Sunday, March 29, 2009
Snatching a Bloodbath from the Jaws of Victory
You see, with a cynical sigh from the White House and more than a little help from the media, Congress has decided to throw the Employee Free Choice Act under the bus. "[T]he prospects for a landmark pro-union proposal looking increasingly shaky in Congress," writes The Washington Post.
"This is not the time or the place" for card check, said Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), who backed the bill in 2007. "To continue to attempt to bring up something that has already worked its way into being so divisive and distracting is unproductive."Unproductive indeed; especially when your main focus is saving your job by throwing those who brought you to the dance under the bus.
Los Angeles Times is also reporting the latest Dem travesty. Sen. Dianne Feinstein is asserting that she'll "seek alternative legislation that [is] less divisive." Because you see, there's nothing more devisive than fair pay for fair labor during a "flailing economy." Folks keep in mind that when Bush was in power, Feinstein safely sponsored this piece of legislation. But it's the economy, stupid; otherwise she'd vote for the bill for sure.
"This is an extraordinarily difficult economy, and feelings are very strong on both sides of the issue," Feinstein said in a statement. "I would hope there is some way to find common ground that would be agreeable to both business and
labor."
Guess we need to remind the gentle ladies from Arkansas and California how well the strategy of appeasement worked out for former Sens. Harris Wofford of Pennsylvania and Jim Sasser of Tennessee in '94. Funny how without the restrain of sure-to-come presidential vetoes, Dems will sacrifice an inconvenient stance and toss it aside as if it were a three-headed monster trying to hop on the cash bus and destroy their noble paths to public service. Besides, one can't take any chances with the corporate spigot.
Well, opportunities to enact the progressive agenda which Dems ran on and won back the House, Senate and presidency in '06 and '08 must not be squandered or There Will Be Blood. Card check legislation and health insurance reform top the progressive list of must-haves; they are nonnegotiable.
After all, centrist Dems, please do tell all those activists who busted their butts to elect you into a majority why they should patiently sit by the sidelines while you c
ut, slash and burn their progressive plans. Congress and Obama need to stop pussy-footing around and honor the rallying pledges of last summer and autumn. If not, expect a bloodbath in '10 -- as is right and just.
And blogger boyz, forget about Arlen Specter; he's a kamikaze pilot flying high above the bus. But maybe you could entice Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina to join your caravan; we hear he's in a little bit of a pickle, to mix-up metaphors.
Anyone remember '94 when Dems stupidly blocked health care reform because of egos and bullshit?? Perhaps we should disregard that crap about always looking forward. To borrow the pecuniary sentiment from DiFi, during these hard economic times, a little trip down memory lane, circa 1992, might actually be useful.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Jon Stewart Speaks and CNBC Cowers...
Jason Linkins of Huffy explains:
CNBC has been one of the White House's most fervent critics, what with all the "wealth destruction" and the support for "loser's mortgages" and Robert Gibbs' refusal to give Rick Santelli coffee.The horror, the horror!!! Except it sounds an awful lot like Newtie's hissy fit during the Clinton presidency about havin' to sit at the back of the bus. Petty and stupid.
But don't worry; it's all good; the tongue lashing worked.
Yep, sad to note but GOPers are not the only ones who cower before some Mighty Mouth with a megaphone. As you will see, even media overlords cower in fear and shame when necessary. And with Jon Stewart spewing his special kind of bile on the airwaves about CNBC, it was very, very necessary.[G]uess what you're hearing out of CNBC today? Total change in attitude! Erin Burnett and Jim Cramer made an appearance on the Today Show and brought everything but the pom-poms
Yes indeedy! A choicely moral in this darlin' mini story! Shill, shill, shill, all the while pretending to do so as serious, gold-plated journalists; or in Stewart's case, as a comic provocateur. Bwah-ha-ha-ha- HAH! Lots of fun and games, girls and boys.Burnett offered the heretofore -- considered radical opinion that people needed to be patient with the stimulus package! "One of the things that's finally happening," Cramer remarked, "is that assets are finally going up." YES! Inflated value! It's finally happening, for assets! It's a frabjous day for assets! Along the way, broad predictions that lending would be coming as early as springtime. And executive compensation? It needs reform! But let's not get too reformy.
"The President has become pro-shareholder," Cramer enthused.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Placido Domingo - Tosca - E lucevan le stelle
Glorious music; idea from one my favorite bloggers, Miss Uppity Woman.
Oh No! Precious Throws the Wrong Person Under the Bus
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Jon Stewart's Calculated Cheap Shot
Cohen writes:
"Jim Cramer...didn't cover up the story of financial shenanigans. [He] didn't even know it existed."
So, in spite of all the applause and acclamation by progressive bloggers because Stewart went ballastic on Cramer (who as far as anyone knows committed no thievery like oh, Bernie Madoff, for starters), the howler thinks people should be careful when cheering and clapping for a rufian; the next time, the saps under the bully's gun just might be them.For proof, I offer some names. Let's start with Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, who was instrumental in building what is now probably the world's most reviled corporation, AIG. He resigned as chairman and CEO in 2005, but still it is logical to assume that few people knew more about the company than Greenberg. He kept much of his net worth in AIG stock. He's now lost much of that worth.
Or take Richard Fuld. He is the former chairman of Lehman Brothers, which, as we all know, is no more. He lost about $1 billion.
Or take Citigroup's former chairman, Sanford Weill. He lost about $500 million.
In the same news cycle, Huffy as the voice of progressives weighed in on the matter; and as usual, she was dead wrong. Here's her insipid quote, thankfully without link to her blog.
"Jon Stewart's Jim Cramer interview was a pivotal moment -- not just for Stewart, Cramer, and CNBC but also for journalism. It was a bracing reminder of what great research and a journalist more committed to getting to the truth than to landing the big get -- and keeping the big get happy, and ensuring future big gets -- can accomplish."You see, Jim Cramer is as big a "get" as you can get. Even on its bestest day ever, CNBC is hard pressed to find 500,000 viewers. On the other hand, "Comedy Central" regularly rakes in 2 million viewers or more. Please do tell us, dear Arianna, who exactly is David and Goliath in this fight??
Jon Stewart really needs to get over himself. For gawdsake, it's not as if he were an actual scribe in the Edward R. Murrow tradition. Remember, he's not an actual journalist; he's only a comic -- as he likes to plea whenever held to account. But try telling that to poor Tucker Carlton. Ever since Stewart took Tucker Carlton down "in one fell swoop" a few years ago, Tucker has been relegated to blogging and spot appearances on television. In the meantime, Stewart's gotten more and more affected and enamored with his buzz and power.
Of course, there's a nasty little rumor that it wasn't until Cramer started blaspheming against The Chosen One that Stewart went into uncontrollable convulsions and started vomiting bile on the airwaves. All in jest for fun.
Here's a little truth to power. How about we pull a "Crossfire" on Stewart and ask him to waive his "shield of comedy" to answer the plaint that he's a partisan hack for Obama.
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Cry Me A River-- Unintended, Of Course
Boo Hoo Hoo, cry me a river and then pass the salt shaker. Obama can't find enough folks without ties to lobbyists to serve in his administration; and this is so tragic that a heresy has been put forth -- not just by the usual apostates at NoQuarterUSA and The Confluence. No siree; this time the blasphemy has come from Huffy and the Big Cheese.
First Huffy with no link; look it up, if you must:
"Barack Obama made no secret of his feelings for 'Washington lobbyists' during the campaign and vowed that they wouldn't be staffing his White House.
"The implementation of that rule, however, has led to a number of consequences that Obama could never have intended. Eliminating lobbyists from consideration drains the pool of progressive talent that the White House needs at a time when agencies and departments are severely understaffed. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, for instance, barely has any deputies as the economy continues to spiral out of control."
Nah, you think....?
David Waldman aka Krago X and a routine cheese grater at DailyKos also blasts a bit of impiety through the Internet ether by noting the obvious:
"Unintended consequences? I don't think so. It may not be accurate to say that this was the intended consequence, but after years and years of debates about lobbyists -- not to mention term limits, which involved a similar argument about accumulated experience -- who could possibly believe that this wasn't at least a known consequence of this policy?
"Lobbyists who for years have fought for workers' rights, environmental protection, human rights, pay-equity for women, consumer protection and other items on the Obama agenda have found the doors to the White House HR department slammed shut.
"Yeah, I think Hillary Clinton actually told us point blank about that."
Indeed she did; and she was routinely disparaged and denounced as a lobbyist's best friend; the embodiment of a ruined democracy whose principal aim was to screw everyone in America.
Well, surprise, surprise, surprise. Once again, Hillary proves she was right all along. So if there are no deputies at Treasury to help guide the crumbling economy which is getting worse and worse each day, sing along with Justin and cry us all a big frigging river. The day of reckoning is upon us.
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Prince William County Makes National News
You see, contrary to what folks of a certain political persuasion (i.e., RID -- Republicans In Denial) want everyone to believe this fall, GOP immigrant bashing in Prince William County directly ushered the huge real estate meltdown that was disproportionate to other areas in the region; and indeed, even national media has finally taken notice.
CBS writes:
Manassas...only 35 miles from DC and...served by regional rail...a commuter's haven [has] almost 3,000 houses currently on the market and at least 60 percent of them are foreclosures.
Nothing to see behind those foreclosure signs; move on.
Susan Jacobs is a real estate agent in Manassas County, Virginia with more than 20 years experience.
Most of the houses she's showing these days belong to banks - foreclosure properties on the market for bargain basement prices.
She shows a large house that she plans to put on the market for somewhere between $60,000 and $70,000.
The price of that same house a few years ago?
"In '05 or '06 this property could have sold for $300 [thousand]," Jacobs
says.
Now how is that quality of life working out, Scottie, Corey and Jackson, the howler's favoritest three amigos??
With the universal law of the third time being the charm, Jeanette Rishell has happily informed Howling Latina that she'll be doing duty again this year against Jackson Miller -- only this ti
me she's got names and data showing that a win is definitely in the cards.
