Do you know how the GOP keeps promising the judgmental asshole bottom-feeders in the party that someday they really will outlaw abortion when everyone with any sense knows that they will never do that very thing because it is a) politically impossible and b) extremely useful as an issue to stir the support of their psychotically christian base?
I think healthcare reform and peace movements operate the exact same way in the Democratic party. The Democrats will never go against the monied interests of the health insurers nor big pharma. It just ain't gonna happen. And the Democrats are regularly greased by the military industrial complex too. No hope there either.
The time has come to recognize that any progressive worth his salt must vote for someone outside the two party system. The Dems and the Rethugs are all of the same kind.
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Politically Bankrupt
Glenn Greenwald brings the pain on Arlen Specter's switch to the Democratic Party:
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What Specter's switch says about him, the Democrats and our political spectrum
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/04/28/specter/
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The highlights:
1. Specter is not a liberal
2. Democrats should not support Specter
3. Specter is a soul-less political hack
In short: Specter is not a Democrat nor a liberal and no one should be supporting his obstructionist regressive agenda over someone that could be more meaningfully progressive.
Now I'm not even a Democrat, but I can see what Greenwald is saying. We "progressives" hang back waiting to support whatever talking head will do the least harm because we don't really have any candidates we can fully support. That's just how it is.
Some of us will still make a reflexive party-line vote here or there, but the vast majority of Americans are actually disenfranchised.
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What Specter's switch says about him, the Democrats and our political spectrum
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/04/28/specter/
------
The highlights:
1. Specter is not a liberal
2. Democrats should not support Specter
3. Specter is a soul-less political hack
In short: Specter is not a Democrat nor a liberal and no one should be supporting his obstructionist regressive agenda over someone that could be more meaningfully progressive.
Now I'm not even a Democrat, but I can see what Greenwald is saying. We "progressives" hang back waiting to support whatever talking head will do the least harm because we don't really have any candidates we can fully support. That's just how it is.
Some of us will still make a reflexive party-line vote here or there, but the vast majority of Americans are actually disenfranchised.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
May it be?
A president worth supporting? A president who is taking incremental step after incremental step in trying to force truly substantive change? I am so cynical and so injured over the many long years that I can't quite bring myself to believe it. And yet, there are signs that Obama is using the memory of his first lackluster "bipartisan" month in office and the increasing urgency of the economic crisis to start implementing a far more radical and progressive agenda. Yes, it's possible to use the "shock doctrine" in the other direction too, D.C. Fat Cats!
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Obama To Lobbyists: I'm Ready To Fight
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/28/obama-to-lobbyists-bring_n_170724.html
President Barack Obama challenged the nation's vested interests to a legislative duel Saturday, saying he will fight to change health care, energy and education in dramatic ways that will upset the status quo.
"The system we have now might work for the powerful and well-connected interests that have run Washington for far too long," Obama said in his weekly radio and video address. "But I don't. I work for the American people."
He said his ambitious budget plan, unveiled Thursday, will help millions of Americans, but only if Congress overcomes resistance from deep-pocket lobbies.
"I know these steps won't sit well with the special interests and lobbyists who are invested in the old way of doing business, and I know they're gearing up for a fight," Obama said, using tough-guy language reminiscent of his predecessor, George W. Bush. "My message to them is this: So am I."
Some analysts say Obama's proposals are almost radical. But he said all of them were included in his campaign promises. "It is the change the American people voted for in November," he said.
Nonetheless, he said, well-financed interest groups will fight back furiously.
------
I have high hopes for Obama. I hold back because it's hard to believe a moment of political change may actually have arrived. I still can't decide if Obama is the winner in this possible game of clever brinksmanship or if he's just the ultimate, most patient political centrist that has ever lived. Change cannot come quickly enough for me. One good sign is the way the GOP seems to be pulling apart at the seams. If the center is all that's left at the end of the day, we can start pulling from the left a lot harder AND actually getting our way.
Two links worth noting:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/
http://www.recovery.gov/
------
Obama To Lobbyists: I'm Ready To Fight
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/28/obama-to-lobbyists-bring_n_170724.html
President Barack Obama challenged the nation's vested interests to a legislative duel Saturday, saying he will fight to change health care, energy and education in dramatic ways that will upset the status quo.
"The system we have now might work for the powerful and well-connected interests that have run Washington for far too long," Obama said in his weekly radio and video address. "But I don't. I work for the American people."
He said his ambitious budget plan, unveiled Thursday, will help millions of Americans, but only if Congress overcomes resistance from deep-pocket lobbies.
"I know these steps won't sit well with the special interests and lobbyists who are invested in the old way of doing business, and I know they're gearing up for a fight," Obama said, using tough-guy language reminiscent of his predecessor, George W. Bush. "My message to them is this: So am I."
Some analysts say Obama's proposals are almost radical. But he said all of them were included in his campaign promises. "It is the change the American people voted for in November," he said.
Nonetheless, he said, well-financed interest groups will fight back furiously.
------
I have high hopes for Obama. I hold back because it's hard to believe a moment of political change may actually have arrived. I still can't decide if Obama is the winner in this possible game of clever brinksmanship or if he's just the ultimate, most patient political centrist that has ever lived. Change cannot come quickly enough for me. One good sign is the way the GOP seems to be pulling apart at the seams. If the center is all that's left at the end of the day, we can start pulling from the left a lot harder AND actually getting our way.
Two links worth noting:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/
http://www.recovery.gov/
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Crystal Ball Time
Richest Americans’ Income Doubled as Tax Rate Slashed
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=ar5uxG_wV87A&refer=us
Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) -- The average tax rate paid by the richest 400 Americans fell by a third to 17.2 percent through the first six years of the Bush administration and their average income doubled to $263.3 million, new IRS data show.
------
It’s Theirs and They’re Not Apologizing
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/31/nyregion/31bonuses.html?ref=business
"On Main Street, 'bonus' sounds like a gift," he said. "But it’s part of the compensation structure of Wall Street. Say I’m a banker and I created $30 million. I should get a part of that."
------
What can one say in this face of naked, violently agressive greed?
As the days pass, I am less and less hopeful about our ability to maintain the peaceful continuance of the status quo.
Here are two more bits:
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Seriously?
http://www.conceptualguerilla.com/?q=node/2364
It’s one thing for me to make bizarre speculations about the future; I’m nobody. It’s quite another to see a very similar ‘prediction’ show up in the pages of the Wall Street Journal.
Although, thanks largely to conservative gasbags, there has been some rumblings floating around the net on the topic of a second US Civil War.
Which is to wonder if the relative handful of conservatives would consider a ‘revolt’ against their ‘free market ideology’ as an issue anyone other than the investor class would be willing to defend?
------
As if Things Weren't Bad Enough, Russian Professor Predicts End of U.S.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123051100709638419.html
MOSCOW -- For a decade, Russian academic Igor Panarin has been predicting the U.S. will fall apart in 2010. For most of that time, he admits, few took his argument -- that an economic and moral collapse will trigger a civil war and the eventual breakup of the U.S. -- very seriously. Now he's found an eager audience: Russian state media.
In recent weeks, he's been interviewed as much as twice a day about his predictions. "It's a record," says Prof. Panarin. "But I think the attention is going to grow even stronger."
Prof. Panarin, 50 years old, is not a fringe figure. A former KGB analyst, he is dean of the Russian Foreign Ministry's academy for future diplomats. He is invited to Kremlin receptions, lectures students, publishes books, and appears in the media as an expert on U.S.-Russia relations.
But it's his bleak forecast for the U.S. that is music to the ears of the Kremlin, which in recent years has blamed Washington for everything from instability in the Middle East to the global financial crisis. Mr. Panarin's views also fit neatly with the Kremlin's narrative that Russia is returning to its rightful place on the world stage after the weakness of the 1990s, when many feared that the country would go economically and politically bankrupt and break into separate territories.
A polite and cheerful man with a buzz cut, Mr. Panarin insists he does not dislike Americans. But he warns that the outlook for them is dire.
------
Pick up the pace Obama and Dems in congress, the future will not wait with empty bellies. Move fast, move boldly - you need to make up something like 20-30 million jobs and truly remake the economy of the U.S. Halfway measures will find you on the wrong side of history.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=ar5uxG_wV87A&refer=us
Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) -- The average tax rate paid by the richest 400 Americans fell by a third to 17.2 percent through the first six years of the Bush administration and their average income doubled to $263.3 million, new IRS data show.
------
It’s Theirs and They’re Not Apologizing
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/31/nyregion/31bonuses.html?ref=business
"On Main Street, 'bonus' sounds like a gift," he said. "But it’s part of the compensation structure of Wall Street. Say I’m a banker and I created $30 million. I should get a part of that."
------
What can one say in this face of naked, violently agressive greed?
As the days pass, I am less and less hopeful about our ability to maintain the peaceful continuance of the status quo.
Here are two more bits:
------
Seriously?
http://www.conceptualguerilla.com/?q=node/2364
It’s one thing for me to make bizarre speculations about the future; I’m nobody. It’s quite another to see a very similar ‘prediction’ show up in the pages of the Wall Street Journal.
Although, thanks largely to conservative gasbags, there has been some rumblings floating around the net on the topic of a second US Civil War.
Which is to wonder if the relative handful of conservatives would consider a ‘revolt’ against their ‘free market ideology’ as an issue anyone other than the investor class would be willing to defend?
------
As if Things Weren't Bad Enough, Russian Professor Predicts End of U.S.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123051100709638419.html
MOSCOW -- For a decade, Russian academic Igor Panarin has been predicting the U.S. will fall apart in 2010. For most of that time, he admits, few took his argument -- that an economic and moral collapse will trigger a civil war and the eventual breakup of the U.S. -- very seriously. Now he's found an eager audience: Russian state media.
In recent weeks, he's been interviewed as much as twice a day about his predictions. "It's a record," says Prof. Panarin. "But I think the attention is going to grow even stronger."
Prof. Panarin, 50 years old, is not a fringe figure. A former KGB analyst, he is dean of the Russian Foreign Ministry's academy for future diplomats. He is invited to Kremlin receptions, lectures students, publishes books, and appears in the media as an expert on U.S.-Russia relations.
But it's his bleak forecast for the U.S. that is music to the ears of the Kremlin, which in recent years has blamed Washington for everything from instability in the Middle East to the global financial crisis. Mr. Panarin's views also fit neatly with the Kremlin's narrative that Russia is returning to its rightful place on the world stage after the weakness of the 1990s, when many feared that the country would go economically and politically bankrupt and break into separate territories.
A polite and cheerful man with a buzz cut, Mr. Panarin insists he does not dislike Americans. But he warns that the outlook for them is dire.
------
Pick up the pace Obama and Dems in congress, the future will not wait with empty bellies. Move fast, move boldly - you need to make up something like 20-30 million jobs and truly remake the economy of the U.S. Halfway measures will find you on the wrong side of history.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Why not nationalise?
http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2009/01/why_not_nationalise.cfm
...Not really on the list was nationalisation.
But it seems to me, based on an ongoing blogospheric discussion, that nationalisation is the only good option left. The basic problem is this—some banks are likely insolvent. Any option that solves the problem by buying bad assets will either fail (if those assets are bought at face value—recall, the banks are insolvent) or will succeed by buying those assets at well more than they're worth. The latter option is a large and generous gift to the bank's shareholders.
The question is, why would one want to give a large and generous gift to bank shareholders, out of the taxpayer's purse?...
------
Exactly. And remember, this is from that well-known "liberal" source the "Economist."
Nationalization is the only solution and always was. But the elite want their handouts and politicians abhor doing their actual job of providing oversight in these matters.
This what we do:
We nationalize insolvent banks and then hold onto their toxic waste real estate or put it to work housing the homeless. Later we can sell these banks to other banks once the subprime debris is cleared away. Once the economy stiffens a bit we can unload the real estate at improved market prices. The taxpayer might not even lose anything at all in such an arrangement.
But yeah, that makes too much sense to actually be implemented.
And so it goes...
...Not really on the list was nationalisation.
But it seems to me, based on an ongoing blogospheric discussion, that nationalisation is the only good option left. The basic problem is this—some banks are likely insolvent. Any option that solves the problem by buying bad assets will either fail (if those assets are bought at face value—recall, the banks are insolvent) or will succeed by buying those assets at well more than they're worth. The latter option is a large and generous gift to the bank's shareholders.
The question is, why would one want to give a large and generous gift to bank shareholders, out of the taxpayer's purse?...
------
Exactly. And remember, this is from that well-known "liberal" source the "Economist."
Nationalization is the only solution and always was. But the elite want their handouts and politicians abhor doing their actual job of providing oversight in these matters.
This what we do:
We nationalize insolvent banks and then hold onto their toxic waste real estate or put it to work housing the homeless. Later we can sell these banks to other banks once the subprime debris is cleared away. Once the economy stiffens a bit we can unload the real estate at improved market prices. The taxpayer might not even lose anything at all in such an arrangement.
But yeah, that makes too much sense to actually be implemented.
And so it goes...
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Best Political Videos on the Internet!
What Barry Says / Knife Party:
http://www.knife-party.net/
Direct link:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1669325314815164245
...or for a much higher definition mp4 version:
http://nofatclips.com/02005/10/07/says/What%20Barry%20Says.mp4
"The Power of Nightmares"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_of_Nightmares
http://www.archive.org/details/ThePowerOfNightmaresDVD
"The Shock Doctrine"
http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/12290-the-shock-doctrine-by-alfonso-cuar-n-and-naomi-klein
(with links to media)
How it happened:
"The Century of the Self"
http://www.archive.org/details/AdaCurtisCenturyoftheSelf_0
Part 2: http://www.archive.org/details/AdamCurtisCenturyoftheSelfPart2of4
Part 3: http://www.archive.org/details/AdamCurtisCenturyoftheSelfPart3of4
Part 4: http://www.archive.org/details/AdamCurtisCenturyoftheSelfPart4of4_0
I do my best to keep these links in circulation. If you find dead links, search google video or youtube for the names of the shows.
These videos go a long way in explaining the political agendas of the western nations for the last several decades. More video links to come - esp. on banking.
If you can't do anything more because of time constraints or attention span issues, at least see the Knife Party video "What Barry Says" which is extremely appealing visually and also quite short. Do yourself the favor.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Reverse Robin Hood
"Tomgram: Nick Turse, The Pentagon's Stealth Corporations"
http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/174948/nick_turse_the_pentagon_s_stealth_corporations
-----
I know, I should be doing Friday cat blogging or some other shit that passes for proper blog material. Instead, I just sit here and read the bad news.
I knew you were wondering why they mug you every 15th of April, or at the pump, or at the grocery store, or via a million different excise taxes passed on to you as a consumer. Well, wonder no more.
It's "Reverse Robin Hood" - they steal from the poor and middle classes only to give it all to the top wealthiest 1%.
Happy fucking Friday!
http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/174948/nick_turse_the_pentagon_s_stealth_corporations
-----
I know, I should be doing Friday cat blogging or some other shit that passes for proper blog material. Instead, I just sit here and read the bad news.
I knew you were wondering why they mug you every 15th of April, or at the pump, or at the grocery store, or via a million different excise taxes passed on to you as a consumer. Well, wonder no more.
It's "Reverse Robin Hood" - they steal from the poor and middle classes only to give it all to the top wealthiest 1%.
Happy fucking Friday!
Energy Crisis: Same As It Ever Was
"Our Fake Energy Crisis: What Really Happened in California"
http://www.ratical.org/ratville/dereg/FakeEnergyCrisis.html
"Bush/McCain's Gas Price Scam is an Enron Re-Run"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/harvey-wasserman/bushmccains-gas-price-sca_b_108576.html
-----
I mean, you knew it was all bullshit, right? The world doesn't have to be this way. The reason it is this way is because of greed and power.
In all reality, if we were serious about national security we wouldn't let things like energy fall into the hands of capitalist speculators. We don't want energy prices that are volatile, we want energy prices that are as stable as a rock - a rock that God himself could not raise.
As it is, there will be blood...
http://www.ratical.org/ratville/dereg/FakeEnergyCrisis.html
"Bush/McCain's Gas Price Scam is an Enron Re-Run"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/harvey-wasserman/bushmccains-gas-price-sca_b_108576.html
-----
I mean, you knew it was all bullshit, right? The world doesn't have to be this way. The reason it is this way is because of greed and power.
In all reality, if we were serious about national security we wouldn't let things like energy fall into the hands of capitalist speculators. We don't want energy prices that are volatile, we want energy prices that are as stable as a rock - a rock that God himself could not raise.
As it is, there will be blood...
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
George Carlin Dies
There must be thousands of great, pithy quotes from this unerring commentator on modern American life, but I am going with just this one:
"The consensus reality is often intentionally misleading." - George Carlin
What more need be said?
"The consensus reality is often intentionally misleading." - George Carlin
What more need be said?
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Obama's Free-Market
"Obama's Chicago Boys"
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080630/klein
He chose as his chief economic adviser Austan Goolsbee, a University of Chicago economist on the left side of a spectrum that stops at the center-right.
-----
Don't hope for a significantly different direction for the economy under Obama, he's here to stay the course.
To win the office of the "Prez" of the USA you have to race to the center during the election, once your position is secured you can actually do whatever the hell you want for the better part of four years. We can only hope that Obama is racing for the center only to get the office and that he will then veer to the left for the remainder of his time in office.
This market needs regulation not more freedom.
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080630/klein
He chose as his chief economic adviser Austan Goolsbee, a University of Chicago economist on the left side of a spectrum that stops at the center-right.
-----
Don't hope for a significantly different direction for the economy under Obama, he's here to stay the course.
To win the office of the "Prez" of the USA you have to race to the center during the election, once your position is secured you can actually do whatever the hell you want for the better part of four years. We can only hope that Obama is racing for the center only to get the office and that he will then veer to the left for the remainder of his time in office.
This market needs regulation not more freedom.
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