Justice Finally Prevails in Making Morning After Pill Available To All

No, The Government Should Not Try to Dictate Morality and Legal Behavior

In a court decision that Conservatives should applaud, but won’t, a federal judge has ruled that no, the government cannot set a dual standard where some women have access to the morning after pill, and some do not.  The government had said that women 16 and over could buy the bill with no prescription, but that if you were under 16 you needed a prescription.  There was no medical basis for this policy.

Scientists, including those at the F.D.A., have been recommending unrestricted access for years, as have major medical groups, including the American Medical Association, the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the American Academy of Pediatrics. In 2011, the F.D.A. commissioner, Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg, issued a statement saying that after rigorous study the agency concluded it was safe to sell Plan B One-Step over the counter. But she was overruled by Ms. Sebelius, the Health and Human Services secretary, the first time such a public countermanding had ever occurred.

The decision was eloquent in its defense of freedom and its actions to uphold the rule of law.  The ruling was a sharp rebuke for the government, as well it should have been.

The judge accused the federal government of “bad faith” in dealing with the requests to make the pill universally available.

“More than 12 years have passed since the citizen petition was filed and 8 years since this lawsuit commenced,” the judge wrote. “The F.D.A. has engaged in intolerable delays in processing the petition. Indeed, it could accurately be described as an administrative agency filibuster.”

He added, “The plaintiffs should not be forced to endure, nor should the agency’s misconduct be rewarded by, an exercise that permits the F.D.A. to engage in further delay and obstruction.”

because if a medicine is deemed safe, then it is deemed safe.  It is simply not the government’s business that some people should not use it.  Legally (and ethically we should add) the judge said the same standards apply to aspirin and to contraceptives.  The law is the law.

That is the reason that Conservatives ought to applaud the decision.  The decision reigns in government power and returns it to where it should be, the people.  The opinion contained this quote from the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine.

In our opinion, the secretary’s decision to retain behind-the-counter status for Plan B One-Step was based on politics rather than science. It cannot be based on issues of safety, since a 12-year-old can purchase a lethal dose of acetaminophenin any pharmacy for about $11, no questions asked. The only documented adverse effects of a $50 dose of levonorgestrel are nausea and delay of menses by several days. Any objective review makes it clear that Plan B is more dangerous to politicians than to adolescent girls.

but Conservatives will hate it, because despite their rhetoric they want government to control individual behavior.  They are not against government mandating how people should live, they just want to make sure government controls behavior in the way that they think is right.

There should be not doubt in anyone’s mind about the thought process of Conservatives here.  They want themselves and government to manage and dictate against what is otherwise legal behavior.  They want people to live the way they and only they think people should live.  They want to prevent or even outlaw sexual activity between unmarried individuals and they want the fear of unwanted pregnancy to be used in their cause.  Contraception removes the fear, and that is why Conservatives are so opposed to its availability.  So no, they do not support freedom.

No their positions are not conservative.  Conservatives are not conservative.

For Enron Exec Jeffrey Skilling is Negotiating a Sentencing Agreement With the Justice Department – Presumably to Shorter His Sentence

If There Was Really Justice His Sentence Would be Lengthened

The Enron corporation at its height manipulated electricity prices and availability to such an extent that it casued blackouts in California, and ultimately that was a factor in the recall of the Governor at that time.  The Governor was blamed for the energy problems, despite the fact that it was Enron who was truly the cause.

As a result of the criminal activities of Enron, a top executive Jeffrey Skilling went to jail.  He went for a long time, like 24 years.  Now it turns out he may be getting a reduction in his sentence.

Philip Hilder, a Houston attorney who represented several former Enron executives who cooperated with prosecutors, said if an agreement is reached, he doubts it will result in Skilling’s release based on time served.

“I do think he will get a significant reduction but I think he will still be incarcerated for the foreseeable near future,” said Hilder,

Now before anyone reaches the conclusion that Mr. Skilling should have a sentence reduction for what was just a white collar crime, consider this.

Former Enron employee George Maddox, who lost $1.3 million in retirement savings when the energy giant collapsed, said he doesn’t think Skilling should have his sentenced reduced.

“It would be OK with me if they would force him to live on $2,400 a month like he has forced me to live,” said Maddox, 79, who lives in the East Texas town of Van, where he is supporting his 16-year-old grandson and himself mainly on Social Security income.

Okay, that was only one person.  So also consider this.

Enron’s collapse put more than 5,000 people out of work, wiped out more than $2 billion in employee pensions and rendered worthless $60 billion in Enron stock. Its aftershocks were felt across the city and the energy industry.

and remember that this was not the result of bad business decision, but outright fraud, market manipulation and conspiracy.  If Mr. Skilling spends the rest of his life in prison (and yes he is at a low security facility, he ain’t serving hard time) justice might be done.

February Jobs Report Causes Panic In River City – And Elsewhere

Macroeconomics Works People – What Exactly Did You Expect

The world is full of “deniers”, people who do not like reality and hence deny its existence.  Some people do not like the policy implications of global warming and so deny it is happening.  Other people don’t like the fact that science is not compatible with a literal Bible, and so they deny science.

In economics the deniers consist largely of conservatives who do not believe economic theory that has been studied, tested and verified for over 75 years.  Macroeconomic policy says that when government spending is reduced and taxes are increased the impact on the economy is negative.  At the beginning of 2013 government spending was reduced and taxes were increased.  Hm, wonder what that will bring?

Well it brought exactly what was expected, a reduction in the growth of employment.

American employers increased their payrolls by 88,000 last month, compared with 268,000 in February,according to a Labor Department report released Friday. It was the slowest pace of growth since last June, and less than half of what economists expected.

Well, duh.

But the U. S. economy has pretty good momentum, and it may be that if there is no increase to the shocks to the economy from fiscal policy that the economy can continue to grow and add jobs.  And everyone needs to remember that this is just one month.  Let’s see where things stand in 3 to 6 months.  And if the U. S. economy starts to resemble Europe, then that is because U. S. economic policy is resembling Europe.

Duh.

In North Carolina Constitution Hating Republicans Want to Obliterate the Bill of Rights

Their Agenda – Establish a State of North Carolina Official Religion – Like the State Bird or State Vegetable or State Idiot (Conservatives, Get Your Application Now and Avoid the June Rush)

[Update:  The Republican Speaker of the NC House said he won't allow a vote on the bill.  Although he did not comment extensively, it is likely his thinking was that after the state Republicans voted to solve a global warming problem of rising sea levels by making it illegal for the sea to rise, the state had received enough ridicule and abuse.  "We already look like some of the biggest horse's asses in the country" he did not say.]

The problem many of us have with Conservatives is not always their beliefs.  In many cases the problem is that Conservatives don’t support or live up to their own beliefs.  Take the Constitution, a document that Conservatives carry around with them and profess to revere as much as life itself.

When Conservative Republicans get control of government though, many of their beliefs go out the window. Such is the case in North Carolina where Republicans have control of state government for the first time since forever.  They want to establish an official state religion.

_________________________________________

Proposal would allow state religion in North Carolina

By Laura Leslie

Posted: 8:29 p.m. Tuesday
Updated: 7:58 p.m. Wednesday

Tags: Harry Warren, Edgar Starnes, Justin Burr, ACLU

RALEIGH, N.C. — A resolution filed by Republican lawmakers would allow North Carolina to declare an official religion, in violation of the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Bill of Rights, and seeks to nullify any federal ruling against Christian prayer by public bodies statewide.

___________________________________________

 How do they do this?  Simple, they simply declare the Constitution inoperative.

House Bill 494, a resolution filed by Republican Rowan County Reps. Harry Warren and Carl Ford, would refuse to acknowledge the force of any judicial ruling on prayer in North Carolina – or indeed on any Constitutional topic:

"The Constitution of the United States does not grant the federal government and does not grant the federal courts the power to determine what is or is not constitutional; therefore, by virtue of the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, the power to determine constitutionality and the proper interpretation and proper application of the Constitution is reserved to the states and to the people," the bill states.

"Each state in the union is sovereign and may independently determine how that state may make laws respecting an establishment of religion," it states.  

Now we all know the Supreme Court has ruled that the Bill of Rights applies to all levels of government, but that technicality doesn’t stop those who would impose Iranian type rule on U. S. citizens.  And lest anyone think that this is just the work of a couple of crackpots, there is this.

Eleven House Republicans have signed on to sponsor the resolution, including Majority Leader Edgar Starnes, R-Caldwell, and Budget Chairman Justin Burr, R-Stanly.

Yes, it is a great day for democracy and freedom, or will be when these freedom hating pols are voted out of office.  But if they do get their way one can imagine a future North Carolina signage with things like the following.

So as you drive into the state you might see these billboards.

"North Carolina - Be a Baptist (or Methodist or Lutheran or Any Other Of Our State Sposored Religions) Tonight - Conversion Classes Daily at Your Local High School"

"Progressive North Carolina - the First to Require Church Attendance to Get a Driver's License"

"Welcome to the Tar Heel State - Visit Any One of Our State Sponsored Churches to be Allowed to Come Into Our State"

"North Carolina - Everyone is Welcome - But Jews, Catholics, Atheists and Muslims Please Don't Stay.  Witches and Warlocks, Don't Come At All"

Sounds about right, doesn't it.

Here It Is – The Dumbest Comment Ever By Someone Opposed to Marriage Equality

Just When You Thought The Opposition Could Not Get Any Stupider – This Comes Along

The problem with those opposed to equality in marriage is that they have no good arguments for their position.  So all they are left with is bad arguments.  And here, without further comment is the worst of the bad.  Really, you cannot make this stuff up.

One woman who has not “gone red” is Georgia GOP Chairwoman Sue Everhart of east Cobb, although she’s aware of the movement.

“Lord, I’m going to get in trouble over this, but it is not natural for two women or two men to be married,” Everhart said. “If it was natural, they would have the equipment to have a sexual relationship.”

Everhart said while she respects all people, if same sex marriage is legalized across the country, there will be fraud.

“You may be as straight as an arrow, and you may have a friend that is as straight as an arrow,” Everhart said. “Say you had a great job with the government where you had this wonderful health plan. I mean, what would prohibit you from saying that you’re gay, and y’all get married and still live as separate, but you get all the benefits? I just see so much abuse in this it’s unreal.

As soon as we stop laughing we want to thank Taegan Goddard.

Conservatives: If You Find Yourself on the Same Side as North Korea, Iran and Syria with a U. N. Treaty – Aren’t You One the Wrong Side?

Senate Republicans to Block U. S. Ratification of Treaty on Arms Shipments

Is there a problem in the world that maybe, just maybe, too many weapons are getting into the hands of the wrong people, people like North Korea, Iran or Syria?  Apparently not to radical conservative Republicans.  They feel strongly that the U. S. should protect its right to export massive amounts of military weapons to rogue countries, or to allow rogue countries to obtain such weapons.

So now that there is a treaty to do the following, all of which seems incredibly sensible,

The treaty prohibits countries that ratify it from exporting conventional weapons if they violate arms embargoes, or if they promote acts of genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes, or if they could be used in attacks against civilians or schools and hospitals.

The treaty covers battle tanks, armored combat vehicles, large-caliber artillery systems, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships, missiles and missile launchers, and small arms and light weapons.

Enforcement is at the discretion of the countries that ratify the treaty.

Conservatives are mobilizing to defeat it.  Why?  Well the NRA and the gun nuts don’t like it.

The National Rifle Association opposes the treaty and strongly backs the Senate resolution sponsored by Republican Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas.

Opponents of the treaty contend that any restriction on international arms or gun sales will lead to greater gun control in the United States.

And everyone knows that what the NRA says it what goes for Conservatives.  In fact, in order to get a slightly bi-partisan sheen on their desire to increase weapons in dangerous countries there are even some Democrats who oppose the treaty. 

So the next time some dictatorial regime commits horrible acts of massacre against others, don’t fret.  At least the freedom of everyone to own, sell, trade or buy weapons of massive killing power has been preserved.  As for Conservative Republicans, well, we always thought you were closer in philosophy and policy to North Korea, Syria and Iran.  Thanks for confirming that.

Here is Why Rutgers University Waited So Long to Fire Abusive Coach Mike Rice

Really, There is a Simple Answer

Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart wonders why Rutgers University officials, who knew in November of the horrible abusive practices of their basketball coach, Mike Rice waited for months to fire the man.  Since they had seen the video recording of those abuses at that time, why did they just slap him on the wrist and go about their business.

According to the Associated Press, “Athletic director Tim Pernetti was given a copy of the video in late November by a former employee. He suspended Rice for three games a month later, fined him $50,000 and ordered him to attend anger management classes.” ESPN reported that “University president Robert Barchi saw the tape and signed off on the initial punishment.”

Wait, so, five months later just the mere airing of the offending video was enough to fire the guy? Pernetti’s statement announcing the Rice sacking left me unsatisfied.

Why the wait to fire the coach?  The answers as to the wait are very simple.  First of all the officials really didn’t care, and as long as the video of what Coach Rice did was not public, so what.  But the major reason was that in November the basketball season was just starting, and Rutgers officials probably felt that if the team was successful then it didn’t matter if the coach was a miserable excuse for a human being, a homophobic, bigoted bully.  Winning fixes everything as we now know from Nike and Tiger Woods.

But in March, when the team’s season was over and they did not do very well then what the heck, go ahead and fire the guy.  Not only did Rutgers save some face, they get rid of an unsuccessful coach and get to go out and hire a new one.  In short, a win-win for everyone, particularly those who love and respect bullies and bigots.

And as to the question of why the Athletic Director, the man who made the decision to keep the coach is not being fired, well that answer should be obvious to everyone.  He retained a man who is not suited to be employed by anyone in a position where that man might just win a few basketball games.  Hey, what’s the problem with that?

Reluctantly, Very Reluctantly, Here is a Comment on the Tragic Shooting of a Texas Prosecutor and His Wife

Supporters of Unlimited Guns for Everyone – Here’s a Cautionary Tale

The murder of a prosecutor and his wife in a small Texas community is a terrible tragedy.  It is a very personal tragedy for the family of the couple.  And the family’s grief should not be compromised by commentary on the political aspects of the shooting.

But two things must be noted, because any individual gun tragedy cannot help but be a part of the national debate on the availability of guns in the United States.  The first point is that Mr. McLelland was on high alert because of an earlier shooting of an assistant.  As a result he was armed.

Mr. McLelland told The Associated Press less than two weeks ago that he carried a gun at all times since Mr. Hasse’s killing, even when he walked his dog. He said he had urged his employees to remain alert. “The people in my line of work are going to have to get better at it, because they’re going to need it more in the future,” he said in the interview with The A.P.

But being armed did not prevent Mr. McLelland from being gunned down.  The point, in a society such as the United States the argument that the public has a right to be armed in order to protect themselves is false.  Protection can only come from a highly trained, strongly supported police force and system of justice.  Yes it is true that in isolated situations a person who is armed may prevent violence, but for the most part being armed will not make a difference, as it did not to Mr. McLelland. 

The second point, of course, is that whoever gunned down Mr. McLelland had easy and ample access to firearms.  So again, unlimited possessions of weapons does not make anyone safe, it makes them more vulnerable.  Tragically, there will be many more shootings like the one that killed Mr. McLelland and his wife before the general public becomes aware of this.

In India Novartis Loses Patent Fight to Protect a New Version of an Old Drug

A Win for Indian Patients – and Maybe for the World

A pharmaceutical drug that is patented gives the manufacturer a huge profit opportunity.  And it should, since the manufacturer has invested millions in developing the drug and getting approval for its use.  But that protection has to be limited in time, and it is.  Eventually patent protection runs out and the drug can be sold as a generic.

Drug companies use a variety of methods to try and extend patent protection.  In the U. S. the Supreme Court will decide whether or not it is legal for drug companies to pay generic manufacturers NOT to make a drug that is losing patent protection.  (It is illegal, but who knows what the Court will say.)  Another trick is to make minor modifications in a drug and seek to renew the patent.  This is what Novartis did in India with a cancer drug.  But it didn’t work.  The India Supreme Court rejected Novartis’s claim.

Patents for amended versions of drugs can be granted in the United States.

But in a landmark judgment that is likely to set a legal precedent for similar patent claims in the future, the Supreme Court said that the beta crystalline form of the salt called imatinib mesylate in the drug fails the test of “invention and patentability.”

“The Supreme Court has said that product was known prior to 1995, and a new patent cannot be granted because it is just a little modification on the old one,” Pratibha Singh, the lawyer representing three Indian drug companies, told reporters in New Delhi. “This means that patents would be granted for only genuine inventions, and repetitive patenting will not be allowed. The court held that merely because it [the new version] is more soluble or more stable, it doesn’t qualify by itself for patent protection.”

Novartis and drug companies claim that decisions like this will delay or even prevent new drug development.  And that is true to some extent, there is no free lunch here.  But a large part of the problem is the avarice of the drug companies themselves.  They need to do a better job of balancing profits and pricing and the needs of patients for whom their products are literally life savers.  For example, price differentials between generics and protected versions should not be as high as they are.

Health activists and Indian drug companies have argued that most Indians cannot afford expensive patented drugs such as Glivec, which costs more than $2,200 per patient for 30 tablets in a month. The generic version being sold in India costs about $175 a month.

And even though Novartis does provide some help to the very poor,

Novartis said about 16,000 Indian patients received Glivec free under the company’s assistance program.

that certainly leaves a large number of people who either cannot afford the medicine or who are impoverished by trying to buy it.  So the advice here to drug companies is this.  Try and be a little more sensitive to the needs of your customers.  It will go a long way in getting you what you want.

Senate Conservatives Vote to Order Congressional Budget Office to Cook the Books

Because That’s the Only Way Conservative Budget Numbers Add Up

When Conservative who believe despite all evidence to the contrary that tax cuts pay for themselves come up against real world data they do not change their positions.  They seek to change real world data.  So now the Senate has voted to require the Congressional Budget Office, the independent score keepers on fiscal matters, to show that tax cuts increase revenues.

Sen. Rob Portman's plan eked out a narrow victory in budget votes Saturday. | AP Photo

A victory for ignorance of course.

The amendment endorsed a model called “dynamic scoring,” which assumes that tax cuts will pay for at least part of their cost by generating more economic activity. The measure by Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) called on CBO and the Joint Committee on Taxation to include “macroeconomic feedback scoring” in all future estimates of tax legislation.

So now the independent CBO must, by law if the measure stays in the legislation, fudge the numbers.  Of course, just forecasting increased revenues doesn’t produce them, as George W. Bush et. al. found out in 2001 and 2002 and 2003. 

This is a trend in Conservative thinking (?).  In North Carolina the newly in charge Republicans passed a law forbidding the sea level increases from global warming rising enough to threaten coastal property.  The sea level was not impressed.

 But Conservatives create an alternate universe when they need to.  In fact in most cases they have to.

Good News on Former VP Candidate Paul Ryan – The Press and the Public are Catching On to Him

Sorry Paul – Scrutiny Just Does Not Work in Your Favor

Now that Mitt Romney has gone back to doing the things he really wanted to do in his life, making money and condescending to working men and women, the focus turns to his running mate, Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.  Mr. Ryan gained his fame as a so-called budget guru, a serious man who presented a serious budget plan.  The fact that the numbers did not add up and that the plan was bogus was irrelevant. The press thought this was great and heaped high praise on the Congressman.

So Mr. Ryan reprised his act in March of 2013, putting out another bogus budget.  This time the press and the public were not fooled, there were a few giggles and the debate has largely turned away from Mr. Ryan.  This was only right for a plan that, for example,  on taxes consisted of (1) cut taxes on the wealthy and (2) assume that revenues stay the same.  The result, a report by Politico on how Mr. Ryan has been removed from the public eye.

He seems to have fallen entirely off the radar of early state Republicans. Democrats bring up his name with more zeal than do people in his own party. And his footprint at the Conservative Political Action Conference was so faint that his being an afterthought was itself an afterthought.

The official word of course is that Mr. Ryan has now immersed himself in budget work, which is probably true.  It is very hard, maybe impossible, to come up with a fictitious plan that will carry enough credibility so that it is not laughed out of existence the minute it is release.  And of course Mr. Ryan’s disappearance may not be permanent.

But the press is now enamored with Rand Paul and Marco Rubio, and hoping that Jeb Bush will be a serious contender.  So here is how Mr. Ryan’s Presidential hopes stand at this time.

In conversations with scores of Republicans in Washington and beyond, it’s striking how little organic support or even interest there is for a Ryan presidential bid so soon after Mitt Romney elevated the Wisconsin wonk to the highest levels of national political stardom. Open-ended questions about who is drawing early attention don’t even include a pro forma mention of last year’s popular vice presidential nominee.

Ok, we can all live with that.

Hey Europe – How’s That Austerity Program – The One That Would Bring Recovery and Prosperity – How’s That Going?

Oh, Not So Good

Europe and the United States diverged in their respective responses to the Great Recession.  The United States embarked on a program, highly flawed, of Keynesian stimulus.  The results while disappointing have been positive.  Unemployment has dropped, the deficit has declined and economic growth has returned.

In Europe the policy makers decided that austerity, an anti-Keynesian policy would work best.  The idea was that by getting government finances back towards a balanced budget business confidence would surge, business would invest and the economy would have a great recovery.  That hasn’t worked.

__________________________________

Unemployment in Euro Zone Reaches a Record High

By DAVID JOLLY

Published: April 2, 2013

PARIS — Unemployment in the euro zone rose to yet another record high in the first two months of the year, official data showed Tuesday, providing confirmation that the economy remains in a deep freeze.

The jobless rate reached 12 percent in both January and February, the highest since the creation of the euro in 1999, Eurostat, the statistical agency of the European Union,reported from Luxembourg.

________________________________

But don't be discouraged, Europeans.  If the Republicans get control of economic policy they will be implemented the same failed programs that you folks did, and with the same results.  So in that case your misery will have companionship.

In Virginia, Conservative Republican Governor and Attorney General Have a Nice Relationship With Star Scientific

Governor Gets Fantastic Gifts and Services, Attorney General Owns Stock in Company That is Suing the State for Tax Reduction

Why Didn’t AG Disclose Ownership of Stock?  The Steve Martin Defense, “I FORGOT”

Weddings are expensive, not only do a lot of people show up but they have to be fed.  For the wedding of Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell’s daughter the tab came to $15,000.

Gov. Robert F. McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, had about 200 guests to Virginia’s historic Executive Mansion for their daughter Cailin’s wedding in 2011. The menu included fresh poached jumbo shrimp, bruschetta topped with Virginia tomatoes and stuffed free-range chicken breast.

The cost to the Governor – Zip

The $15,000 worth of fine dining came courtesy of Jonnie R. Williams Sr., the chief executive of a company that has made major contributions to McDonnell’s campaigns and that is the subject of a federal securities investigation.

And not that the Governor had anything to hide (right), but he did not disclose the gift.  How could he fail to do that, oh there was this technicality.

the spokesman, Jeff Caldwell, said Williams picked up the catering bill for the wedding as a gift to Cailin and her husband, Chris Young. Because it was not a gift to the governor, Virginia law did not require McDonnell to include it on his annual disclosure form, Caldwell said.

Isn’t that nice.  And isn’t this nice.

The wedding gift, which was not disclosed by McDonnell, is just one element of the McDonnells’ close relationship with Williams and his company, a relationship that has included rides on Williams’s corporate jet, personal gifts to the first family and efforts by the governor and his wife to promote the company.

But the Governor need not fear any questions on this relationship from the Attorney General of the state.

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II failed to disclose for nearly a year that he had substantial stock holdings in a company, even though disclosure is required by law and his office was defending the state in a tax lawsuit filed by the company.

Cuccinelli, the presumptive Republican nominee for governor, said through a campaign consultant that the attorney general did not disclose his interest in Star Scientific because he didn’t realize that his holdings exceeded $10,000, the threshold for disclosure under state law. Once he realized the oversight, Cuccinelli corrected it, said the consultant, Chris LaCivita.

Oh, the Attorney General and soon to be nominee for Governor forgot.  He just forgot.  He used the classic Steve Martin defense.

You.. can be a millionaire.. and never pay taxes! You can be a millionaire.. and never pay taxes! You say.. "Steve.. how can I be a millionaire.. and never pay taxes?" First.. get a million dollars. Now.. you say, "Steve.. what do I say to the tax man when he comes to my door and says, 'You.. have never paid taxes'?" 

Two simple words. Two simple words in the English language: "I forgot!" How many times do we let ourselves get into terrible situations because we don't say "I forgot"?

Let's say you're on trial for armed robbery. You say to the judge, "I forgot armed robbery was illegal." Let's suppose he says back to you, "You have committed a foul crime. you have stolen hundreds and thousands of dollars from people at random, and you say, 'I forgot'?" Two simple words: Excuuuuuse me!!" 

And of course there is the issue of a tax dispute between the company and the state.

Attorneys for Cuccinelli’s office, acting on behalf of the state, responded to the suit within two weeks, defending the tax assessment. But no further court action in the matter has occurred since. Both parties say it was handled as routine business by staff lawyers for the attorney general’s office.

Cuccinelli has not sought to recuse his office from the suit, despite his personal financial interest in the company. But on Saturday, his office said it was reviewing the handling of the case and will have an announcement about it soon.

If the financially struggling company loses the suit, it has told investors that it would owe the state $1.7 million in back taxes, penalties and interest.

And here is a really worrisome aspect of this

“This case has been handled in the ordinary course of business by tax attorneys” within the attorney general’s office, he said in a statement.

which we assume means that the office of the Attorney General always is involved in defending suits where the Attorney General has a financial interest in the other party.

Now none of this is specific to Republicans or Conservatives, Democrats also believe that government is a tool to increase their own personal wealth.  It’s just the Conservatives are so much better at it, and so good at living with themselves after denouncing government and profiting from it.

European Economic Leadership Apparently Do Not Understand That The Purpose of a Bailout is to Save Cyprus Not Destroy It

Are These Leaders Not the Dumbest Policy Makers Ever?

As the details of the so-called bailout of Cyprus are finalized, and the banks get to open (with heavy capital controls)  one has to wonder just what Europe’s economists are thinking.  Certainly they are not thinking that what they propose will support a recovery of the Cypriot banking community of the Cypriot economy.

For example, deposits of less than 100,000 Euros are protected, well sort of.  But any one whose IQ is greater than that of a fool is going to get their money the hell out of there.

Beyond the challenge of dealing with the large depositors is the question of what to do with about 27 billion euros in deposits in accounts under 100,000 euros that now carry the Cypriot government’s full backing, following last weekend’s reversal of the decision to tax those deposits, too. That figure alone exceeds Cyprus’s annual gross domestic product of 18 billion euros.

If the banks reopen on Thursday, as planned, Cyprus’s shellshocked citizens will have access to their insured deposits for the first time in more than a week. With their bills and fears mounting, it is widely expected that many will immediately seek to remove these funds from the banks.

And with a banking system in ruin the economy of Cyprus will soon follow.

Horror stories abound here of flourishing local businesses that, because their deposits were kept at Bank of Cyprus or Laiki, are now on the verge of collapsing. It has all heightened anger toward decision makers in Brussels.

“We are facing an even deeper recession than the worst scenarios had predicted,” said Nicholas Papadopoulos, a member of the Cypriot Parliament and the chairman of the body’s financial committee. “We have become the Lehman Brothers of Europe.”

Well at least one mystery is solved, we now know where those men and women who fail basic economics and have to drop out of college go.  They go to Europe where they devise economic policy for the continent.  Thanks people, Europe cannot self destruct without you.

Wall Street Journal Personal Finance Section Gives Wrong Advice/Information on Retirement Finances

Incompetence, Or Deliberate Attempt to Inject Politics into News Reporting?  - You Decide (But Really Not All That Hard a Question)

The Wall Street Journal has undertaken the admirable task of explaining some of the complex issues in Social Security and Medicare to future retirees.  Unfortunately, the first thing they tackle is the future of Social Security, which they get dead wrong.

• PERSONAL FINANCE
• March 24, 2013

Making Sense of Social Security and Medicare

by Jennifer Waters

Q: Will I receive Social Security benefits?

A: That's a big "It depends." If you're over 65, no sweat. If you're 45-65, you might see some changes from the relatively generous benefits enjoyed by your parents. If you're under 45, you have plenty to worry about.

The problem is more money is being paid out of the system than is going in. The shortfall, now about $200 billion a year, is being made up by drawing on the $2.73 trillion Social Security Trust Fund.

The fund is U.S. government bonds that have been bought by the Social Security Administration for 30 years with money paid by baby boomers. They have spent most of their working lives paying more into the system than it spent.

The extra money was lent to the government, which used it to offset some of the huge deficits of the 1980s and 2000s. (Without the overpayments, the government surplus in the late 1990s wouldn't have happened.)

Now, the retiring boomers are taking out more than younger workers are putting in. According to current estimates, the trust fund could be fully tapped as soon as 2033.

Ok, that is factually correct and utterly and totally misleading.  The correct answer to the question is a simple, but inconvenient for the Conservatives, 'Yes'. The author strongly implies that when the trust fund is tapped out, there will be no Social Security benefits.  But that would only happen if absolutely no one was working and paying into the SS trust fund.  Because money will be coming in each year, hundreds of billions or more the worst case scenario is that the Social Security system would be able to fund only 75-80% of statutory benefits.  Ok, this is not great, but it is not zero. (The article does go on to soften its conclusions in the next paragraph, resulting in a highly contradictory and un-informative piece of writing.)

One wonders why the Journal would allow such misleading nonsense to be printed.  The thinking here is that this is ideological, that the ultra Conservative bias of the editorial part of the Journal is spilling over into the news section.  The likely purpose, to scare potential retirees into supporting privatization of the SS system, resulting in billions in fees to Wall Street and benefits reduced by even more than they otherwise would be.

Yep, that sounds about right.  Anyone in doubt, look at how happy the author is over the problems of Medicare.

Q: Speaking of health care. I understand Medicare is in worse shape than Social Security.

A:You bet it is. The Government Accountability Office estimates the 75-year funding gap will be a staggering $76.4 trillion. The Medicare Security Trust Fund could run dry as soon as 2016, according to a 2011 report from the trustees. And the system is rife with fraud and abuse, costing us nearly $100 billion a year—yes, a year—according to some congressional estimates.

That is also false and misleading, but then when bias injects itself into the reporting that is what you get.

So nice going Jennifer Waters, with your biased reporting you have a great future in journalism The Wall Street Journal.

David Stockman, Former Reagan Era Budget Director, Goes Bonkers in the New York Times

Sorry David, There is Just No Other Way to Say It

The current so-called budget guru, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin had a predecessor.  That was a Congressman from Michigan, David Stockman whose so-called budget expertise enabled him to become budget director for Ronald Reagan, and produce the highest budget deficits ever seen in peacetime until George W. Bush' last year in office.  Now Mr. Stockman, out of the public service for over a quarter century has produced a commentary on the current economic conditions. 

He has been allowed substantial space in the New York Times opinion section to set out these views.  The ideas and concepts are so, well, crazy, that one can only speculate that the Times simply did not have anything to fill some space on the Easter weekend, and so went with Mr. Stockman out of desperation and the hope that maybe it being Easter no one would notice.

In Mr. Stockman’s world, which fortunately is not the real one, America is headed towards a total economic meltdown.  The impetus dates from the Roosevelt administration.

The state-wreck originated in 1933, when Franklin D. Roosevelt opted for fiat money (currency not fundamentally backed by gold), economic nationalism and capitalist cartels in agriculture and industry.

But the worst sin was when Richard Nixon took the U. S. off the gold standard.  Really.

Then came Lyndon B. Johnson’s “guns and butter” excesses, which were intensified over one perfidious weekend at Camp David, Md., in 1971, when Richard M. Nixon essentially defaulted on the nation’s debt obligations by finally ending the convertibility of gold to the dollar. That one act — arguably a sin graver than Watergate — meant the end of national financial discipline and the start of a four-decade spree during which we have lived high on the hog, running a cumulative $8 trillion current-account deficit. 

Now a full explanation of the Nixon change is beyond the scope of this Forum, but Nixon did not end the convertibility of the dollar into gold.  He simply ended the convertibility at a fixed price of $35.00 per ounce.  Why?  Because the U. S. did not have enough gold to sell to everyone at that price!!!  Really, it's that simple.   Exactly what would have happened when the U. S. ran out of gold is never explained by people like Mr. Stockman.  Maybe he envisions a world where the U. S. government sells gold for $35.00 an ounce forever, except no one can buy any because the U. S. government has no gold to sell at that price, or at any other price.  Yeah, that would have been effective economic policy.

So the future, according to Mr. Stockman is one of a near total collapse of America (and presumably the world, since America is in much greater shape than Europe thanks to Europe following policy, well, policy that Mr. Stockman advocates.)

The United States is broke — fiscally, morally, intellectually — and the Fed has incited a global currency war (Japan just signed up, the Brazilians and Chinese are angry, and the German-dominated euro zone is crumbling) that will soon overwhelm it. When the latest bubble pops, there will be nothing to stop the collapse. If this sounds like advice to get out of the markets and hide out in cash, it is.

And no, Mr. Stockman is not a partisan, his screed blames everyone (except himself of course)

Less than 5 percent of the $800 billion Obama stimulus went to the truly needy for food stamps, earned-income tax credits and other forms of poverty relief. The preponderant share ended up in money dumps to state and local governments, pork-barrel infrastructure projects, business tax loopholes and indiscriminate middle-class tax cuts. The Democratic Keynesians, as intellectually bankrupt as their Republican counterparts (though less hypocritical), had no solution beyond handing out borrowed money to consumers, hoping they would buy a lawn mower, a flat-screen TV or, at least, dinner at Red Lobster.

Were there any good guys?  Yes, Eisenhower and his Fed Chairman.

Under the exigencies of World War II (which did far more to end the Depression than the New Deal did), the state got hugely bloated, but remarkably, the bloat was put into brief remission during a midcentury golden era of sound money and fiscal rectitude with Dwight D. Eisenhower in the White House and William McChesney Martin Jr. at the Fed.

But history (yeah, those awful facts that get in the way of a good opinion piece) tells us that the Eisenhower years produced low economic growth, and that the major contribution to the economy in that period was the initiation of the Interstate Highway System, one of the great economic projects ever and one or course done by government.

Ok New York Times, you made a mistake publishing something that should have only been printed in the newsletter of the store, “Crazies are Us”.  It’s ok, everyone does something stupid every now and then if they publish for public consumption.  Just look at some of the Posts on this Forum.

In Atlanta a Massive Cheating Scandal Accuses the Former Head of the School System

Confessions Aplenty – But Can They Convict the Superintendent?

T. Lynne Pixley for The New York Times

From left, the men who ran the 

investigation, Robert E. Wilson, 

Michael Bowers and Richard Hyde.

One of the ugliest, if not the most ugly ever school cheating scandals took place in the Atlanta school 

system over the past ten or more years. And it was criminal.

Dr. Hall and the 34 teachers, principals and administrators “conspired to either cheat, conceal cheating or retaliate against whistle-blowers in an effort to bolster C.R.C.T. scores for the benefit of financial rewards associated with high test scores,” the indictment said, referring to the state’s Criterion-Referenced Competency Test.

  The impetus was to improve test scores so that the school system in Atlanta would be seen as a great success, and provide great rewards for the administrators, including the district superintendent, Beverly Hall.

During the decade she led the district of 52,000 children, many of them poor and African-American, Atlanta students often outperformed wealthier suburban districts on state tests.

Those test scores brought her fame — in 2009, the American Association of School Administrators named her superintendent of the year and Arne Duncan, the secretary of education, hosted her at the White House.

And fortune — she earned more than $500,000 in performance bonuses while superintendent.

While the trial is to be held, that cheating took place is a foregone conclusion.  Many teachers have accepted their guilt and confessed to the activity.

The impetus was clearly the pressure brought by Ms. Hall.

Dr. Hall was known to rule by fear. She gave principals three years to meet their testing goals. Few did; in her decade as superintendent, she replaced 90 percent of the principals.

Teachers and principals whose students had high test scores received tenure and thousands of dollars in performance bonuses. Otherwise, as one teacher explained, it was “low score out the door.”

And while the evidence against those who changed test scores appears to be overwhelming, Ms. Hall claims she is innocent and that there is no direct evidence to charge her with a crime or knowledge.

As she has since the beginning, Mr. Deane said, Dr. Hall has denied the charges and any involvement in cheating or any other wrongdoing and expected to be vindicated. “We note that as far as has been disclosed, despite the thousands of interviews that were reportedly done by the governor’s investigators and others, not a single person reported that Dr. Hall participated in or directed them to cheat on the C.R.C.T.,” he said later in a statement.

and so Ms. Hall will have her day in court, and the state will have to prove their case against her.

The hero, if there is one in all of this may be former Republican Governor Sonny Perdue who pushed for the investigation despite huge pressure to leave it alone.  Being a Caucasian and a conservative Republican naturally there were suspicions about the Governor. But he was convinced he was right and he went ahead anyway.

But no state has come close to Georgia in appropriating the resources needed to root it out.

And that is because of former Governor Perdue.

“The more we were stonewalled, the more we wanted to know why,” he said in an interview.

In August 2010, after yet another blue-ribbon commission of Atlanta officials found no serious cheating, Mr. Perdue appointed the two special prosecutors and gave them subpoena powers and a budget substantial enough to hire more than 50 state investigators who were overseen by Mr. Hyde.

which once again reinforces the concept that when Republicans are elected and do the job of good governing they are successful.  And if they do a good job, they should be.

According to Conservative Republicans There Problem is That They Cannot Get Their Message Out

But Professional Conservative and Candidate for Governor in Virginia Ken Cuccinelli’s Problem – His Message is Out and He’s Trying to Get it Back In.

The problem with conservative doctrine, if one listens to conservatives, is not conservative doctrine.  The problem is the inability to get the message out.  Once people hear the message they believe, people will buy into it.

In Virginia Republicans will nominate extremist Ken Cuccinelli for Governor in the only major election this fall that has any meaning national 2013  Mr. Cuccinelli is a ‘no apologist’ conservative, or at least he wasn't.  This editorial in the Washington Post shows how Mr. Cuccinelli is now trying to hide his views.  For example on the high profile issue of immigration Mr. Cuccinelli is a hard liner, or at least he was.

As a lawmaker in 2008, Mr. Cuccinelli was chief sponsor of a bill urging a Constitution rewrite to strip the U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants of their right to citizenship. He authored legislation that would have denied jobless benefits to certain employees for not speaking English. He pushed through a bill that allowed localities to investigate and punish crowded boardinghouses, which he called “one of the most common side effects of illegal immigration.”

As attorney general, he has embraced Arizona-style policies that authorize police to check the immigration status of anyone they stop or arrest. He has also opposed comprehensive immigration reform, or what he calls amnesty for undocumented immigrants, whose presence in the labor market, he believes, has diminished the nation’s standard of living.

But what happens when a prospective voters goes to Mr. Cuccinelli’s web site to learn more about his views on immigration?

But clicking Tuesday on a link to the campaign site’s immigration policy page brought up the following: “This is somewhat embarrassing, isn’t it? It seems we can’t find what you’re looking for.”

Well it is embarrassing, at least for Conservatives.  But then in the light of day most of their positions are embarrassing.  As for Mr. Cuccinelli, the “Straight Talk Express” he ain’t.