SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
October 4, 2010
Sullivan’s Salvos 9/21/10
In this edition:
*No Salvos Next Week!
*Happy Homecoming!
*Democratic Party BBQ
*Bush Tax Cuts
*I Agree with the GOP!
*Did You Know?
*No Salvos Next Week!
Salvos takes a one week hiatus next week. You can expect the next edition (dated 10/5) to arrive in your inbox over the weekend of 10/2 and 10/3.
Enjoy your week off… I know I will!
*Happy Homecoming!
The UI celebrates Homecoming the weekend of October 1st- 3rd. Happy Homecoming to all the Hawkeyes out there! Be bold in your black and gold… but be safe, too! Go Hawks!
*Democratic Party BBQ
The Johnson County Democratic Party is holding its annual fall BBQ on Sunday, September 26 at 1 PM at the Johnson County Fairgrounds.
There will be great food and drink, statewide candidates for office, and lots of fun! The election is but 40 days away… and early voting begins this Thursday!
As the old typing test says… Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the party! For more info, see: http://jcdems.org/wp/
*Bush Tax Cuts
Congress will soon reconsider the Bush Tax Cuts, which are set to expire at the end of the year. They can renew all the cuts, end all the cuts, renew them for the middle class, or numerous other options.
I believe the proper way to proceed is to maintain the tax cuts for the middle class, but repeal them for the top 2% of earners. To extend the cuts for the richest 2% will cost over $700 TRILLION – almost as much as was spent on the stimulus plan.
Tax cuts for the wealthy is the very definition of “Trickle Down” economic policy. These cuts will not create as many jobs as direct spending, and will not help the middle class and needy. We know this from past practice! If you want to help the middle class and needy, help them directly!
The GOP is going to claim this hurts small businesses. (Some small businesses pay income taxes at the individual rate.) According to the Congressional Budget Office, only 3% of all small businesses earn enough to be affected by this cut. 97% will see no effect.
Republicans will also continue to hammer on the issue of the deficit. Nothing did more than these tax cuts to create our current deficit. How can they possibly justify these cuts if the deficit is truly their concern?
The people already feel that Wall Street got off way too easily. This smells like more of the same! I hope Congress will vote for the interests of 98% of us rather than the richest 2%. We shall see.
*I Agree with the GOP!
I am often criticized for being “partisan”. I attribute this to a few things:
1.) I am an active Democrat, and proud of it.
2.) I have opinions, and I am willing to share them.
3.) I generally lean left, or liberal, or progressive… choose your adjective.
Because of the three points above, a handful of local conservatives hate my guts. While it is never a good feeling to be hated by anyone, it is, I suppose, a cost of doing business. There are many Democrats who do not stand for anything; those folks are rarely the subject of Republican ire.
It sounds cliché, but some of my best friends are Republicans. In all seriousness, we can discuss politics and typically agree on 75-85% of the issues. There are many common sense solutions and compromises available among friends that do not translate to politics on the big stage.
I thought it might be interesting to point out that I agree with the GOP on a piece of the recently-passed health care legislation. There is a portion of the law that dramatically expands the tax reporting requirements for small businesses. Under the legislation, small businesses would need to provide a 1099 for every expenditure over $600.
This seems unnecessarily onerous to me. The federal government estimates that small businesses skip out on paying about $350 billion in taxes every year. I can understand the desire to reign in tax cheats; if that is the goal, hire more IRS agents. Punishing all businesses rather than going after the cheaters seems like a bad approach.
Do I want to see the whole health care bill repealed? Absolutely not! But I agree with the GOP that this specific portion of the bill should be repealed.
*DID YOU KNOW? The Johnson County Ambulance Service responds to an average of 20 calls every day.
Anyone interested in learning more about County government should take a look at the County website-
www.johnson-county.com.
"Sullivan’s Salvos" is sent once per week to any interested party. It will give a brief update on issues of interest to Johnson County residents.
These messages come solely from Rod Sullivan, and neither represents the viewpoints of the whole Board of Supervisors nor those of groups or individuals otherwise mentioned.
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As always, feel free to contact me at 354-7199 or rodsullivan@mchsi.com. I look forward to serving you!
---Rod
posted by Rod Sullivan @ 10:26 PM
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