Do you ever hear those Call your Senator ads on the radio on your way to work or dropping the kids off to school? They are great aren't they? Political Radio Ads are like the previews at the movies. Do not almost all movies look interesting in the trailers? With that in mind you can rest assured that any political belief can be spun in a thirty second spot.
Recently I have been hearing an ad that states that the EPA should not be able to regulate Greenhouse gases. The reasons seems sensible enough, the guide they use to regulate is from 40 years ago when Greenhouse gases were not even a thought process. The danger is implicit. It could increase the cost of energy and cost jobs. Who should have the power to regulate greenhouse gases? The Congress of course. Our Congress cannot find agreement on anything and we want them to protect the environment.
Nobody whose intent was to truly protect the environment would think this was a good idea. Now many do not believe greenhouse gases are a real threat and use this as a smokescreen to limit regulation. I am fine with the belief but not with the subterfuge.
I am not a confirmed believer in the whole global warming issue. I believe it is happening I am just not convinced that we can really do anything to stop it's increases. Man is inherently selfish and I think we would be beater suited to thinking how we will survive in a warmer climate.
The real lesson here is do not take any ad at face value. That pill will not make you thinner, you do not want to see the next Nicholas Cage movie and if you are going to have an Environmental Protection agency than you have to charge them with protecting the environment.
Monday, March 28, 2011
85000 troops in Germany
Do you know we still have 85000 troops in Germany. This is insane. Are we waiting for the Russian army to come plowing through anytime soon. I have friends and family members in the military. I am as patriotic as any person and I salute the efforts and sacrifices our troops make. If my children decided to join the military I would be very proud of them.
That said perhaps the most prescient thing Eisenhower said was when he talked about the growing military industrial complex. Our military has to a large extent become a profit making venture for the private companies and suppliers that supply them with everything from foodsutffs to weapons of war. Watch the headlines when bases are closed. Clearly this is a great shock to the communities in which this happens but the purpose of the military is not to provide jobs for a community in a base or for those that supply it.
85000 troops in Germany. Really? This country that is booming could not defend themselves. What are we protecting them from. I would like to know just the cost of that one mission. I suspect it would keep plenty of teachers employed across this country.
That said perhaps the most prescient thing Eisenhower said was when he talked about the growing military industrial complex. Our military has to a large extent become a profit making venture for the private companies and suppliers that supply them with everything from foodsutffs to weapons of war. Watch the headlines when bases are closed. Clearly this is a great shock to the communities in which this happens but the purpose of the military is not to provide jobs for a community in a base or for those that supply it.
85000 troops in Germany. Really? This country that is booming could not defend themselves. What are we protecting them from. I would like to know just the cost of that one mission. I suspect it would keep plenty of teachers employed across this country.
Protesting Peanut Allergies
When my oldest was in elementary school there was a young man in his class who had a severe peanut allergy. Therefore peanut butter was off limits for school lunches. For a picky eater like my son removing peanut butter from the sandiwch menu was a significant limitation. However a child with a peanut allergy can suffer sickness and death from exposire to peanuts and peanut products. Suddenly giving up that sandiwch does not seem like such a sacrifice.
Last week on the news I saw a story about parents in some Florida suburb protesting about a six year child with a peanut allergy and the protections being set up for him at the school he and their children attend. Evidently this childs affliction is so severe that the children are asked to wash thier hands and face before going into the lunchroom and leaving it. I would assume this means that they have not removed peanuts and such from the lunchroom altogether but the article did not state this.
In any case this is just ludicrous. Can you imagine. A child who could become severley ill or die if exposed to a food your child might be eating and you are taking time out of your life to protest with signs and chants about the loss of your childs rights. How do you explain this to your children? How do you sleep at night?
I do not think I have seen a news story that showed the overall selfishness of people in such an illuminating way in an a long time. Disgusting
Last week on the news I saw a story about parents in some Florida suburb protesting about a six year child with a peanut allergy and the protections being set up for him at the school he and their children attend. Evidently this childs affliction is so severe that the children are asked to wash thier hands and face before going into the lunchroom and leaving it. I would assume this means that they have not removed peanuts and such from the lunchroom altogether but the article did not state this.
In any case this is just ludicrous. Can you imagine. A child who could become severley ill or die if exposed to a food your child might be eating and you are taking time out of your life to protest with signs and chants about the loss of your childs rights. How do you explain this to your children? How do you sleep at night?
I do not think I have seen a news story that showed the overall selfishness of people in such an illuminating way in an a long time. Disgusting
Everybody is Crazy Except the Person I Agree With
Consistently we hear that politics is less civil now than it ever was in the past. I am not sure that is true. Certainly in the disputes over slavery leading up to the Civil War physical violence was not unknown. Grover Cleveland's illegitimate child was part of the campaign when he ran for President.
Today with the 24 hour news cycle at least it feels nastier. Yet I believe that most politicians do what they do because it gets them elected. I am a Democrat and I do not see myself voting Republican anytime soon. That said I do think the country was much better off 40 years ago when there were conservative Democrats and liberal Republicans and the parties were not so inclined to be in lock step.
Yet as a Democrat I think it is safe to say that Republicans vilify Obama in most unspeakable ways; he is a Communist, a socialist, the Antichrist, he does not love American, he does not believe in American exceptional ism and on an on we go. I am not an Obama fan. I think that you could call me sorely disappointed. I do not feel the need to go beyond the fact of I do not like his policies. It is an educated decision I am making. Why the hyperbole on the Republican side.
However wrong we may think Republicans are, and I do think on most things of fiscal fairness, taxation, etc I think they are very wrong, Democrats also resort to hyperbole. Tom Coburn the Oklahoma Senator is a quite Conservative member of the Senate. I in many cases do not agree with him. However when the Presidents debt commission came out with its findings he did not automatically rule it out. He was a grown up saying we have to consider everything. The left vilifies him. I think we need to be careful about understanding the difference between the person and the position. Tom Coburn is an obstetrician who has delivered thousands of babies. He is not a bad man. I may not agree with all his policies but it would be ludicrous to call him a bad man.
Even the venom spouting Michelle Bachman has merit. This woman we are told has been a foster mother to countless children. It takes a special person to do this and I have no doubt she has done so for the right reasons and improved the lives of all of these children a great deal, a difference maker in their lives. Yet she says some of the vilest things about our President and is one of the most polarizing figures in our current political scene. I think that I would be hard pressed to say anything positive about her political opinions. I wish she would use that same Christian benevolence that she proclaims and clearly uses in her personal life to the political discourse. But no one should think she is evil.
Both sides are at fault. Politics will never be as clean as we want it to be, it will never be as clean as we imagined it used to be and in fact never was. It can be so much better than it is now however.
Tom Coburn and Michelle Bachman are good people. The President is a good person too. I do not agree with any of them much of the time and I am a good person who wants the best for our country as well. Maybe if we can all agree on that there would be more chance of this country recovering its footing.
Today with the 24 hour news cycle at least it feels nastier. Yet I believe that most politicians do what they do because it gets them elected. I am a Democrat and I do not see myself voting Republican anytime soon. That said I do think the country was much better off 40 years ago when there were conservative Democrats and liberal Republicans and the parties were not so inclined to be in lock step.
Yet as a Democrat I think it is safe to say that Republicans vilify Obama in most unspeakable ways; he is a Communist, a socialist, the Antichrist, he does not love American, he does not believe in American exceptional ism and on an on we go. I am not an Obama fan. I think that you could call me sorely disappointed. I do not feel the need to go beyond the fact of I do not like his policies. It is an educated decision I am making. Why the hyperbole on the Republican side.
However wrong we may think Republicans are, and I do think on most things of fiscal fairness, taxation, etc I think they are very wrong, Democrats also resort to hyperbole. Tom Coburn the Oklahoma Senator is a quite Conservative member of the Senate. I in many cases do not agree with him. However when the Presidents debt commission came out with its findings he did not automatically rule it out. He was a grown up saying we have to consider everything. The left vilifies him. I think we need to be careful about understanding the difference between the person and the position. Tom Coburn is an obstetrician who has delivered thousands of babies. He is not a bad man. I may not agree with all his policies but it would be ludicrous to call him a bad man.
Even the venom spouting Michelle Bachman has merit. This woman we are told has been a foster mother to countless children. It takes a special person to do this and I have no doubt she has done so for the right reasons and improved the lives of all of these children a great deal, a difference maker in their lives. Yet she says some of the vilest things about our President and is one of the most polarizing figures in our current political scene. I think that I would be hard pressed to say anything positive about her political opinions. I wish she would use that same Christian benevolence that she proclaims and clearly uses in her personal life to the political discourse. But no one should think she is evil.
Both sides are at fault. Politics will never be as clean as we want it to be, it will never be as clean as we imagined it used to be and in fact never was. It can be so much better than it is now however.
Tom Coburn and Michelle Bachman are good people. The President is a good person too. I do not agree with any of them much of the time and I am a good person who wants the best for our country as well. Maybe if we can all agree on that there would be more chance of this country recovering its footing.
Adam Jones and Winky Wright count your blessings
I am not a great athlete. I enjoy sports, love baseball and have encouraged my children in all their athletic endeavors. When we hear about the wealthiest Americans asking for tax breaks and complaining about taxes we often, at least I often, feel like they have no desire to give back and thus to me no appreciation for what they have.
There but for the Grace of God go I is an expression we have all heard. For whatever reason rare is the person who has success who dos not forget this message.
I receive ESPN the Magazine. I am not a big fan of the magazine, I do not think the writing is very good and it might be just a little too hip for my taste. I purchased the magazine as they do offer a good program where funds from suscriptions go to support a high school athletic program which I felt was a good program to endorse.
A question asked some random athletes was how bad do you feel when you pay your tax bill every April. Some of the atletes such as Zach Randolph a baskeball player with the Memphis Grizzlies said " I feel up and down about it but ultimately it feels good to give back to the country." This is a young African American man who is making 20 million dollars a year and knows that he is fortunate.
However an athlete such as Adam Jones, outfielder for the Baltimore Orioles needs to be examined. He said " If it went to a good cause I would be happy but our tax money goes to lazy people who don't want to work." I do not know anything of Adam Jones life experience. I do not know if he was raised in affluence, a middle class household or something different. What I do know is I have read articls where he speaks about growing up with the benefit of programs such as Boys Club and the YMCA. Certainly there is no doubt that he has worked hard to become a professional ballplayer. It is also certain that he has been blessed with physical skills most do not have. It is even more true that being a baseball player dos not make you an expert on economic policy.
Adam Jones has the right to his opinion. We all do. In the past I have heard and that if Roger Clemens was not pitching fastballs he would be asking you if he could check your oil. Now this is no disrespect to those who do check my oil. They work hard and do what they have to do. What it does mean is that be it sports or business or anything else people that gain success from a specific skill set should be thankful and not become so self possessed that they make statments such as Adam Jones does.
Winky Wright a professional boxer answered the same question by saying " It breaks my heart. I give all that money and Uncle Sam doesn't do anything for me?" Winky Wright just became Adam Jones new best friend. He makes Jones look positively patriotic. This statement is about as stupid as one could hear. None of us like to pay our taxes but it only takes a modicum of intelligence to have some sense of what Uncle Sam does for you.
Schools for your children, roads for you to drive on, clean food, parks and services, and the military that protects you. These are just a small percentage of what Uncle Sam does for you Winky Wright. Again you are to be commended for the incredble amounts of work it takes to become a star athlete. Making 10 million for a boxing match however should not preclude your understanding of your good fortune.
Athletes have the right to thier opinions. I tell my children over and over very rarely is an athlete a role model. A few are. Bill Russell, Ted Williams, Pat Tillman, Bob Feller, these men were heroes. I suspect they did not like paying taxes either.
Maybe its my middle aged Irishness but this attitude from these atheltes in a sports magazine aimed at young people makes me angry.
There but for the Grace of God go I is an expression we have all heard. For whatever reason rare is the person who has success who dos not forget this message.
I receive ESPN the Magazine. I am not a big fan of the magazine, I do not think the writing is very good and it might be just a little too hip for my taste. I purchased the magazine as they do offer a good program where funds from suscriptions go to support a high school athletic program which I felt was a good program to endorse.
A question asked some random athletes was how bad do you feel when you pay your tax bill every April. Some of the atletes such as Zach Randolph a baskeball player with the Memphis Grizzlies said " I feel up and down about it but ultimately it feels good to give back to the country." This is a young African American man who is making 20 million dollars a year and knows that he is fortunate.
However an athlete such as Adam Jones, outfielder for the Baltimore Orioles needs to be examined. He said " If it went to a good cause I would be happy but our tax money goes to lazy people who don't want to work." I do not know anything of Adam Jones life experience. I do not know if he was raised in affluence, a middle class household or something different. What I do know is I have read articls where he speaks about growing up with the benefit of programs such as Boys Club and the YMCA. Certainly there is no doubt that he has worked hard to become a professional ballplayer. It is also certain that he has been blessed with physical skills most do not have. It is even more true that being a baseball player dos not make you an expert on economic policy.
Adam Jones has the right to his opinion. We all do. In the past I have heard and that if Roger Clemens was not pitching fastballs he would be asking you if he could check your oil. Now this is no disrespect to those who do check my oil. They work hard and do what they have to do. What it does mean is that be it sports or business or anything else people that gain success from a specific skill set should be thankful and not become so self possessed that they make statments such as Adam Jones does.
Winky Wright a professional boxer answered the same question by saying " It breaks my heart. I give all that money and Uncle Sam doesn't do anything for me?" Winky Wright just became Adam Jones new best friend. He makes Jones look positively patriotic. This statement is about as stupid as one could hear. None of us like to pay our taxes but it only takes a modicum of intelligence to have some sense of what Uncle Sam does for you.
Schools for your children, roads for you to drive on, clean food, parks and services, and the military that protects you. These are just a small percentage of what Uncle Sam does for you Winky Wright. Again you are to be commended for the incredble amounts of work it takes to become a star athlete. Making 10 million for a boxing match however should not preclude your understanding of your good fortune.
Athletes have the right to thier opinions. I tell my children over and over very rarely is an athlete a role model. A few are. Bill Russell, Ted Williams, Pat Tillman, Bob Feller, these men were heroes. I suspect they did not like paying taxes either.
Maybe its my middle aged Irishness but this attitude from these atheltes in a sports magazine aimed at young people makes me angry.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Another Day with Paul LePage
Our governor following the Donald Trump any publicity is good publicity theorem made another headline today. At a speech yesterday after being heckled by being told " to tax the rich people" he advised he would love to if Maine had any rich people"
As with most of LePage's statements if it was the only gaffe he had made it would not be that big a deal. However LePage now is on the one a day plan.
Maine's per capita income is lower than most states. This is a true statement. However to use that as the basis that there are no rich folks in Maine would mean that there are no rich people in the country as a whole as the per capita income for the nation is not indicative of rich people either.
LePage's statement is wrong and worse flippant. For those people who are struggling in this state, and there are many, to say there are no rich people makes them feel like LePage has no concept of their struggles. Now we can argue about what the definition of rich is. Is it 100 K a year, 250 K a year or a different amount. In Maine it costs less to live so money goes further but that too depends on where you live in the state.
In Bangor there are plenty of wealthy people. I think my son is friends with all their kids and believe me we suffer in comparison to them financially. I am sure it is the same in all towns across the state. For LePage to answer that there are no rich people shows a lack of seriousness , a lack of knowledge, or a lack of caring. I still hold the belief that LePage is not a bad man. I do not believe his intent is evil or even unkind. I do believe that he has no filter and feels like winning an election means that he has a mandate. He has a 39 percent mandate.
What should he have said. Perhaps he could have said I do not believe we can tax ourselves out of our problems on rich people or anyone else. I would like for their to be more rich people and I believe my ideas will help us accomplish that goal. He would be wrong in his answer but he would not appear so callous, flippant and frankly stupid. I do not like saying that, I do not believe in making personal criticisms and I do not believe the governor is stupid. I do believe his actions are not reflecting his goodness.
I do not and doubt I will agree with the Governor in his policies. This does not mean I want him to fail. What I mostly desire is to be able to say that agree with him or not I think the Governor does believe what he says and is a caring person trying to accomplish things for everybody. If this is the case and I still hope it is I hope and wish he can learn that speaking off the cuff is not a strength and he is embarrassing himself and our state.
For a Governor stating of his desire to bring jobs to Maine he is not doing anything that makes us stand out for the right reasons.
Hey Governor when in doubt Don't. In your case just be quiet.
As with most of LePage's statements if it was the only gaffe he had made it would not be that big a deal. However LePage now is on the one a day plan.
Maine's per capita income is lower than most states. This is a true statement. However to use that as the basis that there are no rich folks in Maine would mean that there are no rich people in the country as a whole as the per capita income for the nation is not indicative of rich people either.
LePage's statement is wrong and worse flippant. For those people who are struggling in this state, and there are many, to say there are no rich people makes them feel like LePage has no concept of their struggles. Now we can argue about what the definition of rich is. Is it 100 K a year, 250 K a year or a different amount. In Maine it costs less to live so money goes further but that too depends on where you live in the state.
In Bangor there are plenty of wealthy people. I think my son is friends with all their kids and believe me we suffer in comparison to them financially. I am sure it is the same in all towns across the state. For LePage to answer that there are no rich people shows a lack of seriousness , a lack of knowledge, or a lack of caring. I still hold the belief that LePage is not a bad man. I do not believe his intent is evil or even unkind. I do believe that he has no filter and feels like winning an election means that he has a mandate. He has a 39 percent mandate.
What should he have said. Perhaps he could have said I do not believe we can tax ourselves out of our problems on rich people or anyone else. I would like for their to be more rich people and I believe my ideas will help us accomplish that goal. He would be wrong in his answer but he would not appear so callous, flippant and frankly stupid. I do not like saying that, I do not believe in making personal criticisms and I do not believe the governor is stupid. I do believe his actions are not reflecting his goodness.
I do not and doubt I will agree with the Governor in his policies. This does not mean I want him to fail. What I mostly desire is to be able to say that agree with him or not I think the Governor does believe what he says and is a caring person trying to accomplish things for everybody. If this is the case and I still hope it is I hope and wish he can learn that speaking off the cuff is not a strength and he is embarrassing himself and our state.
For a Governor stating of his desire to bring jobs to Maine he is not doing anything that makes us stand out for the right reasons.
Hey Governor when in doubt Don't. In your case just be quiet.
Middle East On Fire
So President Obama is fast learning that this intervention thing is not so easy. Are we in charge of our own forces? Is NATO in charge of Libyan air space. Just how much are we committed to protecting civilians and how shall we do it. What is success in this mission? How do we get out of it. These are questions we all are asking. The parties, both Republican and Democrat are showing their hypicrocy. We see Newt Gingrich that mental gymnast that he is going from saying we should intervene to saying we should not have following his tried and true Southern formula " of whatever he afore I am agin it. " Just as bad however are the Democrats who are endorsing the President when and if President Bush had done the same they would have been denouncing it on high.
To me the action makes no sense. Surely terrible things are happening in Libya but the question remains, is it our business? We know that we do not seem to have such a fervor for the potential revolution in Bahrain. As Iran and Saudi Arabia position for influence in the Middle East the U S Goverment seems to be taking sides. This is the right decision of course, as long as we do not allow ourselves to think that the Saudi's are really the good guys. They are simply the " not the worst guys."
Today we hear that 24 people were gunned down in protests in Syria. Of course Syria is on the bad list, so we are surely in favor of the protesters. It seems unlikely we would intervene in Syria as well. The problem is that clearly the United States has no coherent plan. Jordan and Yemen are also having significant protests, in fact the Yemen President has already agreed to step down at year end in an attmept to keep the lid on his country.
The Middle East is a powderkeg. George Bush always proclaimed he wanted to spread Democracy. As we learned however Democratic elections do not always lead to the outcome we want. This is why tyrants who take our money and protect our interests are always tolerated by our government. Khadaffi has always been a bugaboo for the United States and perhaps taking part in taking out a dictator we believe might help our standing for these Democracy aiming protesters.
It sees to me that another ramification of this tidal wave of change is that Israel has got to get real about it's Palastine problem. Demographically this policy of repression will not succeed. Eventually sheer numbers will overwhelm them. However much of their safety has been the result of peace accords with Egypt and Jordan and at least quasi respect with Saudi Arabia and even Syria. While it seems that the protestors are more thinking of having a voice against repression than repressing thier Jewish neighbors the fact is that no one knows where this ends.
What we do know is that eventually their neighboring countries will have an opionion on the Palestine problem and the leadership of these countries will be much more unstable.
The Libya decision was a mistake and appears as such. Obama has put himself in a no win situation. If he really wants to be successful here perhaps we could use this as another example of a reason to get ourselves out of the middle east game and become energy independent. Their oil and our blood and presitge. That is a combination the United States needs to rid itself of once and for all .
To me the action makes no sense. Surely terrible things are happening in Libya but the question remains, is it our business? We know that we do not seem to have such a fervor for the potential revolution in Bahrain. As Iran and Saudi Arabia position for influence in the Middle East the U S Goverment seems to be taking sides. This is the right decision of course, as long as we do not allow ourselves to think that the Saudi's are really the good guys. They are simply the " not the worst guys."
Today we hear that 24 people were gunned down in protests in Syria. Of course Syria is on the bad list, so we are surely in favor of the protesters. It seems unlikely we would intervene in Syria as well. The problem is that clearly the United States has no coherent plan. Jordan and Yemen are also having significant protests, in fact the Yemen President has already agreed to step down at year end in an attmept to keep the lid on his country.
The Middle East is a powderkeg. George Bush always proclaimed he wanted to spread Democracy. As we learned however Democratic elections do not always lead to the outcome we want. This is why tyrants who take our money and protect our interests are always tolerated by our government. Khadaffi has always been a bugaboo for the United States and perhaps taking part in taking out a dictator we believe might help our standing for these Democracy aiming protesters.
It sees to me that another ramification of this tidal wave of change is that Israel has got to get real about it's Palastine problem. Demographically this policy of repression will not succeed. Eventually sheer numbers will overwhelm them. However much of their safety has been the result of peace accords with Egypt and Jordan and at least quasi respect with Saudi Arabia and even Syria. While it seems that the protestors are more thinking of having a voice against repression than repressing thier Jewish neighbors the fact is that no one knows where this ends.
What we do know is that eventually their neighboring countries will have an opionion on the Palestine problem and the leadership of these countries will be much more unstable.
The Libya decision was a mistake and appears as such. Obama has put himself in a no win situation. If he really wants to be successful here perhaps we could use this as another example of a reason to get ourselves out of the middle east game and become energy independent. Their oil and our blood and presitge. That is a combination the United States needs to rid itself of once and for all .
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Our Governor LePage Cannot Help Himself
It would seem our Governor has learned what most four year olds do. If you cannot get attention by doing something good then doing something bad will get you a few looks.
The Governor now appears to be wanting to get his name in the papers as one of the tough guys taking on the unions and labor movement.
We already know that Governor LePage would not mind Maine women having little beards were we able to get a few more industrial jobs in the state. We know that soon he will want to cut taxes on businesses and the wealthiest while proclaiming that state workers need to make sacrifices. Now we hear rumors of a right to work law in the legislature which will again make an attempt to cripple union power in the state.
Union power already is almost an oxymoronic term in the state but the Governor and his cronies surely want unions completly demoralized and powerless.
So now with all this on the plate the Governor has ordered that the murals of the labor movement in the State of Maine be removed from the lobby of the state's Department of Labor building. Does anyone besides me find this to be ridiculous. It is not the Commerce department, it is not your local Chamber of Commerce building, it is the Department of LABOR.
Lepage states that visitors to the building do not feel welcome if they feel only half the labor movement is celebrated. For goodness sake should the labor department building celebrate the corporations. Maybe we could have a picture of the International Paper owners who broke the union in Jay?
This is a fight picked for a purpose. LePage knows what fight he is starting. Maybe the cool kids Like Governor Walker in Wisconsin and Kasich in Ohio won't let him sit at the cool kids table when they all get together. LePage wants his seat at that table, he evidently does not mind if you have trouble putting food on yours.
The Governor now appears to be wanting to get his name in the papers as one of the tough guys taking on the unions and labor movement.
We already know that Governor LePage would not mind Maine women having little beards were we able to get a few more industrial jobs in the state. We know that soon he will want to cut taxes on businesses and the wealthiest while proclaiming that state workers need to make sacrifices. Now we hear rumors of a right to work law in the legislature which will again make an attempt to cripple union power in the state.
Union power already is almost an oxymoronic term in the state but the Governor and his cronies surely want unions completly demoralized and powerless.
So now with all this on the plate the Governor has ordered that the murals of the labor movement in the State of Maine be removed from the lobby of the state's Department of Labor building. Does anyone besides me find this to be ridiculous. It is not the Commerce department, it is not your local Chamber of Commerce building, it is the Department of LABOR.
Lepage states that visitors to the building do not feel welcome if they feel only half the labor movement is celebrated. For goodness sake should the labor department building celebrate the corporations. Maybe we could have a picture of the International Paper owners who broke the union in Jay?
This is a fight picked for a purpose. LePage knows what fight he is starting. Maybe the cool kids Like Governor Walker in Wisconsin and Kasich in Ohio won't let him sit at the cool kids table when they all get together. LePage wants his seat at that table, he evidently does not mind if you have trouble putting food on yours.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
A Lack of Leadership
Reading Biographies of Harry Truman and Theodore Roosevelt is bad for your belief in the modern day Presidency. How our current President can look at the polls and change not just the fringes of his thought process but the core of it is remarkable.
There are modern day realities in all administrations. All campaign promises are suspect when the President does not have a working majority in office but this President seems to shy away from a fight.
For all his supposed admiration of Ronald Reagan's communication style he fails in following it. Reagan when confronted with an unruly or unwilling Congress would go over their heads to the American people. This President sets high level goals and then lets the Democrats in Congress come up with a bill.
Republicans often realize that Evangelicals will vote Republican even if they are less than thrilled with the Republican candidate. Obama seems to calculate that Democrats, especially Union Democrats will have nowhere to go but to him in 2012. He is correct, any union member voting Republican now needs to have his head examined. In fact a groundswell of union anger across the Midwest might well energize the Democratic base like nothing Obama could do. That said it will not be earned. From a campaign promise to walk the picket lines with workers to running away and trying to keep the same amount of distance from union that Superman had to keep from kryptonite has been a shameful exercise.
Obama is what we are stuck with for better or worse. Certainly anybody the Republicans come up with will be a much worse choice. Let us hope that somewhere along the line Obama becomes comfortable being a Democrat. That he realized that being an elitist President of a working class party makes a mockery of all the things he has claimed in the past to stand for.
President Obama. Take a doubleshot of courage, smoke a pack of cigarettes and LEAD!
There are modern day realities in all administrations. All campaign promises are suspect when the President does not have a working majority in office but this President seems to shy away from a fight.
For all his supposed admiration of Ronald Reagan's communication style he fails in following it. Reagan when confronted with an unruly or unwilling Congress would go over their heads to the American people. This President sets high level goals and then lets the Democrats in Congress come up with a bill.
Republicans often realize that Evangelicals will vote Republican even if they are less than thrilled with the Republican candidate. Obama seems to calculate that Democrats, especially Union Democrats will have nowhere to go but to him in 2012. He is correct, any union member voting Republican now needs to have his head examined. In fact a groundswell of union anger across the Midwest might well energize the Democratic base like nothing Obama could do. That said it will not be earned. From a campaign promise to walk the picket lines with workers to running away and trying to keep the same amount of distance from union that Superman had to keep from kryptonite has been a shameful exercise.
Obama is what we are stuck with for better or worse. Certainly anybody the Republicans come up with will be a much worse choice. Let us hope that somewhere along the line Obama becomes comfortable being a Democrat. That he realized that being an elitist President of a working class party makes a mockery of all the things he has claimed in the past to stand for.
President Obama. Take a doubleshot of courage, smoke a pack of cigarettes and LEAD!
Libya pulls us in
Perhaps the best thing about the revolutions in Tunesia and Egypt were that they were homegrown, with no serious outside agitation and certainly none of the old East versus West that in the past has dominated these events.
As the seed of revolution spread to Libya the United States ( and other countries) assuming that Khadaffi too would go the way of Mubarek et all proclaimed that he could not survive. However Khadaffi played from a different rulebook and was not above using every weapon at his disposal to stay in power including mercenaries and indiscriminate violence against his enemies as well as civilians caught in the middle. What is most shocking is that we in the west were shocked at this. Truly Mubarek for all his faults, and there were many, actually behaved in a fairly restrained way by leaving office the way he did. Khadaffi is following the normal course of despots.
Whatever happens in Libya be it Khadaffi or some primevial attempt at Democracy do we really need to be involved. This is not to say that I do not feel for the women and children I do. We all should. However, all over the world events like this happen everyday. Sudan, Etreia, Bahrain, and now recently it appears Syria is having a groundswell. How do we choose to involve ourselves.
Can an argument be made that attacking Libya even as part of a multinational force makes our position better in the world. Why is it that only Western countries are part of this. Surely Saudi Arabia, Jordan and other counties that are nominally pro Western and assumingly anti dictator could have taken part. With no clear objective in this mission and with the ring of colonialism always hurting Western efforts in Africa the longer this goes on the more it will turn against us.
We have 15 percent ( or more) real unemployment in this country. I am not an isolationist but one has to wonder the merit in our being involved in this event. This cannot be a positive for the United States in the end and if we are getting involved due to a human interest issue then we are cherry picking at best.
For a President who promised to have us out of Afghanistan and has no realistic timetable to do so and with all of The Middle East under revolutionary temptation right now how do we decide Libya is worth deposing a dictator while we turn the other way while Saudi Arabia supports the King against protesters in tiny Bahrain.
I understand our decision as relates to Saudi Arabia ( oil ) and Bahrain ( the U S navy bases ) but to then get involved in what is now a Libyan civil war is just terrible hypycrocy. This is a failure on Obama's part and a noose the Reublicans will hang around his neck should it go bad as it is likely to do.
As the seed of revolution spread to Libya the United States ( and other countries) assuming that Khadaffi too would go the way of Mubarek et all proclaimed that he could not survive. However Khadaffi played from a different rulebook and was not above using every weapon at his disposal to stay in power including mercenaries and indiscriminate violence against his enemies as well as civilians caught in the middle. What is most shocking is that we in the west were shocked at this. Truly Mubarek for all his faults, and there were many, actually behaved in a fairly restrained way by leaving office the way he did. Khadaffi is following the normal course of despots.
Whatever happens in Libya be it Khadaffi or some primevial attempt at Democracy do we really need to be involved. This is not to say that I do not feel for the women and children I do. We all should. However, all over the world events like this happen everyday. Sudan, Etreia, Bahrain, and now recently it appears Syria is having a groundswell. How do we choose to involve ourselves.
Can an argument be made that attacking Libya even as part of a multinational force makes our position better in the world. Why is it that only Western countries are part of this. Surely Saudi Arabia, Jordan and other counties that are nominally pro Western and assumingly anti dictator could have taken part. With no clear objective in this mission and with the ring of colonialism always hurting Western efforts in Africa the longer this goes on the more it will turn against us.
We have 15 percent ( or more) real unemployment in this country. I am not an isolationist but one has to wonder the merit in our being involved in this event. This cannot be a positive for the United States in the end and if we are getting involved due to a human interest issue then we are cherry picking at best.
For a President who promised to have us out of Afghanistan and has no realistic timetable to do so and with all of The Middle East under revolutionary temptation right now how do we decide Libya is worth deposing a dictator while we turn the other way while Saudi Arabia supports the King against protesters in tiny Bahrain.
I understand our decision as relates to Saudi Arabia ( oil ) and Bahrain ( the U S navy bases ) but to then get involved in what is now a Libyan civil war is just terrible hypycrocy. This is a failure on Obama's part and a noose the Reublicans will hang around his neck should it go bad as it is likely to do.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Do you feel Trickled on?
I first heard the phrase Trickle Down economics in the eighties. The belief by Ronald Reagan that if we opened things up for the wealthiest Americans to make more money, and keep it through lower taxation policies, that they would then invest and spend more thus leading to more production and jobs and help the lower and middle classes expand and grow.
In the 1980 Republican primary George H W Bush said that he felt that Reagan's plan was " Voodoo Economics." He was not wrong but he soon became a convert. Over the 30 years since Republicans have become nothing more than a shill for the greed and hegemony of the richest 10 percent of Americans over the rest of us.
This has been a theory for 100 years, and probably much longer. In 1912 when running for President Woodrow Wilson said in part " that no society is renewed from the top and that every society is renewed from the bottom."
He was right then. George Bush was right in 1980. I am right now.
Trickle down will never work. It is like trying to pass an ice cream cone on a hot day from a parent through 25 first graders at a birthday party to one child at the end of the table. What gets to him will be nothing close to what was at the beginning and will be a more of a mess than anything else and someone is going to have clean this up.
The question is when will we learn.
In the 1980 Republican primary George H W Bush said that he felt that Reagan's plan was " Voodoo Economics." He was not wrong but he soon became a convert. Over the 30 years since Republicans have become nothing more than a shill for the greed and hegemony of the richest 10 percent of Americans over the rest of us.
This has been a theory for 100 years, and probably much longer. In 1912 when running for President Woodrow Wilson said in part " that no society is renewed from the top and that every society is renewed from the bottom."
He was right then. George Bush was right in 1980. I am right now.
Trickle down will never work. It is like trying to pass an ice cream cone on a hot day from a parent through 25 first graders at a birthday party to one child at the end of the table. What gets to him will be nothing close to what was at the beginning and will be a more of a mess than anything else and someone is going to have clean this up.
The question is when will we learn.
College Sports, Tim Whitehead and Jim Treschel
Much of the time college sports can appear to be a cesspool of corruption, fraud and unethical behavior. The more money is to be made from a college sport the worse the situation is so College football and basketball are of course the worst.
The first issue in College Basketball is the fact that any pretense of academics is a farce. One year and out ( and players stop attending classes in the second semester) make them nothing more than revenue producing employees. The money that is generated from these players are incredible. The NCAA tournament itself bring money in buckets to schools and conferences. Coaches are paid in the millions of dollars. If you follow the money paid to coaches, schools, conferences and eventually players when they go pro it is, simply put, too much to be controlled by the NCAA in an ethical way.
Does anyone remember the schools whose wins are vacated after the fact. Of course not. People should not be forced to attend college. On the other hand if some coaches take these one and done players and others do not you have the equivalent of the steroid situation in baseball. If some do and you do not your ability to compete diminishes.
I love sports. It has always been that some athletes are not going to make it through college. The vision we have a kid working for a scholarship so he can go to college and get an education is obsolete. Most of these pro player wannabees now use college only a stepping stone to an attempt at professional sports.
Some say the schools make so money off the athletes that it is not right for the players to not be compensated. For me however I think a recognition has to be made of the fact that these schools provide a platform that allows these kids to go pro. I believe that a player who takes a scholarship, in a zero sum game this means that another student does not get a scholarship, should sign a contract that states that out of their first professional contract they will pay the full cost of room/board and tuition for a non athletic scholarship student. Some will say the University makes enough money from these kids and perhaps that is true but somehow someone not affiliated with the dirt of college athletics and the swampland of money should gain.
Jim Treschel the Coach of Ohio State football evidently knew long before it was exposed that his players were selling jerseys and other swag and making money on the side. When his players were suspended for 5 games ( next season) not the upcoming Bowl game Jim did not admit he knew then that they had been doing this. In the last couple of weeks we find he did. The University has now suspended him for 2 games in an attempt to ward of further NCAA snooping. Of course the question could be asked why the Coach would get a two game suspension when he knew what the athletes, the people his to mentor and be responsible for were doing. Perhaps he should get... five games as well.
I am not sure Coach Jim is totally to blame. Perhaps the University officials knew and wished to cover it up. In short nothing would surprise me. What I do know is that College Sports are rife with corruption and fraud.
Jim Calhoun'a allegations, Rick Pitino's extortion, and most of all John Callipari the wandering minstrel of NCAA violations show us that it is some of the highest profile coaches who have the most trouble. Reggie Bush, O J Mayo ( USC is evidently not having an easy time of it ) and this years NBA MVP in waiting Derrick Rose at Memphis show that some of the best young athletes are involved in this.
Perhaps letting players go pro right out of high school is the answer. At least then we remove this pretense and perhaps players in college might be more likely to be there for the right reason and money paid is for services not under the table.
Then we have Tim Whitehead at Maine. I realize of course that College Hockey compared to basketball and football is like comparing Bangor High School basketball to one of these schools high school teams that play on ESPN showcases. They are in different worlds.
I have defended Tim Whitehead before and am not going to go through the whole spiel again. My feeling are well known. The bile and hate that I am seeing spewed on websites, facebook and the BDN comment sites diminishes us all. I will say this. I had a conversation with Coach a few years ago about a player from Eastern Canada that after his freshman year had gone professional. I do not know is he has met with the success he hoped to, what I do remember is the Coach told me that he talked to him and told him he might only bet better in College and going an getting an education is never a bad thing. The sense that I got was that in the end Coach wanted to win and would have liked to had the player return, but that his first thought was for the kids well being and future be it in hockey or not.
Clearly he is going to struggle to be a successful coach if he keeps up that ridiculous attitude.
What is success. We all want the program to do well. I enjoy going to the games and a win is more fun than a loss. There are other measurements however. We forget that most of these kids will not play professional hockey and that many of them will graduate and be good members of society thanks in part to scholarships received and lesson taught in and out of the classroom at UMaine.
Tim Whitehead or a championship and then a potential scandal. I loved Shawn Walsh, I thought he was fun and he built this program and one can say in retrospect that his excesses were the product of overambition and not greed. I still prefer Whitehead's world. We teach our kids that there is more to life than winning and losing. Do we remember that?
The first issue in College Basketball is the fact that any pretense of academics is a farce. One year and out ( and players stop attending classes in the second semester) make them nothing more than revenue producing employees. The money that is generated from these players are incredible. The NCAA tournament itself bring money in buckets to schools and conferences. Coaches are paid in the millions of dollars. If you follow the money paid to coaches, schools, conferences and eventually players when they go pro it is, simply put, too much to be controlled by the NCAA in an ethical way.
Does anyone remember the schools whose wins are vacated after the fact. Of course not. People should not be forced to attend college. On the other hand if some coaches take these one and done players and others do not you have the equivalent of the steroid situation in baseball. If some do and you do not your ability to compete diminishes.
I love sports. It has always been that some athletes are not going to make it through college. The vision we have a kid working for a scholarship so he can go to college and get an education is obsolete. Most of these pro player wannabees now use college only a stepping stone to an attempt at professional sports.
Some say the schools make so money off the athletes that it is not right for the players to not be compensated. For me however I think a recognition has to be made of the fact that these schools provide a platform that allows these kids to go pro. I believe that a player who takes a scholarship, in a zero sum game this means that another student does not get a scholarship, should sign a contract that states that out of their first professional contract they will pay the full cost of room/board and tuition for a non athletic scholarship student. Some will say the University makes enough money from these kids and perhaps that is true but somehow someone not affiliated with the dirt of college athletics and the swampland of money should gain.
Jim Treschel the Coach of Ohio State football evidently knew long before it was exposed that his players were selling jerseys and other swag and making money on the side. When his players were suspended for 5 games ( next season) not the upcoming Bowl game Jim did not admit he knew then that they had been doing this. In the last couple of weeks we find he did. The University has now suspended him for 2 games in an attempt to ward of further NCAA snooping. Of course the question could be asked why the Coach would get a two game suspension when he knew what the athletes, the people his to mentor and be responsible for were doing. Perhaps he should get... five games as well.
I am not sure Coach Jim is totally to blame. Perhaps the University officials knew and wished to cover it up. In short nothing would surprise me. What I do know is that College Sports are rife with corruption and fraud.
Jim Calhoun'a allegations, Rick Pitino's extortion, and most of all John Callipari the wandering minstrel of NCAA violations show us that it is some of the highest profile coaches who have the most trouble. Reggie Bush, O J Mayo ( USC is evidently not having an easy time of it ) and this years NBA MVP in waiting Derrick Rose at Memphis show that some of the best young athletes are involved in this.
Perhaps letting players go pro right out of high school is the answer. At least then we remove this pretense and perhaps players in college might be more likely to be there for the right reason and money paid is for services not under the table.
Then we have Tim Whitehead at Maine. I realize of course that College Hockey compared to basketball and football is like comparing Bangor High School basketball to one of these schools high school teams that play on ESPN showcases. They are in different worlds.
I have defended Tim Whitehead before and am not going to go through the whole spiel again. My feeling are well known. The bile and hate that I am seeing spewed on websites, facebook and the BDN comment sites diminishes us all. I will say this. I had a conversation with Coach a few years ago about a player from Eastern Canada that after his freshman year had gone professional. I do not know is he has met with the success he hoped to, what I do remember is the Coach told me that he talked to him and told him he might only bet better in College and going an getting an education is never a bad thing. The sense that I got was that in the end Coach wanted to win and would have liked to had the player return, but that his first thought was for the kids well being and future be it in hockey or not.
Clearly he is going to struggle to be a successful coach if he keeps up that ridiculous attitude.
What is success. We all want the program to do well. I enjoy going to the games and a win is more fun than a loss. There are other measurements however. We forget that most of these kids will not play professional hockey and that many of them will graduate and be good members of society thanks in part to scholarships received and lesson taught in and out of the classroom at UMaine.
Tim Whitehead or a championship and then a potential scandal. I loved Shawn Walsh, I thought he was fun and he built this program and one can say in retrospect that his excesses were the product of overambition and not greed. I still prefer Whitehead's world. We teach our kids that there is more to life than winning and losing. Do we remember that?
Friday, March 11, 2011
Ethical Purchases
Do you buy American cars. I have one foreign car and one American truck. I have resolved that I will no longer buy foreign vehicles. I believe that we all have to start walking the walk.
For someone like myself who is an advocate of fair trade not free trade to buy a foreign car is the height of hypicorcy.
We all talk about the long term threat the growth of China presents to our economy. Yet we all buy products from China. Ipods are made in China. Clothes, toys, the list is endless. When you have children is is nearly impossible not to buy from China. A friend of mine went a year without doing so. It was very difficult.
I believe that we need to make purchases with an eye toward rewarding business behavior we respect.
That is not easy to do when things are hard and we need to make decisions based on price as the first, second, and third choice. This is why I believe in fair trade and tariffs when neccesary but that is an arguemnt for another day.
We should consider how a company treats it's employees in the same way. Companies that rank well in best companies to work for should be companies we give business too. Last weekend on CBS there was a piece about The Container Store a chain of stores for just what it says. Importantly the company states that they have a a focus on the employee more than the customer reasoning that a happy employee is a better employee and thus will bring about better customer experience.
Costco is another company that is consistently rated higher than its competitors. 85 percent of Costco employees have health insurance compared with less than 50 percent of it's competitors. Higher wages are also a factor. How do these companies do this and not only survive and succeed but excel. Clearly a company can pay it's employees a good wage and treat them with respect and make a profit.
We as consumers can do all we can to reward these companies with our purchases.
If money talks we all have the ability to speak. Too often we choose not to.
For someone like myself who is an advocate of fair trade not free trade to buy a foreign car is the height of hypicorcy.
We all talk about the long term threat the growth of China presents to our economy. Yet we all buy products from China. Ipods are made in China. Clothes, toys, the list is endless. When you have children is is nearly impossible not to buy from China. A friend of mine went a year without doing so. It was very difficult.
I believe that we need to make purchases with an eye toward rewarding business behavior we respect.
That is not easy to do when things are hard and we need to make decisions based on price as the first, second, and third choice. This is why I believe in fair trade and tariffs when neccesary but that is an arguemnt for another day.
We should consider how a company treats it's employees in the same way. Companies that rank well in best companies to work for should be companies we give business too. Last weekend on CBS there was a piece about The Container Store a chain of stores for just what it says. Importantly the company states that they have a a focus on the employee more than the customer reasoning that a happy employee is a better employee and thus will bring about better customer experience.
Costco is another company that is consistently rated higher than its competitors. 85 percent of Costco employees have health insurance compared with less than 50 percent of it's competitors. Higher wages are also a factor. How do these companies do this and not only survive and succeed but excel. Clearly a company can pay it's employees a good wage and treat them with respect and make a profit.
We as consumers can do all we can to reward these companies with our purchases.
If money talks we all have the ability to speak. Too often we choose not to.
My Daughter Wants to be a Teacher
From the time she was in kindergarten and had a wonderful teacher named Mrs. C my daughter has wanted to be a teacher. Today she is 12 and still knows for a fact that this is what she wants to do. My wife is a teacher and at events at school, family nights, events of this nature my daughter goes in and runs stations and tables for the little children. She enjoys it and has when helping my wife on the weekend set up her classroom or laminating said to my wife, her step-mom, " Why would anyone not want to be a teacher?" She feels that it is the greatest job in the world.
Barack Obama in his State of the Union Address made a statement that any young people watching should consider in their choice of a career becoming a teacher as few things were more important than this.
And yet for all this affirmation about being a teacher by our President and other public figures I worry about my daughters choice.
One can argue about tenure, budgets and benefits but how do we think we are encouraging some of our best and brightest to become teachers. If at the first sign of budget problems we want to go after education what message our we sending our children.
We should ask ourselves some hard questions about our words versus our deeds when it comes to education. Do we as parents respect education. Do we support our schools and our children's teachers.
I know better than to do this as it always just makes me sad, and sometimes mad, but recently I read some of the comments below an article in the BDN about budgets, teachers, education and the proposed cuts. The vitriol spilled by these commentators about teachers waking up and facing the budget crunch, that their benefits are too good and on and on and worse and worse.
Teachers have the summer off and we joke about that and say that is a great benefit and it would be wrong to say it is not. Anyone who thinks teachers are overpaid has no concept of the time, training, effort and dedication these people have.
Too many parents do not respect education, do not respect teachers and make sure their kids know this as they send them to school.
A comment I read said that anyone could house train a monkey if they had time. I do not know what this has to do with education but it does perhaps say more about the writer than the issue he is trying to write about. It is a bit ironic to read the comments about education often misspelled and poorly written.
I do not say this as someone placing myself above them. My writing often has issues, my best friend constantly tells me I need to invest in some punctuation more often but I know that I respect education.
Would you take your child to the cheapest doctor you could find. Would you go to a Doctor for surgery if he promised his price was the lowest. Would you take your child to the cheapest daycare you could find if you felt it was not a good place for them to be. If the answer is no then we do have to ask why do we want to get cut rate teachers and have cut rate education. We have issues in America but we are not a third world nation.
All of us want more for our children than we have had. We all worry about that. Cutting education and vilifying teachers will not help us help our children reach these goals.
You do not have to like paying taxes. No one does. If there is any group of people that deserve your respect it is teachers. Let's think about that. I would like to encourage my daughter to follow her dream.
Barack Obama in his State of the Union Address made a statement that any young people watching should consider in their choice of a career becoming a teacher as few things were more important than this.
And yet for all this affirmation about being a teacher by our President and other public figures I worry about my daughters choice.
One can argue about tenure, budgets and benefits but how do we think we are encouraging some of our best and brightest to become teachers. If at the first sign of budget problems we want to go after education what message our we sending our children.
We should ask ourselves some hard questions about our words versus our deeds when it comes to education. Do we as parents respect education. Do we support our schools and our children's teachers.
I know better than to do this as it always just makes me sad, and sometimes mad, but recently I read some of the comments below an article in the BDN about budgets, teachers, education and the proposed cuts. The vitriol spilled by these commentators about teachers waking up and facing the budget crunch, that their benefits are too good and on and on and worse and worse.
Teachers have the summer off and we joke about that and say that is a great benefit and it would be wrong to say it is not. Anyone who thinks teachers are overpaid has no concept of the time, training, effort and dedication these people have.
Too many parents do not respect education, do not respect teachers and make sure their kids know this as they send them to school.
A comment I read said that anyone could house train a monkey if they had time. I do not know what this has to do with education but it does perhaps say more about the writer than the issue he is trying to write about. It is a bit ironic to read the comments about education often misspelled and poorly written.
I do not say this as someone placing myself above them. My writing often has issues, my best friend constantly tells me I need to invest in some punctuation more often but I know that I respect education.
Would you take your child to the cheapest doctor you could find. Would you go to a Doctor for surgery if he promised his price was the lowest. Would you take your child to the cheapest daycare you could find if you felt it was not a good place for them to be. If the answer is no then we do have to ask why do we want to get cut rate teachers and have cut rate education. We have issues in America but we are not a third world nation.
All of us want more for our children than we have had. We all worry about that. Cutting education and vilifying teachers will not help us help our children reach these goals.
You do not have to like paying taxes. No one does. If there is any group of people that deserve your respect it is teachers. Let's think about that. I would like to encourage my daughter to follow her dream.
Wisconsin ...Again
Well it is all over but the shouting. Wisconsin state workers have been stripped of their collective bargaining rights. Democrats are enraged that Walker stripped the collective bargaining portion of the bill from the rest, thus making it officially non financial, and this make it something that can be voted on without a quorum in the Senate.
A truthful statement made by some Republicans that this is much the same thing Democrats in the U S Senate did last year in passing the health care bill last year through a relatively little used parliamentary procedure.
In both cases the opposite side feels enraged, more by their helplessness than any thing else.
Unions have been hurting in this country for a long time and they will continue to for the foreseeable future. The gap between rich and poor continues to grow. Republicans have a demographic problem as this country becomes older in the white shades and younger in the brown and black shades. All the money and campaign contributions in the world will not protect them from those numbers in the future. For now they are holding on with all the can and much as we dislike some of their ideas and tactics it is their right.
This battle has crystallized a fact that we too often forget. Elections have consequences. The fault for this is not with Republicans. They knew what they wanted, what they voted for and have achieved it. The fault for this is with Democrats, especially traditional union workers and those Democrats of the middle class who fall or have fallen for the standard we need to cut this and that, limit welfare, foreign aid, help business create jobs and lower your taxes. Polls show that a significant portion of the union households in Wisconsin voted for Walker. Now did Walker do a bait and switch, some say yes some say no.
Here is a hard fact. Any union member, educator, or person of traditional Democratic constituencies who votes for a Republican gets the government they deserve. This is a class battle. This is big business and the wealthy wanting more and more. What Republicans always do better in election time is convince those who are not on thier team to play with them so that after the election they can beat them up. i liken it to the gym teacher letting an unpoplular kid choose the activity and the rich kids convincing him to play the game of thier choice by being nice to him and making promises of putting him on thier team. Once the game starts that youg man is on the bench and will see less playing time than before.
As much as we all want to be Americans we have to accept that thier are sides. Elections have consequences. Democrats wuld be wise to remember this from here on out.
A truthful statement made by some Republicans that this is much the same thing Democrats in the U S Senate did last year in passing the health care bill last year through a relatively little used parliamentary procedure.
In both cases the opposite side feels enraged, more by their helplessness than any thing else.
Unions have been hurting in this country for a long time and they will continue to for the foreseeable future. The gap between rich and poor continues to grow. Republicans have a demographic problem as this country becomes older in the white shades and younger in the brown and black shades. All the money and campaign contributions in the world will not protect them from those numbers in the future. For now they are holding on with all the can and much as we dislike some of their ideas and tactics it is their right.
This battle has crystallized a fact that we too often forget. Elections have consequences. The fault for this is not with Republicans. They knew what they wanted, what they voted for and have achieved it. The fault for this is with Democrats, especially traditional union workers and those Democrats of the middle class who fall or have fallen for the standard we need to cut this and that, limit welfare, foreign aid, help business create jobs and lower your taxes. Polls show that a significant portion of the union households in Wisconsin voted for Walker. Now did Walker do a bait and switch, some say yes some say no.
Here is a hard fact. Any union member, educator, or person of traditional Democratic constituencies who votes for a Republican gets the government they deserve. This is a class battle. This is big business and the wealthy wanting more and more. What Republicans always do better in election time is convince those who are not on thier team to play with them so that after the election they can beat them up. i liken it to the gym teacher letting an unpoplular kid choose the activity and the rich kids convincing him to play the game of thier choice by being nice to him and making promises of putting him on thier team. Once the game starts that youg man is on the bench and will see less playing time than before.
As much as we all want to be Americans we have to accept that thier are sides. Elections have consequences. Democrats wuld be wise to remember this from here on out.
Runoff Elections in Maine
State Senator Tom Saviello has proposed that Maine adopt a mechanism that will allow its Governor to be elected with 50 percent of the vote. His feeling is that for too long Maine has elected governor's that do not have a strong mandate. It is a wise thought and long overdue.
Maine seems to consistently have a multitude of candidates and in Maine we like independents. It is an interesting proposition for a Republican at this time when I think any observer would feel that had we had this system in place last year that Elliot Cutler would be governor not Paul LePage. However in the long term it is difficult to determine who this would favor.
It will favor strong government however. Taking the top two candidates whoever they might be and having them have a vote between them would force a majority winner. It might also eliminate some of the negativity between candidates as a second choice candidate might need votes from people who did not vote for him the first time. A method that surely could bring about better, cleaner campaigns would be an instant runoff in which voters choose their first and second choices on the same ballot. It would be hard for this to be understood by a majority of voters and could actually lead to second choices being thrown away on fringe candidates making the whole thing more of a morass.
A runoff election 4 Tuesdays after the election however is a strong idea whose time has come.
Maine seems to consistently have a multitude of candidates and in Maine we like independents. It is an interesting proposition for a Republican at this time when I think any observer would feel that had we had this system in place last year that Elliot Cutler would be governor not Paul LePage. However in the long term it is difficult to determine who this would favor.
It will favor strong government however. Taking the top two candidates whoever they might be and having them have a vote between them would force a majority winner. It might also eliminate some of the negativity between candidates as a second choice candidate might need votes from people who did not vote for him the first time. A method that surely could bring about better, cleaner campaigns would be an instant runoff in which voters choose their first and second choices on the same ballot. It would be hard for this to be understood by a majority of voters and could actually lead to second choices being thrown away on fringe candidates making the whole thing more of a morass.
A runoff election 4 Tuesdays after the election however is a strong idea whose time has come.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Corporate Welfare in East Millinocket
I told my best friend a few years ago that in my opinion, with very rare exception Corporate America did very little to make America a better place and in some ways could be described as having evil intent.
With outsourcing happening constantly jobs and jobs in communities have become worth their weight in gold. Politicians are judged by the economy and are loathe to miss any opportunity to claim credit for any new jobs that come about.
In these environs corporations routinely hold communities hostage to gain tax breaks, new factories and other such items in order to build, expand, or keep businesses in place. A community in Minnesota might lose a company with 300 jobs to a site in North Carolina who offers no taxes for 20 years.
Certainly it would seem that communities and states would realize that not doing this, that agreeing that whichever way it went someone was going to lose and win but that if both communities agreed not to give into being held hostage by these businesses they would all be better in the long run. Interestingly this is much the same practice that happens with companies and unions that strike. Certainly scabs must know that going to work is stealing is another mans job but they in times that are difficult cannot see the big picture, only their own situation possibly improving in the short term.
So now we have East Millinocket being asked by what must seem like the seventh or eight prospective owner of these mills since GNP sold. Each time a new owner comes to town more concessions are made by the union and or the town. Now with the mill possibly closing in May a new buyer has come in and stated they will buy the mill and keep the mill going and possibly add some jobs if the town will lower their tax bill from 2.5 million to $46,000.
That is not a misprint. A 2.5 million dollar tax break. Perhaps this could be considered if we had some sort of guarentee that the company would stay, not file bankruptucy, not sell in another year, but we do not. I am not sure what concessions have been made in the past by the town for previous buyers but I am quite sure that whatever promises have been made by previous owners have not been kept.
Maybe it is time to face the sad fact that mills cannot produce in the Millinocket area and make money enough to sustain operation. This seems remarkable and the truth is more related to the fact that unions have been gutted and their negotiating power is nill and companies will seek to put their operations where they feel they can get the most in terms of concessions from employees and towns.
Then we are back to the ribbon cutting politician. One wonders how many times a politician can get credit for saving the mills in Millinocket.
I do not have an answer. It is not these workers fault. It is all part of the globalized world economy, severley diminished union power and Republican enhanced power structure of business and banking. I do know that continually giving money to someone who is beating you up means you never have lunch money. Sometimes you have to fight back and if you take a beating know that you will survive and get up.
East Millinocket will make the decison they think best but my guess is a good part of those folks are tired of getting beaten up. I wish them the best.
With outsourcing happening constantly jobs and jobs in communities have become worth their weight in gold. Politicians are judged by the economy and are loathe to miss any opportunity to claim credit for any new jobs that come about.
In these environs corporations routinely hold communities hostage to gain tax breaks, new factories and other such items in order to build, expand, or keep businesses in place. A community in Minnesota might lose a company with 300 jobs to a site in North Carolina who offers no taxes for 20 years.
Certainly it would seem that communities and states would realize that not doing this, that agreeing that whichever way it went someone was going to lose and win but that if both communities agreed not to give into being held hostage by these businesses they would all be better in the long run. Interestingly this is much the same practice that happens with companies and unions that strike. Certainly scabs must know that going to work is stealing is another mans job but they in times that are difficult cannot see the big picture, only their own situation possibly improving in the short term.
So now we have East Millinocket being asked by what must seem like the seventh or eight prospective owner of these mills since GNP sold. Each time a new owner comes to town more concessions are made by the union and or the town. Now with the mill possibly closing in May a new buyer has come in and stated they will buy the mill and keep the mill going and possibly add some jobs if the town will lower their tax bill from 2.5 million to $46,000.
That is not a misprint. A 2.5 million dollar tax break. Perhaps this could be considered if we had some sort of guarentee that the company would stay, not file bankruptucy, not sell in another year, but we do not. I am not sure what concessions have been made in the past by the town for previous buyers but I am quite sure that whatever promises have been made by previous owners have not been kept.
Maybe it is time to face the sad fact that mills cannot produce in the Millinocket area and make money enough to sustain operation. This seems remarkable and the truth is more related to the fact that unions have been gutted and their negotiating power is nill and companies will seek to put their operations where they feel they can get the most in terms of concessions from employees and towns.
Then we are back to the ribbon cutting politician. One wonders how many times a politician can get credit for saving the mills in Millinocket.
I do not have an answer. It is not these workers fault. It is all part of the globalized world economy, severley diminished union power and Republican enhanced power structure of business and banking. I do know that continually giving money to someone who is beating you up means you never have lunch money. Sometimes you have to fight back and if you take a beating know that you will survive and get up.
East Millinocket will make the decison they think best but my guess is a good part of those folks are tired of getting beaten up. I wish them the best.
Paul LePage, Newspaper Lies and Bearded Ladies
I have thought that giving Paul LePage the benefit of the doubt was the right thing to do. After all he will be the governor for the next 4 years unless something dramatic in the way of a recall happens.
His proposal to cut General Assistance to communities is controversial. His cuts to education are not as much as we might have expected based on his campaign. However as seems to be the regular course of action state employees and teachers under the Maine State Retirement are the first to be asked to make major contributions to help the budget. More money into retirement funds and insurance, increased retirement ages etc, all will affect them.
I am certainly not one to think that perhaps adjustments do not need to be made. I do not think that using the term fairness is the correct term. There is nothing unfair about folks having benefits that they earn. To me in fact after the fact calling their benefits unfair is only unfair to them.
And then we have our governor. A few weeks ago he said that the the chemical BPA was not proven to be a cancer causing agent. That was bad enough but then he in trying to make a joke stated that the worst that would happen is women would get little beards. This is not really an intelligent statement.
Last week the Governor stated that to pick up a newspaper in Maine was to pick up a bunch of lies. While one can disagree with the editorial slant of a newspaper that statement in regards to news coverage is not true. Moreover it is a blanket statement, and blanket statements are lazy statements made much of the time by lazy people.
The window of opportunity for LePage to keep any sense of goodwill from those people who did not vote for him but wanted him to have success for the good of the state is fast closing.
He is danger of, six months in, becoming a caricature. A combination between Jolly John and Dan Quayle is no place for the Governor to be.
Governor please just think before you speak.
His proposal to cut General Assistance to communities is controversial. His cuts to education are not as much as we might have expected based on his campaign. However as seems to be the regular course of action state employees and teachers under the Maine State Retirement are the first to be asked to make major contributions to help the budget. More money into retirement funds and insurance, increased retirement ages etc, all will affect them.
I am certainly not one to think that perhaps adjustments do not need to be made. I do not think that using the term fairness is the correct term. There is nothing unfair about folks having benefits that they earn. To me in fact after the fact calling their benefits unfair is only unfair to them.
And then we have our governor. A few weeks ago he said that the the chemical BPA was not proven to be a cancer causing agent. That was bad enough but then he in trying to make a joke stated that the worst that would happen is women would get little beards. This is not really an intelligent statement.
Last week the Governor stated that to pick up a newspaper in Maine was to pick up a bunch of lies. While one can disagree with the editorial slant of a newspaper that statement in regards to news coverage is not true. Moreover it is a blanket statement, and blanket statements are lazy statements made much of the time by lazy people.
The window of opportunity for LePage to keep any sense of goodwill from those people who did not vote for him but wanted him to have success for the good of the state is fast closing.
He is danger of, six months in, becoming a caricature. A combination between Jolly John and Dan Quayle is no place for the Governor to be.
Governor please just think before you speak.
Preisdent of the World
I saw a documentary last week about Bill Clinton called President of the World. An argument is made in the show that Clinton is the most popular politician in the world. This might well be true. He is the rock star of the Democratic party. I think it would be a safe bet to ask Democrats who they would rather meet and talk to and Clinton would win.
Bill Clinton made mistakes and for me personally I am always going to be angry with him for blowing his second term ( pun intended.) Watching Clinton outside the Presidency is to see him doing the same things he did as President without having the Republicans trying to crucify him for it. To Republicans he is not a neutered puppy. Any love Democrats give him diminish current Democrats in comparison. It is at some times a zero sum game and Clinton can only diminish someone like Obama.
The relationship is naturally an odd one. Anyone who saw Clinton at the White House last year answering questions in the briefing room knows that Clinton loves the spotlight and that Obama was smart to leave the room rather than stand there like the replacement holding the fellow who had his job before reminded people of his successors defiencies.
Watching Clinton make his grand tour last year to talk about his Global Iniative project one saw him at his best. This man is a fountain of information and much more he has an intellectual curiousity that might only compare with Jefferson or Teddy Roosevelt in terms of Presidents. Watching this show the other night seeing him speak in Africa about developing methods to grow food more efficiently you see him ask what a certain method will do to increse the yield per hectare of soybeans. And he means it. In American politics we sometimes find that candidates that are " too smart" do not succeed as we do not think their likability factor is enough.
Obama suffers from this issue. My son is considering career paths as college approaches in a couple of years. He says he would like to make a good amount of money and I find myself telling him I want him to be successful and not have to worry about money of course but that I also want him to find what he likes and enjoys and see if we can find a career that will make him a good life in that interest field.
President Obama reminds me of someone who decided that he wanted to be President but did not know that to be a successful President you had to like politics. One never doubts for a minute that Bill Clinton loved and loves politics. He loves people. His empathy and interest is sincere, never to be doubted, while the empathy of Barack Obama is constantly questioned. I do not think Obama does not care, far from it, but I do believe the emotionalism of politics, the spirit of it is unseemly to him.
Bill Clinton reminds me of a man that works hard out in the summer sun and comes in to the house and while sweaty gives his wife a big hug. Obama reminds me of the wife who gets the hug and while appreciating the sentiment is made uncomfortable by the sweat and skin and closeness mixture.
Bill Clinton is the greatest politician of his era. If he ran for President he would win in a landslide and I firmly believe that the amendment which disallows Presidents from running again after a period out of office is a bad one. Why would we automatically disqualify some of the best candidates from running.
Bill made his mistakes. We all do. The difference is we never doubted that Clinton cared about us. I do not think Obama knows the average persons struggles and I am not sure he cares about an individual. Two years into his Presidency and I am not even sure he knows what he is trying to do.
Bill Clinton made mistakes and for me personally I am always going to be angry with him for blowing his second term ( pun intended.) Watching Clinton outside the Presidency is to see him doing the same things he did as President without having the Republicans trying to crucify him for it. To Republicans he is not a neutered puppy. Any love Democrats give him diminish current Democrats in comparison. It is at some times a zero sum game and Clinton can only diminish someone like Obama.
The relationship is naturally an odd one. Anyone who saw Clinton at the White House last year answering questions in the briefing room knows that Clinton loves the spotlight and that Obama was smart to leave the room rather than stand there like the replacement holding the fellow who had his job before reminded people of his successors defiencies.
Watching Clinton make his grand tour last year to talk about his Global Iniative project one saw him at his best. This man is a fountain of information and much more he has an intellectual curiousity that might only compare with Jefferson or Teddy Roosevelt in terms of Presidents. Watching this show the other night seeing him speak in Africa about developing methods to grow food more efficiently you see him ask what a certain method will do to increse the yield per hectare of soybeans. And he means it. In American politics we sometimes find that candidates that are " too smart" do not succeed as we do not think their likability factor is enough.
Obama suffers from this issue. My son is considering career paths as college approaches in a couple of years. He says he would like to make a good amount of money and I find myself telling him I want him to be successful and not have to worry about money of course but that I also want him to find what he likes and enjoys and see if we can find a career that will make him a good life in that interest field.
President Obama reminds me of someone who decided that he wanted to be President but did not know that to be a successful President you had to like politics. One never doubts for a minute that Bill Clinton loved and loves politics. He loves people. His empathy and interest is sincere, never to be doubted, while the empathy of Barack Obama is constantly questioned. I do not think Obama does not care, far from it, but I do believe the emotionalism of politics, the spirit of it is unseemly to him.
Bill Clinton reminds me of a man that works hard out in the summer sun and comes in to the house and while sweaty gives his wife a big hug. Obama reminds me of the wife who gets the hug and while appreciating the sentiment is made uncomfortable by the sweat and skin and closeness mixture.
Bill Clinton is the greatest politician of his era. If he ran for President he would win in a landslide and I firmly believe that the amendment which disallows Presidents from running again after a period out of office is a bad one. Why would we automatically disqualify some of the best candidates from running.
Bill made his mistakes. We all do. The difference is we never doubted that Clinton cared about us. I do not think Obama knows the average persons struggles and I am not sure he cares about an individual. Two years into his Presidency and I am not even sure he knows what he is trying to do.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Hunger in America
I was watching a 60 Minutes story last night on homeless families in Seminole County, Florida. So many people have lost their homes in this area that buses pick up hundreds of kids each morning at cheap motels that families have had to move to.
Scott Pelley interviewed many children whose parents allowed them to speak to him. These children qualified for free lunch and Pelley talked to them about how they were affected by their parents struggles. The answers spoke about being hungry, embarrassed, cold, tired and feeling guilty. It is a terrible thing to watch.
One of the provincial answers is that we should not be giving so much money to foreign nations to help them with their food needs. Of course while being an easy target that is a red herring as foreign aid is a blip in the federal budget.
The first thought you think when you see families losing homes as their jobs went away, living in cars and one parent in order to keep from separating his family in different shelters stood with a sign asking for help. His story had a happy ending, a woman talked to him and said she might have a job. He now is a parking lot attendant for the University of South Florida. They are still living in the hotel but they are together.
I am not an expert. I believe in fair trade, tariffs on imports and other things that people tell me will not work. I also believe that we have had variations of trickle down economics since long before Reagan made the term famous. And it never works. Our taxation rates on the highest brackets are lower by far than they have been in the last half century.
Yet we must lower taxes on the richest to solve all our issues. We are beyond the point of getting the government we deserve. The divide between haves and have nots is greater than it has been in my lifetime. It is getting worse.
We better pass some more tax breaks quick. That will solve everything.
Scott Pelley interviewed many children whose parents allowed them to speak to him. These children qualified for free lunch and Pelley talked to them about how they were affected by their parents struggles. The answers spoke about being hungry, embarrassed, cold, tired and feeling guilty. It is a terrible thing to watch.
One of the provincial answers is that we should not be giving so much money to foreign nations to help them with their food needs. Of course while being an easy target that is a red herring as foreign aid is a blip in the federal budget.
The first thought you think when you see families losing homes as their jobs went away, living in cars and one parent in order to keep from separating his family in different shelters stood with a sign asking for help. His story had a happy ending, a woman talked to him and said she might have a job. He now is a parking lot attendant for the University of South Florida. They are still living in the hotel but they are together.
I am not an expert. I believe in fair trade, tariffs on imports and other things that people tell me will not work. I also believe that we have had variations of trickle down economics since long before Reagan made the term famous. And it never works. Our taxation rates on the highest brackets are lower by far than they have been in the last half century.
Yet we must lower taxes on the richest to solve all our issues. We are beyond the point of getting the government we deserve. The divide between haves and have nots is greater than it has been in my lifetime. It is getting worse.
We better pass some more tax breaks quick. That will solve everything.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Your Dad's Birthday
Tomorrow is my father's birthday. My Dad has been gone along time, too long and yet here 27 years after his death I miss him. I think sometimes I miss what might have been more than what was. Being a teenager of a Dad that is ill is not easy for either party. I am sure I could have been more sensitive than I was and I am sure that I wish now that I should have been.
My father was a simple man who worked hard his whole life until he could work no more and I have often felt that from the time he could no longer work he felt a sense of discomfort with himself and a loss of identity.
This morning I watched an episode of The Wonder Years. Coincidentally in this episode Kevin's father is celebrating his 43rd birthday. With a college age daughter his age is a reflection of the era of the show in that people had children at a younger age.
What Kevin's father wants is a reconciliation with his daughter. My Dad never needed to reconcile with anyone. He was easygoing in the extreme. Having had me late in life I am fairly confident that I never really knew my father. He was not an introspective man and he was not someone who talked about his feelings.
He was not me. I am not him. We are dissimilar in almost every way. Still I miss him. I miss what kind of a relationship we could have developed had he had a normal old age of retirement and relaxation. He deserved it.
On his birthday tomorrow I remember how hard he worked to do the right things in his simple way. I remember that he was good and decent man who was not perfect but was typical of his time. I remember that I miss him.
Happy Birthday Dad. Thank you for all that you gave me.
My father was a simple man who worked hard his whole life until he could work no more and I have often felt that from the time he could no longer work he felt a sense of discomfort with himself and a loss of identity.
This morning I watched an episode of The Wonder Years. Coincidentally in this episode Kevin's father is celebrating his 43rd birthday. With a college age daughter his age is a reflection of the era of the show in that people had children at a younger age.
What Kevin's father wants is a reconciliation with his daughter. My Dad never needed to reconcile with anyone. He was easygoing in the extreme. Having had me late in life I am fairly confident that I never really knew my father. He was not an introspective man and he was not someone who talked about his feelings.
He was not me. I am not him. We are dissimilar in almost every way. Still I miss him. I miss what kind of a relationship we could have developed had he had a normal old age of retirement and relaxation. He deserved it.
On his birthday tomorrow I remember how hard he worked to do the right things in his simple way. I remember that he was good and decent man who was not perfect but was typical of his time. I remember that I miss him.
Happy Birthday Dad. Thank you for all that you gave me.
Hsve We Forgptten Gabby
First of all let me say that my previous comments not withstanding I do consider myself a moderate. My best friend, the best man I know in the world, is a staunch Republican. There is a place for moderation in this country and we would be better off if we found our way to it. I am a union man, I make no apologies for that and will stand by that to my dying day.
But without trying to sound like a Democratic shill, which I am not, what is it with these Republicans and their violent gun imagery.
We all know about Sarah Palin's "crosshairs" image on her website and we heard Sharon Angle talking about " second amendment remedies." Still one assumed that perhaps the Arizona shooting of Gabby Giffords, one of those displayed in Palin's crosshairs would have a moderating effect on this sort of violent speech.
It has not. We are constantly being advised we need to take our country back. Our President is a socialist, a communist, a Muslim. Yesterday a former Presidential candidate and assumed one this next time stated that the President was influenced by growing up in Kenya. It is easy to see why he made that mistake. Kansas and Kenya sound alot alike. What a ridiculous statement. More ridiculous is the fact that Fox partisans will take his statement as fact and corrections by non Fox sources of his statement as part of the left wing conspiracy.
Sharon Angle, unelectable, but still at it calls Harry Reid public enemy number one in a speech this past week and The Speaker of the House Boehner yesterday stated that state workers are holding a machine gun to the heads of government.
Unbelievable. Sorry Gabby you could not expect the discourse to change could you. Unbelievable.
But without trying to sound like a Democratic shill, which I am not, what is it with these Republicans and their violent gun imagery.
We all know about Sarah Palin's "crosshairs" image on her website and we heard Sharon Angle talking about " second amendment remedies." Still one assumed that perhaps the Arizona shooting of Gabby Giffords, one of those displayed in Palin's crosshairs would have a moderating effect on this sort of violent speech.
It has not. We are constantly being advised we need to take our country back. Our President is a socialist, a communist, a Muslim. Yesterday a former Presidential candidate and assumed one this next time stated that the President was influenced by growing up in Kenya. It is easy to see why he made that mistake. Kansas and Kenya sound alot alike. What a ridiculous statement. More ridiculous is the fact that Fox partisans will take his statement as fact and corrections by non Fox sources of his statement as part of the left wing conspiracy.
Sharon Angle, unelectable, but still at it calls Harry Reid public enemy number one in a speech this past week and The Speaker of the House Boehner yesterday stated that state workers are holding a machine gun to the heads of government.
Unbelievable. Sorry Gabby you could not expect the discourse to change could you. Unbelievable.
Pensions
I heard an interview with a woman on the news today. This lady, a Wisconsin citizen was stating that she had to pay for her own healthcare and did not have a fancy pension and so why should union teachers get that.
This is the brilliance of the Republicans. They and their moneyed interests sit back and pull the strings and plant divisiveness between groups that should be on the same side of an issue.
Lets talk about pensions. Again giving the Republicans credit their plan is well thought out and many steps are planned. In a plan presented by Scott Walker today he has greatly expanded a voucher program for education allowing parents to use these to supplement the expense of taking their children out of the public schools. Thus, more teachers would be out of the unions as private school teaches are not unionized. This would drain the pensions of more money, it would also incidentally drain the union of contributions.
The largest contributor to Democratic campaigns are always unions. Republicans state this as being a bad thing while they pocket sums from insurance companies, petrol companies, and defense contractors. You tell me whose hands are cleaner.
However when we are told about the greedy unions who want their pensions to be kept remember this. Throughout their careers teachers have their salary reduced by an amount that covers their benefits. This is a negotiated consideration. An employee in the public sector who does not have these benefits should have them but when you do not bargain collectively you have less control.
It is something very American in this time that instead of wanting to raise ourselves up we want to bring others down to our level. The issue of working people begrudging other working people pensions encapsulates this issue.
State government advises that the pension funds cannot cover the amounts needed to be paid. Imagine if you went to work everyday and every other Thursday your employer paid you X but told you that Y was being kept in an account for your pension. ( something they agreed to with you). So the sum of your total compensation is X plus Y.
However now we find out that Y has been spent on other programs and services and we are short. If we found out that much of Y was being spent to give higher compensation to executives of the company ( in this case the tax breaks for corporations and the wealthiest Wisconsin citizens that Walker gave out right before attacking the unions, this created the shortfall in question in large part) and that therefore Y was not available for your pension how would you feel.
This is what Wisconsin state employees face. These are people who teach our children, these are the faceless government workers that Republican vilify every day. When planes crash into Social Security buildings we are told that while that should not happen Steve King of Iowa can understand the frustration people feel. Really? That comment alone tells you all you need to know.
The Republican dream would be too gut social security and kill union rights. Even the Republicans which seem acceptable on the surface are beholden to that idea on some level. Democrats have their problems and none of our politicians have the stones to attack the corporate welfare, military industrial complex that is just as responsible for our problems as anything else.
Pensions and social security promises should be sacrosanct. Those who most often proclaim they should not be are those who need them not at all. How convenient.
This is the brilliance of the Republicans. They and their moneyed interests sit back and pull the strings and plant divisiveness between groups that should be on the same side of an issue.
Lets talk about pensions. Again giving the Republicans credit their plan is well thought out and many steps are planned. In a plan presented by Scott Walker today he has greatly expanded a voucher program for education allowing parents to use these to supplement the expense of taking their children out of the public schools. Thus, more teachers would be out of the unions as private school teaches are not unionized. This would drain the pensions of more money, it would also incidentally drain the union of contributions.
The largest contributor to Democratic campaigns are always unions. Republicans state this as being a bad thing while they pocket sums from insurance companies, petrol companies, and defense contractors. You tell me whose hands are cleaner.
However when we are told about the greedy unions who want their pensions to be kept remember this. Throughout their careers teachers have their salary reduced by an amount that covers their benefits. This is a negotiated consideration. An employee in the public sector who does not have these benefits should have them but when you do not bargain collectively you have less control.
It is something very American in this time that instead of wanting to raise ourselves up we want to bring others down to our level. The issue of working people begrudging other working people pensions encapsulates this issue.
State government advises that the pension funds cannot cover the amounts needed to be paid. Imagine if you went to work everyday and every other Thursday your employer paid you X but told you that Y was being kept in an account for your pension. ( something they agreed to with you). So the sum of your total compensation is X plus Y.
However now we find out that Y has been spent on other programs and services and we are short. If we found out that much of Y was being spent to give higher compensation to executives of the company ( in this case the tax breaks for corporations and the wealthiest Wisconsin citizens that Walker gave out right before attacking the unions, this created the shortfall in question in large part) and that therefore Y was not available for your pension how would you feel.
This is what Wisconsin state employees face. These are people who teach our children, these are the faceless government workers that Republican vilify every day. When planes crash into Social Security buildings we are told that while that should not happen Steve King of Iowa can understand the frustration people feel. Really? That comment alone tells you all you need to know.
The Republican dream would be too gut social security and kill union rights. Even the Republicans which seem acceptable on the surface are beholden to that idea on some level. Democrats have their problems and none of our politicians have the stones to attack the corporate welfare, military industrial complex that is just as responsible for our problems as anything else.
Pensions and social security promises should be sacrosanct. Those who most often proclaim they should not be are those who need them not at all. How convenient.
A Bad Day For America
Crude Oil today as I write this has risen to over $100 dollars a barrel. It has been there before and gone back down in the past. The question is as the Middle East seems to explode country by country is where does it end.
My last delivery of oil was 154 gallons, I think I have 20 gallons left on my prebuy. Our house is drafty, it has been a very cold winter and it is not a good combination.
Still natural gas lines are not being extended to our neighborhood and my comfort level with that is not great anyway. Wood is not an option as I am not a great fan of fire and it is quite work intensive and I would not want to put that on my family.
But as Tom Friedman said in The New York Times today with the growing unrest in The Middle East a good day and a bad day in America is now or will soon be based on the health of an 86 year old King in Saudi Arabia. In short if or perhaps we should say when Saudi Arabia falls to a less export friendly, western friendly regime we will be in world of hurt.
The prospect of heating oil at $5 a gallon next winter is already being promised and the thought of what might happen if things get worse goes beyond what we might be able to imagine. Gas at six or seven dollars a gallon, heating oil at the same would cripple many Americans budget and send the worldwide economy into an oil shock.
Of course such an event would make alternate sources of heat more expensive as well but I think it is time to prepare.
My last delivery of oil was 154 gallons, I think I have 20 gallons left on my prebuy. Our house is drafty, it has been a very cold winter and it is not a good combination.
Still natural gas lines are not being extended to our neighborhood and my comfort level with that is not great anyway. Wood is not an option as I am not a great fan of fire and it is quite work intensive and I would not want to put that on my family.
But as Tom Friedman said in The New York Times today with the growing unrest in The Middle East a good day and a bad day in America is now or will soon be based on the health of an 86 year old King in Saudi Arabia. In short if or perhaps we should say when Saudi Arabia falls to a less export friendly, western friendly regime we will be in world of hurt.
The prospect of heating oil at $5 a gallon next winter is already being promised and the thought of what might happen if things get worse goes beyond what we might be able to imagine. Gas at six or seven dollars a gallon, heating oil at the same would cripple many Americans budget and send the worldwide economy into an oil shock.
Of course such an event would make alternate sources of heat more expensive as well but I think it is time to prepare.
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