Spring (Training) Boobies

A fine Friday. Sweaterman and I are taking the trip down to the valley to catch a spring training baseball game, thereby proving that winter is over.

So many things that I haven't blogged about lately. Major events in so many different spheres that I find myself taking a "wait and see" attitude, but most everything looks bad right now. The latest simple example: we have the house republicans defunding public radio in the name of "austerity" (yes, I know it's really about ideology), but we have plenty of money in the budget to send a bunch of 'free cruise missiles' to Libya. It's nice to know what the priorities are.

I'll leave you with an Arizona joke:

"Even with the huge cuts to the states education budget, Arizona kids will still learn their 'A,B,C's'. They'll just have to go to another state to learn the other 23 letters."

Craziest Speculative Story of the Day

Let me be clear: I try to avoid anything and everything associated with Sarah Palin. The very fact that she is somehow considered relevant is evidence that American politics may be too stupid to survive.

But then I read this example of extreme insanity:

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, we learned earlier this week, is rumored to be planning to base her hypothetical presidential campaign in Scottsdale, but GOP sources tell New Times the one-time darling of the Conservative movement might be coming to the Grand Canyon State for a different reason: to run for the Senate seat being vacated by Senator Jon Kyl.

Sadly, it makes sense.

Arizona is the Mecca of Conservative kookdom, so it would be much easier for someone like Palin to get elected here than it would be for her to get elected nationally -- where the far-right-wing agenda is much less popular.

GOP sources tell New Times Palin fell in love with Arizona while campaigning with Senator John McCain during the 2008 presidential race, and that she already owns a home here. Although, no record of any Sarah Palin-owned property in Maricopa County is found on the County Assessor's website (there are, however, four homes owned by people with the last name Palin, and homes owned by people with the same names as Palin's sister and father).

Not to mention, Palin's daughter Bristol's inexplicable move to Maricopa, which we'll now assume had more to do with her mother's future plans than her desire to see Mexico from her back porch.

Congressman Jeff Flake is the only declared candidate for the seat, however, former TV pitchman J.D. Hayworth, fagala-fearing Congressman Trent Franks, and several other local GOPers have expressed an interest in the seat.

Palin's capable of raising a lot of money, which spells trouble for other Republicans looking to run. Hayworth and Franks would likely bow out (although, watching three crazy people argue over who's crazier could be fun).

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2011/03/is_sarah_palin_considering_a_s.php

I've always doubted that Palin would actually run for president due to her own greed and sloth. Simply put, I don't believe that she would take the pay cut or accept the work load involved. So I seriously doubt that she'll actually run for senator here. But the scary reality is that if she did run here in Arizona it's quite likely that she would win.

Also, Boobies

Friday, therefore Boobies.

Another Way The GOP Budget Plan Can Kill

An 8.9 magnitude earthquake hit Japan It was the largest known earthquake to hit Japan and one of the largest in history, and the ensuing tsunami has been devastating. Tsunami waves are now reaching America's west coast.

What does that have to do with the GOP budget proposal? Glad you asked. Via Sam Stein:, one of the provisions in the house Republicans proposed budget is to drastically cut the tsunami warning and response system:

WASHINGTON -- Thursday night's massive earthquake in Japan and the resulting tsunami warnings that have alarmed U.S. coasts, seem likely to ignite a debate over a previously little-discussed subsection of the spending bills currently being debated in Congress.

The House full-year continuing resolution, which has not passed the Senate, would indeed make steep cuts to several programs and functions that would serve in a response to natural disasters (not just tsunamis) home and abroad. According to Sobien, the bill cuts $126 million from the budget of the NWS. Since, however, the cuts are being enacted over a six-month period (the length of the continuing resolution) as opposed to over the course of a full year, the effect would be roughly double.

As for NOAA, the House GOP cuts are even deeper. The House spending bill is roughly $450 million below the president's 2011 budget requests. The Senate Democratic bill would be $110 million below that request. The White House-allied Center for American Progress, argued that the House spending bill would actually cut $1.2 billion from the president's budget requests, likely by taking into account that the bill does not provide NOAA the funding increase requested for the Joint Polar Satellite System.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/11/tsunami-relief-gop-budget-cuts_n_834479.html

The Republican philosophy of 'cut now, regardless of the future consequences' is going to kill a lot of people over time. Can't have that 'big government" doing things that actually might help people. I'm sure that the big corporations will be happy to deal with any tsunamis that occur.

See also: GOP's Continuing Resolution Cuts Funding for National Weather Service, FEMA

It's Good to Have Priorities

Arizona politics can be entertaining, if it wasn't so bloody tragic. Our state senate has succeeded in tackling one of the states most pressing problems: the lack of an official state firearm:

PHOENIX -- Cost to name the Cardinals stadium after the University of Phoenix? $154.5 million over 20 years.

Cost to Bank One -- now Chase -- for its name on the baseball stadium? $2.2 million a year until 2028.

And the cost to the Colt Manufacturing Co. to get the Arizona Senate to name one of its products the official state weapon? Priceless. Well, actually zero.

That, however, didn't keep the senators from voting 18-12 Tuesday to declares the Colt single action Army revolver. It joins such things as the official state tree, butterfly, gemstone and neckwear, the last being, of course, the bola tie.

But the move annoyed Sen. Adam Driggs, R-Phoenix, who pointed out that all of those other items are generic. This is the first time, he said, lawmakers would be endorsing a brand name.

"This is advertisement for Colt," he said. While the gun in question was first made in 1873, the company still sells versions.

"If the state is going to go in this direction, I think we should get the equivalent of naming rights," Driggs continued. He said Arizona, facing a $1.1 billion deficit next budget year, could use the cash.

Colt named official state weapon

As the state dismantles all our social services in the name of "fiscal responsibility", they don't even generate any revenue from this act. It's pure red meat for the right wing base. Arizona's state policy has become "more guns for everybody, anywhere they want to carry them".

Frustration

I read the news, and I think about it. Then I think about posting about my thoughts. Then I read other blogs, and somebody else already said what I was thinking, but with more eloquence.
Take the "budget" (please, in a Groucho voice). We don't have a "debt" or "deficit" problem; we have a revenue problem. You've already seen the graphs: the rich are getting the pie, and we're getting the crumbs. I mean "why the fornicate are you arguing about family planning when we need jobs" type of angry.
So I'm frustrated.
Because, in reality, it is getting worse. Slowly and steadily. The 'frog pot' analogy.
Somehow, I doubt that I'm going to "enjoy" the near future.

White House Honey Ale

OK, it's easy to complain about that Obama guy, but he is doing a few good things. Like having the White House brew their own beer. The "White House Honey Ale" is being made with honey from on site bee hives.

Obama plans to serve his very own 'White House Honey Ale' for Irish night:

President Obama has officially declared March 2011 Irish American Heritage Month. More importantly the White House also announced that the president would be brewing his own beer called White House Honey Ale for St.Patrick’ Day.

Obama, who said he will pay for the beer making equipment himself, has made presidential history by being the first U.S. president to brew beer at the White House.

Last month the president and his wife Michelle served White House Honey Ale at their Super Bowl party. They are officially the first White House residents to charge their chefs with brewing, and White House curator Bill Allman says the chefs love it.

Historian for the White House Historical Association William Ushong agrees. He said, "I haven't heard of any beer brewing going on at the White House itself. President Jefferson would be your likely candidate, given his epicurean taste."

The staff confirms that White House home brewing is here to stay. According to the Obama Foodorama blog Semonti Stephens, a spokesman for the East Wing said, "It is very safe to assume that there will be more White House beer in the future.”

http://www.irishcentral.com/news/President-Obama-brewing-his-own-beer-for-StPatricks-White-House-bash-117392163.html

He's now assured of my vote in 2012.

March Boobie

It's Friday. It's March. Yay!

Happy Pic

My regular bartender sent me this pic from Tuesday's Giants spring training game. It makes me quite happy.

Making Fun of the Truth

I'm quite sure that all of you have already read this, but I can not resist:

A unionized public employee, a teabagger and a CEO are sitting at a table. In the middle of the table there is a plate with a dozen cookies on it.

The CEO reaches across and takes 11 cookies, looks at the teabagger and points to the union guy. “You’d better look out for that guy — he wants a piece of your cookie.”

The teabagger looks at the union worker, knocks the last cookie to the floor, stomps on it and calls the union member a “fucking socialist.”

Kind of like the world now.

Meanwhile, Boobies

I'm actually working on a serious, coherent post (not that I'll succeed), but it is Friday. So here are some Boobies for you.

Oil's Swell

I've said many times that the SCOTUS's "Citizens United" decision was the worst thing that ever happened to American democracy, allowing corporations to pump unlimited money into elections. And the oil industry has decided to start buying their candidates directly:

The American Petroleum Institute, the Big Oil industry’s chief lobbying organization, will start directly backing political candidates in the second quarter of this year. API, whose membership includes oil giants like Exxon-Mobil and Chevron, already spends tens of millions of dollars every year on lobbying, advertisements and Astroturf campaigns to support the the oil industry agenda. As CAP’s Dan Weiss wrote, API “wants to drill in fragile, sensitive places, keep government tax breaks, expand offshore drilling without reforms, and block global warming pollution reduction requirements.”

“This is adding one more tool to our toolkit,” Martin Durbin, API’s executive vice president for government affairs, told Bloomberg News. “At the end of the day, our mission is trying to influence the policy debate.” As Bloomberg pointed out, oil-supported political action committees like the Independent Petroleum Association of America overwhelmingly donate to Republican candidates.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, API spent $6.7 million on lobbying alone last year, after clearing $7 million in 2009. In 2010, API was the seventh most prolific spender in the oil and gas industry, following ConocoPhillips, Chevron, Exxon-Mobil, Shell, Koch Industries and BP.

API’s turn toward direct political donations is doubly problematic because, in addition to acting as the industry’s chief lobbyists, the institute runs technical committees that set standards for the oil industry. In its official report, the commission that investigated the BP oil spill found that API was too “compromised” to be setting industry standards. “Because they would make oil and gas industry operations potentially more costly, API regularly resists agency rulemakings that government regulators believe would make those operations safer, and API favors rulemaking that promotes industry autonomy from government oversight,” the commission found. And this was before API decided to begin directly supporting candidates!

http://thinkprogress.org/2011/02/24/api-direct/

(please, go read the entire article)

The oil industry has had an incredible amount of influence on our government for many decades, and certainly has a number of members of congress in their control already. But they've decided they want more. I had wondered how the industry would react to Obama's proposed cuts to subsidies and increased alternative energy funding, and now we know their response: buy more politicians.

I'm sure you've all seen yesterday's 'big news' that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker got punked into a phone call that he thought was from energy magnate David Koch. Embarrassing? Maybe; but is anyone really surprised? I'm willing to bet that David Koch has a long list of politicians that he can call up who are all too willing to do his bidding. He and his cronies have decided that they need to buy the rest of the seats to ensure that they can dictate policies.

The simple fact is that we're already screwed by our oil dependence. Our entire economy (especially food and transportation) swings with every change in the price of a barrel of crude. Just look at the price of gas in response to the uprising in Libya. And of course, the environmental costs of climate change. But the very biggest threat is the very real "peak oil" problem. We're pretty much done using up all the cheap, easy to reach oil reserves. Our country desperately needs to move away from a fossil fuel based economy, but that will require government action. And those who profit most from the status quo are determined to prevent any action.

Bow down before your masters.

Rally to Restore Transplant Funding Feb. 28th

I've posted before about Arizona's draconian decision to de-fund organ transplants. While Gov. Brewer has relented, the state legislature is blocking restoring the funding for transplants. On Feb. 28th, there will be a rally to restore the funding at the state capitol:

Join us for a rally and press conference to

"Restore Transplant Funding"

February 28, 2011 at 11:30am

Arizona State Capitol grounds

sponsored by Democracy for America.

DFA-MaricopaCounty :: Rally to Restore Transplant Funding 2/28

Arizona has some seriously screwed up budget priorities. I've said before that we really need some Wisconsin style democracy here. Examples:

Now, however, Governor Jan Brewer is proposing to kick some 280,000 Arizonans off the state’s Medicaid rolls. Brewer claims such a move is the only way to get the state’s fiscal house in order, as it would save $541.5 million in general funding spending. Brewer also wants to save $79.8 million by dropping 5,200 “seriously mentally ill” people from the state’s Medicaid program. Instead of balancing out these draconian cuts with additional revenue increases or simply not making the cuts in the first place, Brewer instead signed $538 million in corporate tax cuts into law two weeks ago.

http://thinkprogress.org/2011/02/22/gop-governors-misplaced-priorities/

(BTW, that article covers several other states as well)

But the legislature is addressing one vital issue. SB1610, which addresses the vital issue of "What is the official firearm of Arizona?"After the bill's enactment, the official firearm of Arizona will be the Colt Single Action Army Revolver.
Whew! Now we can all rest easy tonight.

(kindly Gov. Jan Brewer)

Presidents Day

Back in my youth, Lincolns Birthday and Washingtons Birthday were seperate holidays. Now we have one holiday to honor all former presidents. So today I'm honoring Millard Fillmore. Millard is best known for having the oddest name ever to be elected president until some guy named "Barack" came along. Which president are you honoring today?

Arizona Needs Protests, Too

(Desert Shell by Shane Rickman)

As we watch the continuing protests in Madison, Wisconsin, I'm thinking that we need the same kind of public uprising here in Arizona. On the surface, the issues look different: the Wisconsin protests are about the rights of union workers; Arizona is a "right to work" state that has already effectively killed unionization. But in reality, there are underlying issues in both (and many other) states that are a result of the republican mindset of putting corporate interests ahead of the well being of ordinary people.

There is one major difference: In Wisconsin, they're trying to kill unions; in Arizona, they're trying to kill actual innocent people:

As ThinkProgress has reported, Gov. Jan Brewer (R-AZ) and the GOP-controlled state House have turned a blind eye to the plight of 98 Arizona patients in desperate need of organ transplants. Since Brewer enacted painful cuts to the state’s Medicaid program in October, two Arizonans unable to pay for the transplants they needed passed away. After months of appeals and protests, it appears Brewer has finally agreed to set aside a $151 million “uncompensated-care pool to pay health-care providers for ‘life-saving’ procedures, including transplants.”

However, state House Republicans remain vigilant in their anti-human life campaign. They are refusing to let measures to restore funding for organ transplants advance because, as the state House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jon Kavanagh (R) explained, “not enough lives would be saved to warrant restoring millions in budget cuts” for the transplants.

But as Brewer and the GOP-led legislature waffle over the value of human lives, two more people — including 23-year-old leukemia patient Courtney Parham — join the 98 others standing before the Brewer death panel. Because the state has so far refused to pay for her transplant, Courtney’s family “must raise somewhere between $400-$800 thousand dollars for a transplant, or their daughter will die.”

http://thinkprogress.org/2011/02/19/brewer-corporate-tax-cut-transplant/

Remember that whole "of the people, by the people, for the people" thing? How can we consider ourselves a decent, democratic society if we are willing to sanction the killing of the weak in favor of protecting the profits of the wealthy? Is cutting the taxes of the rich and the corporations so important that we cannot afford to help the most vulnerable amongst us?

In the coming week or so, I'm hoping to engage as many people as I can to try to organize a protest at the Arizona state capitol, because I don't think that I'm the only one outraged by a government that chooses to callously kill innocent people. Anyone interested in joining me? My email address is in my profile.

Always Happy to See Boobies

A nice pair of Boobies for Friday.

And a minor rant: I paid my electric bill this morning, which is no big deal. I kinda like having electricity, for all the fairly obvious reasons. But their reciept email states "Thank you for choosing (company name)". Um...I didn't "choose" you, except in the sense that my other option would be to live without electricity. I live in a small apartment, so I really can't set up my own solar panels and wind generators. Maybe I'm a stickler for semantics, but words should matter. If you want to thank me for paying my bill, fine. It's not like I've got a lot of choices.

100 Madisons

This post may ramble a bit, so feel free to skip reading it. But some of your comments lead me to believe you might agree.

There is a reason that I'm paying so much attention to the events in Madison Wisconsin. It's possibly the start of something larger. Not so much because of the actual union busting, but the many states who've decided to balance their budgets on the backs of working people. The anger captured by the "Tea Party" movement may have been corporately manipulated, but that underlying anger was real. We see the rich getting richer, while we are getting royally screwed. While I support progressive ideals, this isn't as much about "progress" as it is about stopping "regress", which is a better word for what we're experiencing. In Madison the workers are showing that they are tired of being the victim.

Just as Tunisia was a small revolution in a small country, ripples expand. Most Americans couldn't find Tunisia on the globe, and most Americans aren't union workers in Madison. But then it spread to Egypt. OK, everybody made the "walk like an Egyptian" jokes, but most have a vague idea about pyramids and the sphinx. They may not know that there is a country called "Bahrain" but they've heard of Iran. So revolts can spread, even if it's different people in different places.

Imagine, if you will, a workers uprising in Ohio. Then, protests in Pennsylvania. Missouri follows. Heck, even Arizona could have a good protest (just not in summer. it's too hot) around health care death panels and the prison industry immigration laws. How about the coal states? I'm deliberately not picking cities, because I have no clue which would be next. But I want the next "Madison" and then another, and then...

The part that feels weird is that I'm really not revolting against Obama. He's stuck with the rather unpleasant job of being the front man for a failing ideal. But the failures are hitting, and he's not going to be able to fix it anytime soon enough. Too bad; I think Obama is a well intentioned guy. It's the corporations who are steam rolling him and us. After the "Citizens United" decision, they own the system. Which is why we cut taxes for the rich and wages for the rest.

So I believe: the only way to fix it is one city, one state, one community at a time. We need 100 "Madisons" around our country. When your state tries to balance its budget your back, will you fight back?

Wisconsin Getting Even More Interesting

The Wisconsin protests are getting even more interesting. Today's crowd appears to be even larger than yesterdays, and now lawmakers are reacting:

The weather in Wisconsin is cold this time of year-- but the budget fight is only getting hotter. Following a walkout by the state Senate Democrats, depriving Republicans of the three-fifths majority needed to pass the budget and its controversial anti-public union provisions, the NBC affiliate in Madison now reports that sources say the Dems have left the state entirely.

This comes after the state Senate majority leader said that the State Patrol could be called in to round up the Dems. However, leaving for another state would presumably place the legislators beyond the state's jurisdiction. (Fun fact: The state Senate leader and the Assembly Speaker are brothers -- and the new head of the State Patrol is their father.)

Communications director Graeme Zielinski was unable to confirm anything. "I know the whereabouts of not a single Democratic senator," said Zielinski. "I do not know what latitude they're on, or know what longitude they're on. I assume they're in this hemisphere, I'll say that."

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/02/report-wis-dem-state-senators-leave-state-to-block-budget-quorum.php?ref=fpa

It's a great tactic, but it remains to be seen if it's enough to get Gov. Walker to withdraw his draconian proposals.

Also:

WI Gov. Walker Ginned Up Budget Shortfall To Undercut Worker Rights

Paul Ryan On WI Protests:
'Cairo Has Moved To Madison'

I'm really hoping that this works in Wisconsin, because we really could use this type of direct action here in Arizona. And in so many other states. Let 100 other "Madisons" blossom across America.

More From Madison

Some more reports:

Protests Escalate Over WI Gov's Plan To Roll Back Union Rights

Wisconsin Gov. Walker Reiterates That The ‘National Guard’ Will Be Used Against A Worker ‘Walk-Off’

Wisconsin's Attack on Public Employees Could Lead to a Nationwide Campaign

Tens of Thousands Protest Move by Wisconsin's Governor to Destroy Public Sector Unions

We need 100 more Madisons' around this country. Really.

Protests in Madison

Well, this could get interesting. In Wisconsin, workers are standing up for their rights. Faced with draconian cuts and old fashioned union busting by governor Scott Walker (R-of course), 12,000 rallied in Madison.

In one of the largest protests in recent memory, thousands of angry union supporters gathered at the state Capitol on Tuesday to oppose a bill by Gov. Scott Walker that would greatly weaken organized labor in Wisconsin.

More than 12,000 protesters gathered in two separate rallies outside the Capitol, many of them carrying signs and chanting "Recall Walker" or "Kill this bill." Thousands more crowded inside the rotunda and watched TV monitors broadcasting a public hearing on the governor's proposal.

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_de45ba12-3935-11e0-9b64-001cc4c002e0.html

Gov. Walker had previously threatened to call out the National Guard in the event of "unrest", but that doesn't appear to have happened yet.

Republican Governors around the country are using the "financial crisis" as an excuse to attack public workers benefits, attempting to balance budgets on the backs of the middle class while saving tax cuts for the rich.

Cheers erupted every time someone in the hearing voiced opposition to the governor's bill, aimed at erasing a $137 million deficit in the current budget. Unveiled Friday, Walker's plan would remove collective bargaining rights for most of the 175,000 state and local government employees.

On Tuesday, members of the firefighters union received a loud ovation from the crowd outside the Capitol as they marched through the rally, holding signs displaying solidarity with their fellow state and local employees.

Charles Franklin, UW-Madison political science professor, said Tuesday that the opposition that has erupted over Walker's proposals are more severe than he has seen in 19 years of following politics in Wisconsin.

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_de45ba12-3935-11e0-9b64-001cc4c002e0.html

It may not be Tahrir square, but it's good to see real Americans standing up for real American values.

Apparently, the Governor has decided to skip town to make an important appearance on Faux News (no link from me). And he's scheduled next weeks "State of the State" address on private business property to avoid potential protest at the capitol. More:

And also, significant cuts don't have to be made, if you'd stop giving tax breaks to every business like it's a goddamn fire sale at the toy store, using state pension funds to finance tax cuts for rich people, and gambling that economic growth would always continue because there isn't a third grader in this country couldn't have told you that was a bad bet. God, I hate when people ascribe to natural inevitability the results of their acting like morons for years.

http://first-draft-blog.typepad.com/first_draft/

Lots more at the link. Also, go to Blue Cheddar and Caffeinated Politics for more.

I really hope that Madison starts a trend. It really is time to stand up against the repubs and their corporate masters for the rights of working Americans. Also, good Lord people are morons. The schools have been shut down in Madison and protests are escalating in the state capital.
Added: A video of the demonstration is available here.