Thursday, March 25, 2010
Iraq:
The Guardian (UK) - Tony Blair got cash for deal with South Korean oil firm
"Tony Blair has received cash from a South Korean oil firm in a deal kept secret until the business appointments watchdog intervened, the Guardian has learned.
After 20 months of secrecy, the former prime minister has now been overruled by the chairman of the advisory committee on business appointments, the former Tory cabinet minister Ian Lang.
Lang this week ordered publication of Blair's deal with UI Energy Corporation, which has extensive oil interests in the US and in Iraq.
Blair repeatedly claimed to the committee, which assesses jobs taken up by former ministers, that the existence of the deal had to be kept secret at the request of the South Koreans, because of 'market sensitivities,'..."
Economics/Finance:
Simon Johnson: The Administration Starts to Fight On Banking, But For What?
"...Mr. Geithner gave a good speech yesterday. But someone needs to give another speech, walking us through – step-by-step – how exactly this resolution authority would have prevented the cross-border chaos that followed the collapse of Lehman in September 2008. Break it down into pieces and expand on every legal nicety.
Then tell us how the resolution authority will work for Citigroup in 5 or 7 years, when that bank will likely be twice its current size.
And the next speech might also explain why Mr. Geithner no longer mentions the Volcker Rules – there was nothing about proprietary trading and nothing about even prospective caps on bank size. Have they been withdrawn? What exactly happened on the way to the Senate?
Mr. Geithner wanted to sound tough yesterday. But is he really coming out to fight? Or did he and his colleagues already throw in the towel?"
The Health Care Reform Fight:
Hostility toward the rich being forced to share anything with low-income workers is central to the GOPs platform, even if they're unwilling to state it so plainly. As I recall, they were firmly against Medicare/Medicaid, too.
The reality of the White House having to make secret deals with the Pharma industry to get this to pass tell us how much our system is still very broken.
But the most stunning aspect of this debate has to be the ability of the GOP to enlist the opposition of the very economic class of people who will benefit from this bill.
David Leonhardt: In Health Bill, Obama Attacks Wealth Inequality
"For all the political and economic uncertainties about health reform, at least one thing seems clear: The bill that President Obama signed on Tuesday is the federal government’s biggest attack on economic inequality since inequality began rising more than three decades ago.
Over most of that period, government policy and market forces have been moving in the same direction, both increasing inequality. The pretax incomes of the wealthy have soared since the late 1970s, while their tax rates have fallen more than rates for the middle class and poor.
Nearly every major aspect of the health bill pushes in the other direction. This fact helps explain why Mr. Obama was willing to spend so much political capital on the issue, even though it did not appear to be his top priority as a presidential candidate. Beyond the health reform’s effect on the medical system, it is the centerpiece of his deliberate effort to end what historians have called the age of Reagan...
...'The project of the next president,' [Obama] said in an interview during the campaign, 'is figuring out how you create bottom-up economic growth, as opposed to the trickle-down economic growth.'
Since 1980, median real household income has risen less than 15 percent. The only period of strong middle-class income growth during this time came in the mid- and late 1990s, which by coincidence was also the one time when taxes on the affluent were rising.
For most of the last three decades, tax rates for the wealthy have been falling, while their pretax pay has been rising rapidly. Real incomes at the 99.99th percentile have jumped more than 300 percent since 1980. At the 99th percentile — about $300,000 today — real pay has roughly doubled.
The laissez-faire revolution that Mr. Reagan started did not cause these trends. But its policies — tax cuts, light regulation, a patchwork safety net — have contributed to them..."
Keith Oblermann: Special Comment: GOP Self-Destruction, Driving 'Political Toyota' (VIDEO)
"...In a backwards, sick-to-my-stomach way, I would like to thank whoever shouted at Mr. Lewis and Mr. Carson for proving my previous point. If racism is not the whole of the Tea Party, it is in its heart, along with blind hatred, a total disinterest in the welfare of others, and a full-flowered, self-rationalizing refusal to accept the outcomes of elections, or the reality of Democracy, or of the narrowness of their minds and the equal narrowness of their public support..."
Linda Bergthold: Lies, Damn Lies, and No Statistics About Health Reform
"Driving down the LA 405 toward Orange County Sunday night, I couldn't find a radio station that was covering the historic House vote on health reform. Except for Fox News Radio. Even before the vote began, what I heard were lies, distortions, and more damn lies. And no facts offered, not even weak ones. The same talking points that have been circulating all year without any substantiation -- A government takeover of the medical care system. Government telling you how and when to die. Socialism. The end of freedom as we know it. Economy in crisis. Abortion for everyone.
'Lies, damned lies, and statistics' is a phrase describing the persuasive power of numbers, particularly the use of statistics to bolster weak arguments, and the tendency of people to disparage statistics that do not support their positions. On Fox radio there were no facts, only disparagement, ignorance and anger..."
The Guardian (UK) - Tony Blair got cash for deal with South Korean oil firm
"Tony Blair has received cash from a South Korean oil firm in a deal kept secret until the business appointments watchdog intervened, the Guardian has learned.
After 20 months of secrecy, the former prime minister has now been overruled by the chairman of the advisory committee on business appointments, the former Tory cabinet minister Ian Lang.
Lang this week ordered publication of Blair's deal with UI Energy Corporation, which has extensive oil interests in the US and in Iraq.
Blair repeatedly claimed to the committee, which assesses jobs taken up by former ministers, that the existence of the deal had to be kept secret at the request of the South Koreans, because of 'market sensitivities,'..."
Economics/Finance:
Simon Johnson: The Administration Starts to Fight On Banking, But For What?
"...Mr. Geithner gave a good speech yesterday. But someone needs to give another speech, walking us through – step-by-step – how exactly this resolution authority would have prevented the cross-border chaos that followed the collapse of Lehman in September 2008. Break it down into pieces and expand on every legal nicety.
Then tell us how the resolution authority will work for Citigroup in 5 or 7 years, when that bank will likely be twice its current size.
And the next speech might also explain why Mr. Geithner no longer mentions the Volcker Rules – there was nothing about proprietary trading and nothing about even prospective caps on bank size. Have they been withdrawn? What exactly happened on the way to the Senate?
Mr. Geithner wanted to sound tough yesterday. But is he really coming out to fight? Or did he and his colleagues already throw in the towel?"
The Health Care Reform Fight:
Hostility toward the rich being forced to share anything with low-income workers is central to the GOPs platform, even if they're unwilling to state it so plainly. As I recall, they were firmly against Medicare/Medicaid, too.
The reality of the White House having to make secret deals with the Pharma industry to get this to pass tell us how much our system is still very broken.
But the most stunning aspect of this debate has to be the ability of the GOP to enlist the opposition of the very economic class of people who will benefit from this bill.
David Leonhardt: In Health Bill, Obama Attacks Wealth Inequality
"For all the political and economic uncertainties about health reform, at least one thing seems clear: The bill that President Obama signed on Tuesday is the federal government’s biggest attack on economic inequality since inequality began rising more than three decades ago.
Over most of that period, government policy and market forces have been moving in the same direction, both increasing inequality. The pretax incomes of the wealthy have soared since the late 1970s, while their tax rates have fallen more than rates for the middle class and poor.
Nearly every major aspect of the health bill pushes in the other direction. This fact helps explain why Mr. Obama was willing to spend so much political capital on the issue, even though it did not appear to be his top priority as a presidential candidate. Beyond the health reform’s effect on the medical system, it is the centerpiece of his deliberate effort to end what historians have called the age of Reagan...
...'The project of the next president,' [Obama] said in an interview during the campaign, 'is figuring out how you create bottom-up economic growth, as opposed to the trickle-down economic growth.'
Since 1980, median real household income has risen less than 15 percent. The only period of strong middle-class income growth during this time came in the mid- and late 1990s, which by coincidence was also the one time when taxes on the affluent were rising.
For most of the last three decades, tax rates for the wealthy have been falling, while their pretax pay has been rising rapidly. Real incomes at the 99.99th percentile have jumped more than 300 percent since 1980. At the 99th percentile — about $300,000 today — real pay has roughly doubled.
The laissez-faire revolution that Mr. Reagan started did not cause these trends. But its policies — tax cuts, light regulation, a patchwork safety net — have contributed to them..."
Keith Oblermann: Special Comment: GOP Self-Destruction, Driving 'Political Toyota' (VIDEO)
"...In a backwards, sick-to-my-stomach way, I would like to thank whoever shouted at Mr. Lewis and Mr. Carson for proving my previous point. If racism is not the whole of the Tea Party, it is in its heart, along with blind hatred, a total disinterest in the welfare of others, and a full-flowered, self-rationalizing refusal to accept the outcomes of elections, or the reality of Democracy, or of the narrowness of their minds and the equal narrowness of their public support..."
Linda Bergthold: Lies, Damn Lies, and No Statistics About Health Reform
"Driving down the LA 405 toward Orange County Sunday night, I couldn't find a radio station that was covering the historic House vote on health reform. Except for Fox News Radio. Even before the vote began, what I heard were lies, distortions, and more damn lies. And no facts offered, not even weak ones. The same talking points that have been circulating all year without any substantiation -- A government takeover of the medical care system. Government telling you how and when to die. Socialism. The end of freedom as we know it. Economy in crisis. Abortion for everyone.
'Lies, damned lies, and statistics' is a phrase describing the persuasive power of numbers, particularly the use of statistics to bolster weak arguments, and the tendency of people to disparage statistics that do not support their positions. On Fox radio there were no facts, only disparagement, ignorance and anger..."
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Energy:
'Cheap' coal energy is externalizing its very real costs onto society as a whole...
Jeff Goodell: Coal's Toxic Sludge
"Big coal has spent millions of dollars over the past year touting the virtues of what the industry calls 'clean coal,' but it's no secret that coal is the dirtiest fossil fuel. When you burn it, coal releases monstrous quantities of deadly compounds and gases — and it all has to go somewhere. The worst of the waste — heavy metals like arsenic, cadmium and mercury, all of which are highly toxic — are concentrated in the ash that's left over after coal is burned or in the dirty sludge that's scrubbed from smokestacks. Each year, coal plants in the U.S. churn out nearly 140 million tons of coal ash — more than 900 pounds for every American — generating the country's second-largest stream of industrial waste, surpassed only by mining. If you piled all the coal ash on a single football field, it would create a toxic mountain more than 20 miles high.
For decades, the industry has gotten away with dumping coal ash pretty much wherever it wants. It poured the stuff into vast lagoons, dumped it into mines, used it to pave roads, spread it on crops as fertilizer, even mixed it into everyday items like concrete, wallboard, vinyl flooring, bowling balls, potting soil and toothpaste. There are no federal regulations to speak of. Many states have minimal restrictions on where and how coal ash can be dumped, but the coal industry has a long history of buying off state regulators with a junket to Vegas and a few rounds of golf. In short, the industry had it made. Nearly 300 billion pounds of coal ash simply vanished from view each year, with less oversight than household garbage..."
'Cheap' coal energy is externalizing its very real costs onto society as a whole...
Jeff Goodell: Coal's Toxic Sludge
"Big coal has spent millions of dollars over the past year touting the virtues of what the industry calls 'clean coal,' but it's no secret that coal is the dirtiest fossil fuel. When you burn it, coal releases monstrous quantities of deadly compounds and gases — and it all has to go somewhere. The worst of the waste — heavy metals like arsenic, cadmium and mercury, all of which are highly toxic — are concentrated in the ash that's left over after coal is burned or in the dirty sludge that's scrubbed from smokestacks. Each year, coal plants in the U.S. churn out nearly 140 million tons of coal ash — more than 900 pounds for every American — generating the country's second-largest stream of industrial waste, surpassed only by mining. If you piled all the coal ash on a single football field, it would create a toxic mountain more than 20 miles high.
For decades, the industry has gotten away with dumping coal ash pretty much wherever it wants. It poured the stuff into vast lagoons, dumped it into mines, used it to pave roads, spread it on crops as fertilizer, even mixed it into everyday items like concrete, wallboard, vinyl flooring, bowling balls, potting soil and toothpaste. There are no federal regulations to speak of. Many states have minimal restrictions on where and how coal ash can be dumped, but the coal industry has a long history of buying off state regulators with a junket to Vegas and a few rounds of golf. In short, the industry had it made. Nearly 300 billion pounds of coal ash simply vanished from view each year, with less oversight than household garbage..."
Monday, March 22, 2010
The Bankster Heist:
Ryan Grim: New York Fed Warehousing Junk Loans On Its Books: Examiner's Report
"As Lehman Brothers careened toward bankruptcy in 2008, the New York Federal Reserve Bank came to its rescue, sopping up junk loans that the investment bank couldn't sell in the market, according to a report from court-appointed examiner Anton R. Valukas.
The New York Fed, under the direction of now-Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, knowingly allowed itself to be used as a 'warehouse' for junk loans, the report says, even though Fed guidelines say it can only accept investment grade bonds...
...Without an audit, the Fed is able to conceal the specifics of what it holds on its balance sheet. If the Lehman deal is any indication, the Fed is hiding billions of dollars in toxic loans on its books..."
These people lived as if on another planet...
Vicky Ward: Lehman's Desperate Housewives
"Lehman Brothers C.E.O. Dick Fuld expected his top executives to get married, and stay married. For their wives, the firm was both fishbowl and shark tank, with unwritten rules about the clothes they wore, the charities they supported, and the hikes they took at the company’s Sun Valley retreats. One and a half years after the firm’s collapse, in an excerpt from her new book, the author sums up the high price—a life of isolation, backstabbing, and hypocrisy—paid by Lehman’s better halves..."
Wither The Fourth Estate?
Eric Alterman: Money for Nothing
"...ABC is looting its news division to invest in its stars. CBS did much the same when it enticed Katie Couric away from NBC with a promise of a reported $15 million annual payday plus promotional advertising worth at least another $10 million. Sawyer's and Stephanopoulos's new compensation packages are not public, but in 2006 Sawyer was already reportedly making $12 million a year in the job Stephanopoulos now has. When Peter Jennings died five years ago, he left an estate valued at $54 million. (Morning show hosts are paid like anchors because, while less prominent in the media, their shows rake in the big bucks from advertisers.) And yet despite the implications of ABC's advertising campaign, it is the network's news rather than its entertainment division that must carry the weight of these salaries. Can it be mere coincidence that the network cannot afford actual journalists anymore?..."
Robert Parry: NYT Admits Getting Duped on ACORN
"The New York Times admits, sort of, that it got duped by right-wing propagandists who appear to have succeeded in a plot to destroy ACORN, an organization that has aided and defended the poor and powerless across the United States for four decades.
In an op-ed column Sunday, the Times Public Editor Clark Hoyt said he has reviewed the available information and concluded that some key points of the right-wing video presentation were false or misleading, including the claim that right-wing media activist James O'Keefe showed up at ACORN offices dressed in a pimp costume before getting legal advice on setting up a brothel..."
Israel - Palestine:
Avi Shlaim: Cut off the Cash and Israel Might Behave
"President Netanyahu is undermining US interests. The sooner President Obama makes his support conditional, the better..."
Ryan Grim: New York Fed Warehousing Junk Loans On Its Books: Examiner's Report
"As Lehman Brothers careened toward bankruptcy in 2008, the New York Federal Reserve Bank came to its rescue, sopping up junk loans that the investment bank couldn't sell in the market, according to a report from court-appointed examiner Anton R. Valukas.
The New York Fed, under the direction of now-Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, knowingly allowed itself to be used as a 'warehouse' for junk loans, the report says, even though Fed guidelines say it can only accept investment grade bonds...
...Without an audit, the Fed is able to conceal the specifics of what it holds on its balance sheet. If the Lehman deal is any indication, the Fed is hiding billions of dollars in toxic loans on its books..."
These people lived as if on another planet...
Vicky Ward: Lehman's Desperate Housewives
"Lehman Brothers C.E.O. Dick Fuld expected his top executives to get married, and stay married. For their wives, the firm was both fishbowl and shark tank, with unwritten rules about the clothes they wore, the charities they supported, and the hikes they took at the company’s Sun Valley retreats. One and a half years after the firm’s collapse, in an excerpt from her new book, the author sums up the high price—a life of isolation, backstabbing, and hypocrisy—paid by Lehman’s better halves..."
Wither The Fourth Estate?
Eric Alterman: Money for Nothing
"...ABC is looting its news division to invest in its stars. CBS did much the same when it enticed Katie Couric away from NBC with a promise of a reported $15 million annual payday plus promotional advertising worth at least another $10 million. Sawyer's and Stephanopoulos's new compensation packages are not public, but in 2006 Sawyer was already reportedly making $12 million a year in the job Stephanopoulos now has. When Peter Jennings died five years ago, he left an estate valued at $54 million. (Morning show hosts are paid like anchors because, while less prominent in the media, their shows rake in the big bucks from advertisers.) And yet despite the implications of ABC's advertising campaign, it is the network's news rather than its entertainment division that must carry the weight of these salaries. Can it be mere coincidence that the network cannot afford actual journalists anymore?..."
Robert Parry: NYT Admits Getting Duped on ACORN
"The New York Times admits, sort of, that it got duped by right-wing propagandists who appear to have succeeded in a plot to destroy ACORN, an organization that has aided and defended the poor and powerless across the United States for four decades.
In an op-ed column Sunday, the Times Public Editor Clark Hoyt said he has reviewed the available information and concluded that some key points of the right-wing video presentation were false or misleading, including the claim that right-wing media activist James O'Keefe showed up at ACORN offices dressed in a pimp costume before getting legal advice on setting up a brothel..."
Israel - Palestine:
Avi Shlaim: Cut off the Cash and Israel Might Behave
"President Netanyahu is undermining US interests. The sooner President Obama makes his support conditional, the better..."
Monday, March 15, 2010
Middle East:
Herald Scotland (UK) Final destination Iran?
"Hundreds of powerful US 'bunker-buster' bombs are being shipped from California to the British island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean in preparation for a possible attack on Iran.
The Sunday Herald can reveal that the US government signed a contract in January to transport 10 ammunition containers to the island. According to a cargo manifest from the US navy, this included 387 'Blu' bombs used for blasting hardened or underground structures.
Experts say that they are being put in place for an assault on Iran’s controversial nuclear facilities. There has long been speculation that the US military is preparing for such an attack, should diplomacy fail to persuade Iran not to make nuclear weapons..."
Energy:
Scientific American: Will Politics Slow the Wind?
"A group of mostly East Coast utility companies calling itself the Coalition for Fair Transmission Policy fears that the prime conditions in the Great Plains will make the region's wind power too cheap for its members to compete with, unless developers there are made to pay the costs of moving wind power eastward.
Influential natural gas producers and generators in Texas are worried. They are demanding that the state's wind developers share the costs of backup natural gas generators that must pick up the slack when the wind doesn't blow. The gas industry, threatened by state policies that promote wind power, is asking regulators to impose penalties on wind generators that can't deliver scheduled energy when the wind dies down..."
Social Media:
Business Insider: How Facebook Was Founded
"...New information uncovered by Silicon Alley Insider suggests that some of the complaints against Mark Zuckerberg are valid. It also suggests that, on at least one occasion in 2004, Mark used private login data taken from Facebook's servers to break into Facebook members' private email accounts and read their emails--at best, a gross misuse of private information. Lastly, it suggests that Mark hacked into the competing company's systems and changed some user information with the aim of making the site less useful.
The primary dispute around Facebook's origins centered around whether Mark had entered into an 'agreement' with the Harvard seniors, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and a classmate named Divya Narendra, to develop a similar web site for them -- and then, instead, stalled their project while taking their idea and building his own..."
Herald Scotland (UK) Final destination Iran?
"Hundreds of powerful US 'bunker-buster' bombs are being shipped from California to the British island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean in preparation for a possible attack on Iran.
The Sunday Herald can reveal that the US government signed a contract in January to transport 10 ammunition containers to the island. According to a cargo manifest from the US navy, this included 387 'Blu' bombs used for blasting hardened or underground structures.
Experts say that they are being put in place for an assault on Iran’s controversial nuclear facilities. There has long been speculation that the US military is preparing for such an attack, should diplomacy fail to persuade Iran not to make nuclear weapons..."
Energy:
Scientific American: Will Politics Slow the Wind?
"A group of mostly East Coast utility companies calling itself the Coalition for Fair Transmission Policy fears that the prime conditions in the Great Plains will make the region's wind power too cheap for its members to compete with, unless developers there are made to pay the costs of moving wind power eastward.
Influential natural gas producers and generators in Texas are worried. They are demanding that the state's wind developers share the costs of backup natural gas generators that must pick up the slack when the wind doesn't blow. The gas industry, threatened by state policies that promote wind power, is asking regulators to impose penalties on wind generators that can't deliver scheduled energy when the wind dies down..."
Social Media:
Business Insider: How Facebook Was Founded
"...New information uncovered by Silicon Alley Insider suggests that some of the complaints against Mark Zuckerberg are valid. It also suggests that, on at least one occasion in 2004, Mark used private login data taken from Facebook's servers to break into Facebook members' private email accounts and read their emails--at best, a gross misuse of private information. Lastly, it suggests that Mark hacked into the competing company's systems and changed some user information with the aim of making the site less useful.
The primary dispute around Facebook's origins centered around whether Mark had entered into an 'agreement' with the Harvard seniors, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and a classmate named Divya Narendra, to develop a similar web site for them -- and then, instead, stalled their project while taking their idea and building his own..."
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
Transportation:
Trucking goods for any distance in excess of the last 100 miles wastes significant resources.
The hurdle, of course, is the expectation of 'just-in-time' processing at most points along the supply chain. Our rail system would need to be far better organizanized to have any chance of competing.
Chris Lawrence: The Case for Rail
"...One study shows that in the US, for cargo transport, the existing rail system, which is not one of the most efficient systems in the world, and is generally not electrified, still manages to be four times more efficient than transportation by truck. Another study says that trucks use 11 times more oil in order to transport only a quarter of the cargo. By electrifying two-thirds of US rail, and switching half of truck cargo shipping to rail, total US oil consumption could be reduced by 7 percent. This is a massive reduction in energy use and would dramatically lower carbon emissions..."
Trucking goods for any distance in excess of the last 100 miles wastes significant resources.
The hurdle, of course, is the expectation of 'just-in-time' processing at most points along the supply chain. Our rail system would need to be far better organizanized to have any chance of competing.
Chris Lawrence: The Case for Rail
"...One study shows that in the US, for cargo transport, the existing rail system, which is not one of the most efficient systems in the world, and is generally not electrified, still manages to be four times more efficient than transportation by truck. Another study says that trucks use 11 times more oil in order to transport only a quarter of the cargo. By electrifying two-thirds of US rail, and switching half of truck cargo shipping to rail, total US oil consumption could be reduced by 7 percent. This is a massive reduction in energy use and would dramatically lower carbon emissions..."
Monday, March 08, 2010
Employment:
The fact that Sen. Bunning did not register his outrage over deficit spending during two terms of fiscally dishonest Bush budgets (that failed to include two wars) should speak louder than his 'objections' on the Senate floor. Instead, predictable 'supplementals' were cynically used by Bush, year after year.
So, clearly, the Senator's posturing is political, rather than principled...
Paul Krugman: Senator Bunning’s Universe
"...What Democrats believe is what textbook economics says: that when the economy is deeply depressed, extending unemployment benefits not only helps those in need, it also reduces unemployment. That’s because the economy’s problem right now is lack of sufficient demand, and cash-strapped unemployed workers are likely to spend their benefits. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office says that aid to the unemployed is one of the most effective forms of economic stimulus, as measured by jobs created per dollar of outlay.
But that’s not how Republicans see it. Here’s what Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, the second-ranking Republican in the Senate, had to say when defending Mr. Bunning’s position (although not joining his blockade): unemployment relief 'doesn’t create new jobs. In fact, if anything, continuing to pay people unemployment compensation is a disincentive for them to seek new work.'
In Mr. Kyl’s view, then, what we really need to worry about right now — with more than five unemployed workers for every job opening, and long-term unemployment at its highest level since the Great Depression — is whether we’re reducing the incentive of the unemployed to find jobs. To me, that’s a bizarre point of view — but then, I don’t live in Mr. Kyl’s universe..."
The fact that Sen. Bunning did not register his outrage over deficit spending during two terms of fiscally dishonest Bush budgets (that failed to include two wars) should speak louder than his 'objections' on the Senate floor. Instead, predictable 'supplementals' were cynically used by Bush, year after year.
So, clearly, the Senator's posturing is political, rather than principled...
Paul Krugman: Senator Bunning’s Universe
"...What Democrats believe is what textbook economics says: that when the economy is deeply depressed, extending unemployment benefits not only helps those in need, it also reduces unemployment. That’s because the economy’s problem right now is lack of sufficient demand, and cash-strapped unemployed workers are likely to spend their benefits. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office says that aid to the unemployed is one of the most effective forms of economic stimulus, as measured by jobs created per dollar of outlay.
But that’s not how Republicans see it. Here’s what Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, the second-ranking Republican in the Senate, had to say when defending Mr. Bunning’s position (although not joining his blockade): unemployment relief 'doesn’t create new jobs. In fact, if anything, continuing to pay people unemployment compensation is a disincentive for them to seek new work.'
In Mr. Kyl’s view, then, what we really need to worry about right now — with more than five unemployed workers for every job opening, and long-term unemployment at its highest level since the Great Depression — is whether we’re reducing the incentive of the unemployed to find jobs. To me, that’s a bizarre point of view — but then, I don’t live in Mr. Kyl’s universe..."
Sunday, March 07, 2010
ACORN:
Colbert is reacting to the news of the Brooklyn District Attorney's findings in the case.
Huffington Post: Colbert Treats Hannity Like A Prostitute (VIDEO)
"...Colbert was determined to get Hannity's thoughts on the reports that James O'Keefe's ACORN videos had been 'heavily edited' to be deceptive. Hannity had been silent on the issue, despite being a vocal supporter of O'Keefe.
Using the same misleading tactics O'Keefe employed, Colbert quickly got what he needed out of Hannity and moved along, donning a pimp's hat and coat. The 'interview' was revealing, as Hannity was dying to get out on the streets and turn some tricks..."
Colbert is reacting to the news of the Brooklyn District Attorney's findings in the case.
Huffington Post: Colbert Treats Hannity Like A Prostitute (VIDEO)
"...Colbert was determined to get Hannity's thoughts on the reports that James O'Keefe's ACORN videos had been 'heavily edited' to be deceptive. Hannity had been silent on the issue, despite being a vocal supporter of O'Keefe.
Using the same misleading tactics O'Keefe employed, Colbert quickly got what he needed out of Hannity and moved along, donning a pimp's hat and coat. The 'interview' was revealing, as Hannity was dying to get out on the streets and turn some tricks..."
Thursday, March 04, 2010
Activist Humor:
Outstanding!
Americans for Financial Reform: Video: SNL Presidents Unite to Support the CFPA
Outstanding!
Americans for Financial Reform: Video: SNL Presidents Unite to Support the CFPA
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Nukes:
If the regualtor, the NRC, is akin to a fox running the hen-house, we're in for a string of unpleasant surprises, should Obama's plan go forward...
Brattleboro Reformer Nuke expert: ‘Entergy is worst of worst'
"A nuclear power expert who briefed state legislators on the operation of Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant last week recommended they vote no Wednesday on continued operation of the plant.
Paul Blanch, who has 45 years in the industry, including working or consulting at Millstone, Connecticut Yankee, Maine Yankee and Indian Point nuclear power plants and the Electric Power Research Institute and the Nuclear Energy Institute, said there are two major reasons for closing down the plant -- Entergy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
'Entergy is certainly the worst of the worst,' Blanch told the Reformer one day after his testimony at the Statehouse.
The company is nothing but a 'carpetbagger coming up here (with the) only goal to extract as much money as possible,' he said. 'They're milking every dime out of it that they possibly can.'
And don't expect that the NRC will take enforcement action against Entergy in response to a leak of tritiated water at the plant, said Blanch.
'The root cause of this problem is the NRC,' he said. 'They're in bed with the industry. The NRC is supposed to be the parent, but it's not enforcing the regulations. And the utilities are abusing their parents and society,'..."
Fair Trade?
Bloomberg.com - Apple Says Children Were Used to Build iPhone, iPod
"Apple Inc. said three of its suppliers hired 11 underage workers to help build the iPhone, iPod and Macintosh computer last year, a violation it uncovered as part of its onsite audit of 102 factories.
'Apple discovered three facilities that had previously hired 15-year-old workers in countries where the minimum age for employment is 16,' the company said in a 24-page report on 'Supplier Responsibility' posted on its Web site. The workers were “no longer in active employment at the time of our audit.'
Apple didn’t name its suppliers and manufacturers. The company visited sites in China, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, the Czech Republic, Philippines and the U.S. Apple also found three cases where suppliers 'falsified records' to conceal underage hiring, more than 60 facilities where employees were overworked, 24 partners that paid less than the minimum wage and 57 who didn’t offer all required benefits..."
If the regualtor, the NRC, is akin to a fox running the hen-house, we're in for a string of unpleasant surprises, should Obama's plan go forward...
Brattleboro Reformer Nuke expert: ‘Entergy is worst of worst'
"A nuclear power expert who briefed state legislators on the operation of Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant last week recommended they vote no Wednesday on continued operation of the plant.
Paul Blanch, who has 45 years in the industry, including working or consulting at Millstone, Connecticut Yankee, Maine Yankee and Indian Point nuclear power plants and the Electric Power Research Institute and the Nuclear Energy Institute, said there are two major reasons for closing down the plant -- Entergy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
'Entergy is certainly the worst of the worst,' Blanch told the Reformer one day after his testimony at the Statehouse.
The company is nothing but a 'carpetbagger coming up here (with the) only goal to extract as much money as possible,' he said. 'They're milking every dime out of it that they possibly can.'
And don't expect that the NRC will take enforcement action against Entergy in response to a leak of tritiated water at the plant, said Blanch.
'The root cause of this problem is the NRC,' he said. 'They're in bed with the industry. The NRC is supposed to be the parent, but it's not enforcing the regulations. And the utilities are abusing their parents and society,'..."
Fair Trade?
Bloomberg.com - Apple Says Children Were Used to Build iPhone, iPod
"Apple Inc. said three of its suppliers hired 11 underage workers to help build the iPhone, iPod and Macintosh computer last year, a violation it uncovered as part of its onsite audit of 102 factories.
'Apple discovered three facilities that had previously hired 15-year-old workers in countries where the minimum age for employment is 16,' the company said in a 24-page report on 'Supplier Responsibility' posted on its Web site. The workers were “no longer in active employment at the time of our audit.'
Apple didn’t name its suppliers and manufacturers. The company visited sites in China, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, the Czech Republic, Philippines and the U.S. Apple also found three cases where suppliers 'falsified records' to conceal underage hiring, more than 60 facilities where employees were overworked, 24 partners that paid less than the minimum wage and 57 who didn’t offer all required benefits..."
