Holiday Reading

The Shrinking Middle Class
Good Dogs
The Rise And Fall Of Scott Walker
The Corruption Of The Republican Party
You're Worth $1 Trillion. Why Do You Need Our $3 Billion?
GE Powered The American Century - Then It Burned Out
How The IRS Was Gutted
Sins Of The Fathers
Progressive Labor Standards
Kimberly-Clark To Receive $28 Million In Taxpayer Funds From Scott Walker
Foxconn & The Village: The $10 Billion Factory Deal That Turned One Small Wisconsin Town Upside Down
New Election Data Highlights The Ongoing Impact Of 2011 GOP Redistricting In Wisconsin

You Lost, You Lost, You Lost!!!

Best Metal Albums 2018

Jesus Piece - Only Self
Behemoth - I Loved You At Your Darkest
Archgoat - The Luciferian Crown
Necrophobic - Mark Of The Necrogram
Harakiri For The Sky - Arson
High On Fire - Electric Messiah
Sleep - The Sciences
Tribulation - Down Below
Ministry - AmericaKKKant
Pig Destroyer - Head Cage
Horrendous - Idol
Windhand - Eternal Return
Rivers Of Nihil - Where Owls Know My Name
Panopticon - The Scars Of Man On The Once Nameless Wilderness
Amorphis - Queen Of Time
The Ocean - Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic
Zeal & Ardor - Stranger Fruit
Primordial - Exile Amongst The Ruins
Between The Buried And Me - Automata I, Automata II
Skeletonwitch - Devouring Radiant Light
Nekrogoblikon - Welcome To Bonkers
Rebel Wizard - Voluptuous Worship Of Rapture And Response
Tomb Mold - Manner Of Infinite Forms
Jungle Rot - Jungle Rot
Anaal Nathrakh - A New Kind Of Horror
Gorod - Aethra
Ghost - Prequelle

Weekend Reading

Is Trump Country Really Better Off Under Trump? No. It's Falling Further Behind
The Scandinavian Style Of Capitalism
What Do We Actually Know About The Economy? (Wonkish)
How The Koch Brothers Are Killing Public Transit Projects Around The Country
A Stats-Based Look Behind The Venture Capital Curtain
Working Class People Are Underrepresented In Politics. The Problem isn't Voters.
P/E Ratios Are Misleading...Especially Right Now
America's Monopoly Problem In One Chart
America Has A Monopoly Problem - And It's Huge

Ari Melber Destroys Paul Ryan's Pathetic 'Legacy'

Hypocrisy, Cronyism, Scott Walker, Police & Firefighters, And Budget Gimmicks

Jeramey Jannene in a recent article, 10 Curious Details In City's 2019 Budget, made an interesting point, one that I've made here often, regarding Wisconsin Republicans' cronyism and hypocrisy.

The Failure of Act 10 

Outgoing Governor Scott Walker‘s defining policy achievement will likely be the implementation of Act 10. The act, which decimated public unions and reduced take-home pay for most government employees, had one carveout that is still hammering the city. The act exempted “public safety” employees including police officers and firefighters, whose unions had endorsed Walker’s gubernatorial run. 

The police and fire departments are two of the biggest aspects of Milwaukee’s budget. The police department’s $295 million budget is larger than the city’s $281 million levy. The fire department has a $111 million budget in 2019. The city, which contributed $83 million to pensions last year, saw 77 percent of the annual cost of pension benefits accrue to retired police officers and firefighters. 

If Walker was really interested in saving cities money, instead of decimating his political foes, he wouldn’t have exempted public safety employees.

Midweek Reading: Wisconsin Republicans Are Horrible, Lying, Cheating Douchebags Edition

Republicans To Hold Lame-Duck Session To Limit Tony Evers And Advance GOP Priorities
Eric Holder Says Wisconsin Republicans Risk Lawsuit Over Lame-Duck Plan
Scott Walker Decried Lame-Duck Session And Permanent Political Appointments In 2010
Wisconsin Republicans Are Bending Over Backward To Make Sure The Midterm Election Doesn't Count
Republicans Worked All Night To Limit Power Of Democratic Governor Elect Tony Evers
Lame-Duck Power Grabs Aren't New, But Republicans In Wisconsin And Michigan Are 'More Aggressive'
Wisconsin Gerrymandering Was Awesome
In Stunning Power Grab, Wisconsin Republicans Pass Bill Weakening Governor
Are Lame-Duck Sessions Undemocratic
'Democracy Dies...In The Early Morning Light' As Wisconsin GOP Rams Through 'Lame Duck Legislative Coup'
Wisconsin GOP Scheme To Keep Scott Walker As Zombie Governor
After Raucous Hearing, Bills To Restrict Early Voting, Curtail Evers' Powers Move To Full Legislature
Wisconsin Lawmakers Reject Bill To Protect Pre-Existing Conditions, Scale Back Democrats' Power

For Further Reading:
Paul Ryan Departing Washington In A Blaze Of Fraudulence
Let's Pour One Out For Paul Ryan, The Biggest. Fake. Ever.
Republican Gerrymandering Has Basically Destroyed Representative Democracy In Wisconsin

Midweek Reading: Foxconn Edition

Putting The Con In Foxconn Wisconsin

Wisconsin's $4.1 Billion Boondoggle

Foxconn In Wisconsin Vs. Amazon In New York And Virginia: How Do The Subsidies Stack Up?

Foxconn Covets Intellectual Property Rights

Wisconsin Reading

What A New Governor Means For Wisconsin's Controversial Foxconn Factory
As Soon As Scott Walker Lost, His Pet Legislators Started Stripping The Governor's Powers
GOP Assembly Speaker Robin Vos Threatens To Take Power Away From Tony Evers Before January
Will Republicans Steal Power From New Democratic Governors?
The States That Elected Trump Have Turned Against Him
How Labor Helped Bring Down Scott Walker And Bruce Rauner
Racism And The Wisconsin Idea
Court Strips Workers Of $10 Million Award
Did Scott Walker & Donald Trump Deal Away The Wisconsin Governor's Race To Foxconn?

Weekend Reading

Federal Judge Blasts Fish & Wildlife Service, Says Endangered Wolves Cannot Be Shot
Trump Suffered The Worst Midterm Loss In A Century, Says JP Morgan
Thousand Oaks Makes 307 Mass Shootings In 311 Days
Trump's Appointment Of The Acting Attorney General Is Unconstitutional
Blame Fox, Not Facebook, For Fake News
America's Problem Isn't Tribalism - It's Racism
Republicans Lost The Suburbs
Why Democrats' Gain Was More Impressive Than It Appears
In Superstar Cities, The Rich Get Richer, And They Get Amazon
When Economists Took Socialism Seriously
The Wall Street Math Hustle
Laws And Disorder
Working-Class People Are Underrepresented In Politics. The Problem Isn't Voters.

Republicans Are Shameless, Petulant Obstructionists

Just a few examples of the post-election hypocritical, whiny and brazen cowardice of Republicans:

After Judge Glenn Devlin of Houston lost his reelection bid, he released nearly all of the juvenile defendants who appeared before him, as long as they answered no when he asked if they planned to kill anyone. Devlin, one of the 59 Republican jurists in Harris County who was replaced by Democrats, allegedly said: “This is obviously what the voters wanted.” 

You know, because Democrats are thugs and they want (allegedly) dangerous criminals roaming the streets. It has nothing to do with the fact that people are actually waking up to the fact that the Republicans only care about their corporate paymasters.  

Ted Nugent isn’t happy about the way the midterm elections turned out in his home state of Michigan. The 69-year-old rocker known for his conservative views shared his frustration on Facebook Wednesday. “Real God country family Michiganiacs are heartbroke that more of us want the once great state of Michigan to turn into a California s***hole,” he wrote. “Downright insane cultural suicide. Thanks for nothing a**holes.”

Yes, California, what a shithole. The 5th largest economy in the world with year-round desirable weather. It's the most populous state in the country for a reason. What's that reason? Because it's a shithole, says Ted Nugent. 

Less than 24 hours after Tony Evers was elected governor, the Republican leader of the state Assembly threatened to take power away from him even before he is sworn in. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) said Wednesday he would discuss whether to look at limiting Evers' power with Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau). Fitzgerald is open to the idea, according to an aide. "If there are areas where we could look and say, 'Geez — have we made mistakes where we granted too much power to the executive,' I'd be open to taking a look to say what can we do to change that to try to re-balance it," Vos told reporters. "Maybe we made some mistakes giving too much power to Gov. (Scott) Walker and I'd be open to looking at that to see if there are areas we should change that, but it's far too early to do that before I talk to Scott Fitzgerald."

And this encapsulates exactly what the Republicans are all about. The want power to do whatever they want whenever they want. And what they wanted yesterday might not be what they want today. Those are quite some (malleable) principles. When a Republican is in power he/she should be a dictator. When Democrats are in power ... even then Republicans feel they should still call the shots. That's just their good old obstructionist nature. The only things that can get done are the things Republicans want done, or the things their corporate paymasters are telling them to get done.

The Republican party is a worldwide embarrassment. Any so-called conservative still siding with the current Republican party is a useful idiot at best.

For Further Reading:
'Most Dysfunctional Thing I've Ever Seen in My Life': Kansas GOP Blames Kobach's Incompetence For His Stunning Loss

Florida's Rick Scott Freaked Out and Accused Liberals of Trying to Steal His Election — And Now Trump Has Joined In

File Under Conflict of Interest:

Brian Kemp finally steps down from administering the election he ran in

Good Riddance, Scott Walker

It was a good night for Democrats. Not a great night, but a good one.

Sad so many in Wisconsin (and around the country) are still voting Republican after all we know and at this point in time. Those of you clinging to your sexism, racism, parochialism, or whatever other pet cause makes you still vote Republican, you truly are the worst of us.

For those of you (that normally vote Republican) that put country before party to help elect Democrats, kudos to you. Well done.

Remember, though, this is just the start. Keep talking, keep campaigning, keep pushing Democratic policies. We need to carry this momentum into the 2020 election.

Even though this was a record-breaking turnout for Wisconsin, it was still only 60 percent of the voting-age population. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Based on state population estimates from earlier this year, turnout was equal to almost 60 percent of the voting-age population, though that number is likely to change when the official count is complete."

It's just ridiculous to think that 40 percent of the voting-age population is just sitting on the sidelines. If Democrats could get these people to the polls, Republicans would never win another election.

Good riddance, Scott Walker. Now you can lick the boots of your paymasters full-time. Burn in hell, you selfish and corrupt tool.

Wisconsin Reading

The Incoherence Of Scott Walker
Milwaukee County On A Crash Course
Scott Walker's Economic Record In Wisconsin: Nothing To Brag About
New Development Plans For Streetcar
Who Pays In Wisconsin? Not The Rich, Unlike Minnesota
For Some Wisconsin Voters, Road Quality Is A Major Concern
State Jobs Agency Still A Failure
Schimel Suit Cost Workers $23 Million
Rewarding Corporations That Cut Jobs
WEDC, Foxconn And The Need For The Return Of Good Government In Wisconsin
New Memo On "Big Giveaway" To Rich Makes Evers Plans Look Even Better

Midweek Reading

Nobel Committee Honors The Economics Of Failure
Democrats Pounce On Mitch McConnell For Blaming Debt On Social Security, Medicare
Another Big Democratic Loss. And Yet More Complaints About A 'Rigged' System
The Republican Tax Cut Is A Big, Fat Failure
Are The Danes Melancholy? Are The Swedes Sad?
Major League Baseball Teams Lost $93 Million This Season Because No One Is Going To Games
Trump's New Opportunity Zones Look Great For Investors
Old People Are Worse Than Young People At Telling Fact From Opinion

Halloween

401Ks - Don't Believe The Hype

Scott Walker Is A Creep

Scott Walker says Wisconsin needs a break from 'massive new interchanges in Milwaukee'

Isn't it odd how Wisconsin has $5 billion for Foxconn, but we can't find any money to fix our roads?  We have millions for sport stadiums, but there's not money available for our transportation needs. We have corporate welfare for any business that comes along with their hand out. But when basic infrastructure needs to be upgraded or repaired, Scott Walker can't find the money or the project just isn't a priority for him. 

The Republican party has been the party of road building (over other forms of transportation) for decades. They have to learn there are ongoing expenses with any investment - roads are no different. To love the ribbon-cutting for new roads (or any project, for that matter), but to then skip town when repairs are needed is irresponsible and a dereliction of duty. Also, Republicans shouldn't continue to support sprawl and the roads needed to get there, if they don't want to pay to keep those roads in working condition.

Scott Walker isn't a leader. He's a crony. A crony who continually funnels public dollars to his contributors, whilst short-changing the state and the needs of the citizens. His contradictory opinion of the Affordable Care Act, preexisting conditions and his involvement in the lawsuit regarding such perfectly illustrates this. Cost of Wisconsin's stance on the Affordable Care Act: $1.1 billion through this fiscal year.

Aside: Funny how an article supposedly about Scott Walker not wanting to fix Wisconsin roads turns into a hit piece on Tony Evers wanting immigrants to have drivers licenses.

A Minority Faction Is Ruining The Country

Christopher Columbus Was A Murderous Moron

What Will The Female Republican Senators Say To Their Daughters And Granddaughters?

Remember the female senators who betrayed every wife, grandmother, mother, sister and daughter for the sake of Donald Trump and the Republicans' endless pursuit of power over everything honorable and decent when they are up for reelection.

Joni Ernst - Iowa
Susan Collins - Maine
Cindy Hyde-Smith - Mississippi
Deb Fischer - Nebraska
Shelley Moore Capito - West Virginia

Power is all they care about. Again, as all Republicans seem to do, choosing party over country. Or, in this case, party over sexism, sexual assault, women's rights and general human decency.

[Aside: Obviously the male Republican senators are also douchebags. Probably, in general, even bigger douchebags than the female Republican senators. But when it's your own gender and you fold under to benefit Donald Trump (pussy grabber in chief), there's no excuse.]

Susan Collins: Just Another Republican Partisan Hack

Susan Collins's Kavanaugh speech diagnoses America's deepening division

The Maine Republican said that while she found the woman who accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault at a high school party in 1982, Christine Blasey Ford, to be “sincere” and “compelling,” she did not feel Ford’s testimony rose above the threshold of being “more likely than not.”

So, Susan Collins decided that Dr. Christine Blasey Ford was just making things up. She concluded that it was more likely that Dr. Ford was mistaken, confused or just fabricating her story.

History, and hopefully voters, will remember Susan Collins's betrayal of her duties as a senator and as a human. Although, one has to question what kind of human Susan Collins is. After hearing Ford's testimony and all the corroborating accounts from others who know Kavanaugh, to claim the testimony did not rise above the threshold of being “more likely than not” is completely unfathomable.

Shame on you, Susan Collins. You're a disgrace.

[Aside: All Republicans who voted to confirm Kavanaugh are a disgrace to truth and human decency.]

For Further Reading:
Brett Kavanaugh Is Proof Republicans Will Never Hold The Elite Accountable

Power Begets Power

Weekend Reading

Voter Impersonations Very Rare, Studies Show
Property Taxes Increase Under Walker
Support For Kavanaugh Pattern Of Ron Johnson's Horrendous Record On Issues Of Sexual Assault, Sexual Harassment
Rewarding Corporations That Cut Jobs
How Liberals Could Declare War On Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court
Donald Trump And The Self-Made Sham
This Is How The Rich Steal From America
Milwaukee County Leaders Say They Will Seek A Fair Share Of State Tax Revenues
Lindsey Graham's Old Comments About Merrick Garland Come Back To Haunt Him
Wisconsin DOT Knowingly Paid Twice On Stretch Of Roadwork For Zoo Interchange
A Stats-Based Look Behind The Venture Capital Curtain

Republicans: The Party of Traitors & Turds

With the sham that has been the latest Supreme Court Justice appointment, it's amazing that the Democrats can even look their Republican counterparts in the eyes.

The Republicans are the most hypocritical, vile, shameless, treasonous, power-hungry and corrupt bunch of douchebags America has ever seen. They don't care about justice, workers' rights, education, health care or any of the other day-to-day concerns of the majority of Americans.

How are these liars and idiots considered sensible or honorable public servants?

Don't forget to vote November 6.





For Further Reading:
Republicans blocked Garland, now show their hypocrisy

Republicans Are Huge Hypocrites About Merrick Garland

Prepare for a festival of GOP hypocrisy

What Happened With Merrick Garland In 2016 And Why It Matters Now

Republicans are fine confirming a Supreme Court justice in a midterm year because “it’s different”

Republicans’ extreme hypocrisy on Supreme Court nominees

Trump Engaged In ‘Outright Fraud’

Trump Engaged In ‘Outright Fraud’ To Help Family Save Hundreds Of Millions In Taxes

Truthiness

Megyn Kelly Attacks Julie Swetnick, Says ‘Not All Women Tell the Truth’

Women Not Telling The Truth - Exhibit A: Megyn Kelly

Weekend Reading: Republicans Are Horrible People Edition

The GOP Wants Us To Think Being Accused Is As Bad As Being Assaulted

GOP Congressman Shares Vile Meme About Christine Blasey Ford

Seth Meyers Takes The GOP To School On Christine Blasey Ford’s Testimony

Christine Blasey Ford Didn’t Have The Luxury Of Being Angry
Kavanaugh Turns Rage On Left-Wing Conspiracy That Destroyed "My Family And My Name"

‘Special Place In Hell’: Twitter Users Shred Lindsey Graham After Kavanaugh Rant
The Republicans Abandoned Their Obligations to the Constitution and to the American People

Weekend Reading

How Walker Cost Taxpayers $2.6 Billion
Botching The Great Recession
The Bubble And The Great Recession: The Need For Denial
The Future Of Our Public Postal Service
We're Measuring The Economy All Wrong
The Bailouts For The Rich Are Why America Is So Screwed Right Now
Putting The Con In Foxconn Wisconsin
The Science Is Clear: Dirty Farm Water Is Making Us Sick

Reality: A Bitter Pill For Republicans To Swallow

Esteemed and world-renowned commentator Tomi Lahren rightly blasted Michelle Obama for claiming her husband, Barack Obama, was a great president.

Kidding.

Tomi Lahren is a right-wing mouthpiece with the depth of a Dixie cup.

Barack Obama, indeed, was a great president and Michelle Obama a great first lady.

Here's Tomi's tweet:

Here's Kathy Griffin's response to Tomi:

Let's take a look back at some of what was accomplished during the Obama administration. You know, as Democrats like to focus on, the facts.

Barack Obama is officially one of the most consequential presidents in American history

He signed into law a comprehensive national health insurance bill, a goal that had eluded progressive presidents for a century — and built it strong enough to withstand assaults from the Supreme Court and avoid repeal from a Republican administration. He got surprisingly tough reforms to Wall Street passed as well, not to mention a stimulus package that both blunted the recession and transformed education and energy policy. 

He's put in place the toughest climate rules in American history and signed a major international climate accord. He opened the US to Cuba for the first time in more than half a century, and reached a peaceful settlement to the nuclear standoff with Iran.

Barack's Increasing Stock

Labor Market Progress and the Employment Situation

Obama’s Top 50 Accomplishments, Revisited

The Republicans will, no doubt, continue their cognitive dissonance, but that doesn't change reality. Barack Obama's record is exemplary. He accomplished much for this country and did so with great dignity and statesmanship. 

Republicans' continual denial of reality and the accomplishments of the Obama administration are the last gasps of the Republican cabal of racists, nazis, bigots, hypocrites, sexists and frauds. The Republicans have done nothing for this country. They've done only for themselves and their donors. They are partisan cranks and abject failures as public servants. Their moans and cries denying this do not change that fact.

Walker Looking To Buy Your Vote

Scott Walker offers 50 percent increase to counties to fix their roads

When your policies are horrible, when all you've done is cut taxes for and give handouts to the rich, and your administration has been a complete failure, you've got no choice but to try to buy-off voters.

Suddenly Scott Walker wants to make investments in Wisconsin infrastructure. Now he wants to fix the roads, an idea which he has previously delayed or abandoned. Yes, now he's promising the world to all the Wisconsinites he's screwed over during his time in office. He's now promising to fix all of the things that he has screwed up.

Wisconsin, do the right thing in November. Get rid of Scott Walker.  

Weekend Reading

Trump Proposes $100 Billion Gift To Richest 1%
Giving Government Workers The Shaft
We Are All Accumulating Mountains Of Things
Unions In The 21st Century: A Potent Weapon Against Inequality
Taxpayers Are Footing The Bill For Sky-High CEO Salaries
Withheld Emails Show Brett Kavanaugh May Have Perjured Himself
Where Labor Unions Aren't Going Away
Where Will The Next Crisis Come From?
The Housing Bubble And Financial Crisis Was Easy To See Coming
Bernanke, Geithner and Paulson Still Don't Have A Clue About The Housing Bubble
The Dangerous Myth We Still Believe About The Lehman Brothers Bust
Misunderstanding Credit And Housing Crises: Blaming The CRA, GSEs
He Was The Resistance Inside The Obama Administration
Many Lawmakers And Aides Who Crafted Financial Regulations After The 2008 Crisis Now Work For Wall Street
An Alternative View Of Boom And Bust Cycles
What Does The Current Slope Of The Yield Curve Tell Us?

The "Free" Market Illusion

U.S. farmers to receive $4.7 billion to offset trade-war losses

As Foxconn breaks ground on Wisconsin plant, incentives hit $4 billion

Proposed Kimberly-Clark subsidies among largest in nation for each job retained

$500 million Green Bay Packaging project receives WEDC support

U.S. dairy subsidies equal 73 percent of producer returns, says new report

Friendly policies keep US oil and coal afloat far more than we thought

The U.S. spends $4 billion a year subsidizing ‘Stalinist-style’ domestic sugar production

US Cotton Subsidies Insulate Producers from Economic Loss

The Oil Industry Needs Taxpayers To Prop Up Nearly Half Of Its New U.S. Drilling

Scott Walker Is A Creep

Scott Walker Boasts About the Sun Coming Up in the Washington Post

Politicians like to take credit for things they have little to do with it. Serious newspapers point this fact out when it happens. 

The Washington Post fell down on the job in a piece that quoted Wisconsin governor Scott Walker saying, "There are more people in the workforce in Wisconsin than ever before in the history of the state." 

This is an pretty empty claim since it will be true most of the time (except recessions) for most states. Since populations generally grow, unless there is a downturn, in most months the state will have more people in the workforce than ever before. 

A more serious analysis would look at the percentage of the population in the workforce. This is not at an all-time high. In June, 54.6 percent of Wisconsin's population was in the workforce. This compared to more than 55.0 percent in 2000. 

It is possible that this drop is explained by demographic changes (more older people and children today), but the percentage of people in the workforce would be the real question, not the number. The Post should have pointed this out to its readers so they would not be deceived by Walker's nonsense boast.

US-Iran Relations

Weekend Reading: Kimberly Clark Corporate Welfare Edition

Tax Incentives For Kimberly Clark Could Hit Roadblock In Senate Heading Into Election
Tax Incentive Package For Kimberly Clark Faces Challenges In State Senate
Kimberly Clark Ready To Consider Incentive Package From State
More Questions, A Few Answers, As Uncertainty Swirls Around Kimberly Clark's Wisconsin Mills
Kimberly Clark Says It's Open To Talks On State Incentives Package

Weekend Reading: The Myth Of Voter Fraud Edition

Mass Voter Fraud Is A Myth - And Kris Kobach Just Got Sanctioned Trying To Defend It
The Misleading Myth Of Voter Fraud In American Elections
Purges: A Growing Threat To The Right To Vote
Resources On Voter Fraud Claims
Debunking The Voter Fraud Myth
The Voter Fraud Myth Is Just Embarrassing At This Point
The Bogus Voter Fraud Commission Is Dead, But The Myths Aren't
A Trump Nominee's Illegal Vote Exposes The Voter Fraud Charade

Weekend Reading

State Shared Revenue: Not So Much Going On
The Story of Stagnant Wage Growth
An Unlikely Group Of Billionaires And Politicians Has Created The Most Unbelievable Tax Break Ever
So Many Seats, So Many Tax Breaks
This Is Why Lawmakers Want To Gut The Endangered Species Act
White Americans Support Welfare Programs - But Only For Themselves, Says New Research
Koch-backed Study Finds Medicare For All Would Save U.S. Trillions
Much Of The U.S. Electric Grid Could Go The Way Of The Landline Phone
Most Wealthy Countries Aren't Religious. Then There's The U.S.
Billionaires Gone Wild
How Government Helps The Economy
Rulers Of The World: Read Karl Marx
A Radical Defense Of The Right To Strike
Stock Buybacks, Explained
The Trump Administration's Giant Fuck You To Working People
Chris Abele Suspending Values Tour

Supply-side Jesus

Sean Hannity Is A Creep

Unemployment

The U-6 rate is the unemployment rate that includes discouraged workers who have quit looking for a job and part-time workers who are seeking full-time employment.

[source]

For Further Reading:

Total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers plus total employed part time for economic reasons

Alternative measures of labor underutilization

You're A Terrible Judge Of Character

There's Gold In Them Thar Hills

Inequality In Milwaukee

2015 Milwaukee Summit - Marc Levine from L&S @ UWM on Vimeo.

The United States Of You Don't Wanna Know

Crony Capitalism

Scott Walker and Republicans keep cheerleading their Foxconn con.  Chris Kapenga (WI - State Senator) was just on Up Front With Mike Gousha talking up what a great investment Foxconn is for Wisconsin. 

The "deal" is $4.8 billions dollars for 3,000 jobs with the potential of 13,000 jobs.  For 3,000 jobs, that's $1.6 million per job.  Or another way, a 30-year career, making roughly $53,000 per year.

If Wisconsin simply employed workers, for $4.8 billion, it could provide a 30-year career, $50,000 per year job, for 3,200 people.

At the end of the day, if it's taxpayers' dollars we're spending, shouldn't we keep the decision-making capabilities in the hands of Wisconsin taxpayers?  Why provide such lavish subsidies to a private company when the economics clearly show that a public entity could create jobs for much less?

Rather than providing corporate welfare to a billion-dollar "modern" company, modernize our public transportation; green our public buildings; and upgrade our water, sewer and electrical systems.  This creates jobs short- and long-term.  It also improves the entire state's economic competitiveness.  This is what attracts residents, retains and grows business, moves products and people, and ultimately leads to a higher quality of life.

If we're going to be spending billions and the pay-off of 3,000 is worth the cost...then why not just create 3,000 state jobs - of engineers, construction workers, scientists, builders, etc. - for the job of taking care of and improving our state and our public assets?

The Last Straw

Chrisitan Schneider, in-house agitator for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, had another nonsensical rant, regarding the recent movement to ban straws, as an avenue to spout worn-out and unfounded right-wing complaints.

According to Schneider, Straw bans are just another bogus eco-fad. Damn environment! It's been holding us all back for far too long!

As Radhika Viswanathan notes, the straw ban is not the answer to all our problems, but it will help in combating plastic pollution in the oceans. Chemotherapy might not cure your cancer, but it's a good start and it's the best option we have right now. Banning straws aren't the end-all-be-all, but it's a good start.

Schneider feels that since the U.S. isn't responsible for the majority of plastic straw pollution, we shouldn't bother changing our behavior. He labels this another eco-fad. 

Saving the planet we all depend on is an "eco-fad" for Republicans. Stupid planet!

Also, does anyone actually have straws in their home? I can't recall ever using a straw in my life at someone's private home. Why does Schneider feel so entitled that private businesses need to provide him a straw? Suddenly when he's out in public he has to drink through a straw? Talk about a snowflake.

Schneider even implies this straw ban will create a black market for straws. Yeah, he really wrote that.

Here's an idea for the drinking-without-a-straw challenged -- carry your own fucking straw around with you if you need it so badly! It's not as though there are no longer any straws available. It's just that restaurants are moving away from providing them. You can still bring your own if you need it that badly. Where's that independent, can-do attitude the Republicans are always blathering on about?

For Further Reading:

The Oceans Are Drowning In Plastic - And No Ones Paying Attention

7 Ways To Reduce Ocean Plastic Pollution Today

The Problem Of Marine Plastic Pollution

Fast Facts About Plastic Pollution

We Made Plastic. We Depend On It. Now We're Drowning In It.

Ocean Plastic Pollution Is Hazardous Waste The U.S. Should Ban

Sunday Reading

Wisconsin Jobs Agency Writes Off $1.1 Million Loan Owed By DePere Businessman Jailed For Defrauding Investors
Three Reason Why The U.S. Is Vulnerable To Big Disasters - And Getting More Vulnerable All The Time
U.S Coal Industry Shows No Signs Of Comeback
High Court Sticks It To Milwaukee
Justice Kennedy Wasn't A Moderate
A Trade Tutorial For Trump
Which Anti-Poverty Programs Work
The Mind-Bendy Weirdness Of The Number Zero, Explained
In Many States, The End Of Roe V. Wade Is Already Here
Growth Benefits Of U.S. Tax Cuts May Be Overestimated: Fed Study
Fresh Proof That Strong Unions Help Reduce Income Inequality
New Study Confirms That American Workers Are Getting Ripped Off
Walker Protected Polluters Who Illegally Dumped Human Waste
How The Koch Brothers Are Killing Public Transit Projects Around The Country

Skills Shortage, Labor Shortage, Skills Gap ... All Bullshit

The dutiful parrots of the media continue to push the "labor shortage" myth. Unemployment is near an all-time low. Yet, we still hear the cries of "labor shortage" and "skills shortage" in the media.

CNBC recently wrote The U.S. Labor Shortage Is Reaching A Critical Point. Employers are supposedly having trouble finding qualified employees to fill 6.7 million job openings.

Lacking self-awareness, the article stated, "Employers are going to have to start doing more to entice workers, likely through pay raises, training and other incentives."

Just as basic economics would predict.

As Dean Baker wrote, "We aren't seeing large-scale increases in pay despite near-record profit shares. This suggest that either employers are really not short of workers or that they are too incompetent to understand the basics of the market."

Baker continued, "The implication of the CNBC piece that claims that hiring is down because businesses can't find qualified workers. If this really is the problem, then the solution, as everyone learns in intro economics, is to raise wages. For some reason CEOs apparently can't seem to figure this one out, since wage growth remains very modest in spite of this alleged shortage of qualified workers."

For Further Reading:
The Washington Post Really Really Hates Markets When It Means Higher Pay For Ordinary Workers
Americans Need To Stop Obsessing Over The Unemployment Rate

Friday Reading

Is Foxconn Double Crossing Walker?
Unions Will Try To Thwart Supreme Court Janus Ruling - That's What They Did In Michigan
Meet The Economist Behind The One Percent's Stealth Takeover Of America
The Second Amendment's History
Is It Great To Be A Worker In The U.S.? Not Compared With The Rest Of The World
A 30-Year Alarm On The Reality Of Climate Change
Crude Oil Through Port Of Milwaukee Creates Risks For Lakefront, Water Supply
Business' Complaints Over Pressure For Donations Prompted Ouster of Ald. Tony Zielinski As Licenses Committee Head
No President Has Tied Themselves Closer To The Stock Market Than Trump - Now The Chickens Have Come Home To Roost
Scott Walker Is Donald Trumps Most Dangerous Enabler

Enter Sandman

Weekend Reading

White Flights Returns, This Time From The Suburbs
Big Business Tax Breaks May Worsen Income Inequality
Big Coal Is Using This Small Oklahoma Town As A Toxic Waste Dump
Why Poverty Is Rising Faster In Suburbs Than Cities
Japan's Recovery Is The Greatest Economic Success Story Never Told
If The Economy Is So Great, Why Are 78 Million Hustling For Dimes?
The Financial Scandal No One Is Talking About
The Baby Boomer - Not Millennials - Screwed America
A New Genetic Clue To How Humans Got Such Big Brains
The Numbers That Explain Why Teachers Are In Revolt
No One Answers Their Phone Anymore
Why We Should Bulldoze The Business School
Mourning In America: What My Father, Ronald Reagan, Would Say

Kris Kobach Is A Creep

Maybe if Kris Kobach wants to drive around in a machine-gun outfitted Jeep, his blow-hard, snowflake ass should join the military. If he's such a tough guy, patriot, enough with all the grandstanding. He should take his beloved guns and go get into an actual battle.
#phony #douchebag #hypocrite #alltalknoaction #gofightanactualwar

[source]

Also odd that Kobach attacks the Left and uses the alt-right (racists, nazis) "snowflake" term, since he's a Harvard, Yale and Oxford graduate...you know, just a typical salt-of-the-earth type of guy.

Sunday Reading

Washington Post Mistakenly Tells Readers There Are Shortages Of Workers
Milwaukee ParkScore 2018 - The Trust For Public Land
Milwaukee County Board Approves Marijuana Legalization Referendum On November Election Ballot
Crony Capitalism Of Walker, Hammes, Foxconn
CEOs Paid 1,000 Times More Than Average Workers
We Can't Forget About Mass Transit When We Talk About The 'Future of Transportation'
Debate: Build Up Or Build Out?
Actually, The 1 Percent Are Still The Problem

Lather, Rinse, Repeat

Sunday Reading

Water Safety, Lead Removal Plans Advance At Milwaukee City Hall
Watch 1998 Rudy Giuliani Torpedo 2018 Rudy Giuliani's Trump Arguments
Minnesota Outpaces Wisconsin, Report Says
Who Is The Freeloader: The Working Poor On Food Stamps - Or Corporations That Don't Pay Them Enough?
Trump Orders Help For Chinese Phone-Maker After China Approves Money For Trump Project
Journey Through The Land Of Extreme Poverty: Welcome To America
Scott Walker Has A Message For Wisconsin Voters: Here's Some Cash
All Betsy Devos Knows Is How To Profit From Schoolchildren
Enrollment Counts Expose Loophole In Wisconsin Parental Choice Program
Democratic Candidates For Governor Would End A Nation's First
Former DOT Head Is Scott Walker's Chief Critic On Transportation
The Anti-Roads Governor
The 9.9 Percent Is The New American Aristocracy

Buying Jobs

Corporate welfare is abundant in Wisconsin.

As the Milwaukee Business Times reported:

The $2.85 billion in tax credits offered to Foxconn Technology Group is nearly 25 times more than the total incentives offered to the next 49 largest projects the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. supported this year... 

The remaining 49 projects in the top 50 are eligible for roughly $114.2 million in incentives, primarily through tax credits, although three projects are receiving loans.

Here's the top 10 corporate welfare bribes awards:

[source]

Here's a breakdown of the cost per job for the top 10 welfare recipients:

Scott Walker really loves handing out millions of Wisconsin taxpayer dollars to his corporate cronies. So, it's not that Republicans don't like spending money and using the government as a piggy bank, as they claim. They just prefer that low-income, working-class and middle-class go without, while giving most of the bounty to their corporate paymasters.

Republicans constantly bark about the Democrats "taxing and spending." Yet, Republicans do they same thing. The difference is that when Republicans do it, the benefits go to millionaires. And, instead of keeping taxes at a responsible level to pay for it, Republicans just run up the tab for someone else to figure out how to pay for it somewhere down the road. 

Republican policies are bad at creating jobs. They're really just using taxpayers dollars to reward their contributors. Republicans tax cut fetish is only indebting the country and preventing us from making necessary improvements and infrastructure advancements. 

We should be using our tax dollars to invest in better transportation options, greening of buildings, improving the electric grid and replacing our sewer and water systems. These, and other investments like these, are what will attract businesses and residents. This is what a broad-based plan for shared prosperity looks like.

Rather than short-sightedly picking winners and losers - the crony capitalism bribery that is the Republican plan for economic development - we should be making the general investments in our society (schools, workforce) and our infrastructure (road, trains, airports, water, energy) which benefits all and enables growth for the long term.

Scott Walker Is A Creep

Koch Brothers Group Applauds Walker On Welfare Bills
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker Signs New Limits On Welfare Programs Into Law
Walker Signs Bill Sought By Landlords
Walker Signs Restrictions On Pro-Worker Rules

Subsidizing Billionaires

Comedian Sarah Silverman Absolutely Destroys Billionaire Jeff Bezos For Post On Lavish Vacation

"Official statistics suggest that 11.8 percent of Amazon's 6,000 Ohio workers might receive food stamp benefits," Snopes has reported. 

"In five out of these six states, Amazon cracked the top 20 list of companies with the most employees enrolled in the SNAP program," The Intercept reported, using the acronym for food stamps. 

The numbers show that the company relies disproportionately on the program even accounting for its size: Amazon was the 28th largest employer in Arizona last year, but it ranked fifth for the number of employees enrolled in SNAP. It held the fifth slot in Pennsylvania as well, though it’s only the 19th largest employer. In Kansas, where Amazon isn’t even among the top 50 largest employers, it still ranked 17th for the number of employees using SNAP at the beginning of this year. Similarly, the company ranked 53rd in overall employment numbers in Ohio last year but 19th when it came to employees using SNAP. In Washington, where Amazon’s headquarters employ many white-collar workers, its employees were still the 17th most reliant on SNAP over the past four years.

For Further Reading:
Economic Development, Tax Incentives and The Plutocracy It's Creating

Republicans Offended By The Truth

Internet Cheers Rob Reiner's Dead-On Tweet About Comedian Michelle Wolf, Trump and the White House Correspondents Dinner

Republicans: The Party of Bait & Switch

Weekend Reading

The Myth That Markets Get Prices Right Won't Die
Who Creates A Nation's Economic Value?
Donald Trump And The Next Big Crash
Kansas Rancher Explains How Trump Has Betrayed US Farmers
Michael Cohen Case Shines Light On Sean Hannity's Property Empire
The Dumb Money
Smearing Robert Mueller
A Critical Look At Suburban Triumphalism
Richard Florida Can't Let Go Of His Creative Class Theory. His Reputation Depends On It.
The GOP Has Become The Caricature The Left Always Said It Was
Trump's Company Is Suing Towns Across The Country To Get Breaks On Taxes
The Oil Pipelines Putting The Great Lakes At Risk
The War On Pensions Continues
Where The Great Lakes Compact Ends And Wisconsin Law Begins
Hidden Figures: How Donald Trump Is Rigging The Census

Walker Removes Abortion Coverage For Public Workers

As the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported, Gov. Scott Walker removes most abortion coverage for Wisconsin public workers.

Assembly Bill 128 prohibits government-provided health insurance plans from paying for abortions except in cases of rape or incest or to preserve the life of the mother. The restriction would apply to state workers and thousands of local government employees who get their coverage through the state Group Insurance Board.

Democrats said the measure was unnecessary because under previous state law state health plans would pay for an abortion only if a doctor has determined it is medically necessary. But supporters argued that the state needed to tighten the policy to protect taxpayers who have religious objections to their money being used in this way.

So now we're changing policy because some people have objections to how the money is used?

Give me a fucking break!

Religious organizations are already allowed billions in tax exemptions. I have objections to this. So can we start taxing churches now?

Can every childless taxpayer quit paying taxes for schools? Can people without a driver's license stop paying taxes for roads? Are pacifists allowed to quit paying taxes for the military?

Walker's entire political mission has nothing to do with public service and everything to do with cronyism. Walker is only interested in rewarding his contributors and boosters.

Paul Ryan: Hypocrite, Conman, Coward

Good Riddance To Paul Ryan And His Cowardice On Immigration

Paul Ryan Will Retire As The Biggest Fake In American Politics

A Scam Of A Party Says Goodbye To Its Top Fraud

Paul Ryan Decision To Wait Until January To Retire Includes An Under-The-Radar Benefit

Paul Ryan's Whole Career Was About Sticking It To The Poor And Elderly

Even Now, Paul Ryan Really Doesn't Want To Talk About Donald Trump

With 'Longtime Dream' Of Tax Cuts For Billionaires Fulfilled, Paul Ryan Won't Seek Reelection

The Tragedy Of Paul Ryan

Paul Ryan Was A Failure, Even On His Own Terms

Paul Ryan Is Abandoning The Ship Before It Sinks

Fanatic, Fraud, Factotum: The Rise and Fall of Paul Ryan

The Man Who Killed Republican Reform

The Political and Very Personal Failure of Paul Ryan

Paul Ryan Abandons the Sinking Ship

Late Night Wasn’t Sad to See House Speaker Paul Ryan Go

Paul Ryan fails and bails

House Speaker Paul Ryan was the biggest fraud in American politics