Here's Makin speaking much of the anti-Keynesian party line back in 2010.

Seriously, I think hell just froze over. An American Enterprise Institute "stink tanker" publicly contradicts the party line and tells conservatives the debt is no big deal -- based on actual facts n' stuff? The AEI, home to Lynne Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, Newt Gingrich and John Bolton?

There's always the possibility this is merely a public relations move in reaction to the sound drubbing conservatives took in the November election, but even if it is, so what? A chink in the armor is going to make our job of stopping austerity measures a lot easier:

You know the deficit argument is all but over when one conservative tells other conservatives to shut up about it, already.

American Enterprise Institute's John H. Makin has a long new argument today, in which he said that worrying about national debt is a nonsensical idea because Japan's national debt isn't hurting them any, and really, the U.S. has other stuff to worry about. Like fixing the tax code, or reforming entitlement programs.

The debt-to-GDP ratio, which is what many conservatives tout as a metric of how "unsustainable" U.S. debt is, means absolutely nothing, he said. Japan, for instance, has a debt-to-GDP ration of 140, which is way above the U.S. number, and it really hasn't had any effect whatsoever on their economy. In fact, the interest rate for 10-year Japanese bonds are half that of the American equivalent, in part because of Japanese deflation.

From his notes:

Congress, take note. Although American deficits do need to be reduced and debt accumulation does need to be slowed and eventually reversed, cries of imminent disaster from “unsustainable” deficits and a supposed bond market collapse will not accomplish this goal. Persistently rising bond prices in Japan and the United States have undercut the “sky-is-falling” rationale for deficit reduction.

In fact, austerity could just about be the silliest thing to do, if Congress wants the debt-to-GDP ratio to fall:

If fiscal austerity is applied too rapidly, US growth will drop and the debt-to-GDP ratio will rise, boosting the nation’s debt burden. If the Fed tries to stem the rise with too much money printing, inflation could rise and drive up interest rates, exacerbating the US debt burden.Congress and the president need to avoid excessive austerity with respect to changes in fiscal policy this year. Over the past four years, on average, the fiscal boost applied to the American economy has been worth about 3 percent of GDP. This year, with tax increases and sequestration, fiscal drag will be about 1.5 percent of GDP.

According to Makin, instead of yelling about how the world is going end and whatnot, which would only serve to sap the momentum to sound fiscal policy, Congress should be cutting deficits gradually, through tax reform and by rethinking how entitlement programs work.

When an AEI scholar and Paul Krugman are telling you the same thing, these are strange days indeed!

If you're wealthy and a Republican and you like your donations to be tax-deductible whenever possible, then Donors Trust, Inc. is your kind of "charity". AlterNet touched on the edges of what they do back in October, when they focused on a large donation which funded a weird effort to distribute a DVD entitled "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West", but they primarily focus on the donor¹ and projects around the DVD with Koch Industries as the primary player.

Koch Industries is one player, but they're by no means the only player, nor are they even the only primary player.

What is Donors Trust?

Donors Trust is a tax-deductible slush fund. If a donor or foundation wants to put money toward a project and doesn't want it to be a direct gift reportable to the IRS, all they do is give it to Donors Trust.

Donors Trust has three related project entities, according to their 2009 disclosures:

• Donors Trust, LLC - Created to receive a gift of real property and liquidate it
• Talent Market, LLC - Provides administrative support services
• Center for College Affordability & Productivity, LLC - Research, writing, educational services

There is also Donors Capital Fund, Inc., which is the grantmaking arm and which also receives contributions as a private foundation.

2009 Donors Trust Direct-Funded and Controlled Projects

• The Project on Fair Representation (PFR)

  This would be the union-busting, voter ID, minimum wage, public school attacking project, as described in their required disclosures:

  The project on fair representation works to effect change in law and public policy through a combination of research, litiigation, and public education in the four areas where racial discrimination is the most entrenched: voting, education, public contracting and employment

• The Supply Side Project (SSP)

  This would be the "break the entitlements" project, as they describe this way:

  The Supply Side Project develops and advances fundamental market-based reform proposals for Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, Welfare and Health Care.

• Center for Class Action Fairness (CCAF)

  The tort reform project:

  Through pro bono representation of consumers, CCAF seeks to increase net awards to members of class action lawsuits through objections to settlements producing excessive attorney fees. An additional goal is a reduction in meritless class action suits as trial attorneys' awareness of CCAF's watchdog role increases.

  Don't be fooled by that claim about increasing net awards to members of class action suits. The real motive is the "additional goal."

• Student Free Press Association (SFPA)

  This could also be called the "Fox News Incubator Project".

  The Student Free Press Association is an organization run by veteran journalists for the benefit of beginning journalists. It identifies and supports college students seeking to improve campus journalism, explore media careers, and commit themselves to the principles of a free society.

• Talent Market™

  The placement service for those whose politics align.

  A free talent recruitment program available to charities whose mission aligns with Donors Trust's charitable mission

• The Hollywood Project

  Terminated in 2009, this was one of the moving parts referenced in Alternet's piece on the Islamic-hysteria video piece timed to push McCain ahead of Obama in 2008. Alternate title: The Propanganda Project.

  The project aimed to advance liberty and virtue in America and globally by touching creative professionals at the fulcrum of world visual media: Hollywood.

Some of Donors' Trust's Non-Profit Donors

Since non-profits are not required to disclose individual or corporate donors, there isn't a lot of information available on them. However, foundations are required to disclose grants to other non-profit entities, and with enough time and patience, some facts emerge. Here's what I've found so far, taken from public filings of these foundations with the Internal Revenue Service. I'm certain the list isn't exhaustive, since finding these is a somewhat intuitive process, but it will give you an idea, at least.

Continue reading »

As crazy as the tea party movement is over taxes along with Limbaugh/Palin/O'Reilly and the rest of the teabaggers, a new survey by the very conservative American Enterprise Institute says that Americans feel they are paying just about the right amount of taxes and that Bush's tax cuts only helped the rich and Big Business and should be ended.

Dan Froomkin:

For all the grousing about taxes these days, a new survey concludes that it's doing taxes rather than paying them that really rankles.

A plurality of Americans think they're paying about the right amount in taxes, and a significant majority say they're paying the fair amount.

There is widespread agreement that the rich and corporations are paying too little in taxes. And a majority of Americans think the Bush tax cuts helped the rich the most and should be eliminated

Americans are also vastly more concerned right now about unemployment and the economy than they are about taxes -- or deficits, for that matter.

A troubling answer that Dan highlights is that Americans, by a slim margin, prefer Republicans over Democrats when it comes to taxes. We can thank the right wing noise machine for that. Only in America can a president like George Bush screw up the country for almost a decade and in a blink of an eye it's lost on most people that all these conservatives acting like racist sore losers stood by every one of Bush's economic policies.