Bud Meyers's blog

A Tale of Two Charts

In his last year of office, President Bill Clinton called on Congress to make normal trade relations with China permanent. So legislation was introduced to the House on May 15, 2000 by Rep. William Reynolds Archer (R-Texas) with three co-sponsors — saying that permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) with China was a top priority, and was vital to the U.S. agriculture market (to gain access to a market with one-fifth of the world’s population).

The GOP and Small Businesses

Kansas Governor Sam Brownback had championed the largest tax cuts in the state's history, eliminating taxes on non-wage earnings for nearly 200,000 small businesses. Just like all Republicans these days, Brownback had made cutting taxes and shrinking government the centerpieces of his government. Now the great State of Kansas has a huge projected budget shortfall.

Why do Republicans Hate Social Security?

Here's Charles Krauthammer (the Fox News pundit) writing for the Washington Post -- "Some in Congress are talking about a 10- or 20-cent hike in the federal tax [on a gallon of gasoline] to use for infrastructure spending. Right idea, wrong policy. The hike should not be 10 cents but $1. And the proceeds should not be spent by, or even entrusted to, the government.

The GOP’s “Jobs Bill Joke” (and other 2015 LOLs)

Nine million unemployed Americans and six million others who are "not in the labor force" but also want a job will soon see what the new Congress will propose next year as their first "jobs bill" (Hint: It won't be for government jobs or public infrastructure investment — and it will be the GOP's very first bill).

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