Nibbling away at us, one percent, house, street, or rung at a time

1/6/2015 5:07 PM

I want to start off by remembering my sister, Julia Magnolia Epiphany Willis, on this, her birthday, Epiphany Day, the 12^th Day of Christmas.  She passed away ten years ago, but created two beautiful girls who do her proud, do us all proud, every day. ‘Nuff said there. On to today’s entertainment.

Congress opened today, and the Republicans went right to it: Keystone hearings tomorrow and a vote on Thursday.  Trying to pack the CBO with GOP followers of Voodoo economics, aka ‘dynamic scoring’, which means ‘tax cuts for the rich don’t cause deficits.’ No, really, that’s what it means. And changing the meaning of ‘full-time work’ in the context of employer-mandated health insurance. So only if you work 40 hrs/week would they have to provide insurance, instead of 30 hrs, like now. That way, they can cut your hours to 39 and a half, and you don’t get health insurance.

Meanwhile, over at the SEC, GOP Commissioner Gallagher stopped Nobel-prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz from being placed on an advisory (as in ‘gives advice, doesn’t make policy’) panel to the SEC that SEC Chair Mart Jo White is trying to set up, on the subject of high-speed, high-frequency trading and other ways that Wall Street swindles investors.  Cause Republicans are all about letting markets be free to play the game with marked cards. 

The GOP really hates reality, and the economics that go with it.

Don’t  you love Republicans?

Meanwhile, today’s paper had a few things of note, especially if you’re a city dweller.

The fractional economy, where no one can afford a real hotel room, or a real car, so we AirBnB or Uber, continues to ruin neighborhoods. Today, it’s the GPS-guided traffic apps, which redirect drivers to zoom downyour residential street when that big main artery over there is jammed.  Instead of unknown people in the house or apartment next door, for a day or week at a time, now it’s cars going from nowhere to nowhere else, using your street as a dragstrip.

Meanwhile, here in LA, developers continue to prove whycorporations aren’t people, or even good citizens. No matter what promises they make to get a building built, they have their fingers crossed behind their backs, and know that while the neighbors will catch them at it, the City won’t do sh*t. 

I live in Venice, and whether it’s residential or commercial development, the only objective is get the money and run. I could mention a restaurant: Gjood food, lousy neighbor. But I won’t.  No, not me.

I want to finish with the closing line of ContinuingTitanic Captain John Boehner’s speech to open the House today:

“May the fruits of our labors be ladders our children can use to climb the stairs to the stars.”

Sorry, Mr. Speaker, you and yours have shipped most of the rungs of those ladders to the cheapest-labor countries on earth.  If there is any justice, you name will be remembered for that.

1/6/2015 5:44 PM