Where's the Outrage?

Protests and fighting in Syria continues despite brutal repression by the Syrian Government.

The U.S. embassy in Syria has been closed as the Syrian government goes on killing its own people.  

Here is  what President Obama has said  as reported in the New York Times—

“President Obama condemned what he called “the Syrian government’s unspeakable assault against the people of Homs,” saying in a statement that President Bashar al-Assad “has no right to lead Syria, and has lost all legitimacy with his people and the international community.”

Mother Jones magazine is a great liberal publication which has been keeping up on events in Syria. 

Here is Amnesty International on Syria. 

Here is a New York Times summary of events in Syria. In the middle right side of this resource are a large number of links to learn more.

Here is a BBC guide to the situation in Syria. 

From the BBC—

“Syria is a country of 21 million people with a large Sunni majority (74%) and significant minorities (10% each) of Christians and Alawites – the Shia sect to which Mr Assad belongs. For years, Mr Assad has promoted a secular identity for the Syrian state, hoping to unify diverse communities in a region where sectarian conflict is rife – as seen in neighbouring Lebanon and Iraq. The regime can still mobilise support, especially from minority groups and the upper classes However, he also concentrated power in the hands of his family and members of the Alawite community, who wield a disproportionate power in the Syrian government, military and business elite. Claims of corruption and nepotism have been rife among the excluded Sunni majority. And protests have generally been biggest in Sunni-dominated rural areas, towns and cities, as opposed to mixed areas. Opposition figures have stressed that they seek a “multi-national, multi-ethnic and religiously tolerant society”. But there are fears of chaos and instability – even talk of civil war – if Mr Assad should fall. Activists say these fears are overblown.” 

Here is a history of the Syrian nation. 

Here is the U.S. State Department overview of Syria. 

It may not be clear what difference a blog post or the concern of everyday people far away from Syria will do to change events in Syria. The government of President Bashar al-Assad will apparently only give up power when it is forced to do so.

Yet many brave people are fighting in Syria no matter the risk of violence or death. At the least they merit our acknowledgment and our concern. At best, an ongoing worldwide focus on repression and efforts to fight repression will help create a climate of hope and freedom in our connected world.

The message from Syria is that every person has a voice. We should each use the voice we are given in the best way we are able.

(Below—A 2011 anti-government protest in the Syrian city of Baniyas. Photo by Syria Frames Of Freedom.)  

Tags: Foreign Affairs, Obama administration by Neil Aquino
1 Comment »

The judge in Georgia, who was wasting his time listening to this bogus case, decided that he has had enough.

From Outside the Beltway:

The birther movement suffered yet another totally predictable setback yesterday when a Georgia Administrative Law Judge ruled that President Obama was eligible to be President under the Constitution and would appear on Georgia’s ballot:

President Barack Obama’s name will remain on the Georgia primary ballot after a state law judge flatly rejected legal challenges that contend he can not be a candidate.

In a 10-page order, Judge Michael Malihi dismissed one challenge that contended Obama has a computer-generated Hawaiian birth certificate, a fraudulent Social Security number and invalid U.S. identification papers. He also turned back another that claimed the president is ineligible to be a candidate because his father was not a U.S. citizen at the time of Obama’s birth.

The findings by Malihi, a judge for the State Office of Administrative Hearings, go to Secretary of State Brian Kemp, who will make the final determination. Last month, at a hearing boycotted by Obama’s lawyer, Malihi considered complaints brought by members of the so-called “birther” movement.

With regard to the challenge that Obama does not have legitimate birth and identification papers, Malihi said he found the evidence “unsatisfactory” and “insufficient to support plaintiffs’ allegations.”

A number of the witnesses who testified about the alleged fraud were never qualified as experts in birth records, forged documents and document manipulation and “none … provided persuasive testimony,” Malihi wrote.

Addressing the other claim that contends Obama cannot be a candidate because his father was never a U.S. citizen, Malihi said he was persuaded by a 2009 ruling by the Indiana Court of Appeals decision that struck down a similar challenge. In that ruling, the Indiana court found that children born within the U.S. are natural-born citizens, regardless of the citizenry of their parents.

Obama “became a citizen at birth and is a natural-born citizen,” Malihi wrote. Accordingly, Obama is eligible as a candidate for the upcoming presidential primary in March, the judge said.

Tags: Obama administration by ecthompson md
2 Comments »

As usual, the Republicans cannot stop attacking. President Obama traveled to Las Vegas yesterday and was speaking at a UPS facility. The facility was stocked with specially made natural gas trucks. Republicans have stated that these are not practical. In fact, this is American ingenuity at work. I don’t think that natural gas cars are the answer for everyone, but they simply makes sense in this particular sector of business. UPS was big enough to be able to set up the infrastructure and then reap the cost savings.

From WP:

On Thursday, President Obama traveled to Las Vegas to pitch a few new energy policies — including tax breaks for firms that buy natural gas-powered trucks. T. Boone Pickens, for one, has argued that fueling vehicles with natural gas is the best way to curtail oil use. Is it?

President Barack Obama speaks at a United Parcel Service (UPS) freight facility about greater use of natural gas . (Ethan Miller – Getty Images)In small doses, perhaps, though it depends what the alternatives are. Fueling up cars and trucks directly with natural gas could help cut America’s reliance on crude oil. Yet some experts have cautioned that plug-in electric vehicles should play a much more pivotal role in weaning the country off oil. After all, it’s far more efficient to take natural gas, burn it to generate electricity, and power a bunch of plug-in vehicles, than it would be to fuel up cars and trucks with all that natural gas directly. (That’s because the combustion engines in cars and trucks lose waste more energy than the modern-day combined-cycle gas turbines that produce electricity.)

The counterargument is that electric vehicles are expensive and hard to scale up — and they typically require a vast new charging infrastructure. That’s true. But natural-gas vehicles could face similar hurdles. A 2002 analysis in the journal Energy Policy found that natural-gas fueling stations have historically had trouble getting built precisely because they turned out to be far more costly than anticipated.

For those reasons, a 2009 report from MIT on “The Future of Natural Gas” predicted that natural-gas vehicles would likely play a modest role in transportation — mostly confined to long-haul trucks and other heavy-duty vehicles like buses and delivery vans. Meanwhile, the MIT analysts expect natural gas to play a much more prominent role in the electric sector. That, in itself, could be an environmental boon: The report found that electric utilities could very rapidly cut their carbon emissions up to 22 percent by switching from coal to natural gas in key areas (and that’s without making major capital investments).

Tags: Elections, Energy, Obama administration by ecthompson md
4 Comments »

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
2 Comments »

Today, President Obama has announced that all American troops are coming home from Iraq by the end of the year. I’m sure that there is going to be a lot of discussion and finger-pointing over time tables and such. In my opinion, it is past time for our troops to come home. We’ve lost too many Americans. Unfortunately, after much thought and consideration, it is difficult for me to come up with much that we’ve accomplished. We got rid of Saddam Hussein. Everyone will acknowledge that he was a dictator and a mass murderer. As we began what will no doubt be a protracted discussion on what was accomplished and when should we come home, I think it is important for us to remember our goals. I have to smile because our goals have changed over the last 8-10 years. Originally, our goals were to prevent Saddam Hussein from launching an attack on the United States or our allies with weapons of mass destruction (nuclear weapons, chemical weapons or biological weapons). As everyone now knows, we found no weapons of mass destruction – none. There were multiple other reasons placed out there in the ethernet which included securing Iraqi oil for the United States, freeing the Iraqi people from the brutal dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, freeing Iraq from the terrorists calling themselves Al Qaeda in Iraq and finally, the domino effect. By taking out Saddam Hussein and instilling democracy in Iraq, democracy would spread throughout the Middle East.

I’m ecstatic that our troops are coming home. I am deeply saddened that we spent over $800 billion (more than our economic stimulus package) and have so little to show for it. Over 4400 Americans have been killed and over 32,000 have been wounded. I know that our troops have fought bravely. I’m in awe of their sacrifice and dedication to duty.

Mister President – let’s bring them home quickly and safely.

Tags: Iraq, Obama administration by ecthompson md
No Comments »

President Barack Obama, from the transcript:

An earthquake and a hurricane may have delayed this day, but this is a day that would not be denied.

For this day, we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s return to the National Mall. In this place, he will stand for all time, among monuments to those who fathered this nation and those who defended it; a black preacher with no official rank or title who somehow gave voice to our deepest dreams and our most lasting ideals, a man who stirred our conscience and thereby helped make our union more perfect.

And Dr. King would be the first to remind us that this memorial is not for him alone. The movement of which he was a part depended on an entire generation of leaders. Many are here today, and for their service and their sacrifice, we owe them our everlasting gratitude. This is a monument to your collective achievement. (Applause.)

Some giants of the civil rights movement –- like Rosa Parks and Dorothy Height, Benjamin Hooks, Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth –- they’ve been taken from us these past few years. This monument attests to their strength and their courage, and while we miss them dearly, we know they rest in a better place.

And finally, there are the multitudes of men and women whose names never appear in the history books –- those who marched and those who sang, those who sat in and those who stood firm, those who organized and those who mobilized –- all those men and women who through countless acts of quiet heroism helped bring about changes few thought were even possible. “By the thousands,” said Dr. King, “faceless, anonymous, relentless young people, black and white…have taken our whole nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in the formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.” To those men and women, to those foot soldiers for justice, know that this monument is yours, as well.

Nearly half a century has passed since that historic March on Washington, a day when thousands upon thousands gathered for jobs and for freedom. That is what our schoolchildren remember best when they think of Dr. King -– his booming voice across this Mall, calling on America to make freedom a reality for all of God’s children, prophesizing of a day when the jangling discord of our nation would be transformed into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. (more…)

Tags: Obama administration by ecthompson md
2 Comments »

I find it hard to believe that it was just six or eight weeks ago that we were talking about the last possible government shutdown. Tempers flared. There was a lot of finger-pointing but, in the end, Republicans backed off from their extreme positions and the government continued. Once again, we’re looking at a government shutdown. In a terrible game of déjà vu, Republicans have again decided they need to use the American economy as a bargaining chip. Democrats cannot agree to any short-term measures, in my opinion. Republicans are playing a game of death by 1000 cuts (pun intended). They want to hold the economy hostage in order to get not just some of what they want, but all of what they want. The fact that their demands were unreasonable, shortsighted and harmful to the economy (long-term) doesn’t seem to matter to them.

Elena Kagan has now been on the Supreme Court for year.

Average weekly hours worked in the private sector has plummeted over the last several weeks.

Gas prices at the pump continue to decline.

The European Union is still struggling to come up with some rational way to save Greece.

The mainstream media seems to be ignoring protests on Wall Street. Occupy Wall Street could turn into a huge movement. We need Wall Street to begin to work for us again. Currently, they only seem to work for themselves.

Remember when Republican candidates attacked Barack Obama for not supporting Israel? According to the Israeli president, Barack Obama is a great friend of Israel. In fact, Barack Obama has essentially embraced the policies of George W. Bush, who embraced the policies of Bill Clinton. There’s been no discernible movement in America support for Israel for more than 50 years.

What stories are you following this morning?

Tags: Economy, Israel, Obama administration, Party Politics by ecthompson md
No Comments »

For reasons that I quite can’t put my finger on, the progressive bloggers here seem to bounce ideas around like ping-pong balls from time to time. Some of these ping-pong balls stay around a long time and others fade very quickly. Today’s ping-pong ball is the notion that somebody, anybody, needs to challenge President Barack Obama in the Democratic primaries. The theory goes that the president continues to triangulate and track to the middle. With a liberal primary challenger, this would cause the president to move his strategy and tactics back to the left.

I think a democracy works best when it is challenged. A challenger is a great idea. But like all great ideas, the devil is in the details. Who’s going to be the challenger? This is critically important. Some progressives have suggested that it doesn’t matter who the challenger is. I completely disagree. The challenger must have some political gravitas in order to be perceived as a threat by the president. Also, the views of the challenger are crucial. There was a story last week that some in the progressive blogosphere longed for Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton? Get serious. If you think there’s gridlock in Washington now, they would have to define a new term if Hillary Clinton were elected. Some of the people in Washington actually like President Obama. Hillary Clinton comes with such baggage that the mention of her name causes seizures in some people. Some have mentioned Congressman Dennis Kucinich. I respect Dennis Kucinich. I think he is a smart man and a good politician. I think he is a fabulous progressive who stands up for his beliefs. Unfortunately, he is so far left that he doesn’t get taken seriously by the mainstream media. He would not be a serious contender. I see that Ralph Nader has thrown his hat into the ring. Why? I think that Ralph Nader has many outstanding qualities, but again I don’t think he’s going to be taken seriously by the mainstream media. If we, progressive Democrats, are going to run somebody against Barack Obama, it needs to be a serious candidate. If we cannot find a serious candidate, it is a waste of time and effort.

Let’s look at this problem from a different angle. The reason that many on the left are upset with Barack Obama is, in a nutshell, triangulation. Barack Obama, like Bill Clinton before him, seems to check the political wind, find out where their center of gravity is and then he stakes his position right there, smack in the middle. If this is so, I believe we don’t need another candidate in order to change the political landscape. What we need is more activism from the left. We need to be more vocal. We need to write more letters to our congressmen and to the White House. We need to call our congressmen and the White House. Politicians respond to pressure. We need to let the president know that we aren’t going to sit around and twiddle our thumbs. We’ve been actively trying to change the political climate. It is time for us to quit longing for what we don’t have and begin to make our voices heard so that the people that we elected will begin to work for us.

Tags: Obama administration, Party Politics by ecthompson md
2 Comments »

I’m still looking over the president’s numbers. I thought his speech was excellent. I think he struck the right tone. Now, no matter what he actually said last night, he has to take his speech and sell it to the American people. This is the key.

Authorities are still scrambling over the suspected bomb plot. The targets are, supposedly, New York and/or Washington.

That was very ugly football last night. Beautiful offense. No sign of defense.

Representative Tom Price is simply trying to get attention. These days, you need to say something outlandish in order to get media attention. Being thoughtful doesn’t get you in front of the camera. Tom Price stated that a payroll tax cut for working families is class warfare. Really? How is that exactly? By the way, his net worth is estimated to be $8.5 million.

Chris Botti became famous when he replaced Branford Marsalis and Sting’s band. This is an absolutely beautiful tune. I’ll have more news for you tomorrow.

Artist: Chris Botti
Tune: When I Fall in Love

Tags: Economy, Music, Obama administration, Party Politics, Sports, Taxes, Terrorism by ecthompson md
No Comments »

The President brought his A game to Detroit. He talked the talk. Now, can he walk the walk? It is all about jobs.

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

Tags: Economy, Obama administration by ecthompson md
No Comments »

More than 300,000 residents in Connecticut are still without power.

Connecticut’s governor calls Ron Paul an idiot. Remember that Ron Paul wants to get rid of FEMA.

Serious delinquencies at Freddie and Fannie are unchanged this month. Wasn’t this supposed to be getting better?

Lawrence O’Donnell, MSNBC news analyst, has been trying to change his soft and milquetoast image. He’s been trying to be a little bit more forceful. He had a segment the other night where he went after Rudy Giuliani. Now, I have no love for Rudy Giuliani. I think that there are very few people outside of the Bush administration who exploited 9/11 more than “America’s Mayor.” I’m not sure why Lawrence O’Donnell decided that this was a good time to go after Rudy Giuliani since he’s not running for office and we’re still approximately two weeks away from the anniversary of 9/11. Yet, it’s hard to argue with his points.

Representative Allen West considers leaving the Congressional Black Caucus. Really? Who cares?

Three graphs which you should show anyone who tries to tell you that Obama is spending “too much.”

Where were the Tea Party dudes when Bush was spending and spending? One supplemental spending bill after another was passed without much fuss from Republicans.

Although I would be the first to admit that the stimulus did not go far enough and did not help as many people as intended, it is clear that the stimulus stopped our trend of hemorrhaging jobs.

I do not support the AT&T/T-Mobile merger. I cannot remember any merger over the last 10-15 years which has actually benefited the American people. Mergers like these decrease competition and increase the monopolistic tendencies of these huge companies.

A suspicious package was delivered to an Army base. Three people who handled the package developed a mysterious rash. I’m not sure what this is.

Remember all of those secret flights carrying those terrorism suspects to places unknown? It looks like the court has shed some light on this subject.

Please file this under – You’ve Got to Be Kidding Me. The Florida legislature spent time, effort and brainpower passing a bill which bans saggy pants on college campuses. As a matter fact, a Florida legislator stood on one of the Florida campuses and handed out belts to those who “needed it.” Florida’s unemployment rate currently sits at 10.9%. Instead of trying to find jobs the Florida legislature is sitting around passing laws about style. This is so wrong I do not know where to begin.

Tags: Business, Economy, Environment, Obama administration, Party Politics by ecthompson md
No Comments »

• With S&P’s downgrade, the selloff on Wall Street was completely predictable.
• Some are now wondering what happened to President Obama. Why did he seem like so much of a transitional figure only to act like just another politician? I’m not sure I have the answer to that. Maybe it’s the system.
• The more I look at the debt deal, the worse it looks.

I’m going to interrupt this News Roundup in order to say that Robert Reich has been exactly on target for the last several years. His book, Supercapitalism is a must read. Here’s what he posted this morning on his blog:

Imagine your house is burning. You call the fire department but your call isn’t answered because every fire fighter in town is debating whether there will be enough water to fight fires over the next ten years, even though water is plentiful right now. (Yes, there’s a long-term problem.) One faction won’t even allow the fire trucks out of the garage unless everyone agrees to cut water use. An agency that rates fire departments has just issued a downgrade, causing everyone to hoard water.

While all this squabbling continues, your house burns to the ground and the fire has now spread to your neighbors’ homes. But because everyone is preoccupied with the wrong question (the long-term water supply) and the wrong solution (saving water now), there’s no response. In the end, the town comes up with a plan for the water supply over the next decade, but it’s irrelevant because the whole town has been turned to ashes.

Okay, I exaggerate a bit, but you get the point. The American economy is on the verge of another recession. Most Americans haven’t even emerged from the last one. Consumers (70 percent of the economy) won’t or can’t spend because their major asset is worth a third less than it was five years ago, they can’t borrow as before, and they’re justifiably worried about their jobs and wages. And without customers, businesses won’t expand and hire. So we’re trapped in a vicious cycle that’s getting worse.

But the government won’t come to the rescue by spending more and cutting most peoples’ taxes because it’s obsessed by a so-called “debt crisis” based on budget projections over the next ten years. That obsession – which serves the ideological purposes of right-wing Republicans who really want to shrink government — has even spread to the eat-your-spinach media, deficit hawks in the Democratic Party, and a major (and thoroughly irresponsible) credit-rating agency that’s neither standard nor poor. (more…)

Tags: Budget, Economy, Obama administration by ecthompson md
No 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
14 Comments »

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
5 Comments »

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
5 Comments »

Warren Buffet talking with the President

AMENDMENT XIV
Passed by Congress June 13, 1866. Ratified July 9, 1868.

Section 4.
The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.

So this is it. Congress has played around for weeks. We (well, it is really just some of us) have elected upset, single-minded, thoughtless Americans to Congress. That is our fault. We are now in deep trouble because some of us thought that the Tea Party loved America and that they really would work for us and not for themselves. We were wrong. The good news is that we have a President who can work for us. The time is now for the President to stand up for the American people and take action. Today, he must direct the Secretary of the Treasury to pay all of our debts. He must use the authority in the 14th Amendment. There is no alternative. It is the President’s job to protect us against enemies – foreign and domestic. Now, we are facing enemies domestic. We are facing an economic disaster. We don’t need to sign any petitions. We need to call the White House or Congress. It is time for the President to act.

Today, MSM is reporting that the President is talking with Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell. Why? We have talked and talked this thing to death. There isn’t a calculus that hasn’t been tried. Anything that can pass the House, can’t or won’t pass the Senate. This is clear. Boehner put together the “best” Republican option. It was shot down by the Senate in record time. Harry Reid put together an awful Democratic option which should have never gotten out of the Senate and the Tea Party wouldn’t even go for that.

It is time for President Barack Obama to save the country from the Tea Party. He must use the authority in the 14th Amendment.

Tags: Budget, Obama administration by ecthompson md
1 Comment »

Really, really busy at work. It is trauma season. Here’s today’s roundup from Steve Benen:

• If Speaker Boehner’s budget bill were to somehow reach the White House, President Obama would veto it.

• That probably won’t matter, since the Boehner bill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said today, can’t pass the Senate. (If it fails to pass the House tomorrow, this is a moot point.)
• Dems will try to ensure the Boehner bill doesn’t manage to pass thanks to support from a few Blue Dogs: “House Democratic leaders will be whipping votes against a GOP plan to raise the debt limit and slash federal spending, the office of Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), the minority whip, said Tuesday.”
• Still trying to clean up the Republicans’ FAA fiasco: “Democrats on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee filed legislation Tuesday that would fund the Federal Aviation Administration without cutting grants for rural air service, which has produced the hold up that led to FAA workers being furloughed.”
• A downgrade in U.S. debt would automatically add $100 billion to the deficit that Republicans pretend to care about.
• Making it harder for those without jobs to get a job: “Hundreds of job opening listings posted on Monster.com and other jobs sites explicitly state that people who are unemployed would be less attractive applicants, with some telling the long-term unemployed to not even bother with applying.”
• In Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker (R) is forcing voters to get ID in order to participate in an election and making it harder to get ID.
• On a related note, Katrina Vanden Heuvel takes a closer look at the GOP’s “state-by-state crusade to disenfranchise voters.”
• Pat Buchanan apparently thinks alleged mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik has some worthwhile ideas. How Buchanan remains a pundit in good standing baffles me.
• Senate Republicans refused to allow a vote on Goodwin Liu’s judicial nomination. Gov. Jerry Brown (D), however, wants him on the California Supreme Court.
• The Wealth Gap: “The wealth gap between whites and minorities has risen to a historic high, according to new census data analyzed by the Pew Research Center, as the collapse of housing prices more severely affected the net worth of African American and Hispanic households.”
• Boehner said President Obama blew up the Grand Bargain talks by moving the goalposts. Even Republican sources admit the Speaker’s lying.
• Kaplan Inc. sure does get sued a lot.If this were fiction, I’d consider it too far-fetched. Alas, it’s real: “A revenge plot so intricate, the prosecutors were pawns.”
• Remember when House Republicans vowed to the nation, “We will fight efforts to use a national crisis for political gain”? It was in the 2010 “Pledge to America” platform. In fairness, I suppose I should note they never promised they wouldn’t create a national crisis for political gain, so maybe this doesn’t count as a straight-up broken promise.

Tags: Budget, Congress, Education, Media, Obama administration, Party Politics by ecthompson md
2 Comments »

There was a cartoon that I used to watch with my grandson called Courage the Cowardly Dog. The cartoon was mildly amusing but one of the lead characters would always say, “Stupid dog.” It was usually when the lead character didn’t realize the dog was trying to save him from some peril. For some reason, I’m reminded of this by the stalemate in Congress. I feel like saying, “Stupid debate!” One side is arguing based on ideology. They have no intention of telling the American people that it doesn’t matter what the numbers say, that they want the government to spend less. It doesn’t matter that the government is spending less than we did five years ago or 10 years ago on Medicare or Medicaid – even Social Security. None of that matters. All they want is less spending and less government. If the government defaults, who cares? That is the attitude of the Republicans. When you hate government, it doesn’t matter if the government defaults. From your standpoint that is still a good thing. The American people don’t understand this particular debate. Even Republicans, mainstream Republicans, don’t understand this particular stance. Republicans have couched their argument in the veil of “fiscal responsibility.” This the only reason that some Americans will agree with them. Everybody wants fiscal responsibility. Everybody wants the government to spend their money in a thoughtful, prudent manner. Let’s be clear. Thoughtful, prudent spending is not what Republicans are talking about. What Republicans really want is to dismantle government.

From TP:

RATINGS AGENCY SOURCE: BOEHNER PLAN WOULD LEAD TO DOWNGRADE OF U.S. DEBT, REID PLAN WOULD PRESERVE AAA RATING | Today on CNN, Erin Burnett reported that she spoke with an investor who talked directly with the credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s. According to the Standard & Poor’s source, John Boehner’s debt plan would probably still lead to a downgrade of U.S. debt by the ratings agencies, raising interest rates for all Americans. Harry Reid’s plan, however, would preserve America’s AAA credit rating. Watch it:

Finally, it is important to note that John Boehner does not even have the support of his own party. The speaker the house has spent an enormous amount of time trying to convince the American people that he has a reasonable approach but his own party doesn’t believe him. Again, the Republican Party is not about reasonable approaches. Today’s Republican Party is about dismantling government. Once we understand who was standing with the American people and who wants to dismantle government this whole debate comes in the focus- Stupid debate!

From WaPo:

The challenge facing any plan for reducing the debt was underscored when a new Republican proposal to raise the ceiling on federal borrowing was met Monday with misgivings by some conservatives and skepticism by many GOP freshmen. That called into question whether Boehner (R-Ohio) could even get his own caucus to back his approach.

As Boehner tried to rally support for his two-step plan to cut $3 trillion in spending, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) offered a strikingly similar proposal for increasing the debt limit before the Aug. 2 deadline. The two leaders, however, remained bitterly divided over Boehner’s demand to hold another vote next year to further expand the government’s borrowing authority.

Tags: Budget, Congress, Obama administration, Party Politics by ecthompson md
2 Comments »

• John Brennan, President Obama’s terrorism advisor, said something really stupid about no collateral damage from predator drones. For some reason, Glenn Greenwald has taken him seriously. Anything that includes man has to include some amount of error. We are not perfect. I don’t care how diligent we are at looking at photos and reviewing intelligence. We can still make errors. Just today, as I was walking out of the Biltmore estate a very nice gentleman offered my condolences since “my wife fell.” Nope, my wife did not fall. (I was actually walking with my mother, but no biggie). We make mistakes all the time. This is one reason why we should be out of the war business.
• If anybody really thought that Bruce Ivins was the mastermind behind the anthrax deaths, I have some oceanfront property to sell you. The case was just too neat. Investigators found this weird guy who was clearly awkward around women and for some reason that made him not just the suspect but the prime suspect in the multiple anthrax deaths which took place in 2002. They never had a good motive which tied everything together. As a matter fact, I really didn’t have enough evidence to tie everything together. It looks like the Department of Justice has decided that the evidence looks kind of shaky also.

• I’m really tired of extremism being wrapped in a nice pretty package and sold to the American people as mainstream. Deciding to default on America’s debt is extremism. Deciding not to negotiate to balance the budget is extremism. I understand that the President has decided to embrace the Draconian ideas of the Gang of Six or Gang of Seven in the Senate. Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security represent a pact that we’ve made with ourselves. This is not a treaty that we’ve made with Russia or China or some other foreign nation. Instead, this is a promise that we’ve made to the American people. It is a promise that was made to ourselves. If you want to figure out some way to make these programs more efficient and therefore cost less, I’m all for that. On the other hand, if you’re going to be cutting benefits that go to seniors and the disabled, I’m strongly against that. As a matter fact, as an American, I believe that we should keep our promises. Dismantling these programs is anti-American.
• Representative Allen West said some very childish and inflammatory things about Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz. He says that he’s apologized. Right now I want to say something about adult behavior, but I’ll keep that to myself.
• Maxine Waters is in big trouble.
• I know that Senators Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell are working on some sort of compromise measure that will lower the debt by $3.7 trillion over 10 years and will also raise the debt ceiling. I have little hope that such a broad compromise will come out of such a divided Congress. Top Republicans are running away from this plan as fast as their little legs can carry them.
• If you need a generalized update on what’s going on in the Rupert Murdoch/News Corp. scandal you can find a brief update and a small blurb on who’s who – when – who did what right here.

Tags: Budget, Economy, Media, Obama administration, Party Politics by ecthompson md
3 Comments »

Okay, if you want to truly cut spending and get our financial house in order, here you go -

From TPM:

President Obama tried to use the bully pulpit to pressure Congressional leaders to wrest free of some of their ideological binds and come together to hammer out a long-term debt deal, warning both sides he would not accept a temporary 30- to 60-day stop-gap fix.

“I have been hearing from our Republican friends that it’s a moral imperative for us to tackle our debates and deficits in a serious way,” Obama told reporters at a briefing Monday. “So what I’ve said to them is let’s go. It is possible for us to construct a package to involve both parties to take on their sacred cows.”

“We might as well do it now, pull off the band aid, eat our peas,” Obama said.

With the clock ticking down for both sides to reach a deal on raising the debt-ceiling, Obama is urging Republicans to back away from their insistence on no new tax increases and Democrats from refusing to agree to any changes to entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security.

It looks to me that this is the moment of truth for the Republicans. They have an opportunity to show the American people what they are made of. Can they handle it?

Tags: Economy, Obama administration by ecthompson md
3 Comments »