Another Fox Feargasm.

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Heard about the new “Black Panthers?” Have you heard that three members of the Black Panther Party allegedly tried to intimidate voters in one Philadelphia precinct in 2008; one with a police-style baton? Have you heard that the Department of Justice refused to press charges against the individuals involved and, instead, banned the individual with the baton from Philadelphia polling places until 2012?

Of course, the “fair and balanced” nitwits have gone ballistic. They claim that it demonstrates racism by President Obama and his administration. And they have the “news” story on a loop, repeating it hourly.

Nevermind that there are no accusations that these members committed acts of violence or kept anyone from voting. And nevermind that, for decades, white supremacists have intimidated African-Americans to keep them from voting. Indeed, in 2000, there were many reported instances of voter intimidation in Florida to keep African-Americans from voting for Al Gore. And as many as 10,000 registered voters were denied their right to vote in several Florida counties. Where was the outrage by Fox Noise then? Where were the indictments by the Bush administration? Where was the outrage by Fox when their viewers appeared at Congressional forums with threatening signs and assault rifles? And what if the Obama administration had indicted teabaggers for trying to intimidate Congressional representatives?

It appears that the Faux News treatment of the Black Panthers story is merely intended to create more fear toward President Obama amongst the uninformed, the misinformed and the unintelligent.

While the actions of a few people in Philadelphia are deplorable, they are nothing new. And they certainly don’t warrant 24/7 media coverage. But then, neither did the Fox Feargasm that led to the closing of ACORN.

Fox led its viewers to believe that ACORN had helped “steal” the 2008 elections and that employees of ACORN provided advice to a “pimp” and a “prostitute.” After several investigations, it’s now clear that the only prostitution was by the producers of the videos and the idiots on Fox who sold their integrity in order to attack an organization they viewed as a political opponent.

Based on Fox’s version of the news, one can only wonder when, or if, its audience will ever realize that the network that claims to be “fair and balanced” is neither.

© LaMaster Propaganda – All rights reserved.

What’s The Real Reason There Are More Women In The Workplace?

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For the past several years, there has been much publicity over the increase of women in the workplace. The hiring of women has greatly outpaced the hiring of men in certain jobs. Advertising, marketing, healthcare, and many other industries are becoming dominated by women. The statistics would lead you to believe that the U.S. has finally become gender equal.

But before you begin applauding American corporations for their enlightment, you may want to consider another, not quite so flattering, reason for the change. In their never-ending quest to increase profits and pump up stock prices, corporations may simply be hiring more women because they can pay them less.

That’s right. American corporations have cut employee-related costs by increasing productivity, automating production lines, and shipping high-paying jobs overseas where workers are paid less and receive virtually no benefits. Many have hired illegal immigrants to replace workers at the lowest end of the pay scale. They’ve utilized independent contractors to replace full-time office workers in order to avoid paying Social Security, health care benefits, disability insurance and unemployment insurance. They’ve even come up with ways to use the Internet to pare the cost of marketing, advertising and design. So what’s left?

Women have always been able to do most jobs as well as men (and many better). But their salaries have long been suppressed. (A recent study found that female attorneys in elite law firms were paid an average of $66,000/year less than their male counterparts.) So why not take advantage of them once again?

Hiring more women is a sign of progress toward gender equality. But the reason for it is not necessarily one that corporations should be proud of.

AZ now stands for Assinine Zealots.

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For the past 15 years, Arizona Republicans have cut taxes for corporations and the wealthy in an attempt to intentionally bankrupt the state. At the same time, they’ve transferred funds through tax credits to private and parochial schools while hacking away at public school funding. And as the state’s population blossomed, they did little to expand the economy, choosing to rely instead on home building and tourism.

So what are they doing now that both industries have collapsed? In addition to raising sales taxes (in my locale, the current rate is 10.5 percent on all purchases) and further slashing funding for public schools (funding that already ranked 51 out of 50 states), they’re blaming our problems on illegal immigrants.

For centuries, oppressive regimes around the globe have deflected criticism by blaming minorities. Of course, illegals are in no position to defend themselves. They have no ability to vote. By necessity, they don’t even want to admit their status.

So instead of trying to create new jobs in Arizona or even eliminate government waste, the Republican–dominated Legislature and Governor Jan Brewer deflect attention from their abysmal performance by villainizing illegals. Even the wannabe teabaggers, John McCain and Jon Kyl have gotten into the act. They falsely claim that Phoenix ranks 2nd in the world for kidnappings. They falsely claim that most of the undocumented workers are drug dealers or mules. They falsely claim that the Obama administration refuses to take action to seal the border. And they falsely claim that undocumented workers contribute nothing to the state’s economy while flooding social services.

The truth is that undocumented workers contribute a great deal to the state’s economy through hard work, purchases and taxes. Many pay income taxes, Social Security taxes and Medicare taxes despite the fact that they will never benefit from them. All rent or purchase homes. They also pay sales taxes on purchases of cars, appliances, furniture, clothing and food. And now that SB1070 has been passed into state law, those contributions are fleeing the state putting even more stress on the state’s economy. Home values continue to drop. Owners of apartment buildings report record vacancies. Employers in numerous industries report that they are having difficulty filling jobs. On top of that, thanks to SB1070, cities and groups around the country have cancelled meetings and conventions in our state. Even if they aren’t directly boycotting Arizona, many don’t want to become embroiled in the controversy.

Of course, there are angry, old white people from other states who have organized a few “buycotts” in Arizona. Indeed, a group from Texass recently sent a busload of rednecks to Phoenix in support of SB1070. They spent a day touring the city admiring the soutwestern architecture and culture ending with a rally in, of all places … a Mexican restaurant.

America, Right or Wrong?

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When I was in college at the height of the Vietnam “War”, I was considered an unpatriotic “Commie” for simply questioning U.S. military involvement in a land on the other side of the globe that had not attacked or threatened our nation. I was told, even by my parents, that it shouldn’t matter to me; that I should be proud to fight for our flag no matter how I personally felt about our nation’s actions. Ironically, the only family members who seemed to understand my point of view were those who had served heroically in WWII.

Remembering that ugly period in our nation’s history (and in my life) recently caused me to look at today’s political debate in a new way. I realized that there are many issues that separate liberals from conservatives – education, taxes, greed, religion and the circumstances of our childhoods, to name a few. But the notion of so-called American “Exceptionalism” may be the most divisive of all of the issues that separate us.

Most often, those on the political right believe that patriotism can only be demonstrated by supporting our nation’s every action (of course, the exception is whenever a Democratic President is in office). They could care less about how our nation is viewed globally. They despise the United Nations. They take offense at criticism from other nations. And they’re even more angered by criticism from within. They believe America’s Founding Fathers were Christian saints, and that the Constitution was obviously created through divine providence.

On the other hand, those on the political left are more likely to think globally. We find it difficult to accept bullying, dishonesty and greed – from our nation or any other. We despise poverty. We cherish education. We care about human rights. We’re willing to admit when our nation and its corporations are wrong. Instead of being angered by criticism, we try to understand the opposing viewpoint and change our own if necessary. We believe that it’s the duty of a patriot to call attention to our nation’s errors; to speak truth to power. We understand that the Constitution is a living, breathing document that was flawed (given its denial of voting rights to women and African-Americans) and can be improved. And we believe the Founding Fathers were generous, caring, insightful and prophetic men. But we accept the fact that they were mortals nonetheless.

These contradictions, I believe, are at the very heart of most of our political disagreements. Unfortunately, these beliefs are so firmly entrenched, there’s little we can do to change them. All we can do is to try to understand them and, as progressives, try to frame our arguments keeping these differences in mind.

© LaMaster Propaganda – All rights reserved.

Why Do We Allow Republicans To Ignore Election Results?

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In 2008, voters repudiated conservative politics by electing Barack Obama as President and voting for overwhelming Democratic majorities in both the House and Senate. But, based on the actions of Republicans, it would appear that they have simply chosen to ignore the results. The House has passed bill after bill in order to live up to the campaign promises. The President has repeatedly reached out to Republicans. Yet the Senate Republicans have stonewalled virtually every initiative with parliamentarian tricks. They have placed secret holds on more than 100 Presidential appointees. They have threatened to block many more. And they have used filibusters a record number of times.

This level of obstructionism is unprecedented in U.S. history and voters should make Republican candiates pay for it this November. But according to early polls, it appears that the Republican strategy may work. Voters are angry at incumbents – all incumbents – not just those who have stalled reforms. And voters are angry at President Obama for not doing more about the unrelenting gusher of crude in the Gulf of BP. Never mind that the cozy relationship between Bush/Cheney appointees in the Minerals Management Service allowed BP to apparently cut corners with safety. And never mind that the best minds in science and in the oil industry seem stumped as to how to proceed.

It would seem that many in the public won’t be satisfied until the President dons a diving suit, descends a mile under the surface of the ocean and personally shuts off the wellhead himself.

Seriously, people, there are only four submersibles in the world capable of operating at that depth and none of them are owned by the U.S. Moreover, they are incapable of doing any more than the underwater robots. So the problem has spilled into the ocean and onto Obama’s lap.

Like the financial crisis, the unemployment crisis, the immigration crisis, the national debt and the two on-going wars, the oil gusher is a mess created by the Bush administration. And the Obama administration has been left with the job of cleaning it up. To make matters worse, the Republicans in Congress have done nothing to help.

If there’s any justice in American politics, the Republicans will pay at the polls. But I suspect an uninformed public will reward them for their antics. Republicans will then be able to obstruct even more reforms. And voters will continue to wonder why nothing ever seems to change in Washington.

© LaMaster Propaganda – All rights reserved.

Immigration News from Ground Zero.

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The zero stands for the combined IQs of Governor Jan Brewer, the Arizona Republican legislators and Senator John McCain. That couldn’t have been more apparent following Brewer’s statement that most undocumented immigrants are drug dealers.

Never mind that these people take landscaping jobs that require them to work in the sun on 110-degree days for less than $10 an hour. Never mind that they’re hired by hotels to clean up after tourists for minimum wage and no benefits. If these people are drug dealers, they must be the most unsuccessful drug dealers in history!

Thanks to McCain’s and Brewer’s desperate attempts to be re-elected, the immigration issue has been politicized as never before. These two nincompoops continue to portray Arizona as the second-ranked kidnap capital of the world – as a place of complete lawlessness with a parade of human smugglers and drug smugglers pouring across the border, a drug dealer on every corner and illegal immigrants pushing citizens aside to claim their jobs. And their lies have cost Arizona businesses millions in lost tourism revenue.

The truth is that most illegals enter the U.S. legally and overstay their visas; that drug trafficking and illegal immigration are very different, and separate, issues; that illegal immigration has dropped significantly in the past 2 years; that crime in Arizona has dropped dramatically; and that many illegals left our state when a law was passed to punish the businesses that hire them.

Despite the facts, McCain and company would have you believe that President Obama has completely ignored border issues since taking office. Nothing could be further from the truth! In fact, during the past year, since The President’s Strategic and Integrated Southwest Border Strategy was launched, the Administration has:

1- Doubled the personnel assigned to Border Enforcement Security Task Forces.

2-Tripled the number of ICE intelligence analysts along the Southwest border in April 2009.

3- Begun screening, for the first time, 100 percent of southbound rail shipments for illegal weapons, drugs, and cash.

4- Deployed 13 additional cross-trained canine teams, which identify firearms and currency, to the Southwest border to augment the five teams already in place.

5- Deployed 326 additional Border Patrol agents between ports of entry and 58 more Customs and Border Patrol officers at the ports of entry.

6- Deployed five additional Z-Backscatter Units, which help to identify anomalies in passenger vehicles, to the Southwest border to augment the six already there.

7- Seized $85 million in illicit cash along the Southwest border—a 22 percent increase over the same period during the previous year.

8- Seized 1,404 firearms and 1.62 million kilograms of drugs along the Southwest border—increases of 22 and 14 percent respectively from the same period during the previous year.

9- Seized $29.5 million in illicit southbound cash along the Southwest border— a 39 percent increase over the same period during the previous year.

10- Deployed two new DEA Southwest Border Enforcement groups in El Paso and Phoenix, and added 25 new DEA intelligence analysts.

11- Deployed two new FBI Border Corruption Task Forces in Del Rio and Houston.

12- Added 200 new U.S. Marshal service positions at the Southwest border.

13- Surged ATF agents to Arizona to target gun trafficking to Mexico.

14- Hired nearly 50 additional Department of Justice (DOJ) attorneys to prosecute drug and arms trafficking and bulk cash smuggling, and added five DOJ attorneys to focus exclusively on extradition requests from Mexico.

15- There were 107 extraditions from Mexico to the United States in 2009 compared to 12 in 2000.

16- Increased cooperation with U.S. and Mexican law enforcement to target money laundering and bulk-cash smuggling.

17- During the past year and a half, “Project Deliverance” resulted in more than 2,200 arrests, seizure of approximately 74 tons of drugs and $154 million in cash; “Project Coronado” resulted in 303 arrests, seizure of $3.4 million in cash, 729 pounds of methamphetamine, 62 kilograms of cocaine, 967 pounds of marijuana, 144 weapons and 109 vehicles; “Operation Xcellerator” resulted in more than 750 arrests and the seizure of 23 tons of narcotics and $59 million in cash.

All of this money and effort has resulted in a significant reduction in the number of people attempting to illegally cross our borders, with apprehensions having dropped 23 percent in FY2009.

But no amount of Border Patrol, National Guard troops and fences will be able to seal the border as long as there is a large disparity in economic opportunities from one side of the border to the next.

One way to equalize those opportunities is to help lift the fortunes of people on both sides of the border. The other is to keep spending billions in a futile attempt to “close” the border until we’re as poor as the people trying to cross it.

A Crude Awakening!

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Since the days when Jimmy Carter was president, environmentalists were calling for energy conservation and alternative fuels. Unfortunately, the only time these ideas gained any traction was when gasoline and heating oil prices spiked. But once families adjusted to the higher prices, they went right back to their old ways.

Things may be different this time. The only real blessing of the BP oil disaster is that it has focused attention on the consequences of oil. The average American citizen could live with spills in the Arctic or Canada or Kuwait or other faraway places. They could live with climbing gas prices. They could ignore the photos of dying birds, dolphins and fish. And they could live (they think) with climate change.

But now that crude oil and tar balls are washing up on their favorite beaches… Now that’s a real problem!

There may never be a better time to change our energy policy. BP, Halliburton, Exxon and the rest of the oil spillers have less influence on the Democratic-controlled Congress. And they hold no sway with the Obama White House. So it’s time to act! It’s time to end the subsidies for oil exploration. It’s time to subsidize solar, wind and other renewables. And it’s time to redouble our efforts to conserve energy.

Congress should act now to push through a strong energy bill with caps on carbon emissions before the mid-term elections. It should raise the cap on damages to be paid by oil companies. And if Republicans try to block it, Democrats should use every parliamentary tactic at their disposal. What do they have to lose? Republicans have used filibusters and other tricks to stall Democratic initiatives. There is no longer any hope for bipartisanship. Even if it costs Democrats control of the House and Senate in the next election, at least the losing candidates could go home knowing they’ve done one of the best things possible for their constituents and their country. And, along with a new energy policy, that’s something that’s long past due.

The Real Elitists.

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One of the many things Republican teabaggers like to call liberals and progressives is “elitist.” In fact, the term is so common, if you watch Fox News Channel (I’m not sure why you’d want to) it seems the two terms are permanently wed – Liberal Elitist.

Now, I may be slow, but I can’t for the life of me think why the two terms should ever be used in the same sentence, let alone as a description of progressives. It would seem that the nitwits on Fox and Republican teabaggers have never consulted a dictionary. To wit:

Elitism is defined as: 1 – Belief in the concept of superiority. The belief that some people or things are inherently superior to others and deserve preeminence, preferential treatment, or higher rewards because of their superiority.

2 – Belief in control by a small group. The belief that government or control should be in the hands of a small group of privileged, wealthy, or intelligent people, or the active promotion of such a system.

Now let’s examine the policies of the two parties. Democrats believe in fighting for the middle and lower economic classes. They support small business, organized labor, civil rights and fair wages for working people. That doesn’t quite meet the definition of elitism, does it?

Republicans, on the other hand, believe in fighting for the wealthy and large corporations. For more than 40 years, they’ve been trying to break labor unions. They have also succeeded in transferring much of the nation’s wealth upward to the uber rich. In other words, Republicans believe in the inherent superiority of the privileged and the wealthy.

So how do Republicans get away with perpetuating this falsehood? They restate their goals in populist terms to make people think they will benefit, too. They bundle their ideas in ways that create fear and anger. And they simply repeat their lies until enough people think they’re true.

The Other Offshore Disaster.

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For more than two months, the nation’s attention has been focused on the gusher in the Gulf. But there’s another offshore disaster that has been going on for at least 50 years. I refer to the large U.S. corporations that have created subsidiaries and “headquarters” off-shore to avoid U.S. taxes.

But I found it difficult to obtain a list of the companies that have taken advantage of the loophole. Now, thanks to Ariana Huffington’s recent article on the Huffington Post, I have a better idea. In her article, she cited a Government Accounting Office (GAO) report from 2008 that showed 83 of the 100 largest publicly–traded companies in the country had operations in tax havens.

The report cited AIG, AT&T, American Express, Boeing, Chevron, and Dow to name a few. Many set up P.O. boxes in the Caymans and Bermuda. And Halliburton chose to move its “headquarters” to Dubai. That’s disturbing enough. Yet, according to the GAO, 74 of those 83 corporations received government contracts. And, of course, taxpayers were asked to rescue two of those companies (AIG and American Express) through billions in government loans.

So these companies are not only avoiding paying their fair share of American taxes. They are filling their coffers with money from taxpayers like you and me!

At a time when our national economy is struggling and when we’re engaged in two protracted wars, closing this gaping loophole would seem one of the top priorities for Congress. But that would mean that our Representatives and Senators would have to vote against some of their largest campaign contributors. Indeed, according to Ariana Huffington’s article, Washington has been trying to address the issue for nearly 50 years. But each time the issue comes before Congress, the corporate lobbyists prevail.

So while Congress debates the impact on the national debt by extending unemployment benefits for working people, they continue to permit corporations to avoid paying billions of dollars in taxes through loopholes. In fact, the latest figures available show that these corporations pay roughly $16 billion in taxes on $700 billion in foreign active earnings – a tax rate of approximately 2.3 percent!

Of course, politicians (especially Republicans) excuse such welfare by saying that corporations create jobs, and that jobs have never been more needed than now. That may be true. But where are those jobs being created? For nearly 40 years, many of these corporations have been creating more jobs offshore than in the U.S.

That being the case, what do we have to lose by forcing them to pay up?

Mis-Informed, Armed and Dangerous.

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I spent part of the day searching through right-wing Web sites – the on-line homes of the American Patriot Party, the teabaggers, even the Republican National Party – and I feel like I need to bathe myself in soap and turpentine to get rid of the slime and stench.

These are people who hate.

They hate President Obama. They hated President Clinton. They hate the government. They hate Democrats. They hate the Left. They hate the Centrists. They hate immigrants. They hate gays.

They hate damn near everyone and everything.

They call themselves patriots, but true patriots don’t hate our government. After all, the government was democratically elected by the majority of voters. (And if you don’t vote, you have willingly conceded your say in the matter.) True patriots don’t hate the court system, the FBI, the ATF, Census takers and even the US Postal Service.

True patriots don’t try to make their point at the end of a gun. They don’t threaten elected officials. They don’t encourage the murder of doctors performing legal abortions. They don’t refuse to pay taxes. They don’t threaten to “take back our country, with force if necessary.” They don’t use hate speech. They don’t talk about “reloading.” They don’t talk about “2nd Amendment remedies.” They don’t talk about “taking out” their political opponents. They don’t hate minorities. And they don’t blame our problems on immigrants.

Uh-oh.  Now I’ve done it.

© LaMaster Propaganda – All rights reserved.