Thieves in the Temple.

hands up!

The People's Email Network still provides a petition supporting H. Res. 1531, which would condemn any pardons granted by Mr. Bush to senior Bush Mobb officials, and now CREDO has one, too. Why bother with "sense of the House" resolutions that don't actually stop anything? Because, here in America, we believe our words count for something. We believe our opinions count for something. And recall that Bush the Better pardoned six high officials convicted in relation to Iran/Contra -- and that any of them might well have implicated him. Think we can put such shenanigans past Bush the Lesser?

RESULTS provides us with a wish list for the next economic recovery package. These items include $19 billion in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits over two years, $150 billion in state aid including Medicaid assistance, $3 billion for Head Start, and $3 billion for Child Care Development Block Grant funding. You can read more about all of that here. We're starting to get into really big numbers, I know, but we're still not getting into numbers the size of that gigundis oversight-free welfare handout Congress and Tha Bush Mobb gave to undeserving financial institutions this past fall. And while the state aid, unfortunately, largely plays catch-up with state budget gaps, most of the aid we're talking about gives good citizens aid they (and the economy, not incidentally) can use. They're a-hand-up-not-a-hand-out, and hands up give you more bang for your buck. Tools for calling your Congressfolk are in the upper left-hand corner, as always. You need to call, also, because the "liberal" media has started to push back against a responsible economic recovery package. Yes, I blame the "liberal" media more than I blame Mitch McConnell -- I mean, on what planet does Mitch McConnell "put the brakes" on anything just by opening his mouth? And, while we're at it, on what planet were the "liberal" media living when Tha Bush Mobb shoved the financial bailout down our throats?

Finally, we have a reading from Rory O'Connor, who describes what the original Ponzi scheme was like, and tastefully waits until the end to call our democracy a "Ponzi democracy." I'm a bit disturbed, ultimately, that so many more deserving actors don't have schemes named after them -- why not the AIG scheme or the Lay scheme, for example? Partly because it takes more than a minute to explain these schemes, I'm sure -- but maybe also because these actors I've just mentioned belong to the American elites, whereas Charles Ponzi was an upstart immigrant. And an Italian one, at that.

hungry? well, have another light posting notice!

I'll be away for a couple of days, so I won't have a new post up until early next week. All the penny rants I thought to write might be spoiled by then, but then again they might not. In the meantime, thanks for visiting, and please visit the excellent links you see on the left- and right-hand sides of this page.

I got yr stimulus right here!

Per the Child Welfare League of America, today is National Call-in Day on adding an increase in the Social Services Block Grant to the economic stimulus package. The Social Services Block Grant would increase funding for non-profit organizations and (for you fiscal hawks out there) can be easily tracked through annual reports. The toll-free number is 202.224.3121, and the magic number is $2.8 billion. Sounds like a lot, don't it? You can bet the remaining Republicans in Congress will say so, and the "liberal" media will echo their say-so. But after a $700 billion handout to finance industry screw-ups, there ain't no big numbers anymore. Hell, there ain't no such thing as a "welfare handout" anymore.

Also, the Union for Concerned Scientists helps you petition your Congressfolk for more green jobs in their stimulus package. Such stimuli would include tax credits for renewable energy generation, solar panels on government buildings, and (most important) training workers to install renewable energy systems. Yes, the government can give a hand up to these vital efforts without some idiot Republican telling you it's a handout. Especially if (because it's not a given) said Republican supported the finanical services bailout.

Meanwhile, because we don't concentrate enough on good news around here, workers at the Smithfield packing plant in Tar Heel, NC voted to join the United Food and Commercial Workers union after an incredible and frequently demoralizing 16-year battle. Smithfield spokesman Dennis Pittman issued a conciliatory statement after the vote, referring to Smithfield's other unions -- and, indeed, over half of Smithfield's other workers enjoy union representation. But this plant is in North Carolina, a notoriously difficult place to organize, so let's enjoy this victory.

I got yr greed-is-good right here!

With the economy being so bad, etc., some folks think now would be a great time to let corporations bring all the money they're hiding overseas back to the U.S., tax-free! What a great way to deal with corporations who've tanked the economy out of greed -- let them be even greedier. A better idea would be to force them to bring their money back to the U.S. and tax it at the normal corporate tax rate of 35 percent -- such a move, according to Citizens for Tax Justice, could bring in about $350 billion. But it's not just a better way to raise revenue -- it's also moral. Tools for contacting your Reps and Senators are, as usual, in the upper left-hand corner of this page. They'll never see it coming.

Free Press helps you remind President-elect Obama to keep his commitment to network neutrality. "Once providers start to privilege some websites or applications over others, then the smaller voices get squeezed out and we all lose," Mr. Obama said a little over a year ago. "The internet is perhaps the most open network in history," he went on, "and we have to keep it that way." Wise words -- but permit me to be skeptical that they'll ever lead to wise practice. Big media is, as usual, a big wedge between the people and the truth -- just yesterday, the Wall Street Journal tried to create some anti-net neutrality drama. In a less immoral and decadent culture, drama kings would have far less power. But that's not the culture we live in -- though I'll keep dreaming and working, and so will you, I suspect.

Newsweek puts Thomas Tamm, who blew the whistle on Mr. Bush's warrantless wiretapping program, on its cover -- and the National Whistleblowers Center, perhaps not coincidentally, helps you write your Congressfolk about Mr. Tamm's revoltin' predicament. Mr. Tamm could be jailed for 10 years for exposing a program so suspect that Mr. Bush's own Attorney General couldn't coherently defend it, so dubious that Congress had to scurry to make its more ridiculous provisions legal a few months back, and so absurd that big telecoms required immunity from lawsuits even though Tha Bush Mobb kept claiming they did nothing wrong. Sound like justice to you? Me neither.

certain things are likely.

Senator Baucus (D-MT) has promised -- or, perhaps more appropriately, threatened -- to introduce a new health care plan that would cover (or, perhaps more appropriately, smother) everybody. Given Mr. Baucus's record in working with the other side, I expect a plan that would leave no HMO behind. However, Rep. Conyers (D-MI) has already introduced a universal health care plan, H.R. 676, which has some 90 House co-sponsors. As far as I can see, it no longer calls for income tax increases, which I've always maintained aren't necessary anyway -- it funds the plan with T-bills, one of the safest investments from an investor's point of view though Mr. Bush is doing his best to change that. If you approve of the plan, or disapprove of parts of it, you may want to write a letter to your House Rep. Tools for finding your House Rep's address are, as always, in the upper left-hand corner. November5.org, which has provided the above link (and other links you may find useful), asks that you email a copy of your letter to them (contact at November5 dot org) when you're done.

SOA Watch notes that the Senate Armed Services Committee concluded that former Defense Secretary Rumsfeld was in fact responsible for much of the torture that went on under his watch. Well, that's a good enough reason to call President-elect Obama (at 202.540.3000; press number 2 when prompted) and remind him to follow through on his promise to end torture, in part by closing the School for the Americas/WHINSEC, which has been training foreign torturers for decades. SOA supporters are no doubt urging Mr. Obama to keep the SOA open, and what are they going to say? They're going to say he should stay close to the middle. If torture is now a position held by the middle, then America's in big trouble. Of course it's not a position held by the "middle," but chickenhawks and their "liberal" media enablers will pretend it is.

(Today's subject header is not from the Pet Shop Boys! It's from a band called Kissing the Pink, who were fairly successful in England during the mid-1980s and rather less so in the U.S., except in clubs. Synth music sure was crazy back then.)

from the New Deal to no freakin' deal.

The bailout happened; we can't change that. But at least we can tell the government to make sure bailout funds get spent where they're needed. Right now, and I know this will come as a tremendous surprise to you, it looks like bailout funds aren't helping the economy at all. Banks are hoarding them -- remember, Tha Bush Mobb insisted on next-to-no oversight of these banks -- and the funds should be going to people in bad mortgages, since the bad mortgages are dragging down the securities we supposedly can't live without. This Congress, and this "President," will live in infamy for what they've done. They deserve jail.

Speaking of bailouts, I'm not too keen on auto bailouts, either. True, a $15 billion loan is better than a $700 billion welfare handout, and the $15 billion would save some good jobs, but as usual this is more a bailout for corporate greedheads than for working folks. Anyway, Senate Republicans -- who seem to have an awful lot more power than the two most recent election returns would suggest -- are trying to force the Big 3 automakers to "bring labor costs down" so that they're in line with Japanese automakers (see page 2). That means slashed wages, slashed benefits, and probably no pensions for already retired workers -- in short, it's a giant union bust. Are Republicans taking any heat in the "liberal" media for putting their implacable hatred of unions ahead of their solemn duty to save corporations that are too big to fail? Of course not -- but heaven forfend the government demands better gas mileage from the Big 3, because, by golly, that's big government interference! I think a phone call to your Senator is in order; tools are, as always, in the upper left-hand corner.

ramble tamble.

Mr. Bush is gone in a little over a month, but that's plenty of time to issue pardons. H.Res. 1531, a Jerrold Nadler production, would demand that Mr. Bush refrain from pre-emptively pardoning Administration (sic) officials, including himself. H.Res. 1531 has no power to stop him from doing that, of course, and even its call for an independent counsel to investigate Tha Bush Mobb's wrongdoings is just a recommendation. Still, nonbinding resolutions are occasionally more powerful than they look -- such a resolution did help persuade President Grant not to run for a third term in 1876. So the People's Email Network provides one contact tool, and the ACLU provides another, the latter reminding us that many Administration (sic) officials condoned, promoted, or enabled torture.

The ACLU also provides an open letter to Barack Obama, asking him to follow through on his pledge to shut down Guantanamo Bay. Mr. Obama may still require convincing on this matter -- if he can flip-flop on the FISA Amendments Act, he's certainly capable of flip-flopping on Guantanamo. Indeed, I've been hearing too much media chatter lately from folks like Karl Rove, specifically on how Mr. Obama will find out that he really does need all those "terrorist-fighthing" tools Mr. Bush made; maybe they're even providing cover for such a reversal on Mr. Obama's part. But I say a nation that can't fight terrorists without protecting the rights of its citizens -- that is, a nation that can't fight terrorists without destroying what makes that nation great -- deserves to die. I'd like to think that ain't us.

Meanwhile, december18th.org aims to convince the Israeli Minister of Defense to free the shministim, high school-age Israelis who protest Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories by refusing to complete their military obligations. This round of shministim (a name created by the Israeli press in the '70s, meaning, literally "twelfth-graders") have been around since around 2001. They number around 3000, all in their late teens, and since they're being put in jail in addition to being called traitors by their country's right-wingers, they (like the Iranian college students who stand a good chance of actually getting beaten up at their protests) have my sincerest admiration. You may convey your wishes to the Israeli defense minister here. Remember: a true friend of Israel wouldn't be afraid to tell Israel where it's going wrong, and wouldn't support Israel in doing wrong.

UPDATE. Changed the Nadler bill number to "H.Res. 1531" in order to (hopefully!) avoid confusion with a video game decency bill from March 2007 also numbered H.R. 1531 and introduced by Fred Upton (R-MI). I have no position on the Upton bill.

windy city action!

You may have heard that workers at a Republic Windows and Doors plant in Chicago have occupied said plant after being given illegally short notice of termination and being told that they wouldn't be getting the pay owed to them. TrueMajority sees an opportunity to call for banks to use their bailout funds to help workers, and so do I. Of course, I'd rather the bailout didn't happen at all, but there's little I can do about that now. Bank of America, for the record, claims that they didn't stop a line of credit from going to Republic Windows and Doors, but rather that Republic Windows and Doors exhausted their existing line of credit, and Bank of America has, apparently, begun negotiations to open a new line of credit, so perhaps the workers' struggle will do us all some good. It's a shame it had to come to this, though. (For something more invigorating, check out this Libertarian who actually thinks the workers have property rights claims in this case. A Bad Libertarian disagrees in the comments, and the blogger and his readers argue against him vigorously. Like I've always said, I'm not against conservatives; I'm against corporatists.)

Of course, those banks might never have gotten a bailout if they hadn't already contributed gajillions of dollars to our Representatives, Senators, and Presidential candidates. So, of course, I'm reminded that Common Cause still provides a contact tool supporting the Fair Elections Now Act, which would provide for public financing of campaigns. I'm not impressed by any of the arguments against it -- money isn't speech, a public financing campaign wouldn't break the public treasury (indeed, Tha Bush Mobb is so much more resourceful at that than any government program), and the fact that Messrs. Bush and Obama opted out of the existing public financing structure doesn't make public financing a bad idea. (Naturally, the news of yesterday's numerous corruption-related indictments of Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich of Illinois -- quite possibly the stupidest man in history -- is also a decent argument for public campaign financing.)

memos to the "liberal" media.

By now you almost certainly know that the stat the "liberal" media's talking about -- that OMG the big 3 automakers pay like $73 an hour to their workers OMG! -- is utter hogwash. And you know why its hogwash -- you can only get a figure of $73/hour if you add in all the benefits paid to all the big 3's retired workers and then divide it by the number of workers currently working. Any third-grader would tell you that's wrong. So why does the "liberal" media keep repeating it? Wait, let me guess. FAIR has contact information regarding a December 3 ABC newscast using the figure. When cable news flogs a bad story, it matters mostly to the people who watch cable news all the time, and that's not as big an audience as you might think. But when a bad story gets to the "free" network newscasts -- even the CBS Evening News has well over twice the audience of The O'Reilly Factor -- then you know it's getting out to the population at large, and gets quoted back to you at the water cooler. And that's bad.

That's not all of it, of course. NBC News had retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey on to talk about security forces in Afghanistan on Thanksgiving Day -- without revealing that Mr. McCaffrey serves on the board of directors of a defense contractor that gets taxpayer money to work with, you guessed it, security forces in Afghanistan. That would be, I would think, a conflict of interest, rather like all the conflicts of interest the New York Times detailed back in April -- which led to anti-propaganda legislation passed by Congress and signed by Mr. Bush. Some will say that Mr. McCaffrey's work in Afghanistan makes him an expert, but I think experts are supposed to be good at things. How well is the war in Afghanistan going again? Media Matters helps you demand full disclosure of military "analysts"' ties to defense contractors.

yet more memos to the incoming Executive branch, plus death notice.

Union of Concerned Scientists helps you tell Mr. Obama to reduce the spread of nuclear weapons. It's a short letter, but it's also a noble goal. The current administration (sic) has always seemed determined to build more nukes, but even the Republican Congresses often thwarted this aim, and Mr. Obama has, if nothing else, supported efforts to recover loose nuclear materials from Russia. Anyway, it's his job to do the people's will, and I doubt anyone but greedy politicians get taken in anymore by arguments supporting the urgent need for more nukes.

Mr. Obama reappointed Mr. Bush's Defense Secretary, the artist formerly known as not-Donald Rumsfeld, last week, meaning that the Servicemembers' Legal Defense Network now has someone to ask to support the repeal of don't-ask-don't-tell. Mr. Gates is, theoretically, powerless to change the law as a member of the Executive branch, but he is not powerless to persuade lawmakers and sway public opinion. And perhaps his new boss, Barack Obama, can give him some cover. In any case, it's asinine to fight two wars and threaten more wars while kicking out some of your best servicemembers just because they're gay. "Asinine" is one of the words I use when I don't want to curse.

In other news, Robin's Bookstore on 13th Street in Philadelphia will close on January 31. Though it's of course completely unfair that indy bookstores fail while auto CEOs fly on private jets to Washington in order to beg for taxpayer money, I'm not in complete despair over this development. Mr. Robin, whose grandfather opened the bookstore in 1936, now plans to open a café of sorts on the second floor of the current site, promising events "with intellectual content" (quotation marks in the original). The events were what I always liked best about Robin's anyway, and really, books aren't a community -- they're just a way into a community.

the ever-evolving light posting notice.

So, er, yeah, since I ain't said nothin' in a little over a week now, a light posting notice must be in effect. Please continue to patronize the excellent blogs in my blogroll in the meantime. Also, please continue to patronize the excellent blogs that are not in my blogroll. You probably know where they are.

However, I realize that my biennial public accounting of my political donations is long overdue, so here goes: I gave $100 each to Independent Presidential candidate Ralph Nader and Independent House candidate Cindy Sheehan (CA-8), and $200 to U.S. Senate candidate Jim Martin (D-GA). (The latter figure should show up on some public database, but I haven't found it yet.) I didn't give to Mr. Martin because I don't like Saxby Chambliss -- I don't like Saxby Chambliss, but I believe that giving money to someone who just happens to oppose someone you don't like is, well, kinda like a hostage situation, and American citizens should never act like hostages. I gave Jim Martin money because I think he's damn terrific, and I'm damn sorry he lost.