Wisconsin
Related: About this forum'Bipartisan' debt forum with Ron Johnson and Mark Pocan puts hyperpartisanship on display
You gotta hand it to the Bipartisan Issues Group (BIG), a group of college students who want to bridge the partisan divide so that someday, something might be done about the national debt, which casts a dark cloud on debate over nearly all government initiatives.
On Thursday, Alex Holland, a UW student and the groups president and co-founder, and his group pulled off a coup by getting two U.S. lawmakers from Wisconsin, Rep. Mark Pocan of Madison and Sen. Ron Johnson of Oshkosh, in the same room to discuss how to fix the problem.
If we come together, if we put our politics aside, we can solve these issues, Holland told a crowd of more than 200 students, faculty and others Thursday night at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery.
Pocan and Johnson then proceeded to demonstrate just how unlikely that would be in the current political climate.
http://host.madison.com/news/local/writers/steven_elbow/bipartisan-debt-forum-with-ron-johnson-and-mark-pocan-puts/article_f8652d48-723b-5048-acbc-8465b5d29a9d.html
Scuba
(53,475 posts)mojowork_n
(2,354 posts)Excerpt from the article:
My problem with increasing taxes, punishing success, is that it puts at risk the very economic growth needed to put America back on its feet, he said.
Pocan, who wants a balance between cuts and tax increases, attacked the House budget.
The house budget doesnt balance, he said. In fact, its an embarrassment.
Pocan called the House budget an austerity package.
Johnson answered, To call it austere is good political demagoguery. Its simply not true.
Sure, if you married the boss's daughter and can afford to spend ten million of your own dollars (which you later got back from the company) to run for the Senate, the "small cuts" in the Republican budget won't mean a damned thing to you. Painless.
But if you're looking out for the best interests of your constituents, some of whom are retirees on a fixed income, or low-wage workers without any health insurance or benefits, like Pocan, the effects of those proposed cuts stand out very differently.
midnight
(26,624 posts)to be punished is somehow alright though?
mojowork_n
(2,354 posts)If you're living in Wisconsin and you're somehow *not* contributing your own share of taxes -- plus whatever percentage you're making up for, because high earners and big corporations have minimal tax liabilities -- you're expected to root through dumpsters for your dinner, if you stop making payments.
No soup for you.
No feasting from the Federally funded FoodShare trough:
https://www.facebook.com/notes/representative-jon-richards/walker-food-stamp-plan-puts-mean-spirited-ideology-before-taxpayers-common-sense/10151674971645746
If you somehow manage to retain food share benefits, the Greedy Old Pigs insist there should be serious dis-incentives to using them, so that you'll "choose" to get back to some level of tax-paying activity on "your own."
In the name of "healthier food-buying choices" -- no chips or giant plastic jugs of sugary soda -- the FoodShare Increased Nutritional Value Bill -- or whatever it's called -- is cutting out some food choices:
http://cognidissidence.blogspot.com/2013/05/no-soup-for-you.html
So we have decided that the poor people in our community do not deserve to eat soup, frozen foods, crackers or frozen dinners. Who eats frozen dinners in 2013 you say, well my source answered that:
The last 4 are especially important to the elderly, disabled and ill people who get FoodShare. These individuals may not be able to cook a meal "from scratch" or even have access to a full kitchen.
These people depend on "ready to heat" meals, but they may not be able to purchase as many "ready to heat meals as they need because AB 110 restricts ALL of Non-WIC foods to a mere 33% of their monthly FoodShare amount.
Dickensian debtors' prisons are currently being analyzed and studied as a business model; with the goal of eliminating inherent inefficiencies and waste, so that the program can be introduced by the GOP next year as part of a new state "Repair the Budget" initiative.
midnight
(26,624 posts)will always get to socialize their debt...
Jimbo S
(2,958 posts)Very thought provoking. However, it appears he didn't do much talking this time. Good thing I passed on this and saved my time not having to listen to Johnson go on and on.