;)
The Commentariat -- Feb. 21, 2013
Al Jazeera: "A US senator has said that an estimated 4,700 people have been killed in America's secretive drone war, the first time a government official has offered a total number of fatalities caused by nearly a decade of drone strikes, local media reported. Republican senator Lindsey Graham, a staunch supporter of the drone raids, revealed the figure in a speech on Wednesday in his home state of South Carolina.... The figure cited by Graham matches the high end of a tally by the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism. It says the number killed in drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia is between 3,072 and 4,756." ...
... Rosie Gray of BuzzFeed: "... Graham wasn't citing an official government number when he put the amount of U.S. drone kills at 4,700, according to a spokesman. 'It appears that number was cited on cable networks such as MSNBC earlier this month,' said Graham's press secretary Kevin Bishop. He attached an MSNBC clip from early February in which the number is cited." CW: BTW, I am so glad Graham is an avid MSNBC watcher.
Stupid Republican Trick. Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "Despite new calls from the White House on Wednesday to enact a combination of tax increases and cuts to postpone the so-called sequester, the House is moving forward on a legislative agenda that assumes deep and arbitrary cuts to defense and domestic programs -- once considered unthinkable -- will remain in place through the end of the year." ...
... National Constitituion Center (whatever that is): "Congressional staffers face layoffs and furloughs in two weeks, but Congress members made sure their own paychecks were safe when passing the 'sequester law' in 2011." ...
... Ernesto Londoño & Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "The Defense Department officially notified its 800,000 civilian employees on Wednesday that they are likely to be placed on periods of unpaid leave, as the Obama administration scrambled to deal with congressionally mandated budget cuts set to kick in next week." ...
Boehner Puts Himself between a Rock & a Hard Place & a Rock & a Hard Place. Etc. Jonathan Chait: House Speaker John Boehner has promised one faction of his fractured party that he would let the sequester happen & has promised another faction that he will not let the sequester happen. At the same time, "Boehner's end goal, as explained in [a Wall Street Journal] op-ed, is to 'reform America's safety net and retirement-security programs.' He has no proposal to do so, however. And for good reason. Cutting Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid is really, really unpopular.... There seems to be no outcome for him that would let him attain even the minimal goal of keeping his job, let alone advancing some policy outcome he prefers." ...
... "The GOP's Astonishingly Bad Message." Byron York of Right Wing World the Washington Examiner pretty much agrees with Chait: "In a Wall Street Journal op-ed Wednesday, House Speaker John Boehner describes the upcoming sequester as a policy 'that threatens U.S. national security, thousands of jobs and more.' ... Boehner and the GOP are determined to allow the $1.2 trillion sequester go into effect unless President Obama and Democrats agree to replacement cuts, of an equal amount, that target entitlement spending. If that doesn't happen -- and it seems entirely unlikely -- the sequester goes into effect, with the GOP's blessing."
... ** Greg Sargent: a new study by Thomas Hungerford of the non-partisan Congressional Research Service "found: The single greatest driver of income inequality over a recent 15 year period was runaway income from capital gains and dividends. This finding is directly relevant to the current debate, because Obama and Democrats want to offset the sequester in part by closing loopholes enjoyed by the wealthy, such as the one that keeps tax rates on capital gains and dividends low.... Republicans are openly conceding the sequester will damage our national security, even as they refuse to avert it by agreeing to the closing of loopholes benefiting the wealthy.... The new study lend[s] more ammo to the Democratic argument that Republicans would sooner damage our military and economy than ask for a penny in new revenues from the very rich." ...
... Kevin Drum: "... there's very little evidence that low rates on capital gains have any effect on economic growth at all." ...
... I've simply never seen compelling evidence that tax increases significantly hurt growth, labor supply, jobs, wages, or that rate decreases provide much of a boost the other way. And when you factor in the benefits of the investment and services government provides -- something the literature tends to ignore --the hyper-responsiveness arguments are even less compelling. -- Economist Jared Bernstein, from an earlier article by Drum
Stupid Obama Tricks
Scott Shane & Mark Mazzetti of the New York Times: "The White House is refusing to share fully with Congress the legal opinions that justify targeted killings, while maneuvering to make sure its stance does not do anything to endanger the confirmation of John O. Brennan as C.I.A. director. Rather than agreeing to some Democratic senators' demands for full access to the classified legal memos..., Obama administration officials are negotiating with Republicans to provide more information on the lethal attack last year on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya.... The strategy is intended to produce a bipartisan majority vote for Mr. Brennan in the Senate Intelligence Committee without giving its members seven additional legal opinions on targeted killing sought by senators...."
NEW. Daily Kos: "While the largest protest yet against the Keystone XL pipeline massed in front of the White House, [and while Ed Henry, president of the White House Correspondents Association, was whining reporters couldn't get access to Obama's game with Tiger Woods,] President Obama was golfing in Florida with oil and gas company executives." CW: P.S. If you want to know why I don't list the author of this report, it is because s/he goes by a cutesy pseudonym. If Intertoobz writers want us to take them more seriously, they should come up with more serious names.
Craig Timberg & Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: "Start asking security experts which powerful Washington institutions have been penetrated by Chinese cyberspies, and this is the usual answer: almost all of them.... The rising wave of cyber-espionage has produced diplomatic backlash and talk of action against the Chinese, who have steadfastly denied involvement in hacking campaigns. A strategy paper released by the Obama administration Wednesday outlined new efforts to fight the theft of trade secrets." ...
... AP: "The Obama administration announced a broad new effort Wednesday to fight the growing theft of American trade secrets following fresh evidence linking cyberstealing to China's military." CW: sorry, I can't find a copy of the administration's strategy paper.
Julie Pace of the AP: "Facing heightened expectations from gay rights supporters, the Obama administration is considering urging the Supreme Court to overturn California's ban on gay marriage -- a move that could have a far-reaching impact on same-sex couples across the country. The administration has one week to file a friend-of-the-court brief with the justices." ...
... UPDATE. Greg Sargent: "In an interview with an ABC News affiliate in San Francisco, President Obama made his most extensive comments yet on the question of whether his administration will weigh in with a friend-of-the-court brief on the Proposition 8 case set to be heard by the Supreme Court."
Linda Greenhouse: "... striking down Section 5 [of the Voting Rights Act] would be a truly radical move, a march off a cliff of the [Supreme] Court's own making. Not so long ago, conservatives were attacking the Affordable Care Act's health-insurance mandate as 'unprecedented.' Invalidating a core federal civil rights law because the Supreme Court views it as outdated would be unprecedented indeed." But the Supremes are poised to do it anyway. "How can it be that the Voting Rights Act is in such peril? The trouble isn't really that I don't know the answer. It's that I'm afraid I do."
Ezra Klein: "... the rules of reportorial neutrality don't apply when it comes to the deficit. On this one issue, reporters are permitted to openly cheer a particular set of highly controversial policy solutions."
What the Hell is Regina Benjamin Doing? Don't know who she is? Mark Bittman of the New York Times had to look it up, too. Because, um, it would appear that whatever Benjamin is doing, it is not her job.
Gail Collins on the Postal Service's new clothing line. And other nonsense.
Juan Cole: "The Washington Post is surprised by the 'mysterious' high cost of gasoline in the US but does not mention in this article that the US government, at the insistence of the Israel lobbies, reduced Iran's petroleum exports by 40% in 2012 by strong-arming countries to leave it in the ground and not import it on threat of third-party US sanctions." Thanks to Kate M. for the link.
Stupid Senatorial Tricks
Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post: "Former senator Pete Domenici of New Mexico, a Republican, disclosed Wednesday that he has a son born in secrecy over 30 years ago.... Domenici said he kept the matter secret because the mother of the child,Michelle Laxalt, asked him to do so. Her father, Paul Laxalt, was himself a U.S. senator from Nevada from 1974 to 1987 and served as chairman of the Republican National Committee." The Los Angeles Times story by John Glionna, which is more extensive is here. ...
... Lauren Ashburn of Newsweek comments.
Raymond Hernandez & Sam Dolnick of the New York Times: Sen. Robert "Menendez [D-N.J.], a brawler who once wore a bulletproof vest to testify in a federal corruption case against a powerful political mentor, has dug in, determined to outlast his detractors. To fend off critics and rivals, he has hired an aggressive crisis team that includes a veteran of his previous battles, Matthew A. Miller. He has reached out to top Democrats -- including Harry Reid..., to reassure them that the worst is over.
Jason Horowitz of the Washington Post: "The long search for the Real John McCain continues.... Right now, like it or not, the five-term senator is stuck in 'get off my lawn' territory, lashing out at his friend-turned-foe Chuck Hagel...; incessantly tugging at what McCain is convinced is a coverup of the September attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya; lambasting the president; and railing against indiscriminate defense cuts. If hard-core conservatives feel burned by McCain’s resurgent reform spirit, the media that he once called his 'base' have essentially written him off as an angry and sour loser who once went through a maverick phase but has, in the words of 'Daily Show' host Jon Stewart, gone on a 'seven-year quest to negate every good thing he'd ever done.'" CW: In his litany of knocks against McCain, Horowitz would have done well to mention McCain's incomprehensible (& noisy) objection to gays serving openly in the military.
Laurie Goodstein of the New York Times: "A week before Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan is set to leave New York for Rome, where his name is being floated as a candidate for pope, he was questioned in Manhattan for three hours on Wednesday behind closed doors in a legal deposition concerning the sexual abuse of children by priests." CW: the abuse cases are a great reason for Dolan to become pope -- then he would be infallible & everything would be fine. ...
** Jane Kramer of the New Yorker writes a superb piece on Joe Ratzinger, Our Man from the Inquisition, & his mentor Karol Wojtyla, not to mention the near-certainty that moving forward, the Roman Catholic Church will continue to move backward. This is what you should read today. ...
... John Cassidy of the New Yorker says much the same, not so eloquently as Kramer, yet still worth a read.
Listening to Malcolm Gladwell's address at the University of Pennsylvania is not essential, but if you have time (I listened while I was doing rote work), you might be glad to hear him. I have to say he's got guts:
Local News
Lex Luthor Has Heart Transplant. Tia Mitchell of the Tampa Bay Times: Florida "Gov. Rick Scott said Wednesday he supports expanding Medicaid and funneling billions of federal dollars to Florida, a significant policy reversal that could bring health care coverage to 1 million additional Floridians. 'While the federal government is committed to pay 100 percent of the cost, I cannot, in good conscience, deny Floridians the needed access to health care,' Scott said at a hastily called news conference.... Tea party activists bitterly criticized Scott's declaration."
Congressional Races
Nate Silver: Republicans have a decent shot at regaining control of the Senate in 2014. "Twenty-one of the 35 seats up for election are now held by Democrats. Moreover, most the states that will be casting ballots for the Senate in 2014 are Republican leaning: 7 of the 21 Democratic-held seats are in states carried by the former Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, while just one of the Republican seats is in a state won by President Obama." Silver looks at the odds, state-by-state.
Right Wing World
Ed Kilgore: while touring a Texas gun factory, Sen. Ted Cruz (RTP-Texas) played the race card, claiming Democrats are skeert of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) because he's an intelligent Latino. "Cruz probably thinks this playing of the race card could create some sympathy for Rubio in unlikely places, while of course providing chapter 3,000 in the Tea Party saga of 'there are no racists except for liberals.' Besides, if the godless liberals are afraid of Rubio, just wait til they get a load of the junior Senator from Texas, a Cuban-American conservative who will say and do just about anything!" CW: I myself am skeert of both Rubio & Cruz because they are fact-averse winger ideologues who couldn't care less about ordinary Americans, & now I'm wondering if ethnic resentment helps explain why Cruz is such a nasty piece of work.
News Ledes
AP: "... this year's flu shot is doing a startlingly dismal job of protecting older people, the most vulnerable age group. The vaccine is proving only 9 percent effective in those 65 and older against the harsh strain of the flu that is predominant this season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday."
AP: "Drew Peterson -- the swaggering Chicago-area police officer who gained notoriety after his much-younger fourth wife vanished in 2007 -- was sentenced to 38 years in prison on Thursday for murdering his third wife. The sentence came moments after Peterson shocked the courtroom with a rare public outburst of anger as he proclaimed his innocence in the death of Kathleen Savio." The Chicago Tribune story is here.
AP: "Bullets were flying from a black Range Rover at a gray Maserati as the vehicles raced toward a red light on the Las Vegas Strip.... The Maserati ran the red light at one of the Strip's busiest intersections and smashed into a taxi that exploded into flames early Thursday, killing the two people inside. Three more cars and a utility truck collided at the crossroads..., leaving at least six more people injured as the Range Rover sped off in the predawn darkness.... Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie told reporters several hours after Thursday's attack that it was sparked by an argument in the valet area of the nearby Aria hotel-casino...."
Reuters: "Wal-Mart Stores Inc said on Thursday that U.S. sales weakness persisted into early February, as Americans absorbed the impact of higher payroll taxes and gasoline prices, along with slow tax refunds that put some spending on hold. The weakness came even as the world's largest retailer reported a bigger-than-expected profit increase, which was helped by a lower-than-anticipated tax rate. Wal-Mart also raised its dividend payout." CW: I'd like to know why "Wal-Mart said its effective tax rate for the fourth quarter was 27.7%, down from 30.9% last year." So far, I haven't been able to find out.
AP: "Parts of the nation's heartland awoke Thursday to more than half a foot of snow, as a large storm made its way eastward out of the Rockies, snarling traffic for morning commuters and allowing an army of children to trade pen and paper for shovel and sled, at least for a day. Winter storm warnings were issued from Colorado through Illinois, and many school districts cancelled classes ahead of time, in anticipation of the more than a foot of snow expected to fall in some places."
Reuters: "More Americans than expected filed new claims for jobless aid last week and consumer prices were flat in January, supporting the argument for the Federal Reserve to maintain its very accommodative monetary policy stance. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 20,000 to a seasonally adjusted 362,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday."
AP: "U.S. lawmakers confirmed on Wednesday that they visited an American man whose detention and long sentence in Cuba has hampered efforts to improve ties between the countries, but they gave no details on his condition or what was said. The seven-member delegation led by Sen. Patrick Leahy also met with Cuban President Raul Castro and other senior officials. Leahy said that the two sides 'discussed the continuing obstacles and the need to improve relations,' adding that a rapprochement 'is in the interest of both countries.'"
New York Times: "In a remarkable twist in the case of Oscar Pistorius, the double amputee track star accused of murdering his girlfriend, the South African police said on Thursday that the officer leading the investigation against the athlete is himself facing seven criminal charges of attempted murder." ...
... AP Update: "South African police appointed a new chief investigator Thursday in the Oscar Pistorius murder case, replacing a veteran detective after unsettling revelations that the officer was charged with seven counts of attempted murder."
Share Article
Reader Comments (22)
I was quite surprised that he decided to expand Medicaid and wondered about your take on it. I've read that there are "strings" - the state legislature will have to ok the expansion and renew the expansion in three years. Oh yeah. They got the admin to ok an exception: Medicaid is to be privatized. I guess you have a few pilots (privatization) being tested in some counties now and they aren't working so well.
Re: Scott's apparent reversal on Medicaid expansion.
There will be feints and false starts aplenty as the Red states get on board with the plan but over time most will follow Kasich and now Scott simply because there's money in it (and if Haley is correct about Florida, a large carrot for the private insurers, too, a cartel that has to remain close to Mr. Scott's craven heart).
No surprise here. Republicans are all about the money, and in Medicaid expansion there's oodles of it.
@Haley
Let's not forget that Rick Scott's
griftbusiness is healthcare. I'm sure he's identified ananglepublic benefit.http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/02/20/3244176_p2/fla-medicaid-privatization-plans.html
Sorry, I should have provided a link. This is only page 2 of the story in the Miami Herald. The first page didn't mention it at all and I'm not sure how links work when it is a two page story.
Wonder why gas prices are rising? Sweet Jeezus--we are so dumbed down here in the United States of Amnesia!
http://www.juancole.com/2013/02/gasoline-mysterious-blockade.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm
What's the matter with Brownbackistan? Sam Brownback
The Wichita Eagle does some great investigative journalism and points out all the holes in Brownback's fantasy statistics. A crystal clear case of Neocon bullshitting.
http://www.kansas.com/2013/02/16/2679638/governors-numbers-come-under-question.html
FYI, I'm in the process of begging the host of Reality Chex to alter its spam program, which -- as some of you know -- has become a real problem. In fact, of the six comments up today, two were spammed. I get no notification of the spammed comments, so I don't know they're there until I go in a check, which can be hours after the comments are posted.
I've asked the host to disable the spam program for my site altogether, & they've said they can't, but we're still working on it.
If they can't fix the spam program, I may have to institute a "membership" program, which I find, on principle, offensive. I haven't checked exactly how it works but I'm guessing "members" will have to provide me with at least an e-mail address. Some of you do that anyway, but I don't think anyone should have to do so if s/he doesn't want to. My intent is to provide a public forum, not a New York Times-style club with "trusted" & untrustworthy members.
Marie
Re: too tense; Marie; is "rote work" an essay already penned?
Re; bein' a Cath'o'lick; If you spend fifteen, maybe sixteen years influenced by the Catholic teaching both in your education and at home there's no real way of scrubbing off the gilt or the guilt. So I am a reformed catholic and like a dry drunk you just a catholic that doesn't partake.
Reading the two articles about the Rat in the hat reminds me of why I walked away; hell, ran away from the religion of my youth. When I was in the PC I spent time in South America and the hungry and sick huddled outside the gold encrusted churches in the big cities was a huge awakening. The Church is a corporation and it has lost its soul. We know here in the States that corporations are people but really corporations are soulless zombies. Too bad, again, think if the Church had remained true to its foundation.
What a pleasure to start my morning off by reading wonderfully written pieces on Popes (Kramer &Cassidy) and Kings, Queens and their off-spring (Hilary Mantel). Stripped of their robes, gowns and adornments these figures, like all humans, are merely flesh, bones and sinew revealing their pettiness and prettiness for all to see, but for so many seeing is believing in myth and magic, pomp and circumstance––– hanging on to those bits of sacred fragments as though its some kind of lifeline.
"The cardinal's scarlet clothes now lie folded and empty. They cannot be wasted. They will be cut up and become other garments. who knows where they will get to over the years? Your eye will be taken by a crimson cushion or a patch of red on a banner or ensign. you will see a glimpse of them in a man's inner sleeve or in the flash of a whore's petticoat."
From Wolf Hall––Hilary Mantel
@CW: At first, doubted that I'd last listening/watching the hour plus Malcolm Gladwell video. But, I did. It was impressive, provocative, and as you said, 'gutsy.' Thanks for posting it.
The Q&A portion was quite good as well. Wonder if he gets invited back to Penn! Let's hope so. The "...biting the hand that feeds you" remark could put it in jeopardy!
Hilary Mantel's speech on Princess Kate of Great Britain is here, in written & audio form.
Marie
More on the CIA today: Article in the New Republic on spooky sex inside the randy culture of the CIA. Let the agents fornicate to their heart's content, for Pete's sake, says the ex-CIA agent who wrote the piece, you must not equate infidelity within a relationship with fidelity to country––one has nothing to do with the other. It's tough out there in espionage territory and one needs to spread one's seed or legs in order to carry out those hard cases that one faces from time to time. Ha! Ain't nothin like a little snuggle under the sheets in between hunting down the bad guys. Nice work if you can get it?
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/112367/spy-sex-inside-randy-culture-cia
Marie,
Thanks for the link to the Kramer article on Ratzinger (or to use JJG's charmingly caustic construction, "the Rat in the Hat").
Kramer's summary of recent church history as a background to the rise of the RITH resolves into a question about the notion of deviance which had been used by the last two popes as a tool with which to prop up their personal views of Catholicism at the expense all other (deviant) religions and (equally deviant) critics from whatever point of the compass, including (and sometimes especially) from within the church itself.
Two interesting points come to mind. The first has to do with the concept of "deviant" theology. Like all authoritarian operations, the church, rather than providing a platform for discussion of differing points of view (through a dialectical exchange) which could serve to enlighten even as it strengthens, resorts to nullification (somewhat like the modern Calhounists in congress) which basically says we don't like what you're saying so one of us has to be made powerless, preferably you.
In the case of Hans Küng, the eminent philosopher/theologian, Ratzinger and John Paul II pulled his license to teach rather than confront his charges of the illegitimacy of the concept of papal infallibility. I guess if you're infallible you can tell everyone who disagrees with you to fuck off. Which is what they did to just about everyone, guaranteeing the same kind of echo chamber that enshrouds conservatives in this country, shutting out all ideas considered antithetical to the inner circle. It ain't workin' too well for the Church or the GOP, but that suits them both to a T.
A second point involves a personage no one ever discusses or even refers to anymore. The guy who preceded John Paul II's retrenchment to the dark ages, John Paul I.
Here's a guy who didn't go in for all the Vati-can-can trappings, preferring a simple Mass rather than the whole papal schmeer with the coronation and the funny hat, the gem encrusted crozier, and the gold plated underwear.
He also was beginning to question whether or not it was a good idea to ban contraception for Catholics. But most importantly, in the month he was pope, he was beginning to look into the skullduggery of the Vatican Bank's dealing wherein somebody somehow "misplaced" a quarter billion dollars in a deal with another bank close to Italian and Vatican power brokers. This was a big no-no. So when he was found conveniently dead, a month into his papacy, the Holy See made sure they elected a hard line conservative who could be trusted to keep the Vatican's secrets "for the good of the church".
So we got Wojtyła then Ratzinger.
Hey, isn't that why the RITH is stepping down? For the good of the church? (If they were Republicans it would be for PATRIOTISM and FREEEEDOOOOMMMM.)
The idea of some kind of internal assassination of John Paul I has long been pooh-poohed by Vatican apologists; the church itself has never even considered an investigation. But even if you don't buy that idea, would it surprise anyone?
Nope. But it would be the investigation they'd consider deviant. Not the possibility of a murdered pope or a church reduced to protecting child molesters.
Re:"CW: sorry, I can't find a copy of the administration's strategy paper." Hell,CW, ask the Chinese, they've got a copy.
Safari,
Thanks for a most illuminating post.
The story of statistical sleight of hand and outright lies in Brownbackistan regarding its application of education monies is an example of pure right-wing disregard for truth and facts and a shameless ability to twist anything--even the truth about how children are educated in Kansas--in order to feed their ideological fervor.
Plus, when a state's executive officer blithely lies about numbers that are easy to check out, it's hubris on parade. Like so many Republican pols, Brownback simply makes shit up to suit his agenda and his political narrative. Facts inconvenient and messy? Fuck that. Just lie. No one will check, and if they do, we'll bash them and call them dirty America-hating liberals.
So Brownback conveniently leaves $2 billion off the accounting of the previous administration in order to state that he has created that same amount in savings! Presto! Political magic made to order. 'Ol Sam, he really knows how to fix things.
Further into the article we learn how dangerous (and expensive) it is to let wingnut politicians wax moronic (and then vote) on subjects they know nothing about. So based on the word of a right-wing MSM hack--George Fucking Will--who knows fuck-all about education, the Kansas legislature adopts a proposal funded and put forth by a guy stupid enough to carry loaded weapons onto planes just because he's such and such of some online corporation. What? Seriously? And then this guy convinces them to adopt a number, of his own choice, to be the benchmark for spending in education. And they all nod their empty heads and say, "Hey, he runs a corporation. He must know a shitload more than us." How that also makes him an educational genius is beyond me, but hey, George Fucking Will like him so he must be okay, so let's all vote for this retarded plan.
And this is how legislatin' gets done in right-wing world. I realize there are plenty of blue states whose legislatin' could use some improvement, but this sort of thing is beyond the pale.
But then Brownback takes a made up number by a gun totin' whacko who has zero credibility, and uses it to strangle education officials in order to force the legislature to reduce taxes AND diminish the quality of education 'cause everyone knows that the stupider you are, the more poorly educated you are, the less informed you are, the more likely you are to vote Republican.
Sound crazy?
Not in right-wing America.
Found Admin strategy report on a UK site. Long report haven't read it yet. http://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/605299/tade-secrets-022013.pdf
UK site provides overview. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/02/21/us_revamped_cyber_strategy/print.html
Just listened to the Gladwell talk: WOW!---and THANK YOU, MARIE, for finding and posting this!!!!
If ever someone would like a definition of "speaking truth to power," please refer them to this talk!
Those who haven't listened, you owe it to yourselves to carve out an hour; and I would recommend NOT doing some rote task while listening.
For those who would prefer to watch on You Tube, I believe this is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWaPXzTDEDw&feature=player_embedded
JJG,
You're a funny guy...
@ Kate Madison: Juan Cole says gas price is high because US gov't forced 40% reduction in sales of Iranian crude in 2012. Yet the price of west Texas intermediate was in 2010,$79.39/bbl. In 2011, $94.87/bbl. In 2012, $94.11/bbl. In January, $94.76. Do you see any rise in the price of crude? The highest monthly price of oil in 2011 was $110/bbl, in 2012 $106/bbl.
@akhilleus: Brownback's crime isn't omitting $2B from the previous administration's 2010 budget but adding to it. He did so to claim that his administration was more...economical? efficient?....than the previous admin. Instead of showing a budget that had grown from $14.04B to $14.39B he claimed that the previous number was $16B. Is there anything wrong in adopting a target of 65% of education revenue to be spent on teaching as defined by federal criteria? The crime is in substituting a fabricated number of 54% for the department's 61.9%. Brownback's admin has actually increased the education budget in every year, from 2010's $5.2B to $5.6B in 2011, & $6.0B in 2012. Accounting is like statistics in that creative people are apt to play with numbers to improve their image. Like taking employees pension payments into general revenue to allow tax reductions or breaks to business. Most are just more intelligent about it than Brownback.
For what it may or may not be worth, I just got a warning that logging on to this site [i.e., RealityChex] may be harmful to my computer.
What nobody seems to take note of is that the two Republican hispanics--Rubio & Cruz--are both Cuban. Gusanos, my Mexican friends say.