by Lee Camp

Todd Akin told us the other day that not all rape is legitimate. Luckily VP candidate Paul Ryan seems to agree with him – at least enough to cosponsor a bill in which they carefully changed the wording from “rape” to “forcible rape.” Should these idiots keep trying to redefine rape? The entire nation is telling them no, yet they seem to think no means yes.

[..]

by Steven Whitney

We’ve all had the same frustrating experience – something goes wrong or breaks. We don’t have the skill set or time to address it, but fortunately a self-described “expert” rushes in, promising to save the day…and every single thing he or she does only deepens the problem, making it actually worse than if nothing at all had been done.

By every conceivable measure, the present – and 112th – Congress is the worst in our nation’s history. Worse in every aspect than the 80th Congress of 1947-1948, heretofore considered the worst by historians and Washingtonians, and so bad it was labeled the “Do-Nothing” Congress, first by President Harry Truman, and then by the public at large.

That 80th Congress passed just over 900 bills into law during its two year session – split about evenly, 454 in 1947 and 449 in 1948. For that dismal showing, more incumbents were defeated in the 1948 election than ever before in our history.

While I’m aware that statistics are not fun – except for baseball fans – fair-minded voters need to know the truth. Concerned citizens can’t just make things up (well, actually, they apparently can – Republicans have been doing it for decades, but then I wouldn’t describe them as “concerned”). So here are some facts.

By comparison, our broken 112th Congress passed just 81 bills in 2011. Of that total, ten – Public Laws 112-15, 112-22, 112-23, 112-38, 112-39, 112-47, 112-48, 112-49, 112-50, and 112-60 – merely named or renamed different Postal Service facilities, usually in honor of a fallen veteran, police officer, or firefighter. Three more – 112-12, 112-19, and 112-20 – “provided appointment” of three separate Citizen Regents to the Smithsonian. Another two bills – 112-2 and 112-31 – named one courthouse each in Arizona and Missouri. A couple of other flaky bills were done – 112-65 changed an eligibility standard for the Blue Star Mothers of America, and 112-66 made a “minor” wording change to the charter of the American Legion.

These are 20 of the 81 bills passed in 2011 – nearly 25% – leaving only 61 actual bills that could be judged the legitimate business of Congress. And those 61 bills represent only 13% of the number of laws passed by the infamous “Do-Nothing” Congress in its first year.

But the 112th wasn’t through. This year they’ve done even less while embarrassing themselves even more, with only 57 bills passed by the summer recess at the end of June. Of those, 19 bills approved, as in the previous year, the naming of post offices and courthouses. Another 2 approved “minor” word changes in previous bills. Leaving only 36 bills of any substance whatsoever passed into law so far this year – compared to 449 passed in 1948 by the “Do-Nothing” Congress.

In its second year, the 112th Congress has accomplished only 8% of what the previous “worst Congress in history” accomplished. So an immediate question arises: what does this Congress do when they aren’t certifying names for post offices and courthouses?

Democrats have proposed both large and small bills that would reduce income tax for Americans making less than $250,000 per year, provide quality health care for millions, give financial assistance to unemployed workers, mandate help for families with underwater mortgages, and scores of acts that would provide incentives to businesses to hire workers. All of these have been blocked by Republicans of the 112th using filibusters and/or clotures. Not just one or two or nine – they blocked all of them. Especially appalling was the day every single Republican Senator sided with a filibuster blocking the American Jobs Act from even coming to a vote on the floor.

But to show their hearts are in the right place, Republicans did introduce 467 bills investigating Democrats in various government offices – without finding even one instance of criminal malfeasance. They also proffered 36 anti-gay marriage bills, 46 bills to ban abortions and limit women’s health care options, 113 bills on religion (anti-Muslim and/or pro-Christian), 73 bills concerning family relationships, and 604 bills aimed at giving corporations and the upper 2% even more tax breaks at the expense of the poor and middle-class. And they teamed up with the National Rifle Association to present 72 bills making firearms more accessible to everyone, legislation that might not gain much traction in Aurora, Colorado and the Sikh community of Milwaukee. To top it all off, Republicans introduced 33 bills aimed at repealing the Affordable Care and Patient Protection Act, which they quickly dubbed Obamacare because they didn’t want folks to hear the phrases “affordable care” and “patient protection,” two aspects of the health care industry that have been sorely lacking the last decade.

Do the math. As Republicans wasted everyone’s time with bogus “social engineering” proposals, our 112th Congress passed only 97 bills of real legislation in two years – compared to 903 passed by the 80th Congress, slightly less than 11% of its most indolent predecessor.

So if the 80th was “Do-Nothing” and the worst Congress in history, what does that make the 112th?

At least the 80th Congress did not block everything the Democrats proposed – just the bigger issues. When it came to matters of running the government – like the 1947 debt ceiling – everyone on both sides of the aisle was on the same page. Back then, while Republicans were still fierce opponents of Democrats, they were not ready to sacrifice either the good of the American people or the machinery of government itself merely to gain the approval of the extreme right-wing of their party.

Meanwhile, the 112th is actively laying waste to our country just to toe the party line and win the next election – what’s good for their country does not even merit a moment of their thoughts. Their intentions are even worse than their abysmal record, confirming in every way possible that they are far worse than nothing.

This is not a wonky toaster we’re talking about, it’s our country – or what’s left of it. So who should we hold responsible?

Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein are perhaps the two most respected chroniclers of all things Washington for the last 30 years. Because of his association with the Brookings Institute, Mann is viewed as center-left; Ornstein’s years with the American Enterprise Institute place him center right. Whenever the two men collaborated in the past, D.C. insiders listened carefully, and often made their “suggested” adjustments. But nobody on the right is listening to reason anymore.

Mann and Ornstein’s new book, It’s Even Worse Than It Looks, unequivocally states: “…we have no choice but to acknowledge that the core of (Washington’s) problem lies with the Republican Party.” Over the course of the book’s 200+ pages, the authors list many well-documented reasons why the title is justified: “the appalling spectacle of hostage taking” during last year’s budget crises, when Republicans put “political expedience above the national interest,” resulting in a downgrade of America’s credit rating; the abuse by Republicans of Senate filibusters and anonymous “holds” on nominations and legislation “merely to thwart majority rule;” the GOP resembling “an apocalyptic cult run by zealots and intellectual dead-enders;” Republicans telling lies on the floors of Congress “without censure,” and…the list goes on. At the end, Mann and Ornstein summarize today’s Republican Party as “ideologically extreme; scornful of compromise; unmoved by conventional understanding of facts, evidence, and science; and dismissive of its political opposition.”

The public apparently agrees. The approval rating for our esteemed 112th is hovering just around 10% – the worst ever recorded. 30 points lower than the IRS, 14 points lower than Nixon at the height of Watergate, and 6 points lower than BP at the high-water mark of their Gulf Oil Spill. And yet, if historical voting patterns hold true, 85 to 95% of these reprobates will get re-elected, simply because they are incumbents.

That says more about us than them. As much as we justly complain about the quality of our Congress, if we keep re-electing the Representatives and Senators who make governance impossible, doesn’t that make us the worst voters ever?

Even worse than nothing?

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Fighting Back Part 4: The Big Liar, Intimidation And Revenge
Fighting Back Part 3: Fighting Fire With Fire
When The Past Is Prologue
Fighting Back Part 2: Defining Rovian Politics
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Gotcha!

by Lee Camp

Apathy ain’t sexy, and it sure as hell shouldn’t get you laid. So I’m hoping women will flex their pussy power in order to save the world…or at least this upcoming election. I haven’t worked out all the kinks yet (I think SG has a group for that), but if my calculations are correct, ballots, vaginas, and democracy have a strong correlation.

[..]

by Nicole Powers

Though half a world away, the plight of a coastal community 10 miles north of Aberdeen is resonating with many Americans. Their peaceful existence and the sanctity of their environment was literally and metaphorically bulldozed when Donald Trump decided to build a world class championship golf course and resort on the world class pristine dunes of the Menie Estate in Scotland.

The area was of such environmental and scientific significance that it was deemed worthy of a hard to come by Site of Special Scientific Interest designation that was supposed to protect if for generations to come. However, Trump’s power, money – and false promises of investment and jobs – persuaded the Scottish government, in an unprecedented move, to break their own laws and allow construction on the site.

“When I saw this piece of land I was overwhelmed by the imposing dunes and rugged Aberdeenshire coastline. I knew that this was the perfect site for Trump International – Scotland,” writes Trump in an open letter posted on the homepage of the website for the golf course. He continues, “I have never seen such an unspoiled and dramatic sea side landscape and the location makes it perfect for our development.”

Sadly, thanks to Trump’s development, the landscape, which was so dramatic it was immortalized in the 1983 film Local Hero, is unspoiled no longer. But it wasn’t just the fact that the scientific and aesthetically significant landscape had been desecrated for such a frivolous reason – golf for the wealthy – that didn’t sit well with the locals; Trump’s modus operandi was also spectacularly obnoxious, though also par for the course in many ways.

When Trump couldn’t buy what he wanted, he employed a range of underhand tactics to ensure he got it anyway. The community had their rights trampled on, their property damaged and stolen, and their character and integrity slandered, while those who were supposed to protect their interests – the politicians, the police, and the press ¬ served those of the 1% above the 99.

Though the landscape and the Donald are unique (for sublime and ridiculous reasons respectively), the tale of greed before the collective good is in many ways archetypical of our time, and as such serves as the perfect parable for the Occupy movement. So when a film, You’ve Been Trumped, which chronicles Trump’s exploits in Scotland opened in New York, Occupy Wall Street decided to help spread the word.

Using the Illuminator “Bat Signal for the 99%” generator – which projected Occupy’s message to great effect on the Verizon building in New York on November 17th, 2011 – a group of occupiers projected the trailer for You’ve Been Trumped on Trump’s Manhattan tower – and recorded the results for posterity (see YouTube video above).

“Solidarity means to stand with oppressed people everywhere because their struggle is our struggle,” explained educator and activist Justin Wedes, who was involved in Occupy’s illuminating Trump vs. The 99% project. “There are few clearer cases than this one of the 1% bulldozing the rights, land, and dignity of the 99% for pure profit. Donald Trump does not represent us, and Occupy Wall Street stands with the brave people of Aberdeen and the Menie Estate – and their allies everywhere – fighting for sustainable development and the rights of hard-working people to their own land and communities.”

In a letter sent to the occupiers involved the morning after the action, You’ve Been Trumped director Anthony Baxter expressed his gratitude to Occupy Wall Street. “This action is going to mean a lot to the residents in Scotland who’ve been fighting to safeguard their environment and battling against Trump,” wrote Baxter. “It’s an important illustration that will resonate far and wide. The people of Scotland know Trump isn’t a typical American, and ordinary Americans – just like ordinary Scots – are sick and tired of money and power riding roughshod over the lives of the 99% and our planet. They’ll be deeply moved and heartened by what you all carried off so successfully last night.”

You’ve Been Trumped is currently playing in Southern California at Laemmle’s Town Centre 5 in Encino. It can also be seen at the Art Theatre of Long Beach on Sunday, August 26 (not far from Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes, where Trump employed similar strong arm tactics in order to develop his luxury golf resort). For more information visit: youvebeentrumped.com

Related Posts:
SG Interview: Anthony Baxter – You’ve Been Trumped

by Sandor Stern

Dear Republican Friends,

Regarding Your Stand On Taxation…

Perhaps you can enlighten me because I just don’t get it. This nation is in a debt and deficit hole from which spending cuts alone cannot rescue us without doing irreparable damage to Medicare, Social Security, the military, and finally, to the entire economy. I know none of you earn $250,000 a year – you’re my friends, remember. You are part of the 99% of the population that earns less than $250,000 a year and yet you are willing to vote against a 4.9% tax increase on dollars above that income level. This is the same Clinton era tax level that wiped out the Reagan-G.H.W. Bush deficit of 1992 and ended with a surplus in 2000. So what’s the deal? Is it more than money?

Is it because you truly believe that taxing the top 1% is hurting the economy by penalizing the “job creators”? Remember we are not taxing business here. We are taxing the personal income generated from their own businesses by these “job creators.” Their personal income was given a tax break for Bush’s 8 years. According to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center as of October 14, 2011 the Bush tax cuts had saved the top 1% of households over $700 billion and the next 4% of households more than $325 billion. The total tax savings for the top 5% totaled over $1 trillion. That’s money denied the federal government and extra money in the pockets of the “job creators.” So how many jobs were created in those Bush years? According to the Bureau Of Labor Statistics – 5.2 million jobs. According to that same bureau, Clinton’s 8 years of higher taxes created 23.1 million jobs. The irony, aside from the fact that higher taxes created more jobs, is that Bush’s job creation in the private sector was a loss of 563 thousand. More than 4.5 million jobs created during Bush’s years were government jobs. This from the party pushing smaller government and claiming that government does not create jobs. Since FDR’s term in office through all presidents up to January of 2011, the average private sector job creation under a Democratic President has been 1,463,220 and under a Republican President has been 642,000. You do the math. Because personal income is spent on personal needs and desires, perhaps the question of whether to lower taxes for the wealthy should be: is it better for the economy when one person buys a Bentley or 99 people buy Fords? Jobs are created through a demand for goods and services. That demand comes from personal income, which for 99% of workers is from wages. That’s not a trickle down economy. That’s a gushing up.

Is it because you have this notion that the government takes too big a bite out of your income? According to The Tax Policy Foundation the top marginal income tax rate in 1946 was 91%. The next 15 years “was one of the most successful eras in US economic history. The middle class boomed, the economy boomed, and the stock market boomed.” By 1965 the top rate had dropped to 70%. In 1982 Ronald Reagan dropped the top rate to 50%, in 1987 to 38.5%, and finally in 1988 he slashed it to 28%. The resulting federal deficit was so huge that GHW Bush had to break his campaign promise – “Read my lips: no new taxes” – and bump the margin up to 31%. For that he paid a huge political price from your party. But even Bush’s increased rate was not high enough to save the economy. Clinton arrived in 1992 and raised the top level to 39.6% and the economy boomed. Following his election, GW Bush lowered the top margin level to 35% and the economy went belly up. That Bush tax rate is still in effect and is lower than that of every other industrial nation in the world. So, in comparison to other countries and to our own history of higher tax margins, the bite does not square with your notion “big.” Nor does the bite square with the laments of the 1%. According to Who Rules America, in 2007 only 19% of income reported by the 13,480 individuals or families making over $10 million per year came from wages and salaries. So, a tax increase of 4.9% would only apply to one fifth of their total income. And remember, that bite is from taxable income not gross income. 80% of the income of these people is from capital gains and dividends which since 2003 have been taxed at a rate of 15% (lower than the income tax rate for a large percentage of middle class wage earners).

Is it because you believe that government spending is out of control? Based on a low tax rate it is. When in the history of the United States, or any country, has a war been fought without raising taxes to pay for it.? The costs of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars through 2011 was $1.26 trillion. How about compounding the problem by lowering taxes? Bush’s wars helped put us in this debt. Revoking the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act gave banks a free ride on depositor money and the housing market crashed. That banking and corporate bailout cost $1 trillion. Yes, it was Clinton who signed off on that bill, but it was passed and pushed by a Republican Congress. Yes, the debt is huge. Trying to erase it through spending cuts alone is like paying your way into heaven by selling your soul to the devil.

Is it because you believe in free enterprise? According to Who Rules America, the bottom 80% of the US population hold less than 10% of this nation’s financial wealth. In contrast, 1% of Americans hold a 42.7 % share. Since the election of Reagan in 1980 you have seen the rise of Corporate America and the demise of “mom and pop” America; the rise of monopolies and the demise of anti-trust laws; the rich getting ever richer and the workers struggling ever more to make ends meet. I know you belong in the 99%, so why this determined fight against your own interests?

Is it because you believe the persistent Republican cry that the Democrats will “tax and spend”? Do you prefer the Republican mantra of “borrow and spend” that began with the Reagan philosophy of “play now and pay later”? Anyone with a credit card knows the simple fact that borrowing money is renting money. The interest is rent and trillions of dollars will be paid by generations of tax payers to come. GW Bush handed the country a $455 billion deficit and a $10 trillion national debt. That’s over $32,000 owed by every citizen. You rant against increased taxes, but if that’s not a personal income tax hike what is? And FYI, that debt represents 3.2% of the nation’s gross domestic product – the second largest in history. The first was 6% set in 1983 after Reagan’s tax cuts.

Is it because Republican members of congress have signed a pledge to Grover Norquist to vote against tax increases under any circumstances? Do you not find this pledge a violation of their duties and obligations to uphold the constitution? What are Norquist’s bone fides that compel them to relinquish their free will? If a nation declared war on us and the President requested an increase in taxes to pay for the defense of this country, honoring Norquist’s pledge would be treasonous. Why is it not so now? Polls show that a large majority of Americans favor an increase in taxes on those earning over $250,000? Why are your Republican representatives going against a popular majority view? Is it because millions of dollars of campaign money is coming from corporations and billionaires who don’t want their taxes increased and who have the power to offer lucrative job opportunities to the congressmen who vote their way when they finish their terms in office?

Is it finally and ultimately because President Obama is anathema to the corporate power structure and for that reason the Republican goal for the past 3 1/2 years has been to limit him to a single term as President? Any reduction of the deficit that does not cripple Social Security and Medicare would be a win for Obama, and a loss of billions in profits for those corporations seeking to privatize pensions and health. Is that it?

Your inquisitive friend,

Sandy

by Lee Camp

Once upon a time there were a couple of boys named the Brothers Koch. They had a dream of owning the United States of America. Their dream is coming true. And call me a romantic, but I love watching dreams come true.

[..]

by Steven Whitney

All of us take too many things for granted, the rights and rewards we enjoy for which others greatly sacrificed and often even died. On Memorial Day we do reverently honor our fallen, and we still wildly celebrate our nation’s birth on July 4th…but Labor Day, once a holiday that truly paid tribute to workers, has become just a three day weekend of boating, beaches, and barbeque, with nary a thought of the valiant, against-all-odds struggle of both individual and organized labor. These days it should probably be called a Bank Holiday, like in England, because the financial sector has had a great three decades at the expense of labor.

Long forgotten are the inhumane working conditions of the past – sweat shops, child labor, company towns, workplaces incubating extreme physical danger and biological disease, unbearably long hours for barely sustainable wages, and so much more. The many thousands of lives lost in union struggles over the past 200 years have faded in our memory like a sunset disappearing over a lost horizon.

In 1806, the Philadelphia Journeymen Cordwainers union went on strike for higher wages. These already poor shoemakers were bankrupted and convicted on charges of criminal conspiracy, setting a precedent of conservative governments combatting labor from that very first U.S. strike to the present.

Over the next century, the battles between owners and workers – let’s say the 5% against the 95% – were constant and bloody, with state militias, our national Army, city police forces, and hired goons all ganging up to inflict pain and punishment on workers. Men, women, and children alike were beaten, shot (sometimes mowed down by new-fangled machine guns), hanged, executed, imprisoned, and deported. The workers themselves – whether they were miners, carpenters, railway hands, dressmakers, auto or steel workers, skilled or unskilled – were branded as organizers, anarchists, socialists, and communists…all because they wanted a living wage and a better life.

In 1911, seamstresses – women and young girls – at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company threatened a strike for higher wages. Within a few days, their workplace – the top three floors of a ten-story building – was consumed by fire. 147 died – many by jumping out the windows, others burned or were trampled to death as they tried to escape through exits that had been locked. Two weeks later, the company owners were indicted not for murder, but manslaughter.

By the 1920s – an era of unchecked conservative policies advocating deregulation and a pro-business agenda – the U.S. Bureau of Investigation, the forerunner of the FBI, created a strike force called Palmer’s Raiders whose mission was to crush unions and workers under the guise of anti-communism. The violence and injustices visited upon workers was unprecedented, even when measured against the worst bloodbaths in labor’s history – the Haymarket Riot, the Tompkins Square Riot, the Bay View Massacre, the Thibodaux Massacre, the Ludlow Massacre, and literally hundreds more battlegrounds. The Republican congress even passed laws totally abolishing the right of workers to strike, assemble, bargain collectively, and picket.

It took the Great Depression and a Democratic congress to right the ship of state – and the state of unions in America. Early on, FDR recognized the role of labor in revitalizing a financially bankrupt economy when he said:

“It is one of the characteristics of a free and democratic nation that it have free and independent labor unions.”

A mere two months after taking office in 1933, FDR passed the National Industrial Recovery Act, which not only restored all the rights denied them by Republicans, but also contained provisions like minimum wage and maximum hours. Since that time historians have isolated its most important passage:

“Employees shall have the right to organize and bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and shall be free from the interference, restraint, or coercion of employers.”

By empowering workers, America arose from the ashes of the Depression, our country’s infrastructure was built from the ground up, a World War was won, and the largest and most stable middle-class in the world was created. FDR’s pro-labor programs ended the Republican era of plutocratic “job creators,” trickle-down bubble economies, and in 1934 American voters gave Democrats the largest majority either party had (and has) ever held in Congress – 322 Democrats to 103 Republicans – leading to the Fair Labor Standards Act and the greatest period of wealth and job creation, productivity, prosperity, and income equality any nation has ever known.

Today, with the sweatshops and child labor camps gone, we all enjoy the fruits of the labor movement’s long struggle – the 8-hour workday and 5-day week, equal pay for equal work, 2 weeks’ vacation, sick days, higher wages, safe and regulated working environments, health care, collective bargaining, the rights of petition and assembly, worker’s compensation, non-discriminatory employment practices, laws protecting whistleblowers, pension and retirement funds, and, of course, the Family and Medical Leave Act, passed by Clinton’s Democratic congress in 1993. Labor was behind it all – and even aggressively backed Martin Luther King Jr.’s crusade for Equal Rights.

Predictably, starting when Reagan fired the Air Traffic Controllers in 1981, Republicans have consistently tried to turn back every one of those hard-won benefits. In this year’s GOP primaries, a return to child labor was even floated as a viable solution to the economic disaster caused by Bush-Cheney / Republican economic policies. For the last 30 years, the GOP has hacked away at labor and unions. Because of that, wages of American workers now make up the lowest percentage of GDP since 1947, even as corporate profits are the highest in 40 years. That obscene inequality is not a coincidence – it is the priority of the modern Republican party, this year led by Romney and the despicable hypocrisy of Paul Ryan.

So if we are to rebuild a strong Middle Class and keep America a land “of, by, and for the people” – if we are to avoid a dystopian Blade Runneresque future – we must continually recognize the importance of labor’s contribution to the growth and strength of our nation. Most of us – probably 95% or more – are, or came from, the working class, and now is not the time to lose sight of our heritage. Instead, we must pick up the cudgel of those who came before us. Too many of our ancestors actually died – sacrificed their very lives – to give us and not our wealthy overlords the power to determine our own destinies.

This Labor Day, September 3rd, instead of the all-day backyard barbeque, let’s take a few hours to mobilize our faith in ourselves and in the founding principles of our nation by hitting the streets once again to honor and support America’s two greatest assets – the worker and the Middle Class. They are one and the same.

Related Posts:
Chicken Shits: The Slippery Slopes of Chick-fil-A
The Vagina Solution
Fighting Back Part 4: The Big Liar, Intimidation And Revenge
Fighting Back Part 3: Fighting Fire With Fire
When The Past Is Prologue
Fighting Back Part 2: Defining Rovian Politics
Fighting Back
The Electoral Scam
Being Fair
Occupy Reality
Giving. . . And Taking Back
A Tale Of Two Grovers
A Last Pitch For Truth
America: Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.
Gotcha!