Sunday, December 30, 2012

R's v. D's: Which Way?

It just seems incomprehensible that anyone would take up the banner of the Republican party these days.  Failed policies, failed ideals and doing the things that hurt us the most.  Pushing for the ALEC agenda is not a good thing.







No party is perfect but I would say that the Repub's are way out there on the bad scale.

From Sanjay Sanghoee's blog; " From the time that President Obama first took office in 2009 through the elections in 2012, the GOP has been running on the platform of economic despair, and in fact, seems to have bet its entire future on it."

The rest of the blog.


It is this running toward austerity that puts me on edge.  We have what it takes to put the country back in the black on all levels and yet the R's want us to believe that we are broke and broken.

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Positive Steps

This is a link to an article that was enjoyable on so many levels.  Too many people have criticism without benefit of facts.

What has Obama done right, you ask?

It is an interesting presentation of facts.

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Economics 401

The core problem we face is that R's do not have a handle on what they are actually saying.  Message to the nation: "Listen to our worn out lies rather than see what we do with the money when we are in power.  Ignore the man behind the curtain."  Long, long term deficits matter but short term they are not what the R's make them out to be.  If you get folks back to work the deficit solves itself through taxes paid by working people.  The R's want the trickle up to continue bankrupting the country.  Their handlers are sucking up the oxygen in the atmosphere and demanding more.

Quit listening to stupid and you will feel better immediately.  WE are not broke or broken.  Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are not the source of any problem.  When the rich pay their fair share government can function perfectly well.  They already deny the economy all that cash they have stashed overseas (More than $2 trillion) and keep trying to convince you it's all your fault.  Quit listening to stupid and read more about what economics is and is not.  The R's want to bury you with B.S. and hope you don't see their collective hand in the cookie jar.  Remember that in 2014.

Paul Krugman slams deficit hawks.


Sunday, December 23, 2012

NRA Follows Stupid with More Stupid

This headline says it all:

Teachers call NRA irresponsible & delusional.

But wait, there's more.

Now the NRA tries to defend what they have said by starting to appear on the radio and TV stations.  There is no defense for proposing that EVERY school have armed guards.  The Republicans block every expansion of police, fire and teachers but the NRA ignores that portion of their supposed base and says the opposite.  There is ZERO chance that any proposal so dismally poor could turn into a law or series of laws.  It doesn't mean that they can't propose it however.

Saturday, December 22, 2012

The NRA is the Picture of Stupid

This article is the center of a long debate we, in the U.S. need to have:

NRA Press Conference

With his statement LaPierre just voted the NRA out of the national discussion (and off the island). 

Military style guns in the hands of everyone who wants one needs to end.  The logic for the position that says we need more guns is so flawed (and has been for a long time) that repeating it just makes one sound as if they have a negative number to represent their I.Q. 

There is no doubt that some will own guns no matter what the laws are.  There will always be crazy people.  You cannot legislate against every ill.  But, you can bring the number and types of guns under control and seek to have more effective mental health system.  You can and should keep panic buttons in the classroom... you don't have arm every school.  There are things that can be done to enforce a back ground check.  These are constructive ideas that can be made real... right now.  To say more guns are needed to solve this national disgrace is ignorant and short sighted.

With Joe Biden being assigned the task of bringing ideas to Congress for gun control and other ways to limit the damage that gun wielding crazy people have we can all chime in on ways we think we can control the violence.   Pointing a finger at violent video games should be part of the national discussion as well as discussing a review by skilled psychiatric personnel to obtain a license for a gun, any gun, might be part of what we should be looking at.  Ending the gun show purchase option without a back ground check should be a part of the law we create.  Limiting the clip size for all public weapons is likely a piece. 

Yes, gun collectors will still collect.  Yes, target shooters will still shoot targets.  But, we need to limit the damage a gun can cause in the wrong hands.  It is not too much to ask and it is way past time to demand it.   

There are lots of ideas out there and this time we need to implement some of them

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Why Huffington Post?

One of the things that just bugs me all over is when a Conservative dismisses any article in the Huffington Post as if it were a single source narrative by the "Liberal Press".  It simply is a really, really off the wall thing to say.  At the end of many stories you can drill down to the sources you find there for a variety of stories.  Here's a sample:

Thursday, November 15, 2012

The Do Nothings

The argument that we need filibuster reform in the Senate is heating up again... as it should.  Here is the record of the Congress over the span of time that includes the Truman "Do Nothing" Congress as put out the on FB by 1jdgriff:

"Not even the 80th Congress, which President Truman called the "do-nothing Congress" in 1948, passed as few laws as the current one, records show.

Fewer laws have been passed by this Congress than by any other in the last 65 years. Number of laws passed each year by Congress since 1947:

2012: 61; 
2011: 90; 
2010: 258; 
2009: 125; 
2008: 280; 
2007: 180; 
2006: 313; 
2005: 169; 
2004: 300; 
2003: 198; 
2002: 241; 
2001: 136; 
2000: 410; 
1999: 170; 
1998: 241; 
1997: 153; 
1996: 245; 
1995: 88; 
1994: 255; 
1993: 210; 
1992: 347; 
1991: 243; 
1990: 410; 
1989: 240; 
1988: 473; 
1987: 240; 
1986: 424; 
1985: 240; 
1984: 408; 
1983: 215; 
1982: 328; 
1981: 145; 
1980: 426; 
1979: 187; 
1978: 411; 
1977: 223; 
1976: 383; 
1975: 205; 
1974: 404; 
1973: 245; 
1972: 383; 
1971: 224; 
1970: 505; 
1969: 190; 
1968: 391; 
1967: 391; 
1966: 461; 
1965: 349; 
1964: 408; 
1963: 258; 
1962: 484; 
1961: 401; 
1960: 417; 
1959: 383; 
1958: 620; 
1957: 316; 
1956: 638; 
1955: 390; 
1954: 492; 
1953: 288; 
1952: 339; 
1951: 255; 
1950: 481; 
1949: 440; 
1948: 511; 
1947: 395"

You will note that in 1995, when Newt Gingrich was in charge, Congress had a similar lapse under the Clinton administration's watch.  It didn't work then and it won't work now.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Yes, Obama Won.

Now is when the Republican party will try to tear itself apart looking for why things went the way they did in the election.  They will have to pony up to their mega-donors.  They will look at every nook and cranny trying to figure out why their "internal polling" was so off base.  It's not that hard to see what went wrong... really.

The R's could start by getting real and realize they have attracted the largest block of bigots in the country. They could realize that lying to everyone on every issue is a bad idea. They could figure out that the country is not conservative and will push back when shoved. They might realize that preaching hatred and being anti-everything is just plain stupid. Anti: education, union, LGBT, women, Latino, Asian, Black, Medicare/caid, Social Security, Small Business, Obamacare... (very long list to follow) is no way to build support. One of their biggest problems is having spokespersons like Rush Limbaugh, Karl Rove, Newt Gingrich, John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, Sean Hannity... and the like is toxic. They might come to realize that they have developed a new code language of disparaging America and that gets the attention of everyone. Many R's have said to me lately that they are embarrassed by what the party has become and are open to discussing Democratic ideas going forward. Several I know voted Dem this time because of that embarrassment.

We will see what level of realization the R's can actually get to but in the mean time their self inspection brings nothing but vitriol to the surface. They may just implode in the process and cease to exist as a party.

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Data Dump

My sister, Suzy, sent me the link below and I suspect I will be coming back to Stephen Bloch's correlations again and again to ponder the meaning of the universe.

Debt & Deficits.

It is just the nature of wonkishness to ponder sets of numbers and time lines.

This Explains a Lot

Robert Reich has hit Romney-view squarely on the head.

Romney World Explained

While certain bits of this have been evident some has not been quite so clear.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Mitt's Closing Speech

From a comment on HP by IgnatiusJ:

Mitt will say:
1. "Let GM Go Bankrupt"
2. "Corporations ARE People, my friend"
3. "I'm not concerned about the very poor."
4. '47% are lazy'
5. "...they brought us whole binders full of women"
6. "As president, I will create 12 million new jobs." —Mitt Romney, during the second presidential debate
"Government does not create jobs. Government does not create jobs." —Mitt Romney, 45 minutes later (Oct. 16, 2012)
7. "We use Ann sparingly right now so that people don't get tired of her." –Mitt Romney, referring to his wife while speaking to a room of wealthy donors in Florida, May 17, 2012
8. "No, middle income is $200,000 to $250,000 and less." -Mitt Romney, ABC's "Good Morning America," Sept. 14, 2012
9. 'My wife drives a couple of Cadillacs''.
10. "We have a president, who I think is a nice guy, but he spent too much time at Harvard, perhaps." —Mitt Romney, who has two Harvard degrees (April 5, 2012)

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Vote Hacking

The electoral system is inviolate... right?




If you think that the voting machines cannot be hacked then the above should be eye opening.  This almost 12 minutes is very amazing to me.

Frankly, that Tagg Romney (& his father) have an interest in a company that owns voting machines used in places like Ohio is a frightening idea.  Very toxic to our democracy.

Political Prisoners

Incredible.  There really ARE political prisoners in the United States.  Don Siegelman was running for office but the net result was his arrest and conviction on trumped up charges in Alabama.  Helping to free him through a Presidential pardon or commutation.



More of the story at:

Read the whole story.

The 60 Minutes story was not enough but once the petition has enough signatures it will go to the President.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Stealing the Vote - A Theory

Now it is known that Tagg Romney is an investor in a company that provides voting machines in many places but especially notable is in Ohio.  The company, Hart Intercivic, has connections to place where the vote may have been tampered with in the past. 

As Lee Fang points out in his detailed analysis of the Romney investments: 

 “Many of these private equity–owned companies rely on federal and state contracts, from HIG Capital’s Hart Intercivic, a voting machine company, to EnviroFoam Technologies, a biological and chemical decontamination firm that does business with the US military and is owned by Peterson Partners, a private equity firm listed in the Solamere prospectus.”

 Solarmere’s tangled web of investments now includes Hart Intercivic voting machines which will be used in Cincinnati Ohio says Truth Out which could guarantee Mitt Romney the White House.

The State of Ohio is Ground Zero for the White House, in particular Hamilton County a repeat of the George Bush election in 2004

There is a call for investigation by the DOJ.  It is not known if that will forestall any monkey business in this election cycle but one can only hope Eric Holder's bunch can track down any problems before they happen.  You have to ask yourself, did Romney senior line up this Tagg investment for a reason?

Another source has said Tagg's company is also being investigated for laundering Central American drug money.  Hmmm, Romney senior got the start up money for Bain Capital from the family in Nicaragua that has been traced to drugs and death squads.  A few too many ties to illegal activity?

In any case, such a soulless liar as Mitt Romney has never shown much core value for honesty.  We will see if this goes anywhere.

    Cleveland Leader...

We are still a couple of days away from the Rolling Stone story about Romeny the tax cheat.  Perhaps that will help lead to more hard looks into his less than ethical behavior.

Monday, October 22, 2012

The GINI Coefficient

From Wikipedia

 There are a few versions of this out there but I caught a bit of this on a radio show (The Ed Schultz Show) when Mike Papantonio brought this up.  Essentially, the coefficient is a predictor of social unrest/civil war.  When the number is higher than .40 it says that there is trouble afoot.  Some further explanation is in order:

Global GINI Coefficient

The part of the discussion that brought me up short (in part because I have been feeling it) is what the number is for the U.S. and what that portentds for us.

Here is the break down by state for the U.S. and then ponder where you are.  There is not a single state where this is not a problem.  The combined figure for us is .47 and that just breaks the public political discussion into bits and pieces.

The U.S. State Breakdown.

Pondering this will take up considerable time for me in the next week or so.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

By Way of Informing

This very long list of accomplishments is what voters need to know but many will not.

List of Accomplishments - with citations.

President Obama has outstripped so many Presidents of the past in real terms.

Saturday, October 20, 2012

What's Wrong with Our Demcracy

Electoral Map... just one of many

Just the fact that we have a term for the "battle ground" states says something is broken.  When 20% of the electorate can decide the Presidency it becomes clear that we need to fix some things about how we vote.

The large money that comes into the political arena is phenomenal today thanks to the Citizens United case.  If you live in a battle ground state you are bombarded with the advertisements.  If you own a TV or radio station in a battle ground state you can look forward to an income increase (pot of gold) during the ever longer election season.  The strategy of running more and more primary debates and more and more election debates with larger viewer-ships means more possibilities for income and influence by the donors to that system.

Explaining What's Wrong.

At the moment it appears that President Obama has a slight lead in the Electoral College but of course this could be gamed by more money pouring into the conduits for Governor Romney.  The winner take all rules of most states make the game even more difficult in non-battle-ground states.  Once a candidate has 51% (or anything over 50%) he/she gets all the marbles.  Fully representative voting would be more modern and more easily done in this techno age.  A law similar to Australia's that penalizes those who do not vote would be helpful (Australia has a near 98% participation level).  A set of laws making it a felony to mess with the system as the Republican operatives have been doing would help.  Making voter suppression laws illegal with severe penalties would help.  Public financing of the elections and a shorter season would help.  Just a few things to tweak the system and we could be on the way to a recovered democracy.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Great Picture

From the debate... Romney showed himself to be the jerk that he has been all along.  He doubled down on being a liar.

SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)  

Sunday, October 14, 2012

What Is Important Here??

 From Huffington Post>>


Employer Threatens Employees

This was a comment left that displays the one sided nature of the threat:

tnkeating:
"The Economy is barely limping along, many employers are faced with having to lay-off people because of additional healthcare cost and the highest corporate tax rate in the World, They have a responsibility to the employee's to keep the company going strong and staying competative. If the employee's are going to vote against their best interest, they should be foreworned with whats to come, its simply the responsible thing to do."

This was my response... although not carefully worded:

"Own best interests," really??  The idea of a democracy means we need an informed electorate.  An employer using threats (bullying) to foist his/her opinion on employees is the opposite of informing.  Knowing what is in ones own best interest is difficult enough without this sort of interference.  The actual case for or against a candidate or issue is not related to the boss' opinion.  The employer may have a board of directors that actually thinks more clearly than the "Boss" and will do many things to keep a business viable.  It would be extremely short sighted to think that the employer's rant (and that is really all it is) has any place in trying influence the election.  Companies just work with how good or bad their intellect is... their own best interests may or may not include what the boss threatens."

It seems that something should be done to lower the temperature of the election rhetoric as practiced by all.  Yes, that would be me included.  It is difficult to be constantly assaulted by insults and not reply in kind.

 

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Yes, Biden Won the Debate... Quit Whining.

This article (blog) by Robert Reich hits the right tone for the second debate's results:

Biden Won the Debate Against Ryan

Spot on.  With all the toxicity in the air due to the Republican refusal to do ANYTHING the debate was as refreshing as this Huffington Post blog.  The CNN (too small a sample) 'poll' aside, Joe took down every point offered up by a disingenuous Paul Ryan.  The Right criticized the President's demeanor then when Vice President Biden gave a lively debate they want to nay-say his performance as being too exuberant!!!  Too funny.  Calling out the Pants-On-Fire direction Representative Ryan  wants to take the country was just what was needed.  The moderator was the best as well... giving equal treatment to both candidates and asking for the specifics we deserve.  Too bad Ryan didn't answer any of those questions.  Watching Ryan's jaw tense up and grind away when he didn't have an answer was interesting as well.

At some point in the coming week we will see the bounce that Joe Biden has given the campaign.  I mean, really, when asked what the criteria for calling out the military was for National Security interests Ryan could only say he would do so only when National Security was at stake!?!?!  As if that were an answer!!??  In any case, Ryan was schooled by Biden and the world will turn away from non-answers.  Now hoping the President turns it on for the next one.

Obama/Biden and ALL down ticket Democrats -- 2012

Friday, September 28, 2012

Pushing Back is Important

A response by tssent to an article in Huff-Post (Romney's Ground Game) about Romney's increased level of desperation pretty much said it all:

Well, Mr. Datchok, perhaps you can wipe your tears away long
enough to consider all the wrong directions Obama is sending
this country:

U.S. Exports:  Double-digit gains;
Stock Market:  More than doubled;
All 4.4 million jobs Bush lost, recovered by Obama;
30 Straight months of growth;
4-year low in foreclosures;
4-year high in new construction;
By Executive Order,

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Saying What You Actually Mean IS Important

Mitt has been nailed in so many statements for reversing his stance.  He wants YOU to believe he is sincere in what he says but you have to look at what he has done in the past.  Beyond looking at his taxes, which he hasn't let you do past one and a half year's worth, he doesn't want to show what his record in Massachusetts has been.  Here's a case in point:




Just in case this doesn't load properly:

Romney as Governor, it speaks for itself.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

I can agree with the sentiment...

A Co-Story

This set of links is about Election Fraud just in case you are interested.  Oh, and they are in no particular order.

Series of Videos (1)

Series of Videos (2)

Series of Videos (3)

Series of Videos (4)

Series of Videos (5)

The Brad Blog

With the Romney/Ryan ticket in free fall I have observed their confidence is in contrast to reality.  Is it possible that they are confident because they know that the "fix" is in??  Is there a hacker that has been hired to change the actual vote??  There are people rich enough and unscrupulous enough to pay for this... so, why would they not have done it??

A Different Theory

Something I just learned; in states where voter suppression is being supported (by corrupt politicians) the legal structure of what does and does not count for identification has a surprise built in.  Veterans cannot use their ID cards because it does not have their address on it.  Students cannot use their ID cards for the same reason.  Others have similar problems simply because they do not drive and do not need a drivers license.  Here's the surprise: a gun owner can use a concealed weapon permit for ID to vote.  I don't think the legislators really thought this through but I may feel so very safe when 21 million people figure this out and go get a concealed weapons permit.

Do NOT Watch without headphones (crass language)

Here's the thing... there is no excuse for this Voter Fraud protection law.  The problem is that there is a nearly zero incidence of voter fraud taking place.  For example, in Florida, after much hoopla the state found a grand total of one case of voter fraud.  A Canadian had voted in the last election.  Wow, a single case of voter fraud after spending lots of money looking for the tons of cases. 

The case can be made that there has been election fraud, however.  When we look at the Bush election (when the state was going to recount the full state vote) the Supreme Court stepped in and limited the recount to Broward county it turns out that was a form of ELECTION fraud fomented by the court.  Later several news organizations got together and reviewed the count.  What they found was that if the entire state had been recounted Gore would have won but that by limiting the recount to a single county Bush won.

Useful Definitions

Note that one of the forms of election fraud is the spreading of misinformation.  " The Democratic Party of Wisconsin alleged that Americans for Prosperity engaged in this when a flier printed in August 2011 gave an incorrect return date for absentee ballots - Americans for Prosperity alleged it was a misprint."

There are reasons to be concerned about other forms of this type of fraud.  there have been several studies showing that pervasive Diebold voting machines are vulnerable to tampering.  Just one link to a story... look up others, it will surprise you.

A more recent case: Scott Walker recall. 

Long story short, there is reason to distrust the Diebold voting machines AND the election committees in some states.  There are too many concerns to just gloss over these concerns.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

This is Really, Really Simple

So, there are those who say what we think ahead of when we get there.



Just in case the above doesn't load properly:

Jon Stewart on Bullshit Mountain

This is a climb of reasonable proportions.  The Romney campaign tried to counter the release of the idiotic tape with a 1998 tape of Obama saying that he does believe in some redistribution of wealth.  Hmmm, let's see, the redistribution has, for thirty years, been a redistribution to the top of the economic scale.  That's what Romney believes in... the theft of the money that WAS stored in the middle class.  Steal the pensions, take the jobs and send them elsewhere, foment the fall of the whole economy so that it can be bought back for pennies on the dollar so they (the richest among us) can own more of the economy and value of the country.  Greed is horrible rebuttal to the shared responsibility we should have for each other.  This Ayn Randian view that we are independent of each other is just plain idiotic.

Ask the human beings of every age when things were best for our species?  Try to imagine the response.  A tribe of folks trying live in harsh conditions were concerned for the safety of everyone in the tribe.  The periods of moving backwards, away from protections for each other, are the worst in our shared history.  Ponder that.  Squish that around in the gray matter for awhile.  It may just come to you that evil of sin, greed, has become imbedded in the Republican party.  I, for one, cannot worship that greed.  It is not anti-capitalist to say this.  You can have a capitalist society AND protect the least among us.  It is not a position of black or white.

The Rats Leave the Ship

This is straight from Upworthy:

1.

"The overall impression of Romney at this event is of someone who overheard some conservative cocktail chatter and maybe read a conservative blog or two, and is thoughtlessly repeating back what he heard and read." — Rich Lowry, National Review (conservative magazine)

2.

"Who are these freeloaders? Is it the Iraq war veteran who goes to the V.A.? Is it the student getting a loan to go to college? Is it the retiree on Social Security or Medicare? ... The people who receive the disproportionate share of government spending are not big-government lovers. They are Republicans. They are senior citizens. They are white men with high school degrees. " — David Brooks (conservative columnist), New York Times

3.

"It remains important for the country that Romney wins in November (unless he chooses to step down and we get the Ryan-Rubio ticket we deserve!). But that shouldn't blind us to the fact that Romney's comments ... are stupid and arrogant." — Bill Kristol, The Weekly Standard (conservative magazine)

4.

"I found the presser not horrible, which is about as much praise as I can muster right now." — Daniel Foster, National Review

5.

“I disagree with Gov. Romney’s insinuation that 47 percent of Americans believe they are victims who must depend on the government for their care. ... I know that the vast majority of those who rely on government are not in that situation because they want to be.” — Linda McMahon, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Connecticut

6.

"He said he has a terrific campaign. Actually he doesn't. He says that the campaign workers are working well together, well, actually, no, they're not working well together, and that his campaign's going in the right direction. No, it's not. And this is not being said by liberals ... these are conservatives. ... Savannah, I'm going to go put a bag over my head now, so I will talk to you soon." — Joe Scarborough, conservative pundit and former Republican congressman

It all kind of makes you think there may be a soul in the GOP somewhere if they are willing to see the forest for the trees like this.  Next time around (2016) there will be a generational struggle for the White House and it will be very different than this tired old Romney ticket.  Paul Ryan may well emerge from the heap with a shade more credibility than a Sara Palin but he won't be spouting the same old party line.  It will be no mare palitable to me than the current nonsense but at least it will be a change from tired ideas that lack truth even at their center.

Monday, September 17, 2012

It's Not Just Mitt or Paul



A perfect storm has brewed to take away all power from the Republican party and they just don't "get it" any more.  A clear, concise article that lays out the case.

It's the end for Mitt & Paul... Why?

While I have felt that the Republican arguments have been specious for the last few years they are now working hard to prove it.  They have become bankrupt of real ideas.  In fact, there is no real thought put into what positions are real world or aren't, laced with how not to pay for anything that government necessarily does much less the unspecified changes that they want to make.  That is part of the problem too... the unspecified nature of the changes.  If you are so embarrassed by what you propose that you can't articulate it there is a problem.  If the ways you choose to articulate your plan are based on lying you are out of touch.  Twisting the facts to fit your model is the way they have gotten to these bizarre positions and that comes out clearly when you try to follow the logic used.  Maybe that explains the dissing of the scientific method by the neo-conservatives.

Obstruction is key to the reason that Congress has such a low rating with the public.  That much is clear as well.  If your whole tactic to carry out your agenda is to bring government to a halt why should anyone think you are earning your pay?  What positive thing(s) have you accomplished with that tactic?  The answer is: you have done nothing on behalf of the people you are supposed to serve.  You have earned none of the compensation you are paid for your time.  The definition of serving has been warped to equal serving being that of an inmate.

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Mitt Gets Scarier By the Minute



China says what it thinks of Mitt.

My own comment after reading this article was:  " Mitt, himself, is becoming America's number one enemy!!  Not only does he tick off our allies but also he deeply irritates those less than friendly.  Do we next expect him to start a war single-handedly BEFORE the election?  Don't laugh, with this guy it could happen.  He is scary with his,"Trust me to do the right stuff when elected."  There is no way he should be trusted with the reins of government."

When he loses the Republican party may be down for the count.  With his liar, liar, pants on fire talking points he has continued down the road of destroying the party he says he represents.  It is not a discussion point to say, "Well, all politicians lie repeatedly."  Romney has taken this to a new low and has zero credibility while President Obama has rarely shown up in that category on the PolitiFact web site.  The President is smarter and more knowledgeable than Mitt on all fronts but especially on the economy.


Friday, September 14, 2012

Speaking to Us By Way of Fairy Dust



Mitt Romney has decided we don't need to know about his taxes and continues to "double down" on his misleading slight of hand to get us to forget about asking for more disclosure.  The real effect, of course, is to make it most suspicious that he hasn't released more than one year (even though he originally said he would release two years).

Thursday, September 13, 2012

tnemegduJ rooP swohS ttiM



After the attack on the U. S. Libyan embassy Romney tried to score political points by criticizing the Obama administration.  He was positing the idea that the administration was somehow apologizing for the conduct of a U. S. citizen for making an insulting movie about Muhammad.  The idea was based on a release from our Egyptian embassy that said nothing apologetic.  The statement from the President actually said:

"I strongly condemn the outrageous attack on our diplomatic facility in Benghazi, which took the lives of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. Right now, the American people have the families of those we lost in our thoughts and prayers. They exemplified America’s commitment to freedom, justice, and partnership with nations and people around the globe, and stand in stark contrast to those who callously took their lives.

I have directed my Administration to provide all necessary resources to support the security of our personnel in Libya, and to increase security at our diplomatic posts around the globe. While the United States rejects efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others, we must all unequivocally oppose the kind of senseless violence that took the lives of these public servants.

On a personal note, Chris was a courageous and exemplary representative of the United States. Throughout the Libyan revolution, he selflessly served our country and the Libyan people at our mission in Benghazi. As Ambassador in Tripoli, he has supported Libya’s transition to democracy. His legacy will endure wherever human beings reach for liberty and justice. I am profoundly grateful for his service to my Administration, and deeply saddened by this loss.
The brave Americans we lost represent the extraordinary service and sacrifices that our civilians make every day around the globe. As we stand united with their families, let us now redouble our own efforts to carry their work forward."


Hmm, did you see an apology in that?  Thought so, neither did I.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

From Chase Wilson:


“We are at War. Somebody is Going to Pay.” – Bush, 9/11/01.

Eleven years later, we are still at war. Bullets, mortars and drones are still extracting payment. Thousands, tens of thousands, millions have paid in full. Children and even those yet to be born will continue to pay for decades to come.

On a single day in Iraq last week there were 29 bombing attacks in 19 cities, killing 111 civilians
and wounding another 235. On Sept 9th, reports indicate 88 people were killed and another 270 injured in 30 attacks all across the country. Iraq continues in a seemingly endless death spiral into chaos. In his acceptance speech for the Democratic nomination for President, Obama claimed he ended the war in Iraq, well… not quite.

The city of Fallujah remains under siege. Not from U.S. troops, but from a deluge of birth defects that have plagued families since the use of depleted uranium and white phosphorus by U.S. forces in 2004. No government studies have provided a direct link to the use of these weapons because no government studies have been undertaken, and none are contemplated.

Dr. Samira Alani, a pediatric specialist at Fallujah General Hospital, told Al Jazeera,

“We have all kinds of defects now, ranging from congenital heart disease to severe physical abnormalities, both in numbers you cannot imagine. There are not even medical terms to describe some of these conditions because we’ve never seen them until now.” The photographs are available on line if you can bear to look at what we have wrought. George W. Bush will loudly proclaim his “Pro-life” bona fides, and he’ll tell you he believes “that every child, born and unborn, ought to be protected in law and welcomed into life.” Apparently, “every child” doesn’t apply to the children of Fallujah, and the “law” doesn’t apply to George W. Bush.

Our soldiers, some physically damaged by IED’s, some mentally destroyed by PTSD, will pay for these wars for the rest of their days. Drug and alcohol abuse is out of control. Suicide among the troops is an epidemic. 2,916 Americans were lost in the towers on that fateful day, many, many more have perished in the intervening years.

Today we will be asked to honor the men and woman of our armed forces, but what does honoring the veterans entail? In its most recent report, The Veterans Administration estimates about 107,000 veterans are homeless on any given night. Mental illness plagues 45% of homeless vets and 70% suffer from some kind of substance abuse. So how do you honor our veterans? Are “Support Our Troops” ribbons still in vogue? How does our government honor our veterans other than use them as political pawns in stump speeches and cannon fodder for their wars?

84,000 American troops remain in Afghanistan. While the occupation is rarely mentioned in the U.S. mainstream media, that doesn’t mean the killing has stopped. On average, one U.S. soldier dies everyday. Not an enormous sum, unless it is your mother, father, son or daughter that has perished. Few Americans notice. Afghan loses are not reported. They have loved ones who grieve as well.

The American public has turned their attention to feeding their families, keeping their homes, and finding employment. But what of the $2 billion dollars per week we are spending on war in Afghanistan? What would $2 billion per week look like in our devastated communities, in our schools, in creating jobs or in caring for our elders? Politicians in both parties claim our first priority is to reduce the debt. If they were really serious, if they were honest, they would end this occupation and stop calling for cuts to Medicaid, Food Stamps, and Social Security.

And what is the price extracted from the Afghan people? Security is still a dream, even in Kabul. As I write this, 6 people have perished in a suicide bombing outside NATO headquarters, in the heart of Kabul. Several of them were impoverished street kids, peddling packs of gum to the westerners who frequent the area.

Hilary Clinton, Madeline Albright, Jan Schakowsky, and other prominent American women claim American forces are necessary in Afghanistan to protect the gains made in woman’s rights. On Sept 6th, Emma Graham-Harrison reported in the Guardian that 3 women in Kabul were attacked by a group of men because of their work as television actresses. One of the women was murdered. After seeking treatment at the hospital, the two survivors were taken to prison, where they face intrusive virginity tests and possible charges of prostitution or collusion in the attack. They face long prison sentences. This is not the Taliban; this is woman’s rights in Afghanistan today, rights that Hilary Clinton fears will be rolled back!

On the streets of Kabul it is not unusual to see burka clad women clutching starving children begging for spare change. Poverty and hunger is even worse in Kandahar and Helmand, areas that have seen some of the most intense fighting of the war. In southern Afghanistan 29.5% of the children are suffering from severe malnutrition. This compares to famine stricken areas of Africa, yet, officially, there is no famine in Afghanistan and hundreds of millions of dollars of humanitarian aid has flowed into the country.

In America, 35 million people are hungry or do not know where their next meal is coming from and 13 million of them are children. Who benefits from the “War on Terror”?

On Sept 2nd, Hamid Karzai announced his choice for the new intelligence chief, Asadullah Khalid. Khalid is currently the country’s minister of tribal and border affairs who oversees its southern security forces. In 2009 Richard Colvin, Canada’s former deputy ambassador to Afghanistan, testified before Canada’s parliament that his team had uncovered “very credible” evidence of torture, which allegedly included Khalid’s direct involvement. “He was known to have had a dungeon in Ghazni, his previous province, where he used to detain people for money, and some of them disappeared,” Colvin said in his testimony. “He was known to be running a narcotics operation. He had a criminal gang. He had people killed who got in his way.” Khalid and Karzai dismiss the allegations as unfounded.

In Kabul, children freeze to death in the winter, and they starve to death all year round. Meanwhile on the edge of Kabul a “New City” is being built. Hamid Karzai’s brother, Qayum Karzai, the owner of a construction company, benefits as his company “wins” government contracts without the hassles of competitive bidding. Karzai’s relatives are also benefiting from lucrative contracts in the oil and mineral sectors. In late 2011, Watan Oil and Gas, a company controlled by President Karzai’s cousins Rateb and Rashid Popal gained a contract with China’s National Petroleum Corporation. In 1989 Rateb was convicted for smuggling drugs in the U.S. and spent more than eight years in prison. The Popal family’s company, Watan Risk Management, also worked as a contractor for the US forces. In 2010, they were accused of paying off Taliban insurgents with a cut from NATO contracts. According to the NY Times, another brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai was involved in the heroin trade and was also on the CIA’s payroll for several years before his assassination in 2011. The Karzai family now brings in billions of dollars a year. 42% of Afghans live on less than a dollar a day. So we are bent on ridding Afghanistan of the Taliban while the government is full of warlords, gangsters, and drug dealers.

Since America’s intervention in Afghanistan, the heroin trade has exploded, doubling opium production. Afghanistan is now the source of 90% of the world’s heroin. This dovetail’s nicely with America’s “War on Drugs.”

The growth in the heroin trade coupled with the despair of daily living has contributed to an eruption of drug addiction. Addicts can be found huddled under bridges throughout Kabul. As these men succumb to addiction, their families are left to fend for themselves. Heroin floods the streets of Europe and Russia. Which banks benefit from the enormous cash flows generated by the heroin trade? Who in the Afghan government benefits?

The corruption is mind-boggling. We support terrorist elements, most recently in Syria and Libya, but before that in Iraq, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan, and then find ourselves fighting them down the road. In a reversal of our usual modus operandi, it has come to light that during the Bush years the CIA tortured numerous members of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), an armed Islamist Group that had worked to overthrow Gaddafi for 20 years, before transferring them to Gaddafi’s regime for further torture. Some of these same fighters rendered and tortured by America and Libya now hold key leadership posts in the “liberated” Libya.

Private interests in Saudi Arabia continue to fund Sunni extremists around the world. Wikileaks released a Dec. 2009 cable from the State Department that complained that Saudi donors remain the primary financiers of militant groups like Al-Qaeda. In May 2010, the Sunday Times of London revealed that the Afghan Financial Intelligence Unit, FinTRACA, reported that since 2006 at least 1.5 billion dollars from Saudi Arabia was funneled to the Taliban in Afghanistan, with Al-Qaeda withholding a cut for their delivery services. Why is there no outcry from the U.S.?

In 2011 overseas weapons sales by the United States totaled $66.3 billion, or more than three-quarters of the global arms market. Russia was second, with $4.8 billion in deals. Who benefits from the War on Terror and who benefits when America threatens war?

Over half of the sales, or $33.4 billion, consisted of arms sales to Saudi Arabia. These sales included F-15 fighter jets, dozens of Apache and Black Hawk helicopters, as well as an array of missiles, bombs and delivery systems, as well as accessories such as night-vision goggles and radar warning systems. These sales offset the flow of US dollars to pay for Saudi oil, and this explains why there is no outrage directed toward the Saudi regime.

The War on Terror exploits the tragedy of September 11 for the benefit of a very few. Poor people continue to pay an enormous price, while the elites, including our own government and the corporations it answers to, ignore everything but the influx of cash into their coffers. The war business is profitable if you refuse to count the cost of human lives.

In his acceptance speech for the Democratic nomination for President, Obama said, “Our destinies are bound together. A freedom which only asks what’s in it for me, a freedom without a commitment to others, a freedom without love or charity, is unworthy of our founding ideals.” In closing, he said, “We travel together. We leave no one behind. We pull each other up.” Why is it our Presidents fail to include those they bomb in their lofty sentiments? The simple truth is our destinies are bound together with those who lie beyond the borders of our country as well.

A young, educated Afghan man, an advisor to Parliament, sees the corruption of his government and despairs. He asks me, “What is my share in this world?” He continues, “Absolutely nothing. And for my child, the same.” His voice trails off. We sit drinking tea as night comes on.

Link: http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/09/10/we-are-at-war/

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Political Prisoner

You may never have heard of this case... read up and dig in your heels.  There is a petition to sign.




No country should have political prisoners much less the United States.

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Resonant Story Lines

There are no particular pictures for this idea.  We, as a country, have far too much debt... that is, the National Debt has increased to more than we can handle or very soon will be at that point.

You won't get much argument from either side, left or right, on this being a fact and a problem.  What you do get is a lot of finger pointing about why this is the case and a lot more finger pointing about what to do about it.

Essentially the Republicans say we can cut spending and pull ourselves out of the debt through austerity.  Much the same approach being used in Europe right now.  It is the what has led to people in countries like Spain to pull their money from the economy and send it to safe havens all over the world.  The Democrats say that we can combine ideas and do some trimming but that we also need tax increases in certain sectors to raise revenues.  The Dem's also say that some additional stimulus will awaken the economy and that will add to the income side of the equation while shoring up the economy with a bit more deficit in the short run.

That is a huge difference based on the agreement that we have a common problem.  The Neo-Republican idea is fairly narrow in scope.  It says simply that we can cut, cut and cut.  Okay, what shall we cut?  They say that it should be across the board, starting with social programs.  Why do they say this?  They posit the idea that ALL federal spending is equal.  That is, a dollar is a dollar no matter where it comes from.  A very infectious theory.  They further say that we need a one to one approach... for every dollar we spend we need to cut a dollar thereby "saving" a dollar to then "spend" on bringing down the deficit.  Our interest expense is eating into our national budget and just like a household whose spending is out of control we should focus on this until we can "afford" to spend again.  Hidden here is the fact that it will shrink the economy in the process.

This view is not complete without saying that the Republicans are targeting Social Security and Medicare spending even though these two programs do not contribute to the debt.  In fact, Social Security is one of the largest purchasers of government debt!  These are self funding programs that are viable well into the future and can be made even better by thinking about better ways to fund the insurance plans.  Along the same lines defense spending is, for the most part, off the table for discussion even though it IS much of the cause of and for the deficit.  Hmmm... well, in any case, the ability to walk away from negotiations and say things like, "My way or the highway," is to say there is a diminution of useful discussion.  Thus here we have a position that carves out support by giving a seemingly simple set of ideas and then does not bend.  One would say this is a then a radical solution or at least based on a radical take-no-prisoners approach.  Yes, a very political, one sided way to attempt to accomplish laudable goals.  Thus the charges and counter-charges of lies and deception take hold rather than real debate.

By contrast the Democrats propose a multitude of ways to bring down the deficit by the dual approach of cuts and enhanced income.  As my brother once relayed to me the advice of a CPA we once knew... the key is to make more money while you get your budget in order, spend less.  This too is a pretty basic and simple idea.  Fairly straightforward.  The first thing on the negotiating table should be the thing causing us the most initial pain.  The recently undertaken unfunded wars were at the heart of the matter.  The Pentagon has funded more hardware even as they cut direct spending on the people of war, our volunteer army and the veterans.  The Pentagon tends to support the Republican ideas and is loath to adopt the Democrat's ideas.  Additionally, the placement of where the increase in income will come from has taken center stage.  The Republicans oppose any tax increases outwardly saying that it is based on a pledge most of them have signed to someone other than their constituents.  At this point no group of them have stood up to Grover Norquist and his organization and walked away from this pledge en-mass. 

In short, without the distractions, the two sides are vying for hearts and minds by displaying this contrast.  The Republicans are pouring lots of money into shouting down the opposition while the Democrats are relying more on the ground game to flush out support.  Either way we are buried in a national bumper sticker, sound bite ride for votes.  There IS a crisis looming in the near future but I doubt either side knows what it really will be.  The Fourth Turning is upon us.

Monday, September 3, 2012

Huffington Post User

This from a Huffington Post user (Outlandish):

 "What do a handful of billionaires want from the wholesale purchase of American Democracy? 

Does having your kid’s education sold from under them and all schools being privatized for profit, teacher’s wages cut for profit and class sizes much larger for profit make you want to vote for their cause, because all you want is a far more expensive yet inferior education for your kids? How about giving them tax cuts even though about 100 billionaires make more money annually than 100 million of you working stiffs and most pay little or no taxes, is that what your hoping for and how will you benefit apart from admiring them for their greed? 

Maybe you want to drive on toll roads and pay retail to have your roads and bridges repaired so a bridge you cross doesn’t collapse when you and your family are on it, for surely they will own the companies that will set your bridges to right and you’ll pay the going rate. Be sure that they will skim a lot of profit by cutting costs and under paying the workers but will charge you a premium without a guarantee of a job well done. 

Maybe you want to pay an annual levy that is half profit in case you are burgled or your house catches fire and you might just want it put out, you might be in need of first responders so be prepared to pay those billionaires a higher rate than you do in taxes for the same service and therefore depriving those good for nothing first responders a living wage. Because the services are privatized, an extra layer will be added for profit. Of course you have to believe the media has a left leaning bias but rest assured, the same billionaires own that media and have programmed you into thinking that a left wing media exists in America by allowing a token. 

They are banking on the fact that a lot of you will be gullible enough to kiss democracy goodbye because far too many of you already have and are on board the billionaires propaganda express. When everything that your precedents worked 2 centuries to own and develop for you is in the hands of a small number of billionaires, will you feel that losing the America you knew, your ancestors fought and died to create was worth losing will you sleep comfortably in your beds, knowing you did nothing to stop the future from being stolen away from you, my brave little Republican corporate soldiers? If all you hold sacrosanct vanishes and you’re living on sub minimum wages, will you be proud of your gullibility and be relieved because you’ve been had? Seriously! What’s wrong with you?"

Good on ya, lad!!

Time After Time...

The constant yammering from the Right says that they want to "fix" Medicare/ObamaCare.  Nothing could be further from the truth.



This time around we can "fix" the Republican party.  The Tea Partiers have broken it so severely that is unrecognizable.

ObamaCare v. VoucherCare



What no one spouting the Republican nonsense seems to get is that Paul Ryan is the author of voucherizing Medicare.  The math of that is pretty simple.  By ineffectively running a voucher system to replace Medicare, one the most efficient programs anywhere, it will make it easier to "drown government in a bathtub," to quote Grover Norquist.


Saturday, September 1, 2012

Spin



In commenting on a Huffington Post story about the string of lies told at the Republican Convention this past week I collected a very negative return comment about how the Democratic Party is always lying:

"There has never been in American history a bigger group of downright liars than we have seen from team Obama and the Democratic Party every day. I hate to see a person try to do what he is unable to do. Obama is completely out of his league, he is incompetent and incapable of being President. The evidence is everywhere."

My response was:

"I am pretty sure that you misspelled Democratic it is spelled R-e-p-u-b-l-i-c-a-n. The mounting lies from the Right are stunning in their size and volume. Use a bit of fact checking and you will be forced to admit you are full of the Right-side Koolaid. Only the low information voter can believe the Righties any more. They have become the Party of Treason."

What has struck me more than ever that those on the Right are suddenly, blatantly saying things that border on or have crossed the line on what is treasonous language.  It has happened subtly and at first I didn't even notice.  They are charging ahead now however and saying they want to dismantle all of government.  It is not enough to dismantle parts of government a brick at a time they are closer to a take over and burn mentality now.  These are very scary times.

There may well be riots in the streets from the 99%-er's at some overtly oppressive moment but the gun toters are mostly Right-wingers not Lefties.  The hate speech is Right-wing driven for the most part and the stack of lies being doubled down on is thickly from the Right.  Fact checking has become a defense of sorts but the volume and vitriol of the lying is astounding.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Another, "Stupid is as Stupid does," Moment.



Are you as tired of repeating the same activity over and over again as I am?  There's that currently popular quote (or, idea) that says,"If you continue to do the same thing over and over again expecting a different outcome it is the definition of insane...", or something like that. 

Republicans have ZERO to offer us.

That will make thirty-one (31) votes of the same sort on the same subject.  If I were a moderate Republican (are there any left?) I would caucus with other moderates to vote against this next vote on "defeating" Obamacare (yes, that would be the ACA legislation/law).  Such a struggle to show just how stupid you are if you vote with the TEA PARTY surrogates on this one.  Eventually the public will identify that you were trying to take away Rights and take away Benefits.  Do you really want to go down in flames at the next election cycle by being identified WITH insane people??  No, really, do you want the forever label of "insane"??

Saturday, June 30, 2012

ObamaCare... It's a Good Name.

NOT A TAX INCREASE, A TAX CUT FOR THE MIDDLE CLASS,
AND GOOD FOR THE ECONOMY

There is no massive tax hike- best estimates are 1 to 2 percent will have to pay the tax.

    28.6 million Americans entering health care exchanges will be eligible for the tax credits in 2014, valued at $110.1 billion to provide much-needed assistance to insured individuals and families facing ever increasing rising premiums, as well as to uninsured individuals and families who need help purchasing coverage.. Most of the eligible families will be employed, many for small businesses, and will have incomes between two and four times poverty (between $44,100 and $88,200 for a family of four based on 2010 poverty guidelines).

    AND THE OVERALL IMPACT ON THE ECONOMY WILL BE POSITIVE:

1) Obamacare will reduce the deficit. The Congressional Budget Office estimated in 2011 that Obamacare will reduce the federal deficit by $210 billion over the next decade. The law is expected to save about $1 trillion over its second decade, according to other CBO analyses. The CBO found that repealing the law, as Republicans attempted to do in 2011, would increase the deficit by $230 billion over the next 10 years.

2) Health care costs for young Americans won’t skyrocket. More than 3.1 million young Americans have insurance thanks to Obamacare. Without the law, the cost of acquiring an equivalent health care plan would have risen dramatically at a time when young people are still struggling with the effects of the Great Recession.

3) Millions of jobs will be created. Health reform will help create roughly 4 million jobs over the next decade, according to a 2010 Center for American Progress report, by reducing the cost of health care and making it cheaper for businesses to hire. The law will create between 250,000 and 400,000 jobs a year, and they will be spread across sectors: according to the study, the law will help create more than 200,000 manufacturing and 900,000 in the service sector by 2016.

4) It will be cheaper for employers to provide health care. American businesses are under tremendous pressure thanks to rising health care costs, and these costs are often passed on to customers (one study estimates that each car sold by General Motors contains $1,200 in built-in health costs). The ACA, however, will make it cheaper for businesses to provide care, and not just by reducing the cost of care. Small businesses are already receiving tax credits contained in the law to help insure their employees, and it has already offered more than $4.7 billion in reinsurance payments to companies that are providing health care to retirees who aren’t yet eligible for Medicare.

Lifted as a whole bit from a Democratic website.

Friday, June 29, 2012

More Supreme Drama




Now that the hoopla about the Supreme Court making a historic decision is over (at least for the moment) we can examine a few things.

Last post I talked about some things of historical record about the SCOTUS.  This is a continuation of those ideas. 

One of the powers that most people believe the court has is called Judicial Review.  That is, the theory is that the court can be asked to rule on the constitutionality of a law that has been passed by both the House of Representatives and Senate and then signed by the President.  If you go scrounging around in the Constitution looking for the enabling paragraph for this power you won’t find it.  It simply is not there.  The SCOTUS took this power to itself without a serious challenge even though the founding fathers NEVER intended to grant this sort of power to the high court.  Judicial Review needs to be legislated against since we have allowed precedence to build up from the first day the court took on this power.  The SCOTUS has put itself in the position of the ruling Kings and Queens of the country and it is just plain wrong.  As the court has become more politicized during the last several years and certain members have slipped in their ability to even approximately follow the concept of Judicial Restraint (notably Justices Scalia, Alito and Thomas) this has become apparent.

The court answers to the other two branches of government but has worked to distance themselves from any controls.  Impeachment is not a useable tool since it takes such a large number of Representatives and Senators to bring this about.  If Congress passes law and the President signed and We the People do not like what they did we need to vote those folks out of office AND elect people that will do what WE want.

Now, we can push the one idea that makes political sense in depoliticizing the high court.  Elect Presidents that act in a less political way when appointing justices.  Push for reform, as a matter of law, through Congress.  That is, money out of politics, establish federal restraint for the high court as a matter of law and other similar ideas.



On a separate note the fight is now to be engaged for keeping ObamaCare.  That’s right, the fight starts now.  The Right-wing has now declared that there should be a revolution.  Seriously, that has been the war cry from the right almost minutes after the decision was announced.  The money will come pouring into the Right-wing coffers will likely be astounding.  Already the lies have started, for example, the fear mongered warning that there would now be a 3.8% on the sale of your home.  This is nonsense.  Put your back into it and go to Snopes to debunk this for yourself.  IF you make more than $250,000 per year (tax bracket in the 15% range) you will be taxed an additional 3.8% on your investment income… not on your house.  This misdirection and dis-information is typical of the formation of lies to push you to the Right.  It is just another lie based on low information input.