Senate Democrats to Push New Strategy for Tax Reform

Joan McCarter - via Daily Kos

Senate Democrats intend to push a new strategy of tax reform based on the proposals outlined in President Obama's State of the Union. Rather than using the basic foundation of the 1986 tax reform with some tweaking, a handful of lawmakers have been talking tax reform using the template of the current system. But that's changing.

“Tax reform after the president's speech now has a different definition,” Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday.

“We intend to pursue a different kind of tax reform that borrows from the president's proposals," Schumer, a leader in crafting Democratic messaging, told reporters. [...]

“Don't underestimate the chances of Congress to enact parts of the president's blueprint,” Schumer also said Wednesday. “Republicans will not go along out of a desire to cooperate, but they may find they have to out of political necessity.”

The "Buffett Rule" proposed by Obama—that anyone making $1 million or more pay at least 30 percent in taxes—and setting a minimum amount of taxes that multinational corporations have to pay will likely be cornerstones of the proposal. They will also target the "carried interest" tax break on capital gains, the tax break that allows Mitt Romney to pay just 14 percent of his income in taxes.

With only four days before the Florida primary, Florida Senator Marco Rubio is emerging as a top choice to be the Republican Vice-Presidential candidate. The GOP is betting that Senator Rubio can “deliver the Latino vote.” But Rubio, a Tea Party favorite, opposes the DREAM Act, opposes immigration reform and supports Arizona’s SB1070.

With Rubio on the national ticket, the GOP would have a Latino spokesperson to drive through anti-Latino policies, dividing our community and weakening our allies.

We can stop this if we can show the GOP that adding Rubio won’t “deliver the Latino vote,” because we can see through their scam. So here’s the plan:

We’ve made a hard hitting television ad revealing Senator Rubio's anti-Latino record. Later today, Rubio is headlining at the Hispanic Leadership Network, a Republican-led advocacy group designed to bring in Latino voters. Presente members and our partners will be protesting outside. This is a golden opportunity to announce our ad to reporters there, who are already preparing stories about Rubio’s effect on Latino voters.

But first we need to raise at least $5,000 dollars this afternoon, so we can guarantee reporters that the ad will be hitting the airwaves across Florida.

Please watch “No Somos Rubios” and donate $5 right away to help it get on the air.

Until Tuesday's primary, the national media and the entire GOP political machine is focused on Florida. They’re closely evaluating Rubio’s effect on Latino voters. With 50 million Latinos in the United States, they’re getting desperate to trick us into voting for them, while still appeasing an anti-Latino base. If Rubio plays well in the national spotlight, they’ll decide it’s just the trick they need.

So we must ensure the national spotlight also reveals Rubio's anti-latino record, by putting this ad on the air across Florida in the crucial days ahead.

This is our best shot to stop the Rubio scam before it begins. National polls show that most Latinos don’t yet know anything about him. The GOP is desperate to cover up Rubio’s anti-latino record with a blank slate.

Now it’s time to show all politicians that no matter your name, actually standing up for the issues that Latinos care about is the only way to win our votes.

There’s no time to lose. Please chip in to help us raise $5,000 today so we can announce the ad at tonight’s gala event.

https://act.presente.org/donate/rubio_donate/

Thanks and ¡adelante!

Roberto Lovato on behalf of Presente Action

Resources:

"Marco Rubio has what Mitt Romney needs in a vice president," Washington Post, 01/03/2011

http://wapo.st/wqWpOj

Romney Profited from Mortgage Lenders that Foreclosed on Thousands

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann, saw profits by sinking millions into a Goldman Sachs fund that invested in mortgage-backed obligations, which were owned by lenders who foreclosed on thousands of Floridians.

By examining the candidate’s May 2011 financial disclosure forms, Think Progress determined that Romney and his wife invested at least $2 million in the Goldman Sachs Strategic Income Fund (institutional class). In 2011, about 24.5 percent of that fund was invested in mortgage-backed obligations. Another 8 percent was invested in banks.

Between April 2010 and March 2011, the fund grew by 7.88 percent.

Since Romney did not list the fund on his 2007 financial disclosure forms, it is safe to assume he made the investment — and reaped the rewards — after the financial meltdown that began in late-2008.  More...

Billionaires Charles and David Koch are infringing on intellectual freedom and independence in colleges and universities by controlling entire fields of study and the faculty hiring process. Defend academia and share this video.
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Mitt Romney's Bain Capital 'Earned' $342 Million by Bankrupting a Company and Firing 850 Floridians

Jed Lewison Crooks and Liars

Via McKay Coppins, you can add The Miami Herald to the list of people and organizations who Mitt Romney says are attacking free enterprise. That's because today's edition takes a look at how Bain Capital "earned" $342 million from investing $30 million in the acquisition of medical technology firm named Dade International. Despite profiting by hundreds of millions of dollars from the deal, Romney's company led Dade to bankruptcy, laying off thousands of workers throughout the country—including 850 in Miami alone.

The Herald's story focuses on the impacts of Bain's business practices on Florida, but it's worth going back to this The New York Times article from November. According to The Times, Bain led a group of investors who acquired the company for $450 million in 1994. Bain's share of the price tag: $30 million. Then:

By 1998, Mr. Romney and his restless colleagues at Bain began looking for a way to cash out of the firm’s investment in Dade.

A hefty offer arrived. Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company, a rival buyout firm, proposed buying Dade Behring for $1.9 billion, according to documents filed in the bankruptcy case. But Bain executives rejected it, disappointed by the price, the documents indicate.

Bain settled on a common tactic in private equity: In April 1999, it pushed Dade to borrow hundreds of millions of dollars to buy half of Bain’s shares in the company — and half of those of its investment partners.

Bain pocketed the $242 million. Goldman received $121 million. Top Dade executives got $55 million, records show. The total payout to shareholders reached $420 million — nearly as much as the purchase price for Dade.

In addition to the $242 million, Bain took $100 million in management fees for running the company. But despite their $342 million payday, Bain led Dade directly into bankruptcy:

The strategy of sharply increasing Dade’s debt alarmed several executives. Mr. Garrett, the former chief executive of Dade who stood to gain from the transaction, said he had argued unsuccessfully against it.

“It was too aggressive,” Mr. Garrett said. “It was done right up to the limit of what the company could borrow.”

With the amount of money that Dade owed to creditors and vendors at nearly $2 billion, some executives worried that the company would have little maneuvering room if its financial situation suddenly deteriorated.

Soon enough, it did. Interest rates rose, increasing Dade’s debt payments. The value of the euro, then a new currency, slid, reducing Dade’s European revenue. And a new distribution center had unexpected delays.

Creditors, unsettled by deteriorating finances and high debts, began to pounce. More layoffs followed. And in August of 2002, Dade filed for bankruptcy protection.

Bain ultimately relinquished its ownership claim, but it had already taken $342 million out of company, an 11-fold return on its $30 million investment in less than eight years. Fortunately, the bankruptcy didn't destroy the company, which emerged from bankruptcy and has prospered since Bain gave up its ownership stake. But even though Dade is now a successful company, its success comes despite Bain Capital—not because of it.

Obviously, the story is timely because of the upcoming Florida primary and the fact that nearly one thousand Floridians lost their jobs as Bain bankrupted the firm, but if Romney gets the nomination, it won't simply fade away. Perhaps he can convince Republicans that questioning how he managed to "earn" $342 million while bankrupting a company is the same thing as assaulting free enterprise, but he won't be able to convince Americans of that. And given that Mitt Romney cites his private sector experience as the number one reason why he should be president, that's a big problem for Mitt Romney to have.

Report: More Charges Coming Against Former Walker Staffers

Susie Madrak

Scott Walker's not having a good month. First, opponents get more than a million signatures for his recall, and now another round of criminal charges are expected against his former staffers for doing illegal campaign work. Poor baby!

A new round of criminal charges is coming soon against at least a couple of Gov. Scott Walker's former county staffers for doing extensive campaign activity while on the taxpayers' dime, sources say.

The charges - which should be filed by District Attorney John Chisholm's office in the next week or two - will be part of the long-running John Doe investigation of Walker's aides and associates during his tenure as Milwaukee County executive.

Already, the probe has led to multiple felony charges against Walker's onetime deputy chief of staff, Tim Russell, and former county veterans official Kevin Kavanaugh. They are accused of taking more than $60,000 in donations intended for Operation Freedom, an annual event at the county zoo for veterans and their families.

Russell's domestic partner, Brian Pierick, was also hit with two felony counts for child enticement.

In an interview last week, Walker said he has not been contacted by investigators for the Democratic district attorney but would be open to sitting down with Milwaukee County prosecutors to discuss the issues they are investigating.

"I certainly would be willing if they asked me to in the future," Walker told the Journal Sentinel's Madison bureau. "Like I said, no matter who it might be about, we'd be more than willing to in the future."

Asked if he has hired his own attorney for advice regarding the John Doe investigation, Walker declined to answer.

"I've not been a subject of this," the first-term Republican governor said. "At some point in the future, if I am, I'll discuss that with you."