Gov. Rod Blagojevich...

   has been impeached by the Illinois House by an overwhelming vote on Friday.  The impeachment now sets Blagojevich up for a Senate trial to decide on whether he should be tossed out of office for abuse of power.

Impeachment required just 60 votes. The final result was 114-1.

Legislators accused the second-term Democratic governor of letting down the people of Illinois by letting ego and ambition drive his decisions.

"It's our duty to clean up the mess and stop the freak show that's become Illinois government," said Rep. Jack D. Franks, a Democrat.

  I will now say that Blagojevich's days are numbered in politics.

Technorati Tags: Governor,Rod Blagojevich,Illinois,Impeachment,Abuse of Power,Politics,Corruption

Republicans Fear A Successful Economic Stimulus Package...

   and their fear is rightly based. The last thing that Republicans want to see is Barack Obama and the Democrats succeed in getting the United States economy back on track. That would mean the end of the Republicans in the White House for some time. that would also include, if you and I are lucky, the House and the Senate.

    So, what do the Republicans do? Why, they resort to one of their tried and true tactics. Fear-mongering. You've head some of it already. We cannot afford $1 trillion or so to bring the economy back in line. Or one of their favorites, the new New Deal will not work. According to the GOP, President Roosevelt’s policies actually lengthened the Great Depression, not helped it.

   Here's why Republicans are in fear of a Democratic Party success.

However, from the standpoint of Republicans, the more ominous lesson of the New Deal policies is that it left the Democrats firmly in power for more than 20 years. The Republicans did not regain the White House until 1952, twenty years after President Roosevelt was first elected.
Imagine how terrifying the prospect of 20 years of Democratic presidencies must be to the current generation of Republican leaders. This would mean that they would not retake the White House until 2028, just twenty years before the Social Security trust fund is first projected to face a short fall.

For this reason, Republicans can be expected to adopt a strategy aimed at delaying and diluting the stimulus. We can expect their leaders to find every conceivable argument to slow down the spending that the economy desperately needs right now to prevent further job loss. While some of their concerns may be legitimate – we should all support efforts to restrain wasteful pork barrel spending and rein in corruption – these concerns should not be the basis for obstructing stimulus. The public should be careful to distinguish legitimate concerns from simple delaying tactics.
In short, we should realize that the main concern of some of those opposed to stimulus may not be that it will fail, but rather that it will succeed. Most of us don’t have the same set of concerns.

   Not having Republicans in power for 2 or 3 decades would be a bad thing? I think not.

Technorati Tags: Republicans,New Deal,Economy,Politics,Democrats,Social Security

Latest Gallup Pole:Majority of Americans Favor $775 Billion Economic Stimulus

      The Gallup Poll  was done January 6-7 and the question was:

  Do you favor or oppose Congress passing a new $775 billion economic stimulus program as soon as possible after Barack Obama takes office?

Favor ( 53% ), Oppose ( 36% ), No Opinion ( 11% )

   Republicans are, of course, against the plan.  34% favor it and 56% are opposed to the plan. Among Democrats:  67% favor, 19% oppose. How about the Independents? 54% favor, and 37% oppose.

Most likely, this tepid response from Republicans represents both a typical conservative reluctance to increase government spending by such a large amount, as well as a negative reaction to the fact that the plan is being pushed by the Democratic president-elect.

Still, given that 11% of Americans interviewed don't have an opinion on the issue of the stimulus package, the results show that the measure "passes" by a 17-point margin (53% to 36%) when those in favor are compared to those opposed.

  Let the games begin!

Technorati Tags: Polling,Polls,Gallup,Stimulus Bill,Barack Obama,Republicans,Democrats,Voters,Politics

Starbucks Facing More Union Busting Charges

   Back on December 27,2008, I reported that Starbucks was found guilty of extensive violations of federal labor law in its bid to counter the IWW Starbucks Workers Union.

  Well, now it seems that the firm is in hot water once again. Some corporations never learn, I guess.

Dollars&Sense

(Minneapolis) On the heels of a landmark decision finding Starbucks guilty of almost 30 labor violations in New York City, the IWW Starbucks Workers Union has slapped the embattled coffee giant with nearly 30 additional counts of illegal union-busting in Minneapolis/St. Paul. The union alleges that Starbucks broke federal law repeatedly by interrogating workers about union sympathies, instructing supervisors to spy on the union, and disciplining workers for participating in the union. Union baristas plan to illustrate their disgust by delivering an oversized six-month "Performance Review" of Starbucks to regional management at an 11am press conference at the Franklin and Nicollet store on Thursday.
Union barista Erik Forman said, "After the guilty verdict in New York City and settlements in the Twin Cities and Grand Rapids, we had hoped that Starbucks would have learned its lesson, but unfortunately, the company has chosen to continue the pattern of illegal union-busting they have established across the US. We will not stand for this, Starbucks must respect our right to organize."

Technorati Tags: Starbucks,Starbucks Workers Union,Unions,Workers Rights