Michael Collins

May you have incompetent, offensive enemies.

President Obama and the congressional Democrats have the luck of the Irish, truly. They've already won the Battle of the Fiscal Cliff due to the good judgment of the people. That judgement takes facts into consideration. The sequestration process is a blunt instrument wielded by a Frankenstein process that accounts for nothing sensible in terms of solving the main concern of the public; the seriously flawed, destructive economic cycle that is dragging us to a place nobody sensible wants to go. The PEW survey to the left shows that a majority think the economy in general (60%) and the military in particular (55%) will suffer due to this pathetic process of histrionic policy making.

That puts the wisdom of the people in line with the judgement of over 95% of leading economists surveyed recently who say that "growth is likely to be negatively affected by the automatic federal spending cuts that are scheduled to kick in Friday." It makes sense. The economy is weak, unemployment, all those out of work seeking work, is around 22%, and many citizens are one paycheck away from their own fiscal cliff.

Here are some highly revealing polls and headlines from around the country late Wednesday, early today.

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By Michael Collins

(Washington, DC 1/9/13) Let's say that on a Monday, you sit down and take a hard look at your finances. Your bills exceed your income, assets are just a feint memory, and there is no relief in sight. Reluctantly, you decide that your only choice is to declare bankruptcy. On Tuesday you say, I think I'll do some shopping before it's all over. You proceed to charge $2,000 on your VISA card for some jewelry and other non essentials. On Wednesday, you get a lawyer and file for bankruptcy.

Guess what? You still owe the $2,000 since the court will conclude that you made the purchases fraudulently. You knew you were filing for bankruptcy and made the charges any way. Even worse, the court may refuse to grant the bankruptcy filing all together as a result of the obvious fraud.

That is exactly what the Republicans in the House of Representatives are doing with their open announcement that they will vote against raising the debt ceiling without their solution to government spending. Since that announcement, has one single deficit hawk stood up and said, We must stop all spending as of this moment since we are proposing to default on those expenditures?

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Michael Collins

(Washington, DC) Don Meredith blessed us with that song. It's just about time to sing it regarding the 2012 Presidential Election. (Graph source)

Why? Because Mitt Romney's pick for vice president, the ultra-fit Representative Paul Ryan, is tightly associated with a make no mistake about it misogynist of the very worst kind. Republican Representative Todd Akin of Missouri is running in the Republican primary to oppose incumbent Democrat Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO). At least he was until he revealed just how warped he really is at in an August 19 interview with Charles Jaco on the Fox local outlet in St. Louis, Missouri.

Jaco: In the case of rape, should that [abortion] be legal or not?

Rep. Todd Akin: … from what I understand from doctors, if it's a legitimate rape, the female bodies have ways to try to shut that whole thing down. But let's assume that maybe that doesn't work or something, I think there should be some punishment but the punishment should in the rapist… (Charles Jaco, KTVI Fox, St. Louis, MO)

This isn't Ryan speaking but the slime may well stick to Ryan. Romney's number two is cosponsor of pieces of legislation with Rep. Akin. The Sanctity of Human Life Act equates a fertilized egg with a human being. Any procedure, birth control or abortion that ends the viability of the egg would be considered homicide (see Center for American Progress). Ryan isn’t casual about this issue. In a joint press release today, the Romney campaign clarified that Ryan opposes abortion in the case of rape. Romney does not.

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By Michael Collins
Satire

(Washington, DC) Senator Rick Santorum knows something many of us do not. Satan is waging war on the United States. This is no scruffy terrorist group carrying explosives in their underwear or shoes. It is Satan himself, also known as the Devil, Mephistopheles, the Beast, etc. (Image one, two)

How does the senator know so much about this attack?

Santorum hears voices.

Four years ago, he admitted just that:

"Satan is attacking the great institutions of America, using those voices of pride, vanity, and sensuality as the root to attack all of the strong plants that has (sic) deeply rooted in the American tradition," Senator Rick Santorum from The Daily Beast

That's a very strong statement. Some wonder if the senator is barking-at-the-moon mad. Santorum is undeterred. Campaigning in Arizona, he asserted his right to speak out about "good and evil." He referenced former President Ronald Reagan as one political leader who shared this view. Santorum also shares Reagan's strongly held conviction that trees cause pollution.

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By Michael Collins

Bionic candidate Mitt Romney went from inevitable to simply evitable thanks to South Carolina Republican primary voters. With 600,000 voting, turnout was up 34% over 2008. Ninety eight percent of voters were white. This is even less representative of the nation than Iowa and New Hampshire. But that's how things work in this democracy

The South Carolina exit poll (sponsored by the mainstream media) had a new question for voters as they left their polling places. They were asked if they had a positive or negative opinion of Mitt Romney's background as an investor. Investor refers to Romney's time as an investment banker with Bain Capital and can be taken as a proxy for a pro or anti-Wall Street/financial elite stance.

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By Michael Collins

"The Money Party is a very small group of enterprises and individuals who control almost all of the money and power in the United States. They use their money and power to make more money and gain more power. It's not about Republicans versus Democrats. The Money Party is an equal opportunity employer. It has no permanent friends or enemies, just permanent interests. Democrats are as welcome as Republicans to this party. It’s all good when you’re on the take and the take is legal. "Economic Populist

Negative job growth for eleven years is the best evidence concerning our economic troubles. There were 135 million jobs in 2000 for a workforce of 144 million. Today, there are 139 million jobs for a workforce of 154 million. That represents negative job growth when you factor in population growth.

Job growth in this economy hit a dead calm in 2000 and is now moving backwards. If the issue isn't raised, how can we address the phenomena?

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by Stephen Lendman

Public rhetoric obscures important facts about these plans politicians won't discuss in their zeal to end them incrementally.

Medicaid is welfare for low-income beneficiaries, jointly funded by the states and Washington, managed at the state level.

Social Security and Medicare are insurance programs, funded by worker-employer payroll tax deductions. They're contractual federal obligations to eligible recipients who qualify. However, you'd never know it the way both programs are publicly discussed, explaining everything but the truth.

On August 14, 1935, the Social Security Act became law, known as the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program (OASDI). It provides retirement, disability, survivorship, and death benefits. It's still America's most effective poverty reduction program that's worked remarkably well since inception. It exists to provide secure inflation-adjusted retirement or disability income, unlike risking personal savings to create private wealth and perhaps lose it.

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