Krugman 3 for 3...

A Speculative Fiction will be having its own exciting Social Security segment coming hopefully very soon... but to dust off the social security file lets step over to Krugman

Social Security is a government program supported by a dedicated tax, like highway maintenance. Now you can say that assigning a particular tax to a particular program is merely a fiction, but in fact such assignments have both legal and political force. If Ronald Reagan had said, back in the 1980s, “Let’s increase a regressive tax that falls mainly on the working class, while cutting taxes that fall mainly on much richer people,” he would have faced a political firestorm. But because the increase in the regressive payroll tax was recommended by the Greenspan Commission to support Social Security, it was politically in a different box - you might even call it a lockbox - from Reagan’s tax cuts.

The purpose of that tax increase was to maintain the dedicated tax system into the future, by having Social Security’s assigned tax take in more money than the system paid out while the baby boomers were still working, then use the trust fund built up by those surpluses to pay future bills. Viewed in its own terms, that strategy was highly successful.

The date at which the trust fund will run out, according to Social Security Administration projections, has receded steadily into the future: 10 years ago it was 2029, now it’s 2042. As Kevin Drum, Brad DeLong, and others have pointed out, the SSA estimates are very conservative, and quite moderate projections of economic growth push the exhaustion date into the indefinite future.

But the privatizers won’t take yes for an answer when it comes to the sustainability of Social Security. Their answer to the pretty good numbers is to say that the trust fund is meaningless, because it’s invested in U.S. government bonds. They aren’t really saying that government bonds are worthless; their point is that the whole notion of a separate budget for Social Security is a fiction. And if that’s true, the idea that one part of the government can have a positive trust fund while the government as a whole is in debt does become strange.
But there are two problems with their position.

The lesser problem is that if you say that there is no link between the payroll tax and future Social Security benefits - which is what denying the reality of the trust fund amounts to - then Greenspan and company pulled a fast one back in the 1980s: they sold a regressive tax switch, raising taxes on workers while cutting them on the wealthy, on false pretenses. More broadly, we’re breaking a major promise if we now, after 20 years of high payroll taxes to pay for Social Security’s future, declare that it was all a little joke on the public.

The bigger problem for those who want to see a crisis in Social Security’s future is this: if Social Security is just part of the federal budget, with no budget or trust fund of its own, then, well, it’s just part of the federal budget: there can’t be a Social Security crisis. All you can have is a general budget crisis. Rising Social Security benefit payments might be one reason for that crisis, but it’s hard to make the case that it will be central.

But those who insist that we face a Social Security crisis want to have it both ways. Having invoked the concept of a unified budget to reject the existence of a trust fund, they refuse to accept the implications of that unified budget going forward. Instead, having changed the rules to make the trust fund meaningless, they want to change the rules back around 15 years from now: today, when the payroll tax takes in more revenue than SS benefits, they say that’s meaningless, but when - in 2018 or later - benefits start to exceed the payroll tax, why, that’s a crisis. Huh?
I don’t know why this contradiction is so hard to understand, except to echo Upton Sinclair: it’s hard to get a man to understand something when his salary (or, in the current situation, his membership in the political club) depends on his not understanding it. But let me try this one more time, by asking the following: What happens in 2018 or whenever, when benefits payments exceed payroll tax revenues?
The answer, very clearly, is nothing.

The Social Security system won’t be in trouble: it will, in fact, still have a growing trust fund, because of the interest that the trust earns on its accumulated surplus. The only way Social Security gets in trouble is if Congress votes not to honor U.S. government bonds held by Social Security. That’s not going to happen. So legally, mechanically, 2018 has no meaning.

Now it’s true that rising benefit costs will be a drag on the federal budget. So will rising Medicare costs. So will the ongoing drain from tax cuts. So will whatever wars we get into. I can’t find a story under which Social Security payments, as opposed to other things, become a crucial budgetary problem in 2018.
What we really have is a looming crisis in the General Fund. Social Security, with its own dedicated tax, has been run responsibly; the rest of the government has not. So why are we talking about a Social Security crisis?

McCain... dangerous for our economic security...

Krugman points to one reason The Gramm connection

Aha: the Politico notices that Phil Gramm, McCain’s economic guru, can also be viewed as the father of the financial crisis.

The general co-chairman of John McCain’s presidential campaign, former Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas), led the charge in 1999 to repeal a Depression-era banking regulation law that Democrat Barack Obama claimed on Thursday contributed significantly to today’s economic turmoil.

….

According to federal lobbying disclosure records, Gramm lobbied Congress, the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department about banking and mortgage issues in 2005 and 2006.

During those years, the mortgage industry pressed Congress to roll back strong state rules that sought to stem the rise of predatory tactics used by lenders and brokers to place homeowners in high-cost mortgages

Where have I seen that before? Ah:
His chief economic adviser is former Senator Phil Gramm, a fervent advocate of financial deregulation. In fact, I’d argue that aside from Alan Greenspan, nobody did as much as Mr. Gramm to make this crisis possible.

Seriously, the Gramm connection tells you all you need to know about where a McCain administration would stand on financial issues: squarely against any significant reform.

Bush blunder...

Krugman citing Juan Cole on recent Iraq news

The entire episode underlines how powerful Iran has become in Iraq. The Iranian government had called on Saturday for the fighting to stop. And by Sunday evening it had negotiated at least a similar call from Sadr (whether the fighting actually stops remains to be seen and depends on local commanders and on whether al-Maliki meets Sadr’s conditions).

Notes the very cold reality of our Foreign Policy blunder

So America is spending $12 billion a month to sustain what has, in practice, become an Iranian sphere of influence.

Lou Dobbs: Cotton... What?

ooops...

Dean Baker -- The Basics of Good Economics

Just a question

Do you need to have a body to have a mind?

A psychologist and a Philosopher walk into a internet cafe...

Paul Bloom & Joshua Knobe on Bloggingheads.tv

Science Saturday: Morality and Religion
Is morality hardwired into us? (11:41)
Could we learn truly arbitrary moral rules? (05:04)
The big booming voice inside you that says God exists (12:12)
The mind-body dualism of children (10:07)
Do you need to have a body to get pissed off? (09:01)
The morality of killing gods and robots (06:46)

Zbigniew Brzezinski on Iraq

The Smart Way Out of a Foolish War

The contrast between the Democratic argument for ending the war and the Republican argument for continuing is sharp and dramatic. The case for terminating the war is based on its prohibitive and tangible costs, while the case for "staying the course" draws heavily on shadowy fears of the unknown and relies on worst-case scenarios. President Bush's and Sen. John McCain's forecasts of regional catastrophe are quite reminiscent of the predictions of "falling dominoes" that were used to justify continued U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Neither has provided any real evidence that ending the war would mean disaster, but their fear-mongering makes prolonging it easier.

Economist Brad Delong on The Relevance of Karl Marx

"On the cash nexus, we modern neoliberals shrug our shoulders and say that we are in favor of a market economy but not of a market society, and that there is no reason why people cannot find jobs they like or insist on differentials that compensate them for jobs they don't. And we go on to say that the demand for and forecast of utopia--that jumped-up monkeys with big brains be perfectly happy--is a demand and forecast that belongs in the Book of Daniel or of the Apocalypse, not something that has any place in a work of political economy relevant to this fallen world."

Morning Mediation up on youtube....

On McCain's poor grasp of Foreign Policy

McCain on the Red Phone

What's been missing from the prevailing narrative of McCain's national security expertise, however, is any serious assessment of the nature of his beliefs. As early as 1999, McCain was recommending "rogue state rollback" as our policy toward such nations as Iraq. He remains an unabashed advocate of preventive war, as his comments on bombing Iran have made clear, and of permanent war, as his comments on remaining in Iraq have made clear. His advocacy of a missile defense system is rooted in a preference for military unilateralism -- though it may stimulate a new arms race -- over diplomacy. If you liked Bush's foreign and military policy, you'll love McCain's.

But McCain's thinking, unlike his life, remains an undiscovered country to his countrymen, though he is the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. On economic matters, that may be because he doesn't seem to have devoted much time or energy to thinking about the economy. That dearth of thought was apparent yesterday in his speech on the financial crisis. Even some of the barons of Wall Street, looking at the mess they've made, have been recommending stepped-up regulation of financial practices and institutions, but not McCain, who called for "removing regulatory, accounting and tax impediments to raising capital." Never mind that a leading cause of our liquidity crisis is that so many financial institutions are exempt from the regulations that would require them to back their investments with actual assets or would enable them just to value the assets that are on their books.

Hard to say what's more dangerous -- McCain's approach to the economy or McCain's approach to the world. The thought of him answering the red phone at 3 a.m. fills me with foreboding. Hell, I don't want him answering the red phone at 3 p.m.

I fear McCain would be far worse than Bush redux...

Delong on "Free Market" fanaticism... also known as... "making stuff up"

Very in-depth blog post from Brad Delong... but the quote that picks up on my biggest theme--or maybe the biggest theme I have picked up from economist such as Delong is that of accepting the power and capacity of markets, but respecting that markets function because of humans and can and should be contingent on what creates the best social policy.

The Regulation of the Mixed Economy in Action

The argument against progressive income taxation requires a claim that the rich don't need any help from government, and is fatally undermined by any admission that the rich stand to benefit from the safety net as much--nay, enormously more in dollar terms--than the poor. But, as Robert Peel would put it, in financial matters the question is never laissez-faire vs. regulation, but always good smart regulation vs. bad stupid regulation.

I feel sometimes at a loss on how to navigate...

Sometimes I ramble poetical. Sometimes I speak and point more towards the data and empirical side of things. But I often wonder if I travel between the two ways of communicating--the artistic world, and the policy/philosophical world--in an effective manner. Or do I end up creating two many distractions. Some times I feel my artistic/poetic way of just saying what i'm feeling is petty and childish.

On the way out the door my gut fell out from under me and I felt guilty for posting this. It can be read as childish and petty... while it was intended as an attempt to speak of an emotion inside me that I want to be able to express with others who may feel the same way from time to time.

I want people to respect my views, I want to build a network of people with whom I can trust and who can trust me. To navigate this complex world. I don't want people to jump on my blog and have a bad first impression which makes them think I don't have anything productive to say or share.

Even if all I bring is an extra eye keeping up with the Josh Marshall's, Dean Baker's, and Brad Delong's of the world--who are every day teaching me via this wonderous tool--and pass them on to others who may not have the time, inclination, or ability to focus on such things. Then at least that is something.

I guess the question is how do I be true to myself, respectful of others, and coherent in my thinking? How do I build bridges and alliances with many different people from many different perspectives. I think this world is too complex for me to say that there are many important insights to take from people across the spectrum and across human history.

How do I do that, without being a pedantic, verbally assaulting, close minded, and divisive. That kind of crap goes on in politics, and especially prone to go on in the blog world.

I dunno, but I want to get better about being open/receptive/accessible in everything I do--more specifically on this blog.

Does the new media have to stay in the gutter? Or is this one more tool towards a more reflective and wise society?

I hope its the latter--from time to time I feel like I tend to jump the gun and do the former.

Sigh... I guess this is something I grow into learning how to accomplish.

Dean Baker always far ahead of the game...

All he thinks to add to this wall street journal article

"Stocks Tarnished By 'Lost Decade' U.S. Shares in Longest Funk Since 1970s;
Credit Crunch Could Prolong Weakness"

is this question

Supppose we had invested Social Security in the stock market?

Its not my job to do everyone elses job...

I'm a little frustrated today...

There are so many things that need to get done. Some many subjects that need more vocal advocates. And I keep trying to go in so many directions and accomplish so much. And I just can't. Its not my job. Whose job is it? Who connects all these dots? Leave it to the invisble hand? YOu know it seems some people are confused... yes there is an invisible hand... but no its not necessary for that hand to be slapping people around. The two aren't connected in some nasty Machiavellian dance.

Ahhhh.... I just let it go.

I do what I do--work on improving the quality of my own work and find ways to accept the world. My high expectations is almost a negation of the world, and inability to accept it with all its flaws. Might not that too be a flaw with which I must work on?

Speculative Fiction Bedtime stories...

Bertrand Russell "Social Cohesion and Human Freedom"

Morning Meditation goes live...

Part of my struggles is with structure and discipline. I work to improve this by setting a goal of getting up every morning, walking 3 miles, and then reading a short morning meditation. Something to keep my focus on how I can keep from getting dragged down into vapid consumerism, rage at all the struggles of the world. When you indulge, or cannot always relate to your fellow man in respect--you are just as much a part of the problem.

I don't always follow through--which means I have to always work to keep focused on this goal. But as a part of this. I hope to do my best at posting my meditations on youtube. For one to keep my feet to the fire, and also to share some very good writers and thinkers with the rest of the world.

Its still uploading... so give it time...

If your in GA! Important transportation bill

I just got a call today from someone at the Sierra Club. We have an important bill coming to the house on Thursday on Transportation funding. We need people to make this call. Don't like sitting in traffic, don't like gas going up and up and up? Make the call today. Ask your Rep. to support the bill.
---------

For the first time in GA, the proposed Macon-Atlanta-Athens commuter rail line has the potential to become a reality! This session, we are seeing for the first time in the history of our state, a real solution to fund better transit and a more efficient, balanced system. With our projected population growth and worsening air quality, transit is the only way we can get ourselves out of traffic and get on with our lives. RAIL-based transit provides permanent congestion relief and offers countless economic benefits. Please call your Representatives about this issue, and encourage them to vote YES on Thursday to S.R. 845, funding for transit. To find out who your reps are and to read a sample script, please look below. Then, please forward any responses from State Representatives you get so we can work on getting them on board and track votes!

· CALL YOUR REP TODAY TO SUPPORT SR 845 FOR BETTER TRANSIT! This is the first real opportunity we have seen in GA to change our outdated Constitutional definition of transportation as “roads and bridges” to something more effective and effeicient. SR 845, which allows for real funding for transit, has already passed the Senate. SR 845 would support projects like the proposed Macon to Atlanta to Athens commuter rail. We need it to pass the House.

· Link to find your Georgia State Representative: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/officials/congress/?district=05&lvl=C&azip=30309&state=GA

· SAMPLE SCRIPT:

o "Hi Representative (Jones), my name is (Nate) and I'm tired of this terrible traffic. It's killing our state's competitiveness and it's killing us. Atlanta has been ranked worse than Los Angeles as far as traffic-related air quality goes, and we now have the longest projected commute in the United States (http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2007/05/list_of_usas_lo.html). Asthma, directly linked to the pollution from cars, is now the number one reason for absenses in Atlanta Public Schools; over 50% of climate-change causing carbon emissions in GA come from vehicle trafffic. I support a better way. I support SR 845 and encourage you to PASS IT NOW. Include support for all forms of transportation, as well as operations expenses and incorporation of the remaining 1% of our current gas tax. Will you vote YES for SR 845 on Thursday? Yes or No. Thank you."

· Please send all contact information (did they say YES? No? Know nothing about it? Want more information?) to erin.glynn@sierraclub.org to we can guage support for this monumental transit funding bill.

Iraq... the not so going-well segment number 198,776,200,899

what a mess we have created...

"We never tortured anybody," he said. "Sometimes we beat them during the first hours of capture."

The Frank Factor- Liberalism 101, Part 1

Bill Richardson Endorses Barack Obama

Obama attacks

Attack on Obama

tell me again...

 

Tell me again
why I had to be so young?
I can't imagine having to face the world
like we did.
They didn't stop us them

I can sit and look back
and at least be proud of that.

edit #2

Before

After

playing with the photo editor this morning...

Before...


After...

yeah for the economy!

FACING DEFICITS, MANY STATES ARE IMPOSING CUTS THAT HURT VULNERABLE RESIDENTS

McCain tax agenda

Center for American Progress on McCain's tax policy

Peter Singer

Peter Singer interview

for more by Singer I highly recommend you read: What should a Billionaire Give and his thoughtful website page 3 easy ways to make a difference which I will quote below...

THREE EASY WAYS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Want to do something to make the world a better place? Here are three easy ways to do it:


1. DO SOMETHING FOR THE WORLD'S POOREST PEOPLE
Donate some of your spare income to help those in great need. I support Oxfam, an organization that works directly with local grass roots organizations in developing countries, and supervises the way its money is used to prevent corruption and waste. Here are links to the Oxfam organization in your country: Australia, Belgium, Canada (Québec), France, Germany, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, USA and for unlisted: http://www.oxfam.org.

2. DO SOMETHING FOR ANIMALS
No single human practice causes as much suffering to nonhuman animals as factory farming. Right now, billions of animals are locked in small cages so that they can't even stretch their limbs, or turn around, or are crowded into large sheds, tens of thousands of them in each shed, unable ever to go outside or enjoy fresh air and sunshine. Boycott this inhumane system of production. Don't buy factory farmed meat, eggs or dairy products. Better still, go vegetarian or vegan. Here’s a great website for the information you need.

3. DO SOMETHING FOR OUR PLANET'S ENVIRONMENT
Reduce your greenhouse gas emissions. Use public transport, walk or ride a bike whenever you can. If you must drive, get a fuel-efficient one, perhaps a hybrid. And remember, factory farming is a wasteful form of production that requires a lot of fossil fuel, so eating fewer - or no - animal products will cut the amount of emissions for which you are responsible.



These three points are all about living in a way that is ethically responsible. Try it - you'll find it gives more meaning to your life and it's a great antidote to boredom. There is always so much to be done. And talk to others about what you are doing. Don't preach or be self-righteous, or fanatical about it, that just puts people off, but at the same time, don't be shy about setting an example, and use opportunities that arise to let others know what you are doing.

what lies ahead... but hopefully not...

Talking Points Memo reader comment

Here's the scenario that I'm worried about...
Let's suppose that Hillary has a very good day in Pennsylvania, perhaps a 15-20 point win. If that happens, there is no way the superdelegates are going to move to lock it down for Obama. It's likely that she will also do fairly well in Indiana, West Virginia, and Kentucky, chipping away at Obama's lead. She probably won't overcome his current margin, but she will be close enough to be able to make the case to the superdelegates that she has the momentum, and that the Pastor Wright mess renders Obama unelectable.

Thus, we go into the convention with a bitterly divided Party, with tensions running high, and both of our potential nominees battered and less able to take on McCain in November. The superdelegates will be in the very uncomfortable position of having to risk alienating the newly-inpspired and huge African-American and youth components of the Party if they hand the prize to Hillary Clinton. If they give the nod to Obama, the Clinton faction is going to raise all kinds of hell and may not be supportive of Obama in the general election.

IMHO, we are headed toward a very unhappy ending, and if I were a superdelegate I'd be inclined to slam-dunk it now for Obama. The Clinton camp would have no cause to complain; they started this campaign with 96 committed SD's who didn't even bother to take a look at the other contestants-- they were in Hillary's pocket from the start. It is also worth noting that the Clinton team was saying that they expected to wrap this whole thing up by Super Tuesday, so they are in no position to claim that the Obama SD's acted in haste. At the moment, Obama leads by every conceivable metric-- pledged delegates, popular vote, states won, caucuses won, and yes- primaries won. The uncommitted SD's who have been patient enough to witness 19 debates and 40 primaries could easily justify their decision to line up behind a nominee so we can begin to consolidate support for our general election candidate.

The fact that those superdelegates haven't pulled the trigger yet make me inclined to believe that they are going to let the process run its course, and I'm betting that when we reach July we are all going to wish that they had summoned up the wisdom and the courage to end it back in mid-March.

Josh Marshall on Nov. choice...

More on Upsetting the Applecart

Presidential leadership is not simply about policy stands. Certainly that's not the case in how elections actually work. Nor is it how things ought to be. There's a lot about the presidency beyond policy positions. And character does count. The problem is just that in this country we routinely seem to confine it to matters of sexual ethics and whether you happen to say something that can be distorted beyond imagining by sundry right-wing agitprop freaks.

In any case, I'm not saying they're interchangeable. Whichever you prefer, they're actually very different candidates. What I am saying is that no one can run away from the choice every American with the franchise will face in November. The next president will either be John McCain or the Democratic nominee. That's an immovable fact. Not voting or voting for some protest candidate doesn't allow anyone to wash their hands of that choice.

Dean Baker, Dean Baker redux, and Dean Baker tri-dux (I don't know what redux three times would be)

Who Is Philosophically In Favor of Restrictions and Requirements That Hamper Economic Activity?

The NYT tells us that President Bush and Treasury Secretary Paulson are philosophically opposed to such restrictions, so presumably there must be someone who philosophically favors them, although the article does not identify anyone in this category.

As a general rule, it is probably reasonable to assume that most people are philosophically opposed to regulations that they perceive to be harmful to the economy. The differences arise over which measures they perceive, or claim to perceive, as being harmful.

More Philosophy from Politicians

The Washington Post joins the NYT in presenting the political philosophy of President Bush on Easter Sunday, telling us that the president's back seat in the Wall Street bailout efforts is "a matter of principle."

Sure, maybe the president has developed a carefully thought out economic philosophy, but let me suggest an alternative hypothesis. The financial industry gives much of its money to Democrats (ever hear of Robert Rubin?), unlike the oil industry, the defense industry, or the pharmaceutical industry. It's just possible that President Bush is not as eager to come to the aid of the Wall Street big boys as he is to come to the aid of other industries because they back the Democrats.

I don't know President Bush and don't know the real motives for his actions. But, I also don't believe that the Washington Post knows the real motive for his actions. Therefore, I would recommend that they just put the possibilities on the table and let readers decide for themselves whether politicians are acting based on political considerations or are guided by some underlying philosophy.

Btw, the main feature of the $300 billion housing price support program mentioned in the article, which is backed by Senator Chris Dodd and Representative Barney Frank, is the government purchase or guarantee of up $300 billion of bad mortgage debt held by banks and other investors. It would also allow for the renegotiation of loans for homeowners, but many would still be paying far more in ownership costs than they would to rent the same home, and would still have almost no hope of ever acquiring equity in the home.

The Ill Informed Is Learning: The Recession Will Be Bad

USA Today tells us that: "It's been almost an article of faith: Any recession this year will be mild and brief."

That may have been an article of faith from those who get their economic outlook from tea leaves and other mystical processes, but those of us who rely on economic data knew that a downturn was likely to be very bad and said this quite clearly.

It is unfortunate that reporters relied almost exclusively on ill-informed economists as their sources during the run-up to the recession. Remarkably most articles on the economy, including this one, continue to rely almost exclusively on economists who were surprised by the economy. While their statements of surprise can make interesting reading, it would also be useful to include the views of economists who were not surprised by the economy.

Poem #1

I just spit this one out of my head on the drive home from the movie. It will obviously need revision... but here you are.
------------------






Poem #1
so many churches here
I happen
upon passing my way
its sad
really--I think to myself,
as if I could share this with them.
This understanding in my head
that I hold. Right now,
I sometimes lose--but right now its here.

"We hold
the future" one of their signs
read. A little church
blessed, old and worn. I can
tell good people show up there.
I can see their smiles and laughter.
Like the church my grandparents helped raise
resolve, and pass on to another generation.

I don't want to take their hope
I want to whisper
something they already see
but like me
lose
grasp of
along the way.
They...Like me, grasping and losing
every day; along the way.

I wish I could share
with them
that it is right here--for me. It
is there around them too--it has to be.

When we listen, at peace
we can see.

For me, it is sitting here
my lovers hand in mine; a
phone call to a mother
early easter sunday with love.
A text message from a father
miles away. Memories of a sister--three
years gone--
left dancing in the ocean
at peace now.
The quiet prayers of an atheist
a silent, grateful thought
for the unending love and grace
of a cousin love, a cousins gift.
Another spirit, kindred spirt
sitting in the beams of glamour
down the left coast way
these simple gifts, I sit and let them
flow
through me.

As I pass these lamp-posts of grace
guiding passers by
I try not to shun, but feel the sadness
of unshared and unspoken...
negation is a world with no compassion
no acknowledgement. Something I can't tell them
all those promising salvation, hoping "just around
the corner" comes soon.

all I can do
is share what I have found
that which I will lose
and be forced, to remind myself
of;

hold my hand out to others
smile, listen, and respect
my brothers on this endless night of waiting

its daylight to stop burning.
I am here
just another easter sunday.
And its just poem #1
revisting the old;
and I am blessed.

Sam Harris blog post...

What Barack Obama Could Not (and Should Not) Say

Like every candidate, Obama must appeal to millions of voters who believe that without religion, most of us would spend our days raping and killing our neighbors and stealing their pornography. Examples of well-behaved and comparatively atheistic societies like Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Denmark--which surpass us in terrestrial virtues like education, health, public generosity, per capita aid to the developing world, and low rates of violent crime and infant mortality--are of no interest to our electorate whatsoever. It is, of course, good to know that people like Reverend Wright occasionally do help the poor, feed the hungry, and care for the sick. But wouldn't it be better to do these things for reasons that are not manifestly delusional? Can we care for one another without believing that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and is now listening to our thoughts?

More tshirts...

The Bush administration predicted that it would...
by

A_SpeculativeFiction

Get this custom shirt
at Zazzle

I opened a zazzle account for my tshirts...

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A Speculative FictionbyA_SpeculativeFiction
Get this custom shirt at Zazzle

I get a % of the sale. So if you like them you are helping me get through college!

Josh Marshall on refusing to vote for Hillary/Obama if Obama/Hillary wins...

Goodbye, Cruel Ballot Box

As much as the two campaign have sought to highlight the differences, the two candidates' positions on almost every issue is extremely close. And the differences that do exist pale into insignificance when compared to Sen. McCain's.

That's not to say that these small differences are reasons to choose one of the candidates over the other. But to threaten either to sit the election or vote for McCain or vote for Nader if your candidate doesn't win the nomination shows as clearly as anything that one's ego-investment in one's candidate far outstrips one's interest in public policy and governance. If this really is one's position after calm second-thought, I see no other way to describe it.

Johnny Isakson run for governor

Bill Shipp on Isakson's run

Rockridge

We need a President not just a Commander-and-Cheif

Protection and leadership are vital issues in a presidential campaign. But the commander-in-chief frame hides them, and replaces them with a right-wing model of government and of the presidency. Conservatives have a long history of dominating the landscape of ideas by trumpeting security issues. So long as the public generally thinks about military affairs as overwhelming, they will be susceptible to conservative frames. Associations between the presidency and commander-in-chief will tend to promote a conservative view of the world where use of force is not merely encouraged but made mandatory.

lets join the rest of the industrialized world

Let's Try a Dose. We're Bound to Feel Better.

But the critics have it backward. The best American medical care is indeed extremely good, but much of our system falls short -- especially when you consider how costly it is, how heavy a burden it places on employers and families, and how many it excludes. And far from being a threat, getting the government more involved in health care would actually reduce costs, improve quality and bolster the U.S. economy -- which helps explain why public insurance is the secret weapon in both of the leading Democratic candidates' plans. If socialized medicine means doing what our public-insurance programs and other nations' health systems do to control costs, expand coverage and improve the quality of care, it's high time for a little socialization.

To see the advantages of public insurance, just look at the program that once prompted the fiercest charges of socialized medicine, Medicare. Since the introduction of cost controls in the 1980s, Medicare's expenditures have grown at a substantially slower rate than spending on private insurance, according to a recent analysis by the health-care experts Cristina Boccuti and Marilyn Moon. And despite Medicare's comparative frugality, the program's beneficiaries express greater happiness with their coverage than do privately insured patients in surveys of consumer satisfaction.

Other industrialized nations have also seen the benefits of public insurance. Around the same time that Medicare cracked down on payments, most rich nations began more actively negotiating with doctors and hospitals to keep prices from rising through the roof. Lo and behold, medical inflation in most of the industrialized world has slowed dramatically, as the health policy specialist Chapin White has shown. But without such coordinated restraint, U.S. spending on health care has continued to rise rapidly -- a far cry from the 1970s, when our health-care spending per person was comparable to that of other rich nations and growing at about the same rate.

go learn something random...

here more can be found here

In the post Thank you Mr Mankiw over at Crooked Timber there are some wonderful points being made about Economists and elitism in the field.

Ahh go on then, try and tell me that Mankiw’s just engaging in a little bit of humour (possibly even a self-deprecating sigh at the pomposity of the average economist). No sale. This is how the average professional economist thinks of you lot, for all that you pay his wages; you’re a bunch of mugs who are incapable of understanding anything and just react like children to whatever’s dangled in front of your nose. It’s another of the many scandals of the profession, it is taught in the universities, and you can see it in more or less every popular book entitled something like “Fuckyounomics: How Nobody In The World Knows Jack Shit Except Economists”.

How do we deal with the natural tendency of those who spend large portions of their time actually studying the complexities and nuances of the world not being able to understand the average person who works hard and spends their free time doing things other than deep thinking.

How do we build alliances, and more importantly create open lines of communication--where experts have an opportunity to teach what they've learned? It always seems to degrade down to condescension and perjorative statements of contempt.

I catch myself doing it from time to time--but I recognize how self-defeating this is for anyone who truly wants to add to the growth of postive changes that are possible within the complex social interaction of living in a world of others.

Nine Inch Nails Ghosts 32 IV

Bought new Nine Inch Nails for 5 dollars. Its creative commons... so I downloaded freeware recording software, pulled out the cheapo mike.. and added lyrics, some of my photos that I've taken around and about...

and there you go...

good times...

morning links (with a good quote or two...)

The Fed’s Forced Marriage of Bear Stearns and J.P. Morgan

The official line is that the Fed had to get involved and make the guarantees in order to keep the markets in order. This is not clear. It is not easy to accept Fed pronouncements these days. After all, just last year Chairman Bernanke was telling us that the problems in the subprime market were likely to be contained. It is time that the Fed comes clean with both an honest assessment of the severity of the problem and increased transparency in its behind the scenes deals with the big banks.

There is something a bit obscene about billions of taxpayer dollars going to the country's richest people, when average workers can't afford health care for their kids.

Many voting for Clinton to boost GOP

For a party that loves to hate the Clintons, Republican voters have cast an awful lot of ballots lately for Senator Hillary Clinton: About 100,000 GOP loyalists voted for her in Ohio, 119,000 in Texas, and about 38,000 in Mississippi, exit polls show.

Kristol Fails To Check His Sources, And So Bungles Key Fact In Anti-Obama Column
As the Economy Falters, So Do State Budgets
Freud on the Arab-Israeli Conflict in 1930 (Via Leiter report)
Economic- and Financial-Policy Message of the Week: Barney Frank and Chris Dodd's Vehicle
The B Word By PAUL KRUGMAN

yeah for competition in markets... yeah for openess.... I have a dream that someday open source/creative commons shall rule the world...

Until then we have the wonder that is the internet... spearding information like wild fire...

Sophistpundit: Hacking the Wii

lovely and quite thoughtful blog post

John Gray on the atheists

politicians love them... but...

Health Care Tax Credits: Not So Fast

The U.S. is already trying a small experiment with health care tax credits—and it is not exactly a roaring success. A new study by The Urban Institute’s Stan Dorn does a nice job of describing what has gone wrong. In short: Very few of those who are eligible are taking the credit and massive administrative costs are eating up one-third of the program’s budget. Other than that, things are going swimmingly.

The credit was created in 2002 as part of the Trade Adjustment Assistance Act. The idea was to help workers who lost jobs to foreign competition buy health insurance. The credit pays 65% of premiums for workers, retirees and their families, but in 2006, only 28,000 households took it, about one of every eight of those eligible.

Why so few? Dorn identifies several problems. The most important may be that even with a generous 65% subsidy, many people still can't afford coverage. To make matters worse, enrollment is complicated, and the policies are not very good (many exclude pre-existing conditions and limit coverage for preventative care and the like). Even though the credit is refundable, participants also have a cash-flow problem—they have to pay full premiums upfront for several months before the tax break kicks in.

The administrative cost problem may be more troubling. The program is immensely complex and, in an effort to encourage private insurers to participate, much of the administrative burden is dumped on the Internal Revenue Service. As a result, Dorn reports, it costs the IRS $1 to deliver $5 in benefits. Add in plan costs and fully 34% of the program’s budget goes to overhead.

A bigger program would probably slash the cost-per-enrolee quite a bit, but even so, the government’s experience with TAA suggests that tax credits may not be the panacea that their supporters claim. But, then, in health care, nothing ever is.

"I see our country going off a cliff, and I feel bad about it."

The Rise of American Incompetence: We used to be the world's most skillful entrepreneurs and managers. Now we're laughingstocks. What happened? by Daniel Gross


One thought... in 27 years we've had 24 years of Republican Presidential Rule... and we currently have a Harvard Business School graduate at the helm. We've got a culture that tells people "its your money" and a political movement to cut taxes--all in spite of the fact that an economy is a collective effort. Pathologies are high and education levels low...

go figure.

What's the difference between porn and prostitution?

Michelle Tsai on Slate asks the question: Why is it legal to pay someone for sex on camera?

John McCain

McCAIN IS NOT EQUIPPED TO FIX OUR ECONOMY
Working men and women across the country will tell you that our economy is in trouble. The mortgage crisis has resulted in record foreclosure filings, health care costs are skyrocketing and families are working harder than ever to make ends meet. It’s a widely accepted fact that we’re headed into a recession. But John McCain has not shown any real interest in correcting this situation. In fact, McCain goes against conventional wisdom by saying he doesn’t think we’re headed into a recession and didn’t even bother to show up to vote for the stimulus package.

WHAT IS McCAIN SAYING?
McCain: We Are NOT Headed into a Recession. McCain said, “I don’t believe we’re headed into a recession. I believe the fundamentals of this economy are strong, and I believe they will remain strong.” [GOP Debate, Myrtle Beach, FNC, 1/10/08]

McCain: I Never Really Understood Economics. McCain said, “The issue of economics is something that I’ve really never understood as well as I should. I understand the basics, the fundamentals, the vision, all that kind of stuff. But I would like to have someone I’m close to that really is a good strong economist. As long as Alan Greenspan is around I would certainly use him for advice and counsel.” [“The Swamp,” Chicago Tribune, 12/18/07]

Alan Greenspan Said We’re “Clearly on the Edge” of a Recession. “Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Thursday night the American economy is ‘clearly on the edge’ of a recession, and he pointed to the depressed housing market as a primary culprit.” [Associated Press, 2/15/08]

WHAT’S REALLY HAPPENING?
Consumer Confi dence Down, Costs Up and Housing Prices Down. The economy was battered by bad news on Tuesday, February 25, 2008. The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index plunged to 75 from 87.3 in January “as Americans worried about less-favorable business conditions and job prospects.” The Labor Department reported that wholesale food, energy and medicine costs soared, pushing inflation up at the fastest pace in a quarter of a century. And U.S. home prices dropped 8.9 percent in the final quarter of 2007 compared with a year ago, Standard & Poor’s said, the steepest decline in the 20-year history of its housing index. [Associated Press Online, 2/26/08; Associated Press, 2/26/08]

January 2008: 233,000 Foreclosures Reported; an 8 Percent Increase from December 2007. “RealtyTracTM released its January 2008 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows foreclosure filings—default notices, auction sales notices and bank repossessions—were reported on 233,001 properties during the month, an increase of 8 percent from the previous month and an increase of nearly 57 percent from January 2007.” [RealtyTrac Press Release, 2/26/08]

Feds Investigate 14 Companies Connected to Housing Crisis for Mortgage Fraud. The FBI and Securities and Exchange Commission opened a criminal probe into mortgage-market fraud by 14 companies. The criminal probe is the latest in a string of investigations assessing how much banks knew and disclosed about risky mortgage securities backed by subprime loans. The FBI did not identify the companies involved in the probe. [Associated Press, 2/1/08; Associated Press, 2/19/08]

McCain’s Hometown, Phoenix, Had Devastating 56,000 Foreclosure Filings in 2007. In 2007, Phoenix reported 56,040 foreclosures— that represents a 177 percent increase from 2006. JoAnn Hauger, executive director of the Community Housing Resources of Arizona, sees 20 to 30 people a month in need of housing counseling because they can no longer afford their mortgage payments. “It is tough,” she said. “I don’t know if Bush’s $300 or $600 will make a difference.” [RealtyTrac Press Release, 2/13/08; Washington Post, 2/5/08]

WILL McCAIN DO ANYTHING?
McCain Skipped Vote on Economic Stimulus Package Despite Being in Washington at the Time. Senator McCain missed a key vote on H.R. 5140 —the Recovery Rebates and Economic Stimulus for the American People Act of 2008. “McCain returned to Washington but made an eleventh-hour decision to skip the vote, aides to his campaign said.” [H.R. 5140, Vote #8, 2/6/08; Associated Press, 2/6/08]

McCain Said Government Should Consider Intervening in Mortgage Crisis; Did NOT Specify Necessary Intervention. “Reacting to voters’ concerns about the economy, Senator John McCain said that he would consider greater intervention by the federal government to limit the fallout of the mortgage crisis if current measures fail. McCain...did not specify what further federal intervention might be necessary.” [New York Times, 12/15/07]

But ONLY If Efforts to Help the Banks Do NOT Succeed. “Arizona Sen. John McCain is the only GOP hopeful to express any support for government intervention in the foreclosure crisis, and then only if current efforts by the White House to work with banks don’t succeed.” [St Louis Post- Dispatch, 1/27/08]

This is disturbing...

Clayton schools get grim verdict. Clayton County schools are to lose their accreditation Sept. 1st.

Fla., lost accreditation in 1969. The national commission voted to revoke the accreditation of the schools in Hartford, Conn., but the state stepped in and took over at the last minute, Elgart said.

Clayton officials said they weren't surprised by the national vote, but were confident they could overhaul the district in time.

"We're a realistic board and know the situation we're in and know we have to move forward," school board Chairwoman Ericka Davis said.

The board has already taken steps toward improvement, including removing board member Norreese Haynes for not living in the county, Clayton County Commission Chairman Eldrin Bell said.

Wait... you kick someone off the board for not living in the county! And thats a step in the right direction? THats a technicality! Thats not kicking someone off for not doing their job...

WHat do these kids do?

THe likelihood that this state is going to step in before its too late seems very small. Look at the Grady issue...

links for the day

Protect Your Money From Your Liberal Kids!
Dean Baker on Robert Rubin
Krugman on Dean Baker on Rubin
Brad Delong on Krugman on Baker on Rubin

TPMtv: Send in The Clown

I'm reaching the point that I'm going to pull out of personal comments about the Clinton/Obama race... and this nonsense about Michigan and Flordia should get seated at the convention. I'll just start burning down bridges and Nov. is too quickly approaching for that kind of nonsense. I'll keep linking to others who have something of interest to say.

But I have too much anger with the Democratic Party and those who sat down and did nothing after 9/11 gave Bush some coat-tails to run conservative policy down this road we're now on. With no opposition party in sight our country has become quite a sorry state.

There is rotten wood in this party. We're rebuilding; I can tell you that because I'm meeting and working every day very inspiring and talented people who are just as dedicated to taking on conservative policy as I am. We will turn the tide it just takes time and a lot of hard work.

TPM find #2
For Reason before she was against it?

Not sure quite what it means. But TPM Reader JB dug up this passage from a December 2006 article in the Times about what then seemed the likely prospect that a women and a black man would be competitive candidates in the 2008 Democratic primaries ...

“All evidence is that a white female has an advantage over a black male — for reasons of our cultural heritage,” said the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, the civil rights leader who ran for president in 1984 and 1988. Still, he said, for African-American and female candidates, “It’s easier — emphatically so.”
Ms. Ferraro offered a similar sentiment. “I think it’s more realistic for a woman than it is for an African-American,” said Ms. Ferraro. “There is a certain amount of racism that exists in the United States — whether it’s conscious or not it’s true.”

“Women are 51 percent of the population,” she added.

Not shocking... but sad...

One of the things I've been shocked by during my session here at the State Capitol is the number of Representatives walking around using economic terms left and right but using them in ways that aren't accurate, misrepresent, or are utterly meaningless to the question at hand. I don't know a whole lot past the econ 101 I've taken, a few economic books I've read, and the econ bloggers I read. On one or two occasions I have scratched the surface of some of their statements by digging around and have found that my suspicions were unfortunately correct.

So when I happened upon this this morning I really wasn't surprised...

I've started to learn to make a distinction between functionality and competency. Just because you are functional in the world doesn't mean you are competent in your field, trade, or line of expertise. It may just mean you jumped through the right hoops and were persistent. That's not to downplay those skills--the ability to adhere to basic norms, and achieve specific tasks and goals in an accountable manner are to be applauded.

But the cautionary tale is that we should know what we know...and know what we don't know--didn't Socrates have something to say about that? And even further the next step of that is to act on what is correct... because action exposes truth--didn't Jesus have something to say about that?

By accepting the complexity and nuances of the world in a more astute manner we can help decrease the harm done with bad information which will allow us to differentiate those who are well meaning but wrong... from those who are ill intentioned, manipulative, and dangerous.

TPMtv: McCain Can't Quit John Hagee

live blogging S.R. 796

go here...
Richardson is on the floor speaking about his tax proposal. 2:36

...he's talking about this being an opportunity to do something good.

...to let the people of GA vote.

"There is no middle ground"

"We aren't going to vote by section... vote one time and one time only."

2:37

"You let GA say... as a policy decsion. We are not going to tax cars..."

2:38

"329 million tax cut" first year

context

2:40
"We can watch out pennies..." is why we can afford it. Aren't are schools already broke? Isn't peach care already on the rocks?


2:41pm
"We're going to freeze property taxes on 2008 values"

"can go up 2% on residential 3% on nonresidential"

"some certainty on property taxes"

"Cap rate of increase at Governmental inflation rate..."

"using governmental price index..."

"5 year average of that is 5.05%.... in other words will be telling local jurisdiction... you may not increase rev. on property taxes by no more than 5.05% plus growth plus other revenues that come in

"how many of your consitituents get 5% pay increase every year? nobody? so how can you be against it?

"we're going to put a safe gaurd...

"citizens say... they want more services...

"all the people (in that county) that want to increase taxes will vote at county level... if they want to provide some ballfeild... or other service that put it to vote

2:46
"your going to get one chance to do something of trauma care... 10 dollars on each car

"do we trust Georgians enough... to be part of biggest tax cut in GA history...


2:50
Hatefield.... pg 5 of bill line 30 and 31. How will bill effect local property tax freezes... will it superceede those freezes?

Richardson (Rich)... you decide on the local area... provision by local legislative act


2:51
Setzler... true.. pg 6 adval rev. cap just a cap on ad valorum revunue?

Rich: only ad valurm taxes capped at gov. rate
wanted to use consumer price index. But decided Gov. Price Index...
the index already incorrorates unforseen events... also allowing for growth.


Rep Smith 113: how does it effect local controL?

Rich: can imagine more local control?

Rep. Smith: state won't have same rules as local level?

Rich: the sum of the parts exceeds the whole... we've lost touch. State government is reocognized in US constitutions. County,cities, schools... creatures of the state... local officals have exceeded the ability of themselves to pay

2:57

Rep Mills: first year 329 million dollar cut
second 672 million...

3:00
Rep Rich... my own city doesn't collect property taxes... we should learn from them.

Rep. Manning: When will this be on ballot...

Rich: this november 8th

Rich: calls for vote.. isn't it time to do something really good. You mean to tell me you that bunch in Atl gave us the right to vote on paying taxes on cars or not?

Rep Burkaulter: This is an exceptional day in the house of rep. They don't happen very often. This past year a lot have stressed over this discussion. Has been a healthy year. If GA's are watching and hearing whats going on. I think its a good thing.


JIm: I don't... this is a sad day... we have too many needs in this state to to have deficits in 2011!!!


Rep. Burkaulter... Richardsons crusade... is an opportunity to pass on signifigant tax cuts to the people we represent. We have tax relief. Harness the control and growth, harness the unpredicatability of local government spending... eliminates the most onerous tax on the state of GA that is collected on the day of your birth. A tax that 20 other states don't bother to collect. WIll benifit 93% of GA's and their households.

3:07
Rep. Burkaulter : this will eliminate a tax will benift more average ga's than rich ga's more low income Georgians... we don't work on polls... but if you want to look at the polls and they'll rate them for you. But ad val tax on personal vehichile. 87%(?)

Rep. Burk: Luther Colber... everywhere Luther went... he was minority whip. Everywhere he went he carried a copy of the state constitution. He envoked it everywhere he went. He new the importance of it... and importance of when you amend it. Can imagine the those who wrote the constitution in GA. Can't imagine those who wrote or made laws ever intended for your personal vehicle to have government finger prints.

3:13


GBPI: A $672 million hole in the state budget is the equivalent of:
100 percent of the PeachCare budget and 27 percent of the Medicaid budget; or
8 percent of K-12 education; or
29 percent of the Board of Regents budget; or
56 percent of the Department of Corrections budget.

Rep. Burk: some will claim we can't afford this... sure we can... if we want to.

3:15

Rep. ONeil: vote yes as quick as possible... want to talk about intangible aspects
keep hereing the term stability... why government likes the stability than roperty.

No more stable tax than property taxes... yes every level of gov. sees ad val as stable.

Predictability.. yes you have a very predictable revenue flow... to put it in banking terminlogy want 1 dollar put up 100 dollar cd. What about the tax payer? What about its predictable in this state alone of 20% increase? How predictable you think they think ad val. taxes are?

3:20
Rep. ONeil: give Georgians opportunity today to cast your vote on single largest tax cut in history of this state.

3:21
Rep. Roberts : the people are ready for tax reform

3:49
Ringing for vote on bill...

yeas: 110
nos: 62

bill fails to get constitutional majority! Call your Rep. ask them how they voted and thank them for voting no. If they vote yes, let them no about your disapproval.

Interesting comments from Paulson

hat tip to Caluculated Risk. Remarks by Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr. U.S. Housing and Mortgage Market Update before the National Association of Business Economists

...the current public discussion often conflates the number of so-called "underwater" homeowners – that is, those with mortgages greater than the value of their house – with projections of foreclosures. Let's be precise: being underwater does not affect your ability to pay your mortgage, nor create a government responsibility for assistance. Homeowners who can afford their mortgage should honor their obligations --- and most do.

Obviously, being underwater is not insignificant to homeowners in that position. But negative equity does not necessarily result in foreclosure. Most people buy homes as a long-term investment, as a place to raise a family and put down roots in a community. Homeowners who can afford their payments and don't have to move, can choose to stay in their house. And let me emphasize, any homeowner who can afford his mortgage payment but chooses to walk away from an underwater property is simply a speculator – and one who is not honoring his obligations.

We know that speculation increased in recent years; a resulting increase in foreclosures is to be expected and does not warrant any relief. People who speculated and bought investment properties in hot markets should take their losses just like day traders who speculated and bought soaring tech stocks in 2000.

This was a hoot...

This is funny. via Leiter Report.


Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early
But we still lack machines that have paper trails... so its not really that funny after all.

Thoughts on HB 413

crossposted at YDG blog

I don’t think Avery was the only one of us struck by HB 413. The floor debate brought out the worst and the best of the general assembly that day. Some days in the office you have the live feed on as background noise while you go about your work. Some days there are segments of the day where the live feed is the only thing you can focus on–all those pesky tasks and "job responsibilities" seem to want to get put to the side. 413 had all of us in the office glued to our computers.

As a voter I couldn’t help but wonder: why are we even spending time on this issue?

I was appalled listening to Rep. Charlice Byrd say that English is the "language of capitalism" and that keeping the bill from passing was just one "Big government group hug"; that this kind of "state sponsored multi-culturalism... dilutes English and hurts personal responsibility".

I’d hate to be the one to inform her but the language of the markets is one of supply and demand, its one of price, cost, and profit. I’ve been all over the world having spent time in rural places like Valley, Alabama; Rome, Georgia; Mindanao, a providence in the southern Philippine islands; a small market along the road side of some nowhere train crossing in France.

I’ve also spent time in urban metropolises like Los Angeles, Paris, Manila, Berlin.

I’ve seen markets as complex algorithms in the form of graphs charting out bond markets, or housing stats. I’ve seen markets as complex social interactions of producers bringing and bargaining their goods with buyers.

I’ve smelled the stench of an Athens fish market. I’ve seen the sweat on the brow of a hard working farmer in Alabama. I know the beauty of markets, I know the importance of markets; and it makes me mad when leaders in our state use the market system as a bully pulpit for some other issue.

Markets are the same across the globe. And hard work and personal responsibility is the same no matter the language, culture, or class. To make this an issue of personal responsibility or challenging the work ethic of non-english speakers is very disheartening rhetoric to see on the floor of the Georgia General Assembly. In our country we’re taught that hard work gets you rich. Its propaganda, manipulative, and hurts the dialogue we need to get the policies needed for our economy to work for all of us. Kind of along the lines of what billionaire Warren Buffet once said, "If you stick me down in the middle of Bangladesh or Peru, you’ll find out how much this talent is going to produce in the wrong kind of soil."

Mandating that English be the only language that is spoken on any official acts of government has nothing to do with markets and some have done a better job than I pointing out how manipulative making such a claim can be.

Not communicating legal issues about a student in school to their parents in a way that the parent can best understand what’s going on is not a "big government group hug" its protecting and empowering our communities. Its about making sure people aren’t put at risk because they don’t get the proper information communicated to them.

Government is about protecting and empowering. Its about protecting and empowering our citizens, our economy, our state.

I was glad to hear Rep. Doug McKillip speak that day about the impacts on our economy. Situations where we bring in skilled labor be it a driver from the Ukraine who knows his industry and the technology being used, or a Professor from Chile who knows his field. We want our economy to have the best and brightest.

But I was proud to be a Democrat when Rep. Al Williams stepped to the floor and began talking; citing names like William Wilburforce and speaking to the issues of treating other humans with decency and respect. I was so moved I didn’t take notes that well on what he said cause I was jumping up and down saying "he nailed it." To watch a good rhetorical point made, in a poetic and dignified manner on the floor of your state house is a true privilege and pleasure.

When you see mass emails to all the Representatives saying–I kid you not– "Engilish is the language of America"(sic); you worry about what’s going on in our communities, our cities and our counties that has so divided us. I’m glad that 413 was killed that week. But I worry about the underlying issues that make this such a heated issue where the facts at hand are so quickly ignored and the divisiveness and intolerance towards fellow humans is so acceptable.

Conservatives want to make immigration a major issue. Because its a hobgoblin. It divides us and keeps people from working in good faith to create good social policy.

The underlying issues that drive such things are issues that have made me become a proud Democrat. Strengthening our economy, our education system, our communities are policy positions that should make us proud to be Democrats. The votes of support for 413 speak to the need for Democrats like you reading this to get up here and get involved.

We can’t create good social policy without more people getting into the mix. I was saying the other day to someone that I wish I had learned the things I’m learning now at 19 and not 27. But I went on to say that I’m certainly glad I’m learning these things at 27 rather than 37!

Please consider taking some time to intern or help fund other interns, speak with your representatives about issues that matter to you. Build alliances with your friends and neighbors on issues that matter. Network in ways that can respond to the quick nature of policies in the legislature. Roll up your sleeves and sacrifice a little of your time. You’ll learn a lot, you’ll meet some pretty phenomenal citizens who truly care about creating good social policy, and you’ll help be part of the solution rather than part of the problem.

Hey Avery! thanks for stimulating this post...

I think this is a good point...

Robert Reich on Obama/Hillary vs. NAFTA

NAFTA has become a symbol for the mounting insecurities felt by blue-collar Americans. While the overall benefits from free trade far exceed the costs, and the winners from trade (including all of us consumers who get cheaper goods and services because of it) far exceed the losers, there’s a big problem: The costs fall disproportionately on the losers -- mostly blue-collar workers who get dumped because their jobs can be done more cheaply by someone abroad who’ll do it for a fraction of the American wage. The losers usually get new jobs eventually but the new jobs are typically in the local service economy and they pay far less than the ones lost.

Even though the winners from free trade could theoretically compensate the losers and still come out ahead, they don’t. America doesn’t have a system for helping job losers find new jobs that pay about the same as the ones they’ve lost – regardless of whether the loss was because of trade or automation. There’s no national retraining system. Unemployment insurance reaches fewer than 40 percent of people who lose their jobs – a smaller percentage than when the unemployment system was designed seventy years ago. We have no national health care system to cover job losers and their families. There's no wage insurance. Nothing. And unless or until America finds a way to help the losers, the backlash against trade is only going to grow.

Get me? The Dems shouldn't be redebating NAFTA. They should be debating how to help Americans adapt to a new economy in which no job is safe.

Its a bad sign when...

The Iranian President gets a regal visit and our Presdent sneeks in and sneeks out in silence... (via TPM)Greeted with Sweets and Flowers (just not for us)

Pomp and ceremony greeted Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on his arrival in Iraq on Sunday, the fanfare a stark contrast to the rushed and secretive
visits of his bitter rival U.S. President George W. Bush.

Ahmadinejad held hands with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani as they walked down a red carpet to the tune of their countries' national anthems, his visit the first by an Iranian president since the two neighbours fought a ruinous war in the 1980s.

His warm reception, in which he was hugged and kissed by Iraqi officials and
presented with flowers by children, was Iraq's first full state welcome for any
leader since the U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Conservatives use threat of terror as hobgoblin to scare Americans

proof is in the pudding

Saving us from the Aliens...

We all know how the conservatives want to save us--and all of western civilization--from the illegals who are participating in a true free market fashion of going to where the jobs are. They do this pejoratively and lecture paternalistic on how they are protecting good citizens.

Well it turns out we should spend more time protecting us from ourselves [via Rockridge Institute]

A study by the Public Policy Institute of California, a non-partisan policy research organization, finds that immigrants and their children are much less likely to commit crime than the US-born, concluding that "spending additional dollars to reduce immigration or to increase enforcement against the foreign-born will not have a high return in terms of public safety. The foreign-born in California already have extremely low rates of criminal activity."

John Adams HBO Mini-Series Movie Trailer

This looks good....

Where's YOUR American flag lapel pin Jack Kingston?

Talk by Naomi Wolf - The End of America

American Freedom Campaign