September 28, 2013

CHART: Minimum Wage vs. Unemployment Rate, 1948 – 2012

Most Americans believe the minimum wage should be increased. It would make good economic sense, and it would help pull people out of poverty. But many Republicans in Washington say this is a non-starter because raising the minimum wage would be a job killer. But how do we know this is true? Should we just take their word for it? And come to think of it, calling something a job killer seems to be the boilerplate Republican response to just about anything these days, including Obamacare and raising taxes. Republicans aren’t lying to us, are they?

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September 27, 2013

Two Charts Climate Change Deniers Don’t Believe

There’s a lot of hot air (okay, that was too predictable) from climate change deniers in the run up to today’s UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fifth Assessment Report. Some of these deniers are actually saying global warming has stopped or in some cases reversed. Remember, we aren’t talking about skeptics. These people are out-and-out denialists. They are unconcerned with facts and evidence. The only thing that matters in their narrow worldview is their “belief” that climate change is not real or not man-made.

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September 25, 2013

Canadians Baffled By U.S. Health Care System, And By Extension, ‘Breaking Bad’

The show Breaking Bad is about Walter White, a high school chemistry teacher in Albuquerque, New Mexico, who is diagnosed with lung cancer in the first episode of the series. Because he does not want to be a financial burden to his family, he uses his chemistry skills to produce and sell a super pure methamphetamine, and in the process become “Heisenberg,” his menacing alter ego. During the course of the series, we watch the Walter White character transform from seemingly meek and innocent to astonishingly scheming and rancorous. But it didn’t have to be that way. Had Breaking Bad taken place in say, Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada), it would have looked more like this:

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September 24, 2013

The Fake-Filibuster: Because Senator Ted Cruz Loves The Sound Of His Own Voice

When this article was published, Senator Ted Cruz was still fake-filibustering on the Senate floor. His reason for fake-filibustering is to denounce Obamacare and call for it’s defunding. This will never happen of course, but a little thing like reality won’t stand in the way of delusion for Republicans like Cruz. And I say this is a fake filibuster because Cruz has no power in this situation to hold the Senate hostage.

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September 24, 2013

Prison-Industrial Complex Watch: 1.5 Million Floridians Banned From Voting

Sometimes racism is overt and sometimes it’s baked into the system in ways people don’t recognize. We know the judicial system in America discriminates against minorities, especially young black males. When states like Florida take away a person’s ability to vote because he or she was incarcerated, it reinforces the this two-tier justice system. If blacks are more likely to be locked up (even when they commit a particular crime at the same rate as whites), the black community faces greater voter disenfranchisement, both during and after incarceration.

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September 23, 2013

Anti-Science, Climate Change Denying Republicans Block Unpaid Science Laureate Position

This one pretty much flew under the radar. — A piece of legislation would have allowed President Obama to name up to three unpaid science laureate positions to travel the country speaking to children. The hope was to inspire children to pursue a career in science. But know-nothing Republicans are at it again. Because Republicans don’t believe in climate change, and in fact believe it’s nothing more than a political issue, they killed the bill because it might serve as a means for President Obama to spread climate science falsehoods. And well, I guess Republicans do know a thing or two about deception and fabrication.

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September 23, 2013

Obamacare Derangement: Republicans Look To Fulfill Their Own Prophecy

It seems many Republican policy positions are based on a short-term outlook. They appear unable to see past tomorrow in their decision-making. Cut food stamps now, deal with higher fiscal costs later. Sequestration now, reduced economic growth later. And so on. But their forward-looking blind-spot has not hindered their willingness to dabble in Obamacare prophecies.

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