Archive for February, 2011

Democratic National Committee: No corporate cash at Charlotte convention

For the first time ever, the Democratic National Convention will not accept donations from corporations, PACs or federal lobbyists in 2012.

Individual contributions also will be capped — another first — at $100,000, according to the contract governing the convention.

Democrats say the policy is in keeping with the fundraising focus that powered President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign.

“From the very beginning, President Obama has placed a high priority on increasing the influence of grassroots and individual donors, and this convention will go further in that direction than any convention ever,” Democratic National Committee spokesman Brad Woodhouse said.

Full Story Here: Democratic National Committee: No corporate cash at Charlotte convention – Molly Ball – POLITICO.com.

How Much Pesticide Residue Is Allowable On Food?

Welcome to our new blog, “The Watchdog,” which will keep a close eye on regulatory agencies and how their actions impact the lives of everyday Americans. Though the rules and regulations they write — from determining how much arsenic is allowable in your drinking water to whether your favorite TV show can drop the F-bomb in primetime — affect all of us, their deliberations and the way that lobbyists influence their decisions receives very little coverage.

To make sense of these debates, follow the implementation of health care reform and financial reform and decipher the minutia of the Federal Register, “The Watchdog” is on the case. If you have any tips or suggestions, send them to marcus@huffingtonpost.com.

Full Story Here: ‘The Watchdog’: How Much Pesticide Residue Is Allowable On Food?.

Missing Workers: 4.9 Million Out Of Work And Forgotten

Over the last three years, nearly 5 million U.S. workers have effectively gone missing.

You won’t find their photos on the backs of milk cartons. The Coast Guard isn’t out looking for them. No missing-persons reports have been filed. These are jobless Americans who have grown so discouraged by their unsuccessful searches for work that they have simply given up the hunt. They are no longer counted among the 14.5 million Americans officially considered unemployed as of the end of last year, according to the Department of Labor.

Indeed, when the government on Friday delivered its latest monthly snapshot of the labor market for January, which showed the unemployment rate falling to 9 percent, these people — a group larger than the population of Los Angeles — were not even counted. Some are sprinkled into the fine print, counted in categories such as “discouraged workers,” but most are invisible.

Full Story Here: Missing Workers: 4.9 Million Out Of Work And Forgotten.

Oysters Are ‘Functionally Extinct’

Oysters aren’t disappearing from the dining table anytime soon, but they may be disappearing from our oceans.

A recent study published in BioScience has shown that the mollusks, declared “functionally extinct,” are disappearing quickly as 85 percent of their reefs have been destroyed through disease or over-harvesting, according to the AFP. 75 percent of the remaining wild oysters can be found in 5 locations in North America.

So what does “functionally extinct” mean?

Oysters no longer play almost any significant role in their ecosystems.

From the AFP:

Full Story Here: Oysters Are ‘Functionally Extinct’.

John Boehner Rejects C-Span Offer To Increase Transparency

Back when House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) was upset about Americans getting affordable health care, he would often bitterly complain about the lack of transparency in the process. “Don’t let Democrats in Washington take this debate away from you. Don’t let them make this about arm-twisting and backroom deals,” he would say. And let’s face it, arm-twisting and backroom deals are a big part of how your legislative sausage gets made. So, in November, C-Span sent Boehner a letter in which they offered to move forward with an improvement in that arena:

In January, you sent C-SPAN a letter supporting our request for televised access to the health care negotiations, in which you wrote, “Every issue of national import should be debated by the people’s elected representatives in full public view.” You further wrote, “Republicans have listened to the American people and are committed to making Congress more accountable to the people it serves.”

Currently, House floor debates are not in full public view because private news media cameras are still not permitted in the House chamber. Rules established when the House installed its TV cameras in 1979 restrict congressional camera operators to head-on shots or shots of the chamber, leaving viewers with a less-than-complete view of your debates.

In this spirit we are writing to renew a request we made to Speakers Gingrich and Pelosi as they assumed office — to allow House floor proceedings to also be covered by C-SPAN cameras.

Boehner’s office was said at the time to be reviewing the network’s request. And today, they have apparently completed mulling it over. The result? Request denied! Per Michael O’Brien, at The Hill:

Full Story Here: John Boehner Rejects C-Span Offer To Increase Transparency.

The Winter of Our Political Discontent or How and Why You Only have TWO Choices, Two Parties

Len Hart, :

Why is the GOP where it is? Simply –GOP fascists turned out!! Why are the Democrats where they are? Don’t ask a Democrat! You are likely to get a denial that he/she is a Democrat –rather, a ‘progressive’! Don’t bother asking what a ‘progressive’ is. But if you want to know the truth, here goes: a ‘progressive’ is a Democrat who does not want or dare to admit that he/she is a Democrat! This deplorable situation has resulted because a critical mass of ‘Dems’ committed what in politics is the unpardonable sin: they allowed the opposition [GOP] to define them! That’s why Clinton found it necessary to ‘triangulate’ a center. Definition of a center in politics: something that is neither here nor there nor sharp but blurry in the middle!

Bottom line: ‘progressive’ does not mean a thing and will not result in a net gain of votes! The word owes is very existence to the fact that ‘liberals’ let the GOP get away with branding the word ‘liberal’. Liberal is a perfectly good word! It means FREE! Again –LIBERAL means free! Anyone who runs away from ‘freedom’ deserves to lose an election and until progressives regain the courage of their convictions, they will continue to get ‘ass whuppins’ at the hands of ruthless and well-financed right wing nuts!

Things can change but only if Democrats regain their party by turning out. The PRIMARIES are more important than the general election. Sadly –the process itself is designed to REDUCE your choices to only two. I don’t like it –but that’s the way it is! Whining about it on FB will not change a thing. It’s a SOP; someone threw us a BONE!

Full Story Here: The Existentialist Cowboy: The Winter of Our Political Discontent or How and Why You Only have TWO Choices, Two Parties.

Truth to Power: A Blunt Assessment of US Crimes in Iraq

Len Hart, The Existentialist Cowboy:

I have not merely blogged. I would like to think that I spoke ‘truth to power’. I literally petitioned, perhaps harassed, my congressman –John Culberson, representing the 7th District. To his credit, Culberson responded though nothing he said was true, accurate or relevant. Most of the time he (or his staffers) just rewrote the official Bush ‘line’. It requires K-street size money to get real and/or effective access to your elected representatives.

Having put into place numerous Draconian measures, George W. Bush, it was feared, would not leave the White House. He had, after all, declared the Constitution to be ‘just a worthless piece of paper’; he had already begun a war against Iraq upon a pack of bald-faced lies!

§ 2441. War crimes(a) Offense.— Whoever, whether inside or outside the United States, commits a war crime, in any of the circumstances described in subsection (b), shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for life or any term of years, or both, and if death results to the victim, shall also be subject to the penalty of death.

–U.S. Codes, Title 18, Section 2441″>TITLE 18 > PART I > CHAPTER 118 > § 2441

Full Story Here: The Existentialist Cowboy: Truth to Power: A Blunt Assessment of US Crimes in Iraq.

The Individual Mandate in the Health Care Bill: Why We Should Trade Broccoli and Asparagus for Hot Dogs and Apple Pie

Robert Reich

The Republican vote to repeal the new health care law is purely symbolic. But there’s one provision of the law that Republicans are likely to try to defund, and they may have the public with them on this. It’s the so-called “individual mandate” – the requirement that everyone purchase health insurance, or pay a fine. According to a recent poll, 60 percent of the public opposes it. They just don’t like the idea of government telling them they have to buy something.

The mandate is also particularly vulnerable to legal challenge. So far, two federal judges, one in Virginia and another in Florida, have struck it down. They say the federal government has no more constitutional authority requiring citizens to buy insurance than requiring them to buy and consume broccoli, or asparagus. The Florida judge referred to broccoli; the Virginia judge to asparagus.

Yet the new system can’t work without the individual mandate. Only if everyone buys insurance can insurers afford to cover people with preexisting conditions, or pay the costs of catastrophic diseases.

Full Story Here: Robert Reich (The Individual Mandate in the Health Care Bill: Why We Should Trade Broccoli and Asparagus for Hot Dogs and Apple Pie).

The Student Loan Swindle

By MIKE WHITNEY

Alan Nasser is professor emeritus of Political Economy at the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. He co-authored “The Student Loan Debt Bubble” along with Kelly Norman, which appeared in CounterPunch.)

MW Is it possible to “walk away” from a student loan and declare bankruptcy?

Alan Nasser— No, it’s not possible for student debtors to escape financial devastation by declaring bankruptcy. This most fundamental of consumer protections would have been available to student debtors were it not for legislation explicitly designed to withhold a whole range of basic protections from student borrowers. I’m not talking only about bankruptcy protection, but also truth in lending requirements, statutes of limitations, refinancing rights and even state usury laws – Congress has rendered all these protections inapplicable to federally guaranteed student loans. The same legislation also gave collection agencies hitherto unimaginable powers, for example to garnish wages, tax returns, Social Security benefits and -believe it or not- Disability income. Twisting the knife, legislators made the suspension of state-issued professional licenses, termination of public employment and denial of security clearances legitimate measures to enable collection companies to wring financial blood from bankrupt student-loan borrowers. Student loan debt is the most punishable of all forms of debt – most of those draconian measures are unavailable to credit card companies. (Maybe I’m being too harsh. Sallie Mae recently announced that it will after all forgive a debt under either of two conditions: in case the borrower dies or becomes totally disabled.)

Full Story Here: Mike Whitney: The Student Loan Swindle.

Cheek Biting: Why You Bite Your Cheek and How to Stop

Let’s talk today about cheek biting.

That’s a sentence that will make some people say “huh?” while others say “yes, let’s.” The reason for this is because, by and large, cheek biting is somewhat akin to fingernail biting. Some of us do it as a bad habit, and some of us don’t. And, of course, the two sides don’t really understand the other (the side that doesn’t do it says “hey, just stop already,” while the side that does do it knows it’s just not that simple).

But yes, there are cheek biters out there. And when I say “cheek biters,” I mean the entire inside of the mouth — the cheek, the lips, and even the tongue. It’s just the phrase “cheek biters” sounds better.

As a NYC cosmetic dentist, I see a lot of cheek biting. Some cases are simply accidental, some cases are chronic, yet have easily remedied medical reasons, and some are physiological in nature. Let’s go over a few reasons/causes:

The first cause of cheek biting is what I call “care

Full Story Here: Thomas P. Connelly, D.D.S.: Cheek Biting: Why You Bite Your Cheek and How to Stop.

McCain calls Middle East pro-democracy movements a ‘virus’

Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Yemen, Jordan, and possibly more … The growing pro-democracy movements in these countries are a mere “virus” to Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), according to a recent interview he gave to the conservative-leaning Fox News Channel.

Speaking to Greta Van Susteren, the former presidential candidate suggested that now is the “most dangerous period in of history” regarding America’s involvement in the Middle East.

“This virus is spreading,” he said. “This, I would argue, is probably the most dangerous period of history in… of our entire involvement in the Middle East, at least in modern times. Israel is in danger of being surrounded by countries that are against the very existence of Israel, or governed by radical organizations.”

Prior to McCain’s comments, some in the media had called the movements a “contagion.”

Full Story Here: McCain calls Middle East pro-democracy movements a ‘virus’ | Raw Story.

US plan: Replace Mubarak with torture-linked ‘CIA point man’

A US plan to see Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak leave office immediately is reportedly in the works and would see a transitional government formed by Mubarak’s vice-president, a former head of Egypt’s spy agency and an alleged “CIA point man” who facilitated the “extraordinary rendition” of terrorism suspects.

US officials are discussing a plan with Egyptian officials that would see Mubarak quit immediately and hand over power to a transitional government run by Vice President Omar Suleiman, the New York Times reported Thursday.

Even though Mr. Mubarak has balked, so far, at leaving now, officials from both governments are continuing talks about a plan in which, Mr. Suleiman, backed by Sami Enan, chief of the Egyptian armed forces, and Field Marshal Mohamed Tantawi, the Defense Minister, would immediately begin a process of constitutional reform.

Full Story Here: US plan: Replace Mubarak with torture-linked ‘CIA point man’ | Raw Story.

Why Has Every Pro-Repeal GOP Lawmaker Given Their Congressional Staff Taxpayer-Funded, Gov Health Care?

Republicans took control of Congress promising to repeal the Affordable Care Act. However, at the same time they rip the bill as some sort of “monstrosity” of “socialism,” nearly every Republican lawmaker eagerly accepts government health benefits afforded to them as members of Congress. As ThinkProgress has noted, the congressional health benefits mirror the health plan passed by Democrats for the country: individuals choose private plans regulated under an exchange, and are given a subsidy to help them pay for their plan. As federal employees, lawmakers are given an average of $700-a-month in taxpayer money for their health insurance.

A select few pro-repeal lawmakers have refused to accept government health benefits for themselves to try to stay consistent in their opposition to government health care. Out of the few who have eschewed government health plans for themselves, many are either on government benefit plans from their service in state government or the military. Others are independently wealthy, like Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA), who owns a large car dealership or Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL), an investment banker.

More critically, every single Republican contacted by ThinkProgress has refused to deny government health benefits to their staff. Congressional staff members are granted the same taxpayer-subsidized, government-regulated health plans available to members. Unlike lawmakers, staff are often middle-class Americans who are not independently wealthy and need regular coverage in case they get sick. While lawmakers and their staff work ruthlessly to repeal health reform — thus denying coverage to over 30 million Americans and helping insurance companies continue outrageous, life-threatening abuses to their customers — pro-repeal members believe their staff should be “free to choose” quality government care:

Full Story Here: ThinkProgress » Why Has Every Pro-Repeal GOP Lawmaker Given Their Congressional Staff Taxpayer-Funded, Gov Health Care?.

Former Sen. Norm Coleman: We Should ‘Absolutely’ Consider Gutting The Voting Rights Act

As state legislatures gear up for the decennial process of congressional redistricting, one of the few obstacles preventing excessive gerrymandering in a handful of southern states is the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Still, despite the legislation’s massive success in preventing racism, many conservatives are dead set on dismantling the longstanding civil rights law.

In December, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) sounded the rallying cry. During a press conference, Cuccinelli declared that Virginia had “outgrown” institutional racism, and therefore ought to be exempted from the Voting Rights Act. (Virginia is one of nine southern and western states that must get their new redistricting maps pre-approved by the Justice Department in order to prevent discrimination against minority voters.)

Now, one of the architects of the Republican redistricting efforts, former Sen. Norm Coleman, wants to “reconsider” the entire Voting Rights Act. In an interview with ThinkProgress, Coleman argued that it was “absolutely” the right move to loosen the Voting Rights Act’s provisions that prevent legislators from drawing redistricting maps with a clear racial bias:

Full Story Here: ThinkProgress » Former Sen. Norm Coleman: We Should ‘Absolutely’ Consider Gutting The Voting Rights Act.

Egypt’s Democratic Uprising Exposes the U.S. Corporate Welfare Scheme of Military ‘Foreign Aid’

Revolution threatens Egypt’s authoritarian regime, U.S. Empire…

“The problems the protesters are trying to address are extremely deep-seated…Egypt and other countries of the region have just been through a neoliberal period which have led to…high concentrations of extreme wealth and privilege, tremendous impoverishment and dismay for most of the population.” Noam Chomsky, 2/2/11

As more than a million protesters are said to have “flooded into central Cairo” this week, demanding an end to Hosni Mubarak’s authoritarian rule, William Hartung, the director of the Arms and Security Initiative at the New America Foundation and author of Prophets of War: Lockheed Martin and the Making of the Military-Industrial Complex, explained a little understood fact about the “tens of billions of dollars” in US military aid used to prop up the authoritarian Mubarak regime.

Full Story Here: The BRAD BLOG : Egypt’s Democratic Uprising Exposes the U.S. Corporate Welfare Scheme of Military ‘Foreign Aid’.

Killing the Internet Not Just a Problem in Egypt

As we speak, Egypt is struggling with a near-total Internet and communications shut-off, and not just Egyptians are grappling with the implications. Can the flow of social media information to an entire country simply be cut? Apparently, yes. And that’s not just an Egyptian concern.

It’s very much an American concern, in that a US-based company seems to be the maker of the Internet off-switch. As Tim Karr of Free Press notes, the US company Narus was founded in 1997 by Israeli security experts. Based in Sunnyvale California, Narus has devised what business fans call a “social media sleuth.”

As boosters put it: “Narus is the leader in real-time traffic intelligence for the protection and management of large IP networks…. Used by the world’s service providers and governments, Narus has developed and patented state-of-the art algorithms to detect network anomalies and manage unwanted IP traffic. Additionally, Narus has the unique ability to precision target and fully reconstruct all types of IP traffic, including e-mail, Web mail and instant messages.”

Full Story Here: Killing the Internet Not Just a Problem in Egypt | The Nation.

EPA to limit rocket fuel chemical in tap water

The Environmental Protection Agency is setting the first federal drinking water standard for a toxic rocket fuel ingredient linked to thyroid problems in pregnant women and young children, the Obama administration announced on Wednesday.

Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa Jackson said that setting the standard will protect public health and spark new technologies to clean up drinking water. Based on monitoring conducted from 2001 to 2005, 153 drinking water sources in 26 states contain perchlorate. The standard could take up to two years to develop, the EPA said.

Perchlorate is also used in fireworks and explosives. In most cases, water contamination has been caused by improper disposal at rocket testing sites, military bases and chemical plants.

“As improved standards are developed and put in place . clean water technology innovators have an opportunity to create cutting edge solutions that will strengthen health protections and spark economic growth,” Jackson said in a statement.

Full Story Here: AP News : Kinston Free Press.

A Giant Pipeline Carrying Dirty Oil From Canada to Texas. What Could Go Wrong?

Last year was quite a year for oil and gas disasters. In addition to the BP blowout, there was a leak on BP’s TransAlaska pipeline, a million-gallon oil spill in Michigan, and a gas explosion that destroyed 37 homes and killed eight people in California. So it would seem like a lousy time for a Canadian company to propose building a pipeline, the Keystone XL, right through the middle of the continent—especially one that may be unnecessary and that even some oil companies think is overpriced.

Several environmental groups have recently raised concerns about the ties between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the lead lobbyist for the international oil services company TransCanada.

Friends of the Earth, Corporate Ethics International, and the Center for International Environmental Law are seeking a record of all communication between Clinton’s office and that of Paul Elliott, who served as the national deputy director in her 2008 campaign and now serves as the director of government relations at TransCanada. The initial Freedom of Information Act request was denied. A new request was submitted in late January.

Full Story Here: A Giant Pipeline Carrying Dirty Oil From Canada to Texas. What Could Go Wrong? | Mother Jones.

The FBI “Kamikaze Pilots” Case

In a public statement issued on Monday, January 31, members of the 9/11 Family Steering Committee demanded a prompt response from the former Chairman and the Executive Director of the 9/11 Commission regarding Former FBI Language Specialist Behrooz Sarshar’s censored testimony to the Commission. The former commissioners failed to respond to this request.

In February 2004 Behrooz Sarshar provided the 9/11 Commission’s investigators with specific documents and names of the related witnesses, including the full name and contact information of the key “FBI Asset/Informant” in an FBI case titled ‘Kamikaze Pilots.’ However, the commission chose not to contact or interview any of these witnesses, including FBI Director Robert Mueller. The Commission’s final report did not mention a single word of this documented testimony, and their recently released memorandum omitted the entire interview with no explanation provided.

The following information was provided by Mr. Sarshar to several Congressional offices and investigators, including staff of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Committee’s leading Democrat at the time, Senator Patrick Leahy, and the Justice Department’s Inspector General Office. I was present during at least four meetings where the briefings were recorded and documented. While working at the Bureau I was briefed on this case by not only Mr. Sarshar but another firsthand witness, and I saw the actual 302 forms filed with the unit’s squad supervisor (FBI language specialists get to keep a copy of their reports/forms). Further, I personally briefed the 9/11 commission investigators on the details of this particular case, which is confirmed by the commission’s memorandum.

Full Story Here: Sibel Edmonds’ Boiling Frogs Post | Home of the Irate Minority.

Study Finds Way To Predict When Cancer Will Spread

Researchers have found a compound that tumors make when they are likely to spread, and said they hope to use to it predict which patients are most at risk of dying from their cancers.

And experiments in mice show there may be a way to block the protein, preventing cancer from spreading and becoming deadly.

The findings, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, are at a very early stage. But a team at the National Institutes of Health, the University of Hong Kong and elsewhere said on Tuesday they will work to develop both a test and, perhaps, a treatment.

Full Story Here: Study Finds Way To Predict When Cancer Will Spread.

WikiLeaks Nominated For Nobel Peace Prize

A Norwegian lawmaker has nominated WikiLeaks for the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, saying Wednesday that its disclosures of classified documents promote world peace by holding governments accountable for their actions.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee keeps candidates secret for 50 years, but those with nomination rights sometimes make their picks known.

Snorre Valen, a 26-year-old legislator from Norway’s Socialist Left Party, told The Associated Press he handed in his nomination in person on Tuesday, the last day to put forth candidates.

“I think it is important to raise a debate about freedom of expression and that truth is always the first casualty in war,” Valen said. “WikiLeaks wants to make governments accountable for their actions and that contributes to peace.”

Full Story Here: WikiLeaks Nominated For Nobel Peace Prize.

Don’t Believe Goldman Sachs, The U.S. Economy Has Endured 3 ‘Lost Decades’

Step back from the ledge, America. Scotch the gloomy talk of a Japan-style Lost Decade in which we sink into decline and marinate morosely there for years. We’re back, baby! So says a cheery depiction of these times from the wizards at Goldman Sachs (a firm that, come to think of it, played a starring role in trashing our economic security).

The report from Goldman’s Investment Strategy Group, and served up here as evidence of happy times by the credulous folks at Politico’s Morning Money, dismisses suggestions that the American economy might yet confront substantial problems. “The U.S. Will Not Face a ‘Lost Decade,’” declares a subheading in the report, which later calls the odds of that prospect “very remote indeed.” Instead, “America’s structural resilience, fortitude and ingenuity will carry the economy and financial markets in 2011 — and beyond.”

Lest this hyperventilating prose fail to provoke the intended response, that last clause sits beneath a picture of George Washington crossing the Delaware. (Hats off to the creative geniuses inside Goldman’s public relations machine, who apparently aim to redefine doubts about the economy — and Goldman’s lucrative cheerleading — as downright un-American.)

Full Story Here: Don’t Believe Goldman Sachs, The U.S. Economy Has Endured 3 ‘Lost Decades’.

Nasa scientists discover planetary system

Astronomers identify six planets orbiting a sun – the most similar system to our own yet discovered – 2,000 light-years away

Astronomers have discovered a planetary system made up of six planets orbiting a Sun-like star that is more than 2,000 light years from Earth. It is the largest number of planets found so far around a single star.

More than 100 planets have been seen outside our solar system, but most are Jupiter-like gas giants, and almost all are in single-planet systems.

Jack Lissauer, a scientist at Nasa‘s Ames research centre in California and a lead author on a paper published tomorrow in the journal Nature, said that the Kepler-11 finding was “the biggest thing in exoplanets since the discovery of 51 Pegasi B, the first exoplanet, back in 1995″.

Full Story Here: Nasa scientists discover planetary system | Science | The Guardian.

“Free Trade Doesn’t Work: What Should Replace It and Why”

Book Review by Thom Hartmann:

Some book reviews write themselves, because the book is so clear and articulate and easily read, and the information in it so straightforward that all the reviewer needs to do is lay it out.

Ian Fletcher writes: “Over the last 20 years, Americans have bought over $6 trillion more from the world than we have sold back to it. That’s over $20,000 per American. Ironically, if the US were a developing country, our deficits would reach the 5% level that the international monetary fund takes as a benchmark of financial crisis.”

This is not the budget deficit that everybody is so hysterical about in the press, and which would go to zero over the next six years if the Obama administration simply let the Bush tax cuts expire in their entirety. Instead, Fletcher is talking about the trade deficit, the difference between what we buy from the world and what we sell to the world.

Full Story Here: “Free Trade Doesn’t Work: What Should Replace It and Why”.

Interest Will Make Up At Least 79 Percent of New Debt This Decade

As America continues to hemorrhage money to fund foreign wars and provide tax cuts to the wealthy, deficit spending is at an all time high, leading to brutal interest payments totaling at least $5.5 trillion between 2012 and 2021.

That is the most optimistic scenario proposed by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO). “Interest payments on the debt are poised to skyrocket over the next decade,” the CBO said in its report.

As Congress continues to kick the can down the road, the lack of any meaningful debt reduction plan could cause interest rates to rise more quickly, and could even prompt a drop in America’s credit rating.

Full Story Here: Interest Will Make Up At Least 79 Percent of New Debt This Decade | Economy In Crisis.

Our Country is in Serious Trouble, Yet the Solutions are Very Simple

The government and the media try to sell the false idea that the Great Recession is over, meanwhile all economic indicators suggest otherwise.

The wealthy multinationalists are accumulating more wealth by draining money from the American middle class. The top 1 percent are gaining more and more wealth while the middle class is evaporating and the number of people living in poverty are multiplying.

The government and the media try to sell the false idea that the Great Recession is over, meanwhile all economic indicators suggest otherwise. The media claims the U.S. is creating jobs – while this is true, the jobs they are creating are in India, Mexico, China and soon South Korea. Without adopting the needed “Buy American” clauses, all the stimulus money spent went to create jobs across the boarder and overseas.

We are using poor indicators and statistics to prove that we are headed in the right direction. Sure, the stock market looks good, but that just means the multinationalists are doing well. The stock market itself doesn’t create jobs.

Full Story Here: Our Country is in Serious Trouble, Yet the Solutions are Very Simple | Economy In Crisis.

How Many Jobs Will Your Community Lose due to Korean FTA?

If Congress passes the Korean Free Trade Agreement, 159,000 jobs are expected to be lost in the first seven years, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Most of these losses will come from the electronics, textile and auto production industries. How many job losses will happen in your neighborhood?

Public Citizen has developed a data tracker to estimate how many jobs, and from what industries will be lost where you live.

With stagnant unemployment rates near ten percent, the last thing this nation needs is to lose more jobs in the name of ‘free trade.’ Free trade has clearly failed this country as companies send millions of jobs overseas to take advantage of beneficial labor and trade laws. The only real winner in this race to the bottom are multinational corporations that boost profits while harming the interests of citizens in developed and developing countries.

Insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting different results. Following the consequences of NAFTA, why would we expect a different outcome with this agreement? Clearly, America’s trade policy has gone haywire as we continue to pursue harmful trade pacts.

Full Story Here: How Many Jobs Will Your Community Lose due to Korean FTA? | Economy In Crisis.

The Great British Austerity Experiment

With deficit hawks poised in the US, we watch with great interest UK economic policy. It’s not looking an enviable example so far

Dean Baker

Three months ago, I noted that the United States might benefit from the pain being suffered by the citizens of the United Kingdom. The reason was the new coalition government’s commitment to prosperity through austerity. As predicted, this looks very much like a path to pain and stagnation, not healthy growth.

That’s bad news for the citizens of the United Kingdom. They will be forced to suffer through years of unnecessarily high unemployment. They will also have to endure cutbacks in support for important public services like healthcare and education.

But the pain for the people in England could provide a useful example for the United States. After failing to see the $8tn housing bubble that wrecked the US economy, the austerity crew in the United States has been newly emboldened by the hugely partisan media that desperately want to eviscerate the country’s bedrock social programmes: social security and Medicare.

Full Story Here: The Great British Austerity Experiment | CommonDreams.org.

When Corporations Choose Despots Over Democracy

Amy Goodman::

“People holding a sign ‘To: America. From: the Egyptian People. Stop supporting Mubarak. It’s over!” so tweeted my brave colleague, “Democracy Now!” senior producer Sharif Abdel Kouddous, from the streets of Cairo.

More than 2 million people rallied throughout Egypt on Tuesday, most of them crowded into Cairo’s Tahrir Square. Tahrir, which means liberation in Arabic, has become the epicenter of what appears to be a largely spontaneous, leaderless and peaceful revolution in this, the most populous nation in the Middle East. Defying a military curfew, this incredible uprising has been driven by young Egyptians, who compose a majority of the 80 million citizens. Twitter and Facebook, and SMS text messaging on cell phones, have helped this new generation to link up and organize, despite living under a U.S.-supported dictatorship for the past three decades. In response, the Mubarak regime, with the help of U.S. and European corporations, has shut down the Internet and curtailed cellular service, plunging Egypt into digital darkness. Despite the shutdown, as media activist and professor of communications C.W. Anderson told me, “people make revolutions, not technology.”

The demands are chanted through the streets for democracy, for self-determination. Sharif headed to Egypt Friday night, into uncertain terrain. The hated Interior Ministry security forces, the black-shirted police loyal to President Hosni Mubarak, were beating and killing people, arresting journalists, and smashing and confiscating cameras.

Full Story Here: Amy Goodman: When Corporations Choose Despots Over Democracy – Truthdig.

Oil Trades Near 28-Month High as Egypt Riots Add ‘Risk Premium’

Oil traded near its highest price in more than two years as concern that protests in Egypt may endanger Middle Eastern exports countered signs of rising supplies in the U.S., the largest crude consumer.

Futures swung between a loss of 0.4 percent and gains of 0.6 percent today after the American Petroleum Institute said yesterday that U.S. stockpiles increased for a fourth week. The Energy Department may also say today supplies climbed. Unrest in Egypt sent Brent crude above $100 a barrel earlier this week.

“The chief reason for oil’s rally through $100 is the return of the geopolitical risk premium,” said Christopher Bellew, senior broker at Bache Commodities Ltd. in London. “There has been a fresh inflow of speculative positions, though with stocks and spare production capacity ample, conditions don’t suggest a surge to new records.”

Full Story Here: Oil Trades Near 28-Month High as Egypt Riots Add ‘Risk Premium’ – Bloomberg.

House GOP Readies Severe New Restrictions On EPA

In a sharp challenge to the Obama administration, House Republicans intend to unveil legislation Wednesday to ban the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act and expect to advance the bill quickly, officials disclosed Tuesday night.

The officials said the bill would nullify all of the steps the EPA has taken to date on the issue, including a threshold finding that greenhouse gases constitute a danger to the public health and welfare.

In addition, it seeks to strip the agency of its authority to use the law in any future attempts to crack down on the emissions from factories, utilities and other stationary sources.

Full Story Here: House GOP Readies Severe New Restrictions On EPA.

FDA Rejects New Diet Drug Contrave, Requests Additional Study

The government on Tuesday unexpectedly rejected what appeared to be the most promising candidate among a class of new diet drugs, wiping out hopes for a new medication to fight obesity anytime soon.

Orexigen Therapeutics Inc. said the Food and Drug Administration is concerned about the heart side effects of its drug Contrave and will require a new study, a costly undertaking that may prove too burdensome for the small drugmaker.

The FDA’s ruling marks the third rejection of a weight loss drug in recent months, raising questions about whether any new drugs in the class can be made safe enough to win approval. The FDA has not approved a new diet pill in more than a decade.

Full Story Here: FDA Rejects New Diet Drug Contrave, Requests Additional Study.

At Fort Sill, High-Interest Lenders Circle The Gates

The following story has been reposted in partnership with The Dylan Ratigan Show’s week long “No Way To Live” series on the financial crisis and its impact on ordinary Americans, and in collaboration with Meetup.com, which is hosting HuffPost Mortgage Modification Madness Meetups across the country, where homeowners can meet others who’ve had similar difficulties with lenders.

LAWTON, Okla. – Just outside the front gates of the sprawling Fort Sill military installation, in a scrubby corner of the windswept Great Plains, a panorama of “military loan” brokers, pawn shops and car stereo dealers awaits.

In this landscape of high-interest, easy credit, Mike, a U.S. Army Private First Class from Kansas, began a downward spiral into debt — one that has left him sleeping in his friend’s garage, surviving on only $148 every month.

Recently he was reprimanded for not getting his required military haircut. He just didn’t have the money, he said.

Full Story Here: At Fort Sill, High-Interest Lenders Circle The Gates.

GOP budget cuts: Deficit hawkery as farce

The Economist:

I’M HAVING trouble writing about the GOP effort to reach a compromise over whether to cut $100 billion out of the 2011 budget, or just $50-60 billion. My problem is that I can’t really write about the advantages or disadvantages of one or another version of the cuts when the entire enterprise appears completely senseless to me. The notion, apparently, is that continuing unemployment and slow growth in America are caused by the federal budget deficit. So shrinking the deficit by $50-60 billion will presumably lead to faster economic growth and renewed hiring. Yet exactly one month ago, these same Republican leaders eagerly agreed to a tax-cut package that raised the federal deficit for 2011 by over $400 billion. Even if there were a plausible argument that unemployment and lethargic growth today stem from the current budget deficit, any impact congressional leaders hope to see from their spending cuts will add up to no more than noise around the edges of their tax cuts.

Even more confusingly, there is no plausible argument that current unemployment or slow growth stem from the federal budget deficit. The mechanism through which budget deficits can lead to unemployment and slow growth is the bond market: government borrowing raises interest rates, which makes credit more expensive for businesses. But the 5-year treasury bond is under 2%, and the most recent auction had a bid cover of almost 3 times. Unsurprisingly, with interest rates low, the cost of credit ranks low on the list of businesses’ chief concerns. Those who acknowledge that deficits don’t seem to be driving up the cost of credit, but still want to blame deficits for the poor economy, have pointed to business uncertainty over potential future tax increases to cover government debt. But how does enacting an $800 billion two-year tax cut and then cutting $50 billion or even $100 billion in spending assuage business uncertainty about future debt? In any case, the main reason businesses are not expanding is that they are worried about lack of demand from consumers and other businesses, who are still deleveraging from the debts they built up during the 2000s and the collapse in their asset values during the financial crisis. Karl Smith noted last week that the public-debt and private-debt figures are largely mirror-images of each other, and that government budget deficits are healthy in a deleveraging economy because government is essentially taking on private debt and paying lower interest rates on it. But even if you find fault with that perspective, how can you argue that cutting government spending this year will raise demand or growth, or lower unemployment, within the next year or two?

Full Story Here: GOP budget cuts: Deficit hawkery as farce | The Economist.

ATDHE, Sports Streaming Website, Seized By Homeland Security

The sports streaming website ATDHE.net has had its domain seized by ICE Homeland Security Investigations.

A spokesperson from ICE confirmed that it was a legitimate seizure and that there is an ongoing investigation into the matter.

According to a description on Mahalo, ATDHE “specializes particularly in live sports, but also features general programming from networks such as ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX. The website, although popular, has come under fire as to any copyright restrictions it may be violating in operating the service.”

ATDHE’s website currently contains the following image:

Full Story Here: ATDHE, Sports Streaming Website, Seized By Homeland Security.

OPS: SO apparently Homeland Security is now the police agency for copyright issues?

Wall Street Pay Broke Record Last Year

Wall Street pay is rising, while income for normal Americans has stagnated.

Even as the real economy limped, financial firms paid employees a record sum last year, the Wall Street Journal reports. In 2009, the last full year data are available, average wages for Americans fell 1.5 percent from the previous year, according to the National Average Wage Index. Median household income in 2009 was “not statistically different” from 2008, according to the Census Bureau.

But total pay at Wall Street firms rose 5.7 percent in 2010, as the 25 companies that have already reported results shelled out a record $135 billion. Even as regulators pressured firms to alter compensation, prominent executives got big pay bumps, seeming to suggest that the former Wall Street culture has emerged virtually unscathed from the recession.

In the years leading up to the financial crisis, executives got bonuses based on their companies’ short-term performance, a phenomenon that experts say encouraged excessively risky behavior. When lawmakers drafted regulations for the financial sector, executive compensation became a crucial subject for reform. The stimulus act, passed in early 2009, contained rules limiting pay.

But those rules have not worked, according to a December report from the Council of Institutional Investors. While some firms did decrease bonuses, they also raised base salaries to compensate. Even the new forms of pay — such as restricted stock, designed to align executives’ interests with those of shareholders — don’t effectively curb dangerous risk, the report found.

Full Story Here: Wall Street Pay Broke Record Last Year.

Chernobyl: 25 Years After The Nuclear Disaster (PHOTOS)

This year marks the 25th Anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. At 1:23am on April 26th, 1986, operators in the control room of Reactor #4 botched a routine safety test, resulting in an explosion, and a fire that burned for 10 days. The radioactive fallout spread over tens of thousands of square miles, driving more than a quarter of a million people permanently from their homes. It remains the world’s worst nuclear disaster to date.

Since 1993, renowned National Geographic photographer Gerd Ludwig has visited the site several times, creating an in-depth look at the many consequences of tragedy. The thawing of bureaucratic barriers in Ukraine enabled him to move freely within the Exclusion Zone and delve deeper into contaminated reactor than any other Western still photographer. “I know that my explorations are not without personal risk. However,” he says, “I do this on behalf of otherwise voiceless victims who allow me to expose their suffering solely in the hope that tragedies like Chernobyl may be prevented in the future.”

Full Story Here: Chernobyl: 25 Years After The Nuclear Disaster (PHOTOS).

Parkinson’s Disease: Scientists Find Five New Genes

Scientists have identified five new genes linked to Parkinson’s disease in a large genetic analysis of the illness, according to a new study. After reviewing nearly 8 million possible genetic mutations, researchers pinpointed five genes connected to Parkinson’s disease. Previously, six other genes were identified, and experts say there is now increasing proof the degenerative disease is sparked by peoples’ genes.

The discovery doesn’t mean there are any new treatments just yet, but experts are optimistic they are getting closer.

“The major common genetic variants for Parkinson’s have been found,” said Nick Wood, a professor at the Institute of Neurology at University College London, one of the researchers who led the study. “We haven’t put together all the pieces of the puzzle yet, but we’re not that far off,” he said. He predicted a diagnostic test might be ready within a few years.

Until recently, scientists hadn’t been sure what caused Parkinson’s disease, but assumed environmental factors such as exposure to chemicals or past head injuries were largely to blame.

Full Story Here: Parkinson’s Disease: Scientists Find Five New Genes.

Can Kucinich Drive A Stake Through the Zombie Heart of the Fed? (Part 1-Return to Jekyll Island)

Kucinich has positioned himself to plunge a stake through the zombie heart of the arch enemy of American well being, The Federal Reserve Bank.

WE HAVE GOT TO HELP HIM AND PAY ATTENTION. The Bank Mafia of America has captured the minds, hearts and souls of almost all of our amoral leadership in the administration and Congress who have to a grotesque degree stopped watchdogging our rights and needs for a stunning amount of time now.

Abandon all hope that Obama or the legacy Democratic Party will rally to save Americans from economic terrorism. In fact, trust that they will rally to enable the economic terrorists.

Full Story Here: Can Kucinich Drive A Stake Through the Zombie Heart of the Fed? (Part 1-Return to Jekyll Island) | Corrente.

Capital One dredges up decade-old, charged-off debt

The bank says it was only complying with a new Fed rule when it billed a Hollywood couple for a $2,000 credit card balance it wrote off 10 years ago plus interest — a total of $5,195 — even though the statute of limitations has passed.

Frank Cavestani and his wife fell behind on their Capital One credit card payments about a decade ago. Their accounts were subsequently closed by the lender, which wrote off about $2,000 in debt they couldn’t pay.

So it was more than a little strange when the Hollywood couple received a pair of bills from Cap One the other day for a combined $5,195.07 in debt and interest.

Stranger still, when Cavestani contacted Cap One, he said a service rep told him the resurrecting of old loans is accommodated by recent credit card regulations approved by the Federal Reserve — even though most states have a statute of limitations for how long credit card debt can be pursued by a lender.

Full Story Here: Capital One and charged-off debts: Capital One dredges up decade-old, charged-off debt – latimes.com.

Jordan’s king sacks cabinet

Monarch asks ex-army general to form new government in the wake of streets protests over prices and reforms.

King Abdullah II of Jordan has sacked his government in the wake of street protests and has asked an ex-army general to form a new cabinet, Jordan’s Royal Palace has announced.

King Abdullah’s move on Tuesday comes after thousands of Jordanians took to the streets, inspired by anti-government protests in Tunisia and Egypt. Jordanians had been calling for the resignation of prime minister Samir Rifai who is blamed for a rise in fuel and food prices and slowed political reforms.

A Jordanian official said the monarch officially accepted the resignation of Rifai, a wealthy politician and former court adviser, and asked Marouf Bakhit to form a new cabinet.

Full Story Here: Jordan’s king sacks cabinet – Middle East – Al Jazeera English.

What’s Behind The Drive To Redefine Rape In New And Insane Ways?

The recent drive behind H.R. 3, the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act,” is animated by one thing and one thing only — the deep and abiding belief among its cosponsors that women are chattel. Not even that “babies are great” — many of the same cosponsors are those who’d all but wash their hands of the responsibility of ensuring those children got affordable health care. But what’s getting all of the attention in the bill is the part where legislators have banded together to mansplain the various shadings of the crime of “rape” to America.

‘The limitations established in sections 301, 302, 303, and 304 shall not apply to an abortion–

‘(1) if the pregnancy occurred because the pregnant female was the subject of an act of forcible rape or, if a minor, an act of incest; or

‘(2) in the case where the pregnant female suffers from a physical disorder, physical injury, or physical illness that would, as certified by a physician, place the pregnant female in danger of death unless an abortion is performed, including a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself.

That portion is what the Washington Post’s Jonathan Capeheart calls “the scary part” of the bill. I sort of think that the whole idea of government intrusion for the purpose of turning women into brood-mares is pretty much “the scary part,” but I’ll allow that the above terrifies on a whole new David Cronenberg-esque level. Essentially, it makes allowances for abortions only in the case of “forcible rape.”

Full Story Here: What’s Behind The Drive To Redefine Rape In New And Insane Ways?.

Internet Runs Out Of Addresses As Devices Grow

The spread of Internet use in Asia and the proliferation of Internet-connected phones worldwide are causing the Internet to run out of numerical addresses, which act as “phone numbers” to ensure that surfers reach websites and e-mails find their destination.

The top-level authority that governs such addresses will distribute the last batches on Thursday, two people with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity because a formal announcement wasn’t planned until Thursday.

That doesn’t mean consumers will suddenly find websites unreachable, though. And if everything goes according to plan, Internet users won’t even notice.

“It will just be ‘business as usual’ if everyone gets their job done,” said John Curran, CEO of the American Registry for Internet Numbers, or ARIN, one of five regional groups that dole out such addresses. ARIN covers the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean.

The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, the top-level administrator of the system, has called a press conference in Miami on Thursday. One person said its last five “blocks” of Internet Protocol, or IP, addresses will be distributed then. These blocks, each with 16.8 million addresses, will be distributed to the regional registries. That means the regional groups will have IP addresses to distribute further to Internet service providers, websites and others before running out. Curran expects to deplete his allotment in six to nine months.

Full Story Here: Internet Runs Out Of Addresses As Devices Grow.

REPORT: Business Lobbyists Demand Rep. Issa Launch Assault On Key Environmental, Financial Regulations

In December, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) outsourced his job to business lobbyists when he sent letters to over 150 trade associations and companies, asking them to outline which Obama administration regulations he should target as chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. He sent the letters to a wide array of fossil fuel producers, pharmaceutical companies, manufacturers, telecommunications companies, and other interests.

Issa has repeatedly refused to share the responses he received from these industry leaders, even with Democrats on his committee, though he promises to do so soon. While Issa drags his feet, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), the ranking Democrat on Issa’s committee, has sent letters to each group asking for a copy of the responses, noting that “[w]ithholding Committee records is not only a violation of House rules, but a waste of time that could have been avoided with the smallest degree of bipartisan cooperation.”

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has also made the same request of the companies and trade groups, and received 33 voluntary responses. Many heavy-hitting business interests like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Monsanto Corporation, and the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers declined to reply to CREW. But a review of the companies that did voluntarily respond illustrates a concentrated industry push to combat regulations on everything from lead paint standards to EPA emission rules to fire testing of mattresses:

Full Story Here: ThinkProgress » REPORT: Business Lobbyists Demand Rep. Issa Launch Assault On Key Environmental, Financial Regulations.

Chamber Of Commerce Continues Decades-Long Assault Against Clean Economy

At a Washington DC press conference, U.S. Chamber of Commerce officials blasted President Obama’s call for a clean energy future. Christopher Guith, vice president for policy at the Chamber’s Institute for 21st Century Energy, said a national clean-energy standard is “ridiculously premature,” even though 25 states have renewable and alternative energy standards, the first established in 1983. The Institute’s president, former Bush official Karen Harbert, said that the United States should instead allow “increased access to land for oil and gas drilling both onshore and offshore,” drilling a deeper hole with fossil fuel dependence.

This opposition to clean-energy job creation on behalf of big oil is nothing new for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Throughout the 2000s, the chamber led the opposition to action on climate change, promoting global warming denial. Its history of defending pollution at the expense of the health of the American public and American jobs, however, goes deeper:

Full Story Here: ThinkProgress » Chamber Of Commerce Continues Decades-Long Assault Against Clean Economy.

Biblical Capitalism – The Religious Right’s War on Progressive Economic Policy

Tea Party ideology is not new but taps into decades of Religious Right instruction on “Biblical Capitalism.”

The second annual PA Progressive Summit 2011 was held in Pittsburgh on January 22 and 23. I again gave a presentation on “Biblical Capitalism” or the belief that unregulated capitalism is biblically mandated. The Religious Right is well known for its regressive social activism, but less publicized is the role it has played in the war against progressive economic policy, labor unions, the regulatory structure and social safety net. The sacralizing of laissez-faire capitalism predates the Tea Party movement and has been a major theme of fundamentalist textbooks for more than three decades.  Over the next two weeks I will be posting several additional articles providing links to material included in my presentation as well as other resources on this topic.

Hundreds of progressive leaders from around Pennsylvania gathered to participate in the conference sponsored by Keystone Progress, Service Employees International Union, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Democracy for America, Pennsylvania State Education Association, and United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776.

Full Story Here: | Biblical Capitalism – The Religious Right’s War on Progressive Economic Policy.

Clarence Thomas Appears to Have ‘Knowingly and Willfully’ Violated Rule of Law for Twenty Years

Could face fines, jail time, though corporate media downplay criminality, even as evidence suggests special treatment for the U.S. Supreme Court Justice…

The words “EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER LAW” are famously chiseled above the main portico of the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington D.C. But is one of the Justices seated in that building, with a lifetime appointment, now receiving special treatment under the law instead?

Evidence is mounting that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas violated federal law by failing to report his wife’s annual salary of more than $120,000 per year from conservative political organizations by checking “NONE” on the box for “Non-Investment Income” for his wife Virginia on judicial Financial Disclosure Reports for the last 20 years.

According to the “self-initiated amendment” letters [PDF] signed by Thomas as dated Friday, January 21, 2011, and stamped as “RECEIVED” by the Judicial Conference of the U.S. Committee on Financial Disclosure on a Saturday, January 22, 2011, the Justice failed to reveal such sources of spousal income even on his original nomination disclosure forms during his contentious 1991 confirmation hearings.

Full Story Here: The BRAD BLOG : Clarence Thomas Appears to Have ‘Knowingly and Willfully’ Violated Rule of Law for Twenty Years.