They're Only Entitlements When They're Something Other People Want

Vicarious

Republican Cover-Up Reading

Has "Cover-Up General" William Barr Struck Again?
Why Trump's "No Collusion" Victory Lap Is Premature
Comey: 'It Doesn't Make Sense' That Mueller Didn't Rule On Obstruction Of Justice
Mueller Report Exceeds 300 Pages, Raising Questions About Four-Page Summary

Wisconsin Reading

GOP Redistricting Edge Moderated Democrats' 2018 Gains
WEDC Awards $7.5 Million In Tax Credits To Amazon For Wisconsin Projects
The Arrogance Of Robin Vos
Scott Walker Has A New Job
Scott Walker To Head 'Slow Moving Coup' To Repeal-And-Replace U.S. Constitution
Great Lakes States Are Warming Faster Than The Rest Of The Country, More Flooding Is In Store

Where's The Report?

If the Mueller report exonerates Donald Trump, why isn't William Barr releasing it in it's entirety?  What's with the delay?  You can't really say the report clears Donald Trump of any wrongdoing and then keep the report hidden. If the report clears Trump, why would you redact anything from it unless you're trying to hide something.

So shameless that the supposed party of law, order and values has such malleable principles.  Or should I say no principles at all.  What an embarrassment.

Weekend Reading

Do Corporate Tax Incentives Work? 20 States, And Most Cities, Don't Know
Trump Nominates Famous Idiot Stephen Moore To Federal Reserve Board
Neil Gorsuch's Bad-Faith Ploy To Save Partisan Gerrymandering And Doom American Democracy
Fossil Fuel Industry Gave $2,371,680 To Senate Democrats Who Blocked Green New Deal
Putting Number In Context: A Winnable Battle Our Side Doesn't Want To Fight
The 4 Arguments In Defense Of The Electoral College Are Wrong
Why You Shouldn't Listen To Self-Serving Optimists Like Hans Rosling And Steven Pinker

The Corruption & Dismantling Of Our Democracy Continues

Investigations into extra-marital blow jobs have to be made public, but the investigations that have led to 34 indictments involving campaign shenanigans and collusion/acquiescence with foreign government interference, that information can only be slowly disseminated, if at all.  Kenneth Starr's report, concerning the Clinton affair, was delivered directly to Congress to do with as they saw fit.  Why are we allowing William Barr to decide and summarize what should be made available to Congress and the public?

Monica Lewinsky's reaction to the Mueller report 'just won tweet of 2019'

The former White House intern was herself the subject of an investigation by an independent counsel, Kenneth Starr, for her affair with then-President Bill Clinton. She was a central figure in Clinton’s 1998 impeachment hearing. 

While Clinton was ultimately acquitted by the Senate, many have drawn comparisons between Starr’s rigorous pursuit and how the Mueller report findings — which many Democrats are demanding to be made public — has been handled. 

When USC law professor Orin Kerr noted that President Trump has had the privilege of so far keeping the full report under wraps, whereas every last dirty detail of the Starr Report was up for grabs, Lewinsky couldn’t help but weigh in.

Mueller’s report must show ‘something pretty damning’ about Trump

…Barr’s letter revealed something unexpected about the obstruction issue: that Mueller said that his “report does not conclude that the President committed a crime” but that “it also does not exonerate him.” The report does not exonerate the president? That’s a stunning thing for a prosecutor to say. Mueller didn’t have to say that.

If his report doesn’t exonerate the president, there must be something pretty damning in it about him, even if it might not suffice to prove a crime beyond a reasonable doubt. And in saying that the report “catalogued the President’s actions, many of which took place in public view,” Barr’s letter makes clear that the report also catalogues actions taken privately that shed light on possible obstruction, actions that the American people and Congress yet know nothing about.

And, as Andrew Prokop notes:

Barr’s summary mentions nothing about ... well, many, many other topics related to the Trump team and Russia that we know Mueller has investigated. These include: 

• The Trump Organization’s business dealings related to Russia
• The Trump Tower Moscow talks
• Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting with a Russian lawyer at Trump Tower
• Russian efforts to influence US policy on sanctions and Ukraine, both during the election and afterward
• Paul Manafort’s handing over Trump polling data to Konstantin Kilimnik
• Manafort’s efforts to reach out to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska
• Connections between the NRA, a Russian central bank official, and spending on behalf of Trump’s campaign
• Potential efforts to coordinate with WikiLeaks over the stolen emails
• An offer from Gulf princes to the Trump team for election help on social media
• Russia and other foreign-tied donations to Trump’s inauguration
• Efforts by Jared Kushner to set up back-channel communications with Russia after the election

Barr’s summary tells us nothing of what became of Mueller’s inquiries into all these matters.

There's plenty of illegality we still need to get to the bottom of with Donald Trump and his enablers.

For Further Reading:
Rudy Giuliani goes off script and reveals on CNN that the Mueller report hardly vindicates Trump

Trump is guilty — of being unfit for office
President Trump has made 9,014 false or misleading claims over 773 days
Comey: ‘It doesn’t make sense’ that Mueller didn’t rule on obstruction of justice

Why Trump’s “no collusion” victory lap is premature

Opiate

Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Indictments And Convictions

Enough of the right-wing's congratulatory bellowing about the supposed exoneration conclusion of the Mueller report. Not even close.

As Nicole Hemmer wrote:

Over the past two years, Mueller sorted through the complex story of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Not only did he conclude that a foreign power indeed interfered in the race, Mueller also secured indictments against 34 people, including six members of the Trump campaign in both financial and election-related cases, with charges ranging from conspiracy to obstruction to making false statements to witness tampering. Everyone within U.S. jurisdiction who was indicted by Mueller has been found guilty or has pleaded guilty except for Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone, who is awaiting trial. (Mueller also charged 26 Russians in crimes including conspiracy to defraud the United States and aggravated identity theft; they remain at large.)

As Bloomberg reported, "The Special Counsel states that “while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him. Unlike the collusion finding, this conclusion—or lack of it—could pose problems for Trump going forward. Democrats in Congress are likely to address the obstruction issue on their own."

For Further Reading:
Indictments and convictions

Mueller's investigation is done. Here are the 34 people he indicted along the way

Amazon & Dead Zones

Weekend Reading

Shopko Creditors: $117 Million In Dividends Paid To Owners 'Fraudulent,' 'Illegal'
401(K)s Versus 403(B)s
Sigh....No, Tax Cuts Won't Boost Growth
Supreme Court Sides With Union Giving Milwaukee County Employees $6.8 Million Pension Benefit
Make Corporations Pay For Green New Deal
The Rapid Decline Of The Natural World Is A Crisis Even Bigger Than Climate Change
Study Finds Racial Gap Between Who Causes Air Pollution And Who Breathes It
Here's What Republicans And Billionaires Really Mean When They Talk About 'Freedom'
Wisconsin Judge Blocks Republicans' Lame-Duck Power Grab
Study Cited In Wisconsin Debate On Expanding Medicaid And Taking Federal Money Called 'Garbage'
Make America Great Again By Raising The Minimum Wage

Taking Real Action Against Gun Violence

'What Real Action to Stop Gun Violence Looks Like': New Zealand PM Announces Ban on Assault Rifles After Christchurch Massacre

Just six days after a white supremacist gunman killed 50 people and injured dozens more at two mosques in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Thursday that the country will ban all military-style semi-automatic weapons, assault rifles, and high-capacity magazines.

WOW!  Acting expeditiously with common sense, a government actually getting something done, in the interest of the people.

Sunday Reading

What Happened To Wisconsin?
Final Walker Jobs Gap - Nearly 164,000 Jobs!
Corporate Tax Deals May Be Public, But What Happens Next Is Often Secret
Washington Post Says Republicans Oppose Debt
In Praise Of Budget Deficits
Milwaukee Does Have A Socialist Past, But Democrats Have Other Reasons To Show Wisconsin Some Love
Elizabeth Warren's War On Big Tech Puts Her Ahead As The Candidate To Take On Corporate Power
Microsoft Sues Foxconn And Says It Owes Royalty Payments Plus Interest
It's Time To Take Fox News's Destructive Role In America Seriously
America's Fox News Problem
12 States Spend Less On Schools Now Than Before The Recession

Republican Deficits

Not All Conservatives Are Filled With Rage, But Most Of Those Filled With Rage Are Conservative

The Power of Petty Personal Rage

The point is that demented anger is a significant factor in modern American political life — and overwhelmingly on one side. All that talk about liberal “snowflakes” is projection; if you really want to see people driven wild by tiny perceived slights and insults, you’ll generally find them on the right. Nor is it just about racism and misogyny. Although these are big components of the phenomenon, I don’t see the obvious connection to hamburger paranoia. 

Just to be clear: To paraphrase John Stuart Mill, I’m not saying that most conservatives are filled with rage over petty things. What I’m saying instead is that most of those filled with such rage are conservatives, and they supply much of the movement’s energy. Not to put too fine a point on it, pathological pettiness almost surely put Donald Trump over the top in the 2016 election.

Bucking Convention

Sorry to rain on the parade.

Milwaukee should be leery, careful and realistic with their assumptions and expectations regarding hosting the Democratic National Convention.

In general, events like this are a boom for some and a bust for others. And, if you're lucky, you'll break even. Yet, hosting these events is far from a no-brainer, win-win for everyone.

As U.S News reported:

According to economists Robert Baade, Robert Baumann and Victor Matheson – who looked at the effect of every national political convention between 1970 and 2005 – such events "have a negligible impact on local economies." They found that "neither the presence of the Republican nor the Democratic National Convention has a discernable impact on employment, personal income, or personal income per capita in the cities where the events were held."

As another researcher put it:

By focusing on the 'bright, shiny object' of a political convention, we might be losing focus on the real economic fundamentals that could bring long-term prosperity.

Milwaukee has already been transforming itself and the region - without an expanded convention center, without a political convention, etc.  The Democratic National Convention might be fun and lucrative for some, but don't expect long-term gains from this political circus.  At best, Milwaukeans should hope for infrastructure improvements coinciding with the convention - roads, rail, water, electric, etc. - that will also benefit the city as a whole.

For Further Reading:
Rejecting “Conventional” Wisdom: Estimating the Economic Impact of National Political Conventions 

Economic impact studies: Should journalists rely on them?

American Cities and the Politics of Party Conventions

Breaking with Convention

Tucker Carlson Is A Creep

Tucker Carlson is called out for being misogynistic, racist and homophobic.  Rather than apologizing or trying to move forward, instead he belittles other media figures, media organizations, etc.  He claims he is being persecuted by do-gooders looking for attention.  It has nothing to do with his behavior; which he describes as simply out of the mainstream and just a different point of view.  [Listen to the recordings.  Anyone with a brain would not claim this is just a point-of-view difference.  Carlson is clearly misogynistic, racist and homophobic.]

It's well-known Fox has been normalizing racism, hatred, cronyism, white nationalism and pretty much every other negative behavior...and then blaming everyone else when negative outcomes occur.

But, somehow, this is all Media Matters' fault.  Yes, you're the bad guy when you point out someone else's bad behavior.

Carlson also had the gall to claim Media Matters aligned with a political party and whined about how unsavory that is.  It's illegal for a media organization to align with one political party.  Um, hey Fox News guy, project much?

So ... much ... delusion.

Any Democrat Will Do 2020

So many good candidates and good ideas.  Hopefully the Democratic Party can coalesce into a strong, coherent platform with unwavering candidates for President and Vice President.

Elizabeth Warren wants to break up Apple too

With Estate Tax on Nation's Richest, Bernie Sanders' "For the 99.8% Act" Applauded for Targeting "Tyranny of Plutocracy"

The Democratic Party Wants to Make Climate Policy Exciting

The Green New Deal, explained

Cory Booker’s plan to fight wealth inequality: give poor kids money

Proposal to impose a progressive annual wealth tax on American households with net worth (sum of all assets net of debts) above $50 million

Sen. Sanders’ College for All Act

Sanders Files Bill to Strengthen, Expand Social Security

Bernie Sanders's new Medicare-for-all plan, explained

Two senators are proposing national rent relief bills. Here’s why it matters

Warren Proposes Universal Child Care Plan Funded by Wealth Tax

Ending the War on Marijuana

End Welfare...Unless It's For Me

The conservative, free market, anti-socialism boosters sure do love welfare and market-intervention when it benefits them.

Amount of cash provided to developers by Wisconsin communities limited by Evers' budget proposal.

Evers' budget plan includes a provision targeting communities which provide financing help for commercial developments through tax incremental financing districts...

The governor's 2019-'21 budget proposal, released Thursday night, would limit cash grants for developers to 20 percent of a tax financing district's project costs.

One of the private sector shills whined,

It "would undo years of bipartisan work to create the most important, and really the only tool Wisconsin municipalities have to spur economic development and create jobs," said Jim Villa, chief executive officer of the Wisconsin chapter of NAIOP, formerly known as the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties.

As I wrote in a previous post, “Another much touted, yet becoming ever more so destructive, policy tool is tax incremental financing (TIF). These were initially established to bring investment to blighted, low-income areas. But nowadays, more states are loosening their eligibility requirements and allowing affluent areas to reap the benefits. TIFs allow a municipality to issue a bond to pay for part of the costs of the new development. The property tax revenue generated by the development is then used to pay off the bonds. Some municipalities also allow sales tax increments, where the sales tax generated by the new development can be diverted to redevelopment costs.”

In essence, using taxpayer money (cheap credit from a municipality) to finance speculative development where the rewards benefit the usual cast of characters at the expense of the community at large.

And, to claim this is the only tool municipalities have to spur economic development and create jobs, is complete horseshit.  By providing good public transportation options, broadband access, modern water and electrical infrastructure, and adequately funding public education, the public sector can spur economic development and create jobs. 

This is just the gravy train crying because someone is trying to cut off some of their corporate welfare.  

Governor Tony Evers merely wants to bring back some of the original intent and more accountability to tax incremental financing.

Sunday Reading: Republican Debt & Deficit Edition

Trump's Economic Adviser Downplays Concerns Over Exploding Federal Deficit
The deficit is a key concern for Republicans. Trump isn’t making it better.

Republicans' hypocrisy on the US deficit is stunning, even in Washington

Republicans Are Once Again Very, Very Concerned About Deficits

Why Don't Republicans Fret About the Debt Anymore?

Republicans Have Forgotten They Hate Deficits

Republicans Are Outraged About the Deficit They Caused

Republicans Promised to Cut the Deficit. It’s Only Getting Worse

The GOP Deficit Scam Will Never Die

GOP deliberately increased deficits through tax cuts in order to cut social programs

House Republicans Got Away With It—Again

Cows Are (Part Of) The Problem

Kansas rancher sends letter to Ocasio-Cortez fact-checking the Green New Deal

Big surprise a cattle rancher wouldn't admit to methane being part of the problem.  [Just as oil companies don't admit fossil fuels pollute.]

Yes, they provide food.  But they also pollute.

As one article noted, "What remains undisputed is that animal husbandry does generate harmful emissions.  Firstly, the animals themselves release emissions — cows, for example, produce methane gas in the digestion process. In addition, the entire industry contributes to the greenhouse gas effect, from the fertilizer on the fields to the transport of feed for the animals and the use of milking machines."

Another article explains, "Livestock are responsible for about 14.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).  According to calculations by some experts, this puts the livestock sector on par with transport. The U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says transport is responsible for 14 percent of emissions.  Ruminants such as cattle, buffalo, sheep and goats produce nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide and methane, which is the most emitted gas and is released through belching."

As The New York Times put it, "The impact of agriculture, a category that includes everything from growing lettuce to raising livestock, is tricky to express because the gasses produced — mostly methane and nitrous oxide — have much more warming potential than carbon dioxide but also dissipate more quickly. According to the latest thinking, though, farming is responsible for the equivalent of 574 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States each year and 56 million metric tons in Canada.  That’s about 8 percent of each country’s total greenhouse gas emissions...Worldwide, livestock accounts for between 14.5 percent and 18 percent of human-induced greenhouse gas emissions."

NPR wrote, "Livestock is a major source of greenhouse gases worldwide. About quarter of the methane emissions due to human activity in the U.S. can be chalked up to gas released from these animals, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency."

Again, the Green New Deal isn't about getting rid of cows, planes and everything else we've come to know.  It's about recognizing the impact of our many different lifestyle choices and working to modify our behaviors so we make less of a negative influence on the planet.  It's really all about ensuring our own survival and the survival of the planet.

So, sorry ranchers, coal miners and fossil fuelers, we need to make some changes in the way we live. These aren't the first industries in the history of mankind that have had to adjust to environmental or other factors.  And, they won't be the last.  But to keep arguing against what the science is clearly telling us ... we're only hurting ourselves and the planet.

For Further Reading:
Methane isn’t just cow farts

Methane From Cattle Are 11% Higher Than Estimated

Tired Of Winning Yet?

[source]

Daily Show Reminds Us How Bat Shit Crazy The Right-Wing Has Been

Today, we remember Obama's Tan Suit, the worst scandal in presidential history. pic.twitter.com/SuoGVv3eSJ

— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) March 7, 2019 

Tagalongs: The Story Of The Thin Skin Mints

Let's take a trip down the path of conservative (il)logic:  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was a Girl Scout.  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is an evil communist.  Therefore, you must stop buying Girl Scout cookies.

This is the current Republican party.

This is where their priorities are at today.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez expertly shuts down conservatives calling for boycott after learning she was a Girl Scout

Just when I think the conservatives can't stoop any lower ... I realize there is no limit to the depths the Republicans will descend.

Take that Girl Scouts!!!

Weekend Reading

Tax On Wealthy Helps Other States Grow
Where To Now With Foxconn?
California Is At War With The Trump White House
Milwaukee's Pedestrian Plan
Evers' Budget Will Include Nonpartisan Redistricting Process
Some Of America's Biggest Companies Paid Little To No Federal Income Tax In 2018
Amount Of Cash Provided To Developers by Wisconsin Communities Limited By Evers' Budget
Wisconsin Might Not Get A Foxconn Plant Of Any Size, Analyst Say
Dairy Farmers Are In Crisis - And It Could Change Wisconsin Forever
The Making Of The Fox News White House

Toilet Death Ejector

Sunday Reading

Milwaukee's Front Door Is Open Again. Harbor District Leaves Its Machine Stop Past To History.
Milwaukee 53206: The Anatomy Of Concentrated Disadvantage In An Inner City Neighborhood, 2000-2017
It's Not Capitalism, It's Crony Capitalism
Bear Market For Stocks Already Underway, Recession Coming, Says Crescat Capital
Republicans Have Been Smearing Democrats As Socialists Since Way Before You Were Born
How America Loved To Stop Worrying And Love Deficits And Debt
How Police Violence Paves The Way To Authoritarianism
The New Way To Deregulate
Why Midsized Metro Areas Deserve Our Attention
Good Riddance To Rahm Emanuel
How To Sell Off A City

Amazippi

Weekend Reading

The Tax-The-Rich Movement Keeps Growing
The Hypocrisy Of Trump's Job Claims
California High-Speed Rail And The American Infrastructure Tragedy, Explained
The Global Con Hidden In Trump's Tax Reform Law, Revealed
Lots Of Presidential Candidates Talk A Good Talk. Look At Their Records Instead.
Bill And Melinda Gates And The Problem Of The "Good Billionaire"
How Republicans Bought Their Own Tax Cut Snake Oil
Trump's War On California
The CIA's Masterful Use Of Fake News

Wisconsin Taxes

[source]

Donald Trump & The Republican Party: The True Enemy Of The People

Wisconsin Reading

Inside Wisconsin's Disastrous $4.5 Billion Deal With Foxconn
Wisconsin's High-Subsidy Foxconn Project Seen As 'Pawn' In U.S.-China Trade War
Robin Vos And Scott Fitzgerald Are Contemptible Liars
MMSD Plans $1.4 Billion Of Improvements
A Data Portrait Of The Walker Years
The Big Giveaway Is Getting Bigger
Let's Curb The Manufacturing Tax Credit
Six Reasons To Eliminate Wisconsin's Costly, Ineffective Manufacturing Tax Credit

Weekend Reading: Amazon Edition

The Backers Of New York's Giveaway To Amazon Still Don't Understand Why It Was Wrong
End The Subsidy Wars: Amazon Took Advantage Of A System That's Baked Into America's Economy. We Must Finally Fix It.
Amazon's Pullout From New York Shows That It Misplayed A Bad, And Expensive, Hand
New York Did Us All A Favor By Standing Up To Amazon
Amazon HQ2 Was An 'Unfortunate Distraction' From 'Needy Communities'
Amazon's Decision To Pull Out Of NYC Is A Massive Blow To Corporate Welfare
Amazon And The End Of The Growth Machine
Amazon Got Exactly What It Deserved - And So Did New York
How Amazon's Booming NYC Neighborhood Got Tax Perks Meant For The Poor

A Few Words On Socialism

So·cial·ism /ˈsōSHəˌlizəm/ (noun)
A political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.

Republicans and conservatives, and even some moderates and Democrats, have been demonizing the idea of socialism in the media as of late. (All while bitching about billionaires not being given billions in corporate welfare - socialism for the rich.)

Some of the Democratic 2020 presidential candidates have been talking of taxing the rich, fighting climate change, getting off of fossil fuels, providing Medicare for all and providing free college tuition.

The status quo, pro-business, free marketeers are up in arms over this.

Earth to douchebags - America is already a socialist country.  And conservatives are more than happy with socialism for the rich.  This is the predominant socialism (for the rich) in the U.S., hence rising income inequality over the past few decades.

But let's take a look at some examples of all the "socialist" policies America has:

Health Care (Medicare, Medicaid, Veterans Administration)

Research & Development (NIH, Pharma)

Police and Fire Fighters

Public Education

Public Transportation (Buses, Air Traffic Control, Roads, Etc.)

Water & Sewer

Public Airwaves

The Military

Corporate Welfare (Farm and Oil Subsidies, Etc.)

Tax Breaks (Tax Cuts, Tax Incentives, Tax Credits)

Deregulation

The crux of the recent call for higher taxes and re-investment in our public goods is not some wacko commie scheme, it's the same plan of action the United States took after World War II, with high marginal tax rates, which led to our greatest period of growth and prosperity.  A rising tide lifted all boats. Our infrastructure was world class. People who worked were able to pay their bills and save for retirement.  

Republicans always reminisce about the great days of yesteryear.  But they forget to mention the fact that taxes on the rich were much, much higher then, too.  

For Further Reading:

Democratic Socialism? We're Already Living In It

5 Ways America Is Already Socialist

The Great Wealth Transfer

The Great Divergence

Wealth, Wages and Politics

Politics, Policy and Inequality

Graph: The Great Divergence

The United States Of Inequality

Disclosing The Costs Of Corporate Welfare

Where Is The Outrage Over Corporate Welfare

Taxpayers — not Big Pharma — have funded the research behind every new drug since 2010

U.S. Investments in Medical and Health Research and Development

The Public Airwaves as a Common Asset and a Public Good

Corporate tax breaks cost U.S. schools billions of lost revenue

Massive Spending Cuts: The Tax Act's Hidden Costs

Did Deregulation Work?

Still Bernin'

Talking Heads Upset Billionaire Isn't Given Billions In Corporate Welfare

Boo-fucking-hoo, you babies.  Sorry your usual status-quo shakedown didn't work.

‘Morning Joe’ Rips Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Over Amazon Pull-Out: ‘She Only Cares About Herself’

The set of “Morning Joe” was not happy about the decision by Amazon to pull out of their new planned headquarters in New York City yesterday, laying the blame for the decision at the feet of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and fellow recalcitrant progressive lawmakers. 

On set there was near unanimity that Ocasio-Cortez did not understand the broader situation and was unfamiliar with basic economics. 

“The protests that we saw were to get on AOC’s bandwagon. And what’s shocking to me is yet once again she shows how little she understands, about not just economics, but even unemployment,” show mainstay Susan Del Percio said. “Just because she has a progressive agenda, which some people like, does not mean she has the city’s best interests. What she showed me today, or yesterday, is that she only cares about herself.”

Um, actually she understands the economics better than the Morning Joe corporate welfare shills.

How much was New York giving Amazon?  What was the cost-per-job?  If you're not going to discuss the details of the giveaway and actually analyze it in comparison to other possible investments, maybe you're the one who needs to shut the fuck up.

I guess, according to the Morning Joe crew, giving billions to a billionaire is good use of public dollars.  Oh, but all these rich pricks hate socialism.  Yeah, unless it's for them.

For Further Reading:
Amazon To Pay $0 In Federal Taxes In 2019
Economic Development, Tax Incentives and The Plutocracy It's Creating

Prosperity By President

[source]

Matt Kuchar, You're A Cheap Fuck

Matt Kuchar defends paying caddie $5K on $1.3M win: I 'don't lose sleep over this'

Kuchar won the Mayakoba Golf Classic and the $1.296 million prize that came with it in November. He paid Ortiz, aka El Tucan, $5,000 for his work that week. 

Ortiz is not Kuchar’s regular Tour caddie, but a club caddie from Mexico who worked Kuchar’s bag during the tournament in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. John Wood is Kuchar’s regular caddie... 

Kuchar eventually offered Ortiz an additional $15,000, according to the report. 

Ortiz declined the offer. He was seeking $50,000, which is the value he placed on his work that week, according to the report...
Verbal agreements between players and Tour caddies come with the understanding that a caddie is due 5 percent of a player’s winnings, a number that can increase to 10 percent in the event of a win. 

Ten percent of Kuchar’s victory at Mayakoba would be approximately $130,000... 

“So I certainly don’t lose sleep over this. This is something that I’m quite happy with, and I was really happy for him to have a great week and make a good sum of money. Making $5,000 is a great week.”

According to Golf.com, Kuchar is 10th on the PGA career earnings list with more than $46 million.

Kuchar's initial offer of a $4,000 payment to the caddie for winning $1,296,000 is .3%.  Even increasing to $5,000 is just .4%.  Adding $15,000, to bring the total to $20,000, is still only 1.5%.  A typical 5% minimum caddie payment, in this instance, equates to $64,800.

So maybe Matt Kuchar isn't losing any sleep over this, but a $44,000 difference in payment is a lot of money for most people.  With Kuchar's $46 million in career earnings, and the fact that this caddie just helped him add another $1.3 million, he should have done the right thing and at least paid the caddie the typical minimum 5%.  Kuchar would have still had $1,231,200 for himself.

It's no wonder most people view golfers as elitist and out of touch.  Matt Kuchar is another prime example.

Rules Of The Road

Clean the snow off your car.  I'm sick of you morons driving around with snow on your windows, the vehicle's roof, over the tail lights and then having the snow and ice blow off your car onto other cars driving anywhere near yours.  Take five minutes and brush the vehicle off before you drive on the road, you inconsiderate maniac.

Those of you living in dwellings with an alley, shovel out your space in the alley (and shovel out your sidewalks in the front of the home in a timely manner).  People shouldn't be trapped in their garage because some lazy ass has decided they don't need to shovel their portion of the alley.  Especially those of you owning properties at the entrances of the alley.  It's your responsibility to clear that entrance.  If that's too much for you, sell the house so a responsible owner can move in.

When there is an obstruction in your driving lane (a snow mound, a vehicle, etc.) don't just swerve into my oncoming lane assuming I'll move over.  First, the obstruction is in your lane, you're the one that needs to wait for oncoming traffic to pass before you swerve into the other lane.  Stop being a dick.

This is all really just common sense, courtesy and manners.  Enough of this thoughtless, selfish behavior.

Corrupt America

If Only We Could All Be As Out Of Touch As The Mega-Wealthy

Bill Gates Has Some Harsh Words for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Tax Plan

Bill Gates says he’s fine with the idea of higher taxes for the rich, but plans like the one being championed by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, which target the top income brackets, are too extreme—and could encourage the wealthy to hide their money in offshore accounts.

“I believe U.S. tax rates can be more progressive. Now, you finally have some politicians who are so extreme that I’d say, ‘No, that’s even beyond,'” Gates said. “You do start to create tax dodging and disincentives, and an incentive to have the income show up in other countries and things. But we can be more progressive without really threatening income generation—what you have left to decide how to spread around.”

First of all, the wealthy already hide their money offshore and dodge taxes.

High tax rates, such as those proposed by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, led to a single breadwinner being able to provide for a family - a car, a home, a college education, etc.

Ever since the Reagan revolution, of tax cuts and deregulation, households with multiple workers can barely get by.  Tax rates aren't a disincentive to create wealth.  They are a mechanism to correct the greedy urges of those whom control the means of production.

Since we can't count on the Walmarts, Amazons, Kochs and all the other greedy oligarchs to do what's right and pay their employees a living wage, to provide retirement and health care to their employees, and to pay a fair share of taxes to help the infrastructure that their businesses and we all depend on, we need to tax them.

Trickle down doesn't work.  It hasn't worked.  Taxes are the only way of giving workers back income that they helped to produce and/or putting it toward more public goods.       

The Republican Party Is Broken

Weekend Reading

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Tax Hike Idea Is Not About Soaking The Rich
Unions Did Great Things For The Working Class
Economists Get Serious About Harm From Monopolies
If Only Obama Had Done The Things Obama Actually Did
Antitrust And The Financial Sector
Cory Booker's Baby Bonds Nearly Close The Racial Wealth Gap For Young Adults
All Of The Extremist Killings In The US In 2018 Had Links To Right-Wing Extremism
How Elizabeth Warren's Wealth Tax Would Remake America
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Crusher Of Sacred Cows
Progressive Labor Standards
What Do We Actually Know About The Economy?
Yes, Polarization Is Asymmetric - And Conservatives Are Worse
Should Billionaires Even Exist?
How Frigid Polar Vortex Blasts Are Connected To Global Warming
The Wealth Gap And Miller Park's Deal
Republicans Cynically Demonized Government For Decades. The Shutdown Belongs To Them.

Public Investment In Pharmaceutical Research

Scott Walker Screwed Wisconsin ... Again

Scott Walker and Wisconsin Republicans are just terrible, stupid, selfish, greedy and soulless people. Their policies (along with all other Republican policies) continue to waste taxpayers' dollars. Who are these people voting for Republicans that take citizens' tax dollars and give it to rich plutocrats? Why do people continue to support such an obvious transfer of wealth from the majority of citizens to the richest? 

The failure of Republicans policies has been persistent. What type of delusion or cognitive dissonance makes people continue to hope these Republican policy lies will finally help them? All of the empirical evidence from the last 50 years shows that the policies the Republicans are spouting hurt all but the richest Americans. 

And now we have another example from Scott Walker. Another failure in a long line of Scott Walker failures. 

As most everyone looking into the boondoggle that is Foxconn concluded, the chances of this corporate welfare working were slim to none. And now, Foxconn is changing their plans. The promised LCD manufacturing plant is now morphing into a smaller R&D technology hub. Yet another great example of Republican governance - funneling public dollars to private paymasters with no accountability or concern for the outcome. As opposed to the typical Democratic governance, whereby public investment actually generates public benefits - think schools, roads, airports, trains, health care, etc. 

For Further Reading:

Foxconn reconsidering plans to make LCD panels at Wisconsin plant

Foxconn may not build a factory in Wisconsin after all, says top company exec

Foxconn Shifts Focus From Wisconsin Manufacturing Plan
Foxconn changes focus of massive Wisconsin project
Foxconn scraps plan to build $10 billion Wisconsin factory Trump bragged about
Ruinous Walker's Downfall
Blasts From The (Deceptive) Past: Scott Walker Edition

For a more in-depth reading of all that was wrong with the Foxconn giveaway, see The Con That Is Foxconn or How Republicans Learned To Stop Worrying And Love Socialism For The Rich.

Weekend Reading

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Wants To Raise Taxes On The Rich - And Americans Agree
Economists Get Serious About Harm From Monopolies
Declining Birth Rates: Are We In Danger Of Running Out Of People?
The House Democrats' Colossal Election Reform Bill Could Save American Democracy
Why You're Wrong About Communism: Here Are 7 Huge Misconceptions About It - And Capitalism
Why Scott Walker's Welfare Legacy Will Outlast Him
The Future Of The Great Lakes
Anticompetitive Mergers In Labor Markets
Labor Market Concentration
Beware of Consultants Bearing Rosy News About Mergers

Unions Did Great Things For The Working Class

The Economic Impact Mythology Of Convention Centers

Milwaukee's Boondoggle Twofer
How Can Convention Centers Be So Dumb?
The Convention Center Shell Game
Convention Center Follies
It's A Race To The Bottom
Is It Time To Stop Building Convention Centers?
Case For Bigger Convention Hall Has Familiar Ring
The Realities Of Convention Centers As Economic Development Strategy
Debunking The Conventional Wisdom About Conventions
The Dubious Economics Of Convention Centers
Do We Really Need To Keep Building Convention Centers?
A Critical Review Of Convention Center Feasibility Studies
The Skeptical Study No One Ever Talks About
Convention Centers
Economic Impact Studies: Instruments For Political Shenanigans?

Weekend Reading

Fed's Evans Questions March Toward Higher Interest Rates
America's Middle Class Is Vanishing. Nearly Half Of Workers Earn Less Than $30,000
A Historian Makes The Case Against Billionaires
Scientists Have Established A Link Between Brain Damage And Religious Fundamentalism
How Past Income Tax Rate Cuts On The Wealthy Affected The Economy
The Economics Of Soaking The Rich
How Marginal Tax Rates Actually Work, Explained With A Cartoon
The "Skills Gap" Was A Lie
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Is Floating A 70 Percent Top Tax Rate - Here's The Research That Backs Her Up

The Legend of Zelda

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