Lessons for OWS: It's Illegal to be Homeless in Public

A look at one of the lessons being learned from the Occupy movement. From Barbara Ehrenreich at Mother Jones:

What the Occupy Wall Streeters are beginning to discover, and homeless people have known all along, is that most ordinary, biologically necessary activities are illegal when performed in American streets—not just peeing, but sitting, lying down, and sleeping.

It is essentially illegal to be homeless, especially in public.

What occupiers from all walks of life are discovering, at least every time they contemplate taking a leak, is that to be homeless in America is to live like a fugitive. The destitute are our own native-born "illegals," facing prohibitions on the most basic activities of survival. They are not supposed to soil public space with their urine, their feces, or their exhausted bodies. Nor are they supposed to spoil the landscape with their unusual wardrobe choices or body odors. They are, in fact, supposed to die, and preferably to do so without leaving a corpse for the dwindling public sector to transport, process, and burn.


Society acknowledges a "homeless problem," but fails to recognize that the problem is growing, and that more and more folks who were once middle class are joining the "problem." Homeless people are supposed to stay out of sight, and stop reminding the lucky ones that they could be next. The lack of awareness is also attributable to a level of shame that prevents those formerly middle class folks from admitting to their homelessness.

In Portland, Austin, and Philadelphia, the Occupy Wall Street movement is taking up the cause of the homeless as its own, which of course it is. Homelessness is not a side issue unconnected to plutocracy and greed. It's where we're all eventually headed—the 99 percent, or at least the 70 percent, of us, every debt-loaded college grad, out-of-work school teacher, and impoverished senior—unless this revolution succeeds.

Amen. Let us hope that more and more people begin to talk about it, own up to it, and make it a mainstream issue.


cross-posted at MainSt/workingamerica.org

In Tennessee, the GOP War on Voting is Working

First, a 91 year old woman can't get a voter ID in Murfreesboro. From The Tennesseean:

Ninety-one-year-old Virginia Lasater says she was unable to obtain a voter ID because she was physically unable to stand in a long line at a driver testing center.

and

A new law requires voters to show a photo ID at the polls. Since Lasater doesn't have a photo on her driver's license, she went to get one. But the testing center was packed and there were no chairs available.

Shame on everyone in that building for not giving up their chair to Mrs. Lasater. Whatever happened to good manners?

On the other hand, it does seem as if the voter ID laws are having the desired effect.



cross-posted at MainSt/workingamerica.org

How To Deal With a #BadBoss: Joey Quits

A disgruntled worker explains what was behind his theatrical resignation. From HuffPo:

Like almost anyone who's ever held down a job, Joey DeFrancesco harbored dreams of one day quitting work in spectacular fashion.

The way 23-year-old DeFrancesco tells it, he worked a job he didn’t care for at a hotel in Providence, R.I., for more than three years. He often thought about leaving. In his own workplace fantasy, DeFrancesco would march right up to his boss with a letter of resignation. Upon handing it over, a brass band would explode into boisterous song. Then DeFrancesco would march out of the hotel in triumph, waving to his admirers.

The difference between DeFrancesco and the rest of us is that he actually carried out his fantasy.

Oh, yes he did. Here's the video:



This is from Joey's explanation of why he quit, from the YouTube page where the video is posted:

I worked in this hotel for 3.5 years. I worked while going to school full time to pay my tuition and living expenses. This was not a job I had for two weeks before quitting in a hissy-fit.

The working conditions in the hotel are horrendous. In the kitchen, workers are regularly forced to work 10, 11, 14, 16 hour shifts that begin at 5:30AM and last well into the night. Housekeepers are reprimanded if they fail to clean 16 rooms or more in a 9 hour shift. Anyone who speaks up—especially anyone who is openly pro-union—is disciplined or fired. Managers, like Jared, scream down employees daily.

I worked extremely hard to change the conditions in the hotel. My co-workers and I regularly organized ourselves to push back against management and demand respect. I was also one of many workers who led the fight to organize a formal union at the hotel. For legal reasons I must mention that this specific action was an individual decision and had nothing to do with the union.

The hotel has yet to recognize our union, and they continue a vicious union-busting campaign. They punish and fire pro-union workers, spread lies in captive-audience meetings, and generally attempt to scare the workers out of joining the union. Still, through just being organized and threatening to form a union, we've won countless victories, including raises, new uniforms, lower housekeeper room quotas, etc.


The hotel would never be able to get away with 16 hour shifts in a good economy. With so many out of work, the hotel is holding workers hostage in exchange for their jobs. If that sounds familiar, it's because I've written about it before. Joey is one of the lucky ones - he found another job. Thousands of other workers are stuck in miserable jobs because they don't dare to quit, and those companies take full advantage of the fear American workers have of joblessness.

Most of us have probably fantasized about quitting a job with this kind of fanfare. This would be another cheap viral video trick, were it not for Joey's clear explanation of WHY he quit.

His new boss must have a good sense of humor.


cross-posted at MainSt/workingamerica.org

Hits and Mythos

I’d like to take a moment to thank NH House Speaker William O’Brien, and the entire Teabaglican legislature for providing me with endless column fodder this year. Every week has brought a new outrage; an outrage ignored by the careful GOP stenographers that comprise the majority of the NH media. This is an incurious media, media that fails to do any follow up with the Perry campaign to see what they think about supporter Al Baldasaro’s unpatriotic soldier bashing. This is a media that hasn’t followed up with the Perry campaign to see what they think about the ethically challenged Maynard Thomson, who “just happened” to resign his post as Carroll County Republican Chair to serve as a NH Perry campaign Poobah on the same day the AG’s office sent him a “cease and desist” letter concerning his violations of campaign finance reporting laws. Yes indeedy, thanks to the NH GOP, I’ve experienced very little writer’s block this year.

In June, local GOP activist and unabashed racist Ray Shakir made national news because of emails he sent to his fellow Carroll County Republicans, in which he referred to President Obama as a “jungle alien.” Because NH is the home of the first in the nation presidential primary, the national media is paying far greater attention to what goes on in our state. That’s why State Rep. Al Baldasaro (R: Crazytown) made national news. During this last week, NH’s legislature has captured national attention again. And again. During the discussion on forming a House committee to investigate the Local Government Center, Rep. Jordan Ulery attached an amendment that would have given the Speaker the right to send people to jail if they failed to answer subpoenas. Speaker O’Brien had conveniently stepped down from his throne, and was able to cast a yea vote on this amendment. His spokesperson said (unblushingly) that he “just happened” to be taking a break at the exact moment when this amendment came up for a vote. It was voted down. Local Representatives Umberger and McCarthy both supported giving the Speaker the power to jail NH residents. Rep. Pettengill didn’t vote, and Rep. Chandler (despite his role in the O’Brien leadership team) voted nay, as did Rep. Norm Tregenza (R: John Birch Society). The blatant power grab made national news.

Barely a day later, State Rep. Harry Accornero (R: Insanitea) made national news because he wants a commission formed to impeach President Obama for treason. He sent out an email stating his intent to all of his fellow members of the NH House. Being a Teabaglican he couldn’t leave out Obama’s middle name – but being a Teabaglican he did spell it incorrectly. Accornero is miffed about Obama ignoring “illegal aliens” in the US. His level of miffage must have been manfully suppressed during the last administration, when it was a white guy doing the ignoring. Accornero is another example of the caliber of the freshman Republicans elected in 2010. GOP voters didn’t waste any time on learning about the candidates, they just voted for anyone with an R next to their name, as we learned during the Martin Harty incident.


Both of these stories come at a time where other states are trying to make inroads into the early primary season. The sheer lunacy of the current NH House is causing people around the country to question why NH should have any kind of a role in choosing the eventual nominee, given that we’re a state full of crazy white folks. Nice work, NH GOP!

In the category of non-national news, I particularly enjoyed the story about the recent visit to Carroll County by members of the House redistricting committee. According to the story in the Sun, Rep. Mirski announced to the assembled throng, “This is your opportunity to provide testimony.” My experience with testimony has always been linked to proposed legislation or some sort of a plan. This was a truly unique opportunity for local residents to offer testimony on…nothing. The committee didn’t bother to show up with even a rudimentary plan. Nice work, NH GOP!

I also enjoyed the tele-talk comments on the bypass. This discussion has been going on since I was a child, and I expect it will continue long after I’m dead. What amused me most were the comments from those who were annoyed with Governor Lynch for daring to suggest that the community needs to have some sort of consensus on what the bypass should look like. Some callers were quite huffy at the idea that the bypass is really up to them.

What the huffy don’t understand is that NH is about 20 years behind its own 10-year transportation plan. Going forward requires revenue. The Teabaglicans have done their best to eliminate all revenue streams. Remember the dust up over snow plowing and cuts to the DOT budget? The Teabaglicans eliminated a fee that was going to the DOT. The Republican mantra reads: “NH doesn’t have a revenue problem, NH has a spending problem.” That, huffy amigos, is why we have a 19th century infrastructure in the 21st century, and why the bypass will never be built. You folks keep voting for representatives who will ensure that the money is never there to build it. Governor Lynch is correct: this is up to the voters. As long as folks vote in accordance with the lying Republican mantra, they’ll get exactly what they deserve. Nothing.

As NH continues to attract national attention for the increasingly bizarre actions of our state legislature, we move ever further from keeping our first-in-the-nation primary status. We are well on our way, however, to becoming a national joke. Thanks NH GOP!



“If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence. The origin of myths is explained in this way.” Bertrand Russell


© sbruce 2011

Published as an op-ed in the October 21 edition of the Conway Daily Sun newspaper.

GOP Values on Display

The invasion of the presidential candidates has begun. The media is crafting the narrative they prefer, and the debates are in full swing. Silly season is upon us, here in the first in the nation primary state. Since the primary contest is only on the Republican side, the values of today’s GOP are on full display.

Thus far, the majority of candidate town hall meetings have taken place in Rockingham County – the area of our state that gives lie to the GOP myth of “liberals from Massachusetts moving to NH.” Rockingham County is full of angry Republican imports from the state just south of us. Many of them move here to run for office, to ensure that NH continues to be a state that chooses not to fund infrastructure or education. Republicans really hate education. A good education decreases the likelihood that the recipient will vote GOP.

The televised debates have not only been good theater, they’ve been a remarkable illustration of GOP values. During the first full debate (with all of the media anointed candidates), Brian Wallace asked Governor Rick Perry about the execution conveyor belt in Texas. When he stated that Perry had presided over 234 executions during his time in office, the crowd cheered. Yay death! Williams asked Perry if he ever “struggled to sleep at night” over the possibility of executing an innocent person. Perry, of course, said no. Sociopaths don’t experience empathy.

In the second full debate (sponsored by the Tea Party Express), Congressman Ron Paul was asked a hypothetical question about whether a man with no health insurance should be allowed to die, and again, the crowd cheered the death of this uninsured man. Ron Paul, a doctor, mumbled something about letting the churches pay for the guy’s care – which essentially means letting the guy die. Paul should know. Kent Snyder persuaded Ron Paul to run for president in 2007, and became his campaign chairman. In 2008, the 49-year-old Snyder died of pneumonia. He had no health insurance. His mother was given the $400,000 bill. No church came forward to pick up the tab.

During the most recent debate, people who had been videotaped in advance asked some questions. Candidate Rick Santorum was presented with a question on the repeal of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy. An openly gay Marine currently serving in Iraq asked the question. The audience booed the gay soldier. Chickenhawk Santorum never even acknowledged or thanked this Marine for his service. Not a one of the candidates mentioned the utter inappropriateness of the audience booing a soldier. The next day a few campaigns tried to repair their image by speaking up, but it was too late by then. This is today’s Republican Party, booing a gay soldier, even as he serves his country. Gone are the days of the yellow ribbons and blustering commentary about “supporting our troops.”

That incident has come home to roost in the form of NH State Representative Al Baldasaro, a supporter of candidate Rick Perry. Baldasaro was caught on video saying that he thought the booing of the gay soldier was great. In an interview with Scott Keyes, of Think Progress, Baldasaro said, “ I was so disgusted over that gay marine coming out, because when he came out of the closet. Bob won’t say it because they’re scared to get in trouble, but their brothers and sisters – brothers especially- that are there, they’ll start getting away from him. They’ll start ignoring him. He doesn’t realize it, but when the shit hits the fan, you want your brothers covering your back, not looking at your back.”

Al Baldasaro is a former Marine. In fact, he’s the kind of veteran that feels compelled to mention his service at least once every 15 minutes or so. This is today’s GOP. A former Marine cheering the booing of one of his own, while the man serves in Iraq. Baldasaro is one of NH’s most outspoken elected homophobes, having testified at a committee hearing last winter that the state of NH sells babies to gay couples. He was later forced to retract that lie. Baldasaro is the chairman of the House State-Federal & Veterans Affairs Committee. Yep. Veterans Affairs. Rep. Baldasaro should be forced to resign immediately, but of course, he won’t be. Today’s GOP is in agreement with Baldasaro’s disgusting comments about a gay man serving his country. Not a peep out of Jeb Bradley or Bill O’Brien. Barely a peep out of the complicit NH media. The only paper that has even mentioned it so far is the Nashua Telegraph.

If we add Baldasaro’s commentary to Ray Shakir’s national publicity garnered by referring to our president as “a jungle alien,” we can certainly see the sort of shamelessness that is a characteristic of today’s GOP. I would be remiss if I failed to remark upon the recent cease and desist letter that the state AG’s office sent to Maynard Thomson and the Carroll County Republican Party. It seems that under the stewardship of romance novelist Thomson, the Carroll County GOP failed to properly report, itemize, and provide receipts for their expenditures during the 2010 campaign. It seems that some expenditures went on Chairman Thomson’s own personal credit card. According to the AG’s letter (which I have a copy of), the report that was submitted just lumped everything together as one big expense, without itemizing. From the letter: “Your conscious decisions to fail to report the committee’s expenditures for political advertisements until after the General Election and to lump them together with the committee’s cable bill violates RSA 664:6.”

Remember the good old days when politicians at least attempted to present a public façade that they weren’t crooks and charlatans? It’s enough to make one long for those halcyon days of Richard Nixon.



“Well, I screwed it up real good, didn't I?” Richard M. Nixon


published as an op-ed in the 10-7-11 edition of the Conway Daily Sun
© sbruce 2011

For Young Adults, Benefits of Health Care Reform Already Clear

Since the new health insurance reform law went into effect in 2010, over a million young adults have been able to get health insurance. The reform bill requires insurance companies to allow adult children to stay on their parent's policies until age 26. US Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sibelius called this a "really great achievement." From the Washington Post:

“The economic downturn has taken a toll on employment among young adults,” Sebelius said during a conference call with news media. “In the past, that would have led to even more young people without health insurance. Instead, thanks to the [new law], the number of young adults with coverage has actually gone up.”

Given that young adults are the age group most likely to go without health insurance, this really is good news. These comments from a student directly affected get right to the heart of the matter:

For Luis Silva,the provision means having peace of mind as he pursues a law degree. The 23-year-old University of South Florida senior said he would have been forced to go without insurance if the law had not enabled him to keep coverage through his mother, a bank worker.

“Money is really tight,” he said. “I’m putting myself through college, already working a part-time job, literally living on ramen. . . . If it was anything more than $20 a month, I would not be able to afford it.”

That was a scary prospect for Silva, whose father owes $50,000 in medical bills he incurred after getting into a trucking accident while uninsured.

This provision in the health insurance reform bill allows students like Luis Silva and his family to have one less thing to worry about in this economy.

Polls show, repeatedly, that most people don't know what is actually in the health insurance reform bill, or how it will affect them. In a country where over 50 million are uninsured, adding a million young adults to the ranks of the insured may not seem like a big deal, but for every one of those families, it's a big success.


cross-posted at MainSt/workingamerica.org

Arbiters of Fiscal Responsibility

The work of repairing the damage done to our state by Hurricane Irene continues. The Kancamaugus Highway has been repaired enough to allow traffic upon it. The repairs to Rt. 16 above the Dana Place are moving along very quickly. A temporary bridge has been put over the Sawyer River on Rt. 302. All of these fixes were put in place in time to ensure that the tourists who come to NH from all over the world during foliage season will be able to see the show. These fixes also ensure that our businesses won’t suffer during the busiest time of the year. In all of the places where homes and property were damaged, the signs of clean up continue.

In a state where the Teabaglican legislature cut the Dept. of Transportation budget to the point where there is concern about how NH will pay for plowing, it is curious that the question of how this will all be paid for is not really being discussed. There are roadside signs and newspaper ads telling local folks how and where to apply to FEMA for help. FEMA is the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a branch of the Dept. of Homeland Security. FEMA is tasked with helping respond to disasters that overwhelm the resources of local or state authorities, including funding for rebuilding. Not a word from any of our state representatives on this subject. Are they opposed to FEMA money to help their neighbors rebuild? Are they keeping quiet in order to have some hope of getting reelected? Where is Frank McCarthy’s manifesto on this subject?

US Senator Jeanne Shaheen spoke on the Senate floor about the need for Congress to provide comprehensive disaster aid to her own state, and all of the other states that were hit hard by Irene. In a year of many natural disasters (hurricanes, tornados, floods, and wildfires) FEMA funds have been depleted, and Senator Shaheen was urging her fellow members of the Senate to provide more funding for FEMA. Shaheen knows that without that funding, NH will be unable to rebuild and recover.

What of our other federal officials? Senator Kelly Ayotte voted against aiding her state. In the US House, Rep. Eric Cantor (R. Reptile House) insisted that appropriating funds for FEMA be tied to more federal spending cuts. That’s right. Cantor is opposed to rebuilding his country. NH Congressmen Frank Guinta and Charlie Bass went right along with Cantor, and voted against their own state. Be sure to thank Ayotte, Guinta, and Bass if you ever see them. Guinta and Bass have taken to holding telephone town hall meetings, in an effort to avoid angry constituents.

Neither Cantor nor Bass ever demanded budget cuts to offset the $55+ billion we’ve spent on building infrastructure in Iraq, or the paltry $36 billion we’ve spent rebuilding Afghanistan. The DoD is currently taking bids for building a giant new prison in Bagram, Afghanistan. This prison would be large enough to hold 2000 prisoners, at an estimated cost of $100 million. Not a word of protest from Cantor, Ayotte, Bass, or Guinta on this use of our tax dollars. They don’t have a problem with our spending money on other countries. It’s the needs of their own country that they don’t care about.

This week we learned that the legislature is getting ready to deal with a $35 million budget shortfall. This shortfall comes about because NH is probably going to have to pay back some $35 million in Medicaid funds that were improperly used in 2004. The misuse of Medicaid money to help prop up the General Fund is nothing new; it began during Judd Gregg’s tenure as Governor of our state, saving his bacon in a 1991 budget crisis. In short: states that could prove they treated a disproportionate share of low-income patients were eligible for federally matched funds to create Disproportionate Share (DSH) programs. The funds were supposed to be used to reimburse hospitals and providers who treated a disproportionate share of low-income folks. To greatly simplify, the hospitals got half of the revenue, and the other half went in the General Fund. The party ended in 2007, when the US Dept. of Health and Human Services questioned NH’s use of those funds, and an audit found that NH was not adhering to federal guidelines, and would have to pay back $35 million. Governor Lynch is appealing this decision.

The NH media reports this story carefully, ever mindful of their role as GOP stenographers. Most reports never mention that Mediscam began during Judd Gregg’s tenure as governor, or that in 2004 Craig Benson was the governor of our state during the time of this mismanagement of funds, and that the GOP had control of both the NH House and Senate. Mediscam is a GOP legacy, as is this $35 million dollar payback.

Now, Rep. Neal Kurk, (R. Sociopath) is rubbing his hands together with glee at the prospect of re-opening the budget and eliminating another $35 million. Neal Kurk doesn’t care if our roads are plowed – or even paved. This same budget has already caused some 2000 job losses. Neal Kurk can’t wait to make sure even more NH residents are unemployed.


I am left with two questions. The first: why would anyone ever believe anything the NH GOP has to say about fiscal responsibility?

The second question is the one I keep asking: Is this what you voted for? A Senator and 2 Congressman that shovel money overseas without question, but vote against helping their own states and their country rebuild after a natural disaster?




this was published as an op-ed in the 9-23-11 edition of the Conway Daily Sun newspaper.
© sbruce 2011

More Layoffs May be Coming

There hasn't been nearly enough job creation to help the (officially) 14 million Americans who are out of work. As I've said before, the real number is much higher. The 99'ers and others who have lost benefits, as well as those who were never eligible for benefits aren't counted.

Last month's employment report showed zero job creation.

From the New York Times:

Job growth halted entirely in the nation last month. And as Europe’s debt crisis acts as a drag on global growth and Washington debates another jobs bill, the possibility of a second recession is increasing in the United States along with the prospects of corresponding layoffs. Mr. Myricks’s tale of pain the second time around, economists fear, could become all too familiar.

With headlines like the 30,000 layoffs planned at Bank of America and the United States Postal Service asking Congress to cut 120,000 workers, it is perhaps not surprising that workers’ concerns about job security are near the peak they reached during the last recession, according to a recent Gallup survey. At least one anecdotal study found that layoff announcements were greater in August than a year earlier.

The last workers in the door are often the first out the door. That could make the Americans who have already depleted their support networks and unemployment benefits most vulnerable to layoffs.

Having a long layoff, followed by brief employment and another layoff isn't going to look good on anyone's resume, especially at a time when some employers are running ads that discriminate against the unemployed, by requiring job applicants to be currently employed.

With cuts to state budgets and safety nets, those fears are completely justified.


Cross-posted at MainSt/workingamerica.org

Tea Party Congressman Cries Poverty

Pity the plight of poor Congressman Fleming, a Tea Partier from Louisiana. From TPM:

Fleming -- a businessman who owns Subway sandwich shops and is responsible for more than 100 UPS stores across the south -- said that taxing wealthier people hurts job creation. Jansing pointed out that, as the Wall Street Journal estimated, Fleming raked in more than $6 million last year. Chump change, Fleming said!

and

"The amount that I have to reinvest in my business and feed my family is more like $600,000 of that $6.3 million," Fleming said. "So by the time I feed my family I have maybe $400,000 left over to invest in new locations, upgrade my locations..."

Poor fella only has $200,000 a year to feed his family. Rep. Fleming has a wife, four adult children, and two grandchildren. It is unlikely that he is feeding all of them, and even if he is, that should cover it.

There's also his $174,000 a year salary as a Congressman, free health care, and a military pension. He was a medical doctor in the US Navy. He's also a family physician.

Apparently those of us who are amongst the long-term unemployed are supposed to feel sorry for him.


From MSNBC:

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

Kelly Ayotte Votes Against NH

US Senate finally moves forward on a bill that would provide disaster aid to states devastated by Hurricane Irene. From Politico:

Senate Democrats were successful the second time around Tuesday, narrowly advancing a $7 billion disaster aid package that Republicans blocked a day earlier.

On a 61-38 vote, all 53 members of the Democratic caucus and eight Republicans from disaster-afflicted states agreed to move forward on legislation that would help areas of the country hit by Hurricane Irene and recent tornadoes, flooding and wildfires. Sixty votes were needed.

Republicans who cast an “aye” vote were Sens. Roy Blunt of Missouri; Scott Brown of Massachusetts; John Hoeven of North Dakota; Dean Heller of Nevada; Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania; David Vitter of Louisiana; and Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, both of Maine. In Monday’s failed 53-33 vote, Toomey had voted no, while Sen. Dan Coats of (R-Ind.) had voted yes.

Kelly Ayotte's name is not on that list. When will Senator Ayotte make a trip to northern Carroll County to explain that vote?

Kelly Ayotte voted against her own state. She needs to eat this every day from now till 2016, when we can vote her out.

Unemployed in South Carolina

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has a mixed message about unemployment in her state. Houston Chronicle:

Here she's saying the unemployment rate is high because so many people are looking for work:

Joblessness is a headache for Haley. In July, South Carolina's unemployment rate was 10.9 percent, tying it for the nation's third worst with Michigan behind Nevada and California.

Haley said that's because the state's labor force has grown.


Here she's saying there are plenty of jobs:

Haley pointed out she's announced 11,491 jobs and $1.7 billion in investments.

"That's a lot of jobs. But why are we still having the problems? Because we have companies that need workers. And we have workers that need jobs and we don't have the training to match them up," Haley said.


Here she's saying that the unemployed are lazy drug addicts:
Haley also is working out details on how the state can require drug testing for people getting unemployment benefits. Haley said she was told half the applicants for hundreds of jobs at the Savannah River Site failed drug tests.
and

"I so want drug testing," Haley said. "It's something I've been wanting since the first day I walked into office."

Leaving aside the fact that workers pay into the unemployment funds, this mandatory testing would cost millions. Texas legislators abandoned the idea when they learned it would cost the state $30 million.

It seems there is some disagreement with Governor Haley's story about the number of drug testing failures at the Savannah River site. From the Huffington Post:

It may be an unemployment problem after all. Jim Giusti, a spokesman for the Department of Energy, which owns the River Site, told HuffPost he had no idea what Haley was talking about with regard to applicants flunking a drug test.

"Half the people who applied for a job last year or year 2009 did not fail the drug test," Giusti said. "At the peak of hiring under the Recovery Act we had less than 1 percent of those hired test positive."

The River Site doesn't even test applicants. "We only test them when they have been accepted," Giusti said.

Governor Haley's spokesperson was not available for comment. There is certainly a big discrepancy between her claim that half the applicants testing positive and the company saying that it was fewer than one percent testing positive.

As we learned on Sesame Street: one of these things is not like the other.

The Teabaglicans Want the Uninsured to Die

A short, chilling, clip from last night's Tea Party Express debate on CNN:




By all means - let's just let the uninsured die. These people are sociopaths. Ron Paul is determined to force women to serve as involuntary incubators, but once that little sprog hits the chute, it's on it's own.

Wisconsin State Employee Fired as Voter ID Mess Continues

In last week's story about Voter ID in Wisconsin, we learned of a memo that was sent out to DMV employees:

An internal memo from a top Department of Transportation official instructs workers at Division of Motor Vehicles service centers not to tell members of the public that they can obtain voter identification cards free of charge — unless they know to ask for it.

In their zeal to prevent voter fraud, it seems the state is actually trying to prevent some folks from voting. It's likely that the state of Wisconsin was hoping that memo and the implications of the menu would die down quickly, and not attract a lot of national attention. Sadly for Wisconsin, when it comes to voter suppression, the story just keeps on going. The latest update, from the Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel:

A low-level state employee was fired Thursday after he sent an email to his fellow employees telling them about the state Department of Transportation’s policy on giving out free photo identification cards for voting.

Chris Larsen, who had worked in the mail room at the state Department of Safety and Professional Services, sent an email Thursday morning to all employees at the agency’s headquarters explaining that the DOT would provide photo IDs to people only if they specifically asked to have the fee waived.

A couple of hours later, Larsen was fired.

They have free Voter ID's at the Wisconsin DMV. Just don't tell anyone, okay?


cross-posted at MainSt/workingamerica.org

Paul Ryan Can't Hide from Angry Constituents

Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin has been having a tough time with his constituents. Back in April the home town folks were expressing their displeasure with his plan to cut Medicare.

During the August recess, he dodged constituents by only speaking in venues where people had to pay to get in. From Mother Jones:

Over the past week, hundreds of people, a mix of constituents and other angry Wisconsinites, have marched outside Ryan's Kenosha and Racine offices, angry over what they see as Ryan's inaccessibility and refusal to face his constituents in a free, public, in-person town hall. For four days, they also held sit-ins inside Ryan's Kenosha office—until police kicked them out. The only in-person event on Ryan's recess calendar is an appearance at a Rotary hall outside his district with a $15 entrance fee; by contrast, Ryan held more than a dozen town halls in 2009. "This is a jobs crisis in his congressional district, an emergency," says Scott Page, 37, an unemployed Kenosha resident. "Yet he's not even listening to his own constituents."

As our own Joel Payne pointed out, democracy is not pay per view.

Ryans's constituents are increasingly annoyed at being deliberately ignored by their Congressman. From the Group Wisconsin Jobs Now!:

Unemployed constituents, spurned by Paul Ryan on multiple occasions, were galvanized into action the Tuesday following Labor Day. After being unable to convince their representative to schedule a FREE public meeting following a week long sit-in, the members of his district converged on a one time only pay-per-view event far away from the majority of his constituents.

Here's the video the group made of their visit to confront Congressman Ryan:




It doesn't cast Ryan in a very good light. As the police force an elderly man to the ground to put handcuffs on him, Ryan "jokes" that he hopes the man has taken his blood pressure medication. That's ugly. It's a perfect illustration of the kind of "concern" Ryan has for the working people in his district, and around the country.

Wisconsin Jobs Now! is a coalition of community groups, neighborhood associations, faith based organizations and organized labor, all working together to bring good jobs to the state. Bravo to them for not letting Paul Ryan hide behind pay-per-view events, and for showing all of us what kind of a Congressman (and person) Paul Ryan is.

We'll all be entering voting booths on November 6, 2012 - and we won't forget.


cross-posted at MainSt/workingamerica.org

To FEMA or Not to FEMA?

It’s been a big year for disaster in the US. Floods, tornadoes, wildfires, earthquakes, and hurricanes have cost lives and billions of dollars in property damage. Northern Carroll County got a big dose of damage in the form of Hurricane Irene. Roads and bridges were so damaged that at one point, parts of Rt. 16, 302, and the Kanc were all closed. People above the notches were stranded. The Notchland Inn was an island unto itself for nearly a week, with a bridge to the south damaged to impassibility, and the road to the north washed away and undermined. These are all major thoroughfares for the North Country, and essential to our lives and our businesses. They cannot go unrepaired.

Roads and bridges come under the jurisdiction of the NH Dept. of Transportation. We all recently learned that the current state budget made dramatic cuts to the DOT that were likely to impact the way our roads are plowed, which certainly impacts public safety. State Rep. Gene Chandler was quite upset when that story came out. Suddenly, his leadership role in the O’Brien junta was coming back to bite his district. Now there’s a great deal of expensive road and bridge damage in Chandler’s own hometown. One wonders how he’ll be explaining those DOT budget cuts to his constituents. And where is the money going to come from for all the repairs that must be made? Chandler mentioned help from FEMA in the paper, but can he be serious? Why, that’s money from the BIG GOVERNMENT that today’s GOP is dead against.

How will Chandler justify taking federal aid? What will Frank Guinta do? Congressman Guinta was vehemently opposed to any government funds being used to repair or build a new bridge to replace the bridge between Portsmouth and Kittery, ME. Does Guinta oppose FEMA funding to repair and rebuild our roads and bridges? Will he be brave enough to say so, with an election year coming up? Will anyone in the GOP-complicit NH media ever ask him?

GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul recently said that he believes FEMA should be abolished, and states should have to dig their way out of their own disasters. That’s an interesting statement, coming from a guy whose state is on fire. Especially given that the governor of that same state (also a presidential candidate) is quite miffed that Texas isn’t getting enough federal dollars to help fight those fires. Candidate Michele Bachman had this to say on the campaign trail in Florida: “I don’t know how much God has to do to get the attention of the politicians. We’ve had an earthquake; we’ve had a hurricane. He said, ‘Are you going to start listening to me here?” No word from Mrs. Bachman on what kind of message God is sending Texas.

Earlier this year, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave NH a C grade on infrastructure, a C that was more like a D. A 2011 study by Transportation for America rated NH as the 11th worse state, because of the number of structurally deficient and redlisted bridges in the state. In 2008, the Pew Research Center rated NH government efficiency at a D+ grade, the worst in the nation. The reason for the low grade? NH’s failing infrastructure, and bad track record on long range planning. NH has no plan for communications infrastructure, and at the time of the report estimated that the 10-year transportation plan would take 22 years to complete. It’s safe to say that with this current crop of legislators, the 10 to 22 year plan will be delayed considerably.


It’s important to remember that NH is the seventh wealthiest state in the nation. NH has 27,000 millionaires living in tax-free splendor here in the Granite State. Some of them are currently holding public office. NH is not a poor state. NH is a cheap state. Our outmoded system of taxation, combined with our enormous volunteer legislature conspire to keep NH’s infrastructure in a permanent state of peril, and guarantee no progress will be made. Instead, we will continue to pay the pound of cure, when those redlisted bridges, dams, and roads fail.

Once again, NH mirrors what is happening on a national level. In NH the Teabaglican House ignores NH infrastructure, just as the US Teabaglican House ignores our national infrastructure problems. Clearly public roads and bridges are part of a terrible socialist infrastructure plot, and must die an ignominious death in order to save the nation from godless communism.

Congressman Eric Cantor of Virginia wants to hold federal aid to flood ravaged states hostage in return for budget cuts. Cantor doesn’t mean cuts to our military empire or aid to Israel, either. He means the kind of cuts that will have Nana living under a bridge eating cat food. The GOP is morally bankrupt – as anyone watching this week’s debate could plainly see. Brian Williams pointed out that there have been 234 executions during Rick Perry’s tenure as governor of Texas, and the audience burst into wild applause.

Will Frank Guinta support Eric Cantor’s hostage taking? Will Gene Chandler take responsibility for the dreadful budget he voted for? What do Representatives Pettengill, McCarthy, and Umberger have to say about all of the damage – and the budget they supported? Do they support applying for aid from FEMA? Do they support Eric Cantor’s extremism?

Wait, watch, and remember; you’ll be entering a voting booth in 2012.



published as an op-ed in the September 9, 2011 edition of the Conway Daily Sun newspaper.
big h/t to Danziger for the great cartoon.
© 2011 sbruce

Updates on Voter ID in NH and Wisconsin

Back in June, I wrote about NH Governor Lynch vetoing a Voter ID bill.

Yesterday the NH Senate voted on whether to override or sustain the governor's veto. From the Union Leader:

The Senate sided with Gov. John Lynch Wednesday in supporting his veto of a bill that would have required voters to show a photo ID before voting.

The Senate voted 17-7 to sustain Lynch in his stance against Senate Bill 129. Senate President Peter Bragdon, R-Milford, and Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley, R-Wolfeboro, were among those voting to sustain the veto.

Both Bragdon and Bradley voted for the bill, the first time around. Since then, they've undoubtedly been getting an earful from town clerks, who are opposed to the measure.

Town clerks said the provisional ballots would force extra work on their offices, with longer hours, additional staff, late counting and less ballot secrecy for voters.

The issue of how this was all going to be paid for was another complication, though one not mentioned by the Union Leader. So, for now, the NH legislature must still find a way to solve the non-existant problem of voter fraud.

In June, I also wrote about the problems being created by a voter ID law in Wisconsin. This week, a memo from the Wisconsin DOT has come to light. From

An internal memo from a top Department of Transportation official instructs workers at Division of Motor Vehicles service centers not to tell members of the public that they can obtain voter identification cards free of charge -- unless they know to ask for it.
The memo, recently obtained by The Capital Times, was written by Steve Krieser and sent to all state Department of Transportation and Department of Motor Vehicles employees on July 1, the same day employees were to begin issuing photo IDs in accordance with a controversial new voter photo ID law adopted earlier in the year.

and

"While you should certainly help customers who come in asking for a free ID to check the appropriate box, you should refrain from offering the free version to customers who do not ask for it," Krieser writes to employees.

This sure doesn't sound like a state that is concerned about preventing voter fraud. It sounds more like the actions of a state determined to prevent voting:

In the meantime, Krieser says the Department of Transportation is planning to place signs at each of the DMV service offices that say people need to check the box on the form in order to receive an ID for free. He says the signs are "in the design phase" and could not give a date when they would be placed in DMV offices.

After November 6, 2012, perhaps?


cross-posted at MainSt/workingamerica.org

Social Security: Not a Ponzi Scheme

Presidential candidate and Governor of Texas, Rick Perry, recently told a group of voters in Iowa that Social Security is "a Ponzi scheme." This is an argument often made by those who wish to destroy Social Security, which is not an "entitlement" either. It's a form of retirement insurance that we've paid into, throughout our working lives.

Nic Baumann, at Mother Jones created a handy Venn diagram that shows the difference between Social Security and a Ponzi scheme:









cross-posted at MainSt/workingamerica.org

Two Senators on Social Security

US Senator from Florida, Marco Rubio:


Senator Rubio is presenting a fanciful revision of history.

As ThinkProgress points out:

Indeed, prior to Medicare’s enactment in 1965, “about one-half of America’s seniors did not have hospital insurance,” “more than one in four elderly were estimated to go without medical care due to cost concerns,” and one in three seniors were living in poverty. Today, nearly all seniors have access to affordable health care and only about 14 percent of seniors are below the poverty line.

Contrast that with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, speaking at the United Steel Workers 2011 Conference, last week, in Las Vegas:



Senator Sanders announces he's filing new legislation to protect Social Security. From ThinkProgress:

Sanders’ legislation would eliminate the income cap that currently exists in the payroll tax that does not tax income above $106,800:

and

The Social Security system is currently fully funded until 2037. Lifting the payroll tax cap would virtually eliminate funding shortfalls the program would experience over the next 75 years.

These two Senators provide an interesting contrast. Rubio would have us believe that elderly people living in dire poverty was somehow the key to national prosperity. Senator Sanders is Social Security's best friend. He wants to ensure that the promise is kept, and that Social Security is there for future generations.

We all have Social Security stories. My grandmother worked 2 jobs throughout her adult life, supporting her son and her mother. Social Security and a modest pension allowed her to live out her retirement years without fear. Social Security disability benefits were there to help my husband, when cancer forced him to retire, nine months before he died.

As Bernie Sanders points out - it's been working for everyone for 75 years, and with the changes he proposes, will work just fine for the next 75 years.


Cross-posted at MainSt/workingamerica.org

They've Got Theirs

Once again, Crow Dickinson has put Conway on the map. The first time he accomplished this by trying to carry a loaded gun in his luggage, shortly after 9/11. Luckily for Crow, he was a state representative at the time so he wasn’t arrested and jailed the way most people would have been. People in other parts of the country are still snickering over that bit of idiocy. Crow’s next foray into stardom came in 2009 when his comments about domestic violence propelled him into the global spotlight once again. Dickinson’s witless remarks about how women fake complaints of abuse in divorce cases to get more money out of their spouses was carried in newspapers all over the country. His commentary endeared him to abusers and men’s rights groups, but the more civilized humans found his remarks abhorrent, and wondered why it is that NH seems to spawn so many ideologues and reactionaries.


They’re still wondering. Crow’s latest bid for stardom came last week, in the Sun’s story about the town of Conway’s welfare budget. NH law (RSA 165) requires each city or town to have a local welfare program to assist those who are in need. Conway’s welfare officer, BJ Parker described those folks she’s seeing who are in need, “It used to be “young, inexperienced households,” she said, but now “I see middle class people who are really struggling.” They aren’t familiar with the welfare system, and their pride often makes them wait until all their resources are maxed out before they come in.” Later in the article, the Sun quoted Conway Selectman Crow Dickinson, “There used to be a great shame in being on the public dole,” he said at Tuesday’s meeting, “and there isn’t anymore.”

Let’s be clear. The people in need are described as middle-class folks who wait to come in until they’ve run out of choices. Elected town official Crow Dickinson is saying they should be ashamed for “being on the public dole.” This is coming from a man who has been masquerading as a good old boy hick all of his life, in an effort to conceal his Harvard education and inherited wealth. It’s easy for those who have never had to work a day in their lives to sneer at the misfortunes of others.

In the August 24, 2011 edition of the Sun, Ray Shakir expressed his great admiration for Dickinson’s “coconuts,” and went on to describe his disdain for those able bodied individuals who should never receive public assistance before blowing the GOP dog whistle. “You’re now considered a fool for working hard, being self-sufficient, responsible, and honest,” wrote Shakir. I can’t think of any place in NH where this is so. I have never heard anyone outside of the Fox Propaganda Network say anything of the sort.

This line of “thought” exists only in fevered Teabaglican brains. These are the same great brains that put in place the policies that caused the collapse of our economy. There are still over 25 million people out of work in this country – a direct result of failed GOP policies. Rather than take any responsibility for the disaster they helped create, they blame the jobless for being jobless. Stuck with a house that’s worth less than your mortgage, and out of work too? Ray Shakir and Crow Dickinson don’t care. They’ve got theirs. And this, dear readers, is the way of the conservative elites. They’ve got theirs. If you were stupid enough not to pick wealthy parents in utero, or to lose your job and the value of your house, well, tough coconuts for you. Remember George Bush’s claims to “compassionate conservativeism?” Neither do these guys. You could wring all of the compassion out of the pair of them and still not be able to fill a thimble.

The people being demonized here are middle class folks. That means that they are people who have worked hard their whole lives and now find themselves caught up in the Great Recession. These are people who may well identify as Republicans – and are now being demonized as Reaganesque welfare queens.

Meanwhile, these same great minds have ensured the loss of well over a thousand jobs in our state, and given that they have another year and a half in the legislature, they’ll have the opportunity to kill plenty more. Nationally, the job creation isn’t going any better. Bold action is needed, but Obama was not endowed with either boldness or leadership capability. And even if he were, our elected officials have chosen to put ideology over country. Science is bad. Taxing the corporations and the wealthy is bad. Making poor people pay is good and responsible. Cutting the safety net is necessary. While they bellow at one another and put on a show to delight the complicit, corporate media, the empire is slowly circling the drain.

They’ve got theirs, you see. They’ve got pensions and medical care for life. If you don’t, well, that’s your tough luck. It’s also your fault.

“The more I see of the moneyed classes, the more I understand the guillotine.” George Bernard Shaw


© 2011 sbruce

Published as an op-ed in the August 26, 2011 edition of the Conway Daily Sun newspaper.

NH State Rep Wants to Eliminate All Minimum Wage

The current NH legislature has made a concerted effort to try to overturn nearly every law enacted during the 4 years that the Democrats controlled the NH House. One example of this is the minimum wage law, which was increased in 2007 from $5.15 to $7.25, over the screams of the NH restaurant lobby. The law gives the state the option of increasing the minimum wage, as opposed to waiting for the increase to be made by the federal government. Even having the option was too much for the current NH House, who voted to repeal the bill. Governor Lynch vetoed the bill - and the veto was overridden in June. From seacoastonline:

"With this veto, the governor is sending exactly the wrong message to employers that New Hampshire is going to make it harder to create jobs," O'Brien said in response. "There is no reason for New Hampshire to set ourselves higher than the national average and make ourselves less competitive for these workers who need to gain experience."

The legislation, House Bill 133, would not change the current federal rate of $7.25 an hour, which has been in place since July 2009. It would repeal a 2007 measure that gave New Hampshire the option of raising the minimum wage, which it did by raising the state rate of $7.25 in 2008 ahead of the federal rate. The bill passed the House and Senate by veto proof majorities but Lynch vetoed the bill anyway. "New Hampshire's current minimum wage is set at the federal level, and it is appropriate," Lynch said. "But four years ago, we agreed that — after a decade of federal inaction — we needed to act to help families meet rising costs."

Speaker O'Brien has yet to explain why it would be beneficial to NH to create more minimum wage jobs.

The political and economic debate over the minimum wage has been constant since it was first set in 1938 at 25 cents an hour. Even though New Hampshire is even with the federal standard, O'Brien said Lynch's veto was an "anti-business" measure that would take "an ax to the bottom rung of the career ladder" for minimum wage workers.

Oh, that's it! The bottom rung of the career ladder is poverty. Speaker O'Brien got a law degree in 1974. It seems that his career ladder relied on education, not minimum wage jobs.

Freshman State Rep. Carol McGuire thinks that ANY minimum wage is a bad idea. From Think Progress:

State Rep. Carol McGuire (R-NH), the sponsor of the law, still believes the federal minimum wage is too high. In a statement to reporters, she said she would like to repeal all minimum wage laws and have corporations pay workers whatever rate they desire. She also said the $7.25 minimum is overly generous to young people who are “not worth the minimum“:
“It’s very discriminatory, particularly for young people. They’re not worth the minimum,” she said. She believes there are young people who would get a job if they could be paid $5 an hour instead of the minimum.

The only explanation for this kind of thinking is that these folks are living in a Norman Rockwell dream world, where young men (because girls stay home) get jobs at the soda fountain of the local drugstore, while wearing a pink striped seersucker shirt. They are certainly not inhabiting the world the rest of us inhabit, and try to make a living in.

The NH House is the third largest legislature in the English speaking world, behind only the British Parliament and the US Congress. The NH House consists of 400 members, who receive an annual stipend of $100. One could make the observation that NH is certainly getting what it pays for with the current legislature.


cross-posted at MainSt/workingamerica.org