"Damn that Lincoln. Abe's to blame for Jindal"

Mercifully, I dozed off during Jindal's throwback talking point response to President Obama's speech last night. I didn't miss anything. I knew what he was going to say and he said it. Stepped on his weenie big time too and I'm enjoying hearing the reactions to him, especially from some of the Repugs who may finally realize the deep shit they're in if that jingoistic little jiveass is the best up-and-comer they got. Heh.

Greg Palast

Damn that Abe Lincoln. When Louisiana and Mississippi seceded from the Union, a sensible president would have sent them a box of chocolates with a note, "Goodbye and good riddance."

Jindal, and some other Republican governors, notably Haley Barbour of Mississippi, are actually turning down millions in federal funds for their own state's unemployed out of fear that, four years from now, they may have to maintain full unemployment insurance like the rest of America.

As an economist, I can tell you that the only industry Mississippi leads in is deep-fried chicken-dog manufacturing. I will admit that Louisiana and Mississippi can boast of growing employment at several casinos and cathouses spilling across what the locals charmingly call the "Coon-ass Riviera." Jindal's Louisiana is, after all, the state that solved its unemployment problem by sending its unemployed to Texas in FEMA trailers.

Smart. Make thousands of homeless and unemployed leave the state = no homeless and unemployed! Our state's doin' just fine, thank you.

Jindal himself is a product of a more advanced culture: His parents are Democrats. The Jindals are Hindus who come from the Punjab in India, a state known for its welfare safety net. Jindal, turning away from the successful example of his parents' politics and culture, has gone native, becoming a born-again Christian Republican who doesn't accept Darwinian evolution nor Keynesian economics. (I hear he may complete his redneck makeover next week by marrying his cousin at a tractor pull.)

Sounds like Jindal has the same kind of daddy complex as George Bush. Oh fucking swell. I think we know how that works out.

Years back, when I worked as an economic consultant to New Orleans, the Louisiana State Legislature was about to require that schools teach evolution as merely a theory equal to the Bible's literal creation myth. When asked if this would harm big employers' views of the state, I said, "Not at all: most national employers think of Louisiana as a state filled with Bible-thumping, dumb-bell rednecks. You won't have to worry about changing that impression."

OK, it's easy to make jokes about America's own Third World states. And before I get a zillion complaints, I'll be the first one to note that Louisiana has birthed the extraordinary, including the greatest of America's investigative journalists, the late Ron Ridenhour, jazz, Ruth Chris' Steakhouse, and gris-gris. And it was Louisiana that long ago led the nation in social reform, whose governor in 1932 led the national fight to create a program now known as "unemployment insurance." Really.

Nevertheless, Jindal's rejection of funds for his state's own unemployed simply follows a history of local Republican plantation-mentality cruelty. [...]

Now, once again, the Republican Party, by making Jindal the party's official spokesman, is adopting the Barbourous refusal to reach out a saving hand to Americans drowning in this economy.

So, let me make a suggestion for Governors Jindal and Barbour. If you cannot join America in accepting our President's call to arms against disaster, if you reject our President's State of the Union -- then leave the Union.

I think it would do just as well to exempt those states from paying federal income tax. And also exempt them from receiving any of ours.

A 'comment':

There once was a cracker named Hollis
Who used animals for his solace.
His children had scales
And prehensile tales
And voted for Governor Wallace. (c. 1966)

Jindal is planning to run for President, I think it's safe to say. Let him. If he's the best the Repugs can do, we're safe.

If the money guys hate it ...

It must be a good idea:

Yesterday, Nancy Pelosi announced that a housing bill which could come up for a vote this week would include the "cram-down" provision, which would allow bankruptcy judges to modify the terms of mortgages for borrowers on their primary residence (currently judges have the ability to do this on secondary residences). This is an important provision, which most economists believe will be the best tool homeowners can have for them to stay in their homes, and for lenders to agree to loan modifications. The banksters hate this idea, mainly because they know it would blow the whistle on their consistent violations of the spirit and the letter of the Truth In Lending Law, in their mania to lock as many people into mortgages as possible without regard for ability to pay, so they could sell those mortgages on as securities, and so on and so forth. This ultimately is the fault of the lender, who are clearly the irresponsible ones in the whole scenario. [my em]

...

Spot on. You can't tell me that these guys didn't take advantage of human nature. Whenever I take out a construction loan (I'm using their money while mine makes more interest than their loan costs), I'm besieged with questions: "Are you sure you don't want to take more, Mr. Fixer? You know you can borrow up to 150% of the value of your house; don't you? You certainly qualify." And they look at me like I'm crazy when I decline.

That's the thing they counted on; people accepting whatever the mortgage lenders say they can afford. Who wouldn't want the best home possible to raise their family? Who wouldn't want their kids to live in a nice neighborhood and go to good schools, given the opportunity? Now, when this house of cards is falling down, they point the finger at those who "bought homes they couldn't afford". As if Joe & Jane the Homebuyer held a gun to the banker's head and forced him to offer the loan.

I remember the first time I tried to buy a brand new car. It was 1981, I was 19, had a steady job (U.S. Air Force), and paid my bills and I tried to get a car loan. $6995 for a Chevy Chevette (remember those shitboxes?) and was laughed out of every dealership and bank I went to. Even the Military Credit Union wouldn't give me a loan. In hindsight, I wouldn't have given me a loan either (A nineteen year old kid in the service spends too much money on beer and pussy).

Now, a guy making $35K a year, the sole breadwinner in a family of four, is not a candidate for a mortgage on a $500K McMansion by any rational measure (let alone the loans they wrote for 'flippers'; those who suddenly thought they were Bob Vila and bought second and third homes for profit), yet mortgage bankers wrote hundreds of thousands of them. While I'd question the homeowner's judgment for accepting, it is up to the bank to assure the buyer is qualified to pay. These 'bad mortgages' or 'Big Shitpile' were nothing more than a means to an end; a vehicle with which the banks could make more money.

The bankers have to feel some pain for it was their bad judgment that got us into this mess. Akin to giving a 2 year old a loaded pistol and telling him to have at it. They can't be allowed to divest themselves of all these bad loans without loss at the taxpayers' expense. It is the reason the stock market is taking these big hits lately; because they all see their profits and perks evaporating as the President calls for actual responsibility, not the lip service the concept of "responsibility for one's actions" has been given for the last decade.

The banks are responsible for a lot of the mess we're in now and they know it, and they don't want to step up and take their medicine. They have gotten enough of our money and have been allowed to use it for everything but what it was intended for. Their corporate boards are still seated and their CEOs still have jobs, and they are back with their hands out. It's time for a little giveback before they're allowed to take any more. It's time for the banks to voluntarily modify the bad mortgages they wrote in return for taxpayer help and if they don't, they should be forced to.

As regulars around here know, I'm not one for nationalizing anything* (the government sucks at running businesses) but if the banks won't cooperate than tough shit. We're on the balls of our ass and these idiots think they can walk away from this unscathed. I applaud Mr. Conyers for trying to make sure they don't.

*With the exception of health care, wherein all of the HMOs and pharmaceutical firms should become property of the U.S. government.

"Bitch! Dyke! Faghag! Whore!"

No, not you, Congressman (R - Anywhere). This is art!

EssEffChron Theater Section:

"I've been young for an incredibly long time," says New York performance artist Penny Arcade, "and I've eked out that imposture longer than most people are able to." That makes it all the more fitting that the onetime Warhol Factory superstar is making her full-scale San Francisco theatrical debut with a show in which she talks about sex and art, surrounds herself with professional erotic dancers, and performs a striptease to a reading of Lenny Bruce's classic obscenity speech.

That's a little scary! I like older gals, but...

Enjoy.

Toking Points

LATimes

Reporting from Sacramento -- Could Cannabis sativa be a salvation for California's fiscal misfortunes? Can the state get a better budget grip by taxing what some folks toke?

An assemblyman from San Francisco announced legislation Monday to do just that: make California the first state in the nation to tax and regulate recreational marijuana in the same manner as alcohol.

He's gonna get 'so much resistance from behind'. Read on.

Anti-drug groups are anything but amused by the idea of California collecting a windfall from the leafy herb that remains illegal under federal law.

But the biggest boon might be to the bottom line. By some estimates, California's pot crop is a $14-billion industry, putting it above vegetables ($5.7 billion) and grapes ($2.6 billion). If so, that could mean upward of $1 billion in tax revenue for the state each year.

"I'm a martini guy myself," Ammiano said. "But I think it's time for California to . . . look at this in a truly deliberative fashion."

He sees the possibility of an eventual truce in the marijuana wars with Barack Obama now in the White House.

A White House spokesman declined to discuss Ammiano's legislation, instead pointing to a transition website that says the president "is not in favor of the legalization of marijuana."

Several cities in California and around the nation have adopted laws making marijuana the lowest law enforcement priority, including Santa Barbara, Santa Monica, Denver and Seattle.

I would like to see Lawn Guyland added to that list. It pains me no end that my pal Fixer is a criminal simply because he likes to smoke his vegetables...

This measure will no doubt fail. This time. Maybe next time too, but eventually ...

Go read the rest. Many links, including a couple to the 'Food' section. Heh.

Update:

EssEffChron

It also has the backing of Betty Yee, who chairs the state Board of Equalization, which collects taxes in California. An analysis by the agency concluded the state would collect $1.3 billion a year from tax revenues and a $50-an-ounce levy on retail sales if marijuana were legal.

Sounds kinda steep, but still cheaper than lawyers, court costs, fines, jail time, and a criminal record. Fixer will have to fix a lot of Fiats to pay the taxes on those bales...

Repugs are all assholes. Duh.

HOME SCHOOLING FOR REPUBLICANS WHO MAKE NON-APOLOGY APOLOGIES.

Jim Bunning on his prediction that
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg would drop dead
soon and be replaced with a wing-nut

Quote of the Day два

A comment on a piece in Think Progress about Bush's mis-speaking tour on how he kept us 'safe':

“kept the country safe for more than seven years”

Unfortunately he was President for eight years. It’s like saying falling off an 80 story building is perfectly safe for more than 79 stories.

And then, splat.

And that one teensy little attack he let slip by? Well, he didn't start trying to prevent them 'til the next day so it doesn't count. To be fair, and it's as fair as I care to be to him, his bumbling efforts foiled a few attacks that would have never succeeded, like the pizza delivery clowns in New Jersey, and the morons in Miami that were recruited to get busted, stuff like that.

He better thank his lucky stars the real terrorists were happy with the results of 9/11 and are content to wait a while before the next one.

Footage of US troops training for D-day uncovered

Telegraph (UK)

Unseen footage of American soldiers training for the D-day landings in North Devon during the Second World War has been unearthed by an amateur historian.

If you're as fascinated by WWII footage as I am, go see this. Article and short video excerpt.

Why Condi's Memoirs Will Be Three Volumes

Tony Peyser

Because she's told so many lies,
An editor must've said, "Look
There's no way to spin them all
If you're only writing one book."

I guess it's the same theory as spreading the manure over the whole garden rather than leaving it in one big pile.

Quote of the Day

Maru on Sarah Palin's latest whine fest about the media being unfair to her:

...

Howard "Screamin'" Dean, Al "I invented the internet" Gore, serial rapist Bill Xlintoon and his murdering lesbian wife Hitlary could not be reached for comment. Socialist commie B. HUSSEIN Osama and his Muslim baby-mama were too busy terrist fistjabbing to make a statement.

The defense rests.

Questions and Answers ...

POP haz them:

I just have to wonder, what is the point of the Republicans fighting President Obama every step of the way? Would they rather see our country totally experience a financial meltdown than maybe just give a little and put their politics aside? [my em]

...

That would be a "yes", darlin'. Personally, I think they have something big to hide and they'd rather let us go under than have it exposed. Too many of 'em would go to jail if it were. I'm dying to know what it is.

Update:

And for a well thought out answer (as opposed to my early morning wisecracks), go see the Oracle of Well Thought Out.

Whorage ...

Check out my 42-inch Brain. Heh ...

Click to embiggen.

Got my flatscreen up plus some decorating in the house.

And what it's like to be an anal German.

Wingnut Welfare Drying Up

Obviously a regular reader of the Brain, Paul Krugman follows up on Fixer's post:

From the Journal:

The jobless rate is hanging high — for many of the roughly 3,000 political appointees who served President George W. Bush. Finding work has proved a far tougher task than those appointees expected.

OK, let’s have our minute of Schadenfreude … now let’s talk about why this is significant.

As an economist, I’m supposed to believe in incentives; and the remarkable cohesiveness of conservatives has a lot to do with incentives.

Show some independence, and you’ll face a lavishly financed primary challenge from the Club for Growth. Be a loyal soldier, and you will be taken care of — through what’s commonly referred to as “wingnut welfare.”

Thus, lose an election, and a think tank with the usual funding sources will create an America’s Enemies program for you to direct. Mess up the occupation of Iraq, and you’ll be appointed to run the World Bank; mess up there, and there’s still a chair waiting for you at AEI.

But it appears that wingnut welfare is breaking down when it comes to former Bush officials. Is this the beginning of the end for movement conservatism?

Some 'comments':

No, its just the beginning of the ‘George W. wasn’t a real conservative’ campaign (so conservatism can’t be blamed for his mistakes).

Maybe there’s just too many of them to deal with. It’s like being faced with an ally’s refugees when a crisis hits.

Re-education camps, perhaps?

Ah, yesssss...

Perhaps not for conservatism; the beliefs of conservatives have withstood reality for generations, and almost certainly will continue to do so.

Nothing makes me happier than knowing 2,000 passively evil idots who sold out their country can’t find work. I invite them to go to Iraq and look for opportunities there. Fox keeps saying there’s a big democratic success story there.

I think three million Iraqi widows will be delighted to see them.

Many more.

In related rumors, former Bush appointees are queuing up for space under bridges in the better conservative suburbs and rural districts with Wal-Marts (possible employment?), an increasing number of beat-up Lexuses are being seen with their back seats folded down to provide sleeping space, and refrigerator cartons are going for record prices on the spot market.

Heh.

Oh, the irony...

Ironic Times

Tax Cuts in Stimulus Will Offer Immediate Help
They'll help pay higher state taxes.

There's nothing wrong with your set. That sobbing sound is coming from me.

Neanderthal Genome Mapping Near Completion
So far it closely resembles genome of humans who don't believe Neanderthals ever existed.

Furious CNBC Reporter Blames Low Income Homebuyers for Crisis
Apparently they consistently tricked the world's largest financial institutions into lending them money.

OBITUARIES

Mr. Peanut, 93
Of salmonella poisoning.

Marijuana Legalization More Popular than Key Conservative Leaders

Matthew Yglesias

Needless to say, support for marijuana legalization is pretty much a “fringe” view in national politics. And it certainly doesn’t have majority support. And yet put it in perspective and this is what you get.

To further put it in perspective, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if hemorrhoids are more popular than Conservative Leaders. I know they have more socially redeeming qualities.

Stimulus ...

We were out stimulating the economy on Long Island all weekend getting stuff for the new construction (Home Depot was happy to see us after 2 weeks vacation "About time you showed up; we had to lay off three people since you been gone.") and installing some of the lighting. I was also hanging artwork ("A little to the left; no, a little to the right; no, up a little, no down a little."), and wiring the entertainment center. Oy!

So, while I'm doing all this, I had CNN on as background noise and I hear the Rethug 4, the governors who say they won't accept the stimulus money, with their made-up excuses for not taking federal largess. I wonder if the residents of their respective states feel the same way and will remember come Election Day.

I'm with our Senator Schumer (a first) that whatever money they don't take should be spread to the states who do. Fuck 'em. The sad thing is, I know Louisiana could benefit from the cash, so could Mississippi, and I feel for the folks in those states but hey, you elected these assholes. We can use the scratch.

That said, I got an infrastructure project for ya. My street. Jesus H. Christ, I haven't seen it this bad in 35 years. Good god, driving home is like taking a lap on the Goodyear test track. I asked Mrs. F yesterday, as we're approaching the house and I swerve to miss a crater, "Hey, baby, how long have we been living on the Moon?." Hey, Suffolk County Department of Public Works, Barry gave you the bread; start paving, mofos.

Off to work. Construction pics later.

If there was any doubt ...

The 'justice' process at Guantanamo was a flawed, kangaroo-esque, endeavor, this should assuage them:

...

Seven prosecutors have resigned from the military commissions process in protest. These aren't bleeding heat liberal hippies --- they're prosecutors. And from this man's account, these prosecutions are so tainted by disorganization alone that it's nearly impossible to imagine that justice can be done.

...

Indeed. For a JAG lawyer to resign, let alone seven of them, the moral outrage must be pretty high. I hope Obama puts an end to this quickly. It is a bloody, festering sore on the ass of America.

Holbrooke on Clustereffistan

Don't miss this. Runs about 40 minutes.

"We don' gotta play you no stinkin' chicken songs..."

...but we will. A song about a man on a mission and the baddest fighting chicken ever 'til he met a badder one, by one of the best singer-songwriters out there! And believe me, 'out there' ain't far off the mark. I'm a huge fan. A little commentary after the song as well.

Tom Russell ~ Gallo del Cielo

Note: Since Dave Alvin mentioned "Blue Wing", you can hear Tom sing it to a bunch of truly misconfused Norwegians by looking for it in the thumbnails at the end of the video, or here.

Thanks to johntaine, who makes and sells DVDs you may be interested in.

Ice Ice Baby

This one's for MandT because all theirs melted. It's raining today and this one's melting too.

Click to embiggen.

"Almost level, West Virginia"

Watch this.


Thank you to HeadOnRadioNetwork. These folks are good Americans and subversives.