The Republican Party Congressional Shutdown And The Polls

It does appear from polling released today that the Republicans are taking it in the ASS big time. Perhaps as happened after the Gingrich shutdown a few years ago, the Democrats will take back control of the the House. Given the numbers reported in today's polls, the gerrymandering and all the attempts to limit voter access will not be enough to save a party that has become a calcified party of older white men who feel very uncomfortable with the changes wrought in our complex changing social system, a system that neither their political nor their fundamental religious beliefs can embrace or even begin to comprehend. In the aggregate their bag of "tricks" have not served them well.

"A Gallup poll released Wednesday found that Americans are now more likely to cite their own government as the biggest problem facing the country. Responding to an open-ended question, 33 percent of Americans said the nation’s most important problem was the government, politicians or Congress – up from 16 percent who said so last month, and the highest since Gallup began asking the question in 1939.

Americans’ naming of the economy or jobs as the nation’s No. 1 issue has been on the decline this year. About 1 in 5 specified the economy, while about 1 in 10 said unemployment. The deficit and health care were also each named as top concerns by about 1 in 10 Americans.

The Republican Party netted the worst ratings during the first week of the shutdown – just 28 percent of Americans now find it favorable, down 10 points from September, and the lowest rating for either party since Gallup started measuring party favorability in 1992. The Democratic Party is holding fairly steady, with a 43 percent favorable rating, compared with 47 percent last month. Gallup’s three-day rolling average of President Obama’s job approval has him at 44 percent, about the same as when the shutdown began." Nytimes, October 9, 2013

jflynn

Ben Bernanke and the Fed: Wall Street and The Financial Media Aren't Listening!

With yesterday's Fed announcement we have yet again evidence that the big hedge fund managers and Wall Street Analysts generally don't listen to Fed announcements and if they do, they don't have the intelligence to understand them.

As noted in the New York Times today, "One of the first rules of survival in the financial jungle is to trade the market you have rather than the one you want. Love it or hate it Bernanke's policy is clear and undeniable. History suggests accepting reality is more lucrative than moral outrage." 

Oh but the mavens of Wall Street are expressing their moral indignation because they haven't paid any attention to Bernanke's oft repeated statement that the Fed policy direction will be determined by basic economic data. Because the economy is still struggling, the Fed board decided that now is not the time to remove the stimulus medication. 

Many Wall Street analysts have issued statements that clearly indicate that they do not understand, or see the relationship between the performance of the US Economy and the Fed Stimulus program.

In point of fact, the evidence does indicate the the stimulus program works; however, it is also true that Congressional actions (playing politics with the debt ceiling etc.) have made the economic recovery much more difficult than it should be.

Congressional game playing--Tea Party nonsense--coupled with the massive elimination of Federal and State jobs has played a major role in slowing the economic recovery.

In the state of Wisconsin alone we'e looking at the loss of several hundred thousand government jobs at the state level. . .not surprisingly the State of Wis. lags far behind the nation generally in job creation numbers. You just can't suck money out of the economic system and expect it to function as though there were no changes. . .the "Sequester" cuts hat Congress fashioned also negatively feed this same economic equation--more money being taken out of the system just when the system needed more money.

In sum, I think we've been extremely fortunate to have had Ben Bernanke at the helm of the Fed during these tough years; otherwise we'd have had more of the Bush/Hank Paulson mess to live through. Obama should either re-appoint Bernanke or go with Janet Yellen who endorses the Bernanke economic policies.

In the meantime, let us hope that the economic nitwits who dominate CNBC,CNN, Fox and The Bloomberg financial networks would just keep quiet. . .perhaps do a little listening and reading.

jflynn

The Professionalization of the Military Represents a Threat to Our System of Democratic Government

As a veteran who served as a volunteer before the advent of our current "professional" non conscripted military, I have long believed that the professional military is based upon flawed thinking. Among other things the poor and near poor bare the heavy burden of service, but more importantly, as this piece factually demonstrates, a wall exists between our military and our civil society at large. . .only a tiny fraction of our total population has any military connection. . .the military culture and the civil culture are separate and distinct. As several of our founding Fathers observed this is not a situation that bodes well for a democratically controlled society.

Freed from the pressure of civil involvement and ultimately control, the numbers indicated that our military involvement in the affairs of the world have increased dramatically since the end of military conscription:

"The Congressional Research Service has documented 144 military deployments in the 40 years since adoption of the all-voluntary force in 1973, compared with 19 in the 27-year period of the Selective Service draft following World War II — an increase in reliance on military force traceable in no small part to the distance that has come to separate the civil and military sectors." 
jflynn

Americans and Their Military, Drifting Apart

www.nytimes.comA chasm has opened between our citizens and our men and women in uniform. Soldier and citizen must once again be brought to stand side by side.

The Isa IRS Hearing in the House are a Fraud, a Sham and Hoax Designed to Protect the Right-Wing Tax Exempt Political Action Committees!

The political implications of the recent IRS investigation have been grossly overblown. Lost in the partisan debate has been, so far, any real attempt to come to grips with the many political/religious groups who are in fact engaging in political activities that do clearly violate Tax laws.

 It seems absurd to conclude that because a group with profound anti-government sentiments is flagged by name, that the flagging represents IRS discrimination. 

There seems to be an expectation among conservatives in Congress and among conservatives generally  that IRS examiners should do every kind of mental gymnastics imaginable to avoid finding IRS abuse.

On the other hand if, in fact, an analysis of the specific cases shows a consistent clear pattern of abuse,  that the IRS is in fact targeting political opponents  because of their political beliefs, we need to be concerned.  Thus far that does not appear to be the case.  The evidence put forward does indicate that the conservative groups in question were grossly abusing their IRS non taxable status by egaging in highly charged partisan activities.  That should be stopped.  The Isa Hearing in the House should not be allowed to divert attention from the real violations that have in fact ocurred.  

Nonprofit Applicants Chafing at I.R.S. Tested Political Limits

www.nytimes.com

An examination of nonprofit applicants reveals activities that tax experts and former I.R.S. officials said would provide a basis for closer review.

Willie Nelson & Family at Madison's Overture Hall, April 14

     Willie Nelson and Family appeared last night before a packed house in Madison's Overture Center Hall which seats 2251.  The concert,  billed as Willie Nelson and Family, didn't really include family members other than Daughter Amy from Nelson's third marriage, and she  made but  a brief appearance during the last five minutes of the show,  but even then her voice was not audible. Occasional two of Willie's sons from the fourth marriage, Luke and Micha, appear as part of the family but not at the Overture.  Apparently the billing is designed to cover any and all contingencies.  

     The music was vintage Nelson; however, the overall quality  was not quite what you'd expect from a Willie Nelson band.   Unlike many performers, Willie doesn't use a head mike and at times the sound volume varied depending on his proximity to the mike. His electrified acoustic guitar over shadowed the sound of the baby grand piano which was not miked. The Nelson  band consisted of a pianist, an amplified harmonica player, a drummer, a drummer of sorts who alternated between two small hand drums and castanets, and finally Willie himself dominating the ensemble playing “Trigger,” his performance ravaged guitar, compete with a rather large pick worn hole in the sound board, an uncountable numbers of dings and scratches, along with the names of performer friends scratched into the instruments back, sides and top. Surprisingly there were no other guitars  in evidence with the exception of a tune late in the concert during which one of the drummers picked up and strummed a rhythm guitar.

     Whatever shortcomings might have attended “Willie Nelson & Family's” concert on this night, one thing was abundantly clear, Madison loved him. In the many years that I've been attending concerts of one kind or another, I've never attended one that could quite compare with this one. The age range of those in attendance covered the compete range from young to very old. Several older gents even came with their guitars in hand; I counted between six and eight. One old fella looked and dressed like a Willie Nelson clone, complete with head band, braids, and beard.   I haven't seen so many cowboy boots and cheap western hats since my boyhood days in Montana. This was not a night noted for the upper class sartorial splendor common at Overture Hall concerts.

     As we entered the auditorium, the docent taking tickets said excitedly, “I hope you enjoy the concert, it's sold out.”

     “Really,” I replied not really caring one way or anther.

     “Oh yes,” she said, “Even the docents had to pull seniority to get this event. Everybody wanted to be here.”

     So when the concert began at 7:30 p.m., I was a little surprised to see many empty seats.  Surprise gave way to disbelief as people continued arriving during the 40 min opening acts performance.    These late arrivals were totally oblivious to the disruption they caused for those already seated or for the performers on stage.  By the time of the intermission separating the opening act from the main event,  the  seats had all   filled to capacity.  The lights dimmed and Willie walked to center stage moving slowly in the manner of the 80 year man he is. Seated on the orchestra floor near the rear of the hall, I look out across the audience now shrouded in darkness and was amaze at the dozens of lighted cell phones screens in evidence. Several of the people in the rows immediately to my rear started shooting flash photos about every four minutes, and in fact people in the auditorium generally took cell phone flash photos throughout the concert. To be sure there were no announcements at anytime prohibiting the use of recording devices or cell phones during the performance. As noted earlier, I've never attended a concert quite like this one.

     I did enjoy the concert but probably more because Willie's an icon, who won't be around much longer. He celebrates his 80 this month.

     In addition to appearing in more than 30 movies, written five or six books, published poetry, founded a successful bio-diesel company, and written scores of hits songs for some of the luminaries of country music ( The Family Bible-Claude Gray; Hello Walls-Faron Young; Night Life-Ray Price; Funny How Time Slips Away-Billy Walker; Pretty Paper-Roy Orbison; Crazy-Patsy Cline)  Willie himself has recorded and charted many hits.  

Nelson has also been a champion of those in need, ranging from farmers on hard times, to the Japanese homeless recovering from tsunami devastation, to the recent fertilizer plant explosion in Texas, his  social activism, has had an altruistic bent. In one way or another, Willie Nelson has been a presence in our cultural/political lives for 80 years, and I think it's fair to say that he has a poets heart and soul. I admire and respect him as a man and like his music.

19 April 2013 Update

The following AP story highlights the sort of humanitarian impulses Willie Nelson responses to:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Willie Nelson said Thursday that he will turn an upcoming Texas concert into a benefit for victims of the explosion at a fertilizer plant not far from where he grew up.

The country music icon still has a home in Abbott, Texas, about five miles north of West, which was rocked by the explosion Wednesday night that left an unknown number of people dead and more than 160 hurt. He remembers riding his bike the short distance between the towns and still has many friends and family there.

"Our hearts and prayers go out to the people of West," Nelson said in an interview before taping a CMT Crossroads special in Nashville. "There are a lot of our friends and loved ones and neighbors down there. We talked to some of them and some of the made it out OK, and some of them didn't. But they're strong and they'll be back. It's one of those things you don't get over. But you will get through it."

The concert is scheduled for April 28 in Austin.

When not on the road touring, Nelson has lived in Austin since 1971. The concert was scheduled as an 80th birthday celebration, but now will serve a dual purpose.

Lady Thatcher, The Iron Lady Has Passed from The Scene

Lady Thatcher, the goddess of money redistribution to the wealthy has died. Though some still revere her, the fact is that during her third term in office her own party shit canned her. Though the Soviets gave her the sobriquet that she embraced with delight, the Iron Lady, it did in fact suggest something important about her character. . .she didn't have an ounce of compassion for the poor and dispossessed.

It's much too soon for an assessment of Lady Thatcher in an historical sense, but my guess is that she will be noted by future historians as a short sighted, narrow mined ideologue who exacerbated problems that would have been more easily ameliorated by a leader with a broader less partisan, extremist world view. May she rest in peace! 

Social Security, Welfare Queens, Deficits and Walmart

Though most Americans depend on Social Security payments for their very livelihood, most of those recipients know very little about the actual working of the program; and are, therefore, highly subject to the disinformation campaigns waged by politicians like Congressman Paul Ryan. The fact is Social Security, contrary to the Ryan Republican PR campaign, is not the engine driving the budget crisis, and benefit cuts should not be used to erase our national debt.

Let's  be realistic about our national budget deficit and what's causing it's growth. For starters, Social Security is self funded and does not add one penny to the debt. Indeed, our Social Security trust fund monies have been dumped into general revenue funds and have helped pay the Nations bills every year since at least 1973. Those funds were invested in US Treasury notes and carry with them the full faith and credit of the United States Government. Coincidentally, those are the same notes regularly purchased by the foreign governments whose monies have helped to keep our government afloat. Just today (4/o1/2013) the Treasury reported that the Chinese continue to buy US Treasury notes at  a rapid rate.

A new report out today indicates that the real "Welfare Queen," to use a fictional label created by Ronald Reagan, is not the mother with three or four kids collecting food stamps and driving a Corvet; it's not the retirees collecting their hard earned Social Security checks, NO! IT'S WALL MART!!!!!! Yes, Walmart!

Walmart, our nations largest private sector employer, pays their "sales associates" on average just over 15,000 dollars per year--for a family of four that's pretty close to $6,000.00 to 8,000.00 a year below the Federal Poverty Level. The Walmart poor apply for and receive Federally funded food stamps just to get by. In 2011, Wallmart workers received $2.66 billion in food stamps and Medicaid. Those numbers have gone up in each year since. While the working poor at Walmart were forced on to public welfare, Walmart in 2011, declared profits of $15.4 billion dollars.

Obviously Walmart has the means to take better care of the people upon whose backs they make their money. Indeed, “The combined worth of the 6 Walmart heirs and heiresses is greater than that of the bottom 41% of American families (48.8 million households)".

To be sure corporate welfare is alive and well.  Walmart is not alone in collecting Federal largess. The last time I checked, GE, another of our nations largest corporations, didn't pay any federal taxes last year but rather were the recipients of federal moneys though one legal scam or another. American corporations are fond of stating that US corporate tax rates are the highest in the world, and that may be true. But, the facts give the lie to the actual rates being paid by these corporate giants. Many large US corporations keep their wealth off shore and don't pay any taxes.

In sum, it's important to keep in mind that though our nations deficits have become the constant preoccupation of the extremists that have become the Republican Party, none of their deficit reduction programs even remotely touch the problems that created those deficits. During the Romney/Ryan Presidential campaign, Congressman Ryan repeatedly talked about closing tax loop holes etc. but in fact neither he nor Gov. Romney would ever even  mention a specific loop hole they would willingly close; and that remains the posture of those Republicans in Congress to this very day. Yet, they do continue to talk incessantly about cutting “entitlement programs” into which they dump programs like Social Security.

Let's not forget that the Republican deficit hawks voted for the unfunded Bush wars. . .didn't offer any criticism of Bush Administration budgets that did not include one penny for war funding. This is the same group that pushed though a huge prescription drug bill that lined the pockets of big pharma but did not include one penny to fund the program.   And let us not overlook the biggest contributor to our Nation's deficit. . .the one and a half trillion dollar Bush tax cuts on the wealthy.   To be sure, the Bush budget deficits didn't emerge from a vacuum; they came from the voodoo economic behavior that ribbed eight years of Bush economic profligacy.   As Vice President stated during the vice presidential debates, "“They talk about this Great Recession as if it fell out of the sky, like, 'Oh, my goodness, where did it come from?' It came from this man (pointing at Congressman Ryan) voting to put two wars on a credit card, to at the same time put a prescription drug benefit on the credit card, a trillion-dollar tax cut for the very wealthy. I was there. I voted against them.”

Have we forgotten that during the last months of the Bush Administration that the economy was in desperate straights; that Obama and McCain were called back to Washington to participate in emergency talks to keep the ship of state from going over the economic cliff.

How a few short years of Right-Wing economic nonsense changed the equation Bush inherited from the outgoing Clinton administration. Back then the dominate talk in economic circles had to do with what we were going to do as a nation with all the budget surpluses the Clinton Administration had accumulated. Those were the days.

The Supreme Court, Absurdity, and Gay Rights

I'm not happy with the Supreme Court's handling of the two gay rights cases currently before the court. It strikes me that comments made by several of the justices during oral arguments cross the logical boundaries into absurdity—I expect that from the likes of Judges Thomas and Scalia.

However Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito made comments that moved them in the direction of the legally absurd. Alito noted that these cases present issues that are so new they don't even predate the use of cell phones and other similar technology. To argue as he then did that these laws are less than five years old (He was referring to the California laws) and therefore shouldn't be touched by the Court is nonsensical, but using that convoluted thinking he clearly doesn't think the cases deserved a hearing.

To be sure the gay rights law is relatively new, but the issues surrounding gay rights are not. Gays have been a part of our collective whole from the beginning, and I'm not aware of any evidence that would indicate that their numbers have increased or decreased over time. Indeed, I would guess that the sexual preference variables have remained pretty constant.

It is true that historically some societies have been more accepting and some more repressive than others. The ancient Greek democracies, for example, were amazingly tolerant of sexual preference variations that included non standard forms of sexual intimacy between same sex couples. Undoubtedly there was nothing in the Greek genes that disposed them to adopt more tolerant attitudes toward matters sexual, but one should not forget that historically their existence predated the Christian religious influences that have brought us so many of these self-righteous, intolerant crusades that give the history of Western Civilization so many repressive epics. And guess what, the current anti gay rights arguments at every level are filled with religious venom.

I'm also not persuaded by the argument that these issues need more time to mature before a proper decision can be made by the Court. In this latter context we are told that the Roe Vs Wade decision would have been more acceptable had it been given more time to mature in lower courts. I don't buy that point of view, that the religious zealots who oppose Roe Vs. Wade would, with the passage of time, have either acquired more gray matter or would have become less prone to intolerant, judgmental behavior.

I view the current cases as pretty simple, members of our big social family are being denied their basic human rights and justice delayed is justice denied!

Next on my list of the legal absurdities ribbing the Court arguments the last couple days was Chief Justice Roberts insistence that this is much ado about nothing, that is it's a mere question of semantics, a labeling issue as it were. . .pitting the word marriage against the words civil union. . .never mind that the Federal Government withholds all kinds of financial and other benefits because of that little semantic detail. It is not therefore a mere matter of mere labeling . . .a rose may be a rose by any other name but marriage by any other name under Federal law is not marriage and is not entitled to the same benefits.

Finally, “Chief Justice Roberts and some of the other more conservative justices expressed irritation that the case was before them at all and said President Obama’s stance – to enforce the law but not defend it – contradicted itself.

“I don’t see why he doesn’t have the courage of his convictions” and not enforce the law if he thinks it is unconstitutional, the chief justice said.” (NyTimes, Wed, March 27,2013)

I find it nothing short of amazing that the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court would make such a statement. The President of the United States doesn't have the prerogative of enforcing only the laws that he likes or even deems constitutional. To be sure, No one, not a police officer in the street or anybody in a law enforcement position has to like the laws they're charged to uphold; they not hired to like them, their job is to enforce them.

As a teacher of some 40 plus years, I sometimes found my self obligated to enforce rules I didn't like, but that did not in anyway vitiate my responsibility to do so. In the very few instances when I could not have done so, I would have felt obligated to resign or initiate an act of civil disobedience with full knowledge that it might cost me my job.

When the Chief Justice administered the oath of office to our President in January, that oath included the proviso that the President would uphold the laws of the land; it did not include the Chief Justices suggested civil disobedience, “I don’t see why he doesn’t have the courage of his convictions” and not enforce the law if he thinks it is unconstitutional.”

This is not the kind of advice the chief legal officer of the land should be making from the Supreme Court Bench as he did.