Both houses of Congress endorsed the idea of tax increases for millions of Americans Thursday as Democrats pressed ahead with budget plans that would allow some or all of President Bush's reductions to die after he leaves office . . .
As for the $3 trillion federal budget plans, the House version would provide generous increases to domestic programs but bring the government's ledger back into the black by letting all of Bush's tax cuts expire at the end of 2010 as scheduled. That five-year plan passed the House on a 212-207 vote, with Republicans unanimously opposing it over what they argued was $683 billion in tax increases.
It is worth observing that Indiana's other Democratic members, including Reps. Joe Donnelly, Brad Ellsworth and Baron Hill, voted with the Republicans unlike Carson. Congressional Democrats, who had played with an idea touted by Republican Jon Elrod of ending congressional budget earmarks for a period of one year, caved into special interests and killed the plan.
Meanwhile, Carson is getting to participate in an extremely rare closed session of the House of Representatives tonight to discuss proposed surveillance legislation which could impact the nation's ability to combat terrorism. Just weeks ago, candidate Carson came to Washington to hold a fundraiser at CAIR, a radical Islamic group our own government has tied to terrorists and collected tens of thousand of dollars from the group's members. Carson later returned at least one contribution from a questionable person who attended the fundraiser. Carson had boasted during the campaign that he was an expert on homeland security because he had done a 7-month stint as a watch officer at the Fusion Center within the state of Indiana's Homeland Security department.
42 comments:
The fundraiser you repeatedly mention was hosted by Congressman Keith Ellison (not CAIR) and was held at a private townhouse (not CAIR).
André Carson's security level was vetted very thoroughly by the FBI before his Homeland Security stint...
Most of these issues are way too
sophisticated for him to grasp.
If he can master the whip's signals (left thumb pointing up means vote yes, left thumb pointing down means vote no)
he'll have this job figured out
in only 8 or 9 months. That assumes
that he can learn left from right.
The people of Indpls deserve
mediocrity and he should be able to
work his way up to mediocre performance, with the right amount
of extensive tutoring from his handlers.
Thanks anon 912! I love your insight!
Said Republican Rep. Jim McCrery of Louisiana, "Democrats are quietly but very assuredly paving the way for a massive, economy-choking, tax increase."
Maybe I'm off base, but weren't these tax cuts for the wealthiest of the wealthy? I understood that lower wage workers and families would retain the cuts. The cuts they let expire were for those earning more than $100,000 a year?
Just like in the CCC he votes the party line. I said before he was the least intelligent of the three candidates and he sure proved it. Can't think for himself. Good fodder for his opponents coming up in the elections
He's still better than Jon Elrod. Must burn your butt something fierce, eh?
Yeah it burns my butt that there are enough stupid people in the 7th district that can't think for themselves. And you are obviously one of those idiots.
From a Baron Hill press release:
“I commend my Democratic colleagues for their hard work in drafting this budget resolution,” Hill said. “However, I have always championed fiscal conservancy, and this bill did not adhere strictly enough to that. The sizeable increase in discretionary spending in this bill is just too much for me to vote for it.”
Hill also voiced concerns to his colleagues about the budget’s use of entitlement programs, specifically the Social Security Trust Fund. The budget leans heavily on the Social Security Trust Fund in its attempt to balance the budget.
“I promised to be an independent voice for Southern Indiana, and I am doing just that,” Hill said. “I think we need to reign in our spending and get away from relying on entitlement programs to support the budget.”
Carson voted for a plan which leans heavily on our social security trust fund to balance the budget. Isn't that contrary to what he just beat up Jon Elrod all over the place on during the special election?
Forget shared obligations. Doesn't Carson know American soldiers are dying in Iraq for our right not to pay taxes?
Ah the 'Seed' lives up to Grandma's legacy. Tax and spend and blindly follow the lib leaders.
Anything that undoes the massive tax breaks Bush put in place, needs to be accomplished.
Baron Hill has re-election to worry about, in a conservative district. The leaderhsip gave him, and a dozen or so others, a pass.
As most smart folks know these days, Wilson, any contribution to a federal campaign, especially a large check like this, needs vetted.
Thoroughly.
And a candidate has to live with the consequences. If the fund-raiser was held in Rep. Ellison's home, so be it. If the mailing list was predominantly Muslim, fine. But if the predominantly-Muslim invite list contained one, or more, suspected terrorist-leaning individuals, it could've been vetted beforehand.
This was just sloppy staff work, plain and simple.
It's not like you couldn't see it coming. Muslim, fund-raiser, come on!
Yeah, it's a tad unfair, but he was running for the freaking US House, not City Council. It requirs an extra layer of precaution regarding potential large donors.
TAX & SPEND the motto of the Democrats!
This continues our string of mediocre, ineffective members of Congress representing Indianapolis. First, Andy Jacobs, then Julia Carson, now "The Seed."
Seriously, if we're not going to send to Congress someone who will effectively represent Indy, why bother?
Perhaps a big chunk of that increase is for transportation to bring the troops home?
Which two presidents have run up the largest debts in U.S. history? I believe they are two of our last four, and they were both from the same party.
Yep...there's some more of that change Carson kept talking about:
"the budget’s use of entitlement programs, specifically the Social Security Trust Fund. The budget leans heavily on the Social Security Trust Fund in its attempt to balance the budget."
Yep...he's going to PROTECT Social Security all right!
Then he votes to increase taxes by $683BILLION. Now THERE'S some change!!
Anybody else notice that when Carson was getting sworn in by that Pelosi person, he repeated the entire oath of office until the last line.
I can't believe how clueless some people are about the impacts of tax policy.
What about the small business owner who purchased it and is paying the previous owners over time from the proceeds the business earns? On paper they may show they made a lot of money but they may see very little of the cash.
This is called "phantom income" and they can end up with big tax bills but have actually earned no money.
What about the business owner who still needs to make a certain amount for themselves after taxes to pay the bills but also wants to expand and hire somebody or make capital investments in the business??
This class warfare stuff has to go because the people who engage in it are typically those without private sector ambition for themselves and often have no understanding of the real economic implications.
Karl Marx would be proud of Andre.
The honorable citizens of the 7th get what they get. They voted for him. That being said, I can only hope that for the May primary there is more common sense in my party and that a choice other than Andre "Send my seed" Carson is chosen to represent us. I dont mind him filling Granny's term but for heaven's sake get us someone who knows something other than the Democratic Party Talking Points for a real two year term.
7:43, The president can only spend what Congress appropriates.
I (wife and myself) made $115000.00 last year. I paid $47,000 in taxes. With the tax increase I can expect to pay 5,000.00 mor in taxes. Thats 400.00 a month. I can't afford that, can you? Must be nice in your little save 10-15% tax bracket, but for those of us in the 25%, it will got up 2-4%. Thought we had rape laws in this country. It's easy to say ya increase the taxes when it doesnt affect YOU!
Randy
I agree 7:43. Knock off the "tax and spend liberals" crap.
Someone has got to pay off the bill that the "no debt is to big for us" republicans keep racking up.
You just look rediculous at this point.
Missdem.,
Don't blame me for Andre. I didn't want him and never will. It's the other idiots that vote without really thinking about what they are doing....or are just to stupid to know better.
9:12, who controlled congress through the majority of the Bush term?
President Bush has veto power and not once in 8 years has he used it on ANY budget approriations.
I laugh when people pigeon hole the Democrats as "tax and spend" when in fact it's the Republicans that have become the world leaders in "tax and spend".
Hell, it's really not a problem. The Fed just prints more money and China along with the Saudi's buy more of the US debt.
Even today, Bush and company have agreed to prop up failing Bear Stearns with your money. You sure as hell won't find many Democrats at Bear Stearns nor J.P. Morgan for that matter.
Evan Bayh, Indiana's Republicrat Senator, is going to help Carlyle out with taxpayer assistance. Carlyle has given Bayh tens of thousands since he ran for the Senate.
Wall Street is not the domain of Democrats so when they look for bailouts they look to our Republican President and he gets it to them.
The old tired line of "tax and spend liberal Democrats" holds little very little water.
The Democrats didn't start the damn war in Iraq and they sure has hell didn't cause the sub-prime mortgage calamity that Republican greed created.
How much was the good old American greenback worth before Bush took office and what's it worth today?
How many businesses have gone to China since Bush took office?
Hell, I can't even buy a tube of toothpaste that's made in the US.
Andre Carson was voted in by 18% of the registered voters! A lousy 18% even took time to vote and they wonder why the hell idiots like Bush, Bay and Carson get elected!
When gas hits $5 a gallon by Memorial Day your cheeks are really going to pucker!
And some people on this damn blog honestly believe John McCain is going to save them.
Neither McCain NOR Obama are going to save anything! We can't even save ourselves......or even make shoes in this country anymore.
God Bless The GOP and Republican corporate America that have shipped our jobs out.
Keep printin' that money Mr. President and the Mexican Peso will overtake our Dollar in a couple of months.
The illegal Hispanics will wise up when the next military draft goes on effect. Serve in the US military and become a citizen!
9:12, technically, you're 75% correct.
The President can impoound, delay or reverse expenditures.
But if we'd only given Bush's administration what they asked for, including this ridiculosu war's expenditures, the defecit would only have been about 12-15% smaller.
The deficit was run up on Bush's watch. It's just that simple.
He's an idiot and the whole world knows it. We're paying for his idiocy...dearly.
Dear Randy. Don't you understand that Wilson and all the other far left liberals only care about the dumbing down of America, economically as well as socially. After all, lets continue to reward the underachievers. This is America, land of the free (free to live off the government, and those who strive to achieve).
9:12,
The President may also veto any bill, though it's not clear when President Bush first learned that.
Ron White from the Blue Collar Comedy tour has a saying he uses which reminds me of Andre voters in the 7th.
" You can't fix Stupid ".
eclecticvibe-
Are you serious in thinking that 100k per year is the wealthiest of the wealthy? What planet are you on?
Something missing in this conversation is the fact that A GREAT NUMBER of Republicans hate George Bush and agree he has done more to violate Republican principles than any previous Republican president.
Republican does not = Bush Lover just as Democrat may not = Carson Lover.
Alternative, What If scenario:
No one in 2007 makes an issue of Patrice Abduallahs residency. Consequently, he stays a Council member and is re-elected and unnopposed in the 2007 municipal election. Cong. Julia Carson passes away, leaving the 7th seat open.
Question: Does anyone seriously think that Andre Carson would have had ANY leverage to be a candidate for the just-concluded special election, let alone win the damnded thing?
Gary, as much as I respect you and your genuine concern for the rule of law, ie the Abduallah situation, you must take responsibility for this 88th out of 89, "law enforcement veteran" and DHS "watchstander" being annointed on March 11th.
(sarcastic finger-wiggling airquotes fully intentional)
9:12 ... I'm not certain, but I think GWB found the veto stamp covered in dust in a closet sometime in 2007.
I know that for years, many wondered if the Clintons had stolen it along with the "w" keys off all the keyboards.
If Elrod didn't have the guts to make a public stand against Andre Carson taking blood money from CAIR then Elrod can go straight to hell.
To bring in the Obama factor as an excuse for Elrod's lack of balls is giving more credit than the man deserves.
If Elrod has to rely on bloggers to fight his wars for him then he's a spineless bastard that should have never ran in the first place. He nneds to take hius name off the ballot and send his right wing handlers back to where they came from.
Elrod blew ever damn chance he had to take this past election and he was made well aware of it and did nothing.
Quit casting blame to make up for Elrod's lack on intestinal fortitude. At best Elrod was never cut out to campaign on the Congressional level. He still isn't.
If he doesn't think his campaign days are finished then he needs to pass the pipe of whatever he's smoking for the benefit of a few of us who mistakenly thought he had what it took.
Casting blame on Obama and Carson will not change the fact that Elrod let a lot of people down, including the owner of this blog.
You know, I was going to comment here about the issue. I agree with Carson's vote to end the Bush tax cuts. Beyond that though, the hatred spewed at André on this blog makes me sick, and I just want to say a few things about it.
André is a public figure. There's no doubt. Many people didn't like his grandmother (I loved that woman). André chose to step into the public eye. Still, I just think spewing your venom at him behind an anonymous name is somewhat cowardly.
I did spend time with André. I'm not a Muslim. I'm not African-American. I'm just a regular white guy that happens to be a Democratic Ward Chair. I understand that most people don't get to know their Congressional Reps.
I have spent time with André, and I have had conversations with him about things other than political issues. The first time I talked to him; he gave me his cell phone number. He actually answers it. He has answered every text message I've ever sent him. He's a thoughtful, passionate, and intelligent man who has energy and ideas. I have been to three small gatherings...all of them where the majority of the people in the room were white non-Muslims, and André managed to win over every room...with some folks having started out in other camps. I'm not a Center Township Democrat either. His base of support doesn't come from my neck of the woods.
I've seen him interact with his wife and his little girl. They look like a normal family. He loves his daughter, and she adores her father.
Say what you want about his votes, but if you're going to get personal, at least have the brass tacks to leave your name in the public domain instead of being the cellophane man or woman and hide behind "anonymous."
I'm stepping off my soapbox here. I just had to say something that's been on my mind this entire election season. I'm proud of my vote to send André to Congress.
anon 5:25, I feel let down by the voters of the 7th District, not Jon Elrod. Too many didn't bother to vote at a time when our country is perhaps on the cusp of the worst financial calamity in our history. I frankly feel like I'm living from day to day at this point uncertain of what tomorrow brings. The potential for a total financial collapse of the USA in the coming months is a real possibility. Most people are completely unaware of the dire straits we are currently traversing.
It seems ridiculous to me when Republicans talk about "tax and spend" Democrats. The Republican alternative is cut taxes and borrow, borrow, borrow. This will come back to haunt us soon.
Jon, You are a Ward Chair in Decatur Township. That, however, does not give you a look into the nastiness and corruption of the individuals that drive the Carson machine. You have no idea what they are capable of and likely never will. You are an outsider that desperatly wants to be recognized as a player in county politics. Your hope to get a seat at the table is pinned on someone that could care less about you or Decatur Township. Stand in a room with Andre, Lacy Johnson, Carl Drummer, Bill Crawford and Lula Patton and see how you are received. Oh, I forgot, that won't happen because you would never be allowed in the room. Why don't you stick to working for Democrats in Decatur. You have a Republican Trustee that needs to go but you are so focused on getting into the Carson circle of friends that you ignore the problems in your own area. Jon, put down the koolaid for a second and recognize that Andre will do nothing for you or Decatur and if you look at this morning's Star you can clearly see that the people of Decatur see what you will not. I would think that a Democrat Ward Chair that loves Andre so much would have done more to get his candidate elected. 9 precincts in Decatur - 6 wins for Elrod by 60% or more, 2 wins for Elrod by less than 60% and one tie. Elrod won Decatur overall with 66% of the vote. Maybe if Andre had more friends like you then we could get someone else in that 7th seat. Do me a favor, send this post to your email, then to your cell phone and text it to Andre. Let me know what he thinks.
Thanks for your thoughts anon 6:31.
I was just speaking my mind. I don't need to put any of my hard work here in Decatur on this site. Those people that know me know who I am and where I come from.
Your comment only underscores my original point. People are willing to say anything about anyone as long as their name isn't out in the public. It's a nice security "blankey" and gives you a license to be as immature as those that carry them. License to hurl names, accusations, mindread, etc.
I challenge you to do what I do and sign your posts.
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