MooPig Ho-Hum Politics Department :: "Tea, Tobacco, and Grass Roots..."

Why them, Why Not Me?
Mashed articles smoked by Pat Darnell  |  May 10, 2014  |  Bryan TX

[Picture LINK]

Do you get emails from FreedomWorks? I do. Dozens of them. They think by using the same methods that the Democratic and Republican Party use they will persuade me to join their "Grass Roots" movement. What is their movement? I don't know. But grass root it ain't.

I think FreedomWorks backed TEA PARTY wants me to vote to unplug the Federal Government, and rely on local and state governments to run things. I am not sure that is possible, but surely they have a big funding base behind them because they grew from nowhere when we "elected" our most recent Manchurian candidate, Barry Obama. Like cockroaches no longer afraid of the light, Tea Party-ers crawled into our streets and gutters and plodded along with misspelled slogans.

The referenced article claims the Grass Root rampage began in the 1980's by tobacco cartels who were attempting to stop all the governmental vice-taxes foisted upon their products, by creating a good old grassroots group of grass widows against taxation.

‘To quarterback behind the scenes, third-party efforts’: the tobacco industry and the Tea Party -- Fallin et al. -- Tobacco Control: "...Abstract Background The Tea Party, which gained prominence in the USA in 2009, advocates limited government and low taxes. Tea Party organisations, particularly Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks, oppose smoke-free laws and tobacco taxes...

"...Methods We used the Legacy Tobacco Documents Library, the Wayback Machine, Google, LexisNexis, the Center for Media and Democracy and the Center for Responsive Politics (opensecrets.org) to examine the tobacco companies’ connections to the Tea Party. Results Starting in the 1980s, tobacco companies worked to create the appearance of broad opposition to tobacco control policies by attempting to create a grassroots smokers’ rights movement. Simultaneously, they funded and worked through third-party groups, such as Citizens for a Sound Economy, the predecessor of AFP and FreedomWorks, to accomplish their economic and political agenda. There has been continuity of some key players, strategies and messages from these groups to Tea Party organisations. As of 2012, the Tea Party was beginning to spread internationally."
'via Blog this'

CONCLUSION
It's ho-hum politics as usual. We are sorry we descended into this quagmire once again, but when grown people act the way they do in a circus like Federal government, we get antsy. Watching Rand Paul and other anti-establishment types jet around and hold rallies for Tea Party-like wannabe's, it makes our eyes twitch.

Developing an eye twitch can be worrisome in the blogging business. If the stuff Rand Paul and his followers are doing is "Grass Root" I think a new definition is needed. Just what is a Grass Root movement in 2014? Well, some of the discussion is about 'restoring liberty,' using designed, clearly articulated, effective strategies, tactics, and ideas which liberty activists can use on campus or in campaign work to win with their 'principled message.'

So we worry. But like our mentor, we should follow his lead: "What, Me Worry?"

____________________Reference
http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/early/2013/02/20/tobaccocontrol-2012-050815.full
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QCzww6EG7E
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2014/04/rand-paul-raises-big-dollars-from-small-donors.html
http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.php?strID=C00493924&cycle=2014
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2014/05/rand-pauls-ties-with-losing-nc-primary-candidate-run-deep.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brendan-demelle/study-confirms-tea-party-_b_2663125.html

What do you know about the Top Tax Rates?

How did this Report get Past Us?
Retrieved by Pat Darnell | Mar 25, 2013 | Bryan TX

As early as September, 2012, a report made by the Congressional Research Service, CRS, pointed out that taxes were not correlated to GDP in the way that Republican ideologues preach it. In fact the opposite was true.

The report was "taken down" before the elections in November, 2012. The report was re-published by Democrats HERE.

" ... The top income tax rates have changed considerably since the end of World War II. Throughout the late-1940s and 1950s, the top marginal tax rate was typically above 90%; today it is 35%. Additionally, the top capital gains tax rate was 25% in the 1950s and 1960s, 35% in the 1970s; today it is 15%. The average tax rate faced by the top 0.01% of taxpayers was above 40% until the mid-1980s; today it is below 25%. Tax rates affecting taxpayers at the top of the income distribution are currently at their lowest levels since the end of the second World War. (CRS. Thomas L. Hungerford. Specialist in Public Finance. September 14, 2012. HERE) ... "

Non-Partisan Congressional Tax Report Debunks Core Conservative Economic Theory-GOP Suppresses Study - Forbes: "“The reduction in the top tax rates appears to be uncorrelated with saving, investment and productivity growth. The top tax rates appear to have little or no relation to the size of the economic pie. However, the top tax rate reductions appear to be associated with the increasing concentration of income at the top of the income distribution.” (Rick Ungar, Contributor. 11.02.2012. HERE)"

'via Blog this'

The conclusion?

"Lowering the tax rates on the wealthy and top earners in America do not appear to have any impact on the nation’s economic growth. (Ungar. ibid.)"

Apparently, solid, well researched data no longer matters—at least not when it comes to the Congressional Republicans. They got the report pulled, somehow. Republicans didn't like some of the wording: "Bush tax cuts" and reference to "tax cuts for the rich."

This is some real sad shit.

" ... While a spokesperson for the C.R.S. refused to comment on the discussions between the Senate Republicans and her agency, she did confirm that the report was no longer in ‘official circulation’. However, the New York Times reports that a source requesting anonymity confirmed that the decision to pull the study was done against the advice of the economics division and that the author, Mr. Hungerford, stood by the report’s findings. (Rick Ungar, Contributor. 11.02.2012 HERE) ... "

Republican tax strategy? Debunked; total failure.

___________________Reference
http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2012/11/02/non-partisan-congressional-tax-report-debunks-core-conservative-economic-theory-gop-suppresses-study/
http://www.dpcc.senate.gov/files/documents/CRSTaxesandtheEconomy%20Top%20Rates.pdf
http://www.decisionsonevidence.com/2012/10/debunking-the-myth-that-tax-rates-are-at-historic-high-levels-for-the-wealthy/

MooPig's Money Column :: "Tricky IRA Rules"

[Picture LINK] Stephen Root Milton of Office Space fame.... fruit doesn't fall far from the tree.

How to Protect Yourself From Tricky IRA Rules - SmartMoney.com: ""It's a wake-up call for anyone who has an IRA," says Martin Censor, a manager at the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. "The government needs money. This is low-hanging fruit.""

'via Blog this'

EXCERPT | " ... Making an "excess contribution" -- meaning you contributed more than the annual limit to a traditional IRA or made a Roth contribution when your income was too high -- can cost you 6% of the amount that wasn't allowed in the account. This can add up fast in cases where an excess contribution went undetected for many years. Sometimes, excess contributions also result when a transfer of assets from one IRA to another doesn't get done in the time allowed.

Arthur Elkin, a 60-year-old retired federal-government worker in Delaware, didn't realize he and his wife had made excess contributions to their Roth IRAs for seven years until he started working with a new accountant. Their income had topped the $150,000 maximum then allowed for making contributions, but their previous accountant hadn't caught the problem.

The couple had to file seven years of amended returns, withdraw the contributions and pay thousands of dollars in penalties and interest. The worst part, Mr. Elkin says: realizing that, had he kept preparing his own tax returns, as he had in the past, the software probably would have caught the error.

_________________Reference
http://www.seaprep.org/page.aspx?pid=598
http://www.smartmoney.com/retirement/planning/how-to-protect-yourself-from-tricky-ira-rules-1340738596512/

Pardon My Mitten, is that Your Michigan?
Retrieved AP by Pat Darnell | HERE

Obama to speak at Michigan high school graduation
May 7, 2010 2:33 AM |  AP
KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- Kalamazoo Central High School has rescheduled graduation ceremonies for June 7 to accommodate President Barack Obama, who will deliver the commencement address.

Ceremonies had been scheduled for June 10. But when the White House announced Tuesday that Central High had won the Race to the Top High School Commencement challenge, Kalamazoo Public Schools officials said the date might be adjusted based on the White House's needs.

The 1,700-student school was one of three finalists in the nationwide competition. They were chosen through public voting on videos and essays submitted by the schools. The White House said more than 170,000 people voted.

The contest is part of Obama's efforts to improve schools and raise graduation rates.

-- Associated Press