politics posts

Try not to choke on your coffee, but the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected that the Obama administration policies would dump $9.7 trillion onto the national debt by 2020. The projected national debt by 2020, according to the CBO, would top $20.3 trillion.

Yeah, that's a lot. Put another way, if you had $9.7 trillion and you wrote me a check for $1 trillion, you'd still have $8.7 trillion and I'd be a brand new trillionaire, thank you.

Suffice to say, this projected national debt -- at the equivalent of around 90% of the American economy -- is unacceptable. There's no conceivable justification for digging a hole that deep and thus leaving our national sovereignty to the whimsy of foreign lenders.

The Declaration of Independence says "that all men are created equal." Anyone who's ever dealt with a failed product or the world's most annoying customer service knows that not all corporations are created equal. But according to yesterday's Supreme Court ruling, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, that undid crucial parts of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law, a corporation is equal to a person, when it comes to freedom of speech.

The five conservative justices on the Supreme Court want you to believe that your voice is just as powerful as a multi-national corporation with money to burn. But can you afford to produce and air a commercial on prime time television saying what it is you love about a candidate or what you think needs to change in this country?

Can you afford to hire an award-winning Madison Avenue firm to produce your ad campaign and then pay the major networks to run that commercial over and over again? If you can't, how is your voice or my voice equal to that of corporations when they can outspend us billions to one?

Here to discuss what this radical Supreme Court ruling means to us -- the consumers -- is Walletpop's own Mitch Lipka, the Consumer Ally.

This December, members of Congress find themselves grappling with what to do about expiring tax provisions (federal estate tax) as well as what to do about new taxes ("war" tax and health care surtax). In the midst of it all, Rep. John Carter (R-TX) has his own idea for consideration: the Geithner Penalty Waiver Act.

Rep. Carter's bill is officially known as H.R.4172 with the Title: To provide the same penalty rate for taxpayers who voluntarily disclose unreported income from offshore accounts as was afforded Timothy Geithner with respect to his failure to pay self-employment taxes with respect to his compensation from the International Monetary Fund. The unofficial title is the Geithner Penalty Waiver Act.

According to Rep. Carter, taxpayers who applied for the U.S. Treasury Department's amnesty plan for foreign income should pay the same penalty rate as that paid by the Treasury Secretary on his International Monetary Fund (IMF) back taxes. That penalty rate, in case you missed it, was zero.

Prior to his confirmation as Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner worked for the International Monetary Fund from 2001-2004, where he was classified as an independent contractor. Geithner failed to pay SE taxes (self-employment taxes, which are basically the FICA equivalent for an independent contractor or self-employed person) during that time.

The well known women at wowOwow.com are stopping by WalletPop on a frequent basis to answer your spending and personal finance questions.

This week we asked them: Step into Nancy Pelosi's shoes for a moment: What should be done about Charles Rangel (D-NY)? What do you think will be done?

Whoopi Goldberg: I like Charlie Rangel, but I think now there is too much stuff to ignore. He's got to go! And if he goes ... can I have his health-care package?

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We all know that times are hard, but rising politicians are benefiting from increased campaign contributions despite the current recession. According to the Washington Independent, the first quarter fundraising for the ten closest incumbent house races have increased by 18%, and 39% for the five most competitive Senate races.

Campaign finance analyst say that perhaps the recession is pushing more money into Washington. I agree, and I think it may be the result of either worry or confidence.

For those who are well in tune with the economic events, the headlines overwhelmingly highlight the negatives. National debt is increasing, unemployment numbers hit record highs and businesses are going bankrupt; all of which are true, and could possibly influence people to contribute more money to promising candidates to further stimulate a positive response. On the other hand, the government states that the worst may be over, and America is slowly exiting a recession. With this uplifting news, Americans may be contributing more to speed up the recovery.

While you're cutting back on every expense to find a way to save for retirement, pay for your children's education, and put food on the table, you'll be happy to know that some people are still living large: United States congressmen are livin' it up on the expense account.

The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) dug through the volumes of expenses charged to the taxpayer-funded accounts of United States congressman. A couple of highlights:

• Florida Rep. Alcee Hastings spent $24,730 in taxpayer money last year to lease a 2008 luxury Lexus. Let this loser know what you think of his unpatriotic robbery of the American people by emailing him here. He says he doesn't want to receive email from people who are outside of his district, so I suggest calling his offices at (954) 733-2800, (202) 225-1313, (561) 881-9618 -- and emailing your friends and suggesting that they do the same.
  

In a move that has drawn criticism, confusion, and more than a few comments about strange bedfellows, the Senate recently voted 67-29 to add a gun-rights amendment to a consumer credit-card bill. The provision, which was authored by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla), requires national parks to abide by state gun laws and would allow park visitors to carry concealed weapons.

Drawing a connection between credit-card reform and pistol-packing park visitors is nearly impossible. "I would have preferred that matter to be left to another bill," said Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), the bill's primary sponsor. Dodd added: "I hate to see us lose this opportunity to make a difference with credit-card reform."

There was a moment in the last debate between John McCain and Barack Obama when the Republican candidate took Obama to task for his health care plan, calling it a "single payer system." "If you like that, you'll love Canada and England," McCain shot.

I would love Canada and England! I recently left my cushy job with benefits to hit the freelance lifestyle, with its attendant flexibility in spending waking hours with my three young children. I'm the primary breadwinner in my household, to boot, so I've been hemming and hawing over what I need in my budget. Cable's out, and I'm considering saying goodbye to the Blackberry (ohhh!). We don't drive, but I have a little in the budget for bike lights and the occasional replacement inner tube. I'll be honest: I wasn't thinking that much about health care costs. Maybe it was one of those fingers-in-the-ears moments, squeezing my eyes shut and saying "nahnahnahnahnah!" every time the topic came up.

I got my COBRA paperwork today, and just for health care, I'd be spending $1,036 a month; more than my mortgage payment (if you exclude taxes). I wrote about this on a local mamas' site, threatening to go without insurance and pay out of pocket for well baby visits and such, and was immediately begged (literally "please please PLEASE") to buy health insurance. I started griping about the costs and the cheated feeling I have: essentially I'm being asked to pay thousands each year to protect me from total bankruptcy, should there be a health crisis in my family. Tracy Coenen suggested I post here about what I'd like instead.

It turns out, neither Obama's nor McCain's plan would be ideal (though, for the record, McCain's would be completely unhelpful, especially for parents who work for small businesses). Instead, here is how I'd structure the health care system:

When I was a kid, my mother taught me that politics and religion were two subjects that one should never discuss. Unfortunately, those were always my two favorites. In the grand scheme of things, they strike me as the only two topics that really are worthy of continued, sustained discussion and reflection over the course of a lifetime. While I'm sure that there are people who are still talking about the Reuben Stoddard/Clay Aiken showdown of a couple of years ago, I would have to say that American Idol, Iron Man, and even the return of Indiana Jones must always take a back seat to the great battle between conservatism and liberalism and the question of free will.

For this reason, I particularly love Presidential election years, as it seems like it's the only time when it's socially acceptable to talk politics. Most of the time, people throw out a few questions to subtly suss out their conversational partner's political beliefs. If the two people agree, then the conversation rolls right along as they trade attacks on the demon candidate du jour. If not, conversation usually moves on to safer waters.

During election years, though, it seems like we all have an excuse for having tough talks about our hopes for the future, where we believe the country is headed, and all that fun stuff. Better yet, we get to sport T-shirts, bumper stickers, signs, tattoos, and assorted other paraphernalia that shows off our political beliefs. Recently, I discovered some particularly fun campaign swag. While the more staid among us are sporting mature, adult Obama and McCain buttons, the "McCain/Methuselah 2008: Why waste over 2000 years of experience?" pin really gave me a huge smile. And, to be honest, I felt a funny little tickle when I saw the "Obama: the Audacity of Inexperience" items at Cafe Press. Of course, if you really want to slip off the radar, you could go with "Chelsea in '16: The Pantsuits Have Been Passed to a New Generation."

While the pins are a lot of fun, my favorite souvenir in this election cycle has been the Presidential condoms. Practice Safe Policy is selling Obama and McCain condoms. The Obama-lactic states that one should "Use with good judgment," while the McCain membrane notes that it's "Old but not expired." The sheaths are priced at $9.95 for two, which seems fairly expensive. However, nobody ever said that Free Speech was cheap!

Bruce Watson is a freelance writer, blogger, and all-around cheapskate. It was incredibly hard for him to avoid slipping into shallow, puerile puns on this post.

Nuggets of news you need today:

• Continental Airlines to Cut 3,000 Jobs
• Consumers Hit Malls, Boost Retails Sales After All
• Summer Airfares Double, Triple, Quadruple
• Wal-Mart May Sales Going Up
• Seaside City Suffers Nation's Priciest Gas
• Charles Dickens Desk Sells for $850,000
• McCain versus Obama on the Economy
• Iditarod Raises Race Entry Fee by More than Double
• Next Food Shortage: Ice Cream?

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• All Business, Always Trouble: What's at the heart of the all-business-class airlines failures? Real estate
• Housing Downturn is a Boon for Some Renters
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• The 50 Highest-Earning Athletes in the U.S.

Blog Roll:

• Trying to Save Gas Makes People Very Angry
• The Digerati Life Compares Life Now to 1998
• The Frugal Dutchess Book Party

Every day, WalletPop will be bringing you information about a fantastic freebie. Like what you see? Check back tomorrow for more!

If you're the political type, this is a great season for stocking up on free bumper stickers.

MoveOn.org - one of the most loved and hated political groups in the country -- is offering free copies of its "Bush's Third Term: McCain" bumper sticker.

That referring to McCain as a third term of President Bush is seen as obviously negative is a testament to how low his approval ratings have fallen. If you're one of the few die hard Bush fans left you could slap this one on your car to show your support but most people would assume you're an Obama supporter.

Does anybody remember when U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz said that the war in Iraq would pay for itself? Specifically, their argument was that oil revenues in Iraq would easily pay for the cost of reconstruction, and that the bill wouldn't be laid on the American taxpayer.

Admittedly, this was five years ago, so it's understandable if our memories might be a little fuzzy on the issue. However, this was the running argument back in 2003.

Of course, this isn't how it's worked out, a fact that becomes crystal clear when we look at how much the U.S. military is paying for gas. Currently, American forces in Iraq are paying an average of $3.23 a gallon for their gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. The Defense Energy Support Center, essentially the fuel wing of the Department of Defense, buys gasoline on the open market at prices ranging from $1.99 a gallon to $5.38 a gallon. They then set a fixed rate for the fuel; thus, as of April 4, American forces in Iraq were paying $3.51/gallon for diesel, $3.15/gallon for gasoline, and $3.04 for jet fuel.

I'm a political junkie.

Mostly, I'm an armchair quarterback. I've only been to one political rally. I've never stuffed envelopes for a candidate. And I'm embarrassed to admit it, but the most I've donated to a campaign has been something like $10. But when it comes to reading political articles and watching the debates, I get pretty fascinated. It doesn't matter whether it's the Democrats or Republicans, I've grown to like something about all of them, and so if there's a debate, I tend to have the television on. If I'm bored, I find myself visiting web sites like Politico.com and RealClearPolitics. Meet the Press? Since that means meeting the politicians, but of course.

I know I'm not alone, and what didn't occur to me until today is when We The People follow politics, we're not just doing our civic duty by being informed on the issues, we're actually helping the economy. Who needs an economic stimulus plan, when we're in the midst of the primary season? This is election isn't just about change -- it's about making change -- the kind that involves pennies, nickels and dimes.