Is everyone at the Detroit News an idiot?

Well…..have to comment on an article by Michel Barone in the Detroit News this morning that finds it is a bad thing that unions give money to Democratic candidates and makes the assertion that since public employee unions give to the Dems it is the same as taxpayer money going to them with no say by the people paying the salaries. Yikes, what a leap of logic this guy is pushing…by that same reasoning any time a business gives money to the repubs, that I have helped make possible by purchasing a good or service from, they are making political contributions that I have no say in. Michael, of course the unions are going to give to the dems, they are the only party that gives a damn about the middle class and still fights for people to have a chance against the manipulations of corporations that are aided and abetted by the repubs. He continues with the spurious, circular argument that asserts that since private sector employees have been beaten down and have had their real compensation stall or recede over the past 20 years, the same should happen to those who have managed to stay even or even improve their lot; while corporate profit is at it’s highest level in history. I have a question for you Michael, when will you on the right be happy? When there is no middle class left to purchase anything from your sainted corporations? Geez….

February 28th

Well…that was a normal sunday other than getting out to Tom’s to find out what was wrong with the wreck…and found out the part int he exhaust that was replaced 2 months ago failed again so I’ll have to take it back in tomorrow…the good news is that it should be free to have it fixed…a small shot of good news in the otherwise dismal time that I’m having. Okay, enough of that…after all we are getting to March which will mean snowmelts and getting back on the bike by the end of the month, I hope…I need to get more exercise and just can’t get motivated to do anything else. Not much to do today…I will have to set the appt for the car and get some resumes out, then maybe out with G later but I don’t think so..we’ll see…I will have some topics for later….

Okay…not done yet…I did watch part of the oscars last night…was it as much of a bore as I thought it was? James Franco was basically a waste of space…no snap to the whole show….

February 27th

Well…I know, really late this morning but I have an excuse….not really, just decided to read the paper first and have some coffee since I was not a good boy yesterday with SF out with k and then a few cocktails here. But, the good news is the Wings won in a shootout and that made me smile…about the only thing that does anymore…that’s not true..or, only kinda true….did not accomplish anything yesterday and I am starting to feel guilty about that…I will do something today, though, taking the wreck out to Tom’s to take a look at the exhaust and see if there is anything we can do to make it last a little longer…it’s been a couple of years since I’ve been under it and it is just the worst thing to do that in a snow covered car…have to get the work clothes out again…other than that, not a lot to do today…there is a race on and I have a movie to watch but that is about it..the Oscars are on tonight but I don’t know if I’m going to watch…I used to love that stuff but it just doesn’t grab me anymore…we’ll see….looks like I’m going to make it to 60 for the month and I should feel good about that…more later…

Are we waking up?

Well…if this stuff keeps coming to me, it may be a record day here but I think this just may be compensation for the uncontrollable stuff that is happening in my life right now…could even be avoidance, but who knows? One thing that I am taking away from the protests that are happening across the midwest is hope, hope that the workers of this country are finally waking up to the organized assault on the middle class and are starting to do something about it…and I have to thank governor Walker for being so open about the right’s agenda, pulling the curtain back on the coordinated effort of the repubs to steal the entire country for themselves. My only fear is that this may fizzle out before it can be converted into electoral gains for those who value the middle class and the dignity of labor….

Here’s another fallacy…brought to you by the repubs…

Well…man, things just keep coming to me today and I am having one of those flashes of creativity that don’t happen often enough, so I’m going to take advantage of it while it lasts. If you’ve been reading the news lately, one of the repubs talking points has been that the government shouldn’t be picking “winners and losers” in business and they have been choking on the regulations that have given an advantage to fluorescent light bulbs over incandescents for their energy savings. Here in Michigan, I don’t think they’ve gotten the memo because gov Snyder is deeply in the process of picking winners by giving tax cuts to his constituent businesses while eliminating them for businesses he doesn’t like or get support from….just another instance of the inconsistency….no that’s not true, they are being completely consistent in rewarding their supporters just like some third world country where nepotism runs rampant….geez….

A strange class warfare…

Well…I promise this one will be shorter but it is something I need to get down before I forget it. I was musing about the class warfare aspect of the fights that are going on in statehouses across the country and one thing struck me: that this is a new kind of class war…one that is being fomented by the rich and powerful and uses working folks as the soldiers, pitting powerless people who have seen their pay, benefits, and security decline by the fake necessity of givebacks against those who have found at least a little protection of their status by their membership in unions. And, the puppet masters who are pulling the strings have been masterful in getting people to vote against their own interests, and to believe the lies that all of the economic problems in this country are caused by greedy workers. You have to hand it to them…first they gut funding for education so they get an ignorant populace, then they overwork them so they have no energy left to even think about how badly they’ve been deceived…..and the downward spiral for labor continues while the rich sit in their clubs and laugh their asses off at you and I….

The results are in…

Well…this one may be long and convoluted but I really wanted to get to the Michigan budget crisis now that there are real numbers to be put with the plans that were presented by Gov. Snyder…..I’m not going to bore you with listing specifics because those numbers are readily available elsewhere and I just don’t want to swamp you with minutiae. So, let’s get to it….business gets their 1.8 billion tax break….and let’s be clear right away…no study has shown that tax breaks, in the absence of a rise in demand, result in an increase in jobs. With the retained profits of companies already a their highest point in history, why would you think that giving them more profits would result in hiring of more workers? It just doesn’t work that way and yet the faith-based economics of the repubs continue to throw money at business that just ends up padding the wallets of those at the top. The right way to do it would be to ensure there is an increase in demand by tax incentives or higher wages for workers…folks, this is econ 101 stuff that everyone seems to know but the repubs and it exposes this governor’s plan as driven by ideology more than economics. Did you expect anything else from a governor whose only claim to fame was to take his golden parachute worth hundreds of millions while shipping all of the jobs at Gateway to China?

Now, let’s get to who is going to pay for these business tax cuts….the analysis out today, and it is in the right leaning Detroit News, is that the majority of the “shared sacrifice” comes from retirees and the working poor…those who are the least able to afford this huge tax increase…and, make no mistake, this is being done because the repubs always make people pay that have no power or influence…the tax effect for the wealthy here in Michigan would be an increase that is, on average, 77 dollars a year while that of the retirees an working poor would be in the thousands….this is morally reprehensible but true to form for these thieves. Next, let’s get to the the idea of the Michigan film tax credit, that Snyder has proposed be limited to 25 million dollars a year. Under the current plan, for every dollar of tax credit, Michigan sees 6 dollars of economic activity and has resulted in the only area of job growth in the state; diversifying our economy and starting many new businesses that actually employ people…not just giving more money to the rich. But, as we all know, the film industry is a little more liberal leaning than the general population and it is payback time here in Michigan….Snyder will do anything, just like the rest of the repubs, to crush the opposition even if it means putting people out of work and destroying one of the only bright spots in Michigan’s economy.

Okay, I’m running out of steam here but you can see from just these few instances that “shared sacrifice” means shared by the poor and working people, imposed by the rich, benefiting the rich, and everyone else can go to hell….geez…

February 26th

Well…running late again this morning but you’ve seen this pattern before so you shouldn’t be surprised…this happens almost every weekend…and that is kind of strange since there is no difference between weekdays and weekends for me….was kind of a bore of a day yesterday…I did try the new pork recipe for the slow cooker and that came out quite good…kind of like slow cooked barbecue that was very tender and flavorful….have to remember to really boost the spices when I’m using the cooker, otherwise the food turns out somewhat bland. Just hung out last night and did nothing but watch tv…it was kind of nice to just veg out…and no, it’s not what I do all the time…just most of the time…I am going to try to be much more productive today, after I finish reading the papers and having my coffee that is, I am going to clean my kitchen….or try to clean it..who knows. I do have at least one more topic for the day but probably 2…with the details of the new tax structure here in Michigan finally coming out it appears my prediction is true, that the state’s budget will be balanced on the backs of the poor and retired, while business and the upper classes walk away without paying a dime more….more later…

Okay, I know, I’m not supposed to talk politics here…so I won’t, I did forget that there is going to be a SF today with K and V…kind of hope we just meet up out here instead of going across town…although the wreck could use getting up to temp…this winter has been hard on it…then there are races and a Wings game later so at least I won’t be bored….

Just not myself lately…

Well….it’s been a weird few days and I have been feeling this strange disconnect with the world, like I’m in it but not part of it….I don’t know if that has affected my posts or not since the way I look at things and my objectivity has been strained, too. But, now that I think about it, objectivity is something that I struggle with at times with outrage overwhelming it on a regular basis. And no, this one is not to just get my count up for the month…after all, I don’t make any money on this stuff..it might be nice to get piece work like I used to at the factory job that I started out with. Now, the damn car has another exhaust problem that is going to cost another 250 to 300 bucks that I just don’t have….so I sit here isolated again, waiting for the slow cooker to finish and for 7 o’clock to come for cocktail time…at least there is a race on to see tonight…but it’s from Phoenix which is not one of my favorite tracks.

Have not heard form K yet so I guess there is no FF to look forward to…maybe tomorrow for SF…who knows? Not much else to do for the weekend, I guess I’ll just wing it and see what happens…I did watch that oscar nominated documentary called “Exit through the gift shop” that has gotten a lot of attention but it was hard to get through the whole thing…and I didn’t see a point to it at all. No where near as good as “the Cove” that was up for the oscar last year. Okay…I’m running out of things to say right now but I may come back later….there have been things emerging all day but the effect is fleeting….more later…

More repub craziness…and thievery…

Well… this is going to be a short one, just had a couple of thoughts about things that popped up in this morning’s news that does a couple of things; one points out the craziness and lack of moral character that the repubs have, and the second sheds light on the real agenda of the new theftocracy that is called the republicans. First, yesterday in Georgia, at a town hall meeting held by Paul Broun a repub rep, a questioner asked this idiot “who is going to shoot Obama?” and the reaction of rep Broun was to change the subject…not address it as being so out of line and using it as a teachable moment, but just moving on; giving the questioner the tacit approval of his silence. These are the people you’ve elected folks…doesn’t anyone else see anything wrong with his response? Especially in light of the shootings in Arizona, this idiot should have been taught right then and there that violence has no place in our political process…but the repubs have benefited by their violent rhetoric so why would they want it to stop?

The next one is about a neat little trick buried in the bill that will strip workers of their rights in Wisconsin…this bit of thievery gives the governor the absolute ability to sell any and all public buildings, powerplants, or any other public property to whomever he pleases without any oversight, bids or recourse for the citizens of the state. Yep, that’s right…this guy that got elected by the Koch brothers and the tea party who railed and railed about dems doing things by unelected regulatory bodies, have just taken away the rights of the people of Wisconsin to have any say in the disposition of government property that they paid for…the czar of Wisconsin now gets to do whatever he pleases with the people’s property….all I have to say is watch…the real agenda of these folks is becoming clear…the lip service they paid to representative government and upholding the constitution was just that, nothing but lies to get elected and to give them the chance to steal everything else they haven’t already given to business and the rich.