Organizing for America | Posts with the tag tranparency

Posts with the tag tranparency

Transparency: Senate will delay action on bonuses tax

By z0rr0 - Mar 24th, 2009 at 2:52 pm EDT

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Senate will delay action on bonuses tax , not to mention Geithner and the President himself are backtracking on the House action.

The arguments about breaking contracts between employers and employees is bogus. If it had meaning, my real estate tax increases could not cut my raise in half. The retroactive tax argument is bogus. A bonus paid in 2009 is current year taxable earning. The argument that it is not constitutional is the biggest crock of them all. Cigarette taxes, liquor taxes, skims from lotteries are all punitive taxes, and legit. And lets just wait until carbon credits roll, which will be the biggest social engineering tax of them all. These are all Wall Street arguments floated to save their bonuses!

Are we finally seeing tranparency? Is it transparent now the Congress and the Administration listen to and work for Wall Street, first and foremost? If they work for all Americans, then they should act on all our behalf. The House did, this time!

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On Open Government

By Duane Kuehn - Jun 22nd, 2008 at 10:44 am EDT

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Hi All,

Here is a link to my article on "Open (transparent) government. It runs two pages at the helium site so I am not blogging the article itself.

Loveya,

Duane Kuehn

http://www.helium.com/items/1062022-elections-2008-candidates-missing-opportunity-connect-voters-open-government

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Pressure Mounts on John McCain to Release Cindy McCain's Tax Returns

By Inspired in Florida - a Recovering Republican - May 17th, 2008 at 1:40 pm EDT

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Washington Post on McCain Tax Disclosure: "IT WON'T DO."

"For a candidate who puts a premium on transparency and ethics, John McCain has been slow and grudging in releasing tax information. He did not commit to doing so until after he had secured the nomination, and then he disclosed only two years of taxes, far less than his Democratic rivals. Mr. McCain's wife, the heir to a liquor and beer distributorship, declined to release her returns, citing -- as Ms. Heinz Kerry did -- her children's privacy. Releasing tax information entails intrusion, but, as we wrote four years ago, presidential candidates and their spouses 'relinquish a significant measure of privacy. Meanwhile, tax returns provide information not contained in financial disclosure forms, such as charitable contributions and the use of tax shelters.' For Mrs. McCain to say, as she did on NBC's "Today" show this week, that she would never release her tax returns, not even if she were to become first lady, is unacceptable. 'This is a privacy issue,' she said. 'My husband is the candidate.'"

[Editorial, Washington Post, 5/14/08:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/13/AR200805

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Washington Times Editorial: Blasts "Cindy McCain's 'privacy' charade."

"Cindy McCain refuses to release her tax returns. This is not just a questionable political decision that threatens to haunt her husband's campaign for the next six months. It is also the wrong decision. Mrs. McCain needs to change her mind and release the returns as quickly as possible. How Republican John McCain, the presumptive presidential nominee who rightly fancies himself the king of transparency on Capitol Hill, and his campaign strategists can permit this open sore to fester is unimaginable. As the chairman of the Anheuser-Busch distributorship Hensley & Co., which her father founded, Mrs. McCain is an heiress whose income and assets will directly benefit from the tax policies espoused by her husband. Mr. McCain would also benefit. Taxpayers and voters are entitled to know how much these benefits will be."

[Editorial, Washington Times, 5/14/08:

http://washingtontimes.com/article/20080514/EDITORIAL/702074707/1013]

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Barack and Freedom of Information

By Duane Kuehn - May 13th, 2008 at 5:09 pm EDT

     President Bush and his extravagant misuse of the Presidential Executive Order have whittled the Freedom of Information Act from the beam of sunshine for Democracy, to a splinter of light unseen by the human eye.

     During his term in office, George Bush has used the privilege of “Executive Order” to cripple the Freedom of Information Act and the Presidential Records Act. George Bush has redefined “National Security” to include ‘sensitive’ information (having nothing to do with National Security) and absurdly reclassified previously unclassified documents. All to avoid that dirty word, “responsibility”.

     Stephen Aftergood, (Project on Government Secrecy: Federation of American Scientists) states that, “Information is the oxygen of Democracy, lately Democracy is gasping for air. Where the policy had been, information should be released unless there were foreseeable harm from its disclosure. It was changed under attorney General Ashcroft to say, that information should be withheld whenever there was a sound legal basis for doing so.”

     Government accountability, in the form of Open Government, is not included in those poll and survey choices as to the most important issues to the people of this country. It should be, as it is at the top of most everyone’s list.

     Polls and surveys, pertaining to Open Government, show that a very high and growing majority of the citizens of these United States believe that the government works from behind closed doors. That our political system runs in a mode of secrecy and the privacy of more and more citizens is being usurped by illegal government tapping of phones, emails, etc.

     The numbers in these polls need not be mentioned, as the question is, “What do you think?” Do you think that your government, Local, State and/or National is being run from behind closed doors without your input or notification of pending legislations and decisions? Chances are, as with the majority of “We the people”, you have lost much trust in your government, and feel helpless to do anything.

     Voting has for too long been called a “lesser of evils” situation. Politicians have, for too long, evaded responsibility to the peoples whom they were elected to represent. Open Government, often-called ‘transparency’ of government, is long overdue.

     John McCain’s proposals for transparency in government are so vague they are like tinted car windows, someone can see out but nobody can see inside.

     Hillary Clinton has a 10-point Open Government proposal on her website. Not so convincing as it is something that addresses the issue that people can see.

     Barack Obama has this here and this there but no easily accessible information directly addressing an Open Government policy. His policies are the best, his history evidences his intent on making government accessible to the people, he, however, has no consolidation of this information as an “issue”. Moreover, when finally it emerges, the Open Government Issue will be a major player in the Presidential election.

     We see polls here and polls there, what issues are most important to the people. However, these polls and surveys do not list “Open Government”; they list “economy”, “foreign policy”, etc.

     I hope that somehow the message gets to Barack that it is in his best interest to address Government Transparency (including the Presidential Records Act) which IS covered all over his statements and policy proposals. Nevertheless, these things need to stay where they are located but also condensed into one statement of issue, under “Issues”.

Loveya,
Duane Kuehn

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