Prairie Weather

Stalemate for both parties

Former Times columnist, Frank Rich, and Adam Moss have a conversation about OWS and related issues at New York Magazine.  An excerpt:

Moss:  ... In your essay, you say, convincingly, that the class war won’t resolve in 2012 — the opponents will likely be two candidates of the elite facing off. But short of resolution, how do you imagine the “class war” will play out electorally? Is it ultimately to the benefit of Democrats or Republicans — or do all incumbents just get washed away, regardless of party?

Rich:  I wouldn't want to be an incumbent in either party (except, of course, in all those gerrymandered House districts — part of our democracy's problem). I am wary of predictions, but my guess is that there will be a political stalemate until one of the following: an unexpected speedy recovery on the jobs and housing fronts; an external existential threat to the country (see Depression and WWII); the emergence of a reformist populist leader with enormous public support. All unlikely at least in the near future; we may stew in our anger and this listless economy for quite some time.

You and I are the losers

Let's see:  Corporations have achieved "personhood," and a little cluster of cells is seeking to achieve "personhood," but personhood for the average American?  Not so much.

America begins to get the message

To what extent will the 2012 election be affected by a new understanding that we are suffering from huge -- and growing -- disparities in income?

The Hill has a new poll out today.

Two-thirds of likely voters say the American middle class is shrinking, and 55 percent believe income inequality has become a big problem for the country, according to this week’s The Hill Poll.

Only 14 percent of respondents said the middle class is growing and another 14 percent said it is staying the same, while an additional 19 percent said income inequality is somewhat of a problem for the United States. Only 21 percent said inequality was either not much of a problem or no problem at all.

It goes on.  American's don't think the tax structure is fair.  A solid majority dislikes the prospect of a flat tax.

With just about a year to go until the 2012 general election, policy makers will have to grapple with that public unrest as they try to battle both soaring deficits and an unemployment rate that has hovered around or above 9 percent for more than two years.

Congressional Republicans recently responded coolly to President Obama’s $447 billion jobs plan, which Democrats proposed paying for by raising taxes on top earners.

And the supercommittee, which has less than a month to unveil its recommendations, has discussed using tax reform as a way to eat into deficits.

Perhaps not surprisingly, 94 percent of liberal respondents to The Hill Poll saw income inequality as either a big problem or somewhat of one. But 55 percent of conservatives and 81 percent of centrists came to that conclusion as well.

At least 40 percent of each income group saw income inequality as a big problem as well, and 65 percent of respondents making at least $100,000 a year viewed it as a big or somewhat big issue.

Occupy lawyers up

As copycat Occupy Wall Street encampments around the country confront the inevitable legal tangles that come with a nationwide sit-in style protest, a growing army of First Amendment-loving lawyers is shepherding the demonstrators through the legal system at no charge. ...McClatchy

A number of commentators, wise and unwise, who have tried to parse the similarities and distinctions between the tea party movement (Koch-bought) and the Occupy movement (sui generis, with increasing signs of support).  A McClatchy reporter finds that Occupy has attracted a  legal team, coast to coast, defending the movement from the establishment's effort to cripple it.  There's a good deal of dispute out there about whether First Amendment rights include the right to camp in public space.

The resulting legal skirmishes have spurred the largest mobilization of pro bono protest attorneys since the anti-war movement of the 1960s and '70s.

Attorneys appear to be jumping in to join the guild as soon as they're needed.

Many of the volunteer barristers are members of the guild, a liberal group that has defended the First Amendment rights of thousands of protesters and controversial figures since 1937.

However, attorneys with no guild affiliation or history of protest involvement are also coming forward to help in the estimated 200 U.S. cities where "occupy" protests have sprung up to oppose economic inequality and corporate greed.

Criminal defense attorney Daphne Pattison Silverman of Houston was watching a television interview with a guild lawyer for the Wall Street protesters when she decided she wanted to help.

"I just felt completely energized and I could just tell this was an organization that was worth looking into," she said.

In addition to starting a local guild chapter in Houston, Silverman has recruited 10 other lawyers to assist the Occupy Houston protesters.

A former attorney in the Navy's Judge Advocate General's Corps, Silverman chafes at any perceived contradiction involving her past military service and her current work on behalf of government protesters.

"To me, the same oath I took in the military to support and defend the Constitution is the same oath I take as a criminal lawyer, and now as a budding First Amendment lawyer," she said, adding that her work sometimes requires "telling the government that they've made a mistake."

One lawyer in Cincinnati asks the key question about long-term protests and camping.

"What if we had shut the civil rights movement off after three days?" she asked. "Would we have had the Civil Rights Act? Would we have had Martin Luther King Jr.? Would we have had progress? No."

And one of the great embarrassments to endure in America is that many on the right would still like to abolish the Civil Rights Act.

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AM New York describes intervention by lawyers in the dispute between Occupy and the city over portable generators.

The protesters, represented by attorneys from the National Lawyers Guild, said that the confiscation of six generators and fuel on Friday was a pretext by the city to begin dismantling their lower Manhattan encampment, which has been in place since Sept. 17. The FDNY said cited r safety reasons.

"Contrary to the Mayor’s public justifications, the seizures were not motivated by health or safety concerns," the group said in a letter Saturday addressed to FDNY Commissioner Salvatore Cassano.

"Without articulating any identifiable hazard posed by the generators, the city removed a source of heat for hundreds of people one day before the correctly predicted onset of freezing temperatures and snow," the letter said.

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And in Denver:

After violent clashes with police Saturday, Occupy Denver demonstrators focused Sunday on getting arrested activists out of jail and promoting a peaceful message.By late Sunday night, Occupy Denver organizers said all but one of the 20 protesters arrested Saturday had been bonded out of jail with donations from volunteers.They also said the National Lawyers Guild mobilized more than 45 attorneys willing to represent those arrested for free.

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For a closer understanding of the relationship of Occupy to the powers-that-be, check out an hour-long discussion live at 10 ET this morning about Occupy Philadephia.  On board for the discussion are two headliners who are sympathetic to the movement and the city of Philadelphia's Managing Director.

Money is different in the hands of Republicans

Republicans — who normally insist that the government can’t create jobs, and who have argued that lower, not higher, federal spending is the key to recovery — have rushed to oppose any cuts in military spending. Why? Because, they say, such cuts would destroy jobs.

Thus Representative Buck McKeon, Republican of California, once attacked the Obama stimulus plan because “more spending is not what California or this country needs.” But two weeks ago, writing in The Wall Street Journal, Mr. McKeon — now the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee — warned that the defense cuts that are scheduled to take place if the supercommittee fails to agree would eliminate jobs and raise the unemployment rate.

Oh, the hypocrisy! But what makes this particular form of hypocrisy so enduring? ...Paul Krugman

You know as well as I do!  Building weapons is more productive than building infrastructure?  Of course not.  Because politicians are nuts, that's why, and if you don't believe me, take a look at Keynes' understanding of the their hypocrisy.  

But why would anyone prefer spending on destruction to spending on construction, prefer building weapons to building bridges?

John Maynard Keynes himself offered a partial answer 75 years ago, when he noted a curious “preference for wholly ‘wasteful’ forms of loan expenditure rather than for partly wasteful forms, which, because they are not wholly wasteful, tend to be judged on strict ‘business’ principles.”

Spend money on some useful goal, like the promotion of new energy sources, and people start screaming, “Solyndra! Waste!” Spend money on a weapons system we don’t need, and those voices are silent, because nobody expects F-22s to be a good business proposition.

And now they're pushed even farther into hypocrisy with the possibility that the debt reduction super-committee may fizzle and force us into huge defense cuts. 

..To admit that public spending on useful projects can create jobs is to admit that such spending can in fact do good, that sometimes government is the solution, not the problem. Fear that voters might reach the same conclusion is, I’d argue, the main reason the right has always seen Keynesian economics as a leftist doctrine, when it’s actually nothing of the sort.

True.  If you actually read Keynes, you'll know he was no lefty.  Need a shortcut?  Insta-Keynes? Try this.  

We don't need is further proof that Republicans will do anything, spread any rumor, indulge in any sustained form of ignorance, fool with any ballot box, or spread any slur to increase power. See, they'd like us to believe that their government (if they should take control of it) is not useless. After all, George W. Bush expanded government massively.  Their government spending is good spending.  Like the F-22s, like the preemptive, unjustified and unwinnable wars and further, unneeded, tax cuts for the wealthiest and even for corporations who send jobs overseas. Their spending, after all, results in a huge tip going right into their own pockets via the pockets of the top 1%. 

And bank failures and deep recessions...

Zuccotti Park, just before the snow

New York City officials took fuel and generators away from demonstrators in Zuccotti Park. It must have been a chilly night.

Fire officials removed the items to eliminate a safety hazard, the New York Daily News reported. "They made an announcement on a bullhorn saying: 'We are here to take the generators, could you please bring them up to us on the corner of Broadway and Liberty St.,'" one demonstrator told the paper.

But others told CBS' New York affiliate that it seemed to be more of an attempt to disarm the demonstrations than to eliminate the chance of fire. "The argument could be made they just wanted to get at our power source," one said.  ...Atlantic

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From the USFA Fire Administration (!), at FEMA

To Avoid Carbon Monoxide Hazards:

    * Always use generators outdoors, away from doors, windows and vents.
    * NEVER use generators in homes, garages, basements, crawl spaces, or other enclosed or partially enclosed areas, even with ventilation.
    * Follow manufacturer's instructions.
    * Install battery-operated or plug-in (with battery backup) carbon monoxide (CO) alarms in your home, following manufacturer's instructions.
    * Test CO alarms often and replace batteries when needed.

To Avoid Electrical Hazards:

    * Keep the generator dry. Operate on a dry surface under an open, canopy- like structure.
    * Dry your hands before touching the generator.
    * Plug appliances directly into generator or use a heavy-duty outdoor- rated extension cord. Make sure the entire extension cord is free of cuts or tears and the plug has all 3 prongs, especially a grounding pin.
    * NEVER plug the generator into a wall outlet. This practice, known as backfeeding, can cause an electrocution risk to utility workers and others served by the same utility transformer.
    * If necessary to connect generator to house wiring to power appliances, have a qualified electrician install appropriate equipment. Or, your utility company may be able to install an appropriate transfer switch.

To Avoid Fire Hazards:

    * Before refueling the generator, turn it off and let it cool. Fuel spilled on hot engine parts could ignite.
    * Always store fuel outside of living areas in properly labeled, non-glass containers.
    * Store fuel away from any fuel-burning appliance.

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It's cold enough, morally anyway, inside Fox News' studios to make your teeth chatter.  And some very chilling chatter is what we heard.

Liz Trotta:  ... The Oakland and New York protests, protesters of all kinds, activists from Egypt who even admit on the air that they're here to see if they can get a handout and even some old time Vietnam war veterans; even Iraq veterans against the war, you name it.

They're all there for an hour everyday. Look for this program if you really want to be entertained and they promise to be on a lot more to delve even deeper and support even more what we now know as the nationwide, Occupy protest movement.

PEMMARAJU: Well, there you go Liz. It will be interesting to see what this winter weather does to all those folks who are camping out and about.

TROTTA: Oh, good point. Good point. I got up this morning and looked out the window and thought hmmm... I wonder how many are left.

PEMMARAJU: Exactly Liz. We shall see. ...Crooks & Liars

This was after Trotta (who looks on camera  like anyone's mother-in-law in a nightmare these days) went after Amy Goodman with teeth bared, but without success.