This is also one of my favorite Dorthea ’s photos, the family was working in California because the Dad was native to California. They had 7 children, mom is only 32 years old in the picture. The year was 1936, and it was full of horrible weather phenomena( sound familiar ?) and the pea crop failed. When this picture was taken she had just sold her tent so that they would have a little bit of money for food. The whole photo series shows that then she made a makeshift tent out of their bedding. The family lived in a migrant camp with 2500 other people in the same situation, no on better off than another. I am haunted by these photos, they now seem so familiar. I live in downtown Cleveland, I watch people fighting over grates in the eve. ( I am working on a Black/white photo essay on homelessness….)Thanks for this post….

Molly Ivins, after looking at just a few military expenditures that have nothing to do with paying soldiers or financing the war draws the conclusion that “we could shift $60 billion into education without even breathing hard.”

Imagine if we didn’t make the huge tax breaks permanent, etc.

It will be interesting to see if Cooper Anderson takes on these issues when he gets his hour or will CNN not allow the passion we saw during his Katrina broadcasts.

As a Canadian/NZ addicted to US left- wing blogs, to read day after day, the immoral and brazen decisions made by the ruling political is truly stunning. Corporate business interests sent your country into a war that they profit from but are not willing to pay for. Instead the politicians who are in the pockets of these people legalize taking the food from poor children’s mouths to cover the cost. It’s difficult to comprehend the calculated corruption involved for a politician to arrive at such a decision.

That’s a magnificent picture. It states the need for public services and reproductive choice clearly and succinctly.

ME, you are a national treasure, I will continue ta do whatchu say and will use yer resources and links . Thanx…keep on keepin’ on.

It is weak and irresponsible to ask someone to come along and “save us”

We have to save ourselves. Then perhaps, someone will stand up and lead.

http://fusioner.proboards60.co…..1131129004

The first place to start in saving ourselves is in the vigorous use of our First Amendment Rights. Speak out. I can hear you loud and clear here, but you have to put your message in _their_ faces.

Write a letter, click the link, and get the word out nationally. You can hit every MSM news source in under 45 minutes by copying and pasting a decent letter to the press. Vent: get loud, be proud. Our voices need to rise above the din.

JWP, insted a tellin’ ya where ta put “steely, calm and unemotional”, I’ll jest tell ya that my remarks were objective , reasonable and designed ta get people thinkin’ about what we hafta do once we regain power.

The fascists have power now and if ya think that they’re gunna let sumpthin az mundane az a free election take it from ‘em yer smokin’ some stuff I wanna get my handz on. So their tactic iz ta emasculate the institutions of federal AND state government (and the national treasury) ta the point that government action on anythin at any level iz ineffective. In the meantime, the rearguard action politically iz designed ta keep all resources and energy on behalf of “the people” occupied on gettin’ good folks elected ta office.

My analysis holdz, we ARE gunna take back political power over the next 5 yearz at ALL levels but by the time we do, the social and economic landscape of this country will look like Europe in the middle ages.

This legislation (and this thread) is particularly sad when I see the type of people I’m running into in my state where we’re trying to raise the minimum wage.

I’ve HAD it!

Repub greedy lies:

1. If I want to pay someone 3 dollars and hour it’s my right.

2. If you raise the wage, then we will lose jobs because the lazy workers will cause the businesses to fire people and work with less or take the jobs overseas.

3. If I’m offered minimum wage or less then I will just have to work harder to better myself.

4. It’s not my priority.

5. We all have equal ways of getting paid better than minimum wage.

6. Only immigrants, teenagers, and dumb people work for minimum wage.

Ok..so can you see I’ve had my fill of their b.s.?

Save US someone!!! How can they believe the stuff they angrily spew?

Flamethrower,

My feelings about this administration are vehement, but our language needs to be steely, calm, unemotional.

The swing voters will not believe that these are evil men (and a few women) because they have been a process where they have identified with them personally. Voted for them, or agree on some issue, etc. At some point, gwb was “us” in some “us v. them” imagination.

So the theme for the 2006 should be that these people are incompetent and lack common sense.

fFlip side, what is it that is common sense that we should do?

Don’t worry; for those wiliing to see, the corruption is obvious.

But for the swing voters we need, we have to convice them the country is on the wrong track, and that the Dems are geared up to do things that are helpful.

Tall order, that last part.

Another Rove scandal brewing.

Kenneth Tomlinson, the Rove crony who was ousted from the board of the Corp. for Public Broadcasting is being investigated for misuse of public funds, including for personal expenses and hiring “phantom” employees.
Only a few months ago, Rove was intstrumental in putting Tomlinson in that job in the first place. It did not take him long to find the cookie jar.

His shtick is that CPB is liberal biased, which may or may not be true, but he used some very heavy-handed methods to try to intimidate CPB, inbcluding hiring “outside consultants” to monitor the content of Bill Moyer’s programs (though not apparently the remarks of Paul Gigot of the WSJ). Now he is caught in his own web of deception.

Seems like kleptomania should be added to the definition of “Republican.”

http://tinyurl.com/a3nne

First of all folks, it is clear that the the strategy of the neofascists, “shrink the government until it’s small enough to drown in the bathtub”, has been acheived. Even if we reinstitute the tax rates of 1998, with oil prices at this level and supplies runnin’ out in 40 years, we will have to institute confiscatory taxation to raise the level of services to education, soc. services and health to 1998 levels…this of course would kill what little is left of the production sector of our economy. In short dear friends, we are fucked.

The strategy of the neofascists with regard ta Treasongate is ta dump the whole thing on Cheney and hope that there are enough corrupted judges in the federal system (they’ve been packin’ ‘em in since 1981) to keep everything from comin’ out. That is why Libby iz not gunna flip…if the judge in his trial doez not throw it out on national security grounds he iz gunna hunker down and wait fer a pardon.

Our onliest hope iz fer Fitz ta bring more and more charges up the ladder endin’ in big espionage and consipracy ta commit espionage. Politically the fascists are screwed but so iz the country. It will take 2 more election cycles ta get the legislative and executive branches back and 30 years ta get the federal judiciary back. In the mean time, economically we are lookin at mideival Europe for a model of how our country willlook in 5 years.

With every whack at the less fortunate the Republicans are adding potential soldiers to an invisible army. When the leader or leaders appear that can harness even a portion of that energy there is going to be hell to pay.

It’s like they think there will never be another election.

Oh wait… uh oh.

Liz Sidoti wrote the AP story. You can get email to her, if you write: info@ap.org and in the subject line write “Please forward to Liz Sidoti”

She is a party hack, I have tried to find her direct email. I do dun her when I see articles like this. I also write a negative comment to every (R) she mentions in her article. In this case Senator Cornyn (R-TX) is one of the Nazgûl.

I’m a values voter.

My values say give tha woman in the picture and her kids a fair shake.

Let her have a chance to work, let her family have access to health care and to education.

I went to the Wharton School of Business. My business credentials are impeccable. But no society or civil polity can thrive when only the very wealthy benefit. Our greatest capital is our human capital.

Another excerpt from Truman, 1948:

The country was driven into depression by the policies of a Republican administration and a Republican Congress that served the selfish interests of the rich and powerful business groups.

The country was brought out of the depression by the intelligent foresight and planning of the Democratic Party — and above all by following the fundamental belief of the Democratic Party that the true road to prosperity begins with looking after the little fellow. The Republicans believe in taking care of big business first and letting the little fellow take care of himself.

The more things change – the more they stay the same. This is an excerpt from a speech Truman gave in 1948 at a Jefferson/Jackson event.

________

Within the memory of most of us here, a clear record has been written that shows how much difference that choice can make. The Republicans wrote part of their record from 1921 to 1933. They led the country to depression, poverty, and despair.

It is easy to forget what the black days of the depression were like. Let us recall a few, just a few of the bitter facts.

In 1932, after 12 years of Republican bungling, more than 12 million men and women were unemployed.

In 1932 the average worker in manufacturing industries was making 45 cents an hour — if he was lucky enough to have a job. In coal mining, the most hazardous of all occupations, miners were making 52 cents an hour — if they were lucky enough to have jobs.

The working men and women in this country could not do much to help themselves, because the strength of their unions had been broken by the reactionary labor policies of the Republican administration.

The Republican bubble burst in 1929, and when it burst:

– There was no minimum wage to cushion the blow.

– There was no unemployment compensation to carry the working man’s family along.

– There was no work relief program to help people through the crisis.

– But the party of privilege was ready to carry big business through the crisis. It created the Reconstruction Finance Corporation for that purpose. The banks, the railways, the insurance companies — they got relief, but not the American people.

– For the unemployed, it was Hoovervilles and soup kitchens. Veterans were encouraged to go into business for themselves — selling apples.

That is the Republican record. Most of us well remember it. The Democratic part of the record begins in 1933, when the Democratic Party began to build prosperity for business, labor, and agriculture.

What is it about electoral systems that seems to guarantee the most inept, venal, stupid and corrupt are elected, no matter what?
Clowns.

Medicare evidently not touched because those suckers know how to fight back.

Hey, why not. There are plenty more desparate people out there that more than willing to fill our low paying jobs, who will cheers us on for removing the saftey net. Besides the saftey net is unamerican.

Only millionars deserve governmental help, the others are just freeloaders.

Your compassionate conservative president!

I can’t take any more tonight. Gonna go watch Star Wars III on DVD, about all I can stand at the moment. Fluff.
“So this is how democracy dies…To the sound of thunderous applause.”-Padme.
“Only a Sith deals in absolutes”-Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Here are the headlines on Yahoo right now:

• Americas argue trade; protests wreak havoc
• U.S. launches major offensive in Iraq
• Search on for Texas death row inmate
• Democrats move to exploit Iraq missteps
• Bishop: Anglican will someday embrace gays
• Industry finding ways to make podcasting pay
• Video: More parents decide against diapers

Please note that the “Democrats” are trying to “exploit” Iraq “missteps”.

This is where the problem lies. MSM. You mean to say that I should even know that there are poor people in the US if I watch MSM?

So much for Republicans being the pro-family party… (these guys are crazy and sick)

hunter at dailykos does a great job too on this same issue, and gives quite a moving personal story there too about hard times in his own family. entitled: ‘Shameless. Absolutely Shameless’

http://dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/11/4/18564/6327

“…Because there’s a more fundamental reason for these 35 billion dollar cuts. It’s because the next budget item to be taken up will be another 70 billion dollar tax cut…….So given all that — just a single week of falling off an edge that lurks just beyond the refrigerator door of millions of families in this nation — I’ll never understand the Republican fascination with screwing the poor at every opportunity. Countless numbers of American middle class families are one month, one week, or one very bad day away from being poor, indebted, or homeless, or at the very least not having enough food for the kids during one particular week…”

what a national leadership we got there in DC.

good post and comments.

rwcole thanks for the tip on that capitol hill blue article. I check the site out regularly. I don’t know about the veracity of this guy and his sources but he sure prints some juicy stuff and makes a lot of sense to me.

Pacifica at 9:45pm wrote: “I’d like to see that on the front page of the WaPo!”
don’t hold your breath. but it would be stunning wouldn’t it?!

these budget cuts against the poor, especially by the House, have been vicious, just vicious. very upsetting as I strongly believe in these programs and such…..

Zounds!

http://counterpunch.com/lindorff11042005.html

RH:(Photo Credit to Dorothea Lange. This is one of my all-time favorites of her FSA work, and it seemed highly appropriate for this piece. This photograph is entitled “Destitute pea-pickers in California; a 32-year old mother of seven children” from February, 1936.)

coincidentally, the cable channel AMC played Grapes of Wrath today. hadn’t seen it on tv in years, but there it was.

Who? and why? are natural questions.

Beats me!

Actually, it’s beating him.

There are simply too many negatives in their balance sheet for any rational person to support them any more.

That means there are about 120 million insane people out there.

Who? and why? are natural questions.

Look, there’s only so much gross incompetence that the ruling class can stomach. They might have been wiling to roll the dice on this insane war (SEE PEAK OIL), and even then, a significant faction of them dissented (SEE SCOWCROFT, etc.). But given the mismanagement on every level, you come to a point where it’s time to fire the management team that got you in this mess.

Bush’s government is a government of, by and for the corporations – in particular, Eisenhower’s old Military/industrial complex-type corporations (and of course petrochemicals). But Bush has created a situation where Brand America has so many negative associations that, hey, it’s no longer selling well. Maybe the military/petrochemical corporations have a vested interest in BushCo’s policies because they still profit from them. But what about everybody else? Who wants to drink Coca-Cola in the Middle East right now?

I don’t think all corporations are intrinsically evil, and short of global economic collapse, the current system isn’t going away in any case. We are going to have to make the best of it. And the more rational elements in the system realize that Bush isn’t helping their bottom line. And that, well, what the Cheney Administration (as Billmon so presciently put it) is doing is wrong. BushCo has reached a tipping point. There are simply too many negatives in their balance sheet for any rational person to support them any more.

rwcole – I imagine that the powerful people would like to get rid of some people. On the other hand, it could be that its just gotten out of control.

“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we
provide enough for those who have too little.”

FDR, Second Inaugural Address, Wednesday, January 20, 1937
http://aol1.infoplease.com/t/h…..al/38.html

he focus now shifts to the House, where the Budget Committee voted 21 to 16 yesterday to approve a more extensive bill saving nearly $54 billion through 2010 with cuts to Medicaid, food stamps, student loans, agriculture subsidies and child support enforcement.

The Republican party: a deadbeat dad, selfishly allowing himself every indulgence, while withholding even the most basic needs for his children.

Interesting speculation above on why the shit storm is hitting President Clusterfuck from so many sources at the same time.

It’s odd- It’s intriguing to speculate that there are very powerful people who want him nuetralized.

Who? and why? are natural questions.

Beats me!

“Right now, George W. Bush is the Republican Party’s chief liability,” says a GOP strategist who has advised Presidential campaigns for 30 years. “The entire political future of the party and perhaps the nation now rests on the shoulders of a President that no one – Democrat or Republican – believes in or trusts.”

I’d like to see that on the front page of the WaPo!

As long as Karl Rove remains at the President’s side, the Bush presidency is effectively over and he is just riding out the days until the nation elects a Democrat to replace him. Even with Rove gone the damage may be irreparable.”

That’s a beautiful thing…maybe it would be better if he stayed.

Here is the deal. When for a decade you put a party in control of Congress organized around the principle of comforting the comfortable and afflicting the afflicted, what do you expect?
Now, it is all well and good to piss and moan about this on liberal blog sites, but that and 50 cents will get you a poor cup of coffee. What we need to do is beat the bastards at the polls.

Reddhead:

Amen to your passionate speech and the accompanying photo. I can feel the heat of your inner light from afar. God bless…

In meetings, leaders and strategists have suggested a number of things that Bush must do to try and save his presidency and GOP prospects in upcoming elections, including:

Apologize to the American people, Congress and our allies for misleading them on the reasons for invading Iraq;
Revamp the White House staff from top to bottom;
Fire Rove.
“We keep coming back to Rove,” says a GOP pollster. “He has escaped indictment, so far, but the feeling within the party is that another shoe is ready to drop and the longer he waits to jettison Rove the greater the damage. As long as Karl Rove remains at the President’s side, the Bush presidency is effectively over and he is just riding out the days until the nation elects a Democrat to replace him. Even with Rove gone the damage may be irreparable.”

Bush, however, has dug his heels in on Rove. When a GOP strategist suggested last weekend that the President fire Rove, Bush exploded.

“You go to hell,” he screamed at the strategist. “You can leave and you can take the rest of these lily-livered motherfuckers with you!” The President then stormed out of the room and refused to meet further with any other party leaders or strategists.

Bush’s escalating temper tantrums and his intransigence on political issues increase Republican worries about the long term effects on both his presidency and the party’s prospects in upcoming elections.

“Right now, George W. Bush is the Republican Party’s chief liability,” says a GOP strategist who has advised Presidential campaigns for 30 years. “The entire political future of the party and perhaps the nation now rests on the shoulders of a President that no one – Democrat or Republican – believes in or trusts.”

(Capital Hill Blue)

mack – Another way to look at it:
If the Supply Siders at the WSJ are pushing it – you know its gotta be bad.

John Zogby: “The 39% job performance is the lowest we have registered so far for Mr. Bush. Behind those numbers are some troubling trends for his party. He is rated positively by only 43% of men, 48% of gun owners, 44% of NASCAR fans, 46% among those who attend a place of worship weekly, 39% of Catholics, 48% of Protestants — including just 59% among self-described ‘Born Again’ Protestants, 41% of armed services households, 47% of married voters, and just 72% of conservatives (his lowest yet). These are all groups that have provided strong support for him in the past. He gets only 76% of Republicans (again his lowest in our polls), with just 11% of Democrats and 28% of Independents. His support among Hispanic voters is down to 21% and only 6% among African Americans. The President has been resilient thus far, but he and his party have some significant catching up to do.”

As far as the flat tax is concerned it is a complicated issue.It depends on how it is structured. Frankly, I wouldn’t trust them. Certainly, a consumption tax would hit the poor the hardest (unless they decided not to eat) and significantly reduce the cost for the rich.

The simplest measure of a civilization is how it treats the powerless and poor.
I am ashamed to say, that as a nation, we are looking more and more barbaric with each passing day.

I can’t take any more tonight. Gonna go watch Star Wars III on DVD, about all I can stand at the moment. Fluff.

firedoglake RULES! Y’all are the BEST.

http://www.bgladd.com/Bush_Mal….._TWICE.jpg

—

d
the WSJ has lost track of reality

the last pol to propose a flat tax was… Jerry Brown

his proposal was 15% across the board with one exemption – mortgage or rent for your private residence capped at the time @ $2500/mo
the wealthy would never capitulate to forking over that much cash, I assure you
(actually, I like the idea of a flat tax – assuming it is adequate to fund safety nets)

Inflation will be jumping up very soon, and the rates could approach those of the 1970’s for the same reasons.

BushCo can always congratulate themselves that increases in interest rates will hurt the Progressive, anti-Bush San Francisco Bay Area the worst. With the high price of housing, many people have gotten into the market and financed their houses by taking on significant interest rate risk.

gawd
in 2000 i comforted myself with the thought that they couldn’t do that much damage in 4 years
what did i know?
my first thought on 9-11 was for those poor people
my second thought was – this fucks up everything for my (then year-old) daughter
what did i know?

this has all turned out so much worse than even my cynic’s view could have predicted

if bin laden is still alive, he is undoubtably pleased to see how much damage has resulted from his project

ably abetted by greed and fear, what was likely a million dollar project has cost us dearly

i will remark, that this country’s Christians ( i count myself among their number) need to focus more on the New Testament and less on the Old
we NEED to live lives full of God’s love and leave His Judgment to Him

those who preach fear and hate only seek to line their own pockets

(raising my heat sheild now)

I Was watching some WSJ show on PBS. They were talking about the way Bush could regain control again is to put forth some sort of flat tax or consumption tax. That’s what they are dreaming of – another way to screw the poor.

Boy, these fuckers are tightening the vice. I worked in poverty law for many years and things were awful when I left that practice about 7 years ago. It was already dire and subsistance. These fucking oligarchs are the same breed that brought us imperial Rome and feudal England and they are the triump of the robber barons from the 19th and 20th century. Unbelievable and shameful that they are inflicting even more upon the least of us, the infirm, the young and the elderly so that they can bathe in their billions. Sorrowful day.

BushCo is really going to leave some legacy let me tell you. It would take a completely honest, responsible government years to repair the damage he has done already… Three more years???

At some point the goops are not going to face reality, reality is going to face them.

That’s not all that’s coming on the econonmic horizon. Inflation will be jumping up very soon, and the rates could approach those of the 1970’s for the same reasons.

They borrowed the money to pay for the Iraq war. In order to pay those loans back, they will inflate the currency to devalue the loan costs. The less the dollar is worth in tangible goods, the less real value they incurr at payback time.

Nixon was forced to do the same thing to pay off the loans used to fight in Vietnam. Neither the Vietnam war nor the Iraq war were budgeted. Nixon was forced to remove the country from the gold standard and let the dollar float against international currency… And the value just fell thru the floor.

The Iraq war is smaller than Vietnam, but energy costs have made up the differences… Inflation is coming, the Federal Reserve has been consistantly pushing up rates… Things are going to get more expensive at the same time services will decline. Lose-Lose

Christ said: “As you do to the least of my children, you do unto me.”

And these people call themselves Christian.

Let Us Now Praise Famous Men

As Hunter a DKos points out: this clears the way for something else on their agenda. They are ruthless
and they will never change.

So, hey, it’s tough times in America. To pay for Katrina, and the Iraq War, and these massive deficits, we all need to pull our weight, right? Tough economic conditions mean tough choices, we all have to accept some sacrifices.
Well, not really. Because there’s a more fundamental reason for these 35 billion dollar cuts. It’s because the next budget item to be taken up will be another 70 billion dollar tax cut

Here is a link to the Chickhawks. They’re not all on one easy list, alas, and you have to go poking through the various lists to discover all of them.

Chickenhawk Headquarters includes Bush, Cheney, Libby, Rove, Rumsfeld, and Wolfowitz.

http://www.nhgazette.com/news/…..dquarters/

Check out the other headings to discover the rest at:

http://www.nhgazette.com/news/chickenhawks/
-

They need more poor people – they are having trouble meeting their recruiting goals.

This is why I find people who supported Bush because they agreed with the war but who don’t encourage their own children to enlist particularly repugnant. It wouldn’t bother me nearly so much if I thought that those who joined the military felt a special calling to do so – instead of feeling they had no choice.

After Katrina I commented on my site that I didn’t believe the government’s response was racist. I still believe that. It appears to me the administration is attempting to ignite a civil war in THIS country, not based on race, but on class. These people don’t give a shit what color your skin, they care about where you are on the socioeconomic scale. This stems from a dark core of greed and elitism. There’s finite resources and far too many people…. far too many POOR people, that is.

Funny you should mention that Pacifica.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..02528.html

WaPo had an article on that very thing today. SIGH

They need more poor people – they are having trouble meeting their recruiting goals.

The first shall become last ; the last, first !

http://fusioner.proboards60.co…..1131129004

I have been working the media and the government all day. Everybody can chime in… There are _TONS_ of issues out there where government is failing us completely. Pick one, and one, and fire off some form letters to the MSM and your representives.