enlarge You should read all this for the next time you’re stuck listening to your wingnut brother-in-law spout off about “the lower 51% who don’t pay any taxes.” Krugman: The budget office’s numbers show that the federal tax burden has fallen for all income classes, which itself runs counter to the rhetoric you hear from the usual suspects. But that burden has fallen much more, as a percentage of income, for the wealthy. Partly this reflects big cuts in top income tax rates, but, beyond that, there has been a major shift of taxation away from wealth and toward work: tax rates on corporate profits, capital gains and dividends have all fallen, while the payroll tax — the main tax paid by most workers — has gone up. And one consequence of the shift of taxation away from wealth and toward work is the creation of many situations in which — just as Warren Buffett and Mr. Obama say — people with multimillion-dollar incomes, who typically derive much of that income from capital gains and other sources that face low taxes, end up paying a lower overall tax rate than middle-class workers. And we’re not talking about a few exceptional cases. According to new estimates by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, one-fourth of those with incomes of more than $1 million a year pay income and payroll tax of 12.6 percent of their income or less, putting their tax burden below that of many in the middle class. Now, I know how the right will respond to these facts: with misleading statistics and dubious moral claims. On one side, we have the claim that the rising share of taxes paid by the rich shows that their burden is rising, not falling. To point out the obvious, the rich are paying more taxes because they’re much richer than they used to be. When middle-class incomes barely grow while the incomes of the wealthiest rise by a factor of six, how could the tax share of the rich not go up, even if their tax rate is falling? On the other side, we have the claim that the rich have the right to keep their money — which misses the point that all of us live in and benefit from being part of a larger society. Elizabeth Warren, the financial reformer who is now running for the United States Senate in Massachusetts, recently made some eloquent remarks to this effect that are, rightly, getting a lot of attention. “There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody,” she declared, pointing out that the rich can only get rich thanks to the “social contract” that provides a decent, functioning society in which they can prosper. Which brings us back to those cries of “class warfare.” Republicans claim to be deeply worried by budget deficits. Indeed, Mr. Ryan has called the deficit an “existential threat” to America. Yet they are insisting that the wealthy — who presumably have as much of a stake as everyone else in the nation’s future — should not be called upon to play any role in warding off that existential threat. Well, that amounts to a demand that a small number of very lucky people be exempted from the social contract that applies to everyone else. And that, in case you’re wondering, is what real class warfare looks like.
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Click here to view this media ABC NEWS has this interesting twist on the convoluted support Rick Perry gave to mandating the vaccine in Texas in 2007. Depending on what you believe, Rick Perry was sincerely motivated in his efforts, or was simply using this unfortunate woman to help out his lobbyist pals at Merck , one of whom named Mike Toomey was Rick Perry’s former chief of staff. Video is from KXAN in Austin. Although Rick Perry said at a debate on Thursday that he was “lobbied” by a 31-year-old woman suffering from cervical cancer to require young girls to receive the HPV vaccine, he did not meet the cancer patient until after he had already issued his executive order mandating the vaccine. It was a rhetorical high point for Perry at the debate in Florida, when he put a personal face on the story and pointed to his friendship with a woman who later died of cervical cancer. “I got lobbied on this issue. I got lobbied by a 31 year old young lady who had stage 4 cervical cancer,” said Perry. “I spent a lot of time with her. She came by my office She talked to me about this program. I readily admitted we should have had an opt-in but I don’t know what part of opt out most parents don’t get and the fact is I erred on the side of life and I will always err on the side of life as a governor as a president of the United States.” The woman Rick Perry mentioned in the Republican debate Thursday was Heather Burcham, a thirty one year old woman dying from cervical cancer. But what Perry left out in his answer was that he met her after he issued his executive order.
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• Hit F5 for the latest or select our auto-refresh button below • And email your thoughts to rob.bagchi@guardian.co.uk 11 min: Villa are trying to squeeze up, the back four only a few yards apart from the central midfield three and QPR are trying to get round the back with passes through and over. Rangers are throwing men forward, which should give Villa a chance of catching them on the break. Not yet, though. 9 min: Taarabt tries to chip the free-kick over the wall but Villa do well and get the block in, heading it over the bar. When the corner breaks down, QPR again go up the left before Taarabt loses possession. 7 min: Ireland fouls Taroré and QPR have a free kick on theedge of their own area and they go up the left again. After a couple of phases moving up the flank via a throw-in, Taroré whips in a cross that Young clears for a corner. From the corner, which is knocked out of the box, Young is fouled by Petrov 25 yards from goal. 5 min: The pundit Gary Neville has spotted that QPR are targeting the Villa right-back Alan Hutton, trying to chip the ball over his head a couple of times, looking for the runs of Faurlín and Bothroyd. Then Taarabt shows his class, controlling a ball 30 yards from goal, losing Petrov who stands off him and larruping a shot that smacks off the post. 3 min: Some nice work up the left with Warnock combining well with N’Zogbia but when the ball’s played across the box up pops Wright-Phillips moonlighting as a left-back who knocks it up to Bothroyd who tries to throw Hutton by shimmying left and right before shooting. It’s deflected and the corner is cleared. 1 min: David Cameron’s in the stands, as is Fabio Capello. Cameron is a Villa fan and it’s his side who kick off, Warnock tapping a long pass up the left that Rangers easily deal with. Young then puts his left foot through the ball up to Wright-Phillips but he fouls Hutton who was covering his run well. Afternoon Mac Millings: “My memories of Loftus Rd aren’t as pleasurable as yours, I’m afraid. I went several times in the 80s, and the home fans could show a nasty streak, which included hurling coins at linesmen who gave decisions against their Super Hoops. I’m sure they weren’t the only ones, but still, the sight of a chunky, eighties 50p arcing towards an official’s unsuspecting head is one that stays with me. There’s a lot about Modern Football to dislike, but if that kind of thing has been eradicated, then there is an upside to sanitisation.” There is indeed, Mac. One thing I forgot to mention was the last game of last season at Loftus Road, in the row in front of me was Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols. Six rows in front of him sat Mick Jones of the Clash. For all Lydon’s love of Arsenal, QPR are truly the punk royalty club. Absent friends : Danny Gabbidon is missing for QPR and Darren Bent for Villa. Even a buffoon would suggest the latter is the biggest loss – with Bannan and N’Zogbia lacking a target for their crosses. An interesting sideshow may be the battle between the ex Manchester City trainees Stephen Ireland for Villa and SWP and Joey Barton for QPR. I haven’t seen enough of Ireland this season to tell me whether he’s overcome his awful first season at Villa Park under Gérard Houllier. I’ve seen enough of Stephen Warnock to suggest he’s recovered from his similar fate in internal exile under the Frenchman and Gary McAllister. Here are your teams: QPR: Kenny; Young, Ferdinand, Hall, Traoré; Wright-Phillips, Barton, Derry, Faurlín; Taarabt, Bothroyd. Substitutes: Murphy, Orr, Campbell, Buzsaky, Connolly, Smith, Helguson. Aston Villa: Given; Hutton, Dunne, Collins, Warnock; Bannan, Petrov, Ireland, Delph, N’Zogbia; Agbonlahor. Substitutes: Guzan, Albrighton, Delfouneso, Beye, Weimann, Lowry, Gardner. Referee: Michael Oliver (Northumberland) Afternoon all: I used to love going to Loftus Road. Still do, on the rare occasions I get down there but for a year back in the early 90s I shared a flat on Bloemfontein Road and would go along for evening games if my team wasn’t playing. I’ve not been back so often recently but was there last season, drinking Landlord in the Princess Louise and troughing down the enormous portions at the Greek restaurant on Uxbridge Road. This should be an interesting game, QPR 2011-12 v2.0 following the frantic transfer activity after Tony Fernandes’s takeover taking on a very solid-looking Villa. Both have seven points, Villa are unbeaten in the league and Rangers have yet to score a home league goal, though came close against Newcastle. The last top-flight meeting of the two was two days before Christmas 1995, Rangers winning 1-0 through Kevin Gallen’s goal. All the names from the team-sheet are immediately familiar to someone as ancient as me. Here they are: QPR: Sommer; Bardsley, McDonald, Yates, Brevett; Impey, Wilkins, Barker, Sinclair; Hateley, Gallen. Villa: Bosnich, Charles, Ehiogu, Southgate, McGrath, Wright; Townsend, Draper, Taylor; Milosevic, Johnson. Rangers went down that season and Villa won the League Cup. Meanwhile, to get you in the mood. Here’s some Joey Barton love from another site. I’ll be back with the teams asap. Premier League 2011-12 QPR Aston Villa Premier League Rob Bagchi guardian.co.uk
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Inquiry launched into blaze that killed mother and five children in Neasden, north-west London, in early hours of Saturday A house fire that killed a mother and five children early on Saturday has been not been deemed suspicious by police and fire officers. The children’s father and a sixth child, a 16-year-old girl, are being treated in hospital after the blaze at their semi-detached house in Neasden, north-west London. The victims have been named as Muna Elmufatish, 41, her teenage daughters Hanin and Basma, 14 and 13, nine-year-old daughter Amal, and sons Mustafa and Yehya, aged five and two. The family is understood to be of Palestinian origin. Father Bassam Kua, 51, and daughter Nur escaped from the house but remained in St Mary’s hospital, Paddington, London. He was said to be in a stable and comfortable condition while she was described as critical, but stable. Postmortems will be held on Monday. Chief Superintendent Matthew Gardner, of the Metropolitan police, said a “thorough and painstaking” investigation was being carried out into the cause of the fire, which involved 30 firefighters tackling intense heat and smoke. “At this time this is not, I repeat not, a suspicious circumstance,” he said. “Our thoughts and sympathies go out to the friends and family of the victims who now have to come to terms with this terrible loss of life.” Gardner said officers would be conducting “reassurance patrols” in the area and at places of worship, and liaising with schools to update children who may have known family members. Emergency workers were called to the house in Sonia Gardens in the early hours after the blaze took hold of the ground and first floors. One neighbour described hearing a loud bang, almost like an explosion. The London ambulance service said four of the children and their mother were found dead. Medics tried to resuscitate Mustafa, who was in cardiac arrest, but could not save him. Friends of Basma paid tribute to the teenager. Tia Hirani, 13, said: “She’s one of the most caring people I’ve ever met, she helps everyone. I’ve known her for two years roughly, we go to Crest academy together. I’ve known her from year seven, we’ve had a few falling outs but that’s just what friends do.” Bev Bell, principal of Crest girls’ academy in Neasden, which Hanin also attended, said the school would do whatever it could to help. She revealed their surviving sister Nur was a former student. “It is a terrible tragedy and the whole academy community is absolutely devastated. “We will be holding a special assembly for all students, including the boys’ academy which shares the same site. I have arranged for counsellors to join us to support students and staff who are shocked and very upset by what has happened.” More than 600 firefighters marked the tragedy with a minute’s silence during an event the ExCeL Centre in London. London Firefighters Mark Townsend James Meikle guardian.co.uk
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As delegates gather in Liverpool for Labour’s annual conference, Miliband urges David Cameron to ‘start showing some leadership’ over Britain’s ailing economy Ed Miliband has admitted he has a “long way to go” to convince people to vote Labour at the next general election, but maintained the party was “on the way back”. Speaking as Labour delegates gather in Liverpool for the opening day of their five-day annual party conference, Miliband told The Andrew Marr show: “When you lose an election, and we had our second worst result since we were founded in 1910, it takes time for people to tune back in to you.” He went on: “We are a party on the way back. There’s a long way to go and I, more than anyone, know the scale of task. But, you know what’s most important? I know who I am and I know where I want to take this country and that’s what I’m going to be talking about this week.” All eyes will be on Miliband as he marks a year as Labour leader by proving to members that he has a strategy for the party. In a bid to woo students and parents worried about tuition fees following the controversial move by government to allow fees to rise up to a maximum of £9,000, the Labour leader unveiled a new policy which would see tuition fees held to a maximum £6,000 a year . The party is also drawing up plans for a national system of purchasing energy and a ban on train companies hiking prices in a push to help households in the throes of a “quiet crisis” as they face higher bills, squeezed wages and irresponsible profiteering. The Labour leader will also continue to argue for a temporary cut in VAT to boost economic growth. Miliband gave a round of interviews as the latest polling gave his leadership mixed reviews a year to the day after he was elected party leader. A YouGov poll for centre-left thinktank the IPPR suggests the damage done to Labour following its bruising last few years in power may be reparable. The poll found 70% of respondents would be prepared to vote Labour, compared with 64% for the Liberal Democrats and 58% for the Conservatives. However, a BPIX poll for the Mail on Sunday suggested the majority of voters believed the Labour leader’s older brother, David, should have been picked to lead the party. Asked if Labour should have picked the former foreign secretary, voters said “yes”‘ by a margin of more than four to one. Within the Labour voter cohort, a total of 39% also believed David Miliband should have been leader, with just 13% of activists saying the incumbent was the right man for the job. But in figures likely to cheer the younger Miliband, the poll also gave succour to Labour’s claim that the government is introducing spending cuts “too far and too fast” as nearly one in two say the chancellor, George Osborne, should scale back he cuts, against 37% who think he should stay on course. Miliband used the Andrew Marr interview to urge David Cameron to “start showing some leadership” over Britain’s ailing economy on the grounds that the coalition’s austerity measures were “not working”. He said Cameron had “nothing to say” about would be different in the next year. While cuts had to be made, growth had become the “missing ingredient” in the government’s plans, said Miliband as he cautioned against leaving the economy “flat on its back”. The best way of cutting the deficit was by growing the economy to ensure that people were in work, paying taxes and off benefits, he said. “As Keynes said, as the conditions change you change course and he should change course. That’s what he has got to do. As a first step we say cut VAT. Keep to a plan to cut the deficit over four years but do it with growth because that’s the only way you are going to achieve what you need to achieve. You can’t leave an economy flat on its back.” He went on: “I think we’ve seen a big change over the last year, which is a year ago there was a contested argument about whether the government strategy should work. It’s not working, it’s not working for Britain because unemployment is going up, and it’s not working even to cut the deficit because unless you grow the economy you can’t cut your deficit.” He added: “There is an absence of leadership and I say to the prime minister ‘put the politics aside, start showing some leadership’.” Aware of the pressure on his own leadership to garner credibility on the economy, he admitted that Labour in power “didn’t do enough to change the ethic of our economy”. The Labour leader also admitted the party got things wrong on immigration, particularly the accession of Poland and the other eastern European states to the European Union. On the economy, he said that while “financial services is going to be very important for us in the years to come” the government has to demonstrate a commitment to other industries. “We have got a fast buck economy; we’ve got to move to a different sort of economy,” he said. Asked about the welfare system, he said he was quite happy to say that people who cheat the welfare system “are doing the wrong thing”, as he vowed to show “zero tolerance of waste” of taxpayers’ money. But he said the government’s welfare changes were taking action not against the people who were abusing they system, but against those against people who have paid in all their lives – those “who’ve done the right thing and are then finding out the safety net is being eaten away even further from them”. On his high-profile pledge to cap tuition fees , Miliband insisted the policy was “fully costed”. The money would come from reversing a corporation tax cut for banks. Miliband said the policy would not form part of the party’s manifesto at the 2015 general election but was a policy that would be implemented by a Labour government if a general election was called now. “We are very committed to it, the election’s three-and-a-half years away, if we can do more by the time of the election we will,” said Miliband. “But this is an important first step.” The first day of the party conference will see delegates vote on a package of internal reforms championed by the leader and approved yesterday by Labour’s ruling national executive committee. The changes i nclude giving non-member “registered supporters” voting rights in future leadership elections , if they reach 50,000 in number. Also agreed by the NEC was a review of conference voting arrangements and the weight given to union votes – proposals will be brought forward by next March. Miliband said the union vote was a “complicated set of issues” but the registered supporters move showed a commitment to “open up as a party”. Labour conference 2011 Labour conference Labour Economic policy Tax and spending Trade unions Hélène Mulholland guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …I don’t think these NYPD cops are used to having someone record every arrest they make. That’s probably why they reportedly targeted the Occupy Wall Street media team at yesterday’s attempted march to Union Square: The police made scores of arrests on Saturday as hundreds of people, many of whom had been encamped in the financial district as part of a lengthy protest, marched north to Union Square. As darkness fell, large numbers of officers were deployed on streets near the encampment in Zuccotti Park, at Broadway and Liberty Street, where hundreds more people had gathered. Paul J. Browne, the Police Department’s chief spokesman, said in a statement, “There were approximately 80 arrests, mainly for disorderly conduct by individuals who blocked vehicular and pedestrian traffic, but also for resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration and, in one instance, for assault on a police officer.” Protest organizers estimated that about 85 people had been arrested and that about five were struck with pepper spray. Among those was Chelsea Elliott, 25, who said that she was sprayed after shouting “Why are you doing that?” as an officer arrested a protester at East 12th Street. “I was on the ground sobbing and couldn’t breathe,” she said. The ongoing protests, against a financial system that participants say favors the rich and powerful over ordinary citizens, started last Saturday, and were coordinated by a New York group called the General Assembly. Many of those taking part have slept in Zuccotti Park, a private park, using it as a base. In the early afternoon hundreds of people left the park and moved north toward Union Square. Witnesses said that for much of the route, protesters spilled from sidewalks onto streets and added that the police used long orange nets at Fifth Avenue and 14th Street in an apparent attempt to block the march from proceeding. Many marchers, however, detoured and entered Union Square before eventually turning south again. Videos showed a confusing scene as protesters went south on University Place, where motor vehicles run north. At 12th Street the orange nets again were used, this time to box in protesters between University Place and Fifth Avenue. About 3 p.m., more than two dozen people sat, handcuffed, on the sidewalk. Nearby, two other protesters standing handcuffed on Fifth Avenue told a reporter that they had both been arrested on sidewalks and were not aware of having broken any law. “They put up orange nets and tried to kettle us and we started running and they started tackling random people and handcuffing them,” said Kelly Brannon, 27, of Ridgewood Queens. “They were herding us like cattle.” Next to her, David Smith, from Maine, said that he had been chanting “Let them go” as people were handcuffed, and was then arrested by a senior officer who told him that he was being charged with obstructing governmental administration .
Continue reading …I don’t think these NYPD cops are used to having someone record every arrest they make. That’s probably why they reportedly targeted the Occupy Wall Street media team at yesterday’s attempted march to Union Square: The police made scores of arrests on Saturday as hundreds of people, many of whom had been encamped in the financial district as part of a lengthy protest, marched north to Union Square. As darkness fell, large numbers of officers were deployed on streets near the encampment in Zuccotti Park, at Broadway and Liberty Street, where hundreds more people had gathered. Paul J. Browne, the Police Department’s chief spokesman, said in a statement, “There were approximately 80 arrests, mainly for disorderly conduct by individuals who blocked vehicular and pedestrian traffic, but also for resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration and, in one instance, for assault on a police officer.” Protest organizers estimated that about 85 people had been arrested and that about five were struck with pepper spray. Among those was Chelsea Elliott, 25, who said that she was sprayed after shouting “Why are you doing that?” as an officer arrested a protester at East 12th Street. “I was on the ground sobbing and couldn’t breathe,” she said. The ongoing protests, against a financial system that participants say favors the rich and powerful over ordinary citizens, started last Saturday, and were coordinated by a New York group called the General Assembly. Many of those taking part have slept in Zuccotti Park, a private park, using it as a base. In the early afternoon hundreds of people left the park and moved north toward Union Square. Witnesses said that for much of the route, protesters spilled from sidewalks onto streets and added that the police used long orange nets at Fifth Avenue and 14th Street in an apparent attempt to block the march from proceeding. Many marchers, however, detoured and entered Union Square before eventually turning south again. Videos showed a confusing scene as protesters went south on University Place, where motor vehicles run north. At 12th Street the orange nets again were used, this time to box in protesters between University Place and Fifth Avenue. About 3 p.m., more than two dozen people sat, handcuffed, on the sidewalk. Nearby, two other protesters standing handcuffed on Fifth Avenue told a reporter that they had both been arrested on sidewalks and were not aware of having broken any law. “They put up orange nets and tried to kettle us and we started running and they started tackling random people and handcuffing them,” said Kelly Brannon, 27, of Ridgewood Queens. “They were herding us like cattle.” Next to her, David Smith, from Maine, said that he had been chanting “Let them go” as people were handcuffed, and was then arrested by a senior officer who told him that he was being charged with obstructing governmental administration .
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• Makau breaks Haile Gebrselassie’s record with time of 2:03.38 • England’s Scott Overall finishes fifth in debut marathon Before Sunday’s Berlin marathon, Patrick Makau talked openly about his desire to take the world record back to Kenya. In the event, he delivered spectacularly, not only breaking Haile Gebrselassie’s existing mark by more than 20 seconds, but also breaking Gebrselassie himself with an exhilarating burst away from the leading group around the 15-mile mark. “In the morning my body was not good but after I started the race, it started reacting very well. I started thinking about the record,” Makau said, and from the earliest split times it was clear that something special was in the offing on the same wide, flat, famously fast course on which Gebrselassie set the previous record three years ago. Makau and Gebrselassie were in a leading group of four up to just past halfway, at which point Makau accelerated like a 1,500m runner hitting the home straight, leaving the world-record holder bent double, holding his stomach on the Mitte pavement. Gebrselassie rejoined the race but eventually dropped out at the 27km mark. Makau kept up a two-and-half-minute lead over the field and entered the final stretch beneath the Brandenburg Gate at a grimacing canter, taking the tape in 2hr 3min 38sec, an achievement that will be leavened further by the hefty purse for setting the new record mark. There was also a significant British moment of triumph as Scott Overall of Blackheath & Bromley produced a famous debut-marathon run to finish fifth in 2:10.56. Overall cruised in just behind the Kenyan Felix Limo to the surprise of pretty much everybody present, including himself. “I couldn’t believe it,” he said afterwards. “When I got to 40k I thought I had got the time wrong, so I was cruising on the home straight, and when I saw the clock said 2:10, I was very surprised. I was on my own from halfway and think that if I had had a pacer, possibly may have gone quicker. All in all, not a bad debut.” It was an extraordinary performance by the 28-year-old, by trade a 5,000m runner who only began thinking about running marathons in May after “losing my ability to run on a track”. Overall, who is from Hammersmith and works part-time in a sports shop in Clapham, said it would be “a great honour” to be selected for the London Games, having finished comfortably inside the A-qualifying mark. If Overall is selected – which he surely will be – London 2012 is likely to be only the second marathon of his career. He will at least be in familiar company in Team GB. Overall was an usher at the wedding of Mo Farah, a close friend from their days with Hounslow Athletics Club. Athletics Olympics 2012: Athletics Olympic Games 2012 Mo Farah Barney Ronay guardian.co.uk
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Saudi women will have the right to stand for office and vote in future local elections, says King Abdullah Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has said women will have the right to stand and vote in future local elections and join the advisory Shura council as full members. “Because we refuse to marginalise women in society in all roles that comply with sharia, we have decided, after deliberation with our senior ulama [clerics] and others … to involve women in the Shura council as members, starting from the next term,” Abdullah, 87, said in a speech. “Women will be able to run as candidates in the municipal election and will even have a right to vote,” he added. Liberal activists in the country have long called for greater rights for women, who are barred from travelling, working or having medical operations without the permission of a male relative and are forbidden from driving. The changes will come after elections on Thursday, in which women are barred from voting or standing for office. Saudi Arabia Gender Middle East Electoral reform guardian.co.uk
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Saudi women will have the right to stand for office and vote in future local elections, says King Abdullah Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has said women will have the right to stand and vote in future local elections and join the advisory Shura council as full members. “Because we refuse to marginalise women in society in all roles that comply with sharia, we have decided, after deliberation with our senior ulama [clerics] and others … to involve women in the Shura council as members, starting from the next term,” Abdullah, 87, said in a speech. “Women will be able to run as candidates in the municipal election and will even have a right to vote,” he added. Liberal activists in the country have long called for greater rights for women, who are barred from travelling, working or having medical operations without the permission of a male relative and are forbidden from driving. The changes will come after elections on Thursday, in which women are barred from voting or standing for office. Saudi Arabia Gender Middle East Electoral reform guardian.co.uk
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