Budgets Are Moral Documents

Yes we hear that all the time. But what does it mean? It means, it’s the true reflection of your priorities. You can talk a good game all you want, but the proof is in the budget. How you spend your money speaks volumes about your character. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

So I wonder what it says about the Republicans and their new-found austerity that they are refusing to cut taxpayer funds to NASCAR? Minnesota Democrat Betty McCollum proposed axing the $7 million the Defense Department spends on sponsoring a car, as well as the $45 million tax earmark that was part of the newly-extended Bush tax cuts. Her bill did not pass.

For the record, most reports I’ve read omitted the tax earmark info, and only mentioned the $7 million in actual car sponsorship. Turns out it’s actually more like $52 million that taxpayers spend on NASCAR. That’s still insignificant when compared to our budget and the budget deficit, but the GOP’s default position has been “we all have to make sacrifices” and, “you have to start somewhere,” yada yada. So rather than quibble over an approach which Gail Collins rightly likened to “planning to lose 50 pounds by reducing your intake of kale,” let’s concede that point, just for the sake of argument.

Let’s just look at some programs the Republicans have cut from the budget so we can give taxpayer money to NASCAR:

• Maternal & Child Health Block Grant -- $50 million
• High School Graduation Initiative -- $50 million
• Child Care Development Block Grant – $39 million
• Green Jobs Innovation Fund -- $40 million

None of this even compares to the billions of dollars in worthy programs the GOP has on the chopping block -- Pell Grants, home heating assistance, Head Start, help for the elderly, environmental protection, food safety, etc. Or, for that matter, the money for war and tax breaks for insanely profitable oil companies the Republicans have kept. We all know the Republicans are being penny wise and pound foolish with these budget proposals. That’s not what this post is about.

This post is about looking at one thing, and seeing it as a window on the Republican soul. Money for NASCAR, but not to retrain workers for green jobs. Money for NASCAR but not prenatal care for poor pregnant women. $50 million for NASCAR but not to improve graduation rates at our schools.

Republicans are the ones who said this about cutting funds for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting:

“We've got to keep our priorities straight," said Representative Ralph Regula, an Ohio Republican who is chairman of the appropriations panel that approved the cut. “You're going to choose between giving a little more money to handicapped children versus providing appropriations for public broadcasting."

And this about the cuts in general:

Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said in a statement:

Lawmakers "have weeded out excessive, unnecessary, and wasteful spending, making tough choices to prioritize programs based on their effectiveness and benefit to the American people. My committee has taken a thoughtful look at each and every one of the programs we intend to cut, and have made determinations based on this careful analysis."

I’m going to call bullshit on your sanctimonious ass and tell you that quite a few of the programs you're cutting are waaaay more beneficial to the American people than NASCAR. So no I don't need a lecture on priorities from a group of people whose only priority is rewarding their political friends.

Oh, and as to the argument that NASCAR sponsorship is a military recruiting tool, the New York Times had this to say today

the Navy and the Marines Corps have pulled out of the Nascar sponsorship business — precisely because they could not gauge the effectiveness of their campaigns on recruiting.

It’s almost funny to me that Republicans want to spend money on NASCAR, which is a dying sport. But it’s their dying sport, and by God they’re going to hang onto it with all they’ve got. Democrats want to spend money on prenatal care for poor pregnant women, job training, education, and the like. Republicans want to throw money at a dying sport which is the last refuge of their aging, dying base. That's worse than sad, it's pathetic.

So, these are the fiscal phonies you voted for, America (or rather, didn't vote for when you were too busy or disillusioned or not-paying-enough-attention or whatever the fuck reason you gave for not showing up to vote last November, which is how these idiots took charge of the House to begin with. Republicans didn't win, Democrats gave it away. But I digress.)

And here we have a perfect example of what is meant when people say budgets are moral documents. This is, indeed, a clear window onto the Republican soul. These are their priorities. This money isn't coming back when we're flush again: it's gone for good. This is the Republican Agenda, in black and white: cut aid to poor women and children, cut education and healthcare, cut consumer protections. Keep our fanboy projects and our wars and giveaways to outrageously wealthy corporations.

Budgets are moral documents. This one says it all.

Reality Bites NASCAR

If you’re not up to speed (ha ha, get it? Up to speed, oh I crack myself up) on Nashville’s racetrack controversy, temporarily kicked down the road by the Metro Council, read my previous posts here and here.

And now we have this piece of news involving one of the Nashville racetrack’s biggest boosters:

Baker Curb Racing, Middle Tennessee’s only full-time NASCAR team, has suspended operations indefinitely due to lack of funding.

Gary Baker, who co-owns the Nashville-based team with Mike Curb, said Saturday the team has not officially folded. He said it would reopen its doors if and when a sponsor is found.

But with the season less than a month away and no driver, crew or mechanics on board, Baker admitted the outlook is dismal.

“As it stands right now, we won’t be racing,” he said.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Baker, a veteran of four decades in the sport as a driver, marketing official, track owner and team owner. “Corporate America is scared to invest in the future.”

Umm, no. They just aren’t investing in NASCAR racing. They’re still spending $3 million for a 30-second Super Bowl spot. With NASCAR dying a slow death for a variety of reasons can you blame them? Apparently the free market fairies have spoken.

And then there’s this:

Baker said that if he could secure $1 million in sponsorship funds — considered a bare minimum for a team in NASCAR’s second-tier series — Baker Curb Racing could win this year’s Nationwide Series championship.

Yes and if only I would secure the winning Powerball numbers I would finally have my villa in Tuscany. Dangit, there is clearly something wrong with the world that this hasn’t happened yet!

I have to wonder if things might not have gone a little differently at Metro Council had this news hit the papers two weeks ago, before the “master plan” compromise. I wonder why it didn’t. Oh well, that’s all water under the bridge. Probably the Council would have acted the same way. But as I’ve said from day one, if you want to save the slab of concrete that you keep telling us is hallowed ground because someone famous once slept there (or raced there), then you have to show us it can make money. And right now it’s just not looking good for you guys.

We aren’t a historic town. Never have been. We routinely bulldoze historic buildings with impunity. All anyone cares about is progress and profits. That’s reality. Every year Nashville’s preservationists are told to step aside because we stand in the way of progress -- often by some of the same people who have been trying to save the Nashville racetrack. So now that the shoe is on the other foot it's been interesting, to say the least.

Fairgrounds redevelopment isn't dead; the issue will be back. And I suspect the mayor will ultimately get what he wants because the economics are on his side. Just a thought.

Hope For Those Latte-Drinking NASCAR Fans

Regarding Nashville’s “future of our fairgrounds” controversy, which I wrote about here, I thought this was really funny:

The proposal detailed Thursday calls for replacing the swath of asphalt parking lots with trees and grass to retain rain and help drainage, a wind farm to take advantage of the hilly location, solar panels and bike paths and walking trails for neighbors. Charging stations for electric cars also are on tap with sound barrier walls to dampen track noise to keep neighbors happier.

Guffaw. This would be the proposal by Sterling Marlin and Chad Chaffin. It sounds just peachy. Why heck, just add a Starbucks, Volvo dealership and a wine store selling the best chardonnays and those snooty liberal elites who want to rip the “historic” slab of concrete out will be right on board. Why I’m sure the neighborhood will completely withdraw all opposition now that “sweeteners” like solar panels and EV charging stations are in play.

Again: guffaw. Y’all don’t seem to know much about the neighborhood do you? I'd say the only thing on that list anyone gives a damn about are the sound barrier walls.

Oh, and:

Darden Copeland said the group has serious investors ready, though no estimate is available yet for the cost for all those renovations. They want at least a 15-year lease from the city.

Right. By the way, Mr. Copeland, you wouldn’t happen to have a bridge in New York to sell folks too, would you? Just wondering.

I’m sure this will go the way of the Music City Center’s green roof, which they keep hacking away at to save money as the project’s budget balloons.

Look, as I said in the beginning, I really don’t care one way or the other about saving the fairgrounds or getting rid of it. Seems like the space could be put to better use, but if someone can prove me wrong then have at it. But as I said last week, money is what talks in this town: not saving history, not green roofs, not EV charging stations or solar panels or wind farms. Show us the money.

The fact that they’re already talking about closing the 10-year-old built-for-NASCAR superspeedway in Lebanon is rather ominous. These events either make money or they don’t. Saving something simply because Richard Petty once raced there ain’t gonna cut it. That’s what historic markers are for.

Solar panels and wind farms aren’t going to change that.

Anatomy Of A Smear Campaign, Liberal Media Edition

”I told her redneckness has got to be a disease..
You catch it on your fingers and it just crawls right up your sleeves...” -- Lyle Lovett

Apparently Lyle Lovett isn’t the only one who thinks redneckness is a disease -- the GOP wants you to think Democrats in Congress are afraid to attend NASCAR races without being immunized first.

Talk about milking a fake story every which way to Sunday. We’ve seen this happen so many times that these campaigns now take a predictable course: GOP comes up with talking point, Drudge repeats talking point, and Fox, CNN, USA Today, etc. jump on the bandwagon.

Okay here’s the story. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), who chairs the House Committee on Homeland Security, is sending delegations to healthcare facilities at NASCAR tracks and other mass gathering sites:

The committee is examining whether the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is coordinating with state, local and private law-enforcement and health care responders to prepare for possible mass emergencies.

Got that? Once again, they are not attending NASCAR races but visiting healthcare facilities:

Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said his committee aides were visiting health care centers, detention facilities and other operations where they could be exposed to communicable diseases.

Thompson recommended the delegation receive immunizations for hepatitis A, hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus and influenza before visiting these healthcare facilities, which is standard procedure. The North Carolina Republican Party seized on this to spread a misinformation campaign and score partisan political points:

"Democrats should know that there is no preventive measure yet designed to ward off the blue-collar values and patriotism that NASCAR fans represent," said Linda Daves, the chairwoman of the North Carolina Republican Party. "If they aren't careful, they just might catch some of it."

Oh, spare me. It’s the classic straw man argument, and the media falls for it every time. But what should we expect from the folks who had no problem Swift Boating a 7th Grader?

The GOP’s message is that “Democrats are scared of catching a disease from blue-collar NASCAR fans,” and as if on cue, our “liberal media” has dutifully picked up the talking point. Check out these headlines:

• FOX News: “Aides immunized before NASCAR race”
• AOL News: “Democrats Require Immunization Before Pandering to Rednecks”
• USA Today: “House aides advised to get shots before attending NASCAR races”
• Alabama Press-Register “A NASCAR disease?”
• Kansas City Star: “Democrat’s NASCAR remark revs up GOP”

etc. etc. etc.

I love the ”liberal media.” Once again, the delegation was not attending NASCAR races but visiting healthcare facilities. And yet the media still recycles the GOP talking point that Democrats think NASCAR fans are contagious.