There are a lot of lies being spread about the Employee Free Choice Act and many of them are being spread by the corporate media.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
On This Day We Choose Hope
This is going to be one of the classic lines that come out of President Obama's first speech. Let us hope that we can live up to that hope in the days to come. Let us hope that we can all rise to meet the challenges before us.
God Bless America.
Deliver us from evil.
Amen.
God Bless America.
Deliver us from evil.
Amen.
Liveblogging the Inauguration
As I sit here and watch the inauguration on television I wonder, in my own cynical way, are we being played yet again by the corporate powers-that-be? Is this another huge game of 'good cop, bad cop', with Bush playing the bad cop and now Obama playing the good cop? I have high hopes, but at the same time I look around me and I do not see the organization we need to overcome the opposition to the things we need, like single payer universal health care, public financing of elections, repeal of the patriot act, etc, etc, etc...
The one thing I agree with Rick Warren on that he said in his invocation:
The one thing I agree with Rick Warren on that he said in his invocation:
"And deliver us from evil.
Amen."
Amen."
Cheney to spend inauguration in wheelchair
I saw this one line buried in an article this morning about the inauguration.
This should make for an interesting image.
"On Monday, Vice President Dick Cheney pulled a muscle in his back, leaving him in a wheelchair for the inauguration."
This should make for an interesting image.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Why Obama's tax cut plan will not work
Let me break this down.
The problem with our economy today is a lack of consumer demand.
Sales are down because people are not buying stuff anymore. The "credit crunch" is only an issue because people are so overly dependent on credit these days.
We have plenty of supply. We have supply coming over from China by the boatload till it's coming out our ears.
What we lack is demand.
Every economy runs on a balance between the forces of supply and demand.
Supply is driven by primarily by productivity; by the ability to make things.
Demand is driven primarily by wages; by people having money in their pocket to buy things.
Productivity has been rising consistently for decades, but wages have been stagnant in America for the last 30 years. The real wage has actually been falling for the last 7 years.
People make the same amount of money they did ten years ago but costs have gone up so everyone effectively has less money.
As economist Kevin Phillips reported, the real inflation rate, if calculated the way they did just 25 years ago, before the government started fudging the numbers, is actually at 12% right now.
The right wing anti-worker, anti-union, corporatist forces have been trying to drive demand with debt instead of wages since the 1980s.
People stopped buying stuff with cash years ago and now it is to the point that there are actually television commercials for a credit card company that mocks people who use cash.
I grew up in a small blue collar town that had a couple auto plants in the area. 30 years ago, just about everybody who worked at an auto plant had a nice, middle class house, at least two American cars in the driveway, a cottage up north and a boat to go fishing in. The middle class was strong. 30% of the workforce was unionized. Consumer demand was high.
Now a days, people live on credit. Wages are stagnant and people have to make up for it with something, so they use their house like an ATM and they have an average of $8000 in credit card debt. Most people have long since sold their cottages up north and anyone who does still have a boat couldn't afford to take it out this summer. The average household savings in America is negative for the first time since the great depression. Only 6% of the American workforce is unionized today. Consumer demand is falling because people don't have the cash to pay for things anymore and interest rates on credit are going up even though the prime rate is at 0% for the first time ever.
The corporatists have been trying to fuel demand in the American economy with debt for the last 30 years in order to avoid raising wages. Credit cards were around for decades but their usage didn't explode until the 1980s, when the voodoo economists came to power.
Wages also work on the fulcrum of supply and demand. When there are more people looking for jobs than there are jobs available, it drives down wages because people are willing to work for less in order to compete for those jobs. Conversely, when there are more jobs available than there are people looking for jobs, it drives wages up because employers are willing to pay more as an incentive to lure workers.
Our good jobs have all been outsourced and all we have left is subsistence level wages at retail stores like Wal-Mart or a McJob in the Republican "manufacturing" sector flipping burgers. They are also bringing people over from India by the boatload to compete against Americans for the same shrinking number of good IT jobs available, which is driving down wages even further.
Obama's current plan for tax cuts is a bad one because tax cuts are not going to stimulate the economy. Tax cuts cannot raise anyone's wages significantly because they cannot be very large when the government is already running at a deficit. They will do nothing to help the people who are not working and they will do nothing to raise consumer demand because their effects will be extremely finite and limited. As much as I would love a tax cut I would love to see the American middle class restored even more.
What we really need is a massive jobs creation program. That would drive wages up and restore consumer demand.
What Obama needs to do is start a huge, comprehensive jobs creation program like the New Deal that would include government works projects, rolling back the Reagan and Bush tax cuts for the rich and getting out of "free trade" agreements with poor nations that only undercut our own workforce.
Opponents of this plan will cry "but that is government spending!".
Well, I have a question for them. What the hell do you call $2 Trillion in corporate bailouts besides government spending?
We already have massive government spending. All I am saying is that we should be spending that money on the right things that will help our entire economy for the long term instead of just giving handouts and corporate welfare to millionaires and billionaires.
Tax cuts only made things worse in 1929 when Hoover tried it and they will not work now.
The problem with our economy today is a lack of consumer demand.
Sales are down because people are not buying stuff anymore. The "credit crunch" is only an issue because people are so overly dependent on credit these days.
We have plenty of supply. We have supply coming over from China by the boatload till it's coming out our ears.
What we lack is demand.
Every economy runs on a balance between the forces of supply and demand.
Supply is driven by primarily by productivity; by the ability to make things.
Demand is driven primarily by wages; by people having money in their pocket to buy things.
Productivity has been rising consistently for decades, but wages have been stagnant in America for the last 30 years. The real wage has actually been falling for the last 7 years.
People make the same amount of money they did ten years ago but costs have gone up so everyone effectively has less money.
As economist Kevin Phillips reported, the real inflation rate, if calculated the way they did just 25 years ago, before the government started fudging the numbers, is actually at 12% right now.
The right wing anti-worker, anti-union, corporatist forces have been trying to drive demand with debt instead of wages since the 1980s.
People stopped buying stuff with cash years ago and now it is to the point that there are actually television commercials for a credit card company that mocks people who use cash.
I grew up in a small blue collar town that had a couple auto plants in the area. 30 years ago, just about everybody who worked at an auto plant had a nice, middle class house, at least two American cars in the driveway, a cottage up north and a boat to go fishing in. The middle class was strong. 30% of the workforce was unionized. Consumer demand was high.
Now a days, people live on credit. Wages are stagnant and people have to make up for it with something, so they use their house like an ATM and they have an average of $8000 in credit card debt. Most people have long since sold their cottages up north and anyone who does still have a boat couldn't afford to take it out this summer. The average household savings in America is negative for the first time since the great depression. Only 6% of the American workforce is unionized today. Consumer demand is falling because people don't have the cash to pay for things anymore and interest rates on credit are going up even though the prime rate is at 0% for the first time ever.
The corporatists have been trying to fuel demand in the American economy with debt for the last 30 years in order to avoid raising wages. Credit cards were around for decades but their usage didn't explode until the 1980s, when the voodoo economists came to power.
Wages also work on the fulcrum of supply and demand. When there are more people looking for jobs than there are jobs available, it drives down wages because people are willing to work for less in order to compete for those jobs. Conversely, when there are more jobs available than there are people looking for jobs, it drives wages up because employers are willing to pay more as an incentive to lure workers.
Our good jobs have all been outsourced and all we have left is subsistence level wages at retail stores like Wal-Mart or a McJob in the Republican "manufacturing" sector flipping burgers. They are also bringing people over from India by the boatload to compete against Americans for the same shrinking number of good IT jobs available, which is driving down wages even further.
Obama's current plan for tax cuts is a bad one because tax cuts are not going to stimulate the economy. Tax cuts cannot raise anyone's wages significantly because they cannot be very large when the government is already running at a deficit. They will do nothing to help the people who are not working and they will do nothing to raise consumer demand because their effects will be extremely finite and limited. As much as I would love a tax cut I would love to see the American middle class restored even more.
What we really need is a massive jobs creation program. That would drive wages up and restore consumer demand.
What Obama needs to do is start a huge, comprehensive jobs creation program like the New Deal that would include government works projects, rolling back the Reagan and Bush tax cuts for the rich and getting out of "free trade" agreements with poor nations that only undercut our own workforce.
Opponents of this plan will cry "but that is government spending!".
Well, I have a question for them. What the hell do you call $2 Trillion in corporate bailouts besides government spending?
We already have massive government spending. All I am saying is that we should be spending that money on the right things that will help our entire economy for the long term instead of just giving handouts and corporate welfare to millionaires and billionaires.
Tax cuts only made things worse in 1929 when Hoover tried it and they will not work now.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Change Is Already Happening
The Obama family went to a Chicago food bank yesterday and spent an hour handing out wrapped chickens to people waiting in line for food. The president-elect and his wife said they wanted to show their girls the meaning of the holiday, especially when so many are struggling.
You can see a slide show of pictures here.
Seriously, when was the last time you ever saw a President of the United States volunteer at a food bank the day before Thanksgiving?
This is a man who understands the role of the President of the United States, knows how to be a good figurehead and knows how to set a good example.
He is already effectively the acting President, since he is one who's actions are now effecting the markets. Meanwhile Bush, the guy who is still technically President, is given a free pass by the media for sitting around and doing literally nothing while the economy crumbles.
You can see a slide show of pictures here.
Seriously, when was the last time you ever saw a President of the United States volunteer at a food bank the day before Thanksgiving?
This is a man who understands the role of the President of the United States, knows how to be a good figurehead and knows how to set a good example.
He is already effectively the acting President, since he is one who's actions are now effecting the markets. Meanwhile Bush, the guy who is still technically President, is given a free pass by the media for sitting around and doing literally nothing while the economy crumbles.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Never, Ever Talk To The Police
This seems counter-intuitive, especially if you are innocent, but this attorney and police officer lay out of a very convincing argument why you should never talk to the police.
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 1:
Part 2:
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Vote!!!
Remember to get out and Vote today!
If you haven't voted yet, get up right now and go vote!
Don't be complacent!
The 2000 election was decided by 537 votes!
Every vote counts!
5 More Friends
Remember all the people who risked and sacrificed everything so that we could have the right to cast any votes at all.
If you haven't voted yet, get up right now and go vote!
Don't be complacent!
The 2000 election was decided by 537 votes!
Every vote counts!
5 More Friends
Remember all the people who risked and sacrificed everything so that we could have the right to cast any votes at all.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
McCain Supporters At It Again
Again with the racism and the hatred and the threats of violence from McCain supporters.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Ron Howard for Obama
I never knew what Ron Howard's politics was but this video is a classic!
See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die
Are You Better Off Than You Were 8 Years Ago?
A very powerful message from the original "Wasssup" guys.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Neo and the McCain Robocall
This is funny! That scene really has a different feel, watching it now in the post 9-11 security state we live in.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Saturday, October 11, 2008
The Failure of Conservative Ideology
What we are witnessing in this economic crisis is nothing less than the complete failure of conservative ideology that thinks "deficit spending doesn't matter" and thinks credit is enough to fuel an economy indefinitely.
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