There is an righteous anger in the land and OWS is its bright, elemental flame. But flames have no voice, and their meaning is left to the viewer to interpet. That is the nature of the beast. In OWS's strength lies also its potential weakness. The latest "pepper spraying incident" is a perfect example. Let me explain why.
OWS refuses to be just another mainline protest or movement. They want to be the new thing, the anti-establishment model for the future. I admire them in this and my comments may just be the thoughts of an aging observer who grew up during the Great Counterculture revolt. So be it. The problem simply stated is that if you don't fight to control how you are publicly percieved somebody else, the corporate media, usually your enemies, will be happy to fill that vacuum. You usually will not like their protrayal.
Over at Salon, GLENN GREENWALD makes the case, at least for now, for letting OWS be OWS and not having it co-opted by politics as usual. We need to shake up the oligarchs who now command public policy in the US.
I disagree with the prevailing wisdom that OWS should begin formulating specific legislative demands and working to elect specific candidates.
...[Lets compare the US today to] "emerging market" oligarchies [think Russia, South Korea ] ... [They decide] at the outset of the crisis, [that] the oligarchs .... [should be] among the first to get extra help from the government, such as preferential access to foreign currency, or maybe a nice tax break, or-here's a classic Kremlin bailout technique-the assumption of private debt obligations by the government. .... Meanwhile, needing to squeeze someone, most emerging-market governments look first to ordinary working folk-at least until the riots grow too large.
That last phrase is the essence of why I hope OWS, at least for now, remains a movement that refuses to reduce itself into garden-variety electoral politics. What is missing from America is a healthy fear in the hearts and minds of the most powerful political and financial factions of the consequences of their continued pilfering, corporatism, and corrupt crony capitalism, and only this sort of movement - untethered from the pacifying rules of our political and media institutions - can re-impose that healthy fear. When both parties are captive to the same factions, then - by design, as AIPAC has so effectively shown - one can't subvert the agenda of those factions simply by voting for one party or the other.
Moreover, what happens with fundamentally corrupted political systems is that even well-intentioned candidates - or discrete pieces of legislation that are good in the abstract - become infected and degraded when inserted into that system; if you believe that the wealthiest class anti-democratically controls political institutions (an indisputably true premise), then it makes little sense to expect specific new bills or even individual candidates inserted into that system to bring about much change...
All well and good, and I share his outrage and frustration with contemporary American politics of all stripes. It is an oligarchy as far as I can tell. The question is what to do about it?
No matter how useful OWS is in its role as the lurking menace, I would remind everyone what happened the last time we had such a lurking presence in our politics.
Perlstein, Rick (2008-05-13). Nixonland (p. 46,47). Simon & Schuster, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
Thus a more inclusive definition of Nixonland: it is the America where two separate and irreconcilable sets of apocalyptic fears coexist in the minds of two separate and irreconcilable groups of Americans.
[snip]
"Nixonland" is what happens when these two groups try to occupy a country together. By the end of the 1960s, Nixonland came to encompass the entire political culture of the United States. It would define it, in fact, for the next fifty years.
[snip]
The main character in Nixonland is not Richard Nixon. Its protagonist, in fact, has no name-but lives on every page. It is the voter who, in 1964, pulled the lever for the Democrat for president because to do anything else, at least that particular Tuesday in November, seemed to court civilizational chaos, and who, eight years later, pulled the lever for the Republican for exactly the same reason.
The Texas Republican overreach in both redistricting and photo ID got slapped down hard by the feds. And the corresponding whining was louder than any two alleycats fighting over a female. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs celebrated Good Friday twice this year.
nytexan at BlueBloggin is disgusted with the police brutality and right wing lies of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Everyday that Occupy Wall Street continues more and more lobbyist, corporate giants and wrong headed politicians reveal just how in bed they are with each other. It also reveals how para military the police have become. Police Brutality And Corporate Lies Will Not Stop Occupy Wall Street.
Dear Sweet Jesus. I implore you to save us from the peril called cheap thrills Rick Perry.
It seems that our Governor, in a desperate attempt to reboot his pathetic Presidential campaign, somehow believes he can get away with Rovian tall tales and truth distortions outside of Texas.
Governor Perry has had the audacity to run an attack ad against President Obama that that has little to do with factual knowledge or truth.
Rick Perry's sleazy smear ad completely misrepresents the President's words during an interview Mr. Obama had at the APEC CEO Business Summit Q&A; in Honolulu.
Texas, I think it is time to give Perry the boot. All he is good for is junkyard dog political brawls and doing deals for himself with fat cats. That and hiding a $25 billion deficit shortfall with smoke and mirrors accounting tactics that would make former Enron proud. The Governor also excels at slashing and burning state budgets that have resulted in thousands of lost jobs among teachers, firefighters and state workers.
Where laziness is concerned no one could be more lazy than the Governor of Texas. After all, the Texas government is so small that the legislature meets every other year. The Lt. Govenor does most of the legislative work while the Governor's job is mostly ceremonial. And yet the Governor of Texas receives a generous salary, thanks to Texas taxpayers, as well as housing expenses that includes living in a mansion with domestic services, security detail and health care benefits.
That is one big fat salary and benefits package for a half time Governor, no? Next time the Governor wants to cut a budget, maybe he should start with his own.
Alas I digress. Getting back to what President actually did say about laziness please see below.
Excerpt from the discussion between President Obama and Mr. McNerney at the APEC CEO Business Summit Q&A; in Honolulu.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, this is an issue, generally. I think it's important to remember that the United States is still the largest recipient of foreign investment in the world. And there are a lot of things that make foreign investors see the U.S. as a great opportunity -- our stability, our openness, our innovative free market culture.
But we've been a little bit lazy, I think, over the last couple of decades. We've kind of taken for granted -- well, people will want to come here and we aren't out there hungry, selling America and trying to attract new business into America. And so one of things that my administration has done is set up something called SelectUSA that organizes all the government agencies to work with state and local governments where they're seeking assistance from us, to go out there and make it easier for foreign investors to build a plant in the United States and put outstanding U.S. workers back to work in the United States of America.
And we think that we can do much better than we're doing right now. Because of our federalist system, sometimes a foreign investor comes in and they've got to navigate not only federal rules, but they've also got to navigate state and local governments that may have their own sets of interests. Being able to create if not a one-stop shop, then at least no more than a couple of stops for people to be able to come into the United States and make investments, that's something that we want to encourage.
Now I know the President's words are one mother lode of information for Rick Perry to wrap his empty little head around.
But Mr. Obama's statement was not about "Americans" generally, but about the country's efforts to attract foreign investment. It came in response to a question put to him at a conference last weekend by W. James McNerney Jr., chief executive of Boeing, who had asked him how foreign investors looked at the United States.
After Rick Perry's multiple GOP Presidential debate train wrecks, his most important and dependable train of them all, the money train that never fails, has suddenly skidded off of the tracks.
WASHINGTON - Texas Gov. Rick Perry's campaign fundraising has gone into a tailspin as a result of poor debate performances and plunging poll numbers, jeopardizing his position as the best-funded Republican presidential candidate of 2012.
I guess big donors are a tad squeamish about a candidate who reminds them of Homer Simpson.
Rick Perry, the man who never lost an election and who has ruled Texas with an iron fist, suddenly presents as a blithering idiot while on the GOP Presidential campaign trail.
But Perry's loyal backers are running into resistance from Republican donors. One Perry fundraiser, who asked not to be named, said he received 15 RSVPs for a recent event from potential donors saying they might attend. But after a gaffe-marred Perry debate performance, none showed up.
The media's politely referenced "brain freezes" and the Governor's bumbling inarticulate ramblings have absolutely nothing to do with gaffes. Meltdowns and memory losses such as those experienced by Rick Perry are bound to happen when a souless politician has no real message of substance. When a candidate, whose primary goal is to win in which win means holding on to power and nothing else, believes he can pull it off by parroting memorized talking points, rehearsed campaign slogans and catch phrases. There is never any real punch, passion or truth behind any of Rick Perry's proclamations and promises. For a puppet candidate promises to deliver by memorizing whatever the puppet's string masters tell him to memorize.
The good people of Texas have learned over the last several months that few of us really knew our Governor. He rarely gives talks, except when he is raising money, at fat cat fundraisers, mostly in the GOP raped and pillaged state of California.
The Governor avoids the media and newspaper reporters like the plague. But now that Rick Perry is on the Presidential campaign trail the bright lights called public scrutiny have melted most of his makeup. Once the laser focused spotlight has burned a hole through the curtain we have learned that there is actually no head underneath the Governor's ample hat.
And now that one of his GOP Presidential opponents, Michele Bachmann, has exposed and deplored Rick Perry's practices of crony capitalism, many Texas voters must wonder what on earth they did to themselves when they voted for Rick Perry in 2010.
Texas, we have a problem.
Bill Moyers, veteran journalist and the sage of Texas politics, shares his brilliant words of wisdom with us.
Today NYC mayor Bloomberg sent out the troops, in defiance of a court order, to clear the rabble from the streets. While breaking the law, Bloomberg spoke about how important it was to obey the law. What's that line about "me and thee"?
Fear is a useful tool for keeping the rabble in line. It keeps corporate profits fat, it keeps the powerful insulated. More laws, more jails, increasingly militarized police are all tools of suppression. The promise of the American dream has been trampled by jack boots bought with Wall St. dollars. Before our eyes, America declines into a third world banana republic, only distinguished by our "arsenal of democracy".
Bread and circuses will keep the rabble off the streets but that cuts the wrong way for some. Handing out crumbs slows the growth of profit margins. Corporate America's cut of the pie isn't getting bigger fast enough.
Robert Reich recently opined we need to spend more money on education to get our workforce prepared for business. He said this within the context of addressing our current situation. I respectfully disagree. Business never has the workforce it wants at the price it wants because business wants zero costs, including labor. If there is a mismatch of skills and needs, then right now businesses should provide the training.
Should this be encouraged with tax cuts? I'm sorry, but there has been too much carrot and not enough stick coming from Washington. Instead there should be tax hikes on those that do not. Want to avoid the higher taxes? Do so by investing in our economy. Instead of building a factory in China or selling derivatives to hapless foreigners, build here, hire here.
At the James A. Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in Houston, graduate students boldly and courageously mic checked an invited guest, U.S. House Republican Majority Leader
I trust that U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders will be the next invited guest to the James A. Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in Houston, TX.
Meanwhile, Houston's Texas Liberal reports on the OccupyHouston efforts.
If members of Occupy Houston could come up with a lot of money and bundle it into large anonymous donations so as to legally bribe politicians, that would have been protected speech under the Citzens United case.
Also-correctly-protected by the Supreme Court are the anti-gay protests of the Westboro Baptist Church at military funerals.
In Houston however, the presence of a tarp during rain and jaywalking merits arrest.
It would be great to see conservatives speak up about the use of state power to stifle First Amendment protections.
Crickets continue to chirp in the conservatives stepping up to uphold First Amendment protections department.
OWS Evictions Continue Across the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.
Houston's P.Diddie at Brains and Eggs reports on nationwide efforts by city police forces in concert with the FBI and Homeland Security in a coordinated effort to evict protesters from their encampments.
For?
Since when are the FBI and Homeland Security called in to interfere with peaceful protests by American citizens? Do peaceful U.S. protestors enjoy the same status as foreign terrorists where the efforts of the NYPD, the FBI and the U.S. Homeland Security Agency are concerned?
One has to wonder.
Seattle police pepper sprayed an 84 year old woman.
For?
In New York City, police, cloaked in riot gear, shredded tents with knives. They threw the tents, the peaceful protester's personal possessions, food, medical supplies and the contents of the OWS library into dumpsters and hauled it away.
Earth to the United States of America. We seem to be living in a police state these days.
No matter. OWS will not go away, police state or not.
Last night thousands of the evicted occupiers returned to Liberty Square in lower Manhattan. Bloomberg's goons set up a check point that would make Nazi Germany proud. The occupiers were not allowed to bring in tents, sleeping bags or large back packs. Nor could they lie on the ground to sleep.
And yet hundreds spent the night at the park despite the heartless and inhumane restrictions imposed by Mayor Bloomberg and his foot soldiers in the NYPD.
Gosh, Lord Bloomberg kind of reminds me of the Dictator and Crony Capitalist Extraordinaire of Texas called Rick Perry.
Hello, U.S. mayors from Bloomberg to Parker to Quan. And Rick Perry. OWS will not go away.
Get back into your cages, they are telling us. Return to watching the lies, absurdities, trivia and celebrity gossip we feed you in 24-hour cycles on television. Invest your emotional energy in the vast system of popular entertainment. Run up your credit card debt. Pay your loans. Be thankful for the scraps we toss. Chant back to us our phrases about democracy, greatness and freedom. Vote in our rigged political theater. Send your young men and women to fight and die in useless, unwinnable wars that provide corporations with huge profits. Stand by mutely as our bipartisan congressional super committee, either through consensus or cynical dysfunction, plunges you into a society without basic social services including unemployment benefits. Pay for the crimes of Wall Street.
We are gathered here today to witness the self immolation of Rick Perry and his crony capitalistic henchmen. After Rick Perry's meltdown at the 2012 GOP Presidential debates the other night the Governor of the once great state of Texas now finds himself out in the cold.
Rick Perry will come home to an occupy movement that will soon include the Governor of Texas.
What on earth happened to Rick Perry on Wednesday night?
"I am not talking about any one particular state effort, but more generally I think for those who would consider trying to use methods, techniques to discourage people from coming to the polls - that's inconsistent with what we say we are as a nation," Holder said.
New laws requiring voters to show photo identification are set to take effect in Kansas, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. And Democrats, who as a party are staunchly opposed to voter ID laws, are already ramping up their efforts to combat the new laws.
[snip]
A report from New York University's Brennan Center for Justice showed that in Kansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin, all of which will enact stricter photo ID laws before the 2012 election, 3.2 million potential voters do not have the state-issued ID that will be required for them to vote.
Lawrence Norden, an author of the Brennan Center report, said he "absolutely" thinks the new ID laws could impact the outcome of the election.
"We're not claiming that all 3.2 million, in the case of voter ID laws, are actually not going to be able to vote," Norden said. "But what we are saying is, it's going to make it harder for those people to vote and some portion of them are probably not going to be able to vote even though they want to."
When asked about the Occupy Wall St. movement recently the Governor of Texas predictably blamed the government for the people's frustration. Of course Rick Perry's rigid right wing narrow mindedness dictates that folks are "just sick of government."
Oh hell, Slick. We are not sick of the government. We are sick to death of politicians like you who so easily whore yourselves out to crony capitalism for yourselves and your corporate pimps. We get it that you and your pimping puppeteers view government as a cash cow and means by which you can reward your fat cat donors and buddies.
The notion of fairness and equality is completely lost on the Governor of Texas. For Rick Perry is neither hard wired to appreciate nor is he intellectually capable of understanding a grassroots, bottom up movement in which people can and will express their outrage at the appalling income disparity that has devoured the U.S. economy since the 1970s.
Earth to the Governor. Those outside of your loyal base of tea party extremists, homophobes, garden variety haters and nut jobs that include secessionists, racists, right wing religious fanatics, aka the Texas Taliban, the gun owner obsessed and neo nazis get it that you have already emptied the state's treasury into the pockets of your best buddies.
Rick Perry and the GOP, at the very least, receive an A+ in its ability to mislead, fool and manipulate its core base of loyal knee jerk supporters.
Alas, we the 99% occupiers who get the BS are angry for a number of reasons. If the people are angry at the government it is because the government no longer works for us. Especially where the Republican politicians are concerned. To give the Governor a prime example, Republicans in the Senate killedPresident Obama's jobs bill this week.
Great. Way to go GOP. There is nothing like killing job creation efforts while millions of Americans are jobless. And the reason the GOP killed the bill is because God forbid, it asked millionaires to pony up a few extra pennies in taxes.
The kind of government that Rick Perry knows best.
As the Governor of Texas Rick Perry has fired thousands of teachers, fire fighters and state workers. He has slashed budgets that were already too mean and lean. The Governor cut the fire fighter budgets by 75% during one of the worst droughts in Texas history. Thousands upon thousands of homes have burned to the ground thanks to out of control wildfires throughout the state.
As Michelle Obama appears at a Houston fundraiser hosted by hedge fund billionaire John Arnold, PDiddie at Brains and Eggs wants to know what the difference is between Democrats who cozy up to Wall Street and Republicans.
There you have it folks. Maybe the Governor thought he was doing stand up comedy on Saturday Night Live.
When Paul Burka, the guru of Texas politics, is at a loss for words the candidate should know he is hardly qualified to run as dog catcher, much less the President of the United States.
After all, during the 2010 gubernatorial campaign Rick Perry refused to debate Bill White and he ducked interviews with editorial boards in the state. Governor Perry used his opponent's undisclosed tax records prior to his having serving as Houston's mayor as the excuse.
But now after his disastrous national debates the good people of Texas finally know why the Governor avoided a debate with Bill White like the plague.
During a recent interview with Fox News anchor Bill O'Reilly the Governor made the claim that the debates are unproductive because they give candidates a chance to "tear one another up."
You, of all people, sure do that like a pro, Governor Perry. At the last debate in Las Vegas when CNN's Anderson Cooper asked you about the number of uninsured children in Texas you answered back by attacking Mitt Romney. You accused him of hiring undocumented yardmen.
That stint, my friends, is straight out of Karl Rove's book about slash and burn politics. Perry avoided having to address the question about the shameful number of uninsured children by changing the subject and attacking his opponent instead. I would call the tactic a work in cowardice, but hey, this is about Rick Perry.
I must say, Governor, you are looking a bit creepy these days. You are beginning to scare people because they can't figure out who you really are. My relatives outside of Texas (which is all of them) asked me if you are as bad as W. I tell them that you are much, much worse, Governor. At least we knew W. had one or two principles, thanks in most part, to his wife.
By the way Governor, your flat tax scheme is a giveaway to the wealthy and to corporations.
Karl Rove must not be happy that Rick Perry is using his junkyard attack dog politics. It seems that Rove and the establishment GOP prefer Mitt Romney. Poor Karl Rove. He is the one who convinced Rick Perry to switch parties many years ago.
Letters From Texas discusses Republicans not understanding basic biology, which is why some candidates might not even realize that they're advocating banning birth control. Much worse, others do understand it.
Libby Shaw says it best in Rick Perry: A Right Wing Wrecking Machine . She compares the degrees of diaster that seperate Perry from Romney. The result is a "how low can you go" contest that America can't afford, not when one of these mean spirited clowns could be the next American President. See her post at TexasKaos.
I have for a long time been pissed at the unregulated fees charged by banks. Oligops all, I once did a little research on the charge for an overdraft. At the time it was $25.00. Now it is $35.00. The acutal cost of the transaction in question? This from a British commentator at the LA Times;
Bank fees and the free market MARTIN: So, what you're saying is the actual cost to the banks of covering these overdrafts is fractions of pennies?
HALL: Oh, absolutely. New technology has made this fast. When Barney Frank said recently that he thought it was cumbersome for the banks to give the accountholder the ability to say yes or no, when they're actually shopping at the cash register. It's not that hard to do anymore. However, banks would argue, oh, we have to phone up. No, it all comes up in a little machine that you swipe your card through, you're about to go overdrawn, do you want this transaction, yes or no? It's that simple.
MARTIN: But couldn't the bank argue that they're actually making you a short-term loan. And that because it's a short-term loan, they're entirely, it's within their rights or it's a reasonable thing for them to charge you, in effect, interest.
HALL: I think it's reasonable for them to charge interest but not interest that can add up to 10 times the amount of your overdraft. Banks just see this now as a guaranteed cash flow stream. And they say, let's grab the money while we can.
In other words, the big semi-monopolies like Bank America, Wells Fargo, etc. use these fees as a cashcow to pump up their profits, and there is no limit on what they can charge. When one rises their fees, they can all do so and the consumer's choices end up being very limited.
But wait, you say, you can always withdraw you money, change your direct deposits. Stop and consider how easy and convieent this is . Do you have a comprehensive list of all the online sites you need to update? Do the credit unions or small local and regional banks offer the bill paying and other services you need? like? None of these singularly are deal killers but, if you are like me, the thought of having to do all this is not very appealing.
And why should I have to do this? When the market for anything is dominated by one or even a few companies, why isn't it government's job to protect me from these predatory practices?
The issue is the abuse of such fees. Moreover the issue is hypocracy. We could not reasonably apply the principle of "moral hazard" against the banks when they indulged their greed and bought and sold those toxic mortgages, could we? So, our reward to bailing out these giant leeches is to have them raise these arbitary fees to maintain their obscene profits!
American voters should run as fast as they can from Rick Perry. Please dear God, if Rick Perry were elected POTUS in 2012 may the powers of heaven help us all.
The danger of Perry rule has little if anything to do with his embarrassing lack of debating skills in which he is either as slow on the uptake as molasses or whether or not he looks dazed, confused and hopelessly unprepared.
As debate watchers may have noticed by now, the Governor of Texas is far more comfortable showing off his high school bullying credentials than he is with demonstrating his potential leadership skills and knowledge of foreign and domestic affairs. This could very well be because the Governor lacks most of the above. And so he attempts to cover up his ignorance and lack of intelligence by aggressively focusing on his opponent's negatives. He has won election after election in Texas by being the nastiest attack dog candidate. Slick is likely very proud of serving as the meanest snake on the debate stage.
Nor is Rick Perry's bumbling debate performances particularly worrisome because as voters in Texas are learning quite quickly, Govenor Deal Doing Slick is certainly not the sharpest tool in the shed. Texans are meeting a Governor they never really knew.
But while Rick Perry may come across as a blithering idiot and mean guy who outshines other GOP junkyard attack dogs during debates, the real danger lies with his right wing extremist ideologies and policies. Rick Perry packs a lot of money ammunition that is amply provided by his supporters who expect the Governor to deliver.
For them.
Voters should know that Rick Perry and all GOP Presidential contenders embrace a secretative right wing group called ALEC.
ALEC is not your friend, folks.
The video posted above is a copy of a Romney attack ad on Rick Perry. Perry rose up and did the same to Romney soon after. I am sure it is out there on the Internets somewhere.
Both candidates are seriously flawed. One is an oily serial flip flopper while the other serves as a sleazy used car salesman who sells lemons to middle and working class Texans while he saves the cream of the crop of the lot for his political donors and cronies. They may wear different costumes and speak with different regional accents but when it comes down to it both the serial flip flopper and sleazy used car salesman represent the same ol' same ol' GOP agenda: tax cuts for the rich, supply side, i.e. trickle down economics, no regulation or oversight of any entity whatsoever and free market zealotry. A trickle down economy is supposed to mean that the wealthy, i.e. the job creators, will bestow middle and working class American with top notch jobs that include sustainable salaries, health care benefits and a retirement savings acount. I think we've been doing this economic kind of voodoo black magic since St. Ronnie Reagan the Great and yet look where we are today.
I guess it works well for Wall St. but it has wreaked financial havoc on Main St. over the last thirty years.
It must be really tough to be a middle and working class Republican voter these days. I guess its like having to choose between having a root canal or a colonoscopy. Voters don't find out until it is too late that there is no pain medication included in either procedure.
The cold reality is that the GOP mantra of low, low taxes, no tax increases ever, small government and no regulation of anything whatsoever, whether it is air quality or clean, safe water, is bad for the vast majority of Texans.
Read below the fold to learn what Governor Rick Perry did to Texas.
Governor Rick Perry's wife threw a pity party for herself and her husband yesterday. Apparently the couple is getting brutalized by opponents in their own party for their religious beliefs.
Good grief.
Earth to Mrs. Perry: It is the good people of Texas who should be doing the weeping and wailing. For ourselves. We are ones who foot the bill for your $10,000 monthly rental mansion as well as for your husband's health care insurance, retirement benefits and security detail.
In return your husband has made the lives of middle and working class Texans and the poor downright miserable. His heartless right wing policies, ideologies and his liberal use of crony capitalism have done much to brutalize the good people of Texas. Teachers, firefighters, homeowners, school children, and impoverished elderly who need medicaid in order to survive, to name just a few. Where were you and your husband when wildfires burned thousands of homes to the ground during one of the worst droughts in Texas history? Your husband, Madam, in case you did not know, cut the firefighter budget by a whopping 75%.
Your husband has used Karl Rove scorched earth politics like a pro for years and now you are tearful b/c the same GOP playbook came back and hit your husband in the face? You reap what you sow, Misses.
Nice try, Madam, but President Obama is not personally responsible for your son's job loss. Your son chose to quit so he could campaign for his daddy.
My son had to resign his job because of federal regulations that Washington has put on us. He resigned his job two weeks ago because he can't go out and campaign with his father because of SEC regulations ... My son lost his job because of this administration," Anita Perry said, according to CNN.
If President Obama were to announce that he created 100,000 six figure salaried jobs today the ALEC possessed Republicans would continue to attack him.
It is all that a Party that has sold its soul to the money devil can do. It will do character assassination and play the poor me victim card. It will do anything to keep the American voter from understanding that Republican candidates have absolutely no intention of addressing the needs and interests of the vast majority of us.
Those of us who live in Texas understand a lot of things about how Republicans govern. This once great state has seen a lot of social, economic and democratic disenfranchisement over the last 15 years, starting when voters made a huge mistake by electing G.W. Bush as Governor in 1995. This mistake has been tragically repeated by electing a far more cynical, self-serving huckster and ideological corporate tool, Governor Rick Perry. While governor Rick Perry has mastered the black art of crony capitalism and pay to play politics. This despicable practice has enriched Rick Perry and his campaign contributors while throwing the interests and needs of everyday Texans under the bus. The Governor's aversion to taxes and government engendered a $27 billion budget deficit. Rick Perry, like other Republican Governors throughout the U.S. stuck the burden of their budget shortfalsl onto the shoulders of middle and working class Americans.
It should come as no surprise to anyone why there has been a concerted effort on the part of Republican governors to marginalize voters and workers. All of the Republican governors with their state house majorities have jammed through voter ID legislation while dismantling the collective bargaining rights of unionized workers. The misogynists have also interfered with women's rights.
The Party that likes to sport lapel flag pins and wrap itself in an American flag is really the polar opposite of how it portrays itself. Indeed, the American people should look to Texas when making a decision as to what candidate one should vote for in 2012. For Texas is a place where conservative fiscal policies have been in place since 1995. The state has the highest number of minimum wage jobs, its schools rank second to last nationwide and we have the highest number of uninsured residents. The poverty level is at 18.4% while the national average is 15.1%. This is the myth called Rick Perry's "Texas Miracle."
As a friend of mine, a Houston geologist, has astutely observes:
The conservatives in this country are a fountain of bad economic ideas, and they make it worse by clinging to those bad ideas because they'd rather that everything crash and burn before they'd admit that they were wrong. They are like the monkeys with their hand in the jar. If you are not familiar with the story, one way to trap a monkey is to take a small-necked jar with a fruit visible from the outside. The monkey reaches into the jar to get the fruit, but can't get his hand back out without letting go of the fruit. He refuses to do that, thus trapping his hand and making him unable to do anything else. Tax cuts for the wealthy are the conservatives' banana - they can't let go, even when it is clear that hanging on is a bad idea.
It was clear from the beginning that it was a bad idea. Allegedly, the tax cuts were to be funded by the increase in revenue they were supposed to generate. You may have noticed that despite being the largest tax cut in U. S. history, they had remarkably little effect on job creation during the Bush years. That's because economic growth in the United States is largely driven by consumer demand, not an abundance of capital. (This is contrary to what the folks on Wall Street, who believe they are the center of the universe, would have you believe.) Excess capital from tax breaks for the wealthy was soaked up by derivatives and other financial instruments - which don't create jobs - rather than invested in plants which would stand idle because there was no demand.
And this is why the Obama campaign has every right to insist that the GOP is trying to
suffocate the economy.
But I digress.....
If one cherishes voter rights, a woman's right to choose, economic fairness, justice and opportunity, access to affordable health care and a level playing field for all, think twice before voting for any Republican or Blue Dog Democrat. Voters should know that Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats are owned lock, stock and barrel by one of the most powerful and secretive lobbies in Washington, D.C. No Republican or Blue Dog lawmaker has ever worked for the interests and needs of everyday Americans. Unfortunately this scenarios will continue unless two things happen: voters wake up and smell the burnt coffee. Money has corrupted our politics. Money has compromised those we elect into office. The money in politics has robbed us, our children and grandchildren of a strong, viable economic future and a fair chance for opportunities to empower and enrich ourselves. Money absolutely must be removed from politics. Corporations are not people. Nor are we supposed to be a country for, of and by corporations. And yet this is what the Republican agenda means: A United States of, by and for the Corporations.
Former White House Counsel to Richard Nixon, John Dean, wrote a brilliant expose on the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Mr. Dean unmasks the cynical goals of this supposedly non-partisan organization.
Gaming American Democracy: A Perfect Storm in Which Republicans Disenfranchise Voters While Giving Corporations Unchecked Powers
