Paul Soglin: Waxing America

Kutler on Blagojevich, Burris, and the Constitution

The nice thing about reading Stanley Kutler's* commentary on national affairs that have their roots in thorny Constitutional issues is that he informs, he educates, and he knows the topic. It's like going back to school. I did take four courses from him as both an undergraduate and graduate student at the University of Wisconsin.

Writing at Truth-dig, he cogently outlines the political and legal issues facing the United States Senate and the Democratic Party with the appointment by humbled Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich of his nominee, Roland Burris (Burris refused seat in US Senate.):

Understanding the Constitution sometimes is like interpreting the Talmud.  Two scholarly readings bring forth three opinions. Article I, Section 5, of the Constitution is rather straightforward: “Each House shall be the judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualification of its own Members..."

Nice. Now what do they do? For the full story, go to Kutler's article: Blagojevich vs. The Senate:

 *Waxing America's favorite Emeritus Professor in the entire galaxy, the esteemed University of Wisconsin Constitutional scholar Stanley Kutler

Blagojevich: Sleaze vs. Crime

Last Friday I was on Wisconsin Public Radio's Week In Review with Joy Cardin and fellow guest and blogger at Boots and Sabers, Owen Robinson.

When the conversation turned to embattled Illinois Governor Blagojevich, I made the observation that:

On the sleaze meter the guy is off the charts, but that so far, the complaint against him has no concrete proof that he either specifically asked anyone for a bribe or that her ever received anything of value.

All of which poses a dilemma, namely when does a politician cross the line from playing hardball politics in appointing only friends and supporters, to the world of extortion and criminality?

The New York Times took up this question on Monday, In Blagojevich Case, Is It a Crime, Or Just Talk?

Ever since the country’s founding, prosecutors, defense lawyers and juries have been trying to define the difference between criminality and political deal-making. They have never established a clear-cut line between the offensive and the illegal, and the hours of wiretapped conversations involving Mr. Blagojevich, filled with crass, profane talk about benefiting from the Senate vacancy, may fall into a legal gray area.

The best advice for any politician, is do not go near that line. You do not want to be in the gray area or any other area that comes near crossing the line.

Harvey Milk and George Moscone

Tonight we saw Milk.  The first two minutes were as emotional an introduction to any film I have ever seen.

My reaction to the film is a reflection of the quality of the movie.  It is also a response from living through those times.

It was powerful and moving. Everything said about Sean Penn's outstanding performance is true.

The city of Madison adopted its equal opportunity ordinance protecting all individuals regardless of sexual orientation or sexual preference in the spring or summer of 1976.

Unlike Dade County, Florida, Minneapolis, or Eugene, Oregon, despite our best efforts to bait Anita Bryant, we could not lure her to Madison.  

June  1977 was the last time I saw San Francisco Mayor George Moscone. It was probably Friday June 17 at the conclusion of a hard week of work.

Moscone, U.S. Conference of Mayors President, Ken Gibson from Newark, and  Mayor John Rousakis of Savannah were at the hotel swimming pool.

Gibson and I were in the water, Moscone and Rousakis sunned themselves on lounge chairs when a young photographer from the Tuscon Citizen appeared. He had been trying to get pictures of mayors not working and he had his victims. I spotted him and alerted the others. Gibson and I simply turned our backs to his camera lens.

Moscone was exhausted since every crazed Tusconian with a San Francisco connection had called his hotel room the previous night. Moscone simply draped a towel over his face.

Rousakis did not care and did not move.

The kid snapped a few pictures and walked over to Rousakis. He asked for names. The mayor pointed to Moscone and then himself, "He is Michael Blandic, the new mayor of Chicago, and I am Maynard Jackson, the mayor of Atlanta." (Jackson left, Rousakis right)

Mayor Moscone and Harvey Milk were assassinated on Monday November 27, 1978. The moment hearing of the tragedy and seeing Dianne Feinstein on the news announcing their deaths was as real last night as it was that day.

On Tuesday November 28, 1978 I made reservations for San Francisco. That night our city council met. We had ended the practice of opening the meetings with a formal prayer and instead rotated among the council members who would begin each session with some thoughts of their own. Alderman Jim Yeadon began with words memorializing the two slain leaders. Two years earlier, as a citizen serving on the Equal Opportunities Commission, Jim was instrumental in the adoption of Madison's ordinance protecting gay rights. From the Wisconsin State Journal Friday December 12, 2008:

The assassinations of Milk and Moscone marked a poignant moment for Yeadon, who asked to open the first council meeting after the slayings with a remembrance.

"I get shivers when I think about it," he recalls. "I said, 'Yesterday there were three openly gay elected officials in the country. Today there are two. And I don't know how many good mayors there were in the country, but today the world is one the less.' Then I asked people to bow their heads and pray and give their thoughts to the people in San Francisco. I was almost crying. It really brought it home."

On Wednesday November 29, 1978 I flew to San Francisco where I caught up with some friends from Madison in a city numb with grief.

to be continued

Dingell or Waxman Really Matters; Where Is Baldwin?

Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin's membership on the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee gives her leverage on a wide range of important issues that should bring significant benefits to the businesses, institutions, and taxpayers of our district. As she continues to accumulate seniority, her clout increases. However, the current fierce battle between current Chairman John "Big John" Dingell (D-General Motors) and Henry "Beverly Hills Cop" Waxman (D-Hollywood) for Chairman of Energy and Commerce is an opportunity for Rep. Baldwin to double down by backing the right guy.

By February, Dingell will have served in the House longer than anybody, ever. His wife is GM's head lobbyist, and for better or worse, Dingell represents the Conventional Wisdom of the Democratic Party on almost every issue, and has been around long enough to have championed several sides of every issue over time. When you think of Dingell, think of long-term efforts to loosen air quality and fuel economy requirements and the current push to bail out the Big Three.

Waxman, a bulldog on government oversight matters, is a Green progressive who has been a faithful representative of his constituents, many of whom are in the Industry, which in LA spans everything from the movie studios to TV to pop music. Think of trying to hold the Bush administration accountable, higher air and water quality standards and the role of the information economy when you contemplate Waxman.

Matt Stoller nails this one:

It's very hard to tell what's going on with the conflict.  Since it's secret ballot, certain members are probably promising their vote to both, and others are lying about who they will vote for...

 No one really has any idea how the votes will play out, but I am surprised that the blogs have taken so little interest in this fight.  The 2008 freshmen are being absorbed into the House quagmire without any protest from our quarters, or even requests that they actually take a position to help a progressive chair one of the most important committees in Congress, the one that regulates climate change, media policy, net neutrality, and trade.

Given the pixels spilled over pony plans for the carmakers and Lieberman, this is just weird.

Today the House Democratic Steering Committee voted 25-22 in a secret ballot to recommend Waxman. Tomorrow, all 255 Democratic House members vote.

So where's Tammy on this?  It's not too late to call or email her office with your preference.

- Barry Orton

UPDATE: The House Democrats elected Waxman today (11/20/08) by a very narrow margin:  137-122.  This is a victory for progressives and for environmentalists, and will make health care reform easier to accomplish.

AIG, Chase, Will Again Buy Congress, This Time With More of Our Money

As the Congressional hearings begin, Congress Begins Mapping Financial Reform,  as to how to reconstruct regulations in the financial services industry, one critical element is ignored.

To date, no one is discussing how to prevent the salvaged corporations, run by greedy, unpatriotic, egotists, from making corporate contributions that end up supporting the election of those Members of Congress who supported the bailout.

Elements of greed were identified:

...a decade-long surge in leverage, risk and mortgage-lending abuses that produced a bonanza for a handful of elite investors...

Self serving gems were offered:

"...never again have the taxpayers pay for Wall Street's mistakes," said Illinois Republican Rep. Judy Biggert

The obvious was repeated:

"There should be a moratorium on it, on bonuses, yes,"

The unregulated pirating must end:

Lawmakers at the hearing called for more disclosure by hedge funds and private equity firms, as well as more openness in markets for credit default swaps.

No one addressed what got us into this mess: the long arm of Wall Street reaching into bloated wallets and spreading the money around the United States Congress.

It allowed them to purchase our Congress with our money in an excessive and vulgar manner and:

• donate directly to campaigns.

• send the money to the United States Chamber of Commerce or All Children Matter who used it to directly influence campaigns.

• send the money to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce who funneled into front groups to indirectly influence campaigns.

• send the money to directly to front groups to directly influence campaigns.

Not one dollar of the bail out, or one dollar belonging to bailed-out companies, can be sent to any organization that attempts to lobby Congress directly or indirectly, or that attempts to influence elections, directly or indirectly.

They can have their free speech, but for now, there is no free speech for bailouts. If they want their free speech, they can reject the bailout.

Last time Wall Street purchased Congress, they used obscene profits. This time they will use our tax dollars.

Economic Disaster That A Fool Could Forecast

Like most states, we are caught up in the cruel torture of national policies that are driven by greed, imperialism, and stupidity. Readrers of Waxing America will recall that in the spring of 2007 I forecasted a stock market crash and repeated it last January, Another War; Another Recession. Whatdidyah Expect?

Last  spring I used my limited abilities in forecasting the economy and predicted a stock market crash... For the second time in my lifetime a stupid, foolish war built on lies not only wrecked havoc with another country but it is destroying the American economy.

It does not take a rocket scientist to get it right... Go on take 10% of your income and set it on fire, throw it down the toilet, or just rip it up. And just for good measure, borrow a lot of money and rip it up too.

It is so simple. You cannot destroy your resources and your assets. Imagine the homes and schools that might have been built. Billions of dollars - now that is stimulation for the economy.

I am not a genius in these matters; it is that I am not driven by blind ideology in arriving at conclusions about the ecomony. A few years experience in the public and private sectors, an understanding of history and a willingness to distance myself from bad public planning, or lack of planning, no matter how politically popular the proposal, do help.

As the fall elections approach, candidates for the Wisconsin legislature and Congress from both political parties will warm your frontal lobes with cuddly promises of 'no tax increases,' cutting fat from the budget, and reducing spending.

If you are attracted to those soft sweet sounds, complete the job and instead of voting, just get a lobotomy.

If you want a candidate who will  provide a lump of coal to warm you in your decrepit retirement, and a dull knife so you can remove your spouse's appendix by candlelight in your toothless waning years, I suggest looking for the following promises:

• A pledge to the business community to provide an educated, trained workforce, not lower taxes.
• A pledge to increase spending on education from kindergarten through the University of Wisconsin and Voc-Tech Systems.
• A commitment to spend money on infrastructure that places a priority on the environment, health, and safety.
• A commitment to regulate where appropriate and needed.
• That infratstructure will be funded through borrowing as should any reasonable capital budget item.
• The operating budget, unlike the capital budget, will be funded by general purpose revenues, and only general purpose revenues. No borrowing here.
• It will be necessary to increase taxes. The increase will be progressive and will fall on wealthier taxpayers.
• A commitment to regulate where required for health and safety.
• A declaration that international trade which exports great jobs and imports poisonous pet food and baby formula is not working.
• There will be no reductions of state revenue payments to local units of government. These reductions only end up with increase in the property tax which has the impact of shifting taxes from the wealthy to the middle class.
• On the national level there will be increases in the income tax- progressive increases.
• If we fight a war, there will be honest talk. It is impossible to have guns and butter. If we fight a war there must be sacrifices at home as well as on the battlefield.
• If the candidate tells you they are highly regarded by Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC), tell that candidate to move to Alaska.

 

 

It does not take a rocket scientist to get it right... Go on take 10% of your income and set it on fire, throw it down the toilet, or just rip it up. And just for good measure, borrow a lot of money and rip it up too.

It is so simple. You cannot destroy your resources and your assets. Imagine the homes and schools that might have been built. Billions of dollars - now that is stimulation for the economy.

Solving the Financial Crisis. A Modest Proposal

As much as it disgusts me, the bailout of the financial institutions run by greedy, egotistical managers and executives presents a less devastating result than letting them go under.

Ten years from now, my family, my friends, the working people who make this country great and ask for nothing more than a fair shake, will be better off with a properly structured loan to an industry run amuck.

Before we get into the details, the first thing we must understand is that bailout or not, the Republican Party, the author of this ideological meltdown, is responsible for the biggest tax hike and the biggest waste of taxpayers dollars in history.

For a bailout to work:

• There must be a return to Glass-Steagall, the Depression-era body of law that provided safeguards against these excesses.
• No foreign banks deserve one cent of American money. If their respective nations wish to save them, they can bail them out. They already made enough money in the past decade.
• A special investigator should be appointed to look into the relationship of banking lobbyists and the principals responsible for this former disaster, special financial guru to John McCain, former Texas Senator Phil Gramm, and hit man Newt Gingrich, who thinks the solution to this problem is eliminating the capital gains tax.
• Any borrower should be allowed to extend their home loan one month for each year left on the mortgage and those deferred payments should have a maximum interest rate of 3%.
• No executive of a bailed-out company shall be compensated more than $1 million annually, and that will include company cars, homes, boats, contributions to retirement plans and life insurance. Life insurance can be taken out on the executive if the United States government is the beneficiary until the institution's loans are paid off. Frankly I am being too generous, but I cannot stand to see pirates cry.
• Labor, real work that contributes to the growth of the economy has to be recognized as being more honorable, more noble, and more essential, than flim-flam paper exercises that are nothing more than speculation in industries that are exporting jobs to countries where workers are paid less than $5 a day.
• For every million dollars a financial institution receives, they must repay the entire amount at an interest rate of 3.75%.  All loans must be repaid within a decade.

  
   

Economic Disaster Brought To United States By John McCain's Buddies

There is no question as to who is responsible for the right wing national socialist corporate bailouts, and the ruin brought to millions of Americans who are losing jobs, or homes, or both.

"A candid examination of right-wing policies and the Democrats who play along..."

In 1999, flush their their victories in the three prior congressional elections, the most extreme right wing element of the Republican Party deregulated the US financial system and allowed for the massive excesses that exploded in ruin and chaos.

Irony of ironies the Wall Street Journal wrote nine years ago:

With the stroke of the president's pen, investment firms like Merrill Lynch & Co. and banks like Bank of America Corp., are expected to be on the prowl for acquisitions.

The Wall Street Journal, which pushed the legislation from start to finish, never envisioned the blood in the streets as Bank of America devoured the wounded and crippled Merrill Lynch this week.

The FDR, Depression-era Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 was gutted as were the protective regulations that guarded innocent Americans from the excesses of the greedy and the stupid who manged billions of dollars of their own and other people's money.

Behind the plundering iin 1999 were such notables as Phil Gramm, Republican of Texas and James Leach, Republican from Iowa who, at the time, had their names proudly attached to the legislation.

Knowing that the Republicans, along with some right wing and moderate Democrats could override his veto, President Bill Clinton signed the legislation when the liberal democrats were able to negotiate some minor protections for consumers.

The dynamics of how it was adopted were simple. Caught up in the unproven Right Wing Republican demand for deregulation of all American industries, intimidated moderates of both parties went along, fearful that they too would be swept out of office by Newt Gingrich's Contract On (with) America and the general revulsion in the public mind with anything labeled 'liberal.'

When the bill was adopted in the Senate eight members, including Wisconsin's Russ Feingold, had the conscience and the good sense to vote. "No.'

In a display of total lack of leadership, John McCain of Arizona was the only Senator to refuse to vote either for or against the bill. He voted 'present.'

McCain should step aside and let Sarah Palin head the ticket.

For an analysis and understanding of what went wrong, check out the American Prospect and the work of Robert Kuttner, who called this correctly from the beginning.

Most recently from the Huffington Post:  Wall Street Delivers. by Robert Kuttner on September 15, 2008.

Here is a post from none other than the website of right winger Sean Hannity. Economist Robert Kuttner has criticized the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act as contributing to the 2007 subprime mortgage financial crisis.

 

 

Obama-Biden Had Better Wake Up and Get Out the Heavy Artillery

Perhaps there is a grand strategy on the part of the Obama-Biden management team to tell the truth about Sarah Palin. If there is I hope it works because the present efforts to expose McCain and Sarah Palin are not working.

The simple fact that Palin has a unfavorable rating of 27%, Palin's Popularity Rises is clear evidence that the message is not getting through:

The first-term Alaska governor's favorability rating is also higher than the veteran Delaware senator's -- Palin's is 57 percent favorable, 27 percent unfavorable, while Biden's is 51 percent favorable, 28 percent unfavorable.

Palin's rating has improved since the Republican convention last week; it was 38 percent favorable, 21 percent unfavorable just after she was introduced.

We can take comfort that in the past week her unfavorable rating climber from 21% to 27%, but face it - among mere mortals any politician who smiles at the camera is destined for at least a  35% unfavorable rating.

Palin is vehemently anti-choice. She is tied into the good-old-boy pork barrel lottery.  Look at her support for the Bridge-To-Nowhere, which she only opposed when she realized it was dead on arrival and made her look foolish. That combined with her ongoing support of policies that have brought economic ruin to millions of families ought to push her into the negative 40 range.

Meantime Obama-Biden plug along with two accurate but milquetoast ads noting the link between McCain and George W. Bush and questioning the so-called 'maverick' status of McCain and Palin.

They need to re-work those ads Republican style. That means male voices used for horror films and female voices dripping with sarcasm. The Republicans know how to run these ads - when the viewer has digested the sixty seconds there is no question that the attacked Presidential candidate is unfit to lead.

The beauty of all this is that the Democrats, unlike the Republicans, need only tell the truth:

McCain got us into Iraq.

McCain spent us into bankruptcy, chaos and inflation.

McCain-Palin support fiscal poilices to fleece the middle class.

McCain-Palin are anti-choice.

McCain-Palin are good old boys connected as much as George Bush to oil interests.

McCain-Palin "leadership" amounts to earmarks in the billions, endless wars, and loss of liberty.

The McCain Palin Legacy

An examination of the speeches of both Republican candidates, John McCain and Sarah Palin, as well as their actions in public office, indicates a dismal record when it comes to the economy. While both admitted in the most cursory manner that fixing the economy and the need to create viable jobs is a high priority for the next administration, neither admitted their culpability:

• Both supported the war in Iraq.
• Both know that deficit spending is ruining the economy but lack a plan to fund that war, which is wrecking havoc with America employers and workers.
• Both are responsible for the inflation, the new highs in unemployment, and the speculation that drove up the price of oil.
• Both are long time supporters of tax cuts for the rich, the very wealthy, which only exacerbates the growing national debt. It is a record debt.
• Palin and McCain were silent during their most recent terms in public office on the pirating and exploitation of the U.S. Defense budget by private contractors who ripped off the American people of billions of dollars while our servicemen and servicewomen went unprotected in their Humvees.  Can you say ,"Blackwater, or Halliburton?"This is inexcusable for Palin who governs portions of the United States only 50 miles from Russia.

The Republicans have a plan for all of this.

In the next two months we will see swiftboating of Barack Obama that will make the attack launched against Senator Kerry look like a bathtub flotilla.