Another Milepost On The Road To Oblivion

Here's why Republicans simply cannot be taken seriously on economic issues, period.  Senate Republicans have put forth a Balanced Budget bill that caps government spending at 18% GDP.  Here's the problem with that....they never told the House GOP geniuses this.

It is unclear if anyone has given serious thought to how annual spending cuts ranging from $1.1 trillion to $1.7 trillion could be achieved. The balanced budget amendment itself does not detail any savings.

The most specific Republican long-term budget proposal, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s Roadmap for America’s future—which like the balanced budget amendment also places the entire burden of deficit reduction on spending cuts—would not come close to meeting this spending cap for at least half a century.

Ryan’s Roadmap—a draconian but detailed plan to partially privatize Social Security, voucherize Medicare, block grant Medicaid, and eliminate the Children’s Health Insurance Program—would not meet the 18% of GDP spending cap for more than half a century. According to CBO, primary spending under the Ryan Roadmap would total 19.3% in 2040, with total spending at 23.5%. (This CBO calculation assumes that the accompanying tax policies would generate revenue of 19.0% of GDP, whereas the Tax Policy Center estimates that revenue under the Ryan Roadmap would average only 16.3% of GDP over 2011-20). Again ignoring the regressive, budget-breaking tax policies in the Ryan Roadmap, total spending would equal 19.5% of GDP by 2060—a full 1.5 percentage points above the global spending cap in the balanced budget amendment.

In short, not even eviscerating Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security would generate adequate savings to meet the balanced budget amendment global spending cap within 50 years.

In other words, the Republican budget proposal in the House would fail to meet the requirements of the Republicans' own balanced budget amendment bill in the Senate.

And it would fail spectacularly.

They are a complete joke.

Helping The Homeless Find Themselves

There is no universal answer to helping the homeless get their lives back, but this is one solution that is working, and has made a difference in the life of many people.

Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) -- An art studio doesn't usually make anyone's list of what the homeless need.

But when Anita Beaty decided to start painting in the storefront window of a homeless shelter, people were soon looking in and asking to join.

 A creative solution was born, which allows people to have free studio space if they adhere to certain rules.  There are more success stories than failures, and some hardworking people who ante up the effort get a second chance.  That's a win win, folks.  Not only does it give me the warm fuzzies, but it gives me hope.  When faced with some hard times, we have our epic fails but we also occasionally get it right.  This is one of those times.

Why Bon Is Always Right

Okay, maybe not always, but I was right about this:

OTTAWA (AFP) – Researchers have identified compounds in maple syrup with similar anti-inflammatory or anti-oxidant properties as blueberries, green tea and other "superfoods."

"In our laboratory research we found that several of these compounds possess anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, which have been shown to fight cancer, diabetes and bacterial illnesses," said lead researcher Navindra Seeram, assistant professor of pharmacognosy at the University of Rhode Island.

Honey and syrup both have an extremely high sugar content.  I have noticed when I use them in moderation, my blood sugar levels are more consistent.  If I find myself surfing from 70 to 350 on my readings, I have always gone for those two and they have never failed.

In my book, syrup is nectar from heaven even if it isn't full of healthy compounds.  I now have science to back that statement up, however.

All Oiled Up, Bend Over...Yet Again

Oil shot up to $108 a barrel today on continued unrest in the Middle East and North Africa (the new acronym for the region is MENA) as this time Yemen looks like it's on the brink of government collapse, and on Friday's job numbers here in the US.

Oil climbed for a third day in New York as signs of a strengthening U.S. economy stoked bets fuel demand will rise in the world’s largest crude user.

Futures advanced as much as 0.7 percent to a 30-month high after an April 1 report showed the U.S. added more jobs than economists forecast last month. Prices advanced 2.4 percent last week as fighting in Libya between rebels and forces loyal to Muammar Qaddafi threatened to prolong supply cuts from Africa’s third-largest producer.

“The U.S. data paints a positive picture,” Jonathan Barratt, managing director of Commodity Broking Services Pty in Sydney, said by telephone today. “People are still concerned about Libya, but not overly. If Qaddafi decides to call it a day, then there will be a short, sharp sell-off.”

Crude for May delivery gained as much as 80 cents to $108.74 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest since Sept. 24, 2008, and was at $108.52 at 3:13 p.m. Singapore time. Prices are up 25 percent from a year ago.

Payrolls advanced by 216,000 workers in March compared with a 190,000 gain projected by economists in a Bloomberg News survey. The jobless rate dropped to 8.8 percent from 8.9 percent, the fourth straight decrease, the Labor Department said. The unemployment rate was projected to hold at 8.9 percent, according to the median forecast in the survey.

As the summer driving season gets closer, we've seen gas prices jump 60-70 cents a gallon in roughly six weeks.   Now that there's open war in Libya, that's only going to go up.  We're only another 60-70 cents per gallon away from record nominal highs in gas prices, too..and I'm fairly sure we will break that this summer.

Gambling On Newt In 2012

Newt Gingrich has more problems to deal with, and this time it's of the legal kind.

As former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich explores the possibility of a presidential bid, he "is counting on the backing of an unusually powerful behind-the-scenes donor," Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson.

According to investigative journalist Michael Isikoff, Adelson -- who has a net worth estimated at over $23 billion and was recently ranked as the fifth wealthiest man in America --, "has personally pumped $7 million over the past five years into Gingrich’s main political advocacy organization, American Solutions for Winning the Future. His contributions account for more than 10 percent of all the organization's funds."

Republican sources told Isikoff that Adelson is part of Gingrich's "kitchen cabinet" and is expected to be a key fundraiser among "two lucrative groups with whom he has influence — Las Vegas casino executives and wealthy Republican Jewish donors."

As Isikoff points out, however, Adelson's support may present ethical issues for a Gingrich campaign. His Las Vegas Sands Corp. is currently under investigation by the Justice Department and the SEC for possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act -- which prohibits American companies from paying off foreign officials -- arising from the operations of its casino in Macau.

It is no doubt purely coincidental that just a few weeks ago the US Chamber of Commerce hired former Attorney General Michael Mukasey to lobby Congress to amend the act in order to "reduce its 'onerous' impact on U.S. businesses."

Yes, what's important to Republicans like Newt?  Job creation?  Helping the American worker?  Nope.  Getting rid of laws that stop US companies from paying off foreign officials so they can continue to offshore jobs more efficiently.  It's the cost of business that Newtie there believes in.

Sure, Republicans are all about job creation.

In countries other than America.

Republicans Understand The Voting Lessons Of 2008 All Too Well

In 2008, Democrats saw unprecedented voter turnout among minorities, students, and first-time voters and won big, controlling the White House, both chambers of Congress, and a number of governor's mansions.  In 2010, Republicans sought to depress enthusiasm among those groups, convincing them that their vote didn't matter, and as a result they stayed home.  Republicans won huge at the state level and retook the House at the national.

The lesson for Republicans?  With dozens of Republican-controlled state legislatures ready to roll out tough "anti-voter fraud" laws,  keep young and minority voters from voting with Voter ID laws that target them, and you win.

"It's unbelievable, probably half the states in the country have bills in play and more than a dozen are seriously in the pipeline," Tova Wang of the left-leaning think tank Demos told TPM in an interview.

"It's really unprecedented in terms of geographic scope. I've never seen anything like it certainly since I've been working on voting rights issues that voter suppression bills would be introduced in so many places at the same time."

"Definitely students are a target here. It's totally clear to me that you saw in 2008 this unprecedented historic turnout among African-Americans, Latinos and young people -- and those happen to be the exact groups of people that are being targeted by these laws to disenfranchise them, and that's really sad," Wang said.

Wang said the most restrictive bills are in Ohio and Wisconsin, which Wang said require identification issued by the DMV. "Perhaps most interestingly, it doesn't even include student ID even from schools that are public universities," she said.

"This apparently concerted effort on the part of Republicans in state legislatures nationwide to effectively suppress voting is as disturbing as it is un-democratic," said Carolyn Fiddler, spokesperson for the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, an arm of the Democratic Party charged with boosting the number of Democrats in state governments. "Additionally, these restrictive measures are often costly and do nothing to balance state budgets and create jobs, which are the top priorities in statehouses across the country right now."

So with Republicans in control of the House of Representatives, could a federal bill be far off? That's what Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-TX) indicated in an interview with KTXS News. But Neugebauer spokesman Matt Crow told TPM the congressman "misspoke" and that there was "no such bill on the horizon."

Rep. Gregg Harper (R-MS), chairman of House Subcommittee on Elections, held a hearing this week to examine reports of voting by non-citizens and raised the specter of voter fraud.

"Congress often focuses on increasing access to voter registration -- making it easier for everyone to participate in elections," Harper said in a statement. "And that is a goal that we must continuously pursue; however, we must also ensure that easing access to voter registration isn't also, inadvertently, increasing vulnerabilities to voter fraud."

The bottom line is that whenever you hear Republicans complain about "voter fraud", they are complaining that it's too easy for groups that tend to vote more Democratic to vote and want to put in additional hoops to jump through in order to place financial or bureaucratic barriers to voting in front of the poor, minorities, students, and the elderly.

By restricting acceptable voters only to those who have current state issued drivers licenses or IDs, passports, or military IDs, Republicans are protecting America's voting system from those who don't have the money to pay for these IDs.  That would be violating poll tax laws, but the voter ID bills get around these by providing for waivers for the fee to purchase state IDs...by putting the burden of proof that the fee should be waived on the prospective voter and not the state.

It's very clever, and very much designed to eliminate as many provisional ballots, student ballots, low-income elderly ballots, and minority ballots as possible.  Combined with continued disenfranchising efforts like limiting voting equipment in minority precincts, Republicans are setting up long-term disenfranchisement of traditional Democratic voter groups.

They know if they do this, and concentrate campaign efforts on winning the vote of the remaining electorate, they win huge victories.  The plan for 2012 is to make it as difficult as possible for the poor and the young to vote.

The 50 state southern strategy continues.

StupidiNews!

• President Obama becomes the first official entrant in the 2012 Presidential race, announcing his intention to run for re-election today.
• BP is applying for permission to drill for oil offshore in the Gulf Coast less than a year after the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
• Ecuador will vote on a referendum this week that includes a ban on bullfighting in that country.
• Southwest Airlines has canceled a number of flights today to check planes for cracks like the one that led to a ripped fuselage that forced an emergency landing on Saturday.
• Google may have settled over the class action disaster that resulted from the launch of its now infamous Google Buzz service, but the issue of the money still remains.

Last Call

If you want to know what the future of one-party Republican rule of America will look like in 2012 and beyond, you have to look no further than Florida in 2011.

In the next 30 days, Florida lawmakers are poised to make it easier for insurance companies to raise rates, make it more difficult for women to receive an abortion and hand over control of prisons to private companies.

These are just a few of the proposals the Republican-led Legislature is pushing in the final weeks of their 60-day session. Others include dramatically changing the way the state handles Medicaid, state pensions, courts, growth and the environment.

The proposals are detailed, sweeping, and encompass many conservative issues that legislators have resisted enacting in the past. And they are moving forward for one reason: They have the votes. With a veto-proof majority, a hard-right conservative governor, and a determination to seize the moment in a non-election year, legislative leaders have packed the agenda — and Democrats are powerless to stop them. 

Powerless.  Florida Republicans have a veto-proof majority in the state legislature.  They were given it by Florida voters who said "Boy, Democrats suck.  They didn't fix the economy in Florida at all.  I'm going to sit this one out."

So Gov. Rick Scott and his buddies have free reign to do whatever they want now.  And it gets worse, much worse.

“You’ve got a very conservative governor, president, and speaker, so they’ve gone down some roads that people have kind of been afraid to go down before,’’ said Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton.

The governor has already signed major legislation to change the way teachers are paid and to reduce compensation for the unemployed, and the Legislature has overridden seven vetoes of former Gov. Charlie Crist.

Next up are dozens of bills that remove government oversight, dismantle regulations, and shift state jobs to the private sector. Also on the docket are plans to ask voters to amend the state constitution to remove the ban on providing tax dollars to religious organizations, to make it easier for the Legislature to overturn rules imposed by the state Supreme Court, to ban public funding of abortions and to prohibit any laws requiring a person to buy health insurance.

Unstoppable, wingnut theocracy.   Corporate rule run amok.  Republicans looting the state and making it possible for them to loot the state for the foreseeable future.

Florida's reality now is what America will face very soon unless the Republicans are reined in.  Democrats in Florida sat out 2010.  Now they will pay for decades.  National Republicans want to go even further than where Florida is now to the right.  If given the kind of unchecked power they have in Florida, the country will be unrecognizable in a matter of months.

And all that had to happen was enough people saying "My vote doesn't matter.  Both sides are the the same.  Why should I bother?"

The lesson of Florida, 2011.  Even if you choose not to vote, you still have made a choice.

Another Milepost On The Road To Oblivion

The Wall Street Journal is the best source of unintentional comedy on Earth.  Today's laugh riot is provided by Matt Ridley, who wants to find a "market-related" solution to obesity and health care costs.  Nowhere in the article does it occur to Ridley that the wide availability of cheap, unhealthy mass-produced fast food and the multi-billion dollar agriculture giants that power it might have something to do with it.  That's not the funny part.

The last two paragraphs may be the most amazingly hysterical thing I've ever read.

In due course, the obesity problem will be solved, I suspect. The ultra-rich have already solved it. Most of them are very thin these days, quite unlike in ancient times. That's because they can afford the solutions that work for them, from low-carb diets to personal trainers. 

If economic growth continues to spread, as it has over the past two centuries, most people will be ultra-rich by today's standards within two generations, and slim figures will also spread. Still, it would be nice to find a way for people to lose weight without having to wait for them to get rich first.

If economic growth continues to spread the way it has in the last two generations, the ultra-rich are going to need those personal trainers to stay in shape in order to escape the blood mobs coming for them.

That, and for clueless hacks like Ridley here.

Bombing, Charlie Sheen Style

DETROIT – Charlie Sheen and his "goddesses" took the stage to thunderous applause Saturday night for the first leg of his "Torpedo of Truth" tour. The 70-minute show hadn't even ended when the first reviews were in, and they were brutal.

The former "Two and a Half Men" star showed that comedic success on the screen doesn't necessarily translate to the stage, and the capacity crowd at Detroit's 5,100-seat Fox Theatre rebelled before the show ended, chanting "refund!" and walking out in droves.

He's the train wreck that just keeps on giving.  Clearly, something pretty major is going on.  A lifetime of addiction can make a person snap, but it just seems like a trigger went off and he's been hell bent on destroying his career since.  The good news is, rock bottom surely isn't too far away.

Baby Steps Aren't Enough

The saga of the prematurity-prevention drug Makena and the outrage over its pricing continues: on Friday, the maker of the drug, a subsidiary of KV Pharmaceutical, announced it would reduce its price 55%, from $1,500 to $690 per dose.

There is just one problem.  That is not enough.

This is a drug that was recently only ten dollars per dose. There is no explanation for this decision.  No sound need or reasoning has been given.  Don't want Obamacare?  Groovy, baby.  Protect the consumer and make sure drug companies don't do this.  And while you're at it, make sure health insurance companies can't do this.  Or this.  Or even though it's old news, this.

Aldi Darned

The New York Times ran an article showing that Wal-Mart and Target may have a surprising competitor: Aldi.

Aldi first came to the United States in 1976, but it opened a relatively small number of stores a year — 25 or so on average. Within the last few years, it has accelerated its expansion by adding more than 250 stores, with plans for 80 more both in 2011 and 2012, said Jason Hart, co-president of Aldi’s United States division, in a recent interview.

The company capitalizes on the bargain hunter, who is not embarrassed to choose frugality over name brands. Aldi’s mainly sells its own private-label items at cheap prices — a five-ounce bacon-wrapped beef filet costs $1.79 at the Queens store.

“It’s the one format that seems to have increased the most, and has sustained a number of new stores,” during and after the recession, said Jonathan P. Feeney, a grocery analyst with Janney Capital Markets. As “prices are going to go up, it’s going to be a growing opportunity.”

Wal-Mart and Target are behind in the small market scene, and belatedly they have realized they overlooked a real opportunity.  In exchange for value customers don't have as much choice, but for bargain hunters it is a good way to extend their grocery budget.  I can say from experience some of their products are  actually better than what I purchase at a Kroger or Wal-Mart.  It also teaches a lesson to consumers and sets more realistic expectations.  Sometimes you have to shop around for savings.  Sometimes you don't always get what you want, and stores aren't obligated to beg you to come in.  The savings for advertising and other expenses have allowed an underdog to be competitive against the likes of Wal-Mart.  Or in shopper lingo, that's like a BOGO neener-neener.

In The Worst Of Times, The Best In Us Shows Through

This is what bravery looks like.  Doomed to die, some brave workers are spending their last days alive trying to save the people who have a chance.

"My son and his colleagues have discussed it at length and they have committed themselves to die if necessary to save the nation," she said. Fox News said she was tearful as she spoke.

"He told me they have accepted they will all probably die from radiation sickness in the short term or cancer in the long-term," she added.

Dubbed the Fukushima 50 (actually around 300 people who work in shifts of 50), the workers know they have surely been exposed to lethal levels of radiation.  It's likely most if not all will die within weeks.  Yet these people are staying and doing their best to protect their families.

Earlier this week, a Japanese minister conceded there was no end in sight to the crisis, although some of the world's largest cement pumps are being sent to Japan, initially to pump water but then to possibly entomb the site as was done in Chernobyl.

The Main Event

Because Democrats have basically folded on the 2011 budget, and are going to ultimately fold on the debt ceiling fight, the real issue is going to be the future.  And Republicans are betting they can force Democrats to go along with massive, draconian cuts to Medicare and Medicaid in order to make permanent the Bush tax cuts.

The main event is the 2012 budget battle.  And Republicans like Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin are opening with every gun they have and daring the Democrats to do anything about it other than to cower and capitulate.

While Mr. Ryan and top Republican aides would not discuss specifics, there are strong indications that the proposal will draw on deficit reduction plans that Mr. Ryan laid out in his 2010 “roadmap plan” and a second proposal he wrote with Alice M. Rivlin, a director of the Office of Management and Budget in the Clinton administration.

In that plan, Ms. Rivlin and Mr. Ryan proposed that Medicaid financing be converted into a block grant program, with states given a set allotment of money and new discretion to shape health coverage programs for the poor. Their Medicare proposal would allow those nearing eligibility to remain with the current system, and it would create a program that would provide payments to Medicare enrollees to buy private health insurance.

Top Republicans have been divided on how much to tinker with Social Security, given strong Democratic opposition, its less significant contribution to the budget deficit and the political explosiveness of making any changes to the program. Officials say the budget will probably provide guidance on how to shape Social Security based on recommendations from last year’s presidential deficit-reduction committee.

Republican leaders have not previously embraced Mr. Ryan’s proposals on Medicare and Social Security, but Mr. Boehner said he had tired of watching Congress avoid difficult decisions on entitlement programs.

“You can’t continue to whistle past the graveyard,” he said. “We are imprisoning the future for our kids and our grandkids if we do not act, and it’s time to act.”

Democrats said they intended to draw sharp distinctions between their approach and that of Republicans. 

Sure they will.  Let's review the Ryan-Rivlin plan, shall we?

The plan, to be released Tuesday, calls for a controversial overhaul of Medicare, the health care program for seniors, and imposes deep cuts in Medicaid, which provides health benefits to low-income Americans, according to House Republican sources with knowledge of the proposal.

Starting 10 years from now, in 2021, Americans would no longer enroll in the Medicare program, but instead receive vouchers for private insurance, according to the GOP sources, who stressed anyone 55 or older now would not be affected by the change.

The plan is modeled after one Ryan proposed last year with Alice Rivlin, budget director under President Bill Clinton.

Details of how Ryan's Medicare voucher program would work are still unclear, but the Ryan-Rivlin plan said the amount of the voucher -- a lump sum payment from the government -- would be calculated in part by taking the average federal cost per Medicare enrollee.

The GOP aims to save billions of dollars in revamping Medicare, a large contributor to the massive federal deficit and debt.

Sources said they did not yet know how much savings Ryan would project by drastically changing the Medicare program.

On Medicaid, Ryan's plan calls for deep cuts, as much as $1 trillion. The program would also fundamentally change -- the federal share of the Medicaid system would become block grants to the states.

Privatize Medicare, make massive cuts to Medicaid, make the Bush cuts permanent.  Take money from America's poor, and from anyone 45 and under right now.  Give it to America's top 1%.  I can't wait to see the devil in these details, because I bet it's going to make a lot of assumptions when it comes to deficit reduction.

The question is simply how many Democrats will go along with the plan, and will they force the President to join them.  And when the horrible truth dawns on America, Obama will be blamed.

The GOP is going for the whole shooting match.  I doubt enough Dems will stand fast against them.

Turn On The Lights, Watch The Roaches Scatter Part 67

I've got your Sunday morning movie right here, folks.

You can now watch the Oscar-winning documentary on the financial crisis, Charles Ferguson's brilliant Inside Job, at Open Culture, for free.  It's worth picking up the DVD version at Amazon absolutely, but if you haven't yet seen this film, set aside two hours and do so today as a public service to yourself as an informed consumer.  It will explain the financial crisis to you in stunning clarity and rich detail, and features very candid interviews with some of the major players:  Obama economic advisor Paul Volcker, Rep. Barney Frank, IMF chief Dominique Straus-Kahn, billionaire George Soros, French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, New York state AG and Gov. Elliot Spitzer, economist Nouriel Roubini as well as people from all over the financial industry.

These are the folks I've been quoting and following in this blog for close to three years now, guys.  The film, narrated by Matt Damon, is must-watch stuff for anyone who is even remotely interested in how the bottom fell out of our economy:  the bottom was cut out on purpose.

It was, after all, an inside job.

Go watch.