Posted by Freddie on April 16, 2007 under Uncategorized | 
As a seldom viewer of television and not a daily news junkie (unless, possibly, political news), I was somewhat late to the game in terms of learning about and reacting to the Virginia Tech shooting. Actually, I first learned about it from the blog of a friend.
Not long after I heard about it, a John Edwards campaign event scheduled for this evening at the Ryman was canceled/modified. An event is still occurring, but now it is “a community service to honor the victims.”
This got me to thinking about what constitutes a national tragedy in our 24/7 information age with news everywhere. Is it body count? Isn’t homicide, terrorism, torture, war on any level a tragedy? I was even wondering if this was a big enough deal to merit a wholesale transformation of the Edwards event.
As communication about the day’s event went on, I finally came across the item that seals the deal in terms of how I feel about President Bush, and it’s his heroic response to the day’s tragedy, which came (from the AP) in the form of these simple and inspiring words:
“The president believes that there is a right for people to bear arms, but that all laws must be followed,” spokeswoman Dana Perino said.
Which is good, because my first reaction to the shooting was, “Holy shit! I bet President Bush is going to knock on my door this evening to fucking take my guns away! No goddamn motherfucking way!”
The careful reader might note that there is enough emotion behind my words this afternoon that I’m using expletives in my satire. Ordinarily, I don’t find them to be particularly useful means of expression when conducting civil dialogue, but I’m not sure the president’s response merits civility.
Are we that far gone as a civil society that the most extreme defenders of a single of our rights must be consoled in the immediate aftermath of what the Nashville Post tells us is “… the deadliest shooting at a school or university in American history and the second worst mass-murder at a place of education.”? Are we?!
Because I’ll tell you, my personal first reaction is, “How can we prevent this type of tragedy from occurring again?” There is no clause tacked on there. My reaction is not, “How can we prevent this type of tragedy from occurring again and speak publicly about it without drawing the ire of gun nuts everywhere?”
Just as I had hoped there would be a more public rejection of the values of the NRA when Charlton Heston and company set up shop right next door to Columbine to reassert their fundamental right, I hope that the president suffers mightily in the public eye for his awful, cynical view of the world. And I hope that the Republican party he has led to this low point reaches depths plumbed by the Tories in Britain during the Blair era. This sort of leadership deserves the very lowest regard.
Hats off to Edwards for his respectful response, and finger up to Bush for his utter lack of one.
Posted by Liberadio(!) on April 13, 2007 under Uncategorized |
Summary: David Briley joins us for our first in a series of mayoral candidate interviews on WAMB-AM. Also, a “Republican National Committee Missing Email” timeline, a surprising presidential candidate poll, and like everyone else, we get a little sidetracked by Imus.
Listen to: Take a Left onto David Briley Parkway (53:16 24.4MB)
Posted by Mary Mancini on under Uncategorized |
You may remember Congressman Jim Cooper’s 2006 publication of the Financial Report of the United States: The Official Annual White House Report, which presented a true picture of the U.S. deficit. In the book’s foreward, Cooper wrote that the Bush administration uses faulty accounting methods to calculate the country’s debt and that it’s actually more than twice the official stated amount.
According to Cooper, the President’s budget issued by the Office of Management and Budget and used by Congress to develop the annual budget, is based on cash-accounting. The “Financial Report of the United States,” issued by the Department of the Treasury, uses accrual-basis accounting. Federal law requires all businesses with revenues of $5 million or more to use accrual accounting. The Financial Report and accrual accounting, Cooper says, remembers the most vulnerable people in our society and the “commitments we’ve made to them,” takes into account “future obligations of the federal government,” and presents “a clearer, more understandable picture of federal finances.”
Today, Congressman “Coop” Cooper, (He lets us call him “Coop.” OK, no he doesn’t.) of Tennessee’s Fightin’ 5th, continues his assault on the administration’s machinations with an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal. But this time he calls out congress, or as he nicknames them, the “Incumbent Party,” for perpetuating the administration’s deceit by “preventing any bad news from reaching voters.”
And just what is the economic platform of this “535-strong political caucus?” What “fundamental principles” do they adhere to? According to Cooper:
• Pretend to budget for the next five years while offering instead a one-year political fix. Whether the issue is funding the war on terrorism, or preventing the Alternative Minimum Tax from punishing the middle class, neither wing of the Incumbent Party offers any lasting solutions, only budgetary gimmicks.
• Nod gravely when America’s long-term fiscal problems are mentioned, but argue that today’s budgets have almost nothing to do with the unsustainability of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. After all, most of today’s elected officials will be safely retired — and some buried — before these entitlement programs collapse.
• When pressed, bemoan the fact that every American’s share of the national debt is $29,000 and growing. Forget that a more accurate, audited figure is $170,000 each, or $440,000 per household. People don’t owe Uncle Sam the equivalent of a car loan; they owe a home mortgage, and that’s on top of their current taxes.
• Pledge to protect Social Security and Medicare “trust funds” without hinting that those trust funds do not exist. Today’s Social Security surpluses are invested in U.S. Treasury bonds, which enable government spending on everything except future Social Security benefits. Future beneficiaries have no real security other than the hope that future workers will pay more payroll taxes.
• Promise Social Security and Medicare benefits that the Social Security actuary says are not even promises, much less vested benefits. They are only “scheduled benefits,” which can be rescheduled, or eliminated, at any time by any Congress. Rescheduling is even easier to do when Congress refuses to record today’s benefit levels on any federal balance sheet.
• Ignore the fact that the federal budget deficit would be at least twice as large if you were not using the Social Security “surplus” to hide its true size. The use of this fig leaf is particularly ironic when, if Social Security and Medicare were properly accounted for, the annual federal fiscal gap would be roughly $4 trillion, or 10 times larger than any politician will admit. This annual gap is larger than the entire federal budget of $2.9 trillion.
• Shamelessly exempt the federal government from normal Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), making it the only large entity in America — private or public — able to flout the rules. Although the Republicans’ Contract with America in 1994 pledged that Congress should abide by the laws it passes, federal accounting hypocrisy is stronger than ever. Even state and local governments now have to properly report their retirement and health liabilities.
• Subsidize employer-sponsored health insurance by offering the biggest federal income tax breaks to the people who need it least: high-wage employees of large companies. Oppose any redistribution of those tax breaks, even when President Bush called for such reforms in his 2007 State of the Union Address.
• Keep median cash incomes stagnant for decades while fringe benefits, particularly for health insurance, consume most employee productivity and profitability increases. Deny that any tax vacuum exists that sucks up every worker’s pay raise and transfers it to the health sector of the economy.
• Never even whisper that Standard & Poor’s has projected that by 2012, when the budgets of both wings of the Incumbent Party claim to be producing surpluses, the U.S. Treasury bond will lose its AAA rating. Even worse, S&P is also projecting that Treasuries will become junk debt by 2025.
Is America living up to its potential, or falling below investment grade? Democrats have a rare opportunity to buck the bad habits of incumbency with our new majorities in Congress. If we choose to enact the stale economic platform of our predecessors, we do so at our own peril, and our children’s. If, on the other hand, we begin to speak honestly about the large problems facing the U.S. economy, perhaps voters will keep us around long enough to fix them.
This topic isn’t as sexy as lying attorney generals but it’s more important. Here’s hoping Coop, I mean, Congressman Cooper, is finally heard.
Posted by Mary Mancini on April 12, 2007 under Uncategorized |
In the aftermath of CBS Radio’s decision to cancel Don Imus’ syndicated radio show Imus in the Morning, David Brock, President and CEO of Media Matters for America, released the following statement:
“I applaud CBS for listening to reason and canceling Imus in the Morning. Viewers and listeners sent the clear message that they would no longer tolerate bigotry on America’s airwaves. It is our hope that this incident will begin a broader conversation about the responsibility that news corporations, journalists, and media figures have to the American public. This is an opportunity for the media to truly raise the bar to a higher standard and return to the fundamentals of journalism.”
Let’s talk. You want examples of the “bigoted commentary rife on the cable networks and talk radio?” They’ve got examples - Limbaugh, O’Reilly, Savage, Boortz, Beck, Coulter, and Carlson.
Posted by Liberadio(!) on under Uncategorized |
9 Apr 2007
“The Big Six Make Political Fixes,” by Mike Allen (The Politico)
Get inside the top-tier campaigns after a surprising start, where a Mormon from Massachusetts leads the Republicans, and the Democrats are the big moneymakers. A nice survey of the campaign strategies about 1 year before Super Duper Tuesday.
11 Apr 2007
“Some in G.O.P. Express Worry Over ’08 Hopes,” by Adam Nagourney and John M. Broder (New York Times)
Remember that scene in Starship Troopers
when a psychic Neil Patrick Harris puts his hand on the big bug brain and announces, “They’re afraid! THEY’RE AFRAID!”? Yeah, well, Nagourney and Broder basically put their hands on Rove’s head and discovered the same thing.
12 Apr 2007
“What Does Presidential Fundraising Mean at This Early Stage?,” by Stuart Rothenberg (The Rothenberg Political Report)
Rothenberg pours cold water on the notion that money is all that matters, but he concedes that it does, in fact, matter.
“In 5-Year Effort, Scant Evidence of Voter Fraud,” by Eric Lipton and Ian Urbina (New York Times)
Don’t believe the hype. Republicans are selling voter ID schemes. But we’d rather buy voter verifiable ballots and instant run-off voting.
“Nashville strives to drive more people to walk,” by Joy Buchanan (The Tennessean)
A nice reminder that Nashville is becoming a city where it’s easier to get off one’s butt. One of Walk/Bike Nashville’s goals is to have every resident live within half a mile of a sidewalk, a mile from a bike lane, and two miles of a greenway.
03 Apr 2007
“Texas Chainsaw Management,” By Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The Bush administration has gutted decades of environmental protection, appointing energy-industry executives to uphold the very laws they’d worked against. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. busts the polluters’ picnic.
Posted by Mary Mancini on April 11, 2007 under Uncategorized |
The Halliburton company announced on Monday that all of its contractual commitments in Iran have been completed and they are no longer working in Iran.
Could it be, as Charlie Cray suggests, that “Dick Cheney wants them out of there so he can be comfortable about shooting at Iran without hitting any of his old friends?”
Posted by Mary Mancini on under Uncategorized |
All he has to do is say it, then manipulate a report so that it casts enough doubt, and journalists feel they need to report it as the “other side of the story.” Then, with the help of the right-wing echo chamber, Rove’s “reality” spreads and becomes the basis for bad legislation.
This time it’s “widespread” voter fraud (not the manipulation of electronic voting machines but people misrepresenting themselves at the polls or improperly attempting to register voters) and the goal is to pass voter identification laws (already passed in at least two dozen states) which disproportiately disenfranchise the poor, the elderly, and minorities. Last April, Karl Rove told a group of Republican lawyers that election integrity issues were an “enormous and growing” problem.
“We’re, in some parts of the country, I’m afraid to say, beginning to look like we have elections like those run in countries where the guys in charge are colonels in mirrored sunglasses,” Mr. Rove said. “I mean, it’s a real problem.”
Not content to merely plant the seed of “truthiness,” poltical operatives felt the need to shore up their manufactured reality by manipulating the findings of the federal panel charged with conducting reasearch on the voter fraud issue. Turns out, according to the original report obtained by investigative journalists at The New York Times, the panel “played down the findings of experts who concluded last year that there was little voter fraud around the nation” and instead “issued a report that said the pervasiveness of fraud was open to debate.”
“Open to debate.”
If this sounds familiar it’s because the same tactic was used to start a war and cast doubt on the validity of climate change research.
What’s not open to debate is that two weeks ago the same panel refused to release another report it commissioned concerning voter identification legislation which “found that voter identification laws designed to fight fraud can reduce turnout, particularly among members of minorities.”
What Don Imus said is bad, but systematically advancing the historic and systemic disenfranchisement of african-americans and other minorities is much, much worse.
Posted by Mary Mancini on April 10, 2007 under Uncategorized |
Don Imus shouldn’t be fired. Rather, when he resumes his broadcast after his two-week suspension he should be required to spend his “what’s he going to say next” capital and half his on-air time discussing issues like this:
Five years ago last month, the Institute of Medicine released a congressionally-mandated report, Unequal Treatment, concluding that minority patients receive a lower quality of health care than whites—even after taking into account differences in health insurance and other economic and health factors. Authored by a blue-ribbon panel assembled by the nation’s foremost health and science advisory body, the report went on to say that such inequalities in health care carry a significant human and economic toll and therefore are “unacceptable.” Yet despite these urgent appeals, little has been done to address disparities—leaving too many Americans vulnerable to inequitable and inadequate health care.
Posted by Mary Mancini on under Uncategorized |
Summary: Sometimes, like this weekend for instance as we watched Senator Joe Leiberman on CNN, we wish that politics was like professional sports and Senators could be traded from one party to another. First up, Joe Leiberman. We’ll take Chuck Hagel. Or maybe even Arlen Spector and a congressman to be named later.
Listen to: Bizarro Wolf (31:35
Posted by Mary Mancini on April 9, 2007 under Uncategorized |
Summary: The proposed implementation of a “Standard School Attire” policy for all Metro Nashville Public Schools is causing quite a stir. Involved parents say the decision-making process is flawed. Students spent their day off last Friday in Centennial Park protesting against the policy. Administrators appear caught off guard by the push back. Enter Ashley Crownover, parent of two public school students and one of the founders of Metro Parents Against Standard School Attire (MPASS). We interviewed her this morning. Be afraid, Dr. Garcia, be very afraid, for there’s a fire in Crownover’s eyes that should be in the eyes of every parent of a public school student. Perhaps it’s contagious? The school board votes on the issue on Tuesday, April 10. Prior to the vote, according to the MPASS website, “Parents and students opposed to the proposed uniform requirement for Metro public schools will gather…for a rally at the MNPS central administration building at 2601 Bransford Ave. The protest is planned for 4 p.m. in advance of the 5 p.m. school board meeting, during which the school board is expected to vote on the proposed policy.”
Listen to: Tuck Your Shirt In, Son (25:49 23.7MB)
