As we head toward the first regular weekend on the downhill side of 2013, food and hunger are on our minds, for multiple reasons. Conveniently, we're also looking at a feast of news stories to choose from today.
There's the bitter fruit of the GOP that continues to rot that political party from the inside out. This was exemplified by a mostly party-line vote in the House on Thursday, on the Farm and Food Bill. With that vote House Republicans made it clear they expect all of America to shell out billions of dollars in subsidies to Big Agriculture. At the same time, they also expect Americans who are poor - including children and the elderly - to go hungry indefinitely, as Republicans refused to fund any portion of the traditional food aid package, primarily food stamps.
There is the spicy meat of the immigration bill too, though it also seems that legislative topic may have passed its 'use by' date, also thanks to the obstinate and ignorant extremists in the House GOP. The stale nutcake of the George Zimmerman trial is also on the news buffet, though frankly, as people who have a bit more refined palate for news, we're pretty tired of that tabloid fodder.
Of course, the fiery stew of turmoil in the Middle East continues to boil and make a very explosive mess. The Syrian civil war is rolling on, and sectarian violence continues in Iraq, even as Egypt's latest revolution attempts to move toward its next phase.
For all the choices on the news menu today though, since it's Friday, we're looking forward to the weekend, and to our collective guilty media pleasure - specifically, the HBO show 'The Newsroom,' which begins it's second season this Sunday.
For far too many spoiled, bitter pundits inside the Beltway and in New York, hating on Aaron Sorkin's 'The Newsroom' during the show's first season became the "cool" thing to do. Even many writers and journalists whose parents haven't bankrolled their dabbling in news media threw potshots and low blows at the show, in desperate attempts to appear cool.
For many of those working in the media who haven't had traditional paths to success, who've busted their backsides for years and worked their asses to positions of prominence, the show is a humorous, overwrought paean to what great media - and specifically, the news media - really should be.
For all the snark and bitter "hate-watching" comments many media hacks have already been gleefully tossing around, the stories produced by "The Newsroom" parallel many of the tales told in newsrooms our staff and friends have worked in or known over the last thirty years - stories that primarily only members of the media have seen, heard, or experienced regularly. We certainly don't think those stories should remain just the purview of those in the media.
We'll admit - many of our professional colleagues tend to turn their noses up cynically at fare like 'The Newsroom,' that are basically stories they've already had a taste of before.
That's certainly not something we'll do this weekend, with the comfort food for the spirit that is what "The Newsroom" really is for us and others in the media, who are lucky enough to work ourselves to the bone doing something we love.
TV, in general, may not be the perfect form of entertainment escapism - but 'The Newsroom' gives us a taste of what media, done well, should really be like.
Friday, July 12, 2013
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Staring Down The Sacred Cows
For several months now, we've generally left the politics of our home state, Nebraska, off these pages. In part that decision has been motivated by the fact that - at least in an above board capacity - there hasn't really been any major political action going on at home.
Of course, we've also had plenty of political follies and failures to keep our attention as we've watched Virginia politics implode, from our DC office. The massive, messy, and unbelievably corrupt scandalpalooza of Virginia's Gov. Bob McDonnell is more real - and likely more devastating - than any of the fake scandals the mainstream media has been screaming about lately. There's also been the usual circus - politically and otherwise - to keep our attention in our South Florida office, including the trial of George Zimmerman.
In our Nebraska office, however, we've been waiting for the other political shoe to finally drop on the failed tax reform plans that Nebraska's GOP Governor Dave Heineman has been longing for since at least the beginning of 2012.
Wednesday, that shoe finally fell as the Nebraska Tax Modernization Committee - created this year by the Nebraska Legislature - began to get to work to decide which of Nebraska's sacred cows of tax policy are likely to end up on the political grill next year. However, for Governor Heineman and those like him hoping the committee will give them a reason to slash taxes, the news this week may have actually put the tax cows they'd like to put the budget knife to out of reach.
In case you missed the news, according to corporate-leaning cable channel CNBC, Nebraska now ranks fourth in the nation for best economic climate for business. While Gov. Heineman tried to put a shine on that news this week, news of Nebraska's successful business climate directly counters a key reason Heineman gave for wanting to cut taxes in both 2012 and 2013 - namely that Nebraska needed to cut taxes more in order to be favorable to business.
For Heineman and his tax cut addicted friends there was even more bad news this week. On Tuesday, it was announced that Nebraska's fiscal year, which finished June 30, was incredibly robust, as the year finished with significantly more money in the state's coffers than had been expected.
For state oversight agencies like the auditor's office, state ag and water management projects, schools - including Nebraska's six state colleges and universities, and even basic health care programs, this bounty of tax revenues should be great news, as Nebraska may finally be able to properly fund its fiscal responsibilities and obligations, after several years of deep painful cuts.
Unsurprisingly, Governor Heineman greeted the news about Nebraska's business climate and budget bonus in the selfish, foolish, arrogant way that we've come to expect from modern Republican politicians who live in the pockets of their wealthy donors. Heineman and company immediately began talking about giving tax cuts to their friends, instead of wisely noting that now is time to repair Nebraska's investments and to prepare for future economic storms and droughts.
While we applaud the idea of modernizing tax structures and laws everywhere, including in Nebraska, some of the basic rules about taxes and budgets remain the same as they always have - including the problems of staring down the 'sacred cows' on government budget sheets. The most basic fact remains the same: In the good times, the government should repair, replace, invest, and save, so that the bad times won't be nearly so bad.
Until voters elect officials truly willing to take on sacred cows - like the idea that any unexpected bonus tax revenue should always go to the rich instead of being reinvested back into the state - don't expect anything but bull from people like Nebraska's Gov. Heineman.
Of course, we've also had plenty of political follies and failures to keep our attention as we've watched Virginia politics implode, from our DC office. The massive, messy, and unbelievably corrupt scandalpalooza of Virginia's Gov. Bob McDonnell is more real - and likely more devastating - than any of the fake scandals the mainstream media has been screaming about lately. There's also been the usual circus - politically and otherwise - to keep our attention in our South Florida office, including the trial of George Zimmerman.
In our Nebraska office, however, we've been waiting for the other political shoe to finally drop on the failed tax reform plans that Nebraska's GOP Governor Dave Heineman has been longing for since at least the beginning of 2012.
Wednesday, that shoe finally fell as the Nebraska Tax Modernization Committee - created this year by the Nebraska Legislature - began to get to work to decide which of Nebraska's sacred cows of tax policy are likely to end up on the political grill next year. However, for Governor Heineman and those like him hoping the committee will give them a reason to slash taxes, the news this week may have actually put the tax cows they'd like to put the budget knife to out of reach.
In case you missed the news, according to corporate-leaning cable channel CNBC, Nebraska now ranks fourth in the nation for best economic climate for business. While Gov. Heineman tried to put a shine on that news this week, news of Nebraska's successful business climate directly counters a key reason Heineman gave for wanting to cut taxes in both 2012 and 2013 - namely that Nebraska needed to cut taxes more in order to be favorable to business.
For Heineman and his tax cut addicted friends there was even more bad news this week. On Tuesday, it was announced that Nebraska's fiscal year, which finished June 30, was incredibly robust, as the year finished with significantly more money in the state's coffers than had been expected.
For state oversight agencies like the auditor's office, state ag and water management projects, schools - including Nebraska's six state colleges and universities, and even basic health care programs, this bounty of tax revenues should be great news, as Nebraska may finally be able to properly fund its fiscal responsibilities and obligations, after several years of deep painful cuts.
Unsurprisingly, Governor Heineman greeted the news about Nebraska's business climate and budget bonus in the selfish, foolish, arrogant way that we've come to expect from modern Republican politicians who live in the pockets of their wealthy donors. Heineman and company immediately began talking about giving tax cuts to their friends, instead of wisely noting that now is time to repair Nebraska's investments and to prepare for future economic storms and droughts.
While we applaud the idea of modernizing tax structures and laws everywhere, including in Nebraska, some of the basic rules about taxes and budgets remain the same as they always have - including the problems of staring down the 'sacred cows' on government budget sheets. The most basic fact remains the same: In the good times, the government should repair, replace, invest, and save, so that the bad times won't be nearly so bad.
Until voters elect officials truly willing to take on sacred cows - like the idea that any unexpected bonus tax revenue should always go to the rich instead of being reinvested back into the state - don't expect anything but bull from people like Nebraska's Gov. Heineman.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
The Monsters Of DC
There are many kinds of monsters in Washington, DC, from the political types right down to the people who allow their pets to tear up the neighborhood as they walk around the block.
When it comes to the monster that is "The Sequester," or more appropriately, the federal budget sequestration cuts that went into effect March 1 of this year, we've been saying for almost a year now that the sequester monster would not only bite, but would hurt the job market and possibly do significant damage to the economy. Thankfully, we haven't been the only ones sounding this alarm.
From journalists Amanda Terkel and Sam Stein at the Huffington Post to former White House economist Jared Bernstein, along with a host of others, story after story has proven the sequester is turning out to be the monster the Obama Administration warned it would be.
From Meals On Wheels, to Head Start for kids, from furloughed Pentagon workers to firefighters in the middle of wildfire season - this dinosaur of an idea continues to get worse. Contrary to a recent sop piece for conservatives in the Washington Post, the facts prove the sequester is seriously hurting the economy.
Sadly, the only people who could do anything to fix the problems created by sequestration are in the 113th Congress, who are currently are on a pace to be the least effective Congress in recent history. So far, this Congress has only passed 15 bills so far. Even the previous 112th Congress - itself a model of failure − had passed 23 bills by this point in their tenure.
We can blame the entire Congress for not getting this monster under control - and to some degree, we should. While Sen. Harry Reid may finally tackle Senate filibuster reform this month, he should have done it years ago. Admittedly, Reid isn't the only Democratic member in either the House or Senate too timid to stand up to the real problem in our Federal government.
That problem, as Greg Sargent so perfectly articulated on both Monday and Tuesday of this week, is that the current Republican Party is deeply committed to "Sabotage Governing." Effectively, that means the current GOP - like an angry, selfish toddler - is willing to destroy anything and everything unless they get their way, 100%, which is neither possible or wise. As Sargent points out, this fact is one that "dirty hippie liberal blogger types" like us and many others have been saying for years.
That Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and the 'First Read' crew at MSNBC also are now strongly echoing the same message, that Republicans really do carry the majority of the blame is surprising, in a good way. Their admission may be finally be the turning point for those in DC with their heads buried solidly inside the Beltway, who far too often lean on the false equivalence that "both parties" do everything the same.
The fact is, the two parties are nowhere near the same anymore. That the GOP is currently engaged in an obviously desperate gamble to push away minorities while going after even more of the white, rural, ignorant vote is evidence enough of that.
The final signal that the GOP is no longer honestly interested in governing as a means of solving the problems of their constituents should be that the Republican Party and its "leadership" in both the House and Senate still selfishly refuse to even discuss the words "sequester" or "sequestration." Congressional Republicans have made it clear they'd rather hurt millions of Americans over the next decade by doing nothing to fix the sequester, than take the political pain themselves by doing the right thing and getting this monster under control. To us, that just proves the real monster in Washington isn't some pet budgetary creation.
It's the clueless, gutless cowards in Congress.
When it comes to the monster that is "The Sequester," or more appropriately, the federal budget sequestration cuts that went into effect March 1 of this year, we've been saying for almost a year now that the sequester monster would not only bite, but would hurt the job market and possibly do significant damage to the economy. Thankfully, we haven't been the only ones sounding this alarm.
From journalists Amanda Terkel and Sam Stein at the Huffington Post to former White House economist Jared Bernstein, along with a host of others, story after story has proven the sequester is turning out to be the monster the Obama Administration warned it would be.
From Meals On Wheels, to Head Start for kids, from furloughed Pentagon workers to firefighters in the middle of wildfire season - this dinosaur of an idea continues to get worse. Contrary to a recent sop piece for conservatives in the Washington Post, the facts prove the sequester is seriously hurting the economy.
Sadly, the only people who could do anything to fix the problems created by sequestration are in the 113th Congress, who are currently are on a pace to be the least effective Congress in recent history. So far, this Congress has only passed 15 bills so far. Even the previous 112th Congress - itself a model of failure − had passed 23 bills by this point in their tenure.
We can blame the entire Congress for not getting this monster under control - and to some degree, we should. While Sen. Harry Reid may finally tackle Senate filibuster reform this month, he should have done it years ago. Admittedly, Reid isn't the only Democratic member in either the House or Senate too timid to stand up to the real problem in our Federal government.
That problem, as Greg Sargent so perfectly articulated on both Monday and Tuesday of this week, is that the current Republican Party is deeply committed to "Sabotage Governing." Effectively, that means the current GOP - like an angry, selfish toddler - is willing to destroy anything and everything unless they get their way, 100%, which is neither possible or wise. As Sargent points out, this fact is one that "dirty hippie liberal blogger types" like us and many others have been saying for years.
That Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and the 'First Read' crew at MSNBC also are now strongly echoing the same message, that Republicans really do carry the majority of the blame is surprising, in a good way. Their admission may be finally be the turning point for those in DC with their heads buried solidly inside the Beltway, who far too often lean on the false equivalence that "both parties" do everything the same.
The fact is, the two parties are nowhere near the same anymore. That the GOP is currently engaged in an obviously desperate gamble to push away minorities while going after even more of the white, rural, ignorant vote is evidence enough of that.
The final signal that the GOP is no longer honestly interested in governing as a means of solving the problems of their constituents should be that the Republican Party and its "leadership" in both the House and Senate still selfishly refuse to even discuss the words "sequester" or "sequestration." Congressional Republicans have made it clear they'd rather hurt millions of Americans over the next decade by doing nothing to fix the sequester, than take the political pain themselves by doing the right thing and getting this monster under control. To us, that just proves the real monster in Washington isn't some pet budgetary creation.
It's the clueless, gutless cowards in Congress.
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