The Hackenblog

“‘State controller John Chiang warned today that if legislators and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger fail to come up with a budget-balancing package in the next week, he would begin paying California’s bills with IOUs on July 2.’” (via Calitics)

Y’know, this would be funny if it were remotely funny at all. Fuck.

“I have to interrupt our regularly scheduled fretting about the budget to follow up on a story from last year. In September of 2008, the San Bernadino County Democratic Central Committee noticed something fishy going on in the registration of GOP voters. The county was swimming against the Democratic tide. Why? Well, it turns out that a firm called Young Political Majors(YPM) was slamming voters, changing their registration without their consent in order to get $5 from the CA Rep. Party(CRP).

“Basically, the firm got voters to sign an unrelated petition, and then asked them to sign on a line right below ‘for confirmation.’ The ‘confirmation’ line was, of course, actually a voter registration card. YPM would then fill out the card, switching them to GOP so they would pocket the $5. This scheme was repeated in at least Riverside County, perhaps in more locations as well. YPM had used the scheme throughout Florida before getting themselves kicked out.”

~snip~

“The charge will get him a bit of probation time, but the bigger charge of slamming is yet to be prosecuted. It’s not clear what the holdup on that case, and whether there will be such a prosecution. However, the evidence is rather stark, as an LA Times random sample found that of 46 people they contacted, 37 were misled into the voter registration change.”
Marc Jacoby Pleads Guilty to Voter Fraud, by Brian Leubitz, Calitics, June 18, 2009

Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk etc.

Wish I’d seen this earlier:

“Here in California, Sam Farr, Bob Filner, Diane Watson, Pete Stark, Mike Thompson, John Tierney, Linda Sanchez, Mike Honda, Grace Napolitano, Jackie Speier, George Miller and Zoe Lofgren have all taken bold antiwar positions in the past. If you live in any of these districts, call, announce yourself as a constituent and tell them you support them voting no tomorrow. Leave a message if the office is closed (which it almost certainly is).

“Sam Farr (202) 225-2861
“Bob Filner (202) 225-8045
“Diane Watson (202) 225-7084
“Pete Stark (202) 225-5065
“Mike Thompson (202) 225-3311
“John Tierney (202) 225-8020
“Linda Sanchez (202) 225-6676
“Mike Honda (202) 225-2631
“Grace Napolitano (202) 225-5256
“Jackie Speier (202) 225-3531
“George Miller (202) 225-3201
“Zoe Lofgren (202) 225-3072

“And of course, Lynn Woolsey, Maxine Waters and Barbara Lee have been outstanding leaders in the caucus on war-related issues over the years, even back when being progressive on foreign policy was like screaming in the wilderness. If any of these are your Representative, call today and tell them how important it is that they cast their votes against the supplemental when they vote on Tuesday.

“Lynn Woolsey (202) 225-5161
“Maxine Waters (202) 225-2201
“Barbara Lee (202) 225-2661″
State blogs coordinating to stop passage of the war supplemental, by Leighton Woodhouse, Calitics, June 15, 2009

Barbara Lee was the only No vote on the Patriot Act in 2001. So if she’s saying say No to the War Supplemental, it’s a NO GO for sure. I have very few heroes, but Barbara Lee is in the top three.

“People with HIV or AIDS and their providers rallied at the State Capitol today to oppose the governor’s proposed budget cuts to a variety or programs which literally keep people alive. During the public comment period of Conference Committee, people told us about the importance of these programs in their daily lives. The testimony below from a brave 24 year old woman born with HIV was especially poignant.”

The Human Cost of Cuts – Linnea’s Story, Budget Blog, June 10, 2009

There has to be a better way to “save” California than letting this young woman die. There just has to be a better way.

Arnold can’t do math:

“In the short-term, expenditure reductions in any of these programs (CalWORKS, etc.) have significant implications for the state economy. The multiplier effects for these programs are found to range between 1.05 and 1.44, meaning that output and employment resulting from human services program expenditures are greater than the expenditures alone would suggest.

“In particular, In-Home Supportive Services are found to provide in excess of a 40 percent boost to the local economy. The multipliers for CalWORKs and Food Stamps are also significant and comparable at 1.34 and 1.37, respectively. Other programs, those that provide primarily services and less in the way of cash benefits, are found to have a smaller multiplier effect. The importance of these services, however, should not be diminished by the smaller multipliers that were found. This report discusses the likelihood that service reductions in many of these programs may result in the following: a higher incidence of homelessness, poverty, malnutrition, substance abuse, violence, and negative health outcomes for toddlers and infants. Aside from the toll these harmful circumstances have on the individuals involved, a higher incidence of these maladies produces not only higher economic costs today, but in the future as well. This suggests another sort of multiplier that ought to be included in the analysis – the indirect effect of reducing the demand for services tomorrow by providing them today.

“Finally, many of these programs are funded by federal in addition to state expenditures. These federal dollars are often only available as matching funds to state expenditures. The effect of matching funds was found to raise the multiplier for some state spending as high as 7.35. With matching funds, $1 in state spending translates into between roughly $3 and $5 in total spending on most of these programs. The effect on output and employment, and on the economic stimulus effect of state spending on these programs, is thus significantly magnified.”
SPENDING ON COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES PROGRAMS IN CALIFORNIA: AN EVALUATION OF ECONOMIC IMPACTS (pdf), By Jon Haveman, Ph.D., Beacon Economics, Eric O’N. Fisher, Ph. D., California Polytechnic State University, Fannie Tseng, Ph.D., Berkeley Policy Associates, Presented to Child and Family Policy Institute of California, March 17, 2009 (via, which has more links and is a faster read)

$1 CA dollar can, with matching funds, turn into up to $5 spent in grocery stores, doctors, public transit, etc. in California. I’m not very good at math either, so bear with me:

$1M = $5M, so $500K = $2.5M, $0.50 = $2.50, but $0 = $0, which is what I think the heartless bastard rightwingnuts in California ultimately want. Don’t any of those people have businesses, homes or investments in California? Or, y’know, humanity? Because sinking the whole State to gratify some sick fear and loathing of children, disease and poverty seems pretty crazy to me.

So, really, the only reason Arnold is going after these programs is because they have no powerful advocates. And he’s a heartless bastard placating heartless bastards.

Fuck California:

“Consider this partial list of the governor’s proposed cuts to health and humans services:

· Elimination of the CalWORKs program;
· Elimination of the Healthy Families Program;
· Eliminating certain Medi-Cal state-only programs;
· Elimination of community based services programs at the Department of Aging;
· Eliminate State funding for Community Care Licensing;
· Elimination of remaining General Fund for Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health;
· Elimination of funding for community clinic programs, such as Rural Health Services and the Seasonal and Agricultural and Migratory work programs;
· Elimination of funding for drug treatment programs established by the voters through Proposition 36;
· Reducing in-home supportive services eligibility and care provider pay;
· Reducing funding for foster care rates; and
· Reducing SSI/SSP monthly payments benefiting the aged and disabled to the minimum allowed under federal law.

“All of us know someone who will be affected by these cuts. This is not just a matter of balancing the state’s books. For some Californians, it is a matter of life and death.

“A society in crisis should not throw women, children, and seniors overboard first.”
Impact of Governor’s Proposed Health and Human Services Cuts, Budget Blog, by Assemblymember Noreen Evans, May 27, 2009 (also see Noreen Explains the Budget Crisis)

I think what you mean, Assemblymember Evans, is that a civilized society in crisis should not throw women, children, and seniors-who-didn’t-buy-their-home-in-the-1950-70s overboard first. We’re talking about California, not, y’know, something civilized.

By the way, when you run for higher office, Noreen, I’m sending you some money.

“It’s just wrong to claim that civil marriage equality would force changes on religious institutions. No rabbi has ever been forced by civil law to conduct a marriage between a divorcée and a Kohen, just as the availability of non-Kosher food in the general marketplace doesn’t force cheeseburger onto anybody’s plate.”
Judaism and Same-Sex Marriage, by Robin Podolsky, Jewish Journal May 26, 2009

Civil marriage is what is says it is: civil marriage. Not spiritual marriage. They’re different. Vive la difference. It’s part of the freedom of religion we all love so much in the country. Civil institutions are (generally) free of religious governance and (largely) religious institutions enjoy the protection of the law that allows them to believe and worship as they please as long as they aren’t breaking any laws. Gay CIVIL Marriage does not force any sect to recognize or sanctify any marriage between any two people. Prop 8, however, forbids religious leaders from signing a marriage license for two men or two women. Talk about the state curtailing religious freedom in a big way. Well, there you have it!

But, I ask you: why let the end of civilization get in the way of capitalism?

(via [and I don't want to know where she finds them])

Prop 8…fuck.

For those of you wondering what the hell is going on in California:

“Assemblywoman Noreen Evans, Chair of the Budget Committee, spells out slowly for everyone the structural problems and false assertions about the California budget process.”

(via)

“But the California precedent still has me rattled. Who would have thought that America’s largest state, a state whose economy is larger than that of all but a few nations, could so easily become a banana republic?”

But, Paaaaauuuuuuulllll! It’s not a banana republic! It’s a Libertarian Paradise!

Me, I think it’s more of a dystopia.

Not much of a stand-up comic, and thank God for that, but does get a few zingers off.

(via)

Just Say No on EVERYTHING.

Click the link for all the reasons to say NO NO NO!

This has been a public service announcement from Cranky LA Woman Who Hasn’t Given Up On CA Yet.

“WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Moving with unusual speed, the Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed legislation to recoup most of the $165 million in retention bonuses paid to American International Group Inc employees.

“Responding quickly to public outrage over the bonuses after the giant insurer received government bailouts of up to $180 billion, the House voted 328-93 to approve a 90 percent tax on bonuses for some executives at companies getting federal aid.

“The tax would apply to executives with incomes over $250,000 who worked for companies that got at least $5 billion in government aid. That could ensnare others getting federal help, such as mortgage financing company Fannie Mae.”
House votes to recoup bonuses from bailed-out firms, by Jeremy Pelofsky and Susan Cornwell, Reuters, March 19, 2009

“Watching the national news media struggle to cover the economic crisis lately, one could be forgiven the fear that the United States had grown too ignorant and lazy to govern itself.

“Between mis- and disinformation, cheap political posturing and crowd pleasing histrionics masquerading as commentary, the public has been inundated by a flood of dangerous nonsense. Cable news networks must think their audiences have the attention span of fruit flies.

“Many in the New York/Washington media establishment appear to identify with the financial and political geniuses who got us into this mess, and to share their values. Jamison Foser at mediamatters.org noticed that coverage of President Obama’s budget in The Washington Post and The New York Times centered mainly upon increased taxes affecting “the oil and gas industry, hedge fund managers, multinational corporations and nearly 3 million of the nation’s top earners,” poor babies.

“ABC News produced a heartbreaking tale of woe about harried professionals scheming to reduce their incomes to avoid higher tax brackets. A dentist told the reporter she was contemplating cutting her income from her current $320,000 to under $250,000 by having her dental hygienist work fewer days and by treating fewer patients.

“Neither she nor the reporter appeared to have any idea how marginal tax rates work. To wit, she’d pay the higher 36 percent rate only on income above $250,000. The current rate is 33 percent. Hence, Dr. Happy-Tooth’s brilliant plan would save her exactly $2,100 in taxes at a cost of $67,900 in forgone income. No wonder people like her vote Republican.

“ABC subsequently filed an amended version of the story making itself look a bit less foolish.”
Simple story fails public, by Gene Lyons, Arkansas Democrat Gazette, March 12, 2009

Is it even possible for ABC and Greedpublicans to look less foolish?

As usual, Gene Lyons nails it.

“WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Howard Dean, a practicing physician before entering politics, was under consideration by the Obama administration for the post of U.S. surgeon general, CNN reported Friday.

“Dean, who recently wrapped up a four-year term as Democratic Party chairman, has been a supporter of health reform, and has privately made clear that he is interested in the job, according to the cable network.”
Dean under consideration for surgeon general: report, Reuters, March 6, 2009

That would be excellent!

I love this photo by the very artistic Pablo Martinez Monsivais:

I find the subject so inspiring.

This is about as close as I ever get to Vogue. It weighs too much for me to read.

Take it away, David E!

But she does look pretty cool on this cover.

Otis in the previous comments tells me to stop being so mean to gay haters. Well, that’ll be the day, Otis, these people exercised their rights as Americans to deprive other Americans access to a harmless and beneficial institution. We vote on this all the time in California; it’s like every so often we have to either prove we’re majority nice people or assholes. (See Prop 22 from 2000 and Prop 187 from 1998.) I’m not just disgusted with the Prop 8 passage, as a Californian, I’m embarrassed and horrified. It’s a well known fact that there really is enough marriage to go around. It appears not to be a finite resource and has no physical ill effects on those who partake of it. It is hypothesized that eight or nine shots of tequila causes bigger hangovers than gay marriage, but no data has been published on this. Save the Children doesn’t hold up for me either. Save them from what? Someone else’s marriage? Most kids need saving from their parents’ marriage. Children are in more danger from poverty, hunger and child abuse than any marriage. Let’s be sane about this, those of you who are so inclined.

Anyway, here’s the list of Real Americans who truly believe in Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness for EVERYONE (no matter what the Founders were thinking), and a big thank you from the meanest girl in town. From the CA SOS site and here’s a searchable, sortable, huggable excel file.

Thank you No on Prop 8 donors! We lost, but the California courts might yet rescue the American Way of Life once again.

NO ON 8 – EQUALITY CALIFORNIA: $1,250,000.00
NO ON 8 – EQUALITY CALIFORNIA: $1,250,000.00
NO ON PROPOSITION 8 — CAMPAIGN FOR MARRIAGE EQUALITY, A PROJECT OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: $1,200,000.00
HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN CALIFORNIA MARRIAGE PAC – NO ON PROP 8: $1,050,000.00
NO ON 8 – EQUALITY CALIFORNIA: $1,000,000.00
NO ON 8 – EQUALITY CALIFORNIA: $1,000,000.00
CALIFORNIA TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION ISSUES PAC: $1,000,000.00
NO ON 8 – EQUALITY CALIFORNIA: $1,000,000.00
LOS ANGELES GAY & LESBIAN COMMUNITY SERVICES CENTER: $1,000,000.00
NO ON 8 – EQUALITY CALIFORNIA: $871,000.00
NO ON 8 – EQUALITY CALIFORNIA: $700,000.00
CALIFORNIANS AGAINST ELIMINATION OF BASIC RIGHTS, NO ON PROP 8: $525,000.00
NO ON 8 – EQUALITY CALIFORNIA: $500,000.00
NO ON 8 – EQUALITY CALIFORNIA: $500,000.00
NO ON 8 – EQUALITY CALIFORNIA: $500,000.00
NO ON 8 – EQUALITY CALIFORNIA: $500,000.00
HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN CALIFORNIA MARRIAGE PAC – NO ON PROP 8: $500,000.00
WILLIAM RESNICK: $500,000.00 (more…)

Yes, I am still angry. Here’s the sortable, searchable excel file with more information, like, employers, State, zip, etc. Here’s where it came from. (via).

Know anybody on this big, long list?

JOHN TEMPLETON JR: $450,000.00
KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS HEADQUARTERS: $250,000.00
MANCHESTER FINANCIAL GROUP: $125,000.00
JOSEPHINE TEMPLETON: $100,000.00
TERRY CASTER: $100,000.00
TERRY CASTER: $62,500.00
GERALD SIMONSEN: $50,000.00
JOSHUA BAKER: $50,000.00
ROGER BENSON: $50,000.00
CALIF. STATE COUNCIL KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS: $25,000.00
LARRY SMITH: $25,000.00
ADAMO CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT CO.: $25,000.00
ROBERT HOEHN: $25,000.00
DAVID LESUEUR: $25,000.00
THE VINEYARD GROUP, LLC: $25,000.00 (more…)

And thank God we’re still around to have a blogiversery with a new, sane, and MUCH BETTER president! President Obama is the best blogiversery present ever! Thank you, America!

How long in human years is six blog years? Feels like forever. Here’s our first official post on Hackenbush 1.0 (Graymatter code; ah nostalgia):

Blogging officially begins on the first day of the Year of the Goat or Black Sheep

But I actually started blogging a little earlier than that:

Best of Anna Phalaxia, RIP

Oh, and it’s also that B.A.D. time of year, so click on the posts from Jan 31, Feb 1, Feb 2, and Feb 3 for the B.A.D. celebrations chez Hackenblog.

Say it with me: Waterboarding is torture.

But not for this guy, who’s evidently never been waterboarded.

“WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama’s choice for top U.S. spy declined on Thursday to call waterboarding ‘torture,’ only days after his attorney general nominee condemned the interrogation practice as precisely that.

“Retired Adm. Dennis Blair replied cautiously when pressed on the waterboarding question at a hearing on his nomination to be director of national intelligence, of which the CIA is a part.”
Obama spy choice won’t call waterboarding torture, Reporting by Randall Mikkelsen, editing by Philip Barbara, Reuters, January 22, 2009

Dennis, Dennis, Dennis, Dennis. Sigh.

You deliberately almost drown someone to coerce them into doing something and that’s not torture?

Someone deliberately almost drowns you to get you to do something and that’s not torture?

What planet is this guy on? Planet Military? Dump him! Now! Enough of this bullshit.

“NEW YORK (Reuters) – Wall Street ushered in the Barack Obama presidency with a record Inauguration Day drop on Tuesday amid fresh signs the global bank crisis was far from over.

“High expectations for details on how the new administration would address the growing banking crisis and faltering economy were dampened after the inauguration speech concluded with little new information to digest.”
Banks sink stocks on Inauguration Day, by Chuck Mikolajczak, Reuters, January 20, 2009

High finance – it’s wonderful.

Hm.

“God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, thou who has brought us thus far along the way, thou who has by thy might led us into the light, keep us forever in the path, we pray, lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met thee, lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget thee. Shadowed beneath thy hand may we forever stand — true to thee, O God, and true to our native land.

“We truly give thanks for the glorious experience we’ve shared this day. We pray now, O Lord, for your blessing upon thy servant, Barack Obama, the 44th president of these United States, his family and his administration. He has come to this high office at a low moment in the national and, indeed, the global fiscal climate. But because we know you got the whole world in your hand, we pray for not only our nation, but for the community of nations. Our faith does not shrink, though pressed by the flood of mortal ills.

“For we know that, Lord, you’re able and you’re willing to work through faithful leadership to restore stability, mend our brokenness, heal our wounds and deliver us from the exploitation of the poor or the least of these and from favoritism toward the rich, the elite of these.

“We thank you for the empowering of thy servant, our 44th president, to inspire our nation to believe that, yes, we can work together to achieve a more perfect union. And while we have sown the seeds of greed — the wind of greed and corruption, and even as we reap the whirlwind of social and economic disruption, we seek forgiveness and we come in a spirit of unity and solidarity to commit our support to our president by our willingness to make sacrifices, to respect your creation, to turn to each other and not on each other.

“And now, Lord, in the complex arena of human relations, help us to make choices on the side of love, not hate; on the side of inclusion, not exclusion; tolerance, not intolerance.

“And as we leave this mountaintop, help us to hold on to the spirit of fellowship and the oneness of our family. Let us take that power back to our homes, our workplaces, our churches, our temples, our mosques, or wherever we seek your will.

“Bless President Barack, First Lady Michelle. Look over our little, angelic Sasha and Malia.

“We go now to walk together, children, pledging that we won’t get weary in the difficult days ahead. We know you will not leave us alone, with your hands of power and your heart of love.

“Help us then, now, Lord, to work for that day when nation shall not lift up sword against nation, when tanks will be beaten into tractors, when every man and every woman shall sit under his or her own vine and fig tree, and none shall be afraid; when justice will roll down like waters and righteousness as a mighty stream.

“Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around — (laughter) — when yellow will be mellow — (laughter) — when the red man can get ahead, man — (laughter) — and when white will embrace what is right.

“Let all those who do justice and love mercy say amen.

“AUDIENCE: Amen!

“REV. LOWERY: Say amen –

“AUDIENCE: Amen!”
Rev. Joseph Lowery Inaugural Benediction. Transcript, BeliefNet, January 20, 2009

Kelly Taylor emailed me that Lowery kicked Obama’s ass with this benediction and, probably due to some personal failing on my part, I’m not sure what she means. I don’t think President Obama needs God to get him hip to equality and justice for gay couples who merely want to get married under our legal system. I think he just needs to look past his heterosexual success in the patriarchy, and God can’t help him with that. Obama has to climb that mountain on his own. Will he? We’ll see.

Here’s Bishop Gene Robinson’s beautiful prayer for our nation (and the guy we just elected to diss GLBT folk in it) because these lovely words certainly didn’t air on HBO.

Here’s the text:

“Welcome to Washington! The fun is about to begin, but first, please join me in pausing for a moment, to ask God’s blessing upon our nation and our next president.
“O God of our many understandings, we pray that you will…
Bless us with tears – for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women from many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS.
“Bless us with anger – at discrimination, at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
“Bless us with discomfort – at the easy, simplistic “answers” we’ve preferred to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth, about ourselves and the world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of the future.
“Bless us with patience – and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be ‘fixed’ anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a human being, not a messiah.
“Bless us with humility – open to understanding that our own needs must always be balanced with those of the world.
“Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance – replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences, and an understanding that in our diversity, we are stronger.
“Bless us with compassion and generosity – remembering that every religion’s God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable in the human community, whether across town or across the world.
“And God, we give you thanks for your child Barack, as he assumes the office of President of the United States.
“Give him wisdom beyond his years, and inspire him with Lincoln’s reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy’s ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr. King’s dream of a nation for ALL the people.
“Give him a quiet heart, for our Ship of State needs a steady, calm captain in these times.
“Give him stirring words, for we will need to be inspired and motivated to make the personal and common sacrifices necessary to facing the challenges ahead.
“Make him color-blind, reminding him of his own words that under his leadership, there will be neither red nor blue states, but the United States.
“Help him remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that experience of discrimination, that he might seek to change the lives of those who are still its victims.
“Give him the strength to find family time and privacy, and help him remember that even though he is president, a father only gets one shot at his daughters’ childhoods.
“And please, God, keep him safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents, and we’re asking FAR too much of this one. We know the risk he and his wife are taking for all of us, and we implore you, O good and great God, to keep him safe. Hold him in the palm of your hand – that he might do the work we have called him to do, that he might find joy in this impossible calling, and that in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity, prosperity and peace.
“AMEN.”

HBO did not broadcast these words ON DIRECT ORDERS FROM BARACK OBAMA. Sing out David E!

And Pam S has some reactions.

Sigh. First Rick Warren, now this. I know we elected the better guy, I just wish he’d act more like it.

And not a moment too soon:

“A is for Jack Abramoff who’s big in pay-to-play.

“B’s for greedy bankers who have fleeced the USA.

“C is for Rep. Craig who isn’t gay, except in bed.

“D is for democracy which Dubya hasn’t spread.”
An Alpha-Political Farewell to Bush and Cheney, Mad Kane, January 13, 2009

She does the whole alphabet, go read, it’s a riot (and true).

“‘Obama Tuesday night trekked to the Chevy Chase, Md., home of conservative columnist George F. Will to talk politics and get to know some of his fiercest intellectual adversaries: Charles Krauthammer, William Kristol, Larry Kudlow, David Brooks, Rich Lowry, Peggy Noonan, Michael Barone, and Paul Gigot.’

“”The two-and-half-hour dinner, which came at Will’s request.”

“George says ‘Jump,’ Barry asks ‘How high?’”
Coffee Time, Fablog, January 14, 2009

Dave Barry (I think) once wrote (about Clinton, I think) that really intelligent people became total morons in Washington D.C. He hypothesized that there was some kind of stupid ray focused on the White House and environs. Ya know…maybe he’s RIGHT!

I’m really looking forward to the Obama Administration. I’m just a little annoyed that the first order of business – The Stimulus – is the political/economic equivalent of a 50-foot dive into a shot glass.

It’s not that I don’t think the O Team can do it, I’m just sorry they have to on their first day on the job.

And she’s already not very good at it:

“Looks like the GOP’s head cougar has gone from political attack dog to snotty celeb fashion critic.

“In her new book, ‘Guilty: Liberal ‘Victims’ and Their Assault on America’ Ann Coulter slams Michelle Obama for her hairstyle and clothes. Coulter calls Michelle an obvious Jackie Kennedy wannabe with her ‘flipped-under hair, the sleeveless A-line dresses’ and ‘the short strands of fake pearls.’

“Good news: Coulter reportedly had to have her jaw wired shut. Bad news: She can still type.”
Coulter Calls Michelle O Jackie O Wannabe, TMZ.com, January 3, 2009

I really hate TMZ…except when I love it.

Forget Coulter – now, always and in general, too. Stick with Mrs. O for the low-down on Michelle’s look.

“But most of the whining takes the form of claims that the Bush administration’s failure was simply a matter of bad luck — either the bad luck of President Bush himself, who just happened to have disasters happen on his watch, or the bad luck of the G.O.P., which just happened to send the wrong man to the White House.

“The fault, however, lies not in Republicans’ stars but in themselves. Forty years ago the G.O.P. decided, in effect, to make itself the party of racial backlash. And everything that has happened in recent years, from the choice of Mr. Bush as the party’s champion, to the Bush administration’s pervasive incompetence, to the party’s shrinking base, is a consequence of that decision.

“If the Bush administration became a byword for policy bungles, for government by the unqualified, well, it was just following the advice of leading conservative think tanks: after the 2000 election the Heritage Foundation specifically urged the new team to ‘make appointments based on loyalty first and expertise second.’

“Contempt for expertise, in turn, rested on contempt for government in general. ‘Government is not the solution to our problem,’ declared Ronald Reagan. ‘Government is the problem.’ So why worry about governing well?
Where did this hostility to government come from? In 1981 Lee Atwater, the famed Republican political consultant, explained the evolution of the G.O.P.’s ‘Southern strategy,’ which originally focused on opposition to the Voting Rights Act but eventually took a more coded form: ‘You’re getting so abstract now you’re talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is blacks get hurt worse than whites.’ In other words, government is the problem because it takes your money and gives it to Those People.”
Bigger than Bush, by Paul Krugman, NYT Op/Ed, January 1, 2009

This is so goofy and so neo-Republican thinking of the past 40 years. Trickle down has always been the euphemism for getting pissed on. We can only improve from the bottom of the economic strata up. What benefits the poorest and neediest of us, benefits us all. Even the predators at the top. A healthy, educated, employed population is a productive and happy one. If you need some examples of what doesn’t work, try the Louis XVI and the neo-Repubs, starting with Nixon and onward. Weren’t there moderate Repubs once? I seem to remember some guy, briefly VP, named Rockefeller once…or did I dream that?

Disrupter of Wickedness Stupidity bushco:

“Just before Christmas, an economics student in Utah figured out a way to help the environment by messing up the mechanics of an auction. The Bush administration had Bureau of Land Management auction offer a last minute auction to sell off 150,000 acres near Arches National Park.

“Tim DeChristopher, 27, just started bidding when the government tried to auction off the land. That threw a wrench into the whole auction. He went home — after a brief visit with police — owning 22,000 acres of land and owing $1.7 million. But he also pushed the price up for oil developers. So much so that the whole auction results are now in question. The AP says buyers were given 10 days to decide if they paid too much. I don’t think that offer applies to DeChristopher himself. They may have to have a do-over for the whole auction — but that would be under the Obama administration.”

~snip~

“DeChristopher didn’t start off his day hoping to stand in the way of Bush’s last minute sale to the oil industry. Instead, he went to his scheduled final exam. …one of his exam questions was whether this very auction was fair since only the oil companies were bidding. That got him thinking.

“DeChristopher went straight from the test to the auction. He passed the protesters and went inside, wanting to do something more, but not knowing what. Then a woman asked him: ‘Are you here to bid?’ That gave him the idea.

“Patrick Shea, who is representing DeChristopher, says that when he ran the BLM under President Clinton he required bidders to show they could afford their purchases. The lack of a requirement was part of the “rush” of the Bush administration to sell the land before leaving office, Shea says. It looks like once again deregulation has not turned out to be the capitalist’s best friend.”

~snip~

“DeChristopher says the most surprising thing was that he bought some of the land at $2.25 an acre. ‘That’s shocking — that we can sacrifice our public lands for as little as $2.25 an acre.’ There is some talk of environmental groups buying DeChristopher’s land. His first payment of $45,000 was due Monday.”
The hero auction wrecker, by Carol Vinzant, WalletPop, December 30, 2008 (more on Mr. DeChristopher)

If there’s a legal defense fund for my new hero, Tim DeChristopher, I’d like to toss a few bucks his way. What a guy!

By the way, what’s the deal with no money down auctions of public land, bushco? Don’t you jerks know that even housing auctions require a $5K cashiers check to even get in the door? Serves you creeps right.

Advantage DeChristopher! Sorry about the legal problems, dude, where can I send a check?

Update 123108: “Tim DeChristopher announced Wednesday afternoon that he would pay the U.S. Bureau of Land Management $45,000 to hold the 13 lease parcels he won in a Dec. 19 sale. His aim is to fend off drilling at least until President-elect Barack Obama takes office and new officials are in charge of the federal Interior Department and Bureau of Land Management.

“‘This would be the most effective way of ensuring we could protect the land at least until the new administration came in,’ DeChristopher said.

“The 27-year-old economics major faces possible federal felony charges after winning bids totaling about $1.8 million on 13 lease parcels that he admitted he had neither the intention nor the money to pay for.

“But since committing what he called an act of civil disobedience, DeChristopher has heard from hundreds of individuals around the country willing to chip in to keep drill rigs off the land and DeChristopher out of prison.

“So far, would-be benefactors have pledged $14,000, he said. ($14,050 now)

“DeChristopher, his lawyers and other advisers reckoned that if there were a specific reason for the fundraising, rather than just an ill-defined defense fund, enough money would roll in to allow him to write a $45,000 check to the BLM within the next couple of weeks.”
Land auction monkeywrencher has a new plan
Fundraising. DeChristopher hopes to run out the clock, by Patty Henetz, The Salt Lake Tribune, December 31, 2008

Tim DeChristopher Legal Defense and Land Paying For Fund

Agency auctions off moral high ground, by J. Scott Christianson, Columbia Tribune, December 30, 2008

Another good Tim DeChristopher story, more details.