- The Economic Policy Institute has completed their evaluation of President Obama’s new budget. As with all budgets, there are good things and bad things. Cuts to programs like the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program are indefensible in my book. At all costs, no matter what our financial situation, we need to help and protect the poor. I really have a problem understanding how we can afford tax cuts for the rich, which do not create jobs, and we can’t afford to help the poor get through the winter. Read more of their analysis here and here.
- Representative Paul Broun of Georgia (Republican) held a town hall event this week in which one of his constituents asked “who is going to shoot President Obama?” The congressman ignored the question and moved on but is that enough? Later, the congressman’s office got in touch with the “appropriate authorities.” I’m still not sure that that’s enough. That man needed to be denounced right there, right then. Suppose it was 2003 and President Bush was in office. The amount of scorn that would’ve been heaped on this man for suggesting that President Bush should be assassinated would have been overwhelming. Security would’ve had to escort the man out of the room because the crowd would have tried to physically harm him. I’m sorry, but the congressman’s response was weak, tepid and unpatriotic. This is the president of the United States. Whether the congressman agrees with him or not, threats against our president’s life should not be tolerated!
- Governor Scott Walker is been in the news for the past 10 days. He is by far the most prominent Republican at this point in time. He stood strong against the unions. He’s been publicly humiliated by giving an interview to someone he thought was David Koch. Last night, the Wisconsin State assembly passed Scott Walker’s draconian budget bill in a surprise vote but the Senate does not have a quorum so it’s unclear what this means.
- Is Scott Walker is standing against jobs? It appears that he is. He shutting down several clean energy initiatives which would add hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs in the state of Wisconsin.
- Are the state union workers overpaid as Fox news and Scott Walker said they were? Sure doesn’t appear to be that way.
- The state of the health care reform law seems to have confused Americans. Yet another federal judge has declared it constitutional. With the daily back-and-forth, Americans have become confused. A new poll suggests a fifth of Americans believe that the healthcare law has been repealed. It hasn’t. HCR is still alive…at least for now.
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- The NFL owners in the NFL Players Association continue to head down the wrong road. For the most part, I hate when millionaires are arguing with millionaires. As far as I’m concerned, this is not about the high-paid football players. Instead, it’s about those guys who play football for a couple of years and are then discarded like a used handkerchief. They are 24 years old. Yes, they’ve made over half a million bucks over the last several years, but now they’re flat broke. In my mind, the negotiations are about these guys. The game of football will be hurt if there is a work stoppage.
- China has dropped the death penalty for some economic crimes.
- Unrest in the Middle East continues. No one’s quite sure who’s in charge of Libya. Oil prices are rising because of the uncertainty of Libya’s oil. My good friend, Brian Katulis, from the Center for American Progress, has written an excellent summary of what’s going on in the Middle East. President Obama and his administration have to perform a balancing act. We need to support the protesters, the people, and stay vigilant against possible terrorist threats. This is an outstanding article.
This was part of Paul Krugman’s column in my newspaper. It was interesting to read on how the governor gets to choose to decide who gets to buy the power plants. The state owns them and why would he sell them and not the power coming from them.. They must be green energy LOL… He can even sell them to his family and as long as the state gets the money then it will be okay Then whomever owns them then can then charge the state for the energy….. Now tell me how that part got into this bill? It is not about anything but taking from the hard working people and allowing the rich people decide which bones they will throw. Utah has passed a bill that would put the Gov. in total charge of the educational system.He would decide what is taught and how. Right now they are making the teachers in all the schools to emphasize the fact the US is NOT a democracy but a “republic”… But the thing is for the Gov. to be king the voters still have to pass it. But not in Wisconsin. He will get to decided personally what happens on all aspects of their lives. I am proud of ALL the people who are marching in support of bringing to light how fast things can go horribly wrong. .
What’s happening in Wisconsin is, instead, a power grab — an attempt to exploit the fiscal crisis to destroy the last major counterweight to the political power of corporations and the wealthy. And the power grab goes beyond union-busting. The bill in question is 144 pages long, and there are some extraordinary things hidden deep inside.
For example, the bill includes language that would allow officials appointed by the governor to make sweeping cuts in health coverage for low-income families without having to go through the normal legislative process.
And then there’s this: “Notwithstanding ss. 13.48 (14) (am) and 16.705 (1), the department may sell any state-owned heating, cooling, and power plant or may contract with a private entity for the operation of any such plant, with or without solicitation of bids, for any amount that the department determines to be in the best interest of the state. Notwithstanding ss. 196.49 and 196.80, no approval or certification of the public service commission is necessary for a public utility to purchase, or contract for the operation of, such a plant, and any such purchase is considered to be in the public interest and to comply with the criteria for certification of a project under s. 196.49 (3) (b).”
What’s that about? The state of Wisconsin owns a number of plants supplying heating, cooling, and electricity to state-run facilities (like the University of Wisconsin). The language in the budget bill would, in effect, let the governor privatize any or all of these facilities at whim. Not only that, he could sell them, without taking bids, to anyone he chooses. And note that any such sale would, by definition, be “considered to be in the public interest.”
If this sounds to you like a perfect setup for cronyism and profiteering — remember those missing billions in Iraq? — you’re not alone. Indeed, there are enough suspicious minds out there that Koch Industries, owned by the billionaire brothers who are playing such a large role in Walker’s anti-union push, felt compelled to issue a denial that it’s interested in purchasing any of those power plants. Are you reassured
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