Quite a long time ago, I had my very first full-time job in the meat department of a supermarket. When we had chickens on sale, there were times that there were crates of chickens left over after the sale. We froze them. Then, when they went on sale again, we defrosted them. I recall one time when the department manager was running water over the frozen chickens to defrost them faster, and the word came down from the store office that the big boss had walked into the store. There followed a Marx Brothers-like dash to get the chickens out of the running water and onto trays.
Because freezing and defrosting the chickens and then selling them as fresh was illegal. The game was that everybody knew this was done, but it had to be done in the dark.
Around the same time, a friend who was a cook in an upscale restaurant was visiting, and he was working the grill in our backyard. He was describing in Bourdain fashion the horrors that go on in the kitchen in a fancy restaurant. He had just described how, if a piece of meat fell on the floor, the cook would pick it up, brush it off, throw it on the stovetop for another minute, and then serve it. As he finished the story, the steak he was grilling dropped to the ground. Looking just a tad abashed, he picked it up, brushed it off, and threw it back on the grill.
In a non-food related area, I was volunteering at my daughter's elementary school library. The librarian was pulling books from the shelf and deleting them from the school's records. I am sure I asked what would happen to them next, and she told me a story about how they would be stored in an attic in an administration building. After many later years working in school and public libraries, I can assure you they were not being stored. They were being discarded. When you work in a library, you don't tell the patrons (or the parents) that books are being thrown out.
If you look back on your various jobs and careers, most of you will recall lies you were told, and lies you told. Not too long ago, in congressional testimony under oath, White House communications director Hope Hicks testified that she had told "white lies" for the president. The very president who on Day One made his press secretary tell us that "This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration... period." And then there are the convenient lapses of memory by Jefferson Beauregard Sessions during his confirmation hearing. All under the watchful -- you might say, paranoid -- eyes of the liar-in-chief.
We once lived in a country wherein the business philosophy was "caveat emptor" -- let the buyer beware. Buyers were taken for such a horrific ride that they rebelled, and laws were passed protecting them from harmful lies. Of course, it did not take long for capitalists to fight back for the right to do whatever the hell they please, and we have had ups and downs in the area of consumer protection. These days, Congress and Trump's swamp creatures are busy dismantling consumer protections and the Supremes are solidly behind the big bucks. We seem to have returned to the carnival days of never give a sucker an even break.
In today's atmosphere of cynicism, it is surprising how naive we all continue to be. We are watching Donald Trump and his cronies display in full screen the flagrant corruption and rampant lies of business in America. This is the corruption of the real estate industry, and of the oil industry, and big pharma, ad nauseum. From Bill Gates to the Kochs, the rich got that way by screwing others and telling us how lucky we are to have the opportunity to be screwed.
How do they get away with it? They have learned how to frame their lies in a way that appeals to us. Republicans won congress back in 2014 by well capitalized lies about Obamacare. The Supremes, in Citizens United, gave their blessing to big lies told with the money of big donors. Political ads tell more brazen lies than the most egregious drug commercial, and they work.
Diversion is the other tactic that keeps us fish biting through misdirection. The magic is in making the mark look the other way while their pocket is being picked. I know some very fine and caring Democrats who get rabid over food stamp cheats. While there are going to be a few slick characters who don't need food stamps but have found a way to receive them, this is mostly a myth that goes way back to Reagan's food stamp queen driving up to the welfare office in her Cadillac. The woman in the grocery store line buying that steak may have eaten pasta and beans for a week to afford that treat, and very likely lives a life of worry over making ends meet.
On the other hand, if a wealthy businessman pays no taxes you can be sure it will be painted as well deserved, because he contributes so much to the economy. The worker who earns $20,000 a year? Not so much.
I had a conversation with a guy repairing my washing machine a few years ago. We were having an innocent, non-political chat about retirement and being able to afford it, and he went off on welfare cheats. I said I was far more concerned about the billionaires that were cheating us via the government. And he replied: "Yeah, but you can't do anything about them."
So our entire economic system comes down to getting abused by your boss and coming home and kicking the dog. It is all about feeling so helpless to fight the corrupt powerful that we are willing dupes in the misdirection that causes us to turn on those with less than us.
These days, the Trump swamp has stunk so much that it has even magnified the odors coming from Congress. Paul Ryan's lies about health care and Trump's lies about tax cuts just may be what creates the prism that separates the lies from the reality. It may not be so far between lies about inaugural crowd size to stealing those massive tax cuts. Taking away consumer financial protections and affordable health care might serve to focus us more on the real issues than the diversions. The outcomes of recent special elections may be the proof that we are waking up to the big con that has been perpetrated on us for far too long.
Today the liar-in-chief is rethinking his promise of just yesterday to sign the budget and keep the government running. I heard everyone from Paul Ryan to Mick Mulvaney were surprised. I try not to dwell on the creep's tweets, but I heard he was complaining that the Dems have abandoned the Dreamers and he hasn't gotten the full amount for his damned wall. It would take another entire blog to unpack that load of crap. As I recall though, it was the orange criminal himself who took DACA away from the Dreamers, and Mitch McConnell who has been refusing to bring it up for a vote in the Senate. And we keep hearing about Trump fulfilling his promise to build the wall, but he fails to mention who he said was going to pay for it.... Lies and cons.
November is coming, and I hear that this year it is going to be swamp-draining season, in Washington and throughout the country.
Showing posts with label Kochs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kochs. Show all posts
Friday, March 23, 2018
Thursday, October 13, 2016
Nikki Haley's Next Job
I wasn't blown away by Hurricane Matthew last week. But here's what did blow me away:
Nikki Haley was in control right from the beginning. She spoke with authority, and did not seem to be considering anything other than the safety of the people of South Carolina.
She did not hesitate to ask for federal emergency funds.
As I headed out on Wednesday morning, ahead of the evacuation deadline, I noted rows of port-o-potties at rest areas to handle (pardon the pun) the overflow. I saw police and other emergency vehicles out and ready. And the next day I was not surprised to hear that the I-26 reversal went smoothly.
There were shelters open, lots of them, and frequent announcements made as to where to go for shelter, what to bring, how to deal with pets. There were phone numbers for people who needed answers or encountered problems, for anything from finding shelter to price gouging.
While I was hiding out, Nikki Haley was making frequent announcements that were broadcast on TV and radio, with her department heads addressing status and progress. She never failed to thank those who were working hard to protect us. She took as long as was needed to keep us informed. And I believed that the efforts to restore us to normalcy would proceed efficiently.
On the way home on Sunday I saw that road crews had indeed been out taking trees and debris off the roads. There were police at stop lights that were not working.
To sum it all up, Nikki Haley can kick butt when it comes to emergencies.
Unfortunately, when she is able to slow down, she begins to make all those political decisions that hurt the people of South Carolina. She puts money in the pockets of the rich, individuals and corporations, as she fights to deny the poor medical insurance and food stamps. She sticks her government nose into the business of legislating women's reproductive rights and wastes taxpayer dollars to create hurdles to voting rights. Despite the tragic numbers of gun fatalities, she stands firmly against any gun legislation that might save an innocent life.
In other words, when Nikki Haley has the opportunity to philosophize she makes big mistakes that hurt many people. She shadows the politics of power. She aligns herself with the wealthy and convinces herself that her reasons are solid.
So, exactly a year after the 2015 floods, the road to Johns Island was again flooded, as I am sure many other roads were flooded, because no action had been taken after the crisis to prevent the problem from repeating itself. We still have not raised the gasoline tax in order to repair roads and bridges, even though corporations who have been given sweet deals to move here are pulling the plug, quite possibly because of the disgraceful infrastructure. And then there are corporations who won't come here because of the low standard of education.
But Nikki sees herself a future national treasure, much as Jim duh-Mint did, and just as Tim Scott imagines. When she is able, she will always align herself with the right-wing, because that is where the money and power lie.
What is to be done about this waste of Nikki's talent? I propose that she be given a job in the Clinton administration where she doesn't have to profess a philosophy of government, but just simply has a well-defined job to do. Something where she has already proven her skills. I am thinking head of FEMA.
Nikki Haley was in control right from the beginning. She spoke with authority, and did not seem to be considering anything other than the safety of the people of South Carolina.
She did not hesitate to ask for federal emergency funds.
As I headed out on Wednesday morning, ahead of the evacuation deadline, I noted rows of port-o-potties at rest areas to handle (pardon the pun) the overflow. I saw police and other emergency vehicles out and ready. And the next day I was not surprised to hear that the I-26 reversal went smoothly.
There were shelters open, lots of them, and frequent announcements made as to where to go for shelter, what to bring, how to deal with pets. There were phone numbers for people who needed answers or encountered problems, for anything from finding shelter to price gouging.
While I was hiding out, Nikki Haley was making frequent announcements that were broadcast on TV and radio, with her department heads addressing status and progress. She never failed to thank those who were working hard to protect us. She took as long as was needed to keep us informed. And I believed that the efforts to restore us to normalcy would proceed efficiently.
On the way home on Sunday I saw that road crews had indeed been out taking trees and debris off the roads. There were police at stop lights that were not working.
To sum it all up, Nikki Haley can kick butt when it comes to emergencies.
Unfortunately, when she is able to slow down, she begins to make all those political decisions that hurt the people of South Carolina. She puts money in the pockets of the rich, individuals and corporations, as she fights to deny the poor medical insurance and food stamps. She sticks her government nose into the business of legislating women's reproductive rights and wastes taxpayer dollars to create hurdles to voting rights. Despite the tragic numbers of gun fatalities, she stands firmly against any gun legislation that might save an innocent life.
In other words, when Nikki Haley has the opportunity to philosophize she makes big mistakes that hurt many people. She shadows the politics of power. She aligns herself with the wealthy and convinces herself that her reasons are solid.
So, exactly a year after the 2015 floods, the road to Johns Island was again flooded, as I am sure many other roads were flooded, because no action had been taken after the crisis to prevent the problem from repeating itself. We still have not raised the gasoline tax in order to repair roads and bridges, even though corporations who have been given sweet deals to move here are pulling the plug, quite possibly because of the disgraceful infrastructure. And then there are corporations who won't come here because of the low standard of education.
But Nikki sees herself a future national treasure, much as Jim duh-Mint did, and just as Tim Scott imagines. When she is able, she will always align herself with the right-wing, because that is where the money and power lie.
What is to be done about this waste of Nikki's talent? I propose that she be given a job in the Clinton administration where she doesn't have to profess a philosophy of government, but just simply has a well-defined job to do. Something where she has already proven her skills. I am thinking head of FEMA.
Friday, February 26, 2016
It's Not About Us -- Yet
We Dems worry a lot. I know I have been all but losing sleep over the idiots who are running for president on the republican side. Who hasn't, really? But yesterday I (accidentally) slipped into the shoes of a republican voter, and suddenly all this insanity became clear.
Imagine that you have over the past thirty-plus years, after having been knocked around by everything from oil embargoes and gas shortages to war, unemployment, underemployment, unaffordable housing, loss of health insurance, and on and on. Overwhelmed?
Now suppose that you had a work ethic that taught you that with a hard day's work you would be paid fairly, you would be able to raise your children in health and comfort and with the potential for an even better future, and that you would be able to retire someday without worry, to enjoy whatever years remain.
And then think about how little free time most people have. And how exhausted they all are. And worried. And disappointed -- no, angry.
Imagine that there are people who have had wealth and power, and imagine that they are angry too. They are angry because they feel under constant threat of losing that power, and resent that they may not be allowed to create more wealth, with no restrictions. It only took a few evil geniuses to convince others that there are ways to "persuade" the American people that this small group is entitled to all that wealth and power.
From Carnegie to Rockefeller to the Kochs to Art Pope, that has been the goal. They formed clubs and foundations and think tanks where the best and the brightest could strategize. They threw many millions of dollars into these groups and into every aspect of our lives where they could influence us with their newspeak, where freedom really means the freedom of the wealthy to pillage and plunder, but we learn that it means the freedom to be angry at those who might take our jobs. Liberty means corporations enjoy no regulations, no taxes, no obligations, but we believe it means Andy Griffith's "America." Corporations are not just "job creators," but, so we are told, are people.
These great greedy minds have not only figured out how to turn themselves into heroes, but also how to focus our rage away from the oligarchs to those of us who are in their way, and those who are disposable. They have bought much of the media and threatened the rest of it. They have dazzled us with distractions, celebrities and electronic toys, convinced us that we need whatever they have to sell and raised the cost of living so that we are never able to feel secure and end up living in a constant state of worry. We are too exhausted to look at the problem and work at the best solution, and we are all too happy to grab at the solution they have fed us.
This is the message of the plutocrats: the answer to our problems is to rage at the minorities; the answer is to control the behavior of those whose values are different than ours; the answer is to give it up to the leaders who will carry out our rage for us.
In other words, give the power to the likes of Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, all the others that have occupied the clown car.
One Trump supporter said it feels like giving the finger to the government.
And who is the government? These days the government is the Congress that has popularity ratings lower than syphilis. The guys whose only goal over the past eight years was to block Obama. The ones who shut down the government in an attempt to deny people health care. On some level republican voters know this, but this is not the message they keep hearing.
Republicans in America know they are angry. They know they are angry at government. They know their Congress has done nothing for them. They feel the anger, but they don't know the details. So they blame Obama and they blame "government." Basically, they are blaming exactly who they have been told to blame for decades. Imagine Ted Cruz' surprise to find out that he is the government he has been telling people to hate.
I once had a conversation with someone as he repaired my washing machine. It circled around money: repairing rather than buying a new machine, pinching pennies after retiring, working as long as possible. And at one point he exclaimed about people on food stamps who are ripping us off. I countered that there are so few, and it is so much less than the corporations that are stealing from us.
His answer: "But we can't do anything about them."
Our republican friends and neighbors know things aren't right. And they are listening to the loudest voices in the room who are happy to give a shape to their anger. Under the guidance of Kochs et al, the Rubios and Cruzes point the finger at Obama, as they have for eight years.
But what is interesting, is that so many of those republican voters know that there is something that doesn't smell right about the Rubios and Cruzes either. They have all too well internalized the message that government is bad and politicians should not be trusted. Trump supporters may not know that Trump has maximized his wealth by ripping off the government, or they may just give him kudos for succeeding at it. What they do know is that Trump is not government and he is not a politician. They know that he is angry at everybody, except for them, because he has told them he loves them.
So that is my little foray into the minds of the republican voters. Their support of Trump and the other idiots isn't about us just yet. And hopefully Bernie and Hillary will be well equipped to offer the less crazy republicans a better choice come November. And we have to remind ourselves that turning out to vote for one or another of the republican clown car isn't really about us. Just yet.
Imagine that you have over the past thirty-plus years, after having been knocked around by everything from oil embargoes and gas shortages to war, unemployment, underemployment, unaffordable housing, loss of health insurance, and on and on. Overwhelmed?
Now suppose that you had a work ethic that taught you that with a hard day's work you would be paid fairly, you would be able to raise your children in health and comfort and with the potential for an even better future, and that you would be able to retire someday without worry, to enjoy whatever years remain.
And then think about how little free time most people have. And how exhausted they all are. And worried. And disappointed -- no, angry.
Imagine that there are people who have had wealth and power, and imagine that they are angry too. They are angry because they feel under constant threat of losing that power, and resent that they may not be allowed to create more wealth, with no restrictions. It only took a few evil geniuses to convince others that there are ways to "persuade" the American people that this small group is entitled to all that wealth and power.
From Carnegie to Rockefeller to the Kochs to Art Pope, that has been the goal. They formed clubs and foundations and think tanks where the best and the brightest could strategize. They threw many millions of dollars into these groups and into every aspect of our lives where they could influence us with their newspeak, where freedom really means the freedom of the wealthy to pillage and plunder, but we learn that it means the freedom to be angry at those who might take our jobs. Liberty means corporations enjoy no regulations, no taxes, no obligations, but we believe it means Andy Griffith's "America." Corporations are not just "job creators," but, so we are told, are people.
These great greedy minds have not only figured out how to turn themselves into heroes, but also how to focus our rage away from the oligarchs to those of us who are in their way, and those who are disposable. They have bought much of the media and threatened the rest of it. They have dazzled us with distractions, celebrities and electronic toys, convinced us that we need whatever they have to sell and raised the cost of living so that we are never able to feel secure and end up living in a constant state of worry. We are too exhausted to look at the problem and work at the best solution, and we are all too happy to grab at the solution they have fed us.
This is the message of the plutocrats: the answer to our problems is to rage at the minorities; the answer is to control the behavior of those whose values are different than ours; the answer is to give it up to the leaders who will carry out our rage for us.
In other words, give the power to the likes of Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, all the others that have occupied the clown car.
One Trump supporter said it feels like giving the finger to the government.
And who is the government? These days the government is the Congress that has popularity ratings lower than syphilis. The guys whose only goal over the past eight years was to block Obama. The ones who shut down the government in an attempt to deny people health care. On some level republican voters know this, but this is not the message they keep hearing.
Republicans in America know they are angry. They know they are angry at government. They know their Congress has done nothing for them. They feel the anger, but they don't know the details. So they blame Obama and they blame "government." Basically, they are blaming exactly who they have been told to blame for decades. Imagine Ted Cruz' surprise to find out that he is the government he has been telling people to hate.
I once had a conversation with someone as he repaired my washing machine. It circled around money: repairing rather than buying a new machine, pinching pennies after retiring, working as long as possible. And at one point he exclaimed about people on food stamps who are ripping us off. I countered that there are so few, and it is so much less than the corporations that are stealing from us.
His answer: "But we can't do anything about them."
Our republican friends and neighbors know things aren't right. And they are listening to the loudest voices in the room who are happy to give a shape to their anger. Under the guidance of Kochs et al, the Rubios and Cruzes point the finger at Obama, as they have for eight years.
But what is interesting, is that so many of those republican voters know that there is something that doesn't smell right about the Rubios and Cruzes either. They have all too well internalized the message that government is bad and politicians should not be trusted. Trump supporters may not know that Trump has maximized his wealth by ripping off the government, or they may just give him kudos for succeeding at it. What they do know is that Trump is not government and he is not a politician. They know that he is angry at everybody, except for them, because he has told them he loves them.
So that is my little foray into the minds of the republican voters. Their support of Trump and the other idiots isn't about us just yet. And hopefully Bernie and Hillary will be well equipped to offer the less crazy republicans a better choice come November. And we have to remind ourselves that turning out to vote for one or another of the republican clown car isn't really about us. Just yet.
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
It's Arithmetic
I heard today that the geniuses in Columbia might agree to raise the state minimum wage to $10 an hour, but not $15. Not that that would happen for a few years anyway, and $10 an hour today is still a joke. I can't imagine how a person can assume someone can live with health and dignity on $10 an hour. I have to assume that it is the consequences of growing up in a state where the schools are so poor that they have graduated without math skills.
And nobody has sat them down to teach it to them.
When my daughter turned sixteen, she just couldn't understand how I could be so mean as to not get her a car. One afternoon, I told her and my thirteen-year-old son to come to the kitchen table with a pencil and paper. Then I told them to write this down... and proceeded to list all our monthly bills. Then we listed my monthly income. Before we had a chance to sum things up, my daughter threw down the pencil and ran out of the room. Because the facts were tough. We couldn't afford to get her a car.
Now our legislators are like the folks at MacDonald's that kindly wrote up a budget for their employees to follow, including helpful hints like, "get a second job." They can't possibly assume that a person can live on $10 an hour unless, of course, they haven't done the math. Because it would be just too cruel for these good Christian folks to know that people would have to live with inadequate housing, food, and heat, much less poor schools and little or no health care. If they had to sit in their well heated (and air conditioned) offices up in the Statehouse, and try to figure out with a pencil and paper how to pay for the battered old car that needs a repair and requires insurance so that they can get to work (or to the doctor's office or to school to meet with a teacher), they would certainly not shrug and say that all an employer should have to pay their employees is $10 an hour.
We hear a lot from the republican side of reality about whiners. Well, for an employer to whine about having to pay an employee a living wage just seems unconscionable. I read somewhere recently that if an employer can't afford to pay a living wage, they had no business owning a business. You can't be very good at what you do if you can't figure out how to do it without paying slave wages.
And yet we hear -- and have been hearing for many decades now -- about how paying people a living wage will cause the economy to collapse. Meanwhile, folks like those who head up Walmart and MacDonald's are perfectly happy making millions of dollars and allowing the government to feed employees that live in poverty. For that matter, the Trumps and the Kochs are delighted to take money from the government any way they can. Have done for decades. Apparently they believe that because they have wealth the government should give them more wealth.
And apparently, voters who are trying to stretch their dollars to cover college and home repairs and maybe a vacation, also believe that the Kochs and Trumps deserve that money more than those living on $7.25 an hour. Because they keeping electing jackasses who keep whining about helping low wage workers, who refuse to make employers do the right thing by paying them a living wage, and who keep giving away the store to the largest and wealthiest among us.
Bill Clinton said it in 2012, and we need to apply it to everything every politician tries to tell us:
It's about arithmetic, and it's about values.
And nobody has sat them down to teach it to them.
When my daughter turned sixteen, she just couldn't understand how I could be so mean as to not get her a car. One afternoon, I told her and my thirteen-year-old son to come to the kitchen table with a pencil and paper. Then I told them to write this down... and proceeded to list all our monthly bills. Then we listed my monthly income. Before we had a chance to sum things up, my daughter threw down the pencil and ran out of the room. Because the facts were tough. We couldn't afford to get her a car.
Now our legislators are like the folks at MacDonald's that kindly wrote up a budget for their employees to follow, including helpful hints like, "get a second job." They can't possibly assume that a person can live on $10 an hour unless, of course, they haven't done the math. Because it would be just too cruel for these good Christian folks to know that people would have to live with inadequate housing, food, and heat, much less poor schools and little or no health care. If they had to sit in their well heated (and air conditioned) offices up in the Statehouse, and try to figure out with a pencil and paper how to pay for the battered old car that needs a repair and requires insurance so that they can get to work (or to the doctor's office or to school to meet with a teacher), they would certainly not shrug and say that all an employer should have to pay their employees is $10 an hour.
We hear a lot from the republican side of reality about whiners. Well, for an employer to whine about having to pay an employee a living wage just seems unconscionable. I read somewhere recently that if an employer can't afford to pay a living wage, they had no business owning a business. You can't be very good at what you do if you can't figure out how to do it without paying slave wages.
And yet we hear -- and have been hearing for many decades now -- about how paying people a living wage will cause the economy to collapse. Meanwhile, folks like those who head up Walmart and MacDonald's are perfectly happy making millions of dollars and allowing the government to feed employees that live in poverty. For that matter, the Trumps and the Kochs are delighted to take money from the government any way they can. Have done for decades. Apparently they believe that because they have wealth the government should give them more wealth.
And apparently, voters who are trying to stretch their dollars to cover college and home repairs and maybe a vacation, also believe that the Kochs and Trumps deserve that money more than those living on $7.25 an hour. Because they keeping electing jackasses who keep whining about helping low wage workers, who refuse to make employers do the right thing by paying them a living wage, and who keep giving away the store to the largest and wealthiest among us.
Bill Clinton said it in 2012, and we need to apply it to everything every politician tries to tell us:
It's about arithmetic, and it's about values.
Friday, May 1, 2015
Gas Tax for SC? Hell No, Say Kochs
You may not be surprised to find that the Kochs and their right wing organization, Americans for Prosperity, don't think we South Carolinians should be funding infrastructure projects. Not that the roads and bridges don't desperately need improvement. The Kochs just don't think tax dollars should pay for it.
And their campaign to stick their nose in our business in order to prevent this increase in the gas tax is all over the place. When I googled Americans for Prosperity and SC gas tax, the first four websites were by AFP, with the very first one headed: South Carolina Opposes Proposed Gas Hike. Well, hold on a minute -- that sounds like the "Americans are against Obamacare" gambit. And it is. The article, full of lies and blazing rhetoric, states in no uncertain terms that even a five cent increase would kill "nearly 1,000 jobs," destroy investment and small businesses, and drive every one of us South Carolinians into poverty and ruin.
If only we were able to tell the truth with as much passion.
In fact, South Carolina has come together in a way that is rarely seen, in agreement that our roads and bridges need attention immediately. With the lowest gas prices in years -- and before the Kochs and their ilk are able to figure out how to get them back up over $3 a gallon -- now is the ideal time to raise the tax without doing economic damage.
But as far as the Kochs are concerned, money that goes to pay taxes is money that isn't going into their pockets.
So they have used their great brains and deep pockets to do an all-out ad campaign, far beyond the big google website manipulation.
In a well-publicized publicity stunt in Greenville and Summerville, Americans for Prosperity covered the federal and state gas tax for anyone lining up to buy tax-free gas. And line up they did. Here's a situation where people just didn't know they couldn't afford to pay tax on gas until they found out how much it cost when the taxes were deducted. Thanks to alerts from AFP, the media was all over it. Brilliant. If only they could use these great minds to educate our kids. (Wait a minute, they are: they are "generously" funding our South Carolina colleges in order to have free reign to indoctrinate students on right-wing economic dogma.)
But while all the attention is on the gas tax, let's not imagine they would forget public transportation. Lies about your tax dollars being spent frivolously, loud lies, repeated lies.
Americans for Prosperity, American Legislative Exchange Council (A.L.E.C. -- which calls itself "non-partisan"), State Policy Network, and who knows how many other fronts for right-wing, anti-American, pro-corporate interests, especially the richest of the rich, the Kochs and Koch Industries.
Why, we wonder, would the wealthiest pair in the world, be so focused on each and every attempt we make to improve our communities by raising a tax? For gods' sake, this isn't even an income tax, some right wingnuts might even call it a "fair" tax.
The answer has to do with strangling government. The more our infrastructure crumbles, the more our schools fail, the more we risk bankruptcy and poor health because our health care system has failed, the more secure will be the Kochs. Not because they need the money. What they need is the power. They know that if we ever figure out their game, our government will begin to regulate their enormous excesses. So keep making the government evil, by pointing out not the services we need, but that we are paying to get government services. Cut those taxes, make the services suffer, and then tell us how bad government really is.
They are expert in engendering fear, but also holding the carrot out in front of us, as they did with the tax-free gas gimmick.
But here in Charleston, and I'm sure in other communities, our progressive leaders are working just as hard to educate the public by pointing out the lies.
You can help by getting on social media and spreading the truth. Share and retweet articles that point out the fallacies and the damage being done by Americans for Prosperity. Lies that assert that we all will suffer if gas goes up a nickel a gallon, that CARTA is spending your tax dollars frivolously, that all of South Carolina is against a gas tax. Call bullshit on these creeps.
And their campaign to stick their nose in our business in order to prevent this increase in the gas tax is all over the place. When I googled Americans for Prosperity and SC gas tax, the first four websites were by AFP, with the very first one headed: South Carolina Opposes Proposed Gas Hike. Well, hold on a minute -- that sounds like the "Americans are against Obamacare" gambit. And it is. The article, full of lies and blazing rhetoric, states in no uncertain terms that even a five cent increase would kill "nearly 1,000 jobs," destroy investment and small businesses, and drive every one of us South Carolinians into poverty and ruin.
If only we were able to tell the truth with as much passion.
In fact, South Carolina has come together in a way that is rarely seen, in agreement that our roads and bridges need attention immediately. With the lowest gas prices in years -- and before the Kochs and their ilk are able to figure out how to get them back up over $3 a gallon -- now is the ideal time to raise the tax without doing economic damage.
But as far as the Kochs are concerned, money that goes to pay taxes is money that isn't going into their pockets.
So they have used their great brains and deep pockets to do an all-out ad campaign, far beyond the big google website manipulation.
In a well-publicized publicity stunt in Greenville and Summerville, Americans for Prosperity covered the federal and state gas tax for anyone lining up to buy tax-free gas. And line up they did. Here's a situation where people just didn't know they couldn't afford to pay tax on gas until they found out how much it cost when the taxes were deducted. Thanks to alerts from AFP, the media was all over it. Brilliant. If only they could use these great minds to educate our kids. (Wait a minute, they are: they are "generously" funding our South Carolina colleges in order to have free reign to indoctrinate students on right-wing economic dogma.)
But while all the attention is on the gas tax, let's not imagine they would forget public transportation. Lies about your tax dollars being spent frivolously, loud lies, repeated lies.
Americans for Prosperity, American Legislative Exchange Council (A.L.E.C. -- which calls itself "non-partisan"), State Policy Network, and who knows how many other fronts for right-wing, anti-American, pro-corporate interests, especially the richest of the rich, the Kochs and Koch Industries.
Why, we wonder, would the wealthiest pair in the world, be so focused on each and every attempt we make to improve our communities by raising a tax? For gods' sake, this isn't even an income tax, some right wingnuts might even call it a "fair" tax.
The answer has to do with strangling government. The more our infrastructure crumbles, the more our schools fail, the more we risk bankruptcy and poor health because our health care system has failed, the more secure will be the Kochs. Not because they need the money. What they need is the power. They know that if we ever figure out their game, our government will begin to regulate their enormous excesses. So keep making the government evil, by pointing out not the services we need, but that we are paying to get government services. Cut those taxes, make the services suffer, and then tell us how bad government really is.
They are expert in engendering fear, but also holding the carrot out in front of us, as they did with the tax-free gas gimmick.
But here in Charleston, and I'm sure in other communities, our progressive leaders are working just as hard to educate the public by pointing out the lies.
You can help by getting on social media and spreading the truth. Share and retweet articles that point out the fallacies and the damage being done by Americans for Prosperity. Lies that assert that we all will suffer if gas goes up a nickel a gallon, that CARTA is spending your tax dollars frivolously, that all of South Carolina is against a gas tax. Call bullshit on these creeps.
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Awesome in North Carolina
I know, I couldn't wait to get away from SC politics, so here I am, in North Carolina. Well, it couldn't be helped. It's a timeshare week that I hoped to rent to help cover my recent blue state getaway, and since I couldn't rent it I figured I'd head on out to Atlantic Beach and see how much it's changed in five years.
My resort is still fairly nice, hasn't changed much, and it's lovely to have the beach a short walk away. The skinny little island, however, is just sad. It's been way too wet lately, and the standing water and drizzle combined with the fact that ugly three-story tall houses two feet away from other three-story tall houses have been stuck any wherever they barely fit make it seem that the whole thing is just going to sink fairly soon. I walked the main drag to the causeway yesterday and it's so trashy it's depressing. It pretty much seemed like a testament to greed and refusal to care. After my time at the beautiful beach towns in Rhode Island, I couldn't have imagined a greater contrast.
But today I decided to head out to neighboring Morehead City to find Sugarloaf Bakery. Despite my poor sense of direction, my GPS got me there with no problem. Traffic was light and I took a careful u-turn and parked in front of the tiny building, and looked up to see a cop car with lights flashing pull up behind me. The 30-40-ish African American officer took a few seconds to check out my out-of-state plate and no doubt my blatantly liberal bumper stickers.
I couldn't figure out what I might have done wrong, so when the cop walked over and I asked "What did I do?" I was very obviously not faking it. I had taken a u-turn under a small unobtrusive sign that said "No U-turns." I apologized and explained that I was looking for the bakery and hadn't been here before. He looked up at the bakery and commented, "They have great cheesecake. The best in the state." And then he explained to me about the u-turns and told me -- nicely -- not to do it again. And left.
The tiny bakery was supposed to have opened at 11, but the sign on the door said that due to roof damage from the rains they would be opening at 12, and it was just a couple minutes before. So far, I'd been lucky all the way around.
The shelves of goodies were still being stocked, and the woman behind the counter described the different sweets. I bought too many, and as we said our good-byes I told her I was glad they were open and that I hadn't been given a ticket. She replied that she had noticed my bumper stickers and that she had seen me being stopped for something that people do all day. Given that I had been let off with the recommendation to try the cheesecake, I really didn't think the stop had been because of the bumper stickers. The man was, after all, a police officer, and he was a black man, so I thought that I had those two details in my favor.
But she is a Democrat, and we talked about the sad state of North Carolina in the maws of the Republican party and the Kochs, and treading cautiously with a small business in the belly of the beast. Being from SC, I commiserated, and I told her how astonishing it was to see NC get taken down, and how proud I was that with groups like the SC ACLU, we managed to not have a single anti-abortion law passed in this last legislative session. Then I got the great opportunity to talk about being fearless, taking chances (like plastering pro-Obama care and anti-Citizens United bumper stickers on your car). It was a very happy meeting.
And the more conversations I have like this, the more I heartily believe that there are far more of us out there than our Democratic politicians believe. They just need to know -- we just need to know that we are not alone. We need to know that our representatives, our candidates, will really stand up for us. Elizabeth Warren did it in 2012. In South Carolina we have a few who are unafraid to speak up on issues like women's reproductive rights and gun control, and they even get elected. Fearless women like Gloria Bromell-Tinubu. Heck, there are even a couple of men who proudly fight for marriage and workplace equality and women's reproductive freedom.
And that is what it is going to take. Because we really are the ones who are fighting to protect the American people.
So speak up.
My resort is still fairly nice, hasn't changed much, and it's lovely to have the beach a short walk away. The skinny little island, however, is just sad. It's been way too wet lately, and the standing water and drizzle combined with the fact that ugly three-story tall houses two feet away from other three-story tall houses have been stuck any wherever they barely fit make it seem that the whole thing is just going to sink fairly soon. I walked the main drag to the causeway yesterday and it's so trashy it's depressing. It pretty much seemed like a testament to greed and refusal to care. After my time at the beautiful beach towns in Rhode Island, I couldn't have imagined a greater contrast.
But today I decided to head out to neighboring Morehead City to find Sugarloaf Bakery. Despite my poor sense of direction, my GPS got me there with no problem. Traffic was light and I took a careful u-turn and parked in front of the tiny building, and looked up to see a cop car with lights flashing pull up behind me. The 30-40-ish African American officer took a few seconds to check out my out-of-state plate and no doubt my blatantly liberal bumper stickers.
I couldn't figure out what I might have done wrong, so when the cop walked over and I asked "What did I do?" I was very obviously not faking it. I had taken a u-turn under a small unobtrusive sign that said "No U-turns." I apologized and explained that I was looking for the bakery and hadn't been here before. He looked up at the bakery and commented, "They have great cheesecake. The best in the state." And then he explained to me about the u-turns and told me -- nicely -- not to do it again. And left.
The tiny bakery was supposed to have opened at 11, but the sign on the door said that due to roof damage from the rains they would be opening at 12, and it was just a couple minutes before. So far, I'd been lucky all the way around.
The shelves of goodies were still being stocked, and the woman behind the counter described the different sweets. I bought too many, and as we said our good-byes I told her I was glad they were open and that I hadn't been given a ticket. She replied that she had noticed my bumper stickers and that she had seen me being stopped for something that people do all day. Given that I had been let off with the recommendation to try the cheesecake, I really didn't think the stop had been because of the bumper stickers. The man was, after all, a police officer, and he was a black man, so I thought that I had those two details in my favor.
But she is a Democrat, and we talked about the sad state of North Carolina in the maws of the Republican party and the Kochs, and treading cautiously with a small business in the belly of the beast. Being from SC, I commiserated, and I told her how astonishing it was to see NC get taken down, and how proud I was that with groups like the SC ACLU, we managed to not have a single anti-abortion law passed in this last legislative session. Then I got the great opportunity to talk about being fearless, taking chances (like plastering pro-Obama care and anti-Citizens United bumper stickers on your car). It was a very happy meeting.
And the more conversations I have like this, the more I heartily believe that there are far more of us out there than our Democratic politicians believe. They just need to know -- we just need to know that we are not alone. We need to know that our representatives, our candidates, will really stand up for us. Elizabeth Warren did it in 2012. In South Carolina we have a few who are unafraid to speak up on issues like women's reproductive rights and gun control, and they even get elected. Fearless women like Gloria Bromell-Tinubu. Heck, there are even a couple of men who proudly fight for marriage and workplace equality and women's reproductive freedom.
And that is what it is going to take. Because we really are the ones who are fighting to protect the American people.
So speak up.
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