Christie, a Class Act or a Clown?

EXETER, NH - JANUARY 08: Republican presidential candidate former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (L) looks on as New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaks during a rally at Exeter High School on January 8, 2012 in Exeter, New Hampshire.With days to go before the New Hampshire primary, Mitt Romney is making a final campaign swing through the state. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was heckled at a Mitt Romney rally in New Hampshire where he was speaking on Sunday, January 8th, 2012. His response to the women who were shouting out to Christie falls within the bathroom humor category of an intolerant, misogynistic, arrogant clown. I do want to apologize to all clowns who do not fall within this category.

On Sunday, Jan. 8., New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was speaking at a Romney for President rally in New Hampshire when he was interrupted by some female hecklers. It’s difficult to make out exactly what Christie’s critics were yelling, but it’s something to do with jobs going down. Ever the class act, Christie’s response: “You know, something may be going down tonight, but it ain’t going to be jobs, sweetheart.” He then goes on to insult the women by saying that if they were from Jersey, they wouldn’t be so silly as to think that his policies don’t support job creation. (That’s the way to win New Hampshire voters for Romney at the upcoming primary: insult them by saying that Jersey voters are smarter!)

The video, which does not make Christie look great, wasn’t some hidden-camera “gotcha” depicting a private moment, a la the 2006 “macaca” video that may have cost George Allen his Senate seat. Rather, it was uploaded to the New Jersey GOP’s YouTube account. They seem to think his remark about “going down” is a zinger, something to be proud of, rather than recognizing it as flagrantly demeaning, even misogynistic. How would Christie have responded to male protesters saying the same thing? Probably not by changing the subject to what acts they perform in the bedroom. His handlers should be apologizing for the remark, not promoting it.

It is difficult to hear the exact words of the women who are yelling something about Christie and jobs....possibly that 'Christie kills jobs.' But no matter what they are saying, Governor Romney is seen smiling in the background as Christie yells back his not so subtle sexual innuendo about oral sex. Real class act! Gee maybe Christie's not a clown, just a buffoon!

It's Just a Tale, Not a Miracle!

Jim Hightower is a Texan who is bringing truth into the spotlight that Rick Perry is now latching onto. Hightower, a Texan, is America’s #1 populist who has been following the antics of Rick Perry for years. Perry is not who he says he is says Hightower in his commentary, Perry Tales: jobs creation.

The "Texas Miracle"

Presidential wannabe Rick Perry is flitting hither, thither and yon, spreading little "Perry Tales" about the economic miracles he has produced in Texas.

Fantasy number one is a creationist story about jobs. As he recently flitted across Iowa, he gushed that he has built "a job-creating machine in the state of Texas," and a Perry aide flatly said, "The governor's job-creation record speaks for itself."

Just a Tale

Actually it doesn't. Probe even an inch into the million-job number that Perry tosses around like fairy dust, and you'll learn that these are mostly "jobettes" that can't sustain a family. Most come with very low pay and no health care or pension, and many are only part-time or temporary positions. Indeed, more than a half a million Texans now work for minimum wage or less – a number that has doubled since 2008, leaving Texas tied with Mississippi for the nation's highest percentage of its workforce reduced to poverty pay.

Public vs Private Sector

Spreading even more fairy dust, Perry claims that his Texas Miracle is the result of him keeping the government out of the private sector's way. But peek behind that ideological curtain and you'll find this startling fact: during Perry's decade, the growth in private sector jobs has been a relatively paltry nine percent, while the public sector has more than doubled that, increasing the number of local, state, and federal workers in Texas by 19 percent. One out of six employed Texans are now teachers, police officers, highway engineers, military personnel, and other government workers – and many of these jobs were created with federal money, including cash from Barack Obama's stimulus program that Perry-the candidate now loudly denounces. There's his "miracle."

Meanwhile, joblessness is on the rise in Texas, and the whole Perry Tale is about to go poof – thanks to his recent multibillion-dollar budget cuts that will destroy more than 100,000 good jobs throughout the state.

No Government Mantra but Yes Government Monetary Personal Support

Interestingly, even his tea-partyish hatred — nay, loathing! — of big government's intrusion into the lives of ordinary citizens turns out to be just another Perry Tale. In fact, there would be no Rick Perry without the steady "intrusion" of government into his life.

Local taxpayers in Haskell County put him through their public school system — for free. He and his family were dry-land cotton farmers, and federal taxpayers helped support them with thousands of dollars in crop subsidies — Perry personally took $80,000 in farm payments.

State and federal taxpayers financed his college education his at Texas A&M, even giving him the extracurricular opportunity to be a cheerleader. Upon graduation, he spent four years on the federal payroll as an Air Force transport pilot who never did any combat duty.

Then, in 1984, Perry hit the mother lode of government pay by moving into elected office — squatting there for 27 years and counting. In addition to getting regular paychecks from taxpayers for nearly three decades as a state representative, agriculture commissioner, lieutenant governor and governor, he also receives platinum-level health care coverage and a generous pension from the state, plus $10,000 a month for renting a luxury suburban home, a covey of political and personal aides and even a publicly paid subscription to Food & Wine magazine.

So when this taxpayer-supported lifer flits into your town to declare that he will slash public benefits and make government "as inconsequential as possible," he means in your life, not his.

Hightower fights on behalf of "consumers, working families, environmentalists, small businesses, and just-plain-folks." He knows Texas, and knows the real story behind the self-absorbed, fantasy driven, hypocritical Rick Perry.

Scrutiny and Truth in Reporting

Political candidates, politicians and political pundits of all shapes, sizes and parties can be found espousing their views, theories, positions and spin on the Sunday morning talk shows. Like clockwork the interviewer will ask a question and the interviewee , more often than not, will never answer that question but will just babble on with their own talking points. And then the interviewer goes to another question without asking that follow-up question that we are all waiting to hear. Yes, Sunday after Sunday after Sunday, the game is always played the same way. I know that I am not the only one thinking that journalists should be thinking and responding more rather than just reading the next question off their sheet.

Wendall Potter raises the same issue regarding a follow-up question by David Gregory when he interviewed Michele Bachmann on Meet the Press last Sunday. As Potter points out, if there was that follow-up question, then we would have learned that Bachmann Gets Her Facts And History Wrong Again; It Was Bush Policies, Not Obamacare, That Led To Iowa Layoffs.

If NBC's David Gregory had asked just a couple of follow-up questions of Michele Bachmann on Meet the Press last Sunday, he would have found that her anecdote about how "Obamacare" will lead to economic ruin doesn't stand up to scrutiny.

In fact, he would have found that the financial problems of the Iowa employer she cites to bolster her point are far more likely the result of the economic policies of former President George W. Bush.

Bachmann's Position

In answering Gregory's question about how she would "turn the economy around within several months" if elected president, as she recently promised to do, Bachmann pledged to repeal both the health care reform law and the Dodd-Frank Act, which Congress enacted last year to reform the way financial institutions are regulated.

"I'll tell you the biggest job killer right now, because I'm all across Iowa asking people, business people tell me it's Obamacare and it's the Dodd-Frank law," Bachmann said. "Dodd-Frank is drying up credit for businesses. And I have the repeal bill for Dodd-Frank."

She went on to promise to repeal health care reform, too.

"People want that gone. It is absolutely without a doubt a job killer. I was just at a business in Indianola, Iowa. They've let half of their workforce go, over 100 employees."

The implication, of course, was that the employer had to let all those workers go because of health care reform.

The Follow-Up Question Not Asked

Gregory didn't challenge her, so I started trying to find the Indianola employer that had axed so many jobs because of Obamacare.

My online search then led me to a story on the Web site of Des Moines television station KCCI, dated Oct. 10, 2008, which reported that an Indianola manufacturing company had been forced to lay off nearly 60 of its 180 employees "because of the rocky economy." That company was Cemen Tech.

Cemen Tech executive Tom Palme told KCCI the layoffs were necessary because the "economic crisis and tight credit market have taken a toll on new orders."

So the big layoff at Cemen Tech apparently did not occur in late 2009, as Ruble reportedly said, but more than a year earlier--and a month before Obama was even elected president.

The Truth is Different than the Story

It turns out that Cemen Tech actually laid those workers off during the last year of the administration of George W. Bush and did so because of the recession and the credit crisis that resulted from one of the recession's primary causes, the near collapse of big banks and mortgage companies. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and others have said the primary cause of the recession was the inadequate regulation of those financial institutions. The Dodd-Frank Act was an attempt to increase regulatory scrutiny of those firms to reduce the chances of a similar economic catastrophe in the future.

So it appears that Obamacare and Dodd-Frank had little if anything to do with the problems at Cemen Tech. In reality, Cemen Tech's problems stemmed from failed economic policies and insufficient oversight of financial institutions that occurred during the Bush years.

A Lesson Learned?

Let's hope that the next time reporters get a chance to interview Michele Bachmann -- or any other presidential candidate for that matter -- that they ask a few pertinent follow-up questions. A little probing might force them to actually be honest with us

Every candidate needs scrutiny. Every citizen is owed truth!

It's the Jobs, Stupid

Stupid is as stupid does. Killing more than 560,000 jobs when the unemployment rate is on the rise is stupid. It is also anti-American. But that is exactly what Rep. John Mica (R-FL) is doing in Congress.

You’ve probably never heard of Rep. John Mica (R-FL), but he’s someone every American should know about because if he gets his way, thousands of people in your home state will lose their jobs in the next year. There’s even a good chance some already have.

Here’s the rundown.

WHO: Rep. John Mica (R-FL), Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the committee that oversees the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and which is responsible for writing the bills that fund transportation and infrastructure projects across the country (often simply referred to as the “highway bill” even though it funds much more than just highways).

WHAT: Going out of his way to kill American jobs in all 50 states at a time when we already have 9.2 percent unemployment (unemployment is a staggering 16.3 percent in the construction industry).

HOW:

• Shutting down the FAA: The FAA has been operating under temporary bills since 2007 and it partially shut down a week ago last Friday because the House GOP refused to back down from an anti-worker provision that would make it harder to unionize airlines.

  Delta Airlines, the only non-union major carrier, happens to be in the midst of a pitched battle against attempts to unionize it. FedEx is also involved in a related battle on Capitol Hill as it also attempts to fend off unionization. The air transport industry, for its part, also happens to be Mica’s single largest campaign contributor, having given him $642,993 over the course of his career.

  After sending Mica’s poison pill bill for a temporary extension of the FAA’s authority over to the Senate, the House simply left town this Tuesday for a month-long vacation. Even conservative Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) called the House’s actions “not honorable.” Mica’s jobs be damned political gamesmanship now all but guarantees that the FAA will remain shut down until at least Labor Day.

  Since the FAA can’t collect taxes while it is shut down, airlines are enjoying a billion-dollar windfall by keeping ticket prices the same and simply pocketing the cash they’d otherwise have to turn over to the FAA. The price, however, for workers and the economy is even steeper:

  • 4,000 FAA workers furloughed
  • 70,000 construction workers laid off
  • $2.5 BILLION in construction projects idled
  • More jobs lost in other industries as orders for steel, concrete, and asphalt are canceled or delayed
  • $1.3 BILLION in potential lost government revenue (As of 5 p.m. today, the shutdown has already resulted $331 MILLION in lost revenue)
  • Safety inspectors working without pay — while also being asked to put work expenses on their personal credit cards

• Slashing Transportation Funding: Our transportation infrastructure is crumbling, even as countries like China spend hundreds of billions of dollars in sleek, new high-speed trains and airports.

  John Mica’s solution: slash transportation funding, even though our current infrastructure spending as a percentage of GDP (2 percent) is already at half what it was in 1960 and less than one-quarter of what China spends today (9 percent). If Mica’s misguided transportation plan were to be implemented, it would be an economic disaster and throw hundreds of thousands of Americans out of work.

  Some key facts about the Mica transportation plan:

  • 490,627 jobs would be lost under the House GOP plan Mica is drawing up, with each state potentially losing thousands or even tens of thousands jobs.
  • Mica’s plan sets funding at a level that is both below this year’s seriously inadequate level and more than one-third less than the annual funding levels laid out in the last big transportation bill passed under President Bush in 2005. Put simply, less funding means fewer jobs.
  • Even the right-wing U.S. Chamber of Commerce attacked Mica’s plan, writing:

Cuts will destroy – rather than support — existing jobs and will not enable creation of the additional jobs needed to put the 16.3% of unemployed workers in the construction industry back to work.

IN ONE SENTENCE: John Mica’s plans to kill more than half a million American jobs are proof that the GOP cares far more about its own extreme ideology than about American jobs or making the investments we need to keep America great.

Anyone outraged yet? “If you aren't completely appalled then you haven't been paying attention!”

'We the People' Hold the Solution

Carl Gibson equates the position that the Republican Tea Party took during the last 200 days, when they held a majority in the House, with a dinner party.

Imagine you helped prepare a great feast with 99 other people - one of them is morbidly obese, the rest are frail and anorexic. Now imagine the morbidly obese man lining up first, piling almost all the food onto his own plate, and leaving nothing but scraps for you and the rest of the dinner party. If he said you should eat less, would that justify his greed?

Republican Tea Party Greed Knows No Bounds

Republicans in Congress just held their "No New Taxes" gun to the economy's head, and vowed to drive us into a second global recession unless Democrats and the White House paid the ransom. Even though the hostage was eventually returned, it was done so only after the basic needs of America's most vulnerable were cut to shreds. President Obama calls this a "compromise," but this was a deal where the Republicans got everything they wanted - trillions in spending cuts, and no new revenue.

Government spending hasn't been this low since Eisenhower's presidency, yet taxes for the wealthy are at their lowest since the Hoover administration. Even though spending as a percentage of GDP was low during Eisenhower's tenure, government had plenty of revenue due to a 91% top tax rate. Those high taxes on the richest Americans allowed for the birth of NASA, which eventually put a man on the moon, the creation of the Interstate System, and expansions of Social Security and National Parks.

Now, income for the richest Americans is only taxed at a 35% rate. NASA has since canceled all manned space flights. Budget cuts are leaving interstate highways in a dangerous state of disrepair. And this debt deal will begin the chipping away of Social Security and Medicare benefits for current and future generations. By the time millenials like me reach retirement age, it's highly likely that we'll receive little, if any, assistance from these programs.

Republicans refused to offer even the most reasonable concessions. They voted NO to ending $21 billion in taxpayer-funded handouts to tax-dodging oil companies. They've repeatedly stalled on bringing in $100 billion per year by closing corporate tax loopholes. They've rejected a new income tax bracket for households making above $1,000,000 per year. They even voted down ending tax breaks for corporate jet owners. The only spending Republicans spared from cuts was the Pentagon budget.

The Tantrum, The Ransom, The Crime

This week, David Frum, one of George W. Bush's speechwriters, accused Republicans of acting like "student radicals" instead of governing appropriately. Even conservatives like Frum recognize the foolishness of cutting federal spending while ignoring America's real deficit - jobs. Republicans have held a majority in the House for over 200 days, yet the GOP has yet to produce just one jobs bill. The GOP made it clear that protecting corporate jet owners, oil companies and big banks is a higher priority than looking after the needs of their constituents.

The Chopping Block can go Both Ways

As wages stagnate and the cost of living increases, Americans all over are forced to take on multiple jobs, all for longer hours, lower wages and less benefits. While the public programs we pay for and depend on get cut away piece by piece, and as more of our neighbors and communities succumb to poverty, we continue to watch the collective results of our efforts pool into the hands of a small, wealthy elite.

Congress may congratulate themselves on passing this deal and avoiding a default, but consequences are destined to come about in the streets, at town hall meetings and at the polls. In the next election cycle, Americans will remember who voted to protect their interests, and who voted to put their social safety net on the chopping block to protect billionaires and big oil. Shared sacrifice should include all Americans - especially those with the most food at the table.

The Problem and The Solution

The problem isn't that "Government is too big." The problem is that some in Congress, both from the Republican Tea Party and the Democrats, are too greedy. Too tied to corporate interests. Too busy cutting entitlements to the poor but not cutting entitlements to the rich. Too arrogant while they reap the benefits of Congressional healthcare and pensions while chopping away at Medicare and Social Security. Too closed minded to understand that 'We the People' can vote them out of office. And.... that is the solution!

The Reality of Job Loss in the US

Via Dave Johnson from Campaign for America's Future:

Everyone knows that we have lost a lot of jobs to China since 2001. Now you can find out exactly how many, and where.

The Alliance for American Manufacturing and Economic Policy Institute released a report today titled, “Unfair China Trade Costs Local Jobs” by EPI's Robert Scott. Along with the report AAM has set up a website with an interactive map that shows job losses to by state and Congressional District.

Click the map.

It's bad. According to the report, between 2001 and 2008, 2.4 million jobs were lost or displaced with losses occurring in every Congressional district. (Note - This report does not track service industry job losses, and does not track indirect job losses.)

Here's the surprise: since 2001 we have lost more tech jobs than manufacturing jobs! -- We lost 628,000 tech jobs -26 percent of all jobs displaced by trade- between 2001 and 2008.

The main unfair advantages China uses to its advantage are:
1) Currency manipulation. China "pegs" its currency at a very low, or "weak" rate, so goods from China cost up to 40% less than they otherwise should.
2) Labor-rights suppression has lowered manufacturing wages of Chinese workers by 47% to 86%.
3) There is massive direct government subsidization of export production in many key industries.
4) China allows environmental degradation that ends up affecting all of us.
5) Intellectual property theft and piracy mean that American products that could be sold are stolen instead.
6) China has a number of policies that block U.S. firms from market access.

I joined a press conference call announcing this report, with Senators Charles Shumer (D-NY) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC).

Senators Schumer and Graham are introducing legislation in which "the wiggle room will be gone" and the Treasury Department must cite the Chinese for currency manipulation if currency is misaligned without having to say there is "intent," and impose additional penalties. Schumer:

"In the past Dem and Rep admins turned a blind eye to this problem. We are tired of the Chinese not playing by the rules that everyone else has to play by.

Later on the call Senator Schumer said,

Imagine if you had two stores across the street and one had a 40% price advantage – could charge 40% less than the other, where do you think people would shop?

[. . .] Every day we wait is a day we lose wealth, we lose economic advantage, we lose jobs.

Sen. Graham,

It is hard for American political leaders to keep their head in the sand any longer. ... To ignore China''s currency manipulation is to ignore economic reality and the way economics works. ... I am hopeful they [the Treasury Dept.] will go ahead and speak truth to power and the truth is that China's currency is misaligned.

Previous administrations allowed all of this to continue with impunity. It is time to do something about it and bring the world's trade back toward some kind of balance.