"If the Democratic Party would fight as hard for the Working Class as the Republican Party fights for the Ruling Class, the Republicans would be a powerless minority party within a few election cycles.

The Democratic Party knows this, the Republican Party knows this, the Ruling Class knows this- and they've been astonishingly successful at making sure the Working Class never learns this.

The status quo was rolling along just fine, until Bernie Sanders came along and mucked it up with his crazy ideas about democracy, equality and justice."

"The technocratic illusion is that poverty results from a shortage of expertise, whereas poverty is really about a shortage of rights. The emphasis on the problem of expertise makes the problem of rights worse. The technical problems of the poor (and the absence of technical solutions for those problems) are a symptom of poverty, not a cause of poverty. The cause of poverty is the absence of political and economic rights, the absence of a free political and economic system that would find the technical solutions to the poor’s problems. The dictator whom the experts expect will accomplish the technical fixes to technical problems is not the solution; he is the problem."

~ William Easterly, 'The Tyranny of Experts'

Americans Rate Nurses Highest on Honesty, Ethical Standards

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In 2014, Americans say nurses have the highest honesty and ethical standards. Members of Congress and car salespeople were given the worst ratings among the 11 professions included in this year's poll. Eighty percent of Americans say nurses have "very high" or "high" standards of honesty and ethics, compared with a 7% rating for members of Congress and 8% for car salespeople.

Americans have been asked to rate the honesty and ethics of various professions annually since 1990, and periodically since 1976. Nurses have topped the list each year since they were first included in 1999, with the exception of 2001 when firefighters were included in response to their work during and after the 9/11 attacks. Since 2005, at least 80% of Americans have said nurses have high ethics and honesty. Two other medical professions -- medical doctors and pharmacists -- tie this year for second place at 65%, with police officers and clergy approaching 50%.

Republican senators won't hold a hearing or vote on Supreme Court nominee Chief Judge Merrick Garland. They aren't doing their jobs, so we want our money back.

Here's how much Senate Republicans owe American taxpayers—state by state.

Senate Republicans have taken $82,187,396.33 from American taxpayers to pay themselves and fund their offices since the day they refused to do their jobs and hold hearings and a vote on Judge Garland. That's $1,332,986.00 per day. We want a refund.



STEP 2: TELL YOUR SENATORS THAT YOU WANT A REFUND

Political mailers are rarely calm or even-keeled documents. The same campaigns that declare they’re cruising to victory on cable news will turn around and send potential supporters emails or letters with breathless requests for cash. But the Republican National Committee appears to have found a way to raise the stakes from “we desperately need your help” to “you have to give it to us.” To wit, an RNC mailer that has been going around with a big, bold “NOTICE OF DELINQUENCY” that conveniently looks an awful lot like an overdue bill.

There has been a rash of recent reports of people being confused—and, frankly, scared—when opening a version of that letter, including in California, Pennsylvania, Nebraska, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and Washington. In case the all-caps “NOTICE OF DELINQUENCY”—stamped on the envelope and the letter itself—doesn’t grab the recipient’s attention, there’s also an attached donation slip disguised somewhat convincingly as a bill, complete with a “PAST DUE” notice, circled in red, as well as text that reads, “*** IMMEDIATE RESPONSE REQUESTED***”. The letter’s signee? Republican National Chairman Reince Preibus.

People first started to complain about the scaremongering solicitation late last month, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service has told a number of outlets that it’s currently investigating the complaints. While I’d be surprised if the RNC gets in any serious trouble, the Postal Service rules appear fairly clear on the topic (hat tip Danny Westneat of the Seattle Times):

Title 39, United States Code, Section 3001, makes it illegal to mail a solicitation in the form of an invoice, bill, or statement of account due unless it conspicuously bears a notice on its face that it is, in fact, merely a solicitation. This disclaimer must be in very large (at least 30-point) type and must be in boldface capital letters in a color that contrasts prominently with the background against which it appears.
The disclaimer must not be modified, qualified, or explained, such as with the phrase "Legal notice required by law." It must be the one prescribed in the statute, or alternatively, the following notice prescribed by the U.S. Postal Service: THIS IS NOT A BILL. THIS IS A SOLICITATION. YOU ARE UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO PAY THE AMOUNT STATED ABOVE UNLESS YOU ACCEPT THIS OFFER.

The RNC mailers that have been republished by various outlets do not appear to contain this information. I reached out to the RNC for comment on both the strategy itself and the legality of it, and will update this post if they respond.