Every year when the snow gets ready to fly, I get a little sad – because on December 4th, 1993 Frank Zappa checked out. I’m tossing this one up today, because tomorrow GOPer talking heads will make the TV circuit, oozing talking points. This one is from Zappa’s performance on Saturday Night Live in 1976:
I’m thinking Frank was anticipating the advent of Faux News.
“That’s right folks, don’t touch that dial…”
While Frank had caustic commentary about politics, he – above all – was a musician. Here’s a HQ performance from 1988 in Barcelona of Frank’s instrumental “Watermellon In Easter Hay” – enjoy!
(cross posted at MnProgressiveProject.com; comments welcome there)
Minnesotans For A Fair Economy is organizing a March on Wells Fargo today, it’s in conjunction with OccupyMN and starts at 3:00 pm at Peavy Plaza (not the Hennepin County Gov’t Center).
There’s a lot of reasons to be holding Banksters such as Wells Fargo accountable; ripping off veterans is just one.
Last week, The Washington Post had this headline:
Suit alleges banks and mortgage companies cheated veterans and U.S. taxpayers
By Steve Vogel, Published: October 4Some of the nation’s biggest banks and mortgage companies have defrauded veterans and taxpayers out of hundreds of millions of dollars by disguising illegal fees in veterans’ home refinancing loans, according to a whistleblower suit unsealed in federal court in Atlanta.
The suit accuses the companies, including Wells Fargo, Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase and GMAC Mortgage, of engaging in “a brazen scheme to defraud both our nation’s veterans and the United States treasury” of millions of dollars in connection with home loans guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
“This is a massive fraud on the American taxpayers and American veterans,” James E. Butler Jr., one of the lawyers bringing the suit, said Tuesday.
(more)
The Seattle Times (and others) picked up on the story:
Investigation sought into VA loans with 13 major banks
By Steve Vogel — The Washington PostWASHINGTON — Following allegations in a lawsuit that 13 major banks defrauded veterans out of hundreds of millions of dollars with illegal fees to refinance home loans, the chairman of a Senate consumer-protection panel Wednesday called on the departments of Justice and Veterans Affairs to release any internal investigations related to the suit.
The whistle-blower lawsuit, first reported by The Washington Post on Tuesday, alleges that the banks disguised unallowable attorney fees on refinancing loans guaranteed by the VA. The suit, which was filed in 2006 in the U.S. District Court in Atlanta, was unsealed Monday.
“Yesterday, we learned that abuses of veterans may run even deeper than we previously knew,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, chairman of the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection Panel and a member of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs.
(more)
And a Congressman from Iowa is calling for investigations, too:
Braley calls for congressional probe of banks handling veterans’ home loans
By James Q. Lynch/SourceMedia Group News — October 12, 2011Rep. Bruce Braley is calling for an investigation of allegations that Wall Street banks have been defrauding veterans and taxpayers out of millions of dollars by intentionally disguising illegal fees in veteran home financing loans.
“If a bank intentionally preyed on veterans who’ve put their lives on the line for this country just to pad their profits, that’s beyond the pale,” Braley, a Waterloo Democrat and member of the U.S. House Veterans Affairs Committee, said.
Braley made his request for a probe in a letter to House Veterans Affairs Committee Chair Jeff Miller and Ranking Member Bob Filner.
more)
Not surprisingly, the Strib has pretty much turned a blind eye on the story, except – as far as I can tell – just one Associated Press blurb.
There is simply no doubt Wall Street Bansksters have been ripping off the 99%ers. If you can, you should march with those demanding accountability from Wells Fargo.
And don’t forget: these are peaceful protests.
# # #
(cross posted at MnProgressiveProject.com; comments welcome there)
…”Brownie, You’re Doin’ A Heckuva Job!!!”
Republicans run on the platform “Gov’t doesn’t work!!!” – and once elected, they prove it.
One of the ways they prove it, is by appointing political hacks to jobs eminently unqualified for, such as a former Judges and Stewards Commissioner for the International Arabian Horse Association becoming Director of FEMA: Michael “Heckuva job!” Brown (who today, incidentally, is a radio talk show host in Denver).
Reasonable people understand parental patronage by Strongmen like Gaddafi – i.e., cushy jobs for the Dictator’s kids – but were outraged by Boy Blunder’s Plunderers political patronage pick of Brownie (and others like him) and Brownie’s subsequent (lack of) performance after Hurricane Katrina. Reasonable people understand the difference between a dictatorship and a democracy.
So it’s understandable reasonable people are outraged by Ol’ “Baseball Bat” Walker’s most recent political patronage pick, givin’ a “job” to the kid of a campaign donor. From the Milwaulkee Journal-Sentinel:
No degree, little experience pay off big
April 3, 2011Just in his mid-20s, Brian Deschane has no college degree, very little management experience and two drunken-driving convictions.
Yet he has landed an $81,500-per-year job in Gov. Scott Walker’s administration overseeing environmental and regulatory matters and dozens of employees at the Department of Commerce. Even though Walker says the state is broke and public employees are overpaid, Deschane already has earned a promotion and a 26% pay raise in just two months with the state.
How did Deschane score his plum assignment with the Walker team?
It’s all in the family.
His father is Jerry Deschane, executive vice president and longtime lobbyist for the Madison-based Wisconsin Builders Association, which bet big on Walker during last year’s governor’s race.
The group’s political action committee gave $29,000 to Walker and his running mate, Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, last year, making it one of the top five PAC donors to the governor’s successful campaign. Even more impressive, members of the trade group funneled more than $92,000 through its conduit to Walker’s campaign over the past two years.
Total donations: $121,652.
(more at JSOnline.com)
This story comes out just a few weeks after the Journal Sentinel reported Ol’ “Baseball Bat” Walker’s misAdministration gave a cushy state job to GOPer State Senator Randy Hopper’s mistress, Hopper’s wife, presumably, is not amused; she reportedly signed Hopper’s Recall Petition.
Not that Minnesota GOPers are immune from putting political hacks on the public payroll; I suggest (IMNSHO) that the biggest waste of taxpayer dough here on the semi-frozen tundra is GOPer Michael Brodkorb’s salary.
There’s a pattern here, Gentle Readers.
That pattern is Republicans run on the platform “Gov’t doesn’t work!!!” – and once elected, they prove it.
Here’s the list of previous Strongman Reports:
(Strongman Reort – 30 March 2011)
(Strongman Report – 20 March 2011)
(Strongman Report – 08 March 2011)
(Strongman Report – 05 March 2011)
(Strongman Report – 01 March 2011)
(cross posted at MnProgressiveProject; comments welcome there)
… Republicans Believe In The Rule Of Law (except when they don’t)
Ol’ “Baseball Bat” Walker got spanked in court yesterday, AGAIN.
From the Milwaulkee Journal-Sentinel: Dane County Judge Maryann Sumi – “Apparently that language was either misunderstood or ignored, but what I said was the further implementation of Act 10 was enjoined. That is what I now want to make crystal clear.”
Pretty clear, eh? Well, not to GOPers:
But outside the courtroom, Assistant Attorney General Steven Means said the legislation “absolutely” is still in effect.
Just where do GOPers get that kind of nonsense/legal reasoning?
By channelling the ghost of Milhous Nixon – let’s look!!!
Nixon: “When the president does it, that means it’s not illegal.”
Well, to be fair, GOPers think that when a GOPer president/governor/etc etc etc does it… that means it’s not illegal.
GOPers believed that then; they believe it now, and tomorrow won’t be any different, because Republicans Believe In The Rule Of Law (except when they don’t).
The first installment of this Strongman Report series was subtitled …Today’s Example of “Republicans run on the platform ‘Government doesn’t work!’ – and once elected, they prove it.”. Graphics and links for previous installments in this series follow.
(Strongman Report – 20 March 2011)
(Strongman Report – 08 March 2011)
(Strongman Report – 05 March 2011)
(Strongman Report – 01 March 2011)
(cross posted at MnProgressiveProject.com; comments welcome there)
Starting out her column today (entitled “In Wisconsin, mob rule and intimidation”), Kersten compares unions (and supporters of unions) to “Nazi brownshirts.” Way to stay classy, Katy!
Katy quotes a couple o’ TV reports in her column; one of ‘em is Green Bay’s Faux Noise “Fox News” WLUK-TV. No point fiskin’ that; as discussed here, what’s the point?
Katy also quoted a story from Milwaukee’s WTMJ-TV – a NBC affiliate. Here’s what Katy cherrypicked from it:
“Meanwhile, hordes of protesters surged into the Capitol, muscling past police, kicking in doors, damaging windows and shouting “This is democracy looks like!” and “Whose house? Our house!”
Here’s what the story said, but Katy isn’t interested in “facts” – she’s interested in wingnut demagoguery:
Police held their positions at the Capitol for a time after the vote, but more and more protesters found a way in. Police believe some climbed through windows, Donovan said. He initially said protesters broke windows and door handles, but later backed off that statement, saying he wasn’t sure that was true. (emphasis added)
Cop says he isn’t sure reports of broken windows and (as Katy claims )-”kick(ed) in doors” are true; Katy uses story as source and claims it IS true.
Katy uses a source – Milwaukee’s WTMJ-TV – to make a claim, when the source clearly demonstrate Katy is simply makin’ (stuff) up.
Katy should be ashamed, but – as she has clearly demonstrated here and Here and Here and HERE and…. well, I could go on and On and ON….
Kersten has no shame.
That’s why Katy Kersen is today’s example of why reasonable people cannot reasonably believe anything a GOPer says.
Katy is also just another pathetic example of You Couldn’t Trust The GOP Then, You Still Can’t, And Tomorrow Won’t Be Any Different.
(cross posted at MnProgressiveProject.com; comments welcome there)
… a picture says a thousand words.
A couple of weeks ago, i wrote a post: Canada prohibits Faux Noise broadcasting; Wisconsin Protests demonstrate why. That post included screenshots of two tweets by Faux Noise Fox News Repeater “Reporter” Mike Tobin, makin’ (stuff) up. Canada simply won’t put up with the (stuff) Faux Noise Fox News spews.
A couple of weeks before that, MediaMatters.org had a story about Faux Fox entitled “Stuff Is Just Made Up”. Which, of course, is just another demonstration of why Canada won’t put up with the (stuff) Faux Noise Fox News spews.
On the front page of MediaMatters.org today is a story entitled “All Of Us Will Be Slaves” And Other Health Care Predictions That Haven’t Come True. Two days ago, they did a report entitled “A History Of Death Panels: A Timeline”. And where did a lot – an awful lot (and I do mean “awful”) – of that stuff that didn’t come true and never was true come from? Faux Noise Fox News, whose motto should be: “We distort – you abide.”
There YouTube below is from a performance on Saturday Nite Live from 1976. It seems like Frank saw Faux coming, a long time ago.
I am gross and perverted
I’m obsessed ‘n deranged
I have existed for years
But very little had changed
I am the tool of the Government
And industry too
For I am destined to rule
And regulate youI may be vile and pernicious
But you can’t look away
I make you think I’m delicious
With the stuff that I say
I am the best you can get
Have you guessed me yet?
I am the slime oozin’ out
From your TV setYou will obey me while I lead you
And eat the garbage that I feed you
Until the day that we don’t need you
Don’t got for help…no one will heed you
Your mind is totally controlled
It has been stuffed into my mold
And you will do as you are told
Until the rights to you are soldThat’s right, folks..
Don’t touch that dialWell, I am the slime from your video
Oozin’ along on your livin’room floorI am the slime from your video
Can’t stop the slime, people, lookit me go(music and lyrics by Frank Zappa, 1940 – 1993)
(cross posted at MnProgressiveProject.com; comments welcome there)
I read the column in the Strib’s Dead-Tree Edition; it was in the Crime “business+money” section. And it was a good one. Shoulda been in the Op/Ed section, but hey – at least it was in print. So I went to StarTribune.com to get the link; couldn’t find it – even after a site search.
Fortunately, the Strib did have a link at the end o’ the dead-tree edition; I found Al Lewis’ column here.
Preparing To Sacrifice
By Al LewisShared sacrifice follows every disaster. It’s only a matter of deciding who shares it.
“We’re asking shared sacrifice from a lot of people,” Michigan’s Republican Gov. Rick Snyder said last week. “These are difficult times.”
.
.
Americans prize individualism. We worship the free-market ideal of every man for himself, at least until history’s most successful union — the chummy CEOs’ and board directors’ guild — needs a bailout. Otherwise, collectivism is for wonky, union-loving liberals. And cops.Notice Wisconsin’s governor did not have the courage to strip police, fire and emergency workers of their collective bargaining rights. People still have the right to collectively bargain in the Dairy State unless they are those robber-baron teachers. (more, at wsj.com)
Let’s look again, at what Michigan’s GOPer Governor said:
“We’re asking shared sacrifice from a lot of people.”
Here’s what Michigan’s GOPer Governor didn’t say:
“And our Boardroom Base is included among those we’re asking to join in our shared sacrifice.”
That, Ladies and Gentlemen, is all you need to know about today’s GOP – today’s GOP is protecting the Boardoom at the expense of the middle class. Al Lewis’ column should have been in the Strib’s Op/Ed section; should be available on the Strib’s website. It’s not. At least it was in the dead-tree edition.
(cross posted at MnProgressiveProject; comments welcome there)
While Gaddafi went on Libya State TV (why not? He owns it) to channel the ghosts of Baghdad Bob and Tom Emmer, ol’ “Baseball Bat” Walker chose to go on Faux Noise Fox News (why not? The GOP owns it) to peddle similar camel dung: Sean insHanitty Interviews Walker: Walker Claims Credit for 10,000 New Jobs And Lower Unemployment
Hey – “Baseball Bat” Walker’s makin’ that claim all over! Like, just last week – in Hudson, WI:
MnPP: Walker Claims Credit for 10,000 New Jobs And Lower Unemployment
Speakin’ o’ other claims Ol’ Baseball Bat is makin’ that aren’t true:
Hey – who the (cheney) does Ol’ Baseball Bat think he is – former Gov. “TBag” Pawlenty??!?
TBag’s court cases don’t turn out so swell – for Timmy. Ol’ Baseball Bat’s only been in office for FAR too long since January, and already this:
The first installment of this Strongman Report series was subtitled …”Today’s Example of “Republicans run on the platform ‘Government doesn’t work!’ – and once elected, they prove it.”. Graphics and links for previous installments in this series follow!
(Strongman Report – 08 March 2011)
(Strongman Report – 05 March 2011)
(Strongman Report – 01 March 2011)
(cross posted at MnProgressiveProject.com; comments welcome there)
As noted yesterday, MnPP’s Joe Bodell appeared on local Fox9 News last night. Let’s look!
Advocates Discuss Wis. Bill Debacle : MyFoxTWINCITIES.com
To no surprise, GOPer Ben Golnik starts out by telling a whopper: “unprecedented.”
Yeah, “right.”
A quick google search of “lincoln illinios legislature walkout” – and there, on the first page, from CNN:
Wisconsin legislators aren’t the first to walk out, leave town
February 18, 2011 | By Phil Gast, CNNThis week’s bitter budget showdown in Wisconsin isn’t the first time state legislators have fled a state, left a building or refused to show when votes were called.
The “Killer Ds” and the “Texas 11,” for example, skedaddled from Texas in 2003 to prevent consideration of a redistricting bill.
In 1839, a young Abraham Lincoln, serving as a Whig in the Illinois House, jumped out of the building in a futile bid to prevent Democrats from getting a quorum to vote on a banks bill. (CNN.com)
The northern part of the Whig Party morphed into today’s Republican Party; Lincoln went on to become a Republican President. Not only is the walkout by Wisconsin’s Fighting Fourteen NOT unprecedented, there IS a precedent by the very Party GOPer Golnik was there, last night, to represent.
I don’t know why, but it is: reasonable people cannot reasonably believe anything a GOPer says. Today’s GOPers are ready, able, and perfectly willing to smile at a camera and lie through their teeth.
And they certainly cannot expect Fox9 News to follow up and let their viewers know GOPer Ben Golnik started out with a whopper, can they?
(cross posted at MnProgressiveProject.com; comments welcome there)
From the #YouCantMakeThisStuffUp Dept…. while Gaddafi declared a tax cut…
2:41pm Libyan state TV announces wide-ranging tax cuts. It says:
The general public committee has decided to reduce customs on basic commodities to zero per cent and to reduce customs on all other commodities to only five per cent. It also decided to remove all consumption and production taxes.
… Madison.com reports that “Walker’s budget slashes tax credits that aid poor:
Low-income taxpayers in Wisconsin would lose hundreds of dollars in tax credits a year under Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed budget — at the same time the governor wants tax cuts for businesses and investors to boost jobs.
Thanks to the eagle-eyed and dedicated reader that sent that tip in!!!
In other news of note concerning Scott “Baseball Bat” Walker, who dreams of treating the least amongst him worse than Gadaffi:
Walker’s Latest Mea Nota Culpa, via the Wisconsin State Journal.
The Daily Page: “A former GOP aide to Senate Republicans: You can beat Walker”
Via the Green Bay Press-Gazette: “(GOP) Sen. Cowles: Republicans have to be “flexible” on collective bargaining negotiations”
Via DailyKos: “Wisconsin recall update: 15% of signature goal reached”
And finally, Faux Noise’s @MikeTobinFox still hasn’t posted a new tweet, ever since the news came out he’s a KochWhore SpokesTool “typical Fox Reporter”.
Send tips/suggestions for the next “Strongman Report” to: TwoPuttTommy@mnprogressiveproject.com …
(05 March 2011 Strongman Report, here)
(01 March 2011 Strongman Report, here)
(cross posted at MnProgressiveProject.com; comments welcome there)
