Regardless of how Mother Nature chooses to act today, the priorities of millions of Americans will be focused on the Opening Day of Major League Baseball, rather than whatever they're supposed to be doing at work. That simple fact only serves to drive home the point - priorities matter.
That truism was incredibly obvious over the last few days in states from Washington, to Nebraska, to New York.
In Nebraska, as we'd warned back in January, the priorities of the Republican Governor became blisteringly apparent over the weekend. Nebraska's Gov. Dave Heineman took out his veto pen over the weekend and gutted funding for job training and development in order to get a shiny new plane for the governor's office as well as tax cuts for the state's wealthiest landowners.
Unfortunately, the Democratic Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, wasn't really much better than his GOP counterpart in Nebraska. Cuomo and New York's state legislature did approve a state budget on Saturday that would provide $300 million for prekindergarten in New York City - a laudable accomplishment. However, Cuomo and his state legislature also approved tax rebates and tax cuts for some of the wealthiest people in New York state, while allowing most of New York state's highly corrupt campaign financing laws to continue.
Meanwhile, in Washington state, the death toll continued to rise, as volunteers and authorities continued to dig for the bodies of friends and loved ones buried by the massive mudslide last week. Even as more bodies have been unearthed, so have details proving the priorities of 'Evergreen State' officials have been more about greenbacks than green thumbs. Warnings about building and logging in the valley where the mudslide occurred go back decades. Yet, unsurprisingly, both developers and loggers were allowed to work and build in areas that scientific studies said they should have left alone - resulting in yet another completely preventable tragedy for dozens of families.
Don't even get us started about how unprepared L.A. is for another major earthquake - or how GM could have prevented a whole series of deaths years ago, but thanks to the corporate culture in America, hid their deadly defect instead.
That politics in America is broken should surprise no one. That Americans seem so ready to let our collective priorities slide so easily as we slip into a hereditary oligarchy, however, surprises even us. If you don't believe it, just check the horse race predictions for 2016. Rich Republicans are once again pushing to have Jeb Bush run for President in 2016, while Democrats are counting on Hillary Clinton to run - and win. The backup candidates for each major party aren't much better, as they include the son of longtime libertarian hero Ron Paul, and Andrew Cuomo, who we already mentioned.
From New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's gratuitous groveling before billionaire Sheldon Adelson, to the billionaire Koch Brothers pushing a wave of restrictive voting laws because Republicans today can't win fairly run elections with their extremist rhetoric, the new billionaire political bosses are trying to buy Democracy outright, and kill it.
Sadly, the stomach-turning reality too few have the courage to admit is that millions of Americans seem willing to let the top one-hundredth percent of the wealthiest buy their government out from under them - just as long as that 99.99% aren't prevented from watching their favorite sports or fantasy entertainment.
We understand and even laud the need to get away from the realities of life for a mental health day every once in a while - and opening day is a better time than many to play hooky in the collective opinion of our staff. Too many Americans aren't just playing hooky, though - they've almost permanently abdicated their responsibilities as citizen legislators.
As all the examples we focused on today clearly display: Americans need to get their priorities in order. The future of the country, and indeed the world, depends on it.
Monday, March 31, 2014
Friday, March 28, 2014
Pluses & Minuses Of The Modern World
In political news-speak, Friday used to be known as "trash day." That was the day of the week when - if you were involved in politics or government - you tended to release information you'd rather the public didn't see. With the 24/7 internet media cycle we all live in today, however, stories about almost anyone's latest stupid, ugly, or unfortunate actions won't just be buried in the late edition of the Friday afternoon newspaper - the one almost nobody would read - and forgotten.
That means that whether you're a Democratic politican in San Francisco getting arrested in corruption raids, or a Republican Governor of New Jersey trying to sell an obviously fictionalized legal defense, your dirty laundry isn't going to be easily swept under the proverbial rug.
As both journalists and citizens, that's a change from how things used to be - one that all our staff members tend to think of as a positive development.
Sadly, for every 'yin' there's a 'yang', and in the world of media, that 'yang' remains the incredibly destructive 'Citizens United' decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which has allowed the billionaire political bosses and their flood of nearly unlimited campaign propaganda.
As Americans all over the country have already been finding out this election year, the peace and quiet of their own homes is already being disturbed by the disgusting, filth-and-lies oozing monster of effectively unlimited campaign contributions buying ad after ad on our televisions, radios, and computers.
From the Koch Brothers and their ads which have been repeatedly debunked, to billionaire Sheldon Adelson who outwardly is admitting he's trying to buy the best candidates to win in 2016, the corrosive effects of too much poorly regulated money in our political system is all over our media. That kind of oozing media monster isn't always effective - as the ridiculous castration ad from Joni Earnst in Iowa, and the incredibly out-of-touch Duke-over-Kentucky ad of Mitch McConnell have already proven this cycle.
Not all stories about money and politics in America today are bad, however.
What if we told you there's a young man, who has instant access to one of the richest men in the world, and who's aiming to get money almost completely out of politics in America. His plan would include getting all those political ads off your TV...in the next seven years.
That young man's name is Jonathan Soros, son of well-known multibillionaire George Soros - though, as he's displayed in more than one arena, he's more than just the scion of one of the wealthiest persons on Earth.
David Freedlander, in Politico Magazine, just published a fantastic focus piece on the younger Soros, and his efforts with the Friends of Democracy PAC. That's a political action committee the young private investment operator is aiming to use to get money almost completely out of politics here in America. While the younger Soros is working on legislative efforts both in Congress, and in his own home state of New York, he has no problem taking on unsavory oligarchs like Tom Perkins, as Soros did in Reuters just last month.
Of course, we're skeptical of whether he'll be successful - but we're actually more than a bit hopeful he will be, for all kinds of reasons, both personal and professional.
One of the biggest reasons we hope Jonathan Soros is successful...? We'd like to watch a little bit of TV, sometime in the near future, without having to face the monster of bad political advertising in our off time.
At least we have a wonderful tool known as the remote control to help us avoid those silly ads, for now.
Ahhhh, the wonders of the modern world.
That means that whether you're a Democratic politican in San Francisco getting arrested in corruption raids, or a Republican Governor of New Jersey trying to sell an obviously fictionalized legal defense, your dirty laundry isn't going to be easily swept under the proverbial rug.
As both journalists and citizens, that's a change from how things used to be - one that all our staff members tend to think of as a positive development.
Sadly, for every 'yin' there's a 'yang', and in the world of media, that 'yang' remains the incredibly destructive 'Citizens United' decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which has allowed the billionaire political bosses and their flood of nearly unlimited campaign propaganda.
As Americans all over the country have already been finding out this election year, the peace and quiet of their own homes is already being disturbed by the disgusting, filth-and-lies oozing monster of effectively unlimited campaign contributions buying ad after ad on our televisions, radios, and computers.
From the Koch Brothers and their ads which have been repeatedly debunked, to billionaire Sheldon Adelson who outwardly is admitting he's trying to buy the best candidates to win in 2016, the corrosive effects of too much poorly regulated money in our political system is all over our media. That kind of oozing media monster isn't always effective - as the ridiculous castration ad from Joni Earnst in Iowa, and the incredibly out-of-touch Duke-over-Kentucky ad of Mitch McConnell have already proven this cycle.
Not all stories about money and politics in America today are bad, however.
What if we told you there's a young man, who has instant access to one of the richest men in the world, and who's aiming to get money almost completely out of politics in America. His plan would include getting all those political ads off your TV...in the next seven years.
That young man's name is Jonathan Soros, son of well-known multibillionaire George Soros - though, as he's displayed in more than one arena, he's more than just the scion of one of the wealthiest persons on Earth.
David Freedlander, in Politico Magazine, just published a fantastic focus piece on the younger Soros, and his efforts with the Friends of Democracy PAC. That's a political action committee the young private investment operator is aiming to use to get money almost completely out of politics here in America. While the younger Soros is working on legislative efforts both in Congress, and in his own home state of New York, he has no problem taking on unsavory oligarchs like Tom Perkins, as Soros did in Reuters just last month.
Of course, we're skeptical of whether he'll be successful - but we're actually more than a bit hopeful he will be, for all kinds of reasons, both personal and professional.
One of the biggest reasons we hope Jonathan Soros is successful...? We'd like to watch a little bit of TV, sometime in the near future, without having to face the monster of bad political advertising in our off time.
At least we have a wonderful tool known as the remote control to help us avoid those silly ads, for now.
Ahhhh, the wonders of the modern world.
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Eating Their Own
As we mentioned on Tuesday, Democratic candidates across America are looking at this year's elections with some anxiety as they face multiple structural problems - not the least of which is a tradition of low voter turnout for Democratic voters in midterm elections.
That's really no surprise, especially in the U.S. Senate races. Six years ago, in 2008, it was a wave election for Democrats. Not only did Americans elect our first mixed-race President ever, they also elected large numbers of Democrats to both houses of Congress, many from places Democratic candidates rarely-if-ever have success. Six years later - one short Senate term - Democrats now have to defend many of those same Senate seats in geographic regions that haven't seriously favored progressive candidates since the 1960s.
That doesn't mean Republicans will have a problem-free election season. Outside of the normal racism, classism, and misogyny that modern Republicans have become known for, Republicans have several other serious challenges this year - especially in typically reliable "red" states.
As extremist right-wing ideology has continued to take over the GOP during the past decade, much of the mass media, including cable "news" channels have chosen to pander to those same extremists, due to the many millions of dollars in right-wing propaganda advertising. That ideological slant has, in-turn, driven more moderate, sensible Republicans away from politics.
For Republicans, that's often left a pile of candidates - like the six Republicans now competing to become Nebraska's next governor - that either believe the extremism they preach, or pretend to be extremists, so as not to be "outed" as somewhat sane.
That fact alone already makes many of the Republican primary races this year appear more like a dinner party for cannibals.
Another major problem Republicans are facing is the challenge of not cannibalizing their voters by focusing exclusively on a single subject that - frankly - voters don't want to hear about anymore. Following that campaign plan could leave Republicans with one of the same major problems Democrats are now worried about: Turning off potential voters enough that they won't get out and vote.
For a political party that was planning on having their candidates run exclusively against Obamacare, that single-subject shutdown could become a major complication for Republicans.
Indeed, as Dylan Scott of TPM noted yesterday, the latest Kaiser Family Foundation survey confirms - Americans are increasingly making it clear they're done talking about Obamacare. According to the survey, about half of Republican voters, and more than fifty percent of all Americans of any other political affiliation have said the topic no longer needs to be discussed, as it's been settled.
What's even more problematic for Republicans, as Kevin Drum made clear in Mother Jones on Wednesday, is that as problems with the ACA get resolved, opposition to Obamacare continues to shrink, and Americans are liking it more. That means the issue has been settled - but not in a way that benefits those on the political right.
That leaves Republicans running for office this year chomping at the bit, with no accomplishments to brag about, no serious policy distinctions to bite into - and only personal attacks on each other as a topic they can sink their teeth into.
All we can say to that is 'Bon appetit.'
That's really no surprise, especially in the U.S. Senate races. Six years ago, in 2008, it was a wave election for Democrats. Not only did Americans elect our first mixed-race President ever, they also elected large numbers of Democrats to both houses of Congress, many from places Democratic candidates rarely-if-ever have success. Six years later - one short Senate term - Democrats now have to defend many of those same Senate seats in geographic regions that haven't seriously favored progressive candidates since the 1960s.
That doesn't mean Republicans will have a problem-free election season. Outside of the normal racism, classism, and misogyny that modern Republicans have become known for, Republicans have several other serious challenges this year - especially in typically reliable "red" states.
As extremist right-wing ideology has continued to take over the GOP during the past decade, much of the mass media, including cable "news" channels have chosen to pander to those same extremists, due to the many millions of dollars in right-wing propaganda advertising. That ideological slant has, in-turn, driven more moderate, sensible Republicans away from politics.
For Republicans, that's often left a pile of candidates - like the six Republicans now competing to become Nebraska's next governor - that either believe the extremism they preach, or pretend to be extremists, so as not to be "outed" as somewhat sane.
That fact alone already makes many of the Republican primary races this year appear more like a dinner party for cannibals.
Another major problem Republicans are facing is the challenge of not cannibalizing their voters by focusing exclusively on a single subject that - frankly - voters don't want to hear about anymore. Following that campaign plan could leave Republicans with one of the same major problems Democrats are now worried about: Turning off potential voters enough that they won't get out and vote.
For a political party that was planning on having their candidates run exclusively against Obamacare, that single-subject shutdown could become a major complication for Republicans.
Indeed, as Dylan Scott of TPM noted yesterday, the latest Kaiser Family Foundation survey confirms - Americans are increasingly making it clear they're done talking about Obamacare. According to the survey, about half of Republican voters, and more than fifty percent of all Americans of any other political affiliation have said the topic no longer needs to be discussed, as it's been settled.
What's even more problematic for Republicans, as Kevin Drum made clear in Mother Jones on Wednesday, is that as problems with the ACA get resolved, opposition to Obamacare continues to shrink, and Americans are liking it more. That means the issue has been settled - but not in a way that benefits those on the political right.
That leaves Republicans running for office this year chomping at the bit, with no accomplishments to brag about, no serious policy distinctions to bite into - and only personal attacks on each other as a topic they can sink their teeth into.
All we can say to that is 'Bon appetit.'
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