HOLD BUSH AND CHENEY ACCOUNTABLE
THE WEALTHY HAVE WAGED CLASS WARFARE ON US
Now that President Obama has released his first budget and the budget contains provisions for raising taxes on the rich we will hear the caterwauling from the right about "class warfare" and "redistribution of wealth." But for decades the right-wing policies pursued by our government have effectively been transferring the wealth to the richest people in this country and systematically destroying the working and middle class. We have had policies that ship jobs to other countries. The minimum wage has barely budged in comparison to the explosion in CEO salaries and perks. There has been an active effort to destroy the union movement. The rich have received massive tax breaks that in many cases mean their effective rate of taxation is lower than that of working people. I have no sympathy for these creeps. This article by Jamison Foser is at mediamatters.org:
But the real problem with Cummings' article -- and with the rest of the week's news reports about "class warfare" and "redistribution of wealth" -- is that they frame Obama's proposals in such negative terms. It's hard to think of a single example of tax or spending policy that doesn't in some way "redistribute wealth." Some redistribute wealth upward, some redistribute wealth downward. But the media only seem to break out the "class warfare" and "redistribution of wealth" pejorative when the wealth in question is heading to those who are not already wealthy.
(At this point, it should be noted that big-name political reporters earn considerably more money than most of the people who read and watch their reports. According to Sean Quinn at FiveThirtyEight.com, one reporter asked after Gibbs' briefing yesterday: "Did you notice all the questions about taxes came from reporters making over $250,000 a year, especially the TV guys?")
THE FREAKS OF THE FAR RIGHT
Sometimes when you look at the denizens of the Far Right in this country you have to wonder why they aren't in a circus sideshow somewhere next to the three-headed chicken. Their idea of "Americanism" is for a few people to have everything and everyone else to have nothing. They claim that God is on their side. They talk about "freedom" while doing everything in their power to suppress freedom. Smoke a joint and go to prison, but engineer a massive Ponzi scheme and you're paying homage to the "free market." This article by Bob Cesca is at www.huffingtonpost.com:
After nearly three decades of Reaganomics in which the wealthiest two percent have grown exponentially wealthier while middle class wages have remained stagnant, a growing faction of super rich Americans is seriously pissed off -- and their Wingnut Revolution is upon us.
Sure, the interests and influence of the wealthiest two percent make them more responsible than most for the free market policies that created this current economic crisis. But if there's one thing we've learned about those responsible for this recession, it's that the concept of accountability is about as foreign as their live-in au pairs. Instead, they're trying to pin this on Barney Frank and a legion of "losers" (read that: working class minorities) even though Ben Bernanke himself has debunked this myth.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
HOLD BUSH AND CHENEY ACCOUNTABLE
THE MISERIES OF JURY DUTY
Jury duty has become a plague in Fresno County. I've gotten four summons in just eight years. The last three times I got excused without having to report to the courthouse. Not this time, though.
Among the things I hate is the downtown location of the courthouse. Parking can be a nightmare. The court has free parking across from the baseball park, but if you're unfamiliar with downtown it can be a problem finding the parking lot.
Then you ride a packed shuttle to the courthouse and go into the Jury Assembly Room. You turn in one of the forms they sent you with the summons and they call roll. Then they come back with the dreaded announcement that you've been assigned to a courtroom.
You go through a metal detector. You have to empty your pockets and even take off your belt and watch. If the machine beeps, you have to go back through the process.
The elevators are packed and slower than a garden snail.
You go into the courtroom, which has absolutely no windows, and they call roll again.
The judge comes in and reads the charges against the accused. The the first eighteen names are called for people to report to jury box. They are handed a green sheet questionnaire.
The judge asks if the prospective jurors know the attorneys, witnesses, or the defendant. He asks if there are any religious or philosophical reasons someone couldn't serve on a jury. He asks about hardship jury duty would impose.
Then the defense attorney and the prosecutor start asking questions of the prospective jurors. They are looking for biases that might make an impartial verdict impossible. After that, they have challenges to people they think would be biased and they excuse those people.
You go through this process repeatedly until a jury and six alternate jurors get selected.
I would be in favor of a professional jury system. Everything else about the criminal and civil justice system is done by professionals. Judges are professionals, attorneys are professionals, and the law enforcement personnel are professionals. The biggest issue would be keeping professional jurors from becoming too chummy with judges and attorneys and becoming biased. But anyone who thinks the current system isn't already stacked against poor defendants is kidding himself.
I wrote our esteemed governor about my issues with coercive jury duty months ago and never got a reply. I also left a phone message and never got a reply, which shows what politicians think of ordinary constituents. We're just there to provide bodies to this process so they can create the illusion that justice is being served.
THE MISERIES OF JURY DUTY
Jury duty has become a plague in Fresno County. I've gotten four summons in just eight years. The last three times I got excused without having to report to the courthouse. Not this time, though.
Among the things I hate is the downtown location of the courthouse. Parking can be a nightmare. The court has free parking across from the baseball park, but if you're unfamiliar with downtown it can be a problem finding the parking lot.
Then you ride a packed shuttle to the courthouse and go into the Jury Assembly Room. You turn in one of the forms they sent you with the summons and they call roll. Then they come back with the dreaded announcement that you've been assigned to a courtroom.
You go through a metal detector. You have to empty your pockets and even take off your belt and watch. If the machine beeps, you have to go back through the process.
The elevators are packed and slower than a garden snail.
You go into the courtroom, which has absolutely no windows, and they call roll again.
The judge comes in and reads the charges against the accused. The the first eighteen names are called for people to report to jury box. They are handed a green sheet questionnaire.
The judge asks if the prospective jurors know the attorneys, witnesses, or the defendant. He asks if there are any religious or philosophical reasons someone couldn't serve on a jury. He asks about hardship jury duty would impose.
Then the defense attorney and the prosecutor start asking questions of the prospective jurors. They are looking for biases that might make an impartial verdict impossible. After that, they have challenges to people they think would be biased and they excuse those people.
You go through this process repeatedly until a jury and six alternate jurors get selected.
I would be in favor of a professional jury system. Everything else about the criminal and civil justice system is done by professionals. Judges are professionals, attorneys are professionals, and the law enforcement personnel are professionals. The biggest issue would be keeping professional jurors from becoming too chummy with judges and attorneys and becoming biased. But anyone who thinks the current system isn't already stacked against poor defendants is kidding himself.
I wrote our esteemed governor about my issues with coercive jury duty months ago and never got a reply. I also left a phone message and never got a reply, which shows what politicians think of ordinary constituents. We're just there to provide bodies to this process so they can create the illusion that justice is being served.
Sunday, February 08, 2009
HOLD BUSH AND CHENEY ACCOUNTABLE
LIMBAUGH, REPUBLICAN DEMAGOGUE
People who faithfully listen to Rush Limbaugh and spout his talking points are like mindless drones. They proudly call themselves "Ditto Heads," announcing to the world that they don't think for themselves. The irony is that the policies pushed by Limbaugh are hurtful to his devout followers. Now Limbaugh has arrogated to himself the position of leading the Republican party. Let's hope so. Most people don't care for Limbaugh and the extremism he represents. If he is the face of the Republican party, it means the even further demise of the GOP and I'm all in favor of that. This article by Faye Fiore and Mark Z. Barabak is at www.latimes.com:
Limbaugh has plenty of critics, not all of them liberal or Democrats. Some Republicans worry that the 58-year-old AM radio icon, highly effective at rallying disenchanted conservatives, may be turning off the less ideological voters whom Republicans need if they hope to again become a majority party.
"The question is: Are we going to have an all-white-man litmus test under the Republican Party? Or is there room for diverse opinion on environmental issues, on the issue of right to life, the issue of taxes and spending?" said Rich Bond, a GOP strategist and former chairman of the Republican National Committee. "There must be room for dissent in the Republican Party. It must be sincere. It must have comity."
To some, Limbaugh crossed a line when he recently rooted for Obama's downfall. Asked along with other prominent political types to write 400 words on his hopes for the president, Limbaugh said: "I don't need 400 words. I need four: I hope he fails."
LIMBAUGH, REPUBLICAN DEMAGOGUE
People who faithfully listen to Rush Limbaugh and spout his talking points are like mindless drones. They proudly call themselves "Ditto Heads," announcing to the world that they don't think for themselves. The irony is that the policies pushed by Limbaugh are hurtful to his devout followers. Now Limbaugh has arrogated to himself the position of leading the Republican party. Let's hope so. Most people don't care for Limbaugh and the extremism he represents. If he is the face of the Republican party, it means the even further demise of the GOP and I'm all in favor of that. This article by Faye Fiore and Mark Z. Barabak is at www.latimes.com:
Limbaugh has plenty of critics, not all of them liberal or Democrats. Some Republicans worry that the 58-year-old AM radio icon, highly effective at rallying disenchanted conservatives, may be turning off the less ideological voters whom Republicans need if they hope to again become a majority party.
"The question is: Are we going to have an all-white-man litmus test under the Republican Party? Or is there room for diverse opinion on environmental issues, on the issue of right to life, the issue of taxes and spending?" said Rich Bond, a GOP strategist and former chairman of the Republican National Committee. "There must be room for dissent in the Republican Party. It must be sincere. It must have comity."
To some, Limbaugh crossed a line when he recently rooted for Obama's downfall. Asked along with other prominent political types to write 400 words on his hopes for the president, Limbaugh said: "I don't need 400 words. I need four: I hope he fails."
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
HOLD BUSH AND CHENEY ACCOUNTABLE
REPUBLICANS: THE TAX CUT IS MY SHEPHERD
Republicans, whose policies created the economic crisis we face now, are obstructing passage of a stimulus package because they want tax cuts for their fat cat friends. It's the same stuff that got us into this hole. It's almost like a religion with these clowns. You can almost see them on bended knee, looking heavenward, and reconstructing the 23rd Psalm. "The tax cut is my shepherd and I shall not want." Joe Conason talks about the reality of the stimulus package vs. the myths propagated by self-serving Republicans, who put fat cats before country. This commentary is at www.observer.com:
Another persistent myth denigrates spending on food stamps, unemployment insurance, tuition aid and similar programs as “welfare” that doesn’t promote growth. According to this argument, assistance to the poor doesn’t qualify as “stimulus” because it doesn’t create public assets such as roads or bridges. But the real purpose of fiscal stimulus is to boost demand in the economy and prevent the bottom from dropping out under prices for goods and services—in short, to forestall a deflationary spiral. Giving money to families that will purchase things immediately is the best kind of boost, as both Moody’s and the Congressional Budget Office have noted in recent studies.
It is true that we need to make real investments in transportation, energy, education and technology for the future—and that our future fiscal difficulties will be eased if we make those investments now. Yet the most immediate need is to promote demand, which will restore confidence and encourage investment.
What we ought to learn from this episode is that extreme inequality reduces national economic stability. The falling wages of working families forced them to rely too much on credit to maintain and improve their standards of living. Restoring the American dream means putting a floor under family incomes and reducing the gap between the richest and poorest, not only for the sake of simple justice but because that is the most reliable economic policy for the nation as a whole.
REALITY: MOST OF US WON'T GET RICH
Back in the days of aristocrats and peasants the peasants knew they wouldn't get rich, so I doubt they identified much with the people in the big castles. In the United States we get brainwashed into thinking that we, too, could be rich under the right circumstances. That's a part of the reason people don't rise up against the massive inequality in this country. This discussion by John Buell is at www.commondreams.org:
During the campaign, Democrats argued that working and middle-class citizens would be better off under their tax proposals. This debate is important, but it obscures one quintessentially American trait. More workers in the U.S. than in other nations are convinced they are going to become rich. They identify with the interests and ideas of the rich. It is important to reduce taxes on the working class. Nonetheless, fair taxation and economic justice are less likely as long as many believe they are only a little more hard work - or one lottery ticket - away from wealth.
Recent studies show that rags to riches stories, so widely publicized here, are actually less common than in much-reviled and more egalitarian European social democracies. Nonetheless, statistical attacks on mythology often fail to address the gut level concerns that feed it. Reformers must counter Horatio Alger tales of fortune tapping the hardworking for great wealth. Many of the largest modern fortunes are not the result of work or clever invention but insider deals that harm ordinary workers and even investors.
Hank Paulson's bailout was administered by Wall Street insiders, who showered billions of dollars on a narrow cadre of investment bankers. These banks in turn plot more mergers even as they abstain from lending to productive enterprises. The income investment bankers make from marketing exotic derivatives that destabilize the world economy is then taxed at about half the rate of plumbers' incomes. The plumber trying to start a business is paying more taxes so that investment bankers can pay less.
REPUBLICANS: THE TAX CUT IS MY SHEPHERD
Republicans, whose policies created the economic crisis we face now, are obstructing passage of a stimulus package because they want tax cuts for their fat cat friends. It's the same stuff that got us into this hole. It's almost like a religion with these clowns. You can almost see them on bended knee, looking heavenward, and reconstructing the 23rd Psalm. "The tax cut is my shepherd and I shall not want." Joe Conason talks about the reality of the stimulus package vs. the myths propagated by self-serving Republicans, who put fat cats before country. This commentary is at www.observer.com:
Another persistent myth denigrates spending on food stamps, unemployment insurance, tuition aid and similar programs as “welfare” that doesn’t promote growth. According to this argument, assistance to the poor doesn’t qualify as “stimulus” because it doesn’t create public assets such as roads or bridges. But the real purpose of fiscal stimulus is to boost demand in the economy and prevent the bottom from dropping out under prices for goods and services—in short, to forestall a deflationary spiral. Giving money to families that will purchase things immediately is the best kind of boost, as both Moody’s and the Congressional Budget Office have noted in recent studies.
It is true that we need to make real investments in transportation, energy, education and technology for the future—and that our future fiscal difficulties will be eased if we make those investments now. Yet the most immediate need is to promote demand, which will restore confidence and encourage investment.
What we ought to learn from this episode is that extreme inequality reduces national economic stability. The falling wages of working families forced them to rely too much on credit to maintain and improve their standards of living. Restoring the American dream means putting a floor under family incomes and reducing the gap between the richest and poorest, not only for the sake of simple justice but because that is the most reliable economic policy for the nation as a whole.
REALITY: MOST OF US WON'T GET RICH
Back in the days of aristocrats and peasants the peasants knew they wouldn't get rich, so I doubt they identified much with the people in the big castles. In the United States we get brainwashed into thinking that we, too, could be rich under the right circumstances. That's a part of the reason people don't rise up against the massive inequality in this country. This discussion by John Buell is at www.commondreams.org:
During the campaign, Democrats argued that working and middle-class citizens would be better off under their tax proposals. This debate is important, but it obscures one quintessentially American trait. More workers in the U.S. than in other nations are convinced they are going to become rich. They identify with the interests and ideas of the rich. It is important to reduce taxes on the working class. Nonetheless, fair taxation and economic justice are less likely as long as many believe they are only a little more hard work - or one lottery ticket - away from wealth.
Recent studies show that rags to riches stories, so widely publicized here, are actually less common than in much-reviled and more egalitarian European social democracies. Nonetheless, statistical attacks on mythology often fail to address the gut level concerns that feed it. Reformers must counter Horatio Alger tales of fortune tapping the hardworking for great wealth. Many of the largest modern fortunes are not the result of work or clever invention but insider deals that harm ordinary workers and even investors.
Hank Paulson's bailout was administered by Wall Street insiders, who showered billions of dollars on a narrow cadre of investment bankers. These banks in turn plot more mergers even as they abstain from lending to productive enterprises. The income investment bankers make from marketing exotic derivatives that destabilize the world economy is then taxed at about half the rate of plumbers' incomes. The plumber trying to start a business is paying more taxes so that investment bankers can pay less.
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