Digby's Hullabaloo Posts

Committed Canadians, eh?

by digby

Greg Mitchell shares this inspirational vid today:

I’ve been covering the wild nightly Saucepan Revolution protests in Montreal all week, and last night they topped themselves, taking to the streets in vast numbers despite rain and wind—and tornado warnings. Here’s a cool video from last night featuring local band named Arcade Fire on the soundtrack.

And here’s the earlier one that’s been going viral:

No room for error

by digby

Harsh punishment for a 21 year old’s drunken mistake:

21-year-old woman who was shot after she wandered drunk into a Colorado couple’s home in the middle of the night will face charges of felony trespassing, her lawyer said on Saturday.

Zoey Ripple walked through an unlocked screen door leading into the bedroom of the couple, who said they shouted for her to leave before the husband fired a single gunshot in the dark when she kept coming into the room.

Ripple, who was unarmed, was shot in the hip during the incident on Wednesday in Boulder, Colorado. In a 911 call, the couple said she appeared to be “kind of stoned or something.”

Police said Ripple’s blood alcohol level was three times the legal limit. She is recovering in a hospital, her lawyer, Colette Cribari, said.

An arrest warrant for Ripple is expected to be issued in the coming days and she plans to turn herself in, Cribari said, citing conversations with prosecutors.

The couple is not expected to face any charges because of Colorado’s “Make My Day” law, which allows people to use deadly force against home intruders, Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett has said.

Cribari called the felony charge too severe for Ripple, who is a recent graduate of the University of Colorado in Boulder.

“She wasn’t trying to commit a crime. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Cribari said. “You would hope getting shot would be enough punishment.”

Yeah, you would.

I guess there’s nothing you can do about this sort of thing since we’ve decided that freedom means having the ability to shoot anyone who looks at you sideways. But it seems that we are taking it to the next level and outright blaming the victims for “making” them do it.

Warning to those of you who live in other countries: if you come to our country and make the mistake of getting shot, you will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. We call this “freedom.”

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Wanker of the decade strikes again

by digby

Somebody forgot to tell the Moustache of Understanding that Americans Elect is over because nobody liked it:

Former Obama budget director Peter Orszag notes, to get the economy moving again, what we’ve needed for the past two years is a plan of “combined boldness” — another stimulus focused on infrastructure that would grow jobs and enhance productivity combined with a credible, bipartisan plan for trimming future growth in Medicare and Social Security and reforming taxes to get our long-term fiscal house in order, as the economy improves.

In short, we needed more stimulus paired with some version of the Simpson-Bowles deficit plan. It is highly unlikely that you could “get one passed without the other, and you shouldn’t want to anyway,” said Orszag. Together they would launch the U.S. economy.

Obama, in fairness, tried a version of this with his “grand bargain” talks with the House speaker, John Boehner, but when those talks failed, Obama made a huge mistake. He should have gone straight to the country and repeated over and over: “I have a plan that will create millions of jobs and send the stock market soaring — near-term stimulus plus Simpson-Bowles — and the Republicans are blocking it.”

Obama could have adapted Simpson-Bowles, but symbolically it was vital to embrace it in some form as his headline deficit plan, because it already enjoyed some G.O.P. support and strong backing from independents, who liked the way it forced both parties to compromise. Had Obama gone to the country with more near-term stimulus married to Simpson-Bowles, he would have owned the left, independents and center-right. It would have split the Republicans and provided a real alternative to the radical Paul Ryan-Romney plan.

Instead, Obama retreated to his left base, offered a stimulus without Simpson-Bowles and started talking about “fairness.” The result has been a muddled message that has alienated independent/center-right voters who put him over the top in 2008. Don’t get me wrong: I want fairness, but fairness that comes from a growing economy and comprehensive tax reform not from redividing a shrinking pie.

In sum, Obama’s campaign right now feels as though it were made in a test tube by political consultants. It’s not the Obama we admire. Rather than pounding the country with “I have a plan” — a rebuilding stimulus plus Simpson-Bowles — which would be an Obama-like message of hope, leadership and unity that would put him on higher ground that Romney can’t reach because of the radical G.O.P. base, Obama is selling poll-tested wedge issues. I don’t think it’s a winner for him or America.

I guess Friedman hasn’t been paying attention. Nobody but Villagers and rich people (many of whom are the same people) want this Grand Bargain bullshit. And that’s because on some level everyone else knows it’s a con of epic proportions. We don’t “need combined boldness.” We just need boldness. It’s the combined part that’s going to screw everything up.

You either believe in stimulus or you don’t. If you do, borrow the money at very cheap rates and hire a bunch of people to do something. When the economy gets going again and people are working and paying taxes, then raise taxes to pay down the cheap loans, if that’s even necessary.

This endless haranguing about deficit projections long into the future, even if it is “combined” with another inadequate stimulus, is in service of one thing and one thing only — dismantling the sad remnants of the American welfare state once and for all. We know this because the whole argument is riddled with lies and misconceptions — and fabulously wealthy celebrities like Tom Friedman are either too uninformed to understand this or are in on the con. Either way, they are accomplices to a great crime that’s being perpetrated by the American people.

So far, Americans of both the left and right, for very different reasons, have come to the common sense conclusion that none of the elites can be trusted and it’s better if these people do nothing at all than enact this plan. More power to them.

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“Serious” Linda Parks versus “Hippie” Paul Krugman

by David Atkins

Ballyhooed “independent” (former Republican) candidate for Congress in CA26 Linda Parks, endosed by the L.A. Times and beloved of the chattering class, on unemployment and the economy:

Congress needs to stop the brinkmanship politics and work together to balance our nation’s budget and restore our bond rating. This will give businesses the certainty they need to invest in capital projects and expand their workforce. This in turn will create demand for goods and services that will buoy our economy. If Congress can’t pass a budget on time, they shouldn’t be paid.

Efforts should be made towards restoring our nation’s bond rating which will reduce costs for needed infrastructure such as roads, bridges, levies and water conveyance. These projects will also create jobs and stimulate the economy.

Meanwhile, noted dirty hippie and and non-serious partisan Paul Krugman, responding to the notion that the nation’s bond rating affects employment:

Gosh, if you believe the people saying that you would have lost a lot of money. I know people have lost a lot of money doing that. The bond markets are willing to lend America — the US government — long-term money at about 1.7 percent as of right now. That’s ridiculously low. The index bonds that are protected from inflation actually have a negative interest rate. The bond markets are saying they’re worried about economic stagnation. They’re worried there aren’t going to be investment opportunities because the demand is so weak. So they’re going to park their money in US government debt, which is considered safe. The last thing you should be worrying about, at least according to the bond market, is those deficits. Those are not the problem right now.

One of these people is ignorant about economics and should be ridiculed by journalists as a dangerous amateur without a clue. The other is a Nobel Prize Winner in economics.

I’ll leave it to you to determine which one would receive the most newspaper editorial endorsements in a race for Congress, and what that says about the state of the American press.

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Saturday Night at the Movies

I was very sad to see that The Right Brothers are no longer making music.

The President gets a letter from a citizen

by digby

Dear Mr. President,

I think there is nothing that terrifies you political types so much as someone just blurting out the truth. Seriously, in this town that prizes “staying on message,” and “talking points,” it is hilarious to watch how upset everyone gets when someone unexpectedly lays out the facts.

Such is the case with Newark Mayor Cory Booker, who created a gasoline fire on the D.C. barbeque this weekend just because he told the truth. To recap: He took issue with your attacks on Mitt Romney over his actions while he was at Bain Capital, and he suggested Republicans are just as wrong to go after your distant past.

“This kind of stuff is nauseating to me on both sides…enough is enough,” the mayor said. He followed it up with some other comments along the lines of saying our elections ought to be about who can lead, who has the best ideas, etc…not about cheap character assassination.

So what precisely is wrong with that?

As best I can make out, he didn’t say anything untrue; most voters would agree with him; and he did not even pick sides. He just departed from the written script and I think it scared the heck out of your guys. What puzzles me is why you find his words so disturbing. After all, you’ve argued many times that we need a new age of politics that focuses less on attacks and more on solutions; less on the past and more on the future. Frankly, just a few years ago I can easily imagine you saying what Mayor Booker said.

Obviously you can run your campaign anyway you wish, and your guys must have made a pretty stern call to Mayor Booker, judging from the way he was backing and filling later on.

But I can’t help but wonder if you should have thanked him instead; for reminding you of your own belief in such things. Sure, it is hard to campaign in a positive way by building up your record and ideas, instead of tearing down the other guy’s, but is the office really worth having if you must become what you deplore to win? That’s a question not just for you, but one that every candidate ought to ask him or herself. If they did, I think we might get cleaner elections, better leaders, and a lot more of that hope you once talked about so much.

Regards,

Tom

Who is “Tom” you ask? Recognize this guy?

That’s right. It’s Tom Foreman, a member of the best political team on television.

If Americans-Elect were still in existence, I’d nominate him for president.

Sure, comparing a criticism of Romney’s main claim to expertise isn’t the same in any way to the wingnut fantasy about Obama’s citizenship, but that doesn’t matter. Obama promised the great healer and these Villagers united in ecstasy. Since he couldn’t deliver on their Tipnronnie wet dream (not for lack of trying) they hold it against him.

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The wonders of debt

by digby

Chris Hayes hosted an interesting conversation about private equity on his show today. I think my favorite observation is this one from Joe Wiesenthal:

“One thing about private equity is it benefits tremendously from the favorable legal stance toward debt. And so the great thing about Mitt Romney, were he to become president, is that his whole career is a testament to the wonders of debt, the wonders of borrowing cheaply.

And I’m trying to think if there’s one institution out there that’s borrowing incredibly cheaply right now that could afford to spend a lot more.. Uh, the US Government could afford to spend a lot more by borrowing cheaply right now. Hopefully, if he takes the lessons he learned from private equity, that will be the lesson he takes away.”

Somehow I doubt he believes that the government should run like a business in quite this way.

In any case, here’s the whole discussion:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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“It’s a depression”

by digby

Here’s a good interview with Paul Krugman by Joshua Holland at Alternet in which he asks an important fundamental question right off the bat:

Joshua Holland: Let me ask you first about a somewhat provocative word in your title, the D-word. What makes this a depression rather than a so-called “Great Recession” that we’ve heard so much about?

Paul Krugman: A recession is when things are going down, when the economy is heading down. A depression is when the economy is down, and stays down for a long time. We have the Great Depression, which was more than a decade. There were two recessions in there and there were two periods that were recoveries in the sense that things were getting better, but not much better. The whole period was a period that was really terrible for America and for the world. We’re in a period like that right now. Not as bad as the Great Depression, but that’s not much to recommend it. It’s a sustained thing. We’re now in year five of very high unemployment with terrible prospects for young people. It’s a depression.

This too:

JH: It’s the politics. Last year when our credit was downgraded it wasn’t downgraded because of any economic reality, but because Congress couldn’t get it together to lift the debt ceiling.

What about the bond markets? We’re hearing again and again that they’ll punish us if we don’t cut Social Security or if we don’t transfer healthcare costs onto elderly retirees. Have we seen any evidence for this? Is there anything behind this assertion?

PK: Gosh, if you believe the people saying that you would have lost a lot of money. I know people have lost a lot of money doing that. The bond markets are willing to lend America — the US government — long-term money at about 1.7 percent as of right now. That’s ridiculously low. The index bonds that are protected from inflation actually have a negative interest rate. The bond markets are saying they’re worried about economic stagnation. They’re worried there aren’t going to be investment opportunities because the demand is so weak. So they’re going to park their money in US government debt, which is considered safe. The last thing you should be worrying about, at least according to the bond market, is those deficits. Those are not the problem right now.

JH: We’re not the only ones who have been afflicted by this scourge of irrational deficit hysteria — the idea that we should cut spending when private sector demand is deep in a hole. Let’s talk about Europe. Are we headed toward the end of the European economic union? Basically, as I understand it when you look at the very heavily indebted countries, they’ve essentially created a gold standard. They can’t devalue their currencies and can’t do any of the monetary tricks that one would logically pursue in these circumstances.

PK: They created something that’s actually worse than the gold standard. If you’re serious about economic history then you know the gold standard was a major reason that the Great Depression got as bad as it did. But at least countries had their own currencies. All they had to do was say all right, enough of this gold standard business, and they could escape. Now it’s much harder.

I don’t see how Greece stays in the euro. Leaving will be terrible, but staying is a no-hope situation. They will leave. Once people see that can happen, there will be in effect bank runs in Spain and Italy, which are much bigger players. That can only be contained if European elites start to behave very differently. They have to say, wait a second — punishing people for their alleged fiscal sins is not the priority now — saving the euro is. That means open-ended lending to the banks and the governments of those countries. It means having a much more expansionary and somewhat inflationary monetary policy. Maybe that will offer enough hope to save the system. It’s moved pretty fast now. I think you can see that there’s quite a large chance that there will be no euro a year from now.

As they say, read the whole thing. It’s nothing you don’t know if you’ve been reading his columns and keeping up with the economic news. But Josh asks smart questions and puts it all into a good context. It’s scary.

And, too, you can order End This Depression Now!

Update: Oh my.

Giant Lender in Spain Asks for Billions to Fend Off Collapse

Dumpster diving

by digby

This seemed like a good day to make a little foray into rightwingland and see what’s cooking. I came upon a web site called rightmarch.com. Here’s a sample of their wares:

LATEST ACTION ALERTS!

Join hundreds of thousands of members of RightMarch.com as we TAKE ACTION on bills and issues important to YOU, every day — sign up for our Daily Conservative Alert Newsletter, and check out our latest Action Alerts below!

IRS Preparing to TAKE our GUNS?

A new bill that Congress is ready to pass has several hidden provisions in it — including provisions that could give the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) the authority to TAKE AWAY the Second Amendment RIGHT to bear arms from anyone they simply ACCUSE of being delinquent on their taxes! BOTH Houses of Congress are preparing to PASS this OUTRAGEOUS bill — We MUST move FAST to stop it!
CLICK HERE to read more…

Tell Congress to REJECT the United Nations LOST Treaty!

The United Nations is at it again — and this time, with the help of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and RINOs in Congress, they may actually succeed in imposing TAXES directly on the American people and stealing American sovereignty! We MUST stop the UN monstrosity called the “LOST” TREATY!
CLICK HERE to read more…

Tell Congress to DEMAND a Full Pardon for Falsely Accused Border Patrol Agent!

Remember the Border Patrol agents, Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, who were prosecuted during the Bush years JUST FOR DOING THEIR JOBS, after pressure from the Mexican government? NOW IT’S HAPPENING AGAIN — and this time, Border Patrol agent Jesus Diaz was falsely accused, arrested, prosecuted by the same office that prosecuted Ramos and Compean, thrown in prison, had his family fined, and is currently in federal prison serving a two-year criminal sentence in solitary confinement. THIS IS AN OUTRAGEOUS INJUSTICE — and YOU AND I need to FORCE the U.S. government to RIGHT THIS WRONG NOW!
CLICK HERE to read more…

Tell Every Secretary of State to CHALLENGE Obama’s Eligibility to be on Presidential Ballots NOW!

Barack Hussein Obama does NOT meet the Constitutional standard of “natural born citizen” that was established by Minor v. Happersett and other court cases. WHY? Because the Court decided very clearly that a “natural born Citizen” is one who is born on U.S. soil to U.S. citizen parents. Barack Obama has stated clearly that one of his parents was NOT a U.S. citizen! Mind you, we’re not talking about whether Obama was actually born in the United States — even though there is plenty of evidence showing that he wasn’t. Barack Hussein Obama II has publicly admitted his father, Barack Obama Sr., was a Kenyan native and a British subject whose citizenship status was governed by The British Nationality Act of 1948. Barack Obama Sr. NEVER became a U.S. citizen. Therefore, Barack Hussein Obama II is not now, and never CAN be, a natural born citizen of the United States! NOW, THE AMERICAN PEOPLE NEED TO MAKE OUR VOICES HEARD LOUD AND CLEAR TO EVERY SINGLE SECRETARY OF STATE — REMOVE BARACK OBAMA’S NAME NOW!
CLICK HERE to read more…

Tell Congress to REJECT Obama’s Request to Raise the Debt Ceiling AGAIN — by $1.2 TRILLION!

Do you remember last summer, and the HUGE fight that erupted in Congress because Barack Obama wanted to raise our debt ceiling by $2 trillion? The American people fought hard against that increase to our national debt. We flooded Congress with faxes, emails, and phone calls to STOP it. But Congress caved to Obama, and like alcoholics with “just one more drink,” they promised that “this would be the last debt increase.” But then, they didn’t stop another half-a-trillion-dollar increase in September. GUESS WHAT? NOW OBAMA WANTS ANOTHER DEBT CEILING INCREASE — THAT’S MORE THAN TWICE AS LARGE AS THE LAST ONE! These big-spending liberals MUST be stopped — so YOU AND I MUST FORCE THE U.S. CONGRESS TO STOP THIS DEBT CEILING HIKE NOW!
CLICK HERE to read more…

Tell Congress to END Congressional “Insider Trading” NOW!

Did you happen to see the 60 Minutes report that just aired, where Nancy Pelosi was BUSTED for what can only be called Congressional “insider trading”? Members of Congress can engage in “insider trading” — using non-public information to make stock trades — and there’s no law against it… America’s lawmakers can legally make tidy profits on information only they know, simply because they won’t pass a law against themselves. Now it’s up to YOU AND I to FORCE Congress to finally pass the bill that would STOP ANOTHER “PELOSI-GATE”!
CLICK HERE to read more…

Obama Begins AMNESTY – Tell Congress to STOP Him!

The Obama administration has just PULLED A FAST ONE on us — they have instituted a “BACKDOOR AMNESTY” program to allow over 300,000 illegal aliens to stay in this country… He snuck this in with lightning speed — which means we have to move FAST to REVERSE what his cronies have done! TAKE ACTION NOW!
CLICK HERE to read more…

Tell Congress to STOP the TSA from Groping the Flying Public

First it was taking off our shoes. Then it was no liquids over 3 ounces. Now, the Transportation Safety Administration has instituted “airport security procedures” that COMPLETELY CROSS THE LINE: New body scanners that amount to an electronic strip search. “Enhanced” pat-downs of passengers’ genitals and breasts. Search of children that one mother described as a “sexual assault.” THE GOVERNMENT EXPECTS US TO “SHUP UP AND TAKE IT” — but we are AMERICANS, and we do NOT have to put up with being MOLESTED by government agents. Thankfully, a bill has been introduced to put a STOP to this outrageous nonsense… But Congress has to PASS it RIGHT AWAY, during the upcoming “lame duck” session!
CLICK HERE to read more…

Tell Congress to DEFUND NPR!

National Public Radio gets several million dollars in taxpayer money directly from Congress every year. More importantly, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting gets several hundred million dollars of taxpayer money each year, which it then doles out to PBS stations around the country. Those PBS stations then turn around and send fees and dues to NPR — which make up more than half of NPR’s yearly budget. It’s time to finally do the RIGHT thing — DEFUND NPR and the CPB. This has gone on WAY too long!
CLICK HERE to read more…

Support the State Constitutional Tender Act!

Every State in the Union is in violation of the U.S. Constitution, because each State is making some other “Thing” a Tender in Payment of Debts, both to and by the State, namely, Federal Reserve Notes. It’s time to return each State to the required use of Constitutional tender: gold and silver coins. With an added benefit rescuing the States’ economies AND helping bring an end to the Federal Reserve!
CLICK HERE to read more…

Quite a group of issues, isn’t it? (There’s even something I agree with — TSA groping and insider trading in congress.)

This group wasn’t formed in response to Obama’s election. It’s been around for some years and has a huge email list. The man behind it is named William Greene, a protege of Richard Viguerie, the GOP Godfather of direct mail and the modern conservative movement. And it’s clearly a big money maker.

If you wonder how these crackpot right wing memes get out there, this is one of the ways. And it’s very profitable.

Ok, just one more:

I’m fairly sure that if you go to that website, they’ll ask you for money.

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