Archive for March, 2009
Nuclear Industry Targets State Laws
Nuclear Industry Targets State Laws – by Diane Farsetta
Wisconsin’s Balance of Power: The Campaign to Repeal the Nuclear Moratorium
Wisconsin law sets two conditions that must be met before new nuclear power plants can be built in the state. One is that there must be “a federally licensed facility” for high-level nuclear waste. In addition, the proposed nuclear plant “must be economically advantageous to ratepayers.”
It’s a law that the nuclear power industry doesn’t like. Given the near-death of the planned waste storage facility at Yucca Mountain, and the estimated $6 to $12 billion cost (pdf) of building one nuclear reactor — not to mention the lack of interest from private investors and the tanking economy — Wisconsin’s law effectively bans new nuclear plants in the state, for the foreseeable future.
Earlier this year, the major U.S. industry group Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) registered four lobbyists in Wisconsin. NEI is lobbying state legislators on issues related to “nuclear generation … engineering education and other issues related to state policies on energy, job creation, and environmental law,” according to disclosure forms.
It’s the first time that NEI has had lobbyists in Wisconsin since at least 1996, though the group has organized public and media events here, especially in recent years. As it does on the national level, NEI argues that building new nuclear power plants would bring good jobs to Wisconsin while helping reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions, especially from coal-fired power plants. NEI’s foray into Wisconsin politics is logical and not at all surprising — until you compare it to the group’s apparent lack of interest in other states with similar laws.
via Nuclear Industry Targets State Laws | CommonDreams.org.
That’s No Angry Mob, It’s a Movement
That’s No Angry Mob, It’s a Movement – by Michael Winship
A college friend of mine, after much quaffing from the keg, so to speak, would start singing a faux hymn that began, “We are sliding into sin — whee!”
I’ve thought of his bleary tune from time to time as we all watched our financial institutions slide from thoughtless, wretched excess into calamity, aided and abetted by deregulation and bailouts, dragging the rest of us along on their speed bump-free ride.
You’d think there would be a modicum of contrition but mostly it has been deny, deny, deny combined with shivers of revulsion as an angry citizenry freely expresses its opinion. Former Clinton SEC chairman Arthur Levitt sniffed to The Wall Street Journal this week, “It has reached extremes of incivility that are intolerable,” and on Friday the Journal editorially wrung its hands over “political Torquemadas” who would dare to prosecute Wall Street executives.
See here, you people, the seemingly dumfounded elite ask, why all this hollering? Well, it wasn’t only those AIG bonuses that had folks mad as hell. For sure, they triggered the outburst last week. But then came an ABC News report that JPMorgan Chase — recipient of 25 billion in bailout bucks, courtesy of taxpayers — was pressing ahead with plans to spend $138 million dollars on two new corporate jets and a place to park them — a state of the art hangar with a “vegetated roof garden.” Presumably, bank executives will use the vegetation to hide behind when the mob arrives with tar and feathers.
via That’s No Angry Mob, It’s a Movement | CommonDreams.org.
Nader: Paying for the Deficit
Paying for the Deficit – by Ralph Nader
Where is the revenue coming from to help reduce the tidal waves of red ink during the massive deficit spending by Washington to bolster Wall Street greed, stimulate the economy and rescue homeowners?
The scale of federal deficit is witnessed by the new frequency with which the dollar word “trillions” is used in the news media. An adjustment of major proportions is needed. It was only ten years ago when economists projected out the Clinton’s budgetary surpluses as “as far as the eye can see.” They were scurrying to figure out how this surprising surplus was going to affect the U.S. Treasury bond market. How quaint!
So, who is going to have to pay more into the Treasury? Not the oil and gas industry whose advertised protests against removing unjustified tax breaks are saturating the radio and television stations. Not the real estate or defense industries. Certainly not the financial industry.
How about the very wealthy? Well Barack Obama is letting George W. “red-ink” Bush’s tax cuts expire. So people earning over $250,000 a year will pay more. Mr. Obama plans to give 95% of the taxpayers some tax relief. Granted the Federal Reserve is printing money big time now, in order to spend it fast.
The right-wing, commercially-funded Think-Tank establishment wants tax cuts across the board. And the Cato Institute’s fellows are also defending foreign tax havens! But most corporatists still want an even bigger military budget which already devours fifty percent of the entire federal government’s discretionary budget. Their faith is that future economic growth will dissipate deficits whose purpose ironically is to promote growth
via Paying for the Deficit | CommonDreams.org.
The Republican Alternative Stimulus Plan
The Republican Alternative Stimulus Plan – by David Michael Green
I’m kinda pissed off at the lousy treatment America is giving to Republicans these days.
First of all, in a general sense, it just seems ungrateful and ungracious. I mean, Republicans worked hard this last decade to make America what it is today. We wouldn’t have the foreign relations we do, or the war situations, or the environmental condition, or the fiscal situation or any of that stuff if the GOP hadn’t been on the job all these years.
And we wouldn’t have this economy, either. Can’t Americans show a little respect and gratitude where it is due?
The particular thing that sticks in my craw of late is the reckless allegation that Republicans are just the Party of No, and that they have no plans of their own to help revive the American economy. Nothing could be further from the truth. Or, at least, that’s what Rush told me. And I believe it.
In fact, the truth is that the GOP has a very sophisticated, very elaborate, 11-point plan for rescuing the country from the economic abyss. And, while the liberal media may be working overtime to make sure you never hear about it, I’m glad to set you straight.
Here goes:
via The Republican Alternative Stimulus Plan | CommonDreams.org.
Needed: A New Commission to Probe Corporate Crime
Needed: A New Commission to Probe Corporate Crime – by Danny Schechter
Why Hasn’t Obama Targeted The Ongoing White Collar Crime Wave?
Another day. Another ponzi scheme.
This time it’s the Millenium Bank in the Eastern Caribbean accused of a mere $65 million dollar rip off. (Ponzi king Bernard Maddoff allegedly took in $65 billion.) Regulators say there is a “ponzimonium” underway with scores of newly opened investigations. We are talking about pervasive institutional crime, not just individual theft.
The role of shady, largely unreported, “off shore” institutions is slowly emerging as a component of a larger criminal scheme. There is a report that “a class action lawsuit has been filed against several offshore entities and individuals on behalf of investors in four hedge funds who allegedly lost over $3 billion in the Bernard Madoff fraud.”
On shore, in New York, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has issued new subpoenas to AIG. Former Governor Eliot Spitzer is saying the problem there is not just with bonuses by billions from government bailouts going to “counterparties”—companies that did business with the infamous insurer which just changed its name.
Reports the Wall Street Journal: “CDS contracts were at the heart of AIG’s meltdown,” Cuomo said in a statement. “The question is whether the contracts are being wound down properly and efficiently or whether they have become a vehicle for funneling billions in taxpayers dollars to capitalize banks all over the world.”
The Obama people must be worried about the capacity of white collar crooks to undercut their own programs because they are setting up their own investigation of those who took bailout monies.
via Needed: A New Commission to Probe Corporate Crime | CommonDreams.org.
The Stock Market: Paper Gains, Real Losses
OPS: The “Market” is not the Economy. It’s gambling. Jobs and Manufacturing are the economy.
The Stock Market: Paper Gains, Real Losses - Craig Harrington
The latest setback is another reminder that the stock market has no “bottom,” it is merely a gambling vehicle, a ponzi scheme.
Since March 9, the stock markets in the United States have risen over 20 percent – they are still roughly half of their peak values last year. According to a CNNMoney.com poll over 60 percent of readers believe this rise will continue into next year. The Obama administration and the Treasury have taken great steps to bolster the markets for some sort of recovery in recent weeks. Secretary Geithner just announced a program which will sweep $1 trillion of bad assets off of bank balance sheets.
The stock markets in the United States had been gradually ticking up for most of March, but they took a major hit when trading opened Friday March 27th. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 130 points (1.7 percent) in the first hour of trading. The NASDAQ and S&P 500 fell by similar percentages during the same time period.
The charge off of the 12-year lows a few weeks ago was largely driven by increased confidence by new investors, who poured their money into the markets thinking that they were buying in at the bottom. The latest setback is another reminder that the stock market has no “bottom,” it is merely a gambling vehicle, a ponzi scheme. As more people put in money the values go up, as more people take out money the value goes down, it is entirely possible that a major stock market could open tomorrow with zero listings.
via Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.
Is the Bailout Plan Breeding a Greater Crisis?
Is the Bailout Plan Breeding a Greater Crisis? video - Paul Craig Roberts, with video by Craig Harrington
If the U.S. dollar loses its reserve currency status, the U.S. will not be able to pay for its imports.
Editor’s Note: The following article was contributed by Paul Craig Roberts and may not reflect the views or opinions of EconomyInCrisis.org. Feedback is welcome.
At his March 24 press conference, President Obama demonstrated that he is capable of understanding issues as presented to him by his advisers and able to pass on the explanations to the press. The question is whether Obama’s advisers understand the issues.
Obama’s advisers are focused on rescuing banks and the insurance company AIG. They perceive the problems as solvency and paralyzing uncertainly or fear. Financial institutions, unsure of their own and other institutions’ solvency, hoard cash and refuse to lend. Credit is needed to get the economy moving, and the Federal Reserve and Treasury are doing their best to inject liquidity and remove troubled assets from the banks’ books.
This perception of the problem and the “remedies” being applied might be causing a greater problem for which there is no solution. Obama’s approach, and that of the previous administration, requires massive monetization of debt by the Federal Reserve and massive new debt issues by the Treasury.
The unaddressed question remains: Is the U.S. dollar’s status as world reserve currency threatened by the massive debt monetization and multiyear, multitrillion dollar issuance of new Treasuries?
The United States has become an import-dependent country. The United States is dependent on imports for energy, manufactured goods including clothes and shoes, and advanced technology products. If the U.S. dollar loses its reserve currency status, the United States will not be able to pay for its imports. The ensuing crisis would dwarf the current one.
via Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.
America Has Become a Boiling Frog
America Has Become a Boiling Frog – Craig Harrington
The United States has become a frog dangerously close to being boiled alive. We have not been paying attention to the gradual yet severe changes that have morphed the U.S. into a debtor nation
The United States is in a much more precarious situation than most of us realize. Our predicament is similar to the old adage of the “boiling frog syndrome.” The proverb states that a frog can sit in cool water being brought to a boil without jumping out of the pot. As long as the heat increases gradually it will go unnoticed by the frog while it swims around comfortably. Before the frog realizes what is happening, the pot is boiling and it is already too late.
As it currently stands we are living on the graces of our foreign bankers. So long as our competition continues to fund our government and service our debt the United States can maintain the status quo. Meanwhile, America sits idly by and continues to watch its productive capacity destroyed by “free trade” and economic deregulation.
Our creditors are happy to supply us with cash because we as a nation cannot produce anything substantive. All of the money lent to the United States returns to our overseas lenders via our trade deficit and import addiction. According to revised numbers released by the Census department, the United States carried a $677 billion trade imbalance last year. We as a nation sent $677 billion overseas paying for foreign goods. Our government also ran a $455 billion budget deficit for that same period (fiscal year 2008) – this figure does not include the cost of overseas military operations, since the Bush administration recorded those as “special outlays” by Congress.
via Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.
Taliban Denies Polio Vaccine To 300,000 Children
Taliban Denies Polio Vaccine To 300,000 Children
Taliban militants in Pakistan’s northern Swat Valley region are preventing UN officials from administering the Polio vaccine to hundreds of thousands of children with the claim that it is an anti-Muslim sterilization plot, the Telegraph reports. Radical Taliban clerics have taken to the radio and are even using megaphones to spread awareness of the “US tool to cut the population of the Muslims.”
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Polio Team was originally promised access to the area as part of an earlier peace agreement — an agreement that has apparently been broken. The WHO is now declaring the situation — which endangers up to 300,000 children — a medical emergency. From the Telegraph:
Yesterday government officials convened another meeting in Swat [in] an attempt to break the impasse, according to Dr Abdul Jabbar, the WHO’s polio team leader in North West Frontier Province (NWFP).
via Taliban Denies Polio Vaccine To 300,000 Children.
CNN In Third Place In Prime Time For First Time
CNN In Third Place In Prime Time For First Time
NEW YORK — CNN is poised to finish March third in the prime-time weeknight ratings behind Fox News Channel and MSNBC, the first time this has ever happened for the channel that pioneered the cable news genre nearly three decades ago.
CNN says its overall business is healthy and it is not straying from its straight news path. But it is suffering more audience erosion than its rivals since the peak days of the presidential election, further proof that the opinionated prime-time shows on Fox and MSNBC have greater audience loyalty.
CNN’s weekday prime-time ratings are relatively flat compared to last year during the primary campaign, up 1 percent from March 2008, according to Nielsen Media Research. Fox’s ratings have jumped 30 percent and MSNBC, the new No. 2, is up 24 percent. The biggest growth in cable news is for CNN’s partner, HLN, formerly Headline News, which is up 62 percent.
via CNN In Third Place In Prime Time For First Time.
Exclusive: Three Israeli Airstrikes Against Sudan
Exclusive: Three Israeli Airstrikes Against Sudan
ABC News’ Luis Martinez reports: Israel has conducted three military strikes against targets in Sudan since January in an effort to prevent what were believed to be Iranian weapons shipments from reaching Hamas in the Gaza Strip, ABC News has learned.
Earlier this week, CBSNews.com was the first to report that Israel had conducted an airstrike in January against a convoy carrying weapons north into Egypt to be smuggled into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
But actually, since January, Israel has conducted a total of three military strikes against smugglers transporting what were believed to be Iranian weapons shipments destined for Gaza, a U.S. official told ABC News.
The information matches recent reports from Sudanese officials of two airstrikes in the desert of eastern Sudan and the sinking of a ship in the Red Sea carrying weapons.
via Exclusive: Three Israeli Airstrikes Against Sudan – Political Radar.
Is This Really the End of Evangelical Movement?
Is This Really the End of Evangelical Movement?
Our readers had a lot to say about a recent article predicting the collapse of the evangelical movement.
For decades the evangelical movement has been a powerful force in our politics and culture. And it seems poised to continue to wield influence over American life, as a new spate of rising stars fill the ranks vacated by aging and dead leaders.
But in a recent article published on AlterNet from the Christian Science Monitor, Michael Spencer, a “post-evangelical reformation Christian” argues that evangelicalism — both as a political movement and an ideology — is done for.
By blowing all of their political capital on efforts to obstruct the acceptance of gays and reverse reproductive rights, political evangelicals have made themselves irrelevant in our current cultural landscape. By blowing all of their actual capital on youth pastors, publishing and other media, the movement has reared a generation of young evangelicals with no real ties to the evangelical religious tradition and belief system.
So is evangelicalism really over?
via Is This Really the End of Evangelical Movement? | | AlterNet.
Paul Krugman: The Market Mystique
OPS: REPOSTED
Krugman: The Market Wizards Were Exposed as Frauds — Too Bad Obama’s Team Still Believes in Their Magic…. The Obama administration thinks a little regulatory tinkering will take Wall Street back to its glory days of fraudulent finance.
The Market Mystique - Paul Krugman
On Monday, Lawrence Summers, the head of the National Economic Council, responded to criticisms of the Obama administration’s plan to subsidize private purchases of toxic assets. “I don’t know of any economist,” he declared, “who doesn’t believe that better functioning capital markets in which assets can be traded are a good idea.”
Leave aside for a moment the question of whether a market in which buyers have to be bribed to participate can really be described as “better functioning.” Even so, Mr. Summers needs to get out more. Quite a few economists have reconsidered their favorable opinion of capital markets and asset trading in the light of the current crisis.
But it has become increasingly clear over the past few days that top officials in the Obama administration are still in the grip of the market mystique. They still believe in the magic of the financial marketplace and in the prowess of the wizards who perform that magic.
The market mystique didn’t always rule financial policy. America emerged from the Great Depression with a tightly regulated banking system, which made finance a staid, even boring business. Banks attracted depositors by providing convenient branch locations and maybe a free toaster or two; they used the money thus attracted to make loans, and that was that.
via Op-Ed Columnist – The Market Mystique – NYTimes.com.
The Population Debate Is Screwed Up
The Population Debate Is Screwed Up – By Laurie Mazur
Debaters on population usually take two sides: either they see it as a huge problem facing humanity, or that it’s a non-issue. They’re both wrong.
Chris Hedges (“Are We Breeding Ourselves to Extinction?“) and Betsy Hartmann (“Stop the Tired Overpopulation Hysteria“) reprise an argument that has raged for decades. Hedges identifies “overpopulation” as the root cause of climate change and other environmental problems and calls for “vigorous population control.” Hartmann dismisses population growth as a cause of environmental harm and reminds us of the shameful history of top-down population-control programs.
This polarized debate has generated lots of heat and little light over the last half-century. According to the combatants, population growth is either the biggest problem facing humanity, or it is a complete non-issue.
The debate usually begins with a dire, Malthusian warning — often by an environmentalist: “The sky is falling! Rapid population growth is the cause!”
via The Population Debate Is Screwed Up | Environment | AlterNet.
Obama’s New Monopoly Set
Obama’s New Monopoly Set – By William Greider
It’s very much like the regular Monopoly game — only better — because this one uses real money, provided courtesy of the taxpayers.
President Obama has invented a new board game for Wall Street money guys to play that promises to be a lot of fun. It’s very much like the regular Monopoly game that kids play–only better–because this one uses real money, provided courtesy of the taxpayers. The best thing about Obama’s game is nobody loses. Usually, the winner in Monopoly is the one who winds up with the most money. In the Obama version, the losers get any losses back from the government at the end of the game. The president has promised.
The guy is a genius. He located these two whiz kids–Tim and Larry–who are smarter than God about financial matters. President Obama commanded the advisors to solve the financial mess, raise the zombie banks from the dead and start the good times rolling again. This game is what they came up with. It’s a very complicated game and not everyone can understand it. But the Wall Street titans smell hope. For this Monopoly set has no “Go to Jail” card in the deck.
It starts just like the real Monopoly game. The president hands out tall stacks of cash to all the players–hedge funds, insurance companies, big-time investors, any well-heeled capitalist with a serious taste for acquiring greater wealth. The players then roll the dice and move their little titan icons around the Monopoly board. They can buy up properties wherever they land, sort of like landing on Boardwalk and Park Place. Only in this case the properties are the nearly worthless financial assets held by the country’s leading banks, like the mortgage-backed securities now known as “toxic assets.”
DiFi’s Dishonest Spin on Employee Free Choice
OPS: One of the sinister Dems is selling out – again. Question to Californians: WiDiFi?
DiFi’s Dishonest Spin on Employee Free Choice – by: David Dayen
At The Plum Line, Greg Sargent takes a look at Dianne Feinstein’s lack of support for the Employee Free Choice Act. She remains the only Congressional Democrat from California not to co-sponsor the bill, and according to her spokesman, she’s looking for the mythical bipartisanship pony.
“I have thought for some time that the way to approach this issue is by trying to see if there can’t be a compromise between the business community, the agriculture community and labor. This is an extraordinarily difficult economy and feelings are very strong on both sides of the issue. I would hope there is some way to find common ground that would be agreeable to both business and labor.”
This is complete nonsense. Employers are firing workers who try to organize. They intimidate workers into voting against their better interests. One out of every four unions elections were marred by illegal firings in 2007. I don’t know how you can possibly reconcile the two sides given that scenario.
Furthermore, the invocation of the “difficult economy” is another red herring. Sen. Tom Harkin has already done away with this nonsense by pulling out his history book.
via Calitics:: DiFi’s Dishonest Spin on Employee Free Choice.
Blumenthal Urges Fed To Block AIG Bonuses Planned For 2010
Blumenthal Urges Fed To Block AIG Bonuses Planned For 2010 – BY LYNN DOAN | The Hartford Courant
The Connecticut attorney general urged Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke Friday to block an additional $232 million in bonuses scheduled to be delivered to AIG Financial Products employees next March — plans confirmed by AIG officials during a state legislative hearing Thursday.
Since December, AIG has delivered $218 million in bonuses to keep employees working at its dying Financial Products subsidiary in Wilton. AIG executive Stephen Blake confirmed in testimony before the legislature’s Banks Committee Thursday that the company plans to deliver more bonuses in March 2010. That would bring the total of so-called retention bonuses paid to division employees — designed to keep them working long enough to dismantle the business — to as much as $451 million.
Bernanke told Congress earlier this week that he had wanted to file a lawsuit to block the bonuses that were delivered to employees this month, but was advised not to because of Connecticut’s wage act. The Connecticut law, Bernanke said, could grant employees “substantial punitive damages” if the government lost the suit.
via Blumenthal Urges Fed To Block AIG Bonuses Planned For 2010 — Courant.com.
When chaos calls / Bedlam abounds. Is now a good time to unplug and move to the woods?
When chaos calls – by Mark Morford
Bedlam abounds. Is now a good time to unplug and move to the woods?
Here is the good news: We are completely doomed.
Isn’t that great? Isn’t that reassuring? It damn well should be, because, in some form or another and since we were knee-high to a cave painting, the apocalypse has always, always been nigh.
t is perhaps the single most wonderful and reliable aspect about being a tiny troubled biped on this tiny troubled speck of spinning space dust; depending on whom you listen to, depending on how dialed in you are to the various nefarious signs and conspiracy theories and reruns of “The Omen” on late-night cable, we are always on the verge of imminent and unstoppable doom. It’s just a matter of which supremely peeved deity — God? Nukes? Bees? Trees? Peanut butter? — you believe is about to bring the hammer down.
If nothing else, this unfailing belief in our imminent demise makes us terribly consistent. And consistency, aside from being a nasty hobgoblin, also provides terrific comfort. And comfort, in times of chaos and imminent apocalypse, is always sort of nice. See how that works?
In the Bush Dark Times, the apocalypse took the form of various charming little munchkins, like the gay agenda, Buddha tattoos, nu-metal, female nipples, Bill O’Reilly’s adorable “culture wars,” gangsta rap, condoms, bad art, Muslim fanatics who want to confiscate your porn collection, stem cell research, Hillary Clinton and teenagers having lots of anal sex and calling it chastity. So cute!
via When chaos calls / Bedlam abounds. Is now a good time to unplug and move to the woods?.
Bank of America CEO: No Apology
Bank of America CEO: No Apology -— By David Corn
I was waiting for the daily White House briefing. It was a lovely near-spring day. Most of the reporters were outside, many preparing to hurl questions at the banking CEOs who were finishing their private lunch with President Barack Obama in the East Wing. It was expected that the soon-to-be departing bankers would stop at the stake-out position in front of the entrance to the West Wing and field queries from the journalists.
And then they came. Mostly tall men. All white, I recall. In very nice suits. Most had silver hair. It was as if Central Casting had been asked for a dozen banking chiefs. After being surrounded by reporters and camera crews–business journalists were in a frenzy–the gaggle of titans made its way to the microphones. They said what you’d expect: that they had had a productive meeting with the president, that we’re all in this together (just some of us have more retirement worries than some others), that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s toxic assets plan is a good first step (these guys are lucky to have anyone giving them any kind of step), that they were not surprised by the public outrage over the AIG bonuses (did they want to seem more out of touch?), that the financial regulatory system does need updating, and that we’re all in this together. Oh, did I say that already? That was a talking point that someone had obviously instructed them to use whenever it was necessary to exhale.
I was standing toward the back of the pack of reporters, watching as each question seemed to bounce off the impenetrable wall of spin the bankers had constructed. (Was it woven into the Italian wool of their suits?) There came a momentary pause in the not-so-tough grilling, and I yelled out, “Do you think you owe the American people an apology for helping to cause this economic decline?”
via Bank of America CEO: No Apology | Mother Jones.
Support Growing for Major Changes to Health-Care System
More Support for Health-Care Fix
But Funding Coverage Still Sticking Point
(CBS/AP) A former State Department lawyer tells The Associated Press that the Bush administration panicked after 9/11 and tortured prisoners.
Former President George W. Bush denied anyone was tortured. But Vijay Padmanabhan is at least the second insider to publicly describe as torture the so-called “enhanced interrogation techniques” used by the U.S.
Padmanabhan was the department’s chief counsel on Guantanamo litigation. He says it was “foolish” for the Bush administration to declare that detainees were beyond the reach of U.S. and international laws and the Geneva Conventions.
He told the AP Friday that “Guantanamo was one of the worst overreactions of the Bush administration.”
Last week, another former official in the Bush State Department publicly criticized the administration for its Guantanamo policies.
via Support Growing for Major Changes to Health-Care System – washingtonpost.com.
Ex-Official: Bush Panicked After 9/11
Ex-Official: Bush Panicked After 9/11
Former State Dept. Lawyer Describes Bush Administration’s Gimto Interrogations As Torture
(CBS/AP) A former State Department lawyer tells The Associated Press that the Bush administration panicked after 9/11 and tortured prisoners.
Former President George W. Bush denied anyone was tortured. But Vijay Padmanabhan is at least the second insider to publicly describe as torture the so-called “enhanced interrogation techniques” used by the U.S.
Padmanabhan was the department’s chief counsel on Guantanamo litigation. He says it was “foolish” for the Bush administration to declare that detainees were beyond the reach of U.S. and international laws and the Geneva Conventions.
He told the AP Friday that “Guantanamo was one of the worst overreactions of the Bush administration.”
Last week, another former official in the Bush State Department publicly criticized the administration for its Guantanamo policies.
via Ex-Official: Bush Panicked After 9/11 – CBS News.
US backing for world currency stuns markets
US backing for world currency stuns markets
US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner shocked global markets by revealing that Washington is “quite open” to Chinese proposals for the gradual development of a global reserve currency run by the International Monetary Fund.
The dollar plunged instantly against the euro, yen, and sterling as the comments flashed across trading screens. David Bloom, currency chief at HSBC, said the apparent policy shift amounts to an earthquake in geo-finance.
“The mere fact that the US Treasury Secretary is even entertaining thoughts that the dollar may cease being the anchor of the global monetary system has caused consternation,” he said.
via US backing for world currency stuns markets – Telegraph.
Number of Chronically Hungry Tops 1 Billion
Number of Chronically Hungry Tops 1 Billion
by Javier Blas
LONDON – The number of chronically hungry people has surpassed the 1bn mark for the first time as the economic crisis compounds the impact of high food prices, the United Nations’ top agriculture official has warned.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Jacques Diouf, director-general of the Food and Agriculture Organisation, warned that the increasing numbers of undernourished people could trigger political instability in developing countries.
“The issue of world food security is an issue of peace and national security,” he said, urging world leaders who are discussing ways to resolve the economic crisis not to forget that last year more than 30 countries suffered food riots.
The Rome-based organisation estimated last year that about 960m people were chronically hungry in 2008. Mr Diouf said that had since risen and “unfortunately, we are already quoting a number of 1bn people on average for this year”.
Before the food crisis started in 2007, there were less than 850m chronically hungry people in the world, a level that has been roughly constant since the early 1990s owing to the global fight against poverty and countries such as China lifting their economic growth.
via Number of Chronically Hungry Tops 1 Billion | CommonDreams.org.
How the Nation’s Only State-Owned Bank Became the Envy of Wall Street
How the Nation’s Only State-Owned Bank Became the Envy of Wall Street
The Bank of North Dakota is the only state-owned bank in America—what Republicans might call an idiosyncratic bastion of socialism. It also earned a record profit last year even as its private-sector corollaries lost billions. To be sure, it owes some of its unusual success to North Dakota’s well-insulated economy, which is heavy on agricultural staples and light on housing speculation. But that hasn’t stopped out-of-state politicos from beating a path to chilly Bismarck in search of advice. Could opening state-owned banks across America get us out of the financial crisis? It certainly might help, says Ellen Brown, author of the book, Web of Debt, who writes that the Bank of North Dakota, with its $4 billion under management, has avoided the credit freeze by “creating its own credit, leading the nation in establishing state economic sovereignty.” Mother Jones spoke with the Bank of North Dakota’s president, Eric Hardmeyer.
Mother Jones: How was the bank formed?
via How the Nation’s Only State-Owned Bank Became the Envy of Wall Street | Mother Jones.
Why We Need a Commission on Presidential Power
Why We Need a Commission on Presidential Power
We should not look upon presidential lawlessness as if it were an odd aberration of the Bush years.
President Barack Obama started strong by announcing the end of torture and the closing of Guantánamo, but he has recently taken a more equivocal attitude toward the Bush constitutional legacy. While rejecting his predecessor’s extreme claims, he continues to assert the presidential power to hold terrorists without trial and to keep state secrets from the courts. And he has already issued his first signing statement denouncing a few provisions of the stimulus package as unconstitutionally limiting his executive prerogatives.
These decisions have unleashed a flood of anxious commentary about Obama’s ultimate intentions. But the discussion has only served to divert public attention from the real question confronting the new administration. Barack Obama is no George W. Bush — he will indeed cut back substantially on unilateral assertions of power. The big question is whether he will take effective steps to prevent the next president from reversing course yet again and using the precedents of the Bush years as a springboard for even more extreme assertions of executive authority.
Anything Obama does through executive order can be reversed by the next president through a countervailing executive order. The president’s real challenge is to design a thoughtful process through which he could lead Congress to pass landmark legislation that would decisively repudiate the unilateralism of the Bush years.
The first step is to create a presidential commission on presidential power. Like great commissions of the past, it should include leading members of Congress and engage in a year-long process of deliberation. It should propose a series of landmark statutes that reinvigorate the founding principles of checks and balances. This would prepare the way for a serious collaborative effort between the president and Congress to enact realistic limitations into law before the next presidential election.
via Why We Need a Commission on Presidential Power | The American Prospect.
Mind the Wage Gap
Mind the Wage Gap
Forget Wall Street — Main Street is really too big to fail.
What we’ve seen of Obamanomics in its beta stages is something bold, something risky and something extraordinarily expensive — and all of this is so by necessity. We certainly hope the president’s prescription will turn out to be exactly what the ailing economy needs. Of course, we’ll have to wait a while for that judgment. In the meantime, the more fundamental, and troubling, question looms: Even assuming the success of president’s plan, will this new sustainable economy he talks about require a reduced standard of living for Americans?
We have to admit that many of the factors that drove what we remember as the good economy are the same ones now being blamed for the collapse. In an economy so dependent on consumption, most of the spending was deficit spending. And much of that willingness to spend beyond our means was driven by the “the wealth effect,” the sense that we were richer than we were because we lived in houses with spiraling values.
We did not save because we had 401Ks that always went up — until they didn’t — and because, well, there was always the house. Now we are chastened by a different reality, and chastised for our reckless behavior. The president talks about his plan to keep “responsible homeowners” in their homes and laments the era of “borrow and spend.” He proposes instead a time of “save and invest.” The tagline on the budget proposal he sent to Congress is “A New Era of Responsibility.”
via Mind the Wage Gap | The American Prospect.
‘Centrist’ And ‘Moderate’ Always Means ‘Corporate’
‘Centrist’ And ‘Moderate’ Always Means ‘Corporate’
– by Dave Johnson
Evan Bayh gets programs and legislation that people need killed and is called a ‘centrist’ and a ‘moderate.’
It seems to me that whenever a legislator is getting tons of cash from corporations and then does that corporation’s bidding, the action is always called ‘centrist’ or ‘moderate.’ Or when they kill things that people, regular people need, it’s ‘centrist’ or ‘moderate.’
via Seeing the Forest: ‘Centrist’ And ‘Moderate’ Always Means ‘Corporate’.
Swiss bankers feel ‘stages of grief’
Swiss bankers feel ‘stages of grief’ - By Richard Milne in Geneva
Mood in Geneva ‘between denial and anger’
Swiss banking secrecy might be on the wane but restaurant secrecy appears to be alive and kicking.
An attempt to inquire about the mood of Geneva’s private bankers this week at a restaurant close to their discreet headquarters on the Rue du Rhone was met by a firm “pas de commentaire” at the Relais de l’Entrecote restaurant. A banker rushing off outside was a little more helpful: “Things aren’t very good. People here are very angry with how it is all being blamed on us.”
via FT.com / Europe – Swiss bankers feel ‘stages of grief’.
Brazilian President: ‘White, blue-eyed bankers have brought world economy to its knees’:
‘White, blue-eyed bankers have brought world economy to its knees’: What the Brazilian President told Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown’s efforts to broker an £80billion bailout for world trade on a trip to Brazil hit a stumbling block tonight when the country’s president lashed out at ‘white, blue-eyed’ bankers for bringing the world economy to its knees.
Mr Brown watched on uneasily as his host, President Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva, launched a bizarre tirade in which he warned that next week’s G20 summit in London would be a ‘spicy’ affair.
President Lula said it was completely unfair that the poorest people in the world were suffering most for the mistakes of wealthy, Western financiers.
At Press Conference, Obama Too Willing to Cut Social Spending | The Progressive
At Press Conference, Obama Too Willing to Cut Social Spending – By Matthew Rothschild,
He boasted that his budget spends proportionately less on social programs than that of his recent predecessors.
At his press conference Tuesday night, President Obama was asked several times about the projected deficits in his budget. His answers, while sensible in some ways, were alarming in others.
He sensibly argued that we need to lay the foundation for sustainable growth by investing in education, health care, and new energy sources.
But he gave up way too much ground when he repeated his pledge to cut the budget deficit in half by the end of his first term. If he does that, he will snuff out whatever recovery has gotten under way.
via At Press Conference, Obama Too Willing to Cut Social Spending | The Progressive.
The Dance of the Trillions to Shore up Banks, Bankers, and Gamblers
The Dance of the Trillions to Shore up Banks, Bankers, and Gamblers -by Rodrigue Tremblay
“Deficits in the, let’s say, 5 percent of GDP range would lead to rising debt-to-GDP ratios that would ultimately not be sustainable.” Peter Orszag, Obama White House budget chief
“The [US] financial system is facing possible total losses of $7 trillion. …With the banks ‘effectively insolvent’, we’ve concluded that the only viable solution is nationalization.” Matthew Richardson and Nouriel Roubini, American economists
“China is worried that the U.S. may solve its problems by printing money, which will stoke inflation.” Zhao Qingming, Chinese financial analyst
“Whoever controls the volume of money in any country is absolute master of all industry and commerce.” James A. Garfield, (1831-1881) 20th President of the United States
After ten years of wholesale financial deregulation, bad policies and unsound banking practices, and facing a worsening recession, over the last year and a half the U.S. government has been pumping trillions of dollars in order to deleverage and recapitalize banks that were on the brink of insolvency. But the banking crisis is of such a magnitude, and the damage done to the financial system so widespread, that each pumping of money into the system has never seemed to be enough. This is because numerous American financial institutions, and among the largest, have suffered multibillion-dollar losses, not only with subprime mortgages, but especially with large amounts of derivative products that have turned sour. Not the least of these are the famous gambling products called credit default swaps, (CDS), [which the Bank of International Settlements is reporting to be worth some $57 trillion.
For its part, ever since the collapse of the investment bank Bear Stearns on March 15, 2008, the Fed has pumped trillions of dollars, under various forms, into sick financial institutions in order to keep them afloat, or in order to merge them with other entities.
via The Dance of the Trillions to Shore up Banks, Bankers, and Gamblers.
Bachmann Getting Close To Treason
Bachmann Getting Close To Treason
I understand that Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) is one of the biggest lunatics ever to serve in the United States Congress in this generation and it is very hard to take anything she says with any degree of seriousness.
But given the number of lunatics in our society that easily get fired-up to dangerous levels (remember the crazy shouts at McCain and Palin rallies after they began their ridiculous “terrorist” meme about Obama?), I think Bachmann’s frightening rants about it being time for “revolution” is getting uncomfortably close to the “T” word: treason.
Recall her rant last week:
I want people in Minnesota armed and dangerous on this issue of the energy tax because we need to fight back. Thomas Jefferson told us, having a revolution every now and then is a good thing, and the people — we the people — are going to have to fight back hard if we’re not going to lose our country. And I think this has the potential of changing the dynamic of freedom forever in the United States.
Now, here’s her latest insanity:
via Mark Nickolas’ Blog: Bachmann Getting Close To Treason.
Palin adviser’s ’secret Scientology plot’ outed
Palin adviser’s ‘secret Scientology plot’ outed
Gawker, of all places, has uncovered an old memo once written by an adviser to Alaska Governor Sarah Palin which “plotted to use friendly politicians to advance the power-hungry cult’s agenda.”
That “power hungry cult” being the cult of Scientology, I should mention, not folks from the far right, Iditarod champion fan clubs or Illuminati.
Gawker’s John Cook reports that Scientologist John Coale “masterminded a plan—which was never executed—for Scientology to get into the ‘MONEY and VOTES game’ in order to ‘create power’ for Scientology and win influence Washington, D.C.”
“I thought it was a brilliant idea,” Coale told the website, “but no one else did, so it never went anywhere. I was looking at ways to move a new religion forward. I looked at the history of Mormons, who had a lot of people in office, and I looked at the Jews, who were very successful and influential. But the church didn’t want to be part of it. They didn’t want to be misconstrued. There was one small meeting with parishioners in DC. Maybe 9 or 10 people showed up.”
via The Raw Story » Palin adviser’s ’secret Scientology plot’ outed.
Total Meltdown and Civil Unrest
Total Meltdown and Civil Unrest
Wall Street’s Manipulated Stock Market Rally
The numbers that have been bandied about is beyond the comprehension of the average Joe Six-Packs. I cannot even figure out $500 billion, what more $500 trillion. Ninety per cent of government leaders are also unable to figure out the enormity of the global debt sink-hole.
So, I have accepted the fact that 97 per cent of Americans will just accept whatever explanations and excuses thrown at them by President Obama, Fed Bernanke and Treasury Geithner for bailing out the banks and failing to prevent the implosion of the economy by summer of 2009.
Obama inherited the mess created by war criminal Bush, aided and abetted by Alan Greenspan, Bernanke and Geithner, so he can be excused for there is nothing that he can do at this late hour to change the outcome. But the rest should be lynched!
In the last two years, in several articles, I drew your attention to the fraudulent securities that have been peddled by the global banks and how they have caused the present grid-lock in the global financial system. In essence, these securities – MBS, CDOs, CLOs, etc. were all fraudulent papers. Whatever mortgages underlying these papers, were over-valued and now they have shown to be worth at the most 10 to 20 cents on the dollar.
There have been suggestions that if all these papers were to be shredded and the debts written off, the global banks’ balance sheet would be wiped clean of such toxic assets. In the result the economy would restart and the good old days of cheap credit and unrestrained consumption would usher another boom!
This is a fairy tale.
via Total Meltdown and Civil Unrest.
Senate GOP leader says Bush was millstone
OPS: And too much the coward to say anything at the time
Senate GOP leader says Bush was millstone
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Despite crushing defeats in the last two elections, Senate Republicans have new “energy and enthusiasm” for winning back the majority, according to their leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
“President Bush had become extremely unpopular, and politically he was sort of a millstone around our necks in both ‘06 and ‘08,” McConnell told reporters Friday. “We now have the opportunity to be on offense, offer our own ideas and we will win some.”
Many of those ideas get presented as amendments to Democratic bills which, though usually defeated, can draw attention to GOP policy alternatives and force Democrats to take difficult votes.
“They become the way you chart the course for a comeback,” McConnell said.
via Senate GOP leader says Bush was millstone – The CNN Wire – CNN.com Blogs.
Ashcroft: Some forms of waterboarding might be legal
OPS: Only in the alternate univers of John Yoo buster
Ashcroft: Some forms of waterboarding might be legal
Is it any surprised that a man who spends free time making sculptures out of barbed wire still does not believe his approval of torturing prisoners was wrong?
“I think history will be very kind to the President,” said former Attorney General John Ashcroft, speaking recently at the University of Texas at Austin. “I don’t have a mark on my conscience.”
Speaking with former Nixon White House counsel John Dean on Thursday night, MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann tried to make sense of Ashcroft’s justification for signing off on waterboarding.
via The Raw Story | Ashcroft: Some forms of waterboarding might be legal.
Investigation of IBM sought
Investigation of IBM sought
Assemblyman wants hearings on company’s outsourcing of jobs
POUGHKEEPSIE — Assemblyman Gregory Ball is demanding a state investigation into IBM Corp. offshore hiring practices while taking taxpayer dollars.
On Thursday, Ball, R-Patterson, said he was drafting a letter to Chairman Richard Brodsky of the Assembly Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions to request bipartisan hearings on the matter.
“IBM seems to have a long-term approach to outsourcing,” Ball said, “and my fear is they’re actually using taxpayer funds to subsidize offshoring good-paying American jobs.”
IBM fired some 5,000 U.S. workers Thursday — including employees at IBM Sterling Forest in Tuxedo, Orange County and IBM Poughkeepsie in Dutches County. At Sterling Forest, which had been spared from a wave of firings earlier this year, an employee described the mood as grim.
Big Blue is shifting work to India, where labor and production costs are significantly lower.
via Investigation of IBM sought — Page 1 — Times Union – Albany NY.
Reform is Needed. Reform is in the Air. We Can’t Afford to Fail
Reform is Needed. Reform is in the Air. We Can’t Afford to Fail – by Joseph E. Stiglitz
The task is to build a new financial architecture. If we flunk it, the pain will strike most cruelly in the world’s poorest countries
The financial crisis that began in America’s sub-prime mortgage market has now become a global recession – with growth projected to be a negative 1.5%, the worst performance since the Great Depression. Even countries that had done everything right are seeing marked declines in growth rates, and even deep recessions. And much of the most acute pain will be felt by developing countries.
A UN commission of experts on reforms of the international monetary and financial system, which I chair, has just published its preliminary report. It focuses especially on the impact of the crisis on developing countries and the poor everywhere, which is likely to be severe. An estimated 30 million more people will be unemployed in 2009 compared to 2007. The increase could even reach 50 million. Progress in reducing poverty may be halted. The report warns that: “Some 200 million people, mostly in developing economies, could be pushed into poverty if rapid action is not taken to counter the impact of the crisis.”
While this is a global crisis, responses are undertaken by national governments, who quite naturally look after their own citizens’ interest first. Particularly invidious are protectionist measures, such as the US “buy America” provision in its stimulus package. In fact, the World Bank reports that 17 of the group of 20 countries have engaged in protectionist measures, after making a commitment not to do so in their meeting in Washington in November. By focusing on national, as opposed to global impacts, the global stimulus will be less – and the global recovery weakened.
via Reform is Needed. Reform is in the Air. We Can’t Afford to Fail | CommonDreams.org.
Farmers Worry About Proposed Legislation
OPS: HR 875 is a major step towards Monsanto controlling all food. It is an evil piece of legislation
Farmers Worry About Proposed Legislation – by Tom Wilemon
Some Mid-South farmers who sell their products directly to consumers worry that a food safety bill in Congress could put them out of business if enacted into law.
U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., has introduced legislation that would divide the responsibilities of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and put food under the purview of the Department of Health and Human Services, which would have more stringent guidelines. The legislation is HR 875 or the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009.
Keith Forrester, the owner of Whitton Flowers and Produce Farms, which is about 40 miles from Memphis in East Arkansas, got worried when he read a summary of the bill. He is concerned the regulations would make it financially cumbersome to sell his products at the Memphis Farmers Market and other venues.
“It will wipe out the direct market aspect,” Forrester said. “It’s going to put more of the burden of responsibility on so many levels of the government that it’s going to make it basically impossible to directly market food, is what it’s going to do. You’re going to have to be a corporate farm, man. You’re going to have to be a corporate farm to make it work. We’re not.”
The legislation would establish the Food Safety Administration within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
via Farmers Worry About Proposed Legislation | CommonDreams.org.
Lights Worldwide to Go Dark for Earth Hour
Lights Worldwide to Go Dark for Earth Hour
From landmarks to homes, idea is to send message about global warming
Calling it a visual vote for climate action, organizers of an “Earth Hour” initiative expect 2,800 cities, dozens of companies and hundreds of millions of individuals worldwide to turn off or dim their lights for an hour Saturday night.
Commitments have come in from 84 countries, according to the World Wildlife Fund, which organized the event because of its concerns about warming’s impact on humans and wildlife.
“With Earth Hour, millions of people from all walks of life will demonstrate their commitment to take action on climate change,” WWF CEO Carter Roberts said in a statement. “Turning off the lights is just the beginning. We’re asking everyone to also make commitments to reduce their energy use during the rest of the year and to ask their elected representatives to do the right thing because we need climate legislation now.”
Most electricity is produced by burning fossil fuels like coal and natural gas, a process that emits carbon dioxide, a key greenhouse gas tied to warming. While renewable energy sources like solar and wind have no direct carbon emissions, they have yet to displace fossil fuels due to costs and efficiencies.
McDonald’s will even soften the yellow glow from some Golden Arches as part of the time zone-by-time zone plan to dim nonessential lights between 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. to highlight global climate change.
Key landmarks expected to go dark or dim include:
via Lights Worldwide to Go Dark for Earth Hour | CommonDreams.org.
G20 Summit: Thousands Prepare to March for ‘Jobs, Justice and Climate’
G20 Summit: Thousands Prepare to March for ‘Jobs, Justice and Climate’
Protesters’ anger fuelled by £19m spent to host G20 summit of world leaders
Thousands of demonstrators are preparing to take part in a march for “jobs, justice and climate” amid anger at the £19m cost of staging the G20 summit, ahead of a week of protests to mark the conference.
Foreign Office minister Lord Malloch-Brown disclosed the figure, adding that a lot of the money would be spent on security because of the number of high-profile leaders travelling to the capital for the event on 2 April.
Organisers of some of the dozens of protests being held to coincide with the summit criticised the cost.
Leave for police in the capital has been cancelled for the summit amid warnings from Scotland Yard that some campaigners were planning disruption around the city’s Square Mile.
A professor, thought to be masterminding “mayhem” for next week, was suspended by his university after he warned bankers could be “hanging from lampposts”.
The University of East London confirmed a “full investigation” was launched following warnings of violence from Chris Knight, 66, from Lewisham, south London.
via G20 Summit: Thousands Prepare to March for ‘Jobs, Justice and Climate’ | CommonDreams.org.
Reid: Justice Roberts Lied To Us
OPS: Lying to Congress is a Felony – an Impeachable offense. So either impeach the bastard or shut up you miserable coward.
Reid: Justice Roberts Lied To Us
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid took a moment Friday to lament Supreme Court Chief Justice John Robert’s tenure on the court so far, which in Reid’s opinion has been far more conservative than expected. “He didn’t tell us the truth,” Reid’s said, discussing Robert’s confirmation back in 2005. From Politico:
“Roberts didn’t tell us the truth. At least Alito told us who he was,” Reid said, referring to Samuel Alito, the second Supreme Court justice nominated by President George W. Bush. “But we’re stuck with those two young men, and we’ll try to change by having some moderates in the federal courts system as time goes on — I think that will happen.”
via Reid: Justice Roberts Lied To Us.
Touting Her Currency Conspiracy, Bachmann Insists: ‘This Is Not Michele Bachmann Being A Kook’
Touting Her Currency Conspiracy, Bachmann Insists: ‘This Is Not Michele Bachmann Being A Kook’ 
bachmann-glasses.jpgEarlier this week, right-wing fanatic Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) started peddling false conspiracy theories that the world was moving toward a unified global currency — and that the U.S. might join in as early as next week’s G-20 conference. The myth was started when China’s central bank governor suggested replacing the dollar as the world’s reserve currency. Though the suggestion has nothing to do with a unified global currency, Fox News’ Major Garrett decided to ask President Obama whether he supported the fictional prospect of such a move. (Obama, for the record, does not.)
Rep. Issa pushing to limit first lady’s power to ‘protect’ her ‘historic role.’
Rep. Issa pushing to limit first lady’s power to ‘protect’ her ‘historic role.’
michelle-lectern2.jpgRep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and his conservative allies are pushing for legislation that would limit the first lady’s ability to do substantive policy work. Issa had originally proposed the bill last year, in fear of Bill Clinton moving back in to the White House. But he insists the bill is only about ensuring “transparency” for the work of first ladies, adding, “We are trying actually to protect the historic role of the first lady.” Or, as Gawker summed up Issa’s proposal in its headline, “Congressman Wants Michelle Obama To Shut Up And Look Pretty.
via Think Progress » Rep. Issa pushing to limit first lady’s power to ‘protect’ her ‘historic role.’.
BREAKING: UPS Announces It Will Stop Advertising On Bill O’Reilly’s Show
OPS: BROWN is NOT DOWN, with Billo!
KO’s comments tonight should be priceless
BREAKING: UPS Announces It Will Stop Advertising On Bill O’Reilly’s Show
In response to our Stop Supporting The O’Reilly Harassment Machine campaign, UPS told us yesterday that it was investigating whether to continue supporting O’Reilly’s show. “We are sensitive to the type of television programming where our messages and presence are associated and continually review choices to affect future decisions,” spokeswoman Susan Rosenberg told us.
Today UPS announced it will stop advertising on O’Reilly’s show. Here is the statement UPS emailed out just moments ago:
Thank you for sending an e-mail expressing concern about UPS advertising during the Bill O’Reilly show on FOX News. We do consider such comments as we review ad placement decisions which involve a variety of news, entertainment and sports programming. At this time, we have no plans to continue advertising during this show.
Here’s a graphic of the email statement we received:
via Think Progress » BREAKING: UPS Announces It Will Stop Advertising On Bill O’Reilly’s Show.
Baucus: We can accomplish health care reform ‘without’ public health plan option.
Baucus: We can accomplish health care reform ‘without’ public health plan option.
Today, during an event at the Center for American Progress Action Fund about reforming the health care system, ThinkProgress asked Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) if he agreed with Gov. Howard Dean’s (D-VT) argument that the government can’t improve the efficiency and quality of the health care system without giving Americans the choice of enrolling in a new public health care plan:
Let’s see what we come up with. I think we can accomplish the objective [Dean] wants without [a public plan]. We can, we’re going to have to work on it. But we may have to have it, [Dean] may be right. Just don’t know yet.
Watch it:
via Think Progress » Baucus: We can accomplish health care reform ‘without’ public health plan option..
More than 10,000 of you have stood up to Bill O’Reilly.
More than 10,000 of you have stood up to Bill O’Reilly.
Since the launch of our Stop Supporting The O’Reilly Harassment Machine campaign on Wednesday afternoon, more than 10,000 of you have taken action. Thank you for all your support! In just two days, here’s all the successes we’ve had:
billo.jpg– UPS announced it will no longer advertise on The Factor
– Capital One expressed “regret” for O’Reilly’s insensitivity and explain that it does not endorse his views.
– A Fox spokesman candidly told us that he agreed with us about the “rantings of the hopelessly pig-headed Mr. O’Reilly.” (Ford then clarified that the statement did not speak for the company)
via Think Progress » More than 10,000 of you have stood up to Bill O’Reilly..
Childish GOP Budget Stunt: A Republican Road to Nowhere
Childish GOP Budget Stunt: A Republican Road to Nowhere
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS by Meg White
After the Republican party took rough hits from the White House, congressional Democrats and the media for its Playskool alternative to the president’s budget proposal, they promised to come out with a grownup version — now with real numbers! — next Wednesday.
I feel bad for the GOP congressional aides. They’ve got to give up their weekend just so their party will have a better prop with which to posture next week, right before both chambers are expected to vote on the real budget that Friday. In other words, the Republican alternative should arrive in time to have no impact at all in the budget negotiations. Perfect. That’ll make it easy to criticize Obama’s budget later, without actually having to be involved in the messy process itself.
After hearing quite a bit about the negative aura surrounding the “Party of No” of late, I thought I’d do a little analysis. I lifted all the language from the alternative, titled “The Republican Road to Recovery,” to the budget and put it in two categories: anti-Democratic blustering, and actual Republican proposals (however vague they might be).
(A note on methodology: I excluded any language that was neutral; a quick and easy job. In fact, if you look at the document itself, it’s quite neatly divided into categories that could be titled “What is totally lame about the Democrat budget” and “Why Republicans are magical money trees.”)
via Childish GOP Budget Stunt: A Republican Road to Nowhere | BuzzFlash.org.
Obama’s Triple Surge Into Afghanistan
Obama’s Triple Surge Into Afghanistan - by Jim Hightower
Hi-ho, hi-ho, it’s off to war we go!
As President Barack Obama begins winding down the Bush war in Iraq, he is building up his own war farther east. We’re told that it will be a new, expanded, extra-special American adventure in Afghanistan, involving a vigorous surge strategy to “stabilize” this perpetually unstable land.
The initial surge will add 17,000 troops to the 36,000 already there. Then, later this year, there is to be a second troop surge of another 17,000 or so. This mass of soldiers is expected to be deployed to a series of new garrisons to be built in far-flung regions of this impoverished, rural, mostly illiterate warlord state that is ruled by hundreds of fractious, heavily armed tribal leaders. We’re not told how much this escalation will cost, but it will at least double the $2 billion a month that American taxpayers are already shelling out for the Afghan war.
The extra-special part of this effort is to come from a simultaneous “civilian surge” of hundreds of U.S. economic development experts. “What we can’t do,” said Obama in an interview last Sunday, “is think that just a military approach in Afghanistan is going to be able to solve our problems.” To win the hearts (and cooperation) of the Afghan people, this development leg of the operation will try to build infrastructure (roads, schools, etc.), create new crop alternatives to lure hardscrabble farmers out of poppy production and generally lift the country’s bare-subsistence living standard.
What Obama has not mentioned is that, in addition to soldiers and civilians, there is a third surge in his plan: private military contractors. Yes, another privatized army, such as the one in Iraq. There, the Halliburtons, Blackwaters and other war profiteers ran rampant, shortchanging our troops, ripping off taxpayers, killing civilians and doing deep damage to America’s good name.
via Obama’s Triple Surge Into Afghanistan by Jim Hightower on Creators.com – A Syndicate Of Talent.
Simon Jenkins: At last we get it – this war is Vietnam for slow learners
At last we get it – this war is Vietnam for slow learners
Eight years of fighting has made no difference to the balance of power in Afghanistan. Only one word makes sense: exit
One word shines through the spin surrounding this week’s Barack Obama policy review on Afghanistan. The word is exit. Before he became president, Obama was much taken by the idea that Afghanistan was a good and winnable war, a usefully macho contrast to his retreatism on Iraq. But in a military briefing at the time, he asked what was the exit strategy from Kabul and was met with silence. He has got the point.
In Britain, Gordon Brown too has no answer. Whether speaking to troops in the field or to the House of Commons, he incants the unconvincing line that the war he is waging, and plainly not winning, against the Taliban is about “terrorism on the streets of Britain”. He cannot believe this any more than do his listeners. His platitudinous references to Afghanistan in the counter-terrorism strategy launched yesterday are evidence of this, complete with its absurd insistence on “poppy eradication”.
This war remains what it was from the start, aggression against a foreign state intended to punish it for refusing to hand over the perpetrators of 9/11. It was later sanitised (largely by the British) as a liberal intervention to bring democracy and gender awareness to a poor people. The American architect of the war, Donald Rumsfeld, had no such lofty ambition. He just wanted to hit hard and get out. It was Tony Blair and the neocons who saw the country as a testbed for their new philanthropic imperialism.
Visalia Journal – Farmers Lead a Bid to Create 2 Californias – NYTimes.com
Farmers Lead a Bid to Create 2 Californias
VISALIA, Calif. — After nearly 90 years on the farm, Virgil Rogers has suffered through all manner of agricultural agita, from colicky cows to oscillating milk prices to drought, both past and present.
But Mr. Rogers’s newest source of consternation, he says, is some fellow Californians.
“Those Hollywood types don’t have any idea what’s going on out here on the farms,” said Mr. Rogers, a retired dairyman from Visalia, the county seat in a Central Valley region where cows far outnumber people.
So it is that in recent weeks Mr. Rogers, whose previous political involvement amounted to little more than writing a check to a favored candidate — has suddenly become a leader in a secessionist movement bent on cleaving California in two.
via Visalia Journal – Farmers Lead a Bid to Create 2 Californias – NYTimes.com.
AIG poster boy wants tax deduction for his ‘bonus’ but it’s our money he’s spending
AIG poster boy wants tax deduction for his ‘bonus’ but it’s our
money he’s spending
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS by Chad Rubel
Is Jake DeSantis an economic hero?
Well, the executive in AIG’s financial-products division who sent in his resignation letter to The New York Times did receive a standing ovation from his colleagues. This included his boss, who has been seen in a Che Guevara T-shirt. After all, they might have thought, “here was someone who stood up when the bad, evil people tried to take away our million-dollar bonuses even though they were based on transactions we couldn’t back up. Who cares if taxpayer money paid for my bonus, it’s mine.”
But to whom does the bonus money belong? Of all the possible parties, the least likely answer is Jake DeSantis.
Of course, possession is 9/10 of the law, and DeSantis does have his bonus money. But it’s not really his.
We, the taxpayers, bailed out his company. We own 80% of his company, and it would have been more except Republicans cried out that nationalization would be bad, as opposed to this sewer we’re swimming in now. Oh, and the bonus is likely based on transactions with no financial backing.
But DeSantis wants to be “fair” about it, since we are giving him and his co-workers grief. DeSantis is willing to donate the after-tax proceeds, all $742,006.40 of it.
via AIG poster boy wants tax deduction for his ‘bonus’ but it’s our money he’s spending | BuzzFlash.org.
Exec says Coleman donor ordered $100K payments
Exec says Coleman donor ordered $100K payments
Sworn statement backs allegation that Kazeminy directed fees to an insurance firm to benefit the Colemans.
The former finance chief of a Texas company controlled by Nasser Kazeminy, a close friend of former Sen. Norm Coleman, said in a deposition last week that Kazeminy ordered $100,000 in fees be paid to a Minneapolis insurance agency where Coleman’s wife was employed.
B.J. Thomas, who was chief financial officer of Deep Marine Technology Inc., said that $75,000 of that sum was paid to Hays Companies even though he saw no evidence of Deep Marine receiving any consulting services from Hays.
Thomas’ deposition, taken under oath on March 19 and obtained by the Star Tribune, is the first corroboration from an official at Deep Marine of allegations made by company founder Paul McKim in a lawsuit filed last year against the company.
via Exec says Coleman donor ordered $100K payments.
Scott Polakoff, Top Bank Regulator, Placed On Leave Pending Probe Of Backdated Cash Infusions For IndyMac
Scott Polakoff, Top Bank Regulator, Placed On Leave Pending Probe Of Backdated Cash Infusions For IndyMac
WASHINGTON — A top bank regulator has been placed on leave pending a Treasury Department investigation into regulators’ approval of backdated cash infusions for troubled thrifts.
The Office of Thrift Supervision said Thursday that its acting director, Scott Polakoff, was placed on leave “pending a review by the Department of the Treasury of the OTS’ August 2008 actions related to post-period capital contributions.”
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner named OTS Chief Counsel John Bowman to replace Polakoff as acting director, the agency said. The OTS gave no further details on the Treasury Department’s review and how it might relate to Polakoff.
Polakoff, who is the agency’s chief operating officer, had held the acting-director position only since last month following the resignation of OTS Director John Reich. Agency spokesmen and Polakoff could not be reached for comment late Thursday.
AIG Risk Officers Remain In Place, Despite Disastrous Decisions
AIG Risk Officers Remain In Place, Despite Disastrous Decisions
AIG’s risk management team, whose job was to manage credit risk at the giant insurer, remain in place despite their disastrous oversight.
At least five of the 10 members of the so-called Credit Risk Committee, which was responsible for the credit-default swaps that brought the company to its knees, remain at their posts, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The five officials are:
-Robert Lewis, AIG’s chief risk officer since 2004
-Kevin McGinn, chairman of the committee
-Win Neuger, chief executive of AIG Investments
-William Dooley, head of AIG’s financial-services division, which had oversight of the unit that sold the credit-default swaps
-Barbara-Ann Livanou, director of financial institutions in the credit-risk-management department
On Thursday, Clusterstock obtained a fascinating letter, reportedly from an AIG employee, that detailed his experiences inside the infamous company. It noted: “By the way, the head of Risk Control for the whole of AIG, Bob Lewis, is still working in that role today.”
via AIG Risk Officers Remain In Place, Despite Disastrous Decisions.
Zero percent of GOP insiders support passing ‘something close to President Obama’s budget.’
Zero percent of GOP insiders support passing ‘something close to President Obama’s budget.’
In its latest Congressional Insiders Poll, National Journal asked, “How should Congress respond to the recent deficit projections?” None of the Republican members of Congress surveyed said they should pass something resembling President Obama’s agenda:
insiders.jpg
In arguing for why they want to “delay” Obama’s initiatives, one anonymous GOP lawmaker told National Journal, “Better yet, scrap ‘em. It’s pure nonsense to even consider this wild-eyed stuff in a recession.” “Where’s the money coming from to pay for socialized medicine, schools? And is deficit spending ever a real solution to making lives better?” said another.
Reid To Critics Of ‘Moderate’ Democrats: You’re ‘Very Unwise And Not Helpful’
OPS: There is no HOPE with SHIT like this in Washington – REID MUST BE REPLACED ASAP!
Reid To Critics Of ‘Moderate’ Democrats: You’re ‘Very Unwise And Not Helpful’
In recent weeks, a number of progressive groups and commentators have criticized Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) for his attempts to organize his fellow Conservative Democrats into a new Blue Dog-style caucus that will work to “restrain the influence of party liberals in the White House and on Capitol Hill.” Now, however, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is telling the Bayh critics to back off. This morning at a breakfast briefing with reporters, Reid called the critiques “very unwise and not helpful“:
“I think it’s very unwise and not helpful,” Reid said Friday morning. “These groups should leave them alone. It’s not helpful to me. It’s not helpful to the Democratic Caucus.”
Reid, who said he hadn’t seen or heard the ads, added that “most of [the groups] run very few ads — they only to do it to get a little press on it.”
Later, Reid said he had “no qualms” with Bayh’s new Blue Dog-style coalition and told reporters that “‘any public statements’ Senate moderates have made have been helpful.” But as Rachel Maddow noted earlier this week, at the moment, the only result of Bayh forming his group has been to give Republicans “way more power” than they otherwise would have.
via Think Progress » Reid To Critics Of ‘Moderate’ Democrats: You’re ‘Very Unwise And Not Helpful’.
Nelson says he will vote against budget if reconciliation process is used.
Nelson says he will vote against budget if reconciliation process is used.
Yesterday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said that it was “absolutely essential” to pass “substantial health care reform legislation” this year, adding that “the best prospect for that to happen is under reconciliation,” which allows a measure to be passed with a simple majority instead of the 60 votes that otherwise would be needed. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said earlier this week that he would “consider” using the budget reconciliation process for health care. But Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) tells Bloomberg today that he would “vote against his party’s budget if it included the reconciliation procedure”:
via Think Progress » Nelson says he will vote against budget if reconciliation process is used..
Obama Backs Banks, Seeks to Block Fair-Lending Probe
Obama Backs Banks, Seeks to Block Fair-Lending Probe (Update1) – By Greg Stohr
March 26 (Bloomberg) — The Obama administration’s call for greater financial regulation may have its limits.
The administration late yesterday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to bar New York and other states from enforcing their fair-lending and other consumer-protection laws against federally chartered banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co.
The legal brief, which adopts the Bush administration’s position, is a setback for consumer and civil-rights groups that had urged President Barack Obama’s team to switch positions. The filing puts the administration at odds with New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo over the respective roles of state and federal regulators. The high court will hear arguments April 28.
“National banks are created by the government to serve federal purposes,” argued Solicitor General Elena Kagan, the Obama administration’s top courtroom lawyer. “Oversight of the banks is therefore principally entrusted to the United States.”
The court filing coincides with this week’s proposal by the administration to put large hedge funds, private-equity firms and derivatives under federal supervision for the first time.
Reviving Investigation
via Obama Backs Banks, Seeks to Block Fair-Lending Probe (Update1) – Bloomberg.com.
Thomas Geoghegan on “Infinite Debt: How Unlimited Interest Rates Destroyed the Economy”
Video – Audio – Transcript – MP3 download
Thomas Geoghegan on “Infinite Debt: How Unlimited Interest Rates Destroyed the Economy”
Democracy Now!
The Obama administration unveils its $1 trillion plan to buy toxic assets from banks and restore the financial system. But should we return to the way it was? We speak with Chicago lawyer Thomas Geoghegan about his new Harper’s Magazine cover story, “Infinite Debt: How Unlimited Interest Rates Destroyed the Economy.” Geoghegan writes, “We dismantled the most ancient of human laws, the law against usury, which had existed in some form in every civilization from the time of the Babylonian Empire to the end of Jimmy Carter’s term.”
Chuck Todd misses the point on sacrifice in Obama question, we already are sacrificing
Chuck Todd misses the point on sacrifice in Obama question, we already are sacrificing
Chuck Todd told Rachel Maddow he wanted input from regular people, but completely ignored that for his question on Tuesday.
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS by Chad Rubel
Chuck Todd had a nice idea, in theory: ask those on the Internet to help him come up with a question to ask President Obama during Tuesday night’s press conference. We complain about the Washington bubble, and how the MSM is insulated from the problems of the world outside the nation’s capital. So Todd, perhaps seeing that frustration, solicited questions via Newsvine.com and a plug on MSNBC’s First Read.
So what did Chuck Todd ask when given the chance Tuesday night?
“Why, given this new era of responsibility that you’re asking for, why haven’t you asked for something specific that the public should be sacrificing to participate in this economic recovery?”
WTF?
Obama seeks input of bank CEOs on recovery plans
OPS: The definition of Insanity
Obama seeks input of bank CEOs on recovery plans
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is hearing from the chief executives of some of the country’s biggest banks as he caps a week in which he rounded out his overall plan for stabilizing the financial system.
The president was taking the temperature of the bank CEOs on Friday at the White House, the latest in a series of such meetings he has had with financial industry representatives and business executives since taking office amid the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner also will attend the meeting with the 15 chief executives.
Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase & Co., Vikram Pandit of Citigroup Inc., Ken Lewis of Bank of America Corp., John Stumpf of Wells Fargo & Co., John Koskinen of Freddie Mac and Kenneth Chenault of American Express Co., were among those in the meeting, according to the White House.
The meeting follows a period marked by Obama’s sharp language, and public outrage, over Wall Street excesses and $165 million in employee bonuses by American International Group, the large but troubled insurance company that has taken more than $170 billion in federal bailout money.
via Obama seeks input of bank CEOs on recovery plans.
Reid: Specter card-check switch closes door to Dems
OPS: So Reid has the excuse he was looking for. Reid is a coward
Reid: Specter card-check switch closes door to Dems – By Alexander Bolton
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Friday that Sen. Arlen Specter’s (R-Pa.) decision to reject “card-check” legislation has ended any chance of a party switch.
Reid as well as Vice President Biden, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D) and Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (D-Pa.) have tried recently to persuade Specter to leave the GOP.
via TheHill.com – Reid: Specter card-check switch closes door to Dems.
Russian ‘Arctic military’ plan
Russian ‘Arctic military’ plan
Warmer temperatures are making access to the Arctic easier
Russia has announced plans to set up a military force to protect its interests in the Arctic.
In a document published on its national security council’s website, Moscow says it expects the Arctic to become its main resource base by 2020.
While the strategy is thought to have been approved in September, it has only now been made public.
Moscow’s ambitions are likely to cause concern among other countries with claims to the Arctic.
‘Military security’
The document foresees the Arctic becoming Russia’s main source of oil and gas within the next decade.
via BBC NEWS | Europe | Russian ‘Arctic military’ plan.
Geithner Outlines Plan to Overhaul Nation’s Financial Regulatory System
VIDEO – AUDIO – Transcript – Mp3 Download
Geithner Outlines Plan to Overhaul Nation’s Financial Regulatory System
Democracy Now! |
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner outlined plans Thursday to rewrite the nation’s financial rules as part of what the Wall Street Journal described as the most comprehensive changes to financial market regulation since the New Deal. Geithner’s plan includes the creation of a single regulator to monitor any firm whose failure could threaten the financial system. We speak with economist James Galbraith.
via Democracy Now! | Geithner Outlines Plan to Overhaul Nation’s Financial Regulatory System.
Sanford urged to prevent ‘chaos’
South Carolina GOP Governor Mark “I’m an Econ-Terrorist” Sanford Continues to Pledge to Keep People Out of Work in His State. GOP and Dem State S.C. Lawmakers Plead with Him to Halt His Financial Terrorism Upon those Who Need Jobs in the State.
Sanford urged to prevent ‘chaos’
Lawmakers implore governor to accept money to avert a state financial disaster
South Carolina lawmakers Thursday attempted to turn up the pressure on Gov. Mark Sanford to accept $700 million in federal stimulus money intended to balance state budgets by funding schools and public safety.
Without the money, lawmakers said, the impact on the state budget would be chaos.
But U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., said the U.S. Department of Education may send the money to S.C. schools — even if the governor or lawmakers do not request it and argued state lawmakers should include the money in their budget.
via Sanford urged to prevent ‘chaos’ – Local / Metro – The State.
US Eyes Nuclear Rebirth After Three Mile Island
US Eyes Nuclear Rebirth After Three Mile Island
WASHINGTON – Thirty years after the accident at Three Mile Island shattered Americans’ trust in nuclear power, lawmakers are touting a nuclear rebirth as a safe, green way to wean the United States off foreign oil.
“We have the enormously powerful opportunity for a nuclear renaissance in our country. We need to pursue that aggressively and effectively to meet all of our energy and environmental goals,” Senator David Vitter told a hearing of the Senate subcommittee on clean air and nuclear safety this week.
No new reactors have been opened in the United States since the accident at Three Mile Island in central Pennsylvania, which began to unfold in the early hours of March 28, 1979 when cooling water started seeping through an open valve in a reactor.
The technical glitch was compounded by human error, eventually leading to a partial meltdown of the reactor’s core, making Three Mile Island the worst accident in US nuclear power industry.
No one died in the accident and official reports commissioned by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and US government agencies concluded that the escaping radiation had little impact on public health — arguments that are still put forward today as calls crescendo for a nuclear renaissance.
via US Eyes Nuclear Rebirth After Three Mile Island | CommonDreams.org.
Source: Obama To Up Auto Fuel Standards
Source: Obama To Up Auto Fuel Standards
(AP) The Obama administration plans to raise fuel efficiency standards by 2 miles per gallon to 27.3 mpg for new cars and trucks in the 2011 model year, marking the first increase in passenger car standards in more than two decades.
Under the changes, which are slightly less stringent than those proposed by the Bush administration, new passenger cars will need to meet 30.2 mpg for the 2011 model year and pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles, and minivans will need to reach 24.1 mpg, an administration official told The Associated Press on Thursday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak in advance of an announcement expected Friday.
The fuel efficiency rules are the first step in meeting a 2007 energy law that will require car makers to meet at least 35 mpg by 2020, a 40 percent increase over the current standard of about 25 mpg.
Passenger car requirements have remained unchanged at 27.5 mpg since 1985, drawing complaints from environmental groups that the government has been slow to push automakers to produce more fuel-efficient vehicles.
via Source: Obama To Up Auto Fuel Standards – CBS News.
Lower costs lure U.S. patients abroad for treatment
OPS: The Reich gets a kick in lying about this. The reality is that people flocking to other countries for affordable health care – they are not coming here.
Lower costs lure U.S. patients abroad for treatment
- “I was a walking time bomb. I knew I had to get on that plane if I wanted to be around to see my grandkids.”
Sandra Giustina is a 61-year-old uninsured American. For three years she saved her money in hopes of affording heart surgery to correct her atrial fibrillation. “They [U.S. hospitals] told me it would be about $175,000, and there was just no way could I come up with that,” Giustina said.
So, with a little digging online, she found several high quality hospitals vying for her business, at a fraction of the U.S. cost. Within a month, she was on a plane from her home in Las Vegas, Nevada, to New Delhi, India. Surgeons at Max Hospital fixed her heart for “under $10,000 total, including travel.”
Giustina is just one of millions around the world journeying outside their native land for medical treatment, a phenomenon known as “medical tourism.” Experts say the trend in global health care has just begun. Next year alone, an estimated 6 million Americans will travel abroad for surgery, according to a 2008 Deloitte study. “Medical care in countries such as India, Thailand and Singapore can cost as little as 10 percent of the cost of comparable care in the United States,” the report found.
via Lower costs lure U.S. patients abroad for treatment – CNN.com.
The Woman Who Could Nail Bush
OPS: The Reich will kill itself to stop this. But GOOD LUCK!
The Woman Who Could Nail Bush - by Scott Horton
Forget nanny issues and unpaid taxes. The GOP is threatening an ugly fight over an Obama Justice Department appointee who wants to disclose more Bush-era torture memos.
Until recently, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, often considered the “brains” of the department, has been known mostly to legal experts. But for the past eight years, it was the epicenter of allegations of political manipulation and, worse, the source of infamous memoranda on torture. In tapping Eric Holder as attorney general, President Obama has promised to restore standards of professionalism to the department. For Republicans, this is tantamount to a declaration of partisan war.
The real reason for their vehement opposition is that Johnsen is committed to overturning the Bush administration’s policies on torture and warrantless surveillance that would clip the wings of the imperial presidency.
On March 19, the nomination of Indiana University law professor Dawn Johnsen to head the OLC was endorsed by the Judiciary Committee with every Republican voting against her and Sen. Arlen Spector (R-PA) abstaining. The nomination was to have been brought to the Senate floor for a vote on Monday and then again on Wednesday, but it has been held back. Republican leaders, it appears, are playing with the notion of making Johnsen the target of their first filibuster.
via The Woman Who Could Nail Bush – The Daily Beast.
Single-Payer FAQ – Physicians for a National Health Program
OPS: Here’s a great resource for the Single Payer argument. Created by Doctors
Single-Payer FAQ
MORE at link
via Single-Payer FAQ | Physicians for a National Health Program.
Dick Cheney was right
Dick Cheney was right – By Joe Conason, Salon
Deficits don’t matter — and Republicans who are complaining about Barack Obama’s spending are hypocrites.
March 27, 2009 | Dick Cheney once observed that “deficits don’t matter,” which may well have been the most honest phrase he ever uttered. His words were at least partly true, which is more than can be said for the great majority of the vice president’s remarks — and they certainly expressed the candid attitude of Republicans whenever they attain power. His pithy fiscal slogan should remind us that much of the current political furor over deficit spending in the Obama budget is wrong, hypocritical, and worthy of the deepest skepticism.
In our time, the Republican Party has compiled an impressive history of talking about fiscal responsibility while running up unrivaled deficits and debt. Of the roughly $11 trillion in federal debt accumulated to date, more than 90 percent can be attributed to the tenure of three presidents: Ronald Reagan, who used to complain constantly about runaway spending; George Herbert Walker Bush, reputed to be one of those old-fashioned green-eyeshade Republicans; and his spendthrift son George “Dubya” Bush, whose trillion-dollar war and irresponsible tax cuts accounted for nearly half the entire burden. Only Bill Clinton temporarily reversed the trend with surpluses and started to pay down the debt (by raising rates on the wealthiest taxpayers).
Republicans in Congress likewise demanded balanced budgets in their propaganda (as featured in the 1993 Contract with America), but then proceeded to despoil the Treasury with useless spending and tax cuts for those who needed them least. Even John McCain, once a principled critic of those tax cuts, turned hypocrite when he endorsed them while continuing to denounce the deficits they had caused.
via Dick Cheney was right | Salon.
California jobs go to those with connections
California jobs go to those with connections – By Patrick McGreevy
Lawmakers can hire anyone they choose. Sometimes that means friends and family
Reporting from Sacramento — Unemployment in California may be at its highest since 1983, but there are jobs with the state Legislature for the well-connected.
Yolie Flores Aguilar, a longtime friend and political ally of some powerful California Democrats, last year supplemented her income as vice president of the Los Angeles school board with more than $32,000 as a consultant assigned to a state Senate committee that, during her tenure, did not meet or release any reports.
State Sen. Rod Wright (D-Inglewood) was paid at least $27,900 by the state Senate last year for miscellaneous tasks as he was campaigning for his current job. And Californians pay Marisela Villar, daughter of L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, $68,000 annually as a field representative for Democrats.
via California jobs go to those with connections – Los Angeles Times.
Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand Support Call for Global Currency
OPS: Oh they’re lining up now……
Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand Support Call for Global Currency
March 27 (Bloomberg) — China’s call for a global reserve currency to take the place of the dollar has won the support of central bank chiefs in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, who argue it would help curb volatility and foster trade.
“We need a currency that is stable by volume and value so that world trade and investment can be more stable,” Bank Indonesia Governor Boediono told reporters in Jakarta today. “Trade transactions using one currency that’s dependent on the condition of a single country’s economy is dangerous.”
China’s central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan this week urged the IMF to expand the use of Special Drawing Rights, or SDRs, and move toward a “super-sovereign reserve currency.” Bank Negara Malaysia Governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz two days ago said it’s “a viable proposal that should be considered,” while Bank of Thailand Governor Tarisa Watanagase today said it may benefit developing nations to have an alternative to the dollar.
“It does show that the topic has come up and there seems to be some support here in Asia for it,” said Thomas Harr, a senior currency strategist at Standard Chartered Plc in Singapore. “Asian central banks have been diversifying out of U.S. dollars for some time and they’re concerned about the sustainability of the U.S. financial system.”
via Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand Support Call for Global Currency – Bloomberg.com.
Single-payer health reform bill introduced in Senate
OPS: Never Give UP!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Physicians for A National Health Program
Contacts:
Quentin Young, M.D., (312) 782-6006
Mark Almberg, (312) 782-6006
March 26, 2009,
Single-payer health reform bill introduced in Senate
Would save $400 billion on bureaucracy, enough to cover all 46 million uninsured Americans
Challenging head-on the powerful private insurance and pharmaceutical industries, Vermont’s Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced a single-payer health reform bill, the American Health Security Act of 2009, in the U.S. Senate Wednesday. The bill is the first to directly take on the powerful lobbies blocking universal health reform in the Senate since Sen. Paul Wellstone’s tragic death.
The single-payer approach embodied in Sanders’ new bill stands in sharp contrast to the reform models being offered by the White House and by key lawmakers like Senators Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.). Their plans would preserve a central role for the private insurance industry, sacrificing both universal coverage and cost containment during the worst economic crisis since the Depression.
In contrast, Sanders’ new legislation would cover all of the 46 million Americans who currently lack coverage and improve benefits for all Americans by eliminating co-pays and deductibles and restoring free choice of physician. The most fiscally conservative option for reform, single payer slashes private insurance overhead and bureaucracy in medical settings, saving over $400 billion annually that can be redirected into clinical care.
“This is excellent news for the nation’s health,” said Dr. Quentin Young, national coordinator of Physicians for a National Health Program and a past president of the American Public Health Association. “There is now an affordable cure for our dysfunctional health care system. In the face of our present economic calamity, this is an urgent necessity.”
Highlights of the bill include the following:
Patients go to any doctor or hospital of their choice.
The program is paid for by combining current sources of government health spending into a single fund with modest new taxes amounting to less than what people now pay for insurance premiums and out-of-pocket expenses.
Comprehensive benefits, including coverage for dental, mental health, and prescription drugs.
While federally funded, the program is to be administered by the states.
By eliminating the high overhead and profits of the private, investor-owned insurance industry, along with the burdensome paperwork imposed on physicians, hospitals and other providers, the plan saves at least $400 billion annually – enough money to provide comprehensive, quality care to all.
Community health centers are fully funded, giving the 60 million Americans now living in rural and underserved areas access to care.
To address the critical shortage of primary care physicians and dentists, the bill provides resources for the National Health Service Corps to train an additional 24,000 health professionals.
“We are confident that Sen. Sanders’ bill will accelerate the national drive for the only reform that we know will work,” Young said. “A majority of physicians endorse such an approach. Fifty-nine percent of U.S. physicians support national health insurance. Two-thirds of the public also supports such a remedy. We remember well that President Obama once acknowledged that single-payer national health insurance was the best way to go. It still is.”
Sanders, who serves on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, is a longtime advocate of fundamental health care reform. His new bill draws heavily upon the single-payer legislation introduced by the late Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.) in 1993, S. 491, and closely parallels similar legislation pending before the House, H.R. 1200, introduced by Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.).
A single-payer bill introduced by Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), H.R. 676, obtained 93 co-sponsors in the House during the last session. It has been reintroduced in the new Congress as the U.S. National Health Care Act with the same bill number.
A copy of the bill is available here. (PDF)
——————————————————————————–
Physicians for a National Health Program, a membership organization of over 16,000 physicians, supports a single-payer national health insurance program. To contact a physician-spokesperson in your area, call (312) 782-6006 or visit www.pnhp.org/stateactions.
via PNHP:
Volcker: China Chose to Buy Dollars
Volcker: China Chose to Buy Dollars
Could the U.S. default on its debt? It effectively has done that at least once.
The following article originally appeared on TradeReform.org.
The following appeared on WSJ Blogs yesterday and makes for interesting reading
When talk at the Journal’s Future of Finance Initiative turned to inflation, participants turned the resident expert: Paul Volcker. He had a lot to say.
The former Federal Reserve chairman touched on a number of subjects ranging from the Fed’s communication strategy to China’s concerns about the U.S. debt load. The latter sparked questions over whether the U.S. could default on its debt — it effectively had done that at least once, Yale professor Robert Shiller noted. When President Roosevelt took the U.S. off the gold standard and unilaterally devalued the dollar, the move wiped out some 75% of dollar-denominated debt. “Maybe I shouldn’t even mention this,” Shiller joked.
Volcker, who as head of the White House’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board is a key adviser to President Obama, expressed concerns about inflation as a way of dealing with mounting debt. “One historic way of getting yourself out of this situation — or trying to — is to inflate. Either you do it deliberately or you allow it to happen,” he said. “And if we permit that to happen then I think all these dollars will come tumbling down on us.” He said the U.S.’s greatest strength is its history and reputation, and suggested that shouldn’t be put at risk.
via Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.
America Now at its Highest Unemployment Rate in 25 Years
OPS: Even a decent website like this one still uses the phony U3 number. As the U6 more accurately tells us – it’s closer to 15% (see: US Bureau of Labor Statistics – here )
America Now at its Highest Unemployment Rate in 25 Years – Dustin Ensinger
The unemployment rate is now at 8.1 percent – the highest rate in more than 25 years – and is likely to continue rising as more factories shutter, retailers close their doors and banks go under.
Just as companies are restructuring to cut costs and stay afloat in this tough economic environment, so too is the American economy as a whole, according to The New York Times.
With another 651,000 jobs lost in February, the unemployment rate is now at 8.1 percent – the highest rate in more than 25 years – and is likely to continue rising as more factories shutter, retailers close their doors and banks go under.
“These jobs aren’t coming back,” John E. Silvia, chief economist at Wachovia in Charlotte, N.C. told the Times. “A lot of production either isn’t going to happen at all, or it’s going to happen somewhere other than the United States. There are going to be fewer stores, fewer factories, fewer financial services operations. Firms are making strategic decisions that they don’t want to be in their businesses.”
That is typical in recessions. Companies, and sometimes entire industries, fold during bad times and others pop up when the economy improves. However, the depth and breadth of the current jobs losses may prove to be too much for the American economy to overcome this time around.
via Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.
China Publicizing “Free Trade” Agenda
China Publicizing “Free Trade” Agenda - Dustin Ensinger, with video by Craig Harrington -
China is ramping up its push for increased “free trade.” However, China may be the biggest practitioner of protectionist policies in the world.
China is ramping up its push for increased “free trade” among nations across the world before next week’s G20 summit in London. Meanwhile it is doing all in its power to protect its domestic producers through protectionist measures.
The government is deploying high-level trade delegates around the world to promote its “free trade” agenda and secure commitments from other nations to avoid protectionist measures. Over the weekend, China sent top-level officials to Australia, Vietnam and Indonesia. Last month, government officials held high-level talks with U.S. and European officials, imploring them to avoid protectionism.
“Trade protectionism will only make the already ailing world economy even worse,” said Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming, according to Chinese media, which has promoted the meeting and China’s “free trade” agenda.
via Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.
THE TROUBLE TODAY WITH THE ECONOMY
THE TROUBLE TODAY WITH THE ECONOMY – Sen. Ernest F. “Fritz” Hollings
The trouble today with the United States economy is that the U.S. refuses to compete in the globalized economy, even though, as The Economist magazine reported recently, “Business these days is all about competing with everyone from everywhere for everything.”
In globalization, the so-called “comparative advantage” is no longer God-given or determined by the weather, as was the case two centuries ago, with David Ricardo’s English woolens and Portuguese wine. Now commercial success is largely created, or not, by government policies, and the United States government refuses to compete for such success. In fact, our high standard of living has become a “comparative disadvantage.”
In the United States we rightly require manufacturers, beyond competing, to comply with: clean air, clean water, labor rights, a minimum wage, Social Security, Medicare, a safe working place, safe machinery, plant closing notices, parental leave, etc. China requires none of this, and China, Japan, and Korea compete in international trade for market share, by closing or controlling their markets, trading at cost, and making up the profit in closed markets. Is it any wonder that Toyota is now the #1 automobile manufacturer as GM, Ford and Chrysler struggle just to survive?
We need to compete, to trade.
via Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.
Tesla unveils groundbreaking electric car
Tesla unveils groundbreaking electric car
(AFP) – US automaker Tesla Motors unveiled its state-of-the-art five-seat sedan here Thursday, billed as the world’s first mass-produced, highway-capable electric car.
Tesla chief executive Elon Musk said the company, which last year released a breakthrough two-seater roadster, aims to have its sleek “Model S” sedan rolling off assembly lines by 2011.
The futuristic zero-emission vehicle will be powered by lithium-ion battery packs capable of between 160 and 300 miles (257 and 482 kilometers) per charge.
The car has an anticipated base price of 57,400 dollars but will cost less than 50,000 after a federal tax credit of 7,500 dollars, Musk said.
While the price tag is steep compared to other mass-market sedans, Tesla has stressed that tax incentives, relatively inexpensive maintenance and refueling will make the car competitive with cheaper rival sedans.
Musk told reporters that he hoped the car would lead a new generation of vehicles which would help the auto industry wean itself off of foreign oil.
“What we really wanted to show the car industry is that it is possible to create a compelling electric car at a compelling price,” Musk said. “We hope the industry will follow our lead.”
via Tesla unveils groundbreaking electric car.
Hot tea linked with throat cancer
Hot tea linked with throat cancer
PARIS (AFP) – People who drink their tea piping hot run a higher risk of throat cancer than counterparts who prefer a cooler cuppa, according to an investigation published Friday by the British Medical Journal.
Cancer of the oesophagus is linked especially to smoking and alcohol abuse but hot beverages have also been considered a risk factor, possibly because of damage to throat tissue.
Interested in finding out more, Iranian researchers went to Golestan province, which has one of the highest rates of oesophageal cancer in the world.
Inhabitants there sip large quantities of hot black tea — typically drinking more than a litre (1.8 pints) per day per person — but also have a low incidence of tobacco and alcohol use.
A team led by Reza Malekzadeh of the Digestive Disease Research Centre at Tehran University of Medical Sciences looked at 300 people who had been diagnosed with a throat tumour and a matched group of 571 healthy people who lived in the same area.
via Hot tea linked with throat cancer.
Japan ok’s shoot-down of inbound NKorean rocket
Japan ok’s shoot-down of inbound NKorean rocket
Japan’s leaders Friday authorised the shooting down of a North Korean rocket or its debris if it threatens to hit the country, said Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada.
“I issued the necessary order after the (government) security council this morning decided to issue a destruction order in advance,” he said after a meeting with Prime Minister Taro Aso and other key cabinet ministers.
“We will do our best to handle any flying object from North Korea in order to assure the Japanese people’s safety and security.”
The defence ministry was expected to deploy two Aegis-equipped destroyers in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) and Patriot interceptors in northern Akita and Iwate prefectures, although Hamada announced no precise plans.
The isolated Pyongyang regime has said it will launch a communications satellite over Japanese territory in early April, but the United States and its Asian allies suspect the launch is a ballistic missile test.
via The Raw Story | Japan ok’s shoot-down of inbound NKorean rocket.
Obama says automakers need ‘drastic changes’
Obama says automakers need ‘drastic changes’
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama plans to announce a new aid package for General Motors and Chrysler in the coming days and says the carmakers must make “pretty drastic changes” to save their industry.
Obama gave a preview of his administration’s approach to fixing the struggling U.S. auto industry during an online town hall meeting Thursday, promising additional aid only if the Detroit change its ways and receives concessions from stakeholders.
“We will provide them some help,” Obama said. “I know that it is not popular to provide help to auto workers — or to auto companies. But my job is to measure the costs of allowing these auto companies just to collapse versus us figuring out — can they come up with a viable plan?”
via Newsvine – Obama says automakers need ‘drastic changes’.
Get the Feeling You’re Being Watched? If You’re Driving, You Just Might Be
Get the Feeling You’re Being Watched? If You’re Driving, You Just Might Be – By WILLIAM M. BULKELEY
Cameras to Catch Speeders and Scofflaws Are Spreading — And Sparking Road Rage
The village of Schaumburg, Ill., installed a camera at Woodfield Mall last November to film cars that were running red lights, then used the footage to issue citations. Results were astonishing. The town issued $1 million in fines in just three months.
But drivers caught by the unforgiving enforcement — which mainly snared those who didn’t come to a full stop before turning right on red — exploded in anger. Many vowed to stop shopping at the mall unless the camera was turned off. The village stopped monitoring right turns at the intersection in January.
Once a rarity, traffic cameras are filming away across the country. And they’re not just focusing their sights on red-light runners. The latest technology includes cameras that keep tabs on highways to catch speeders in the act and infrared license-plate readers that nab ticket and tax scofflaws.
via Get the Feeling You’re Being Watched? If You’re Driving, You Just Might Be – WSJ.com.
Last edition of Christian Science Monitor
OPS: Another sad day for Democracy
Last edition of Christian Science Monitor
Copies of The Christian Science Monitor. The paper prints its final edition on Friday, bringing a 100-year run as a daily newspaper to an end but beginning a new era as an online publication
The Christian Science Monitor prints its final edition on Friday, bringing a 100-year run as a daily newspaper to an end but beginning a new era as an online publication.
The Boston-based Monitor announced plans in October to eliminate its daily print edition and become the first national US newspaper to adopt a Web-based strategy.
Like other US dailies, the Monitor had been losing readership and print advertising revenue to online media for years and circulation was hovering around 50,000 by the time the decision was made to shut down the presses.
Editor John Yemma said the award-winning newspaper will still print a weekly edition for subscribers and a printable three-page daily news digest by email but the main focus will be on its website, CSMonitor.com.
He said visitors to the website, which currently attracts more than two million unique visitors a month, should not expect an immediate and dramatic change overnight but a steady improvement over time.
“It’s not like we have new flash graphics or anything going up,” Yemma told AFP. “I’m sure we’ll have to struggle to find our feet in the first couple of days.
“But after that you’ll see the website will start to probably look different because it will be manned more hours of the day with fresh content,” he said. “Our desire, of course, is to ultimately be ’round the clock.
“By freeing our journalists from print we should be able to devote more of their time and attention to Web content,” Yemma said.
He said the Monitor had cut its editorial staff from 97 employees at the end of last year to around 80 but was maintaining eight foreign bureaus, a network of stringers and six domestic US bureaus outside of Boston and Washington.
via Last edition of Christian Science Monitor – Science & Technology – MSN Indonesia News – News.
Former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman, HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy seek full review
Former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman, HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy seek full review
Former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman and former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy are asking the full 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review arguments to overturn their convictions in a government corruption case.
Earlier this month, a three-judge panel from the court upheld five of the seven bribery and corruption charges against Siegelman and all six charges against Scrushy.
You can read the appeal motion filed in the case here:
International torch relays banned
International torch relays banned
The torch was nearly snatched from TV presenter Konnie Huq in London
International torch relays ahead of the Olympics have been scrapped by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
It follows the controversy that surrounded the Beijing Olympic relay which was dogged by protests as the torch made its way around the world.
The 2008 relay’s London leg was hit by several incidents and criticism over China’s ‘torch police’ security staff.
Organisers of the 2012 London Olympics have already said they had no plans to take the torch outside Britain.
“We have always said the primary focus would be on a domestic torch relay whose main purpose is to excite and inspire the UK in the build-up to the games,” said a London 2012 spokeswoman.
via BBC SPORT | Olympics | International torch relays banned.
Chris Dodd’s loyalty test
Dodd: ‘I’m trying to save capitalism’
Chris Dodd’s loyalty test
The senator’s task is huge: rewriting the rules for banks. But which side of him will emerge – populist reformer or friend of companies like AIG? Now is his moment of truth.
NEW YORK (Fortune) — In the U.S. Senate, seniority is all: You wait your turn. No one knows that better than Democrat Chris Dodd, the senior senator from Connecticut. “I went through 28 years of sitting next to people who either had the constitution of mules or great longevity,” Dodd told Fortune late one afternoon recently in his arch-windowed office on Capitol Hill.
On the Banking Committee, where Dodd has served since he was elected to the Senate in 1980, the mule in front of him was Maryland Democrat Paul Sarbanes. (“I think Paul’s heart beats once an hour,” says Rep. Barney Frank, Democrat from Massachusetts.) But when Sarbanes unexpectedly announced he would retire in 2006 and Democrats won control of the Senate, Dodd’s path to power opened. “Just think,” Sarbanes whispered to him one day during a lull in proceedings, his right arm draped around Dodd’s shoulder, his left arm sweeping across the marbled committee room, “in six months all this is yours.”
via Chris Dodd’s loyalty test – Mar. 27, 2009.
Red River reaches record level, floods Fargo with uncertainty
Red River reaches record level, floods Fargo with uncertainty
FARGO, North Dakota (CNN) — The Red River rose to 40.2 feet early Friday, breaking a 112-year-old record and creating a quandary for emergency officials who can no longer rely on historical data to guide their response.
Hundreds already have evacuated Fargo neighborhoods, hospitals and a nursing home. Officials across the Red River in Moorhead, Minnesota, also were urging residents to leave.
The river topped the 1897 record of 40.1 feet about 4 a.m. CT (5 a.m. ET), said National Weather Service spokesman Patrick Slattery in Kansas City, Missouri.
“It’s expected to continue rising,” he said. Forecasters have said the river will crest Saturday.
Record levels for the river mean uncertainty for officials and volunteers who are scrambling to mitigate the flooding in the area, Slattery said.
Emergency responders can extrapolate the effects of the rising river, he said, but they cannot know for sure what works because they have never witnessed the river so high and therefore have no previous data with which to work.
via Red River reaches record level, floods Fargo with uncertainty – CNN.com.
Sen. Webb: Prisons a ‘national disgrace,’ must be reformed
Sen. Webb: Prisons a ‘national disgrace,’ must be reformed - Stephen C. Webster
Proposed commission would seek to bring prison populations down, ‘overhaul drug criminalization’
Even as President Barack Obama slapped down the hopes of American marijuana consumers as to his position on legalization, Senator Jim Webb (D-Va) was quietly preparing to introduce major legislation which has the potential to dramatically alter US drug laws.
Calling the US criminal justice system “a national disgrace,” two US senators called for a top-to-bottom review with an eye on reforms aimed at reducing America’s vast prison population.
Senator Webb, backed by Republican Senator Arlen Specter, introduced legislation to create a blue-ribbon panel that would conduct an 18-month assessment and offer concrete recommendations for reform.
via The Raw Story | Sen. Webb: Prisons a ‘national disgrace,’ must be reformed.
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Republicans Don't Care about Voter Fraud....owa Republicans are trying to dismiss claims that the vote count in Tuesday's Iowa Caucus was wrong. An Iowa voter told a local TV station yesterday that he noticed a 20-vote discrepancy in the count - and that Rick Santorum was the real winner of the Caucuses. Republican Party officials, though, are sticking to their first count - showing Mitt Romney as the winner by 8-votes - and there will be no recount.The Republican Party has launched a war on voters around the nation this year with strict new laws that will disenfranchise over 5 million Americans. They claim these laws are necessary to combat so-called voter fraud. Yet in Iowa - where there are no such laws - and where a very, very close and questionable election was just held - Republicans don't seem to care at all about getting it right.Clearly - the war on voters isn't about making sure the people's voices are represented accurately - it's about making sure poor people, young people, and minorities who tend to vote for Democrats - can't vote at all.-Thom(Who do you think won? Tell us here.) -
LEGALIZE Democracy
" We the corporations" On January 21, 2010, with its ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations are persons, entitled by the U.S. Constitution to buy elections and run our government. __________
MOVE to AMEND
a project of the CAMPAIGN TO LEGALIZE Democracy
Help end Corporate personhood
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The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. 
