Thursday, November 17, 2011
The frightening thought
"No politician, regardless of what party he's in, wants the people to suddenly be in charge. For the power to shift from those who are the elected officials to the people who elected them, which is actually the way it's supposed to be, that's a frightening thought." - Michael Moore, 15 Nov 2011
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Dan Siegel: Totally futile to try shutting down ‘Occupy’ protests | The Rachel Maddow Show
14 Nov 2011 | Oakland Mayor Jean Quan’s legal adviser and longtime friend, Dan Siegel, explained to MSNBC host Rachel Maddow on Monday night why he decided to resign his post.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Get ready for a passionless presidential race
Robert Reich | 14 Nov 2011
At this point neither the Republican right nor the mainstream media wants to admit the yawn-inducing truth that Mitt will be the GOP’s candidate. The right doesn’t want to admit it because it will be seen as a repudiation of the Tea Party. The media doesn’t want to because they’d prefer to sell newspapers and attract eyeballs.
The media are keeping the story of Rick Perry’s cringe-inducing implosion going for the same reason they’re keeping the story of Herman Cain’s equally painful decline going — because the public is forever fascinated by the gruesome sight of dying candidacies. With Bachmann, Perry, and Cain gone or disintegrating, the right wing-nuts of the GOP have only one hope left: Newt Gingrich. His star will rise briefly before he, too, is pilloried for the bizarre things he’s uttered in the past and for his equally bizarre private life. His fall will be equally sudden (although I don’t think Gingrich is capable of embarrassment).
And so we’ll be left with two presidential candidates who don’t inspire — at the very time in American history when Americans crave inspiration.
The full story:
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Van Jones on Occupy Wall Street | Countdown with Keith Olbermann
9 Nov 2011 | Van Jones, co-founder and president of Rebuild the Dream, discusses the connection the Occupy movement is making with more Americans around specific issues. Referring to the continued resistance by Republicans to the desire by a growing percentage of the public that government intervene in the country’s wealth disparity, Jones says to them, “Please just keep saying you want America’s government to be AWOL in the biggest crisis to hit us since the Great Depression.”
Mike Tyson impersonates Herman Cain in spoof campaign commercial
"The Tea Party loves crazy more than they hate black."
Wednesday, November 09, 2011
Rural farmers unite to feed Wall Street protestors
How rural farmers, an unemployed chef and a protestor named Heather are getting 1,000 dinners served at Occupy Wall Street every night.
FULL STORY:
FULL STORY:
Tuesday, November 08, 2011
New documentary highlights Koch Brothers' influence on American politics
New documentary by Al Jazeera's Bob Abeshouse on the Kochtopus.
Monday, November 07, 2011
Paul Krugman: Here comes the sun
PAUL KRUGMAN | New York Times
6 Nov 2011
For decades the story of technology has been dominated, in the popular mind and to a large extent in reality, by computing and the things you can do with it. Moore’s Law — in which the price of computing power falls roughly 50 percent every 18 months — has powered an ever-expanding range of applications, from faxes to Facebook.
Our mastery of the material world, on the other hand, has advanced much more slowly. The sources of energy, the way we move stuff around, are much the same as they were a generation ago.
But that may be about to change. We are, or at least we should be, on the cusp of an energy transformation, driven by the rapidly falling cost of solar power. That’s right, solar power.
Read it here:
Walter Cronkite On Fox News: Beyond Conservative
NewsCorpse 18 July 2009 | There are really very few times when the phrase “the end of an era” is actually true. But in the case of Walter Cronkite, it could not be more appropriate. He presided over so many of the most significant events of the latter half of the twentieth century that it almost seems as if he were a part of them.
Cronkite represented a generation of television journalism that can never be repeated. The concentration of media to only three networks elevated their impact and influence. So when a dignified and experienced reporter rose to the position of anchor at CBS, it was just matter of time before his calm and confident delivery inspired a measure of respect that has never been matched. And if ever there were a time to heed his words, it is now:
Cronkite: It was quite clear when they founded the Fox network that they intended to be a conservative organization. Beyond conservative, a far right-wing organization.
It must have been comments like those above that led to Bill O’Reilly dismissing Cronkite as a leftist a couple of years ago:
“Just look at what Walter Cronkite and Bill Moyers have done since they left CBS News; both men allied themselves with the far-left and are proud of it.”
But that’s nothing compared to what the Fox Nation community is saying about Cronkite today:
Read it here:
Cronkite represented a generation of television journalism that can never be repeated. The concentration of media to only three networks elevated their impact and influence. So when a dignified and experienced reporter rose to the position of anchor at CBS, it was just matter of time before his calm and confident delivery inspired a measure of respect that has never been matched. And if ever there were a time to heed his words, it is now:
Cronkite: It was quite clear when they founded the Fox network that they intended to be a conservative organization. Beyond conservative, a far right-wing organization.
It must have been comments like those above that led to Bill O’Reilly dismissing Cronkite as a leftist a couple of years ago:
“Just look at what Walter Cronkite and Bill Moyers have done since they left CBS News; both men allied themselves with the far-left and are proud of it.”
But that’s nothing compared to what the Fox Nation community is saying about Cronkite today:
Read it here:
Sunday, November 06, 2011
American Apparently: "The American people" is a meaningless phrase | The Daily Show
5 May 2010 | "The American people" is a meaningless phrase that should be struck from public utterance along with, "Nobody doesn't like Sara Lee."
Wednesday, November 02, 2011
Tuesday, November 01, 2011
Friday, October 28, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Occupy Wall Street: Naomi Wolf calls attention to the disturbing involvement of Homeland Security in her arrest
21 Oct 2011 | Naomi Wolf, political activist and author of “Give Me Liberty,” calls attention to the enormous power that the federal government can wield to prevent constitutionally guaranteed rights. “History shows they start with the Other and it gets closer and closer and closer and someday they come for you.”
OWS: Will Bunch on Occupy Chicago arrests | Countdown
24 Oct 2011 | Keith and Will Bunch, senior writer for the Philadelphia Daily, discuss the 130 arrests during Occupy Chicago this past Sunday and that police officers seem to be unaware that their arrests and aggressive law enforcement amplify the movement: “The police have become kind of a stand-in for the 1 percent and the elites they seem to be protecting.”
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Which bank is worst for America?
Sarah Jaffe and Joshua Holland
19 Oct 2011 | alternet.com
The economic crash led to the loss of 9 million jobs and the biggest drop in American home-ownership since the Great Depression. Long-term unemployment, poverty and hunger have increased dramatically. People are angry. The Occupy Wall Street movement, a stand against Wall Street's greed, excess and criminality, has captured the imagination and participation of millions across the nation and the globe.
The giant mortgage bubble and the irresponsible and corrupt practices that caused the catastrophic economic crash didn't emerge out of thin air. They were a consequence of decades of pay-to-play politics rife with conflicts of interest; a political system awash in cash and legal pay-offs, designed to undermine the checks and balances that could have prevented the meltdown.
Many of these checks and balances were implemented during the Great Depression. How they were eroded and eventually abandoned is the story of a small group of banks, financial companies and elites involved in major conflicts of interest, revolving-door politics and backroom deal-making -- all to protect the interests of the global elite at the expense of the American public.
Read it here.
19 Oct 2011 | alternet.com
The economic crash led to the loss of 9 million jobs and the biggest drop in American home-ownership since the Great Depression. Long-term unemployment, poverty and hunger have increased dramatically. People are angry. The Occupy Wall Street movement, a stand against Wall Street's greed, excess and criminality, has captured the imagination and participation of millions across the nation and the globe.
The giant mortgage bubble and the irresponsible and corrupt practices that caused the catastrophic economic crash didn't emerge out of thin air. They were a consequence of decades of pay-to-play politics rife with conflicts of interest; a political system awash in cash and legal pay-offs, designed to undermine the checks and balances that could have prevented the meltdown.
Many of these checks and balances were implemented during the Great Depression. How they were eroded and eventually abandoned is the story of a small group of banks, financial companies and elites involved in major conflicts of interest, revolving-door politics and backroom deal-making -- all to protect the interests of the global elite at the expense of the American public.
Read it here.
Markos Moulitsas on Roger Ailes’ attempt at rebranding Fox
26 Sept 2011 | Keith and Daily Kos founder and publisher Markos Moulitsas discuss the improbable claim by Fox executives and Roger Ailes that Fox News is actually moving closer to the middle of the ideological spectrum. Moulitsas also calls out Howard Kurtz for enabling Fox.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
AzR - Thank You, Steve (Tribute to Steve Jobs made entirely of Mac sounds)
"Every instrument, including drums, has been sampled from a Mac product, tuned by ear, and replayed in the context of the song."
Reagan asks crowd whether millionaires should be paying more or less in taxes than a bus driver
In a June 6, 1985 speech at Northside High School in Atlanta, Georgia, then President Ronald Reagan explained that tax loopholes allowing a millionaire to pay lower taxes than a bus driver were “crazy,” because they allowed the “truly wealthy to avoid paying their fair share.”
Robin Hood Tax on bank transactions could raise hundreds of billions for public services and to tackle poverty and climate change
Adbusters, which initiated the original call to Occupy Street, is now calling for global marches on October 29 in favor of a 1 percent 'Robin Hood tax' on all financial transactions and currency trades. If you are unfamiliar with the Robin Hood tax, this film with Bill Nighy from RobinHoodTax.org explains...
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
Paul Krugman: How Occupy Wall Street Is Refocusing America
16 Oct 2011: "We are just three years after the greatest banking crisis since the 1930s. I think it was brought on by excesses on the part of the financial industry and the financial industry was bailed out at the public’s expense and risk and yet we’re still in an economic crisis. And somehow the discussion of who are these guys, why are we supporting them, why haven’t they paid more for this, what are the reforms that’s going to stop this from happening again, all that disappeared from the debate."
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Friday, October 14, 2011
John Lennon quote for Occupy Wall Street
"When it gets down to having to use violence, then you are playing the system’s game. The establishment will irritate you – pull your beard, flick your face – to make you fight. Because once they’ve got you violent, then they know how to handle you. The only thing they don’t know how to handle is non-violence and humor." - John Lennon
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
Occupy Wall Street: the next viral video
DC Douglas has put together a brilliant 3-minute video which boils down the situation and just what the hell should be done about it.
Friday, October 07, 2011
Wednesday, October 05, 2011
Tuesday, October 04, 2011
Monday, October 03, 2011
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
The men who crashed the world - Meltdown - Al Jazeera English
The first of a four-part investigation into a world of greed and recklessness that led to financial collapse.
In the first episode of Meltdown, we hear about four men who brought down the global economy: a billionaire mortgage-seller who fooled millions; a high-rolling banker with a fatal weakness; a ferocious Wall Street predator; and the power behind the throne.
The crash of September 2008 brought the largest bankruptcies in world history, pushing more than 30 million people into unemployment and bringing many countries to the edge of insolvency. Wall Street turned back the clock to 1929.
But how did it all go so wrong?
Lack of government regulation; easy lending in the US housing market meant anyone could qualify for a home loan with no government regulations in place.
Also, London was competing with New York as the banking capital of the world. Gordon Brown, the British finance minister at the time, introduced 'light touch regulation' - giving bankers a free hand in the marketplace.
All this, and with key players making the wrong financial decisions, saw the world's biggest financial collapse
Watch the video here.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Elizabeth Warren on Debt Crisis, Fair Taxation
Elizabeth Warren on Debt Crisis, Fair Taxation
“I hear all this, you know, ‘Well, this is class warfare, this is whatever,’” Warren said. “No. There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own — nobody.
“You built a factory out there? Good for you. But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for. You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate. You were safe in your factory because of police-forces and fire-forces that the rest of us paid for. You didn’t have to worry that marauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory — and hire someone to protect against this — because of the work the rest of us did.
“Now look, you built a factory and it turned into something terrific, or a great idea. God bless — keep a big hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is, you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along.”
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Wednesday, September 07, 2011
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Monday, August 29, 2011
Friday, August 19, 2011
Monday, August 15, 2011
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Tuesday, August 09, 2011
Wednesday, August 03, 2011
Fault Lines: The Top 1%
The richest 1% of US Americans earn nearly a quarter of the country's income and control an astonishing 40% of its wealth. Inequality in the US is more extreme than it's been in almost a century — and the gap between the super rich and the poor and middle class people has widened drastically over the last 30 years.
Meanwhile, in Washington, a bitter partisan debate over how to cut deficit spending and reduce the US' 14.3 trillion dollar debt is underway. As low and middle class wages stagnate and unemployment remains above 9%, Republicans and Democrats are tussling over whether to slash funding for the medical and retirement programs that are the backbone of the US's social safety net, and whether to raise taxes — or to cut them further.
The budget debate and the economy are the battleground on which the 2012 presidential election race will be fought. And the United States has never seemed so divided — both politically and economically.
How did the gap grow so wide, and so quickly? And how are the convictions, campaign contributions and charitable donations of the top 1% impacting the other 99% of Americans? Fault Lines investigates the gap between the rich and the rest.
This episode of Fault Lines first aired on Al Jazeera English on August 2, 2011.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Moon volcanoes and global warming
Bill Nye-the-Science-Guy explains to some dimwit wingnut on Fox News that moon volcanoes are not part of global climate change. But the priceless moment is the look and pause that Bill Nye gives this low-watt bulb right after he is asked about global warming from moon volcanoes.
New Balance struggles as last major athletic shoe brand still manufacturing in U.S.
28 July 2011
NORRIDGEWOCK, Maine — At the factory here owned by New Balance, the last major athletic shoe brand to manufacture footwear in the United States, even workers on the shop floor recognize that in purely economic terms, the operation doesn’t make sense.
The company could make far more money if, like Nike and Adidas, it shifted virtually all of these jobs to low-wage countries.
Negotiations between the United States, Vietnam and other countries for a free trade agreement, which would lower the price of imported shoes by removing the existing tariff, have workers at the New Balance factory in Maine worried for the security of their jobs.
Negotiations between the United States, Vietnam and other countries for a free trade agreement, which would lower the price of imported shoes by removing the existing tariff, have workers at the New Balance factory in Maine worried for the security of their jobs.
So employees try working each shift to make it up. Conversations on the shop floor are sparse at best, and the tasks at each work station have been stripped of waste and precisely timed. Workers cut leather for a pair of shoes in 88 seconds, handle precise stitching in 37 seconds and glue soles to uppers even faster.
“The company already could make more money by going overseas, and they know it,” said Scott Boulette, 35, a burly team leader who has his son’s name tattooed in Gothic letters down his left forearm. “So we hustle.”
Now, however, comes what may be an insurmountable challenge. The Obama administration is negotiating a free-trade agreement with Vietnam and seven other countries, and it is unclear whether the plant can stand up to a flood of shoes from that country, already one of the leading exporters of footwear to the United States.
Read it here:
Monday, July 25, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
How the State of Texas Betrayed Its Schools and Abandoned Its Children
The stars at night no longer look so big and bright for the former Great State of Texas
John T. Harvey | Forbes.com
20 July 2011
As promised, this is my follow-up post based on our trip to the Save Texas Schools conference in Austin this past weekend. It was a sobering experience. The long and the short of it is this: Texas has abandoned its children. The Governor and the Legislators in Austin have set the stage for a protracted crisis not only in education but in the State economy. With respect to the former, we can look forward to larger class sizes, the elimination of many important programs, and the placing of even more responsibility of the backs of overworked (and fewer) teachers. Texas already ranked an embarrassing 44th in education and these developments do not bode well for future of the Lone Star State.
As far as the economy is concerned, every public education layoff means less income not only for those individuals, but for local businesses where they would have shopped. Indeed, the Legislative Budget Board forecast that almost 45% of job losses would actually be in the private sector (Center for Public Policy Priorities: CPPP Urges Rejection of HB1). Furthermore, the lack of a decent education will greatly reduce the future earning power of Texans. The only firms willing to relocate here will be those hoping to find a source of cheap, low-skilled laborers. Texas will become the alternative to outsourcing to an impoverished, third-world country. The stars at night no longer look so big and bright.
Was this fiscal crisis the inevitable outcome of the Great Recession? The answer is absolutely, unequivocally, no. In fact, it is hard to avoid the unsettling conclusion that it was deliberate, that certain State Legislators and the Governor did this on purpose.
Read the rest:
John T. Harvey | Forbes.com
20 July 2011
As promised, this is my follow-up post based on our trip to the Save Texas Schools conference in Austin this past weekend. It was a sobering experience. The long and the short of it is this: Texas has abandoned its children. The Governor and the Legislators in Austin have set the stage for a protracted crisis not only in education but in the State economy. With respect to the former, we can look forward to larger class sizes, the elimination of many important programs, and the placing of even more responsibility of the backs of overworked (and fewer) teachers. Texas already ranked an embarrassing 44th in education and these developments do not bode well for future of the Lone Star State.
As far as the economy is concerned, every public education layoff means less income not only for those individuals, but for local businesses where they would have shopped. Indeed, the Legislative Budget Board forecast that almost 45% of job losses would actually be in the private sector (Center for Public Policy Priorities: CPPP Urges Rejection of HB1). Furthermore, the lack of a decent education will greatly reduce the future earning power of Texans. The only firms willing to relocate here will be those hoping to find a source of cheap, low-skilled laborers. Texas will become the alternative to outsourcing to an impoverished, third-world country. The stars at night no longer look so big and bright.
Was this fiscal crisis the inevitable outcome of the Great Recession? The answer is absolutely, unequivocally, no. In fact, it is hard to avoid the unsettling conclusion that it was deliberate, that certain State Legislators and the Governor did this on purpose.
Read the rest:
Grassroots group to rally for Dublin Dr Pepper
Barry Shlachter | Fort Worth Star-Telegram
21 July 2011
barry@star-telegram.com
A bunch of Dublin Dr Pepper fans have a message for Dr Pepper Snapple Group and the rest of corporate America: Don't mess with small towns and their equally small businesses.
A grassroots group led by video producer Mike Simpson is organizing a July 30 rally in support of the tiny Dr Pepper bottler, which is being sued by the brand owner, which says it violated trademarked labeling designs and sold its sugar-sweetened beverage beyond its franchise's boundaries.
Fans of the embattled bottler are asked to gather outside the brick-walled plant on Elm Street at 10 a.m. to be part of a video to be placed on YouTube. Signs are optional.
Read more:
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
In 1983, Reagan Warned Of ‘Incalculable Damage’ If Debt Ceiling Wasn’t Raised
Pat Garofalo | ThinkProgress.com
16 May 2011
Republicans poo-pooing the necessity of raising the debt ceiling might want to look to conservative icon Ronald Reagan. In 1983, Reagan warned that the consequences of failing to raise the nation’s borrowing limit “are impossible to predict and awesome to contemplate”:
The full consequences of a default — or even the serious prospect of default — by the United States are impossible to predict and awesome to contemplate. Denigration of the full faith and credit of the United States would have substantial effects on the domestic financial markets and the value of the dollar in exchange markets. The Nation can ill afford to allow such a result. The risks, the costs, the disruptions, and the incalculable damage lead me to but one conclusion: the Senate must pass this legislation before the Congress adjourns.
In a 1987 radio address, Reagan also said, “Congress consistently brings the government to the edge of default before facing its responsibility. This brinksmanship threatens the holders of government bonds and those who rely on Social Security and veterans benefits. Interest rates would skyrocket, instability would occur in financial markets, and the Federal deficit would soar.”
Read the rest:
Sex, lies & politicos: Porn king Larry Flynt book bares politicians' scandalous lives
By Howard Gensler | McClatchy-Tribune
20 July 2011
PHILADELPHIA — Weary of sex scandals that have rocked all portions of our government in recent years, there's a lot of talk on the campaign trail about getting back to the principles of our nation's Founding Fathers.
That sentiment may change if people read the new book, "One Nation Under Sex," by Larry Flynt and historian David Eisenbach, because men such as Ben Franklin, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson would make Bill Clinton, Eliot Spitzer and Arnold Schwarzenegger seem like choirboys, and the partisan press of their era would make the tabloids of today read like children's books.
...
"Americans need to adopt one simple rule," the authors write. "Don't trust anyone who dedicates his or her life to stomping out other people's consensual sexual activities — it is pretty much guaranteed that lurking behind all the antisex zealotry are deep-seated sexual issues."
That's why former FBI director J. Edgar Hoover also gets his own chapter.
Read it here:
20 July 2011
PHILADELPHIA — Weary of sex scandals that have rocked all portions of our government in recent years, there's a lot of talk on the campaign trail about getting back to the principles of our nation's Founding Fathers.
That sentiment may change if people read the new book, "One Nation Under Sex," by Larry Flynt and historian David Eisenbach, because men such as Ben Franklin, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson would make Bill Clinton, Eliot Spitzer and Arnold Schwarzenegger seem like choirboys, and the partisan press of their era would make the tabloids of today read like children's books.
...
"Americans need to adopt one simple rule," the authors write. "Don't trust anyone who dedicates his or her life to stomping out other people's consensual sexual activities — it is pretty much guaranteed that lurking behind all the antisex zealotry are deep-seated sexual issues."
That's why former FBI director J. Edgar Hoover also gets his own chapter.
Read it here:
Monday, July 18, 2011
The Minimum Wage Trap in Texas
In the New York Times' Room For Debate feature, Dave Mann, executive editor of the Texas Observer, explains the human costs of Texas' booming budget. Despite the good economy, Texas remains a state of extreme wealth and desperate poverty.
Read it here.
Read it here.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Rick Perry began political career as a young star for Texas Democrats
Jay Root | The Texas Tribune
15 July 2011
Gov. Rick Perry, a no-apologies conservative known for slashing government spending and opposing all tax increases, is about as Republican as you can get.
But that wasn't always the case.
Perry spent his first six years in politics as a Democrat, in a somewhat forgotten history that is sure to be revived and scrutinized by Republican opponents if he decides to run for president.
A raging liberal he was not. Elected to represent a slice of rural West Texas in the state House of Representatives in 1984, Perry, a young rancher and cotton farmer, gained an early reputation as a fiscal conservative. He was one of a few freshman "pit bulls," so named because they sat in the lower pit of the House Appropriations Committee, where they fought to keep spending low.
But Perry cast some votes and took a few stands that seem to be at odds with his current conservative stances.
Read the rest:
Sunday, July 03, 2011
Teddy said...
"A political machine can only be brought to a state of high perfection in a party containing very many ignorant and uneducated voters..." Theodore Roosevelt, History of the United States, p 121.
Saturday, July 02, 2011
James Carville says Rick Perry is 'not very bright'
Longtime Democratic attack dog James Carville made a Tuesday appearance on CNN to explain why he (mockingly) supports a potential Rick Perry candidacy.
“I hope he runs because anybody that talked about secession needs to run for president,” he said. “(Perry) talks a lot and he’s not very bright,” he added. “And that’s a combination I like in Republicans.”
Read it here.
“I hope he runs because anybody that talked about secession needs to run for president,” he said. “(Perry) talks a lot and he’s not very bright,” he added. “And that’s a combination I like in Republicans.”
Read it here.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Friday, June 24, 2011
Rick Perry: why his Texas record is a 2012 campaign liability
Abby Rapoport | The New Republic
June 21, 2011
Following his media blitz, few articles have cast a skeptic’s eye on the governor’s Texas record. “Texas Governor Calls for Halt of Economic Ruin” read one recent Bloomberg headline. The narrative is appealing: Small-town guy becomes Texas ...governor and makes (the economy) good—all by sticking to conservative principles.But while Texas remains “open for business”—the slogan of his successful re-election campaign in 2010—the state’s Legislature is in the process of a going-out-of-business sale.
The Texas budget for the next two years is a mess of accounting tricks and gutted programs, thanks to an unprecedented budget shortfall. The state’s business tax has not only been unpopular, it also doesn’t generate nearly enough revenue. Operating at a structural deficit, the state has even begun to attack funding in the once-hallowed ground of education. And while Perry has spent a good bit of June on his non-campaign-campaign, state lawmakers from both parties are fighting tooth-and-nail to legislate around his dictums.
In the face of Perry’s promise to veto any use of the rainy day fund, lawmakers turned to accounting tricks like deferred payments to soften the blows to state programs. Fees, too, on everything from getting help collecting child support to registering as a lobbyist, are going up all over the state, and almost nowhere does the budget account for normal growth in social services enrollment. The final budget short-funds Medicaid by almost $5 billion. Legislators had to return for a special session to hammer out the cuts to education, which will likely end up around $4 billion. It will mark the first time Texas has cut funding for public schools since 1949, when the state first took a prominent role in financing them. Even the Texas Association of Business, a conservative, pro-business coalition if ever there was one, has expressed concerns over some of the cuts to schools and early childhood education. “Our state runs the risk of falling short on our commitment to Texas school children and businesses that rely on a well-educated workforce,” the group proclaimed in one March press release.
Of course, many lawmakers didn’t want to use the rainy day fund in the first place, but that’s because they know a dirty little secret: Even after this two year budget period, the state’s fiscal woes are far from over. The Lone Star State has a standing $10 billion shortfall every two-year budget cycle, thanks to a faulty tax system pushed by Perry that fails to balance the budget. Although the governor normally stays away from the state Legislature—sightings in either chamber are rare and exciting—Perry engineered a new business tax in 2006 to replace a prior one riddled with loopholes. Ostensibly a good idea, his new tax nonetheless suffered from the simple fact that it didn’t bring in enough revenue. Furthermore, it turned out to be incredibly complex, leaving many business owners scratching their heads. Those who figured it out, meanwhile, realized that, because the new tax was levied on gross margins as opposed to profits, companies could be losing money and still find themselves on the hook.
Read it here:
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Latino officials give Perry a subdued greeting
Dave Montgomery | 23 June 2011
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
SAN ANTONIO - Gov. Rick Perry, who is nearing a decision on a presidential run, drew a tepid response Thursday as he reached out to Hispanics at a national gathering of Latino officials and political leaders.
After his address at the 28th annual conference of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, Perry told the Star-Telegram that he is continuing to eye a potential 2012 bid for the White House.
Perry spoke for nearly 13 minutes, touting his record of Hispanic appointments and striking familiar themes about Texas job growth and the state's robust economy. The more than 600 Hispanic leaders applauded politely after the address. A few stood, but the remainder stayed seated.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
SAN ANTONIO - Gov. Rick Perry, who is nearing a decision on a presidential run, drew a tepid response Thursday as he reached out to Hispanics at a national gathering of Latino officials and political leaders.
After his address at the 28th annual conference of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, Perry told the Star-Telegram that he is continuing to eye a potential 2012 bid for the White House.
Perry spoke for nearly 13 minutes, touting his record of Hispanic appointments and striking familiar themes about Texas job growth and the state's robust economy. The more than 600 Hispanic leaders applauded politely after the address. A few stood, but the remainder stayed seated.
Rick Perry's nightmarish flip-flop on the DREAM ACT
Ray Medeiros | Politicus
23 June 2011
Anyone who has paid attention even the slightest bit knows Republicans have been hypocritical in regards to policies they are objecting too. One well known example is the federal healthcare mandate. Newt Gingrich once supported it in the 1990s and the Heritage Foundation conservative think tank also promoted it as well as the former Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney.
Now we have a potential Republican candidate who signed into law the Texas DREAM Act. It was passed with ZERO no votes in Texas and signed into law by Governor Rick Perry. EVERY SINGLE REPUBLICAN in Texas voted in favor of the bill. This bill actually extended in state tuition to undocumented children of undocumented parents.
Perry stated:
As a compassionate state, we know that for our children to succeed, they must not only be healthy, but educated. The future leaders of our two nations are learning their fractions and their ABC’s in classrooms all along this border. Immigrants from around the world are being taught in Texas classrooms, and our history is rich with examples of new citizens who have made great contributions. We must say to every Texas child learning in a Texas classroom, “we don’t care where you come from, but where you are going, and we are going to do everything we can to help you get there.” And that vision must include the children of undocumented workers. That’s why Texas took the national lead in allowing such deserving young minds to attend a Texas college at a resident rate. Those young minds are a part of a new generation of leaders, the doors of higher education must be open to them. The message is simple: educacion es el futuro, y si se puede.
Read it here:
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Sen. Sanders exposes the Koch echo chamber
EXPOSE THE KOCHS: The Koch brothers fund multiple think tanks and academic centers to promote their ideology and grow their profits, a Brave New Foundation investigation reveals. Let's create an echo chamber of truth to protect Social Security and counter the Koch billions.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Rick Perry resurrects DPS records confidentiality issue
He wants bid to keep travel records secret added to school finance bill.
By PATRICIA KILDAY HART | Houston Chronicle
21 June 2011
AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry's office has asked lawmakers hammering out details of a school finance bill to include an unrelated provision that would keep secret the expenses of the Department of Public Safety team that provides security when he and his wife, Anita, travel.
The issue is pending before the Texas Supreme Court, which is considering an appeal of two lower court decisions favoring the public's right to review the travel records under the Texas Public Information Act. The San Antonio Express-News, the Houston Chronicle and the Austin American-Statesman filed suit in 2007 to obtain records after the DPS withheld them, claiming security concerns.
Lawmakers during the regular session failed to pass two proposals to keep the travel expenses private, but Perry's office last week resurrected the issue by asking lawmakers to add it to the school finance bill, according to members of the conference committee.
“We are discussing it and evaluating the merits of the idea,” said State Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock.
Some members of the conference committee were skeptical about including language that would limit the public's ability to know about government expenditures.
“Until I see the language, I am not sure I agree with it,” said Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano. “Details like which hotel, restaurants or car rental — I am not sure those are relevant. But the cost and how many people travel — those kinds of things are important. Transparency is important to my constituents.”
DPS attorneys contend security efforts would be harmed by the public knowing details of how many officers travel with the Perrys or their patterns of travel. The newspapers have argued that security could not be an issue because the records are being sought long after the travel has occurred.
Read the rest...
By PATRICIA KILDAY HART | Houston Chronicle
21 June 2011
AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry's office has asked lawmakers hammering out details of a school finance bill to include an unrelated provision that would keep secret the expenses of the Department of Public Safety team that provides security when he and his wife, Anita, travel.
The issue is pending before the Texas Supreme Court, which is considering an appeal of two lower court decisions favoring the public's right to review the travel records under the Texas Public Information Act. The San Antonio Express-News, the Houston Chronicle and the Austin American-Statesman filed suit in 2007 to obtain records after the DPS withheld them, claiming security concerns.
Lawmakers during the regular session failed to pass two proposals to keep the travel expenses private, but Perry's office last week resurrected the issue by asking lawmakers to add it to the school finance bill, according to members of the conference committee.
“We are discussing it and evaluating the merits of the idea,” said State Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock.
Some members of the conference committee were skeptical about including language that would limit the public's ability to know about government expenditures.
“Until I see the language, I am not sure I agree with it,” said Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano. “Details like which hotel, restaurants or car rental — I am not sure those are relevant. But the cost and how many people travel — those kinds of things are important. Transparency is important to my constituents.”
DPS attorneys contend security efforts would be harmed by the public knowing details of how many officers travel with the Perrys or their patterns of travel. The newspapers have argued that security could not be an issue because the records are being sought long after the travel has occurred.
Read the rest...
Monday, June 20, 2011
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Rick Perry: God crashed economy to return us to Biblical principles
By Marie Diamond
thinkprogress.org
Jun 13, 2011
For the past week, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) has been roundly criticized by religious and LGBT groups alike for inviting other governors to join him at an anti-gay prayer event hosted by stridently bigoted American Family Association. Not only has Perry courted the radical wing of the religious right for years, he has a history of bucking responsibility for tough problems by invoking God. For instance, while Texas was facing a historic drought and rash of wildfires, Gov. Perry extolled Texans to “pray for rain,” as he tried to cut funding for the agency battling the wildfires.
As Perry is poised to sign the most draconian state budget in recent history that slashes essential services for the poor and middle class while potentially laying off 100,000 teachers, Kyle Mantyla of Right Wing Watch Kyle digs up this gem of an interview from May in which the governor sheds some light on his motivations. During an appearance on James Robison’s Life Today television program, Perry says he sees a silver lining to the devastating recession that has cost millions of families their jobs, homes, and livelihoods: it will return America to “Biblical principles” and free us from the slavery of big government:
PERRY: I think in America from time to time we have to go through some difficult times — and I think we’re going through those difficult economic times for a purpose, to bring us back to those Biblical principles of you know, you don’t spend all the money. You work hard for those six years and you put up that seventh year in the warehouse to take you through the hard times. And not spending all of our money. Not asking for Pharaoh to give everything to everybody and to take care of folks because at the end of the day, it’s slavery. We become slaves to government.
Perry twists a famous Biblical story into a bizarre anti-government tirade, comparing the U.S. government to slave masters in ancient Egypt. Skewing religion to reinforce his personal political ideology, Perry chastises people not to rely on government for help in hard times, and suggests those who are suffering have no one but themselves to blame for not making adequate preparations.
Of course, the most alarming take away is that Perry seems comfortable plunging his own state into economic ruin because he thinks it will encourage people to come back to God. By signing this budget, a nonpartisan state commission estimates that Perry will cost more than 300,000 Texans their jobs and purge millions from the Medicare roles — but Perry apparently believes that to be God’s plan and himself just an instrument of it.
LINK
thinkprogress.org
Jun 13, 2011
For the past week, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) has been roundly criticized by religious and LGBT groups alike for inviting other governors to join him at an anti-gay prayer event hosted by stridently bigoted American Family Association. Not only has Perry courted the radical wing of the religious right for years, he has a history of bucking responsibility for tough problems by invoking God. For instance, while Texas was facing a historic drought and rash of wildfires, Gov. Perry extolled Texans to “pray for rain,” as he tried to cut funding for the agency battling the wildfires.
As Perry is poised to sign the most draconian state budget in recent history that slashes essential services for the poor and middle class while potentially laying off 100,000 teachers, Kyle Mantyla of Right Wing Watch Kyle digs up this gem of an interview from May in which the governor sheds some light on his motivations. During an appearance on James Robison’s Life Today television program, Perry says he sees a silver lining to the devastating recession that has cost millions of families their jobs, homes, and livelihoods: it will return America to “Biblical principles” and free us from the slavery of big government:
PERRY: I think in America from time to time we have to go through some difficult times — and I think we’re going through those difficult economic times for a purpose, to bring us back to those Biblical principles of you know, you don’t spend all the money. You work hard for those six years and you put up that seventh year in the warehouse to take you through the hard times. And not spending all of our money. Not asking for Pharaoh to give everything to everybody and to take care of folks because at the end of the day, it’s slavery. We become slaves to government.
Perry twists a famous Biblical story into a bizarre anti-government tirade, comparing the U.S. government to slave masters in ancient Egypt. Skewing religion to reinforce his personal political ideology, Perry chastises people not to rely on government for help in hard times, and suggests those who are suffering have no one but themselves to blame for not making adequate preparations.
Of course, the most alarming take away is that Perry seems comfortable plunging his own state into economic ruin because he thinks it will encourage people to come back to God. By signing this budget, a nonpartisan state commission estimates that Perry will cost more than 300,000 Texans their jobs and purge millions from the Medicare roles — but Perry apparently believes that to be God’s plan and himself just an instrument of it.
LINK
New School of Tropical Medicine in Houston is bad news for Rick Perry
Why is it bad news for Gov. Perry when Science Magazine reports that the head of the Sabin Vaccine Institute, Peter Hotez, is leaving George Washington University and moving the 20 plus person vaccine development team to Texas Children's Hospital in Houston?
Part of the problem for Perry is that Hotez is setting up the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor's College of Medicine in Houston's Texas Medical Center because this expert in tropical diseases finds Texas interesting "Because there is a lot of poverty; it has the highest rates of parasitic and neglected infections anywhere in the U.S." He continues "In 2008 I described a group of six neglected diseases that are common both in African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans. In addition, dengue has emerged along the Gulf Coast. That's another rationale for being based in Houston."
LINK
Part of the problem for Perry is that Hotez is setting up the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor's College of Medicine in Houston's Texas Medical Center because this expert in tropical diseases finds Texas interesting "Because there is a lot of poverty; it has the highest rates of parasitic and neglected infections anywhere in the U.S." He continues "In 2008 I described a group of six neglected diseases that are common both in African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans. In addition, dengue has emerged along the Gulf Coast. That's another rationale for being based in Houston."
LINK
Friday, June 17, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Rick Perry said he was just like George W. Bush
nymag.com | 15 June 2011
"We're different people," Perry said last October, perhaps already privately entertaining the possibility of running for president. "We came from different backgrounds. Philosophically, we weren't peas in a pod." But in December of 2000, when Perry was about to take over the governorship from president-elect Bush, he said something that could come back to haunt him. "Certainly, you are not going to see a great philosophical difference between Rick Perry and George Bush," he said. "We share the same type of philosophy." Hard to claim you're nothing like Bush after saying something like that.
LINK
"The Texas Miracle"
The Bureau of Labor Statistics says 23 states — including New York — have lower unemployment rates than Texas.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
China Wants To Construct A 50 Square Mile Self-Sustaining City South Of Boise, Idaho
"One of these "special economic zones" would be just south of Boise, Idaho and the Idaho government is eager to give it to them. China National Machinery Industry Corporation (Sinomach for short) plans to construct a "technology zone" south of Boise Airport which would ultimately be up to 50 square miles in size. The Chinese Communist Party is the majority owner of Sinomach, so the 10,000 to 30,000 acre "self-sustaining city" that is being planned would essentially belong to the Chinese government. The planned "self-sustaining city" in Idaho would include manufacturing facilities, warehouses, retail centers and large numbers of homes for Chinese workers. Basically it would be a slice of communist China dropped right into the middle of the United States."
Contact Idaho Sen. Michael Crapo (R)
239 Dirksen Senate Office Building
(202) 224-6142; 228-1375
Boise: (208) 334-1776
Tell him you are against a communist Chinese cheap labor camp of imported Chinese workers that takes away jobs from Americans. Most Americans can unite behind this, as China is still our ideological enemy. Call or write today!
Read it here.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Thursday, June 09, 2011
The Rise of the Second-String Psychopaths
David Schwartz | CommonDreams.org
5 June 2011
The great writer Kurt Vonnegut titled his final book "A Man without a Country". He was the man; the country was the United States of America. Vonnegut felt that his country had disappeared right under his – and the Constitution’s – feet, through what he called “the sleaziest, low-comedy Keystone Cops-style coup d’état imaginable.” He was talking about the Bush administration. Were Vonnegut still alive in the post-Bush era, he would not have felt that his country had returned.
How had our country disappeared? Vonnegut proposed that among the contributing factors was that it had been invaded – as if by the Martians – by people with a particularly frightening mental illness. People with this illness were termed psychopaths. (The term nowadays is anti-social personality disorder.) These are terms for people who are smart, personable, and engaging, but who have no consciences. They are not guided by a sense of right or wrong. They seem to be unaffected by the feelings of others, including feelings of distress caused by their actions. Straying from a decent way of treating people, or violating ethical codes causes no anxiety, the anxiety which is what causes the rest of us to moderate our more greedy impulses.
If most children feel anxiety when they are pilfering the forbidden cookie jar, psychopaths feel just fine. They can devour the cookies, shatter the jar as evidence and stuff it in the trash can. When accused, they can argue with apparent sincerity that the cookie jar has been missing for at least a week. There suffer no remorse, no guilt, no shame. They are free to do anything, no matter how harmful.
LINK
5 June 2011
The great writer Kurt Vonnegut titled his final book "A Man without a Country". He was the man; the country was the United States of America. Vonnegut felt that his country had disappeared right under his – and the Constitution’s – feet, through what he called “the sleaziest, low-comedy Keystone Cops-style coup d’état imaginable.” He was talking about the Bush administration. Were Vonnegut still alive in the post-Bush era, he would not have felt that his country had returned.
How had our country disappeared? Vonnegut proposed that among the contributing factors was that it had been invaded – as if by the Martians – by people with a particularly frightening mental illness. People with this illness were termed psychopaths. (The term nowadays is anti-social personality disorder.) These are terms for people who are smart, personable, and engaging, but who have no consciences. They are not guided by a sense of right or wrong. They seem to be unaffected by the feelings of others, including feelings of distress caused by their actions. Straying from a decent way of treating people, or violating ethical codes causes no anxiety, the anxiety which is what causes the rest of us to moderate our more greedy impulses.
If most children feel anxiety when they are pilfering the forbidden cookie jar, psychopaths feel just fine. They can devour the cookies, shatter the jar as evidence and stuff it in the trash can. When accused, they can argue with apparent sincerity that the cookie jar has been missing for at least a week. There suffer no remorse, no guilt, no shame. They are free to do anything, no matter how harmful.
LINK
Wednesday, June 08, 2011
Rick Perry to Host Hate Group-Funded Prayer Summit
Tim Murphy | Mother Jones
6 June 2011
Texas Governor Rick Perry has a plan to bring down unemployment, pay off the national debt, stop natural disasters, and smoke the terrorists out of their spider holes: He's hosting a prayer summit.
LINK
6 June 2011
Texas Governor Rick Perry has a plan to bring down unemployment, pay off the national debt, stop natural disasters, and smoke the terrorists out of their spider holes: He's hosting a prayer summit.
LINK
Saturday, June 04, 2011
“... Perry may be the perfect candidate for those Republicans who viewed George W. Bush as just a little too cerebral.”
Houston Chronicle...
Will he or won’t he?
Ever since Gov. Rick Perry revealed last week that he was mulling a possible presidential campaign, that’s been the question on the minds of Texans, Republicans across the country and the political pundit elite.
Political swamis from Austin to Concord, N.H., are trying to divine through the words and actions of the Texas governor whether he’s going to enter the 2012 GOP White House sweepstakes — or is simply basking in the spotlight thrust upon him by conservative commentators such as Rush Limbaugh and Laura Ingraham, who have implored him to run.
“He’s sort of caught in a whirlwind,” said Mark P. Jones, a Rice University political science professor. “At the beginning of May, running for president was not on his radar screen. But then things changed.”
LINK
Friday, June 03, 2011
Drought worsens in Texas
by Citizen Carol | texasvox.org
3 June 2011
It has been estimated that Texas farmers and ranchers have already lost $1.5 billion in revenues this year, and officials say if the drought continues into June, losses will top $4 billion, making it the costliest season on record, impacting the entire nation since Texas is the nation’s second largest agriculture producer.
Texas could be well on its way to breaking the record of 2006 as we contemplate this May’s estimated rainfall totals, which were only about 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 inches of rain across the state. This would make the March-May spring period the driest on record once the totals are confirmed.
Texas has a long history with droughts, but it is still early and we will have to wait a bit to determine how this year ranks in the history of Texas droughts, but it is not looking good and so far the governor’s call for prayer for rain has yet to be answered.
LINK
3 June 2011
It has been estimated that Texas farmers and ranchers have already lost $1.5 billion in revenues this year, and officials say if the drought continues into June, losses will top $4 billion, making it the costliest season on record, impacting the entire nation since Texas is the nation’s second largest agriculture producer.
Texas could be well on its way to breaking the record of 2006 as we contemplate this May’s estimated rainfall totals, which were only about 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 inches of rain across the state. This would make the March-May spring period the driest on record once the totals are confirmed.
Texas has a long history with droughts, but it is still early and we will have to wait a bit to determine how this year ranks in the history of Texas droughts, but it is not looking good and so far the governor’s call for prayer for rain has yet to be answered.
LINK
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)