WillTwain
WillTwain's JournalRepublicans: Ready To Dupe The Dopes Again
Incredibly, the conservative bullshit machine has a new pile of turd for gullible conservatives to swallow and regurgitate. They have rolled out Captain Conservative: Defender of Justice - fighting for American workers.
Rand Paul's campaign slogan, “Defeat the Washington machine. Unleash the American dream,” is carefully worded to make him the great Republican populist. Paul's biggest issues will be the flat tax and IRS reform. Translation: lower taxes on the rich and raise taxes on the rest (If Steve Forbes wants a flat tax, it is not so his taxes go up). Rand Paul openly admires Ayn Rand and is pitching himself as a man of the people. Does this define schizophrenia?
The political party trying to undo the New Deal, the party that gave tax cuts to corporations to relocate manufacturing plants overseas, the party that refuses to crack down on employers illegally hiring immigrants, the party of tax cuts for hedge-fund managers, the party adamantly against raising the minimum wage, the party waging an all out war on unions, the party trying to repeal the ACA, the party that shifted the tax burden to the middle-class from the rich, and much more is poised to claim the populist mantle. Mitt (Mr. 47 percent) Romney's party is trying to prove they are the party of the workers - talk about the fox guarding the hen house. How dumb do they think we are? Apparently very.
Asking republicans to protect the middle class is like asking Bill Cosby to run a women's shelter.
Fearing the emergence of Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and millions of low wage strikers, they are attempting to get ahead of the populist uprising that is sure to dominate the 2016 elections. Captain Conservative: Defender of the Working Class will be the spin template for every Republican candidate for the next two years.
It is obvious to anyone of average intelligence that liar-for-hire Frank Luntz (or similar) is hoping to dupe the dopes one more time (remember that half of all people are below the median in intelligence). Republicans have a long history of masking their actions with their words. They once rolled out the "Clear Skies Act"which actually allowed for millions of tons of additional pollution to be dumped in the air.
After 35-years of being pick-pocketed (marked by Reagan's election in 1980) by flag-waving pseudo-christians, you would think the T-Baggers would figure out Captain Conservative is a fictitious character, but the mentally-vulnerable illiterates on the right will gobble this up like a Fox News report on Ben Ghazi.
You can't make this stuff up.
Rand Paul Says He Is "A Big Fan Of Ayn Rand"
With Rand Paul announcing today that he is running for president, it is amazing that nobody is mentioning Rand's "Great Deal Of Respect" for the enemy of the 99 percent - Ayn Rand.
When Bernie Sanders was first introduced to America on Meet The Press, not only did Chuckles the clown mention Bernie was a Socialist (the nastiest word in politics), Todd featured a picture of Bernie with the words "Democratic Socialist" as a caption.
Politician's economic beliefs affect everything from the wealth gap, taxes, health care, tuition cost and the environment. Rand Paul's admiration of Ms. Rand should be at the center of every Rand Paul interview.
Ayn Rand should be a household name. Rand Paul should be forced to explain what is so fascinating about Ayn Rand.
Mike’s Story: Another Screwed American Worker
Mike started his career at Safeway in the 80’s - Reaganomics was still taking shape. Life was pretty good for Mike. By the time he hit the maximum salary at the union store, he was making over $20/hour with great benefits. On top of making $42000 per year, his union negotiated contract gave him great health care, vacations and a pension. Mike said it was like working for the U.A.W. (United Auto Workers). Mike lived in an apartment overlooking Monterey Bay in California - living the dream.
Last year, Mike left Safeway for a higher paying, lower stress job. So, he left for the big bucks you are thinking. Actually, with Reaganomics fully matured, after over twenty-five years toiling at Safeway, Mike’s wages had fallen to $14.80/hour, minus $2/hour for health care and no pension credits. Safeway had broken the union's back. In fact, the last store he worked at was non-union.
Over nearly a 30 year run, Mike’s wages had fallen from $42000 plus benefits to $30000 minus benefits - about a net loss of $15000 per year.
Even worse for current Safeway employees, last year the company was purchased by Cerberus Capital Management - a hedge fund. This is an interesting name for the company. Cerberus is from ancient Greek mythology, being the three-headed “hellhound” that guards the gates of hell with an appetite for raw meat.
Mike may have left Safeway at the right time. His life was nibbled at for 30 years, but he will not be eaten alive by Cerberus.
Blue-State Minnesota Destroys Four Neighboring Right-To-Work States In Median Income - By A Lot
Minnesota is a blue island in a sea of red in the Upper Midwest. Naturally, the lonely blue state makes them look bad by many measures. Minnesota has arguably the best all-around education system in the United States, one of the highest union membership rates, the regionally highest minimum wage and the top ranked state run health care system in the nation (MinnesotaCare).
It is also the only state with a Democratic governor (Gov. Dayton) of the five upper midwest states: Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa. Moreover, it is the only state in the upper midwest that never flipped to red or pink.
Here is the knockout punch in the Upper Midwest political battle: The gopher state median income ($60,704) blows the doors off of most of its neighbors. MN is nearly $12,000 ahead of South Dakota, Wisconsin is $9,000 behind, and Iowa sits $8,500 behind. North Dakota is the closest thanks to the oil boom, but is still about 10 percent behind at $55,759. Overall, Minnesotans get about 20 percent more income than its right-to-work slave state neighbors.
The long consistent progressive tradition has fattened Minnesotan's wallets for generations. Governor Dayton for president!
Democrat's Apathy For Unions Is Suicide
For some reason unions do not receive the same love and support as other groups within the Democratic party. Compare the response to two recent moves by Republican Governors.
Governor Pence of Indiana signed a sickening anti-gay bill last week. Since then, the response has been overwhelming. Hundreds of businesses, the media and millions of individuals have either boycotted the state or expressed outrage. George Stephanopoulos actually did his job.
Governor Walker in Wisconsin signed a sick right-to-work bill and other than unions and a few college professors and economists, nobody gives a shit. I have not heard of lists of companies refusing to do business there. I have not heard outrage from Hollywood or sports franchises. Nobody cares. It is crickets from George Stephanopoulus.
There is no excuse for the sick law Pence signed. It will do damage to many in the LGBT community. But the damage Walker and right-to-work legislation will do to every working man and woman in America is enormous. Wages will decline dramatically and jobs will be lost. Local economies will suffer.
Even DUers, literally "Yawn" at most posts about unions. OmahaSteve does a great job of posting union posts. Many of them roll through without a reply or rec. And we are the front line for democratic solidarity. This is a troubling sign.
If at least Democrats cannot find love for unions again, we will all continue to gain equal rights which is obviously spectacular, but the problem is we will all have the same opportunities to live in poverty.
***********Flash: TPP And Elizabeth Warren News*************
Elizabeth Warren will be on Rachel Maddow tonight.
http://www.chicagosprogressivetalk.com
The Jeff Santos Show is interviewing Richard Trumka in a few minutes on Fast Tracking the TPP. Santos is doing a special three hour TPP show today.
Click on the link.
http://www.chicagosprogressivetalk.com
Morning Joe Regular And Time Magazine Editor, Mark Halperin’s TPP coverage Proves He Is A Rep.-shill
Time Magazine Editor and Morning Joe regular, Mark Halperin, is a Republican hired-gun. He spins many issues to favor an extreme corporate agenda.
Look at “journalist” Halperin’s interpretation of AFL-CIO President, Richard Trumka’s position on the Trans Pacific Partnership versus reality.
In a Time Magazine piece, Halperin presents Trumka as a man that would like to see “stamped” on the TPP. Stamped, as in passed. The deceitful article is titled “Trumka Touts TPP.” Under a photograph of Trumka the caption reads, “Labor leader calls on Obama to put a stamp on Trans-Pacific Partnership.”
Amazingly, Halperin and Time Magazine attempt to spin Trumka as an advocate of the TPP. In the piece, it is clear that Trumka is calling the trade agreement an opportunity to do the right thing for workers. It is a call for positive change. Nowhere does Halperin’s piece say that Trumka does not believe the TPP will deliver on his desires.
Reality can be found in an L.A. Times Oped co-written by Richard Trumka and Robert Reich. Trumka is strongly against the TPP as it is written, today. The following is a paragraph from the Op-Ed, “Following NAFTA with the Trans-Pacific Partnership is like turning a bad television show into a terrible movie. It will be on a bigger screen and cost a lot of money. A few might walk away happy and rich, but it will not be the audience.”
Although respected by the corporate media, Halperin should be fired for yellow journalism. He is typical of everything that is wrong with American journalism - a strategic communicator disguised as an objective journalist.
Back when I still watched Morning Joe, I recall Halperin said the President was “kind of a dick.” Boy, there is objective journalism. And this guy is at the pinnacle of his profession. He should be fired from Time Magazine and Morning Joe.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-reich-trumka-tpp-trade-fast-track-20150303-story.html
http://thepage.time.com/2011/03/16/trumka-touts-tpp/
Hillary could be the final nail in the middle-class coffin.
Her plan: She is testing her popularity with women and minorities. If she feels social issues can get her elected, she will ignore labor other than some patronizing blather. She is testing her support now, if she calculates it is strong enough and feels she can win without labor, unions will be deftly brushed aside. If this works out for her, she can win the election and not make promises to the economic-minded left - dooming the middle-class.
What many need to realize is the Republicans and New Democrats (Third Way) have the same economic goal in mind - recreate the U.S. with a tiny middle-class. Social issues are decoys used to fight for and decide who gains the White House. This explains why social issues are moving forward while labor issues are going backwards.
The bottom line is Paul Ryan (Milton Friedman disciple) is pushing devastating policy for the working classes. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, advancing policy for the democrats is Larry Summers. There is very little daylight between these two multi-nationalists. They both view the middle-class as an inefficient relic from a bygone past with huge legacy issues. They aim to correct this "problem" by slashing wages, Social Security, Medicare, etc. What about infrastructure spending? Hell no, that would assume the U.S. has a future. They view a strong middle-class as a major mistake, an historic aberration that needs to be returned to its rightful place. Remember, neo-liberals and neo-cons believe in Thomas Friedman's the flat earth philosophy - we must level the global playing field. In other words, Americans make too much money. That said, we have not hit bottom, yet.
In ten years the cake will be baked. Members of the “extreme left” will gain no satisfaction in saying, “We told you so.”
Reagan Lied, The Middle-Class Died
Every bit of political conventional wisdom can be traced to Ronald Reagan and it is all a big lie.
The man got the ball rolling against government, unions and progressive taxes, like no other leader before him.
So, with every yahoo in the country caught in the republican web of deceit, how do we sell the truth to a brainwashed middle-class?
Unfortunately for progressives, the bumper sticker that we need to stick on our cars is "Big Government, Big Unions and Big Taxes On The Rich."
When medicine is perceived as poison by the patient the disease will win. The killer B's is a hard sell.
Hillary Has Plenty Of Room To Run To The Left
If Hillary wins the nomination, she will crush any Republican, even if Reagan comes back from the dead. The women will vote for her around 60 percent, minorities will be around eight percent and she will do fairly well with white men. She will blow away any of the clown bus crew.
For this reason, she can safely campaign to the left. She can line up with unions and campaign on a living wage safely. This will land her more votes from the hard left. By running to the left, it will be much easier for her to carry through on lefty policy.
Hillary is in a unique situation. The country's middle-class is in an economic crisis that has gotten worse every year for decades. Times like this leave politicians to make historic marks, leaving a personal legacy of greatness. FDR, Lincoln, LBJ all were fortunate enough to be in crisis situations. They responded and are considered by many to be the greatest presidents of all time. Today's crisis may not quite be on par with previous crises but it is still a crisis.
She is safe channeling Bernie.
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