Joe Steel

When all you have is a hammer...

2012-01-24T08:07:00.000-06:00

...every problem looks like a nail.

Mark Penn's advice to President Obama on his State of the Union Address, Opinion: Obama must bring back the opportunity society, is the perfect example of the old saw, "when all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail." Penn is a public relations guy and his article is full advice to push the public's buttons by paying lip service to things we believe but just aren't much good. If Obama were to go to work on Penn's Jobs 1, 2, and 3, he might raise is poll number a bit now but the effort wouldn't do American much good.

Job 1: tell America the economy is on the way back.

OK. The economy is on the way back but the truth is, it's nowhere near as good as it could be and the Republicans are the reason. They've done everything they could to ensure everything Obama did wouldn't work. If Obama tells America the economy is coming back, the Republicans won't have to bear the consequences of their obstructions and obfuscations. Better Obama should say he's managed to stop the slide toward utter collapse but much has yet to be done but, unless the Republicans are stopped, it never will be done.

Job 2: Create opportunity

Forget opportunity. Opportunity in America is dead. The plutocracy have rigged our society so that the only opportunity anyone has is the opportunity he had when he was born. We now are class-based society and even that capitalist tool, Forbes magazine, admits it. In America, The New Class-Society they say:

...social mobility in America, the latest research shows, is less than it was, and considerably less than most Americans believe.

"Why?" you might ask. Forbes continues:

Class is changing yet again, and the new incarnation of the class-society is at its most advanced in the U.S. A good education is now the most important determinate of class, and in America access to good schools--whether private or public--is increasingly reserved for the well-to-do.

So, while Penn's advice might be on the right track and what Americans want to hear, it won't work because most Americans cant' afford good educations and the Republicans never will allow the government to help them. If Obama tries to raise the hope of a good education, he'll be deceiving America. Better he should tell America the Republicans are destroying opportunity in America and, until they're gone, we'll have no more.

Job 3: the deficit.

The deficit is what the Republicans want America to talk about. It's big and it's scary. But, like most paper tigers, it doesn't have teeth or claws. The deficit is not a threat to America. The danger is believing we must ignore our fundamental problems and do something about the deficit.

America's deficit was created by bad Republican policies; Bush's tax cuts, Bush's wars and a Medicare drug benefit designed to subsidize the pharmaceutical industry not serve Americans. Once we take care of these blunders, the deficit will evaporate. Obama should lay the blame for the deficit where it belongs, squarely on the backs of the Republicans.

Mark Penn is a PR guy. He's advising the President to tell America what it wants to hear instead of what it needs to know. That's bad advice.

2012-01-23T14:23:00.000-06:00

The Dishonorable Paul Ryan

When The White House announced President Obama will release his 2013 budget one week afer the legal deadline for release. Paul Ryan (R-WI) said of the delay:

"I am deeply disappointed in this President’s abdication of leadership when it comes to prioritizing Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars. The decision to delay the release of his budget again could not come at a more precarious moment for our fiscal and economic future.."

While Paul Ryan speaks of the President's putative "abdication of leadership," the very act of criticizing the President is an abdication of his duty to his constituents. Instead of devoting his energy to creating public policy which will reverse the many outrages he and his party have committed on the American People, he has chosen to commit another.

Unlike Paul Ryan, President Obama has been working diligently and ceaselessly on the problems America faces. Paul Ryan's scurrilous attack only adds to the President's burden and delays the relief the American People deserve. It poisons the atmosphere in Washington with it's attempt to make a trivial delay seem like an abandonment of responsibility. That's outrageous and and it's unbecoming a member of the US House of Representatives. At least, it would have been in an earlier age.

At one time, members of Congress worked with each other on the problems of the American People. No more. Now Republicans seek only to promote their extremist ideology. Virtually every thing they do is designed to have the maximum partisan political effect.

Paul Ryan is among the worst of the whole despicable bunch. As Chair of the House budget committee, for instance, we might have expected him to do his best to serve all the American People. Instead, he developed a budget, his Road to Prosperity, which was a breathtaking assault on the poor, the sick and the elderly.

This attack on the President for delaying his budget, doubtless to make it more useful to the American People, was beyond the pale. It was one of Ryan's most dishonorable acts.

Dangerous Ground for Rick Santorum

2012-01-10T08:01:00.001-06:00

In New Hampshire voters put candidates to the test, GOP Presidential candidate Rick Santorum is reported to have told a hostile questioner, "But as you know, my faith, my Catholic faith, as well as Christian faith, has a theory called 'just war' theory."

Santorum is on dangerous ground when he speaks of just war. Explicit in the Church's just war doctrine is the expectation the decision to go to war will be made only after "rigorous consideration" of strict conditions by "those who have responsibility for the common good." In other words, the decision to go to war must be made only by elected officials who have made the most deliberate and serious analysis of the situation and in consideration of their duty to the common good. That does not include war-mongering by political opportunists who are willing to pervert the tools of modern communication to achieve their personal goals.

The Founders and Police Brutality

2011-11-20T08:24:00.001-06:00

The real tragedy of the police brutality we're seeing in the attacks on Occupy is that we have the means to stop it but we let the 1% take it away from us.

The Founders anticipated what we're seeing, citizens rising-up to protest their government's actions and they feared the government's response. They knew professional "peacekeepers" would act as we've seen our militarized police act so they gave us the Second Amendment.

The notion of a professional police force acting responsibly is foolish. Ultimately, all professionals must be loyal to their profession. That's what drove the Founders to add the Second Amendment to the Constitution. It's not about guns. It's about ensuring our police and military are civilians called to service, that is, a militia, common citizens bearing arms for the benefit of their communities not to earn an income. What's a professional going to do when his commander tells him to pepper spray protestors? Pull the trigger or refuse, knowing he'll be fired?

The Founders thought they had a better way. They thought the guy next door, called for crowd control, wouldn't unload a can of pepper spray into your daughters face. They gave the People the right to control the security forces but we've allowed the 1% to pervert the Second Amendment. We've allowed a gun industry lobby, the National Rifle Association, to use the Second Amendment to sell guns. They've manipulated public policy to create private profit.

Now we have to march in protest to get back the government the Founders gave us. It's a shame and a tragedy we have to endure the consequences of our complacency but it's the only way to fix the problem we created.

Defending Occupy

2011-11-06T09:10:00.001-06:00

Comments at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, stltoday.com, site seem overwhelmingly to be anti-Occupy, most recently on this story:St. Louis officials say time for Occupy protesters to leave plaza. Commenters seem to believe the violence and crime now being more frequently reported damns the Occupy movement.

That troubled me.

I believe the underlying reasons for Occupy to be progressive and good for the country but have to admit the crime and violence are a problem. We can't expect to gain the support of Americans if they see police in riot gear hauling-away protestors every night on TV. That creates a very bad impression and might be enough to marginalize the movement.

One way to combat that impression is to remind America that Occupy is attracting a variety of persons. As one blogger notes:

...Keep in mind that the whole Occupy Movement is one big populist shindig. It may vary from place to place,but the "Occupations" are full of people from all over the polticial spectrum. Some see this "broadness" as a really good thing. Some, like me, question it. Combine a so called leaderless movement with no common political oreintation and what do you get? Who is to say, who represents what, who is to do what, what tactic is correct, which slogan to shout, what sign to hold up? At some point the Occupy movement has to decide what it wants to be and whose interest it wants to represent...or it will implode. For how long can you have anarchists, Marxists, Ron Paul supporters, right wing libertarians, dogmatic pacifists, liberals, feel good people, angry people, people who intend to defend themselves and more, capitalists, petty bourgois, workers, unemployed. business owners, professionals, anti racists, racists, and all that and more in an "ain't we got fun" atmosphere?

WHAT LAST NIGHT'S CLASH IN OAKLAND MEANS AND DID IT HAVE TO HAPPEN

If we can't defend Occupy, it is doomed.

Tea Party Screams for Death

2011-09-13T08:16:00.000-05:00

In last night's Tea Party-sponsored Republican debate, Wolf Blitzer asked Ron Paul if a sick person in a coma who didn't have health insurance should be allowed to die. Before he had a chance to answer, some in the audience yelled "yes."

If anyone needed any further reason to despise the Tea Party, this is it. Not only is the willingness to allow someone to die when we have the capacity to save him immoral, it's antipathetic to the intent of the Constitution. For the Tea Party to claim the mantle of patriotism is outrageous.

Conservatism is a vile political orientation but the Tea Party are the worst of the worst. Their insistence on public policies which are narrowly focused on their own self-interest are an insult to all the traditions we would like to regard as the American Way. We can be thankful their influence on our political direction is diminishing but until the stain of their existence is finally wiped-away they will remain an embarrassment to the American People.

Global Obstruction Pathology (GOP)

2011-08-30T06:22:00.000-05:00

An emotional defect which causes the afflicted not only to resist the normal human tendency to work with others toward solutions to common problems but also to interfere with their attempts. It is not limited to particular activities or interests but extends to all areas of concern. We see manifestation of this pathology in the Republican Party, a political association organized around resistance to progressive public policy and pursuit of regressive polices.

America Needs a Labor Party

2011-08-22T11:29:00.000-05:00

I was banned from Democratic Underground because I asked why I should support gay marriage. Just that question branded me as a homophobe. That's OK. Democratic Underground doesn't set the standard for political action in the US. We need a class war and the liberals at Democratic Underground don't have what it takes.

A few months ago, Richard Trumka seemed to be moving Labor away from the Democrats and now we're seeing more signs of the division. The Democrats chose North Carolina for their convention next year and some unions don't like it. They won't abandon the Democrats over their choice of convention sites but they'll move a little farther away.

I'm encouraged.

America needs a labor party. A party with the economic interests of working Americans as its sole and undivided focus. No abortion. No gay marriage. No green anything. Just wages and working conditions. That party never will be the Republicans. They've pretty much declared themselves to be stooges for the plutocracy, order takers for the likes of the Koch brothers. The Democrats have had their chance and they squandered it. They paid too much attention to the special interests on the fringe of American society.

So where is Labor now? Maybe they're at or soon to reach a point where they realize they have only themselves to care for their interests. It's not a bad place to be. Every successful journey must begin with knowing where you are and where you want to be.

One Step Toward More Jobs

2011-08-17T06:48:00.000-05:00

America needs jobs. It would be best to have new the jobs come organically from boom times. But with private investors withholding their capital and with the government held back by the extremists of the political right, we have no prospect of the massive infusion of money we need to make the economy grow.

What can we do?

Well, one idea which wouldn't take a lot of new money would be splitting-up the jobs we have now. We could do that by eliminating income tax deductions for compensation paid for time over 32 hours a week. That would make current employees more expensive and new employees less expensive. Some employers would respond with reduction of hours allowed current employees and new hiring to make-up the time.

Of course, some current employees may be adverse to losing time but others may welcome the possibility of more free time if they don't need as much income as they have.

It's not a perfect solution but, given the difficulties we face, it's one step we can take.

A Congress of Aristocrats

2011-08-09T06:04:00.000-05:00

Like many Progressives, I'm often puzzled by the failure of Congress to do what seems clearly in the best interest of the American People. What seems to benefit the greatest number of Americans seems never to be given more than cursory attention in Congress, if any at all. How can anyone in Congress, for instance, place more importance on any other issue than the employment crisis? It's resolution is critical to every American not just those who are unemployed. Even those who have jobs know they can lose them easily in an economy teetering on the brink of collapse. Why did Congress focus its attention on debt and the deficit when so many Americans are so close to economic devastation?

Then the answer was revealed. In Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1% Joseph E. Stiglitz writes:

Virtually all U.S. senators, and most of the representatives in the House, are members of the top 1 percent when they arrive, are kept in office by money from the top 1 percent, and know that if they serve the top 1 percent well they will be rewarded by the top 1 percent when they leave office.

How can we expect our representatives in Congress to care about the interests of the American People when their good fortune and large fortunes shape their perspective? For the most part, they're so affluent they never will have to worry about making the next payment on a used car or finding the money to buy groceries or pay the doctor. That's a big problem.

Socialize the Internet

2011-08-05T12:23:00.000-05:00

According to recent reports, the United States Postal Service is on its way to losing $3 billion in the third quarter of 2011. The loss is being attributed primarily to declining First Class Mail revenue.

Observers say the internet is making First Class mail obsolete. Email and online payments have replaced letters and mailed checks and that diminishes First Class Mail revenue. That makes sense but knowing it doesn't really solve the problem. Until everyone in America has access to reliable high speed internet service, we will need the Post Office. Someone will have to deliver the letters and payments those without broadband will have to send.

It would be nice if we could find a way to make sure every American has access to broadband. Unfortunately, with right wing zealots and ideological extremists in control of so much of the political process, we're unlikely ever to have universal access to reliable high speed internet services. Right wing legislators are little more than stooges for the plutocracy. The plutocracy owns America's internet service providers and they're never going to allow the ISP's revenue to be threatened by the one thing that can solve our communication problem, publicly owned broadband.

Every year we read of a law being rammed through a state legislature somewhere to prohibit a town or county from starting its own broadband service. Most recently it happened in North Carolina. As soon as the ISPs claimed their revenue would be threatened by public internet, the stooges in the NC legislature leapt to the feet, saluted and said they would pass a law to prohibit the protection of the public interest in favor of protecting the profits of the plutocracy. And they did. House Bill 129 prohibits public internet in favor of private profiteering.

So what's the solution? One good way to fill the public's broadband need and to solve the Post Office's revenue problem would be to socialize internet service under the control of the Post Office. No private firm would be allowed to offer broadband. It would become a public utility. That would replace declining First Class Mail revenue with nomial broadband access fees. An added benefit would be ensuring fair prices for every American rather than letting the cyber-pirate ISPs rob them. It would be a win-win.

Tea for Terrorists

2011-07-29T06:07:00.000-05:00

Someday the American People will look back on these past few weeks of debt ceiling turmoil as the time when the inadequacy of the American way of government was exposed. The T(errorist) Party faction of the Republican Party has illustrated the fundamental fallacy of our process; not everyone can be trusted to act with the best interests of the American People at heart.

The T Party are legislative terrorists. Like suicide bombers, they are willing to destroy innocent victims to reach their political goals. This is not what our Founders intended. They believed our elected representatives should be honorable persons concerned with the welfare of the whole country, not just the satisifaction of idelological extremists and political zealots. The T Party can never meet their expectations and their mere existance is stark evidence of the failure of American politics to serve the American People.

The Reagan Cult

2011-07-11T06:31:00.001-05:00

The campaign for the Republican nomination for President is heating up. Hardly a day goes by without some bizarre statement by one of the dozen or so contenders and each of them is more bizarre than the last. While each has his or her own special obsession, one thing seems to unite them all, they all venerate Ronald Reagan. Put any two of them on the same stage and before a minute goes by, each will claim to be more worthy of the Reagan mantel than the other.

It's a curious thing, this sanctification of Reagan. Somehow a second-rate actor and TV pitchman parlayed his screen presence into the greatest role in the world. For eight years he played President of the United States. Unfortunately, it wasn't in the movies. It was in the real world where fantasy has real consequences.

To non-believers, this Reaganmania is incomprehensible. His record as President wasn't much better than his record as an actor; average, at best. Other than a few one-liners, he left America little of value. Take a look at how it really was in this Aljazeera piece: Reagan mythology is leading US off a cliff and then try to reconcile the real Reagan with the totem carried by Regan cultists. Where's the reason for the reverence?

All Obama Ever Wanted?

2011-07-08T09:53:00.000-05:00

Glen Greenwald's column at Salon this morning, Obama pushing for cuts to Social Security, Medicare sums up what a lot of us feared about President Obama.

As Greenwald noted, many of Obama's strongest supporters always have said Obama's frequent capitulation to Republican demands were due to his personal failings. Obama is "weak and inept," they said. Sadly, that's the best thing we can say about Obama.

Greenwald explored a number of recent offerings by Paul Krugman and Frank Rich and came to the conclusion Obama isn't "weak and inept,"or, at least that he's not just weak and inept, but that he actually believes the things he's doing are the right things to do. For some reason, despite the overwhelming weight of evidence and expert advice, Obama has drunk the snake-oil and has come to accept Republican policy ideas such as spending cuts and tax forbearance as solutions to the problems of the American economy.

Why?

No one knows for sure but it's easy to speculate. Maybe Obama is focused on his reelection and believes the money-lenders and independents are the only ones who matter. Giving-up Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid in return for trivial tax revenue allows him to say he opposed his own party and moved toward the Republicans. That would make those who matter happy and they, along with those of Obama's shrinking progressive base who haven't given-up on him, might be enough

Or maybe it's something a little more sinister. Obama is the first black to be elected President. He got his name into the record books and as long as he doesn't do anything embarrassingly outrageous, he'll be able to reap the benefits of being a former President for the next 30 or so years. That's not bad for a guy who certainly must have experienced American racism, a guy born into a world which promised much and delivered little. He played a rigged game and came-out the big winner.

Maybe that's all he ever wanted.

Paul Krugman Should Be Economic Czar of the USA

2011-07-05T09:01:00.001-05:00

Paul Krugman should be the Economic Czar of the USA. His unparalleled understanding of the economy and his ability to explain it are critical to laymen when the information cloud includes so much distortion and misrepresentation shrouding the facts and good faith analysis.

In his latest offering as a New York Times Op-Ed columnist, Corporate Cash Con, he lays out the cause of our continuing economic difficulties the way a wise and celebrated doctor might prescribe treatment for a minor ailment. The symptoms lead him to an easy diagnosis and then to a clear course of treatment.

Our economic troubles, he tells us, are related to our bad habit of believing in trickle-down economics, the idea that money put into the economy at the top will "trickle-down" to those at the bottom. Its been tried before and it failed. It failed so badly, in fact, a better name for it might be drivel-down economics. It's the kind of sophistry medicine show charlatans like Eric Cantor offer to the suckers who need something to cure what they don't understand.

In this latest round, we're being told by drivel-downers that tax free repatriation of foreign profits earned by US corporations will be the basis of a recovery. The huge hoard of cash being held overseas would be brought home and used by American capitalists to invest in the American economy.

Krugman joins others in the exposure of the scheme by reminding us it already has failed us. In 2004, we allowed US corporations to repatriate profits but they didn't use them for job creation. They "used that money to pay dividends, pay down debt, buy up other companies, buy back their own stock -- pretty much everything except increasing investment and creating jobs." We have no reason to believe corporations wouldn't do pretty much the same thing in 2011 as they did in 2004.

The Krugmans goes on to point-out a fundamental truth of economics, economic actors do more of what best serves their interests. A second tax giveaway will give these "companies an incentive to move even more jobs overseas, since they now know that there’s a good chance that they’ll be able to bring overseas profits home nearly tax-free under future amnesties."

The question then arises, does anyone really believe corporations need more money? Krugman reminds us corporations already are swimming in cash. They're hoarding $1.9T because they have no reason to invest it. The lack of consumer demand would make any investment a waste. Consumer don't have the money to buy anything but they would if government created jobs and gave stressed home-owners mortgage relief.

Government created jobs and mortgage relief only part of what we need but they're good enough ideas to make Paul Krugman a candidate for Economic Czar of the USA.

Bring Back the United States Post Office

2011-06-24T07:17:00.000-05:00

On Thursday, Darrell Issa (R-CA,) chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, introduced the POSTAL REFORM ACT which would "implement sweeping, structural reforms of the United States Postal Service (USPS). The legislation represents the most fundamental reform of the postal service that has been proposed since USPS was first created from the old Post Office Department."

Of course, anything Issa does is suspect. Like all Republicans, he’s a sociopath and must be presumed to be acting for the plutocracy and against the interests of the American People. However, this actually could be a good opportunity to serve the country.

Here's how:

First, socialize USPS. Communication is extremely important to a democracy. That’s why the Founders declared an "enumerated power" of Congress to establish post offices and post roads and protected the right of speech and the press with the First Amendment. Clearly, communication is too important to trust to private firms. It's long past time to reestablish the United States Post Office the Founders intended.

Second, outlaw package delivery services like UPS, FedEx and DHL and let USPS handle the traffic. The USPS already serves every address they serve so this is a huge opportunity for savings which can be used to support USPS.

Third, reconceptualize USPS as the federal department of communication. It would not only continue in its traditional role but also would assume a new role as the national internet service provider. This would involve outlawing all private ISPs and providing service under the control of the new Post Office.

President Obama's Undoing

2011-06-09T09:57:00.000-05:00

President Obama's poll numbers are sagging under the weight of our continuing economic difficulties and Obama is being blamed for thirty years of Conservative economic policy bungling. Too bad for Obama but he brought it on himself. If he had a backbone it wouldn’t have happened. From the day he took office, the damage Conservatives have done to the American economy should have been his administration’s overriding message and should have been a part of every comment on any subject. Instead he’s collaborated and colluded with them until he finally capitulates to their demands and then tries to spin his embarrassing behavior as somehow a reasonable thing to do.

President Obama, cooperating with Conservatives never is a reasonable thing to do. They never will act in anyone’s interest except their own. They are sociopaths. They don’t care who get hurts by what they do as long as they get what they want.

You’ve got to learn that lesson and you don’t have much time to do it. Unless you make the American People understand that Conservatives caused our problems and that the only way to save America is by undoing what they’ve done, you’re not going to be reelected and then America’s going to be in real trouble.

Demagoguery and the National Debt

2011-06-06T06:41:00.000-05:00

The American national debt and what to do about it is an issue at the center of public discussion. In a commentary recently published on The Hill, former senator, Judd Gregg, notes:

...Some have tried to step into the waters of responsible action only to be confronted with the demagoguery of those who make a profession of poisoning wells.

How do we separate demagoguery on the debt issue from the demagoguery of the debt issue?

America has had a national debt since forever and we've learned to live with it. In fact, we've learned to love it. US Treasury securities are a good basis for a savings program. Now come the Conservatives hoping to use the national debt to advance their flagging political fortunes.

Conservative bungling of public policy created the dire economic straits of America today and they're hoping to divert attention from the consequences, a lack of jobs, to something else. The national debt fills the bill. Never mind that they created a good portion of the national debt, especially that portion accruing in recent years, with their tax cuts for the rich and foreign wars. They're acting as if they were the fiscal saviors of America and they're doing it with simplistic policy proposals and utter nonsense.

Spending and tax cuts sound good to the guy who doesn't understand much about macro economics. He knows he can't spend money he doesn't have and can't borrow. That guy can be scared into believing Conservative schemes to serve the plutocracy serve his interests, too, and that's how demagoguery works. Find something which evokes a deeply emotional response and use the response to serve your interest. Conservatives are good at it. They do it with race, immigration, sexual orientation and a host of other things.

Don't believe it.

The debt is manageable and not with the draconian budget and tax slashing the Conservatives are demanding. Instead of listening to the likes of Judd Gregg, stick to the fundamentals. Let Congress "provide for the general welfare" with good faith debating of the issues which really affect the American People and funding action on them with the best means available, taxing or borrowing, just as the Founders intended. We don't need to focus on the funding method just because the Conservatives think it will get them a few votes.

Class Warrior Under Attack

2011-06-04T06:03:00.000-05:00

Former candidate for the Presidency John Edwards has been charged with using campaign funds to shield his mistress from public few. The charges seem bogus to me. As Melanie Sloan of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has written,

The government’s entire case rests on finding that the payments made by Bunny Mellon and Fred Baron to Andrew Young to support Rielle Hunter were in fact campaign contributions. But no court has ever interpreted the definition of campaign contribution this broadly.

That makes wonder why Edwards is being prosecuted.

I don't know if John Edwards would have wanted to be called a "class warrior" when he was running for president. The American media don't use that term as a compliment and it might not have been well-received by a political campaign which, as we're finding-out, must be concerned with the candidate's image. Nevertheless, even though he, himself, is wealthy, I think of John Edwards as a class warrior for the rest of us.

During his campaign, Edwards talked about two Americas and he was right. America is divided by wealth into two Americas, the wealthy and everyone else. Republicans know it and have been waging a class war for years to make sure the wealthy stay in control. Edwards knew it and was ready to fight the battle for the rest of us. Maybe that's what this prosecution is all about. Edwards had the temerity to go to war for the common man.

Whatever his indiscretions, John Edwards was America's best chance to restore American prosperity and the dignity of the American middle-class. It's a shame we lost him to this peripheral and irrelevant issue and the American passion for elevating trivialities to what they think are substantive issues.

Giant Inflatable Rats

2011-05-28T06:31:00.000-05:00

Perhaps I've led a sheltered life but I've never heard of this practice just recently approved by the National Labor Relations Board.

The labor movement's giant inflatable rat is legal, even at demonstrations in front of secondary employers, ruled the National Labor Relations Board May 26.

In a case involving Sheet Metal Workers Local 15 and Brandon Regional Medical Center - which hired below-wage non-union temps to build its addition years ago - the board voted 3-1 that using the rat on a flatbed truck parked in public more than 100 feet from the hospital entrances, is kosher, along with the leafleting of passing patients.

Labor's use of giant rat deemed legal

This victory for Labor, small though it is, can be of great benefit to Americans. I can think of no better way to describe non-union contractors; they are a danger to public welfare. Let the public be warned, when rats are in the area, they have reason to be concerned.

It's the spin not the substance.

2011-05-26T05:35:00.000-05:00

Republican reaction to the upset in the New York 26 special election for Congress is starting to come-in. Democrat Kathy Hochul's victory over Republican Jane Corwin has been attributed to the Paul Ryan plan to convert Medicare to a voucher program. According to Democrats, seniors see it as a threat to their health care and are scared. Democrats think that reaction is good for their election chances in 2012. Republicans, at least publicly, say that's not so. They say all they have to do is explain themselves:

"If we’ll just stay with our argument and do a better job developing it, we’ll be fine," said Rep. Tom Cole (Okla.)

In other words, don't be concerned with the substance, just the spin.

Those words should sober-up the Democrats. Republicans are very good at demagoguery and distortion. They very well may be able make their plan to gut Medicare look like a plan to make health care for seniors more affordable. Democrats should pay attention and be forewarned. They are going to face a storm of Republican lies and distortions which will make the usual Republican lies and distortions look like a gentle breeze of logic and truth.

Deficit Advice to President Obama

2011-05-16T07:41:00.000-05:00

As we get closer and closer to next general election, President Obama is going to be getting more and more advice about how to win the election if the face of the budget deficit. Brit Hume offered him some on “Fox News Sunday” online “Panel Plus” segment on Sunday. Hume said "Obama (should) get on board with at least one of the current proposals put forth to address the federal debt. But he also noted the opposition he would face from his own party if he did so.

You're darn right, Brit.

Democrats didn't cause the deficit problem. Republicans did. Whatever Obama does about the deficit has to be at their expense. The Bush tax cuts, the Bush wars and the Bush Recession caused it. Obama has to keep the voters focused on that.

Class Solidarity

2011-05-14T06:16:00.000-05:00

Form what we've seen of the Republicans' legislative agenda so far this year, their intent should be clear. The Republicans are attempting to use envy to turn workers against each. The assault on public employee unions and the push for "right to work" laws shows us that. Each is an attempt to turn those not protected by unions against those who are. Unless American workers develop a sense of class solidarity, they will fall victim to the scheme. Every worker benefits when one worker improves himself. When he wins the battle, the next battle becomes easier and victory more likely.

Will the Democrats win the 2012 general elections in a landslide?

2011-03-25T07:10:00.002-05:00

When the results of the 2010 elections came-in, pundits might easily have predicted the end of the Democratic Party. Republicans were elected from coast to coast to a variety of offices both minor and major. The Republican Party was on top of American politics and looked like they were there to stay.

Then they actually had to govern.

Now things look different. Republicans have begun implementation of
their ideas and America is recoiling in horror. Ending collective
bargaining, repealing child labor laws, gutting Social Security and
replacing Medicare with inadequate vouchers aren't playing well with
American public. Even on overly cautious observer might be beginning to
get the idea the Republicans are in for a beating in 2012 which will make
2010 look like a clever Democratic scheme to let the Republicans hang
themsleves.

It couldn't happen to a more deserving bunch.

"Cut and Grow" Already a Failure

2011-01-29T05:14:00.003-06:00

Eric Cantor hardly had had time to move into his new office as majority leader before he declared his majority to be a "cut and grow" majority. He laid-out his plan to "grow" the economy by cutting everything - jobs, spending, benefits. Everything.

He should have waited.

A few months ago, the Conservative majority in Britain tried the same thing. They promised to cut this and cut that and promised growth but guess what happened. As Labor predicted, the economy shrank.

Let that be a lesson to you, Mr. Cantor. Keep your mouth shut. Better yet, resign. You'll be doing everyone a favor.

Please Mr. Obama, No Compromise

2010-10-31T06:25:00.000-05:00

Democrats are facing a disaster in the November mid-term elections. But even in the best case, even if things don't end-up as bad as the could, Congress will be different in the remaining two years of President Obama's term. Republicans will hold far more power and they will use it to advance their own goals. John Boehner, the presumed Speaker of the House, has promised no compromise with the President unless the President does what Boehner wants him to do. Mitch McConnell, the presumed Senate minority leader, has promised his Republicans would work only for the President's defeat in the 2012 election.

So what's Obama going to do?

According to this article he may follow President Bill Clinton's lead and try to work with Congress anyway. Quoted in the article, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson says "The divided government result, if it happens, is good for the president, because he now has some potential enemies but he also has some potential partners to get things done where he didn't have them before."

My question to Gov. Richardson, or anyone willing to answer it, is: "Why would we want anything we could get from a Congress run by Republicans, even if we have Democratic President?" Clinton's administration, the presumed model for Obama's, was hardly a golden age for the American people. With Clinton's trade policies, welfare reform and banking reform, the Republicans got what they wanted and the American People got the seeds of the bitter harvest we have today.

Please Mr. Obama, no compromise. America can't afford any more compromise with Republicans.

A Perspective on Unfavorable Results

2010-10-30T05:48:00.001-05:00

If the November elections go as predicted, the Democrats will lose control of the House and their control of the Senate will be imperiled. This will be a dark time for Americans of good will.

As bad as it will be, though, we should be be aware of the reason for the results. The Republicans will have won not because of the strength of their ideas but because of the depth of their depravity. They had no ideas but they were willing to distort and misrepresent the Democrats' ideas. Where the Democrats put forth honest attempts to move American forward, they obstructed and deceived. They put their party's interests above America's. The Democrats can take comfort in knowing their cause was just but the power of evil was just too great.

DOMA Must Stand

2010-07-10T06:08:00.017-05:00

This week a federal judge ruled the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional, in part on Tenth Amendment grounds. Conservatives believe the Tenth Amendment imparts to each State a sovereignty equal to, or even superior to, that of the United States. They believe state sovereignty allows the states to make whatever law they wish regardless of the will and morality of the American People. This idea, known as "states rights," was the basis for slavery, disenfranchisement of minorities and segregation. Over the course of a hundred years, from the Civil War through the civil rights struggles of the 1960s, it was killed-off. Should this ruling be allowed to stand, that sovereignty principle, states rights, would gain new life.

That's a dangerous principle. Believe me. I know.

I live in Missouri. The Missouri General Assembly is a sewer teeming with vermin and pestilence. The last thing in the world I want to see is state sovereignty. Allowing the reprobates and miscreants of the Missouri General Assembly any control of the lives of any human beings is an extremely bad idea. Allowing them to rule without federal oversight is an insult to the very idea of civilization. I'm sure many other states are the same way.

Should the recent ruling be allowed to stand, state legislatures across the country would regard the resulting anarchy as an open season on progressive legislation. Along with civil rights, Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security would be imperiled. All the struggles of decent Americans would evaporate in an orgy of repeals which would leave America a patchwork of civilized society and barbaric jungle.

For my sake and for the sake of the American People, Obama must use every means available to reverse the recent ruling.

DeMint's Disgrace

2010-07-04T11:44:00.000-05:00

I was particularly disgusted by Senator Jim DeMint's appearance on Fox News Sunday today. Admittedly, it's Fox so expecting honest answers to honest questions is asking a lot. Nevertheless, DeMint is a Senator speaking to a national audience. Even conservative "values" should demand respect for the citizenry.

No such luck.

DeMint used every question to deliver right-wing talking points and to spin right-wing mythology. It was disgraceful.

Let the Boomers Go

2010-07-04T06:40:00.006-05:00

June job creation numbers were disappointing. Once again, the American economy failed to create enough jobs for everyone who wanted one. Considering the burden of institutional incompetence the economy must overcome, that's not surprising. Almost 30 years of conservative economic policy has sucked the vitality out of the economy. Extraordinary measures may be the only thing to save us from an economic catastrophe rivaling the Great Depression.

The American economy is powered by consumer spending. Somewhere between 65 and 70% of GDP reflects everyday citizens buying the things of everyday life. Now, that buying is threatened by the lack of buying power. Americans don't have the income to continue the buying which drove the economy to its former heights because good American jobs have been exported to foreign countries. Technology has destroyed others. We're left with only a fraction of the jobs we once had. Where will we find the new jobs we need?

Don't depend on capitalists to create them. They were responsible for destroying the ones we had. We have to find another solution to our national problem. One solution is right before our eyes and would be easy to implement.

Since the end of WWII, much of American life has been affected significantly by the Baby Boom. The huge generation born in the years between 1946 and 1964 have skewed the American economy toward their needs. As children, they caused their parents to build houses and schools. As the Baby Boomers grew, they demand cars and their own homes. Baby Boomers' children echoed their parents and extended their economic effect.

Now the Boomers are retiring. A few at first and then, as always, in huge, statistic-skewing numbers. Congress can take advantage of this distortion of demographics by encouraging Boomers to retire early. Early retirement would free-up jobs for the millions of young American families who need a start.

One way to encourage early retirement would be to eliminate or offset the Social Security early retirement penalty. Right now, depending on the birth year of a prospective retiree, the SS benefit is reduced from 20 to 30% for anyone who wishes to retire before the normal retirement date. Congress should eliminate this penalty or appropriate funds to provide an offsetting subsidy. Considering the size of the Baby Boom, an increase in retirement funding, relatively small though it would be, would encourage enough Boomer retirements to make a difference in the employment statistics.

Let the Boomers go.

Another Outrage from the Supreme Court

2010-06-28T20:18:00.000-05:00

WASHINGTON, June 28 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Monday that state and municipal laws banning handguns for self-protection in the home are unconstitutional.

Another outrage committed by a dim-witted and extreme conspiracy of judicial activists. To say America is dying would be more than a metaphor. In this case, her death will come in a hail of gunfire which will end with her writhing in agony in a pool of her own blood.

When Antonin "Fat Tony" Scalia created a personal gun right with his ludicrous Heller opinion, we entered a new era of jurisprudence. No longer are we bound to the actual text of a law. Now we can invent things such as "prefatory clauses" to dismiss parts of laws we don't like. In that vein, I encourage all officials charged with maintaining law and order to declare this latest outrage of out-of-contol judicial activism from the Supreme Court merely a "recommendatory opinion" carrying no burden of compliance.

More Nonsense by Patrick J. Buchanan

2010-06-16T15:07:00.002-05:00

In Bailing Out Politicians Now?, Buchanan takes a shot at the President's attempts to maintain government services by sending some money to the states. Set aside the fact that he's wrong. Buchanan says, "Obama, with his $800 billion stimulus, bet it all on the public sector. It appears not to have worked." Sorry Pat, it just ain't so.The stimulus was the only thing that kept us out of a full depression.

No, he's also wrong in the implication the past stimulus and any future stimulus are too costly. The cost of government is irrelevant if we have the services we want. The question is, what services do we want? The answer to that question, if history is to be a guide is, all of them.

Americans love big government. The bigger, the better. From the earliest days of the Republic, we've demanded more and more from government and real Americans have objected only when government left some need unmet. Buchanan and the rest of the shills and hacks of the AmeriCorporate media who protest the cost of government without considering the object of government serve only the narrow special interests of the monied classes and the ideological extremists of the extreme right with their ranting and railing.

Worse Than a Bail-out

2010-06-11T07:07:00.000-05:00

John Boehner (R-OH) said US taxpayers should help BP pay for cleaning-up BP's oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. Eventually, he took-back his comment but the bell can't be unrung. Presumably, Boehner and the rest of the usually highly regimented Republicans want to bail-out BP.

I thought we weren't doing bail-outs anymore. They caused such a stir last time I thought we swore off. Now we find the Republicans were just kidding. Big rich BP, a company which earns $20 billion dollars a year, BP Bailout? , is facing a cost of about one years's profits to clean-up the mess it's made.

Is that too much to ask?

Apparently, the Republicans, ever-faithful defenders of capitalist profits, think it is. They didn't mind when GM, a major employer of everyday Americans, was facing liquidation. "Let it fail" they screamed. Apparently, jobs for Americans mean nothing to the Republicans but profits for foreign capitalists are a different thing. Even if the profits are just a bump in the road, profits for capitalists are sacred to Republicans.

This is despicable. It's an outrage approaching treason.

Mexisrael

2010-06-05T06:17:00.000-05:00

When the Israelis attacked the relief mission to Gaza, Conservative pundits naturally lept to their defense. Among them was David Limbaugh who wrote:

In reviewing the available facts about the Israeli storming of the Gaza-bound Turkish flotilla, two conclusions emerge: 1) The Israelis were justified in their actions, and 2) the Israelis will continue to be unjustly condemned by the world community.

Consider:

Israeli is surrounded by nations and entities either dedicated to its destruction or decidedly hostile to it. In the past five years, Hamas has fired some 10,000 missiles into Israel from Gaza.

With that background and pursuant to its existential right to self-defense, Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza to prevent the delivery of weapons into the area that could and probably would be used by Islamic terrorists in more attacks against Israel.

World Press Rushes To Condemn Israel -- as Usual

Set aside, for a moment, Limbaugh's rationalizations of the Israeli assault on the aid ships and ask yourself how you would feel about a
similar situation in the American southwest.

Suppose Mexicans had crossed the border of, say, Arizona, and had established a community in definance of American law. Suppose, further, they eventually gained the support of the international community, declared themselves independent and made the native born occupants of the new country, Mexisrael, second class citizens.

Would you feel the interlopers were justified in killing Arizonans who tried to aid their former countrymen now living within the borders of Mexisrael?

The Constitotem

2010-04-20T11:33:00.000-05:00

I just listened to one of Glenn Beck's frequent rants on the Constitution. He does it a quite a lot so I've gotten to the point where I don't pay much attention. To be honest, I didn't really listen this time, at least not more than enough to know that Beck doesn't really know that much about the Constitution. His rants are directed more toward reinforcing the idea of the Constitution as a totem for the misfits, malcontents and miscreants of what passes for Conservatism these days.

I guess that's a bit of progress. For a long time we had to put-up with veneration of St. Ronald Reagan. He was the great spirit who watched-over Conservatives. Now it's the Constitution. The Constitution protects them from having to deal with the real world.

Maybe it's an improvement but I'm not sure.

What Would Harry Say?

2010-01-23T06:39:00.003-06:00

The Democrats have reacted to their loss in the recent Massachusetts special election. As is typical for them, they have caved-in to the Republicans. Health care is imperiled by the Democrats refusal to fight for what they profess to believe, or anything else for that matter.

Harry Truman, one of the most famous of Democrats, was known for his rough language. What would he say if he knew what the Democrats were doing?

The Snake and the White House

2009-11-26T06:02:00.001-06:00

According to this article, the White House met "early and often" with health care lobbyists while it was putting-together its version of health care reform. To be fair, the lobbyists came from both sides of the debate. Both entrenched "for profit" health care interests and real reformers had a chance to pitch the White House their view of what health care should be.

I still don't like it. For profit, market-driven health care created the mess we have now. It's raised the price of health care to a point far beyond what many Americans can pay. CorporateCare knows it. The White House knows it and America knows it. It's what business does. Business' first responsibility is to the owners' profits. Forget all that stuff about delivering goods and services and creating jobs. Business exists to deliver profit. If that means rationing health care to those who can pay for it and ignoring the rest, so be it.

Some years ago, a popular song told the story of a man who found a nearly frozen snake. He took the snake into his home and warmed it by the fire until it recovered. Then the snake bit the man. Answering the stunned and puzzled look on the man's face, the snake said "You knew I was a snake when you took me in."

Listen-up Mr. President.

A Special Place in Hell

2009-10-31T06:41:00.000-05:00

I can't help but think there's a special place in Hell for anyone who would allow a child to suffer needlessly. And after watching the behavior of American politicians during the still-continuing furor surrounding health care reform, I'm sure it's full of Republicans.

As they have everytime health care reform has been proposed, not a single Republican is showing the slightest sign of supporting it. Despite all we've learned of the inadequacy of the American health care system, Republicans' loyalty to their extreme ideology remains intact. They're standing-by the special interests and their rich supporters.

That intransigence is killing children.

A recently released Johns Hopkins Children Center study of children and health insurance reports the deaths of 17,000 children in the last two decades because they lacked adequate health insurance. According to "lead investigator Fizan Abdullah, M.D., Ph.D., a pediatric surgeon at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center, '(i)f you are a child without insurance, if you're seriously ill and end up in the hospital, you are 60 percent more likely to die than the sick child in the next room who has insurance.'"

I don't know if that will change any Republican minds when they read the study but I don't think so. They're minds are closed and their hearts are cold. They need something to warm them.

Global Obstruction Pathology

2009-10-23T06:58:00.000-05:00

Republicans are the party of "no."

They continue their opposition to health care reform and in recent days they've opposed net neutrality and, appallingly, protecting female workers from rape by their co-workers. Before that, their opposition included clean air (cap and trade) and worker's rights (card check.)

I'm sure they'd like everyone to believe all this is principled opposition but I don't think so. I think there's something in the human psyche which drives some individuals to opposition regardless of reality. They can look at something, see it clearly and still take a counterintuitive position on it.

Let's call it Global Obstruction Pathology.

The party of no is full of individuals who suffer from Global Obstruction Pathology. It's a willingness, maybe even a visceral need, to oppose anything which doesn't spring from their own self-interest.

Republicans know health care reform is necessary and long overdue. They've said so and some have even admitted their party has been wrong in not pursuing it long before now. They can't support it, though, because the Democrats want to do something about it now.

They know our environment needs protection. It was their party, long-ago in the Nixon era, which created the Environmental Protection Agency. You'd think they'd support "cap and trade." It's a market-based solution to the pollution problem. Republicans are supposed to love markets.

Their opposition to protecting women from rape by their coworkers is a mystery. The 30 Republicans who opposed the Franken amendment to stop rape won't say why. Maybe they just had to say no because of their GOP.

Coddling the Military

2009-10-16T08:16:00.000-05:00

Do you thank military members you see?

One the hate mongers on my local hate radio station was talking this morning about his son's experience on the way to deployment in Iraq.

First of all, it's rather odd that radio hate mongers or their families, in particular, and conservatives, in general, actually serve in the military. Our recent experience tells us conservatives mostly send others to die in their wars. But it's not so odd of radio hate mongers to talk about honoring the military. Glorification of the military is an integral part of fascism and American conservatism is the new world version of fascism.

This guy was saying his son had experienced receiving the good wishes and thanks of persons in an airport where he changed planes. That, too, isn't so odd. Many Americans have taken to thanking military persons in uniform for their service.

I wonder if it's healthy, though. Our country wasn't designed to be the Uniformed States of America. Our Second Amendment, for instance, guarantees the People a civilian military. That's because a military is a threat to democracy. Do we dishonor our founding principles when we encourage militarism by thanking those in uniform?

I think we do. Moreover, we endanger our democracy by coddling and glorifying them. We should return to the days when Americans pursued peace not war.

A Memorable Day

2009-10-09T17:12:00.002-05:00

This was a remarkable day. With the news of Barack Obama's Nobel Peace Prize came not congratulations from throughout America but ridicule from rightwing hate radio. From the early morning to the late afternoon, they ranted and railed. They claimed he had done nothing to deserve a peace prize.

Nothing?

He's not George Bush.

For most of America that's enough. For eight years, Bush bombed and killed innocents. He started wars and dreamed of starting more. He wallowed in blood. He embarrassed America. He's a blot on America's reputation.

Barack Obama changed that. He came to office with a determination to extricate America from the bloody mess Bush had created. He came to expiate our guilt. He came to cleanse our reputation. He came to restore America's honor.

And the world loved him for it.

The world wanted the America of old back. They wanted the America that fights to free men from oppression not to create it. They wanted the America that creates peace and prosperity not the America that creates war and poverty.

The Nobel Peace Prize says the world is happy with what Barack Obama has given them.

Conservatives Cheer US Defeat

2009-10-03T05:49:00.001-05:00

I never thought I'd see it and when I did I wished I hadn't.  It was a stomach-turning sight.

When the the International Olympic Committee (IOC) rejected the American bid for the 2016 Olympics, the Conservative world erupted in wild cheering. Hate radio talk show hosts giddily announced the news. Rush Limbaugh was almost uncontrollable in his glee. He bounced-around in his chair at his microphone like a four-hundred pound schoolboy as he chanted President Obama's name to associate him with America's defeat. Glenn Beck said the news was "so sweet."

So sweet, Glenn? The news of an American defeat is "so sweet?" Why is that, Glenn? How can you claim to be a patriotic American when seeing it lose makes you so happy? Why do you hate America so much?

Public Enemies

2009-09-30T19:10:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, the Senate Finance Committee rejected the public option...twice. These well-fed, well-insured bureaucrats decided that Americans who can't buy decent health insurance won't get it anytime soon, at least not that they can afford from someone they can trust. Instead the Senate fat cats decided these uninsured Americans will have to trust their health to the mercies of the health insurance industry.

The health insurance industry!

The health insurance industry, in a conspiracy with some well-funded government bureaucrats, some of whom voted yesterday, allows up to 45,000 Americans to die every year because they can't afford health insurance. Yet, the Senate Finance Committee wants us to trust them with our very lives. Why would the committee members want us to trust them? Whose side are they on?

A Double Standard

2009-09-25T15:29:00.009-05:00

Yesterday, Binyamin Netanyahu, Premier of Israel, stood before the United Nations and said:

"To those who refused to come and to those who left in protest, I commend you," he said. "But to those who gave this Holocaust denier a hearing, I say on behalf of my people, the Jewish people, and decent people everywhere: Have you no shame? Have you no decency?"

Israel's Premier Fires Back in Speech

His people? He's Premier of Israel and Israel is only 75% Jewish. What about the rest of Israel? Aren't they "his people," too?

If an American President were to go before the United Nations and say the United States was a Christian nation, he'd be roundly criticized. Yet, at 86% Christian, the United States is more Christian than Israel is Jewish.

Who will condemn Netanyahu?

The Vietnamization of Afghanistan

2009-09-25T05:55:00.004-05:00

Someone turned back the clock 40 years. In the mid '60s, the Vietnam war was America's overseas adventure and it was demanding more and more blood. Almost every week, the commanders were throwing thousands more young Americans into the meat grinder. Before long, America had committed 500,000 to the conquest of Vietnam. President Obama's man in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, must of have read the history and liked what he saw. Now he wants 500,000 for the conquest Afghanistan.

Sending them to Afghanistan seems like even less a good idea than sending them to Vietnam was. Vietnam at least had some history of domination by outsiders. It had been a French colony. Not so Afghanistan. Afghanistan is the place where foreign armies go to die. Ask the British and the Soviets. Their investment of blood and treasure in Afghanistan ended badly.

What makes America think the end will be any different for us? Is McChrystal so infused with military machismo that he thinks he can dominate the Afghanis by force of arms? Has Obama bought into the idea of American exceptionalism?

Let's hope not. Over 50,000 Americans left their lives in Vietnam. We have less reason to believe our effort to impose our will on Afghanistan will be less bloody. After over eight years of fighting there, America hasn't achieved much of anything and the toll of dead Americans is rising. It's time to get out.

Don't Worry

2009-09-23T18:45:00.001-05:00

The latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll puts the Democrats only 3 points ahead of the Republicans for control of Congress in 2010.

So?

It's a little early to worry about the spread. With over a year to go and the payoff for all the hard-work of 2009 still ahead, the Democrats have plenty of time to turn-around their sinking numbers. And they will. The stimulus is working. Health care will be successful and public disgust for the Republicans has nowhere to go but up.

There's nothing to worry about.

What in the world is Time talking about?

2009-09-20T06:27:00.000-05:00

For years wingnuts have been trying to tell anyone who would listen that the media are biased in favor of liberals.  Those of us who actually read what the mainstream media produce know that's not true.  Nevertheless, the idea has taken hold and many who don't follow the controversy actually believe it.  

That's unfortunate.  It means the recent Time article on Glenn Beck will be given far more credence than it deserves and Beck will come-off looking far better than he deserves.

From its uncritical dealing with the differences in reporting the size of the crowd at the recent Beck-promoted Washington DC protest to ignoring Beck's daily distortions and outright lying, the Time article was an insult to the very idea of journalism. It's little more than a puff piece we might expect to read in a publication with the permanence of a passing cloud not the chronicle we've come to expect Time to be.

Time deserves to be ripped for its pitiful performance and Jamison Foser had taken on the task. His article Time Magazine's Dishonest and Incompetent Profile on Glenn Beck Enables His Sick Lies lays out the case for dismissing the Time article as just another case of mistaken identity. Apparently, someone is impersonating America's one-time premiere news magazine.

Say It Ain't So, Joe.

2009-09-18T17:07:00.000-05:00

Representative Addison "Joe" Wilson, (R) South Carolina, attacked President Obama for what was little more than a difference of opinion on health care for illegal immigrants. When President Obama, addressing Congress, said they wouldn't qualify under his plan, Wilson screamed out his disagreement with the now infamous phrase "You lie!" Those of us who witnessed this outrage, if only on television, can be forgiven for assuming Wilson was, by his protestation, a staunch supporter of American immigration laws.

Well, not so much.

Now we see that ol' Joe decided to bend the rules a bit for his good friend and illegal immigrant Sainey H. Fatty. According to Wilson Authored Bill To Let Illegal Immigrant Stay In U.S. at Talking Points Memo, Wilson authored a "private bill" to allow Fatty to stay in the US. Imagine that. The majesty of the Legislative Branch bent to the service of a law breaker.

Kind of makes you wonder what ol' Joe was so upset about. With all the yelling, I mean.

Scalia's Bizarro World

2009-09-18T11:43:00.002-05:00

This is outrageous. Antonin Scalia, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court says there's nothing wrong with injecting religion into government.

Justice Antonin Scalia has defended the court's accommodation of religion in the public sphere in recent rulings, saying the founding fathers would want it that way.

Scalia told the Jewish daily newspaper Hamodia for Wednesday editions that it was never U.S. constitutional, social or legal tradition to exclude religion. He noted that the Supreme Court recently allowed the Ten Commandments on the grounds of the Texas State Legislature.

Scalia recalls 9-11 experience for Jewish daily

Scalia claims to be a textualist, an originalist. Now, despite the utter lack of anything in the Constitution which would permit religion to become a part of public policy, he's insisting "It's in there."

Where to these wingnuts get this stuff? Do they stay up nights dreaming of bizarre things to say? Or are they so talented they can just make-up stuff in an instant when they see an opening to spew their nonsense.

The Senate Health Care Markup

2009-09-17T21:12:00.004-05:00

Max Baucus finally released his health care markup, the markup he and his committee have been working on for months.  Imagine that.  Months of work and this monstrosity was the best he could do.

This thing stinks.  It raises the cost of health care to American families and doesn't really guarantee anything to anybody.  Why did they bother?  I can't imagine it being passed by the Senate much less being accepted by the House.

It deserves the death it certainly will see.

A Time of Great Unease

2009-09-17T20:25:00.000-05:00

This first posting comes at a time of great unease in America.  Conservatives have committed themselves to obstructing President Obama's implementation of the mandate he received from the American People.  Many of us witnessing this appalling betrayal of trust by Conservatives in government can no longer remain silent.  We must speak out.  If not in hope of changing the course Conservatives have set for themselves, then in hope standing against their treason.