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Thursday, April 14
Progressive Action in the Quad Cities
by
Caroline Vernon
on Thu 14 Apr 2005 05:54 PM CDT
 Progressive Action in the Quad Cities
by Caroline Vernon
Progressive
Action For The Common Good is a group of Quad Cities citizens who are
committed to working together in order to rebuild an active community
interested in promoting progressive values for the common good.
This
Saturday, April 16th, PACG will be hosting a community forum and summit
for the purpose of networking with others interesting in promoting
progressive values as well as organizing and implementing various plans
of action.
The
keynote speaker for the forum will be Tom Higgins, former Iowa State
Legislator, Aide to President Jimmy Carter, AIDS Activist, and
Political Leader.
After the keynote address, individuals will break out into workshops to discuss various issues of concern, such as:
Education,
Health Care, Corporate Power vs. Democracy, Women’s Issues, Peace and
Non-Violence , Civil Rights/Anti-Hate (City Council Ordinances, School
Board Issues), Economic Development/Riverfront/Buy Local,
Environment/Energy Independence, Media/Campaign For Commercial Free
Childhood QC, Reclaiming Faith and Values from a Progressive Point of
View, Social Security, and Poverty and Housing.
If you
live in or near the Quad Cities, and any of these issues resonate with
you or call you to action, or if you would simply like to meet others
of like-mind, please join us this Saturday:
Community Forum and Summit
Saturday, April 16, 2005, from 8:30 to Noon
Registration and Coffee: 8:30am
Wallenburg Auditorium, Denkmann Hall, Augustana College
7th Avenue and 35th St., Rock Island
Musical entertainment will also be provided by jazz guitarist Michael Wallace and folk musician Chris Dunn.
Check
out AM1270 for our radio spots from Wednesday through Friday Yes,
we finally have progressive radio in the Quad Cities (Air America), as
a direct result of a consistent effort by Kent and Kristine Wolzen,
members of Progressive Action for the Common Good. Job well done!
This is going to be an incredible event - you won’t want to miss it! See you there!
www.qcprogressiveaction.org
GOP Priorites: Repealing The Estate Tax?
by
Chad Thompson
on Thu 14 Apr 2005 10:40 AM CDT
 Priorites: Repealing The Estate Tax?
Yesterday, the U.S. House voted to make the repeal of the estate tax permanent. The Washington Post notes how unusual such a move is in American history:
In
1992, when heirs to the Mars Inc. fortune joined a few other wealthy
families to hire the law firm Patton Boggs LLP to lobby for estate tax
repeal, the joke on K Street was that few Washington sightseers had
paid so much for a fruitless tour of the Capitol.
Today,
the House is expected to vote to permanently repeal the estate tax,
moving the Mars candy, Gallo wine and Campbell soup fortunes one step
closer to a goal that once seemed quixotic at best: ending all taxation
on inheritances.
...Last month, Graetz and Yale political scientist Ian Shapiro published
"Death By A Thousand Cuts," chronicling the estate tax repeal movement
as "a mystery about politics and persuasion."
"For almost a century, the estate tax affected only the richest 1 or 2
percent of citizens, encouraged charity, and placed no burden on the
vast majority of Americans," they wrote. "A law that constituted the
blandest kind of common sense for most of the twentieth century was
transformed, in the space of little more than a decade, into the
supposed enemy of hardworking citizens all over this country."
The
reformulation of estate tax policy - a tax that is levied only on the
wealthiest of Americans - has become an acceptable "grassroots" issue.
As Kevin Drum points out - we need to keep in mind that the only thing being taxed are estates of robber baron size, and the only people
being taxed are children of robber barons. (This isn't a family
farmer issue - this is an issue of making sure that the Paris Hilton's
of the world don't have to worry about paying taxes on their
extraordinary inheritance.)
Of course, anytime taxes are cut, there is a cost to be paid in general revenues. (Approximately $1 Trillion per decade - in real dollars - according to the CPBB.)
A question we should all ask of any legislator who supported this bill:
Why is it important to protect the inheritance of people who never earn a wage at the same time it is unimportant
to insure the ability of the Federal Government to repay on the promise
made to workers through the Social Security Administration?
(Kevin Drum also stated it this way:
"So a few thousand indolent kids like Paris Hilton get to pay for their
Roman bacchanalias tax free while a couple hundred million ordinary
working folks get the shaft. That's the party of moral values for you.")
Reward weath - punish work. Another example of real GOP priorites on display.
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