Author: Randy Slovacek

Posted on

CNN: Why Obama can’t match the Reagan recovery

CNN has an excellent piece up today regarding the differences between what economic pressures President Reagan had to cope with versus President Obama today.  Conservatives like to herald Reagan as a super-president, but comparing his situation at this point in his first term to President Obama’s is comparing apples to oranges. 

From CNN:

Reagan had an advantage over Obama: The recession of the early 1980s was caused by runaway inflation, which the Federal Reserve countered by hiking interest rates. When inflation dropped, the Fed lowered rates and a massive economic boom resulted.

The major causes of the recent recession were a banking crisis and housing bubble that exploded during President George W. Bush’s final months in office.

Another difference: With comparatively small debt loads, Reagan was able to push through a 23% across-the-board cut of individual income tax rates. Obama, meanwhile, entered the presidency with substantial budget deficits and an economy contracting at a rate of 6.7%.

Something that doesn’t come up in the CNN article but I think bears noting: politics in 1984 were not nearly as partisan as they are today.  Back in the 80s “compromise” was not a dirty word.  Politicians were more statesman-like and put country first.

From the beginning of the Obama administration, the GOP in DC has stated their main goal for four years was to make President Obama a one term president.  And they have done all they could to stop any progress in the US knowing that, even at the pain of the lower and middle classes, if they held progress to a minimum – while cashing their $170,000+ annual salaries – they would diminish President Obama’s chances at reelection.

Read the whole article at CNN.com

Posted on

NYC budget cuts will eliminate 160 youth shelter beds

Carl Siciliano
Carl Siciliano

NYC Mayor Bloomberg’s newly released budget cuts $7 million to the city’s Runaway and Homeless Youth Services, and plan to eliminate 160 youth shelter beds.

Carl Siciliano, executive director of the Ali Forney Center, NYC’s largest LGBT homeless youth shelter, released a statement this morning:

“Mayor Bloomberg’s plan to throw 160 homeless children out of their shelter beds and into the streets is cruel, reckless and contemptible. These cuts create an even bigger crisis for the LGBT teens who are thrown out of their homes and forced to endure homelessness on the streets of our city. The LGBT community needs and demands political leaders who will protect our children. Instead, Mayor Bloomberg has proposed eliminating more than half of their shelter beds. The Ali Forney Center, and all those who work with and care about LGBT homeless youth, will not be silent in the face of this decision, which offends us as a community and needlessly puts our young people in harm’s way.”
 

According to the Center:

Today’s cuts come in spite of the fact that the need for youth shelter beds continues to grow; in 2011 alone, the waiting list for AFC’s 77 shelter beds grew to 199 youths – an increase of 40 percent over the prior year.  In total, the city only funds 250 shelter beds, for a population of 4,000 homeless youth.   In response to this crisis, the Ali Forney Center and a number of allied LGBT organizations have launched the Campaign for Youth Shelter.  This initiative calls on New York City and State to back an additional $3 million in annual funding, set aside to create 100 new shelter beds every year.  The Campaign today calls for the city to raise its Runaway and Homeless Youth Services budget from the just-announced $5 million to $13.5 million, both revoking today’s cuts and including the city’s half of the annual $3 million.
(source)
Posted on

Gap leans forward

Today, Towleroad pointed out that Gap has jumped on the “attractive male duo” bandwagon with a billboard starring two handsome young men (caught via Twitter by Chris Votaw, or @votaw).

Earlier this week, the New York Times profiled Gap, Inc., noting that after a handful of tumultous, lethargic years, the brand is looking to recapture the sense of understated-cool that they originally heralded in the 90s.

In the 90s Gap was my store of choice.  For several seasons, Gap’s “collections” of comfortable clothes perfectly suited my personality at the time.  I’d love to see them return to the cost-conscious but quality fashion focus they have shown in the past.

I, personally, appreciate the effort by Gap to make such a public endorsement of support to the LGBTQ community.

I’ve actually been meaning to drop by Gap for a little shop-shop anyway.  Now I have even more reason to go.

Next up, expect the advocacy group One Million Moms to start their boycott in 3…2…1…

Posted on

Rick Santorum on Mitt Romney’s job creation record

Yep – you knew this was coming, didn’t you? A whole primary season’s worth of material custom made for the Democrats and President Obama.

Thank you Rick Santorum for doing our homework.

Btw – Rick Santorum will be campaigning for Mitt Romney soon. At that point I’ll be very confused on who the “flip-flopper” is…

Posted on

Civil unions bill keeps moving forward in Colorado

The civil unions bill in Colorado, having already passed in the Senate, is moving it’s way through the state House. 

From the Huffington Post: Later Thursday night, the civil unions bill to provide legal protections to gay couples similar to marriage passed in the Republican-led committee that rejected the same legislation last year. A Republican who previously voted against the bill said she switched her vote.

The measure faces two more committee votes, but sponsors are optimistic they have enough support to get the legislation within a week to Gov. John Hickenlooper, who is firmly behind the plan.

With passage, Colorado could join the more than a dozen states to offer gays and lesbians legal protections.

Posted on

Obama campaign takes on the lies in the GOP’s latest attack ad

Stephanie Cutter, Deputy Campaign Manager, shares the facts about Big Oil’s latest attack.

“Hi I’m Stephanie Cutter I’m the Deputy Campaign Manager here at Obama for America and I wanted to arm you with the facts about the latest attach from Big Oil. You may have heard of the Koch brothers they’re secretive oil billionaires bankrolling Republican campaigns and now they’re backing Mitt Romney. Pretty simple reason for this, President Obama would take away billions of dollars in unnecessary oil tax breaks –Mitt Romney would protect them.

So now they’re spending six million dollars on an ad that is so blatantly false the Washington Post said that they have no shame.

Let’s get the facts out because it’s important that you guys know the truth. President Obama has helped create hundreds of thousands of clean energy jobs. Projects in all 50 states. And the way these oil billionaires and their front group completely ignore the truth is breathtaking.

Let’s take some crazy examples from their attack ad. They claim the administration gave money to build electric cars in Finland. No, the Department of Energy’s funding was specifically for U.S. jobs at U.S. facilities. Sure enough the company is employing 700 workers in California and their planning to build a plant in Delaware.

Okay another ridiculous claim: they said we sent money to China to build traffic lights. That’s wrong again. Those traffic lights were built here, in this country, and helped expand our light manufacturing industry in this country.

They said we gave money to a company building solar plants in Mexico. Nope. And again, our money is going to a solar plant here in America with American workers.

These guys are going to say whatever it takes to tear down the President. They will literally say anything. They oppose expanding clean energy. They oppose higher fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks.

So we’re going to call their BS when we see it. And we need your help to call them on it too and to set the record straight.

So share this, Tweet it, Facebook it. I keep hearing about Tumblr and whatever that is please use that too. And thank you, for all of your help.”

Posted on

DWTS William Levy looking sexy leaving DWTS rehearsal

Click for larger view

Want to looks like a sexy contender on Dancing With The Stars?

Check out Dancing with Star’s top contender, William Levy, leaving rehearsals wearing Colorfast Apparel. The Latin Heartthrob looked buff and ready to dance in his Aloha Jersey Crew.

Colorfast Apparel is a lifestyle brand with free-thinking designers and developers exploring the boundaries of design, fabrication, washes and treatments.

Posted on

Tim McGraw in American Songwriter Magazine

Photo: Danny Clinch

Tim McGraw has a new interview in American Songwriter Magazine.  I really like Tim’s music, the way he handles himself, and of course the way he looks  🙂 

Here’s an excerpt of the interview and you can read the whole interview here.

What did you hope to achieve when you got to Nashville? What was your ultimate goal?

I was playing clubs at home and I wanted to come and be a country star. That’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to play country music. Songwriting wasn’t the main focus. I mean, I was writing songs. Those first two or three years, I had written a couple hundred songs with writers all over town. They’re floating around out there somewhere. A couple may be good but most of them were awful. I really wanted to be an artist and get an artist deal.

Who were your heroes back in those days?

If I had to pick two, I would pick Merle Haggard and Bruce Springsteen. Those were my songwriting heroes.

“Live Like You Were Dying” is such an interesting song because it’s about cancer, but it’s also very empowering and catchy.

It’s one of the best-crafted songs I’ve ever heard. Craig Wiseman and Tim Nichols are fantastic. Of course it was at a time in my life when some things were going on, so that song struck a chord. My dad was sick and dying of cancer.

What do you remember about recording the song?

I wanted it to feel inspiring. I didn’t want it to feel like, “Oh my gosh, this guy is dying of cancer.” I wanted it to be the opposite of that. I wanted to take everything positive and we all had positive thoughts going into it.
I recorded that album with my band in upstate New York at Allaire Studios. We’ve done a couple of albums up there. My dad had just died a couple of weeks prior to this. We were in the studio around midnight. My uncle was there – my dad’s older brother. The studio was all decked out. We sent an interior designer up to the studio, which was at the top of a mountain with three feet of snow around it. There was a big fireplace and candles. I had a glass vocal booth built in the middle of the center of the room where I could conduct everybody in the band.

Anyway it was midnight or 1 o’clock in the morning when we decided to cut this song. No lights were on. All the candles were going. My uncle was sitting there on the couch. That was an inspired track.

Do aspiring songwriters have a level playing field with you?

I think so. Look, it’s not easy. I’m not going to lie and say anybody can get a song to me any time they want. But if you look back on my career, I’ve had a lot of songs that were the songwriter’s first cut. I think on just about every album, there’s a songwriter or two that had their first cut.

What’s the reward in that for you?

It’s when you run across a guy, or somebody’s son or daughter or wife, and they tell you that getting that cut changed their life. That’s a reward for me because there are a lot of guys who have the talent that end up coming here for a couple of years, then leave and never show up again.