Lubbock Left

Have a couple more charts before bedtime:

Job Losses in Post-WWII Recessions (# of Jobs)

Job Losses in Post-WWII Recessions (% of Jobs)

Both charts courtesy of calculated risk blog.

These charts reveal a few interesting things:

1) The current recession is among the worst post-WWII recessions.

2) It’s taking more and more time to recover from modern recessions.

3) The 2001 recession was slow to correct, probably because the approach was purely though tax cuts and monkeying with the Fed.

I think the case is pretty clear for government action to promote recovery.

A few friends have pointed out this video from the Courage Campaign as an example of very effective advocacy against marriage discrimination in California. Check it out:

“Fidelity”: Don’t Divorce… from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.

(Why is it that Ken Starr’s high-profile cases are ones where he acts like a big jerk?)

If that video moved you, consider signing a petition to the California Supreme Court to encourage them to invalidate Prop 8, reject Ken Starr’s case, and let loving, committed couples continue to marry. Be sure to do so before Valentine’s Day so that the court receives the message in time.

It’s Monday, and that means it is time for another edition of the Texas Progressive Alliance’s weekly round-up. Enjoy this week’s look at the best of the TPA.

TXsharon made another video this week and it’s gross! Watch it on Bluedaze then answer this question and this question if you can and know that HELP IS ON THE WAY!

And speaking of Oil and Gas, WhosPlayin analyzed a contract his city of Lewisville made, leasing its mineral rights cheap to purposely bring in oil and gas development to the suburban Texas city of 92,000.

The Texas Cloverleaf brings you the Trinity Toll Road Boondoggle, soon to be funded by your tax dollars.

There are four US Attorneys in Texas. Off the Kuff takes a look at the people who want one of those jobs.

BossKitty at TruthHugger is concerned about the changing mental state in America. Are people becoming meaner? What do you think about our Mean Economy Spotlights Mean Spirits - Op Ed

Violence in Mexico and on the US border can’t be ignored any longer. CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wants Hillary Clinton, not Glenn Beck, to provide solutions.

Adam at Three Wise Men explores the possibility of Howard Dean as Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Neil at Texas Liberal writes about President Obama’s policies for rural America. Our cities and rural areas have more in common than we realize. It would be good if urban and rural office holders in the Texas Legislature would think about and talk about how they could help each other.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson posts on the fireworks over UTIMCO this week in Oh, the outrage!.

Over at Texas Kaos, lightseeker asks How Long Will We Have to Put Up With these Arrogant Tools? What has set him off is deposed Czar Craddick’s last corrupt act - destroying potential evidence of big a tool he is and was.

jobsanger tells us A Tale Of Two Coaches. Both are winning high school coaches, but one is a real teacher and the other is an embarrassment.

Vince at Capitol Annex takes a look at the fact that State Rep. Sid Miller (R-Stepehenville) is spending campaign cash to buy stocks in companies like AIG, Halliburton, and more.

Enjoy this week’s look at the best of the TPA.

It’s time for round 2 of “Coffee for Progressives.”

If you want to hang out, talk progressive politics, and maybe meet some of your fellow blog commentators, then swing by Sugar Brown’s Coffee (4818 50th Street) this Tuesday, February 10th at 5:30pm. We will kick back from the workday and enjoy some great coffee and company.

See you there!

The Republican vocabulary regarding the stimulus bill has been ugly, ugly, ugly. They call job creation pork. They call infrastructure investment wasteful spending. In both the House and the Senate, Republicans have introduced amendments calling for tax cuts only — pure fiscal lunacy and a core principle of the ruinous fiscal policy of the last eight years.

In other words, Congressional Republicans are playing mind games to keep our country on the same economic track (the one that goes down) along with the same bankrupt economic theories.

A popular term in the progressive blogosphere comes to mind: “the reality-based community.”

This is the reality we live in:

Job losses are getting out of control. That’s reality. That’s the way it is.

The news over the weekend is that the Senate compromise bill is likely to remove funding for education and new schools (and other direct-to-the-states funding that could save jobs of teachers, firefighters, law enforcement, etc), new Coast Guard ships, and Federal government green initiatives. Pretty much every item getting the axe in the proposed Senate version represents a good opportunity for job creation with the bonus of infrastructure building. I hope that whatever remains will be enough to boost us out of our economic hole.

Also, the size of the recovery bill is obviously not really what bothers Congressional Republicans. After all, many of them supported (and a Republican President signed into law) last year’s stimulus bill (which focused on giving lots of money to large financial institutions). Furthermore, many of the same Republican senators who object to the size of the 2009 recovery bill voted in 2001 for $1.3 trillion worth of Bush tax cuts to fight the recession at that time. Well guess what: a tax cut won’t get anybody a job, and the wealthy target audience of Bush-era tax cuts is more likely to keep the money rather than spend it (an inverse multiplier effect).

At this point we’re witnessing either complete out-of-touch confusion or pure grandstanding on the part of Congressional Republicans, and either way I’m getting sick of it.

With Daschle out, I believe there is now a clear front-runner for Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Obama Administration: Gov. Howard Dean.

Not only has he done a stellar job as Party Chairman, he is he a medical doctor with a record of getting health care reform done at the state level (Vermont).

The only downside I’ve heard to Dean as HHS is that some members of Congress don’t get along with him. I say “oh well.” What are the odds of pleasing everyone in Congress, anyway?

Check out these online resources to join the push to get Howard Dean nominated for Secretary of Health and Human Services:

Howard Dean for HHS Secretary Facebook Group
Appoint Howard Dean to HHS Facebook Group
Dean for HHS on Daily Kos
WhiteHouse.gov contact form
Online petition for Dean for HHS

CNN reports that GOP “leaders” released a list of items in the stimulus bill that concern them (the one that all House Republicans voted against last week).

Let’s look at some of the things that GOP “leaders” consider “wasteful spending:”

$1.2 billion for “youth activities,” including youth summer job programs.

Yeah, because job creation isn’t a priority when people are getting laid off left and right. Thanks, GOP.

$850 million for Amtrak.

I have never understood why the GOP hates Amtrak so much. It’s good for every industry to have fast, safe, efficient ways for their employees to get around. Plus, Amtrak jobs are good jobs. I wish we still had passenger train service out here in Lubbock.

$600 million to buy hybrid vehicles for federal employees.

Can’t have the federal government setting a good example for car buyers and the auto industry, now can we?

$6 billion to turn federal buildings into “green” buildings.

Here we have an opportunity to improve our environment and create some great, un-outsource-able jobs. Green buildings are another area where bold leadership can show us the way.

$25 million for tribal alcohol and substance abuse reduction.

If you’ve never read about this issue, get ready to be depressed. It’s about time that we do something about what is truly an epidemic. This money will create jobs that will make a real difference in a places where it’s needed the most.

$500 million for flood reduction projects on the Mississippi River.
$500 million for state and local fire stations.
$650 million for wildland fire management on forest service lands.

Jobs and security? Nope nope nope!

$200 million for public computer centers at community colleges.

Remind you of any Texas Governors that like to cause problems for community college funding?

$125 million for the Washington sewer system.

There’s no way this can be a waste! Those sewers have got to be clogged from eight years of Republican Effluence…

Looks like the GOP is saying a big fat “No, we can’t!” to economic recovery and investment in our infrastructure. If a bill ain’t a no-bid contract or a handout to their rich buddies, I guess it must be a waste in the eyes the GOP.

Thanks to blog reader John F for pointing out the CNN link. If you’d like to search the contents of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, you can search the house.gov website for H.R.1 to access the full bill.

It is Monday, and that means it is time for another edition of the Texas Progressive Alliance’s Weekly Blog Round-Up.

In her first ever YouTube video, TXsharon shows the emissions boiling into the air when a Barnett Shale gas well undergoes hydraulic fracture.

jobsanger examines the modern Republicans who call themselves conservatives, but have betrayed the beliefs and philosophical standards of past conservatives in Where Are The Real Conservatives?

Nat-Wu at Three Wise Men has something to say about the student loan mess that’s making it impossible for many young adults to attend college these days.

The Texas Cloverleaf shows that pictures can tell a thousand words. And the pictures of ships at anchor in Singapore is telling the world we are screwed.

Burnt Orange Report discusses the over 22,000 voters being purged from the Hidalgo County Voter Rolls.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme explains how the Republican free market principles work in real life using contaminated peanut butter as exhibit A.

Redistricting isn’t just a state issue. The City of Houston is under pressure to redraw its City Council lines Off the Kuff takes a look at where this stands.

BossKitty at TruthHugger is amazed at the social progress creeping around the world.  America elects a half black, half white President.  Iceland appoints an openly lesbian Prime Minister.  Whats next? Yes We Can - Iceland Courageous

Easter Lemming Liberal News writes his congressman while considering the Republican death spiral.

WhosPlayin announced 46,000 layoffs this past week - just in the blogging industry.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson points out John Carter’s latest shenanigans in Carter’s political ploy, the “Rangel Rule”.

Things can get pretty ugly between fans of competing sports franchises and we at McBlogger were not immune as Cap’n Kroc and Harry tear each other apart.

Over at Texas Kaos, Libby Shaw’s keeping an eye on Senator Jackass of Texas as he tries to heighten his national profile at the expense of American families.  in his latest hit, the buckskin fringed one votes against children having health care.  Again.

The Republicans are having an identity crisis, and the election of Michael Steele as RNC chair is not likely to help them solve it. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs observes that Rush Limbaugh is still calling the shots, and they are all cheap.

Neil at Texas Liberal offers some thoughts on city elections in Houston.

John Coby at Bay Area Houston publishes what Rick Perry really said at his campaign kickoff speech in the Capitol.

Tough times can mean many things: lost jobs, natural disasters, inadequate food production, public health disasters, slowing commerce. As a nation we need to do what we can to prepare for tough times, but it’s just as important to have geographically sensible plans across the nation.

To fight tough economic conditions globally, we need to focus locally on regional planning.

One of the first and most enduring of FDR’s New Deal programs was the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), which still exists today and is a major stabilizing factor in parts of Appalachia, the Midwest, and the South. They provide power (and are leading the charge with wind and solar power in the region), economic development, land use guidelines, public health measures, and so on.

An organization that is tackling the challenge of regional planning in our area is the Ogallala Commons, a nonprofit organization based around the Ogallala Aquifer. They bring together a diverse array of interests to advocate for responsible use of our resources.

We also have an existing governmental entity that has the potential to grow to include most of our regional planning needs: South Plains Association of Governments (SPAG). It encompasses a 15-county region and includes all city and county governments within that region. I believe SPAG needs to take a more active role in regional planning, but, in the finest chicken-and-egg fashion, it needs support from its member governments to do so.

So, what are we regional-planning-conscious citizens to do? Contacting Ogallala Commons, SPAG, and other planning organizations in the area are good first steps, I think. In particular, Ogallala Commons has frequent conferences in the area. The next conference (about local food systems) is near the end of this month: February 24-25 at the International Cultural Center at Texas Tech University.

We can also work to reduce our own footprint as individuals and families. In the near future, I’ll be blogging about making our own lives more sustainable.

What ideas do you have about regional planning?