Progressive Democrat Newsletter Issue 255

On Tax Day this year, CBS reported the following:

"The American people need to be reminded that 98 percent of Americans got a tax cut last year," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Wednesday.

Reid was referring to the impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, otherwise known as the stimulus -- essentially, the only Obama policy to really impact people's 2009 tax returns. In fact, tax refunds reached an all-time high this year in part because of the stimulus, the president said in his weekly address on Saturday. Meanwhile, taxes are at their lowest levels in 60 years, according to William Gale, co-director of the Tax Policy Center and director of the Retirement Security Project at the Brookings Institution.

"The relation between what is said in the tax debate and what is true about tax policy is often quite tenuous," Gale told Hotsheet. "The rise of the Tea Party at at time when taxes are literally at their lowest in decades is really hard to understand..."

One third of the Recovery Act was made up of tax credits, the White House emphasizes.

"No one I've met is looking for a handout," Mr. Obama said in his address Saturday. "And that's not what these tax cuts are. Instead, they're targeted relief to help middle class families weather the storm, to jumpstart our economy, and to bring the fundamentals of the American Dream -- making an honest living, earning an education, owning a home, and raising a family -- back within reach for millions of Americans."

The credits included:

* An increase in the Earned Income Tax Credit
* An expansion of the Child Tax Credit
* For those who work, the Making Work Pay tax credit offered $400 per individual and $800 per couple
* For those who lost their job, there was a 65 percent tax credit to help cover the cost of health care. The first $2,400 in unemployment benefits went tax-free
* Up to $2,500 under the American Opportunity Credit for students and parents paying for college tuition
* $8,000 for first-time home buyers
* A deduction of state and local taxes paid on a new car
* Up to $1,500 for home improvements to increase energy efficiency

And what is Obama proposing for the future:

Mr. Obama has proposed letting the Bush tax cuts expire for individuals making more than $200,000 a year or couples making more than $250,000. That means by the end of this year, Washington is likely to, among other things:

* Raise the top two income tax brackets from 33 percent to 36 percent, and from 35 percent 39.6 percent
* Raise the capital gains tax rate from 15 percent to 20 percent for married filers with incomes above $250,000
* Raise the tax on dividend income from 15 percent to 20 percent for married filers with incomes above $250,000

Gerald Prante, a senior economist for the Tax Foundation, a non-profit, non-partisan tax research organization, said these tax increases would likely only directly impact about 2 to 3 percent of tax returns.

So the Republican and Tea Party's whining is just one more set of lies coming from the right wing. I discuss some other aspects of Tea Party misinformation and misrepresentation this week.

President Obama's reaaction to the Teabagger whining? "You're welcome."

Meanwhile, a couple of interesting indictments that show another aspect of what is so important about having Democrats in charge since this would never have happened under Bush:

SEC Charges Goldman Sachs with Defrauding Investors

Former Blackwater president, 4 Others indicted

Let's hope justice gets done.

And I leave you with Obama's weekly address:



Here is this week's newsletter:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Meeting the Tea Party

Why the Teabaggers are Wrong

And I think in the context of the Teabaggers and other right wing extremism, this should be remembered: Right Wing Violence in America

Yom HaShoah: Holocaust Remembrance Day

Brooklyn, NY Focus

Manhattan, NY Focus

Queens, NY Focus

Bronx, NY Focus

Suffolk County, NY Focus

Rochester, NY Focus

New York 19th District Focus: Putnam, Dutchess, Orange, Rockland, and Westchester Counties

NEW YORK STATE FOCUS

Silicon Valley Area, CA Focus

San Diego, CA Focus

Orange County, CA Focus

California 11th District Focus: San Joaquin, Alameda and Santa Clara Counties

CALIFORNIA FOCUS

Austin/Travis County, TX Focus

Dallas County, TX Focus

Houston/Harris County, TX Focus

Texas 10th District Focus: Turn TX-10 Blue

Texas 21st District Focus: Turn TX-21 Blue

TEXAS FOCUS

Sussex County, NJ Focus

Passaic County, NJ Focus

Warren County, NJ Focus

NEW JERSEY FOCUS

Broward County, FL Focus

Orange County, FL Focus

Pinellas County, FL Focus

FLORIDA FOCUS

Charlottesville/Albemarle County, VA Foucus

Fredericksburg/Spotsylvania County, VA Focus

Hanover County, VA Focus

VIRGINIA FOCUS

Pennsylvania Focus: Lois Herr for Congress

Lancaster Co. PA Focus

PENNSYLVANIA FOCUS

Illinois Focus: Dan Seals for Congress (IL-10)

ILLINOIS FOCUS

Georgia Focus: Regina Thomas for Congress (GA-12)

Atlanta, GA Focus

Fayette County, GA Focus

Coweta County, GA Focus

GEORGIA FOCUS

North Carolina Focus: Bill Kennedy for Congress (NC-5)

North Carolina Focus: NC-5 District Focus (Stokes County, Statesville, Surrey County, Iredell County, Watauga County, Yadkin County)

NORTH CAROLINA FOCUS

WISCONSIN FOCUS

WASHINGTON STATE FOCUS

MICHIGAN FOCUS

Boulder County, CO Focus

Larimer County, CO Focus

Douglas County, CO Focus

COLORADO FOCUS

TENNESSEE FOCUS

NEVADA FOCUS

ARIZONA FOCUS

IOWA FOCUS

MINNESOTA FOCUS