Hudson Democracy

The Republican Party Is a Radical Party, Part Two

In case you aren't noticing, the most insane inversion in U.S. political history is occurring. The "Party of Business," the Grand Old Party, the vehicle of the northeastern titans—to this day the civil embodiment of "good-for-business" Babbitry, the Republican Party, in control of the House of Representatives, is about to ensure a totally unnecessary default on U.S. government obligations. It's a radical party that has highjacked the government and its credit.

The Republican Party Is A Radical Party, Part One

I have to write first of the amateur theatrics in Congress. It's just bothering me too much.

Chart of the Day: The Table of Class Warfare

via Andrew Sullivan

This just about says it all: trading low-income housing programs for tax-deductions for vacation-home mortgages and community health centers for all-important tax loopholes for multi-millionaire hedge fund managers. This—this—is what the Republican party is about. Not "small government", not "free enterprise", not "real America"—the GOP is a paid agent of the wealthy, and is loyal to no agenda higher than pillaging the fiscal commons on their behalf. Their rhetoric of morality is a cheap costume.

Rich Get Richer, We All Get Poorer

This is a picture of an unsustainable economy:

Via Mother Jones

The Constitution When You Want It

Right-wing authoritarians these days are fond of affecting an exaggerated reverence for the Constitution, treating the old document, a dry read mostly, as a sort of American scripture. Sharon Angle, the unhinged Bircher-type who lost to Harry Reid in Nevada, pondered "Second Amendment remedies" to the liberal Congress. The 'Oathkeepers' invoke the Constitution to support police riot fascism. If Angle had read the thing she would know there's nothing in the Constitution about how the people can shoot the representatives they have duly elected according to the Constitution's instructions. Which brings me to the point: American authoritarians have a distinct tendency to ignore clear Constitution rules when it suits them.

Northeast Loses House Seats; Texas Gets Bigger

It's official: New Jersey will lose a seat and New York will lose two in the House of Representatives, victims of the decades-long demographic trend in which Americans are leaving the northeast and midwest for the south and southwest, the Census Bureau announced today.

Chart of the Day

Distribution of wealth in each party's tax cut plan:

Sick of the Christie Show

Is the Governor of New Jersey angling for a talk radio gig? We all know he can be led to make hugely important decisions based on the whims of FM gasbags, but does he want to join the club himself? It certainly seems that way.

Employment Still in a Ditch

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has released the November employment report, and things are stuck at worse. The official unemployment rate (always an underestimate) is 9.8 percent and "[t]emporary help services and health care continued to add jobs over the month, while employment fell in retail trade. Employment in most major industries changes little in November."

A Clearer Picture in Jersey

Things have cooled in central Jersey. After early returns predicted serious trouble for longtime incumbent Democratic representatives Rush Holt and Frank Pallone, both are back to slight leads over their opponents.