TODAY'S TOPICS: VP Debate, Saunders on Bailout, Feingold, Palin Record, Homer vs. E-Voting
"Don't curse the darkness. Light a candle."
-- Chinese proverb
OUR CHALLENGE WITH PRESIDENT OBAMA (I believe he will win by more than the GOP can steal)...learn from FDR and the 30's:
"I agree with everything you said. Now go out and make me do it."
-- President Franklin Roosevelt once told a group of activists lobbying him
"I will oppose the Wall Street bailout plan because though well intentioned, and certainly much improved over the administration’s original proposal, it remains deeply flawed. It fails to offset the cost of the plan, leaving taxpayers to bear the burden of serious lapses of judgment by private financial institutions, their regulators, and the enablers in Washington who paved the way for this catastrophe by removing the safeguards that had protected consumers and the economy since the great depression. The bailout legislation also fails to reform the flawed regulatory structure that permitted this crisis to arise in the first place. And it doesn’t do enough to address the root cause of the credit market collapse, namely the housing crisis. Taxpayers deserve a plan that puts their concerns ahead of those who got us into this mess."
- Senator Russ Feingold, October 1, 2008 (my two favorite Senators voted how I would have on the bailout…NO…I’m posting Bernie Saunders article on this topic today)
VP DEBATE: REALITY VERSUS EXPECTATIONS GAME
Here we go again. In fact, in this case the disparity between what the Matrix says about last nights debate, and what reality demands to be said, are even further apart than Obama’s dismantling of grumpy “the disgrace” gramps last week.
As far as the Matrix goes, and therefore the corporate media, "she vastly exceeded expectations" and was "folksy" in a way Americans “relate” to (why moronic Americans WANT moronic leaders I will never understand).
In the real world, she demonstrated a dangerous level of ignorance, an almost arrogant and snide approach to NOT answering questions, and a pageant like approach to reciting answers (to questions she wasn’t asked) that had been memorized over the last week or so of cramming. And before you think she “did well”, trust me, first I would urge you to fact check what she said, or better, read the transcripts of what she said.
Her answers weren’t only deceitful, distorting, and misleading; they were TOTALLY substance free…as well as snide, snarky and mocking. At first I was taking notes, so I could dismantle all her answers here for you today, but I realized very quickly that would be impossible, because EVERYTHING SHE SAID was bullshit.
If I heard her say "maverick" one more time I swear I might end up shirtless talking to myself in a dank dark ally in the Tenderloin! She even kept winking at the camera! Truly sick and embarrassing...particularly the fact that Republicans LOVED this performance. If that doesn't give you an idea of what this party has become, and what they've done to the minds of the people that support it, I truly don't know what does.
So yeah, she exceeded expectations, which basically means she didn't pass out, stare at the camera for a minute without saying a word, or take out a pistol and shoot Biden. Big deal...she's almost a f***** blackened evil heartbeat away from the Presidency!! That's scary...
Biden was generally very good. Sometimes it felt like he was a teacher and she was some smart ass student that he was forced to continue to correct and educate. On facts and issues, this was a blowout of monumental proportions…I mean, these two people had no business being on the same stage together and “debating” such serious topics. I actually feel sorry for Biden that he had to be put through such a demeaning process…with some mildly retarded, arrogant witch, that mocked him...a man of serious stature and accomplishment.
So no, I stopped taking notes, and I’m not going to go through everything she said. It was just a bunch of memorized horse shit that had no business further degrading our political process and embarrassing our nation.
Listening to reporters, I honestly felt sad for our country, that we actually were SERIOUSLY even discussing who “won” this debate, and whether this woman has any business running a friggin salon let alone the free world.
Some good news however, is that both CBS and CNN polled voters, and as with the Obama/McCain debate, the people “got it” to a much higher degree than did the corporate media that was so desperate to paint a “comeback”, “underdog” narrative they were nearly tripping over themselves to compliment her.
POLLS…
A CNN poll following Thursday's vice presidential debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin found that 51 percent of the people surveyed thought Biden won, 36 percent thought Palin was the victor.
CBS News's poll: 46% of uncommitted voters surveyed gave the debate to Biden, where 21% thought Palin won.
One thing to finish on that I found especially disturbing, and that was all the talk about clean coal. Why? Guess who was the corporate sponsor of the debate? That's right, the CLEAN COAL INDUSTRY. Ahhhh...nothing like having that line between democracy and fascism further "grayed".
CLIPS FROM DEBATE:
Watch again, this time pay close attention to how she "answers" questions:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/10/03/vp-debate-palins-unintelligible-non-answer-on-nuclear-weapons/
And here's one of Biden's better moments...HE'S NOT A MAVERICK!
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/10/03/vp-debate-biden-on-mccain-maverick-he-is-not/
And Biden nailed this theme over and over again...how is McCain different than Bush?:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/10/02/vp-debate-biden-how-different-is-john-mccains-policy-going-to-be-than-george-bushs/
SIMPSONS VERSUS E-VOTING
So sad that even the Simpsons understands the e-voting issue and election theft better than the Democrats do! This is hilarious, but of course, in some ways sad, especially to those of us that have worked so long and hard to expose it. Because while it's nice to see so many "get it" now, especially one of my favorite shows of all time, its frightening to see how little has been done to prevent it from happening again by the Democrats. Still, watch this:
Brad Blog: Homer Simpson's (and Obama's) Touch-Screen Voting Nightmare...
Last week we told you about The Simpson's upcoming episode wherein Homer, attempting to vote for Barack Obama on a touch-screen voting machine, has a few problems in the process. Here's the very funny, were it not so very unfunny, clip from the upcoming show...
So The Simpson's now get it. Why don't Obama and the Dems? And why are they doing little or nothing to ensure that every voter in the nation is able to cast their vote on a hand-marked paper ballot this year?
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6458
HOW THE NEWS DISTORTS FACT
A perfect illustration of the media’s commitment to an artificial “balance” in their reporting: Notice the headline of the AP article below, and then look at the facts in the two studies and then ask yourself why the word “may” is in the headline….the word should be “will” not “may”:
"Obama's health plan may help more uninsured: report"
AP:
An analysis of the two starkly different approaches to reforming the U.S. health care system offered by John McCain and Barack Obama suggests Obama's plan has the best chance of making health care more affordable, accessible, efficient and higher in quality.
The report, released on Thursday by the Commonwealth Fund, sized up the presidential candidates' plans for dealing with a health care system which has left nearly 46 million people uninsured and many more underinsured.
According to the report, Democrat Obama's plan would cover 34 million of the nation's projected 67 million uninsured people in 10 years, compared with just 2 million covered under Republican John McCain's plan.
SNIP
Researchers at the Urban Institute-Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center project McCain's plan would reduce the number of uninsured by 1.3 million in the first year at a cost $185 million. About 20 million people would lose their employer-sponsored coverage under McCain's plan, but 21 million would gain coverage on the individual market.
Obama's plan in its first year would reduce the number of uninsured by 18.4 million at a cost of $86 billion. Over 10 years, McCain's plan would cost $1.3 trillion and Obama's would cost $1.6 trillion, according to the report.
end
VIDEO SECTION
Obama hits grump gramps the disgrace on the economy…on fire…though I disagree with his vote on the bailout bill, I do understand that people can disagree on whether NOT passing anything is such a great threat that one had to vote for it. That is what I suspect Obama was thinking, particularly at a time of an election. If he didn’t vote for it, it doesn’t pass, and our economy tanks, so could his candidacy…but I still disagree.
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/10/02/obama-hits-back-hard-against-mccain-on-the-economy/
Palin can’t come up with a single supreme court decision she disagrees with other than Roe…ouch..
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/10/02/brutal-palin-cant-name-a-single-supreme-court-case-she-disagrees-with-other-than-roe-v-wade/
Colbert on young voters...funny:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/10/02/the-colbert-report-teen-talk-voter-abstinence/
Keating 5 ad against McCain…Now we’re talking!!
http://www.campaignmoney.org/keating
Oh yes, mildly retarded scientist Sarah Palin confirms being gay is a choice…so nice of her not to “judge” people for such a choice though…deny them rights, yes. Call them immoral, yes. But judge them, no. Come again?
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/101188/palin%3A_being_gay_is_a_%27choice%27/
Cafferty on Palin...now we're talking truth...
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/10/02/cafferty-on-palin-how-can-anyone-including-john-mccain-take-this-woman-seriously/
ARTICLE SECTION
You got to read this manifesto by the great Senator from Vermont Bernie Saunder's on how we got into this economic crisis, why the bailout bill is a sham, and what SOLUTIONS we actually should embrace to solve it.
Some big clips:
The American people are bitter. They are angry and they are confused. Over the last seven and a half years, since George W. Bush has been president, 6 million Americans have slipped out of the middle class and are in poverty, and today working families are lining up at emergency food shelves in order to get the food they need to feed their families. Since President Bush has been in office, median family income for working-age families has declined by over $2,000. More than seven million Americans have lost their health insurance. Over four million have lost their pensions. Consumer debt has more than doubled. And foreclosures are the highest on record. Meanwhile, the cost of energy, food, health care, college, and other basic necessities has soared.
While the middle class has declined under President Bush's reckless economic policies, the people on top have never had it so good. For the first seven years of Bush's tenure, the wealthiest 400 individuals in our country saw a $670 billion increase in their wealth and, at the end of 2007, owned over $1.5 trillion in wealth. That is just 400 families, a $670 billion increase in wealth since Bush has been in office.
In our country today, we have the most unequal distribution of income and wealth of any major country on earth, with the top 1 percent earning more income than the bottom 50 percent and the top 1 percent owning more wealth than the bottom 90 percent. We are living at a time when we have seen a massive transfer of wealth from the middle class to the very wealthiest people in this country, when, among others, CEOs of Wall Street firms received unbelievable amounts in bonuses, including $39 billion in bonuses in the year 2007 alone for just the five major investment houses. We have seen the incredible greed of the financial services industry manifested in the hundreds of millions of dollars they have spent on campaign contributions and lobbyists in order to deregulate their industry, so that hedge funds and other unregulated financial institutions could flourish.
We have seen them play with trillions and trillions of dollars in esoteric financial instruments, in unregulated industries, which no more than a handful of people even understand. We have seen the financial services industry charge 30 percent interest rates on credit card loans and tack on outrageous late fees and other costs to unsuspecting customers. We have seen them engaged in despicable predatory lending practices, taking advantage of the vulnerable and the uneducated. We have seen them send out billions of deceptive solicitations to almost every mailbox in America.
SNIP
If we are going to bail out Wall Street, it should be those people who have caused the problem, those people who have benefited from Bush's tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires, those people who have taken advantage of deregulation, those people are the people who should pick up the tab, and not ordinary working people. I introduced an amendment which gave the Senate a very clear choice. We can pay for this bailout of Wall Street by asking people all across this country, small businesses on Main Street, homeowners on Maple Street, elderly couples on Oak Street, college students on Campus Avenue, working families on Sunrise Lane, we can ask them to pay for this bailout. That is one way we can go. Or, we can ask the people who have gained the most from the spasm of greed, the people whose incomes have been soaring under President Bush, to pick up the tab.
I proposed to raise the tax rate on any individual earning $500,000 a year or more or any family earning $1 million a year or more by 10 percent. That increase in the tax rate, from 35 percent to 45 percent, would raise more than $300 billion in the next five years, almost half the cost of the bailout. If what all the supporters of this legislation say is correct, that the government will get back some of its money when the market calms down and the government sells some of the assets it has purchased; then, $300 billion should be sufficient to make sure that 99.7 percent of taxpayers do not have to pay one nickel for this bailout.
Most of my constituents did not earn a $38 million bonus in 2005 or make over $100 million in total compensation in three years, as did Henry Paulson, the current secretary of the Treasury, and former CEO of Goldman Sachs. Most of my constituents did not make $354 million in total compensation over the past five years as did Richard Fuld of Lehman Brothers. Most of my constituents did not cash out $60 million in stock after a $29 billion bailout for Bear Stearns, after that failing company was bought out by J.P. Morgan Chase. Most of my constituents did not get a $161 million severance package as E. Stanley O'Neill, former CEO Merrill Lynch did.
http://www.truthout.org/100208J
NEWS CLIPS
Yesterday, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) "created legislation meant to help the capsizing financial markets right themselves." "DeFazio, a vociferous opponent of the Bush Administration's $700 billion Wall Street bailout, calls his legislation the 'No BAILOUTS Act.'" Read about the details of the legislation here.
PALIN'S REAL RECORD
Wait, wasn’t being commander of the Alaska National Guard part of Palin’s executive experience the McCain camp has been touting? I guess that means she runs things about as well as the rest of the Republican Party.
Veterans For America:
The post-deployment challenges facing Alaska’s Army National Guard are more daunting and widespread than any seen by Veterans for America (VFA). VFA’s National Guard Program just completed a week in the state reviewing the needs of Alaska’s citizen-Soldiers and the resources in place to meet them. The needs of Alaska’s Guard members and their families far outstrip the available help.
Many of the Alaska’s Guard members have been deployed, and redeployed, despite the shortage of care and treatment available upon their return. With more than one-quarter of Alaska’s Guard members living 60 miles or more from a Veterans Affairs facility, many rarely if ever get treatment they need. Travel to Anchorage alone can cost more than $1,500 for each Guard member - an upfront cost too burdensome for many to shoulder, even if they are eventually reimbursed. With the economy worsening, the costs to Guard families for their own healthcare will mount and even fewer will receive treatment.
We owe our citizen-Soldiers better than this.
Read our findings
Palin's Debate With The Facts
Last night's match-up between Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) and Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) was one "most highly anticipated vice-presidential debates in history." The event at Washington University in St. Louis, MO, capped off one of Palin's most high-profile weeks, in which she completed a series of interviews with CBS's Katie Couric and various right-wing radio hosts. The picture that emerged was of a candidate struggling to grasp complex issues outside of her narrow right-wing worldview. At times, her positions not only went against what the majority of the American public believes, but also against scientific facts. Even conservative Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer admitted after yesterday's debate that he "wasn't impressed by the depth of her answers or the breadth of her knowledge." Palin kept repeating that she wanted to move away from the past and look ahead, but at no point was she able to demonstrate how, going forward, a McCain-Palin administration would be anything but a third Bush term.
ECONOMIC CLUELESNESS: As Congress is in the middle of approving a $700 billion financial bailout, yesterday's debate appropriately kicked off with a discussion of economic issues. Palin repeatedly stressed the reform that she and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) would bring to the government. "Now, John McCain thankfully has been one representing reform," Palin said. "Two years ago, remember, it was John McCain who pushed so hard with the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reform measures. He sounded that warning bell." This claim, however, is an exaggeration. This morning, NPR fact-checked Palin's claim and found that in 2005, Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) was actually the one who led the effort to tighten regulations. NPR said that the only piece they could find from McCain was a press release co-sponsoring Hagel's measure. Additionally, in an interview in November 2007, McCain admitted that he was clueless about the economic mess: "So, I'd like to tell you that I did anticipate it, but I have to give you straight talk, I did not." In an interview that aired on Sept. 24, Couric pressed Palin to name "specific examples" of McCain pushing for more regulation. Palin failed, however, and simply replied, "I'll try to find you some and I'll bring them to you." Palin was similarly confused and overwhelmed by her memorized talking points in a CBS interview that aired the next day, when she inexplicably claimed that the bailout is needed to "help those who are concerned about the health care reform that is needed to help shore up the economy," a position that no experts have taken.
DANGEROUS DECLARATIONS: Yesterday, Palin aggressively criticized anyone advocating withdrawal from Iraq, even though it is a position held by the majority of the American public. Palin claimed that a timeline for redeployment -- now also embraced by President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri-al Maliki -- would be "a white flag of surrender." Of course, Palin failed to note that before adopting the talking points of the McCain campaign, she held a similar view. In March 2007, Palin told the Alaska Business Monthly, "I've been so focused on state government, I haven't really focused much on the war in Iraq. ... [W]hile I support our president, Condoleezza Rice and the administration, I want to know that we have an exit plan in place." Last night and during her CBS interviews, Palin made repeated references to "victory" and "winning" in Iraq while also praising Gen. David Petraeus. Petraeus, however, has disavowed such terms, wanting to avoid "premature declarations of success." The McCain campaign continues to tout Palin as a foreign policy expert. This week on NPR, McCain claimed that he has "turned to her advice many times in the past" on these issues. Defending the claim that Alaska's proximity to Russia constitutes national security experience, the campaign told CBS News this week that "Russian incursions...inside the air defense identification zone have occurred." However, a spokesman for the Alaska region of the North American Aerospace Defense Command has confirmed that "no Russian military planes have been flying even into that zone" during Palin's tenure.
EMBRACING DARTH VADER: In yesterday's debate, Biden called Dick Cheney "one of the most dangerous vice presidents" in history. Palin, however, had a very different view of "Darth Vader." "I'm thankful the Constitution would allow a bit more authority given to the vice president if that vice president so chose to exert it in working with the Senate," she said in last night's debate. Palin also stuck up for Cheney's claim that he's not part of the executive branch, saying that the Constitution allowed for "flexibility there in the office of the vice president." When asked what Cheney's biggest mistake has been while in office, Palin refused to name any of his official actions to Couric. "Worst thing, I guess that would have been the duck hunting accident, where you know, that was an accident," she said. "And that I think that was made into a caricature of him." Trying to paint herself as a reformer, Palin bragged that as governor, she has appointed people "regardless of party." However, high school affiliation has been very important. As the New York Times noted, "The Wasilla High School yearbook archive now doubles as a veritable directory of state government." Palin has appointed her former junior high band-mate, among others.
Friday, October 03, 2008
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
TODAY'S TOPICS: Election Theft 08', The Bailout Scam, Daily Show, Bill Clinton, Biden v. Palin, Greenwald, Baker
I don't have much time to comment today, but I think what I post on how the GOP is ALREADY stealing this election (the third Presidency in a row) speaks for itself. Just remember this, the GOP has their ace card ready to play when everyone is shocked by McCain's surprising numbers the night of the election: The Bradley Effect. Yes, that mythic "effect", not supported by one ounce of hard data, in which millions of voters say they're going to vote for the black guy but then don't on election day. Not only is this hypothesis absurd, even if that happened AT ALL, it would be such a small fraction of voters that it wouldn't come close to what we may see.
Aside from - as you will see in today's post - the millions of Obama voters that are being scrubbed from the rolls as we speak, we could see another "electronic vote flip". If that is the case, you heard it here first, McCain wins with 50.2% of the vote. And the GOP and all the media propagandists will opine on how this surprise could have happened being that Obama was up 6-10 points the night before. They will say it was the Bradley effect. They'll say minorities and young people didn't come out to vote. They will say, as they did in 2004, ANYTHING they can come up with that keeps them from discussing the truth: IT WAS STOLEN.
I've got some more real good stuff on this bailout scam, and REAL solutions that go to the source of the problem - help for homeowners and taxes on Wall Street and millionaires - rather than rewarding that source (i.e. billions to banks, none for people).
And yes, I'm deeply disappointed in Obama's support of this sham...almost as much as I was by his FISA vote. I just can't understand how you can get up there and talk about growing the economy from the bottom up and making sure the bill addresses "mainstreet and not just wall street", and then simultaneously say you're going to vote for this bill!!!
It's like telling your date that you're lactose intolerant and then ordering a big glass of milk. Please, don't do it!!!
BIDEN VERSUS PALIN
I talked in detail the other day about the low expectations game as it relates to debates...and nowhere will it be more evident than when retarded Governor Sarah Palin meets Joe Biden tomorrow. And remember, the GOP are EXPERTS at playing this game because their candidates are invariably intellectually inferior and ALWAYS on the wrong side of issues.
Well, the McCain campaign is on overdrive to "mind manage" the upcoming vice presidential debate between. Please everyone...don't fall prey to this!! Don't tell me "Oh, I thought it was a draw..." when anyone in their right mind, watching objectively, will realize that even if she doesn't fall on her face or forget her name, she STILL will be giving 90 second memorized answers that are incorrect, lies, or simply immoral.
Over the last week, the McCain camp has demanded limiting the response time to 90 seconds (perfect for the wordy but meaningless “pageant” answers she’s prone to give), set up the framework that tough questions are “gotcha” questions and any of Biden’s responses may be sexist and patronizing. Now they are suggesting that moderator Gwen Ifill may not be nonpartisan enough to moderate the debate, since she authored a book on politics and race, even though the McCain camp approved of her selection AFTER her book had been published.
END
ELECTION FRAUD 08' - BRACE YOURSELVES!
Get EXACTLY how the GOP is looking to steal their third straight Presidency from Robert Kennedy Jr. himself. This should scare the bejesus out of everyone…. "
One of these requirements under HAVA is called "the perfect match" and what that does is little known but it is devastating. A quarter of the voters in Colorado have just been removed from the rolls because of this - just this one scam. And what it does is they use a computer system to compare your registration application to all other government records of you in the state. So they'll look at your social security records, your motor vehicle records and any time you've had any interaction with the government and if there is any information on your voter registration that is different than the information on another government record that they find they remove you from the voting rolls.
SNIP
"Let me tell you about one other of these scams people should know about. If you're a newly registered voter - and of course the Democrats have done these gigantic registration drives - 12 million people on registration - if you're a new voter you MUST include your license or some other state I.D. when you come to vote. What that means is that if you're a college kid (and college kids now - they're sending in absentee ballots - they're not going to the voting place, they do everything online or they do everything remotely - they don't dream of going to the precinct house voting on election day and waiting in a long line) so if they send in the absentee ballot and they don't include a color copy of their license their vote is going to be thrown into a trash can. And none of these people know this because you have had to read the law in order to know it. So there is no notification for when you fill out your registration form, so all of those 12 million people that the Democrats have registered: those ballots are going to be just thrown out.
http://www.truthout.org/article/rfk-jr-and-mike-papantonio-is-your-vote-safe
BRAD BLOG: CBS News: New Study Details Massive Voter Roll Purges Underway in At Least 19 States
CBS Has Noticed, Why Hasn't Obama or the DNC?
Tuesday's CBS Evening News finally covered what may well be the November Surprise that we've been trying to warn about for months here at The BRAD BLOG: Massive voter roll purges being done in secret, with little or no oversight, and often under federal Justice Department cover, in states and counties around the country.
And the Democrats, who likely have the most to lose via such secret purges, are doing little or nothing about it...
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6453
BRAD BLOG: 'Republican War on Democracy': The Latest Offensives
In Swing States, Coordinated Disinformation is Sent to Student Voters, Challenges Being Made to Eligibility of Low-Income Voters Who've Lost Their Homes
The Democratic/Obama Response to the Assault on Voting Rights Remains Nowhere Near What is Needed...
While most election officials likely do their job honestly, there are a great number of them around the country who have little interest in voters --- certain voters --- being allowed to exercise their franchise at all.
Yet sadly, despite a few spotty efforts around the country, it seems those parties that do have an interest in voters actually voting (such as Obama and the DNC) have little clue about what they are facing and what needs to be done to combat the ongoing Republican assault on voting...
The effort, by a number of election officials in so-called "swing states" around the country, meant to keep Democratic-leaning voters, such as students and minorities, from casting votes this year, is remarkable and growing. It is, of course, also appalling...
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6430
STAY LIFTED IN '04 OHIO ELECTION FRAUD CASE, GOP 'TECH GURU' SUBPOENAED
Mike Connell Gets Served, Karl Rove Could be Next...
A recent flurry of activity in the long-standing King Lincoln v. OH Sec. of State lawsuit concerning voting rights violations in the state during the 2004 election has resulted in the judge lifting the stay to allow depositions to be taken of key GOP tech-guru Mike Connell, and potentially others, such as Karl Rove.
A subpoena has now been served to Connell, who was recently described by the attorneys working on the case, as a 'high-IQ Forrest Gump...at the scene of every GOP crime.'...
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6445
END
QUOTES
“There Must Be a Strict Supervision of All Banking and Credits and Investments. There Must Be an End to Speculation with Other People’s Money.”
--FDR in 1933
“Is this the United States Congress or the Board of Directors of Goldman Sachs?”
-- Rep. Dennis Kucinich reacts to the bailout bill
-- Justice Brandeis
The richest 400 Americans -- that's right, just four hundred people -- own MORE than the bottom 150 million Americans combined. 400 rich Americans have got more stashed away than half the entire country! Their combined net worth is $1.6 trillion. During the eight years of the Bush Administration, their wealth has increased by nearly $700 billion -- the same amount that they are now demanding we give to them for the "bailout." Why don't they just spend the money they made under Bush to bail themselves out? They'd still have nearly a trillion dollars left over to spread amongst themselves!
Of course, they are not going to do that -- at least not voluntarily. George W. Bush was handed a $127 billion surplus when Bill Clinton left office. Because that money was OUR money and not his, he did what the rich prefer to do -- spend it and never look back. Now we have a $9.5 trillion debt. Why on earth would we even think of giving these robber barons any more of our money?
-- Michael Moore
So where does that leave 37 million people living below the poverty line? Or 90 million - 1 out of 3 Americans - living with incomes below 200 percent of the poverty line? Or 47 million Americans lacking health insurance? Without a serious shift in priorities, or a more equitable way to pay for the Wall Street bailout such as Senator Bernie Sanders' proposal for a 10 percent surtax on couples with an income over $1 million a year or $500,000 for single taxpayers, raising $300 billion in revenues over 5 years, it leaves the most desperate citizens and progressive advocates like Blackwell extremely worried. It's also clear that real change will not happen without a filibuster-proof Democratic majority in the Senate - because no benefit for lower-income and the middle-class is too important to get by the Grand Obstructionist Party.
-- Katrina vanden Heuvel is the editor and publisher of The Nation
"John didn't phone this one in. ... You can't phone something like this in. Thank God John came back."
-- Sen. Lindsey Graham, 9/28/08, on Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) return to Washington for bailout negotiations
VERSUS
"By mid-afternoon [on Saturday], Mr. McCain's closest adviser, Mark Salter, told reporters that Mr. McCain would not go to Capitol Hill on Saturday but would make phone calls to try to push the deal along."
-- New York Times, 9/27/08
VIDEO SECTION
Finally, Bill Clinton does something positive for Obama...the first time since his outstanding Convention speech. Let’s face it, he’s been complimenting the lying grumpy gramps on tv more than Obama in recent days…but he’s baaaaccckkk…
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/10/01/bill-clinton-rocks-florida-for-obama-we-have-to-elect-a-president-that-will-rebuild-the-american-dream/
Jon Stewart dismantles McCain for his insane and erratic behavior in recent days as related to the bailout bill. I mean, did anyone notice that his big campaign suspension and trip back to DC actually DECREASED Republican support for the bill???
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/10/01/jon-stewart-blasts-mccains-leadership-house-gops-delicate-sensibilities/
Senator McCain sits down with the editorial board of the Des Moines Register and gets stumped by one of the best questions I’ve heard asked of him so far this campaign.
“Throughout your adult life, am I right, as a veteran and a member of Congress and now someone over sixty five, throughout your adult life have you been covered by a taxpayer-financed health care plan?
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/10/01/iowa-newspaper-editorial-board-to-mccain-havent-you-lived-your-entire-adult-life-with-taxpayer-funded-health-care/
Holy S***!!! Palin can’t even name ONE magazine or newspaper that she reads (and her degree is in journalism)!! Seriously, God help us all…
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/09/30/omg-palin-cant-name-one-magazinenewspaper-she-reads/
Greenwald video on McCain and the economy: John McCain does not have the ability to fix this economic crisis. After declaring the fundamentals of the economy strong, he created a political circus in Washington last week by mucking up bailout negotiations; a deplorable stunt, considering he and his political cronies helped cause the current meltdown.
It was McCain and his economic adviser Phil Gramm who pushed for the deregulation that helped lead to the banking crisis, and it was McCain's crony Rick Davis who had deep lobbyist ties to Freddie Mac. Don't let others be fooled by McCain's economic grandstanding because the reality is his policies and principles will only exacerbate our financial hardships. That's why you must spread this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4egXbhSOhk
Watch this great piece by the American News Project on Palin's religious views:
http://newsproject.org/videos/134
ARTICLE SECTION
Dean baker on the bailout and the real source of the crisis:
The near hysterical discussion (count the times "Great Depression" appears in news stories) of the bailout still largely fails to recognize the roots of the economy's current problems in the collapse of the housing bubble. Much of the discussion assumes that the problem is just bad subprime loans and that house prices will bounce back once the credit markets are working properly.
SNIP
Many analysts have attributed a tightening of credit in many of these markets to a credit crunch. This is mistaken. While some banks are squeezed because of bad mortgage loans, even a flush bank would impose tighter lending standards in a market with declining house prices. It is reasonable to expect that house prices will be 15 to 25 percent lower at the end of 2009 in many of these deflating markets.
It would be foolish to issue a mortgage loan without a very substantial down payment, since the expected decline in house prices will quickly destroy much or all of the equity held by the homeowner. In other words, it is the drop in house prices that is causing banks to demand 20 percent down payments in many markets, not their lack of capital. This situation will only be changed by a government house-price support program. Improving the financial conditions of banks will make little difference.
http://www.truthout.org/100108A
Glenn Greenwald on the BIG VICTORY yesterday…the people swing the vote away from the corporate masters…
Can anyone even remember the last time this happened, where the nation's corporate interests and their establishment spokespeople were insistently demanding government action but were impeded -- defeated -- by nothing more than popular opinion? Perhaps the failure of George Bush's Social Security schemes in 2005 would be an example, but one is hard-pressed to think of any other meaningful ones. We're a "democracy" in which nothing is less important in how our government functions than public opinion. Yesterday was an exceedingly rare though intense departure from that framework -- the kind of citizen defiance of, an "uprising" against, a rotted ruling elite described by David Sirota in his book, "Uprising." On the citizenry level, the backlash was defined not by "Republican v. Democrat" or "Left v. Right," but by "people v. ruling class." As Johnston argues, yesterday's events should be celebrated for that reason alone.
SNIP
Liberation from -- one could say "destruction of" -- the system run by that ruling establishment class is of critical importance. Yesterday's rejection of their decree, on such a momentous matter, was a shocking first step towards that objective (and the doom and panic of yesterday has given rise to calm and even optimism today, as those with cash have taken advantage of the market drop of yesterday and, around the world, are madly buying). There may be, almost certainly will be, even greater financial distress in the near future, and perhaps Americans will come to view these matters differently. But regardless of whether yesterday's bailout was a good idea on the merits, the defeat -- for now -- of those who have enjoyed an unbroken (and ill-deserved) line of victories is something that ought to be cheered.
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/09/30-8
I don't have much time to comment today, but I think what I post on how the GOP is ALREADY stealing this election (the third Presidency in a row) speaks for itself. Just remember this, the GOP has their ace card ready to play when everyone is shocked by McCain's surprising numbers the night of the election: The Bradley Effect. Yes, that mythic "effect", not supported by one ounce of hard data, in which millions of voters say they're going to vote for the black guy but then don't on election day. Not only is this hypothesis absurd, even if that happened AT ALL, it would be such a small fraction of voters that it wouldn't come close to what we may see.
Aside from - as you will see in today's post - the millions of Obama voters that are being scrubbed from the rolls as we speak, we could see another "electronic vote flip". If that is the case, you heard it here first, McCain wins with 50.2% of the vote. And the GOP and all the media propagandists will opine on how this surprise could have happened being that Obama was up 6-10 points the night before. They will say it was the Bradley effect. They'll say minorities and young people didn't come out to vote. They will say, as they did in 2004, ANYTHING they can come up with that keeps them from discussing the truth: IT WAS STOLEN.
I've got some more real good stuff on this bailout scam, and REAL solutions that go to the source of the problem - help for homeowners and taxes on Wall Street and millionaires - rather than rewarding that source (i.e. billions to banks, none for people).
And yes, I'm deeply disappointed in Obama's support of this sham...almost as much as I was by his FISA vote. I just can't understand how you can get up there and talk about growing the economy from the bottom up and making sure the bill addresses "mainstreet and not just wall street", and then simultaneously say you're going to vote for this bill!!!
It's like telling your date that you're lactose intolerant and then ordering a big glass of milk. Please, don't do it!!!
BIDEN VERSUS PALIN
I talked in detail the other day about the low expectations game as it relates to debates...and nowhere will it be more evident than when retarded Governor Sarah Palin meets Joe Biden tomorrow. And remember, the GOP are EXPERTS at playing this game because their candidates are invariably intellectually inferior and ALWAYS on the wrong side of issues.
Well, the McCain campaign is on overdrive to "mind manage" the upcoming vice presidential debate between. Please everyone...don't fall prey to this!! Don't tell me "Oh, I thought it was a draw..." when anyone in their right mind, watching objectively, will realize that even if she doesn't fall on her face or forget her name, she STILL will be giving 90 second memorized answers that are incorrect, lies, or simply immoral.
Over the last week, the McCain camp has demanded limiting the response time to 90 seconds (perfect for the wordy but meaningless “pageant” answers she’s prone to give), set up the framework that tough questions are “gotcha” questions and any of Biden’s responses may be sexist and patronizing. Now they are suggesting that moderator Gwen Ifill may not be nonpartisan enough to moderate the debate, since she authored a book on politics and race, even though the McCain camp approved of her selection AFTER her book had been published.
END
ELECTION FRAUD 08' - BRACE YOURSELVES!
Get EXACTLY how the GOP is looking to steal their third straight Presidency from Robert Kennedy Jr. himself. This should scare the bejesus out of everyone…. "
One of these requirements under HAVA is called "the perfect match" and what that does is little known but it is devastating. A quarter of the voters in Colorado have just been removed from the rolls because of this - just this one scam. And what it does is they use a computer system to compare your registration application to all other government records of you in the state. So they'll look at your social security records, your motor vehicle records and any time you've had any interaction with the government and if there is any information on your voter registration that is different than the information on another government record that they find they remove you from the voting rolls.
SNIP
"Let me tell you about one other of these scams people should know about. If you're a newly registered voter - and of course the Democrats have done these gigantic registration drives - 12 million people on registration - if you're a new voter you MUST include your license or some other state I.D. when you come to vote. What that means is that if you're a college kid (and college kids now - they're sending in absentee ballots - they're not going to the voting place, they do everything online or they do everything remotely - they don't dream of going to the precinct house voting on election day and waiting in a long line) so if they send in the absentee ballot and they don't include a color copy of their license their vote is going to be thrown into a trash can. And none of these people know this because you have had to read the law in order to know it. So there is no notification for when you fill out your registration form, so all of those 12 million people that the Democrats have registered: those ballots are going to be just thrown out.
http://www.truthout.org/article/rfk-jr-and-mike-papantonio-is-your-vote-safe
BRAD BLOG: CBS News: New Study Details Massive Voter Roll Purges Underway in At Least 19 States
CBS Has Noticed, Why Hasn't Obama or the DNC?
Tuesday's CBS Evening News finally covered what may well be the November Surprise that we've been trying to warn about for months here at The BRAD BLOG: Massive voter roll purges being done in secret, with little or no oversight, and often under federal Justice Department cover, in states and counties around the country.
And the Democrats, who likely have the most to lose via such secret purges, are doing little or nothing about it...
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6453
BRAD BLOG: 'Republican War on Democracy': The Latest Offensives
In Swing States, Coordinated Disinformation is Sent to Student Voters, Challenges Being Made to Eligibility of Low-Income Voters Who've Lost Their Homes
The Democratic/Obama Response to the Assault on Voting Rights Remains Nowhere Near What is Needed...
While most election officials likely do their job honestly, there are a great number of them around the country who have little interest in voters --- certain voters --- being allowed to exercise their franchise at all.
Yet sadly, despite a few spotty efforts around the country, it seems those parties that do have an interest in voters actually voting (such as Obama and the DNC) have little clue about what they are facing and what needs to be done to combat the ongoing Republican assault on voting...
The effort, by a number of election officials in so-called "swing states" around the country, meant to keep Democratic-leaning voters, such as students and minorities, from casting votes this year, is remarkable and growing. It is, of course, also appalling...
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6430
STAY LIFTED IN '04 OHIO ELECTION FRAUD CASE, GOP 'TECH GURU' SUBPOENAED
Mike Connell Gets Served, Karl Rove Could be Next...
A recent flurry of activity in the long-standing King Lincoln v. OH Sec. of State lawsuit concerning voting rights violations in the state during the 2004 election has resulted in the judge lifting the stay to allow depositions to be taken of key GOP tech-guru Mike Connell, and potentially others, such as Karl Rove.
A subpoena has now been served to Connell, who was recently described by the attorneys working on the case, as a 'high-IQ Forrest Gump...at the scene of every GOP crime.'...
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6445
END
QUOTES
“There Must Be a Strict Supervision of All Banking and Credits and Investments. There Must Be an End to Speculation with Other People’s Money.”
--FDR in 1933
“Is this the United States Congress or the Board of Directors of Goldman Sachs?”
-- Rep. Dennis Kucinich reacts to the bailout bill
Listen to him on Democracy Now discussing the bailout scam here:
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/9/29/is_this_the_united_states_congress
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we canʼt have both."-- Justice Brandeis
The richest 400 Americans -- that's right, just four hundred people -- own MORE than the bottom 150 million Americans combined. 400 rich Americans have got more stashed away than half the entire country! Their combined net worth is $1.6 trillion. During the eight years of the Bush Administration, their wealth has increased by nearly $700 billion -- the same amount that they are now demanding we give to them for the "bailout." Why don't they just spend the money they made under Bush to bail themselves out? They'd still have nearly a trillion dollars left over to spread amongst themselves!
Of course, they are not going to do that -- at least not voluntarily. George W. Bush was handed a $127 billion surplus when Bill Clinton left office. Because that money was OUR money and not his, he did what the rich prefer to do -- spend it and never look back. Now we have a $9.5 trillion debt. Why on earth would we even think of giving these robber barons any more of our money?
-- Michael Moore
So where does that leave 37 million people living below the poverty line? Or 90 million - 1 out of 3 Americans - living with incomes below 200 percent of the poverty line? Or 47 million Americans lacking health insurance? Without a serious shift in priorities, or a more equitable way to pay for the Wall Street bailout such as Senator Bernie Sanders' proposal for a 10 percent surtax on couples with an income over $1 million a year or $500,000 for single taxpayers, raising $300 billion in revenues over 5 years, it leaves the most desperate citizens and progressive advocates like Blackwell extremely worried. It's also clear that real change will not happen without a filibuster-proof Democratic majority in the Senate - because no benefit for lower-income and the middle-class is too important to get by the Grand Obstructionist Party.
-- Katrina vanden Heuvel is the editor and publisher of The Nation
"John didn't phone this one in. ... You can't phone something like this in. Thank God John came back."
-- Sen. Lindsey Graham, 9/28/08, on Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) return to Washington for bailout negotiations
VERSUS
"By mid-afternoon [on Saturday], Mr. McCain's closest adviser, Mark Salter, told reporters that Mr. McCain would not go to Capitol Hill on Saturday but would make phone calls to try to push the deal along."
-- New York Times, 9/27/08
VIDEO SECTION
Finally, Bill Clinton does something positive for Obama...the first time since his outstanding Convention speech. Let’s face it, he’s been complimenting the lying grumpy gramps on tv more than Obama in recent days…but he’s baaaaccckkk…
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/10/01/bill-clinton-rocks-florida-for-obama-we-have-to-elect-a-president-that-will-rebuild-the-american-dream/
Jon Stewart dismantles McCain for his insane and erratic behavior in recent days as related to the bailout bill. I mean, did anyone notice that his big campaign suspension and trip back to DC actually DECREASED Republican support for the bill???
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/10/01/jon-stewart-blasts-mccains-leadership-house-gops-delicate-sensibilities/
Senator McCain sits down with the editorial board of the Des Moines Register and gets stumped by one of the best questions I’ve heard asked of him so far this campaign.
“Throughout your adult life, am I right, as a veteran and a member of Congress and now someone over sixty five, throughout your adult life have you been covered by a taxpayer-financed health care plan?
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/10/01/iowa-newspaper-editorial-board-to-mccain-havent-you-lived-your-entire-adult-life-with-taxpayer-funded-health-care/
Holy S***!!! Palin can’t even name ONE magazine or newspaper that she reads (and her degree is in journalism)!! Seriously, God help us all…
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/09/30/omg-palin-cant-name-one-magazinenewspaper-she-reads/
Greenwald video on McCain and the economy: John McCain does not have the ability to fix this economic crisis. After declaring the fundamentals of the economy strong, he created a political circus in Washington last week by mucking up bailout negotiations; a deplorable stunt, considering he and his political cronies helped cause the current meltdown.
It was McCain and his economic adviser Phil Gramm who pushed for the deregulation that helped lead to the banking crisis, and it was McCain's crony Rick Davis who had deep lobbyist ties to Freddie Mac. Don't let others be fooled by McCain's economic grandstanding because the reality is his policies and principles will only exacerbate our financial hardships. That's why you must spread this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4egXbhSOhk
Watch this great piece by the American News Project on Palin's religious views:
http://newsproject.org/videos/134
ARTICLE SECTION
Dean baker on the bailout and the real source of the crisis:
The near hysterical discussion (count the times "Great Depression" appears in news stories) of the bailout still largely fails to recognize the roots of the economy's current problems in the collapse of the housing bubble. Much of the discussion assumes that the problem is just bad subprime loans and that house prices will bounce back once the credit markets are working properly.
SNIP
Many analysts have attributed a tightening of credit in many of these markets to a credit crunch. This is mistaken. While some banks are squeezed because of bad mortgage loans, even a flush bank would impose tighter lending standards in a market with declining house prices. It is reasonable to expect that house prices will be 15 to 25 percent lower at the end of 2009 in many of these deflating markets.
It would be foolish to issue a mortgage loan without a very substantial down payment, since the expected decline in house prices will quickly destroy much or all of the equity held by the homeowner. In other words, it is the drop in house prices that is causing banks to demand 20 percent down payments in many markets, not their lack of capital. This situation will only be changed by a government house-price support program. Improving the financial conditions of banks will make little difference.
http://www.truthout.org/100108A
Glenn Greenwald on the BIG VICTORY yesterday…the people swing the vote away from the corporate masters…
Can anyone even remember the last time this happened, where the nation's corporate interests and their establishment spokespeople were insistently demanding government action but were impeded -- defeated -- by nothing more than popular opinion? Perhaps the failure of George Bush's Social Security schemes in 2005 would be an example, but one is hard-pressed to think of any other meaningful ones. We're a "democracy" in which nothing is less important in how our government functions than public opinion. Yesterday was an exceedingly rare though intense departure from that framework -- the kind of citizen defiance of, an "uprising" against, a rotted ruling elite described by David Sirota in his book, "Uprising." On the citizenry level, the backlash was defined not by "Republican v. Democrat" or "Left v. Right," but by "people v. ruling class." As Johnston argues, yesterday's events should be celebrated for that reason alone.
SNIP
Liberation from -- one could say "destruction of" -- the system run by that ruling establishment class is of critical importance. Yesterday's rejection of their decree, on such a momentous matter, was a shocking first step towards that objective (and the doom and panic of yesterday has given rise to calm and even optimism today, as those with cash have taken advantage of the market drop of yesterday and, around the world, are madly buying). There may be, almost certainly will be, even greater financial distress in the near future, and perhaps Americans will come to view these matters differently. But regardless of whether yesterday's bailout was a good idea on the merits, the defeat -- for now -- of those who have enjoyed an unbroken (and ill-deserved) line of victories is something that ought to be cheered.
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/09/30-8
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
TODAY'S TOPICS: Bailout Defeated, Palin Question, Debate Clip, Progressive Solutions, Letterman, Moore, Attorney Firings!
MY THOUGHTS ON BAILOUT BILL/DEFEAT
Just so we have this all in context - in terms of the current spending priorities of our country - the bailout of AIG alone cost as much as Obama’s health care plan would for an entire year….which would cover somewhere in the range of 35 million currently uninsured Americans. Now think what 700 billion could do?
Look, I'm glad the bailout bill didn't pass. It demonstrates that on occasion a public outcry can overcome corporate money. Now I realize that a majority of Republicans voted against it, meaning its one of the first times ever their party has voted in line with me on an important policy decision. Of course, our reasons for opposing this bill are completely different and our prescription for solving the problems it was meant to address are completely opposite as well...so no more talk about "agreeing with Republicans".
For Christ's sakes, they said we should lower the capital gains tax to deal with the problem??!!! That's like saying the best way to put out a fire is to throw gasoline on it.
The fact is, the Democrats have the majority, and clearly negotiating with the Republicans only makes whatever bill they come up with that much worse. So I say, screw trying to get Republican votes, they'll lie about having them, as they did yesterday, anyway. Instead, WRITE A GOOD BILL!!!
I would remind everyone of what the great former Senator Paul Wellstone once said:
If we don't fight hard enough for the things we stand for, at some point we have to recognize that we don't really stand for them.
The fact is yesterday's Wall Street rescue deal was crap, and didn't include a host of critical provisions that were deal brakers for a number of progressives (and rightly so). As True Majority noted:
Wall Street has actually convinced a lot of us that what's good for the Dow Jones Average is good for us real people. But for eight years while bankers raked in billions, ordinary Americans have seen their real wages drop, jobs sent overseas, health insurance rates skyrocket, and now thousands are losing their homes.
Here are just a few provisions that should be part of any bill (some of this is straight from True Majority to save me typing time)...and if all, or at least most of them aren't, I personally would not vote for this bill, and cannot as a voter support it.
Those are:
Putting real regulations back on runaway financial corporations, and taking an ownership stake in exchange for any taxpayer support
Providing mortgage relief so ordinary Americans stop losing their homes
Investing in new green jobs and infrastructure
Mandatory loan modification by banks
Providing serious anti-predatory lending provisions
Bankruptcy Reform - so homeowner being foreclosed on can see a bankruptcy judge...just like owners of 10 homes can on all of them but their first!
A tax on stock transactions to help pay for all this
A 6 month moratorium on foreclosures to allow time for loan workouts to occur.
That's to name some of the most important stuff I would support. Thankfully, the core progressives in the House voted AGAINST this bill.
OTHER TAKES ON THE BAILOUT BILL
Let me cut to the chase. The biggest robbery in the history of this country is taking place as you read this. Though no guns are being used, 300 million hostages are being taken. Make no mistake about it: After stealing a half trillion dollars to line the pockets of their war-profiteering backers for the past five years, after lining the pockets of their fellow oilmen to the tune of over a hundred billion dollars in just the last two years, Bush and his cronies -- who must soon vacate the White House -- are looting the U.S. Treasury of every dollar they can grab. They are swiping as much of the silverware as they can on their way out the door.
No matter what they say, no matter how many scare words they use, they are up to their old tricks of creating fear and confusion in order to make and keep themselves and the upper one percent filthy rich.
MY THOUGHTS ON BAILOUT BILL/DEFEAT
Just so we have this all in context - in terms of the current spending priorities of our country - the bailout of AIG alone cost as much as Obama’s health care plan would for an entire year….which would cover somewhere in the range of 35 million currently uninsured Americans. Now think what 700 billion could do?
Look, I'm glad the bailout bill didn't pass. It demonstrates that on occasion a public outcry can overcome corporate money. Now I realize that a majority of Republicans voted against it, meaning its one of the first times ever their party has voted in line with me on an important policy decision. Of course, our reasons for opposing this bill are completely different and our prescription for solving the problems it was meant to address are completely opposite as well...so no more talk about "agreeing with Republicans".
For Christ's sakes, they said we should lower the capital gains tax to deal with the problem??!!! That's like saying the best way to put out a fire is to throw gasoline on it.
The fact is, the Democrats have the majority, and clearly negotiating with the Republicans only makes whatever bill they come up with that much worse. So I say, screw trying to get Republican votes, they'll lie about having them, as they did yesterday, anyway. Instead, WRITE A GOOD BILL!!!
I would remind everyone of what the great former Senator Paul Wellstone once said:
If we don't fight hard enough for the things we stand for, at some point we have to recognize that we don't really stand for them.
The fact is yesterday's Wall Street rescue deal was crap, and didn't include a host of critical provisions that were deal brakers for a number of progressives (and rightly so). As True Majority noted:
Wall Street has actually convinced a lot of us that what's good for the Dow Jones Average is good for us real people. But for eight years while bankers raked in billions, ordinary Americans have seen their real wages drop, jobs sent overseas, health insurance rates skyrocket, and now thousands are losing their homes.
Here are just a few provisions that should be part of any bill (some of this is straight from True Majority to save me typing time)...and if all, or at least most of them aren't, I personally would not vote for this bill, and cannot as a voter support it.
Those are:
Putting real regulations back on runaway financial corporations, and taking an ownership stake in exchange for any taxpayer support
Providing mortgage relief so ordinary Americans stop losing their homes
Investing in new green jobs and infrastructure
Mandatory loan modification by banks
Providing serious anti-predatory lending provisions
Bankruptcy Reform - so homeowner being foreclosed on can see a bankruptcy judge...just like owners of 10 homes can on all of them but their first!
A tax on stock transactions to help pay for all this
A 6 month moratorium on foreclosures to allow time for loan workouts to occur.
That's to name some of the most important stuff I would support. Thankfully, the core progressives in the House voted AGAINST this bill.
OTHER TAKES ON THE BAILOUT BILL
Let me cut to the chase. The biggest robbery in the history of this country is taking place as you read this. Though no guns are being used, 300 million hostages are being taken. Make no mistake about it: After stealing a half trillion dollars to line the pockets of their war-profiteering backers for the past five years, after lining the pockets of their fellow oilmen to the tune of over a hundred billion dollars in just the last two years, Bush and his cronies -- who must soon vacate the White House -- are looting the U.S. Treasury of every dollar they can grab. They are swiping as much of the silverware as they can on their way out the door.
No matter what they say, no matter how many scare words they use, they are up to their old tricks of creating fear and confusion in order to make and keep themselves and the upper one percent filthy rich.
SNIP
The Republican reps are so scared of losing their seats, when this "financial crisis" reared its head two weeks ago, they realized they had just been handed their one and only chance to separate themselves from Bush before the election, while doing something that would make them look like they were on the side of "the people."
Watching C-Span yesterday morning was one of the best comedy shows I'd seen in ages. There they were, one Republican after another who had backed the war and sunk the country into record debt, who had voted to kill every regulation that would have kept Wall Street in check -- there they were, now crying foul and standing up for the little guy! One after another, they stood at the microphone on the House floor and threw Bush under the bus, under the train (even though they had voted to kill off our nation's trains, too), heck, they would've thrown him under the rising waters of the Lower Ninth Ward if they could've conjured up another hurricane.
You know how your dog acts when sprayed by a skunk? He howls and runs around trying to shake it off, rubbing and rolling himself on every piece of your carpet, trying to get rid of the stench. That's what it looked like on the Republican side of the aisle yesterday, and it was a sight to behold. The 95 brave Dems who broke with Barney Frank and Chris Dodd were the real heroes, just like those few who stood up and voted against the war in October of 2002. Watch the remarks from yesterday of Reps. Marcy Kaptur, Sheila Jackson Lee, and Dennis Kucinich. They spoke the truth.
But for now, Wall Street and its propaganda arm (the networks and media it owns) will continue to try and scare the bejesus out of you. It will be harder to get a loan. Some people will lose their jobs. A weak nation of wimps won't last long under this torture. Or will we? Is this our line in the sand?
Here's my guess: The Democratic leadership in the House secretly hoped all along that this lousy bill would go down. With Bush's proposals shredded, the Dems knew they could then write their own bill that favors the average American, not the upper 10% who were hoping for another kegger of gold. So the ball is in the Democrats' hands. The gun from Wall Street remains at their head.
-- Michael Moore
The fundamental problem with our financial system is that the fallout from the housing bust has left financial institutions with too little capital. When he finally deigned to offer an explanation of his plan, Mr. Paulson argued that he could solve this problem through “price discovery” - that once taxpayer funds had created a market for mortgage-related toxic waste, everyone would realize that the toxic waste is actually worth much more than it currently sells for, solving the capital problem. Never say never, I guess - but you don’t want to bet $700 billion on wishful thinking.
-- Paul Krugman, NY Times
If we design the right bailout, it won't lead to an increase in our long-term debt - we might even make a profit. But if we implement the wrong strategy, there is a serious risk that our national debt - already overburdened from a failed war and eight years of fiscal profligacy - will soar, and future living standards will be compromised. The president seemed to think that his new shell game will arrest the decline in house prices, and we won't be faced holding a lot of bad mortgages. I hope he's right, but I wouldn't count on it: it's not what most housing experts say. The president's economic credentials are hardly stellar. Our national debt has already climbed from $5.7 trillion to over $9 trillion in eight years, and the deficits for 2008 and 2009 - not including the bailouts - are expected to reach new heights. There is no such thing as a free war - and no such thing as a free bailout. The bill will be paid, in one way or another.
-- Joseph Stiglitz, nobel prize winning economist
VIDEO SECTION
This is so phenomenal and unexpected I almost can’t believe it. Mukasey has opened an investigation of the Attorney Firings!!! I’m not sure if I know how to even register this news…hard to believe:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/09/29/mukasey-appoints-special-prosecutor-to-investigate-usa-purge-scandal/
The Dumb and Dumber ticket now embarrass themselves TOGETHER on Katie Couric…wow are they bad!
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/09/30/mccainpalins-bizarre-definition-of-gotcha-journalism/
Chis Mathews makes the correct and obvious point, whether you liked the bailout bill or not, the fact is it was A HUGE demonstration of McCain’s lack of leadership ability…certainly leadership of his own party:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/09/29/chris-matthews-bailout-failed-because-mccains-leadership-failed/
One of the debate highlights: Obama nails McCain on the Bomb Iran song…the perfect come back to grump gramps attacks that Obama was the one that needed to watch what he said on the international stage!! Ha! From the guy that threatened Iran, North Korea, and said he might refuse to talk with Spain!!?? Really???
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/100583/obama_rips_mccain_for_singing_%22bomb_bomb_iran%22/
As I mentioned on Sunday’s post…McCain couldn’t even look Obama in the face…he could only snicker, smirk, and keeps saying “Obama doesn’t lack the knowledge or experience…” What an a-hole…and sorry John, it’s you that can’t get his facts straight and have been wrong about nearly every important issue in the past 30 years…and as every fact check of the debate now clearly demonstrates...he lied and misrepresented the truth all Friday night. And yes, the more numbers that come out show how clearly Obama won that debate...boltering the one most important question of the campaign: Is Obama ready?
The debate went a long way answering that question in the affirmative for a lot of undecided voters. Because let's face it, this campaign isn't about McCain...hell, McCain doesn't even want it about McCain. Its all about the Repubs trying to make Obama seem unfit for the job, hence all the attacks and lies. The good news is we've got two more debates for Obama to again show just how in command he is...
From ALTERNET: McCain and the Republicans can pretend they won the debate because McCain kept repeating that Obama "didn't understand" the issues and treated Obama like some uneducated, "uppity" hired help. But with the way McCain acted during the debate, it was clear that John McCain clearly doesn't understand how to act like a president. And Barack Obama does.
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/100590/debate_analysis%3A_mccain_acted_like_a_jerk/
Letterman destroys McCain Part 2…apparently he’s not finished with grumpy gramps…as new info comes out that McCain didn’t leave to DC for a whole DAY after calling Dave. Nice…
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/09/27/letterman-taunts-mccain-day-2/
ARTICLE SECTION
I have long said that in crises there are opportunities, and in the case of the Wall Street meltdown we've been given one GIANT chance to re-explain the New Deal and why it needs to be re-instituted and strengthened.
On that note, David Sirota lays out a whole host of reasons why the Bailout Bill was bad, and better yet, a whole host of alternative, PROGRESSIVE SOLUTIONS.
A few clips:
Meanwhile, it's not even close to clear that this is a problem that requires such an enormous response. As mentioned above, the Treasury Department admits it has absolutely no factual basis for requesting $700 billion - an amount equivalent to about 5 percent of our entire economy. Additionally, the Washington Post reports that "Banks throughout the United States carried on with the business of making loans yesterday even as federal officials warned again that their industry is on the verge of collapse, suggesting that the overheated language on Capitol Hill may not reflect the reality on many Main Streets." Indeed, "many smaller banks said they were actually benefiting from the problems on Wall Street" and "even some of the nation's largest banks, which have pushed hard for a federal bailout, deny that the current situation is forcing them to reduce lending."
SNIP
In the Washington Post last week, Galbraith outlined a multi-pronged plan shoring up and expanding the FDIC, creating a Home Owners Loan Corporation, resurrecting Nixon's federal revenue sharing, and taxing stock transactions (a tax that would fall mostly on speculators) to finance the whole deal.
The Service Employees International Union has drafted a plan based around a massive investment in public services and national health care, and regulatory reforms preventing foreclosures and forcing banks to renegotiate the predatory terms of their bad mortgages.
For those in the mindless, zombie-ish "someone has to do something, so we have to do what the White House says!" camp, consider the possibility that you are under the spell of the same kind of White House fear that led us to invade Iraq because of Saddam's supposed WMD. Consider, perhaps, that there may not even be a compelling basis for doing anything just yet (or at least not anything nearly so huge), and that the whole reason there is this urgent push right now has nothing to do with the financial situation, and everything to do with creating the political dynamic to pass a wasteful giveaway - one that couldn't be passed otherwise without a sense of emergency. And ask yourself why you would listen to this White House instead of listening to those experts who have been predicting this crisis and are now advising against this bailout - experts like CEPR's Baker.
SNIP
Then there is the idea of simply taking the $700 billion and simply give it to struggling homeowners to help them pay off part of their mortgages. This hasn't even been discussed but the thought experiment it involves is important to understanding why there is, indeed, an alternative to the Paulson plan. If the root of this problem is people not being able to pay off their mortgages, and those defaults then devaluing banks' mortgage-backed assets, then simply helping people pay their mortgages would preserve the value of the mortgage-backed assets and recharge the market with liquidity. That would be a bottom-up solution helping the mass public, rather than a top-down move helping only financial industry executives.
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/09/29
And here's the great Dean Baker himself breaking it down. A few clips:
In effect, the big banks had a gun pointed at their heads. The banks told Congress that if they didn't get $700 billion, then they would pull the trigger...While the final version is an improvement over the original request, there is little by way of hard commitments on the key points. Which executives will see their pay limited and by how much? How much equity does the government get for buying the banks' bad debts? How many mortgages will be renegotiated? If this were a serious bill, there would be specific wording on these points.
SNIP
The whole country now knows that these millionaire and billionaire high-flyers are the biggest bunch of welfare cheats around. The folks with the yachts, private jets and personal servants lack the skills and diligence to make it on their own. They need the tax dollars from the rest of us to make ends meet. Every progressive in the country should be working to ensure that this bailout is incredibly costly for the Wall Street crew. They should wish they never took our money.
http://www.truthout.org/092908T
LETTER FROM PROGRESSIVE DEMS ON WALL ST. GIVEAWAY
Here's the progressive blueprint - written by the leading progressives in the House...the way things should be...and could be. A few clips:
First and foremost, the same Wall Street speculators and investors who are principally responsible for having caused this avoidable financial crisis and profited from it must now be required to pay for it, not U.S. taxpayers. Should Congress move forward, this requirement must be an essential part of any bailout bill (akin to a Progressive PAYGO requirement).
That is why we support the enactment of a financial transaction tax equal to one quarter of one percent (0.25 of 1%) on all U.S. stock trades and more exotic transactions such as credit default swaps, options, and futures. This would raise approximately $150 billion/year. In addition, we should amend the tax code to prohibit the tax deductibility of executive compensation in any company where the highest paid corporate officer exceeds the compensation ofany employee by a ratio of greater than 25: 1. This would raise tens ofbillions of dollars in additional revenue to help meet the costs ofthe extraordinary Wall Street bailout being proposed by U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.
SNIP
Fourth, it is also very important that the financial bailout legislation under development safeguard consumer rights, provide tough, independent oversight, and establish a transparent, effective, 21 st century regulatory regime for the financial industry in America that will prevent any future repetition ofthe current Wall Street calamity.
http://pdamerica.org/misc/financialbailout.pdf
MORE ON PALIN…DITSY BEAUTY PAGEANT QUEEN OR CELEBRATED SIMPLETON?
Two of my friends have been debating what better exemplifies the mildly retarded witch, Sarah Palin. First, there is the following juxtaposition of two clips, one of a stuttering, stammering and confused beauty pageant contestant (you will remember this one) and the other, our possible NEXT PRESIDENT (Obama is going to win though...but if they steal it, McCain will likely die soon, and Palin would be President) Sarah Palin trying to speak in full sentences with proper syntax with Katie Couric.
http://mikesweeklyskepticrant.blogspot.com/2008/09/its-like-shes-four-year-old-trying-to.html
This other clip is thought by another friend of mine to be an even better representation of Sarah Palin and the more general phenomenon of the right wing base seeing in her what they want to see...otherwise known as projection. This clip is from the classic Peter Sellers movie Being There in which he played Chance the gardener - a man completely ignorant of the world outside his tiny spectrum of life experience yet celebrated by many as something he clearly was far from being (by Republicans no less). Watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYLy1Yj_P_Q
So you decide, is she more like a ditsy beauty pageant queen that is easily flustered by questions that simply demand putting a few mildly disparate concepts together in a way that makes sense? Or is she a simpleton that is unaware and ignorant of the outside world yet celebrated by a Republican base that desperately wants to be led by a "straight shooting woman from Alaska just like them."?
Hell, she's both...
Sunday, September 28, 2008
TODAY'S TOPICS: Debate Analysis, Disaster Capitalism, Palin's Scary, Kerry!, Hartmann, Tax Wall Street, Diebold/McCain, SNL Parody
QUICK THOUGHTS ON DEBATE
First, let's be clear, there are two ways debates can be judged. There's the Media Matrix's way, which is based on expectations, and how and whether they're exceeded by the candidates. And then there's REALITY...based on how accurately the candidates were in articulating the causes of our nation's problems and then how credible were the solutions they offered to those problems (with style, confidence, etc. mattering too).
The media Matrix's analysis, and too many people I've talked to that have been sucked into thinking about these kinds of debates in that way goes something like this: the debate was essentially a draw because McCain didn't forget his own name, didn't get up on his podium and start yelling "Captian O' Captain", and apparently didn't poop his pants on stage. Obama meanwhile, because he has all the facts on his side, is far more eloquent, and who's solutions are all far superior, didn't destroy McCain to the degree that he could have...therefore again, the punditocracy, and too many people who have been conditioned to think this way rated the debate as a "draw".
The only "truth" in such an analysis is that yes, McCain did slightly better than expected (which means better than "terrible"), and yes, Obama COULD have hit him harder on a number of occasions (which I was yelling at the TV for him to do). But if you know anything about the topics they were discussing, McCain (grumpy gramps) was incredibly ignorant, deceptive, and actually, confusing and confused.
However, a couple of the places Obama could have hit McSame much harder included:
One, calling out McCain on his torture lies...in that he actually SUPPORTED torture by the CIA AND said nothing after Bush simply wrote a signing statement saying he COULD torture on McCain's big effort to ban the practice.
Two, he should have more consistently tied all the problems that we now face to the Republicans AND John McCain...making that connection more often between the damaged Repub Brand and McCain and our problems.
Three, on the energy issue he missed a HUGE opportunity to point out that McCain has missed EACH of the last 8 votes to increase renewable energy investments, and has actually voted against such efforts numerous times. So his talk about wind and solar is a bunch of horse shit, as is his talk about climate change. Why? Because he's ALSO voted against raising CAFE (fuel efficiency standards) time after time. Obama didn't raise either of these facts...which are essentially the cornerstone of energy policy and climate change solutions.
Four, he should bring up Phil Gramm and McCain's campaign of corporate lobbyists and thugs every other minute! My god, McCain's got former lobbyists for Georgia, dictators, terrorists, and just about every corporation responsible for our current economic crisis.
And five, he's got to challenge McCain's bullshit on veteran's issues!! The fact is he's got a terrible voting record on the issue, yet he doesn't go more than five minutes without saying how committed he is to veterans! Guess what, EVERY DEMOCRAT in the Senate has a BETTER voting record on veterans issues than McCain does...what's that tell you about his vaunted "character"? Thankfully Biden does do this right here...
There were others, but you get the idea. On that note, while Obama was better on the Iran issue, they're both abysmal on that issue. Please!! Iran the threat?? How about Israel?
Now back to the "who won question". In the real world of debating, and if you leave the phony "expectations" game at the door, this was NO CONTEST. Obama was superior in presentation, and completely and totally superior in his understanding of what caused our current predicaments and what kinds of prescriptions will best alleviate them. I'm sorry, but if you were in a debate class, FACTS MATTER!
And when McCain sits there and argues that massive tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy while keeping us in Iraq is a GOOD prescription for our current crisis, he's dead wrong, and Obama is right. The same goes for nearly every issue they debated...McCain was usually not only incorrect on his facts or lying, his prescriptions would exacerbate each and every issue they debated. All the while he couldn't look Obama in the face, while Obama looked at him each and every engagement. He also had some big high points, especially the stuff on Spain, Iraq, and corporate taxes.
When the debate finished I told my friend, "Don't listen to this media bullshit about this being a draw, just wait till the polls of what the people thought come out and I guarantee they will say Obama won." Well, they of course did. In fact, the poll of voters that were undecided showed that twice as many felt Obama won than McCain. And the poll of likely voters had him winning by twenty points. These debate scenarios are often, not always, examples of cases when the people are ahead of the pundits and the media in terms of an accurate analysis of what just took place. The reason being that many voters didn't bring in all the "expectations baggage" (imagine how low the expectations are for Palin...all she will need to do is not start crying and she'll have "won"), and therefore most saw what was readily obvious: Obama was superior.
While I personally identified all kinds of places he could have taken it to McCain harder, I also don't put it past him that he's doing what he did in the buildup to his nomination speech. He didn't want to come out too hard the first debate, as people, particularly undecided voters, are seeing the two for the first time face to face, and an aggressive "uppity" black guy taking it really hard to an old white rich guy may not strategically - even though it makes the base happiest - the smartest move. But, I do expect, like how he nailed the nomination speech, to get better each debate, and more aggressive.
So overall Obama DID win the debate, according to basic facts, and according to the people polled that watched it...PARTICULARLY undecideds. Could he have done better? Absolutely. Can McCain do worse, absolutely. Can't wait for debate number two...on the economy no less...
Watch some highlights of the debate...a few good clips on this C&L's page:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/page/2/?rand=%7B20080928181948%7D
WELCOME TO AMERICAN KLEPTOCRACY (exemplified by the bailout)
Kleptocracy: a term applied to a government that extends the personal wealth and political power of government officials and the ruling class (collectively, kleptocrats) at the expense of the population.
VIDEO SECTION
Oh yes, more SNL Palin spoofs:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/09/28/snl-spoofs-palincouric-interview/
Wow…now compare to the real interview...I think Palin might just be retarded…seriously…Russia over her air space????
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/09/25/couric-presses-palin-on-alaska-is-close-to-russia-nonsense/
Kerry continues to be one of Obama's most effective surrogates...taking it to McCain again:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/09/28/fox-news-sunday-john-kerry-scoffs-at-mccains-bailout-hero-routine/
Bill Maher's new rule...always awesome:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/09/28/real-time-with-bill-maher-new-rules-look-beyond-the-candidates-skin-color/
And watch the Shock Doctrine expert herself, Naomi Klein discuss the bailout:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/09/27/john-amato-interviews-naomi-klein-about-the-next-shock-doctrine-the-wall-street-bailout-giveaway/
“The bailout is a giveaway that will cause hyperinflation and dollar collapse…and a new kleptocracy of billionaires…this is a once in a century rip-off.”
Economist Michael Hudson, was Kucinich’s chief economic advisor (has written the best and most thorough piece on this to date)
Watch him discuss it towards end of this clip from the Real News (independent!):
http://therealnews.com/t/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=2408
Well, if this doesn’t prove my “Fear Factor”, Shock Doctrine point from the other day…particularly the relationship between the way Iraq was played by the administration and the current crisis is, then I don’t know what does.
Watch the Daily Show play Bush’s speeches from 2003 and 2008 side by side...genius, sad, and scary:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/09/26/jon-stewart-analyzes-bushs-latest-fearmongering-speech/
Let’s all say it together now, slowly, letter by letter: W-A-R C-R-I-M-I-N-A-L-S! Watch Maddow:
“Senior Bush administration officials held a series of meetings in the White House in 2002 and 2003 to discuss allowing the CIA to use harsh interrogation methods on Al Qaeda detainees, according to a written statement Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recently provided to Senate investigators. Rice’s written response to investigators on the Senate Armed Services Committee marks the first time a high-ranking White House official has formally acknowledged the White House discussions, which led to the CIA’s use of waterboarding and other coercive methods…”
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/09/26/condi-rice-admits-that-senior-cabinet-members-held-meetings-in-the-white-house-to-discuss-torture/
QUOTES TO READ ON OUR ECONOMIC MELTDOWN AND BAILOUT
Missing in most of our media coverage which reported the drama as a sit-com while focusing on the political debate to be or not to be, was any sense of whats really behind this -- a debt we cannot manage or wish away. We are bankrupt and this may be a going out of business sale, as foretold by the Iranian President who said the US Empire is spent.
SNIP
So as the contradictions mount, the real audience that Hank and Ben are playing to are the investors and banks in Asia who have kept our economy afloat. It is they who are losing confidence. China is warning its banks not to pump more money into the USA. We are dependent on their largess, on OCM (Other country's money) and as they go, we go. This reality is not being made clear as the Republicans and Democrats trade accusations or just stop talking to each other.
I fear President Bush may finally be right: "This sucker could go down." Part of me thinks that may not be a bad thing--but, alas, I know better. What we really need is debt relief but that's the stuff of another column.
-- Danny Schechter, Director of In Debt We Trust
... even if it can work -- that is, prop up insolvent financial institutions -- the Treasury's proposal is still a proclamation of the collapse of the whole U.S. financial system. Even if some financial institutions are saved, the collapse will manifest itself in other ways, probably ways more damaging to the public. For who cares if Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley endure if the issuance of $700 billion more in government bonds drives interest rates way up, diverts credit from the private economy, devalues the already sinking dollar, and sends commodity prices soaring again?
-- Iranian President Ahmadinajed (you know its bad when he's making more sense than our leaders)
Trading the debts of others without accountability has been the motor of astronomical financial gain for many in recent years...This crisis exposes the element of basic unreality in the situation - the truth that almost unimaginable wealth has been generated by equally unimaginable levels of fiction, paper transactions with no concrete outcome beyond profit for traders. But while we are getting used to this sudden vision of the Emperor's New Clothes, there are one or two questions that, in government as in society at large, we at last have a chance to ask.
Some of these are elementary and practical. Given that the risk to social stability overall in these processes has been shown to be so enormous, it is no use pretending that the financial world can maintain indefinitely the degree of exemption from scrutiny and regulation that it has got used to. To grant that without a basis of some common prosperity and stability, no speculative market can long survive is not to argue for rigid Soviet-style centralised direction. Insecure or failed states may provide a brief and golden opportunity for profiteering, but cannot sustain reliable institutions.
--UK’s The Spectator; "FACE IT, MARX IS HALF RIGHT ABOUT CAPITALISM
As I've watched the various business networks over the last few weeks, I sense desperation and fear among the commentators, pundits, and "experts". It is a fear based upon self interest. Their lives depend upon the masses keeping their money invested in the market. They have overwhelmingly been in favor of the bailout bill. I wonder why. Jim "Mad Money" Cramer, who has a net worth of $100 million, is in favor of the bill. Larry "Free market capitalism is the best path to prosperity" Kudlow, a multi-millionaire, is 100% in favor of a socialist bailout of the criminal investment banks. They support this "blank check" to a government that is already $9.65 trillion in debt, because they want to maintain their lavish lifestyle, multiple estates, and prominent positions in society.
-- James Quinn explains in an article that calls the US the Titanic
ARTICLE SECTION
Thom Hartmann gives one especially important piece of the puzzle in getting us out of this mess…or at least starting too…tax stock transitions!
A few clips:
For Grover "Drown Government In The Bathtub" Norquist, this bailout deal will work out very well. At a proposed cost of $4,780 per taxpayer, it'll further the David Stockman strategy of so indebting us that the next president won't have the luxury of even thinking of new social spending (expanding health care, social security, education, infrastructure, etc.); taxes will even have to be raised just to pay for the bailout. It'll debase our currency, driving up commodity prices and interest rates, which will benefit the Investor Class while further impoverishing the pesky Middle Class, rendering them less prone to protest (because they're so busy working trying to pay off their debt).
It'll create stagflation for at least the next half decade, which can be blamed on Democrats who currently control Congress and, should Obama be elected, be blamed on him. But there's another way: Create an agency to fund the bailout, loan that agency the money from the treasury, and then have that agency tax Wall Street to pay us (the treasury) back.
SNIP
So bailouts don't work, and never have. And they also have the side effects of damaging a nation's credit, sucking up its taxpayers resources, and (when done with debt) weakening its currency. So let's go back to what we know works. After Hoover's 1931 bailout of the banks failed, FDR did a cold reboot of the entire system, putting into place strong rules to prevent speculative abuse. And he doubled the STET tax, both producing revenue that more than funded the Securities and Exchange Commission and further prevented a repeat of the speculative bubble of the 1920s that led directly to the Republican Great Depression.
We've done it before. We financed the Spanish American War and partially financed the Civil War, WWI, and WWII with STETs. We stabilized our stock market with a STET from the mid-30s to 1966, and other nations are doing it today. It's time to do it again, this time using the STET so tax Wall Street can pay for its own bailout.
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/09/26
THE PALIN PROBLEM IS REAL…
But Sarah Palin's performance in the tiny vignettes of unscripted dialogue in which we've been allowed to see her has been nothing short of frightening -- really, as I said, pity-inducing. And I say that as someone who has thought from the start that the criticisms of her abilities -- as opposed to her ideology -- were much too extreme. One of two things is absolutely clear at this point: she is either (a) completely ignorant about the most basic political issues -- a vacant, ill-informed, incurious know-nothing, or (b) aggressively concealing her actual beliefs about these matters because she's petrified of deviating from the simple-minded campaign talking points she's been fed and/or because her actual beliefs are so politically unpalatable, even when taking into account the right-wing extremism that is permitted, even rewarded, in our mainstream. I'm not really sure which is worse, but it doesn't really matter, because with 40 days left before the election, both options are heinous.
What seems most likely is that she's perfectly conversant in the exceedingly narrow and parochial range of issues she's concerned herself with as Wasilla Mayor and Alaska Governor -- oil drilling on the North Slope, specific local budget items, corruption issues inside the Alaskan State GOP, and evangelical and religious matters. She really doesn't seem to have any thoughts about anything outside of that -- or if she does, she is suppressing them -- and is thus capable of spouting little more than empty right-wing slogans. That's what makes all the issues raised by the excellent on-scene reporting by Salon's David Talbot more significant than it otherwise might be -- she could be a religious fanatic with an extremist agenda, or a power-crazed, vendetta-fueled, secrecy-obsessed Cheney-ite, or something else altogether. She may not even know what she is, and we're clearly not going to find out.
SNIP
Vice Presidents matter much more than they did before. So much unfettered power is now vested in the Executive that it's inevitable that the Vice President will wield significant authority. McCain evinces little interest in domestic policy, and the fact that he will be beholden to her and her Dobson-ite base if she wins makes it highly likely that she will exert substantial influence over numerous important areas. All of that, combined with McCain's age -- and what really do appear to be legitimate and growing questions about his health (those are mere suspicions, but appropriate ones that should be answered by McCain) -- makes Sarah Palin's candidacy a very real hazard, something that, by the day, I'm convinced is as important as any other issue in the campaign.
-- Glenn Greenwald, Salon.com
The lengths the McCain campaign is going to in order to shield Sarah Palin from questioning are reaching truly comic dimensions . . . What's really sobering is that the McCain campaign continues to block Palin from answering questions even though it's now resulting in reams and reams of bad press for the McCain-Palin ticket. That suggests McCain advisers know that letting her answer even the most elementary questions in an uncontrolled environment is so dangerous that it's worth weathering the current media drubbing they're taking in order to prevent it from happening at all costs.
--Greg Sargent
Diebold Keeps on Truckin' in Ohio for McCain
Disgraced E-Voting Vendor, With Admittedly Inaccurate Voting Systems, Seen Back on the Road for the Republican Candidate in the Buckeye State...
Jeff Johnson at "Urban In-Fill" points us to a photo snapped recently in Columbus, Ohio...
If you can't tell, that's a truck with a Diebold logo on the side, and a John McCain sticker on the back. Here we go again...
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6421
QUICK THOUGHTS ON DEBATE
First, let's be clear, there are two ways debates can be judged. There's the Media Matrix's way, which is based on expectations, and how and whether they're exceeded by the candidates. And then there's REALITY...based on how accurately the candidates were in articulating the causes of our nation's problems and then how credible were the solutions they offered to those problems (with style, confidence, etc. mattering too).
The media Matrix's analysis, and too many people I've talked to that have been sucked into thinking about these kinds of debates in that way goes something like this: the debate was essentially a draw because McCain didn't forget his own name, didn't get up on his podium and start yelling "Captian O' Captain", and apparently didn't poop his pants on stage. Obama meanwhile, because he has all the facts on his side, is far more eloquent, and who's solutions are all far superior, didn't destroy McCain to the degree that he could have...therefore again, the punditocracy, and too many people who have been conditioned to think this way rated the debate as a "draw".
The only "truth" in such an analysis is that yes, McCain did slightly better than expected (which means better than "terrible"), and yes, Obama COULD have hit him harder on a number of occasions (which I was yelling at the TV for him to do). But if you know anything about the topics they were discussing, McCain (grumpy gramps) was incredibly ignorant, deceptive, and actually, confusing and confused.
However, a couple of the places Obama could have hit McSame much harder included:
One, calling out McCain on his torture lies...in that he actually SUPPORTED torture by the CIA AND said nothing after Bush simply wrote a signing statement saying he COULD torture on McCain's big effort to ban the practice.
Two, he should have more consistently tied all the problems that we now face to the Republicans AND John McCain...making that connection more often between the damaged Repub Brand and McCain and our problems.
Three, on the energy issue he missed a HUGE opportunity to point out that McCain has missed EACH of the last 8 votes to increase renewable energy investments, and has actually voted against such efforts numerous times. So his talk about wind and solar is a bunch of horse shit, as is his talk about climate change. Why? Because he's ALSO voted against raising CAFE (fuel efficiency standards) time after time. Obama didn't raise either of these facts...which are essentially the cornerstone of energy policy and climate change solutions.
Four, he should bring up Phil Gramm and McCain's campaign of corporate lobbyists and thugs every other minute! My god, McCain's got former lobbyists for Georgia, dictators, terrorists, and just about every corporation responsible for our current economic crisis.
And five, he's got to challenge McCain's bullshit on veteran's issues!! The fact is he's got a terrible voting record on the issue, yet he doesn't go more than five minutes without saying how committed he is to veterans! Guess what, EVERY DEMOCRAT in the Senate has a BETTER voting record on veterans issues than McCain does...what's that tell you about his vaunted "character"? Thankfully Biden does do this right here...
There were others, but you get the idea. On that note, while Obama was better on the Iran issue, they're both abysmal on that issue. Please!! Iran the threat?? How about Israel?
Now back to the "who won question". In the real world of debating, and if you leave the phony "expectations" game at the door, this was NO CONTEST. Obama was superior in presentation, and completely and totally superior in his understanding of what caused our current predicaments and what kinds of prescriptions will best alleviate them. I'm sorry, but if you were in a debate class, FACTS MATTER!
And when McCain sits there and argues that massive tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy while keeping us in Iraq is a GOOD prescription for our current crisis, he's dead wrong, and Obama is right. The same goes for nearly every issue they debated...McCain was usually not only incorrect on his facts or lying, his prescriptions would exacerbate each and every issue they debated. All the while he couldn't look Obama in the face, while Obama looked at him each and every engagement. He also had some big high points, especially the stuff on Spain, Iraq, and corporate taxes.
When the debate finished I told my friend, "Don't listen to this media bullshit about this being a draw, just wait till the polls of what the people thought come out and I guarantee they will say Obama won." Well, they of course did. In fact, the poll of voters that were undecided showed that twice as many felt Obama won than McCain. And the poll of likely voters had him winning by twenty points. These debate scenarios are often, not always, examples of cases when the people are ahead of the pundits and the media in terms of an accurate analysis of what just took place. The reason being that many voters didn't bring in all the "expectations baggage" (imagine how low the expectations are for Palin...all she will need to do is not start crying and she'll have "won"), and therefore most saw what was readily obvious: Obama was superior.
While I personally identified all kinds of places he could have taken it to McCain harder, I also don't put it past him that he's doing what he did in the buildup to his nomination speech. He didn't want to come out too hard the first debate, as people, particularly undecided voters, are seeing the two for the first time face to face, and an aggressive "uppity" black guy taking it really hard to an old white rich guy may not strategically - even though it makes the base happiest - the smartest move. But, I do expect, like how he nailed the nomination speech, to get better each debate, and more aggressive.
So overall Obama DID win the debate, according to basic facts, and according to the people polled that watched it...PARTICULARLY undecideds. Could he have done better? Absolutely. Can McCain do worse, absolutely. Can't wait for debate number two...on the economy no less...
Watch some highlights of the debate...a few good clips on this C&L's page:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/page/2/?rand=%7B20080928181948%7D
WELCOME TO AMERICAN KLEPTOCRACY (exemplified by the bailout)
Kleptocracy: a term applied to a government that extends the personal wealth and political power of government officials and the ruling class (collectively, kleptocrats) at the expense of the population.
VIDEO SECTION
Oh yes, more SNL Palin spoofs:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/09/28/snl-spoofs-palincouric-interview/
Wow…now compare to the real interview...I think Palin might just be retarded…seriously…Russia over her air space????
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/09/25/couric-presses-palin-on-alaska-is-close-to-russia-nonsense/
Kerry continues to be one of Obama's most effective surrogates...taking it to McCain again:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/09/28/fox-news-sunday-john-kerry-scoffs-at-mccains-bailout-hero-routine/
Bill Maher's new rule...always awesome:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/09/28/real-time-with-bill-maher-new-rules-look-beyond-the-candidates-skin-color/
And watch the Shock Doctrine expert herself, Naomi Klein discuss the bailout:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/09/27/john-amato-interviews-naomi-klein-about-the-next-shock-doctrine-the-wall-street-bailout-giveaway/
“The bailout is a giveaway that will cause hyperinflation and dollar collapse…and a new kleptocracy of billionaires…this is a once in a century rip-off.”
Economist Michael Hudson, was Kucinich’s chief economic advisor (has written the best and most thorough piece on this to date)
Watch him discuss it towards end of this clip from the Real News (independent!):
http://therealnews.com/t/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=2408
Well, if this doesn’t prove my “Fear Factor”, Shock Doctrine point from the other day…particularly the relationship between the way Iraq was played by the administration and the current crisis is, then I don’t know what does.
Watch the Daily Show play Bush’s speeches from 2003 and 2008 side by side...genius, sad, and scary:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/09/26/jon-stewart-analyzes-bushs-latest-fearmongering-speech/
Let’s all say it together now, slowly, letter by letter: W-A-R C-R-I-M-I-N-A-L-S! Watch Maddow:
“Senior Bush administration officials held a series of meetings in the White House in 2002 and 2003 to discuss allowing the CIA to use harsh interrogation methods on Al Qaeda detainees, according to a written statement Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recently provided to Senate investigators. Rice’s written response to investigators on the Senate Armed Services Committee marks the first time a high-ranking White House official has formally acknowledged the White House discussions, which led to the CIA’s use of waterboarding and other coercive methods…”
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/09/26/condi-rice-admits-that-senior-cabinet-members-held-meetings-in-the-white-house-to-discuss-torture/
QUOTES TO READ ON OUR ECONOMIC MELTDOWN AND BAILOUT
Missing in most of our media coverage which reported the drama as a sit-com while focusing on the political debate to be or not to be, was any sense of whats really behind this -- a debt we cannot manage or wish away. We are bankrupt and this may be a going out of business sale, as foretold by the Iranian President who said the US Empire is spent.
SNIP
So as the contradictions mount, the real audience that Hank and Ben are playing to are the investors and banks in Asia who have kept our economy afloat. It is they who are losing confidence. China is warning its banks not to pump more money into the USA. We are dependent on their largess, on OCM (Other country's money) and as they go, we go. This reality is not being made clear as the Republicans and Democrats trade accusations or just stop talking to each other.
I fear President Bush may finally be right: "This sucker could go down." Part of me thinks that may not be a bad thing--but, alas, I know better. What we really need is debt relief but that's the stuff of another column.
-- Danny Schechter, Director of In Debt We Trust
... even if it can work -- that is, prop up insolvent financial institutions -- the Treasury's proposal is still a proclamation of the collapse of the whole U.S. financial system. Even if some financial institutions are saved, the collapse will manifest itself in other ways, probably ways more damaging to the public. For who cares if Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley endure if the issuance of $700 billion more in government bonds drives interest rates way up, diverts credit from the private economy, devalues the already sinking dollar, and sends commodity prices soaring again?
-- Iranian President Ahmadinajed (you know its bad when he's making more sense than our leaders)
Trading the debts of others without accountability has been the motor of astronomical financial gain for many in recent years...This crisis exposes the element of basic unreality in the situation - the truth that almost unimaginable wealth has been generated by equally unimaginable levels of fiction, paper transactions with no concrete outcome beyond profit for traders. But while we are getting used to this sudden vision of the Emperor's New Clothes, there are one or two questions that, in government as in society at large, we at last have a chance to ask.
Some of these are elementary and practical. Given that the risk to social stability overall in these processes has been shown to be so enormous, it is no use pretending that the financial world can maintain indefinitely the degree of exemption from scrutiny and regulation that it has got used to. To grant that without a basis of some common prosperity and stability, no speculative market can long survive is not to argue for rigid Soviet-style centralised direction. Insecure or failed states may provide a brief and golden opportunity for profiteering, but cannot sustain reliable institutions.
--UK’s The Spectator; "FACE IT, MARX IS HALF RIGHT ABOUT CAPITALISM
As I've watched the various business networks over the last few weeks, I sense desperation and fear among the commentators, pundits, and "experts". It is a fear based upon self interest. Their lives depend upon the masses keeping their money invested in the market. They have overwhelmingly been in favor of the bailout bill. I wonder why. Jim "Mad Money" Cramer, who has a net worth of $100 million, is in favor of the bill. Larry "Free market capitalism is the best path to prosperity" Kudlow, a multi-millionaire, is 100% in favor of a socialist bailout of the criminal investment banks. They support this "blank check" to a government that is already $9.65 trillion in debt, because they want to maintain their lavish lifestyle, multiple estates, and prominent positions in society.
-- James Quinn explains in an article that calls the US the Titanic
ARTICLE SECTION
Thom Hartmann gives one especially important piece of the puzzle in getting us out of this mess…or at least starting too…tax stock transitions!
A few clips:
For Grover "Drown Government In The Bathtub" Norquist, this bailout deal will work out very well. At a proposed cost of $4,780 per taxpayer, it'll further the David Stockman strategy of so indebting us that the next president won't have the luxury of even thinking of new social spending (expanding health care, social security, education, infrastructure, etc.); taxes will even have to be raised just to pay for the bailout. It'll debase our currency, driving up commodity prices and interest rates, which will benefit the Investor Class while further impoverishing the pesky Middle Class, rendering them less prone to protest (because they're so busy working trying to pay off their debt).
It'll create stagflation for at least the next half decade, which can be blamed on Democrats who currently control Congress and, should Obama be elected, be blamed on him. But there's another way: Create an agency to fund the bailout, loan that agency the money from the treasury, and then have that agency tax Wall Street to pay us (the treasury) back.
SNIP
So bailouts don't work, and never have. And they also have the side effects of damaging a nation's credit, sucking up its taxpayers resources, and (when done with debt) weakening its currency. So let's go back to what we know works. After Hoover's 1931 bailout of the banks failed, FDR did a cold reboot of the entire system, putting into place strong rules to prevent speculative abuse. And he doubled the STET tax, both producing revenue that more than funded the Securities and Exchange Commission and further prevented a repeat of the speculative bubble of the 1920s that led directly to the Republican Great Depression.
We've done it before. We financed the Spanish American War and partially financed the Civil War, WWI, and WWII with STETs. We stabilized our stock market with a STET from the mid-30s to 1966, and other nations are doing it today. It's time to do it again, this time using the STET so tax Wall Street can pay for its own bailout.
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/09/26
THE PALIN PROBLEM IS REAL…
But Sarah Palin's performance in the tiny vignettes of unscripted dialogue in which we've been allowed to see her has been nothing short of frightening -- really, as I said, pity-inducing. And I say that as someone who has thought from the start that the criticisms of her abilities -- as opposed to her ideology -- were much too extreme. One of two things is absolutely clear at this point: she is either (a) completely ignorant about the most basic political issues -- a vacant, ill-informed, incurious know-nothing, or (b) aggressively concealing her actual beliefs about these matters because she's petrified of deviating from the simple-minded campaign talking points she's been fed and/or because her actual beliefs are so politically unpalatable, even when taking into account the right-wing extremism that is permitted, even rewarded, in our mainstream. I'm not really sure which is worse, but it doesn't really matter, because with 40 days left before the election, both options are heinous.
What seems most likely is that she's perfectly conversant in the exceedingly narrow and parochial range of issues she's concerned herself with as Wasilla Mayor and Alaska Governor -- oil drilling on the North Slope, specific local budget items, corruption issues inside the Alaskan State GOP, and evangelical and religious matters. She really doesn't seem to have any thoughts about anything outside of that -- or if she does, she is suppressing them -- and is thus capable of spouting little more than empty right-wing slogans. That's what makes all the issues raised by the excellent on-scene reporting by Salon's David Talbot more significant than it otherwise might be -- she could be a religious fanatic with an extremist agenda, or a power-crazed, vendetta-fueled, secrecy-obsessed Cheney-ite, or something else altogether. She may not even know what she is, and we're clearly not going to find out.
SNIP
Vice Presidents matter much more than they did before. So much unfettered power is now vested in the Executive that it's inevitable that the Vice President will wield significant authority. McCain evinces little interest in domestic policy, and the fact that he will be beholden to her and her Dobson-ite base if she wins makes it highly likely that she will exert substantial influence over numerous important areas. All of that, combined with McCain's age -- and what really do appear to be legitimate and growing questions about his health (those are mere suspicions, but appropriate ones that should be answered by McCain) -- makes Sarah Palin's candidacy a very real hazard, something that, by the day, I'm convinced is as important as any other issue in the campaign.
-- Glenn Greenwald, Salon.com
The lengths the McCain campaign is going to in order to shield Sarah Palin from questioning are reaching truly comic dimensions . . . What's really sobering is that the McCain campaign continues to block Palin from answering questions even though it's now resulting in reams and reams of bad press for the McCain-Palin ticket. That suggests McCain advisers know that letting her answer even the most elementary questions in an uncontrolled environment is so dangerous that it's worth weathering the current media drubbing they're taking in order to prevent it from happening at all costs.
--Greg Sargent
Diebold Keeps on Truckin' in Ohio for McCain
Disgraced E-Voting Vendor, With Admittedly Inaccurate Voting Systems, Seen Back on the Road for the Republican Candidate in the Buckeye State...
Jeff Johnson at "Urban In-Fill" points us to a photo snapped recently in Columbus, Ohio...
If you can't tell, that's a truck with a Diebold logo on the side, and a John McCain sticker on the back. Here we go again...
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6421
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