Politics / Economics

John Boehner, like his colleagues, is calling for deep evisceration in social-spending and ‘entitlements.’ (Whether Americans are ‘entitled’ to it, or whether it’s a genuine responsibility of good governance not incumbent on its recipients, is a whole other, worthwhile, semantic argument.) But there’s really only one sentence in this article that matters:

“Mr. Boehner made it clear the Republicans are not themselves offering a detailed plan anytime soon. Rather, the budget is likely to contain cost containment goals, but no specific ideas on how to achieve them.”

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703752404576178910828355914.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories

Economics

An instructive interview with Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, on Salon yesterday:

“But it’s not just conservatives who are saying that the system is broken. Even in states with Democratic governors like California and New York, people like Jerry Brown and Andrew Cuomo are talking about reforming pension fund benefits. If the long-term problem is as manageable as you say it is, where did things get off track?
“Well, there are several issues here. A lot of states did not properly budget. In New Jersey, for example, it almost became a joke that they weren’t paying their pension contributions. So they really do have a serious issue of underfunding — no doubt about it. So, yes, you do have cases where states do have underfunded pensions, which are going to be a big liability. And it was irresponsibility on the part of the legislatures and governors to let that happen.
“The other part of the story is that you have these sort of poster children where this or that person has retired at age 51 with a six-figure pension. Now they are the exception — we know that, because we have data on average pensions and they are pretty low in almost every case. In Wisconsin I think the average pension is $24,000 or $25,000, and you’d be pretty hard-pressed to say that’s lavish. Bu there are certainly outlying cases, and I myself would think it’s a good idea to change those. You probably don’t want to have people retiring under the age of 60. Maybe police and fire might be an exception, but there probably aren’t a lot of positions where you want people to be able to retire at these very young ages and be able to get full pensions. So I could certainly understand changing that. But the principle of the defined benefit pension, I think, still makes a lot of sense. And the fact that states are in a position to give it to their workers at very little cost — again, assuming proper budgeting — is not a bad thing.”

I’m all for states taking steps to correct these shortfalls. My question is: why are the workers, by themselves, consistently asked to make up the whole difference? Whenever conservatives talk about ‘shared sacrifice,’ it’s a good idea to keep a hand on your wallet – they’re not remotely interested in reaching for theirs’.

http://www.salon.com/news/budget_showdown/index.html?story=/tech/htww/2011/03/03/dean_baker_and_the_pension_crisis_part_2

Politics / Economics

As usual, button-pushing, short-sighted pandering trumps the outright truth. And this just in: conservatives only promote these distortions on days that end with the letter ‘y’.

“(Rep. Paul) Ryan (R-Wis), mind you, voted for 2008’s TARP program — a bank bailout in the purest sense of the term. But one lawmaker’s rank hypocrisy is less significant than how the word “bailout” is being used — and abused. Suddenly, the term suggests that federal aid would force taxpayers in allegedly “fiscally responsible” Republican states to underwrite taxpayers in supposedly irresponsible Democratic ones.
“Aside from stoking a detestable interstate enmity, this thesis ignores the fact that state-to-state wealth transfers are already happening. According to the Tax Foundation, most Republican-voting states receive more in federal funding than they pay in federal taxes (hello, Kentucky!), while most Democratic-voting states receive less federal money than they pay in federal taxes. That means traditionally blue states like California are now perpetually subsidizing — or in Ryan’s parlance, “bailing out” — traditionally red states like Indiana. Thus, federal aid to states could actually reduce the state-to-state subsidies conservatives say they oppose.
“Congressional Republicans will undoubtedly ignore these facts. Their proposed solution to the budget emergency could instead be a Newt Gingrich-backed initiative letting states default on outstanding obligations by declaring bankruptcy.”

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/republican_party/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2011/03/04/sirota_ryan_crises

Media / Politics / Socioculture

Mike Huckabee thinks Natalie Portman is a bad role model. He’s a member of a political party that wants to force pregnant women to bring their babies to term, and then cut back or eliminate programs that would help keep those babies safe and healthy. Thanks for the heads-up, Mike. Dolt.

“There aren’t really a lot of single moms out there who are making millions of dollars every year for being in a movie,” he said. “And I think it gives a distorted image. … Most single moms are very poor, uneducated, can’t get a job, and if it weren’t for government assistance, their kids would be starving to death and never have health care. And that’s the story that we’re not seeing, and it’s unfortunate that we glorify and glamorize the idea of out-of-wedlock children.”

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/fox-news-mike-huckabee-slams-164028

Economics / Politics

The growing call for boycotting products produced by Koch Industries results in this impressive list. I was amazed at the number of recognizable brands, and the range of materials. Having had some limited experience in cabinetmaking, I know MDF is a major component. And Georgia-Pacific is ubiquitous. Check it out.

http://www.alternet.org/story/150078/how_you_can_boycott_the_kochs?akid=6583.221920.8QL3Fw&rd=1&t=5

Economics / Politics

Responding to the very real issues brought to light by the recent financial crisis, the FDIC’s Sheila Bair has made some tough but fair recommendations regarding ‘too-big-to-fail’ banks and investment firms. So, of course, she’s about to be hammered. Or, worse, completely ignored.

“America’s big international banks should restructure their operations unless they can prove they can easily be broken up if they start toppling during a financial crisis, said U.S. regulator Sheila Bair.
“If they can’t show they can be resolved in a bankruptcy-like process… then they should be downsized now,” said Bair, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
“There is no reason in the world why they should get some special treatment backstop that other businesses in this country don’t have,” Bair said.
“By year’s end, big banks are expected to file with regulators their plans that would show how they can be closed down if they face a liquidity crisis.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/01/sheila-bair-fdic-chief-banks_n_829526.html