Spoiled And Spoiling

We're about to enter a new month tomorrow... the second month of the latest ongoing battle in the war on American workers.

We continue to return to the story of the insanely ignorant governor of Wisconsin and the fight going on in that state that has now spread all across the country. Frankly, we'd rather that workers rights and labor organizations weren't under constant attack from corporatists and the political far right. Governors claiming the tea party mantle and others attacking worker's rights across the United States seem to have no more sense about their real position in the universe than Muammar Gaddafi does about his current "leadership" of Libya. Consequently, the stupidity of these abusive governors toward worker's rights continues to make news.

In Wisconsin, the governor has taken to threatening protesting state workers with layoffs in order to try and jam his illegal bill down the throats of his citizens - even though doing so would be a further violation of Wisconsin's strict ethics laws. Governor Walker doesn't seem to care that he's already violated those ethics laws (as displayed during that famous prank phone call last week), any more than he cares about actually balancing the budget in Wisconsin.

Some less than brilliant governors in other states seem to be cautiously following Walker's headlong leap into legal jeopardy in their own twisted ways.

In Nebraska, Gov. Dave Heineman and corporatist-backed Republicans are once again attempting to abolish the Commission of Industrial Relations (also known as the CIR), which acts as the arbiter for labor and union issues in the state of Nebraska. The law also doesn't seem to matter to Governor Heineman, as the Nebraska State Supreme Court has defended the right of the CIR to exist and to conduct arbitration in impasse situations between management and public employees.

In case you didn't know, public employees in the state of Nebraska are forbidden by state law to strike. Thus, the existence of the CIR as a mediator in such situations. Without the CIR, public employes would have to legally be allowed to strike.

All of us - our staff members, the outside sources we consult with, Democrats, Republicans, and independents - understand that both states and the Federal government are in a real bind, fiscally speaking.

That is no excuse for attempting to balance budgets by breaking the law, or by breaking the backs of constitutionally protected union workers while simultaneously conducting giveaways to the richest among us.

We have been jumping up and down on the issue of what is needed to properly manage state and federal budgets for many years now. We agree that budget cuts are PART of the whole solution, as are fairly-imposed tax increases and more effective revenue collection. Our regular readers know that the only way we could be even more animated about the issue of what's needed to fix government finances is if we set our hair on fire, and ran onto the stage at an awards show like the Oscars (Doing so may have helped that telecast).

As we've said previously, it all seems to boil down to an attempt to cancel or limit the ability of public workers to engage in meaningful collective bargaining for wages, benefits, and working conditions - which are constitutionally guaranteed to workers. Time and again, those who support the anti-worker side of the labor/management war keep screaming they're not getting a fair deal, almost exclusively because they're not "winning" - AND they're not being allowed to cheat.

Our response to them is simple: there have been PLENTY of people, both Democrats and Republicans, who have faced tough budget situations before, at virtually every level, and those people never had to break the law, break the unions, or weasel around their state's constitution to find a solution to their budget woes.

If these petulant, childish governors feel the only tool left in their arsenal to handle the current budget emergency they face is to threaten to cheat and break laws, maybe we should all threaten to use a tool we citizens have for when government executives prove they are criminally incompetent:

Impeachment and/or Recall Elections.

Funday Friday: Remembering Communities

We each have a community - a place where we live - but we also have a community of friends and people we care about.

This weekend, part of our community - some of our cartoonist buddies - are getting together in Omaha for another meeting of the North Central Chapter of the National Cartoonists Society. We'll make this short today, as SOMEONE has to actually do the work to get ready for the gang (That would be Paul).

We've noticed a lot of lip service being given to the attacks on labor happening around the country this past few weeks, with many ultra-conservatives dragging out the old standard of "Why don't the Unions just give in and pay more?"

Aside from the fact that the teachers unions and other unions in Wisconsin, and in many places around the country, have already been giving, and giving until they have virtually nothing left to give, the point of the attacks on unions isn't about the budget. Even Shep Smith and Juan Williams of Fox News admitted that.

The fight going on around the country surrounding labor is about protecting and respecting our communities, and the people who work behind the scenes to keep them livable and enjoyable.

Teachers, firefighters, cops, nurses, doctors, and most construction workers don't get to sit exclusively behind a computer or a pad of paper during their work day like most of our community of cartoonists, journalists, writers, and others do. They work damn hard, union or not. They're the kinds of people who take showers AFTER work... because they have to.

Most of them are union members. They keep your lights on, your water running, your streets clear of snow - and they teach your kids. They're your neighbors and friends too.

They are part of your community.

Please quit characterizing them as lazy freeloaders, or that they don't work as hard as you do. They probably work harder than most of us. Respect them, and treat them as you, yourself would wish to be treated. Instead of complaining if some of them make more money or have better benefits than you do, perhaps you should instead be asking why YOU are getting screwed for all the hard work that you do.

Treat them as we all should treat anyone who works hard.

And for the folks in our cartoonist community this weekend, that means tip your server generously.
Enjoy your weekend!

Judgement Call

There are times in life when even the kindest among us get flustered and frustrated.

As one of our staff can attest to, several nights filled with lack of sleep and a baby who is teething can do that to a person on occasion. This time, though, the frustration has nothing to do with uncontrollable physical conditions like illness, arthritis, or infant issues.

Nebraska's Governor Dave Heineman is the one who brought the frustrating issue to light earlier this week when he gave an interview to the left-leaning Nebraska political blog, NebraskaWatchdog.org.

To say the governor displayed poor judgement in his comments to the bloggers at Nebraska Watchdog would be like saying that a controversial former half-term governor, who quit her job to be a talking head on TV after not even serving a full half term, is completely unqualified to be the President of the United States.

As you know, we prefer to deal in facts here at the Daily Felltoon - and the fact is, a majority of the American people simply don't agree with the governor of Nebraska.

Nate Silver and his team at FiveThirtyEight.com can prove that, as they did some statistical comparisons a week and a half ago, looking at the potential presidential field of candidates for 2012.

Nate's team found that, overwhelmingly, a certain former Vice-Presidential candidate had higher negative net favorability levels than any other potential candidate for either party. She was the only one with an unfavorable rating above 50% - meaning that over half of the people in America don't approve of her, regardless of their political affiliation.

We're not saying the governor of Nebraska may not have his own opinions of that highly divisive and generally disliked former beauty pageant contestant and former sports broadcaster that we refuse to name. Governor Heineman has the right to his opinion, like any other American, idiot or otherwise.

We just think that when a governor says he believes that someone is "absolutely" qualified to be President, who is quite obviously NOT qualified for that position, it calls into question his judgement on other issues.

At least right now, he isn't the only governor in America who appears to have questionable judgement.

No, We're Not Dreaming

As we look around the world right now, from Wisconsin to the Middle East, and even into Asia, it seems as though the internet is - in part - finally beginning to meet its potential as a force to help oppressed people get their messages out, and to demand just treatment.

Individuals can now reach out and come together with other like-minded people from anywhere. They can take on the forces of despots like those in the Middle East, or wannabe despots like certain Governors here in the U.S.

Sadly, the one force that technology still seems powerless against is that of extreme self introspection - or what we call too much navel gazing.

As we put this commentary together, we look at news sources from all over the world. That includes newspapers from the U.S. like the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the LA Times and more. We also look at some of the more influential overseas sources like the BBC and Al Jazeera English, as well as assorted other sources. We even dig into more hardcore news sources like McClatchy, and more reliable professional writers from blogs like The Huffington Post.

Today, as we look at each of their front pages, online and off, the difference between what the world is talking about and what passes for news in America are very stark - and somewhat sad.

Sure - virtually everyone has at least one story above the fold about what's going on in the Middle East, and most are talking about Libya today. However, to a significant degree, many news sources in America have minimized their coverage of things that are happening beyond U.S. borders that can and do affect us all.

For example, Fox News and some of the right wing TV and radio sources were screaming over the last few days about Iranian Navy ships transiting the Suez Canal on their way to Syria.

Do we know if those ships made it through? Did anything remarkable happen with their passage? If it didn't, why did the price of crude oil shoot up nearly ten percent yesterday?

If you're checking most American news sources, you'll likely have to dig, either into the B, C, or D sections, or several clicks down online, if you want to find the answer. Many of them simply won't have complete information for you.

They'll tell you the score of Podunk State versus Georgetown - and admittedly, we appreciate that, as there is a Georgetown grad among us. They'll also give you dating tips, and tell you what people in America are eating, reading, watching, and listening to. They'll always be willing to share the latest political rumors, and what childish - and usually pointless - slurs the major political parties are throwing around.

What they won't often tell you, unfortunately, is stuff that is truly news.

That's the part that scares us most - and scares the despots in the Middle East and elsewhere too.

Their people are beginning to smell the heady scent of freedom. Their media is growing, and reporting real news.

The nightmare question for Americans is this: why isn't our news media doing the same thing?

Unwise Moves Cut Both Ways

While both houses of Congress are technically off for another week, their latest example of being disconnected from constituents is a cut above (or below) their usual antics. This past weekend, the GOP-led House made sure to take another few whacks at everyone who isn't counted as among the top two percent of this nation's richest folk - and then they went on vacation.

Based on the actions of previous Republican Congresses, it wasn't really a surprise to any of us that the current GOP-led House passed their latest attempt at a Continuing Resolution (C.R.) at 4:40AM this past Saturday morning.

Sadly, it also didn't surprise us much that Republicans are sending the Senate a budget bill that will never make it through final passage.

The braggadocio, trash talk, and willful ignorance of more important issues we're seeing coming from some - but not all - in the Republican Party on budget issues is very reminiscent of the actions of a cornered bully. Persons like this, in our collective experience, will often strike out at anyone - including women, children, and the elderly - when forced to face up to the ugly reality and uncomfortable effects of their actions.

The Republican-led House followed that behavioral example in submitting their Continuing Resolution, which included gutting funding for PBS, killing funding for NPR, attempting to defund the health care insurance reform bill, hacking away at portions of the E.P.A., and stripping non-abortion funding of family planning clinics (including funding for Planned Parenthood).

We pointedly mention that not all Republicans seem entirely on board with all of these actions because some Congressional Republicans have displayed some true budgetary wisdom recently.

Most of us proudly cheered the vote of many Congressional Republicans last week who joined the President, the Secretary of Defense, and virtually every Democratic member of both chambers when they voted to kill the unnecessary second military jet engine funding. It was a wise and sane cut, one that the Speaker of the House, Republican leader John Boehner, was not truly in favor of. Unfortunately, that kind of sensible bipartisan budget cutting wisdom is rare.

The end result of all this random cutting is that the people who can least afford to be cut off at the knees - the middle class and the poor - appear to once again be the targets of the current Republican Congressional leadership.

Meanwhile, the wealthiest two percent of Americans and the corporations those wealthy folks control were asked to sacrifice little if anything.

We say this not with irony, but with concern for those who seem to be turning a purposeful blind eye to reality:  there have been many other governments throughout history who have also attempted to pile significant and unwise cuts on the majority of their citizens at inappropriate times.

As the French revolutionaries showed Marie Antoinette and King Louis, and more recently, as the Egyptian people showed Hosni Mubarak, those kinds of cuts can work both ways.

Before the House released this funding bill, many people (including us) warned Congressional Republican leaders, more than once, to think very carefully before they swung their budget axes. The cuts the Republican leadership put into their bill would result in even more financial penalties that would test the pain resistance of the middle class, if they were ever enacted - and the Republican leadership knows this.

Yet they passed their slashed and cut version of the Continuing Resolution funding bill anyway.

Apparently, those frenzied Republicans must have also cut off their own ears before they heard our warnings.

The Stakes Get Even Higher

While today may be a federal holiday we're still working away. Unfortunately, in Wisconsin, it doesn't look like they'll be working anytime soon.

In case you haven't heard, the Middle East isn't the only place where unrest is rocking political and social stability. The unrest continues in Wisconsin - and strangely enough, in the Badger State, much like in many Middle Eastern countries, the reason for the work stoppage boils down to a small group of people who have an inflated sense of entitlement.

Specifically, the governor of Wisconsin remains defiant in the face of overwhelming protests against his draconian - and unconstitutional - attack on labor.

However, we feel it is important to point out that not every state-level Republican in Wisconsin agrees with the governor.

In fact, over the weekend, Wisconsin Senate Republicans came up with a compromise plan of their own. While their plan is still extremely flawed and unacceptable due to the elimination of collective bargaining rights of many state workers, it is at least a compromise, which is far more than their arrogant governor is willing to allow. The unions have already publicly said - even before the governor began his current line of attack - that they are willing to work to change their agreements in order to help their state's budget issues.

We have said it in these pages for several years now and will continue to say it likely until we are all dead and gone: the soul of effective government is compromise.

Governors - any governor of any American state - are NOT dictators. They do not EVER have the right to say, "This is what I want to happen. This is what we'll do - period." Governors have both rights AND responsibilities. Dictating what will occur without allowing for debate falls into neither of those categories.

Every governor - including the current delusional one in Wisconsin - has the responsibility of working for the best interests of ALL people in the state, INCLUDING union members. They, as governors, may disagree with unions. That has nothing to do with their obligation to protect the interests of the people, which in this case means standing with the unions.

Taking away the rights of collective bargaining is NOT in the best interests of union members or the citizens of the state of Wisconsin.

Are unions flawed? Yes. So are government structures and corporations. If we're going to agree to eliminate one, we need to be willing to eliminate them all.

However, that is not the most appropriate action.

The correct action in all three cases is to work to improve each - unions, corporations, and governments - while eliminating the worst parts of each.

The key is to keep working.
The lazy thing to do is to dictate to everyone what will happen - and to pompously expect them to obey.

Funday Friday: You Know It's Spring When…

In the midst of ongoing war on the working class that was declared by the blindingly ignorant governor of Wisconsin, with the internal warfare on display in the Republican Party, and even while the true wars for independence are breaking out in the Middle East, we're taking a step back from the news of the world today. For this Friday we'd like to focus on something that almost all of us have a healthy appreciation for.

Baseball.

Every year, about this time, baseball teams at virtually every level - from hometown league teams to college and pro teams - begin early season practices, and for some teams, full games.

Even if baseball isn't your favorite sport - and for some of us, it's not -  every single one of us appreciates what it means when we see the "boys of summer" dragging out the gloves, bats, and other baseball equipment.

It means that even if there is another cold blast coming, it won't last for long.

It means that soon, the air outside will be filled with scent of new mown grass, crisp, clean uniforms - and if you're in the right place at the right time, some great ballpark food.

It means that the spring rains will come soon to wash away the leftover winter grime from those outdoor places that only Mother Nature - or a great grounds crew - can clean.

It means that there will soon be days where the temperature is neither too cold or warm, and the sunshine will fill a bright blue sky with a field of green beneath it.

It means one more year for us all, one more trip around the sun.

It means that no matter how our politics may have divided us, we can find common ground rooting for our favorite teams, taking part in one of the core elements of the traditional American spirit.

In short, it means there is still hope.

For all of us. For our nation. For our team. For the young people we love who grab the ball, glove, and bat and head for the door, now that the weather is getting warm enough at last.

Hope springs eternal.

Play ball!

A Tale Of Two Ideas

The difference between heat and light in politics is often more impassioned - but simpler - than most people understand.

For example, in South Dakota, their state legislature is attempting to pass a law that - as it has been written, would allow any direct family member of a pregnant woman, including her fetus's biological father, to legally kill any doctor who attempts to offer abortion services to said pregnant woman.

In Nebraska and five other states, the legislative branches of government are attempting to bar individuals who choose to buy their health coverage through a private health insurance exchange, from obtaining coverage with their own money, that would include abortions.

Certainly, these legislative arguments are getting heated. They're dealing with the hot-button issue of abortion.

We understand that the debate between the pro-choice and anti-choice people is passionate. We also understand it includes far more than just the two points of view.

On the one side alone, there are those who are truly pro-life: against war, against euthanasia, against the death penalty, and against abortion. There are also those who are honestly only kind of pro-life: they're pro-war, pro-death penalty, and/or pro-euthanasia - but against women having the right to choose to have an abortion.

None of those designations truly matter.

The real debate that both citizens and legislators need to be having is what is legal. What is just? What is actually likely to happen if we take certain actions? What is constitutional?

Those people that are trying to stop abortions by enacting new state laws have obviously forgotten both their high school biology, and their citizenship issues classes.

Laws don't make women pregnant - and they won't prevent abortions or unwanted pregnancies now, any more than they did in the days before Roe v. Wade.

Abortions happen. And in America, they are constitutionally legal. Period.

Whatever your religious or personal moral stance on abortion, the fact that the procedure is legal in this country is not likely to change any time soon, if ever.

Any attempt to evade the current federal law that legalizes abortion will end up dead in the water, thanks to our Constitution.

Those that continue to try to change the subject to pro- or anti- abortion battles are choosing to be obtuse about the real issue.

Americans can do effective things to actually attempt to decrease unwanted pregnancies - like creating a living minimum wage, providing family planning services, teaching comprehensive sex education, and helping businesses to generate jobs for Americans. Or they can keep wasting taxpayers' time, energy, money, and resources, and getting people worked up over decisions that will inevitably be passed on to higher level courts, and likely get tossed out again.

If someone is truly against others having abortions, they should do everything they can to prevent unwanted pregnancies from ever happening in the first place.

Last time we checked, having legislators attempt to pass unconstitutional laws, then filling the pockets of lawyers over pointless lawsuits defending those unconstitutional laws, is not only a lousy form of family planning - it simply isn't effective.

Much Ado About Nothing

For all the hoopla being made in the media the last few days over the President's budget proposal for 2012, some people might think he'd proposed to make killing certain doctors legal (which President Obama would never do - but which the South Dakota legislature is actually proposing to do).

The facts surrounding the President's budget proposal paint different kinds of fiscal pictures, depending on who is viewing them. However, the President's proposal is just as we noted yesterday: more of a political guiding budgetary document than a hard and fast set of numbers etched in stone.

At least the President is being fairly serious with his budget proposal.

So far, in the House of Representatives, they haven't even passed a draft of their proposal for the 2012 budget. They've promised much, but delivered nothing. In short, their budget proposal doesn't technically exist, at least in the same completed form as the President's does.

Of course, that hasn't stopped them in their various political gyrations.

So far, there have been more than 400 amendments drafted - mostly by Republicans - that Congresspersons have wanted to add to their own budget proposal. For a political party that claims to be all about following sensible rules of business, the House GOP has acted like more like a group of unruly Girl Scouts than a group of business-minded adults. At least Girl Scouts offer cookies.

So far, GOP house members have offered amendments to the budget such as those that would eliminate banning the Federal government from using any federal funds on vacant federal properties, for ANY reason. Not only would this make the federal government a negligent landowner in many cases, but it would also mean federal buildings under construction would have to stop being built - because they're not technically occupied.

Or how about the amendment that would ban federal funds from being used to buy and maintain teleprompters for the office of the President? If that happened, we'd probably end up with someone in the Office of the President who appeared to speak poorly and be a bumbling fool - but we already did that for eight years this century and that didn't work out too well.

Those examples are merely the beginning of the amendment insanity.

In the meantime, House Speaker John Boehner continues to allow his Republican colleagues to hang amendments on their budget proposal like high school kids with a case of TP in a forest. Mr. Boehner further displayed his incredible level of obtuseness on Tuesday when he said that if federal workers lose their jobs because of the budget actions by Congressional Republicans, "So be it."

When the election of 2010 was finished, Republicans said they "got the message" and understood what voters wanted.

Voters made it blindingly clear what they wanted from Washington: jobs, period.

If this is the Republican version of 'giving 'em what they want', we think GOP lawmakers need to go back to rehearsal behind closed doors - and not come back out again until they're ready to act like serious, professional legislators.

A Method To His Madness

In case you missed the the rollout of the President's budget proposal for next year on Monday, that massive thud you heard wasn't necessarily a stone falling into place. (Although, it's possible it could have been the first stone in the new Egyptian pyramid of democracy.)

The sound you heard was likely your nearest passionate progressive or liberal passing out in shock - or kicking a door in frustration - as they heard the President's budget plans.

To say that its contents - what we've read of the proposed budget so far, that is - were a significant shock to us, would be a bit of an understatement. Like an actor in a play who goes a bit too far, we have to admit, at first glance, The President's proposal includes some stunning actions - like cutting heating assistance for the poor.

Writer and pundit Greg Sargent, who writes for the Plum Line blog as a part of the Washington Post, points out that for those on the left, the reaction to President Obama's budget proposal seems to be split pretty evenly among two camps. There are those that believe the President has already given up the budgetary game to the GOP. And there are those who believe that the President is playing a high-stakes version of "Rope-A-Dope" with the GOP on budgetary issues, on a level it's rarely been played before.

It's fairly obvious where Nobel-prize winning economist Paul Krugman and investigative journalist Ari Berman see the President's budget, by the tenor of their articles and blog posts. Dr. Krugman is a wise man about economic issues, and we rely on his advice regularly regarding those matters. Ari is also an astute writer on economic issues that we've linked to previously.

What they and so many others seem to be missing however, is what Mr. Sargent, Johnathan Chait - and now us - are saying about this budget proposal.

For all the bluster, commotion, and printing focused on Presidential budget proposals, the fact of the matter is that the document is generally less of an economic vehicle and more of a political one. And as a political document, it's a brilliant one.

No matter how sensible and wise the President is, the current Republican Party leadership is going to attempt to paint Barack Obama as a wild-eyed fanatic. Therefore, there's no reason for President Obama NOT to act like a wild-eyed, budget-cutting fanatic.

One of the biggest problems with drawing a Federal deficit for the American people is that far too many Americans don't understand the truth about the budget already - or have been unwilling to accept it for too long. It's not as though both sides haven't been paring back the budget for most of the last 20 years. They have.

The excess that so many Americans believe is there to cut simply does not exist.

If it takes the President suggesting rash budgetary actions to get Americans to actually pay attention and realize the fact that we, as a country, cannot budget-cut (or tax-cut) our way to prosperity, then we're fine with his bit of political theatre.

We just hope President Obama doesn't forget this play on the budget is all an act, and that the real budgetary battles, specifically, the need to increase revenue - are yet to come.

Focusing On What's Important

We're aware that today is Valentine's Day and, while we're not exactly in favor of the over-commercialization of the day, we most certainly think people should spend at least one day a year where they show their significant others that they care in a special way. Write a love letter, make dinner, take care of something your partner hates. Sure, you can buy a card from Hallmark, if you must. We know a few of our cartoonist friends who will benefit from your purchase, so there's no real worry there.

We're also really not that worried about what happened in Egypt on Friday, and what seems to be developing there since.

While the revolution in Egypt has been relatively - but not completely - bloodless, they still have a great many challenges before them. So far, though, they seem to be doing well. The Egyptian Army has dissolved their Parliament and set elections for six months from now. The Army has said it will continue with foreign policies the previous government had installed, including the peace accord with Israel. The Egyptian stock market didn't open Sunday as originally planned - but it looks solid to open on Wednesday.

Contrary to the fears of some, Egypt isn't falling into a state of islamic revolutionary fervor, intent on destroying all Christians, Jews, and other Westerners. That's not surprising to us, since 15-20% of all Egyptians are Christians, Jews, or other non-Muslim religions.

The Egyptians can handle themselves perfectly fine without us. After all, they did it for thousands of years before America even existed.

The things we're concerned about today do include a range of foreign affairs, from the continued unrest in Yemen and Tunisia, to the migrants attempting to flee North Africa to Europe for safer harbors.

We're also concerned about the ridiculous game of 'Who Can Cut The Most' apparently being played all across Washington, DC by both the President and Republicans in the House. Republican governors are also attempting to get into the act by slashing state budgets, and in the case of some governors, thinking they can simply ignore the rights of union members. These union workers aren't pigs at the public trough, as too many on the right attempt to paint them. Rather, these are mostly state workers who have already experienced deep cuts, and who are often already performing multiple functions since their state governments eliminated many of their fellow employees.

Sure, we've thought about Valentine's Day today too.

The thought of giving candy and flowers to our significant others or enjoying a nice night on the town while someone else pounds out the code, draws the cartoons, translates the documents - or takes care of the baby - sounds marvelous to us. We all hope to do that soon, our own versions of "Valentine's Day (observed)" where restaurants aren’t booked, you get the normal menu, and there’s less hassle all around.

While it's undoubtedly a good thing to set aside a day to appreciate and be grateful for our loved ones, we think you should do those things whenever you get the chance. We try to celebrate the ones we love more than just once a year - and we recommend you do the same.

Having time with the ones you love tends to help keep in perspective what's really important in the world, whether you're in Egypt, America, or anywhere else.

Funday Friday: Thanks, Praise, and Good Wishes

We like nothing more than when our friends and co-workers succeed at their dreams, so it's always slightly bittersweet when we see our friends succeed - but their success takes them away from us.

Today, we have to wish a fond farewell to one of our editors, Deborah Corey, as some of her new responsibilities are taking a bit more of her time.

Deb's involvement with The Daily Felltoon has been good, we felt - for both her and the Daily Felltoon. Over the past year, thanks in part to Deb, our tone has changed slightly, and even improved. Because of her influence, at times, we've considered topics from angles we might not have otherwise.

This is the whole reason that each of us, individually and collectively, have always advocated discussing important topics with those people we don't always agree with.

We'll admit - having sane, civil, well-informed debates with people you call your friends doesn't always make for easy, maintenance-free friendships. It does make for solid personal relationships, and long-lasting friendships, though.

Those are the kind of friendships that often push us to even higher heights.

In the time that Deb has been on staff with us, her writing has gone from strictly freelance, to freelance plus blogging - and now to being paid for her blog. As a former staffer for the Washington Times, and a DC political media contact, her status is growing - as are the numbers of people who read her blog.

She now has enough people reading her content that she's been able to sell some advertising on her blog, which will supplement her freelance income - which we're very happy about. She's also now the blog director for the Washington, DC Young Republicans, who just launched their new website. And she's once again covering the Conservative Political Action Committee meetings in DC.

Deb's blog is a bit more conservative than her work with us - or what we know to be some of her more default positions. We don't fault her for that, however, as she's catering to a more exclusively conservative crowd . "Give 'em what they want," as the old saying goes.

She's a true conservative, as we've always noted. She's just significantly more sane than many of her colleagues in the conservative media.

We hope that Deb keeps getting more readers, and more advertising - and maybe, if they're smart, one of the many DC-based political publications will scoop her up soon, and pay her some serious money.

For now, we simply say, "Thank you," to Deb for giving us the opportunity to work with her, and to gain a little more perspective from the conservative side of the aisle.

It's made us all better, personally and professionally.
We hope that each of you is lucky enough to have friends and colleagues that do the same for you, as Deb as done for us.

Blind, Deaf - And Dangerously Dumb

There are times in life when a person - or even a group of people - hate to be right.

For our staff, today is another one of those days.

The subject we were right about is one we began sounding warnings on last year, and one that we pointed to as a key item to watch in 2011: the attempt by government, at all levels, to try and weasel out of their responsibilities by taking away funds from other parts of government.

On Wednesday, Nebraska joined a growing list of states who are cannibalizing their finances, because they've backed themselves into political and fiscal corners with rhetoric.

Nebraska's attempt at stupidity involves the claim that the state budget gap would shrink significantly - if only the state didn't have to pay for its responsibilities to aid local governments.

For example, by helping to keep property taxes low.

If politicians on the state level who vote for this idiotic measure think they're not going to be held responsible, and politically liable in the next election, for a significant increase in local property taxes if they pass this bill, we'd advise them to stop using reruns of Nancy Grace and Glenn Beck as their legal and political reference sources.

Many other states from coast to coast, have been contemplating equally stupid measures recently. To our knowledge, only one state has, so far, had the courage to do the truly fiscally responsible thing - not only cutting its budgets on both the state and local levels, but also raising taxes on those who have the money.

That state would be Illinois.

For all the hoopla raised about how corrupt Illinois politics are, at least those who run that state have done more than just give lip service to the idea that they have "considered every solution" to their state's budget problems. So far, the sky still hasn't fallen in over Illinois.

Facts are facts.

Nebraska's population isn't what it was five years ago, or ten years ago, or twenty years ago. A LARGE number of new people have moved to our state, specifically to urban areas. Regardless of whether they are temporary or permanent residents, migrant workers or college students, those designations aren't going to change the fact that more people means state government needs to provide more services than can be paid for by the amount of taxes we've currently been collecting.

The idea that Nebraska - or ANY state - can simply cut its way to a balanced budget, when it wasn't collecting enough revenue before the cutting began is not only preposterous, it's dangerous.

We imagine the state of Nebraska will find out exactly how dangerous soon enough, when the items that local cities and towns find money for in their own budgets are their own local priorities - while the priorities of the state will be left to rot.

The Absence Of News - Sorry To Disappoint You

With a headline like ours today, you may think that there's nothing to talk about - when that is actually the furthest thing from our minds.

In fact, there are such a huge number of topics we'd like to discuss, we're not sure where to start.

For starters, congrats go out to multiple media people we know - including one of our editors, Deb. She is now the Blog Director for the Washington, DC Young Republicans and their new website 'GOProckstars.com'. We also have to give congratulations to Mr. Keith Olbermann and many of his staff members, who will be moving soon to CurrentTV for a new and improved version of Keith's show.

Unfortunately, all we can link to is preliminary announcements about these two items, since neither website actually exists at this time.

We'd thought about writing a commentary on the slow but steady rise in the price of gasoline in the U.S. and the fact that no one is talking about it. However, we couldn't find much serious recent journalism on the subject other than this stub article from the LA Times - simultaneously proving our point, while giving us not much to address on that subject. That being said, today's Daily Felltoon pretty much says all that needs to be said about that topic.

We could discuss how much American families and businesses are paying in taxes - except that, for the third year in a row, Americans are paying less in federal taxes than they did under the Bush administration. In fact, as a share of the nation's economy, this is the lowest proportional tax rate for most Americans in over sixty years.

In theory, we could alter that idea slightly and talk about changes in tax rates, and eliminating loopholes, like the President proposed during the State of the Union Address. Those changes could help grow our economy and would actually mean more money in Federal coffers, even though Americans would be paying lower actual rates. However, we hit on that subject yesterday, when we covered the President's Monday address to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. As he said then, the solution to getting out of this economic hole is simple: American businesses must hire Americans and invest in America to grow the nation's economy.

We could even discuss some of the responses that we received from you, commenting on Tuesday's Daily Felltoon edition, regarding unions and corporations working together. Unfortunately, more than one response kept attempting to equate hearsay with facts - which are two entirely different things.

With many of the topics we thought about writing on today, there simply aren't enough legitimate sources for us to link to - or there are too many sources that discuss topics in a jargon inaccessible to most people.

Every once in a while, we have to remind our readers of the difference between speculation, rumor, hearsay, and opinion - and well-supported, fact-based, commentary.

We provide the latter here, in both written and visual form.

We could provide you with an absence of substantive, meaningful content, and just use our pixels to give you hearsay or crude drawings with no deeper meaning - but you can get that from plenty of other media sources, both print and electronic.

Tomorrow, we'll go back to doing what we always do: providing direct, thought provoking, fact-based, well-written and drawn content. For those who may not have enjoyed our exercise in irony today, we're sorry if we disappointed you.

It Takes A Union...

Modern scientists say that hypothetically, there are a few unifying mathematical theories that - if ever proven to be true - would make some of our wildest possibilities reality. Like being in two places at one time.

While some people focus on the "theory" part of that fantastical description, it's often been our opinion that the "union" part of that explanation is really where the power lies.

With that in mind, it's easy to see why some of our staff has been perplexed for quite a while, now, as to why large numbers of Americans still don't seem to see the potential power in large numbers of people coming together for a common purpose - like securing decent wages for workers who give an honest day's work.

In fact, in many corners of the country, opinions and attitudes surrounding unions are still as unattractive as avocado gold appliances and shag carpeting straight out of the 1970's. Unions have matured and changed and grown since the days when they had much more clout - even if the average wage levels of most American workers hasn't.

Unions aren't like the characters portrayed in the movie "Hoffa" anymore, and haven't been for a long time - much longer than the lifespans of most of our staff. In short, unions are merely the flip side of the economic coin. Unions can be just as beneficial as corporations (More so, if you're not inclined to subscribe to the fantasy that the company will take care of the best interests of its workers first).

President Obama made his point - that what's good for American labor interests is also good for American business - while he was delivering a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Monday. What surprised us more was that this was an opportunity to speak that the Chamber had offered to him to give to their members.

The President didn't let this opportunity go to waste.

He hit corporations and business leaders with multiple truths during his speech on Monday. And while he may not have been as antagonistic as FDR, or as direct as Kennedy, his message came across just as clearly to many in the audience: the era where corporations can do whatever the hell they want at the expense of their workers and the communities they reside in, is over.

The President even spoke of how the union (there's that word again) between the government and business could be powerful and beneficial to all groups - workers, corporations, and government - so long as everyone takes care of their collective responsibilities.

Unfortunately in some states like Nebraska, unions have been treated so poorly, for so long - and have allowed themselves to be treated poorly - that their influence has weakened considerably.

Still, it now appears that even in states like Nebraska, unions are beginning to truly see a resurgence - and we welcome that balance.

As the President himself said in front of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Monday, without American labor - specifically American workers - American business won't get ahead in their competition with the rest of world.

It will take all of us, working together, for the benefit of everyone, to bring America out of the economic nightmare we've been having to live with these last few years.

Fear Of The Unknown

As we begin another week - and another week of the protests in Egypt and the Middle East - our thoughts keep turning towards the idea that there really aren't so many differences between people over there, and people here in the United States.

Over there, people want democracy. Our people enjoy having that here. The people of Egypt, and many other Middle Eastern countries, want the freedom to worship as they see fit - and we're proud we have the right to do that here. The people over there are tired of having a significantly stratified economic structure. This is also the case in America.

However, unlike our counterparts in the Middle East, and especially Egypt, Americans seem to be doing very little to defend our freedoms here in our own country.

This past week, we've seen Muslims standing guard defending Christians - and Christians reciprocating the gesture. We've seen the Egyptian military defending the rights of the people to protest - and, in some instances, defending the people from the corrupt state security and police force.

In so many cases, we've seen the people of the Middle East standing up for their rights, often willing to die for them.

Meanwhile, in America, we continue to meekly accept as truth so much of what we're told.

"There's no problem at all with building that oil pipeline above the aquifer that satisfies the water needs of virtually everyone in the center of the country," we're told. So we simply say OK.

Even though the company behind the pipeline doesn't have the best record.

Even though our government doesn't have the best record of managing those kinds of companies. (See 'British Petroleum')

Even though similar projects often fail to create the number of jobs their promoters claim they will.

We're not saying that Americans need to overthrow their government, like the Egyptians are in the process of doing.

What we are saying is that too many Americans may have blindly trusted too many of our institutions for too long.

Freedom - whether economic, religious, or political - is something that can't be expected to simply continue with no effort on the part of the citizenry. It must be defended and striven for every day.

It is worth noting to quote the inscription over one of the entrance doors to the Nebraska State Capitol:  "The salvation of the state is watchfulness of the citizen."

Perhaps it's time we citizens all became a little more watchful instead of just believing everything we're told.

Reasons For Starting A Fight

In general, we're not really into picking fights.

That's not to say that we haven't gotten into our individual and collective share of tussles from time to time. If it's something we believe in, we'll stand up for it strongly and proudly. We've even gotten into heated exchanges with fellow staffers over differences of opinion.

Not everyone is like our small group - and not all of us are as assertive about their beliefs as others.

Starting fights for no reason, however, is something we don't understand at all.

To those who wonder why Nebraska State Senator Brenda Council introduced LB 192 - a sex education bill - it may seem at first glance like she's just picking a fight without cause. That such a bill isn't likely to pass in the ever-more ideologically conservative Nebraska Unicameral shouldn't surprise anyone familiar with our state, or its current legislative makeup.

It's not the educated people Senator Council is worried about.
And she's not worried about "winning" by getting her bill passed.

What Council is concerned about is the growing number of Nebraska high school students - especially in urban areas, like the region of Omaha she represents - that are being infected with sexually transmitted diseases. According to recent statistics, Douglas County, Nebraska, currently has some of the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases in the country. Teens' seeming ignorance about how to prevent STDs proves the current methods of sex education don't seem to be getting through to them.

Sen. Council thinks it would be a good idea if Nebraskans did everything they could to stem the numbers of infected teens, so that Nebraskans could save some young people from a life filled with prescription medications and behavioral restrictions.

We can't disagree with her on that.

There are those who don't see eye to eye with her, however.

Media outlets, politicians, and partisans on both ends of the spectrum have, as expected, jumped into the fray. Each is supporting their favorite pet causes, whether that cause is the unrealistic standard of teenage abstinence, thorough and complete sexual education - or too often in the case of the media, continuing to propagate the fight between those on the far left and far right.

While our views on abortion and parental responsibility differ, we all agree - the best way to preemptively treat a sexually transmitted disease is to never catch one.

Sen. Council's idea doesn't seem to be so much to "win" this battle by passing her proposed law. Rather, she seems to want to generate discussion and awareness - and maybe some action - on the outsized problem of sexually transmitted diseases among teenagers in Nebraska.

If that's truly Sen. Council's logic, to not start a fight, so much as to start a discussion, we have to say...it worked on us.

We hope it works to generate further preventative action on the parts of others as well.

Why, Yes - We Have Said Similar Things Before…

Every year like clockwork, when the calendar shifts into the final phases of each season, Mother Nature almost always seems to deliver one last blast of whatever the current season happens to be.

That season is currently winter, and in the case of our Nebraska staffers, we've had more than enough of it. With several inches of new snow, and plenty of old snow still around, as well as ice underneath much of that white pile, winter doesn't look to be leaving anytime soon. Although we know we've had this feeling before, our comments today have little to do with the calendar.

Like the groundhog that doesn't see its shadow, there are some in politics and the media who seem ready to jump to what they would like the next phase of a particular story to be - even if the facts simply don't agree with their hypothesis.

We've been seeing that a lot lately.

In Egypt, following President Hosni Mubarak's non-resignation resignation speech late Tuesday afternoon, we had to ask others in the media, and even some Middle East experts: does he actually think the Egyptian people will allow him to stick around until September? Hasn't he seen the massive protests? Doesn't he get the message?

In a similar way, even though Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has now agreed to schedule a vote on the far-right wing Republican idea of eliminating the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, we're certain the vote won't make any difference. As we and a whole host of others have said before, the President of the United States won't veto his own signature bill.

For those in the conservative media who keep crowing about recent legal decisions against the health care insurance reform law as though they had won some great battle, again, we're unsure of why. So far, there have been an equal number of decisions upholding the law, as well as against it, even if the media haven't covered them equally. As more than one constitutional expert has said, the constitutionality of the law will be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court anyway, specifically, by Justice Kennedy.

We understand that folks would like to jump to the conclusion of uncomfortable situations. It's a natural reaction to want to get things settled that disturb us.

Just like the seasons, however, the reality is that neither life nor nature work on time schedules that are designed for our comfort and convenience.

Sure, it might be easier if major life events were decided by a furry rodent - especially if it's one that is already stuffed and mounted like Nebraska's Unadilla Bill.

As we've all discovered, though, year after year, season after season, life simply doesn't work that way.

The Light At The End Of Tunnel…

As we mentioned yesterday, and as you would expect, even while a record winter storm sweeps across the U.S., we've been keeping our eyes on the unfolding drama in Egypt.

A whole host of questions still remain, for both people outside of Egypt, as well as those within the country.

Definitive leadership has yet to emerge, contrary to what might be heard in much of the generic media coverage. Volunteers of all kinds seem to be doing everything they can to help out, including protecting a children's hospital.

There are reports that claim Egyptians have a growing hatred for Americans, but more accurate polling statistics show Americans now are viewed more favorably in that region than they have been in several years.

To say information coming out of Egypt is confusing is an understatement.

After speaking with several experts on Egypt and the Middle East yesterday, there are a few things we've learned from those who are more knowledgeable than we are about Egypt. They all seemed to have some solid - albeit vague - answers, and seemed to have a generally similar forecast about Egypt's immediate future.

Egypt's recent ruling regime has been oppressive for most of its existence. Technically, the country has lived under martial law for most of the last 30 years. According to experts we queried, that situation is likely at an end.

Over the last decade, Egyptians have been exposed to the internet, social networking, and to greater media freedoms. Those fundamental changes are likely to remain - especially after so many from around the world have worked so hard to help keep those lines of communication open.

Because America has given so much foreign aid to Egypt, and continues to do so now, we will be expected to continue rendering that support at current levels - almost regardless of who takes charge, or what kind of government Egyptians decide to choose for themselves. Like it or not, that seems to be the general consensus.

There is another consensus, however.

Even with all of the conflicting reports and stories, and somewhat vague certainties, the experts we spoke with seemed to have a generally positive attitude about what has been happening - and continues to go on - in Egypt. Many Egypt-watchers agree, as with any revolution, there is always the chance things could turn ugly. Most of those we spoke with, however, don't believe the revolt will turn permanently dark.

No one is saying things are easy in Egypt right now. They're not. The most pessimistic are still saying the political light that some are seeing at the end of the proverbial tunnel could prove to be a train wreck for a new regime. Our money is on the optimists.

It may be possible that Egyptians have finally unlocked the key to a more democratic future.

We hope that's the case - for them and for the rest of the world as well.