Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Spending Priorities

[via LG&M]

It is true that cutting defense spending will cause job losses. This should surprise no one. What might surprise you is all the ways the money could be better spent, from the POV of job creation. And don't bother with the comments in the linked article, a lot of stupid, hateful right-wing blather.

My take is that I'd like to see money spent in the most efficient and productive ways possible. I have yet to be convinced that we need to spend as much as the rest of the world combined in defense. I am also not convinced that it is best for us to do so. I am not for making cuts to the Federal budget, nor do I favor net tax increases. However, if we are going to cut, let's cut where it hurts us the least.

Monday, November 7, 2011

She Doesn't Have A Penis, Either. Does This Mean She CAnnot Really Represent Men?

Jesus Tap-Dancing Christ, is there anything more idiotic than Politico?

By the way, I told you to read Charles Pierce every day, didn't I?

WINAD, Explained

Just read this. And next time someone says the Dems are the party of the Left, try not to die laughing.

The Best Research Money Can Buy

Charles Pierce hits yet another bulls-eye. This time, he takes on the absurd notion that teachers are over-paid. That conclusion was foregone reached by a study from the Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute.

Both of these outfits exist solely to put a pseudo-academic gloss on what conservative politicians choose to believe anyway. They are not "think-tanks," if that buzzy phrase ever had a real meaning. They are talking-point factories. They exist so that people like Michele Bachmann can appear to be smart. Their "research" is given mainstream credibility only because the people who run America's major communication conglomerates would cut out their own spleens rather than be called "liberal." Heritage and AEI produce "research" the way the Fox News Channel produces "journalism." It's propaganda with data points.
Read the whole post here.

QOTD 11/7/11

"You know, when you're done working on the Hill, we'd very much like you to consider coming to work for us." Now the moment I said that to them or any of our staff said that to 'em, that was it. We owned them. - Jack Abramoff
And that, my friends, is a big reason why you have such a corrupted Congress. Notice there is nothing about campaign donations here. Not to say that isn't part of the problem, too, but I think the energy being invested in trying to overturn Citizens United and limit campaign donations ought to be put on this topic. Serve in Congress, take your pay and your pension, and forgo the chance to work in any industry your votes affected. I'm pretty sure there are better-stated versions of this idea, but the key is we have to stop the "a cushy job is waiting for you" form of bribery.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Behind Every Great Fortune, There Lies A Great Crime

One of my college professors passed that line along to us. If I were unemployed, in Greenland, I'd do a post (or series) on the crimes behind the fortunes (trust me, there is no shortage of examples). Via Balloon Juice, here is yet another example. Sure sure, innocent until proven guilty. But I find it extremely unlikely that charges would have been filed if there wasn't solid evidence. This kind of case is not like the cops arresting the nearest black guy that someone ID'd from 100 yards away in low light.There is almost certainly a very solid paper trail, if not witnesses willing to testify in excruciating detail about the fraud.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

This Is What Abusing The Court System Actually Looks Like

New Variations on the Patent Scam

Innovatio is also suing Caribou Coffee, Panera Bread and other stores offering free Wi-Fi because they claim that they have some kind of patent that covers Wi-Fi. They’re looking for settlements in the range of $2,300-$5,000—in other words, they’ve priced their lawsuit at nuisance value and hope that these companies will just pay them to go away, and do so before their whole scam gets tossed out of court. 

The Other Evil Is Really, Really Evil

Over at Balloon Juice, John Cole had this to say: