Month: February 2010

Forgetting The Camera

by digby

So I’m looking up recipes for a raw chocolate cake for a friend of mine and I come upon this video on a recipe site called ifood TV. It has an unrelated conversation going on over the cake making, which isn’t all that unusual with these home made demonstrations.

But this one was a little bit different — while the cook is demonstrating her recipe, these lovely folks are casually chatting about the homeless “ni**ers,” “beaners” and “faggots,” with all the casual arrogance of people who feel very comfortable saying such a thing in safe surroundings.

powered by ifood.tv

Sadly, I suspect that these people aren’t as unusual as you might think.

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Blue America Chat

by digby

Today Blue America is endorsing its first all-new candidate for the year– Washington state Senator Craig Pridemore who is running for congress in WA-03. Howie Klein will be hosting a live chat at 11AM over at Crooks and Liars, if you’d like to meet him.

Meanwhile, check out Howie’s introductory post today. I think you’ll see why we are proud to add him to our list of endorsees and we hope that you’ll take the time to listen to what he has to say. I don’t think I need to tell anyone about the desperate need to elect better Democrats to the congress. Helping to elect Craig Pridemore would substantially help us achieve that goal:

Craig is a 49 year old highly decorated former military intelligence officer who worked after college as a financial analyst the Clark County Public Works Department before being elected a County Commissioner (beating a Republican incumbent heavily financed by the developers’ community. It’s how he learned about grassroots campaigning, walking 117 miles eight days, meeting with hundreds of people from battleground and Yacolt to Richfield and Camas. He was re-elected and the challenged another Republican incumbent for a state Senate seat. He was re-elected to that job in 2008 with 62% of the vote.

As a state Senator he wrote and passed one of the first successful pieces of legislation for greenhouse gas caps in the U.S. Senate Bill 6001, in fact, directly prevented the construction of a dirty coal plant in Washington, saving untold numbers of people from asthma, heart disease, cancer and a whole battery of chronic lower respiratory diseases. His two main opponents, the aforementioned Rep. Deb Wallace and a millionaire investor, Denny Heck, are both what is euphamistically called “business-friendly” Democrats. That’s what Blue Dogs are called before they grow up to be Republicans in Democratic clothing. Heck, particularly– who has stated no policy positions on anything but who refers to himelf as “the only working capitalist in this race”– has started raking in a great deal of money from all the wrong sources.

Electing Craig Pridemore is an opportunity to make the House a more progressive place and to elect a leader who doesn’t just go along with the flow. The first time I spoke with him he told me that “the conventional wisdom up here is that a Democrat can’t win if he/she stands for Democratic values. I am absolutely committed to changing that perception and to make WA-03 a reliable, progressive seat in the future.” I hope you’ll join me in helping him to do just that– at the Blue America ActBlue page, where Craig joins our two other 2010 endorsees, Alan Grayson and Marcy Winograd.

The live chat will be starting at 11 AM pst. Check it out.

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Pension Tension

by digby

Hey fellow Californians, guess what? If you work for the state and thought you had a secure government pension, think again. The fiscal fetishists are coming to get that too:

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System, established by law and protected by the vote of the people in a constitutional amendment, administers the retirement plan for state employees and hundreds of local agencies that voluntarily participate. More than $200 billion in investments fund the retirement benefits for current and former employees. The system is actuarially sound, free from those politicians who would like to steal the money to pay for their pet projects. They find that rather frustrating, particularly those who don’t like public servants to begin with. Public employee pension benefits are protected by the state constitution. If you are hired by a public agency and are told that when you retire you will receive a certain benefit, then that commitment must be honored. There is no bait-and-switch allowed with pension benefits. The governor acknowledged this recently in his State of the State speech when he said, “For current employees, these pensions cannot be changed – either legally or morally. We cannot break the promises we already made. It is a done deal.” Two days later, he proposed to violate that done deal by asking the Legislature to double the employee payment into the pension plan, which the courts have ruled is just as unconstitutional as reducing the benefits. However, at least for a moment there, he recognized the obligation of the state as an employer to its employees. If the politicians and public servant-bashers can’t raid the money in the pension fund and can’t cut pension benefits, then what can they do? Well, they can try to persuade the people to change the constitution, or at least slash pension benefits for future hires. How do you persuade the people when the facts aren’t on your side? You say things that aren’t true. Gubernatorial candidates say that pension benefits are excessive and the cost to the taxpayer is too high. The governor’s representative, David Crane, says pension costs have risen by 2,000 percent, pensions threaten funding for other programs, the benefits were “a costly mistake with terrible consequences,” and it’s all the fault of the Legislature. All of that is nonsense, but they keep saying it, the media keep reporting it, and sooner or later, they hope, people will believe it. What’s the real truth about CalPERS? The average benefit for a retired public servant in CalPERS is $2,100 per month. Of that $2,100, only $1 of every $8 is paid by the employer, which means the taxpayer. The rest is paid through employee contributions and earnings on the investments. That means for every retired public employee, the taxpayers provide less than $300 per month for their pension.

We shouldn’t be surprised. The anti-tax crusaders have succeeded in their quest to make taxation of the wealthy impossible and now the rest of the program is kicking in: the drowning in the bathtub phase. Only it isn’t government that’s being waterboarded, it’s the citizens. Unfortunately, many of them have been brainwashed to believe the best way to fix their problem is to destroy government even more. Maybe it’s a form of Stockholm Syndrome.

These public employee pension funds are a compact between a large number of people and the government so naturally the anti-government zealots are going after them. But this time they may get some blowback from some really important people for a change: Wall Street. These funds are gigantic sources of revenue for the stock market and, as we know, no one is allowed to lose their profits but them.

I suppose that’s actually one good reason to have the government invest our retirement funds in the market (as one of those schemes imagined.) Maybe then social security would be deemed too big to fail and we could all rest easy.

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The Real Funnies

by digby

Everybody knows that Tbogg is a very funny guy. This is a classic. So’s this. And those are from just this week. But no offense to da man, I have to point out that Tbogg readers are actually the funniest people in in the blogosphere. if you read no other comment section, read that one.

Plus there’s adorable basset dog on basset puppy (with a tramp stamp) action.

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Teabags And Torture

by digby

They hate government — unless it’s torturing somebody.

Per Heather at C&L:

This is from one of the CPAC 2010 panel segments, the topic of which was,”Does Security Trump Freedom?” The panelists included Barr, Jim Gilmore, Dan Lungren and Viet Dinh. Rep. Lungren got a nice little cheer out of them for saying he was for “enhanced interrogation” as well.

Lovely people.

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Funnymen

by digby

Side-Splitters at CPAC

Speaking to the conservative conference just now, Pawlenty went for an unusual metaphor to incite rebellion against government overreach.

I think we can learn a lot from this situation. Not from Tiger — but from his wife. She said, “I’ve had enough!” She said, “No more!” I think we should take a page out of her playbook, and take a 9-iron and smash the window out of big government in this country.

Good stuff. And then there’s this:

Introducing Grover Norquist, the rabidly anti-tax conservative activist, Human Events editor Jed Babbin cracked a joke about the incident. “I’m really happy to see Grover today,” Babbin said. “He was getting a little testy in the past couple of weeks. And I was just really, really glad that it was not him identified as flying that airplane into the IRS building.”

Just don’t call them retards.

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Anti-taxation Representation

by digby

Here’s an interesting piece speculating about Joseph Stack’s issues with the IRS:

“The IRS is toughest on people who reject the whole concept and authority of the system, who are not accepting that we do have income tax laws that we are all subject to,” said Philip J. Holthouse, partner at the Santa Monica tax law and accounting firm of Holthouse, Carlin & Van Trigt. “If the anger expressed in this posting is consistent with how he interacted with the government representatives, it would not have enhanced their compassion.”

Stack’s note refers to meeting with “a group” in the early 1980s who were holding “tax readings and discussions” that zeroed in on tax exemptions that make “the vulgar, corrupt Catholic Church so incredibly wealthy.” He said in the post that he then began to do “exactly what the ‘big boys’ were doing.”

“We took a great deal of care to make it all visible, following all of the rules, exactly the way the law said it was to be done.”

Since Stack wasn’t a church, this is like waving a red flag at a bull. The IRS apparently considered this foray into tax avoidance the real corruption. Stack’s letter says: “That little lesson in patriotism cost me $40,000.”

Incidentally, the notion that anyone (other than a legitimate charity) doesn’t need to pay income taxes is one that’s well familiar–and refuted–by not only the IRS but every legitimate tax preparer in the country. So-called tax protestors or “tax defiers” take bits and pieces of the law, string them together in incomprehensible ways to come up with arguments that they say exempt them from tax. They can sound convincing, so the IRS publishes a long list of “frivolous” tax arguments on its web site, explaining when and where each argument was refuted, in an effort to keep innocent taxpayers from drinking the tax protest KoolAid.

But that wasn’t all. Stack also says in his letter that he drained a retirement account and didn’t pay tax on any of that money–didn’t even file a return. The penalties for not filing a tax return are roughly 10 times worse than for not paying your taxes. That’s one of the reasons that accountants tell their clients to file returns, even when they don’t have the money to pay, said Holthouse.

Finally, Stack rails about independent contractor rules.

Experts said the only way this rant could make sense is if Stack started a company that employed other people, who he maintained were independent contractors rather than employees. If an employer maintains he’s hired only independent contractors, he doesn’t need to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes on their wages. But the IRS audits these claims carefully. When an employee is improperly classified as an independent contractor so that the employer can avoid these taxes, the IRS prosecutes aggressively because it considers it tantamount to stealing from workers Social Security and Medicare accounts.

And then these anti-tax zealots are reinforced in their belief that the IRS is a bunch of illegitimate jackbooted thugs who are out to get them.

This particular belief system is fairly common on the wingnut fringe here in California, where Stack’s radicalism was spawned. I’ve known a few of these guys and they are, simply, far right extremists who object to government with the same fervor as any gun nut or militia member. (It sometimes couches itself in “libertarianism,” which may be how this soft wear engineer got into it.) But these guys really just believe that government is illegitimate, period, and they target taxation as their tool to prove it.

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One More Push

by digby

The Progressive Congress Action Fund along with HCAN, Move On and a bunch of other groups are gearing up for a major push to get HCR over the line. They have organized a virtual march on Washington, hoping to flood the congress with calls demanding that they get this thing done.

If you have some energy left to try to get this over the finish line, you can sign up here for details. (I can guarantee that this is a legitimate action and they are not doing this simply to fish for your email address.)

Here’s more from DKos:

Procedures and what can you expect on February 24th. We need All Hands on February 24th. Can we all put aside our differences and join together in one common purpose, because our lives depend on it, to make healthcare a reality? The 1,000,000 Voices campaign will be rolled out to the media starting on Monday. We’ll keep you advised of all developments as they happen.On the MoveOn 1,000,000 Voices Virtual March on Washington web site, which will go live early in the morning of February 24th, you’ll be able to use their incredible tools to contact Congress and the Senate and to take the action of your choice–call, email, fax or write.…

Some of you have asked about what message to deliver. The overall message is very, very simple. PASS HEALTHCARE REFORM. Each organization will ask it’s members to call, email, fax, or write a letter. If you decide to call, you’ll be offered talking points. You’re free to use them or not, whatever moves you. Just take an action–call, email, fax, letter–it’s all about 1,000,000 contacts on February 24th. Since the Public Option may be gaining life again, if this is something you support, then please demand a public option. If you would prefer not to make that demand, that’s also fine. These are the talking points which resonate with us. You’re free to use them or not, it’s your choice.

The call-in effort will be to ask for these items below in the reconciliation fix, and directing these calls at the House and the Senate. * Inclusion of the public option
* The Medicare buy-in
* Fixing the excise tax
* Getting rid of the Nebraska Cornhusker Kickback deal
* National exchange
* Drug re-importation
* Drug price negotiation in Medicare Part D
* Increasing subsidies. Why are we aiming high? Because we need to do our best, and always fight to the end in making this Senate bill better.

On the other hand, if you believe the best route to getting a bill passed is for the House to simply vote to pass the Senate Bill, you are free to make that your “ask”. And we thank you too, for participating. All we ask, is that you take an action.

It’s worth trying, for sure. The Democrats in congress are going to get hammered no matter what they do, so there’s no point in not passing it. And, as Krugman points out in his column this morning, the situation is getting worse. The private insurance market is in a death spiral as healthy, unemployed people are dropping their insurance because they can’t afford it. This is going to get worse and worse, especially if the economy stays flat. They have nothing to lose by passing this and it’s just possible that it may ameliorate at least some of the problems.

(My biggest fear is that health care will be passed in exchange for gutting social security. But hey, I’m sure all of us baby boomers can find work when we’re 80, right? One problem at a time…)

Update: You can also join the PCCC’s campaign to get the Senate to agree to pass the public option in reconciliation, which is gaining some momentum.

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Weaponized Morons

by digby

Little Andy puts on his big boy pants:

Breitbart asserted “there is more video that is going to come out” and predicted “the media that tried to defeat James O’Keefe and to destroy him, in their attempts to do that, they weaponized him and made him a bigger figure than he otherwise would become, and so the next videos that come from him and his cohorts [are] going to be that much more devastating.”

… and then swaggers around kicking over the legos:

“My business model is I want to be a talent scout. I want to be an American idol for weaponized freedom fighters,” said Breitbart. “And that’s one of the reasons I love coming here.”

I can’t help but be reminded of an earlier Breitbart battle for freedom:

Late last month, my wife, Susie, and I took a day trip to Shutters, an elegant, white-veneered hotel along the ritzy Santa Monica shoreline. It’s a special-occasion place, and we went there to take in a rare parental reprieve.

We went to the hotel’s second-floor veranda overlooking the Pacific and ordered spinach-and-artichoke dip and two margaritas. Except for a mild wind, the day was perfect for checking out seagulls and passers-by on the boardwalk below.

Santa Monica is an upscale part of Los Angeles, and Shutters is a pricey joint. But the nearby pier-cum-amusement-park and its spacious public beach is a multifaceted, people-watching experience.

Soon after our drinks arrived, a group of mostly-college-age kids began walking by in large bunches, many in tandem holding large rope segments in groups of 20 or so. They clearly were marching for something they considered important.

As they passed, the protesters stared sourly at the second story where we sat. Fellow patrons wondered aloud what this now massive conga line was all about. About 300 people into the procession, I spotted a sign that had “war” written in it. One T-shirt read, “Stop forcing our children to be your soldiers.”

It’s a voluntary army, you stupid kids!

A thousand marchers into the protest, the sour looks aimed at the hotel’s clientele began to wear on us. The marchers’ defiant smugness started to make an enemy of me.

“Oh, no,” I thought. The antiwar movement that I saw growing only days after Sept. 11, 2001, was at it again. I thought: Even with a new president – and one who mostly shares their point of view – the I-love-a-protest-parade political left couldn’t help itself. It likes ruining nice sunny days. Protesting is what these people do. Sneering at their fellow citizens is their chief skill. Projecting arrogance is their birthright.

So with the antiwar sign, the T-shirt and the thousand-strong parade right under our noses, I began to seethe. These anti-warriors were trying to destroy the peaceful seaside vibe and our pleasant Jose Cuervo buzz.

Knowing that Susie considers a true escape a day when politics isn’t on the menu, I kept my observations to myself. I even restrained my natural impulse to run down to the sand to go mano a mano with the rabble-rousers.

But when one dude raised his fist like runners Tommie Smith and John Carlos did at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, I could not hold myself back. I jumped from my seat and bolted to the center of the balcony, where the American flag waved furiously in a now-harsh wind. Positioned next to Old Glory, I countered the young punk and reached out my right arm directing my middle finger in his direction.

As soon as my finger was raised, a phalanx of photographers began snapping away at the white middle-aged man wearing a white LaCoste shirt next to the old red, white and blue. Cognizant of the power of imagery, I owned the moment and refused to back down. The fist wielder immediately dropped his arm. I clearly had won and envisioned photos of the anti-antiwar protester making the front pages of the Los Angeles Times.

Satisfied by the small victory, I sat down to finish my cocktail. With my wife pretending not to be embarrassed, we went back to enjoying our midday excursion. But instead of waking up Sunday or Monday morning to see my face in the paper, I instead received an e-mail from a journalism student at a local university who recognized me from a recent debate on campus.

The e-mail began like this:

“On 4/25/09 an event hosted by the Invisible Children called ‘The Rescue’ took place in Santa Monica. I shot the event. 4,000 youth marched in solidarity for the children abducted and forced to fight for the LRA in Northern Uganda and more recently in the Congo. I had felt a sense of hope in my generation’s methods of activism at the event.”

Oh, no. It only got worse.

“I believe most people in America are in agreement that human slavery, genocide and child soldiers are a terrible thing. This event was hardly controversial. The protest marched by ‘Shutters on the Beach.’ After reviewing the photographs I was taking for the event and confirming the facts (you were in Santa Monica at the date and time) I realized you were flipping the protesters off. I am curious to why this is the case.”

Unfortunately, these “weaponized freedom fighters” just aren’t very bright. That’s dangerous.

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Bad Dog

by digby

I love the Westminster Dog Show. And this year’s winner was very adorable. But the runner-up was just awful — a rabid, out-of-control, barking Northwestern Wingnut:

I think they American Kennel Association needs to rescind this breed’s accreditation. It could easily eat your baby.

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