We hear about Republican filibusters and we think perhaps of Jimmy Stewart in “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” and see all this flurry of activity under the bright lights of television and tell ourselves that it is really only about “politics as usual” in Washington. Or we think of it as some kind of inside-the-beltway [...]
Entries from October 28th, 2011
What Do “Think Tanks” Think About?
April 29th, 2010 · Comments Off · Corporations and Industry, Economics, Lobbying, Politics
Washington D.C. seems to be “ground zero” for think tanks. A think tank is made up of a group of real and imagined “experts” who gather together for coffee and bloviation. For the most part they seem to consider little more than the amount of tax dollars that can be saved for large corporations. Despite [...]
Tags: American Enterprise Institute·Conservative Think Tanks·Heartland Institute·Heritage Foundation·Hoover Institute·industry think tanks·Manhattan Institute·Right Wing Think Tanks
Facts About Global Warming
April 26th, 2010 · Comments Off · Culture, energy, General, International affairs, Science & Technology
The fact is that the earth is warming. Glaciers are melting, and most importantly, the earth’s weather patterns are beginning to change. Northwest United States, which in some parts had over 150 glaciers in the early 1910s, now has less than 40. Some areas of the Arctic ocean that had been impassable now can be [...]
Tags: cap and trade·carbon dioxide·carbon emissions·climate change·climate stabilization·effects of increased temperatures·global warming
Corporatism Versus Populism
April 25th, 2010 · Comments Off · Corporations and Industry, Culture, Politics, Populism
Populism is about people. The Latin word for “the people” is populus. So a Populist is one who has concern for the People. Historically American Populism has been a political philosophy that had to do with the struggle of the average worker or farmer against those powerful forces in society that had gained control of [...]
Tags: corporate welfare·Corporatism·Neoconservative corporatism·Populism·populist·Republican·Republican obstructionism·right wing republicans·tea party members
Neocon-Republicans Putting Lipstick on Racism and Obstruction
April 23rd, 2010 · Comments Off · Culture, Economics, Politics, Wall Street
Probably the most distressing thing about the malevolent actions of the Right Wing…the hate speech, the deliberate misunderstanding of the motives of the Obama Administration, the mischaracterization of important populist legislation, e.g. reforming the fraudulent banking system…is that these actions are so often, literally and figuratively wrapped in the flag. You see some hick with [...]
Tags: bigots·confederate racists·Neocon use of racism for political gain·Neoconservative racism·racism in politics·Republican racism·Right Wing use of racism·southern segregationist Senators·tea party racists
Democracy, Socialism, Communism, Fascism, and Neoconservatism
April 22nd, 2010 · Comments Off · Culture, Economics, Politics
Pass this on to any drooling tea bagger you happen to see wandering down the street carrying a sign and a gun. They clearly attended a public school or a private religious school or were home schooled or spent their entire juvenile life as a truant. They do not understand the basics of comparative political [...]
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Republicans & Wall Street vs. Democrats and Financial Reform
April 20th, 2010 · Comments Off · Economics, Lobbying, Politics, Wall Street
The Republicans are doing it again. They are trying to use their obstructive tactics to defeat financial reform. And why isn’t someone calling them on it? Does every editor, every newscaster have an axe to grind for the banks and investment firms who literally over several years took several trillion dollars of wealth from the [...]
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Republicans and Tea Party Demonstrators Are Not Populists.
April 19th, 2010 · Comments Off · Culture, Health Care, jobs, Lobbying, Media, Politics
Populism, as it relates to politics is a theory of action that demands that legislation be written on behalf of the people, and not the special interests. It is the ultimate in Democracy and the ultimate in good will towards man, working from the will of the people to provide remedies and sustenance for the [...]
Tags: Americans for Prosperity·FreedomWorks·Koch Family Foundations·Koch Industries·Neoconservative lobbying groups·Populism·right wing republicans·special interests
Lobbying: Our Worst National Disaster
April 16th, 2010 · Comments Off · Lobbying, Media, Politics
There are about 14,000 lobbyists now in Washington. That is more than 26 lobbyists for every Senator, Congressman and member of the White House staff. Last year, 2009, lobbyists spent a staggering $3.46 billion on influencing government. This is a huge problem for the United States of America and its future. If you are a [...]
Tags: corporate influence·corporate lobbyists·corporation lobbying·health insurance lobbyists·independent government·John Boehner·Lobbying·lobbyist influence·lobbyist money in Washington·lobbyists·Mitch McConnell·Neocon lobbyist pandering·Neocon lobbyists·Republican lobbyist pandering
Tea Bags and Right Wing Liars
April 14th, 2010 · Comments Off · Culture, Politics
Who are these nuts in the tea party rallies? We’re talking about the people carrying the offensive signs, making obscene comments and creating altered images of elected officials. Remember, elected officials are those courageous individuals who legitimately go out to the people, tell them their plans for society, ask for help from their fellow citizens [...]
Tags: anti-American propaganda·neocon propaganda·Obama political programs·Republican filibusters·Republican obstruction·Right Wing·Right Wing Talk Show Hosts·tea baggers·tea party
Racism and Neoconservatism
April 11th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Culture, Media, Politics
What Must Be Said… Since the late 1960s, Americans have held the belief–which we now know has been a false belief–that we had gone past a society filled with race hatred. We should have known after the shifts of Democrats to Republicans in the Reagan era that it would be a long time before we [...]
Tags: bigotry·confederate states·Neocon Republican racism·Neoconservative racism·political racism·racism·racist right wing radio·racist tea party marchers·Reagan southern strategy·Southern political strategy·Southern strategy·tea parties·White Supremacists
Where is Private Investment? It is time for Public-Private Development of U.S. Industry.
April 9th, 2010 · Comments Off · Economics, Politics
Private investment is not working. It doesn’t matter why it is not. It could be a conspiracy. It could be cowardice. It could simply be sloth. It may be easier right now to sit on some favorable derivatives than to help move industry and jobs forward. Whatever the reason…banks and financial institutions have had long [...]
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The Bible and the Federalist Papers
April 8th, 2010 · Comments Off · Culture, Politics, Science & Technology
The year 1776 was not much different from the year 76. In both years and eras there were no airplanes, cars, electric lights, radio, telephone, telegraph, television, Ipods or Ipads. There was no electricity, no steam, no combustion engine, no natural gas power, not even propane. There was no Internet, nor were there railroads, buses, [...]
Tags: Federalist Papers·Federalist Society·Neoconservative propaganda·revisionist politics·Right Wing politics·tea parties
Are Neocons Making Us Latin America?
April 6th, 2010 · Comments Off · Economics, Education, International affairs, Politics
This is not about immigration or our borders. It is not about cultural differences or becoming more Hispanic. This is about a growing income inequality in the United States that is just now beginning to mirror some parts of Latin America. While we are in the midst of the Great Recession, the United States has [...]
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Saving America from Itself
April 5th, 2010 · Comments Off · Culture, Politics
This is not about immigration or economics or how the Supreme Court ruined our elections, although they have. This is about the way an abhorrent group of undisciplined, uneducated, lazy, foolish citizens could ruin this country. It has happened before. A few vicious and cruel people in 1789 turned a deserved revolution into an undeserved [...]
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