Friday, March 18, 2011
A Koan
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Giving Glenn Beck Talking Points Since 2003
FOR A
NATIONAL TEACH-IN
ON DEBT, AUSTERITY
AND
HOW PEOPLE ARE FIGHTING BACK
TUESDAY, APRIL 5TH, 2011
2:00 – 3:30 PM (EST), National Teach-in Live Streamed from New York City
3:30 – 5:00 PM (EST), Local Teach-in and Strategy Discussions on Your Campus
Participate in the National Teach-in by organizing a teach-in on your local campus (see the next page for an organizing guide).
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Democracy is Nothing Short of Tyranny
Thank Jeebus for Laura Cooper.
Eugene income tax for schools is both unfair and unwiseIt starts out promising:
It’s a lesson we all supposedly learned as children: The end can’t justify the means.I'm not sure if this something we all supposedly learned as children. Don't eat the paste. Play nice with others. Always put your name at the top of the paper because your teacher can't know who wrote it if there's no name at the top of the page. These are the things I learned as a child. I'm not sure if I missed the day my class tackled complex philosophical arguments and came to definite conclusions on them, but then I was sick a lot, so it's completely possible.
But accepting the premise, what does this have to do with anything?
School funding is a noble and necessary end; however, the means chosen for this mission by the Eugene City Council in its income tax proposal are nothing short of tyranny as our forefathers understood, and for that reason the proposal must be defeated.Tyranny! Nothing short of tyranny!! The kind of tyranny our forefathers faced!!! Do you think she wanted to go with Founding Fathers, but backed off because she realized that no, nothing she is about to write about has anything to do with the founding of this country? I don't know, but "forefathers" it is.
What tyranny do we Eugeneians face Laura Cooper?
As is predictable, proponents provide nothing beyond the same old arguments about taxes “boosting” the local economy without bothering to evaluate the very real impact of additional taxes on an already struggling economy — completely discounting or ignoring the impact on already overburdened local taxpayers.Okay, but what about the tyranny? You promised me tyranny, dammit.
Nobody disputes the value of a high-quality education. The problem is that few supporters of this proposal can argue much past “it’s for the children” and focus on the horrendous details of the actual proposal.Ok, horrendous details. Let's have 'em. And I'm still waiting on that tyranny.
Nothing in the proponents’ arguments addresses the prospect of an offset of collected taxes against equalization revenues from the state, addresses the authority of one government jurisdiction to levy taxes for another, or explains how this could possibly be a “temporary” measure when the structural problem that has caused it to occur remains unsolved.No details. No tyranny.
In Oregon, schools are funded locally through property taxes, but Measure 5, approved by the voters in 1990, placed strict limits on those taxes. Instead, this proposal is a blatant attempt by the city of Eugene to evade Measure 5 and constitutes double taxation on Eugene residents who have already funded schools through their state income taxes.Double taxation! Heavens. But wait. I fund schools through my local property tax and through my state income taxes?! Holy fuck, I'm already being double taxed. This would be triple taxation! Or quadruple, if you want to throw the feds in the mix. And I do!
Under Oregon’s Constitution, the state Legislature is tasked with funding schools using state taxes. Why not hold our Legislature accountable? Instead, the city simply wants Eugene voters to pay twice — even though the funds raised could well be deducted by the state Legislature in its own equalization distributions (resulting in no net benefit at all).This doesn't make a lot of sense. And by that I mean it's not very well written. I get that Cooper doesn't like the tax, but by this point I feel a bit Milhouse over here. When are they going to get to the fireworks factory?
Given that Measures 66 and 67 were proposed last year as the solution to the very same underfunding problem, what assurances can voters be given that the current proposal will in fact be the real and final solution? Unfortunately, none — precisely because this “solution” is not even within the jurisdiction of its proponents.
Oh wait, here we go.
Nor is that simply a technical problem. Instead, the jurisdictional issue strikes at the very heart of fairness and accountability, and demonstrates that the proposal is blatantly unconstitutional and irresponsible. This proposal is a fundamental mismatch between taxing authority and spending goals, and the consequence is a basic lack of both due process and equal protection.I should mention here that Laura Cooper is an attorney, so when she says something is "blatantly unconstitutional" I have every reason to believe that she knows what she's talking about. And while blatantly unconstitutional is not exactly tyranny, I've perked back up. Due process, equal protection. Those are concepts I know. Let's do this thing.
Here’s why: The jurisdiction of the city of Eugene extends only to the contiguous city limits, and thus the tax would affect all people who reside within those city limits and file state tax returns. By contrast, school district boundaries extend well beyond those city limits. What that means is that families that reside within the boundaries of the school district but outside the city limits would be exempted from paying the proposed tax because the city cannot exercise its jurisdiction over them.Ummm...is that really what "due process" and "equal protection" mean? Some people wouldn't have to pay taxes that they don't get to vote on, but they get the benefits? I'm not sure those words mean what she thinks they mean.
We've walked back "nothing short of tyranny" and "blatantly unconstitutional" to "unfair" and "unwise." Yes, Johnny, there are times when I feel as if I have been cheated. This happens to be one of them.Thus, River Road-area neighbors who live on either side of city boundaries and send children to the very same schools will be treated completely differently with respect to this tax, simply by virtue of their residences being on opposite sides of the city limits.
The class of persons paying the tax bears no rational relationship to the class of persons benefiting from it.
In addition to being blatantly unfair, the proposal is also unwise.
Laura gives us some more nattering, but to be honest, I've lost interest now that I've realized that there will be no tyranny forthcoming. Read if you must, I only post it to be fair.
She does finish nice though.School district governing bodies are neither accountable to nor legally subordinated in any way to the city of Eugene, or vice versa. The city cannot dictate to the schools, or vice versa, and thus there is no procedure whereby the city can adequately oversee or monitor accountability for the funds it raises for the schools: it lacks basic authority to acquire information to enable it to determine the appropriate level or use of the taxes it seeks to impose.
As a practical matter, then, the Eugene City Council can provide no assurances that this new funding stream will correct or even address any of the underlying problems for which it is being proposed. In short, it cannot enforceably condition the funds on anything. For example, it cannot address the systemic problems creating the shortfall: It cannot require the school district to cut administrative overhead or renegotiate pension deals with the dollars that it directs toward the schools. Funding with no accountability is a direct ticket to waste, fraud and abuse.
Means matter. What’s next? If the city’s power to levy taxes can be used to fund anything the City Council desires, what is to stop it from collecting taxes for world peace? This proposal must be defeated.Exactly. If the City Council can propose a 1% income tax with the funds directed to schools, put it on the ballot, and have a majority of citizens vote to pay higher taxes, then where does the madness end?
It ends in tyranny, that's where it ends.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
LBO News from Doug Henwood
Unions spend scores of millions in every election cycle, and send their members out to campaign and round up voters on election day, and get little or nothing in return for all their efforts. This is one of the tragedies of American politics: organized labor has to choose between a party that tolerates their presence but basically ignores their interests, and one that wants to destroy them. Some choice, eh?still....
There can never be any better politics in this country until there’s a rebirth of the labor movement.
Never Too Soon
Let's find out.
I'm an early Pawlenty man, btw, for many of the reasons discussed here.
Monday, March 7, 2011
A New Image for Unions?
I wouldn't argue that the events in Wisconsin presage a grand revival of the labor movement or anything. But they may mean that when people hear "union workers" in the near future, they'll be more likely to think of teachers, nurses, and firefighters. Which can't be bad.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Because It Needs to Be Said, After All These Years
Was going to post this on it's own, but will say "sorry for my absence." Good Lord, this guy longs for the day when life is not pounding him flatter than hammered dog shit. It's been said by better monkeys than me, but pray for mojo.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Are we Hearing the Death Knell for Unions? « Wade Rathke: Chief Organizer Blog
In the Wall Street Journal a couple of weeks ago a breathless story about a possible $100,000,000 organizing campaign being launched by SEIU in more than a dozen cities around the country was attributed to an anonymous SEIU board member and other sources. Whatever the merits and truth of those reports, SEIU and every other union need to pull all of their last dollars together and figure out how to survive and turn the tide and do it now, make it real, and make it very, very different, because the bell has rung on the old school and the old ideas, as Stern acknowledges, and we are running out of time and money with the tide coming in hard against us.
Wisconsin as a Good Thing | Democratic Strategist
But the trade union movement's weak public relations outreach is puzzling. In this age of streaming video, where is Labor's television station, or even nation-wide radio programs? Where are the academy-award nominated documentaries about labor's pivotal contributions to American society? How about some public service ads educating people about union contributions to social and economic progress in America?
It's no longer enough have labor leaders do guest spots on news programs and talk shows. a much more aggressively pro-active p.r. and educational effort is needed. That commitment, coupled with an effort to modernize union recruitment and membership could help insure that sleazy politicians like Walker never get the chance to do their worst.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
How Chris Christie Did His Homework - NYTimes.com
What makes Christie compelling to so many people isn’t simply plain talk or swagger, but also the fact that he has found the ideal adversary for this moment of economic vertigo. Ronald Reagan had his “welfare queens,” Rudy Giuliani had his criminals and “squeegee men,” and now Chris Christie has his sprawling and powerful public-sector unions — teachers, cops and firefighters who Christie says are driving up local taxes beyond what the citizenry can afford, while also demanding the kind of lifetime security that most private-sector workers have already lost. It may just be that Christie has stumbled onto the public-policy issue of our time,which is how to bring the exploding costs of the public workforce in line with reality.Get hyperbolic much, NYT?
Labor Secretary Solis: "Elections do matter" – The 1600 Report - CNN.com Blogs
The political rallying cry came as some liberals and labor activists had questioned why President Obama hadn't visited protesters in Wisconsin, especially in light of a 2007 campaign line. Then-candidate Obama told a crowd in South Carolina "understand this, if American workers are being denied their right to organize and collectively bargain, when I'm in the White House, I'll put on a comfortable pair of shoes myself, I'll walk on that picket line with you as president of the United States of America."
On Thursday White House spokesman Jay Carney, asked about why he wasn't making such a trip, said, the President has "an ability to be heard when he speaks, and he spoke to the situation in Wisconsin and his views on it last week. And I'll leave it at that."
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Because Bad Ideas Never Die: Gangster Polticians Edition
The Dems at the statehouse want to do something about this budget crisis we're having in Oregon. Well, not so much the current crisis, but future ones. To do this, they want to end the "kicker" and direct those dollars to a Rainy Day Fund, which is eminently sensible. There's a certain logic to saying "Maybe when we have billions in deficits, we shouldn't be sending tax rebates to people because three guys missed their guess on how much revenue we'd have."
This being Oregon, nothing sensible is allowed to happen. Not only do we have plenty of Republicans who still can't give up the "it's the people's money!They know best what to do with it" bullshit that drives so much of the debate, but we've also managed to pass a law that requires 2/3 of the Legislature to change tax law.
So, in order to enact sensible tax reform, the Dems have to give the Republicans something. What could that something be? Oh, how 'bout that little Measure that we all worked our asses off to kill a few years back?
But in an attempt to build political consensus, the proposed constitutional revision, which would have to go before voters, would offer more.
Now, I seem to recall being assured that if Measure 48 passed, that would be the end of Oregon as we know it. I guess not. Or maybe so.GOP lawmakers and business interests showed a liking for [the idea] because it proposes to place a threshold on government spending by tying spending increases to population growth and inflation, thereby seeking to prevent state government spending from mushrooming in times of economic boom.
Steve Buckstein of the libertarian Cascade Policy Institute said the spending cap intrigued him because “taxpayers have very few ways of regulating the growth of government.”
Monday, February 21, 2011
Labor makeover?
Many strategists and even some labor officials argue that the genuine passion and emotion being felt and displayed on the ground in Wisconsin is obscuring a central problem: Unions still haven’t figured out even a semblance of an effective PR strategy.True enuff, as far as it goes -- but how far does it go? To what extent is the problem just the frame, unionistas? There's also the structural problem of state fiscal crises, and the political-cultural problem of ubiquitous deficit hawkery, right?
“Whatever happened to the vague sense 10 years ago of the need to develop a community unionism?” asked another official, who suggested labor leaders on the ground in Wisconsin shouldn’t have been surprised by the Walker attack, yet were clearly caught off guard. “They’ve been talking only to themselves for too long.”
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
What, Was I Born Yesterday?
As long as my cred as a cynic is being thrown out the window, I might as well say, "Fucking really? Do you fucking people wake up in the morning and ask yourselves 'What would be the worst thing I could say or do today?' and go from fucking there? Fuck me you're pieces of shit."
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Revolutionary Red
6# Light LME
.5# Organic Caramunich II
.5# Caramel Munich
.25# Organic Roasted Barley
.25# Cara Red
.25# Flaked Red Wheat
1 oz Amarillo (60 min)
.5 oz Willamette (15 min)
.5 oz Cascade (5 min)
1 oz Cascade (dry hop in secondary)
Wyeast Irish Ale
OG - 1.61
Sunday, February 13, 2011
After NJEA, Christie's next fight is with state workers as contracts come up for renewal | NJ.com
"This whole idea that I don’t care about the collective bargaining process is absolutely false," Christie said. "I think they’re going to enjoy working with me."
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
A Message for My Union Brothers and Sisters
You are killing yourselves and this country by protecting weak employees who have no business being in their jobs. You bankrupted the auto industry (just look at it! look at it! do you need further proof?) and you are harming our children. Please, please, just think about what you are doing.Consider yourselves pled with.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Of Course, the Dean!