Reagan liked unions

I'm not sure that Reagan was that great of a president. His legacy is certainly being exploited by today's conservatives, who like to cherry pick his actions and ignore the things he did that go against current conservative ideology (raising taxes). This quote from his Labor Day speech in 1980 is no different:

"These are the values inspiring those brave workers in Poland ... They remind us that where free unions and collective bargaining are forbidden, freedom is lost." -

Makes you wonder about the reality we are being fed.

Griftopia is great...

But it's old news. Revolution is coming. So is disaster. People high up know it. The rich know it. Now you know it.

If Republican Ideology ran a house

First, they would max out the credit cards buying TVs and take out dinners. (borrow)

Second, they would either quit their job or get fired (tax cuts)

Third, they would then blame the spouse and kids for eating and wearing clothes (spending and anti-union)

Then, they would say that this situation isn't their fault and if they were in charge, things would be different.

That's what is happening in Wisconsin. Tax cuts worsen the state's revenue, then they blame the opposition party's supporters for causing the pain (unions) then they blame everyone else. WHY doen't people understand this? America, you are not getting it.

Sure, some things unions do are ridiculous (YOU can't move that forklift that is blocking your desk, YOU aren't a machinist. ONLY I can move that, but I'll move it when I'm good and ready.) But I work in a corporation, and it's all PROCESS PROCESS PROCESS. Process for the SAKE of Process. Not to make things better, or do things faster. (YOU can't use that tool, because we spend millions on THIS tool. I don't care if our tool is junk, USE IT.)

I firmly believe that when you get a bunch of human beings together in ANY large organization (government or company) you will have mess and waste. That's AMERICA. If you want absolute efficiency, go to China.

UPDATE: Great post by David Frum at FrumForum.

Someday, today’s 20-somethings will call their elders to account.

They will say:

“We faced the worst economic shock since World War II – and you accepted it as a problem without a solution.

“You lamented burdening us with debt, even as you refused to consider economic policies that might enable us ever to pay it.

“You worried over non-existent inflation even as we spent years out of work.

“As we lost our start in life, you protected Medicare for yourselves.

“You condemned us to a half-decade of idleness, then reproached us as video-game-playing slackers.”

UPDATE 2: In a delicious bit of irony, Chuck Koch is advocating that we look to Canada as a model of conservativism. Mitt Romney also singled out Canada at CPAC. WTF??? I thought Canada was evil, with all those REGULATIONS and SOCIALIST HEALTHCARE. MORONS!!! I may be going sour on Obama and his total intellectual capture of WallStreet, but I don't know if I will EVER vote Republican again with these douchebags acting like they know what they are talking about. Yuck.

Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission is split. BIG Surprise

Is it surprising that the FCIC has 3 separate conclusions that are based on opposing ideology? No. Do we expect anything different from Congressional Baby Boomers? No.

The Municipal Bond Market is scaring me right now. Not good.

Yves Smith does an excellent takedown of Michael Lewis' book The Big Short here.

Horrors!! The CBO has revised their budget deficit for cast for 2011 from 1 trillion to 1.5 trillion because of the extended tax cuts. HOW can anyone claim that tax cuts don't cause deficiets? MORONS, that's who. Whoops, I'm sorry. I meant to say our distinguished collegues of the GOP. Want further proof? Just watch Paul Ryan's and Michelle Bachman's SOTU rebuttal speeched from Tuesday.

This whole 'have your cake and eat it too' BS of the lat 30 years is really causing some damage in it's death throes.

What is good for consumers?

The Fed has proposed new fees that card companies can charge retailers for swiping. Every time you swipe your card at the gas station or grocery store or Target, the companies that help in that process (Visa, Mastercard, etc) charge the retailer a fee. Currently, the fee is 44 cents. The new Fed proposal caps that fee at 12 cents. That seems like a good thing, right? Only for consumers. In an article in the Wall Street Journal, Ed Yingling, president and chief executive of the American Bankers Association, said in a statement that the rules "essentially relieve retailers of paying their fair share for a card payments system that offers them tremendous benefits." He added that the Fed's proposal was a "bad deal for consumers."

Uh, no sir. It's a bad deal for your banks, but it's good for us. The banks need to STFU.

Oh, and I'm reading 'Aftershock' by Robert B. Reich. You should, too.

Turkey posts

Here's some great links to look at during your extended break.

Jonathan Tasini does a great job in popping the deficiet myth in a 50 page booklet.

Bill Moyers explains how wage repression works.

More evidence that America is now a Banana Republic.

A thought on the results of Nov. 4

A lot of people are saying that the election results are a result of people thinking that Obama went too far in his policy. I think that's bull. If you look at the groups that voted, it was tilted towards mostly older whites. This group is always more conservative, so it's no surprise that you get this kind of election result with that electorate group. Baby Boomers are angry. They have good reason to be angry. But they did bring a lot of this on themselves, as I have said many times in this blog. What I think a good spin for Obama on this would be "Yes, the economy isn't where it needs to be. People are really hurting. I have no idea what it is like to lose your home and your job. I don't know where I would find the strength to see me through that situation. But this slow recovery is because I compromised. I tried to meet Republicans halfway. But Republicans are so far to the right that going halfway doesn't mean you meet in the center. It means you end up going right. So that is why our policies have been tilted to the right. Healthcare reform is not an over reach. The stimulus was 40% tax cuts, and look how those tax cuts are NOT helping us. Look at how large our deficiet is BECAUSE of the Bush Tax Cuts. This pain is a RESULT of Republicans, and we are forgetting who got us here and punishing those folks who are trying to get us out of this mess."

Now, will Obama say something like that? No. I don't think he actually believes that for one thing. I also think that it wouldn't help matters, even though it is the truth. Republicans have such an effective propaganda machine it's amazing. I was watching a debate that had Arthur Laffer and Phil Gramm and these guys said great things. But their past actions do not meet their words. Never have. Yet people still hear them and follow them, time and again. It's quite amazing. If conservatives actually practiced what they preached, then

a) things would be very different

b) they probably wouldn't be in office, because people in this country don't like to make hard choices

This countries biggest fiscal issue is non-discretionary spending, yet all Republican's have proposed going after is discretionary spending. That will help, but it won't solve our problems. But that is where the 'adult' conversation with Republicans stops. That's a problem, and electing these liars won't solve them.