Friday News Roundup - Domestic
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2012-06-15/friday-news-roundup-domestic
President Barack Obama and GOP challenger Mitt Romney offer dueling speeches from the swing state of Ohio. They present radically different visions on how to fix the economy. Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson says he’s willing to spend $100 million to keep Obama from being reelected. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon tells U.S. lawmakers he doesn’t know if regulations have made the banking system safer. The Federal Reserve claims the Great Recession set back median family wealth 20 years. And the Justice Department says it will not retry John Edwards. Naftali Bendavid of The Wall Street Journal, Julie Hirshfeld Davis of Bloomberg News and Clarence Page of the Chicago Tribune join Diane for analysis of the week's top national news stories.
Guests
Naftali Bendavid
national correspondent, The Wall Street Journal.
Julie Hirschfeld Davis
congressional correspondent, Bloomberg News.
Clarence Page
syndicated columnist for the Chicago Tribune.
Related Video
The Obama administration announced Friday it will stop deporting and give work permits to some younger illegal immigrants who came to the United States as children. Diane asked the panel what the policy change means. Naftali Bendavid, national correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, said the initiative is an attempt for President Obama to solidify support among Hispanic leaders and to put Republican leaders on the spot. Julie Hirschfeld Davis, congressional correspondent for Bloomberg News, said the policy is a "big deal" and a push for Republicans to go on record about the party's immigration position.
Comments
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I am not going to get into this trap of "redistribute versus taxation" and "big versus small government". I will tell you that the entire system needs to be overhauled from the ground up and the influence of money needs to be negated. We need to have a government that does what the "people" want. Not just a few wealthy people and the people that they can dupe into believing that they know what is best for the country.
A government that ensures that everyone is treated fairly and not just by fiat to who has the biggest pile of money.
Republican and Democrat alike.....there is no difference. We are a country that is in the hands of the landed gentry and they don't care about us.
And as to the question of "Would I shrink the power and size of government?" The first place I would take an ax to is the military. The waste and corruption there is phenomenal. Then we should get rid of all of the incentives handed out to corporations....those two things alone would probably go a long way towards balancing the ledger.
nationalforest- NOW/ today !!!
families,veterans too, encampments on the grounds where historical markers where placed to observe the 1930's effort of CCC(which roads, bridges, AND parks we used to RECREATE in... are in USE still today- what a waste of federal taxes) ARE one again home to hundreds with communal kitchens- ALL illegal of course.
Necessity can be unpleasant- good news a year at school maybe available- as disabled vet- in July... housing, food, or job programs unfunded, $6 a day, and NONexistant- probablybedisqualifiedfrom school as homeless and unableget 'loan'.
GL HF
carry on- you will anyway-nolongerABLE to hear whatEITHERcandidate'represents'
Have been asked for papers AND searched MORE times then can remember-
as POST 9/11 civilian(and I used to work secure spaces SIX years military)
AND lost civilian career(whistle blower) NDA into oblivion... ALL for profits.
NOT what my father taught US or what I bled for.
Doing my best to keep the young and angry LESS violent... while trying to ACTUALLY feed and protect those hungry, suicidal, or lost and broke(n).
I do NOT ask for proper ID or money. THAT is how you occupy and resist.
Survive, Evade, Resist, and Escape- SERE school came in handy TWICE- health care better with the Iranians though(yes time and place everything- IT is ALL the ppl though I love- hrad with some)
Yours is a must-listen program, but especially today's show seems terribly imbalanced by the number of anti-Republican callers. I have friends who will not listen because of this very impression that the show's callers are usually biased liberal Democrats. I appreciate your bringing in balanced panelists, but it seems like they are always having to rebut caller comments.
P.S., I am a registered Republican
David Reid
Phoenix, AZ
A common criticism of progressive taxation is the bogus declaration that money is taken from "the Job Creators" and "re-distributed" to other citizens. This is frequently accompanied by the questionable stats that "half the country pays no taxes at all" and the one-percenters "pay 80% of the taxes".
First of all, since ALL citizens have been getting more and more tax CUTS over the last 10+ years, and the top 1% have continued to escalate their own net worth at a rapid pace, exactly WHERE did the bogus "re-distribution" really end up? Sure looks like it ended up back in the one-percenters' mitts (pun intended) and in spades. You must look at actual results rather than sound bites - the one percenters are "doing just fine".
Second, the Earned Income Credit was invented and put in motion by that vaunted socialist Richard Millhouse Nixon - along with his Wage And Price Controls (...... I personally was caught in that trap: had to wait 6 weeks to change jobs back in the good old 70's during that era). If tax reform were real, the Earned Income Credit would be removed and offset by truly authentic tax brackets. That would surely remove the bogus stigma of some low income folks theoretically not paying income taxes. Most citizens agree that We The People all have a vested stake in this country and everyone should pay "something" as our responsibility - maybe the brain-dead Congress should earn their big salaries and bennies by devising a truly equitable tax system.
But as many have suggested, both parties have too much skin in the game to ever do anything statesmanlike - both have their hands in the till.
It's the fact that the Citizens United decision has tricked the deck and unfairly entitled the one-percenters to have a louder megaphone in that free speech game.
"Freedom rocks wrote:
If Sheldon has $100,000,000 in spare cash, and "Mitt" made $20,000,000 last year, how bad can the economy be?
June 15, 2012 - 10:40 am"
Plus $2T in cash in US and $4T in overseas banks, (which the Mormons, Anglicans and Jews (Crypto or Otherwise) say they will repatriate if the Govt will kiss off the taxes). Money made by creating jobs (in China)!!!
Yes, the Private Sector is doing OK.
Monte Haun mchaun@hotmail.com
Arkus:
If cookie cutter conservatives ever knew ANYthing, or at least acknowledged the valid ideas of others, a good deal of the nation's problems would be solved. But most choose to wallow in paranoid socialist-behind-every-bush (pun intended) fears and avoid working with others to solve anything. The "O" is far from a socialist (his books have made plenty of CAPITALIST proceeds).
Being old enough to remember the 50's, I remember the conservatives' unwarranted commies-behind-every-bush paranoia. Conservatives have merely exchanged one bogey man for another.
Join the rest of us in actually discussing alternatives and not in laying blame.
................ could be interesting.
Redistribution-
"Sure looks like it ended up back in the one-percenters' mitts (pun intended) and in spades"(pun not intended).
Monte Haun mchaun@hotmail.com
"LibVet wrote:
Arkus:
If cookie cutter conservatives ever knew ANYthing, or at least acknowledged the valid ideas of others, a good deal of the nation's problems would be solved. But most choose to wallow in paranoid socialist-behind-every-bush (pun intended) fears and avoid working with others to solve anything. The "O" is far from a socialist (his books have made plenty of CAPITALIST proceeds).
Being old enough to remember the 50's, I remember the conservatives' unwarranted commies-behind-every-bush paranoia. Conservatives have merely exchanged one bogey man for another.
Join the rest of us in actually discussing alternatives and not in laying blame.
................ could be interesting.
June 15, 2012 - 1:32 pm"
You can say what you want about the Commies, they kept the Dogcrap Malefactors of Wealth (slightly) honest by continually rubbing their faces in their greed, racism and blood lust.
Less than one generations after the collapse of the Soviet Union and look at what the Bloodsuckers have done to the whole World!!
Half a Century of rising hopes and dreams of billions of people trampled in the mud.
And all you Jews, Anglicans and Maronites who provide a platform for and accept their literally insane jabbering as worthy of consideration are the facilitators of what has been done to us and are equally guilty.
EVERY ONE OF YOU KNOWS WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF ROMNEY IS ELECTED!!!
Monte Haun mchaun@hotmail.com
"jim davis wrote:
It is so misguided for Diane to suggest that the sole reason wealthy individuals would support a Republican candidate is to ensure the continuation of the tax breaks for their wealth class. I'd offer that it's their understandable distaste for Obama's war on capitalism and his conviction that bigger government is the best course of action, including the socialization of health care and the creation of more private sector jobs such as teachers, firemen and policemen. Keep in mind there are a few million of us who will never be in that wealth class who strongly agree with them and are grateful for their efforts to ensure Obama is not re-elected.
June 15, 2012 - 10:42 am"
I don't think Diane meant that. After all, didn't she respond to the Liberal Whiner with, "They just want to win the Hearts and Minds of the American People"??
Monte Haun mchaun@hotmail.com
LibVet wrote:
"Join the rest of us in actually discussing alternatives and not in laying blame."
HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
What do you think the President has been DOING for the last four years instead of LEADING?!
That's all he's DONE is LAY BLAME ... on everyone but himself!!!
And what have you done but BLAME "cookie cutter" Conservatives?! You should try re-reading what you've written for a shred of credibility before you hit that Save button, LibVet!
Oh, and LibVet wants tax reform. Glad you finally made it to the party! Conservatives whom you demonize want tax reform too. Thats one of the essential tenets that founded the Tea Party. Simple and fair. That's a Conservative ideal.
As soon as I see posts like yours that blame everything on "cookie cutter" Conservatives, I tune out, LibVet. You ought to learn what people really believe and want for the country, not just what Daily Kos and Huff Post tell you they want.
However....
"About 68 percent of Americans blamed Bush for the nation's economic problems in a great deal or a moderate amount, compared with more than 52 percent ascribed the same level of blame for the bad economy to Obama, virtually the same as last September.
Gallup launched the first "blame assessment" survey in July 2009, six months after Obama took office. At that point, 80 percent and 32 percent of Americans blamed Bush and Obama respectively for the bad economy."
http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/2012/6/15/americans_still_blame_bush_for...
To continue....
"Republicans and Democrats distribute economic blame in different ways. Ninety percent of Democrats blame Bush, in contrast to 19 percent of them who blame Obama. Republicans, however, are more ecumenical in their blame, with 83 percent blaming Obama and 49 percent blaming Bush. Independents are more likely to blame Bush (67 percent) than to blame Obama (51 percent) for the nation's economic problems, a finding that no doubt provides some comfort to the Obama re-election campaign. "
"a finding that no doubt provides some comfort to the Obama re-election campaign. "
mmm-maybe, but I think Democrats are mostly whistling past the graveyard.
The polls to look at are of independent LIKELY voters (not REGISTERED voters) over the past three or four months and look at the movement. That's one that Rasmussen tracks.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administra...
Now, world and other current events can change things between now and November, but all things being equal, the trend is not moving the President's way.
Ecgberht, englebert humperdink, whatever:
Your remarkably UNremarkable ad hominem comments prove you have been tuned out since birth. Tax "reform" that preserves the well documented huge disparities in opportunity in favor of the rich is a denigration of the word. What unified the tea partiers was the opportunity to drive their RVs to DC and compare weaponry with other septuagenarians........with their turn signals blinking continuously since 1945. Note that I don't read the Huffington Post or Daily Kos. In fact, I suggest that many liberals and progressives disagree with my stance on EIC.
IF you had ever actually performed services for the nation or fellow citizens you might have some credibility. Sadly you just resort to diatribe and puerile inanities.
"Rasmussen.........."........"independent..."
Nothing more need be mentioned about your sources. We might as well copy and paste from the DNC website to use your methodology.
LibVet wrote:
"Your remarkably UNremarkable ad hominem comments"
Probably need to study up on the definition of "ad hominem", LibVet, and if you want to accuse me of ad hominem attacks, you'd better be prepared to spell out chapter and verse, buddy. Criticizing your positions or statements you have made do not constitute "ad hominem". Personal attacks do.
Let me help you:
"ad hominem usually involves insulting or belittling one's opponent in order to attack his claim or invalidate his argument"
Let me give you an example:
"Ecgberht, englebert humperdink, whatever:" or "IF you had ever actually performed services for the nation or fellow citizens you might have some credibility"
On that subject, you have NO CLUE what I have done or what service I have given, LibVet, so I will accept your apology for that uninformed remark.
"Tax "reform" that preserves the well documented huge disparities in opportunity in favor of the rich is a denigration of the word."
I hear criticism, but a profound shortage of ideas. So enlighten us, LibVet. If you were king, what would YOU want to happen with respect to sweeping tax reform?
Your denigration and dismissal of the Tea Party does not deserve comment. They are a force to be reconned with, whether you care to admit it or not.
And as for the validity of Rasmussen, you can dismiss his results if you like, but look at the trend of any well recognized poll you choose of LIKELY voters and see what you see - that is, if you have the guts to.
LibVet wrote:
" Being old enough to remember the 50's, I remember the conservatives' unwarranted commies-behind-every-bush paranoia. Conservatives have merely exchanged one bogey man for another."
---------------------------------------
Your memory of the 50's is clouded with invincible ignorance. Communists were not "behind-every bush," but Americans, in and out of government, i.e.
Harry Dexter White, Senior U.S. Treasury department official
Alger Hiss, Lawyer involved in the establishment of the United Nations, both as a U.S. State Department and UN official
Harold Glasser, U.S. Treasury Dept. economist, United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration.
Nathan Gregory Silvermaster, U.S. War Production Board (WPB)
spied for the Soviets.
In case you didn't know it, the Rosenbergs actually did provide the Soviets with classified nuclear weapon secrets. This was confirmed with the release of the Venona documents. Not to mention The Communist Party USA (CPUSA) at that time was indeed being manipulated by the Soviets.
It is the liberals who have a fondness for crowning bogeymen, i.e. McCarthy, Goldwater, Reagan, etc. Libs are the ones who attacked Roy Cohn for being a homosexual.
It kind of bugs me how the callers complaint about lying or exaggerating guests on news shows was somewhat glossed over. Pushing back on someone lying about either party is not partisan. If it appears partisan to have to correct a particular party member more often than the other then maybe one party is guilty of causing more distortion in our politics. If a particular statement given as fact to a journalist is actually more complicated and is then only half truth I would rather know that than remain ignorant. Journalists do a disservice to me and themselves by not providing this information if they know it.
I think this again displays one of the root problems in the current discourse of our country. We can argue about opinions as much as we want as long as those arguments are drawn from an agreed upon set of facts. We no longer agree on what is a basic fact anymore. This is ridiculous and it is the journalist who we look to to provide this truth to the best of their ability.
So don't gloss over this and it really should be it's own show itself.
PS I love the Diane Rehm show though!
Interesting thoughts, jbot.
I get where you are coming from, but it is not always so easy to decide on an "agreed upon set of facts". A prime example has been the employment numbers. The administration and its spokespeople have been fond of saying that "President Obama's policies have created 4.3 million jobs". Well, that could be true - but only in a very specific context. If you count jobs created from the very nadir of the recession, that is true - not really a fair representation of the sum total of his performance, however. Sometimes you will hear "4.3 million jobs in x months" - that's a little more honest because at least it puts it in a time frame, though to the average listener, all they hear is the 4.3 million jobs part. Also, it's seldom specified whether private sector, public sector, or both are being referenced. Are you talking seasonally adjusted, or not? Those things matter when information is being presented.
Overall, since the President was inaugurated, we are still about 1/2M jobs in the hole, seasonally adjusted. You can argue whose fault that is, that's another matter.
So settling on a set of "facts" to debate is not always as easy as it looks.