Jackson Malfunction Over-reaction Overturned by Federal Appeals Court

Oh the legacy of the Republican congress and their infalable Mr. Bush. The CBC/AP story goes like this:

A federal appeals court has overturned the record $550,000 fine for indecency against CBS Corp. for Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" at the 2004 Super Bowl. A three-judge panel said the Federal Communications Commission "acted arbitrarily and capriciously" in levying the fine. The court also said the FCC had deviated from its previous standard of excluding fleeting images from fines for indecency.

But (the) court ruling said the FCC was not applying a consistent standard, but reacting to the "shock treatment" of the incident. "The FCC cannot change a well-established course of action without supplying notice of and a reasoned explanation for its policy departure."

What, the Republiprudes overreacted over something sexual, that didn’t include public restrooms and congressional pages?

Closeted conservatives didn’t seem concerned about whether the major networks suddenly had to censored run of the mill movies that depicted "possible" objectional sexual content, verbal assaults or offensive violence.

So let me get this right: Republicans can continue to insist people know what’s best and can make their own decisions, without government interference, except when it comes to something they don’t like. Then it’s time for big government fines and morality. Got it. Like I’ve always said, their ideology is filled with obvious contradictions.

Another unfortunate consequences of that over-reaction resulted in a game broadcast delay that makes the radio and TV action out of sync, doing away with listening to the radio while watching the action on the field.

Even more insulting, was the time span of the Jackson infraction. “About 90 million viewers saw a naked female breast for nine-sixteenths of a second during the 2004 Super Bowl half-time show.”

Have no fear, the law is still good for any future “morally objectionable” moments. “The incident prompted a crackdown on indecency on TV with President Bush signing a bill that mandated larger fines for indecent broadcasting.”

Don’t you love the free market and smaller government?

McCain Health Care Myths "You Control" & "Take it with You" Rhetoric

Sure we'll hear more about the competing health care plans from Sen. McCain and Sen. Obama in the months to come, but first, let's deep six a few really dumb positioning statements by the Republicans. McCain Victory Chair woman Carly Fiorina has two talking points that should sound crazy to anyone awake and still able to think.

Myth One-Choice: To hear Fiorina describe it, you would think it's somehow magical for a person to go out by themselves, alone, and get a good deal on health insurance. No crazy group rates for these take charge individuals. Fiorina take the univesal plan and spins it inside out. She first makes it sound absurd; "People don't want a choice in health insurance, that's why a government mandated program is better." "Government mandates" yuk! "And I disputed the premise of that question, and said no, people actually do want a choice."

Myth Buster one: Universal government health care is NATIONAL, which means a whole nation of choices when it comes to doctors and hospitals. That would appear to allow an almost unlimited "choice" for treatment. And private health care choices end once you sign up. Your told what doctors to see and what hospitals to go to, along with treatments they'll cover and won't. Who's fooling who? Do you really think you have any choice or control, especially after injury (tort) reform is in place.

Myth Two-Transferability: The guest conservative espouses "choice, being able to transfer it. Being able to carry it with you ... verses Obama, which is more big government, big spending."

Myth Buster: A NATIONAL plan is about as transferable as it gets, as long as your in the country. Look, in only some instances is big government preferred; education, health care, military and public services like police and fire. I haven't heard of to many attempts to put in place a government run grocery chain, construction company, brewery or fast food restaurant.

McCain surrogates are slick, well reheased hucksters. See for yourself.

People Actually Believe “Individual Control and Personal Responsibility” BS

Did you ever wonder why people vote against their best interest? They have been told to believe two things that are completely out of their control.

The first fallacy: “Give control back to the individual.” The areas of our lives we do have some control, like taking a vacation, eating, bathing and impulse buying, are easy pick out. But we have limited to no control in areas like when to work, insurance costs, how much we spend on utilities including gas, food prices, unexpected health problems and the risks of homeownership. In each one of these areas, we can only choose the options allowed us, which are few. Capitalism offers us those limited, for profit choices only.

The second fallacy: “Personal responsibility.” We are now blaming ourselves for many of the supposed “choices” we’ve made listed above. I don’t mean to say we shouldn’t take responsibility for our bone headed decisions, but if you just need to eat, buy gas, heat your home and make an honest living, we shouldn’t blame ourselves for the unexpected downturns that might put us out on the street penniless. But we are. We’re told we are to blame. Take Diane Mcleod. The NY Times story paints a bleak picture.

Ms. McLeod was a dream customer for lenders. She juggled not one but two
mortgages, both with interest rates that rose over time, and a car loan and
high-cost credit card debt. Separated and living with her 20-year-old son, she
worked two jobs so she could afford her small, two-bedroom ranch house in
suburban Philadelphia, the Kia she drove to work, and the handbags and
knickknacks she liked.

Then last year, back-to-back medical emergencies helped push her over the
edge. She could no longer afford either her home payments or her credit card
bills. Then she lost her job. Now her home is in foreclosure and her credit
profile in ruins. Ms. McLeod, who is 47, readily admits her money problems are largely of her own making.

Did you catch that? She’s taking responsibility for something completely out of her control, back-to-back medical emergencies.

She bought into the frame “I’m in control and I’m taking responsibility.” She is wrongly applying this bumper sticker doctrine to her personal “rough patch,” as President Bush would say. And because she blames herself, she’s probably not going to think that maybe something is systematically wrong with a government that allows people like her to fall through the cracks.

It's unfortunate, but she’s never going to seek a change in the rules of the game, set up by the moneyed interests that only reflect services that profit them, not policies that service people.

The Rotating Wind Turbine Building Will Turn You Green Either Way

If you always wanted to be in a buiding that rotates in the wind, watch this exciting presentation. The story is self contained, and I included it here because it's really bizarre.

Bush the Procrastinator

It looks like Bush is making up for some lost time by "kinda" doing what Democrats have been calling for over the last 7 years. The Daily show appropriately made a comic strip out of his new rhetoric.

Bush's Magic Wand Found by Accident

I have to admit it, my favorite part of the entire Bush presidency is his brilliantly conceived "magic wand" solution to gas prices. Even though he wishes he had one, he feels obligated to make sure all Americans know, there is no such thing. Jimmy Kimmel goes one better by finding one...

Senator Larry Craig Grabs for his Gas Nozzle

Oh jeeze...

Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki Backs Obama's 16 Month Withdrawal, Timetable. Surprise Bush Doesn’t Agree

What should be the biggest blow yet to the Republican Parties credibility, Iraq wants a timetable and backs Sen. Barack Obama’s withdrawal plan.

According to Reuters: Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told a German magazine he supported prospective U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's proposal that U.S. troops should leave Iraq within 16 months.

In an interview with Der Spiegel, Maliki said he wanted U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq as soon as possible. "U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes."It is the first time he has backed the withdrawal timetable put forward by Obama. "Whoever is thinking about the shorter term is closer to reality. Artificially extending the stay of U.S. troops would cause problems."

Who would want to cause problems?: "Maliki told Der Spiegel, "The Americans (Bush administration) have found it difficult to agree on a concrete timetable for the exit because it seems like an admission of defeat to them. But it isn't."

This is proof once again that Bush never had an exit plan, because it would look "like an admission of defeat," instead of a logical military course of action. This is a case of believing your own fabricated lies about “winning” and “victory;” that withdrawing is cutting and running, and only Democrats would bow to the terrorists and hand Iraq over by leaving.

President Bush said Maliki had agreed that a security deal under negotiation should set a "time horizon" for meeting "aspirational goals" for reducing U.S. forces in Iraq.

The Republican game of semantics is a sad alternative to a situation that calls for a heavy dose of “strait talk.” Bush and McCain have chosen the former.

Here's Sen. Obama reframing the whole Iraq debate.



UPDATE: July 20, 2008: CBS/AP) A German magazine which published an interview with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki stating his support for presidential candidate Barack Obama's proposed 16-month timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq is standing by its interview, despite statements issued by an al-Maliki spokesman claiming he was "mistranslated."

UPDATE: July 21, 2008: German Magazine did not mistranslate Maliki according to translation by NY Times. SO THERE. Now, after Iraqi officials met with Obama, they confirm a timeline to leave in 2010 sometime.

Republicans Resent The People They Serve, In a Country Of Whiners

If George Bush turned the country off to an overreaching executive branch,the politization of the Justice Department and mismanagement of the Iraq war, then Phil Gramm revealed the GOP's vile resentment aimed at you and me, the undeserving part of a "country of whiners."

On Countdown with Keith Olberman, the Nations Chris Hayes summed up nicely how Phil Gramm let it slip how Republicans really feel about the people they serving.

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McCain to Iraq Insurgents, "Obama's Coming Today or Tomorrow"

Why did Sen. John McCain warn the insurgents in Iraq that Sen. Barack Obama would be visiting over the weekend. Strange? Newsweeks Richard Wolf registered concern over McCains strange behavior.

Global Warming Hoax? Extremist Group “Environmental Protection Agency” Says Otherwise

An EPA report point blank warns that global warming will increase disease and other health problems nationwide for many years to come.

USA Today reports: "Climate change poses real risks to human health," says the EPA's Joel Scheraga. Some of the environmental effects will be irreversible, he says.

Rick Piltz of the Government Accountability Project, a former U.S. Climate Change Science Program (USCCSP) staffer, charged that EPA had stalled release of the health report since April for political reasons. And, he charges, the agency did not mention the health risks in a recent Supreme Court-ordered report on the dangers of greenhouse gases.

"If you read between the lines," says Sen. Barbara Boxer, (D-Calif.), "this EPA report on the health effects of climate change provides further evidence that our families and communities are seriously endangered by global warming, and that we must act now.

Of course, what this simply points out is that human life is not, and never has been, the priority of this administration. The U.S. must always consider the huge burden and cost of saving lives most large businesses would eventually have to bear. But it gets worse. The report couldn’t make it any clearer.

The report warns that more powerful floods, hurricanes, droughts and other "extreme" weather events will hit the nation by 2050 due to global warming, increasing the risks of diseases such as salmonella and giardia, as well as heatstroke.

"Many of the expected health effects are likely to fall disproportionately on the poor, the elderly, the disabled and the uninsured," says the report, calling for support of public health resources to combat climate effects.

More scare tactics? Yea right.

IED Contractor Bribe To Duke Cunningham Cost Troop Lives

So how corrupt are Republicans, even if it means the loss of innocent lives? These patriotic troops supporters have their price.

CBS News reports the No. 1 killer of troops in Iraq is the roadside bomb, called IED's. By 2004, the top request from the U.S. command in Iraq was the ability to target IED networks. Congress poured in tens of millions of dollars to a company called MZM - but deaths and injuries continued to soar.

It was the job of intelligence officer Maj. Eric Egland to find out why. "The capability that was being funded was given an unqualified contractor, who failed at even the most basic level to provide the right people, the right resources and the right capability to help our troops deal with the No. 1 threat in Iraq," Egland said.

At the Pentagon Egland did some digging and found MZM had gotten millions in Defense contracts - courtesy of Rep. Duke Cunningham, R-Calif., in the form of earmarks. To get the sweetheart deals, MZM owner Mitchell Wade had bribed Congressman Cunningham with the "Buoy Toy" yacht, vehicles, antiques, jewelry, cash and fancy property - details revealed when both were prosecuted in a wide-ranging corruption scandal.

Egland is convinced that the classified earmarks didn't just waste your tax dollars - they cost American lives.

"People died because of this program being done the way it was?" the reporter asked. "I really believe so.

Absolutely," Egland said.

Corporate Socialism Destroying Social Services

Former Madison Mayor Paul Soglin has one of the best, thought provoking local blogs, waxingamerica.com. His recent entry “The Turkey Theory of Government and Lemon Socialism,” presented a whole new thought process for me, and one I’m going to ponder and write about in future posts. I thought you might want to see a part of Soglin’s nicely laid out post at Waxingamerica.com:

Years ago, like most city officials, I was confronted with the ugly reality that, by definition, governments were in the unenviable position of running money-losing services. After all police, fire, street and public health services do not make money.

To describe the situation, I used two terms. The first is what I called the "turkey theory of government." If a proposition or a service was a loser, government was expected to deliver the service. If money was to be made, conservatives in the private sector would rally together and try and force government out.

A current example of what was traditionally a public function that the private sector now wishes to operate is water systems. As long as the service is a turkey, the public sector can have it. If there is a profit to be made, enter the private sector.

That gets us to lemon socialism. While welfare systems, public subsidies for transit and the like are decried by the right wing as socialistic, there is no such cry when it comes to socialism for corporate America.

The best example was the public tab to bail out the savings and loans in the 1990's to the tune of $700 billion. Airlines and automobile manufacturers all were the beneficiaries of public money to save businesses that were poorly run, usually through a combination of greed and incompetence.

In any case, lemon socialism flourishes in this country, usually advanced by the most conservative critics of government services and high taxes. Unlike a public operator, the private owner focuses on short term profits and often neglects the long term conditions necessary to sustain the operation.

WMC Doing Lousy Sales Job For Wisconsin Business Climate

Just how good are the lobbyists at Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce? And are they worth the money selling the virtues of locating a business in Wisconsin? Lets see…

Wisconsin manufacturing employment dipped below 500,000 last month to reach the lowest level ever for June.

The Department of Workforce Development said state manufacturing jobs went down 13,300 from June 2007. That’s the biggest year-to-year drop, of 2.6%, since a 3.1% decline in January 2004. The state’s net loss of jobs was 17,800 since June 2007.

According to JSOnline: Wisconsin manufacturing has had year-to-year job losses for the last 20 months in a row. Since hitting a June peak of 603,000 manufacturing jobs in 2000, state employment in that industry has fallen 107,000 positions or 17.7%.

Way to go Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce. It’s not like the state hasn’t taken a big hit on business taxes pushed by WMC. Let's recap...

A 2006 AP story reported “Wisconsin businesses paid more than 85 percent of the profits they earned in Wisconsin in 1982. By 2000, that tax bill was 33 percent of profits. A separate analysis by a vice president of the Federal Reserve found Wisconsin ranked among the bottom one-third of states in 2000 when when comparing taxes to profits.

Harold Schaefer The chief executive officer of Schaefer Brush Manufacturing Co. Inc. in Waukesha said Wisconsin is mistakenly perceived as a high-tax state for businesses. He has a harder time keeping up with his health care costs and his fuel bill than paying his taxes. "I don't feel like we're held over the coals," Schaefer said of his tax bill.

The drop in taxes as a percentage of profits is not necessarily due to anything state or local officials have done … more aggressive use of tax shelters, more profitable companies and a relatively constant tax burden. The analysis comes amid an ongoing debate among lawmakers on whether Wisconsin's business tax climate is competitive and if tax cuts are needed to attract and retain companies.

It seems WMC is more interested in pushing an extremist right wing agenda than bragging about how business friendly our state actually is. If I could borrow a few words from Phil Gramm, "We have state filled with Republican whiners."

Someone had to say it.

NOTE: July 19-JSOnline: The state Revenue Department reported these percentage increases in collections through June 30 for the three largest taxes: Individual income taxes, up 1.3% over the previous year; sales taxes, up 1.5%; and corporate taxes, down 10.3%.

The drop in corporate taxes was slightly worse than expected; But corporate taxes bring in only 6.2% of annual general-fund income. The personal income tax makes up 51.7% of those funds; the sales tax, 32.7%.

Corporate taxes down by 10.3%? Only 6.2% of general fund income? God, when are we going to stop picking on corporations and taxing 'em right out of our state?

McCain: $5000 Rebate on GM’s Volt

At a GM plant, John McCain called for an electric vehicle tax credit, and surprisingly, it’s the only thing McCain has said in the last 6 months that makes any sense.

According to the LA Times: Trying to inject hope into a struggling auto industry, (McCain) says a $5,000 credit should be given to consumers who buy cars like the Chevy Volt, now a prototype whose design room he toured in Michigan.

That’s a solid tax credit for consumers, and a pretty nice incentive to move us away from these insane gas prices.

Let’s hope the GM doesn’t up the price of the Volt by $5000. Naw, GM wouldn’t do that...would they?

We’ll have to wait and see.

Crime Helps Lower Madison to 89th in Money Magazines Best Places To Live

Well look who’s complaining, our friendly neighborhood conservative newspaper, the Wisconsin State Journal.

They seem to be complaining about Money magazine's high-profile "Best Places to Live " list. Madison ranked as the 89th best mid-sized city in America. How could that have happened?

“According to this year’s Money rankings, Madison has higher rates of personal and property crime than the average cities on its list. Madison needs to control crime and property taxes. Back in 1996, when Money ranked Madison No. 1 in America, the magazine highlighted our city's low crime rate. Money even quoted a Madison business executive emphatically stating: "We don't have a crime problem."

I wonder what happened. Let’s go back to last year. According to a Capital Times Editorial from August 14, 2007:

The Wisconsin Professional Police Association is going after Assembly Republicans, who control the chamber, for advancing a budget that threatens to impair the quality of public safety in Wisconsin counties, cities, villages and towns.

"According to the Office of Justice Assistance, violent crimes and assaults on law enforcement officers are growing at troubling rates. Rather than investing in public safety services, the Assembly chose to make significant cuts to the funding necessary for our law enforcement community to effectively meet its service demands. These cuts will result in fewer officers and more crime." The Assembly move(d) to cut $58 million in state aid to local units of government and its almost 50 percent reduction in funding for a supplemental grant program for law enforcement officers.”

Ooops! Lower taxes mean fewer officers. In the words of Assembly speaker Mike Huebsch and Grover Norquest, let's push for more tax cuts! Even though people may not want to move here, and they may not be secure in their home or on the street, at least they got their tax cut.

I’m not sure the funding cuts made it into the budget, and in the end, it doesn’t really matter. It’s the intent of the legislation and the Party pushing it that matters. Hey, maybe if we arm every citizen with concealed carry requirment, we wouldn’t even need the cops?

Nice work Republicans.

McCain Green Screen Travolta, Princess Leia and Colbert

If you enjoyed the McCain Elvis green screen video from the Colbert Report, your going to like this. He's Travolta, Princes Leia and Colbert.

No Free (Market) Lunch

After reading “Americans may be losing faith in free market” by Los Angeles Times Peter Gosselin, I’m getting the feeling that many of us might have been right all along about a well regulated free market democracy.

The original idea was simple, countries that were connected globally were less likely to go to war with each other, while opening up markets for trade. It’s also true that if one country fails economically, a big one like the U.S., the others are likely fall as well. Tariffs protected workers and their wages from cheaper outside forces. When those walls fell down, we saw incomes decline and a nervous workforce planning for the worst possible outcome. Gosselin brings all these idea’s together in this slightly shorten version of his Times story:

Things are hard all over the financial landscape, and politicians and experts are now looking with favor at more, not less, government involvement in the economy.

For a generation, most people accepted the idea that the core of what makes America tick was an economy governed by free markets … certainly better than government meddling.

No longer. Spurred by the continued housing crisis, turmoil in financial markets, spiking oil prices, disappearing jobs and shrinking retirement savings, the nation and its political leaders have begun to sour on the notion that the current market system is the key to a fair, stable and efficient society.

William Galston, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who helped craft President Clinton's market-friendly agenda during the 1990s said, "The strong presumption in favor of markets, which has dominated public policy since the late 1970s, has been thrown very much into question."

The sheer volume of setbacks … have … sent consumer confidence to some of its lowest levels in half a century. A remarkable 84% of Americans are convinced that the nation is on the "wrong track," according to a recent Gallup poll.

Washington had to ride to the rescue of two government-chartered mortgage giants -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- after investors all but extinguished the pair's market value amid fears that falling home prices would push them into insolvency. Meanwhile, federal regulators seized IndyMac Bancorp, a $32-billion mortgage lender based in Pasadena, in what regulators called the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history.

Even the Bush administration, which took office arguing that the Social Security crisis could be solved, in part, by tying some of retirees' future benefits to Wall Street, has begun advocating more government regulation of financial markets.

The price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline has nearly doubled in the last year, a barrel of crude oil more than doubled, cutting short Americans' love affair with gas-guzzlers and driving the nation's trucking, auto and airline industries into deep trouble.

Most mainstream economists assert that these increases are simply the logical outcome of booming global demand meeting limited global supply. But the price run-ups seem out of whack with demand. At least half a dozen measures have been introduced in Congress to limit speculation or to tax oil company profits.

In large part, the rise in house prices and the recent plunge grew out of an almost unregulated corner of the mortgage market -- the one for riskier loans.

Economist Robert Litan of the Brookings Institution said, "With energy, it's the speculators. With housing, it's predatory lenders or crummy credit-rating agencies or stupid banks. We're not ready to throw out markets altogether," he said, "but we want government to do something about the excess."

Harvard economist Robert Lawrence said, "The whole premise of globalization in the year 2000 was that it worked well for us and the other developed countries but that the developing countries would need help. Today, virtually all those optimistic assumptions have been turned on their heads.”

"We've seen unprecedented growth in the developing countries, while the developed countries are being led into a slowdown by the United States," Lawrence said. "We've found out that instead of services and information technology, it's all about oil and other commodities" that are not the nation's strong suit.

As UC Davis' Rauchway pointed out, the devastating panics and depressions of the late 19th century eventually resulted in the progressive reforms of the early 20th century and, later, the New Deal of the 1930s. Today, Americans are not ready to throw out markets altogether, said economist Litan, but "what people may be demanding is New Deal lite."

Laura Ingraham with "The Fox Way Of Doing Things"

This video will never go away, and I think you'll see why. Truly a gift from above.

George Carlin on Olberman Taking No Political Prisoners

Another reason we're really going to miss George Carlin. Take notice Democrats.