HorsesAss.Org

If anyone is helping advance the distinctly remote possibility that the United States will ever see any true form of “socialism,” it’s the fine folks at AIG.

Apocryphal or not, Marie Antoinette’s supposed rejoinder “let them eat cake” certainly comes to mind.

Put that in your teabag and smoke it, Rick Santelli!

Robert Reich doesn’t buy that there will be a quick recovery. In fact, in his view, there is a radically re-shaped economy and talking about a “V” shaped recession or a “U” shaped recession probably isn’t accurate.

Personally, I don’t buy into either camp. In a recession this deep, recovery doesn’t depend on investors. It depends on consumers who, after all, are 70 percent of the U.S. economy. And this time consumers got really whacked. Until consumers start spending again, you can forget any recovery, V or U shaped.

Problem is, consumers won’t start spending until they have money in their pockets and feel reasonably secure. But they don’t have the money, and it’s hard to see where it will come from. They can’t borrow. Their homes are worth a fraction of what they were before, so say goodbye to home equity loans and refinancings. One out of ten home owners is under water — owing more on their homes than their homes are worth. Unemployment continues to rise, and number of hours at work continues to drop. Those who can are saving. Those who can’t are hunkering down, as they must.

Eventually consumers will replace cars and appliances and other stuff that wears out, but a recovery can’t be built on replacements. Don’t expect businesses to invest much more without lots of consumers hankering after lots of new stuff. And don’t rely on exports. The global economy is contracting.

Then one comes across stuff like this from Firedog Lake:

Workers returned Tuesday to the job at Stella D’Oro Biscuit Co. in the Bronx after a judge ordered the company reinstate the 136 employees who had remained strong throughout a brutal 11-month strike. But before they could even walk through the doors, they were greeted with the anti-union response by the company’s private equity firm owners, the 21st century’s mutation of the robber barons: Brynwood Partners announced it would shut down operations in October. (“Private equity firms” is the euphemism those leveraged buyout corporations adopted after leveraged buyout got a bad name in the 1980s.)

Too often in our “national discourse,” such that it is, income inequality is discussed in solely moral terms. There’s also a utilitarian side, in that consumers who are under economic pressure are not going to spend freely. All those traders who cheered Rick Santelli in the spring might want to stick that in their cigar and smoke it.

If a rising tide lifts all boats, as the old aphorism goes, then maybe we really do need a major reform of labor laws, as the author at Firedog Lake suggests, so that the playing field is less slanted towards corporations and ultra-wealthy investors. For some reason trying to destroy unions is considered a good business practice in this country, and it creates an irrational distortion in the labor marketplace.

The right to form unions and bargain collectively is not only the law, it is a birthright to all Americans that was paid for in blood. Somehow many other industrial democracies manage to have large unions and still make great stuff. You kind of wonder if some of the Wall Street types ever stop to consider whether unionized workers built their fancy sports car. Probably not is my guess.

As long as right-to-starve states and anti-union ideologues at major corporations are allowed to relentlessly attack wages and benefits, the nation faces a zero-sum game where producing quality products and services takes a back seat to screwing over regular folks, usually to the sound of cheers from Wall Street. While this system benefits a relative few in the financial sector, it’s been a disaster for wide swaths of the economy.

If Reich is correct that there will be a “new economy,” the shape that it takes is a legitimate topic for debate for all Americans.

Former KIRO TV news anchor Susan Hutchison has been surprisingly media-shy since announcing her candidacy for King Executive, but according to a report on BlatherWatch, she wasn’t nearly so reserved—or calculatingly non-partisan—last Fall when she joined in the Obama-bashing fun with the right-wing talkers over on KTTH:

Her can’t-we-all-get-along is now, but last year she was trashing Obama, and loving up Sarah Palin in a conversation we caught on the fly last Fall in election crunch as she guested on the very conservative David Boze Show (KTTH m-f, 3-6p) with the host’s wife, Peggy Oban Boze.

The conversation didn’t mean much at the time. We knew it was Peggy Boze, but we didn’t know it was Hutchison. We remember snorting when she said something like, (we’re paraphrasing) “Why don’t Obama’s supporters just write in Bill Cosby’s name?” The ladies had a good laugh over that and at the idea, we guess, that, if these silly people must vote for a black guy, Dr. Huxtable would be safer.

Obama’s “terrorist connections,” Bill Ayers, and Jeremiah Wright were mentioned, naturellement.

Why not just write in Bill Cosby’s name? Ouch. I don’t know if I’d go so far as to describe the comment as racist (after all, she’s still encouraging folks to vote for a black guy), but it certainly strikes me as a tad racially insensitive.

But more importantly, despite her careful efforts to present herself as a moderate non-partisan (you know, mostly by refusing to talk about where she stands on any issues), Hutchison’s radio performance places her smack dab in the mainstream of the KTTH crowd… which of course, isn’t mainstream King County at all. And it certainly ain’t non-partisan:

The Boze Show isn’t some lifestyle talker, it’s hard right. Peggy Boze is not just Dave’s ever-lovin’, she’s a conservative activist and was the McCain-Palin Chairwoman For King County. She was a member of the laughable Palin Truth Squad, a sock puppet front to “set the record straight” after “false attacks, rumors and smears ” against Sarah Palin. It amounted to no more than a list of national Republican women they wanted to hitch to Palin to help gain independent women whose votes were going for Obama.

Don’t get me wrong, Hutchison has the right to her own opinions, extremist as they may be. But voters also have a right to know what these opinions are. And if Hutchison refuses to talk openly and honestly about her political allegiances, philosophy and ideology, then the media will just have to piece it together for ourselves as best we can.

NOTE:
And if Hutchison disputes the similar accounts on BlatherWatch and in The Examiner, she should demand that KTTH make the audio public.

UPDATE:
BlatherWatch has since posted a correction, but I’m not sure that it’s warranted. No, Hutchison did not trash Obama on the September 28th broadcast, but most of the other broadcasts from last Fall are not available online, so that doesn’t mean that it was the broadcast in question. (And yes, I searched for the show, and listened to the 9/28 broadcast before writing my post.)

Regardless, the point is that Hutchison is a conservative Republican, something she paraded openly even on the September 28th show (in which Peggy Boze kvells “You’re our Sarah Palin!”), but refuses to admit it now, and she should simply not be allowed to hide behind this nonpartisan bullshit.

Just a quick follow-up on the community response down here in Clark County to the racist graffiti incident. From The Columbian:

A couple of members of the Scott family watched as technicians first sprayed an alcohol-based mixture to dissolve the spray paint and then power-washed it away.

The cleanup effort was the first in a YWCA campaign to respond to all incidents of hate graffiti in Clark County, said YWCA social change program director Jay Atwood.

The project was financed by community donations; the remaining money will go into a hate-incidents fund to cover future cases.

“When you have intense hate, we feel the community should really rally around,” Atwood said.

And rally, they did. Following media coverage of the incident, Vancouver City Councilman Tim Leavitt drafted an anti-racism resolution for the city, which council members unanimously passed, and local blogger Chris Bassett, the YWCA and Clark County Sheriff’s Office partnered to set up the fund.

The Columbian also reports that the Vancouver City Council unanimously passed a resolution denouncing racism, drafted by council member Tim Leavitt.

I’ve learned that there are many fine community leaders, including some Legislators and other current and past elected officials, as well as non-profit leaders, who worked behind the scenes to develop this response. If this sort of thing keeps happening, there is now a more permanent fund in place to deal with it. Thanks again to everyone who donated last year and this to the ad-hoc fund set up by Bassett, it’s great that some folks in the Puget Sound region would also take the time and trouble to donate some bucks.

Sure, you can’t cure the world of all its ills, but you can make sure that the spray paint is cleaned up and tell everyone that spray-painting swastikas and other hateful messages aimed at a high school girl (or anyone) is just an awful thing to do.

Not being silent is sometimes the best thing to be done.

If people standing up against racism upsets some people, that’s their problem.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8P_DJ7rTKE[/youtube]

Silly question, but a pretty informative answer nonetheless.

FYI, there has been some conversation amongst Sound Transit officials and bike enthusiasts as to whether the bike racks initially installed at the stations will be nearly sufficient to meet demand. If not, they’ll look at options to expand bike facilities near stations.

My mail box is being flooded this morning with press releases and advisories announcing a major new solar power facility to be built just north of Cle Elum:

A privately-held solar company today announced plans to install a 400-acre solar park on property north of Cle Elum, Washington. The Teanaway Solar Reserve is designed to generate about 75 megawatts of renewable energy — enough to power approximately 45,000 households — making it the largest photovoltaic (PV) solar project ever proposed in the Northwest.

[…] The Teanaway Solar Reserve will employ PV solar technology to directly convert sunlight into electricity. The power it generates will be connected to the utility grid and will offset about 275-million pounds of carbon dioxide every year compared to the equivalent amount of energy produced from coal. The target date for completion is fall 2011.

It’s not entirely clear, but it sounds like the company plans to build a manufacturing facility near the site to build the 400,000 panels necessary to complete the project… which would surely be an economic boon for the county, lasting far beyond the solar reserve’s initial construction.

And since I just took a shot at Sen. Maria Cantwell in a previous post, I suppose it’s only fair to give her a shout out on an issue on which she has shown great leadership:

Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) says, “Last year, I fought to pass my bipartisan clean energy tax incentives bill, and now, thanks in part to that legislation, we’re seeing this project get off the ground. Washington State is leading the way to transitioning our world to a clean energy economy, and I am so proud that our state will be home to one of the largest solar generating facilities in the nation. This groundbreaking project will create construction and manufacturing jobs, bring hundreds of millions of investment dollars into Central Washington, and generate fuel and emissions-free electricity for our citizens.”

2011 seems like an awful ambitious target, but we need to be ambitious when it comes to renewable energy.

Two local rallies are being held today to send a clear message to Sen. Maria Cantwell that her constituents need and want substantial health care reform.  For those of you up in Everett, Dying for Universal Healthcare will host a rally  at 11:45 AM at Senators Cantwell and Murray’s joint offices, 2930 Wetmore Ave, while down here in Seattle MoveOn.org will be holding a rally at 12:15 PM at Cantwell’s office at 915 Second Ave.

From all accounts, Sen. Murray is a strong supporter of a public option for health insurance, but Cantwell can best be described as wavering in her opposition, instead promoting the formation “co-ops” like Group Health… which I suppose for those of us here in Group Health territory would mean no reform at all.

That’s just not good enough, not for the poor, not for the middle class, not for anybody.

I’ve been self-employed or a small business owner for most of my adult life, and at times, I’ve even made some decent money at it. But individuals like me no longer have access to full health insurance with robust preventative care at nearly any price.

For example, and to get very personal, there is a history of colon cancer in my family, but as an individual I can’t find affordable insurance that will cover a colonoscopy as part of routine preventative care before the age of 50. If I worked for the government, or big company, yes, but as an individual, that option simply isn’t available.

“So what?” you may say, “Stick with your catastrophic coverage and pay for it yourself.” And I very may well do that. But if I do, through the simple act of denying the claim, the procedure will cost me maybe a couple thousand dollars more than the pre-negotiated price between my provider and my insurer. I’m already not particularly inclined to let somebody stick something up my ass, so charging me an extra couple thousand dollars for the privilege doesn’t exactly incentivize responsible well care.

And now Regence wants to raise my premiums another 17%, the third year in a row of double-digit increases.

As an individual subscriber I’m doubly penalized for not being an employee of a large group. First I must pay a higher premium for my insurance, and then I must pay retail for the many services not covered. And for many American families, paying retail for preventative care, let alone a serious illness or injury, can result in thousands of dollars of bills they can’t afford. It’s a silly system in which Regence won’t pay for my cancer screening, but they will pay for treating my cancer. Where’s the sense in that?

The fact is, if co-ops like Group Health were such a cure-all, we wouldn’t have so many uninsured and underinsured individuals here in Washington state. But we do.

Let Sen. Cantwell know that the status quo simply isn’t good enough.

The podcast makes another surprise return from its summer vacation, giving Goldy and his panel of bloggers a chance to attack the political issues of our day over beer and nachos. The panel takes delight in the splendidly bewildering surrender of Gov. Sarah Palin. After a brief sojourn into rumors about imminent indictments, the panel delves into the big question of whether Palin has spoiled herself politically.

[14:01] It was a big day as Senator Elect Al Franken shortened his title to just Senator Al Franken. Goldy finds in this great hope for foul-mouthed politicos everywhere. The panel wonders when the sobered former satirist will again be able to get his humor back on.

[24:01] Finally, the panel examines Initiative 1033 that would limit future state spending to inflation plus population growth. Two major flaws of the initiative are discussed—the downward ratchet from economic dips and use of the wrong inflation index. If passed, will I-1033 cause Washington State to follow in the dreadful fiscal footsteps of California? A raucous debate ensues over whether angry scare tactics are the right approach for fighting the initiative.

Goldy was joined by Group News Blog publisher Jesse Wendel, Peace Tree Farm’s N in Seattle, and Horses Ass’ Will Kelly-Kamp.

The show is 47:04, and is available here as an MP3:

[audio:http://www.podcastingliberally.com/podcasts/podcasting_liberally_jul_7_2009.mp3]

[Recorded live at the Seattle chapter of Drinking Liberally. Special thanks to Confab creators Gavin and Richard for hosting the Podcasting Liberally site.]

From the headquarters newspaper of Boeing (that would be The Chicago Tribune:)

Unless Boeing Co. can win a long-term contract that bars strikes by its largest union, the aerospace company will build a second production line for its new 787 jetliner outside of Washington state, members of the state’s congressional delegation say.

Because, you know, the 787 has become an international punch line, because of, er, um, stuff that kind of happened.

On Tuesday, Boeing said it would pay $580 million for a Vought Aircraft Industries plant in North Charleston, S.C., that makes large sections of its much-delayed 787.

Deliveries of the 787 have been postponed by nearly two years partly because of problems with components made by suppliers and work that suppliers didn’t complete. Those problems are expected to cost Boeing billions of dollars in added expenses and penalties.(emphasis mine)

Boeing is using suppliers from around the world to build large sections of the plane that are later assembled at the company’s commercial aircraft plant in Everett, north of Seattle. Boeing has booked orders for a record 850 of the planes, though some 60 orders have been canceled so far this year.

So the problems from “suppliers around the world,” many of them presumably non-union, mean the Boeing lapdogs in this state should um, er, do something.

Gregoire said that before Boeing decides on where to place a second 787 line, she plans to go to company headquarters in Chicago and make the case for the Puget Sound region before Boeing’s board.

Gregoire said a no-strike agreement is an ambitious goal for Boeing, and is something that cannot be achieved through legislation. Dicks said any such agreement would have to involve some kind of binding independent arbitration of disputes between Boeing and the Machinists.

Yeah, because nothing would make more sense than for Boeing to move production to right-to-starve states where inferior parts were made, or in some cases, not made. You know, the places that screwed things up for the 787 in the first place. Somehow, in Boeing-logic-land, this is the fault of unions.

Nobody wants to see Washington state workers lose jobs, but there should be limits to this kind of pathetic and transparent corporate blackmail. A “no strike clause” is in reality a “no union clause;” they might as well just dissolve the machinists’ union.

Which is, obviously, the point. Good luck with this, elected Dems. You’re going to need it.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTN8cQLhM-k[/youtube]

This morning the media was invited along for a “How to ride light rail” lesson conducted by Mayor Greg Nickels, and once on the train I had the opportunity to shanghai King County Councilmembers (and Executive wannabes) Larry Phillips and Dow Constantine with the kind of hard hitting questions they never get from the legacy press.

So which candidate supports light rail more? Watch the video to find out.

Oh, and by the way, the trains, the stations, the schedule… it’s hard to imagine Seattleites not falling in love with light rail once it starts service next week.

Back when Microsoft first started fearing that open standards/platform independent web browsers could threaten its lucrative operating system monopoly, they set out to destroy Netscape, the dominant player in the field, by giving away Internet Explorer for free. And it worked. Sorta.

Yesterday, Google announced its new Chrome OS, and its intent to give away the operating system for free. Wonder where they got that idea?

Victoria Jackson, who made a career out of acting stupid on SNL, serves up something that is rather hard to characterize.

Obama legally kills babies and now he can legally kill Grandmas!

Hitler did this. He killed the weak, the sick, the old, and babies and races/religions he didn’t like. Hitler also controlled the media. (Where’s the public debate between scientists on “Climate Change/Global Warming?”) Hitler had the VW bug invented as the state car. What will O’s nationalized car be? So… kill off the weak. That’s the plan. Tax the workers to death. Erase the middle class. Sounds like the evil governments we studied in high school long ago. The evil governments were : kings, oligarchies, facist, socialist, and communist. Now it’s called the Obama Administration. Sounds like candy or a rock band.

Believe it or not, the piece gets better (or worse, depending of course on your point of view and mood) from there, as Jackson goes on to harass an innocent Burbank gift shop owner with wingnut ramblings, then wonders why she is met with silence.

I wonder if Jackson and Dennis Miller hang around Burbank together, worrying about nationalized cars? The burdens these folks carry, I tell you. My heart aches for Jackson, who is certainly old enough to be a grandma and is clearly rather frightened by it all. She should get out of her comfort zone and drive over to Malibu or something.

(I saw it here.)

Join us tonight at the Seattle chapter of Drinking Liberally for an evening of politics under the influence. The festivities take place at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E. beginning at 8:00 pm.

Yeah…I’m late with the post tonight but, hey, I’m busy already!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGK5tXNItV0[/youtube]

Not in Seattle? The Drinking Liberally web site has dates and times for 332 other chapters of Drinking Liberally for you to get lost at.

There are a lot of things I just don’t get. And this is one of them.

Didja know that Ted Van Dyk worked in the Johnson administration? Ted reminds us.