Political Waves by Judith Gayle

We’re having a “space hurricane” thanks to solar storms — check it out!

State of the Union address tonight — and before you watch it, or read about it later for that matter — these are a couple of excellent bits of information in assessing the national picture through the eyes of this president, which is basically what a SOTU is.

In a decade of dissolution, of emergency and anxiety, there’s not much a Prez can do to slap a grin on the face of his countrymen. I’ve never understood why anyone would want the job, something like running a hamster wheel to Hell. At the end of it, wouldn’t you spend the rest of your life wondering if you did the right thing, or enough, or …. whatever?? Criminey!

Anyhow, everybody’s talking about how Obama will launch his re-election bid tonight but that’s crap … he’s been launching for months and I’m not being cynical. This election is almost exclusively about ideology — public service versus privatization. In these last few month, Obama’s come down on the left with more vigor than usual. Consider him launched.

Here’s a quick list of things of which to be mindful, listening to the speech — and a longer read about Obama’s memos, which not only give you a sharper sense of the man but of his challenges and disappointments. Obviously, crooks have an easier time in the Oval than decent folk. Bush reported that he slept soundly every night.

While you’re watching the speech, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights suggests that:

As you watch the State of the Union tonight, tweet Rep. John Boehner (@JohnBoehner), and Sen. Harry Reid (@SenatorReid) to share your thoughts on the civil and human rights issues Congress must address this year. Use the hashtag #DoBetter2012. Also, update your Facebook status and share your thoughts on how Congress can do better in 2012. Use the Facebook and Twitter icons to get started.

Jude

Facts to Know Before the State of the Union Address
Think Progress via Alternet
[open link for source info]

Tonight, President Barack Obama will deliver his third State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress. The Republican response will be given by Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels. Before you watch the speeches, get the facts:

• Since the last SOTU, the economy has created 1.9 million private sector jobs. [Source]

• The top 1 percent take home 24 percent of the nation’s income, up from about 9 percent in 1976. [Source]

• Private sector job creation under Obama in 2011 was larger than seven out of the eight yearsBush was president. [Source]

• The top 1 percent of Americans own 40 percent of our country’s wealth while the bottom 80 percent owns only 7 percent. [Source]

• Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, 2.5 million young adults gained health insurance. [Source]

• For every one job opening, there are four people looking for work. [Source]

• Last year, China spent 9 percent of its GDP on infrastructure. The U.S. spent 2.5 percent. [Source]

• 2.65 million seniors saved an average of $569 on prescriptions last year thanks to the Affordable Care Act. [Source]

• “In 2011, the United States killed Al Qaeda’s most effective propagandist, Anwar al-Awlaki; its operating chief, Atiyah Abd al-Rahman; and of course its founder, chief executive and spiritual leader, Osama bin Laden.” [Source]

• Union membership is at a 70-year low. [Source]

• Unemployment benefits have lifted 3.2 million people out of poverty. [Source]

• The United States used to have the world’s largest percentage of college graduates. We’re now #14. [Source]

• One quarter of all contributions to federal campaigns come from 0.01 percent of Americans. [Source]

• 47.8 percent of households that receive food stamps are working, because having a job is not enough to keep them out of poverty. [Source]

• In the last three years, 30 major corporations spent more on lobbying than they paid in taxes. [Source]

• 50 percent of U.S. workers make less than $26,364 per year. [Source]

• More than one in 70 homes faced foreclosure last year. [Source]

• Since 1985, the federal tax rate for the 400 wealthiest Americans dropped from 29 percent to 18 percent. [Source]

*All statistics use the most recent data we could identify ++

The Obama Memos
The making of a post-post-partisan Presidency.
Hundreds of pages of internal White House memos show Obama grappling with the unpleasant choices of government.
Ryan Lizza, New Yorker
January 30, 2012

Politics.

On a frigid January evening in 2009, a week before his Inauguration, Barack Obama had dinner at the home of George Will, the Washington Post columnist, who had assembled a number of right-leaning journalists to meet the President-elect. Accepting such an invitation was a gesture on Obama’s part that signalled his desire to project an image of himself as a post-ideological politician, a Chicago Democrat eager to forge alliances with conservative Republicans on Capitol Hill. That week, Obama was still working on an Inaugural Address that would call for “an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics.”
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Yes, it’s no secret. I adore Jon Stewart and his flip-side, Stephen Colbert. I prefer Jon’s humor but I applaud Stephen’s politics — he so rarely steps out of character that even now, well after his take-down of Bush at the White House roast years back, a polling of Pubs finds that many of them think he’s really a closet conservative, playing a liberal pretending to be a conservative. How FUBAR is that?! If you want to know who Colbert really is, open this link for an extensive Harvard Institute for Politics interview.

So … Stewart and Colbert, political humorists in the tradition of Mark Twain, Will Rogers, Mort Sahl, Lenny Bruce, George Carlin and all the truth tellers that made us laugh. And now they’ve upped the ante, Stephen stepping back from the [actual, operating and well-funded] Super PAC he established some months ago. It’s cheeky title? Americans For A Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow.

As Colbert’s home state is South Carolina, and because he already had a small percentage of the presidential campaign vote, he’s thrown his hat into the ring (while being legally unable to throw his hat into the ring.) This is shtick Colbert simply can’t ignore. Steve doesn’t just push the envelope, he stuffs it down yer throat. So, in order to separate himself from the PAC money, he turned it over to Jon — and in so doing, demonstrated how simple it is to create an anonymous funding source for candidates.

And now — oh delicious, delicious — the PAC has released an ad calling corporate raider, Mitt Romney, a “serial killer.” Mitt, of course, enhanced his multi-multi-MULTI-millions by becoming a cold-eyed, heartless corporate destroyer (think Richard Gere’s character in Pretty Woman) and since Mitt himself has insisted that corporations are people, serial killer isn’t really a stretch. And it certainly points up the enormous mess that the Supreme’s made for us all with their Citizens United ruling.

Romney is a corporate raider with the instincts of a circling shark. In a year when the 99% lifted their eyes toward the ivory towers that held the dreaded 1% of power and privilege, they might have seen Mitt duck his head out of sight. Mitt’s wealth makes him one of the 3,140 wealthiest people in the country — the richest 0.001 percent of Americans. Gingrich’s commentary about “vulture capitalism” was well earned. Just watching Romney smile, his eyes empty, his faux-casual clothes pressed and perfect, gives me the eebies. Seriously — I’ve seen more warmth in a mannequin.

But because of the way the system works, it’s likely that Romney will get the nod, making Florida a mere reprise. If the anti-Romney’s can’t get their acts together, Mitt will win by default. However, this is still a perfect time for American’s to get a tutorial in PAC’s, the outrage of Citizens United and the system, itself, and Colbert is just the guy to do it.

Perhaps we’ll notice that now, more than ever before, money leads the parade and the fix is in. Maybe if we get a lesson in political science even while we’re looking for the punch line, it will finally lead to some kind of campaign finance reform. Until the money is out of our elections, until our representatives can make calls for the good of the nation while NOT in the pocket of their buyers, nothing is going to change.

So here’s Stewart and Colbert — because when the bull is about to stomp you, nothing is more important than the rodeo clown.

And last but not least — on Martin Luther King’s birthday, I’m changing out our signature. Every couple of years I do that, nodding to the changes in energy. We started with a quote from the Dalai Lama, then one from Molly Ivins, then Barack Obama. The new signature is a quote from Dr. King that serves this 2012 time frame very well:

“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. That is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”

Amen and amen!

Jude

Stephen Colbert’s PAC Parody Explains Campaign Finance To America (Part 1)
Paul Blumenthal, Dan Froomkin, HuffPost
1/16/12

This is the first part of a five-part series by The Huffington Post exploring Stephen Colbert’s explanation of the nation’s campaign finance laws to the public. Stay tuned through the week of Jan. 16, 2012, for the rest of the series.

WASHINGTON — Two years after the Supreme Court voided many of the country’s bedrock campaign finance laws, much of the American public is still confused by the change — and stupefied by the often-impenetrable jargon that frequently encumbers any discussion of the topic.

But one public figure has managed to pierce the veil of dullness to actually demonstrate — in an electrifying way — just how dangerous and corrupt the current system of political campaign financing has become.
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Alright, here I am — I didn’t forget you. In fact, you’ve REALLY been on my mind, especially as I’ve rushed from project to project, my hair on fire. I know I haven’t brought any interesting bits into your in-box in awhile now. I assumed you were busy with Christmas, and now New Years and didn’t need interruption from me … that, and I couldn’t find anything useful to send you.

Seriously! I’ve checked every day to find something besides sheer nonsense and I can’t locate anything worth a darn. So — in my own defense — there IS no political news of moment to report. Oh, everything’s restless … from Alaskan volcano’s to a largely psychopathic GOP in Iowa, but none of this is news we can’t live without.

Still, I want you to know I carry you — my Political Waves family — with me at all times, send you positive energy, and today I wish for you the brightest of New Years.

2012. We’ve really waited for this one, haven’t we! Let’s hope we have our mojo’s working, our intentions in place and our homework done to give the best of ourselves to this new year and to take confirmation of our own blessings within it.

Here’s the link to today’s post over at Planet Waves — and below you’ll find some encouragement from Krugman and Moore. There’s really no news of importance … which is Good News, so they say.

Blessed be, each one of you — have a safe, sane and heartfelt celebration as 2011 closes a door behind it. When it opens again, may this long awaited new year fill us with Light!

Jude

Partisan Shenanigans, Political Nonsense
Paul Krugman, NYT via TruthOut
Thursday 15 December 2011

Carelessly Mistaking Theater For Policy
Paul Krugman, NYT via TruthOut
Thursday 22 December 2011

75 Years Ago Today, the First Occupy
a note from Michael Moore
Friday, December 30th, 2011

Friends,

On this day, December 30th, in 1936 — 75 years ago today — hundreds of workers at the General Motors factories in Flint, Michigan, took over the facilities and occupied them for 44 days. My uncle was one of them.

The workers couldn’t take the abuse from the corporation any longer. Their working conditions, the slave wages, no vacation, no health care, no overtime — it was do as you’re told or get tossed onto the curb.

So on the day before New Year’s Eve, emboldened by the recent re-election of Franklin Roosevelt, they sat down on the job and refused to leave.

They began their Occupation in the dead of winter. GM cut off the heat and water to the buildings. The police tried to raid the factories several times, to no avail. Even the National Guard was called in.

But the workers held their ground, and after 44 days, the corporation gave in and recognized the UAW as the representative of the workers. It was a monumental historical moment as no other major company had ever been brought to its knees by their employees. Workers were given a raise to a dollar an hour — and successful strikes and occupations spread like wildfire across the country. Finally, the working class would be able to do things like own their own homes, send their children to college, have time off and see a doctor without having to worry about paying. In Flint, Michigan, on this day in 1936, the middle class was born.

But 75 years later, the owners and elites have regained all power and control. I can think of no better way for us to honor the original Occupiers than by all of us participating in the Occupy Wall Street movement in whatever form that takes in each of our towns. We need direct action all winter long if we are to prevail. You can start your own Occupy group in your neighborhood or school or with just your friends. Speak out against economic injustice at every chance you get. Stop the bank from evicting the family down the block. Move your checking and credit card to a community bank or credit union. Place a sign in your yard — and get your neighbors to do it also — that says, “WE ARE THE 99%.” (You can download signs here and here.)

Do something, anything, but don’t remain silent. Not now. This is the moment. It won’t come again.

75 years ago today, in Flint, Michigan, the people said they’d had enough and occupied the factories until they won. What is stopping us now? The rich have one plan: bleed everyone dry. Can anyone, in good conscience, be a bystander to this?

My uncle wasn’t, and because of what he and others did, I got to grow up without having to worry about a roof over my heads or medical bills or a decent life. And all that was provided by my dad who built spark plugs on a GM assembly line.

Let’s each of us double our efforts to raise a ruckus, Occupy Everywhere, and get creative as we throw a major nonviolent wrench into this system of Greed. Let’s make the politicians running for office in 2012 quake in their boots if they refuse to tax the rich, regulate Wall Street and do whatever we the people tell them to do.

Happy 75th!

Yours,
Michael Moore ++

“I’m asking you to believe. Not just in my ability to bring about real change in Washington … I’m asking you to believe in yours.”
~ Barack Obama

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.

“Newt Gingrich is a human hand grenade who walks around with his hand on the pin, saying, ‘Watch this!’ “”
~ Righty pundit Peggy Noonan

The Donald, Bachmann, Perry, Cain — none could keep the love of the base for too long, and now … with time short … it looks like Newt is kicking Mitt to the curb. Both are full of crap, politically, but either could get the nod and do a credible job in a run [all things being relative, and all the political relatives of this crew jumped out of a clown car.] Not that I think the nation swings their way, any more … but still.

It’s amazing how early in this season Hell froze over, but it would seem to have, as I’m not only posting Maureen Dowd, I’m quoting Peggy Noonan! With both these dames on my Pffffft! List, that’s not something you’ll see every day, here on Political Waves. But as long as both go after Gingrich for the crusty old toad he is, they’re my [temporary] BFF’s.

This early Pluto in Capricorn business is intriguing, Obviously, we are witnessing authority showing its true colors (and because it’s obvious, we can project the stumbles ahead.) In Krugman’s latest piece on finance you can get a sense of authority trying to do what it’s always done which is strangle anything that defies it. I don’t think that’s gonna work, this time around … but we shall see.

Meanwhile, the Supremes — America’s erstwhile “respected authority” — have jumped right in the middle of the mess, this session. They’re taking on “Obamacare” and now it appears they’ll also rule on Arizona’s immigration law [Justice Kagan recusing herself, putting the possibility of an even split on the table.] Sniff the air for the smell of cordite, straight ahead!!

Snarky reads today, because that’s what Newt deserves. Last piece is a warning worth noting — a President Newt would guarantee hard times for us all — INCLUDING our kids — and a honking big war with Iran! Moldy oldies for 2012?

I think not.

Jude

Fire and Ice
MAUREEN DOWD, NYT
December 10, 2011

IT’S probably not wise for a man who had a weepy boy crush on the last Democratic president to threaten to stalk the current one around the country.

But more than anything in his Icarus flight toward the White House, Newt Gingrich seems infatuated with the idea of recreating the seven three-hour Lincoln-Douglas debates with President Obama.

“I will concede in advance that he can use a teleprompter,” Gingrich said at a Republican Jewish Coalition forum here on Wednesday.
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I’m back in the Pea Patch, just in time for the first snow and other winter wonderland hoo-ha. Post-travel is a period that has me “on hold” while I dig through laundry, put away mounds of stuff I can’t get here and am forced to import, and hunt for things that aren’t where I left them. Coming up for air, I discovered — on the other side of white-hot browsing speed on my daughters computer — that my flailing dial-up is even more pitiful than I remembered. I’ll have to come up with options after year-end or my brain will implode in frustration — not that the news is any more comforting than waiting three minutes for Huffy to load, mind you, or the connection timing-out halfway through!

On the other hand, there was a bit of activity we should look at this week … at least the bit I was able to get to. I’m reminded, reading Reich, that our president has always told us that, like FDR, he needs the wind of public opinion at his back. So I’m delighted to report that WITH IT, he’s the populist we hired a few years ago.

Good reads and information we need — Reich, along with Moore and Lakoff.

Jude

The Most Important Economic Speech of His Presidency
Robert Reich, his blog
Tuesday, December 6, 2011

The President’s speech today in Osawatomie, Kansas — where Teddy Roosevelt gave his “New Nationalism” speech in 1910 — is the most important economic speech of his presidency in terms of connecting the dots, laying out the reasons behind our economic and political crises, and asserting a willingness to take on the powerful and the privileged that have gamed the system to their advantage.
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