"Electing Barack Obama president was the first step in redeeming American democracy. The second step must be indicting ex-president George W. Bush, giving him a fair trial, finding him guilty of many criminal acts and putting him in prison. Forget revenge. Think rule of law and justice.
I want President Obama soon after taking office to go on television and announce the formation of a special group of outstanding jurists and attorneys to make a recommendation whether or not the US Justice Department should bring criminal charges against George W. Bush. Based on earlier analyses, including work by the American Bar Association, I have no doubt they will recommend indictment.
If moral honesty and courage have any meaning, then the nation must take seriously the concept that no president can ever be allowed to be above the law. How can President Obama not strongly support this? Surely no president must be allowed to disrespect and dishonor the US Constitution. George W. Bush broke his oath of office. His behavior was treasonous. Instead of defending the Constitution he disgraced it. Instead of protecting constitutional rights, including privacy, he sullied them. He asserted his right to ignore or not enforce laws so he could break them. Respect for the office of the presidency must never be allowed to trump truth and justice.
Millions and millions of Americans and people worldwide know that George W. Bush made 9/11 the trigger for initiating an illegal war in Iraq that has killed and maimed so many thousands of people. What Vincent Bugliosi, author of “The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder" called “the most serious crime ever committed in American history.” I say convict Bush of myriad counts of criminally negligent homicide related to both Iraq and the Katrina disaster and put him in prison. A former president in prison would not disgrace the presidency. It would restore honor to the office and the Constitution." (Emphasis Mine.)
Sunday, November 30, 2008
MWC News - - George W. Bush Belongs in Prison
Bob Burnett: Bush's Recession, Rooted in Self-Interest
"While George Bush ran for President as a born-again Christian and "compassionate conservative," his behavior indicated he was guided not by the principles of Jesus but rather by a narcissistic morality of personal advantage. While making a revealing documentary about the 2000 Bush campaign, filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi asked the candidate why she should vote for him; Bush replied. "It's in your interests." Pelosi observed, "He didn't push my country's interest - but rather, my own." Bush's primary consideration was what's in it for me?
As President, Bush conflated his personal interests - strengthening his power - with those of the United States and political considerations governed all White House decisions. In late 2001, after leaving his appointment as head of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, John DiLulio observed: "There is no precedent in any modern White House for what is going on in this one: a complete lack of a policy apparatus. What you've got is everything, and I mean everything, being run by the political arm."
Presidential decisions were determined by the toxic alchemy of power and greed. Major legislative initiatives - energy and healthcare - were written by corporate lobbyists to benefit their interests at the expense of average Americans. And the President's self-centered attitude influenced both Main Street and Wall Street."
And speaking of Main Street and Wall Street... From The Seminal.com's "When Corporations Get Too Large":
"Imagine if a locally-owned five and dime store hit hard times because a Wal-Mart moved into town and undercut all its business. Would the government rush in and bail it out? Of course not! That would put maybe a dozen people out of work, and it would be chalked up to the realities of doing business. We like to glorify small businesses, but we’re also used to them coming and going with regularity.
But just imagine if Wal-Mart was in trouble. What if they were in the position that the Big 3 auto makers are in today? Do you think they’d be allowed to fail? Do you really think the government would let the corporation that represents 1.6 million employees, 13% of the nation’s productivity, and 20% of all US grocery sales go under? Not a chance! They’d have no choice but to prop up a company that has made itself indispensable through its sheer size.
The government has no choice. But we, as consumers do. The often untold beauty of the capitalist system is that it depends on the choice of the consumer. And if we are collectively aware enough, we can see the danger in letting corporations get too big, and we can prevent it. We can refuse to give our money to the largest corporations. I call this practice 'Shopping Small.'"
The government has the same choice as the consumer, to let the failed business simply fail. It's the attitude of "I want mine" amongst the hyena cabal and its interests that are ultimately undermining Us.
The Associated Press: Malls, hotels next victims in new mortgage crisis
Washington Post: A Pall on the Mall
CBS News: Next Round of Foreclosures to Hit Retail
All those empty hulking boxes of often prime developed real estate... Who you gonna call?
Boy, 16, Branded for Life for Sex with G/F; Teacher Who Often Had Sex With Student? No Sex-Offender Status
It's not a justice system, it's simply a messy system of conflict resolution. Looking for justice in that system is like looking for foi gras in a dumpster.
Can't we hold torturers accountable and still find out the truth? - By Dahlia Lithwick - Slate Magazine
"Michael Mukasey holds that those who authorized lawbreaking did so out of "a good-faith desire to protect the citizens of our Nation from a future terrorist attack." Witness after witness will tell the truth commission that they were scared; they were making quick decisions in the heat of battle, and that their hearts were pure. The real problem, they will go on to say, was that there was too much law—a crippling maze of domestic and international laws that paralyzed government lawyers and the intelligence community. Goldsmith makes that same point in his op-ed today, in arguing against criminal investigations or even a bipartisan commission: Under the threat of criminal sanctions or even noncriminal commissions, "lawyers will become excessively cautious in giving advice and will substitute predictions of political palatability for careful legal judgment." It seems that after 9/11, the solution to the problem of too much law was to simply do away with the stuff. And the solution to the lawlessness that followed 9/11? Do away with any legal consequences for the perpetrators. If there exists a more perverse method of restoring the rule of law in America than announcing that legal instruments are inadequate to address them, I can't imagine it." (Emphasis Mine.)
The Insurance Industry and Conservatives and Their Best Interests - The Seminal :: Independent Media and Politics
"As the health care debate moves forward, both in Congress and out in the public square, it’s going to be important to keep two things in mind.
First, businesses that have an interest in the outcome of health care reform, specifically the prescription drug industry (PhRMA) and the insurance industry (AHIP and others) will argue against any health care reform that threatens their profits. Every single time. Period.
So, whenever you see statements from these industries, or whenever they come out with a “concession,” as they did this week saying they would begin covering pre-existing conditions, keep the profit motive in mind. AHIP was shrewd to come out with their new position; they know not covering pre-existing conditions is one of the top reasons the public has such a low opinion of the insurance industry. But they are not actually interested in solving the problem. As Think Progress points out, nothing is mentioned about AHIP helping to control costs (read: lower their rates):
But while the insurance industry has shrewdly co-opted the rhetoric of universal coverage, they have not adopted the necessary affordability measures that progressives typically advocate for. For instance, while most progressives support community rating — everyone pays the same prices for coverage, regardless of health status — and a new health care exchange in which private plans are forced to compete with a public option, the insurance industry would be happy to see the government subsidize coverage for those who can’t afford it.
These costs remain the #1 cause of bankruptcy for Americans, but cutting those costs (by creating a public plan to compete with the insurance industry) would cut into insurance industry profits. And so, the industry continues its single-minded opposition to a public health care plan, because they know they can’t compete on the level playing field.
Same goes for conservatives. Their opposition to health care reform will be based on one thing - political survival."
You have three groups fighting to survive because they can't see--and won't look for--another way of "doing their business." Their goal isn't to win, but to keep "the other side" from winning.
And We're "the other side."
Saturday, November 29, 2008
THE GREAT SHAME: Bush's legacy is our failure | The Smirking Chimp
"All of this could have and should have been avoided, if the congress or the American people had any sense of duty, or responsibility, or really any sense at all. The fact that Bush, Cheney, and the rest will walk out of the White House and back into lives of decadent opulence and ballooning bank accounts is a shame, a damn shame of historic proportions. And the shame is ours. Bush is the worst outlaw ever to occupy the White House, and it is not enough that he simply leave. The message we have sent to power-mad, totalitarian presidents of the future is clear: Do whatever you want; we will do nothing to stop you. The press will do everything in its power to gloss over your worst excesses, and marginalize your critics, and when the public finally catches on, the press will simply ignore you in favor of optimistic coverage of your possible successors. At least that’s how it works for Republicans.
Bush lied about Iraq; it’s nothing if not clear at this point. And what the hell did we do about it? Bush failed miserably in New Orleans, dashing the image of Republican competence. But what did we do about it? Even now, as Bush’s economic team fools us into pouring an insane, gargantuan amount of money into the largest banks in the world, pulling a classic scare-and-switch tactic we should all be familiar with by now, nobody even murmurs about holding him accountable. As we all hold our breath and wait for Obama to take office, we allow the most craven, criminal administration in American history to keep right on pillaging our laws, our money, and our collective sense of decency right to the end. We, as a nation, are a miserable failure."
Prosecute Bush No Matter What the Political Cost -- American Everyman
"Bush is guilty of crimes against humanity and of waging an illegal War of Aggression against a sovereign nation for the purpose of gaining access to it’s natural resources.
Whether or not Congress authorised it is meaningless because Bush orchestrated a campaign of manufactured information on which Congress based it’s resolution to authorise the use of force. Therefore, the resolution of 2002 is based on fraudulent intelligence and is therefore invalid.
Whether or not Bush authorized the use of torture pales in comparison to the fact that they manufactured a war for the purposes of producing capital gains for certain companies. We can no longer afford the luxury of allowing ourselves to ignore this fact lest the next profit margin may depend on actions conducted closer to home. Much closer.
Regardless of the next target, we must decide whether or not we really stand for the things that we teach our children that we stand for. Are “freedom”, “justice”, and “humanity” just buzz-words in a marketing campaign like “Yes We Can”? Or do they mean something more.
If Barack and his team have decided not to “look backward” at the crimes committed in our name, I daresay that isn’t his choice to make. It’s ours. Kind of like Pelosi taking impeachment off the table; it’s a catastrophic over-reach of authority.
And I for one don’t equate justice with “political benefits”, at least not when it comes to greedy and corrupt administrations misusing our trust and killing kids for profit.
That kind of evil must never be ignored or forgotten, no matter what the political cost."
Rant Central Station: Bush is Promoting Himself as a Model President
"Bush went on to say how every day of his eight year Presidency, he had consulted the Bible. Well, that explains a lot - for one thing, how he managed to keep making mistakes of biblical proportions during those eight years. Maybe if he had been reading intelligence reports (instead of reading things into intelligence reports) or even some of the world’s newspapers, we all might have been better off. You know, if reading the Bible was so important we could have elected Billy Graham and things would probably have gone a lot smoother...
I realize he’s a lame ass - duck, I meant lame duck - but is that all Bush does these days? Give happy interviews and reminisce about how great his Presidency was? He acts bored, like there’s nothing for him to do - like it’s the last 3 minutes of class where you just sit quietly and wait for the bell to ring. Got news for you George - it’s more like the last 10 seconds of the final round, and the Manager we hired is strutting around the boxing ring blowing kisses at the crowd while we’re still getting pummeled."
And the murderous moron keeps on being a murderous moron. From The Guardian:
"George Bush is working at a breakneck pace to dismantle at least 10 major environmental safeguards protecting America's wildlife, national parks and rivers before he leaves office in January.
With barely 60 days to go until Bush hands over to Barack Obama, his White House is working methodically to weaken or reverse an array of regulations that protect America's wilderness from logging or mining operations, and compel factory farms to clean up dangerous waste.
In the latest such move this week, Bush opened up some 800,000 hectares (2m acres) of land in Rocky Mountain states for the development of oil shale, one of the dirtiest fuels on the planet. The law goes into effect on January 17, three days before Obama takes office.
The timing is crucial. Most regulations take effect 60 days after publication, and Bush wants the new rules in place before he leaves the White House on January 20. That will make it more difficult for Obama to undo them."
How Did We Ever Let This Guy Get Away with Being a War President? | | AlterNet
Also from AlterNet, more murderous moron-related war stories:
Georgia Tries out the Bush War Doctrine, Loses Badly
What's with These Stupid War Pundits Telling U.S. Allies to Commit National Suicide?
The World in 2009: forecasting the year ahead | The Economist
Here's a collection of insightful-yet-readable articles concerning the U.S., Europe and the rest of the world. The best part? The Economist puts its money where its mouth is and lets you read last year's articles so you can see how close or off the mark they were. Now that's journalism.
Guerra Reveals Evidence Against Cheney
"(District Attorney Juan) Guerra says he went through (Vice President Dick) Cheney's financial records and the prison companies' financial records and found the connection. The three top prison companies Guerra researched were Corrections Corporation of America, GEO Group and Cornell. Those three have the Vanguard Group in common, which is an investment company that puts money into all three prison companies.
"We knew Vanguard was the key," said Guerra.
Guerra showed us the Vice President's financial disclosure from last year and it shows he owned shares in the Vanguard Group. Guerra estimates Cheney has $85 million invested in Vanguard and in turn, into the prison companies."
You can download a copy of Guerra's affidavit to the Supreme Court here.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Jealous lover who blinded woman with acid will be blinded with acid, Iranian court rules | Mail Online
Somehow I can't find any desire to argue against this decision...
You Cannot Pardon a Crime You Authorized | AfterDowningStreet.org
"Never before has a president pardoned himself or his subordinates for crimes he authorized. The closest thing to this in U.S. history thus far has been Bush's commutation of Scooter Libby's sentence. Bush is widely expected to follow that commutation with a pardon. Not only did Libby work for the White House, but he was convicted of obstruction of justice in an investigation that was headed to the president. Evidence introduced in the trial, including a hand-written note by the vice president, implicated Bush, and former press secretary Scott McClellan has since testified that Bush authorized the exposure of an undercover agent, that being the crime that was under investigation...
...The idea that the pardon power constitutionally includes such pardons ignores a thousand year tradition in which no man can sit in judgment of himself, and the fact that James Madison and George Mason argued that the reason we needed the impeachment power was that a president might some day try to pardon someone for a crime that he himself was involved in. The problem is not preemptive pardons of people not yet tried and convicted. The problem is not blanket pardons of unnamed masses of people. Both of those types of pardons have been issued in the past and have their appropriate place. The problem is the complete elimination of any semblance of the rule of law if Bush pardons his subordinates for crimes he instructed or authorized them to commit." (Emphasis Mine.)
Op-Ed Columnist - ROGER COHEN - A Command of the Law - NYTimes.com
Because The Old Gray Lady is senile, you can register with noregisterme0, password bsbsbs.
"Of the 770 detainees grabbed here and there and flown to Guantánamo, only 23 have ever been charged with a crime. Of the more than 500 so far released, many traumatized by those “enhanced” techniques, not one has received an apology or compensation for their season in hell.
What they got on release was a single piece of paper from the American government. A U.S. official met one of the dozens of Afghans now released from Guantánamo and was so appalled by this document that he forwarded me a copy.
Dated Oct. 7, 2006, it reads as follows:
“An Administrative Review Board has reviewed the information about you that was talked about at the meeting on 02 December 2005 and the deciding official in the United States has made a decision about what will happen to you. You will be sent to the country of Afghanistan. Your departure will occur as soon as possible.”
That’s it, the one and only record on paper of protracted U.S. incarceration: three sentences for four years of a young Afghan’s life, written in language Orwell would have recognized.
We have “the deciding official,” not an officer, general or judge. We have “the information about you,” not allegations, or accusations, let alone charges. We have “a decision about what will happen to you,” not a judgment, ruling or verdict. This is the lexicon of totalitarianism. It is acutely embarrassing to the United States.
That is why I am thankful above all that the next U.S. commander in chief is a constitutional lawyer. Nothing has been more damaging to the United States than the violation of the legal principles at the heart of the American idea." (Emphasis Mine.)
Drug War Casualty Statistical Graphs
Drug War Casualty Statistical Graphs
The so-called war on drugs has been an abject failure, as drug use, illicit profits and corruption have skyrocketed despite the billions of dollars wasted every year in "fighting" it. Here you can find Fact Sheets and graphs that illustrate the true toll of this hideous waste: a prison population larger than many countries, disproportionately skewed on race.
"Land of the free" indeed...
Follow the $8.5 Trillion: Breakdown of the Government's Rescue Funds
Take a look at the laundry list of outright thievery as perpetrated by the basest blood-sucking parasites to ever infest a so-called government.
Over here, after almost 50 examples of A Climate of Corruption, Bailouts, Currency Rigging and Unfair Competition, Bob Chapman concludes:
"The fleecing knows no end…Nobody who knows anything about General Electric Co. actually believes it's a AAA credit. And yet the raters at Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's continue to give GE their highest mark. Meanwhile, the company just landed government insurance for as much as $139 billion of debt for its lending arm, GE Capital Corp., which also is rated AAA. If GE were really that strong, it wouldn't need the help.
The government is picking winners and losers. Instead of just a couple giant government- sponsored enterprises, now we have dozens. With so many beggars in Zegna suits lobbying for handouts, it's easy to see why lots of Americans are aghast at what our country has become."
Impeach Bush For Peace -- Why Rachel Maddow is 'thankful' Bush administration is ending
"Head of the ATF, Charles Truscott, resigned for ordering employees to help his child with a school project.
The executive director of the CIA, Dusty Foggo, pleaded guilty in the Duke Cunningham bribery scandal.
Janet Rehnquist, who is daughter of the late Supreme Court Justice, resigned from her position as Inspector General after it was learned she delayed an audit of Florida's pension fund at the request of Jeb Bush."
And so on and on and on and on and on...
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Peter Schiff: The Truth About Bailouts
"When it comes to bailouts, the real discussions are not centered in Washington but rather in Beijing, Tokyo, and Riyadh. With no money of our own, our ability to bailout our own citizens is completely dependent on the world's willingness to foot the bill. While I am sure that Bush and Paulson are doing their best to convince the world that open ended financing of the United States is in the global interest, my guess is that, unlike Congress, our foreign creditors will see through the self-serving nature of our plea.
Like any bailout, our foreign creditors should consider the moral hazard of rewarding bad behavior, and the old investment adage of not throwing good money after bad. By continuing to 'lend' us money, the world is merely delaying the necessary rebalancing of our upside down economy. By continuing to subsidize our reckless and outsized consumption, the world merely delays the inevitable re-balancing and exacerbates the underlying problem at the root of the current global financial crisis...
...So for the same reasons that Washington should not bail out General Motors, the world should not bailout America. Like GM, our economy is in desperate need of a restructuring. Spending must be replaced with savings, and consumption with production. The service sector must shrink and manufacturing must expand to fill the void. The dollar must fall, wages in America must be brought down to a competitive level, and hopefully government spending and burdensome regulation can be reduced.
This transformation will not be fun, but it is necessary. Our standard of living must decline to reflect years of reckless consumption and the disintegration of our industrial base. Only by swallowing this tough medicine now will our sick economy ever recover. By accepting a lower standard of living today, we will eventually be rewarded with a higher one tomorrow." (Emphasis Mine.)
Here's the thing: No one wants to face the harsh reality. We all want to take a minty pill and have this hideous disease go away. It won't be that easy and the more We delay with snake oil and nostrums, the harder it will be to make a full recovery... if one can be ever be made.
Torture and the rule of law: Did Bush just call Democrats' bluff? | Crooks and Liars
"(Rachel) Maddow: So the White House says now, at least to the Wall Street Journal, that they are not likely to pardon anyone who might have implemented or taken part in these torture policies because they believe that their Justice Department memos excuse them, so there's no need to pardon anyone. Are you buying that reasoning?
(Jonathan) Turley: No. I don't believe that anyone seriously believes in the administration that what they did is legal. This is not a close legal question. Waterboarding is torture. It has been defined as a crime by U.S. courts and by foreign courts. There's no ambiguity in it. That is exactly why they have repeatedly acted to stop any court from reviewing any of this.
And so what's really happening here is a rather clever move at this intersection of law and politics. That what the administration is doing, is they know that the people that want him to pardon our torture program is primarily the Democrats, not the Republicans. The Democratic leadership would love to have a pardon so they could go to their supporters and say, "Look, there's really nothing we could do. We're just going to have this truth commission, and we'll get the truth out, but there really can't be any indictments now."
Well, the Bush administration is calling their bluff. They know that the Democratic leadership will not allow criminal investigations or indictments. And in that way the Democrats will actually repair Bush's legacy, because he will be able to say, 'There was nothing stopping indictments or prosecutions, but a Democratic congress and a Democratic White House didn't think there was any basis for it.'"
This better not be what happens under the Obama Administration and the Democratic Congress. For if it does, they will be equally guilty of the crimes and horrors of the murderous moron's misadministration, in the same way that others--by tacit passivity--have allowed criminals to break the law and deface moral standards.
More Unfinished 2008 Election Business: Verifiable Vote Counts | Democracy and Elections | AlterNet
More Unfinished 2008 Election Business: Verifiable Vote Counts | Democracy and Elections | AlterNet:
"Universal voter registration is seen by many advocates as the best solution to 2008's most controversial and litigious election issues, such as millions of registration records where voter's information did not match other government databases, and problems caused by third-party voter registration drives that submitted error-filled voter applications.
Revealing RNC document leaked :: ACLU of Minnesota
"A second agency that was involved in the planning is the Pentagon's Northern Command, NORTHCOM. Having NORTHCOMM at the table, assisting in the planning is troubling because it could mean that the military was involved in the crowd control strategies and dealing with potential civil unrest. According to a report in Army Times, it said that an active military unit has been deployed by NORTHCOM in the United States. This deployment marks the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment within U.S. Borders." (Emphasis Mine.)
There was no reason and there is no reason for this active Army unit deployment within the U.S. borders. It was a political move, nothing more, nothing less. The kind of move made by power-hungry cretins, i.e. the hyena cabal.
Violent Acres: Two Phrases That Destroyed American Culture
"The phrase ‘The Customer is Always Right’ is the single worst philosophy that has ever been adopted by American culture. It gave an entire generation of people the green light to be as impolite, unreasonable, and demanding as their little hearts desired because they were always going to be considered right. It destroyed the entire concept of courtesy and rendered manners obsolete. People began to treat their peers in the service industry like incompetent morons, lacking in feelings or human dignity, who deserved to be browbeaten and abused for no other reason than they had the audacity to run out of a particular brand of coffee. Furthermore, instead of suffering negative repercussions for their appallingly disrespectful behavior, they are awarded with free coupons and plenty of ass kissing. In reality, they should be shunned and humiliated for behaving like such self-absorbed little children.
Speaking of respect, another idea that has ruined American culture is the one that states, ‘I don’t give respect freely. You have to earn my respect.’ This one is most often uttered by punk kids with bad attitudes and black fingernail polish.
Fucking gag me.
I mean, how egotistical does one have to be to automatically assume that their respect is so fucking important that one must jump through multiples hoops in order to earn it? How about we give people respect because they are humans with lives and feelings just as important as our own? Why not give people a default level of respect and more or less can either be won or lost based on the behavior of the individual? The loss of respect is something that should be based on actions. The idea that that one must win basic respect in the first place is incredibly belittling. How narcissistic can you be to embrace that ideology?" (Emphasis Mine.)
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Bush's Last Days: The Lamest Duck - TIME
"At the end of a presidency of stupefying ineptitude, he has become the lamest of all possible ducks...
...He is less than President now, and that is appropriate. He was never very much of one."
That bears repeating:
"At the end of a presidency of stupefying ineptitude, he has become the lamest of all possible ducks...
...He is less than President now, and that is appropriate. He was never very much of one."
Better he had never been born.
Scary Bailout Money Info Graphic | Voltage Blog
I hate to repeat Myself, but if you saw My recent "Bailout Costs More Than..." post, take a look at the same information, but in instant-grasp graphic form.
If you didn't see My post, take a look at this and if you throw up in your mouth, join the club.
Citizens’ Economic Stimulus Plan: Stop Paying Credit Card Debt
"I have argued in recent articles that the government should implement what I have modestly called the “Cook Plan,” whereby a dividend similar to the Alaska Permanent Fund would be paid to every U.S. citizen at the rate of $1,000 per month in vouchers for food, housing, and other necessities of life.
Oxdown Gazette--Bush Is Still President; Hold Him Accountable and Demand He Confront His Mess
Congress should be in session without recess into January to disrupt this ideologically spent and corrupt regime's efforts. But more than that, we should not be letting the Bush Administration or this Congress off the hook for confronting the financial and economic crises they've created and mostly neglected.
The economy's plight is their responsibility and dealing with its fallout, including the need to save the nation's auto industry, is not something that can wait. Since we need a rapid stimulus to rescue cities and states to save health coverage and jobs, and Detroit needs a bridge loan to get them into next year, there's no excuse for not doing that now.
We've got people losing health care, losing homes. There are viable proposals (SCHIP, Bair's foreclosure plan, etc) to address these, or at least keep them from getting far worse, so enact them now."
FutureStorm: Dear Mr. Obama: How Far Do We Take This "War On Terror"?
So are we killing terrorists faster than we are creating them in Afghanistan and Iraq?
And how will we ever know when we have killed all the 'terrorists'?
It only takes one to bring a 'weapon of mass destruction' into one of our cities.
It only takes one.
So how do we know which Muslims are safe to leave alive and which we need to kill?"
The Right, Healthcare and Political Survival
"Remember, for (Republican strategists Bill) Kristol then and (James) Pethokoukis/(Michael) Cannon now, it's not about the quality of the policy -- it's about political survival. If Democrats deliver, they'll be positioned to win over a generation of voters. Blocking (or 'killing') a reform effort may undermine the public's needs, but it would also block Democrats from winning a historic victory.
Barack Obama, Facebook, online privacy, White House employees | Salon Life
"In 63 questions over seven pages, prospective White House employees are being asked — in addition to questions about finances, gun ownership and, possibly, flossing habits — to list “all aliases or ‘handles’ you have used to communicate on the Internet,” everything they’ve written, “including, but not limited to, any posts or comments on blogs or other websites,” links to their Facebook or MySpace pages and any potentially embarrassing “electronic communication, including but not limited to an email, text message or instant message....”
“...One concern is: Is requesting this information a substitute for a moral vetting?” says Allen. “There are issues to be discussed there, and it might be very troubling, especially to liberals, to think that someone has to have led a conventionally squeaky-clean, perfect life in order to be qualified to work for a new administration. My guess is that this isn’t about morality. It’s about appearances. The Obama administration does not want to appear to be full of people with salacious backgrounds, nor does it want to have to waste time dealing with media publicity around an embarrassing past. There are way more important things to worry about right now.”
How to solve the subprime mess. - By Ray Brescia - Slate Magazine
"What's the evidence that African-Americans and Latinos paid more for loans in a way that's illegal? A study of lending data from 2006 by the Federal Reserve estimates that roughly 18 percent of the loans made to white borrowers in that year were subprime loans, compared with roughly half the loans made to African-Americans and Latinos during that time. When the study assessed borrowers of similar incomes, 30 percent of African-American borrowers received subprime loans, compared with 18 percent of whites and 26 percent of Latinos. These discrepancies aren't absolute proof, but they suggest that discriminatory steering took place in which otherwise qualified borrowers of color were directed to subprime, and substandard, loans. Federal law makes it illegal to discriminate based on race in the terms and conditions of a home mortgage loan. It would appear that this is exactly what happened."
The solution suggested here: Chuck the illegal loans and start over again, making the lawless lenders foot the bill.
Works for Me...and I don't have a mortgage.
After Three Decades of Decline, Is This the End for Detroit Automakers? - Column/Csaba Csere - - Car And Driver
"Shortly after Alan Mulally arrived as Ford’s new CEO a couple of years ago, he established big-league lines of credit by mortgaging virtually all of Ford’s assets. Because of this brilliant move, which would have been impossible to achieve during 2008, Ford is thought to have roughly $38 billion available to ride out the economic storm. If the company is burning through a billion dollars per month, Ford has about three years to get it together. With fuel-efficient new models, such as the Fiesta and a redesigned Focus from Europe, as well as a new Explorer and several hybrid additions arriving during the next two years, the outlook is hopeful for the Dearborn company."
If mortgaging your entire company in 2005-2006 and still dropping like a rock is considered a (comparatively) good thing , then GM and Chrysler are better off dead.
Why CNN Struggles to Cover The Economic Panic - Boing Boing
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
10 Facts Every Westerner Should Know About the Middle East | dmiessler.com
Way too many of the hyena cabal, from the murderous moron in the Oval Office to McCain, Palin, Cheney, Rumsfeld and parasitic wonks in the State Department and the Pentagon don't know this. Toss in the media sheep as stupid baa-baa bumpkins and you have a perfect recipe for dangerous willful ignorance, the kind where innocent people get killed by the thousands.
America’s Debt to Income Ratio as Compared with Other Countries |
America’s Debt to Income Ratio as Compared with Other Countries |
It's not good, this Debt-to-Income Ratio We have. But look closely, at the bottom of the article, and you will see that the United Kingdom is pretty much bankrupt. What that will do to Our economy (just the Wall Street-London connection alone is worth billions a day) is probably a blueprint for Us being dragged into a bigger disaster than what We have now.
Key Issues for the New Administartion: Economy, Foreign Policy, Iraq, War On Terror, Energy, Iran
And continuing the Obama Watch:
The Supreme Court to Review Obama's Citizenship: HAHAHAHAhahahahasorelosers
Obama's Latino Mandate: I said it in 2007 and was proven right: the Hispanic vote in the U.S. of part of A. would be decisive. Now let's see what happens when that vote realizes it has the power to change things every day, not just Election Day.
And a Bush passing-the-torch political cartoon that is so on target it hurts...
I remember reading somewhere about a burning bush that didn't consume itself. This one is obviously lacking "The Voice," but I hope the flame does burn it to a smidgen of cinders. Soon.
US seeks 300 billion dlrs from Gulf states: report - Yahoo! News
US seeks 300 billion dlrs from Gulf states: report - Yahoo! News
What is it they say about beggars? Aside from them being gutless, spineless wastes of time and energy, I mean.
U.S. Pledges Top $7.7 Trillion to Ease Frozen Credit
"Frozen" credit? How about calling this what it is: A $25,000 per person in the U.S. gift to cretins who ruined the system and now get a handout...at Our fucking expense.
Over at Talking Points Memo, a brief and urgent plea:
"Man the phones. Call. Call. Call. Your senators and representatives.
Demand unconditional transparency or forget it.
Over the course of the last several years I hope voters learned it's up to us to keep an eye on government because government sure as hell isn't up to the task. And sure as hell they'll screw up unless somebody is watching. And keep in mind this money is being borrowed. Interest on that borrowing makes the real cost way higher."
How Our Gutless Media Helped Trigger the Credit Crisis | | AlterNet
"Truly educating the public seems a pretty remote goal for journalism when consumerism reigns. There's no consumer movement to make news; there are no leaders to be newsmakers, and few local government agencies left dedicated solely to the consumer cause. Heads of regulatory agencies rarely are invited to appear on the Sunday morning news shows, as they once were. There are only advocacy groups, including what remains of the old Nader organization, that get quoted here and there but have little clout."
This article holds a mirror up to the media as investigator and protector and reveals an instigator and prevaricator.
Hearing on Cheney indictment turns chaotic - International Herald Tribune
Hearing on Cheney indictment turns chaotic - International Herald Tribune
Makes Me wonder if this is some sort of "flaky pre-emptive strike" to avoid further prosecutions? A tell: If Guerra suddenly appears at some high-level post...with Republican ties to that post.
Tom Engelhardt: Stuff Happens: The Pentagon's Argument of Last Resort on Iraq
"It may not sound like much, but believe me, it is. The Chairman simply said, 'We have 150,000 troops in Iraq right now. We have lots of bases. We have an awful lot of equipment that's there. And so we would have to look at all of that tied to, obviously, the conditions that are there, literally the security conditions... Clearly, we'd want to be able to do it safely.' Getting it all out safely, he estimated, would take at least 'two to three years.'"
It isn't a matter of politics or economics, but logistics...which means politics and economics.
Peter Schiff Was RIGHT
If the name "Peter Schiff" doesn't ring a bell, don't worry: it will. This 10-minute video clip compiles some of the appearances by the Euro Pacific Capital president and they are astonishing for three reasons:
1) They were on Fox Noise, which means no person with intellectual self-respect got a chance to see them.
2) The disrespect and open contempt by hosts and fellow panelists (including Ben "Science Kills People" Stein) is startling, especially given Reason #3...
3) How blazingly accurate Schiff was.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Below The Beltway: Is Hillary Ineligible To Be Secretary of State ?
In Clinton’s case, during her current term in the Senate, which began in January 2007, cabinet salaries were increased from $186,600 to $191,300."
The only other attempt (if this one is made) to circumvent this stricture was made by Nixon. Will this one pass, since Democrats hold Congress? Or will it fail and thus leave an "out" for what could be one of the most internally-divisive nominations of Obama's Cabinet?
Track Bush's Last-Minute Wreckage of Government
Not for the faint-hearted, the patriotic or those with an IQ above 55 who just know We're getting screwed.
$169.29 for Auto, $4,572.18 for Finance -- Jeff’s Post
"If we exclude the babies, small children, students, disabled and retirees and look at just the labor force (which includes the temporarily unemployed) there are approximately 153,100,000* workers. The $25B auto bailout comes to $163.29 per working American. The $700B financial bailout comes to $4,572.18 per working American."
The * refers to the source for the number of workers used in this calculation.
It still reeks of communist welfare for the rich.
Oxdown Gazette--Bush Is Still President; Hold Him Accountable and Demand He Confront His Mess
Congress should be in session without recess into January to disrupt this ideologically spent and corrupt regime's efforts. But more than that, we should not be letting the Bush Administration or this Congress off the hook for confronting the financial and economic crises they've created and mostly neglected.
The economy's plight is their responsibility and dealing with its fallout, including the need to save the nation's auto industry, is not something that can wait. Since we need a rapid stimulus to rescue cities and states to save health coverage and jobs, and Detroit needs a bridge loan to get them into next year, there's no excuse for not doing that now.
We've got people losing health care, losing homes. There are viable proposals (SCHIP, Bair's foreclosure plan, etc) to address these, or at least keep them from getting far worse, so enact them now."
Lie By Lie
Track the murderous moron and his hyena cabal through the labyrinthian trail of deceptions, falsehoods, innuendo, base insinuations and outright, bald-faced lies.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Giving Up on God - washingtonpost.com
With the exception of Miss Alaska, of course...
...Meanwhile, it isn't necessary to evict the Creator from the public square, surrender Judeo-Christian values or diminish the value of faith in America. Belief in something greater than oneself has much to recommend it, including most of the world's architectural treasures, our universities and even our founding documents.
But, like it or not, we are a diverse nation, no longer predominantly white and Christian. The change Barack Obama promised has already occurred, which is why he won."
Why all those Great Depression analogies are wrong. - By Daniel Gross - Slate Magazine
"So what's with all the speakeasy-era speak? Financial executives invoke distant history in part to make up for their own recent shortcomings. If a force as powerful as the Great Depression has been unleashed on the global economy, how can a mere mortal like Merrill's John Thain be held responsible? The specter of the 1930s has also been deployed by political leaders to create a sense of urgency. 'We saw a lot of overblown analogies in the run-up to the passage of the bailout bill,' notes Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C. President Bush's Sept. 24 address to the nation warned that 'the entire economy is in danger,' and that 'without immediate action by Congress, America could slip into a financial panic, and a distressing scenario would unfold.'"
And here are the biggest differences of all:
"The world of 1929-33 was one that lacked shock absorbers such as Social Security and deposit insurance to insulate people from economic disaster. In the 1930s, some of the world's largest economies—Germany, the Soviet Union, Japan, and Italy—were run by leaders hostile to the very notion of market capitalism. Today, U.S.-style market capitalism is under assault from self-inflicted wounds, and Germany, Italy, and Japan (Russia, not so much) are working with the United States to cope with a common problem. Back then, we were cursed with a feckless Federal Reserve, and a wealthy Treasury secretary, Paul Mellon, saw the downturn as a force for good. "Liquidate labor, liquidate stocks, liquidate the farmers, liquidate real estate," he said. "People will work harder, live more moral lives." By contrast, today's Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke, is a student of the Great Depression, and the wealthy Treasury secretary, Henry Paulson, wants to provide liquidity to stocks, farmers, and real estate. A final difference: After the 1929 crash, the nation had to wait more than three years for a president who simply wasn't up to the job to leave the scene. This time, we've got to wait only two more months." (Emphasis Mine.)
Bush-o-crats Burrow In
"But nowhere have attempts to stack the federal bureaucracy with committed conservatives been more evident than at Justice, where the political screening process was for a time overseen by Monica Goodling, the agency's former White House liaison. Her team ran candidates' names through Web searches (see 'Search and Destroy' sidebar) designed to identify 'good Americans.'
'This was an abuse beyond anything I've ever seen,' says a former senior Justice Department official, who spent more than two decades at the agency before retiring in 2005. 'The Reagan administration came in with a real desire to change the composition of the career attorney corps, but they respected the hiring process. You were still getting merit-based hiring. Ashcroft threw all that out. And then it got even worse. Under Gonzales, it was just pure politics.' To an extent, he says, traditional burrowing 'may be less of a concern than it normally is because they've already turned many of the career positions into political positions anyway.'"
Just drop by and take a look at the "Search and Destroy" sidebar, where search terms include gore, clinton, spotted owl, NAFTA, kerry and florida recount...
Then take a look at what's going down--literally--in terms of science-related positions within the murderous moron's screw-the-pooch fest:
"The president of the nation's largest general science organization yesterday sharply criticized recent cases of Bush administration political appointees gaining permanent federal jobs with responsibility for making or administering scientific policies, saying the result would be "to leave wreckage behind."
'It's ludicrous to have people who do not have a scientific background, who are not trained and skilled in the ways of science, make decisions that involve resources, that involve facilities in the scientific infrastructure,' said James McCarthy, a Harvard University oceanographer who is president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. 'You'd just like to think people have more respect for the institution of government than to leave wreckage behind with these appointments.'"
"Respect for the institution of government" from the vilest syphilitic hyena horde to ever defoul said institution? Sometimes scientists are out of touch wth reality...
Halperin at Politico/USC conf.: 'extreme pro-Obama' press bias - Alexander Burns - Politico.com
"'The biggest bias in the press is towards effectiveness,' said Heilemann, who is authoring a book on the 2008 race along with Halperin.
Because Obama's campaign was generally so well run, he argued, the press tended to applaud even his negative tactics.
'We'll scold you for being negative,' Heilemann said, 'but if it seems to be working, the tone of your coverage becomes more positive.'"
The Vigorous North: The Black Belt: How Soil Types Determined the 2008 Election in the Deep South
Geology. Paleontology. History. Economics. Politics. An 85 million-year story leading to a historic election.
The Dirty Secret of the Financial Crisis: Our Banking System's Broken | AlterNet
"Here is the ugly, unofficial truth that neither Wall Street nor the government will acknowledge: the pinnacle of the US financial system is broke -- with perhaps $2 trillion in rotten financial assets on the books. Nobody knows, exactly. The bankers won't say, and regulators won't ask, or at least don't dare tell the public. Official silence naturally feeds the conviction that banking's problems are far worse than we've been told. The Levy Economics Institute of Bard College puts it plainly: 'It is probable that many and perhaps most financial institutions are insolvent today -- with a black hole of negative net worth that would swallow Paulson's entire $700 billion in one gulp.'"
It's not only the bad news, it's the bad news still to come:
"Paulson was trapped by these circumstances (and his own mendacity). Each time he tried to change the script, market insiders became even more alarmed. Congress is trapped too. So is President-elect Obama. From the outset of the crisis, the essential fallacy shared by governing influentials has been a wishful assumption that quick interventions with tons of public money would somehow restore the system to "normal" without disturbing free-market principles. Replenished banks would start lending again and lead us to recovery. "Normal" is not going to happen. If the new president does not break free of the denial and act decisively, his administration will be dangerously compromised from the start."
Common sense ain't, as the saying goes, and the way out of this financial debacle is loaded with--what else?--common sense:
"A genuine solution means closing down the hopeless institutions and creating a more democratic system based on small to medium-sized banks, financial intermediaries that are less imperious and closer to the real economy of producers and consumers. The Levy institute suggests that some banks are "too big to save." If the president-elect seeks an opinion quite different from his circle of orthodox advisers, he could start with the institute's tartly incisive analysis "Time to Bail Out: Alternatives to the Bush-Paulson Plan," by Dimitri Papadimitriou and Randall Wray. Their perspective is Keynesian, not market worship. They argue (as The Nation and others have) that the bailout is proceeding backward. Instead of saving Wall Street first, government should devote its heavy firepower to reviving jobs, incomes and business enterprises. The banks will not get well or begin normal lending until there is overall economic recovery."
And then this:
"President-elect Obama, of course, cannot act directly on any of these matters before January 20. But the Democratic Congress can, since the Treasury cannot spend any of the next $350 billion in the bailout fund without Congressional approval. Congress's first task is to cut off Paulson's water. Representative Dennis Kucinich, as usual, is out front demanding that Congress reject Paulson's request in advance. You can see why Wall Street hates these propositions. No more free money from Washington. No more "masters of the universe." You can also see why the people might be delighted." (Emphasis Mine in all cases.)
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Guiding Principles for Taxation - The Oregon Catalyst
Guiding Principles for Taxation - The Oregon Catalyst
• Simplicity – The tax code should be easy for the average citizen to understand, and it should minimize the cost of complying with the tax laws.
• Accountability – Tax systems should be accountable to citizens. Changes in tax policy should be highly publicized and open to public debate, not pushed through a legislative session without broad public input.
• Economic Neutrality – The tax system should exert minimal impact on the spending and business decisions of individuals and businesses.
• Equity and Fairness – Fairness means all taxpayers should be treated the same. The government should not use the tax system to pick winners and losers in society, or unfairly to shift the tax burden onto one class of citizens. The tax system should not be used to punish success or to “soak the rich.”
• Competitiveness – A low tax burden can help Oregon’s economic development by retaining and attracting productive business activity. Our revenue system should be responsive to competition from other states.
• Balance – An effective tax system should be broad-based, avoid special exemptions and utilize a low overall tax rate with few loopholes.
• Reliability – A stable tax system is better than an unstable one. Revenue sources that grow faster than the economy in good times, or sink faster in bad times, should be avoided.
Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan - Situation in Pakistan ‘more dire’ than Afghanistan: expert
The Conservative Nanny State
"In his new book, economist Dean Baker debunks the myth that conservatives favor the market over government intervention. In fact, conservatives rely on a range of “nanny state” policies that ensure the rich get richer while leaving most Americans worse off. It’s time for the rules to change. Sound economic policy should harness the market in ways that produce desirable social outcomes – decent wages, good jobs and affordable health care."
Free PDF download, if you hurry...
Congress Opposes Bush Pardons | AfterDowningStreet.org
Clinton Is Said to Accept Offer of Secretary of State Position - NYTimes.com
[Because the NYT is so anal, if needed, register with username barackobama2012 and password obama2012.]
"The sometimes awkward dance between Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton in the eight days since he invited her to Chicago for a meeting culminated in a telephone call on Thursday. Before the call, Mrs. Clinton was skeptical about the prospect of joining the cabinet, said her confidants, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the situation. But Mr. Obama addressed her concerns about access, personnel and other issues, leading her to conclude she should take the job, they said.
Mr. Obama’s advisers said that although no offer had been formally accepted, her nomination was “on track” and would probably be announced after the holiday. Mrs. Clinton’s Senate office broke a week of silence to acknowledge the talks but cautioned that they had not been made final."
I don't agree with this nomination. Ms. Clinton is certainly smart enough (unlike that other party's woman candidate) and has enough foreign policy experience to hit the ground at a stately (pun intended) jog.
But.
Hillary polarizes to a negative degree that Obama (at this point) doesn't and brings the baggage of her past and husband to the job. And if you thik Bill will keep to the background and be a quiet, supportive guy, then you must have entirely missed the bitter Democratic nominee campaign.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Cindy Skrzycki - Democrats Eye Bush Midnight Regulations - washingtonpost.com
'These are the ones worth watching,' said Matt Madia, regulatory policy analyst at OMB Watch, a nonprofit group critical of many Bush regulatory policies. 'Most of them relax existing requirements. They make it easier for industries to pollute or deny a worker medical leaves.'"
Like the renter who's been evicted and decides to gut the house, the murderous moron is getting it on. At Our present and future expense.
Brad Setser: Follow the Money-- Not a good sign: the Treasury once again can borrow for free
"Treasury yields aren’t hard to calculate. But they are still my favorite indicators of the scale of the current crisis. The fact that so many are willing to lend so much to the US Treasury for so little is a clear indicator of a lack of confidence in other financial asset(s)."
Takes a minute or so to understand, but like the pinpoint of light that suddenly resolves itself as an onrushing train, the news ain't good. At all.
New Congress members meet big-money donors - CNN.com
The 8:30 a.m. event's invitation -- from House Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell and House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall -- told lobbyists and other potential donors that 'as this historic campaign year comes to a close, these newest members of Congress need your help in retiring their campaign debt.'
Along with the invitation came a dance card of sorts -- a list of the names of all 23 alongside blanks on which donors are encouraged to write down the amount they'd like to contribute. The card also lists the names of each candidate's campaign committee -- to make writing the checks easier."
Further down this "WTF?" article:
"'This is all-strings-attached," (Joan) Claybrook said. "They know who gave the money and when key issues come up -- key bills, key amendments -- these members are going to be approached by special interests and asked to vote with them because they gave the money.'
Ric Fenton, a lobbyist who attended the reception, said he was not there to buy access to the future lawmakers.
'No. Absolutely no,' said Fenton, who specializes in mining issues, when asked. He said he planned to give $5,000 to several of the new representatives.
'We're just educators and we provide an important function as an education function,' Fenton said."
"Educators"?! Paying the student $20,000 to "learn"? If school had been like that for Me, I would've flunked every grade. Twice.
A corrupt system, sans doubt.
Judge Orders Release of Five Guantanamo Bay Detainees - washingtonpost.com
The government had alleged that the men planned to travel to Afghanistan to attack U.S. forces. But U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon ruled that in a series of closed hearings in recent weeks, the Justice Department had not proved that five of the six Algerian detainees at the Cuban facility were enemy combatants under the government's own definition."
This is exactly the reason why the suspension of basic judicial rights (habeus corpus, for example) and secret tribunals are used: to trample individuals. The murderous moron and his hyena cabal lusted for this power, lied Us into it and ravaged Our judicial system and global image with it. These men were jailed for seven years--seven years--for no good reason at all. The murderous moron and hyena cabal should get at least many times that.
Pardon Me! Is Bush Considering Pardoning His Administration? Foolocracy: Government by fools, silliness and unintelligent people
"Widespread pardons have been done in the past. George Washington pardoned the conspirators of the Whiskey Rebellion. Andrew Johnson pardoned Confederate soldiers. Jimmy Carter pardoned Vietnam War draft dodgers.
The criticism would be enormous, but what does Bush have to lose? He is at the end of his political career. His approval ratings cannot drop much lower. The criteria that history will judge him by has already been set. With that in mind, the scenario exists for Bush to issue a blanket pardon."
Thursday, November 20, 2008
1001 rules for my unborn son
No, I didn't write these. I wish I did. Here are 301 ideas (as of today) that are worth learning for unborn boys, and everyone else. Your idea is welcome, too.
Paulosn Was Behind Bailout Martial Law Threat
Alex Jones' Prison Planet: The truth will set you free!:
"Senator James Inhofe has revealed that Henry Paulson was behind the threats of martial law and a new great depression prior to the passage of the bailout bill, having made such warnings during a conference call on September 19th, around two weeks before the legislation was eventually approved by both the Senate and Congress.
Newsmax.com – Ten Reasons Why the Auto Bailout Is a Bad Idea
"5. Bailout funds would help automakers continue their outsourcing of auto jobs to foreign countries, where costs are lower. All of the Big Three have increased the percentage of manufacturing and assembly done overseas in the past year, especially in China and Mexico. In May, Ford agreed to build $3 billion auto plant in suburban Mexico City and upgrade two other Mexican plants, the largest foreign investment in Mexican history."
And...
"8. Bailing out the auto industry would only encourage other sectors to beg for government handouts. Remember that the $750 Billion Troubled Assets Relief Program was designed only to assist banks, but now insurance companies and even credit card giant American Express are trying to get in on the action. Homebuilders, who arguably are as strapped as the automakers, could lobby for some of the action."
And most definitely...
"9. Stockholders deserve no mercy. Some argue that they should be compensated for the fact that GM and Ford’s share prices have hit their lowest levels in decades. But in a free market, stock prices go down as well as up. The automakers’ problems have been clear for years, so investors had plenty of time to get out. As for Chrysler, it’s owned by private equity firm Cerberus, no innocent victim itself."
Cheney-targeting DA is no-show
"Guerra, a 53-year-old Rio Grande Valley prosecutor who drew national attention for suing counterparts in the county justice system and staging a protest with barnyard animals, long has alleged high-ranking corruption in the deals that brought the impoverished county a $60 million immigration detention center.
On Monday, he got a grand jury to sign off on a slew of indictments including an acceptance of honorarium charge against state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., and an engaging in organized criminal activity charge against Cheney and Gonzales.
Cheney is accused of contributing to the neglect of federal immigration detainees by contracting for-profit prisons.
“By working through corporations as prisons for profit, Defendant Richard Cheney has committed at least misdemeanor assaults of our inmates and/or detainees,” the indictment reads, adding that a “money trail” can be traced to Cheney's substantial investments in the Vanguard Group, which invests in privately run prisons.
This morning, attorneys filed motions to quash indictments 'for prosecutorial vindictiveness and failure to allege an offense.'"
Will this slow down or balk any future attempts to do what needs to be done, i.e., nail the hyena cabal to the legal wall? Conspiracy theorists can speculate about whether this was a set-up, but the truth remains that whoever first tackles these criminals--and make no mistake, they are criminals--will be facing the kind of pressure that goes with seeing your career, or life, go down the drain.
Meg Kane: Sarah Palin hits the publishing world jackpot, but not George Bush | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
"Poor old George Bush. He's having a rough time, isn't he? He has the worst presidential approval ratings in US history. Under his stalwart leadership, the country has taken an economic, social and emotional nosedive. His own party attempts to distance themselves from him on a daily basis. And to top it all off, can you believe that nobody wants to buy his memoirs? To add insult to injury, publishers are courting his wife with fervour, each clamouring for the opportunity to bid on her memoirs. It has to burn at least a little, right?
I don't really understand why people aren't interested. I'm assuming that watching Bush attempt to justify the myriad interesting choices he's made – all of which fall somewhere in the range of "irresponsible" to "deadly" to "Were you asleep?" – holds the same sickeningly captivating appeal as watching a car crash. Still, other readers might be interested in seeing just what new and grammatically impossible bastardisations of the English language Bush could spew forth next."
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Holes In TARP Hurting Market Confidence -- CNBC.com
That's how some observers are describing the government's effort to stabilize the financial system, including its centerpiece rescue mechanism, known as the TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program)...
...'It's hard to escape the feeling that the majority in the Congress are paying off a strong constituency that helped them enormously in the last election," says former ten-term Republican congressman Bill Frenzel, now with the Brookings Institution. "You are seeing the Congress in a role people hate to see it in—responding to powerful constituencies rather than going after solving the problem.'"
Report: Rove Deeply Involved in U.S. Attorney Firings
Report: The Public Record.com:
"Former White House political adviser Karl Rove helped Department of Justice officials compile a list of U.S. Attorneys to fire in 2006 and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales engaged in a “cover-up” when he offered up reasons to explain the dismissals, according to a report released Tuesday by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“The evidence shows senior officials were focused on the political impact of Federal prosecutions and whether Federal prosecutors were doing enough to bring partisan voter fraud and corruption cases,” said the 60-page Judiciary Committee report released by Tuesday’s chairman Patrick Leahy. “It is now apparent that the reasons given for these firings, including those reasons provided in sworn testimony by the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General, were contrived as part of a cover-up.”
The decision to terminate the prosecutors, the report said, was based on resistance by the federal prosecutors to pursue partisan political prosecutions. Rove was just one top Bush administration official who worked with the Justice Department on compiling the list."
Little Chance for Torture Prosecution| Talking Points Memo |
"Barack Obama's incoming administration is unlikely to bring criminal charges against government officials who authorized or engaged in harsh interrogations of suspected terrorists during the George W. Bush presidency. Obama, who has criticized the use of torture, is being urged by some constitutional scholars and human rights groups to investigate possible war crimes by the Bush administration.
Two Obama advisers said there's little — if any — chance that the incoming president's Justice Department will go after anyone involved in authorizing or carrying out interrogations that provoked worldwide outrage."
Here's the so-called case for what Obama is reportedly doing:
"Robert Litt, a former top Clinton administration Justice Department prosecutor, said Obama should focus on moving forward with anti-torture policy instead of looking back.
'Both for policy and political reasons, it would not be beneficial to spend a lot of time hauling people up before Congress or before grand juries and going over what went on,' Litt said at a Brookings Institution discussion about Obama's legal policy. 'To as great of an extent we can say, the last eight years are over, now we can move forward — that would be beneficial both to the country and the president, politically.'"
Wrong. Wrong. WRONG. To not prosecute is to send a clear message: What happened doesn't count... to Us. It's those last two words that make this so wrong. What happened does matter, it matters to the people tortured, to their families and friends and to everyone who looks upon the U.S. of part of A. as a country that historically attacked torture as a policy and now stands exposed as the biggest pile of hypocritical bullshit of Our times. Letting that slide is to say We accept what happened, and the consequences of that inaction will undermine U.S. foreign policy efforts forevermore
Texas grand jury indicts Cheney, Gonzales of crime| Reuters
The indictment has not been seen by a judge, who could dismiss it.
The grand jury in Willacy County, in the Rio Grande Valley near the U.S.-Mexico border, said Cheney is "profiteering from depriving human beings of their liberty," according to a copy of the indictment obtained by Reuters.
The indictment cites a "money trail" of Cheney's ownership in prison-related enterprises including the Vanguard Group, which owns an interest in private prisons in south Texas.
Former attorney general Gonzales used his position to "stop the investigations as to the wrong doings" into assaults in county prisons, the indictment said."
About. Freaking. Time.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
A Ticket to The Hague for Dick Cheney?—By Scott Horton (Harper's Magazine)
'I now believe that some international human rights organization ought to open an investigation of the Bush Administration, I think focused on Vice President Dick Cheney, and attempt to bring charges against Cheney in the international court of justice at The Hague, for war crimes. Based on the manner in which we have treated prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, and the manner in which we have engaged in illegal rendition–that is, surreptitiously kidnapping prisoners and flying them to foreign countries where they could be tortured by foreign agents who do not follow the same civilized standards to which we subscribe.'"
The China Syndrome Bites Back | Post Carbon Institute
Two: a lot of the Chinese manufacturing export channels that have been built up so fast are collapsing, and some will not return soon or at all. Where the Chinese have been making absolutely vital goods for the West, there will be real pain until alternatives supply chains are rebuilt more locally. This will be no easy task in this climate of frightened and constrained capital. In many respects, it will require the rebuilding of the American and British manufacturing economies (less so the European), along with the supply chains to feed it and the return of the knowledge and skills to recreate it and run it."
How Did We Ever Let This Guy Get Away with Being a War President? | War on Iraq | AlterNet
"Maybe there's a lesson here: if the president doesn't cut it in a crisis, we're better off admitting that to ourselves and telling him so instead of pretending he's a great leader. When you make a weakling into a hero, you give him a lot of power. If we'd kept our eyes open and faced the fact that Bush reacted badly to 9/11, we might have been able to ask for a little more detail about his big plans."
And, as the article also notes, We would have seen how much of a grinning puppet this feckless frat boy really is.
George W. Bush’s “Missions Accomplished” Cover - The American Conservative
When the cover of a magazine that was created to specifically slant everything your way savages your consistently poor leadership and bone-headed mistakes, you know you're not looking for a place in history, but a place to hide from it.
Big Government Under the Bush Administration
American Institute for Economic Research
Very simple three line graph that almost--almost--softens the utter disaster of the 8 years We wasted with the murderous moron.
Visual Guide to the Financial Crisis
Probably the only fun way to get your mind into and around this debacle...
Monday, November 17, 2008
Hillary Clinton to accept Barack Obama's offer of secretary of state job | World news | guardian.co.uk
If this happens, will the roles of Madeline Albright, Condoleeza Rice and Hillary Clinton be the window dressing of "We have women in important roles in our country" when, in fact, women are still relegated to second-tier career levels? Are We to preach one thing abroad while doing something directly opposite at home?
On the other hand: Harper's has "5 Reasons Hillary Clinton Should Not Be Secrtary of State."
LiveLeak.com - George W. Bush Outed CIA Agent Valerie Plame
According to civil law, military law and tradition, this is treason, not to mention possible accesory to murder if Plame had been killed before or after her forced return to the States.
Predicatble Disaster of George W. Bush
"So, with a smirk on his face, President Bush explained the predicament that the United States and the world face after eight years of his incompetence and mismanagement – teetering on the edge of a catastrophe “greater than the Great Depression.”
In a pattern typical of the preceding eight years, major U.S. journalists are focusing on almost everything else – from Sarah Palin’s political future to what President-elect Barack Obama should do after he’s inaugurated in two months – not the lessons that should be learned from Bush’s disastrous presidency.
An example was Tom Brokaw’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, which addressed the financial and energy crises with nary a negative word spoken about Bush.
It was as if everyone else was responsible for the nation’s troubles, from unions and auto executives to Congress and Obama (for not providing immediate answers). Just not the person who is still in charge and who was chiefly responsible for taking the United States from an era of peace, prosperity and budget surpluses to the precipice of endless war, economic devastation and national bankruptcy." (Emphasis Mine.)
Print: In Praise of a Rocky Transition
"The more details emerge, the clearer it becomes that Washington's handling of the Wall Street bailout is not merely incompetent. It is borderline criminal.
In a moment of high panic in late September, the US Treasury unilaterally pushed through a radical change in how bank mergers are taxed--a change long sought by the industry. Despite the fact that this move will deprive the government of as much as $140 billion in tax revenue, lawmakers found out only after the fact. According to the Washington Post, more than a dozen tax attorneys agree that "Treasury had no authority to issue the [tax change] notice."
Of equally dubious legality are the equity deals Treasury has negotiated with many of the country's banks. According to Congressman Barney Frank, one of the architects of the legislation that enables the deals, "Any use of these funds for any purpose other than lending--for bonuses, for severance pay, for dividends, for acquisitions of other institutions, etc.--is a violation of the act." Yet this is exactly how the funds are being used.
Then there is the nearly $2 trillion the Federal Reserve has handed out in emergency loans. Incredibly, the Fed will not reveal which corporations have received these loans or what it has accepted as collateral. Bloomberg News believes that this secrecy violates the law and has filed a federal suit demanding full disclosure.
Despite all of this potential lawlessness, the Democrats are either openly defending the administration or refusing to intervene. "There is only one president at a time," we hear from Barack Obama. That's true. But every sweetheart deal the lame-duck Bush administration makes threatens to hobble Obama's ability to make good on his promise of change. To cite just one example, that $140 billion in missing tax revenue is almost the same sum as Obama's renewable energy program. Obama owes it to the people who elected him to call this what it is: an attempt to undermine the electoral process by stealth." (Emphasis Mine.)
Blackwater Busted?
"'The Justice Department has had this matter for fourteen months and has done almost everything imaginable to walk away from it--including delivering a briefing to Congress in which they suggested that they lacked legal authority to press charges,' says Scott Horton, distinguished visiting professor of law at Hofstra University and author of a recent study of legal accountability for private security contractors. 'They did this notwithstanding evidence collected by the first teams on the scene that suggested an ample basis to prosecute. The ultimate proof here will be in the details, namely, what charges are brought exactly and what evidence has Justice assembled to make its case. Still, it's hard to miss Justice's lack of enthusiasm about this case, and that's troubling.'"
Under fascist rule, "justice" isn't blind: it just closes its eyes when the hyenas want to keep quiet...
The Simple Dollar: Personal Finance 101: Deflation and You
Compare that to a situation with inflation. You see a car there for $19,000, but you know prices are going up. You can reasonably expect that next year the price of that car will be $20,000, so there is some push to buy that car now rather than later.
And that’s the key difference. Inflation encourages people to spend money now - deflation encourages people to choose to spend money later.
If a lot of people choose to spend their money later and not spend their money now, products go unsold. Because there’s no demand, manufacturers slow down production. Factories slow down. People get laid off - and then can’t spend money anyway. Retailers cut costs to try to attract buyers. And the cycle continues."
North Star Writers Group - Syndicated Commentary: Opinion, Humor and Features
"In a particularly savvy move, Obama’s transition leadership have announced the formation of teams tasked with reviewing the activities and performance of virtually all significant government agencies. Innocuously packaged as a routine transition exercise, the genuine objective is likely to be a thorough assessment of the extent of staff-level neocon infection of these agencies, followed by the identification and purging of the legions of hapless incompetents and crazed ideologues whose various failures and malfeasances have created the miscellaneous major messes in which the nation finds itself."
Careful now: One man's "cleaning house" is another man's "fascist purge"...
Sunday, November 16, 2008
World's Economic Reform = Disaster for the U.S.
"We underscored that the Bretton Woods Institutions must be comprehensively reformed so that they can more adequately reflect changing economic weights in the world economy and be more responsive to future challenges. Emerging and developing economies should have greater voice and representation in these institutions.
'Comprehensively reformed' unto 'emerging and developing economies' means replacing the current dollar standard with Asian, European, Russian and Mideast currencies.
All the rest is just a smokescreen to soften the blow." (Emphasis Mine in the second paragraph.)
Extract from Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers: Is there such a thing as pure genius? | Books | The Guardian
The Global Financial Crisis Batters Chávez - BusinessWeek
"But while (Venezuelan President Hugo) Chávez built his 'Socialism for the 21st Century' on a foundation of crowd-pleasing gestures, he scrimped on traditional investments—the ones that pay economic returns. So traffic crawls on Caracas' crumbling highways. An overtaxed power grid has led to three nationwide blackouts this year. Businesses, fearful of revolutionary taxes and confiscation, have trimmed investments to the bare essentials. And while the government says oil production tops 3 million barrels per day, industry sources think it's fallen to a mere 2.4 million barrels, down by a quarter from 1999.
The question now is how Chávez will respond to the economic constraints. Will he trim back his revolution and warm up to private investors—perhaps using the arrival of the Obama Administration to seek détente with the U.S.? Or will he bull ahead, seizing on economic unrest to nationalize more industries and establish authoritarian rule?"
Department of thankless jobs | Free exchange | Economist.com
'I'm just wondering how you feel about an AIG giving $503 million worth of bonuses on the one hand, and accepting $154 billion from hard-working taxpayers,' Cummings asked Kashkari. 'What really bothers me is all these other people who are lining up. They say, well, is Kashkari a chump?'"
No, he's not the chump: the taxpayers are. Time and time and time again.
Obama election spurs race crimes around country - Yahoo! News
"(Mark) Potok, who is white, said he believes there is "a large subset of white people in this country who feel that they are losing everything they know, that the country their forefathers built has somehow been stolen from them."
Grant Griffin, a 46-year-old white Georgia native, expressed similar sentiments: "I believe our nation is ruined and has been for several decades and the election of Obama is merely the culmination of the change.
"If you had real change it would involve all the members of (Obama's) church being deported," he said."
And get a load of the kids in a schoolbus running on fumes through Rexburg, Idaho, chanting "Assassinate Obama"...
Statehooders, you takin' notice?
Impeach Bush For Peace: ANOTHER Reason to Impeach: Bush Can Block Subpoenas AFTER Leaving Office
Nailing the murderous moron is not an option: It is a duty. We'll see how dutiful the next President is.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
The Right Way to Bail Out The Economy
Health coverage for every child in America would cost between $8 and $10 billion. (Frame of reference point: we have been spending over $10 billion A MONTH killing people in Iraq and Afghanistan so $9 billion a YEAR to keep people alive here seems pretty reasonable, huh?)
Health coverage for the 47 million uninsured Americans would cost between $50- and $100 billion.
That still leaves us with between $600-$650 billion to spend on federal, state and local jobs programs, fixing and modernizing America's crumbling bridges, roads, schools, air traffic control system, fiber optic networks, sewage and water systems, that kind of stuff.
Hiring all the millions of engineers, high tech and construction workers required to accomplish such a monumental task would drop the unemployment rate like a rock. And those good construction wages would fatten the balance sheets of now-troubled banks, which would revitalize home mortgage and small business lending.
It's called “trickle up economics” and, unlike trickle down economics, it actually works."
Possible Contributing Reason To Why Education, Government Industries Generally Have Performance Lag | United Liberty
"The data clearly shows that public administration PhD students, followed by education PhD students, produce significantly lower GRE testing scores than other fields that are generally considered more innovative. In fact these two concentrations scored the lowest of all 28 fields surveyed. While there are many individuals in public administration and education of exceptional intellectual abilities, the data indicates that the two fields are not attracting the best and the brightest. Maybe- this is just a hunch- it is the fact that it’s the government that employs most educators and public administrators."
Some things are just too obvious, know what I mean?
Buy a Bank for $10 Million... Ask for $3.4 Billion
"Hartford Financial Services Group Inc.,Genworth Financial Inc. and Lincoln National Corp. plan to buy lenders, a move that may entitle the three insurers to billions of dollars from the Treasury's bank rescue fund.
Hartford, which posted a $2.6 billion third-quarter loss, jumped 21 percent in New York trading after agreeing to buy Sanford, Florida-based Federal Trust Corp. for $10 million. That should allow the insurer to convert to a savings-and-loan holding company and qualify for $1.1 billion to $3.4 billion from the Treasury, the company said in a statement today."
Is there any doubt that this bailout is nothing but a run on taxpayer money to keep the cash flow moving from the have-nots to the haves, a redistribution of wealth that would gag a maggot?
With One Phone Call, Bush Could Relieve the Economic Pain of Millions | AlterNet
"Rep. McDermott explained that his legislation, H.R. 6867, to extend unemployment benefits passed the House in early October on a massive bi-partisan vote of 368-28, but the legislation stalled when Senate Republicans, after consultation with the President, would not permit the legislation to come to the floor for a vote. The bill would extend benefits a minimum of seven weeks in every state, but 13 weeks in states where the unemployment rate has averaged 6 percent or higher over three months.
"When 85 percent of the House of Representatives vote in favor of anything, which was the case with my bill to extend unemployment benefits, that is a dramatic expression of strong support across party lines, state lines, and unemployment lines," McDermott said. "The House demonstrated the will to act and the President can show the way by making one telephone call to the Senate Republican leader to support the immediate passage of legislation to extend UI benefits."
McDermott noted that Members of Congress will be in Washington, D.C. next week and the Senate could quickly pass his UI bill and the President could sign this economic lifeline legislation ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.
He added that the money to pay for extended unemployment benefits is in a federal trust fund right now and it is meant to be used in a time like this. The money is collected from every employer based on the number of employees.
Furthermore, independent studies show that an unemployment insurance benefit is money that is almost immediately re-injected directly into the economy to pay for food, housing and other family expenses. This legislation would provide approximately $6 billion in additional UI benefits and economists conclude that every dollar yields approximately $1.64 in economic impact as the money ripples through the economy and helps to sustain other jobs and restore consumer confidence."
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