National issues in a Nutshell

   Post Script to blog post below:  LOL, now I've thought about it a bit more, I  realize that the thesis of my writing below buys into the lie that cuts in corporate taxes creates jobs. But this is just a popular myth propagated by our scurrilous politicians & their cohorts in the  "news" networks. My basic college education (in journalism, which is how I know how bad our news media is) tells  me that the idea is patently false that tax cuts on big business creates jobs. In fact, this is merely part of the the "rosey scenario" (described below) that politicians & the news media paint on behalf of their rich corporate bosses. Actually, the only thing that creates jobs in a capitalistic society is the balance between  supply and demand. Even my mother, who is a 1956 high school graduate, knows this. When demand outstrips supply, suppliers react by immediately raising the price of the goods or service and followed by increasing the supply if that's possible. At that point, efforts to increase the supply may include plans to expand infrastructure and/or hire more people, depending on the type of industry and the existing infrastructure. So logically, the only tax cut that will reliably spur job creation is tax cuts on consumers of goods and services. Then the consumers go to the marketplace, spend the tax return on a broad variety of goods and services, which in turn creates more general demand that may outstrip the supply of a broad range of services and goods, possibly leading to the creation of many more jobs over a broad range of industries to meet that demand. So the corporations do not need more tax cuts, consumers do.
 My original post:
     How come politicians, neither Republicans, nor Democrats ever talk about tax cuts for the rich and corporations IF they've created new jobs that year?
       Instead, both sides, at one time or another, talk about and hand out the tax cuts AS IF it's a conclusion that doing so creates U.S. jobs. However, a frequent guest on CNN today pointed out that 'if tax cuts in recent years for corporations creates jobs, then we'd be up to our wazoos in jobs by now'. What he didn't say, what neither the politicians nor the press ever point out in the same story about tax cuts and job creation, is that the jobs ARE created- but only overseas where labor is dirt cheap. Not only that, but the government hands out even more tax cuts to ship more jobs oversees.
           The reason they do that is because the majority of our politicians in both parties are owned by the large corporations & industries & told "cut our taxes" no matter what. So our politicians real job is painting rosey pictures of their back room deals with the industries & corporations (intent on breaking the back of American workers for profit) public consumption. They are aided in that by the "news" networks (CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN,FOX, CNBC,MSNBC) which all acknowledge that their paychecks come from the very same corporate interests, but disingenuously & falsely claim that the accuracy & quality of their news reporting is not affected. So the bottom line is that when they (news networks, politicians, corporate mouthpieces all) talk about cutting taxes again for coporations & rich people, they always leave out the recent news that two thirds of the large U.S. corporations last year, which made healthy profits, did not pay any taxes at all!
     And to add insult to injury, they talk about more tax cuts on these corporations (that don't pay taxes now & haven't created significant jobs in this country over the last 10 years)  as being a definitive job creating mechanism, implying that it is for U.S. citizens (if you move to China and work for 1 yen a day or more if you are a soldier and even much more if a contractor in one of our wars).
           But we should listen closely to what they always leave out when painting this fantasy scenario: They leave out in what country and for whom the jobs are created, leaving us to assume it's for us (ahhhh, the fine science of political rosey picture painting)! So what is the chance that some day soon, our politicians pass tax cuts for the rich and powerful only IF they've already created jobs that year and not because "maybe" they will? They are law makers and can pass a law that gives out tax cuts to corporations that create jobs for Americans in America. But they never will as long as they can keep things the way they are handing over money to the rich while painting rosey scenarios about how they work for you and I and not Them.


                                       

The latest Facebook wannabe: CNN

CNN has gone off the deep end trying to be a social network instead of a news network. Of all the contrivances the CNN programmers have come up with to try to become a social network instead of a news network, none is so wasteful and contrived as a the The "Choose The News"  segments where people get to text in and vote for one of 3 stories to be shown in the next hour.
        One problem is that the three choices are always legitimate, important and potentially interesting news stories that all should be aired. Another problem is that they show enough teaser of each that it is obvious that all three shows are produced, in the can & ready to go. Therefore, CNN could show all 3 if they wanted to. So the whole voting for the news thing is a contrivance and it appears to me that they are actually wasting resources doing it.
           Like I said CNN has become another lame social network instead of a news one. But MSNBC is just as bad, breaking into a  legitimate, important news story with "breaking news" about Lindsey Lohan in court. And MSNBC  (I think it is MSNBC or maybe CNN? who cares) has a new motto that is so lame: "Lean Forward" that it reflects badly on the entire network every time it is shown on the screen. It basically says about that  network "MSNBC (or CNN) is run by a brain-dead idiot who thinks this stupid phrase  is a "great motto."
      I don't know how intelligent people like Rachel Maddow & Keith Olbermann can stand or could stand to continue working at MSNBC.  I'm betting that if someone collected all the brains of all the programming decision makers at both networks and turned it into fuel, there there would not be enough fuel produced to power a pissant's minibike half way around a BB.
           If you want even less evidence of intelligence at those networks,  look the Rick Sanchez debacle at CNN. Here, I am not even referring to  the "final episode in the Rick Sanchez at CNN" story in which CNN fired him apparently for making comments about Jews and calling Jon Stewart a bigot. Sanchez, to me, with his total ineptitude & good looks was obviously hired as a token Hispanic minority (still white though).     
         He was  the anchor of a CNN supposed "news", airing in the prime time 8 p.m. slot weeknights, called "Rick's List" (that was awful). The problem is, though possessing a degree in journalism, he was no broadcast journalist (more like a game show host) by a long shot.
     In fact, if Sanchez managed to have a legitimate news subject during his show, he always obliterated  it so badly with his his twisted presentation & delivery style (not taught in any broadcast school) that you either had to turn your TV off or kick it in JUST TO MAKE IT (Sanchez) STOP!
           But that was not Sanchez's fault, I mean, to me, he seemed to be just some miscast spokesmodel (I thought until I researched him) that applied for a job (or was scouted) at CNN and got it. It turns out, though, he is a trained journalist who chose to deliver the news like a (bad) game show host. But it is important, before bashing him too badly, to realize that his employer approved of his work. Indeed his rotten show had to have the full approval and backing of the programming "geniuses" at CNN (or it would not have aired), who now bring you "Choose the News" and loads of other total obfuscative crap.
     My opinion of self-described news networks doing celebrity news is in this that I wrote earlier:
    Tongue in cheek I said "Lindsey Lohan, not (Charlie) Sheen is the best example of everything wrong" with television "news".  For instance, I was watching an interesting informative story on MSNBC and they broke in with "breaking news" about her court appearance: "Judge Says Lindsey Lohan Will Face Jail Time." Good for her! I'm happy for her!"
      The "news" networks & programs need to purge themselves of this garbage (their program directors too) that they are doing for ratings & concentrate on real news. Networks like CNN show all the time that their resources are limited by virtue of the fact that they routinely completely drop coverage of one ongoing world issue to cover the next breaking one. But the real pisser is when they drop stories about the Iraq turmoil to cover a "breaking story" on MJ or ANS. So it is  unconscionable for these networks to dedicate any of their demonstrably limited resources to any celebrity (other than a blurb saying they're dead). But they go on and on with feature stories on celebrity mishaps and relegate real breaking, important news to a little text stream underneath.
      In fact, if you watch the streamer at the bottom of the CNN TV screen, the news there is nearly always more important and more interesting than whatever they are broadcasting on the main screen. What is even more frustrating about that is that you are left with more questions about the streaming text stories than the answers CNN never provides.
      This celebrity garbage should be relegated to the half- hour celebrity news programs and networks like E! E! doesn't try to be CNN so CNN, CNBC, MSNBC should stop trying to be E! (and Facebook, Twitter &UTube, all rolled up into one giant crappy ball of stupidity) Or at least dramatically curb the coverage they are giving celebrities by putting them in the text streamer at the bottom instead of putting real news there.
     Celebrity news is for brain-dead sycophants who think the celebrities are better than them and somehow more exciting, interesting & important than anything real in their lives like their children or their job, etc. News programming is supposed to stimulate these stupid people into becoming more critical thinkers by presenting them with hard news and facts about their community and the world. Instead, the networks totally break their ethical standards by pandering to the lowest common denominator of their viewing public: the celebrity hound.
     News is supposed to inform and elevate the ignorant, not travel right along side them. I know this because I have a degree and experience in journalism. All cable tv news (& most local news) today violates nearly every principle and ethic that I learned. Let these celebrity hounds have their E! network. I demand real news and don't have anything!
                                                                                                                                                         

 

The kids are all right

The events in Egypt are tragic but at least all our troubles went there! It nice to tune into cable news CNN, FOX, CNBC and see that all our troubles (news) migrated to Egypt and nothing is happening here. No more shootings,deaths,corrupt politicians or lazy,stupid good-for-nothing journalists!& don't worry about Egypt either! It will be just fine when the next youngish celebrity suddenly dies!