28 February 2009

Angry Renters Petition: 32% rent, 33% own





All we hear these days is whining from reckless home borrowers and their banks.

But, did you know that mortgage holders represent 33 percent of American households, while renters comprise 32 percent of American households? And, that homes in foreclosure are less than 2 percent?

So, why is Congress rushing to bailout high-flying borrowers and their lenders with our tax dollars?

Unfortunately, renters aren't as good at politics as the small minority of homeowners (and their bankers) who are in trouble. We don't have lobbyists in Washington, DC. We don't get a tax deduction for our rent and we don't get sweetheart government loans.

Quite simply, we are just Angry Renters. And now it is our time to be heard: NO government bailouts!

Sign the Petition to Congress

WHEREAS: Most Americans rent or own their home outright, and the vast majority of homes (98%) are not in foreclosure.

WHEREAS: Both banks and borrowers should be responsible for their actions, and the government should not reward reckless behavior.

WHEREAS: It is wrong to force all taxpayers-- including renters who are already subsidizing home owners through the tax code-- to pay for additional bailouts for big banks and home flippers.

BE IT RESOLVED: That Congress should not pass any bailout programs that reward risky borrowing and lending. Let the free market sort it out!

Update: Ten Reasons to Oppose the Obama Housing Bailout

Update: FreedomWorks stands with Rick Santelli and wants to make this modern day taxpayer revolt a reality.

Will you join us? Click here to learn more.


LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!

Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember: TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Louisiana Bank Says It Will Return Bailout Bucks




by Paul Kiel, ProPublica - February 27, 2009 5:51 pm EST

There has been ample grumbling [1] from bankers who took the Treasury Department’s money. Now, it seems we have our first bank to actually follow through and return the money.

The Treasury bought $90 million worth of preferred stock in IberiaBank, based in Lafayette, Louisiana, on Dec. 5. Yesterday, the bank announced it has given the Treasury notice that the money is coming right back [2]. The reason, says the bank’s CEO in a press release: "We believe recent actions, interpretations, and commentary regarding various aspects of the program places our Company at an unacceptable competitive disadvantage."

Not the clearest explanation, to be sure. (Our call to the bank for a clearer take wasn’t immediately returned.) Another CEO from a Louisiana bank, MidSouth, was plainer about his discontent [3] last week: "They're talking about attaching all sorts of strings to the money… The Treasury needs to stop listening to the special interests of the 'too big to fail' banks that got us into this trouble and break them up. And at the same time it should back away from community banks and let us do what we're supposed to do with the TARP funds – lend the money."

Clearly the bailout isn’t popular, and the bankers are unhappy about the added compensation limits [4] and public pressure to lend. Under the new limits passed by Congress earlier this month, the five most highly compensated execs at IberiaBank would have seen their bonuses limited.

IberiaBank announced that it will be delivering about $575,000 in dividends to the Treasury along with the $90 million investment on Mar. 31. A Treasury spokesman told ProPublica it did receive the bank’s request and said the redemption should take place without a hitch.

The Treasury has invested in more than 400 banks throughout the country and has been signing up more and more weekly, as you can see on our running tally [5].

About 162 banks have announced that they won’t be taking the Treasury’s cash, according to the investment firm Keefe, Bruyette, and Woods, but this is the first time that a bank has taken the money and then given it back. A sign of things to come?


LET THE
REVOLUTION BEGIN!

Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember: TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Obama 'gearing up for a fight'



Posted: Politico


President Barack Obama is beginning the salesmanship of his far-reaching $3.6 trillion budget with a populist blast at powerful interests he says will fight it – all but challenging his opponents to bring it on.

“I know these steps won’t sit well with the special interests and lobbyists who are invested in the old way of doing business, and I know they’re gearing up for a fight as we speak,” Obama said in his weekly radio address Saturday.

“My message to them is this: So am I.”

It’s a return to the sort of rhetoric he deployed in his anti-status-quo presidential campaign, and it reflects the pivot Obama has made since spending his first few weeks in office reaching for bipartisan consensus.

Having faced almost unanimous Republican opposition to his stimulus plan, the president is now embracing confrontation over conciliation. Republicans already are tagging him with the “tax and spend” label, for his proposed $1.3 trillion in higher taxes over 10 years and broad expansion of a government role in health care and other areas.

But Obama made clear he doesn’t consider it merely a partisan fight, taking on some of the capital’s most politically muscular groups in some of his most pugilistic rhetoric, a preview of battles ahead.

I know that the insurance industry won’t like the idea that they’ll have to bid competitively to continue offering Medicare coverage, but that’s how we’ll help preserve and protect Medicare and lower health care costs for American families,” he said.

I know that banks and big student lenders won’t like the idea that we’re ending their huge taxpayer subsidies, but that’s how we’ll save taxpayers nearly $50 billion and make college more affordable. I know that oil and gas companies won’t like us ending nearly $30 billion in tax breaks, but that’s how we’ll help fund a renewable energy economy that will create new jobs and new industries.

It’s a strategy undergirded by the poll-reinforced assumption that Americans are inclined to side with the popular new president over not only the weakened GOP but also entrenched interest groups.

As if to remind people he believes he won a mandate last year, Obama told listeners on the broadcast that his proposals represent “the change I promised as a candidate for president.

It is the change the American people voted for in November. And it is the change represented by the budget I sent to Congress this week.”

His language was a departure from his past radio addresses, which have usually been more restrained. But Obama making his case for the budget struck an unmistakable us-versus-them tone.

The system we have now might work for the powerful and well-connected interests that have run Washington for far too long, but I don’t,” he said. “I work for the American people.”

Obama’s plans to expand health care coverage, develop cleaner energy and spend more on education by raising taxes on the wealthy and businesses are unmistakably bold, at least the most ambitious since President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society.

Though his rhetoric is carefully calibrated to blur such big government activism, Obama was candid about his audacious goals.

I didn’t come here to do the same thing we’ve been doing or to take small steps forward, I came to provide the sweeping change that this country demanded when it went to the polls in November,” he said.

WE SHALL SEE...

LET THE
REVOLUTION BEGIN!

Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember: TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.


Obama’s 2010 Federal Budget Explained in Plain English

Onlineforextrading.com
Posted: February 26, 2009.

by Rebekah Manning

The US Federal Budget for 2010 was released today, February 26, 2009. Overall, roughly half of spending goes to the US Department of Defense with the remaining money divided among 22 other departments. As one of a very small number of Americans who have read through the 140 page docket outlining the plan, I have analyzed and detailed it below. Overall, Departments like Agriculture show great detail while other departments like that of State use broad language and provide few clues into what programs will actually receive the billions. Unsurprisingly the National Intelligence Agency has no details about either total budget nor allocation.

2009 Federal Budget Breakdown

Obama 2010 Budget Breakdown

Overall, close to half of the federal budget goes to the Department of Defense. When the funds from the Recovery Act are added in, The Department of Education is allocated a vast amount of money to help improve public school and increase access to higher education. The Department of Transportation also see a great deal of money for programs that will improve air traffic control and create an efficient and green fast interstate rail system.

budget-details

To better understand the allotment of funds, the following chart shows the distribution of capital in the 2010 Federal budget.

2009 Budget


LET THE
REVOLUTION BEGIN!

Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember: TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Racist Comments on Cops' Facebook Pages Alarm Town

U-P-D-A-T-E-!

Officials in a suburban New York town are consulting outside lawyers to determine what they can do about racist and sexist comments appearing on police officers' Facebook pages.

One Harrison detective reportedly made watermelon and fried chicken jokes about President Obama. He and others reportedly ridiculed the town mayor, Joan Walsh, with sexual comments.

Calls to Walsh were referred Thursday to town attorney Bob Palladino. She told The Journal News, “I am appalled with their juvenile behavior.”

Palladino said town board members will meet Thursday night with lawyers hired to advise them about what if any discipline is appropriate. He said the town has to be sure it can differentiate between what the officers themselves posted and what might have been posted by others on the officers' pages.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!

Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember: TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Struggling States Look to Unorthodox Taxes: Porn & Pot.






New York Times
by:
JESSE McKINLEY

Published: February 28, 2009


In his 11 years in the Washington Legislature, Representative Mark Miloscia says he has supported all manner of methods to fill the state’s coffers, including increasing fees on property owners to help the homeless and taxes on alcohol and cigarettes, most of which, he said, passed “without a peep.”

And so it was last month that Mr. Miloscia, a Democrat, decided he might try to “find a new tax source” — pornography.

The response, however, was a turn-off.

People came down on me like a ton of bricks,” said Mr. Miloscia, who proposed an 18.5 percent sales tax on items like sex toys and adult magazines. “I didn’t quite understand. Apparently porn is right up there with Mom and apple pie.

Mr. Miloscia’s proposal died at the committee level, but he is far from the only legislator floating unorthodox ideas as more than two-thirds of the states face budget shortfalls.

The most common phrase you hear from the states is, ‘Everything is on the table,’ ” said Arturo Perez, a fiscal analyst with National Conference of State Legislatures, who predicted the worst financial year for states since the end of World War II.

Nowhere is that more true than California, where Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, a freshman from San Francisco, made a proposal intended to increase revenue, and, no doubt, appetite: legalizing and taxing marijuana, a major — if technically illegal — crop in the state. “We’re all jonesing now for money,” Mr. Ammiano said. “And there’s this enormous industry out there.”

In Nevada, State Senator Bob Coffin said he would introduce legislation to tax the state’s legal brothels, a fee that would be “based on the amount of activities.” And unlike the Washington porn proposal, which drew the ire of the adult entertainment industry, Mr. Coffin’s plan has the backing of the potential taxpayers, in this case brothel owners who employ women as independent contractors.

I think they figure if they become part of the tax stream, the less vulnerable they will be to some shift in mores,” he said.

Hawaiian legislators were also considering capitalizing on another potential shift in public attitudes when they proposed legalizing same-sex unions, which supporters say could help the slumping tourism trade.

In Massachusetts, meanwhile, state legislators have introduced a proposal to build two resort-style casinos, including one in Boston. A similar push died last year in the State House of Representatives. But Representative Martin J. Walsh, a Dorchester Democrat and co-author of the new casino bill, said a $2 billion budget deficit might have changed some minds.

Every state in the nation, including Massachusetts, needs to figure out a way of raising revenues,” Mr. Walsh said. “So we need to be creative.

Scott Pattison, executive director of the National Association of State Budget Officers, said many lawmakers were loath to tap more traditional tax sources during a downturn. “What’s pushing it is this incredible desire to raise revenue,” Mr. Pattison said. “But it’s coupled with the desire not to raise the general and sales and income taxes.

Whether such proposals can pass is another issue, though each idea has its supporters. Betty Yee, chairwoman of the California Board of Equalization, the state’s tax collector, said that legal marijuana could raise nearly $1 billion per year via a $50-per-ounce fee charged to retailers. An additional $400 million could be raised through sales tax on marijuana sold to buyers.

The law would also establish a smoking age — 21 — effectively putting marijuana in a similar regulatory class as alcohol or tobacco. Marijuana advocates argue that legalization could also decrease pressure on the state’s overburdened prison system and law enforcement officers.

All of which, Ms. Yee said, at least makes the proposal worth talking about in a state with chronic budget problems and a law already on the books allowing the medical use of the drug.

We know the product is out there, and we know marijuana is available to young people as well, but there’s no regulatory structure in place,” Ms. Yee said. “I think it’s an opportunity to begin the debate.

Such a debate, of course, does not always favor tax innovators. Several law enforcement groups have already objected to the idea of legal marijuana, which would conflict with federal law.

John Lovell, a lobbyist for several groups of California law enforcement officials, said the plan would create a large, illicit — and thus untaxed — black market, in addition to magnifying substance abuse problems. “The last thing we need is yet another legal substance that is mind-altering,” Mr. Lovell said.

Having taxes on illegal activities, like a seldom-collected tax on marijuana sales in Nevada, also has its drawbacks, said Robert MacCoun, a professor of law and public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, who has researched drug policy.

“It is very hard to tax illegal vices unless one is comfortable with contradiction,” Mr. MacCoun said. “How can you collect the taxes without documenting the behavior? And how can you document the behavior without making an arrest?

In Washington State, Mr. Miloscia said he had also received criticism from an array of residents and business owners, who accused him of attacking the First Amendment and other sacred institutions with his pornography proposal.

I had people call up saying their marriages would fall apart,” said Mr. Miloscia, who represents a suburban district between Tacoma and Seattle. “I didn’t know how passionate people are about this stuff.


LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!

Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember: TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.


27 February 2009

Citigroup's Special Treatment: 2 Bailouts & $78 BILLION Later.










Why are we allowing our "representatives" to spend the public's money to bail out stockholders? This is inconsistent with how market capitalism is supposed to work. More importantly, we should be concerned with it's unconstitutionality.

You can fool some people some of the time, but you can't fool all the people all the time.


LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!

Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember: TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

JP Morgan Chase Continues Foreclosure Proceedings Despite Promised Freeze




A greedy father has thieves for children - Serbian Proverb

Can we trust the banks? I guess we are leaning the answer to that question - or we will soon enough. As part of the Fighting for Our Homes Campaign, we documented the story of Gaila, who is being foreclosed upon by wholly-owned JP Morgan Chase subsidiary, EMC Mortgage. Gaila said an eviction notice was posted on her property this past weekend - while the supposed ‘freeze on foreclosures’ was in effect. In Gaila’s case however - betraying the ‘freeze’ is a minor offense compared to the havoc JP Morgan Chase’s EMC is wreaking across the country.

As it turns out - EMC has quite the track record. Along with Bear Stearns, they paid $28 million to settle with the FTC on charges of unlawful mortgage servicing and debt collection practices in September of 2008. They are featured on a site called the Ripoff Report, where there are 261 complaints about EMC Mortgage, including customers being penalized for being “late” when they weren’t, repeated phone calls, rude treatment, no help with mortgage modifications and numerous other problems. We also saw news reports about how EMC treats its customers, testimonials from customers, and even firsthand accounts from former employees.

So now, in addition to using TARP money to buy jets, throw parties, redecorate offices and bailout the NBA before lending money to struggling small businesses and helping homeowners (the purpose of the TARP funds), it looks like the greedy fathers of the financial industry in America are looking the other way as their wholly-owned subsidiary children continue to rob us blind.


LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!

Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember: TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Freelancers Union: Tell the NY Observer to Pay Its Freelancers!





NY Observer not Paying Freelancers: Please Sign the Petition.


February 25, 2009.

Dear Readers,

The New York Observer is reportedly having trouble paying the bills. There's no shame in that--so are a whole lot of media organizations. But to stop paying the freelancers? There's got to be a better, fairer way.

Tell the Observer you think they can and must find a solution and pay their freelancers. (After all, these are journalists! Maybe they can take a page from Wall Street and freeze pay at the top?) Doesn't mutual benefit mean mutual responsibility?

Contract writers have been stonewalled by the paper's payroll department after months of non-payment. And it's evidently not the first time they've left freelancers in the lurch.

Style Editor Nancy Butkus said it best herself: "What I'm being asked to do is immoral." We couldn't agree more.

But it isn't Nancy's fault. This kind of behavior gets instituted from the top, and that's why Freelancers Union is committed to making sure freelancers get paid for the work they do.

The Department of Labor really should institute protections for freelancers, just like W-2 employees have. But let's tackle the issue from both ends. Send a message to the newspaper that it's not okay to balance its budget on the backs of independent workers.

Click here to tell the New York Observer to pay its freelancers on time, every time.

Best,
Althea Erickson
Senior Manager of Advocacy and Policy, Freelancer's Union







LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!

Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember: TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

The Wingnut Revolution

by: Bob Cesa
Political Author, Blogger, and New Media Producer

Huffington Post
Posted February 26, 2009 | 05:48 PM (EST)

After nearly three decades of Reaganomics in which the wealthiest two percent have grown exponentially wealthier while middle class wages have remained stagnant, a growing faction of super rich Americans is seriously pissed off -- and their Wingnut Revolution is upon us.

Sure, the interests and influence of the wealthiest two percent make them more responsible than most for the free market policies that created this current economic crisis. But if there's one thing we've learned about those responsible for this recession, it's that the concept of accountability is about as foreign as their live-in au pairs. Instead, they're trying to pin this on Barney Frank and a legion of "losers" (read that: working class minorities) even though Ben Bernanke himself has debunked this myth.

But accountability (a "day of reckoning" as President Obama called it) is underway in the form of the president's housing proposal, his health care plan and, naturally, the recovery act. At the end of the day, ninety-five percent of Americans will benefit from what amounts to the largest tax cut in American history, along with increased access to affordable health care and millions of new jobs.

Though, alas, the super rich will have to pay slightly more in taxes.

Yeah, that's a shame.

So they're gathering in their secret war rooms in the Orange County underground and on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, grinding the tips of their Salvatore Ferragamo Pregiato Moccasins into razor-sharp spears and fashioning their Bentley key fobs into makeshift nunchakas in preparation for a supremely ridiculous rebellion led by a cast of far-right characters more freakish than the acid trip monsters from Yo Gabba Gabba.

At the vanguard of this Wingnut Revolution is CNBC's Rick Santelli. You've probably seen the video of his public conniption fit already, so we'll skip right to an example of Santelli's economic prowess.

Remember back in September when John McCain famously doomed his campaign by suggesting that the "fundamentals of the economy of the economy are strong?" Well, several days earlier, Santelli told his CNBC audience, "I think the economy is healthy." This was September 2. Fourteen day later, Lehman Brothers collapsed.

I'm beginning to think John McCain got a bum rap. He wasn't alone. It turns out that one of the spazziest of the spazzy white guys from the financial cable shows was suggesting the exact same nonsense. In fact, here's a convenient chart of the Dow proving why Rick Santelli is nothing more than 2009's answer to the Star Wars Kid:

That's one healthy-looking economy. Now, economists will tell you that the Dow isn't totally indicative of the broader economy, so just to be fair to Santelli, here's a chart documenting job losses during various recessions with Santelli's quote marked accordingly:

If Santelli and his fake lightsaber of economic awesomeness is the loudest voice of the revolution, then the foot soldiers in the coming revolt are being mustered by Michelle Malkin and Joe the Plumber. Ostensibly because their goal is to be taken seriously. The Pajamas Media people have organized something called The American Tea Party. This is absolutely real:

America is on the brink of another revolution. In a new American Tea Party, citizens across the USA are beginning to protest giant government programs that reach deep into their pockets.

Did you notice their slogan? "Uncle Sam - Get out of my wallet!" Get out of our wallets and pockets, Uncle Sam, and crawl into our wombs, where you belong.

The Pajamas TV team including Michelle Malkin, Glenn Reynolds, and Joe Wurzelbacher (aka Joe the Plumber) - are mobilized to help cover this new and evolving revolution.

Evolving? With Joe the Plumber (aka Cartoonish Prop) involved, they're clearly starting at a hairless proto-wingnut stage of evolution.

Yes, the original Sons of Liberty risked their lives in order to protest against monarchical tyranny. The Pajamas Media revolutionaries on the other hand...

You will need to determine from local authorities if a permit is needed for your particular event.

Revolution! But get a permit first. You know: a permit for the revolution.

Then there's Glenn Beck who devoted an entire show to gaming out how exactly a revolution would take place here. He dubbed the special episode the "War Room" and it involved in-depth analysis from a team of experts who agreed that an army of survivalist "bubbas" might take up arms against the "communist" Obama government.

Now, before any cable news conservatives fire off angry missives to the Huffington Post editors, allow me to underscore that I'm not exaggerating Beck's communist accusations here. For the last year or so, Glenn Beck has been attempting to peg Barack Obama and the Democrats as actual communists, and now he's going all out with, quite literally, a red scare segment on his show -- festooning his set with Soviet flag graphics, a "Comrade Update" logo and a Russian language crawl in the lower-third of the screen.

I never thought someone would materialize on FOX News Channel who could actually make Ann Coulter and Bill O'Reilly seem reasoned and rational, but Glenn Beck has done it. To eleven. Watching this "Comrade Update" video, I'm beginning to think that Rick Santelli and Michelle Malkin are on the very serious end of the wingnut spectrum with Beck and, perhaps, Michele Bachmann on the opposite crazy flank -- jars of their own urine lined up along the wall as they assemble enemies lists while reviewing moon landing footage frame-by-frame to see if they can spot a boom mic.

But all of this silliness tends to overshadow the very basic fact that these self-anointed revolutionaries have all along sought to derail and defeat the largest tax cut in American history; going so far as to define the recovery act containing this historical tax cut as socialism and "porkulus."

What this far-right movement appears to suggest is that middle class tax cuts, job creation and affordable healthcare -- ideas that are supported by 82 percent of Americans, by the way -- are criminal acts of tyranny, and an eventual tax increase to the tune of pennies on the dollar for the wealthiest two-percent is worthy of opposition by revolutionary means.

Okay, well. Good luck with that, wingnuts. But don't forget your permits.

BobCesca.com


LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!

Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember: TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.