Paul Krugman: Keeping Bush Tax Cuts For Rich Like Giving 120,000 People $3 Million Each

Paul Krugman puts the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy in proper perspective today.

For months that has been the word from Republicans and conservative Democrats, who have rejected every suggestion that we do more to avoid deep cuts in public services and help the ailing economy.

But these same politicians are eager to cut checks averaging $3 million each to the richest 120,000 people in the country.

When the Bush tax cuts were passed they were done with nine, rather then ten year projections to avoid numbers that would show how harmful they are to the deficit, and to …

Imam Behind New York Islamic Center Speaks

Feisal Abdul Rauf, who has rarely given interviews, spoke to the newspaper Bahraini Al Wasat about his proposed New York Islamic center, saying his project will provide “an Islamic approach that allows for harmony and understanding among all religions and other ideas.”

In the interview, to be published Monday, Rauf praised freedoms that Muslims and others enjoy in the United States.

“If we look at the American Declaration of Independence, we see that it speaks of principles that comply with Islam,” Rauf said, according to Bahraini Al Wasat editor-in-chief Mansoor Al Jamri. “The U.S. Constitution protects our rights and what …

Obama Attacks GOP For Defending Corporate Takeover Of Government. But Is It Fair?

By Yashwanth Manjunath

In his weekly address yesterday President Obama attacked the GOP for their continued opposition to the DISCLOSE Act, claiming that their opposition amounts to support for a corporate takeover of government. The DISCLOSE Act would impose new donor and contribution requirements on nearly all organizations that air political ads independently of candidates or political parties. The legislation would require the sponsor of the ad to appear in it and take responsibility for the content. Its purpose is to counter the recent Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. FEC 558 U.S. 50 (2010). While it’s nice …

More Evidence For Global Warming

by Stuart Shapiro

Scientists predict gradually rising temperatures; global mean temperatures rise gradually.  No one is convinced.  Scientists predict more chaotic weather . . .

The floods battered New England, then Nashville, then Arkansas, then Oklahoma — and were followed by a deluge in Pakistan that has upended the lives of 20 million people.

The summer’s heat waves baked the eastern United States, parts of Africa and eastern Asia, and above all Russia, which lost millions of acres of wheat and thousands of lives in a drought worse than any other in the historical record.

Seemingly disconnected, these far-flung disasters …

America At Its Ugliest

A YouTuber named lefthandedArt videod some of the rally near the proposed New York Islamic center Sunday and reports:

A man walks through the crowd at the Ground Zero protest and is mistaken as a Muslim. The crowd turns on him and confronts him. The man in the blue hard hat calls him a coward and tries to fight him. The tall man who I think was one of the organizers tried to get between the two men. Later I caught up with the man who’s name is Kenny. He is a Union carpenter who works at Ground Zero. We …

“Mosque” Opposers Side With The Terrorsts And Are Helping Them Win

Nick Kristof (pictured) puts it in perspective.

Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born cleric who recruits jihadis from his lair in Yemen, tells the world’s English-speaking Muslims that America is at war against Islam. You can bet that Mr. Awlaki will use the opposition to the community center and mosque to try to recruit more terrorists.

In short, the proposed community center is not just an issue on which Sarah Palin and Osama bin Laden agree. It is also one in which opponents of the center are playing into the hands of Al Qaeda.

The good Christians who oppose Islam forget …

New York “Mosque” Hysteria Reaches Fevered Pitch

Angry protesters opposed to an Islamic center blocks from Ground Zero demonstrated in the New York rain today, along with a counter demonstration by those who support the project.

Opponents chanted “No mosque, no way!” and carried signs reading, “9-11-01: Never Forget,” as Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” blared over loudspeakers.

One group brought life-sized mock missiles with a dummy terrorist draped over top holding a sign that read: “Obama, your middle-name is Hussein, we understand. Bloomberg, what’s your excuse.”

It’s no more a mosque than a mall that contains a movie theater is a movie theater, as …

Would You Vote For Blago?

Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich says he won’t rule out another run for office if he is cleared at a second trial.

Blagojevich spoke on “Fox News Sunday” less than a week after he was convicted of lying to federal agents. Jurors, however, deadlocked on 23 other more serious charges, including that he had tried to sell President Barack Obama’s old Senate seat.

Federal prosecutors have said they will retry Blagojevich on those charges, but the former governor insisted that he will be vindicated.

“I didn’t lie to the FBI. I’m not lying to you, and I didn’t lie to …

Donald Trump Suggests Imam Sell Mosque For Profit

Real estate mogul Donald Trump told Geraldo Rivera that the Imam behind the Islamic Center in lower Manhattan should wait until the furor dies down and then sell the building for a profit.

Hey we’re all for freedom of religion and all of that, but this is a very tough situation….and yes, if he moved a certain distance away, no one could say he didn’t do a great favor to everybody, including himself and including his religion.” Trump also thinks if they could sell for a little bit of a profit and move the location he would make so …

Shirley Sherrod To Meet With Tom Vilsack To Discuss Job Offer

The former U.S. Department of Agriculture official who was summarily fired for out-of-context remarks promoted by right-wing bloggers will meet with the Agricuture Secreatary Tom Vilsack Tuesday to discuss future possibilities.

Sherrod said the new offer was on the table Saturday in Alabama at an event hosted by the Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund, according to the Associated Press.…

The Week In Wonkery

by Stuart Shapiro

Congress is in recess.  I was on vacation in New England (as is President Obama).  Yet the gears of government grind on.  Some notable events in the past week:

– FDA approved a new morning after pill (mysteriously anti-abortion forces decried the decision as compromising women’s safety while pro-choice advocates say the pill is safe.

– SEC, the FED, and the FDIC announced that it would write the regulations implementing the recently passed financial reform bill in an unprecedented manner.  Transparency will be greater than any previous similar rulemaking.

– The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (the …