Just last week, you might have heard that several of France's wealthiest people told the French government that they were willing to pay higher taxes to help the country reduce its debt. Well, yesterday, the French government decided to do just that, increasing the tax rate on the wealthiest by an extra 3%.
Now look at our pitiful country. With a Democratic Congress, they couldn't (or didn't) even rescind the Bush tax cuts. This country is becoming hopelessly stupid and greedy. (Becoming?)
France introduces new tax on high incomes
The French government is to impose an extra tax of 3% on annual income above 500,000 euros (£440,000; $721,000).
It is part of a package of measures to try to cut the country's deficit by 12bn euros over two years.
The tax increase came after some of France's wealthiest people had called on the government to tackle its deficit by raising taxes on the rich.
Paris has also reduced its economic growth forecast for 2012 to 1.75% from a previous 2.25%.
'Rigorous'
And it has cut its 2011 growth forecast from 2% to 1.75%, Prime Minister Francois Fillon has said.
He said the new tax would remain in place until France reduces its budget deficit back under the EU's intended limit of 3% of GDP, which should occur in 2013.
France plans to trim its public deficit to 5.7 % this year, 4.6 % next year and 3% in 2013.
"This is a rigorous policy that will allow France to remain relaxed," Mr Fillon said. "Our country must stick to its [deficit] commitments. It's in the interest of all French people."
Faced with flat growth, the persistent threat to the country's precious AAA rating, and all sorts of turmoil on the nervous financial markets, President Sarkozy is wielding the axe.
In total he's proposing 12bn euros of savings over the next two years.
Higher taxes for big companies, a cap on tax deductions applying to overtime - and a new "special contribution" from the wealthiest in the country.
It's a U-turn - in so many ways - designed to reassure investors and voters alike that only he can be trusted with the French economy.
Sixteen executives, including Europe's richest woman, the L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, had offered in an open letter to pay a "special contribution" in a spirit of "solidarity".
It appeared on the website of the French magazine Le Nouvel Observateur.
It was signed by some of France's most high-profile chief executives, including Christophe de Margerie of oil firm Total, Frederic Oudea of bank Societe Generale, and Air France's Jean-Cyril Spinetta.
They said: "We, the presidents and leaders of industry, businessmen and women, bankers and wealthy citizens would like the richest people to have to pay a 'special contribution'."
They said they had benefited from the French system and that: "When the public finances deficit and the prospects of a worsening state debt threaten the future of France and Europe and when the government is asking everybody for solidarity, it seems necessary for us to contribute."
They warned, however, that the contribution should not be so severe that it would provoke an exodus of the rich or increased tax avoidance.
Original.
Note: I had to remove the post titled, "Liberals are smarter" because it's just embarrassing, especially when one looks at the U.S. Congress. Liberals may indeed be smarter, but they have a severe testicular deficit. If they were truly smarter, they would have figured out a way around the Republicans stubborn intransigence. Oh wait, could be that there are actually no liberals IN Congress. Certainly not in the White House. Which could explain a lot.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Progressive talk
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Bill Moyers returns!
Yay! Our local PBS station better find a spot for him!
Media Advisory
Bill Moyers Is Back
A return to public broadcasting--but not to PBS
8/23/11
According to a report in the New York Times (8/22/11), public television icon Bill Moyers will be back on the public airwaves next year--but not on PBS.
The new show, Moyers & Company, will be distributed to stations for free by American Public Television. The Times reports that "PBS told Moyers it couldn’t find an appropriate timeslot."
The Times adds that the show "will focus on one-on-one interviews with people not often heard on television."
Showcasing viewpoints not often heard on commercial media is precisely the point of public broadcasting. But few of the shows distributed by PBS aspire to that goal, as FAIR's numerous studies of public broadcasting have shown (Extra!, 11/10).
Moyers' return is good news for viewers seeking diverse and dissenting viewpoints. PBS's failure to find a suitable timeslot for such a show demonstrates once more that the network's understanding of its mission is sharply at odds with the founding vision of an independent, critical public broadcasting system.
See FAIR's Archives for more on:
PBS
Original.
Media Advisory
Bill Moyers Is Back
A return to public broadcasting--but not to PBS
8/23/11
According to a report in the New York Times (8/22/11), public television icon Bill Moyers will be back on the public airwaves next year--but not on PBS.
The new show, Moyers & Company, will be distributed to stations for free by American Public Television. The Times reports that "PBS told Moyers it couldn’t find an appropriate timeslot."
The Times adds that the show "will focus on one-on-one interviews with people not often heard on television."
Showcasing viewpoints not often heard on commercial media is precisely the point of public broadcasting. But few of the shows distributed by PBS aspire to that goal, as FAIR's numerous studies of public broadcasting have shown (Extra!, 11/10).
Moyers' return is good news for viewers seeking diverse and dissenting viewpoints. PBS's failure to find a suitable timeslot for such a show demonstrates once more that the network's understanding of its mission is sharply at odds with the founding vision of an independent, critical public broadcasting system.
See FAIR's Archives for more on:
PBS
Original.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
100 degree days
From the SciGuy, Eric Berger...
100-DEGREE DAYS
According to the Texas Water Development Board, the current level of the upper Texas coastal region‘s water reservoirs (this includes Harris and most surrounding counties) have dropped from 91 percent of capacity in January to 64 percent today.
As you can see in the chart below, the region’s reservoirs are at the lowest levels on record in two decades of data keeping. (click the pic)
Can you imagine where we will be if the drought continues for another year? Bye-bye green lawns, and that’s just for starters.
Original.
I'm not sure how much longer we can go with no rain. Last week, Houston implemented Stage 2 Water Conservation measures, which restricts watering to four days per week, depending upon your street address.
We're running out of water, and now we've started taking about 100 million gallons per day from Lake Conroe, about 60 miles north of Houston.
As one weather dude recently said, "This is not proof of global warming. It's a consequence of it." Got that, fundies?
100-DEGREE DAYS
Well, we did it. Houston got its 33rd 100-degree day of the year on Monday, breaking the all-time record for 100-degree days during a single year set in 1980. I’ll have more in the forecast section below, but rest assured this is a record we’re going to pad during the coming week.
What troubles me the most is that our water reservoirs are taking a beating in the current drought.
According to the Texas Water Development Board, the current level of the upper Texas coastal region‘s water reservoirs (this includes Harris and most surrounding counties) have dropped from 91 percent of capacity in January to 64 percent today.
As you can see in the chart below, the region’s reservoirs are at the lowest levels on record in two decades of data keeping. (click the pic)
Original.
I'm not sure how much longer we can go with no rain. Last week, Houston implemented Stage 2 Water Conservation measures, which restricts watering to four days per week, depending upon your street address.
We're running out of water, and now we've started taking about 100 million gallons per day from Lake Conroe, about 60 miles north of Houston.
As one weather dude recently said, "This is not proof of global warming. It's a consequence of it." Got that, fundies?
Euphoria in Libya
At the main square in Benghazi, Libya, people have been gathering to celebrate the end of the rule of Muammar Qaddafi. As euphoric Libyan rebels advanced into Tripoli on Sunday, there were scenes of jubilation in the rebels’ de facto capital, Benghazi, where thousands celebrated in the streets. One large sign in the middle of the square in Benghazi features a picture of the “Fantastic 4” (from right to left): Obama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, British Prime Minister David Cameron, and U.S. Ambassador the U.N. Susan Rice. The text on the sign reads: “God Bless You All. Thanks For All.” The signs were photographed by the AP’s Alexandre Meneghini:
And how long will it take the putrid Republicans to start giving Bush credit for Qaddafi's fall?
And how long will it take the putrid Republicans to start giving Bush credit for Qaddafi's fall?
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Delete Fox "News"
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