Mediaboss Marketing

PROVIDENCE, R.I. U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said Monday that he is introducing three bills designed to generate $310 billion over 10 years by closing tax loopholes.

The Rhode Island Democrat said tax reform is one area in the new Republican-controlled Senate where there's an opportunity for "significant bipartisan progress."

"I wanted to make sure that we were trying to keep that conversation as fair as possible for regular taxpayers because regular taxpayers don't have the resources to hire lobbyists to go out and create special provisions for them in the tax code," he said. "Some of the special provisions that exist in the tax code are real stinkers, and absolutely we need to get rid of them."

Whitehouse wants to raise taxes on some wealthy individuals and collect more revenue from corporations doing business overseas that take advantage of the loopholes. Republicans want to lower individual and corporate tax rates and have generally favored reducing taxes on corporations' overseas assets and profits.

Whitehouse said some of the revenue from his proposals could be used to lower the overall corporate tax rate, which he thinks could help garner Republican votes. He hopes to get the bills integrated into a larger tax reform package and thinks Republicans will work with him since they'll need support from Democrats to pass their tax reform proposals.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has said he would cooperate with the president wherever possible on issues such as tax reform and trade.

Whitehouse said he's re-introducing legislation to pass the so-called Buffett rule that sets minimum tax rates for people making over $1 million. He said it's offensive that some very wealthy individuals pay a lower tax rate than "regular people," and it's emblematic of what's wrong with the tax system. Another bill would stop U.S. companies that manufacture goods overseas and import them from deferring the payment of federal income taxes. Similar measures failed previously.

The third proposal is a set of measures championed by retired Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan to stop multinational corporations from paying less in taxes by moving assets and profits through offshore subsidies. Levin asked Whitehouse to re-introduce the legislation.

Visit link:
Rhode Island Democrat says he's introducing 3 bills to generate $310B by closing tax loopholes

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) Stuck on the sidelines of Alison Lundergan Grimes' U.S. Senate campaign for most of last year, Democrat Jack Conway took center stage Monday as he officially launched his campaign for governor with a rally in Frankfort followed by a three-day tour of eastern Kentucky.

Conway officially filed his candidacy papers Monday morning in the cramped Secretary of State's office, joking with running mate state Rep. Sannie Overly that this was her "last chance" as the pages were signed. But with nearly $1 million in the bank and no other obvious Democratic challenger on the horizon, Conway said he will run a campaign shaped by the lessons he has learned.

"You can ask me, 'Did you vote for Obama?' The answer is yes and then I sued him," Conway said, a reference to his lawsuit challenging the Environmental Protection Agency's coal regulations and a subtle rebuke of Grimes' famous refusal to say whether she voted for Obama during her failed Senate campaign last year.

This will be Conway's fifth major election in Kentucky, a resume that includes two successful runs for Attorney General and failed bids for the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. His high-profile failures have some Democrats fretting about his ability to become governor, an office Democrats need to hold to or risk losing ground to the state's rapidly growing Republican Party.

Conway seemed to answer those critics with his campaign rollout on Monday, featuring emotional testimony from a woman who lost her daughter to a prescription drug overdose and then joined Conway to travel the state for a program to educate students about the dangers of drugs.

"We have cried together in auditoriums all across this commonwealth," Karen Shay told the crowd of about 100 people at the Kentucky History Center on a rainy Monday morning.

In a 20-minute speech, Conway said he pictured a governor as "a big judge executive," a reference to the top elected official in each of the state's 120 counties.

"(Kentuckians) want responses," Conway said. "And when they feel forgotten in the corridors of Washington, they want the doorways to Frankfort to be open."

Conway pledged to create a new cabinet official that would act as a liaison between small business owners and the state officials that regulate them. He promised to review the state's business tax incentives to create opportunities for companies to operate in concert with the state's public colleges and universities. And he said he would be dedicated to reforming Kentucky's preschool and early childhood education, although he did not get into specifics.

Republicans will have at least a three-way primary, with Agriculture Commissioner Jamie Comer, former Louisville Metro Councilman Hal Heiner and former state Supreme Court Justice Will T. Scott all vying for the nomination. But Conway could be the only major Democrat in the May 19th primary.

Here is the original post:
Democrat Conway formally files for Kentucky governor's race

Lamont McClure Jr., Northampton County Council's longest-tenured and most powerful Democrat, announced Monday he is not seeking to keep his seat after his term ends at the close of 2015.

McClure, 44, of Bethlehem Township, who was first appointed to council in 2006, said the death of his father Lamont Sr. on New Years Day and an increase in his work as an attorney specializing in asbestos injury law suits led him to the difficult decision.

"I make this announcement with some regret. My time in county government has been tremendously rewarding," McClure said in a written statement. "Whether it was leading the fight to save Gracedale from being sold to a for-profit corporation, or fighting to keep your property taxes as low as possible, or voting to protect and preserve more farmland, environmentally sensitive areas and open space than any other councilperson in Northampton County history, serving the public in this capacity has thus far been the highlight of my public life."

McClure was appointed to council in February 2006 and since has won two four-year terms. During his time he earned a reputation as being the Democrats' most outspoken member. Even though Republicans enjoy a 5-4 majority, McClure was among the nine-member board's most influential members, known for an old-school brand of backroom deal-making to get support for his agenda.

Often with the support of labor union leadership, among his battles was a successful campaign to keep the county from selling Gracedale, the county nursing home, in Upper Nazareth. He also successfully led the effort to prevent council from approving two tax increases proposed by former Northampton County Executive John Stoffa, who argued the county was chewing into its reserve account.

More recently, McClure was shot down by the Republican majority, when a 9.2 percent tax increase the first since 2007 was approved along party lines.

"He's well-respected and hard working. His voice carries a lot of weight," said Council President Peg Ferraro, a Republican. "He's certainly voted 'no' more than anyone else."

McClure's District 3 includes the townships of Allen, Bethlehem, East Allen, Lower Saucon and Lower Nazareth and the boroughs of Nazareth, Northampton and North Catasauqua.

McClure is among four district councilmen up for re-election after 2015. District 1 Democrat Ken Kraft, of Bethlehem, and District 2 Democrat Robert Werner, of Bangor, each have announced intentions to seek re-election, while Democrat Scott Parsons has yet to make an announcement.

Two Republicans intend to run for the District 4 seat held by Parsons. Lorin Bradley, 50, of Bushkill Township, is president of the Nazareth Area School Board; and Matthew Dietz, 37, of Wind Gap, is a private pilot who ran an unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. Congress seat held by Democrat Matt Cartwright.

More here:
Northampton County Council power broker Lamont McClure won't run again

halloween cartoon oh crap democrat

By: feray nemu

Read the original post:
halloween cartoon oh crap democrat - Video

Call it a political plague on both your houses, to mangle Shakespeare. But record numbers of American voters are rejecting both major political parties Democrat and Republican. Instead, according to new poll findings, theyre registering to vote as Independents in increasing numbers.

Specifically, according to new Gallup findings, the number of self-declared Independents has climbed to a record 43 percent, the highest number since the pollster began tallying such figures back in 1988 leaving Democrats and Republicans trailing far behind at 30 percent and 26 percent respectively.

Although polling methods have changed over the years, writes Gallup researcher Jeffrey Jones, It is safe to say the average 30 percent identifying as Democrats last year is the lowest since at least the 1950s.

As for the GOP, Mr. Jones writes, Not since 1983, the year before Ronald Reagan's landslide re-election victory, have fewer Americans identified as Republicans.

Why this rejection of D and R in favor of I? Partisan gridlock and dissatisfaction with government, driving favorability ratings for both parties to a point at or near historic lows (36 percent for Democrats, 42 percent for Republicans).

Here, the numbers are more volatile, moving up or down according to political happenings: The afterglow to President Obamas reelection in 2012 (when the Ds enjoyed a brief 51 percent favorability rating), then his partys shellacking in the 2014 midterms driving the number back down into the 30s. The collapse of the Rs favorability to 28 percent after the 2013 government shutdown, then a rise in parallel with the November midterms.

In any case, the trends in public political outlook and perceptions including as they relate to political parties are not good, experts observers say.

The low voter turnout last November likely heralds a new stage in the disintegration of the American political order, warn political scientists Walter Dean Burnham (University of Texas) and Thomas Ferguson (University of Massachusetts) in a piece at alternet.org. Increasing numbers of average Americans can no longer stomach voting for parties that only pretend to represent their interests.

In another recent research piece, professors Martin Gilens (Princeton University) and Benjamin I. Page (Northwestern University) point to why many Americans are turned off by partisan politics based on perceptions about who really rules.

"The central point that emerges from our research is that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy," they write, "while mass-based interest groups and average citizens have little or no independent influence."

View post:
Partys over? Record voters say theyre Independents, reject 'D' and 'R'