The Emporia Gazette

Consequences of Attitude

Unfortunately situations in real life have reminded me of the things that are truly important, and that blogging here is way down the list of my priorities, especially right now, so I'll probably be taking another haitus for awile. Just so you don't think I'm a garden vegetable (plant) again ;-)

Ya'll have a good one.

February 19, 2011 at 10:59 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Consequences of Attitude

I wholeheartedly agree, goodoleboy.

I know you've sworn off O'Reilly, but tonight, while talking about Wisconsin, he stated that not only is he a member of a union, but in the past the company tried to stiff them, and the union was able to get part of it back, so he is not anti-union. But he does see the spending & entitlement problems. So without explicitly stating it, he's somewhere in the middle, as I am.

Just as an aside, one of my favorite things on Fox are the segments by Frank Lunz (he does them on all different shows, from O'Reilly to Beck to Hannity to Greta to any of the other news shows, so he's all over the place on Fox) - where he has a pretty evenly divided audience, and records their responses to different things. Usually very insightful discussions ensue with the audience members. And not partisan in any way.

Anyway, time to hit the hay. Way past time, actually.

February 19, 2011 at 2:30 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Consequences of Attitude

Sorry goodoleboy, I thought I had made that distinction clearer earlier about when the coverage was at its height, maybe I didn't, too late at night for me to have the energy to backtrack thru my posts & see if I did, so if not, I apologize.

The irony of what certain groups of people support can be found in all sectors & ideologies, to be sure. Sometimes the most informed overall can have such glaring blind spots, and the most uninformed in general can be experts on some tiny sliver of knowledge. Go figure. :-)

February 19, 2011 at 2:21 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Consequences of Attitude

It's a fine balancing act, for sure. Give the unions too much power & we end up like Greece. Take away too much union power & we still end up like Greece. Or Egypt. Heck, maybe we're headed there no matter what, I don't know.

If it was up to me, I would have had a phased expiration on the original Bush tax cuts. The wealthiest top would have expired in 3-4 years, with the remainder up for the vote they just had.

February 19, 2011 at 2:17 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Consequences of Attitude

The logic in cutting taxes is to stimulate the economy, and at certain times, for certain periods, I can agree with that. But the rich have had these tax cuts all along, and it doesn't appear, other than the first few years they were enacted, that they are using them to stimulate anything right now other than their own recreation. And if they're not being asked to give anything back...... then why are those in the middle?

If the unions are being asked to give up their "collective bargaining power"...... then let's have the fat cats give up their "power" to set their own salaries at some astronomically unfair multiple of their workers. If someone has to tighten their belt, then those with the widest waist certainly have the most room to be tightening, right?

February 19, 2011 at 2:11 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Consequences of Attitude

Goodoleboy, I was referring to before the elections, late summer/early fall, when the Tea Party protests were in full swing. I DID watch the news then, and I DO remember how & what the coverage was. Every hour had a discussion about racism in tea parties. And I also couldn't go 30 seconds on any news channel for 2 weeks after the AZ shootings without some fool blathering about how this was all the fault of the tea party & right-wing talk radio. That news has faded since then, for sure. I just assumed you would have realized that when you tuned into the news - NOW. But the Wisconsin protests are going on NOW. So why aren't we seeing the same all-out assault on the tone of some of the signs by those very same networks? This point just doesn't seem to be getting thru to you very well, but I don't know how else to describe it. I'm not talking about being able to go to some web site & see a compilation of the signs. I'm not talking about CNN's 3-paragraph note of the Hitler signs, even if they run it every 15 minutes. I'm talking about the nearly non-stop guests and panel discussions going on about it DURING the height of the movements and immediate aftermath of AZ and the direction each was taking aim at.

And it was REWBA who used the exact phrase about being re-purposed tea party members. I agree with the irony that you point out. Similar to many liberals who are, say, gay rights supporters, standing up for the rights of Muslim terrorists, who would kill them n a second in their country for being gay.

And since it seems for some odd reason nothing I ever state here seems to come thru clearly to some folks or with the intent it was meant..... I'm in the middle on unions. (Call my wishy-washy, go ahead). I think in many cases they are needed..... and in many cases they go too far. I've seen injustices that only unions most likely could right..... and I've seen unions nearly destroy businesses. In this case specifically, see the paragraph of my 1:47 post.

February 19, 2011 at 2:04 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Consequences of Attitude

It's also worth noting that the DNC's Organizing For America campaign group has joined helping organize the Wisconsin protests, and planning more in other states. I doubt if many of the folks they are calling & busing to the protests are tea party members, either. Yeah, you see alot of McCain stickers at Wolf Creek.... but this is a Red state. Doubt the ratio is the same in Blue states....... of which Wisconsin is one.

But as I said..... I see and agree with points on both sides on this issue. I'm all for cutting spending, and it is going to take some sacrifices by folks....... but why is it only the middle class which is being asked to give back?

February 19, 2011 at 1:49 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Consequences of Attitude

What irks me about what is happening in Wisconsin (aside from the "violence-inciting signs" not getting the SAME treatment from the press - and I do mean THE SAME as previous) - is that while on the one hand, I do see the need to cut, and that entitlements have gotten out of hand in many cases, and since the government workers all make more than their private counterparts, yes, there needs to be some balance........ but on the other hand, the cuts folks are being asked to make are NOT balanced.

On the one hand, they're telling folks, "you make more than your private counterparts, so you're being asked to give a little back"........... while on the other hand....... the very rich make WAY more than most.................... and what are THEY being asked to give back? Seems to me they should apply the same logic to the tax code. To not do so........ seems pretty hypocritical to me.

February 19, 2011 at 1:31 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Consequences of Attitude

I've never said a word one way or the other whether I was for or against unions. Just simply showing that it's highly doubtful the majority of them
are "re-purposed" tea party members.

I still don't see it on the news yet. Checked CNN, MSNBC, all of them. They ran non-stop coverage of guest after guest after panel after panel all talking about how racist and stupid all tea partiers were, there was barely time for any other news.

Have yet to see ONE single type of discussion of that sort going the opposite direction on any of those networks. Yet. NOT ONE.

Could be that there are among those doing the "buying".....some very rich and powerful union execs who don't want their taxes raised either...... eh? Rich folks come from all directions & walks...... & whatever their background may be........ usually their only concern is their own greed. When unions make up 8 of the top 14 political contributors in the last 20 years...... you can bet they're not losing every battle on the Hill.

February 19, 2011 at 1:09 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Consequences of Attitude

Yet another reason I'm in favor of higher taxes for the very wealthy. There is no sane reason the multiple of how much top execs make compared to the average worker has zoomed from 30ish to 400ish over the last 20 years.

February 18, 2011 at 6:44 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )