"Judging by the urgency and the 'willingness' to face votes in the lame duck, Democrats should lose more elections."
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Americans will pay more for cleanup than replacement cost of tower
The Senate voted $4.3 billion to cover health costs and compensation.
Pop Quiz: You have a Republican EPA Administrator, a Republican President, and a Republican Mayor telling you that the mound is safe. Do you run away?
Of course you do.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Invisible Progress is Hard to See
On the most recent strategy review for the Af-Pak quagmire, if one dares to use that word for it:
"Strategic patience seems to require strategic denial."
Sunday, December 19, 2010
On the Eve of Christmas, Nation Awaits Do Nothings They Voted for in November
"We are looking forward to getting back to doing nothing", said John Boehner, the Ohio Republican who will "lead" the House in two years of quietude and long weekends for Representatives at home, in their districts, 'conferring with constituents' about how not to do anything.
"You remember all the taxpayer time and money spent investigating Bill Clinton's Christmas list? It will be just like that", said Eric Cantor, noisy whip from the gay-hate state of Virginia.
Cutting the department of education, a GOP-Tea election throw-away line/promise, may prove hard:
Boehner's tears aren't hard to read. After analyzing hundreds of psychological experiments and sociological studies of weeping, hundreds of accounts of crying in different cultures and different historical periods, thousands of tearful moments in film and fiction and art, I have come to see that, like the mother of the bride, many of us weep because we are overwhelmed by contradictions. -link
"We hope to stage some votes on Iran and healthcare", said the leader. "With a little luck, we can get back to the good old days of the do-nothing 109th. History shows that we'd prefer to filibuster everything, but we feel doing nothing is easier for the American people."
Senate Allows Executive & Military to Certify an End to DADT at some, unkown future date
STRAIGHT SHOOTING
In the last days of the mangled lame duck of the 111th, the Senate voted today, in two votes, cloture on the motion to concur and to adopt the House concurring resolution, to give the authority to the President, SecDef, and JCS Chairman to "certify" that a repeal of DADT would be timely and effective.
No time limit exists for when the Executive can present a certification.
No changes were made to the UCMJ, leaving in place the legal framework that existed prior to DADT (10 U.S.C. 654) that led to so-called "witch hunts" of gay and lesbian servicemembers and potential for dishonorable conduct discharges, if 'certification' doesn't occur (and perhaps even if it does).
With luck, the courts will review the existing cases on appeal, to shore-up the perimeter.
The Bill was managed as an historic stand alone, after its incorporation in the failed NDAA for FY 2011.
These changes take place in heavy times. In separate news, ISAF identified today a U.S. Marine killed in Afghanistan earlier this year, as well as an ISAF servicemember killed today. For 2010, total US casualities in Af-Pak "war" includes 361 IED deaths out of nearly 500 year-to-date.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Bush-44 to Nation
Everyone gets everything they want, we call it "compromise", and we charge-it-up to the next generation.
This shows that the two parties can 'work together'.
Bush-44 and the Mortgage Markets
Oh, well, this could put Freddie and Fannie on the slide to oblivion, no?
Moody's signals that U.S. debt watch will go "negative" with the Bush-44 "compromise".
Tweet of the Day
The newest face of the Democratic Party in Washington:
"Manchin supports DADT repeal, but will vote against it until world peace is achieved."
From wonk room.
"Infantile"
BRIDGING THE GAP BY SELLING A BRIDGE
Charles Krauthammer invents a new context for belittling liberals, calling them "infantile" for not accepting the moral proposition that we should borrow money to give to the very, very wealthiest, if we are going to extend income to the unemployed.
But look at his math.
He declares, "the package will add as much as 1 percent to GDP and lower the unemployment rate by about 1.5 percentage points".
Yet, he reckons that package size that Bush-44 got is bigger than $814 billion. $814 billion is 5.5% of GDP.
Got that? Stimulus package of 5.5% of GDP gets you 1% GDP growth ...
The State of the Union
Gays bigotry. Frank Rich pens a piece on the takedown at and of the Smithsonian that meets or exceeds Andrew Sullivan's knack for words.
Elsewhere, this week, organized gay hate groups, smarting from their designation as such by the SPLC, tipped their hat at an upcoming "start debating, stop hating" campaign to fight the challenge.
I have this to observe, in the big picture, about their manufactured meme on the "loss of religious freedom", due to the 'gay agenda'.
Women have achieved places of power and have been given all the legal rights of men in society. This is not scriptural, in Christianity, on so-called 'conservative exegesis'.
So, have we seen the end of society or the loss of "religious freedom" because of it? No.
It is only the small size of the gay population that makes bigotry supportable, in 2010.
The Most Expensive Unemployment Insurance Bill Ever
AS WE SAY HELLO TO "BUSH-44"
As Obama moves forward with making "Bush-44" the law of the land on Monday, it is worth noting that this bill is perhaps the most expensive unemployment insurance bill in the history of the Republic, if not the world.
If the crux of having to sign this politically self-defeating and economically irresponsible bill is, in Obama-logic, so that there is not a "catastrophe" among the unemployed, then no matter how you add-up the cost of this bill, it is truly the most expensive "save" executed on behalf of the unemployed ever done... Probably over $85,000/person in ill-advised excess of what is needed, as astounding figure, if you think the program will serve 2 million, maybe $25,300, if you think it might serve 6.7 million, still a fantastic number.
With Obama and a half-dozen or so Senate Democrats soon to be "Bush-44" in tax law, the Democrats give away any pretense of all that they did under pay-go and making sure things were paid for.
But, it is even worse.
MORAL CHOICE AND THE UNEMPLOYED
The President's compromise appears not to address the long-term unemployed, those with 99 or more weeks already, with no new program in which to qualify.
Where are all these people going to go?
Hoovervilles. You think I kid? Yet, some 'catastrophe' has been avoided, we've been told...
Maximum potential benefit remains unchanged, no matter what your state's unemployment level in 13 months. With no new maximum, 4 million people will "max out". That would roughly double the U.S. homeless population.
It should be noted that Jim Webb of Virginia is quoted in the NYT calling it "the ultimate stimulus plan". No comment.
For the record, Andrew Sullivan, of no party, clique, or cult, calls "what Obama got" "staggering".
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Mr. President
For eight hours, yesterday, Bernie Sanders was the President of the United States.
Why? As Andrew Sullivan likes to say, he was the only responsible person in the room.
The rest of 'em were off in some beltway sideshow.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Lies of Chris Matthews, Friday Version
He says there is a "massive" stimulus.
First, it's not massive, whatever it is.
The payroll tax reduction is solely on the individual side. The employer portion is not affected. Therefore, no "incentive to hire". Most companies look at hiring a person based on a longer view than just a one-year, temporary change in marginal cost. Not all, including temp jobs and low wage jobs, but most.
Again, the purpose of accelerated depreciation, often a staple of IMF-type "packages", is to help companies who don't have cash or financing available to them. Corporations have ample cash, right now. If you want them to spend it, threaten the cash!
New equipment is a double-edged sword during slack demand, at least. In the short run, higher productivity might lead to fewer jobs. It depends. It didn't lead to a huge amount of hiring, when Bush-43 tried it.
DADT Repeal - Not Dead Yet
The new, stand alone bill was introduced and read twice, the first steps in Senate to considering the measure.
The Responsible Thing and Bush-44's Tax "Compromise"
The responsible thing is not to compromise with the unreasonable and the irresponsible.
The responsible thing is to demand and, yes, to force the unreasonable and the irresponsible compromise.
The GOP's compromise? They get tax cuts for the wealthy if they pay for them.
Why does Clinton think that deal is 'not out there'?
Bernie Sanders: The American People Can Free the Hostage!
Bernie Sanders takes the floor.
My god, there IS still a liberal lion in the Senate.
They all haven't sold their soul for the job!
No Crisis Should Remain Unexploited
THE CORE INDECENCY OF THE RIGHTWING TODAY
It appears that the GOP have found their cause in the unemployment crisis.
What do you call someone who uses your own needs against you, to get you to compromise your integrity or your ideals?
Are the unemployed fair-game in America? Are these people really the 'structurally unemployed', such as in other countries? No.
Bob Dole once told his colleagues, in the mid 90s, "We are not going to balance the budget on the backs of the unemployed." Apparently, the Reagan Devolution continued after him, and now we are forced - forced - to give handouts that a majority of Americans oppose to those in the best place to sacrifice, the nation's most wealthy, just so that we don't have to be inhumane to those who have no work, through the fault of fraud and malfeasance on Wall Street.
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