The US could learn a few things from Germany

While Germany may be bullying Greece and kicking Spanish farmers, but it's still hard to argue against it's impressive ability to maintain a middle class. Not that we like to ever learn from any other country, but it wouldn't be so bad to try this. NY Times:

Unlike what happened here, German laws and regulators have also prevented the decimation of their labor unions. The clout of German unions, at individual companies and in the political system, is one reason the middle class there has fared decently in recent decades. In fact, middle-class pay has risen at roughly the same rate as top incomes.

The top 1 percent of German households earns about 11 percent of all income, virtually unchanged relative to 1970, according to recent estimates. In the United States, the top 1 percent makes more than 20 percent of all income, up from 9 percent in 1970. That’s right: only 40 years ago, Germany was more unequal than this country.

Finally, there are taxes. Germany does not have a smaller budget deficit because it spends less. Germany, you’ll recall, is the original welfare state. It has a smaller deficit because it is more willing to match the benefits it wants with the needed taxes. The current deficit-reduction plan includes about 60 percent spending cuts and 40 percent tax increases, Mr. Hüfner says. It’s like trying to lose weight by both eating less and exercising more.

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David "Idiot Liberals" Obey heads to K Street

Politico on the future of recently retired Rep. David Obey (D-Wis):

Former House Appropriations Chairman David Obey is walking the well-worn path between Capitol Hill and K Street, POLITICO has learned.

Obey will join former House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt’s lobbying shop on Monday, bringing a master of the federal funding process on board at a time of renewed economic austerity on Capitol Hill.

The Wisconsin Democrat, who served for more than four decades in the House, sat at the helm of the committee that decides where and how taxpayer money would be spent, giving him unique insights into how to win federal money for clients, especially in an age of earmark bans and spending cuts. He’ll also work on health, education, energy, transportation, trade and defense issues.

The article helpfully adds (my emphasis):

Former lawmakers who understand the appropriations process are highly valued, especially someone as wired and influential as Obey.

"Highly valued" means "Welcome to Money Street."

If you need a reminder, this is David Obey speaking in 2007 to Tina Richards, a military mom and activist opposed to the Iraq war.

The real discussion starts at 1:30. The phrase "idiot liberals" falls out of his mouth shortly after. 3:30 is also interesting, and when the guy in the background jumps in, Obey gets really hot.



At 5:00 he self-righteously says, "We do have the votes [to end the war] if you [liberal] guys stop screwing it up." That was 2007. Did the war end? Not on this planet.

David Obey is a perfect example of a corporate faux-liberal. Yes, he said "tax the rich to pay for Afghanistan" while he was head of the House Appropriations Committee and in position to do something about it, but that didn't happen either, did it.

He's a "liberal" only when the interests of the Obama Coalition (which is real) intersect the interests of the Corporate Dem Coalition, which is also real. But he hates progressives with a passion, as the above clip shows — even though he strutted like one in Wisconsin.

Obey's a nice reminder of what supporting him gets you. Maybe progressives should spend their time and money supporting only those who like them. Maybe they should strengthen the Progressive Coalition for a change, and make progressives a force to be reckoned with.

Of course, to do that, you'd have to bite the David Obeys of the world when they attack. Just a thought. Retainers.

GP Read the rest of this post...

Obama proposal to exempt employers from paying for Social Security would hurt workers and families

From Don Owens at Strengthen Social Security:

White House advisors are reportedly considering relieving employers from their obligation to contribute to Social Security. This proposal, if enacted, would eliminate billions of dollars of revenue dedicated to Social Security at a time when some members of Congress argue that Social Security’s benefits should be cut because the program may have insufficient revenue after 2036.

Nancy Altman, Co-Director of Social Security Works issued the following statement on the Administration’s idea:

“That the White House would even consider cutting Social Security’s funding is enormously alarming. It indicates that the White House does not take seriously the dedicated nature of worker and employer contributions to Social Security. Those contributions belong to American workers and their families. Social Security should not be treated as a piggybank or raided by politicians in Washington."

For news on that White House plan, check here. The description is accurate.

This will be Obama's second run at weakening Social Security. His first was during the Lame Duck Cave-In, when he successfully added a poison pill to the already odious Bush Tax Cut "deal" by reducing payroll taxes as well, thus transferring part of Social Security funding to the general treasury. (The problem with that? The less Social Security is self-funding, the more it's like welfare. And we know where welfare can go, don't we — back to the Loser Bin with the losers who need it.)

The man wants it bad, folks, and won't stop till he gets it. Like Nixon to China, it takes a Dem to kill Social Security.

GP Read the rest of this post...

Pakistan security forces execute young man while being filmed

The fact that this has even been shown in TV suggests something is changing in Pakistan. The Guardian:

Pakistan's security forces are facing criticism after paramilitary troops were caught on camera apparently shooting dead a teenager at point-blank range.

The footage, broadcast repeatedly on local television, is likely to further undermine faith in the country's powerful security establishment, which is already facing allegations it helped conceal Osama bin Laden.

The video, captured by a cameraman from Pakistan's Awaz television channel, shows a youth, identified as Sarfaraz Shah, arguing with paramilitary rangers in Karachi. The 18-year-old appears to plead for mercy before being shot at close quarters. He then falls to the ground and screams in pain as blood pools beneath his legs.

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Worse than meltdown now at Japanese nuke plant

Telegraph:

The nuclear fuel in three of the reactors at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant has melted through the base of the pressure vessels and is pooling in the outer containment vessels, according to a report by the Japanese government.

The findings of the report, which has been given to the International Atomic Energy Agency, were revealed by the Yomiuri newspaper, which described a "melt-through" as being "far worse than a core meltdown" and "the worst possibility in a nuclear accident."

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Colbert asks lobbyist Tom Ridge questions about fracking

The Colbert Report
Tags: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

Remember when the so-called liberal media actually used to do it's job and ask questions like this? Now we have to rely on comedians to do it. And we wonder why the keys to the government have been handed over to the special interests with the deepest pockets. Read the rest of this post...

Jethro Tull - Aqualung

Thirty years ago? Wow. Funny how Ian Anderson still wonders about the quality of that classic album. Read the rest of this post...

Another bloody day in Syria

After the death of Syrian security forces, it was clear another bloodbath was coming. Al Jazeera:

At least 23 people have been killed by security forces in Syria, many of them when the army attacked a northernwestern town, activists say.

A Syrian opposition figure told the AP news agency by telephone that tanks shelled Maarat al-Numan on Friday, after thousands of protesters overwhelmed security officers and torched the courthouse and police station.

Syria's state-run television appeared to confirm at least part of the report, saying gunmen had opened fire on security headquarters in the town, in Idlib province, causing casualties among security officials.

Witnesses said helicopter gunships fired machineguns to disperse a large pro-democracy protest in the town, in the first reported use of air power to quell protests in Syria's uprising.

Helicopter gunships, just like NATA in Libya. How nice. Read the rest of this post...

CNN's Roland Martin defends Tracy Morgan's homophobic rant because the audience laughed, wants to tell jokes like that himself

I'd be curious what CNN has to say about this. Read the rest of this post...