Guest Commentary

BARBARA SANTEE FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

Freedom of religion is being used by the Catholic Church to legitimize freedom to discriminate. It has sanctified inequality and discrimination against one-half of our society based on gender. For centuries, fundamentalist southern churches argued that slavery and racism were God's will. Today the Catholic hierarchy is using this same strategy to sanctify discrimination against women, calling it "a matter of religious conscience" rather than what it is -- blatant sexism.

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NIKOLAS KOZLOFF FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

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STEVEN JONAS MD, MPH FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

Rick Santorum had a "good day" on February 7, 2012. He won three non-binding "primaries" in two caucus states, Minnesota and Colorado, and what is described as a "beauty contest" in Missouri. While he got close to 140,000 votes in the latter, his vote totals in the former were 22,000 and 27,000, primarily of the far right-wing types of voters who show up in these types of events. Not big numbers in the first two. Nevertheless,

he does not have much money and his chances of raising much more are limited. This is despite the presence of his biggest supposedly unconnected "Super PAC" guy, Foster Friess. Friess happens to a member of the far-right, highly secretive and highly dangerous Council for National Policy, whose membership ranges from the Koch Brothers to Grover Norquist to Phyllis Schlafley. The "unconnected" Friess just happened to be at Santorum's right shoulder when he gave his victory speech on the evening that primary Day. Santorum is also known for having a "poor ground game." That is he doesn't have much of the nuts-and-bolts political organization that is needed for doing the grunt work that underlays any candidate's electoral success.

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BILL BERKOWITZ FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

In the first of two Florida debates held in that state before Mitt Romney triumphed easily in the Republican Party‘s presidential primary a week ago Saturday, the former Massachusetts governor was asked a question about immigration. He not only restated his opposition to the Dream Act -- humane legislation that would put children of illegal immigrants on the path to citizenship if they served in the military or finished college -- but he also came up with a seemingly new solution; "self-deportation."

"If people don't get work here," Romney stated, "they're going to self-deport to a place where they can get work."

Unlike Daniel D. Portado, a character that political cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz crafted back in the 1990s after the passage of Proposition 187 in California and founded Hispanics Against Liberal Takeover (HALTO), a "militant, self-deportation movement encouraging all minorities to leave the United States," Romney wasn't kidding.

While it is unclear as to when, where and how Romney came up with his version of "self-deportation," one thing is clear. He has brought one of the more vigorous opponents of immigration onto his team.

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ANN DAVIDOW FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

There is outrage in some quarters about the 9th circuit's ruling that California's Proposition 8 violated the Constitution not only by rescinding a right already in effect but also because it was unconstitutional on its face. Fox's Bill O'Reilly was positively apoplectic and MSNBC's Joe Scarborough argued that two judges had committed the outrage of suggesting that marriage could be enjoyed by the community at large not just heterosexual couples.

The idea that matters such as gay marriage should be settled by referenda or even legislatively is such a departure from rational thought it is difficult to discuss the issue seriously. It underlines the problem of allowing religious belief to form the platform upon which our government builds its political structure. Freedom of speech and religious expression are not meant to be used as weapons to make political points. Unfortunately today we are confronted not with a war of words but by what could more accurately be described as nonsense verse. We are told that virtue resides in the belief apparatus that motivates conservative religious practitioners and that proper behavior is defined by a narrow set of principles to which the rest of us should subscribe.

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BILL BERKOWITZ FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

As of a little more than one-hour before the kickoff to Super Bowl XLVI, 71% of the vote had been tallied in the Nevada caucuses, and it is clear that former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney had easily outpaced his challengers --including former House Speaker Newt Gingrich -- by getting nearly 50 percent of the vote.

Results for Nevada Republican Presidential Caucus: (with 71% of precincts reporting):

Mitt Romney - 11,822 - 47.6%

Newt Gingrich -- 5,623 -- 22.7%

Ron Paul -- 4.619 -- 18.6%

Rick Santorum -- 2,749 -- 11.1%

Romney's Nevada victory is being cheered by some in the Republican Party as proof positive that he is on his way to the Party's presidential nomination. One GOP pundit said that Romney won all demographics except for maybe "divorce lawyers and narcissists." Ouch!

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PAUL BUCHHEIT FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

Actually, the richest 10% don't own ALL the stocks. But they own over 80% of the stock market, while the richest 20% of Americans own 93% of our country's financial wealth.

Many of the rest of us own SOME stocks, and would certainly like to own more. But given that we don't, we would at least like to know that the happy owners of stock market wealth don't have an unfair advantage over us.

But they do. Do they ever.

Wealthy America is made wealthier by the 15% capital gains tax, which allows millionaires, as famously observed by Warren Buffett, to pay a smaller percentage in taxes than their secretaries. IRS data shows that only 19% of 2008 income reported by the 13,480 individuals or families making over $10 million came from wages and salaries. Thanks in good part to capital gains, the richest 400 taxpayers DOUBLED their income and nearly HALVED their tax rates in just seven years (2001-2007). So dramatic is the change that anyone making more than $34,500 a year in salary and wages is taxed at a higher rate than an individual with millions in capital gains.

A particularly insidious form of capital gain is "carried interest," a name given to income by private-equity and hedge fund managers to help them avoid taxes. In just one year a single hedge fund manager made enough money to hire 100,000 new teachers while calling his $5 billion income "carried interest" so he could defer the little amount of taxes he owed.

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ANN DAVIDOW FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

Republicans struggle to define themselves as conservative saviors bent on rescuing people foolish enough to profess liberal views or pursue progressive goals. At first the presidential candidates and their supporters just seemed to be incredibly dense and for the most part seriously uninformed. But it has become increasingly clear their most consistent trait is arrogance not just ignorance, although the result is the same.

Much has been made of Mitt Romney's apparent gaffs when he wanders off the path prepared for him by his handlers. It would seem, however, that when he speaks ‘from the heart' as it were the true nature of his convictions, or lack thereof, is revealed. It doesn't really matter for instance that he assures us he will mend the ‘safety net' for the poor if it is damaged because he began by saying he wasn't concerned about the very poor -- the part that isn't easily explained away. By focusing on the plight of the middle class because it is part of his campaign strategy he delivers a political talking point rather than a carefully crafted policy statement.

Likewise when he says he likes to fire people who aren't doing their jobs what comes across is that he doesn't mind firing people, period. And now that Donald Trump has come on board the gleeful "you're fired" he intones on The Apprentice adds a sour note to Romney's campaign message. His Bain management group created some jobs but others were lost because the main thrust of the organization was to make money for investors not to save companies or create middle-class opportunities for workers. Staples may be a thriving enterprise but can the wages its employees enjoy be said to provide a middle-class income? One suspects the answer to that question is no.

There are lots of insidious transactions in the business world that benefit the few and trample on the lives of anyone who dampens the ambitions of self-styled movers and shakers. In Connecticut some years back a buyer wanted to acquire the boat division from a multi-company organization. When his offer was refused he used junk bonds to purchase the other divisions in the company and then sold them all off in order to finance ‘purchase' of the one division he wanted in the first place. Jobs up and down the executive ladder were lost as well as employment at every level, in order to serve the selfish interests of one investor or group of investors.

The question for all of us is whether ruthless corporate raids serve the interests of the larger community or are just a money-making scheme that has no greater goal than the accumulation of wealth for investors. It isn't envy or class warfare to suggest that something is very wrong with the way our economy is structured when a small percentage of the population reaps enormous profits while workers see wages and benefits lag. When conservatives address the deficit and burgeoning health-care costs they always talk about cuts to large programs, education and union workers, as if the police, firefighters, and teachers were not important elements of a society in which the playing field is so egregiously tilted in favor of the top one percent. Romney says corporations are people but would he be forthcoming enough to acknowledge the people-hood of unions? Perhaps if he did his audiences wouldn't laugh at him for trying to infuse corporations with human traits.

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ROBERT CREAMER FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

Last Friday the GOP had a really bad day. It didn't come in the form of new polling results - or some new political scandal. It was delivered to them by the economic statistics:

* Private sector jobs up 243,000 - almost 100,000 more than expected.
* Unemployment rate down to 8.3%.
* Twenty-three straight months of private sector jobs growth.

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PAUL BUCHHEIT FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

Not an angry response, though. 'Amused' is probably more accurate, since a little research shows that James Q. Wilson's article is filled with the tired old defense mechanisms of people eager to justify a 30-year transfer of wealth to the rich.

Mr. Wilson begins by alluding to the degree of economic mobility that supposedly gives everyone a chance to move up the ladder through hard work and perseverence. He cites a Federal Reserve report which states that less than half of people in the top 1 percent in 1996 were still there in 2005. But he doesn't mention that nearly 90% of them remained in the top quintile of earners after ten years. Ten years. In that amount of time people should be moving up or down as they begin or end careers, but instead they remain close to their starting points.

Other reports make it very clear that the U.S. ranks near the bottom of developed countries in economic mobility. ...

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