Let me get this straight

Obama's a snob because he wants you to go to college, trade school, etc. Romney's not a snob even though he reminds people he knows NASCAR team owners, makes $10,000 bets, owns multiple Cadillacs, and tears down a mansion to build a bigger mansion. Ok. Got it.


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Oh it's soooo true....

Getting the Message Straight

I think I may have posted this graphic before, but as we end one of the worst political discourse years in my lifetime (and potentially in the lifetime of the country), I thought we should all stare at it for a bit.  So here it is:

Now there are a couple things I want to point out.

• If I hear one more person (politician or just registered republican) say that someone needs to get Obama's out of control spending under control, I'm going to start carrying printouts of this graph with me to hand out.  Many of the GOP members you'll hear spouting this crap are the very ones who rubber-stamped (and in some cases even co-wrote) some of the laws which resulted in many of the larger segments on the left side of the graph (*cough* Boehner *cough*).
•  I also hear these people talk about how "un-American" Obama is.  This is a president who surged in Afghanistan, launched a global drone war, killed Osama Bin Laden and much of the al Qaeda's leadership, dethroned Qaddafi, shored up alliances in India, Indonesia, Korea and Japan, and finally ended the Iraq war but he hates America?
• Not to bring us all back to High School Civics but the president doesn't spend money.  Congress does. So it's a little silly to argue that Obama's on a spending spree.  It's true that the president can help set the spending agenda for Congress, but that pretty much applies when he's got a majority there.  I think we can all agree that Obama hasn't been able to get much of any spending done since 2010.  Almost every bit of spending you see on his side occurred prior to then.  He also hasn't been able to get any saving done either.  If you consider stalemate progress, you're what's wrong with this country at this point.  An economy that's stalled needs movement, not frozen politicians.
• Forgetting about the contentious issue of the two wars, I want you to imagine a world where the Bush tax cuts never happened.  Just look at the bar on the left, take that chunk out in your mind and slide what's below it upward.  Can you see how much better shape we'd be in fiscally? Try to find a blob of equal size on Obama's side.  I'll wait.  There is a good sized one over there for Stimulus Spending but Bush has one the same size for Stimulus spending.  And let's not forget TARP and bailouts that BUSH enacted.
• Then there's the $126 billion in defense spending savings on Obama's side.  Go ahead and look for any black on Bush's side.  I'll wait.

What's Trickling Down
The argument in favor of the Bush tax cuts goes like this:  Keep giving the wealthy tax breaks so that they will bless us with jobs.  When we have jobs, we'll spend money which will make businesses invest more which will bring more jobs and the circle of joy will know no end.  Here's the problem with this theory: It didn't work.  The Bush tax cuts have been in place for years, the wealthy have made more money than they ever have in history as a result, wage inequality is as high as it's been in decades, taxes on the wealthy haven't been this low in my lifetime, yet where are the jobs?  Overseas.  Let me be succinct.  The wealthy don't give a shit about this country.  What they do care about is money.  The more they can make the better.  It's a competition with their country club neighbors and has little to do with lifestyle.  So if they can move their factory to China and get the labor done for 1/3 of the price, that's more money in their pockets.  They sell the crap they're making to 2nd world countries who are on the rise.

See, America?  We're like the once hot girlfriend that's gotten a few wrinkles and put on a few pounds.  Now our wealthy have a new girlfriend.  She's younger and a bit more naive so she doesn't have things like pesky labor laws or expensive infrastructures to maintain.  She doesn't care that her children work in sweat shops or that mortality rates are high.

And the wealth-sponsored Fox News line that is brainwashed into the republican masses is this:  Well you see, the lower income families pay no taxes.  The wealthy would gladly pay more if they felt everyone was paying their fair share.  Billionaire Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman thinks these people have no skin in the game.  I think Matt Taibbi said it best so I'll just quote him here (my emphasis added):

[O]ut of Abelson’s collection of doleful woe-is-us complaints from the offended rich, the one that deserves the most attention is Schwarzman’s line about lower-income folks lacking “skin in the game.” This incredible statement gets right to the heart of why these people suck.

Why? It's not because Schwarzman is factually wrong about lower-income people having no “skin in the game,” ignoring the fact that everyone pays sales taxes, and most everyone pays payroll taxes, and of course there are property taxes for even the lowliest subprime mortgage holders, and so on.

It’s not even because Schwarzman probably himself pays close to zero in income tax – as a private equity chief, he doesn’t pay income tax but tax on carried interest, which carries a maximum 15% tax rate, half the rate of a New York City firefighter.

The real issue has to do with the context of Schwarzman’s quote. The Blackstone billionaire, remember, is one of the more uniquely abhorrent, self-congratulating jerks in the entire world – a man who famously symbolized the excesses of the crisis era when, just as the rest of America was heading into a recession, he threw himself a $5 million birthday party, featuring private performances by Rod Stewart and Patti Labelle, to celebrate an IPO that made him $677 million in a matter of days (within a year, incidentally, the investors who bought that stock would lose three-fourths of their investments). 

So that IPO birthday boy is now standing up and insisting, with a straight face, that America’s problem is that compared to taxpaying billionaires like himself, poor people are not invested enough in our society’s future. Apparently, we’d all be in much better shape if the poor were as motivated as Steven Schwarzman is to make America a better place.

But it seems to me that if you’re broke enough that you’re not paying any income tax, you’ve got nothing but skin in the game. You've got it all riding on how well America works. 

You can’t afford private security: you need to depend on the police. You can’t afford private health care: Medicare is all you have. You get arrested, you’re not hiring Davis, Polk to get you out of jail: you rely on a public defender to negotiate a court system you'd better pray deals with everyone from the same deck. And you can’t hire landscapers to manicure your lawn and trim your trees: you need the garbage man to come on time and you need the city to patch the potholes in your street. And in the bigger picture, of course, you need the state and the private sector both to be functioning well enough to provide you with regular work, and a safe place to raise your children, and clean water and clean air.

You tell me how a group of thinking adults - most of which have mortgages and are in the threatened middle class - can swallow the line from republicans that the real problem here is Obama.  This Jedi mind trick from Fox News is working on a population that is so busy keeping it's head above water that it doesn't have time to stop, think, and analyze what's really going on.  It's like the guy who's picking your pocket using your millisecond long attention span to distract you while he does it.  Don't fall for it.  It is time to wake up.  These people do not have consciences.  They are not going to "do the right thing" for America.  They are going to milk this country of every resource and every dime until we're broke, drinking dirty water, and breathing polluted air, and then they'll move into their multi-million dollar compounds with private security while we all kill each other for a chicken breast.  The oil that keeps the machinery moving in America is the middle class.  It represents opportunity to the lower class and stability for those who have no aspirations of being wealthy.  When the middle class is gone, hope goes with it and when that happens, we're going to see anarchy that makes the occupy Wall Street protests look like Gandhi gatherings.

Annnnd Another One...

Here's the latest installment of "Let me distance myself from my homosexuality by railing against it."  I wonder who will be next month?

Vladimir the Greek?

Ah yes.  Another day, another media manipulation of the truth.  Even CNN did it.  Is this intentional or just shoddy journalism?  Either way, choose your media sources carefully.

Quote of the Day

"If any of you felt disrespected by Huntsman for forthrightly saying that he thinks you're wrong about a couple of things, understand that it could be much worse. You could embrace a nominee who just lies to you when he thinks you won't like hearing the truth. And who tells such audacious whoppers that part of him has to believe that we're all stupid.

What shows more contempt and disrespect, telling someone you think one of their ideas is wrongheaded? Or lying to them over and over about your record, your character, and your business dealings?" - Conor Friedersdorf

Thanksgiving: A Shakespearean Tragedy

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone, and I'm reminded of how separated we've become as a country, as a people, and as a family.  My dad's side of the family is infamous for being on two opposing sides of the political spectrum so Thanksgiving usually starts out gentle and courteous, then alcohol (or boredom) sets in and the topic usually turns to politics.  At that point, tensions rise even in the non-participants.  Spouses begin nudging the main players, gently warning them to avoid the topic. Sometimes they even form a third team that begins a side conversation underneath the arguing about why Thanksgivings always have to be this way.

This is a tradition in my family that has existed for as long as I can remember.  My grandfather used to add fuel to the fire when he was alive.  I was pretty young, but I've been told of legendary political battles fought and lost over the Thanksgiving dinner table.  These arguments got so bad that one notable year my aunt, who's normally the poster child for calm and quiet, suddenly yelled out at my uncle to "SHUT THE FUCK UP!"  I think it was the first time I'd heard her swear or yell in my life which made it all the more impactful.

Last night, the fighting was muted compared to previous years (maybe because the audience was smaller).  I should point out at this point that I love a good debate as much as the next guy, but these aren't debates.  These are two sides who will never see the others' point of view, never acknowledge the validity of any points made by the opponent, and occasionally will sprinkle in verbal jabs like hot oil on a flame just to make sure that the other side completely shuts down any chance of listening.  They don't see the conversation as a chance to moderate the opposing side's position, they see it as a chance to pummel them into nonexistance.  In fact, they play a sort of "Name that Tune" game with each other.  Side A thinks they can name the point of the Side B's sentence in 2 words.  Once that second word leaves B's lips, A begins their response - right on top B.  B, who is speaking and hearing (vs. listening) at the same time, hears the first two words of A and begins modifying his response to address it.  It's the fastest totem pole climb you've ever witnessed and the result is a long mashup of dueling monologues trying to out shout the other as if volume is what will convince them rather than substance.  The only change in the brains of the those present is a throbbing headache from all the shouting.

If this sounds a lot like Congress to you, I agree.  But in fact, it's Congress that's degenerated, not my family.  As I mentioned, this has been going on in my family for decades and probably many other families as well and I've always counted on Congress to be the proverbial adult in the room.  The children argue, they both think they're right, and the adults step in and come up with a reasonable, fair solution whereby no one gets everything they want but everyone gets something they want.  Yet now congress seems to be acting like my family and that is not good for this country.

By far, the worst part of the setup is that both sides think they are moderate and reasonable.  It's the other side that's not.  It's a little like the statistical impossibility that is everyone thinking they're an above average driver.  That part is the hardest to watch.  It's like watching a Shakespearian tragedy.  You can see both sides ramping up for a really unhappy ending and there's nothing you can do to stop it.  I've tried to act as a mediator by acknowledging each side's good points and trying to act as a sort of vitriol translator.  My job includes trying to turn "Bill O'Reilly is an idiot!" into "What he's trying to say is, he needs evidence from a primary source, not a secondary source" and "You guys don't want people to be able to get wealthy!" into "What he's trying to say is he thinks you're against wealth, not wealthy people's behavior".  It works for a while, but the moment things start to get too reasonable, it's as if an alarm goes off in the heads of both sides and someone from the left yells out, "Oh?  Did you learn that on Faux News!?!" or someone from the right says, "Oh?  Did Governor Moonbeam tell you that?" and down we go.

That alarm actually has some ancient history.  Human beings like confrontations to result in fight or flight responses because they're easier for us to handle.  It's much easier to fight or flee than to reason through a non-fighting/fleeing response so we've created roles to help engage our reptilian brains.  These roles are victim, rescuer, and persecutor and they're everywhere in our culture.  Princess Leia? Victim.  Hans Solo/Luke Skywalker? Rescuer.  And we all know who the persecutor is.  In fact, almost every piece of fiction ever created since the beginning of man has characters assigned to these three roles.  Our brains are wired to see the world through this three-sided filter.  Our parents argued in front of us with it as kids, it was how fictional TV characters interacted, how our history is presented in school, and on and on.

Even though we switch between these roles (sometimes moment to moment in the same conversation), we all have a preferred role in our lives.  Like a favorite pair of shoes, this role just fits right.  If that role is persecutor, we need victims so we either attract them to us or make them by pouring out personal attacks.  If we tend to be victims, we need persecutors so we either attract them to us or persecute someone until they persecute back.  Then, like a warm bath, we lie back and relish in our victimhood.  If we're rescuers, we're always looking for the prosecuted and trying to jump to their aid.  In a sense, rescuers are prosecutors as well.  They're simultaneously prosecuting the victim by essentially saying, "It's ok.  I can see you can't handle this on your own so let me step in" and then prosecuting the prosecutor on behalf of the victim (rescuer is my preferred role but it's not something I'm proud of.  None of us should be proud of these roles).  If we find a conversation steering away from our preferred role, we pour a little gas on the fire to keep it going in a direction that helps us react on autopilot.  We do anything we can to keep from having to challenge our entrenched positions.

All this roleplaying makes for confrontations that can be every bit as explosive and unproductive as they are in TV, movies, or novels.  The reason is obvious:  we don't care about learning or helping others learn, we care about winning.  Winning at all costs.  Winning at the expense of a peaceful evening with family. Winning at the expense of hurt feelings.  Winning at the cost of the truth or facts.  The more each side cares about winning at all costs, the more likely that no one can claim even a portion of victory at all and the Shakespearean tragedy is complete.

Each year at Thanksgiving, I start out hopeful.  Not that we'll avoid politics - I enjoy learning from all sides - but that we'll learn to see each other's side just a bit more than when we started and have a reasonable discussion.  But the propaganda rivers run deep and the mutual respect is sorely lacking.  Eventually, the reasonableness deteriorates into cheap shots and name calling from the trenches - much like politicians have begun to do.  We aren't a better family because of it and we aren't a better country either.  Maybe one day we'll all figure that out.  In the meantime, pass the leftover turkey.  I'm determined to have something about last night be wonderful.

Words to the Wise. Are the Wise Listening?

Mike Lofgren retires after nearly 30 years as a staffer for the GOP and has a few words for his former GOP coworkers.

W Part 2

The longer you wait, the dumber his answer gets.

Perry: We'd Lynch Ben Bernanke In Texas

Perry: We'd Lynch Ben Bernanke In Texas:

ANDREW SULLIVAN:
The reason I've been a little circumspect in judging the Perry candidacy is that it's very hard to tell if a candidate this Texan and this far right has any traction in the middle of the country. Perhaps in hard times, he does. But then you examine his actual positions - social security is unconstitutional, secession is an option - and you wonder if this is a fantasy, if the GOP isn't actually committing the kind of grotesque suicide that Obama tends to evoke in his opponents.
What Perry is now shown to have said has a plain meaning. He'd support lynching the Fed Chairman. And he believes that Bernanke's attempts to prevent a Second Great Depression are partisan politics, and an attempt to rig the election. He seems to think, in other words, that the man who was the head of George W. Bush's Council of Economic Advisers and was appointed to Fed Chairman by George W. Bush is somehow a Democratic party operative trying to win the election for Obama. It's a staggering assault on the integrity of a civil servant grappling with some of the most serious economic problems this country has faced in our lifetime.
To my mind, the following statement disqualifies Perry from the race:

If this guy prints more money between now and the election, I dunno what y’all would do to him in Iowa but we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas. Printing more money to play politics at this particular time in American history is almost treasonous in my opinion.

Yes, as Talk Progress notes, treason is a capital offense. And there is no doubt what a bully means when he says someone should be treated "pretty ugly" in Texas. There you have the mindset of a man who could issue a death warrant for an innocent man and who would bring back the most brutal torture techniques he could get away with. As for president Obama's patriotism, that too is in play and in doubt:

These two disgusting statements, in today's polarized climate, are, to my mind, a reason for Perry to withdraw, or for his party to disown this ugly, divisive, violent rhetoric.

Your shit and my stuff

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Lactate Intolerance
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Another Hypocrite Dirtbag

Not sure when this is going to stop, but it sickens me. Kudos to the kid for exposing this asshole.

Anti-gay Indiana state rep solicited 18-year-old boy on Craigslist | The Raw Story

This Is Awesome. But remember, Fox is fair and balanced.

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The only thing trickling down is urine

Supply side economics: The facts don't fit the theory.

Wanna Get Excited About the Economy?

Check out this article.

Got Some Facts Here For Ya

If you're a Sarah Palin supporter, you probably should do some homework in case she announces that she's running for the GOP nomination. Andrew Halco from the Anchorage Press has put together a Cliff Notes sheet to help you out. This should be kept handy as an anti-rhetoric tool during debates should they occur.

No Laughing at THIS Party

G.O.P = Grumpy Old Politicians.

Which is the Bigger Threat? War or Terrorism?

Conor Friedersdorf calls it like I see it in this article.

One of my favorite quotes (including all the links):

Give the hawks their due: terrorism is an ongoing threat to the United States. In fact, it's likely to pose a bigger threat with every year that passes, insofar as technological advances are permitting people with meager resources to obtain ever deadlier weapons. Heaven forbid they get a nuke or a killer virus. What the hawks fail to recognize, however, is that perpetual war poses a bigger threat to the citizenry of a superpower than does terrorism. Already it is helping to bankrupt us financially, undermining our civil liberties, corroding our values, triggering abusive prosecutions, empowering the executive branch in ways that are anathema to the system of checks and balances implemented by the Founders, and causing us to degrade one another.

Andrew Sullivan adds:

The problem is that we do not have the same information the executive branch does and therefore have no concrete idea of the threat level. We have to trust them, and yet they seem not to trust us, by positing a risk-free security environment as the sine qua non of what Americans are prepared to live with. I'd be content to trade off some security for regaining some of the liberty we have lost since 9/11. But I do not even know if there is a trade-off.

This is the blind leading the afraid. There must be a better way.

How High Are U.S. Taxes?

Bruce Bartlett analyzes the numbers. If you are a person who argues they're high or you hear people argue that they're high (like when Republicans try to tell you that we have the highest corporate tax rate in the world), you really should give this article a read.

Budget Mix-Up Provides Nation's Schools With Enough Money To Properly Educate Students

The onion delivers one of their best articles this year.