Minimum Wage Movement

I think that a lot people are sympathetic to increasing the minimum wage but I think that the movement will flame out without accomplishing anything.  It is a lot like the occupy movement or the 99%; a lot of people identify with the goals and are in those respective groups figuratively speaking but the majority politicians and the mainstream media will not take up the cause.  This would create popular sustaining support and that is lacking.  You have billions being spent to convince would be members of these groups to act against their own best interests.  What we should look at is how many of these low wage workers are voting for Republicans.  It has to be a lot because the Republicans keep getting elected and they are not going to raise the minimum wage.  The silver lining might be that some editorial writers and cartoonists have seized on the fact that many of these workers get food stamps, housing assistance, and medical care covered by all taxpayers and that this amounts to a business subsidy.  I think that this tact could be successful because people are tired of give aways to business in exchange for jobs that never seem to materialize in the numbers or wages that the companies said they would.  So her's to hope that something will move because right now the majority in this country is being crushed by low wages, rising costs and a growing income disparity.

Syria Here We Come...

As the war mongers would say it is about time we get into Syria.  Yes, they successfully got the President to agree to a war if the Syrian government uses weapons of mass destruction.  Apparently they have and we are considering options from a missile strike to aircraft bombardment.  No ground forces yet.

My question is can anyone tell me what side we are on and will we be greeted as liberators like in Iraq and Afghanistan?  One thing is really clear, none of the sides like us.  It is also clear to me that given the track record of using drones and guided missiles that we sometimes miss the intended target.  What happens if one of those missiles get hit by anti-aircraft fire and hits an apartment building, school, hospital,...?  Once again I have to congratulate George W. Bush because it was his idea to remake the Middle East utilizing the domino theory.  Look what we have now a bunch of newly democratic countries that have elected Islamists who have been just as oppressive as the governments that they replaced and they still don't like us.  So we are going to get involved in another war in an effort to bring US style democracy to Middle East.  Who knows it might work this time.

Citizen Ted

Why is the media totally ignore the Ted Cruz citizenship issue.  Is it that they are scared of being portrayed as partisan because they didn't go after Obama as hard.  Once again lets review Obama was born in America, I know it is hard to believe but Hawaii is in the United States.  Cruz was born in Canada.  Certainly not native born but what about natural.  Don't know but maybe the Roberts court can carve out a ruling for Senator Cruz so that they don't allow Democrats or anchor babies the same opportunity.  But again the real issues are did Ted Cruz vote in an election and is someone with dual citizenship allowed to serve in the Senate.  The first one is a felony, which eliminates ones ability to serve as President. 

For you impeachment as long as they are Democrats fans there is an opening here.  Obama could have had dual citizenship until he was 23 and he probably voted in elections which is of course illegal.

Liz Cheney Caught

Liz cheney in an effort to shore up her Republican brand went and got a fishing license in Wyoming the other day despite a lack of evidence that she is a fisherwoman.  Of course with her being a Cheney complications and lawbreaking ensued.  It turns out to get an in state license in Wyoming you have to have lived in the state longer than a few days.  This snafu cost her $250 and a lot of embarrassment.

Can Ted Cruz Serve as President

We all know that Senator Cruz is running for President.  We have now learned that he was born in Canada (not the United States) to an American mother and a Cuban father.  Not all that different from the current President except for one tiny difference, Barack Obama was born in Hawaii (the United States).  Clearly the Tea Party Senator is not a natural born citizen.  However this is not the most serious issue facing the Senator.  You see Canada like the US only requires that you be born in the country for citizenship, so he was sort of an anchor baby in Canada.  Now it starts to get complicated.  By virtue of an American mother he gained US citizenship, again the US is a little rare in this regard.  President Obama did not have dual citizenship after he turned 23 because he failed to renounce US citizenship in favor of Kenyan.  Canada on the other hand doesn't drop you unless you file a form with the government so Senator Cruz is still a Canadian citizen.  Now this brings up several interesting points.  First can someone of dual citizenship serve in the US Senate?  No one is really saying if this is ok, I believe that it create such a big conflict of interest (looking out for another country) that it shouldn't be allowed.  My guess is that the founders would have felt the same way because they didn't allow foreign nationals to vote.   Second, has he ever voted in a US election?  It is a felony to be a citizen of another country and vote in a US election, which then would disqualify the Senator from serving as President.  As a Republican who sees voter fraud around every corner I find it ironic that he would have voted in a US election which would have been fraudulent.  If he had any morals at all he would resign from the Senate immediately and submit to prosecution for voter fraud but being a Republican we know that won't happen. 

Liz Cheney

Why does anyone take Liz Cheney's senate run seriously.  Here is a woman who was an architect of the NSA spy program that had many up in arms especially her own party when they realized that Obama was still doing it.  Whenever she is on Fox she spews the same discredited talking points from her father's administration.  She is another neocon who has been proven to be wrong about everything.

Free Speech at the Capitol

I for one was troubled by the whole idea that you needed a permit to protest your government on public property.  I believe that this is unconstitutional, nowhere does it say that you need permits to peacefully assemble.  When the tea party rolled into town on Monday I thought that they of all groups would not get a permit.  No, I was totally wrong.  For all of complaining about government excesses and wanting to restore the constitution they are really all about law and order.  The first question I always ask is would they be ok with the rule if a guy they don't like did it.  Amazingly that becomes a different story.  But, some are consistent and as a person told me all of the protestors breaking the law should be in jail.  This person was all about maintaining civil society.  They would probably do well in a dictatorship.  The fact is that protest and the ability to protest is a key component to the country's founding as well as nearly any change that has taken place since.  There is no question that opponents of health care reform succeeded in watering down what was eventually passed.

If you want to look at protests another way compare the reaction of the Walker administration to unarmed protesters with the debate on gun regulation. The right to assembly does not mention permits, regulation, control,...  Whereas, the second amendment mentions a well regulated militia as being essential to defense as being the reason why gun possession shall not be infringed.  Does that mean that everyone needs to be in a militia that is regulated?  Then there is the argument that we no longer need militias since we have a large standing army.  This is where the above people who got a permit say that we need weapons to fight the government with.

I believe that both amendments shouldn't be curtailed but unfortunately that is not what is happening and only a minority seem to care about the first amendment.

Can't Someone in the Governor's Office Read a Graph

The local paper ran a graph on job growth over the past 2 years.  Of course our Governor touted the increase and there is one, but the Governor went on to say that it shows that we are on the right track.  I looked at the graph and came away with a totally different assessment.  First the graph finishes with a decline.  This decline is part of the normal cycle, except that it appears to be steeper that the past declines shown.  Second we divert from the national line for the first time in the 2 year time period shown.  The national job growth of the Obama economy is outstripping Scott Walker's open for business economy.  Conservatives love to point out how Obama tanked the economy.  I want to know what they are saying about the Wisconsin economy under the Republicans?

The other thing that is not discussed is just how much are these new jobs paying?  I don't see many high paying jobs being advertised.  Mississippi and Alabama here we come.  Our politicians already have co-opted their laws we might as well have their economy.

FEMA aid to Texas

I saw this reported a few days ago that FEMA has no more money for Texas.  I was wondering what disaster had befallen Texas?  Further reading said it was the fertilizer plant explosion.  I have no idea why this should qualify.  This is a State of Texas/ corporation issue.  Poor zoning by the State and village and not following the rules by a corporation caused this disaster.  Tell me why someone who lives in Wisconsin should be paying for this?  If the people have a problem they should sue the company and the state.

Worst Administration Ever

Just heard that George W Bush's poll numbers have increased, wow what an indictment of Obama.  I can't believe it.  This was the worst administration ever, I can't think of another president who was worse.  They were wrong about Iraq, they were wrong on the economy for eight years culminating with the worst economic collapse ever (it didn't appear as bad because of the social safety net), they bungled the occupation of Afghanistan, they bungled the occupation of Iraq (41 people were killed there today after we made the country safe and left, and they were wrong on domestic policy.  And now his poll numbers are going up?  I don't get it.

Why Does the Media Consult with Dick Cheney

Ever wonder why when a quote is needed the media turns to former Bush officials including Dick Cheney?  This is a group of people who were wrong about everything and yet they are treated as authoritative sources by news organizations.  Maybe it is because W's poll numbers are increasing (don't ask me how this could be) the media seems to have forgotten just how wrong these people are.

Bullying

Last week the Cap Times had an article discussing how bullying can affect you for life according to recent studies.  They said that both parties are affected, which I highly doubt but that was their contention.  That somehow those of us that are victims need to feel sorry for the perpetrators.  I for one am not going to do that.  While I was contemplating these things I had the opportunity to watch the movie Bully.  I don't understand why it was so controversial when it came out.  It appears that not much has changed in all of the years since I was in the grade schools.  Teachers and administrators continue to fail to do the right thing.  There is a scene in that movie where a kid was beaten by another (he says that he was picked on continuously) the principle wants the two to shake hands and for the one to accept the apology.  The one kid wouldn't do it because he knew the other was not sincere.  She told that kid he was just like the bully.  Really how does this women still have a job.  Then there was the kid who was tormented and pulled a gun, the police charged her with 47 counts, crazy.  In the end the bullies get away with bullying.  Something needs to be done.  I actually think that the different education options have helped some escape from the bullying situation but you need parents to know what is going on so that they can move the kid out of school or to an online school.  While not ideal it is a start.