Two reports have come out in the past two weeks that criticize the philosophy that governments have to tighten their belts at the same time that families are tightening their belts. Belt tightening usually means that the wearer has lost weight. In this case the lost weight is because of starvation.

The first report was commissioned by Colorado’s legislature to analyze the future of Colorado. The report is shocking. Within 12 years the only thing Colorado will be able to pay for are the three major programs: K-12, Healthcare, and Prisons. Within 13 years even those programs will need massive cuts. Lawmakers are cautioned that there is no way to tighten Colorado’s belt enough to save any program other than the big three. Good luck if you want to sue somebody; there won’t be a court. Good luck if you want to send your kids to college; there won’t be a public system of higher education in Colorado. Good luck if you are injured in a motorcycle accident and can’t get out of your wheel chair; there won’t be any public assistance for you. Grover Norquist won, and he didn’t even need to drown government in a bathtub. TABOR is killing Colorado.

The second report was issued by a UN think tank, UNCTAD. Post-crisis Policy Changes in the World Economy blasts the austerity focus of governments worldwide. It blames the slow recovery on the lack of demand for goods and services all over the world. Its opening paragraph says, “… in most developed economies private demand is subdued due to stagnating wages and little improvement in employment. The recent shift towards fiscal and monetary tightening represents a major risk for the global economy.”

The UNCTAD report demands that financial reform include a separation of investment banking and commercial banking as insurance against the excesses of the financial industry that caused the mortgage crash with which we are still suffering.  It almost feels like I’m beating a dead horse, but I’ve been saying for a very long time that the US financial system needs more, not less regulation. Yet even the “grass roots” Tea Party is against any financial regulation. Maybe because the “grass roots” were fertilized with a load of crap from the Koch Brothers, who recently hosted a conference in Vail, where billionaire Charles Koch called the 2012 elections the mother of all wars.

This is the mother of all wars. The elite of the world have declared war on workers. It is time for workers to unite and fight back. There are way more of us than there are of them, even if about 20% of us have been brainwashed into swallowing the kool-aide offered by the Koch Brothers, Americans for Prosperity (What a joke), and ALEC. Stop voting against yourselves. In the words of James Hoffa, “Let’s take these son of bitches out.”

Homework

University of Denver Report on Colorado's Economic Future

UN Report on the World's Economic Future

Mother Jones Story About Vail Conference

Tea Party's Hissy Fit over James Hoffa's Comments

Iowa Straw Poll

Most of you know that I faithfully watch Meet the Press on Sunday mornings. It is a tradition started when I was a child and watched that show with my grandfather. I really liked Tim Russert, and groused about the show when David Gregory took over after Russert’s death. I didn’t think Gregory had the chops to grill both sides of the aisle. From my perspective he leaned too far to the right. He may be growing into his role—he didn’t irritate me nearly as much today.

Today David’s guest was Michelle Bachmann fresh from her straw poll win in Iowa. The thing that continues to strike me about Bachmann is her confidence and authority. She is unflappable. Read Narcissits Rise to the Top to see why that is striking.

Yesterday Rick Perry rained on Bachmann’s parade by announcing his bid to be the GOP nominee. Bob Shrum today on Meet the Press called Rick Perry a barracuda who will eat Bachmann alive. Clearly Bachmann and Perry will be competing for the evangelical vote. It was the consensus on the Meet the Press panel that neither will be the eventual nominee. Neither will Tim Pawlenty, Lawrence O’Donnell’s pick for eventual nominee on his show The Last Word. Pawlenty left the race today. He was unable to raise enough cash to keep going.

Unions

Several unions announced this week that they will boycott the Democratic convention in South Carolina. There were similar rants when the convention was in Denver, which ended in a compromise when union workers were allowed to work the Pepsi Center. After reading the linked article about Grover Norquist, I have to ask the unions, ARE YOU NUTS?

Who Rules the World

I direct you to an article that analyzes the people and companies that control at least $46 billion in wealth, and how they are picking the pockets of ordinary Americans. Conservatives, in comments on the Sentinel’s on-line edition, recently accused me of engaging in class warfare.  I confessed in a follow-up post to this blog. Warren Buffet, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway said, “There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.” It is the middle class that is losing, and nothing the GOP is offering is going to change that.

The Impact of War

Finally I direct you to a really sad story about a soldier who couldn’t get the help he needed.

Homework

Narcissits Rise to the Top

Grover Norquist Wants to Destroy Unions

Pawlenty Quits

Latinos Don't Like Rick Perry

Who Really Rules the World?

Everything You Never Wanted to Know About Political Polls

Everything You Never Wanted to Know About the Impacts of War

Ever since Ronald Regan was president, the conservative conversation about taxes has been driven by a fervent belief that any increase in taxes is bad because it only makes government bigger. In a recent Free Press article, I called it the Tax Cut Religion because to fully believe that there is only one solution to budget problems, one has to ignore the other half of the equation, which takes a leap of faith. One must BELIEVE, not think.

That’s why the current dust up between Gover Norquist and Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) is so interesting.  Coburn is arguably the most conservative Senator in congress. I’ve written many diatribes about the positions Coburn has taken. In fact I urged people to send money to his opponent when he first ran for the Senate. Coburn is a doctor who has trampled all over women’s rights, so he’s an easy target for feminists. I never thought I would find common ground with Tom Coburn. But I have.

On Meet the Press yesterday, Coburn said that he isn’t opposed to a net increase in taxes if it comes from changes in the tax codes, so long as the underlying tax rates are not touched. But then he went on to make a really shocking statement: “"Which pledge is most important... the pledge to uphold your oath to the Constitution of the United States or a pledge from a special interest group who claims to speak for all American conservatives when, in fact, they really don't?"

The pledge Coburn is talking about is a pledge that all office seekers are asked to sign. When I was running for office, I was asked to sign the pledge. My thinking was that thanks to TABOR, I’d never be able to raise taxes without a vote of the people, so a pledge was like a belt and suspenders approach to trouser security. Norquist, predictably, reacted strongly to Coburn disrespecting his pledge. He accused Coburn of prevaricating when he asked the people of Oklahoma to send him to Washington D.C. He called Coburn a liar.

What do I find hopeful about this dust up in conservative circles? A staunch conservative in the Senate is acting like a grown up. He is being guided by his responsibilities to the Constitution, instead of a religious belief that tax cuts cure all ills.  Coburn is one of the “gang of six,” which is working on legislation that will forge a compromise that lets the budgeting process and debt ceiling crisis find some resolution. He’s looking at the whole equation (Revenue = Expenses) instead of just the expense side. I’m still not fond of Coburn, but at least he has the intestinal fortitude to stand up to a bully.

Homework

Coburn Vs Norquist

Norquist Calls Coburn a Liar

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Why I Don't Like Coburn

WSJ Story of Coburn Thinking Outside the Box

A couple of things caught my eye this morning, and made me ask if common sense was finally taking over. One was a Politico story about Grover Norquist and Tom Coburn fighting over tax hikes. The other is Udall and Hatch in the Senate and Hickenlooper in Colorado trying to merge departments in order to reduce costs.

Norquist is famous for asking politicians to sign a pledge to never vote to raise taxes. Almost all Republicans have signed this pledge over the years. All politicians are asked to sign it. In my case I declined to sign it because TABOR already limits the ability to raise taxes without a vote of the people, so the only vote I would ever cast on raising taxes would be as a citizen, not as a politician. It seemed superfluous.

Coburn is a signor on the pledge, but he has come to the realization that the U.S. can’t retire $14-trillion in debt without increasing revenue. We can’t cut spending fast enough or grow the economy fast enough to raise the kind of money it takes to make payments on $14-trillion. And to add insult to injury, that expense is going to be increasing as interest rates go up. So Coburn, and two other Republican legislators are exchanging letters with Norquist suggesting that a tax increase should be on the table.

Hickenlooper and Udall are looking at other ways to find savings in government programs.

Hickenlooper has proposed that two departments merge. The idea is that if the state Division of Wildlife merges with the state parks system, duplicative efforts like planning, vehicle acquisition and maintenance, and accounting could reduce expenses. The benefit to a consumer is that they can get a camping permit and a fishing license at the same place under the merged entities.

Udall and Hatch have proposed a new committee to look for government waste. A Sentinel story today notes there are “80 economic development programs, 44 employment and training programs and five agencies within the Department of Transportation that operate 100 surface-transportation programs.” I know a little about the 80 economic development programs. People in the industry find reporting to be a nightmare because each of the 80 programs expects different information to be included in reports. Designing information tracking systems with so many different data points is a daunting task for not-for-profits who are always operating on a shoestring. Having one agency and one report would be a real savings on both sides of the transaction.

In each of these stories the politicians stepped outside of their stereotypes and into common sense driven leadership roles. Coburn is hardly a tax and spend liberal, but he sees the need to increase revenues in order to get the budget deficits and long term debt under control. Udall is an environmentalist who sees the need to cut waste in government. Hickenlooper is deploying business principles to reorganize government in a more efficient way. Common Sense is breaking out all over!

Homework

Coburn Norquist Fight

Hickenlooper Wants to Merge Agencies

Sentinel Report on Udall Hatch Proposal