April 3rd, 2011
Rachel Maddow profiles the incredible implosion of support for the GOP in the wake of their radical, anti-middle class actions around the country.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Smart Republican Vs. Murdoch Drone
April 3rd, 2011
I am no fan of Peter Schiff's economic philosophies. That said, he is quite brilliant and well informed. The clip below from Media Matters is a truly spectacular exchange between Mr. Schiff and the Murdoch Device's Eric Bolling.
I am no fan of Peter Schiff's economic philosophies. That said, he is quite brilliant and well informed. The clip below from Media Matters is a truly spectacular exchange between Mr. Schiff and the Murdoch Device's Eric Bolling.
For The Record...
April 3rd, 2011
I do not know why I can only fly upside down... But it's how I fly...
I do not know why I can only fly upside down... But it's how I fly...
Hostage Taking
April 2nd, 2011
by F. Grey Parker
A follow up to "Raise. Taxes. Dammit."
Is there anybody out there who actually remembers the 80s? Seriously. I am not talking about the "Morning in America," "Rocky"-versus-the-mutant-Russian at the box office, skinny-tie-and-fluorescent-shoes 80s.
I am talking about the world as it actually existed.
I have been thinking a lot lately about the Iran-Contra affair. Not in the context of it's having been the worst violation of Constitutional limits in Presidential history. Not through the prism of obvious moral arguments. I have been thinking about it as an exemplar of strategically flawed elite behavior.
We gave the Iranians millions of dollars worth of weapons covertly in a bizarre attempt to get them to exert influence over Hezbollah and secure the release of a handful of American hostages in Lebanon. We also really hoped they would convince the crazy bastards to, you know, maybe stop taking more hostages. Some of our more dubious operators also made a pretty penny off of it on the side.
As fate would have it, surprise, it didn't work. The occasional release of a captive at the cost of treasure and a further destabilized Middle East (not to mention Central America) was generally followed by another kidnapping. This went on, in secret, for several years.
The lesson we failed to learn runs deeper than merely one of unwise military brinkmanship. The behavior of most opaque bureaucracies and their fundamental corruptibility are well illustrated by these events. This is about an insistence on deal making with the untrustworthy. This is about the simple truism that once you pay a ransom, you will be regarded as willing to pay more ransom. This is about having the basic sense to call it a day when a course of action continues to produce the same failed outcomes. This is also about stopping these trade-offs through the application of transparency no matter what benefits the players involved have carved out for themselves in the margins and in spite of the harsh readjustments that naturally follow.
The full failure of all things Reaganesque is on display here. And yet, this flawed thinking threatens us today in other ways. The same willful disregard of both facts as they unfold and the subversion of American traditions has permeated our economic policy.
Jobs creation didn't just recently grind to a halt in America. It has been pretty much collapsed for 10 straight years. In the same period, America has foisted more tax breaks, more new loopholes and more ways for wealth to be transferred from the majority to the minority than at any time in the previous eight decades. All this has been done in the name of promoting "growth." We have been told the same thing during every cycle since 2001; that the hiring will only happen when there is less "uncertainty." We have been lectured-to that we must let the "job creators" keep more of the fruits of our labor. Eventually, we are told to believe, this strategy will result in glorious rewards.
But there has been no positive in this equation for a vast majority of us for a long time. America's corporations basically send in lobbyists who tell our legislators that "growth" and "jobs" are explicitly being held hostage by "job crushing" taxes and social policy. Our representatives pay the ransom with our money. Then, the K street bagmen come back with more demands from the kidnappers. And we pay. And we pay. And we pay. Every time we we pay the ransom, there are still more hostages.
Once in a while, a big to-do is made of some new deal that we are assured represents a sign that we are entering a new period of expansion. Photos are taken of the bureaucrats grinning widely and pronouncing that they "have done it." Ribbons are cut. Here come the good times. But it's all for show. That is to say, the corporations have just released a hostage. The cameras then stop, the plotting recommences and they return to their usual activities.
The hostages here are ourselves. Most of us have still refused to acknowledge that we are, in fact, being held hostage. For some, in particular the so-called "Tea Party," there is also a serious case of Stockholm Syndrome at work. They have been fully subsumed into the world-view of their kidnappers.
How the hell to stop this using the tools at hand is a bigger and more frightening proposition than our nation has faced in a century. We really only have two choices, both horrible. We either drag the system screaming back to reality or we allow it collapse under it's own slothful weight. But choosing our own future has always worked better in America than allowing it to be chosen for us.
We can start by choosing not to pay any more ransoms.
by F. Grey Parker
A follow up to "Raise. Taxes. Dammit."
I am talking about the world as it actually existed.
I have been thinking a lot lately about the Iran-Contra affair. Not in the context of it's having been the worst violation of Constitutional limits in Presidential history. Not through the prism of obvious moral arguments. I have been thinking about it as an exemplar of strategically flawed elite behavior.
We gave the Iranians millions of dollars worth of weapons covertly in a bizarre attempt to get them to exert influence over Hezbollah and secure the release of a handful of American hostages in Lebanon. We also really hoped they would convince the crazy bastards to, you know, maybe stop taking more hostages. Some of our more dubious operators also made a pretty penny off of it on the side.
As fate would have it, surprise, it didn't work. The occasional release of a captive at the cost of treasure and a further destabilized Middle East (not to mention Central America) was generally followed by another kidnapping. This went on, in secret, for several years.
The lesson we failed to learn runs deeper than merely one of unwise military brinkmanship. The behavior of most opaque bureaucracies and their fundamental corruptibility are well illustrated by these events. This is about an insistence on deal making with the untrustworthy. This is about the simple truism that once you pay a ransom, you will be regarded as willing to pay more ransom. This is about having the basic sense to call it a day when a course of action continues to produce the same failed outcomes. This is also about stopping these trade-offs through the application of transparency no matter what benefits the players involved have carved out for themselves in the margins and in spite of the harsh readjustments that naturally follow.
The full failure of all things Reaganesque is on display here. And yet, this flawed thinking threatens us today in other ways. The same willful disregard of both facts as they unfold and the subversion of American traditions has permeated our economic policy.
Jobs creation didn't just recently grind to a halt in America. It has been pretty much collapsed for 10 straight years. In the same period, America has foisted more tax breaks, more new loopholes and more ways for wealth to be transferred from the majority to the minority than at any time in the previous eight decades. All this has been done in the name of promoting "growth." We have been told the same thing during every cycle since 2001; that the hiring will only happen when there is less "uncertainty." We have been lectured-to that we must let the "job creators" keep more of the fruits of our labor. Eventually, we are told to believe, this strategy will result in glorious rewards.
But there has been no positive in this equation for a vast majority of us for a long time. America's corporations basically send in lobbyists who tell our legislators that "growth" and "jobs" are explicitly being held hostage by "job crushing" taxes and social policy. Our representatives pay the ransom with our money. Then, the K street bagmen come back with more demands from the kidnappers. And we pay. And we pay. And we pay. Every time we we pay the ransom, there are still more hostages.
Once in a while, a big to-do is made of some new deal that we are assured represents a sign that we are entering a new period of expansion. Photos are taken of the bureaucrats grinning widely and pronouncing that they "have done it." Ribbons are cut. Here come the good times. But it's all for show. That is to say, the corporations have just released a hostage. The cameras then stop, the plotting recommences and they return to their usual activities.
The hostages here are ourselves. Most of us have still refused to acknowledge that we are, in fact, being held hostage. For some, in particular the so-called "Tea Party," there is also a serious case of Stockholm Syndrome at work. They have been fully subsumed into the world-view of their kidnappers.
How the hell to stop this using the tools at hand is a bigger and more frightening proposition than our nation has faced in a century. We really only have two choices, both horrible. We either drag the system screaming back to reality or we allow it collapse under it's own slothful weight. But choosing our own future has always worked better in America than allowing it to be chosen for us.
We can start by choosing not to pay any more ransoms.
Quote Of The Day
April 3rd, 2011
"I wish that every human life might be pure transparent freedom." -- Simone de Beauvoir
Saturday, April 2, 2011
The Real Tea Party
April 2nd, 2011
The fact that modern so-called "Tea Partiers" so dutifully carry the water of corporate interests runs contrary to the very intent of the actual Tea Party Rebellions. I have been trying in vain to explain this to folks for the last year. Thom Hartmann does it better. Listen for yourselves.
Quote Of The Day - Here And Now Edition
April 2nd, 2011
"Mitch McConnell appears to be appeasing his far-right base with all the finesse of a coke addict plucking at the rubber band shin bone in "Operation." -- A recent observation on the continuing budget battle from Huff Post Hill
Quote Of The Day 2
April 2nd, 2011
"When you hear 'no immediate danger' [from nuclear radiation] then you should run away as far and as fast as you can." -- Alexey Yablokov, member of the Russian academy of sciences, and adviser to President Gorbachev at the time of Chernobyl
Quote Of The Day
April 2nd, 2011
"A conservative is one who admires radicals centuries after they're dead." -- Leo Rosten
Friday, April 1, 2011
Totally Random Let's All Stay Sane Moment
April 1st, 2011
Vince Guaraldi... Snoopy... A full viewing should really make your whole day better.
Vince Guaraldi... Snoopy... A full viewing should really make your whole day better.
Raise. Taxes. Dammit.
March 30th, 2011
by F. Grey Parker
I have never seen so many self-described "adults" issue public declarations that a glorious America can be achieved exclusively by allowing the rich to eat their cake and have it too. Honest liberals and conservatives are increasingly coalescing around what I have been saying for years; That is, that Reaganomic idealism is as naive as pure socialism. It is non-sustainable. It wreaks havoc over time. Most notably, it's childish. It is predicated on economic faith rather than statistical science. It's not a philosophy; it's a tee-shirt.
America faces a crippling crisis of revenue and not spending. Say it with me. "Revenue." The next person you hear who makes dire pronouncements about how "destructive" the United States' corporate or highest marginal individual tax rates are is either willfully stupid or they are lying.
One of the great ironies of the success American "conservatives" have achieved in utterly corrupting our tax code is that we, the American taxpayer, are essentially underwriting two thirds of America's publicly traded corporations. The right has, for all intensive purposes, begun nationalizing some of our businesses with the slick caveat that we receive no dividends for our investment. This is not hyperbole. For example, "Exxon Mobil made $19 billion in profits in 2009. Exxon not only paid no federal income taxes, it actually received a $156 million rebate from the IRS, according to its SEC filings."
Exxon Mobil made no commitment to domestic workforce expansion. They made no commitment to invest in our infrastructure. They made no commitment to keep more of their currency reserves in country. In fact, in 2009 they outsourced 1 billion dollars in contracts to India alone. They did nothing for the United States of America that warrants middle class taxpayers forking over $156 million dollars. Unless we are investors. When do we receive our shares? This is the real government Ponzi scheme, not Social Security.
The supply-side argument for decades has been that the more we "let businesses keep" the more they will invest. That this has turned out to be so provably untrue is completely ignored by "free market" fundamentalists. There is no arguing with those in our country who have bought into this nonsense. It turns out that the more we let the rich keep, the more they keep. Surprise. Cash hoarding takes less work than "innovation." It also involves less "risk." Most importantly, it incurs the least "uncertainty" as far as financial choices are concerned.
My "radical" suggestion since roughly 2003, when I first actually read Bush 2's jaw droppingly stupid tax proposals , has been to suggest a return to the Eisenhower Era code. Seriously. I am endorsing the economic worldview of one of our nation's great Republicans. I am not the only one who has noticed the absurd vilification that this sort of talk receives.
Andrew Sullivan wrote recently:
"Income tax rates are now lower than they were under Ronald Reagan and far lower than they were under Eisenhower. And yet it has become a Norquistian non-negotiable that no taxes can be raised at all on anyone, let alone the beneficiaries of the last thirty years - and those who differ must be "leftists" - even when the US is facing debt of historic and dangerous proportions. Someone advocating what Eisenhower was perfectly comfortable with would be regarded by the Republican right today as a communist. And yet, of course, Eisenhower was emphatically not a Communist, whatever the John Birch society believed. In retrospect, he might even be seen as the most successful small-c conservative of the 20th century. "
Sully went on to cite a tough piece by Glenn Greenwald titled Billionaire Self Pity and The Koch Brothers which I also recommend.
It's worse than this, though. There really are no more loopholes to create when you've reduced the majority corporate tax burden to zero. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder may be tipping the hand we can expect to be played nationally by these folks. Having no other way to give our money to corporations in his state, he has now devised a scheme that actually raises taxes on the poor and middle class to do so. This is with no new expansion, construction or hiring guarantees. I am sure the corporations will do the right thing with our money.
The class war is on. The rich declared it on the rest of us. That they are winning is a testament not only to their long term planning and well organized propaganda, but to the inherent trust ordinary Americans had developed over several generations in a brighter tomorrow. They have used our own optimism against us. I'll spare you the frog in a cold pot metaphor but it is increasingly apt. The solution is also incredibly simple... Raise taxes, dammit.
by F. Grey Parker
I have never seen so many self-described "adults" issue public declarations that a glorious America can be achieved exclusively by allowing the rich to eat their cake and have it too. Honest liberals and conservatives are increasingly coalescing around what I have been saying for years; That is, that Reaganomic idealism is as naive as pure socialism. It is non-sustainable. It wreaks havoc over time. Most notably, it's childish. It is predicated on economic faith rather than statistical science. It's not a philosophy; it's a tee-shirt.
America faces a crippling crisis of revenue and not spending. Say it with me. "Revenue." The next person you hear who makes dire pronouncements about how "destructive" the United States' corporate or highest marginal individual tax rates are is either willfully stupid or they are lying.
One of the great ironies of the success American "conservatives" have achieved in utterly corrupting our tax code is that we, the American taxpayer, are essentially underwriting two thirds of America's publicly traded corporations. The right has, for all intensive purposes, begun nationalizing some of our businesses with the slick caveat that we receive no dividends for our investment. This is not hyperbole. For example, "Exxon Mobil made $19 billion in profits in 2009. Exxon not only paid no federal income taxes, it actually received a $156 million rebate from the IRS, according to its SEC filings."
Exxon Mobil made no commitment to domestic workforce expansion. They made no commitment to invest in our infrastructure. They made no commitment to keep more of their currency reserves in country. In fact, in 2009 they outsourced 1 billion dollars in contracts to India alone. They did nothing for the United States of America that warrants middle class taxpayers forking over $156 million dollars. Unless we are investors. When do we receive our shares? This is the real government Ponzi scheme, not Social Security.
The supply-side argument for decades has been that the more we "let businesses keep" the more they will invest. That this has turned out to be so provably untrue is completely ignored by "free market" fundamentalists. There is no arguing with those in our country who have bought into this nonsense. It turns out that the more we let the rich keep, the more they keep. Surprise. Cash hoarding takes less work than "innovation." It also involves less "risk." Most importantly, it incurs the least "uncertainty" as far as financial choices are concerned.
My "radical" suggestion since roughly 2003, when I first actually read Bush 2's jaw droppingly stupid tax proposals , has been to suggest a return to the Eisenhower Era code. Seriously. I am endorsing the economic worldview of one of our nation's great Republicans. I am not the only one who has noticed the absurd vilification that this sort of talk receives.
Andrew Sullivan wrote recently:
"Income tax rates are now lower than they were under Ronald Reagan and far lower than they were under Eisenhower. And yet it has become a Norquistian non-negotiable that no taxes can be raised at all on anyone, let alone the beneficiaries of the last thirty years - and those who differ must be "leftists" - even when the US is facing debt of historic and dangerous proportions. Someone advocating what Eisenhower was perfectly comfortable with would be regarded by the Republican right today as a communist. And yet, of course, Eisenhower was emphatically not a Communist, whatever the John Birch society believed. In retrospect, he might even be seen as the most successful small-c conservative of the 20th century. "
Sully went on to cite a tough piece by Glenn Greenwald titled Billionaire Self Pity and The Koch Brothers which I also recommend.
It's worse than this, though. There really are no more loopholes to create when you've reduced the majority corporate tax burden to zero. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder may be tipping the hand we can expect to be played nationally by these folks. Having no other way to give our money to corporations in his state, he has now devised a scheme that actually raises taxes on the poor and middle class to do so. This is with no new expansion, construction or hiring guarantees. I am sure the corporations will do the right thing with our money.
The class war is on. The rich declared it on the rest of us. That they are winning is a testament not only to their long term planning and well organized propaganda, but to the inherent trust ordinary Americans had developed over several generations in a brighter tomorrow. They have used our own optimism against us. I'll spare you the frog in a cold pot metaphor but it is increasingly apt. The solution is also incredibly simple... Raise taxes, dammit.
Take The Pledge!
April 1st, 2011
"I hereby pledge to inform others, even those I find difficult, regarding the duplicity and chicanery of the modern Republican party. I will provide examples supported by facts and easily referenced sources. I will do this through personal contact, letters to the editor of my local paper, distribution of informative flyers door to door, and any other method which fits my life's circumstance. I will do this in an on-going manner and will not allow gross ignorance nor pervasive apathy, which I will surely encounter, to dissuade me."
Frankly, we are all on board here at The Hand. From The Book Of Cletis:
The Cletis Stump Pledge
"I hereby pledge to inform others, even those I find difficult, regarding the duplicity and chicanery of the modern Republican party. I will provide examples supported by facts and easily referenced sources. I will do this through personal contact, letters to the editor of my local paper, distribution of informative flyers door to door, and any other method which fits my life's circumstance. I will do this in an on-going manner and will not allow gross ignorance nor pervasive apathy, which I will surely encounter, to dissuade me."
Quote Of The Day - Here and Now Edition
April 1st, 2011
We are going to endeavor to do a current QOTD every day at the suggestion of our friend "Cletis." Feel free to flood my inbox with suggestions. It might help to balance out all the hate mail.
"The point was that Republicans are always talking about deregulation and big government. And I always say their philosophy is small government for the big guy and big government for the little guy." -- Rep Scott Randolph (D-FL)
"The point was that Republicans are always talking about deregulation and big government. And I always say their philosophy is small government for the big guy and big government for the little guy." -- Rep Scott Randolph (D-FL)
For a real jaw-dropper, here is the quote in context.
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| copyright © 2008 Barry Deutsch |
If Corporations Are People...
April 1st, 2011
...then perhaps we should judge them accordingly. From the film "The Corporation" which we strongly recommend.
...then perhaps we should judge them accordingly. From the film "The Corporation" which we strongly recommend.
Time To Make A Buck Off Fukushima?
April 1st, 2011
Please donate to Japanese relief by clicking HERE
The crisis in Japan is already making some speculators very rich. The third paragraph in a Bloomberg article this morning detailing the ongoing irradiation of the area surrounding the Fukushima Dai-Ichi meltdown reads as follows:
"Cattle futures surged to a record in Chicago yesterday on speculation demand for U.S. beef would increase in Japan after radiation from the stricken nuclear plant contaminated food supplies. Tyson Foods Inc., the top U.S. meat processor, said the country may increase imports."
When most of us see tragedy unfolding, we think of the impact on the lives of those involved. But there are always those savvy players who see opportunity. Look at Larry Kudlow's shockingly honest off-the-cuff remarks about the human versus economic toll immediately following the tsunami:
"The human toll here looks to be much worse than the economic toll and we can be grateful for that."
For all the heat he took over this, what went largely unsaid is how widely held his world-view has become. Listen closely to his whole statement. It never occurred to him that what he had just said was in any way wrong. Frankly, I found his apology more offensive. Oh, he was sorry he said it, alright, but it is "normal" for many in the West to view markets in a moral vacuum. We should be discussing this. But we aren't. We move along after every outbreak of war, disaster or carnage to the next exploitive media frenzy. We rarely take time to shine a light upon those who stick around to make a killing after the killing.
I have complained before about the especially predatory potential of commodities trading. The fiscal right and Libertarians in particular bristle at the suggestion that this might be prevented via some form of regulation. They live in a bubble where there is an inherently benevolent outcome of allowing the "market" to run free. Those who dare to even suggest that there are moral imperatives that demand we limit some financial activity are met with accusations of dabbling with "socialism" or even outright "Communism." I am willing to take the heat from the "free market" zealots this time.
Exploiting Fukushima for financial gain is not just flat out wrong. It's pathological.
Please donate to Japanese relief by clicking HERE
The crisis in Japan is already making some speculators very rich. The third paragraph in a Bloomberg article this morning detailing the ongoing irradiation of the area surrounding the Fukushima Dai-Ichi meltdown reads as follows:
"Cattle futures surged to a record in Chicago yesterday on speculation demand for U.S. beef would increase in Japan after radiation from the stricken nuclear plant contaminated food supplies. Tyson Foods Inc., the top U.S. meat processor, said the country may increase imports."
When most of us see tragedy unfolding, we think of the impact on the lives of those involved. But there are always those savvy players who see opportunity. Look at Larry Kudlow's shockingly honest off-the-cuff remarks about the human versus economic toll immediately following the tsunami:
"The human toll here looks to be much worse than the economic toll and we can be grateful for that."
For all the heat he took over this, what went largely unsaid is how widely held his world-view has become. Listen closely to his whole statement. It never occurred to him that what he had just said was in any way wrong. Frankly, I found his apology more offensive. Oh, he was sorry he said it, alright, but it is "normal" for many in the West to view markets in a moral vacuum. We should be discussing this. But we aren't. We move along after every outbreak of war, disaster or carnage to the next exploitive media frenzy. We rarely take time to shine a light upon those who stick around to make a killing after the killing.
I have complained before about the especially predatory potential of commodities trading. The fiscal right and Libertarians in particular bristle at the suggestion that this might be prevented via some form of regulation. They live in a bubble where there is an inherently benevolent outcome of allowing the "market" to run free. Those who dare to even suggest that there are moral imperatives that demand we limit some financial activity are met with accusations of dabbling with "socialism" or even outright "Communism." I am willing to take the heat from the "free market" zealots this time.
Exploiting Fukushima for financial gain is not just flat out wrong. It's pathological.
Quote Of The Day
April 1st, 2011
"Another great evil arising from this desire to be thought rich; or rather, from the desire not to be thought poor, is the destructive thing which has been honored by the name of "speculation"; but which ought to be called Gambling." -- William Cobbett
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