For those of our readers affected by the flooding going on throughout the Midwest, the phrase, "It could be worse," is small comfort, indeed.
At this point though, if you're directly affected by this flooding situation, small comfort, your family, and your laptop or a cell phone may be the greater share of your possessions not crammed into your friend's and relative's garages.
With that in mind, we're giving you a list of people today that have it just as bad as you, in different ways.
We can start with President Obama.
If we ignore those extremists on the far right who never think the President can do anything correctly, there is still a whole heaping helping of major issues that have just crashed down on his desk.
Yes, he's got some responsibility through FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers for the floods happening from Montana to Mississippi. Those agencies are also still taking care of the tornado disasters in Joplin and Tuscaloosa, and the massive fire in Arizona.
Then there is a new coalition of Democratic and Republican members of Congress who've decided they all want to play Commander In Chief. This group has rapidly decided - after a decade - that America suddenly needs to get out of Afghanistan, regardless of what those involved with operating the war say. Many of these folks were also the same people who insisted that President Obama listen to the Generals on the ground before he made any decisions to stay or go.
At the same time Mr. Obama is dealing with the "Let's leave Afghanistan NOW" coalition, he's also having to face another bipartisan group of lawmakers trying to sue him over the War Powers Act over the United States' involvement, through NATO, in Libya. If that weren't enough, the President's legal advisors at the State Department tried to explain their opinions by saying that American forces haven't REALLY been involved in hostilities in Libya - it's just been our little robot aircraft flying over Libya, while our troops outside of Libya refuel the fighter jets of other NATO countries.
That was just President Obama's Wednesday.
You could also be Mitt Romney, who appears to be running into a candidate who has contradicted virtually everything he's said in the last few years - himself.
Or you could be Newt Gingrich, abandoned by his entire campaign staff - except his wife, who seems to know exactly how to keep Newt exactly where she wants him.
Or Tim Pawlenty, who - after wimping out on confronting his chief rival Mr. Romney, at the debate Monday night - is pretty much considered a political lightweight by anyone interested in the campaign.
You could even be Congressman Weiner, who had to face his wife, as she returned home from a long, overseas business trip as chief assistant to the Secretary of State. Now THERE'S a fellow whose shoes we're happy to NOT be occupying.
So... if you're waiting out the flood waters in the Midwest today - or if you've suddenly found your house filled with extended relatives who don't have anywhere else to go - as uncomfortable as you are, remember there are still other people out there who are up to their neck in things just as nasty as floodwater.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Separate And Unequal Can Only Lead To One Outcome
It's been disgusting to note the multiple double standards in full effect in America over the last two weeks as the Anthony Weiner non-sex "sex scandal" has flashed itself in front of nearly every media outlet in the nation.
It's obvious that one set of people - congresspersons, televangelists, sports and entertainment stars - can make horrible personal mistakes, and be crucified by the media in ways that make Pontius Pilate look like an amateur. These same people - who have done nothing legally wrong, by the way - can then go to resort-style "Treatment Centers" and come out a short time later "cured" of whatever personal failing they were convicted of, in the court of public opinion.
The rest of us, of course, if we find ourselves in a similar situation, merely have to face the chin music of our spouses when we get home.
It should be obvious that these actions have set up a separate and unequal system of injustice in America - both for those who are digitally tarred and feathered, as well as for the rest of us.
Now, our description of this tiered system may have brought a smile or smirk to your face - but the attitude of the entitled is nothing to laugh about.
In Wisconsin, that attitude is about to start a statewide civil war.
In case you missed it, the Wisconsin Supreme Court, in a decision led by a judge who is a former head of that state's Republican Party, handed extremist right-wing Governor Scott Walker a victory on Tuesday. That happened when the court overturned the stay on the unconstitutional union-killing bill passed under shady circumstances in the Wisconsin Legislature.
If this decision stands, as it appears it will, not only will workers in Wisconsin no longer have the right to organize for fair wages and benefits. The state's GOP is also set to roll back child labor laws, wipe out protections for renters (both private and commercial), and turn the public school system into a private, voucher-based system (albeit, paid for with public tax dollars). Even small beer brewers are being attacked.
We feel the need to remind you, dear reader, that we do not support or recommend violence as a means to redress one's grievances, even with actions as heinous as those happening in Wisconsin.
That being said, the actions behind these attitudes - those of Wisconsin's extremist, regressive Republicans - are ones that will not likely end well for people on any side of this conflict.
A rash of recall elections has been scheduled for this summer and fall - and it's nearly certain that Democratic and Republican candidates will even be running in each other's primary elections. Millions of dollars is expected to flow into the state from outside sources.
The state has become a laughing stock, and we've had more than one contact tell us businesses are beginning to leave. Meanwhile the Republican Party continues to become fully engaged in an ideological war of words and legal maneuvers against their Democratic counterparts that may yet turn into actual fist fights - or worse.
As our friend and colleague John Nichols said recently, "it is not too late for responsible Republicans... to reject the crude pay-to-play politics that Walker and the Fitzgeralds have imported from outside Wisconsin."
We hope that he's right.
As a wise Republican President once said, "A house divided against itself cannot stand."
It's obvious that one set of people - congresspersons, televangelists, sports and entertainment stars - can make horrible personal mistakes, and be crucified by the media in ways that make Pontius Pilate look like an amateur. These same people - who have done nothing legally wrong, by the way - can then go to resort-style "Treatment Centers" and come out a short time later "cured" of whatever personal failing they were convicted of, in the court of public opinion.
The rest of us, of course, if we find ourselves in a similar situation, merely have to face the chin music of our spouses when we get home.
It should be obvious that these actions have set up a separate and unequal system of injustice in America - both for those who are digitally tarred and feathered, as well as for the rest of us.
Now, our description of this tiered system may have brought a smile or smirk to your face - but the attitude of the entitled is nothing to laugh about.
In Wisconsin, that attitude is about to start a statewide civil war.
In case you missed it, the Wisconsin Supreme Court, in a decision led by a judge who is a former head of that state's Republican Party, handed extremist right-wing Governor Scott Walker a victory on Tuesday. That happened when the court overturned the stay on the unconstitutional union-killing bill passed under shady circumstances in the Wisconsin Legislature.
If this decision stands, as it appears it will, not only will workers in Wisconsin no longer have the right to organize for fair wages and benefits. The state's GOP is also set to roll back child labor laws, wipe out protections for renters (both private and commercial), and turn the public school system into a private, voucher-based system (albeit, paid for with public tax dollars). Even small beer brewers are being attacked.
We feel the need to remind you, dear reader, that we do not support or recommend violence as a means to redress one's grievances, even with actions as heinous as those happening in Wisconsin.
That being said, the actions behind these attitudes - those of Wisconsin's extremist, regressive Republicans - are ones that will not likely end well for people on any side of this conflict.
A rash of recall elections has been scheduled for this summer and fall - and it's nearly certain that Democratic and Republican candidates will even be running in each other's primary elections. Millions of dollars is expected to flow into the state from outside sources.
The state has become a laughing stock, and we've had more than one contact tell us businesses are beginning to leave. Meanwhile the Republican Party continues to become fully engaged in an ideological war of words and legal maneuvers against their Democratic counterparts that may yet turn into actual fist fights - or worse.
As our friend and colleague John Nichols said recently, "it is not too late for responsible Republicans... to reject the crude pay-to-play politics that Walker and the Fitzgeralds have imported from outside Wisconsin."
We hope that he's right.
As a wise Republican President once said, "A house divided against itself cannot stand."
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Going For Broke On Jobs
For most of the last two-and-a-half years, since President Obama first came to office, we've been repeating the mantra of "Jobs, jobs, jobs" as the biggest single problem facing our country. While President Obama has made measurable headway in bringing the country back from the Bush recession, America still isn't back where we'd like it to be.
If you were looking to see any GOP presidential candidate seriously address the issue of how they'd bring more jobs to the U.S. economy, at the Republican Presidential Debate on CNN last night, you wouldn't have heard any answers coming from that bunch of presidential hopefuls. Complaints, yes. Criticizing, yes. Legitimate plans on how to fix the problem? No.
Meanwhile, Democrats in the U.S. Senate have been screaming at the President to focus on job creation, as we pointed out in the links section of yesterday's Daily Felltoon. Yes, the President did meet with his Jobs Council in North Carolina yesterday - and the President did present a plan for more high-tech jobs, unexpectedly calling to extend the payroll tax break for workers. But those meager measures are far from the explosive and far-reaching efforts that the top economists have been calling for. Even former White House aide Lawrence Summers, an economist who has been both revered and reviled, said this past weekend, "There is no time for fatalism or for traditional political agendas."
We're more than willing to admit our skepticism a week ago Monday, when we doubted House Democrats who claimed they were going to push for more infrastructure spending. We were even more surprised last week when Senate Democrats presented an actual plan for infrastructure investment which would create more jobs in our economy.
What truly floored us, however, was when the White House said the jobs bill that Senate Democrats were proposing was too expensive.
As writer Richard Eskow pointed out last Friday, the Senate Democrats' plan was only an additional $600M in public works spending over the next three years. In the scope of the Federal budget, a $600 million dollar investment in something we need anyway is practically small change. And as Mr. Summers pointed out, deferring infrastructure maintenance and replacement - which creates jobs - at this point is insane. We have unemployment rates in the construction field of nearly 20%, and interest rates for 10-year bonds (standard in infrastructure financing) at an insane 3 percent rate.
In short, it will likely never get cheaper for America to invest in itself again.
We're not sure of how else to say it to President Obama - and anyone else who wants to succeed in politics between now and November of next year. So we'll simply do in words that which they should be carrying out in action, and go a bit overboard.
Push the damn investment policies, sir. All the way, one hundred and twenty thousand percent. Quit being afraid of making moderate voters mad. Y'know what REALLY makes voters mad? Being unemployed for years at time.
Mr. President, quit worrying about what the Republicans and Tea Partiers are going to say and do. Many of them will NEVER vote for you. Quit trying to make nice with them - they can go to hell. As a recent Pew poll points out, sane Americans have begun to tune out the liars on the extremist right on the topic of Obama and Israel. If you stand up and show America you are willing to go to the mat for working people, Mr. President, it's likely more Americans will ignore the other lies those on the extremist right have also been spewing.
Who cares if you - or Democrats - put forward one proposal or one million proposals to put Americans back to work, that House Republicans will never, ever pass? The action of throwing yourselves on that sword again and again would at least make VERY clear, Mr. President, that you are on the side of Americans who want to work and can't find jobs - and those who oppose those efforts are not.
In short, Mr. President, what do you have to lose? If America doesn't have significantly more jobs by November 2012, you'll likely be joining the ranks of the unemployed, anyway.
It's time to go all out, sir.
If you were looking to see any GOP presidential candidate seriously address the issue of how they'd bring more jobs to the U.S. economy, at the Republican Presidential Debate on CNN last night, you wouldn't have heard any answers coming from that bunch of presidential hopefuls. Complaints, yes. Criticizing, yes. Legitimate plans on how to fix the problem? No.
Meanwhile, Democrats in the U.S. Senate have been screaming at the President to focus on job creation, as we pointed out in the links section of yesterday's Daily Felltoon. Yes, the President did meet with his Jobs Council in North Carolina yesterday - and the President did present a plan for more high-tech jobs, unexpectedly calling to extend the payroll tax break for workers. But those meager measures are far from the explosive and far-reaching efforts that the top economists have been calling for. Even former White House aide Lawrence Summers, an economist who has been both revered and reviled, said this past weekend, "There is no time for fatalism or for traditional political agendas."
We're more than willing to admit our skepticism a week ago Monday, when we doubted House Democrats who claimed they were going to push for more infrastructure spending. We were even more surprised last week when Senate Democrats presented an actual plan for infrastructure investment which would create more jobs in our economy.
What truly floored us, however, was when the White House said the jobs bill that Senate Democrats were proposing was too expensive.
As writer Richard Eskow pointed out last Friday, the Senate Democrats' plan was only an additional $600M in public works spending over the next three years. In the scope of the Federal budget, a $600 million dollar investment in something we need anyway is practically small change. And as Mr. Summers pointed out, deferring infrastructure maintenance and replacement - which creates jobs - at this point is insane. We have unemployment rates in the construction field of nearly 20%, and interest rates for 10-year bonds (standard in infrastructure financing) at an insane 3 percent rate.
In short, it will likely never get cheaper for America to invest in itself again.
We're not sure of how else to say it to President Obama - and anyone else who wants to succeed in politics between now and November of next year. So we'll simply do in words that which they should be carrying out in action, and go a bit overboard.
Push the damn investment policies, sir. All the way, one hundred and twenty thousand percent. Quit being afraid of making moderate voters mad. Y'know what REALLY makes voters mad? Being unemployed for years at time.
Mr. President, quit worrying about what the Republicans and Tea Partiers are going to say and do. Many of them will NEVER vote for you. Quit trying to make nice with them - they can go to hell. As a recent Pew poll points out, sane Americans have begun to tune out the liars on the extremist right on the topic of Obama and Israel. If you stand up and show America you are willing to go to the mat for working people, Mr. President, it's likely more Americans will ignore the other lies those on the extremist right have also been spewing.
Who cares if you - or Democrats - put forward one proposal or one million proposals to put Americans back to work, that House Republicans will never, ever pass? The action of throwing yourselves on that sword again and again would at least make VERY clear, Mr. President, that you are on the side of Americans who want to work and can't find jobs - and those who oppose those efforts are not.
In short, Mr. President, what do you have to lose? If America doesn't have significantly more jobs by November 2012, you'll likely be joining the ranks of the unemployed, anyway.
It's time to go all out, sir.
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