Republicans, tea partiers and other rightwing ideologues are against raising taxes on those with incomes exceeding $200,000, who they have re-branded as "Job Creators", because such action would allegedly discourage them from creating jobs.  However, near record low taxation of upper income individuals and corporations has not motivated these job creators to actually create jobs (at least in this country), as official unemployment (8.5 percent in December 2011) and true unemployment (15.2 percent in December 2011) remain catastrophically high.

Even in boom times full employment has been elusive, as millions are always out of work or underemployed, regardless of the nation's prosperity level. This is why we need a comprehensive jobs program, not a mere crisis Band-Aid, to put America back to work permanently and approach what should be any just society's ultimate economic goal; providing jobs for all who want them.  read more »

The President of the United States, Barack Obama, is in Harlem tonight to headline a fundraiser for the DNC. So at least for the day, the most powerful Democrat in the state isn't budget-slasher Andrew Cuomo.

Enjoy it while it lasts, New Yorkers.

Dear Mr. President:

Let me preface this by saying that I am not only a supporter, I am also a fan and admirer of you on many levels. And with that out of the way, let me also say that you have pissed me off so many times in the last two years that I need a mulligan now; thus I write this letter.

There is no doubt in my mind that you are one of the most cunning politicians I have ever encountered in my lifetime: but that's for another venue. And I presently have no doubt that you will be re-elected next year, since you have outmaneuvered the Republicans in ways they can't even discern (as yet). But there comes a time -skillfulness aside- when the situation demands displaying some gonads; and I am calling your attention to two of these times that are quickly approaching.  read more »

Via the White House Press Office:

WASHINGTON- On Thursday, May 13, 2010, President Obama will travel to Buffalo, New York and tour the facilities of Industrial Support Inc., a manufacturing services company, and then have a conversation with workers about the economy.

Both the arrival/departure of Air Force One and the President’s conversation with workers are open to pre-credentialed media. The President’s tour of Industrial Support Inc. is pooled press coverage only.

Here's hoping that the President will have some time for these kids (from Sam Hoyt via DP), students at Buffalo's Oracle Charter School.

The wires are glowing with reports that President Obama is set to nominate the Solicitor General of the United States, Elana Kagan, to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens. In her current role, Kagan acts as the United States government's appellate attorney to the Supreme Court, experience that should serve her well if the Senate approves her nomination under Advise and Consent. Ms. Kagan was confirmed by the Senate for her current role by a comfortable 61-31 margin, and is the first female Solicitor General.

The process of determining what kind of a Justice a given nominee will make is roughly comparable to reading the future from a set of poultry entrails, and sometimes just as messy. In Ms. Kagan's case, that process is further complicated by her lack of a paper trail from the bench.

There are some clues, though. During her time as dean of Harvard Law, Kagan briefly barred military recruiters from campus in protest of the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy, arguing that the policy violated Harvard's own non-discrimination guidelines. There's also this tantalizing sketch in the Times:

She was the razor-sharp newspaper editor and history major at Princeton who examined American socialism, and the Supreme Court clerk for a legal giant, Thurgood Marshall, who nicknamed her “Shorty.” She was the reformed teenage smoker who confessed to the occasional cigar as she fought Big Tobacco for the Clinton administration, and the literature lover who reread Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” every year.

She was the opera-loving, poker-playing, glass-ceiling-shattering first woman to be dean of Harvard Law School, where she reached out to conservatives (she once held a dinner to honor Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia) and healed bitter rifts on the faculty with gestures as simple as offering professors free lunch, just to get them talking.

The Supreme Court has been at the heart of American governance since Marbury v. Madison established the doctrine of judicial supremacy, the Court's right to constitutional review of the other branches of government.

Overall, this is a safe pick for the President. The critical goal of this nomination is this: to establish a counter-weight to the rightist ascendancy centered on Chief Justice John Roberts. But what should really make New Yorkers happy is that a Justice Kagan would make four out of nine Justices New Yorkers. Eat that, Jersey.

Update: Two NY-AG candidates weigh in via Facebook:

Senator Eric T. Schneiderman By choosing Elena Kagan, President Obama is 2 for 2 in naming outstanding New Yorkers to the Supreme Court.
40 minutes ago · Comment · Like

Friends of Kathleen Rice It's a great day for NY women in government--congratulations Elena Kagan!
47 minutes ago · Comment · Like
2 people like this.  read more »