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WillyT
WillyT's Journal
WillyT's Journal
December 6, 2013
By Suzanne Goldenberg, The Guardian
Friday, December 6, 2013 2:57 EST
<snip>
Conservative groups across the US are planning a co-ordinated assault against public sector rights and services in the key areas of education, healthcare, income tax, workers’ compensation and the environment, documents obtained by the Guardian reveal.
The strategy for the state-level organisations, which describe themselves as “free-market thinktanks”, includes proposals from six different states for cuts in public sector pensions, campaigns to reduce the wages of government workers and eliminate income taxes, school voucher schemes to counter public education, opposition to Medicaid, and a campaign against regional efforts to combat greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.
The policy goals are contained in a set of funding proposals obtained by the Guardian. The proposals were co-ordinated by the State Policy Network, an alliance of groups that act as incubators of conservative strategy at state level.
The documents contain 40 funding proposals from 34 states, providing a blueprint for the conservative agenda in 2014. In partnership with the Texas Observer and the Portland Press Herald in Maine, the Guardian is publishing SPN’s summary of all the proposals to give readers and news outlets full and fair access to state-by-state conservative plans that could have significant impact throughout the US, and to allow the public to reach its own conclusions about whether these activities comply with the spirit of non-profit tax-exempt charities.
Details of the co-ordinated approach come amid growing federal scrutiny of the political activities of tax-exempt charities. Last week the Obama administration announced a new clampdown on those groups that violate tax rules by engaging in direct political campaigning.
Most of the “thinktanks” involved...
<snip>
More: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/12/06/revealed-conservative-think-tank-spn-coordinating-right-wing-assault-on-education-healthcare-and-the-environment-in-34-states/
If You Think Detroit Was Some Isolated Case... Think Again !!! - From The Gaurdian/RawStory:
Revealed: Conservative think tank SPN coordinating right-wing assault on education, healthcare and the environment in 34 statesBy Suzanne Goldenberg, The Guardian
Friday, December 6, 2013 2:57 EST
<snip>
Conservative groups across the US are planning a co-ordinated assault against public sector rights and services in the key areas of education, healthcare, income tax, workers’ compensation and the environment, documents obtained by the Guardian reveal.
The strategy for the state-level organisations, which describe themselves as “free-market thinktanks”, includes proposals from six different states for cuts in public sector pensions, campaigns to reduce the wages of government workers and eliminate income taxes, school voucher schemes to counter public education, opposition to Medicaid, and a campaign against regional efforts to combat greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.
The policy goals are contained in a set of funding proposals obtained by the Guardian. The proposals were co-ordinated by the State Policy Network, an alliance of groups that act as incubators of conservative strategy at state level.
The documents contain 40 funding proposals from 34 states, providing a blueprint for the conservative agenda in 2014. In partnership with the Texas Observer and the Portland Press Herald in Maine, the Guardian is publishing SPN’s summary of all the proposals to give readers and news outlets full and fair access to state-by-state conservative plans that could have significant impact throughout the US, and to allow the public to reach its own conclusions about whether these activities comply with the spirit of non-profit tax-exempt charities.
Details of the co-ordinated approach come amid growing federal scrutiny of the political activities of tax-exempt charities. Last week the Obama administration announced a new clampdown on those groups that violate tax rules by engaging in direct political campaigning.
Most of the “thinktanks” involved...
<snip>
More: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/12/06/revealed-conservative-think-tank-spn-coordinating-right-wing-assault-on-education-healthcare-and-the-environment-in-34-states/
December 6, 2013
Shahien Nasiripour - HuffPo
Posted: 12/06/2013 10:13 am EST | Updated: 12/06/2013 10:39 am EST
<snip>
In a Thursday interview, the Massachusetts Democrat said she was “deeply concerned” by a Huffington Post report that the Education Department had recently told Sallie Mae, the nation’s largest handler of student loans, that it intended to renew its federal contract to collect payments on federal student loans, despite pending investigations by at least other three federal agencies over allegations the company violated borrowers’ rights.
Warren, a member of the Senate banking and education committees, also said it was “shocking” that the department had not yet recovered some $22 million in allegedly improper payments made to Sallie Mae despite a 2009 recommendation from the department’s inspector general that it recover the debt.
“The Department of Education needs to be aggressive in watching out for students, not for profit-making loan servicers,” Warren said. “They’re there for our students, not to help loan servicers make a profit.”
The criticism comes as Education Secretary Arne Duncan battles perceptions that his department is too soft on the companies it pays to collect on federal student debt, while these companies are alleged to be harming borrowers and violating federal rules. Warren has been among his most outspoken critics, and on Sept. 19 she wrote him a letter demanding answers.
“The whole point of the letter was...
<snip>
More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/06/elizabeth-warren-education-department_n_4398107.html
Elizabeth Warren: Education Department Shouldn't Be A 'Lapdog' - HuffPo
Elizabeth Warren: Education Department Shouldn't Be A 'Lapdog'Shahien Nasiripour - HuffPo
Posted: 12/06/2013 10:13 am EST | Updated: 12/06/2013 10:39 am EST
<snip>
In a Thursday interview, the Massachusetts Democrat said she was “deeply concerned” by a Huffington Post report that the Education Department had recently told Sallie Mae, the nation’s largest handler of student loans, that it intended to renew its federal contract to collect payments on federal student loans, despite pending investigations by at least other three federal agencies over allegations the company violated borrowers’ rights.
Warren, a member of the Senate banking and education committees, also said it was “shocking” that the department had not yet recovered some $22 million in allegedly improper payments made to Sallie Mae despite a 2009 recommendation from the department’s inspector general that it recover the debt.
“The Department of Education needs to be aggressive in watching out for students, not for profit-making loan servicers,” Warren said. “They’re there for our students, not to help loan servicers make a profit.”
The criticism comes as Education Secretary Arne Duncan battles perceptions that his department is too soft on the companies it pays to collect on federal student debt, while these companies are alleged to be harming borrowers and violating federal rules. Warren has been among his most outspoken critics, and on Sept. 19 she wrote him a letter demanding answers.
“The whole point of the letter was...
<snip>
More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/06/elizabeth-warren-education-department_n_4398107.html
December 6, 2013
Link: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2013/12/new-yorker-cover-nelson-mandela.html
And check out the front page of HuffPo: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
Nelson Mandela... New Yorker Cover
Link: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2013/12/new-yorker-cover-nelson-mandela.html
And check out the front page of HuffPo: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
December 6, 2013
See what you'd earn if most Americans' paychecks had kept up with the explosion at the top of the income scale.
Dave Gilson, Jaeah Lee, and Ben Breedlove - MoJo
Thu Dec. 5, 2013 3:00 AM GMT
<snip>
The richest 1 percent of Americans have seen their average income jump more than 270 percent over the past five decades. Meanwhile, the average income of the least wealthy 90 percent of Americans grew an anemic 22 percent during that time. (Those figures are based on inflation-adjusted real dollars.)
So how much would you be earning today if the phenomenal income growth at the very top of the income scale had trickled down to most Americans? Use this calculator to find out:
<snip>
Calculator Here: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/12/calculator-what-if-your-income-grew-fast-1-percent
Wanna Get Really Angry ??? - What If Your Income Grew As Fast As the 1 Percent's? Try Our Calculator
What If Your Income Grew As Fast As the 1 Percent's? Try Our CalculatorSee what you'd earn if most Americans' paychecks had kept up with the explosion at the top of the income scale.
Dave Gilson, Jaeah Lee, and Ben Breedlove - MoJo
Thu Dec. 5, 2013 3:00 AM GMT
<snip>
The richest 1 percent of Americans have seen their average income jump more than 270 percent over the past five decades. Meanwhile, the average income of the least wealthy 90 percent of Americans grew an anemic 22 percent during that time. (Those figures are based on inflation-adjusted real dollars.)
So how much would you be earning today if the phenomenal income growth at the very top of the income scale had trickled down to most Americans? Use this calculator to find out:
<snip>
Calculator Here: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/12/calculator-what-if-your-income-grew-fast-1-percent
December 6, 2013
TYT
12/4/13
YouTube 'Radicalizers' Targeted By NSA - TYT
YouTube 'Radicalizers' Targeted By NSATYT
12/4/13
December 6, 2013
By Travis Gettys - RawStory
Wednesday, December 4, 2013 15:09 EST
<snip>
A conservative Democrat who’s facing a tough re-election challenge has released an ad touting his faith in the Bible.
Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) is considered one of the most vulnerable incumbents in the country, in part due to his support of the Affordable Care Act and also because he’s a Democrat in the Deep South.
He released the 30-second TV ad Wednesday to help shore up support among his Christian constituents in the Bible Belt, telling voters that his faith guides him.
“I’m not ashamed to say that I believe in God, and I believe in His word,” Pryor says in the ad, looking directly at the camera. “The Bible teaches us no one has all the answers, only God does, and neither political party is always right.”
<snip>
More: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/12/04/arkansas-democrat-mark-pryor-says-the-bible-not-partisanship-should-guide-politics/
Oh... Fucking... Barf !!!
Arkansas Democrat Mark Pryor says the Bible, not partisanship, should guide politicsBy Travis Gettys - RawStory
Wednesday, December 4, 2013 15:09 EST
<snip>
A conservative Democrat who’s facing a tough re-election challenge has released an ad touting his faith in the Bible.
Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) is considered one of the most vulnerable incumbents in the country, in part due to his support of the Affordable Care Act and also because he’s a Democrat in the Deep South.
He released the 30-second TV ad Wednesday to help shore up support among his Christian constituents in the Bible Belt, telling voters that his faith guides him.
“I’m not ashamed to say that I believe in God, and I believe in His word,” Pryor says in the ad, looking directly at the camera. “The Bible teaches us no one has all the answers, only God does, and neither political party is always right.”
<snip>
More: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/12/04/arkansas-democrat-mark-pryor-says-the-bible-not-partisanship-should-guide-politics/
December 6, 2013
A Benchmark For Right-Wingers (Republicans) Tomorrow... Their Thoughts On Nelson Mandela's Death...
If they have ANY brains in their heads, or TASTE in their personas...
They will keep eerily quiet tomorrow, if they know what's best for them.
I'm pretty confident they are incapable of it.
December 6, 2013
Anybody Think We'll Ever Get A "Grand Unified" Theory Of Politics ??? - Or Is It Just A Circle Jerk
I was about to pull several recent treads together... and then I wondered if it's just a fool's errand.
So let me try this...
Are YOU seeing what I'm seeing ???
Hundreds of posts... and thousands of views and responses.
I think there's a Liberal Wave coming... and that would be a wonderful thing to be encouraged here, and in the outside world. But I wonder if we will encourage it.
December 6, 2013
Link: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/n/nelson_mandela.html
Nelson Mandela Quotes Here:
A couple of my faves...
I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
It always seems impossible until its done.
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Link: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/n/nelson_mandela.html
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