Wisconsin Recall Election of Scott Walker

Wisconsin voters - Please do the right thing!

tomtoak

Disgusting Rhode Island and Studio 38

I think they need to change the name of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations to, "Nausea Island and Providence Robber Barons."  While driving home to Rhode Island the other day one of the first things you notice is a rest stop along Route 95 that is now closed to the public.  This rest stop was recently constructed, within the past 8 years, and cost the state $millions to construct. Why is it closed?  Simply put, the state refuses to hire anybody.  There is no problem building facilities, but damned to hell if anyone wants to hire people to care for those facilities.

Now we come to the predicted demise of "Studio 38", the Curt Schilling gaming company that was heralded as a savior for the Rhode Island economy and that was granted $75 million in loan guarantees from taxpayer money.  To follow the story more closely, I suggest you visit RIFuture.org.  This is the best progressive political site in Rhode Island. 

Yes, Rhode Island has not only stolen from the future financial security of its public employees by attacking pension systems state wide, but it has stolen from everybody throwing money at ill-conceived ventures.  Rhode Island acts like a venture capital firm, but is never successful with its investments.  This has to be the only state that built a major downtown hotel (The Westin) and then suffered operating losses of $25 million per year for over a decade.  This has to be the only state that is stupid enough to guarantee the profits of a gambling casino which will one day cost $millions because of the casino bill in Massachusetts.  This has to be the only state that stupidly backs a gaming company that could not raise its own revenues from venture capital sources. How about spending over $44million on the new Wickford train station that nobody uses. These disasters are just the tip of the iceberg.

This state has robbed from the poor and middle class to give to the rich and there is no sign that it is willing to stop.  Sounds like Republican politics but beware, we happen to live in a "Republicrat" state, if you know what I mean.  The state has reduced the state work force by over 3000 employees during the past 10 years while the state budget skyrockets to new heights each and every year.  Stop blaming the public employees and stop stealing from them.  Rhode Island is throwing its money away in the direction of rich people and that is why our unemployment rate remains higher than 11% and is growing all of the time.  As our problems grow, the state continues to throw money haphazardly in every direction except the right one.  Government has to do what it is suppose to do. Government needs to use its tax dollars to educate, regulate, protect, and preserve.  Government should not be in the "business game". 

Until Rhode Island can move in the opposite direction of its leadership and whiny radio talking heads, you can expect higher unemployment, growing government debt and the scapegoating of public sector employees.  Welcome to "Nausea Island"!

tomtoak

Catholic Church leadership continues to spew nonsense

I really don't want to post this article but I am compelled to.  I grew up Catholic and did my 12 years; if you know what I mean.  Nothing has upset me more than recent attacks by the church hierarchy on President Obama.  I hope my mother never sees this (she would not understand), but I feel I have to share my opinion to others.  What I am about to say does not speak to the majority of church officials that think otherwise and that have always lived up to their vocation.

Lately, I have been upset by stories I have seen on the History Channel that relate to World War II and the role of the Catholic Church in facilitating the escape of Nazi war criminals that were Catholic.  These criminals included Adolf Eichmann, Martin Bormann (who was presumed dead) and Josef Mengele.  Eichmann was responsible for developing the "final solution" and designed the gas chambers, Bormann was the "right hand man" to Adolf Hitler and we all know the disgusting things that Mengele did.  These three criminals escaped through what was known as the "ratline" that was orchestrated by many Catholic leaders.  The church was responsible for hiding these Nazis for 5 years until they provided a means for their escape to Uruguay in 1950.  Creating false documents and passports were all part of the church conspiracy and the evidence has been well documented.  Additionally, I learned that after the defeat of Germany, many Bishops in some European countries required all parishes to offer their Mass on Easter Sunday to Adolf Hitler.

This is very disturbing to learn at this point in my life, but it does not stop here. Just yesterday I had to be treated to the hate filled garbage from Bishop Daniel Jenky from Illinois who proclaimed that Barack Obama is traveling the same footsteps as Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin.  This occurs just weeks after Pope Benedict (member of the Nazi Youth) appoints Bishop Timothy Dolan of New York to the College of Cardinals to further ensure the extreme conservative agenda of the Catholic Church in future leadership voting.  You may remember that Bishop Dolan recently asserted that the Catholic Church did everything right in the sex abuse scandal and the controversy was aimed at destroying the Catholic Church.  Forget the fact that the church reported nothing, forgave the sins of the priests time and time again and neglected to help those abused.  I can't begin to speak of how I feel about the church position on contraception. 

I am furious with the Catholic Bishops and each and every Catholic should be furious too.  I am tired of reading anti-Semitic stories of Bishops abusing their power by selling nonsense.  Do you want to see something very scary?  (Watch this interview). Do you want to see the truth about the Holocaust and the involvement of the Catholic Church in its aftermath?  (Watch this documentary).

I don't think the leadership of the Catholic Church is walking anywhere near the footsteps of Jesus Christ.  I think the church is lost in the wilderness.  Barack Obama won the vote of 57% of Catholics during the 2008 election; lets hope he gets 99% in 2012!!

tomtoak

Update on Rhode Island Pension Thefts

I was sitting at a bar with an old friend and former state employee and the conversation shifted to the pension disaster in Rhode Island. I was surprised to hear that the retiree was not as concerned as I was about the loss of our COLA for 19 years. I asked him if he knew how much money he would be losing if the courts don't reverse the pension theft. He responded around $40,000. I was shocked. He had not really looked at the issue in depth. When I told him he is actually losing around $400,000, he gasped. I explained the additive nature of the theft. I'm left wondering how many other retirees are not doing the math.

I guess a lot of smart people are not thinking mathematically, but you can bet your last penny that Gina Raimondo knows the bottom line. The Rhode Island legislature, Gina Raimondo and Lincoln Chafee must really like following in Bernie Madoff's footsteps. $Billions are being stolen from the retirees.

After having another conversation with a different retiree that I respect for her dedication to her profession, I became more concerned about the thought process of retirees as a whole. In this conversation, my friend stated that she is glad the issue is behind us and we will never have to face this problem again. I chuckled and told her that she needs to remember how government works. Once government goes to "the well" for money to bail out their pet projects, they spend all the money and face the exact same dilemmas a few years down the road. When resources dry up, politicians continue to return to "the well". This is the nature of politics as we know it.

I ask you, do you really think this is the end of it? Can't you see the politicians 4 years from now demonizing the public retirees again because they get "exorbitant" pensions? I explained to my friend that this is the very reason why the court has to put a stop to the theft now.

I was a big supporter of Lincoln Chafee when he ran for Governor. At one point he was asked in a union setting his position on the public pension debate. Chafee's response was; a promise made is a promise kept. Chafee went back on his word. Raimondo said at the beginning of the process that all parties would have to pitch in to solve the pension crisis. Raimondo went back on her word. The entire solution was laid in the laps of the retirees and current public employees. No new tax solution was even debated to assist the state with keeping its promises.

Bottom line: Chafee is not trustworthy and Raimondo is not trustworthy. Hope lies with the courts and the unambiguous language found in the Rhode Island Constitution. What these crooks did is not constitutional and all public employees should not rest until the court draws the line. Retirees and public employees should not grow complacent and let the thieves get away with it. If our politicians get away with this one, they will most definitely come back to "the well". Mark my words!!

tomtoak

We need to take back our country - What?

It's time for me to move away from state issues and begin to focus more on the upcoming election of 2012. The phrase in today's politics that upsets me the most is; "we need to take our country back". Back from whom? Even Barack Obama jumped into the fray with his state of the union speech by proclaiming, "our country is back". Obama is referring to the return of a healthier economy, but what do Republicans mean by proclaiming; "we need to take our country back"?

There have been 56 presidential elections in US history and 44 Presidents. Barack Obama won the last election by 9,549,105 votes which is the 5th largest margin of victory in US history. Only Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, Dwight Eisenhower and Franklin Roosevelt for one of his four terms had a larger margin of victory. Obama's victory was 1 week old before Republicans started proclaiming the need the take "our" country back. Who the hell is "our"? What about my country and the majority of Americans that chose to support Barack Obama? Republicans continue to claim they speak for all of us when clearly, they only speak to a minority.

What did Barack promise in 2008 and has he lived up to the promises made to the majority? Let me recall a number of promises; end the war in Iraq, universal health care for everyone, increase our efforts in Afghanistan to better pressure al Qaeda, maintain middle class tax cuts and only increase taxes on those earning over $250,000 each year, end "don't ask, don't tell", support gay unions but not gay marriage, promote equality for women in the work place, pass a stimulus package to jump start the economy and get people back to work, save the US auto industry, pursue greater regulation of Wall Street, work towards a secure energy future, support alternative energy and close Guantanamo Bay prison.

That was a lot of promises and that is what the 9+ million majority expected out of this President. Has Obama delivered? I grade his performance as an A-. Obama has delivered on most promises although some solutions required compromise. Obama has not been able to close down Guantanamo Bay because of intransigence in Congress. His health care plan leaves a lot to be desired, but it's a start. Nobody has been able to achieve what he has on this difficult issue. Obama has performed remarkably in an atmosphere of hatred towards his presidency.

Let's be honest, "we need to take back our country" is all about racism. I don't think you could find a President that has so closely aligned his governing with his promises. Governor Mitch Daniels of Indiana gave the Republican response to Obama's address to Congress and stated that there are fewer people working in the United States today than at any point during the last 3 years of the Obama presidency. Is this propensity to lie going to be the future of our politics? Republicans that can't make the facts fit their agenda just like to make things up. We have had steady job growth in this country in 18 of the previous 24 months, there has been 15 consecutive months of steady job growth and the unemployment rate has declined from 10% to 8.5% nationally during the past 24 months. Given the state of our union when Obama became President, I think he is truly heading towards being one of our greatest leaders.

For the racists and haters out there that want to "take our country back"; love it or leave it! It's my country!

tomtoak

Open letter to the "Providence Journal"

This letter speaks for itself:

Dear Editors:

After over 35 years subscribing to your newspaper, we must inform you of our intention to cancel our subscription. This action is not taken without significant thought towards what the people of Rhode Island deserve. We have determined that they do not deserve your unbalanced and hateful treatment of public employees. Your incessant use of page one headlines biasing the pension debate was nauseating, especially when scant attention was paid to many important national and world events that required coverage.

Your paper’s cheerleading of the stealing of $billions from the retirees of this state showed a lack of fairness that is required from a major state newspaper. Your intimidating tactic of making sure all readers in the “Letters” section know when a point of view emanates from a public employee is truly classless. Your lack of judicious treatment of the pension debate was obvious even to those without a direct stake in the issue.

Your newspaper continually allowed one-sided arguments in major editorial pieces that demonized public workers until the vote was taken. After the vote, you finally allowed one major editorial writer to provide a defense of the state retirement system. Your newspaper refused to seek the truth regarding the flawed actuarial assumptions made by the General Treasurer, Gina Raimondo which inflated the pension liability to epic proportions (average life expectancy of 87.6 years) (see attached). Your paper refused to make the case that Raimondo’s assumptions were based on recession era math and that through cost averaging, the pension fund will rebound (The pension fund made 20.4% last year).

Additionally, your newspaper refused to investigate the financial assumptions being made by the Raimondo team that the state would have to contribute 35% of salary for the foreseeable future (pure hogwash). Try doing the math yourselves: An absolute lie was forced down the throats of Rhode Islanders and you made decisions to ignore the truth. Working until the age of 67 is also unwise. This requires a new worker out of college to work 45 years before retirement and carries with it many economic realities not properly addressed or debated by decision makers.

One of your pet providers to the “Letters to the Editor”, Karl Stephens, Barrington (December 17, 2011) criticizes your newspaper for not blasting Jon Corzine for the $billions missing from MF Global Holdings solely because he is a Democrat. Typically, Mr. Stephens is concerned about the $billions stolen from investors but could care less about the $billions stolen from the public employees that invested their lives and money in the state retirement system. We are sick and tired of your 3 nut-case letter writers from Pawtucket, Saunderstown and Barrington that you give voice to every month (you know who they are!)

Simply put; your newspaper is no better than Bernie Madoff. At least Bernie Madoff ended up in jail for life. Nobody will do time for the stealing of $billions from the retirees of this state and your newspaper put the blame solely on the shoulders of the public employees. We all cared about the folks that got robbed by Madoff and others but nobody cared about the public employees. You all should be ashamed of yourselves.

Now it’s time to pay the piper; so to speak. We will no longer support your biased newspaper to the tune of $416 per year. The debate about loss of funds to “Crossroads Rhode Island” is just the beginning. Have you checked out the demographics of the folks who go to Twin River Casino? Do you think there are a lot of retirees? Do you think they will continue to drop their extra cash there? Not if they don’t get a COLA for 19 years! The economic fallout from the disastrous decision to so radically change the pension system is just in its infancy.

If you think you treated public employees fairly, just ask the person in the street what they think about public employees. We were demonized by Raimondo and others but you folks at the “Providence Journal” did the greatest disservice to the public employees by not seeking truth as journalists should. It is every journalist’s duty to be fair and unbiased in their investigation and reporting.

After over 35 years; farewell!

tomtoak

Raimondo's faulty pension data begins to sting Rhode Island

As seen in this blog in prior posts, the pension law changes shoved down the throats of our weak kneed legislature was based on faulty assumptions that I argued would lead to economic decline in this state. Raimondo's most egregious error was to rely on data from actuaries that live in outer space. Her insistence that the life expectancy for retirees should be 87.6 years on average is absolute hogwash. Using such bad data created the crisis which she so joyfully capitalized on.

I draw your attention to the chart. This chart represents a random study of deaths in Rhode Island during the Fall of 2011. Days were randomly selected and age at death calculated from the obituary page of the Providence Journal. In total, there were 257 deaths recorded. The average age of death was 77.4 years and out of the 257 deaths recorded during the study; 50 people lived past 88 years. The green line represents Raimondo's science fiction while the red line represents today's reality. (Please note: On the chart the green line says 88.6 but it represents the 87.6 year target - my mistake) Raimondo's unbelievable pension plan actually adds on 10 years of life in one giant leap of economic whackyness.

I know this information is anecdotal and not a scientific study. This chart does provide a view of the present day longevity of Rhode Island residents. It can be used for comparison purposes. You need to also remember that the chart represents only those people with the hard cash to pay the Providence Journal for the listing. These folks may actually live a little longer than those without the cash. Regardless; the assumptions made by Raimondo are wild-ass assumptions.

Now on to the state's economic decline. Today's Providence Journal rag has a lead story entitled; "Job losses edge up for fourth month." (Please note: I no longer link to the Providence Journal as policy for this blog) Rhode Island lost 1,900 jobs in November and the unemployment rate is again increasing for the first time in nearly 2 years (10.5%). In the same edition of the Journal, the national news headline is: "The Economy: Edging toward recovery" The national unemployment rate has ticked down to 8.6%. While things are getting better in the nation, Rhode Island's downward spiral continues. I guess stealing $billions from retirees is not working. Rhode Island can't even add jobs during the Holiday season. Do you think it has something to do with consumer confidence and retirees holding tight to their money? You bet it does! Get ready for 19 more years of this. Is it coincidence that Rhode Island has been faltering economically during the past 4 months: The same 4 months as the pension debate boiled?

In other more promising news: The Rhode Island Supreme Court denied the state's request for summary judgement on the issue of state pensions being contractual. The Supreme Court sent the case back to Superior Court for trial because the unions have a solid case. Maybe it will take the courts in Rhode Island to straighten up the economy. God knows, the Governor and Treasurer can't do it. Retirees have won round 2!

tomtoak

Anti-Union = Anti-American

In a country filled with political braggadocio, politicians that despise unions are UN-American. I am sick and tired of listening to people blast unions. The landscape in America today has 1% controlling a near majority of wealth in this nation while the middle class struggles to pay the bills, put kids through college and plan for a decent retirement. When will the 1% be happy? When they control 100% of the wealth? Are we all to return to slavery - working our entire lives to enrich our owners. Now just imagine what this country would be like if there was never a union.

Unions have fought for the middle class and stood up to the powerful interests that could care less about worker health, safety, security and retirement. The system has been tipped too far in favor of the wealthy and this needs to change. Take for example the pension systems of private companies. Thanks to our enlightened Congress, pension plans of private corporations are company assets that can be leveraged in favor of the big money interests. When the corporation is sold, the pension plans frequently get stolen leaving the workers with little and the Federal Government partially filling the void. We subject ourselves to constant bailouts of industries that want to do business overseas so they don't have to pay taxes here at home and their actions are always at the expense of the working stiffs.

To get to my primary point, anti-union is anti-capitalism. Why in a free society can't workers organize to argue for justice in the work place? Unions have found a capitalistic niche that should not be overlooked. While unions collect dues from workers, they serve as a leveling force in our society. As unions falter, so will the middle class. Let me think of a government system that hated unions and outlawed them: How about communism? The Scott Walkers of our country, most Republicans and the fanatic radio talk show fringe would turn this country in the direction of communism. I'm serious, there are those that feel that outlawing unions is a good thing. There are those that feel that autocratic rule is the way to get things done. The way to keep the rich rich and to hell with anyone else.

Let's get one thing straight, unions are capitalistic ventures and free marketeers ought to be supporting their role in our society. Management at the negotiating table represent the many (stock holders and monied interests) while unions represent the workers. Unions have a way of leveling the playing field and Americans need to understand their importance to the middle class. Remove unions and we are far closer to totalitarian rule. If you oppose unions, you do not support free market systems. If you believe that the wealthy have a right to make their millions while workers are silenced, then you are anti-American.

We just witnessed another step towards autocratic rule in Rhode Island when General Treasurer Gina Raimondo pushed her pension reform legislation. She did not even consider negotiating with unions. She could not be bothered. Again; I tell Rhode Islanders and Americans, be careful what you wish for.

tomtoak