Tag Archives: politics

August 1, 2011 · 6:55 pm

Seeking Arrangement: College Students Using ‘Sugar Daddies’ To Pay Off Loan Debt

I wonder if this is what the GOP has in mind when they talk about small businesses and entrepreneurs?

It’s their policies that are driving this, so I hope they are willing to take ownership…

Or was this just another economic benefit for the Rich that they snuck in?

From TheHuffingtonPost.com:

 

Saddled with piles of student debt and a job-scarce, lackluster economy, current college students and recent graduates are selling themselves to pursue a diploma or pay down their loans. An increasing number, according to the the owners of websites that broker such hook-ups, have taken to the web in search of online suitors or wealthy benefactors who, in exchange for sex, companionship, or both, might help with the bills.

The past few years have taken an especially brutal toll on the plans and expectations of 20-somethings. As unemployment rates tick steadily higher, starting salaries have plummeted. Meanwhile, according to Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, a professor of psychology at Clark University, about 85 percent of the class of 2011 will likely move back in with their parents during some period of their post-college years, compared with 40 percent a decade ago.

Besides moving back home, many 20-somethings are beginning their adult lives shouldering substantial amounts of student loan debt. According to Mark Kantrowitz, who publishes the financial aid websites Fastweb.com and Finaid.org, while the average 2011 graduate finished school with about $27,200 in debt, many are straining to pay off significantly greater loans.

Enter the sugar daddy, sugar baby phenomenon. This particular dynamic preceded the economic meltdown, of course. Rich guys well past their prime have been plunking down money for thousands of years in search of a tryst or something more with women half their age — and women, willingly or not, have made themselves available. With the whole process going digital, women passing through a system of higher education that fosters indebtedness are using the anonymity of the web to sell their wares and pay down their college loans.

via Seeking Arrangement: College Students Using ‘Sugar Daddies’ To Pay Off Loan Debt.

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July 31, 2011 · 11:28 am

Tuning Out the Democrats

There is a long and interesting article by pollster Stanley Greenberg in the New York Times today that I wish everyone would read.  It attempts to explain why people support the agenda of the Democratic Party, but don’t vote for them…

It’s enlightening and very scary…

The premise is basically that people don’t trust the Dems to actually do anything and they think government is too corrupted to work anyway…

Very scary stuff….

Here is a brief excerpt.  Please click the link for the entire article:

 

Oddly, many voters prefer the policies of Democrats to the policies of Republicans. They just don’t trust the Democrats to carry out those promises.

When we conducted our election-night national survey after last year’s Republican sweep, voters strongly chose new investment over a new national austerity. They thought Democrats were more likely to champion the middle class. And as has become clear in the months since, the public does not share conservatives’ views on rejecting tax cuts and cutting retirement programs. Numerous recent polls have shown that the public sides with the president and Democrats on raising taxes to get to a balanced budget.

But in smaller, more probing focus groups, voters show they are fairly cynical about Democratic politicians’ stands. They tune out the politicians’ fine speeches and plans and express sentiments like these: “It’s just words.” “There’s just such a control of government by the wealthy that whatever happens, it’s not working for all the people; it’s working for a few of the people.” “We don’t have a representative government anymore.”

This distrust of government and politicians is unfolding as a full-blown crisis of legitimacy sidelines Democrats and liberalism. Just a quarter of the country is optimistic about our system of government — the lowest since polls by ABC and others began asking this question in 1974. But a crisis of government legitimacy is a crisis of liberalism. It doesn’t hurt Republicans. If government is seen as useless, what is the point of electing Democrats who aim to use government to advance some public end?

In earlier periods, confidence in the economy and rising personal incomes put limits on voter discontent. Today, a dispiriting economy combined with a well-developed critique of government leaves government not just distrusted but illegitimate.

via Tuning Out the Democrats – NYTimes.com.

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July 30, 2011 · 9:47 am

$230,000 For a Guard Dog: Why the Wealthy Are Afraid Of Violence From Below

Well, at least the Rich have a realization that a little resentment may be building among the rest of the country.

Of course, they don’t seem to be channeling this in a positive direction by giving back to society.  No, they are looking to live in armed camps and hang on to every penny.

I guess maybe they do realize that eventually people may be fed up with them rigging the system in their favor and forcing the little guys and gals to pay for it by giving up luxuries like food, Social Security, Medicare and housing so they can keep their jets and yachts.

Those fools in the Tea Party just may turn nasty once they realize they’ve been used….

From Alternet.com:

 

In addition to security systems, dogs and armed yachts, the security-conscious oligarch can hire a private spy company—Jellyfish, a spinoff of the notorious private security company Blackwater. Or what about their own personal drone? “Smaller, private versions of the infamous Predator” may be coming to well-heeled private citizens near you, according to the UK’s Daily Mail. So far the private drones appear to only be for spying, but former Navy fighter pilot Missy Cummings told the Daily Mail, “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist from MIT to tell you if we can do it for a soldier in the field, we can do it for anybody.”

So why are the rich getting paranoid? After all, here in the U.S. it looks like they don’t even have to worry about their taxes returning to Clinton-era levels, let alone cope with a truly significant change to their lifestyles. Still, as the rich get richer, it seems, they get more and more worried about the rest of us coming for their wealth—and they’re out to protect it by any means necessary.

David Sirota has noted that “we’re fast becoming a ‘let them eat cake’ economy,” where ostentatious displays of wealth and arrogance seem to be an everyday occurrence as the rest of the country suffers. A private jet traffic jam was big news in the New York Times last week, because the children of the uber-rich have to get to a Maine summer camp, and driving just won’t do. Maine’s Tea Party governor, Paul LePage, took some time off from limiting access to the vote and picking fights with organized labor to gloat over the jet traffic:

“Love it, love it, love it,” Mr. LePage said of the private-plane traffic generated by summer camps. “I wish they’d stay a week while they’re here. This is a big business.”

While the private jet crowd is “big business,” the rest of Maine—and the country—is still suffering. And maybe that’s where the fear comes in.

We’ve seen revolution in Tunisia and Egypt, attempts in Libya, Syria, Yemen, unrest in Greece and Spain, student protests in England, and here at home the occupation of the capitol in Madison, Wisconsin. While nothing yet in the U.S. has approached the level of organized attacks on the wealthy by the have-nots, since the financial crash even the hint that perhaps private jet owners could pay a few more dollars in taxes has been decried as class war. A few protests that actually dare approach the doorsteps of the bankers appear to be all it takes to stoke paranoia among the super-rich.

via $230,000 For a Guard Dog: Why the Wealthy Are Afraid Of Violence From Below | | AlterNet.

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July 29, 2011 · 7:30 pm

Reagan Aid: Chunk of GOP Either Stupid, Crazy, Ignorant or Craven Cowards

It’s been a long time since I agreed with a Republican about anything, but this certainly sounds right to me….

From RawStory.com:

Historian Bruce Bartlett, a former domestic policy adviser to President Ronald Reagan, sat down with MSNBC’s Chris Matthews on Wednesday to discuss the national debt.

Bartlett said it was a myth that tax cuts are the key to prosperity, noting that Reagan raised the capital gains rate. He was also skeptical that Congress would be able to solve the current budget crisis.

“I think at this point, there’s nothing that can pass the House of Representatives,” he said.

“I think a good chunk of the Republican caucus is either stupid, crazy, ignorant or craven cowards, who are desperately afraid of the tea party people, and rightly so.”

via Bruce Bartlett: Chunk of GOP either stupid, crazy, ignorant or craven cowards | Raw Replay.

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July 29, 2011 · 5:03 pm

Apple now has more cash than the U.S. government – CNN.com

Good for Apple-one of my favorite companies that makes many of my favorite products.

Bad for the U.S Government.  And kind of embarrassing….

From CNN:

Maybe the cash-strapped U.S. government should start selling iPads.

According to the latest statement from the U.S. Treasury, the government had an operating cash balance Wednesday of $73.8 billion. That’s still a lot of money, but it’s less than what Steve Jobs has lying around.

Tech juggernaut Apple had a whopping $76.2 billion in cash and marketable securities at the end of June, according to its last earnings report. Unlike the U.S. government, which is scrambling to avoid defaulting on its debt, Apple takes in more money than it spends.

This symbolic feat — the world’s most highly valued tech company surpassing the fiscal strength of the world’s most powerful nation — is just the latest pinnacle for Apple, which has been on an unprecedented roll.

U.S. debt: How did we get here?

Its Macs, iPhones and iPads remain hot sellers, its stock has surged past $400 a share and Apple just became the world’s largest smartphone vendor by volume.

There’s been a lot of speculation about what Apple might buy with its piles of cash — Facebook and Sony being two of the more high-profile examples — but the company doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to make a move.

“We don’t let the cash burn a hole in the pocket or make stupid acquisitions,” CEO Jobs said last fall. “We’d like to continue to keep our powder dry because we think there are one or more strategic opportunities in the future.”

Offering Uncle Sam a short-term loan is probably not one of them.

via Apple now has more cash than the U.S. government – CNN.com.

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July 28, 2011 · 10:37 pm

My Thoughts: How to Solve the So-Called Debt Crisis: Sell Texas

I’m so tired of hearing all the foolishness in Washington about this manufactured debt crisis the Republicans came up with as an excuse to drive their agenda.  It’s gotten all out of their control now and is threatening all kinds of dire consequences if they force us into default on the national debt.

Well, I have figured out my own solution.  Except for Austin and a couple of other nice cities, lets just sell off Texas.  I’ve been there.  Believe me, we won’t miss it.

Their Governor, Rick Perry, and the Republicans there keep threatening to secede anyway, so lets just sell them off to the highest bidder and make everyone happy.  Surely we would get enough from Mexico or China or someone to greatly reduce the national debt and they would be free of the Washington government they seem to hate so much…

That’s not too much of a sacrifice for them to make, is it?  If they are as patriotic as they claim to be, surely they will be glad to do this for the greater good of the country  They keep saying we have to do something NOW and sacrifices are necessary.  So, let’s sacrifice by selling Texas.  I would much rather do that than cut Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security.  I hope Ann Richards and Molly Ivins would approve…

And we would get rid of a lot of the fools Texas sends to Washington to cause all this trouble…

Makes as much sense as most of the “real” solutions coming out of Washington.

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July 27, 2011 · 7:31 pm

Poll: God’s Approval Rating Barely Breaks 50 Percent

Now I’ve seen everything…

And there is no doubt now that people will poll anything…

I hope they aren’t expecting a Press Conference for him/her to address the findings…

From TheHuffingtonPost.com

More than half of U.S. voters approve of God’s job performance, according to a new poll, making God more popular than all members of Congress.

The poll — which was conducted by the Democratic research firm Public Policy Polling (PPP) — surveyed 928 people and found that 52 percent of Americans approved of God’s overall dealings, while only 9 percent disapproved.

Questions about God were asked as part of a larger survey assessing American opinions of congressional leaders in the midst of the ongoing debt ceiling debate in Washington.

God’s approval rating exceeded that of House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, as well as both Democrats and Republicans in Congress, with each party receiving only a 33 percent approval rating.

God also polled significantly higher than the scandal-ridden media baron Rupert Murdoch: only 12 percent of those polled viewed him favorably, compared to 49 percent who viewed him unfavorably.

“Though not the most popular figure PPP has polled, if God exists, voters are prepared to give it (sic) good marks,” PPP said in a July 21 press release.

The poll also gauged God’s handling of specific “issues.” When asked to rate God on the creation of the universe, 71 percent of voters approved and only 5 percent disapproved. Respondents were also generally appreciative of God’s governance of the “animal kingdom,” with 56 percent approving and 11 percent disapproving.

Younger respondents were more critical of God’s handling of natural disasters, with those ages 18-29 expressing a 26 percent disapproval rating, compared to 12 percent disapproval among those 65 and older.

The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.

via Poll: God’s Approval Rating Barely Breaks 50 Percent.

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July 25, 2011 · 10:43 am

Palin’s ‘Undefeated’ is Defeated at Box Office and Already on Pay-Per-View–The Raw Story

Sounds like her 15 Minutes of Fame may finally be over….

God knows, I’m tired of her and hopefully everyone else is too…

They’ve moved on to Michele Bachmann, who’s even crazier and much more amusing….

Hopefully this is on the Pay Per View Channels next to the Pay Per View porn channels.  That’s where it belongs….

Further evidence Sarah Palin has lost her crowd appeal.

The Undefeated, the documentary (propaganda film) Palin commissioned about herself ahead of a possible 2012 run, has already bottomed out at theaters.

The movie received wide release back in June but failed to catch on with the masses, pulling in a measly $24,000 despite opening in 14 Tea Party friendly venues, reports The Wrap.  An Atlantic writer witnessed the empty theater phenomenon firsthand.

In the hopes of making up some of that lost revenue the film’s distributor Arc Entertainment is going the pay-per-view route and making the film available  through satellite companies such as DIRECTV, DISH Network and Time Warner Cable.

Palin has never fully recovered from her ‘blood libel’ response to the Gabby Giffords shooting.  She saw a brief resurgence in popularity last month when she lead the press on a wild goose chase after her bus tour but has since passed (presumably unwillingly) the rogue baton to Michele Bachmann.

One imagines if you can’t get more than 24,000 people to pay for your movie it’s unlikely you can get the majority of the country to vote for you.

via Palin’s ‘Undefeated’ is defeated at box office, already on pay-per-view | The Raw Story.

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July 24, 2011 · 11:32 am

‘Super Congress’: Debt Ceiling Negotiators Aim To Create New Legislative Body

Now this is downright scary….

It complete removes the majority of our elected officials from the deliberative process.

Congress isn’t working today, but this is not the way to go…

This is how to start a Banana Republic- which is probably what Boehner has in mind….

It also sounds like the goal is to further protect the Rich and screw the Middle Class.  Using this process they are already targeting ending the Mortage Interest Deduction and the deductions for Retirement Savings.

Could destroying Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid be far behind?

This doesn’t sound like a Super Congress;  it sounds like a Coup d’etat.

From the Huffington Post:

Debt ceiling negotiators think they’ve hit on a solution to address the debt ceiling impasse and the public’s unwillingness to let go of benefits such as Medicare and Social Security that have been earned over a lifetime of work: Create a new Congress.

This “Super Congress,” composed of members of both chambers and both parties, isn’t mentioned anywhere in the Constitution, but would be granted extraordinary new powers. Under a plan put forth by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and his counterpart Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), legislation to lift the debt ceiling would be accompanied by the creation of a 12-member panel made up of 12 lawmakers — six from each chamber and six from each party.

Legislation approved by the Super Congress — which some on Capitol Hill are calling the “super committee” — would then be fast-tracked through both chambers, where it couldn’t be amended by simple, regular lawmakers, who’d have the ability only to cast an up or down vote. With the weight of both leaderships behind it, a product originated by the Super Congress would have a strong chance of moving through the little Congress and quickly becoming law. A Super Congress would be less accountable than the system that exists today, and would find it easier to strip the public of popular benefits. Negotiators are currently considering cutting the mortgage deduction and tax credits for retirement savings, for instance, extremely popular policies that would be difficult to slice up using the traditional legislative process.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has made a Super Congress a central part of his last-minute proposal, multiple news reports and people familiar with his plan say

via ‘Super Congress’: Debt Ceiling Negotiators Aim To Create New Legislative Body.

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July 24, 2011 · 10:54 am

Is a Sane President Bad for the Country?

Well, this is a new idea…

But I’m not going to dismiss it out of hand.  It kind of makes sense.

It’s certainly thought-provoking.

Of course, since I’ve just been reading a book about Germany in 1933, I would love to see how he applies this to Hitler….That was certainly not a constructive application of the theory.

Maybe his thought is a little mental illness is good, but not too much.  Moderation.  I can go along with that….

Note to Michele Bachmann:  He doesn’t say crazy is good, only slight mental illness, so don’t get too excited….

From The Washington Post:

A provocative new book argues there is a correlation between mental illness and successful leadership.

Psychiatrist Nassir Ghaemi sums up his thesis like this: “Mental illness enhances leadership in crisis situations.”

In “A First-Rate Madness,” he says: “Sanity is rightly seen as healthy, conducive to personal happiness and success in life. But it does not always, or even usually, produce good leadership.”

Ghaemi notes that presidents widely considered successful — such as Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy — suffered from mood disorders for most of their lives. In Ghaemi’s view, a leader who has managed a lifetime of mental highs and lows is better equipped to handle trying situations.

In times of crisis, leaders with mood disorders were at an advantage rather than impaired, he writes. They were more resilient, more creative, more thoughtful, more empathetic and better able to endure times of intense stress. Along with presidents, he profiles General William Sherman, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Gandhi.

Conversely, Ghaemi believes that George W. Bush and Tony Blair were failures as leaders because they were mentally healthy.

“Mentally healthy people are insulated from some of the world’s travails by their positive illusion — they believe that they and the world are actually better than they are. Generally speaking, positive illusion is a good thing,” he says, but cautions powerful people with positive illusions can fall prey to hubris.

According to Ghaemi, these kinds of leaders fall into the hubris syndrome when they have been in power for a long time. Using Bush and Blair as two living examples, he says they exhibited signs of hubris, which include not listening to opposing views, ignoring public opinion, believing God or history is on their side and demeaning dissenters.

“People who suffer from depression also benefit from depressive realism that should protect them from the illusion-enhancing effects of power,” Ghaemi concludes.

He says the way to avoid having leaders who suffer from hubris is to elect those who are “not too mentally healthy.”

So if Ghaemi is correct, along with questioning our 2012 presidential candidates about war and the economy, should we ask: “Do you ever have persistant sad, anxious or empty feelings?”

via Is a sane president bad for the country? – Political Bookworm – The Washington Post.

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