What's It All About?

I watch a lot of political television and read even more about politics. I often wonder if all the pundits do is point to what the opposing side is saying and talk about how crazy it sounds?  I just am not finding much interesting or new...no proposals, no new solutions...just the same b.s., which would be find if the country were not headed in a downward spiral...Maybe I should just stop worrying about it.

Take By the Dream update...

I have to say that I am disappointed, but not surprised by the scant media coverage given to the "Take Back the Dream" conference being held right now in DC...But, that's ok...Although I am not there in person, I am present in spirit (along with a recent monetary contribution toward the group's efforts).  Keep up the good fight my friends!

Below...some words from Van Jones (that I lifted from the "Take Back the Dream" blog as written by Bill Scher)...

We Don't Need  A Messiah.We Have A Movement.

Van Jones put to rest the notion of a divided Left, as he kicked off the Take Back the American Dream conference today.
Noting the wide-ranging feelings about President Barack Obama among the thousands attending the conference, Jones said: "Some people love the president. Some don't. But the point is, what are we going to do?"
To solve the jobs crisis, to rebuild our infrastructure, to restore tax fairness, to renew a vibrant middle class, we don't need to agree about Barack Obama. Because, as Van Jones said, the slogan of 2008 wasn't, "Yes HE Can." It was "Yes WE Can."
Jones counseled the crowd not to wait for a "messiah" or a "Superman," because the American Dream movement is "your movement."
And lest anyone had forgotten what the movement had already accomplished, despite the blows we had already suffered, Jones offered a recent history lesson.
The movement rallied millions to stop President George Bush from invading Iraq. He ignored us. "We could have quit then, but we didn't," reminded Jones.
Even after progressives fell short in ousting Bush in 2004, and Karl Rove pledged to establish a "permanent Republican majority," folks did not quit. And just years later, Rove's dream was shattered by the lost of the Congress.
"You get knocked down, but you get back up," said Jones.
Today, we are getting back up. Jones reported that American Dream rallies outnumbered Tea Party rallies 10 to 1 in August. And now, proudly said Jones, "The White House is talking different because we are walking different."
Jones gently chided those who have feel disaffected and disengaged, saying, "Call your grandmother. Get some perspective." Our predecessors fought for economic fairness during the Great Depression. Our predecessors fought for civil rights in the face of fire hoses. There is no reason think we cannot stand together today, and take back the American Dream for all Americans.
Judging from the crowd, by the time Van Jones was done, any demoralizing disappointment that came into the room had vanished, replaced by a renewed hunger to show what we can do. By ourselves. Working together

The Occupancy of Wall Street Continues

March on Wall Street---either virtually or in person

Yet Another Reason to STOP Watching Network News Broadcasts

A week or so ago, the network news shows (I happened to catch the story on ABC's evening news tabloid show w/ Diane Sawyer, a broadcast and anchor that I loathe, but my partner feels some connection to ABC, so that's the compromise that I make for the sake of our relationship)...The crack reporters at ABC were all over the "story" about $16 muffins bought by the DOJ for conferences.  The outage! The horror!  Except, well, the story isn't quite accurate (surprise!  a network news program, especially one on ABC news, got something wrong!).  Here's another take....

On the Need for Increased taxes on the Wealthy...

My explanations and justifications for raising taxes (as a percentage) on the wealthy would probably go much deeper than this, but I think that this statement from Professor Elizabeth Warren is a pretty good starting point and one that "should" be accessible to most people with average intelligence...

I have been "gone" for a while, just processing a bunch of the craziness happening all around (in addition to just doing my regular "J-O-B").  Here's is something interesting on the alleged "Solyndra scandal" that's making the rounds not just on Fox News, but in supposed more respectful news outlets that are not doing sufficient homework...But, what's new?

I am also curious as to why I haven't heard more about the "Take Back the American Dream" conference that's happening next week in DC (more information here).  I guess I shouldn't be surprised or disappointed...Afterall, this conference and gathering doesn't have the same level of loudmouthblowhards as a Rush or Glenn Beck, so it does not quite provide the level of sensationalism from a news perspective...As I have mentioned before, I wish the organizors the best...I can't personally attend, but I will be following up on the event.

Finally, I came across this article from Melissa Harris Perry over at The Nation...It echoes a lot of the sentiments that I have been trying to articulate (very often, I guess I am not quite as eloquent in writing as others, but such is life).  I rember when former President Clinton signed DADT into law, I was livid!  I was living in DC at the time and attending law school....I remember calling the White House switchboard (from a payphone, lol) to express my outrage...I also wrote a Letter to the Editor of The Washington Post (that was never published).  I thought that DADT was a HUGE blow to the gay community and I didn't expect that anything good would come from it.  Similarly, I was equally outraged when former President Clinton passed "welfare reform" into law...Although, I didn't call the White House this time (or, write the paper), I was equally upset because I knew that the poor and working class would basically get shafted with these changes in the country's social saftey net.  The point is that in neither instance did former President Clinton suffer the same level of criticism from the "left" (although there was some criticism) as President Obama onhis failure to immmediately fight for a repeal of DADT (despite the fact that the economy was headed into a free for all downward spiral)or that he appears to have compromised with the GOP on a number of issues (as someone who negotiates for a living, I can tell personally state that just saying "no" all of the time never accomplishing anything)...so, Professor Harris Perry highlights out some interesting points of analysis...

You Can't Squeeze 4 Decades Into 2 Years, No Matter How Hard You Try!

There has been a lot of talk this week as a result of published reports that more Americans are living in poverty than since "forever"!, or, since these type of statistics began being compiled...What's missing from this story is any type of real analysis---the fact that more Americans are impoverished is not a shock considering that we are currently experiencing the "worst financial crisis in a generation", but what's even more telling (to me at least) is that this process has been in the works for some time now....At least for the last 4 decades according to this article from The New Yorker.  I have actually been saying this for a awhile---real wages have been stagnant for some time (the situation is even worse for African-Americans, although I don't have the figures handy).  For a number of reasons, including access to easy credit and faulty memories, many people seem to believe that this all started in January 20, 2009...I am not trying to give President Obama a pass---I think that the stimulus bill from 2009 should have been more aggressive, but, I have this nagging tendency to focus on facts...that tells the real story.  And, honestly, given the performance of the Republicans over the last 2 years, I don't expect the situation to improve any time soon.  As they have shown repeatedly throughout this calamity, "politics before country" will be their guiding principle.  I hope that people take the President's call seriously and bombard their "representatives" to pass [the President's] jobs bill...