No matter how many times we have discussions with readers, colleagues, friends - and even people we just stumble into conversation with at the store - we continue to be amazed at how little so many Americans know about what's going on in their world today.
We're aware that it's not exactly easy for many folks to keep up with news that's actually important and will impact their lives. In a world where so many Americans have multiple part-time jobs, multiple family members to take care of, and the main media focus is on everything from Husker football to dying comedians - but not nearly enough on real news - staying informed isn't always easy. Being a watchful citizen requires reading, learning, listening - and NOT watching Fox News.
You may have missed the latest study from Fairleigh Dickinson University, released last week, which proves that once again, people who watch Fox News are not only misinformed, but are actually LESS informed than people who read or watch no news at all. While this poll was conducted exclusively in New Jersey, it's only one of a handful of polls that have proven that FNC, while great at propaganda and television graphics, is almost criminally bad at delivering honest factual information.
One of the key successes of President Obama's first term has been the Affordable Care Act, Already, millions of young American adults who didn't have health insurance are now covered. So "ObamaCare" has already proven a success in some ways - though you wouldn't know it if you watch Fox or listen to the screamers on right-wing radio.
Thankfully, our friend, journalist Rick Ungar, recently took a good look at at a real, live success in keeping health care costs low that uses some organizational structures similar to those in the ACA - what many on the right call, "Obamacare."
As Rick points out in Forbes, in Grand Junction, Colorado, over the last thirty years, physicians, the community, and a not-for-profit insurance company have worked together to create an original - and amazingly effective health care delivery system.
Chronic diseases are way down in Grand Junction, while coverage for low-income and Medicaid participants is around 88 percent - more than double what it is in all of Western Colorado. Costs are kept down for everyone, while doctors and medical centers are kept in line not by bigger government, but by their peers. Meanwhile, doctors, nurses, and other medical staff still earn very healthy incomes.
The Grand Junction experiment proves several things - including the fact that "consumer-driven health care", and fee for service care simply don't work.
It also proves that on contentious issues, solutions that benefit everyone without costing too much can be found - IF those involved are willing to commit to fixing the problems and are ready to compromise.
Of course, it helps to be as informed and educated as possible.
We recommend you start by turning off Fox News and seeking factual information elsewhere. Anywhere.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Time To Ditch The Leftovers
If you're like many Americans - including some of our staff - the last of your Thanksgiving leftovers may still be taking up a lot of space in your refrigerator or freezer. Depending on what you do with them, leftovers can be quite tasty, when served as turkey pot pie, for example.
The problem some folks have however, is knowing when to cut their comestible losses and get rid of leftovers that have been around too long.
For the Republican Party, they keep opening their political icebox - but the stench isn't going away.
In fact, Monday afternoon, the stench of the former prime choice Herman Cain gained a new aroma of failure, as a Georgia woman came forward to accuse Cain of a thirteen year affair. For Cain, when you add this scandal to the host of gaffes and other sexual misconduct allegations, his political goose is far more than cooked.
We're aware that for some politicians, affairs may not seem like a big deal these days. After all, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich not only is known to have had sexual affairs - he even left one of his spouses while while she was undergoing cancer treatment, to marry his next wife.
Speaking of Newt and leftovers, we keep thinking Mr. Gingrich is the Republican Party's version of the embarrassingly old jar of jelly or can of vegetables that too many of us have buried in the back of our food pantries. Newt's claims about being a historian expired back in 1995, when Washington Monthly exposed him to be a factually challenged student of history. Despite his current poll numbers and endorsements, his current campaign has failed to build any serious infrastructure and is dangerously empty. Like a nearly empty pie shell rotting in the fridge, Newt's campaign only looks good until you put some pressure on it - then it crumbles.
Not to be outdone by Cain or Gingrich, the man who is still the likely nominee for the GOP in 2012, Mitt Romney, got strung up by four minutes of his own words on Monday. Admittedly, the new campaign mini-movie, 'Mitt v Mitt' is a creation of the Democratic Party. Still, there are plenty of other websites where the former governor's harsh words and past positions are shown to strongly contradict his own current positions. In short, Mitt's already turned on himself - not a good sign for the GOP's most likely dish.
We realize there are more potential Presidential candidates for the GOP than just Romney, Gingrich, and Cain. That said, the strong likelihood is that one of those three will be the main political course the Republican Party serves up in next year's presidential contest.
Democrats shouldn't be claiming their political kitchen is spotless either - especially in light of the widening scandal at the Federal Reserve. If this disgusting display of mismangement had been contained to President Bush's adminstration and ended when President Obama took office, we could say this was simply another example of Republican hypocrisy.
Unfortunately, this mess at the Fed appears to have begun under Bush's people, and continued into the Obama administration - where it seems that the policy recipes for secrecy of Ben Bernanke and Tim Geithner have grown far worse than simply growing stale.
After looking at the full menu of what's currently on political display, we have no doubt the appetites of some Americans may be curbed for a short time - a good thing, in light of the way too many of us stuffed ourselves this year.
The problem some folks have however, is knowing when to cut their comestible losses and get rid of leftovers that have been around too long.
For the Republican Party, they keep opening their political icebox - but the stench isn't going away.
In fact, Monday afternoon, the stench of the former prime choice Herman Cain gained a new aroma of failure, as a Georgia woman came forward to accuse Cain of a thirteen year affair. For Cain, when you add this scandal to the host of gaffes and other sexual misconduct allegations, his political goose is far more than cooked.
We're aware that for some politicians, affairs may not seem like a big deal these days. After all, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich not only is known to have had sexual affairs - he even left one of his spouses while while she was undergoing cancer treatment, to marry his next wife.
Speaking of Newt and leftovers, we keep thinking Mr. Gingrich is the Republican Party's version of the embarrassingly old jar of jelly or can of vegetables that too many of us have buried in the back of our food pantries. Newt's claims about being a historian expired back in 1995, when Washington Monthly exposed him to be a factually challenged student of history. Despite his current poll numbers and endorsements, his current campaign has failed to build any serious infrastructure and is dangerously empty. Like a nearly empty pie shell rotting in the fridge, Newt's campaign only looks good until you put some pressure on it - then it crumbles.
Not to be outdone by Cain or Gingrich, the man who is still the likely nominee for the GOP in 2012, Mitt Romney, got strung up by four minutes of his own words on Monday. Admittedly, the new campaign mini-movie, 'Mitt v Mitt' is a creation of the Democratic Party. Still, there are plenty of other websites where the former governor's harsh words and past positions are shown to strongly contradict his own current positions. In short, Mitt's already turned on himself - not a good sign for the GOP's most likely dish.
We realize there are more potential Presidential candidates for the GOP than just Romney, Gingrich, and Cain. That said, the strong likelihood is that one of those three will be the main political course the Republican Party serves up in next year's presidential contest.
Democrats shouldn't be claiming their political kitchen is spotless either - especially in light of the widening scandal at the Federal Reserve. If this disgusting display of mismangement had been contained to President Bush's adminstration and ended when President Obama took office, we could say this was simply another example of Republican hypocrisy.
Unfortunately, this mess at the Fed appears to have begun under Bush's people, and continued into the Obama administration - where it seems that the policy recipes for secrecy of Ben Bernanke and Tim Geithner have grown far worse than simply growing stale.
After looking at the full menu of what's currently on political display, we have no doubt the appetites of some Americans may be curbed for a short time - a good thing, in light of the way too many of us stuffed ourselves this year.
Monday, November 28, 2011
While You Were Out... Cold...
After a few days off, it's good to get back in the swing of things - especially if some of that time off involved avoiding certain people swinging at each other and spraying pepper spray. We're not just talking about the cops involved in attacking students and others in the Occupy movement.
Yes, the retail melees among holiday shoppers heated up while we were away, and the Republican party's slugfest to find the "Not Mitt Romney" candidate also continued - though we think the GOP may be punch drunk as Newt Gingrich is now the current flavor of the month.
Attacks on and evictions of Occupy protests have also continued in a confusing and contradictory fashion. And speaking of confused, Europe still hasn't figured out what to do about its collective finances. In the Middle East, Yemen's President Saleh finally resigned, while the second revolution in a year in Egypt sprang up in Tarhir Square, on the edge of their first post-Mubarak election.
Finally, the Congressional Supercommittee proved they were not-so-super after all, as they admitted they could not come up with a budget compromise. This was an outcome many people - including us - had been quietly expecting, the closer the deadline approached.
The failure of the not-so-supercommittee - which was primarily due to Republican members not willing to compromise - was actually one of the first things that occurred in our absence. It may have landed one of the strongest political punches of anything that happened over the Thanksgiving break.
As Ezra Klein, who kindly kept working over the holiday break, pointed out last week, the failure of the supercommittee to come to an agreement now forces Republicans to face not just one but two sets of fiscal triggers set to go off a year from now.
The first trigger happens on January 1, 2013, when the Bush tax cuts run out, returning tax rates on all Americans to their Clinton-era levels - effectively a $3.8 trillion boost to our nation's finances. The second trigger - caused by the failure of the supercommittee - will trigger $1.2 trillion dollars in cuts, mostly from military spending.
What that ends up delivering to Americans is massively progressive legislation that will reduce the U.S. deficit, while showcasing the failure of hard-line extremists on the right - exactly at the beginning of the 2012 election.
To make matters worse for intransigent Republicans, the President is urging a vote this week by Congress to extend the payroll tax cut for workers and for extension of federal unemployment benefits. Many in the 1% strongly support extending both benefits - because without them, those of us in 99% will stop spending partway through the holiday season, and certainly after January 1. If we in the 99% don't spend, many in the 1% may be joining the rest of us in a tight financial situation far sooner than they'd like.
Congressional Republicans have a choice these next two weeks: vote in favor of a tax cut, along with unemployment benefits, and maybe their constituents won't put coal in the stockings of those congresspersons. Or they could vote against a tax cut and UI benefits - and be Scrooges to 100% of Americans.
No matter what happens, we're pretty sure many Republicans - especially those on the supercommittee - aren't going to end up on Santa's "Good" list this year.
Yes, the retail melees among holiday shoppers heated up while we were away, and the Republican party's slugfest to find the "Not Mitt Romney" candidate also continued - though we think the GOP may be punch drunk as Newt Gingrich is now the current flavor of the month.
Attacks on and evictions of Occupy protests have also continued in a confusing and contradictory fashion. And speaking of confused, Europe still hasn't figured out what to do about its collective finances. In the Middle East, Yemen's President Saleh finally resigned, while the second revolution in a year in Egypt sprang up in Tarhir Square, on the edge of their first post-Mubarak election.
Finally, the Congressional Supercommittee proved they were not-so-super after all, as they admitted they could not come up with a budget compromise. This was an outcome many people - including us - had been quietly expecting, the closer the deadline approached.
The failure of the not-so-supercommittee - which was primarily due to Republican members not willing to compromise - was actually one of the first things that occurred in our absence. It may have landed one of the strongest political punches of anything that happened over the Thanksgiving break.
As Ezra Klein, who kindly kept working over the holiday break, pointed out last week, the failure of the supercommittee to come to an agreement now forces Republicans to face not just one but two sets of fiscal triggers set to go off a year from now.
The first trigger happens on January 1, 2013, when the Bush tax cuts run out, returning tax rates on all Americans to their Clinton-era levels - effectively a $3.8 trillion boost to our nation's finances. The second trigger - caused by the failure of the supercommittee - will trigger $1.2 trillion dollars in cuts, mostly from military spending.
What that ends up delivering to Americans is massively progressive legislation that will reduce the U.S. deficit, while showcasing the failure of hard-line extremists on the right - exactly at the beginning of the 2012 election.
To make matters worse for intransigent Republicans, the President is urging a vote this week by Congress to extend the payroll tax cut for workers and for extension of federal unemployment benefits. Many in the 1% strongly support extending both benefits - because without them, those of us in 99% will stop spending partway through the holiday season, and certainly after January 1. If we in the 99% don't spend, many in the 1% may be joining the rest of us in a tight financial situation far sooner than they'd like.
Congressional Republicans have a choice these next two weeks: vote in favor of a tax cut, along with unemployment benefits, and maybe their constituents won't put coal in the stockings of those congresspersons. Or they could vote against a tax cut and UI benefits - and be Scrooges to 100% of Americans.
No matter what happens, we're pretty sure many Republicans - especially those on the supercommittee - aren't going to end up on Santa's "Good" list this year.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Friday Funday: Reasons For Thanks
As we mentioned earlier this week, we are indeed taking a few days away from publication for the Thanksgiving holiday here in the U.S. There WILL be new cartoons next week, so we'll publish a special pre-Thanksgiving edition next week on Wednesday - including the annual Thanksgiving cartoon, and Paul's Iowa-Nebraska Prediction toon.
For the most part, we're thankful to have a chance to take a break next week. The year, so far, has been anything but slow, both for the personal lives of our staff members, and for the subjects we've covered.
Thursday's Occupy march on Manhattan was a perfect example of how the subjects we've covered this year have grown, changed, and evolved in unexpected ways.
The Republican Presidential nomination trail hasn't been what we thought it would be either. To say it's been colorful is an understatement; in many ways, it's been more like a circus.
The economic roller coaster that the world has been strapped into has also been a wild ride for us as members of the media, while the rapid fire change of governments throughout Europe and the Middle East this year has left most news gatherers scrambling to keep up.
Many of the subjects we've been been covering this year aren't likely to reach a conclusion before the new year. Most of the 2012 political races haven't even really started yet - and if you think Wall Street and the big banks are done trying to stick you with hidden charges, think again. The Keystone pipeline issue is also far from settled, and we highly doubt the battle over taxes and deficits will be solved by the supercommittee before next Wednesday.
On a personal note, this year, our staff has visited members of the military with other cartoonists, moved cross-country at least three times, and learned to chase a toddler around, all in multiple locales in the U.S.
In short, it's been a generally positive year for the Daily Felltoon group, one that has given us a great deal to be thankful for.
Next week, whether you're celebrating with a group of friends or with family at home, or if you're going on the road to a distant celebration, we hope that you continue to count The Daily Felltoon as one of the things you're thankful for.
We're certainly thankful for your continued readership.
Enjoy the week - and have a happy Thanksgiving.
For the most part, we're thankful to have a chance to take a break next week. The year, so far, has been anything but slow, both for the personal lives of our staff members, and for the subjects we've covered.
Thursday's Occupy march on Manhattan was a perfect example of how the subjects we've covered this year have grown, changed, and evolved in unexpected ways.
The Republican Presidential nomination trail hasn't been what we thought it would be either. To say it's been colorful is an understatement; in many ways, it's been more like a circus.
The economic roller coaster that the world has been strapped into has also been a wild ride for us as members of the media, while the rapid fire change of governments throughout Europe and the Middle East this year has left most news gatherers scrambling to keep up.
Many of the subjects we've been been covering this year aren't likely to reach a conclusion before the new year. Most of the 2012 political races haven't even really started yet - and if you think Wall Street and the big banks are done trying to stick you with hidden charges, think again. The Keystone pipeline issue is also far from settled, and we highly doubt the battle over taxes and deficits will be solved by the supercommittee before next Wednesday.
On a personal note, this year, our staff has visited members of the military with other cartoonists, moved cross-country at least three times, and learned to chase a toddler around, all in multiple locales in the U.S.
In short, it's been a generally positive year for the Daily Felltoon group, one that has given us a great deal to be thankful for.
Next week, whether you're celebrating with a group of friends or with family at home, or if you're going on the road to a distant celebration, we hope that you continue to count The Daily Felltoon as one of the things you're thankful for.
We're certainly thankful for your continued readership.
Enjoy the week - and have a happy Thanksgiving.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
The Root Of The Problem
Over a week ago now, the sordid and horrible story of former Penn State Assistant Coach Jerry Sandusky and the kids that he is charged with sexually assaulting, blasted its way into the headlines. While we've mentioned it a few times, we'd hoped that by now, the facts of the case would have come further into focus, so that we could discuss this incredibly hurtful, shameful, twisted and far-reaching subject with a better knowledge of the facts.
After a little more than a week, we can't hold our silence on this issue any longer. Those individuals at Penn State who were aware of what was going on already held their own silence on this issue for years.
The allegations in the indictment are appalling enough - and you may read the indictment yourself, if you wish, though be prepared, as the content is explicit. What's been more appalling in this story, however, are the new discoveries every day, each more shocking and horrible in its own way than the one before.
Did you know the incidents with Sandusky appear to go back to the 1990s - but that similar incidents are being alleged at Penn State as far back as the 1970s? Did you know that a major market radio sportstalker published and discussed the story back in April of this year - and the major national media did nothing with it? Even the previous conduct of Sandusky's lawyer, on the issue of sex with minors, is appalling.
There are more details coming out every day, and the rumors associated with this story are even worse. Furthermore, the rumors not only appear to be spreading in all directions, but an astounding number of them appear to be panning out as true, upon further investigation.
What burrows into our hearts and minds most about this entire story isn't what happened to the kids, surprisingly - though that tears us up and sickens us greatly.
No, the worst part, to us, is that time and time and time again, adults failed to stand up, to step up, to do whatever it took to stop what was going on.
As we mentioned yesterday, we're certain the motivations for some of those who knew and did nothing were centered around protecting the brand of Penn State - including and especially the money their football team provides to the school and the community of State College, Pennsylvania.
In the broad experience of our staff, we've worked with college teams, major politicians, and major corporations in industries from drug manufacturing to retail. We're well aware how far reaching and endemic some forms of corruption are today - especially when dealing with a fiscal situation of the magnitude involved at Penn State.
At the heart of this entire disaster seems to be the nearly pathological need for those involved to remain silent, not to dig up any more trouble, not to stop the growth of the problem.
There is far too much of that kind of thing going on in our society today.
Sometimes, even when it comes to those that others consider legends and heroes, we simply have to be willing cut them off at the knees, if that's what it takes to do the right thing.
Allowing this kind of cancer to grow to this size is simply inexcusable.
After a little more than a week, we can't hold our silence on this issue any longer. Those individuals at Penn State who were aware of what was going on already held their own silence on this issue for years.
The allegations in the indictment are appalling enough - and you may read the indictment yourself, if you wish, though be prepared, as the content is explicit. What's been more appalling in this story, however, are the new discoveries every day, each more shocking and horrible in its own way than the one before.
Did you know the incidents with Sandusky appear to go back to the 1990s - but that similar incidents are being alleged at Penn State as far back as the 1970s? Did you know that a major market radio sportstalker published and discussed the story back in April of this year - and the major national media did nothing with it? Even the previous conduct of Sandusky's lawyer, on the issue of sex with minors, is appalling.
There are more details coming out every day, and the rumors associated with this story are even worse. Furthermore, the rumors not only appear to be spreading in all directions, but an astounding number of them appear to be panning out as true, upon further investigation.
What burrows into our hearts and minds most about this entire story isn't what happened to the kids, surprisingly - though that tears us up and sickens us greatly.
No, the worst part, to us, is that time and time and time again, adults failed to stand up, to step up, to do whatever it took to stop what was going on.
As we mentioned yesterday, we're certain the motivations for some of those who knew and did nothing were centered around protecting the brand of Penn State - including and especially the money their football team provides to the school and the community of State College, Pennsylvania.
In the broad experience of our staff, we've worked with college teams, major politicians, and major corporations in industries from drug manufacturing to retail. We're well aware how far reaching and endemic some forms of corruption are today - especially when dealing with a fiscal situation of the magnitude involved at Penn State.
At the heart of this entire disaster seems to be the nearly pathological need for those involved to remain silent, not to dig up any more trouble, not to stop the growth of the problem.
There is far too much of that kind of thing going on in our society today.
Sometimes, even when it comes to those that others consider legends and heroes, we simply have to be willing cut them off at the knees, if that's what it takes to do the right thing.
Allowing this kind of cancer to grow to this size is simply inexcusable.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Clearing The Court
Since it's Wednesday, and we're preparing for a holiday vacation next week, we thought we'd shoot from the top of the key, as they say in basketball, and tie multiple stories together today with one we've barely mentioned: the NBA lockout.
At first glance, these stories and the NBA lockout may seem to have little in common. From the coordinated attacks by city officials across the country on the Occupy movement, to the supercommittee meetings in DC, to the ongoing Penn State abuse disaster, to the NBA lockout, there is a common thread tying them all together - and it isn't just money.
It seems the battle between players and team owners right now is a third-grade game of whack-a-mole between multi-millionaires and multi-billionaires. To some degree, that characterization isn't completely wrong. NBA athletes usually make large sums, and owners make even more.
What the argument boils down to, though, isn't just a simple labor dispute between the team owners and the workers who actually do the work.
The problem the NBA is looking at is similar to what the supercommittee faces. In the supercommittee, the problem is that one side thinks those who have a significant amount of money should pay just a bit more in taxes, so that our entire country can benefit. The other side thinks those who have more should keep what they have - and to hell with those who already have too little.
In the NBA, the issue at hand is revenue sharing - both between the players and between teams. Every team must have a full roster and a full bench, and every team must have a full schedule of games to play. Some teams - like the L.A. Lakers, Miami Heat, and Boston Celtics - almost always make a lot of money. Meanwhile, some teams don't make as much, like the Indiana Pacers or Denver Nuggets. Without all the players and teams in the league, though, everyone loses.
However, some players and some owners aren't willing to share - much like most of the Republicans on the supercommittee.
There's another similarity, too. Like the not-so-secretly coordinated attacks on lawful and peaceful Occupy protesters that happened in many cities on Monday night, the team and league owners also appear to have been working together behind the scenes, while the players played by the rules and bargained through their union.
When league president David Stern issued an ultimatum, thinking the league would force the hand of the players' union, the union disbanded - allowing the players to attack the league and teams individually through their own lawsuits. Now the league is far more likely to have to fend off many smaller, individual legal assaults that can potentially do more damage. Think of guerrilla warfare instead of traditional fighting, where those who have must protect what they see as theirs from many different directions, instead of from a single enemy.
At Penn State, it now appears that current Assistant Coach Mike McQueary did stop the alleged rape of a ten year old boy by then Assistant Coach Jerry Sandusky - but Penn State officials appear to have done nothing when McQueary told them. They were protecting what was their brand.
In a similar way, NBA players are more worried about their own individual brands, just as the team owners are worried about their brands. Both groups are worried more about their own interests, over all the other people in their communities who will be affected by an NBA season that doesn't look like it's going to happen.
If you can't figure it out, the single thread that ties all these things together is selfishness, at a level that would make any pro in any industry look like an amateur.
Maybe it would be better if there were a pro league for those who are blindly selfish - though we're not sure we could bring ourselves to watch that, either.
At first glance, these stories and the NBA lockout may seem to have little in common. From the coordinated attacks by city officials across the country on the Occupy movement, to the supercommittee meetings in DC, to the ongoing Penn State abuse disaster, to the NBA lockout, there is a common thread tying them all together - and it isn't just money.
It seems the battle between players and team owners right now is a third-grade game of whack-a-mole between multi-millionaires and multi-billionaires. To some degree, that characterization isn't completely wrong. NBA athletes usually make large sums, and owners make even more.
What the argument boils down to, though, isn't just a simple labor dispute between the team owners and the workers who actually do the work.
The problem the NBA is looking at is similar to what the supercommittee faces. In the supercommittee, the problem is that one side thinks those who have a significant amount of money should pay just a bit more in taxes, so that our entire country can benefit. The other side thinks those who have more should keep what they have - and to hell with those who already have too little.
In the NBA, the issue at hand is revenue sharing - both between the players and between teams. Every team must have a full roster and a full bench, and every team must have a full schedule of games to play. Some teams - like the L.A. Lakers, Miami Heat, and Boston Celtics - almost always make a lot of money. Meanwhile, some teams don't make as much, like the Indiana Pacers or Denver Nuggets. Without all the players and teams in the league, though, everyone loses.
However, some players and some owners aren't willing to share - much like most of the Republicans on the supercommittee.
There's another similarity, too. Like the not-so-secretly coordinated attacks on lawful and peaceful Occupy protesters that happened in many cities on Monday night, the team and league owners also appear to have been working together behind the scenes, while the players played by the rules and bargained through their union.
When league president David Stern issued an ultimatum, thinking the league would force the hand of the players' union, the union disbanded - allowing the players to attack the league and teams individually through their own lawsuits. Now the league is far more likely to have to fend off many smaller, individual legal assaults that can potentially do more damage. Think of guerrilla warfare instead of traditional fighting, where those who have must protect what they see as theirs from many different directions, instead of from a single enemy.
At Penn State, it now appears that current Assistant Coach Mike McQueary did stop the alleged rape of a ten year old boy by then Assistant Coach Jerry Sandusky - but Penn State officials appear to have done nothing when McQueary told them. They were protecting what was their brand.
In a similar way, NBA players are more worried about their own individual brands, just as the team owners are worried about their brands. Both groups are worried more about their own interests, over all the other people in their communities who will be affected by an NBA season that doesn't look like it's going to happen.
If you can't figure it out, the single thread that ties all these things together is selfishness, at a level that would make any pro in any industry look like an amateur.
Maybe it would be better if there were a pro league for those who are blindly selfish - though we're not sure we could bring ourselves to watch that, either.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Occupy Day Sixty: Who Are The Real Criminals?
While the unofficial celebration of the two month mark of the Occupy movement won't come until Thursday - when a planned march may actually shut down Wall Street itself - today is the sixtieth day of the movement, but an ugly morning to wake up to.
We'd heard rumors about what might happen last night, so when we woke up this morning to find that billionaire mayor Michael Bloomberg did indeed send the NYPD to attack and remove the protesters in New York's privately owned Zuccotti Park - ln the middle of the night last night - we weren't entirely surprised. Much of the media was kept from the park during this raid, breaking not only the constitutional right of the protesters to peaceably assemble, but also the rights of the media.
In these sixty days, there has been a great deal of criticism, and an even greater overreaction by local officials across the country and the world, similar to what Mayor Bloomberg took last night. Some officials have even quit their jobs over the abuse doled out by their superiors. As we've noted previously, there's even been a concerted media smear campaign from right-wing sources (which was entirely expected), as well as a campaign from more extremist groups to infiltrate Occupy camps and cause mayhem in a failed attempt to make the Occupiers appear to be something they're not.
Both those who've now accepted the movement, as well as those who still are throwing slurs at the movement often still ask the same question they've been asking for some time now: What have the Occupiers achieved? What have they really won?
Even if the movement decides this phase is complete, declares victory, and packs up their tents, the biggest single winning achievement of the Occupy movement will still have been its ability to draw the attention of Americans and our politicians to the very real issue of income inequality in America. America is no longer the land where everyone has a fair chance to become anything they want. The U.S. right now has one of the highest levels of income disparity in the world, according to the Gini Index, a scale used worldwide to measure income inequality. In fact, the U.S. ranks in the bottom third of countries measured according to one recent study.
If you'd been paying attention to the media two months ago, you rarely would have heard any mention of the rampant inequality that affects virtually every American.
The Occupy movement also forced the big banks to back down on the most onerous of new fees they were attempting to shove onto their customers. While the Occupy movement temporarily stopped those fees, the banks are already attempting to find other ways to stick it to their customers - even trying to soak money off of the unemployed.
As we pointed out yesterday, when governments finally get their priorities in line, focus on the people and their own responsibilities, and force the banks to pay off their own gambling losses, the people win, the government wins, and those who caused the economic boom and bust of the last ten-to-fifteen years lose, as they should have all along.
Even if other politicians follow the abusive, violent, unnecessary, and questionably legal lead of those like Mayor Bloomberg in New York, or Mayor Quan in Oakland, it still wont change the fact that the message of the Occupiers is factually correct. The Occupy protesters have also been overwhelmingly peaceful - even singing to their abusers as they've been attacked. In other words, the real criminals and thugs haven't been the Occupiers at all, but those who have moved against the Occupy movement.
That last action may be the most important achievement of the Occupy movement.
As well-known journalist Matt Taibbi noted last week, "It's not that the cops outside the protests are doing wrong, per se, by patrolling the parks and sidewalks. It's that they should be somewhere else. They should be heading up into those skyscrapers and going through the file cabinets to figure out who stole what, and from whom. They should be helping people get their money back."
Who are the criminals, really - and who are the people living in the aftermath of what the criminals have done?
We'd heard rumors about what might happen last night, so when we woke up this morning to find that billionaire mayor Michael Bloomberg did indeed send the NYPD to attack and remove the protesters in New York's privately owned Zuccotti Park - ln the middle of the night last night - we weren't entirely surprised. Much of the media was kept from the park during this raid, breaking not only the constitutional right of the protesters to peaceably assemble, but also the rights of the media.
In these sixty days, there has been a great deal of criticism, and an even greater overreaction by local officials across the country and the world, similar to what Mayor Bloomberg took last night. Some officials have even quit their jobs over the abuse doled out by their superiors. As we've noted previously, there's even been a concerted media smear campaign from right-wing sources (which was entirely expected), as well as a campaign from more extremist groups to infiltrate Occupy camps and cause mayhem in a failed attempt to make the Occupiers appear to be something they're not.
Both those who've now accepted the movement, as well as those who still are throwing slurs at the movement often still ask the same question they've been asking for some time now: What have the Occupiers achieved? What have they really won?
Even if the movement decides this phase is complete, declares victory, and packs up their tents, the biggest single winning achievement of the Occupy movement will still have been its ability to draw the attention of Americans and our politicians to the very real issue of income inequality in America. America is no longer the land where everyone has a fair chance to become anything they want. The U.S. right now has one of the highest levels of income disparity in the world, according to the Gini Index, a scale used worldwide to measure income inequality. In fact, the U.S. ranks in the bottom third of countries measured according to one recent study.
If you'd been paying attention to the media two months ago, you rarely would have heard any mention of the rampant inequality that affects virtually every American.
The Occupy movement also forced the big banks to back down on the most onerous of new fees they were attempting to shove onto their customers. While the Occupy movement temporarily stopped those fees, the banks are already attempting to find other ways to stick it to their customers - even trying to soak money off of the unemployed.
As we pointed out yesterday, when governments finally get their priorities in line, focus on the people and their own responsibilities, and force the banks to pay off their own gambling losses, the people win, the government wins, and those who caused the economic boom and bust of the last ten-to-fifteen years lose, as they should have all along.
Even if other politicians follow the abusive, violent, unnecessary, and questionably legal lead of those like Mayor Bloomberg in New York, or Mayor Quan in Oakland, it still wont change the fact that the message of the Occupiers is factually correct. The Occupy protesters have also been overwhelmingly peaceful - even singing to their abusers as they've been attacked. In other words, the real criminals and thugs haven't been the Occupiers at all, but those who have moved against the Occupy movement.
That last action may be the most important achievement of the Occupy movement.
As well-known journalist Matt Taibbi noted last week, "It's not that the cops outside the protests are doing wrong, per se, by patrolling the parks and sidewalks. It's that they should be somewhere else. They should be heading up into those skyscrapers and going through the file cabinets to figure out who stole what, and from whom. They should be helping people get their money back."
Who are the criminals, really - and who are the people living in the aftermath of what the criminals have done?
Monday, November 14, 2011
Sink Or Swim, The E.U. Can't Help. Iceland, However...
While we hope you enjoyed a good weekend, we know there was a lot going on over the last couple of days. Maybe you caught the wonderful moment immediately before the Husker football game at Penn State, led by Husker Coach Ron Brown - or the embarrassingly awful GOP presidential debate on CBS. Maybe you were drowning in preparations for Thanksgiving and the upcoming holiday season.
The stories that may have floated out of your attention zone over the weekend include the resignation of Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, the announcement of his replacement, and the installation of an interim government in Greece. We were watching events in both countries, as were many around the globe. In our modern world of highly connected economies, what happens in Japan or Europe, Brazil or China, can have an equal effect here in the United States.
For all the bluster of political candidates telling you America is uniquely different, when it comes to the reality of how the real world market works, the U.S. is just another refugee bobbing on a mostly uncharted ocean of economic uncertainty. Admittedly, our financial raft is better than what most countries have - some don't even have a piece of metaphorical flotsam to hang onto. Still, at this point looking to our traditional economic and political partners in Europe to save us from our own economic woes is pointless. Even now, countries like Italy are doubling down on the failed strategy of economic austerity.
As one of our favorite economists, Nobel-prize winner Paul Krugman pointed out Friday, the European experiment in painful austerity isn't as effective as hoped - and doesn't confirm the American conservative worldview. In fact, as the revival of Iceland's economy is clearly pointing out, the American people - especially those supporting the Occupy movement - have been right all along.
In case you missed it, the story going on in Iceland really began in the early 2000s, when Iceland followed the lead of countries like the U.S., loosened its regulation of banks, and allowed investment and deposit banks to mingle with each other and other banks around the world. In 2008, when the market implosion of Wall Street spread like a virus around the world, the three major private banks in Iceland all collapsed under the weight of the bets they'd made (a large portion of which was in the U.S. real estate market), and had to be nationalized.
As Dr. Krugman also recently pointed out, nearly everyone projected that Iceland was going to go into economic Armageddon if they didn't follow the lead of everyone else - save the banks, screw the working people, and make the public pay the price.
Iceland, however, did exactly the opposite.
Over the weekend, Iceland announced that they were finally going to begin paying out a small portion of foreign depositor claims, after their highest court upheld a law that protects the common people and the public welfare. Further, Iceland's Economy Minister said that all legitimate depositors, whether in Iceland or from other nations, will be repaid their full amounts of deposit. Investment bankers, however - like the Wall Street gamblers and their corporate cronies - will have to deal with the pile of bad bets they made all by themselves.
In other words, Iceland bailed out Main Street, and told the greedy gamblers on their version of Wall Street to enjoy their trip to the depths of the financial Davey Jones' locker.
So far, even in the midst of a global recession, Iceland's method of salvation is the only one that seems to be doing more than just keeping their nation treading financial water.
We think it's high time the U.S. tried a similar strategy.
The stories that may have floated out of your attention zone over the weekend include the resignation of Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, the announcement of his replacement, and the installation of an interim government in Greece. We were watching events in both countries, as were many around the globe. In our modern world of highly connected economies, what happens in Japan or Europe, Brazil or China, can have an equal effect here in the United States.
For all the bluster of political candidates telling you America is uniquely different, when it comes to the reality of how the real world market works, the U.S. is just another refugee bobbing on a mostly uncharted ocean of economic uncertainty. Admittedly, our financial raft is better than what most countries have - some don't even have a piece of metaphorical flotsam to hang onto. Still, at this point looking to our traditional economic and political partners in Europe to save us from our own economic woes is pointless. Even now, countries like Italy are doubling down on the failed strategy of economic austerity.
As one of our favorite economists, Nobel-prize winner Paul Krugman pointed out Friday, the European experiment in painful austerity isn't as effective as hoped - and doesn't confirm the American conservative worldview. In fact, as the revival of Iceland's economy is clearly pointing out, the American people - especially those supporting the Occupy movement - have been right all along.
In case you missed it, the story going on in Iceland really began in the early 2000s, when Iceland followed the lead of countries like the U.S., loosened its regulation of banks, and allowed investment and deposit banks to mingle with each other and other banks around the world. In 2008, when the market implosion of Wall Street spread like a virus around the world, the three major private banks in Iceland all collapsed under the weight of the bets they'd made (a large portion of which was in the U.S. real estate market), and had to be nationalized.
As Dr. Krugman also recently pointed out, nearly everyone projected that Iceland was going to go into economic Armageddon if they didn't follow the lead of everyone else - save the banks, screw the working people, and make the public pay the price.
Iceland, however, did exactly the opposite.
Over the weekend, Iceland announced that they were finally going to begin paying out a small portion of foreign depositor claims, after their highest court upheld a law that protects the common people and the public welfare. Further, Iceland's Economy Minister said that all legitimate depositors, whether in Iceland or from other nations, will be repaid their full amounts of deposit. Investment bankers, however - like the Wall Street gamblers and their corporate cronies - will have to deal with the pile of bad bets they made all by themselves.
In other words, Iceland bailed out Main Street, and told the greedy gamblers on their version of Wall Street to enjoy their trip to the depths of the financial Davey Jones' locker.
So far, even in the midst of a global recession, Iceland's method of salvation is the only one that seems to be doing more than just keeping their nation treading financial water.
We think it's high time the U.S. tried a similar strategy.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Friday Funday: A Reason To Say "Merci"
For nearly a century now, since the end of the first "war to end all wars", World War I, Americans and Europeans have celebrated Veterans Day - previously called "Armistice Day" - on the eleventh day of the eleventh month each year, pausing for a moment of remembrance at the eleventh hour.
Every year since we began publishing The Daily Felltoon, we try to remind you of this occasion. We try to reflect on the fact that this isn't a day to mourn over those who were lost, but to celebrate and thank those veterans who've done so much for us.
From soldiers and sailors, to simple housewives who helped colonize the new world, too often, those of us living in the U.S. and Europe forget the sacrifices those who came before have made for us to get where we are today.
That's at least part of the reason that on this Veteran's Day, we're also celebrating the accomplishment of our editor Amy, and her husband, Eric, on the completion of their latest cartoon vignette, "Daughters of The King", part of the ongoing graphic novel, "Snow By Night" (free, and available for viewing at snowbynight.com).
The story behind their vignette is a true one, about the real-life "Filles du Roi" - a French-Candaian organization similar to the to the Daughters of the American Revolution. The story is well-told, and we highly recommend you read it for yourself.
It's also a story that never could have been told if it wasn't for all the cartoonists that have come before, like our own Paul Fell - someone we don't thank enough for all the incredible things he's done for us - or Hal Foster who created the serial comic Prince Valiant, or the creator of the often enduring Family Circus cartoons, Bil Keane, who died this past week at the age of 89.
Keane was a veteran himself, having served in World War II, and he knew the value of a simple "thank you" to those who've long deserved it, but rarely receive it and never ask for it.
In that light, and in light of the fact that many veterans simply go about their daily lives like anyone else, and don't make a big deal of their service - including our own webmaster - we ask that today, and this weekend, you simply say thanks to someone that you're fairly sure doesn't always receive it.
Thank your favorite cashier at the grocery store, the one who always seems to be there when you are, and who remembers details about your life - and cares enough to ask you about your life. Thank the janitor at your workplace who keeps things nice - far nicer than they probably should be, considering the animals you work with. Thank your neighbor too, for simply not being the kind of person who paints their house bright Pepto-Bismol pink.
Yes, we absolutely want you to thank anyone you see who quite obviously served their country and helped keep the peace or win the war.
Millions of others, however, who we may never really notice, also deserve our thanks for all the wonderful gifts those of us in the United States and the European countries enjoy today.
To them, we say, "Merci", "Danke", "Grazie" - or simply, "Thank you."
Every year since we began publishing The Daily Felltoon, we try to remind you of this occasion. We try to reflect on the fact that this isn't a day to mourn over those who were lost, but to celebrate and thank those veterans who've done so much for us.
From soldiers and sailors, to simple housewives who helped colonize the new world, too often, those of us living in the U.S. and Europe forget the sacrifices those who came before have made for us to get where we are today.
That's at least part of the reason that on this Veteran's Day, we're also celebrating the accomplishment of our editor Amy, and her husband, Eric, on the completion of their latest cartoon vignette, "Daughters of The King", part of the ongoing graphic novel, "Snow By Night" (free, and available for viewing at snowbynight.com).
The story behind their vignette is a true one, about the real-life "Filles du Roi" - a French-Candaian organization similar to the to the Daughters of the American Revolution. The story is well-told, and we highly recommend you read it for yourself.
It's also a story that never could have been told if it wasn't for all the cartoonists that have come before, like our own Paul Fell - someone we don't thank enough for all the incredible things he's done for us - or Hal Foster who created the serial comic Prince Valiant, or the creator of the often enduring Family Circus cartoons, Bil Keane, who died this past week at the age of 89.
Keane was a veteran himself, having served in World War II, and he knew the value of a simple "thank you" to those who've long deserved it, but rarely receive it and never ask for it.
In that light, and in light of the fact that many veterans simply go about their daily lives like anyone else, and don't make a big deal of their service - including our own webmaster - we ask that today, and this weekend, you simply say thanks to someone that you're fairly sure doesn't always receive it.
Thank your favorite cashier at the grocery store, the one who always seems to be there when you are, and who remembers details about your life - and cares enough to ask you about your life. Thank the janitor at your workplace who keeps things nice - far nicer than they probably should be, considering the animals you work with. Thank your neighbor too, for simply not being the kind of person who paints their house bright Pepto-Bismol pink.
Yes, we absolutely want you to thank anyone you see who quite obviously served their country and helped keep the peace or win the war.
Millions of others, however, who we may never really notice, also deserve our thanks for all the wonderful gifts those of us in the United States and the European countries enjoy today.
To them, we say, "Merci", "Danke", "Grazie" - or simply, "Thank you."
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Growing Pains
In light of the success of progressive ideas and candidates in Tuesday's elections - and the utter embarrassment that seems to be the current 2012 Republican presidential field - we decided we'd look at a subject we'd noted a couple of weeks ago, but hadn't fully addressed - the announcement of the world's seven-billionth person.
According to the United Nations Population Fund report released recently, the world's seven billionth human inhabitant is likely somewhere on the planet right now. While we didn't get to this point overnight, the last three billion people were all born within the lifespan of the youngest two members of our staff - about thirty-five years or so.
There's no legitimate way to determine who the planet's seven billionth individual is, or where he or she was born. The mere existence of that many people on our little island in space brings to light a few very important questions, that - frankly - humans should have had answered long ago.
Everyone needs adequate food, water, and shelter - and far too many of them don't have anything close to that. Those people, in one way or another, will also need energy; to power their cars or motorbikes, their lights, and all the other modern conveniences that much of the world either wants or already has.
After the announcement Wednesday by the International Energy Agency, now more than ever we're concerned about how we're going to obtain and distribute the resources we all want and need.
The agency's report made it clear: "On planned [energy] policies, rising fossil energy use will lead to irreversible and potentially catastrophic climate change... we are on an even more dangerous track to an increase of 6°C [11°F]…. Delaying action is a false economy: for every $1 of investment in cleaner technology that is avoided in the power sector before 2020, an additional $4.30 would need to be spent after 2020 to compensate for the increased emissions.”
In short, we humans need to get our collective butts in gear - or we'll bake our planet into a place where humans can no longer survive. We could get to the point of no return within the next five years.
Already, because the energy sources humans have been using over the last two centuries have been so wasteful and filthy, we've increased the type and severity of weather worldwide. The winter monster storm that is literally half the size of the lower 48 states, that's now slamming Alaska isn't just a rare event. It's an event climate scientists have rarely seen the likes of before.
Sadly, one of the biggest issues being ignored with some of the discussions about the Keystone pipeline has to do not with leaking oil, or how many jobs a pipeline project like Keystone would actually generate. It's the fact that the type of oil energy that would be pumping through the pipeline would be some of the highest polluting materials in the world - at a time when the world can least afford it.
Meanwhile, the executives of companies in the solar power business are having some of the fastest growth of any industry in the U.S. Their industry is experiencing growth that's ten times faster than the national economy as a whole over the last 12 months, in the middle of the worst economy since the Great Depression. Another study, released in February 2011, pointed out that the world as a whole doubled its output of solar energy last year - and future forecasts look, well... bright.
As Tuesday's elections proved, with landslide wins for progressive policies in traditionally conservative places like Mississippi, even those people who've been traditionally against change seem to be understanding: we can't just continue doing things the way we always have.
We can find solutions together, that will help divide our resources in a more just manner, and still give people plenty of opportunities to make money in a capitalist way. But not if we just keep pushing the same old, hairy, ugly model of politics and business we've been using for far too long.
According to the United Nations Population Fund report released recently, the world's seven billionth human inhabitant is likely somewhere on the planet right now. While we didn't get to this point overnight, the last three billion people were all born within the lifespan of the youngest two members of our staff - about thirty-five years or so.
There's no legitimate way to determine who the planet's seven billionth individual is, or where he or she was born. The mere existence of that many people on our little island in space brings to light a few very important questions, that - frankly - humans should have had answered long ago.
Everyone needs adequate food, water, and shelter - and far too many of them don't have anything close to that. Those people, in one way or another, will also need energy; to power their cars or motorbikes, their lights, and all the other modern conveniences that much of the world either wants or already has.
After the announcement Wednesday by the International Energy Agency, now more than ever we're concerned about how we're going to obtain and distribute the resources we all want and need.
The agency's report made it clear: "On planned [energy] policies, rising fossil energy use will lead to irreversible and potentially catastrophic climate change... we are on an even more dangerous track to an increase of 6°C [11°F]…. Delaying action is a false economy: for every $1 of investment in cleaner technology that is avoided in the power sector before 2020, an additional $4.30 would need to be spent after 2020 to compensate for the increased emissions.”
In short, we humans need to get our collective butts in gear - or we'll bake our planet into a place where humans can no longer survive. We could get to the point of no return within the next five years.
Already, because the energy sources humans have been using over the last two centuries have been so wasteful and filthy, we've increased the type and severity of weather worldwide. The winter monster storm that is literally half the size of the lower 48 states, that's now slamming Alaska isn't just a rare event. It's an event climate scientists have rarely seen the likes of before.
Sadly, one of the biggest issues being ignored with some of the discussions about the Keystone pipeline has to do not with leaking oil, or how many jobs a pipeline project like Keystone would actually generate. It's the fact that the type of oil energy that would be pumping through the pipeline would be some of the highest polluting materials in the world - at a time when the world can least afford it.
Meanwhile, the executives of companies in the solar power business are having some of the fastest growth of any industry in the U.S. Their industry is experiencing growth that's ten times faster than the national economy as a whole over the last 12 months, in the middle of the worst economy since the Great Depression. Another study, released in February 2011, pointed out that the world as a whole doubled its output of solar energy last year - and future forecasts look, well... bright.
As Tuesday's elections proved, with landslide wins for progressive policies in traditionally conservative places like Mississippi, even those people who've been traditionally against change seem to be understanding: we can't just continue doing things the way we always have.
We can find solutions together, that will help divide our resources in a more just manner, and still give people plenty of opportunities to make money in a capitalist way. But not if we just keep pushing the same old, hairy, ugly model of politics and business we've been using for far too long.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Decisions, Decisions...
As we mentioned yesterday, elections of many kinds were held all over the country Tuesday.
Some elections, like the defeat of the anti-union measure in Ohio, the defeat of the voter suppression law in Maine, or the defeat of the 'personhood' amendment in Mississippi were fantastic examples of the power of the people, saying "Enough!" to the power of big money and special interests.
Other elections in the country – like many races in Virginia – were further pitiful examples of how money plays far too big a part in our political system.
While we always try to link to the best stories about any topic, when we combed through all the election stories out there, far too often, a large number of our media colleagues appeared to be pumping the election results they were assigned to focus on through a stereotypical filter of good versus bad.
With the Keystone pipeline controversy, a topic we've been focusing on a great deal lately, the appearance that dispute is headed to a stalemate is another example of lazy storytelling, one that major media organizations, including the L.A. Times, seem to have latched onto.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
It's been obvious that many of President Obama's political advisors have been getting more and more nervous as the deadline for the President to make a decision on the pipeline has moved ever closer. As we've pointed out previously, many politicians in both major political parties, including Gov. Heineman, would be fine with the Keystone pipeline being completed through Nebraska, if the route was moved away from the Ogallala Aquifer.
While there is still some minor disagreement, it's been determined and generally accepted that Nebraska's own legislature and governor have the legal authority to move the pipeline. Actions being considered in the special session of the legislature also look to follow that determination with action. Some of the other measures before the Nebraska Unicameral in the current special session also follow the same action that President Obama and the State Department are now pushing for on the pipeline, looking towards added safety measures.
The decision that faces the President on the Keystone pipeline isn't strictly a binary one, of either allowing the project to begin immediately, or of denying it definitively. The President, through the State Department, may also call for more proof that safety standards will be adhered to as part of the permitting process. He may also call for more conditions to be met by TransCanada.
Finally, the State Department is looking at the option of whether they can re-route the pipeline, regardless of what Nebraska's state government says or does.
If it seems like this decision is complicated, that's because it is.
We won't deny that there are factions of both labor and environmental groups that desperately wish this was a simple black and white issue for the President to decide.
As we've said many times over the years about many decisions President Obama and his predecessors have made, this is not a simple decision.
If it were, it never would have reached the President's desk.
Some elections, like the defeat of the anti-union measure in Ohio, the defeat of the voter suppression law in Maine, or the defeat of the 'personhood' amendment in Mississippi were fantastic examples of the power of the people, saying "Enough!" to the power of big money and special interests.
Other elections in the country – like many races in Virginia – were further pitiful examples of how money plays far too big a part in our political system.
While we always try to link to the best stories about any topic, when we combed through all the election stories out there, far too often, a large number of our media colleagues appeared to be pumping the election results they were assigned to focus on through a stereotypical filter of good versus bad.
With the Keystone pipeline controversy, a topic we've been focusing on a great deal lately, the appearance that dispute is headed to a stalemate is another example of lazy storytelling, one that major media organizations, including the L.A. Times, seem to have latched onto.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
It's been obvious that many of President Obama's political advisors have been getting more and more nervous as the deadline for the President to make a decision on the pipeline has moved ever closer. As we've pointed out previously, many politicians in both major political parties, including Gov. Heineman, would be fine with the Keystone pipeline being completed through Nebraska, if the route was moved away from the Ogallala Aquifer.
While there is still some minor disagreement, it's been determined and generally accepted that Nebraska's own legislature and governor have the legal authority to move the pipeline. Actions being considered in the special session of the legislature also look to follow that determination with action. Some of the other measures before the Nebraska Unicameral in the current special session also follow the same action that President Obama and the State Department are now pushing for on the pipeline, looking towards added safety measures.
The decision that faces the President on the Keystone pipeline isn't strictly a binary one, of either allowing the project to begin immediately, or of denying it definitively. The President, through the State Department, may also call for more proof that safety standards will be adhered to as part of the permitting process. He may also call for more conditions to be met by TransCanada.
Finally, the State Department is looking at the option of whether they can re-route the pipeline, regardless of what Nebraska's state government says or does.
If it seems like this decision is complicated, that's because it is.
We won't deny that there are factions of both labor and environmental groups that desperately wish this was a simple black and white issue for the President to decide.
As we've said many times over the years about many decisions President Obama and his predecessors have made, this is not a simple decision.
If it were, it never would have reached the President's desk.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Dance With The One That Brung Ya
In many locations across the country, today is Election Day. Naturally, our entire staff is registered, and we'll vote where elections are being held. We even have family going to the work at the polling places, one of whom will be an Officer of Elections for his district in Virginia. His job is simple, but not easy. It'll take endurance, too: he must show up before the first voter, and stay until the polls close, making sure all proper legal procedures are followed, and that everyone who wishes to vote - and is legally authorized to do so - has the ability to have their voice heard.
Over the last few years, many in the GOP hierarchy have attempted to use this ridiculous fear - that the vote of someone not legally registered would be counted and then tip the scales against the favored candidate of the GOP - to enact draconian rules that effectively drive down several types of voters, especially minorities. In light of the copious recall and recount laws that exist these days, we're not only offended at this tactic - we also think it only serves to make Republicans look foolish and drive away voters they might otherwise convince to vote with them.
By the actions they've taken over the last decade, the modern Republican party appears to have some really strange ideas on how to convince minorities and women to vote for their chosen candidates.
In 2008, according to multiple sources, the primary reason those advising John McCain chose Sarah Palin to be his V.P. pick was that she was a woman. After all, they thought - that was why some centrist and independent women liked Hillary Clinton, right?
This time around, some of those same advisors pushed Herman Cain to run for President - and after the last week of announcements about Mr. Cain's alleged conduct, and revelations of sexual misconduct and assault, we can't understand why any Republican political operative worth his paycheck didn't find out about all of these incidents long ago.
Being accused of sexual harassment once may be an accident. Repeating that conduct four times - that we know of - shows a serious lack of judgement.
It's not just the lack of judgement on the part of Mr. Cain that angers us, though.
According to multiple polls of Republican voters and Republican-leaning independents, even after these recent announcements, they STILL prefer Mr. Cain to most of the other choices for President they're being offered right now. It's not that Republicans think Mr. Cain's accusers are lying - a majority think the allegations against him are true.
It's that Republicans and conservatives don't seem to think it matters that one of their leading candidates for President is possibly a serial sexual abuser, someone who appears to have a problem abusing his position of power to try and force women to do things against their will.
While that attitude, by itself, is sick, the more depraved attitude is the racial mirror to the GOP's 2008 Palin tactic; more and more, it appears Republican leaders and backers chose Herman Cain to attempt a run for President because he's an African-American.
For a party that continually attempts to claim they represent a new brand of modern conservatism, all we see in their current attempts to court women and minorities are the same old clueless, chauvinist and racist attitudes, done up in a fancy new dress.
If this is your political party of choice, we hope you realize how you appear to the rest of the world.
Over the last few years, many in the GOP hierarchy have attempted to use this ridiculous fear - that the vote of someone not legally registered would be counted and then tip the scales against the favored candidate of the GOP - to enact draconian rules that effectively drive down several types of voters, especially minorities. In light of the copious recall and recount laws that exist these days, we're not only offended at this tactic - we also think it only serves to make Republicans look foolish and drive away voters they might otherwise convince to vote with them.
By the actions they've taken over the last decade, the modern Republican party appears to have some really strange ideas on how to convince minorities and women to vote for their chosen candidates.
In 2008, according to multiple sources, the primary reason those advising John McCain chose Sarah Palin to be his V.P. pick was that she was a woman. After all, they thought - that was why some centrist and independent women liked Hillary Clinton, right?
This time around, some of those same advisors pushed Herman Cain to run for President - and after the last week of announcements about Mr. Cain's alleged conduct, and revelations of sexual misconduct and assault, we can't understand why any Republican political operative worth his paycheck didn't find out about all of these incidents long ago.
Being accused of sexual harassment once may be an accident. Repeating that conduct four times - that we know of - shows a serious lack of judgement.
It's not just the lack of judgement on the part of Mr. Cain that angers us, though.
According to multiple polls of Republican voters and Republican-leaning independents, even after these recent announcements, they STILL prefer Mr. Cain to most of the other choices for President they're being offered right now. It's not that Republicans think Mr. Cain's accusers are lying - a majority think the allegations against him are true.
It's that Republicans and conservatives don't seem to think it matters that one of their leading candidates for President is possibly a serial sexual abuser, someone who appears to have a problem abusing his position of power to try and force women to do things against their will.
While that attitude, by itself, is sick, the more depraved attitude is the racial mirror to the GOP's 2008 Palin tactic; more and more, it appears Republican leaders and backers chose Herman Cain to attempt a run for President because he's an African-American.
For a party that continually attempts to claim they represent a new brand of modern conservatism, all we see in their current attempts to court women and minorities are the same old clueless, chauvinist and racist attitudes, done up in a fancy new dress.
If this is your political party of choice, we hope you realize how you appear to the rest of the world.
Monday, November 7, 2011
How Main Street Is Moving On, While Wall Street Is All Wet
This past weekend, the weather in all of our locations was great for getting out and doing things like talking a walk, running some errands or delivering donations to the needy (like some of those at the Occupy DC encampment). For hundreds of thousands of Americans, this past weekend was also a great weekend for moving - specifically, moving money away from the biggest banks in America.
From Seattle and Texas, to San Francisco, the Quad Cities, Philadelphia, Des Moines - and yes, even Wall Street - Americans have finally begun putting their money where their interests are. From clergy to college students, Americans are yanking their funds away from the big banks that quite obviously don't give a damn about the needs of Americans.
According to the Credit Union Association of America, since September 29th of this year, 650,000 Americans have moved their money from big banks to credit unions and smaller local banks. That's more people moving their money to smaller, more locally focused financial institutions since September than all the Americans who joined credit unions in 2010.
Like other facets of the Occupy movement, the Move Your Money project also appears to have worked successfully - a fact we're fairly certain many of our colleagues in the mainstream, corporate-owned media will ignore today.
While some of the media is still claiming that the bigger banks simply don't care about the kinds of customers that are leaving for the credit unions, the fact is, those customers are worth millions, or possibly billions of dollars. If the average checking account balance of those 650,000 customers was only $2500 - less than half the average checking account balance - the big banks just lost $1.6 billion dollars in the last five weeks.
That's not the kind of money even the big banks can afford to let get away at that speed.
Yet, even Wall Street insiders admit: the people who control the Wall Street banks and the large corporate entities those banks often prop up, just can't seem to handle some hard and ugly truths about current Wall Street business methods and who they really are.
One of those truths is something the Occupiers are dead right about when they blast the richest of the rich in America as mostly "Wall Street" types. The overwhelming majority - 60% - of the top one-tenth of one percent of the wealthiest people in America work on or with Wall Street, banking, and large corporate interests.
Another ugly truth is that nearly 300 of the biggest corporations those one-tenth percenters ran paid little or no taxes over the last three years. Thirty of those companies paid no income taxes at all, or even got paid by the U.S. government. During that same period, those same companies raked in profits of $160 billon.
The truth that should shock the Wall Street types the most is the one we bet they'll refuse to focus on - and the one we think you should remember most today. It's what the Occupy movement did, through millions of Americans, with this past weekend's Move Your Money day.
We - the little people, the peons if you will - took our small piles of money to our small local banks and credit unions, institutions that WILL lend and support our local economies (unlike many of the big banks), and took more than $1.6 billion away from the tons of cash the big banks have to play with.
And we did it in just over a month. Imagine what we could accomplish if we kept up that kind of pace over the next year. This is only just the first step.
There's an old saying about how it's better to be pissed off than pissed on. Now more than ever, we think maybe the Wall St. one-percenters are having to re-learn that lesson the hard way.
From Seattle and Texas, to San Francisco, the Quad Cities, Philadelphia, Des Moines - and yes, even Wall Street - Americans have finally begun putting their money where their interests are. From clergy to college students, Americans are yanking their funds away from the big banks that quite obviously don't give a damn about the needs of Americans.
According to the Credit Union Association of America, since September 29th of this year, 650,000 Americans have moved their money from big banks to credit unions and smaller local banks. That's more people moving their money to smaller, more locally focused financial institutions since September than all the Americans who joined credit unions in 2010.
Like other facets of the Occupy movement, the Move Your Money project also appears to have worked successfully - a fact we're fairly certain many of our colleagues in the mainstream, corporate-owned media will ignore today.
While some of the media is still claiming that the bigger banks simply don't care about the kinds of customers that are leaving for the credit unions, the fact is, those customers are worth millions, or possibly billions of dollars. If the average checking account balance of those 650,000 customers was only $2500 - less than half the average checking account balance - the big banks just lost $1.6 billion dollars in the last five weeks.
That's not the kind of money even the big banks can afford to let get away at that speed.
Yet, even Wall Street insiders admit: the people who control the Wall Street banks and the large corporate entities those banks often prop up, just can't seem to handle some hard and ugly truths about current Wall Street business methods and who they really are.
One of those truths is something the Occupiers are dead right about when they blast the richest of the rich in America as mostly "Wall Street" types. The overwhelming majority - 60% - of the top one-tenth of one percent of the wealthiest people in America work on or with Wall Street, banking, and large corporate interests.
Another ugly truth is that nearly 300 of the biggest corporations those one-tenth percenters ran paid little or no taxes over the last three years. Thirty of those companies paid no income taxes at all, or even got paid by the U.S. government. During that same period, those same companies raked in profits of $160 billon.
The truth that should shock the Wall Street types the most is the one we bet they'll refuse to focus on - and the one we think you should remember most today. It's what the Occupy movement did, through millions of Americans, with this past weekend's Move Your Money day.
We - the little people, the peons if you will - took our small piles of money to our small local banks and credit unions, institutions that WILL lend and support our local economies (unlike many of the big banks), and took more than $1.6 billion away from the tons of cash the big banks have to play with.
And we did it in just over a month. Imagine what we could accomplish if we kept up that kind of pace over the next year. This is only just the first step.
There's an old saying about how it's better to be pissed off than pissed on. Now more than ever, we think maybe the Wall St. one-percenters are having to re-learn that lesson the hard way.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Friday Funday: Hope & Clowns
For a week filled with ups and downs of all kinds, our staff begins today with an odd sense of both peace and hopefulness. We're not sure why we feel this way, though - which is especially disconcerting to certain members of our staff.
Some of that positivity comes from seeing the beginnings of the next phase of the Occupy movement. We're not talking about the vandalism in places like Oakland. Actually, what gives us hope is the fact that both members of Occupy Oakland and the Oakland Police Department agree that Occupiers didn't cause the damage and confrontations that some media outlets (especially those on the right) have been focusing on.
In truth, both police and legitimate protesters discovered it was "anarchists and provocateurs" - people who've purposely wanted to make the Occupiers look bad - who are to blame for the destruction and mayhem.
Police and protesters, coming together, to agree on the facts. There's a positive turn.
We were also pleased by the work of the Nebraska Legislature this week, which settled on five different potential bills to solve the problem of the Keystone pipeline. Many of Nebraska's state senators are Daily Felltoon readers, and we were chief among the voices earlier this week encouraging them to focus on their obligation to their constituents rather than on what the TransCanada oil company wants. That those senators seem to have listened to us is another thing contributing to our cheerful outlook.
These are good things, yes - but we're not getting all kumbaya on you. There are still plenty of clowns out there and as Nate Silver noted, one of those clowns could still win the Presidential election next year, if President Obama doesn't. That says nothing about all the clowns ramping up to run for other major offices next year. ['Joe The Plumber' (who isn't even a licensed plumber ) for Congress? As Charlie Brown would say, "Good Grief."]
There are still plenty of ways our fellow Americans and other humans on the planet could send our collective futures spinning into disaster. It's crunch time for the supercommittee - and their success is anything but guaranteed. Also, right-wing, anti-worker billionaires are attempting to buy the election on the anti-worker bill next week in Ohio.
The Senate, for the THIRD time in recent weeks, has decided it won't even allow DISCUSSION of one of the President's ideas to create jobs.
Even that doesn't entirely disappoint us, though, as Senator Ben Nelson - who voted with the Republicans to NOT allow discussion of legislation to help create jobs - has said he might not run for Senate next year. Considering the way Nelson's voting record is littered with votes against the best interest of Americans, we're inclined to think that it might not be such a bad thing if Ben sat this one out.
Some of our generic hopefulness may even have to do with the turn towards the holiday season, and all the festivities the season brings.
Whatever the reasoning, we're entering this weekend looking ahead to the next few months - and even into 2012 - with a bit of hope.
From our perspective, it's not a bad way to start a weekend.
Some of that positivity comes from seeing the beginnings of the next phase of the Occupy movement. We're not talking about the vandalism in places like Oakland. Actually, what gives us hope is the fact that both members of Occupy Oakland and the Oakland Police Department agree that Occupiers didn't cause the damage and confrontations that some media outlets (especially those on the right) have been focusing on.
In truth, both police and legitimate protesters discovered it was "anarchists and provocateurs" - people who've purposely wanted to make the Occupiers look bad - who are to blame for the destruction and mayhem.
Police and protesters, coming together, to agree on the facts. There's a positive turn.
We were also pleased by the work of the Nebraska Legislature this week, which settled on five different potential bills to solve the problem of the Keystone pipeline. Many of Nebraska's state senators are Daily Felltoon readers, and we were chief among the voices earlier this week encouraging them to focus on their obligation to their constituents rather than on what the TransCanada oil company wants. That those senators seem to have listened to us is another thing contributing to our cheerful outlook.
These are good things, yes - but we're not getting all kumbaya on you. There are still plenty of clowns out there and as Nate Silver noted, one of those clowns could still win the Presidential election next year, if President Obama doesn't. That says nothing about all the clowns ramping up to run for other major offices next year. ['Joe The Plumber' (who isn't even a licensed plumber ) for Congress? As Charlie Brown would say, "Good Grief."]
There are still plenty of ways our fellow Americans and other humans on the planet could send our collective futures spinning into disaster. It's crunch time for the supercommittee - and their success is anything but guaranteed. Also, right-wing, anti-worker billionaires are attempting to buy the election on the anti-worker bill next week in Ohio.
The Senate, for the THIRD time in recent weeks, has decided it won't even allow DISCUSSION of one of the President's ideas to create jobs.
Even that doesn't entirely disappoint us, though, as Senator Ben Nelson - who voted with the Republicans to NOT allow discussion of legislation to help create jobs - has said he might not run for Senate next year. Considering the way Nelson's voting record is littered with votes against the best interest of Americans, we're inclined to think that it might not be such a bad thing if Ben sat this one out.
Some of our generic hopefulness may even have to do with the turn towards the holiday season, and all the festivities the season brings.
Whatever the reasoning, we're entering this weekend looking ahead to the next few months - and even into 2012 - with a bit of hope.
From our perspective, it's not a bad way to start a weekend.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
When Hell Freezes Over...
As members of our staff travel around the country, we often get into discussions, with friends and strangers alike, that more often than not involve politics.
These discussions are sometimes effective to help educate, inform, and change the minds of people, including us. Much of the time, though, we realize that these discussions are simply words, people venting to one another, looking for some kind of answers to questions that make all of us - left, right, and center - shake our heads in collective frustration.
Putting words into majority-supported, positive political action isn't something Americans have been well-known for, over the last few decades. Our U.S. Congress - both House and Senate - has become the poster child for this kind of failure of conviction, with actions like the reaffirmation of the official U.S. motto by the House on Wednesday.
The legislatures in many statehouses across the country aren't much better.
This lack of action - almost everywhere - is one reason we were so excited to see what happened in Oakland on Wednesday, with the first general strike anywhere in the country in 65 years.
Most of our readers, and our entire staff, have never really experienced a general strike, so we understand that some of you may be a bit concerned about what is involved in a general strike.
In short, a general strike shuts down almost everything, in a predominantly peaceful way. Businesses, activity at ports, bus service, and most other economic activity shuts down, due to workers not showing up or even just walking away for a day. In short, a general strike is what happens when a significant majority of people follow the example of the character Howard Beale, in the legendary film Network, when he says, "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!"
Contrary to the propaganda from some on the right, the general strike in Oakland has thus far been very effective in what they've been attempting to do - stop the flow of normal activities for a time.
We agree with others who've made the important point that the general strike in Oakland isn't about the recent police brutality or even the Occupy Oakland movement and its disputes with the city. The general strike in Oakland is about the same thing the Occupy movement has been about, both in the U.S. and abroad - that REAL actions need to be taken by those in positions of power, and that those politicians need to take responsibility.
With that in mind, it's also important to remember that in a system of government like ours, in the U.S., it's WE who have the power, - and the responsibility. We can take responsibility for things that are hard choices, like President Obama has done this week with the economy and with the final decision on whether the Keystone pipeline will even be allowed to go through. Or we can deny, obfuscate, and generally make excuses, like Herman Cain about allegations against him and his campaign, or Rick Perry, with his recent odd speech in New Hampshire.
With respect to the inequalities that lay at the heart of the Occupy movement's concerns, like it or not, Americans will soon have a choice. They can follow the president's lead and be responsible, pushing their politicians to clean up the system, and raise the real collection of tax dollars from those who have been wealthy enough so far to skate out on paying their fair share.
Or we can cry, whine, accuse others, and attempt to avoid the responsibility of accepting the reality that - as a country - we're simply not collecting the taxes we need to operate our government effectively.
For those people who've said, in the past, that the rich in America will have to pay their fair share only when hell freezes over?
Let's just say we don't think it's only the weather in Nebraska that's getting colder.
These discussions are sometimes effective to help educate, inform, and change the minds of people, including us. Much of the time, though, we realize that these discussions are simply words, people venting to one another, looking for some kind of answers to questions that make all of us - left, right, and center - shake our heads in collective frustration.
Putting words into majority-supported, positive political action isn't something Americans have been well-known for, over the last few decades. Our U.S. Congress - both House and Senate - has become the poster child for this kind of failure of conviction, with actions like the reaffirmation of the official U.S. motto by the House on Wednesday.
The legislatures in many statehouses across the country aren't much better.
This lack of action - almost everywhere - is one reason we were so excited to see what happened in Oakland on Wednesday, with the first general strike anywhere in the country in 65 years.
Most of our readers, and our entire staff, have never really experienced a general strike, so we understand that some of you may be a bit concerned about what is involved in a general strike.
In short, a general strike shuts down almost everything, in a predominantly peaceful way. Businesses, activity at ports, bus service, and most other economic activity shuts down, due to workers not showing up or even just walking away for a day. In short, a general strike is what happens when a significant majority of people follow the example of the character Howard Beale, in the legendary film Network, when he says, "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!"
Contrary to the propaganda from some on the right, the general strike in Oakland has thus far been very effective in what they've been attempting to do - stop the flow of normal activities for a time.
We agree with others who've made the important point that the general strike in Oakland isn't about the recent police brutality or even the Occupy Oakland movement and its disputes with the city. The general strike in Oakland is about the same thing the Occupy movement has been about, both in the U.S. and abroad - that REAL actions need to be taken by those in positions of power, and that those politicians need to take responsibility.
With that in mind, it's also important to remember that in a system of government like ours, in the U.S., it's WE who have the power, - and the responsibility. We can take responsibility for things that are hard choices, like President Obama has done this week with the economy and with the final decision on whether the Keystone pipeline will even be allowed to go through. Or we can deny, obfuscate, and generally make excuses, like Herman Cain about allegations against him and his campaign, or Rick Perry, with his recent odd speech in New Hampshire.
With respect to the inequalities that lay at the heart of the Occupy movement's concerns, like it or not, Americans will soon have a choice. They can follow the president's lead and be responsible, pushing their politicians to clean up the system, and raise the real collection of tax dollars from those who have been wealthy enough so far to skate out on paying their fair share.
Or we can cry, whine, accuse others, and attempt to avoid the responsibility of accepting the reality that - as a country - we're simply not collecting the taxes we need to operate our government effectively.
For those people who've said, in the past, that the rich in America will have to pay their fair share only when hell freezes over?
Let's just say we don't think it's only the weather in Nebraska that's getting colder.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Standing Up To The Blockheads
For over a month and a half now, as the Occupy movement has grown from a small group of people protesting near Wall Street to protests across the country and around the globe, there's been a certain segment of the population that has looked down on the protesters and derisively asked , "What do those people think they're doing?" Many in the media have already answered that question, more than once - including us - yet the anti-Occupiers continue to insist that the Occupy movement produce some kind of definable change as proof that the movement is more than the disgusting caricature painted by those who enjoy the status quo.
With great pride, Occupiers, and those that stand with them, now have some tangible proof that our union around the subject of inequality can indeed make a difference.
Late Monday, more than a month after Bank of America announced plans to charge customers new fees - for the customers to use their own money - Bank of America backed down, along with virtually every other major bank. While some senior banking officials have denied on record that the Occupy movement directly influenced their decision, they've admitted that the movement has been at least partially responsible for the banks retreat.
It hasn't been just the marches and the protests at bank branches around the country that changed that minds of those responsible at the banks.
Efforts like Move Your Money, GetMoneyOut.com [which our webmaster has been part of], and New Bottom Line - an effort to help cities and local governments move their money away from the big banks - all have some responsibility for putting the banks and Wall Street on notice.
The unified efforts of these different and diverse groups of Americans seems to have given those politicians who support them, especially the President and those in the Democratic Party, a boost of courage to begin standing up to do what the American people have been clamoring for.
Democratic House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer and 182 other House Democrats, including both liberals and Blue Dogs, are demanding the removal of major government policy changes that John Boehner and the Republicans are trying to slip into smaller spending bills that must pass later this month.
Democrats in the U.S. Senate aren't sitting down anymore either. New Mexico Senator Tom Udall officially proposed a constitutional amendment on Tuesday to reverse two highly controversial Supreme Court decisions - 1976's Buckley v. Valeo, which said campaign money is a form of speech, and the nearly universally hated 2010 Citizens United decision, which has opened the floodgates to virtually unlimited campaign spending.
President Obama has also been emboldened, as he's pushed forward on his "We Can't Wait" initiatives to help homeowners with their mortgages, help returning veterans find jobs, help college graduates weighed down by debt, and help the ill and elderly get the medicines they need.
All this, and still most Republicans in D.C. refuse to do anything to help the American people that might also help the President or Democrats.
This willfully ignorant "head in a box" attitude has disgusted even fellow Republicans. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a prominent Republican in President Obama's Cabinet, openly admitted that his party no longer wants to do anything to help the American people - because they're myopically focused on their sole aim of beating President Obama.
We're not saying all these changes stem solely from the Occupy movement, because they don't - at least, not directly.
That said, no one can ignore that the wheels of progress seem to be turning slightly faster again, since people everywhere have been coming together, uniting with the Occupy movement and against the inequality that's been the focus of the movement.
To those people who still seem to have their head locked in a box, refusing to acknowledge the power of the people, our advice is simple:
Quit being a block head.
With great pride, Occupiers, and those that stand with them, now have some tangible proof that our union around the subject of inequality can indeed make a difference.
Late Monday, more than a month after Bank of America announced plans to charge customers new fees - for the customers to use their own money - Bank of America backed down, along with virtually every other major bank. While some senior banking officials have denied on record that the Occupy movement directly influenced their decision, they've admitted that the movement has been at least partially responsible for the banks retreat.
It hasn't been just the marches and the protests at bank branches around the country that changed that minds of those responsible at the banks.
Efforts like Move Your Money, GetMoneyOut.com [which our webmaster has been part of], and New Bottom Line - an effort to help cities and local governments move their money away from the big banks - all have some responsibility for putting the banks and Wall Street on notice.
The unified efforts of these different and diverse groups of Americans seems to have given those politicians who support them, especially the President and those in the Democratic Party, a boost of courage to begin standing up to do what the American people have been clamoring for.
Democratic House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer and 182 other House Democrats, including both liberals and Blue Dogs, are demanding the removal of major government policy changes that John Boehner and the Republicans are trying to slip into smaller spending bills that must pass later this month.
Democrats in the U.S. Senate aren't sitting down anymore either. New Mexico Senator Tom Udall officially proposed a constitutional amendment on Tuesday to reverse two highly controversial Supreme Court decisions - 1976's Buckley v. Valeo, which said campaign money is a form of speech, and the nearly universally hated 2010 Citizens United decision, which has opened the floodgates to virtually unlimited campaign spending.
President Obama has also been emboldened, as he's pushed forward on his "We Can't Wait" initiatives to help homeowners with their mortgages, help returning veterans find jobs, help college graduates weighed down by debt, and help the ill and elderly get the medicines they need.
All this, and still most Republicans in D.C. refuse to do anything to help the American people that might also help the President or Democrats.
This willfully ignorant "head in a box" attitude has disgusted even fellow Republicans. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a prominent Republican in President Obama's Cabinet, openly admitted that his party no longer wants to do anything to help the American people - because they're myopically focused on their sole aim of beating President Obama.
We're not saying all these changes stem solely from the Occupy movement, because they don't - at least, not directly.
That said, no one can ignore that the wheels of progress seem to be turning slightly faster again, since people everywhere have been coming together, uniting with the Occupy movement and against the inequality that's been the focus of the movement.
To those people who still seem to have their head locked in a box, refusing to acknowledge the power of the people, our advice is simple:
Quit being a block head.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Welcome And Unwelcome Guests
We apologize in advance if we're a bit distracted this week. We're excited that our friend and Paul's fellow cartoonist, Gustavo Rodriguez, is going to be our guest for a few days.
As the current staff cartoonist for El Nuevo Herald, the Spanish-language version of The Miami Herald, and as a naturalized American citizen, who emigrated from Cuba, Gustavo has had more than his fair share of dealing with bureaucracy and strange government rules under both so-called capitalism and so-called socialism. We're sure Mr. Rodriguez will be willing to discuss many of those differences with the journalism and other students he'll meet at Peru State College this week. You can even join him at the recital hall tonight at 7, local time, or in the Student Center, Wednesday morning, starting at 11.
The likelihood is that many of the individuals Gustavo addresses will listen intently, and some may even learn to think about a few subjects in a different way.
We're not so confident that the members of Nebraska's Unicameral will follow the lead of those young college students.
Today marks the beginning of the special session for that body of lawmakers, and they have only one topic to consider: the Keystone XL pipeline.
As we've mentioned previously and extensively, even allowing the existence of a new Keystone pipeline over the Ogallala Aquifer endangers the water supply for the entire middle section of the United States - where large portions of the world's food are grown.
Not surprisingly, TransCanada, the massive oil company desperate to build this pipeline, hired lawyers - not scientists or pipeline engineers - to release a statement on Monday to attempt to tie the hands of the Nebraska Legislature, and limit the scope and vision of the task that lies before them.
Like our welcome guest, Gustavo, and the students at Peru State, we hope our suggestions here to members of the Nebraska Legislature will help widen that scope back to where it should be.
In short, we're aware the pipeline is likely to ultimately go through Nebraska, regardless of what its opponents do or say.
That doesn't mean TransCanada should be able to bully and push the citizens of Nebraska around, in a similar way to the unwelcome and unethical influence exerted by Wall Street banks on the American political landscape.
The Nebraska Legislature MUST seriously consider not only its legal obligation to its own citizens, but also the fact that, should the pipeline leak oil or other contaminants into the aquifer, virtually every other state in the central portion of the country may sue Nebraska for destroying their water supplies as well.
Furthermore, while there are already Federal standards for safety along the pipeline, Nebraska currently has almost no significant binding legislation regarding the cleanup of a natural disaster, like a massive oil spill.
Finally, one of Nebraska's extended neighbors has already dealt with the bullies of Big Oil over a similar nature - and won. Nebraska's senators and governor should warmly welcome advice from Montana's Governor Brian Schweitzer and Montana's legislators, on the problems they experienced - and how they could have handled their own pipeline re-routing challenge better.
There are ways in life to make some interactions with even unwelcome guests more successful.
Many times, those methods for success can be learned from the guests we'd rather interact with.
As the current staff cartoonist for El Nuevo Herald, the Spanish-language version of The Miami Herald, and as a naturalized American citizen, who emigrated from Cuba, Gustavo has had more than his fair share of dealing with bureaucracy and strange government rules under both so-called capitalism and so-called socialism. We're sure Mr. Rodriguez will be willing to discuss many of those differences with the journalism and other students he'll meet at Peru State College this week. You can even join him at the recital hall tonight at 7, local time, or in the Student Center, Wednesday morning, starting at 11.
The likelihood is that many of the individuals Gustavo addresses will listen intently, and some may even learn to think about a few subjects in a different way.
We're not so confident that the members of Nebraska's Unicameral will follow the lead of those young college students.
Today marks the beginning of the special session for that body of lawmakers, and they have only one topic to consider: the Keystone XL pipeline.
As we've mentioned previously and extensively, even allowing the existence of a new Keystone pipeline over the Ogallala Aquifer endangers the water supply for the entire middle section of the United States - where large portions of the world's food are grown.
Not surprisingly, TransCanada, the massive oil company desperate to build this pipeline, hired lawyers - not scientists or pipeline engineers - to release a statement on Monday to attempt to tie the hands of the Nebraska Legislature, and limit the scope and vision of the task that lies before them.
Like our welcome guest, Gustavo, and the students at Peru State, we hope our suggestions here to members of the Nebraska Legislature will help widen that scope back to where it should be.
In short, we're aware the pipeline is likely to ultimately go through Nebraska, regardless of what its opponents do or say.
That doesn't mean TransCanada should be able to bully and push the citizens of Nebraska around, in a similar way to the unwelcome and unethical influence exerted by Wall Street banks on the American political landscape.
The Nebraska Legislature MUST seriously consider not only its legal obligation to its own citizens, but also the fact that, should the pipeline leak oil or other contaminants into the aquifer, virtually every other state in the central portion of the country may sue Nebraska for destroying their water supplies as well.
Furthermore, while there are already Federal standards for safety along the pipeline, Nebraska currently has almost no significant binding legislation regarding the cleanup of a natural disaster, like a massive oil spill.
Finally, one of Nebraska's extended neighbors has already dealt with the bullies of Big Oil over a similar nature - and won. Nebraska's senators and governor should warmly welcome advice from Montana's Governor Brian Schweitzer and Montana's legislators, on the problems they experienced - and how they could have handled their own pipeline re-routing challenge better.
There are ways in life to make some interactions with even unwelcome guests more successful.
Many times, those methods for success can be learned from the guests we'd rather interact with.
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