Category Archives: Politics

In The Public Interest?

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In 1934, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was given the power to license wire and broadcast communications, demanding that licensees prove they operate “in the public interest.” Not long afterward, the FCC implemented The Fairness Doctrine, which required licensees to present issues of public importance and do so in a manner that was deemed “honest, equitable and balanced.”

Unfortunately, the Fairness Doctrine was eliminated in 1987, following years of attacks by the political right beginning with Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew. Since then, our media has failed on almost every level…except for generating massive amounts of money.

It’s no coincidence that, following the end of the Fairness Doctrine, broadcast stations and networks have been swallowed up by large media conglomerates.  To maximize profits, the new owners diminished long-established news-gathering organizations, such as the once-proud CBS News which was home to legendary newsmen like Edward R. Murrow, Douglas Edwards, Walter Cronkite, Eric Severeid, and far too many others to mention.

At the same time, radio was hijacked by blathering, angry wingnuts such as Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.  And the newspaper industry has been virtually replaced by on-line “news” sites that provide a few headlines with little depth or context.

The result of all this is that we no longer have in-depth reporting, especially with regard to politics.  TV networks are filled with “human interest” and are almost devoid of “public interest.”  The most popular cable news network is little more than a megaphone for Teapublican talking points.  Radio is filled with conservative lies.  And newspapers have redirected their efforts toward local news gathering.

(Ironically, Rolling Stone, Mother Jones and Vanity Fair, which were once special interest magazines, are now doing more in-depth investigative reporting on national and international issues than nearly all of the so-called “news” media combined.)

It is precisely this news void that has allowed the Republican Party, the Tea Party and its unscrupulous candidates, such as George W. Bush, Richard “The Dick” Cheney, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan to become serial liars. And we’re all paying a price for it through tax cuts for billionaires and tax subsidies for large corporations, resulting in enormous deficits and endless wars of choice.

What can you do about it?

For one thing, you can ask your Congressional Representative and Senators to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine. You can demand your state universities teach students that journalism is more than mere reporting; it’s a never-ending search for the truth. You can call out candidates whenever you hear them lie. And you can support the few media left that actually practice real journalism.

More Evidence Of Teapublican Stupidity.

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A new poll by the National Hispanic Media Coalition and Latino Decisions has found that more than 30 percent of non-Hispanics believe most Hispanics are undocumented immigrants.  Hispanics represent 18 percent of the US population.  Yet, of that 18 percent, only 37 percent of Hispanics in the US are actually immigrants.  No one knows how many of those are here illegally.

In fact, many Hispanics are descendants of some of our nation’s very first European settlers.

This misunderstanding wouldn’t have anything to do with Lou Dobbs’ anti-immigrant rants on Fox News Channel would it?  It wouldn’t have anything to do with John “Build The Dang Fence” McCain’s racist campaign during the 2010 elections would it?  Or with Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s, Governor Jan Brewer’s, and Sheriff Paul Babeu’s misinformation campaigns?  Or with Arizona’s “Papers Please” SB 1070 anti-immigrant law?

For the last decade these people and others have verbally assaulted Hispanics and Latinos.  They have targeted Latinos with “sweeps,” pulling over Latino-looking drivers for burned-out tail-lights in hopes of finding someone without documents.  They have selectively raided businesses with Latino workers.

At the same time, they have ignored most of the businesses which exploit immigrants – especially large corporations.  And many of those who are most angry about illegal immigration are among the first to look for Latino day laborers to help with landscaping, roofing and other difficult jobs.

It’s not liberals who have vilified immigrants.  It’s the me-first, angry right.  And Teapublicans wonder why few Latinos and Hispanics vote for them.

Are We Better Off Than 4 Years Ago? Let Me Count The Ways.

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What an utterly ridiculous question!  As a campaign technique, it may have worked in 1980 against Jimmy Carter and in 1984 against Walter Mondale.  But it’s completely absurd now.

At the end of the Bush administration, the US was losing 800,000 jobs a month.  Since President Obama took office, those losses have stopped and our economy has added private sector jobs for 29 straight months.

On December 31, 2008, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 8,776, resulting in devastating losses for pension funds and Individual Retirement Accounts.  Today, the Dow has soared to more than 13,300.

When President Obama took office, General Motors and Chrysler were on the verge of bankruptcy, jeopardizing more than a million jobs. Now both automakers are thriving, and General Motors has reclaimed the title of world’s largest automaker.

Four years ago, we were immersed in two lengthy and costly wars.  Since then, President Obama has ended the war in Iraq, ordered the killing of Osama bin Laden, and placed an end date on the war in Afghanistan.

In 2008, healthcare costs were soaring out of control, sending many American families into bankruptcy and costing those who could not afford insurance their lives.  In 2010, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act which has stemmed the rising cost of healthcare and given more than 30 million people access to health insurance.

I could go on.  But, seriously, do I really need to?

If you can’t see that our nation is a whole lot better off since the beginning of the Obama administration, you’ve been spending far too much time watching the Fox News Channel and listening to conservative hate radio.

Cheney’s 9/11.

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As the most deadly attack on US soil, 9/11 is a solemn occasion for all Americans. What makes it even more tragic is that it likely didn’t have to happen.

Many of us knew about the August 6, 2001 presidential daily brief headlined “Bin Laden determined to strike in US.”  But few of us knew of all the warnings that preceded it.  Kurt Eichenwald’s revelations in the New York Times represent a 9/11 disaster for the Bush administration and, most especially, former V.P. Richard “The Dick” Cheney.

The memos detailed in Eichenwald’s piece reveal that neoconservatives within the Bush administration were dismissive of warnings from the CIA and its Counterterrorism Center, labeling the warnings as a distraction from the “real threat” that was Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.  This was despite the fact that international inspectors repeatedly stated that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction, and that it had no delivery vehicles capable of reaching the US.

Moreover, the reports showed that there was no evidence of cooperation between Iraq and al Qaeda.

So who were these neocons dismissing the warnings of an attack by al Qaeda?  The most prominent neocons connected to the Pentagon and the intelligence community included Donald Rumsfeld, Lewis Libby, Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, Elliot Abrams and, of course, Dick Cheney who bullied his way into the leadership role for intelligence for the administration.

These people were all members of the Project for a New American Century, which was determined to use our unchallenged military to push our economic interests around the world.  Indeed, a 2000 PNAC report stated “The United States has for decades sought to play a more permanent role in (Persian) Gulf regional security…the need for a substantial American force presence in the Gulf transcends the issue of the regime of Saddam Hussein.”

The 2000 PNAC report went on to say that it would be politically difficult to transform our military into “tomorrow’s dominant force” and create such a presence in the Gulf unless the US was struck by “some catastrophic and catalyzing event – like a new Pearl Harbor.”

If that doesn’t send a chill down your spine, I can’t imagine what would…especially when you consider the Cheney-led dismissiveness of pre-9/11 warnings.

Want to know something almost as frightening?  17 of Romney’s foreign policy advisors worked for the George W. Bush administration.

Do Teapublicans Actually Know Anything?

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For several years, surveys have shown that the majority of Teapublicans don’t know that President Obama was born in the United States.  The polls have also shown that a significant number of Teapublicans think Obama is a Muslim.

Now polls in Ohio and North Carolina show that approximately two-thirds of “very conservative” Teapublicans think former governor Mitt Romney deserves more responsibility for ordering the killing of Osama bin Laden than President Obama!

Say what?

Romney ordered the killing of bin Laden?  Now that would have been quite an accomplishment for someone who has no current standing in the federal government.  Nevertheless, that is what the polls show.

Is it any wonder that so many Teapublicans believe their lieing leaders?  Is it any wonder that poor and middle class Teapublicans continue to vote against their own self-interests?  Is it any wonder that our nation’s politics are so fractured?  How can anyone hope to negotiate and compromise with officials who represent these people?

No doubt these are the same people who think the Earth is only 6,000 years old, and that our ancestors rode dinosaurs.

Teapublicans are doing everything possible to keep Democrats and minorities from voting this election by requiring new photo IDs.  Instead, maybe they should require an intelligence test for voting.  If they did, we might not see another Teapublican president or Congress in a generation.

Where Are The Leaders?

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Now that both political conventions have ended, I think it’s fair to make comparisons.

In watching the Republican National Convention, you saw a collection of mostly angry old white men.  Moreover, you saw few people who would deserve the title of leader.  Not Romney.  And certainly not Ryan.

As in 2008, the people on display not only seemed mean-spirited.  They were largely untruthful.  Those who have elbowed their way to the top of the GOP seem hollow; devoid of compassion and lacking ideas that would benefit anyone but the powerful and rich.

By contrast, there were many leaders on display at the Democratic National Convention; people with vision.  One doesn’t have to stretch the imagination to see Cory Booker, Tammy Duckworth, Elizabeth Warren, Ted Strickland, Julian Castro, Duval Patrick, and Vice-President Joe Biden occupying the White House.  And, of course, President Barack Obama seemed as presidential as ever.

Given the contrast, it’s difficult to imagine that the GOP will win the White House in the near future.  Of course, there’s always the possibility that their lies and voter suppression efforts might allow them to steal an election as they did in 2000.

Let’s make sure that voter turnout for President Obama is so overwhelming that the GOP’s attempts fail!

Why Romney’s Tax Returns Really Do Matter.

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Mitt Romney has broken with tradition, saying he will not release more than his tax return for 2010 and for 2011 “when it’s ready.” He refuses to release any more returns, saying in other words, “I took a look at the last 10 years and I paid a tax rate of approximately 13 percent.”

So why doesn’t he want to follow in the footsteps of his own father by releasing more returns?

Quite simply, he doesn’t want you to know the lengths to which he has gone in order to evade US income taxes.  He doesn’t want anyone peering into his off-shore accounts in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Luxembourg and Switzerland.  And he wants to deflect the whole issue of his finances until after the election.

This isn’t the first time Romney has asked people to trust him about his finances.

He did the same when he ran for governor of Massachussetts.  Back then, he faced questions about the state’s residency requirements when his opponent claimed that Romney was actually a Utah resident.  Of course, Mitt denied it.  When asked to produce his tax returns, he refused, saying that he had filed tax returns as a Massachussetts resident and would prove it when his returns became available after the election.

And what did they find after Mitt won?  Why, of course, they found that his tax returns claimed residency in Utah.  In other words, he did not meet the Constitutional requirements to be governor.

That incident should tell you all you need to know about Romney.  1 – He cannot be trusted.  2 – He will do and say anything to be elected.

Liein’ Ryan.

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First, I must credit my friend, Mike Cosentino, for the title.  To my knowledge, he was the first to coin the description of the Teapublican Vice-Presidential candidate.  And Ryan has certainly lived up to the title ever since.  Indeed, his penchant for ignoring the truth was on full display at the Republican National Convention.

For example, Paul Ryan says that his budget plan will “save Medicare.” But in reality, it will leave the next generation of seniors at the mercy of greedy health insurance companies. Ryan says that his budget will cut the deficit. What he doesn’t tell you is that his plan will increase an already bloated defense budget and give large tax cuts to the wealthy while cutting healthcare and food stamps for the poor.

Ryan has lied so much and so often, he couldn’t even tell the truth about his only marathon time.

Prior to the convention, Ryan condemned Congressman Todd Akin’s remarks on “legitmate” rape as offensive. Yet Ryan co-sponsored a bill with Akin that would ban all abortions except for pregnancies that resulted from “forcible” rape.  In other words, you would be denied an abortion unless you could show that you had been bruised and beaten sufficiently in an attempt to fight off the attacker.

Moreover, Akin and Ryan co-sponsored a “personhood” bill that would give fetuses all of the rights and protections of the First Amendment thereby outlawing all abortions, even in vitro fertilization. And lest you think Aikin and Ryan are alone in their extreme beliefs, the GOP adopted a platform that would ban all abortions. No exceptions.

Of all the liars in the Republican Party, Paul Ryan is one of the most prolific. By himself, he could easily provide enough material to fill a second volume of the Teapublican Book of Lies.

Ted Strickland Outlines The Stark Differences Between Candidates.

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Michelle Obama and Duval Patrick gave great speeches at the Democratic National Convention. But, so far, nobody has done a better job of contrasting the two presidential candidates than former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland. In case you missed it, here is the text of his prepared remarks:

I’m Ted Strickland, and I come from Duck Run, Ohio. Let me tell you, folks in Ohio know what happens when you have a president who stands up for average working people.

Ina Sidney is a grandmother who lost her ability to provide for her family when they closed down the auto plant in Perrysburg, Ohio. Ina says thanks to Barack Obama for having the courage to back an industry that others had given up on. She’s an autoworker and a breadwinner once again.

As he celebrated the birth of his newborn baby boy, Brian Slagle lost his job just at the moment he needed it most. But today he’s back making auto batteries in a factory in Springfield Township, Ohio. And he said there’s one reason he has a steady paycheck again: Barack Obama refused to let the American auto industry die.

James Fayson felt like there was no tomorrow when he was laid off. “I believe in working every day,” he said, “and that was taken from me.” Today, James is working sixty hours a week on the Jeep Liberty line in Toledo. He is thrilled to say that his life right now is “eat, sleep and Jeep.” He’s back, he said, because Barack Obama gave us a chance for a comeback.

The auto industry supports one of every eight jobs in Ohio, and it’s alive and growing in America again. Late last year, Chrysler announced they were hiring eleven hundred new autoworkers in Toledo. Just last month, GM announced a plan to invest 200 million dollars in Lordstown, keeping five thousand jobs in Ohio and building the next generation of the Chevy Cruze—a car we are proud to say is made entirely in Ohio.

It’s been a long slog back, and we’ve still got a long way to go. But all over Ohio—all over America—men and women are going back to work with the pride of building something stamped “Made in America.” Before Barack Obama took office, it looked like that pride could have vanished forever, but today, from the staggering depths of the Great Recession, the nation has had 29 straight months of job growth. Workers across my state and across the country are getting back the dignity of a good job and a good salary.

Vince Lombardi was right when he said, “It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get back up.” And my friends Ina Sydney, Brian Slagle and James Fayson were all knocked down. But Ina, Brian and James are all standing today. The auto industry is standing today. The middle class is standing today. Ohio is standing today. America is standing strong today.

That’s what happens when you have a president who stands up for average working people. President Barack Obama stood up for us, and now by God we will stand up for him. Quite frankly, Barack Obama knows what it’s like to pay a mortgage and student loans. He knows what it’s like to watch a beloved family member in a medical crisis and worry that treatment is out of reach. Barack Obama knows our struggles. And, my friends, he shares our values.

Now, Mitt Romney, he lives by a different code. To him, American workers are just numbers on a spreadsheet.

To him, all profits are created equal, whether made on our shores or off. That’s why companies Romney invested in were dubbed “outsourcing pioneers.” Our nation was built by pioneers—pioneers who accepted untold risks in pursuit of freedom, not by pioneers seeking offshore profits at the expense of American workers here at home.

Mitt Romney proudly wrote an op-ed entitled, “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.” If he had had his way, devastation would have cascaded from Michigan to Ohio and across the nation. Mitt Romney never saw the point of building something when he could profit from tearing it down. If Mitt was Santa Claus, he’d fire the reindeer and outsource the elves.

Mitt Romney has so little economic patriotism that even his money needs a passport. It summers on the beaches of the Cayman Islands and winters on the slopes of the Swiss Alps. In Matthew, chapter 6, verse 21, the scriptures teach us that where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. My friends, any man who aspires to be our president should keep both his treasure and his heart in the United States of America. And it’s well past time for Mitt Romney to come clean with the American people.

On what he’s saying about the president’s policy for welfare to work, he’s lying. Simple as that. On his tax returns, he’s hiding. You have to wonder, just what is so embarrassing that he’s gone to such great lengths to bury the truth? Whatever he’s doing to avoid taxes, can it possibly be worse than the Romney-Ryan tax plan that would have sliced Mitt’s total tax rate to less than one percent?

My friends, there is a true choice in this election. Barack Obama is betting on the American worker. Mitt Romney is betting on a Bermuda shell corporation. Barack Obama saved the American auto industry. Mitt Romney saved on his taxes. Barack Obama is an economic patriot. Mitt Romney is an outsourcing pioneer. My friends, the stakes are too high, the differences too stark to sit this one out. Let us stand as one on November 6th and move this country forward by re-electing President Barack Obama.

Romney: A Corporate Wet Dream.

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Contrary to the belief of the conservative majority of our Supreme Court, corporations are most definitely not people. They are not born. They are created by lawyers.

In fact, corporations have little in common with most living, breathing people. They do, however, have a great deal in common with Mitt Romney.

Like many large corporations, Romney seems to lack a moral compass. Like many large corporations, Romney has extracted as much money as possible from society while giving back little in return. And like many corporations, Romney evades taxes and any sense of responsibility to the common good.

Romney has spent the past four years sucking up to billionaires and big corporations, including all of Wall Street, in order to win election. Want a tax policy that rewards the wealthy and punishes the poor? Romney will give it to you. Want an energy policy that rewards Big Oil and Big Coal while destroying our planet? No problem! Want a foreign policy that will bully the world and fuel our defense industry? Of course! Want a social policy that forces narrow-minded religious values on women? Sure!

No presidential candidate has been so beholden to the wealthiest and most powerful in our nation. If Mitt’s elected, you can be sure they will be rewarded handsomely.

The rest of America, and the planet, will pay for it dearly.