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BAH ! Notre Dame, Supreme Court and a New Lawn Mower

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Soon the President of the United States will pick a new Supreme Court Justice to replace David Souter....needless to say the litmus test may again be Roe v. Wade.  Sunday Mr. Obama braved hecklers at Notre Dame... proposed Common Ground between two "irreconcilable camps" on the issue of Abortion.  How will all of this will help Blacks decide whether or not to buy a new Lawn Mower?   

My Catholic Neighbor to the Right of me has a brand new 80-inch Gas-Guzzling Mower with a gigantic grass catcher and an elegant ignition system. This neighbor also has a Scorched Earth power train and a Your-Ass-is-Grass and I-am-the-Lawnmower attitude.  Needless to say...his daily cuttings makes a yard look more like Plowed Ground than Common Ground.    

The Local Liberal to the Left has a recycled reel mower with  a refurbished grass catcher and a composte-ignition system.  This neighbor has an Irritate Authority power train and a Your-Assets is-Grass and I-am the-Lawnmower attitude.   Needless to say her random cuttings make a yard look more like Coffee Grounds than Common Ground. 

"There's one good thing about snow, it makes your lawn look as nice as your neighbour's." --Clyde Moore.

So, the guy in the middle, the Minority Man, looks amused at the snow job in his neighborhood.

Seeking Common Ground he buys a refurbished but full-warranty Lawn Mower with very few bells and whistles but one important feature.  The ability to cut the grass just right !  It's power train is based on Practicality and it's grass catcher is goal-oriented and balanced.  He cuts the front every week and the back yard every other week.  

The moral of the story.  Focus on what everyone agrees is achievable.....preventative education, reductions in abortions, more efficient adoptions...are just a start.  That plus an attitude to pursue the practical is the best policy of all.  That's a Kick-ass Lawnpower with Assets !

BAH! Radio Fees for Performers

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Today the House Judiciary Committee will markup the Performance Rights Act...a bill that would force radio stations to pay royalties for their work.  Rallies and on-air protests are planned. Minority station owners claim it will put them out of business...that they simply can't afford it in this economic environment.  Bill supporters claim it is long past due that musicians receive compensation for their creative efforts.  

The Chair of the Judiciary Committee....John Conyers... the dean of African-American congressfolk...is a jazz aficianado and it's clear where his sympathies lie. Critics say he is backed by foreign-based record execs who stand to reap a windfall.  These critics include prominent African-American and Hispanic-Ameroican stations who rightfully claim they are at least owed a congressional hearing on their views. 

As usual the truth is somewhere in the middle.  Musicians who have their works aired for free clearly deserve something just as most other media require.  But it is just as clear that radio stations provide a unique promotional platform that can drive sales of the performer's product.  That needs to be recognized financially ...perhaps as a tax deductible in-kind asset.  

The public deserves a fair, open and transparent congressional hearing on House Bill 484 in order to judge both sides of the controversy.  Musicians deserve the right to negotiate royalties and radio station owners deserve the right to include their promotional capabilities as discounts on royalties. 

BAH! Manny like Madoff

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Manny Ramiriz is like Bernie Madoff.  Both allegedly took advantage of a weak regulatory environment and both got caught when the systems changed...exposing both.  Both played by the unwritten nod and wink  rules of both "sports".  

The slugger and the seller...both symptoms of the no-holds barred economic policy party that disdained a vigilant regulator.  Greed and Fear are the rules... And a level playing field be damned!  

It's something Seniors and Minorities know well in the Jobless Game.

 

BAH ! Obama Tax on Overseas Hidden Profits

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U-S based Multi-National Companies continue to shirk their responsibilities in supporting the recovery of the American Economy.  Now they pledge to fight the President's effort to hire 800 IRS people... to go after the 80 Billion Dollars parked overseas by these same corporations... in their morally-bankrupt effort to escape paying their fair share.  

The multi-national companies have had no trouble demanding Taxpayer Bailouts or throwing people out of work while protecting their stockpile.  Their Media and Congressional  apologists have already begun a campaign to disparage the Administration's new effort. 

Multi-National Corporations should pay the same proportion of their income in taxes as minority Americans ...and you can bet that scares them half to death. 

BAH ! Rush Limbaugh LOL

Back in the Roaring Nineties the biggest Loudmouth was Limbaugh.  My white friends in a certain midwestern state said he was great !  I listened ...mystified...for years. I wanted to know what his audience thought...an audience that controlled the White House, Congress and the Supreme Court.  

Rush sounded a lot like what I remembered of Senator Eugene McCarthy. Arrogant, dismissive, and crude. It was His version of Conservatism or the highway...and did that school of thought a Huge disservice.  He had no reporter staff to search out the truth...he merely trolled the "drive-by media" and spun it beyond reality.

Now mainstream America has seen what minority America has long known...that the Rush philosophy is as bankrupt as AIG, Chrysler, and Lehman Brothers.  That the Rush philosophy is as morally blind as the Iraq War, Katrina, and Dick Cheney. Now I can safely switch off the Limbaugh Loudmouth and know that I am not missing a thing !

BAH ! Wage Deflation

The Boston Globe and Chrysler are trying to force huge wage cuts on its workers to try to survive.  Sign of the Times.  General Motors, the financial sector, and companies across America are trying to do the same.  But that's better than losing your job right?  Sure it is...better to have income than to not have income. 

But there is a Catch 22 here.  According to ________ prize winning economist and editorialist Paul Krugman, such wage deflation is very bad for the recovery.  Those left with jobs simply don't have enough money to buy stuff at the store and fuel a consumer resurgence.  

But that analysis is for the broader market.  Certain sectors are mired in a Depression not a Recession.  African American men, Baby Boomers, Auto Workers, etc. are more afraid of not finding a job then they are of losing one they have already lost.  For them wage deflation is 100 %!!!