Facism in America

http://www.eclectablog.com/2011/12/emergency-manager-near-for-inkster-with.html

So, according to the Republican party, we invaded Iraq and Afghanistan in order to "bring them freedom and democracy." So why is that here in the US , that same party is arguing that democracy must be removed in order to save working class and black Americans from themselves. In Michigan, Republican governor Rick Snyder has instituted an "emergency manager" law that allows him to replace all local elected officials with "emergency managers" who rule their cities as unchecked tyrants.

Detroit would be the 7th city to have its elected government replaced by a state-appointed dictator. And with it, over 50% of African Americans in Michigan would be stripped right to an elected local government. The fight for democracy is on - it's just closer to home than some of us expected.

The Wealthy are "Job Creators"? Please.

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/12/04/381510/upton-cant-explain-tax-cuts-jobs/

To follow up on yesterday's "John Boehner says tax cuts for the middle class are chicken shit" post, here is GOP supercommittee member Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) admitting that the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy didn't create jobs. Even as Senate Republicans filibustered a plan to extend the wildly popular (even among Republicans!) payroll tax cut this week, claiming that it "hasn't created jobs," they are doubling down on their narrative that the wealthy can't be taxed because it will "kill jobs."

When Rep. Upton was asked on Bloomberg News why more jobs were created in the higher tax Clinton years than the lower tax Bush years, he couldn't answer. Indeed, the years of greatest job growth in the US since 1950 have all had top marginal tax rates (i.e. taxes on all income made beyond the first $250,000) of 70 percent or higher. The idea that lower taxes on the wealthy means higher job growth is intellectually bankrupt, plain and simple.

Why Do Young Voters Love Ron Paul?

http://www.salon.com/2011/11/28/why_young_voters_love_ron_paul/singleton/

Why do young conservatives love Ron Paul? It's not. as many conservative intellectuals dismissively purport, because he supports Marijuana legalization or because college kids "naively" cling to his brand of conservatism. It's because they agree with Rep. Paul that our imperialist foreign policy is making America less safe.

It's a real shame that Paul's popular foreign policy positions "are either ignored or mocked by a political and media culture that is ideologically invested in marginalizing them."

Mitt Romney - Change We Can Believe In?

For your viewing pleasure, here's a slightly younger Mitt Romney doing retail campaigning and boasting about not being a "career politician." Romney's "outsider" label is still something he's trying to use to sell his candidacy. What's the problem with this narrative? This clip is from 1994.

Whose Banks? Our Banks.

http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2011/11/yes-the-us-government-ought-to-own-the-banks-now.html

"When you don't take equity...you aren't acting as a good agent for your principals, the taxpayers."

By all rights, the American people should own the major banks right now. We were lenders of last resort, and the government's decision not to secure equity for US taxpayers was an abject failure to represent our financial interests.

We were compelled by the crisis to act as a lender of last resort. But by all rights should have been able to take over the banks, clean house, restructure, and ensure the banks didn't make a profit off of their own avarice and incompetence. Instead, the government participated in the worst kind of crony capitalism by rescuing the banks and then letting their executives profit from tanking the economy

The Battle we Won (?) for Women

"White House says Obama considering rolling back mandatory insurance coverage of contraception"

Well, that's just awesome. So we're going to surrender a battle we've already won? Ladies and gents, the Democratic party.

Gingrich - the GOP Savior?

Many on the right and the left agree that Newt Gingrich has too much personal and political baggage to be the Republican nominee. The difference? The Left points to Gingrich's sexism, hypocrisy, and avarice. The Right is upset that he supported "compassion" for immigrants and that he has sat next to Nancy Pelosi in the past.

From the party of "family values" and self-proclaimed moral superiority, it is amazing that serial adulterer and blatant moral hypocrite Newt Gingrich leads in the polls.

http://www.salon.com/2011/11/29/two_definitions_of_newt_gingrichs_baggage/singleton/

The Fed's Secret Loans - Exposed

After more than two years of fighting to keep the specifics of the biggest bailout in US history under wraps, the details of the Feds secret loans to the big banks have finally come to light. In the words of the Bloomberg report,

"A fresh narrative of the financial crisis of 2007 to 2009 emerges from 29,000 pages of Fed documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and central bank records of more than 21,000 transactions. While Fed officials say that almost all of the loans were repaid and there have been no losses, details suggest taxpayers paid a price beyond dollars as the secret funding helped preserve a broken status quo and enabled the biggest banks to grow even bigger. "

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-28/secret-fed-loans-undisclosed-to-congress-gave-banks-13-billion-in-income.html

Hermain Cain's Apologists Seek to Discredit Women

Apologists for Herman Cain are not only dismissing the claims of the women who have come forward alleging sexual harassment and assault, but dismissing the idea of sexual harassment altogether. Herman Cain's defenders are not claiming that they don't know what happened (i.e. "he said, she said"). They are instead claiming they know exactly what happened: nothing.

Their rationale? Women are "humorless," "irrational," "hysterical," "money-grubbing," "attention-seeking tramps." As Dahlia Lithwick notes in her great new article Herman Cain’s Conservative Defenders Are Going Totally Overboard, this is not just an effort to silence Cain's accusers. It is an effort to silence and discredit victims of sexual harassment and assault everywhere.

Shock and Awe Comes to America

Shock doctrine 101:

Step 1: Put the economy into a "crisis" or "state of emergency" (George W. Bush, Rick Snyder, Scott Walker, etc.). It doesn't have to be a real crisis, you just have to claim there is one.

Step 2: Claim unprecedented executive powers "confront" the crisis YOU created/fabricated.

Step 3: Use those powers to privatize anything you can get your hands on. Massively deregulate corporations and cut their taxes. Bust unions and attack the public sector. This sets up the perfect conditions for another crisis.

Step 4: Repeat as needed until pesky middle class removed.

The "shock and awe" used to bring the free market to Afghanistan and Iraq has come to the USA. This is disaster capitalism at its worst. This is a war on people who have to work for a living, and it's about time we fought back.

The War on Women

Republicans want to simultaneously end all federal funding of contraception providers and criminalize abortion. Can't they just come out and say that they think bundles of cells are worth more than living, breathing women already? It's a war on women, nothing more, and nothing less.

For more information, see this story from TPMDC discussing the pro-choice fight against the Republican efforts. Also check this great post at Shakesville shellacking Republicans for their hypocrisy on the sanctity of human life.