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How to lie, cheat, and steal your way to elected office

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Republicans embark on an unprecedented campaign of dishonesty and deceit.

So this is what it’s come down to. Republicans can’t win on the merits of their policy ideas, so they have to resort to deliberate and systematic deception in order to win. And people are buying into it like the fools they are. In fact, that’s what Republicans are counting on: That the voters are uninformed dolts that don’t pay attention to detail and swallow the hook of convenient sound bites that fit their ideology, accepting them without question.

Start with the fact that Republican claims of grave concern over the economy. The truth is that they revel in the slow economic recovery because they think it’s good for them politically. As long as the economy is still languishing, they can simply blame it on President Obama and spin it into political gold for them. The truth is that they have no interest in seeing the economy improve until they can reclaim control of both houses of Congress and the White House, if even then.   [Read more…]

Pondering the Definition of a Green Leaf

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 (Thoughts About Jerry Brown and Proposition 30)

I treasure such images as the one I saw earlier on this hot San Diego Monday morning: the vision of a nice number of San Diego City College students walking down hill in front of the B Building on their campus, heading for some trees for shade to listen to their governor, Jerry Brown, speak at a Press Conference regarding Propositon 30 – an initiative designed to raise as much money as possible to arrest the slow death of our schools. Their schools.
Nothing inspires more hope in me regarding the future of our species than seeing young people rising to remodel their world for the better. I hope that’s their intent, getting out there and talking to as many friends and family and others in their community as they can about how Proposition 30 is one of the most important proposals of our time, about how the learning needs of our children and young people or any active learner, for that matter, should be among our highest priorities as a state.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – The Huge Impact of the Republican Medicare Plan in the San Diego Area; It Ain’t Pretty

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Sorry, gang, I’m taking a day off today. I had a little medical “procedure” yesterday, and need to take a day off from typing. I’ll be back tomorrow. In the meantime, I hope you’ve got a rather large cuppa joe at your side, because I’m sharing a report issued by the Democratic Staff of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce that details just what the “Republican Budget” has in mind for seniors and people with disabilities who happen to live in the San Diego area.

The budget passed by House Republicans in April 2011 makes radical changes to Medicare. The Republican plan raises costs for seniors and individuals with disabilities enrolled in Medicare, reduces their benefits, and puts private insurance companies in charge of the program.  For current beneficiaries, important benefits – such as closing the hole in  Medicare’s drug coverage – would be immediately eliminated.  For individuals age 54 and under, Medicare’s guarantee of comprehensive coverage would be replaced with a “voucher” or “premium support” to buy private health insurance.  By design, this federal contribution does not keep pace with medical costs, shifting thousands of dollars in costs onto the individual.

This analysis shows the immediate and long-term impacts of these changes in the San Diego metro area.  The Republican proposal would have adverse impacts on seniors and disabled individuals in the region who are currently enrolled in Medicare.   [Read more…]

Please Stop with the War Memorials!

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By Dave Patterson

Recently I have been reading about the need to better the existing, or build more war memorials. I disagree that we need more or better memorials. In fact I believe that we already have too many Veterans memorials and I will argue that we need to remove some of the ones we already have. And yes, we can do so while still honoring our Veterans.

There are a lot of war monuments in Washington D.C. where Mr. Scruggs points our thoughts. There are war memorials specific to the military branches. There are statues of tired soldiers, flaming swords and waves and dolphins and fountains and granite obelisks and walls with tens of thousands of names of U.S. killed. There are salutes to those that served, and those that were injured and those that died, and those that loaded the bombs or dropped them, and those that slogged through the snow or jungle being killed and maimed while killing people that were defending their homeland against us.   [Read more…]

“We’re Winning”: The Ryan Pick, Obama, and the Future of American Democracy

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Mitt Romney’s choice of Paul Ryan as his VP makes clear what vision he has for the American future: One Market Under God

Mitt Romney’s choice of Paul Ryan as his VP makes clear what vision he has for the American future: One Market Under God. This grand dream is put in stark contrast to the Republicans’ absurd fantasy of Obama’s big government tyranny.  If only we could return the country to the days of unfettered markets and bigger tax cuts for the affluent, all will be well.  As absurd as their economic delusions are, it’s worth reminding ourselves where the last several decades of moving precisely in this direction have landed us.

In The Price of Inequality: How Today’s Divided Society Endangers Our Future, Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz outlines what by now is a sadly familiar story about the American economy: it’s a rigged game.  Specifically Stiglitz thoroughly documents how recent income growth has occurred almost entirely in the top 1 percent.  He notes how this has led to growing inequality and how those at the bottom and middle are worse off today than middle class and working class folks were at the beginning of the century.

To make things worse, Stiglitz illustrates how the inequalities in wealth are even greater than those of income.  These inequalities show up not just in people’s pocket books but also in their general standard of living and health. During the last few years, those at the bottom have been most hurt by the recession but the middle class has been hollowed out too.
  [Read more…]

Power to the People or Power to the Corporations?

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In the quest for renewable sources of energy a battle is looming that most people are not even aware of. We need to replace electric power generated by coal and gas fired plants with power generated by solar and wind to be sure, but who owns the means of such production is a vital and crucial issue. Let’s take solar, for instance. There are two models basically to choose from. The first is the large solar installation in the desert owned and operated by the large power generating corporations like SEMPRA Energy.

That’s logical, you might say. There are acres and acres, square miles and square miles of desert real estate that is not much good for anything else. Why not build solar arrays there and truck the electrons so created via transmission lines to the urban areas where electricity is needed? The problem with this model is that transmission lines are inherently wasteful. Energy is lost for each mile the electricity has to flow to its destination just as water whose source is far away is evaporated and hence lost by canals as it traverses the route from source to destination.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – The San Diego Public Market is on Its Way; Overwhelming Public Support Makes It Happen

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San Diego Public Market is on its way to becoming a reality, having surpassed its kickstarter.com crowd-sourced goal of raising $92,000 in half the time (seven days) allotted. As of this morning 1130 backers had pledged $116, 643 towards rehab costs for the two acre plus space, located in Barrio Logan, not far from Petco Park. The additional funds over the original target will be used towards the launch of the Food Hall and the Market Kitchen at the market.

Plans for the market include two days a week with farmers’ stalls, booths with local crafters and artists, music festivals, movie nights and quinceañeras, chef’s tasting events and art exhibits, along with the occasional Chaldean Festival, Chinese New Year’s parade, Filipino fiesta or charity fundraiser. The weekly farmers markets in the space will begin within a few weeks. The idea is to create a City Public Market along the lines of Seattle’s Pike’s Place, San Francisco’s Ferry Building or  Barcelona’s La Boqueria.   [Read more…]

Democrats Fight Back; Republicans and Their Media Friends Get the Vapors

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by kos / Daily Kos

Dana Milbank:

Forgive me, but I’m not prepared to join this walk down Great Umbrage Street just yet. Yes, it’s ugly out there. But is this worse than four years ago, when Obama was accused by the GOP vice presidential nominee of “palling around with terrorists”? Or eight years ago, when Democratic nominee John Kerry was accused of falsifying his Vietnam War record?What’s different this time is that the Democrats are employing the same harsh tactics that have been used against them for so long, with so much success. They have ceased their traditional response of assuming the fetal position when attacked, and Obama’s campaign is giving as good as it gets — and then some.

Bullies don’t like it when their targets punch back, which is why the GOP is apoplectic right now. I mean, their reaction to Biden’s “chains” thing is comically hysterical. And Mitt Romney is genuinely unhinged.

I’m not sure why Republicans think that crying and whining about the big bad meanie Democrats is such a political winner. It never worked when Democrats tried it (just ask John Kerry).   [Read more…]

Putting the Sex Back in Birth Control: Why the Dominant Narrative on Contraception Undermines Young People

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by Andrew Jenkins, Choice USA

While I applaud Elizabeth Banks for her new ad supporting Planned Parenthood, birth control, and President Barack Obama–and wholeheartedly empathize with her personal story–I’m reminded of a sobering fact: the progressive community is deathly afraid of talking about sex and young people.

That’s right. I said it.

Between Banks new web promo aimed at female voters, Sandra Fluke’s testimony before Congress last February, and the reactive messaging around Rush Limbaugh’s vile comments, one thing has remained clear: our movement is far more comfortable elevating stories about birth control when they don’t involve sex. Pure unadulterated sex. Sex without the fear of an unintended pregnancy. You know… the primary reason young Americans use birth control.

And for arguments sake, maybe there’s a good reason for this. Maybe–just maaaayyyybe–we’re trying to appeal to conservatives. Perhaps we’re making our funders happy. Or maybe we’re just trying to sell a message that is palatable; easy to consume.

Nope. Bullshit. Not buying it.   [Read more…]

Sweetwater Authority’s $49,083,000 Water Rate Increase! (The Impact on the Poor)

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By Herman Baca / President, Committee on Chicano Rights

There are many things that individuals in the community can do without; water is not one of them. Poor people, especially in National City (NC), the poorest in SD County, median income of $39,000, and others on fixed income in the South Bay could find themselves if the increase is approved choosing to pay their water bill, over lives’ other necessities…food, rent, clothing, etc..

The Sweetwater Authority serves 187,000 customers in Bonita, parts of Chula Vista and NC. A public hearing to “consider adopting increases to its water service fees” will be held on August 27, 2012. In the last seven years the Sweetwater Authority has approved rate increases 6 times, but failed to raise rates in 2011, because of outraged Bonita residents. The CCR has gone on record in opposing the proposed water rate increase.

Most San Diego County residents, voters and water customers have little, if any idea that 16 water agencies even exist, what they do, or that they have become private fiefdoms, private ATMs and cash cows for self-serving individuals and politicians.   [Read more…]

Duffy Hoax Revealed – Medical Marijuana Advocates Tell All

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By Eugene Davidovitch / Americans for Safe Access

BACKGROUND: On October 7, 2011, at a press conference in Sacramento, US Attorney Laura Duffy, along with several other US Attorneys, announced a statewide crackdown on medical cannabis cooperatives, collectives, gardens, and others.

Without citing any specific violations in state law, Duffy’s office claimed all were out of compliance and would be targeted for eradication including those fully licensed and regulated by local government and law enforcement.

Since this proclamation of war on California’s medical marijuana program, Duffy’s office sent hundreds of letters to landlords threatening asset forfeiture if they did not immediately evict their dispensary tenants. As a result of these backhanded tactics, many landlords were forced to comply. Within six months, Duffy closed over 200 dispensaries in San Diego alone.

These closures forced thousands of employees into unemployment, left hundreds of properties vacant and most importantly, left the 70,000 plus medical marijuana patients in San Diego county wondering where to get their medicine.   [Read more…]

Papa Doug Manchester Plans 22-Story Skyscraper that Will “Transform” Mission Valley

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Originally Posted at OB Rag

The owner of the U-T San Diego, Papa Doug Manchester, unveiled his plans to “transform” Mission Valley recently, and at the top of his list of development for the San Diego River area is a 22-story containing 200 residences.   [Read more…]

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