Hostile Takeover. Attacking the American worker.

Posted on March 17, 2011 by William Brighenti

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UYGUR: Wisconsin Democrats are moving full speed ahead with the effort to recall the GOP state senators who took away collective bargaining rights from state workers. Today, several progressive groups launch a new ad campaign urging recalls. And the state Democratic Party says, they already have half of the signatures that they need to force recall elections and they‘ve got a month and a half left to finish the job. So, it looks like they‘re in good shape on that front. Meanwhile, the state senators who are in jeopardy were in Washington, D.C., getting paid for a job well done at a fund-raiser organized by corporate lobbyists. They got no shame. Totally brazen. Give me the money. Give me the money. I did what you wanted. Now, speaking of recalls, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder could be recalled as soon as July. And the emergency financial manager bill actually passed late yesterday in Michigan.

Now, more than 5,000 people turned out in Lansing, Michigan yesterday to protest that bill. His budget would cut the state‘s business taxes by 86 percent, 86 percent. Meanwhile, he‘s getting rid of earned income tax credit for lower income families slashing credit for seniors and cutting $1.2 billion in funding to schools, universities, and local governments. So, his paying poor people, old people and students pay for corporate tax cuts. That‘s not an exaggeration. You just saw the numbers. It‘s exact. And insult on top of that entry is the bill he signed yesterday. And republican described it as financial martial law. The bill gives the governor the power to declare a financial emergency in struggling cities and school districts. Then he can appoint an emergency financial manager to take it over.

Congressman Conyers has made the point that that sounds an awful lot like czars. So let‘s call them Snyder‘s czars. The czars have the power to void or break union contracts. Of course, that‘s what they always do. Seize and sell assets, eliminate local services, and even remove elected officials. So, Snyder‘s budget means local governments and school districts with a lot less money and then if they go bankrupt under those circumstances, a state-appointed official can come in and take them over. Republicans do a lot of complaining about unelected czars that have too much power and supposed government takeover in Washington. Maybe they talk about it so much because they can‘t wait to do it themselves. And that‘s exactly what‘s happening in Michigan.

.With me now is John Nichols, he‘s the Washington correspondent for The Nation. John, first question for you. Whether it‘s Walker in Wisconsin or Snyder in Michigan, did they promise us in their elections, they say hey, you know what, as soon as I come in, seniors, I‘m going to cut you. Students, I‘m going to cut you and I‘m going to give it all to corporate tax cuts.

JOHN NICHOLS, WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: You mean, did they run and say, look, I want to be a monarch who appoints Viceroys? No. I did not hear that. In fact, I covered both of those campaigns and the weird thing is, that both Walker in Wisconsin and Snyder in Michigan were the moderate republican candidates in their primaries. They beat people who everybody thought were the draconian, you know, kind of way out there right wingers. So these were bait and switch campaigns. And now, they are out to do tremendous damage to communities. And I want to emphasize, you know, I like Congressman Conyers a lot and I like that Czar term. I understand what he is trying to do, term, push back at some of the Republicans. But this is much more than a Czar. This really does go to the sort of thing that we fought a revolution against back in 1776. This is a monarch appointing a ruler, a Viceroy to take over local government.

UYGUR: I mean, the great irony of this, is that the Tea Party people are talking about, oh, we have to take our government back and we have to have real representation. And then this guy comes and says oh, whatever your local government, whatever you voted for your local government, I don‘t give a damn. I‘m going—it sounds like Putin, doesn‘t it? That‘s what Putin did in Russia with the local governors.

NICHOLS: Well, I think that‘s a little unfair to Putin. The fact of the matter is, that as bad as he is, you know, he still wants to keep in the international community. Have a little bit of regard. These guys are pushing much further and, understand, this is the United States of America. We set a higher standard for democracy than other countries, I hope. And the other thing that I think really important to understand here is that when you‘re going into local government, to school boards, town boards, town councils, village boards, city councils, you are taking power away from representatives who are closest to the people, who feel the greatest responsibility to deliver services and to make things right. This makes government more disconnected from those in need and also from the taxpayers themselves. It is a breaking point for democratic structures and this is something we ought to be fundamentally concerned about.

UYGUR: You know, I think they had a term for that back in the revolution. It was taxation without representation. So, if you voted for a local representatives and your governor takes them away from you, what‘s happening there? So, but, John, let me ask you about the recalls because, look, these guys, they sold voters a bill of goods, right? And do this switch-a-roo and this switch-in-bait and all of that. So, are recall efforts real? I mean, do they have a real chance at recalling whether it‘s, you know, Snyder in Michigan in July or it‘s whether it‘s Walker, you know, a year after the election? Is that a real possibility, do you think?

NICHOLS: I think it‘s a real possibility. The recall was created by the progressive movement at the start of the last century for precisely moments like this. It‘s not just to remove somebody if they commit a felony, it‘s to remove someone who is doing damage to the state, and also someone who is in violation of their oath to protect and defend the state national constitutions. So, these are very legitimate efforts.

UYGUR: Right.

NICHOLS: In Wisconsin, I think the recall of the state senators will definitely move along and, frankly, I think there‘s simply no question at this point that both Walker and Snyder deserve a recall.

UYGUR: All right, thank you, John Nichols, we appreciate it. And we‘ll be right back.

NICHOLS: Thanks.

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Obama fails to make counter-argument. Base patrol. Change we can believe in?

Posted on March 17, 2011 by William Brighenti

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>>> all fronts. they’re leading a budget slashing offensive in washington and a war on union rights in a number of states. progressive lawmakers are getting frustrated president obama isn’t making the counter statement enough. defazio wants to see more back poen. the problem is the negotiator in chief and where he’ll end up and whether we can put some steel in his spine. i assume he caved on tax as it in december because he was blackmailed on the treaty with russia with nuclear weapons which was critical but that’s pretty pathetic, also. wow. those are strong words and that’s going to leave a mark. congressman wiener says, quote, we spent a lot of time waiting for godot when it comes to the obama white house and we have to some degree internalize that’s probably not the way to go. we have to start initiating some of this. if you watch this show on a regular basis, god bless your heart. we appreciate it. seco secondly, you know i couldn’t agree more with that statement. today the house voted to defund npr and, of course, partisan vote of 228 to 192. congressman weiner pointed out the budget threat on the house floor today.

>> this is click and clack. they talk about master cylinders. it’s kinky. i’m glad my republican friends are finally getting to the bought the ohm of this and then with all the giggling and snorting they do every weekend on their show, it has to be a code. they’re clearly talking to the russians and the chinese with all that giggling and snorting. it is why i am so relieved we had this emergency session that we waived the rules of the house that a require 72 hours so we finally get these guys off my radio.

>> of course congressman anthony weiner is joining us now. on the republicans, they’re complaining obama is filling out brackets when there are so many more important things going on. we have the japan situation, not-fly zone and the threat of npr.

>> that’s the summary. they are adrift in their own right because they’re pretty good on what they’re against. they know they are against a health care bill, they know they’ve already achieved one of the things they wanted to do which is giving tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires. beyond that they’re kind of wandering trying to figure out what to do each day so the idea that they’re finally crack iing down on wait, wait, don’t tell me and morning edition and click and clack, i guess they found their cause for the week.

>> congressman, there’s been some tough quotes. dennis kucinovich had another tough quote. is the impression president obama isn’t showing up enough to fight on these issues?

>> i very much want the president to be a success. i’m going to work hard to make sure he serves a second term. his record of success has been remarkable. the counter thrust, what they would say to people like me and did i fazio, yeah, you may not like the way we’re proceeding, you want to see more fight but we’re getting a lot of things done. the problem is when we’re having this debate about the budget it can’t just be to the american people about numbers. it has to be about what our values are as a party and what it is we’re prepared to fight for and that’s what we need more from the president but, you know, i think you have to realize you have to make a distinction. you have people like senator mcconnell who wake up every morning thinking about how they make sure the president fails and the rest of us in the democratic base who really want the president to succeed and i think the problem we have now is we’re all watching this debate over budget numbers in washington. we know clearly what the republicans stand for, smaller government, less taxes, reduced deficits and things like that. the democrats have to articulate in a much better way what it is we’re fighting for, medicare, medicaid, the environment, education. these are things we’re not going to give on.

>> you see, congressman weinor, the problem is and you know this, on the tax cuts the republicans got what they wanted. the president gave away $40 billion, got no credit for it on the cuts, the heating oil, et cetera, et cetera. $4 billion was the second cut. $6 billion the second cut. still republicans haven’t moved an inch. how do we get the white house to realize this is not the right way to constantly give in?

>> it’s important to know that a lot of the things the president is doing, he has some good things to fight on. over the summer he said he wanted every federal agency reduce its waste by 5%. that’s a big thing. the budget he proposed for 2012 is the smallest since eisenhower. it’s not like he doesn’t have good things to go out to pitch and sell and fight for. i think we can’t see these budget negotiations as being transactions and i think the president needs to understand one of the things that gets us all fired up and gets us in congress, in a place that we can defend the things we care about is that he leads us and that’s what we’re asking him to do more of.

>> i couldn’t agree more with that. thank you for your time tonight.

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New way to fight back. Grassroots groups continue to fight in Wisconsin.

Posted on March 15, 2011 by William Brighenti

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>>> the 14 wisconsin democratic state senators may have lost the battle to block governor walker’s union-busting bill. but overall, we might have begun to win the war. i’ll tell you how. first, the state senators were welcomed home in style at the biggest rally since the state’s budget showdown began more than three weeks ago. madison police estimate as many as 100,000 people turned out at the statehouse on saturday. that is a giant crowd. the rally was organized by a variety of unions, including the afl-cio and the wisconsin farmers’ union, which helped bring dozens of tractors from around the state to participate in the rally. including manure spreaders don pictures of governor walker, which is fun for everybody. now, according to the associated press, the unions asked the white house early on to send vice president biden to the rallies in wisconsin. now, that was many weeks ago. the white house reaction was, ha-ha, get out of here! get, get! of course that didn’t happen. then, many weeks later, as things are really heating up, they ask for the secretary of labor, hilda solis. now, that makes sense, right? and of course the white house wouldn’t send her either. they said she’s looking into the situation. the situation’s over and she’s still looking! but then something else happened that turned out to be a blessing in disguise. the people in wisconsin took matters into their own hands and stopped waiting for the national democratic cavalry that never, ever arrives. and you know what, they’re still fighting. even after the governor’s questionable move to pass the bill. now they’re targeting scott walker’s corporate backers. that’s smart. notably, m&i bank. the bank’s executives poured more than $46,000 into governor walker’s campaign last year. now, that’s more than they gave all over 2010 candidates combined. so now unions have started a “move your money” campaign, urging teachers, cops, and firefighters to close their accounts at m&i. on friday, wisconsin firefighters picketed the bank, as you can see. and they withdrew $192,000, which then made them shut down the bank. okay, okay, mercy! please stop withdrawing it. and you know what, it can get a lot worse for the bank. one report estimates that unions have over $1 billion in pension funds invested at m&i bank. you know what that means? that means, uh-oh, spaghettios, you could be in a lot of trouble. people have figured out that you can hit the powerful where it counts, in their pocketbooks. the same thing happened in egypt where mubarak only stepped down after the labor strikes began. and then there’s the national and international movement against the power establishment. the group anonymous recently released this video, warning the global banking systems.

>> we are a decentralized, nonviolent, resistance movement which seeks to restore the rule of law and fight back against the organized criminal class. we are not affiliated with either wing of the two-party ol igarchy. that’s a little spooky, but i like it. what i like is peaceful resistance. and the anonymous website released a series of e-mails today from a former bank of america employee accusing the company of fraud in handling his mortgage files. the e-mail alleges bank of america hid foreclosure information from federal auditors who are investigating reports that bank of america was foreclosing homes without proper documentation. now, look, our own justice department doesn’t take any action against these guys. it’s been three years since the debacle in wall street that caused our economic collapse, and where’s washington? where’s washington? they haven’t done a damn thing. but look! what you’re looking at here, in combination of all these things, is a new model on how to fight back. you have to take action into your hands, direct, peaceful resistance. look, in my opinion, there is a war on the middle class going on and it’s not just me. warren buffett agrees. he’s told you over and over, he says there’s a war going on and my class is winning! but it looks like now with wisconsin and all those other things, the battle has actually been joined, which is fantastic. now, let me show you how this has worked so far. we have things like wikileaks. now, what they do is they break the news providing direct information to people. now, that helped in egypt and in tunisia, where they already knew their leaders were corrupt, but they got direct information about exactly how corrupt they were and how they did their corruption. it also exposed our government’s lies in the wars in afghanistan and iraq. and now operation leaks run by anonymous is also exposing bank of america and wikileaks is planning to do more of that as well. then, the web provides direct organizing online. you saw that in a big way in egypt. you also saw that a little bit in wisconsin. facebook, google and youtube and twitter allow you to organize and get people together in the streets. and then, finally, what we saw here in the united states with wisconsin, showed direct protests by the people, are much more powerful than petitioning the national democrats for help. you see that? we showed you over there, www, kind of like world wide web, very kcute. but in reality and what’s actually important is this is the new model of fighting back against the establishment and corporate power. don’t wait for your knight in shining armor to show up from d.c. the bad news is he ain’t coming. the good news is it turns out that you’re the knight in shining armor. get organized, get in the streets, get in the bank lobbies and get their business and fight back. that’s my take and that’s my opinion and i think we’re just getting started. joining me now is robert borsign, his group is helping to organize defend a dream rallies across the country on tuesday. all right, robert, first of all, are you with me that if we keep waiting for the national democrats to come, that cavalry ain’t never going to arrive?

>> no, absolutely. and politicians never lead a parade or start a parade. they just rush to get in front of it after it’s started and people start the parade. and this parade was started in wisconsin and it’s going to sweep across the country.

>> now, robert, why do you think things have taken off now? i know you guys at campaign for america and many other progressive groups have been trying to organize for so long. why now?

>> well, i think wisconsin caught people’s attention. you know, when the democrats left the state and workers rallied and then other workers came to their aid, people started to see that what was at stake, which was exactly what you said, is that there was a war on the middle class. and the question is really who’s going to pay to clean up the mess that was caused by wall street’s excess. if you can send that ticket to nurses and to cops and to teachers, then the middle class is going to continue to decline. and that suddenly became clear in wisconsin. and it’s now starting to sweep the country.

>> what’s next, robert? where do you take this next?

>> well, i think there’s two things that have to be done. one is people have to tell the story and make sure that everyone knows what’s at stake. and that’s the social media you talked about, that’s rallies across the country. tomorrow, there’ll be rallies in places across america. on april 4th, on the anniversary of king’s assassination, who was killed in memphis when he was standing with workers trying to organize a sanitation workers’ union, people are going to be asked to go out of their workplaces and organize their own demonstrations in front of their workplaces to express solidarity, not simply with the workers in wisconsin, but with middle class people who are under assault across this country.

>> all right. now, let me bring in eric brinkman. he’s actually a firefighter from madison, wisconsin. he voted for governor scott walker, but is now having second thoughts. eric, why did you vote for walker in the first place?

>> i felt he was the better of two evils between barrett and walker. i wasn’t really impressed with either one.

>> right. and what’s happened since then that made you change your mind?

>> well, i don’t think he’s been open and honest about what — not that any politician is, really — but i don’t think he was honest and forthcoming with the information, that he obviously had a plan and it was to go after the unions and i just don’t agree with how he went about doing what he’s doing. everybody knows that we have a budget problem and we feed to fix it because you can’t keep deficit spending, but attacking and going after the bargaining rights just isn’t right.

>> eric, did you get a sense that he misled you? that during the elections he didn’t tell you he was going to bust the unions, and then he told you other things to get your vote, and all of a sudden he comes into office and does the one thing you didn’t expect?

>> i was totally caught off guard by — he said he wanted to have a balanced budget and i’m all for that, but i was not expecting him to come after the unions like he did. and yeah, i was caught off guard. yeah. i feel duped.

>> you feel — all right, i hear you. now, he left the cops and the firefighters out of the bill, though. yet you’re still angry about it, why?

>> well, in a manner of speaking, we’re being left out, but we’re all standing together, because we’re all part, you know, with the city workers get the streets department, when it comes to bargaining, we’re going to get the same thing. so, yes, he cut us out, but we’re really not cut out. and together we’re standing and we stand together because one falls, we all fall.

>> all right. that’s the right attitude, if you ask me. eric brinkmann and robert, i want to thank both of you tonight for your time. we really appreciate it. listen,

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Enrolled agent faces a ten year prison term for failing to understand QuickBooks. QuickBooks users beware: never enter your customer payments prior to recording an invoice or statement charge!

Posted on March 13, 2011 by William Brighenti

William Brighenti, Certified Public Accountant, Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor, Accountants CPA Hartford, Connecticut, LLCI know of someone who is facing a prison term of perhaps ten years and a $500,000 fine because of inputting financial information “incorrectly” in QuickBooks. This individual is an enrolled agent with years of accounting, QuickBooks, and tax experience.

Upon receipt of checks from clients and upon making a bank deposit, the individual would open the customer payments window in the customer menu in QuickBooks, select the client, record the date, amount, and number of the check, and post the entry. The result of this entry was a debit to undeposited funds and a credit to the client’s accounts receivable account for the amount of the check.

After he recorded the payment from the customer, he sometimes would enter a statement charge to the client, typically at the end of the month after all services were provided or when he had the time to do his billing.

You might wonder why he entered some of the payments from the clients first before invoicing or charging these clients. Timing. Accountants often record financial events as they occur. The receipt of the check precipitated its posting in QuickBooks. His billing or performance of services prompted his recording of the charge to the client in QuickBooks. Some accountants require a payment in advance of performing services. Others require a monthly installment for ongoing work. Upon completion of those services and when one has the time to do billing, one would then record the charge to the client.

The problem is a limitation in QuickBooks.  After a customer payment has been recorded in QuickBooks, if an invoice or statement charge is then entered for that customer, although the payment is recorded in the accounts receivable ledger for that client, it is not associated or applied to that invoice or statement charge.  There must be a charge or invoice already posted in the accounts receivable ledger prior to the entry of the customer payment for it to be applied.   Although revenue is credited for the invoice or charge, and the client’s accounts receivable reflects offsetting debits and credits to his account, an invoice or charge remains open in QuickBooks:  that is, QuickBooks is unable to associate and apply the payment to the invoice if the payment has been posted into QuickBooks prior to the invoice or statement charge.

What is the result in QuickBooks if a customer payment is recorded prior to a customer charge?  Cash is appropriately debited for the correct amount.  Accounts receivable for the customer has been debited and credited for the charge and payment, respectively.  And revenue has been credited for the services charged to the client.

If we open the accrual basis balance sheet and P&L reports in QuickBooks, the balance in cash, accounts receivable, and revenue are correctly stated.  However, if we open the cash basis balance sheet and P&L reports in QuickBooks, accounts receivable will have a negative balance and revenue will be understated:  both accounts will not include the invoice or statement charge since QuickBooks has not applied the customer payment to it, and the QuickBooks cash basis P&L report excludes all revenue and expense postings that have not been associated with payments.

The trained accountant, unaware of this limitation in QuickBooks, mistakenly relied on his cash basis P&L report to prepare his Schedule C on his Form 1040, and, as a result, understated his taxable income.  Consequently, he now faces a prison term for not entering his client charges prior to his customer payments in QuickBooks.  The IRS’s position is that QuickBooks users should know how to use QuickBooks and that if such errors as the one mentioned above occur, then the IRS presumes that they are fraudulent, involving willful intent on the part of the user.  Acts of fraud are punishable with prison sentences in addition to monetary penalties.

But the IRS’s position of willful intent on the part of the accountant because of its presumption that accountants should know how to use QuickBooks appropriately appears to me to be unjust.  I searched the Intuit book’s on QuickBooks for the years under audit and was unable to discover a caveat warning the user not to enter customer receipts prior to invoicing.  Nor could I find any explicit warning in the QuickBooks program during the entry of customer payments and statement charges.  In the real world of accounting, often the receipt of customer payments precede the act of invoicing the customer.  And one’s accounting system should reflect financial transactions as they occur in time.

So QuickBooks user, proceed with caution.  Learn the program to stay out of jail.  And take heed before ever entering your customer payments prior to recording their invoices or statement charges!

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GOP blames Obama on oil prices. Running on empty.

Posted on March 11, 2011 by William Brighenti

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>>> americans looking at the price of gas at the pump these days are justifiably upset. what they don’t realize is some in the administration are working to actively decrease our oil production at home.

>> the gop is slamming president obama as you just saw over rising oil prices. and in my opinion, and according to the facts with we’re about to show you, that is absolutely ridiculous. and it wasn’t just mitch mcconnell. john boehner also piled on this week, saying obama has consistently blocked with efforts to increase domestic oil production. they’re saying it’s obama’s fault that gas prices are high. it’s true gas prices are up, up 7 cents from a week ago and 76 cents from a year ago. president obama argues this is because of what’s happening in libya and the rest of the middle east.

>> there’s uncertainty in terms of what’s happening in the middle east. a lot of this has to do with uncertainty in the market.

>> so who’s right? the republicans or president obama? now, if you watch this show on a regular basis, you know that i often disagree with the president. this is not one of those times. in this case, he’s only 100% correct. look at this the chart. the day before the uprising in libya, february 14, oil prices were covering just around the $90 mark. the first protetests in libya happened the next day and prices soon started hitting new levels at just under $107 a few days level. now they’re around the $100 ballpark. libya is now producing less than a million barrels of oil per day than they had been. and as you saw in that chart, it’s an open and shut case. libya happens, prices go up. you would have to be crazy or a republican to disagree. and as always, besides blaming obama is more drilling at home. the theory is if we drill, baby, drill prices will come down.

>> we want it to be $60 a barrel or $50 a barrel. and the way to do it is to produce more in america.

>> i will say this for the billionth time in a run, until it gets through their thick skulls. when we drill in america. we don’t get the oil. they don’t drive up to your house and say hey, bob, thanks for the oil in the gulf of mexico. here it is. the oil companies keep it and make bigger profits. but the republicans know that because that’s who they’re working for. you want proof? look at that same legislator defending oil companies right here. .

>> over time, if you put disincentives against any u.s. manufacturer or production company or oil and gas exploration they’ll go out of business.

>> did you hear that? the congressman just said they would go out of business. that was in the context of hey, should we give them oil subsidies and all of those tax breaks? he’s saying if we don’t give them the tax breaks the oil companies will go bankrupt. what a joke that is. look at these numbers. exx exx exxonmobil made profit of $19 billion in 2009. it was the second most profitable company in the world. chevron made almost $11 billion. it was the world’s 29th most profitable company. and conoco phillips, oh, poor guys. they’ll small potatoes. they only made $4.9 billion in 2009. and these guys need tax breaks or they’ll go out of business? they can’t possibly believe that. in fact, they don’t. the republicans have just become shameless. they think they can’t lose so they’re pretty much admitting yeah, we work for the oil companies. i would like to give them more of money. for the record, as they blame obama for high gas price, how did george w. bush do on the same issue. when we came into office, the average price was $1.48. by the time he left it was $3.25. and that’s over an eight-year period. it doesn’t have fluctuations over libya or the middle east. that’s a huge discrepancy. you know what we call that? oops. i guess if you want to blame a president for it, you’re blaming the wrong president. you should blame george w. bush. now with me is congressman mark key on the house energy and commerce committee. first of all, i mean, really? really? they think if we don’t give the oil company subsidies theyer.

>> going to go bankrupt? and they can’t see that chart where after libya, the gas prices take off. so my question to you, congressman, are they on the level? do they actually believe what they’re saying or do they think they’re not going to find out. let’s just lie.

>> they’re blaming obama when they should be blaming opec. this is not an act of god. this is an act of gadhafi which has led to this price spike. and they are contending in congress that the answer is larger tax breaks for oil companies. well, at $100 a barrel for oil, subsidizing the oil companies to drill for more oil would be like subsidizing a bird to fly or a fish to swim. you don’t have to do it. they’re going to do it anyway in their own economic interest. but they’ve already bid for public lands in the united states where there is oil that is the size of new mexico and they have yet to begin their drilling on that land. and i think what we should do is instead of giving them tax breaks to start putting tax burdens on them unless and until they start drilling here in the united states on the land that the american people have given them to drill.

>> yeah. you know, you have an interesting theer tri, i believe. do you think that the republican party is interested in keeping us addicted to foreign oil?

>> i think they really do the bidding of the oil industry. look, we only produce 7 million barrels of oil a day in the united states. we imho port 13 million barrels oil a day. of that, about half of it comes from opec. we should be telling opec we don’t need your oil any more than we need your sand. the only way to do that is to have a wind, a solar, a geothermic revolution in our country that backs that oil out of our system. instead, the republicans in the budget which they passed in the house of representatives just two weeks ago kills all of these programs. tells the epa that they won’t be able to increase the fuel economy standards of the vehicles which we drive. that we can’t have higher standards for airplane fuel economy standards, for trains, for all of the places where we put the oil we consume. and opec grins and smiles as their profits go up. the oil companies grill and smile as their oil profits get up. and the republicans on the floor and the senate blame barack obama for what is happening. but the one thing they’re wrong on is the american people know the oil companies, because of opec and there’s no way they’re going to be blaming obama.

>> that’s a interesting interesting point. if you think they’re interested in the american people then it doesn’t make sense. but if they’re interested in the people paying their bills, the oil companies, then you wouldn’t want alternative energy, you would want us to be addicted to the oil companies financing the republicans. so that’s a very interesting point. and my last point on this is, what happened to the free market? i thought these guys said they’re in favor of the free market. now they say no, no, give all the tax breaks and subsidies to the oil companies.

>> well, that’s what happened in the last congress. president obama proposed an energy revolution of using new technologies. and henry waxman and i were able to pass 245 bill throuthat bill through the house. but in the senate, it was oklahoma oil and kentucky coal that killed that bill that would have us on its way. big oil, big coil, they got us what we wanted and we’re now paying the price at the pump.

>> congressman, thank you so much for joining us tonight. now,

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Failing America’s schools.

Posted on March 11, 2011 by William Brighenti

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Going south. Exposing Rick Scott’s past.

Posted on March 8, 2011 by William Brighenti

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>>> as we continue to follow the blowback against scott walker, we’re keeping an eye on the other scott as well. the uber-conservative governor of florida, rick scott. this is the most ironic past you can imagine. just minutes ago, scott actually just finished laying out his extreme agenda in his state of the state address. corporate tax toss 3% and eliminate them completely by 2018. he wants to combine billion in corporate and property tax cuts, and in that same two years, he wants to eliminate 9,000 jobs from the state’s workforce. i wonder if there’s a connection. even though the state’s unemployment in florida is at a stunning 12%, that’s gigantic, and he’s cutting more jobs, he wants to private tide medicate and the prison system, saying the profit motive will make them more efficient. there’s great irony in that, which i’ll explain it a moment. he likes to say he wants to run the state like a business. the state’s republican legislators don’t like being bull dosed by a lone wolf governor, but here’s the irony about the so-called ceo governor. he was the ceo of the nation’s largest for-profit health care system. resigned in 1997 in the middle of an fbi investigation into massive fraud. the company pled guilty to 14 philosophies, most of which were committed on scott’s watch. le company was forced to pay $1.7 billion. which, by the way, means you the taxpayer. now req scott is bracking, when he was an actual ceo. here’s who he looked out for, rick scott. do you know how much he made while ceo of that company? in stock options alone over $300 million. he got to keep all of it. how is this guy governor? and how is he seriously bracking about his ceo credentials, and proposing to privatize essential state functions? to help me answer that question is former florida congressman alan grayson. great to have you here.

>> thank you.

>> i’m going to start with a simple question. how did that guy get elected governor when bragging about his experience where he defrauded the american taxpayers?

>> the last one was led away in chains and indicted, and put in prison, so the republican party reached out to the biggest crook in the state and then nominated him as governor. you didn’t mention the fact that he actually pled the nist 75 times in his deposition. that’s like pleading it is 375th, and that virtually his entire fortune comes from cheating sick people.

>> and i still can’t imagine how you could lose an election to that guy, but anyway, democrats, i know i’ve been advising democrats to get stronger this time. they could have use a stronger campaign if you ask me, but let’s talk about what’s happening now. okay? they’re saying in essence the teacher paycuts are over $2,300 he’s proposing. at the same time property owners are getting about a $45 a year tax cut let alone the huge corporate tax cuts as well. you think the people in florida are happy with that deal? hey, i get to keep $45 and we’re cutting this education, cutting the pay of the teachers dramatically? is that a deal they’re happy with?

>> i can make it simpler. he wants to eliminate the corporate income tax and cut corporation taxes in florida by $1.5 billion at the same time he wants to cut funding for the schools by $1.5 billion. you don’t get much simpler than that. he’s taking money out of our children’s money, because he thinks the fundamental problem is rick scott doesn’t have enough money. he wants a cut for rich people, a tax cut for corporations, because he wants a tax cut for rick scott. that’s his motivation here. he spent $78 million to get the office. he wants a return on his investment.

>> congressman grayson how dangerous an idea is it to privatize some of these functions where you give people motivation to put more people in prison?

>> it will simply never worked. we tried to privatize wars in iraq and afghanistan and ended up with massive war profit tiering, $8 billion simply missing. we have a public school system that dates back to colonial times in american. we were the first company in the world to have a universal free public school system. that’s what rick scott and the republicans wants everybody want to destroy.

>> former florida congressman alan grayson, we appreciate your time tonight.

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Find a solution to the budget problem. Indefensible.

Posted on March 8, 2011 by William Brighenti

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00:15:53 >>> The budget standoff is raging in washington.
00:15:55 The republicans want to cut $61 billion, the democrats want to cut $6 billion initially, on top of the $40 billion the white house has already taken out.
00:16:06 How do we ever find common ground?
00:16:14 >> I think the biggest problems is they’re looking at this much of the budget, and we’re looking at nonmilitary discretionary spending, but then there’s military spending, nobody is talking about that.
00:16:24 If you you eliminate all the non-military spending you won’t balance the budg conservatives in my party will have to admit there’s waste in the military budget.
00:16:34 >> Would you look at that?
00:16:37 I couldn’t agree more from that assessment from senator rand paul.
00:16:41 Look at the numbers.
00:16:42 There’s a 2012 federal budget, $3.7 trillion.
00:16:56 You already paid payroll taxes on that.
00:16:59 That’s why social security, for example, has a surplus, so the picture looks different when we take them out.
00:17:05 The largest expense now is defense.
00:17:07 We’re spending almost one third of our budget on defense, but most of all, the congressional — but most of the congressional cuts are taking place in non-defense discretionary spending, trying to

cut the fat from small potato programs while ignoring the giant elephant in the room.
00:17:30 Joining me are congressman peter DeFAZIO, DEMOCRAT FROM OREGON, And congressman ron paul, republican from texas.
00:17:37 We appreciate both of you coming on.
00:17:39 It’s a great pleasure.
00:17:41 First of all, let me start with you, congressman paul, I take it you agree with your son?
00:17:50 >> Or maybe he agrees with me.
00:17:59 I don’t want to cut defense, i want to cut military.
00:18:03 There’s a big difference.
00:18:04 I think our foreign policy and militarism actually diminishes our defense.
00:18:09 I’m for it.
00:18:11 I think we can’t cut hundreds of billions, but you have to change policy.
00:18:15 If we assume we’re the policemen of the world and have to get involved — right now with this financial crisis that we’re in, you know, we have people TALKING — RPGs AND DEMOCRATS About

how are we going to get involved in libya?
00:18:29 I just cannot believe that, hand quite frankly, I don’t think they’re all that serious.
00:18:37 If we were serious enough i think there would be more bipartisanship how many democrats will get on boor for saying, we simply spent too much on the military, and we should actually begin that

process?
00:19:03 >> Two weeks ago we had a great test of that when we finally defeated the second engine for a single-engine jet fighter.
00:19:10 It was the best joke I had going in my district.
00:19:19 I said, well, inside the beltway it’s two.
00:19:22 I think that could be a test case for further cuts and unnecessary weapon systems, perhaps a quicker drawdown, why are we still in europe?
00:19:40 And other overseas miss.
00:19:42 Japan we allow them to — we provide their military shield.
00:19:46 It’s time for some of these other countries to grow up.
00:19:49 >> Peter, you have a very positive statement, and I agree, but in that same bill, I think it was and we got about 120 people to vote for it.
00:20:02 We’re still building bridges in afghanistan, but I agree with you.
00:20:08 >> I was with you on that vote.
00:20:10 I want to build infrastructure they’re in the united states.
00:20:14 >> I love this love coming out on this program.
00:20:22 >> When we look at defense, it’s historically been the republican party blocked anything in that direction.
00:20:31 They said I can’t believe the democrats would do that, attention, how do you get beyond that?
00:20:41 Look at what our president is doing.
00:20:43 He had a very strong statement about our need to be involve in libya.
00:20:48 He expanded the war in afghanistan.
00:21:03 Oy ‘bama is getting close to the possible.
00:21:07 I think it’s bipartisan.
00:21:17 It’s a bipartisan mess, and i think that republicans a lot of republicans and democrats outside of washington still expect a lot from our government.
00:21:28 They need to get rid of that appetite, and maybe we would do a better job here.
00:21:35 >> congressman DeFazio, let’s get realistic, yes, you’ve lost a lot of votes together, no matter how bipartisan I have been on that issue.
00:21:46 It’s because, as congressman paul says there’s still a lot of bipartisan on the other side taking defense from — that’s got to be relevant, right?
00:21:56 >> It’s a substitute, very ineffective jobs program.
00:22:02 President eisenhower warned ABOUT THIS IN THE 1950s, WHEN You produce weapons, it steals away from real product activity.
00:22:13 So, no, it has been a bipartisan problem.
00:22:16 There are a lot of democrats worried about — I’ll give a quick example.
00:22:21 Ron and I tried to eliminate the selective service for the draft, which we’re never going to have.
00:22:26 As an amendment in that bill.
00:22:28 We get a pathetic 130, 40 votes and democrats and republicans said this is a national security issue.
00:22:34 It wasn’t a national security issue.
00:22:36 It’s a more I bun bureaucracy we don’t need.
00:22:41 I’ve never seen a selective service uniform, and entertainment, yes, they’re very entertaining.
00:22:48 Democrats and republicans are worried about being called soft on defense.
00:22:54 There’s a difference between military spending and waste.
00:22:59 >> congressman DeFazio and congressman paul, a pleasure to see you together fighting on this issue and trying to change the framing in washington.
00:23:12 Thank you both for coming on.
00:23:14 I really appreciate it.
00:23:15 >> Thank you.

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Wake up call. Wake up call in Wisconsin

Posted on March 7, 2011 by William Brighenti

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>>> the republicans want you to believe that america is broke. they want you to believe things have so bad there’s no other option but their draconian cuts.

>> we’re broke. broke going on bankrupt.

>> we have to reform medicare. it costs too much and it’s going to bankrupt us.

>> because obama care will bankrupt the country.

>> just because we followed grea greece into democracy does not mean we need to follow them into bankruptcy.

>> false, false, false, false, false, false. it’s all fall. we’re not broke, nor are we going bankrupt. i’m not the only one who thinks this. michael moore and bloomberg news both agree that america is nowhere near broke. here’s more in wisconsin over the weekend.

>> america is not broke. not by a long shot. the country is awash in wealth and cash! it’s just that it’s not in your hands! it has been transferred in the greatest heist in history from the workers and consumers into the banks and portfolios of the uber rich.

>> now, that’s totally true. and republicans say we face financial ruin because we’re in debt. but bloomberg says the u.s. is not going broke or going bankrupt. the it says almost every government is in debt, which makes sense. which makes sense. that’s normal operating procedure. you’re only in trouble when no one will loan you money anymore. the real problem is that our tax rates are badly skewed. if we ask the very wealthy ? to share the pain of these economic time, we could balance the budget as we did in the clinton years. everybody knows this. the whole financial market knows it, otherwise they wouldn’t lend us the money at those incredibly low rates. this isn’t about whether we can pay our bills but how the wealthiest americans air void paying their share.

>> they have bought and paid for hundreds of politicians across the country to do their bidding for them.

>> the gop says the only way to balance the budget is to do it off the backs of the middle class, but having done so, they present the democrats with a great opportunity. to stick up for the middle class. democrats can come riding to the rescue here, but that means they have to fight for your priorities and not for the wealthy political donors. here’s what warren buffet said about that, quote, there’s class war fair, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class that’s making war and we’re winning. michael moore and warren buffet agree. every sensible person in the country agrees. fighting for the middle class is the right thing to do and it’s also an obvious winning political strategy. it’s easy, it’s gift wrapped for the democrats. now question is, will they do it. it’s a good question. joining me now is independent senator bernie sanders of vermont and former pennsylvania governor and nbc news political analyst ed rendell. how will the democrats stick up for the working class and fight back for them?

>> the clear issue is a clear issue. the republicans want to throw hundreds of thousands of kids off head start. they want to substantially cut back on pel grants which will impact millions of college students. they want to cut back on heating assistance programs, they want to cut back on pregnancy prevention. pra, et cetera, et cetera. this is a real vicious attack. what the republican budget in washington is against working families and low income-paying people. meanwhile, the top 1% are doing phenomenally well. their effective tax rate at 16% is at lower than anytime in recorde@? history. they have gotten hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks. instead of attacking middle class and working families, you eve got to ask the wealthy to start paying their fair share of taxes. if we simply do a 5% surtax on all income over $1 million, you can do away, cover all of the cuts that the republicans have put into their budget. you don’t have to cut back on children, the sick, the elderly or the poor. ask the people earning more than $1 million to pay a 5% surtax on income above $1 million. go after the oil companies thov loophole after loophole. you do those thing, you don’t need any of the cuts the republicans are talking about.

>> governor rendell, will the national democratic party have the courage to do that? will they say let’s put a surtax on people making over $1 million. and let’s not fight for it and say oh, look at that, the republicans won again.

>> i think so. i think wisconsin has been a catalyst. i think the national democrats should pivot and number one, do what bernie said, close the loopholes, first of all. nobody out there thinks loopholes make sense. let’s close those loopholes. virtually every american agrees they’re making record profits. those are things i think are easy to do. we should speak up. i do believe we do have to cut some problems. we certainly need to cut wasteful spending, and there is some waste in social programs. don’t after heating assistance for low income people, but you try to trim those programs that aren’t reaching their mark. ? the pain is all on one side.

>> governor rendell, they just had a vote in congress and the republicans won on loopholes, they voted to keep the loopholes for the oil companies. why don’t you call them out on it? the republicans are vicious to democrats. why don’t they come out and say these republicans are bought lock, stock and barrel.

>> i think that’s the mistake we made in the 2010 election. we tried to be republican-lite. everywhere we tried to do that, we lost. we should have stood up for the things we believe in and tell the people the absolute truth, and then if we lose, at least we lost fighting for things this we believe in, that are our core principles. and it’s time for us to go back to the core principles, what made us democrats and stand up and put those before the voters. don’t try to be imitation republicans.

>> senator sanders, i want to go to that point, right? governor rendell mentioned.

>> would you do for a surtax? is it possible anyone would even suggest that in washington?

>> governor rendell is right. there is waste in government. i didn’t mean to suggest that we can’t make judicious cuts in a number of areas. certainly, including the military, whose budget has almost tripled since 19977. so i do any you need to make some cuts. but on the other hand, when the wealthiest people are becoming wealthier, paying very low effective tax rates have received huge amounts of tax breaks, they have got to anticipate in the effort. it cannot simply be on the backs of the week and vulnerable. what’s going on here in washington? we had an immediate $800 billion tax cut. really almost no fight over that. ? when you go to balance the budget, they say you can only do spending cuts. so you’ve already lost. why do the democrats lose that framing battle every single time?

>> look, i was on the floor of the senate for 8 1/2 hours talking about those issues. and i think that the problem is that big money has a huge impact on both political parties. i think it’s fair to say many democrats have lost their way and no longer see their function as representing working people or the middle class, but share the goal of the republicans, unfortunately, in representing the wealthy and the powerful.

>> see, that’s an interesting indictment of some democrats. and i totally agree with that. governor rendell, what do you think?

>> i agree with bernie as well. i think some people in our party have forgotten our roots and forgot what we’re fighting and forgotten fundamental fairness. this interim budget battle and the long-battle over the president’s budget next year are going to be very, very telling. it’s my hope that every democrat democratic senator in the senate will stand up and say hey, don’t even talk to us about tax cuts when you’re giving subsidies to the oil companies. don’t even talk to us about spending cuts when you’re not closing loopholes that are so unfir. then next year let’s go back to taking away the bush tax cut.

>> i hope the white house is listening to you guys. hey, wait a minute, governor rendell is senator sanders is right. you’ve got to give back these subsidies to the largest oil companies in the world.

>> it’s ridiculous, ridiculous.

>> the only thing i would add to ? what ed said is that the republican proposal in the midst of a horrendous recession with unemployment extraordinarily high will cut, cut hundreds and hundreds of thousands of jobs.

>> enand, that’s not theory. do you remember this past month’s job report. 223,000 public sector jobs created. that’s great news. the net was 192,000 because we lost 30,000 public sector jobs. that is just the beginninging. the tip of the iceberg of what we’re going to lose when these budget cuts go through not only in washington but in state capitals alike.

>> all right, senator sanders, governor rendell, thank you both for joining us this evening. really appreciate it. it was a great conversation. all right, michelle

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Polls: strong support for ending oil subsidies. What America wants.

Posted on March 7, 2011 by William Brighenti

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>>> are subsidizing the most profitable industry. in our nbc/” wall street journal” poll 74% said it would end oil subsidies. our next guest is the author of the book “why we hate the oil company.” you are the former ceo of shell and you’re saying we should end the oil subsidies? that’s interesting, why?

>> in a high oil price environment, the actual subsidies are so small, they’re have very incidental to the business the size of the one i was formerly with and other major oil companies basically testified the same thing. but that’s when the oil price is high. when the oil price is low, subsidies make a big difference, because it may keep people drilling who would otherwise stop drilling but i also distinguish that smaller oil companies are different. so making a right decision is not putting all the oil companies you should the same paint brub, there has to be some distinctions made.

>> when oil is at $100, does it make sense to literally give the most profitable companies in the world an incentive to drill for oil? i mean, doesn’t that sound crazy? shouldn’t we craft a law at the bare minimum that says all right, if it’s low prices then we give yo a subsidy, if it’s high prices, no way.

>> i think there should be that kind of a bargain. but here’s an even more bargain. because i believe we need more oil produced domestically, so we don’t suffer the volatility we do, how about a discussion of raising the royalty rates in return for more drilling. that’s a discussion that i think would be great for the government and the american people. the oil companies wouldn’t mind because they would have more production. that would be a solution to the kind of problem we have right now.

>> all right, another thing is — why are we giving them a subsidy at all. if you can make money drilling oil, have at it, hoss. it’s a free market.

>> just about a decade ago, oil was $10 a barrel and we were shutting down the rigs in the gulf of mexico because nobody would drill. the clinton administration is the one who put the insentives in place.

>> they did it wrong, absolutely. thank you for your time. really appreciate it. appreciate your

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