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Politics : Liberalism: Do You Agree We've Had Enough of It? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (59407)	2/15/2009 9:33:07 PM
From: TimF	3 Recommendations Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 224756

When taxes were higher during the pre-Reagan years, the national debt, as a % of GDP, steadily declined from its post WW2 peak. I prefer the economy of the Reagan years to that of the 70s. Its true that Regan failed to reign in spending to go with the tax cuts, but his tax cuts and tax reforms where one of, perhaps the most important and successful government economic policies of the 2nd half of the 20th century. (The most important and successful if your measuring in absolute real dollar terms, perhaps not so much as a percentage of the economy, with some smaller economies going through even more successful reforms)

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (59407)	2/16/2009 2:57:21 AM
From: Hope Praytochange	Respond to of 224756

The Capitol's inhabitants are rousing at this hour to see what they'll be doing next to try to close the state's $40 billion budget deficit - an effort that hit a roadblock in the wee hours of early Sunday morning. Senators have been snoozing in their offices, while Assembly members were tucked away in caucus meeting rooms off the floor. Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg locked down his members within the building. Assembly Speaker Karen Bass has imposed an even stricter lockdown, not allowing any members to leave the Assembly chambers. She also banned senators from entering after a couple of Reps visited to encourage Rep assemblymembers to oppose to the budget. Whatever deal was to be had fell apart early Sunday when Sen. Dave Cox announced several times he would not vote for the budget. He voted against the budget bill in the first round of votes. The Gov. and Steinberg attempted to win his vote over the course of the night, believing they could finish the deal. Cox won the right to introduce amendments that would overhaul Proposition 10 early-childhood development programs (of which he has been extremely critical over at least two years for its stockpiling of some $5 billion in reserves, and he was given a related bill to make smaller changes. But...not enough to get hs vote for the budget package. Around 5 a.m., Senate Rep Leader Dave Cogdill called another caucus meeting, and he came down a half hour later to tell Steinberg that his caucus refused to provide the necessary 27th vote for the budget and that it believed the Senate should adjourn. Steinberg refused the request. The Gov called Sen. Abel Maldonado into his office overnight, hoping that one of the few moderate Reps could be swayed instead. Maldonado previously has opposed the budget on grounds that state Controller John Chiang was wasting money by decorating his office, but many believe Maldonado is more concerned about his chances in a future statewide Republican primary if he votes for higher taxes. Maldonado lost a primary bid for state controller in 2006, and he was angry at the time that onetime ally Schwarzenegger abandoned him. While Senate Republicans insist they will not vote for the budget, both Democratic leaders have made references to staying deep into Sunday out of fear that the deal could unravel if they let their members go home. Where the standoff ends, at this point, frankly nobody knows. Wilke, Fleury, Hoffelt, Gould & Birney, LLP 400 Capitol Mall, 22nd Floor Sacramento, CA 95814

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (59407)	2/16/2009 2:58:40 AM
From: Hope Praytochange	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 224756

Then it went up again because of the loss revenue due to tax demoRAT cheaters

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (59407)	2/16/2009 7:52:27 AM
From: lorne	1 Recommendation Respond to of 224756

ken...some top dems drumming up some more welfare recipients.? 4 key Dems in Congress seek inquiry into Arpaio sweeps by Daniel González Feb. 14, 2009 The Arizona Republic azcentral.com Four leading Democratic members of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee on Friday asked the new attorney general and Homeland Security secretary to investigate civil-rights complaints stemming from Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's crackdowns on illegal immigration. The four lawmakers called on Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to investigate complaints that deputies used skin color as the basis to search for illegal immigrants. They also asked that a federal agreement allowing the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office to enforce immigration laws be terminated if any problems can't be fixed. The lawmakers are the highest-level officials, and the first under the new Obama administration and Democratic-controlled Congress, to make such a request. They are committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. of Michigan, Zoe Lofgren of California, Jerrold Nadler of New York and Robert Scott of Virginia. Last year, Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, along with civil-liberties and immigrant-advocacy groups, called for similar investigations of Arpaio. The sheriff on Friday adamantly denied his deputies use racial profiling in arrests of illegal immigrants. "We're doing the right thing," he said. "If I was worried, with all the allegations, why would I keep doing it? I'm not stupid, having worked for the feds for 30 years." The lawmakers' request, in the form of a letter, comes a few weeks after Napolitano ordered the Department of Homeland Security to conduct a wide-ranging review of immigration enforcement and border security. That includes a review of the federal program, known as 287(g), that gives state and local agencies the authority to enforce immigration laws. In a memo, Napolitano ordered her staff to study the effectiveness of allowing police to arrest illegal immigrants vs. allowing jailers to identify and hold them when they are arrested for crimes. She also wrote that she wants to see what can be done to speed the process for signing more 287(g) agreements. Arpaio said this week that he is worried the former Arizona governor will eliminate the provision that allows local police to arrest illegal immigrants. Legal experts have said Arpaio's practices were likely to get more scrutiny under the Obama administration. Holder has a track record of investigating allegations of racial profiling against police departments when he was deputy attorney general under the Clinton administration. As governor, Napolitano yanked state funding that helped pay for Arpaio's controversial neighborhood sweeps, which critics said were aimed at arresting illegal immigrants. In Friday's letter, Conyers and the other Democrats said that, in recent months, Arpaio had shown "a blatant disregard for the rights of Hispanic residents in the Phoenix area." Lofgren is chairwoman of the immigration subcommittee. Nadler is chairman of the Constitution subcommittee, and Scott is chairman of the crime subcommittee. The lawmakers wrote that Arpaio had apparently overreached his authority under the federal agreement by ordering deputies to "scour Latino neighborhoods" to search for illegal immigrants on the basis of skin color. "As a result, members of the Latino community - whether they are U.S. citizens or foreign-born, whether they are legal immigrants or undocumented - feel under siege," the letter said. The Democrats said an incident this month in which Arpaio, citing a need to cut costs, "paraded approximately 200 suspected illegal immigrants in shackles to a segregated area of his Tent City county facility" also warranted investigation. Arpaio denied his policies are discriminatory toward Latinos and called the 287(g) program "a great success." "We've done a great job when you look at all the arrests we've made and all the (illegal immigrants) we've found who have been booked into the jail," he said. Arpaio compared the House members' request to similar ones made in the past year by Gordon and advocacy groups. None resulted in a federal investigation. Vincent Picard, a spokesman for the Phoenix office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Arpaio has not violated the 287(g) agreement. The pact prohibits ICE-trained deputies from targeting illegal-immigrant suspects based on race or appearance. Although allegations of racial profiling are common, not a single firsthand complaint involving ICE-trained officers in Arizona has been filed with the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General or any other investigative agency, Picard said. Some legal immigrants have been detained under the program, he said, but in every case, ICE determined they weren't carrying their green cards as required. "Arizona's 287(g) program is working as intended," Picard said. Conyers has come under fire from some Democratic lawmakers for pushing too hard for investigations of the Bush administration. Last year, Conyers threatened to file articles of impeachment against President George W. Bush that alleged constitutional violations of civil liberties. But he was discouraged by the Democratic Party leadership. Rep. Trent Franks, a Republican and the only Arizona member of the House Judiciary Committee, was traveling Friday night and could not be reached for comment. The Justice Department will review the letter, spokeswoman Laura Sweeney said. Napolitano has asked for a review of the 287(g) program because of questions about how agreements with state and local agencies are administered and if uniform standards are being applied, said Dean Smith, a Homeland Security spokesman. The review is due next Friday.