Donna Cooper: Infographic -- Tax Breaks vs. Budget Cuts

Infographic: Tax Breaks vs. Budget Cuts
By Donna Cooper
Center for American Progress

House leaders are unfortunately restricting their proposed budget cuts for the remainder of fiscal year 2011 to nonsecurity discretionary spending in an attempt to tame a $1.3 trillion deficit. This approach is especially shortsighted since the Federal Treasury loses twice as much revenue due to tax breaks than Congress appropriates on all nonsecurity discretionary spending.

The chart below compares the 10 safety-net programs slated for deep cuts with the cost of the tax breaks that should also be considered for reduction or elimination to bring the budget into balance. The column on the left is a list of safety-net programs that have already been targets of the House leadership’s budget ax. The column on the right is the cost to specified tax breaks.



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Susan Galleymore and Raising Sand Radio: Dahr Jamail in the Spill Zone...and the Drill Baby Drill Lobbyists...

(Extra credit opportunity for HUM 121 students)

Dahr Jamail in the Spill Zone...and the Drill Baby Drill Lobbyists...
Susan Galleymore and Raising Sand Radio

Israel and the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty...and goods into Gaza.

Dahr Jamail reports from the Gulf spill zone on how media is treated, how locals fare day-to-day, and how the future looks.

The "Drill, Baby, Drill" proponents in Congress and state government fare very well from the oil and gas lobby. We look at their handsome handouts and then examine the true cost of oil to America's bottom line as we examine whether fossil fuels are in the best interests of the American people even in the short term.

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Democracy Now: Obama Administration -- US Forces Can Assassinate Americans Believed to Be Involved in Terrorist Activity

Obama Administration: US Forces Can Assassinate Americans Believed to Be Involved in Terrorist Activity
Democracy Now

The Obama administration has acknowledged it’s continuing a Bush-era policy authorizing the killing of US citizens abroad. The confirmation came from Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair in congressional testimony last week. Blair said, “Being a US citizen will not spare an American from getting assassinated by military or intelligence operatives overseas if the individual is working with terrorists and planning to attack fellow Americans.” We speak to Rep. Dennis Kucinich and blogger and attorney Glenn Greenwald.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), last week he wrote a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder requesting an explanation of the Obama administration’s legal basis for the extrajudicial killing of US citizens.

Glenn Greenwald, constitutional law attorney and political and legal blogger for Salon.com. He wrote a widely circulated piece for Salon last week called ‘Presidential Assassinations of US Citizens’

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