Be INFORMED

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Mitch McConnell Wets His Panty’s Over Obama Executive Order

  Yes indeed! When one wants to do something that would actually be good for the American people and bad for the Republican’s American Taliban and their corporate masters, Senator McConnell is usually the first Taliban member to pitch a bitch about it.

   So,what is the “ executive order “ that Obama may issue that has Bitch McConnell so upset? DailyKos   diarist

Pluto has the details. 

I like this breaking story so much, I decided to Diary it. It's sort of "a tale of two commonwealths," in my opinion.

I think the headline may be misleading, but here's how it appears in the Washington Post:

McConnell slams executive order to allow White House to demand political records before awarding contracts

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Wednesday strongly criticized a proposed executive order that would require companies seeking federal contracts to disclose political contributions that would otherwise have been secret under current law, calling the move an “outrageous and anti-Democratic abuse of executive branch authority.”

Yeah. Right.

The Corporatist Republican Point of View:

Mitch McConnell claims that this Executive Order has nothing to do with transparency. He insists that it is a device for the Obama administration to block Republican donors from receiving lucrative government contracts.

He paints the scenario this way:

“Under the guise of ‘transparency,’ the Obama administration reportedly wants to know the political leanings of any company or small business, including those of their officers and directors, before the government decides if they’ll award them federal contracts.”

“Let me be clear: No White House should be able to review your political party affiliation before deciding if you’re worthy of a government contract,” McConnell added. “And no one should have to worry about whether their political support will determine their ability to get or keep a federal contract or keep their job.”

Today, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney confirmed that an Executive Order was, indeed, in the works.

Meanwhile, the Heritage Foundation acquired a draft copy and have started their spin about this "sinister" White House scheme. They note that: "The executive order would require any company bidding for a federal contract, including its directors and officers, to reveal any political contributions it has made over the past two years that amount to more than $5,000 annually."

First of all, citizen contributions are already a matter of public record. So are corporate lobbying contributions. There are no secrets there. So, what has the Republicans so alarmed? The stinger is that the EO includes language that is a significant "work around" to the corrupt Citizens United Supreme Court decision, which gives corporations the ability to anonymously bribe elected officials by passing money through a third party.

The Executive Order would bring transparency to corporate contributions made to outside groups who are currently allowed to make anonymous "gifts" to Senators and Congressmen.

Normally -- when there is a conflict of interest -- those Senators and Congressmen, who have accepted corporate bribes through third-parties, will vote for a specific corporation's interests and vote against the best interests of the people and the American commonwealth.

And, since this indirect bribery is anomyous -- the taxpayers will never have a paper trail to find out who paid how much to buy whose vote.

The Populist Democratic Point of View:

Jay Carney, when confronted with this epic political conspiracy theory, firmly dismissed the idea that there were partisan motivations behind this Executive Order -- which he says will be announced over the next few days. He did not elaborate on any details of the EO, but explained the motivation for its writing:

“President Obama believes very strongly that taxpayers deserve to know whether or not the contractors that their money is being used — how they’re spending their money, and how they’re spending [taxpayer contract money] in terms of political campaigns. And his goal is transparency and accountability. That’s the responsible thing to do when you’re handling taxpayer dollars.”

Did you get that?

(Thanks to Citizens United, taxpayer money that corporations receive for government contracts can be anonymously kicked back to Senators and Congressmen, to buy their votes for future lucrative contracts (or legislation) on that corporation's behalf -- whether or not it actually benefits the American commonwealth.)

Ugh, transparency.

I hate it when that happens!

McConnell whined earlier today that it was his "sincere hope that recent reports of a draft Executive Order were simply the work of a partisan within the Obama administration and not the position taken by the president himself."

"But he should make that clear," he whimpered.

Moar Executive Orders!

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Why Conservatives Vote To Keep Getting Screwed

My first video post with Keith Olbermann since he departed from MSNBC only to go out and start his new enterprise. The video comes to you by way of http://foknewschannel.com/. Sorry once again, but the damned link will not post. Anyway, Keith will explain to you, as if you did not know already, why the conservative workers in America continue to vote for those Republican shit-heads even though they are getting screwed just like all of the rest of us are. If you happen to be here by some freak- of- nature accident and you are a conservative, listen to Keith very carefully. There will be a test.

Maddow Omits A Few Facts On The Benton Harbor, Michigan Story…

   ….and I would certainly hope that the facts that she missed were just an oversight or just something that was not discovered instead of  being deliberately omitted.  I am referring  to this on the take over of pretty much all of the government functions in Benton Harbor under a new order signed by Taliban Governor Rick Snyder.

   Though I do not care for anything Republican when it comes to their idea’s of government, one must get the facts complete on a story before airing it, even of it somewhat takes the blame off of the Republican Taliban.

   Watch Maddox's video, and then read what she omitted  below it.

 

 

Tue Apr 19, 2011 at 10:25 PM PDT

If Only the Benton Harbor Story Were So Simple

by Muskegon Critic

First off...a hat tip to WizardKitten for info and to Eclectablog for some long term and holistic reporting on the Benton Harbor issue.

My friends...

...we need to talk about Benton Harbor, Michigan. The city we've heard a lot about lately in terms of Michigan Republican Governor Snyder's new "Financial martial law" because of the latest actions of an Emergency Financial Manager.

Back in May 2010, Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm, on the recommendation of a committee,appointed an Emergency Financial Manager for the city of Benton Harbor. His name was Joseph L. Harris.

He's been the Emergency Financial Manager ever since.

He still is today.

As for the now notorious golf course development planned for St. Joseph and Benton Harbor according to Rachel Maddow...that's been an idea on the burner for a very long time. Years before Snyder and the Teahadists were even a twinkle in old man Koch's eye. Which old man Koch? Take your pick.

From an article in 2010 about the Harbor Shores golf resort in Benton Harbor

"What the Harbor Shores development does is help redefine the area in terms of the word 'vacation,' " says Marcus Robinson, president of the Consortium for Community Development. "This is a non-profit effort. The basis for this was to use this economic enabler to drive real change in the neighborhoods and communities. All the net gain from the development effort goes into a community chest that is reinvested into the community."

Successful example

Benton Harbor hopes to mirror the success of its neighbor. St. Joseph, a city of 9,000, is now a retirement community and a tourist destination with its beachfront property. Property values have increased 28% in the last five years, according to city manager Frank Walsh. Unemployment, he says, has fallen to 3%. A decade ago, the downtown vacancy rate was 22%. Today, it is 0%.

"What Benton Harbor and Harbor Shores have done is only going to enhance both communities," Walsh says. "This can only be beneficial for the entire (Berrien) county and area. This just doesn't happen very often in Small Town, America, but it's happening here."

One may find the grasping onto a private-public partnership and use of prized public land by the lakeshore for much needed city revenue as horribly desperate...possibly even foolhardy.

But one thing it is NOT is a new concoction of the Snyder administration.

I'm behind the recall of Rick Snyder.

But this whole thing from Rachel Maddow about a State takeover of the City of Benton Harbor to procure public lands to make a golf course for the rich...

...it's simply not true.

It's just not.

The sad fact is, Benton Harbor has been in dire straits for over two decades...and because of that, the city itself was party to this golf course thing.

In 2003 the city was literally on FIRE with race riots.

June 20, 2003
BENTON HARBOR, MICH.

It's been called the longest bridge in the world. Not that the St. Joseph River is particularly wide, but the gulf of status, stereotypes, and distrust it represents needs more than steel and cable to cross it.

On one side lies St. Joseph, an Eden-like beach town, brimming with barbered lawns, boutique coffee shops, and summer art festivals. Cross to Benton Harbor, and everything changes. White becomes black, and affluence turns to poverty. Frustrated residents sit on sagging stoops and walk by boarded-up businesses.

When Benton Harbor erupted in violence this week, the trigger was ostensibly a high-speed police chase through a residential neighborhood. It was the second such pursuit in three years, and the second to result in the death of a young black.

Just 7 years later, Governor Granholm would appoint an Emergency Financial Manager for the city.

Benton Harbor is not a convenient story of 2011 Teapublican overreach.

It's an ongoing, long term story of deindustrialization, racism, injustice, desperation, white flight...

It is not a story about how Rick Snyder is handing public land over to some golf course developer.

I wish it were that simple.

But it's not.

Here's a sad fact about the Western Michigan Lakeshore...closer to the Lake it's white and more prosperous, and on the other side of US-31 is African American and significantly less so.

In Muskegon, it's:

Norton Shores near the lake: white people and money.

Muskegon Heights seperated from the lake by a highway: African American people and very little money.

And I can't count on my fingers how many public-private partnerships of questionable nature the cities have taken up to save themselves.

This isn't a easy story...I'm hoping Maddow will do a more intensive investigation about it.

Hat tip to WizardKitten again for some information on the history of Emergency Financial Manager and other great info

And a hat top to Eclectablog for a holistic and ongoing reporting of this Benton Harbor issue.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

!0 Failures Of Bush/Obama Tax Cuts

   I added President Obama to the Bush tax cuts because Obama did extend those cuts to the wealthy for another 2 years. Barack Obama now owns those tax cuts.

Source

10 Epic Failures of the Bush Tax Cuts:

(Click a link below to jump to the details and charts for each.)

1.  Dismal Economic Growth
2.  A Decade of Budget Deficits
3.  Red Ink as Far as the Eye Can See
4.  Disastrous Job Creation
5.  Declining Incomes
6.  Increasing Poverty
7.  A Massive Windfall for the Wealthy
8.  Record Income Inequality
9.  A Sagging Stock Market
10.  Jeopardizing Future Economic Growth

1.  Dismal Economic Growth
While Democrats in Congress are getting weak n the knees, the American people consistently voice their support for ending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest 2%.

And with good reason.  As David Leonhardt documented in the New York Times last week:

Those tax cuts passed in 2001 amid big promises about what they would do for the economy. What followed? The decade with the slowest average annual growth since World War II. Amazingly, that statement is true even if you forget about the Great Recession and simply look at 2001-7.

   Go HERE to read more

   If Obama has any kind of balls, he and the rest of the Democrats will let his tax-cuts expire in 2012. Then again, he was against those cuts before he was for them, so who knows.