Targeting The Elderly

Was it electrifying a border fence, defending the war in Iraq, refusing to offer any opinion about the Iranian plot against the Saudi ambassador, exonerating the financial services industry of any responsibility for the economic calamity, or asserting liberals are on a "mission" to destroy the economy?

Plenty to choose from in the interview Herman Cain sat for on Meet The Press. But nothing (except for anxious Mexicans) Cain said in the interview was as dangerous as his continued advocacy of upside-down 6-6-6. We already knew "9-9-9" would explode the debt and further enrich the wealthy at the expense of the middle class. And we knew that Cain wants to replace the Social Security system with the failed Chilean model.

But the main challenger to Mitt Romney for the GOP presidential nomination clarified it all for us on Sunday when he responded to David Gregory's comment/question "The reality of the 9-9-9 plan is this, I'll put it up on the screen, it is to have a 9 percent corporate income tax, 9 percent personal income tax, 9 percent sales tax. Everything else is gone." Mr. Cain replied in one word: "yes."

Herman Cain's solution is to place Social Security money money into the caring and unselfish hands of Wall Street. Meanwhile, there no doubt are some participants in Republican primaries and caucuses who currently receive Social Security who would like it to be there for their children (and grandchildren) without subjecting their future to the vagaries of a gyrating stock market. Like most politicians of his party, Herman Cain looks back to the old days of widespread poverty among the elderly and finds it satisfying.

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Lighten Up, America

At first thought, he could have said that he changed his mind. Or that he was exaggerating to make a point.

But Herman Cain said neither when on Sunday's Meet The Press (transcript here) David Gregory commented/asked "On immigration, you said at an event in Tennessee that you would build an electrified fence on the border that could kill people if they try to cross illegally."

The exchange continued:

MR. CAIN: That's a joke, David.

MR. GREGORY: It's a joke, so that was...

MR. CAIN: It's a joke. That's a joke.

MR. GREGORY: That's not a serious plan?

MR. CAIN: That's not a serious plan.

MR. GREGORY: OK.

MR. CAIN: No, it's not.

MR. GREGORY: You got a big laugh out of that, but that's not what you'd do.

MR. CAIN: That, that's a joke. that's a joke. I've also said America needs to get a sense of humor. That was a joke, OK?

At a rally in Tennessee on Saturday the chain-store pizza magnate asserted that he wants to "secure the border for real with a fence" (video, below) and

It’s going to be 20 feet high. It’s going to have barbed wire on the top. It’s going to be electrified. And there’s going to be a sign on the other side saying, ‘It will kill you — Warning.'

Recognizing a joke about electrocuting individuals apparently committing a misdemeanor (trial or hearing at government option), we all laughed. Presumably, we all were to have laughed when Cain added "It’s insensitive for them to be killing our citizens, killing our border agents. That’s what’s insensitive. And that mess has to stop.

More than a little insensitive, though evidently the reference to illegal immigrants killing border agents was part of the joke from the would-be stand-up comedian.

Note to Republicans considering voting for Mr. Cain: your candidate did not say Democrats "need to get a sense of humor" or liberals "need to get a sense of humor." He said "America needs to get a sense of humor." That means you. Although the officials you've elected often seem unconcerned about America, "Americans" include you. That applies particularly to those conservatives exorcised at the exercise of political correctness, in which liberals are just far too sensitive. Americans simply need a sense of humor.

That's because the problem is not with Herman Cain, or with what he said. The problem is with the audience, with Americans, stricken with a serious character flaw. And Herman Cain's prospects in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina, and Florida may depend upon the tolerance of GOP voters and their willingness to give a vote of confidence to someone who looks down his nose upon them.

Next: That wasn't the worst (but was the most shocking) thing Herman Cain said on MTP.

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The Republican Media- No. 33

To The Washington Post, progress is blocked in Washington by the same old problem: Democrats like big government, Republicans don't. On Thursday, their reporters wrote

For the GOP, the big idea is that government is the main problem.

Republicans have proposed to stop new environmental and financial regulations, and lower corporate taxes. Then, the logic goes, a liberated private sector will pull itself off the mat.

For the Democrats, the idea is that government can be the main solution.

It's too easy to point out that GOP preference for small government ends at the water's edge, beyond which they enthusiastically support foreign adventures when a Republican is president, somewhat enthusiastically when a Democrat is present. And that Republicans want a bigger, bigger, and still bigger defense budget, now condemning Barack Obama for cutting defense spending when he has increased it well beyond that of the GW Bush years and as a percentage of tax revenues.

But Dean Baker makes an even more important point, slapping the Post for "pushing stereotypes" and noting

The vast majority of the money in President Obama's job plan is in the form of tax cuts, mostly cuts in the payroll tax for workers and employers. How exactly does this fit with "government can be the main solution?"

As far as the Republican side, how many Republicans called for ending federal deposit insurance and other supports for the banking system? Republicans have no problem with all sorts of government regulations (e.g. patent and copyright protection) that impose enormous costs on the economy, but disproportionately benefit the wealthy. Their objection is not to government, their objection is to government doing anything to help the poor and middle class.

And then there are of course the primary sexual issues, gay rights and abortion rights, in which GOP abhorrence at government regulating the marketplace for the benefit of the 99% gives way to eagerness for the long hand of government bureaucrats reaching into the bedroom. The Associated Press has found

A nationwide coalition of anti-abortion groups said Wednesday it is preparing to push legislation in all 50 states requiring that pregnant women see and hear the fetal heartbeat before having an abortion.

The effort follows the introduction of similar legislation at the federal level by Republican presidential candidate and U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota....

Scores of restrictions aimed at reducing access to abortion have been approved so far in state legislatures this year. Five states — Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, and Oklahoma — have passed measures banning virtually all abortions after five months of pregnancy.

The informed-consent bill that's being pushed in the 50 states would require abortion practitioners to make the fetal heartbeat audible and visible to pregnant women before an abortion. It's being backed by the National Right to Life, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Americans United for Life, Susan B. Anthony List and Family Research Council Action.

While the separate strategies show internal differences, their purpose is the same, said Kellie Copeland, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio, an abortion-rights group.

"Let's be clear, they all want to take away a woman's ability to make persona, private decisions by outlawing abortion," Copeland said.

That lungs do not begin to function until approximately the twenty-third week of pregnancy and the fetal brain does not begin to resemble a newborn's brain until approximately three weeks later is of little concern to the legislators. They almost sincerely believe life as we know it begins roughly six months into a pregnancy, six months after the fetus develops a sense of human consciousness, and want their beliefs mandated by government. And not only by individual state governments but by Washington, pushed by a party which periodically advertises as the guys who believe that government closets to the people is best.

The Post, attempting to appear to present both sides of the issue, quotes House Minority Leader Steny Hoyer, himself a moderate Democrat, who himself presents the issue in a balanced way: "The fundamental difference is, Democrats see government as a partner in progress and growth. The Republicans — at least those that have been elected recently — see it as the impediment to growth." In Hoyer's estimation, they both have a point: one wants a partner, the other opposes impediments.

Meanwhile, a Heritage Foundation spokesman explains the conservative position, maintaining "Washington should be pursuing a policy of 'do no more harm." Stop doing stuff. Stop trying to meddle (in) the economy." You see, conservatives are like your family doctor- "first, do no harm." From The Post, we get the right's position- and the middle-of-the-road position, presented as that of the left.

The difference, of course, lies in the organizations and individuals Republicans ally with on their way to helping their favored constituencies, usually the most powerful, contrasted with liberal/Democratic allies and constituencies. They all want big government and merely differ in whose ox they want to gore, a condition the mainstream media chooses to ignore.

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The Republican Media- No. 33

To The Washington Post, progress is blocked in Washington by the same old problem: Democrats like big government, Republicans don't. On Thursday, their reporters wrote

For the GOP, the big idea is that government is the main problem.

Republicans have proposed to stop new environmental and financial regulations, and lower corporate taxes. Then, the logic goes, a liberated private sector will pull itself off the mat.

For the Democrats, the idea is that government can be the main solution.

It's too easy to point out that GOP preference for small government ends at the water's edge, beyond which they enthusiastically support foreign adventures when a Republican is president, somewhat enthusiastically when a Democrat is present. And that Republicans want a bigger, bigger, and still bigger defense budget, now condemning Barack Obama for cutting defense spending when he has increased it well beyond that of the GW Bush years and as a percentage of tax revenues.

But Dean Baker makes an even more important point, slapping the Post for "pushing stereotypes" and noting

The vast majority of the money in President Obama's job plan is in the form of tax cuts, mostly cuts in the payroll tax for workers and employers. How exactly does this fit with "government can be the main solution?"

As far as the Republican side, how many Republicans called for ending federal deposit insurance and other supports for the banking system? Republicans have no problem with all sorts of government regulations (e.g. patent and copyright protection) that impose enormous costs on the economy, but disproportionately benefit the wealthy. Their objection is not to government, their objection is to government doing anything to help the poor and middle class.

And then there are of course the primary sexual issues, gay rights and abortion rights, in which GOP abhorrence at government regulating the marketplace for the benefit of the 99% gives way to eagerness for the long hand of government bureaucrats reaching into the bedroom. The Associated Press has found

A nationwide coalition of anti-abortion groups said Wednesday it is preparing to push legislation in all 50 states requiring that pregnant women see and hear the fetal heartbeat before having an abortion.

The effort follows the introduction of similar legislation at the federal level by Republican presidential candidate and U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota....

Scores of restrictions aimed at reducing access to abortion have been approved so far in state legislatures this year. Five states — Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, and Oklahoma — have passed measures banning virtually all abortions after five months of pregnancy.

The informed-consent bill that's being pushed in the 50 states would require abortion practitioners to make the fetal heartbeat audible and visible to pregnant women before an abortion. It's being backed by the National Right to Life, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Americans United for Life, Susan B. Anthony List and Family Research Council Action.

While the separate strategies show internal differences, their purpose is the same, said Kellie Copeland, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio, an abortion-rights group.

"Let's be clear, they all want to take away a woman's ability to make persona, private decisions by outlawing abortion," Copeland said.

That lungs do not begin to function until approximately the twenty-third week of pregnancy and the fetal brain does not begin to resemble a newborn's brain until approximately three weeks later is of little concern to the legislators. They almost sincerely believe life as we know it begins roughly six months into a pregnancy, six months after the fetus develops a sense of human consciousness, and want their beliefs mandated by government. And not only by individual state governments but by Washington, pushed by a party which periodically advertises as the guys who believe that government closets to the people is best.

The Post, attempting to appear to present both sides of the issue, quotes House Minority Leader Steny Hoyer, himself a moderate Democrat, who himself presents the issue in a balanced way: "The fundamental difference is, Democrats see government as a partner in progress and growth. The Republicans — at least those that have been elected recently — see it as the impediment to growth." In Hoyer's estimation, they both have a point: one wants a partner, the other opposes impediments.

Meanwhile, a Heritage Foundation spokesman explains the conservative position, maintaining "Washington should be pursuing a policy of 'do no more harm." Stop doing stuff. Stop trying to meddle (in) the economy." You see, conservatives are like your family doctor- "first, do no harm." From The Post, we get the right's position- and the middle-of-the-road position, presented as that of the left.

The difference, of course, lies in the organizations and individuals Republicans ally with on their way to helping their favored constituencies, usually the most powerful, contrasted with liberal/Democratic allies and constituencies. They all want big government and merely differ in whose ox they want to gore, a condition the mainstream media chooses to ignore.

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Not Sitting Still

It's not only in New York City anymore. Nor is it in merely Prescott (Arizona), Pocatello (Idaho), Portag (Indiana), Kearney (N.J)., Boone (N.C.) Roseburg (Oregon), Denton (Texas), Coleville (Washington), or Appleton (Wisconsin). It is also throughout the country in dozens of municipalities which people actually have heard of. And now worldwide, where on Saturday, Occupy Wall Street inspired protests throughout most of Europe (and in Canada), in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, England, France, Greece, Austria, Belgium, and Finland.

But the biggest, and most important, action is in Manhattan. And there hope is arriving. TheNew York Daily News reports

Solidarity hero Lech Walesa is flying to New York to show his support for the Occupy Wall Street protesters.

"How could I not respond," Walesa told a Polish newspaper Wednesday. "The thousands of people gathered near Wall Street are worried about the fate of their future, the fate of their country. This is something I understand."

A former shipyard worker who led Poland's successful revolt against Soviet communism, Walesa said "capitalism is in crisis" and not just in America.

"This is a worldwide problem," he told the Lubin-based Dziennik Wschodni newspaper. "The Wall Street protesters have focused a magnifying glass on the problem."

Protests organizers said they will welcome Walesa with open arms.

Not a bad response, that hearty welcome. "When America sneezes, the world catches cold" runs the old axiom and "the staunch anti-communist (and) working-class hero, " is in a unique position to understand the international implications of the crisis in capitalism he identifies in the U.S.A. Walesa's movement was not only the biggest factor in overturning Soviet rule in Poland but played a major role in the eventual dissolution of the Iron Curtain, symbolized by the destruction of the Berlin Wall.

And in the U.S.A., it's not only the growing inequality of income reflected in the following graph(from Emmanuel Saez of the University of California, Berkeley):

Nor is it only the warped distribution of wealth, wherein the top 1% possess more wealth than the bottom 90% of Americans. In their recent work, Andrew C. Berg and Jonathan D. Ostrydiscovered

equality appears to be an important ingredient in promoting and sustaining growth. The difference between countries that can sustain rapid growth for many years or even decades and the many others that see growth spurts fade quickly may be the level of inequality.

They recall

the developing country debt crises of the 1980s and the resulting "lost decade" of slow growth and painful adjustment. That experience brought home the fact that sustainable economic reform is possible only when its benefits are widely shared. In the face of the current global economic turmoil and the need for difficult economic adjustment and reform in many countries, it would be better if these lessons were remembered rather than relearned.

Narrowing the gap between the wealthy and the other 90-95% of the population is not sufficient to bring about economic growth. But it is necessary. The last time the gap between the top 1% and the bottom 90% was this wide? 1928.

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Just No, No, No

Former President Bill Clinton knows tax policy and has improved his diet. He’s also reputedly a good golfer but can be excused that. However, his belief in the restorative power of the game appears rooted in an earlier era and is extraordinarily naive. USA Today reports

Clinton would like to see another change — one dealing with the gridlock on Capitol Hill. Clinton probably sports bruises from his partisan battled with Republicans during his eight years at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. And he sees things haven't gotten any better between the GOP and the Democratic Party.

His solution? Tee it up.

Clinton said that while the country is less racist and sexist and more acceptable of homosexuals, one division needs to be improved.

"We don't want to be around people we disagree with," he said. "Just think about it. It's a bad thing, I think, for our country, that we don't like to be around people who disagree with us.

"Golf brings people together. Once you actually see somebody as a human being, it becomes impossible to disregard what they have to say, and you might learn something. I think it's really important."

The problem with Washington is not that people can’t get along. It’s that the GOP has seized on the tactic of opposing Barack Obama because he is Barack Obama- or, rather, because he is a Democrat- and was rewarded handsomely at the polls in 2010.

Jon Perr has the numbers for the party following Nancy Reagan's advice (on drugs)- the Just Say No Party:

This isn't surprising, given that before the mid-term elections Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell asserted"The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president" with the "single biggest political goal" to "give our nominee for president the maximum opportunity to be successful." Afterward, he defined cooperation as "if the president is willing to do what I and my members would do anyway, we're not going to say no."

Bill Clinton, though, believes it all can be solved with golf. He loves hitting that little white ball and walking up and down the fairway with the other rich guys, as when business was done amongst the good 'ole boys. But the Reagan-Tip O'Neill show is over and this is a far different crew with a different attitude toward the opposing party, and the country.

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Psychic In New Jersey

This is not a post about football, nor is it about gambling.

Probably the most intriguing National Football League game "on the card" this weekend pits the Detroit Lions, somehow undefeated in five games, vs. the San Francisco 49ers, somehow losers of only one game this year. In their effort to get an equal amount of money betting on each team, have made the Lions a 4-point favorite

But if you're not sure if Detroit will win and cover the spread, consult Steve Goldstein, head of the gay-rights group Garden State Equality. Surely he knows. The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J. reports

School officials in Union Township are investigating allegations that a teacher at Union High School posted comments on her Facebook site criticizing a school display recognizing Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender History Month and calling homosexuality "perverted."

On Saturday, a local attorney who said he had initially been contacted by a parent, wrote to the district calling for the teacher’s dismissal.

The lawyer, John Paragano, a former township councilman, provided the district with what he said was a copy of the Facebook thread that included the offending remarks.

A copy was also provided to The Star-Ledger, in which the teacher, Viki Knox, allegedly referred to homosexuality as, "a perverted spirit that has existed from the beginning of creation," and a "sin" that "breeds like cancer."

"Hateful public comments from a teacher cannot be tolerated," wrote Paragano, also a former Union Township Municipal Court judge. "She has a right to say it. But she does not have a right to keep her job after saying it."

Union Chief School Administrator Patrick Martin said the district is investigating the incident.

The legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, Ed Barocas, stated

Although we do not agree with the sentiments expressed on Ms. Knox’s personal Facebook page, her comments are protected by the First Amendment. The ACLU believes that the response to offensive speech is not the restriction of speech, but more speech....

The school has the right to investigate whether she is performing her job in accordance with school policies and the state's Law Against Discrimination.

Unlike Steve Goldstein, the ACLU does not know whether Ms. Knox is performing her job properly and believes that is the controlling issue in evaluating the teacher's fitness. But Steve Goldstein can tell the future. In fact, he is sure

Teachers are supposed to be role models for our children, not hatemongers. I don’t see how this teacher could possibly be effective in implementing the state’s new anti-bullying law, designed precisely to teach children that bullying, including cyber-bullying, is unacceptable.

High school teachers are less role models than subject instructors. Determining whether to hire- and, even more so, to fire- one over his or her political beliefs and/or lifestyle is not a road we should want to travel.

But never mind. Steve Goldstein just knows how Ms. Knox would respond to an alleged incident of bullying. Surely, she would not be distracted by the responsibilities of her job, her job specifications, sense of professionalism, or even direction by her principal or other school administrators. She thinks homosexuality is a sin and therefore would tolerate bullying. Goldstein knows this.

There are, however, more important considerations and money to be made. Stop reading this post, place your bets, and beat the spread. Call or send a text message to Goldstein: will the Giants really beat the Bills by at least three points?

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