Politics Plus

I’m writing for tomorrow, day 22.  It’s already evening, and I just started cooking, because I slept most of the day.  Yesterday’s CoDA meeting in prison was excellent.  We discussed what it means to be willing to make amends to the people we have harmed.  My guys showed authentic insight, but more than that would violate confidentiality.  I was especially exhausted, because having to meet my ride away from downtown upped my walking total to over two miles.  (Later:  I fell asleep at my desk and just woke up.)

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 6:44 (average 5:30).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Media Matters: Thanksgiving Survival Guide

Don’t let right-wing lies ruin your Thanksgiving dinner.

This year, be ready with the facts.

This is just one of twelve fact cards. Click through for the other eleven.

From NY Times: With negotiators nearing an accord on permanent tax breaks for businesses worth $440 billion over 10 years, President Obama rallied Democratic opposition on Tuesday and promised a veto.

“The president would veto the proposed deal because it would provide permanent tax breaks to help well-connected corporations while neglecting working families,” said Jennifer Friedman, a White House spokeswoman.

The deal, negotiated by House Republicans and aides to Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the outgoing majority leader, showed how much power has shifted since the Republican election victories this month. The negotiations fractured Democrats, and separated the Obama administration from Mr. Reid.

So he should. It looks like Leg Hound Harry is back.

From KGW: Hundreds of protesters clashed with police during a rally against the Ferguson ruling Tuesday night.

Seven people were arrested, police said, mostly for interfering with an officer and disorderly conduct. None of them remained in jail Wednesday morning.

Needless to say, the news coverage of Portland’s protest was biased.

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No pardon for this turkey!!

I’m writing for tomorrow, day 25.  It’s a good thing I did my research early, because, except for a three hour cat nap, I haven’t stopped since 1 AM.  Tomorrow is a prison volunteer day, and Thanksgiving cooking starts Wednesday.  Color me scarce. 

Late (early) Update:

Just woke up.  Ugh!  It looks like Darren Wilson may get away with murder.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:02 (average 4:38).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: Koch industries and its subsidiaries are expansive—their holdings include everything from gas stations to pipelines, paper products for everyday use, greeting cards, chemicals used to make materials, and the fabric that makes your clothing.

With an interest in almost everything and status as the number two privately held company in the country–behind Cargill—Koch industries is a behemoth that is hard to avoid.

But knowledge is power and your dollar is your vote. We can become informed purchasers and refuse to support their political agenda by refusing to purchase their wares.

Don’t suck nevermind! Click through to sign the pledge and for a complete list of Koch Brothers Products to boycott.

From VOX: A new poll from finds that 89 percent of Latino voters support President Obama’s executive actions on immigration.

80 percent of Latino voters say they’ll oppose any attempt by Republicans to block Obama’s executive actions

Worryingly for the GOP, that includes 60 percent of Latino Republicans.

I have the same question for Latino Republicans that I have for fay Republicans. Are you a billionaire or a masochist?

From Alternet: Making the Highest Profit Margin in the Corporate World — And Demanding a Tax Cut 

The trading volume on the  Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) reached $1 quadrillion in  notionalvalue [sic] last year. That’s a thousand trillion dollars, about ten times greater than the  world economy.

With the  collection of transfer fees, contract fees, brokerage fees, Globex fees, clearing fees, and surcharges, the company achieved a  profit margin (54%) higher than any of the top 100 companies in the nation from 2008 to 2010, and in the past three years it’s risen to  nearly 60%.

Despite being the most profitable big firm, CME complained that its taxes were too high, and they demanded and received an  $85 million tax break from the State of Illinois. 

This is just one of the seven biggest corporate rip offs of this year. Click through for the other six.

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What I need!

I’m writing for tomorrow, day 18.  Tomorrow is a holy day in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb.  My Broncos will be worshiping at home with the Dolphins, and It will be televised here, so I’ll be in deep religious meditation tomorrow afternoon.  While writing I’m watching the Oregon vs. Colorado game.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:50 (average 4:38).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Mother Jones (Hat-Tip Joanne Dixon): …But when the economy stagnates and life gets harder, people get meaner. That’s just human nature. And the economy has been stagnating for the working class for well over a decade—and then practically collapsing ever since 2008.

So who does the WWC take out its anger on? Largely, the answer is the poor. In particular, the undeserving poor. Liberals may hate this distinction, but it doesn’t matter if we hate it. Lots of ordinary people make this distinction as a matter of simple common sense, and the WWC makes it more than any. That’s because they’re closer to it. For them, the poor aren’t merely a set of statistics or a cause to be championed. They’re the folks next door who don’t do a lick of work but somehow keep getting government checks paid for by their tax dollars. For a lot of members of the WWC, this is personal in a way it just isn’t for the kind of people who read this blog.

And who is it that’s responsible for this infuriating flow of government money to the shiftless? Democrats. We fight to save food stamps. We fight for WIC. We fight for Medicaid expansion. We fight for Obamacare. We fight to move poor families into nearby housing…

This guy makes a lot of sense, but to really get where he’s coming from, you’ll need to read the while thing. Click through please.  We need a way to convince working class whites that the poor are not the ones keeping them from thriving.  It’s the super rich.

From Daily Kos:

Stories like this make you look at the calendar to check the year. Yep, still 2014. And it is utterly embarrassing and shocking that anyone who holds these racist views are operating in any leadership role. Meet Kentucky’s Southeast Bullitt Fire Chief Julius Hatfield. After stopping to help accident victims, one white family and one black family, he was caught on video having a friendly good ol’ boy chat:

Video from a Bullitt County Sheriff’s deputy’s body camera shows Hatfield’s department responding to a car accident on I-65, south of the Clermont exit in September.

"Well, I’ve got a family of four from Cincinnati, I got to do something with," the Bullitt County deputy said in the video. 

Hatfield replied, "We ain’t taking no n—— here." Then he laughs.

This Republican is a true representative of the "love" of Republican Supply-side Jesus (the polar opposite of the real Jesus).

From NY Times: House Republicans filed a long-threatened lawsuit Friday against the Obama administration over unilateral actions on the health care law that they say are abuses of the president’s executive authority.

The lawsuit — filed against the secretaries of Health and Human Services and the Treasury — focuses on two crucial aspects of the way the administration has put the Affordable Care Act into effect.

The suit accuses the Obama administration of unlawfully postponing a requirement that larger employers offer health coverage to their full-time employees or pay penalties. (Larger companies are defined as those with 50 or more employees.)

And just a couple days ago, I said they wouldn’t file this. Color me OOPS! 🙁 This is truly an act of desperation, as this pure theatre to pacify the rabid racists to whom the Republican Party have sold out. They are doing it, because there is nothing they can do about Obama’s executive action on immigration.

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I’m writing for tomorrow, day 16.  I’m waiting for the President’s speech to begin.  It’s been a busy day.  I planned Thanksgiving dinner and put in my Thanksgiving grocery order at Safeway, as Store to Door is closed next week.  The cat is having bird.  I went to Care2 and uploaded the articles that wouldn’t upload last night.  I check my fantasy football lineup.  What a mess!  I did some housework.  I still have to squeeze in a cat nap.  I’m past due.

Jig Zone Puzzles: 

Yesterday’s took me 3:47 (average 6:42).  To do it click here.  Today’s took me 3:14 (average 4:58).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: How the sausage is made.

[New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie], who traditionally backs off from declaring how he’ll act on pending legislation when asked by reporters, made his intentions clear on a pig gestation crate bill when asked last month about it during a visit to Northwest Iowa, according to a pork producer.

“He indicated to us that he was going to veto the bill,” said Bill Tentinger, an Iowa pork producer and former president of the Iowa Pork Producers Association. […]

The bill would direct the state Department of Agriculture to prohibit “the confinement, in an enclosure, of any sow during gestation in a manner that prevents the sow from turning around freely, lying down, standing up, or fully extending the limbs of the animal.”

Christie is now in trouble with many in New Jersey, the state he currently governs, for two reasons. First, the bill is popular in the state, which is why it’s currently sitting on his desk waiting for a signature. Second, advocates of that bill are furious that Christie hasn’t been telling them squat about whether he was going to veto the bill but can travel to Iowa as a maybe-possibly presidential contender and tell the folks there what he was going to do. Especially since it looks like pre-presidential pork producer pandering of the penultimate persuasion.

Frankly, I don’t think this blatant cruelty will help PIGnocchio in his obvious Iowa Caucus pandering. Furthermore, it t wont make him safe in Washington DC. As soon as Iowa’s new Senator, Joni Pig Nuts, gets a look at him, she’ll … snip snip … make PIGnocchio squeal!

From Upworthy: I support the end of corruption in government and pay-to-play politics. Mayday.US is a nonpartisan group using the people’s money to challenge big donors — perhaps the last chance we have to stop the madness. Actor Jason Alexander makes a strong point in this 30-second video: All citizens should keep this in mind every time they hear a political ad paid for by a special interest PAC.

I honestly don’t know if mayday.us can help, but we have to do something to counter all those billionaire bucks!

From The New Yorker: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell unveiled his party’s long-awaited plan on immigration on Wednesday, telling reporters, “We must make America somewhere no one wants to live.”

Appearing with House Speaker John Boehner, McConnell said that, in contrast to President Obama’s “Band-Aid fixes,” the Republican plan would address “the root cause of immigration, which is that the United States is, for the most part, habitable.”

“For years, immigrants have looked to America as a place where their standard of living was bound to improve,” McConnell said. “We’re going to change that.”

Boehner said that the Republicans’ plan would reduce or eliminate “immigration magnets,” such as the social safety net, public education, clean air, and drinkable water.

The Speaker added that the plan would also include the repeal of Obamacare, calling healthcare “catnip for immigrants.”

Andy is back to straight news again, but I have to admit, Republicans have been quite successful at crafting policies to implement this plan.

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