The Formerly Unthinkable

Who'd've thunk it?

We are about to reach a point long (and until last week) considered unthinkable -- a failure to raise the debt ceiling, resulting in the federal government unable to pay all of our obligations.

The right wing continues to press the claim that this situation has been brought about because liberal social democracy is 'unsustainable.' The only hope, they say, is to give Reaganomics/supply side/trickle-down economics more time to work.

The liberal response, typically, is that trickle-down has had over 30 years to work and has been an utter failure. Which it has.

But a failure at what, exactly?

But of course!

What trickle-down has failed at is sustaining liberal social democracy! And in that the social/economic right wing has been wildly successful.

Consider the march of neoconservative history since Reagan:

• Tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy, so revenues don't keep pace and the remaining burden is shifted onto the middle and working class;
• Privatization of government services, adding profit share and therefore additional cost -- Medicare Advantage, multi-fold increases in defense & war spending, prison corporations, etc.;
• A neocon majority on the Supreme Court, giving us Bush v. Gore and Citizens United vs. FEC;
• Conservative talk radio and general media consolidation, creating uniformity in news reporting, opinion-forming and civic discourse.

In short, the right wing has increased the cost of Grover Norquist's 'beast' and made it impossible to defend and sustain in the long term.

And used control of mass media to define the terms of the debate, so that obvious, no-brainer and popular solutions (e.g., removing the FICA cap, having the rich pay their fair share, breaking up too-big-to-fail entities) are off the table.

The long con

Look back and see the long conservative game. We're standing at a transition: the end of the set-up, where the right wing has pushed liberal social democracy to the brink of the waterfall. With today's competing Reid and Boehner debt ceiling plans, the choice isn't between left and right solutions, but whether when we hit bottom we land in deep water, shallow water or on the rocks.

The next stage in the right wing's plan can be but one thing: the Ryan Plan or its equivalent, formalizing the dismantling of the New Deal and ushering in what they think will be Libertarian Fantasyland. Or Utopia -- which means 'no place.'

GOP's planned giveaway to the mega-rich

Washington Post

16 tweets about the suspension of Keith Olbermann

Yours truly posted the following about Keith Olbermann's suspension on Twitter tonight, under @PRTandWiseline. I was moved to write it after a certain radio show producer jumped on me as though I were some sort of teabagger. I needed to make clear that when I disagreed with him about Olbermann (radio boy is pro-suspension) I was not doing so to harsh his morning drive-time happy talk. I was also not trying to "silence" him as he claimed -- because criticism is not censorship or prior restraint. I thought all liberals knew that.

I did it because I wanted him to influence his boss to have some solidarity with Olbermann, in order to start a boycott of MSNBC that would do something -- anything, even a little thing -- to hit back at media consolidation.

Anywho, here are the tweets (they were tagged #p2 #olbermann #boycott #msnbc).

1) I know a lot of tweeple want to be idealistic about politics, media, rules, & uniform application thereof.

2) But many folks seem to forget - or not realize - that we are in the middle of a very real ideological struggle...

3) ...over consolidation & access to mass media by points of view not approved by corporate ownership.

4) Did @keitholbermann break a Rule? Maybe. There's some question about whether the Rule applied to MSNBC.

5) But even if it applies, the truth is that the Rule serves no useful purpose. Because the Other Side that wants to...

6) ...stomp out liberals has thrown away the rules. They follow no rules. They do what they want in media...

7) ...they blur politics & media. @keitholbermann did not blur the line. His donations were personal...

8) ... & had no effect on how he did his job. If we sit on the sideline, letting @keitholbermann get punished...

9) ...is equivalent to the attack on Lauren Valle, & the next day Rand Paul says he opposes violence on both sides.

     9a) The violence was on ONE side. In today's case, the Rule(s) are only on 1 side.

10) @keitholbermann gave 3 donations. SO WHAT. He did it publicly, he knew they'd be reported to the FEC.

11) MSNBC's Phill Griffin suspending @keitholbermann for 'ethics' is nothing but a convenient pretext...

     11a) (the corporatists think liberals will see 'Rule violation' & shut up, since we believe in rule of law)

12) ...to please the network's new GOP-loving masters, Comcast. Silencing an endangered political viewpoint...

13) ...is precisely the reason this struggle about media consolidation is so important.

14) We are in an ideological war for media access. If the Other Side wins, the 1st Amendment won't matter...

15) ...because speech, without access to media, is not heard. So do we play by rules the other side ignores?

16) And do we let them take one of our generals off the board? Or do we boycott MSNBC?

'Arpaio Macht Frei'

Arizona's Sheriff Joe calls his Tent City a "concentration camp":

"The Public Wants Options"

Inspired.

What are you people afraid of?

Pollsters are supposedly finding that 70-75% of respondents favor some kind of single payer national health insurance. The right wing is going to ramp up its anti-single payer propaganda to eat away at that majority.

A lot of the progressive talk programs I've been listening to of late have been getting calls from the 25-30% who are against single payer. The thing is, most of them have trouble articulating their reasons.

It's really sad to hear their plaintive reasoning: if only everyone could take responsibility for themselves (in an employee-based coverage system?); if only we give the free market a chance (how can a choice be free if you must have coverage?); a government-run plan will lead to rationing (we have rationing now -- appointments and pre-authorization).

After listening to the fear I hear in their voices, I suddenly hit on what I think is the underlying cause of those fears.

The Resmuglicans keep screaming things like, "do you want a bureaucrat between you and your doctor?" I think the fear being triggered isn't fear of government, so much as the fear that the government will operate health insurance the same way the private insurance companies do now -- if not worse. And single payer would mean no recourse.

I think what people aren't realizing is that the reason for the private insurance system being such a miserable one wouldn't exist under single payer. Insurance companies create profits by denying claims, whereas under single payer there is no profit motive, and therefore no reason for a bureaucrat to deny claims! And because the federal government can run deficits, budget ceilings do not have to be a cause for denial of coverage either.

Under single payer, if you're a citizen, legal resident or legal visitor, you'd be covered.

Then: Palin did not protest too much

Good Reading Department: Yesterday Shannyn Moore posted a rundown of all the times the Slutty Flight Attendant didn't seem to have a problem when comics joked about her daughters:

10) Last September, a skit on Saturday Night Live suggested incest in the Palin family. "What about the husband?" asked a mock Times reporter. "You know he’s doing those daughters. I mean, come on. It's Alaska!" No outrage. Sarah Palin appeared on the show one month later in late October.



9) Days after the announcement of Bristol’s pregnancy, Conan O'Brien joked, "It's true, John McCain's running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, has revealed that her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant. Palin said, 'We should never have introduced her to John Edwards.'" Where was the outrage? Was Conan promoting infidelity with an underage girl?

8 ) From two different Tonight Shows: "Governor Palin announced over the weekend that her 17-year-old unmarried daughter is five months pregnant. Oh, boy, you thought John Edwards was in trouble before, now he's really done it!" AND... "All the Republicans are heaping praise on Governor Palin. Fred Thompson said, as an actor, he could see them making a movie about Sarah Palin and her family. Didn’t they already make that movie? I think it was called 'Knocked Up!'"–Jay Leno

Read the rest

The Cost Conundrum (Update 3)

The New Yorker looks at an example of the craziness that is the U.S. health care system:

The Cost Conundrum
by Atul Gawande
...
McAllen (Texas) calls itself the Square Dance Capital of the World. "Lonesome Dove" was set around here.

McAllen has another distinction, too: it is one of the most expensive health-care markets in the country. Only Miami—which has much higher labor and living costs—spends more per person on health care. In 2006, Medicare spent fifteen thousand dollars per enrollee here, almost twice the national average. The income per capita is twelve thousand dollars. In other words, Medicare spends three thousand dollars more per person here than the average person earns.

Article

Update 1: Following on this news comes a letter from my health insurance carrier. That private health insurance company has written to inform me that it has decided to limit my choice of pharmacy. Instead, they have formed an exclusive arrangement with Accredo and Walgreens in order to provide, and I quote, "excellent service" and "greater convenience."

Thank gawd, it's SO about time. Because Walgreens is located a whole block closer to my house than my current pharmacy where I've been forced to do business for the last 10 years.

Update 2: So Premera gave me two numbers to call (at least it was toll free). I have a choice between Accredo and Walgreens (then how is the arrangement "exclusive"?). One turned out to be a general public number with a robot. No thanks.

The other number was picked up by an actual person; but it was clear they had no idea of their special relationship with Premera. I was kept on hold while she read something, then sought instructions from a supervisor. Then she took down my doctor's name and number so they can bother her too. I suppose they're going to have to call me back to get my address, which they'll need if they're going to ship me the prescription.

All I have to say is keep up the good work, guys. Much more of this "excellence" and "convenience," and even more Americans will be on board with single payer.

Update 3 (6/19): My prescription arrived today, by UPS. The box was crammed full of non-recyclable materials, including a massive styrofoam 'vault.' Grrrrrrr. I called the service, who passed me to a pharmacist, who first said he would connect me to their (alleged) Green Team, but then couldn't remember who was on that team -- could he have them call me back? They haven't.

Maron from the road

Here's the link at The Guardian where Marc Maron is blogging about their cross-country election road trip.

Lynn Forester de Rothschild's compadres

Marc Maron goes all English on us

I seem to recall Maron was going to do some HBO election year show with Ana Marie Cox, but it never went anywhere. Instead, Marc has hooked up with the folks at The Guardian:

GuardianFilms puts the rubber to the road

Comedian and Air America Media host Marc Maron joins the team that brought you the New Hampshire primary and Super Tuesday documentary series as we hit the highway for a new election road show, this one stretching from coast to coast.

We'll be travelling, in true American style, in two RVs. Packed inside, along with Marc Maron, will be veteran investigative journalist James Ridgeway, who'll be blogging from the road, and a team of film-makers and editors headed by Patrick Farrelly and Kate O'Callaghan, producing daily short videos from the cities and farms, truck stops and mega-churches, country clubs and soup kitchens of the United States. We'll be joined by Guardian correspondents, politicians, and assorted opinion-makers as we try to understand the forces shaping the US vote in 2008

From Los Angeles to Washington, DC - via the battleground states of Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia - we'll be looking at the key issues and inviting ordinary citizens into our "Truth Booth" to tell us which candidate can snatch a divided and demoralised nation back from the jaws of disaster.

Source

*Raise Hand* Question for Mr. Rossi?

Yes -- question at the back.

Thank you, Scott. Mr_Grant, Wiseline Institute Northwest. I wanted to ask Shadow Governor Rossi a question about economic policy.

Over the past months and weeks we've seen the American -- global, really -- financial crisis come to a head. IndyMac. Fannie Mae. Freddie Mac. Lehman Brothers. AIG. Huge swings in the Dow.

What's more, a growing number of commentators have traced the culpability of Republican neoconservative economic policy and corruption in this meltdown, as well as Enron and energy deregulation earlier in this decade. This linkage is typified by the roles of Phil "Mental Recession" Gramm.

The crisis is trickling down all right. At the state level, in Olympia a $3.2 billion deficit is being forecast.

Furthermore, this weekend sees announcements of a $500 billion federal bailout package, the biggest intervention since the Great Depression.

Do you have a question?

Yes. How can Shadow Governor Rossi keep running the "we're going to be fiscally conservative" campaign ad and identify himself as "GOP" with a straight face?

Why no bail out for Lehman Brothers?

Why was the Bush Administration willing to bail out Bear Stearns, and take over Fannie and Freddie, but drew the line at bailing out Lehman Brothers? How's this for a reason:

Investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., which filed for bankruptcy-court protection early Monday, has been the eighth-largest corporate giver to Sen. Obama's campaign this election cycle, with Lehman employees donating $361,000. Source

And what do you want to bet AIG doesn't get federal help either:

Trouble at several other companies could hurt fund raising for Sen. Obama and other Democrats. Employees of insurance giant American International Group Inc., for example, have given 66% of their $647,000 in total political donations to Democrats in the current election cycle, after favoring Republicans from the mid-1990s through early 2000s. (same source)

AIG -- too big to fail, I guess.

An Alaskan opines on Palin

From the site Faithful Democrats:

Welcome to the Matanuska Valley GOP Women's Club!

Lots of friends and relatives have been asking me (as an Alaskan) what I think of Sarah Palin, our Governor, and new choice for McCain as a VP candidate.

This pick floored me. Sarah Palin is a nice person. I've met her. I've even talked to her for a few minutes at a principal's conference a couple of years ago. She has lots going for her superficially. She speaks from the heart, like a spitfire mother; she can even be sort of funny sometimes. She is quite beautiful, athletic and has that radiant glow of someone who actually spends time doing things outside. Unlike many politicians, she has lived a "real life" and done things that few living and working in DC could ever do....like dipnettin' fish, shootin' stuff and eating it out on the tundra, and havin' 5 kids.

Personally, I'd never vote for her. She has an extremely simple view of the world. I don't even think she has ever been abroad.

More

McSame Sans Flag

Look who's left the house without his Flag Pin -- why does McCain't hate America? And notice how he's checking out Gov. Palin's rack. I bet Cindy can hear the footsteps.


Has anyone ever seen Palin and Michele Bachmann together at the same time?

What's the deal with Resmuglican women and the Karen Walker look anyway?

Bloody Leader

How did I miss this one?

Bremerton Chamber official - vets' group not honorable

The Bremerton Chamber of Commerce won't let the local Vets For Peace chapter appear in Saturday's Armed Forces Day Parade. Parade committee chairman Cris Larsen apparently doesn't think a bunch of actual veterans are honorable enough to participate in the event:

"I think it's silly for this to become an issue and for them to hijack an honorable day"

Larsen's excuse?

The parade is meant to honor all who are serving or have served in the armed forces, Larsen said. It's not a political outlet.

‘Silly vets, you're just not warry enough! Peace is just political!’

Oddly, Cris Larsen is a comedian. Crap, I wonder what his shows are like. Ya ever notice how those peace advocates are always advocating for peace? What’s the deal with THAT? etc.

I assume this is him:

It’s a camouflage hat — hiding his brain from view, one supposes.

Gullibility Experiment

What will people believe about Barack Obama? Mo Rocca found out:

Let's do it!

This guy took good notes on yesterday's Randi Rhodes Show:

Would you like to see Harriet Miers, Dick Cheney and Karl Rove being led to jail by the Capitol Hill Police and the House’s Sargeant at Arms? Would Friday be good for you?

Two Words: INHERENT CONTEMPT

Inherent Contempt is a little used, little known tool that the House or Senate can use. It requries only a majority…which we should easily have in the House. Under the inherent contempt power, the individual is brought before the House or Senate by the Sergeant-at-Arms, tried at the bar of the body, and can be IMPRISONED... More

Start dialing.

Feet v. Drivers

Today's Traffic Unsafety Award winner is the 30-something white guy in the silver Mercury SUV, who yesterday (July 11 at 4:40 pm) turned right onto Western Avenue from Madison Street and declined to yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk. Georgia license #G13 0794, this middle finger is for you!

Question for the Prez

Sir:

Regarding your commutation of Scooter's sentence-- if 30 months is excessive, what would you consider not excessive?

Because, let me tell ya that zero is right out as far as I'm concerned. So how about we split the difference?

Fifteen months it is!

Sincerely,
David S. Gow, MPA