Month: March 2011

American Dreamers

by digby

Here’s another one of those greedy bastards who’s trying to destroy America:

He is worried, he says, about a lot: the future of the bankrupt supermarket chain he works for, the midcareer colleagues who feel trapped and hopeless, and anyone, really, who strives for a middle-class life anymore.

He’s been stocking shelves and moving groceries through the checkout line for the same Philadelphia-area chain since the Vietnam War. It’s how he put a child through college, bought a $28,000 rowhouse, and pays for the occasional movie when he and his wife go out for a treat.

He is reluctant to have his name published in The Inquirer, even though he belongs to a union. Partly, it seems, because he belongs to a union. And partly because it feels like a scary time to be a worker in this country at all – union or not.

“I’m afraid I’d be retaliated against,” he says, in a tone so evenhanded, so unassuming, that during the first, the second, and even the third time we talked, it was hard to resist wanting to hear more from him.

When reader and reporter finally met after two years of occasional phone chats, the blogosphere, and the so-called cable-news pundits were bloviating about assaults by Republican governors against public-sector unions in Wisconsin, New Jersey, and elsewhere. (Time will tell whether this remains an exclusively Republican pursuit.)

Against all the raucous blah-blah-blahs, his middle-of-the-road wisdom was humbling.

Yes it is. But it’s the voice of many millions of Americans who are under attack by their fellows who have been brainwashed into believing that the problem in their lives isn’t the John Galts who are gobbling up ever more of the nation’s wealth but their middle class neighbors who’ve been able to live a decent middle class life working at a decent middle class job.

These are the people that the well-heeled Andrea Mitchells and Gloria Borgers of the world are saying must be willing to sacrifice for the greater good:

“I don’t want to come across as a griper. I have a good life,” he says. Paid about $19 an hour and in line for a modest pension if he retires in the next few years, he counts himself among the luckier people in the retail sector, which accounted for more than one in 10 U.S. jobs in February.

And yet, he says of his pension, “we would still starve on that.” He is putting off retirement because health benefits for him and his wife will cost $10,000 a year – more than a third of the $27,000 in Social Security and pension payments he expects. “I got a gas bill for $240, you’ve got the phone, you’ve got the Internet, you’ve got Comcast, you’ve got real estate taxes: $2,400.” The math is troubling.

You could say that. But I’m sure our wealthy overlords believe it would be character building for these folks to go without health insurance in their 50s. Or maybe they should give up such luxuries as a phone and the internet. After all, he may have worked his whole life but if he can’t do any better than this then maybe he should live with the consequences of his failure to be a big American winner. Like Paris Hilton. Or Charlie Sheen.

The only people who count are those who have big money and rest of us are parasites. But there’s a problem:

“When you attack the middle class, which is what I think is happening,” he says, it’s attacking “what this country is all about.”

The American Dream was the life that this guy led. He worked his way up to a decent life where he could own a house and raise his children and retire when he reached old age. Now people like him are being attacked as the enemy. In other words, Americans are turning on themselves. Hopefully they’ll figure out that they’re being played before it’s too late.

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It Isn’t About The Deficit

by digby

Ezra Klein tweeted a reminder of this comment in his interview with Grover Norquist:

Norquist: The goal is to reduce the size and scope of government spending, not to focus on the deficit. The deficit is the symptom of the disease. And there are several reasons to oppose tax increases. First, every dollar of tax increase is a dollar you didn’t get in spending restraint. Two, if you walk into the Democrats’ Andrews-Air-Force-Base, Lucy-with-the-Football trick for the third time in a row — they don’t have have a saying for being fooled three times!

In ’82 and ’90, the Republicans were smart, tough focused guys. They were taken to the cleaners. The Republicans negotiating with the Democrats are negotiating with Dick Durbin. Durbin. Durbin! Does Durbin have an interest in cutting any government program in the history of the world at any time in his life? No. Never. He’s there to sucker Republicans into putting their fingerprints on a tax increase so when you go into an election, people say, “Can’t trust them. They’ll raise taxes.”

The reason it won’t happen is that the Republicans have taken the pledge and made a promise to their constituents that they won’t increases taxes. And I’ve talked to the guys in the House and Senate. They tell me it won’t happen. And even Coburn, Chambliss and Crapo wrote a letter to me that said, “If and when there is a legislative proposal to be presented to the American people, we look forward to again working with you and all interested parties to support a proposal where any increase in revenue generation will be a result of the pro-growth effects of lower individual and corporate taxes.” So the three guys who I worry — because of some of the press statements — might be cajoled or tricked into putting the fingerprints on a tax increase have said in writing that they won’t do a tax increase. Right now, in our public pronouncements, we are completely in sync. I agree with their statement; they have signed the pledge.

Every once in awhile, some reporter ekes out a comment from one of them saying everything is on the table, but when they talk to me, they say we’ll talk about anything, but we won’t agree on a tax increase. My position is: Why go into a room and close a door with people who have the history that Conrad and Durbin do? But no, there won’t be a tax increase. That’s not happening. It’s an odd way to spend your time. I think golf and cocaine would more constructive ways to spend one’s free time time than negotiating with Democrats on spending restraint.

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It’s funny how the Republicans project their own peculiar form of pathological dishonesty onto Democrats. I can’t think of a time ever when Democrats ran against Republicans for cutting taxes. (If he’s referring to 88, 90 and 92, it was Republicans running against Republicans for raising taxes.) And it was the Republicans running against the Democrats for cutting Medicare in 2010, a program for which they have been gunning since 1965. But then Norquist is the guy who literally adopted Leninist strategy for the conservative movement, so maybe he’s just extremely confused.

The American people want to raise taxes on the rich and the Democrats are bringing it into the debate. And I would guess that they will never pass a bill out of the House that contains one. But it’s possible that if the Dems are more clever than they usually are, they will be able to expose the GOP’s true agenda and stop this deficit obsession from snowballing any further.

Keep your fingers crossed. I think something is happening to change the contours of the debate. Let’s hope the president doesn’t feel the need to step in and “mediate.”

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Republicans are telling it like it is

by digby

I think this is refreshingly candid and should be encouraged. It’s important that people understand the real motivations for this fight that’s happening all over the country. This is Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s closest ally in the state Senate, Scott Fitzgerald on Fox News this morning:

FITZGERALD: Well if they flip the state senate, which is obviously their goal with eight recalls going on right now, they can take control of the labor unions. If we win this battle, and the money is not there under the auspices of the unions, certainly what you’re going to find is President Obama is going to have a much difficult, much more difficult time getting elected and winning the state of Wisconsin.

The Republicans in both the states and the federal government are engaged in a coordinated, cynical strategy to defund the Democratic Party’s labor and economic populist factions once and for all. In the age of Citizen’s United, this leaves both parties entirely in the hands of the corporations.

If you think politics is a kabuki sideshow now, just wait and see what happens if they succeed.

Interestingly, Fox is the only place I ever hear this openly discussed. I guess they figure they can let down there hair over there.

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Terrorists in our midst?

by digby

Dave Neiwert reports on that isolated incident at the MLK Day parade in Spokane Washington:

Well, there’s been a break in the case:

A significant break in Martin Luther King Day backpack bomb investigation in Spokane occurred this morning when an FBI SWAT team executed a search warrant and reportedly made one arrest Wednesday morning in the small northeastern Washington town of Addy. FBI officials weren’t immediately available for comment, but indicated the name of the suspect would be forthcoming in a news release. The case has been investigated as a case of domestic terrorism. Addy is a community in Stevens County, in the northeastern corner of Washington state, bordering Canada. The county has long been a hotbed of extremist and Christian Identity activity. The arrest was being reported by Spokane media, including The Spokesman-Review and KXLY-TV.

Of course, in Spokane, no one was calling this an “isolated event.

Maybe somebody ought to alert Peter King about the radicalization of Christian Americans. He could hold a hearing.

Update:

An ex-soldier with ties to the white supremacist movement has been taken into custody in connection with the planting of a backpack bomb along the planned route of the Martin Luther King Jr. march in downtown Spokane, authorities have confirmed.Kevin William Harpham, 36, of Colville, could face life imprisonment on charges of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and possession of an unregistered explosive device, according to documents on file in U.S. District Court. An initial court appearance is scheduled for this afternoon.Harpham was arrested this morning during a raid at his home at 1088 Cannon Way near Addy, Wash., by dozens of federal agents who had been assembling in Spokane during the past few days.The Southern Poverty Law Center confirmed that Harpham in 2004 was a member of the National Alliance, which is one of the most visible white supremacist organizations in the nation. It was founded by the late William Pierce, who authored “The Turner Diaries,” a novel about a future race war. That book was believed to be the blueprint behind the 1995 bombing in Oklahoma City by Timothy McVeigh…Harpham also appears to be a member of the Vanguard News Network, a racist Website featuring essays, blog posts and message boards on topics such as “resettlement and construction of local communities for Whites” and “How to Live White.”

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Moving The Goalposts

by digby

Now this is interesting:

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called the Republican Party’s bluff on the need for deficit reduction Wednesday, outlining a fiscal framework that involves broader cuts and revenue raisers than the GOP has proposed — and warning that there will be no agreement on funding the government unless the GOP broadens its approach.

“A bipartisan compromise simply will not be found in the domestic discretionary spending cuts alone,” Schumer said in a half-hour presentation at the Center for American Progress. Without a broader scope, Schumer said, “we won’t be able to come to a compromise on a seven month budget.”

Schumer’s entreaty changes the frame of the debate on Capitol Hill, which for weeks has been driven by Republican leaders, who have isolated their focus to domestic discretionary spending. Democratic leaders, who are unwilling to countenance major cuts to government services, had little luck playing on GOP turf, but will now have a coherent alternative to point to when negotiations over how to fund the government continue in coming days.

Schumer noted that the GOP’s plan for spending cuts does almost nothing to reduce the deficit — a fact that runs at cross-purposes to their insistence that the deficit must be reduced
[…]
Schumer endorsed the approaches taken by Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, both of whom reduced or eliminated deficits by cutting discretionary spending and addressing entitlements and tax revenues. He identified achievable savings on all three flanks, including cuts to defense spending, agriculture subsidies, and a surtax on millionaires and billionaires.

Now at first I was taken aback because I don’t think cutting spending in a recession is the smart approach. However, if he’s putting defense spending and farm subsidies on the menu along with millionaire surtaxes, I’m hard pressed to argue. I was also nervous because in in Village patois, “entitlements” means Social Security. I’m still not exactly sure what he means by it, but Schumer addressed Social Security directly and correctly:

Schumer left Social Security off the table, noting that it doesn’t run into real actuarial problems for decades, and isn’t a contributor to the deficit.

Give that man a round of applause. That’s exactly the way to credibly talk about it.

And I would guess this is correct:

Republicans were caught off guard by the Democrats’ new approach.

“Right now we need to crawl before we can walk, and that means finishing last year’s business and complete a spending bill,” said Michael Steel, spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner.

This is a fairly bold reframing of the budget talks and one that is probably unexpected, especially by the bipartisan group of safety net shredders. If the GOP doesn’t shut this down, it could derail them too unless the president decides that long term deficit cutting is his ticket to re-election and legacy making — a distinct possibility. But it’s going to be much more difficult if the Democrats succeed in decoupling Social Security from current concerns in the popular imagination.

And check this out:

“I noted with interest last week’s Wall Street Journal/NBC poll, the most popular proposal to reduce the deficit out of 23 options surveyed was a tax — a surtax — on millionaires and billionaires,” Schumer said. “It’s not only a popular thing to do, it’s the right thing to do.”

This is the first time in quite a while that I’m seeing something other than assurances that we have to “trust” somebody to have our best interests in mind behind closed doors. This is out front — they’re going on the record. Good for them.

I would guess that the Republicans will fight that like rabid dogs but at least the Democrats are out there fighting smartly for once. They aren’t great at leading but at least they are showing that they’re capable of following the people rather than the Tea Party crowd or the beltway conventional wisdom. Baby steps.

Who knows? It might even work.

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In the Village, Charlie Sheen is the boy next door

by digby

Gosh, I hope I didn’t hurt Gloria Borger’s feelings.

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Sorry Mr President, we don’t care for the way you organized the executive branch

by digby

Wow, these guys just don’t quit:

Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) are teaming up with Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee to write legislation that would take decisions about trying detainees out of the attorney general’s hands and hand that power to the secretary of defense.

In the wake of the White House’s new executive order allowing Guantanamo detainees to be held indefinitely, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R-CA) unveiled legislation that would, among other things, affirm the military’s right to detain, hold and interrogate detainees at its discretion without Department of Justice or Attorney General Eric Holder involvement.

Are these guys under the misapprehension that the Secretary of Defense doesn’t serve at the pleasure of the president, exactly as the Attorney General does? What’s the point of this?

But here’s the real kicker:

Such legislation could attract significant Democratic support, considering Democrats’ willingness to buck Obama’s attempts to shutter Guantanamo Bay and Holder’s decision to try Khalid Sheik Mohammed in civilian court in New York City, a decision that was later reversed after prominent Democrats, including Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) vigorously opposed the move…

McKeon said he expected broad Democratic support for the legislation.

“We think there will be a huge number of Democrats supporting the bill,” he told reporters.

The proposal faces higher hurdles in the Senate but could attract some Democratic support there.

Maybe they’ll all vote for it,then Obama can veto it and run as a great defender of civil liberties and the constitution while the other side accuses him of being a terrorist sympathizer. That’s just the kind of surreal, bizarroworld campaign I’m expecting.

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Factoid ‘O The Day

by digby

According to the most recent information, the Forbes 400 now have a greater net worth than the bottom 50% of U.S. households combined.

In 2009, the total net worth of the Forbes 400 was $1.27 trillion.

The best information now available shows that in 2009 the bottom 60% (yes, now it’s 60%, not 50%) of U.S. households owned only 2.3% of total U.S. wealth.

Total U.S. household net worth — rich, middle class and poor combined — at the time the Forbes list came out was $53.15 trillion. So the bottom 60% of households possessed just $1.22 trillion of that $53.15 trillion, less than the Forbes 400.

Thus the Forbes 400 unquestionably have more wealth than the bottom 50%.

Sadly, I think most Americans might believe that’s normal. Thirty years of aristocratic propaganda has taken its toll. But it’s possible that’s starting to change a bit. When they start saying that everyone’s problems are caused by greedy Kindergarten teachers the argument starts to fall apart.

H/t to Michael Moore

From: Michael Moore

They Must Have Pictures

by digby

I guess Lugar is going to sell his soul to the Tea party, just like John McCain. Too bad.

Imagine this happening with Ben Nelson:

Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), who faces a Tea Party-backed challenge in his 2012 primary, has withdrawn his stated opposition to House-passed spending cuts.

Lugar said Tuesday afternoon that he made a mistake when he told reporters earlier in the day that he would oppose H.R. 1, the House GOP plan to cut an additional $57 billion from the 2011 budget.

“I’m going to vote with the Republicans on the issue when H.R. 1 comes up,” Lugar said. “If it’s strictly an affirmative vote, I will be for H.R. 1 because all the Republicans will be voting for H.R. 1.”
[…]
Slightly more than an hour earlier in the day, Lugar told reporters that he would oppose the House bill as he walked into a weekly lunch meeting with Republican colleagues.

Yeah, I knew you couldn’t. This never happens with Democrats. Even if they bring every bit of pressure to bear, they always throw in some gratuitous smack at the base just so the “centrist” can save face. The Republicans don’t work that way.

GEARY: I passed out.

[He stands up and moves over the bed where we see a bloody dead girl.]

I — I’ll fix it.

[He unties the girl’s hand from the bed post.]

Just a game.

[He takes a towel and begins to wipe up the blood that is all over her. He looks at the towel and wipes off his hands.]

Jesus, Jesus.

[He begins to cry. As he does, TOM looks over at NERI who is wiping his hands in the bathroom.]

Jesus, God — Oh, God. I don’t know — and I can’t understand — why I can’t remember.

TOM: You don’t have to remember — just do as I say. We’re putting a call into your office — explain that you’ll be there tomorrow afternoon — you decided to spend the night at Michael Corleone’s house in Tahoe — as his guest.

GEARY: I do remember that she was laughing…we’d done it before — and I know that I couldn’t’ve hurt — that girl

TOM: This girl has no family — nobody knows that she worked here. It’ll be as if she never existed. All that’s left is our friendship.

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Elder Abuse

by digby

Hey grandma, Rick Santorum thinks you’re a junkie:

“Americans love entitlements, and once we get you hooked on an entitlement, you’ll never let it go…Sounds like nothing more than trying to hook someone like a drug dealer … Isn’t that what entitlements do? Make you dependent. Make you feel less. Make you want less. What we’re doing to this generation of America, this entitlement attitude, if that is not a moral issue, I don’t know what is.”

Right. Americans are “hooked” on food, shelter and medicine, the immoral bastards.

Does Rick Santorum know that everyone gets old and sick? And does he know that when that happens you cannot work for a living anymore? Or that if you become disabled and cannot work that it’s very hard to earn money? It doesn’t sound like he does. In fact, from what he says, he believes that people get old and sick for the express purpose of stealing hard earned money from Real Americans like Rick Santorum and if only we would take away this temptation they would live forever.

On the other hand, maybe that whole Death Panel thing was a projection — it’s the Republicans who are for them except they are going to be less bureaucratic about it. They’re just going to consign all old and sick people who don’t have enough money to pay for themselves to die. It’s simpler that way. More “democratic.” And Lord knows it will save us all a lot of money so the truly productive citizens (the wealthy) can be even more “productive” than they already are.

Whatever the real intent, I hope they keep it up. The elderly are the only growing Republican demographic and as the boomers enter it the usual racist misanthropy probably isn’t going to have quite the salience it once had. They might want to think a little bit before calling people on Social Security and Medicare “junkies.” They could easily get the wrong idea.

*Evidently Santorum and his ilk are unaware that before Social Security 50% of elderly Americans lived in poverty which is not surprising since they often cannot work. The sick just died. But perhaps these folks believe we could use a little culling of the herd.

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