A note on Collective Bargaining....

April 4th is the anniversary of the Dr. Martin Luther King's assassination.

I thought it was important to remember why it was, that Dr. King was in Memphis.

Dr. King was there to:

On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, where he had gone to stand with sanitation workers demanding their dream: The right to bargain collectively for a voice at work and a better life. The workers were trying to form a union with AFSCME.

I really don't have much more to add then that. But I just want to say that worker rights have long been a civil rights issue. It is important to remember where have come from, and what is at stake.

-Cheers

Douche-Bag of the day.

What does it take to be a Republican nominee these days? This is the sort of bigotry that the republican party has cultivated.



The sort of willful ignorance of the constitution should disqualify you from holding office. There is no law against being a bigot, but if you use that as a means to deny employment, then you are breaking the law.

-Cheers

Happy Birthday ACA!

On the anniversary of the signing of the Affordable Care Act, the Kaiser Foundation has put together a very nice flow chart on how the ACA works (h/t Ezra Klein).


Pretty straight forward. While, I am still not pleased with the process, it is an impressive first step for dealing with health care costs in the States and in making the system both less costly and more humane.

There is still more work to be done, but it is important to see how far we have come.

Also Mr. Klein does an admirable job of explaining the whole thing here.

-Cheers

....A little bit more...

I initially posted this as an article on Facebook, but I thought it could probably use a little more discussion:

Minnesota Republicans are pushing legislation that would make it a crime for people on public assistance to have more $20 in cash in their pockets any given month. This represents a change from their initial proposal, which banned them from having any money at all.

As to why this is extremely disturbing:

The bill also calls for unconstitutional residency requirements, not allowing the debit card to be used across state lines and other provisions that the Welfare Rights Committee and others consider unacceptable.

Buechner testified, “We’ll leave you with this. It is not right to punish a whole group because of the supposed actions of a few. You in this room could have a pretty rough time if that was the case. It is not right to stigmatize and dehumanize women living the hard life of trying to raise children while living 60% below the poverty level. It is not right to use racist, bumper-sticker hate to inflict human misery for political gain.”

E.D Kain does a nifty job of analyzing this issue. I like the gratuitous addition of limiting teachers' ability to negotiate.

It seems to me that very notion of equitable negotiation is under attack these days. Employers should have all the leverage, and the only option the worker should have, is to find another job. So really, no negotiation at all.

A world where the poor and middle class are constantly under attack, is a world where the wealthy consistently erode the rights and wealth of the middle class and the poor.

-Cheers

It bears repeating....

I am glad that Dr. Krugman went back to this issue again. With all the strum und drang over the deficit, it is worth remembering that this is always the case. Once again I think Matt Yglesias' (By way of Greg Sargent) comments on the subject ring true:

Public understanding of fiscal policy is hazy, inaccurate, and dominated by fallacious analogies between a national government and a household. What’s more, voters believe that deficits are primarily driven by wasteful government spending. So when a recession strikes the deficit spikes, and people complain.

The government is not like your household. It just isn't. It is like comparing a remote control car to the space shuttle. Sure they both have "engines", but they do very different things.

As Steve Benen notes, I do not even know why most republicans in congress are being treated like they have any authenticity on deficit reduction:

I'd be remiss if I neglected to mention how amusing it is to hear Mitch McConnell express concern about the debt. The Kentucky Republican voted for the Bush tax cuts, and added the costs to the national debt. McConnell then voted to finance the war in Afghanistan by adding the costs to the national debt. He then voted to put the costs of the war in Iraq onto the national debt. McConnell supported a massive expansion of the government's role in health care, Medicare Part D, and voted to pile all of its costs right onto the national debt, and then backed the financial industry bailout, and added the bill to the national debt. All the while, McConnell had no qualms about voting to raise the debt limit.

But now McConnell is willing to risk default unless Democrats agree to a plan to help clean up the mess McConnell helped create. Fascinating.

It would be fascinating if it weren't so terribly frustrating.

In other news. With all the focus on Japan after the horrific earthquake/tsunami that struck late last week. I have found this post to be the most important in regards to the reactor issues going on there.

Finally this is one of those stories (via Glenn Greenwald) that has people wondering if the parties are any different. I have to admit this is horribly disappointing on the part of the administration. This is not the sort of treatment that someone who speaks honestly on a despicable situation should be treated. And why exactly should the military be the objective source consulted when talking about possibly illegal activities that the military is involved in?

Just poor form on the part of the Administration. Just leading more credence to the the David Frum axiom: The Republicans fear their base, while Democrats despise theirs.

-Cheers

On the side your bread is buttered.

Of late there are just so many things to write about, that I am suffering a bit of writer's block.

So instead of the pieces I wanted to toss out on Wisconsin, or the Luddite leanings of our new Congress, instead I will just focus on this little chart comparing the stated deficit reduction targets of the GOP versus the tax breaks they are offering. Consider it "The rich have needs too!" chart.

When you look at this chart, I can't help but think what insulated bastards we have running our country. The rich must never be made to share in any sacrifice, because they are innately responsible and all our well beings are dependent on the beneficent ruler-ship. While the poor (cause they are always irresponsible) and middle class needs to reign in their behavior and to stop expecting any assistance from the federal government.

Combine that with a shaky understanding of budgetary issues and the lack of any meaningful push back from the center-left contingent, I think Matt Yglesias gets to the kernel of why the public doesn't care about deficits yet politicians are obsessed with it:

Politicians don't understand that the voters don't care about the deficit because the voters themselves don't understand that they don't care about the deficit. Black, Paul Krugman, Brad DeLong, and I all believe that with unemployment high and interest rates and inflation low that a larger short-term deficit will help post real output and reduce unemployment. If most people agreed with that, then politicians would talk about the deficit in a different way.

But they don't. Public understanding of fiscal policy is hazy, inaccurate, and dominated by fallacious analogies between a national government and a household. What's more, voters believe that deficits are primarily driven by wasteful government spending. So when a recession strikes the deficit spikes, and people complain.

So that is what is consuming my thoughts for right now. Why more people don't stand up and fight about this, is beyond me.

-Cheers

Lost Posters.....

This may be the most awesome lost poster of all time. Of to St. Louis, to visit with old friends, and avoid unofficial.

-Cheers