Last Call For The Poor Little Rich

Art Brooks, president of "venerable" winger think tank American Enterprise Institute, takes to the "liberal" NY Times to scold all of us for being envious of our ultra-rich masters. 

How can we break the back of envy and rebuild the optimism that made America the marvel of the world?

First and foremost, we must increase mobility for more Americans with a radical opportunity agenda. That means education reform that empowers parents through choice, and rewards teachers for innovation. It means regulatory and tax reform tailored to spark hiring and entrepreneurship at all levels, especially the bottom of the income scale. It means recalibrating the safety net to ensure that work always pays — such as an expansion of the earned-income tax credit — while never disdaining the so-called dead-end jobs that represent a crucial first step for many marginalized people.

Second, we must recognize that fomenting bitterness over income differences may be powerful politics, but it injures our nation. We need aspirational leaders willing to do the hard work of uniting Americans around an optimistic vision in which anyone can earn his or her success. This will never happen when we vilify the rich or give up on the poor.

Only a shared, joyful mission of freedom, opportunity and enterprise for all will cure us of envy and remind us who we truly are.

And of course, the solution to the problem is tax cuts and privatization of everything in sight so these same masters can gain even more wealth to not share with anyone, and it means giving Americans the dignity to work 80 hours a week at two jobs making $7.25 an hour.  Or you know, less than that, because hard work itself is its own reward. 

Because if you think the game is rigged, you're un-American or something.

You're also right, but that doesn't actually matter, right?

Back-Seat Presidentin'

Not to be outdone by Sen. Marco Rubio, Sen. Lindsey Graham and Sen. Dick Durbin are DEMANDING that President Obama DO SOMETHING DAMMIT about Vladimir Putin.

Graham, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said there needs to be more than threats coming from the White House, and called President Barack Obama “weak and indecisive” on matters of foreign policy.

"No. 1, stop going on television and trying to threaten thugs and dictators - it is not your strong suit. Every time the President goes on national television and threatens Putin or someone like Putin, everybody’s eyes roll, including mine,” Graham said.

This from the guy who went on national television to threaten someone who he believes is like Putin.  That motion you're feeling in your face is your eyes rolling, reflexively.  Durbin on the other hand is scarcely better:

The Illinois Democrat said that Russia's "charm offensive," dumping billions of dollars into the 2014 Winter Olympics held in Sochi, has done little to redefine the nation's image among Western nations.

"That Sochi charm offensive died on the streets of Sevastopol (Ukraine) when he moved in thousands of troops days after the closing ceremony. He is trying to have it both ways," Durbin said. "We've got to make him feel like there is a price to pay for this kind of conduct."

Which is what the President said, so how about working with him and making that happen, gentlemen?

PS, Huckleberry Graham should really stop making insipid threats like this:

"I would like to create a democratic noose around Putin's Russia," Graham said.

Thanks for demonstrating so clearly why you're not even remotely qualified to be President there Huckleberry!

Straight And Narrow

NY Times cultural scold Ross Douthat complains that the forces of LGBTQ equality are sore winners and that the veto of Arizona's "religious freedoms" bill really means that we should stop being so awful to the people who see them as sinners who need to be punished.

What makes this response particularly instructive is that such bills have been seen, in the past, as a way for religious conservatives to negotiate surrender — to accept same-sex marriage’s inevitability while carving out protections for dissent. But now, apparently, the official line is that you bigots don’t get to negotiate anymore.

Which has a certain bracing logic. If your only goal is ensuring that support for traditional marriage diminishes as rapidly as possible, applying constant pressure to religious individuals and institutions will probably do the job. Already, my fellow Christians are divided over these issues, and we’ll be more divided the more pressure we face. The conjugal, male-female view of marriage is too theologically rooted to disappear, but its remaining adherents can be marginalized, set against one other, and encouraged to conform.

I am being descriptive here, rather than self-pitying. Christians had plenty of opportunities — thousands of years’ worth — to treat gay people with real charity, and far too often chose intolerance. (And still do, in many instances and places.) So being marginalized, being sued, losing tax-exempt status — this will be uncomfortable, but we should keep perspective and remember our sins, and nobody should call it persecution.

But it’s still important for the winning side to recognize its power. We are not really having an argument about same-sex marriage anymore, and on the evidence of Arizona, we’re not having a negotiation. Instead, all that’s left is the timing of the final victory — and for the defeated to find out what settlement the victors will impose.

Alas and alack!  If only the horribly tyrannic equality forces who will probably win a Supreme Court ruling would give Ross Douthat a way to still legally practice hating those people!

Sure, just like women "won" after Roe v Wade.  How many legal loopholes and blockades can same-sex marriage opponents put on getting married in red states?  Works for abortion clinics, right?

Last Call For Marco, Rube

Sen. Marco Rubio thinks he has the stones to tell President Obama what he must do on Russia re: Ukraine, and as expected, the last of his "eight steps" is to block State Department under-secretary Rose Gottmoeller.

Finally, in the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid should immediately halt his effort to force a Senate vote on Rose Gottemoeller next week to be under secretary of state for arms control and international security. As I, Sens. John Cornyn and Jim Risch said yesterday, we shouldn’t even be thinking about arms-control negotiations with Russia anytime soon. And especially not negotiations led by a State Department official, such as Ms. Gottemoeller, who has tried to play down and potentially kept information from Congress and our allies about Russian violations of arms-control agreements.

This is of course the real thrust.  Rubio could give a damn about what happens in the Ukraine, but this is the perfect excuse to demand that the State Department dismantle our arms control treaty with Russia, which the GOP has always opposed.  Well, under a Democrat, anyway.  They have no issue with it when a Republican is President.

Have a glass of water and sit the hell down, Marco.

Last Call For More Adventures Across The Rubin-Con

Jennifer Rubin's response to President Obama's new "My Brother's Keeper" initiative is as banal as it is predictable.

It’s odd, really, that we just got through celebration of the veto of Arizona’s anti-gay legislation that would have allowed business owners to refuse service on the basis of sexual orientation – if they could show they are acting upon a sincerely held religious belief. That was Wednesday. Now on Thursday the government itself wants to exclude at-risk boys who don’t meet the racial and ethnic requirements of the program. (If it was focused on only “straight” youth, would the left be up in arms?)

Now, it is refreshing that the administration has paused from its “war on women” rhetoric to take notice that it really has been men who were hurt more than women in the recession, have worse educational outcomes than women and seem to be more affected by the absence of a father in their lives.

The problem with hyping gender and racial differences is not simply the increased resentment and divisiveness it creates but also that it uses victimhood as a political weapon. Pretty soon words like “discrimination” lose meaning. It seems you are either for an inclusive society – devoted to diminishing racial, ethnic, religious and other distinctions — or you’re not.

Like the Arizona anti-gay law, no good can come from a program that divides up the population by these categories.

Rubin actually compares the program to Arizona's anti-gay laws because Liberals Are The Only Real Racists(tm). This is, quite literally a "Why do we even have your divisive 'Black History Month' anyway for you people?" rant dressed up nicely as "I'm the voice of the moderate middle/both sides do it" pablum.  It's as stupid as asking why the government sanctions May as Jewish American Heritage Month.  Congress passed that in 2006 and rightfully so.

It's vile and stupid, but then again, this is Jen Rubin we're talking about.  By the way, the program itself seems badly necessary.

Under Obama's initiative, businesses, foundations and community groups would coordinate their investments to come up with, or support, programs that keep youths in school and out of the criminal justice system, while improving their access to higher education. Several foundations pledged at least $200 million over five years to promote that goal.

Meanwhile, Obama signed a presidential memorandum creating a government-wide task force to evaluate the effectiveness of various approaches, so that federal and local governments, community groups and businesses will have best practices to follow in the future. An online "What Works" portal will provide public access to data about programs that improve outcomes for young minority men.

We could pretend like the bulk of the school to prison pipeline in this country isn't stuffed full of black and Latino boys I guess, but bravo for the President to name the slouching beast in the room.  This is exactly the kind of "compassionate conservatism" stuff that Bush would have gotten a spot on Mt. Rushmore for.

The White House listed a litany of facts showing the need for the effort: The unemployment rate for African-American men over the age of 20 was 12 percent last month, compared with 5.4 percent for white men. Hispanic men over the age of 20 faced an unemployment rate of 8.2 percent. The U.S. Census Bureau showed a poverty rate of 27.2 percent in black households and 25.6 percent for Hispanic households in 2012, compared with 12.7 percent in white and 11.7 percent in Asian households.

But let's pretend like race doesn't matter in America, because admitting it does upsets Jennifer so. 

Oklahoma, Yet Again

Not to be outdone by Texas in anything, Oklahoma is trying out its own bevy of anti-choice abortion regulations that will result in shutting down all but a few clinics in the state.

The Oklahoma House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill on Thursday to apply new restrictions on abortions that lawmakers said are aimed at protecting women's health but opponents say are designed to shut down clinics.

The legislation includes a provision similar to one put in place in neighboring Texas that requires physicians who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at an appropriately equipped hospital within 30 miles of their practice.

The Republican lawmaker who wrote the legislation, Mike Ritze, a physician, said his goal was to ensure women who experience complications like hemorrhaging, can have access to hospital care immediately.

"If the federal law is going to allow abortions, the state has a responsibility to our citizens to ensure those procedures are done as safely as possible," Ritze said.

The bill also requires abortion clinics to meet heightened building standards, bans abortion after 20 weeks, and requires strict adherence to guidelines in prescribing abortion pills.

The process is working well here in Ohio, as Cincinnati's two remaining providers are fighting court battles just to stay open.  Texas has already lost dozens of providers, and once again, small government conservatives are using the power of government to regulate women's bodies.  To death.

Your vagina belongs to the state.  Until what comes out of it is old enough to own a gun, that is.

StupidiNews, Weekend Edition!

• The S&P 500 closed out the month of February at a record high near 1,860, staging a strong rally after January's slump.
• Generic drugmakers are fiercely resisting a new FDA proposal that would require changing labeling upon new safety information.
• US 4th Quarter GDP was revised downward to 2.4% growth, but warmer weather is expected to push the economy faster.
• The Secret Service is looking into a major data breach at Sears, which would be the latest hacker attempt to expose millions of customers to possible identity theft and fraud.
• An Illinois man has filed the first class-action suit against all but bankrupt Mt. Gox, accusing the Bitcoin exchange of fraud and demanding repayment.

Last Call As Going Insane In The Ukraine Continues

Josh Rogin at the Daily Beast drops this little wrinkle in the whole "Happy democratic ending for Ukraine" deal.

Private security contractors working for the Russian military are the unmarked troops who have now seized control over two airports in the Ukrainian province of Crimea, according to informed sources in the region. And those contractors could be setting the stage for ousted President Viktor Yanukovich to come to the breakaway region.

The new Ukrainian government in Kiev has accused Moscow of “an armed invasion and occupation” in the Crimean cities of Simferopol and Sevastopol, where well-armed and well-organized troops with no markings or identification have taken control of the airports. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Secretary of State John Kerry over the phone Friday that no Russian military or marines have been deployed outside of the base of the Black Sea Fleet, which is anchored nearby, officials in both governments said.

Lavrov was technically telling the truth, but the troops are being directed by the Russian government. Although not confirmed, informed sources in Moscow are telling their American interlocutors that the troops belong to Vnevedomstvenaya Okhrana, the private security contracting bureau inside the Russian interior ministry that hires mercenaries to protect Russian Navy installations and assets in Crimea. Other diplomatic sources said that the troops at the airport were paramilitary troops but not specifically belonging to Vnevedomstvenaya Okhrana.

 “They don’t have Russian military uniforms and the Russia government is denying they are part of the Russian military. Actually most of them may be Ukrainian citizens. But these are people that are legally allowed to perform services to the Russian fleet,” said Dimitri Simes, president of the Center for the National Interest.

There's a price for crossing Vladimir Putin, as Ukraine is finding out the hard way.  Meanwhile, whoever these guys belong to, they control the airports in Ukraine's southernmost provinces, with Crimea province bordering the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.  In other words, these guys now have options should they want to cause more trouble by land, sea, or air:



The several billion dollar question: What's the Obama administration's response?

Your Friday Afternoon StupidiVideo

GLaDOS helps NASA and explains nuclear fusion vs. nuclear fission.



We do what we must, because we can.

The Last Days Of BitPompeii

Looks like Mt. Gox has exploded in a veritable mountain of bullshit.

The troubled MtGox Bitcoin exchange filed for bankruptcy protection in Japan Friday, saying it had lost nearly half a billion dollars worth of the digital currency in a possible theft.

Problematic.

Mark Karpeles, who has not been seen in public for several days, re-emerged to tell a press conference that his firm's digital vaults had been almost completely emptied.

"We have lost Bitcoins due to weaknesses in the system," the France-born Karpeles said in Japanese.

"We are really sorry for causing trouble to all the people concerned," he said, before bowing deeply.

The company's lawyer said 750,000 Bitcoins belonging to customers had gone, along with MtGox's own store of the currency, which she said was around 100,000 units.

Ahh Bitcoin, the safe, stateless world commodity/currency of the future, running smack into that oldest and most venerable of human frailties, greed.  It was only a matter of time, yadda yadda yadda.  So somebody has half a billion in digital money and a lot of suckers got bilked.

Why, Bitcoin almost seems like the ultimate glibertarian meltdown.  Funny how that works.

StupidiNews!

• North Korea launched four short range missiles into the Sea of Japan Thursday, just days after joint South Korean/US military exercises got underway.
• Electric car maker Tesla is planning a solar and wind powered battery factory to be built in the US by 2020 that will produce enough batteries to power 500,000 cars per year.
• Japan is warning the United States that any regulation of Bitcoin would require international cooperation to "avoid loopholes".
• In the absence of a security agreement, NATO forces will begin planning for a complete withdrawal from Afghanistan by the end of the year.
• A California state appeals court has ruled that drivers may look at maps on smartphones despite a law preventing use of mobile devices while behind the wheel.

Last Call For Veteran Levels Of Stupid

To recap, Republicans in the Senate blocked a bill to help wounded veterans because mean ol' Harry Reid wouldn't let the GOP add an amendment authorizing new Iran sanctions, which would sabotage our foreign policy and undermine President Obama.

In a 56-41 vote Thursday, the motion to waive a budget point of order against the bill failed, as Democrats fell short of the 60 votes needed to overcome the Republican roadblock.

GOP Sens. Dean Heller (Nev.) and Jerry Moran (Kan.) voted with Democrats.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) refused to allow a GOP substitute amendment to get an up-or-down vote because it included Iran sanctions, which he said were unrelated to veterans’ issues.

“I hope all the veterans groups have witnessed all the contortions the Republicans have done to defeat this bill,” Reid said Thursday. “Shame on Republicans for bringing base politics into a bill to help veterans.”

Amazing.  Here's what the GOP blocked:

Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) bill, S. 1982, would have expanded veterans' healthcare programs, given veterans in-state tuition rates at all schools across the country and provided advanced appropriations for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

It also sought to permanently fix a cut to the growth rate of veterans' pensions. Earlier this year, Congress passed a bill to avoid a cut in the growth rate for current service members and veterans, but anyone enlisting after 2013 would still see a cut. Sanders’s bill would have eliminated that cut as well.

Nope, can't have that.  Gotta have the Senate minority run our foreign policy instead of the President and State Department, because Obama Derangement Syndrome.

The Aftermath Of Arizona's Bill

With Gov. Brewer vetoing the "religious freedoms" bill, Republicans are walking away from the doomed strategy to try to enshrine legalized discrimination into law.  The Arizona disaster has now led Ohio lawmakers to pull a similar bill introduced earlier this year.

One of the sponsors of the religious freedom bill being considered in the Ohio legislature, Democratic Representative Bill Patmon, says the plan is dead.

“We are pulling the entire bill — not just support or anything, but the bill is being pulled off the legislative agenda by my request,” Patmon said.

“There is too much misunderstanding and misinterpretation in this particular case and when you find that, then you have to maybe go back to the drawing board…”

Patmon says he was pushing the bill because he wanted to make sure there were protections for people who wear a cross necklace, a yarmulke or some other religious symbol in their workplaces.

But critics of this bill said it could open the door to widespread discrimination of gay Ohioans. Patmon says the language in this bill was not clear enough.

“There are different interpretations of it. That’s a concern for me. I don’t want different interpretations whether it is the ACLU or someone else. There should be only one. And that is to make sure people have religious freedom,” Patmon added.

Bill Patmon may have believed the bill was about religious freedom, but it's not.  It's about weakening civil rights legislation, period.  And the bill apparently was so bad that Ohio Republicans, which last year enacted some of the worst anti-choice regulations in the country and may leave the greater Cincinnati area's 2.2 million people without a single legal abortion provider by October, have scrapped the bill entirely.  Even they won't touch it now after what happened in Arizona.

Think about that for a sec.

Under The Gun With Rand

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Unfortunately My State) continues to be a petulant little twit whenever possible, this time putting a hold on President Obama's pick for Surgeon General for the completely radical view that the thousands of preventable gun deaths each year in the US might be a health issue.

On Wednesday — two years to the day after George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin — Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) placed a hold on President Barack Obama’s nominee for Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, over Murthy’s view that gun violence represents a significant public health threat.

“In his efforts to curtail Second Amendment rights, Dr. Murthy has continually referred to guns as a public health issue on par with heart disease and has diminished the role of mental health in gun violence,” wrote Paul in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

“As a physician, I am deeply concerned that he has advocated that doctors use their position of trust to ask patients, including minors, details about gun ownership in the home… Dr. Murthy has disqualified himself from being Surgeon General because of his intent to use that position to launch an attack on Americans’ right to own a firearm under the guise of a public health and safety campaign.”

Which is funny, because actual physicians and not ones accredited by their own make-believe board like Rand Paul here believe that guns are bad for kids.

In fact, just yesterday, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) issued new guidelines recommending that households with children who are diagnosed with depression should remove guns and ammunition from their homes entirely.

The AAP has long taken a firm stance on the danger that gun violence poses for children. “This should not be a political issue. Gun violence is a public health issue that profoundly affects children and their families,” said AAP president Dr. Thomas K. McInerny in a letter to Congress urging robust gun safety legislation on the one-year anniversary of the Sandy Hook massacre. “We know what works — strong laws to enforce background checks and safe storage. But our elected leaders need to find a way forward to protect our children.”

But this view, the view of the majority of pediatricians, is of course somehow radical in the eyes of Rand Paul, as he continues to embarrass himself nationally with idiotic grandstanding like this.

StupidiNews!

• Arizona GOP Gov. Jan Brewer has vetoed the controversial "religious freedoms" bill that would have allowed businesses to refuse services to LGBTQ customers based on religious beliefs.
• The Kepler space telescope has discovered hundreds of new planets outside our own solar system, bringing the total to nearly 1,700 worlds.
• Thailand's anti-corruption agency is set to bring charges against PM Yingluck Shinawatra as called increase by anti-government protesters for her ouster.
• Australian airline Qantas will cut 5,000 jobs as the company streamlines to do battle with Virgin Atlantic.
• For the ultimate in smartphone security, Boeing's new Black Android phone will self-destruct if tampered with, and will be sold primarily to government agencies.