Sometimes, There Is No "Right" Answer

Pigford II and the Eternal Problem of How to Prove Discrimination | Mother Jones

There is no perfect answer to questions of policy. This article explores that fact. It gives us a handy way of framing the realistic choices we face in setting the bar for discrimination cases:

You can either set a high bar for evidence of discrimination, knowing that it will unfairly deny compensation to lots of people who were treated wrongly. Or you can set a low bar, knowing that this will unfairly give money to lots of people who don't deserve it.

Very Loud, Very Hot Freedom | You Are Dumb

Very Loud, Very Hot Freedom | You Are Dumb

Deregulation, in contrast to smart regulation (which may include less or different regulation) is sociopathic, insane, and deadly.

If Only He Had Tried Harder!

The BULLY PULPIT Tautology - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money

The post linked above explains, yet again, that the idea that you can fairly blame Obama for the gun legislation failure is not based on any defensible or realistic theory of Presidential power. It disposes of, rather effectively, the "LBJ coulda done it!" myth that pervades many critiques of the President from the Left. If one does not understand the institutional reality of Congress, one might wish to refrain from magical thinking about the Bully Pulpit.

I find this lesson instructive not only as a matter of understanding how Washington actually works, but also as a tangible explanation of why going out to vote for the Dem candidate for President every 4 years is going to get the Left exactly nowhere. If we want a more liberal government, we're going to have to start with City Counsel, County Board of Supervisors, and other local level institutions. That's how the Right took over, and that's the only way I can see that they can be defeated.

Our Crappy Political System Killed Gun Checks -- Daily Intelligencer

Our Crappy Political System Killed Gun Checks -- Daily Intelligencer

Really F*cking Awful Judicial Opinion From a *GASP* Right-Wing Court

This enrages me to the point of incoherence. Luckily, smarter, calmer folk can at least articulate why this is SO FUCKED UP.

Harry Ried, Your Brave Leader In The Seante

Filibuster reform, R.I.P. So much for democracy. And BOTH California Senators are with Harry, or so it has been reported. Thanks, ladies. :-\

Why Reagan Was The Devil Incarnate, Chapter Eleventy Hundred: Destroying Public Higher Education

[via LG&M]

I get frustrated when people can't or won't see that this is not an accident, it is not inevitable, and it is not "just how things are." There is a conscious, coordinated effort to destroy American civil society, in the name of "small government" ideology. This story deals in part with Ronnie Raygun's involvement.

Today's Lesson In Big Government

Telling doctors how to practice medicine. Remember: Nobody actually cares about Big Government (or Federalism or the deficit, for that matter). It is all a smokescreen for an agenda. 

Founding Fathers, Founding Villains

This review is long and dense, and an excellent, informative, thought-provoking read.

Lesser Of Two Evils

Maybe now isn't the time to potentially dampen enthusiasm for Obama*, given the alternative. However, his continuance and expansion of Government power from the Bush administration is really awful. The NDAA is what passes for the "Left" in today's America? At least one judge still believes in some restraints on Federal power. I wouldn't bet on it lasting, though.

The "Self-Made" Myth

[via G&T comment section]

This looks like an interesting read. The ignorance of history and lack of common sense needed to believe the myth that America's wealthy are the product solely of their own hard work is staggering. Fair arguments can be made about the optimal extent of government involvement in the market, but the die-hard Randian types are stunningly, glaring wrong. Of course government can needlessly constrain individual achievement, and of course it can make unwise policy choices. But the harm to our society from the efforts that go too far the other way, that is, to limit regulation and and "let loose the power of the market," seems, to me, to be vastly more detrimental.

Shocker!

[via Eschaton]
Otherwise law-abiding people who are cut off from public assistance may turn to crime.

More On The ACA And The SCOTUS

[via LG&M]

I took a Con Law class from this guy's brother. I don't know of this guy has a brother. Happy Friday, all. And don't get sick if you don't have good health insurance!

A Great Piece On The Fed

[via facebook]

Referring to Alan Greenspan:

He pointed out before Congress that the virtue of loading down homeowners, college students and others with debt was that they were afraid to go on strike or even complain about working conditions or seek higher wages, for fear of being fired and missing a mortgage payment or credit-card payment.

Referring to Ron Paul:

Ron Paul’s proposal opposes paper credit itself, whether issued by the Fed or the Treasury. He wants to return to the gold standard and clash government spending – in effect, to create an economy without government. So what he actually advocates is not only the end of the Fed, but the end of a functioning credit and tax system. The idea is otherworldly and has no possible chance of being enacted, because it would cause a vast debt default as a result of plunging prices, incomes and employment.

 Read the whole piece here.

Health Care Is Not A Commodity

I have seen a number of "let the free market run naked in the yard and nature will take its course"-type arguments about heath care. The main problem is, health care doesn't fit the traditional definition of a commodity. I don't want the government involved in the business of making things. But health care doesn't fit into the model that shows that market forces are best at allocating resources.

Please see this rather academic pdf for an explanation. Krugman weighs in here.

"Beyond Austerity"

A very good analysis of why we are where we are economically, and why austerity is exactly the wrong thing to do about it.

When Freedom Isn't Freedom

Must-read article about why the myth of American freedom is just that.

Ron Paul Is Nuts

I find it most disturbing (like Darth Vader your-lack-of-faith disturbing) that otherwise sentient people find Ron Paul's candidacy appealing. Note, I said "candidacy." I agree with RP on a few things, like the "War On Drugs," and our imperialism. But, the dude is whack, as the kids may still be saying. Check it. The idea of a man so unwaveringly married to a patently unrealistic (as well, as inhumane) world-view being President is brain-bruising. Plus, the dude's a racist, straight up.

And yet, in the never-ending pursuit of showing how desperately ignorant they are, some folk apparently believe that such fervent religiosity of ideals is just what this country needs. Yikes.

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.

Fun Fact

Top 50% of Senate represents 83.65% of the population of the states.
Bottom 50% of Senate represents 16.35% of the population of the states.

This means that, in theory, about 17% of the country can block 83% of the country even if the Senate were a majority-rules body. Of course, with the evil filibuster, the numbers can be even more anti-democratic. The number of people who fail to grasp this point, including almost every headline writer in the media, is astonishing.

What should be this:

"Obama's Jobs Bill
Blocked by GOP in
Procedural Move"

Becomes this:


Damn librulmedia!

This is something to keep in mind when considering discussions of our "democracy," of "what the people want," or of which party is to blame for the gridlock in Washington. The GOP will, as a matter of course, use their minority position to block everything the Dems want to do, and then blame the Dems for the failure to get things done. When the GOP takes the Senate back, they will wail and moan if the Dems even suggest they will use the very same tactics. And because "theliberalmeida" won't tell you about it, and your schools didn't teach you about it, you'll be none the wiser. And, of course, the inept Dems won't call a spade a spade and rail against the GOP obstructionism in clear, forceful terms. Because that would be, oh, effective. And being largely ineffectual is a friggin' prerequisite for being a Dem.

[Source]