Category Archives: Politics

November 2, 2011 · 9:40 pm

Big Banks Extracting Fees On Unemployment Benefits

These big banks are just plain evil….

I was in BB&T last week and saw a sign saying they would charge either $8 or $12 to cash a check drawn on their bank for people without an account of their own.  That should be illegal.

And now I see this?

Evil… just plain evil.

If banks are going to administer Government benefits, they should be required, by contract, not to charge the people receiving the benefits.  They still make money from merchants when debit/credit cards are used and that’s fine.  It’s soaking the beneficiaries, who can least afford it, that is just plain wrong….

Evil…just plain evil.

I don’t know why anyone deals with these banks who doesn’t have to do so.  The rest of us should be moving our money out to Credit Unions or, at the very least, local community banks….

Out of work and living on a $189-a-week unemployment check, Rob Linville needs to watch every penny. Lately, he has been watching too many pennies disappear into the coffers of the bank that administers his unemployment check via a prepaid debit card.

The state of Oregon, where Linville lives, deposits his weekly benefits on a U.S. Bank prepaid debit card. The bank allows him to make four withdrawals per month free of charge. After that, he must pay $1.50 for each visit to the ATM and $3 to see a teller. Managing his basic expenses, including rent, bus fare and groceries, typically requires more than four withdrawals, he says. Unexpected needs — Linville recently bought a sport coat for $20 to prepare for a job interview — entail more. He’s afraid to withdraw his full benefits in one shot, knowing that the bank could sock him with a $17.50 overdraft fee if he exceeds his balance. So he pulls out small amounts of cash as he needs it, incurring about $15 in fees in the last two months he says.

“I’m so broke,” Linville said, his voice expressing resignation that this is simply how the world works. “But I don’t really have any other options.”

Across the nation, people receiving a range of state-furnished benefits — from unemployment insurance and food stamps to cash assistance for poor families — are facing similar options and reaching the same conclusion. In 41 states major banks and financial firms have secured contracts to provide access to public benefits via prepaid debit cards. And banks are increasingly extracting hefty cuts of these funds through an assortment of small fees. U.S. Bank, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America and other institutions hold contracts to distribute these benefits on prepaid debit cards.

via Banks Extract Fees On Unemployment Benefits.

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November 2, 2011 · 8:37 pm

The Median Net Worth Of A Member Of Congress Is Five Times Higher Than The Median American Household

And we wonder why they just don’t get it?

They live in an alternate universe!

These guys and gals live in a little bubble called Washington, DC, sheltered by their wealth, and have no idea how the real world operates…

Nothing will change as long as the Congress is run by the rich for the rich….

 

Part of the reason the richest 1 percent of Americans have captured our politics is because they are able to finance political races, issue campaigns, and lobbyists. But the other reason some of the richest Americans have been able to control our politics is because they themselves have gotten elected to positions of power at a much higher rate than the rest of us.

As Roll Call points out today, the estimated median net worth for a member of Congress in 2010 was $513,000 (this is strictly an estimate as assets are reported in ranges). Meanwhile, the Center for Economic and Policy Research’s David Rosnick points out that the net worth of the median household in the United States that same year was closer to $100,000:

via The Median Net Worth Of A Member Of Congress Is Five Times Higher Than The Median American Household | ThinkProgress.

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November 2, 2011 · 7:57 pm

Who’s Paying for the GOP’s Plan to Hijack the 2012 Election? | Mother Jones

Big money may well be the death of democracy in the U.S…..

Elections can be bought here just like in any third world banana republic…

Mainly thanks to the Roberts Supreme Court ruling in the Citizens United case, but there are other loopholes that need to be closed…..

And  I have decided it’s time to do away with the Electoral College.  It’s become just another tool for the GOP to manipulate.

Remember Al Gore got more popular votes than George W. Bush.  It was the Electoral College and the Supreme Court that gave us President George W. Bush.

I wonder if it’s not already too late to save popular Democracy in the U.S.A…..

From MotherJones.com:

Over the past six months, someone—or a group of someones—has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund an effort to change the rules of the 2012 presidential election to make it very difficult for President Barack Obama to win reelection. But the shadowy lobbying group mounting this campaign hasn’t disclosed its donors—and under current law, it doesn’t have to.

In two states, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, GOP legislators have introduced bills that would change how electoral votes—a candidate needs 270 of the 538 to win the presidency—are awarded in a presidential election. Under the current system, the winner of the statewide popular vote receives all of the electoral votes from that state.

If the Republican plan becomes law in either Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, those states would change how electoral votes are awarded. The new plan would allot electoral votes on the basis of vote totals within congressional districts. If a candidate wins a congressional district, he or she would receive one electoral college vote. Whoever does best in the statewide race would receive two electoral votes.

Because Republicans will draw the boundaries of the congressional districts in both states, the new rules would mean that Obama could win the states but still receive fewer electoral votes than his Republican opponent. Should a Republican split the states’ electoral votes with Obama (even if Obama draws more votes), that could provide the GOPer with the margin of victory in a close race. (Under the US Constitution, it is up to the states to allot electoral votes as they see fit.)

In Pennsylvania, a secretive nonprofit group called All Votes Matter has been pushing the electoral vote scheme since May. All Votes Matter has close ties to the Pennsylvania GOP—it hired a number of former top state Senate staffers-turned-lobbyists. “It was pretty much the Senate GOP All Star Lobbying Team and [former state House Democratic Counsel Bill] Sloane,” Peter DeCoursey, the bureau chief for Capitolwire, a newswire that’s read religiously by Harrisburg insiders*, explained in September.

Between April and June, the group spent $77,700 to lobby state officials to support legislation to implement this scheme. By early September, GOP Gov. Tom Corbett and the state House and Senate leaders, Mike Turzai and Dominic Pileggi, both Republicans, had all expressed their support for the idea. It was “the best $77,700 anyone ever spent on potential legislation,” DeCoursey wrote. “The entire state governing wing [was] for a bill that [hadn’t] been introduced yet.”

A week later, though, the landscape had changed significantly. Mother Jones and other national media outlets drew widespread attention to the story, and the state GOP chairman and the vast majority of its congressional delegation came out against the plan.

via Who’s Paying for the GOP’s Plan to Hijack the 2012 Election? | Mother Jones.

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October 30, 2011 · 3:03 pm

Outside Groups Eclipsing G.O.P. As Hub of Campaigns – NYTimes.com

More fallout from the Citizens United Supreme Court decision that allowed unlimited Corporate money to flow into Campaigns.

Now the Corporations and their billionaire leaders can simply buy candidates and campaigns outright instead of having to use the political parties as a middle man.

And they don’t have to deal with all those messy campaign finance regulations the Political Parties have to deal with…..

Karl Rove and this merry Band of Billionaires are already planning how to put their agenda into play next year.

This is going to be nasty.  It’s going to be a campaign season like we’ve never seen before with all this unlimited Corporate Cash spreading lies, disinformation and propaganda from the Presidential Campaign level (the Koch brothers and their Astroturf candidate Herman Cain) all the way down to the School Board races (See Art Pope in NC).

I’m really not sure our Democracy can survive this…..

I think it may be too late- the Corporate Coup d’etat may have already happened and we are just now realizing it….

From today’s New York Times:

At a time when the Republican National Committee remains weighed down by debt, outside conservative groups, freed from contribution limits by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision last year, are playing an ever larger role and operating in an increasingly coordinated fashion. In the coming months, the conservative groups will consult among themselves as they open pre-election advertising barrages against Mr. Obama and Congressional Democrats.

They have begun conversations about how to divide up the swing states where each group is likely to focus its energies, with some like Americans for Prosperity expecting to shift chiefly to Senate races and the White House. Others, like the new Congressional Leadership Fund, will look to preserve the Republican hold on the House.

Groups that have made defeating Mr. Obama their top priority expect to invest heavily in some of the new swing states where Mr. Obama made inroads in 2008, like Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico. Other groups, operating in concert, will target Democratic senators they believe are ripe for unseating, like Bill Nelson of Florida, Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Sherrod Brown of Ohio.

At a time when the Republican presidential primary race has featured increasingly tough stances against illegal immigration, the independent groups have begun an aggressive program of outreach to Hispanics, hoping to offset Democratic gains among a critical voting bloc.

And they are planning to coordinate offensives in states like North Carolina and Pennsylvania, where money and organizing could pay dividends simultaneously in the presidential, Congressional and local legislative races.

via Outside Groups Eclipsing G.O.P. As Hub of Campaigns – NYTimes.com.

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October 30, 2011 · 11:45 am

Shadow Work: How Corporations Make Us Do the Jobs of Thousands for Free

Do you realize that every day you do the job of dozens of people and don’t get paid to do them?  In fact, you pay the corporations and businesses for the privilege to serve yourself.

I’ve been thinking about this for some time….

We now pump our own gas, check ourselves out at the grocery store, help ourselves as we can’t find a clerk at Macy’s, check ourselves in at the airport, pay our parking at a machine….the list goes on and on.

These used to be jobs.  People used to do these jobs.  These jobs used to enable people to buy homes and have families.  They used to make us interact with people and make our lives more human and humane and less frantic and stressed.

Now we “self-service” so the corporations can make more profit and cut tedious expenses like “employees.”

When I visit my Mother at her Assisted Living facility, I see people who made careers as sales clerks and in other customer service jobs. They made enough money to live decent, middle class lives and pay for the outrageous fees at that home.

Shoppers and travelers used to feel pampered and appreciated.  Now they are stressed and over burdened.

And don’t even think about the internet and the push to self service there for banking, shopping and every other imaginable task.

Banks now want to charge Customers to see a teller- and to use their Debit Cards to self service and help banks avoid the processing charges associated with checks.

Businesses will do anything to avoid interacting directly with their Customers.

Customers are also another inconvenience to businesses.  Business doesn’t understand why people don’t just give them money and walk away.  So what, if the service and products are shoddy or not what the people want.

They just want their cash- sorry, credit or debit cards.  Cash is too people-intensive to handle.

But the Corporations are making record profits….and stashing them in under their figurative mattresses.

Think about this a while and you will really start to understand that Occupy Wall Street was a long time coming…

Here is a brief excerpt from today’s New York Times. I encourage you to click the link and read the entire article…..

 

The conventional wisdom is that America has become a “service economy,” but actually, in many sectors, “service” is disappearing. There was a time when a gas station attendant would routinely fill your tank and even check your oil and clean your windshield and rear window without charge, then settle your bill. Today, all those jobs have been transferred to the customer: we pump our own gas, squeegee our own windshield, and pay our own bill by swiping a credit card. Where customers once received service from the service station, they now provide “self-service” — a synonym for “no service.” Technology enables this sleight of hand, which lets gas stations cut their payrolls, having co-opted their patrons into doing these jobs without pay.

Examples abound, helping drive unemployment rates. Airports now have self-service check-in kiosks that allow travelers to perform the jobs of ticket agents. Travel agents once unearthed, perused and compared fares, deals and hotel rates. Shadow-working travelers now do all of this themselves on their computer screens. Medical patients are now better informed than ever — as a result of hours of online shadow work. In 1998, the Internal Revenue Service estimated that taxpayers spent six billion hours per year on “tax compliance activities.” That’s serious shadow work, the equivalent of three million full-time jobs.

Once upon a time, retail stores had employees who were not cashiers but roamed the floor, assisting customers. Go into a Wal-Mart or Target or Staples and find someone to help you locate and choose a product. Good luck. You’re on your own, left to wander the aisles in search of an unoccupied staff person. (Meanwhile, you might stumble on and purchase some item you hadn’t planned on buying.) Here, it’s not technology, but a business tactic that cuts payroll expenses by trimming the service provided to customers — and prolongs the time those customers spend rambling around inside the store. Regardless, the result is still more shadow work, as customers take on the job that retail salespeople once did.

via Our Unpaid, Extra Shadow Work – NYTimes.com.

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October 29, 2011 · 10:54 pm

Conservative Family Values? AntiGay Candidate Admits Lesbian Affair With Student 40 Years Ago, Still Wants Political Office

Those Family Values Republicans are at it again….

This district is very close to Jerry Falwell’s Christian Indoctrination Camp (AKA Liberty University)  and in about the most conservative part of Virginia….

I actually managed a campaign against the guy who is retiring twentysome years ago.  I know this district well.  I’m going to have to pay more attention to the local Virginia press on this one.  This could get really good….

Apparently we have a potentially felonious “ex” Lesbian running against a guy convicted of drunk driving and carrying a concealed weapon for the State Senate?  That’s just on the “conservative” GOP and GOP “Leaning” side.

Sounds like typical Virginia Republicans to me….

The Dems seem to be staying out of this and letting the GOP do their dirty work for them….

I encourage you to click through the link and read the whole story.  Truth is truly stranger than fiction…..You can’t make this stuff up!

From Jonathan Turley:

An interesting story out of Appomattox, Virginia, and  one that hits closer to home than I originally thought. Anti-Gay lobbyist and former deputy clerk of the Virginia House of Delegates, Linda Wall, wants to put her conservative  ideology to work for the citizens of Appomattox, Virginia in the election for the Commonwealth’s 59th District House seat.  Running as an independent, she describes herself as a “Republican-leaning conservative.” Her campaign slogan is: “A Campaign of Protection and Restoration.”  But the place where our Country was reunited in 1865, is wondering just what kind of “protection” she’s talking about and has a real dilemma on its hand since Wall admitted a lesbian affair with one of her junior high students in the early 1970s.

via Conservative Family Values? AntiGay Candidate Admits Lesbian Affair With Student 40 Years Ago, Still Wants Political Office « JONATHAN TURLEY.

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October 29, 2011 · 9:56 am

Why are Bikes and Walking Trails Being Targeted by Congress?

I can tell you!  It’s because they don’t use gas or oil!

Our current Congress Trolls think it’s Un-American to go more than 5 feet unless you are driving a gas guzzling American made hummer type monstrosity.

Remember their motto:  “What’s good for Exxon Mobil is what’s good for America.”

If you aren’t going to be riding around in the car, they prefer you lay on your sofa and watch Fox News while eating Frankenfoods….

And please note, Rand Paul, the Libertarian darling who fooled so many people in the last election cycle, is doing his bit here…..I thought he wanted the government to stay out of everything?  I’m all for more infrastructure spending.  All for it.  But it should be in addition to these expenditures for walking and bike trails.

From Jay Walljasper at Shareable.net:

 

How in the the world can biking and walking be controversial?

They’re good exercise, fun to do and—as an alternative to driving everywhere—help us save money and the environment.  Both biking and walking are increasingly popular for transportation and recreation today, thanks in large part to a recent flowering of federally-funded trails, bikeways and pathways that make getting around on two wheels and two feet safer and more convenient.

But in these antagonistic political times, bikers and walkers are now targets of controversy for some members of Congress.  In September, Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn proposed stripping all designated federal funding for bike and pedestrian projects from the pending Transportation Bill. After an outpouring of opposition from citizens coast-to-coast, Coburn withdrew his amendment.

Now bicyclists and pedestrians are under attack again, this time in an amendment from Kentucky Senator Rand Paul. He wants to redirect every last penny of money dedicated to bicycling and walking to bridge repair instead.

via Shareable: Why are Bikes Being Targeted by Congress?.

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October 28, 2011 · 8:38 pm

Ten Things I Hate About Republicans

As a start, let’s remember the classic premise under which the Republican Party has traditionally built its platform:  “A strong national defense and  less government intrusion into our daily lives.”  Doesn’t sound too bad on the surface, but the devil is in the details and how the GOP has evolved over the last 30 years.

The GOP used to be the bastion of White Shoe Lawyers, Old Money and the Corporate Elite.  At least they were straight forward about their goals in those days.  It was all about preserving capital within the family, making money and leaving every one else alone as long as those goals were achieved.

Then came the unholy alliance with the Religious Right.  Then they had to pretend they gave a damn about abortion and gays.  There went the part of the platform about “less government intrusion into our daily lives.”  Out the window.  The proverbial baby with the bath water,

That eventually led to most sensible people leaving the GOP.  This was all just too tacky for the Country Club Republicans to accept.  So, they moved to the Democrats and we saw the rise of the Corporatist Wing of the Democratic Party.

Arguably, a lot of today’s Democrats are very similar to the Republicans of 30 or 40 years ago.  That means a lot of people don’t quite fit anywhere.   However, the Democratic Party is more open to dissension and discussion, so most of these folks stay with the Dems and try to work it out.  The Dems negotiate, the GOP purges like the Stalinists of yore….

But I digress…let’s get back on topic.

What do I hate about the “modern” GOP?  Let me tell you…

1.  They are mean- these folks go for the jugular vein.  They don’t discuss, they don’t book dissent, they kill.  Truth is usually the first victim.  They have obviously read their Machiavelli and believe you can’t wound a prince, you must kill him.  (See Rick Perry)

2.  They lie with impunity- The modern GOP does not believe in facts, they believe in propaganda. They will look you in the eye – or more likely television camera- and lie. Their goal is to create an alternate reality that benefits the Rich without anyone getting wise to the situation.  (See Fox News)

3.  They are hypocrites-  They claim moral superiority and belief in “traditional” family values while serially abandoning wives and families for new trophy wives.  (See John McCain and Newt Gingrich)

4.  They are plastic- If Ken and Barbie ran for  office they would be Republicans.  I’m convinced the GOP and fundamentalist ministers keep the hairspray companies in business.  I would just love to put all the GOP debaters in a wind tunnel and see how they came out.  I wonder if their hair is real or if it’s like some play-dough helmet they put on everyday….(See Mitt Romney and Rick Perry)

5.  They are proud of their ignorance- They hate science and won’t believe simple facts.  They can’t be bothered to learn or study the issues.  (See Herman Cain and Sarah Palin-among others)

6.  They are intolerant of other religions or the religious views of others- Each of them seem to be convinced they have a direct line to God and he speaks only to them.  Anyone who disagrees with them is bound for hell.  (See Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum)

7.  They are heartless-  Ideological purity is of the utmost importance-particularly to the Libertarian Republicans.  These guys believe in almost no government.  If you get sick and don’t have any money, it’s okay to let you die.  They think you should have planned better and worked harder. (See Ron Paul)

8.  They are anti-intellectual-  Used to be we wanted the smartest guy or gal in the room for our President.  Not the GOP.  Not only are they proud of their ignorance, they dismiss intelligence and intellectual curiosity as signs of ideological weakness.  They think people who actually study the issues and the facts are wasting valuable time.  To them, facts are to be adjusted to drive the agenda and one shouldn’t think too much about things like starting a war with Iraq because someone insulted Daddy.  (See George W. Bush)

9.  The are vengeful- They truly believe there are only two important concepts in politics:  Loyalty and Revenge.  You must be loyal, without asking questions, or you will face their revenge.  (See George W. Bush and Dick Cheney)

10.  They are always out for themselves- Their motto really should be “I’ve got mine, screw you.”  They don’t believe in anything that stands in the way of profiteering.  It’s all about “me” to them.  They don’t even recognize the existence of anyone else as that would require them to stop gazing at themselves in the mirror and reading their bank statements.  (See Sarah Palin)

I could go on, but I’ll stop here for now….

I’m sure before the Republican Presidential Primaries are over, I’ll be able to add to this list…..

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October 25, 2011 · 10:41 pm

CBO: Income Of The Top 1 Percent Exploded Over The Last Three Decades

It will be interesting to see how the GOP handles this report from the non-partisan and highly respected Congressional Budget Office.

Well, not really.  They will just loudly spread lies and propaganda while impugning the reputation of the CBO.

At this point, their reaction to news and facts not supportive of their goals is really rather predictable.

From ThinkProgress.org:

The Congressional Budget Office today released a new report on the growth in income that’s occurred in the U.S. over the last three decades. CBO found that, “for the 1 percent of the population with the highest income, average real after-tax household income grew by 275 percent between 1979 and 2007,” while it grew by just 18 percent for the bottom 20 percent of the income scale. “As a result of that uneven income growth, the distribution of after-tax household income in the United States was substantially more unequal in 2007 than in 1979,” CBO said.

via CBO: Income Of The Top 1 Percent Exploded Over The Last Three Decades | ThinkProgress.

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October 25, 2011 · 8:20 pm

Rick Perry On Increasing Income Inequality: ‘I Don’t Care About That’

Well, this shouldn’t be news to anyone….

Because:

a)  We all knew Governor GoodHair was an Airheaded Ex-Cheerleader just like George W Bush- but with worse grades at a worse school and an even meaner disposition.

b) Everyone should know by now the entire GOP- and some of the Dems- are bought and paid for by the Corporations and the Rich.  They are just starting to be honest about it….

c)  “I Don’t Care” should be the Republican Party’s  Campaign Slogan for 2012.  The Rickster is just ahead of the curve on messaging.

 

From The Huffington Post:

 

Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry says he wants a huge tax break for the rich, and he doesn’t care what it means for income inequality.

Rick Perry announced on Tuesday that if elected president he would slash the corporate tax rate to 20 percent from 35 and give everyone the option of paying a flat income tax rate of 20 percent.

He also would try to encourage U.S. companies who have stored $1.4 trillion overseas to move their profits back to the United States by allowing them to pay 5.25 percent in taxes at first, according to Reuters.

The plan, if enacted, would dramatically reduce the tax burdens of the wealthiest people in the United States, saving millions of dollars for some, while raising taxes for poor and middle-class people who opt into the plan.

“I don’t care about that,” Perry said of the increased economic inequality that would result from the tax plan in an interview with The New York Times. “If that’s what comes, I’ll take that criticism.”

via Rick Perry On Increasing Income Inequality: ‘I Don’t Care About That’.

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