Why Mothers Day Is Problematic

No offense meant, but... Happy Mothers Day! This, of course, is meant only for people who celebrate their female parent on the second Sunday of May every year.

But not everyone cherishes the day. Some folks are actually offended by it. Some are simply confused, not only by the day but by just what a "mother" actually is. Really.

Blogger and YouTuber Mark Dice breaks this down for us in a darkly amusing video (below). Mothers Day cards, he points out, are now offensive to social justice warriors (SJWs), because "the word 'mother' refers to a woman who gave birth to a child," but since liberals "have embraced more than 58 different genders they're upset at the word 'mother' is associated with a woman." Yep. Those SJWs think men can -- or should be able to -- give birth as well. Confused? Good! You're mentally fit. Dice gives more details about why the unfit SJWs are so troubled by Mothers Day.

Updated: Union Thug Who Attacked Steven Crowder Was Looking For a Fight, Stalked Him In Crowd

Dec. 11, 2012 - VIDEOS BELOW - Violent union members in Lansing, Michigan attacked Right-To-Work advocates on the grounds of Michigan's state capitol today after the state legislature passed a right-to-work bill. (Videos below.) 

A large mob of union members and sympathizers were in a violent frenzy as they surrounded a large tent set up and occupied by Americans For Prosperity (AFP), along with conservative humorist and pundit Steven Crowder. Leftist louts forced their way into the tent, dismantling it and threatening those inside.

With no regard for AFP's free speech rights or personal safety, the union gangsters shouted obscenities and, ultimately, physically attacked. Some milled around in a zombie-like daze, passively watching their union brethren violate the civil rights of fellow Americans. Not satisfied with simply bringing the tent down, union thugs destroyed the tent by cutting it to shreds with what appeared to be large box cutters.

The first video below is "AFP MI Tent comes down at Right To Work Rally," and it shows the zombie-like crowd of union thugs attacking the tent, spewing obscenities and just itching for a fight. Some lunge at the AFP members, while others attack the tent.

The second video, "Steven Crowder's attacker VERBALLY attacks him a hour earlier," shows Crowder being verbally assaulted by union punk Tony Cummings, without provocation, who physically attacked Crowder about an hour later (see the third video below). It is obvious from watching the second video that Cummings was looking for a fight. It was so obvious, in fact, that a union-appointed security "marshall" (in an orange vest) intervened and told Cummings to back off. That just seemed to further upset Cummings. At 3:03 in the video, Cummings lowered  his IBEW sign so that it would interfere with a photo opportunity of some guy posing with a smiling Crowder. When Crowder turned to ask Cummings to stop doing that, Cummings grinned weirdly and said, "Don't f-ck with me."

The third video below, "Unions Assault On Camera," clearly shows the assault on Crowder by a union goon that we think is named Tony Cummings. At least, that's what his jacket said. Also on his jacket was an IBEW union patch. Gateway Pundit wrote that Local 876 is located in Grand Rapids, MI but Chicago News Bench took a moment to look it up and found that the 1,480-member IBEW Local 876 is actually located in Edmore, MI, about an hour from Grand Rapids [see map].

"The protesters shouted 'scab' and 'Walmart tent' as they advanced," Lee Stranahan wrote at Breitbart.com. "The tent had been used by AFP to house members who were reportedly threatened at last week’s demonstration," he added.

“This is what democracy looks like,” they chanted as they destroyed the tent.

Union thugs and the progressives who support them think "democracy" is the act of violent suppression of  the opposition and destroying their property, even going so far as to physically assault people.

You can see Crowder being punched in the second video. "Crowder," reports Breitbart.com, "peacefully confronted union protesters today in Lansing, Michigan when the mob turned violent. Crowder was punched multiple times and, at one point, when his back was turned to the crowd as he was leaving a confrontation, he was pulled by the collar of his coat back into the mob to be assaulted again." That can also be seen in the video. "Union appointed 'Marshals' (not actual law enforcement) would break up the assaults but never asked the union members to leave the protest for their behavior."

It is not known where the "real" law enforcement was taking their union-mandated coffee break, but none are visible in these videos. Crowder's assailant, Tony Cummings, was apparently not apprehended and remains at large. It was truly a sad day for America, as Obama-supported violent thugs had a violent hissy fit because, suddenly, their fellow Michiganders can no longer be forced to join a union in order to have a job.

Right-To-Work Law Passes In Michigan, Violence Simmers

"Hey hey, ho ho! Your right to work has got to go!"

Dec. 11, 2011 - The Republican-led Michigan House chamber today approved the first of two right-to-work bills that address public-sector unions by a vote of 58-51. As many as 10,000 pro-union, anti-choice activists protested outside the capitol building in Lansing by waving signs, shouting vulgar slogans, and using violence against those who support the right-to-work legislation.

There was some violence-tinged rhetoric from Democrat legislators inside the House chamber. Just before the vote was taken, “There will be blood,” said Representative Douglas Geiss, a Democrat from Taylor, reports Bloomberg News. Geiss made that disturbing remark during the pre-vote debate. After the vote, a 55-year-old UAW member protesting outside said that the right-to-work law will "create civil war."

Police had to control angry union thugs who became violent, Bloomberg News says. "Supporters and opponents clashed, with protesters tearing down a tent set up by Americans for Prosperity, overturning tables and stamping on signs. Police on foot and horseback charged through the crowd pushing them back with batons."

A second bill that deals with private sector unions still needs to be acted upon. The Senate approved both last week. "If enacted," says The Washington Post, "Gov. Rick Snyder says he will sign them into law as early as Wednesday."

Read Michigan's Right-To-Work Bills: •  Senate Bill 116   •  House Bill 4003 •  House Bill 4054  •  Recent Bill Activity

Former community organizer Barack Obama visited Detroit on Monday and made some predictable pro-union remarks.

“What they’re really talking about is giving you the right to work for less money,” Obama told unionized workers at the Detroit Diesel plant. But of course, as usual, Obama got that backwards. What the right-to-work laws do make it possible is for someone seeking work to get it without being required to join a union. That means workplaces will no longer be, in effect, a members-only environment. People wanting to work at Detroit Diesel, for example, will no longer be forced to shell out a chunk of their paycheck as union dues to maintain the union bosses' six-figure salaries. It means, contrary to what Obama said, that people who would otherwise not be allowed to work will be able to, thereby acquiring to the right to work for money - rather than remain unemployed.

The stupidity of Obama's remarks were nailed by an op-ed in The Detroit Free Press :

Where Obama faltered on Tuesday was with his too-cute applause line, “What they’re really talking about is giving you the right to work for less money.” That’s a reference to data, oft-cited by unions, showing that most right-to-work states have lower incomes than the U.S. average.

Unfortunately, the personal income and employment trends for Michigan are more troublesome for those who argue that states with more union members do a better job of protecting workers’ jobs and incomes.

In the year 2000, Michigan ranked 16th among U.S. states in personal income per capita. Now it’s in 36th place. During many of the past dozen years, Michigan had the nation’s highest jobless rate. We’ve improved a bit the past couple years, but only to 6th worst with a 9.1% rate.

Michigan, therefore, is hardly a poster child lately for correlating higher unionization levels — 17.5% here vs. 11.8% nationwide — with high incomes or job security.

The Left and their union allies believe that individual freedom to work without being forced to join a union is bad. Your right to not have a chunk of your paycheck stolen by a union of which you are not a member is bad. The mainstream media today is trumpeting the 'outrage over right-to-work.' Think about that. Outrage. Over people's right to work without a union forcing them to join or pay dues."  If you favor the right of people to work without  being coerced into joining a union, the union thugs and their supporters on the Left will threaten you. Post continues below the video....

James Hoffa, Teamsters union president said, "We've got a war on workers, and we've been talking about this a long time. It was in Wisconsin, it was in Ohio and now it came here. They want a fight? We'll give them a fight. We're going to kick their ass, and we'll win this battle here. Rick Snyder campaigned as the nerd, now we know he's a weak nerd, and you know what, he's for sale. I got news for you, Governor: Michigan is not for sale. You can't buy Michigan."

Leave it to a union boss like Hoffa to use a crude reference to physical violence. The governor is "a weak nerd," he said, but Hoffa just got his own ass kicked hard and handed to him by Gov. Snyder and the Republicans in the legislature.

Right-to-work will allow new employees, such as teachers for example, to be employed without being coerced into paying union dues to fat cat union bosses. If you believe the idiot-oriented propaganda from the Left, that's a bad thing for the children. The Left's greed is always so conveniently about the children. But even the children know that the unions are not fighting for them; the unions are fighting to preserve their own political power and finances.

In Michigan, the Right-To-Work legislation was brought about largely by the excesses of the unions themselves, notes Breitbart.com. "The use of members' dues proved that the feelings of many former labor union loyalists were correct; Big Labor had become largely about fighting contentious political battles and less about the welfare of the rank and file. Money that could have gone to training or even just back in the pockets of labor union members was wasted; the initiative lost in a landslide. Even more embarrassing, the 58% - 42% loss came amid Democratic gains at every level in the 2012 elections in Michigan."

"Expect the Unions this week to make a mighty noise and expect the silent majority to stay home," Breitbart.com continued. "Make no mistake, though; in November, the people of Michigan spoke loudly and clearly; they want the right to work without the union middlemen taking their cut."

Related:

• How Union Greed Caused Michigan's Right-To-Work Bill Breitbart.com
• Video gallery of union thuggery in Michigan; Updated Michelle Malkin
• When Union Thugs Attack, Savagery in Lansing, Michigan Chicago News Bench
• Dem Minority Leader: ‘If Michigan Workers Don’t Want to Join Union they can Just Quit Their Job’ MoreMiJobs.com

Liberal Woman Meets Conservative Man, Then...

This video is hysterically funny. Whether you're a conservative or liberal, you'll chuckle. Granted, if you're a liberal, those chuckles will be the result of bitter self-recognition, but they'll be chuckles nonetheless. In this video, called "Meet the Liberal Elite," a conservative man encounters an elitist liberal woman. In the resulting conversation, the man tries to use logic with the liberal woman. That, of course, is always funny. You can see more in this brilliant animated series at Battlefield315.

Detroit's Mayor Covering For City's Incompetent Fire Response

The horrible fires that have swept through parts of Detroit recently were natural, says Mayor Dave Bing. He called the fires a natural disaster. Perhaps Mayor Bing is lying to cover up the fact that Detroit's fire department has long been understaffed and under-equipped, or maybe he is trying to squeeze as much federal funding as he can. Or, maybe, both. The bottom line is that Bing seems to be playing politics with a disaster that has destroyed homes and businesses in an already depressed city. Associated Press reported that Mayor Bing called the blazes natural. He "defended a stretched fire department Wednesday and its response to what he termed 'a natural disaster,' after wind-whipped flames destroyed dozens of occupied and abandoned homes across the city." Bing, according to AP, "said firefighters confronted conditions that were not manmade' starting Tuesday afternoon. Wind gusts of up to 50 mph forced flames to jump from house to house, eventually encompassing 85 homes and garages — many abandoned — across several neighborhoods." The Detroit News reported that Mayor Bing "said very little could have been done to prevent" the fires, "which required emergency help from five surrounding communities, engulfed at least 85 structures throughout the city. Bing said every community except southwest Detroit was affected." Amazingly, Bing went so far as to say that "You can never have enough resources when something like that happens," and "You can't plan for something like that." The cause of the lastest fires, actually, is still being investigated. Bing, therefore, is speaking out of turn. He doesn't know, nobody yet knows, what caused the fires. One thing that does seem certain, though, it the cause of the poor response by the Detroit Fire Department. Nobody blames the DFD itself, nor any of its brave firefighters. Rather, the city's inept government is to blame for having whittled down the DFD to an inadequate manpower level. MyFox Detroit interviewed Captain Dan McNamara, the president of the Detroit Fire Fighters Association. Capt. McNamara had some harsh words for Detroit's government, and he told Fox that the CFD is severely understaffed. According to a September 8 report on Fox, "the city needs 200-300 more firefighters to properly service and keep citizens safe." Fox asked Capt. McNamara for his assessment last night's response by the fire department. He said (emphasis added), "Abmissal. Unfortunately, this is something that we have been telling the mayors, the city council and our fire administration for almost a decade now. We've been diminished to the point that we're so concerned about our firefighters safety, but no one's listening to us. We're down probably 200-300 firefighters. Of the 65 fire companies we have left in the city, 8-10 a day are closed which leaves giant holes. And fire fighting hasn't changed. It's about weight and response time and the amount of people you send there. And when we don't get to a fire in time, and fires can double in size every 2-3 minutes, we have a very serious situation on our hands." Only a fool would believe Mayor Bing when he says that "very little could have been done to prevent" the fires, and that "You can never have enough resources when something like that happens," and "You can't plan for something like that." Perhaps Mayor Bing is a complete idiot. More likely, he's hoping that most of his constituents are idiots. Only a fool would believe those words. The whole point of having a fire department in the first place is to be prepared for potential disaster. The mere act of instituting a fire department involves "planning for something like that." If Capt. McNamara is to be believed, plenty could have been done to ensure that Detroit had "enough resources when something like that happens." It doesn't matter whether a fire is started by an arsonist or a lightning bolt. It starts quickly and with no warning. Manmade or natural, the fire spreads to nearby buildings at the same rate. For Mayor Bing to excuse his city's years-long emasculation of their fire department by blaming nature is inexcusable. We'll give Mayor Bing a pass when he says that some fires are not preventable. Arson, for example: Nobody can predict when somebody will sprinkle gasoline around a warehouse and set it ablaze, but Mayor Bing would have us believe that "you can never have enough resources when something like that happens." The fires in Detroit were whipped by high winds, which certainly compounded the situation, but Capt. McNamara hinted that the wind should not be used as an excuse by Mayor Bing. "We live in Michigan," Capt. McNamara said, "We have always handled the weather. Sure, this was the perfect storm. But it's a day that we warned them that was coming. We don't have enough of a response. We don't have enough firefighters to adequately get to every one of our issues." Mayor Bing seems to be generating enough wind lately to fan a lot of flames, and tempers are flaring in Detroit. While it's true that Detroit's firefighters "confronted conditions that were not manmade" (dry weather, high winds), the conditions that caused CFD's poor response were entirely manmade. The real scandal in all of this is Detroit's pitiful economic condition, which has contributed heavily to the lousy economy of Michigan. The lousy economy of Michigan can be blamed directly on the financially corrupt and economically ignorant policies of that state's Democrat leadership. The lack of funds is the primary cause of the Detroit Fire Department being 200-300 firefighters short of where it should be. That, in turn, is a direct cause of the fires spreading as far and as quickly as they have. Consequently, lost lives, jobs, dreams and property in these latest Detroit fires can be blamed directly on the Michigan Democratic Party. RELATED: Report: Michigan slips in child well-being ranking Detroit News Michigan's Latest Economic Numbers Confirm Failure of Status Quo MacKinac Center Michigan's unemployment rate will top 15% through 2011 AnnArbor.com FY2011 School Aid Fund Budget: A Day Late and A Few Hundred Million Dollars Short Citizens Research Council of Michigan

Obama's Progressive Duck Walk

Should Comrade President Obama be bragging about how "progressive" he is? Investors Business Daily (IBD) has a must-read editorial today that asks that question - and answers it, too. Excerpts from IBD's August 18 editorial, "Obama's 'Progressive' Failures": At a fundraiser Monday, the president boasted to Hollywood celebrities and deal makers about enacting "the most progressive legislative agenda" in decades. That may be true, but it's hardly something to be proud of. Why, you might be wondering, is being "progressive" not something to be proud of? What is it, and why is it shameful? IBD goes on: Much of the left today calls itself "progressive." Secretary of State Hillary Clinton does, and Democrats too numerous to name. It's part of an old tradition. In addition to many well-known activists, writers and philosophers, progressivism can claim many presidents — ranging from Woodrow Wilson, both Roosevelts and Herbert Hoover, to Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter and, of course, Obama himself. Here's the kicker (with my emphasis added): So what is progressivism, you ask? Many things. But as a creed, it stresses the importance of centralized government control over Americans' lives as paramount. It actively seeks to diminish the constitutional limits on what government can — and can't — do. That's a nice, concise and scary desciption of progressivism. It's all about control. Power. The State (Big Brother) comes first and individualism is to be downplayed. A slightly longer description of progressivism comes from the Ludwig von Mises Institute (http://mises.org/). They describe themselves as "the world center of the Austrian School of economics and libertarian political and social theory." Here's an excerpt from "The Legacy of Progressivism" by William L. Anderson (with my emphasis added), in which he analyzes Progressivism in the United States: Without Progressivism, the New Deal would and never could have come into existence. The vast expansion of the state apparatus that occurred during the 1930s moved along tracks already laid by politicians like Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. By the mid-1930s, the New Deal, far from being a legislative aberration, naturally followed the economic crisis that Progressivism had caused. Just what was Progressivism, what were its causes, and what followed from the Progressive Movement? Historians refer to it as an influential social movement that began in the late 1800s and ended with the United State’s 1917 entry into World War I. Among the many "successes" of Progressivism were antitrust laws, state and national income taxes, increased business regulation, minimum wage laws, direct election of U.S. senators, creation of the Federal Reserve System, and prohibition of alcoholic beverages. Are progressives exclusively Democrats? They haven't always been, explains Anderson (emphasis added): Nor was Progressivism the domain of just one political party, as both Republicans and Democrats vied with each other to see who could more thoroughly expand the state. Republicans, led by Theodore Roosevelt and Sen. Robert LaFollette of Wisconsin, pushed for high tariffs, government ownership of natural resources, antitrust legislation, and imperialistic adventures abroad. Democrats, on the other hand, led by William Jennings Bryan and Woodrow Wilson, pushed the income tax, inflation through debasement of the money supply, and the internal protectionist device known as Jim Crow laws, which attempted to shield white workers from competition from blacks. Both parties favored expansion of voting rights to women. What is clear is that neither party had any intention of honoring the U.S. Constitution. In fact, the Progressive Era would not have had its social and legal effect had it not been for its reworking of the Constitution through the amendment process. The 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th amendments reworked the political landscape and greatly expanded the scope of the central government, one of the main goals of progressives. The 16th Amendment was probably the worst, as it authorized Congress for the first time to levy an income tax that would not be struck down by the Supreme Court. The Investors Business Daily editorial noted that the American Progressivism movement was "Influenced heavily by European social theorists and American Utilitarian thought" and "took root after the Civil War. Adherents understood that the idea of limited government based on individualism, natural rights and property rights — as defined by the Founding Fathers — had to be discredited." IBD lists some of Obama's progressive "accomplishments," with a touch of sarcasm: • The epic $862 billion "stimulus," which has led to record long-term joblessness while bailing out Obama's union supporters and the most irresponsible states while punishing taxpayers and their heirs for decades to come. • The $700 billion TARP program, which we were told would be used to give securities markets a boost but instead was used, essentially, to take over the auto industry, bail out friends of Obama and continue meddling in the markets. • The massive medical care overhaul known as Obama- Care, which will eventually supplant the best medical system in the world with a government-run system modeled after the substandard contraptions found in Canada and Britain. The Tea Party movement is driven primarily by a desire to bring back "limited government based on individualism, natural rights and property rights." Time after time in recent years, we have seen many examples of the "progressives" mocking and attempting to discredit the Tea Party people and those who sympathize with them. Let's get back to Barack Obama boasting about how progressive he and his regime have been. Obama certainly fits the definition of "progessive," sort of, but many self-described progressives laughably argue that he's really "a center-right Democrat." It's all a matter of perspective, of course, and if you're sitting far enough on left end of the political ideology spectrum even Obama could look center-right, I suppose. Semantics are fun, but let's get down to objective fact: Whether or not Obama the man is "progressive," the government actions that he has initiated, pushed and supported certainly are. The duck might not be a duck, but by means of its walk and its quack it has shown that it aspires to be one. Obama has every right to be proud of his level of progressivism, whether he personally fits the definition or not. After all, Obama and his followers are true believers, and true believers are always proud of that in which they believe - even if what they believe in is evil cloaked in a false robe of goodness. That non-duck duck is undoubtedly proud of it's behavior. He's worked hard to fake that duck walk. RELATED: A Spectre Is Haunting America: An Interpretation of Progressivism - pdf mises.org Glenn Beck Exposes the Progressive Movements Fascist Agenda YouTube Matt Spalding on Progressivism's Assault on America's Founding YouTube The Dawn of Liberalism: Progressivism University of Wisconsin-Madison Great Myths of the Great Depression YouTube Barack Obama's Progressive Cannibalism Huffington Post The Century of Statism - William L. Anderson mises.org The Liberal-Fascist Axis World Net Daily Is Obama Progressive? Seeing The Forest Left-wing roots of the Nazis YouTube Marxism vs. the Majority mises.org Creeping Progressivism RedState Obama No The Progressive

Pat Quinn's Tax Holiday - Good Idea, Bad Execution

Ask most Democrats about lowering taxes to help the economy and they'll roll their eyes and tell you that taxes are good and everybody ("especially the rich") need to pay more. Ask most Democrat state legislators in Illinois why they don't lower taxes to help the economy and you'll get a similar reaction. And yet, yet... Sometimes a temporary burst of sanity hits a Democrat square between his eyes. Illinois Governor Quinn, for example, who is currently touting a "sales tax holiday." Clout Street (Chicago Tribune) reported this on August 6 (my emphasis added): Gov. Pat Quinn today defended his push for a back-to-school sales tax holiday despite the cost to a state government that's badly in the red. The governor predicted that waiving the 5 percent state sales tax will result in more revenue for the state because it will entice more shoppers into stores. Once there, those shoppers will spend on items such as electronics and sports equipment that aren't covered by the tax holiday. More at Clout Street.... Gov. Quinn is correct, of course, but his stand on this only highlights his - and his party's - contradictions about taxes and their effect. Look, this "back-to-school sales tax holiday" is temporary. Now, if Quinn thinks that lowering taxes will (a) result in more revenue for the state because (b) it will "entice more shoppers" to shop, why can't he - and his party - understand that a permanent sales tax cut would do the same thing but for a much, much longer period of time? Furthermore, if Quinn is so cocksure that this will encourage people to buy more back-to-school merchandise, why is it so difficult for him - and his party - to grasp the reality that lowering the sales tax on other merchandise would similarly boost consumer spending and, thereby, sales tax revenues? Note that, unlike Quinn, I speak of "lowering" the sales tax, not "waiving it." I acknowledge the need for some taxation, but the level at which Illinois (and Chicago and Cook County) tax people on just about everything is over the top. What Quinn admits is that lower taxes spur higher levels of consumer purchases. What he does understand is that lowering those taxes significantly would have the same effect, and boost the state's tax revenues even more than his plan would. In addition, why not lower the sales tax on the non-school items that Quinn referred to? Sure, the tax holiday on school items would increase shopping by parents with kids in school. But is Quinn - and his party - really so ignorant as to think that all of them will also "spend on items such as electronics and sports equipment that aren't covered by the tax holiday?" What about the many people in the market for those items who are not shopping for back-to-school items? What's to entice them to buy electronics, sports equipment or anything else in Illinois rather than crossing the border? Gov. Quinn has the right idea in theory, but his plan to execute it is completely wrong. The fastest way to generate more tax revenue for virtually bankrupt Illinois is to lower the sales tax on all items and services. Don't even get me started on the income tax and the myriad number of fees that Illinois imposes on people. As I wrote here on July 13, this may seem counterintuitive, but makes perfect sense: Lower the taxes and suddenly more people can afford to buy more things. From the sales tax on a pack of gum, a washing machine or a condominium, part of the cost is taxes. Your real income is less because it, too, is taxed. When you raise taxes, people have less disposable income. They buy less or go to a neighboring city, county or state where the sales taxes are lower, or move there because the income tax is friendlier. This is simple, basic economics. Any kid running a lemonade understands that higher prices - whether they're higher because of taxes or not - result in fewer sales.

Runaway Slave Movie Teaser 2010

Slavery still exists in America. The plantation masters are the Democrat Party. Black Man: Are YOU an economic and cultural slave to the Democrats? Have you thought about it? Runaway Slave - The Documentary, with Pastor C.L. Bryant. An honest discussion about black conservatives in America. "Run away from the slavery of tyranny towards the blessings of liberty!" The film is now in production and is a non-profit project. Look for newsletter sign up and more details coming soon at http://www.runawayslavemovie.com

Taxburgers and Fee Fries

Image via Wikipedia
by T.H. Mannis

I'll serve the burgers in a moment. First, let me say that taxes are sadly misunderstood by Democrats and their liberal-progressive sycophants. It's ironic that the Party of Higher Taxes is so ignorant about the effects and unintended consequences of taxation. It's been proven over and over that net tax revenues rise when taxation levels are lowered.

It's counterintuitive, but makes perfect sense: Lower the taxes and suddenly more people can afford to buy more things. From the sales tax on a pack of gum, a washing machine or a condominium, part of the cost is taxes. Your real income is less because it, too, is taxed. When you raise taxes, people have less disposable income. They buy less or go to a neighboring city, county or state where the sales taxes are lower, or move there because the income tax is friendlier. This is simple, basic economics. Any kid running a lemonade understands that higher prices result in fewer sales.

Still don't get it? Okay, then, let's get to the hamburgers.

Let's say there are two hamburger joints on the same block. Right Burgers and Lefty Burgers are directly across the street from each other. They serve equally delicious burgers and fries, and their menus are identical. Both restaurants are clean and pleasant. Their prices are identical. Both, for example, charge $4.00 for a cheeseburger. Regular customers like both burger joints, and so each gets an equal share of the local lunch business. There's trouble on the horizon, however...

Image via Wikipedia

One day, the owner of Lefty Burgers decides that he can make more money if he raises the price of his burgers. He rewrites his menu with new pricing, and will now charge $5.00 for a cheeseburger. All of his other prices are raised, too. As he puts his new menu out, he smiles to himself in anticipation of higher revenues.

Lefty Burgers does make more money - temporarily. The owner is happy, but soon more and more people become aware of his higher burger price. Once-loyal customers stop coming in, realizing that the same burger is still available across the street, for less money, at Right Burgers. After two weeks, Lefty Burgers has lost all of its regular customers to Right Burgers. The only business he gets now is the occasional person passing through the neighborhood. Each burger joint used to sell about 200 cheeseburgers each per day.

Suddenly, however, Right Burgers is selling around 380 cheeseburgers per day and Lefty Burgers is selling about 20 per day. The result: Lefty Burgers is making less money, even though its prices are higher. Lefty Burgers lays of three of his six employees. Realizing that he's making less money than before, Lefty decides to raise his prices yet again. After all, shouldn't charging more result in higher revenues?

Right Burgers, fully aware of the situation, decides to put a big new sign out front advertising his newly lowered prices. A month later, Lefty Burgers lays off his remaining three employees and files for bankruptcy. Right Burgers hires all six former Lefty employees and makes plans to remodel and add a new patio.

This is how taxation works, too. If you can cross the county line or state line and get the same burger - or cigarettes, automobile, lawn mower, or anything else - for less money, you do. If you can get the same lifestyle in another county or state for less money, you will do. If you can hold your convention in another city, county or state for less money, you will. If you can open a business in another state for less money, you will. And so on.

Democrats, generally, just don't understand this simple reality. Geniuses like Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, and his fellow Democrats in the state legislature, look at the budgetary situation in the same way that Lefty Burgers looked at his and act in the same way.

It's no wonder, then, that more people are deciding to get their proverbial cheeseburgers in a state other than Illinois. Pat Quinn and Company are engaging in actions that will soon cause this state to file for bankruptcy unless action is taken. They show no willingness to take that action. You ask what that action is? Lower all taxes across the board in Illinois. They won't, however, because ideology and myth always trumps reality for Democrats, liberals and progressives. Don't ask them for fries with that cheeseburger. They'll charge you extra.

Copyright 2010 T.H.Mannis - All Rights Reserved

Wal-Mart Hate and Deaf Aldermen

Is there anybody left in America who has not had to suffer through some liberal's rants about the evils of Wal-Mart? The hatred for Wal-Mart is difficult for most of us to understand. I get the arguments about Wal-Mart's heavy-handedness with their vendors, and I wish they would import less items that are made in China. I also grok the notion that $75 per hour would be a nice living wage for a Wal-Mart greeter. Wal-Mart will always be heavy-handed with vendors (it's all legal), China is cheaper (they don't have piggish union members demanding $75 per hour) and $75 per hour is just too damned much even for a greeter. What I don't get is the holier-than-thee attitude by anti-capitalist hate mongers who prefer to have people on the public dole and, therefore, at the mercy of the government. For those people to be earning their own way and not dependent on government and politicians is ... ah, so, that's it. Wal-Mart haters crave control, not to mention a need for communal reinforcement of their own elitism and a pychotic form of chronic schadenfreude. Penn and Teller put this in perspective brilliantly. See Penn and Teller's report about Wal-Mart hate, Part 1 (Advisory: Language) (Note to Chicagoans: In Part 2 Joe Moore, 49th Ward Ald. and toadie of the SEIU and ACORN, is ripped to shreds within the first minute of the video.) So, we know the prime motivations of most Wal-Mart haters. Some of those haters are Chicago alderman. The Chicago Tribune notes this in a recent editorial: We know organized labor wants to keep Wal-Mart from expanding in Chicago. But what do the aldermen's constituents want? The answer is clear: They want the opportunity to work or shop at Wal-Mart. A new Tribune/WGN poll found that 68 percent of city residents would like to see a new Wal-Mart store in Chicago, and 72 percent say Wal-Mart would be good for the community. The support is even higher with African-Americans, who stand to gain the most economic benefit from the proposed South Side store. The poll found 72 percent of African-Americans want Wal-Mart in the city and 81 percent say it would be good for the community. Surely, even the sub-par intellects on Chicago's City Council must have been aware of this widely held sentiment among their constituents even before the Trib spoon fed it to them. Certainly, since the spoon feeding, all of the aldermen are now aware of it, and we can be confident that they will go along with the wishes of the people they represent, right? The Tribune answered that question. It was including with the spoon feeding: But the aldermen aren't listening to their constituents. The unions provide money and troops at election time. Apparently the aldermen have decided that keeping the labor bosses happy is more critical than following the wishes of their citizens. Ah yes, money. That's another motivation. "I Hate Wal-Mart" t-shirts sell well among the feeble-minded, and union bosses pay - excuse me, contribute to - politicians very generously to help them fight Wal-Mart. For the bosses, it's both power and the prospect of more dues, which would allow them to pad their piggish salaries, extracted every month from members' pockets, even more. That doesn't help union members, it doesn't help the unemployed, it doesn't help the tax revenue stream. Conservative Hats & Shirts Leave a Comment - Chicago News Bench RSS Feed Visit us on Twitter!

Joe Moore, The Nation and Walter Duranty

Chicago Ald. Joe Moore (image by THMannis)

Chicago (and Illinois) is full of shitty politicians. The whole world has been learning that since our governor, Rod Blagojevich, was dragged out of his home by federal agents and accused of massive schemes of pay to play corruption. The Chicago City Council has been the frequent target of federal corruption investigations which, over the decades, have produced many convictions of council members, known in Chicago as "aldermen."

One of them was just named one of the "Most Valuable Progressives of 2008" by The Nation, a very far-to-the-fringe-of-the-Left magazine.

The only good thing about this is that The Nation didn't waste any paper on it; the "awards" are online only and do not appear in the paper magazine.

The list is broken down into subcategories, one of which is "Most Valuable Local Official." Buried deep within The Nation's blogs section, we find that the local official is Joe Moore, is a member of the Chicago City Council. Moore is considered a bad joke of sorts by most Chicagoans and many around the world; you may recall his local legislation to ban foie gras (goose liver pate) in Chicago, which was ultimately overturned by the city council last year.

Mayor Daley can't stand him, which is one reason why Moore has trouble getting city services in his ward. Of the tens of thousands of local officials in the United States, the choice of a shady, ineffective, unresponsive official like Joe Moore seems odd indeed.

Joe Moore, 49th Ward Alderman, Chicago
(Image by: THMannis)

To put The Nation's choice into perspective, it is useful to know that the United States has literally thousands of incorporated places: Cities, towns, and villages. It should be noted that The Nation did not limit its selection of "most valuable" to elected officials, but the broader, all-inclusive category of "local" officials.

So let's do some very quick arithmetic. There are more than 25,000 cities, towns, and villages in the U.S. and Puerto Rico (Source: US Census Bureau). Each one has a mayor or village president, so there are 25,000 "local officials" right there.

Each of those towns/villages/cities has a city council, town board, or an equivalent. Let's make a lowball estimate of 10 members per town/village/city council or board, and we've got another 250,000 "local officials." We haven't yet begun to count the local heads of various departments.

Looking at the obvious, let's add more local officials (remember, we're lowballing the numbers here): 25,000 chiefs of police 25,000 assistant chiefs of police 25,000 fire chiefs 50,000 public school principals 25,000 chairs of boards of education 25,000 tax assessors 25,000 treasurers 25,000 human resources managers 25,000 heads of sanitation services. And on and on and on.

Added up, the list above comes to 500,000 (half a million) "local officials." Surely, The Nation did not examine the service records of those and the millions of other "local officials" around the nation that I failed to count (i.e., animal control officials). Are we really to believe that out of literally millions of "local officials," many of whom actually save lives every week, prosecute criminals, put out fires, and defend the poor, Alderman Joe Moore is "the most valuable?" Really? Really?

Joe Moore violating election law by
campaigning at the polls, Feb. 2007

There are 50 aldermanic wards in Chicago (twice as many as in New York City). Each ward is represented by one alderman in the city council. Alderman Joe Moore is representative of the 49th Ward, in a neighborhood called Rogers Park, and he's been in that seat for more than 17 years. He barely won re-election in a squeaky-tight run-off in April 2007.

Allegations that Moore's campaign committee committed ballot fraud, mail fraud, and bribery still float around Chicago.

Local bloggers have published a picture of Moore standing right next to a person as they are voting (photo, left), a clear violation of election law. Since that election, many of Moore's own personal friends and associates have shunned him, disgusted with the dirty and slanderous campaign that he ran.

Moore is a member of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), of which Howard Dean was head until today when Barack Obama announced that he has chosen Tim Kaine to replace Howard Dean as the DNC chair. The timing of Dean's dethronement and The Nation's selection of Moore as the most valuable local official is rich with irony.

Of Kaine, Obama said today that "It's his belief that politics is about something more than what all too often it's become in Washington, that it's not about enriching corporate friends or feeding partisan disputes or getting your name in the papers, but about the dignity of service." (Source)

Ald. Moore performs at Panderpalooza
(Photo by THMannis)

The irony is that Moore is a media whore – and a whiny, prissy one at that. He loves good press but is notorious for calling editors all over Chicago to scream at them when they report an unfavorable, inconvenient truth about him. Many reporters in Chicago have been on the receiving end of a hissy-fit phone call from him, and often they hear the phrase, "Let me talk with your editor!"

Yet Moore is not averse to jumping on stage in a park (photo, right) and rapping about his bad self to an audience of hundreds. Modesty is not his strongest assets.

Moore is the perfect example of what Obama said Kaine stands against: enriching corporate friends, feeding partisan disputes and getting his name in the papers. His "service" is limited.

A simple pile of gravel, for example, has been obstructing a bus stop in his ward for about two years now. Moore is fully aware of it but has done nothing about it while old women and disabled people are forced to hobble over or around it.

Another irony: With Howard Dean out, Moore's position in the DNC may be in jeopardy. If Tim Kaine is truly what Obama promises, he will eject the bums that currently account for much of the DNC membership. Dean, an embarrassment to Democrats nationwide, protected Moore in the DNC. Moore, an embarrassment to local Democrats in Chicago, received disproportionate support and enormous amounts of money from Dean's DNC for his re-election bid two years ago (approximately $1,000,000 was spent by Moore's committee, a disgustingly huge sum for a city council seat; that's ten year's worth of his council salary). Moore won re-election by less than 300 votes in a ward with 20,000 registered voters; he outspent run-off rival by a ratio of approximately 8 to 1.

The litany of examples of Joe Moore's lousy service is too extensive to fully describe here, so I'll refer you to a few relevant links at the end of this post. To understand the odd choice of Joe Moore, we must understand The Nation itself. For that, let's turn to an article by Bob Dacy at Infowars.com:

The Nation, [is] an old line Eastern Establishment publication whose editor, part owner, and publisher, Katrina vanden Heuvel, is a long time member of the globalist infested Council on Foreign Relations.... The CFR has been promoting one world government since its inception in 1921....(Chairman Emeritus of the CFR, David Rockefeller, has proudly admitted that he is working against the best interests of the United States in order to form a one world government. See page 405 of his book, Memoirs. )

That's The Nation, the neo-Stalinist magazine that thinks Alderman Joe Moore is "The Most Valuable Local Official" in the United States. Their explanation for choosing Moore is meager if not laughable. Here it is, in full and interrupted by my notes: In a city that has been rocked by corruption scandals of the ugliest sort, Chicago Alderman Joe Moore stands out as an example of the sort of steadfast and effective grassroots progressive who has fought the powerbrokers again and again and frequently prevailed. 

NOTE: The Nation has not been paying attention. Or, perhaps, they've gone all Walter Duranty when it comes to Moore, aware of his offenses but choose to ignore them for the sake of promoting a fellow traveler. 

Ald. Joe Moore (Image: THMannis)

Since he took office more than 17 years ago, Moore has taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from local developers, businesses hoping for licenses or zoning exceptions, unions (including the SEIU and ACORN) and other special interest groups. He is still a friend of Robert Creamer, the convicted felon married to Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), and was allegedly kiting checks with Creamer but somehow escaped being charged; Creamer was convicted and is currently out on parole. Moore is as entrenched as one can get in the local "Machine" politics. 

Moore refuses to be constrained by the supposed limits of local government. He has gotten the Chicago city council to oppose the war, defend civil liberties and take on chain-stores that batter local businesses.

NOTE: Moore was heavily criticized by local opponents of "the war" (we assume The Nation means the war in Iraq, not one of several in Africa or elsewhere) for wasting time. After all, a city council resolution against any war can only be symbolic, but it consumes time that could have been spent on fixing potholes, walking the neighborhood, returning constituents' phone calls or other duties for which Moore is paid over $100,000 annually to perform. 

As for defending civil liberties, well, congratulations to Mr. Moore for being like 99% of the rest of us on that issue. The chain-stores [sic] issue, better known as the Big Box issue, was a joke. Wal-Mart was made the whipping boy for the anti-chain retailers' movement, but a number of Chicago's south side alderman (mostly African-American) saw through the bullshit and realized that Wal-Mart is a local business when it builds a local store and hires local residents and pays them wages that get spent locally.

Moore's own anti-business attitude has kept the 49th Ward stunted economically; he leans on businesses for "contributions" or imposes conditions that are so ridiculous that businesses either leave or chose not to come in in the first place. For more than six years, Moore has promised to beautify and revamp trouble Morse Avenue and Howard Street, two blighted business districts in the 49th but has not come through. Just last summer he was assuring business owners, again, that "Streetscape" work would finally commence last fall. Now, in January, we see that nothing has been done. Business as usual for Joe Moore.

As the Holiday season approached, Moore was highlighting a "Think Globally, Shop Locally" initiative designed to help local firms compete with the big guys. "In these challenging economic times, retailers, particularly local retailers, often feel the pinch first," declared Moore in a letter to constituents. 

NOTE: Moore "letter" was an email blast that urged recipients to shop at a list of merchants in the 49th Ward, mostly retailers, and restaurants. Moore caught a lot of criticism for that because it was a small fraction of the total of such businesses, and he was accused of only highlighting campaign donors. It was not fair to other businesses, who also pay their taxes and, therefore, their share of Moore's six-figure salary.

In short, Moore stepped through a door that he really should not have opened. As for the effectiveness helping local firms "compete with the guys," it may not have hurt, but it probably didn't put any merchant over the top, either. After all, public trains run through the 49th, making it easy to escape to less blighted shopping areas.

The choices in Rogers Park are slim. Try buying a designer dress, a decent men's suit, a good pair of leather shoes, first-rate jewelry, or any of hundreds of other goods that are easily found not far from the 49th Ward. The fact is that Rogers Park has limited parking, limited goods, and services, but Moore keeps trying to pass off Howard Street and Morse Avenue like they're Rodeo Drive or Michigan Avenue. 

"We want all of our local businesses to thrive--as the saying goes, a rising tide lifts all boats. Vacant storefronts, on the other hand, have quite a different effect on our community. As we continue striving to make our community more sustainable, we need to build a retail environment where most of our needs are met locally." Moore has been active with the great national group Cities for Progress.

NOTE: Moore talks a good talk but he does not know how to walk the walk. He's a magician who has perfected his sleight of hand; (watch my right hand so you don't see what I do with my left hand).

Chicago Ald. Joe Moore (photo: THMannis)

I don't recall, nor could I find, an example of Joe Moore ever proposing a tax cut to help business owners. He sends proxies to small merchants to bully them into removing the protective iron grates from their storefronts to keep burglars out because he fears it makes the neighborhood look bad.

What Moore doesn't understand is that the murders and open-air drug sales do that, and the merchants are just trying to protect themselves. Moore has not been able to control the rampant gang activities in Rogers Park, which frightens merchants away and discourages customers from visiting.

Rogers Park is not known as a shopping destination. As for making the community "more sustainable," that's a nonsense phrase that progressives just love but rarely define.

The community, after all, is sustainable. That is, it's not going away, whether times are good or bad. But for Moore to want to "sustain" a community that has two semi-blighted, high-crime commercial strips with crappy shopping choices seems a bit weird. "Most of our needs" are already "met locally" in Rogers Park (full disclosure; I lived there for 10 years until October 2008), if you consider "needs" as basic essentials of life.

Rogers Park is better off than most in terms of the availability of decent grocers. Beyond food, water, shelter, and transportation, however, nothing else is really a "need." Moore Speak is Orwellian. 

The Nation, then, did a piss-poor job of explaining why they feel Joe Moore is the most valuable local official in the country. They did not even attempt to explain the obvious: That they chose Moore strictly for partisan reasons. Surely, the chiefs of police and fire departments or heads of sanitation departments in towns, villages, and cities across the U.S. are at least as valuable as an ineffective alderman who is despised by the local mayor and most of the local residents, widely suspected of election fraud and extortion. 

Finally, yet another irony: One of Moore's biggest supporters is local bar owner Michael James, a member of the radical SDS. James is a pal of Michael Klonsky, and both are self-described Communists. Klonsky is a chum of none other than Bill Ayers, unrepentant Weatherman terrorist bomber. Yet, while The Nation praises Joe Moore, in the same issue they harshly criticize Ayers (Bill Ayers Whitewashes History, Again). Had The Nation researched Moore, or Ayers for that matter, they would have found that connection. Perhaps they did but chose to ignore that inconvenient truth. Walter Duranty would approve. 

Cat Fight on the Left

"Cat Fight on the Left" is a nice summary by Bruno Behrend of why the teacher's unions are one of the biggest obstacles to educating children. "With all the troubles on the right," writes Behrend, "it’s nice to see liberals who want the poor to achieve take notice of the worst lobby in the world (teacher’s unions) and how they benefit from keeping the poor uneducated while they soak up every dime they can." FULL POST at extremewisdom.com... Also by Bruno: Barack Obama endorses “Corruption in Education”

Drunk, Fighting on Morse Avenue

Poor Soo Liquors just can't win for losing. It's not the liquor, Alderman Moore. It's the scum that crawl along Morse Avenue. Oh, you insist that the booze is the problem? Well tell us this, Alderman Moore: What kind of liquor does Sub Brothers sell across the street? That's right, none. Nada. Zilch. First, The Bench saw an argument last night (June 10) that spilled out of Soo Liquors's doorway onto Morse Avenue her in the 49th Ward. It was not violent, just loud and threatening. Meanwhile, one of Morse Avenue's "regulars," as the cops call them, was passed out on the curb. Drunk out of his mind, he'd apparently had slightly more than his usual daily regimen of hooch. At taxpayers' expense, the useless lump was carted off to an American hospital where he got first class health care (shut up, Hillary) and a square meal. I saw him back on the street today, wearing the same yellow shirt and up to his usual goofy antics. Nice, huh? Say, did you know we've been promised Streetscape this summer? You can clean up the things, Alderman Moore, but that won't clean up the street. Week after week after year after year, we see and put up with aggressive beggars, drunken pigs and domestic altercations on Morse Avenue. Sure, some are in front of Soo, but many are directly in front of - or even inside of - Sub Brothers. Other places, too, to be sure. So what's the problem with Morse Avenue? It ain't Soo Liquors. It's 60 years of bad social policy. The children and grandchildren of President Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" and their spawn are the problem. Is it their fault? No, as pets of the Democrats they've had bad training by their masters. In 2008, we are reaping the unintended consequences of the Democrats' funding of unwed mothers, paying people not to work, liberal judges who slap repeat offenders on their wrists, and politicians who encourage these policies by voting the wrong way on the wrong legislation. Happy Fathers Day, Rogers Park. Too bad there aren't more fathers around here.

Leftist Tyranny Update

Tom Brewton has a must-read piece at The Conservative Voice, titled "Labor-Liberal Incest." It is very timely, especially with socialist Barack Obama crawling closer to the Oval Office. Excerpts [emphasis added]: A Wall Street Journal editorial shines sunlight upon the shadowy efforts of Congressional liberal-progressives to corrode further the original Constitutional structure guaranteed by the 10th Amendment of the Bill of Rights. The abomination addressed by the Journal editorial is that members of the Democrat-Socialist Party and other liberal-progressives aim to force all cities and towns with more than 5,000 population to hand over their finances to union headquarters. The mechanism is a pending legislative enactment to compel all of these towns and cities to unionize their police forces and firemen. FULL POSTING...

Joe Moore Tried To Prevent 440 New Jobs

If Alderman Joe Moore had gotten his way with the "Big Box" ordinance, Chicago would now have about $2 million less in tax revenue, and about 440 people might be without jobs. Joe Moore is more harmful than helpful when it comes to jobs creation. Here's a great example today, from NBC5 Chicago: CHICAGO -- Chicago's first Wal-Mart store has shown impressive numbers in the Austin neighborhood in its first six months with nearly $2 million in new tax revenue and more than 440 jobs, according to a release from 37th Ward Ald. Emma Mitts Wednesday. In a press conference Wednesday morning at City Hall, Mitts announced that the store has generated more than $500,000 alone in new sales tax to the City of Chicago alone, the release said. The store’s presence has generated a total of more than $2 million in tax revenue for the city, county, state and the RTA. The store, at 4650 West North Ave., employs 443 new associates with more than half of the employees residents of Mitts’ West Side ward, the release said. The store's staff is 77 percent African American, and 17 percent are Hispanic. THE FULL STORY...