It's been a while since I did one of those posts with a bunch of depressing statistics on the poor and middle class...and with my Giants on the verge of being swept at home by the loathesome Dodgers I'm ready to slash my wrists anyway, so what the fuck, let's have at it:
1) 38% of Americans now are living paycheck to paycheck (Hey, Honey, we have plenty of company!), which to me doesn't bode well for continuing a strong middle class very much longer.
2) The poverty rate in the U. S. is on track to hit its highest level (estimated to reach 15.7%--that's three out of every twenty of your fellow Americans you see walking down the street) since the 1960s. Anyone wondering what it would be if republicans hadn't spent the last thirty years destroying all the gains made in LBJ's War on Poverty?
3) The bottom 50% of American wage earners now own a whopping 1% of our national wealth (That's us again, Honey--even more company this time!). That's down from a high of 3.6% 1995--naturally during a Democratic Presidency.
4) Despite the bullshit we're fed by republicans about minimum wage increases stifling growth for small businesses, the majoity of low wage workers are employed by large corporations. And as a recent study shows, of the top fifty low wage companies, 92% were profitable last year, and 63% had greater profits than before the Great Recession. Apparently, as noted by Digby in the previous link, old Karl Marx was right about all that businesses exploiting workers to maximize profits stuff. Who could have guessed?
It's gotten so bad that even the usually tone deaf to the economic plight of the poor and middle class Detroit Free Press called out the campaigns--well, mostly Willard--to make battling poverty a bigger part of their Presidential runs. It is, of course, a bit rich that the union busting Free Press would speak of poverty when the decline in membership in Labor Unions is probably at the top of the list for reasons why poverty is growing in America. And, uh, good luck with getting Richie Rich Romney to mention poverty--he thinks the only thing 99% of Americans are good for is buffing his Richie Rich mobile and cutting his finely manicured lawn--for, of course, minimum wage.
All of which makes you wonder how much longer we can dangle the fruits of the American dream in the face of ordinary Americans when those fruits are looking less and less likely to come to fruition.
Peace,
emaycee
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Bad journalism
This piece--published in the Free Press--is a picture perfect example of everything that is wrong with the Beltway media. Seems Mr. Henry C. Jackson of the Associated Press (badly in need of a new career) did himself some serious research and reported the usual he said/she said on the virtue of laws being sought by Congress. Both parties, according to serious journalist Jackson, are guilty of trying to pass laws only to help their guys running for President.
Nowhere in the piece does serious journalist Jackson ever offer any context. Nowhere in the piece does serious journalist Jackson discuss the merits of the laws being sought.
Here's the horrible bills brought up by the Democrats: full disclosure for campaign donors who make donations in excess of $10,000, ending tax breaks for corporations shipping jobs overseas, and making certain that Presidential candidates have to disclose any offshore tax havens they may possess. How exactly these awful laws will help Mr. Obama's re-election isn't mentioned by serious journalist Jackson, because God knows that laws that help us to find out who is trying to buy our government, stop corporate welfare for companies that do not have our best national interests in their policies, and having a tax cheat for a President are all some kind of commie plots.
Here are the bills presented by the republicans as noted by serious journalist Jackson: repeal Obamacare (yawn) and continuing the Bush tax cuts. Because, you know, having more healthy people would be such a detriment for the country and the Bush tax cuts did so much to stimulate our economy.
We'd be much better off as a nation if the Associated Press wasn't so half-assed--and if writers like serious journalist Jackson were sent packing.
Peace,
emaycee
Nowhere in the piece does serious journalist Jackson ever offer any context. Nowhere in the piece does serious journalist Jackson discuss the merits of the laws being sought.
Here's the horrible bills brought up by the Democrats: full disclosure for campaign donors who make donations in excess of $10,000, ending tax breaks for corporations shipping jobs overseas, and making certain that Presidential candidates have to disclose any offshore tax havens they may possess. How exactly these awful laws will help Mr. Obama's re-election isn't mentioned by serious journalist Jackson, because God knows that laws that help us to find out who is trying to buy our government, stop corporate welfare for companies that do not have our best national interests in their policies, and having a tax cheat for a President are all some kind of commie plots.
Here are the bills presented by the republicans as noted by serious journalist Jackson: repeal Obamacare (yawn) and continuing the Bush tax cuts. Because, you know, having more healthy people would be such a detriment for the country and the Bush tax cuts did so much to stimulate our economy.
We'd be much better off as a nation if the Associated Press wasn't so half-assed--and if writers like serious journalist Jackson were sent packing.
Peace,
emaycee
Thursday, July 26, 2012
An embarrassment of idiots
This is what the republican party has done--just this year--to embarrass the state of Michigan and in all likelihood, make it an even less attractive place either for businesses to locate to or talented individuals to stay in or move to:
1) Challenge a voter initiative to repeal the draconian Emergency Financial Manager law despite its having more than enough signatures to be placed on the ballot this November because they claimed the fucking font size on the petition was wrong.
2) Take away the free speech of two female state congresswomen for having the audacity to say "vagina" as a bill on women's reproductive rights was being debated.
3) Refuse to pass a bill that would build a second bridge to Canada, which would create thousands of jobs, reduce traffic significantly, save businesses and taxpayers money, and make the state an even bigger player in international trade, because the votes of republicans in Lansing have been bought--literally--by billionaire Matty Moroun who stands to be worth a few dollars less if the Ambassador Bridge isn't the only game in town.
As if all that wasn't enough of a black eye for Michigan, now we have Speaker of the House Jase Bolger and newly converted republican Roy Schmidt conspiring to pay a young man to run as a Democrat against turncoat Schmidt to spare the possibility that voters angry with Schmidt's last minute defection might vote his ass out of office. Calls for Bolger's resignation and Schmidt's withdrawl were given the usual republican short shrift by blaming the Democrats (how it's our fault they paid a candidate to run a false campaign is never explained) and Bolger ran a lame ass apology in the Free Press. Frankly, if he were truly sorry he would resign--the offense is that egregious.
But--believe it or not--what Bolger and Schmidt conspired to do is not illegal in Michigan and neither can be charged with any crime. The Free Press--ever vigilant--didn't bother to call for Bolger's resignation, but did run an equally lame ass editorial calling for Secretary of State Ruth Johnson to get just such a law passed to prevent this from happening again (or, at least if they get caught, having such actions be a crime). I'll at least give the Free Press credit for bitch slapping Secretary Johnson over her bogus voter fraud claims and bills to prevent such (out of millions of votes the last three elections, less than ten cases were found, and those were errors rather than fraud), but if they think she's going to lift a finger on this...they're forgetting that unless it involves subverting democracy and disenfranchising Democratic voters, republicans don't give a shit.
I've said it before and I'll say it again--it's going to be hard enough to attract the best and the brightest to Michigan where you freeze your ass of six months of the year (let alone with lousy paying jobs), but embarrassing the state again and again and making us look like some southern idiocracy will be the death knell.
North Dakota, here we come!
Peace,
emaycee
1) Challenge a voter initiative to repeal the draconian Emergency Financial Manager law despite its having more than enough signatures to be placed on the ballot this November because they claimed the fucking font size on the petition was wrong.
2) Take away the free speech of two female state congresswomen for having the audacity to say "vagina" as a bill on women's reproductive rights was being debated.
3) Refuse to pass a bill that would build a second bridge to Canada, which would create thousands of jobs, reduce traffic significantly, save businesses and taxpayers money, and make the state an even bigger player in international trade, because the votes of republicans in Lansing have been bought--literally--by billionaire Matty Moroun who stands to be worth a few dollars less if the Ambassador Bridge isn't the only game in town.
As if all that wasn't enough of a black eye for Michigan, now we have Speaker of the House Jase Bolger and newly converted republican Roy Schmidt conspiring to pay a young man to run as a Democrat against turncoat Schmidt to spare the possibility that voters angry with Schmidt's last minute defection might vote his ass out of office. Calls for Bolger's resignation and Schmidt's withdrawl were given the usual republican short shrift by blaming the Democrats (how it's our fault they paid a candidate to run a false campaign is never explained) and Bolger ran a lame ass apology in the Free Press. Frankly, if he were truly sorry he would resign--the offense is that egregious.
But--believe it or not--what Bolger and Schmidt conspired to do is not illegal in Michigan and neither can be charged with any crime. The Free Press--ever vigilant--didn't bother to call for Bolger's resignation, but did run an equally lame ass editorial calling for Secretary of State Ruth Johnson to get just such a law passed to prevent this from happening again (or, at least if they get caught, having such actions be a crime). I'll at least give the Free Press credit for bitch slapping Secretary Johnson over her bogus voter fraud claims and bills to prevent such (out of millions of votes the last three elections, less than ten cases were found, and those were errors rather than fraud), but if they think she's going to lift a finger on this...they're forgetting that unless it involves subverting democracy and disenfranchising Democratic voters, republicans don't give a shit.
I've said it before and I'll say it again--it's going to be hard enough to attract the best and the brightest to Michigan where you freeze your ass of six months of the year (let alone with lousy paying jobs), but embarrassing the state again and again and making us look like some southern idiocracy will be the death knell.
North Dakota, here we come!
Peace,
emaycee
Whaddya know
Thanks to Thaddeus McCotter's abrupt resignation, Michigan's 11th Congressional district has to have a special election to fill the remainder of his term (which, with recesses, etc. will probably last less than one month). Due to the lateness of the resignation, however, the district can have the election coincide with this year's elections in November--and even better, if the Democrats and Republicans each only pick one candidate, a special primary election at a cost of $650,000 can be avoided and each name will just be put on a ballot this November to complete the last few days of McCotter's term
Those noted spendthrifts, the Democrats, decided on their one candidate, David Curson, to help save the struggling state of Michigan that $650,000. But lo and behold, the republicans, that party that is ever concerned that a nickel of our hard earned taxes is wasted on such frivolties as food stamps and public education, just couldn't come together and have one candidate, to again, save the taxpayers of Michigan $650,000. Want to guess how many candidates will appear on the ballot costing the taxpayers of Michigan $650,000? Not two. Nope. Not three. Not even four. It's five. Five fucking republicans put their self-interest above helping save the state of Michigan $650,000. And these shit for brains are the frugal ones?
Afraid not. They're just the assholes. How in God's name the republican party is any more than a pimple on the ass of the body of political parties is a tribute to the stupidity of far too many Americans.
Peace,
emaycee
Those noted spendthrifts, the Democrats, decided on their one candidate, David Curson, to help save the struggling state of Michigan that $650,000. But lo and behold, the republicans, that party that is ever concerned that a nickel of our hard earned taxes is wasted on such frivolties as food stamps and public education, just couldn't come together and have one candidate, to again, save the taxpayers of Michigan $650,000. Want to guess how many candidates will appear on the ballot costing the taxpayers of Michigan $650,000? Not two. Nope. Not three. Not even four. It's five. Five fucking republicans put their self-interest above helping save the state of Michigan $650,000. And these shit for brains are the frugal ones?
Afraid not. They're just the assholes. How in God's name the republican party is any more than a pimple on the ass of the body of political parties is a tribute to the stupidity of far too many Americans.
Peace,
emaycee
Monday, July 23, 2012
Another reason to be glad you're a Democrat
Suzy Welch, pampered elitist and wife of vastly overpaid and overrated former CEO of GE Jack Welch, thinks that the choice of songs sung by Willard Romney and President Obama speaks volumes about the two men. Apparently, Willard's choice of his vastly off key rendition of "America the Beautiful" makes him a better American (read "white") than President Obama (read "black") and his remarkably--and totally cool--tuneful version of an American classic, Al Green's "Let's Stay Together."
Said Ms. Welch, "That is two different Americas. Isn't it?"
You bet your ass it is, sweetheart. And frankly, if being a good American in Ms. Welch's eyes means the choice between a bad version of "America the Beautiful" and the soulful Obama version of "Let's Stay Together," I'll stay here in 99% Land, thank you very much.
Fuck you, Suzy.
Peace,
emaycee
Said Ms. Welch, "That is two different Americas. Isn't it?"
You bet your ass it is, sweetheart. And frankly, if being a good American in Ms. Welch's eyes means the choice between a bad version of "America the Beautiful" and the soulful Obama version of "Let's Stay Together," I'll stay here in 99% Land, thank you very much.
Fuck you, Suzy.
Peace,
emaycee
The year's most disingenuous commentary
And that's saying a lot considering this is a Presidential election year.
Conservative commentator Bill Kristol (Scum, with, that's right, a capital "S") said yesterday that the Democrats are being "foolish" for not proposing stronger gun control laws. He noted that President Obama, if he framed it as just a ban on assault rifles, would be able to get it through, but that the President lacked the courage.
In a perfect world, President Obama would be able to propose just such a law as Kristol noted above and it would be enacted. Unfortunately, we don't live in anywhere near a perfect world and were Obama to propose just such a law you can pretty much figure out the NRA and republican response: the president wants to take away all of our guns, take away one kind of gun and it's a slippery slope, etc., etc., etc.
Which would fire up the republican base, give the NRA even more reason to pour billions into defeating President Obama and other Democrats, and actually give toadie Willard Romney's campaign a shot in the arm.
I give the Democrats a lot of grief for not pursuing gun control more strenuously, but I understand why they don't. It's a losing issue (at least for now) and I'm one hundred percent positive Bill Kristol knows this. His calling the Dems foolish is more a reflection of himself than the Democrats. He's talking out of both sides of his ass and he knows it.
It's a Kristol wet dream that isn't ever going to happen.
Peace,
emaycee
Conservative commentator Bill Kristol (Scum, with, that's right, a capital "S") said yesterday that the Democrats are being "foolish" for not proposing stronger gun control laws. He noted that President Obama, if he framed it as just a ban on assault rifles, would be able to get it through, but that the President lacked the courage.
In a perfect world, President Obama would be able to propose just such a law as Kristol noted above and it would be enacted. Unfortunately, we don't live in anywhere near a perfect world and were Obama to propose just such a law you can pretty much figure out the NRA and republican response: the president wants to take away all of our guns, take away one kind of gun and it's a slippery slope, etc., etc., etc.
Which would fire up the republican base, give the NRA even more reason to pour billions into defeating President Obama and other Democrats, and actually give toadie Willard Romney's campaign a shot in the arm.
I give the Democrats a lot of grief for not pursuing gun control more strenuously, but I understand why they don't. It's a losing issue (at least for now) and I'm one hundred percent positive Bill Kristol knows this. His calling the Dems foolish is more a reflection of himself than the Democrats. He's talking out of both sides of his ass and he knows it.
It's a Kristol wet dream that isn't ever going to happen.
Peace,
emaycee
Exhibit A
Hate to say I told you so but I gotta:
And it's just the normal noises in here...
1) Barack Obama did his Presidential duty with his usual flair in Colorado this weekend. Mitt Romney was nice about it.
2) The Governor of Colorado, John Hickenlooper (a "Democrat") pretty much refused to even consider stricter gun control laws.
3) Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson (Republican) said that by refusing to allow troubled individuals to have guns it will restrict our freedoms. Outlawing murder restricts our freedoms, too, but I think the trade off is probably worth it.
4) On an American Family Association radio show, evangelicals blamed the Aurora shootings on Liberals, the media, and lenient churches. Bad news for the non-Christian victims, too. You're going to a "terrible place."
5) John McCain says we should look at "everything" concerning the shootings...except gun control.
6) Former Arizona state senator Russell Peace said the men in the theater lacked courage for not trying to stop the shooter. How exactly the men in the theater were supposed to stop a madman dressed in full body armor, with tear gas in the air, while sixty rounds a minute were being fired from his gun, Pearce doesn't say.
7) A republican candidate for sheriff in Tucson, Arizona has done his part to keep nutjobs in the news by claiming (falsely) that the shootings show why we shouldn't let the UN take away our guns.
8) In a "No Shit, Sherlock" moment, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) who herself lost her husband and had her son permanently injured by a gunman on a train seventeen years ago, said Democrats lacked "the spine" to move forward on stricter gun control laws.
9) New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg called on both President Obama and Willard Romney to seek tougher gun regulations. Ha, ha, ha--good luck with that one, though if terrorists were going to kill 48,000 Americans over the next four years you can bet your ass at least the President would have a plan to stop it (Willard doesn't have plans for much of anything and it's hard to believe his staff would take the time to fuck with that either).
Let's see...republicans exploiting gun tragedy to fire up their base? Check. Dems running away from gun control like little girls? Check. Far too many Americans convinced guns are the answer? Check.
It's hard not to be cynical, it really is. And it's only a matter of time before we get another list like this one, telling us snippets of the lives of heroes and those who died long before they should have.
Peace,
emaycee
And it's just the normal noises in here...
1) Barack Obama did his Presidential duty with his usual flair in Colorado this weekend. Mitt Romney was nice about it.
2) The Governor of Colorado, John Hickenlooper (a "Democrat") pretty much refused to even consider stricter gun control laws.
3) Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson (Republican) said that by refusing to allow troubled individuals to have guns it will restrict our freedoms. Outlawing murder restricts our freedoms, too, but I think the trade off is probably worth it.
4) On an American Family Association radio show, evangelicals blamed the Aurora shootings on Liberals, the media, and lenient churches. Bad news for the non-Christian victims, too. You're going to a "terrible place."
5) John McCain says we should look at "everything" concerning the shootings...except gun control.
6) Former Arizona state senator Russell Peace said the men in the theater lacked courage for not trying to stop the shooter. How exactly the men in the theater were supposed to stop a madman dressed in full body armor, with tear gas in the air, while sixty rounds a minute were being fired from his gun, Pearce doesn't say.
7) A republican candidate for sheriff in Tucson, Arizona has done his part to keep nutjobs in the news by claiming (falsely) that the shootings show why we shouldn't let the UN take away our guns.
8) In a "No Shit, Sherlock" moment, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) who herself lost her husband and had her son permanently injured by a gunman on a train seventeen years ago, said Democrats lacked "the spine" to move forward on stricter gun control laws.
9) New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg called on both President Obama and Willard Romney to seek tougher gun regulations. Ha, ha, ha--good luck with that one, though if terrorists were going to kill 48,000 Americans over the next four years you can bet your ass at least the President would have a plan to stop it (Willard doesn't have plans for much of anything and it's hard to believe his staff would take the time to fuck with that either).
Let's see...republicans exploiting gun tragedy to fire up their base? Check. Dems running away from gun control like little girls? Check. Far too many Americans convinced guns are the answer? Check.
It's hard not to be cynical, it really is. And it's only a matter of time before we get another list like this one, telling us snippets of the lives of heroes and those who died long before they should have.
Peace,
emaycee
Friday, July 20, 2012
Aurora
Nothing.
That is what is going to change after today's shootings in Aurora, Colorado. There will be a lot of teeth gnashing, a lot of much needed and deserved support for the victims and their families, a few letters to the editor in support of gun control in various newspapers across America, the NRA will spout its usual tripe, the second amendment to our constitution will be misinterpreted for the umpteenth time, and in a matter of days we will turn back to our affairs and be thankful it wasn't us, and hope that the next time it happens, it won't be us again.
Because happen again it will, and we'll continue to cycle and repeat.
But heaven forbid we should have a serious discussion on what's worth more--a right to gun ownership or a human life.
Peace,
emaycee
That is what is going to change after today's shootings in Aurora, Colorado. There will be a lot of teeth gnashing, a lot of much needed and deserved support for the victims and their families, a few letters to the editor in support of gun control in various newspapers across America, the NRA will spout its usual tripe, the second amendment to our constitution will be misinterpreted for the umpteenth time, and in a matter of days we will turn back to our affairs and be thankful it wasn't us, and hope that the next time it happens, it won't be us again.
Because happen again it will, and we'll continue to cycle and repeat.
But heaven forbid we should have a serious discussion on what's worth more--a right to gun ownership or a human life.
Peace,
emaycee
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Um, maybe not...
Mike Huckabee proclaimed that the Boy Scouts of America's policy of prohibiting gays from joining will prevent the sexual abuse of boys.
Because, you know, the anti-Gay agenda of the Catholic Church did so much to keep sexually abusive priests away from young men.
Peace,
emaycee
Because, you know, the anti-Gay agenda of the Catholic Church did so much to keep sexually abusive priests away from young men.
Peace,
emaycee
Mrs. Antoinette
I don't generally like to pick on the spouses of candidates--they're just being good wives and husbands, being supportive, and many of them are not seasoned candidates like their better halves.
But...today's proclamations from Ann Romney are a bit beyond the pale. I've thought from the get go that there is a little something phony about Mrs. Romney--the whole, I was just a stay at home Mom schtick is just a wee bit of bullshit (I've seen lots of stay at home Moms in their sixties and none of them look quite as well made up as Mrs. Romney), but she gave it away today when she referred to all of us as "you people" when discussing her husband's refusal to release his tax returns.
Fucking really? I'm not "you people"--I'm an American citizen, who will pay your husband's salary and your living expenses if he wins, and I have every right to know every fucking little detail of your family's finances. And if you don't think so, head to pre-revolution France. Because in our world, that's when the dilettantish attitudes came to a screeching halt beneath the blade of a guillotine.
Peace,
emaycee
But...today's proclamations from Ann Romney are a bit beyond the pale. I've thought from the get go that there is a little something phony about Mrs. Romney--the whole, I was just a stay at home Mom schtick is just a wee bit of bullshit (I've seen lots of stay at home Moms in their sixties and none of them look quite as well made up as Mrs. Romney), but she gave it away today when she referred to all of us as "you people" when discussing her husband's refusal to release his tax returns.
Fucking really? I'm not "you people"--I'm an American citizen, who will pay your husband's salary and your living expenses if he wins, and I have every right to know every fucking little detail of your family's finances. And if you don't think so, head to pre-revolution France. Because in our world, that's when the dilettantish attitudes came to a screeching halt beneath the blade of a guillotine.
Peace,
emaycee
Monday, July 16, 2012
Lightning bugs
For some odd reason, the Beautiful Boy reached the age of seven without ever having seen a lightning bug. I don't know why the apartment complex he spent every summer of his life living at until this one never had them, but it didn't. A couple weeks past I took him outside shortly before dark and for the first time in his young life, he saw a lightning bug. Needless to say, as they are one of the insect world's more interesting creatures, we have been outside every evening since watching for them. And nearly every night, he reminds me that they are also called "fireflies."
Tonight he asked me why we have lightning bugs. I don't often think well on my feet, and the best I could think to tell him was that we have them for the same reason we have squirrels--they can be immensely entertaining to watch.
Earlier today he also told us--for the first time, I believe--what he wants to be when he grows up: a scientist. Because of my two older children, I know such desires at such a young age don't always come true--if I recall correctly, at his age my daughter wanted to be an oceanographer, and my son a baseball player (daughter is a political reporter, son in law school to be a--surprise!--lawyer).
The two thoughts of his got me to thinking though, that perhaps the reason we have lightning bugs is so that those of us who are blessed with children can take a step back and see the wonder of the world--much like a scientist does--through our children's eyes yet again.
And much like Mr. Armstrong sang, it makes you think to yourself, "What a wonderful world."
Peace,
emaycee
Tonight he asked me why we have lightning bugs. I don't often think well on my feet, and the best I could think to tell him was that we have them for the same reason we have squirrels--they can be immensely entertaining to watch.
Earlier today he also told us--for the first time, I believe--what he wants to be when he grows up: a scientist. Because of my two older children, I know such desires at such a young age don't always come true--if I recall correctly, at his age my daughter wanted to be an oceanographer, and my son a baseball player (daughter is a political reporter, son in law school to be a--surprise!--lawyer).
The two thoughts of his got me to thinking though, that perhaps the reason we have lightning bugs is so that those of us who are blessed with children can take a step back and see the wonder of the world--much like a scientist does--through our children's eyes yet again.
And much like Mr. Armstrong sang, it makes you think to yourself, "What a wonderful world."
Peace,
emaycee
On the merits...
...this idea sucks.
Seems one Ingrid Jacques, an editorial writer for The Detroit News, thinks that merit increases for teachers are just ducky. As is often the case with vapid conservatives, this is an opinion voiced by one who has no personal stake in the matter, and even less experience in the real world. She cites the usual twits--Michigan legislature (currently the laughing stock of the entire nation--vagina, vagina, vagina), the Mackinac Center for Public Policy (conservative think tank based on Fantasy Island for the wealthy in Michigan, notoriously mistaken on fucking everything), and Students First (private education organization most noted for cheating on test scores in D. C. to make themselves look better).
I've spent 30 years in the real world, working for real companies, and there once was a time when merit increases actually did exist. It died off after Numbnuts Reagan's term, but merit pay raises in the corporate world (not including executives who never miss an opportunity to find a reason to give themselves a raise--I farted twice today!--despite their lack of success or profitiability) today have become codespeak for "NO RAISES." Trust me, no matter how well you do in your job, no matter how much you contribute to the bottom line, if you're not an executive, they will find every reason possible to not give you a raise.
Trust me teachers, the same will eventually happen to you, especially since there are enough idiotic voters out there who absolutely think you're overpaid making $50,000 for teaching their increasingly moronic kids. Avoid this deal at all costs!
Ms. Jacques, in a typically republican classless move, concludes what passes for thought in conservative circles by declaring that teachers not interested in merit pay should seek another line of work.
I'd suggest the same for Ms Jacques, considering her reasoning is extremely poor, her research is embarrassingly bad, and she's a miserable writer, but it's a conservative publication, and we all know that conservatives love to reward the incompetent as long as they're either rich or spout the party bullshit.
Peace,
emaycee
Seems one Ingrid Jacques, an editorial writer for The Detroit News, thinks that merit increases for teachers are just ducky. As is often the case with vapid conservatives, this is an opinion voiced by one who has no personal stake in the matter, and even less experience in the real world. She cites the usual twits--Michigan legislature (currently the laughing stock of the entire nation--vagina, vagina, vagina), the Mackinac Center for Public Policy (conservative think tank based on Fantasy Island for the wealthy in Michigan, notoriously mistaken on fucking everything), and Students First (private education organization most noted for cheating on test scores in D. C. to make themselves look better).
I've spent 30 years in the real world, working for real companies, and there once was a time when merit increases actually did exist. It died off after Numbnuts Reagan's term, but merit pay raises in the corporate world (not including executives who never miss an opportunity to find a reason to give themselves a raise--I farted twice today!--despite their lack of success or profitiability) today have become codespeak for "NO RAISES." Trust me, no matter how well you do in your job, no matter how much you contribute to the bottom line, if you're not an executive, they will find every reason possible to not give you a raise.
Trust me teachers, the same will eventually happen to you, especially since there are enough idiotic voters out there who absolutely think you're overpaid making $50,000 for teaching their increasingly moronic kids. Avoid this deal at all costs!
Ms. Jacques, in a typically republican classless move, concludes what passes for thought in conservative circles by declaring that teachers not interested in merit pay should seek another line of work.
I'd suggest the same for Ms Jacques, considering her reasoning is extremely poor, her research is embarrassingly bad, and she's a miserable writer, but it's a conservative publication, and we all know that conservatives love to reward the incompetent as long as they're either rich or spout the party bullshit.
Peace,
emaycee
Some smart s.o.b.
You know, somewhere in this great nation of ours has to be a Democratic governor who has the good sense to stand up and say something along the lines of this:
"I welcome the Medicaid expansion to our state and look to a future where we have citizens who are among the healthiest in the nation because all of our state's citizens will now be covered. And we welcome those of you who live in states that are contemplating not accepting the federal funds to move here and join the best and the brightest, in the knowledge that you and your children will be among the healthiest in the land. And we also welcome all those businesses who want healthy employees, and healthy families so they miss less work. We want to welcome you to a state where our healthcare costs are actually going down, because we are no longer wasting precious taxpayer resources routinely paying for emergency care services. Our people have health insurance and they're using it to make their lives better and our state stronger."
Can I get an amen?
Peace,
emaycee
"I welcome the Medicaid expansion to our state and look to a future where we have citizens who are among the healthiest in the nation because all of our state's citizens will now be covered. And we welcome those of you who live in states that are contemplating not accepting the federal funds to move here and join the best and the brightest, in the knowledge that you and your children will be among the healthiest in the land. And we also welcome all those businesses who want healthy employees, and healthy families so they miss less work. We want to welcome you to a state where our healthcare costs are actually going down, because we are no longer wasting precious taxpayer resources routinely paying for emergency care services. Our people have health insurance and they're using it to make their lives better and our state stronger."
Can I get an amen?
Peace,
emaycee
Friday, July 13, 2012
Give me one reason
I could give you dozens of reasons not to vote for Mitt Romney from the inane (what the fuck kind of name is Mitt? sounds like the name of some guy in a private club who knows all the words to the "Whiffenpoof Song") to the deadly serious (income inequality is bound to increase under Romney and will almost certainlly lead to the second American Revolution, this one with echoes closer to the French Revolution than our own). But one of the ones that scares me the most is this--Romney promises to stack his Cabinet with people from the private sector.
Because what the American people really need is the incompetent boobs who destroyed our economy getting a crack at destroying our nation, too. I think we've all seen enough of their "real world" experience.
Peace,
emaycee
Because what the American people really need is the incompetent boobs who destroyed our economy getting a crack at destroying our nation, too. I think we've all seen enough of their "real world" experience.
Peace,
emaycee
Off with their heads
Such a shame that we commoners just don't get the "impact" of President Obama's agenda--as voiced by this $75,000 donor at a Mitt Romney fundraiser this past week. We're just not educated enough and surely this wealthy woman knows much better than us what's in our best interest....
Of course, and it could just be me, but I'd venture a guess that when the shit truly hits the fan in America (my estimate is when the rate of poverty in America hits one in three, about twice the current one in six) the woman who spoke so eloquently for plebes such as us will be among the first to be introduced to the guillotine.
Only a party of people as clueless as this woman could nominate a man as clueless as Willard Romney for the Presidency. Us commoners at least understand that much.
Peace,
emaycee
Of course, and it could just be me, but I'd venture a guess that when the shit truly hits the fan in America (my estimate is when the rate of poverty in America hits one in three, about twice the current one in six) the woman who spoke so eloquently for plebes such as us will be among the first to be introduced to the guillotine.
Only a party of people as clueless as this woman could nominate a man as clueless as Willard Romney for the Presidency. Us commoners at least understand that much.
Peace,
emaycee
Independent blather
One regularly hears from columnists and pundits this goofy idea that there's something wrong with America because we only have two parties, that somehow there isn't a voice for moderation in our political discourse.
As a rebuttal, I submit one Paul Le Page, republican Governor of Maine. Mr. Le Page this week declared that the IRS will eventually come to kill us off, a la the Gestapo. Mr. Le Page won the governorship in 2010 thanks to a third party split of the vote--he won with 38% of the vote, which means that 62% of the people in Maine did not want this loser for their governor. Thanks to an idiotic third party, a certifiable nutjob was elected.
I suppose there are those who would say that sometimes democracy is ugly, and they may well be right. But the first time a Hitleresque candidate is elected because of some quixotic voice of moderation bid it may be a lot uglier than any of us could imagine.
Peace,
emaycee
As a rebuttal, I submit one Paul Le Page, republican Governor of Maine. Mr. Le Page this week declared that the IRS will eventually come to kill us off, a la the Gestapo. Mr. Le Page won the governorship in 2010 thanks to a third party split of the vote--he won with 38% of the vote, which means that 62% of the people in Maine did not want this loser for their governor. Thanks to an idiotic third party, a certifiable nutjob was elected.
I suppose there are those who would say that sometimes democracy is ugly, and they may well be right. But the first time a Hitleresque candidate is elected because of some quixotic voice of moderation bid it may be a lot uglier than any of us could imagine.
Peace,
emaycee
Thursday, July 5, 2012
An eye for an eye
Jed Lewison could not be more wrong--after having water poured in his mouth and a handkerchief stuffed in it for trying to practice his rights to free speech by a republican supporter of Mitt Romney, the reponse of labor activist Al Neal in this situation was not "absolutely perfect." His Kumbaya moment only served to get his speech stifled and once again made supporters of Progressive causes look weak. I will guarantee you it gained us zero votes--Republicans lapped up the Romney supporters chutzpah, Independents don't give a rat's ass, and Democrats are once again demoralized.
The perfect response would have been a right cross into his facist lips. Frankly this non-violent posturing in the face of republicans who are honestly batshit insane is Pollyanna wistfulness at best, and a ceding of political righteousness at worst.
And I can flat fucking guarantee you that any republican who sticks a foreign object in my mouth to squelch my rights to free speech better make sure he has a baggie with him--because he's going to need it to carry his fucking teeth in on his trip to the dentist's office.
Peace,
emaycee
The perfect response would have been a right cross into his facist lips. Frankly this non-violent posturing in the face of republicans who are honestly batshit insane is Pollyanna wistfulness at best, and a ceding of political righteousness at worst.
And I can flat fucking guarantee you that any republican who sticks a foreign object in my mouth to squelch my rights to free speech better make sure he has a baggie with him--because he's going to need it to carry his fucking teeth in on his trip to the dentist's office.
Peace,
emaycee
The impossility of reason
Let me see if I get this straight....
Sen. Rand Paul, who when running for election in 2010 famously said he opposes the part of the Civil Rights Act that does not allow businesses to discriminate based on race (and considering the Greensboro, North Carolina Lunch Counter Sit-Ins and the Bus Boycotts in Montgomery, Alabama were essentially protests against separate but equal in business dealings), which means he basically supports separate but equal at the very least when it comes to businesses, is today using the example of Plessy v. Ferguson, a long discredited Supreme Court decision that he essentially agrees with, to malign Obamacare.
As being an example of a Supreme Court decision eventually overturned, that he doesn't think should have been overturned, with which republicans and Antoinettes can hope against hope will eventally happen to the Affordable Care Act.
F. Scott Fitzgerald noted many years ago that, "There is no confusion like the confusion of a simple mind." Hard to find a better exemplar of Fitzgerald's adage than Sen. Rand Paul.
Peace,
emaycee
Sen. Rand Paul, who when running for election in 2010 famously said he opposes the part of the Civil Rights Act that does not allow businesses to discriminate based on race (and considering the Greensboro, North Carolina Lunch Counter Sit-Ins and the Bus Boycotts in Montgomery, Alabama were essentially protests against separate but equal in business dealings), which means he basically supports separate but equal at the very least when it comes to businesses, is today using the example of Plessy v. Ferguson, a long discredited Supreme Court decision that he essentially agrees with, to malign Obamacare.
As being an example of a Supreme Court decision eventually overturned, that he doesn't think should have been overturned, with which republicans and Antoinettes can hope against hope will eventally happen to the Affordable Care Act.
F. Scott Fitzgerald noted many years ago that, "There is no confusion like the confusion of a simple mind." Hard to find a better exemplar of Fitzgerald's adage than Sen. Rand Paul.
Peace,
emaycee
Us Vs. Them
Compare and contrast:
Today, while shaking hands with the crowd at an event in Ohio, our President, Barack Obama, consoled a woman whose sister lost her life due to a) colon cancer, and b) not being able to afford healthcare. She thanked the President for passing Obamacare, an act that will prevent situations arising like that of the woman's sister in the future.
Yesterday, while particpating in the obligatory Fourth of July parade, one of their guys, Rep. Bill Young of Florida, when asked why he doesn't support an increase to $10 in the minimum wage (keep in mind that this would be, if you could get a minimum wage job at forty hours per week--good luck!--$20,800 a year, hardly in the Warren Buffett stratosphere), told the questioner to "Get a job." (Note: the questioner did have a job--probably just a piss poor paid one.)
Can someone please explain to me how republicans--in this supposedly Christian nation, in the supposed faiths that are supposed to look out for the least of their brothers--even get so much as one vote?
And how is it that someone like Rep. Young could pee on George Washington's grave, post it on Youtube, and still get at least 35% of the vote in any given election?
It's enough to make a grown man cry.
Peace,
emaycee
Today, while shaking hands with the crowd at an event in Ohio, our President, Barack Obama, consoled a woman whose sister lost her life due to a) colon cancer, and b) not being able to afford healthcare. She thanked the President for passing Obamacare, an act that will prevent situations arising like that of the woman's sister in the future.
Yesterday, while particpating in the obligatory Fourth of July parade, one of their guys, Rep. Bill Young of Florida, when asked why he doesn't support an increase to $10 in the minimum wage (keep in mind that this would be, if you could get a minimum wage job at forty hours per week--good luck!--$20,800 a year, hardly in the Warren Buffett stratosphere), told the questioner to "Get a job." (Note: the questioner did have a job--probably just a piss poor paid one.)
Can someone please explain to me how republicans--in this supposedly Christian nation, in the supposed faiths that are supposed to look out for the least of their brothers--even get so much as one vote?
And how is it that someone like Rep. Young could pee on George Washington's grave, post it on Youtube, and still get at least 35% of the vote in any given election?
It's enough to make a grown man cry.
Peace,
emaycee
I am a Democrat (Independence Day remix)
Attended our local parade yesterday, and made a couple of completely random observations...
Belated Happy Fourth of July!
Peace,
emaycee
- The people walking down Main Street (real name) with the float for the local republican party was about as lily-white as white can get.
- The crowd cheered much harder--in a decidedly republican leaning area--for the Democratic parade participants.
- Republicans are better organized and look more out of a Norman Rockwell painting than Democrats--we were a ragtag bunch, but a much better representation of the true America. Women, young people, Latinos, Asians, African-Americans--it was a true melting pot.
- Our parade participants had at least ten times the enthusiasm as republicans, and many of them were holding signs in support of Obamacare. The Supreme Court victory may have rejuvenated our side as much as theirs.
- For all my bitching and disappointment concerning our party, it took me at least a millisecond to start hooting and hollering when the Democrats' group was announced over the P.A. Despite our faults, we are still the best political party when it comes to helping other folks, and it--cornpone time!--makes me proud to be a member.
Belated Happy Fourth of July!
Peace,
emaycee
Monday, July 2, 2012
Freedom's just another word for greed
Senator Ron Johnson, republican from Wisconsin, thinks that corporations should not have to insure cancer patients as a matter of freedom.
Because, you know, what American workers really need is another reason to hate corporations.
Peace,
emaycee
Because, you know, what American workers really need is another reason to hate corporations.
Peace,
emaycee
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Say You, Say Me--Part III
Say You:
"We need to accept the principle that sometimes poor people will die just because they are poor."-- Economist Tyler Cowen outlining why republicans should abandon any thoughts of healthcare equality, and enact a survival of the fittest position with regard to providing healtcare services.
Say Me:
As long as I live and breathe, I would never, ever accept such a "principle" (words have meaning--this is not a principle, it's psychopathic heartlessness--this man has no more sympathy for human life than Charles Manson or Ted Bundy). I refuse to believe that anywhere near a majority of Americans would accept such an ignoble outcome--a majority of republicans and Antoinettes, even a vast majority, but not of all Americans.
This is why we need to re-elect President Obama. This is why we need to hold the Senate and win back the House. The sentiment espoused by Mr. Cowen is not the rantings of fringe republicanism--it is the mainstream school of thought in their party. It strikes at the very backbone of what makes America and Americans so great.
And if this "principle" ever does become acceptable here in America, the exodus for all places not the United States would be stupefying.
Peace,
emaycee
"We need to accept the principle that sometimes poor people will die just because they are poor."-- Economist Tyler Cowen outlining why republicans should abandon any thoughts of healthcare equality, and enact a survival of the fittest position with regard to providing healtcare services.
Say Me:
As long as I live and breathe, I would never, ever accept such a "principle" (words have meaning--this is not a principle, it's psychopathic heartlessness--this man has no more sympathy for human life than Charles Manson or Ted Bundy). I refuse to believe that anywhere near a majority of Americans would accept such an ignoble outcome--a majority of republicans and Antoinettes, even a vast majority, but not of all Americans.
This is why we need to re-elect President Obama. This is why we need to hold the Senate and win back the House. The sentiment espoused by Mr. Cowen is not the rantings of fringe republicanism--it is the mainstream school of thought in their party. It strikes at the very backbone of what makes America and Americans so great.
And if this "principle" ever does become acceptable here in America, the exodus for all places not the United States would be stupefying.
Peace,
emaycee
Say You, Say Me--Part II
Say You:
Rex Tillerson, CEO of Exxon-Mobil and multimillionaire said this week when speaking to the Council of Foregin Relations in New York City that we, as a society, could "adapt" to global warming and that its effects would be "manageable."
Say Me:
Let's ask those 300+ families in Colorado whose homes have been destroyed by the recent wildfires how well their homes "adapted" and if having all that they own destroyed by raging fires is "manageable." This is just another in a long line of self-serving sentiments from corporate America, entities which do not give a good goddamn about America or Americans. Frankly, the effects of global warming on someone of Mr. Tillerson's wealth would probably be manageable--but when you're watching 90% of your family's net worth float into the Atlantic Ocean or a sand dune in your backyard that used to be a grassy hill your kids could sled down on snowy days in winter ("Mommy, what's winter?") in a home that's worth pennies on the dollar because its in the middle of the fucking desert, it won't seem so manageable.
I do have a solution to Mr. Tillerson's thoughtlessness, though--since he will more than likely be long gone by the time the full effects of global warming have decimated the planet, let's make a pact to tie his descendants to the Saharan palm trees dotting what used to be New York City, and let them eat all the sandburgers they can stomach.
Peace,
emaycee
Rex Tillerson, CEO of Exxon-Mobil and multimillionaire said this week when speaking to the Council of Foregin Relations in New York City that we, as a society, could "adapt" to global warming and that its effects would be "manageable."
Say Me:
Let's ask those 300+ families in Colorado whose homes have been destroyed by the recent wildfires how well their homes "adapted" and if having all that they own destroyed by raging fires is "manageable." This is just another in a long line of self-serving sentiments from corporate America, entities which do not give a good goddamn about America or Americans. Frankly, the effects of global warming on someone of Mr. Tillerson's wealth would probably be manageable--but when you're watching 90% of your family's net worth float into the Atlantic Ocean or a sand dune in your backyard that used to be a grassy hill your kids could sled down on snowy days in winter ("Mommy, what's winter?") in a home that's worth pennies on the dollar because its in the middle of the fucking desert, it won't seem so manageable.
I do have a solution to Mr. Tillerson's thoughtlessness, though--since he will more than likely be long gone by the time the full effects of global warming have decimated the planet, let's make a pact to tie his descendants to the Saharan palm trees dotting what used to be New York City, and let them eat all the sandburgers they can stomach.
Peace,
emaycee
Say You, Say Me--Part I
Say You:
I try not to get too terribly worked up over columns on the business pages of newspapers--there's a logical explanation for why they lean strongly pro-business or pro-market forces. I'd be willing to bet a sizable chunk of a newspaper's readership doesn't even look at the business section, so it's not as if their viewpoints are as widely read as, say, the op-ed page. But every now and again...you get a piece like today's column in the Free Press from Susan Tompor on the effects of the special tax on capital gains being used to help fund Obamacare. Note this tax is if you sell a second home, a vacation home, stocks, or other investments north of $250,000. Tompor uses the example of someone making $80,0000 per year, selling a $400,000 vacation home, which would result in an extra tax of slightly less than $11,000. To which one of the people cited in the article, tax expert Clint Stretch, replied "It's not like having a lot of capital gains makes you sick when you retire and go on Medicare."
Say Me:
Unlike republicans and their ugly step-sisters the Antoinettes, I am not prone to having a lot of economic sympathy for anyone sporting the kinds of household worth numbers noted above. I mean, fucking really? I'm supposed to feel sorry for someone a) making $80,000 a year, b) able to afford a second home worth $400,000, and c) having to pay an extra $11,000 in taxes to help more Americans have health insurance? My guess is somewhere around 95% of Americans would absolutely fucking love to pay that $11,000 special tax to get to have those kind of dollars in their households.
I'll tell you what, though. Anyone who is so unhappy with it can sell that property to me for a dollar and I'll gladly pay that special tax. Hell, I'll fucking pay double that--and smile all the way to the bank.
Frankly, someone has to point out to people that greed is fucking ugly, and not a character trait to be proud of.
Peace,
emaycee
I try not to get too terribly worked up over columns on the business pages of newspapers--there's a logical explanation for why they lean strongly pro-business or pro-market forces. I'd be willing to bet a sizable chunk of a newspaper's readership doesn't even look at the business section, so it's not as if their viewpoints are as widely read as, say, the op-ed page. But every now and again...you get a piece like today's column in the Free Press from Susan Tompor on the effects of the special tax on capital gains being used to help fund Obamacare. Note this tax is if you sell a second home, a vacation home, stocks, or other investments north of $250,000. Tompor uses the example of someone making $80,0000 per year, selling a $400,000 vacation home, which would result in an extra tax of slightly less than $11,000. To which one of the people cited in the article, tax expert Clint Stretch, replied "It's not like having a lot of capital gains makes you sick when you retire and go on Medicare."
Say Me:
Unlike republicans and their ugly step-sisters the Antoinettes, I am not prone to having a lot of economic sympathy for anyone sporting the kinds of household worth numbers noted above. I mean, fucking really? I'm supposed to feel sorry for someone a) making $80,000 a year, b) able to afford a second home worth $400,000, and c) having to pay an extra $11,000 in taxes to help more Americans have health insurance? My guess is somewhere around 95% of Americans would absolutely fucking love to pay that $11,000 special tax to get to have those kind of dollars in their households.
I'll tell you what, though. Anyone who is so unhappy with it can sell that property to me for a dollar and I'll gladly pay that special tax. Hell, I'll fucking pay double that--and smile all the way to the bank.
Frankly, someone has to point out to people that greed is fucking ugly, and not a character trait to be proud of.
Peace,
emaycee
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