TODAY'S TOPICS: Election Analysis, Colbert's Super Pac, Daily Show, UK, Rick Perry, GOP Clown Car
The Onion’s Satire Coming Too Close to Reality
Election Analysis: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
Obama’s Predictable Message Confusion…and Worse
Obama’s Predictable Message Confusion…and Worse
As I watch Obama get back on the campaign trail I’m experiencing a whole range of emotions and reactions which I think are worth delving into a little deeper.
Let’s begin with the most obvious: He’s at his best when he's campaigning. Similarly, FINALLY (no doubt because he’s asking to get a second term he has to start sounding like he did back in 2008), he’s started to PARTLY sound a more populist tone – even explaining (or educating) all the ways government plays such an essential, and positive role in peoples lives, from public education to clean water and air to food inspection to transportation infrastructure to Medicare to social security and so forth.
Certainly, his ability on the campaign trail, and the lack thereof of the GOP clown car, each with a record more insane than the other, makes his re-election chances good, even in light of the economy’s abysmal health. Of course, this also serves as a reminder of just how disappointing his Presidency has been, because hearing him speak, even for a moment, like he did when first running (though it was always apparent that he was a centrist compromiser...just not THIS BAD), it becomes starkly evident just what a crock of shit he was selling. But to be honest, the real sadness I feel is all that wasted talent he has come to represent...and what a wasted moment in time these past few years have been too (kind of an anti-fdr).
But the core “messaging problem” that he's suffering from this time around, versus last time, should be expected in light of the deep and obvious confusion permeating this Administration…typical in any campaign trying to spin “triangulation”, “waffling” or “contradictions” due a core lack of principles and record.
What I mean by this is it’s difficult to simultaneously make the case that we need government spending and the protection of core public programs while preaching austerity...and after JUST agreeing to drastic spending cuts, to the tune of $2 trillion, to those proclaimed "priorities" (i.e. education, infrastructure, energy, health care, etc.). Similarly, it’s difficult to make the case you’re a “fighter”, and want to enlist voters to join your fight (as he continuously did), when you’ve shown yourself to be a serial capitulator with no discernible principles or vision.
And similarly again, it’s very hard to strike a populist cord at the same time you CONTINUE to ask for public employees (like his SICK lecture to a public teacher that WHILE he supports them generally, they also need to sacrifice!!!) and the middle and lower classes to sacrifice even more (as if they haven’t been already!!!!!) at the same time you coddle Wall Street and other corporate interests.
When he told that teacher that “everyone must realize they need to sacrifice” in response to her question about the assault they are under I thought, “do you mean the same teachers that are being laid off by the hundreds of thousands? Are you talking about the teachers that are under CONSTANT corporate/right wing assault through sophisticated PR campaigns? Are you talking about 40 k a year teachers that have taken pay cuts and continuous pension hits? Are you talking about teachers that are now forced to teach to a corporate written standardized test under the auspice that if they don’t score well they get their funding cut? Did he just say that they need to understand they have to sacrifice…in the face of the trillions we gave Wall Street and the tax cuts he just extended to the rich (an average of $150,000 a year for every millionaire in the country)? Or in the face of the top 400 families owning more wealth than the bottom 60% of Americans combined yet are taxed at around 20% (lowest since pre depression)??? Or maybe it’s those teachers that will directly suffer from the agreement he made with the GOP to will FURTHER cut education while endangering more of their jobs?
Shared sacrifice? Is he kidding? How much more CAN public employees sacrifice? Hell, he FROZE their salaries while holding fundraisers with Wall Street! Across the nation, unions and public employees have given more and more and more...only to be rewarded with all out assaults to end their right to collective bargain at all in GOP controlled states across the country. The President's response to these FACTS: both sides must give more...we all need to work together...blah, blah, blah.
When viewed in the context of his refusal to even COMMENT on Wisconsin and what’s happening there…in fact, his press secretary said he didn’t even know if the President was “paying attention” to those elections, this whole charade becomes all too apparent, no?
Worse, he continues to say “Congress is blocking…” or “tell congress to work together…” instead of using the word “Republicans”. Whatever your criticism of Democrats may be, one thing NO ONE can say is that they don’t bend over backwards to compromise with the GOP. The fact that Obama simply refuses to call the GOP out more forcefully and regularly only continues to reinforce the media’s “false equivalency” addiction.
More than any speech, or any promises, once again are the facts. And, it should tell us all that we need to know that he refuses to stand with unions, to go to Wisconsin or Ohio and stand with public employees in their efforts to provide a firewall against the corporatocracy, and frankly, won’t even make a clear case on the campaign trail for workers, let alone join a picket line like he PROMISED AS A CANDIDATE.
My god…we’re in the MIDST of the most aggressive corporate assault (thanks in part to Citizens United) against the middle class and social safety net in US history and this guy is still talking about compromise and “working together”??? Christ man, pick a fucking side!!! MLK understood he couldn’t “meet George Wallace in the middle”. Sometimes you have to take a side and stop trying to be all things to all people!!! You know what people want more than "working together"?: Justice…equality…fairness…opportunity…
My answer to this whole proclaimed need to “build bridges” with today’s right wing is “why would ANYONE want to build a bridge to a toxic waste dump?”
FDR saw a similar moment taking shape when he was President…and rather than talking about “working with the GOP and Wall Street”, he called them out for the economic royalists they were…and for their desire to destroy all things government in order to enrich the few. Listen to Obama and its difficult to know what the hell he’s for…and it gets all the worse when you know what he’s actually done…and how much he’s given away.
Case and point, first he said that Social Security is not an "entitlement," or a "driver of the deficit or debt," at a Minnesota Town Hall meeting on Monday. Which begs the question, then why has he created TWO Super Committees/Commissions charged with deficit reduction to address (i.e. cut) the program???
As one of the progressives Obama appears to be chiding, I think the President is not judging our position accurately. We do not oppose Social Security cuts in the context of the current budget battles because we think you shouldn't make any changes to government programs. Rather, we believe that a conservative Republican Congress hell-bent on austerity policies during a terrible economy is not the "Ronald Reagan" we need to reach a bipartisan solution to Social Security's funding gap. There are few if any cuts to Social Security that would not either significantly harm adequacy of benefits for struggling families, or undermine Social Security’s status as a universal social insurance program with earned benefits. It's better to block change for now, leverage Democrats’ status as defenders of Social Security and Medicare to win back Congress, and shore up Social Security’s finances when it can be done on more favorable terms.
As for his new focus on jobs…wow…all I can say is he’s got a pretty good moderate Republican plan (meaning even if it was enacted would make little difference) …but nothing CLOSE to what will make a dimes worth of difference…nor will ANYTHING pass the GOP congress anyway…so why go with watered down centrist crap? It’s almost as if he wants to test just how much he can screw the base and still hold onto it (which will be the real test of this election).
Just the fact that we’ve gotten to a point that corporate free trade agreements (South Korea, Colombia and Panama), the same that are in part RESPONSIBLE for the economic crisis and lack of jobs, are being touted by a Democratic President as jobs bills should make one scream out in rage! Think about how far right this indicates we’ve moved?
Dave Johnson explains, “Yes, agriculture will benefit, and that is good. We will export a few more cars to Korea - also good. But. But this is really one more corporate-written opportunity to move our factories beyond the borders - and therefore beyond the wage, safety, environmental and other protections of our democracy. And this is killing us. It was our democracy that made us prosperous in the first place. The free trade deals are just extracting that prosperity from us, for the benefit of a few. That is the opposite of democracy.”
I’m done trying to hope Obama will “see the light” or be stronger…this is who he is, and he’s simply not going to, nor is he really on our side. Yes, he’s much better than the GOP candidates, as a piece of rancid snake shit is too. So the question isn’t whether he’s better than them, the question is how much damage is he doing to the left in this country, and Democratic Party?
I think to honestly answer that question is to begin to come to grips with just what a dire situation we face…stuck between a Manchurian candidate who’s actually a centrist Republican posing as a Democrat (and doing untold damage to the progressive message and movement), or flat our GOP fascist bigots…that would push a far more radical agenda…but at least wouldn’t be confused as representing the Democratic Party or left (which are no longer synonymous).
GOP Craziness and the Plutocrats Vs. TeaVangelists
But it gets worse…so allow me to talk briefly about the absolutely terrifying GOP front-runners and what are some of the aspects of that fascist clown car campaign to keep an eye on.
AT the heart of the race is the split in the GOP between the plutocrats (i.e. Romney) and the tea party/evangelicals (Bachman). And this is why Perry is such a threat to both of the other frontrunners...because he can appeal to both wings. At his core he’s a corporate whore with NO PRINCIPLES or ethics…which is very appealing to Big Business. Yet, he’s also proven he is more than willing to suck up to the social conservative, religious bigots of the party too. This is the fence he’s going to try to straddle to win the nomination...appeal to both, but not turn off the other.
Of course, he, just as with Romney and Bachman, has ALL KINDS of fatal weaknesses for Obama to hit out of the park (which is why he needs to start speaking with greater clarity). I mean, on policy, and on their record of statements, this group is beyond extreme…and way out of touch with the majority of Americans. Romney destroyed jobs for a living, and had the 47th best job creation record as Governor...as well as changing position on just about every major policy stand he's ever taken. Bachman is a stone cold bigot and intellectually challenged serial liar with a dark cultish religiosity that will only be exposed more as she gets the increased media scrutiny that's coming...something long overdue.
Now, if you want to understand how a lot of these GOP proclaimed Christians can so blatantly lie, cheat and con their way through our political system (and how to understand cults like The Family), one needn’t go much further than the “dominionism” faith which rationalizes it all because its "God's will." The second is that there is no room for non-believers in their vision of America:
Put simply, Dominionism means that Christians have a God-given right to rule all earthly institutions. Originating among some of America’s most radical theocrats, it’s long had an influence on religious-right education and political organizing. But because it seems so outré, getting ordinary people to take it seriously can be difficult. Most writers, myself included, who explore it have been called paranoid. In a contemptuous 2006 First Things review of several books, including Kevin Phillips’ American Theocracy, and my own Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism, conservative columnist Ross Douthat wrote, “the fear of theocracy has become a defining panic of the Bush era.”
Governor Perry’s Texas Miracle Myth
What you’ll also hear about Governor Perry is that he has a great “jobs story” to tell based on his record in Texas. This is a stone cold lie…and its FRIGHTENING to see how little the media questions this false narrative, and in fact, how they are accepting it as a given fact. What I’ll be watching for, and hoping, is that some Republican in the race will actually start debunking this myth…that way the media will start to cover it more accurately. Of course, that’s not an easy proposition because the Texas myth fits so perfectly into the fantasy world and bizarro universe that the right wing has created, and live inside.
I have an article that will detail more of this myth today…but quickly…the jobs created in Texas are due to population growth, horrible wages and no regulations, and oil and gas price spikes (because they have so much there). Also of note, Texas has a giant deficit and a horrific social safety net…and all kinds of TERRIBLE health, education, and environmental indicators.
In other words, Texas represents, perfectly, our country’s, and certainly the rights desire, to race to the bottom…more low wage jobs, less services, no regulations…
Progressive Caucus of California Democratic Party Urges Primary Challenge to Obama
I recently published an op-ed from the chair of the progressive caucus of the California Democratic Party on the California Progress Report, which includes their resolution urging, and actively seeking, a primary challenge for the President (Someone like Russ Feingold or Bernie Sanders would be ideal, but VERY unlikely)..which is damning to be sure, but should sound very familiar to readers of this blog.
Unlike the GOP, who seem to bend over backwards to appease their base (corporate interests, teabaggers, Christian fundamentalists) Democrats like Obama openly disdain and reject theirs. Why? Aside from the fact that he's shown himself to be a corporate, right of center appeaser, and has reneged on a laundry list of promises and claimed stances made during the campaign, this administration, and Clinton before him, also know that the GOP has become so extreme, and so corrupt and immoral, that we on the left feel we must not, in any way, contribute to a GOP victory...and thus, in the end, we'll vote for Democratic leaders no matter how much they sell out anything remotely resembling a progressive agenda (an agenda that polls very high by the way...and has the added benefit of being good policy).
So I understand the dilemma we face as progressives...but I have come to the difficult conclusion that if the right person was found I would feel compelled to support both the challenge and that candidate, because simply beating Republicans isn't enough if Democrats keep selling out, or failing to fight for core progressive principles. This has been the trend for 30 years now...and we're starting to resemble a kleptocracy/corprotacracy more than a democracy.
Running a real progressive challenger will bring focus back to the issues that matter...energize the base...send a message to Obama that we are not satisfied with his retreat, capitulate and triangulate agenda, and perhaps even persuade him to focus more on what those that voted for him in the first place really care about...like unemployment, jobs, foreclosures, wage stagnation, income/wealth disparity, climate change, poverty, war spending and making, the need for new revenues that target the wealthy elite and big business, and so on...
UK’S Economic Meltdown…and their Health Care System
Ahh yes…the wonders of austerity…and these are the policies we are following right now: The British economic forecast has just received its fifth downgrade since the Cameron government took power, and that report came after it was announced that retail sales had fallen 2.5% and household income was projected to fall another 2% under the austerity program. Last year's gains in employment have already been reversed. The number of people who have been unemployed for more than a year is the highest it's been in more than a decade.
Three years after Wall Street precipitated a global crisis, British youth unemployment reached record levels earlier this year, An analyst noted that ""Being out of work for more than a year can have a scarring effect, making it harder to get a job as well as having a negative impact on one's health and well being," adding: "The Government's decision to abolish job guarantees for young people may leave a generation of young people scarred for many years to come."
By 2008, Great Britain had reached the highest level of income inequality in more than half a century, and the austerity measures imposed by the new government targeted the victims of that inequality. As a recent report showed, the poorest 10% of the population saw their real income fall over the last decade, while "richest tenth of the population have seen much bigger proportional rises in their incomes than any other group."
The riots began in Tottenham, which has the highest unemployment rate in London. Youth clubs have been closed, because the austerity economics regime slashed 75% of the youth services budget. And, as Seumas Milne points out, young people in the neighborhood said the club closings could lead to rioting, as bored and anxious young people take to the streets.
UK Health System (actual socialized medicine) Scores High
Of course, the biggest elephant in the room in regards to the deficit is actually our privatized health care system…evidenced by the fact we spend twice as much as any other country in the world yet get worse health results based on a myriad of indicators. This is of course because our system is private…thus the incentive for insurance companies is to charge as much as possible (while skimming as much as 30% off the top) and give as little care as possible in return. If we had a single payer system, close to say the cost of Canada’s per capita, the deficit crisis would be SOLVED.
Now we just found out some more interesting data about the UK’s system, which is actually socialized medicine…in that the doctors and the hospitals are public (i.e. single payer systems like Canada are NOT socialized medicine as the right claims).
As I talked about endlessly during the health care debate, every single one of the most important things we could have done to reduce costs was rejected...like a robust public option, lowering the Medicare age, negotiation of drug prices, reimportation…or, best of all, just allowing EVERYONE to buy into Medicare…problem solved!!
So, the UK’s NHS is one of the most cost-effective health systems in the developed world, according to a study published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. The "surprising" findings show the NHS saving more lives for each pound spent as a proportion of national wealth than any other country apart from Ireland over 25 years. Among the 17 countries considered, the United States healthcare system was among the least efficient and effective.
Researchers said that this contradicted assertions by the health secretary, Andrew Lansley, that the NHS needed competition and choice to become more efficient (right wingers in UK trying to do make their system more like ours…even though it’s inferior).
Using the latest data from the World Health Organisation, the paper shows that although Labour's tax-and-spend strategy for the NHS saw health spending rise to a record 9.3% of GDP, this was less than Germany with 10.7% or the US with 15%. Not only was the UK cheaper, says the paper, it saved more lives. The NHS reduced the number of adult deaths a million of the population by 3,951 a year – far better than the nearest comparable European countries. France managed 2,779 lives a year and Germany 2,395.
This means, the paper says, that dramatic NHS improvements have led to a situation where there are now 162,000 fewer deaths every year compared with 1980. Looking at elderly patients, the difference was even more stark with the best performers – Ireland, the UK and New Zealand – having health systems that were three times more effective and efficient than the worst – Switzerland, Portugal and the US.
As for the sad riots and why they’re occurring, here’s a clip from a surprisingly poignant and powerful op-ed by actor Russel Brand:
That state of deprivation though is, of course, the condition that many of those rioting endure as their unbending reality. No education, a weakened family unit, no money and no way of getting any. JD Sports is probably easier to desecrate if you can't afford what's in there and the few poorly paid jobs there are taken. Amidst the bleakness of this social landscape, squinting all the while in the glare of a culture that radiates ultraviolet consumerism and infrared celebrity. That daily, hourly, incessantly enforces the egregious, deceitful message that you are what you wear, what you drive, what you watch and what you watch it on, in livid, neon pixels. The only light in their lives comes from these luminous corporate messages. No wonder they have their fucking hoods up.
Politicians don't represent the interests of people who don't vote. They barely care about the people who do vote. They look after the corporations who get them elected. Cameron only spoke out against News International when it became evident to us, US, the people, not to him (like Rose West, "He must've known") that the newspapers Murdoch controlled were happy to desecrate the dead in the pursuit of another exploitative, distracting story.
Why am I surprised that these young people behave destructively, "mindlessly", motivated only by self-interest? How should we describe the actions of the city bankers who brought our economy to its knees in 2010? Altruistic? Mindful? Kind? But then again, they do wear suits, so they deserve to be bailed out, perhaps that's why not one of them has been imprisoned. And they got away with a lot more than a few f**king pairs of trainers.
These young people have no sense of community because they haven't been given one. They have no stake in society because Cameron's mentor Margaret Thatcher told us there's no such thing.
-- Russell Brand from piece he just wrote for the Guardian about the London riots
VIDEO SECTION
Stephen Colbert on the Iowa straw poll results:
Classic Daily Show! "Fox News' Megyn Kelly returns from maternity leave with a more liberal perspective on mandated benefits and entitlement programs."
Appearing on MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan Show, The Nation's Ari Melber reminded us how Republican obstructionism has crippled administration appointments… and suggested what Obama and Harry Reid should do:
Stephen Colbert's SuperPAC ("Americans For A Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow") takes on "Cornography" in their second ad.
Some good news...the new guy to run the Current TV news talks about his move there from CNN:
http://videocafe.
http://videocafe.
ARTICLE SECTION
21 Reasons Rick Perry's Texas Is a Complete Disaster, By Joshua Holland
A FEW CLIPS:
…(Texas job creation numbers )is mostly a result of a massive increase in the state's population – much of it due to Hispanic immigration. Texas' unemployment rate has actually risen even as those jobs were being created. Texas also leads the nation in creating crappy minimum wage jobs without benefits – the number of minimum wage workers increased by 150 percent between 2007 and 2010.
He also lucked into a boom in energy prices in his oil and gas-rich state – another factor having nothing to do with his governance. Under Perry, endless tax breaks for politically connected Texas corporations helped create a massive budget deficit that Perry first addressed with federal stimulus funds – money from a program he decried as a “misguided” desire “to spend our children’s inheritance” -- and then by cutting spending on education and the state's already threadbare social services to the bone. With the exception of a few economic basket-cases like Mississippi, Texas is way ahead of the pack in the race to the bottom.
SNIP
1. Texas leads the nation in the percentage of its population without health insurance (2010).
2. Only one state covered a smaller share of its poor population with Medicaid (PDF).
3. It's also number 1 in the percentage of children who lack insurance (2009).
4. Texas ranks dead last in the number of women who receive early prenatal care (2010).
5. It has the sixth highest rate of infectious diseases in America (2010).
6. It ranked 35th in the share of its children being immunized (2010)...
7. ...And 40th in overall health (2010).
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