Where and how did Homer Simpson learn to call Mr. Monty Burns, his well-known boss, a "job creator"? It's interesting. Springfield Hospital's maternity ward reports that Burns, early this summer, emerged "reborn" as a new man, a job creator. Since then, rather than being known as merely a miserable conniving rat bastard nuclear power purveyor and destroyer of lives, Springfielders have had to reassess him. Warily, they've not yet embraced the new Burnsey, nonetheless, attempts on his life are no longer routine. Burns likes this. A lot. He can cut his security staff by 40%. "Excellent. Unloading the creeps during a recession adds unbounded joy to a procedure normally quite unextraordinary."
FDR 1934, A Fireside Chat That Still Resonates.
By 1934 our country was pulling out of the depths of the Great Depression. During FDR's first hundred days, from March to June 1933, with a huge Democratic party majority in the 73rd Congress, a parade of legislative enactments emerged. From the Emergency Banking Act to the National Industrial Recovery Act (later invalidated by the Supreme Court), such a response to economic emergency was unprecedented, and caused much concern among many, including the conservatives who mostly occupied the Republican party.
GOP Congressional Leadership Letter To Ben Bernanke, As Subtle As A Baby Ruth In A Federal Reserve Crystal Punch Bowl.
Why did the GOP congressional leadership send a snail-mail missive to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke? Haven't they gotten the news about "e-mail"? Do they need pen pals that badly? Do they need a loan? Or what?
Obama 2.0 -- Calls Out The GOP & Knocks Boehner For A Loop, But Does A Challenger Lurk Within His Own Camp?
About ten paragraphs down, I'm re-publishing an early August 2011 article, but I'm disowning my conclusion then that we need a Democratic primary challenger to President Obama for the 2012 election. Three recent events caused my turnaround:
(1) The September 8th jobs program speech to Congress where President Obama debuted a new public persona, one with strength, resolve, and purpose. No pandering to Republicans, quite the opposite. No soft-spoken phrases to reassure the GOP of his bipartisanship; "Pass this bill" is short, sweet, and its intent obvious, a textbook declarative sentence, a leader's statement. Incredibly for this President, he did not utter the word "bipartisan" a single time . . . A strong and hopeful start. Bipartisanship with this GOP Congress has been a losing proposition.
(2) President Obama's remarks on Monday about deficit reduction where he added more heat to the fire he lit on September 8th. Finally, he got rhetorically personal and physical, landing a series of roundhouse hooks to various GOP chins. Moreover, after calling out Speaker of the House Boehner by name, Obama - in the blue trunks - hammered the Speaker's orange nose. Yesterday, Boehner seemed a bit shaken, not stirred. His counter-punch was a weasly non sequitor, a comment conflating "class warfare" with "leadership."
(3) Ralph Nader's Monday announcement that he is actively seeking six progressive/liberal contenders willing to challenge the President in primary contests.
Channeling Rocky Balboa? The President's deficit reduction remarks, added to his jobs plan speech two weeks ago, provide evidence of an unexpected moxie, a bit of a temper, and a tad of FDR's sarcastic humor ("This is not class warfare. It's math."). Rather than shadow boxing, he threw some swift, well-aimed uppercuts. He now evinces a full understanding that allowing the GOP to throttle him against the ropes will not wear them out, they can do that all day, all night. You won't exhaust them to the mat in the 15th round. You have to flatten them, and publicly.
My earlier posting, re-published below, pushed an entirely different agenda. Now, though, I believe that if Obama continues to battle without cravenly compromising with the GOP congressloons on essentials, he's got a reasonable chance to win some victories. It's quite good too that he called out Grover Norquist and his anti-tax pledge that many congressloons signed. These moves are like spirited and stinging jabs to the nose, and if he does it long enough, publicly enough, the highly sought after Democratic base will rally. Perhaps too will the independent voters, the Holy Grail of U.S. presidential elections, move into the Obama camp. . .
(1) The September 8th jobs program speech to Congress where President Obama debuted a new public persona, one with strength, resolve, and purpose. No pandering to Republicans, quite the opposite. No soft-spoken phrases to reassure the GOP of his bipartisanship; "Pass this bill" is short, sweet, and its intent obvious, a textbook declarative sentence, a leader's statement. Incredibly for this President, he did not utter the word "bipartisan" a single time . . . A strong and hopeful start. Bipartisanship with this GOP Congress has been a losing proposition.
(2) President Obama's remarks on Monday about deficit reduction where he added more heat to the fire he lit on September 8th. Finally, he got rhetorically personal and physical, landing a series of roundhouse hooks to various GOP chins. Moreover, after calling out Speaker of the House Boehner by name, Obama - in the blue trunks - hammered the Speaker's orange nose. Yesterday, Boehner seemed a bit shaken, not stirred. His counter-punch was a weasly non sequitor, a comment conflating "class warfare" with "leadership."
(3) Ralph Nader's Monday announcement that he is actively seeking six progressive/liberal contenders willing to challenge the President in primary contests.
Channeling Rocky Balboa? The President's deficit reduction remarks, added to his jobs plan speech two weeks ago, provide evidence of an unexpected moxie, a bit of a temper, and a tad of FDR's sarcastic humor ("This is not class warfare. It's math."). Rather than shadow boxing, he threw some swift, well-aimed uppercuts. He now evinces a full understanding that allowing the GOP to throttle him against the ropes will not wear them out, they can do that all day, all night. You won't exhaust them to the mat in the 15th round. You have to flatten them, and publicly.
My earlier posting, re-published below, pushed an entirely different agenda. Now, though, I believe that if Obama continues to battle without cravenly compromising with the GOP congressloons on essentials, he's got a reasonable chance to win some victories. It's quite good too that he called out Grover Norquist and his anti-tax pledge that many congressloons signed. These moves are like spirited and stinging jabs to the nose, and if he does it long enough, publicly enough, the highly sought after Democratic base will rally. Perhaps too will the independent voters, the Holy Grail of U.S. presidential elections, move into the Obama camp. . .
Really, They Will Say ANYTHING! - House Majority Leader Eric Cantor On $45 Billion For School & Home Rehabilitation.
From the newsstand copy of POLITICO that I found in a Starb*cks this a.m., a report about Eric CAN'Tor's thinking on a portion of the American Jobs Act, i.e. spending $45 billion dollars on rehabilitating schools and homes:
The Fates Of 9/11 - NYPD's Moira Smith, Her Daughter Patricia, And Her Life Beyond Memory.
Ten years ago today Moira Smith, Brooklyn born, Irish Catholic bred, and a 13th Precinct NYPD Officer on September 11th, died while saving others in the pyre that on that Tuesday was the World Trade Center. She was 38, an active and cheerful woman, who, five years before had run with the bulls in Spain with Jim Smith - her then boyfriend, and later her husband. She'd consciously tempted fate then, and had before. In 1991, she'd confronted destiny head on while rescuing victims of a Union Square subway crash , and for her bravery Moira earned the NYPD's Distinguished Duty Medal. She ran her races well, with strength and exceptional courage. On 9/11 Moira Smith ran in and out of the south Tower saving others. This time, though, she ran headlong and without hesitation into her heroic end. Moira A. Smith was the only woman of 23 NYPD officers to die that day.
She left behind many who loved her, her husband Jim, and her beloved daughter, Patricia Mary, just two years old on 9/11. As Michael Daly writes below, mother and daughter today, ten years on, bespeak "the opposing tides of the receding past and the onrushing future." What a beautiful story he tells . . .
She left behind many who loved her, her husband Jim, and her beloved daughter, Patricia Mary, just two years old on 9/11. As Michael Daly writes below, mother and daughter today, ten years on, bespeak "the opposing tides of the receding past and the onrushing future." What a beautiful story he tells . . .
Michele Bachmann - From Offshore Oil Rigs To Commuters Riding The Rails To Urban Tenements To Glorious Fiscal Stimulation.
Michele Bachmann, a crowd favorite among the unhinged, is known for her fervently held principles. Also known for her sophisticated and complicated understanding of cause and effect, her tight grip on logic is renowned. Inside the "read more" portal you'll discover a story that highlights these qualities; if you thought you understood the depth and breadth of Michele Bachmann, read on, and be amazed!
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After The Jobs Speech Scheduling Snafu The President Sharpens His Negotiation Skills . . .
The President took it in the chin yesterday as he had to re-schedule his jobs speech from Wednesday night to Thursday night. Thanks to a competing GOP presidential primary debate on MSNBC Wednesday night, and John Boehner's intervention, Mr.Obama went from interfering with the GOP debate to interfering with opening night of the NFL season. So, this warm-up for the upcoming Fall legislative season the President was a set back. This morning, to rebound, and to practice his negotiation skills some more, Mr. Obama made a phone call to schedule an important event immediately following his Thursday night speech . . . Read the transcript of his discussion . . .
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