One of our alert readers suggested a tagline for the Dose - thanks for the idea.....
"Davids Daily Dose - it's worse than you think"..........hmmmm....kind of like it.......
Anyway off we go..........
Washington seems to have totally forgotten about the unemployed. Yes the politicians chant in unison "jobs, jobs" but nothing ever gets done, and the reason is there are no kudos for doing the right thing for the suffering in America - our politicians are rewarded for doing things that benefit their corporate masters.
Actually having a high unemployment rates suits these bastards just fine, because it drives down wages, makes anyone with a decent job afraid to lose it, and makes unions less powerful.
So the political obsession de jour is the deficit, and cuts to social programs that are desperately needed in America's middle and lower classes without touching any of the real issues, military spending, Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid. And the cuts they are making at both the Federal level and by the new wave of Republican Governors will actually create more unemployment.....so the cycle goes on.
Bottom line folks - Washington doesn't care what you think, ignores what you need and is pandering to the oligarchy who pull all of the strings in this country. So I guess we learn to live with it and watch Fox News, who will happily tell us who to hate this month.....
Anyway, here is an excellent Paul Krugman column titled "The Forgotten Millions".....well worth reading.....
So one-sixth of America’s workers — all those who can’t find any job or are stuck with part-time work when they want a full-time job — have, in effect, been abandoned.
It might not be so bad if the jobless could expect to find new employment fairly soon. But unemployment has become a trap, one that’s very difficult to escape. There are almost five times as many unemployed workers as there are job openings; the average unemployed worker has been jobless for 37 weeks, a post-World War II record.
In short, we’re well on the way to creating a permanent underclass of the jobless. Why doesn’t Washington care?
Part of the answer may be that while those who are unemployed tend to stay unemployed, those who still have jobs are feeling more secure than they did a couple of years ago. Layoffs and discharges spiked during the crisis of 2008-2009 but have fallen sharply since then, perhaps reducing the sense of urgency. Put it this way: At this point, the U.S. economy is suffering from low hiring, not high firing, so things don’t look so bad — as long as you’re willing to write off the unemployed.
Yet polls indicate that voters still care much more about jobs than they do about the budget deficit. So it’s quite remarkable that inside the Beltway, it’s just the opposite.
This has to be one of the most powerful commercials ever made, and every teenager getting his or her license should be made to see this - twice.
It's an Australian anti drunk driving message from TAC, and it will put you off driving under the influence for a while.
Warning - very graphic and painful....but mesmerising. Five minutes.
Ah Florida
There are literally dozens of stories I could put in here this week detailing the stupidity, corruption and downright craziness of our Florida Legislature and Tallahassee politicians, but we'll just settle for a national story from the Washington Post about our pig-headed thief of a Governor, Big Rick.
I talked to someone recently who did business with him when Scott was in the health industry, and apparently he's just the same. He says "this is what we're going to do" and ploughs ahead, and won't listen to reason, logic or compassion. The problem is with him now is that he is pandering to the lunatic fringe of the Republican Party, say [generously] 5% of the population of Florida, and is willing to screw the other 95% along the way.
He is dangerous for our state, our environment, and our wellbeing, and when the scum he has appointed to various state agencies start to kick in their programs maybe even the stupids will start to realise what a walking disaster this idiot is.....
The exchange is characteristic of Scott’s ascent and, now, his governing style. Unafraid to ruffle feathers even in his own party, Scott is emerging as a one-of-a-kind chief executive in the year of the GOP governor.
Ever since Election Day, it has been go-time for Scott, who came to the job with an unapologetic agenda that some say would make even Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) look timid.
But while Walker has clashed with unions and Democrats, Scott has run into problems with his own party. And with a tough budget fight ramping up in the Sunshine State, the unconventional governor’s style and bold proposals will be increasingly put to the test.
Scott faces a $3.6 billion budget shortfall, but he also wants to cut nearly $2 billion in taxes. He wants to cut $1.75 billion in education funding, get rid of 8,500 state workers, and require the remaining state workers to pay 5 percent of their salaries toward their retirement.
Even such an ambitious agenda would appear doable, especially since Scott came into office with a new governor’s dream – Republican super-majorities in both chambers of the state legislature.
Todays joke
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