Over the past several months I've the conservatives attempt to set the stage for the coming fall elections. It doesn't take a genius to figure out they will steer people away from the scandals and lack of competency running rampant throughout government, but I hit my limit with an email from Senator Jon Kyl. It is one of the most non-senatorial messages I have ever read and it tries to instill in the reader one core emotion: fear.
Quoting Newt congress's new book, Kyl lays out why we should do nothing but be afraid:
1. That Islamist terrorists and rogue dictatorships will acquire and launch nuclear or biological weapons.
2. That God will be driven from American public life and reduce us to the civilizational ennui that now characterizes a declining Europe.
3. That America will lose the patriotic sense of itself as a unique civilization.
4. That America's economic supremacy will yield to China and India because of failing schools and weakening scientific and technological leadership.
5. That an aging America's demands on Social Security, Medicare, and related government programs will collapse the systems.
What a total and complete pile of bullshit. There are just too many things wrong with thesbeliefsfs, the least of which Republicans want every single one of us to be completely afraid and cower to any and all possible things that could go wrong. But in true Republican fashion, Kyl takes zero responsibility for the scope of the problems. Talk aboucowardicese.
So what are Kyl's (via Gingrich) proposals:
1. We must commit to a long war to defeat the terrorists and tyrants who would destroy America.
2. We must reestablish that our rights come from our Creator and that an America that has driven God out of the public arena is an America on the way to decay and defeat.
3. We must insist on patriotic immigration and patriotic education based on classic American history and the wisdom of the Founding Fathers and Abraham Lincoln.
4. We must transform our domestic institutions in order to harness modern science and technology to create jobs, wealth, and lead the world economy into the 21st century.
5. We must establish the opportunities for a personal Social Security account, a portable personal pension account, and a personal health savings account, so the wealth we create during our working lives is wealth we control.
I live near dairy farms and I have to say this smells more than the cows ever have. Why? Because it's pandering at its lowest.
"Commit to a long war on terrorism?" I have an idea. How about a short war that ends well, with fewer dead people? I can come up with likely dozens of simple ways to solve this problem and not one of them includes the word "fear" or "war."
"Reestablish that our rights come from our Creator?" No one has driven God out of the public arena. It's that old "N of 1" claim that if one person does it, them everyone does it. Kinda like Congress needed to change bankruptcy laws because people were gaming the system, only for a study of the first 65,000 cases filed shown no one was "gaming" the system.
"Patriotic education?" Sounds like political indoctrination for the "long war" to me. Patriotism isn't something you're taught by teachers. It's something that's demonstrated by family and earned bpoliticiansns.
"Transform our domestic institutions to harness modern science?" How can they propose that when they ignore the science that tells us the planet is overheating, natural resources are declining, and telling us when and why we can see a doctor?
It just seems to me that the Republicans have truly gone off the deep end. They believe their own bullshit. They believe every conspiracy theory there is. They see enemies under every rock and in every home. They see terrorists attacking us in every which way. But they can't envision a world where none of these problems exist. They see only more of the same. They have no business being in power. They need to be retired, starting with Jon Kyl.
Monday, February 27, 2006
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Extremism is not a virtue
According to Andrew Schellhammer in the 26 Feb 2006 Arizona Republic letters section (who quotes the famous Barry Goldwater RNC speech) when arguing that when battling the terrorists "…extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice" and “that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.” Nice, but those words are just as wrong now as much as they were in 1964.
How would Mr. Schellhammer feel if Mr. Goldwater’s words were used to justify extremist actions by Osama bin Laden? How would he feel if Goldwater’s words were used by extremists bent on the destruction of Israel to justify their actions? How would he feel if those words were used to justify attacks on American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan? What Mr. Schellhammer fails to see is that those who wish us harm can use those exact same words to justify their actions and attacks. To turn the use of a common conservative argument, arguing for extremist views helps and encourages the terrorists. It always has and it always will. Go look at history.
Extremism and extremists are the reasons we have the problems we have today. The world would a safer place without them—on all sides and on all subjects.
How would Mr. Schellhammer feel if Mr. Goldwater’s words were used to justify extremist actions by Osama bin Laden? How would he feel if Goldwater’s words were used by extremists bent on the destruction of Israel to justify their actions? How would he feel if those words were used to justify attacks on American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan? What Mr. Schellhammer fails to see is that those who wish us harm can use those exact same words to justify their actions and attacks. To turn the use of a common conservative argument, arguing for extremist views helps and encourages the terrorists. It always has and it always will. Go look at history.
Extremism and extremists are the reasons we have the problems we have today. The world would a safer place without them—on all sides and on all subjects.
Friday, February 24, 2006
What do GWB and Nero Have In Common?
What do the Bush administration and Rome’s Nero have in common? Plenty. Let’s review.
Religious violence is at an all-time high since the Holocaust. More “religions of peace” are doing and saying things that I am sure are making their prophets look down and think “Don’t make me come down there.” Churches are burned to the ground, mosques are blown up, religious service attendees are killed and almost all of them are in response to some other religious slight on someone else’s point of view. Who do those in the Middle East blame? The United States.
The percentage of seniors and families living at the poverty line is higher than ever, even controlling for population growth. A recent study shows an alarming number of people with single incomes qualify for public-supported meals. We also have proof of Walmart employees on government healthcare programs.
The efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, as noble as they may be, have been politically bungled to the point most Americans have no confidence in the Bush Administration’s ability to manage either campaign. The president makes comparisons between Japan and Iraq and says that's proof democracy can take hold in the Middle East, forgetting the minor point that Japan attacked us first.
Republican scandals seem to appear almost daily. The White House official in charge of government procurement is indicted. The Majority Leader of the House is indicted. The vice president’s Chief of Staff is indicted. Congressman Randall “Duke” Cunnigham was indicted and resigned. After the screw-ups following Katrina, someone should be indicted.
The federal debt approaches $8.3 trillion dollars, thanks to the Republican borrow-and-spend fiscal policies, providing every man, woman and child in this country a personal bill of almost $30,000 each.
Menial job growth, paced well below job losses, continue to cause more and more Americans to work multiple jobs in order to make ends meet. Bankruptcy filings, even with the new law, are still running at a record pace.
To all of the above, the Bush Administration and the Republicans running the House and Senate all tell us “things are good.” Like Nero, who famously fiddled while Rome burned, GWB and the Republicans live at such a level of denial that the comparison to Nero is more than valid. We are seeing history repeat itself and the only people who can change things are the voters.
Religious violence is at an all-time high since the Holocaust. More “religions of peace” are doing and saying things that I am sure are making their prophets look down and think “Don’t make me come down there.” Churches are burned to the ground, mosques are blown up, religious service attendees are killed and almost all of them are in response to some other religious slight on someone else’s point of view. Who do those in the Middle East blame? The United States.
The percentage of seniors and families living at the poverty line is higher than ever, even controlling for population growth. A recent study shows an alarming number of people with single incomes qualify for public-supported meals. We also have proof of Walmart employees on government healthcare programs.
The efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, as noble as they may be, have been politically bungled to the point most Americans have no confidence in the Bush Administration’s ability to manage either campaign. The president makes comparisons between Japan and Iraq and says that's proof democracy can take hold in the Middle East, forgetting the minor point that Japan attacked us first.
Republican scandals seem to appear almost daily. The White House official in charge of government procurement is indicted. The Majority Leader of the House is indicted. The vice president’s Chief of Staff is indicted. Congressman Randall “Duke” Cunnigham was indicted and resigned. After the screw-ups following Katrina, someone should be indicted.
The federal debt approaches $8.3 trillion dollars, thanks to the Republican borrow-and-spend fiscal policies, providing every man, woman and child in this country a personal bill of almost $30,000 each.
Menial job growth, paced well below job losses, continue to cause more and more Americans to work multiple jobs in order to make ends meet. Bankruptcy filings, even with the new law, are still running at a record pace.
To all of the above, the Bush Administration and the Republicans running the House and Senate all tell us “things are good.” Like Nero, who famously fiddled while Rome burned, GWB and the Republicans live at such a level of denial that the comparison to Nero is more than valid. We are seeing history repeat itself and the only people who can change things are the voters.
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Republicans Don't Support Veterans
The Republican Three-Card Monty trick is in play again, this time they're about to reward those who fought for our freedoms by jacking up their insurance rates by over 300%. This is not a typo, I really said three-hundred percent.
The justification is the Pentagon wants to slow it's medical expenses. So instead of buying less bombers, jets or ships, the Bush Administration will raise the insurance premiums on veterans.
This plan was hidden away in the 2006 Budget request of the President. That would be George W. Bush. The commander-in-chief. The "Mission Accomplished" guy.
Isn't it interesting that during election campaigns and any opportunity to wave the flag, Republicans trapse out the "we support the military" line and now they're raising insurance premiums on veterans so they can fund more Pentagon programs.
Now we see what the president and his administration really think about veterans. They're just another entitlement group sucking money out of the Pentagon's pockets that must be stopped.
The justification is the Pentagon wants to slow it's medical expenses. So instead of buying less bombers, jets or ships, the Bush Administration will raise the insurance premiums on veterans.
"The proposed increases would mean that the annual health insurance premium for a retired office under age 65 with family coverage would triple--rising from $460 to $1,400--by 2008. Premiums in the next two years foa retired office with single coverage would jump from $230 to $700."Isn't that special.
This plan was hidden away in the 2006 Budget request of the President. That would be George W. Bush. The commander-in-chief. The "Mission Accomplished" guy.
Isn't it interesting that during election campaigns and any opportunity to wave the flag, Republicans trapse out the "we support the military" line and now they're raising insurance premiums on veterans so they can fund more Pentagon programs.
Now we see what the president and his administration really think about veterans. They're just another entitlement group sucking money out of the Pentagon's pockets that must be stopped.
Parental abuse
Apparently there are some parents who take the Bible so literally they will take their kids to museums on "Bible Tours" and teach them that man walked the earth at the same time as dinosaurs and that the people who run museums "worship the creature and not the creator.' Here's a sample of their reasoning: God created man on the 6th day and God created animals on the sixth day. Therefore man and dinosaurs were on the earth at the same time. They also argue, the Eat Valley Tribune (18 Feb 2006, p. F2) story reports, that the people who run these tours claim "evolutionist thinking supports racism and abortion."
If man were on the earth at the same time, man would be one thing: prey, or put another way: dinner.
Now, I'm a fairly faithful person but I have to tell you that anyone who teaches this stuff to their kids should be charged with child abuse. It is unconscionable to me that anyone parent would indoctrinate their children with such an outrageous lack of scientific knowledge and ignore two thousand years worth of science to keep their interpretation of the Bible such that they cannot question their faith or realize it on their own.
Can you imagine the ridicule these kids will have to go through once they encounter the real world and people tell them their beliefs are false? What will that do to the kid's faith at that point? What will that do to these kid's views of adults? What will this do with these kids belief in all other things they have been taught? Do these adults who have apparently lost track of reality really think they can isolate their kids from the rest of the world? They must, but here's the abuse part: they don't care. They are purposefully teaching their children things they know are false, but because of THEIR beliefs, have convinced themselves is false despite two thousand years of learning, discovery and science.
I know a lot of grown-up kids from evangelical families who have had kids out of wedlock, turned out to be gay, and drug and alcohol abusers simply because they learned their parents were lying to the or indoctrinating them and they rebelled against it.
This is madness. This is fraud and abuse. Society needs put a stop to the spread of ignorance. It is as real a threat to our society as anything else threatening our country.
If man were on the earth at the same time, man would be one thing: prey, or put another way: dinner.
Now, I'm a fairly faithful person but I have to tell you that anyone who teaches this stuff to their kids should be charged with child abuse. It is unconscionable to me that anyone parent would indoctrinate their children with such an outrageous lack of scientific knowledge and ignore two thousand years worth of science to keep their interpretation of the Bible such that they cannot question their faith or realize it on their own.
Can you imagine the ridicule these kids will have to go through once they encounter the real world and people tell them their beliefs are false? What will that do to the kid's faith at that point? What will that do to these kid's views of adults? What will this do with these kids belief in all other things they have been taught? Do these adults who have apparently lost track of reality really think they can isolate their kids from the rest of the world? They must, but here's the abuse part: they don't care. They are purposefully teaching their children things they know are false, but because of THEIR beliefs, have convinced themselves is false despite two thousand years of learning, discovery and science.
I know a lot of grown-up kids from evangelical families who have had kids out of wedlock, turned out to be gay, and drug and alcohol abusers simply because they learned their parents were lying to the or indoctrinating them and they rebelled against it.
This is madness. This is fraud and abuse. Society needs put a stop to the spread of ignorance. It is as real a threat to our society as anything else threatening our country.
Friday, February 17, 2006
Goldwater Hypocrisy
I am convinced the Goldwater Institute thinks we’re stupid. Why else would they complain about the Governor’s reasonable tax proposals that do exactly what tax policy is supposed to do: encourage development and behavior change? How disingenuous it is for them to complain about any tax cut program when they have championed tax cuts for people and corporations who don’t need them as recently as, oh, last week?
How are we to square Goldwater’s argument for their tax cuts that give a family with an annual income of $50,000 nothing while those make a few hundred thousand dollars get $20,000 or more with their opposition of the Governor’s proposal? Goldwater expects parents to reject a program where they can buy books, computers and school supplies for their own kids tax free while, under Goldwater’s proposals, corporations would pay little or no taxes at all while taking advantage of our schools, police and fire protection and roads.
The Goldwater Institute’s levels of chutzpah and hypocrisy continue to astound. Noah Clarke argues in a 16 February East Valley Tribune/Tucson Citizen OpEd ("Tax relief misses the target") “Targeted tax cuts may be good politics, but they are poor policy.” If that’s true Goldwater Institute, then explain to us why your proposals are “good policy?”
How are we to square Goldwater’s argument for their tax cuts that give a family with an annual income of $50,000 nothing while those make a few hundred thousand dollars get $20,000 or more with their opposition of the Governor’s proposal? Goldwater expects parents to reject a program where they can buy books, computers and school supplies for their own kids tax free while, under Goldwater’s proposals, corporations would pay little or no taxes at all while taking advantage of our schools, police and fire protection and roads.
The Goldwater Institute’s levels of chutzpah and hypocrisy continue to astound. Noah Clarke argues in a 16 February East Valley Tribune/Tucson Citizen OpEd ("Tax relief misses the target") “Targeted tax cuts may be good politics, but they are poor policy.” If that’s true Goldwater Institute, then explain to us why your proposals are “good policy?”
Thursday, February 16, 2006
TABOR - Another Bad Idea
What do you do when the Republican legislature spends its time and resources on promoting dumb things like tax credits for private school donations? What do you do when Arizona, for the first year in several, has a budget surplus? What do you do in a state with a growing population where new schools, roads and police and fire protection services are needed? What do you do when you really don’t have a spending problem in the first place?
Why, you propose an amendment to the Arizona Constitution to limit spending!
That's what those who control the legislature and the Goldwater Institute want to do and they're selling us the false idea that Arizona needs a Taxpayer’s Bill Of Rights (TABOR). Goldwater has a policy paper on it and in it they make a questionable claim that Arizona’s 2005 deficit would have been smaller had a TABOR been in place. Their source? A press release. Wow. How convincing.
I have a better idea. Lets vote out office those politicians who don't have the willpower to control themselves. Let’s vote out politicians who create fake problems using false pretenses and want to amend the Constitution to solve them. That's a vote I'm more than willing to cast.
Why, you propose an amendment to the Arizona Constitution to limit spending!
That's what those who control the legislature and the Goldwater Institute want to do and they're selling us the false idea that Arizona needs a Taxpayer’s Bill Of Rights (TABOR). Goldwater has a policy paper on it and in it they make a questionable claim that Arizona’s 2005 deficit would have been smaller had a TABOR been in place. Their source? A press release. Wow. How convincing.
I have a better idea. Lets vote out office those politicians who don't have the willpower to control themselves. Let’s vote out politicians who create fake problems using false pretenses and want to amend the Constitution to solve them. That's a vote I'm more than willing to cast.
Pathological
In a speech on February 9th, President Bush informed the world that the U.S. has thwarted an attack on the U.S. Bank building in Los Angeles. Proof it was, said the President, that Homeland Security is hard at work. One problem, though...it isn't true.
Again.
According to the Washington Post, people directly involved in the effort, said this:
I don't know about you, but I've had just about enough of this. I've said before that this is a pattern for people with a past of addiction. They get caught in a lie (or a fib) and cannot bring themselves to accept they've done it, take responsibility and not do it again. But this gang just can't fess up.
The list seems endless. Books have been written on it. Web sites are devoted to them. The truly sad thing is there are people who are so caught up in the cult of Bush personality they cannot accept they're being purposely mislead.
I can't tell which is scarier: a government who can't tell us the truth or a voting public who blindly follows leaders. Unfortunately, neither is good.
Again.
According to the Washington Post, people directly involved in the effort, said this:
But a foreign official with detailed knowledge of the intelligence scoffed at Bush's account, saying that the information obtained from Khalid Sheik Mohammed and an Indonesian operative known as Hambali was not an operational plan so much as an aspiration to destroy the tallest building on the West Coast. When I asked a former high-level U.S. intelligence official about Bush's comment, he agreed that Bush had overstated the intelligence.
I don't know about you, but I've had just about enough of this. I've said before that this is a pattern for people with a past of addiction. They get caught in a lie (or a fib) and cannot bring themselves to accept they've done it, take responsibility and not do it again. But this gang just can't fess up.
The list seems endless. Books have been written on it. Web sites are devoted to them. The truly sad thing is there are people who are so caught up in the cult of Bush personality they cannot accept they're being purposely mislead.
I can't tell which is scarier: a government who can't tell us the truth or a voting public who blindly follows leaders. Unfortunately, neither is good.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Duck and Cover (your ass)
Let's all hope that Harry Whittington recovers quickly, but the extent conservatives are going to cover Dick Cheney's ass with is astounding.
John Dickerson, on Slate, says he received emails from Cheney supporters "arguing that it was no big deal because Whittington might already have had a heart condition."
Conservative "blogger" Michelle Malkin said "The Dems will exploit this accident to smear Cheney as incapable of being trusted, weak of mind, etc. The resignation rumors will fly again. And the biography of a man who has served this country so well and so honorably for so many years will be overshadowed by a single, ill-fated hunting mishap." The overhyped Ms. Malkin takes great pains to say Whittington is "doing fine." As an aside, Ms. Malkin obviously has no sense of humor as she whines about the Washington Post's Dana Milbank appearing on MSN's Countdown with Keith Olberman wearing bright orange hunting hat and safety vest.
Someone named "Dan" who is a "Gay Patriot" says "it is only a minor misdeed."
Want to see the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department report? The Smoking Gun has it.
What the Cheney apologists forget is that it is the shooter who is responsible for knowing what is around them. It is the person who pulls the trigger to know whether it is safe to fire the weapon. Even the people who work with Whittington are very skeptical about Cheney's story, as reported by Paul Burka.
What they forget is this now gives thousands of people an excuse to "accidentally" shoot people on hunting trips and claim the "Cheney Defense" that "it was their fault they got shot."
But let's not forget that the press didn't talk about the photo of President Bush with Jack Abramoff over the weekend. The press didn't talk about the video of the British troops beating up Iraqis. So from the Republican standpoint, it probably all worked out for them in that distractions are what they're so good at using to keep the focus off other things. It's their "three-card Monty" of political strategies.
John Dickerson, on Slate, says he received emails from Cheney supporters "arguing that it was no big deal because Whittington might already have had a heart condition."
Conservative "blogger" Michelle Malkin said "The Dems will exploit this accident to smear Cheney as incapable of being trusted, weak of mind, etc. The resignation rumors will fly again. And the biography of a man who has served this country so well and so honorably for so many years will be overshadowed by a single, ill-fated hunting mishap." The overhyped Ms. Malkin takes great pains to say Whittington is "doing fine." As an aside, Ms. Malkin obviously has no sense of humor as she whines about the Washington Post's Dana Milbank appearing on MSN's Countdown with Keith Olberman wearing bright orange hunting hat and safety vest.
Someone named "Dan" who is a "Gay Patriot" says "it is only a minor misdeed."
Want to see the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department report? The Smoking Gun has it.
What the Cheney apologists forget is that it is the shooter who is responsible for knowing what is around them. It is the person who pulls the trigger to know whether it is safe to fire the weapon. Even the people who work with Whittington are very skeptical about Cheney's story, as reported by Paul Burka.
What they forget is this now gives thousands of people an excuse to "accidentally" shoot people on hunting trips and claim the "Cheney Defense" that "it was their fault they got shot."
But let's not forget that the press didn't talk about the photo of President Bush with Jack Abramoff over the weekend. The press didn't talk about the video of the British troops beating up Iraqis. So from the Republican standpoint, it probably all worked out for them in that distractions are what they're so good at using to keep the focus off other things. It's their "three-card Monty" of political strategies.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
The Gang that Can't Shoot Straight
Jon Stewart, of Comedy Central's "Daily Show" looked up to the heavens and said "Thank you, Jesus."
Jon Stewart is Jewish so you know it has to be good.
What followed was 30 minutes of this statement: "The Vice President of the United States shot a 78-year-old man in the face."
David Letterman's "Top Ten List" says Cheney's "Heart palpitation caused trigger finger to spasm."
Arizona Republic Cartoonist Steve Benson's cartoon points out that Cheney isn't licensed to hunt in Texas.
Tom Toles, cartoonist for the Washington Post drew Dick Cheney in front of the head and hands of a hunter mounted on his wall.
Cheney spokesperson Mary Matlin said Cheney "..didn't do anything he wasn't supposed to do."
Wait, didn't he just shoot somebody?
ABC News reports that the vice president's "Secret Service contingent had notified the local sheriff an hour after the vice president accidentally shot prominent Texas lawyer Harry Whittington with a pellet gun while hunting for quail."
Now THERE'S spin: a shotgun is really a "pellet gun."
White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan is "peppered" by the White House press corps and does an amazingly good imitation of Porky Pig trying to explain away why the world was left uninformed that the Vice President of the United States shot a 78-year-old man in the face with a shotgun.
Isn't it interesting the spin in the use of the word "peppered" instead of "shot?" I've never heard a hunter describe going hunting and killing game by "peppering" them with a shotgun. "Well Earl, I sure peppered that deer, didn't I?"
This morning, the White House is blaming the guy who got shot. Hmm, I guess he forgot to duck.
I wonder if this is what you call "friendly fire?"
Texas law says any doctor that treats a gunshot wound must immediately report it to law enforcement. So how come Cheney wanted to wait for the landowner to report the incident?
This is another example of a group of people that no matter how bad things get at their own hand, they cannot accept any responsibility. They are incapable of admitting any mistake. These people are simply incorrigible.
Jon Stewart is Jewish so you know it has to be good.
What followed was 30 minutes of this statement: "The Vice President of the United States shot a 78-year-old man in the face."
David Letterman's "Top Ten List" says Cheney's "Heart palpitation caused trigger finger to spasm."
Arizona Republic Cartoonist Steve Benson's cartoon points out that Cheney isn't licensed to hunt in Texas.
Tom Toles, cartoonist for the Washington Post drew Dick Cheney in front of the head and hands of a hunter mounted on his wall.
Cheney spokesperson Mary Matlin said Cheney "..didn't do anything he wasn't supposed to do."
Wait, didn't he just shoot somebody?
ABC News reports that the vice president's "Secret Service contingent had notified the local sheriff an hour after the vice president accidentally shot prominent Texas lawyer Harry Whittington with a pellet gun while hunting for quail."
Now THERE'S spin: a shotgun is really a "pellet gun."
White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan is "peppered" by the White House press corps and does an amazingly good imitation of Porky Pig trying to explain away why the world was left uninformed that the Vice President of the United States shot a 78-year-old man in the face with a shotgun.
Isn't it interesting the spin in the use of the word "peppered" instead of "shot?" I've never heard a hunter describe going hunting and killing game by "peppering" them with a shotgun. "Well Earl, I sure peppered that deer, didn't I?"
This morning, the White House is blaming the guy who got shot. Hmm, I guess he forgot to duck.
I wonder if this is what you call "friendly fire?"
Texas law says any doctor that treats a gunshot wound must immediately report it to law enforcement. So how come Cheney wanted to wait for the landowner to report the incident?
This is another example of a group of people that no matter how bad things get at their own hand, they cannot accept any responsibility. They are incapable of admitting any mistake. These people are simply incorrigible.
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Spinning Bad News - Robb's at it again
Maybe “New figures don’t lie,” but that doesn’t stop Robert Robb from spinning two reports that show income disparities between rich and poor in Arizona ranks in the top four since the 1980’s (at least we lead in something). He completely twists who is responsible for economic downturn in the 1980’s and the recovery in the 1990’s.
Robb writes Arizona’s “disproportionate income disparity is nearly all a legacy of the 1980s. During the supposed dark ages of the 1990s, things actually improved for the poor in Arizona.” However, the report shows poor Arizonan incomes increased 5.7% since the 1980s while the richest increased 58.1%. It shows that Arizona is one of five states with the largest income gap between the top and bottom fifths of families and one of the five states with the largest income gaps between the top and middle fifths of families."
Some progress.
Yet Robb insists improvements came “when the barbarians were in charge.”
He wishes.
Robb forgets who the presidents were in the 1980’s and under whose watch the deficit increased to then historical levels. He forgets the Clinton 1990’s was a time of unprecedented growth and incomes rising across the board, all while increasing aid to the poor and balancing the budget. He ignores that under the current “spend-and-borrow” Republican watch, the national debt has doubled and the deficit hit new highs.
Republicans deserve no credit for helping poor families. Robb is making a disingenuous claim meant only to divert attention from the fact Republicans care little for helping needy Americans.
Only conservatives think the “left” don’t want everyone to do well financially. Only conservatives believe the “left” wants to take money from the rich and give to the poor. Yet, it is conservatives who speak of a “hand up” and not a “hand out.” Yet every opportunity to provide that “hand up” has been opposed by folks like Mr. Robb and the conservatives. To claim any Republican or conservative hand in improving the lot of poor folks is to create a new low in the definition of chutzpah.
Robb writes Arizona’s “disproportionate income disparity is nearly all a legacy of the 1980s. During the supposed dark ages of the 1990s, things actually improved for the poor in Arizona.” However, the report shows poor Arizonan incomes increased 5.7% since the 1980s while the richest increased 58.1%. It shows that Arizona is one of five states with the largest income gap between the top and bottom fifths of families and one of the five states with the largest income gaps between the top and middle fifths of families."
Some progress.
Yet Robb insists improvements came “when the barbarians were in charge.”
He wishes.
Robb forgets who the presidents were in the 1980’s and under whose watch the deficit increased to then historical levels. He forgets the Clinton 1990’s was a time of unprecedented growth and incomes rising across the board, all while increasing aid to the poor and balancing the budget. He ignores that under the current “spend-and-borrow” Republican watch, the national debt has doubled and the deficit hit new highs.
Republicans deserve no credit for helping poor families. Robb is making a disingenuous claim meant only to divert attention from the fact Republicans care little for helping needy Americans.
Only conservatives think the “left” don’t want everyone to do well financially. Only conservatives believe the “left” wants to take money from the rich and give to the poor. Yet, it is conservatives who speak of a “hand up” and not a “hand out.” Yet every opportunity to provide that “hand up” has been opposed by folks like Mr. Robb and the conservatives. To claim any Republican or conservative hand in improving the lot of poor folks is to create a new low in the definition of chutzpah.
Friday, February 03, 2006
Tax cut Irrationale #8 -- Mesa Edition
In today's East Valley Tribune, the lead article on the front page is "Groups gird against Mesa tax." The article tells of a number of anti-everything groups who have come out against Mesa being a fiscally responsible city. Upon reading the article, a couple of things stood out.
First, there doesn't appear to be a single person under the age of 60 in any of the photos printed with the article. This wouldn't matter except for the fact that retirees, especially those on fixed incomes, don't like paying for things like schools and roads and Arts Centers. Representatives of these groups, it appears, think cutting taxes in a city with potholes in the roads, dilapidated school buildings and underfunded police and fire departments are what's needed instead of raising revenues from other sources, since their tax base is declining.
Second, because their kids are out of the public school system, they don't care about quality of education or paying for new school buildings. Their kids don't have sports they want to play so they could care less about improvements to parks and recreation facilities. That means they don't care about the roads on which people drive to any of the above or to jobs because they don’t work.
The argument against any need for more revenue is blown out of the water further down on the front page in an article titled “Combs swamps Q.C. high.” People are complaining about growth in the size of J. O. Combs school district and how there is no room at any of the Queen Creek schools to take on the increased population. No one knows what to do. It strikes me as comical that those leading the charge against the tax increase can’t see in this single article the practical ramifications of their anti-growth sentiments and what happens when cities don’t have enough money to support growth.
Former Mesa council candidate Bob Hisserich says in the article “Every time the city needs money, the solution is to go to the taxpayer. The solution is to bring business to Mesa. It’s a simply solution.” Now I know why he lost for he cannot see the contradiction in his own statement. For one thing, it’s simply false that “every time” Mesa “needs money” they go to the taxpayer. It hasn’t and it’s just dishonest to say it has. More importantly, though, this sentiment is the source of the predicament Mesa now finds itself.
You have a community growing not only in a school-aged, family population but also older citizens and retirees. Those opposing the tax increases are seniors who have received their benefit from the community yet refuse to pay for those things the City of Mesa needs to support business and families. Unfortunately, those are exactly the same things needed to attract business, which was Mr. Hisserich’s desire. Put another way, maintaining and building an increased capacity to serve modern families and business is what will attract both to Mesa. To ignore those needs is to point them in the direction of other cities that are more pro-family and pro-business. Cities like Chandler and Tempe.
Growth costs money. Bills must be paid. Roads and sewers must be built and maintained. I'm constantly amazed at the shortsighted views taken by many that those things that make a community worth living appear out of the blue and have no cost. There is nothing wrong with opposing excessive taxation when that’s the problem. But excessive taxation is not the problem in Mesa. Population growth and infrastructure wearing out is the problem.
When it gets to the point that opposing “excessive taxation" means opposing anything that keeps the city on sound financial footing while maintaining services, that is taking the "high taxes, big government" mantra to a simply unrealistic and detrimental levels. The problem Mesa has right now proves my point.
Mesa’s citizens have a decision to make. Do they want to be the only city in Maricopa County in financial decline, the only city with degrading roads and schools, the only city with grossly under-funded police and fire services, the only city not to attract jobs to their community? Or do they want to join the rest of the Valley in unprecedented growth and improvement by having schools and jobs that attract and retain families? If they want the former, then vote against the two measures on the ballot. If you want the latter, then vote for one or both of the measures.
It’s that simple.
First, there doesn't appear to be a single person under the age of 60 in any of the photos printed with the article. This wouldn't matter except for the fact that retirees, especially those on fixed incomes, don't like paying for things like schools and roads and Arts Centers. Representatives of these groups, it appears, think cutting taxes in a city with potholes in the roads, dilapidated school buildings and underfunded police and fire departments are what's needed instead of raising revenues from other sources, since their tax base is declining.Second, because their kids are out of the public school system, they don't care about quality of education or paying for new school buildings. Their kids don't have sports they want to play so they could care less about improvements to parks and recreation facilities. That means they don't care about the roads on which people drive to any of the above or to jobs because they don’t work.
The argument against any need for more revenue is blown out of the water further down on the front page in an article titled “Combs swamps Q.C. high.” People are complaining about growth in the size of J. O. Combs school district and how there is no room at any of the Queen Creek schools to take on the increased population. No one knows what to do. It strikes me as comical that those leading the charge against the tax increase can’t see in this single article the practical ramifications of their anti-growth sentiments and what happens when cities don’t have enough money to support growth.
Former Mesa council candidate Bob Hisserich says in the article “Every time the city needs money, the solution is to go to the taxpayer. The solution is to bring business to Mesa. It’s a simply solution.” Now I know why he lost for he cannot see the contradiction in his own statement. For one thing, it’s simply false that “every time” Mesa “needs money” they go to the taxpayer. It hasn’t and it’s just dishonest to say it has. More importantly, though, this sentiment is the source of the predicament Mesa now finds itself.
You have a community growing not only in a school-aged, family population but also older citizens and retirees. Those opposing the tax increases are seniors who have received their benefit from the community yet refuse to pay for those things the City of Mesa needs to support business and families. Unfortunately, those are exactly the same things needed to attract business, which was Mr. Hisserich’s desire. Put another way, maintaining and building an increased capacity to serve modern families and business is what will attract both to Mesa. To ignore those needs is to point them in the direction of other cities that are more pro-family and pro-business. Cities like Chandler and Tempe.
Growth costs money. Bills must be paid. Roads and sewers must be built and maintained. I'm constantly amazed at the shortsighted views taken by many that those things that make a community worth living appear out of the blue and have no cost. There is nothing wrong with opposing excessive taxation when that’s the problem. But excessive taxation is not the problem in Mesa. Population growth and infrastructure wearing out is the problem.
When it gets to the point that opposing “excessive taxation" means opposing anything that keeps the city on sound financial footing while maintaining services, that is taking the "high taxes, big government" mantra to a simply unrealistic and detrimental levels. The problem Mesa has right now proves my point.
Mesa’s citizens have a decision to make. Do they want to be the only city in Maricopa County in financial decline, the only city with degrading roads and schools, the only city with grossly under-funded police and fire services, the only city not to attract jobs to their community? Or do they want to join the rest of the Valley in unprecedented growth and improvement by having schools and jobs that attract and retain families? If they want the former, then vote against the two measures on the ballot. If you want the latter, then vote for one or both of the measures.
It’s that simple.
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