from Wisconsin: "Mubarak for Governor" signs

According to the Associated Press, the legislators in the "Wisconsin Assembly have agreed to a deal that will limit further debate on a bill taking away collective bargaining rights for public workers and lead to a vote on the measure later Thursday," possibly as early as noon.

Meanwhile, the Chief of Police in Madison is asking the governor to explain "troubling" and "unsettling" statements the loose-lipped rookie Governor made while he thought he was on the phone with billionaire David Koch.

"I find it very unsettling and troubling that anyone would consider creating safety risks for our citizens and law enforcement officers. Our department works hard dialoging with those who are exercising their First Amendment right, those from both sides of the issue, to make sure we are doing everything we can to ensure they can demonstrate safely."

Police Chief Noble Wray
Madison, WI
Wisconsin State Journal, 24 Feb 2011

"There are a lot of folks out there who say, ‘It doesn't impact me, I'm not a union guy, I'm not a teacher, I'm not a civil servant.' Let me tell you how it does matter to you. Wages are going down in this country for everybody. When you destroy unions there will be no standard at all, nobody left to negotiate decent jobs for the middle class..."

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders
Statement, 23 Feb 2011

"I would like to hear more of an explanation from Governor Walker as to what exactly was being considered, and to what degree it was discussed by his cabinet members."

Police Chief Noble Wray
Madison, WI
Wisconsin State Journal, 24 Feb 2011

The Chief has some legitimate questions, and the rest of the cheeseheads are coming up with some really great signs at the Madison protests, don't you think?

Political Correspondent Thomas Hayes is a former Congressional Campaign Manager; he's a journalist, photo/videographer, entrepreneur, and communications consultant who contributes regularly on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community, who incidentally stands in solidarity with the citizens and workers in Wisconsin refusing to let their Governor's self-created budget "crisis" and new spending priorities be re-cast as a reason to undermine contractual obligations and collective bargaining agreements.

You can follow Tom as @kabiu on twitter. Tweet

Government of the fat-cats, by the fat-cats, and for the fat-cats?

This is the United States of America, founded on the principle that there's both a wrong way and a "more perfect" way for government to act.

We have regulations controlling immigration, restricting tobacco and alcohol sales, establishing speed limits, and prohibiting the use of dangerous materials such as lead paint. We embrace regulations about what can’t be in our drinking water, and insuring we have the freedom to practice religion unfettered by the preferences of government agencies or the whims of men.

Not every decision is clear and simple. Our constitution was built deliberately to allow for clarifications and changes over time by wise men who had some notion of the limits on their own forecasting abilities. We've been trying to make good laws - good government regulations - and improve the bad ones ever since.

We have laws about everything from voter registration to verifying the safety & efficacy of drugs because we know we can’t simply trust everybody to do the right thing if there’s no judge or referee. Somehow the GOP has been persuaded to slow down the process of reforming Wall Street’s greedy, self-serving behaviors.

We know what happened when we let them call the shots; deregulation served a few very well indeed, while what trickled down to the rest of us was unemployment, foreclosures, and the destruction of the value of the largest asset most working Americans have, their home -- after we'd been encouraged to use it as a way to get credit to fuel corporate profits.

GOP strategists are now stalling reforms in the Senate, by asserting that we need economic analysis before "rushed rule-making." Where were they before the financial crisis in the late summer of 2008 and the resulting recession? I can tell you one thing, they weren't listening to the then-junior Senator from Illinois, who had written letters to the powers that be about what he saw as the looming mortgage lending crisis, but their hindsight may have factored that in.

Enough is enough. Wall Street needs reform if it's to create wealth for the nation instead of for itself. Congress may not get the new laws perfect on the first pass, but that's not news. If all the GOP has is questions, if they can't grasp the risks in leaving the system broken, I say let them step back; it's time to stop spouting sound bites while impeding progress and solutions.

Thomas Hayes is an entrepreneur, former Congressional Campaign Manager, strategist, journalist, and photographer who contributes regularly to a host of web sites on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community, who incidentally stands in solidarity with the citizens and workers in Wisconsin refusing to let their Governor's self-created budget "crisis" and new spending priorities be re-cast as a reason to undermine contractual obligations and collective bargaining agreements.

You can follow him as @kabiu on twitter. Tweet

GOP suddenly pro-Earmark (or is that pro-Pork, perhaps?)

According to Citizens Against Government Waste, during the last time Republicans controlled Congress (which started in 1994, based on the "Contract With America") there were about 1300 earmarks for nearly $8 billion - at a time when we had a budget surplus under the Clinton administration. Then by the final year of GOP control a decade later (2005) their were 10 times as many earmarks totaling over $27 billion, and a record budget deficit - which the elite pundits are still trying to blame on Obama.

You can learn more about the man the Democrats call the “Prince of Pork” -- GOP Congressman Hal Rogers (KY-05) -- as he takes over chairmanship of the House Appropriations Committee by reading various articles online; he's brought so much money for Kentucky that they've renamed the former Daniel Boone Parkway the Hal Rogers Parkway.

Citizens Against Government Waste named Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY) their "Porker of the Month" in August, somehow without mentioning the word nepotism.

“Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today named Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) August Porker of the Month for sponsoring legislation that could give federal funding to his daughter’s nonprofit organization, which promotes overseas wildlife protection for cheetahs.”

It's probably a coincidence that his daughter is the Grants Administrator of the Cheetah Conservation Fund.

But there's good news.  This sort of spending (millions to a fund based in Namibia) won't lead to bigger government. It's just $5 million a year to a non-government agency based overseas.

Look, I'm not saying conservation and cheetahs aren't important, it's just a question of priorities.  The GOP voted down a one-time payment of $250 to Senior Citizens... but that's another story.  My point is, it's about priorities, and once they capture a majority naturally the GOP priorities have changed to ensure their donors will help them get re-elected.

At least they haven't flip-flopped on tax-breaks for the rich.

I know, right?

Thomas Hayes is an entrepreneur, journalist, political strategist, and photographer who recently worked as the Campaign Manager on the Madore For Congress campaign in Minnesota's 2nd District. He contributes regularly to a host of other web sites on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community.

One week later - NOT a post-mortem for Democrats

Democrats took a shellacking, and it's partly my fault -- not because I took time away from journalism to help manage a Congressional Campaign against an incumbent Republican in Minnesota's Second Congressional District, rather because I failed to engage more people in the process.

Look, both major parties have a collection of loyal supporters who consistently identify as a Democrat or a Republican, and many of them turn out reliably to vote even in non-Presidential elections. Polls prior to November revealed Democrats were dis-spirited, Republicans were angry, and those coveted swing-voters (and the capital "I" Independents) had largely lost their enthusiasm.

It wasn't about facts, of course, it was about spin. Logic would suggest (if not mandate) more voters would align with Democrats - Obama had wrenched the economy out of a death-spiral, lowered taxes for most people, lowered the deficit, lowered the troop presence in Iraq, started the process of restoring the cost-benefit ratio of our health care system, and jobs were finally being created faster than they were getting lost.

Meanwhile, the media gave play to every story blaming the state of the economy on Democrats or the White House (hey, they didn't say they believed the story-teller, they just reported that's what was being said, right?) and let the Republican talking points about lower taxes creating jobs echo over and over even though that correlation has been dis-proven repeatedly: it certainly hadn't done so while Bush was in office for 8 years (but hey, the media never said they believed that, or talked about the wealth-gap, and they even let a few people point out that demand is the more logical driver of job-creation, but lots of photogenic people with convincing smiles and voices were talking about how taxes and uncertainty kept rich guys from wanting to hire people. They "covered" what was being "said" right?)

Bush oversaw record growth in government? Well, obviously that's the Democrats fault for caving in, don't they know how to run a filibuster? I mean, big government is bad, right? Unless it provides for our military defense, or social security, or Federal disaster recovery funds, or interstate highways, or border patrols and immigration enforcement, or keeping our toys from being painted with lead, or.... oh never mind.

Earmarks, we all know earmarks are bad, right? They account for nearly 1% of the Federal budget, and if there's one thing we know it's that if we all had 1% more of our money that goes to taxes we'd be just fine now, right? Not so much?

The point is: voting is not about logic. Advertisers have known that logic lets us rationalize our choices for centuries, and modern politicians have long understood there are two fundamentally different parts of holding elected office: there's the campaign - which doesn't remotely test the skills necessary to govern, that's the GETTING into the office part though - and then there's the rest of it, the actual wielding of power while in office.  Successful politicians master both, although there's no one "right" way to do either.

I failed to engage or electrify enough voters in my area; so the cable-TV watching middle class, convinced to vote by a carefully-crafted message laden with buzzwords focus-tested by so-called Conservative strategists that Obama and his "agenda" were leading the country to ruin, elected Republicans in droves in Minnesota.

Remember 2000, when we elected Bush? He was the sort of guy people thought they'd like to have a beer with. Now Minnesota voters face a recount for the Governor because they were reassured by a guy who tried to lower drunk-driving penalties after he got cited for that very offence, because he's told them the $6 BILLION deficit our current (Republican) governor proclaimed as a crisis is mostly just an accounting and spending problem... although he can't explain just how that's going to work, but it's very, very reassuring that somebody knows it can be fixed if voters just trust Republicans.

Post-mortem? No, if there was logic in the outcome of the November 2nd elections it might rise to that level; from here on the ground in Minnesota, looking at the numbers, and the facts, it's a wake-up call for Democrats: they were out-strategized. (Yes, I know, I made that word up. You're one of those logical people, aren't you?) Worse yet, there were voices they could have heeded.

Voters were, in a word, hoodwinked. Democratic politicians lost ground by losing lots of elections to a bunch of slick, experienced, successful Used Country Salesmen. And right here in Minnesota, it's partly my fault.

Thomas Hayes is an entrepreneur, journalist, political strategist, and photographer who recently worked as the Campaign Manager on the Madore For Congress campaign in Minnesota's 2nd District. He contributes regularly to a host of other web sites on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community. He'll be more active again here at Zennie's now, unless maybe there's a vote recount in an important election in Minnesota.  Oh, wait...

茶分心 - Tea Party Distraction

Many of the pundits and commentators have been speculating, uttering for public consumption variations on a disingenuous theme: the Tea Party threatens to undermine the grand old Republican party. Are you falling for it? Nothing could lead you further from the truth.

Ask what motivates those who echo this "conventional wisdom"

In the case of most employed in the media the answer is simple enough, they seek attention because their producers use ratings as the primary metric - corporate media thrives on advertising revenues, which rise and fall with ratings. Relatively few fans realize credibility takes a back seat to celebrity -- logic is overwhelmed by the profit motives of the "business" of news coverage.

The goal of an expert political commentator has some of that same need for attention, interwoven with the complex agendas of using their pulpit to at once distract and mislead their opponents, hopefully to such an extent they become depressed and disenfranchised, while inspiring and energizing those who contribute to their party's success via both votes and on-going media "success."

Consider the two major factions

In the case of a political strategist the goals, at least, are clear even though the strategies and tactics often defy attempts by the pundits to explain, let alone forecast.  The political strategist cares not - the pundits are a tool, and persuading them to portray the process in a way that conveys advantage to the strategist's cause doesn't require the understanding and consent of the media, although that willingness to play along (as the Fox network is generally charged with doing during the previous administration) has obvious benefits.

Both major parties seek to expand their influence and control. Since voters often forego logic when deciding who to empower, the original goal of a political party has to bow, at least in part, to pragmatic reliance on persuasion to preserve their bureaucratic turf.

The Democrats would be delighted if more people accept that the Tea Party signals the decline of the GOP no matter what the party strategists may or may not believe.  The Republicans party's goal is to use the coverage to suggest that either the mood of the country is more right-leaning than it was as the electorate swung from supporting Bush administration initiatives to sweeping Obama and Democrats into office, or that voters who feel that way are shrugging off their lethargy and energized enough to matter nationwide in the looming elections - although we hear over and over that all politics are local.

What does the Tea Party represent?

The Tea Party ideology may have had legitimate, grassroots origins, but it's now a tool of right-wing strategists who spread the story of their concern that it attracts extremists and all manner of unsavory and under-educated bigots while disingenuously stressing the threat to the GOP if Republicans don't accommodate and react. The appeararnce of a growing third party movement even further to the right than the Republicans sets up the GOP strategists to market their candidates as "middle of the road" moderates in the political spectrum. Brilliant not simply as strategic ploy, but also because it's lately become impossible to continue winning votes by touting the GOP brand as compassionate,  fiscally conservative, or good for small business interests.

On most ballots in November, though, there will only be Democrats and Republicans; the GOP will have invested in looking sensible and middle-of-the-road in their coordinated advertising campaigns while many Democrats will rely on voters to make the logical choices.  Logically, of course, more voters are aligned with what Democrats have accomplished and Democratic candidates advocate. But compared to the media coverage of Tea Party rallies replete with misspelled signs and hats festooned with tea bags the Republicans will seem close to most voter's self-image: sensible and moderate.

The Tea Party is now, above all else and quite regardless of the beliefs and goals of its founders or participants, an excellent marketing tool to reposition and re-brand the GOP in advance of the 2010 general elections.

Thomas Hayes is an entrepreneur, Democratic Campaign Manager, journalist, and photographer who contributes regularly to a host of web sites on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community.

GOP bid for earmark backfires, Shelby embarasses Congressional Republicans

It was amazing to many to learn recently that it was one Senator, Alabama's Richard Shelby, on a quest for a massive earmark for his home state, that was able to suspend all progress in filling key leadership roles in many government agencies.

No wonder some in the GOP lament government effectiveness as unattainable: their own party is preventing many key agencies from having leaders. Americans were stunned to learn that the objections weren't based on qualifications, or even philosophical differences, but were simply a partisan ploy that amounted to demanding a kick-back for Alabama.

There's nothing inherently wrong about earmarks.  They allow for quick resolutions to funding decisions that don't require much, if any, debate. They can be used to replace a fallen bridge, or abused to fund a pork-barrel project that benefits a key constituent or city... but Shelby's audacity has backfired, and he's walking back from his stand after embarrassing his party -- later claiming it was just to get attention.

Well done, Senator; you've drawn attention. The President threatened to take a page out of the former administration's strategy book. Your bluff has been called, and people around the country are starting to call your petulant, obstructionist Grand Old Party the Republi-can'ts.

President Obama's statement following action by the Senate to confirm twenty-seven nominees reveals he's getting tougher dealing with Republicans playing political games at the expense of the citizens of the USA:

"Today, the United States Senate confirmed 27 of my high-level nominees, many of whom had been awaiting a vote for months.At the beginning of the week, a staggering 63 nominees had been stalled in the Senate because one or more senators placed a hold on their nomination. In most cases, these holds have had nothing to do with the nominee’s qualifications or even political views, and these nominees have already received broad, bipartisan support in the committee process.

Instead, many holds were motivated by a desire to leverage projects for a Senator’s state or simply to frustrate progress. It is precisely these kinds of tactics that enrage the American people.

And so on Tuesday, I told Senator McConnell that if Republican senators did not release these holds, I would exercise my authority to fill critically-needed positions in the federal government temporarily through the use of recess appointments. This is a rare but not unprecedented step that many other presidents have taken. Since that meeting, I am gratified that Republican senators have responded by releasing many of these holds and allowing 29 nominees to receive a vote in the Senate.

While this is a good first step, there are still dozens of nominees on hold who deserve a similar vote, and I will be looking for action from the Senate when it returns from recess. If they do not act, I reserve the right to use my recess appointment authority in the future."

Thomas Hayes is an entrepreneur, journalist, and political analyst who contributes regularly to a host of web sites on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community.

Republican Congressman Joe Wilson yells "You Lie" to President Obama

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UPATE: Joe Wilson is Top Trend on Twitter, and getting slammed, too.

Some are asking who was the person yelling "You Lie" out to the President as he explained that illegal aliens would not receive health care

According to the Huffington Post, That person's Republican Congressman Joe Wilson of South Carolina. I personally thought his outburst, which caused Democrats on the other side of the congressional aisle to boo, was very disrespectful and marks a period of less than classy discourse and behavior.

The bottom line is that it's not part of the heath care reform proposal.

On CNN's Larry King, Senator John McCain said it was totally disrespectful and that Wilson should apologize immediately.