A "pricelss" clip I was emailed...

I was e-mailed the following clip.

It was sent with the message:

"Isn't it interesting that the question out of Donahue's mouth some thirty
one years ago, is one of the primary issues Obama ran on and pushes
almost daily?"

(The clip blow is from youtube, but he email actually linked here. Same clip)
 


The blog, includes the following commentary:

Pretty interesting clip…even though it is 30 years old, the content is “timeless” If you don't think we have been going aroud on the same argument for years this will put it into perspective. Leave it to an economist to clear things up. Wow! Talk about a clear cut look at the way the world operates. This is Phil Donahue interviewing Milton Friedman thirty years ago. The audience is notably silent.

Now I'm going to say a couple of things that will probably shock my Conservative readers, and possibly some of my liberal ones. I like to burninsh my centrist cred from time to time, and this post is going to be one of those times.

First of All: Milton Friedman was right.

And no, I'm certainly no fan of Friedman, nor am I a supply-sider. I'm a Keynsian, and unlike 99% of people of commenter who start out admitting they know nothing about economics, I have a graduate degree in Business, and three Graduate Level classes from the University of Michigan, which I solidly aced on my to graduating with honors. So i DO know a little bit about economics.  And it's very simple: Keynes was right, Krugman is right, and their detractors range between liars, thieves and morons.

But... Every thing Friedman said in this clip? It's 100% correct.

And Phil Donahue is an idiot.

No, not in general. Generally I have no problem with Donahue.  But here's the thing: ANYONE who is talking about "socialism" in this day and age is a FUCKING MORON.  Hear me out...

If you are a Liberal, Progressive, Democrat, etc... talking about it? I'll clue you in: IT DOESN'T FUCKING WORK!  OK?  As a designed system it looks great, on paper anyway. But you're trusting humans to run things, and humans are, at best, short-sighted and fallible. At worst they're greedy, money-grubbing, evil and corrupt.  And even if you could get past THAT part of human nature, the laws of supply and demand were not invented by Partisan Republicans. They're based on observations of COLLECTIVE HUMAN BEHAVIOR and you simply cannot fight them for very long. They're like gravity: You can go against them for a while (climb a ladder, fly a plane) but eventually you are going to pulled back to market equilibrium (the ground.) It's inevitable.

Now... To be honest, I'll be somewhat disappointed if I really have to argue that point with that many Liberals. I really said all that so that there's some chance that Conservative readers will drop their idiotic assumption that anyone not actively  pining for the glory days of George W. Bush (with a McCain/Palin or Romney/Ryan sticker on their bumper) must be some kind of wild-eyed Socialist. I'm guessing there really aren't that many people out there who REALLY believe Socialism is the way to go, especially if they actually understand history and/or economics.

Which brings me to the reason that anyone who is Conservative, Libertarian, Republicans, Tea-Bagger, etc... and is talking about Socialism is also a fucking moron:

NOBODY ON THE LEFT (OR ANYWHERE ELSE) IN THIS COUNTRY IS PROPOSING ANYTHING SOCIALIST OR TALKING ABOUT SOCIALISM!!!

Show me the Socialism! Show where Obama, or Pelosi, or ANY Democrat has proposed that the State take control of, and run, private companies! SHOW ME! It's not fucking happening!  And far from the e-mails claims that Obama "ran on" this [socialism? redistribution?] and "pushes [it] almost daily;" back in the real world, the only legislation Obama has ever signed regarding taxes LOWERED THEM (for everyone) and that remains unchanged going forward. (More on that in a moment.) And his big health care system? "Obamacare"? Hardly a Socialized, government takeover: It owes it origin to the Right-Wing Heritage Foundation, it was pushed by Republicans during the Clinton years, and implemented by Governor Romney, the Republican candidate for President last year! And as much as I've heard the Rigth talk about Obama's plans for "redistribution," you know who I NEVER heard speak of it? Even ONCE?

Barack Obama.
See... What the idiot Right in this country doesn't understand (and/or doesn't want the voting public to understand) is the argument is not one of Capitalism vs. Socialism. It isn't. And if you think it is, you're an idiot. The Republican are no more the great defenders of Capitalism, anymore than the Democrats are it's Detractors.  The argument is simply on of laissez-faire Capitalism versus regulated Capitalism.

Obama has done NOTHING to stop or curtail "free enterprise,"  "capitalism," "entrepreneurialism" or anything else. Nothing. Zip. Nada.  And as for Keynes? How could Keynes possibly be a socialist? Aside from the fact that he was himself an avowed critic of Socialism, his economic models are based ENTIRELY on a Capitalist Free-Market economy!  Being a "Keynesian" MEANS you're a Capitalist!  Only, you one that wants the Government to do what it can to help out, and you're one that realizes that both the supply side AND the demand side are needed for a society to grow economically!  See, while you're two choices here (being Democrat or Republican) are in fact "Keynesianism" or "Supply-Side," Keynesianism is NOT the opposite of Supply-side.  Supply-side simply looks at only ONE-HALF of the Keynes model.

Kind of like building a baseball team on Pitching alone, only to have to face another team that ha equally good pitching, AND phenomenal hitting as well. And reasonably intelligent person knows you need BOTH.  Consider the 1940's-1960's, those "good old days" of the "greatest generation" and the "baby boom."  You had FDR-D, Truman-D, Eisenhower-Rino, JFK-D, LBJ-D and 1 Year of Nixon-r. You had strong labor unions, a top tier tax rate ranging from 70%-90%, and each President had, among his greatest accomplishments, things that are considered Liberal by today's standards!
Now ironically, that video was shot in 1979, one year before the Election of Ronald W. Regan. And what has happened in the 34 years since then?  Unions have been broken, tariffs have been lifted, Top-tier tax rates has fallen, deficits has skyrocketed, and middle class wages have stagnated, at best, and for the majority of Americans, haven't even kept up with the cost of living! And while the country, in total, has done "better" almost all of that benefit has accumulated at the top!

And that's exactly what you'd expect from supply-side economics.

(Historically, it's also what generally becomes of Socialist States as well - our old "Corporate Masters" merely move into their new Government Roles, now having official, codified, legal power, insteadof just the power that comes unofficially with great wealth.)

Again: It's not about Capitalism versus Socialism. It's about common-sense regulations, based on sound science, and taxation and spending based on sound economical principles, matched the needs of the country, or letting the old, fat, rich, white, men (think Roger Ailes) take and keep all the money!

And if you think that's an exaggeration, I defy you to show me that it's anywhere close to the ones calling Obama, Krugman or Keynes, "Socialists."

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*** Obama has lowered taxes. I said I'd get to that.  Remember that in 2001, President Bush signed the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act. Part of this Bill became known as the "Bush Tax Cuts."  They lowered taxes, for everyone, from where they were under Clinton, but were heavily favored towards the rich, exploded the deficit and did little to stimulate the economy, relative to their cost.  (All facts - you can look 'em up.)  One key part of this legislation however, was that they were only suppose to go for TEN YEARS. Then, according to that very law, voted for by a Republican Congress and signed by President George W. Bush, taxes would revert back to their previous levels - for EVERYONE - in 2011.

Then, one wrecked economy later, President Obama comes along. And he needs to get the economy going again, so as part of the Stimulus he does two things: (1) He extends the Bush Tax Cuts through 2012.  (NOTE: If he does nothing,PREEXISTING LAW has them at a higher rate. His actions therefore LOWERED them.) And (2) he temporarily lowers the payroll tax. Not that's not REALLY a "tax cut," since you'll still owe the same amount in the end, but it does put more money in your pocket in the meantime. In any case, President Obama only took action to LOWER taxes, relative to existing law.

And what about now?  What about the law he just signed RAISING taxes on the top 1%?!

Really?!

>Once again, let's go back to existing law: In 2013, without any action required from the President, tax rates would go back to what they were under President Clinton.  So what action did he take? He signed a law that LOWERED taxes.

For the bottom 99%? What about those at the top? Those poor, suffering 1%'ers?

Nope. For EVERYONE.

>EVERYONE is paying a lower tax rate than they would have been absent any action from the President, even those top 1%'ers who saw that top tier tax rate go up.

How's that, you ask?

It's called our progressive taxation system. (And it was first advocated by every Right Wingers second favorite economist, Adam Smith, I might add.)See... you know how all those "flat tax" advocates keep saying that we should all pay the same rate? Well, what they're hoping you don't know is that we ALREADY DO!

My first $8700 is taxed at 10%. So is Yankee Third Baseman Alex Rodriguez's.
My earned income between $8,700 and $35,350 is taxed at 15%. So is Donal Trump's.
My earned income between $35,350 to $85,650 is taxed at 25%. So is Roger Ailes and Rupert Murdoch's
(and so on...)
And so is all of yours.  EVERYONE'S is, in fact.

So, see... when you cut the bottom tier tax rate, EVERYONE benefits from it. When you cut the TOP rate, only the rich benefit.

Likewise, when you raise the bottom tier rate, you raise EVERYONE'S taxes. (Unless you do what Reagan did in 1987, having a top tier rate that was LOWER than the middle-tier, the great fellatiator!)  So even though that poor, suffering Billionaires will be paying a little more that they would have if Obama had extended ALL of the tax cuts, they are STILL paying less than they would have had no action been taken, on account of them keeping the same benefit we all got from those lower tier rates.

What do you know: Obama STILL hasn't raised income taxes!

Now, yes, we can talk about the taxes that are associated with "Obamacare" (again: a nae that Republicans gave to their own plan, once they realized how many even of their own people hated it) but that's a much more complicated discussion, as it involves an objective discussion of how broken our health care system was BEFORE.  And it remains to be seen, going forward, if the various taxes, benefits, regulations, restrictions and markets/exchanges will bring a net benefit or net harm.  And on a personal level, that depends largely on whether you currently have health insurance or not, if you can afford it, and if you can afford it down the road. A worthy discussion, to be fair, but not what we're talking about HERE.

One final note: I came out pretty big for Capitalism in this post, albeit the regulated Capitalism of 40's, 50's and 60's, not the laissez-faire Capitalism of the 20's (which didn't end well, you may recall) or the Reaganomics that continues pretty much to this day. (Until I see a top-tier rate over 50%, we haven't substantively left Reaganomics yet!) I'd still proudly describe myself as a "Free-Market Liberal" or "Progressive Capitalist" and see no contradiction in doing so, at all.

To SOME EXTENT, Gordon Gecko was right: Greed is (or can be) good. Greed WORKS. (or CAN.)

And I do believe that for many things, the free market and the profit motive, assuming there's good, fair, open competition and well-informed choice, will generally distribute goods, services and income in a fair and equitable way. (Or at least the best possible way over time.) And while there may be others, I really see only four areas in our society that should be kept completely isolated from the pursuit of profit. And while, sadly, so many seem to disagree with me on these, I really can't see how these are anything but universal:

1) Education. Education is neither a right, not a privilege: It's a OBLIGATION. Of both a society to educate, and the people within it to become educated. And it an obligation that should be fulfilled by passing on OBJECTIVE KNOWLEDGE, not just the clap-trap that Corporations want to teach you in order to make you better voters and consumers (for them.) And make no mistake: The Right, and their 1% Corporate Masters, FEAR an educated populace. (And so does any Government in general.) Let's keep it that way!

2)  Medicine. This one's easy. Just ask yourself, Do you want your Doctor making medical decision based on what's best for the Hospital's shareholders, or YOU, the patient. I think all sane people will say, "To hell with the Hospital's shareholders!" if the alternative is that they receive sub-standard or mediocre medical treatment.  WELL... if you want that for yourself, you have to willing to grant it to everyone else. Otherwise, you're just a selfish little ass-wipe!

3) Justice. This one SHOULD be easy, but we actually HAVE a for-profit prison system. Oh, it "works," meaning it saves us money, provided that the jails remain FULL. Well, one "three strike and you're out" law signed by that great "Liberal" Bill Clinton, and we're now incarcerating a greater percentage of our population than CHINA does!  (What, did you think that bill had something to do with CRIME?! OH, HELLS' NO!: It was entirely created by ALEC to make the for-profit prison system "work!" Look it up!)  In any case, I don't think even the idiotic Conservatives who thought that "3-strikes" had something to do with being "tough on crime" would want to have a Judge making a decision that affected them based on economics rather that the evidence presented before the court.

and...

4) The Military. Duh. Private contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan have been expensive, wasteful and (in some eyes) guilty of War Crimes. They cost more than our troops and do a worse job. Not to mention... All the top Republican brass all now admit that Iraq was all about OIL and MONEY in the first place!  What do you know? EISENHOWER WAS RIGHT. And the profit-motive makes for REALLY FUCKING TERRIBLE foreign policy decisions.

Aside from those four areas?

I'm 100% a Capitalist. Just like President Obama & company are.

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(One more thing... Something funny... every time I read about President Obama being described as a "Kenyan" I always read it, "Keynesian."  Which becomes REALLY wierd when he'd called a "SECRET Kenyan." Because I read it "Secret Keynesian" and think, "Shit, that's not a particularly well-kept secret, is it?!")

A Sad State of Affairs

I haven't written much lately.  I don't know why.  In the past it's been for a lack of interest (on my part) or inspiration, but that definitely hasn't been the case lately.  With Republican's running head-long off a cliff in ways that continue to amaze and astound me, even after all these years, there has been no shortage of material to write about.  And I've been fairly active on Media Matters, intending to do some follow-up here, but lately it seems that sometime between my lunch-hour rants on MMFA and my after-dinner fray into the man-cave, it seems other things just keep crowd out those thoughts.

But one of DW's facebook-friends recently sent her a link to a Guardian article that I absolutely MUST share with you all.  There have been many of these articles written before - you may recall the piece a from 2008 that likened Conservatism to Mental Illness (here's another form 2004) - and they are usually met with the kind of response that proves one of my favorite personal adages:

Argue with a Liberal and they'll prove you're wrong.
Argue with a Conservative and they'll prove you're Liberal.

I'm curious, though not optimistic, to see if any *ahem* Conservative commenters here might do better than that.  We'll see. My favorite part might have been the quotes from Republican Strategist David Frum that "conservatives have built a whole alternative knowledge system, with its own facts, its own history, its own laws of economics."  In the column, that quote links to another great column by Paul Krugman where it is shown in its entirety:

Backed by their own wing of the book-publishing industry and supported by think tanks that increasingly function as public-relations agencies, conservatives have built a whole alternative knowledge system, with its own facts, its own history, its own laws of economics. Outside this alternative reality, the United States is a country dominated by a strong Christian religiosity. Within it, Christians are a persecuted minority. Outside the system, President Obama—whatever his policy ­errors—is a figure of imposing intellect and dignity. Within the system, he’s a pitiful nothing, unable to speak without a teleprompter, an affirmative-action ­phony doomed to inevitable defeat. Outside the system, social scientists worry that the U.S. is hardening into one of the most rigid class societies in the Western world, in which the children of the poor have less chance of escape than in France, Germany, or even England. Inside the system, the U.S. remains (to borrow the words of Senator Marco Rubio) “the only place in the world where it doesn’t matter who your parents were or where you came from.”

So... not only is Black White and White Black, but... Black is Black and White is White as well.  Which leads to another favorite adage of mine that sums up the Republican Party, the Right Wing,  and the Conservative Movement:

There two kinds of Conservatives: Evil and Stupid.
One lies and the other buys.
It really all comes down to two groups - Liberals and Conservative - that are both convinced they're right. The DIFFERENCE is that Liberals increasingly have the prevailing Scientific and Economic viewpoint, not to mention the evidence supporting those, on their side whilst Conservatives have increasingly chosen to propagandize for the demonstrably false knowing (as the article points out) that half the population won't knwo any better anyway.  And whether it's Global Warming, Evolution, the Keynesian Economic Model or the Constituton, the Right has grown increasingly separated from reality, and more defiant every day as they say and defend that which is not only  self-evident but, of infinitely more importance, is supported by empirical evidence as well.
Between Sean Hannity claiming that "you can't make the case that the economy is improving," (unless of course you look at, oh I don't know... the rising GDP, the falling unemployment rate, the rising DOW, S&P and Nasdaq, the number of new job's being created each month... you know, literaly EVERY SINGLE ECONOMIC INDICIATOR) or Fox arguing that Government Spending hurts the economy (WTF?!) and Sarah Palin insisting that the unemployment numbers must not be acurate (Because, you know, the Right couldn't possibly be WRONG about... well, EVERYTHING, could they?!) the Conservative noise machine has grown increasing desperate with each passing day in their attemtps to get more and more people to ignore what it right in front of them, and to ignore the inevitable social progress that society makes, putting them in th perpetual state of losing the argument, generation after generation.  Adage number three:

Scientists aren't right because they agree with Liberals.
Liberals are right because they agree with Scientists.

Of course, the Right has never been shy about slandering pretty much ANY outfit that (1) Does good and (2) Leans Democratic or Liberal, but I wanted to re-post my repsonse here to CNN's (CNN'S!) Dana Loesch's claim that "It's a 'lie' to claim that Planned Parenthood provides mammograms," because I think it would be an apropriate way to close out this post:
It's a lie to claim there's a "liberal media."

It's a lie to deny that global warming is happening or that it is man-made.

It's a lie to say that one chooses to be homosexual or transgendered.

It's a lie to claim that "both sides do it" when it comes to broadcasting false infomration and distorted, out of context quotes.

It's a lie to claim that the economy has gotten worse under Obama.

It's a lie to put the responsibility for the mortgage crisis anywhere except with the deregulation (and greed) of the banks.

It's a lie to claim that keeping condoms out of schools will stop teenagers from having sex.

It's a lie to claim that "Bush kept us safe from terrorists."

It's a lie to claim that Obama is a Muslim, or a non-American Citizen by birth.

It's a lie to claim that anyone who supports wars and the death penalty is "pro-life."

It's a lie to claim that the war on terror is a war of Christianity vs. Islam, instead of a war of Secular Freedom vs. Religious Fundamentalism and Extremism.

It's a lie to claim that "Happy Holidays" represents a Liberal War on Christmas.

It's a lie to claim that Republicans care about the deficit.

It's a lie to claim that Government spending does harm to the economy.

It's a lit to claim that taxes are "too high."

It's a lie to cliam that Obama raised taxes.

And it's a lie to claim that Planned Parenthood is nothing more than an abortion mill.

Here's the thing... It may not have always been the case, but right now, and increasingly over the last 3+ years (and the last 12, and the last 20...) Conservatives have chosen to be wrong on literally EVERYTHING.  (Hey: Even the two issues that I'm most strongly Conservative on, I'll happily admit that my position is indefensible and based entirely on emotion rather than reason!)  And that being the case... knowing that... I'm forced to ask the question: WHY WOULD ANYONE CHOOSE TO BE CONSERVATIVE?!

But then... that's already been answered, hasn't it?

I Don't Believe in Miracles

Nobel Laureate and one of a very few people who “get it” (or tell the truth) anymore, Paul Krugman, wrote an excellent piece the other day in the NYT debunking the myth of the “Texas Miracle” that has supposedly happened under Governor Rick / General Robert E. Perry. It’s great piece and although it doesn’t go far enough (to use one of his own famous critiques) I recommend that everyone read it, just I as Recommend reading pretty much ANYTHNG this man writes. (Barry? Are you listening?)

And last night the Gym some ass-hat two machines down from me not only had Fox News On, but had it turned UP. (Usually the TV's are muted and just show subtitles.) So I got to listen to a marvelously fact-free response from the four members of the Fox Panel who HAVE NOT won Nobel Prizes in Economics. Devoid of rational response, or evidence to support their so called “miracle,” they report to calling [Krugman's analysis] the “Alien Invasion” theory suggesting either that Krugman credits illegal immigration ALONE for ALL of Texas’ growth, or that he was suggesting that little green men, perhaps from Mars, were somehow to thank. And of course, the average Fox viewer is more likely to hear that explanation and think, “Wow, that Krugman sure is a nut!” rather than, “Wow, these Fox peoples sure are stupid!” Because remember:

A LIBERAL WILL TELL YOU WHY YOUR ARGUMENT IS WRONG.


A CONSERVATIVE WILL TELL YOU WHY YOUR ARGUMENT IS LIBERAL.

(As an aside, between how pissed off I was getting listening to Fox and the Trainer playing the Greatest Hits of the Rocky movies with one his clients, I did have a really good workout!)

(Another aside - I couldn't find a transcript of the Fox segment, but while looking for one, I found almost the next best thing: This Idiot's Blog.  Check it out, although preferably not right after you've eaten! We got a future Hall of Shamer here, for sure. I'm curious to see if he has the balls to let my comments post(he did! good on him!), and the chops to respond to them. Or come here! If he does, who knows? It might get interesting.)

Well, anyway, I’m all for debunking “Miracles” as anyone who understands my Humanist and Skeptical Philosophy already knows. And I heard an EXCELLENT story on NPR this morning that started where Krugman left off and ran with it, showing even more reasons why the “Texas Miracle” is unlikely to apply to the broader economy. You can find a transcript and audio HERE, but here are some of the highlights:

1) Population Growth: Texas has had an influx of immigrants, both legal and illegal, yes, but also many people moving there from other States. And, as Mister Krugman pointed out, it’s not like EVERY STATE’S population can grow based on people moving there from OTHER STATES. So, either it IS (or will have to be) an actual “Alien Invasion,” as Fox sarcastically put it, or it won’t work. Nice work there, Fox.

2) Public Sector growth has been every bit as robust as Private Sector growth. Liberals would be neither surprised nor bothered by this, but remember: He’s promising small Government. Apparently what’s been good for Texas will NOT in fact be good for the rest of the Country – at least according to him and his Tea-Backers.

3) The overwhelming majority of the private sector jobs have paid minimum-wage or less. Governor Perry, please, despite what your Tea-Backer and Supply-Side buddies will tell you, we don’t just want jobs. We want GOOD PAYING JOBS. Filling the economy with part-time, minimum wage jobs (or worse) is NOT what we’re looking for!

4) Despite all that Public Sector Growth – that the Right isn’t even prescribing? Texas ranks 49th in per pupil public school spending, and 50th – tied with Mississ-fucking-ssippi (or as my father-in-law calls it: The states that keep West Virginia from being LAST in anything) in the percentage of adults that go without health insurance.

5) Texas residence still go without many of the services that residents of every other state enjoy. Remember folks, because this is his recipe for success: Sub-Minimum Wage Jobs, and no Public Services. THAT’s the Texas “Miracle.”

6) Perry's “Enterprise Fund,” which gives taxpayer money to companies to come to, or expand in, Texas. *ugh* OK, putting aside that this is little more than Rick Perry giving tax-payer money to the company’s that back his campaign (alone enough to warrant his removal from office) this might sound a bit familiar. In one of the rare instance in which I agree with the tea-baggers, another word for this is… duh-dah-daaaaaah: STIMULUS. (You know: That thing they want to GET RID OF so we can have MORE JOBS?) (Idiots.) And in one of those rare instances that I agree with Rick Perry, depending on how this is administered this can be a good thing. Of course, I’d prefer public works projects to strait corporate giveaways, but, in a rare instance where Paul Krugman and Rick Perry would agree, the economic effect is largely the same: IT CREATES JOBS. But, of course, this will likely be off the table when it comes to the rest of the country.  The Tea Party Republican Retards have no intention of spending any money to fix anything. (At least, not while Obama's in office.)

And finally, the one that PISSES ME OFF THE MOST…

7) What kind of companies thrive in Texas? What are the biggest employers there, the ones driving most of that jobs growth? Well… Enron, ExxonMobil, Halliburton, Marathon Oil, Shell Oil, Texaco… You see the pattern yet? Mostly Oil Companies and other Energy Companies. And those guys have been doing great while the rest of the country’s economy remains in the shitter. Why? BOWEL-BASHINGLY HIGH GAS PRICES, THAT’S HOW!!!! These companies have made it their business model to siphon off as much of the rest of country's growth as possible! Well… OK… I’ll say potential growth, because with these greedy little fuckwads operating the way they do, they rest of the country will basically NEVER GROW AGAIN. Does that sound alarmist? Think about it. Since ~2005 or thereabouts (I've noticed it pretty clearly since the days after Hurricane Katrina) the pattern has gone in lockstep perfection:

1: Gas prices go up =>the economy slows.

2: Slow economy => no jobs => less demand => gas prices drop.

3: Low gas prices mean people have more money, as they are no longer being strangled by the oil companies. (Thank you, Mister Keyenes!)

4: More money => more demand => economy starts to improve.

5: Economy improves, demand goes up => GAS PRICES GO UP.

6: GOTO 1

And it doesn’t make a difference whether the oil is foreign or not. (Shell is a Dutch company. They still employ a lot of Texan-Americans.) The problem is that oil and gas (energy) prices will ALWAYS act as drag on the economy. They will ALWAYS be a negatively correlated indicator. Until we break their stranglehold we will not be able to escape this pattern. It’s like a tax on the rest of the economy, but one who’s rate actually goes up to the point that it kills growth as soon as there IS any. And nowhere has this kick-in-the-balls been more evident than in my home state of Michigan. High gas prices killed the SUV. That’s great for the environment, don’t get me wrong. It needed to happen, and it was inevitable that big-Auto would need to transition off of them. But the gas prices have gone back down since then! They slowed the economy and were really what kicked off the mortgage crisis. (Not the kindling, of course, just the spark.) And the two brought the Big Three automakers to the brink of bankruptcy. And we haven’t had a robust recovery – because the Republicans and big oil won’t LTE US!

Nice going.

Oh yeah… and as for the whole Low-Tax, low Regulation business environment?

8) Texas job growth has not kept pace with its population growth: They have higher unemployment that the high-tax, highly regulated, robust public service providing states of New York and Massachusetts. (You remember Massachusetts, right? The state with near-universal health care coverage, compared to Texas’ rank of dead last?)

So THAT’S his recipe folks:

• Shitty, Low paying jobs

• No public services

• Little to no health insurance

• Underfunded schools

• High gas prices

You know what? If THAT shit works? I just might start believing in “miracles!”

Some stuff that I want to spout off about... LOL

Reader Jonny Macartney gave me a great quote yeatserday, attributed to Thomas Jefferson.

"It's better to be ignorant than misinformed."

Well now, in Texas, it's possible to be both.  And these people call OBAMA a fascist?!  (Well, I guess when you re-write history, anything's possible!) It's unbelievable.  If you have to go THAT FAR to INDOCTRINATE CHILDREN into you ideology, at what point does it become easier to just admit YOU'RE WRONG?!  RELIGION doesn't even take indoctrination this far! 

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Speaking of which...Here's one for Steve: The Devil is in the Vatican, according to chief Exorcist.

Dude, it's MADNESS.  MADNESS, I say! And this ins't some wierd sect or cult, it's the ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH.  The single largest Christian denomonation IN THE WORLD.  Are people responsible for their own shortcomings? Nah.  It's the DEVIL.  And of course it's GOD that's responsible for all GOOD.  B-U-L-L-S-H-I-T.  PEOPLE should be held accountable for their fuck-ups and PEOPLE deserve CREDIT when they do good things!

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Paul Krugman should be the Fed Chairman.  Or head of the SEC.  Or treasury Secretary.  Or just run our WHOLE DAMNED ECONOMY.  But what does HE KNOW, right?  While Libertarians were busy bringing about the biggest economic meltdown since Herbert Hoover all THIS pinko liberal did was win the NOBEL PRIZE in economics.

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 Here's a sexty one from SLATE.  And I think it typifies their Conservtaive bias, or at least their tendency to fall into the trap of framing issues from a conseravtive POV.  Here's what I mean...

from SLATE:

A teenager in Wisconsin named Anthony Stancl set up a fake Facebook profile, pretending to be a girl. Seventeen or 18 at the time, Stancl used the profile to lure 30 of the boys he went to high school with to send him nude pictures or videos of themselves. Then Stancl threatened to post the material on the Internet unless they performed sex acts with him. Seven of them say they did—and that Stancl took pictures of them with his cell-phone camera.

OK, the CRIME here... has NOTHING whatsoever to do with SEXTING!  Since when are rape and blackmail not illegal?  The sexting is completely IMMATERIAL to the crime being committed!  They go on to give the following insane false-equivalency:

How can states draft laws that protect against Anthony Stancl without sweeping in more innocent behavior, like that of the students in Valparaiso?

Umm, sorry... WHY would we need NEW LAWS to protect people from BLACKMAIL and RAPE?!  Especially when the rape was coerced by the blackmail, and largely perpetrated on MINORS?!  Last time I checked that kind of behavior carried some of the strictest penalties allowed for non-lethal crimes!  What the hell are they TALKING ABOUT?!  In the words of my good friend, Jules Winfield: It's aint in the same ballpark.  It ain't in the same league.  It ain't even the same fucking SPORT!

Should sexting be a felony? NO, morons.

Should blackmailing minors into letting you rape them be illegal? Um... YES, but it already, most profoundly, IS, morons.

Is sending someone a naked picture of your 16 year old ex-girlfriend a crime?  Arguably, but it falls under "general harrassment." Is it a SEX CRIME? NO. FUCKING. WAY.  Is is CHILD PORNOGRAPHY? In the words of Gorobei Katayama: Are you kidding me? 

The difference between sexting and kiddie-porn is the same as the difference between 16 and 6.  I'm not saying that a victim doesn't have some right to redress, but, OTOH: You GAVE the other person the picture. It's THEIRS NOW.  They can do anything they want with it, unless they're making money, and then you're just entitled to your cut.

EDUCTAION, not CRIMINALIZATION is what's needed here.  There is a very easy way to not have your naked ass posted all over the internet: DON'T SEND SOMEONE YOUR NAKED PICTURE.  It's pretty easy actually.  I'm 37 years old and the olny picture of me naked, ANYWHERE was taken in 1976, when I was three and sitting in the tub.  Oh... and maybe another one from about a year later of me taking a leak behind a tree in our back yard.

The other real answer here is that we need to stop being so hung up on nudity and teenaged sexuality.  Someone see you naked? Guess what? Despite what you might have been told, it's NOT THE END OF THE WORLD.  Embarassing? Sure.  But you DID distribute naked pictures of yourself, so...

I'm sorry.  While I'm not a nudist/naturist myself, I've read a lot of their literature and I'm convinced that they've got it right when it comes to the human body.  Our hangups are largely societally conditioned.  I'm strongly convinced of that.

But EDUCATION.  Give people the infomration they need, and let them make their own choices.  Good or bad, there's no reason AT ALL to be talking about jail-time and sex offender lists!  Civil suits, for invasion of privacy or harrassment maybe.  And you'd have a pretty steep burden of proof even then.