David Guilbault

LORDS, VASSALS & SERFS

The markets are falling!  The markets are falling!

The world is apoplectic because markets around the world are in crisis.

Let's be clear.  Markets are made of investors.  Investors are people who already have enough money to live and want their extra money, that they don't need, "invested" to make even more money.

Used to be that investors helped build factories, start companies, create jobs.  Now, more often than not, they fund "financial instruments" that are all smoke and mirrors.  You know, like bundling bad mortgage debts, reselling them, and taking out insurance policies in case they went bad - which they did.  The insurance policies protected them from risk and loss.  Or the taxpayers bailed them out, because the financial institutions who caused these calamities were "too big to fail."

It's all about money making money.

And, workers be damned.  To protect their bottom lines, U.S. corporations have gone global, eliminating American jobs, hiring cheap, exploited foreign labor, increasing overseas consumerism, decimating worker pension funds, eliminating negotiating rights, weakening health benefits and trying to subvert health, safety and environmental regulations.

These investors no longer need American workers or consumers.  Their exploitation has become worldwide.  First they robbed the planet's physical resources.  Now they are harnessing and breaking its struggling people.

Used to be that governments held reign over the bad behavior of investors.  Our government protected us from the unfettered greed and irresponsibility of corporations with sensible regulation and oversight.

That has all been turned on its head.  Governments themselves are now succumbing to the overwhelming power of the banks.

Italy and Greece have seen their national elected leaders replaced with "economists" in order to placate their markets.  Citizens no longer matter, only investors.

And now, the 27 members of the European Union (sans Britain) have agreed on a new treaty that essentially puts central banks in charge of their budgets.  Power has moved substantially to the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and something called the European Council - all extra-governmental entities.

Europe is becoming "of the banks, by the banks and for the banks."

First and foremost, these entities will work to protect the investors and their markets.  You know, those folks who already have more money than they need.  Of lesser concern will be the citizenry.  There will be less taxpayer money devoted to education, health care, environmental safety, protection of worker benefits, quality of life, law enforcement and justice.

Money will rule all, including the people working hard to earn a living, to feed and educate their children, to provide for their retirement and to enjoy the fruits of their life and labor.

All this, while the Arab world is in revolt, the African continent is in a humanitarian crisis, China is building its economic and military might, terrorist networks are closer to really getting nuclear arms and the American political system is in decline and disarray.

These indeed are truly dangerous times.  The wealthiest of the wealthy have a tight grip on the reins of power.  We horses need to bridle.  Or else we are in danger of once again becoming a worldwide feudal society of lords (the investors), vassals (the military) and serfs (the rest of us).

BEGRUDGE THY NEIGHBOR

When I was growing up in the Fifties, chasing the American Dream was in full vogue.  My parents bought their first house in a development called Swayze Acres, in Waterford, New York.  The newly-leveled neighborhood (the oval of houses in the photo above) was a collection of three different models of ranch homes built on dirt lots.

In economic terms, it was also a level playing field.  Everyone in the development was in roughly the same economic class - the burgeoning Middle Class.  And, so each of them began the upwardly mobile quest of "keeping up with the Joneses."  One by one, dirt driveways became gravel driveways, became concrete driveways, became car-ports, became garages.  When my neighbors got a Magnavox stereo console, so did we.  When they converted their concrete-block basesments into panelled rec-rooms, so did we.  When we built a patio out back and then covered and enclosed it, so did they.  We were all "movin' on up."

In those days, my parent's generation aspired to be as successful and as prosperous as their neighbors.  Those dreams were supported by their unions, their employers and their politicians.  Everyone was glad for each others' success.  It was an ethos.

All that has changed.  The middle-class is in a precipitous economic decline, brought on by the rampant rise of the fortunes of corporate America.  Never in this country has the gap between the richest of us and the poorest of us been more stark.  According to the latest census data, the top-earning 20 percent of Americans – those making more than $100,000 each year – received 49.4 percent of all income generated in the U.S., compared with the 3.4 percent made by the bottom 20 percent of earners, those who fell below the poverty line."

Of course, the very weatlthiest of us are feeling no pain whatsoever.  Corporations are making obscene, record profits by exploiting cheap overseas labor, eliminating American jobs, eviscerating workplace and environmental safeguards and marketing their cheap products to the Third World.  The only things "made in America" anymore are fear and deceit.

On this landscape, we begrude our neighbors.  Instead of wanting what they have for ourselves too, we want to deny them whatever we don't have.  As more and more of us lose our jobs, benefits, pensions, houses, livelehoods, skills and self-respect we are envious of others' success and want them to suffer as we do, share in the pain.

At the same time, there are rabid campaigns underway to decimate federal programs that help citizens prosper - public education, environmental protection, financial reform, publicly-financed news, medical care and retirement benefits.  These campaigns are being waged by the rich, to get back the tax money that was meant to contribute to the public good.

Quite frankly, the corporations no longer need the middle-class who thrived during the post-World War II booming economy.  They don't need them as workers or as consumers.  So, why educate them, protect their safety, improve their health or give them sufficient wages, benefits and pensions?  Hurting those social benefits for the middle-class doesn't hurt the rich, as they already have the best private teachers, doctors and money managers that money can buy.

So, the key to the continued dominance of the wealthy is to turn the former middle-class into the working poor and then turn them against each other.

Thus, the cynical efforts in State Houses across the land to strip public employees of their collective bargaining rights.  You hear cries from private sector employees that their benefits and pensions aren't as rich, so, they argue, the public employees' plans should be weakened.  By begrudging their neighbors, they are unwittingly playing into the hands of the puppet masters who control the acquisition of wealth in this country.

(When politicians use deficit-recduction as a reason for ending worker rights and social programs, it is a canard.  Our national debt was caused by two un-funded wars and a massive tax cut for the wealthiest Americans.  State deficits are a mixed bag and are largely caused by poor executive management.  Negotiate public employee wages and benefits, yes, but not their right to bargain.)

Make no mistake, it is in the interest of the rich for the workers of this country to no longer feel they can "make it" in America.  Workers are now made to feel lucky if they even have a job.  And they are being made to feel that they no longer have any right to hope for or expect health benefits, worker safety or retirement plans. And they are being made to turn against their fellow workers who have been able to collectively bargain for lucrative wage and benefit packages.

The new normal, as defined by the corporate powers-that-be, is for American workers to be re-shackeled and satisfied with barely making a living wage, while corporate profits rise unfettered, unregulated and un-shared.  The American Dream has been turned on its head.

What the workers of this country need is to strengthen the institutions that fight for their rights and procure their prosperity - enlightened government and labor unions.  They need to understand and support governmental programs that use our tax dollars wisely to strengthen the economy for all of us with innovations in education, infrastructure, research and medical care.  And they need to support the right of all workers to organize into unions and negotiate for their own interests.

The corporations have never, and will never, put the best interests of the working class ahead of their shareholders.  They now have almost all the power - with control of manufacturing, distribution and marketing of most goods and services, outside of the United States.  And, by the power of their money and influence in the U.S., they have a grip on political discourse and public debate with a cabal of bought politicians and media propogandists.  Their remaining impediments to unbridled profiteering and exploitation are organized labor, an informed citizenry and regulatory government.

So, when your neighbor makes a home improvement or gets a raise, don't begrudge him his prosperity, ask who exactly is preventing you from prospering.  Don't buy the lies.  It isn't the government or the labor unions, my friend, it is the corporations and those that do their bidding.  You have rights that are slowly and surrepticiously being taken away.  Take up the fight to restore them.

 

 

 

THE UNFETTERED RICH

Starving the government and its citizens is just fine with the Republicans.

The only thing that Republicans want the federal government to do is protect the nation.  So, they have always been and will always be for expanding defense spending.  War is good for big business.   The United States is the world’s largest arms merchant.    And the Bush administration started two wars - in Iraq and Afghanistan - and borrowed every penney to pay for them - causing a crippling national deficit.  All of that was just fine with the Republicans.

During the last Bush administration, George W. got passed a massive tax cut that mostly benefited the richest people in the country.  Billions of dollars that were needed to run government programs were no longer available from tax revenue.  So, more money was borrowed to keep the government running, growing the deficit even more, while the wealthy kept their money and paid disproportionally lower taxes than the less fortunate.  All of this was just fine with the Republicans.  They got their money back.

 

Before the Bush administration left office, they created a financial meltdown of supposed catastrophic proportions.  They said if they didn’t give billions to the banking industry, our economy would collapse.  And so they did, raiding the Treasury of its last money.  Bush turned a Clinton administration record surplus in 2000 to a record deficit in 2008.  All that was just fine with the Republicans.  They got their money back.

When Obama came into office, wealthy Republicans were sitting pretty - low taxes, giant reserves of money practically scot-free from taxpayers to cover their greedy folly, a robust defense industry and loosened federal regulations across the board from Reagan, Bush and Bush.

Never mind that most Americans were in financial crisis, losing their jobs, homes, savings, education, skills and self-respect.  The rich was getting richer, and the poor, poorer.  As billionaire Warren Buffett is quoted as saying, "There's class warfare, but it's my class, the rich class, that's making war, and we're winning."

 

Now, for them, it is time to kill off the beast, i.e, the federal government.  They have been demonizing “big government” for two years.  Their dishonest mantra now is “cutting the spending of an out-of-control, over-reaching government.”  Even though, it was they who caused an unconscionable national debt.

But, the real "enemies of the people" are the manipulative rich (corporate America, the Koch brothers, etc.), their political henchmen (Boehner, McConnell, etc.), their propagandists (Rove, Luntz, etc.) and their media mouthpieces (Fox News, Hannity, Beck, O'Reilly, etc.).

 

(Eric Cantor, John Boehner)

So, now that they have control of the House of Representatives, and control of the message to “rein in government”, they will try to kill the health insurance reforms put in place by the previous Democratic-controlled Congress, eliminating consumer protections long needed and long overdue.  Nothing to worry for them, because they can afford private health insurance and private doctors.

They will try and kill the financial reforms put in place by the Obama administration that protect ordinary voters of modest means.  They want the banks they own and the money funds they control to be run unfettered, making as much money as possible for Republican investors by any means necessary.  Too bad if the working class lose their pensions, savings or homes.  The Republicans don't care about workers or consumers, only shareholders.

They will try to replace public education, in the name of efficiency, with a private voucher system.  Nothing to worry for them, because they send their kids to private school and will be able to keep the money they used to send to educate the poor kids for themselves.

They will try and weaken or destroy the Environment Protection Agency and end environmental regulations saying those regulations meant to protect us all from dangerous pollutants are too costly for business.  They value their greed over our health.  Again, not their worry.  They have access to excellent preventative health care.

They will try to destroy Social Security, again favoring a privatization that would allow them to keep their contributions and put them into personal investment funds.  Nothing to worry for them, because they have brokers and advisers and fund managers who can grow and protect their money.  The poorer citizens, alas, will have to fend for themselves in a gamblers’ market that is neither familiar or friendly to those of modest means.

Lastly, they will try and extend tax cuts to the wealthy, even though the government desperatley needs those tax revenues.

 

(The Walton Family:  Jim, Rob, Alice, Christy)

The Republicans own the corporations who now own us.  So, they will accelerate their efforts to replace American workers with cheaper foreign labor.  They will amplify dishonest messages meant to manipulate public opinion in order to achieve their greedy aims with the unbridled contributions of secret rich donors.  They will buy more politicians with obscene, and again, secret campaign contributions.  They will form more powerful cabals to control the economies of the world.

When the Republicans say they are concerned about the future of their children, they are being literal.  They are only concerned about their own children.  The rest be damned.

The Republicans will be happy when none of their money is spent for retirement protection, health care, education, pollution control, workplace justice or job benefits for the working class or the poor.  They believe, not in government responsibility for the well-being of its citizenry, but, rather, the charity of the rich.  They want to see all government-sponsored social safety nets eliminated.  They believe helping those struggling to survive is the work of churches and charities.  Of course, they do get to write off their charitable contributions from their taxes.

Make no mistake.   Republicans are for the rich and the rich only.  When they talk about growing the economy, supporting businesses, making a solid financial foundation for our children, they are talking about themselves.  Again, workers, and those in fundamental financial need be damned.

The last entity standing in the way of them running their businesses unfettered by regulation, oversight, responsibility, fairness or common goodness, is the federal government.  They will not rest until they kill it off.

If that happens, each citizen of this country will have lost his/her freedom, as our lives will be controlled by corporations and those corporations will be protected, as Eisenhower warned, by an all-powerful military-industrial complex of, by and for the wealthy.  And the Koch's and Walton's of the world will finally be the ultimate rulers.

 

(Charles Koch)

JUST PLAIN STUPID

The sign on the bus said, “What will you do when this circuit learns your job?”  Someone scribbled in response, “brake the circuit.”  When I saw that illiterate and violent reaction, in 1962, as a high school student, I realized that violence comes from ignorance and that free-thinking people need to be worried about the actions of the ignorant.

I see this again today in America.  Too many citizens, who are uneducated, or undereducated, are full of ignorance and fear.  They are being kept in their place by the circuits of privilege and wealth who are out to break them.  They have been rendered illiterate and fearful by the rich and powerful.  The problem is, these voters are now “just too plain stupid” to understand these simple facts.

Today, economic power and political might rest in the hands of corporations.  Global industries are controlling the accumulation and preservation of wealth around the world.  Too many of their principal owners are unprincipled arbiters of world policy.  The very rich are very few and very powerful.  We are not really ruled by governments anymore, but, rather, controlled by the greedy dictators of the banking, energy, insurance, defense and pharmaceutical industries.

In order to continue their plunder of world treasure, these companies need to shed government regulation, eliminate worker benefits, skirt environmental protections, dismiss the sick and the elderly, exploit cheap labor and manipulate public debate.

They do this through the political and propagandist maneuverings of a cabal who will do their bidding.  Here, in America, that cabal would be the Republican Party, FOX News and conservative radio talk show hosts.  Their job is to obfuscate and keep the masses misinformed and fearful, keeping their eyes averted, while the corporations profit from the accumulation of the world’s resources.

In pursuit of that goal, the cabal gets the “just plain stupid” to look the wrong way.  They get them up in arms against “ground zero mosques”, “death panels”, terrorism, gun control, school prayer, illegal immigration, gay marriage and the like.  They make the misinformed think that they will lose their guns, their neighborhoods, their livelihoods, their liberties, their "way of life."  Of course, these are all canards, meant to distract, while those in control raid treasuries, reduce their own taxes and operate with abandon to increase their influence and wealth.

To keep the spotlight off their own shenanigans, the corporations and their puppets want the “just plain stupid” to think that government is their enemy, particularly a progressive federal government.

But, in fact, it is the corporations who are foreclosing on people’s homes, sending jobs overseas, raising health care costs.  Corporations have taken away worker benefits, fouled the atsmosphere, bankrupted pension funds and are now trying to end Social Security benefits.  The same companies and their political hatchet men are trying to end public education in favor of a so-called voucher system, which will, of course, benefit the rich at the expense of the poor, keeping the underclass undereducated.

Their greedy pursuit of more money at the expense of common workers and national economies has been relentless.  Their elimination of pensions and benefits has been planned.  Their reduction of the living wage for American workers in exchange for exploitation of cheap foreign labor has been purposeful.  Their abandonment of the sick and elderly has been cynical.  Their dishonest “dumbing down of America” has been incrementally successful and fruitful.

At the moment, they are working forcefully and diligently to all but eliminate taxes on the wealthy.  They say if the rich have to pay more taxes, they won’t invest in the economy.  They say small businesses will suffer and go broke.  They say more money in the pockets of the rich will trickle down and mean better lives for the middle class and the poor.  These are all lies, pure and simple.  When they are repeated loudly and often, they take on the ring of truth.  But, lies are still lies, no matter how loudly and repeatedly professed.

When the Republicans talk about “getting the government out of our lives”, they don’t mean the lives of the common person.  That's just a scare tactic making voters think that the big, bad, federal government is trying to control their health care decisions, personal relationships, ways of worship.  Again, all canards.  What the Republicans mean to protect from government control are their corporate benefactors.  They mean to set those companies free to exploit with no oversight or consequence.

But, it is government that protects the citizenry.   With no federal watchdogs, corporations will no longer be held responsible for paying decent wages, giving benefits to their workers, making safe products, protecting the environment, paying their fair share of taxes or taking responsibility for their actions.

It is a free and vibrant press, in turn, that keeps everyone honest.  So, attacking and destroying the credibility of journalism is another goal of the rich and powerful.  If they can make everyone question the veracity of legitimate news reports, then the atmosphere for their deception is rife.  Lies again become the truth, and the lives of the liars are enriched.

All of this should be painfully obvious to anyone with a decent intellect and a working knowledge of current events.

But, alas, more and more of the “just plain stupid” are believing misinformation, distortion and deception intentionally meant to manipulate them, frighten them and move them to angry outrage against gays, immigrants, Muslims, elites, progressives, government, intellectuals, media, whatever - all red herrings.

In short, the true enemies of the common man, the corporations and their cabals, have turned the ignorant masses against their natural benefactors - progressive governments and a free press.

So, how do we get the “just plain stupid” to understand that they have been snowed?  How do we get them to understand who is really on their side?  How do we get them to understand that they are being intentionally manipulated?  How do we “break the circuit” of deceit?  What should we do?

I guess we need to keep repeating, as convincingly as possible, the truths that should be self-evident.  And we need to reform and repair those public institutions that have been damaged or broken.  I suggest that these are things that should be done:

JOURNALISM:  A lie should be called out whenever and wherever it tries to destroy the truth.  Distortions should be countered with facts.  Journalists should reclaim their mantle of credibility and never allow a mis-truth to be spoken without challenge.

NEWS ORGANIZATIONS:  No company should be allowed to identify itself as a news organization if it contributes money or reportorial space in advocacy of any political party or cause.  All news and commentary should be separated, with all opinion clearly identified.

MEDIA COMPANIES:  No media company should be allowed to own the collection, creation and dissemination of information.  Each should be separate to prevent a monopoly on that information.

INTERNET:  The Internet should remain unregulated, un-owned, free and open for anyone and everyone to use as they see fit.  And, as a self-policing check and balance, everyone getting information off the Internet should fact check it before endorsing or disseminating it.

REGULATION:  No corporation should be allowed to endanger the population in any way.  Regulating the energy, financial, industrial, pharmaceutical, defense, insurance, medical industries is a must.

STOCK MARKET:  The buying and selling of financial instruments should be regulated, so as not to gamble away the capital wealth of honest investors and unwitting shareholders.

CORPORATE TAXES:  Corporate giants should not enjoy the benefits of unfair tax advantages while reaping obscene record profits.  The more they make, the more they should pay in taxes.

FAIR TAXES:  The tax codes should be rewritten so that everyone pays their fair share.    That is, very simply, again, the more you make, the more you pay.

JOBS:  Companies that operate on American soil should have an obligation to their communities.  There should be tax incentives for job creation here and tax penalties for sending jobs overseas.

LIVING WAGES:  Workers should be afforded a decent living.  Minimum wage requirements are, and should be, the purview of the government.  Labor unions should be encouraged to negotiate for better wages and benefits.

PENSIONS:  Workers who have given a lifetime of labor for the benefit of a company should, by law, be benefited in return by that same company.

HEALTH CARE:  Everyone should have the right to a healthy life.  Insurance companies should be prevented, by law, from purging their rolls of the sick and the elderly.  Doctors and hospitals should strive for lower medical costs.

ELDERLY CARE:  We should take good care of the senior members of our community.  Their health care costs should be lowered and subsidized with tax dollars.  And, Social Security, should continue to be funded by the government for this generation and all generations to come.

EDUCATION:  Public education needs to be funded by all tax payers instead of by property owners in a school district.  The current funding insures that rich neighborhoods turn out the well-educated and poor communities turn out the ill-educated.  We owe all our children an equal education.

MARRIAGE:  Anyone, anywhere, anytime should be able to profess their love for another and marry them.  Period.

IMMIGRATION:  We should be the most welcoming country on earth for immigrants.  Those who have come here illegally to benefit themselves and their families should be given an opportunity to present themselves and become resident workers or U.S. citizens.

GUNS:  Those who have hunting rifles or personal handguns should register them.  No one, outside law enforcement, should own an assault weapon.

TERRORISM:  We should stop treating terrorism as a war and, instead, use our law enforcement and intelligence community resources to identify, target and eliminate those we have proven intend to do us harm.

WARS:  No war should be waged without a declaration of  The Senate of the United States, as defined in The Constitution.  The unlawful wars being waged in Iraq and Afghanistan, meant to change Islamic & Arab cultures, garner oil resources and support the energy and defense industries, are misguided and unsustainable.  We should bring our troops home promptly.

VETERANS:  All veterans, by law, should have their service honored with full education and health care for life, paid for with tax revenues.

RELIGION:  Everyone should be free to believe or disbelieve whatever religious philosophy they choose.  And, by law, no one should be allowed to prevent anyone else  from practicing their religion when and where they choose.  By the same token, by law, no one should be forced to endure the preachings of any religion in a government or public space.

BUDGET:  Our federal government should be prudent and efficient in its collection and spending of tax monies.  The Obama administration should develop a thoughtful and just plan to reduce the current deficit, irresponsibly created by the Bush administration, with the goal of returning to the budget surplus of the Clinton administration.

FEDERAL SPENDING:  Defense spending should be reduced, as it has always been larger than necessary.  Seed money for university research and development in the fields of energy and medicine should be greatly increased.  A plan to keep Social Security solvent ad infinitum should be developed and put in place.  Money for unemployment benefits should be earmarked and set aside.  Unjust tax breaks for the wealthy should be eliminated.  Tax incentives for businesses to create new jobs and industries in the United States should be written into law.  Federal money should be earmarked to help states repair and improve the nation's electrical and transportation infrastructure.

ELECTIONS:  Congress should pass a law over-ruling the Supreme Court’s decision to allow corporations unlimited spending on political messaging.  No person or entity, by exercising their First Amendment rights, should be able to use the might of financial power to wield undue, monopolistic influence over political discourse and, thus, election results.

All in all, we need to call out the lies and defend the truth.  No one in America should make important voting decisions based on information intentionally meant to deceive and manipulate.  That would be "just plain stupid."

THE OILY TRUTH

Sometimes there's just no fixing what went wrong.  Sometimes severe consequences cannot be avoided or mitigated.  That is becoming painfully clear in the Gulf of Mexico.

For over a month, untold gallons of crude oil have spewed from the ocean floor into the sea, the result of the failure of a fail-safe system.  Everyone assumes that the industries that have the technology to drill miles below sea level also have the technology to cap a leaking well.  It's not true.

We are lulled into that false belief by popular culture.  We watch TV dramas and movies where, with just the tappity-tap of a keyboard and exotic video screens and databases that can locate, identify, cross-reference and enhance, we can solve complex problems.  It just ain't so.

It is also becoming painfully obvious that the oil industry, the scientific community and the Obama administration all are in the dark about what to do and how to do it.  Yes, they are trying everything they know to do.  But, that's the point.  They don't really know what to do.  If they did, it would be done.

Technology went awry, as it always does.  The so-called safeguards failed.  And now, we and the planet suffer the inevitable disaster.  Also inevitable will be the blame game, and there is enough of that to go around.

But, in the end, the oily truth is, technology can not save itself from itself.  The lesson is that corporate greed usually prevails and government regulation and intervention usually fail.  A technological disaster can and will happen again.

AN OPEN WOUND

There should be no doubt that corporate greed and malfeasance are toxic to our world and our lives. British Petroleum needs to be held fully accountable. And corporations around the globe need to be strictly regulated by their governments.

A BRAVE, HISTORIC VOTE

Thank you Democrats for having the conscience, courage and commitment to rise against a political barrage of deceit and greed to do what is right. Shame on you Republicans for marching in obstructive, dishonest lock step against universal health care to protect and enrich your insurance company sponsors.

BIG BUCKS FOR EARLY DEATHS

Good Lord.  Does anyone think that Wall Street has learned its lesson about risky, esoteric financial instruments?  Well, they haven't.  The investment industry is about greed, and nothing but greed.  The New York Times reports today that investment banks are looking to buy life insurance policies that the ill and elderly sell for cash.  They will then package thousands together into bonds and resell those to investors, who will receive payouts when the insured people die.  And here's the precious part:  The earlier the policyholder dies, the bigger the return.  So, Wall Street is hoping to make big bucks on early deaths.  Boy, do we need strong government regulation of the financial industry.

UNHEALTHY LIES

Congressional Republicans and health insurance lobbyists are lying to the American people - knowingly and cynically - to protect their greedy entrenched interests by killing health care reform.  That's the truth, pure and simple.

"The recent attacks by Republican leaders and their ideological fellow-travelers on the effort to reform the health-care system have been so misleading, so disingenuous, that they could only spring from a cynical effort to gain partisan political advantage. By poisoning the political well, they've given up any pretense of being the loyal opposition. They've become political terrorists, willing to say or do anything to prevent the country from reaching a consensus on one of its most serious domestic problems."

- Steven Pearlstein, The Washington Post

SICK TALK ON HEALTH CARE

The chief disinformation operative of the Republican party is leading a propaganda campaign against national health care reform.  He is Frank Luntz. 

He has crafted a 28-page talking points memo for Conservatives, called "The Language of Health Care 2009," to trumpet the dishonest accusation of a "Washington takeover of healthcare."  It is cynical, distorted, fear mongering self-interest at its worst.

Luntz advises opponents of universal health care to make the debate about "politicians," "bureaucrats," and "Washington," and to highlight "horror stories" about "government takeover."  He tells them to play on the fear the public has of "denied treatment."

Luntz writes, "The best approach is to empathize with the fear, anxiety and financial pain people are clearly feeling right now. So instead of dismissing their concerns, acknowledge them – up front – and then pivot to your solution. Some conservatives will undoubtedly find this distasteful. But failure to connect on a personal level at the beginning will lead to communication failure at the end."

Later he writes, "It is essential that “deny” and “denial” enter the conservative lexicon immediately because it is at the core of what scares Americans most about a government takeover of healthcare. Then add to it the source of that denial and you have the perfect anti-government, anti-Washington and anti-Democratic message."

So, you will hear this mantra repeated from Republican after Republican:

“No Washington bureaucrat or healthcare lobbyist should stand between your family and your doctor. The Democrats want to put Washington politicians in charge of YOUR healthcare. We can and must do better. Say no to a Washington takeover of healthcare and say yes to personalized patient-centered care.”

Of course, "personalized patient-centered care" is code for health insurance company control. That is the powerful industry Luntz and his cohorts are trying to protect.

Luntz and his associates are the premier manipulators of language for selfish, partisan ends.

Read one of his mission statements from their web site (emphasis is mine): 

Luntz, Maslansky Strategic Research

"Our focus is on language. We believe that every word you use matters.  Luntz, Maslansky is known across the nation for how we reframe issues.  From changing the “estate tax” to the “death tax,” “tax cuts” to “tax relief,” “global warming” to “climate change” – time after time we have succeeded in changing the course of the debate.  By focusing on how to communicate your message, Luntz, Maslansky helps you reframe the issue using your side’s words and messages.  Our unique research methodology allows us to precisely gauge public opinion and develop the most effective approach and language to take control of the issue.  We know how to change hearts and minds and motivate people to act."

from Luntz, Maslansky Strategic Research website

Their goal is to help "virtually every major industry" to distort their message and mask their true agenda.  Another quote from their web site:

"In the political arena, our CEO, Dr. Frank Luntz, is known for helping change the public vocabulary – he transformed the "estate tax" into the "the death tax," moved the public debate from "school vouchers" to "opportunity scholarships," and re-cast "drilling for oil" as "exploring for energy."  ...  In the corporate arena, Luntz, Maslansky currently works for clients in virtually every major industry: pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, energy, health care, transportation, sports, entertainment, travel and tourism, shopping centers, grocery stores, restaurants, food, and beverages."

If Frank Luntz is involved in a public campaign, you may assume the goal is to "pull the wool over your eyes."

And, so then, is his mission in the health care debate.

Photo Credit:  Frederick M. Brown / Getty Images

BING IS THE BORG

Once again, Microsoft is showing itself to be the arrogant, power-hungry evil empire it has always been.  Their ad for their "new" search engine Bing (formerly Live Search), in customary form, takes over the web page it occupies, forcing its message on the unsuspecting user.  Today, when I went to The New York Times, the Washington Post, Huffington Post and MSNBC, there was the ad, popping up and taking over half my screen with its obnoxious braggadocio.  Unlike Apple's user-friendly ads that play silently, in the same ad spaces as the Bing intrusion, and only open when you click them.  But, Microsoft cannot help but act like the Borg, trying to take over and dominate every technology.  Their slogan is "From now on, Bing and decide."  I've decided.  No Bing.  No Borg.  No Microsoft.

WORKERS STIFFED

Let there be no doubt that the modern Republican Party has never been a friend to workers.  Their interests lay with management.  Businesses that they are beholding to have done all they can to keep wages and benefits low.  Now, they are trying to scuttle the commitments they have made to pensioners.

The Big Three auto companies, in particular, are whining that they need relief from their 'legacy costs', contractual obligations for the long term well-being of their longtime labor force.  They're trying to poor-mouth their way out of financial contracts with their retired workforce.

In an article on the USA website today by DeWayne Wickham, he says a memo reveals the real motive behind Senate Republicans' opposition to the bailout of Detroit.  An unsigned 'Action Alert' says: "Republicans should stand firm and take their first shot against organized labor, instead of taking their first blow from it."

In the same edition a reader's letter to the editor notes that three of the senators opposing the bailout are from Southern states that are host to foreign automaker plants, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama, where workers have lower wages and fewer benefits than their counterparts at the Big-Three.

So, the message from the GOP continues to be clear - they are for higher profits for management, bigger dividends for stockholders and lower wages and benefits for workers.

LINCOLNIAN TRUTHS

Wise and relevant quotes from Abraham Lincoln, pertinent to the failings of today's journalism, the belligerence of the Bush administration, the greed of corporate America, the dangers of misgovernment and the cynicism of politics:

"I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts."

"Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed."

"I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to  tremble for the safety of my country; corporations have been enthroned, an era of corruption in High Places will follow, and the Money Power of the Country will  endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the People, until  the wealth is aggregated in a few hands, and the Republic is destroyed."

"Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration."

"These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert, to fleece the people."

"Allow the president to invade a neighboring nation, whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow him to do so whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such a purpose - and you allow him to make war at pleasure."

"Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?"

"The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew. We must disentrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country."

"What is conservatism? Is it not adherence to the old and tried, against the new and untried?"

"Let reverence for the laws, be breathed by every American mother, to the lisping babe, that prattles on her lap -- let it be taught in schools, in seminaries,  and in colleges; let it be written in Primers, spelling books, and in Almanacs;  -- let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls, and  enforced in courts of justice. And, in short, let it become the political religion of the nation; and let the old and the young, the rich and the poor, the grave  and the gay, of all sexes and tongues, and colors and conditions, sacrifice unceasingly upon its altars."

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

Photo Credit:  Matthew Brady

MAN WITH A PLAN

Barack Obama has outlined core principles for the legislation being considered to address the current economic crisis (see below), which he urges Senator McCain to support.  They seem pretty sound.  And you can read the highlights of his overall economic plan on his website.

'I believe that several core principles should guide this legislation.

First, there must be oversight. We should not hand over a blank check to the discretion of one man. We support an independent, bipartisan board to ensure accountability and complete transparency.

Second, we need to protect taxpayers. There should be a path for taxpayers to recover their money, and to turn a profit if Wall Street prospers.

Third, no Wall Street executive should profit from taxpayer dollars. This plan cannot be a welfare program for CEOs whose greed and irresponsibility has contributed to this crisis.

Fourth, we must help families who are struggling to stay in their homes. We cannot bail out Wall Street without helping millions of families facing foreclosure on Main Street.

Fifth, we both agree that this financial rescue package should move on its own without any earmarks or other measures.

We have different views about the need for other action, but this must be a clean bill.

This is a time to rise above politics for the good of the country. We cannot risk an economic catastrophe. This is not a Democratic problem or a Republican problem – this is an American problem. Now, we must find an American solution.'

- Barack Obama

JOHNNIES-COME-LATELY

I'll admit that I have limited understanding of how money markets work.  To me, the stock market has always been akin to a gambling casino.  I do, however, understand the powerful motivation of greed and the cost of unregulated money grabbing.

So, here we are, the poor taxpaying citizens of this rich country, being forced to pay off the bad debts of the money managers - outrageous bills run up by poor judgments, fiscal incompetence, unregulated speculation, dishonest loan sharking and unbridled profiteering.

I've been away from the news for the past few weeks, so I have a lot of reading and studying and listening to do as this administration pushes Congress to take quick and dirty action now.

Seems to me they all need to take a deep breath and take pause.  I applaud anyone who is counseling caution and careful deliberation before enacting panicky legislation.

Tonight, George W. Buffoon went on the airwaves to sell his drastic recovery plan to the American people, and more importantly, those in Congress who are worried about sending our economy over the precipice.

This president, the most incompetent of my lifetime, looked and sounded like a frightened little boy who finally realized that he is in way over his head and is scared to death about what might happen, now that he has totally screwed up.

Meanwhile, as everyone involved from both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue have been meeting for days, conducting hearings and clearly doing the best they can to come together to forge a bipartisan solution, Johnny-come-lately McSame makes a ridiculous announcement that he is suspending his campaigning (thus avoiding a Friday night debate appearance with Barack Obama) and is riding in to Washington to save the world from economic collapse.

The smart and right thing to do at a time like this, for both candidates, is to outline broad statements of principle about their economic philosophies for the future, and then to work together and in concert with the administration and our congressional lawmakers to come up with what is best for the country in this current crisis.

Instead, this buffoon thinks he is going to set us all straight and right the economic ship of state by his very presence in the nation's Capitol.  He forgets that he is part of the political party that got us in this trouble in the first place.  He's starting to believe his own bogus reformist revisionism.  He talks bipartisanship and then takes an obvious political gambit.  He is no leader and he needs to be cast aside.

I most definitely do not want McCain and Palin to be in charge in Washington.  It's time for these two bogus Western mavericks to get the hell out of Dodge.

While Obama has always had all his positions specifically outlined on his website, John McCain has been vague about what he would do in almost any situation.  You can, however, now read his speech about the economy from September 17th on his website.

Photo Credit: Brendan Smialowski & Todd Heisler/The New York Times

BAD PEOPLE

Missive Twelve
To My Darling Children

Here's the truth, my darling children.  The differences between Democrats and Republicans are the differences between right and wrong.

It's pretty simple, really.  Republicans want little or no government.  And so, they have always done all they can to starve it to death, with massive tax breaks for the wealthy and taxpayer-funded giveaways to big business.  They can't stand that the federal government has taken any of their money.  So, they want it back.

You see, they want to be able to make money without interference, with no governmental regulations or restrictions.  They don't want to answer to anyone, particularly Washington, as they build their wealth.

In order for them to grow that wealth, they need to keep wages low and benefits meager.

The bottom line is that the bottom line is all that matters to them.  It's their money, and they will decide how they get it, how they keep it, and how they'll use it.

They are on a crusade to stop funding any and all social safety nets, like Social Security and Medicaid.  They are on a mission to bring an end to worker pension funds.

They don't care if American workers lose their livelihoods and, in some cases, their lives, as they send jobs overseas for a pittance.

The only thing that gets their unbridled funding is an all-powerful military-industrial complex.  That's so they can wield their muscle around the world, maintain their hold on power and protect their monied, corporate interests.

If you were privileged enough, or clever enough, or lucky enough, or educated enough, or connected enough or unscrupulous enough to become wealthy, then you are in their club.  And club members look out for one another.

If you were underprivileged, uneducated, poverty-stricken, discriminated against, born into a cycle of despair or just plain unlucky, then you are really not their problem.  You are on your own.  They feel they owe you nothing, except charity.

Forget that institutional racism, sexism and classism have always been alive and well in this country.  Forget that hard-working people across this nation struggle with low-paying jobs, inadequate education, dangerous working conditions, no health care, crippling debt, diminishing opportunities, mortgage foreclosures and no savings for the future.

Republicans accept those poor souls as the price of doing business.  Let the churches feed and cloth those ne'er-do-wells with hand-me-down Republican threads.

But, do NOT tax the Republicans to provide a working government with laws to protect a decent minimum wage, universal health coverage, earned retirement, a safe and sustainable environment, worker rights and safety, an equal public education system, discrimination-free housing or a fair justice system. 

Those are the right things that Democrats work to build and maintain.

I no longer accept the argument that both Republicans and Democrats are good people, just with differing policies on how to tackle the problems of the world.  Bullshit.  Republicans who are out for themselves and who are complicit in allowing the less fortunate to fend for themselves are bad people - period.

The 40 most party-loyal House Republicans, according to the Washington Post.

OBSCENE OIL PROFITS

Record profits continue to roll in for Big Oil:

Exxon Breaks Profits Record, but Shares Fall

'Buoyed by soaring oil prices, Exxon Mobil Corp. reported $11.7 billion in second-quarter profits, breaking its own record for the highest quarterly earnings in U.S. corporate history.

The 14 percent increase in profits from the second quarter of 2007 was almost entirely due to sharply higher net income from oil and gas production. High crude oil prices more than offset a steep drop in earnings at the company's refining and marketing businesses, as well as an 8 percent drop in the company's oil and gas production volume.

Revenues surged to $138 billion, up 40 percent from a year earlier. Exxon's earnings were widely expected and reflect industry trends.

Earlier, Royal Dutch Shell reported a 33 percent increase in profits. On Tuesday, BP reported a 28 percent increase from the second quarter of 2007, and last week ConocoPhillips said net income rose 13 percent. ...

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama seized on the Exxon announcement to poke at his GOP rival, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

"Perhaps the only thing more outrageous than Exxon Mobil making record profits while Americans are paying record prices at the pump is the fact that Senator McCain has proposed giving them an additional $1.2 billion tax break," Sen. Obama (Ill.) said. "Instead of an energy policy that reads like an oil company wish list, it's time to create a new American energy economy by investing in alternative energy, creating millions of new jobs, increasing fuel efficiency standards and ending the tyranny of oil once and for all."

Steven Mufson, Washington Post, July 31, 2008

OIL MEN BUSH & CHENEY

They've started a war, raided the treasury, eviscerated environmental protections, given huge tax cuts to their wealthy sponsors and lied to the public - all for their corporate benefactors.  But, thankfully, time is running out for the Bush/Cheney cabal.

Cheney's Office Sought to Change Climate Testimony

'Seeking to play down the effects of global warming, Vice President Dick Cheney's office pushed to delete from congressional testimony references about the consequences of climate change on public health, a former senior EPA official claimed Tuesday.

The official, Jason K. Burnett, said the White House was concerned that the proposed testimony last October by the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention might make it tougher to avoid regulating greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere.

Burnett's assertion, which he made in a July 6 letter to Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, conflicts with the White House explanation at the time that the deletions reflected concerns by the White House Office of Science and Technology over the accuracy of the science.

Burnett, until last month a senior adviser on climate change at the Environmental Protection Agency, wrote that Cheney's office was deeply involved in getting nearly half of the CDC's original draft testimony removed.'

Associated Press, July 8, 2008

MOYERS ON BIG OIL & IRAQ

As always, you can count on Bill Moyers to see through the lies and report on the underlying motives of the powers that be.  Watch and/or read his essay on Big Oil and Iraq.

Excerpts from Bill Moyers Journal

'Oh no, they told us, Iraq isn't a war about oil. That's cynical and simplistic, they said. It's about terror and al Qaeda and toppling a dictator and spreading democracy and protecting ourselves from weapons of mass destruction. But one by one, these concocted rationales went up in smoke, fire, and ashes. And now the bottom turns out to be the bottom line. It is about oil. ...

Take a look at this headline the other day in The New York Times: "deals with Iraq are set to bring oil giants back." Read on: "Four western oil companies are in the final stages of negotiations this month on contracts that will return them to Iraq, 36 years after losing their oil concession to nationalization as Saddam Hussein rose to power. ...

There you have it. After a long exile Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total and BP are back in Iraq. And on the wings of no-bid contracts - that's right, sweetheart deals like those granted Halliburton, KBR, Blackwater. The kind of deals you get only if you have friends in high places. And these war profiteers have friends in very high places.'

Bill Moyers, Bill Moyers Journal, June 27, 2008

ALWAYS TEN YEARS AWAY

I've noticed that throughout my lifetime, every time there is a regulation or initiative to improve something for the benefit of the environment - auto emissions, carbon reductions, water purity, fuel efficiency, etc. - the goal for completion is always set at a decade out.  Seems, no one is ever willing or able to curtail the offending practice now, or soon.  Of course, the planet doesn't wait.  Some scientists are speculating that the North Pole will lose its ice for the first time in human history- this year.

Exclusive: No ice at the North Pole

'It seems unthinkable, but for the first time in human history, ice is on course to disappear entirely from the North Pole this year... Seasoned polar scientists believe the chances of a totally ice-free North Pole this summer are greater than 50:50 because the normally thick ice formed over many years at the Pole has been blown away and replaced by huge swathes of thinner ice formed over a single year.  This one-year ice is highly vulnerable to melting during the summer months and satellite data coming in over recent weeks shows that the rate of melting is faster than last year, when there was an all-time record loss of summer sea ice at the Arctic.'

Steve Connor, The Independent, June 27, 2008

One has to wonder, when hearing promises to do something about global environmental problems in ten years, whether there is really any desire to do anything at all.

Of course, the Bush administration is all about giving the oil companies free rein to drill every last drop of oil before there is any substantive progress in moving to alternative fuels.  In his 2007 State of the Union address, he outlined his 'Twenty in Ten' initiative.  The goals are to delay any real progress in cleaner, cheaper energy sources.

Excerpts:  State of the Union 2007

'It's in our vital interest to diversify America's energy supply -- the way forward is through technology. We must continue changing the way America generates electric power, by even greater use of clean coal technology, solar and wind energy, and clean, safe nuclear power. (Applause.)

We need to press on with battery research for plug-in and hybrid vehicles, and expand the use of clean diesel vehicles and biodiesel fuel. (Applause.) We must continue investing in new methods of producing ethanol -- (applause) -- using everything from wood chips to grasses, to agricultural wastes.  We made a lot of progress, thanks to good policies here in Washington and the strong response of the market. And now even more dramatic advances are within reach.

Tonight, I ask Congress to join me in pursuing a great goal. Let us build on the work we've done and reduce gasoline usage in the United States by 20 percent in the next 10 years.(Applause.) When we do that we will have cut our total imports by the equivalent of three-quarters of all the oil we now import from the Middle East.

To reach this goal, we must increase the supply of alternative fuels, by setting a mandatory fuels standard to require 35 billion gallons of renewable and alternative fuels in 2017 -- and that is nearly five times the current target. (Applause.)

At the same time, we need to reform and modernize fuel economy standards for cars the way we did for light trucks -- and conserve up to 8.5 billion more gallons of gasoline by 2017.  Achieving these ambitious goals will dramatically reduce our dependence on foreign oil, but it's not going to eliminate it.

And so as we continue to diversify our fuel supply, we must step up domestic oil production in environmentally sensitive ways. (Applause.) And to further protect America against severe disruptions to our oil supply, I ask Congress to double the current capacity of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. (Applause.)'

President George W. Bush, January 23, 2007

In related news, The Sun reports that Mercedes-Benz plans to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2015.  Again, with the delayed timetable.  But, still, good news for the environment, and bad news for the oil companies.

Merc Plan Fuel Seven Year Ditch

'Mercedes are aiming to end the need for filling your fuel tank with petrol or diesel within just seven years. The German firm are determined to make their model range run on alternative fuels - to improve costs, become more eco-friendly and because the oil supply will eventually run out ... This includes making current engines even cleaner and more fuel-efficient while increasing the amount of hybrids, emission-free electric cars and clean-fuel gas engines and the further development of battery and hydrogen-powered vehicles.'

Phil Lanning, The Sun, June 20, 2008

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE OIL

This article in today's New York Times speaks for itself.  Iraq was all about the oil.

Deals With Iraq Are Set to Bring Oil Giants Back

'Four Western oil companies are in the final stages of negotiations this month on contracts that will return them to Iraq, 36 years after losing their oil concession to nationalization as Saddam Hussein rose to power.

Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total and BP — the original partners in the Iraq Petroleum Company — along with Chevron and a number of smaller oil companies, are in talks with Iraq’s Oil Ministry for no-bid contracts to service Iraq’s largest fields, according to ministry officials, oil company officials and an American diplomat.

The deals, expected to be announced on June 30, will lay the foundation for the first commercial work for the major companies in Iraq since the American invasion, and open a new and potentially lucrative country for their operations.

The no-bid contracts are unusual for the industry, and the offers prevailed over others by more than 40 companies, including companies in Russia, China and India. The contracts, which would run for one to two years and are relatively small by industry standards, would nonetheless give the companies an advantage in bidding on future contracts in a country that many experts consider to be the best hope for a large-scale increase in oil production.

There was suspicion among many in the Arab world and among parts of the American public that the United States had gone to war in Iraq precisely to secure the oil wealth these contracts seek to extract. The Bush administration has said that the war was necessary to combat terrorism. It is not clear what role the United States played in awarding the contracts; there are still American advisers to Iraq’s Oil Ministry.'

Andrew E. Kramer, New York Times, June 19, 2008