Here Comes the Sun?

‎"If it weren't for the coffee, I'd have no identifiable personality whatsoever."
~ David Letterman
Late Show Fun Facts (Hardcover)

Class Warfare against the Ruling Class?

On Faux News Sunday (September 18, 2011), Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI) spoke with Chris Wallace about President Obama's plan to reduce the budget deficit and fund the proposed American Jobs Act.

"Class warfare Chris may make for good politics but it makes for rotten economics. We don't need a system that divides people." ~ Rep. Paul Ryan

Considering the GOP has been waging a non-stop war against the right of workers to engage in collective bargaining, for this blogger, this Wisconsin Representative's comments framing the latest tax battle as class warfare sounded a bit like Rick Santorum lecturing Senator John McCain about the benefits of water boarding.

Who is Paul Ryan?

Representative Ryan is the quintessential, professional Beltway Baby.

How much money has he earned working in the public sector? Based on the Congressional Pay Table, since being elected to Congress in 1998 (at the age of 28), he has earned $2,078,100 (base salary). This figure does not include yearly travel expenses or the random $50 special interest group luncheon.

Prior to earning his own Congressional Franking Privileges, Ryan worked for Wisconsin Sen. Bob Kasten and Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback. 

From battling paper cuts as a Congressional mail room intern, to joining the staffs of two Senators, to eventually being elected to Congress himself, Representative Ryan has spent the majority of his adult life walking the corridors of Capital Hill (as well as collecting a government paycheck). So, when this Beltway Baby gives a supply side economics tax lecture about the Millionaire Club, please forgive this blogger for laughing.

Considering he's already banked over $2,000,000 as a public servant, taken advantage of 12 years of government sponsored health care, did not serve in Afghanistan or Iraq and has already qualified for the Congressional retirement package (not including Social Security), how on earth did this Washington Insider become the so-called Poster Child for the Tea Party Movement? 

All politicians sell SOAP. In the case of Representative Ryan, he is the SOAP. He is an actual product created by and for the Washington Beltway.

It's easy for a member of the GOP to go on Faux News. It's quite another to give an extended interview with someone like Rachael Maddox. As I've already written, there is no silver bullet for fixing this economy. Should the tax code be simplified? Yes. But with more than 12,000 lobbyists knocking on Congressional doors, I seriously doubt any reform package (which tackles tax loopholes and exemptions) will survive the Tsunami of special interest money.

Class Warfare? Please. The Koch Brothers have already spent more than $100,000,000 selling their Libertarian brand of corporate soap. Power is crack. Money buys crack. Tax reform without serious political reform still leaves a majority of Americans sitting on the sidelines. Confused? What political reforms? Read More...

REPOST: Can you name the first time in American history that the government cut taxes and decreased revenue as it marched off to war?

How many millionaires and billionaires served in Afghanistan or Iraq? How many of these same folks made money off these wars? Anyhow, the term Job Creators has a nicer ring to it than Campaign Contributors.



IF Ryan wants to talk about Class Warfare, bringing back compulsory military service (with a public service option for conscientious objectors) would be a great place to start the conversation.

During this latest debt ceiling debate, President Obama made a serious linguistic blunder. Instead of calling the expiration of Bush-era tax cuts - for the wealthiest Americans - the Buffett Rule, he should have named it the Two War Rule. In 2003, the Bush Administration projected the cost of military operations for Iraq between $50 billion to $60 billion dollars. Where was Ryan when the Congressional Budget Office was crunching those numbers for funding Dick's Halliburton War? Ryan voted for both wars and the Bush-era Tax cuts. 10 years & $1.3 trillion dollars later, this Congressman (now supported by the Tea Party) still refuses to pay the bills for Afghanistan & Iraq. Read Here & Here...

Sadly, even if the President had chosen a different package of words to sell his latest proposal, at the end of the day, Congressman Ryan would still have called it Class Warfare. And you know something, maybe he's right. Being born and raised inside the Washington Beltway gives a person a special interest perspective of this world.  

Photos by Peter Rimar
Total Lobbying: What Lobbyists Want (and How They Try to Get It) 
(See all Political Lobbying Books)

Dear Governor Rick Perry

This POST is NOT about your rather poor grades as a student at Texas A&M. Yes, that D in the Principals of Economics is a bit alarming, but then again, it was the summer of 1970. Love was in the air. The United States had just pulled the troops out of Cambodia, President Richard Nixon lowered the voting age to 18 and Casey Kasem made his debut as the host of American Top 40.

Report cards are overrated. Just ask Glenn Beck about his DAY at Yale. Heck, Albert Einstein was a bad student. But then again, he did win the Noble Prize in Physics and helped change the whole 20th Century (but that story is for another day).

Additionally, I'm not going to waste your time writing about the 21,000 Texas wildfires (which burned 3.7 million acres of land and destroyed 1,915 homes valued at $100 million dollars). Nobody can control Mother Nature. Not even the Prophet Ron Paul. Indeed, the best time to CUT state funding for the Texas Forest Service and assistance grants for volunteer fire departments is during a drought. It makes perfect sense. Why prevent a crisis when you can look like a leader during a crisis? Why waste oil revenue on land management or funding local fire departments when the Federal Government can ride into Austin and write the state a big fat FEMA check. Just look at how much money Louisiana made by not improving the levee system around New Orleans. Why spend 30 million dollars for levees (or fire prevention) when you can milk billions of dollars from FEMA?

To be honest, when I sat down to write this commentary, I was extremely tempted to bring up your cozy business relationship with the Koch Brothers. It's expensive to run for public office. Power is crack and money buys crack. It's tough breaking the political addiction to special interest cash. IF you ever decide to seek help, Buddy Roemer has just organized a support group for Presidential Candidates (see previous Buddy post).

Anyhow, this POST is only about Social Security. Enough educated folks have written about your incorrect usage of the words Ponzi Scheme, so I won't bore you with another silly classroom lecture.


This POST has only one simple message: Wall Street will NEVER get its hands on Social Security. It is NOT a 401K investment plan. Period. So, no matter how much 527 money the Koch Brothers pump into their private Libertarian crusade, Social Security will survive. And do you know why? It's simple. This country will NEVER allow millions of senior citizens to become homeless. Even Minister Michele Bachmann took the time to read Ronald Reagan's Presidential Memo regarding Social Security.

After the Wall Street Meltdown in 2008, do you really think a majority of Americans trust the financial markets to provide a retirement safety net? Social Security is NOT broken. Who fixes low air in a tire by driving the car off a cliff? Unless of course the real political prize is to completely privatize Social Security. Am I Fed Up? No.

Joke of the Week:
"Dick Cheney's memoir, 'Eat, Pray, Waterboard,' has a lot of revelations. For instance, Dick Cheney was actually born in a hut in Kenya. His first heart attack occurred when he accidentally saw himself naked. He also admits to fathering Beyonce's baby." ~ David Letterman

The Battle for Social Security:
From FDR's Vision To Bush's Gamble (Hardcover)