Austerity—not if but how much

While I am resigned to ‘cuts’, it will be those without political power that will suffer the most.
And that will break the ‘social contract’ of our Constitution.

occasional links & commentary

Friends continue to remind me that, back in the day, when Obama first announced his plans to run for the presidency, I explained to them that, based on watching him in Illinois, he was one of the smartest and at the same time most moderate, middle-of-the-road Democrats around. He was not then, nor would he ever become, a “progressive.” Instead, he (along with much of the Democratic Party) was firmly in the middle of the mainstream consensus that austerity was inevitable. The only question was, how much?

Tim Duy, after witnessing Obama in the most recent negotiations over the fiscal cliff, comes to much the same conclusion.

From day one this has been a debate about the extent of the austerity, not a debate about austerity itself.  Does anyone have the sense that President Obama does not fundamentally believe in the pursuit of deficit reduction sooner than later?  I…

View original post 437 more words

No Right Turns

The Liberty Tree

View original post

You wrote : “Continued fighting over what’s been done has gotten us to this place of extreme partisanship”.
If I read nothing else the rest of the year – you have made my year.

The Educability of Perch

In Process … Pt. 3

***Warning*** Contents past this point may expand the mind beyond normal capacity.

*** Proceed with caution ***

Letter to Playthell Benjamin (con’t)

Continued from In Process … Pt. 2.

By Katrina Taylor

I want to have this conversation on race. But only when there’s the opportunity for real communication and healing which is needed on all “sides”. Just because the White people “have everything” doesn’t mean they’re not suffering as is evidenced by the high levels of neuroses, psychoses & pathological behavior, quiet as it may be kept. Everyone is suffering varying degrees of psychoses trying to pretend that untruths are true. It doesn’t work for anyone.

I’m willing to go as deep as it gets because I’m clear on the reality. There are no superior people. We all experience superior moments, mediocre moments, and down-right fucked-up moments.

In the big picture, everybody really is…

View original post 1,414 more words

Great Questions!

2012 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 31,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 7 Film Festivals

Click here to see the complete report.

Why America Is Failing – ‘Boehner tells GOP he’s through negotiating one-on-one with Obama’

The Republicans want the House Of Representatives to be it’s own little Government.

United we stand…..divided we fall.

“Boo Hoo. I don’t get everying my way so I’m not going to play with you”.
Cry Baby Speaker John Boehner

‘Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is signaling that at least one thing will change about his leadership during the 113th Congress: he’s telling Republicans he is done with private, one-on-one negotiations with President Obama’.

‘During both 2011 and 2012, the Speaker spent weeks shuttling between the Capitol and the White House for meetings with the president in the hopes of striking a grand bargain on the deficit’.

‘Those efforts ended in failure, leaving Boehner feeling burned by Obama and, at times, isolated within his conference’.

‘The Speaker is ending his first term weaker than at any point during his two years with the gavel’.

‘He was unable to win enough Republican votes for his own fiscal-cliff fallback plan last month’.

‘And in the final hours of the 112th Congress, watched as more than half of his conference — including his two top lieutenants in leadership — voted against the Senate’s tax compromise’.
From : http://thehill.com/homenews/house/275295-boehner-tells-gop-hes-done-with-one-on-one-obama-talks

 

Stories from the fringe – ‘Leading Conservative Religious Organization Warns That Christians Will Soon Be Treated Like Blacks In Jim Crow Era’

The really strange thing is what the AFA fears will happen…..is what they want to do.

They want us to be a ‘Christian Nation’ as THEY define Christianity.

As a follower of Buddha, I would not be able to practice my belief openly.

‘The American Family Association, a top conservative Christian organization, emailed members today with a dire warning that, within 50 years, Christians will be treated like African Americans during the Jim Crow era’.

‘The full email’:

‘What will religion look like in the year 2060’?

‘Conservative Christians will be treated as second class citizens, much like African Americans were prior to civil rights legislation in the 1960s’.

‘Family as we know it will be drastically changed with the state taking charge of the children beginning at birth’.

‘Marriage will include two, three, four or any number of participants. Marriage will not be important, with individuals moving in and out of a “family” group at will’.

‘Churchbuildings will be little used, with many sold to secular buyers and the money received going to the government’.

‘Churches will not be allowed to discuss any political issues, even if it affects the church directly’.

‘Tax credit given to churches and non-profit organizations will cease’.

‘Christian broadcasting will be declared illegal based on the separation of church and state. The airwaves belong to the government, therefore they cannot be used for any religious purpose’.

‘We will have, or have had, a Muslim president’.

‘Cities with a name from the Bible such as St. Petersburg, Bethlehem, etc. will be forced to change their name due to separation of church and state’.

‘Groups connected to any religious affiliation will be forced out of health care. Health centers get tax money from the state, making it a violation of church and state’.

‘Get involved! Sign THE STATEMENT’.

‘Sincerely’,

Donald E. Wildmon
From : http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2013/01/02/1386001/afa-christians-2060/

Republicans are going to hold the Nation hostage over the debt ceiling and YOU want to negotiate with them??!!?? – ‘Reid will postpone filibuster reform’

This goes beyond politics.

Two years ago after the midterms, Seanta Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said his number 1 priority was making sure President Obama was a 1 term President.

And now you want to ‘negotiate’ with McConnell?

We just had an election. An election in which the American people made it very clear we want a Government the governs.

Republicans have stated very publicly that they will hold the Nation hostage over raising the debt ceiling – don’t want to govern.

‘Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will postpone filibuster reform until later this month, giving him time to negotiate a deal with Republicans, say Democratic lawmakers and aides’.

‘A group of liberal Democrats had been pushing Reid to trigger the so-called “nuclear option” on Thursday, the first day of the 113th Congress, to make it more difficult for the minority to stall legislation and nominees’.

‘A senior Democratic aide said Reid will instead recess the chamber at the end of Thursday’s proceedings to extend the legislative day until later this month’.

‘This would preserve his ability to amend the Senate’s filibuster rules on the first legislative day of the 113th Congress, even if that reform would not come until late January’.

‘A Democratic aide said Reid is hoping to negotiate a standing order or rules change to improve the chamber’s efficiency when it resumes work, likely on Jan. 22, after President Obama’s inauguration’.

“I think the conversation is going to continue between [Senate Minority Leader Mitch] McConnell [(R-Ky.)] and Harry Reid about this. I think they’re going to see if there’s a way to reach a bipartisan agreement, they’re still talking,” said Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.)’.

“We’re going to preserve our rights, we’re going to stay in the first legislative day and deal with the rules when we get back after the inauguration,” said Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), a leading proponent of reform’.
From : http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/275271-reid-will-postpone-filibuster-reform-until-late-january

 

 

A ‘Conservative’ vision for America – ‘House GOP Lets Violence Against Women Act Passed By Senate Die Without A Vote’

They want their Country back and that doesn’t include protecting women against violence…..

WASHINGTON — ‘Despite a late-stage intervention by Vice President Joe Biden, House Republican leaders failed to advance the Senate’s 2012 reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, an embattled bill that would have extended domestic violence protections to 30 million LGBT individuals, undocumented immigrants and Native American women’.

“The House leadership would not bring it up, just like they wouldn’t bring up funding for Sandy [hurricane damage] last night,” said Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), a key backer of the Senate version of the bill. “I think they are still so kowtowing to the extreme on the right that they’re not even listening to the moderates, and particularly the women, in their caucus who are saying they support this.”

‘In April, the Senate with bipartisan support passed a version of VAWA that extended protections to three groups of domestic violence victims who had not been covered by the original law, but House Republicans refused to support the legislation with those provisions, saying the measures were politically driven’.

‘Instead, they passed their own VAWA bill without the additional protections’.
From : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/02/violence-against-women-act-_n_2398553.html