The American Jobs Act | Letter to My Congressman

September 13, 2011

Congressman Bilbray, 

I urge you to use your position on the House Energy and Commerce Committee to fast-track passage of the American Jobs Act. If it is signed into law, your constituents can begin taking advantage of the provisions of this bill on October 1, 2011 — exactly when we need the help. 

Please sir, call your colleagues to account if they attempt to game this important legislation. 

The need is now, the time is now. I call on you to act now. 

respectfully, 

Jim Hancock

[Read it for yourself — click to download a pdf of the American Jobs Act to your download folder]

THE AMERICAN JOBS ACT | FACT SHEET

Yesterday, I posted the transcript of President Obama's American Jobs Act speech before a joint session of Congress.

Here is the Fact Sheet that accompanied that address, concluding with round costs associated with each item. Next week, the Administration will deliver the President's detailed proposal to Congress. 

THE AMERICAN JOBS ACT | FACT SHEET 

1. Tax Cuts to Help America’s Small Businesses Hire and Grow

• Cutting the payroll tax in half for 98 percent of businesses: The President’s plan will cut in half the taxes paid by businesses on their first $5 million in payroll, targeting the benefit to the 98 percent of firms that have payroll below this threshold.
• A complete payroll tax holiday for added workers or increased wages: The President’s plan will completely eliminate payroll taxes for firms that increase their payroll by adding new workers or increasing the wages of their current worker (the benefit is capped at the first $50 million in payroll increases).
• Extending 100% expensing into 2012: This continues an effective incentive for new investment.
• Reforms and regulatory reductions to help entrepreneurs and small businesses access capital. 

The American Jobs Act | Transcript

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

September 08, 2011

Address by the President to a Joint Session of Congress

United States Capitol
Washington, D.C.

7:09 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members of Congress, and fellow Americans: 

Tonight we meet at an urgent time for our country.  We continue to face an economic crisis that has left millions of our neighbors jobless, and a political crisis that’s made things worse.
This past week, reporters have been asking, “What will this speech mean for the President?  What will it mean for Congress?  How will it affect their polls, and the next election?” 

But the millions of Americans who are watching right now, they don’t care about politics.  They have real-life concerns.  Many have spent months looking for work.  Others are doing their best just to scrape by -- giving up nights out with the family to save on gas or make the mortgage; postponing retirement to send a kid to college. 

These men and women grew up with faith in an America where hard work and responsibility paid off.  They believed in a country where everyone gets a fair shake and does their fair share -- where if you stepped up, did your job, and were loyal to your company, that loyalty would be rewarded with a decent salary and good benefits; maybe a raise once in a while.  If you did the right thing, you could make it.  Anybody could make it in America.

Lawrence O'Donnell, the Extreme Right + the Least of These

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

For Labor Day | The Book of Common Prayer

Almighty God, who hast so linked our lives one with another

that all we do affects, for good or ill, all other lives: So guide

us in the work we do, that we may do it not for self alone, but

for the common good; and, as we seek a proper return for

our own labor, make us mindful of the rightful aspirations of

other workers, and arouse our concern for those who are out

of work; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and

reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and

ever. Amen.

Matt Damon | affirming (+ defending) teachers

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Jon Stewart | Warren Buffett | Taxes

A couple of days ago I tweeted the transcript of Warren Buffett's hour-long interview with Charlie Rose (a good read). Now Jon Stewart weighs in.

this too shall pass | Bono + Edge on Letterman

Humble Beast

I've been listening to the thoughtful artists on Humble Beast records a lot lately...

Robert Reich connects the dots in the US economy in 2.5 minutes

University professor — and former US Secretary of Labor — Robert Reich connects the dots in the US economy in two and a half minutes .

Martin Marty on Torture, Then + Now

Torture, including torture by Americans: Who could have predicted that this would be a live topic here in the twenty-first century? We know how to associate torture with the accused and accusing other, with Inquisitors and witch hunters five centuries ago, or with far-away twentieth century totalitarian regimes and religious terrorists. But today the theological, humanistic, and tactical themes connected with torture have appeared close to home, giving new significance to those distant times, places, and events.

Accordingly, a very distinguished historian, Princeton 's expert on the Renaissance, is speaking up. Not known for ideology or pamphleteering, Anthony Grafton takes pains not to oversell the relevance of his subjects. He favors patient historical work and writes in a moderate mode. Recently he looked up from his Renaissance research to see how things are going today. Alert to contemporary controversies and mildly allusive about events in America, he stops short of issuing indictments. Grafton seems to be writing in the haze of "where there's smoke there's fire," but clearly sees enough to issue cautionary words.

His article in the November 5th [2007] New Republic, entitled "Say Anything," refers to what he has learned from the transcripts of those Inquisitors and witch-hunters. He knows enough to say enough about the practical ineffectiveness of torture. Americans, we were always told, do not torture for a number of reasons: Torture violates our moral codes, including those based on religious notions that humans are made in the image of God; religious leadership is almost unanimously against torture, and America is a religious nation; for us to torture is to enter a dangerous game, since if we torture we have no moral claim to demand that "the other," our enemies, should not torture our people when they are captured; and we are a practical people and like to work with things that work. Grafton concentrates on this last piece, the ineffectiveness of torture.

Bible Believers

And that's when Virginia understood: These people didn't believe the Bible; they believed what they believed about the Bible.

Discuss