Gutting America

Now that the budget cuts have been released for public viewing I am reminded that we have a Democratic president who enjoys passing Republican policies.

This budget as it stands now is the gutting of America and the road to ruin. Slashing every domestic program in sight and leaving the wasteful military spending alone is the sort of move I would expect from a Republican, but if this is indeed the budget Obama supports then it amounts to yet another huge failure of this president to stand up for progressive values.

Gutting $415 million from state and local law enforcement, $438 from energy efficiency and renewable energy, $786 million from FEMA first responder grants, $1,045 million from HIV AIDS, viral hepatitis, STD and TB prevention — all of these proposed cuts represent a desire to see Americans suffer and to see this country fail as a competitive nation.

Combining these facts with the $5 billion increase in military spending illustrates to me that the whole of Washington DC is hell-bent on turning America into a war state with permanent rampant poverty. I expect such destructive and illogical policies from Republicans, they maintain the role of the uninformed saber rattlers, but to see such a ruinous and hideous budget plan being endorsed by Democrats is disgusting.

It’s obvious to me, as things stand now, that Obama along with the Democratic Party have thrown the middle class and the American worker under the bus. All the while holding up the bloodthirsty military industrial complex and the heartless desires of corporate America as paramount.

It is nothing short of a lie that the nation is “broke” and if either party was serious about trimming waste without gutting vital social services the first on the chopping block would be the Pentagon budget.

What this country has is a tax revenue problem. As any conservative will tell you GE paid nothing in taxes last year. That is only the tip of the iceberg, but a good place to start. Closing all the corporate tax loopholes combined with raising income taxes on the wealthiest Americans would free more than enough tax revenue to manage the debt while at the same time avoid gutting important government services in the process.

The failure of American Democracy is perfectly represented by the non-choice of Democrats who cave on if not directly promoting anti-American policies and Republicans who pander to racists if not openly endorse fascist laws. The choice between moderate conservatives calling themselves Democrats and extremist conservatives calling themselves Republicans is no choice at all.

Government Shutdown Narrowly Averted

(Monsivais/AP)

Just before the midnight deadline Congress has passed a temporary budget deal that will prevent the furlough of thousands of workers and ensure that U.S. combat troops do not go unpaid. Reportedly this budget contains $39 billion in cuts and the numerous policy riders proposed by Republicans (regarding Planned Parenthood and EPA funding along with taking school lunches away from kids) have been removed.

I place the majority of the blame for the possible shutdown on the shoulders of House Speaker John Boehner. His inability to control his caucus led to these abortion and environment policy riders to be attached to a budget bill in the first place, which in turn created the deadlock. (You can find a comprehensive list of all the policy riders here.) To have presented such a poison pill laden budget to the Senate represented a huge lack of leadership from Boehner, and put this matter of a government shutdown on the political map as a reality instead of a mere talking point for conservative broadcasters.

Make no mistake, the GOP/Tea Party almost just furloughed thousands of Americans and put a question mark above combat troop pay all in the name of federal funding for abortion which is already covered by the Hyde Amendment and the unconstitutional attempt to strip previously passed legislation regarding not only the EPA but also the Consumer Protections Bureau, Medicare and legislation dating as far back as FDR’s school lunch program.

Glenn Beck & The Right-Wing Media

(WATCH VIDEO: Crooks & Liars “Glenn Beck ‘You’re Going To Have To Shoot Them'”)

I see Glenn Beck as actually dangerous, and not just abrasive and dishonest like other right-wing media pundits.

I first became mildly aware of Beck when he was scathing the Bush White House, but back then he never ever called himself “conservative” and only called himself “libertarian.” Today he has fashioned himself a New Media Joe McCarthy and wants to teach the children of America a distorted and fictitious version of U.S. History.

What has actually risen to the level of public danger is centered on the TV show aspect of what he has done with his career. If anyone doesn’t already know he has mocked setting people on fire, shown a shaky rape video for no reason beyond fear mongering and to cap it all off he called a sitting president a racist on live TV.

Because television gives the illusion of credibility putting the character (I believe he is playing everyone, he said so in an interview around when he got all freaky) of Glenn Beck out there has sent horrible and extremely dangerous repercussions into the nation that can never be taken back.

Without pulling out a pack of URLs it’s quicker to just say that historically the U.S. has kind of “self-policed” this kind of extremism and incitement to violence disguised as free speech when it has happened before and always the figure that resembles Glenn Beck of today had a fall from grace. Usually getting fired. The best recent example is “Dr.” Laura getting the axe: she went into something from a KKK rally and that was the “the line.”

It sounds too simple, I know, but the most serious offender here is News Corp and Fox News.

Glenn Beck is only especially dangerous because his bosses won’t fire him no matter what “line” he crosses. If you minus Rupert Murdoch and the Koch Brothers from this situation then Beck would have been canned for being disrespectful to a sitting president or too libel for his “here’s some violence, but don’t do violence” message he delivers regularly. Since this heartless media empire keeps him alive the kind of normal “quality controls” are not coming into play.

In the wake of the Tucson shooting, another act of domestic terrorism that the mainstream media refuses to label as such, and the moving speech delivered by President Obama there is a strong need to assess ourselves in our words and also more deeply to our mind state. This cannot, however, negate the need for people to speak their opinions about the current state of the nation.

America is on a road of a long, slow decline into moral ambiguity and a complete lack of ethics, and Glenn Beck combined with Fox News and the tea party is the first step toward this destruction of all that is good and decent in America. I don’t say these things to get a rise out of anyone or to single out Glenn Beck, but rather only because I see these words as the simple truth.

If Beck and those similar to him would only stop the incitement to violence, racism and bigotry then I would never raise issue with them beyond to merely disagree. Since this next evolution of political dialogue looks more like McCarthyism and Nazism combined I simply refuse to call it anything else.

The Obama Comeback?

I will come over to the notion that President Obama is the best thing since sliced bread when I see him put down the hammer on big business and all these bad practices.

Obama has thus far favored too moderate a position when it comes to dealing the aspects of the private sector that caused the recent market crash.

If this tax deal is part of a larger strategy that is yet to unfold, then when I have something to look at other than just this kiss on the cheek to Republicans & big business I will assess the situation from there.

The point I have is not about the entire social progressive movement, it doesn’t always have to be. It’s just my one voice, and that’s it.

And frankly I’m at my limit with Bush policies hanging around after we elected a Democrat who ran expressly against Bush policies in ’08.

It’s not any one item for me, this tax compromise was so predictable I felt compelled to call the whole thing in advance like I did for health care reform. It’s hard to be all surprised and pissed when you can read the writing on the wall and know (more or less) what course things will take in Washington. It’s that gradual and eventual effect that Obama has taken on me with all this Centrism policy instead of Progressive policy at a point in our nation’s history when truly one path exists that will get us out of this mire and not one ounce of that strategy involves doing anything the GOP or the conservatives want.

In a less dire situation for America I would herald President Obama as a great healer of a nation lost in partisan ramblings and falsehoods run amok. But since this country is on the verge of losing all of its moral fibers from mass corruption and just plain collapsing from within with nothing spent on infrastructure and nothing invested into this country in terms of the workforce or new business endeavors the path is all too clear to me. And sadly Obama continues to play hop-scotch between Democratic policies and Republican policies.

I’m convinced that just like Clinton he is Centrist Democrat and not a Liberal Progressive so really one needs to just learn to not hold it against these people that they just don’t see the situation in the same light.

The Obama Tax Compromise

 

The price tag is too high in my estimation. Perhaps I’m mistaken but the way I read this we get to decide if we want increased deficit into eternity with soon-to-be permanent tax cuts for the top 2% (if things follow the course I see) or if we want to start making fiscal policies that make sense in the long run and not just the short term.

Whole thing stinks like rotten meat. I’m not eating it, I don’t care of they raise JFK from the dead and put him in front of the White House Presscorp. I’m still not going to support a Bush tax policy, because I’m not into this country going to ruin in the next few years just so a random amount of capital will be injected into it right now.

Obama’s Weekly Address & My Thoughts On Education

(Watch President Obama’s Weekly Address here.)

We might have our priorities all backwards in this country. Education is important, no doubt. But more and more the reality is looking like education doesn’t help anyone get a job. Job training and job skills seem more important than any amount of education. We all have heard the stories of Phds who can’t get work and college graduates in the same position.

The question is: does a degree equal a job?

More and more I’m seeing the answer is: no.

That’s not to say education is not important, but perhaps one can just educate themselves whenever they have time in their life and this rush to college when right out of high school might be just a waste of time in the American Economy.

Success seems more linked to job training and attaining job skills immediately. A resume builder looks more like a series of internships and/or a long, stable work history. Not a series of degrees lined up.

That’s just my impression of what is going on in this new economy.

Rahm Is Going To Chicago

TheDailyBeast.com:

Former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who marked his last day in the Obama administration on Friday, officially announced his candidacy for the mayorship of Chicago on Sunday.

I am a big fan of this move to get the Rahminator away from the White House and into a more local political scene where I feel he is better suited.

I don’t have this stupid personal beef that some on both sides of the political spectrum have against Rahm, but I feel is the kind of politician who is better suited to the local affairs of a mayor’s office than he is to the much larger stage of Washington DC.

While it is doubtful the Obama administration will take any hard left turns with the departure of Rahm Emanuel, I still take this as some good news coming down from Capital Hill.

Buffet Offers Optimism To Krugman

Warren Buffet has presented a rosy sunshine picture of the U.S. Economy to contrast against the desolate landscape in Paul Krugman’s warnings of “the early stages of a third depression.”

I believe Buffet may be practicing the concept that psychology rules a large part of every economy. As strange as it is, it might help change a ‘fragile recovery’ to a ‘full recovery’ just by beating the drums of “we are coming back.”

The stimulus is working, though more money should have been allocated directly to the states that need it the most. And in the next two or three years is certainly the time frame in which we will know if Krugman or Buffet was right.

Hardball: ‘Rise of the New Right’

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Chris Matthews of MSNBC has aired his political documentary covering the trend of radical right-wing extremism taking hold in the U.S.

I think it worth the watch.

“Political novice” is the description Matthews uses for most tea party activists, and I would have to agree. It is rather clear to me, within the confines of my experiences with the tea party, that these people are not lacking in passion but they are extremely lacking in logical framework.

Being a person who has taken an interest in studying political theory I find that I could make a better and more sourced argument in favor of the ultra-libertarian sentiments they promote, I’d just much rather not give them any free talking points. But the strongest trend I have noticed is this complete inability or unwillingness to clarify facts from opinions.

It’s just within my very nature to try to put myself in the others shoes, and because of this I can see were many of them have perfectly valid concerns. But it is the nature of how they go about expressing their concerns. With everything from “Take my country back!” to “Get your government hands off my Medicare!” to “Show me the birth certificate!” to (did you see this nonsense?) “He has a Connecticut Social Security card!” to draw from in terms of not just red hot punditry rhetoric but actual completely insane / stupid positions from actual people. Whom appear to be actually serious with us when they are talking…

The Label of ‘Teabagger’:

I won’t mince words and sit behind my battle lines: the term ‘teabaggers’ when used to discuss the ‘tea party’ is a political slur. It’s a negative label used in a negative way. It is true the ‘tea party’ has used the ‘tea bag’ reference in their rallies and at least one of them online talks about “teabaggin’ since ’09!” But I won’t dodge. Everytime I say ‘baggers or teabaggers I mean it. Just like they mean it when they call progressives “socialists” and “Marxists.” I see the label of ‘teabbager’ as being born out of exactly the kind of McCarhyist language we could hear all day on conservative media. Calling something or someone something it’s not is much like telling clever lies: it just inspires some people to try to lie to beat down the lies and others to just throw up hands in disgust.

Logical Disconnect:

Woman interviewed in Matthews video: “[Republicans] need to put up candidates that actually represent conservatism.”

No, the ‘tea party’ need to define what they think ‘conservatism’ actually means to them.

I have long viewed the tea party as misguided grassroots efforts being proped up by an overly attentive news media in their rallies, and in the organizers it is a mixture of astro-turfing and nationalist militant paranoid fervor based primarily on racism against the first black president.

Barney Frank addressed this issue of the “tea party deficit hawks” in his health care town hall that got  a good deal of media attention for the frivolous exchange about “Nazi policies” and “dinning room table[s].”

If one is claiming to understand the problematic trends of rising deficit against rising inflation in the U.S. then you were opposed to Iraqi and Afghan occupations for exactly this reason. Not to mention the lack of any ‘tea party’ protests over TARP bailout spending. Not one ‘tea party’ protest on Washington, not as long as Bush was in office.

Another argument they often make about the “size of government” being the source of their frustration, is also lacking a logical framework of any sort. Not that they would make the argument, but that that again if you are talking about expansion of government power that again was the Republican Bush II. And just like the deficit issue, almost all of them admit they only ever came to politics / political activism after January 2009.

A final hurdle that all these ‘tea party’ promoters and activists still fail to explain: Why if they are such strict Constitutional scholars do they not see the multiple layers of constitutional infringements in the recent AZ SB 1070 bill? If their worry be “tyranny” then surely “show me your papers” should have them tossing their ‘tea parties’ on Arizona Governor Jan Brewer’s lawn by now?

Why are tumble weeds blowing by the ‘tea party HQ’ on this one? I mean I can see where maybe some get all confused on the W. unconstitutionality issues, just because you have masters of deceptions and lies like Karl Rove on the case to do combat with to get the facts. But these jokers writing this SB 1070 and some of the after-thoughts of discrimination at FAIR have no such war-hounds working their case. They can be picked off with a pocket constitution and about fifteen minutes worth of reading.

Bottom Line:

From the very beginning I saw the ‘tea party’ movement as just the anti-Obama movement and while it has grown I believe it has only grown to be come the anti-Progressive / anti-Democratic movement. When both their so-called ideological leaders like Bachmann, Palin, Beck, King, etc. and their just everyday inspired folks of their movement cannot come to these simple logical failings in what they spout forth to us a clear level of a lack of intellectual curiosity is boldly revealed on their part. I’ll never believe the Founders intended people to abuse the First Amendment by promoting ignorance over knowledge. And that, is precisely the message outlets like Fox News and the ‘tea party’ are sending out every day.

Repost: Fox “Not-a-news-agency” News is Banned From White House Porch

(Chicago Tribune: Swamp Politics)

Is it a good idea to single out just one outlet in the manner that The Obama White House recently has in the case of removing Fox Broadcasting from the press pool?

—

At first, I was in favor of the move to ignore the Fox Broadcasting Company by Barack Obama.

His efforts to clear his name on the website “Fight The Smears” stem almost entirely from Fox. He has every right to defend himself from these smear-merchants and radical right-wing propagandist supporters.

The right-wing lobby called “Fox News” (as in the cable pseudo-news) and “Fox News Talk” (as in the radio pseudo-news) is still “not a news organization” in my opinion. But I think this label should include everyone from Comedy Central to HLN to CNN to MSNBC, everyone except PBS and C-SPAN.

It’s been televised tabloidism in place of televised journalism for far too long. In my view.

Any White House that would send a clear signal that The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Countdown, The O’Reilly Factor, and The Glenn Beck Show are all the same thing would be nothing but a benefit in this age of media hate & mass misinformation.

These programs are not news, they are purely entertainment television.

Each of these programs has an agenda, as does the network behind each.

There is nothing wrong with doing agenized news. But it is dishonest and unethical to claim objectivity if you are playing toward a specific political wing, or any specific agenda. This is the greatest offense of the so-called “Fair & Balanced“ Fox Broadcasting. As a network they cater to right-wing political agendas and refuse to declare themselves as a format that promotes conservative ideology. In that case I see it as a function of false advertising on behalf of the network.

All these programs, it‘s important to point out, are television propaganda toward that agenda. Which might be only the agenda to make you laugh.

The broadcasting produced by this political lobby / news agency / entertainment format in only the viewing of it is not dangerous. It is taking these kinds of broadcasts as serious news formats that is problematic in a democratic society.

The informed viewing of propaganda is merely educational. However, to those who refuse to see the difference between opinions and facts the viewing of the propaganda of reckless liars, there is a dangerous situation produced.

Mine is a somewhat complex argument in regards to “The News Wars” between The Obama White House and Fox Broadcasting Company:

It is a good move that Obama is standing up to bad journalism mixed with bad business practices, but a bad move that he singled out Fox News alone when all the news agencies screw something up.

Fox News is just the biggest offender of the smears.

I believe radio and satellite should remain untouched by sweeping regulations, but televised broadcasting of race baiting and McCarthyism is just too much tabloidism for me to handle.

This sensationalist reporting on politics that has been going almost entirely due to Fox News is not exclusive to them, so I think it would be wise to pick out a few other agencies, perhaps CLEARCHANNEL and Comedy Central, to also declare as non-news formats.

It is clear to me when a news group is run by an agenda, thus becoming more like a political lobby than a news group, but it is not clear to everyone.

A President who stands for educating the public should seek to educate people on what exactly “bias” is, and hopefully shed some light on the issue.

The specific near-criminal acts of failure to disclose vital information of a story committed by Fox News should be spoken of plainly and openly if not handled more severely. This tactic of isolation is my only qualm with Obama’s approach to dealing with fake news.

If it is the desire of this White House to tackle the specific crimes against society that Fox has committed, then I would hope the case was made in specifics.

It is my personal view that a news group, of any sort, can lose it’s status as “press” if they fail to uphold the journalistic truth as a matter of course.

I believe Obama did not go far enough to fight unethical journalism and false reporting.

But I certainly agree with the point that Fox has become something other than a news agency when they promote bad journalism that is not related to their “opinion-makers.”

Why The Health Care Debate Is So Contentious

Even prior to the abortion issue being pointlessly dragged into the debate over health care reform the issue has been one of the most contentious debates I have ever seen in politics.

The question quickly becomes: Why?

I feel I have an answer, and it mirrors the matter of the abortion debate as well.

It is simple:

Both sides view the other as disingenuous and downright evil.

From the perspective of the anti-reformists all support for this bill is a disguised effort to destroy capitalism and / or expand the federal government to an unreasonable size.

From the perspective of the pro-reformists all rejection of this bill is a disguised effort to spread hatred, intolerance, racism and violence under the banner of a “tea party” and / or purely strategic politics of conservatives seeking to undermine all bills proposed under President Obama.

(There is, of course, a great deal more complexity at play here in both positions.)

In a situation where both groups view the other as “liars” there is no debate to be had. No discussion that will bare fruits. None.

The fear and lies surrounding this health bill entirely native to the rightwing has no bartering point from which to start from. There is no common ground to find with a person who lies about the record and rejects all evidence that does not compliment their existing preconceptions.

Throughout this year long national debate I have strived to pull the emotions out and put the facts in their place, but such actions only serve a purpose when there remains holdouts on both sides. In the course of this I have seen new levels of hostility directed at me personally more so then ever before in my experience.

I have never “unfriended” and “blocked” so many people in my entire ten-plus years on the Internet.

The incitement toward violence, the death threats, the partisan hate; all existed prior to the matter becoming national in the death threats against Democrats post-HCR. All of this existed in the venom directed at health reform advocates on a daily basis from individuals of a very low moral fiber and very poor understanding of democracy.

In matters discussing life and death, I’d rather not see so many and myself give in to fear; but it truly doesn’t surprise me in the least to see this country explode in mindless paranoia. Big changes equates to big fears, bad economy equates to paranoia on the rise.

In the solid matter of facts, this health bill is a net-positive for America.

But this issue will not lose any of it’s contentious nature no matter how many facts are interjected in the mass spreading of paranoid myths. For too many Americans it is simply easier to believe the worst, and the biased conservative media is sure to provide them endless piles of red meat.

Yes We Can Have Health Care!

We have talked about it.

We have fought about it.

We have gotten upset about it.

But now it’s over, and I called this shot from months back.

Some said I was counting my chickens before they hatched, others believed in my crystal ball.

But here we have it! Health Care Reform in the U.S. has passed!

And not a moment too soon.