Waiting for a Superman

Have to say that AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka has been a beacon of light for liberals and our values over the past couple of years, and his speech yesterday skewering republicans and warning Democrats of the union's independence was much needed.  There should be consequences for the Ben Nelson's, Mary Landrieu's, and Heath Shuler's of our party. 

Still, Digby has a nice piece on what it could mean, and Joan McCarter says a lot of the same things in the piece cited above.  If labor unions are going to continue to financially and physically support Dems just because they're Dems they're going to continue to dilute their influence.  Need to save the cash and time for those that support the Liberal/Progressive values.  And spending more time and money on the grass roots candidates in cities and counties can pay big dividends down the road.

Peace,
emaycee

Conventional idiots

The idea that conventional wisdom says it's impossible to do what Gov. Snyder has done in getting tax cuts for corporations passed while getting tax increases on the working people of Michigan, and that he has defied the odds in doing so is, in a nutshell, complete and total bullshit.  He has an overwhelming majority in both of Michigan's houses, thanks to Citizen's United the republicans have unlimited corporate support financially, and in case anyone hasn't noticed, the poor and the middle class have been getting their ass kicked in the American class war since Bedtime for Bozo Reagan was in the White House.  This is the republican agenda and Snyder has followed the playbook exactly the way he has been instructed to.

Wondering when Grover Norquist will be here to berate and the lead the charge against the Michigan republicans for raising taxes on working Michiganders.  Wait a minute...no, I'm not.  No taxes raised on corporations--no one to pay him for his troubles.  The middle class and poor are such a drag!

Note:  not a single Democrat in either of Michigan's Houses voted for Snyder's proposal.  Bravo Michigan Democrats!

Got to give props to the Free Press and Brian Dickerson for both miraculously remembering that there is that little pesky problem we're having here in Michigan with jobs.  The Free Press did it's usual puckering (they endorsed the mother fucker, after all) for Snyder's ass and his unique (so-called) proposals but did manage to give themselves a later do-over by noting that if Snyder's proposals don't create jobs fairly quickly he's probably toast.  Dickerson acknowledges what those of us on the left have been screaming for months:  this is little more than lipstick on trickle down theory (which didn't work), there's zero evidence that tax cuts for corporations result in more jobs, and that republican claims of this not being a tax cut for corporations are a fantasy.  He basically, though, gives Snyder the benefit of the doubt on his proposals with the caveat that if they don't create jobs, Snyder is history.  Brilliance!

On the bright side, the movement to recall Gov. Snyder has begun collecting petition signatures.  Don't really think it has much of a chance of eventually removing him from office, but with it being concurrent with the Wisconsin Senate recall elections and the completion of gathering signatures to repeal the draconian anti-union laws recently passed in Ohio, it ought to make for a summer of reminding everyone how much republicans suck.

And that is a good thing.

Peace,
emaycee

Letting the fox guard the henhouse

So Michigan has tumbled in income from wages (as has the rest of the country) and income from government programs has skyrocketed--and Tom Walsh thinks  the best way to handle this is to turn to radical ideas like Gov. Snyder's just passed proposal to cut $1.8 billion in taxes from corporations and make the poor and middle class pay more in taxes.

Question 1:  Isn't this basically giving more money to the bozos who got us into this mess?  Question 2:  Aren't these same bozos the ones who are currently reaping record profits but not hiring?  Question 3:  Isn't it more likely that giving less money to those who spend it, and giving more to those who don't, is going to increase even greater the amount of income in Michigan that comes from government programs?  Question 4:  What the motherfucking fuck?

You cannot make this shit up--swear to God, I'm beginning to believe the Gov. Snyder has put the "journalists" that work for the Free Press on the payroll of the state of Michigan.  Either that or they are the simplest bastards this side of Pluto.

Peace,
emaycee

Simple Simon met a pieman

I've written about this before, so no need to go into great detail, but Wonk from the Free Press has another one of his moronic columns comparing the budgets of government to those of a family.  Apparently Wonk feels he has some sort of folksy charm (he absolutely does not) that can get those of us with a brain to overlook his simpleton views.  Guess again, Wonk!

If anyone wants to know what's wrong with the whole process of government budgets, they need to look no further than columns such as this one.  This whole idea of regular folks solving big problems works really well in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, but truthfully, America's budgetary problems require a lot more than the heartfelt conviction of Jefferson Smith.  It requires the best and the brightest, and above all else, it requires honesty.  And to pretend that government budgets are just like the family budget is the height of dishonesty.

Peace,
emaycee

They call me Mister Pitts

Leonard Pitts absolutely nails this one--the only offense President Obama is guilty of is being black.  The republicans, the tea party, and all their goofy ass offshoots are all particularly adept at being bigots but pushing the reverse discrimination angle so we're made to feel guilty for calling them bigots.  Just because everything they do and say suggests they hate black people, doesn't mean they hate black people.

Yeah, right.

The only thing Mr. Pitts missed, though, was the sheer joy the rest of us get to enjoy for another four years--did I mention that Obama killed Osama?--while they storm about over how unfair it all is.

Good times.

Peace,
emaycee

Preach it, Sister

This is probably going to be as effective as trying to catch a gunshot with your bare hand, but still I like the sentiment--Goldman Sachs gives about as much of a fuck what Sister Nash thinks as I do what any republicans thinks, but you have to admit she raises a valid point:  CEOs are making three hundred times what their workers make and are they really worth it?

Anyone who has ever worked for a corporation (and isn't a first class ass kisser) probably can answer that one pretty easily.

No.

Peace,
emaycee

Juggling lit TNT

This is what happens when you give republicans unlimited power--seems the lawmakers in Ohio have passed (though the bill has not been signed yet by Gov. Kasich) a bill that will allow people to carry guns into bars (I know, what with all their economic problems, this was a problem many Ohioans were waking up and wondering about every morning) joining Tennessee, Arizona, Georgia, and Virginia which have already passed similar bills.

When, do you suppose, will these states pass laws that allow smokers to keep puffing away while they're pumping gas into their cars?

Idiots, all.

Peace,
emaycee