Here's why Kevin Jones is a Slime Ball

* Just a quick note, because I'm busy with another project, but I had to post something. In his article at Mother Jones, Kevin Jones writes: Here's Why I Never Warmed Up to Bernie Sanders — and he follows it ups with another post: In Which I Respond to My Critics About the Bernie Revolution. So I respond to some Kevin Jones's remarks in his first post with my own comments.

KEVIN DRUM: "It's not so much that [Bernie Sanders] is all that far to my left, nor that he's been pretty skimpy on details about all the programs he proposes. That's hardly uncommon in presidential campaigns."

BUD MEYERS: It's a shame that you in the media and all the pundits on the cable news channels and Sunday shows (many who are millionaires) didn't say that about Bernie months ago. All I remember is "pie in the sky". But now that Bernie's defeat as a "Democratic" nominee is almost certain, I suppose you in the media can now afford to be a little more honest and gracious. (Unless California is a total blow-out for Hillary.)

KEVIN DRUM: "The second [economic revolution] happened only after an utter collapse of the economy, with banks closing, businesses failing, wages plummeting, and unemployment at 25 percent."

BUD MEYERS: That sounds exactly like the Great Recession of 2007/08 to me: Millions of Americans lost homes, millions lost jobs, millions lost pensions. Half the new jobs went to foreign-born workers. Most on the new jobs were low-paying part-time temp jobs. College grads are displacing high school grads for jobs that don't need a college education. (I could go on and on...)

KEVIN DRUM: "Unemployment? Yes, 2 or 3 percent of the working-age population has dropped out of the labor force, but the headline unemployment rate is 5 percent."

BUD MEYERS: Just since the beginning of economic "recovery" (June 2009), over 11 million Americans have "dropped out" of the labor force and are not included in the U-3 unemployment rate. But of course, I know you know that.

KEVIN DRUM: "Wages? They've been stagnant since the turn of the century, but the average family still makes close to $70,000, more than nearly any other country in the world."

BUD MEYERS: Wages have been stagnant since 1970, not 2000. But the year 2000 is when the labor force participation rate began falling — lagging indicators of Bill Clinton's of NAFTA and PNTR with China. Just since 1997 we lost over 67,161 factories.

BUD MEYERS: Also, the average family does not make $70,000 — the "median" wage is $28,851 a year and the median household (with multiple incomes) has an income of about $56,500 a year.

KEVIN DRUM: "You have to buy off interest groups, compromise your ideals, and settle for half loaves—all the things that Bernie disdains as part of the corrupt mainstream establishment."

BUD MEYERS: It's not just Bernie who disdains a rigged economy, there's also 9 million other Americans — WHO WERE ALLOWED TO VOTE — that agree with Bernie. And there will be more with 10 States, 3 territories and DC yet to vote. And millions of Americans WOULD settle for half loaves, but they're only getting crumbs.

KEVIN DRUM: "Where do all his impressionable young followers go?"

BUD MEYERS: You're talking about Hillary's voters. I'm a Baby Boomer, I'm not impressionable, and I do my own research. I read this post just to see what the Hillary pimps were saying, since you and the BIG 6 corporate media have most of the biggest microphones and megaphones. I know you're "smart", so when you misreport facts, what does that tell us?

KEVIN DRUM: "Most likely Bernie will have no lasting effect, and his followers will scatter in the usual way, with some doubling down on practical politics and others leaving for different callings."

BUD MEYERS: Sad, but most likely true. Bernie was a once in a life-time candidate, and the media and the party he ran within treated him like dog meat. That was the REAL "shame". The corrupt duopoly political system has everything pretty much locked up — and corrupt parties produce corrupt governments.

KEVIN DRUM: "There's a decent chance that Bernie's failure will result in a net increase of cynicism about politics."

BUD MEYERS: Yes, can you blame us? The late George Carlin said it best in this short video: "The American Dream: You'd have to be asleep to believe it."

Kevin Jones reveals that he earns more than $118,500 a year (doing whatever he does), because if Bernie Sanders were President (with a progressive Congress) he would lift the cap for Social Security from $118,000 a year to $250,000 to expand benefits and shore up the trust fund. So anything Kevin Jones writes is for the sole reason of keeping his own taxes down. Bernie Sanders makes $174,000 a year as a Senator, so he would raise his own taxes.