When Michelle Bachmann isn't busy claiming John Quincy Adams is a founding father, it seems another of her crusades is to end the minimum wage.
Ahem.
Can I just personally state if, for some odd ass reason, a national case of batshit insane overcomes America and Ms. Bachmann does get elected President and abolishes the minimum wage, that I will personally go to Washington, D.C. and kick her ass back to 1910. For fuck's sake, I've been in retail for almost 30 years and it's not hard enough to motivate people for a nonliving wage of seven bucks and some change an hour, and she wants me to motivate them for even less? Note for any other idiot who thinks this is a good idea: think the service at your local shops is shitty now? Try paying those workers less--they'll probably be flicking picked boogers at you.
Christ Almighty--American idiots, indeed.
Peace,
emaycee
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Friday, June 24, 2011
Objects in mirror are closer than they appear
I'm not really paying much attention to Republican Idol, 2012--only Romney, Pawlenty, and Huntsman have a chance to be the next President, and Pawlenty and Huntsman's chances are about as slim right now as Popeye's true love, Olive Oyl.
A list: George W. Bush. Rick Snyder. Rick Scott. John Kasich. Scott Walker.
After the talent show is over, after the republican candidates have finished tripping all over themselves to see who can out bat shit insane the others to please the republican base, the republican nominee will surely begin the campaign with a deke to the center: the compassionate conservative, the business leader conservative, the individualistic conservative.
Democrats need to quash this right out of the gate by making big blow-up pictures of those on the aforementioned list and delineating their agendas below their names. There is no such animal as the moderate republican.
Turning to republicans in times of trouble is about as effective as pouring gasoline on a fire to douse it. Woe unto any other than the 30% who are too far gone to save who dare to think the republican Kool-Aid isn't spiked once again.
Peace,
emaycee
A list: George W. Bush. Rick Snyder. Rick Scott. John Kasich. Scott Walker.
After the talent show is over, after the republican candidates have finished tripping all over themselves to see who can out bat shit insane the others to please the republican base, the republican nominee will surely begin the campaign with a deke to the center: the compassionate conservative, the business leader conservative, the individualistic conservative.
Democrats need to quash this right out of the gate by making big blow-up pictures of those on the aforementioned list and delineating their agendas below their names. There is no such animal as the moderate republican.
Turning to republicans in times of trouble is about as effective as pouring gasoline on a fire to douse it. Woe unto any other than the 30% who are too far gone to save who dare to think the republican Kool-Aid isn't spiked once again.
Peace,
emaycee
Sprechen sie deustche?
A while back I read this piece by Jared Bernstein on improving the economy and though there weren't a lot of really new ideas, his initial premise on fixing the economy "First do no harm" (from the Hippocratic Oath) struck me as a novel prescription (so to speak). And a premise that all too often, our own leaders ignore.
But not the Germans--I've read of their success, even through the downturn, with their own economy but this piece by Harold Meyerson explains it in a manner more for people like me whose eyes glaze over at the sight of the first economics pie chart. In a nutshell: the concerns of the working class are given equal weight as those of them that has the gold. Important note: in Germany, the rate of pay for the middle class has risen at roughly the same rate as those of the wealthy. Imagine that!
Here's the thing: when leaders look out for all and not for the few, things work out much better for the nation. It's not socialism. It's good sense.
Peace,
emaycee
But not the Germans--I've read of their success, even through the downturn, with their own economy but this piece by Harold Meyerson explains it in a manner more for people like me whose eyes glaze over at the sight of the first economics pie chart. In a nutshell: the concerns of the working class are given equal weight as those of them that has the gold. Important note: in Germany, the rate of pay for the middle class has risen at roughly the same rate as those of the wealthy. Imagine that!
Here's the thing: when leaders look out for all and not for the few, things work out much better for the nation. It's not socialism. It's good sense.
Peace,
emaycee
Pop goes the weasel
Eric Cantor has always struck me as a weaselly sort--the kind of guy who'd run over your dog and tell the cops it was your dog's fault, all the while telling you how sorry he is. His walking out on the Biden led budget talks over tax increases is being explained as standing up for conservative principles or pacifying the wealthy (protecting those making 500K+) or throwing John Boehner under the bus (making Bohner be the one to cave to the Dems increase in tax revenues).
How about calling it what it is: a complete and utter lack of cojones. Feigning righteous indignation while fucking over your fellow Americans is not the hallmark of heroes. It's the sin of gutless twerps--two words, come to think of it, which describe Eric Cantor perfectly.
Peace,
emaycee
How about calling it what it is: a complete and utter lack of cojones. Feigning righteous indignation while fucking over your fellow Americans is not the hallmark of heroes. It's the sin of gutless twerps--two words, come to think of it, which describe Eric Cantor perfectly.
Peace,
emaycee
Damned if you do....
So Jim DeMint, the pinhead Senator from South Carolina, says that any republican who votes for raising the debt ceiling has pretty much ended his or her career in politics. On the flip side, since this is substantially a republican effort, should Congress not raise the debt limit, and as projected, the American economy collapses, does it not figure that any republican who votes against raising the debt limit has pretty much ended his or her career in politics?
If only it were so easy--my guess is, like the bank bailout and the stimulus package (both of which, regardless of their unpopularity, saved the American economy from an utter collapse), somehow the republicans will get the traditional media to feed the American people the line that it's the Democrats fault and the American people will buy it and punish the Democrats at the polls.
You know, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you.
Peace,
emaycee
If only it were so easy--my guess is, like the bank bailout and the stimulus package (both of which, regardless of their unpopularity, saved the American economy from an utter collapse), somehow the republicans will get the traditional media to feed the American people the line that it's the Democrats fault and the American people will buy it and punish the Democrats at the polls.
You know, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you.
Peace,
emaycee
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Reasons to be cheerful, Part II
Week one: old Nolan tells us why we should take the notion of Rep. Thaddeus McCotter running for President seriously (side note: no, we shouldn't. McCotter has the same chance of being President in 2012--important distinction--as I do: zero).
Week two: old Nolan tells us why Mitt Romney can win the state of Michigan in the 2012 Presidential elections (side note: barring an economic collapse, no he can't. Thank you, Gov. Snyder!).
You have to love the panic these two pieces show: in the first, republicans are still looking for their saviour; in the second, they're trying to explain away the likely nominee's positions which they're going to have a tough time selling to their base, let alone a majority of American voters (is it just me or is Mitt looking more and more like the republican version of John Kerry everyday?).
And those two don't even take into consideration the electoral map for 2012. It's hard to imagine the republicans taking back the White House without picking up at least a couple of the following states: Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Florida, and Pennsylvania. Unfortunately for the republican nominee, all five have extremely unpopular republican governors right now and it's hard to imagine much is going to change in their numbers between now and November 2012--they campaigned as middle of the road and turned out to be radical right. I can see the Obama ads now: "You don't like this bullshit in your own state and now you're going to give the keys to the White House to these bozos? Fat fucking chance!" And the republicans won't even be able to spin it as a union orchestrated conspiracy to keep the rich from getting richer--that lie has already failed in Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
And did I mention that Obama got Osama?
Now if we could just get the President to have the backs of the poor and the middle class, we'd really have something....
Peace,
emaycee
Week two: old Nolan tells us why Mitt Romney can win the state of Michigan in the 2012 Presidential elections (side note: barring an economic collapse, no he can't. Thank you, Gov. Snyder!).
You have to love the panic these two pieces show: in the first, republicans are still looking for their saviour; in the second, they're trying to explain away the likely nominee's positions which they're going to have a tough time selling to their base, let alone a majority of American voters (is it just me or is Mitt looking more and more like the republican version of John Kerry everyday?).
And those two don't even take into consideration the electoral map for 2012. It's hard to imagine the republicans taking back the White House without picking up at least a couple of the following states: Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Florida, and Pennsylvania. Unfortunately for the republican nominee, all five have extremely unpopular republican governors right now and it's hard to imagine much is going to change in their numbers between now and November 2012--they campaigned as middle of the road and turned out to be radical right. I can see the Obama ads now: "You don't like this bullshit in your own state and now you're going to give the keys to the White House to these bozos? Fat fucking chance!" And the republicans won't even be able to spin it as a union orchestrated conspiracy to keep the rich from getting richer--that lie has already failed in Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
And did I mention that Obama got Osama?
Now if we could just get the President to have the backs of the poor and the middle class, we'd really have something....
Peace,
emaycee
Reasons to be cheerful, Part 1
The We Are One campaign in Ohio has collected over 700,000 signatures to overturn the union-busting bill SB 5. The campaign needs 231,000 signatures to force a referendum in November, and they have collected over three times that many--as I read earlier, signature gathering campaigns usually shoot for 140% of the necessary signatures to cover up for errors.
Short version: This will be on the ballot in November, until then, the law cannot go into effect, and since the voters of Ohio are overwhelmingly against the law, it will be overturned in November and never go into effect.
Woo-hoo! A win for the little guys....
Peace,
emaycee
Short version: This will be on the ballot in November, until then, the law cannot go into effect, and since the voters of Ohio are overwhelmingly against the law, it will be overturned in November and never go into effect.
Woo-hoo! A win for the little guys....
Peace,
emaycee
Lame times two
I think what's frustrating about traditional media is how shallow the majority of the commentary is--I mean, for Christ's sake, putting thought into it is their fucking job and it truly seems beyond them.
Not sure what happened to Rochelle Riley--at one point during the height of the Bush/Cheney years she was leading the charge for impeachment--but she seems to have joined the Kumbaya movement (it'll all be okay if we just work together in a bipartisan yada, yada, yada). I would be the last person to defend President Obama, but Riley's charges against Obama are just flat weak (other than the he was supposed to be different but he isn't). I think there were very few Democrats--or Independents for that matter--who voted for Obama with the belief that he was leading the way for a third party. We voted for him to return us to the Democratic Party values we hold dear--Social Security, Medicare, pro union, better standard of living for the Middle Class, taking care of the poor. We may have seen what wasn't actually there--as Digby has noted often--but we weren't voting for an end to partisan gridlock. (Basically because there is no partisan gridlock--it's fucking republican gridlock). The Dems--led by Nancy Pelosi--have plenty of ideas for getting this country back on its feet, but republicans have blocked us at every turn. People voted for Obama because he wasn't espousing the bullshit of George W. Bush, and we'd all seen where that had led us. In fact, I'd say the main reason Obama has failed to get his message across is because he's been too middle of the road, too bipartisan. The boldest leaders, who have helped the poor and middle class the most (FDR and LBJ) didn't give two shits about bipartisanship--they took care of us first and everyone else could go to hell. I know the Free Press' few readers are mostly dinosaur conservatives anymore, but Riley's piece was just pathetic.
Wonk had another of his half-ass pieces, too--Christ, this guy is just mailing it in anymore. While I'll freely admit I was in the "Anthony Weiner Should Resign Because He's Hurting the Cause" camp, I thought, as I did with David Vitter and John Ensign and Arnold Schwarzenegger, that it was much ado about nothing. There is absolutely nothing wrong with these people making our laws (or, if there is, it is based on Liberal ideas vs. conservative ideas, not their sex lives)--if we applied Wonk's logic to the business world, my guess is that about half of our business leaders would be out of a job due to their sexual pecadilloes. They are perverts, not idiots. And what's really sad is that with all the problems this country has, Wonk actually wasted a column (and my fucking time, thank you very much) on drivel such as this.
In a somewhat related note, there are people in this world who are funny, and there are people who are not. Wonk is obviously in the latter category--if you ain't got it, don't force it.
Peace,
emaycee
Not sure what happened to Rochelle Riley--at one point during the height of the Bush/Cheney years she was leading the charge for impeachment--but she seems to have joined the Kumbaya movement (it'll all be okay if we just work together in a bipartisan yada, yada, yada). I would be the last person to defend President Obama, but Riley's charges against Obama are just flat weak (other than the he was supposed to be different but he isn't). I think there were very few Democrats--or Independents for that matter--who voted for Obama with the belief that he was leading the way for a third party. We voted for him to return us to the Democratic Party values we hold dear--Social Security, Medicare, pro union, better standard of living for the Middle Class, taking care of the poor. We may have seen what wasn't actually there--as Digby has noted often--but we weren't voting for an end to partisan gridlock. (Basically because there is no partisan gridlock--it's fucking republican gridlock). The Dems--led by Nancy Pelosi--have plenty of ideas for getting this country back on its feet, but republicans have blocked us at every turn. People voted for Obama because he wasn't espousing the bullshit of George W. Bush, and we'd all seen where that had led us. In fact, I'd say the main reason Obama has failed to get his message across is because he's been too middle of the road, too bipartisan. The boldest leaders, who have helped the poor and middle class the most (FDR and LBJ) didn't give two shits about bipartisanship--they took care of us first and everyone else could go to hell. I know the Free Press' few readers are mostly dinosaur conservatives anymore, but Riley's piece was just pathetic.
Wonk had another of his half-ass pieces, too--Christ, this guy is just mailing it in anymore. While I'll freely admit I was in the "Anthony Weiner Should Resign Because He's Hurting the Cause" camp, I thought, as I did with David Vitter and John Ensign and Arnold Schwarzenegger, that it was much ado about nothing. There is absolutely nothing wrong with these people making our laws (or, if there is, it is based on Liberal ideas vs. conservative ideas, not their sex lives)--if we applied Wonk's logic to the business world, my guess is that about half of our business leaders would be out of a job due to their sexual pecadilloes. They are perverts, not idiots. And what's really sad is that with all the problems this country has, Wonk actually wasted a column (and my fucking time, thank you very much) on drivel such as this.
In a somewhat related note, there are people in this world who are funny, and there are people who are not. Wonk is obviously in the latter category--if you ain't got it, don't force it.
Peace,
emaycee
And a kick in the balls
Since I quit smoking, after nine p.m. if I try watching TV I am asleep in five minutes (usually less). Not so last night--watching White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer squirm while being interviewed by the Daily Kos' Kaili Joy Gray certainly kept me awake. Thank you C-Span!
Good news: we have a lot of fighters out there still pushing the Liberal agenda. Bad news: don't think the Obama administration gives a shit. They know we're so anti-republican that we'll turn out regardless because we're smart enough to know how much worse it could get.
Not a lot of joy in Mudville tonight.
Peace,
emaycee
Good news: we have a lot of fighters out there still pushing the Liberal agenda. Bad news: don't think the Obama administration gives a shit. They know we're so anti-republican that we'll turn out regardless because we're smart enough to know how much worse it could get.
Not a lot of joy in Mudville tonight.
Peace,
emaycee
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Sleeping with the enemy
As you read this post, the word I most want to be in your mind is "naivete."
I'll give Tom Walsh credit--he didn't laugh in Bob King's (President of the UAW) face after his speech at the Mackinac Policy Conference. He noted that King's speech was well-received by the conservative leaning crowd--take that with a grain of salt, as no one in that crowd isn't hoping that King doesn't end up flipping burgers at McDonald's. Note to King: if you're serious about improving the lives of the people you represent, skip functions such as these. It was a complete and total waste of time and did nothing now and never will to help the members of your union. The people you spoke to just don't give a fuck about you or the working class. They--as well as Gov. Snyder--are not your friends. They are the enemy.
To a certain extent, the Free Press has cautioned about the direction in which Gov. Snyder is leading the state (editorials here and here), especially with regard to the poor. I'm not sure if the sentiments are heartfelt or a precursor to pivoting away from its endorsement of Snyder if his plan doesn't work, but as is usually the case with editorials, they had the same effect as a can of air freshener does on an elephant fart: none.
This piece by Stephen Henderson is probably the piece over the past few weeks that has bothered me the most. Henderson starts out with a good premise--paraphrased, is Snyder full of shit? (Good, God, man, of course he is.) And then proceeds to basically fall all over himself about how great Snyder is: agreeing with 80% of what Snyder is doing (if that's liberal media we're all fucked), praising Snyder's positive energy (hate to break it to you but fucking wishing won't make it so), and claiming how much Snyder has changed the state's culture (Snyder has merely copied Reagan--shaking your hand with a smile on his face while sticking a knife in your back). Sure, Henderson claims he's concerned as to whether all Snyder's bullshit will show the results we need in Michigan, but frankly, as I noted above, I think he, like the Free Press, is just covering his ass for when Snyder falls flat on his face.
Remember that word at the beginning? This is why you should think about it: all of the above are sadly mistaken in believing that somehow we're all going to work together to solve our problems. The plain truth is that the powers that be do not give a rat's ass about our economic problems, and frankly, those are the only problems that matter to those of us who live paycheck to paycheck (at least for now). There will be no Kumbaya moment until we convince those that have the gold that they won't have the gold much longer if we don't get our share.
Or to quote a very special man: Power to the people, right on!
Peace,
emaycee
I'll give Tom Walsh credit--he didn't laugh in Bob King's (President of the UAW) face after his speech at the Mackinac Policy Conference. He noted that King's speech was well-received by the conservative leaning crowd--take that with a grain of salt, as no one in that crowd isn't hoping that King doesn't end up flipping burgers at McDonald's. Note to King: if you're serious about improving the lives of the people you represent, skip functions such as these. It was a complete and total waste of time and did nothing now and never will to help the members of your union. The people you spoke to just don't give a fuck about you or the working class. They--as well as Gov. Snyder--are not your friends. They are the enemy.
To a certain extent, the Free Press has cautioned about the direction in which Gov. Snyder is leading the state (editorials here and here), especially with regard to the poor. I'm not sure if the sentiments are heartfelt or a precursor to pivoting away from its endorsement of Snyder if his plan doesn't work, but as is usually the case with editorials, they had the same effect as a can of air freshener does on an elephant fart: none.
This piece by Stephen Henderson is probably the piece over the past few weeks that has bothered me the most. Henderson starts out with a good premise--paraphrased, is Snyder full of shit? (Good, God, man, of course he is.) And then proceeds to basically fall all over himself about how great Snyder is: agreeing with 80% of what Snyder is doing (if that's liberal media we're all fucked), praising Snyder's positive energy (hate to break it to you but fucking wishing won't make it so), and claiming how much Snyder has changed the state's culture (Snyder has merely copied Reagan--shaking your hand with a smile on his face while sticking a knife in your back). Sure, Henderson claims he's concerned as to whether all Snyder's bullshit will show the results we need in Michigan, but frankly, as I noted above, I think he, like the Free Press, is just covering his ass for when Snyder falls flat on his face.
Remember that word at the beginning? This is why you should think about it: all of the above are sadly mistaken in believing that somehow we're all going to work together to solve our problems. The plain truth is that the powers that be do not give a rat's ass about our economic problems, and frankly, those are the only problems that matter to those of us who live paycheck to paycheck (at least for now). There will be no Kumbaya moment until we convince those that have the gold that they won't have the gold much longer if we don't get our share.
Or to quote a very special man: Power to the people, right on!
Peace,
emaycee
They Live
In 1988 John Carpenter made a film called They Live, which was, more or less, a morality play on the gods of consumption and free markets. Toward the end of the film, there's a great scene where the wealthy elite humans and wealthy elite aliens have an underground meeting to reflect on their financial success at the expense of the masses (who are subliminally coaxed to consume and obey). This is the image I carried in my head as I read about Gov. Snyder's appearance at the yearly Mackinac Policy Conference (which is, more or less, a circle jerk for conservative dorks and free market apologists).
And there's reason to celebrate for said circle jerk participants--the governor got his budget and continues to be convinced that his tax plan will create jobs. Screw the fact that there is no empirical evidence anywhere that supports his faith. Gov. Snyder is going to do his Joel Osteen impersonation and the jobs are just going to magically appear. Yeah surreee.
And if you listen to Brian Dickerson, he just may be magical--I mean, whoever could have guessed that Snyder could pass his entire conservative agenda with overwhelming republican majorities in the Michigan legislature. It's about as big of a shock as the New York Yankees beating the local tee ball team. I will give Snyder credit for being shrewd: his big centerpieces, a tax cut for corporations, taxing pensioners, and cutting benefits for the poor are right up republicans alley. I mean, let's face it, republicans worship at the altar of corporate America, and if there's anything republicans hate more than people who receive pensions, it's the poor. Give me a fucking break--Gov. Snyder is just a shrewder version of Wisconsin's Scott Walker. The result will be just like Carpenter's They Live--more and more Michiganders living on the fringe and more and more wealth ending up in the hands of the already filthy rich.
Peace,
emaycee
And there's reason to celebrate for said circle jerk participants--the governor got his budget and continues to be convinced that his tax plan will create jobs. Screw the fact that there is no empirical evidence anywhere that supports his faith. Gov. Snyder is going to do his Joel Osteen impersonation and the jobs are just going to magically appear. Yeah surreee.
And if you listen to Brian Dickerson, he just may be magical--I mean, whoever could have guessed that Snyder could pass his entire conservative agenda with overwhelming republican majorities in the Michigan legislature. It's about as big of a shock as the New York Yankees beating the local tee ball team. I will give Snyder credit for being shrewd: his big centerpieces, a tax cut for corporations, taxing pensioners, and cutting benefits for the poor are right up republicans alley. I mean, let's face it, republicans worship at the altar of corporate America, and if there's anything republicans hate more than people who receive pensions, it's the poor. Give me a fucking break--Gov. Snyder is just a shrewder version of Wisconsin's Scott Walker. The result will be just like Carpenter's They Live--more and more Michiganders living on the fringe and more and more wealth ending up in the hands of the already filthy rich.
Peace,
emaycee
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Please, please, please...
...let Sarah Palin decide to run for President in 2012 and be the republican nominee. The 2006 and 2008 Democratic triumphs would pale in comparison.
Did you know that Paul Revere--he of one if by land, two if by sea fame--was actually out warning the British not to take away our guns? Forget your knowledge of history--Sister Sarah speaks the truth. And just in case she doesn't, her supporters are happy to rewrite Wikipedia's Paul Revere page so she actually does. What next--are Michelle Bachman's supporters going to physically move Lexington and Concord from Massachusetts to New Hampshire to prove her right?
What's most amazing about Palin's idiocy (aside from the traditional media not calling her out on it) is how many people still support her. I mean, for fuck's sake, I wouldn't trust the women to take care of my son's pet turtle when we go on vacation and there are people who actually think she should be President of the United States.
Utterly fucking frightening.
Peace,
emaycee
Did you know that Paul Revere--he of one if by land, two if by sea fame--was actually out warning the British not to take away our guns? Forget your knowledge of history--Sister Sarah speaks the truth. And just in case she doesn't, her supporters are happy to rewrite Wikipedia's Paul Revere page so she actually does. What next--are Michelle Bachman's supporters going to physically move Lexington and Concord from Massachusetts to New Hampshire to prove her right?
What's most amazing about Palin's idiocy (aside from the traditional media not calling her out on it) is how many people still support her. I mean, for fuck's sake, I wouldn't trust the women to take care of my son's pet turtle when we go on vacation and there are people who actually think she should be President of the United States.
Utterly fucking frightening.
Peace,
emaycee
Those who can't...become spokespeople for republicans
Those of a certain age will remember a weekly segment on Sixty Minutes called "Point/Counterpoint" or the SNL send up of the segment ("Jane, you ignorant misguided slut!"). The Free Press on occasion runs a similar series called "Opposing Points of View." All too often, it results in a chance for republicans, republican advocates, corporations, or corporate advocates to peddle their lies under the guise of being published in the big city newspaper. The Free Press does an excellent job of abetting them.
As in these opposing pieces--the first another in a long line of recent attacks on public sector unions without merit and the second a defense of public sector unions. The first piece, written by Michael Lomax and Michelle Rhee (she of the Washington D. C. Erasuregate Scandal--her system, as is typical of conservatives, worked so well when they cheated on their test scores--and a fine job done by the Free Press informing its readers of such), basically advocates that the best teachers should be kept, regardless of experience. Sounds good in theory, but what it really amounts to, its ugly little secret so to speak, is ageism, which is used regularly in the corporate world where there are no unions to protect workers. It's about cutting pay, and has nothing whatsover to do with what's best for the children. In fact, I find it especially disgusting that republicans have the fucking gall to talk about what's best for children when with their desires to cut Medicaid and their gutting of education budgets it's brutally obvious that the children of the nation are as much a concern to them as a fly on its ass is to a hippo.
This is little more than the Free Press helping conservatives continue their assault on the poor, the working poor, and the middle class. It's a race to the bottom--lower wages, lower benefits, and less protection for us in return for more money for corporations and the wealthy, with the Free Press giving a cover of legitimacy.
Freedom of the press is all too often wasted on the wrong organizations.
Peace,
emaycee
As in these opposing pieces--the first another in a long line of recent attacks on public sector unions without merit and the second a defense of public sector unions. The first piece, written by Michael Lomax and Michelle Rhee (she of the Washington D. C. Erasuregate Scandal--her system, as is typical of conservatives, worked so well when they cheated on their test scores--and a fine job done by the Free Press informing its readers of such), basically advocates that the best teachers should be kept, regardless of experience. Sounds good in theory, but what it really amounts to, its ugly little secret so to speak, is ageism, which is used regularly in the corporate world where there are no unions to protect workers. It's about cutting pay, and has nothing whatsover to do with what's best for the children. In fact, I find it especially disgusting that republicans have the fucking gall to talk about what's best for children when with their desires to cut Medicaid and their gutting of education budgets it's brutally obvious that the children of the nation are as much a concern to them as a fly on its ass is to a hippo.
This is little more than the Free Press helping conservatives continue their assault on the poor, the working poor, and the middle class. It's a race to the bottom--lower wages, lower benefits, and less protection for us in return for more money for corporations and the wealthy, with the Free Press giving a cover of legitimacy.
Freedom of the press is all too often wasted on the wrong organizations.
Peace,
emaycee
Necessary? You decide!
So Dick Morris--paid shill for Fox News and the anti-new bridge to Canada crowd--comes to Michigan and the Free Press decides to cover his little get together with Oakland County republicans. My main question is...what the fuck for? The man is not particularly astute, little more than a paid shill, and I can't really imagine after his sexual pecadilloes during the Clinton years that there is anyone on the planet other than flat earth republicans and tea party members who take the man seriously. There is simply no credible reason for this story other than as a sop to said republicans. Who the fuck really cares what a prostitute toe sucker thinks?
And the claims of his being a one time Democrat are pretty thin--Morris is a conservative who veered Bill Clinton to the right and then immediately went back to his conservative ways when he sensed that Faux News were big enough suckers to pay him for his "expertise.": Because Dick Morris was at one time a paid consultant for a Democrat does not make him a card carrying member of the Democratic Party. I've yet to see a piece by any Democrat shedding a tear over his departure as a consultant.
Bad piece on a totally irrelevant republican toadie--your Free Press at its best.
Peace,
emaycee
And the claims of his being a one time Democrat are pretty thin--Morris is a conservative who veered Bill Clinton to the right and then immediately went back to his conservative ways when he sensed that Faux News were big enough suckers to pay him for his "expertise.": Because Dick Morris was at one time a paid consultant for a Democrat does not make him a card carrying member of the Democratic Party. I've yet to see a piece by any Democrat shedding a tear over his departure as a consultant.
Bad piece on a totally irrelevant republican toadie--your Free Press at its best.
Peace,
emaycee
From the mouths of decadence
This is the republican agenda at its purest--Congressman Rob Woodall telling his constituents, in essence, "Fuck you, I've got mine and I don't care if you get yours." This crap from a man who has lived his life at the public trough, via our taxes, telling us we have to take care of ourselves because he doesn't want to. It also is a reminder that Paul Ryan is a con man, and that the republican plan is to end Medicare as we now know it.
Loved the socialism reference (yay Canada!--and what is it with idiots and losing arguments trotting out socialism?) and the success by the sweat of your brow bullshit--man, there are far too many of us who have witnessed the corporate agenda over the past couple of years to believe in any malarkey about hard work leading to our success. And as if Congressman Woodall would have the slightest idea what hard work is (unless you count kissing the asses of his corporate and tea party benefactors)--tough work sitting on your ass in an air conditioned building listening to people argue.
This is class warfare, plain and simple, and Democrats would be wise to use Congressman Woodall's diatribe in as many ads as possible between now and November 2012. For all the Democratic Party's faults, there is a world of difference between republicans and us, and Congressman Woodall's world view is a crystal clear example of it.
Peace,
emaycee
Loved the socialism reference (yay Canada!--and what is it with idiots and losing arguments trotting out socialism?) and the success by the sweat of your brow bullshit--man, there are far too many of us who have witnessed the corporate agenda over the past couple of years to believe in any malarkey about hard work leading to our success. And as if Congressman Woodall would have the slightest idea what hard work is (unless you count kissing the asses of his corporate and tea party benefactors)--tough work sitting on your ass in an air conditioned building listening to people argue.
This is class warfare, plain and simple, and Democrats would be wise to use Congressman Woodall's diatribe in as many ads as possible between now and November 2012. For all the Democratic Party's faults, there is a world of difference between republicans and us, and Congressman Woodall's world view is a crystal clear example of it.
Peace,
emaycee
Brother Can You Spare a Dime?
Other than Paul Krugman, generally when I read an article by an economist my eyes glaze over after a paragraph or two and I scan down to the bottom to get the highlights and move on to other reading. This piece by Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz for Vanity Fair--and it's great reference to our governement: of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%--was not one of those dreary articles, and even better, has got me to thinking about the state of economic well-being for those of us who make up the poor, the working class, and the middle class.
It isn't pretty.
State legislatures are more interested in helping business than in helping us--South Carolina joined Michigan (fucking republicans), Missouri, Arkansas, and Florida in cutting the number of weeks one can collect unemployment ostensibly believing that cutting payroll taxes for businesses would create jobs. Har-de-har-har. One idiot actually said they had to cut it because some numb nut business owner had people turning down his job offers because they could make more on unemployment. One supposes it never occured to the pinheads in the South Carolina legislature that the pay rates being offered were the problem. Needless to say, the feelings of their constituents don't matter, as noted here in Michigan where republicans pushed through their $1.8 billion tax cuts for businesses despite Michigan residents being overwhelmingly against it.
Thanks to the republicans being in the White House for 20 of the last 30 years the Supreme Court is now made up of the best justices corporate money could buy--Scalia, Alito, Roberts, Thomas, Kennedy--and they somehow seem to have misinterpreted the Constitution as being a document that protects the powerful and not the powerless. It's not bad enough that corporations can now buy our elections, they can pretty much now cheat, swindle, and maim their clientele with impunity.
Guess what? CEO pay now exceeds the levels it had reached before the Great Recession. Guess what else? Though I'm sure this won't surprise most people, ours doesn't. How long, do you suppose, is it before ordinary people say enough is enough and begin to demand their fair share--by any means necessary? My guess is not much longer.
Bad news from the No, Shit Sherlock Files: it seems a new study proclaims what anyone who has ever worked a minimum wage job already knows...you can't survive financially on minimum wage. Which is especially unfortunate because we seem to be moving in the direction of minimum wage jobs for the vast majority of us. Back to the future anyone?
All of you with health insurance you received through your job raise your hands...not so fast there, Mrs. Jackson! Work for a small business that provides health insurance? All it takes is one debilitating illness of a co-worker and voila! Health insurance rates rise to prohibitive levels (intentionally) and your company soon finds it can no longer afford the premiums, and next thing you know, no health insurance for you and your family. And the problem with Obamacare--other than it doesn't go far enough--was what, exactly?
The class divide keeps growing--this is another of those "No, you've got to be shitting me!" pieces, but while we struggle to put food on our tables, Saks Fifth Avenue is doubling down on the rich. And why shouldn't they? Every time we turn around the republicans are giving away our future to put more money in those who already have enough's pockets. And all those claims of how broke we are to justify cuts to education and healthcare and the poor? Complete and total bullshit. But it sells newspapers and T.V. news advertising and income inequality (which will be the downfall of this nation) does not.
The point is not to be Donnie Downer--most of us realize how shitty the economy and our own personal finances are these days. The point is to remember--and get the Democratic Party off its ass to promote--that these problems, these issues, this unfairness, this inequality, was created by republicans who are absolutely no different than the boneheads they were from 2000-2008. The only difference is now they realize how short-lived their reign can be and are striving to take as much away from us as they can before they are out of power.
Heaven help us if we don't fight back with everything we have.
Peace,
emaycee
It isn't pretty.
State legislatures are more interested in helping business than in helping us--South Carolina joined Michigan (fucking republicans), Missouri, Arkansas, and Florida in cutting the number of weeks one can collect unemployment ostensibly believing that cutting payroll taxes for businesses would create jobs. Har-de-har-har. One idiot actually said they had to cut it because some numb nut business owner had people turning down his job offers because they could make more on unemployment. One supposes it never occured to the pinheads in the South Carolina legislature that the pay rates being offered were the problem. Needless to say, the feelings of their constituents don't matter, as noted here in Michigan where republicans pushed through their $1.8 billion tax cuts for businesses despite Michigan residents being overwhelmingly against it.
Thanks to the republicans being in the White House for 20 of the last 30 years the Supreme Court is now made up of the best justices corporate money could buy--Scalia, Alito, Roberts, Thomas, Kennedy--and they somehow seem to have misinterpreted the Constitution as being a document that protects the powerful and not the powerless. It's not bad enough that corporations can now buy our elections, they can pretty much now cheat, swindle, and maim their clientele with impunity.
Guess what? CEO pay now exceeds the levels it had reached before the Great Recession. Guess what else? Though I'm sure this won't surprise most people, ours doesn't. How long, do you suppose, is it before ordinary people say enough is enough and begin to demand their fair share--by any means necessary? My guess is not much longer.
Bad news from the No, Shit Sherlock Files: it seems a new study proclaims what anyone who has ever worked a minimum wage job already knows...you can't survive financially on minimum wage. Which is especially unfortunate because we seem to be moving in the direction of minimum wage jobs for the vast majority of us. Back to the future anyone?
All of you with health insurance you received through your job raise your hands...not so fast there, Mrs. Jackson! Work for a small business that provides health insurance? All it takes is one debilitating illness of a co-worker and voila! Health insurance rates rise to prohibitive levels (intentionally) and your company soon finds it can no longer afford the premiums, and next thing you know, no health insurance for you and your family. And the problem with Obamacare--other than it doesn't go far enough--was what, exactly?
The class divide keeps growing--this is another of those "No, you've got to be shitting me!" pieces, but while we struggle to put food on our tables, Saks Fifth Avenue is doubling down on the rich. And why shouldn't they? Every time we turn around the republicans are giving away our future to put more money in those who already have enough's pockets. And all those claims of how broke we are to justify cuts to education and healthcare and the poor? Complete and total bullshit. But it sells newspapers and T.V. news advertising and income inequality (which will be the downfall of this nation) does not.
The point is not to be Donnie Downer--most of us realize how shitty the economy and our own personal finances are these days. The point is to remember--and get the Democratic Party off its ass to promote--that these problems, these issues, this unfairness, this inequality, was created by republicans who are absolutely no different than the boneheads they were from 2000-2008. The only difference is now they realize how short-lived their reign can be and are striving to take as much away from us as they can before they are out of power.
Heaven help us if we don't fight back with everything we have.
Peace,
emaycee
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