Holy Tomatoes! Detroit News' Nolan Finley Plays Catchup

In response to Nolan Finley and those on the right attempting to spin the story that it's supposedly President Obama and Dems not the GOP that has been using 'social issues' to gin up votes.

Sez Brother Finley in "Obama milks social issues" (Obama gave Romney an implied snuggy) on May 11, 2012:

"Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney again took the bait, allowing himself to be drawn into this discussion. So again the campaigns are debating divisive social issues instead of fiscal policy. That plays to Obama's strategy of painting Romney as an extremist and avoiding having to answer for the economy."

Catch up to reality, Nolan. This is exactly what Republican Svengalis have been so artfully doing for decades; beginning under the nefarious tutelage of Newt "the genius" Gingrich or so he was labeled by friendlies until Newt crossed that thin red line and was tossed.

Rich Men Ride while the Rest of Us Run: Corporatocracy
and Income Inequality is THE current 'social issue'.

No one, no party, no group, no clique, no organized political faction does a better job milking the essence of divisive issue politics than the Republican Party; so weakened that the GOP can be taken over by the wealthy elites like the the Koch Brothers, the Club for Growth, various Christian Dominionists, religious and racial bigots, and radical militia elements (gun nuts) until the once sensible and civic-minded Grand Old Party is no more. Poof! Think Ike.

Let Ted Nugent go on wallowing in hate and incitement to mayhem; as evil as he is, he 's only a "scare'jim'crow" archetype of a certain redneck gnarl of lawless tyranny that smirks across the nation. Nugent's part of a cohort of wild and reckless men, dark alley troublemakers, civic hoodlums. And don't they love the trouble they incite... the attention they get!

For decades Newt Gingrich's distraction & negativatization of language made useful for undermining civil discourse has prevailed in the dark hearts of the "Hard Right," as former President Gerald R. Ford labeled them during the Pat & Bay Buchanan dominated 1992 GOP National Convention. It was at Houston where Pat Buchanan declared religious and cultural war on the nation. As a direct result George H. W. Bush, the standing president, high right off the First Gulf War 100 hour victory, when down to stunning defeat to William Jefferson Clinton.

From "Ford tells Gingrich He'd Better Tone It Down" by AP reporter Lawrence L. Knutson:

Ford believed Gingrich should leave "partisan attacks" to others. "One thing that speakers have to understand is that the speaker is speaker for the House. You have to keep that high-level attitude and let the partisan attacks come from your majority leader.... The Speaker (Gingrich) is better advised to stand back." Ford went on to say that looking at the wider future, he believes that if the "extreme-right" partisans within the GOP control the party's policies and dictate who is the candidate... "the party will lose at the polls."

Note: This account also appeared in the Grand Rapids Press, June 2, 1998 and is still spot-on for the 2012 election cycle.

Social Issues Aside: Our National Troubles & the Great Bush Recession Have Created Vast New Opportunities for Unscrupulous Business Opportunists & Scammers

The aggressive CORPORATOCRACY (see the expanded definition from Wiki below) had better get out their act together and begin to restore the rule of law in financial and banking affairs. So far they haven't. The plague created by Citizens United will make this a very reprehensible election season; bar none.

Corporatists were quick to sense an opening, an "opportunity" and they seized it. They have profited immensely from the great disturbance in the economy brought on by the buffoonery of George W. Bush, the Lesser. (The man no Republican can bring themselves to mention in favorable light.) The Bush TARP and the bailouts have put stunning amounts of cash in the coffers of bankseters and Wall Street schemers and shysters'; amounts so large and so excessive as to be incomprehensible in light of in historic perspective. Are we angry? You bet we are!

War profiteering has egregiously enlarged the holdings/coffers of Dick Cheney and Neo-Con Cronies.

Things are still in need of repair and restitution.

Corporatocracy for Idiots

"A corporatocracy is a situation in which corporate bodies interact with sovereign power in an unhealthy alignment between business and political power. In a corporatocracy an elite upper-class, maintains ties between business and government, sometimes by lobbying efforts or funding political advertising campaigns, or providing bailouts when corporations are seen as too big to fail, for the purpose of controlling government and dictating policy to serve its financial interests.

"A corporatocracy is viewed as anti-democratic or opposed to democracy or used to describe situations in which democracy has been manipulated negatively, sometimes resulting in a passive citizenry and subservient media.

"A corporatocracy represents what some see as economic exploitation, and the concept has been used to explain bank bailouts, excessive pay for CEOs, as well as generalized complaints such as the plundering of national treasuries, people, and natural resources. The concept has also been used by critics of globalization, sometimes in conjunction with criticism of the World Bank or unfair lending practices, as well as criticism of free trade agreements which, according to these claims, move high-paying jobs overseas.

"The term corporatocracy is a negative term, likened pejoratively to cancer, fascism, and Orwellianism, perhaps because, according to this view, business-government ties are seen as secretive, lacking transparency and accountability. The elite engaging in corporatocracy is sometimes termed the 1 percent."

Source: Corporatocracy on Wiki (Be sure to click on all the footnotes to this piece. Go from ignorant to informed.)

So Nolan, fearless thought leader, it's time you play catch-up. Pocket your rotten tomatoes, stop our carping, and do something substantive, pro-active about saving Michigan and America. You can begin by restraining yourself from "milking social issues" and move toward a sound economy and a restructuring of taxes so as to save Michissippi's middle class. Put aside your poison pen, and take up your Habitat for Humanity hammer, rise early, move out to save the day for a family in need. It would be a start.

Dump the tomatoes. Catch-up Finley, catch-up!

On the Reader:
List of Responses to Nolan Finley on the Gazette (Topic DATE):

• High up in Jim Crow’s Nest: Constant Cawing Incites Civic Upheaval by the Detroit News - Michigan View (General Idiocy and use of Racial Undertones February 2012)
• Nolan Finley: Maniacal Warmonger? (General Idiocy and Violence September 2011)
• Dead End/Bad Trade Off: Profitazation or Abandonment of Detroit’s Public School Children (Education June 2011)
• No National Honor Given Finley: Taking Down Detroit’s Public Schools is a Civic Crime (Education May 2011)
• Snyder, the Socialist, Takes on Local Democracy Calling it a "Status Quo" That Needs to Be Radically Re-invented.(Ideology April 2004)
• Honest Abel “AWOL” in Michigan just as in Wisconsin (Ideology March 2011)
• A one nostril false grunt from Nolan: It’s not my pigs that stink (Ideology June 2011)
• The Detroit News is "Tapped Out" (Taxes and Ideology February 2011)
• Nolan Finley Rocks Local Detroit High School With His Decision to Teach English to Sophomores (Education December 2009)
• Raw Revenge Raises Its Ugly Head (Education December 2009)
• An Additional Dollar a Day... (State Budget and Ideology November 2009)
• The only place a teacher gets a fair shake in the Detroit News is on its obituary page (Education June 2009) 
• Finley's Right Wing anti-teacher Crusade: A man with a forked tongue and a flaying pen (Education October 2009)

Related Slates:
More on Corporatocracy and the Republican Party on the Gazette.


Original.

The Blind-eyed Marriage of the Conservative Churches to the Excessive & Corrupt Business Practices

How supremely odd it is that conservative Christians--who have hammered and continue to hector the country on certain moral issues (which they find absolute)--have been so silent, so tongue-tied, on the massive corruption and greed that inhabits the world of business all around them.

Turning the Tables on Wall Street: America’s Temple or Torment? 
“Jesus Purifies the Temple” (John 2: 2:13-25) in an engraving
by the German Nazarene artist Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld (1860)

The failure of social conservative moral leadership to call into account the business practices and aggressive failures of the marketplace - to be fair and honest - is a significant contributor to the escalation of the imbalance of wealth (the 1% & the 99% ers) and the pervasive societal moral decay that comes with trying to keep up with the corporate Jones'.

The blind-eyed marriage of the church to the excessive and corrupt business practices of some corporations and the outright fraud found in so many of the slick practices of the marketplace and especially Wall Street have sold the birthright of many Evangelical Christians into a world of excessive debt, unbearable family financial pressures, and everyday stress producing anxiety created by (and compounded by) job insecurity. It is a world where loyalty and length of service are considered expendable by businesses in the search of greater profits and better bottomlines. Add in a high level of unemployment among these self-same Evangelicals and the staggering debt of their children, young Evangelicals, who have taken on student loans in quest of a step-up career.

All forms of benefits and delayed compensation are now being sucked back into their sources by a new kind of greed-Corporate Givers cum Corporate Takers.

When the church loses its prophetic role in calling the CEO/men of power to task, to account for their disrespect for the underprivileged and the planned, immoral conduct of business, the rampant dishonest practices, it loses the power to speak the truth. 

“Lazarus and Rich Man” (Luke 16:19-31) from a 10th Century fresco in
the Monastery of Saint Ivan of Rila in Bulgaria (Reconstructed 1937-1946)

The Biblical story of the rich man and the beggar - the pauper who once was confined to scrounging the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table was eventually released from this mortal realm into paradise. His story illustrates this point.

The beggar, now in Paradise, could name his price for a drop of water to assuage the hellish torment of the eternally damned CEO named in the story. That wealthy man - upon dying - found himself suffering eternal torment in hell for his evil marketplace behavior. Now a torment-bound, abject beggar himself, he pleads for meager humanitarian aid from a higher place. He now pleads "give me just a drop of water!"

Wealth and the where-with-all to have one's way in the greater community do not substitute for character and compassion. Social conservatives would do well to remember this.

Conservative Evangelical Christians Must Divorce Themselves From Corporate Greed & Evil 

Conservative Christians must return to voting in their own best economic interests, and not get caught up in clever manipulation. Evangelicals must act in light of their own history of championing social reform: speak out, and vote in light of the full weight of moral conviction and principles encompassing more than a narrow list of hot button social issues managed by the conniving Svengali mavens on the extremes who inflict on Evangelicals untold pain and suffering via the mega-wealthy, TeaPartisan and Corporatist politics destroying family values and the family itself.

On the Reader:
More on Christian Values and Greed on the Gazette.

Original.

Michigan View's Gary Wolfram Resurrects 18th Cent. Racial Bigotry in His Vision of Economic “Freedom” (ala Adam Smith)

Response to Gary Wolfram in "The wealth of our nation" in the DetNews/Mackinac Center driven Michigan View on Feb 2, 2012.

"(I)t may be true, perhaps, that the accommodation of an (sic) European prince does not always so much exceed that of an industrious and frugal peasant, as the accommodation of the latter exceeds that of many an African king."

-- Adam Smith Quote from Chapter I from the "Of the Division of Labor", Vol I of "INQUIRY into the NATURAL CAUSES of the WEALTH OF NATIONS" (1776)

According to Gary Wolfram:

"Smith recognized that people coming together to trade among themselves would result in an increase in living standards for all..."

(break)

"Smith's other published book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, is less well known - but it was well read in his time and went through six editions. A powerful work, it lays out his observations of human behavior and an understanding of how and why certain customs lead to greater social harmony. For example, a society in which we can interact with one another peaceably to our own benefit requires a sense of propriety. Smith teaches that traditions are important - and (form) a foundation of conservative thought from Edmund Burke to Russell Kirk.

But 'Wealth of Nations' is his most famous work."

Wolfram:

"'Wealth of Nations' is one of those great books that everyone has heard of but few have read. It was a delight to spend time at Hillsdale with people who had not only read Smith - but had studied him. American(s) would benefit if every Legislator read Smith." (emphasis added)

Wolfram:

"The book was an analysis of why parts of the world were mired in abject poverty while Britain enjoyed 'opulence.' Yet it may be true, perhaps, that the accommodation of an European prince does not always so much exceed that of an industrious and frugal peasant, as the accommodation of the latter exceeds that of many an African king,' notes Smith."

Prof. Gary uses this quote to make his point and doing so telegraphs a backhanded racist statement: Wolfram projects Adam Smith's reference to British "opulence"(which we all are viewing as Downington Abby in the fading, last days of global British Empire) and the ordinary worker in British society in Adam Smith's times.

Make mention then, as Prof. Gary does, concerning the accumulation of many an "African king." So doing Wolfram sites Smith as he brags a "frugal peasant" in Imperial Britain-with its military homogeny over vast sections of the globe-at that time) has a sizable "accommodation." In Smith's estimation, that pot of material things owned by the 18th century working Brit exceeds the wealth of "many an African King", who using the current words of Prof. Gary, lived in parts of the world "mired in poverty."

Wolfram's assertion: That "African King" (who is in Smith's representation the "absolute master of the lives and liberties of ten thousand naked savages") was not as well-off as a British common laborer in Smith's time. 

This sociologically unbalanced comparison was set in a past century when such racially slanted speech was commonly accepted. However braggadocio or prejudiced, the writers in contemporary times of Adam Smith thought nothing of using an "African King" as model-a bold comparison/contrast to the degree of accumulation held by a man of "labour" in Britain-compare and contrasted with an "African King" at the time of Smith's 18th century....
-----


In the PICTURE above, just behind Gary Wolfram (holding book) is Lawrence W. (Larry) Reed, President of the Foundation for Economic Freedom, former Pres (and still Pres. Emeritus) of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and Harry C. Veryser, Jr. professor at Walsh College (past at Hillsdale & Northwood), former Judicial Commissioner (Engler), Board Member at the Acton Institute and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.  From an event on October 13, 2009 at the Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies in a a panel of economics to debate the issue of government intervention during economic recessions.

-----

The point Prof. Gary attempts to make in his blog, "The Wealth of Our Nation" is a grand argument for his quaint economic theories. The airy prof utilizes Smith's dated, bigoted example to prove his point- mindless of the racist implications implicit in this select quote. The lines he chose to use. This bigotry only aggravates the imbalance and ignorance of Prof. Gary's proofs offered the reader in his essay's conclusion below.

Wolfram's bromide based on bias and bigotry:

"(T)he gap between the richest and poorest in the United States and other market capitalist states is NOT AS LARGE CLASS WARRIORS WOULD HAVE US BELIEVE." (emphasis added)

Wolfram:

"I tell my students that the difference between their life style and that of Bill Gates is not that great. Like Gates, they live in a house with indoor plumbing and air conditioning (80 percent of all poor households in the US have air conditioning) though his may be bigger. Like Gates, they have a car (three-quarters of all Americas' poor have their own car) though his may be nicer. Like Gates, they can fly to California though he may have a private jet. Like Gates, they probably eat what he eats, and so on. Basically, they live a similar life.

"NOW COMPARE THEIR LIFE TO SOMEONE LIVING IN A REFUGEE CAMP IN SOMALIA."

"That is a stark contrast. In this time of Occupy Wall Street rage Smith's observation is worth repeating. Adam Smith told us that we need in order to achieve the wealth for all, including the "INDUSTRIOUS PEASANT."

"Little else is requisite to carry a state to the highest degree of opulence from the lowest barbarism but peace, easy taxes, and a tolerable administration of justice: All the rest being brought about by THE NATURAL COURSE OF THINGS."

"Our federal government has grown far beyond this to the point where it regulates our daily life from how much water our toilet may flush to what kind of car we may drive. The massive health care and financial regulation bills of the Obama administration do not fit Adam Smith's prescription for an opulent society. Perhaps in 2012 we will return to the philosophy that brought us the wealth of our nation." (emphasis added)

Wolfram's Thrust: Why are American Blacks mired in poverty? Just read Wealth of Nations. In fact, he says "American(s) would benefit id every Legislator read Smith".


How instructive to compare Detroit's African-American community's economic status with the status of "Someone living in a refugee camp in Somalia." NO VALID COMPARISON!


Comparison relative to the ACTUAL IMPACT OF POVERTY and UNEMPLOYMENT in urban Detroit must be CONTRASTED with status of 1% LUXURIATING in the wealthy Oakland Co.suburbs; that's the REAL CONTRAST. 

Dissect that Prof Gary!


READER: The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith (1776)
More responses and posts on Gary Wolfram on the Gazette.

Original.

MLK Day's March on Michissippi's (Michigan's) Dictator Gov. Rick Snyder's gated estate/mansion

Well over a thousand citizens from all around Michissippi (Michigan) rallied to march on Martin Luther King Day to Rick Snyder's gated estate. They were motivated by the racial implications of Snyder's imposition of dictatorial control over predominately Black communities in Michigan.

The Emergency Manager "plantations" established by Snyder's Legal Beavers and legal corporations (under his direct control) have begun the re-enslavement of Michigan's poorest citizens, people largely living in governmental units racially abandoned to minorities. These units are now being systematically stripped of the rights of citizenship-for their "own good" by a business-first Big Boss-Rick Snyder.

-----

It boils down to voting rights, civil rights, and local control of local affairs. The growing sense of inequality imposed by the GOP-dominated Michigan government, having total control of all three branches of state government, is bringing the public outcry to a boil.

-----

Bill Moyers outlines the current national, intense and growing sense of inequality. Moyers writes below that Americans are just now "waking up" to the danger posed by the impacts such Snyder's have on working people, the 99%:

Waking up is right.

Waking up to the reality that inequality matters.

• It matters because what we're talking about is what it takes to live a decent life.
• If you get sick without health coverage, inequality matters. If you're the only breadwinner and out of work, inequality matters.
• If your local public library closes down and you can't afford to buy books on your own, inequality matters.
• If budget cuts mean your child has to pay to play on the school basketball team or to sing in the chorus or march in the band, inequality matters.
• If you lose your job as you're about to retire, inequality matters.
• If the financial system collapses and knocks the props from beneath your pension, inequality matters.

I (Bill Moyers) grew up in a working class family. We were among the poorest in town, but I was rich in public goods.

I went to a good public school, played sandlot ball in a good public park, had access to a good public library, drove down a good public highway to a good public college, all made possible by people I never met. There was an unwritten bargain among the generations - we didn't all get the same deal, but we did get civilization.
That bargain is being shredded.

The occupiers of Wall Street understand this. You could tell from their slogans.

A fellow young enough to be my grandson wore a t-shirt emblazoned with the words: "The system's not broken. It's fixed." That's right. Rigged. And that's why so many are so angry. Not at wealth itself, but at the crony capitalists who resorts to tricks, loopholes, and hard, cold cash for politicians to make sure insiders prosper and then pull up the ladder behind them.
Yes, Americans are waking up.

• To how they're being made to pay for Wall Street's malfeasance and Washington's complicity. Paying with stagnant wages and lost jobs, with slashing cuts to their benefits and to their social services.
• And waking up to the grotesque Supreme Court decision defining a corporation as a person, although it doesn't eat, breath, make love or sing, or take care of children and aging parents.
• Waking up to how campaign contributions corrupt our elections; to the fact that if speech is money, no money means no speech.

So the collective cry has gone up loud and clear: enough's enough.

We won't, as I said, know for a while if this is just a momentary cry of pain; or whether it's a movement that, like the Abolitionists and Suffragettes, the populists and workers of another era, or the Civil Rights movement of our time, gathers force until the powers-that-be can no longer sustain the inequality, the injustice and yes, the immorality of winner-take-all politics.

See Related Interviews on which this Essay is based and a Related Op-Ed:
Jacob Hacker & Paul Pierson on Engineered Inequality (Jan 13, 2012)
America Wakes Up to the Reality: Inequality Matters (Jan 18, 2012)


Original.

Let the government be the government & Let the church be the church.

This exactly the OPPOSITE of what the 16 million member Southern Baptist Convention's Richard Land wants from the GOP. Land hopes this election helps RECOVER TO THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT the cozy relationship and power granted them under George W. Bush - the inside track and advantage.

Can Any Good Thing Come Out of the efforts of the Texas Religious Right's 150 meeting?

Often in America "policies are adopted, not because they generate more benefit for the body politic, but because THEY BENEFIT AN IMPORTANT SET OF PEOPLE," writes one economist and political observer.

How does the nation benefit from their elevation of Rick Santorum to be their "blessed" choice for GOP presidential candidate?

What is the actual economic and political impact of the cabal of 150 "secret" neo-moral majority participants in coronating a "righteous choice" for the GOP presidential candidacy - Sen. Rick Santorum?

We have endured a long dark, dangerous tunnel of heavy influence by Rad Right Religionists whose influence on legislation has been ubiquitous: The horrific midnight Terri Schiavo, congressional fiasco, the appointment of an overabundance of uber-conservative Roman Catholics to the U.S. Supreme Court, the steady march of pro-lifers stymieing a woman's right to choice in her own health and wellbeing at the state legislative level; and on other issues such as: the decertification of collective bargaining; along with the Koch Bros. use of a multiplicity of astroturf organizations to roll back environmental rules and regulations (EPA) in order to richly "bless" their monolithic gas and oil holdings, the support of Grover Norquist's "No New Taxes" vow, legislation that is anti-science, etc.

Contrast: The Purity of the Founders Opposition to the "Establishment of Religion"

"To hear the Religious Right tell it, men like George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were 18th-century versions of Jerry Falwell in powdered wigs and stockings. Nothing could be further from the truth.

"Unlike many of today's candidates, the founders didn't find it necessary to constantly wear religion on their sleeves. They considered faith a private affair. Contrast them to former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (who says he wouldn't vote for an atheist for president because non-believers lack the proper moral grounding to guide the American ship of state), Texas Gov. Rick Perry (who hosted a prayer rally and issued an infamous ad accusing President Barack Obama of waging a "war on religion") and former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum (whose uber-Catholicism leads him to oppose not just abortion but birth control)."

Source: Rob Benson of Americans United.

The Corrupt Practice of Marrying the Church to the State, as has been the thrust of the Rad Religious Right now for well over 30 years. Doing so has made a mockery of many of its own various doctrines, standards, and moral edicts. This "marriage" has made a circus out of the political ethical high ground to which these advocates publically and loudly aspire.

The Economists' term "Public Choice" is "Politics without romance"
Wishful thinking...presumes that participants in the political 'Public Choice' act in a beneficial manner.

"As (economist) James Buchanan has so artfully defined it, 'PUBLIC CHOICE' IS 'POLITICS WITHOUT ROMANCE.' The wishful thinking it displaced presumes that participants in the political sphere aspire to promote the common good. In the conventional 'public interest' view, public officials are portrayed as benevolent 'public servants' who faithfully carry out the "will of the people." IN TENDING TO THE PUBLIC'S BUSINESS, VOTERS, POLITICIANS, AND POLICYMAKERS ARE SUPPOSED SOMEHOW TO RISE ABOVE THEIR OWN PAROCHIAL CONCERNS."

Source: "Public Choice" by William F. Shughart II.

HOWEVER: Politicians are not glowing angles of virtue-Not even former Senator Santorum

"'Public choice' is the application of economic models of self-interest to political science. The central assumption is that politicians are not glowing angels of virtue but prone to the same self-interested behavior as we might expect from anyone else. Basically public choice is, in the words of James Buchanan, "politics without romance".

"Studying 'public choice' is vital because people are susceptible to misconceptions. The moment economists admit that the market is imperfect due to problems such as public goods provision or externalities there is mass zeal for corrective interventions such as subsidies and taxes. Yet, this may not always be a good idea. The more legitimate question to ask is not whether the market is perfect; but, whether the political process is better."

Source: "Wise as serpents" posted February 2, 2011.

In the quest for constructive economic answers, the so-called "values voters"-blind followers of Right Wing Religious leaders, such as the Texas 150-are lost sheep.

Religion as a motivation for running secular government, a very bad idea
The concept of the use of taxes to punish by withholding the revenues from things this group does not support, or by taxing things that this select group wishes to undermine or limit is an antique idea that still holds promise for some who believe themselves to be morally superior to American society.

The debate over Taxes serves many purposes - including ignorance

"Alfred Cecil Pigou was the father of the idea that taxes could be used to correct negative externalities. An idea that Bruce Yandle (Senior Fellow Bruce Yandle, Clemson Alumni Distinguished Professor of Economics Emeritus and Interim Dean of Clemson's College of Business & Behavioral Science) points out is gaining significant popularity in a myriad of arenas: taxes on soda (to curb obesity) and taxes on large banks (to curb risky behavior). But, EVEN PIGOU DID NOT BELIEVE THAT POLICY HAPPENED IN A VACUUM. He offered this valuable insight:

"[W]e cannot expect that any public authority will attain, or will even wholeheartedly seek, that ideal. Such authorities are liable alike to ignorance, to sectional pressure and to personal corruption by private interest. A loud-voice part of their constituents, if organized for votes, may easily outweigh the whole."

"In short, 'public choice' is worth studying because we need to understand: VOTES ARE TO POLITICIANS WHAT PROFITS ARE TO BUSINESSES.

"Sometimes policies are adopted, not because they generate more benefit for the body politic, but because they benefit an important set of people. Finally ---and this speaks to Pigou's statement that "authorities are liable alike to ignorance"--- even if politicians were well-intentioned, there is no single Great Mind that could calculate the social costs or benefits needed to arrive at a corresponding tax or subsidy."

Source: Economic and Compassion - Wise as Serpents February 2, 2011.

-----

The American people, if allowed to think for themselves outside the intense media and propaganda world of "spin," care intensely about themselves and their families. They even care about local community and their nation. However, if their emotions and personal sense of ethics can be sidetracked by promoters of single issues and raw emotional religious fervor and are counseled against raising taxes, then they won't "vote their pocketbooks" and the benefits to themselves and the nation will be dashed.

This the situation we face in the 2012 elections-during a time when not nearly enough attention is being placed on a satisfactory national recovery, all the while Congress acts in TeaPartisan gridlock. To suggest and recommend to the large block of "values voters" that Rick Santorum represents the best "values" choice for the American presidency masks the clear threat that Santorum's Opus Dei devotion to expanding Roman Catholic influence over the United States (Santorum's highest goal) remains a very serious threat to the nation's basic secular freedoms.

Voting the Texas 150's "values" and ignoring everyday economic reality spells disaster. Voting "values" and ignoring the threat that Santorum represents to the preservation of Jeffersonian separation of church and state is unconscionable.

Purposeful blindness to the condition of the economy
This is the situation we face in the up-coming 2012 elections. And that is exactly what a "pledged vote" and endorsement from the Religious Right delivered in year 2000, a disastrous outcome: A "right wing religious" block vote (based on its leadership's vetting and endorsement process) resulted in electing a clearly under-qualified, mentally confused and burned-out George W. Bush. This man endorsed by the "Christian" Religious Right as a "bornaganiner" brought down the nation: Bush's lack of proper presidential attention to known terrorist threats (as indicated in CIA presidential daily briefings) led directly to 9/11, failure to curb federal spending (scant vetoes of run-away deficits), a war of 'choice' not paid by foreign debit, also Bush's complete inability to sense and prevent widespread corruption (WorldCom, Enron, Abramhof/Reed) and catastrophic Wall Street, mortgage, and banking collapses.

Normal citizens consistently "vote their pocketbooks"-favor of their own "best interests"

"In modeling the behavior of individuals as driven by the goal of utility maximization-economics jargon for a personal sense of well-being-economists do not deny that people care about their families, friends, and community. But public choice, like the economic model of rational behavior on which it rests, assumes that people are guided chiefly by their own self-interests and, more important, that the motivations of people in the political process are no different from those of people in the steak, housing, or car market. They are the same human beings, after all. As such, voters "vote their pocketbooks," supporting candidates and ballot propositions they think will make them personally better off; bureaucrats strive to advance their own careers; and politicians seek election or reelection to office. Public choice, in other words, simply transfers the rational actor model of economic theory to the realm of politics." 

Source: Presentation on Decision Making: Theories & Concepts.


The problem of church rule over and against state secular sovereignty
The injection of religious sectarianism, proscribed human moral behaviors or acts, strict prohibitions on drug substances and alcohol, and advantage given to certain fundamentalist ideology moves the "rational actor model" of politics in a very particular direction: Religionist hoping to run or rule the public square and legislate intend to coerce (by government police powers under their control) certain "values" or "defined moral behaviors" in ways that skew and distort the public realm in many ways not in the greater public's present or future best interests, especially, economic well-being.

Seeing the huge advantage and loop hole created by this Evangelical/Pentecostal/Fundamentalistic/Opus Dei power grab; corporations and internationalists have moved in to logically and systematically work against the "economic and social well being" of these true believers and glean huge profits and relief from their release from onerous regulations and rules corporations constantly complain are the overreach of government; deregulation has become a basic goal (value) for the far right religious coalition.

If it were that the "true believers" were the only part of the population effected by this distortion, so be it. But such is not the case.

Why must the entire nation be forced, by a powerful and hell-fearing faction, to vote and work against their "own best interests"?

Again...Ask the secret Texas Religious Rightist 150.


Original.

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, and No Jobs in Michissippi (Michigan)

"The freest government cannot long endure when the tendency of the law is to create a rapid accumulation of property in the hands of a few, and to render the masses poor and dependent." 

-- Daniel Webster, 1782-1852

If the greedy Corporatists won't take a hint from the protests sweeping state houses across the land, then take it from a Founding Thinker and Patriot, extreme inequality between the OnePercenters and the 99 Percenters is a foreboding omen of coming disaster.

Be Glad and Give Thanks for the Occupy Movement: Light is shining in the darkness, and exposing the Wall Street deeds, and the Corporatocracy (an unhealthy alignment between business and political power) of the Koch brothers-so corrupt and evil-via A.L.E.C.'s 'plug and play corporate state legislation". It's all coming into that laser light.

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, and No Jobs... this quote is from Pat Buchanan, Member the Conservative Caucus, during his campaign for the presidency:

"What is an economy for if not so that workers and their families can enjoy the good life their parents knew, so that incomes rise with every year of hard work, and so that Americans once again enjoy the highest standards of living in the world? Our American the most productive in the world; our technology is the finest. Yet, the real incomes of American workers have fallen 20 percent in twenty years. Why are our people not realizing the fruits of their labor?

We have a government frozen in the ice of its own indifference, a government that does not listen anymore to the forgotten men and women who work in the forges, factories, and plants and businesses of this country. We have instead, a government that is too busy taking the phone calls from lobbyists for foreign countries and the corporate contributors of the Fortune 500."

Source: Presidential announcement speech of Patrick J. Buchanan at the Manchester Institute of Arts and Sciences on March 20, 1995

One Buchanan supporter shares a vision: "Imagine a Ron Paul / Pat Buchanan ticket. I would cry with joy. But I can dream."


Original Part 1 and Part 2.

Silent Night: From the Forbes 400 Counting House to Yours: Michigan’s One Percenters

Michigan's One Percent: The Mega-Wealthy or Ultra High Net-Worth Michiganders

The Michigan 1% Given Listed by Forbes: Rank, Name, Age, Michigan Residence, Company/Industry

1. #60,   Richard (Rich) DeVos Sr., $5 B, Age 85, Holland, Amway
2. #60,   Frederik Meijer (deceased at 91), $5 B, Grand Rapids, Supermarkets
3. #159, Alfred Taubman, $2.5 B, Age 87, Bloomfield Hills, Real Estate
4. #171, Ronda Stryker, $2.3 B, Age 57, Portage, Medical Technology
5. #212, Michael & Marian Ilitch, $2 B, Bingham Farms, Pizza
6. # 293, Daniel Gilbert, $1.5 B, Age 49, Franklin, Quicken Loans
7. # 293, Manuel Moroun, $1.5 B, Age 84, Grosse Pt Shores, Transportation
8. # 375, William Ford, $1.1 B, Grosse Pt Shores, Ford Motor Co.
9. # 375, Jon Stryker, $1.1 B, Age 53, Kalamazoo, Medical Technology

Sort them out. Ideological and Political Billionaire Bullies or Grand Noblesse Oblige Benefactors/Genuine Contributors to the Greater Good??


Original.

Confessions of A Well-Known One Percenter Scion of a Robber Baron

"For more than a century ideological extremist at either end of the political spectrum have seized upon well-publicized incidents...to attack the Rockefeller family for the inordinate influence they claim we wield over American political and economic institutions. Some even believe we are part of a secret cabal working against the best interests of the United States, characterizing my family and me as 'internationalists' and of conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure-one world, if you will.

If that's the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of it."

-- David Rockefeller, 'Memoirs' 2002, p. 405

Original.

Princetonian Henry Payne: The Paupers Hank Abjures & The Marauding Business Welfare TeaPublican Benefactors Hank Adores

Hank Takes His OnePercenter Cartoons & Cartoonish Opinions on Parade

Hank Payne made a pilgrimage from Detroit to Naples, Florida (12.9.11) the very day following the appearance of Doug DeVos' OnePercenter presentation to the Detroit Economic Club (12.8.11). Hank was apparently an invited guest/fill-in presenter to the One Percenters in South Florida.

Just think, our own Hank Payne is a featured speaker at the Forum Club of Southwest Florida Inc. thanks to a long-time buddy in charge. The Forum's mission: to be Florida's premier non-partisan political and public affairs organization.

What a heady thrill for Hank to be a last-minute speaker; sandwiched in between appearances of such notables as:

William M. Isaac, Chairman, Fifth Third Bancorp, Former Chairman, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, John H. Noseworthy, M.D., President & CEO, Mayo Clinic, and General Michael V. Hayden, Former Director, Central Intelligence Agency. Into the winter and spring the following notables will be on the dais: Steve Moore, Economist, Wall Street Journal, Lord Charles Powell, Diplomat, Politician & International Businessman, E. Gordon Gee, J.D., Ed.D., President, The Ohio State University, Tom DeFrank, Washington Bureau Chief, New York Daily News, Robert Gagosian, Ph.D., President & CEO, Consortium for Ocean Leadership, and Gregory R. Page, Chairman & CEO, Cargill.

The Forum's historic accolades and achievements include:

"Over the past twenty-one years, the Club has attracted many outstanding guests, including three Supreme Court Justices; Harry Blackmun, Byron White and Clarence Thomas. The Club also prides itself on identifying and presenting speakers before they become household names. A good example would be General Norman Schwarzkopf, who gave a program about the Middle East to the Club on February 2, 1990 - some six months before he took command of the Desert Storm operation in the Persian Gulf."

There's Hank, at the podium (actual AUDIO), the very same graced by U.S. Supreme Court Justices. Holy Smokes!

So it would appear that Hank was chosen prior to the time when he will "become (one of our national) household names." That leads one to wonder: Just what it is that Hank brings to such a wealthy, all-powerful fraternity, mavens of "household name" presenters and grand poopahs?

So what did Hank regale the grand poopahs with: According to the local newspaper, The Naples Daily News, 12/9/11, Hank trumpeted a twisted Paynesian view of the growing impoverishment in Snyder's "reinvented" New Michissippi:

"(Governor) Rick Snyder turned a $2 billion deficit into a balanced budget in less than half a year," said Henry Payne, cartoonist for the Detroit News. "So it can be done. All's you have to do is concentrate on the fundamentals." More honestly and completely accurate is this set of facts, Nerd Snyder stole from the poor, the disadvantaged, the retired, the cautious price-checking customers deprived of honest individual item pricing, the school children and their mentors to gift his business cronies with monies that belonged to honest, hard working, superannuated citizens. Cutting off the needy, defrauding the social contract with public employees rights and remuneration without their involvement, consent, or even open and above-board opportunity to collaborate: Is that what Payne lauds as "all's you have to do" --begin "concentrating on fundamentals?"

Source: Article by Pete Bishop "Cartoonist draws on experience, current events at Forum Club talk" December 9, 2011.

Are these kinds of "fundamentals", as per Snyder's Michigan Miracle, worth their beggarly bragging rights?

When Hank was being introduced, his lead-in/presenter said that Hank has the strange idea that Michigan can be "fixed" which brought on a hearty belly laugh from the Naples OnePercenters in the audience. Is that telling, or what?

Ebenezer Scourge be Praised !
One Michigander took a cue from Hank's roadshow; decided a trip to Naples/Ft. Meyers should go a long way to inform readers of The Michigan View as to what is the current wave of thought is at Naples; that bastion of gated communities and One Percenters, as presented by the local 99 Percenters.

Hank brought to Naples his conclusions: His hit-&-Run, on-site & personal observations of Detroit's Occupy movement are well known in Detroit. On the local streets, Hank took hurried snapshots/snippets of Occupy Detroit -- part of a national/international movement that scares the bee jeeus out of Rupert Murdock's spinmeister, Frank Luntz.

Perhaps Payne could bring the Naples One Percenters up to speed on the benefits for high-powered legal firms, "Too BIG to Fail" banks, and insurance/realty management & investment corporations, stemming from the establishment of Rick Snyder's greatly enhanced Emergency Managers (EM) and how there is great profit and opportunity in the deconstruction of public investment and the takedowns of unions and contracts under the new and much stronger dictatorial and anti-public powers of Michigan's Snyder boosted EM's. Inquiring minds need to know. Such EM powers are appealing to corporations and legal firms across the nation.

Payne thinks he's in the catbird's seat.
Perhaps Payne briefed the august Naples Forum members on the status of Occupy Detroit and the full impact of Michael Moore, whom he mocks in his presentation. Payne has formed a personal opinion and make his own unique estimate of the impact and danger he sees in Occupy. From what we are told, Hank's content included a bifurcated assessment of Detroit:

"Despite Payne's optimism concerning Michigan's future*, HE PAINTED A BLEAK PICTURE OF THE STATE'S RECENT PAST AND PRESENT. Detroit in particular has suffered from the disappearance of a middle class and the destruction of traditional family structure..."
--The Naples Daily News

* Note: Based hypothetically on his belief that Snyders' summary removal of well-over $2 billion in normal economic activity from 2012 and billions more in subsequent years, which will obviate consumer buying power and greatly lower commercial demand.

This is exactly why Payne announced he is giving up his cynical cartooning and bloviating about low-class living and the happy-hollow laziness of welfare recipients and is going to join the Salvation Army organization in search of the true Spirit of Jesus and economic & social recovery for his beloved Detroit. NOT!

In fact, Payne was skillfully devious in failing to report (as a highly paid Gannett Newspaperman) that subsequent to Gov. Snyders' sweeping grab of monies from vital Michigan civic functions; children, elderly, retirees, and welfare safety nets; American Axle completely ignored Snyder's "Michigan Miracle" with its new business goodies and announced it's closing down an important Michigan operation by which over 500 high-paying jobs will be lost-with a negative multiplier in the economy; That number may rise to 3,000 or 6,000 additional jobs lost across Michigan's depression economy! This negative footprint will increase Michigan unemployment rolls now at over 800,000. With his shabby approval record- dropping like a millstone (currently at 19%), the Nerd governor Snyder isn't any kind of big hero here in Michigan; only perhaps in Hank's ideological universe of "hard" conservative luminaries does the Nerd achieve "star" billing.

Travels to Naples to Follow-Up Payne's Visit to This OnePercenters' Enclave
One Michigander's report back to Detroit from Naples/Ft. Meyers -- via The Michigan View -- what Occupy Ft. Meyers/Naples has in its organization, activity roster, and on its agenda(s); giving feedback to News readers about current thinking around Naples/Ft.Myers-paradise of the One Percenters.

A Local Opinion:

"The public seems to understand very clearly what we are talking about," said Naples' Karanja Gacuca, former bank analyst who took up with Occupy Wall Street. "It's quite simply about economic injustice and control of corporations on government and all our systems." Gacuca worked until recently on Wall Street.

Hank could have told the Forum how corporate and Michigan Chamber of Commerce control of Michigan's 2011 Legislative session allowed a corporate-created and empowered TeaPartisan supermajority (with the backing of One Percenters like Amway and Walmart, and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) promoted and funded by the Koch Brothers, et al) to have undue, direct influence on bill introduction and passage.

Occupy Southwest Florida's Bill Coughlan, adjunct professor of ethics and philosophy, Edison State College, explained:

"I think it's an issue of human rights. It's a catch all in the 99 percent: basic human rights, opportunity to earn a living, opportunity to share in the profits, opportunities for women and minorities. It's all the same issues we've been fighting for, like in the 60's."

One outstanding sign carried in rallies there stated:

"Show me what Democracy looks like!"
"This is what Democracy looks like!"

Individuals interviewed locally:

1. Dave Ebert was raised as a Quaker and is anti-war, but also sees himself as "staunchly middle class" His intent is to "stop corporation's undue influence on politicians. His sign read: "Revoke Corporate Personhood."

2. Alex Flynt is a retired teacher and fireman. He reports that he is financially well off, but laments: "I'm not sure what kind of future we'll have for our kids." He expanded: "The thing they can learn (from earlier protest movements), especially the young people, is they have to prepare themselves to take over some of the positions they've been criticizing...I don't know if the younger people in this movement have a vision," for themselves personally, as well as the movement in general. "Many are just trying to cope with life."

3. Ellen Hemrick, 42, is a Naples single mother. Her occupation is as a Speech Language Pathologist, but she is "stifled from running her own business, like she used to do, because (of high) health care costs for herself and her 2 year old son." Her statement; "I'm not against capitalism per se-I used to own a business-but there are certain thing capitalism isn't good at. It's not good at justice. It's not good at health and education. You really don't want the people in charge of your health care trying to figure out how much money they can make off your being sick-it just doesn't make sense. And with education, the same thing. We want to educate our children not run them through the mill and meet productivity standards. I think (Occupy) is going to be a long-term movement because it has to be. It's not going to any of its goals in a short period of time. Getting money out of politics and corruption out of government and returning the country is an extremely long and difficult process."

So there you have it Hank, a smattering of insight you missed on your brief sojourn to Naples -- One-Percenter-Land.

As one 99 Percenter's poster carrier down here in Naples poked back at Newt Gingrich:

"HEY NEWT, I SHOWER & HAVE A JOB. ANYTHING ELSE?"

Sources: The synopsis of the situation there in the Naples area (as drawn from real people) uses excerpted quotes from the local paper, Florida Weekly in "Occupy: The 99% Movement Will Not Remain Silent", and from person to person contacts.

Original.

LaPlante condemns a Democratic Congress member for the assertion that TeaPublican proposed “reforms” (gutting of Social Security) are “heartless and un-Christian”

In Response to John R. LaPlante in the Michigan View on Dec 9, 2011 in "God is on my side: Democratic Pols".

Reading the LaPlante lament :

"One member of the Democratic caucus in the U.S. House called proposed reforms to Social Security and other entitlements as "'heartless and un-Christian'" 

Let's take a deeper look at John's protest.

When we do, we see that LaPlante follows up that complaint against the Democratic defender of Social Security with his cute qualifier:

"To quote a reader of National Review Online, ' I'M STILL TRYING TO FIND THE PASSAGE WHERE JESUS TELLS HIS FOLLOWERS TO TAKE AS MUCH AS THEY CAN FROM OTHERS, SO THAT THEY CAN HAVE MORE TO GIVE TO THE POOR'"

In using this quote LaPlante opens the door to the New Testament passage concerning Jesus and the Rich Young Ruler. The National Review Maven cited by LaPlante uses hyperbole, as is common to his genre, and seeks to make an extreme interpretation into a truth by qualifying his recollection (or non-recollection) of the intent expressed by Christ in his ministry.

In this New Testiment account a rich young man asked specifically what God expected of him in light of his previous moral life and his accumulated riches, this is what occurred and what Jesus required:

Matthew 19:16-24:

"16 Then someone came to him and said, "Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?" 17 And he said to him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments." 18 He said to him, "Which ones?" And Jesus said, "You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; 19 Honor your father and mother; also, You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 20 The young man said to him, "I have kept all these; what do I still lack?" 21 JESUS SAID TO HIM, "IF YOU WISH TO BE PERFECT, GO, SELL YOUR POSSESSIONS, AND GIVE THE MONEY TO THE POOR, AND YOU WILL HAVE TREASURE IN HEAVEN; THEN COME, FOLLOW ME." 22 When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions. 23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."

There is the direct answer: Jesus required the young enquirer to give up wealth to achieve eternal life. LaPant's National Review Maven wants to frame the story thus: Did Christ ever tell his followers to "take as much as they can from others?" The Maven may or may not know his Bible.

Jesus set a test. If you want to have "eternal life" rich young person (whom Christ knew had many possessions) then you must sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor.

If the National Review Maven is going to hide behind his exaggerated assertion and miss the true impact of this scriptural account, then the Maven should not make a statement such as this one, where he made an attempt to postulate that Jesus had nothing applicable to say about wealth and poverty, thus coyly feeling himself of all obligations to such as in the lawful benevolence of the American Social Covenant with its citizens to operate and protect poor and others of retirement age via a system of contributions and taxation that require only a small fraction of what Christ demanded of the Rich Young Ruler.

LaPlant may want to refresh and edify himself as to the core of the American Creed by going to: Jim Wallis, "Praying for Peace and Looking for Jesus at #OccupyWallStreet."

And as a chaser John should perhaps contemplate the message of The Rev. J. Carl Gregg, of Broadview Church; Chesapeake Beach, Maryland:

"It is often said that the best way to preach a sermon is with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other hand. This past week, I found myself unable to read these hard sayings from Jesus without thinking about the Occupy Wall Street protests that are cropping up across our nation. As I have read and listened to various commentators and pundits in regard to the protests, two quotes, in particular, have stood out to me. Together these quotes serve as both an interesting juxtaposition and as commentary on one another.

"The first quote is from John Kenneth Galbraith, a well-known economist who died a few years ago. He says that we humans too often 'search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.' This quote is perhaps particularly relevant given the resurgence of interest of late in Ayn Rand's philosophy of selfishness among some prominent politicians. The most bizarre aspect from my perspective is that many of these Ayn Rand-toting politicians are regular church attenders who experience no cognitive dissonance between their politics of selfishness and the way of Jesus.

"The second quote is more ironic, as one would expect from comedic satirist Stephen Colbert, who quips, 'IF THIS IS GOING TO BE A CHRISTIAN NATION THAT DOESN'T HELP THE POOR, EITHER WE HAVE TO PRETEND THAT JESUS WAS JUST AS SELFISH AS WE ARE, OR WE'VE GOT TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT HE COMMANDED US TO LOVE THE POOR AND SERVE THE NEEDY WITHOUT CONDITION AND THEN ADMIT THAT WE JUST DON'T WANT TO DO IT.'

"Although evolutionary biologists and neuroscientists are increasingly finding genetic and evolutionary impulses toward compassion, it is also true that selfishness is, in a sense, "natural" and part of our evolutionary inheritance. We are all born as egocentric infants, but in the face of evolutionary impulses to protect ourselves and those who share the largest number of genes, the way of Jesus calls us to expand our love of selfbeyond merely our immediate tribe to include the love of God and all our neighbors. Indeed, Jesus teaches that The Second Greatest Commandment is to "love your neighbor as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18 / Matthew 22:39-40 and parallels)." 

(emphasis added)

Source: Rev Carl Gregg in his sermon “Jesus, #OccupyWallSt, and the Rich Young Ruler” October 2, 2011.

Original.

The President Joins Teddy’s Spirited Charge Up Greed Mt.

President Obama has joined the charge up the slopes of massive greed and elitist's gated power mountain.

Review these his towering speech, presented-via Robert Reich - as follows:

"The President's speech today in Osawatomie, Kansas (12/8/11) - where Teddy Roosevelt gave his "New Nationalism" speech in 1910 - is the most important economic speech of his presidency in terms of connecting the dots, laying out the reasons behind our economic and political crises, and asserting a willingness to take on the powerful and the privileged that have gamed the system to their advantage."

(break)

"Some background: In 1909, Herbert Croly, a young political philosopher and journalist, argued in his best-selling The Promise of American Life that the large American corporation should be regulated by the nation and directed toward national goals. "THE CONSTRUCTIVE IDEA BEHIND A POLICY OF THE RECOGNITION OF THE SEMI-MONOPOLISTIC CORPORATION IS, OF COURSE, THE IDEA THAT THEY CAN BE CONVERTED INTO ECONOMIC AGENTS...FOR THE NATIONAL ECONOMIC INTEREST," Croly wrote. Teddy Roosevelt's New Nationalism embraced Croly's idea"

President Obama in his Speech to the Nation:

"For...(The New Deal), Roosevelt was called a radical, a socialist, even a communist. But today, we are a richer nation and a stronger democracy because of what he fought for in his last campaign: an eight hour work day and a minimum wage for women; insurance for the unemployed, the elderly, and those with disabilities; political reform and a progressive income tax.

"Today, over one hundred years later, our economy has gone through another transformation. Over the last few decades, huge advances in technology have allowed businesses to do more with less, and made it easier for them to set up shop and hire workers anywhere in the world. And many of you know firsthand the painful disruptions this has caused for a lot of Americans.

"Factories where people thought they would retire suddenly picked up and went overseas, where the workers were cheaper. Steel mills that needed 1,000 employees are now able to do the same work with 100, so that layoffs were too often permanent, not just a temporary part of the business cycle. These changes didn't just affect blue-collar workers. If you were a bank teller or a phone operator or a travel agent, you saw many in your profession replaced by ATMs or the internet. Today, even higher-skilled jobs like accountants and middle management can be outsourced to countries like China and India. And if you're someone whose job can be done cheaper by a computer or someone in another country, you don't have a lot of leverage with your employer when it comes to asking for better wages and benefits - especially since fewer Americans today are part of a union.

---

"Now, just as there was in Teddy Roosevelt's time, there's been a certain crowd in Washington for the last few decades who respond to this economic challenge with the same old tune. "The market will take care of everything," they tell us. If only we cut more regulations and cut more taxes - especially for the wealthy - our economy will grow stronger. Sure, there will be winners and losers. But if the winners do really well, jobs and prosperity will eventually trickle down to everyone else. And even if prosperity doesn't trickle down, they argue, that's the price of liberty."

---

"It's a simple theory - one that speaks to our rugged individualism and healthy skepticism of too much government. It fits well on a bumper sticker. HERE'S THE PROBLEM: IT DOESN'T WORK. IT'S NEVER WORKED. IT DIDN'T WORK WHEN IT WAS TRIED IN THE DECADE BEFORE THE GREAT DEPRESSION. IT'S NOT WHAT LED TO THE INCREDIBLE POST-WAR BOOM OF THE 50S AND 60S. AND IT DIDN'T WORK WHEN WE TRIED IT DURING THE LAST DECADE."

President Obama expands on this:

"...(T)his isn't just another political debate. This is the defining issue of our time. THIS IS A MAKE OR BREAK MOMENT FOR THE MIDDLE CLASS, AND ALL THOSE WHO ARE FIGHTING TO GET INTO THE MIDDLE CLASS. At stake is whether this will be a country where working people can earn enough to raise a family, build a modest savings, own a home, and secure their retirement."

This speech will occupy the minds of those who were/are privileged to hear or read it for a long time.

It's time to occupy our own courage and meet eye to eye the hoary mass of obstructionism and fawning deference to the imperial 1%ers - whose days of plunder will include sunset- a massive revolt-the very kind that scares rad-right word-monger Frank Lunz ; who says he's "SCARED TO DEATH" of the power and ability of the 99%ers who literally occupy every part of America.

Our President expands:

"Now, in the midst of this debate, there are some who seem to be suffering from a kind of COLLECTIVE AMNESIA. After all that's happened, after the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, they want to return to the same practices that got us into this mess. In fact, they want to go back to the same policies that have stacked the deck against middle-class Americans for too many years. Their philosophy is simple: we are better off when everyone is left to fend for themselves and play by their own rules."

President Obama's memorable concluding summation:

"Well, I'm here to say they are wrong. I'm here to reaffirm my deep conviction that we are greater together than we are on our own. I believe that this country succeeds when everyone gets a fair shot, when everyone does their fair share, and when everyone plays by the same rules. Those aren't Democratic or Republican values; 1% values or 99% values. They're American values, and we have to reclaim them."

"In 1910, Teddy Roosevelt came here, to Osawatomie, and laid out his vision for what he called a New Nationalism.

'Our country,' he said, '...means nothing unless it means the triumph of a real democracy...of an economic system under which each man shall be guaranteed the opportunity to show the best that there is in him.'"
(random emphasis added)

Well said, and Timely.


Original.

Michael Moore Stands with Teddy Roosevelt In Pursuit of A More Moral American Elite & Opposed to Rampant Greed

The Mackinac Center for Public Policy long ago went way out on a limb to justify and scrub the history of America's Robber Barons, attempting to make them our nation's entrepreneurial "saints."

A Wall Street Journal columnist Cites a Mackinac Center scholar's Book, Daniel Henninger, in his piece "Bring Back the Robber Barons" (1991)  highlighted in The Wall Street Journal a book entitled "The Myth of the Robber Barons: A New Look at the Rise of Big Business in America," by Dr. Burton Folsom Jr.

Folsom, a senior fellow in economic education for the Mackinac Center, attempts, as the Mackinac Center states, to dispel the "Myth of the Robber Barons explodes the misperception [SIC] that the great competitors of the 19th century made their gains unjustly..."

Father Bob Sirico (house priest for Erik Prince, and his mother, Father Bob's generous benefactor - Elsa Prince, Betsy (Prince) DeVos' mother, is a clever tartuffian, who now travels the country and the world with his message of divine blessing as expressed in the moral uprightness of massive wealth clothed in arcane Latin terms; often in league with Hillsdale's Dr. Gary Wolfram and the sub-basement writing staff at Mackinac's propaganda mill-all long encouraged and paid by millions from the mega-wealthy with an aggressive legislative list e.g. Right-to-Work (for Less) and all other manner of tax abatements and advantages for themselves.

There's an historical parallel, deja vu , in this moment of crisis, which has inspired the local, state, national, and international Occupy Movement:

"WE STAND AT ARMAGEDDON & BATTLE FOR THE LORD': Engage the fight against 'the tyranny of mere wealth, the tyranny of plutocracy."

-- Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt

That quote and more history of America's founding principals come from "The American Creed: A Biography of the Declaration of Independence" written by Forrest Church:

"In the early twenty century, radicals on the Christian Left were as critical of society as were Christians on the Right. The liberal social gospel arose in response to another aspect of modernism, the impact of industrialization on American society. Vast new capital emerged, undisciplined by government regulation. Max Weber wrote, "In the United States, the pursuit of wealth stripped of its religious and ethical meaning, tends to become associated with purely mundane passions, which often actually give it a character of sport." In these games one side almost always won. With the overwhelming preponderance of new capital filling the endless pockets of a few robber barons, lacking any government gesture in the direction of equity, the proliferation of goods no longer appeared to serve the common good. BY 1900 THE RICHEST ONE PERCENT OF AMERICANS POSSESSED MORE PROPERTY THAN ALL OTHER CITIZENS COMBINED. OUTRAGE AT THIS INEQUITY PROVOKED A POWERFUL, AND IN MANY WAYS REDEMPTIVE, SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS RESPONSE.

"When Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed, 'WE STAND AT ARMAGEDDON AND BATTLE FOR THE LORD,' it was not inspire his troops to storm San Juan Hill but to launch his reform platform as a Bull Moose candidate for president in 1912. Roosevelt was morally more eloquent in exercising his missionary zeal at home than abroad . Wary of the dangers posed by monopoly capitalism, he pledged the nation's sacred honor to dash 'the tyranny of mere wealth, the tyranny of plutocracy.' With his square deal anticipating his cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal. Theodore raised the platform of American social justice.

"Though a Republican, and by no means an enemy of American Business, Roosevelt developed a repugnance for amassing of great wealth. He was aware of overdevelopment, championing the conservation of natural resources...As personally upright as any American President, he described his political platform as fundamentally an ethical movement.

"At a time when American corporations were poised to take over the country-directing national policy with many fewer restrictions than they operate under today-Roosevelt systematically attacked 'the swollen fortunes' and 'entrenched privilege' of the 'malefactors of great wealth.'

"The Robber Barons threatened to hijack the nation's soul. Curbing monopolies alone was not enough, however. Spiraling inequities of wealth imperiled social peace as well as social justice...By 1912 he was advocating campaign reform and was among the first to propose both an income tax and an inheritance tax. For Roosevelt, a more equitable tax code had as much to with morals as with economics. Vast fortunes not only threatened the integrity of the social compact but also weakened the more fiber of families enthralled by their possession. AT A TIME WHEN THE AMERICAN CREED WAS IN DANGER OF BEING REPLACED BY THE GOD OF MAMMON, ROOSEVLET WAS THE FIRST PRESIDENT TO MARSHAL THE FULL FORCE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO EMPOWER HIS MORAL VISION...."

(break)

" 'God gave me my money,' John D. Rockefeller once said. By him and others of his tiny class, massive charitable tithes were offered as a demonstration of this fact. But religious critics didn't view Rockefeller and his cohorts quite as generously. When the untrammeled power of wealth began to supplant (and subvert) government power and undermine social stability (as it does so well today), social prophets opened their Bibles and read a different message."
[emphasis added]

Source: This analysis is drawn from the book "The American Creed; A Biography of the Declaration of Independence" by Forrest Church. See also Church's address "The American Creed".

Michael Moore is but one voice, there are a host of writers and religious leaders who are again calling America back to the "HIGHER GROUND" so well embodied in our DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE and THE AMERICAN CREED that flows from it.


Original.

Occupy America: Finding a Way to Free Citizens of the 99% from the “Mastery of the Ignoble elite.”

The hand-cranked memographers failure at the mighty propaganda mill - Mackinac Center for Public Policy - to do "the right thing" has caused it to lose all claim to pro-active philosophy, a sustainable fairness and renewal direction for Michigan.

This is profoundly sad and frightening.

It is the Mackinac Center incessant pounding of the legislature with proto-lobbying and the hectoring of the public to achieve their privatization and for-profit goals (while destroying and undermining the necessary order of Michigan and the everyday lives of its working people) that is creating ugly Michissippi - a newly decimated state pushed to be run over by TeaPublicans "gone wild" under the tutelage and direction of the Koch Bros., Amway, big oil, American Legislative Exchange Council put-and-take legislation and other mega corporations. These have put their demands well before the needs of Michigan's struggling populace.

The Mackinac Center is not conservative. The Mackinac Center is not moral. The Mackinac Center has lost all sense of religious mores. The Mackinac Center is a blight on traditional conservatism as led by Michigan's own Dean of Conservatism, the late Russell Kirk. The 'ignoble' mega-wealthy who back and propel Mackinac Center are not worthy of statesmanship and honor. They and their goals are ignoble.

Read this assessment of Russell Kirk's impact as relates to TRUE CONSERVATISM:

"First among the concerns of modern conservatives is the regeneration of spirit and character, by which Kirk means the renewal of religious ideals, the one sure foundation for a life worth living.

"Kirk cautions that political Christianity, in which God is a means to an end, will not suffice. Rather, spiritual renewal must be done for its own sake.

"The conservative is also concerned, as Kirk has mentioned before, with the PROBLEM OF LEADERSHIP, which has two aspects: the preservation of reverence, order, discipline, and class and the cleansing of our system of education, so that it can become liberal in the best sense of that word.

Stated Kirk "ONLY JUST LEADERSHIP CAN REDEEM SOCIETY FROM THE MASTERY OF THE IGNOBLE ELITE."
(emphasis added)

Excerpted from "Russell Kirk: The Conservative Mind".

America Faces Coming Judgment for Its Unbridled Worship of Pagan Mammonism

The Mackinac Center stands squarely with the Godless paganism of Ayn Rand, Friedman, Greenspan and others who exult the individual above the community and the congregation of the righteous, and still too, the common good, must be seen for what it actually is, a pagan libertarianism: Mammon whose fixation on "freedom" has degenerated into a raid on the foundations of our Republic; its banking and investment services, and yes, upon the distinctly religious basis given American life by the Framers of the Constitution.

Occupy America with righteousness and restore probity to the government and its institutions; stand with those who demand that business abide by moral standards. Too many of the "smartest men in the room" would have us believe that in America, if something has the force of law - a proposal is made into legal statues it bears the impress of morality, not so. All that is called 'legal' is not all moral. Legal is not necessarily 'moral.'

Americans suffer under many laws and corporate designer regulations that are anything but moral and righteous; beneficial to the common welfare.

Join Kirk's fight against twisted ideology and the corruption of real conservatism by the greedy usurpers mentioned above. Be genuinely 'Conservative.'
________

It is said that mankind faces judgment by God in the afterlife. Nations, however, receive their judgment and punishment in this life. America stands to face harsh judgment from God in the here-and-now. Repent.

Will repentance now be too late to save our fair land?

For more on the 1% follow the "Mega-Wealthy" and "Wealthy Elites" tags on the Gazette.

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Is Michael Moore God’s Man for This Hour of National Crisis?

Michael Moore's Focus on "Social Justice" Arises Directly out of His Catholic Education: Praise God!

"Progress has brought us both unbounded opportunities and unbridled difficulties. Thus, the measure of our civilization will not be that we have done much, but what we have done with that much. I believe that the next half century will determine if we will advance the cause of Christian civilization or revert to the horrors of brutal paganism. The thought of modern industry in the hands of Christian charity is a dream worth dreaming. The thought of industry in the hands of paganism is a nightmare beyond imagining. The choice is between the two."
-- Theodore Roosevelt

Michael Moore was schooled a Catholic. His sense of social justice is derived from his religious training and beliefs as a Catholic.

"Is there anyone here who, if his son asks him for a loaf of bread, will give him a stone?"
-- Matthew 7:9

Let's look at Moore's Roman Catholic Catechism for some insight:

"Here is a quotation from the official Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church which illustrated the Church's position regarding the economics of poverty. This is to be found in Article 7 "The Seventh Commandment: You shall not steal," paragraphs 2401 through 2463. Notice that the seventh commandment establishes the right of private property, for without some recognition of private property there could be no such thing as stealing for everything would belong to everyone. Hence one cannot accuse Catholic doctrine of supporting views expressed by French anarchist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon in his book 'Property is Theft.'

"Article 2402 of The Catechism states that 'The goods of creation are destined for the whole human race. However, the earth is divided up among men to assure the security of their lives, endangered by poverty and threatened by violence.'

"Article 2403 of The Catechism states that 'The right to private property, acquired by work or received from others by inheritance or gift, does not do away with the original gift of the earth to the whole of mankind. The universal destination of goods remains primordial, even if the promotion of the common good requires respect for the right to private property and its exercise.'

"Article 2406 of The Catechism states 'Political authority has the right and duty to regulate the legitimate exercise of the right to ownership for the sake of the common good.'

"Consider the exercise of 'eminent domain' when highways must be constructed. Consider the anti-trust laws which prevent any single Corporation from becoming so powerful that it would exercise unfairness in the competitive market place..."

Thus concludes William Buell, blogger.

America Has Been Too Long Under the Sway of a Cult of Mammon and Unrelenting Greed: Our Present Day Paganism

The ongoing press of libertarians and malcontents in defense of rampant greed rides in large part on the atheism and anti-humanitarian dementia of Ayn Rand, Milton Friedman, Alan Greenspan, et al. These powerful influences have co-opted and sanctified the financial barbarism which is the basis of many of their fortunes (not all) and the power-lust of the top 1%; who find little shame in their dominance and suppression of the 99% - including the working poor, the disadvantaged, the handicapped, the mentally addled; nor do they recant their shortcuts which took them to this haughty pinnacle.

"In what other land or age does one find selfishness enshrined as a virtue and a whole population of individuals drinking their self-worship neat, unadulterated by any idolatry of tribe or class? Where, but here, and when, but now; could "I DID IT MY WAY" be the music most often played at funerals?" 

-- Commenter from FirstThings.

The Detroit News/Mackinac Center charges against Michael Moore's motives lie squarely askew God's Plan.

Note the brilliant summation of Roman Catholic Archbishop Dom Helder:

"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint, But when I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist."

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Confusion Over Free Enterprise & Private Property

A SHARP FOCUS:
The Promulgation of Theft by the 1%ers v. the Right of Preservation & Expansion of Personal Property by the Victimized 99% Long Deprived of Fair Compensation for Honest Labor

"A pickpocket is obviously a champion of private enterprise. But it would perhaps be an exaggeration to say that a pickpocket is a champion of private property. The point about Capitalism and Commercialism, as conducted of late, is that they have really preached the extension of business rather than the preservation of belongings; and have at best tried to disguise the pickpocket with some of the virtues of the pirate."

― G.K. Chesterton, in his book "The Outline of Sanity" (1927)

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Ayn Rand Speaking With Precision for the 99 %

The Evil of Supplicating to Men Who Produce Nothing, in Order to Produce:

"When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion - when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing - when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors - when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work and your laws don't protect you against them, but protect them against you - when you see corruption being rewarded and honestly becoming a self-sacrifice - YOU MAY KNOW THAT YOUR SOCIETY IS DOOMED."
(emphasis added)

-- Ayn Rand (1905-1982) Author

Source: Atlas Shrugged, Francisco's "Money Speech"


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Gingrich, Like Nixon, Hates Dirty Hippies: Yet Loves His Own ‘Free Love’ Lifestyle

If there is one thing that most social conservative Americans dislike in a candidate for president it's a sex addict.

Fred Barnes writes in this week's issue of The Weekly Standard in "The History of Newt: Are Republicans ready to look past his transgressions?":

"... Gingrich has 'told friends he's like Richard Nixon, not particularly likable and hated by the press and the left.' And here we see Gingrich taking a page from Nixon's playbook. If there was one thing Americans disliked more than the not particularly likable Nixon, it was dirty hippies."

A specific scripture verse on the moral qualifications for a early Christian deacon applies well to the office of President for the character qualifications demanded by values voters:

"[An] Elder ought to be one in whom no fault is found and is the husband of one woman, is of a vigilant mind, sober, orderly, loves strangers and is a teacher."
-- I Timothy 3:12, Aramaic Bible in Plain English

Newt must believe that if one has a new haircut, a clean odorless body, and a filthy mind, that because that person is not "dirty" then there should be an elevated acceptance of that individual on the basis that, as in the Fundamentalist apocryphal "Cleanlyness is next to godliness." The many dirty deeds of Wall Street are not expressed in their choice of personal toiletry or dress, evil is a deep dirt condition that passes the surface 'smell test' that Gingrich so snarkedly presents.

What about Newt, himself, with a stylish haircut, crisp suits, he smells good, and possesses a long history of sexual over indulgence, if not addictions to fornication and adultery, he can claim he is cleaner than those he seeks to discount who are the OWS patriots. The Newtonian dirty deeds-in pursuit of the support and acceptance of himself by the 1% - are hard to continence, even if Newt runs up his tab at Tiffney's-in an ostentatious manner.

Want to see into the twisted morals and mind of Gingrich? Read his co-authored novel, the book entitled "1945" , a 1995 alternate history novel.

"Ultimately, it's the Gingrichian way with facts, figures, and ideas that most endears him to these (rad right) voters," ogles Barnes admiringly.

If there is one thing that most Americans dislike in a candidate for president, a sex addict. Newt is a serial adulterer. He has a long early history of easy sex and lax, if not existent restrain on his libido.

But the crushing blow to Newtonian claims to be a true conservative comes in crushing form from George Will, ABC's This Week, Sunday.

Conservative scribe George Will ridiculed Newt Gingrich as a 'rental politician' on ABC's 'This Week' yesterday (11/20/11), scoffing at the idea that the Republican Party's self-described 'big ideas' candidate is employable as a historian:

"Gingrich's is an amazingly efficient candidacy, in that it embodies almost everything disagreeable about modern Washington. He's the classic rental politician. People think his problem is his colorful personal life. He's gonna hope people concentrate on that, rather than on, for example, ethanol. Al Gore has recanted ethanol. Not Newt Gingrich, who has served the ethanol lobby. Industrial policy of the sort that got us Solyndra " he's all for it. Freddie Mac, he says, hired him as a "historian." He's not a historian. Hire Sean Wilentz, hire Gordon Wood if you want a historian." 

So said Mr. Will.

"Will's undisguised scorn is a good illustration of why Gingrich, even as he makes a bid for the affections of rank-and-file anti-Romney voters, is unlikely to win over much of anti-Romney conservative upper crust. As much as there's still a demand for an impressive, thoughtful conservative in the race who can lead the party to Romney's right, most of the political elites who know Gingrich best were convinced a long time ago that he isn't that guy."

So says Alexander Burns in Politico on Nov 21, 2011.


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