Category: Ethics

Shall We Deregulate the Toaster Industry?

Posted on by TL

My friends, this is my post from another publication.

From ENEWSPF:

Shall we deregulate the toaster industry?

Seriously, wouldn’t the toaster industry be far better off if we just let toaster manufacturing companies make toasters without having to pay the extra costs associated with government-mandated “safety” laws and guidelines? Can’t we just trust the toaster industry to make safe toasters, and, if they don’t, and a few toasters actually catch fire or explode in people’s homes, then won’t the free market eventually put those toaster manufacturers out of business?

Read the entire article here.

Black Woman Files Suit Over PGH Trinity Area Supt. Hire

Posted on by TL

Ouch.

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

A black woman who applied to become superintendent of Trinity Area School District in 2009 sued that district today, alleging that she was passed over because of her race and gender.

Patrick Hefflin had three years of experience as an assistant superintendent for the Kiski Area School, and all of the necessary qualifications to run Trinity Area, in Washington, according to her complaint in U.S. District Court.

But school board member Thomas A. Bodnavich, the complaint said, told the search committee that "I don’t think that the district is ready for a black woman." The district hired Paul T. Kasunich, a white man.

If A. Bodnavich actually said, "I don’t think that the district is ready for a black woman," well, then, hello, Trinity Area SD, you were ready, and this dude steered you wrong.

Sen. Mark Kirk SOLD! To The Highest Bidder: voted to let Big Oil keep taking our money

Posted on by TL

The following is from CREDO Action, and I urge you to take action:

This past week, 48 Senators, including Sen. Mark Kirk, put Big Oil before the American people and helped defeat a bill that would have ended tax breaks for the five biggest oil companies.1

How could anyone vote against a bill that would have kept $21 billion of American taxpayers’ money out of the pockets of cash-rich oil companies?

One big reason is oil money in our political process. A lot of it. Oil and gas companies spent $39.5 million lobbying congress in just the first quarter of this year,2 and have donated tens of millions of dollars directly to the political campaigns of current Senators, including $199,200 to Sen. Mark Kirk.3

Tell Sen. Mark Kirk: Stop putting oil company profits and campaign contributions ahead of the American people. Click here to automatically sign the petition.

In all, three Democrats joined all but two Senate Republicans to protect Big Oil tax breaks that even a former Shell CEO said weren’t needed.4

But make no mistake. Even though we didn’t get the 60 votes required for passage, our pressure to end oil subsidies is already working. More and more legislators are acting defensive about their support of Big Oil over the American people.

In February, similar legislation to repeal some oil subsidies got only 44 votes. This time, we got 52 votes. That comes after CREDO Action members sent more than 225,000 petitions to the Senate and made more than 1,000 calls to 11 key Senators, six of whom flipped their position and voted to end tax breaks to Big Oil.

Senate Majority leader Harry Reid said that despite this defeat, he will continue to push for ending oil subsides as part of negotiations on the budget and to raise the debt ceiling.5

We need to keep the pressure on. And one key to breaking Big Oil’s grasp on our legislators is letting Congress know that we know about the millions of dollars that Big Oil has given them — including the $199,200 to Sen. Mark Kirk.

Let’s make sure that voting to protect oil company profits doesn’t go unanswered by those of us who actually pay the price.

Tell Sen. Mark Kirk: Stop putting oil company profits and campaign contributions ahead of the American people. Click here to automatically sign the petition.

Thank you for taking action.

Elijah Zarlin, Campaign Manager
CREDO Action from Working Assets

P.S. — Want to find out more about the Big Oil money going to our elected officials? Our friends at the Dirty Energy Money campaign have the scoop. Click here to see how much dirty energy money your Senators and other elected officials have taken.

1. "Senate GOP Votes Down Bill To End Big Oil Subsidies," Huffington Post, May 17, 2011
2. "Senators Opposing End of Oil Subsidies Received Five Times More in Big Oil Campaign Cash," Oil Change International, May 17, 2011
3. Dirty Energy Money campaign data
4. "Ex-Shell CEO Says Big Oil Can Live Without Subsidies ," National Journal, February 11, 2011

Why, after all, should we continue to subsidize oil companies that are raking in record profits? And why, pray tell, would any United States senator, let alone one from the great state of Illinois, who claims to be fiscally prudent, stand up for Big Oil over the Illinois Tax Payers???

Sarah Palin Wants You To Ignore 8 Centuries of History, Accept Her Definition of ‘Blood Libel’

Posted on by TL

More from Sarah Palin, who, amazingly, removed her "target" list only after a United States Congresswoman was shot:

In a Fox News interview Monday night, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin lashed out at the criticism she received in the wake of the Jan. 8 mass shooting in Tucson, Arizona. Palin said her critics were interested in silencing her conservative agenda, but said, "I will continue to speak out. They’re not going to shut me up."

"Those on the left hate my message and will do all that they can to stop me because they don’t like the message," Palin told Sean Hannity of Fox.

Palin’s appearance on the network, for which she is a paid contributor, was her first extended interview since the Tucson tragedy that left six dead and 14 injured, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.).

The former governor and vice presidential candidate almost immediately came under scrutiny after the shooting, since Giffords was one of several lawmakers "targeted" on a 2010 electoral map Palin’s political action committee published online, which featured images of crosshairs over the targeted districts. Palin was further criticized after she released a video response to the shooting in which she defended herself. Critics said Palin focused too much on herself in her video message.

In her interview this evening, Palin her video message "isn’t about me," but about all conservatives who were unfairly targeted after the shooting. There is no indication that alleged shooter Jared Lee Loughner was influenced by Palin or others.

"My defense wasn’t self-defense. It was about defending those falsely accused," she said, citing talk radio host Rush Limbaugh and the Tea Party movement. "Soon the entire state of Arizona was being falsely accused of somehow being accessories to this."

Palin acknowledged that the map featured on her PAC’s website was removed after the shooting incident.

"I don’t think [removing the map] was inappropriate, if that was going to cause more heartburn," she said. "Knowing that that had absolutely nothing to do with an apolitical or perhaps even left-leaning criminal, I didn’t have a problem with that being taken down."

Palin owns nothing. Nothing that she, herself, has done.

Puts the blame on liberals.

Honestly. She does.

Palin owns nothing that she, she herself, has done.

Right Wingers Selling ‘Liberal Hunt Permit’

Posted on by TL

Liberal Hunting Permit

You would think after yesterday, after a United States Congresswoman was shot through the head and struggles in recovery, after a federal judge and a nine-year-old girl were shot dead, you would think, after all of that, the right-wingers would catch on.  Would start to get it.

Apparently not.

The right-wingers at RightWingStuff.com are selling liberal hunting permits.

No expiration. No kidding.

Among other things, the stickers say, "Also Valid at School Board Meetings, Polling Places and City Council Meetings."

No kidding.

Another version adds, "No Bag Limit – Tagging Not Required. May be used while under the influence of Alcohol. May be used to Hunt Liberals at Gay Pride Parades, Democrat [sic] Conventions, Union Rallys [sic], Handgun Control Meetings, News Media Association, Lesbian Luncheons and Hollywood Functions."

Available for sale now at CafePress.org.

No kidding.

Liberal Hunting Permit

Welcome to conservative America.

On The Right, Hateful Words Are Fired Like Bullets

Posted on by TL

Read this commentary, please, from the Washington Post.

After today’s horribly tragic events in Tucson, Arizona, read:

The governor of Ohio, James Rhodes, demonized the war protesters. They were "worse than the Brownshirts and the communist element. . . . We will use whatever force necessary to drive them out of Kent."

That was the language of that time. And now it is the language of our time. It is the language of Glenn Beck, who fetishizes about liberals and calls Barack Obama a racist. It is the language of rage that fuels too much of the Tea Party and is the sum total of gubernatorial hopeful Carl Paladino’s campaign message in New York. It is all this talk about "taking back America" (from whom?) and this inchoate fury at immigrants and, of course, this raw anger at Muslims, stoked by politicians such as Newt Gingrich and Rick Lazio, the latter having lost the GOP primary to Paladino for, among other things, not being sufficiently angry. "I’m going to take them out," Paladino vowed at a Tea Party rally in Ithaca, N.Y.

Back in the Vietnam War era, the left also used ugly language and resorted to violence. But the right, as is its wont, stripped the antiwar movement of its citizenship. It turned dissent into treason, which, in a way, was the worst treason of all. It made dissidents into the storied "other" who had nothing in common with the rest of us. They were not opponents; they were the enemy: Fire!

Yes, that Washington Post.

Read the full commentary.

‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ Repealed, And The President Says, “Thanks.”

Posted on by TL
President Barack Obama

The following was sent from President Barack Obama after the United States Senate voted to repeal the infamous "Don’t Ask Don’t Tell" and allow our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters to serve in our military with a clean conscience, no longer forced to hide or lie.

President Obama fulfills yet another campaign promise.

From the President of the United States:

Moments ago, the Senate voted to end "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell."

When that bill reaches my desk, I will sign it, and this discriminatory law will be repealed.

Gay and lesbian service members — brave Americans who enable our freedoms — will no longer have to hide who they are.

The fight for civil rights, a struggle that continues, will no longer include this one.

This victory belongs to you. Without your commitment, the promise I made as a candidate would have remained just that.

Instead, you helped prove again that no one should underestimate this movement. Every phone call to a senator on the fence, every letter to the editor in a local paper, and every message in a congressional inbox makes it clear to those who would stand in the way of justice: We will not quit.

This victory also belongs to Senator Harry Reid, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and our many allies in Congress who refused to let politics get in the way of what was right.

Like you, they never gave up, and I want them to know how grateful we are for that commitment.

Will you join me in thanking them by adding your name to Organizing for America’s letter?

I will make sure these messages are delivered — you can also add a comment about what the repeal of "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" means to you.

As Commander in Chief, I fought to repeal "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" because it weakens our national security and military readiness. It violates the fundamental American principles of equality and fairness.

But this victory is also personal.

I will never know what it feels like to be discriminated against because of my sexual orientation.

But I know my story would not be possible without the sacrifice and struggle of those who came before me — many I will never meet, and can never thank.

I know this repeal is a crucial step for civil rights, and that it strengthens our military and national security. I know it is the right thing to do.

But the rightness of our cause does not guarantee success, and today, celebration of this historic step forward is tempered by the defeat of another — the DREAM Act. I am incredibly disappointed that a minority of senators refused to move forward on this important, commonsense reform that most Americans understand is the right thing for our country. On this issue, our work must continue.

Today, I’m proud that we took these fights on.

Please join me in thanking those in Congress who helped make "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" repeal possible:

http://my.barackobama.com/Repealed

Thank you,

Barack

I clicked and thanked Congress. Amen to that all day long.

Joe Berrios Continues To Give Taxpayer-Paid Jobs To Family Members Like Candy

Posted on by TL

From the Chicago Sun-Times (sporting a clean, new look today):

Criticized repeatedly for stacking the public payroll with family members, Joe Berrios has hired his son and sister to work for him as he takes the reins of the Cook County assessor’s office.

Berrios, who was sworn in as assessor Monday after winning a rough-and-tumble election, hired son Joseph “Joey” Berrios as a $48,000-a-year residential analyst and sister Carmen Cruz as director of taxpayer services at a salary of $86,000. Their salaries will remain unchanged from when they both worked for Berrios when he served on the Cook County Board of Review, which hears property tax appeals.

“They’ve got experience, and I’m hiring people with experience,” Berrios told the Chicago Sun-Times Wednesday.

Berrios said he wants competent people he can trust working in his administration.

“I trust them,” he said. “It is what it is.”

Yes, Joe.  It is what it is.

Nepotism.

Plain as day.

The Hammer Falls: Tom DeLay Convicted in Texas Donation Case

Posted on by TL

News out of Austin, Texas, from the New York Times:

Tom DeLay, one of the most powerful and divisive Republican lawmakers ever to come out of Texas, was convicted Wednesday of money-laundering charges in a state trial, five years after his indictment here forced him to resign as majority leader in the House of Representatives.

After 19 hours of deliberation, a jury of six men and six women decided that Mr. DeLay was guilty of conspiring with two associates in 2002 to circumvent a state law against corporate contributions to political campaigns. He was convicted of one charge of money laundering and one charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

As the verdict was read, Mr. DeLay, 63, sat stone-faced at the defense table. Then he rose, turned, smiled and hugged his wife and then his weeping daughter in the first row of spectators. He faces between 5 and 99 years in prison, though the judge may choose probation.

A few minutes later, Mr. DeLay said outside the courtroom that he would appeal the decision. He called the prosecution a political vendetta by Democrats in the local district attorney’s office, and revenge for his role in orchestrating the 2003 redrawing of Congressional districts to elect more Republicans.

“This is an abuse of power,” he said. “It’s a miscarriage of justice. I still maintain my innocence. The criminalization of politics undermines our very system.”

Yada yada yada.

It’s also a conviction.