Governors Refuse Possibility of Success

Governor Perry in TX is still claiming he may well refuse stimulus unemployment payments because it will mean adding part time workers to the unemployment benefits paid. He joins Gov. Sanford, Gov. Jindal, Gov. Barbour and a few others whose interests are not served by ending the economic meltdown. In two years, they claim, when the funds are finished from this particular legislation, that would add to their states' expenses.

Do I hear rational readers asking about why refuse added income now because something might possibly happen in two years? That seems pretty farfetched to anyone who looks back over the past two years and sees that the same right wing refuseniks were saying up until about four months ago that the 'fundamentals were sound', and praising the great job growth that the last eight years had brought about. What will happen two years from now is no more likely to look like what these poor prognosticators predicted than anything from two years back.

Of course, if you worked at the Wall Street Journal, you would be accepting that prediction of dire effects as gospel truth. That's what you get paid to do.

Debt-laden state governments were supposed to be the big winners from the $787 billion economic stimulus bill. But at least five Republican Governors are saying thanks but no thanks to some of the $150 billion of "free" money doled out to states, because it could make their budget headaches much worse down the line. And they're right. (Emphasis added.)

The possibility, two years from now, that the emergency will still exists presumes success of the wingers' efforts to stave off economic recovery. Just as they predicted success of McCain/Palin in the last election, this requires a reading of events that ignores facts, and demands irrational behavior by the rest of the country as well.

The writer goes sailing merrily on as if no reader might at this point be saying 'give us a break'. Perhaps the readership has been culled of anyone intelligent enough at this point to see that governors grandstanding against the elected president of all the people might just be making ridiculous and unlikely predictions so that they can excuse their own actions against their states' and the nation's interest.

The governor makes the point for the WSJ writer, however; Mr. Perry sent a letter to President Obama last week warning that Texas may refuse certain stimulus funds. "If this money expands entitlements, we will not accept it. This is exactly how addicts get hooked on drugs," he says.

That wicked entitlement getting kicked down the road will of course be picked up by the state legislature under a provision written in by a cagey Rep. Clyburn, who slipped a little-noticed provision into the stimulus bill giving state legislatures the power to overrule Governors and spend the money "by means of the adoption of a concurrent resolution." Most state legislatures are versions of Congress; they can't say no to new spending. Note that the WSJ writer assumes you are every bit as unwilling to see benefits going to those not in the top .01% of the wealthy as he and the recalcitrant governors are.

As Diane and I have both been pointing out, the 'entitlement' mantra has become the cry off class warriors fighting against the stimulus plan that proposes to bring some of the vanquished prosperity back into our economy by giving consumers the wherewithal to consume. The wicked effects of letting working people life is earnestly being opposed by the marshalled forces of the right wing.

If the stimulus plan fails, we have the recidivists who oppose living wages to thank. If it succeeds, they will be sure to scramble to the front of the line grappling for entitlements for themselves, and credit for success.

Not To Do List

When not trying to take credit for President-Elect Obama's election, members of the right wing appear to be earning cocktail weenies this week by making wish lists for their fellow losers. Considerately, the Dallas Morning News collected a variety today, and I am featuring a few choice examples of rightwing wisdom here.

From Cheryl Hall, Dallas business columnist, (whose title asks President-elect Obama to make us believe again, recalling the tired maxim that the economy will be fine as long as 'consumer confidence' is alive and well):

Be the country's CEO. Not the scurrilous kind who milks the system for personal gain, but one who creates economic growth and jobs without bankrupting the future.
(snip)
I want all Americans to have access to education, health insurance, a reliable roof over their heads and nutritious food in their bellies. I just don't know how we effectively set this up and pay for it.

I'm certain bureaucracy, cronyism and politics as usual won't cut it.

Nor do I believe that business can be given free rein in the hopes that it will do the right things. The past decade proved that greed trumps altruism all too often.

But I'm enough of a free-market capitalist to believe Yankee ingenuity can pull off what socialism can't.

May I suggest that these vague flutterby hopes would have been better advice than the greed-oriented NoTaxes corporate ideology championed by the same columnist for the past many years. It is a plus that she admits failure to provide essentials that the actual worker requires. That amount of courage was not present in many of the advice columns of the past few days from reformed de-regulatory corporate welfare advocates.

But asking Obama to be the CEO is too funny, that is the delegating style we just saw bring down the ship of state in the lame duck maladministration we are shedding thankfully.

Socialism implies welfare for the working person, while welfare for corporate America was our major problem for the past eight years. Obviously, by the more accurate and nicer name of public interest, what we need is the support of government for workers, not continued abuse.

From Merrie Spaeth, Reagan era creation who tries to make a go in consulting for firms still wedded to the Eat the Poor mantra:

We need an army of volunteers to go anywhere there are more than three people to talk about the importance of free enterprise, entrepreneurs and individual accountability.
(snip)
Just as the "estate tax" was a yawn but the "death tax" rallied people, we need "competitive taxes," not "lower taxes." The "Fairness Doctrine" is the "Unfairness Doctrine." The "Employee Free Choice Act" is the "Employee No Voice Act," and so on.

My compliments. Revive the past eight years' subjugation of the work ethic and continue calling a spade a sugar tong, there's a sure recipe for keeping the right wing forever dysfunctional. My congratulations, and that is the one I want to see them cling to forever. Bye, bye.

A favorite sampler of advice gives us a gift, the reappearance of Karen Hughes, begging for wingers to forget that the present disaster was caused by her team:

We have plenty of thinking and rebuilding to do. But the Democrats' victory did not repudiate conservative principles, and our comeback will not be hastened with a self-defeating spiral of blame aimed at our candidates, campaign decisions, the Bush administration or one another.

Barack Obama won by promising GOP-sounding programs. Now, however, he must govern. He will face pressure from liberals. His prescriptions of raising taxes on small businesses and individuals, enacting new mandates and restricting trade will not be popular in an economic crisis.
(snip)
Despite the negative press and criticism from the arrogant elite, Sarah Palin has star power. She connects with voters and has a record of cutting spending, taking on special interests and leading toward energy independence.

The sound of the GOP voice in Hughesian ears has become Yes We Can? or Hughes' hearing is reversed like Spaeth's reverse vocabulary. Like McAyn, this maladministration tool chooses to denounce the party line over the past twelve years, which insisted that the working class was to provide the trough the corporate and financial interests feed from, and all would prosper. Please keep on dreaming and keep the aggressive ignorant at the fore.

The stream of advice coming from the right is truly valuable. We can only hope that the party of graft and perversion continues to follow it wholeheartedly.

The Pied Piper was a leader of rats, if you recall, and effectively exterminated the vermin from Hamlin. Pipe away, all you of the recidivist wing. There is a mountain pass waiting for your procession. Enjoy the trip, your future and the company.

Senator Flip-Flop

Sen. McCain is having a hard time keeping his story straight, as this article in today's NY Times makes clear.

On Monday morning, as the financial system absorbed one of its biggest shocks in generations, Senator John McCain said, as he had many times before, that he believed the fundamentals of the economy were “strong.”

Hours later he backpedaled, explaining that he had meant that American workers, whom he described as the backbone of the economy, were productive and resilient. By Tuesday he was calling the economic situation “a total crisis” and denouncing “greed” on Wall Street and in Washington. ...

As recently as January, Mr. McCain argued at a Republican debate that Americans were better off than they were eight years ago; by this summer he had released an advertisement that said “we’re worse off than we were four years ago.”

His first big speech on the mortgage crisis warned against excessive government intervention; a month later he released his plan for government action to help people keep their homes. ...

Mr. McCain’s economic adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, told reporters Tuesday that the senator, who has often favored deregulation, would push for new regulations as president.

Sen. McCain, who served for years on the Senate Commerce Committee, worked with his dear friend Sen. Phil Gramm to roll back the regulations which had kept the greed in financial circles in check. Now, when the results of deregulation are starting to manifest in horrific fashion, he suddenly thinks maybe some new regulations are in order.

It occurs to me that Sen. McCain was actually being honest that one time he admitted that economics was not his strong suit.

It also occurs to me that he hasn't been terribly honest or perceptive since then.

New And Improved Pander Bear

Mr. Straight Talk, the maverick of the GOP, turns out not to be so straight talking or so mavericky, at least when it comes to campaigning. As this NY Times editorial points out, Sen. McCain has decided to go with the Republican flow on the issue of drilling for offshore and onshore oil, consequences be damned.

Emissions from fossil fuels — not just oil but the coal and natural gas used in power plants — are the main drivers of global warming. Mainstream scientists have warned that unless they are sharply reduced the planet will face rising sea levels, prolonged droughts, widespread famine and other frightening consequences.

Global problems obviously require a global response. As the world’s most profligate user of energy, and as one of its most technologically gifted nations, the United States can and should lead the way by developing more efficient vehicles and by expanding carbon-free energy sources like wind and solar power. ...

The John McCain of a few years ago understood this. He sponsored a bill with John Kerry that would have aggressively raised fuel economy standards, and another that would have put a stiff price on carbon emissions to encourage investment in cleaner technologies.

Unfortunately, that John McCain has receded from view just in time for the presidential campaign. He has dropped his opposition to offshore drilling, pandered shamelessly by urging a gas tax holiday, and missed several crucial votes on bills extending credits for wind and solar power. [Emphasis added]

But wait, there's more: just in case the electorate isn't persuaded that he's serious about keeping the US tied to carbon based energy sources, to oil and to the big oil companies, he's picked a running mate who is even more determined than he is to drill, drill, drill:

Mr. McCain’s choice of Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska as his running mate raises even more worrisome questions. Her strategy is drill here, drill there, drill now.

She would open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in a heartbeat — something Mr. McCain continues to oppose. She has sued the Bush administration for declaring the polar bear a threatened species, fearing it would interfere with oil exploration in Alaskan waters. She has questioned whether humans are responsible for climate change. Governor Palin’s views are alarmingly out of touch with reality. No less alarming was Mr. McCain’s decision to welcome them into his campaign.

I guess he was for the planet before he was against it.

Or something.