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If there is only one reason to vote Democratic this is it: The GOP’s Paul Ryan plan to
DESTROY MEDICARE and SOCIAL SECURITY.
Each Republican you elect brings this nightmare one step closer.
Neighbor island Democratic Congressional candidate Bob Marx supports a national bill to increase millionaires’ income tax rate to 30 percent. The bill, to be introduced by U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D – Rhode Island), would bring in about $50 billion a year.
Speaking to a group of Kaneohe democrats on Wednesday Bob Marx said:
“It is just wrong that an investment fund manager – who makes more than $1 million per year – pays a lower tax rate than Hawai’i’s hard-working teachers and construction workers. There is too much economic insecurity and debt in America for millionaire investors such as Mitt Romney to only pay a 14 percent tax rate.”
Bob Marx stressed “Legislation that would require multi-millionaires whose earnings are based on investments to pay at least 30 percent of their income in taxes is a good start towards fairness.”
Senator Whitehouse’s future bill would require individuals whose income exceeds $1 million from investments or hedge-funds to pay up to 30 percent of their income in taxes.The policy group Citizens for Tax Justice estimates that this would provide the U.S. government in about $50 billion a year.
Bob Marx is rallying support for this bill as part of his campaign for Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District, which represents rural O‘ahu and the neighbor islands. The Obama administration has also supported this bill.
“Corporations have had explosive profits in the past 10 years, while much of America is either unemployed or have had their salaries cut. We need to overhaul tax laws to restore the middle class. Too many Americans have lost their homes and their jobs from this past decade’s recession for millionaires not to pay their fair share.”
Note to all Democratic candidates: MauiDemocrats.org will post your position papers that clearly explain your positions. Please email to the webmaster.
Note from Bob Marx running for Mazie Hirono’s old House Seat (District 2)
Dear Friends,
Due to the tremendous grassroots action and unprecedented response from the public , SOPA/PIPA has been shelved at the National level. To those of you who missed our press release here is Bob’s official statement from last week. Looking forward to having your help in making a positive impact on our Nation in the future. -Bob
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Marx Opposes Government Censorship of the Internet
(HILO, HAWAI‘I, January 26, 2012) Bob Marx, Democratic candidate for U.S. Congress’ 2nd Congressional district, announced today his opposition to HB 2288, a Hawaii bill that would force Hawaii’s internet service providers (ISP) like Verizon, AT&T, and local internet providers like Hawaiian Telcom, Mobi PCS, and Oceanic Time Warner Cable, to track and record every website that a subscriber visits, as well as storing the information for at least two years. The bill would require ISP’s to store the subscriber’s personal information as well as the internet content they visited without any form of protection or encryption.
“This bill is alarming, to say the least,” Marx stated earlier today, “with the recent controversy over the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the news, I am concerned that these two bills, along with HB 2288, will have a huge impact on American’s freedom of speech as well as their first and fourth amendment rights under the Constitution.”
Marx went on to state “I am opposed to any type of internet censorship, and I believe the majority of the public can agree that censoring our access to the internet, restricting website content, and tracking and storing subscriber information, all violate our rights to privacy and free speech.”
The new federal task force led by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sent subpoenas to the 11 largest financial institutions in the past few days as part of its investigation into possible residential mortgage-backed securities fraud.
President Obama formed the task group and announced it during his State of the Union address Tuesday. Federal officials did not disclose which 11 banks have come under investigation.
Schneiderman said in a press conference Friday that he will be joined by Delaware AG Beau Biden, Massachusetts AG Martha Coakley, Nevada AG Catherine Cortez Masto, California AG Kamala Harris and Illinois AG Lisa Madigan.
In regard to the Jan. 13 editorial: Indeed, bipartisanship is needed but very difficult to achieve given the current Republican deadlock against President Barack Obama. Try reaching across the aisle and you can’t get through the brick wall.
As reported by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on National Journal, “The single most important thing we (Republicans) want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.” Recent budget battles show Republicans’ commitment to this mantra and their unwillingness to negotiate, blocking all measures despite concessions made by the Democrats.
The candidate Mazie Hirono is up against for the Senate seat cannot hold a candle to Mazie’s championing efforts in supporting people’s rights, education and the environment. We need Hirono’s commitment to represent the people of Hawaii in Washington, not Linda Lingle’s Superferry debacle and decision to close down Healthy Start programs for early childhood education.
Lingle’s legacy indicates a desire for personal political gain, abuse of power, disregard for the environment, families and education, corporate interests over individual rights and war over peace.
Hirono represents the needs of the people. She introduced the Pre-K Act to help fund preschool programs. She has one of the best voting records on environmental issues. As a leader, her advocacy for the people strengthens the progressive side of Congress. We need her resolve in the Senate.
Dear Gov. Mitch Daniels and your Republican Brethren,
Your response to President Obama’s State of the Union last night was deceitful, historically tenuous, and politically unsophisticated. George Orwell once said that “in a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”
M.D. “The percentage of Americans with a job is at the lowest in decades.”
TRUTH: Daniels speaks truth without context. Yes, the unemployment rate is indeed the highest it has been since 1983, but it has actually fallen by 1.5% since its peak in December, 2009.
M.D. “In three short years, an unprecedented explosion of spending, with borrowed money, has added trillions to an already unaffordable national debt. And yet, the President has put us on a course to make it radically worse in the years ahead.”
TRUTH: Over the course of President Obama’s first three years he and Congress increased the national debt by 41%. And in Ronald Reagan’s first three years? You guessed it. He increased the national debt by 55%.
M.D. “The federal government now spends one of every four dollars in the entire economy.”
TRUTH: Yes, but since 1980 federal spending as a percentage of GDP has changed very little. Since Reagan’s first term Republicans presidents have spent on average 21.53% of GDP on federal programs, Democrats, 21.6%.
M.D. “The President’s grand experiment in trickle-down government has held back rather than sped economic recovery.”
TRUTH: Just two weeks ago President Obama detailed his plan to supplant six current federal agencies with one in order to create a “more efficient and lean” government. The move is projected to save taxpayers $3 billion over ten years. Republicans still refuse to support his proposal.
M.D. “Those punished most by the wrong turns of the last three years are those unemployed or underemployed tonight, and those so discouraged that they have abandoned the search for work altogether.”
TRUTH: Mitch, please. The National Bureau of Economic Research has indicated time and again that the U.S. has been in a recession since December, 2007. (Recessions are typically defined as two or more quarters of negative growth.) 2012-2007? That’s five years, Mitch, not three.
This message is from Mazie Hirono‘s Campaign manager. Since we have not chosen our Democratic candidate for Senate who will run against Republican Lingle, the exhortation to financially support the candidate in the face of the GOP tsunami of money applies equally to the other Democratic Candidate, Ed Case. (Links on their names take you to their websites where you can donate)
From Mazie Hirono’s campaign:
Our campaign’s fourth quarter fundraising surpassed all expectations — thanks to you and the rest of our fantastic base of grassroots supporters.
By more than doubling what we raised during the previous fundraising quarter, and earning the financial support of more than twice as many Hawaii contributors, it’s clear our momentum is surging.
But we can’t take anything for granted — especially because our potential general election opponent, Linda Lingle, just announced that she brought in a haul of more than $1.7 million last quarter in her effort to put Hawaii’s open Senate seat in Republican control.
We saw this coming, and always knew this was going to be a tough race — after all, Lingle has boasted that her extensive national right-wing fundraising network will help her raise as much as $10 million. Now is the time for us to step up our game.
National Republican operatives in Washington, DC are chest-beating at Lingle’s total, but it’s really no surprise that the person who nominated Sarah Palin at the 2008 GOP convention, and who campaigned hard against Barack Obama, has raised a lot of money from conservatives across the country.
They know what they’re getting by funding Lingle’s campaign: another obstructionist Republican who will do everything she can to stop President Obama’s agenda of creating jobs, protecting our air and water, and improving our kids’ education. Despite her claims of bipartisanship, it’s clear Lingle would be just another vote for the Republican Party.
And you know what you’re getting with Mazie: an undeniable champion for the middle class who will go to the Senate to fight for what’s best for the people of Hawaii, not to play obstructionist partisan politics.
That’s why more than 48,000 people have joined this campaign — and why we had twice as many individual contributors than Lingle last quarter, who is relying on big corporate donors to bankroll her campaign.
Right now, we need the support of our broad coalition of grassroots supporters to keep Mazie’s momentum going and to fight back against Lingle’s big campaign war chest.
I had to laugh while reading the Jan. 13 editorial that said Linda Lingle would act in a bipartisan manner in the U.S. Senate. Hasn’t the editorial writer been reading news that the sole purpose of the Republican Congress and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is to oppose all of President Barack Obama’s policies and make him a one-term president?
How could that spell the future of Lingle bipartisanship? Perhaps the editorial writer believes the GOP and Tea Party might make some arrangements with each other as right and far-right bipartisan deals and shove that down the nation’s throat?
I was comparing the op-eds in the Jan. 8 New York Times – when The Maui News ran a right-wing opinion piece – seeing several excellent essays from Maureen Dowd, Thomas Friedman and particularly Nicholas Kristoff on the subject of a poverty solution and early childhood care, health and education.
Those are subjects which Rep. Mazie Hirono continually battles with GOP members of Congress over the funding of, as the GOP wants to eliminate it entirely despite research showing spending on early childhood health, intervention and care will prevent future destructive behavior, persistent poverty and crime – the very ideas Hirono spoke about at the coffee talks.
In the old days the GOP Congress believed and voted for early childhood care but nowadays that’s too Democratic and not even considered common ground.
For the sake of common ground, will The Maui News run point and counterpoint opinions on Sundays?
Lance Holter Paia Letter in Maui News Jan 20, 2012
The Maui News editorial writer favors Linda Lingle over Mazie Hirono in the race for U.S. Senate. So we disregard his biased, inaccurate editorials about the campaign.
But we expect objectivity from the news section. Earlier this month, Linda Lingle sneaked onto Maui with no announcement, yet The Maui News (Jan. 11) gave her a big write-up with two large photos.
Mazie Hirono publicized her talk story meetings. Everyone was invited and she answered the public’s questions in her open and responsive meetings. Yet there was only one photo with the write-up of Hirono (The Maui News, Jan. 12).
Hirono has been earning multiple endorsements for months and that news barely gets mentioned in the paper.
Lingle gets a single endorsement and it’s treated as huge news. (Which maybe it is, since so many people in Hawaii are still mad at her for the furloughs and for investing a billion of our state money in a sketchy investment that was unavailable when we needed it.)
This Senate race may determine whether the GOP takes over the Senate. There will be literally millions of dollars of GOP PAC money pouring in to smear the Democratic candidate.
Unbiased news coverage will become extremely important.
Wed March 07 2012
