Seeking to build a case Saturday that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction, President Bush cited a satellite photograph and a report by the U.N. atomic energy agency as evidence of Iraq’s impending rearmament. But in response to a report by NBC News, a senior administration official acknowledged Saturday night that the U.N. report drew no such conclusion, and a spokesman for the U.N. agency said the photograph had been misinterpreted.Bush said Iraq may be 6 months from having a nuclear weapon. But the report he cited said that BEFORE WE DESTROYED IRAQ'S NUCLEAR INFRASTRUCTRE Iraq was possibly 6-months away from having the bomb.
9/07/2002
Liar Lies, Gets Caught, Election-Manipulation War Talk Continues
I saw this one at MSNBC.
9/06/2002
Hey, Not Bad
Media Whores Online points us to a White House Document on Social Security "reform" that makes it clear they mean PRIVATE accounts -- yes, the dreaded "privatization" word that George "I don't use polls" Bush says they never used, now that polls show the public doesn't like it.
Anyway, in the document is a chart showing that Social Security offers a 1.7% "rate of return." Compared to what banks are offering these days, that's not too bad! (Hasn't anyone ever told these wizards that return = risk.)
Anyway, in the document is a chart showing that Social Security offers a 1.7% "rate of return." Compared to what banks are offering these days, that's not too bad! (Hasn't anyone ever told these wizards that return = risk.)
Amazing Timing
In my previous entry I wrote about the amazing timing of this drumbeat for war with Iraq. That got me thinking about the amazing timing of this year's flurry of terrorist threat alerts. They amazingly seemed to happen whenever something was hitting the news that could hurt Bush politically. Remember? Remember the country being scared out of its wits, time after time?
And with the Padilla "dirty bomb" scare the timing become so amazing - reporting that he was arrested months after he really was arrested but just after some harmful political news - that mainstream reporters started writing about the amazing timing. And then the terrorist threats stopped! Another example of amazing timing. Just after the mainstream press started writing that the timing of the terrorist threats was amazing, the terrorist threats amazingly stopped. Amazing! The country seems to be cursed with terrible events - threats, wars - that occur with amazing timing that is in sync with Republican troubles ... unless .... no, I couldn't say something like THAT.
And with the Padilla "dirty bomb" scare the timing become so amazing - reporting that he was arrested months after he really was arrested but just after some harmful political news - that mainstream reporters started writing about the amazing timing. And then the terrorist threats stopped! Another example of amazing timing. Just after the mainstream press started writing that the timing of the terrorist threats was amazing, the terrorist threats amazingly stopped. Amazing! The country seems to be cursed with terrible events - threats, wars - that occur with amazing timing that is in sync with Republican troubles ... unless .... no, I couldn't say something like THAT.
A Choice?
John Kerry says, We Still Have a Choice on Iraq.
Uh, John, HELLO!, did you miss the 100 American and British warplanes attacking Iraq yesterday? It's already STARTED, John! I mean, DUH! Bush snuck another one past the Constitution, John, and what are the Democrats going to DO about it, John?
You wrote, "For the American people to accept the legitimacy of this conflict and give their consent to it, the Bush administration must first present detailed evidence of the threat of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and then prove that all other avenues of protecting our nation's security interests have been exhausted."
There's ANOTHER thing they're going to have to prove. They're going to have to prove that something is DIFFERENT right now from what was happening in Iraq 6 months ago or a year ago or 3 months ago instead of right NOW, because otherwise I'm going to think that this is just too suspiciously timed to manipulate the election, and I don't like that. This country learned the hard way in VietNam that it is important to have the WHOLE public behind you when you go to war, not just a manipulated majority and an angry minority that sees too clearly how the rest were manipulated. So if this is REALLY serious, and this is REALLY a threat to the country the LAST THING that should be happening is a drumbeat of war just in time to change the focus of the election in the Republicans' favor.
What would I like to see? I'd like to see a hearing on whether Carl Rove has had ANYTHING AT ALL to do with any aspect of the "War on Terrorism." Because there is no more serious crime than manipulating a war for political objectives.
I am not saying that IS what the Republicans are doing, I'm saying that the oversight job of the Congress requires that they make sure it ISN'T what is happening here, that they ask that question and get satisfactory answers, ESPECIALLY when the timing is so amazingly, stunningly, astoundingly, brazenly, unbelievably, incredibly, shockingly, historically convenient for the Republicans.
Uh, John, HELLO!, did you miss the 100 American and British warplanes attacking Iraq yesterday? It's already STARTED, John! I mean, DUH! Bush snuck another one past the Constitution, John, and what are the Democrats going to DO about it, John?
You wrote, "For the American people to accept the legitimacy of this conflict and give their consent to it, the Bush administration must first present detailed evidence of the threat of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and then prove that all other avenues of protecting our nation's security interests have been exhausted."
There's ANOTHER thing they're going to have to prove. They're going to have to prove that something is DIFFERENT right now from what was happening in Iraq 6 months ago or a year ago or 3 months ago instead of right NOW, because otherwise I'm going to think that this is just too suspiciously timed to manipulate the election, and I don't like that. This country learned the hard way in VietNam that it is important to have the WHOLE public behind you when you go to war, not just a manipulated majority and an angry minority that sees too clearly how the rest were manipulated. So if this is REALLY serious, and this is REALLY a threat to the country the LAST THING that should be happening is a drumbeat of war just in time to change the focus of the election in the Republicans' favor.
What would I like to see? I'd like to see a hearing on whether Carl Rove has had ANYTHING AT ALL to do with any aspect of the "War on Terrorism." Because there is no more serious crime than manipulating a war for political objectives.
I am not saying that IS what the Republicans are doing, I'm saying that the oversight job of the Congress requires that they make sure it ISN'T what is happening here, that they ask that question and get satisfactory answers, ESPECIALLY when the timing is so amazingly, stunningly, astoundingly, brazenly, unbelievably, incredibly, shockingly, historically convenient for the Republicans.
9/05/2002
Not Reporting on the ONGOING War in Iraq?
Is there some reason this major story just isn't being reported in the American press? I mean, some GOOD reason? Maybe it's just early and it will be reported later. But other recent air strikes and other actions against Iraq haven't gotten much press.
About 100 American and British aircraft took part in an attack on Iraq's major western air defence installation yesterday in the biggest single operation over the country for four years.I reluctantly have to admit I saw it on Drudge.
Well Worth Reading
The other day I wrote that the lack of union and worker issues in the media clearly demonstrates the effect of corporate ownership of news sources. Today Joe Kenehan Center points to this article on worker issues, We Rarely See Those Who Labor. From the article:
A study by Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), a liberal media-watchdog group, found that the evening news programs of CBS, ABC and NBC recently devoted only 2 percent of their total air time to workers' issues, including child care, the minimum wage, and workplace safety and health.and
During a full year, the broadcasts reportedly spent a total of 13 minutes on job safety and health, while an average of more than 16 workers die daily from work-related injuries, and more than 650,000 annually suffer back, wrist or other injuries from poorly designed work stations and repetitive motion.
Not only are work-related topics missing in the media, but so are workers. Studies of ABC's "Nightline" and PBS' "News Hour" found that almost all the guests were corporate or government officials, politicians or professors, while fewer than 1 percent were non-elite workers or their representatives. An examination of four months of news reports in the New York Times and the Washington Post found that not one of 201 sources mentioned in reporting on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was a worker or union representative.It's a longer article, well worth reading.
Tax Cuts for Billionaires
I did something fun today. I went to the Heritage Foundation's PolicyExperts.org and looked up some right-wing organizations. All I did was sort by "National Research Organizations" so it shows me the entire list.
Then I started picking a right-wing organization at random and going to Cursor's Media Transparency to see who is funding them. I did this several times. Guess what I found? There are hundreds of right-wing organizations, but they are almost all funded by a foundation whose name contains Scaife, Olin or Bradley, and a few others.
The public, the media and policymakers think they hear a wide range of voices. For example, you might see on C-SPAN or MSNBC a panel with experts from five or six different organizations. But in fact the likelihood is you are hearing the voice of Scaife, Olin, Bradley or one or two other billionaires. NO WONDER so much of the national policy debate is about giving huge tax cuts to billionaires!
Try it yourself.
Then I started picking a right-wing organization at random and going to Cursor's Media Transparency to see who is funding them. I did this several times. Guess what I found? There are hundreds of right-wing organizations, but they are almost all funded by a foundation whose name contains Scaife, Olin or Bradley, and a few others.
The public, the media and policymakers think they hear a wide range of voices. For example, you might see on C-SPAN or MSNBC a panel with experts from five or six different organizations. But in fact the likelihood is you are hearing the voice of Scaife, Olin, Bradley or one or two other billionaires. NO WONDER so much of the national policy debate is about giving huge tax cuts to billionaires!
Try it yourself.
9/04/2002
Timing is Everything
So, how about that Iraq timing, huh? Almost exactly 2 months before the election and it looks like things are really heating up. Looks like it could really come to a head in ... OCTOBER.
Is it in any way possible that the timing is political? I'm hearing a lot from the right wing PR machine about how this is a Democrat vs Republican thing (and not much about reasons to attack Iraq). They're spinning this entirely as a political issue. Anyone been listening to Rush Limbaugh lately? Much of his show this morning was about how the Democrats are placing the country in danger by trying to manipulate public opinion on Iraq against Bush in an attempt to get an issue in the election.
I've often observed that the right-wingers accuse us of what they're up to themselves. It's called inoculating. And the usual suspects have been all over the media accusing the Democrats of using Iraq as a political issue.
It seems to me that if they are looking for public support and want to keep the divisiveness down that they would do everything they could to keep things QUIET until after the election to avoid even the APPEARANCE of this being politically motivated. Even if the need was truly great to do something it would be best to keep it away from the election so they could go into a war with an undivided public, to put it redundantly. I think it is becoming blatantly obvious that they are pulling an October Surprise here. This timing is extremely unfortunate for our soldiers because it risks public support for at home.
To be redundant again, it this were for real they wouldn't want it to happen anywhere NEAR election time.
Is it in any way possible that the timing is political? I'm hearing a lot from the right wing PR machine about how this is a Democrat vs Republican thing (and not much about reasons to attack Iraq). They're spinning this entirely as a political issue. Anyone been listening to Rush Limbaugh lately? Much of his show this morning was about how the Democrats are placing the country in danger by trying to manipulate public opinion on Iraq against Bush in an attempt to get an issue in the election.
I've often observed that the right-wingers accuse us of what they're up to themselves. It's called inoculating. And the usual suspects have been all over the media accusing the Democrats of using Iraq as a political issue.
It seems to me that if they are looking for public support and want to keep the divisiveness down that they would do everything they could to keep things QUIET until after the election to avoid even the APPEARANCE of this being politically motivated. Even if the need was truly great to do something it would be best to keep it away from the election so they could go into a war with an undivided public, to put it redundantly. I think it is becoming blatantly obvious that they are pulling an October Surprise here. This timing is extremely unfortunate for our soldiers because it risks public support for at home.
To be redundant again, it this were for real they wouldn't want it to happen anywhere NEAR election time.
Government Again
Thinking about right-wing anti-government rhetoric, I like to swap a few words so that the real meaning is more clear. For example, for "government" I like to substitute some version of "the people" or "the interests of the people." For "government bureaucracy", some version of "public accountability over the use of public funds."
Here's how it works: Ronald Reagan said "Government is the problem." Substitute in "public oversight and accountability". Or suppose you hear "government regulations are holding back business," you can substitute in "public control over health and safety issues making sure that the public benefit." "Big government" - "Lots of public oversight and things done for the benefit of the people."
Substitute some variation of "autocratic anti-democratic organizations where decisions are made by a few amoral people who sole interest is to funnel profits to a few people at the top" for corporations. Try it out on "corporations do everything better than government bureaucracies."
Here's how it works: Ronald Reagan said "Government is the problem." Substitute in "public oversight and accountability". Or suppose you hear "government regulations are holding back business," you can substitute in "public control over health and safety issues making sure that the public benefit." "Big government" - "Lots of public oversight and things done for the benefit of the people."
Substitute some variation of "autocratic anti-democratic organizations where decisions are made by a few amoral people who sole interest is to funnel profits to a few people at the top" for corporations. Try it out on "corporations do everything better than government bureaucracies."
9/03/2002
Big Government
"Big government" is a great sounding phrase, but does it actually mean anything? I've always loved to taunt right-wingers with totally unfair questions like "What does 'big government' mean?", and "WHAT programs would you cut to make government smaller, and how much money does it save, and does it make a difference in balancing the budget?" (See if you can ever find a right-winger who can answer that one. "Waste, fraud and abuse" isn't an answer.)
They will never, ever, ever, ever say that they oppose Social Security or Medicare - at least not if they're running for any kind of public office so long as we remain some imitation of a democracy that sometimes lets the people's will decide what happens. The only "big government" left is military and interest on the debt, both of which funnel huge amounts of our money into rich people's pockets.
Of course, that leaves tax increases on the rich as the only way to balance the budget, so "big government" will stay in their vocabulary until enough of us speak up.
They will never, ever, ever, ever say that they oppose Social Security or Medicare - at least not if they're running for any kind of public office so long as we remain some imitation of a democracy that sometimes lets the people's will decide what happens. The only "big government" left is military and interest on the debt, both of which funnel huge amounts of our money into rich people's pockets.
Of course, that leaves tax increases on the rich as the only way to balance the budget, so "big government" will stay in their vocabulary until enough of us speak up.
MaxSpeak, You Listen
MaxSpeak has a great piece about debt and growth in the 90's. And you better read it because, as he says, "There is no liberal politics worthy of the name that can fail to comprehend this."
As I wrote earlier today, "Never mind that the government is us. Never mind that almost everything the government spends money on benefits us - that's what government IS." So I was ahead of my time at being a liberal! (He wrote at 4:31 Eastern and I wrote at 11:14 Pacific, so I was ahead of my time by two and a half hours if I added that right.)
As I wrote earlier today, "Never mind that the government is us. Never mind that almost everything the government spends money on benefits us - that's what government IS." So I was ahead of my time at being a liberal! (He wrote at 4:31 Eastern and I wrote at 11:14 Pacific, so I was ahead of my time by two and a half hours if I added that right.)
Taking it Easy
Buzzflash points out that Bush has spent 42% of his time as President at a leisure destination - Camp David (123 days), Kennebunkport (12) and his Texas ranch (115).
When Reagan was President I had a standard Halloween costume. I'd wear pajamas and a Reagan mask and say I was dressed up as Reagan attending a cabinet meeting. But it looks like Bush has even Reagan beat for not giving very much respect to the office of President and actually doing the JOB.
When Reagan was President I had a standard Halloween costume. I'd wear pajamas and a Reagan mask and say I was dressed up as Reagan attending a cabinet meeting. But it looks like Bush has even Reagan beat for not giving very much respect to the office of President and actually doing the JOB.
Read This Again
Friday I wrote a little piece pointing to a New York Times report of Bush saying that the deficit is "incredibly positive news" because it forces the government to stop growing. It's worth reading again, and understanding what he's saying.
He's admitting that the deficits are intentional. "Incredibly good news" because it advances the right-wing strategy of cutting back our government. Never mind that the government is us. Never mind that almost everything the government spends money on benefits us - that's what government IS. Never mind that he has proposed the largest increases in government growth in decades with his military buildup and his Fatherland Security department. Never mind that it means no prescription drug plan or health insurance for children, and cutbacks in almost everything good that our government does. And never mind that deficits mean we are borrowing more and more money and every year we have to pay interest on that borrowing.
Let's not let him get away with claiming now that the deficits aren't his fault, that he "hit the trifecta" or anything else he says. He said that the deficits are "incredibly good news" and the public should be reminded that he said that.
He's admitting that the deficits are intentional. "Incredibly good news" because it advances the right-wing strategy of cutting back our government. Never mind that the government is us. Never mind that almost everything the government spends money on benefits us - that's what government IS. Never mind that he has proposed the largest increases in government growth in decades with his military buildup and his Fatherland Security department. Never mind that it means no prescription drug plan or health insurance for children, and cutbacks in almost everything good that our government does. And never mind that deficits mean we are borrowing more and more money and every year we have to pay interest on that borrowing.
Let's not let him get away with claiming now that the deficits aren't his fault, that he "hit the trifecta" or anything else he says. He said that the deficits are "incredibly good news" and the public should be reminded that he said that.
9/02/2002
Get Your War On
I think I've recommended Get Your War On before, but just in case I haven't, I recommend it. I also recommend clicking around the website, the archives, links, etc.
Today's Google Experiment
Speaking of George Will, today's Google Experiment looks back to the 1980 presidential election.
During the election the Reagan campaign (among other things) ran an intelligence operation against the Carter White House involving active military personnel. One of their actions was the theft of Carter's debate briefing books from the White House. (That's right, a White House military aid stealing notebooks from the Oval Office, never disciplined by the "patriotic" Republicans.)
So go to Google and search for "George Will Carter Reagan stolen briefing book". Read some of the websites that pop up. (If you're not old enough to remember the criminality of the Reagan crowd I recommend spending a few more minutes looking into some of the things that happened between 1980 and 1992.)
Here we have a briefing book stolen from the White House, we have "journalist" George Will in possession of this stolen property and helping prepare Reagan for the debates, and on the night of the debate "journalist" Will sat as an ABC commentator on the debates. A "journalist" in possession of stolen briefing books, possibly the biggest political news story of the decade at that time, and he kept it secret. He was never jailed for possessing stolen property (the Reagan Justice Dept. from day 1 suspended prosecution of Republicans), never fired for not reporting the story, never fired for not letting the public know of his role in debate preparation, and continues as a high paid "journalist" to this day!
During the election the Reagan campaign (among other things) ran an intelligence operation against the Carter White House involving active military personnel. One of their actions was the theft of Carter's debate briefing books from the White House. (That's right, a White House military aid stealing notebooks from the Oval Office, never disciplined by the "patriotic" Republicans.)
So go to Google and search for "George Will Carter Reagan stolen briefing book". Read some of the websites that pop up. (If you're not old enough to remember the criminality of the Reagan crowd I recommend spending a few more minutes looking into some of the things that happened between 1980 and 1992.)
Here we have a briefing book stolen from the White House, we have "journalist" George Will in possession of this stolen property and helping prepare Reagan for the debates, and on the night of the debate "journalist" Will sat as an ABC commentator on the debates. A "journalist" in possession of stolen briefing books, possibly the biggest political news story of the decade at that time, and he kept it secret. He was never jailed for possessing stolen property (the Reagan Justice Dept. from day 1 suspended prosecution of Republicans), never fired for not reporting the story, never fired for not letting the public know of his role in debate preparation, and continues as a high paid "journalist" to this day!
Thanks
Thanks to Shadow of the Hegemon, for referring to and writing about what I wrote yesterday and for inspiring me to explain my anonymity, which I've been meaning to do. Replying to what was written, I don't think that Will or North or Limbaugh think for a second that what they wrote about the NEA is true - or care. Sure, others are believers, but they have a responsibility to contact NEA before writing that kind of stuff about them, and editors shouldn't be publishing it without finding out if they did contact NEA. I completely agree that they are using a technique of conditioning the public to distrust mainstream news sources.
Also, thanks Atrios for referring to and writing about yesterday's rant as well. I guess I really got going.
IssuesGuy, if you want to change the way that people debate, the first and most important step is to deal with the ridiculous, hateful, and sickening rhetoric aimed at the left, the kind that neo-conservatives specialize in and that the left (both moderate and radical) has ignored and explained away for far too long.Hey, that's the theme of this weblog! See the forest for the trees! They throw trees at you, see the forest.
Also, thanks Atrios for referring to and writing about yesterday's rant as well. I guess I really got going.
Anonymity
I haven't made my name public here and use "Issuesguy" because I first named this weblog "I Have Issues," and because the way the Blogger software works I needed a name to use. (I would have changed it to "Forestguy" if I could figure out how to do it without adding another team member.)
I want this to be a weblog ABOUT, not a weblog BY. I think I have some good reasons for that. First and foremost this focuses criticism to content. I mean this limits a critic's ability to attack the content by attacking & attempting to discredit the author - a favored right-wing technique. If you don't know who the author is you're stuck with having to look at the content and argue with that. Too bad.
I'm not saying that I expect to be writing anything worthy of right-wingers taking note. My second reason is more that this is NOT an ego-based endeavor so why put my name on it.
And my third reason is that I have been discussing politics online since way back when I was getting HUGE bills from CompuServe, and I've received plenty enough nasty e-mail and threats, it is jarring every single time and can ruin a day. It seems less jarring when it isn't addressed to your very own personal e-mail account.
I want this to be a weblog ABOUT, not a weblog BY. I think I have some good reasons for that. First and foremost this focuses criticism to content. I mean this limits a critic's ability to attack the content by attacking & attempting to discredit the author - a favored right-wing technique. If you don't know who the author is you're stuck with having to look at the content and argue with that. Too bad.
I'm not saying that I expect to be writing anything worthy of right-wingers taking note. My second reason is more that this is NOT an ego-based endeavor so why put my name on it.
And my third reason is that I have been discussing politics online since way back when I was getting HUGE bills from CompuServe, and I've received plenty enough nasty e-mail and threats, it is jarring every single time and can ruin a day. It seems less jarring when it isn't addressed to your very own personal e-mail account.
Labor
Nathan Newman has a good Labor Day roundup of Labor news that actually relates to WORKERS issues, so clearly contrasted with most newspaper, TV and radio coverage. And as always, I recommend checking out Joe Kenehan Center. And Atrios notes that in his Labor Day radio address Bush went out of his way not to mention Labor.
9/01/2002
Wal-Mart Campaigns for Dole in N.C.
Wal-Mart mailed a Dole campaign piece to 200,000 North Carolinans this week, 2 weeks before their primary. It also was sent to millions nationally.
The company said the campaign piece "was meant to promote literacy." "There was nothing remotely political in the intent," Jay Allen, a senior vice president of Wal-Mart, said on Friday.
Right.
The company said the campaign piece "was meant to promote literacy." "There was nothing remotely political in the intent," Jay Allen, a senior vice president of Wal-Mart, said on Friday.
Right.
More Fuming
(Referring to the piece below this one)
What get's me is that Mona Charen knows that the NEA didn't do what she's writing. She is lying, and knows it, and is getting paid well to repeat these lies because the end result is people believing bad things about the NEA, and "liberals." And all the others participating in this lie, like George Will and Ollie North and Rush Limbaugh and all the rest of this crowd. It is a lie. They know it is a lie. They are repeating it because focus groups have shown that this particular lie will stir up the public in certain lasting ways, and if they keep circulating lies like this the public becomes more inclined to vote Republicans into power so they can give big tax breaks and defense contracts to their cronies. And, of course, pay Mona Caren and the rest of them lots of money.
We know how this works. (Read "Blinded By the Right." This is from the guy that started the whole "Clinton Scandals" lie. He talks about how they do it, how much they're paid, and the people doing it. People like Ted Olson, rewarded by Bush with the job of Solicitor General of the United States.) We know that they circulate lies to achieve their political goals. But the editor of the San Jose Mercury News has a RESPONSIBILITY to know, too! And a RESPONSIBILITY to look at a piece of trash like this column and say, "This is just a lie and I will not print it in my paper." And "responsible" columnists like David Broder have a responsibility to the public to alert them to this kind of lie, this kind of calculated smear.
Just a couple of weeks ago we all watched ANOTHER calculated smear spread through the media. This was the one about Gore and the Springsteen tickets. It was just another made-up lie. But it was repeated. Back then I wrote about the old "Clinton haircut" smear, how that was spread. These are just lies, character assassination, and the way it works is the Republicans make up lies and spread them and when one lie dies down they make up a new lie and spread that one.
How long can this character assassination/lie machine go on before enough of us are telling the rest of us what it is, making it ineffective? It worked on Carter and got Reagan elected. It kept Clinton from accomplishing very much. It got Bush elected. It threatens to take us into perpetual war now.
What get's me is that Mona Charen knows that the NEA didn't do what she's writing. She is lying, and knows it, and is getting paid well to repeat these lies because the end result is people believing bad things about the NEA, and "liberals." And all the others participating in this lie, like George Will and Ollie North and Rush Limbaugh and all the rest of this crowd. It is a lie. They know it is a lie. They are repeating it because focus groups have shown that this particular lie will stir up the public in certain lasting ways, and if they keep circulating lies like this the public becomes more inclined to vote Republicans into power so they can give big tax breaks and defense contracts to their cronies. And, of course, pay Mona Caren and the rest of them lots of money.
We know how this works. (Read "Blinded By the Right." This is from the guy that started the whole "Clinton Scandals" lie. He talks about how they do it, how much they're paid, and the people doing it. People like Ted Olson, rewarded by Bush with the job of Solicitor General of the United States.) We know that they circulate lies to achieve their political goals. But the editor of the San Jose Mercury News has a RESPONSIBILITY to know, too! And a RESPONSIBILITY to look at a piece of trash like this column and say, "This is just a lie and I will not print it in my paper." And "responsible" columnists like David Broder have a responsibility to the public to alert them to this kind of lie, this kind of calculated smear.
Just a couple of weeks ago we all watched ANOTHER calculated smear spread through the media. This was the one about Gore and the Springsteen tickets. It was just another made-up lie. But it was repeated. Back then I wrote about the old "Clinton haircut" smear, how that was spread. These are just lies, character assassination, and the way it works is the Republicans make up lies and spread them and when one lie dies down they make up a new lie and spread that one.
How long can this character assassination/lie machine go on before enough of us are telling the rest of us what it is, making it ineffective? It worked on Carter and got Reagan elected. It kept Clinton from accomplishing very much. It got Bush elected. It threatens to take us into perpetual war now.
A Lie Repeated, and Repeated, and Repeated!
I'm fuming again. My morning is ruined by reading this damned LIE repeated in this morning's newspaper. Mona Charen, nationally syndicated columnist, in today's San Jose Mercury News, repeats and extends the lie about the NEA, starting it now with, all capitalized, "LIBERALS," "LIBERALS want to prevent Americans from feeling any sense of righteous fury about Sept. 11. How dare we, when we were responsible for slavery, imperialism, racism and an inadequate minimum wage?"
She continues with the lie you're already familiar with, "The National Education Association has weighed in with suggestions to guide teachers on the first anniversary of the terror attacks. ``Do not suggest,'' the NEA advises, ``that any group is responsible. Do not repeat the speculations of others, including newscasters. Blaming . . . is especially difficult in terrorist situations because someone is at fault.'' Well, yes, someone is always at fault. And unless those that someone is a right-wing radio host, liberals just hate to see anyone blamed for anything."
Listen to this whopper, "In New York (the NEA would like this), a teacher was suspended merely for telling her class that all of the individuals who attacked this country on Sept. 11 were Arabs." Reminds me of the time right-wingers were telling people about the guy "arrested for praying", but when I looked into it the guy was kneeling in the middle of the busiest intersection in town blocking all traffic.
There's more, much more. "The NEA also tells teachers to say: ``We have no reason to believe that the attacks were part of an organized plan of any other country. The terrorists acted independently, without the sanction of any nation.'' This is false. Did Afghanistan not fully participate in the terrorists' attacks?" Well, no, actually, "Afghanistan" did NOT fully participate, didn't participate AT ALL, in the terror attack. They "Harbored" the terrorists.
Here's how it ends, "The liberal hold on our education system amounts to a moral disarmament of the nation. Before there can be an Army, Navy and Air Force capable of protecting us, there must be a citizenry that believes we are worth defending."
I am just fuming. How long is a lie like this allowed to spread. By now I'm sure that much of the public believes this. And, playing on emotions from the terrible Sept. 11 attacks there could be real consequences to stirring up the public with such inflammatory lies! How can my newspaper reprint something like this, lies from first word to last. How can this so-called "columnist" ever be printed in newspapers after knowingly circulating such trash!
And most important, why is there no voice informing the public that this is a cruel, calculated, inflammatory lie, circulated by professional LIARS! Where are the so-called "responsible" journalists and editors when LIES like this are being circulated! Are they hiding, afraid to be branded with the dreaded "liberal" word? Have they no guts? Have the editors of the San Jose Mercury News and other papers circulating this inflammatory LIE no shame at all?!
And now I'm even angrier than when I started writing this.
She continues with the lie you're already familiar with, "The National Education Association has weighed in with suggestions to guide teachers on the first anniversary of the terror attacks. ``Do not suggest,'' the NEA advises, ``that any group is responsible. Do not repeat the speculations of others, including newscasters. Blaming . . . is especially difficult in terrorist situations because someone is at fault.'' Well, yes, someone is always at fault. And unless those that someone is a right-wing radio host, liberals just hate to see anyone blamed for anything."
Listen to this whopper, "In New York (the NEA would like this), a teacher was suspended merely for telling her class that all of the individuals who attacked this country on Sept. 11 were Arabs." Reminds me of the time right-wingers were telling people about the guy "arrested for praying", but when I looked into it the guy was kneeling in the middle of the busiest intersection in town blocking all traffic.
There's more, much more. "The NEA also tells teachers to say: ``We have no reason to believe that the attacks were part of an organized plan of any other country. The terrorists acted independently, without the sanction of any nation.'' This is false. Did Afghanistan not fully participate in the terrorists' attacks?" Well, no, actually, "Afghanistan" did NOT fully participate, didn't participate AT ALL, in the terror attack. They "Harbored" the terrorists.
Here's how it ends, "The liberal hold on our education system amounts to a moral disarmament of the nation. Before there can be an Army, Navy and Air Force capable of protecting us, there must be a citizenry that believes we are worth defending."
I am just fuming. How long is a lie like this allowed to spread. By now I'm sure that much of the public believes this. And, playing on emotions from the terrible Sept. 11 attacks there could be real consequences to stirring up the public with such inflammatory lies! How can my newspaper reprint something like this, lies from first word to last. How can this so-called "columnist" ever be printed in newspapers after knowingly circulating such trash!
And most important, why is there no voice informing the public that this is a cruel, calculated, inflammatory lie, circulated by professional LIARS! Where are the so-called "responsible" journalists and editors when LIES like this are being circulated! Are they hiding, afraid to be branded with the dreaded "liberal" word? Have they no guts? Have the editors of the San Jose Mercury News and other papers circulating this inflammatory LIE no shame at all?!
And now I'm even angrier than when I started writing this.
8/31/2002
Ideology Meets Reality
Earlier this week the New York Times had a story about implementation of Bush's big-deal Education Act. After all the talk about "failing schools" and freeing children from the grip of the socialist school systems, and national priorities, here's what happened "In Baltimore, of 30,000 children eligible to transfer to better schools, 347 have applied to fill 194 slots, school officials said."
In my opinion the "education crisis" is a good example of a phony issue, whipped up to support ideological objectives, and driven to the top of the national agenda by use of large amounts of money and the Republican marketing machine. The Republicans poured so many millions and millions of dollars into getting their message out that public schools are bad, pounded the public with message after message that "the public schools are failing." It's a relentless drumbeat, and this week's smear story about the NEA "blaming America" is part of their strategy.
You've probably seen the polls that show that most people think the education system is failing, but at the same time most people think THEIR local schools are just fine. It's those OTHER schools. EVERYONE knows that the schools are failing, but no one sees that in their OWN school districts. There MUST BE a problem, everyone says so, except not in the schools WE see, so it must be a problem in those OTHER schools. (It's like the Social Security system. EVERYONE knows it won't be there for them, even though the figures show that it's solid. Or like how before the 1984 election the got everyone believing that Congress is bad, but not THEIR member of Congress.)
So Bush campaigned for President, playing on the belief the Republicans have created in the public mind about the terrible schools and how bad they are for the children and how so many parents are trying to escape, etc. It became the highest concern among those polled (except THEIR schools). He got his big-deal Education Act passed. Now they're implementing it and what are they finding?
In my opinion the "education crisis" is a good example of a phony issue, whipped up to support ideological objectives, and driven to the top of the national agenda by use of large amounts of money and the Republican marketing machine. The Republicans poured so many millions and millions of dollars into getting their message out that public schools are bad, pounded the public with message after message that "the public schools are failing." It's a relentless drumbeat, and this week's smear story about the NEA "blaming America" is part of their strategy.
You've probably seen the polls that show that most people think the education system is failing, but at the same time most people think THEIR local schools are just fine. It's those OTHER schools. EVERYONE knows that the schools are failing, but no one sees that in their OWN school districts. There MUST BE a problem, everyone says so, except not in the schools WE see, so it must be a problem in those OTHER schools. (It's like the Social Security system. EVERYONE knows it won't be there for them, even though the figures show that it's solid. Or like how before the 1984 election the got everyone believing that Congress is bad, but not THEIR member of Congress.)
So Bush campaigned for President, playing on the belief the Republicans have created in the public mind about the terrible schools and how bad they are for the children and how so many parents are trying to escape, etc. It became the highest concern among those polled (except THEIR schools). He got his big-deal Education Act passed. Now they're implementing it and what are they finding?
"In Baltimore, of 30,000 children eligible to transfer to better schools, 347 have applied to fill 194 slots, school officials said."Maybe the ideology got a little bit ahead of the reality?
8/30/2002
Reforming Labor Law, and a Great Blog
Thanks to Joe Kenehan Center for pointing out this Boston Globe Op-Ed piece about reforming labor law.
"The view that the corporation exists only to enrich its stockholders has been accepted for too long. Corporate failure to similarly value other objectives - including the well-being of employees and their community - has helped produce today's scandals. Any reform package that fails to give employees the power to monitor executive behavior and protect their human capital investments fails to complete the job."
War or Recession
And on another point, I noticed that in the August 25, 2001 story referenced below Bush says that he would dip into the Social Security in the event of war or recession. He first said that five days before, on August 20. Unfortunate timing to start talking about the U.S. getting into a war.
"Incredibly Positive News''
President Bush has been trying to deflect blame for the deficits. He tells his "trifecta" joke (lie, actually), and says Democrat spending is the cause. Here are some examples:
CBS News, Jan. 23, 2002, "Republicans have blamed the worsening budget picture on the recession and the campaign against terrorism. They say annual surpluses will return shortly if the economy rebounds and if Democratic efforts to boost spending are rebuffed."
NY Times, Aug. 28, 2002, "But White House officials and Congressional Republicans argued that the new deficits merely reflected the recent economic slowdown, the price of the war in Afghanistan and the costs of beefing up domestic security against terrorism. Dan L. Crippen, the director of the budget office, said the recession and the plunging stock markets appeared to have played a bigger role than the tax cuts in reducing tax revenues."
Wash. Post, Aug. 27, 2002, "The president believes the lesson from today's CBO numbers is that Congress needs to hold the line on spending," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said from the president's ranch in Crawford, Tex. "And if Congress won't do it, the president will do it for Congress."
And in another article, same paper, same day, "The real danger to the budget comes from pork-barrel spending by the Congress," declared White House spokesman Ari Fleischer. "We should control what we can," said Office of Management and Budget Director Mitch Daniels, "which is spending."
MaxSpeak today gets into this with a very good piece suggesting that Republicans want deficits on purpose as a way to limit the size of government.
Let me help sort this out, and note the date as he tries to blame 9/11. New York Times, August 25, 2001
CBS News, Jan. 23, 2002, "Republicans have blamed the worsening budget picture on the recession and the campaign against terrorism. They say annual surpluses will return shortly if the economy rebounds and if Democratic efforts to boost spending are rebuffed."
NY Times, Aug. 28, 2002, "But White House officials and Congressional Republicans argued that the new deficits merely reflected the recent economic slowdown, the price of the war in Afghanistan and the costs of beefing up domestic security against terrorism. Dan L. Crippen, the director of the budget office, said the recession and the plunging stock markets appeared to have played a bigger role than the tax cuts in reducing tax revenues."
Wash. Post, Aug. 27, 2002, "The president believes the lesson from today's CBO numbers is that Congress needs to hold the line on spending," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said from the president's ranch in Crawford, Tex. "And if Congress won't do it, the president will do it for Congress."
And in another article, same paper, same day, "The real danger to the budget comes from pork-barrel spending by the Congress," declared White House spokesman Ari Fleischer. "We should control what we can," said Office of Management and Budget Director Mitch Daniels, "which is spending."
MaxSpeak today gets into this with a very good piece suggesting that Republicans want deficits on purpose as a way to limit the size of government.
Let me help sort this out, and note the date as he tries to blame 9/11. New York Times, August 25, 2001
President Bush said today that there was a benefit to the government's fast-dwindling surplus, declaring that it will create "a fiscal straitjacket for Congress." He said that was "incredibly positive news" because it would halt the growth of the federal government.
Light Blogging
I know I haven't been putting much up here since the Sopranos 3rd season came out Tuesday on DVD. I have to return them by next Tuesday.
8/29/2002
8/27/2002
Today's Google Experiment - Watch a Smear Spread
The Daily Howler has been exploring an ongoing smear against the NEA, claiming that the teacher's union is asking teachers to "blame America first" for the 9/11 terrorism.
The initial smear appeared in the Washington Times, the newspaper published by the Moonies. The original article referenced a paper by Brian Lippincott, saying that we should be careful not to blame all Muslims for 9/11. The smear twists this into a claim that the NEA says to teach children that we shouldn't blame the terrorists but should instead "blame America." So let's search on the words "Brian Lippincott NEA" and see what we find.
Guess what? It's the usual web of Scaiff-funded right-wing organizations leading the list - Traditional Values Coalition, Concerned Women for America, Townhall (Heritage Foundation).
Now let's try searching on "NEA Blame America First". Look at this gem from Ollie North! "The NEA -- and other 9-11 Deniers -- cannot be trusted to "Remember Sept. 11," when they refuse to forthrightly acknowledge what really happened on that terrible Tuesday morning. Wouldn't it be nice to have a teacher's union that didn't want to blame America first?"
Keep in mind that this is just a bald-faced LIE, and click beyond the first page of Google results, at all the organizations and "columnists" repeating this lie! Look at this one, "NEA exploits 9/11 as propaganda tool"
This is how it's done, folks. The Republicans have a huge machine out there and we know that about half the public believes this stuff!
Question 1 - How many "reputable" journalists do you see standing up to this, and denouncing the lies?
Question 2 - Isn't it time to restore the "Fairness Doctrine" so we can get more than the Republican side of issues discussed on the radio and TV networks that WE license to operate and serve THE PUBLIC INTEREST?
The initial smear appeared in the Washington Times, the newspaper published by the Moonies. The original article referenced a paper by Brian Lippincott, saying that we should be careful not to blame all Muslims for 9/11. The smear twists this into a claim that the NEA says to teach children that we shouldn't blame the terrorists but should instead "blame America." So let's search on the words "Brian Lippincott NEA" and see what we find.
Guess what? It's the usual web of Scaiff-funded right-wing organizations leading the list - Traditional Values Coalition, Concerned Women for America, Townhall (Heritage Foundation).
Now let's try searching on "NEA Blame America First". Look at this gem from Ollie North! "The NEA -- and other 9-11 Deniers -- cannot be trusted to "Remember Sept. 11," when they refuse to forthrightly acknowledge what really happened on that terrible Tuesday morning. Wouldn't it be nice to have a teacher's union that didn't want to blame America first?"
Keep in mind that this is just a bald-faced LIE, and click beyond the first page of Google results, at all the organizations and "columnists" repeating this lie! Look at this one, "NEA exploits 9/11 as propaganda tool"
This is how it's done, folks. The Republicans have a huge machine out there and we know that about half the public believes this stuff!
Question 1 - How many "reputable" journalists do you see standing up to this, and denouncing the lies?
Question 2 - Isn't it time to restore the "Fairness Doctrine" so we can get more than the Republican side of issues discussed on the radio and TV networks that WE license to operate and serve THE PUBLIC INTEREST?
Do You Know Where YOUR 401K Is?
Arianna Huffington in today's LA Times talks about a big mutual fund conflict of interest. They get fees for managing 401K accounts of large companies. If they vote against management of these corporations, or dump their stocks from their mutual funds, the owners of the shares of the fund (you) might do better, but the fund's management (them) rick having the companies dump them from managing the company's 401K plan, and the resulting revenues of the are in peril. THEIR money comes from management fees, NOT from how well their funds perform.
"For instance, the nation's largest mutual fund, Fidelity, which owns 5.3% of Tyco's stock, also earned $2 million in 1999 for its part in running Tyco's 401(k) plans. Last year, more than 50% of Fidelity's $9.8 billion in revenue was generated by administering 401(k) plans and other employee benefit services for about 11,000 companies, including Philip Morris, Shell, IBM, Monsanto and Ford."Whose interests do you think they are going to choose? Yours or their own?
Those running the mutual funds know that if they rock the boat they jeopardize their chances of getting the contracts for these services. So, with ownership essentially AWOL, irresponsible corporate execs have been allowed to run wild. Not surprisingly, mutual funds have consistently refused to disclose how they vote. As California Treasurer Phil Angelides told me, "That silence speaks volumes."
8/26/2002
Ongoing Questions - Keeping Them In Your Face
Why won't Bush release those SEC files that he says clear up all the questions about his Harken transactions? And what about the minutes of the Harken Board meetings, so we can find out if Bush approved of the Aloha Petroleum scam?
Did Bush pay taxes on that Harken loan money?
Did Bush pay taxes when he sold the Texas Rangers?
Why isn't there an INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION of Harken and Haliburton?
Why isn't there an INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION of what we knew, and where we failed, regarding 9/11? (See Bartcop today, "Partners in Crime")
Why aren't there any jobs programs for people whose unemployment benefits are running out?
Who is our economy for?
What Bush Says Now - What Bush Did Then. (I know, it's not a question, but it does start with the word "what.")
Did Bush pay taxes on that Harken loan money?
Did Bush pay taxes when he sold the Texas Rangers?
Why isn't there an INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION of Harken and Haliburton?
Why isn't there an INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION of what we knew, and where we failed, regarding 9/11? (See Bartcop today, "Partners in Crime")
Why aren't there any jobs programs for people whose unemployment benefits are running out?
Who is our economy for?
What Bush Says Now - What Bush Did Then. (I know, it's not a question, but it does start with the word "what.")
From a Reader
I received a message from a reader (THANKS!) in response to what I wrote about corporate ownership of news sources.
From the September Harper's Index;And I suspect that the bulk of those 31 representatives of labor were on PBS, which is funded but not owned outright by corporations.
Number of appearances made by corporate representatives on US network nightly newscasts last year: 955
Number of appearances made by labor representatives: 31
8/25/2002
They're Not Listening
Today's Washington Post talks about the politics of the deficit. Voters trust Bush and the Republicans on the economy more than the Democrats, even after it is explained that the deficit has soared, unemployment is up, the economy has collapsed, etc.
Illustrating my point is a line in today's New York Times article, The Selling of America, Bush Style.
A poll for the Democratic Leadership Council this spring by Mark Penn dramatically illustrates Dowd's point. Voters trusted Bush over congressional Democrats, 47 to 40 percent, to handle the economy. Penn then went for the jugular: "Before President Bush took office, the country was experiencing the fastest economic growth, the first budget surplus in a generation and the lowest unemployment in history. Since President Bush took office, the economy has entered a recession, the trillion-dollar surplus is now a serious deficit and 1.4 million people have lost their jobs," his poll states, before again asking who voters trust.I think they're not listening. I think "we" - moderates and progressives - underestimate just how many people are listening to Rush Limbaugh. It doesn't matter what the facts are. If Rush says it's Clinton's fault, about half the people in this country are going to repeat that.
And again, Bush came out on top, 46 to 44 percent.
Said Democratic pollster Anna Greenberg: "People are confused by what the deficit is, what the debt is. The numbers are of such magnitude that they're hard to comprehend. As an issue, it's incredibly complicated."
Illustrating my point is a line in today's New York Times article, The Selling of America, Bush Style.
The idea that advertising could "sway the ideas of whole populations, change their habits of life, create belief, practically universal in any policy or idea" ...Democrats aren't going to get their message across until they are ready to start doing what it takes to counter the right-wing message machine. Yesterday I wrote about Democrats needing to push to bring back the Fairness Doctrine. AM radio has become a 24/7 advertisement for the Republican Party. Equally important, moderate and progressive foundations must start funding organizations that counter the Heritage Foundation, Cato Institute, American Enterprise Institute and other parts of the right-wing web.
8/24/2002
Corporate Ownership of News Sources
Here's an interesting and very rare story about the problems workers have when trying to organize a union. This story covered a June 20 Senate heading on obstacles workers encounter when trying to organize unions. Rather than get into the specifics of the story, I want to get into why this is a story that you just don't see on TV, hear about on the radio or read about in your newspaper. (Did you know that the Senate was holding hearings on union organizing? Did you hear even a mention of this anywhere? Did you know that in 1998 24,000 workers were fired for trying to organize unions, even though it is illegal to fire someone for trying to form a union?)
I propose a simple test of how much of what we see and hear as "news" has shifted toward the pro-corporate perspective: How many stories about unions and working people do you see, hear and read in the news media?
We need to recognize just how pervasive corporate control of news issues has become. When discussing the idea that corporations are controlling what you see and hear in the news, ask how many stories cover unions, union organizing, workers rights or other similar topics? Anyone would have to admit that these are very rare stories. Compare the amount of coverage of worker issues with the coverage of business issues in the news, stories about what different companies are doing, their products, etc. Certainly most of the people watching the news are working people, as are most of the people in the country. There are between 16 and 17 million union members in the U.S. That is 14% of all wage and salary workers. How does this compare to the Christian Coalition (2.8M)? The NRA (4M)? U.S. Chamber of Commerce (3M)? But which do you see represented on news shows? Whose spokespeople do you see talking?
The media used to cover these stories. Radio and TV stations used to be required to cover stories of concern to working people in exchange for getting their licenses. Reagan managed to get this requirement pulled, and the Democrats have not worked to restore public control over the public airwaves. As a result there has been a major change in what is discussed. The change has happened gradually so it hasn't jumped out at us, but if you think back there used to be quite a bit of coverage of stories important to regular working people, and stories about workers and their issues.
It would seem that restoring the Fairness Doctrine would be the #1 issue for Democrats for their own career interests as well as the interest of the working people they say they represent!
I propose a simple test of how much of what we see and hear as "news" has shifted toward the pro-corporate perspective: How many stories about unions and working people do you see, hear and read in the news media?
We need to recognize just how pervasive corporate control of news issues has become. When discussing the idea that corporations are controlling what you see and hear in the news, ask how many stories cover unions, union organizing, workers rights or other similar topics? Anyone would have to admit that these are very rare stories. Compare the amount of coverage of worker issues with the coverage of business issues in the news, stories about what different companies are doing, their products, etc. Certainly most of the people watching the news are working people, as are most of the people in the country. There are between 16 and 17 million union members in the U.S. That is 14% of all wage and salary workers. How does this compare to the Christian Coalition (2.8M)? The NRA (4M)? U.S. Chamber of Commerce (3M)? But which do you see represented on news shows? Whose spokespeople do you see talking?
The media used to cover these stories. Radio and TV stations used to be required to cover stories of concern to working people in exchange for getting their licenses. Reagan managed to get this requirement pulled, and the Democrats have not worked to restore public control over the public airwaves. As a result there has been a major change in what is discussed. The change has happened gradually so it hasn't jumped out at us, but if you think back there used to be quite a bit of coverage of stories important to regular working people, and stories about workers and their issues.
It would seem that restoring the Fairness Doctrine would be the #1 issue for Democrats for their own career interests as well as the interest of the working people they say they represent!
8/22/2002
Today's Google Experiment
Today's Google experiment reminds members of the media how right-wingers feel about them.
Go to Google and look up, "Bill Stewart ABC Nicaragua" or click here. Executed in front of the camera by Samoza's National Guard, later to become Reagan & Bush's friends the Contras. (I haven't seen the video since that day. Is it on the web anywhere? I can't find it.)
The history of right-wing treatment of the press is not good. Media people - do you really think it's a good idea to be shilling for right-wingers?
"My only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times Building." - Ann Coulter, author of New York Times #1 Best Seller, Slander
Go to Google and look up, "Bill Stewart ABC Nicaragua" or click here. Executed in front of the camera by Samoza's National Guard, later to become Reagan & Bush's friends the Contras. (I haven't seen the video since that day. Is it on the web anywhere? I can't find it.)
The history of right-wing treatment of the press is not good. Media people - do you really think it's a good idea to be shilling for right-wingers?
"My only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times Building." - Ann Coulter, author of New York Times #1 Best Seller, Slander
8/21/2002
Sharon Telling Us How to Vote?
Isn't it grossly inappropriate for foreign leaders to campaign for candidates in the U.S.? Has this ever happened before? Americans used to resent foreign leaders attempting to influence our elections. I remember it cost Major severely when he tried to help Bush I against Clinton, but at least he did that from England and didn't come over here to tell us how to vote.
Isn't it grossly inappropriate for foreign leaders to campaign for candidates in the U.S.? Has this ever happened before? Americans used to resent foreign leaders attempting to influence our elections. I remember it cost Major severely when he tried to help Bush I against Clinton, but at least he did that from England and didn't come over here to tell us how to vote.
8/20/2002
The Retirement Plan of the Unemployed Man
I took a trip down to the local liquor store to put a couple of dollars into the retirement plan. It’s up to $86 million this week. So I was thinking about what I’ll do with the money, and I started thinking about the taxes.
Then I realized that rich people get rich by inheriting money, while working people (or unemployed people) get rich by winning the lottery. The Republicans say that people who get their money from inheritance shouldn’t have to pay any taxes. But I’m going to have to pay a huge amount of taxes when I win tomorrow night.
It’s just one more way The Man beats you down.
(update - "The Man" website is gone. But the wayback machine has "the man" archived)
Then I realized that rich people get rich by inheriting money, while working people (or unemployed people) get rich by winning the lottery. The Republicans say that people who get their money from inheritance shouldn’t have to pay any taxes. But I’m going to have to pay a huge amount of taxes when I win tomorrow night.
It’s just one more way The Man beats you down.
(update - "The Man" website is gone. But the wayback machine has "the man" archived)
WOW
The coming populist revolution? By Arianna Huffington. Everybody, read this twice. "This time we have a story to organize around, a story that has it all: narrative power, colorful crooks, sympathetic victims, juicy details (who can forget Kozlowski's $6,000 shower curtain?), political intrigue, global fallout. A story so compelling that even our part-of-the-problem media giants can't ignore it."
The coming populist revolution? By Arianna Huffington. Everybody, read this twice. "This time we have a story to organize around, a story that has it all: narrative power, colorful crooks, sympathetic victims, juicy details (who can forget Kozlowski's $6,000 shower curtain?), political intrigue, global fallout. A story so compelling that even our part-of-the-problem media giants can't ignore it."
Fixing Demand
While I'm fixing everything (see below), how about this:
I keep reading that the economy is being saved by consumer spending. The stock market is up 17% in the last few weeks because consumers are still spending.
It's good to see the Wall Street types praising the economic value of consumer demand. Maybe this is a good time to push for policies that put more money into the hands of average Americans and increase consumer demand, like raising the minimum wage, increasing and extending unemployment benefits, job training programs, income redistribution programs like the Earned Income Tax Credit and other DEMAND SIDE government programs!
While I'm fixing everything (see below), how about this:
I keep reading that the economy is being saved by consumer spending. The stock market is up 17% in the last few weeks because consumers are still spending.
It's good to see the Wall Street types praising the economic value of consumer demand. Maybe this is a good time to push for policies that put more money into the hands of average Americans and increase consumer demand, like raising the minimum wage, increasing and extending unemployment benefits, job training programs, income redistribution programs like the Earned Income Tax Credit and other DEMAND SIDE government programs!
Fixing the Energy Problem
In the 1992 campaign Jerry Brown made a suggestion that I haven't forgotten. He suggested putting the unemployed to work retrofitting buildings and homes to be energy efficient. It requires an up-front investment but it returns a more efficient economy (everyone paying less for energy) and national energy independence as a foreign policy bonus. Meanwhile all those unemployed people are getting and spending paychecks, boosting the economy. It helps everyone but the oil companies. Oh. I guess not, then.
In the 1992 campaign Jerry Brown made a suggestion that I haven't forgotten. He suggested putting the unemployed to work retrofitting buildings and homes to be energy efficient. It requires an up-front investment but it returns a more efficient economy (everyone paying less for energy) and national energy independence as a foreign policy bonus. Meanwhile all those unemployed people are getting and spending paychecks, boosting the economy. It helps everyone but the oil companies. Oh. I guess not, then.
Fixing Taxes
I wrote below that we paid $359 billion debt interest last year. The numbers are here - warning, this is a spreadsheet to download. Look at row 1038.
$359 billion is a huge number. And that's $359 billion every year. Imagine what we could do with that money. We could cut taxes, fix every social problem, and still have money left over to clean up pollution, feed the world, maybe even colonize mars. OK I'm exaggerating but it's a lot of money
It seems to me that this level of debt interest proves cutting taxes means higher taxes later if it involves borrowing or not paying off debt. We got in this mess by cutting taxes for the rich. We're digging the hole deeper with the Bush tax cuts. (Just wait until the resulting Social Security bomb goes off, and we have to raise taxes to pay for that.)
It also seems to me that imposing a big fat "pay off the debt tax" now would mean everyone would pay much lower taxes later. Of course, we don't want to hurt consumer demand so the tax would have to be on the higher brackets. And not on income - as I wrote below we'll need to be raising the cap on income for Social Security. So it would have to be a tax on wealth, like Ken Lay's 18 homes, or the other billions that CEOs took while their companies went down in flames. (Get the money FROM where the money WENT.)
Cut taxes now, higher taxes later. Raise taxes now, world prosperity later. I think that paying down this massive debt would help, not hurt the economy.
Maybe an economist will explain why this isn't a good idea - or at least offer an alternative that pays off this debt. Please don't write if your income is above $85,000 - I'll just chalk it up to cognitive dissonance.
I wrote below that we paid $359 billion debt interest last year. The numbers are here - warning, this is a spreadsheet to download. Look at row 1038.
$359 billion is a huge number. And that's $359 billion every year. Imagine what we could do with that money. We could cut taxes, fix every social problem, and still have money left over to clean up pollution, feed the world, maybe even colonize mars. OK I'm exaggerating but it's a lot of money
It seems to me that this level of debt interest proves cutting taxes means higher taxes later if it involves borrowing or not paying off debt. We got in this mess by cutting taxes for the rich. We're digging the hole deeper with the Bush tax cuts. (Just wait until the resulting Social Security bomb goes off, and we have to raise taxes to pay for that.)
It also seems to me that imposing a big fat "pay off the debt tax" now would mean everyone would pay much lower taxes later. Of course, we don't want to hurt consumer demand so the tax would have to be on the higher brackets. And not on income - as I wrote below we'll need to be raising the cap on income for Social Security. So it would have to be a tax on wealth, like Ken Lay's 18 homes, or the other billions that CEOs took while their companies went down in flames. (Get the money FROM where the money WENT.)
Cut taxes now, higher taxes later. Raise taxes now, world prosperity later. I think that paying down this massive debt would help, not hurt the economy.
Maybe an economist will explain why this isn't a good idea - or at least offer an alternative that pays off this debt. Please don't write if your income is above $85,000 - I'll just chalk it up to cognitive dissonance.
Fixing Social Security
This letter in the Washington Post today points out that raising the cap on earnings that are subject to Social Security taxes would cover any anticipated shortfall. We keep hearing that Social Security is "in crisis" and might not be able to pay our retirement benefits, when raising this cap would fix everything.
That sounds complicated, but it is significant, so let's look at what it means. Everyone who gets a paycheck pays a Social Security tax. This is the largest tax that most Americans pay. But most people don't know that you don't even pay this tax on money you make after you make $85,000. And you only pay it on money you earn by working. You don't pay it on income from an inheritance, or from stock gains, or the other ways that the very rich get their money. Only on money you get in a paycheck from working.
Got that? If you make MORE than $85,000 you stop paying this tax. If you inherit or make your money from stocks or real estate or other ways money is made if you already have a lot of money you don't pay this tax. Only working people pay this tax. The largest tax that average working Americans pay, and it isn't even paid on working incomes above $85,000.
But it gets worse. Keep reading.
Where does this Social Security tax money go? We're told that Social Security is a "ponzi scheme" and people paying in now are paying the retirement of people who are retired now. But actually much more is being paid in than is being paid out. This surplus, (the largest amount taken from most of our paychecks and which is not paid when you make more than $85,000), is loaned to the government, used to pay for general budget items, and the government owes that money to the Social Security fund. The government is borrowing this because huge tax cuts for the rich, starting under Reagan and continuing under Bush, leave the government without enough money to pay its bills.
Got that? The largest tax paid by average working people goes back out to cover tax CUTS for the rich.
But it gets even worse. Keep reading.
When we get to the point where there is no more Social Security surplus Social Security will need to start collecting the money that the government borrowed. It has to collect this in order to meet its payments to retired people. If the government can't pay back these loans, retired people won't get their Social Security checks.
Where will the government get this money? The only way the government is meeting its obligations NOW is by borrowing money FROM Social Security. What happens when Social Security needs to start getting money BACK instead? The money that is supposed to be there will have been spent on tax cuts for the rich. But who depends on this Social Security money? The very working people who are getting soaked now to cover these tax cuts for the rich.
So if we raise the cap on income that is taxed for Social Security, making high-income working people pay THE SAME amount as people who make less, it covers any anticipated Social Security shortfall. Yet if this money just goes back out as tax cuts for the rich we still won't get our Social Security when we retire.
But wait, I have to throw this in.
Last year the government paid out $359 billion for debt interest. That's money paid to cover the interest on the "Reagan debt," which accumulated because of tax cuts for the rich. This is the largest item in our budget. We pay tax money, and $359 billion of it is paid out to people who had the means to loan trillions to the government. (Guess who.)
I'm just trotting out some of that there (forbidden) populism to see how it sounds.
This letter in the Washington Post today points out that raising the cap on earnings that are subject to Social Security taxes would cover any anticipated shortfall. We keep hearing that Social Security is "in crisis" and might not be able to pay our retirement benefits, when raising this cap would fix everything.
That sounds complicated, but it is significant, so let's look at what it means. Everyone who gets a paycheck pays a Social Security tax. This is the largest tax that most Americans pay. But most people don't know that you don't even pay this tax on money you make after you make $85,000. And you only pay it on money you earn by working. You don't pay it on income from an inheritance, or from stock gains, or the other ways that the very rich get their money. Only on money you get in a paycheck from working.
Got that? If you make MORE than $85,000 you stop paying this tax. If you inherit or make your money from stocks or real estate or other ways money is made if you already have a lot of money you don't pay this tax. Only working people pay this tax. The largest tax that average working Americans pay, and it isn't even paid on working incomes above $85,000.
But it gets worse. Keep reading.
Where does this Social Security tax money go? We're told that Social Security is a "ponzi scheme" and people paying in now are paying the retirement of people who are retired now. But actually much more is being paid in than is being paid out. This surplus, (the largest amount taken from most of our paychecks and which is not paid when you make more than $85,000), is loaned to the government, used to pay for general budget items, and the government owes that money to the Social Security fund. The government is borrowing this because huge tax cuts for the rich, starting under Reagan and continuing under Bush, leave the government without enough money to pay its bills.
Got that? The largest tax paid by average working people goes back out to cover tax CUTS for the rich.
But it gets even worse. Keep reading.
When we get to the point where there is no more Social Security surplus Social Security will need to start collecting the money that the government borrowed. It has to collect this in order to meet its payments to retired people. If the government can't pay back these loans, retired people won't get their Social Security checks.
Where will the government get this money? The only way the government is meeting its obligations NOW is by borrowing money FROM Social Security. What happens when Social Security needs to start getting money BACK instead? The money that is supposed to be there will have been spent on tax cuts for the rich. But who depends on this Social Security money? The very working people who are getting soaked now to cover these tax cuts for the rich.
So if we raise the cap on income that is taxed for Social Security, making high-income working people pay THE SAME amount as people who make less, it covers any anticipated Social Security shortfall. Yet if this money just goes back out as tax cuts for the rich we still won't get our Social Security when we retire.
But wait, I have to throw this in.
Last year the government paid out $359 billion for debt interest. That's money paid to cover the interest on the "Reagan debt," which accumulated because of tax cuts for the rich. This is the largest item in our budget. We pay tax money, and $359 billion of it is paid out to people who had the means to loan trillions to the government. (Guess who.)
I'm just trotting out some of that there (forbidden) populism to see how it sounds.
8/19/2002
Populists
Eschaton has a good one today, pointing to a TAP piece. He says the Republicans became the Populists, calling the Democrats the "elitists".
A friend of mine says, "Republicans know how to fight a class war. And then they say you're the class warrior, and usually you even don't know what's happening to you."
Eschaton has a good one today, pointing to a TAP piece. He says the Republicans became the Populists, calling the Democrats the "elitists".
A friend of mine says, "Republicans know how to fight a class war. And then they say you're the class warrior, and usually you even don't know what's happening to you."
More on Iraq
Truthout has a story about the possibility that the Iraq war has already begun. "The fact of the matter is that American military concentrations are already unobtrusively present in northern and southern Iraq."
Here is what I wrote yesterday.
Truthout has a story about the possibility that the Iraq war has already begun. "The fact of the matter is that American military concentrations are already unobtrusively present in northern and southern Iraq."
Here is what I wrote yesterday.
8/18/2002
Fed Intervening in Stock Market?
This article is from June, but it discusses something I've been noticing in the stock market. At the end of a bad day the market suddenly rallies, so it closes up or at least well off the day's lows.
This article is from June, but it discusses something I've been noticing in the stock market. At the end of a bad day the market suddenly rallies, so it closes up or at least well off the day's lows.
Terminus Joins the Club
Terminus has joined the club. "Ladies and gentlemen, your humble blogger is umemployed. "
Terminus has joined the club. "Ladies and gentlemen, your humble blogger is umemployed. "
Has the War Already Begun?
This story in Asia Times offers a very interesting perspective - that Bush may have already secretly started the war.
This story in Asia Times offers a very interesting perspective - that Bush may have already secretly started the war.
Earlier this year, a British journalist asked Bush how exactly he was going to get rid of Saddam Hussein. He replied, "Wait and see." The journalist, like many of his colleagues, may well still be waiting - for lack of ability to see that the war is on. Some high-speed, high-intensity strikes may later be called "The Iraq War", but it began no later than March.
Good Op-Ed Piece
Today's LA Times, The Rah-Rah Boys. Definitely worth a read. Here's just a little bit of it:
Today's LA Times, The Rah-Rah Boys. Definitely worth a read. Here's just a little bit of it:
The prominence of these people [media commentators] and others like them were, to a great degree, unrelated to their skills as economic prognosticators. Their trade was politics, and at it they were wildly successful. Americans were indeed persuaded to roll back the regulatory state in the 1990s, to give the corporations whatever they wanted, to slash welfare, to smash the labor unions and even to (sort of) elect the most pro-corporate administration since Herbert Hoover's, headed by a man who promised to privatize Social Security.
Today, though, the picture has changed. And for most of last year's gurus, the battle has simply shifted. Now it is a matter of blame and they are on the defensive, fighting to rescue their beloved free market with even more zeal than when they were talking up the Nasdaq back in '98. The crash has brought the consequences that crashes always bring: a return of the regulatory state, demands for the end of excessive CEO pay, public anger at businessmen rather than liberal college professors and--who knows?--maybe the revival of labor unions and the estate tax. For the business class the stakes are huge, and the job that confronts their army of economic commentators is weightier than ever.
Iraq Comment
I want to ask a few questions of logic on the issue of going after Iraq based on fear they are developing weapons of mass destruction. If they really are developing such weapons then aren't our armed forces at great risk of being attacked with them? Also, isn't there a grave likelihood of those weapons being used against nearby Israel? And what about the likelihood of an attack on Iraq provoking a biological attack on us at home?
But the Administration argues that overthrowing the regime will be "a cakewalk." That's a contradiction - If there are such weapons to justify the attack how can they say it will be so easy?
If such weapons are used, are we going to retaliate? Is Israel? If so, how, and who to retaliate against? Since part of the justification for the idea of attacking Iraq is that the Iraqi people oppose the current government how can we in any way justify attacking a city full of our supposed supporters? Maybe we could attack ANOTHER country!
All of this is in response to the World Trade Center attack of 9/11 even though there is no evidence at all that Iraq had anything to do with that. Using our logic for attacking Iraq in response to 9/11, if Iraq uses weapons of mass destruction would this justify our going after, perhaps North Korea.
None of this is to say that we shouldn't do something about Iraq if there really is evidence that they are again developing weapons of mass destruction. The Administration has not seen fit to share with us any evidence. None at all. Again, if it really is the case, we need to do something. But we also need to think it through, and make an HONEST case to the public. Bush is not doing this.
I want to ask a few questions of logic on the issue of going after Iraq based on fear they are developing weapons of mass destruction. If they really are developing such weapons then aren't our armed forces at great risk of being attacked with them? Also, isn't there a grave likelihood of those weapons being used against nearby Israel? And what about the likelihood of an attack on Iraq provoking a biological attack on us at home?
But the Administration argues that overthrowing the regime will be "a cakewalk." That's a contradiction - If there are such weapons to justify the attack how can they say it will be so easy?
If such weapons are used, are we going to retaliate? Is Israel? If so, how, and who to retaliate against? Since part of the justification for the idea of attacking Iraq is that the Iraqi people oppose the current government how can we in any way justify attacking a city full of our supposed supporters? Maybe we could attack ANOTHER country!
All of this is in response to the World Trade Center attack of 9/11 even though there is no evidence at all that Iraq had anything to do with that. Using our logic for attacking Iraq in response to 9/11, if Iraq uses weapons of mass destruction would this justify our going after, perhaps North Korea.
None of this is to say that we shouldn't do something about Iraq if there really is evidence that they are again developing weapons of mass destruction. The Administration has not seen fit to share with us any evidence. None at all. Again, if it really is the case, we need to do something. But we also need to think it through, and make an HONEST case to the public. Bush is not doing this.
Fuming
This story, Bush Pledges to Balance Budget and the Bush radio address it reports on, has me fuming. I just read it, and I'm reacting. I ran to the computer to type this. I probably should wait a bit, but here goes...
The cynicism is beyond astounding! When you think you're ready for anything this administration will put out, they find something that will just shock you. This cynical and hypocritical attempt to trick the public and shift blame is just astonishing.
"We cannot go down the path of soaring budget deficits," Bush said.
Bush's tax cuts and huge spending increases PUT US on the path of soaring deficits! Tough sounding words like these are an attempt to trick the public into thinking Bush is trying to solve the problem, when it is his tax policies and spending increases that are making things so much worse.
He accused the Democrat-led Senate of "ignoring fiscal discipline" and all but threatened to veto its spending bills if senators persist in trying to increase funds for programs such as public housing and agricultural research by hundreds of millions of dollars more than Bush wants.
According to our constitution spending bills originate in the HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, NOT THE SENATE! This is the most cynical thing I have seen in a long time. Trying to trick the public into thinking that the Democrats in the Senate are the cause of this huge deficit, through spending, when the Democrats didn't even control the Senate when the budget was passed. The Republicans controlled the House, the Senate and the White House. Why does the press fail to point out basic facts such as this? After watching what happened under Reagan I fear that the public could very well fall for this.
As you read this next, keep in mind that the Republican House of Representatives originating the budget, and a Republican Senate, signed by Bush, passed nearly the largest spending increase in our history, while passing huge tax cuts that only go to the very wealthy.
"For the good of our economy, for the good of the people who pay taxes, my administration will spend what is truly needed, and not a dollar more," Bush said in the radio broadcast.
"A common theme among many panelists was that we must leave every dollar we can in the hands of the people who have earned it," Bush said. If you read this weblog you already know how I feel about this. (Blogger's links never seem to work on Sundays. Scorll down to the piece titled, "What?" and then the one above it titled, "Wait".
This story, Bush Pledges to Balance Budget and the Bush radio address it reports on, has me fuming. I just read it, and I'm reacting. I ran to the computer to type this. I probably should wait a bit, but here goes...
The cynicism is beyond astounding! When you think you're ready for anything this administration will put out, they find something that will just shock you. This cynical and hypocritical attempt to trick the public and shift blame is just astonishing.
"We cannot go down the path of soaring budget deficits," Bush said.
Bush's tax cuts and huge spending increases PUT US on the path of soaring deficits! Tough sounding words like these are an attempt to trick the public into thinking Bush is trying to solve the problem, when it is his tax policies and spending increases that are making things so much worse.
He accused the Democrat-led Senate of "ignoring fiscal discipline" and all but threatened to veto its spending bills if senators persist in trying to increase funds for programs such as public housing and agricultural research by hundreds of millions of dollars more than Bush wants.
According to our constitution spending bills originate in the HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, NOT THE SENATE! This is the most cynical thing I have seen in a long time. Trying to trick the public into thinking that the Democrats in the Senate are the cause of this huge deficit, through spending, when the Democrats didn't even control the Senate when the budget was passed. The Republicans controlled the House, the Senate and the White House. Why does the press fail to point out basic facts such as this? After watching what happened under Reagan I fear that the public could very well fall for this.
As you read this next, keep in mind that the Republican House of Representatives originating the budget, and a Republican Senate, signed by Bush, passed nearly the largest spending increase in our history, while passing huge tax cuts that only go to the very wealthy.
"For the good of our economy, for the good of the people who pay taxes, my administration will spend what is truly needed, and not a dollar more," Bush said in the radio broadcast.
"A common theme among many panelists was that we must leave every dollar we can in the hands of the people who have earned it," Bush said. If you read this weblog you already know how I feel about this. (Blogger's links never seem to work on Sundays. Scorll down to the piece titled, "What?" and then the one above it titled, "Wait".
8/17/2002
Huge Media Scandal
The news that President Bush has been rewarding campaign donors with sleepovers at the White House has generated a major media scandal reminiscent of the Clinton years, with special reports on all network news broadcasts, hour upon hour of talk radio discussion, front-page newspaper headlines, nonstop coverage on the cable news channels, congressional hearings and a Justice Dept. investigation. Not.
The news that President Bush has been rewarding campaign donors with sleepovers at the White House has generated a major media scandal reminiscent of the Clinton years, with special reports on all network news broadcasts, hour upon hour of talk radio discussion, front-page newspaper headlines, nonstop coverage on the cable news channels, congressional hearings and a Justice Dept. investigation. Not.
8/16/2002
Prius
Brad DeLong, says the financial side seems to make buying a Toyota Prius "nearly irresistible."
Brad DeLong, says the financial side seems to make buying a Toyota Prius "nearly irresistible."
Fix It
It's not about whether the recession started under Clinton, it's what the current administration is going to DO ABOUT IT!! (From a year ago.)
It's not about whether the recession started under Clinton, it's what the current administration is going to DO ABOUT IT!! (From a year ago.)
Job? Me?
skippy the bush kangaroo has a good piece titled, "of course i don't have a job, that's why i can spend all day blogging"
I'm in Silicon Valley, living a few blocks from the empty Excite@Home campus. Somewhere between 20% and 30% of all office space in this area, including San Francisco, is vacant. (How does that square with unemployment being only 7.6%?) Quite a few people I know are unemployed. Of course, that's why I go on morning walks with them and spend so much time blogging myself. ;-)
I wonder if one of those friends writes an anonymous blog? I wonder if they wonder that about me? Is one of them skippy? Do we need a blogTIPS program?
skippy the bush kangaroo has a good piece titled, "of course i don't have a job, that's why i can spend all day blogging"
I'm in Silicon Valley, living a few blocks from the empty Excite@Home campus. Somewhere between 20% and 30% of all office space in this area, including San Francisco, is vacant. (How does that square with unemployment being only 7.6%?) Quite a few people I know are unemployed. Of course, that's why I go on morning walks with them and spend so much time blogging myself. ;-)
I wonder if one of those friends writes an anonymous blog? I wonder if they wonder that about me? Is one of them skippy? Do we need a blogTIPS program?
Bush Income Tax Evasion?
Long ago I read about Ed Meese (Reagan's Atty General) receiving $200,000 "loans that he didn't have to repay." Since then I've wondered whether he ever paid the taxes. The rule is that if you get a loan and don't repay it, it must be reported as income, and you must pay taxes on it. Because it really IS income and really ISN'T a loan. (This also happens when you default on a loan that you can't pay, but you can get out of that to the extent you can prove you really were insolvent.) Also, if you get a loan with very low interest, the difference between that interest and current market interest rates must be reported as income.
You read about corporate executives getting these "loans" and not having to repay them, but you never hear whether they paid taxes on the income. I've always wondered if they're paying the taxes.
Finally someone else is wondering the same thing. Democrats.com asks the question, "So the question we ask is this: did George W. Bush report the full value of his forgiven Harken loans as income on his 1993 tax return?"
Bush has not released his tax returns for that year, which tells me that maybe there's something there he doesn't want us to know. He refused to release the SEC records of the Harken insider trading probe. He refuses to release the Harken Board minutes that will show to what extent he took part in the Aloha Petroleum scam sale. And he hasn't released the tax returns that will show if he engaged in income tax evasion.
From the Democrats.com story, "The very core of Mr. Bush's presidential campaign was to "restore honor and integrity" to the White House. Without that promise, Mr. Bush would never have left Texas. This promise requires Mr. Bush to not only talk about "honor and integrity," but to prove it."
Long ago I read about Ed Meese (Reagan's Atty General) receiving $200,000 "loans that he didn't have to repay." Since then I've wondered whether he ever paid the taxes. The rule is that if you get a loan and don't repay it, it must be reported as income, and you must pay taxes on it. Because it really IS income and really ISN'T a loan. (This also happens when you default on a loan that you can't pay, but you can get out of that to the extent you can prove you really were insolvent.) Also, if you get a loan with very low interest, the difference between that interest and current market interest rates must be reported as income.
You read about corporate executives getting these "loans" and not having to repay them, but you never hear whether they paid taxes on the income. I've always wondered if they're paying the taxes.
Finally someone else is wondering the same thing. Democrats.com asks the question, "So the question we ask is this: did George W. Bush report the full value of his forgiven Harken loans as income on his 1993 tax return?"
Bush has not released his tax returns for that year, which tells me that maybe there's something there he doesn't want us to know. He refused to release the SEC records of the Harken insider trading probe. He refuses to release the Harken Board minutes that will show to what extent he took part in the Aloha Petroleum scam sale. And he hasn't released the tax returns that will show if he engaged in income tax evasion.
From the Democrats.com story, "The very core of Mr. Bush's presidential campaign was to "restore honor and integrity" to the White House. Without that promise, Mr. Bush would never have left Texas. This promise requires Mr. Bush to not only talk about "honor and integrity," but to prove it."
8/14/2002
Multiplier Effects
If consumers are holding on to record debt (stories here and here and here) how are they going to spend us out of this economic trouble? Maybe it isn't really over. But if not, are current policies causing a multiplier effect if the economy does dip back to recession?
From what I read, the economy is currently being propped up by what most people seem to agree is a "bubble" in housing prices. So far this housing bubble has allowed consumers to keep spending just enough to keep the economy afloat for now. But if refinancing houses rather than rising incomes is the source of funds to keep up the spending binge, won't this have a multiplier effect on any downturn? (Economy propped up by housing bubble, spending slows, economy slows, pops the housing price bubble, people stop spending, economy slows more, many lose houses, economic drop accelerates.)
Multiplier effects are worrying me lately. We have had a period where stock prices rather than the underlying strength of the companies became an underpinning of the economy. For example, the pension problem - pension funds invested in stocks, stocks rise, companies don't have to make contributions, AND their books look better because the pension funds are claimed as assets. As long as the market was going up everyone's books looked great but now underfunded pension plans will have to drain cash out of companies, lower that previously claimed asset, all lowering earnings, eventually causing the market to go even lower, accelerating any downturn. Same thing with insurance companies - reserves in the stock market, market drops, not enough reserves to cover obligations. As I said, many companies were propped up by their stock prices not their own strength. So when the market drops it multiplies the effect.
By the way, I'm not an economist or an expert, just a worrier. Take a look at this chart and decide for yourself if we are past the stock bubble.
If consumers are holding on to record debt (stories here and here and here) how are they going to spend us out of this economic trouble? Maybe it isn't really over. But if not, are current policies causing a multiplier effect if the economy does dip back to recession?
From what I read, the economy is currently being propped up by what most people seem to agree is a "bubble" in housing prices. So far this housing bubble has allowed consumers to keep spending just enough to keep the economy afloat for now. But if refinancing houses rather than rising incomes is the source of funds to keep up the spending binge, won't this have a multiplier effect on any downturn? (Economy propped up by housing bubble, spending slows, economy slows, pops the housing price bubble, people stop spending, economy slows more, many lose houses, economic drop accelerates.)
Multiplier effects are worrying me lately. We have had a period where stock prices rather than the underlying strength of the companies became an underpinning of the economy. For example, the pension problem - pension funds invested in stocks, stocks rise, companies don't have to make contributions, AND their books look better because the pension funds are claimed as assets. As long as the market was going up everyone's books looked great but now underfunded pension plans will have to drain cash out of companies, lower that previously claimed asset, all lowering earnings, eventually causing the market to go even lower, accelerating any downturn. Same thing with insurance companies - reserves in the stock market, market drops, not enough reserves to cover obligations. As I said, many companies were propped up by their stock prices not their own strength. So when the market drops it multiplies the effect.
By the way, I'm not an economist or an expert, just a worrier. Take a look at this chart and decide for yourself if we are past the stock bubble.
8/13/2002
Wait
Wait. Later he said "We're working hand in hand to see to it that Congress finally gets the message that we need a terrorism insurance bill to get American hard hats back to work. (Applause.) People say, does it matter? Of course it matters. There's over $8 billion of commercial construction that has been suspended last year. That means $8 billion worth of projects in which somebody is going to be able to work and put food on the table for their family."
So he at least understands that if the government spends money on construction, that means construction jobs putting money into the hands of American families. Did I read it right? Or is he saying that if the government bails out big insurance companies that will lead to construction? I'm confused. If the government spends it means money in the hands of the big insurance companies which leads to construction of insurance company buildings? (The big insurance companies had their money in the stock market and now don't have the cash to cover their obligations. It might be as big as the pension problem story) but that's another story.
Wait. Later he said "We're working hand in hand to see to it that Congress finally gets the message that we need a terrorism insurance bill to get American hard hats back to work. (Applause.) People say, does it matter? Of course it matters. There's over $8 billion of commercial construction that has been suspended last year. That means $8 billion worth of projects in which somebody is going to be able to work and put food on the table for their family."
So he at least understands that if the government spends money on construction, that means construction jobs putting money into the hands of American families. Did I read it right? Or is he saying that if the government bails out big insurance companies that will lead to construction? I'm confused. If the government spends it means money in the hands of the big insurance companies which leads to construction of insurance company buildings? (The big insurance companies had their money in the stock market and now don't have the cash to cover their obligations. It might be as big as the pension problem story) but that's another story.
What?
I saw Bush on TV saying "More money spent in Washington means less money in the hands of American families and entrepreneurs; less money in the hands of risk-takers and job creators." Read the transcript here.
What? The guy who signed the farm bill said this? Does he think that the money the government spends disappears into outer space? (And into the hands of large corporate farms.)
That comment has cost me any last bit of hope I was holding on to that the economy is going to recover. Not as long as this guy's in the White House.
I saw Bush on TV saying "More money spent in Washington means less money in the hands of American families and entrepreneurs; less money in the hands of risk-takers and job creators." Read the transcript here.
What? The guy who signed the farm bill said this? Does he think that the money the government spends disappears into outer space? (And into the hands of large corporate farms.)
That comment has cost me any last bit of hope I was holding on to that the economy is going to recover. Not as long as this guy's in the White House.
8/12/2002
Thin Line Between Company and Party (Part 1)
I know that Enron has fallen off of the front pages lately but I think looking back with hindsight might offer insight into the “corporate responsibility” problems.
A few months back I was reading about all the cash that Enron had been giving to the Republicans. Then I learned that Enron was also making significant indirect contributions to The Party. That got me tracing campaign money in general, and the question occurs to me, “Where does the company end, and "The Party" begin?”
Here’s an example of Enron company money indirectly used to benefit The Party. Perhaps you remember reading that Enron employed Ralph Reed while he really worked for the Bush campaign. Enron payroll -> Bush campaign employee. Here’s four stories about this – one, two, three, four.
Now take a look at Ed Gillespie, former communications director at the RNC and a top communications advisor to the Bush campaign. He was paid at least $525,000 from Enron for "lobbying" immediately after the campaign ended. This sounds a lot like the Reed arrangement. This year-old story (from before Enron's collapse) seems very relevant today. From Page 2:
This leads us into Enron “lobbying” cash that is really just more indirect cash to The Party. Here's an article that tracks $1,785,000 of "lobbying" money that Enron spent just in the first half of 2001. How much of that money really went to activities to benefit The Party?
Yet another path for Enron corporate contributions to The Party is the so-called “think tanks.” There are several supposedly independent think tanks that are really just extensions of The Party. Here's a story.
OK, OK, you get the point, Enron found lots of ways to give a LOT of money to the Republicans. Where am I going with this?
I'm only writing about Enron tonite. There's much more. (In Part 2) Amway, tobacco companies, drug companies, and many others are operating as if they are the funding arm of The Party! Where does the company end and The Party begin?
How does it benefit the shareholders of a company when the executives are pouring untold millions into The Party rather than to shareholders as profits? We might cynically say that they are buying government benefits, tax breaks, etc. that increase profits, but it's ILLEGAL to donate money with the expectation of political favors, isn't it? And if they don't KNOW they'll be granted favors they're pissing away shareholder money. So either they're acting unethically by donating with the understanding that it's a bribe or by pouring shareholder money into The Party. It is one or the other.
“Corporate Reform" reforms nothing if it does not address the freedom with which Boards and Executives are working hand-in-hand with the Republicans! Independent Boardmembers are not independent at all if they are merely ideological soldiers of The Party, infiltrating our corporations to carry out Party funding missions. Fat Chance the Congress will address this, but the shareholding public needs to be made aware of this additional way that their Boards and Officers have their hands in the till.
I know that Enron has fallen off of the front pages lately but I think looking back with hindsight might offer insight into the “corporate responsibility” problems.
A few months back I was reading about all the cash that Enron had been giving to the Republicans. Then I learned that Enron was also making significant indirect contributions to The Party. That got me tracing campaign money in general, and the question occurs to me, “Where does the company end, and "The Party" begin?”
Here’s an example of Enron company money indirectly used to benefit The Party. Perhaps you remember reading that Enron employed Ralph Reed while he really worked for the Bush campaign. Enron payroll -> Bush campaign employee. Here’s four stories about this – one, two, three, four.
Now take a look at Ed Gillespie, former communications director at the RNC and a top communications advisor to the Bush campaign. He was paid at least $525,000 from Enron for "lobbying" immediately after the campaign ended. This sounds a lot like the Reed arrangement. This year-old story (from before Enron's collapse) seems very relevant today. From Page 2:
In May, Gillespie launched the 21st Century Energy Project, financed by such pro-Bush conservative groups as Americans for Tax Reform and Citizens for a Sound Economy. Ostensibly, the group's aim is to advance Bush's energy plan. But its other mission is to kill any attempt by Democrats to institute price caps to alleviate the energy crisis in the West. Which also happens to be the main goal of one of Gillespie's newest clients, Enron--the energy behemoth with closer ties to the Bush administration than perhaps any other corporation. (The company's employees and executives have given more to Bush than has any other single company.) Last week the project ran its first round of ads, which will neatly complement the series of town meetings the White House is conducting on energy policy. With the energy project, which expects to spend $500,000, Gillespie not only helps Enron but also serves as the "bad cop" attacking the Democrats on energy policy while the White House remains above the partisan fray.We can get into Citizens for a Sound Economy and Americans for Tax Reform later. (There’s a lot there.)
This leads us into Enron “lobbying” cash that is really just more indirect cash to The Party. Here's an article that tracks $1,785,000 of "lobbying" money that Enron spent just in the first half of 2001. How much of that money really went to activities to benefit The Party?
Yet another path for Enron corporate contributions to The Party is the so-called “think tanks.” There are several supposedly independent think tanks that are really just extensions of The Party. Here's a story.
OK, OK, you get the point, Enron found lots of ways to give a LOT of money to the Republicans. Where am I going with this?
I'm only writing about Enron tonite. There's much more. (In Part 2) Amway, tobacco companies, drug companies, and many others are operating as if they are the funding arm of The Party! Where does the company end and The Party begin?
How does it benefit the shareholders of a company when the executives are pouring untold millions into The Party rather than to shareholders as profits? We might cynically say that they are buying government benefits, tax breaks, etc. that increase profits, but it's ILLEGAL to donate money with the expectation of political favors, isn't it? And if they don't KNOW they'll be granted favors they're pissing away shareholder money. So either they're acting unethically by donating with the understanding that it's a bribe or by pouring shareholder money into The Party. It is one or the other.
“Corporate Reform" reforms nothing if it does not address the freedom with which Boards and Executives are working hand-in-hand with the Republicans! Independent Boardmembers are not independent at all if they are merely ideological soldiers of The Party, infiltrating our corporations to carry out Party funding missions. Fat Chance the Congress will address this, but the shareholding public needs to be made aware of this additional way that their Boards and Officers have their hands in the till.
Bush's PR Summit
Bush is holding a PR summit tomorrow, and Demcorats are not invited.
It seems to me that if the Democrats were smart about PR, they would have a few Democratic members of Congress camping outside, occasionally banging on the doors, for the benefit of the news cameras.
Bush is holding a PR summit tomorrow, and Demcorats are not invited.
It seems to me that if the Democrats were smart about PR, they would have a few Democratic members of Congress camping outside, occasionally banging on the doors, for the benefit of the news cameras.
Why the Dems?
Nathan Newman has a good piece titled WHY THE DEMS? He looks at California where the Democrats got control of the Assembly, Senate and Governor's office in 1998 (except for issues that require 2/3 votes), and what they have since accomplished. Greens, please go read it.
Nathan Newman has a good piece titled WHY THE DEMS? He looks at California where the Democrats got control of the Assembly, Senate and Governor's office in 1998 (except for issues that require 2/3 votes), and what they have since accomplished. Greens, please go read it.
On the Radio
I had to drive my wife to work. On the radio Paul Harvey said that Saddam Hussein "blew the top off of New York." I wonder how many of the right's audience even knows the difference between Bin Laden & al-Queda, Afghanistan and Iraq. Or even knows that there IS a difference. I think the Bush people are counting on them not knowing. And they'll use the "don't you hate those know-it-alls" against anyone who does know the difference.
Sean Hannity says Time Magazine made up their big story, that Time is just lying, this is all just the Liberal Media working to defeat Bush, don't believe them, etc. Hannity says that the Clinton people not only didn't put together a plan to go after al-Queda and present it to the new Bush administration, but that the Clinton people didn't do anything to try to get al-Queda and even rejected offers from several countries to hand Bin Laden over.
The Bush people are really scared that people are going to find out they sat on their hands and ignored the terrorist threat, so they're pulling out the stops on this one. They seem really afraid of the consequences of the Time article.
I had to drive my wife to work. On the radio Paul Harvey said that Saddam Hussein "blew the top off of New York." I wonder how many of the right's audience even knows the difference between Bin Laden & al-Queda, Afghanistan and Iraq. Or even knows that there IS a difference. I think the Bush people are counting on them not knowing. And they'll use the "don't you hate those know-it-alls" against anyone who does know the difference.
Sean Hannity says Time Magazine made up their big story, that Time is just lying, this is all just the Liberal Media working to defeat Bush, don't believe them, etc. Hannity says that the Clinton people not only didn't put together a plan to go after al-Queda and present it to the new Bush administration, but that the Clinton people didn't do anything to try to get al-Queda and even rejected offers from several countries to hand Bin Laden over.
The Bush people are really scared that people are going to find out they sat on their hands and ignored the terrorist threat, so they're pulling out the stops on this one. They seem really afraid of the consequences of the Time article.
Trees
Over at Blah3 there's a boint-by-point rebuttal to a letter from a Rush fan. It's a fairly long piece, he does a good job rebutting each point. But this is what I've been saying about trees. A lot of energy went into this. And each point made by the letter-writer was just a repeat of a Republican lie. What's worse, you'll see all of these points repeated over and over and over by this letter-writer, Rush, right-wing pundits, candidates, etc. for years. See the forest -- It's what they do.
Blah3's piece starts with the dittohead writing, "Last year on January 20 we said good bye to 8 years of crime, cover-ups, and smokescreens." Never mind that President Clinton was cleared of every single accusation except that he got a blow job. Every single accusation was a phony made-up lie that was part of a coordinated attempt to destroy a presidency - and which led to the election of Bush with all of its consequences. And of course the complete and utter lack of evidence is proof there was a massive cover-up, right? But there I go arguing trees. It's hard not to get into it when you see that kind of nonsense repeated. It's hard not to try to refute each lie. But it wastes energy. We need to find ways to more effectively fight this. I think that getting people to see when they're being bombarded with lies might help.
By the way, Clinton didn't "play golf with" Enron's Ken Lay. The true story will tell you how far the Republicans go to make up these lies. Check out this Daily Howler piece. Here's what the Republicans use as the basis of their claim that Clinton "played golf with" or was a "golf partner with" Ken Lay: "Clinton began his vacation with a bipartisan golf match Saturday at the Country Club of the Rockies in Vail, Colo., teaming up with fellow Democrat (and golf pro) Jack Nicklaus to take on the Republican duo of former president Gerald Ford and Houston businessman Ken Lay." THAT becomes "golf partner."
Understand what they do - that is the forest.
Over at Blah3 there's a boint-by-point rebuttal to a letter from a Rush fan. It's a fairly long piece, he does a good job rebutting each point. But this is what I've been saying about trees. A lot of energy went into this. And each point made by the letter-writer was just a repeat of a Republican lie. What's worse, you'll see all of these points repeated over and over and over by this letter-writer, Rush, right-wing pundits, candidates, etc. for years. See the forest -- It's what they do.
Blah3's piece starts with the dittohead writing, "Last year on January 20 we said good bye to 8 years of crime, cover-ups, and smokescreens." Never mind that President Clinton was cleared of every single accusation except that he got a blow job. Every single accusation was a phony made-up lie that was part of a coordinated attempt to destroy a presidency - and which led to the election of Bush with all of its consequences. And of course the complete and utter lack of evidence is proof there was a massive cover-up, right? But there I go arguing trees. It's hard not to get into it when you see that kind of nonsense repeated. It's hard not to try to refute each lie. But it wastes energy. We need to find ways to more effectively fight this. I think that getting people to see when they're being bombarded with lies might help.
By the way, Clinton didn't "play golf with" Enron's Ken Lay. The true story will tell you how far the Republicans go to make up these lies. Check out this Daily Howler piece. Here's what the Republicans use as the basis of their claim that Clinton "played golf with" or was a "golf partner with" Ken Lay: "Clinton began his vacation with a bipartisan golf match Saturday at the Country Club of the Rockies in Vail, Colo., teaming up with fellow Democrat (and golf pro) Jack Nicklaus to take on the Republican duo of former president Gerald Ford and Houston businessman Ken Lay." THAT becomes "golf partner."
Understand what they do - that is the forest.
Disgusted
I was reading the San Francisco Chronicle's Op-Ed pages this morning and came across this, about Al Gore. It contains the following:
Gore was not raised in a Washington penthouse, and Somerby has gone into great detail about how the Republicans planted that, and how the press continues to repeat the lie. In fact, Somerby has done such a good job going into this, and his work, or similar debunking of the Republicans lies, has been written about in enough places that it is inexcusable to think that any journalism professional would STILL be writing these lies. The SF Chronicle should not have allowed this lie to (again) get into print.
Here's something I wrote a month ago on a similar subject.
I was reading the San Francisco Chronicle's Op-Ed pages this morning and came across this, about Al Gore. It contains the following:
This from a man who was raised in a Washington hotel penthouse by Sen. Al Gore Sr., who groomed him for the presidency.The op-ed piece reads like a parady of Daily Howler. If you're not familiar with Daily Howler please go take a look. Bob Somerby has spent at least 2 years looking into how the press covers politics, particularly the coverage of Al Gore during the election and the lies and how they were started by the Republicans and endlessly repeated by the press.
Gore blames his loss not on a faux populism, but on too many high-priced consultants telling him to wear brown suits.
Gore was not raised in a Washington penthouse, and Somerby has gone into great detail about how the Republicans planted that, and how the press continues to repeat the lie. In fact, Somerby has done such a good job going into this, and his work, or similar debunking of the Republicans lies, has been written about in enough places that it is inexcusable to think that any journalism professional would STILL be writing these lies. The SF Chronicle should not have allowed this lie to (again) get into print.
Here's something I wrote a month ago on a similar subject.
8/11/2002
8/10/2002
So What Are You Going to DO About It?
Anybody who has found this weblog is probably in agreement with what I'm writing about, and is probably spending time reading other online political sites, like BuzzFlash, and other weblogs. So we feel the same way, we're tuned in, we're getting info that is very different from the stuff that is in most of the papers and on almost all of TV (except maybe the new CrossFire.)
Do I have to write about how "we" feel? Corporations replacing one-person-one-vote with one-dollar-one-vote and all the consequences that flow from that - pollution, cronyism, corruption, Federalist Society judges, corporate crimes of all kinds, and the stuff coming from the White House.
What are you going to DO about it? That's the question. What are you going to actually DO about it?
Here's my suggestion. Do something. There's an election coming up.
I have started spending a little bit of my Saturdays or Sundays with a little voter registration table at a shopping center or the local Farmer's Market. There's a big "Democrats Register Here" sign taped to the table (but I sign up anyone who wants to register.) I have only done this a few times now, but I'm calling up people from a local Democratic Club's member list, asking if they would like to volunteer to put in an hour or two, so we can turn this into a full-time operation.
This got started after I decided to get involved and contacted my local Democratic Club. (To contact your local Democrats go here and choose your state where it says Get Local, over on the left of the page. From there you should be able to find your way to your local Demcoratic Party organization.) Yes, I'm suggesting the boring Democrats. I used to think it was a good idea to help the Greens start a new party, but now I think that just breaks up the coalition that can get the Republicans out.
Being out there getting people registered is a rewarding experience. It's also a lot more than just registering them - it's "showing the flag" - to people who think like "us" and feel isolated. I find that they really appreciate seeing people like me out there. I tell them they can be a person "like me" and help out, too. It is surprising how many are signing up to help out. It's encouraging.
Talking to people at this table has been a great experience. I'm in a Democratic area (it used to be Republican but the Democrats got organized and changed that) so most people are positive. But I find that almost NO ONE is tuned in to the kind of news we get online. So I point people to BuzzFlash as a starting point. I need one place to tell them to go to, and that's a great place to get started.
Here's some things YOU can do:
- Join your local Democratic Club. It's more fun than most of the computer user groups I used to speak at.
- Start registering voters. It's about more than just signing up new voters, it's about being out there talking to people. It was HARD for me the first time I set up that table. There's something about putting yourself out there like that that is hard. Maybe I was buying into all the years of scorn from right-wingers laughing at mushy liberals. Anyway as soon as I sat down at the table with the sign I felt GOOD about what I was doing.
- Donate money. It's important. It sounds stupid but it's what makes politics run - until we can pass public financing and we aren't going to do that without getting "our people" elected.
- Donate time. It takes work to win an election but working on a campaign is FUN and rewarding.
- Get other people connected to what's going on online.
- Send e-mails to people you know, letting them know about places to visit online, encouraging them to get involved or at least vote.
- If you are a blogger you can encourage your readers to get actively involved before this election.
You know the formula, if each of us can get just two people activated...
Anybody who has found this weblog is probably in agreement with what I'm writing about, and is probably spending time reading other online political sites, like BuzzFlash, and other weblogs. So we feel the same way, we're tuned in, we're getting info that is very different from the stuff that is in most of the papers and on almost all of TV (except maybe the new CrossFire.)
Do I have to write about how "we" feel? Corporations replacing one-person-one-vote with one-dollar-one-vote and all the consequences that flow from that - pollution, cronyism, corruption, Federalist Society judges, corporate crimes of all kinds, and the stuff coming from the White House.
What are you going to DO about it? That's the question. What are you going to actually DO about it?
Here's my suggestion. Do something. There's an election coming up.
I have started spending a little bit of my Saturdays or Sundays with a little voter registration table at a shopping center or the local Farmer's Market. There's a big "Democrats Register Here" sign taped to the table (but I sign up anyone who wants to register.) I have only done this a few times now, but I'm calling up people from a local Democratic Club's member list, asking if they would like to volunteer to put in an hour or two, so we can turn this into a full-time operation.
This got started after I decided to get involved and contacted my local Democratic Club. (To contact your local Democrats go here and choose your state where it says Get Local, over on the left of the page. From there you should be able to find your way to your local Demcoratic Party organization.) Yes, I'm suggesting the boring Democrats. I used to think it was a good idea to help the Greens start a new party, but now I think that just breaks up the coalition that can get the Republicans out.
Being out there getting people registered is a rewarding experience. It's also a lot more than just registering them - it's "showing the flag" - to people who think like "us" and feel isolated. I find that they really appreciate seeing people like me out there. I tell them they can be a person "like me" and help out, too. It is surprising how many are signing up to help out. It's encouraging.
Talking to people at this table has been a great experience. I'm in a Democratic area (it used to be Republican but the Democrats got organized and changed that) so most people are positive. But I find that almost NO ONE is tuned in to the kind of news we get online. So I point people to BuzzFlash as a starting point. I need one place to tell them to go to, and that's a great place to get started.
Here's some things YOU can do:
- Join your local Democratic Club. It's more fun than most of the computer user groups I used to speak at.
- Start registering voters. It's about more than just signing up new voters, it's about being out there talking to people. It was HARD for me the first time I set up that table. There's something about putting yourself out there like that that is hard. Maybe I was buying into all the years of scorn from right-wingers laughing at mushy liberals. Anyway as soon as I sat down at the table with the sign I felt GOOD about what I was doing.
- Donate money. It's important. It sounds stupid but it's what makes politics run - until we can pass public financing and we aren't going to do that without getting "our people" elected.
- Donate time. It takes work to win an election but working on a campaign is FUN and rewarding.
- Get other people connected to what's going on online.
- Send e-mails to people you know, letting them know about places to visit online, encouraging them to get involved or at least vote.
- If you are a blogger you can encourage your readers to get actively involved before this election.
You know the formula, if each of us can get just two people activated...
Hogs
The Daily Enron has an opinion piece by Stephen Pizzo that is worth reading. It's another "Are the Democrats ready to step up to the plate?" piece. From the piece:
Also, as you can see, I realized I should use blockquote when I'm quoting, so my posts will look better from now on. Blog evolves.
The Daily Enron has an opinion piece by Stephen Pizzo that is worth reading. It's another "Are the Democrats ready to step up to the plate?" piece. From the piece:
"Down in Louisiana, scandal-hardened voters have a saying when they change control of the state legislature from one party to the other: "It was just time to let the fat hogs out and the lean hogs in."
American voters are tired of feeding hogs of any political persuasion. It's just gotten too expensive. So, if Democrats are going to sweep the November races they are going to start now by not just talking the talk, but walking the walk.
Walking the walk will mean pursuing true progressive reforms for both government and corporations, even if doing so offends some contributors who may deserve a good offending anyway. Voters are looking for anything but politics as usual. Democrats will have to prove themselves capable of delivering on that desire or risk turning off voters who will respond by simply staying at home next November rather wasting another vote on the lesser of two evils. "
Also, as you can see, I realized I should use blockquote when I'm quoting, so my posts will look better from now on. Blog evolves.
8/09/2002
Today's Google Experiment
Salon debunks the story about Gore trying to get free Springsteen tickets. Just another lie. This is a tree.
Here's the forest: Does anyone remember the May, 1993 Clinton $200 Haircut story? The story was that President Clinton held up all traffic at LAX for 45 minutes while his plane sat on the runway and he got a haircut that cost $200. This story helped shape public attitudes about his new administration, coming 4 months after he took office.
Except that it never happened. (Scan this story for the word "haircut.") SOMEone sent FAXes with this story to newspapers and radio stations across the country. Further faxes claimed to be from passengers who missed flights. Some even claimed to be from people who missed funerals, etc. This was a very well-coordinated and very effective smear job - a sign of things to come.
Google Experiment: Click here to go to Google and search on the keywords "clinton haircut runway" and see how many press articles, etc. you can find that refer to this smear as fact. Remember, it not only never happened, but very quickly was shown to be phony. This one is cute.
You'll see a lot more stories like the Springsteen Ticket story as the Presidential campaign gets going. The stories are trees. See the forest. See the bigger picture. Learn how it's done so you don't fall for it yourself.
Salon debunks the story about Gore trying to get free Springsteen tickets. Just another lie. This is a tree.
Here's the forest: Does anyone remember the May, 1993 Clinton $200 Haircut story? The story was that President Clinton held up all traffic at LAX for 45 minutes while his plane sat on the runway and he got a haircut that cost $200. This story helped shape public attitudes about his new administration, coming 4 months after he took office.
Except that it never happened. (Scan this story for the word "haircut.") SOMEone sent FAXes with this story to newspapers and radio stations across the country. Further faxes claimed to be from passengers who missed flights. Some even claimed to be from people who missed funerals, etc. This was a very well-coordinated and very effective smear job - a sign of things to come.
Google Experiment: Click here to go to Google and search on the keywords "clinton haircut runway" and see how many press articles, etc. you can find that refer to this smear as fact. Remember, it not only never happened, but very quickly was shown to be phony. This one is cute.
You'll see a lot more stories like the Springsteen Ticket story as the Presidential campaign gets going. The stories are trees. See the forest. See the bigger picture. Learn how it's done so you don't fall for it yourself.
Go Watch This!
WOW! Take a look at this great Flash piece!
To see others, go to this site, click on the links on the upper left.
WOW! Take a look at this great Flash piece!
To see others, go to this site, click on the links on the upper left.
More on that Pension Problem
I have been writing about the corporate pension problem - the "other" corporate accounting problem that could be as serious as the falsely reported earnings scandal. This is an important problem worth paying attention to. In a nutshell, when stocks were climbing corporations didn't have to contribute to their pension funds, and could report higher profits. Now stocks are lower, the pension funds are underfunded, and the companies have to come up with cash and put it into the funds.
Today's New York Times has a story about this. "The fine print in G.M.'s 2001 annual report shows that its retiree benefit plans, including pensions and health care, have unfinanced liabilities of a staggering $61 billion. That is up from $34 billion in 1999 and reflects how the market has affected companies that made big promises to their workers. Some of that shows up in liabilities on the balance sheet, but about $11.5 billion does not."
...
"In the first half of this year, G.M.'s pension funds lost about 3 percent of their value. If the accounting rules required G.M. to report based on actual performance, rather than the 10 percent annual gains it optimistically assumes, I estimate that it would have posted a net loss of $2.3 billion rather than a $1.5 billion profit. Similarly, reported profits from 2000 and 2001 would have vanished."
In other words, a $11.5 billion problem not showing up on the books, GM reports a profits of $1.5 billion, when actually it is a loss of $2.3 billion, and their profits from 2000 and 2001 were not really profits.
I have been writing about the corporate pension problem - the "other" corporate accounting problem that could be as serious as the falsely reported earnings scandal. This is an important problem worth paying attention to. In a nutshell, when stocks were climbing corporations didn't have to contribute to their pension funds, and could report higher profits. Now stocks are lower, the pension funds are underfunded, and the companies have to come up with cash and put it into the funds.
Today's New York Times has a story about this. "The fine print in G.M.'s 2001 annual report shows that its retiree benefit plans, including pensions and health care, have unfinanced liabilities of a staggering $61 billion. That is up from $34 billion in 1999 and reflects how the market has affected companies that made big promises to their workers. Some of that shows up in liabilities on the balance sheet, but about $11.5 billion does not."
...
"In the first half of this year, G.M.'s pension funds lost about 3 percent of their value. If the accounting rules required G.M. to report based on actual performance, rather than the 10 percent annual gains it optimistically assumes, I estimate that it would have posted a net loss of $2.3 billion rather than a $1.5 billion profit. Similarly, reported profits from 2000 and 2001 would have vanished."
In other words, a $11.5 billion problem not showing up on the books, GM reports a profits of $1.5 billion, when actually it is a loss of $2.3 billion, and their profits from 2000 and 2001 were not really profits.
8/08/2002
Funding Progressives and Moderates
I've been thinking about that American Prospect article that I referred to a few days ago. Tomasky writes, "The fact that this imbalance exists, however, is partly the Democrats' fault. Democrats don't have the money Republicans have, and they never will. They can never match Republicans dollar-for-dollar on message creation and dissemination. That said, it's also true that they have not set up the structures to do that. Republican backers slowly and methodically set out to build those structures in the 1970s, knowing full well that they wouldn't bear fruit for a generation or two. Democratic money people, and party leaders, have not been as engaged in such long-term thinking. As one leading Democrat told me not long ago, they'd rather spend their money on a full-page ad in the Times than seed and water a long-range, partisan strategy group or think tank. Accordingly, Democrats have developed no organic relationship with the intellectuals and activists on their side, while Republicans have."
I agree with Tomasky that moderate and progressive money would do better if it were applied with a long-range view.
I've recently been talking to the people at The Commonweal Institute (CI). CI is just starting up now, and hopes to get full funding to develop a multi-issue policy "think tank" that will be able to support moderate and progressive groups by building up mainstream support for moderate and progressive philosophy in general and for the moderate and progressive perspective on a broad range of particular issues that are so important to all of us.
Let me explain their view of this. There are moderate and progressive foundations with money for progressive projects, and there are lots of well-to-do moderates and progressives with a philanthropic attitude. But moderate and progressive philanthropy has been directed differently from how the right-wingers are doing it. Clearly the right-wingers have been much more successful. Right-wing-oriented foundations are funding organizations like The Heritage Foundation, The American Enterprise Institute and The Cato Institute. (Note, these links point to a list of their funding sources so you can see how this works.)
By funding multi-issue organizations like these, right-wingers have used foundation money to build a general policy "infrastructure" that supports the web of right-wing organizations while appealing to a broader mainstream audience. I think that moderate and progressive foundations have focused their grants and donations toward more narrow-target projects, like environmental groups or community housing projects as just a couple of examples. These groups are great and support great causes, but they reach narrower, usually sympathetic audiences and focus only on their particular issues.
But here's what happens. Because the right-wingers have a well-coordinated (and very, very well-funded) web of organizations that provide underlying SUPPORT for the efforts of their own narrow-project groups by pumping out right-wing propaganda to the masses, their investment in those narrow projects is able to achieve maximum bang-for-buck. Moderate and progressive investment in individual projects, on the other hand, shows a lower ROI (return on investment) because the effectiveness of that right-wing web has put enough right-wingers in powerful positions that the achievements of moderate and progressive organizations are wiped out with one Presidential Directive, or one ruling by a well-placed Federalist Society judge! In other words, the well-funded right-wing multi-issue, broad-based, mainstream audience work gets people like Bush and his Federalist judges in position to support their causes and destroy moderate and progressive achievements.
If the moderate and progressive foundations were willing to support more general, multi-issue, "infrastructure" organizations, like Commonweal Institute, which could help progressive politicians and activists and organizations make their case to the public on a broad range of issues, and moderate and progressive philosophy in general, then perhaps the achievements of environmental and other organizations wouldn't be in peril and they wouldn't always be trying to hold on to what they have achieved, constantly fighting to keep from being pushed backwards instead of building on their achievements. It's great to fund narrow-focus environmental and other groups, but that funding is always in danger of being wasted, doing no one any good at all, if the success of the right's web of organizations allows them to wipe out so much of the progress that moderates and progressives are trying to make.
The moderate and progressive foundations need to fund organizations like the Commonweal Institute - "Heritage Foundations of the left" - because their work will PROTECT the work of environmental and other moderate and progressive organizations.
I've been thinking about that American Prospect article that I referred to a few days ago. Tomasky writes, "The fact that this imbalance exists, however, is partly the Democrats' fault. Democrats don't have the money Republicans have, and they never will. They can never match Republicans dollar-for-dollar on message creation and dissemination. That said, it's also true that they have not set up the structures to do that. Republican backers slowly and methodically set out to build those structures in the 1970s, knowing full well that they wouldn't bear fruit for a generation or two. Democratic money people, and party leaders, have not been as engaged in such long-term thinking. As one leading Democrat told me not long ago, they'd rather spend their money on a full-page ad in the Times than seed and water a long-range, partisan strategy group or think tank. Accordingly, Democrats have developed no organic relationship with the intellectuals and activists on their side, while Republicans have."
I agree with Tomasky that moderate and progressive money would do better if it were applied with a long-range view.
I've recently been talking to the people at The Commonweal Institute (CI). CI is just starting up now, and hopes to get full funding to develop a multi-issue policy "think tank" that will be able to support moderate and progressive groups by building up mainstream support for moderate and progressive philosophy in general and for the moderate and progressive perspective on a broad range of particular issues that are so important to all of us.
Let me explain their view of this. There are moderate and progressive foundations with money for progressive projects, and there are lots of well-to-do moderates and progressives with a philanthropic attitude. But moderate and progressive philanthropy has been directed differently from how the right-wingers are doing it. Clearly the right-wingers have been much more successful. Right-wing-oriented foundations are funding organizations like The Heritage Foundation, The American Enterprise Institute and The Cato Institute. (Note, these links point to a list of their funding sources so you can see how this works.)
By funding multi-issue organizations like these, right-wingers have used foundation money to build a general policy "infrastructure" that supports the web of right-wing organizations while appealing to a broader mainstream audience. I think that moderate and progressive foundations have focused their grants and donations toward more narrow-target projects, like environmental groups or community housing projects as just a couple of examples. These groups are great and support great causes, but they reach narrower, usually sympathetic audiences and focus only on their particular issues.
But here's what happens. Because the right-wingers have a well-coordinated (and very, very well-funded) web of organizations that provide underlying SUPPORT for the efforts of their own narrow-project groups by pumping out right-wing propaganda to the masses, their investment in those narrow projects is able to achieve maximum bang-for-buck. Moderate and progressive investment in individual projects, on the other hand, shows a lower ROI (return on investment) because the effectiveness of that right-wing web has put enough right-wingers in powerful positions that the achievements of moderate and progressive organizations are wiped out with one Presidential Directive, or one ruling by a well-placed Federalist Society judge! In other words, the well-funded right-wing multi-issue, broad-based, mainstream audience work gets people like Bush and his Federalist judges in position to support their causes and destroy moderate and progressive achievements.
If the moderate and progressive foundations were willing to support more general, multi-issue, "infrastructure" organizations, like Commonweal Institute, which could help progressive politicians and activists and organizations make their case to the public on a broad range of issues, and moderate and progressive philosophy in general, then perhaps the achievements of environmental and other organizations wouldn't be in peril and they wouldn't always be trying to hold on to what they have achieved, constantly fighting to keep from being pushed backwards instead of building on their achievements. It's great to fund narrow-focus environmental and other groups, but that funding is always in danger of being wasted, doing no one any good at all, if the success of the right's web of organizations allows them to wipe out so much of the progress that moderates and progressives are trying to make.
The moderate and progressive foundations need to fund organizations like the Commonweal Institute - "Heritage Foundations of the left" - because their work will PROTECT the work of environmental and other moderate and progressive organizations.
8/07/2002
The Party of the Confederacy
The Party of Lincoln has become the Party of the Confederacy. The Republicans have been working hard to become a regional party, and we should do everything we can to reinforce this trend. The entire Republican leadership is from the South. Their policies are "states rights" and anti-"big-city". They are shifting the government's spending to the South. They talk about "the heartland" and they mean southern former-Confederate states. I can go on but I'll pause here so you can envision more examples.
There is a political opportunity here for Northern Democrats. Republican candidates should be asked why they are running for office in the North under the banner of the Party of the Confederacy. They should be asked if they're trying to bring the South to Vermont or Wisconsin or New York.
The Party of Lincoln has become the Party of the Confederacy. The Republicans have been working hard to become a regional party, and we should do everything we can to reinforce this trend. The entire Republican leadership is from the South. Their policies are "states rights" and anti-"big-city". They are shifting the government's spending to the South. They talk about "the heartland" and they mean southern former-Confederate states. I can go on but I'll pause here so you can envision more examples.
There is a political opportunity here for Northern Democrats. Republican candidates should be asked why they are running for office in the North under the banner of the Party of the Confederacy. They should be asked if they're trying to bring the South to Vermont or Wisconsin or New York.
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