County Executive Who?

PaddyMac is putting out what I'm sure he considers witty comments, by saying that even though it took years for the Bush/Cheney economic meltdown to occur, President Obama has no business pointing this out to the impatient conservatives, who want Obama to clean up their mess, and do it yesterday, or else they will tantrum.

But darn if I can't find Paddy's post saying that it is time for Walker to give up his "It's all Ament's fault" spiel. Especially since it's been eight years.

But I know Paddy's post needs to be there somewhere, lest someone would think Paddy to be a hypocritical dullard.

Charlie Sykes: Economic Bubbleboy

Sykes and company just loves to put the blame for inner city poverty on the people that live there, claiming it's all their fault. Well, theirs and the uberliberal Madison folks.

Jakes's Economic TA Funhouse breaks down the numbers about poverty around the state and in doing so, breaks down Sykes' false allegations and race-baiting arguments:

Fortunately, lots of people like me that grew up in the burbs got older, went to college, learned from others, perhaps worked with and taught others less fortunate than us, and realized that we were pretty fortunate to have had the supportive and relatively affluent upbringing we had. Who I feel bad for (well, sorta) are the people who spend their whole lives thinking Wauzaukington County is the normal, and that others are the ones who don't get it. No wonder these people hold such absurd political views, because they've never stepped outside of their comfortable little bubble where everything's taken care of for them. It's up to us to puncture that bubble, because we've seen how suburban "ownership society" works in the real world, and it's a disaster.

So Madtown, hold your head up high, and keep telling Sykes-World about reality's liberal bias. Because it's likely that a Madisonian like you lives your life more in line with the average Wisconsinite than the suburb boys that get all the air time representing "the Silent Majority".

I can't wait until Jake starts working PaddyMac over too.

Impeccable Timing

Yesterday, PaddyMac argued that preventative social work doesn't work to reduce crime, but that we need to have more prisons to lock up all of those bad characters, like the poor and the minorities. You know, the ones that would be more likely to want to improve their situation by having a party in control that is not interested in serving just the richest 10% of the country.

Paddy based his argument on someone else's findings that crime went down during poor economic times and went up in the good times. Or something like that.

Unfortunately, Paddy's own employer, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, tripped him up on the very same day he made this ludicrous argument. Predictably, it was found that domestic violence, including murders, has been jumping during these rough economic straits:

Domestic violence homicides in Wisconsin are on target to hit a 10-year high in 2009 with an average of more than one person dying every week, the Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence said Wednesday.

In 2008 there were 36 domestic violence homicides in the state, but preliminary figures show there were at least 46 domestic violence incidents in the state that resulted in 60 deaths in 2009, said Patti Seger, executive director of the state coalition. While national and local law enforcement reports show decreases in violent crime and homicides in 2009 - Milwaukee hit a 20-year low - domestic violence figures soared, she said.

"We have to see domestic violence as an epidemic," Seger said.

She and other advocates stressed that domestic violence differs from other violent crimes that law enforcement deals with, and that the economic stress that families have faced in the last year or so has played a role.

Why does the paper keep Paddy on the payroll when they let go of so many better and more erudite and intellectually honest people?

Charlie's Big Chance To Shine

For weeks, well, actually for years, Charlie Sykes has been blaming unions for all of the evils in the world.

He's blamed the auto workers unions for the downfall of the Big Three, even though it is the executives pulling in millions in just bonuses for a business design that did not keep up with the real world.

He's blamed the government workers unions for high taxes, while defending AIG and other big company executives for taking taxpayer monies to give themselves obscene raises and million dollar office renovations.

Charlie's blamed unions for just about everything from higher taxes to the recession to Adam and Eve getting kicked out of the Garden of Eden. Heck, I bet Charlie would acknowledge the reality of global climate change just so he could blame that on the unions too.

But now here is Charlie's big chance to put his money where his mouth his. His parent company, Journal Communications, is in financial straits, and they need his help (emphasis mine):

The pay cuts and time off affect executives, managers, market managers, supervisors, as well as corporate staff. The company is also asking on-air broadcast talent and most union employees to negotiate payroll reductions.

I fully expect Charlie to give up at least 25% of his salary so that his colleagues and coworkers can keep their jobs, so people can still afford to buy the paper, or a car to drive while they listen to his nonsensical bashing of the unions.

It shouldn't be so hard for Sykes to do. After all, he was just recently bragging about his big contract extension.

C'mon, Charlie! It's time to put up or shut up! Give up a big old chunk of your swollen salary and show us how it's done.

Or are you just an empty, hypocritical windbag?

Squawk Radio Doing Itself In

For decades, squawkers on national and local levels, have been advocating for irresponsible economic policies. They had fully enjoined the call for the Iraq War and other irresponsible spending while demanding excessive tax cuts for the rich. They have systematically tried to destroy the middle class by trying to bust up unions. The squawkers have repeatedly pushed for all of the wealth to be in the hands of the few, hoping to be rewarded for their loyalty by getting some of these fortunes handed their way, like a dog begging at the dinner table.

Now it is all coming back to bite them in the microphone:

But for all the anti-tax swagger and the occasional stunts by personalities like KFI's John and Ken, the reality is that conservative talk radio in California is on the wane. The economy's downturn has depressed ad revenue at stations across the state, thinning the ranks of conservative broadcasters.

For that and other reasons, stations have dropped the shows of at least half a dozen radio personalities and scaled back others, in some cases replacing them with cheaper nationally syndicated programs.

And as James Rowen, who found this story, points out, these things tend to take time to work from the West to the East, it will be a only a matter of time until it reaches here. Remember, Clear Channel, which runs WISN-AM, recently announced a large amount of layoffs. And Journal Broadcasting Group, parent company of WTMJ-AM, tried to tell the unions that they would be laying off people, although that may have been a lie in trying to force an unfair contract on the unions.

Bum Stock Tips from Sykes and Esenberg

With the right when it is a choice between prosperity and the supremacy of conservative fantasies, it is fantasyland hands down.

The day after Barack Obama's highly effective speech, Sykes and Esenberg cheered a dip in the market when it opened the next day as a sign that Wall Street isn't in favor of the proposed plan to uplift you know, you and me.

A couple of weaknesses here.

1) The right wing has never been in favor of the uplift of this country. Otherwise why would they be dishing out policies that cripple the middle class?

2) As Nate Silver points out, what's good for Wall Street is not necessarily good for Main Street.

3) What goes down, can go up. Turns out that the Obama speech had nothing to do with the markets opening down on Wednesday (unless that down market is the Jindal stock).

Maybe Rick should stick to what he knows, whatever that is.

BTW, notice the difference between 2001 and 2009?

In both cases we have a state of crisis. In 2001 the opposition pulled behind the president. In 2009 the opposition is praying for failure.

Is Charlie an economic surrender monkey?

Charlie Sykes, Call Your Office

Charlie was getting his chuckles with a poll that showed people considered global climate change to be the bottom of their concerns at this moment in time.

What chuckling Charlie elides over is the fact that the voters also didn't consider tax cuts to be to important either. They would rather have the focus on the economy and on restoring jobs, like the ones that are about to be gone from Harley Davidson.

The reason for this avoidance of reality? Well, then it would ruin his next segment on his show, as he claims the only way to save the country are tax cuts. Too bad for Charlie that real business leaders don't agree with him.

If All Else Fails, Make Stuff Up

The title must be also a plaque on PaddyMac's desk, given his string of writings. One of the latest includes where he tries to refute a post by Keith Schmitz, who is a contributor here as well as a co-contributor in Jay Bullock's cast of thousands.

At folkbum's, Keith has a post which highlights how traditional conservative principles contributed to the current economic crisis. He further points out that now we are neck deep in this economic quagmire, the right wingers has finally found it in their hearts to share - the blame, that is.

PaddyMac, who oddly will name Keith, but not folkbum's, misstates what Keith wrote, describing it has being anti-capitalism. This is rather funny, as that Keith is, himself, a businessman who benefits from the principles of capitalism. But apparently, the truth of Keith's situation, much less the actual context of Keith's post, would not fit into the strawman that Paddy was building, so he just decided to make up his own facts.

Furthermore, Paddy's arguments range from blaming Carter, who has been out of office for thirty years, to advocating for more of the same, plus some. If Paddy were a doctor, and you saw him because you broke your thumb with a hammer, he'd tell you to hit it with a sledge hammer.

The biggest question that comes to mind is, if the MJS is so strapped for money that they have to reduce staff, reduce the size of the paper, and increase their rates, why are they still paying Paddy?

Showing Them The Money

During the election season, Charlie Sykes stated that he had a problem with the proposed bail out of the major financial institutions of Milwaukee, but he was relatively low key about it. After the election, Sykes remained low key about the bailout.

But once there was talking about bailing out the Big Three Automakers, he became a lot more noisome about the whole thing. I thought it was just Sykes following his spoon fed Republican talking points in attacking the UAW and unions in general.

Then it dawned on me. The reason why he was so mild about the financial institutions in comparison to the automakers is because he didn't want to bite the hand that feeds him.

M & I is a large sponsor of Sykes' show and of TMJ620 radio. They even bought air time when Sykes does "interviews" with M & I staff people and their Wealth Management group, supposedly to give tips of what to do regarding wealth management.

What makes this so delightfully hypocritical is that M & I took $1.7 billion in bail out money. If they can't manage their own wealth, why would anyone trust their wealth to them?

To add to the hypocrisy, my friend Illy-T points out that the auto makers are as eligible for bail out moneys as much as M & I.

It would seem that all that needs to happen is for GM, Ford, Mopar or even the UAW themselves to buy some ad time, and Sykes will be purring for them as well.

The man and the company that employs him have no shame.

What Sykes Won't Be Saying Today

It just seems like yesterday that Sykes was crowing about how the stock market was on the verge of breaking the 14,000 barrier. He was putting all the credit on George Bush's economic policies and the big tax breaks for the rich.

Today, after the Dow Jones has dropped more than 800 points in the last three days, and is opening at 10,600, even Sykes has to admit that the economy is falling apart. Somehow, he fails to see the relation between the economy now and Bush's policies.

Could it be because McCain voted with Bush 90% of the time? Could it be that McCain has morphed his economic policy to be the mirror image of Bush's?

Of course, we can't expect that type of intellectual honesty from Sykes. That's why we are here.

The Great Whodunit?

McIlheran, continuing the McSykes tradition of days of yore, cites Sykes, who yet cites another person, named Kristen Lopez Eastlick who blames the minimum wage increase for a decline in teenage jobs. (Sidenote: When was the last time that the so-called "blogfather" wrote anything original? Anyone? Hint to Sykes: Real Pulitzer Prize nominees write their own stuff.)

This is hard to swallow for a couple of reasons. One is that, per the government, the increases are coming in increments, the last one being nearly a year ago, and the other not due for over another month from now. Another reason is that the proof that minimum wage affects teenage employment levels is somewhat in doubt:

Supporters point to a controversial study by Princeton economists David Card and Alan Krueger of minimum wage employees in New Jersey, which found little or no impact on employment. Economist Robert Solow, an MIT Nobel Laureate, wrote in a 1995 New York Times article that the “main thing about the research is that the evidence of the job loss is weak.... And the fact that the evidence is weak suggests the impact on jobs is small.”

There are many more likely and realistic causes of a low employment rate for teens these days. One is that, thanks to Bush's failed economic policies (not to mention spending billions and billions of dollars on an unjust war), money is tight for everyone. Potential employers would be understandably reluctant to hire on any help when money is so tight.

Following this would be the fact that there is an ever increasing number of adults that are also scrambling for work, as overall unemployment rates continue to climb.

Adding to the economic crisis is the fact that such costs such as gasoline are reaching unprecedented levels, causing both consumers and businesses to cut back. This in turn cycles the unemployment issue, such as the recent announcement that GM is going to close their Janesville plant.

If a manufacturer can barely afford to get his product to market, he will not have the extra cash to hire on even part-time help. Likewise, if consumers are forced to cut way back on their spending to pay for necessities like health insurance and electricity, store owners will not even need, much less afford, to hire anyone of any age.

That is only common sense. But even common sense may be too much to ask of the local right wing media.

"Not Approved By The AFP" Cartoon

From the email inbox...

THE OIL COMPANIES HAVE AGREED TO A NEW, INTERNATIONAL GASOLINE SYMBOL:



No matter where you travel, you'll recognize their symbol !

A Pictograph Of Trickle Down Economics

And another reason not to vote for McCain.

McIlheran: In Defense Of Incompetence

McIlheran put up a silly post today. OK, they're all usually pretty silly, but this one was sillier than most.

He tries to defend Bush's foolish policies in regards to economics, the insanity of the Iraq War, and his failure in domestic issues. He starts out with pointing out that other countries, like England, Germany, France and Italy are also in an economic meltdown. He then writes:

Rather, what it suggests is some worldwide shocks -- the American credit problems, the oil prices set off by soaring demand globally -- unsettled economies that had various weaknesses, such as overpriced real estate in Britain and parts of America.

One can and ought to fault Bush, then, for his failures -- signing us up to pay for still more absurd Medicare entitlements, for instance, or his failure to expand oil production domestically -- but one ought to keep it in perspective, as well. The economy is torpid, but is actually growing, even if at a pathetic rate. It even beat the meager expectations for the first quarter, and while 0.6% is no boom, it isn't a recession, not yet, at any rate. This may be hard to believe when we're told daily that the nation is sliding into the Great Depression II: Final Apocalypse.

Well, no, no matter how many people tell pollsters they feel things are just awful. Things aren't great, but they're not likely to get any better with a dose of the statism and surrender the Democrat contenders are offering, and they're neither as awful as you'll be constantly told nor is their awfulness the exclusive anguish of America or the result of its domestic politics.

What McIlheran doesn't mention is that the world's economics are interdependent. America is not an isolated entity. It has economic interactions with just about every other country in the world. Not only does the country have mulitnational interactions, but so do most major companies, including the banking industries, investment firms, and the stock market. What happens in other countries can affect us. The opposite is as true as well. What happens in America can affect the global economy. Even more so than most countries, considering that the US Dollar, was and for the moment, still is, the common unit of commerce.

So when Bush's idiotic policies, like spending more and more, while giving the rich more and more tax breaks, end up having the inevitable effects on our economy, it will have a ripple effect on every other country's economy as well. Actually, in this case, make it a domino effect.

Mike Mathias has more on how awful most people think Bush and his policies are. Even as McIlheran and his ilk keep trying to deny reality.

Today's TV: InterCHANGE

I decided to tune in to InterCHANGE, to see how our new favorite squawker was going to do. First of all, this man has no right calling anyone else "Cheesecake Breath" or "Pillsbury Doughboy". He is a well-fed man himself. The next thing is that he needs to control his arms. He was flailing around his arms so much I kept getting a mental image of a turtle on its back trying to right itself.

Then, there was the topics:

First of all, Fischer is in deep denial of how the Repubs are doing. If one were to listen to him, one would believe that Giuliani, Romney, McCain and Huckabee were all holding hands and singing gospel songs. He was in complete denial of the sniping that was going on with the Repubs.

He did take excessive glee at the verbal sparring that has been occuring between Clinton and Obama. He would mention it every chance he got.

He, like Sykes, whined about the federal tax rebate. It was the usual spin about how the poor ultrarich pay so much in taxes, but was quickly shot down by Kathleen Dunn. He did make quite a face, which was meant to be dismissive of Ms. Dunn, but just made him look silly. Fischer did admit that he was anxious to get the money in his hands though.

To his credit, I did agree with his take on why the Packers lost last week.

And a word to PBS: Please get Mr. Fischer a bigger chair that he can fit in.

Keep Your Hands Off My Cash

Both Sykes and McIlheran are trash-talking Bill Gates for wanting to do something totally reprehensible, like helping people. More likely, in their greedy ways, they are more likely just upset that even wealthy people can see the need to help those less fortunate, which flies in the face of their "All for me, none for you" philosophy.

The honorable 3rd way, the Earl of Evenhandedness, has this to say:

Journal Communication's dastardly duo has once again joined forces. This time they are taking aim at one of our planet's do-gooders. McIlheran and Sykes both linked to a piece that misrepresents Bill Gates as turning his back on capitalism. In reality Gates is putting his money where his mouth is by trying to create capitalists at the grass roots level. Through something he is labeling creative capitalism Gates vows to bring resources, education and market access to some of the poorest people on the planet. In the minds of the far right this somehow equates a rejection of capitalism.

You can read the rest of his insightful post at folkbum's. (And do make sure to read the first comment. What a savvy reader that fellow is.)

Unintended Consequences Indeed

Sykes' hot read of the day is an excerpt from the authors of Freakonomics. Not a good omen there. The piece is a long, tortuous, circular path of reasoning in an attempt to make the American Disability Act look like it's bad for people with disabilities, or that the Endangered Species Act actually endangers animals it's meant to protect. The point was some anti-government, be aware of good intentions or something like that.

I was going to do a post about how it is the greed of people that caused these results and not the laws as he was trying to infer.

Then I thought about Bush's economics packages that was meant to stimulate the economy, but hurt it and hurt it bad. Then I remembered Bush's war on terrrorism, that actually increased terrorism.

Then I realized, I've got nothing. Sykes unintentionally got one right.

It's The Economy, Stupid!

Jay Bullock (yes, I'm done with that kingly talk--for now) points out that the economy is not as rosy as the local right wing media squawk brigade would have us think it is.

Jay refers to an article in this morning's paper that tells of how the financial aid office of Milwaukee County is being overwhelmed with a jump of people applying for assistance. He then continues:

... However, let's all keep this in mind the next time McIlheran wanders through to tell us how fantastic the economy is. You can also remind him of the increasing Milwaukee foreclosure rate (mirroring national trends) and the skyrocketing consumer bankruptcy rates we've seen in the last year.

Jay also points out that there is plenty of blame to go around for the dismal financial events here in Milwaukee (emphasis mine):

There's lots of blame to go around for this--Republican legislators targeting Milwaukee County, a county executive unwilling to stand up to those legislators or meet the needs of his residents, a federal government pursuing welfare-for-the-rich strategies....

The highlighted part stood out to me. It seemed that I had seen something like that earlier, and in more than one place.

Of course, McIlheran, along with his good buddy, Sykes, will be leading the effort to think that the local economy is booming and Walker is doing a great job, but we know better than that. Don't we?