Where's the Outrage?

This just burns me up. Why isn’t it illegal??

From TP:

On Monday, 43 Senate Republicans and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) introduced legislation to circumvent the Obama administration and approve the controversial Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. A ThinkProgress Green analysis reveals at least 35 of the 44 senators backing the proposal have received special interest political action committee contributions from the biggest backers of the pipeline since the start of the 2010 cycle.

$644,400 went to 35 of those senators who have endorsed this measure. Sens. Richard Burr (R-NC) and Rob Portman (R-OH) received the most, with $43,500 each. Manchin received $2,500 and the rest went to Republicans.

The most active companies and trade associations lobbying for the pipeline over the last three months were the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, ConocoPhillips, the Business Roundtable, Shell Oil, ExxonMobil, the American Petroleum Institute, the National Association of Manufacturers, the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association, Deere & Company, TransCanada Pipelines, and Devon Energy.(more…)

Tags: Congress, Energy by ecthompson md
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In my mind there are two types of people on Capitol Hill. There are those who are really trying to fix America’s problems and there are those who are really trying to line their own pockets. I really love those who are trying (even those who are misguided but who are trying to fix America). I really, really loathe those who are simply padding their bank accounts.

From NYT:

Soon after he retired last year as one of the leading liberals in Congress, former Representative William D. Delahunt of Massachusetts started his own lobbying firm with an office on the 16th floor of a Boston skyscraper. One of his first clients was a small coastal town that has agreed to pay him $15,000 a month for help in developing a wind energy project.

Amid the revolving door of congressmen-turned-lobbyists, there is nothing particularly remarkable about Mr. Delahunt’s transition, except for one thing. While in Congress, he personally earmarked $1.7 million for the same energy project.

So today, his firm, the Delahunt Group, stands to collect $90,000 or more for six months of work from the town of Hull, on Massachusetts Bay, with 80 percent of it coming from the pot of money he created through a pair of Energy Department grants in his final term in office, records and interviews show.

Experts in federal earmarking — a practice of financing pet projects that has been forsaken by many members of Congress as a toxic symbol of political abuse — said they could not recall a case in which a former lawmaker stood to benefit so directly from an earmark he had authorized. Mr. Delahunt’s firm is seeking a review of the arrangement from the Energy Department. (more…)

More from CREW:

Rep. Delahunt’s case may be more direct than most, but he isn’t alone. CREW’s research found five other former lawmakers, all of whom left office within the past five years, collecting lobbying fees for institutions they earmarked to while in office (two others are registered to lobby for institutions they have earmarked to, but reported earning only nominal fees). The members collectively earmarked more than $70 million to the organizations they went on to represent, and have pulled in a total of nearly $1.9 million from the work. Former Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS), for example, earmarked $1.6 million for defense contractor Northrop Grumman in the 2008 budget. Then he left office – but apparently kept up the relationship. The company was one of his early lobbying clients, and lobbying disclosure records show the contract brought in nearly $1.3 million in fees between 2008 and 2010.

Tags: Congress, Ethics by ecthompson md
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For those of you who missed the State of the Union address, I’ve got it for you.

A few facts about the SOTU:

• Since the last SOTU, the economy has created 1.9 million private sector jobs. [Source]

• The top one percent take home 24 percent of the nation’s income, up from about nine percent in 1976. [Source]

• Private sector job creation under Obama in 2011 was larger than seven out of the eight years Bush was president. [Source]

• The top one percent of Americans own 40 percent of our country’s wealth, while the bottom 80 percent owns only seven percent. [Source]

• Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, 2.5 million young adults gained health insurance. [Source]

• For every one job opening, there are four people looking for work. [Source]

• Last year, China spent nine percent of its GDP on infrastructure. The U.S. spent 2.5 percent. [Source]

• 2.65 million seniors saved an average of $569 on prescriptions last year thanks to the Affordable Care Act. [Source]

• “In 2011, the United States killed Al Qaeda’s most effective propagandist, Anwar al-Awlaki; its operating chief, Atiyah Abd al-Rahman; and of course its founder, chief executive and spiritual leader, Osama bin Laden.” [Source]

• Union membership is at a 70-year low. [Source]

• Unemployment benefits have lifted 3.2 million people out of poverty. [Source]

• The United States used to have the world’s largest percentage of college graduates. We’re now #14. [Source]

• One quarter of all contributions to federal campaigns come from 0.01 percent of Americans. [Source]

• 47.8 percent of households that receive food stamps are working, because having a job is not enough to keep them out of poverty. [Source] (A friend of mine asked me about how many of our military families are on food stamps. I don’t have that answer, but usage of food stamps is clearly up in the military.)

• In the last three years, 30 major corporations spent more on lobbying than they paid in taxes. [Source]

• 50 percent of U.S. workers make less than $26,364 per year. [Source]

• More than one in 70 homes faced foreclosure last year. [Source]

• Since 1985, the federal tax rate for the 400 wealthiest Americans dropped from 29 percent to 18 percent. [Source]

Tags: Congress, Domestic Issues, Obama administration by ecthompson md
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Congress is on the wrong path. Several major websites are standing up to tell congress NO.

From Wikipedia:

Imagine a World
Without Free Knowledge
For over a decade, we have spent millions of hours building the largest encyclopedia in human history. Right now, the U.S. Congress is considering legislation that could fatally damage the free and open Internet. For 24 hours, to raise awareness, we are blacking out Wikipedia. Learn more.

Contact your representatives.

SOPA and PIPA represent two bills in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate respectively. SOPA is short for the “Stop Online Piracy Act,” and PIPA is an acronym for the “Protect IP Act.” (“IP” stands for “intellectual property.”) In short, these bills are efforts to stop copyright infringement committed by foreign web sites, but, in our opinion, they do so in a way that actually infringes free expression while harming the Internet. Detailed information about these bills can be found in the Stop Online Piracy Act and PROTECT IP Act articles on Wikipedia, which are available during the blackout. GovTrack lets you follow both bills through the legislative process: SOPA on this page, and PIPA on this one. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to advocating for the public interest in the digital realm, has summarized why these bills are simply unacceptable in a world that values an open, secure, and free Internet.

From Google:

Millions of Americans oppose SOPA and PIPA because these bills would censor the Internet and slow economic growth in the U.S.
Two bills before Congress, known as the Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House, would censor the Web and impose harmful regulations on American business. Millions of Internet users and entrepreneurs already oppose SOPA and PIPA.

The Senate will begin voting on January 24th. Please let them know how you feel. Sign this petition urging Congress to vote NO on PIPA and SOPA before it is too late.

Tags: Congress, Media, Senate by ecthompson md
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I haven’t posted that much on the payroll tax cut. Why, you ask? ‘Cuz it was a no brainer. Everybody knew it was a no brainer. Everyone also knew that members of the GOP were going to try to extact as much as they could for this tax cut. The political calculus was clear to everyone for months. My only question was why did the Dems get so little? They, the Dems, should have pushed for a 12-month extension (not 2 month) of this tax cut.

From WaPo:

Facing withering criticism from across the political spectrum and abandoned by Senate allies, House Republicans bowed to political reality Thursday and agreed to a two-month extension of a payroll tax cut for 160 million Americans.

The agreement represented a remarkable capitulation on the part of House Republicans, who had two days earlier rejected such a deal with Democrats as the kind of half-measure that their new majority was elected to thwart.

And it amounts to a Christmas gift for President Obama, who attempted to paint his Republican opponents as willing to raise taxes for millions of Americans. Such an image could have cost the party politically just as it is gearing up to try to take back the White House and the Senate in 2012.

Tags: Congress, Economy, Party Politics by ecthompson md
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The super committee has until Wednesday, if I’m not mistaken, to come up with a solution to our budget crisis. They were charged with coming up with $1.4 trillion worth of cuts/savings. I basically ignored the super committee from the moment the idea was floated on Capitol Hill. The idea sounded moronic. If Congress cannot come up with a solution to our budget “crisis” then why should we believe that a committee made up of six Democrats and six Republicans would be able to solve the problem? The reason we had an impasse in Congress was that the Republicans insisted that there be no new taxes and no increase in revenue. The Democrats, as usual, caved on core values and offered up spending cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. The Republicans didn’t budge. So why would the dynamic be any better or any different in the super committee?

Over the weekend, there’s been no movement on the super committee. There have been some reports that the subcommittee is trying to figure a way to save face. As you recall, if the super committee fails, and they will, automatic cuts go into effect. These cuts are across the board and they include cuts to military spending and cuts to homeland security and other pet projects that both Democrats and Republicans hold dearly.

While the media continues to be focused on the super committee, America needs jobs. Who is focusing on helping the American worker?

Tags: Congress, Economy by ecthompson md
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When I grew up, in the ’70s, it seemed as if every week 60 Minutes would have a blockbuster story. Over the years, the CBS news program seems to have lost its focus and hard-hitting journalism. Last night, they seemed to be getting back into form. Last night, they revealed that many Congressman, as most of us thought, aren’t working for us. We elect them to represent our interests in Washington. It appears that many of our congressmen are more interested in lining their own pockets than they are in passing legislation that helps the American people. This isn’t a Republican or Democratic issue. This is an American people issue.

Here is some information on the Stock Act (here, here and here)

Tags: Congress, Legal, Party Politics by ecthompson md
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While both sides talk over and around each other, Americans are suffering. Prolonged joblessness can affect your psyche. Before you know it, you believe that you are worthless. The desperation is palpable. There’s almost no way for you to get a legitimate loan because you don’t have a job. The bills keep coming.

There seems to be no sense of urgency in Washington. 14 million Americans are out of work. These guys in Washington should be running around with their hair on fire trying to find a solution to get Americans back to work, now. This is more than frustrating. It is infuriating. We need to call Washington and demand action. There should be no breaks. This should be no vacations. Our congressmen should be working late at the Capitol until early in the morning in order to find a solution. This problem deserves 24/7 attention. Call Washington. Demand action.

Tags: Congress, Economy, Party Politics by ecthompson md
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For some reason, I got a call from the Republican National Committee. The guy started off with some small talk and then said that he knows I’ll agree that President Obama has not handled the economy in a responsible way (I’m paraphrasing). I said, “No, I don’t agree with that statement.” He hung up. Let’s skip over the fact that somebody placed me on the RNC call list. Let’s think about this statement just for a second. President Obama has mishandled the economy. How? What was he supposed to do? Economists almost universally agreed that we needed a stimulus package. We needed a stimulus package that equalled somewhere around 10% of GDP. That would’ve been a stimulus package of $1.5 trillion. He was barely able to get a package through Congress that was half of what we needed. So, when economic growth petered out after 12 months or so, who’s surprised? Who were the ones who limited the size of the stimulus? Was it the Democrats or was it the Republicans? Again, I would ask what was Obama supposed to do? More tax cuts which don’t work?

Harry Reid, Senate majority leader, has passed a bill which alters the filibuster. It doesn’t eliminate it, but it alters it. I’m not sure I completely understand this.

Gaile Owens was released from prison in Tennessee. She was on death row but the governor pardoned her last year. She was placed on parole today. Read about her story here.

As most of you know, the predator drone is this small attack airplane that is flown via remote control. Well, it seems that some computer virus has gotten into its system. This can’t be good. This seems like an episode of NCIS – LA.

Rick Perry just stated at the Values Voter Summit that “every human being is entitled to life.” I guess that doesn’t include the 234 people that have been executed while he’s been governor of Texas.

Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum has proposed zero corporate tax if corporations bring their money back from overseas. Of course, he wants us to forget that this has been tried before and it’s been nothing but a windfall for big corporations who momentarily bring their money back only to open new tax shelters overseas.

There’s some serious concern that Monarch butterflies, which fly from as far north as Canada and then roost in Mexico won’t make it through Texas. Read more here. (This has nothing to do with Rick Perry and the death penalty, I promise.)

More e-mails have been released from the White House regarding Solyndra, the failed solar panel company. Just for a second, let’s get some perspective. We, the American people, have been paying somewhere around $4.5 billion per year in tax deductions, preferences and credits for the oil and gas industry. Let’s see… $4.5 billion verses $535 million. Secondly, even those guys who understand money, venture capitalists, don’t get 100% return on their investment. Instead, they’re expecting a 20% return on their investment. They’re expecting that only one or two companies out of every 10 that they invest in to make it big. They are expecting several companies to break even and a couple to fail. This is their business model. Their business model isn’t 100% success on every investment.

It seems that AT&T wants to stick it to customers.

The new job numbers are out. They were slightly better than I expected.

I guess that House Majority Leader Eric Cantor does not like democracy. He seems to have some issues about Occupy Wall Street. He says that he’s becoming increasingly concerned about the “mobs.” I guess he should’ve been equally concerned about the Tea Party.

Read the compelling stories of the new Nobel laureates for Peace. Very powerful.

Occupy Together is the unofficial hub of all of the events going on around the country. Check it out.

So, what’s on your mind? What stories are you following?

Tags: Party Politics, Senate by ecthompson md
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American born terrorist was killed in Yemen. Details of how he died and who killed him are unclear at this time. Anwar al-Awlaki was the Qaeda leader who inspired Major Nidal Malik Hasan to shoot up an Army base in Foot Hood, Tx.

Regulatory uncertainty leads to hiring stalemate. Not so much.

Freddie Mac’s interest rates are lower than ever.

Manufacturing appears to have increased slightly in September.

Our GDP is slightly better than we thought it was.

I talked about this case earlier, but I think there’s a real question as to whether Rick Perry, who stated that he sleeps well, allowed an innocent man to be executed.

I continue to support Occupy Wall Street.

Susan Sarandon – Occupy Wall Street

It’s important to remember that it is still extremely early in the political season. Eight years ago Wesley Clark was leading the Democratic field with 22% of the support, followed by Howard Dean at 13%, John Kerry with 11%, and Dick Gephardt and Joe Lieverman with 11% and 10 %, respectively.

The Senate has filibustered a huge number of Obama’s appointments to the federal bench. It appears that Harry Reid has figured out how to get some of these nominees through the Senate.

In the category of the world gone crazy, “actress” and model Holly Madison has insured her breasts for $1 million.

Holly Madison

Tags: Al Qaeda, Business, Economy, Senate by ecthompson md
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Solyndra executives were summoned to Capitol Hill yesterday. They took the fifth. This is curious.

There’s more going on in Wisconsin with regards to Governor Scott Walker and some secret investigation. Scott Walker’s spokesman has received immunity. This can’t be good.

Sometimes, government is hard. Other times, it’s just politics. It appears that a government shutdown is on the horizon, again. The Republicans have not given up on insisting on funding cuts before funding FEMA disaster relief.

I find it kind of amusing that we are instructing Europe to be more aggressive on their debt crisis. This is in spite of the fact that we really haven’t solve our own debt crisis.

Scientists at Penn State College of Medicine announced that they have found a virus capable of killing breast cancer within seven days. If this is true and if there are no untoward side effects, like getting some other type of cancer, this would be a huge breakthrough.

Michele Bachmann during last week’s debates basically proposed no taxes. I’m not talking about a system with fewer taxes. I’m talking about a system without any taxes. I guess that government would run on a voluntary basis. There would be no military. There would be no Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid. There would be nothing. No disaster relief. The crazy, irrational philosopher, Ayn Rand, would be proud.

For quite some time now, some money gurus have been touting the safe haven of gold. After yesterday’s losses, I’m guessing that gold and silver aren’t that safe anymore.

One of the darlings of Wall Street has been this company called GroupOn. Just like every other phrase on Wall Street, Groupon was initially overvalued at $20 billion. Its revenues were nowhere near this lofty number. There seems to be some accounting irregularities which reduce the revenue from over $700 million to $312.9 million. That’s a huge accounting discrepancy.

I’ve been extremely critical of Hewlett-Packard. I think that they’ve lost their way. They have fired their old CEO and have hired eBay’s old CEO Meg Whitman. She’s got a lot of work to do.

Nice article on making your smart phone – smarter.

The NRA is confused and delusional. They seem to be upset that Obama has done what he said he was going to do. Nothing. He wasn’t going to touch gun control. That simple task of Obama’s sticking to his promise has gotten the NRA in a twist. Read this craziness.

Is Putin back in as the Russian president? Nice gig if you can get it.

UBS CEO has stepped down over the $2 billion losses. Remember, I mentioned several days ago that a “rogue” trader lost $2 billion at UBS. I think that it is important to point out the wink, wink, nod, nod that is going on here. This trader wasn’t a rogue. He was just the same as those other knuckleheads. Matt Taibbi put it this way –

They’re not “rogue” for the simple reason that making insanely irresponsible decisions with other peoples’ money is exactly the job description of a lot of people on Wall Street. Hell, they don’t call these guys “rogue traders” when they make a billion dollars gambling.

The only thing that differentiates a “rogue” trader like Barings villain Nick Leeson from a Lloyd Blankfein, Dick Fuld, John Thain, or someone like AIG’s Joe Cassano, is that those other guys are more senior and their lunatic, catastrophic decisions were authorized (and yes, I know that Cassano wasn’t an investment banker, technically – but he was in financial services).

In the financial press you’re called a “rogue trader” if you’re some overperspired 28 year-old newbie who bypasses internal audits and quality control to make a disastrous trade that could sink the company. But if you’re a well-groomed 60 year-old CEO who uses his authority to ignore quality control and internal audits in order to make disastrous trades that could sink the company, you get a bailout, a bonus, and heroic treatment in an Andrew Ross Sorkin book.

Right on cue, Larry Flynt, founder of Hustler magazine, has offered $1 million for anyone who has proof of a sexual affair with Rick Perry.

Cain wins Florida straw poll. Interestingly, Michele Bachmann finished last. She finished behind – Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich (who has gotten no traction at all) and Jon Huntsman.

What’s on your mind? What stories are you following?

Tags: Business, Congress, Economy, Party Politics by ecthompson md
3 Comments »

A friend of mine sent me this picture the other day. It is a picture that has been floating around the internet for about two years. I think that this picture points out several things that we believe about our legislators. First, they’re lazy. Second, they’re not paying attention and they’re wasting our time. My first thought when I saw this picture was that it wasn’t true. The caption on the picture suggested that it was from the US House of Representatives. This picture is not. This picture was taken in the Connecticut state capitol in their House of Representatives. The picture is authentic.

I think that this picture speaks volumes. First of all, we conduct legislative business as if it were 1850. This is the exact way they conducted business in England back in the 1700s. Isn’t there a better way? Giving lengthy speeches on the floor of any chamber seems to be a poor way to communicate in the year 2011. Don’t we need to be more interactive? We need to find a better way to get more done. Things need to move faster. If I were sitting around, listening to folks (my esteemed colleagues) yammer on for hours, I would be surfing the Internet and playing solitaire (Madden or Angry Birds on my iPad), too.

More from Snopes

Tags: Congress, Domestic Issues by ecthompson md
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• One thing you can say about the media is that they will always find something to go bonkers about. They have completely forgotten about the earthquake in Virginia and are now focused on the hurricane that is projected to hit North Carolina sometime on Friday. They are also in a tizzy over Steve Jobs’ resignation. It is clear that Apple Computers is not to be the same company without Steve Jobs. He was the one that had the drive, the determination and the vision to create the products that we now associate with Apple Computers. In my opinion, his greatness was in creating a user interface that was beautiful to look at and easy to use.

Irene:

• Senator Bernie Sanders has introduced a bill in the Senate to strengthen Social Security. We need more of this.
• One of the things that is great about writing your own memoir is that you can say whatever it is you want to say. I know that everybody’s been on the edge of their seat waiting on former Vice President Dick Cheney to write his memoir. Well, the wait is over. By the way, how is he staying out of jail?
• The CIA is editing and re-editing a new book on 9/11. The FBI’s is written by a former FBI agent, an Arab-speaking counterterrorism agent. Ali Soufan should be a name well known to those who have followed the events of 9/11 very closely. He testified in Congress about the torture techniques that were used by the CIA. He stated, without hesitation, that they were unnecessary and counterproductive. If the CIA does not edit the book to death, I’m looking forward to the publication.
• J.P. Morgan has been fined. They basically broke US sanctions with regards to Iran, Cuba and Sudan. The fine was only $88 million.
• Fox News shuts down Karl Rove when he begins to describe Sarah Palin as thin-skinned.  I wonder what that’s all about.
• Robert Reich is calling for a protest on Labor Day. Marches instead of parades. I’m down with that.
• There’s a growing dissatisfaction against companies who seem to be discriminating against unemployed workers. Please follow the link. This is important.
• The Bush tax cuts are still contributing significantly to our debt. The CBO has the latest numbers.
• Mark Thoma tackles the question concerning why the Fed is hesitant to do more to help our economy.

Tags: Bush Administration, Economy, Foreign Affairs, Senate by ecthompson md
1 Comment »

Several days ago a very disturbing article appeared in the New York Times. The article suggested that President Obama and his aides are sitting around considering relatively “meaningless” options with regards to our economy. The article seems to suggest that the Obama administration is curled up in a fetal position, in the corner, sucking its thumb. Nice.

I’m sorry, I have no use for an ineffective White House. I need a White House that is going to stand up and fight for the American people. Right now we need jobs. The White House needs to propose bold initiatives to put Americans back to work. With the unemployment rate stuck at 9% and a ridiculously high mortgage delinquency rate, we need action from the White House. I don’t need excuses about how tough it is. I don’t need excuses about the political atmosphere or what can pass the House.

Representative Jan Schakowsky’s bill is a start in the right direction. We have to put people back to work in order to get our economy going.

• Creates over two million jobs within two years to address the real crisis facing America: the jobs crisis.
• Emergency jobs will meet critical needs to make American communities stronger.
• Costs $227 billion ($113.5 billion for each of fiscal years 2012 and 2013).
• Fully paid for through separate legislation that creates higher tax brackets for millionaires and billionaires and eliminates subsidies for Big Oil and loopholes for corporations that ship American jobs overseas.

The Corps: 2.2 Million Jobs

1. School Improvement Corps - Creates 400,000 construction and 250,000 maintenance jobs to fix American schools.

2. Park Improvement Corps - 100,000 jobs for youth between the ages of 16 and 25, to improve our nation’s parks.

3. Student Job Corps - 250,000 part-time, work/study jobs for eligible college students.

4. Neighborhood Heroes Corps - 300,000 teachers, 40,000 police officers, 12,000 firefighters.

5. Health Corps - 40,000 health care providers, including physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and health care workers.

6. Community Corps - 750,000 jobs to do needed work in our communities, including energy audits and conservation upgrades, urban land reclamation and addressing blight, public property maintenance and beautification, housing rehabilitation and new construction.

7. Child Care Corps - 100,000 jobs in early childhood care and education.

The wonderful graphic from the Economic Policy Institute clearly shows that all we have to do is turn our economy around and most of our economic woes go away. Let the Bush tax cuts expire. End our involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq. These are the policies which we need to embrace in order to get us back on the right track. We must get our economy turned around. We must put people back to work. This is not something that can wait until 2012 or 2014. This is something we need to start today. It is time for the White House to wake up and start acting boldly and in the best interest of the American people. Put people back to work, now.

Tags: Congress, Economy by ecthompson md
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click to enlarge

• As I mentioned yesterday, government spending makes up approximately 25% of our GDP. Cutting government spending equals losing jobs. Our unemployment rate is unacceptably high and, instead of creating jobs, Congress has just taking a big step toward losing more jobs. The GOP is killing America.
• Michele Bachmann, in an absolutely brilliant paragraph, starts out by stating that she could not afford to buy a house on her own and needed government assistance. No big deal. Almost everybody has had some sort of government assistance with buying homes over the last 15 or 20 years. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have facilitated tens of millions of loans for average Americans. Then, Michele Bachmann pivoted and talked about how these agencies need to be eliminated. Therefore, as I see it, it appears to be okay for her to use government assistance to buy a house, but it’s not okay for you and me to do the same thing. I wonder if you could give her house back?
• Remember when Republicans like Michele Bachmann were talking about how blacks were better off in slavery because they had both a mother and a father? Remember that? Well, here’s a thoughtful response.
• Can somebody please explain to me why there is a fight over funding the FAA? For some reason, dating back to the Reagan years, the FAA has been a political football. It sure seems to me that if Republicans are serious about closing the deficit (and I don’t think that they are) they wouldn’t let an agency sit idle and let millions of dollars in revenue float off into the ether.
• Why is Senator David Vitter still in the Senate? Wasn’t he in the DC Madam’s phone book? How did he win reelection? I’m still baffled by it. He is blocking a nomination to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior because it has become acceptable for senators to block nominations until their pet projects are funded. This is the kind of garbage that hurts America.
• Speaking of hurting America, there is the NRA. The Obama administration is trying to work to control illegal guns getting into Mexican cartels. This would seem to be a good thing… unless you are the NRA. Then, you’re seriously mad about this affront to civil liberties. It would seem to me that we should do everything in our power to choke off the flow of guns to the Mexican cartels. If the NRA is upset, let them buy the guns and store them in a warehouse somewhere. The bottom line is we have to do whatever we can to stop that violence if it’s being fueled with American guns.
• Please list this under the category of very stupid: Rep. Ron Paul has written a bill that will simply cancel $1.6 trillion in Federal Reserve debt.  Yep. that should calm the markets. Let’s simply write off our debt. I’m sure that foreign governments and Wall Street will love that.
• This has been a terribly depressing week from a political standpoint. Because of this, I need to put on something that makes me smile –

Artist: Stevie Wonder
Tune: Do I Do

• The Tea Party explained.

Tags: Budget, Civil Liberty, Congress, Music by ecthompson md
4 Comments »

Dammit! I’m sorry, I don’t care what anybody says, being a progressive is ridiculously hard. We have leaders who pretend that we have no principles. We have leaders that don’t stand up to combat the craziness coming from conservatives on a daily basis. Who are these leaders? Who voted them in? Oh yeah, we did. Well, our “leadership” basically said to the progressive movement that we don’t care. We don’t care what it is that you think. We don’t care if you do represent the majority of Americans. All we want to do is bend over to the Republicans.

So, we’ve been wrangling with conservatives… No, that’s not right. We’ve been wrangling with the Tea Party for over a month. To be honest, negotiations started more than six months ago. We, the progressive movement, said that responsible deficit reduction should not take place until we had enough job growth. We said that reduction in federal spending would hurt the economy. We also mentioned that federal spending makes up approximately 25% of our GDP. Our fallback position was that we needed a balanced approach. We needed those who are enjoying the lowest taxes in over 40 years to simply pay their fair share. Nobody suggested we go back to a tax rate of 90% on the richest Americans. That’s a tax rate we had in this country as late as 1960 when John Kennedy took office. Remember that the 1960s and 1950s are a magical time for conservatives. They want to take us all back to that time frame when America was “right.”

With the mainstream media not wanting to be “too critical” of the Tea Party, we never got serious coverage of this ridiculous showdown. We never got ABC, NBC or CBS to dedicate a whole show to the stupidity of holding the American economy hostage. Sure, they had lead stories on it and they spent a good five or six minutes on the subject, but then they would quickly cut away to something that was completely and totally meaningless — like a skunk with its head in a Skippy jar. We never had any of the “serious” newscasters sit down with the American people and say that this was just unacceptable. We have one party basically stating that they’re going to hold their breath and not listen to anything that anyone else has to say until they get their way. That’s exactly what happened. On one side, we had the Democrats tripping all over themselves to say that they don’t support a measure that they ended up voting for. On the other side, we have Tea Party Republicans who are unhappy in spite of the fact they got everything they asked for. Let me say that again. The most conservative part of the Republican Party got everything that they asked for. They got trillions of dollars in spending cuts with no promise of revenue enhancements. None. Sure, there’s a bipartisan super Congress that is supposed to agree on $1 trillion worth of savings. Bipartisan. I’m really starting to hate this word because everything that seems to come out of these bipartisan commissions is overwhelmingly conservative in nature. It would be like progressives getting behind closed doors, being gagged and tied up in the corner, while the conservatives discuss whatever topic this commission is supposed to discuss. They only untie the progressives when it’s time for them to sign the document. I suspect they planned to get more conservative ideas about cutting essential programs and both houses of Congress would approve the insanity.

I know that it is only six in the morning but I feel like I need a drink.

Tags: Budget, Congress, Obama administration by ecthompson md
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Again, from Congress we have smoke and mirrors. In theory this “crisis” came about because we need to raise the debt ceiling. Many deficit peacocks were worried about the deficit. So, they decided that the best thing to do would be to hold the economy hostage. Stupid parameters which are not related to real economic growth or job creation were placed in the way (for every dollar the debt ceiling is raised, we’ve cut the deficit by the same amount). Not one progressive was able to make a decent case throughout this months-long debate. The president’s “hit and run” strategy was a total failure. The president would make a speech with several excellent points, but didn’t follow up that speech with subsequent speeches around the country. Remember when the president had those great talking points about Republicans standing up for private jets and tax cuts for the rich? Where were those comments the last couple of days/weeks? Who stood up for the American people? The American people depend on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. These programs make up the backbone of our safety net. I’m sorry, I just did not see President Obama or other progressives in the House or Senate stand up and make a thoughtful case. This went on day after day, week after week. Yet, from the other side of the aisle, Republicans hammered their simplistic talking points. We’re spending too much. We have a spending problem. We heard this garbage over and over again.

I have no idea how this thing going to play out over the next 24/48 hours. I’ve called on the president to use the 14th amendment. After using the 14th amendment, he must submit legislation to Congress to eliminate the debt ceiling. If Congress wants to save money, holding our economy hostage is not the way to do it. Stop appropriating money. Congress has a line-item veto. They have the ability to save money. They have the ability to shut down programs.

The last several weeks have made me sick to my stomach. There is no real leadership in Washington. The president has simply been going along to get along. Democrats in both the House and the Senate have been toothless and spineless. It is almost as if we have no core values. There’s only been one obscure House member who has a name we can’t pronounce (Raúl Grijalva) who’s been standing up for the American people and our core values. Default is not an option. Flushing our safety net down the toilet so that multimillionaires can get larger tax breaks and more corporate jets is obscene.

What are your thoughts?

Tags: Budget, Congress, Obama administration by ecthompson md
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I never liked that old story of the Engine That Could. There are some things that the power of positive thinking simply won’t fix. Several weeks ago, I was sort of hopeful that some sort of deal would be made. The deal might be crappy, yes, but at least the economy wouldn’t implode. With each day, as reasonable and downright awful deals have all ended up in file 13, I’m getting less and less hopeful that our dysfunctional Congress can do anything that really helps the American people. So I went from I think they can to I think they are morons. I think that they are morons.

Rumors of a new, new deal have been circling since this morning.

From TPM:

The deal works like this:

It guarantees the debt limit will be hiked by $2.4 trillion. Immediately upon enactment of the plan, the Treasury will be granted $400 billion of new borrowing authority, after which President Obama will be allowed to extend the debt limit by $500 billion, subject to a vote of disapproval by Congress.

That initial $900 billion will be paired with $900 billion of discretionary spending cuts, first identified in a weeks-old bipartisan working group led by Vice President Joe Biden, which will be spread out over 10 years.

Obama will later be able to raise the debt limit by $1.5 trillion, again subject to a vote of disapproval by Congress.

That will be paired with the formation of a Congressional committee tasked with reducing deficits by a minimum of $1.2 trillion. That reduction can come from spending cuts, tax increases or a mixture thereof.

If the committee fails to reach $1.2 trillion, it will trigger an automatic across the board spending cut, half from domestic spending, half from defense spending, of $1.5 trillion. The domestic cuts come from Medicare providers, but Medicaid and Social Security would be exempted. The enforcement mechanism carves out programs that help the poor and veterans as well.

If the committee finds $1.5 trillion or more in savings, the enforcement mechanism would not be triggered. That’s because Republicans are insisting on a dollar-for-dollar match between deficit reduction and new borrowing authority, and $900 billion plus $1.5 trillion add up to $2.4 trillion.

However, if the committee finds somewhere between $1.2 and $1.5 trillion in savings, the balance will be made up by the corresponding percentage of the enforcement mechanism’s cuts, still in a one-to-one ratio.

I’m not sure how this is much different than what we have seen before. I just don’t understand how even thinking about cuts to the social safety net helps the American people. Do you?

Tags: Budget, Congress, Obama administration by ecthompson md
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This really isn’t that hard. There’s a reason that Americans feel frustrated. They’re working harder and making less. This didn’t happen by accident. A number of policies were put in place which made it easier for business (big business) to squeeze the middle class.

First, eliminate the debt ceiling. If Congress does not want to spend money then they should not authorize the money to be spent. It is that simple. We do not need a debt ceiling. It serves no practical purpose. From a political standpoint it’s a hot potato that’s only grown hotter over the last several months.

Secondly, appropriate billions of dollars for state and local governments. The government must stop laying off workers if we are going to turn this economy around. Now, let’s understand each other. This is not going to be done during this reactionary Congress. The House will never pass such a bill. They’re more likely to worsen our economic woes by cutting federal, state and local workers. Over the last six months, state and local governments shed somewhere around half a million jobs. This is one reason that the economy continues to be sluggish. Let’s turn this around. I’m not saying hire people that are going to do nothing. Instead, I want government to do the jobs they were doing before.

Thirdly, allow the Bush tax cuts to disappear.

These three things will go a long way to fixing America. There are a lot of other things that we need to do and I’ll be continuing this series over the next several weeks/months. I’m sure that you have some ideas about what needs to be fixed. Send me your thoughts.

Tags: Congress, Economy by ecthompson md
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It isn’t that hard. You simply count who is with you and who isn’t. It was clear from the moment that Speaker John Boehner dreamed up his grand plan that he didn’t have the Republican votes, yet he pretended that all was okay. Alas, now the arm twisting begins.

Vote count by The Hill.

From HuffPo:

House GOP leadership announced abruptly on Thursday evening that they were suspending a vote on Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) debt ceiling proposal, signaling in the process that the GOP lacked the votes to pass the package.

The news came just minutes before party leadership was set to hold a 5:30 p.m. vote on the proposal, which would cut roughly $915 billion in spending over the next ten years but only raise the debt ceiling through the end of the calendar year.

Congressional aides were scrambling to figure out just when the vote would be rescheduled for — the House for now will consider eight smaller measures first — but a spokesman for House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said that a vote on Boehner’s proposal would still take place on Thursday night.

Whether that is enough time for the Speaker to convince a few more Republicans to support him is unclear. Informal whip counts had 25 Republicans and the full Democratic caucus opposing the measure, which would put it short of the 216 votes needed for passage. (more…)

Update: Great comment on NYT –

An asteroid is headed toward earth, the Tea Party says it won’t have an impact and we don’t need to do anything. The Democrats and Republicans are arguing over what color to paint the rocket that will be used blow up the asteroid before it hits us. The asteroid is getting closer and closer…

Update II: Watch the Video:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

From WaPo:

Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told reporters shortly before 10:30 p.m. that there would be no vote Thursday night on the bill, which would increase the federal debt limit in two stages in exchange for major spending cuts.

The vote had been scheduled for around 6 p.m. Thursday, but as that hour neared, GOP leaders realized they didn’t have the 217 votes needed to send the measure on to the Senate.

So the House suddenly took up a series of non-controversial measures, leaving befuddled lawmakers debating whether to rename a post office in Hawaii before finally going into recess for an indefinite time. (more…)

So, after all is said and done, we are back where we were last week, two weeks ago, a month ago. After Eric Cantor and John Boehner positioned themselves as the men with the plan, they never had the votes. In my opinion, we are to blame. We, the American people, who voted for some politicians who were long on bluster and short on real ideas to move the country forward, are to blame. We voted in knuckleheads who didn’t understand the difference between campaign rhetoric and truly governing the country. We wanted jobs and instead we got worthless Republican rhetoric. Many Americans thought they were voting to preserve Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, in essence the American safety net, when in fact they were voting for intransigence. It seems to me that the only reasonable response by President Obama is to enact the 14th amendment. For the good of the country he has to personally direct the Secretary of the Treasury to raise the debt limit. For over a month, it was clear to me that this is where we were headed. We have no more time for posturing and rhetoric. It is time to act.

Watch the video:

Tags: Budget, House of Representatives by ecthompson md
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