Ten Conservative Myths About Obama's Recovery Plan | Ehrenreich On "The Nouveau Poor"

Corporate Accountability and WorkPlace Newsletter January 15th, 2009 More from Corporate Accountability and WorkPlace »

10 Absurd Conservative Myths About Obama's Recovery Plan By Sara Robinson, Campaign for America's Future Instead of taking accountability for this mess, conservatives are firing off the latest B.S. storm. Here's what you need to know to fire back. Read more »   After many weeks of speculation, House Democrats unveiled their plan to kick-start the moribund economy. The highlights, as reported in the Washington Post: The package, totaling around $825 billion, contains $550 billion in domestic spending and about $275 billion in tax cuts for businesses and individuals. * A $500 payroll tax credit for individuals workers making below $75,000. Couples making below $150,000 would receive a $1,000 credit. * The bill includes numerous energy tax incentives to promote development of renewable sources. * Unemployment checks would increase by $25 per week, and federal welfare funding to needy families also would increase temporarily. * Low income elderly and disabled Social Security recipients would receive an one-time additional monthly payment. * $80 billion in funding to states for education programs and about $90 billion for Medicaid assistance. The proposal also includes about $85 billion worth of infrastructure spending, most for highway and bridge construction. Now, the horse-trading begins, as conservatives seek more tax cuts for investors and businesses and less spending on the brick and mortar economy. -Joshua Holland Editor, Corporate Accountability and Workplace     How Citigroup Unraveled Under Geithner's Watch By Jeff Gerth, ProPublica Obama's pick for Treasury Secretary has some serious strikes against him -- especially when it comes to regulation. Read more »   The Nouveau Poor Have Reached Numbers Too Large to Ignore By Barbara Ehrenreich, Barbaraehrenreich.com As the poor and the formerly middle-class become the new American majority, will they finally have enough status to get their needs met? Read more »   Obama Is Tinkering with Changes to the Banking System While Big Finance Collapses By Charlie Cray, AlterNet The absence of any serious debate over financial regulatory reform at this moment in time is frightening. Read more »   Service Employees Vote to Split United Healthcare Workers-West, Members Call for Disaffiliation By Mark Brenner, Labor Notes The move would create a single local union for all of SEIU's nursing home and home-care workers in California. Read more »   The Bush Era Has Been an Eight-Year-Long Madoff-Style Ripoff By Frank Rich, The New York Times It will be easier for us and Obama to push for a bold agenda if we demand accountability for the robbery and theft of the Bush years. Read more »   The Plot Against Pensions and the Plan to Save Them By Amy Goodman, Democracy Now! Here's what the 50 million workers who saw their retirement plans drop by as much as 30 percent last year should know. Read more »   Let's Stay Focused on the Right Kind of Economic Recovery By Andy Stern, AlterNet Even after the collapse of the myth of the market, conservatives are still waging class warfare on the rest of us. Read more »   Obama to Continue Bush's Tax-Cutting Orgy? By Marie Cocco, Washington Post Writers Group Who can seriously argue that a family still earning an income of up to $200,000 is enduring such economic hardship that it, too, needs a tax cut? Read more »   Monbiot Grills Shell Oil CEO: Is There Any Investment You Would Not Make on Ethical Grounds? By George Monbiot, Monbiot.com Shell will pour big money into alternative energy when more lucrative opportunities are blocked. Where is the government brave enough to block them? Read more »   Economic PTSD: The Psychological Effects of the Recession By Michael Bader, AlterNet We feel responsible for things we didn't do and helpless in the face of things we couldn't do. Read more »   Good Progressive Action: Grayson Grills Fed Vice Chair About $1.2 Trillion Dollars By Jane Hamsher, Firedoglake "Mr. Kohn, we're talking about secret payments of $1.2 trillion dollars," said Grayson. "I think you need to rethink your approach." Read more »   Why Are the Media More Interested in Blago Than in Unraveling the Bailout Mystery? By Arianna Huffington, Huffington Post Have you heard what's going on with the government's almost trillion-dollar bailout and how your money is being spent? Read more »

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