President Obama: Man of the People? Captive of the Ruling Elite? Political Genius? Or All Three?

After President Bush tripled the size of federal government, shredded the Constitution, our civil liberties, our global reputation, and millions of lives, worldwide, Americans finally had enough.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Barack Obama, almost a messiah-like figure, emerged on the scene, and surprisingly, without too much trouble from the GOP, won the election. It seemed too good to be true.

On the one hand, the wars continue, the secrecy continues, the lies continue, the torture continues, Wall Street continues to triumph, the rich continue to get richer... and now President Obama gave into the GOP's blatant terror tactics and agreed to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for two more years. Why? In order to prevent the GOP from forcing a tax increase on all income levels and to keep them from preventing the extension of jobless benefits. So, even though the deal still has to be approved by the House and Senate, President Obama gave into the little terrorists despite the fact that 60% of Americans do not want tax cuts extended for those making over $250,000 per year.

However, on the other hand, what if President Obama decided to fight the GOP?  More than likely, he would not have won the concessions from the GOP that are extraordinarily important to the people suffering right now.

As part of the deal, expiring unemployment benefits for millions of Americans will be extended for 13 months. Just as importantly, there is now a real prospect that the Senate will act on repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy and ratification of the START treaty before this month's lame duck session ends.
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There's also a longer term calculation at work. Note that the deal also includes a reduction in the Social Security payroll tax and an expansion of the earned income tax credit and the college tuition tax credit. This is on top of the extension in unemployment benefits. These measures have one thing in common: They are stimulative in nature. (So, for that matter, is the fact that middle class Americans won't face a tax hike -- something that would have happened had Obama balked at the deal and played a long-term game of chicken with the GOP).

Below Senator Al Franken gives a great speech.  During the speech he said that the IRS published a study analyzing the tax returns of the wealthiest 400 Americans. As their "income rose an average of $81 million -- in a single year", they paid an average effective tax rate of little over 16%.

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Asked About the Deficit, McCain Cites Reagan’s Example

From the NY Times Blog:

"When Senator John McCain was asked here this afternoon how he plans to balance the budget, he said that he hoped to do so by stimulating economic growth – and approvingly cited the example of President Ronald Reagan.

There was one thing he did not mention during his response: the deficit nearly tripled during the Reagan presidency, partly due to tax cuts and increases in military spending.

The exchange occurred at a town-hall-style meeting held in a tent outside Bridgewater Associates, an investment firm. A member of the audience stood up and asked Mr. McCain, who has called for balanced budgets, how he plans to do it.

“Basically, which is it?” the man asked Mr. McCain. “Straight talk: Do you want to raise taxes, cut entitlement spending, cut defense spending, or have a deficit?”

Mr. McCain did not explain how he plans to balance the budget, but spoke generally about hoping to stimulate the economy – and cited President Reagan.

“I don’t believe in a static economy,’’ Mr. McCain said. “I believe that when there’s stimulus for growth, when there’s opportunity, when people keep more of their money — and the government is the least efficient way to spend your money — that economies improve.’’

“When Ronald Reagan came to office,’’ he said, noting that few in the audience were old enough to remember, “we had 10 percent unemployment, 20 percent interest rates, and 10 percent inflation, if I’ve got those numbers right. That was when Ronald Reagan came to office in 1980. And so what did we do? We didn’t raise taxes, and we didn’t cut entitlements. What we did was we cut taxes and we put in governmental reductions in regulations, stimulus to the economy, and by the way, Jack Kennedy also did that as well – and so my answer to it is a growing economy. And I think you best grow the economy by the most efficient use of the tax dollar.’’

Mr. McCain – who has said that he wants to balance the budget while making the Bush tax cuts permanent, cutting additional taxes, and keeping troops in Iraq – said: “I believe we can grow this economy, and reduce this deficit.’’

He said that he expected expense in Iraq to decline as the Iraqis shoulder more of the burden, and he also hinted at some cuts in federal programs.

He noted his opposition to the expensive Medicare prescription drug benefit, which he voted against. “Now you are paying for my prescription drugs,’’ he said. “Why should that be? Why should that be? Why should that be?”

But he said he thinks the problems can be solved. “Is it going to be tough? Yes. It’s going to be very, very tough.’’

Earlier, when he was asked if he plans to resign from the Senate this summer to make it easier for a Republican to win the election to succeed him, Mr. McCain said: “No, I will not. I have every confidence that there are a number of Republicans who would be elected. I do not envision a scenario of resigning my seat.’’

But then, on reflection, he seemed to open the door to the idea at least a bit. “But I would go back and think about it, and think about the scenario that you just described,’’ he said. “Right now my intentions are to remain in the United States Senate. ‘’

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Rankings of World's Major Economies by Topic

The Economist provides rankings from Rankings from the Pocket World in Figures on over 200 topics and statistical profiles of more than 65 of the world’s major economies.

Including:

Biggest Coffee Producers

Biggest Economies

Change in Population

Cigarette Consumption

Computer Ownership

Current Account, Biggest Deficit

Current Account, Largest Surplus

Highest Car Ownership

Highest Forested Area

Highest Life Expectancy

Highest Obesity

Highest Office Rent

Higest Purchasing Power

Largest Population

Largest Stock Market Capitalization

Lowest Life Expectancy

Population per doctor

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Bush tax cuts equal the amount of the current deficit

The House Budget Committee held a hearing with Dr. Peter R. Orszag, Director of the Congressional Budget Office. Orszag says that the amount of money lost to Bush's tax cuts equals the amount of the current deficit.

Rep. Edwards: Let me ask you a question: based on your analysis for fiscal year 2007, what percent of this year’s deficits is the result of the tax cuts passed since 2001?”

Dr. Orszag: “I’m going to have to give you the exact number later, and it depends how you do the accounting, but the revenue effect of the 2001 and 2003 tax legislation is roughly one and a half percent of GDP, which is about the size of the federal deficit today.”

Rep. Edwards: “So put that in lay terms, had we not had the tax cuts passed since 2001, according to CBO analysis, the deficit would be how much smaller?”

Dr. Orszag: “If you just do a simple accounting exercise that takes that estimated revenue effect from the Joint Committee on Taxation and compare it to today’s deficit, it would roughly eliminate the deficit.”

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