Tax Cuts Update

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Democrat Chris Van Hollen said the House Democratic caucus will not support the estate tax. House Democrats intend to pass a different tax bill than the Senate. Van Hollen said the bill will go to the floor for a vote in the lame duck session.

***

Paul Krugman said he can not support the Obama-McConnell tax cut compromise.

The actual stimulus in the plan comes from the other measures, mainly unemployment benefits and the payroll tax break. And these measures (a) won’t make more than a modest dent in unemployment and (b) will fade out quickly, with the good stuff going away at the end of 2011.

The question, then, is whether a year of modestly better performance is worth $850 billion in additional debt, plus a significantly raised probability that those tax cuts for the rich will become permanent. And I say no.

Krugman correctly believe the stimulus doesn't have enough for the $850 billion price tag. The one year extension of unemployment benefits and Social Security payroll tax cut only keeps things from getting worse. What is needed is a national jobs program. The best stimulus is giving people gainful employment. The Obama economic team though throwing stimulus dollars at the private sector would suddenly increase jobs. Lawrence Summers predicted the stimulus would drastically reduce unemployment. The White House now hopes to get unemployment down to 8.5 nationally before the 2012 election. The reason why Obama's original stimulus failed because there wasn't enough funded for job creation. Another factor is Obama and Summers compromised with Mitch McConnell on tax cuts that failed to justify their cost.

Senate Republicans seek to slash income and corporate tax rates as well as the overall level of spending in the bill. "We need to sober up here and take a look at what we're doing," said Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Summers said Obama wants to keep his tax cuts but will consider other changes. He said "Buy American" provisions for U.S. manufacturers could "send a protectionist signal."

The president "has been prepared to walk a long mile for bipartisan support," Summers said. In the end, he said, Obama wants the best possible package delivered to his desk by Feb. 16.

Obama and Summers caved. The stimulus had $237 billion in tax cuts. Republicans didn't vote for the stimulus bill and the economy still sucks. Obama and Summers are essentially using the same failed policy.

Quote of the Day

"When it comes to subpoena power, we saw the kind of abuses Republican took with subpoena power during the Clinton years. It is certainly part of the picture America should look at when voting. When Republican were last in charge of Congress, that is what they did."

Chris Van Hollen, Chairman of the DCCC

President Obama will not investigate torture. Obama's laughable excuse that those potential crimes happened in in the past. Can Obama the legal scholar name a crime that was prosecuted that did not happen until the future?

Republicans will use their newfound subpoena powers for political gain. Obama will be blindslided and continue to make speeches about bipartisanship. Good luck with that, Mr. President.

Obama's Climate Change Speech at United Nations

Obama doesn't specifically outline policy in his United Nations speech. Obama states he will work with G20 nations to limit greenhouse emissions. Obama mentions the cap and trade bill that is moving at a snail's pace in the Senate. A better alternative to cap and trade is greater regulation on companies that cause excessive greenhouse emissions. The current cap and trade bill will not cut greenhouse gases enough.

Economist Martin Feldstein explains it would be cheaper for corporations to buy permits than to switch over the greener technology. Corporations that go over approved CO2 levels would pass on the cost to cumsumers. Current power generators create CO2 at record levels. Harsher laws, fines and regulation are needed to make corporations greener. The pro-business Obama is unlikely to back such a bill. The Waxman/Markey bill American Clean Energy and Security Act will hurt consumers and do little to curb CO2 emissions.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen's bill the Cap and Dividend Act of 2009 directly addresses the cost of cap and trade. The bill will require the Treasury Department to create the Healthy Climate Trust Fund. The fund will handle fines and expenses. The program will have a website and the Treasury Secretary must report to Congress on it's progress. There is oversight and a mechanism to handle cap and trade finances. Van Hollen's bill needs to be part of the discussion.

Transcript of Obama's speech.

Follow the Parsons Corp Money Train

Meet Earnest O. Robbins II. He is a former Air Force Major General. He was appointed as Vice-President of the infrastructure and technology group of Parsons Corp. Robbins was placed of a $75 million contract to build a police academy in Baghdad. He ended up building (literally) a house of shit.

In a report released yesterday, inspectors found that the Baghdad Police College posed a health risk after feces and urine leaked through the ceilings of student barracks. The facility, part of which will need to be demolished, also featured floors that heaved inches off the ground and a room where water dripped so heavily that it was known as "the rain forest."

The academy was intended as a showcase for U.S. efforts to train Iraqi recruits who eventually are expected to take control of the nation's security from the U.S. military. But lawmakers said yesterday they feared it will become a symbol of a different sort.

Robbins is paid on a cost-plus contract. Meaning the more tax dollars he can suck out of the federal government for Parsons the more he makes. Congressman Chris Van Hollen posed this question to Parsons about his shitty contract work. Will Parsons Corp reinsurse the government?

Van Hollen is mumbling, "and say, given what has happened in this project . . . "

"No, sir, I will not," you snap.

". . . 'We will return the profits.' . . ."

"No, sir, I will not," you repeat.

Van Hollen said, "It just shows the contempt they have for us, for the taxpayer, for everything."

Parsons Corp only completed 20 of the 142 health centers they were contracted to build in Iraq. The government ran out of money to continue funding the project. The original contract was for $200 million. Their contracts with the Pentagon totaled $4 billion.

Maj. Gen. William H. McCoy Jr., commander of the corps' Gulf Region Division, said that the "loss of business for Parsons in Iraq may not be over [as] a broad review of Parsons' work in Iraq had turned up problems in sector after sector. According to news releases on the Parsons Web site, the company has received contracts worth as much as $4 billion in Iraq ... for building and refurbishing scores of police stations, border forts, fire stations, courthouses, prisons and Iraqi government buildings. 'We found overruns in almost every case,' General McCoy said.

Under the Bush administration, private contractors view the federal government as a free ATM machine. They take money out and never have to put any in.