Creeping Dominionism

June 17th, 2012

Paul Froese writes:

"Today, economic conservatism is inextricably linked to theology. Americans who believe in an Authoritative God simply do not make the same distinction between economic and religious spheres that researchers routinely do. Therefore, it is not enough for a Republican candidate to define himself or herself as mainly a “fiscal conservative” or a “person of faith” to be embraced by believers in the new religious-economic idealism. If he or she is to appeal to the religious-economic idealists, both these things must be claimed in equal measure."

It is time to stop trying to convince this section of American society of anything. They are not to be reasoned with.

Frum's Economic Prescription

April 10th, 2012

In the wake of last month's much discussed jobs report, David Frum has some interesting ideas:

"To do better, we'll need a program to stimulate employment for the long-term unemployed -- including potentially a New Deal-style requirement that nobody receive benefits without working. It's no good to anybody -- the unemployed least of all -- to allow the unemployed to collect two years' worth of benefits while waiting at home, their skills atrophying, their resumes going stale.

To do better, we may need to induce employers to create jobs, not only through tax cuts but through direct subsidies, including subsidies of the cost of health coverage. (Especially for older workers, health costs can be more of a deterrent to hiring even than the cost of wages.)

We will need to curtail the generosity of Medicare to open fiscal room for government programs to support opportunities for the young.

We will need a permissive monetary policy that accepts moderate inflation to reduce the burden of mortgages and other debts -- even if it bites a little into savings and fixed incomes.

We'll need above all to recognize the magnitude of the social distress we still face, even as the economic statistics tell us of a recovery that moves financial markets and presidential polls -- but that threatens to bypass tens of millions of Americans for months and years."

Charting The Political Climate

Feb 20th, 2012

Brian Beutler highlights two sets of indicators that bode very well for Obama over at TPM:

American's Economic Misperceptions

Oct 17th, 2011

Chris Christie Sucking Koch

Sept 8th, 2011

Well, the timeline is becoming clearer. It is not pretty. Via AlterNet:

"In late May, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced he was pulling his state out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, explaining that it was "not working." Now a stunning tape of a secret meeting between Christie and Charles Koch sheds light on the governor's inexplicable decision to abandon a program that was not only cutting pollution, but was funding clean energy and, as it turns out, reducing New Jersey's budget gap." EMPHASIS OURS

Any policy, even smart policy, that runs contrary to the wishes of their Koch masters seems destined for the corporatist ash heap. Chrisite is not the independent minded leader they would have us believe. He's just another Koch Sucker.

The Truth About Tar Sands

Sept 1st, 2011

The construction of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline is likely a forgone conclusion. As much as I support the protesters who have put their freedom on the line in D.C. and as loudly as I have tried to draw attention to the potential hazards, this is only the latest stage of the largest energy project on the face of the Earth. Putting the brakes on now is nearly impossible.

The TransCanada corporation first proposed the Keystone project in early 2005, yet most Americans had never even heard the phrase "tar sands" until earlier this year. The accident prone first Keystone pipeline has been in operation for over 14 months and many still don't realize just how much more volatile the materials involved are than traditional petroleum.

Carrie La Seur wrote recently in Grist:

"Keystone XL won’t carry “light, sweet” crude, which floats on top of water and can be mopped up with absorbent booms. Bitumen—a tarlike substance mined from the Alberta tar sands, chemically diluted, and heated to improve flow—will travel at high pressure across Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas to Gulf Coast refineries. If and when it leaks into water bodies, this product will sink. To judge the risk of that happening, it helps to know that the first piece of the Keystone system, TransCanada’s Keystone I pipeline that crosses the eastern Dakotas, has sprung a dozen leaks in its first year of operation."

As La Seur notes, the XL phase of operations directly threatens the Ogallala aquifer. This very shallow groundwater network is the source for roughly 30% of U.S. agricultural irrigation and drinking water for tens of millions of citizens. A serious accident here would devastate not only the health but the economy of the United States for generations. 

Our failure to educate the public sooner through the kind of direct action now being engaged in Washington is a major contributor to the public's lack of awareness. That doesn't make pushback pointless. It makes it even more essential. 

We are literally running out of time.

Dominionist Watch - Perry Edition

Aug 29th, 2011

I have been trying to imagine what it would have sounded like to the average American had they been hearing 20 years ago what we have been hearing recently within a field of Republican Presidential hopefuls.

Frankly, I think I would have assumed someone was doing a very poor impersonation of Margaret Atwood. Nevertheless, here we are.

Having jumped into front runner status with the GOP base almost immediately upon his entry into the race mere weeks ago, Texas Governor Rick Perry is, as was predicted, doubling down on some very ugly, anti-intellectual and outright Dominionist statements. It's one thing for him to misrepresent his economic record. It's another thing for him to deny climate science. However, it is something altogether more dangerous for a potential Commander in Chief to allege that the current crippling recession is not the product of decades of unrealistic economic policy and is, rather, a test from God.

Yup, who needs a comprehensive plan to deal with perennially widening income disparity or the collapse of job creation? Apparently, all we really have to do is to submit in accordance with Mr. Perry's theological view.

Glory!
 

Perhaps we should pray for the Republic. As Paul Krugman noted today:

"Now, we don’t know who will win next year’s presidential election. But the odds are that one of these years the world’s greatest nation will find itself ruled by a party that is aggressively anti-science, indeed anti-knowledge. And, in a time of severe challenges — environmental, economic, and more — that’s a terrifying prospect."

We've Been "Jackson Holed"

Aug 26th, 2011

Before we begin parsing and dissecting Ben Bernanke's most important pronouncement of the year, shouldn't we all actually read the whole statement for yourselves?

Here is the annual Fed Chairman speech in Jackson Hole, WY:

"Good morning. As always, thanks are due to the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City for organizing this conference. This year's topic, long-term economic growth, is indeed pertinent--as has so often been the case at this symposium in past years. In particular, the financial crisis and the subsequent slow recovery have caused some to question whether the United States, notwithstanding its long-term record of vigorous economic growth, might not now be facing a prolonged period of stagnation, regardless of its public policy choices. Might not the very slow pace of economic expansion of the past few years, not only in the United States but also in a number of other advanced economies, morph into something far more long-lasting?

"I'll Eat Your Shoe"

Aug 23rd, 2011

Any regular reader can tell you I have no great love for Ben Stein. He is vulgar and elitist. However, he has come hurtling back to the truth regarding taxes. On O'Reilly last night, it was clear that Stein has simply had enough of Fox's economic propaganda. Dynamite stuff.

"There is no correlation, Mr. O’Reilly, between taxes rates on millionaires and people above that level, billionaires, and the growth of the economy… Higher taxes have historically correlated with more growth."

"Mr. O’Reilly, sir, there is no correlation of raising taxes and unemployment. If you can show it to me, I’ll eat your shoe."
via Media Matters

Repulslican Economics

Aug 22nd, 2011

Proving, for the umpteenth time, that contemporary elected Republicans simply don't understand the college freshman concept of aggregate demand comes this little excerpt from the HuffPo today:

"...many of the same Republicans who are fiercely protective of tax cuts for the wealthy have already said they oppose Obama's plan to extend the payroll tax cut for low income Americans.

"It's always a net positive to let taxpayers keep more of what they earn," Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) told the AP, "but not all tax relief is created equal for the purposes of helping to get the economy moving again."

Amazing. I am compelled to give a lesson. For all the "rich" people and their mouthpieces that call the President a "socialist" but fail to grasp even the most childlike fundamentals of consumer society (psst, that's called Capitalism, by the way), here's a primer:

Patriotic Millionaires

Aug 21st, 2011

If you've never seen the pitch from Patriotic Millionaires, it's worth a viewing.

Quote Of The Day - Here and Now Edition

Aug 21st, 2011

"This is a tough game. You can't be intimidated. You can't be frightened. And as far as I'm concerned, the 'tea party' can go straight to hell."

-- Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) speaking this weekend at the "Kitchen Table Summit."

Good Morning... We're Still Screwed For No Good Reason

Aug 19th, 2011

Paul Krugman writes:

"In the past, you could make excuses on the grounds of ignorance. In the 1930s they didn’t have basic macroeconomics. Even in Japan in the 1990s you could argue that it took a long time to realize that the liquidity trap was a real possibility in the modern world.

But we came into this crisis with a pretty good understanding of what was at stake and pretty good analysis of the policy options — yet policy makers and, I’m sorry to say, many economists just chose to ignore all that and go with their prejudices instead.
And the worst of it is that the people who got this so wrong have not and probably won’t admit to their awesome wrongness; on the contrary, they’ll dig in. And the Lesser Depression will go on and on and on."

Enjoy. We have one more whole day of market exchange volatility ahead of us before the American broadcast media begins their round-table "discussions" with an entirely balanced consortium of pandering rightists.

Worth 1,000 Words

Aug 18th, 2011

via

© copyright 2011 Bennett / Chattanooga Times Free Press

 

Worth 1,000 Words

July 23rd, 2011

Well. This sums things up.

via

Obama: The Democratic Nixon?

July 23rd, 2011

Yesterday, Bruce Bartlett made the case. Republicans of the Cantor/Boehner variety who pander to the FOX echo-chamber should take note.

"Thus Obama took office under roughly the same political and economic circumstances that Nixon did in 1968 except in a mirror opposite way. Instead of being forced to manage a slew of new liberal spending programs, as Nixon did, Obama had to cope with a revenue structure that had been decimated by Republicans.

Liberals hoped that Obama would overturn conservative policies and launch a new era of government activism. Although Republicans routinely accuse him of being a socialist, an honest examination of his presidency must conclude that he has in fact been moderately conservative to exactly the same degree that Nixon was moderately liberal."

Bartlett, with his focus on economics, argues that Obama is essentially a traditional moderate-conservative (read his bullet points).

As we are seeing with the debt crisis, the principal obstacle to his smooth governance and the implementation of policy is that radicals and anarchists have hijacked the language of conservative tradition. By any previously agreed upon metrics, President Obama is a centrist at the very least. 

And, the President is still "the only adult in the room."

GOP Sabotaging America

June 23rd, 2011

Some of us have been suggesting for months that the Republican Party is actively trying to injure ordinary Americans and limit any potential recovery for ballot leverage in 2012. At last, some senior elected Democrats are willing to call them out for their tactics.

Ryan Witt writes for The Washington Examiner:
"President Obama is generally considered the favorite to win re-election in 2012, as he consistently leads all Republican candidates in the polls, but there are some who believe the President could still be vulnerable if the economy continues to weaken. Today Talking Points Memo reported that Senate Democrats accused the Republicans of purposefully blocking any measures to improve the economy in order to better their chances of beating Obama in 2012.

To support their case the Democrats point to the most recent debt ceiling negotiations. The Democrats have proposed a temporary reduction in the payroll tax, which would theoretically free up more money and generate some more economic growth. Democrats generally favor more direct economic investment, such as spending for infrastructure projects, but were willing to meet the Republicans on their terms by proposing a tax cut.

Democrats had assumed that the Republicans, who generally have never met a tax cut they did not like, would accept the measure. However, the Republicans have said they oppose the temporary tax cut as a "gimmick." The Republican position has caused Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to make the following bold accusation against Republicans,

"Would Republicans really oppose a tax cut for business that created jobs? This is sort of beyond the pale. So if they'd oppose even something so suited to their tastes ideologically, it shows that they're just opposing anything that would help create jobs. It almost makes you wonder if they aren’t trying to slow down the economic recovery for political gain."

With all due respect and in consideration of the fact that the single largest barrier to domestic growth currently is demand, there's no "almost" about it.

The Law Of Unintended Consequences

Jun23rd, 2011

Migrant workers picking GA Vidalia onions

It seems that the State of Georgia is learning some very hard and very expensive lessons in the wake of their having recently passed a sweeping new law cracking down on "illegals."


Jay Bookman writes for the Atlanta Journal Constitution:
"After enactment of House Bill 87, a law designed to drive illegal immigrants out of Georgia, state officials appear shocked to discover that HB 87 is, well, driving a lot of illegal immigrants out of Georgia.

It might almost be funny if it wasn’t so sad.

The resulting manpower shortage has forced state farmers to leave millions of dollars’ worth of blueberries, onions and other crops unharvested and rotting in the fields. It has also put state officials into something of a panic at the damage they’ve done to Georgia’s largest industry." EMPHASIS OURS

The story goes on to detail the looming agricultural disaster while highlighting just how unattractive these essential positions are... even in this economy. Once again, popular Republican fundraising mechanisms and social engineering schemes are bad for, well, the economy.

Period.

Who Bears Responsibility?

June 20th, 2011

This NBC/Wall Street Journal poll conducted from June 9th to June 13th shows a shift towards holding Bush 2 more accountable for our current economic crisis.

It Costs Us MORE To Pollute

Jun 10th, 2011

Imagine being able to prevent 300,000 American sick days annually. That is nearly 2 1/2 million hours of American labor. Think how much this costs in terms of productivity, strength and stability for everyone from the standalone shops to the large corporations. Now, imagine fighting not to do so.

As Republicans continue their campaign to gut the major EPA accomplishments and proposals of the Obama Administration, Isaac Shapiro has published a detailed cost-benefit analysis of these regulations. It is increasingly clear that the conservative position is not merely anti-science or even anti-health... it's bad for business.

From Shapiro's Economic Policy Institute paper:
"Two broad conclusions emerge from this analysis. First, the dollar value of the benefits of the major rules finalized or proposed by the EPA so far during the Obama administration exceeds the rules’ costs by an exceptionally wide margin. Health benefits in terms of lives saved and illnesses avoided will be enormous. Expressed in 2010 dollars:

The combined annual benefits from all final rules exceed their costs by $32 billion to $142 billion a year. The benefit/cost ratio ranges from 4-to-1 to 22-to-1.

The combined annual benefits from four proposed rules examined here exceed their costs by $160 billion to $440 billion a year. The benefit/cost ratio ranges from 12-to-1 to 32-to-1."

One dramatic section deals explicitly with the regulations proposed but not yet in place.

Click Image To Enlarge

In light of Rep. John Sullivan (R-OK) bringing the "TRAIN Act" to the floor of the house, the EPI numbers deserve some attention.