Archive for March, 2011
Texas Nationalist group rallies for secession in Austin
The Texas Nationalist Movement marked Texas Independence Day with a rally on Saturday at the Capitol urging Texans to save the state by seceding from the United States.
A small but enthusiastic group of Texans gathered on the steps of the Capitol, as an assortment of massive Texas flags blew above them in the chilly afternoon breeze.
Outrage was spread evenly toward Democrats and Republicans as leaders of the movement expressed their disgust for the growing national debt and the federal government’s treatment of Texas.
“Texas can take better care of itself than Washington,” said Lauren Savage, vice president of the movement. “We are here to raise interest in the Legislature of the possibility of secession to cure the ills of America.”
Full Story Here: Texas Nationalist group rallies for secession in Austin | Politics | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle.
Jacques Chirac, Former French President, To Stand Trial
After years of claiming presidential immunity to avoid legal proceedings, Jacques Chirac is finally facing a court.
The former president, a bugaboo for George W. Bush during his rush to war in Iraq, on Monday becomes France’s first former head of state to go on trial since its Nazi-era leader was exiled
That is, if the whole case isn’t derailed by a last-minute protest by another defendant.
Full Story Here: Jacques Chirac, Former French President, To Stand Trial.
Libya: Pro-Gaddafi Forces Launch New Counteroffensive As Rebels Advance Toward Tripoli
Libyan helicopter gunships fired on a rebel force advancing west toward the capital Tripoli along the country’s Mediterranean coastline Sunday and forces loyal to leader Moammar Gaddafi fought intense ground battles with the rival fighters.
The opposition force pushed out of the rebel-held eastern half of Libya late last week for the first time and have been cutting a path west toward Tripoli. On the way, they secured control of two important oil ports at Brega and Ras Lanouf and by Sunday, the rebels were advancing farther west when they were hit by the helicopter fire and confrontations with ground forces.
Fierce ground battles were raging around the front line between two towns about 30 miles (50 kilometers) apart, Ras Lanouf and Bin Jawad to the west. Associated Press reporters at the scene said Gaddafi loyalists retook Bin Jawad, about 110 miles (160 kilometers) east of Gaddafi’s hometown and stronghold of Sirte, which could prove to be a decisive battleground.
Full Story Here: Libya: Pro-Gaddafi Forces Launch New Counteroffensive As Rebels Advance Toward Tripoli.
Michael Moore headlines Madison rally against Walker
Thousands of union supporters protested Gov. Scott Walker’s budget proposals on Saturday at the state capital, a day after the state’s chief executive followed through on his threat to issue layoff warning notices to unions representing state workers.
Joining the crowd was liberal filmmaker Michael Moore, who praised the protesters gathered in the battle over union bargaining rights as joining the history of the American labor movement.
Walker, a Republican, has proposed increased payments for health care and pension benefits for public workers and stripping their unions of most of their collective bargaining rights, a move he says is necessary to address a budget gap of $3.6 billion for the coming two years.
Full Story Here: Michael Moore headlines Madison rally against Walker | The Raw Story.
Saudi Arabia bans all marches as mass protest is planned for Friday
Extra troops are sent to north-east to quash any Shia protest as King Abdullah’s regime gets jittery and oil prices soar in response to the region’s continued unrest
Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil producer and the regional domino whose fall the West fears most, yesterday announced that it would ban all protests and marches. The move – the stick to match the carrot of benefits worth $37bn (£23bn) recently offered citizens in an effort to stave off the unrest that has overtaken nearby states – comes before a “day of rage” threatened for this Friday by opponents of the regime.
The Saudi Interior Ministry said the kingdom has banned all demonstrations because they contradict Islamic laws and social values. The ministry said some people have tried to get around the law to “achieve illegitimate aims” and it warned that security forces were authorised to act against violators. By way of emphasis, a statement broadcast on Saudi television said the authorities would “use all measures” to prevent any attempt to disrupt public order.
Full Story Here: Saudi Arabia bans all marches as mass protest is planned for Friday – Middle East, World – The Independent.
If it sounds too good to be true. . . What you need to know, but don’t, about privatizing infrastructure
Remember the old joke about some sharpie who takes innocents by “selling” them the Brooklyn Bridge? By the time the poor guy finds out he was taken, the crook is long gone.
Flash forward to the present. States and cities are being told that they can fix their budgets and have money left over by leasing their infrastructure for 50, 75, or even 99 years. It sounds great, even miraculous. But we all need to slow down and do our homework, because the rule “If it sounds too good to be true, it is” still applies, and there are good reasons why state and local governments should not want any part of these deals.
The truth is that, rather than making money on just tolls and fees, private contractors make their money through big tax breaks and by squeezing state and local governments for payments for the life of the contracts.
Full Story Here: If it sounds too good to be true. . . What you need to know, but don’t, about privatizing infrastructure | EPRN.
A Nation Stripped Bare: Fascism Has Come to America
It is a question that has sparked much debate, at least in certain rare quadrants where the unvarnished reality of the American imperium is recognized. But surely now the debate is over. Question it no more; the supposition, the fear, the heartbreaking intimation is a fact. It is real. It is here.
Fascism has come to America.
And no, it didn’t come in jackboots. It didn’t come in massed, marching ranks. It didn’t come in greasy-haired frothers ranting on a stage.
It came with cool. It came with savvy. It came wearing the mask of past evils redeemed by the image of a persecuted minority elevated to power. It came spouting scripture, hugging bright children, quoting pop music, sporting pricey leisure threads.
It came on Facebook, it came with 269 cable channels blazing, with I-Pad apps offering Catholic confession and YouTube porn. It came with the Super Bowl, with de la Renta gowns on the Oscar carpet, with 36 brands of dips and chips on the bulging shelves of your local Wal-Mart.
It came right in the midst of your ordinary life, as you went to work — or looked for work — as you partied, as you courted, as you watched TV, as you worshipped, as you studied, as you played, as you went about the business of being human.
Full Story Here: A Nation Stripped Bare: Fascism Has Come to America.
REPORT: In 22 Statehouses Across The Country, Conservatives Move To Disenfranchise Voters
In statehouses across the country, Republican lawmakers are raising the specter of “voter fraud” to push through legislation that would dramatically restrict the voting rights of college students, rural voters, senior citizens, the disabled and the homeless. As part of their larger effort to silence Main Street, conservatives are pushing through new photo identification laws that would exclude millions from voting, depress Hispanic voter turnout by as much as 10 percent, and cost taxpayers millions of dollars. In the next few months, a new set of election laws could make going to the polls and registering to vote significantly more difficult — in some cases even barring groups of citizens from voting in the communities where they live.
Conservative legislators across the country have said these laws are necessary to combat alleged mass voter fraud. But these fears are completely overblown and states already have tough voting laws on the books: fraudulent voters face felony charges, hefty fines, and even lengthy prison time. In Missouri, for example, voter fraud carries a penalty of no less than 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Yet conservatives have insisted on finding a legislative solution to a non-existent problem. In states like Indiana, where an ID law passed in 2005, both nuns and college students have found themselves turned away from the polls. Similar laws are on the books in eight other states and that number could expand dramatically in coming months. ThinkProgress examined these efforts in eight states:
Full Story Here: ThinkProgress » REPORT: In 22 Statehouses Across The Country, Conservatives Move To Disenfranchise Voters.
America’s much abused moral authority
As former chief prosecutor at Guantánamo, I know that until the US rights the record on torture, its human rights calls ring hollow
Once upon a time, Americans across the political spectrum were united behind efforts to prevent torture and punish torturers. The United States signed the UN Convention Against Torture (CAT) in 1988 when Republican Ronald Reagan was president. A Democrat-controlled Congress ratified it in 1994. The CAT says, “No exceptional circumstance whatsoever … may be invoked as justification of torture,” a principle the US endorsed without reservation. The CAT requires nations to enact domestic laws criminalising torture, and in 1994, a torture statute was added to the US criminal code.
A Republican member of Congress sponsored the War Crimes Act in 1996, which made “grave breaches” of the Geneva Conventions – like torture – federal crimes. He wanted Americans abused by former adversaries to get the justice they deserved but had been denied. The measure passed a Republican-controlled Congress by unanimous consent and President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, signed it into law.
Americans were solidly against torture when they believed they were beneficiaries of anti-torture laws. But then, the 11 September 2001 attacks occurred – and created an exceptional circumstance used by some as justification to draw new lines between right and wrong.
Full Story Here: America’s much abused moral authority | Morris Davis | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk.
Labor hopes collective bargaining fight fuels comeback
When Gov. Scott Walker began his crusade against collective bargaining by public employees, Wisconsin unions seemed woefully outmatched. But the state’s beleaguered labor movement woke up and mobilized, getting tens of thousands of supporters to rally in Madison and surprising itself that it could muster such a show of force so quickly.
Meanwhile, governors in other states, most notably New Jersey and Ohio, have gone on the offensive against labor, deriding teachers unions, tenure and generous pensions.
Organized labor has been on a long decline, but the recent attacks against it in Wisconsin and elsewhere have had a surprising result – they have energized the nation’s unions. Instead of just playing defense to protect benefits and bargaining rights, labor leaders are plotting some offense, with several saying Walker may have unwittingly nurtured a comeback by unions.
Full Story Here: Labor hopes collective bargaining fight fuels comeback – JSOnline.
The Wisconsin union fight isn’t about benefits. It’s about labor’s influence.
Political scientists and explain how weakening unions will gut the middle class
The battle between Republicans and labor unions in Ohio, Wisconsin and other states is ostensibly about public workers’ pay, benefits and bargaining rights. What is really at stake, however, isn’t labor’s income. It’s labor’s influence – not just in the American workplace but in American politics.
Critics of unions cast them as exclusive clubs for which the rest of Americans pay the dues. Wisconsin’s GOP governor, Scott Walker, likes to say that unions are the “haves” and everyone else the “have-nots.” And it’s certainly true that unions aggressively pursue their own interests – sometimes to others’ detriment. When asked in the early 20th century what the American Federation of Labor wanted, the union’s gruff head, Samuel Gompers, famously replied, “More.”
Full Story Here: The Wisconsin union fight isn’t about benefits. It’s about labor’s influence..
Republicans attack Obama’s environmental protection from all sides
Environmental protection in US under attack from extremist
Tea Partiers backed by big business
It started on a sultry day in Houston when hundreds of protesters, mostly oil company employees, were bussed to a concert hall in their lunch hour to rally against a historic first step by Congress to reduce the pollution that causes climate change.
The event marked the start of a backlash by wealthy industry owners and conservative activists against Barack Obama‘s green agenda. Now it has snowballed into what green campaigners say is the greatest assault on environmental protection that America has ever seen.
Eighteen months after that Houston rally, the green agenda is under assault on multiple fronts, from cutbacks in recycling in Wisconsin to the loosening of regulations governing coal mining in West Virginia and a challenge to the authority of the White House and federal government to act on climate change.
Full Story Here: Republicans attack Obama’s environmental protection from all sides | World news | The Guardian.
Public Employee Unions Don’t Get One Penny from Taxpayers and Can’t Require Membership, But the Big Lie That They Do Is Everywhere
Nobody has to belong to a union or support its political activities, but you’d never know that from reading the news.
Let us begin with this simple, indisputable truth: public employees’ unions don’t get a single red cent from taxpayers. And they aren’t a mechanism to “force” working people to support Democrats – that’s completely illegal.
Public sector workers are employed by the government, but they are private citizens. Once a private citizen earns a dollar from the sweat of his or her brow, it no longer belongs to his or her employer. In the case of public workers, it is no longer a “taxpayer dollar”; it is a dollar held privately by an American citizen. Public sector unions are financed through the dues paid by these private citizens, who elected to be part of a union – not a single taxpayer dollar is involved, and no worker is forced to join a union against his or her wishes. No worker in the United States is required to give one red cent to support a political cause he or she doesn’t agree with.
There is no distinction between the role public- and private-sector unions play: both represent their members in negotiations with their employers. At the federal level, both are prohibited from using their members’ dues for political purposes. They donate to political campaigns – to elect lawmakers who will stand up for the interests of working people – but only out of voluntary contributions their members choose to make to their PACs.
Full Story Here: Public Employee Unions Don’t Get One Penny from Taxpayers and Can’t Require Membership, But the Big Lie That They Do Is Everywhere | Economy | AlterNet.
Lawsuit claims Church of Scientology violated child labor and wage laws
A runaway from the Church of Scientology’s restrictive religious order, the Sea Org, alleges in two lawsuits filed Friday that the church violated California laws regulating child labor, wages and school attendance.
Daniel Montalvo, who turns 20 today, also contends his parents, who remain in the Sea Org, neglected him and breached their duty to protect him from harm by ceding his care to the church.
Church spokesman Tommy Davis said Friday night the church had not been served with the suits and could not comment on them. He noted Montalvo took Church of Scientology property — computer hard drives — when he left valued at tens of thousands of dollars. Then, with the help of church defectors Montalvo moved them across state lines.
Full Story Here: Lawsuit claims Church of Scientology violated child labor and wage laws – St. Petersburg Times.
John Campbell Questions Treasury Secretary on Future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
The Truth slips out of Geithner’s mouth
Sitting before the House Financial Services Committee, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner discusses three options for reforming the two mortgage GSEs, and praises Congressman John Campbell’s endorsement of a model consisting of an explicit and limited federal guarantee available to multiple entities as having “a lot of merit”.
WISCONSIN
A short film. Shot entirely on the top of State Street at The Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin – 2.21.11
A very special thank you to The People of Wisconsin – you are the story – and also to Bon Iver for providing the beautiful glue that holds that story together.
The Partner Paradox: ‘Outsourcing’ Self-Discipline
My wife and I go to spinning class a couple mornings a week. It’s something we like to do together, and I feel like I benefit from having a regular workout partner. Some days I’m just lazy, or I don’t want to venture out in the pre-dawn cold, but having a supportive partner motivates me. She bolsters my self-discipline when it flags.
Or does she? Is it possible that having a supportive partner might have the opposite and paradoxical effect, actually undermining effort and commitment to health and fitness goals over the long haul? Perhaps we conserve our limited supply of self-control, “outsourcing” our effort when we know that a close friend of partner is in the wings, helping us achieve a goal.
Two psychological scientists have been exploring this novel idea in the laboratory. Grainne Fitzsimons of Duke University and Eli Finkel of Northwestern suspected that moral support might have a flip-side, namely emotional dependence. If we know someone has our back, isn’t it possible that we unconsciously rely on that support to help us reach our goals — and thus slack off? Here’s how they tested this idea in a couple different studies.
Full Story Here: Wray Herbert: The Partner Paradox: ‘Outsourcing’ Self-Discipline.
The Sixteen States That are Killing Their Pensions
For decades, public employees have had pension plans identical to those provided by most large American companies. These are defined benefit plans that pay workers a fixed sum each year after they have retired based on the amount of years they have worked and their salaries at the time of retirement. The trouble this causes for governments is that these funds often do not grow as quickly as the obligations they have to pay out, creating a budgetary crisis. It is not unusual to for a plan to have an obligation to offer its members a guaranteed level of growth which allows retirees to be able to rely on future payments, no matter how the funds perform financially. During a period like the market collapse of 2008, the value of many large pension funds plunged. Pension fund obligations also crippled many large corporations such as General Motors so badly that they filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to escape their obligations.
As the Pew Center for the States reported earlier this year, “$1 trillion. That’s the gap at the end of fiscal year 2008 between the $2.35 trillion states had set aside to pay for employees’ retirement benefits and the $3.35 trillion price tag of those promises.” Pew says states wound up in this predicament for a number of reasons including :
Full Story Here: The Sixteen States That are Killing Their Pensions – 24/7 Wall St..
Tea Party Tailspin
The Tea Party is synonymous with anger. Anger defined it. Anger fueled it. Anger marred it. Anger became its face and its heart. But anger is too exhausting an emotion to sustain.
A poll released Thursday by the Pew Research Center found that anger at the government among Tea Party supporters fell by 40 percent from September 2010 to this month. Furthermore, anger among Republicans fell by more than half, and anger among whites, the elderly and independents fell by 40 percent or more.
On the other hand, the percentage of Tea Party supporters who said that they trusted the government always or most of the time doubled from last March to this March, and the percentage of Republicans saying so nearly doubled. In fact, the percent of both Republicans and independents saying so is now higher than it has been since January 2007.
Full Story Here: Tea Party Tailspin – NYTimes.com.
Public Sector Continues To Hemorrhage Jobs, Report Says
The jobs outlook is growing dimmer and dimmer for the public sector.
Federal employment data released on Friday shows that state and local governments are shedding thousands of jobs even as Republican political leaders say more layoffs are on the way.
In February, state and local governments wiped 30,000 jobs off their payrolls, mostly in education, the Labor Department said. Since employment levels peaked for public sector workers in August 2008, 450,000 jobs have been shed, almost entirely at the local level, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal-leaning think-tank.
“State budgets are in bad shape and that means you’re going to see more cutbacks,” said David Wyss, chief economist for Standard & Poor’s, who expects state and local governments to lose about 300,000 jobs this year. “The biggest impact will be in the fall, because ‘back to school’ is going to be ‘back to school with fewer teachers.’”
Public schools start their new years in the fall, and the National Education Association, a union for education professionals, expects 100,000 school employees to be laid off.
Full Story Here: Public Sector Continues To Hemorrhage Jobs, Report Says.
Walker’s budget repeals WI law requiring health insurers cover birth control
A provision in Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) revised two-year budget proposal released Tuesday would repeal a state law requiring health insurers to cover prescription birth control.
The controversial anti-union proposal would also repeal the Contraceptive Equity law, which establishes birth control as a necessity for insurers to cover rather than “optional care.” First introduced in 1999, it was enacted in 2009 under Gov. Jim Doyle (D). It took effect January 1, 2010.
“We have obviously seen over the last several weeks that Governor Walker has no respect for the basic rights of Wisconsinites,” said Tanya Atkinson, executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin. “Now, he continues his assault on women and families by denying them life-saving health care and taking away their rights to be treated fairly in insurance coverage.”
Full Story Here: Walker’s budget repeals WI law requiring health insurers cover birth control | The Raw Story.
Watch: Christian mob surrounds Muslim man outside the White House
Conservative media and particularly Fox News has been keen in months past to gin up stories about Islamic tribal laws being implemented across the United States. While this is in fact not happening anywhere in the US, it has become a point of intense concern to some religious fundamentalist Christians, who take the media spin seriously.
In this video, a group of anti-Muslim protesters take their concerns about Sharia law to the White House, only to find a Muslim man in prayer. They begin shouting, insulting him and cursing Islam, and one man even threatens his life. Later, as the Muslim man bowed again in prayer, the protesters begin praying back at him, uttering Christian chants in response.
At the end, a woman who claimed to have spent years in the Middle East informed the protesters that while they mocked him, the man had prayed in Arabic that each of their families be blessed.
Full Story Here: Watch: Christian mob surrounds Muslim man outside the White House | Raw Replay.
News outlets sue Wisconsin governor over lack of response to email requests
Isthmus, an alternative newsweekly in Madison, WI, announced on Friday that it has filed a lawsuit against Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker under that state’s Open Records Law.
On February 17, Walker claimed to have received more than 8000 emails on his budget repair bill, with the majority urging him to “stay firm.” The next day, he upped the figure to 19,000. Isthmus presented Walker with a request to see those emails, first by hand-delivered letter and the next week by emails to Walker’s spokesperson and his legal counsel.
The Wisconsin Associated Press, which is also participating in the lawsuit, filed similar requests at about the same time. Its second email broadened the request to include “all emails the governor has received that mention the budget repair bill.”
Full Story Here: News outlets sue Wisconsin governor over lack of response to email requests | The Raw Story.
Walker’s Budget Slashes Medicaid, While Increasing Funeral Assistance For Destitute Who Die
For weeks, Wisconsin has been the site of an intense battle between a Main Street Movement consisting of middle class Wisconsinites and a radical push by Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) and his allies to strip most of the state’s public employee unions of their collective bargaining rights.
One of the lesser-known assaults on working class people in Walker’s most recent legislative push is his attempt to override federal Medicaid laws to place the state’s subsidized health care system, BadgerCare, under the control of the state’s Health and Human Services office, and then proceed to slash its budget and throw thousands of people off the rolls.
As In These Times’s Lindsay Beyerstein notes, this new provision in the budget is coupled with another policy which seems darkly ironic when seen alongside these Medicaid cuts. The Walker budget “recommends increasing payments to counties to cover the costs of burying Wisconsinites who die destitute” — one of the few major increases in spending to be found in the document. Indeed, on page 248 of the governor’s Health and Human Services budget, Walker recommends an “increase” in “funeral and cemetery aids”:
Full Story Here: ThinkProgress » Walker’s Budget Slashes Medicaid, While Increasing Funeral Assistance For Destitute Who Die.
OPS: The Republican health care plan as described by then Rep Grayson (FL) Die quickly for us, and we’ll pay more for your funeral
EXCLUSIVE: GOP Senator Yanked Off Committee Speaks Out, Was Informed 30 Minutes Before Anti-Union Vote
On Wednesday, just moments before a key committee in the Ohio State Senate was to vote on a GOP bill that would effectively dismantle public employees’ right to collectively bargain, the Senate’s Republican leader replaced a GOP committee member who opposed the bill with someone who supported it to ensure the measure passed. It was a brazen and nearly unprecedented move, and even more so considering that State Sen. Bill Seitz (R) told ThinkProgress that he is good friends with, and has been roommates for ten years with State Senate President Tom Niehaus, who yanked Seitz off the committee. Indeed, they were sworn in to the state House on the same day and eventually followed each other to the Senate, sharing an apartment in the capital throughout.
In a telephone interview with ThinkProgress yesterday afternoon, Seitz recounted how he was informed of the move by his good friend Niehaus just a half hour before the vote. Seitz, a conservative Republican who proudly noted that he works for a “management-side” law firm founded by the namesake of the very pro-management Taft-Hartley Act, said he supports “85 percent” of Senate Bill 5, but ultimately opposed it because it “goes to far.”
Asked about his abrupt removal from the committee, Seitz said it was “not unheard of, but not commonplace.” He couldn’t recall a time when something similar had occurred in the Senate. Moreover, he noted that his abrupt removal sends a bad signal to Ohio workers concerned about their own future:
Full Story Here: ThinkProgress » EXCLUSIVE: GOP Senator Yanked Off Committee Speaks Out, Was Informed 30 Minutes Before Anti-Union Vote.
Lobbyist Group For American Oil Companies Opposes Obama’s Sanctions On Libya
Last week, CAP’s John Norris and Sarah Margon suggested that President Obama respond to the crisis in Libya by engaging Libyan business leaders to convince them that leader Muammar Qaddafi “is a liability they can no longer afford” and since Libya is Africa’s largest oil producing country, a good place to start would be the oil industry:
One doesn’t normally look to oil companies to do the right thing. But they now have an enormous vested interest in helping push Qaddafi out. Libya has Africa’s largest crude oil reserves and the uncertainty in that country has already started to rattle markets. If Qaddafi stays on his current course and remains Libya’s leader, there will invariably be calls for an oil embargo from Libya, a proper U.N. war crimes investigation, and possibly a civil war. The oil business will be disrupted for a considerable period under all of those scenarios.
However, it doesn’t seem that U.S. oil companies are eager to do the right thing. Earlier this week, the President announced that the U.S. would unilaterally impose sanctions on Libya because the continued violence there poses an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to U.S. national security. Mother Jones reports that the business coalition USA*Engage, which reportedly lobbies for oil giants ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, called that approach a “failed strategy.”
Full Story Here: ThinkProgress » Lobbyist Group For American Oil Companies Opposes Obama’s Sanctions On Libya.
Arizona GOP Bill Would Let Gov. Brewer Create An Armed Militia For Whatever She ‘Considers Necessary’
Arizona’s GOP-run legislature has taken to marginalizing and villainizing the immigrant population with zeal — be it through SB 1070, HB 2191, or SB 1070 “on steroids.” Now, the Pheonix New Times reports that state Sen. Sylvia Allen (R-AZ) is pushing a bill to give Gov. Jan Brewer (R-AZ) a “blank check to establish a ‘state guard’ that would do her bidding, whatever that bidding might be.”
Allen’s SB 1495 not only establishes a “state guard” independent of the national guard and finances that guard with national guard funding, but it allows Brewer to created this “Armed force” for “any [] reason the governor considers to be necessary”:
Section 1. Section 26-174, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
Arizona state guard; establishment; purpose; appropriations
Full Story Here: ThinkProgress » Arizona GOP Bill Would Let Gov. Brewer Create An Armed Militia For Whatever She ‘Considers Necessary’.
Tiny spy planes could mimic birds, insects
They could be used to spy, but also to locate people inside earthquake-crumpled buildings and detect hazardous chemical leaks.
The smaller, the better.
Besides the hummingbird, engineers in the growing unmanned aircraft industry are working on drones that look like insects and the helicopter-like maple leaf seed.
Researchers are even exploring ways to implant surveillance and other equipment into an insect as it is undergoing metamorphosis. They want to be able to control the creature.
Full Story Here: The Associated Press: Tiny spy planes could mimic birds, insects.
America’s Corporate Coup D’état
Chris Hedges is currently a senior fellow at The Nation Institute in New York City.[6] He spent nearly two decades as a foreign correspondent in Central America, the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans. He has reported from more than fifty countries, and has worked for The Christian Science Monitor, National Public Radio, The Dallas Morning News, and The New York Times,[1] where he was a foreign correspondent for fifteen years (1990–2005).
The Collapse of the Old Oil Order
How the Petroleum Age Will End
Whatever the outcome of the protests, uprisings, and rebellions now sweeping the Middle East, one thing is guaranteed: the world of oil will be permanently transformed. Consider everything that’s now happening as just the first tremor of an oilquake that will shake our world to its core.
For a century stretching back to the discovery of oil in southwestern Persia before World War I, Western powers have repeatedly intervened in the Middle East to ensure the survival of authoritarian governments devoted to producing petroleum. Without such interventions, the expansion of Western economies after World War II and the current affluence of industrialized societies would be inconceivable.
Here, however, is the news that should be on the front pages of newspapers everywhere: That old oil order is dying, and with its demise we will see the end of cheap and readily accessible petroleum — forever.
Full Story Here: Tomgram: Michael Klare, Oilquake in the Middle East | TomDispatch.
It’s ‘Harper Government,’ please
Public servants told to name PM, not country
It’s official: Stephen Harper rules.
And lest anyone forgets, a directive went out to public servants late last year that “Government of Canada” in federal communications should be replaced by the words “Harper Government.”
Public servants from four different departments told The Canadian Press the instruction came from “the Centre” — meaning the Prime Minister’s Office and the Privy Council Office that serves the prime minister.
None would speak on the record for fear of retribution. It’s a well-grounded concern given the treatment of a senior government scientist who was fired in 2006 after rebelling against a directive to use “Canada’s New Government” in government communications.
Full Story Here: It’s ‘Harper Government,’ please – Canada – TheChronicleHerald.ca.
Vulgar sports chants lead to a push to clean it up
As the state tourneys heat up, schools — and even some students — are fighting back against personal insults and profanity from the fan section.
At a recent high-stakes basketball game between Hopkins and Eden Prairie high schools, the competition spilled over into the stands when Eden Prairie’s student section started a chant of “Food stamps! Food stamps!” — a socio-economic slam that Hopkins players later reported evolved into use of the “N word.”
Racial slurs have also been directed at black and Asian-American athletes from Edina, and Eden Prairie cheerleaders have been the targets of crass sexual taunts. At the college level, University of Minnesota basketball coach Tubby Smith recently sent an e-mail telling the students to stop their profanity-laced chants, saying, in part, that vulgarity and singling out players for taunts only reflects poorly on the Gophers.
Experts and observers say the call to “root, root, root for the home team” is being countermanded by the urge to demean, belittle and taunt the referees, opposing team and its supporters. Some chalk the rudeness up to a decline of civility in our culture, while others say it’s part of a double standard about what’s allowed once the school bell rings.
Full Story Here: Vulgar sports chants lead to a push to clean it up | StarTribune.com.
Huckabee’s Son: Fired As a Scout Counselor for Torturing a Dog to Death
His Son Was Fired As a Scout Counselor for Torturing a Dog to Death
At age 18, Huckabee’s son David was fired by the Scouts as a camp counselor after he and another counselor captured a stray dog, hangedhim by the neck, slit his throat and stoned him to death.
HUCKABEE: “…I do think [Pres. Obama] has a different worldview and I think it’s, in part, molded out of a very different experience. Most of us grew up going to Boy Scout meetings and, you know, our communities were filled with Rotary Clubs, not madrassas.”
Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist preacher, former governor of Arkansas and Fox News host, first got himself into rhetorical trouble on Monday when, on another right-wing radio show, he opined that Obama’s worldview had been warped by having grown up in Kenya under the influence of his paternal grandfather, who, according to Huckabee, had been involved in the Mau Mau Revolt against the British in the 1950s.
Full Story Here: Pensito Review » Huckabee and the Boy Scouts.
OPS: Great job as a father there Huckleberry
Gov. Scott Walker Has Lost The War
FORBES: :
In what may be the result of one of the great political miscalculations of our time, Scott Walker’s popularity in his home state is fast going down the tubes.
A Rasmussen poll out today reveals that almost 60% of likely Wisconsin voters now disapprove of their aggressive governor’s performance, with 48% strongly disapproving.
While these numbers are clearly indicators of a strategy gone horribly wrong, there are some additional findings in the poll that I suspect deserve even greater attention.
Full Story Here: Gov. Scott Walker Has Lost The War – Rick Ungar – The Policy Page – Forbes.
Wis. Official Backs Away From Claims Of Multi-Million Dollar Capitol Damage
In an amusing footnote to the Wisconsin protests, a Walker administration official is now backing away from another official’s dire warning that millions and millions of dollars in damage had been done to the Capitol over weeks of protests. Furthermore, it appears that no professional estimate has actually been done.
On Thursday, as part of the litigation over the state’s attempts to restrict public access to the Capitol, the Department of Administration’s legal counsel claimed that repairing the damage done to the building — mainly from adhesive tape used to affix posters to the marble walls — would add up to $7.5 million. However, it was not clear how these estimates were made.
On Thursday night, Dane County Judge John Albert ruled that the daytime restrictions on Capitol access must be lifted, while also ordering protesters to leave when the building closes at night. And now, the state’s facilities administrator — a former moderate Dem state senator who joined the Walker administration — is backing away from those high cost estimates.
Full Story Here: Wis. Official Backs Away From Claims Of Multi-Million Dollar Capitol Damage | TPMDC.
Wisconsin governor issues letters on possible layoffs to unions
CAUGHT ON VIDEO: Wisconsin Democrat Assembly Member Tackled by Walker’s Goon Squad as He Tries to Enter Capitol
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s administration on Friday issued notices to unions, warning them of possible layoffs in early April if the budget impasse continues.
The measure “may be able to be rescinded and layoffs avoided” if 14 Senate Democrats return to the state Capitol, the Republican’s office said in a press release.
“Without Senate action within 15 days, individual employees may begin to receive potential termination notifications,” said spokesman Cullen Werwie.
Full Story Here: Wisconsin governor issues letters on possible layoffs to unions – CNN.com.
Critics Call Secret U.S.-Canada Talks “End Run Around Democracy”
The just-announced Canada-U.S. security perimetre discussions are comprehensive and potentially wide-ranging and could impact Canadian sovereignty. However, the domestic opposition appears to have been caught off-guard.
It is hard to fight a deal when Ottawa and Washington are offering few details, said Vancouver-based international lawyer, author and commentator Michael Byers in a recent interview with IPS.
“The people who are opposed to this are left pointing at shadows rather than anything concrete,” he noted.
Both Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President Barack Obama were vague in January about what a Canada-U.S. security perimetre would entail in a predicted deal later this year.
Full Story Here: Critics Call Secret U.S.-Canada Talks “End Run Around Democracy”.
AFL-CIO Plans Another Big Saturday Rally At Wisconsin Capitol
The protesters aren’t done in Wisconsin — far from it.
The AFL-CIO is organizing yet another Saturday rally at the state Capitol in Madison. This follows the mega-protests that occurred the past two weekends, which each attracted many tens of thousands of people in opposition to Gov. Scott Walker’s budget proposal and its anti-public employee union provisions.
The first mega-rally two weeks ago was interesting in that it pitted the anti-Walker protesters against a promised contingent of pro-Walker Tea Partiers — only to have the anti-Walker people outnumber his supporters at least several times over. And with tens of thousands of people, there were no amazingly no arrests.
Full Story Here: AFL-CIO Plans Another Big Saturday Rally At Wisconsin Capitol | TPMDC.
Fox News’ Lies Keep Them Out of Canada
As America’s middle class battles for its survival on the Wisconsin barricades – against various Koch Oil surrogates and the corporate toadies at Fox News – fans of enlightenment, democracy and justice can take comfort from a significant victory north of the Wisconsin border. Fox News will not be moving into Canada after all! The reason: Canadian regulators announced last week they would reject efforts by Canada’s right-wing Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, to repeal a law that forbids lying on broadcast news.
Canada’s Radio Act requires that “a licenser may not broadcast … any false or misleading news.” The provision has kept Fox News and right-wing talk radio out of Canada and helped make Canada a model for liberal democracy and freedom. As a result of that law, Canadians enjoy high quality news coverage, including the kind of foreign affairs and investigative journalism that flourished in this country before Ronald Reagan abolished the “Fairness Doctrine” in 1987. Political dialogue in Canada is marked by civility, modesty, honesty, collegiality, and idealism that have pretty much disappeared on the US airwaves. When Stephen Harper moved to abolish the anti-lying provision of the Radio Act, Canadians rose up to oppose him fearing that their tradition of honest non-partisan news would be replaced by the toxic, overtly partisan, biased and dishonest news coverage familiar to American citizens who listen to Fox News and talk radio. Harper’s proposal was timed to facilitate the launch of a new right-wing network, “Sun TV News” which Canadians call “Fox News North.”
Harper, often referred to as “George W. Bush’s Mini Me,” is known for having mounted a Bush-like war on government scientists, data collectors, transparency, and enlightenment in general. He is a wizard of all the familiar tools of demagoguery; false patriotism, bigotry, fear, selfishness and belligerent religiosity
Full Story Here: Fox News’ Lies Keep Them Out of Canada.
Scott Walker’s Budget Limits Birth Control Coverage, Eliminates Access To Health Care Services For Women
In the midst of fighting his union-busting crusade, Wisconsin’s embattled Gov. Scott Walker (R) unveiled his budget on Tuesday. Insisting on balancing the budget without raising taxes or fees, Walker proposed a two-year plan in which he expects students, participants in the SeniorCare prescription drug plan, poor families receiving health care or welfare, and local schools to make sacrifices. As one state lawmaker put it, his $900 million cut in state aid to schools is “an absolute annihilation” of public education. But targeting students, teachers, seniors, and poor people is not enough. He is also proposing to repeal Wisconsin’s Contraceptive Equity Law because, apparently for Walker, a budget also has to attack women’s health:
Gov. Scott Walker’s budget would repeal a state law requiring insurance companies cover prescription birth control.
Walker’s budget released Tuesday would undo the law signed in 2009 by his Democratic predecessor Gov. Jim Doyle. Passage of the bill, which took effect last year, came after more than a decade of trying by Democrats.
The mandate had been fought by anti-abortion groups and Catholics but supported by Planned Parenthood and public health groups.
Full Story Here: ThinkProgress » Scott Walker’s Budget Limits Birth Control Coverage, Eliminates Access To Health Care Services For Women.
How to Kill a Recovery
The economic news has been better lately. New claims for unemployment insurance are down; business and consumer surveys suggest solid growth. We’re still near the bottom of a very deep hole, but at least we’re climbing.
Paul Krugman: :
It’s too bad that so many people, mainly on the political right, want to send us sliding right back down again.
Before we get to that, let’s talk about why economic recovery has been so long in coming.
Some economists expected a rapid bounce-back once we were past the acute phase of the financial crisis — what I think of as the oh-God-we’re-all-gonna-die period — which lasted roughly from September 2008 to March 2009. But that was never in the cards. The bubble economy of the Bush years left many Americans with too much debt; once the bubble burst, consumers were forced to cut back, and it was inevitably going to take them time to repair their finances. And business investment was bound to be depressed, too. Why add to capacity when consumer demand is weak and you aren’t using the factories and office buildings you have?
Full Story Here: How to Kill a Recovery – NYTimes.com.
Democrats Won’t Return Despite Warrants
Senate Democrats remained in Illinois Thursday evening despite a threat by Senate Republicans to hold them in contempt if they did not return by 4pm.
The resolution authorized law enforcement to forcibly bring democrats to the Capitol if they were spotted in Wisconsin.
TODAYS TMJ4 met Democratic senators at a gas station in Northern Illinois, close to the border, but not crossing it.
When Sen. Spencer Coggs (D-Milwaukee) was asked if he would return, he responded, “No I will not.”
He said of his colleagues, ‘No they will not. We’re sticking together.”
Republican senators say if Democrats don’t return, they’ll be held in contempt of the senate
Full Story Here: Capitol Chaos: Democrats Won’t Return Despite Warrants | Newsradio 620 – Milwaukee, Wisconsin News, Talk, Sports, Weather | Local Headlines.
The Outrage Deficit
The Nation: :
The Great Recession was caused by the depredations of Wall Street and enabled by a political class captive to its greed. Those same forces have conspired to deprive the recession’s victims—millions of ordinary Americans who have lost jobs, homes and hope—of comfort and justice.
Where is the outrage?
The truth is, it is hard to find—at least on a scale commensurate with the magnitude of the betrayal we have endured. True, the Tea Party’s calls to slash an additional $100 billion from an already crimped 2011 budget elicited jeers across the leftish blogosphere. And next to the GOP’s spreadsheet of cruelty, President Obama’s blueprint for 2012 appears relatively gentle and sane, with its targeted investments in infrastructure and cuts to fossil fuel subsidies. But let’s not forget the human context in which this budget debate is occurring: 25 million unemployed, 50 million without health insurance, 44 million living in poverty.
That Obama’s plan was greeted with barely a grumble from his liberal base—surprising even the White House, which, according to the New York Times, had braced for a backlash on its left flank—reflects our diminished expectations, not only of Obama but of society.
The Great Recession was caused by the depredations of Wall Street and enabled by a political class captive to its greed. Those same forces have conspired to deprive the recession’s victims—millions of ordinary Americans who have lost jobs, homes and hope—of comfort and justice.
Where is the outrage?
The truth is, it is hard to find—at least on a scale commensurate with the magnitude of the betrayal we have endured. True, the Tea Party’s calls to slash an additional $100 billion from an already crimped 2011 budget elicited jeers across the leftish blogosphere. And next to the GOP’s spreadsheet of cruelty, President Obama’s blueprint for 2012 appears relatively gentle and sane, with its targeted investments in infrastructure and cuts to fossil fuel subsidies. But let’s not forget the human context in which this budget debate is occurring: 25 million unemployed, 50 million without health insurance, 44 million living in poverty.
That Obama’s plan was greeted with barely a grumble from his liberal base—surprising even the White House, which, according to the New York Times, had braced for a backlash on its left flank—reflects our diminished expectations, not only of Obama but of society.
Full Story Here: The Outrage Deficit | The Nation.
Americans Overwhelmingly Support Millionaires Surtax To Tackle Deficit, Reject Cuts To Social Programs
For months, Republicans have relentlessly promoted the Tea Party-driven message that the government spends too much, and that social welfare programs should be first on the chopping block. “To not address entitlement programs, as is the case with the budget the president has put forward, would be an economic and moral failure,” House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) declared.
But a comprehensive new Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll suggests Republicans significantly overestimated the public’s eagerness to tackle the federal deficit by cutting programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. As reflected in the growing “Main Street Movement,” the poll, released yesterday, found sizable majorities of Americans prefer steps like eliminating oil company subsidies, enacting a surtax on the income of millionaires, and rolling back the Bush cuts. Only 23 percent think it’s acceptable to, for example, make cuts to Medicare, while 81 percent favor instituting a millionaire’s surtax:
Full Story Here: ThinkProgress » Americans Overwhelmingly Support Millionaires Surtax To Tackle Deficit, Reject Cuts To Social Programs.
Judge orders Wis. Capitol protesters out; scores more rush in
Update at 7:35 p.m. ET: In ruling that the state had closed the Capitol “impermissibly,” Dane County Judge John Albert said his order would contain “a reasonable restraint” on the time, place and manner of future demonstrations, the Wisconsin State Journal now reports.
Update at 7:18 p.m. ET: Just before the judge ordered the Capitol cleared at closing time and reopened to the public Friday, scores of protesters outside pushed past police to join about 100 other union supporters inside, the Wisconsin State Journal reports. Some said they intend to be arrested.
Update at 6:53 p.m. ET: A judge has ordered about 100 pro-union protesters out of the Wisconsin Capitol when it closes tonight at 6 p.m. CT.
Dane County Judge John Albert said he was banning sleeping at the building and ordering that it be re-opened to the public Friday during normal hours, the Wisconsin State Journal says. He is still finishing up the orders.
Full Story Here: Judge orders Wis. Capitol protesters out; scores more rush in -.
Clarence Thomas and the Politicization of the Supreme Court
Robert Reich : :
Justice Clarence Thomas, in a speech last weekend to the Federalist Society, accused his critics of “undermining” the legitimacy of the Supreme Court – politicizing it in ways that jeopardize the Court’s credibility in the eyes of the public. He warned:
You are going to be, unfortunately, the recipients of the fallout from that – that there’s going to be a day when you need those institutions to be credible and to be fully functioning to protect your liberties. That could be either a short or a long time, but you’re younger, and it’s still going to be a necessity to protect the liberties that you enjoy now in this country.
Odd coming from Clarence Thomas — who has done more to politicize the Court than anyone in recent years, with the possible exception of his brother on the bench Antonin Scalia.
Last year, you’ll recall, the votes of Thomas and Scalia swung the Court in the direction of the right-wing group Citizens United – plaintiffs in the case that struck down federal laws limiting corporate campaign contributions.
Full Story Here: Robert Reich (Clarence Thomas and the Politicization of the Supreme Court).
People v. U.S. Govt
David Swanson: :
Statistically speaking, virtually nobody in the United States of America knows that we spend more on the military than the rest of the world combined, that we could eliminate most of our military and still have the world’s largest, that over half of the money our government raises from income taxes and borrowing gets spent on the military, that our wars (outrageously costly as they may be) cost far less than the permanent non-war military budget, or that most of the financial woes of the federal and state governments could be solved just by ending a war in Afghanistan that two-thirds of Americans oppose.
Here’s a useful budgetary pie chart and a brand-new update based on the proposed 2012 budget.
One reason we know that nobody knows these things is that they are not spoken on television. Another is that we have polls, including this one showing that only 25% of Americans think our country should spend three times as much on the military as the next most militarized nation, but only 32% (not 75%) think we currently spend too much. In reality, of course, we spend much more than three times what China spends. A bill in Congress to restrict US military spending to three times the next most militarized nation might carry big popular support, but Congress would never pass it in the absence of intense public pressure, because it would require major cuts to the US military.
Full Story Here: OpEdNews – Article: People v. U.S. Govt.
Clarence Thomas Faces Call For His Disbarment
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas should be disbarred for his failure to truthfully complete financial-disclosure forms over a 20-year period, according to a complaint filed by the watchdog group Protect Our Elections (POE).
In a bar complaint filed with the Missouri Supreme Court, POE attorney Kevin Zeese says Thomas committed multiple violations of the Missouri Rules of Professional Conduct. (See full complaint below.) Zeese asks the Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel to take immediate action against Thomas, including disbarment.
Thomas became a member of the Missouri Bar in 1974, and former U.S. Sen. John Danforth (R-MO) was a primary supporter during Thomas’ confirmation hearings in 1991. How is the justice responding to recent allegations against him? He struck a defiant tone in a speech over the weekend in Virginia.
Reports Politico:
Full Story Here: Legal Schnauzer: Clarence Thomas Faces Call For His Disbarment.
Which Countries Hold The Most U.S. Government Debt?
New Treasury figures have revealed that some surprising countries own U.S. debt.
By the end last year, foreign governments held around $4.4 trillion in U.S debt in the form of Treasury bonds, according to government figures released last week.
Despite reducing the amount of U.S. debt it holds, China is still is high on the list, as are financial centers — like the U.K., and some Caribbean islands — where people from around the world make trades.
But there are some unexpected countries on the Treasury Department list, and the U.S. owes one major creditor 30 percent more than analysts previously estimated.
There are growing concerns that foreign countries holding U.S. debt could try to exert influence. Last month, confidential diplomatic cables from the U.S. embassies in Beijing and Hong Kong obtained by WikiLeaks, showed China’s growing influence on one of America’s creditors, with a top Chinese money manager asking U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner for a favor.
Full Story Here: Which Countries Hold The Most U.S. Government Debt? (PHOTOS).
George Will Is Confused By The Concept Of Trains
One way of looking at high-speed rail systems is that they are a means by which distant communities get connected, economic development and jobs are fostered, and workers with a diverse array of marketable skills can improve their mobility and thus their employment prospects. But another way of looking at high-speed rail is that it’s some nonsense that came to a bunch of hippies as they tripped balls at a Canned Heat concert. That’s my takeaway with George Will’s latest grapple-with-the-real-world session, in which he attempts to figure out “Why liberals love trains.” It’s “Matrix” deep, yo:
To progressives, the best thing about railroads is that people riding them are not in automobiles, which are subversive of the deference on which progressivism depends. Automobiles go hither and yon, wherever and whenever the driver desires, without timetables. Automobiles encourage people to think they–unsupervised, untutored, and unscripted–are masters of their fates. The automobile encourages people in delusions of adequacy, which make them resistant to government by experts who know what choices people should make.
Time was, the progressive cry was “Workers of the world unite!” or “Power to the people!” Now it is less resonant: “All aboard!”
Full Story Here: George Will Is Confused By The Concept Of Trains.
New Zombie-Creating Fungi Discovered
This is surreal.
Four new species of the zombifying fungi, members of the Ophiocordyceps (or just Cordyceps) genus have apparently been discovered. These fungi are the sworn enemy of tropical ants and other insects, infecting them and causing their unusual behavior, according to Mongabay.
From LiveScience:
Once it infects an ant, the fungus uses as-yet-unidentified chemicals to control the ant’s behavior, [study researcher David] Hughes told LiveScience. It directs the ant to leave its colony (a very un-ant-like thing to do) and bite down on the underside of a leaf — the ant’s soon-to-be resting place. Once it is killed by the fungus, the ant remains anchored in place, thanks to its death grip on the leaf.
Ultimately, the fungus produces a long stalk that protrudes from the ant’s head, shooting spores out in the hopes of infecting other ants. Two of the four newly discovered species also sprouted smaller stalks elsewhere, including from the victim’s feet and lower leg joints – the equivalent of knees.
The video below, from Planet Earth, gives an incredible time-laps
Full Story Here: New Zombie-Creating Fungi Discovered (VIDEO).
Oakland’s Plan to Cash In on Marijuana Farms Hits a Roadblock
For a brief, smoky moment last fall, this economically challenged city seemed poised to become the nation’s most aggressive when it comes to growing and taxing medical marijuana.
Those hopes have been dimmed considerably in recent weeks, though, since an exchange of letters between the city attorney and federal law enforcement officials has made it exceedingly clear that Washington will not tolerate plans for the large-scale marijuana farms the City Council approved last July. City officials had hoped to use the massive indoor growing facilities to raise some $38 million annually in fees and taxes at a time when the city is struggling with a $31 million deficit and 17 percent unemployment.
Polls last summer suggested that voters were likely to pass a November ballot initiative that would have legalized recreational marijuana use in California. They did not. But Oakland decided to proceed with its plans anyway.
Full Story Here: Oakland’s Plan to Cash In on Marijuana Farms Hits a Roadblock – NYTimes.com.
Supreme Court: Corporations don’t have ‘personal privacy’ rights
The Supreme Court of the United States ruled Tuesday that AT&T and other corporations do not have personal privacy rights under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
The Freedom of Information Act requires federal agencies to make documents publicly available upon request, but contains an exemption for documents that “constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.”
Claiming they were a “corporation citizen,” AT&T tried to use the personal privacy exemption to prevent the disclosure of federal government documents about the company.
The unanimous decision in Federal Communications Commission v. AT&T, Inc. reversed a ruling by a US appeals court in favor the telecommunications company.
Full Story Here: Supreme Court: Corporations don’t have ‘personal privacy’ rights | The Raw Story.
Fox News Airs Random Protest Video To Make Wisconsin Demonstrations Appear Violent
Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly isn’t happy that protesters in Wisconsin have been calling out his network for its shoddy journalism practices. Last week, O’Reilly sent his ambush goon Jesse Watters out to badger people protesting Fox outside their studios in New York. On Monday during an interview with Fox News’ Mike Tobin, who is reporting from Wisconsin, O’Reilly was at it again, calling chants that “Fox lies” from pro-union demonstrators “some kind of organized deal.” But during the interview, Fox aired b-roll of some unknown protest that contained physical confrontations among demonstrators and simply labeled it “union protests,” as if it was coming out of Wisconsin. Watch it:
Full Story Here: ThinkProgress » Fox News Airs Random Protest Video To Make Wisconsin Demonstrations Appear Violent.
The Catholic Church Supports Unions As ‘Moral Choices,’ Says Bargaining Rights Reflect ‘Principles Of Justice’
As teachers, firefighters, policemen, and other public employees in Wisconsin and Ohio battle to retain their collective bargaining rights, a contingent of anti-union politicians and pundits are contorting facts to vilify union workers as wealthy, elitist, and dangerous. However, one traditionally conservative organization is declaring official support for these beleaguered public servants: the Catholic Church. In a public letter to the Archbishop of Milwaukee last week, Bishop Stephen E. Blair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops stated that unions are “moral choices” and collective bargaining rights reflect the “principles of justice”:
“These are not just political conflicts or economic choices; they are moral choices with enormous human dimensions,” Bishop Stephen E. Blaire of Stockton, California, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, said in a public letter last week.
“The debates over worker representation and collective bargaining are not simply matters of ideology or power, but involve principles of justice, participation and how workers can have a voice in the workplace and economy,” his letter said.
Full Story Here: ThinkProgress » The Catholic Church Supports Unions As ‘Moral Choices,’ Says Bargaining Rights Reflect ‘Principles Of Justice’.
REPORT: Ending Tax Dodging By The Rich Would Save More Money Than Gutting Unions
In the past couple weeks, thousands of working class and middle class Ohioans have marched as part of a larger Main Street Movement against Gov. John Kasich’s (R-OH) effort to effectively gut the collective bargaining rights of public sector unions in his state with Senate Bill 5. The effort is similar to Gov. Scott Walker’s (R-WI) own campaign against his state’s public employee unions.
Kasich claims that his proposal is “designed to fight joblessness and poverty” and that it is necessary to be able to overcome his state’s budget deficit. To justify this push, he cites figures like one from the Office of Collective Bargaining that says his state would save $1.3 billion if his anti-union proposal were enacted. While it’s true that this is a lot of money, and that the state is facing future budgetary problems, what it avoids is something very crucial: responsibility.
Ohio’s budget deficit, like most states’ current deficits, is largely a result of the economic recession. And the Great Recession wasn’t caused by teachers, firefighters, policemen, and other hardworking middle class Americans — it was caused by Wall Street.
Full Story Here: ThinkProgress » REPORT: Ending Tax Dodging By The Rich Would Save More Money Than Gutting Ohio’s Unions.
BREAKING: Wisconsin Voters Launch Recall Campaign Against Eight GOP State Senators
Last month, ThinkProgress reported that Wisconsin law allows any elected official who has served at least one year of their current term to be recalled from office. Today, a group of Wisconsin voters took the first step towards invoking this recall process. According to a Wisconsin Democratic Party e-mail that was obtained by ThinkProgress:
This morning citizens from around the state took the first steps by filing recall papers against key Republican Senators who have stood with Scott Walker and pushed his partisan power grab that will strip thousands of middle class teachers, nurses, librarians and other workers of their right to collective bargaining. And we learned just last night that their disastrous budget that will cut millions from our schools and universities. . . .
Make no mistake, these Republican Senators are vulnerable to recall for their radical partisan overreach. Senator Randy Hopper won his last election by just 184 votes. And Alberta Darling won her last race by only 1,007. By recalling just three of the eight Senators [Democrats] are targeting, [Democrats] can regain control of the Senate.
Full Story Here: ThinkProgress » BREAKING: Wisconsin Voters Launch Recall Campaign Against Eight GOP State Senators.
Coburn Won’t Support Gingrich For President: ‘We Need Somebody That’s…Stable’
The Des Moines Register reported yesterday that Newt Gingrich will announce the formation of a presidential exploratory committee on Thursday in Atlanta, GA. However, a Gingrich spokesperson has since clarified that the former Speaker “will NOT announce the formation of an exploratory committee.” Politico sorted through the confusion today, reporting that “Gingrich is likely to confirm his ‘intention to announce,’ but not actually unveil an exploratory committee.” But before the Gingrich team walk back, C-SPAN host Greta Wodele Brawner asked Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) what he thought of Gingrich running for president and Coburn didn’t seem to be too enthused:
COBURN: He is undoubtedly the smartest man I’ve ever met. He is a thinker. He has great vision. The question to me is, does he have the capability to lead the country and having served under him in the House, he’s probably not one I would choose to support in a presidential primary. … We need somebody that’s soft and wide eyed open and is stable and is learned and is going to consistently bring us together rather than alienate us. … We need somebody whose eye is critical but is not harsh in their manner and I don’t mean to say he’s necessarily harsh. But I’m looking for a leader that can bring us together.
Watch it:
Full Story Here: ThinkProgress » Coburn Won’t Support Gingrich For President: ‘We Need Somebody That’s…Stable’.
Asked If Bank Of America Paying Nothing In Corporate Taxes Is Fair, Pawlenty Responds: Taxes Are ‘Too High’
ThinkProgress filed this report from the Tea Party Patriots Policy Summit in Phoenix, AZ.
Last weekend, Americans around the country organized “Main Street Movement” protests to stand in solidarity with organized labor and demand that corporate interests pay their fair share. As ThinkProgress has reported, many of the nation’s largest corporate interests pay literally nothing in corporate income taxes. ExxonMobil made nearly $20 billion in profits in 2009, but paid nothing in corporate income taxes. Other extremely profitable companies GE, CitiGroup, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Boeing similarly have had entire quarters or years without paying corporate income taxes.
At the Tea Party summit last weekend, we spoke to former Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-MN), a prospective GOP presidential candidate, about corporate tax cheats. Asked about Bank of America, another wildly profitable American bank that paid nothing in corporate taxes in 2009, Pawlenty simply relied “Well actually the corporate tax rate in Minnesota and around the country is too high.” Reminded several times that Bank of America doesn’t pay it’s corporate taxes, regardless of rates, Pawlenty said that both exemptions and rates should be lowered. However, he again emphasized that he was not troubled, or even aware, of corporate tax dodging, and that corporate tax rates should be reduced:
Full Story Here: ThinkProgress » Asked If Bank Of America Paying Nothing In Corporate Taxes Is Fair, Pawlenty Responds: Taxes Are ‘Too High’.
First Deepwater Drilling Permit Since BP Spill Goes to … a Well Co-Owned by BP
Offshore drilling regulators this week approved the first deepwater drilling permit since BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster, and as many have pointed out, it’s going to a well owned and operated by Noble Energy.
But here’s a lesser-noticed fact, which Reuters reported today: BP co-owns the well—46.5 percent of it, to be exact. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the revamped offshore drilling agency, made no mention of BP’s ownership of the well in its press release, which touted the newly approved permit as a “an important step towards safely developing deepwater energy supplies offshore.”
(BP confirmed with us its stake in the well, but referred further questions about its involvement in operating the well and its expected revenue to Noble Energy.)
Full Story Here: The Washington Current: First Deepwater Drilling Permit Since BP Spill Goes to … a Well Co-Owned by BP.
BP fund lawyer to refuse 100,000 Gulf spill disaster claims
Vast majority of 130,000 unsettled claims do not have adequate documentation, says Ken Feinberg
Upwards of 100,000 claims arising from the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico may never be paid, the beleaguered administrator of the oil company’s compensation fund has acknowledged.
A defensive Ken Feinberg, under fire from the Obama administration, Gulf leaders and local business for the slow pace of payouts for losses due to the BP spill, said the vast majority of the 130,000 unsettled claims did not have adequate documentation.
“Here is the problem that I continually have to address … roughly 80% of the claims that we now have in the queue lack proof,” Feinberg told foreign reporters in Washington. “That is a huge number.”
Full Story Here: BP fund lawyer to refuse 100,000 Gulf spill disaster claims | Environment | The Guardian.
New World Trade Center To Be Built With German Steel
Not only will One World Trade Center be built using Chinese-made glass, but German-made steel will be used on the outer façade of the building being erected to replace those knocked down in the September 11 attack.
German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp will provide the product, which it says the company is uniquely positioned to make.
“The quality of our product helped us to win the contract for this out-of-the-ordinary project. Ultimately we regard it as an accolade to be a part of this globally known project in the heart of New York which means so much to so many Americans,” the company said in a statement.
Others, however, may not see it that way. Some expressed outrage and disillusionment when it was announced last year that a Chinese company had beat out a Pittsburgh-based company for the right to provide much of the glass for the building.
Full Story Here: New World Trade Center To Be Built With German Steel | Economy In Crisis.
The Republican strategy simple – divide and conquer
Thom Hartmann: :
Angry about your low wages? Don’t blame your boss – blame the teachers! Angry about your lack of health insurance? Don’t blame billionaire health insurance executives – blame your neighbor the school bus driver! It’s a military and political strategy that’s used to claim and keep power by dividing up other powerful groups in a society and turning them against each other
Wisconsin Sheriff Pulled Deputies From Capitol, Says They Won’t Be ‘Palace Guard’
At the same press conference where Dane County, Wisc., District Attorney Ismael Ozanne told reporters he found nothing criminal in Gov. Scott Walker’s comments to a prank caller last week, Dane County Sheriff David Mahoney spoke about law enforcement’s role in the push and pull over access to the Capitol building in Madison. Mahoney revealed that yesterday he pulled his officers from a duty to guard the building’s entrances.
According to WisPolitics, Mahoney said that over the last two days, “we have placed those law enforcement officers in the position of being palace guards.”
The deputies had been told that the doors would be open at 8 a.m. yesterday, but that didn’t happen and the officers didn’t find out why until the afternoon, Mahoney said.
Full Story Here: Wisconsin Sheriff Pulled Deputies From Capitol, Says They Won’t Be ‘Palace Guard’ (VIDEO) | TPMDC.
Changing the terms of economic debate
Dean Baker |:
As long as we let ourselves be boxed in by a rightwing agenda that leaves us searching for least-worst options, we’re losing
There is a new economists’ sign-on letter being circulated that warns bad things will happen if there are big cuts to the public investment portion of the federal budget, as Republicans in Congress are now advocating. The argument in the letter is correct, but it is nonetheless painful to see this sort of thing being circulated right now.
The politicians in Washington may have missed it, but we are still in the middle of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. The unemployment rate is still 9.0% and virtually no forecaster, including those in the administration, expects it to return to normal levels any time soon. In addition to the unemployed, we have more than 8 million people underemployed, and millions more who have given up looking for work altogether.
In such times, we might expect that there would be discussion of a big new stimulus programme. After all, we do know how to generate growth and create jobs. As a large and growing body of research shows (pdf), we just have to spend money. This means that tens of millions of people are suffering as a result of unemployment or underemployment simply as a result of bad economic policy.
Full Story Here: Changing the terms of economic debate | Dean Baker | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk.
GOP leader John Boehner vows to eliminate ‘net neutrality’
Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) vowed Monday to eliminate net neutrality rules recently enacted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), referring to the regulations as a “government takeover of the Internet.”
“Right now, freedom and free expression are under attack by a power structure in Washington populated with regulators who have never set foot inside a radio station or a television studio,” Rep. Boehner said during a speech at the annual National Religious Broadcasters convention.
“We see this threat in how the FCC is creeping further into the free market by trying to regulate the Internet,” the congressman continued. “Network neutrality, they call it. It’s a series of regulations that empower the federal bureaucracy to regulate Internet content and viewpoint discrimination. The rules are written vaguely, of course, to allow the FCC free reign.”
Full Story Here: GOP leader John Boehner vows to eliminate ‘net neutrality’ | The Raw Story.
WikiLeaks, ‘the Internet’ among record number of Nobel Peace Price nominees
Anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks, the Internet and a Russian human rights activist are among a record 241 nominations for the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee said on Tuesday that the 2011 field includes 53 organizations and tops last year’s 237 nominees.
Known nominees also include Afghan rights advocate Sima Samar, the European Union, former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, Cuban dissident Oswaldo Paya Sardinas, Russian rights group Memorial and its founder Svetlana Gannushkina.
Full Story Here: WikiLeaks, ‘the Internet’ among record number of Nobel Peace Price nominees | The Raw Story.
Maine Gov. LePage Unveils Budget That Guts Necessities For Main Street To Pay For Tax Cuts For Rich
Last fall, newly-elected Gov. Paul LePage (R-ME) told the citizens of his state that he pledged to enact “new ideas to get Maine working.” He also promised to defend “the traditional Maine values that have created strong communities and strong families across the state.”
It now appears that LePage is ready to abandon Maine’s strong communities and families with a very old Bush-era idea that has repeatedly failed to get people “working” — gutting necessities for hardworking Main Street Mainers to finance tax cuts for some of the richest in the state. In his budget that was released yesterday, the governor has unveiled a slew of tax cuts, cutbacks in public services, and the gutting of public employee benefits and pensions.
Included in the budget is a provision that would raise the retirement age of public workers from 62 to 65, cut Maine’s prescription drug and health coverage for working parents program, end $400 of property tax relief for more than 75,000 middle-income Maine households, and freeze cost of living adjustments for state employee retirees — which already provides a meager average pension of only $18,500 per year.
Full Story Here: ThinkProgress » Maine Gov. LePage Unveils Budget That Guts Necessities For Main Street To Pay For Tax Cuts For Rich.
REPORT: How Koch Industries Makes Billions By Demanding Bailouts And Taxpayer Subsidies (Part 1)
Koch Industries, the international conglomerate owned by Charles and David Koch, is not only the second largest private company in America, it is the most politically active. As ThinkProgress has carefully documented over the last three years, Koch groups have spent tens of millions to influence government policy — from financing the Tea Parties, to funding junk academic studies, to undisclosed attack ads against Democrats, to groups promoting climate change denial, to a large network of state-based and national think tanks. In an opinion column for the Wall Street Journal today, Koch Industries CEO Charles Koch fired back at his critics, who have grown more vocal as it has become clear that Koch groups are providing the political muscle for Gov. Scott Walker’s (R-WI) union-busting power grab.
In his piece, Charles portrays himself as simply an ideological advocate, and says his money to political groups is only meant to “enhance true economic freedom.” He chides special interests that have “successfully lobbied for special favors,” claiming “crony capitalism is much easier than competing in an open market.” But in reality, the focus of the Koch political machine is geared towards “crony capitalism” — corrupting government to make Charles and his brother David Koch richer. Koch’s Tea Party libertarianism is actually a thin veneer for the company’s long running history of winning special deals from the government and manipulating the market to pad Koch profits:
Full Story Here: ThinkProgress » REPORT: How Koch Industries Makes Billions By Demanding Bailouts And Taxpayer Subsidies (Part 1).
Religious Coalition Tells The GOP That ‘The Budget Shouldn’t Be Balanced On the Backs Of The Poor’
In an address at the National Association of Religious Broadcasters Sunday, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) made a moral case for the deep cuts passed by House Republicans, saying, “[i]t is immoral to rob our children’s future and make them beholden to China.” But Sojourners, a progressive group of Christian leaders, looks at the GOP’s deep slashes to the budget in a different light and bought a full-page ad in Politico yesterday that asks legislators to consider, “what would Jesus cut?”
Full Story Here: ThinkProgress » Religious Coalition Tells The GOP That ‘The Budget Shouldn’t Be Balanced On the Backs Of The Poor’.
House Democrats Call For ChamberLeaks Investigation
Three weeks ago, ThinkProgress released an exclusive investigation into the surreptitious dirty tricks campaign orchestrated by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s lobbyists, a scandal now known as ChamberLeaks. Leaked emails showed that the Chamber hired lobbying firm Hunton & Williams, who then solicited three private security firms to investigate and smear the Chamber’s political opponents, including ThinkProgress, the labor coalition Change to Win, the SEIU, US Chamber Watch, and StopTheChamber.com. Their tactics included creating a “false document” and a “fake insider persona” to infiltrate and discredit adversaries. The private security firms — HBGary Federal, Palantir, and Berico Technologies (collectively called Team Themis) — also proposed targeting opponents’ families, including circulating photos of their children, addresses, places of worship, and other personal information.
After the plot was exposed, the Chamber denied any involvement or knowledge of the plan. However, as ThinkProgress documented, a plethora of emails contradict their denials.
Now that the severity of the plot has come into focus, Congress may soon get involved. Today, 20 House Democrats, led by Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA), called for an investigation into the ChamberLeaks scandal, noting that Hunton & Williams appear to have orchestrated “a ‘dirty-tricks’ campaign that included possible illegal actions against citizens engaged in free speech.” Johnson wants to examine whether these “subversive techniques” which were discussed in the leaked emails were “developed at U.S. government expense to target terrorists and other security threats.”
Indeed, ThinkProgress’ report detailed how the tactics revealed in this plot are “typically reserved for use against terrorist groups.” After all, Johnson notes, “it is deeply troubling to think that tactics developed for use against terrorists may have been unleashed against American citizens.”
Full Story Here: ThinkProgress » House Democrats Call For ChamberLeaks Investigation.
Why We Doubt Clarence Thomas
At an event sponsored by the right-wing Federalist Society, Justice Clarence Thomas lashed out at his many critics — including ThinkProgress — claiming that we are attacking him as part of some nefarious plot to undermine the Supreme Court as an institution:
He also lashed out at his critics, without naming them, asserting they “seem bent on undermining” the High Court as an institution. Such criticism, Thomas warned, could erode the ability of American citizens to fend off threats to their way of life.
“You all are going to be, unfortunately, the recipients of the fallout from that – that there’s going to be a day when you need these institutions to be credible and to be fully functioning to protect your liberties,” he said, according to a partial recording of the speech provided to POLITICO by someone who was at the meeting.
Listen:
Full Story Here: ThinkProgress » Why We Doubt Clarence Thomas.
REPORT: How Koch Industries Makes Billions Corrupting Government And Polluting For Free (Part 2)
In an opinion piece published today responding to his critics, Koch Industries CEO Charles Koch promised to continue to finance anti-government, right-wing front groups. Charles writes that the “purpose of business is to efficiently convert resources into products and services that make people’s lives better.” But when it comes to Koch’s carcinogenic pollution and carbon emissions, the purpose of Koch’s political giving is to avoid any financial responsibility — no matter who gets hurt. Koch Industries has cornered the market in monetizing some of the most dirty industrial businesses. Koch imports oil from the Middle East, refines high-carbon Canadian crude, maintains coal-burning plants, owns one of the largest oil pipeline networks in America, runs environmentally hazardous lumber mills, produces toxic chemicals, and manufacturers fertilizer. The University of Masschusetts Amherst has scored Koch as among the top ten worst air polluters for its carcinogenic chemicals.
Much of the entire Koch political machine is geared towards ensuring that Koch Industries never has to compensate the people and ecosystems damaged by Koch Industries pollution. Koch front groups — from Tea Party groups to think tanks — have diligently promoted Koch Industries’ bottom line by denying global warming, fighting regulations on Koch’s cancer-causing chemicals, and snuffing out investigations into Koch’s environmental crimes:
– In 1990, as both Republicans and Democrats proposed a cap and trade system to address acid rain, Koch financed a front group called “Concerned Citizens for the Environment” to battle proposed regulations. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that the group “has no citizen membership of its own,” but produced studies arguing that acid rain was a myth and that deregulation would benefit the environment. Koch refineries and factories, top emitters of acid rain-causing toxins, were impacted by the successful cap and trade system. A front group founded by David Koch, Citizens for a Sound Economy (which later changed its name to Americans for Prosperity), also battled regulations designed to combat acid rain, labeling the problem a “myth.”
Full Story Here: ThinkProgress » REPORT: How Koch Industries Makes Billions Corrupting Government And Polluting For Free (Part 2).
Majority in Poll Back Employees in Public Sector Unions
As labor battles erupt in state capitals around the nation, a majority of Americans say they oppose efforts to weaken the collective bargaining rights of public employee unions and are also against cutting the pay or benefits of public workers to reduce state budget deficits, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.
Labor unions are not exactly popular, though: A third of those surveyed viewed them favorably, a quarter viewed them unfavorably, and the rest said they were either undecided or had not heard enough about them. But the nationwide poll found that embattled public employee unions have the support of most Americans — and most independents — as they fight the efforts of newly elected Republican governors in Wisconsin and Ohio to weaken their bargaining powers, and the attempts of governors from both parties to cut their pay or benefits.
Americans oppose weakening the bargaining rights of public employee unions by a margin of nearly two to one: 60 percent to 33 percent. While a slim majority of Republicans favored taking away some bargaining rights, they were outnumbered by large majorities of Democrats and independents who said they opposed weakening them.
Full Story Here: Majority in Poll Back Employees in Public Sector Unions – NYTimes.com.
IWW General Strike Pamphlet
Walker’s bill, if passed, will strip public-sector unions of the right to collectively bargain regarding all workplace issues other than basic wages. Workers would no longer have a legal say in their pensions, their healthcare plans, workplace safety, or any other pertinent issues. Without collective bargaining, we have no legally-recognized way to influence how we are treated at our jobs. Workers with access to a union have an opportunity to make their workplaces more democratic. Think about how much time we dedicate to work and work-related activities. With so much of our lives spent in undemocratic workplaces, how could we have real democracy in the rest of our lives?
IWW General Strike Pamphlet
Pamphlet produced by the Madison IWW advocating a general strike to fight the Governor of Wisconsin’s proposed bill that would end collective bargaining rights to public sector workers.
What Do We Face?
Walker’s bill, if passed, will strip public-sector unions of the right to collectively bargain regarding all workplace issues other than basic wages. Workers would no longer have a legal say in their pensions, their healthcare plans, workplace safety, or any other pertinent issues. Without collective bargaining, we have no legally-recognized way to influence how we are treated at our jobs. Workers with access to a union have an opportunity to make their workplaces more democratic. Think about how much time we dedicate to work and work-related activities. With so much of our lives spent in undemocratic workplaces, how could we have real democracy in the rest of our lives?
The impact of Walker’s bill reaches far beyond unions and public servants. Stripping public workers of their right to bargain affects the rights of everyone who works for a living. This attack on workers’ rights will not stop with the public sector or with Wisconsin. These anti-union bills are spreading around the country from Indiana to Ohio to Nebraska in an effort to serve the corporate elite by lowering labor costs and weakening all labor.
Full Story Here: Madison, Wisconsin: IWW General Strike Pamphlet – Infoshop News.
Nuclear Information and Resource Service
Nuclear power is dangerous, dirty and extraordinarily expensive. That’s why nuclear utilities can’t find private money to build new reactors. So they want you to lend them the money for new reactor construction.
Unfortunately, President Obama wants you to lend them the money too. His FY 2012 budget proposes tripling the nuclear loan program, adding $36 Billion to the $18.5 Billion approved in 2007–$10.2 Billion of which is still unspent. He also wants to spend $500 million over the next five years to develop new “small modular reactors.” But if those reactors were commercially viable, they would be developed on their own. The nuclear industry is wealthy–it could spend that money if it wanted to. After all, the industry has spent more than that ($650 million) just on lobbying and campaign contributions over the past decade.
President Obama made the same $36 Billion proposal for new reactor loans last year. And, thanks to public opposition, he didn’t get one dime of it. Let’s make sure the nuclear industry doesn’t get one more penny this year. Send your letter to Congress below.
Full Story Here: Nuclear Information and Resource Service – NIRS.
Wisconsin Democrats Demand Probe of Gov. Walker
The Democratic Party of Wisconsin will file a formal ethics complaint this week against Wisconsin’s Republican Governor Scott Walker based on comments he made in a conversation with a prankster posing as right-wing billionaire David Koch, a party spokesman tells Mother Jones.
The spokesman, Graeme Zielinski, says party officials will request a probe into statements Walker made to the fake Koch, who was really gonzo journalist and Buffalo Beast editor Ian Murphy, concerning support for Wisconsin Republican lawmakers believed to be vulnerable due to their support of Walker’s bill. Here’s the part of Walker’s call Democrats are zeroing in on:
Walker: “After this in some of the coming days and weeks ahead, particularly in some of these more swing areas, a lot of these guys are going to need, they don’t need initially ads for them, but they’re going to need a message out. Reinforcing why this was a good thing to do for the economy, a good thing to do for the state. So to the extent that message is out over and over again is certainly a good thing.”
Ian Murphy (posing as Koch): “Right, right. We’ll back you any way we can.”
The Wisconsin Democratic Party isn’t the first group to cry foul over these remarks. Last week, a left-leaning campaign watchdog group, the Public Campaign Action Fund, said it was looking into whether Walker violated ethics or campaign finance laws in Wisconsin. “In a call with who he thought to be billionaire political donor David Koch, Gov. Walker may have broken campaign finance and ethics laws,” David Donnelly, national campaigns director for Public Campaign Action Fund, said in a statement. “If he did, he should resign.”
Full Story Here: Wisconsin Democrats Demand Probe of Gov. Walker | Mother Jones.
Capitol Idea: Republicans Have Offered No Vision For Their Cuts
In railing single-mindedly against the federal budget deficit — as open to charges of hypocrisy as it is — Republicans provided a rationale for their new, unrelenting rampage of budget cuts.
The stench of hypocrisy, of course, comes because the GOP began crying about the deficit only after it forced a temporary extension of tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires, all of which are financed by deficit spending.
Nevertheless, let’s leave that 800-pound double-standard alone for the time being.
Full Story Here: The Washington Current: Capitol Idea: Republicans Have Offered No Vision For Their Cuts.
How You Can Boycott the Kochs
The backlash against the Kochs’ influence in Wisconsin is gaining steam, with labor supporters starting to boycott Koch Industries’ many products (listed here).
Over the past few weeks, the billionaire Koch brothers and their front groups have steadily increased their involvement in Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s efforts to strip state workers of their collective bargaining rights. The Kochs’ outsized wealth and influence are forces to be reckoned with; that’s why we should all be grateful that a Koch backlash, including a boycott of Koch Industries’ products, has started picking up steam.
AlterNet has been keeping a close eye on the Koch-financed support for Walker’s anti-union campaign. As we reported last week, Walker is deep in the pocket of the Kochs, having received some $43,000 from Koch Industries while running for governor in 2010. Once Walker was elected, he made sure to take care of his friends/financiers, giving out massive tax breaks to Koch Industries, and more recently, launching the ongoing effort to quash Wisconsin union workers’ rights.
As AlterNet’s Washington bureau chief Adele Stan puts it, Walker is “carrying out the wishes of his corporate master.” But why are the brothers Koch so interested in stifling labor rights in Wisconsin? For one thing, they have significant business interests in the region, with at least 17 facilities and offices in the state and some 4,000 miles of pipeline through Koch Pipeline Company, L.P. Also, the Kochs recognize that the outcome of the battle in Wisconsin could have national implications: if Walker wins, workers elsewhere might be less inclined to put up a fight. And that would be good for the Kochs’ bottom line.
Full Story Here: How You Can Boycott the Kochs | Tea Party and the Right | AlterNet.
Angel Soft toilet paper
Brawny paper towels
Dixie plates, bowls, napkins and cups
Mardi Gras napkins and towels
Quilted Northern toilet paper
Soft ‘n Gentle toilet paper
Sparkle napkins
Vanity fair napkins
Zee napkins
Georgia-Pacific paper products and envelopes
All Georgia-Pacific lumber and building products, including:
Dense Armor Drywall and Decking
ToughArmor Gypsum board
Georgia pacific Plytanium Plywood
Flexrock
Densglass sheathing
G/P Industrial plasters (some products used by a lot of crafters)
FibreStrong Rim board
G/P Lam board
Blue Ribbon OSB Rated Sheathing
Blue Ribbon Sub-floor
DryGuard Enhanced OSB
Nautilus Wall Sheathing
Thermostat OSB Radiant Barrier Sheathing
Broadspan Engineered Wood Products
XJ 85 I-Joists
FireDefender Banded Cores
FireDefender FS
FireDefender Mineral Core
Hardboard and Thin MDF including Auto Hardboard,
Perforated Hardboard and Thin MDF
Wood Fiberboard
Commercial Roof Fiberboard
Hushboard Sound Deadening Board
Regular Fiberboard Sheathing
Structural Fiberboard Sheathing
(INVISTA Products):
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CORDURA® fabric
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Chris Hellman, $1.2 Trillion for National Security
The Figure No One Wants You to See
What if you went to a restaurant and found it rather pricey? Still, you ordered your meal and, when done, picked up the check only to discover that it was almost twice the menu price.
Welcome to the world of the real U.S. national security budget. Normally, in media accounts, you hear about the Pentagon budget and the war-fighting supplementary funds passed by Congress for our conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. That already gets you into a startling price range — close to $700 billion for 2012 — but that’s barely more than half of it. If Americans were ever presented with the real bill for the total U.S. national security budget, it would actually add up to more than $1.2 trillion a year.
Take that in for a moment. It’s true; you won’t find that figure in your daily newspaper or on your nightly newscast, but it’s no misprint. It may even be an underestimate. In any case, it’s the real thing when it comes to your tax dollars. The simplest way to grasp just how Americans could pay such a staggering amount annually for “security” is to go through what we know about the U.S. national security budget, step by step, and add it all up.
Full Story Here: Tomgram: Chris Hellman, $1.2 Trillion for National Security | TomDispatch.
How the rich soaked the rest of us
When the Cadillac Eldorado made its debut in the 1950s, wealthy Americans were paying a top rate of tax of 90%; today, the top rate of tax is 35%.
The astonishing story of the last few decades is a massive redistribution of wealth, as the rich have shifted the tax burden
Over the last half century, the richest Americans have shifted the burden of the federal individual income tax off themselves and onto everybody else. The three convenient and accurate Wikipedia graphs below show the details. The first graph compares the official tax rates paid by the top and bottom income earners. Note especially that from the end of the second world war into the early 1960s, the highest income earners paid a tax rate over 90% for many years. Today, the top earners pay a rate of only 35%. Note also how the gap between the rates paid by the richest and the poorest has narrowed. If we take into account the many loopholes the rich can and do use far more than the poor, the gap narrows even more.
One conclusion is clear and obvious: the richest Americans have dramatically lowered their income tax burden since 1945, both absolutely and relative to the tax burdens of the middle income groups and the poor.
Full Story Here: How the rich soaked the rest of us | Richard Wolff | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk.
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Republicans Don't Care about Voter Fraud....owa Republicans are trying to dismiss claims that the vote count in Tuesday's Iowa Caucus was wrong. An Iowa voter told a local TV station yesterday that he noticed a 20-vote discrepancy in the count - and that Rick Santorum was the real winner of the Caucuses. Republican Party officials, though, are sticking to their first count - showing Mitt Romney as the winner by 8-votes - and there will be no recount.The Republican Party has launched a war on voters around the nation this year with strict new laws that will disenfranchise over 5 million Americans. They claim these laws are necessary to combat so-called voter fraud. Yet in Iowa - where there are no such laws - and where a very, very close and questionable election was just held - Republicans don't seem to care at all about getting it right.Clearly - the war on voters isn't about making sure the people's voices are represented accurately - it's about making sure poor people, young people, and minorities who tend to vote for Democrats - can't vote at all.-Thom(Who do you think won? Tell us here.) -
LEGALIZE Democracy
" We the corporations" On January 21, 2010, with its ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations are persons, entitled by the U.S. Constitution to buy elections and run our government. __________
MOVE to AMEND
a project of the CAMPAIGN TO LEGALIZE Democracy
Help end Corporate personhood
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The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. 
