August 12, 2012

Paul Ryan in 2011 - Janesville Labor Day Parade - Image VS Reality.

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**I had no part in this production.

The good people of Wisconsin's 1st District are learning who Paul Ryan is along with the rest of us. The 1st District by tradition is a populist, working class Democratic region. Although I no longer live there, I grew up in Janesville and we're proud of our history, our abolitionist roots which brought Abraham Lincoln to campaign, the participation in the Underground Railroad, our Suffragette movement, our Union tradition - UAW especially, our commitment to the social commons and community spaces - Janesville is called the City of Parks, our commitment to world class public education - an education that Ryan (And Russ Feingold, who's from Janesville too) personally benefited from- therefore Ryan had to craft a persona that would be palatable to his Democratic leaning constituents, especially those in his hometown (A town that voted for Barrett in the recall btw). He has a well cultivated "aww shucks" home town boy makes good image and he's enjoyed little or no scrutiny of this image vs voting record for the last 14 years.

His campaign ads reflect his well crafted persona - that he's a straight talking, nice guy, good Christian family man, who has some vague, home spun ideas that just might work. Send him back to DC and he'll show those DC insiders a thing or two about common sense. And, gosh darn it, it pained him when the GM plant closed and we lost all of those union jobs.

Perception is everything and this is how he's viewed by many in his district - and it's by design. There's a reason why the class of 1988 voted him as the biggest "brown noser".

The uber conservative, DC elitist insider darling status that he enjoys is more than a little surprising to many of his constituents. His cold, selfish Ayn Randian worldview defies and insults the values of Wisconsin's 1st District.

Here's a sampling of his ads:


Check out this ad about energy:


Check out this ad for his roadmap:
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His disturbing agenda is now out in the open and for all to see and I hope he'll finally lose his Congressional seat.

If you have a few bucks to spare, think about contributing to Ryan's opponent, Rob Zerban:

http://www.robzerban.com/

April 20, 2012

Jailed for $280: The return of debtors' prisons

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-500395_162-57417654/jailed-for-$280-the-return-of-debtors-prisons/

(MoneyWatch) How did breast cancer survivor Lisa Lindsay end up behind bars? She didn't pay a medical bill -- one the Herrin, Ill., teaching assistant was told she didn't owe. "She got a $280 medical bill in error and was told she didn't have to pay it," The Associated Press reports. "But the bill was turned over to a collection agency, and eventually state troopers showed up at her home and took her to jail in handcuffs."

Although the U.S. abolished debtors' prisons in the 1830s, more than a third of U.S. states allow the police to haul people in who don't pay all manner of debts, from bills for health care services to credit card and auto loans. In parts of Illinois, debt collectors commonly use publicly funded courts, sheriff's deputies, and country jails to pressure people who owe even small amounts to pay up, according to the AP.

snip

Yet Illinois isn't the only state where residents get locked up for owing money. A 2010 report by the American Civil Liberties Union that focused on only five states -- Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Washington -- found that people were being jailed at "increasingly alarming rates" over legal debts. Cases ranged from a woman who was arrested four separate times for failing to pay $251 in fines and court costs related to a fourth-degree misdemeanor conviction, to a mentally ill juvenile jailed by a judge over a previous conviction for stealing school supplies.

more at link.