++The House holding doctors' pay hostage repealed Obamacare for a stunning 52 times. But this will not affect the GOP.
++Bobby Jindal has answered the ads on his refusing the expansion of Medicaid by saying it hurts the disabled.
++Since January of this year alone, there have been 31,000 ads against Obamacare.
++The Americans for Prosperity, the Koch-funded front group, now claims they are the leading organization for the freedom of healthcare.
++Senate Republicans blocked aid to the Ukraine because they insisted that Koch-funded 501-C-4s be protected against any IRS regulations.
++Brainwrap issued his final projections for Obamacare. He thinks 5.5 million will have signed up by the end of March and over 5 million will receive Medicaid expansion. Throw-in the 3.1 million adult children covered by their parents and you got about 14 million benefiting directing from the ACA. If you already have insurance you already benefit from the additional protections.
++The number one generator of traffic to Healthcare.gov is Obama appearance on the Do or Die comedy "Between the Ferns". Of course,he demeaned the office of President.
Showing posts with label Americans for Prosperity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Americans for Prosperity. Show all posts
Friday, March 14, 2014
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Back to the Summer Doldrums
++How bitter will the next few years be? Maybe it is just the humidity but already the nuts are beginning to surface again.
++The House is developing a menu to present President Obama in order for them to raise the debt limit. President Obama said this time he was not negotiating it. Observers expect it to reach climax by December recess. One of the options is to "privatize social security", which would only increase the debt but never mind.
++The House says they will have a conference July 10th on their immigration bill. Whether it includes a "path to citizenship" is anyone's guess.
++If you believe CNN, Republicans are demanding something be done about student loans. Last I looked it was Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, who was spearheading the charge to cut interest rates on them.
++Sam Adams Lager had a 4th of July ad that quotes the Declaration of Independence but omitted the word "God". A Fox news commentator said that was "letting the terrorists win."
++The Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity are running ads in Georgia warning the state about the dangers of solar energy and that their rates will skyrocket if state power plants use solar.
++The same Americans for Prosperity have cut ads aimed a younger women warning them about Obamacare.
++Republicans are attacking Obamacare again because the employer mandate has been delayed a year. Now they are arguing this is illegal while others are proclaiming this is Doom and Gloom for the health insurance industry like they did when it was passed the first time.
++Rick Perry is using his anti-abortion stunt in Texas as a launchpad for his 2016 run for the Presidency.
++Scott Walker, who also has higher aspirations, quietly signed his ultrasound anti-abortion bill into law. The ACLU and Planned Parenthood are suing.
++In Michigan, New Jersey and Alabama, same sex couples are suing for the right to marry.
++Mississippi is attempting again to pass a strict anti-abortion law after the success of Ohio, Wisconsin and Texas.
++House Republicans sort of admit that there is no there in the IRS "scandal case". What's worse there smoking gun was the director of the IRS visited the Whit House over 150 times to see President Obama. Forbes rained on their parade in an article that no he never went there.
++House Republicans think they have found the person who can expose the Benghazi scandal. The only problem is that the man is a retired Marine and wants nothing to do with them.
++The Russians think it would be best for Edward Snowden to go to Venezuela for asylum. No one seems to be making the point that Booz-Hamilton, his employer is owned by the Caryle Group, which is now owned by foreigners.
++The Obama scandals all seem to have Republicans as major players. The Scandal to me is the NSA and the Fisa Court. So the head of the NSA is a Republican and the head of the FISA Court is none other than John Roberts. As the New York Times piece indicated this morning, Roberts appoints all 11 judges and they have vastly expanded national security law,which is of course totally secret. The NSA has rejected all FOIA requests by American citizens and the DOJ has just urged the FISA court to keep their decisions secret, contrary to some in the Senate.
++A Mexican sheriff was killed over the weekend with a gun from the Fast and Furious program. This should give Darryl Issa something to play with now that his scandals keep shrinking.
++Liz Cheney wants to be Senator from Wyoming. The only problem is that Republican Mike Enzi doesn't want to retire. Allan Simpson says this will get ugly.
++Only a year ago Mohammed Morsi won the first election in Egypt's modern history. A year later the largest demonstrations in modern history led to his removal by the military. The Saudis applauded Morsi's removal as a sign that authoritarianism would return to the Middle East. The Wall Street Journal urged that Egypt should have a leader like Pinochet. Great. Now The Moslem Brotherhood is waging counter-protests. El Baradei was going to be the Prime Minister, now he's not and he cancelled his appearance on the Sunday talk shows. It looks like the military can't run things any better than Morsi.
++John Kerry was on a yacht during the Egyptian crisis or not. A video shows he was, giving the right new fuel for a Benghazi-type scandal.
++Syria's Assad applauded Morsi's overthrow. The Free Syria Army are waging a war against the Islamists as if that struggle was over and now they are gearing up to take power.
++While Republicans are figuring out ways to suppress the vote in 2014, Hispanics are registering at high rates in reaction to Republican opposition to immigration reform.
++A Fayetteville ,North Carolina man had a July 4th float in a parade celebrating White History Month. I didn't know whether the negative reaction was because of his racism or that his float had a confederate flag.
++Ted Nugent wants to run for President in 2016. I think he would be older than Hillary Clinton.
++Environmentalists warn that the new border security provisions in the immigration law will jeopardize several animal species because they migrate back and forth between the United States and Mexico.
++Oh, by the way, Mariano Rivera made the all-star team in this, his last season.
++The right is circulating a video about a new Civil War where Texas would be the first to secede. The theme is that the confederacy is born again. Strange that your ideal is the confederacy. In Iain Bank's last novel "The Quarry", one of his characters makes the sage comment that libertarianism is the new Marxism for political ideology. I think we are seeing that fused in the United States where after the minorities are suppressed,the whites will have a libertarian paradise.
++With Mohammed Morsi gone, does that make North Carolina's law against Sharia moot?
++What would be our unemployment rate if we had the 1 million government employees back?
++The House is developing a menu to present President Obama in order for them to raise the debt limit. President Obama said this time he was not negotiating it. Observers expect it to reach climax by December recess. One of the options is to "privatize social security", which would only increase the debt but never mind.
++The House says they will have a conference July 10th on their immigration bill. Whether it includes a "path to citizenship" is anyone's guess.
++If you believe CNN, Republicans are demanding something be done about student loans. Last I looked it was Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, who was spearheading the charge to cut interest rates on them.
++Sam Adams Lager had a 4th of July ad that quotes the Declaration of Independence but omitted the word "God". A Fox news commentator said that was "letting the terrorists win."
++The Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity are running ads in Georgia warning the state about the dangers of solar energy and that their rates will skyrocket if state power plants use solar.
++The same Americans for Prosperity have cut ads aimed a younger women warning them about Obamacare.
++Republicans are attacking Obamacare again because the employer mandate has been delayed a year. Now they are arguing this is illegal while others are proclaiming this is Doom and Gloom for the health insurance industry like they did when it was passed the first time.
++Rick Perry is using his anti-abortion stunt in Texas as a launchpad for his 2016 run for the Presidency.
++Scott Walker, who also has higher aspirations, quietly signed his ultrasound anti-abortion bill into law. The ACLU and Planned Parenthood are suing.
++In Michigan, New Jersey and Alabama, same sex couples are suing for the right to marry.
++Mississippi is attempting again to pass a strict anti-abortion law after the success of Ohio, Wisconsin and Texas.
++House Republicans sort of admit that there is no there in the IRS "scandal case". What's worse there smoking gun was the director of the IRS visited the Whit House over 150 times to see President Obama. Forbes rained on their parade in an article that no he never went there.
++House Republicans think they have found the person who can expose the Benghazi scandal. The only problem is that the man is a retired Marine and wants nothing to do with them.
++The Russians think it would be best for Edward Snowden to go to Venezuela for asylum. No one seems to be making the point that Booz-Hamilton, his employer is owned by the Caryle Group, which is now owned by foreigners.
++The Obama scandals all seem to have Republicans as major players. The Scandal to me is the NSA and the Fisa Court. So the head of the NSA is a Republican and the head of the FISA Court is none other than John Roberts. As the New York Times piece indicated this morning, Roberts appoints all 11 judges and they have vastly expanded national security law,which is of course totally secret. The NSA has rejected all FOIA requests by American citizens and the DOJ has just urged the FISA court to keep their decisions secret, contrary to some in the Senate.
++A Mexican sheriff was killed over the weekend with a gun from the Fast and Furious program. This should give Darryl Issa something to play with now that his scandals keep shrinking.
++Liz Cheney wants to be Senator from Wyoming. The only problem is that Republican Mike Enzi doesn't want to retire. Allan Simpson says this will get ugly.
++Only a year ago Mohammed Morsi won the first election in Egypt's modern history. A year later the largest demonstrations in modern history led to his removal by the military. The Saudis applauded Morsi's removal as a sign that authoritarianism would return to the Middle East. The Wall Street Journal urged that Egypt should have a leader like Pinochet. Great. Now The Moslem Brotherhood is waging counter-protests. El Baradei was going to be the Prime Minister, now he's not and he cancelled his appearance on the Sunday talk shows. It looks like the military can't run things any better than Morsi.
++John Kerry was on a yacht during the Egyptian crisis or not. A video shows he was, giving the right new fuel for a Benghazi-type scandal.
++Syria's Assad applauded Morsi's overthrow. The Free Syria Army are waging a war against the Islamists as if that struggle was over and now they are gearing up to take power.
++While Republicans are figuring out ways to suppress the vote in 2014, Hispanics are registering at high rates in reaction to Republican opposition to immigration reform.
++A Fayetteville ,North Carolina man had a July 4th float in a parade celebrating White History Month. I didn't know whether the negative reaction was because of his racism or that his float had a confederate flag.
++Ted Nugent wants to run for President in 2016. I think he would be older than Hillary Clinton.
++Environmentalists warn that the new border security provisions in the immigration law will jeopardize several animal species because they migrate back and forth between the United States and Mexico.
++Oh, by the way, Mariano Rivera made the all-star team in this, his last season.
++The right is circulating a video about a new Civil War where Texas would be the first to secede. The theme is that the confederacy is born again. Strange that your ideal is the confederacy. In Iain Bank's last novel "The Quarry", one of his characters makes the sage comment that libertarianism is the new Marxism for political ideology. I think we are seeing that fused in the United States where after the minorities are suppressed,the whites will have a libertarian paradise.
++With Mohammed Morsi gone, does that make North Carolina's law against Sharia moot?
++What would be our unemployment rate if we had the 1 million government employees back?
Saturday, August 6, 2011
"People are Crazy and the Times are Strange"*
*Bob Dylan
++The National Journal opines "It's hard to read the S&P analysis as anything other than a blast at Republicans." Of course, the GOP disagrees and all GOP presidential hopefuls blame Obama but no one can tell you why.
++Michelle Bachmann has called for Tim Geitner's resignation and that President Obama must reveal his economic plans before the market opens on Monday. President Obama actually did spell out his plans in his Weekly Address but no one I know listens to his messages anymore.
++The Chinese government said that America's borrowing days are over. They have called for a one-world currency since they claim the days of the dollar as the world's reserve currency are over. This has been floated by the Chinese over the past four years. But now it might gain some momentum.
++A New York Times op-ed read my mind. It argues that Obama should adopt Nixon's Madman Bomber strategy of politics. But Charles Fried writing at the Daily Beast says that a decent, honest politician like President Obama doesn't stand a chance against tea baggers and today's GOP. Andrew Sullivan in his Daily Dish defends Obama as one of the most effective politician's ever whose achievements have already been substantial and suprassed Reagan's first term. Mother Jones defends Obama as having adopted more progressive policies than anyone in a long time. Bill Maher says that Obama should forget being afraid of looking like an angry black man. Maybe Nixon's madman approach might work--scare Mitch McConnell into thinking he's off his rocker.
++Jon Huntsman has taken the cudgel out against fellow Mormon Mitt Romney. This is a controversy one should watch. Huntsman charges that Mitt has to come clean on all the business he does with the Chinese government and the Chinese elite. It seems Bain Capital under his control did massive business with the Chinese and these ties remain hidden.
++You would never know it from our crack press corps but Israel is exploding. The "tent city protests" named after the tents erected in public squares have morphed into the "mother of all demos". As of now, they have reached 300,000 or about 4% of that country's population. Originally started in Tel Aviv, the demonstrations have spread throughout the country. Nearly 30,000 protesters are camped outside Bibi's Jerusalem residence. What began as a protest against the Knesset passing a Housing bill designed to fast track construction without public review has been transformed into a movement protesting everything from the settlements to human rights. It is the equivalent if 12 million took to the streets in the U.S. An Israeli Spring? Israeli journalists are saying "Bibi is toast." That the Likud coalition government can not stand such an unprecedented rejection by Israelis.
++What to make of Rick Perry's "The Response"--his radical right Christian prayerfest today? Not since Robert Duvall in The Apostle or Farting Preacher 5 have we seen such a spectacle. While his college transcripts show he is as dumb as a sack of rocks, he is slick as snot when it comes to acting the preacher. Check out his act on NYTimes.com. I have to say that I don't come from a tradition that actually quotes the Book of Joel. For the background of the various preachers and prophets check out www.rightwingwatch.com , which has gone beyond the call of duty in listing every bizarre notion these people have ever entertained. Is this the new transformation of the teabaggers--Christian nationalists fronting for the corporations?
++Speaking of fronts--the Koch Brothers' favorite Americans for Prosperity have poured millions into Wisconsin for the recall elections. But they seemed to have slipped up. Americans for Prosperity is being sued by the Democratic Party for sending out mock write-in balllots to Democrats in all six districts facing recall elections on Tuesday. These ballots had the date wrong for the election and voters were asked to send the ballot to a "An Absentee Ballot Processing Center" located at the post office box of a Pro-Life Group. Little media attention has been paid to the fire that destroyed the We Are Wisconsin headquarters, which has been coordinating the recall campaigns against the Republicans. Meanwhile Scott Walker has absented the scene and not making appearances after his disasterous appearance at the State Fair.
++Fox News still loves Saul Alinsky. I thought once Glenn Beck absented the scene our meastro of organizing would recede back into historical memory. No. The Obama Administration appears to have adopted Alinskyite techniques by using Spongebob Squarepants as a way to brainwash children about the environment. Previously, Spongebob was seen as advancing gay causes.
++So far the PPP polls show a pattern emerging in key Swing States. Mitt Romney and Barack Obama are basically tied in Florida, Pennsylvania and Nevada. President Obama beats everyone else ,including the new number 2 candidate Rick Perry. GOP pollsters say that with Romney as a nominee their chances are even in taking back the White House. Curious, if you are a determinist who believes the unemployment rate will doom Obama. Apparently, the GOP field is so weak that the best they will give it is 50-50.
++Where are the patriots? President Obama announced his new initiative to give tax breaks to corporations for hiring our 1 million unemployed veterans. I felt there was something odd about the announcement. Usually on such an initiative that is wrapped in the American flag, you would expect the President to be flanked by corporate leaders who have already made commitments to the program. Not so. None were there.
++In his speech announcing this initiative, President Obama singled out a veteran who served as a Medic in Afghanistan, saved over 50 lives and was awarded the Bronze Star. The soldier returned to Wyoming and wanted to work for EMS, something he clearly could do given his service. He used the GI Bill to take the necessary courses to upgrade his skills and still no job. He then took college courses to get a degree. Still no job. Have we gone so low in this country that no business leader,medical practice or hospital doesn't recognize it might be a good idea--just for PR--to hire a Bronze Star recipient?
++Why is it that we don't hear from our captains of industry about the need to rehabilitate our national infrastructure? If you watched any discussion on this subject, you will see The President, Senator Kerry, former Governor Ed Rendell and Teamster President James Hoffa. I was part of a study group in the late 1980s which proposed a similar project like the Infrastructure Bank because at that time it was clear that the United States was neglecting its infrastructure. By now it has become critical. Chris Matthews woke up with a wonderful idea. He urged viewers to photograph bridges and roads in decay,locate their congressional district and send the congressman the photos as a way to stimulate public support for such a program. We are now talking about 1,000s of bridges in the United States that have been rated as dangerous and seriously degraded. Only a few years ago we had the tragedy of the collapse of the bridge in Minnesota during Tim Pawlenty's reign, which dramatized the situation.
++My conservative friends love to say that the United States has all the oil and coal right here that we can be independent of foreign energy sources. They blame President Obama for not exploiting these resources. Where are the journalists asking about the thousands of leases that have already been given out to oil and gas companies over the past four years? How many actually have been used? This issue surfaced during the BP oil spill when Interior temporarily restrained deep offshore drilling. The argument of Secretary Salazar was that the oil companies had all these leases but have not invested anything in exploiting them. Where are these people? And as a little kicker, is oil produced in America really American? Does it stay here? It's not like we have a national oil company like China or Saudi Arabia. It's global oil. Natural gas is another story.
++Standard and Poors is threatening to retaliate on the criticism by the Obama Administration on their downgrade. Could we just invoke the 14th Amendment? Get rid of the debt ceiling. And finally tell these rating agencies and our corporate world that America is bigger than you. I have gotten the impression over the last year that somehow all Washington has to react according to markets, rating agencies and statements from bankers, when they are the guys who got us into this mess. Robert Reich has been out on television taking the fight to them, while others are supine. The call for economic nationalism right now would win alot of public support.
++And now the case of Don Vance. Some of us have been frustrated by the Administration's avoiding the prosecution of the lawyers who wrote the "Torture Memos" and the CIA psychologists who devised the torture "program". Basically, the courts have dismissed cases brought by Muslims who claimed torture. But under the radar have emerged at least three cases where Americans have separately brought cases against Donald Rumsfeld as authorizing their torture. Keith Olbermann had Don Vance, a white male, Navy veteran, who has sued in court that he had been tortured for 97 days at Camp Cropper in Iraq. He served as a defense contractor and had uncovered an illicit arms trade between our military and the Iraqi militias. Upon return to Chicago, he contacted the FBI about what he knew and saw and was recruited as an undercover agent and sent back to Iraq. There in the middle of the night, he was handcuffed and shackled and taken to Camp Cropper and underwent sleep deprivation, food manipulation, walling and stimulation bombardment. He says he wasn't waterboarded. After 97 days, he was taken to the airport and put on a plane to Amman, Jordan. He claims the USG has attempted to settle with him many times but he refuses. His case will be heard by the Circuit Court soon. It will be fascinating to see where this goes--especially since it has nothing to do with terrorism, just whistleblowing.
**C.C. blew the game against the Red Sox and yesterday Mariano Rivera picked up his 29th save.
++The National Journal opines "It's hard to read the S&P analysis as anything other than a blast at Republicans." Of course, the GOP disagrees and all GOP presidential hopefuls blame Obama but no one can tell you why.
++Michelle Bachmann has called for Tim Geitner's resignation and that President Obama must reveal his economic plans before the market opens on Monday. President Obama actually did spell out his plans in his Weekly Address but no one I know listens to his messages anymore.
++The Chinese government said that America's borrowing days are over. They have called for a one-world currency since they claim the days of the dollar as the world's reserve currency are over. This has been floated by the Chinese over the past four years. But now it might gain some momentum.
++A New York Times op-ed read my mind. It argues that Obama should adopt Nixon's Madman Bomber strategy of politics. But Charles Fried writing at the Daily Beast says that a decent, honest politician like President Obama doesn't stand a chance against tea baggers and today's GOP. Andrew Sullivan in his Daily Dish defends Obama as one of the most effective politician's ever whose achievements have already been substantial and suprassed Reagan's first term. Mother Jones defends Obama as having adopted more progressive policies than anyone in a long time. Bill Maher says that Obama should forget being afraid of looking like an angry black man. Maybe Nixon's madman approach might work--scare Mitch McConnell into thinking he's off his rocker.
++Jon Huntsman has taken the cudgel out against fellow Mormon Mitt Romney. This is a controversy one should watch. Huntsman charges that Mitt has to come clean on all the business he does with the Chinese government and the Chinese elite. It seems Bain Capital under his control did massive business with the Chinese and these ties remain hidden.
++You would never know it from our crack press corps but Israel is exploding. The "tent city protests" named after the tents erected in public squares have morphed into the "mother of all demos". As of now, they have reached 300,000 or about 4% of that country's population. Originally started in Tel Aviv, the demonstrations have spread throughout the country. Nearly 30,000 protesters are camped outside Bibi's Jerusalem residence. What began as a protest against the Knesset passing a Housing bill designed to fast track construction without public review has been transformed into a movement protesting everything from the settlements to human rights. It is the equivalent if 12 million took to the streets in the U.S. An Israeli Spring? Israeli journalists are saying "Bibi is toast." That the Likud coalition government can not stand such an unprecedented rejection by Israelis.
++What to make of Rick Perry's "The Response"--his radical right Christian prayerfest today? Not since Robert Duvall in The Apostle or Farting Preacher 5 have we seen such a spectacle. While his college transcripts show he is as dumb as a sack of rocks, he is slick as snot when it comes to acting the preacher. Check out his act on NYTimes.com. I have to say that I don't come from a tradition that actually quotes the Book of Joel. For the background of the various preachers and prophets check out www.rightwingwatch.com , which has gone beyond the call of duty in listing every bizarre notion these people have ever entertained. Is this the new transformation of the teabaggers--Christian nationalists fronting for the corporations?
++Speaking of fronts--the Koch Brothers' favorite Americans for Prosperity have poured millions into Wisconsin for the recall elections. But they seemed to have slipped up. Americans for Prosperity is being sued by the Democratic Party for sending out mock write-in balllots to Democrats in all six districts facing recall elections on Tuesday. These ballots had the date wrong for the election and voters were asked to send the ballot to a "An Absentee Ballot Processing Center" located at the post office box of a Pro-Life Group. Little media attention has been paid to the fire that destroyed the We Are Wisconsin headquarters, which has been coordinating the recall campaigns against the Republicans. Meanwhile Scott Walker has absented the scene and not making appearances after his disasterous appearance at the State Fair.
++Fox News still loves Saul Alinsky. I thought once Glenn Beck absented the scene our meastro of organizing would recede back into historical memory. No. The Obama Administration appears to have adopted Alinskyite techniques by using Spongebob Squarepants as a way to brainwash children about the environment. Previously, Spongebob was seen as advancing gay causes.
++So far the PPP polls show a pattern emerging in key Swing States. Mitt Romney and Barack Obama are basically tied in Florida, Pennsylvania and Nevada. President Obama beats everyone else ,including the new number 2 candidate Rick Perry. GOP pollsters say that with Romney as a nominee their chances are even in taking back the White House. Curious, if you are a determinist who believes the unemployment rate will doom Obama. Apparently, the GOP field is so weak that the best they will give it is 50-50.
++Where are the patriots? President Obama announced his new initiative to give tax breaks to corporations for hiring our 1 million unemployed veterans. I felt there was something odd about the announcement. Usually on such an initiative that is wrapped in the American flag, you would expect the President to be flanked by corporate leaders who have already made commitments to the program. Not so. None were there.
++In his speech announcing this initiative, President Obama singled out a veteran who served as a Medic in Afghanistan, saved over 50 lives and was awarded the Bronze Star. The soldier returned to Wyoming and wanted to work for EMS, something he clearly could do given his service. He used the GI Bill to take the necessary courses to upgrade his skills and still no job. He then took college courses to get a degree. Still no job. Have we gone so low in this country that no business leader,medical practice or hospital doesn't recognize it might be a good idea--just for PR--to hire a Bronze Star recipient?
++Why is it that we don't hear from our captains of industry about the need to rehabilitate our national infrastructure? If you watched any discussion on this subject, you will see The President, Senator Kerry, former Governor Ed Rendell and Teamster President James Hoffa. I was part of a study group in the late 1980s which proposed a similar project like the Infrastructure Bank because at that time it was clear that the United States was neglecting its infrastructure. By now it has become critical. Chris Matthews woke up with a wonderful idea. He urged viewers to photograph bridges and roads in decay,locate their congressional district and send the congressman the photos as a way to stimulate public support for such a program. We are now talking about 1,000s of bridges in the United States that have been rated as dangerous and seriously degraded. Only a few years ago we had the tragedy of the collapse of the bridge in Minnesota during Tim Pawlenty's reign, which dramatized the situation.
++My conservative friends love to say that the United States has all the oil and coal right here that we can be independent of foreign energy sources. They blame President Obama for not exploiting these resources. Where are the journalists asking about the thousands of leases that have already been given out to oil and gas companies over the past four years? How many actually have been used? This issue surfaced during the BP oil spill when Interior temporarily restrained deep offshore drilling. The argument of Secretary Salazar was that the oil companies had all these leases but have not invested anything in exploiting them. Where are these people? And as a little kicker, is oil produced in America really American? Does it stay here? It's not like we have a national oil company like China or Saudi Arabia. It's global oil. Natural gas is another story.
++Standard and Poors is threatening to retaliate on the criticism by the Obama Administration on their downgrade. Could we just invoke the 14th Amendment? Get rid of the debt ceiling. And finally tell these rating agencies and our corporate world that America is bigger than you. I have gotten the impression over the last year that somehow all Washington has to react according to markets, rating agencies and statements from bankers, when they are the guys who got us into this mess. Robert Reich has been out on television taking the fight to them, while others are supine. The call for economic nationalism right now would win alot of public support.
++And now the case of Don Vance. Some of us have been frustrated by the Administration's avoiding the prosecution of the lawyers who wrote the "Torture Memos" and the CIA psychologists who devised the torture "program". Basically, the courts have dismissed cases brought by Muslims who claimed torture. But under the radar have emerged at least three cases where Americans have separately brought cases against Donald Rumsfeld as authorizing their torture. Keith Olbermann had Don Vance, a white male, Navy veteran, who has sued in court that he had been tortured for 97 days at Camp Cropper in Iraq. He served as a defense contractor and had uncovered an illicit arms trade between our military and the Iraqi militias. Upon return to Chicago, he contacted the FBI about what he knew and saw and was recruited as an undercover agent and sent back to Iraq. There in the middle of the night, he was handcuffed and shackled and taken to Camp Cropper and underwent sleep deprivation, food manipulation, walling and stimulation bombardment. He says he wasn't waterboarded. After 97 days, he was taken to the airport and put on a plane to Amman, Jordan. He claims the USG has attempted to settle with him many times but he refuses. His case will be heard by the Circuit Court soon. It will be fascinating to see where this goes--especially since it has nothing to do with terrorism, just whistleblowing.
**C.C. blew the game against the Red Sox and yesterday Mariano Rivera picked up his 29th save.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Happy Saint Patrick's Day
Remember Saint Patrick rid Ireland of the snakes. Well Virginia has one today. Our birther, homophobic, climate change denier Attorney-General Ken Cuccinelli II has announced that Virginia will be the first state to sue the federal government if the Health Care Bill passes the House. He has also sent Nancy Pelosi a letter saying that if the "Slaughter provision" is used--on the "deem and pass" procedure--he will take the issue to the Supreme Court. Earlier last week,while no one was looking, Virginia passed a law prohibiting government from requiring anyone from buying health insurance. What about house insurance or auto insurance, which Vurginia requires? A commentator to a local downstate newspaper complained that Virginia is not South Carolina or Texas where ignorant people live. Buddy, of yes, we are. RECALL CUCCINELLI. I think I have my next project.
Meanwhile Virginia's own Eric Cantor sheepishly admitted on television while Steny Hoyer explained "deem and pass" that it was legitimate and that Republicans used it many times in the past.
Idaho wants to brag they are the first state which passed a law that requires the State to sue the federal government if citizens are required to buy health insurance.
Americans for Prosperity, one of the corporate front groups spending millions in the final days of the healthcare debate, has run ads against Democrats but with some interesting consequences. They accused Representative Kathy Dahlkemper of Pennsylvania for being weak on cancer and supporting women foregoing mammograms until late in life. The Congresswomen is actually known for being one of the leaders on the Hill urging preventive measures to combat cancer in women. Unfortunately for the group, the Congresswomen also lost both parents recently to cancer. The series of lies in these commercials were deemed by Poltifact to be significant as to warrant their "Pants on Fire" rating--their lowest.
60 leaders of religious orders for Catholic women came out today to back the healthreform bill, in contradiction to the American Bishops.
A blog did some research on polling about Medicare at the time it was introduced and found the same ambiguity among the American people. The same, the author opined, applied to Social Security at that time.
Homeland Director Napolitano suspended the construction of the border fence with Mexico because of corruption issues. Now the Militia Men are travelling to the border, fully armed to scout for illegal immigrants.
The great state of Georgia now has introduced a law making it mandatory to do random drug tests on the unemployed.
As of 9pm tonight, the health care vote will be on Sunday. The House is tweaking the bill to imrpove CBO numbers, which should appear tomorrow. As of now, I guess there are 7 Democrats, who really are undecided.
The Republican strategy is clear--let the corporations bombard the swing Democrats with ads and threats about the mid-term elections--and at the end of the day stimulate a wave of lawsuits by the states to make it appear the law really doesn't take effect. The reason for this is simple--they know it would be an historic achievement for President Obama and the Democrats and they want to muddy this impression.
Meanwhile Virginia's own Eric Cantor sheepishly admitted on television while Steny Hoyer explained "deem and pass" that it was legitimate and that Republicans used it many times in the past.
Idaho wants to brag they are the first state which passed a law that requires the State to sue the federal government if citizens are required to buy health insurance.
Americans for Prosperity, one of the corporate front groups spending millions in the final days of the healthcare debate, has run ads against Democrats but with some interesting consequences. They accused Representative Kathy Dahlkemper of Pennsylvania for being weak on cancer and supporting women foregoing mammograms until late in life. The Congresswomen is actually known for being one of the leaders on the Hill urging preventive measures to combat cancer in women. Unfortunately for the group, the Congresswomen also lost both parents recently to cancer. The series of lies in these commercials were deemed by Poltifact to be significant as to warrant their "Pants on Fire" rating--their lowest.
60 leaders of religious orders for Catholic women came out today to back the healthreform bill, in contradiction to the American Bishops.
A blog did some research on polling about Medicare at the time it was introduced and found the same ambiguity among the American people. The same, the author opined, applied to Social Security at that time.
Homeland Director Napolitano suspended the construction of the border fence with Mexico because of corruption issues. Now the Militia Men are travelling to the border, fully armed to scout for illegal immigrants.
The great state of Georgia now has introduced a law making it mandatory to do random drug tests on the unemployed.
As of 9pm tonight, the health care vote will be on Sunday. The House is tweaking the bill to imrpove CBO numbers, which should appear tomorrow. As of now, I guess there are 7 Democrats, who really are undecided.
The Republican strategy is clear--let the corporations bombard the swing Democrats with ads and threats about the mid-term elections--and at the end of the day stimulate a wave of lawsuits by the states to make it appear the law really doesn't take effect. The reason for this is simple--they know it would be an historic achievement for President Obama and the Democrats and they want to muddy this impression.
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