Category: Politics

I thought this was called “Extortion”

Extortion (also called shakedown, outwresting, and exaction) is a criminal offense of unlawfully obtaining money, property, or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion…. Making a threat of violence which refers to a requirement of a payment of money or property to halt future violence is sufficient to commit the offense…. Neither extortion nor blackmail require a threat of a criminal act, such as violence, merely a threat used to elicit actions, money, or property from the object of the extortion.

So here we are, getting ready to argue about the debt ceiling again. And Speaker Boehner is telling us there’s no deal without gutting Social Security. He’s willing to tank the nation’s credit to get his way.

What, Grandma doesn’t need to eat, does she?

How dare he. And if the President thinks for one minute about appeasing him, how dare he.

Remember that Social Security doesn’t add one penny to the national debt — in fact, the Feds borrow money from Social Security so they can pay the bills!. Further, the anticipated problems with future cash flow can easily be fixed by raising the maximum amount taxed for Social Security. Without Social Security, count on a lot more poverty.

Now, it’s all well and good to say that individuals must be responsible for [read, pay for] their own retirement, it’s just callous to say that in an environment where minimum wage is less than it was in 1963 when adjusted for inflation and many Baby Boomers experience long term unemployment. How the heck are people supposed to “be responsible” for retirement in that environment?

Be sure to contact your Congressperson and Senators to let them know how you feel about this. Remind them that you — and your parents — vote.

In Closing: you know these days it’s hard to end a post without giving you some choice tidbits about the NSA and/or Snowden; when the heck are schools going to learn that their authority ends when students are dismissed and off school property?; blurred lines; they needed a study to show that laptops in class are a distraction even for the kids without them?; a couple comics ladies might appreciate; pragmatism (or, you can’t ship your busted toilet to India); and TR.

Over 95% Bums and Idiots

I’m more than a little peeved at Washington today.

Let’s start with the reply I got from Senator Reid regarding NSA spying programs, including this paragraph:

These surveillance authorities are important tools for the counterterrorism officials working to dismantle foreign terrorist networks and keep America safe. These authorities have played a vital role in helping the U.S. Government identify and disrupt terrorist plots, and have helped our Intelligence Community better understand the nature and extent of terrorist networks. However, I share your concerns about ensuring transparency and protecting the privacy and civil liberties of law-abiding Americans as our government uses these expansive tools. I have strongly supported efforts to strengthen oversight and disclosure requirements as we have periodically reauthorized these surveillance authorities.

Really, Harry? Are you sure about that? If these programs are so successful, how come they can’t trot out some captured terrorists? The other day, the NSA said they can’t actually search through the “Centuries of Data” they are prepared to collect. Now which is it? “This is a vital program that helps us find and catch bad guys,” or “I dunno, it’s in here somewhere”?

The nicest thing I can say about having voted for you, Harry, is that you were more sane than your opponent. Don’t make me regret that, Senator.

Remember that the Amash amendment failed bipartisanly. That means the RepubliCANTS and DemocRATS are equally in favor of letting the spies violate your rights under the 1st, 4th, and 5th Amendments all they like.

Speaking of bipartisan idiocy, why won’t Steve King just shut up? Bad enough he wants to compare immigration to choosing “a pretty good bird dog” and can’t understand why anybody thinks that’s offensive. Now he’s doubled down with talk about how most immigrants are drug smugglers with calves the size of cantaloupes. Steve, sweetie, when even Mr. Boehner thinks your remarks are  hateful and ignorant, they probably are.

Remember that an immigration “reform” plan that doesn’t include a way for undocumented workers to eventually become citizens is saying “We like having easily exploited, illegal workers in this nation.” See also, the truth about guest workers, and why unemployment is “down.”

And now there’s serious talk about making Larry Summers the Fed chair? Oh please.

Are there more than a handful of intelligent elected officials who aren’t owned by special interests in all of Washington DC? Who the heck am I supposed to vote for when all my choices are idiots, nutcases, liars, hopelessly out of touch, paid to do as they are told, openly against my interests, and/or quietly working against my interests while telling me it’s for my own good? Jon Porter was a Republican, but at least he had the guts to tell me “I respect your opinion but I disagree because….” on multiple occasions.

In Closing: Thanks for saving Ohio the expense of a heavily publicized trial; some of the smartest stuff I’ve read about Detroit; why yes, I find it convenient to be alive.

“Oh No, Say It Ain’t So, Joe”

B000444Today, I got a letter from Joe Biden. I was kind of excited when I saw it. He asked about my family and how my classes were going… No, not really. He wanted money for the DSCC, “the only organization solely dedicated to electing and reelecting Democrats to the Senate.”

So in short, here’s my reply: Sure, Joe, do you want me to make that check out to Democracy for America or MoveOn? Because the DNC, DSCC, DNCC, and other ‘official’ Democratic groups aren’t getting any more of my money until you start representing my interests!

Want my money? Well Joe, you’re the head of the Senate. Make those idiots actually stand up and talk when they threaten filibuster. You don’t need Harry Reid’s permission to do that, do you?

Here’s another place you can start: Throw some support behind Senator Warren’s bill to revive Glass-Steagal! Heck, Sandy Weill said almost exactly a year ago that it needed to be done, and he was the guy who forced the Feds to repeal it. Funny how we didn’t have a financial catastrophe in the decades it was law. You don’t suppose….?

Maybe you could personally use some of your “pull” in the administration to at least slow down the mad acceleration towards a police state. For example, if we stop spying on citizens, then we have noting to fear from guys like Anonymous or Ed Snowden (btw, you do know that trying to prevent him seeking asylum is kinda a violation of international law?). Another example, maybe get the “Justice” Department to back of marijuana prosecutions in places where voters have decriminalized it? Instead, maybe “Justice” could start prosecuting employers who hire undocumented workers, often violating other labor laws in the process? You don’t even have to pass an immigration “reform” bill to do that! We do have millions of Americans out of work who — assuming those jobs actually pay a living wage (yeah ha I know right?) — might like to have those jobs.

Speaking of “reform” bills, Joe, I would like to register my disappointment once again in the Affordable Care Act, or “Obamacare.” Ok, yes, probably better than nothing. Yes, thanks for the no-deductible birth control pills. However, the solution to soaring prices for health insurance was mandatory health insurance with no public option: forcing us to pay up to the profitable companies that got us into this mess. Let me recycle some links from the other day on that, and an ancient post. That’s like doubling down on a pair of deuces. This one is easy enough to fix if you can find the political will: support Alan Grayson’s “Buy into Medicare” plan. What was it you heard when you guys were trying to ram ACA through? “No socialized medicine, and don’t touch my Medicare?” I bet Medicare’s cost per person would go down if young, healthy people were allowed to enroll!

You official Democrats have disappointed me on these issues as well as student loan reform, environmental issues, the farm bill, the Sequester, failing to let the Bush tax cuts lapse, failing to close Gitmo, not even trying to fix the problems the Supreme Court found in the Voting Rights Act or Citizens United, and so many other things I just can’t keep track of them all anymore.

I’ll probably still keep voting for you guys, because I don’t really see that the other party is going to run anyone I can vote for without self-loathing.

But don’t count on my check.

In Closing: Malala is back, and she has a posse!; and didn’t Trayvon also have the right to stand his ground? After all, some strange guy with a gun was following him home!

Same Love, or SCOTUS revisited

Exactly 10 years ago today, the second post ever on ShortWoman.com was about the Supreme Court. On that auspicious occasion, they struck down a Texas law on “deviant” (read, GAY) sex.

Now here we are a decade later, and the Supremes have struck down the Defense of Marriage Act. Now the Federal government is allowed to recognize same-sex marriages, and theoretically states can craft their own legislation allowing those marriages. In the words of one expert, “Today’s Supreme Court rulings will ensure that the debate about marriage continues.”

Not everyone is as happy as these people. Justice Scalia seemed to think it was overturning the will of the democratic process (and never mind what he did the other day). Some are calling this an “abomination.” They are of course ignoring that the same source calls cotton-poly blends and bacon “abominations.” Let them remove the plank from their own eye before removing the speck from another’s eye. I’l take them seriously after they clean out their closets and start eating kosher.

Don’t want a same-sex marriage? Don’t have one. Otherwise, mind your own damn business.

So, seeing as I missed Music Monday, here’s an appropriate track:

 

In Closing: Looks like the Duhpartment of Research has been hard at work; perspective; submarines; more NSA stuff; 15,000 square feet and only 2 bedrooms?; what?; top US landmarks; and Wendy! If I had stayed in Fort Worth, I might have had the chance to vote for her.

40 Years Later

The Roe v. Wade ruling turns 40 today. Most of us think that’s a good thing. If I may be blunt, this would have been the alternative to a safe abortion for many women:

 

Hmm, not as warm and fuzzy as adoption or a happy little family, now is it?

You want to prevent abortions? Prevent unwanted pregnancies! Lobby for widely available contraception, prevention of sexual assault, research into the prevention of birth defects, a better economy so women feel they can feed and care for a[nother] child, and stop with the bullshit.

There is no In Closing today.

Gridlock and Opportunity

The next session of Congress is either going to be complete gridlock, or an era of great bi-partisanship. I say this based on this chart from Nate Silver. In case you’ve forgotten, that’s Nate “the man who got all the numbers right when everybody else got them horribly wrong” Silver:

 

Let me point out the obvious. It takes 218 votes to get most things done in the House of Representatives. Neither the mainstream Republicans nor the Democrats (with or without the Blue Dog crowd) have those votes. The Tea Party has become a de-facto third party. To get anything done, there will have to be a coalition and/or a compromise: either between the two parties, or with the Tea Partiers. This should be obvious to both Mr. Boehner and Ms. Pelosi. The President already said it out loud. As Mr. Silver points out, on this and pretty much every bill in the next session, Mr. Boehner “will need to win the support of at least some liberal Democrats. And a bill that wins the support of some liberal Democrats will be an even harder sell to Mr. Boehner’s Republicans. For each vote that he picks up from the left, he could risk losing another from his right flank.”

Nobody knows if the glass is half-empty or half-full. Was Mr. Boehner’s ill-named “Plan B” a symptom of his increasing irrelevance, or an attempt to enter a Post- Norquist political world? Will the 113th Congress be a more sane and bi-partisan body, or a place where the right hand and the left hand quite literally don’t know what the other is doing? Let’s hope for sanity.

In Closing: military research saving lives on battlefields and eventually on American streets; why re-invent public education with things we aren’t even sure work when we can just crib off Massachusetts?; yeah, it turns out there were good guys with guns at Columbine and it didn’t help (at least the good guys didn’t injure more students); and maybe this deserves more thought.

Time’s Wasting

Congress is officially out for the year. It’s the earliest departure in over 50 years, and the least productive Congress since World War 2. But there’s no point in beating your head against a wall to do nothing. Besides, by adjourning early, Harry Reid gave Scott Brown no excuse to miss his debate with Elizabeth Warren!

However, I must point out that Congress left a number of things undone before leaving town. Sure, maybe they’ll have better luck in the new Congress come January but I doubt it. Here’s just a few things:

  • They refused to vote on a bipartisan compromise farm bill that would have reformed agricultural subsidies and “food stamps.” Now we revert back to a bill from 1949.
  • They didn’t do anything about the massive looming cuts in public health and science.
  • They may yet find a way to weasel off the “fiscal cliff” by delaying it. And of course it’s easy to delay it again. And again….
  • They saved trade with Russia for later.
  • They haven’t passed a long overdue transportation bill.
  • They didn’t pass a budget, despite the fact that the new fiscal year starts a week from Monday
  • They have yet to do the will of the people and completely drive a stake through the heart of SOPA.
  • They have not extended the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act — one of the good pieces of legislation to come through on GW’s watch.
  • And as they say on the infomercial, many many more.

Remember Come November. Register to vote NOW.

In Closing: radical Islamic cleric almost foils FBI terrorist sting; way to report “news,” CNN; didn’t Jesus say something removing the plank from your own eye first?; hope she got the job; 30 years of emoticons; now he says it; ha, if they had a clue I would still be driving their cars; and desert blooms.

Let the Spin Begin

Ok, the good news first. Poverty is down ever so slightly. The number of people without health insurance is down, despite the fact that health insurance premiums went up 4% (far exceeding the official inflation rate).  The bad news is that  typical American income is down for the 4th year in a row. Adjusted for inflation, we’re back to the Clinton Administration.

Sit back and watch the two parties fight about what this means and who is to blame.

In Closing: converted RINO; crass; type 3 diabetes; turns out that training makes for better employees, who knew?!?!?; apples and oranges; voter suppression works too well; and the rules.

The Bar Set Low

Music Monday will be delayed a bit.

So. A woman will be allowed to ask questions of all the important men at the big Presidential Debates for the first time in 20 years. This is after a “recent push” to let a woman do this big, important job. That recent push, by the way, is from 3 female high school students that started an online petition.

Really? This is what passes for an achievement these days? Has the participation trophy movement finally reached this high? Whoop-dee-freakin-doo.

No mistake. Congrats to Candy Crowley for being named a moderator. I hope she holds their feet to the fire and won’t take lies for an answer. And congrats to those high school ladies that learned they can make a difference just by bringing enough attention to an issue. That’s a great civics lesson and one we adults should take to heart.

However, there are many more “women’s issues” that deserve the same kind of news coverage: your right to control the size of your family is a political football instead of a private and personal matter; some high school students are subjected to pregnancy tests (here’s a hint, none of them are boys); sexual harassment still exists (and I admit it cuts both ways sometimes); a woman can still lose her job for having kids; women still earn less than men while conservatives make excuses instead of solutions; and, as PunditMom points out, nobody’s asking who will be watching Paul Ryan’s kids while he’s on the campaign trail as they asked about Sarah Palin.

If only we could solve all those things with a couple of petitions.

There is no in closing today.

Compare and Contrast

Alright. I’ve been trying real hard to stay away from talking about Paul Ryan. Every newsman, blogger, and their dog have been on about Paul Ryan for the last 36 hours. That being said, I would like to point something out.

One of the core things that Mr. Ryan wants to do is replace Medicare with a “voucher system” where seniors can pick out and pay for their own private medical insurance. That’s the number one thing CNN has to say about him! Of course anybody who actually understands math and insurance knows that a premium that would actually cover a typical Medicare patient’s medical expenses would be unaffordable for most seniors, even with a voucher (just like with private schools). Therefore, it would be most accurate to say that Mr. Ryan wants to abolish Medicare.

Now then, please consider this second item. The Head of the RNC says that it’s Obama that wants to destroy Medicare. Even the NBC interviewer had to step back and ask but what about Paul Ryan’s voucher plan.

Listen. It’s pretty simple. Obama is no saint, but he’ll do less damage to Medicare than the Rolls-Royce Romney/Ryan ticket.

In Closing: I hate to say it –and I’ll probably never say it again! — but Insane Clown Posse has a good point; by contrast, Chris Rock will probably have another good point in the future; how much of high food commodity prices are the drought and how much is banker speculation?; there’s got to be a way to legally troll this system; on White Terrorists; what? you mean housing and unemployment are related issues??; and your brain.