What the Mitt?

Another one bites the dust--now it's Mitt Romney (though under considerably different circumstances) who's suffering from one too many sips of the republican Kool-Aid (I'd link you to Newt Gingrich watching his chances fade like a Beatles concert t-shirt but he had the same chance I did of being the next President of the United States:  zero.)

Seems Mitt is having his "I was against the war before I was for it" moment, and shock of all shocks, the traditional media is actually calling him on it.  Living here in the Great Lakes state, I distinctly remember Mitt the native son saying the auto industry should be left to wither and die--and now the mother fucker is trying to take credit for its turnaround.  Not that he had any chance here in Michigan anyway (we have't voted red in a Presidential election since '84, and Gov. Snyder's radical agenda has pretty much ensured that no Dems will vote for a republican in 2012, period), but still there's just too much of a paper trail on this one.

I'd wonder just what the hell he was thinking, but he's a republican and I've kind of figured out how that goes by now....

Peace,
emaycee

Cantor can't, can he?

I've had the feeling pretty much from his emergence on the national scene that Eric Cantor had all the gravitas of a fly fart, and his call for spending offsets in return for federal aid to Joplin, MO in the aftermath of the massive tornado there (117 dead and counting) pretty much confirms that feeling.  As much as they march lockstep, you can tell Cantor may have crashed into the walls of the loony bin with the blowback from his fellow republicans from Missouri.  I mean, please--this is a disaster of huge proportions and the only thing the people of Joplin, MO need is for the government to step in and help them get back on their feet.

Cantor and his tea party entourage may suffer from Tin Man's disease ('No heart?"  "No heart."), but I'd be willing to bet that a significant majority of the American people do not, especially in the face of such destruction and tragedy.

Peace,
emaycee

Expecting the worst, hoping for the best

Herein lies the pisser of being a Liberal Democrat:

I went to bed last night with a huge smile on my face--all was right with the electoral world.  After the ass kicking that the 2010 elections gave us, last night's win by Kathy Hochul in NY-26, a hardcore republican district, was sweet as kisses from your sweetie.  And though I couldn't stay up until late in the evening to savor the victory, I saw enough of the post-election Democratic chatter to hear that they were saying all the right things (i.e., Medicare, Medicare, Medicare).

And then I woke up this morning.  And the first thought I had?  How can we fuck this up?  Because if there's a way, we'll find it (with friends like Steny, who needs republicans? and hey, what the fuck kind of name is Steny anyway?). 

And then...we have the Senate vote on the Ryan plan to kill Medicare, and not one--not even Ben "I'm the most fucking worthless Dem in D.C." Nelson--votes for it.  Go figure.

Look up bi-polar in the encyclopedia and I'm sure there'll be a picture of a Liberal Democrat somewhere in the piece.

Peace,
emaycee

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