line of the chart:

Programs At Risk
$44 billion – All programs at risk combined

Tax breaks for the wealthy
$42 billion One-year cost of extending Bush tax cuts for top brackets (FY2012)

I am not sure if the $42 billion for the Bush tax breaks is a summation of the rest of the tax breaks in the chart or is a completely separate tax break.  Read the article to see if you can figure it out.

I went back and added up all the other tax breaks and the come to about $46.7 billion.  I guess this means that the Bush tax cuts are a separate item.  In other words there is about $88 billion per year in identified tax cuts that could be rescinded to help balance the budget.

Watch the video to see what’s in it for the Koch brothers. There is a similarity to what Enron did to California. It cost the citizens of California billions of dollars.