prole

Well, let's look at WA's situation that you quote. The public rejected every tax measure in the past two years. The exception is school levies, which generally pass than not. So the pie in the sky rhetoric is great - it's not helpful. So what exactly are you proposing? It's actually worse than that, Gregoire has been giving away tax cuts! More initiatives, pressure on legislators, introduction of legislation for the removal of idiotic constraints such as ding, ding, ding balanced-budget-at-all-costs, house-is-on-fire-but-sorry-there's-a-no-lawn-watering-restriction-in-effect type restrictions on raising revenues. It's gotta happen, period. If it's going to take a bridge collapse or something as dramatic as that before people realize we need to fund the State, then that's what it's going to take. And make no mistake, it's going to have to happen whether public workers move to 401k's or not.

The frontpage headline from the staunchly center-right Bellingham Herald today is "State Budget Shortfall Growing: Tax Revenues Down Another $780 Million". There is a clue here, I'm sure of it. Tax cuts and their extension are the other side of the "unsustainability" coin. I think we all know this. If raising taxes in some areas are impossible in the current political climate, it's up to progressives to change the climate. Throwing up one's hands and removing taxes entirely from table as "impossible" while accepting the "inevitability" of wage, benefit, and pension reductions is folly. Let's make sure that public sector workers aren't the only ones making sacrifices. If that doesn't meet your right here/right this second criteria Jim, then you need to rethink it.

[video:youtube]

[video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNNBjbJT6nI

Yeah, did you watch it?

[video:youtube]

Anybody read any good pieces lately about the bigger picture here? I'd be much obliged.

Hence the new retirement plan for most Americans: Work Until You Die. Don't get me wrong though, the shareholders are doing great!

Well we'll let that whateveritis float on by, but remember, I'm not suggesting the Saudis did ask for permission. I think the Bahrainis asked for some assistance from the US and the Saudis. Finding itself in a delicate diplomatic context (global sympathy and support for democratic Arab movements and all that) the US did what it could and brokered the deal or at the very least looked the other way. By the way, Hillary's none too stoked it seems. For fuck's sake Tvash, it's the home of the 5th Fleet. Get real.

Another one from Paw-paw's Inbox? Bizarre. Like a psy-ops mission or something.

That this crucial ally in this crucial and increasingly volatile region would undertake such an act without, at the very least, informing Washington of its intentions strains credulity. And why on earth would Washington deny such a Saudi request? In the case of a Sunni/Shiite-divided Bahrain (and Saudi Arabia, for that matter) where Washington's primary concern is Iran gaining influence in the region, Washington and Saudi's interests are perfectly aligned! There is no "they got us/we got them" necessary here. No "permission" required. We already know that by and large the US's geopolitical interests in the region are defined by the preservation of these regimes. Any downside to such a strategy is actually its strength: send a message to would-be revolutionaries that the US will neither help you or lift a finger to prevent your being squashed (see also: Libyan no-fly zone footdragging). There is of course a moral hazard in that any successful uprisers are not likely to forget that, but they'll need to sell us their oil and import our technology and advisors anyway. Perhaps it's a stretch, but one might go as far as to wonder if the US didn't come up with it in the first place. I'm guessing that Manhattan call girls and poppin' Cristal wasn't all the Bahrainis, Saudis, and US personnel were talking about in the days leading up to the invasion...

Um, you just proved my point by using retirement contributions as a jumping off point for getting rid of unions. Thanks.

The only difference here is that a GOP administration would be breathlessly describing Saudi troops as liberators. At least the Obamas have the couth to keep shit on the DL.

I don't think you're stupid but if you're buying Hillary's "hey guys, uh stop that, okay really...uh...restraint...condemn...really, I mean it...seriously...oh, fuck it" schtick, then your Obamalove has overtaken your critical thinking skills.

That's hilarious. The notion that Saudi Arabia moving soldiers and tanks into Bahrain without US sanction, much less that it was a surprise, is ludicrous on its face. But hey, yuk it up...

That's weird. But please, do tell...

I don't think they do gold, but you could certainly do worse in terms of timely analysis. Here's the link: http://www.atimes.com/ You're welcome.

Perhaps you can think of the example of Ohio public workers as an antidote to your San Jose one, most workers live somewhere in between. I certainly appreciate your relatively level-headed approach and the rhetorical lip-service you're willing to pay to those things that really will make a difference, I really do. Unfortunately, the narratives and proposals being put forth across the country have far outstripped it. If you think the ideologues and their mini-me's like Jay who currently have the upper hand are going to stop at retirement contributions in their efforts to both untether themselves from the societies that've made them rich and depress labor costs across the board, you've been watching the wrong channel.

Declare bankruptcy, request federal aid, revisit egregious abuses in wage and benefit packages of public workers where they exist, build the economy, sustain middle class jobs, offer universal health care, etc. Well that's practical. Imminently more practical than squeezing the remaining blood from these "fatcats"...

Declare bankruptcy, request federal aid, revisit egregious abuses in wage and benefit packages of public workers where they exist, build the economy, sustain middle class jobs, offer universal health care, etc.

Crying "conspiracy theory!". The last refuge of the scoundrel.

Disappointing that you weren't able to make it this far... I wouldn't go so far as to call that "proof", but it's pretty strong circumstantial evidence. You could file a FOIA request but by the time it's granted I'm betting things will have become quite clear.

For someone who regularly extols the virtues of the internet, you don't seem to be using it much. Has your Democrat Party membership crippled your critical faculties?

Try this on for size...

That's the dumbest thing I've read all morning. Guess we'll have to wait for the next Wikileaks.