Archive for June, 2009
Sebelius: Single-Payer Health Care Not In Plans
Sebelius: Single-Payer Health Care Not In Plans – : NPR
Audio at link
Morning Edition, June 16, 2009 ·
As lawmakers on Capitol Hill hammer out legislation to overhaul the nation’s health care system this year, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius says that a single-payer option is not on the table.
“This is not a trick. This is not single-payer,” Sebelius told Steve Inskeep. She added: “That’s not what anyone is talking about — mostly because the president feels strongly, as I do, that dismantling private health coverage for the 180 million Americans that have it, discouraging more employers from coming into the marketplace, is really the bad, you know, is a bad direction to go.”
Remaking the nation’s health care system is a massive task: The industry constitutes 18 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product. But those skyrocketing health care costs — and the increasing burden they put on the U.S. economy — are exactly why the president says a health care overhaul must be a national priority.
via Sebelius: Single-Payer Health Care Not In Plans : NPR.
Holder Refuses to Call Warrantless Spying Illegal
Holder Refuses to Call Warrantless Spying Illegal
by David Swanson
In probably the most disturbing testimony to hit Capitol Hill since Attorney General Eric Holder appeared before the House Judiciary Committee in May and refused to rule out lawless detention or to agree that government officials can sometimes be prosecuted for their crimes, on Wednesday Holder appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee and, among much else, refused five times to agree that warrantless spying is illegal and unconstitutional. I spoke to Holder in April, and he assured me that I would be proud of my country. When?
Over the months that have passed since Holder last testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee at his confirmation hearings, it has become clear that most, if not all, of the major criminal activities of the Bush Administration will be covered up and protected, and in fact continued, by the Obama Administration — yes, including torture. Most recently in the media, including in Wednesday’s New York Times, are accounts of ongoing warrantless spying. At Wednesday’s hearing, liveblogged here, illegal spying was the subject of a dramatic exchange.
Chairman Patrick Leahy was the first to raise the topic and to complain that he had to learn about the executive branch’s crimes from the New York Times. I’m not sure who he would prefer or expect to hear such things from. Holder, in response, claimed not to know anything about it, because he hadn’t “reviewed in any detail” the New York Times article. Senators Tom Coburn and Diane Feinstein both claimed that the New York Times article was not accurate.
via Holder Refuses to Call Warrantless Spying Illegal – Democratic Underground.
Teenage girl sues after waking up with 56 tattoo stars on her face
Starred for life
The 18-year-old blamed a language mix-up after she fell asleep in Rouslan Toumaniantz’s chair.
Kimberley faces a £9,000 bill for corrective surgery in Courtrai, Belgium – and moaned: “I look like a bloody freak.”
via Teenage girl sues after waking up with 56 tattoo stars on her face | The Sun |News.
Dollar drops on reserve currency doubts
Dollar drops on reserve currency doubts
The dollar fell against the euro and yen on Wednesday after major emerging economies cast doubt on its long-term future as the world’s main reserve currency, dealers said.
In late morning trading in London, the European single currency climbed to 1.3867 dollars from 1.3838 dollars in New York late on Tuesday.
Against the Japanese currency, the dollar slipped to 96.30 yen from 96.42 yen on Tuesday
Leaders of the so-called BRIC nations — Brazil, Russia, India and China — had on Monday called for a “more diversified” currency system.
“The BRIC leaders are divided between supporting the US dollar — as it is the only choice for now — and advancing the march for an alternative,” said Phil McHugh, who heads the corporate foreign exchange desk at currenciesdirect.com.
“The (BRIC) meeting… will affect future sentiment on the dollar,” he added.
via Dollar drops on reserve currency doubts.
Banks cut FDIC guarantee ties
Banks cut FDIC guarantee ties – FT.com –
JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley will no longer issue government-guaranteed bonds in an effort to sever their financial ties to the US authorities and show investors they can fund themselves without Washington’s help.
In separate statements, the two banks said yesterday they did not expect to have to sell short-term bonds backed by banking regulator, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
The announcements by the two banks, which could be followed by Goldman Sachs and the other institutions that passed the government’s recent stress tests, make it likely the debt guarantee plan will not be extended beyond its October deadline.
The move by JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley underline the gap between banks that have freed themselves from government aid and rivals such asCitigroup, Bank of America
and Wells Fargo that still owe money to the authorities.
Citi, BofA and Wells yesterday declined to comment on whether they would issue more FDIC-backed debt.
via FT.com / UK – Banks cut FDIC guarantee ties.
1968 Chicago riot cops to hold reunion
1968 Chicago riot cops to hold reunion
And, as at the Democratic National Convention, there will be protesters
The violent clashes between police and protesters during the 1968 Democratic National Convention aren’t typically considered proud moments in Chicago history.
But some members of the Fraternal Order of Police want to change that. On June 26, the Chicago police union will hold a “Chicago Riot Cops Reunion” at its hall to set straight “what really happened,” according to the reunion’s Web site.
“The only thing that stood between Marxist street thugs and public order was a thin blue line of dedicated, tough Chicago police officers,” the Web site says. “Chicago police officers who participated in the riots continue to endure unending criticism — all of which is unwarranted, inaccurate and wrong.”
Former Police Supt. Philip Cline is scheduled to be a keynote speaker.
via 1968 Chicago riot cops to hold reunion — chicagotribune.com.
The Lies About The Healthcare Public Option
Lies brought to you by Grampy and LIEberman
YouTube – The Lies About The Healthcare Public Option.
Industry is critical of Michelle Obama’s organic garden
Industry is critical of Michelle Obama’s organic garden
Michelle Obama entertained some fifth-grade students from Washington’s Bancroft Elementary School at a late lunch Tuesday in the first lady’s garden. It was a harvest celebration, with ingredients from the kitchen garden the children helped get started in March, coming back in April to plant the seeds.
Kids, gardens, seeds and organic vegetables would normally make for a pretty safe and innocuous White House event, even given today’s hothouse atmosphere in the nation’s capital. But the symbolic importance of an organic garden on the South Lawn, visible from the iron fence on E Street, has blossomed in ways no one could have expected. It has not only spurred many to have their own home garden — it has also clearly put a scare into conventional agriculture, which has fought back.
Obama’s stated purpose — to highlight the importance of a healthful diet for children and how much easier it is to get children to eat from their least favorite food group, vegetables, when produce is just out of the ground — was quickly transposed upon a much larger playing field.
via Industry is critical of Michelle Obama’s organic garden – Marian Burros – POLITICO.com.
Domestic Surveillance Program Faces Renewed Scrutiny
E-Mail Surveillance Renews Concerns in Congress
WASHINGTON – The National Security Agency is facing renewed scrutiny over the extent of its domestic surveillance program, with critics in Congress saying its recent intercepts of the private telephone calls and e-mail messages of Americans are broader than previously acknowledged, current and former officials said.
The agency’s monitoring of domestic e-mail messages, in particular, has posed longstanding legal and logistical difficulties, the officials said.
Since April, when it was disclosed that the intercepts of some private communications of Americans went beyond legal limits in late 2008 and early 2009, several Congressional committees have been investigating. Those inquiries have led to concerns in Congress about the agency’s ability to collect and read domestic e-mail messages of Americans on a widespread basis, officials said. Supporting that conclusion is the account of a former N.S.A. analyst who, in a series of interviews, described being trained in 2005 for a program in which the agency routinely examined large volumes of Americans’ e-mail messages without court warrants. Two intelligence officials confirmed that the program was still in operation.
via E-Mail Surveillance Renews Concerns in Congress | CommonDreams.org.
AMA President: Opposition to public plan is motivated by desire to ‘protect the health insurance industry.’
AMA President: Opposition to public plan is motivated by desire to ‘protect the health insurance industry.’
A week ago, the American Medical Association declared its opposition to a public health insurance option, a key plank of President Obama’s health reform plan. Obama subsequently addressed the AMA membership directly, explaining his proposal and telling them that “the public option is not your enemy, it is your friend.” It appears that Obama’s argument may have compelled the AMA to rethink its position. The organization is now concerned that media reports are portraying them as “opposed to reform” and too favorable towards the insurance industry:
obamaamaOn Tuesday, the American Medical Association considered a resolution that would have opposed any new public plan that would “risk the elimination of a healthy competitive market for private health insurance.”
Before its delegates moved toward final passage, AMA president Nancy H. Nielsen intervened and asked delegates to focus on what they could support. […]
“I do not believe it’s the position of this House of Delegates of the American Medical Association to protect the health insurance industry,” Nielsen said, prompting loud applause from the members.
“I think the health insurance industry pays a lot of money to people who can protect them.”
The End Of The Line: documentary about global overfishing
The final cut of the cinema trailer for the cinema release of The End of the Line for June 09.
YouTube – Final cinema trailer for The End of the Line.
Obama to Limit Fed Lending Power, Grant Systemic Role
Obama to Limit Fed Lending Power, Grant Systemic Role – Bloomberg.com
June 17 (Bloomberg) — The Obama administration plans to restrict the Federal Reserve’s emergency-lending powers while endowing it with authority overseeing systemic risk, ushering in what may become the Fed’s biggest overhaul in decades.
President Barack Obama’s proposal on financial regulation, to be released in Washington today, would force the central bank to get written approval from the Treasury before it extends emergency funding, according to a copy of the document obtained Bloomberg News. Obama also calls for a study of the Fed’s governance structure, including how it regulates financial firms.
The move is part of a proposal that would alter almost every facet of federal rules for the industry, aiming to prevent the regulatory lapses and risk build-up that led to the worst crisis since the Great Depression. Much of the plan will require approval in Congress, where jurisdictional battles and ideological clashes may delay and alter the legislation. Obama aims to sign a bill by the end of the year.
via Obama to Limit Fed Lending Power, Grant Systemic Role (Update2) – Bloomberg.com.
U.S. Economy: Cost of Living Decreases by Most in Six Decades
U.S. Economy: Cost of Living Decreases by Most in Six Decades
June 17 (Bloomberg) — The cost of living in the U.S. fell over the last 12 months by the most in six decades, easing concern that government efforts to revive the economy will lead to an immediate outbreak of inflation.
The consumer price index dropped 1.3 percent in the year ended in May, the most since 1950, the Labor Department said today in Washington. Prices increased just 0.1 percent last month, less than anticipated, after no change in April.
The lack of sustained gains in sales is one reason companies are finding it difficult to pass increases in fuel costs on to customers. Higher gasoline prices will probably restrain Americans’ discretionary spending at a time when the economy is showing signs of stabilizing.
via U.S. Economy: Cost of Living Decreases by Most in Six Decades – Bloomberg.com.
Russia, China to Promote Ruble, Yuan Use in Trade
Russia, China to Promote Ruble, Yuan Use in Trade – Bloomberg.com
June 17 (Bloomberg) — The leaders of Russia and China agreed to expand use of the ruble and yuan in bilateral trade to lessen dependence on the U.S. dollar a day after they took part in the first summit of the so-called BRIC countries.
“We agreed to take further steps in this direction, including, perhaps, by adjusting contracts and laws that already exist,” Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told reporters in the Kremlin today after talks with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao.
Russia, the world’s biggest energy supplier, wants to start selling oil to China in rubles, said Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, who is also chairman of OAO Rosneft, Russia’s biggest oil company. Energy sales in rubles are a “strategic” issue for Russia, he said, adding that oil exports to China over the next 20 years will surpass $100 billion.
via Russia, China to Promote Ruble, Yuan Use in Trade (Update2) – Bloomberg.com.
‘Buy China’ policy set to raise tensions
OPS: It’s OK for China but not for America?!! – WTF?
‘Buy China’ policy set to raise tensions– FT.com
China has introduced an explicit “Buy Chinese” policy as part of its economic stimulus programme in a move that will amplify tensions with trade partners and increase the likelihood of protectionism around the world.
In an edict released jointly by nine government departments, Beijing said government procurement must use only Chinese products or services unless they were not available within the country or could not be bought on reasonable commercial or legal terms.
The government also said it was launching an investigation in response to complaints from domestic industry associations which accuse local governments of favouring foreign suppliers in procurement related to the country’s Rmb4,000bn ($585bn, €421bn, £356bn) economic stimulus package.
“From a domestic political perspective this makes some sense because local governments do tend to favour foreign products in some categories,” Dong Tao, chief China economist for Credit Suisse, said. “But given how important free trade is for China’s economy this is not the right message for them to be sending to the rest of the world right now.”
via FT.com / Asia-Pacific – ‘Buy China’ policy set to raise tensions.
Obama: ‘I’ve got one television station that is entirely devoted to attacking my administration.’
Obama: ‘I’ve got one television station that is entirely devoted to attacking my administration.’
During an interview with President Obama that aired on CNBC yesterday, chief Washington correspondent John Harwood said, “When you and I spoke in January, you said — I observed that you hadn’t gotten much bad press. You said it’s coming.” Harwood added that since then, Obama still hasn’t received much critical press and wondered if his administration isn’t being “sufficiently held accountable.” Obama, however, disagreed:
OBAMA: It’s very hard for me to swallow that one. First of all, I’ve got one television station that is entirely devoted to attacking my administration. I mean, you know, that’s a pretty…
HARWOOD: I assume you’re talking about Fox.
OBAMA: Well, that’s a pretty big megaphone. And you’d be hard pressed if you watched the entire day to find a positive story about me on that front.
Watch it:
Frist On Using Reconciliation Process To Pass Health Care Reform: ‘It’s Legal, It’s Ethical’
Frist On Using Reconciliation Process To Pass Health Care Reform: ‘It’s Legal, It’s Ethical’
On May 1, Congress passed President Obama’s budget, which included language allowing for the use of the budget reconciliation process to pass health care reform with a simple majority in the Senate. Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) said any use of budget reconciliation by Obama would be “regarded as an act of violence” against Republicans, and likened it to “running over the minority, putting them in cement and throwing them in the Chicago River.” Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO) made similar remarks, while Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) called reconciliation a “purely partisan exercise.”
But at least one Republican recognizes that the use of reconciliation — while rare — is not unprecedented or unethical, let alone “an act of violence.” On Bill Bennett’s radio show yesterday morning, former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said of budget reconciliation: “It’s legal, it’s ethical, you can do it.” Further, Frist said that he believed Obama would be able to get a health care package passed this year:
BENNET: We just had Bill Kristol on. He said he’s got real doubts that [Obama] will be able to pull [health care reform] off. Bottom line, Do you think they can?
FRIST: Nah, I think Bill’s wrong. I think they’ll pull it off. … You can drive things through a fifty vote threshold, instead of that sixty vote threshold. And you don’t do it maybe one out of a thousand bills do you do it on. But it’s legal, it’s ethical, you can do it. And it has been suggested and accepted by the administration, pretty directly that if it came down to it, they’re going to drive this thing through a fifty-vote door. And if they do that…they can pass whatever they want to. I hope that they don’t do that.
Listen here:
Fox steals more than 100 shoes
Fox steals more than 100 shoes
BERLIN (Reuters) – A fox has been unmasked as the mystery thief of more than 100 shoes in the small western German town of Foehren, authorities said Friday.
A forest worker stumbled upon shoes strewn near the fox’s den and found a trove of footwear down the hole which had recently been stolen overnight from outside locals’ front doors.
“There was everything from ladies’ shoes to trainers,” said a local police spokesman. “We’ve found between 110 and 120 so far. It seems a vixen stole them for her cubs to play with.”
Although many were missing laces, the shoes were in good condition and their owners were delighted to reclaim them, he said, adding that no reprisals were planned against the culprit.
via Fox steals more than 100 shoes – Yahoo! News.
The best U.S. transit systems you never knew existed
The best U.S. transit systems you never knew existed | Grist
When it comes to public transit in the U.S., there are certain predictable all-stars: the Metro in Washington, D.C., is convenient, efficient, and clean. The anthropomorphically nicknamed El and BART in Chicago and San Francisco are legendary. And everyone knows it’s easier to navigate New York City without a car than with one.
But what about the rest of the country? As cities big and small rethink how their residents get around, new systems are taking shape—and as gas prices and paychecks fluctuate, riders are responding in droves. While the current economic crunch is forcing many cities to hike fares and cut back on service, innovations continue, and the tracks are laid for a bright future.
Here are a few surprising places where public transit is gaining speed—steer yourself to the comments section below to leave your own nominations.
via The best U.S. transit systems you never knew existed | Grist.
“EMERGENCY MEETING” Top Clerical Group That Can Unseat Khamenei Reportedly Summoned…
“The Very Foundation Of The Islamic Republic Is Up In The Air Right Now”
Iran Updates (VIDEO): Live-Blogging The Uprising
The procession passes through an underpass and just as there is great pleasure in honking the car horn in tunnels these many people send up an enormous cheer, echoing off the walls. From dark to light the crowd emerges from the underpass and looks back to see what they have done. There is above them stretching across the tunnel a dissonant sight, a sign with the visage and message of the Supreme Leader. He watches over this protest in the manner of TJ Eckelberg…
via Iran Updates (VIDEO): Live-Blogging The Uprising.
City Power: Can We Generate Energy While Just Getting Around? (VIDEO)
City Power: Can We Generate Energy While Just Getting Around? (VIDEO)
UK supermarket chain Sainsbury’s is about to try something new and cool — people power:
Energy will be captured every time a vehicle drives over “kinetic road plates” in the car park and then channeled back into the store.The kinetic road plates are expected to produce 30 kWh of green energy every hour — more than enough energy to power the store’s checkouts. The system, pioneered for Sainsbury’s by Peter Hughes of Highway Energy Systems, does not affect the car or fuel efficiency, and drivers feel no disturbance as they drive over the plates.
There have been other projects like this, but they seem to have mostly been experimental. MIT researchers talked about how much energy could be generated by people walking in New York’s Penn Station — and then there’s also this little project in Japan:
via City Power: Can We Generate Energy While Just Getting Around? (VIDEO).
Climate Change In The US: What’s Happening Now
Climate Change In The US: What’s Happening Now
WASHINGTON — The new climate change science report by the federal government looks at effects of global warming on specific U.S. regions and forecasts what’s to come:
NORTHEAST
Already: Winter temperatures have increased by 4 degrees since 1970.
Future: Even warmer winters, harm to the ski industry, extreme heat and polluted air in the summer. The maple syrup industry may move north.
SOUTHEAST:
Already: Spring rainfall is down nearly 30 percent since 1970.
Future: Hotter summer days, polluted air, increased drought, slightly stronger hurricanes.
MIDWEST:
via Climate Change In The US: What’s Happening Now.
Roubini sees weeds amid green shoots
Roubini sees weeds amid green shoots | | Reuters
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. economy will not recover until the end of this year, and even then growth will remain meek and vulnerable to higher interest rates and commodity prices, economist Nouriel Roubini said on Tuesday.
Roubini, who rose to prominence for predicting the global credit crisis, tore down the “green shoots” theory that a rebound is imminent, saying there was a significant risk of a “double-dip” recession where the economy expands slightly only to begin contracting again.
“In addition to green shoots there are also yellow weeds,” he told the Reuters Investment Outlook Summit in New York.
He pointed to the growing divergence between business sentiment surveys, which have been improving in recent months, and industrial production, which is down sharply and receded another 1.1 percent in May.
via Roubini sees weeds amid green shoots | U.S. | Reuters.
Barney Frank rips prez’s ‘big mistake’
Barney Frank rips prez’s ‘big mistake’ – BostonHerald.com
Fuming over anti-gay wed filing
U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, one of the nation’s leading gay rights champions, blasted President Obama yesterday over a controversial anti-gay marriage court filing and is calling on the commander in chief to explain himself.
“I think the administration made a big mistake. The wording they used was inappropriate,” Frank (D-Newton) said of a brief filed by Obama’s Department of Justice that supported the Defense of Marriage Act.
The DOJ brief, which has touched off a firestorm of anger in the gay community, argued that states should not have to recognize same-sex marriages from other states, just as states don’t have to recognize incestuous marriages or unions involving underage girls.
via Barney Frank rips prez’s ‘big mistake’ – BostonHerald.com.
Obama Blueprint Deepens Federal Role in Markets
“The White Paper”: Details Of Obama’s Financial
Regulatory Overhaul - washingtonpost.com
Obama Blueprint Deepens Federal Role in Markets
Plan to Overhaul Financial Regulation Focuses on Consumer Protection, Risk
The Obama administration last night detailed a series of proposals to involve the government more deeply in private markets, from helping to steer borrowers into affordable mortgage loans to imposing new limits on the largest financial companies, in a sweeping effort to curb the kinds of reckless risk-taking that sparked the economic crisis.
The plan seeks to overhaul the nation’s outdated system of financial regulations. Senior officials debated using a bulldozer to clear the way for fundamental reforms but decided instead to build within the shell of the existing system, offering what amounts to an architect’s blueprint for modernizing a creaky old building.
via Obama Blueprint Deepens Federal Role in Markets – washingtonpost.com.
New Glimpses of Life’s Puzzling Origins
New Glimpses of Life’s Puzzling Origins - NYTimes.com
Some 3.9 billion years ago, a shift in the orbit of the Sun’s outer planets sent a surge of large comets and asteroids careening into the inner solar system. Their violent impacts gouged out the large craters still visible on the Moon’s face, heated Earth’s surface into molten rock and boiled off its oceans into an incandescent mist.
Yet rocks that formed on Earth 3.8 billion years ago, almost as soon as the bombardment had stopped, contain possible evidence of biological processes. If life can arise from inorganic matter so quickly and easily, why is it not abundant in the solar system and beyond? If biology is an inherent property of matter, why have chemists so far been unable to reconstruct life, or anything close to it, in the laboratory?
The origins of life on Earth bristle with puzzle and paradox. Which came first, the proteins of living cells or the genetic information that makes them? How could the metabolism of living things get started without an enclosing membrane to keep all the necessary chemicals together? But if life started inside a cell membrane, how did the necessary nutrients get in?
via New Glimpses of Life’s Puzzling Origins – NYTimes.com.
Scientists Debate Shading Earth As Climate Fix
Scientists Debate Shading Earth As Climate Fix -: NPR
All Things Considered, June 16, 2009 · Engineering our climate to stop global warming may seem like science fiction, but at a recent National Academy of Sciences meeting, scientists discussed some potential geoengineering experiments in earnest.
Climate researcher Ken Caldeira was skeptical when he first heard about the idea of shading the Earth a decade ago in a talk by nuclear weapons scientist Lowell Wood.
“He basically said, ‘We don’t have to bother with emissions reduction. We can just throw aerosols — little dust particles — into the stratosphere, and that’ll cool the earth.’ And I thought, ‘Oh, that’ll never work,’ ” Caldeira said.
via Scientists Debate Shading Earth As Climate Fix : NPR.
Obama plan would ‘cut number of regulators,’ empower Fed to supervise firms
Obama plan would ‘cut number of regulators,’ empower Fed to supervise firms - Raw Story »
President Barack Obama will announce Wednesday the White House’s proposal for reforming the U.S. financial system. The plan will call for the closure of the U.S. Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS), the creation of a new consumer credit protection agency and greater powers for the Federal Reserve to supervise major financial firms.
Reuters characterized the plan as cutting the number of U.S. bank regulators.
The administration would merge the OTS with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, an administration official said Tuesday. The proposal also calls for creating the Consumer Federal Protection Agency (CFPA) to police credit, savings and other payment markets, the official added.
It will be guided by five principles, the official said on condition of anonymity, including “transparency, simplicity, fairness, accountability, and access.”
via Raw Story » Obama plan would ‘cut number of regulators,’ empower Fed to supervise firms.
The Call to End TARP
The Call to End TARP
Two lawmakers have introduced legislation that would limit the size and scope of future government bailouts while also winding down TARP
With growing discontent over the Troubled Asset Relief Program, two lawmakers have introduced legislation that would limit the size and scope of future government bailouts while also winding down TARP.
In the House, Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) has introduced legislation that would prevent the Treasury Department from recycling TARP funds.
Last week, 10 of the nation’s largest banks won release from TARP and are planning on buying back the government-owned shares of their companies. That led to speculation that some of the paid back money could be put back into the marketplace to help the balance sheets of other struggling entities. The Hensarling legislation would prevent that from happening.
In the Senate, Sen. John Thune (R-SD) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), have introduced the Government Ownership Exit Plan Act.
The legislation would require the government to unload its stakes in any private company by July 2010. The legislation would also ban any government ownership of private companies in the future.
via Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.
In Search of Trade Solutions
In Search of Trade Solutions
This country needs a plan for the future, one which will not be torn apart by political opposition as soon as one administration leaves office and the other enters
On the campaign trail last year both major parties talked at great length about making trade work for Americans. Constituents felt left out and left behind; their elected officials were not doing enough. After winning national elections in a landslide, the Democrats have failed to come through on many of their campaign commitments for rebuilding this economy. Then again, the Republicans have done almost nothing to arrest the slide other than proposing more fruitless tax cuts and asking to dump important social programs.
It is time for everyone in the government to get over their partisan infighting and concoct some solutions for the battered U.S. economy. The American people put their faith in leadership to do its duty, it is high time the government came through on that promise.
An article by Terence Stewart in The Washington Times highlights some of things our government must do to save this economy. Prominent among these are renegotiating our trade dealings and instituting some sort of VAT system, similar to those used in nearly every country in the world.
via Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.
Elected Officials Selling out America: Rodney Frelinghuysen
Elected Officials Selling out America: Rodney Frelinghuysen
Frelinghuysen has voted in favor of dismantling trade barriers 64 percent of the time and voted against protecting domestic industries with subsidies 57 percent of the time.
Editor’s Note: The following article is another installment in an expository series which outlines important issues facing the U.S. economy and reveals your elected officials voting records. Please write to your elected officials and demand that they represent their constituents, instead of succumbing to the whims of big business.
Although Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen is known as one of the more moderate House Republicans, his record on trade issues is anything but.
Over the course of his Congressional career, which began in 1995, Frelinghuysen has voted in favor of dismantling trade barriers 64 percent of the time and voted against protecting domestic industries with subsidies 57 percent of the time, according to the Cato Institute.
“Foreign trade is vital to the United States economy,” Frelinghuysen has said. He has shown that he truly believes in voting in favor of job-killing “free trade” agreements such as the Caribbean Basin Initiative as well as bilateral agreements with Singapore, Chile, Australia, Morocco, Bahrain, Oman and Peru. In addition, he has supported “free trade” agreements with 70 sub-Saharan African nations, the Andean nations of South America and the NAFTA-style Central American Free Trade Agreement
via Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.
Carbon Capturing Power Plant Underway
Carbon Capturing Power Plant Underway
The U.S. government has restarted its dormant plans to build a state-of-the-art coal fired power plant sometime after 2010.
The U.S. government has restarted its dormant plans to build a state-of-the-art coal fired power plant sometime after 2010. On Friday June 12 the Department of Energy committed itself to a $1 billion research and design project that will look into the best methods for producing low-emission electricity.
The money will not fund any actual building projects. It will cover most of the costs of engineering and designing a plant that could capture up to 60 percent of its carbon emissions underground. This project has been hotly contested by both sides of the climate change lobby, but one thing is for certain: this project creates jobs and technology in the United States for its citizens.
So-called “clean coal” technologies have been championed by American mining companies for nearly a decade. They do not want to lose their dominant – nearly 80 percent – market share of American electrical generation. If the U.S. goes fully alternative, with the inclusion of nuclear energy, the vast coal infrastructure would become obsolete.
via Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.
Big Oil Releases Report Exposing Continued Refusal To Invest In Renewables
Big Oil Releases Report Exposing Continued Refusal To Invest In Renewables
A new report commissioned by the American Petroleum Institute (API) focuses on their finding that of $132.9 billion invested by US public and private sectors in greenhouse gas-mitigating technologies from 2000 to 2008, $58.4 billion came from the oil and gas industry. While API called the oil and gas industry’s investment “pretty impressive,” their report just reinforces that Big Oil has all the wrong priorities:
Kyle Isakower, API’s director of policy analysis, called the oil and gas companies’ $58.4 billion investment a “pretty impressive” number when put in context. “Our members’ primary responsibility is to be able to provide the fuels our country needs,” Isakower explained.
Let’s put this investment into context. The claim that the oil and gas industry invested $58.4 billion in clean energy technologies from 2000 to 2008 is overstated — about ten times over. API lumped in spending on renewable technologies with other “alternative” energies to exaggerate their purported commitment to renewable energy. In fact, the oil and gas industry spent only $6.7 billion on “non-hydrocarbon technology” including ethanol, wind, and solar. $21.1 billion of the $58.4 billion, or more than a third, was invested in liquefied natural gas, yet another fossil fuel. Another $30.6 billion went “mostly to energy efficiency.” Their total investment in renewable energy was little more than a tenth of the $58.4 billion “investments to cut greenhouse gases.”
via Wonk Room » Big Oil Releases Report Exposing Continued Refusal To Invest In Renewables.
Banking Lobby Takes Aim At Proposed Consumer Protection Agency
Banking Lobby Takes Aim At Proposed Consumer Protection Agency
Tomorrow, as part of its plan to overhaul the nation’s financial regulation system, the Obama administration plans to announce the creation of a new consumer protection agency. According to CNN Money, “its mission will be to protect consumers from deceptive or dangerous mortgages, credit cards and other financial products.”
Already, the banking lobby — which has been quietly moving against multiple facets of the Obama regulation plan — is voicing its displeasure with the proposal:
“It’s bad for the consumers,” said Steve Bartlett, president of the Financial Services Roundtable, a lobbying group for banks. Financial industry advocates object to the idea of carving out the enforcement of consumer protection from the mandates of existing regulatory agencies that oversee companies. They argue that consumer protection is intertwined with ensuring that a financial firm is on stable footing. “Give the power for consumer protection to the agencies that have real power,” Bartlett said.
via Wonk Room » Banking Lobby Takes Aim At Proposed Consumer Protection Agency.
Grassley: ‘Too Big To Fail’ Banks Aren’t Really A Problem
OPS: Lying? Delusional? Brain Dead? You be the judge.
Grassley: ‘Too Big To Fail’ Banks Aren’t Really A Problem
Today, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) appeared on CNBC to discuss President Obama’s financial regulatory package, which is being rolled out tomorrow. While he was broadly supportive of the proposed reforms, Grassley has evidently come to the conclusion that there is no problem with financial institutions being “too big to fail,” because the current crisis was caused by banks simply going broke:
Listen, the banks got into trouble not because they were too big but because, simply, they were broke.
Watch it:
via Wonk Room » Grassley: ‘Too Big To Fail’ Banks Aren’t Really A Problem.
FLASHBACK: Obama Promised To End ‘Secret Meetings’ And Make The White House The ‘People’s House’
FLASHBACK: Obama Promised To End ‘Secret Meetings’ And Make The White House The ‘People’s House’
MSNBC reports that the Obama administration has denied its request for the names of individuals who have visited the White House since the Inauguration. Additionally, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington announced today that it is suing the Department of Homeland Security after the non-partisan organization was denied a request for records of visits of “leading coal company executives.” The Obama administration’s explanation:
The administration ought to be able to hold secret meetings in the White House, “such as an elected official interviewing for an administration position or an ambassador coming for a discussion on issues that would affect international negotiations,” said Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt.
The Bush administration made the same arguments, which were ruled against twice in federal court. In fact, before his election, Obama promised that he would end the Bush administration’s practice of holding secret meetings in the White House, which is supposed to be “the people’s house”:
Clinton Urges Obama To Stand Firm On A Strong Public Option: Don’t ‘Give Up The Store’ To Get 60 Votes
Clinton Urges Obama To Stand Firm On A Strong Public Option: Don’t ‘Give Up The Store’ To Get 60 Votes
President Clinton with progressive bloggers Yesterday, ThinkProgress joined a group of other progressive bloggers for a meeting with President Clinton at his office in Harlem. Clinton opened the discussion with details about his foundation work on areas such as HIV/AIDS and global warming, and the struggles he is having attracting new donors during the economic downturn.
Topics ranged from women’s rights to bridging the digital divide to the Waxman-Markey climate change legislation. Clinton also praised President Obama’s choice of Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court, saying that he thought “it was a good thing.” “Not just because she’s a woman, and Puerto Rican, and I know her and like her, and appointed her to the court…but I think it says that we’re going forward,” he said.
But some of his most extensive comments came on the subject of health care. Clinton said that due to political and economic conditions, Obama has a far better chance of passing health care than he did in 1993:
FLASHBACK: Ensign Called On Clinton To Resign After Admitting Affair — ‘He Has No Credibility Left’
FLASHBACK: Ensign Called On Clinton To Resign After Admitting Affair — ‘He Has No Credibility Left’
The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza reports that Sen. John Ensign (R-NV), a member of GOP leadership and a potential candidate for president in 2012, will hold a press conference later today in which he will acknowledge having an extramarital affair “with a campaign staffer who was married to an employee in Ensign’s Senate office.” Ensign flew back to Las Vegas to make the public announcement.
Since his election to the Senate in 2000, Ensign has been a leading conservative voice who demanded the resignation of former Idaho Sen. Larry Craig in September 2007. Ensign called Craig a “disgrace” after he was arrested in June 2007 in an airport men’s restroom on disorderly conduct charges. But when Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) acknowledged having an affair, Ensign didn’t call on him to resign.
Ensign has also been an ardent opponent of gay marriage. In Feb. 2004, Ensign announced his support for an amendment to the Constitution that would have defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Ensign said the amendment, which ultimately failed, was necessary to protect “the institution of marriage“:
Georgia court ban on ‘exposing’ children to ‘homosexuals’ axed by state Supreme Court.
Georgia court ban on ‘exposing’ children to ‘homosexuals’ axed by state Supreme Court.
In 2007, Eric and Sandy Ehlers Mongerson divorced, and a Georgia trial judge awarded custody of their four children to Sandy and visitation rights to Eric. Inexplicably, the judge also held that Eric was “prohibited from exposing the children to his homosexual partners and friends.” Yesterday, the Georgia Supreme Court unanimously threw out the trial judge’s ban:
There is no evidence in the record before us that any member of the excluded community has engaged in inappropriate conduct in the presence of the children or that the children would be adversely affected by exposure to any member of that community. The prohibition against contact with any gay or lesbian person acquainted with Husband assumes, without evidentiary support, that the children will suffer harm from any such contact. Such an arbitrary classification based on sexual orientation flies in the face of our public policy that encourages divorced parents to participate in the raising of their children…and constitutes an abuse of discretion.
Obama to extend benefits to some federal employees’ same-sex partners.
Obama to extend benefits to some federal employees’ same-sex partners.
Right now, the committed partners of gay employees in the federal government are excluded from receiving benefits afforded to spouses. This evening, the White House said that Obama will be making an announcement on this subject tomorrow, and media reports are saying he will extend benefits to same-sex partners of some of these employees. From the White House daily schedule:
In the evening, the President will deliver brief remarks and sign a Presidential Memorandum regarding federal benefits and non-discrimination in the Oval Office.
via Think Progress » Obama to extend benefits to some federal employees’ same-sex partners..
Campaign to stop IMF and war funding
n 2007, 82 Democratic members of Congress signed a pledge. They would never again vote to fund the war in Iraq without plans for troop withdrawal.
Republican critics accused them of demagoguing the war. Of using our soldiers as a political pawns, of not meaning what they said.
Those who signed that pledge need to cast their vote against the Supplemental Appropriations Act on Tuesday and prove them wrong.
YouTube – Campaign to stop IMF and war funding.
Shame: The ‘Anti-War’ Democrats Who Sold Out
Shame: The ‘Anti-War’ Democrats Who Sold Out
By Jeremy Scahill,
In a historic vote, only 30 of 256 Democrats stood against $100 billion for more war.
n a vote that should go down in recent histories as a day of shame for the Democrats, on Tuesday the House voted to approve another $106 billion dollars for the bloody wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (and increasingly Pakistan). To put a fine point on the interconnection of the iron fist of U.S. militarism and the hidden hand of free market neoliberal economics, the bill included a massive initiative to give the International Monetary Fund billions more in U.S. taxpayer funds.
What once Democrats could argue was “Bush’s war,” they now officially own. In fact, only five Republicans voted for the supplemental (though overwhelmingly not on the issue of the war funding). Ron Paul, who made clear he was voting against the war, was a notable exception.
This vote has revealed a sobering statistic for the anti-war movement in this country and brought to the surface a broader issue that should give die-hard partisan Democrats who purport to be anti-war reason for serious pause about the actual state of their party. Only 30 Democrats voted against the war funding when it mattered. And these 30 did so in the face of significant threats to their political future from the White House and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. That means that only 30 out of 256 Democrats are willing to stand up to the war and the current president presiding over it. Their names are listed below; I would encourage people to call them and thank them for standing up and voting no when it counted.
via Shame: The ‘Anti-War’ Democrats Who Sold Out | World | AlterNet.
House passes war supplemental funding bill
House passes war supplemental funding bill 
WASHINGTON (CNN) — The House passed a $106 billion supplemental funding bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan Tuesday on a narrow 226 to 202 vote after all but five Republicans and 32 Democrats voted against the measure.
Last month, 168 House Republicans backed the bill, but GOP leaders urged their members to oppose the version that passed Tuesday because the Senate added $5 billion in guaranteed loans to the International Monetary Fund.
The 32 Democrats who opposed the supplemental were largely from the anti-war “Out of Iraq” caucus.
War opponents had hoped to whip up enough opposition to derail the bill, with several popular progressive blogs leading the charge. In the end, though, they fell seven short of the goal of 39 Democrats, and 12 short of actually stopping the bill because of the five Republicans who voted for it.
War Funding: Just 32 Real Democrats in the House
OPS: 258 “Democrats” has a WARgasim
Just 32 Real Democrats in the House | Democrats.com
Today was the day to separate the Real Democrats from the frauds. Sadly, there are just 32 Real Democrats out of 258 in the House of Representatives. Here is the Honor Roll:
These 32 Real Democrats stood up to immense pressure from President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Steny Hoyer and voted against the $106 billion war supplemental because they want to bring our troops home. If you are represented by one of them, please call 202-225-3121 and thank them for their courage.
If your Representative is not on the list above, call 202-225-3121 and tell them you will work to defeat them in 2010 because it is long past time for Congress to bring all our troops home.
Naturally, I am disappointed by the final outcome, because an historic victory was within reach. The final vote was 226-202 with 6 absent. With just 13 more no votes, we would have defeated the bill.
I am especially disappointed in those “Democrats” who wanted to vote no but sold out their progressive supporters at the last minute:
via Just 32 Real Democrats in the House | Democrats.com.
Let’s hold Bush officials accountable for torture
Let’s hold Bush officials accountable for torture | Salon
The ACLU’s executive director joins with a military officer to ask for a special prosecutor for torture
Torture is a crime and the United States engaged in it. Those are two indisputable facts. Given the mountains of evidence already in the public domain, any effort to deny or soften that harsh and devastating reality is either disingenuous, uninformed or a result of the human instinct to avoid painful truths. But one of the things that allows our democracy to endure is that time after time, no matter the misdeed, we have been willing to look ourselves in the mirror, acknowledge our wrongdoing and hold ourselves accountable.
Both of the authors of this piece chose professions devoted to protecting democratic principles, human rights and the rule of law. One of us is an Army prosecutor who resigned from six pending Guantánamo cases due to ethical failings of the tribunal system, and the other is the leader of the premier civil liberties organization in the U.S. We both understand that the process of self-examination and accountability has been, and remains, the only way to move forward and regain our moral and legal grounding.
To date, the evidence that U.S. officials engaged in widespread and systemic torture and abuse of detainees with the authorization of the highest Bush administration officials comes from a wide range of sources. There are congressional reports, journalistic investigations, detainees’ own accounts, and even — astonishingly — boastful admissions by some of the highest officials of the Bush administration, including former Vice President Dick Cheney, who has been aggressively forthright in his defense of torture methods including waterboarding. An ACLU Freedom of Information Act lawsuit has also produced more than 100,000 pages of revealing government documents, including the now well-known Justice Department memos laying out the legal framework for the Bush administration’s torture policies. And despite President Obama’s unfortunate decision to reverse his administration’s earlier intention to order their release, we know there are thousands of photographs depicting detainee abuse in overseas prisons beyond Abu Ghraib. While likely to be disturbing — as they should be — these images of human brutality would serve to confirm the pervasive and orchestrated nature of these crimes.
via Let’s hold Bush officials accountable for torture | Salon.
U.S. climate report details energy, agriculture harm
U.S. climate report details energy, agriculture harm
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Climate change has already caused “visible impacts” in the United States and poses particular risks to the U.S. agriculture and energy industries, a new government report said on Tuesday.
The report, which lays out the effects of global warming on specific U.S. regions and sectors, calls for quick policy action as the U.S. House of Representatives prepares to vote soon on a bill to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
“It’s not too late to act,” said Jane Lubchenco, the administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, while releasing the report.
“Human induced climate change is a reality, not only in remote polar regions (and) in small tropical islands, but every place around the country — in our own backyards.”
via U.S. climate report details energy, agriculture harm | Green Business | Reuters.
Iran’s senior ayatollah slams election, confirming split
OPS: Iranian’s showing American how to keep a democracy and what to do if the election is stolen. Embarrassing. We deserve the mess that Bush and the Republican caused because we didn’t get off our fat asses
Iran’s senior ayatollah slams election, confirming split | McClatchy
TEHRAN, Iran — Supporters of Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad and his main rival in the disputed presidential election, Mir Hossein Mousavi, massed in competing rallies Tuesday as the country’s most senior Islamic cleric threw his weight behind opposition charges that Ahmadinejad’s re-election was rigged.
“No one in their right mind can believe” the official results from Friday’s contest, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri said of the landslide victory claimed by Ahmadinejad. Montazeri accused the regime of handling Mousavi’s charges of fraud and the massive protests of his backers “in the worst way possible.”
“A government not respecting people’s vote has no religious or political legitimacy,” he declared in comments on his official Web site. “I ask the police and army personals (personnel) not to ‘sell their religion,’ and beware that receiving orders will not excuse them before God.”
via Iran’s senior ayatollah slams election, confirming split | McClatchy.
Nest Eggs Demolished, Older Americans Go Back To Work
OPS: Even Fascists like WalMart can only absorb so many greeters
Nest Eggs Demolished, Older Americans Go Back To Work
As John Mauldin pointed out in his latest weekly email, there is one segment of the American population that is actually seeing strong employment growth: Those who are 55+.
Specifically, older Americans and now getting out and getting not just one but sometimes two jobs. And they’re doing this against a backdrop of plummeting employment among the rest of the population.
Why are these folks suddenly working so hard to find work?
via Nest Eggs Demolished, Older Americans Go Back To Work.
US manufacturing must drive recovery, summit told
OPS: This is the cold hard truth. Without manufacturing – we are done as a Nation
US manufacturing must drive recovery, summit told
A revived manufacturing sector is critical to leading a recovery of the slumping US economy, underscoring the need for new policies, business leaders told a national economic summit.
The second day Tuesday of the Detroit, Michigan summit seeking an economic strategy offered more comments on the critical importance of the industrial sector in view of the global crisis.
“One of the lessons we have learned from the crisis is that you cannot create create wealth in an economy simply by spinning things around and around,” said Jayson Myers, president of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Association.
“You create wealth by building things people want to buy.”
Those comments were echoed by others.
“Prosperity comes from building, creating and producing,” said Chip McClure, CEO of auto parts maker ArvinMeritor.
“Can we sustain commerce based on financial engineering over real engineering? Simple answer, no way.”
via The Raw Story | US manufacturing must drive recovery, summit told.
Obama calls for cuts in Medicare and Medicaid
OPS: Here it comes…… “Hope” in BO for Progressives is a sick joke
Obama calls for cuts in Medicare and Medicaid
Over the weekend, President Barack Obama called for cuts in funding for Medicare and Medicaid, the federal health insurance programs for the elderly and the poor, including the elimination of subsidies for hospitals that treat uninsured patients. This proposal, combined with plans to limit medical tests and treatments, underscores the reactionary, anti-working class character of Obama’s proposed “reform” of the health care system.
It is becoming increasingly clear that the essence of the administration’s health care policy, under the guise of universal coverage, is a downgrading of care for the majority of the population so as to cut health care costs for business and the government.
Administration spokesmen have also indicated that Obama is receptive to the idea of taxing workers for the health benefits they receive from their employers—something for which he denounced his opponent, Senator John McCain, during last year’s presidential election campaign.
In a speech before the American Medical Association (AMA) in Chicago on Monday, President Obama made it clear that his health care reform would in no way impinge on the profit interests of insurance companies, hospital chains and drug companies. He added that he was open to limiting the ability of patients to pursue medical malpractice suits.
via Obama calls for cuts in Medicare and Medicaid.
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders
Video at link
A PETITION TO CONGRESS 
Supporting Single-Payer Health Care
Whereas:
- 46 million Americans are currently without health insurance;
- 60 million Americans, both insured and uninsured, have inadequate access to primary care due to a shortage of physicians and other health service providers in their community;
- 100 million Americans have no insurance to cover dental needs;
- 116 million adults, nearly two-thirds of all non-seniors, struggled to pay medical bills, went without needed care because of cost, were uninsured for a time, or were underinsured in the last year
- The United States spends $2.3 trillion each year on health care, 16 percent of its Gross Domestic Product;
- Americans spend $7,129 per person on health care, 50 percent more than other industrialized countries, including those with universal care;
- The U.S. does not get what it pays for. We rank among the lowest in the health outcome rankings of developed countries, and on several major indices rank below some third-world nations;
- The number of health insurance industry bureaucrats has grown at 25 times the growth of physicians in the past 30 years;
- In 2006, the six largest insurance companies made $11 billion in profits even after paying for direct health care costs, administrative costs and marketing costs.
And, whereas:
- Medicare has administrative costs far lower than any private health insurance plan;
- The potential savings on health insurance paperwork, more than $350 billion per year, is enough to provide comprehensive coverage to every uninsured American;
- Only a single-payer Medicare-for-all plan can realize these enormous savings and provide comprehensive and affordable health care to every citizen.
Now, therefore:
- We, the undersigned, urge the United States Congress to pass a single-payer Medicare-for-all program which will provide quality, comprehensive health care for all Americans.
via U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders.
GOP Lawmakers Callously Use Uninsured Witnesses as a Pretense for Opposition to Public Healthcare Plan
GOP Lawmakers Callously Use Uninsured Witnesses as a Pretense for Opposition to Public Healthcare Plan
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS by Meg White
After President Obama spent Monday wooing the American Medical Association in Chicago, the healthcare story in the media turned swiftly to the conflict between doctors, who don’t want to take a pay cut, and Democrats, who want to get the government involved in providing cheaper health insurance coverage to uninsured Americans.
But at a hearing convened by the House Energy Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations titled “Terminations of Individual Health Policies by Insurance Companies,” the more harrowing healthcare conflict between patients and insurers came into full view.
GOP Pushed For Incomplete Health Care Study, Then Politicized It
GOP Pushed For Incomplete Health Care Study, Then Politicized It: Hill Dems
On Monday afternoon, critics of a major health care overhaul seized on a report from the Congressional Budget Office showing that a Democratic reform bill could cost $1 trillion over ten years despite adding only 17 million Americans to the ranks of the insured. But the results are incomplete, and they know it.
The CBO findings made for a traditional attack based around fears that the government would spend larges swaths of taxpayer money with minimum systematic change.
“CBO makes it clear — the Democrats’ plan will force millions of Americans to lose the care they have now,” Sen. Mike Enzi, the ranking Republican on the Senate HELP Committee, said in a statement. “Anyone who says that if you like the care you have, you can keep it under this bill doesn’t have their facts straight.”
House Minority Leader John Boehner sent out an email alert on the report, saying the Democrats “costly plan is exposed.” His colleague, Minority Whip Eric Cantor, meanwhile said the CBO score card was “troubling when we’re trying to save money that we would be calling for that kind of expenditure.”
via GOP Pushed For Incomplete Health Care Study, Then Politicized It: Hill Dems.
Credit Card Issuers Settle Accounts for Lower Balances
Credit Bailout: Issuers Slashing Card Balances
The banks were bailed out last fall, the automobile companies last winter. For Edward McClelland, a writer in Chicago, deliverance finally arrived a few days ago.
Mr. McClelland’s credit card company was calling yet again, wondering when it could expect the next installment on his delinquent account. He proposed paying half of his $5,486 balance and calling the matter even.
It’s a deal, the account representative immediately said, not even bothering to check with a supervisor.
As they confront unprecedented numbers of troubled customers, credit card companies are increasingly doing something they have historically scorned: settling delinquent accounts for substantially less than the amount owed.
via Credit Card Issuers Settle Accounts for Lower Balances – NYTimes.com.
The Right’s Hate Crimes Conundrum
The Right’s Hate Crimes Conundrum | Right Wing Watch
One of the main points I have tried to make in my various posts on hate crimes legislation is the obvious hypocrisy of the Religious Right as they decry the so-called “special protections” that such legislation would grant to gays while simultaneously ignoring the same “special protections” they already have as Christians under existing hate crimes legislation. As I wrote a few weeks ago, “It seems that, for the Religious Right, the predominant theme of late has been ‘special rights for me, but not for thee.’”
The Right basically has two options in opposing protections for sexual orientation: explain why gays don’t deserve the same protection offered to religion and race or call for the elimination of hate crimes laws entirely.
The latter, according to Tiffany Stanley of Religion News Service, seems to be the tactic of choice for at least some Religious Right groups:
With a Democrat-controlled Congress and a president who has indicated his support for the Matthew Shepard Act, time may be running out for its opponents. To stop the legislation, a few Christian leaders have suggested repealing all hate-crimes law, which would undo historic protections for race and even religion.
“The entire notion of hate-crimes legislation is extraneous and obsolete,” said Matt Barber, director of cultural affairs with the conservative nonprofit Liberty Counsel, adding that he believes hate-crimes laws are unconstitutional.
…
“All violent crime is hate crime,” said Tom McClusky, vice president for government affairs at Family Research Council here in the capital. “What drives an individual to commit a violent crime but hate for their victim?”
via The Right’s Hate Crimes Conundrum | Right Wing Watch.
Shattering The Meat Myth: Humans Are Natural Vegetarians
Shattering The Meat Myth: Humans Are Natural Vegetarians
Going through the comments of some of my recent posts, I noticed the frequently stated notion that eating meat was an essential step in human evolution. While this notion may comfort the meat industry, it’s simply not true, scientifically.
Dr. T. Colin Campbell, professor emeritus at Cornell University and author of The China Study, explains that in fact, we only recently (historically speaking) began eating meat, and that the inclusion of meat in our diet came well after we became who we are today. He explains that “the birth of agriculture only started about 10,000 years ago at a time when it became considerably more convenient to herd animals. This is not nearly as long as the time [that] fashioned our basic biochemical functionality (at least tens of millions of years) and which functionality depends on the nutrient composition of plant-based foods.”
That jibes with what Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine President Dr. Neal Barnard says in his book, The Power of Your Plate, in which he explains that “early humans had diets very much like other great apes, which is to say a largely plant-based diet, drawing on foods we can pick with our hands. Research suggests that meat-eating probably began by scavenging–eating the leftovers that carnivores had left behind. However, our bodies have never adapted to it. To this day, meat-eaters have a higher incidence of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and other problems.”
via Kathy Freston: Shattering The Meat Myth: Humans Are Natural Vegetarians.
Schwarzenegger tries to terminate conservation funding
Schwarzenegger tries to terminate conservation funding 
Conservation projects in California’s state parks face a bleak future, if cuts proposed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger go through.
To tackle a swelling state deficit that has reached $24.3 billion, the “Governator” wants to slash spending across the board – including funding for 80 per cent of the 270 sites run by the California Department of Parks and Recreation. Those parks earmarked for closure (pdf) include world-famous attractions such as the giant sequoias at Calaveras Big Trees State Park in the Sierra Nevada mountains.
Gated access roads to some parks would be closed, but many parks can be easily entered from public highways. With no rangers on hand to keep a watchful eye on visitors, that could be bad news for threatened species such as the desert tortoise.
via Schwarzenegger tries to terminate conservation funding – environment – 16 June 2009 – New Scientist.
FDA tells Zicam maker to stop selling some products
OPS: so if you put Zicm up your butt -your shit don’t stink?
FDA tells Zicam maker to stop selling some products | U.S. | Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. regulators warned Matrixx Initiatives to stop selling intranasal versions of its zinc-containing Zicam cold remedy after more than 130 reports of people losing their sense of smell after using the products.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration also urged consumers to stop taking the over-the-counter products, agency officials said on a conference call with reporters on Tuesday.
Matrixx shares fell 55 percent to $8.56 on Nasdaq.
The company must seek FDA approval if it wants to continue selling the Zicam zinc products that are administered through the nose, agency officials said.
Company representatives did not immediately respond to requests for a comment. Matrixx has repeatedly defended the products in the past, saying there was no direct link between Zicam and loss of smell.
via FDA tells Zicam maker to stop selling some products | U.S. | Reuters.
FLASHBACK: Obama Promised To End ‘Secret Meetings’ And Make The White House The ‘People’s House’
FLASHBACK: Obama Promised To End ‘Secret Meetings’ And Make The White House The ‘People’s House’
MSNBC reports that the Obama administration has denied its request for the names of individuals who have visited the White House since the Inauguration. Additionally, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington announced today that it is suing the Department of Homeland Security after the non-partisan organization was denied a request for records of visits of “leading coal company executives.” The Obama administration’s explanation:
The administration ought to be able to hold secret meetings in the White House, “such as an elected official interviewing for an administration position or an ambassador coming for a discussion on issues that would affect international negotiations,” said Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt.
The Bush administration made the same arguments, which were ruled against twice in federal court. In fact, before his election, Obama promised that he would end the Bush administration’s practice of holding secret meetings in the White House, which is supposed to be “the people’s house”:
No Return To Normal
No Return To Normal | CommonDreams.org
Why the economic crisis, and its solution, are bigger than you think.
by James K. Galbraith
Barack Obama’s presidency began in hope and goodwill, but its test will be its success or failure on the economics. Did the president and his team correctly diagnose the problem? Did they act with sufficient imagination and force? And did they prevail against the political obstacles-and not only that, but also against the procedures and the habits of thought to which official Washington is addicted?
The president has an economic program. But there is, so far, no clear statement of the thinking behind that program, and there may not be one, until the first report of the new Council of Economic Advisers appears next year. We therefore resort to what we know about the economists: the chair of the National Economic Council, Lawrence Summers; the CEA chair, Christina Romer; the budget director, Peter Orszag; and their titular head, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. This is plainly a capable, close-knit group, acting with energy and commitment. Deficiencies of their program cannot, therefore, be blamed on incompetence. Rather, if deficiencies exist, they probably result from their shared background and creed-in short, from the limitations of their ideas.
The deepest belief of the modern economist is that the economy is a self-stabilizing system. This means that, even if nothing is done, normal rates of employment and production will someday return. Practically all modern economists believe this, often without thinking much about it. (Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said it reflexively in a major speech in London in January: “The global economy will recover.” He did not say how he knew.) The difference between conservatives and liberals is over whether policy can usefully speed things up. Conservatives say no, liberals say yes, and on this point Obama’s economists lean left. Hence the priority they gave, in their first days, to the stimulus package.
via No Return To Normal | CommonDreams.org.
China cuts US Treasury bond holdings by US$4.4b
China cuts US Treasury bond holdings by US$4.4b
According to the data posted on the web site of the US Department of Treasury, China holds US$763.5 billion in US Treasury bonds by end of April, down by US$4.4 billion from previous month’s US$767.9 billion. This was the first time that China had decreased its US Treasury bond holdings this year.
China has constantly bought US Treasury bonds over the years. The US Treasury data shows that from May 2008 to now, China has purchased about US$260 billion US Treasury bonds. With the bond holdings going up, China has seen debate rage over this matter. Some say that considering the possibility of US dollar’s further depreciation, China should be cautious in buying US Treasury bonds whereas others still believe that it is the choice investment with foreign exchange reserves to purchase the bonds from the US.
In March, Hu Xiaolian, Administrator of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) said that US Treasury bonds play a very important part in China’s investment with foreign exchange reserves. China would continue buying the bonds based on its needs while keeping an eye on the fluctuation of property values, she added.
In fact, China was not the only country that trimmed its US Treasury bond holdings in April. Japan, Russia, and Brazil, among many other countries and regions took the same action. Among the top five US Treasury holders, only Britain bought US$24.6 billion US bonds in April. But China still stays as the biggest US Treasury bond holder.
via China cuts US Treasury bond holdings by US$4.4b — china.org.cn.
British Airways asks staff to work for free
British Airways asks staff to work for free - Times Online
British Airways has asked its 40,000 staff to work without pay for up to a month as the ailing airline seeks to cut costs.
The group, which made a record £401 million loss in 2008 amid surging fuel prices and a collapse in premium-fare passengers, is seeking to reduce costs dramatically and has already offered staff unpaid leave or a reduction in hours.
Willie Walsh, BA’s chief executive, has now gone a step further by asking staff to volunteer for between one and four weeks of unpaid work in what he says is a “fight for survival.”
Mr Walsh, who said last week that he would work for free in July, has set a deadline of June 24 for employees to volunteer for unpaid work. He said that the salary deductions would be spread over three to six months wherever possible.
via British Airways asks staff to work for free – Times Online.
Bill Maher Tells Olbermann Why He’s Criticizing Obama (VIDEO)
Bill Maher Tells Olbermann Why He’s Criticizing Obama (VIDEO)
Bill Maher appeared on “Countdown” on Monday night to discuss his disappointment with President Obama, asserting that if Obama doesn’t act boldly on health care reform and other progressive issues, the Democrats could lose the midterm elections in 2010.
He was critical of Obama’s speech to the American Medical Association today, since they’re a lobbying group that he claims has obstructed previous efforts at health care reform.
“When I heard the president get that round of applause at the AMA today, that’s when I knew we were in trouble.”
Maher said that his editorial criticizing Obama on “Real Time With Bill Maher” on Friday night was greeted with cheers, which surprised him since his “very liberal Southern California audience” usually boos when he goes after the president.
via Bill Maher Tells Olbermann Why He’s Criticizing Obama (VIDEO).
Obama blocks access to White House visitor list
Obama blocks list of visitors to White House
Taking Bush’s position, administration denies msnbc.com request for logs
The Obama administration is fighting to block access to names of visitors to the White House, taking up the Bush administration argument that a president doesn’t have to reveal who comes calling to influence policy decisions.
Despite President Barack Obama’s pledge to introduce a new era of transparency to Washington, and despite two rulings by a federal judge that the records are public, the Secret Service has denied msnbc.com’s request for the names of all White House visitors from Jan. 20 to the present. It also denied a narrower request by the nonpartisan watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which sought logs of visits by executives of coal companies.
CREW says it will file a lawsuit Tuesday against the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Secret Service. (Updated: Here’s a copy of CREW’s complaint.)
via Obama blocks access to White House visitor list – White House- msnbc.com.
Worst days of US crisis may lie ahead, says IMF
Worst days of US crisis may lie ahead, says IMF | guardian.co.uk
No recovery until next year in world’s biggest economy, while ECB says European banks face $283bn more in write-downs
The massive stimulus thrown at the US economy will produce a solid recovery by the middle of 2010, the International Monetary Fund said today but it warned that the worst of the crisis may still lie ahead.
In its annual consultation with the world’s number-one economy, the Washington-based group said policymakers were correct to keep the stimulus flowing for now, but would need to turn their attention to the threat of yawning deficits once the crisis had passed.
“The combination of financial strains and ongoing adjustments in the housing and labour markets is expected to restrain growth for some time, with a solid recovery projected to emerge only in mid-2010,” the IMF said at the conclusion of annual discussions with the US.
It pencilled in a contraction of 2.5% in GDP this year, with a muted expansion of 0.75% in 2010. Those forecasts are better than its April projection of a 2.8% slump this year and zero growth next year.
via Worst days of US crisis may lie ahead, says IMF | Business | guardian.co.uk.
Former Bush And McCain Mouthpiece Nicolle Wallace Claims To Speak For All Doctors
Former Bush And McCain Mouthpiece Nicolle Wallace Claims To Speak For All Doctors
Appearing on CNN yesterday afternoon, Nicolle Wallace, former spokeswoman to the presidential campaigns of George Bush and John McCain, claimed all doctors oppose the creation of a public plan, an integral component of reform. Indeed, the AMA, where President Obama spoke yesterday, has indicated that it will lobby against an effective public plan. But even though the AMA represents only 29% of American doctors (or much less than that, depending on if you subtract the dues payers who don’t currently practice), Wallace incredulously cited the AMA’s position as she boldly claimed to speak on behalf of the “docs”:
WALLACE: I think the biggest problem that Obama faces is not Republicans, it’s the doctors. [...] I think that most normal people look to their doctors for advice and for their reaction to the big health care debates that take place in Washington. And doctors are opposed, very strongly opposed to one of the central tenets of Obama’s plan.
BLITZER: Which tenet is that?
WALLACE: It is the public option. [...]
WALLACE: But there’s plenty of competition. The docs argue that you would crowd out private insurers.
Watch it:
via Think Progress » Former Bush And McCain Mouthpiece Nicolle Wallace Claims To Speak For All Doctors.
U.S. likely to lose AAA rating: Prechter
OPS: now the question – can you have a world reserve currency that is NOT based on a AAA rating?
U.S. likely to lose AAA rating: Prechter | | Reuters
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Technical analyst Robert Prechter on Monday said he sees the United States losing its top AAA credit rating by the end of 2010, as he stuck by a deeply bearish outlook on the U.S. economy and stock market.
Prechter, known for predicting the 1987 stock market crash, joins a growing coterie of market heavyweights in forecasting the United States will lose its top credit rating as the government issues trillions of dollars in debt to fund efforts to bail out the economy.
Fears about the long-term vulnerability of the prized U.S. credit rating came to the fore after Standard & Poor’s in May lowered its outlook on Britain, threatening the UK’s top AAA rating. That move raised fears that the United States could face a similar risk, with the hefty amounts of government debt issued in both countries to pay for financial rescues causing budget deficits to swell.
Prechter, speaking at the Reuters Investment Outlook Summit in New York, said he sees investors’ confidence in an economic rebound fading, a trend that will drag the S&P 500 stock index .SPX well below the March 6 intraday low of 666.79 by the end of this year or early next.
via U.S. likely to lose AAA rating: Prechter | U.S. | Reuters.
Obama, Like Clinton Before Him, is Blowing the Chance for Real Health Care Reform
Obama, Like Clinton Before Him, is Blowing the Chance for Real Health Care Reform 
By Dave Lindorff
If you want to fix the disaster that is called the American healthcare system, the first thing to do is to clearly point out what its major failings are, and there are two of these.
The first is cost. America is one of the or possibly the most expensive places in the world to get sick or injured. The corollary of that is that it is one of the best places to make a killing if you are in the medical business, whether as a doctor, a hospital company, a pharmaceutical firm or a nursing home owner.
The second is access. One in six Americans—a total of 50 million people at latest count—have no way to pay for that care. Too young for Medicare, too “well off” for Medicaid, but too poor to buy private health insurance or too sick to be admitted into a plan, or employed by a company that doesn’t provide health benefits, these people get no medical care until they get so sick that they are brought into a hospital emergency room where they get treated (often too late) at public expense, or at the hospital’s expense, with the cost shifted onto taxpayers or onto insured patients’ premiums.
Any reform of this atrocious “system” must address these two major failings or it is no reform at all.
And that’s where all the various versions of Obamacare fall flat.
Simply put, you cannot solve either of these problems by leaving the payment system for medical care in the hands of the private insurance industry, since the whole paradigm of insurance is to make money by keeping high-risk people out of the insured pool, and by keeping reimbursements and coverage for premium payers as low as possible.
via Obama, Like Clinton Before Him, is Blowing the Chance for Real Health Care Reform | Democrats.com.
Comment on Buzzflash: by Justice4alltoday
In reversal, GOP balks at war funding
OPS: … and Pelosi is pushing for war funding – WTF!?
In reversal, GOP balks at war funding - TheHill.com -
House Republicans are preparing to vote en bloc against the $106 billion war-spending bill, a position once unthinkable for the party that characterized the money as support for the troops.
For years, Republicans portrayed the bills funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as matters of national security and accused Democrats who voted against them of voting against the troops.
via TheHill.com – In reversal, GOP balks at war funding.
A Singular Solution for Healthcare
A Singular Solution for Healthcare | CommonDreams.org
A single-payer healthcare system would more effectively control costs than any other plan that Congress is considering as it moves toward a reform bill. And by controlling costs, existing resources could be allocated more equitably, especially for the benefit of women.
First, single-payer plans eliminate the $300 billion to $400 billion that insurance companies spend annually in administrative overhead and waste. Second, single-payer plans are best positioned to take on the enormous challenge of reducing or eliminating the financial incentives that have led to so much overtreatment and undertreatment.
Maternity care illustrates this phenomenon: We spend far more per capita than any other industrialized country and yet do worse on most birth outcome measures than most of these other countries. So-called best practices – medical practices already demonstrated to improve outcomes – are well described in the medical literature, but they are not widely implemented, even though doing so would lower costs and improve the health of mothers and babies.
via A Singular Solution for Healthcare | CommonDreams.org.
USA, Canada to Modernize Great Lakes Water Quality Pact
USA, Canada to Modernize Great Lakes Water Quality Pact | CommonDreams.org
NIAGARA FALLS, New York, June 15, 2009 (ENS) – The United States and Canada have agreed to update the 37-year-old Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement that commits both countries “to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the waters of the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem.”
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Lawrence Cannon met Saturday at the Rainbow Bridge that connects the two countries to announce their intention to modernize the agreement.
The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement addresses threats to water quality in the Great Lakes and in the portion of the St. Lawrence River that straddles the Canada-U.S. border.
“We have to update it to reflect new knowledge, new technologies and, unfortunately, new threats,” Secretary Clinton said.
When the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement was first signed in 1972, the major issue was phosphorus over-enrichment. The agreement was updated in 1978, when the major issue was ridding the Great Lakes of persistent toxic substances.
via USA, Canada to Modernize Great Lakes Water Quality Pact | CommonDreams.org.
Obama Gives Bush a 3rd Term in Education
Obama Gives Bush a 3rd Term in Education | CommonDreams.org
It is time to kill the Bush-era No Child Left Behind program
The great mystery of education policy today is why the Obama administration is embracing the Bush program. I recently wrote in Education Week (June 10) that it is time to kill the Bush-era No Child Left Behind program. The overwhelming majority of teachers agree with me. Those who educate our kids know that NCLB is a failed program that is not improving our schools but rather turning them into test-prep factories and dumbing down our kids. Bush’s main advisor Sandy Kress reacted with outrage on the website of Education Week, and Tom Vander Ark on Huffington Post called me an “edu-curmudgeon” for speaking plain truth.
Let me say it again: It is time to kill the Bush-era No Child Left Behind program. This is a program in which the federal government requires every state to test every student from grade 3-8 in reading and math every year. If states do not make “adequate yearly progress” towards 100% proficiency by 2014, then the schools face a series of increasingly onerous sanctions, ending with their being closed down. Vander Ark thinks that this punitive approach to school improvement is swell. I don’t.
If judged solely by test scores, the only coin that the NCLB crowd understands, the law has been a dud. Kids today are making less progress on national and international tests than they did during the Clinton administration years.
via Obama Gives Bush a 3rd Term in Education | CommonDreams.org.
Out of the Ashes of GM: the Phoenix of Renewable Energy
Out of the Ashes of GM: the Phoenix of Renewable Energy | CommonDreams.org
by Ellen Brown
It may be prophetic that among the brands GM chose to kill was the Pontiac Firebird, a classic hot car of the 1960s sporting the fabled Phoenix on its hood. In mythology, the Phoenix was a colorful bird that incinerated itself in its nest, then rose from the ashes as its own offspring. GM too, says Michael Moore, could be reborn as something else. In a June 1 eulogy of sorts, he wrote:
“So here we are at the deathbed of General Motors. The company’s body not yet cold, and I find myself filled with-dare I say it-joy. It is not the joy of revenge against a corporation that ruined my hometown … Nor do I, obviously, claim any joy in knowing that 21,000 more GM workers will be told that they, too, are without a job. But you and I and the rest of America now own a car company!”
What would we want with a car company? Moore suggests that the bankrupt mega-builder of obsolete gas guzzlers can be transformed into a mega-builder of things we need more-mass transit vehicles, including bullet trains, light rail mass transit lines, energy efficient clean buses, hybrid or all-electric cars, and alternative energy devices such as batteries, windmills, and solar panels. The factories that built the cars that destroyed the environment can become the tools for cleaning it up. This would, of course, take some investment; but Moore suggests that to pay for it all, the government could impose a two-dollar tax on every gallon of gasoline.
via Out of the Ashes of GM: the Phoenix of Renewable Energy | CommonDreams.org.
Will 39 Democrats Stand Up to Stop the War Funding?
Will 39 Democrats Stand Up to Stop the War Funding? | CommonDreams.org
by Jeremy Scahill
The White House and the Democratic Congressional Leadership are playing a very dirty game in their effort to ram through supplemental funding for the escalating US war in Afghanistan and continued occupation of Iraq. In the crosshairs of the big guns at the White House and on Capitol Hill are anti-war freshmen legislators and the movement to hold those responsible for torture accountable.
In funding the wars, the White House has been able to rely on strong GOP support to marginalize the anti-war Democrats who have pledged to vote against continued funding (as 51 Democrats did in May when the supplemental was first voted on). But the White House is running into trouble now because of Republican opposition to some of the provisions added to the bill (and one removed), meaning the pro-war Democrats actually need a fair number of anti-war Democrats to switch sides. In short, the current battle will clearly reveal exactly how many Democrats actually oppose these wars. And, according to reports, the White House and Democratic Leadership have the gloves off in the fight:
via Will 39 Democrats Stand Up to Stop the War Funding? | CommonDreams.org.
Blowing Our Chance for Real Health Care Reform
Blowing Our Chance for Real Health Care Reform | CommonDreams.org
by Dave Lindorff
If you want to fix the disaster that is called the American healthcare system, the first thing to do is to clearly point out what its major failings are, and there are two of these.
The first is cost. America is one of the most expensive places, or possibly the most expensive place, in the world to get sick or injured. The corollary of that is that it is one of the best places to make a killing if you are in the medical business, whether as a doctor, a hospital company, a pharmaceutical firm or a nursing home owner.
The second is access. One in six Americans—a total of 50 million people at latest count—have no way to pay for that care. Too young for Medicare, too “well off” for Medicaid, but too poor to buy private health insurance or too sick to be admitted into a plan, or employed by a company that doesn’t provide health benefits, these people get no medical care until they get so sick that they are brought into a hospital emergency room where they get treated (often too late) at public expense, or at the hospital’s expense, with the cost shifted onto taxpayers or onto insured patients’ premiums.
Any reform of this atrocious “system” must address these two major failings or it is no reform at all.
via Blowing Our Chance for Real Health Care Reform | CommonDreams.org.
Water Risks Ripple Through the Beverage Industry
Water Risks Ripple Through the Beverage Industry | CommonDreams.org 
NEW YORK – At New York’s Del Posto, diners can share a $130 entree of wild branzino fish with roasted fennel and peperonata concentrato and a $3,600 bottle of Dom Perignon. They cannot share a bottle of Perrier or San Pellegrino water.
The Italian restaurant backed by celebrities Mario Batali and Joseph Bastianich is one of several shunning bottled water, along with the city of San Francisco and New York state.
“The argument for local water is compelling and obvious,” said Bastianich, who is phasing out bottled water across his restaurant empire, which stretches to Los Angeles.
“It’s about transportation, packaging, the absurdity of moving water all over the world,” he said.
via Water Risks Ripple Through the Beverage Industry | CommonDreams.org.
Weaker dollar boosts oil and gold
Weaker dollar boosts oil and gold - FT.com /
Gold and base metals regain lost ground
Commodities enjoyed a broad bounce on Tuesday, with crude rising back above $71 a barrel, as a weaker dollar lured investors back into the market and the US currency’s reserve status was questioned by Russia.
The S&P spot GSCI commodities index gained 1.1 per cent as the dollar fell against a basket of competitors. Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, had earlier called for the creation of new reserve currencies, comments which added to speculation over the future of the US dollar.
Nymex July West Texas Intermediate, the US benchmark, gained 71 cents to $71.33, while ICE July Brent rose 84 cents to $71.08 a barrel. WTI has now gained 53 per cent since the start of April, with Brent rising by 48.6 per cent.
via FT.com / Markets – Weaker dollar boosts oil and gold.
In depth – Iran clamps down on protest coverage
Iran clamps down on protest coverage – FT.com /
Iran on Tuesday banned journalists working for foreign media from leaving their offices to cover protests in the capital as the influential speaker of parliament condemned an attack on university students in their dormitory.
Earlier in the day, state radio reported that seven people were killed in Tehran on Monday night as they approached a military base during a mass rally called in protest against the alleged rigging of the presidential election.
The report of casualties at the biggest demonstration since the 1979 Islamic revolution ratcheted up an already tense stand-off between Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad’s government and opponents who say he “stole” his landslide win and are calling for a re-run of the election.
via FT.com / In depth – Iran clamps down on protest coverage.
The Crippling Situtation We’ve Created
The Crippling Situtation We’ve Created
We must change our current situation or we could become a post WWI Germany economically, and this could happen overnight
The United States has created a situation in which U.S. gold, U.S. currency; and the titles to U.S. property and other assets are leaving this country in amounts of annual value that are greater than they would be if U.S. citizens were manufacturing the things that they consumed. We must change this situation or we could become a post WWI Germany economically, and this could happen overnight.
A Trade Deficit is created when America’s importing, transportation, distributing and retail sales companies like Wal-Mart, Home Depot, NTB etc. pay companies and individuals in foreign countries with U.S. dollars to manufacture the products these companies distribute, and sell to American consumers. What is the dollar value percentage of U.S. manufactured and assembled products that are made with imported foreign manufactured parts and/or sub-assemblies?
The government also “borrows” U.S. dollars (actually they sell freshly printed-paper T-Bills, U.S. Government Bonds, and other U.S. securities at public auction to China private individuals, and other industrialized countries that earn U.S. dollars mostly by manufacturing things for international trade) to pay government expenses including negative balances of trade, wars, military jets with active duty military USAF pilots for the personal use of specially privileged members of congress (Pelosi), employee payrolls, government retirement checks, courts, federal police, failed business bailouts, cash bonuses to the various Wall Street forgers of SEC documents that contributed to political campaigns, Las Vegas corporation junkets for failed corporation employees, house mortgages for big spenders with bad credit, new multi-million dollar French manufactured personal corporate jets for political contributor’s bankrupt corporations, pork barrel projects, research contracts, welfare, social security, Medicare, Medicaid, SSI, expensive corporate vacations, new infrastructure, wealth re-distribution, mental health, imported consumer goods and etc., and any other thing that congress and the president decide to use taxpayer money to acquire, build or just give to their political contributors and various other privileged individuals with borrowed U.S. dollars. If taxes taken in each year are not sufficient to pay these expenses, then the government just prints more paper T-Bills, Government Bonds, etc. and borrows U.S. dollars from people who are holding U.S. dollars (foreign manufacturers) in exchange for these freshly printed T-Bills, Government Bonds, etc.
via Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.
Elected Officials Selling out America: Judy Biggert
Elected Officials Selling out America: Judy Biggert
Biggert is a staunch ally to those in favor of tearing down trade barriers and forcing American workers to compete with workers in Third World nations
Editor’s Note: The following article is another installment in an expository series which outlines important issues facing the U.S. economy and reveals your elected officials voting records. Please write to your elected officials and demand that they represent their constituents, instead of succumbing to the whims of big business.
Representative Judy Biggert (R-IL), has been hailed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for her unabashed support of “free trade.”
Biggert has been such a staunch ally to those in favor of tearing down trade barriers and forcing the American worker to compete with workers in Third World nations that she was awarded the “Spirit of Enterprise Award” during after the 108th Congress.
Over the course of her Congressional career which began in 1999, she has voted to tear down trade barriers or against erecting new ones 88 percent of the time. During that same period, she has voted against subsidies to protect domestic industries 57 percent of the time.
“Without free trade and a stable world economic order, America loses,” she has said.
Perhaps she failed to notice the millions of jobs America has lost due to “free trade” agreements in the era of globalization, which may explain why she continues to vote in such a manner
via Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.
False Flags of “Recovery”
False Flags of “Recovery”
The government would certainly like us to believe in the recovery, and corporations want American consumers to get back out and spend more.
In another instance of the media crying recovery where there is nothing to be found, The New York Times published an article on June 11 titled “Europe Lags as U.S. Economy Shows Signs of Recovery.” The article claims that the U.S. is on its way to recovery, and in fact responding faster than lagging economies in Europe.
The premise of the article surrounds projections which show the European economy contracting 4.2 percent this year, compared to 2.8 percent in the U.S. The New York Times cited “private economists” for its projections and did not release where the data was gathered. Even if the data is accurate, it does not show recovery. What the data shows is a slightly lower rate of decline.
Considering the fact that the Euro is a stronger currency than the dollar, and that the EU has a larger economy than the United States, it seems reasonable to think the decline in the U.S. will hurt as much if not more than the decline in Europe.
via Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.
Brooks: The Great Unwinding
Brooks: The Great Unwinding
Instead of taking a big picture approach to the financial crisis, most lawmakers are concerned only about their re-election prospect.
American policy makers looking at the economic crisis too narrowly need to think about the “financial transition ahead” and consider implementing a consumption tax in order to discourage consumption, encourage saving and bring the nation’s debt problem under control, according to conservative New York Times columnist David Brooks.
“Congressional leaders have been fixated on short-term conventional priorities throughout this entire episode,” Brooks writes. “There is no evidence that the power brokers understand the fundamental transition ahead. They are practicing the same self-indulgence that got us into this mess.”
That self-indulgence is driven by the same self-serving interest that drives all politicians: re-election. Instead of taking a big picture approach to the financial crisis, most lawmakers are concerned only about their re-election prospects, which are inexorably linked to the here and now. This leads to a lack of courage to enact the kind of reforms necessary to ensure that another crisis of this magnitude does not besiege the nation’s economy. Instead, we get the status quo.
via Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.
Inflation on the Horizon
Inflation on the Horizon
Since the onset of this crisis the response from the Federal Reserve has been to pump hundreds of billions of dollars into the U.S. economy.
The White House and Congress were slow to deal with the burgeoning economic crisis over the past few years. However, both have been quick to take action during 2009. Unfortunately, a lot of these programs are exacerbating an already bad situation.
Arthur B. Laffer, a former member of President Reagan’s Economic Policy Advisory Board, has pointed out that the spending problem in the U.S. goes far beyond what this administration has done. He also points out that fixing it will take much more than what this administration is doing.
In a piece written for The Wall Street Journal Laffer points out that even our astounding $11.4 trillion national debt is a gross understatement. If you account for all unfunded liabilities – Medicare, military pensions, etc. – the total may be as much as $100 trillion.
via Economyincrisis.org – America’s Economic Report – Daily.
This Weekend: Urge Congress to Vote “No” on the War Supplemental
Take Action This Weekend: Urge Congress to Vote “No” on the War Supplemental
Want to know what $96.7 billion more in wartime spending will go toward?
Want to know what 21,000 more US troops and $96.7 billion more in wartime spending will go toward? Gen. Petraeus says insurgent attacks in Afghanistan are at their highest level since 2001; there were 400 attacks in the last week alone. Both Generals Petraeus and McChrystal expressed the desire to keep civilian casualties to a minimum, but how can they possibly achieve that lofty goal with more troops on the ground? It stands to reason that more troops will mean more incidents of violence, increasing calls for more US airstrikes, which in turn will mean more civilian casualties.
Fortunately, there’s a chance to defeat the war supplemental and you can even take action this weekend. Here’s what FireDogLake’s Jane Hamsher recommends:
via Take Action This Weekend: Urge Congress to Vote “No” on the War Supplemental | World | AlterNet.
Congressman Proposes 25 Years In Prison For Pot
OPS: Kirk, another sad excuse for a Human Being
Congressman Proposes 25 Years In Prison For Pot
By: Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director
They say that every action spurs an opposite reaction. Well, that certainly seems to be the case in Congress.
Just days after Massachusetts Democrat Rep. Barney Frank, along with 13 cosponsors, reintroduced HR 2835, the Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act of 2009 in Congress, Republican Rep. Mark Kirk (Illinois) has called for federal legislation to sentence certain first-time marijuana offenders to up to 25 years in prison.
UPDATE!!! UPDATE!!! It gets even worse. Check out some of the comments and coverage from Rep. Kirk’s press conference (WTF is “koosh?!”), which took place this afternoon. You can also offer your opinions regarding this misguided and mean-spirited proposal on Alternet.org and the ever-popular Huffington Post blog by going here.
via Congressman Proposes 25 Years In Prison For Pot | NORML Blog.
Vast Forests Are at Stake: What Kind of Lumber Is “Nature Friendly”?
Vast Forests Are at Stake: What Kind of Lumber Is “Nature Friendly”?
Two stamps of approval are competing for the title of “nature-friendly wood.” Big timber firms back the one critics call greenwashing.
A contented-looking man stands in front of a posh house in a bathrobe, gripping a morning newspaper and coffee. The caption for this full-page New Yorker ad identifies him as “the new environmentalist.”
“These days, a growing number of consumers want the good life, but not at the expense of the environment,” reads the copy. “So when they shop for everything from newspapers to building materials, they look for SFI certified wood and paper products.”
The year was 2007, and this ad was among the first shots fired in a high-stakes PR war that continues to play out across North America today. The combatants are the two largest rival forestry certification non profit organizations in the world: the industry-created Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which was conceived by a coalition of North American environmental activists.
via Vast Forests Are at Stake: What Kind of Lumber Is “Nature Friendly”? | Environment | AlterNet.
Is Google’s New Tool a Big Flop or the Nerd-Powered Web Tool of the Future?
Is Google’s New Tool a Big Flop or the Nerd-Powered Web Tool of the Future?
The launch of Wolfram/Alpha could take us to an era of emerging artificial intelligence a self-organizing Internet — or not.
After personal-computer technology took off in the 1980s, visions of artificial intelligence danced in pop culture’s head.
Some brat in his bedroom pranked NORAD into War Games. The gamer reality of Tron booted up, while Hackers, Sneakers and other digital archetypes fought for advantage in The Matrix.
In the so-called real world, Microsoft, Yahoo and Google fought for primacy in the search game, where smart and dull surfers punched questions into their computers and waited for a response. Until now, the computer has only been able to communicate back using links, text, videos and ads.
Home Loan Scamming Is Still Going Strong
Home Loan Scamming Is Still Going Strong — and Now You’re Paying for It
Welcome to subprime swindle 2.0: the feds’ desperate attempt to reinflate the popped housing bubble.
Everything the real estate industry tells you is a hustle. No industry is more geared toward pumping up the positive and burying anything remotely negative, leaving you — and truth — out in the cold.
The crash has not made real estate agents any more honest, but at least the gap between the industry’s crazed optimism and stark reality has grown so obvious that even the real estate industry can’t hide it anymore.
Nowhere is this more obvious than in Victorville, Calif., an exurb of Los Angeles situated in the high desert where housing bubbled up higher than just about anywhere at the peak of the subprime-lending craze and is still in free fall today.
REPORT: Key Terror Detainee Acknowledged ‘I Make Up Stories’ In Response To Torture
REPORT: Key Terror Detainee Acknowledged ‘I Make Up Stories’ In Response To Torture
The Bush administration has long justified its use of torture by claiming that it obtained valuable information from torturing 9-11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Late last year, former Vice President Dick Cheney said, “Did it produce the desire results? I think it did.” He explained:
I think, for example, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who was the number three man in al Qaeda, the man who planned the attacks of 9/11, provided us with a wealth of information.
But according to documents released by the Obama administration in response to a lawsuit brought by the ACLU, Cheney was lying. Mohammed told U.S. military officials that he gave false information to the CIA after withstanding torture:
“I make up stories,” Mohammed said, describing in broken English an interrogation probably administered by the CIA that concerned the location of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
“Where is he? I don’t know. Then he torture me,” Mohammed said. “Then I said, ‘Yes, he is in this area.’”
via Think Progress » REPORT: Key Terror Detainee Acknowledged ‘I Make Up Stories’ In Response To Torture.
Obama speech on health care reform reveals the AMA as part of the problem
.jpg "ANA medical medicine")
Obama speech on health care reform reveals the AMA as part of the problem
via Obama speech on health care reform reveals the AMA as part of the problem.
Senate GOP starts health care attack
Senate GOP starts health care attack
As President Barack Obama tried to sell the American Medical Association today on his health care overhaul, the top Senate Republicans launched a familiar line of attack.
They warned of rationed medical care, lack of patient control and government bureaucracy.
“The American people will not stand for rationed health care,” Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl said Monday. “We believe that a one size fits all approach is the wrong approach.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, in a floor speech scheduled for this afternoon warned that what Americans “don’t want is a Washington takeover of health care along the lines of what we’ve already seen with banks, insurance companies, and the auto industry. Americans don’t want a government-run system that puts bureaucrats between patients and doctors.”
via Senate GOP starts health care attack – Yahoo! News.
Opposition leaders join thousands protesting in Iran
Opposition leaders join thousands protesting in Iran - Telegraph
Defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi has joined tens of thousands of supporters who defied a ban to stage a mass rally in Tehran.
Mr Mousavi addressed the crowds from atop a car at the opposition march staged in protest at President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s landslide election win that the wartime premier has branded a rigged “charade.”
“Mousavi we support you! We will die but retrieve our votes!” shouted the crowds of thousands, young and old, who poured into central Tehran in defiance of an interior ministry ban on the march.
via Opposition leaders join thousands protesting in Iran – Telegraph.
The street protests mount
The street protests mount in Iran | Salon
A fresh report from the Iranian capital. The government uses machetes on the public, the public fights back.
Editor’s note: For reasons of personal safety, the author chooses to remain anonymous.
By Anonymous
Now, three days after the election, a pattern is emerging. There is unstructured protest on the streets beginning in the late afternoon. Then, at night, it escalates.
In my own apartment complex on Monday morning we were woken up to screams and shouts. Kids from the building and elsewhere had been engaging in political rock fights in the adjoining street and had run into the complex (a typical urban apartment “tower” found in almost all of the developing world). Families went out to the fire escape to look down to see what had happened. It turned out that special police had rushed into the complex, followed by “basijis” or paramilitary forces, basically thugs on motorbikes with helmets and batons. It also turned out that they had electric rods and, to the shock of many, machetes. Several people were wounded and taken away and much of the first floor and entrance of the complex was destroyed.
After two hours there was a dramatic standoff. The gate was locked, and the elders of the complex engaged in a heated discussion with representatives of the basiji forces. “If you’re chasing after someone,” asked the elders, “why have you come into our homes and beaten women and children? Why have you broken all of our glass and busted the windshields on the cars in the underground parking?” The basijis left. The elders had done their best to mediate, to speak rationally to resolve the problem. That is unlikely to last as the situation in Tehran becomes more and more about force.
via The street protests mount | Salon.
-
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
-
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. 
