Dean Baker: Manufacturing deficit fear

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/jul/11/social-security-debt-ceiling-talks

The Guardian, July 11, 2011

The conventional wisdom among the current generation of school reformers is that bad teachers are to blame for the failure of many of our children to learn. Applying this logic to the current debates over the budget and the economy, we should be pointing a big finger of blame at the media.

As survey after survey shows, the vast majority of the public are incredibly ignorant of the most basic facts about the budget and the economy. If we treated their teachers in the media the way the educational reformers treat public school teachers, few economics and budget reporters would have jobs.

One needs only to pick up a newspaper or turn on the television to get examples of thoroughly awful reporting. When we hear pledges to reduce the projected deficits over the next 12 years by $2tn or $4tn, how many people have any clue how large these reductions – on which the current debt ceiling talks between President Obama and House speaker John Boehner turn – are, relative to projected spending or projected GDP over this period? (The $4tn figure is 8.7% of projected spending and 3.7% of GDP.)

How about that $14.3tn figure for the debt ceiling? That's a really big number, really scary. So is just about every number connected with the United States budget. We are a huge country with a huge economy. Competent reporters would focus on this being about 90% of US GDP.

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"David Morris" - Why is the Most Wasteful Government Agency Not Part of the Deficit Discussion?

Published on Tuesday, July 12, 2011 by On the Commons

http://onthecommons.org/why-most-wasteful-government-agency-not-part-deficit-discussion

Republicans ignore incompetence, bloat and corruption at the Pentagon

by David Morris

In all the talk about the federal deficit, why is the single largest culprit left out of the conversation? Why is the one part of government that best epitomizes everything conservatives say they hate about government—- waste, incompetence, and corruption—all but exempt from conservative criticism?

Of course, I’m talking about the Pentagon. Any serious battle plan to reduce the deficit must take on the Pentagon. In 2011 military spending accounted for more than 58 percent of all federal discretionary spending and even more if the interest on the federal debt that is related to military spending were added. In the last ten years we have spent more than $7.6 trillion on military and homeland security according to the National Priorities Project.

In the last decade military spending has soared from $300 billion to $700 billion.

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“Progressive Radio Network Host Danny Schechter, Friday’s @ 1pm(est)” - 21 YEARS AFTER “FREEDOM:” SOUTH AFRICA’S CANCER OF CORRUPTION AND ‘CULTURE OF CONCEALMENT’

By Danny Schechter

Editor, Mediachannel.org

DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA: Twenty one years after Nelson Mandela walked free,  corruption has become the issue du jour in South Africa.

Even president Jacob Zuma who narrowly slithered out of a corruption trial before his election is blasting corruption in the ranks of the African National Congress which came to power as the morally superior alternative to an apartheid regime that shamelessly used the wealth it controlled to benefit Afrikaners and deprive the black majority of services.

“Let’s make a plan,” were the code words members of the all white National Party used to scheme ways of stealing state resources to benefit themselves, a cozy reality overshadowed by the vicious racial policies that outraged the world.

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"Progressive Radio Network Host Mitchell J. Rabin, Monday @ 6pm(est) - The Frightful Subject of Fracking

The Frightful Subject of Fracking

By Mitchell J. Rabin

No matter how many times it happens and no matter how much older I get, I simply do not get used to man's willingness to, en masse, defile the Earth and cause his fellow man such difficulty and harm. I do not get accustomed to man's willingness to lie, cheat, steal and kill to achieve a certain selfish goal. It boggles my mind, breaks my heart and fractures my soul. Perhaps I came into this world too sensitive for these kinds of "grown-up values and means" of operating.

I am painfully aware of my own shortcomings and any I may have missed I don't for long as they are quickly pointed out by those close to me. My call is toward impeccability yes, but I also understand that while that may be the goal, if we can at least attempt it, approximate it, I believe that we'll all be a good deal better off than we are now! But when it comes to injecting toxic, that means poisonous chemicals, known to be toxic, into the ground and knowing that it must eventually reach the ground water and in the NY watershed which provides water to millions of people in NY, PA and NJ, it is just outrageous that these gas companies do not diversify, go into wind and solar, or at least experiment with this highly unproven methodology in places far away from human habitation, but even that I really don't want to see. It's as though the owners of these companies don't drink water themselves, breathe air, and don't have spouses or children who do same. Is it possible that they don't?

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"Dr. Mercola" - Dissects New USDA ‘Food Pyramid

Dr. Mercola

July 11, 2011

http://www.drmercola.com/dr-joseph-mercola/dr-mercola-dissects-new-usda-food-pyramid/

U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, and Surgeon General Regina Benjamin recently unveiled the government’s new recommended eating plan. The 2005 USDA Food Pyramid has been replaced by MyPlate, the new nutrition icon.

MyPlate, according to Vilsack, provides “a simple, visual, research-based icon that is a clear, unmistakable message about portion size.” But is this new eating plan really better than the 1992 and 2005 Food Pyramids? Here’s what natural health expert Dr. Joseph Mercola thinks.

MyPlate Versus the Food Pyramid

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“Daniel J. Weiss” - GOP rep hopes to shatter his own lightbulb legislation

Daniel J. Weiss

July 11, 2011

http://www.grist.org/politics/2011-07-11-gop-fred-upton-lightbulb-efficiency-standards-legislation

Lately it seems that the House Republican leadership is against everything that isn't pre-approved by Big Oil or the Tea Party. Perhaps the most outlandish example of this Groucho Marx approach to public policy is the upcoming vote on the BULB Act, H.R. 2417. It would repeal the energy efficiency standards for lightbulbs established in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 [PDF] (EISA). It would also prevent California from setting its own lightbulb efficiency standards. The original author of the provision is House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Fred Upton (R-Mich.), who is now supporting the repeal of his own idea after conservatives attacked it along with other clean energy programs.

EISA, with Upton's efficiency measure, passed the House in 2007 by a bipartisan vote of 319-100, with support from 49.7 percent of Republicans who voted and 98 percent of Democratic votes. President George W. Bush signed it into law.

Afterwards, Rep. Upton bragged in a press release, "Upton Measure to Upgrade Energy Efficiency Standards for all Light Bulbs Now Law":

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“Steve Kornacki” - Does Obama realize that a "grand bargain" would be fool's gold?

Repeat after me: Voters don't care about deficits -- no matter what they say

Steve Kornacki

July 11, 2011

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/07/11/obama_grand_bargain

Republican leaders pretty much made it clear over the weekend that a "grand bargain" on long-term deficit reduction is out of the question right now, thanks to their base's absolute unwillingness to accept tax increases of any kind. But President Obama is apparently still pushing for one anyway. Per the New York Times:

White House officials said Mr. Obama was still determined to pursue the boldest package possible — one that would require new tax revenue as well as cuts in Medicare and other entitlement programs — but he faces steadfast opposition from Republicans and growing qualms among Democrats.

The question of why Obama, who dramatically put the grand-bargain concept on the table last week, is doing all of this is an interesting one.

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“Natasha Lennard” - Why is the Tea Party suddenly obsessed with light bulbs?

Natasha Lennard

July 11, 2011

 http://www.salon.com/news/env/energy/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2011/07/11/energy_saving_light_bulb_debate

In 2007, little seemed problematic about the energy-efficient light bulb or the law signed by President George W. Bush, which called for the incandescent bulb to be phased out in favor its energy-saving counterpart. But that was before the rise of the Tea Party.

Suddenly, saving the old-fashioned 100-watt bulb -- which wastes most of the energy it consumes and costs households more in energy bills than the new model -- has become a matter of personal liberty. And so, House Republicans on Monday will seek to repeal the 2007  law, which calls for the phaseout to begin in January 2012.

The law has been dubbed "the light bulb ban" by activists on the right and has struck a Tea Party nerve. Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Michele Bachmann have all called it government intrusion par excellence. It essentially mandates that no new bulbs can go on the market after January '12 without meeting a new, higher standard of energy efficiency. Bulbs that don't meet the standard but that are already in stores won't be taken off shelves.

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"Robert Jensen" - The Power – and Limits – of Social Movements

Published on Tuesday, July 12, 2011 by CommonDreams.org

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/07/12-1

Dissidents not only have to be willing to tell the truth about the delusions of the dominant culture, but make sure we don’t fall into delusions of our own.

by Robert Jensen

The following is a version of a talk presented to the Houston Peace and Justice Center conference on July 9, 2011.

In mainstream politics in the United States, everyone agrees on one thing: We’re number one. We’re special. We’re America. We’re on top, where we deserve to be.

In dissident politics in the United States, we have long argued that this quest for economic and military dominance can’t be squared with basic moral and political principles. We’re on top, but it’s unjust and unsustainable.

Whether or not the United States has ever had a legitimate claim to that top spot -- or whether there should be spots on top for any nation(s) -- the days of uncontested dominance are over: Our economy is in permanent decline and our military power continues to fade. We are still the wealthiest society in history, but we are no longer the dynamic heart of the global economy. Our military is still able to destroy at will, but the wars of the past decade have demonstrated the limits of that barbarism.

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"Rob Boston" - The Relentless Christian Crusade to Prevent Kids from Learning Science

By Rob Boston, Church & State Magazine

Posted on July 11, 2011, Printed on July 12, 2011

http://www.alternet.org/story/151587/the_relentless_christian_crusade_to_prevent_kids_from_learning_science

The debate that took place on the floor of the Tennessee House of Representatives in April could not exactly be described as a feast for the intellect.

Legislators were deliberating a bill that would open the door to creationism in public schools by requiring schools to “find effective ways” to teach about three “controversial” ideas: evolution, global warming and human cloning.

The discussion quickly degenerated into name-calling when one bill supporter called opponents “intellectual bullies,” reported the Knoxville News Sentinel.

One lawmaker even tried to press Albert Einstein into service. Rep. Frank Niceley, a Republican from Strawberry Plains, asserted that Einstein once said, “A little knowledge would turn your head to atheism, while a broader knowledge would turn your head to Christianity.”

Niceley should have checked his facts: Einstein, who was raised Jewish and usually referred to himself as an agnostic, never said that. Something similar was once uttered by English philosopher Francis Bacon – 400 years ago.

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