Blunt video song parody: "Citizens United is Democracy's Castration

Oy! Another Blunt video, this time a song parody.

I'm going to send you over to The Political Carnival (dot net) to listen, but trust me, it's hilarious. There's a real art to writing lyrics that work. It's especially tough to get funny rhymes that aren't all half-rhymes. (A half-rhyme: home / clone.)

English is considered a rhyme-poor language, and that's certainly true relative to, say, Italian. But once you get to half-rhymes, the world opens up. Needless to say, Shakespeare had little (though some) use for half-rhymes.

That aside, the lyrics are a hoot, and the performances are better than that.

A taste of the writing (the music is "Supercalifragilistic" from Mary Poppins):

The highest court in all the land
    decides what’s wrong or right.
It’s composed of different folks,
    but mostly old and white.
Nine supposed wise and learned
    judges make the calls
Including one decision where
    the (bleep) has hit the wall.

Oy!

Thanks to the Supreme Court we have
    Citizens United.
How ironic is it that we
    ended up divided?
Corporations, superPACs could
    not be more delighted!
Any way to get five of those
    justices indicted?

By the way, there's a nice set of rhymes on — shrinkage (yes) / inkage / drinkage / brinkage. As regular readers know, the suffix –age is one of my favorites; I have been known to apply it in tweakage situations.

Enjoy: "Citizens United is Democracy's Castration" is brought to you by the Blunt Video Players.

Yours in good fun,

GP

To follow or send linkage (heh): @Gaius_Publius
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The Fox News-ificiation of American newspapers has begun

For all of its foibles, the American media of the past several decades has been arguably one of the best, collectively, in the world.

I've done a lot of traveling.  And most countries have newspapers that follow the Fox News model - i.e., in bed with one political party (or unionac, in some places) and the news follows accordingly.  And for all the excuses that Fox apologists make about the difference between Fox's "news" and "commentary," spare us.  Fox lives to support the GOP, period.

While biased media is the norm in much of Europe, it's not in America (it was, once upon a time, but not for a long while now).  Other than Fox, our media had its foibles, but it was pretty good.  But now, per the NYT, the robber barons are back and the Republicans are spreading the Fox plague across the land, starting in San Diego.

Republicans learned long ago that they win more easily when they lie.  And the biggest impediment to a GOP lie is a fair and balanced media.  And rather than play the refs, like folks on the left do, the GOP figured they'd simply make their own media to replace the real one.  Get rid of the fact checkers and you can get rid of the facts.

But even by GOP standards, it's pretty sleazy what's happening in San Diego.  The local paper, bought by a conservative activist, now investigates government entities that don't do what the paper management wants.  It's the kind of thing you hear about in Europe, and particularly Russia (or the Third World), but now we have it in America too (like we used to a long time ago).

Well, the Republicans have been saying for a while that they wanted to go back to the traditional ways of doing things.  Apparently, they included corruption in that mix.

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Spanish bailout leaves market nervous

When many wonder if the latest bailout will actually work, there's a problem. When the bailout of one country leads everyone to start looking at the next state bailout, there's a really big problem. Guess where we are now?

A bailout of up to €100bn for Spain's ailing banks failed to calm nerves about the future of the euro on Monday amid confusion over the plan's details and worries that Greek voters might choose to abandon the single currency.

The hurried bailout announcement after an emergency video conference of eurozone finance ministers at the weekend was meant to ease pressure on Spain and other troubled European economies ahead of Sunday's elections in Greece.

But Spain's borrowing costs rose on Monday, nudging closer to levels that are considered unsustainable and dragging Italy towards the danger zone. Europe's stock markets fell slightly, despite an early bounce, the FTSE 100 in London finishing down 0.05%.

The banks continue to drag down the global economy and not so surprisingly, they continue to get away with financial weapons of mass destruction.

Spanish banks went on global expansion missions in recent years including in the US. Santander and BBVA are based in Spain so US regulators need to confirm what the impact will be with this crisis. Maybe they're fine, but there's a strong possibility that this crisis could impact US banks. Read the rest of this post...

Fed chairman defends Jamie Dimon on board of NY Fed

Just in case anyone needs yet another example of what's wrhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifong with the financial system, here you go. This cozy relationship that is managing the banking system has proven itself to be a failure year after year. We don't need a social club running the banks but that's what we have today.

Let me ask the question again: why is Jamie Dimon still on the board at the Federal Reserve?

Lee Bollinger, chairman of Federal Reserve Bank of New York, defended Dimon on Monday ahead of a Congressional appearance on Wednesday where he will be grilled over the bank's recent $2bn plus trading loss and his role on the New York regulator.

"I do not think he should step down," Bollinger said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. He said critics attacking the Fed have a "false understanding" of how it works, and that it is "foolish" to say Dimon's presence on the New York Fed board creates an appearance of a conflict as the law requires bankers to serve on such boards.

But Simon Johnson, professor of global economics at the MIT Sloan School of Management and a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, dismissed Bollinger's comments and said Dimon should step down immediately. "I can tell you I don't have a false understanding of how it works," he said.

Dimon is there because he can be there for as long as he likes. The ruling class really doesn't care what the 99% thinks and they're happy to rub it in our nose every day. Read the rest of this post...

Norquist upset with Jeb Bush for saying Reagan too moderate for today's GOP

Ronald Reagan was elected president over thirty years ago.  Anyone trying to fix America's problems of 2012 with the solutions of 1981 is insane (it's a bit like going to your doctor and him telling you you don't need to get a physical, he can just look at your blood tests from 1981).

But insanity rules the GOP.  They were never one for substance.  Much better to protect the flag itself (from burning, for example) than what the flag stands for.  Same goes for the Constitution.  That Second Amendment is all fine and dandy, but the rest of the Constitution (except maybe the "takings" clause") was merely a suggestion.

It's the same approach the GOP takes to issues today.  Whatever ails us, the solution is always tax cuts and increased defense spending (with a little anti-gay anti-abortion saber-rattling thrown in for good effect).  The Republicans just don't seem to have any actual answers to anything.  And at some point, "let the market do its magic" doesn't really cut it when the market almost sent us into another Great Depression.

Government can and does do good.  Guaranteeing student loans and mortgages and bank accounts come to mind.  Roads.  Medicare and Medicaid.  The FAA ensuring planes don't collide.  Social Security (costly but necessary).  And World World II wasn't so bad either.  Obviously government does a lot more worthwhile things, but you'd never hear that from a Republican.  If it doesn't involve invading a foreign country, the Republicans prefer to bash federal employees and government, and in the case of Mitt Romney, even diss cops and firemen and teachers.

So Jeb Bush is right.  Ronald Reagan is too moderate for today's GOP.  But the larger message from Bush, whether intended or not, is that, just like Generalissimo Francisco Franco, Ronald Reagan is dead.  The Republicans need to deal with his death and get over it (especially now that they have a nominee who doesn't even like Reagan).

Reagan's recipes for what ail us are stale and out of date.  The Republican party needs to stop mourning a guy who hasn't been in power for nearly 25 years, and start looking to their and the country's future. Read the rest of this post...

Video: Best dog-treat ever

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Fed study: US family wealth down nearly 40% since crash

Why is the financial pain limited to the 99%? Wall Street pay has declined, but it's fair to see that most Americans would gladly live on their income level, even in it's current state. Our failure to address this problem only reinforces the argument that neither party represents middle class America. Bloomberg:

The average American family lost 38.8 percent of its wealth from 2007 to 2010, with the biggest losses concentrated among households with the most assets tied to their homes, a Federal Reserve study shows.

Median net worth declined to $77,300 in 2010, an 18-year low, from $126,400 in 2007, the central bank said in its Survey of Consumer Finances. Mean net worth fell 14.7 percent to a nine-year low of $498,800 from $584,600, the central bank said today in Washington.

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Violent Neo-Nazi Greek spokesman sues victims for defamation

Milliseconds before clocking his female victim.

"Only in America" has come to Greece.

How is it that the man who hit a woman repeatedly in the face, and threw water on a second woman - all on national TV - can then sue his victims for defamation, after the police had to launch a nationwide man-hunt to find the guy?

Once again, why is he not in jail?

A Greek far-right politician who hit a left-wing politician in the face and threw water at another during a live television talk show sued his victims for defamation on Monday.

Ilias Kasidiaris, spokesman of the far-right Golden Dawn party, said he would also sue private TV station Antenna for wrongful detention after he was locked in a room in the studio following the attack until he broke down the door and escaped.

NOTE FROM JOHN: Wrongful detention? He's lucky someone didn't shoot him after he started beating up a woman on national TV.

It is funny how thin-skinned those neo-Nazis are. Read the rest of this post...

Sununu: Romney's attack on cops, firemen, teachers not a "gaffe"

Romney surrogate Jon Sununu on MSNBC defending Romney's plan to cut cops, fireman as government waste:

SUNUNU: Let me respond as a taxpayer, not as a representative of the Romney campaign. There are municipalities, there are states where there is flight of population. And as the population goes down, you need fewer teachers. As technology contributes to community security and dealing with issues that firefighters have to deal with, you would hope that you can, as a taxpayer, see the benefits of the efficiency and personnel that you get out of that.

JANSING: But even if there’s movement to the suburbs, teachers and policemen are needed somewhere.

SUNUNU: But I’m going to tell you there are places where just pumping money in to add to the public payroll is not what the taxpayers of this country want.

JANSING: Do you think that taxpayers of this country want to hear fewer firefighters, fewer teachers, fewer police officers, from a strategic standpoint?

SUNUNU: If there’s fewer kids in the classrooms, the taxpayers really do want to hear there will be fewer teachers. [...] You have a lot of places where that is happening. You have a very mobile country now where things are changing. You have cities in this country in which the school population peaked ten, 15 years ago. And, yet the number of teachers that may have maintained has not changed. I think this is a real issue. And people ought to stop jumping on it as a gaffe and understand there’s wisdom in the comment.

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Citibank won't take Minneapolis mom's mortgage payments; home to be auctioned Wednesday

Some stories just write themselves, and this is one I wish hadn't made my job easier.

The headline tells the tale. The wrinkle is that the homeowner's son is an Occupy Homes Minnesota activist. From the press release:

Colleen McKee Espinosa, a single mother of three -- including Nick Espinosa, a volunteer organizer who has helped other homeowners fight foreclosure -- hoped that negotiations with officials at Citibank would allow her to catch up on her mortgage and keep her home. But Citibank still has the home scheduled to be auctioned off at a sheriff sale at 11am on Wednesday, June 13th.

McKee Espinosa, a registered nurse, has owned her home for 16 years. Last year, she attempted to pay her Citibank mortgage to catch up on two past-due payments on the indicated due date. The bank told her the home had already been sent into foreclosure.

“I’ve come up with the money I owe them but they refuse to take it,” McKee Espinosa said.

After the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the blog Crooks and Liars, and others covered the story, Citibank officials contacted the family, assured them they were doing everything they could to resolve the case, and assigned them a contact in the "executive response unit." Despite this, the bank is moving to auction the home at a sheriff's sale this Wednesday at the Hennepin County Government Center, after which time the bank would have no legal obligation to work with the family.

They're not going easily, though I don't know what their recourses are:

"My mother has struggled her whole life to keep our family afloat and give my siblings and I a better life than she had," said Nick Espinosa, "I've dedicated the last 8 months of my life to helping families fight against unjust foreclosures and the greedy banks that would rather leave homes vacant than work to keep families in their communities even after being bailed out with our tax dollars. CitiBank won't be stealing the home I grew up in from my mom--it stops here."

The family has seen a huge outpouring of support from the community since the campaign started. McKee Espinosa's union of 20,000 nurses statewide, The Minnesota Nurses Association, St. Anthony East Neighborhood Association, and hundreds of neighbors have called for Citibank to negotiate with the family and signed an online petition asking Citibank to work out an agreement with the family. Most neighbors on the block have sent letters to Citibank and display yard signs in support of the family.

"I have decided that I'm not leaving my home until we get a good faith negotiation. I'm fighting to send the message to other people not to give up, because if you're isolated you can't fight these people,” said McKee Espinosa. "I'd tell the banks they better watch out because people are catching on to their game and a lot of people are going to fight back now."

As near as I can gather, the foreclosures are happening because mortgage banks benefit more from foreclosures than from homeowner-friendly deals that keep the mortgage checks coming in. Bad news for the investors in the mortgage-backed securities, but good for the banks.

Rats on a sinking ship. The banks — who created these mortgages en masse in order to fill the feeding maw of the Giant Pool of Money looking to invest in the then-hot securities — are basically saying "Tough to be you" to the same investors they fed. The banks get some money, while the securities approach zero in value.

Money. Brings "eye of a needle" to mind.

GP

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