Happy Fourth of July…
Monthly Archives: July 2011
Capitol Idea: In Federal Budget Debate, Let There Be No Sacred Cows; or Sacred Horses
I love horses. But you know that there is something wrong with the federal government when horses get better treatment than the average American taxpayer. Yes, you read that right: horses. Sen. Jeff Merkley, a freshman Democrat from Oregon, trekked to the Senate floor to expose and denounce a special federal tax giveaway for thoroughbred racehorses. This “Bluegrass Boondoggle,” Merkley notes, allows millionaire and billionaire racehorse owners to write off the cost of their horses in an accelerated manner,...
Friday Night PR Lights
So, in the new hurdy gurdy of Publicity Counterpunching, the Fourth of July Weekend represents a Golden Moment to release your story and craft your narrative BEFORE the journalists return to their desks on Tuesday. The question this year is this: Who will it be?
Maria Shriver Files For Divorce
I’ve always really admired Maria Shriver, so I am relieved to hear the news today that she has filed for divorce “from former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, citing irreconcilable differences as she seeks to end a 25-year marriage.” The couple separated earlier this year, after Mr. Schwarzenegger told Ms. Shriver he had fathered the child of a former household employee. In papers filed in county court Friday and posted on the TMZ Web site, Ms. Shriver asks for...
McConnell Goes Out On Limb on Revenue, Only For His Caucus To Start Sawing It Off
The Senate’s top Republican took a hard stand against raising tax revenue of any kind as part of a final deal on the federal budget, but members of his GOP caucus appear to have other ideas. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has repeatedly taken tried to take off the table any tax policy changes which would raise new revenue for the federal government. This includes the elimination of tax breaks for hedge-fund managers, corporate jets, and others which President...
Government May Be Violating Tobacco Companies’
A controversial Supreme Court decision less than two years ago could have the unintended consequence of significantly reducing the government’s 46-year campaign against cigarettes. In a 5–4 decision, largely along political lines, the Supreme Court ruled in Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission (October 2009) that not only were parts of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (also known as the McCain–Feingold Campaign Reform Act) unconstitutional, but that corporations and political action committees enjoyed the same First Amendment...
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