GARVEYBLOG
March 18, 2010
OK, Dennis
By Ed Garvey
Fighting Bob Fest veterans know Dennis Kucinich from his speeches at Fighting Bob Fest. We trust him. So when he announced that he will vote "yea" on the watered-down, arguably-worse-than-nothing insurance reform, I applauded his courage. If this reform fails it will be hung on the "Blue Dog" lamp post, not the progressives website. A loss at this point could cripple the Obama presidency.
I hope the leaders demand a vote, but I'm even OK with the "deemed passed" trick. My passion is to not let the Chamber of Commerce and the insurance industry win with their lies, distortions, and false claims made in thousands of TV spots. There may never be another chance for coverage given the Supreme Court's awful decision in Citizens United v. FEC.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce announced it will put $50 million into four Senate races and 10 House seats this November. Bet the ranch that Feingolld and Obey will be targeted by the forces of darkness. Shake your head all you want, Justice Alito, but you have destroyed our democracy. We plan to re-build, but you have thrust the knife into her heart.
Too good to pass up. About 59,000 Catholic nuns declared their support for the health care bill. The bishops are, undoubtedly, mad as hell. Catch this: "It will uphold longstanding conscience protections and it will make historic new investments in support of pregnant women. This is the real pro-life position."
Wish I could have seen Bishop Morlino's face when he got that news.
[2 letters]
ARTICLE
March 18, 2010
Brighter days for Sunshine
By Bill Lueders
It's Sunshine Week, and most of the open government news in the last year has been good.
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GUESTBLOG
March 16, 2010
Friends like these
By Bob Menamin
A friend recently accused me of “class envy” when I referred him to an Alternet article titled “Why Are We Afraid to Tax the Super-Rich?” He also said that by embracing tax fairness I was guilty of subscribing to the notion that “big, powerful government will solve all our problems.”
Perhaps you have friends like this, too. The following is what I told him.
Dylan Radigan, of MSNBC, and many others have described our current financial crisis as massive, systemic fraud by Wall Street that continues because there are no adequate government regulations to deal with the problems that caused the financial meltdown. People like Warren Buffet, George Soros, Bill Gates and Paul Volker agree that the financial system incentivized fraudulent activity and continues to do so with support of short-term profit at the expense of the of the long-term interests of both the de-frauders and the rest of us. We are at serious risk of a much greater catastrophe unless smart and prudent legislation by the federal government is put into place soon. The reason this hasn't happened is because the large financial institutions, with huge lobbying efforts, go to great lengths to prevent effective regulation, and a small core of voters can always be counted upon to use terms like “class envy” and “big government” to confuse the issue and bog down the real debate.
Here’s a term for you: "Regulatory Capture.” It means that interest groups such as Wall Street banks, payday loan sharks and other political participants use the regulatory and coercive powers of government not just to avoid regulation but to shape laws and regulations beneficial to them. In other words, the government power of regulation that is supposed to protect all of us is captured by special interests and turned back against the interests of the general good. This has intensified over the last 30 years to the extent that our nation and our world are at tremendous risk.
Michael Lewis, author of The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine, said recently on 60 Minutes that the financial meltdown was created by a mass delusion that seemed to affect smart, wealthy people even more than everyone else. Lewis said, "Wall Street's finest minds managed to destroy $1.75 trillion of wealth in the subprime mortgage markets."
I'll take envy over delusion any day.
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ARTICLE
March 15, 2010
All tomorrow's parties
By Bill Berry
The tea party movement is real, but it is not the only movement happening right now in Wisconsin and throughout the nation.
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GUESTBLOG
March 14, 2010
Unfriendly rivals
By Bill Kraus
The occasional column that Sally Quinn (Ben Bradlee’s wife) wrote for the Washington Post was mostly about politicians socializing after hours.
The column has been discontinued.
Politicians don’t do that anymore. This is due in part because most of them are commuters who go back to the state or district on weekends and probably spend whatever remains of their leisure time dialing for campaign dollars.
What has really happened though is that camaraderie has disappeared.
The days when the adversaries fought in public and socialized in private ended when adversaries became enemies, and what I have described as the “Arena Effect” no longer existed in politics the way it used to and still does in sports. The effect is based on the respect and empathy the participants in contests have for the effort they have gone through to get into the game.
They may have different philosophies, goals, objectives, but they could disagree without being disagreeable.
The decline of civility and sociability can be traced in Wisconsin to the time when two of the state’s most accomplished and smartest legislative leaders were ascendant.
Chuck Chvala was Senate Majority Leader and Scott Jensen was the reigning Speaker of the Assembly.
They preached and practiced a kind of disassociation.
Early in their ruling tenures a freshman representative and his fellow neophytes from both parties convened regular breakfasts with cabinet members and leaders of the administration to learn more about the way this government worked.
When he learned of this, Jensen told his members not to participate. Chvala did not object.
The theory, if there was one, seemed to be that it’s better not to get to know, or to be friendly with the people on the other side. This might somehow weaken your resolve to enact your agenda. From the outside though it looked less like agenda advancement than a pursuit of advantage pure and simple.
The collateral damage was that compromise which at one time was regarded as the real art of politics became a dirty word. Worse yet, the law of unintended (at least I hope it was unintended) consequences took hold, and disassociation became demonization.
It is hardly surprising that the rise of the “my way or no way” ideologues, the immutability of the status quo, a “when the solution is proposed, the problem goes away, and the solution becomes the problem” world where true believers, extremists, and yellow dogs prevail, became the political norm.
In a remarkable 1908 book titled The Process of Government, Arthur Bentley declared that there is no general interest, that politics is about special interests. Maybe it is. But the interests he saw at work clearly were not the kind of tribal Hatfield v. McCoy interests that are bringing our democracy to a screeching halt.
[2 letters]
ARTICLE
March 14, 2010
Lowest crime denominator
By Joel McNally
Wisconsin's elected officials are among the nation's most cowardly when it comes to common sense corrections policies.
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GUESTBLOG
March 12, 2010
Help FightingBob.com keep fighting
By Ms. Forward
As a loyal subscriber to the FightingBob.com newsletter, Ms. Forward has been reading for the last two weeks that FightingBob.com is in acute and immediate need of financial support, also known as "money."
I am quite accustomed to fielding requests for financial support from organizations, causes, candidates, websites, radio stations and so on, but not from Fighting Bob. I have always appreciated that my reward for so assiduously reading the contents of the site is not to have to wade through tons of fundraising appeals. So when the people at Fighting Bob tell me they need money I believe them. And Ms. Forward says we give it to them.
It seems that this recession that has cost so much to so many (except bankers), has also cost Fighting Bob. Foundations and individuals who would have otherwise given have not. So the rest of us who can give have to pick up the slack.
Unemployment has tripled, and many people who have not lost their jobs have seen their wages decrease and/or their workloads increase. FightingBob.com speaks for them (you), and always has, since its founding in February 2003. But not all of us are unemployed. Those of us who can afford it need to step up now and help this website and the Fest it bolsters continue to thrive.
[1 letter]
GUESTBLOG
March 11, 2010
Granny D, in her own words
By Karen Rybold-Chin
Tributes to Doris "Granny D" Haddock are pouring in all over the internet, and rightfully so. Her walk across the the United States to raise awareness of the scourge of money in politics and the need for campaign finance reform did just that--raise awareness. It also inspired many of us to become more involved and more committed.
Granny D was a fixture at Fighting Bob Fest, appearing in spirit even when she wasn't speaking in person. In 2005, the People's Legislature brought Granny D to Wisconsin. It happened at the Capitol, and here is what she said:
[2 letters]
ARTICLE
March 11, 2010
Race to nowhere
By Ed Garvey
How about an intelligent, honest, inclusive plan for using Race to the Top money in Wisconsin?
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GARVEYBLOG
March 10, 2010
Thank you, Doris. Thank You.
By Ed Garvey
Known as "Granny D" she was Doris "Granny D" Haddock. She inspired all whom she met and all of us lucky enough to have heard her speak at two Fighting Bob Fests. Despite her struggle to breathe, she spoke the truth with vigor. She told our group, "Do something about our corrupt government or just go home."
Doris was tough, humorous, and lots of fun, but I remember her personal sacrifice in traveling to Bob Fest. She changed lives every time she spoke and every mile she walked in support of campaign reform. She was a great woman; 100 years old. She tried to come to Bob Fest last year but her doctor refused. She will be with us at the next Bob Fest on September 11.
Toughen-up, chief! Chief Justice John Roberts, who misled Congress in his confirmation hearings, now makes clear he can't take a punch. He was "troubled" by President Obama's speech about the State of the Union. Well, me boy, toughen up! You have destroyed our democracy along with your fellow misleader Allito.
Open records: Let's get serious. About the only people who know what is going on inside government are lobbyists and public officials. Records should be open, government should be transparent, because otherwise only the lobbyists will know what's going on. More next week.
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