Top DaytonOS Posts In Last 30 Days

Posted on October 25, 2008 by Mike Bock

It is interesting how content drives readership, how it is that viewers find a site, because Google or some other search engine has directed them to the site. The number one post in the last 30 days, with 521 hits, was an article that contained PDF files of the exact language of the five state-wide issues.

  1. See Exact Language For Four Proposed Amendments 521
  2. See List of Montgomery County Candidates 258
  3. As Richard Cooey Faces Execution, Does ” 245
  4. Oktoberfest 2008 at the Dayton Art Institute 222
  5. Kucinich Says $700 Billion Bail Out Should 203
  6. Issue 6: Columbus Dispatch Urges “No” Vote 196
  7. Noted Economist, Satyajit Das, Compares 165
  8. Nouriel Roubini, Prescient Economist Kno 158
  9. “We Learned A Terrible Lesson,” Only One 150
  10. Obama Rally Draws Enthusiastic Crowd To 140
  11. Fannie And Freddie Not Responsible For H 123
  12. Does The Rise Of Sarah Palin Illustrate The Peter Principle At Work? 112
  13. Paul Krugman: “Ugly Financial Crisis Wi 111
  14. Mike Turner’s “No” Vote Was Attempt To Boost His “Conservative” Credentials 106
  15. Naomi Klein Says Economic Crises Repudiates Milton Friedman Doctrines, Right-wing Trotskyists 102
  16. “Stealing America One Vote At A Time” At Neon Movies Next Wednesday, Oct.1 99
  17. Thomas Friedman: Putting A Total Novice Like Sarah Palin In Charge Would Be “Flat Out Reckless,” The Opposite Of Conservative 99
  18. Mike Turner Is A Bum, For Our Democracy’s Sake, Let’s Throw The Bum Out 98
  19. Mike Turner Votes “No” On Bailout ; Boehner Blames Pelosi For Bill’s Defeat 97
  20. Dan Lipsky involved in consumer fraud? 96
  21. Candidates are Certified for March 4 Primary — Few Primary Contests Have Competition 93
  22. Montgomery County Jail Computer SNAFU stops visits 90
  23. Nouriel Roubini Warns Of Possible “Mother Of All Bank Runs,” Urges Morgan Stanley and Goldmam Sachs To Find Foreign Buyers 89
  24. Presidential Slogans: 2008, the year of the fully marketed president 85
  25. Is This The End For The GOP? 78
  26. Chief Economic Advisor To Kucinich Decries $700 Billion Bail Out, Asks, “Where Are The Revolutionists Today?” 77
  27. Is This Church Violating IRS Tax Exempt Rules 70
  28. John Doll Says: Jon Husted Won’t Live In District, And If Elected, Won’t Finish Term 69
  29. Obama’s Fraudulent ACORN Campaign 68
  30. Shouldn’t How To Increase Wealth, How To Fairly Distribute Wealth, Be At The Center Of Our Political Debate? 68
  31. State Budget Bill Includes Millions in Pork 68
  32. Charlie Gibson, ABC World News, Visits Dayton 64
  33. For Congressman Mike Turner, “Pork Has Been a Family Affair” — Mother Jones 57
  34. Chris Widener, Republican Senate Candidate, Boasts About Tax Cuts, But How Will He Solve Ohio’s Budget Crisis? 56
  35. How To Make The DDN / WMUB Election Forum More Educative 54
Posted in Special Reports | 9 Comments

Steve Austria Denies The DDN Charge That He Is Mediocre

Posted on October 24, 2008 by Mike Bock

Steve Austria, today, writing in the DDN, denied that he is mediocre and listed legislative accomplishments to attempt to prove his point. Austria is the Republican candidate to represent Ohio’s 7th District in the US Congress, to replace retiring Republican, David Hobson.

Austria’s article responded to the DDN’s prior endorsement of Austria’s Democratic opponent, Sharen Neuhardt. The DDN’s October 17 editorial urged its readers to choose Neuhardt saying, “Neuhardt is the smarter, bolder choice for 7th District,” and warned that if Austria is elected this year, the 7th District is likely to be stuck with him. The DDN wrote, “If the voters of the 7th District choose Sen. Austria, they are settling for mediocrity, quite possibly on a long-term basis.“

The newspaper seems to be encouraging Republicans in the 7th District, rather than settle for mediocrity, to reject Austria and to use the next two years to find a stronger, more imaginative Republican — one who would be worthy of support for a long career.

Austria in his ads emphasizes that he is “conservative” and accuses Neuhardt of being a “liberal trial lawyer with extreme views.” But the DDN in its editorial endorsement said Neuhardt is in the “mainstream” and, in fact, in 2006 voted for incumbent congressman, Republican Dave Hobson.

Austria makes a big deal in his TV ads that he is all in favor of making Bush’s tax cuts to the wealthy permanent. The biggest beneficiary of that tax cut, by far, was incomes in excess of $250,000. Austria brags that in the Ohio Assembly he helped pass Ohio’s 2005 Tax Reduction Act, but, again doesn’t say that this tax cut disproportionately benefited top incomes. The 2005 law reduced personal income taxes by $2.2 billion each year. What Austria doesn’t say in his ad is that Ohio’s 2005 law, that he helped construct, gave 26% of this big tax cut to a very small group of taxpayers — to incomes in excess of $340,000, averaging about $650,000.

The original DDN editorial that rejected Austria had two parts. The second part used a strong word in the headline — “shameless” — to describe Austria’s attacks on Neuhardt for befriending a Rwandan refugee, and suggests that Austria is engaging in “gutter politics of the most despicable sort.” Austria likes to use the word “harboring,” but the DDN defends Neuhardt’s actions in helping this refugee and shames Austria for making her generosity in doing so a matter of political attack.

The DDN says, “Sen. Austria points to the case as symbolic of the country’s immigration problem. Not even close. This isn’t about people crossing the southern border in pursuit of jobs. This country’s policy of providing asylum to people who face persecution — bureaucratic as the process is — speaks to our sense of humanity. Sen. Austria needs to display that same sense of decency.”

Here is an exchange between Austria and Neuhardt, during their debate, about the Rwandan refugee:

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McCain Uses Joe The Plumber To Stir Up Class Resentment, Hatred Of “Welfare”

Posted on October 23, 2008 by Mike Bock

Samuel J. Wurzelbacher, of “Joe the Plumber” fame, thinks that our progressive tax system is “incredibly wrong.” Diane Sawyer asked Joe if even the ultra rich, those making millions each year, should pay at a higher rate. Joe said, “Well, I mean, quite honestly, why should they be penalized for being successful? It’s wrong. I mean, because you’re successful, you have to pay more than everybody else?”

It’s fair to wonder if, before he plunged himself into the spotlight, Joe had educated himself very much about tax policy, or the history of tax policy. John McCain realizes that there are a lot of misinformed and resentful Joes, and, he seems to think it’s to his political advantage to get voters to identify and agree with Wurzelbacher’s thinking. McCain’s new ad shows a variety of such people each proclaiming, “I am Joe the Plumber.” Shown here:

In his radio address Saturday, McCain said, “Obama believes in redistributing wealth, not in policies that help us all make more of it. Joe, in his plainspoken way, said this sounded a lot like socialism, and a lot of Americans are thinking along those same lines. In the best case, spreading the wealth around is a familiar idea from the American left.”

Maybe Wurzelbacher hasn’t thought much about our progressive tax system, but McCain certainly has. McCain is on record, prior to this election, supporting the notion that higher incomes should be taxed at higher rates. McCain famously opposed the Bush tax cuts — because he said Bush’s tax cuts overly favored the wealthy.

The whole idea behind the 16th Amendment was to “soak the rich.” In 1913, in the face of incredible wealth disparity, Americans were looking for a way to bring about greater fairness in their society. It’s not easy to amend the Constitution, but, there were plenty of Joes in 1913 that were all in favor of such an idea and I imagine that Wurzelbacher had a great-grandfather or two who were strong advocates of the 16th Amendment. In October, 1913, Congress passed a new income tax law with rates beginning at 1 percent and rising to 7 percent for taxpayers with income in excess of $500,000. Less than 1 percent of the population paid income tax at the time.

It is likely that Wurzelbacher doesn’t really understand what socialism is, but McCain has no excuse to throw the term around so inaccurately. Empowering the government to buy banks — via a zillion dollar wall street bailout plan — as McCain has done, might be evidence of encroaching socialism. But increasing the top personal income tax rate by 3% is not. McCain seems determined to win the White House at any cost and he seems to have concluded that his only avenue to victory is by stirring up class resentment. McCain seems to want to fan hatred toward welfare and welfare recipients.

Republicans have always made political hay by stirring up resentment about welfare. Reagan had his entertaining made-up stories about “welfare queens,” about welfare excesses that never, in fact, existed. McCain does Reagan one better by producing Joe, a real person, but with a bogus narrative, one that doesn’t fit his own life’s story. Joe, remember, started his whole discussion with Obama with a couple of whopper lies. We all now know that 1) Joe is not a licensed plumber 2) He is nowhere close to making $250,000 thereby qualifying for a tax increase and 3) He will benefit more from Obama’s plan, than from McCain’s plan.

A careful look at Wurzelbacher’s situation, I’m guessing, would probably show that Joe has greatly benefited from a system of progressive taxation, by a system that has provided an economic safety net. Joe, as a typical working person, probably has someone in his family who has received much more in Social Security benefits than what they ever paid into the system. He might have a granny whose nursing home care is being provided by Medicaid; he likely has a cousin or more who has benefited from food stamps. What Joe, no doubt, hates — for those he thinks doesn’t deserve it, anyway — is welfare.

Joe puts up a big front that he doesn’t believe that the government should be involved in giving economic assistance to citizens in need, but if he or someone in his family was in need, I imagine he would be glad to get government help.

I develop more ideas on the topic here: Shouldn’t How To Increase Wealth, How To Fairly Distribute Wealth, Be At The Center Of Our Political Debate?

Here are what comedians as saying about Joe the Plumber:

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