Sunday, January 29, 2012, 8pm ET.

The Benefit and The Burden: Tax Reform-Why We Need It and What It Will Take

Chat with Bruce Bartlett about his new book, hosted by James Galbraith.

A thoughtful and surprising argument for American tax reform, arguably the most overdue political debate facing the nation, from one of the most respected political and economic thinkers, advisers, and writers of our time.

The United States Tax Code has undergone no serious reform since 1986. Since then, loopholes, exemptions, credits, and deductions have distorted its clarity, increased its inequity, and frustrated our ability to govern ourselves.

At its core, any tax system is in place to raise the revenue needed to pay the government’s bills. But where that revenue should come from raises crucial questions: Should our tax code be progressive, with the wealthier paying more than the poor, and if so, to what extent? Should we tax income or consumption or both? Of the various ideas proposed by economists and politicians—from tax increases to tax cuts, from a VAT to a Fair Tax—what will work and won’t? By tracing the history of our own tax system and by assessing the way other countries have solved similar problems, Bartlett explores the surprising answers to all of these questions, giving a sense of the tax code’s many benefits—and its inevitable burdens.

Tax reform will be a major issue debated in the years ahead. Growing budget deficits and the expiration of various tax cuts loom. Reform, once a philosophical dilemma, is turning into a practical crisis. By framing the various tax philosophies that dominate the debate, Bartlett explores the distributional, technical, and political advantages and costs of the various proposals and ideas that will come to dominate America’s political conversation in the years to come.

Bruce Bartlett is a columnist for the Economix blog of The New York Times, The Fiscal Times, and Tax Notes. Bartlett’s work is informed by many years in government, including service on the staffs of Congressmen Ron Paul and Jack Kemp and Senator Roger Jepsen, staff director of the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, senior policy analyst in the Reagan White House, and deputy assistant secretary for economic policy at the Treasury Department during the George H.W. Bush administration. (Simon & Schuster)

The calm between storms.

Once again Occupy Nashville labored under two extremely different opposing forces; Mother Nature and the TN Legislature. Mother Nature shot her wad early in the week, and tornado sirens blasted until 2 am Sunday night/Monday morning along with heavy rain and winds, and she followed up midweek with a slow moving heavy rain, before finally clearing up and presenting a beautiful Saturday for a GA, with a blue sky and temperatures near 50. In spite of all this, ON still sports about 40 odd tents and some 60 or so sleepers. Today’s GA featured about 30 people, with some making their way back from Occupy Congress in DC.

Arugula (with truffle)

Arugula is the salad green of the moment.   It deserves to be, as it’s really healthy and tastes good.

Full disclosure;  I grow arugula here in North Texas.   It’s tasty and it’s good for you, and we nutrition aware types also call it roughage.

In this age of insane dissension, arugula has been tagged as elitist because it was brought up by President Obama during his campaign before Iowa farmers and media sensation seekers who weren’t up on salad greens.   As we all know now, the Obama family is very up on nutrition.

One of the stupider campaign ’08 narratives originated when then-candidate Barack Obama, making the point that increased produce prices at supermarkets didn’t translate to higher prices for growers, asked a group of Iowa farmers if they had been to Whole Foods to “see what they charge for arugula,” adding: “I mean, they’re charging a lot of money for this stuff.” Following the Republicans’ lead, media outletsseized on arugula as a symbol of Obama’s aloofness and detachment from the common man, who had never heard of this exotic leaf. Absent from the gleeful mockery and concerned hand-wringing over Obama’s supposed predilection for the peppery-tasting salad green was the fact that arugula, in addition to being grown and sold in Iowa, is proudly served at appropriately non-elitist eateries like the Olive Garden.

The innocent arugula is described as peppery, but I would prefer to call it flavorful, even spicey.   It seems that for less deeply foodie types, pepper is synonymous with spice.

Arugula has been showing up in the supermarkets I visit in little clear plastic containers right beside the rosemary and dill.   That does cost more than the lettuce, although not very much more in this age of prices going ballistic.   I have asked about how to use arugula as an herb in comments here, and have been told that it can be cooked too, just toss into the random quiche or meat dish.   I tried it, it is another way to add flavor to that chicken in cream sauce and omelette, too.

Arugula makes a terrific salad green, above all else.  Since it’s elitist, just throw in the odd truffle and go for it.

Facts Are Like Opinions, Except They're True (photo: akachela, flickr)

I never cared about fact checking because I don’t believe politicians care about making truthful statements. But now I’m starting to question the political competence of fact checkers.

Unfortunately, Politifact has lost sight of what it was supposed to be doing. Instead of simply saying whether a claim is true, it’s trying to act as some kind of referee of what it imagines to be fair play: even if a politician says something completely true, it gets ruled only partly true if Politifact feels that the fact is being used to gain an unfair political advantage. In the case of Obama’s job statement, Politifact first called it only half true, then upgraded that to mostly true, not because Obama said anything factually incorrect, but because Politifact perceived Obama as trying to imply that he was responsible for the gains.

Seriously? This is politics 101. When things are great you take credit for it. And when things are bad, you blame your opponent for them. There’s nothing wrong with this tactic so long as you stick to the facts which was what Obama did in his State of the Union Address. If Obama said that under his tenure, the economy grew in the fourth quarter of 2011, he would be factually correct. If you don’t like the fact that he seems to be taking credit for it then you’re not fact checking; you’re just expressing your subjective opinion which is something that fact checkers shouldn’t be doing. If these guys don’t like the way how speeches are written, then they need to get out of the fact checking business, and start working on some campaigns. After all, I’m sure they would be able to craft speeches that would close the partisan divide once and for all!

All political power is inherent in the people, Article 1, Section 2, Idaho Constitution

The people shall have the right to assemble in a peaceable manner, to consult for their common good; to instruct their representatives, and to petition the legislature for the redress of grievances. Article 1, Section 10, Idaho Constitution

It’s been a whirlwind week for Occupy Boise. The week began with another day of compelling testimony in the Idaho Legislature, and overwhelming public support was expressed for the Occupy Boise Vigil. Just listen to what the public had to say!

Teresa Luna, Director of the Department of Administration, presented misleading testimony to the Committee. She claimed the existing plan on the books for the grounds at the Vigil site  – a plan that would put in parking lots  -  wasn’t really the plan. She made claims about vandalism and trespass, and said Occupy Boise had cost the state $9000 – largely due to her hiring of an extra security guard for the next several months. She is the sister of controversial Idaho Education Secretary Tom Luna.

The main statements and questions from Legislators who opposed the Vigil Site this week centered on control, authority, domination and protecting their own sense of privilege. Reps. Anderson, Simpson, and Bedke all feared chaos. This is quite an unusual word to hear uttered in Idaho. At the same time that Rep. Bedke was fearing chaos, he was justifying his mean-spirited speech and people squelching Bill by saying that: “The Occupiers have rules. They told us they had rules – their Good Neighbor Policy. So we’re just making our rules”.

So how in the world does a policy of community accountability equate to chaos?

While this has been another light week of posting from Occupations around the country, there are still a few diaries and posts with Occupy news you may have missed.

Sunday (1/22/2012), media4peace gave us this diary on Occupy Minneapolis:

While not able to maintain a presence on the People’s Plaza in downtown Minneapolis in the cold, the General Assembly still meets, as well as holding a Wednesday night gathering at Walker Church in South Minneapolis. Active groups include, but are not limited to, a group around mortgage and foreclosure action, supporting those who have been served; a WHealthly Village (see more below); and the Pirates (see link below). Occupy St. Paul visited Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s office last week to protest indefinite detention in the NDAA, which she voted for.

Popyeye99 told us about Occupy St Louis protesting at Lowe’s:

Hello all I was at the Occupy St. Louis protest against Lowe’s today. It was a cold and windy day with the wind chills at below 32 degrees. In case anyone doesn’t know the story behind this Lowe’s and many other corporations pulled their advertising for the reality show “All American Muslim”. The show is a look at an American Muslim family and because a right wing Christian hate group (Florida Family Association) decided to protest the show and put pressure on Lowe’s they pulled their advertising for the show.

Saturday, January 28, 2012, 5pm ET.

Uncompromised: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of an Arab American Patriot in the CIA

Chat with Nada Prouty about her new book, hosted by Marcy Wheeler.

When Nada Prouty came to the United States as a young woman, she fell in love with the democracy and freedom of her new home. After a childhood in war-torn Lebanon with an abusive father and facing the prospect of an arranged marriage, she jumped at the chance to forge her own path in America-a path that led to exciting undercover work in the FBI, then the CIA. As a leading agent widely lauded by her colleagues, she worked on the most high-profile terrorism cases in recent history, including the hunt for Saddam Hussein and the bombing of the USS Cole, often putting her life on the line and usually getting her man.

But all this changed in the wake of 9/11, at the height of anti-Arab fervor, when federal investigators charged Prouty with passing intelligence to Hezbollah. Lacking sufficient evidence to make their case in court, prosecutors went to the media, suggesting that she had committed treason. Prouty, dubbed “Jihad Jane” by the New York Post, was quickly cast as a terrorist mastermind by the relentless 24-hour news cycle, and a scandal-hungry public ate it up.

Though the CIA and federal judge eventually exonerated Prouty of all charges, she was dismissed from the agency and stripped of her citizenship. In Uncompromised, Prouty tells her whole story in a bid to restore her name and reputation in the country that she loves. Beyond a thrilling story of espionage and betrayal, this is a sobering commentary on cultural alienation, the power of fear, and what it means to truly love America.

Nada Prouty was an undercover spy for the FBI and CIA for over a decade, working on a host of high-profile terrorism cases, including the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole. She was also part of the team that developed the intelligence on the whereabouts of Saddam Hussein. Today, Prouty cares for her two young children, speaks about her experience nationwide, and awaitsthe reinstatement of her citizenship. (Macmillan)