Right-wing media outraged by labor representation on deficit commission
Right-wing media figures have asserted that SEIU president Andy Stern's appointment to President Obama's bipartisan deficit reduction commission is a "mockery," a "joke," and a "cover to raise taxes and soak the rich." However, Stern is the only labor representative on the panel; Obama also appointed two business leaders and members of both parties, including former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-WY), who will serve as co-chair of the commission.
Right-wing media attack Stern's appointment to deficit commission
Fox & Friends asks if Stern appointment is "just a cover to raise taxes and soak the rich." On the March 1 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends, co-host Steve Doocy asked if Stern's appointment was "just a cover to raise taxes and soak the rich." After co-host Brian Kilmeade asked Fox Business contributor Stuart Varney if the deficit commission was "a trap," Varney replied, "The answer to your question is yes," calling Stern a "very big spender" and a "class warrior." Varney also asserted that Stern's appointment means "[t]hey're not going to look at cutting spending. They're not going to look at reigning in entitlement programs."
Malkin: "Biggest sign that White House deficit panel is a joke: O wants to appoint Andy Stern." On February 22, Michelle Malkin called Stern's appointment to the panel the "[b]iggest sign that [the] White House deficit panel is a joke." Malkin claimed that Stern's appointment made the panel "not just a dog-and-pony show. It's a dog-pony-and-thug show," and called Stern a "corruptocrat."
Hot Air: Stern "represents the problem ... not the solution." In a February 26 blog post, Hot Air blogger Ed Morrissey said Stern represents "the problem that Congress faces in making tough budget decisions -- not the solution," claiming Stern "has a vested interest in keeping federal employees on the job, as his union mainly represents public-sector workers." Morrissey added, "We can expect that this panel will recommend tax hikes in order to maintain that cash flow and to subsidize Democratic power."
American Thinker: "Stern's appointment to the deficit commission a mockery." On February 28, Greg Halvorson of American Thinker called Stern's appointment to the commission "a mockery." Halvorson accused unions of "destroy[ing] fiscal prudence" and "draining budgets," and claimed that "placing Stern on the deficit commission to influence budgetary matters has the dual affect of undermining both the commission and the president."
Daily Caller post: "Administration keeping cozy with union bosses." In a March 1 Daily Caller post, Ivan Osorio, editorial director at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, wrote that Stern's appointment was "disappointing" but "not surprising," calling the appointment a "clear conflict of interest" because "government employee unions constitute a permanent special interest lobby favoring the growth of government, one that is motivated, organized and well-funded." Osorio further stated that Stern is likely to call "for higher taxes to fund more 'public services' for SEIU to unionize."
But Obama's appointees reflect positions from both parties, business, and labor
Obama named Republican as co-chair of commission. The White House stated in a February 18 press release that "former White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles and former Republican Senate Whip Alan Simpson will serve as the Commission's co-chairs." The press release further noted that "Alan Simpson served as a U.S. Senator from Wyoming from 1979 to 1997. From 1985 to 1995, he was the Republican whip in the Senate, and he also chaired the Senate Finance Committee's Subcommittee on Social Security."
Obama appointed two members with business backgrounds. The Wall Street Journal called Obama's four non-chairman appointments "four names of widely different backgrounds." In addition to Simpson and Bowles, the commission includes two members with business backgrounds -- Republican and Honeywell CEO David Cote, and Ann Fudge, former CEO of Young & Rubicam Brands and executive at General Mills and Kraft -- Stern, the one representative from labor, and Alice Rivlin, who the Journal called "the widely respected founding director of the Congressional Budget Office and one of the nation's most authoritative voices on the federal debt."
Washington Post: Any action on the panel "would depend on the support of at least two Republicans." According to The Washington Post, based on the panel's rules, "Fourteen commission members would have to agree on any deficit-reduction plan, a prospect that skeptics called a recipe for gridlock because action would depend on the support of at least two Republicans for a plan that is sure to include tax increases."
The Hill: "Obama leans toward centrists on new deficit-reduction panel." The Hill described Obama's appointments as a "roster of centrists who helped reduce deficits during the 1990s." The article called the appointments an "effort to stock the panel with centrists" that appeared to be "aimed at paving the way for compromises between current Democratic and Republican lawmakers."
Republican leaders will appoint six members to the commission. According to the White House, in addition to the six members chosen by Obama, "12 members will be appointed by Senate/House leaders (3 each by the Republican and Democratic leaders of both chambers). All must be sitting members of Congress."
One of many links to demise of dollar
We'll all be wearing our Maoist tee shirts and reporting to factories soon.
you guys really need a new shtick.
and you are exactly right. after they help the corporations destroy labor they will then go on to whine that we libruls are the reason that the corporations are taking away all their good jobs. that's the trouble with only have the depth of thought of right wing talking points.
-Jose
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No, you're just psycho.
No.
“Media Matters for America, the group headed by conservative turned liberal writer David Brock, has changed course on its stated association with billionaire liberal financier George Soros.
After initially claiming on Dec. 1, 2004 that “neither Media Matters nor its president and CEO David Brock has received any money from Soros or from any organization with which he is affiliated,” the group is no longer disavowing any connection with groups “affiliated” with Soros.
The Media Matters shift came after Cybercast News Service questioned the group’s financial ties and demonstrated that there were numerous and extensive links between Media Matters and several Soros “affiliates” like MoveOn.org, the Center for American Progress and Soros ally Peter Lewis.
Link to Soros connection with MM
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Cuckoo - Cuckoo - Cuckoo
Either it's 3:00 or YOU'RE CRAZY.
Even the idiot Professor Jones is now admitting it.
A: About 6 billion humans.
I think it's better that they're no where near when they learn that their pensions and benefits are gone.
Since I was not in a union I represented myself and renegotiated by retirement package. The idiot university brains calculated 10% inflation per year when they renegotiated my benefit 20 years ago. I am going to make out like a bandit.
The best thing about unions is you can herd the workers around like cattle. When you lose all your benefits it will be your union that takes the heat, not your employer. Idiots!!
Your view of unions must have been formed by the Lee J. Cobb character in On The Waterfront.
Unions are like cattle on their way to the slaughter.
You will see when all of your pensions and benefits are gone.
Can I get a big moo form you my corporate lackey friend?
So instead of a moo, would you settle for a woo hoo?
It goes against the union philosophy of herding cattle but maybe if you find a secret place you can investigate it.
You took a pay cut in exchange for a lousy retirement plan ? What a chump.
From the nitpick dept....it requires the support of at least 4 republicans to reach the required level of 14.
What a buncha anti-America, anti-tax, sissy whiners America's elite have become.
Btw, you think becoming "rich" and making lots of money is "far too easy for far too long"? I guess when you sit back and feel entitled to other people's money, laziness and jealousy set it. I understand that.
Did I get it right?
Can there be class warfare against the poor/middle class?
Were the wealthy in this country entitled to a larger share of MY wealth?
According to you it is easy, all you have to do is work hard. When did you join me in my understanding that our system is broken? When did you realize that all that wealth is out of reach for poor folks because the rich are protecting their wealth and making all the rules?
It's called "Powerball", but seriously, got anything to back that up?
Link
And of course you wouldn't even look at the study cause it's just making "excuses" for people to be poor and take from the rich. Gotcha.
I gotta go because your stupidity interferes with my normally happy outlook.
Is that what your parents taught you? I doubt it.
And my point with the link was to demonstrate that the easily requrgitated "the rich worked hard to get where they are" nonsense is just a platitude. There are studies that show there is more economic mobility in places like Germany, France (and gulp) Canada than in the US. I'd link to them, but you wouldn't understand and then get mad because someone disturbed your silly alternate world which you appear to inhabit.
You really got his goat!
Because we have other priorities. Nutty, right?
I'm done.
Later.
Unless you're really rich and imagine you "create jobs", in which case you're a deluded narcissist.
In fact, the entirety of Economics is 'labor'. If you have a car company, you need labor (at least to repair the robots, if you've gone totally automated), to get raw materials, you need miners and steelworkers, and to sell the completed product, you need salespeople.
Look at any business, and the basic operation is 'labor', with management simply shuffling numbers and taking their cut 'off the top'. (As current American Business operates)
I've always considered pay to workers as 'remibursement' for time and talent, not 'income'.
If there were no workers, employers would die.
I think it's pretty clear who "creates jobs".
Jobs are created by consumer demand-- which means the people. Businessmen do NOT create jobs-- they respond to demand only.
This idea that the "rich" are our "job creators" or are our best people is such a canard. It's a hoax.
What planet did you come from???
They are our best people, really...
They all made their point that Andy Stern is a joke, etc, do you have anything to counter this? Because otherwise MMfA is looking like a right-wing soap box.
Work hard, earn your pay, earn your advancements and things will work out and you'll get rich.
But...
Work hard, earn your pay, earn your advancements, and when your entire deparment is cut by 80% so that the corporate profit margin can be increased by a couple of points, you get laid off, you lose your savings by having to use them for basic needs like food, shelter, medical care, try to get a job but that's very hard to do because of the down economy more and more corporations are slashing back on employment to preserve their profits margins, and your retirement accounts have been wiped out because some bankers forgot they were playing with YOUR money, not theirs, well, it's all your fault. Guess you didn't work hard enough. Try to get your government to do something to rein in runaway corporate profits and bonuses for the top executives and you're just demanding that the government just give you money and take care of you.
Nice philosophy. Dunce.
Join the union, don't do anything unless the union authorizes you to do it, give your retirement money to the union bosses, get shafted, then blame the rich.
Join a union, get a decent wage instead the lowest wage the company can get away with, work in a safe environment, know that someone is willing to go up against management to make sure things stay safe in the workplace, work with the piece of mind that the company can't treat you as just another expendable asset.
Obama don't give a sh*t about the working man. he's corporate to the bone. where's all that help for small business folk? where's all that reciprocal appreciation for the unions that was given in O's campaign? it's being sucked up by the bank of america, chase bank and all those other fat effing mother effers who control our nation's wealth, that's where.
why don't you just stfu and get back to your gated "community" life you condescending, out of touch, over the hill has been pos?
go buy yourself some security.
go buy yourself some peace.
go buy yourself a highway.
go buy yourself a library.
don't bother helping your fellow citizen.
go to congress with your millions and beg that your capital gains remain free and clear of obstruction from us peons , you useless jerk, sit on your a** all day old man. i hear the supreme court is real sympathetic to your cause these these days with it's extreme right wing penchant for corporate personhood.
here's how it is dave.
real people have to work themselves to their grave because of elitists like you. people like you country club conservatives who honestly believe that you've never had, or needed a hand up, to achieve your status are the problem with America. An idiot like you would be nothing without that all-American ethic of shared prosperity.
do some work for a change. lazy punk.
"Every great fortune was built upon a least one great crime"
The many of us who are not wealthy have perhaps chosen not commit that "great crime."
But today as Senator Bunning filibusters the unemployment extension millions are preparing for what they have to do next.
without the ability to pay bills or buy food what do you think their alternative will be?
"Every great fortune was built upon a least one great crime"
The many of us who are not wealthy have perhaps chosen not commit that "great crime."
But today as Senator Bunning filibusters the unemployment extension millions are preparing for what they have to do next.
without the ability to pay bills or buy food what do you think their alternative will be?
"Every great fortune was built upon a least one great crime"
The many of us who are not wealthy have perhaps chosen not commit that "great crime."
But today as Senator Bunning filibusters the unemployment extension millions are preparing for what they have to do next.
without the ability to pay bills or buy food what do you think their alternative will be?