coatesd's picture

    Republican Politics and the Unemployment Conundrum

     In Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the world discovered by Alice was one in which every aspect of reality was inverted. Big things were small. Small things grew big. The Cheshire cat faded into a grin. One side of a mushroom made you grow. The other made you shrink. It was also a world in which the Queen of Hearts had a simple solution to everything. “Off with his head!” Likewise in the world currently being created by the incessant chatter of Republican presidential wannabes, small characters want to be large, grinning is a substitute for substance, and all solutions are simple.  In the inverted world of Republican primaries, our present scale of unemployment is entirely Obama’s fault. Through the looking glass on offer from Romney and company, there was no unemployment before Obama shrank the economy by excessive spending, burdensome taxation and intrusive business regulation. Down the rabbit hole into which they would have us fall, a Republican Queen of Hearts can end unemployment at a stroke by taking those three evils away.

    Richard Day's picture

    PHYSICS OF THE IMPOSSIBLE BY MICHIO KAKU

    Well, certain ignoramuses who are taking over our educational system would ban Shakespeare, amend the actual history of the United States of America and completely abolish the basic sciences that took us to the moon and enabled us to send pictures of our naked girl friends to computer users all over the world.

    We have had fine discussions here at Dagblog lately concerning tenure and the banning of books and the new Texas textbooks emerging on the primary educational market today.

    Romneyville and Financial Capitalism.

    It is almost impossible to understate the achievements of Bain Capital and Mitt Romney, but I'll try.

    Bain capital financed a new Mall store retail chain called Staples. The idea came from two veteran Retailers. Home Depot, for example, had been in existence for over 15 years before Staples and served as a model of how a bunch of Mom and Pop building supply stores could be put out of business, products bought from China and prices reduced for the benefit of consumers. Staples is one of about fifty retail segments so reorganized and financed in the U.S. Its total sales are a fraction of Walmart, for example, and about one one thousandth of the retail sector as a whole.

    Elusive Trope's picture

    Tebow, Santorum and the American Cultural Wars

    If you watched the Bronco-Patriots game yesterday, you probably saw the commercial that began with a child reciting a bibical verse John 3:16, then another child.  It turned out to be a commercial for the Colorado Springs-based Christian ministry Focus on the Family, who knew that there were going to be people tuning into the game who otherwise not be: and his name was Tim Tebow.

    Elusive Trope's picture

    The Allusive Common Ground

    Continuing on from my previous blog Time to Retreat, I have further refined the group of 25 individuals who would participate in the five-day national community visioning process.  As I stated, the characteristics of the people is based on Gallup polls and the US Census data.  I have now added religious identity.  I have also attempted to match up the religious identity with the distribution of age, race, regional location, ideological identity and party affiliation as detailed in the previous blog. 

    Looking at the make-up of the diverse group, the challenge to the facilitator is obvious:  how to design the process to not only increase the likelihood common ground can be discovered, but also to develop a vision that will provide guidance to real change.

    No comment needed

    September 2006:

    Back to Obamacare

    Some numbers about US medical costs came out this week.

    o Last year the total was $2.6 trillion.  That's about $8,000 per person.

    o. The Government paid 44% of that and irrespective of Obamacare that’s supposed to go to 50% soon.                                                                                                                                                           

    o 5% of the patients caused half of that $2.6 tn.  5%.                                                                                                                         

    Elusive Trope's picture

    Time to Retreat

    Run away! Run away! No, not that kind of retreat.

    *

    I was thinking we as a nation needed to take some time to withdraw from the bustle of the day to day and engage in a period of reflection and study...together.  I mean, it seems, regardless of one's socio-political stripes,  everyone is disgruntled with the way things are.  Something's gotta change.  But we also seem as a nation to be divided about where we need to go and how to get there (and where we have been).  A push me-pull you nation, unable to retreat from the scene even if we wanted to.

    So a little notion crossed my mind.  What if we had a little retreat to do some strategic visioning.  Individuals from across the country would be randomly selected to participate in groups of 25 people.  Each group would spend five days in some secluded location and attempt to generate a plan of action for the country.  Afterwards, the groups would meet to fuse the plans together in some fashion.  The question would be, how would I conduct the five-day retreat if I was to facilitate the retreat.

    jollyroger's picture

    Gingrich surrenders to logic, "I'm with Bernie", to register Socialist as soon as primary is fully lost.

    Talk bout hoist on his own petard!

    So vain is Newt about his intellectual aspirations, he actually committed a moment of intellectual honesty.

    Once the logjam was broken by his consideration that perhaps 90 instead of 180 million skimmed off the bust out would have been "enough", Newt has gone full tilt Socialist, talking about "common"  goals, and "common" good.

    Wall street greed is illuminated.

    In an improbable sequence of events we are reaching a time when everything is illuminated about Wall Street greed.  The improbable messenger is Newt Gingrich. The foil is Mitt Romney. The audience in this sudden drama is a combination of Americans of every political stripe who understand that financial industry excesses nearly brought this country to its knees. The stage crew is Occupy Wall St. The on-lookers are the power brokers in Washington.

    jollyroger's picture

    Mitt Romney to Tony Soprano: Eat your heart out, pal. I'm the bust out master!

    Romney takes umbrage at the idea that under him Bain  Capital took the money and ran, so to speak.

    His pearl-clutching conveniently ellides the many ways in which leveraged buy outs and mob bust outs are similar business models.

    jollyroger's picture

    Steven Colbert, South Carolina kingmaker, being wooed for his polled 5%...

    As the runaway train that is the Republican primary lurches south out of New Hampshire, let us review the likely field of play:

    Mitt's win (36 38%) is insufficiently assertive to make a dent in SC where he leads Gingrich only 27-23.

    Ron Paul (24 23%) is easily in til' Tampa and maybe beyond.

    Ron Paul Defends Romney on 'Firing people'

    In an exclusive interview outside a Manchester polling place, Ron Paul lashed out at fellow Republicans for making unfair and ignorant attacks on Mitt Romney's business record.  "I think they're wrong. I think they're totally misunderstanding the way the market works," Paul told me. "They are either just demagoguing or they don't have the vaguest idea how the market works"...."I think they're way overboard on saying that he wants to fire people, he doesn't care, Paul said.  "You save companies, you save jobs when you reorganize companies that are going to go bankrupt.

    Todd Palin is your new Mr. Republican

    During the news coverage of today's Republican primary I gagged at comments by John Sununu and Judd Gregg, Northern Republican Establishment stalwarts, aimed at defining Romney as an acceptable choice across the broad Republican party electorate. While a majority of Republicans will ultimately accept Romney if he is the nominee, he is as out of place with the rank and file Republican base as a Volvo in Gun Barrel City, Texas.

    Elusive Trope's picture

    Becoming a Mirror

    The spouse of someone I know very well passed away today as a result of complications due to cancer. In writing about his struggle to overcome the cancer, someone wrote in tribute

    He never stops being positive! It also never ceases to amaze me how genuine and authentic he naturally is....But we need more people like him in the world. There isn't time to waste not being a mirror of God's love for others with patience, kindness and grace.

    The impression he made on me the few times we crossed path was pretty much similar.  Needless to say, today has been a somber one.  The demands of life, however, continue and we push forward while trying to come to terms with something like the passing of someone in this fashion. We all deal with these things in our own way, and as is my proclivity, I retreated into my head, thinking it out.  The wish for people still here to be a mirror stuck with me.  Other thoughts of which I have blogged about and have been swirling around in my mind gravitated to it.  The aspiration to be a mirror of God's love for others with patience, kindness and grace is one path for what I like to call the struggle to appear.

    Richard Day's picture

    KEVIN TRUDEAU, REPUBS AND THE DEAD PARROT SKETCH!

    It is two O'clock in the morning and I am watching some infomercial because Justified has run its course—they are playing the second season in the early morning hours anticipating its return.

    I cannot help it.

    I am mesmerized by this Kevin Trudeau.

    jollyroger's picture

    "Slut walk, Cairo: feminist facebooks the naked truth about life under the new/old regime."

    Dispatch from the siege and fall of the Patriarchy

     

    Ever since human females, alone among mammals, evolved the ability to hide from their reproductive partners the onset of estrus, human males have responded with varying levels of paternity insecurity syndrome.

    tmccarthy0's picture

    Misrepresenting Liberty: Private Property Rights, Oppression and Ron Paul

    Try to leave this place a little better than when you got here.

    I can't remember if it was the debate this morning or last nights debate when Ron Paul blurted out; "I'm for Liberty!" I hate it when politicians deliberately talk in slogans and sound bites. But leave it to Ron Paul to have that as his slogan, and it was certainly different than every other Republican at their 38th debate.

    jollyroger's picture

    Crank yankers calling press wankers

    Crank yankers strike again.

    Does everybody remember the time "David H Koch" called Wisconsin Governor (for now) Scott Walker?

    You do?  Good.

    tmccarthy0's picture

    Meet My Seattle -- A Stereotype That Fits

    I don't know if I've inundated any of you with my undying love for and of Seattle. I have it. My grandmother was raised in Ballard, she graduated from the University of Washington. My family has a very long history in Seattle, Gram's mom came from Norway to Seattle, I know, I know, that is the typical story of the northwest immigrant in the 1880's and 90's.

    Elusive Trope's picture

    Keep It Complex, Sillyhead

    "As long as the mind keeps silent in the motionless world of its hopes, everything is reflected and arranged in the unity of its nostalgia. But with its first move, the world cracks and tumbles: an infinite number of shimmering fragments is offered to its understanding." - Albert Camus

    The campaign season is now in full swing as the Republicans seek to find the man who will challenge Obama, and then things will really heat up on the blogosphere. This brings to mind a general topic of interest: discussing how we discuss things.  A particular incident on a recent thread when admonished advice of KISS: Keep it Simple, Stupid. 

    This general rule of thumb can serve one well.  Some of us do have the tendency to complicate matters more than they need be.  Keeping things simple can be a more effective means to a successful outcome, no less true when we get enmeshed in political discussions.  Yet...if we are to actually have productive and meaningful political discussions in the coming year, we would also benefit from heeding the principle of KICS, or Keep it Complex, Sillyhead.

    Welcome to the welfare states of America

    In 2007 there were 16.million of us below the poverty line. In 2010 that was 19 million. According to the Nation (the source of everything below), quoting the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities that would have been even  9.9 million higher   except for the Stimulus.

    One of those stimulants was continuing the food stamp program which alone saved 4 million from poverty. In 2007 on any given day 26 million of us used them. Now  that’s 46 million.

    Won’t be for long. By 2013 $11billion-about 20%- of the funding will disappear.

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