If They Pass It, Do It.

There has been a vote in the SouthCentral Wisconsin Labor Council to call for a general strike if the Walker-Bill is passed. From the article:

The 97-union South Central Federation of Labor of Wisconsin is laying groundwork for a general strike if Gov. Scott Walker succeeds in enacting legislation that would strip most bargaining rights from most public employee unions.
Federation president Jim Cavanaugh said Tuesday that he couldn't predict how many unions might take part in a strike, but opposition to Walker has grown rapidly.
"Two weeks ago who would have thought there would have been 70,000 people on the Capitol Square demonstrating on behalf of worker rights?" Cavanaugh said. "We have had an awful lot of statements of support from around the country."
The labor federation, which represents more than 45,000 workers, voted Monday night to endorse work stoppages by union and nonunion workers nationally, Cavanaugh said.

Word of advice: If they pass it, walk out, strike, and don't look back. Keep the protests in the capitol, shut it down, don't go back to work. There's no point working in a place where labor has no value. There's no point being the sanitation worker if you have no right to negotiate for a better wage on that job over time. There's no point being a state employee, and making less than the private sector, if the Governor can simply cut your benefits and wages to nothing, and lay you off, at a whim. Carry through on this threat if need be. Do not bend, do not break.

Wisconsin House Passes Walker Bill

I'm not there, so I'll let the words of those there stand:

Roughly an hour ago, after 61 hours of debate, the Republican state Assembly Speaker unexpectedly called a vote and then left the voting open for only seconds until a bare majority present had cast yes votes and then closed the voting, too quickly for most of the Democrats in the chamber to even get a chance to vote. Democrats erupted into crimes of "Shame, Shame, Shame" as Republicans filed out of the hall. Here's our report from the scene.

Or from their person on the scene:

MADISON, WI -- The Wisconsin State Assembly has just passed Gov. Scott Walker's budget repair bill, including its controversial provisions to eliminate almost all collective bargaining rights for public employee unions as well as many other provisions to weaken union organizing.

After much buildup in the 61-hour debate -- of Republicans wanting things to be over, and Democrats railing against Republicans who they said would cut off debate -- at about 1 AM Speaker Pro Tempore Bill Kramer (R) announced that he would hear a voice vote for a roll call on final passage. Immediately, the majority Republicans shouted their ayes, and the Democrats were booing, as they tried to be recognized to demand a separate motion to cut off debate.

Then Kramer called the vote. Within seconds, the digital vote system on the wall announced 51 ayes and 17 nays, and voting was suddenly closed. With a total of 96 members, that got to a majority for the bill but left 28 members who hadn't had a chance yet to vote.

At that point, the Democrats got up, chanting "Shame! Shame! Shame!" and similar exclamations, as the Republicans filed out of the room.

There were many Democrats I spoke to and overheard in the chamber, who said they didn't get a chance to vote, or that they were pushing the "No" button at their desks as hard as they could -- keep in mind that a majority of their 38-member caucus was recorded as casting no votes at all. (Interesting to note there were also four Republicans who voted no -- after having joined every party-line vote against Democratic amendments. Some Dems speculated that the GOP leadership had allowed some Assembly Republicans in marginal districts to skip the vote or vote 'no' on the final tally.)

Wow. These guys are willing to go down with the ship I guess. Let the re-calls begin. Oh yeah, and for anyone who thinks not being recorded on the vote will help them, wrong again.

Maybe The Craziest Law Up For Consideration In Any State Legislature In The Nation

This isn't something to take lightly. In South Dakota, Iowa, and Nebraska, there are bills that would allow the murder of abortion doctors. In Wisconsin and Ohio, there are bills to end collective bargaining. Chris Christie has already cut a billion dollars from education in New Jersey. Tennessee wants to remove the collective bargaining rights for teachers. In Missouri, they want to roll-back child-labor laws. In Mississippi, they want to make a license plate honoring the KKK founder. In Iowa, they want to end voluntary pre-school. In Montana, they want to support Global Warming. Here in Pennsylvania, they just want to do nothing, and eliminate members. Yet, I found something in crazier, even worse.

Georgia State Representative Bobby Franklin has proposed a bill to criminalize miscarriages. Yes, you'll have women being forced to hand over their tampons as evidence and stuff. Aside from the fact that this is gross, and seems batshit crazy, this is real legislation, under consideration. As much as I laughed at this when I saw it, you'd have to think this bill has a chance in Georgia. A fairly pro-life state like that, with Republican majorities in the legislature, this bill would seem tailor made for passage. This is the most ridiculous, insane bill yet, but it may become law. Can it be enforced? I hope not. I'm not holding my breath though.

Paul Broun Shrugs Off Question About Shooting The President

This is over the top.

An audience member at a town hall hosted by Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) on Tuesday asked the Tea Party congressman who was going to shoot President Barack Obama.

The unidentified town hall attendee's question got a big laugh from the audience, reports Blake Aued of the Athens Banner-Herald.

But Broun didn't exactly condemn the remark, according to the newspaper report.

"The thing is, I know there's a lot of frustration with this president. We're going to have an election next year," Broun said in response to the question. "Hopefully, we'll elect somebody that's going to be a conservative, limited-government president that will take a smaller, who will sign a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare."

This is what happens when you get a lunatic Congressman, who tweets about "socialism" during the State of the Union. This is the chicken and the egg question: Is the district full of crazies because of an inflammatory Congressman, or is he inflammatory because his district is nuts? Who cares, he's way out of line here. Either way, he's part of the problem in DC.

The Lehigh Valley In 2010- How Big Is The Change?

These were the numbers in the 2000 Census for the counties of the Lehigh Valley region:

• Northampton County (PA)- 267,066
• Lehigh County (PA)- 312,090
• Warren County (NJ)- 102,437
• Carbon County (PA)- 58,802
• Monroe County (PA)- 138,687
• Berks County (PA)- 373,638

The Census Bureau said in 2009 that they are at these levels:

• Northampton County (PA)- 298,990
• Lehigh County (PA)- 343,519
• Warren County (NJ)- 109,638
• Carbon County (PA)- 63,865
• Monroe County (PA)- 166,355
• Berks County (PA)- 407,125

Additionally, in 2000, the Lehigh Valley's cities had populations of:

• Allentown (PA)- 106,632
• Bethlehem (PA)- 71,329
• Easton (PA)- 26,263
• Phillipsburg (NJ)- 15,166
• Lehighton (PA)- 5,537
• Stroudsburg (PA)- 5,756
• East Stroudsburg (PA)- 9,888
• Reading (PA)- 81,207
• Kutztown (PA)- 5,067

I wonder what will come of the new census numbers? My guess is, the numbers will look like 2009's. With more people, but less Congressional seats, Pennsylvania is likely to have a very different looking map. Northampton and Lehigh Counties will have 60,000 more, at least, people in them. Will the 15th district look a lot different? Probably not a lot, but the district will probably change a bit. Carbon County will likely look a bit different Congressionally, same for Berks County. I think it's possible in Warren County as well.

An Interesting Read On PA Re-Districting

Check this out. Now, I doubt they can do this because of politics (even internal party fights get into these maps), and law (the Holden district looks ridiculous). Even still, this looks like a basis for what we'll see.

ClimateGate? Not Really.

Now that Senator Inhofe pushed for an investigation, let's see if he ever mentions the results of the ClimateGate investigation.

An investigation into the "Climategate" scandal found that climate scientists working with the government did not manipulate climate change data. The investigation was conducted at the request of climate change skeptic Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK).

The Hill: "It's the latest investigation to clear scientists of manipulating climate data after thousands of e-mails from the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit were leaked in 2009. 'Climategate' has become something of a rallying call for climate skeptics, who have pointed to the e-mails to suggest there is a conspiracy among the world's scientists."

Jimmy Inhofe, R-Exxon, ginned up this stupid story, along with his boys Beck, Hannity, and Limbaugh- but the investigation ordered by Inhofe turned out to disprove their argument. Oops. Bet we never hear about this again!

Liberal Media? Hell No, Christie Gets To Ramble, But Labor Does Not

Interesting....

I tend not to get into the business of questioning the guest choices made by the Sunday shows. But if there were ever a time the networks would want to book labor officials to appear, you'd think it would be now. The Wisconsin standoff is the most important domestic political story in the country right now, and as many commentators at those same networks have pointed out, both sides view this battle as ground zero in a national war that may determine the fate of organized labor in America.

But labor officials are beginning to fear that none of them will be invited on this weekend to give voice to the labor point of view. This, even as tough-talking anti-union governor Chris Christie is set to do a major appearance on CBS on Sunday.

One AFL-CIO official tells me that reps for the AFL-CIO and other unions reached out to all the big three network shows -- ABC's This Week, NBC's Meet the Press, and CBS' Face the Nation -- to ask if they would invite on any labor officials. Thus far the answer has been cool to indifferent, the official says.

Chris Christie yes, but labor, no? Here it is, from the Plum Line, perfectly put:

Like I noted above, I tend not to see any point in questioning the Sunday lineups. But this moment somehow feels a bit different. There's a massive media lovefest underway over Christie, one that's hailing his role as the scourge of public employees everywhere. Not only is he appearing on Face the Nation, but a huge, 6600-word profile of Christie is set to appear in this Sunday's New York Times Magazine describing him as a "Republican superstar" who has found in public employees his very own "welfare queens."

But the big story right now is that public employees are proving not to be the easy scapegoat many conservative and neutral commentators expected them to be. While labor may well lose in Wisconsin, the important political story of the moment is that organized labor has surpised the political establishment with its show of force and its ability to mobilize, and could conceivably still win this standoff in a state where Republicans control the governorship and legislature. And the public is supporting the basic rights of public employees, not cheering on their foes.

It's very hard to generalize about such matters, but in this context, the basic priorities of the political media seem a bit off. At a minimum you'd think the intense public interest in Wisconsin would alone be enough to get the networks to invite labor officials on to talk about it.

Amen. We're winning this fight in Wisconsin, despite the silence of the White House and the black-out by the "liberal media." Even as Scott Walker's fall from grace is under way, the media continues to crow about Christie and his anti-labor message. The political media is out of touch, overly "Beltway," and showing a bias- and it's against the American people.

The Latest On Libya

Latinos Almost Universally Disapprove Of The GOP's Racism

This is remarkable, and a serious sign to the President as to what to do to eliminate the GOP in the 2012 Election.

Latino support for the Republican Party is weak, despite growing concerns over President Obama's lack of immigration solutions, according to a recent poll.

The poll, conducted by impreMedia, a U.S.-based Hispanic news and information organization, reported that only 9 percent of Latino voters said they would vote for a Republican candidate in general, while 8 percent said they might.

Although the poll showed that many Latinos lacked confidence in the GOP, the survey also showed that some were unsure about whether they would support Obama. Only 43 percent said they would vote for the president's re-election in 2012, although 70 percent said they approved of Obama.

"I think the most interesting story here is how badly the Republicans are faring with Latinos," said Gary Segura, a political science professor at Stanford University. "It is as if Latinos are not pro-Democrat, but rather anti-Republican."

The poll, which surveyed 500 Latino voters between Jan. 24 and Feb. 5 in states with high Hispanic populations, also revealed that 47 percent of participants ranked immigration as the top priority that should be addressed by Obama and Congress.

This makes the GOP's road in 2012 nearly impossible, but their future is likely bleak. A 17% share of the 2012 Latino vote in New Mexico, Nevada, California, and Colorado makes those states impossible, and could make Texas and Arizona difficult holds for the GOP. Their racism has finally alienated Latinos completely. It's hard to come back from that.

So, how does the President go from 43% to 80%? Well, it's simple. Go to the Hill and call for comprehensive immigration reform. Call for it, campaign for it, and push the issue. Either the GOP passes it, which is good, or they commit suicide, which is also good, since it will still happen. The GOP is divided on this issue- the bigots want to send back the Latinos, and the "business conservatives" want to keep them here, as people without rights, making slave wages. Force their hand. Call their bluff.

An Update On 2012: Mixed News For the President

Good news, bad news. That's the way things look. What do they come out to?

First, the bad news for the White House. Mike Huckabee ties the President in a poll, Mitt Romney and Donald Trump get close, and Sarah Palin still gets crushed. This poll seems a bit outside of the norm of late, and shouldn't be taken as gospel yet. Remember, the President hasn't begun to campaign yet, which is something he will do at some point, and he's good at it. Donald Trump seems a lot cooler now, before he has to defend himself.

Then, there's the good news. The President is doing pretty damn well in the south. In Mississippi, his approval is 47.1%. That's impressive! If I had to guess right now, he'll perform better than expected down there. If the GOP nominates a Romney, or anyone else who is not sufficiently conservative.

Taken together, it's going to be tough to beat the President. Any GOP nominee will have to really play up their conservatism to bring back the southern states, and then hope they can win up in the Northeast and "blue states," or the states least likely to approve of that. Winning the popular vote may be close to impossible for the GOP in 2012, and the electoral college is going to be threading a needle.

Boehner's Spending Plan Is Harmful, And Is Being Rejected

Well, them liberal-bastards from Goldman-Sachs say that the House's cuts will hurt the economy. How bad?

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The more federal spending Congress slashes this year, the greater the potential drag on economic growth, according to a new analysis from Goldman Sachs.

In a research note, economists at the Wall Street bank estimate that the House GOP's spending bill -- which would cut $61 billion between March and Sept. 30 -- could reduce economic growth by 1.5 percentage points to 2 percentage points in the second and third quarters.

Last week, the Federal Reserve forecast the economy would grow between 3.4% and 3.9% this year.

The drag would be less if lawmakers decide to cut only $25 billion, which Goldman believes is more likely.

Goldman estimates a 1 percentage point drop in growth in the second quarter but adds that "would quickly fade over the next two quarters as spending stabilizes at a lower level." And by year-end, a $25 billion reduction would have "little effect ... on the rate of real GDP growth," Goldman economists concluded.

Yeah, them damn liberals, they don't know what they're talking about. I find that $25 billion number to be interesting. Where did they get it? Interesting.

Meanwhile, John Boehner has offered a compromise- take his plan. So the Democrats rejected this "compromise." They had a lot to say in return:

The House bill could result in 870 fewer border patrol agents guarding the nation’s borders, Democrats warn. A group of three Democratic senators called the GOP cuts a “giant step backward in securing our border” and say that they could effectively repeal the emergency bipartisan border security bill passed last Congress. The proposed cuts would also reduce funding for border security fencing, infrastructure and technology by $272 million, the Democrats add.

Democrats already have proposed $41 billion in cuts and "are eager to sit down with Republicans to find more," Summers adds.

"But Republicans are refusing to negotiate," he says. "Instead of working with Democrats to find more cuts, they are threatening to shut down the government and drawing lines in the sand. Their recklessness could send our economy into a tailspin. It is time for cooler heads to prevail in the House, and for Republicans to come to the table.”

Democrats have warned that a government shutdown could damage the slow, fragile recovery of the U.S. economy.

John Boehner is an awful Speaker. So far, he's been incapable of passing serious legislation. His plan is a joke, and it won't help this country. The Democrats should refuse it, even if that means he forces the government to shut down. This is worth fighting for.

The Latest In Wisconsin

Well, the endgame could be coming in the Wisconsin House. It appears that the Walker-Bill will pass the House, without amendments. This was always the likely outcome there.

Things have changed drastically for Walker though. After the prank "Koch call," the press has turned on Walker badly. With the rumors of Republican Senate defections coming soon, this bill may crumble under itself soon. About the only nice thing being said about Walker is that he gets power. That's being said though at the expense of anyone thinking he understands budgets and legislation.

Activists for issues besides labor are fighting to be heard too. Disability Rights groups are taking their shots:

MADISON, WI (FDL) – Members of a disability rights group have occupied the Wisconsin Republican Party headquarters in Madison, and vow to stay until Governor Scott Walker takes out the Medicaid provisions in the budget repair bill. The news of the occupation was met with thunderous cheers at a noontime rally in the Capital Rotunda, which featured Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and a large contingent of firefighters from around the state.

ADAPT, the nationwide disability rights group, took over the headquarters to protest the portion of the budget repair bill that switches authority over Medicaid and BadgerCare over to the Department of Health Services. Governor Walker appointed Dennis Smith to run the Department of Health Services, a senior fellow from the Heritage Foundation who has repeatedly argued that states should drop Medicaid altogether. Under the budget repair bill, Smith would have near-unilateral authority to carry that out if he chose. Jonathan Cohn has written extensively about the Medicaid changes in the budget repair bill.

“We are asking the GOP to intervene,” said Jason Glozier with ADAPT, one of the organizers of the occupation. “The changes to Medicaid Assistance have been ignored in this bill. People’s lives are at stake.” Glozier believes that if medical assistance for the disabled is underfunded or unfunded, people will lose jobs and many disabled Wisconsinites would be drastically affected.

Amazing. Basically, the Governor wants to end Medicaid, as well as collective bargaining. Extreme much?

Governor Walker continues to grow more isolated. He's isolating himself from the public, and even from his own party. The Democrats shouldn't just seek to kill the bill. They should take the fight straight to the Governor. He could be the first casualty of the GOP's overreach in 2011.

In Nebraska and Iowa, Killing Abortion Doctors and Users May Be Legal Soon

Ah yes, the crazy continues. Thought it stopped in South Dakota? Nope. The Nebraska legislature is considering a bill to extend "justifiable homicide" to protecting an unborn fetus. Think that's nuts? In Iowa, they are looking at it too! Just through two bills. I mean hey, why should anyone go to jail for killing someone who they object to the career of?

This is nuts. Face it guys, the court ruled, you lost. You can't just make it functionally impossible to do something the Supreme Court ruled as constitutional. Using this type of intimidation is simply unacceptable, and UNAMERICAN. Yes, I went there. These aren't patriots, their whack jobs.

Just A Question Or Two For Chris Christie....

It's being said that "fire fighters and teachers are Chris Christie's 'welfare queens'." His rise to power has been on the backs of these workers he attacks. Fair enough. That raises a few questions.

1. Just who the hell is going to run into a building that is burning, or patrol the streets of Camden and Irvington, or teach in Newark, if they don't get paid well, and get good job security? All things aside, why would anyone take the jobs if Christie gets his way and turns them into Wal-Mart level paying jobs? Are my saying all the contracts were perfect, no. However, if Christie's image for these workers were realized, what's the point to working there?
2. If there's a local and state budget crisis that is so damning in New Jersey, why doesn't Christie accept the millionaire tax increase the legislature proposed? The increased revenue will allow the state to avoid service cuts and tax increases on the middle class and home owners.
3. Has Christie really done anything about structural debt in New Jersey? My answer is no. They still have lots of commissions and boards, each handling their one issue, or one area. Every little municipality still has their own school boards and administrators, rather than regional ones, or county ones. Has he really pushed for consolidation? No. Previous attempts by the state to appoint county Superintendents only added a layer, it didn't subtract any. The savings here would be huge, and would bring about higher quality boards and administrators, as well as cheaper prices on buying goods in bulk.
4. Just how the hell does a guy who worked in the Bush Justice Department, and never turned down a lobbyist with tickets to his beloved Mets, get off lecturing people about how bad fire fighters and cops are for being compensated well? Really?

Ok, now that I've gotten my anti-Christie rant out for the day, i'm good. This guy gets glowing coverage for being a novelty, a really over-weight guy who will speak directly, and over-simplify complex issues, while demanding everyone with nuance in their brains dumb down their talk to his level, or be called an obstructionist. It's kind of out-lived it's welcome to me.

Casey Looking Solid

Unbeatable? No. Particularly solid in the context of what we just saw in 2010? Yes. From PoliticsPA:

Bob Casey continues to enjoy relatively strong favorability, according to a poll obtained by PoliticsPA from the firm Municipoll. 46 percent of likely voters have a favorable opinion of Casey, compared with only 30 percent of voters with an unfavorable opinion.

The survey of 670 likely voters was conducted via IVR from Feb. 21-23, 2011.

These results closely resemble those in last week’s Quinnipiac poll, which showed Casey with a net favorable job approval rating of 44 percent to 24 percent.

“Maybe Bob Casey isn’t unbeatable but he’s looking pretty darn good for a Democrat in a swing state that Senate Republicans are supposedly talking about targeting next year,” said Ed Haggerty, President of Municipoll.

There is no front runner for the GOP nomination to challenge Casey, but the Senator performs well against several of the names that have been mentioned so far. Former US Senator Rick Santorum presents the stiffest challenge but Casey bests him 50 to 38 percent. Casey also beats Congressman Charlie Dent, 51 to 32 percent and Congressman Jim Gerlach, 48 to 34 percent.

The down side for Casey? After four years in office, 24 percent of likely voters still don’t know enough about him to form an opinion.

The poll also found President Obama’s favorability at 51 percent in the state (versus 44 percent unfavorable), again echoing last week’s Quinnipiac poll.

Newly elected Republicans Governor Tom Corbett and Senator Pat Toomey enjoy net favorable ratings, with Corbett at 48 percent to 31 percent, and Toomey at 42 percent to 35 percent. However, by a 50 percent to 31 percent margin, voter expect Corbett to break his no texes, no fees pledge.

What We Now Know About Walker.

Some are questioning his legality. Others are questioning what it says about access to his office. While good points, I think they aren't getting deep enough.

Scott Walker is not very smart. He got played out by a blogger. His staff isn't so smart either. They put him on the phone with that blogger just for saying he was David Koch. Walker is very used to people saying nasty stuff about his opponents though, and he doesn't say anything to stop them. And yes, apparently any rich, Republican donor, can get the Governor on the phone, but the Democratic Senators up there can't. He's also minimally delusional on how this is going for him, or a good liar to his supporters. The guy's also obviously arrogant and out of touch, thinking he's Reagan, and all the other grand ideas he espoused about himself and his actions.

Basically, he's not really up to this level of fight. You don't see national figures get played out by a blogger. I just wonder who's going to be the Republican to walk him off this ledge. He's either going to fail miserably and not be taken seriously in the legislature, or succeed, and potentially be re-called or simply beaten soundly in 2014. Neither option goes well for him. He should take the open hand of the unions and take their concessions now, and call it a win.

President Obama On Libya

Other Republican Governors: Nah, Not Us, Scotty

Well, they're spooked out, that's for sure. Tom Corbett and Rick Scott both declined to endorse bills like Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's anti-Collective Bargaining one in their states of Pennsylvania and Florida in the past day or two. You haven't seen this kind of action in Michigan or New Jersey either. In Indiana, Governor Mitch Daniels declined to push for their version of the bill, and now it's apparently been pulled from the floor. This leaves Ohio, and far-right anti-teacher legislation in Tennessee, as the real other fronts still out there. Basically, it appears that Governor Walker is being left at the alter by all of his conservative lovers, all of the ones singing his praises just last week. I guess that's what happens when the polls aren't going your way.

John Boehner's Response Says It All: The GOP Has Used Evangelical Americans For Their Votes

Do you remember 2004? I sure do. We need to ban gay marriage by any means necessary was the GOP's battle cry of the day. States passed their own state constitutional amendments banning it, across the country. President Bush campaigned against gay-marriage, and said he'd support a constitutional amendment to define marriage as being one man, and one woman. That amendment never came. The GOP tried to gin the religious conservatives up again in 2005 with the Terry Shiavo case, but when that hit the floor with a loud thud, they stopped. By 2008, the religious conservatism wasn't a main argument in their election rhetoric, and in 2010, they purposely avoided it.

Square all of their past religion baiting with this statement from Speaker John Boehner today after President Obama decided to no longer defend the "Defense Of Marriage Act" in appeals court.

House Speaker John Boehner's spokesman Michael Steel questions the Obama administration's decision to halt its legal defense of DOMA.

"While Americans want Washington to focus on creating jobs and cutting spending, the President will have to explain why he thinks now is the appropriate time to stir up a controversial issue that sharply divides the nation," he said in a statement.

Ha... his spokesman's name is Michael Steel.

Ok, aside from that silly point: Where's the fire at? While the GOP has thrown some bones the way of the religious right-wing on abortion in this Congress, all "moral" issues now seem to be on the back-burner to fiscal ones. This attempt at re-branding by the GOP is clearly aimed at making them relevant with younger voters, most of whom really don't care who you go to bed with, provided they're a consenting adult. It's just not cool to be "gay bashing" now. And Boehner's response indicates that: he's saying this is a silly issue to be fighting over, and criticizing the President for bringing it up. Can anyone imagine a GOP leader doing that in 2004? Hell no you can't. They'd have relished the fight, and pushed it up a notch.

This sort of proves a bottom line point. Sure, many Republican Congressmen actually do agree with the right-wing religious folks, but they're not really committed to act. They only want to appease the religious right to the extent that it's popular, and if it's not, they won't even acknowledge it. Even more to the point, there never was a constitutional amendment voted on, nor have they overturned "Roe v. Wade" in nearly 40 years. Why is that? It's because they never really want to do that. Voting for the Republicans on cultural values is a total, and complete waste. You won't get anything tangible back in return.

Governor Walker: Stand Down.

Another Bad News Bit For Walker

Bad news for Walker....

WASHINGTON -- Budget referees and transportation officials in Wisconsin have informed Gov. Scott Walker (R) that if he were to pass his controversial anti-union legislation into law, he could be forfeiting tens of millions of dollars in federal funds for transportation.

Under an obscure provision of federal labor law, states risk losing federal funds should they eliminate "collective bargaining rights" that existed at the time when federal assistance was first granted. The provision, known as "protective arrangements" or "Section 13C arrangements," is meant as a means of cushioning union (and even some non-union) members who, while working on local projects, are affected by federal grants.

It also could potentially hamstring governors like Walker who want dramatic changes to labor laws in their states. Wisconsin received $74 million in federal transit funds this fiscal year. Of that, $46.6 million would be put at risk should the collective-bargaining bill come to pass -- in the process creating an even more difficult fiscal situation than the one that, ostensibly, compelled Walker to push the legislation in the first place.

Oh well, right? He doesn't care. This is about politics, not policy.

The White House In Cleveland For Small Business Forum

Really Scott? LOL!

My only real question is, can we get it verified? Apparently, yes.

In Arizona, Naming A State Gun Is Serious Business

I'm a Facebook fan of Arizona State Senator Kyrsten Sinema. Something from her page caught my eyes:

Kyrsten Sinema
The important work of the state: naming the Colt official gun on Arizona. #forrealpeopleimeanplease

If you think it's a bit inappropriate that this is happening in Arizona after the Gabby Giffords shooting, you're not wrong. In fact, only Utah is engaging in this behavior otherwise, and I couldn't find another state with a "state firearm." This is completely pointless and stupid. We don't send you to state capitols to lionize your favorite firearm. That's great that you have one, that doesn't do much for us. What's next, will we make kids learn to use one?

California Lt. Governor Newsom To Appear On Bill Maher Friday

California Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom will appear on HBO's Bill Maher's "Real Time" this next Friday as a panelist (that's two weeks from this past friday). This could be interesting for several reasons, besides the fact I'm a fan of Newsom and Maher.

• Newsom is the Lt. Governor of the largest state in the nation, a state that is in the midst of budget changes being instituted by Governor Jerry Brown. Any austerity from that state is news.
• Newsom is the #2 guy in an administration that is fighting a budget deficit in ways very different from Scott Walker or Chris Christie, the GOP Governors in the news of late.
• Newsom is an outspoken Democrat on issues from the environment, to human trafficking, to gay rights.

So this should be a good one. At least one worth watching.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel

Chicago has a new top man, as Rahm Emanel, former Congressman and White House Chief-of-Staff, has won the job of Mayor, becoming the first new Mayor since 1989. Emanuel rolled to the win, coming in with 54%, avoiding a run-off election. He is the first member of the Obama Administration to win major elected office on his own since their 2008 victory.

Chicago picked a hell of a Mayor. With global connections, brains, and prowess in Washington and Springfield, Emanuel gives the city the best chance to compete. Great choice by a great city.

Scott Walker's Threat Filled, Talking Point Driven, Fact-Less "Fireside Chat"

Oh Scott Walker. How much longer are you going to keep up this fake, tough-guy act? If the Democrats don't come home by Friday and let your bill through, you say you're going to lay people off. So, "do what I say, or they get it?" Wonderful, let's act like children here. I thought Republicans wanted to "have an adult conversation?"

Walker spends several minutes rambling about how unions get a better deal on benefits, and how the state can't afford it, and how the public knows he's right about asking them to pay in more. Here's the problem with that: that's NOT an issue. Everyone has agreed to pay more, there's no debate on this.

Walker laid his biggest whopper by coming up with a new rationalization for how collective bargaining costs money. He says the system doesn't work, because when the unions don't concede, people get laid off. Ok, so that's your rationalization for getting rid of collective bargaining? Ok, so let me get this straight then: they necessarily won't lose their jobs, benefits, and even salaries without collective bargaining? Where's the assurances on that, and if you're taking none of the above away, how are you saving? Texas doesn't have public sector unions, and they still lay people off. It's a weak, weak argument. Besides all of that, this is a budget bill, so how does this save any money? He says it costs local governments money to bargain? No, it costs them money when they give out stupid contracts, but that's their fault, not the workers. This is why we have elections, to remove bad officials. Basically, please show me a way besides politics in which his proposal is useful in this bill?

Through the whole speech, we heard every buzz word: tough decisions, sacrifice, growth, cut spending, etc., etc., etc. Did we hear anything convincing? No. Just more drivel from a Governor losing control of the first major fight of his term. His party is about to break with him in the legislature. His plan isn't popular. The only thing I hope is that he drags this out long enough to permanently destroy his standing in the state, and get himself re-called in a year.

How A Functioning Legislature Functions- It's A Surprise Which One

The Senate Finance Committee has planned a series of hearings to look at broad tax reform. This is a great turn of events. There are some negative details though:

Overhaul of the tax code got off to a strong start in the Senate Finance Committee, with the announcement late Tuesday of a lengthy series of hearings.

Still, it remains unclear whether any serious tax changes will get through before the 2012 political silly season begins. And the timetable laid out on Tuesday suggests that lawmakers are in no particular rush.

Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D., Mont.) and the committee’s top Republican, Orrin Hatch of Utah, said the first hearing, entitled “How Did We Get Here?” will look at the economic and policy changes that have occurred since the last big reform in 1986, and how U.S. tax rules have and have not kept up.

Witnesses will include a number of former top Treasury tax officials.

I have doubts about this getting done- but this is what we're supposed to see happen. Contrast this with the House, where nothing but abortion bills seem to reach the floor. I never thought I'd be talking about the Senate Finance Committee as a beacon of legislative hope, but it sure is.

Constitutional.

A DC federal judge has ruled the Affordable Care Act Constitutional. Judge Gladys Kessler writes:

"It is pure semantics to argue that an individual who makes a choice to forgo health insurance is not 'acting,' especially given the serious economic and health-related consequences to every individual of that choice," Kessler writes. "Making a choice is an affirmative action, whether one decides to do something or not do something. They are two sides of the same coin. To pretend otherwise is to ignore reality."

Amen.

Despite Rasmussen's False Polling, Walker's Moves Not Popular Nationally

Well, looks like Rasmussen WAS wrong (shocking, I know):

The public strongly opposes laws taking away the collective bargaining power of public employee unions as a way to ease state financial troubles, according to a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll.

The poll found that 61% would oppose a law in their state similar to one being considered in Wisconsin, compared with 33% who would favor such a law.

Ohio and several other states that have new Republican governors and legislative majorities are considering laws that would reduce the power of government employee unions to bargain over benefits and work rules.

Wisconsin is the first state to consider the limits, prompting protests that have closed schools and drawn tens of thousands of protesters to the state Capitol in Madison.

Very interesting stuff. Really interesting, because of the implications in Ohio, Iowa, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and other states with new, right-wing Governors.

Before you go thinking being a Governor is easy though:

The survey of 1,000 adults was taken Monday night. It has a margin of error of 4%.
Key results:
• 71% oppose increasing sales, income or other taxes while 27% are in favor that approach.
• 53% oppose reducing pay or benefits for government workers while 44% are in favor.
• 48% opposed reducing or eliminating government programs while 47% were in favor of cuts.
Despite the opposition to reducing spending or raising taxes, those surveyed agreed overwhelmingly that their state faces a budget crisis. Sixty-four percent said their state was in financial crisis while only 5% said it wasn't. The rest were unsure.
The poll found people divided on whether public employee unions are a good thing.

You have to love the public. In any event, I think you'll see Governor Walker's side crumbling real soon now.

The Koch Brothers Tangled Web

In Wisconsin, Public Workers Aren't Getting Rich

The Economist takes Governor Walker and Paul "Boy Wonder" Ryan to task.

All of this is coming up now because Wisconsin has become the showdown state for the public-sector union controversy, and Scott Walker, the governor, is claiming he needs to destroy the state's public-sector unions' ability to negotiate in order to deal with its budget shortfall. State workers, he says, are paid too much. But the Economic Policy Institute tells us that, in Wisconsin, public-sector workers are not in fact paid more than their private-sector counterparts. They're paid less. You can only make it appear that public-sector workers earn more by ignoring the fact that "both nationally and within Wisconsin, public sector workers are significantly more educated than their private sector counterparts."

Nationally, 54% of full-time state and local public sector workers hold at least a four-year college degree, compared with 35% of full-time private sector workers. In Wisconsin, the difference is even greater: 59% of full-time Wisconsin public sector workers hold at least a four-year college degree, compared with 30% of full-time private sector workers....Public employees receive substantially lower wages, but much better benefits than their private sector counterparts. Wisconsin state and local governments pay public employees 14.2% lower annual wages than comparable private sector employees. On an hourly basis, they earn 10.7% less in wages. College-educated employees earn on average 28% less in wages and 25% less in total compensation in the public sector than in the private sector.
The EPI study does find there's a class of public-sector workers who earn a bit more than their private-sector counterparts: those without high-school degrees. In other words, district attorneys earn less than corporate lawyers, but janitors at the district attorney's office may earn more than janitors at a corporate law office—provided the government hasn't outsourced its facilities staff to the same private company the law office uses, which it may have, since governments have been targeting low-skilled workers for outsourcing precisely because that's how they can save money.

Not only have the Republicans lied here, particularly Ryan, trying to say that these workers do better than the private sector, they've made $45,000 a year workers look like the poster child for deficit causing at the state level. All of this, to attack unions' existence, and to kill public education. What's going on in Wisconsin is an attempt at generational theft, by the GOP.

Why We're Not So Effective In Libya

During the Egyptian situation, the United States attempted to play a helpful role, and it did so with some success. That wasn't so surprising though. Egypt is an allied nation, who's leaders and military were semi-professional, and worked with us before. Our military talked to their's, and lines of communication allowed us to play a role. We even were a major source of aid for them, so they had to listen.

Now, all hell is breaking loose in Libya. Protestors are in the streets, and the government is dropping bombs on them from fighter jets. Their UN mission is quitting, military officers are defecting, and Gaddafi is talking about being a "martyr." Why are we less effective?

This is what happens when you don't talk to someone you don't like for a couple decades. While the Bush White House, to their credit, ended the silence between the countries, for two many years we just ignored Gaddafi in the hopes he'd go away. He's a lunatic, the situation there could be bad, and their military is seen as violent thugs- and we can't do anything about it, because we don't have the back-channels to talk to.

I Have A New Favorite Governor....

With my home-state's Governor, Ed Rendell, out of office, and nothing of worth straight across the river in New Jersey, I've been searching for a new favorite Governor, and I think I've found him.

HARTFORD — There is Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey: blustery and bellicose, hectoring the unions, enthralling fellow Republicans with his tax caps and spending cuts, already generating presidential murmurings after barely a year in office.

And then, up the road in Connecticut, there is a new governor trying to be everything Mr. Christie is not.

Mr. Christie criticizes unions and forces wrenching spending cuts at the local level. Connecticut’s new governor, Dannel P. Malloy, politely asks labor leaders for givebacks and wants to raise taxes on income and sales by $1.5 billion.

Mr. Malloy grew up with dyslexia and physical disabilities. He still cannot write or type. And as he closes a 20 percent budget deficit, he spends much of his energy finding ways to spare the most vulnerable.

But what is most striking about Mr. Malloy, a Democrat, is that just six weeks after taking charge of such a mild-mannered state, he is publicly taking shots at his celebrated counterpart in New Jersey, attacking his politics and policies, his intellect, even his personality.

“Being bombastic for the sake of being bombastic,” Mr. Malloy said, “has just never been my take on the world.”

Yes! Finally someone willing to say it! "Bob's Big Boy," both for his claims of being an adult, and his large size, in New Jersey, is not running that state well. Time will prove that out more. More on Governor Malloy though.

As governor, Mr. Malloy laid down ground rules. He said spending, which was on a course to grow by $1.8 billion, would remain flat. He said he would not borrow to cover operating expenses, as the state previously did. He promised to pay the state’s pension obligations fully and to make costly catch-up payments for years they were skipped. He ruled out early retirement plans, saying they really did not save anything and only stretched the pension system thinner. And he imposed strict accounting standards to bring more transparency to the state’s balance sheet.

The strategy was simple: demonstrate a willingness to make tough cuts first; then demand sacrifice from labor; and only then ask the public to go along with tax increases.

That, of course, puts him in direct opposition with Governors Christie and Cuomo, who say their citizens are already overtaxed.

But Mr. Malloy does not apologize for proposing tax increases.

“It’s what’s right for my state,” he said. “Connecticut would not be Connecticut if we cut $3.5 billion out of the budget. We are a strong, generous, hopeful people. We’d be taking $800 million out of education. You can’t do that in this state. You’d have to gouge the Medicaid system. You’d have to close 25 percent of the nursing homes. What do you do with people?”

Wow! A Governor willing to stand by his values! In a state that, despite it's "Blue" status in Presidential Elections, never really elects Democratic Governors. More yet.

“I’m not sure that some governors just don’t want to lay off people for the sake of laying off people and being able to say they did,” he said, speaking of those who may have their sights on seeking national office, say in 2016. “I think there’s a certain collection of merit badges that’s going on here.”

Mr. Malloy also spoke critically of the property-tax caps and the cuts in local aid enacted in New Jersey and proposed in New York, comparing them to Proposition 13, the law now widely blamed for crippling California’s public education system.

“If you look at suburban education in New Jersey and New York, it’s pretty strong, intact, doing a pretty good job,” he said. “You cap taxes for those communities, can we reasonably predict it’s going to be as strong 20 years from now?”

Mr. Malloy first went at Mr. Christie publicly a few weeks ago, after hearing that the New Jersey governor had openly discussed the possibility of letting states seek bankruptcy protection to break contracts with unions. “Insanity,” Mr. Malloy called the idea in an interview, saying it could undermine the municipal bond market. “It’s a political statement, and it’s a very dangerous one in my opinion.”

A Governor who understands policy, c'mon now! Governor Malloy, my current favorite Governor in America!

The "Pro-Life" Movement In Kansas

Untitled from The Rachel Maddow Show on Vimeo.

Opposition Confident Gaddafi Will Leave

Earthquake Hits Christchurch, New Zealand

A 6.3 level earthquake hit Christchurch, New Zealand. This comes on the heels of a very damaging 7.1 earthquake in September. The city, which is regularly hit by earthquakes due to sitting on two faults, was just recovering from that one. Four aftershocks have hit since the first one.

Destroy The Koch Brothers Dynasty- Boycott It.

Want to do real damage to the Koch brothers? You probably can't ever make them poor, they're worth over $20 billion, but there's a good way to get at them. Boycott their companies. Here's a list I found:

Koch Industry Gasoline:

Chevron
Union
Union 76
Conoco

Koch Industry/Georgia-Pacific Products:

Angel Soft toilet paper
Brawny paper towels
Dixie plates, bowls, napkins and cups
Mardi Gras napkins and towels
Quilted Northern toilet paper
Soft 'n Gentle toilet paper
Sparkle napkins
Vanity fair napkins
Zee napkins

Koch Industry/Invista Products:

COMFOREL® fiberfill
COOLMAX® fabric
CORDURA® fabric
DACRON® fiber
POLYSHIELD® resin
SOLARMAX® fabric
SOMERELLE® bedding products
STAINMASTER® carpet
SUPPLEX® fabric
TACTEL® fiber
TACTESSE® carpet fiber
TERATE® polyols
TERATHANE® polyether glycol
THERMOLITE® fabric
PHENREZ® resin
POLARGUARD® fiber and
LYCRA® fiber

Georgia Pacific Building products

Dense Armor Drywall and Decking
ToughArmor Gypsum board
Georgia pacific Plytanium Plywood
Flexrock
Densglass sheathing
G/P Industrial plasters (some products used by a lot of crafters)-
Agricultural Plaster
Arts & Crafts Plaster
Dental Plaster
General Purpose Plaster
Glass-reinforced Gypsum (GRG)
Industrial Tooling Plaster
Investment Casting Plaster
Medical Plaster
Metal Casting Plaster
Pottery Plaster

FibreStrong Rim board
G/P Lam board
Blue Ribbon OSB Rated Sheathing
Blue Ribbon Sub-floor
DryGuard Enhanced OSB
Nautilus Wall Sheathing
Thermostat OSB Radiant Barrier Sheathing
Broadspan Engineered Wood Products
XJ 85 I-Joists
FireDefender Banded Cores
FireDefender FS
FireDefender Mineral Core
Hardboard and Thin MDF including Auto Hardboard,
Perforated Hardboard and Thin MDF
Wood Fiberboard -
Commercial Roof Fiberboard
Hushboard Sound Deadening Board
Regular Fiberboard Sheathing
Structural Fiberboard Sheathing

Avoid these guys, even if it costs a few extra cents.

Walker's Plan Coming Apart

Governor Scott Walker must feel like a man alone. He's running out of time for his "budget bill" to actually have an impact on the budget, and not just be the union-busting bill it is. Basically after Friday, much of the "good" stuff in the bill doesn't work. Meanwhile, the biased Rasmussen polling, which overstated GOP positions by 4% on the average last year (in a good GOP year), claims Walker is doing well on this, but this is being shot down pretty well. It seems that most people aren't buying their poll, which doesn't match up with others out so far.

So while we wait for professional polling to come in, Walker's coalition is cracking. State Senator Dave Schultz is proposing to make the union-busting parts only temporary. Is the pressure getting to him, and others? Sure looks it. State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald is giving up his trump card unilaterally, electing to not try to pass the stripping of collective-bargaining rights as "stand-alone" legislation, which requires only a majority of members present at the time of the vote. Let me break this down for you. Fitzgerald needs only 17 members there to pass that part on it's own and end this stand-off, provided they all vote for the provision. He has 19 members present, in his majority. If he had 17 of the 19, he'd be able to do it. If he had 17, he'd probably just do it at this point. He's not. This signals he probably doesn't have 17 votes for the Governor's proposal. His brother has allowed for amendments in the House, bringing the bill back from the final passage stage (his brother is the Speaker). There are cold feet in the GOP.

Governor Walker may be feeling the heat. There is talk of a re-call once he hits a year. A poll of Wisconsin shows 51.9% disagree with his bill. His party doesn't seem to have the votes. He appears to be in the political wilderness.

What Scott Walker Doesn't Want You To Know....

Ezra Klein completely bloodies Scott Walker's argument in Wisconsin:

Of course, the fact that public-employee pensions didn't cause a meltdown at Lehman Brothers doesn't mean they're not stressing state budgets, and that the pensions they've been promised don't exceed what state budgets seem able to bear. But the buildup of global capital that overheated the American housing sector and got packaged into seemingly riskless financial products that then brought down Wall Street, paralyzing the economy, throwing millions out of work, and destroying the revenues from state income and sales taxes even as state residents needed more social services? The answer to that is not to end collective bargaining for (some) public employees. A plus B plus C does not equal what Gov. Scott Walker is attempting in Wisconsin.

In fact, it particularly doesn't work for what Walker is attempting in Wisconsin. The Badger State was actually in pretty good shape. It was supposed to end this budget cycle with about $120 million in the bank. Instead, it's facing a deficit. Why? I'll let the state's official fiscal scorekeeper explain (pdf):

More than half of the lower estimate ($117.2 million) is due to the impact of Special Session Senate Bill 2 (health savings accounts), Assembly Bill 3 (tax deductions/credits for relocated businesses), and Assembly Bill 7 (tax exclusion for new employees).

In English: The governor called a special session of the legislature and signed two business tax breaks and a conservative health-care policy experiment that lowers overall tax revenues (among other things). The new legislation was not offset, and it helped turn a surplus into a deficit [see update at end of post]. As Brian Beutler writes, "public workers are being asked to pick up the tab for this agenda."

But even that's not the full story here. Public employees aren't being asked to make a one-time payment into the state's coffers. Rather, Walker is proposing to sharply curtail their right to bargain collectively. A cyclical downturn that isn't their fault, plus an unexpected reversal in Wisconsin's budget picture that wasn't their doing, is being used to permanently end their ability to sit across the table from their employer and negotiate what their health insurance should look like.

That's how you keep a crisis from going to waste: You take a complicated problem that requires the apparent need for bold action and use it to achieve a longtime ideological objective. In this case, permanently weakening public-employee unions, a group much-loathed by Republicans in general and by the Republican legislators who have to battle them in elections in particular. And note that not all public-employee unions are covered by Walker's proposal: the more conservative public-safety unions -- notably police and firefighters, many of whom endorsed Walker -- are exempt.

If that doesn't convince you, I don't know what will. Let's be clear here, no one's saying it's out of bounds to ask unions to give something back in a deficit. The deficit isn't their doing, but they need to help fix the issue. Fine. That's not what Walker's after. He's after political victory, and that's it.

LeBron James: Lockout Could Be Coming

All sports fans have read about the NFL's impending lock-out. Well, apparently LeBron James was worried that the NBA's negotiations weren't going well, so he went to a session. He didn't come out any more pleased.

"It does. It does,'' the Miami Heat star said Saturday when asked if it concerns him that NBA owners haven't changed their proposal at all in one year since the one that was immediately rejected during last February's All-Star Weekend in Dallas.

Still, James is trying to stay as optimistic as he can even though NBA commissioner David Stern said there's a "huge gap'' between the players and owners. With the CBA expiring June 30 and many believing there then will be a lockout, James was among a number of NBA stars to take part in a Friday negotiating session in Beverly Hills, Calif., and was said to have been a very active participant.

"That doesn't mean a month or two months from now that we can't get something resolved,'' James said of the hard line that has been presented by the owners, which includes a significant reduction of salaries. "We definitely don't want to have something that's stale. But, at the same time, this is a huge summer. This is a huge moment for the NBA for our players and for our owners. So you just don't want to jump the gun on something this huge.''

Nobody expects either side to do that. In fact, James admitted his feeling was 50-50 when asked if there even will be an NBA season in 2011-12.

"With my gut feeling, I have, I'm kind of split in half,'' said James, speaking after practice in preparation for Sunday's All-Star Game at the Staples Center in which he will start at forward for the East. "One half says yes, one half says no. I couldn't imagine us going into the fall without work. But it happened in (1998-99), and I knew basketball enough to it was like, 'What's going on? Why are there no NBA games on?'''

Now, why post this here? Well, for one, we're talking labor a lot lately, and perhaps the next high-profile labor battle after the one playing out in Wisconsin, Ohio, Tennessee and others will be played out between the millionaire players and hundreds of millionaires/billionaires who own their teams. This battle won't matter for LeBron- he's made money and will make more, he's relatively young. It won't matter for Kobe, or any other star in the league, kind of like the NFL situation won't matter for Manning and Brady. Most professional athletes don't play five years, and many, many of them don't make multi-millions each year, a good portion not even making a million. For them, this is life-or-death, so it is always helpful when star players like James (of whom I'm no fan), involve themselves in negotiations, because they are the leverage the players' union has. The outcome of this may have no major impact on labor strength in the United States, but for now, who knows?

Re-Call On The Table In Wisconsin!

Yes! Repeal and Replace- the 2010 Election! Starting in Wisconsin.

In an interview with The Huffington Post on Saturday, freshmen Democratic Assembly Member Brett Hulsey said that until the legislation passes, they're trying to put as much grassroots pressure as possible on Republicans.

"What we're telling people is to call people you know in Republican districts," said Hulsey. "Tell them to call their senators and Republican members at home. When you see them at church and at the grocery store, tell them to kill the bill."

The second strategy will come only if Republicans decide to stick with Walker. According to Wisconsin law, voters can recall any elected official in the state, as long as they've been in office for at least a year. This process involves collecting signatures for a recall position and then holding an election with the incumbent against any other candidates who jump in. As ThinkProgress' Ian Millhiser has reported, there are eight Republicans who could currently be recalled.

Now, there are technical issues to face off too. The most important of them is that you have to be in office ONE year to be re-called in Wisconsin. No bother though. It'll take time to get the signatures, build the infrastructure, and prepare for a re-call. Eight Republicans in the legislature are eligible for re-call now, and should be re-called if they don't capitulate on their overreach.

In the meantime, KILL THE BILL! Re-Call Walker!

Robert Reich On The GOP Strategy.

Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich writes about the GOP's strategy to divide the public enough to get them to accept deep inequality, a lack of a safety net, and pro-corporate policies. In his words:

The strategy has three parts.

The battle over the federal budget.

The first is being played out in the budget battle in Washington. As they raise the alarm over deficit spending and simultaneously squeeze popular middle-class programs, Republicans want the majority of the American public to view it all as a giant zero-sum game among average Americans that some will have to lose.

The President has already fallen into the trap by calling for budget cuts in programs the poor and working class depend on - assistance with home heating, community services, college loans, and the like.

In the coming showdown over Medicare and Social Security, House budget chair Paul Ryan will push a voucher system for Medicare and a partly-privatized plan for Social Security - both designed to attract younger middle-class voters.

The assault on public employees

The second part of the Republican strategy is being played out on the state level where public employees are being blamed for state budget crises. Unions didn't cause these budget crises -- state revenues dropped because of the Great Recession -- but Republicans view them as opportunities to gut public employee unions, starting with teachers.

Wisconsin's Republican governor Scott Walker and his GOP legislature are seeking to end almost all union rights for teachers. Ohio's Republican governor John Kasich is pushing a similar plan in Ohio through a Republican-dominated legislature. New Jersey's Republican governor Chris Christie is attempting the same, telling a conservative conference Wednesday, "I'm attacking the leadership of the union because they're greedy, and they're selfish and they're self-interested."

As I've noted, this demonizing of public employees is premised on false data. Public employees don't earn more than private-sector workers when you take account of their education. To the contrary, over the last fifteen years the pay of public-sector workers, including teachers, has dropped relative to private-sector employees with the same level of education - even if you include health and retirement benefits. Moreover, most public employees don't have generous pensions. After a career with annual pay averaging less than $45,000, the typical newly-retired public employee receives a pension of $19,000 a year.

Bargaining rights for public employees haven't caused state deficits to explode. Some states that deny their employees bargaining rights, such as Nevada, North Carolina, and Arizona, are running big deficits of over 30 percent of spending. Many states that give employees bargaining rights -- Massachusetts, New Mexico, and Montana -- have small deficits of less than 10 percent.

Republicans would rather go after teachers and other public employees than have us look at the pay of Wall Street traders, private-equity managers, and heads of hedge funds - many of whom wouldn't have their jobs today were it not for the giant taxpayer-supported bailout.

Last year, America's top thirteen hedge-fund managers earned an average of $1 billion each. One of them took home $5 billion. Much of their income is taxed as capital gains - at 15 percent - due to a tax loophole that Republican members of Congress have steadfastly guarded.

If the earnings of those thirteen hedge-fund managers were taxed as ordinary income, the revenues generated would pay the salaries and benefits of over 5 million teachers. Who is more valuable to our society - thirteen hedge-fund managers or 5 million teachers? Let's make the question even simpler. Who is more valuable: One hedge fund manager or one teacher?

The Distortion of the Constitution

The third part of the Republican strategy is being played out in the Supreme Court. It has politicized the Court more than at any time in recent memory.

Last year a majority of the justices determined that corporations have a right under the First Amendment to provide unlimited amounts of money to political candidates. Citizens United vs. the Federal Election Commission is among the most patently political and legally grotesque decisions of our highest court - ranking right up there with Bush vs. Gore and Dred Scott.

Among those who voted in the affirmative were Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia. Both have become active strategists in the Republican party.

A month ago, for example, Antonin Scalia met in a closed-door session with Michele Bachman's Tea Party caucus - something no justice concerned about maintaining the appearance of impartiality would ever have done.

Both Thomas and Scalia have participated in political retreats organized and hosted by multi-billionaire financier Charles Koch, a major contributor to the Tea Party and other conservative organizations, and a crusader for ending all limits on money in politics. (Not incidentally, Thomas's wife is the founder of Liberty Central, a Tea Party organization that has been receiving unlimited corporate contributions due to the Citizens United decision. On his obligatory financial disclosure filings, Thomas has repeatedly failed to list her sources of income over the last twenty years, nor even to include his own four-day retreats courtesy of Charles Koch.)

Some time this year or next, the Supreme Court will be asked to consider whether the nation's new healthcare law is constitutional. Watch your wallets.

Well said.