“Motivational Crystal Blocks” AKA the trophy version of a glurge AKA best way to make me barf

I was delighted to find this somewhat belated response from my senator in my inbox today:

Senator@murray.senate.gov
Dear Mr. Baeder:

Thank you for contacting me regarding H.R. 7084, the Webcaster Settlement Act of 2008, sponsored by Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA-1). This bill became public law on October 16, 2008. Should additional legislation related to this issue come before the Senate, I will keep your thoughts in mind. I appreciate having the benefit of your views on this matter.

The views of Washingtonians are very important to my work. I will keep your thoughts in mind, and I encourage you to stay in touch. Please do not hesitate to call on me whenever I may be of assistance.

Again, thank you for contacting me. I hope that you will continue to let me know about this and other matters of interest to you.

I hope all is well in Seattle.

In other words, Pandora is saved! The punitive and unsustainable royalty rates proposed earlier this year are no longer sounding the death knell for Pandora, the world’s best free online music service.

However, Pandora will still have to negotiate with SoundExchange to set royalty rates, and Euros are still out of luck for now.

It didn’t get much press, but Linda Darling-Hammond and Lisa Graham Keegan, education advisors to Obama and McCain, respectively, debated each other last week at Teachers College, Columbia University.

The 90-minute debate is considerably calmer than the candidates’ own debates, but very informative. The difference between the candidates’ plans is stark.

Debate: Education and the Next President - Full Archived Webcast from Education Week on Vimeo.

Commentary later - still watching it.

I’ve lost a lot of steam since I started this series. I have several half-finished drafts intended to be as detailed as my articles on unity and the environment. But the election is one week away and I simply don’t have the energy to do them justice. I do, however, want to recap and wrap up the rest of the reasons I plan to vote for Obama. To reiterate, my prayer is not that you vote the way I do, but that you understand the reasoning behind my decision.

I am voting for Obama because I feel he stands the best chance of bringing the country together.

I am voting for Obama because a sound, aggressive energy policy is the path to our economic growth and national security.

I am voting for Obama because the wealthiest, most power nation on the earth must be a leader in environmental stewardship.

I am voting for Obama because of the occupation of Iraq. I feel he showed incredible judgment when he opposed the invasion while most of Congress was voting to charge in. Many criticize his stance on the surge, but I find it more telling that McCain says he’d invade Iraq all over again even with today’s intelligence. We cannot “win” an occupation. It’s time to get back to the business of keeping America safe, not starting unnecessary wars.

I am voting for Obama because something must be done about health care. My wife has a pre-existing mental condition that is only insurable because she’s had constant coverage since before she was diagnosed. In today’s system, a single lapse in coverage could make her uninsurable and put us on a path I don’t want to go down. Obama wants to make coverage available to people like her who were not as fortunate to have constant coverage.

I am voting for Obama because I’m not convinced that conservative economics works as advertised. Does giving huge tax breaks to the rich grow the economy - it sure seems so. But does it “trickle down” to the vast majority of Americans as is claimed? No way. I see the rich getting richer but the poor getting poorer. We need an economic policy which benefits all Americans.

I am voting for Obama because of his cool and calm demeanor.

I am voting for Obama because Republicanism is no longer the same thing as conservativism. As Andrew Sullivan said, “Until conservatism can get a distance from the big-spending, privacy-busting, debt-ridden, crony-laden, fundamentalist, intolerant, incompetent and arrogant faux conservatism of the Bush-Cheney years, it will never regain a coherent message to actually govern this country again.” The Republican party needs to do some serious soul-searching.

I am voting for Obama because I am excited, not frightened, by a man with such a diverse background. America is a pluralistic society and we need a man who can relate to people of many different perspectives.

I am voting for Obama because he is a man of faith, regardless of how different it is than mine. His Call to Renewal speech is still the best speech on faith and politics I have ever heard.

As I close, I am aware that I don’t know everything (anything?) about economics or foreign policy or health care and that I may come back to this post in four years and regret my decision. I also recognize that John McCain is not evil nor is he incapable of running the country. Should he be elected, I will be grateful that a moderate Republican is in the White House and will give him my full support. But I’ve done all the research and prayer I can and have decided Barack Obama is the man I will support for President and, today, have no regrets.

I was having a discussion on this post about recent allegations that Obama’s tax plan is “Marxist,” and it occurred to me why this allegation, though patently absurd, has had such resonance with McCain’s base.

All of this started when Obama spoke with the now-famous Joe the plumber:

“Your new tax plan is going to tax me more, isn’t it?” the plumber asked, complaining that he was being taxed “more and more for fulfilling the American dream.”

“It’s not that I want to punish your success. I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they’ve got a chance for success too,” Obama responded. “My attitude is that if the economy’s good for folks from the bottom up, it’s gonna be good for everybody … I think when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.” link

Clearly, “spread the wealth around” was a poor choice of words for Obama, just as McCain’s “the fundamentals of the economy are strong” allowed his position to be misconstrued. Now allegations are flying that Obama’s tax plan is “Marxist.” I’m not qualified to go into much detail on Marxism, but feel free to read the Wikipedia article on Marxism - or any other source that’s not purely a rhetorical device - and come back and argue with me.

Obama was not talking about communism, socialism, Marxism, or class warfare. He was talking about progressive taxation, the idea that the rich should bear a larger proportion of the tax burden. Nearly every country on Earth has a progressive tax structure, including the US under Bush and Reagan. It’s only right and fair. Some people call this “punishing success,” but the alternative is far less morally defensible. Success is its own reward; we don’t need the government to provide extra incentives for getting rich.

As I said in my recent comment, all taxation redistributes income, or “spreads the wealth around.” This is not socialism or Marxism; it’s simply how taxation and government spending work - you take money from one person in the form of taxes, and pay it to someone else for goods and services they provide on behalf of the public good.

What’s strange to me, though, is how many of the people complaining about progressive taxation actually benefit from it. Joe the plumber is complaining about a hypothetical situation in which
A) He accumulates enough capital to purchase the business for which he works, and
B) He grows the business enough to net more than $250,000 per year, so that
C) He pays higher taxes under Obama’s plan.

Without delving into too much speculation about Joe’s individual situation, let’s think about why Joe is concerned about this scenario. Unless the current owner of the business is stupid, or unless Joe is a trust fund baby, there’s no way Joe is going to be able to buy a business that nets $250K a year.

Perhaps the business is only marginally profitable, but Joe thinks he can make a go of it and do pretty well for himself. If he can, great - good for him. That’s what the American economy is built on - people growing small businesses. But Joe’s fears of higher taxation are based on this fantasy that he is on the verge of striking it rich.

Palin can gain traction from insinuating that Obama is a socialist or a Marxist because this fantasy is at the heart of the American dream. We’d all like to believe that we’re one business deal or one big idea away from being Bill Gates.

The problem with voting based on this fantasy is the same problem that leads to high bankruptcy rates among lottery winners - most people don’t have any idea how to be rich. Just as most lottery winners are poor people with poor spending habits who spend themselves back into poverty after becoming overnight millionaires, most middle-class taxpayers aspiring to be rich can only extrapolate their fears, not their best selves, into a higher tax bracket. People who are just barely getting by cannot imagine having more than they need, nor can they imagine developing the skills to manage wealth.

If, however, you consider actual wealthy people, you’ll find that most are quite frugal and quite generous. The Millionaire Next Door is a great resource on this subject. The rich are also quite savvy and pragmatic when it comes to tax shelters and reducing that dreaded tax burden. In essence, by accusing Obama of Marxist and socialist policies, Palin is playing into middle America’s dual delusion that we are each on the verge of striking it rich, and that we can become rich while remaining just as ignorant and selfish as we are now.

America deserves better. We need solutions that will address our actual needs, now and in the future, and not absurd hypothetical situations we construct out of our fantasies.

Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer is no. That’s not America. Is there something wrong with a seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing he or she could be president? Yet I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion that he is a Muslim and might have an association with terrorists. This is not the way we should be doing it in America. –Colin Powell, on Meet the Press, in his endorsement of Barack Obama

Via conservative-for-Obama Andrew Sullivan

Also not to be missed is Peter Sagal’s list of ridiculous things that would have to be true for the Obama conspiracy theorists to be right. He’s a secret Marxist Muslim Commie who has successfully hidden his secret agenda for his entire public life? Really? Sagal hosts the NPR radio news quiz Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me.

I couldn’t have said it much better myself.

I’m waiting for our 7:30 play at The Seattle Repertory Theatre, hanging out with Amy at Cafe Zingaro. As always, I ordered a triple short cappuccino, which at Zingaro is as much a work of art as it is a beverage.

With me is my trusty Victorinox Werks Traveler 2.0 briefcase, which has served me well for over two years.

It does a great job of holding my papers, MacBook Pro, and other miscellaneous junk I schlep back and forth to work each day.

Finally, I learned in the course of creating this post that Amazon Associates now has a toolbar that appears at the top of every Amazon page if you’re signed into your Associates account.

Nifty!