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13 Feb 2012 10:02

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Politics: Three things you should know about Obama’s forthcoming budget plan

  • cuts While still leaning on the “Buffett Rule” that he’s been pushing for months and planning to end the Bush tax cuts for the super-rich, Obama’s plan would also cut $2.50 for each dollar raised from tax proposals affecting high income-earners.
  • jobs With the GOP blocking much of Obama’s job plan last year, he’s taking another try at it, offering up $350 billion in job-growth spending, which includes $50 billion to improve infrastructure and $60 billion to modernize schools.
  • defense Echoing the words of Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, the budget proposal would cut non-war spending. However, automatic cuts set to kick in next year will likely get replaced by a “balanced deficit-reduction package.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Nov 2011 20:10

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Politics: Obama offers tough words on debt supercommittee failure

  • They’ve still got a year to figure it out. They can still come together around a balanced plan. I believe Democrats are prepared to do so. My expect is that there are some Republicans who are interested in preventing the automatic cuts from taking place.
  • President Barack Obama • Discussing the failure of the supercommittee to make a deal on cuts, as required by the debt ceiling deal he made in August. The president’s tone was tough — “I will veto any effort to get rid of those spending cuts,” he said — but did offer some wiggle room for Congress to get their act together. The cuts — half defense, half domestic — offer a lot of pain for both sides of the aisle, so who knows? Maybe we’ll see a deal — perhaps the elusive “balanced” one the president is pitching. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Jan 2011 20:45

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Politics: Poll: Start cutting the deficit by raising rich people’s taxes

  • 61% of respondents would prefer that taxes increase for the rich to help cut the deficit
  • 20% of respondents say that defense spending would be a better first choice to hack away at
  • 4% of respondents would prefer instead that we took the scalpel to Medicare source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Oct 2010 17:11

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U.S.: The U.S. spends LOTS of money on intelligence, defense

  • $80.1
    billion     the amount the U.S. spent on intelligence in 2010
  • $664
    billion     the amount the U.S. spends on its total defense budget source
  • » Why this is a big deal: Two reasons. First of all, the intelligence spending numbers were never reported during the most recent Bush Administration – this is the first time we’ve gotten new numbers here in nearly a decade. Secondly, the intelligence budget has effectively doubled in the ten years – which makes sense if, you know, you account for 9/11 happening in the meantime. If you’re a high-spending government looking for something to cut to correct years of fiscal irresponsibility, though, this might be a good spot to look.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Sep 2010 10:24

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Politics: John McCain plans to hold defense bill hostage over “Don’t Ask”

  • This is turning legislation related to our national defense and military preparedness into a vehicle to force a partisan agenda through the Senate, often on a party-line vote. Their desperation – because they see a Nov. 2 election coming up – is palpable.
  • Sen. John McCain • On his plans to filibuster the defense bill wending its way through the Senate because it includes a measure to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell.” While McCain and the rest of his family supports repealing the measure, along with three-quarters of Americans, he feels that it should be done after the Pentagon completes its review of the impact the change would have on the military. Democrats are unsure if they have the 60 votes to override McCain’s appeal. They also claim he’s playing politics. Funny, because he claims they are. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Aug 2009 10:24

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World: Russia’s a big country willing to defend tiny pieces of land

  • $500 million to boost military in tiny Abkhazia source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Jul 2009 19:50

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U.S.: Obama wins a big victory over defense spending in the Senate

  • No more F-22s After getting added to a bill at the last minute a week ago, Obama threatened to veto the entire defense spending bill unless they were taken off the table. The jets, not only expensive but a product of a bygone era of war-fighting, were an iconic symbol of the administration’s fight to focus on insurgency-focused warfare. source
  • No more F-22s After getting added to a bill at the last minute a week ago, Obama threatened to veto the entire defense spending bill unless they were taken off the table. The jets, not only expensive but a product of a bygone era of war-fighting, were an iconic symbol of the administration’s fight to focus on insurgency-focused warfare.
  • McCain’s big help Former presidential race foe John McCain played a huge role for Obama. McCain said the victory, attributable to stands taken by both Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, “really means there’s a chance of us changing the way we do business in Washington.” McCain’s support meant the vote was bipartisan. source
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14 Jul 2009 10:10

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U.S.: Obama’s threatening a veto of his defense spending bill. Here’s why.

  • $1.75 billion cost of the last-minute addition to Obama’s defense spending bill, which adds seven costly F-22s back into the mix source
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