Category Archives: Politics

Pigs Flying in Frozen Over Hell

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If you live long enough you're bound to see the damndest things:

As part of a legal settlement, the N.C. Republican Party is offering a very public mea culpa to former Democratic Rep. Jimmy Love Sr…

Shortly before last year's election, the GOP mailed an attack ad in the home district of Love, a seven-term Democrat from Sanford.

The ad said Love owned a piece of land and suggested it was bought by the N.C. Department of Transportation in a "sweetheart deal." The text of the mailer called Love a "swindler," featured his photo and falsely quoted him as saying, "I Love Gettin' Rich Off The Taxpayers!"…

Now, House District 41 voters who were sent the ad last year are finding another message from the Republican Party in their mailboxes.

"The accusations made against Mr. Love in the mailer were unjustified and the facts stated in support of the accusations were false," the new mailer says. "Accordingly, the North Carolina Republican Party hereby retracts the statements made in the mailer, apologizes to Mr. Love, and expresses its sincere regret for any distress or embarrassment caused to Mr. Love, his family, or his supporters."

My Advice to Rep. Bachmann – Don’t Do It!

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BachmannDebateLetter
The image I'm sharing here is of a letter sent to Rep. Michele Bachmann by a high school sophomore in which the student essentially calls the Congresswoman an embarassment to all women:

Though I am not in your home district, or even your home state, you are a United States Representative of some prominence who is subject to national media coverage. News outlets and websites across this country profile your causes and viewpoints on a regular basis. As one of a handful of women in Congress, you hold a distinct privilege and responsibility to better represent your gender nationally. The statements you make help to serve an injustice to not only the position of Congresswoman, but women everywhere. Though politically expedient, incorrect comments cast a shadow on your person and by unfortunate proxy, both your supporters and detractors alike often generalize this shadow to women as a whole.

Then she goes on to challenge Rep. Bachmann to a public debate or fact test on the US Constitution, US History and US Civics.  As the parent of three public high school students who revel in making me look/feel like a fool via such stunts I feel compelled to strongly urge the Congresswoman not to do it because I'm certain the kid will eat your lunch.

Field Reporting from the Wilds of Greensboro

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Former Charlotte mayor and '08 Republican gubernatorial candidate Pat McCrory spoke to my Rotary Club at lunch today.  He did a nice job, and during the Q&A he indicated that at this point he's definitely planning on running for governor again in '12.  Not exactly news, but if nothing else it has me already thinking about what should be an incredibly active campaign season over the next two years.

Real World Impact of Crappy Journalism

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From David Cay Johnston at Tax.com:

When it comes to improving public understanding of tax policy, nothing has been more troubling than the deeply flawed coverage of the Wisconsin state employees' fight over collective bargaining.

Economic nonsense is being reported as fact in most of the news reports on the Wisconsin dispute, the product of a breakdown of skepticism among journalists multiplied by their lack of understanding of basic economic principles. 

Gov. Scott Walker says he wants state workers covered by collective bargaining agreements to "contribute more" to their pension and health insurance plans.

Accepting Gov. Walker' s assertions as fact, and failing to check, created the impression that somehow the workers are getting something extra, a gift from taxpayers. They are not. 

Out of every dollar that funds Wisconsin' s pension and health insurance plans for state workers, 100 cents comes from the state workers.

How can that be? Because the "contributions" consist of money that employees chose to take as deferred wages – as pensions when they retire – rather than take immediately in cash. The same is true with the health care plan. If this were not so a serious crime would be taking place, the gift of public funds rather than payment for services…

The collective bargaining agreements for prosecutors, cops and scientists are all on-line. 

Reporters should sit down, get a cup of coffee and read them. And then they could take what they learn, and what the state website says about fringe benefits, to Gov. Walker and challenge his assumptions.

Wisconsin Governor Got Punked?

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The video below is apparently a conversation between the editor of The Buffalo Beast, who is pretending to be one of the billionaire Koch brothers, and the governor of Wisconsin.  If it's real, and according to Salon.com it is, then I have to say I'm shocked that the governor or his staff didn't do a better job of vetting the caller before doing all the talking.

 

It’s Not the Rich, It’s the Educated

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If you're the parent of a teenager then you know one of the universal truths of teenage life has not changed since your own days in high school: if you want to be considered "cool" then you better not let anyone know you're actually doing your homework.  And if you're living in America these days you probably realize that anti-intellectualism is most definitely an in thing. If you don't then you should read this quote from Frank Rich's column about Sarah Palin's ascendancy:

It’s anti-elitism that most defines angry populism in this moment, and, as David Frum, another Bush alumnus (and Palin critic), has pointed out, populist rage on the right is aimed at the educated, not the wealthy. The Bushies and Noonans and dwindling retro-moderate Republicans are no less loathed by Palinistas and their Tea Party fellow travelers than is Obama’s Ivy League White House.

If an official from the administration of a President, who built his own image around being an average good 'ol boy, is pointing out that people are pissed off at the educated then you know we're in trouble. 

Let Me Tell You How America Works

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Found at the ever interesting local blog The Seventh Sense is this quote from the Washington Post's election coverage:

"Let me tell you how America works," says Foley, who wears a plaid shirt, a mallard-print tie and a woodpecker feather in his fedora. "You have Democrats voting for Democrats and Republicans voting for Republicans and then you have these people down the middle who are — " he lowers his voice " – undereducated, and are trying to make a living and do the best for their children, but they're so busy that they realize two weeks before an election that, 'Gee, I better start watching TV to get some news,' and by then the richest [expletives] in America have shoved their [expletiving] money into attack ads and that's what this middle group of people sees, and they vote accordingly and they're the ones who steer the country."

Xenophobia? Take a Deep Breath People

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Anyone remember when the Japanese were going to own us back in the '80s and early '90s?  Hell, it was such a big fear that it became the plot line for a Michael Crichton book that was made into a movie starring Sean Connery and Wesley Snipes; a sure sign that the apocalypse was upon us.  So how'd that turn out? Still that doesn't stop us from moving on to the next great Asian boogeyman: China.

People, our problems are huge, our economy is in trouble and times are tough. Sure we have a ton of debt, and that tonnage is increasing, and the Chinese own a good chunk of it.  But if we don't stop hyperventilating and falling for the kind of xenophobic fear mongering the folks at CAGW are peddling this election season (see below) then I fear we just may be up **** creek without a paddle.  When you view this thing just keep in mind a couple of things:

  • The makers of this video toss out a nice red herring with the whole "Empires crumbling due to turning away from core values" thing and then segueing to stimulus spending,  healthcare reform, etc.  Silly me, I thought our core principles included things like freedom of expression, freedom of religion, freedom from taxation without representation, etc.  From which core principle does healthcare reform turn us away?
  • Our debt with China was a problem long before President Obama or most members of Congress came along, as was our trade imbalance.  It's been a problem as long as I can remember thanks to our true national pastime in America, shopping for crap we don't need and can hardly afford, combined with our brilliant economic policy of letting other people make the crap we don't need but continue to buy and then bitching about it when we realize that, gee we owe all those crap makers a lot of money. 
  • We're really morons if we think the new crop of politicians will do anything much differently.  Why? They're p-o-l-i-t-i-c-i-a-n-s. They'll change their stripes the same day Tony the Tiger does.
  • We have met the enemy and it is us, not the Chinese.  Don't be distracted by the boogeyman of the decade.  They need us as much, if not more, as we need them. Ask yourself this question: why did the banks get in so much trouble with this recession? Because they were owed money by a lot of people, and when a fraction of those people couldn't pay up the banks almost went under (yes that's oversimplified). It is in China's best interest for us to remain a strong, vibrant economy since it doesn't do them any good to own a bunch of debt from a collapsing or weak economy. So just take a deep breath and think clearly about the issues we face and the best way to deal with them. Maybe you'll come to the same conclusion you would have anyway, but at least you're coming to those conclusions via some rational deduction.