Take 'Em Down

It's payback time.

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Conservatives Love The '80s. (The 1880s, that is)

Sorry for the gap.  I've been on vacation for the last week.

Missouri State Senator Jane Cunningham took a lot of heat this month for introducing a bill to gut child labor laws in that state.

the bill’s own official summary decribes it thus(emphasis added by Think Progress):

This act modifies the child labor laws. It eliminates the prohibition on employment of children under age fourteen. Restrictions on the number of hours and restrictions on when a child may work during the day are also removed. It also repeals the requirement that a child ages fourteen or fifteen obtain a work certificate or work permit in order to be employed. Children under sixteen will also be allowed to work in any capacity in a motel, resort or hotel where sleeping accommodations are furnished. It also removes the authority of the director of the Division of Labor Standards to inspect employers who employ children and to require them to keep certain records for children they employ. It also repeals the presumption that the presence of a child in a workplace is evidence of employment.

 She has since removed the controversial bill from consideration but, according to Think Progress, Ms. Cunningham is not alone in her zeal to roll back worker rights and protections:

In a lengthy lecture delivered before his election to the U.S. Senate, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) praises a discredited 1918 Supreme Court decision declaring child labor laws unconstitutional. That decision, which Lee holds out a model for his tenther vision of the Constitution, was unanimously overruled by the Supreme Court in 1941.

The tea party agenda can be summed up in a single word:  Regression.

Now That's Class Warfare!

While Michigan's new conservative governor Rick Snyder has been taking heat this week for his plan to declare economic martial law in Michigan, Think Progress and others have noted that his tax prescriptions are equally extreme:

Gov. Rick Snyder (R-MI) has proposed ending his state’s Earned Income Tax Credit, cutting a $600 per child tax credit, and reducing credits for seniors, while also cutting funding for school districts by eight to ten percent. At the same time, as the Michigan League for Human Services found, the state’s business taxes would be reduced by nearly $2 billion, or 86 percent, under Snyder’s plan:

Business taxes would be cut by 86 percent from an estimated $2.1 billion in FY 2011 to $292.7 million in FY 2013, the first full year of the proposed tax changes…Taxes on individuals from the state income tax would rise by $1.7 billion or nearly 31 percent, from an estimated $5.75 billion in FY 2011 to $7.5 billion in FY 2013, the first full year of the tax changes.

Saturday Morning Cartoons

Way to go, assholes!

Small government conservatism in action:

Deaver had four months to go in her pregnancy when she lost most of the amniotic fluid that cushions the fetus and helps its development, she said in an interview Sunday.
Doctors told the Deavers the loss of fluid stopped the baby’s lung development and would lead to deformities of the head and limbs. Their baby was given less than a 10 percent chance of surviving delivery; less than a 2 percent chance of ever managing basic functions, like eating.
“The odds were awful,” Danielle Deaver said. “It just wasn’t there.”
But devastating as that blow had been, what followed turned out to be at least as excruciating.

The Deavers thought over the possibilities and made a decision. They didn’t want to continue putting their unborn baby through what they feared was agony, so they asked the doctors to induce labor early.
“We were seeking to have the inevitable happen,” Danielle Deaver said. “We in no way, shape or fashion were seeking an abortion.”
But they were soon told the Nebraska abortion law stood in their way.

(...)

Specialists at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the couple’s primary care doctor in Hastings, Neb., agreed that they could risk their medical licenses and prison time if they did the procedure, so the Deavers were sent home to wait.

Danielle Deaver was told to watch for signs of infection, a potential complication of losing amniotic fluid. And she agonized every time she felt the baby move, knowing that the child no longer had any protection from the uterine muscles.
“I told Robb I don’t know what to pray for,” she recalled. “Do I pray for a miracle or do I pray that I get sick enough that we can end this?”
Deaver finally went into labor on her own on Dec. 7. The baby, named Elizabeth, was born the next day at 3 p.m., weighing 1 pound, 10 ounces.
The Deavers took turns holding her while she gasped for air. But her undeveloped lungs could not inflate and no ventilator could have made a difference.

Elizabeth was pronounced dead at 3:15 p.m. The Deavers cremated her and had a family service.

Recently they decided to speak out about their experience in the hope of making a difference for other families in similar situations. They have not decided whether to mount a legal challenge to the Nebraska law.
“We should have been able to make this decision,” Danielle Deaver said. “This was not about abortion or politics or anything. This was about two parents being able to make an excruciating decision."

Emphasis added.

Update:  Mike Flood, speaker of the Nebraska legislature, was on Omaha right wing radio station KFAB's morning show to defend the law against that stalwart defender of women's rights Scott Voorhees. I guess the guys at KFAB deserve some credit for at least bringing up the subject.  Voorhees even called the new law "an anti-common sense mother and family grief law".  Ouch!  That's gotta sting.

Speaker Flood expressed his deep, deep sympathy for the Deaver family, but said that the law was working as it was intended and he sees no need for revisions.  Prick.

Update 2:  The interview with Speaker Flood can be heard at this link.  I have written more on this topic at  New Nebraska Network.

Update 3:  I forgot to mention that the Des Moines Register had the original scoop on this story.  They also have a moving video interview with Mrs. Deaver. 

The Big Pension Lie

This article at McClatchy Newspapers lays out some facts that may prove inconvenient to those claiming that government employee pensions are bankrupting our states:

Pension contributions from state and local employers aren't blowing up budgets. They amount to just 2.9 percent of state spending, on average, according to the National Association of State Retirement Administrators. The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College puts the figure a bit higher at 3.8 percent.

Though there's no direct comparison, state and local pension contributions approximate the burden shouldered by private companies. The nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute estimates that retirement funding for private employers amounts to about 3.5 percent of employee compensation.

Nor are state and local government pension funds broke. They're underfunded, in large measure because — like the investments held in 401(k) plans by American private-sector employees — they sunk along with the entire stock market during the Great Recession of 2007-2009. And like 401(k) plans, the investments made by public-sector pension plans are increasingly on firmer footing as the rising tide on Wall Street lifts all boats.

Just like Social Security in the private sector, state government pension funds, which are on pretty decent footing, are being lumped in with health care costs, where the real problems lie. The profit-based health care industry is literally dragging our entire country into poverty,  social chaos and disgrace, with the help of some opportunistic class warriors. 

The Glaring Hypocrisy of Class Warriors

Stewart lays waste to the slimeballs at Fox:

The Daily Show - Crisis in Dairyland - For Richer and Poorer - Teachers and Wall Street
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Who Knew?

Turns out populism is popular. Will someone please inform the Democrats?

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Republican Class Warfare

Damn straight!

I just chipped in a few bucks to keep this powerful ad running in Wisconsin. It's sponsors, Democracy For America and The Progressive Change Campaign Committee, are very near to reaching their goal of $150,000 in donations. Awesome job, guys.



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So That's How You Rally The Troops

NDP Chairman Vic Covalt blames union workers for the Democratic bloodbath in 2010:



Vic, I can't peer into the mind of a union man like yourself, but I'd guess that if what you say is true, it happened because a lot of union members may have been asking themselves "What has the Democratic Party done for me and my union lately?" They might even have it in their heads that Democrats only support the labor movement when it is politically convenient.

I got to the rally a little late, but I don't recall seeing any prominent Nebraska Democratic politicians there to show their support for labor. Has a single one of them pledged their allegiance to the Madison Movement? I'd sure like to know.