Almost Classical

If you want to know the difference between the ruling class and the rest of us: Obama's Ohio visit points to jobs divide between public, private sector - CSMonitor.com "Republicans have more private sector employment, with 63 percent of households citing at least one members privately employed, compared with 46 percent for Democrats." From an article on the Reason website: Sixty-three percent of "the rich," those in the top 15 income segment (annual income greater than $100,000) are government employees. Among those in the top 1 percent of income($500,000 annually), 85 percent are private-sector. Bureau of Labor Statistics report reveals as of 2010 government workers earn an average of 44 percent more than similar private-sector workers and over 66 percent greater benefits. California taxpayers are already paying pensions of over $100,000 a year to more than 12,000 former government workers… Something is wrong with a system that pays the "ruling class...

The media conversation last week on HR 847 demonstrated the problem with current politics: right-leaning talking heads ("commentators") without any knowledge at all of the bill, which makes it seem like the bill in current form is okay. However, the media reports of the Republican "poison pill" on illegal immigrants presented a part of the truth, but not the depth of HR 847's problems. The bill and its evolution are available at: http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h847/show The history of this bill demonstrates why the public is cynical about the two parties: The bill was introduced at 70 pages, 18,737 words. Actually, there was a 50-page version that was strong enough to survive unanimous consent and a quick voice vote, but that bill did not leave committee. The bill voted on was 222-pages, 37,500 words, and had been expanded to fit the needs of several major NYC donors to campaigns. So, while there was no pork in the bill, there certainly were changes made ...