OWS Raised Awareness Of Class Conflict

Despite the criticism of Occupy Wall Street as a movement without a purpose, it actually raised awareness and changed the national dialogue. First, the misguided emphasis on the deficit gave way to a focus on employment as the way toward economic revival. In addition, the public became aware of income inequality and the ways in which the economy was rigged through tax cuts for the wealthy and deregulation. According to a recent survey by the non-partisan Pew Research Center, most Americans now believe that class conflict is the greatest source of tension in the country. While Mitt Romney wants the discussion of income inequality confined to “quiet rooms,” the awareness of economic injustice is spreading–in great part due to OWS:

About two-thirds of Americans now believe there are “strong conflicts” between rich and poor in the United States, a survey by the Pew Research Center found, a sign that the message of income inequality brandished by the Occupy Wall Street movement and pressed by Democrats may be seeping into the national consciousness.

...The survey, which polled 2,048 adults from Dec. 6 to 19, found that perception of class conflict surged the most among white people, middle-income earners and independent voters. But it also increased substantially among Republicans, to 55 percent of those polled, up from 38 percent in 2009, even as the party leadership has railed against the concept of class divisions.

The change in perception is the result of a confluence of factors, Mr. [Richard] Morin [a senior editor at Pew Social & Demographic Trends] said, probably including the Occupy Wall Street movement, which put the issue of undeserved wealth and fairness in American society at the top of the news throughout most of the fall.

...The survey attributed the change, in part, to “underlying shifts in the distribution of wealth in American society,” citing a finding by the Census Bureau that the share of wealth held by the top 10 percent of the population increased to 56 percent in 2009, from 49 percent in 2005.

“There are facts behind it,” Mr. Smith said of the findings. “It’s not just rhetoric.”

Image: Charles Barsotti, The New Yorker

Klein, Douthat: Who Can Name Gingrich's Big Ideas?

Is anyone less deserving of the title "ideas man" than Newt Gingrich? Paul Krugman had it right: Gingrich is "a stupid man's idea of what a smart person sounds like." Consider Gingrich's recent ideas: liberal federal employees should be fired; "radical" judges should be impeached and possibly arrested; school janitors should be fired and poor kids should take their place. It is amazing that the author of these outlandish proposals is treated in some circles as a public intellectual, let alone taken seriously as a presidential candidate.

Liberal commentator Ezra Klein (left) and conservative Ross Douthat agree on the paucity of ideas from this so-called "ideas man." Klein states that Gingrich's recent half-baked arguments are characteristic of his career:

He’s got the largest and most fiscally irresponsible tax cut in the race, but he doesn’t mention it much. His plans to cut spending are vague. He says he agrees with Ron Paul on the dangers of fiat money and the Federal Reserve, but he hasn’t proposed doing anything about it. Last night, during his speech in South Carolina, the only policy he explained in any detail was a proposal to allow offshore drilling off the coast of Louisiana and use the resulting revenues to modernize the port. That would be a medium-sized idea if he was running for governor of Louisiana. It’s the 14th bullet point in your energy policy when you’re running for president.

Broadly speaking, this seems typical for Gingrich’s career: His ideas on the big issues are standard-issue conservatism, and they’re mixed in with occasional flights of fancy (illuminate highways using orbiting mirrors that reflect moonlight), pure plays to resentment and fear (execute 19-year-olds who are stupidly trying to smuggle two ounces of pot from Mexico), and a lot of small, specific ideas, like the Louisiana port reconstruction. But perhaps I’m wrong. Can anyone name some actually big, actually workable, actually new ideas that Gingrich has been associated with during his career? What has he brought to the table that wouldn’t have been there in his absence?

Douthat (left) has difficulty identifying any worthy ideas on Gingrich's part; instead, the GOP candidate offers insubstantial proposals and the politics of anger:

I have, for my sins, watched Gingrich make his pitch across what feels like seventeen thousand Republican primary debates, and I am at a loss to identify the “big ideas” and “big solutions” that he is supposedly campaigning on. Yes, he has an implausible supply-side tax plan, but you never hear him talk about it. He has technically signed on to some form of entitlement reform, but you never hear him talk about that, either. Instead, so far as I can tell, his “idea-oriented” campaign consists almost entirely of promising to hold Lincoln-Douglas-style debates with President Obama, grandstanding about media bias and moderator stupidity, defending his history of ideological flexibility much more smoothly than Mitt Romney, and then occasionally throwing out a wonky-sounding notion (like, say, outsourcing E-Verify to American Express) that’s more glib than genuinely significant. His last-minute momentum in South Carolina, which last night’s debate did nothing to derail, has been generated almost exclusively by the politics of ressentiment: If he wins the Palmetto State primary, it will be because conservative voters don’t much like the mainstream press, and Gingrich has mastered the art of taking tough questions and turning them into dudgeon-rich denunciations of the liberal media and all its works.

Gingrich Shifts On Adultery Questions In Presidential Politics

Newt Gingrich was outraged when John King of CNN brought up his ex-wife Marianne's claim that he sought an open marriage. While Gingrich disputes her account, he was indeed conducting an affair with his current wife Callista while calling for President Clinton's impeachment for adultery. Talking Points Memo revealed the extent of Gingrich’s hypocrisy by contrasting his talk about Clinton's failing the office of the presidency in 1988 with his current aversion to being questioned about adultery as a presidential candidate. Watch "Newt Then And Now":

Studies Find Less Economic Mobility In U.S. Than Comparable Nations

America has long been called “the land of opportunity.” A number of studies, however, are discovering less economic mobility in the U.S. than in Canada and much of Western Europe. This finding ties in with growing income inequality and the shredding of the social safety net:

At least five large studies in recent years have found the United States to be less mobile than comparable nations....

...In 2006 Professor [Miles] Corak [an economist at the University of Ottawa] reviewed more than 50 studies of nine countries. He ranked Canada, Norway, Finland and Denmark as the most mobile, with the United States and Britain roughly tied at the other extreme. Sweden, Germany, and France were scattered across the middle.

The causes of America’s mobility problem are a topic of dispute — starting with the debates over poverty. The United States maintains a thinner safety net than other rich countries, leaving more children vulnerable to debilitating hardships.

...The United States is also less unionized than many of its peers, which may lower wages among the least skilled, and has public health problems, like obesity and diabetes, which can limit education and employment.

Perhaps another brake on American mobility is the sheer magnitude of the gaps between rich and the rest — the theme of the Occupy Wall Street protests, which emphasize the power of the privileged to protect their interests. Countries with less equality generally have less mobility.

Photo: Flint, Michigan, Occupy protest; Ryan Garza/The Flint Journal, via Associated Press

Jim Hightower: "From Democracy To Plutocracy”

Jim Hightower finds the term “conservatism” inaccurately applied to today’s “conservatives,” including the Koch brothers, the Chamber of Commerce, Speaker John Boehner and Gov. Scott Walker. Instead, they should be described as “plutocrats,” determined to supplant democracy with plutocracy, the rule of corporations and monied elites. Listen:



(h/t: Best of the Left)

Remembering Etta James (1938-2012)

The versatile Etta James, who passed away on Friday, brought her tremendous vocal range and emotional power to rhythm and blues, jazz and pop. Above, she performed her signature song, “At Last.” Beyoncé portrayed her and sang the song in the movie “Cadillac Records,” reviewed here. To hear a tribute to Etta James comprising 11 songs, listen to the second half of the January 20th edition of St. James Infirmary, hosted by my good friend Dr. Michael Mand.

Gingrich: Work Is A “Strange, Distant Concept” To Juan Williams

Newt Gingrich stated that Barack Obama “put” more people on food stamps than any other president, instead of of considering the fact that many desperate American families, including more non-Hispanic whites than blacks, put themselves on food stamps since the 2007 recession. Gingrich also said that poor kids don’t work “unless it’s illegal.” Now Gingrich has directed the same condescending rhetoric toward Juan Williams, who questioned him about his divisive, racially charged language at the GOP debate on Monday. Watch:



Gingrich: I had a very interesting dialogue Monday night in Myrtle Beach with Juan Williams about the idea of work, which seemed to Juan Williams to be a strange, distant concept.

Perhaps for some reason Gingrich finds associating Williams with work to be a “strange, distant concept.” Regardless, Williams is a journalist, which, as far as I know, is a form of work.

Catholic Leaders To Gingrich, Santorum: “Stop Perpetuating Ugly Racial Stereotypes”

The shameful Republican “Southern strategy” of race-baiting is clearly being perpetuated by Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum. (As I’ve noted repeatedly, something ugly happens at every GOP debate, including Gingrich’s condescending and divisive comments to Juan Williams this past week). On Thursday, over 40 Catholic university leaders and theologians issued an open letter urging the two candidates to stop using offensive racial rhetoric:

As Catholic leaders who recognize that the moral scandals of racism and poverty remain a blemish on the American soul, we challenge our fellow Catholics Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum to stop perpetuating ugly racial stereotypes on the campaign trail. Mr. Gingrich has frequently attacked President Obama as a “food stamp president” and claimed that African Americans are content to collect welfare benefits rather than pursue employment. Campaigning in Iowa, Mr. Santorum remarked: “I don’t want to make black people’s lives better by giving them somebody else’s money.” Labeling our nation’s first African-American president with a title that evokes the past myth of “welfare queens” and inflaming other racist caricatures is irresponsible, immoral and unworthy of political leaders.

Some presidential candidates now courting “values voters” seem to have forgotten that defending human life and dignity does not stop with protecting the unborn. We remind Mr. Gingrich and Mr. Santorum that Catholic bishops describe racism as an “intrinsic evil” and consistently defend vital government programs such as food stamps and unemployment benefits that help struggling Americans. At a time when nearly 1 in 6 Americans live in poverty, charities and the free market alone can’t address the urgent needs of our most vulnerable neighbors. And while jobseekers outnumber job openings 4-to-1, suggesting that the unemployed would rather collect benefits than work is misleading and insulting.

As the South Carolina primary approaches, we urge Mr. Gingrich, Mr. Santorum and all presidential candidates to reject the politics of racial division, refrain from offensive rhetoric and unite behind an agenda that promotes racial and economic justice.

"Stand With Governor Walker": Anthem Of Desperation

Now that opponents of Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) have collected one million signatures for a recall election, he needs all the help he can get. Glen Shulfer's musical anthem will probably not provide much aid, however, especially since it insults Wisconsinites' intelligence with lyrics including, "He took on the deficit and asked the union folks to pay just a teeny, tiny bit, to make it fair in every way." Actually, Walker worsened the deficit by pushing through tax cuts for his wealthy supporters. He asked the union folks to pay, all right, by stripping their collective bargaining rights, a move that Walker himself admitted saves no money, and giving them a "teeny, tiny" 8 percent pay cut. Shulfer's tune is praised by conservative bloggers–a reminder that the following is not meant as satire. Listen:

Saturday Night At The Liberal Curmudgeon: Lloyd, Petrucciani, McBee, DeJohnette

Saxophonist Charles Lloyd came out of retirement after hearing the brilliant French pianist Michel Petrucciani and forming a quartet with him. Here Lloyd plays his “Tone Poem” at Town Hall, NYC, February 1985, also joined by two members of his 1960s quartet, Cecil McBee, bass, and Jack DeJohnette, drums. This exuberant, lyrical performance is highlighted by solos from Lloyd, Petrucciani and McBee and driven by the propulsive drumming of DeJohnette.