The Stubborn,The Stupid,The Bat Crap Crazy.

With Wisconsin Governor Walker threatening martial law on the Wisconsin Teachers Union for having the temerity to question his divine right as Wisconsin Chief executive and with NewCon posterboy New Jersey Governor Bam Bam Bigelow spewing into any microphone he can find, there are some other news items not receiving nearly enough attention. Until now.

• Missouri State Senator Jane Cunningham wants to repeal child labor laws.
• South Dakota State Representative wants to expand justifiable homicide to include protecting an unborn child.
• Also from South Dakota is a bill requiring all adults to own a gun. Imagine this campaign from the South Dakota Bureau of Tourism, "Relive the exhilarating days of American History. The Wild West comes alive in beautiful pacifist free South Dakota." Or something simpler from the South Dakota Chamber of Commerce,"South Dakota: We've got you in our crosshairs." The mind reels with imagination.
• Georgia State Representative Bobby Franklin wants to do away with the drivers license. 
• In the US Congress, 210 U.S. Representatives have signed on to H.R.3, which redefines rape as forcible rape. This bill does receive coverage, just not enough. 210 elected officials actually endorsing the concept of forcible rape therefore establishing the concept of consensual rape makes me want to vomit.

Why is this significant to the 99ers? 99ers need jobs. Until there are jobs available, jobs that pay a living wage, 99ers need a safety net.  Given limited resources (have you seen the US budget?) the conversation about how to allocate those resources to create a sustainable economic recovery is a very serious discussion. Part of that discussion must be how long to extend the safety net to the unemployed. Implicit in that discussion is that the current consideration of unemployment benefits to 99 weeks and no more hasn't been a discussion. To this point, politicians talk about TierV have employed the ostrich method of confronting a problem. Taking the point further, 14 weeks of additional extended unemployment benefits called for by H.R.589 are helpful, but what happens afterwards? Jobs will not magically appear and since 99ers will soon start celebrating their 1st anniversary of 99erhood, H.R.589 is simply insufficient.

The discussion about how to achieve the most effective results is an adult conversation.  It covers serious territory with the harsh reality that some (millions?) will not receive what they seek. That will be painful and ugly debate, sacrificing some for the sake of others. How do you have this conversation about survivors and casualties with people that want to redefine rape, repeal child labor laws or eliminate drivers licenses? You can't have that conversation with bat crap crazies and that's a real problem for 99ers.  Did I mention that Chris Christie has to be a posterboy because he won't fit in an 8"X10"?