P!nk - Glitter In The Air (GRAMMYs on CBS)

More of a Turd than a Nerd, Really

Look, I’m all for “reinventing Michigan” and getting back on track and adding fairness to our tax structure and increased efficiency to government.  If you ask who wants Michigan to be the best state in the nation in which to live, work and raise a family, my hand shoots up.  But it’s not gonna happen under our new governor, Rick Snyder.  Turns out he’s just another Republican politician, robbin’ from the hood to give to those in gated communities.

Michigan is facing a $1.58 billion budget deficit in 2011.  So what do we do?  Cut taxes on businesses to the tune of $1.8 billion and force state employees, seniors, schools and local governments to take a bigger hit.

Snyder wants to scrap the Michigan Business Tax and replace it with a 6 percent corporate income tax that would only apply to corporations with shareholders.  He intends to make an estimated 95,000 businesses exempt from filing a state business tax return.

But wait, there’s more.  Team Snyder wants to tax pensions, eliminate the Earned Income Tax Credit (which helps working low-income people afford to stay in the workforce rather than seek public assistance), and cut tax credits for film production in Michigan.  (Opponents say the tax credit program, introduced in 2008, has created thousands of jobs and helped support businesses ranging from hotels and restaurants to carpenters and electricians.)  And the “Tough Nerd,” as he called himself during the campaign, plans to cut tax credits for expansion or relocation, research and development, advanced battery ventures, brownfield redevelopment and historic preservation.   Um, excuse me but making Michigan the worst state in the nation in which to live, work and raise a family isn’t exactly the reinvention I had in mind.

“Shared sacrifice” is a term being used a lot by Snyder and his ilk these days.  But to me, it means everybody sacrifices – not state employees, seniors and retirees, low income folks, students and everyone except Snyder Administration officials and the business community.  (Sorry, Rick, but when you’re a multimillionaire venture capitalist and former head of Gateway computers, taking a one-dollar salary isn’t sacrificing anything.)  Does it send the right message when one of your first decisions is to pay your new state budget director – a guy named Nixon from Utah – a quarter of a million a year?

I’m sorry, but I just don’t like the guy.  I don’t like his skewed sense of “fairness” and his seeming disdain for anyone who isn’t like him.  I don’t like listening to his high-pitched, nasally, dweeb-y voice.  He insulted my intelligence during the campaign by refusing to reveal his intentions or offer substantive plans or opinions on any issue.   I can’t remember the last time a political candidate spewed so many clichés and platitudes and said so little to get elected.  Now the “Tough Nerd” is making things tough indeed.   Way to go, electorate.   

               

Sources:  Ann Arbor News, Detroit News, Detroit Free Press, Mlive.com, WILX.com

Michael Franti & Spearhead - The Sound Of Sunshine

I know! Let's shoot the messenger!

So I ran across a list of reasons why Republicans are greedy, selfish, evil sons of bitches who shouldn't be trusted with the keys to the rusty, broken-down old van in the backyard, let alone a portion of the federal government dealing with lawmaking.  I started to refer to a few of the items on the list and the person with whom I was talking interrupted with, "Where did you get your info?"  When I told him I got it off the internet, he said, "Yeah, but from where?"  When I told him the list was originally compiled by Moveon.org, he threw his hands up and loudly declared, "I knew it!  Frikkin' commie bastards want to turn this country into frikkin' China, man" and he walked away without so much as a "See you later, alligator."  I watched him walk away with a mixture of sadness and irritation.  They won't even listen.  They won't even consider information.

 

It used to be that people would debate public policy ideas and political positions.  You would talk, and then I would rebut, and then you would rebut my rebuttal.  There would be logic involved, and courtesy, and patience and intellect and civility.  Not anymore.  People on both sides of an issue have adopted the 'Stick-My-Fingers-In-My-Ears-and-Loudly-Sing-La-La-La' approach to public discourse.  Loud is good.  Downright combative is even better.  And preventing the other side from even having a chance to express themselves is best.  There is no exchange, no give and take.  There's only intimidate and invalidate and infuriate and refudiate.

 

I'm not talking about the Karl Roves and the Mitch McConnells and the John Boehners and Darth Cheney and Joe the Plumber and the Wench from Wasilla.  I think they're all part of the problem and to one degree or another are consciously, intentionally screwing the country for their own short-sighted gain.   But when the average person, your friend or co-worker or neighbor or babysitter or the guy who fixes your car or the woman who copies your insurance card at the doctor's office can't or won't even talk with you about issues that matter, that's when we're in real trouble.  Because if we can't join together and come to some sort of agreement about the challenges facing our country, then we can't fight those who take advantage of ignorance and division and animosity to conduct their evil business.  Then they win, and we don't even know it.

 

I do it myself.  I've become so cynical and intolerant that I find it difficult if not impossible to even consider that someone who voted for Dubya might have had a good reason for doing so.  I find it incredulous that anyone who can read would want to identify with the GOP.  As soon as someone expresses support for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, I stick my fingers in my ears and start singing loudly.  But I need to stop.  We all do.  We need to stop with the labels and the "my way or the highway" style of communicating.  We need to stop debating the divisive, Tier Two distraction issues like "Don't Burn the Koran" and "The Mosque isn't Really at Ground Zero" and "Dudes Marrying Dudes is Rude" and force politicians to work on fixing the economy and creating jobs and improving education and maintaining our national infrastructure and developing a good energy policy and supporting the troops by bringing them home.  We need to believe that we're all in this together.  It's Us vs. Them, not Me vs. You.   

 

Here's the list put together by those commie pinko scumbags, by the way:

 

Top 10 Worst Things about the Republicans' Immoral Budget

The Republican budget would:

1. Destroy 700,000 jobs, according to an independent economic analysis.

2. Zero out federal funding for National Public Radio and public television.

3. Cut $1.3 billion from community health centers--which will deprive more than three million low-income people of health care over the next few months.

4. Cut nearly a billion dollars in food and health care assistance to pregnant women, new moms, and children.

5. Kick more than 200,000 children out of pre-school by cutting funds for Head Start.

6. Force states to fire 65,000 teachers and aides, dramatically increasing class sizes, thanks to education cuts.

7. Cut some or all financial aid for 9.4 million low- and middle-income college students.

8. Slash $1.6 billion from the National Institutes of Health, a cut that experts say would "send shockwaves" through cancer research, likely result in cuts to Alzheimer's and Parkinson's research, and cause job losses.

9. End the only federal family planning program, including cutting all federal funding that goes to Planned Parenthood to support cancer screenings and other women's health care.

10. Send 10,000 low-income veterans into homelessness by cutting in half the number of veterans who get housing vouchers this year.

Sources:

1. "GOP spending plan would cost 700,000 jobs, new report says," The Washington Post, February 28, 2011
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/28/AR2011022802634.html

2. "GOP budget would cut funding for public broadcasting," The Washington Independent, February 14, 2011
http://washingtonindependent.com/105534/gop-budget-would-cut-funding-for-public-broadcasting

3. "NACHC Statement in Response to the Budget from the House Appropriations Committee," National Association of Community Health Centers website, accessed March 4, 2011
http://www.nachc.org/pressrelease-detail.cfm?PressReleaseID=644

4."Bye Bye, Big Bird. Hello, E. Coli.," The New Republic, February 12, 2011
http://www.tnr.com/blog/83387/house-republican-spending-cuts-pell-education-usda-pbs

House Republican Spending Cuts Target Programs For Children And Pregnant Women
http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2011/02/09/gop-war-on-babies/

5. "Obama and the GOP's Spending Cuts: Where's the Outrage?" Mother Jones, February 18, 2011
http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/02/obama-spending-cuts-gop

6. Ibid.

7. "Deficit Reduction on the Backs of the Most Vulnerable," Center for American Progress, March 2011
http://www.americanprogressaction.org/issues/2011/03/pdf/hit_budget_cuts.pdf (PDF)

8. "The GOP Budget and Cancer--Why New Research Is at Risk," Politics Daily, February 27, 2011
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2011/02/27/the-gop-budget-and-cancer-why-new-research-is-at-risk/

"Republican Budget Cuts at Heart of Medical Research: Albert Hunt," Bloomberg, February 20, 2011
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-20/republican-science-cuts-imperil-u-s-prominence-commentary-by-albert-hunt.html

"Durbin: Cuts to NIH put research jobs at risk," Business Week, February 28, 2011
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9LLSCB00.htm

9. "GOP Spending Plan: X-ing Out Title X Family Planning Funds," Wall Street Journal, February 9, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=206105

10. "House GOP Spending Cuts Would Prevent 10,000 Low-Income Veterans From Receiving Housing Assistance," Think Progress, March 1, 2011
http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2011/03/01/homeless-vets-gop/

Esperanza Spalding Performs "Little Fly"

Better than Facebook?

I've thought about blogging for a while.  I enjoy posting my political opinions, thoughts, reactions to my kids, etc. and sharing informational and provocative articles and music videos on my Facebook page.  Since I'm never sure what Mark Zuckerberg has up his billion dollar sleeves and always wonder if any of my Facebook "friends" actually read my clever status updates, I've considered doing away with the Middle Man and going out into the cold, dark, immense World Wide Web alone for some time now.  Today's the day.  Don't hurt me, unseen monsters and treacherous landscapes..... 

I intend to write about my family - my wife, Anita, and my five above-average kids: Amelia (20), Nikita (11), Bryant (9), Maya (8) and Devina (6) - as well as politics and politicians, public policy, current events, cultural and entertainment topics, music and literature.  (Although I like poetry, I don't feel qualified to wax too poetic.)  I'm not opposed to posting the views and musings of others but I reserve the right to edit submissions and nobody's gettin' paid.

Speaking of clever status updates, here's today's:

Patrick Diehl heard the Wench from Wasilla is ticked off at Kathy Griffin for telling jokes about her spawn. Yeah, that publicity-hungry family ought to be off-limits, for Pete's sake. I mean, you run for vice president, your no-talent daughter competes on Dancing with the Stars, you write more books than you've read, and you ought to be left alone, dammit.

Since Anita gave me my birthday presents early this year (I was born on the Ides of March almost 49 years ago), I don't expect any gifts except your loyal readership and reasoned responses.  So please and thank you in advance.