MUSINGS EARLY JANUARY 2014

·         Musings 2014 1 16

Rep Darrell Issa is pursuing investigation of possibility of breach of security of ACA, even though to date no such breach has occurred, and he is ignoring the very real breach of security at Target stores, which has affected over 100 million people.

About TPP

·         Have you heard anyone talking about TPP and FTA, that is Trans Pacific Partnership and Fast Track Authority, besides Ed Schultz, Thom Hartman, and Amy Goodman?

·         Sen Max Baucus,(D-MT)  chair of the finance committee, has the same fervor for TPP that he had against Public Option in ACA.  Will he have the same success with this issue as with the ACA?  Still, he is going to be ambassador to China, I guess his stances pay off.

·         When Max Baucus convened the finance committee hearing into FTA, he had four witnesses, three who favored FTA, and one, a union leader, who opposed.

·         They are trotting out the same tired old arguments:  “Malaysia has a 40% tax on tires from USA, we don’t have any on theirs,” in 1994 it was “Mexico has a 20% tax on tires, we don’t have any on theirs.”

1/17/14

More on TPP

·         Someone just tweeted on the Ed show, “TPP stinks more than the water in WV.”

·         TPP—Take People’s Paychecks; Toilet Paper Politics; Terrible Public Policy;

·         New Balance is the last major athletic shoe manufacturer in the U.S. (though I have been told not all their production takes place in USA)

·         A tweet:  What is wrong with Obama?  Jesus Mary and Joseph help us all.

·         A tweet:  President Obama, please don’t break our hearts.

·         I love Rep DeFazio.   Not only is he a staunch progressive,  He is so sweet

·         I love Rep Delauro.  Beauty is as beauty does.  As plain a plain Jane as can be imagined, always dresses well, always speaks well, always on the right track.  Don’t you love that red streak in her hair?

·         This is the closest vote ever on a question posed by Ed Shultz.  Do you think the president will back down on TPP?  47% say yes. 53% say no.  So sad, that we should doubt our president.

 

Because we hear so much umbrage directed at that dictator Obama, for all his executive orders, please note:  Number of executive orders during first terms:  Reagan-213, HWBush-166, gwbush-173, Obama-147.  Obama had fewer executive orders during first term than any president in the last 100 years.

The Three “I’s”

There were three governors elected for the first time in 2009—of Guam, Virginia, and New Jersey.  Since then, One has been Impeached, one Indicted, and one is being Investigated.  What a year that was.

Gov Christie says he is going to run his state for the people who pay for it.  Does he mean the corporations who buy the govt, or does he mean the rich who pay taxes, thereby  demeaning those who are too poor to pay taxes.

Bill Press says “It’s cold as HELL.”  Yeah, right.

Notes on two women on msnbc:

Alex Wagner’s mother, Tin Swe Thant, is an immigrant from Rangoon, Burma.^[1] Her father, Carl Wagner, is from Iowa and of German and Irish descent, and is a prominent Democratic Party political consultant who co-chaired Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign.^[4] Wagner was raised Roman Catholic.^[5]

Karen Finney, [with msnbc, of Disrupt, 4 p.m., Sat & Sun] who is African-American on her father's side, is also a "great, great, great, great niece" of Robert E. Lee on her mother's.

Someone’s quote:  “And remember, while not all conservatives are stupid, all stupid people are conservative.”

So, in the Ukraine, people are protesting new laws forbidding them to protest.

What would happen if the couple of million people who have had their unemployment insurance cut off were to do sit-ins at their local legislator’s offices during this ten-day paid vacation they, the legislators, are having?  Maybe also the half-a-billion people who have no health insurance because their states turned down Medicaid expansion program?  The workers who have had their food stamps cut?

 

 

 

 

Buyers Remorse Part II

The following letter to the editor (Hampshire Review) was written in response to Vogt's reply to my previous letter about  right-wing legislative assaults on citizens in several states.  See Buyers Remorse in August Archives.  To be expanded.) 

In response to Mr Vogt’s letter , you should heed the saying “You are entitled to your own opinion, but you are not entitled to your own facts”.  You are free to opine that state governments can best deal with their budget woes by cutting taxes on the rich and on corporations while cutting jobs, pay, and benefits for public workers.  But be careful with your facts.  The wealthy are lauded for having accrued to themselves millions and billions of dollars from the backs of the working class, while teachers, those deluded souls who have spent their lives--their blood, sweat, and tears--to educate our children, are vilified because they seem to think they should get fair wages and benefits.   Upon being hired, teachers, like all workers, have to negotiate with their employers for their salaries and benefits.   Because teachers belong to unions, they do not have to negotiate individually, but depend upon their union reps to undertake this task.  They do not, of course, always get what they want.  Wages and benefits are a package, the union may settle for more pay and then pay more for their benefits.  Or they may balance less salary against being able to pay less or nothing for their benefits.  Employer and employees settle for what they conceive to be a mutually beneficial package.

After giving more tax cuts to the wealthy and to corporations, Gov Walker proceeded to make the public sector pay for it.  He required teachers to take wage cuts and to pay more of their benefits, and repealed their collective bargaining rights.  Contrary to your assertions, teachers had already agreed to the wage and benefits issues, but did not choose to give up their union rights.  Senate Democrats left the state in order to avoid giving the Senate a quorum to pass the flawed bill.  Walker split the bill, passing the collective bargaining section separately, because it did not require a quorum. 

Republicans set out to recall eight of the senators who had fled the state, but were only successful in getting three on the ballot; all three retained their seats.  Democrats set out to recall six Republicans, and succeeded in getting all six on the ballot; two lost their seats.  This is a total of five out of nine wins for the Democrats, and leaves the Republicans with only a one seat majority in the Senate.