Political Minutiea: The Place for Gladhanding, Back Slapping, Fights & Bloodshed

[SR71]

This is a thread for political items that are short of thradworthy. This may be because they are boring, transitory, insane, or even if you want to post something important but suffer from thradogenesophobia.

So, how about Tom Harkin's argument against extension of the payroll tax? I agree with him and actually felt the same for some time now. This is going to cause an inflection in balance of payments that will make it impossible to defend SS as fully self supporting going forward. Defenders have always been able to say that the program takes nothing from the general fund and adds not a cent to the deficit. After this, we will no longer be able to say that. The stimulative benefit of slightly increased take home pay does not outweigh the cost to the reputation of the program.

Payroll Tax Cut: Tom Harkin Slams President, Democrats For Risking Social Security (VIDEO)

Harkin (D-Iowa), who has long been a staunch defender of Social Security, hammered it as the beginning of the end for the program.

"This Congress will be making a grave mistake -- a grave mistake -- and reinforcing a dangerous precedent," Harkin said in a dramatic Senate floor speech late Thursday. "And I’m dismayed that Democrats, including a Democratic president and a Democratic vice president, have proposed this, and are willing to sign off on a deal that could begin the unraveling of Social Security."

Harkin argued that Social Security had always been strong and protected because it was funded by its own dedicated tax stream that ensured every American would be guaranteed a basic income in their retirements, and that the program added not "even one dime to the deficits or the national debt."

But he said now that Congress was going to pay for this cut with borrowed money from the general treasury funds, the best argument of the program's defenders was gone.

"With this bill, we can no longer say that. We can no longer say that Social Security doesn't contribute to the deficit," Harkin said.

He argued that a far better plan would have been to simply grant working Americans rebates on their income taxes, the way Presidents Obama and George W. Bush had done in recent years.

[Watser?]

Ok, here's one:

When President Obama spoke to workers in Wisconsin last week, Politico accidentally made itself the story. The paper’s reporter mistook the Wisconsin state flag for the seal of a local union, and cited it as an illustration of President Obama’s pro-union bias.

Politico cleaned the egg off its face by wiping the story from the Internet. But the gaffe made the rounds among actual union officials in the state and now that the laughter’s subsided, they’ve turned it into a membership drive.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2...all-effort.php

[SR71]

Originally Posted by Watser?

Ok, here's one:

Politico Gaffe Becomes Organizing Tool In Wisconsin Recall Effort | TPMDC

Yeah, sometimes it seems like the O Man is a double agent.

Ironically, Politico’s error occurred at a time when national unions are frustrated at President Obama for supporting two pieces of legislation — a long-term FAA reauthorization, and the payroll tax cut bill — both of which cut against labor interests.

And the Libertards call him a communist. Whatever, he'll still get my vote, he's better than the ultra right opposition.

[Crumb]

This is going to cause an inflection in balance of payments that will make it impossible to defend SS as fully self supporting going forward.

I believe this was always the point of the payroll tax "holiday". It is the beginning of dismantling SS. Any sane reduction in the payroll tax would have included in increase in the max income level to balance out the loss of SS revenue. But saving working people money was never the goal of it.

[Watser?]

I guess this goes in here too, this is the political Miscellany thread now after all.

Geert Wilders' PVV party is now too racist for the Afrikaans-speakers. The Afrikaans Language Council (ATR) has told Dutch politician Martin Bosma, who is a member of the Dutch parliament for the PVV, that his party's stance regarding Muslims is unacceptable to the ATR. Bosma is in South Africa and Afrikaans-speaking politicians seem to want to make very clear it is a private visit and he was not invited.
Linkie (in Afrikaans)

[freemonkey]

Fucker Carlson thinks the U.S. is the only nation with the "moral authority" to conduct first strikes on other nations. Among other things.

[Crumb]

We are the only country that doesn't seek hegemony in the world.

[Kael]

I like how he's all "Iran is Evil and must be annihilated! But let's not get carried away here, I mean, it could damage our economy..."

He's like a living caricature of the most banal, casual sort of warmongering asshat.

[SR71]

Right Kael? It's ridiculous. It should be p. obvious the last thing we need right now is a war with anybody, let alone right there in the tensest and strategically most important region in the world. It's so typical, saber rattling at the earliest opportunity.

Meantime, the fact that corporate tax receipts are at a historical low while profits and the deficit are riding high obviously demands further tax cuts. It's like these guys can't understand cause and effect.

So here is some minutea that is not threadworthy. The pres's Corp Tax Cut proposal will never amount to anything. It's not all that great in the first place. More weak tea. It's what I've come to expect.

Robert L. Borosage: The President's Corporate Tax Reform Message: Say What?

Corporations provided only about 7.9% of government receipts in FY2011, down from 11% in the prosperous 1990s. Corporate tax avoidance is notorious, with dozens of the Fortune 500 managing to pay no taxes at all in different years. The effective tax rate US corporations pay is lower than the average of the industrial nations.

[godfry n. glad]

I still think he was a wholly-owned subsidiary of some plutocrat cabal within 48 hours of his cinching the Democratic nomination.

[Watser?]

Daily Kos has a good poast on the warmongering on Iran here: Daily Kos: IP: Are we listening to the drums of Iran war? Or something else altogether?

I'm pretty sure it's all about Israel:
1) Trying to get the US to fight a war they know they can't win.
2) Desperately trying to distract from what they are doing in the West Bank, which is nailing the last nails in the coffin of the two-state solution. The only problem they are gonna run into though is they need to get rid of the Palestinian population. They may need the cover of a major regional war to be able to do that.

According to Andrew Sullivan and Max Blumenthal Netanyahu wants regime change in the US as well as in Iran: mondoweiss.net/2012/02/netanyahu-seeks-iran-conflict-extremist-reaction-to-knock-out-obama.html

[godfry n. glad]

Agreed.

The key word being "distract".

[Janet]

Originally Posted by godfry n. glad

I still think he was a wholly-owned subsidiary of some plutocrat cabal within 48 hours of his cinching the Democratic nomination.

I don't think he ever would have been nominated if he hadn't been their wholly-owned subsidiary long before that.

[SR71]

Originally Posted by Watser?

Daily Kos has a good poast on the warmongering on Iran here: Daily Kos: IP: Are we listening to the drums of Iran war? Or something else altogether?

I'm pretty sure it's all about Israel:
1) Trying to get the US to fight a war they know they can't win.
2) Desperately trying to distract from what they are doing in the West Bank, which is nailing the last nails in the coffin of the two-state solution. The only problem they are gonna run into though is they need to get rid of the Palestinian population. They may need the cover of a major regional war to be able to do that.

According to Andrew Sullivan and Max Blumenthal Netanyahu wants regime change in the US as well as in Iran: mondoweiss.net/2012/02/netanyahu-seeks-iran-conflict-extremist-reaction-to-knock-out-obama.html

I am an equal opportunity religious fundamentalist critic. There are discernible elements on all three sides of the Children of Abraham (peters, F.E) triangle that want to drag us all into the end of the world slaughter scenario. Given that such a scenario is a real possibility, even sans woo, given the realpolitik geopolitical situation, I sincerely wish they would leave the rest of us out of their stupid reindeer games. It's hard enough coexisting without these idiots trying to foster more hostility.

I'm not anti religion. I am anti the kind of religion that divides and encourages hatred rather than tolerance.

[SR71]

Fucking hard heads. Clearly Iran needs nuclear capability, Israel needs them not to have it, and the US needs "a big stick". All of these things are essential.

Iran focus as Obama talks to Israel backers - World news - msnbc.com

Quoting Theodore Roosevelt, Obama said he would "speak softly, but carry a big stick" — and warned Iran not to test U.S. resolve.

[SR71]

Glenn Beck was shilling for Goldline who were recently found to have used fraudulent scare tactics as a sales tool. How perfectly fitting.

Glenn Beck's Favorite Gold Company Forced to Refund $4.5 Million to Customers | Mother Jones

On Wednesday, the Santa Monica city attorney obtained a judgment and injunction against Goldline that requires the company to radically overhaul its practices and to stop deceiving customers about prices, among other things. The company must refund up to $4.5 million to defrauded customers, and pay $800,000 into a fund for future claims. The judgment also requires the company to give up one of the staples of its marketing tactics, and one that was hyped routinely by Beck: the idea that the government's coming for your gold. For years Beck and Goldline insisted customers should buy its "numismatic" (or antique) coins rather than standard government-issued bullion because, they claimed, in 1933 President Franklin Roosevelt had ordered the government to confiscate private citizens' gold bullion; antique coins were spared from the seizure. The claim was a huge stretch, as was the notion Beck perpetuated that Obama was plotting to seize Americans' gold. Now, Goldline has to quit talking about bullion confiscation lest it face further trouble from prosecutors.

[SR71]

I am pleased with the performance of my local government. They are lowering the property tax rates gradually without increased borrowing. This is important to me, New Jersey being the most heavily taxed state, and also dead last in ratio of funds gotten back from US.gov over funds given to US.gov. Property taxes are the bulk of taxes paid by NJ residents, so they are ridiculous.

Of course this has come at a cost, in terms of local government staffing, but I have not felt any ill effects. The people who were let go feel the effects, but something had to be done, we could not continue borrowing money and increasing tax rates year after year after year. One of my friends was one of those let go, but he landed on his feet, and co-founded a solar power installation company, which is doing OK. I know others who lost their jobs who are still feeling the hurt.

Our County Freeholder Director (lol Freeholders) recently did something of which I approve. He asked residents to do something to help themselves. Specifically, in the county newsletter, he informed us about a 20% rate hike by water monopoly American Water and asked us to sign a petition. I like that he asked for some level of involvement, which is so rare from politicians of late. Even little things like this are seldom asked of the citizenry.

Anyway, we have already had water rate hikes of 53% over the last seven years, so this would bring it to 73%. That is just blatant overcharging. American Water's balance sheet is quite sterling. I understand that water is critical and future projects need to be budgeted for, but seriously, this is what happens when public utilities are privatized. Call it piratized, they are a monopoly.

The Libertarian dream that is really a nightmare.

[SR71]

Scott Walker, Governor of Wisconsin and notable dickweed, needs a Legal Defense Fund to defray costs of cooperating in a John Doe investigation. How much does it cost to cooperate with an investigation? Couple million, apparently.

"To fulfill my commitment, I have today formed a legal fund to pay for the expenses incurred in cooperating with the inquiry. The fund will operate in accordance with the Wisconsin law authorizing these accounts, which was passed almost 30 years ago." - dickweed Governor Scott Walker

[SR71]

Public opinion on military strikes on Iran. Yeah wow. Hammerheads everywhere. Hardliners, hotheads and hardasses. There is not enough room in this world these days, the stakes are too high. The leaders on all sides of this issue need to learn to take a step back, breathe deep, relax, think it through, and make some concessions. It's really that simple, and it's p. much not going to happen.

Most Americans support using force to prevent a nuclear Iran | FP Passport

But how does the American public view the situation in Iran? New polling from the Pew Research Center this morning suggests that Americans are in a rather bellicose mood when it comes to confronting Iran, and pessimistic about the power of sanctions to keep Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

In the survey, 58 percent of respondents said it was more important to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, even if that meant taking military action. Only 30 percent preferred avoiding a military conflict even if it meant Iran going nuclear. Republicans (74 percent) were far more supportive of using military force than Democrats (50 percent), but Democratic backing was still substantial.

[SR71]

GLENN BECK! I think he has been relegated to the scrap heap of political minutiae status. Here is a funneh...

What's Inside Glenn Beck's Brain? | Mother Jones

[Watser?]

Jeff Halper of the Israeli Committee Against house Demolitions on how Israel went beyond Apartheid in the West Bank:

We have to try to match the political process, the political reality, because it is unprecedented in the world. Another term is "warehousing" because I think that captures what's going on better than apartheid. Warehousing is permanent. Apartheid recognises that there is another side. With warehousing it's like prisons. There is no other side. There is us, and then there are these people that we control, they have no rights, they have no identity, they're inmates. It's not political, it's permanent, static. Apartheid you can resist. The whole brilliance of warehousing is that you can't resist because you're a prisoner. It's like prisons. Prisoners can rise in the prison yards but prison guards have all the rights in the world to put them down. That's what Israel has come to.

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opi...445821996.html

[SR71]

Another term is "warehousing" because I think that captures what's going on better than apartheid. Warehousing is permanent. Apartheid recognises that there is another side. With warehousing it's like prisons. There is no other side. There is us, and then there are these people that we control, they have no rights, they have no identity, they're inmates. It's not political, it's permanent, static.

This and the settlements are the stand out issues in my mind. In effect, the Palestinians live in a ghetto, in the pre- WW II European physical sense of the word. Once again, I have only vague notions of what is going on. The physical containment and division of their land by roadways are part of that vague impression.

[Watser?]

Well, it's not a ghetto, it's three separate ghettos. The northern and souther West Bank are practically separated as the settlement of Ma'ale Adumim runs all the way from just outside of East Jerusalem to Jericho near the Jordan River. In fact ICAHD has some really good maps here: Maps & Stats |

They also have this article by Jeff Halper himself, which is pretty old but still pretty insightful: Matrix of Control |

I talked to Jeff 10 years ago when I was there and he was predicting pretty much all that happened since in terms of how Israel divvies up the West Bank.

[SR71]

Here's a on the cycles of political fortunes - progressive and fascist tendencies. OK if you have time.
Fascist America: Have We Finally Turned The Corner? | Visions | AlterNet

[SR71]

Chris Christie - Fiscal Hardliner or Socialist Enabler?

Double dipping by NJ pols is a practice that needs to go bye bye if you ask me. Oh well whatever nevermind. Even the NJ lolberts can't resist the lure of that sweet sweet tax money. Austerity? That's for the little people, like Camden school kids. Fucking lolberts. At least the Dems aren't bitching about it at the same time they're grabbing with both hands. Seriously, we have people who will cash out 300K in sick days.

Open Channel - Gov. Christie's pension issue: N.J. probe looks at running mate, double-dipping

The sweeping new laws increase contributions from public workers, decrease benefits and halt cost-of-living hikes. According to Christie, the changes should save the state $120 billion over the next 30 years.
But his reform did little to stop the age-old New Jersey practice of double-dipping, in which employees "retire," start collecting a pension, and then are rehired, often the next day. Christie's own deputy chief of staff collects $219,000 a year from the state — a $130,000 salary as a top aide to the governor plus $89,000 in state pension.
Advertise | AdChoices


Worse for Christie, a criminal investigation is under way involving his running mate, New Jersey Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno.