Category Archives: Politics

Arizona’s SB1070 7 Months Later.

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In April of this year, Jan Brewer signed Arizona’s controversial anti-immigrant bill into law.  It was hailed by conservatives far and wide as a great first step in closing our border to keep Mexicans from taking our jobs and using our services.  And at least 12 more states are considering similar legislation.

So how is 1070 actually working out?

In the 7 months since its signing, many of the most controversial parts of the law have not yet gone into effect, and the state has spent more than $10 million to defend the law in courts.  An estimated 100,000 undocumented workers have fled the state to find jobs elsewhere, taking with them the money they paid for rent, clothing, groceries, gasoline and more.  A very conservative estimate of the financial loss to the state would be somewhere in the vicinity of $4 million.  And their contributions as a workforce to the state could be estimated at more than 10 times that.  In addition, the law has led to boycotts from other states and cities which has already cost our tourism industry more than $141 million.  Add to that the jobs lost in the tourist industry and the cost rises to more than $250,000.  Based on the latest estimates, the new law has cost Arizona nearly $500 million!

“But certainly the state has seen some benefits from the law, too,” you say.

Not really.  It has served to create distrust between Arizona’s white population and Latino population.  The law has turned many other states and cities against us.  And the drug war still rages along the border, fueled by American guns and our insatiable appetite for illegal drugs.

The only ones who seem to have benefited from the law are Jan Brewer, John McCain, Russell Pearce, and other right-wing Arizona politicians who used scare tactics related to the law to get themselves re-elected.  Which is no doubt the over-riding reason for passing the law in the first place.

The War Within.

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For many years, Republicans have accused Democrats of “class warfare” and “wealth redistribution.”  They’re correct, of course.  But they fail to mention that they are the ones responsible.  And that the wealth is being redistributed to the wealthiest 2% of our population.

Ever since Ronald Reagan began pushing economic policies based on the “trickle-down theory,” our government has “reformed” (eliminated) welfare for the poor and increased welfare for large corporations and the wealthy.

For example, under Republican leadership, Arizona has reduced corporate taxes 15 years in a row.  As a result, the percentage of state revenue from corporate taxes has dropped 35% to 9%.  Is there really any question why the state is facing a deficit of more than $1 billion in 2011?  Not even increased sales taxes and the already draconian cuts in education, state parks and health care for the poor can make up the deficit.  And Arizona is not alone.

For many years, federal, state and local governments have bowed at the altar of big business thanks to Republicans and their allies.

Due to their political leverage, large corporations are given many advantages over their smaller rivals and individuals.  The federal government has allowed multi-national corporations to avoid taxes by locating a post office box off-shore.  These same corporations have been rewarded for sending jobs off-shore, as well.  State governments provide large “loans” and tax incentives to encourage corporations to open facilities in their states.  And city governments provide Tax Increment Financing (another term for property tax avoidance) to encourage development within their cities.

Corporate farm operations have received $billions in subsidies while family farms have been allowed to go bankrupt.  Large oil companies and mining operations are given subsidies to deface our land and pollute our air and water.

And the best example of all is the recent melt-down and ensuing bailout of our largest financial institutions.  In the ’90s, Republicans stripped away most financial regulations allowing these institutions to gamble with our money.  When the institutions failed, taxpayers were forced to loan them $billions to avoid a devastating depression while the gamblers paid themselves $billions in bonuses.And how did Republicans address the situation?  Why, of course, they fought against any form of increased regulation by Democrats!

Now Republicans are determined to extend the Bush-era tax cuts, despite the fact that they’ll add more than $4 trillion to our national debt over the next 10 years!  They even want to permanently extend tax cuts for millionaires that will add more than $700 billion to our deficit over 10 years.  Out of the other side of their mouths, they continue to talk about reducing our growing deficit.

And how do they propose to reduce the deficit they created?  Do they want to eliminate tax loopholes that encourage large corporations to export jobs and avoid taxes?  Do they want to cut our bloated military budget?  Do they want to go after the abuses of military contractors?

Of course not.

They want to end unemployment benefits, reduce Social Security, reduce Medicare, reduce the Veteran’s Administration, eliminate Medicaid (health care access for the poor) and create a national sales tax which will further increase the tax burden on the poor and the middle class.  They may succeed.

As long as Democrats remain dispirited, and independents vote against their own self-interest as they did this year, Republicans and their corporate masters will continue to extract money from working people.  To ensure that, they can rely on a conservative-controlled Supreme Court that equates corporations to people, and allows corporations to spend tens of millions of dollars on behalf of Republican candidates.

News Integrity (And Fox’s Lack Thereof)

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Since Spiro Agnew, conservatives have railed against the so-called liberal news media.  Indeed, half-governor Palin is fond of referring to any media other than Fox News Channel as “lame stream media.”  And conservatives proudly point to Fox News as the only place to learn the “real truth” about politics.

At the same time, they deride one of the most liberal news outlets, MSNBC, as partisan and dishonest.  Really?

If Fox News is so “fair and balanced,” why then does the network blatantly promote Republican candidates on air?  Why does it sponsor conservative rallies?  Why does the network make contributions to Republican candidates?  Why do its “news” hosts also dole out political contributions to conservative candidates?

And why does MSNBC suspend its most popular host for making contributions to 3 Democratic candidates?

Could it be that MSNBC and other networks have integrity?  And Fixed News doesn’t?

Another WTF? Vote.

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For some time, I’ve wondered why my Republican friends continue to vote against their own self-interest.  I do have a few wealthy friends who benefit from Republican policies.  But the majority are more often harmed by Republican initiatives.

For example, Republicans talk about tax cuts for the rich being good for small business owners who generate most of the jobs in this country.  That may sound reasonable.  However, you have to look at what Republican leaders consider small businesses.  By their definition of limited ownership, Cargill (the world’s largest privately-held corporation) and Koch Industries (the world’s second-largest privately-held corporation) are “small” businesses.  And, of course, extending the Bush-era tax cuts would be very good for them.

The reality is that eliminating the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy would affect only 3% of small business owners.

Republicans have also been at the forefront of providing tax breaks for corporations that ship jobs overseas.  They refuse to entertain penalties for large American corporations that move their “headquarters” off-shore to avoid U.S. taxes.  Republicans rail against common sense regulations that prevent greedy corporations from destroying our environment and robbing our citizens.  Indeed, Republicans actually apologized to BP when the Obama administration demanded it pay for damages to those affected by the massive Gulf oil spill.  And virtually all Republicans voted against reform of Wall Street after it collapsed our economy!

So what have Republicans done to earn my friends’ loyalty?  Social Security?  Nope.  That was passed by Democrats over the protests of many Republican.  Medicare?  Nope.  That was passed by Democrats with little to no help from Republicans.  Corporate-provided health care and profit-sharing?  Wrong again.  Employee benefits are the result of labor union fights (literally) against greedy company owners.

So what does the Republican Party do to deserve the undying loyalty of those who work for a living?  They lie.  And they are very good at it.

Okay, Republicans, now what?

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You lied, cheated and spent your way into control of the House of Representatives.  You took control of more governors’ offices.  And you took control of 19 more state legislatures.

Much of your success was the result of massive corporate donations and your filibustering of legislation that could have helped turn this economy around – the economy that collapsed on your watch due to your lack of oversight and regulation.  Remember?

You blamed your mess on President Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.  Then you talked about “taking your country back,” resorting to 2nd Amendment remedies, if necessary.

You won on promises of less government and lower taxes.  So what next?

Plan to cut the size of government?  Maybe you haven’t noticed, but the downsizing of state, county and local governments is one of the primary reasons our economy is so slow to recover.  We’re losing government jobs faster than private industry can add jobs.  Moreover, the lack of government oversight of Wall Street is one of the main reasons we’re in this predicament.

Plan to cut taxes by renewing the ill-conceived Bush tax cuts for the wealthy?  Then plan on adding $80 billion to our deficit over the next two years.  Want to repeal “Obamacare?”  Then plan on adding yet another $138 billion to our deficit over the next 10 years.  (Not to mention the fact that you’ll be denying health care access to more than 30 million Americans.)

Plan on cutting the deficit?  You could cut half of our bloated $663.7 billion defense budget (not including the Iraq and Afghan wars).  But what will you do about the defense contractor jobs you eliminate?

The most radical Republicans talk about eliminating or privatizing all “entitlements” such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.  They want to get rid of the Department of Education, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Science Foundation, as well.  All of that combined would save $1.48 trillion a year, completely offsetting the deficit and leaving us with a surplus of more than $200 billion each year (not including tax cuts for the wealthy, rising health care costs, increased military spending and increased border security).

But we’d have a nation of uneducated, unheathy children and heavily-armed, destitute senior citizens.  Try running on that platform in future elections.  Or will you do as some Tea Party candidates suggest, and limit voting to landowners or those already in office?

Who Left The Asylum Doors Open?

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In a letter to the Arizona Republic, a Democratic voter stated that he was going to vote a straight Republican ticket. His reasoning was that he was tired of the Republican whining and wanted to give Republicans the opportunity to fix the economy themselves. What genius! Let’s reward the very people who created this mess in the first place. At the same time, let’s penalize the people who have spent the past two years trying to fix it.

I now think I’ve read and seen it all this election season. Candidates who recommend the bartering of chickens for health care services instead of “Obamacare.” Candidates who consider the minimum wage and unemployment insurance unconstitutional. A candidate who dresses up in Nazi uniforms. A candidate who wants to abolish public schools. A candidate who thinks civil rights is a bad idea. Candidates who want to limit the vote to landowners. A whole host of candidates who want to solve our deficit problems by giving billions more in tax breaks to the nation’s wealthiest people. And a candidate who has to run a commercial saying “I am not a witch.”

These are the people the letter writer wants to fix our economy?

I guess Arizona’s education system is even worse than I thought!

How Much Is Your Vote Worth?

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$100? $1,000? $10,000? More? This year, corporate and foreign-funded shadow groups seem willing to spend whatever it takes to convince you to vote Republican.

Unfortunately, you won’t get to pocket the money.  But, thanks to the Supreme Court decision in the Citizerns United case, corporations (both domestic and foreign) are now able to pour hundreds of millions of dollars into advertising campaigns that attack Democrats. Even the Chamber of Commerce is getting into the act. The group has solicited large donations from businesses in China, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Bahrain and other nations to spend on attack ads against Democratic candidates. Best of all, unlike the $20 donations you give to candidates, the corporations can give anonymously. The shadow groups don’t have to disclose the source of their millions.

Now you may be asking, “Why are corporations so willing to open their vaults for politics?”

The answer is obvious. They expect something in return. And, as always, Republicans stand ready to give it to them. Republican candidates promise to continue their fight against labor unions. They will continue to promote lower taxes for corporations and the wealthy. They are committed to eliminating pesky regulations that protect the environment and consumers. And they continue to attack so-called entitlements such as Social Security and Medicare.

This year, Republicans even offer a few new bonuses for their corporate masters. Many of the so-called Tea Party candidates on the Republican ticket have questioned the Constitutionality of the minimum wage and unemployment insurance. After all, who wants to waste money on a bunch of lazy deadbeats who can’t hold a job?)  Further, Newt Gingrich is even recommending that GOP candidates attack food stamps! 

If all this corporate money is able to buy enough votes, just imagine what that could mean for working people. American workers can look forward to lower wages, fewer benefits, unaffordable health care and no safety nets. Who wouldn’t want that?

The Truth About President Obama And Congress.

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Out of more than 500 promises made by President Obama during the 2008 campaign, Politifact.com finds that 122 have been kept, 39 have been compromised, 238 are in the works, 82 are stalled (primarily in the Senate), and 3 have not yet been rated. A mere 22 promises have been broken and many of those were casualties of the economic disaster created by his predecessor.

The promises kept include a credit card bill of rights, expanded loan programs for small business, full funding of the Veterans Administration, removing combat troops from Iraq, closing the donut hole in Medicare prescriptions, requiring health insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions, providing tax credits for those who need help paying health insurance premiums, requiring large employers to contribute to a national health insurance plan, and many other issues covered by the new health reform act.

In addition, he helped save the U.S. auto industry. And his policies have stemmed the bleeding of 750,000 jobs per month prior to his taking office, and led to the creation of millions of jobs in the private sector. 

That’s a lot of progress for less than two years in office. It’s even more impressive given the GOP’s record-setting use of the fillibuster to oppose his initiatives.

The inescapable conclusion is that when you voted for Obama, you got almost exactly the President you voted for. That begs the question of why there is so much voter anger and Democratic apathy this year. Likely, it’s a combination of impatience, misunderstanding and frustration.

For the past two years, Republicans, using their Fox Noise megaphone, have whined, complained and lied about every single Presidential initiative. They ginned up mock outrage over the lowest Federal taxes in 50 years. They labeled as “bailouts” loans to automakers that saved 10 million high-paying U.S. jobs. They labeled as “socialism” health care reform designed to provide health care access to 33 million Americans. They blocked and delayed legislation that would create jobs, help small businesses, improve the environment and take away tax incentives for large corporations that exported jobs overseas. And their corporate masters have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to attack Democratic Senators and Congressional Representatives who have dared to fulfill their own campaign promises.

Of course most Americans want to see an improved economy, reduced unemployment and reduced deficits! But voting for Republican teabaggers and the GOP’s disingenuous “Pledge to America” will not help. It will only make matters worse!

And if frustrated progressives fail to vote this November, they will only be contributing to the fiasco!

A Petri Dish For Wingnut Ideas.

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Since Janet Napolitano was selected by President Obama to head Homeland Security, the inmates in the asylum otherwise known as the Arizona Legislature have run wild.

Without adult supervision (and a strong Governor to veto their lunacy), legislators have unleashed a torrent of right wing legislation signed into law by Jan Brewer. In addition to the ill-conceived immigration law (SB1070), they banned classes on Latino cultural studies in public schools. They passed a law to fire teachers who have an accent. They made it legal for anyone to carry a concealed gun without a permit. They slashed spending on public schools (AZ now ranks 51st out of 50 states and D.C. in spending per pupil). They cut funding for highway rest stops and for state parks, forcing many parks to close, despite the fact that tourism is one of the state’s largest industries. And they voted to eliminate health care for children of low-income families until they discovered that the state would lose federal funding by doing so, which would cost the state more than it saved.

For 15 years in a row, the Arizona Legislature has cut corporate taxes. So corporations now contribute just 9 percent to Arizona’s total tax revenue. At the same time, the Legislature refuses to close billions of dollars in tax loopholes available to corporations. To compensate for the lost revenue, the state has raised sales taxes which place a disproportionate burden on the poor (in my town, the sales tax is now more than 10 percent). Moreover, much of the legislation represents solutions in search of a problem. For example, they passed a law requiring candidates to produce a birth certificate (take note, President Obama). And they have challenged the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution, spending tens of millions to defend legal challenges by the Federal government.

As a result of all this, Arizona now has one of the largest budget shortfalls in the nation along with one of the highest levels of unemployment. The Legislature and the Governor have driven more than 100,000 people out of the state, made up stories about kidnappings and decapitations in the desert and told the world that Arizona is too dangerous to visit.

But the wingnuts aren’t yet finished with destroying the state.

The upcoming election has even more wingnut ideas on the state ballot. Legislators want to cut a program for Early Childhood Family Education and sweep the money into the general budget. They want voters to pass an amendment allowing the state to opt out of the national health care program. They also want voters to pass a NRA-backed amendment making it unconstitutional for the DNR to restrict hunting, even for an endangered species.

If you’re unhappy with the bickering in Congress, it may be tempting to send a message by electing a bunch of angry, uninformed Tea Party candidates to Washington. You may even think that Congress couldn’t possibly get any worse with them in charge. If so, you don’t have to wait to see the consequences to our nation. Just look at Arizona.

The False Promise Of Privatization.

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Since Ronald Reagan, Republicans have promoted the privatization of government services as the solution to all economic problems. They have long wanted to privatize Social Security and Medicare as a method of killing these so-called entitlements. They would like to privatize the postal service. Under Republican administrations, they have already privatized prisons, much of the military, even intelligence-gathering operations. And, at the state level, they propose to privatize highway rest stops and state parks.

The belief is that corporations are always able to do things better, and for less cost, than the government.

Well, let’s examine the concept. Had Social Security been privatized in 2008, most people would have lost large portions of their investments with the crash of the stock markets. Private contractors for the military have bilked taxpayers out of hundreds of billions of dollars in Afghanistan and Iraq. And the recent escape by three murderers in Arizona occurred due to negligence at a for-profit prison.

Want more?

Then how would you feel about the sale of naming rights for the Grand Canyon or Yosemite? The sponsoring corporation could place its logo at the base of the canyon or the base of the falls. And why stop there? All park attendants could wear logos on their backs. There could be billboards for the corporate sponsors everywhere within the park borders. All highways and roads could become toll roads with a series of corporate logos replacing the white dotted center lines. Interstate rest stops could be turned over to fast food corporations and gas stations with pay toilets. All police squad cars could have corporate logos replacing the shields on the doors. And all 911 calls could be routed to call centers in India or the Philippines where the caller is put on hold for 20 minutes.

And once the corporations realize they have control of the business, prices will go up to pay six-or-seven-figure bonuses to the executives and dividends to shareholders.

The point is, corporations are in business to make money and they’re only responsible to their shareholders while government entities are non-profit and report to you. And, as for the claim that corporations are less bureaucratic than government, anyone who has ever worked for a large corporation or tried to get a claim paid by a large insurance company can tell you that’s simply not true.