"We are well past the time of niceties, of avoiding the dire nature of what is unfolding, and politely trying not to scare the public."

–Liz Hanna, climate scientists

TGIF! (Hey, at least you don't have to pass math anymore!)

New York Times Article Tells Big Lies on Impact of Fiscal Cliff Deal on Rich v. Ordinary Americans

 The following is an extremely important article, and I encourage you to pass it on after you've read it. So many people naively assume that what they read in the pages of the media "biggies" is somehow sacrosanct ("They wouldn't print it if it wasn't true"), that even normally smart people put their critical thinking on the back burner.

The fact of the matter is that the PTB are selling us a bill of goods, big time - or trying to. These are some BIG lies, so they know it's going to take some BIG propaganda. While you and I are likely on the same page (or at least in the same book), most of the folks we know may not be. Let's encourage each other to dust off those critical thinking skills - assuming they were there to begin with - and look at what's really going on. We the people are being screwed over big time, and the plans for us have just begun. If you thought the bullshit around the "fiscal cliff" was bad, you ain't seen nothing yet.

From Naked Capitalism:

  If the media was licensed, the New York Times story, “After Fiscal Cliff Deal, Tax Code May Be the Most Progressive Since 1979,” would be grounds for disbarment. I flagged the piece as a Big Lie in comments yesterday, and figured that since anyone who was either old enough to have been paying taxes in the 1980s or had minimal Google skills could ascertain its claims were nonsense, that it would be debunked elsewhere. Instead, it was apparently tweeted actively by soi-disant liberals on Saturday.

This piece is one of a series of changes over the last month of so of a ratcheting up in the propaganda war against what is left of middle class America. It appears that the effort to sell citizens the necessity of cutting Social Security and Medicare has led our fearless leaders to take us across an event horizon into a late Soviet “all propaganda all the time” footing.

What is disconcerting now is the frequency with which articles that are thinly veiled media plants are run uncritically, and the intensity with which they are touted on Twitter and other social media. Post election, I’ve seen a big increase in newbie commentors running right wing talking points in an effort to re-educate the NC readership. The New York Times has moved decidedly to the right after the crisis, as has the Financial Times, and both have been trumpeting how the bad the debt problem is and why Something Must Be Done. “Something,” of course, is goring your ox, a point that will be kept largely out of view until it is too late for the public to do anything about it.

It’s easier to demonstrate how much things have changed over longer time frames. Look at this section of a March 2010 post, “The Empire Continues to Strike Back: Team Obama Propaganda Campaign Reaches Fever Pitch.” Notice how I have to set up the use of the “p” word because it would have been seen as screechy and histrionic to come flat out and say, as I did not much later, that Obama thinks the solution to every problem is better propaganda.

The campaign to defend Geithner and Emanuel, both architects of the administration’s finance friendly policies has gone beyond what most people would see as spin into such an aggressive effort to manipulate popular perceptions that it is not a stretch to call it propaganda.
This strategy, of relying on propaganda to mask their true intent, has become inevitable, given the strategic corner the Obama Adminstration has painted itself in. And this campaign has become increasingly desperate as the inconsistency between the Adminsitration’s “product positioning” and observable reality becomes increasingly evident.

Read more at http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/01/new-york-times-article-tells-big-lies-on-impact-of-fiscal-cliff-deal-on-rich-v-ordinary-americans.html#Lo2TJSZTE0PPZWL3.99
 

And Now, MORE HUGE LIES

After you calm down a bit with a cup of tea, a beer, or a bong hit, check out this outstanding expose by Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone, describing in detail how we were totally hoodwinked in the  (Grand?) Big Bank-Wall Street Bailout, and how it continues ad infinitum. If you want to know who really runs this country, read this piece.

Keep in mind the propaganda employed to sell the bailout, and think about this piece  (and the post above)  when you evaluate the barrage coming our way to sell us on why the PTB "have to" cut our Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Warning: Keep a barf bucket nearby....

The Fiscal Bargain is LAME, LAME, LAME!!

Graphic courtesy of Father Tyme

Our toady lawmakers, including the President, hid behind the manufactured budget hysteria, and chose to leave huge corporate handouts in place, handing out big breaks to Hollywood, NASCAR, mining companies, Goldman Sachs headquarters in NYC, and the Big Banks. They also chose to raise taxes on working Americans, by letting the payroll tax cut expire. This means an immediate 2% tax hike on every worker, costing each worker up to $1000.00 per year (or more). Apparently not able to grasp the concept that no deal is better than a bad deal, they forged a last-minute mess that should leave dems ashamed - not grinning for photo opps.

What COULD Have Been Done Instead, if Our Lawmakers Weren't Corrupt Lackeys for Billionaires: 

 -A transaction tax on Wall Street trades of .03 per $100.00 could have been implemented.

-Nonsensical, wasteful Pentagon spending could have been eliminated.

-Fossil fuel subsidies could have been cut in half.

-ALL of the Bush tax cuts for millionaires could have been axed.

-Eliminate corporate off-shore tax shelters.

But of course, our legislators didn't have the will or the spine to stand up to the big-money lobbies. Meanwhile, these sell-outs are enjoying their lifelong benefits which we pay for, like their pensions, healthcare, security, and whatnot. Obama even mandated a pay raise for this do-nothing Congress! You can bet that none of them are going to be living on Social Security only, struggling to buy food, heat, and medicine. The House even had the gall to adjourn without passing the Hurricane Sandy relief bill, thanks to the repug "leadership".  Outrageous and absolutely inexcusable!

The zeal to slash anything that benefits the public is what we expect from the repugs. Their self-serving greed and avarice is a given, as predictable as the sunrise. But don't ever forget that the offer to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid came from a democratic president who just won an election. And won it in no small part due to promises to protect Social Security and Medicare, and making the rich pay their fair share for a change. Is there anything this guy won't cave on? It'll be interesting to see how the Obamabots spin this one. I'm  sure that true to form, they'll have great excuses for him.

What does it take for Americans to realize this government is broken? As in no longer working for citizens? What will it take for citizens who still have some semblance of a brain to stop pretending that either wing of our one political party gives a damn about us?

Quote of the Week:

"Obama is spearheading the social counterrevolution that is the common policy of the ruling classes of the entire world--from Europe to Japan to the United States. In every country, the representatives of finance capital, having plundered national treasuries to bail out the banks and speculators, are now demanding that the working people pay the price."

- Patrick Martin, Op-Ed News

Your Shower is Next

Speaking of an Orwellian state, here's a new invasion of your privacy that's comin' up real quick. It involves your vehicle being tracked everywhere you go, and the monitoring of how you drive, as well.

The National Transportation Safety Agency (NHTSA), which is in charge of setting motoring regulation, is desperate to get their EDR (Event Data Recorder) plan through asap. They claim it's for safety reasons, so they can reconstruct accidents better, and identify what causes the accidents more accurately. They point to the Black Boxes on aircraft as an example of this, and have worked hard to make their proposal sound just as innocuous and sensible.

However, we are not driving aircraft, we are driving our cars, our own private property, and generally, we don't wish to be monitored in our mobile domiciles any more than we wish to wear an RFD chip on an obedience collar. And somehow - call me paranoid - I can't help but catch a whiff of some insurance industry money and influence in the air. NHTSA wants to make their black box requirement mandatory, starting with all light passenger vehicles sold after September 1, 2014. Needless to say, this will add to the cost of a new car. And it does nothing to make your vehicle safer.

How long before no one can drive a vehicle unless it's wired with a tracking box? Or can't buy insurance unless your vehicle is tracked? Crap like Progressive's "Snapshot", where drivers willingly surrender their privacy in exchange for saving a few bucks, was trotted out as a market test, but now Big Insurance needs Gov-Corp to make everyone participate whether they want to or not. Accelerate too fast? Bingo! Rates are raised immediately. A passenger didn't buckle their seat belt? Ding! Rates go up on the spot. Get the picture?

NHTSA  has issued a proposal for public comment in the Federal Register. I strongly suggest going HERE and making your comment before February 13, 2013.

Oversight Amendments to FISA Crumble in US Senate: Obama, Democrats Push to Make Bush Spying Laws Permanent

 "Four separate amendments designed to install oversight mechanisms into the National Intelligence Agency's vast spying capabilities enshrined in the 2008 FISA Amendments Act all failed Thursday with the majority of US Senators insisting that secrecy continues to trump civil liberties in the post 9/11 era.

With a final vote for full passage of the bill expected Friday, the defeat of the amendments spells near complete legalization of domestic spying practices which would have previously been found criminal. First uncovered during the Bush years and slammed by Democrats, the FISA law passed in 2008 gave retroactive immunity to the Bush era abuse and strove to codify the program going forward.

Though he ran against such measures during his first run for president, the secret spying laws have now been embraced fully and championed by President Obama.

Rights groups and advocates of the amendments voiced outrage with the votes..."  More at Common Dreams.

 Don't miss this one, either.

Top Suppressed Stories of 2012

There are some BIG stories you're not hearing about! Unreal:

Obama Will Ride to the Rescue....for Republicans

Cenk Uygur, Smirking Chimp

The Republicans have put themselves in a holy mess with this Plan B debacle. They now have less than zero leverage. They are a national laughingstock. A majority of the country now thinks they are "too extreme." They just got walloped in the election. And with the tax cuts set to expire the laws are rigged against them as well.

There is only one person who can rescue the Republican Party now -- Barack Obama. And he will. I have been saying for over two years now that President Obama is dying to do the Grand Bargain. He will do it at any cost. In fact, he actively wants to cut Social Security and Medicare. He can't wait for that pat on the back from the establishment when they finally call him post-partisan, above party politics, and a statesman for screwing over his own voters. This is by far his greatest wish.

I couldn't believe that people couldn't believe that President Obama offered to cut Social Security again in this round of negotiations. What are you still surprised at? The man has offered to cut these so-called entitlements every time. When are you going to get it through your head -- he wants to cut them!

Ok, I'm raining on everyone's parade here because this is the moment when the partisans are supposed to be reveling in Republican failure. The Republican Party is split and in tatters. Yes, but to what end? In order for that to be relevant, the Democrats would now have to offer a very different deal where the terms are changed in our favor. If they do and they get a deal where taxes are actually raised on people making above $250,000 and Social Security and Medicare are protected, then I will be dead wrong. I will be wrong now and I will have been wrong for all of these years. You can rub my face in it. And since the Democratic partisans are now feeling triumphant, get that crow ready for me to eat.

But it's not going to happen. I'm telling you this even in the Republican Party's darkest hour, the president will still give them most of what they want. My guess is that liberals will be stunned at the concessions President Obama makes even when he had the Republicans in a corner and totally defeated. Here's what you have to understand -- it's because he doesn't want to "win." Winning is different for him than it is for me and you. To us, winning is passing progressive priorities. To him, it's passing a deal where he seems like he is above party politics. In order to do that, he must cut entitlements (and corporate taxes, too, by the way).

We're going to find out who is right soon enough. I just wanted to make sure you knew what was coming ahead of time, so that you understand President Obama's real motivation. Understand that next time around, and remember he's still here for another four years, asking the president politely doesn't get you anything. He isn't a progressive in his heart, he is an establishment pleaser. The only way he acts like a progressive is if you make him. Next time, instead of applauding so much, put all of the pressure on the world on him. That's what Republicans do all of the time and it is what will allow them snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Mark my words.

I think we can all at least agree that if ever there was a time to press progressive priorities this would be it. So, this will be a true test of who he is and what he believes. Let's see what he does. You shall know him by his works.

Solstice and Yule Traditions

"In the northern latitudes, midwinter’s day has been an important time for celebration throughout the ages. On this shortest day of the year, the sun is at its lowest and weakest, a pivot point from which the light will grow stronger and brighter. This is the turning point of the year. The Romans called it Dies Natalis Invicti Solis, the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun...."

Winter Solstice: The Unconquered Sun

Still Here! Shit....

Might as well start working on a revolution.....Are you in?

And then there's Saturn's transit of Venus to consider....

But speaking of revolution, here's what the Mayan calendar REALLY means.

Quick! Call Your Congressional Critter Now!

There's a vote TONIGHT (12/20) in the House on John Boehner's messed up "Plan B" tax bill and the spending cuts bill! Tell your critter NO. Here's why:

This bill that would end improvements in tax credits for low- and moderate-income working families but extend most tax breaks for the richest two percent. As if that wasn't bad enough, they'll also vote on an amendment that would make devastating cuts to programs vital to women and their families.

  Millions of low-income people would lose valuable tax credits and eligibility for Medicaid. Key provisions of the Affordable Care Act would be undermined or eliminated. Food stamp (SNAP) benefits would be cut and 280,000 low-income children would lose free school meals. And funding streams that support women's health, child care and other services would be eliminated. 

In WNC, you can call Rep. Heath Shuler at 202-225-6401. Everyone else can call 202-224-3121.  GO! GO! 

Separated at birth? Game throwers Barack Obama and "Chick" Gardil
 

"...Set aside the reality that for the elderly and disabled on Social Security, the chained CPI probably doesn’t really work, since their major expenses tend to be for things like medical care and drugs, which actually see faster inflation than most goods and services, or for rent or mortgage payments, which do not lend themselves to substitution easily (old and disabled people have a difficult time moving when rents or interest rates rise). The real question is why Obama would give in on this issue when he already has a winning hand by just letting the Dec. 31 deadline on the Bush tax cuts pass.

There is, as the president surely knows, no real crisis in letting the country go “over” the so-called fiscal cliff. Every expert and every politician knows that when that happens, it is not, despite what the scare-mongering talking heads in the media say, going to raise everyone’s taxes. No politician in Washington would dare to let that happen. They will simply pass a tax bill restoring the Bush tax cuts for people with incomes under $250,000.

The difference is that with the old law, which favored the rich, no longer in existence after New Year’s, restoring tax cuts for the middle class and the lower class would require a majority vote in Congress, and that will be easy to obtain. There would be no majority vote for restoring tax cuts for the rich, though, which have been costing the US Treasury over $70 billion a year for the past decade -- an amount of revenue more than enough, if applied to the Social Security program, to keep it fully funded into the indefinite future.

As strong as the president’s bargaining position is today, it would be ten times stronger after December 31, because Republicans could no longer hold middle class tax cuts hostage in order to cut taxes for the rich.

And yet, here, once again, we see President Obama surrendering his position before serious bargaining has even begun.

It seems like the only place where this president ever stands his ground is in his insistence on killing lots of innocent people with armed drones in countries around the world that the US is not at war with (Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, etc.), and on threatening Iran with attack over its nuclear power program..."  (emphasis mine)

The Grand Sell-Out Emerges

Please, please, please, if you haven't already done so (or even if you have) call, email, fax your legislators, Reid, Pelosi, and Obama today. Get at least one other person to do the same. The recent post below (Was there even an Election?) contains contact info. This is a shameful, disgusting betrayal of American citizens, and if you don't speak up now, what WILL you speak up for?

The Grand Sell-out Emerges
Charles Pierce, RSN

I generally believe Ezra Klein when he talks about how everyone who matters is coming together to make a deal, so may I just congratulate all the important people on both sides of the aisle who have come together in semi-good faith to ram it to the rest of us. Really, kids, if this isn't really just a trial balloon big enough for the Macy's parade, well done.

On the spending side, the Democrats' headline concession will be accepting chained-CPI, which is to say, accepting a cut to Social Security benefits. Beyond that, the negotiators will agree to targets for spending cuts. Expect the final number here, too, to be in the neighborhood of $1 trillion, but also expect it to lack many specifics. Whether the cuts come from Medicare or Medicaid, whether they include raising the Medicare age, and many of the other contentious issues in the talks will be left up to Congress.

So here's where we sit. The Democrats, led by the president, who never is going to need to depend on Social Security, are prepared to concede on an issue that has absolutely nothing to do with the deficit. They are going to make life harder for millions of seniors. Social Security is now squarely "on the table" in any future budget negotiation. (Hey, who unplugged the third rail?) The simplest solution — raising the cap — is beyond discussion, now and forever. The "chained-CPI," which is a terrible idea on its own merits, as well as a piece of noxious moral sleight-of-hand, seeing as how it cuts benefits while pretending not to do so, is being adopted whole hog without a corresponding mechanism to raise more Social Security revenue to make up for the loss. If the president maintains his faith in the great god SimpsonBowles, the old folks will get a bump for only two years after the deal takes effect. Swell....More here.

It's Official! Justice is America is DEAD (unless you're rich and powerful)

Young women of color serve life sentences for minor drug offenses, while billion-dollar money launderers for drug cartels and terrorists aren't even indicted. What can we expect from a DOJ that attacks medical marijuana patients and providers, but refuses to prosecute Wall Street fraud? This is Obama's DOJ, just one more of the ways he's failed to be an ethical, honest leader.

What will it take for average American citizens to wake up and realize we have lost this country? This isn't our government! It doesn't even pretend to operate for our benefit! The corrupt PTB operate for the the benefit of the investor class, the wealthy, the CEOs. And if this week hasn't convinced you  (assuming you weren't convinced already!) that this government doesn't work for us, than you're probably too dense to participate in a democracy anyway.

The following is from Glenn Greenwald, and it's truly a must-read:

Life Sentence for the Poor, Immunity for the Wealthy
Glenn Greenwald

The US is the world's largest prison state, imprisoning more of its citizens than any nation on earth, both in absolute numbers and proportionally. It imprisons people for longer periods of time, more mercilessly, and for more trivial transgressions than any nation in the west. This sprawling penal state has been constructed over decades, by both political parties, and it punishes the poor and racial minorities at overwhelmingly disproportionate rates.

But not everyone is subjected to that system of penal harshness. It all changes radically when the nation's most powerful actors are caught breaking the law. With few exceptions, they are gifted not merely with leniency, but full-scale immunity from criminal punishment. Thus have the most egregious crimes of the last decade been fully shielded from prosecution when committed by those with the greatest political and economic power: the construction of a worldwide torture regime, spying on Americans' communications without the warrants required by criminal law by government agencies and the telecom industry, an aggressive war launched on false pretenses, and massive, systemic financial fraud in the banking and credit industry that triggered the 2008 financial crisis.

This two-tiered justice system was the subject of my last book, "With Liberty and Justice for Some", and what was most striking to me as I traced the recent history of this phenomenon is how explicit it has become. Obviously, those with money and power always enjoyed substantial advantages in the US justice system, but lip service was at least always paid to the core precept of the rule of law: that - regardless of power, position and prestige - all stand equal before the blindness of Lady Justice.

It really is the case that this principle is now not only routinely violated, as was always true, but explicitly repudiated, right out in the open. It is commonplace to hear US elites unblinkingly insisting that those who become sufficiently important and influential are - and should be - immunized from the system of criminal punishment to which everyone else is subjected.

 Worse, we are constantly told that immunizing those with the greatest power is not for their good, but for our good, for our collective good: because it's better for all of us if society is free of the disruptions that come from trying to punish the most powerful, if we're free of the deprivations that we would collectively experience if we lose their extraordinary value and contributions by prosecuting them.   More here.