The Art of Jazz

The Great George Benson, April 1967.

Chronic Unemployment Highest Since The Great Depression- No Jobs Strategy In Sight

I recall the President saying (when he was candidate Obama) something to the effect that when you get inside the bubble of Washington... you become one of them - meaning a politician out of touch with what is happening on the ground, especially in middle America. It is becoming more clear to me that Obama may be in the process of becoming 'one of them'.

CBS reported this week that chronic unemployment is at its highest since the Great Depression... and even worse than the Depression era on a percentage basis.

About 6.2 million Americans, 45.1 percent of all unemployed workers in this country, have been jobless for more than six months - a higher percentage than during the Great Depression.

The bigger the gap on someone's resume, the more questions employers have.

"(Employers) think: 'Oh, well, there must be something really wrong with them because they haven't gotten a job in 6 months, a year, 2 years.' But that's not necessarily the case," said Marjorie Gardner-Cruse with the Hollywood Worksource Center....

Here's another problem: more than 1 million of the long-term unemployed have run out of unemployment benefits, leaving them without the money to get new training, buy new clothes, or even get to job interviews.

In addition to the low job numbers, it was also reported this month that worker's share of national income has also dropped considerably over the last decade. All confirming what many working folks already know because we can feel it. When you are a millionaire and live in a cocoon in Washington, you can't feel it. You can see it, but it doesn't mean that you can feel it...and have real empathy for working people.

I can definitely feel it everyday. The company I work for lost its contract to provide services last month.... technically leaving me in limbo. Luckily, I was retained by the new service provider who saw my worth. But the work environment is worse now than ever.... so my job search has continued as if I were unemployed. I have been under-employed for several years now (a category that isn't included in national stats). Sometimes under-employment can be just as bad as having no work at all.

I know a major reason for my unsuccessful job search is because I am competing with a much larger number of job applicants than normal. There will always be someone with a flashier resume, someone who graduated from a school with a bigger 'brand', and someone with more extensive experience, even for the entry level jobs that I am seeking in public service. So even though I am not unemployed myself... I am still affected by the job market. As a result of my under-employment, my quality of life is just about zero. It is amazing that I have not gone completely nuts and killed myself at this point. A lot of people in my position either snap, kill themselves, or turn to alcohol...or worse.

Imagine working in the same miserable job that you hate getting up to go to for 17 years and only surviving (not living life). Being broke, especially as a man, robs you of quality of life. It means you can't date successfully, can't form the relationships you want...and of course that means you can't have a family of your own. This is why the condition of the economy is 'real' to me.

But despite the tough job market and high unemployment, we see the usual from Republicans. Working people and their labor rights are under attack everywhere from Wisconsin to Florida. Meanwhile corporate profits are as high as ever, with companies (seemingly on purpose) avoiding hiring to both increase profit margins to benefit those at the top, and to hurt the Presidents chances for re-election. CEO's and the Chamber of Commerce, would love to see a President Romney...or any nameless Republican, because it would mean less regulation, tax cuts, and more political support for the killing of labor rights... a dream scenario for corporations.

I am baffled by the response of the Obama Administration and Democrats in Congress. What is their strategy? Do they even have one? According to recent reports from Washington insiders... the Obama Administration "doesn't have the stomach for a new jobs bill". They don't seem all that concerned with creating jobs. Much of their economic focus seems to be on the deficit. Unbelievable.
I personally don't believe they have a clue. I predicted a couple of years ago that this is where we would be right now. I hate to say I told you so.... but I told you so.
I also laid out a general outline of what a jobs plan could look like.

The approach by Democrats makes no sense politically or practically. This is why i'm so baffled. Yes, the Republicans control the House. But dammit, the Democrats still control the Senate and the White House. It's as if they completely capitulated after the mid-terms. Progressive strategy is (and has been) non-existent. Even if they can't get a jobs bill passed.... making the effort would be smart politics for Democrats. President Obama should make a primetime address to the nation to spell out a jobs plan (worth anywhere from $50 to $150 billion - nothing compared with the nation building funds, the war money, and strategic bribe money that the U.S. has wasted over the past decade overseas). I'm referring to a more targeted jobs bill designed to spark the private sector, build the infrastructure of the future, and create sustainable employment in new industries.... a plan that could create millions of new jobs that will be around for a while. Democrats should put the plan on the table and force Republicans to vote against it (and they would). That is a winning strategy. That's a gift for Democrats...and it is a card that is available for them to use right now. Doing nothing... or taking cues from the Republicans about what the national debate should be (in this case... the debt/austerity), makes the Democrats look unbelievably weak and inept.

I know that a President has limited tools when it comes to dealing with the economy. However, a President can help to create more ideal conditions for economic growth. The real problem for the U.S. is 1). There are too many consumers and not enough producers; 2). There has been a fundamental shift in consumer behavior post 9/11 and again post 2008; and 3). The U.S. is being battered by globalization.... it is not adjusting well to it, largely because the Country failed to prepare for the changes in global labor and the shift in wealth. The U.S. is now paying dearly for not making the right kinds of adjustments to weather the impact of cheap labor, cheap goods, the rise of China (and the wider impact from Asia). The U.S. still isn't making the right adjustments, particularly in education. While students in other Countries receive a global education, American students still get outdated instruction from an insular perspective.

I don't see things getting much better anytime soon.

Great Commentary - "It's The Jobs, Stupid".

Happy 10th Birthday, Sasha Obama!!!

Today is Natasha "Sasha" Obama's 10th Birthday!!

May she have a happy one full of love, family and fun.




Sasha Obama dances as Willow Smith, daughter Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, performs during Easter Egg Roll festivities at the White House in Washington, Monday, April 25, 2011.
-----AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster

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Rep. Broun Fine With 250,000 Public Employees Being Laid Off, Says They Should ‘Get A Real Job’

This is who they are. I don't know how many examples I'm supposed to provide for folks before they GET IT:

From ThinkProgress:

Rep. Broun Fine With 250,000 Public Employees Being Laid Off, Says They Should ‘Get A Real Job’
By Zaid Jilani on Jun 7, 2011 at 7:45 pm

Congressional and White House negotiators are currently trying to hash out a deal under which the United States will raise its debt ceiling, which is normally a non-controversial process that simply requires a vote on a clean bill to hike the limit.

Some obstinate conservatives have decried raising the debt ceiling, saying they will vote against any hike. Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) is one of these conservatives. Appearing on conservative radio host Martha Zoller’s show today, Broun not only pledged to vote against raising the debt ceiling, but he also shrugged off the potential loss of a quarter million jobs as a result of doing so. Claiming that these employees would largely be public sector workers, he told Zoller that they should get a real job, anyway:

BROUN: We have created this huge debt. […] We’ve got to stop the outrageous spending that’s going on. We hear the CBO says well if we don’t raise the debt limit, it’s going to put so many people out of work, I don’t remember then number, I think it’s 250,000 or something, are gonna be put out of work. Well those are gonna be government employees that are put out of work. There are a lot of government employees that need to go find a real job!

Why doesn't his ass get off the Government Dole and go get a REAL JOB.

I get so tired of these mofos acting like Public Employees don't do REAL work that REAL PEOPLE NEED - every damn day in this country.

In 'They Are Who We Thought They Were' News- Americans For Prosperity Places Fake Eviction Notices On Detroit Homeowners’ Doors To Scare Up Support

Lowdown, no-good mofos.

Plain and Simple.

FromThinkProgress:

Americans For Prosperity Places Fake Eviction Notices On Detroit Homeowners’ Doors To Scare Up Support
By Zaid Jilani on Jun 7, 2011 at 3:11 pm


The Michigan chapter of the Koch-backed conservative activist group Americans For Prosperity (AFP) has been campaigning against a new bridge project called the New International Trade Crossing (NITC) that the state is considering. While there may be some merit to some of the arguments against the NITC project, the tactics AFP has just been found to be using in campaigning against it are revolting.

Yesterday, numerous residents in the Delray area of Detroit came back to their homes to find eviction notices. The problem was that these notices were not authorized by any sort of local government authorities. Rather, they were mocked up by AFP to look like actual eviction notices. The “notices” sensationally claimed to homeowners that their property may be seized if the NITC is constructed. Some residents, particularly elderly ones, were physically shaken by the tactic:

Residents and a state legislator lambasted the circulars, saying they were a scare tactic by opponents of the bridge. Dolores Toth, 81, who has heart problems, began to shake after reading the notice, said her son, Steve. “How low can you go?” Steve Toth said. “This isn’t something you do, I don’t care who you are.”

“It was meant to startle people,” said AFP Michigan director Scott Hagerstrom, defending the notices. “We really wanted people to take notice. This is the time that their opinions need to be heard. We wanted people to read it.” The Detroit Free Press put together a video report covering AFP’s scare tactics and the local area’s response. Watch it:

Do I really need to add anything to this?

What Weinergate is really about

I haven't given a rat's ass about this entire thing with Congressman Weiner.

As usual, the MSM is following the shiny object, while ignoring the REAL STORY BEHIND IT.

The Reid Report has done a fantastic job in explaining why this is going on.

What Weinergate interrupted: Clarence Thomas’ (ongoing) conflict of interest scandal (links archive)

Lost in the media frenzy over Rep. Anthony Weiner is the fact that at the same time he was Tweeting foolishness to random women, he was also the driving force behind a push to uncover potentially serious conflicts of interest on the nation’s highest court.

We’re probably doomed to at least another full day of media hyperventilation and Breitbart agitprop (this guy gets to be on the Today Show? Really??) over Anthony Weiner’s Twitterized member, plus the inevitable parade of random women who never actually met, but exchanged sexy pictures with the Congressmen doing endless, boring interviews and getting paid for it.” And the journalistic community appears fully prepared to welcome Breitbart into the club (which is disturbing in itself.) But the much more important scandal, which Weiner was trying to bring to light, involves Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, and his ties to corporate and ideological interests with direct connections to cases that could come before the Court. And while his main concern right now is probably his marriage, and his constituents in New York, what Weiner may really have done is hand Thomas a giant, grey underwear-clad free pass.

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Why everyone should think of always having a video camera on them

from The Reid Report:

NEW Video: witness to Miami Beach police shooting confronted by police
June 6, 2011 · Posted in Florida, News and Current Affairs, Scandals

This was just sent to me via Twitter. It was taken by someone nicknamed Collins335 on Youtube. It shows video from the point of view of a man who apparently witnessed the deadline “urban beach week” shooting of a man in South Beach by police. Watch as at the end of the video, police approach the spectator with guns drawn:

It’s not clear if this is the video referred to by the Miami Herald in a story this weekend. You can read that story here. You can hear audio of a woman on the video, who was in the car with the witness.

Meanwhile, the Herald reports that the man who held a Miami Beach rally calling for an end to urban beach week says he has lost his job as a result of his creation of an “End Urban Beach Week” Facebook page. The shooting has also begun to impact the Miami Beach mayor’s race.

Wisconsin Update - Another GOPer caught on tape trying to subvert little ' d' democracy.

I've said for awhile that the GOP has absolutely no interest in little ' d' democracy. It's not who they are. They are about VOTER SUPPRESSION.

So, here's the latest from Wisconsin.

Top Republican justifies running fake Democrats in recall races
By Daniel Bice of the Journal Sentinel


The head of the state Republican Party today acknowledged that it is encouraging fake Democrats to run in recall elections this summer.

Stephan Thompson, executive director of the state party, issued a statement justifying the practice because Republican senators have been too busy in Madison to prepare for the recall elections.

"The Republican Party of Wisconsin has advocated that protest candidates run in Democratic primaries to ensure that Republican legislators have ample time to communicate with voters throughout their districts after the state budget is approved," Thompson said in his statement.

The Journal Sentinel disclosed that the party is hoping to run "protest candidates" as Democrats in the recall elections for Republican Sens. Randy Hopper of Fond du Lac and Luther Olsen of Ripon. Hopper has said he had no knowledge of the matter.

If a primary is held for either party, that would push back the general election by a month, thereby giving the incumbent lawmakers more time to campaign.

UPDATE: Interestingly, it wasn't so long ago when top Republicans were offended by this tactic.

Last year, Thompson's predecessor, Mark Jefferson, complained that Democrats and the unions ran a fake Republican in the re-election contest for state Rep. Bob Ziegelbauer, an Independent from Manitowoc. Jefferson called it a "nasty, cynical ploy."

But in his lengthy statement, Thompson defends and justifies running spoiler candidates:

"The upcoming recall elections are unprecedented not only in Wisconsin, but in our nation's history. Unlike the Democratic Senators who deserted their constituents for a trip to Illinois, six Republican state Senators face recall not for misconduct, but for doing the job they were elected to do: taking a stance on a tough issue that came before the legislature.

"Now, these Republican senators are again busy doing their jobs crafting a fiscally responsible state budget that promotes economic growth, which puts them at a distinct disadvantage with many of their challengers who have had sufficient time to campaign. Because of this disadvantage, and the outrageous nature of elected officials facing recall for standing up for a balanced budget, the Republican Party of Wisconsin has advocated that protest candidates run in Democratic primaries to ensure that Republican legislators have ample time to communicate with voters throughout their districts after the state budget is approved.

"The public deserves time to learn about the differences between the candidates and about the Republican plan to control government spending and boost economic growth vs. the Democrat alternative of job-killing tax hikes."

So, why are the Republicans panicking about the recalls?

From The Plum Line

Posted at 03:24 PM ET, 05/31/2011
Wisconsin Dems 6. Wisconsin Republicans 0.
By Greg Sargent

Conservatives and some political observers are making a big deal out of the fact that the Dem candidate in the closely watched state Supreme Court race in Wisconsin finally conceded defeat today, as had long been expected.

But surely it’s also a big deal that we now know for certain that six Wisconsin Republican state senators will officially face recall elections, while a grand total of zero Democrats may face the same?

Today the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board announced that they have now approved the signatures required for recall elections against the following six GOP senators: Rob Cowles, Alberta Darling, Sheila Harsdorf, Randy Hopper, Dan Kapanke, and Luther Olsen. That means these six elections are definitely moving forward.

Meanwhile, the board has also announced that they are not prepared to approve the signatures gathered by Republicans for the recall of their three Democratic targets. Dems have alleged that the signature gathering by Republicans is fraudulent, and now the board has explicitly claimed that their reason for not approving the recall elections against Dems is that the signatures “have raised numerous factual and legal issues which need to be investigated and analyzed.”

Translation: The fraud allegations just may have something to them.

What this means: While Dems only need to net three recall elections to take back the state senate, it is now within the realm of possibility that even as twice that number of Republicans face recall elections, no Dems will. That’s a pretty sizable advantage for Dems.

Rachel Maddow does a piece on the happenings in Wisconsin:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The GOP is NOT interested in DEMOCRACY. They are interested it -AT ALL. They are about VOTER MANIPULATION AND VOTER SUPPRESSION. It's all they know what to do. LYING AND CHEATING is the name of the game for them.

Go Debbie Wasserman-Schultz!! Tell it!!

from The Hill.com:

DNC chairwoman: Republicans 'literally' want to revive Jim Crow laws
By Michael O'Brien - 06/06/11 12:24 PM ET


Republicans would "literally drag [the U.S.] all the way back to Jim Crow laws," the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) charged over the weekend.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) accused Republicans of trying to resurrect Jim Crow laws in the form of stricter laws at the state level that could limit access to ballots by some voters.

"Now you have the Republicans, who want to literally drag us all the way back to Jim Crow laws and literally — and very transparently — block access to the polls to voters who are more likely to vote for Democratic candidates than Republican candidates," she told host Roland Martin on "Washington Watch" this weekend [emphasis hers]. "And it’s nothing short of that blatant."

A series of state legislatures, now under the control of Republicans after the wave election in 2010, have enacted reforms to ballot access laws, which could shape the 2012 vote at the margins. The laws are ostensibly nonpartisan, but Democrats and watchdog groups have warned that they would have the impact of depressing turnout for constituencies typically loyal to Democrats.

She backed off her use of the language in a statement on Monday afternoon.


"Jim Crow was the wrong analogy to use," she said. "But I don't regret calling attention to the efforts in a number of states with Republican dominated legislatures, including Florida, to restrict access to the ballot box for all kinds of voters, but particularly young voters, African Americans and Hispanic Americans."


Wasserman Schultz was speaking specifically about one example: a law sought by Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) requiring voters to produce a valid ID.

The DNC chairman likened a similar law in Georgia to a "poll tax," one of the laws used by states with Jim Crow laws to deny blacks the right to vote in the century since the Civil War. The Supreme Court has struck down many of those laws as unconstitutional because of their disparate impact, and the Civil Rights laws of the 1960s sought to end Jim Crow in practice.

"So, you’re literally just throwing a barrier in the way of someone who’s trying to exercise their right to vote," Wasserman Schultz said of the modern-day laws. "And the reason that it’s not necessary is because we already have very legitimate voter verification processes, signature checks that are already in place; and there is so little voter fraud, which is the professed reason the Republicans are advancing these laws. There’s so little voter fraud, and I mean you’re more likely to get hit by lightning than you are to see an instance of voter fraud in this country, but Republicans are imposing laws all over the country, acting like it’s not — voter fraud is rampant, and it’s ridiculous."

I've been saying for forever and a day that Literacy Test, Poll Tax, Voter ID - it's all the same. Different name, same purpose....

VOTER SUPPRESSION.

And, the 'excuse' they use is Voter Fraud, which, is in fact, a FRAUD ----it DOES NOT EXIST ON ANY SERIOUS LEVEL.

Just to hear someone actually say it.....yes yes yes yes.