Isn't it ironic that on a day nine years in the making, when the nation's first offshore wind farm was approved off the coast of Cape Cod, the urgent need for it and other forms of clean, renewable energy is being driven home by events 1500 miles to the south where the Coast Guard announced today that they have discovered an additional 5000 foot deep leak at the site of the sunken rig in the Gulf of Mexico. They now estimate that 5000 barrels or about 210,000 gallons of oil are spewing into ocean every day. This is up from initial reports of 1000 barrels and 42,000 gallons of just a few days ago.
There are few effective options for dealing with the problem as the safeguards designed to seal any potential leak are not working. In the short term anyway, it seems that we are down to firing cannons to try and scare away the wildlife and setting the sea on fire. Perhaps the emptiest oil barrel of them all, Sarah Palin can explain to us again how safe drilling is.
Very soon, the world will be presented with horrific visions of dead or dying, oil covered fish and birds, on oil slicked beaches along the gulf coastline. Very soon surrealistic visions of flaming seas against a smokey horizon will be reality as the oil is set on fire in a desperate effort to minimize the amount that reaches the coast.
So far, it is estimated that the cost in damage and mitigation efforts has reached $1 billion and counting. The sure to be considerable cost to our environment is as yet unknown.
In the face of these ill winds comes word that there are still many people and organizations who for one reason or another vow to extend the nine year battle to stop the building of the wind farm.
The farm, by the way, will be able to supply about 75% of the energy needed on Cape Cod & Nantucket. The clean energy that will be produced will be tatamount to removing 175,000. cars a year from the road, a significant plus for our air.
Most of those opposed, (Ted Kennedy was among them) do so on the grounds that the wind turbines will be an eyesore on pristine waters. Maybe so, but one thing is certain, no matter what, the water itself will remain pristine and will always look much more appealing than the images we are about to see from the Gulf where clearly, oil and water do not mix.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN?
News Item: The Sunday Telegraph, a British newspaper, reports that Iran has signed a secret deal with Zimbabwe to mine its untapped uranium reserves. The agreement was secured last month, when a close aide to Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe visited Tehran.
According to the deal, Iran will supply Zimbabwe oil in exchange for access to potentially huge deposits of uranium ore - which can be converted into basic fuel for nuclear power, or could also be enriched to make nuclear arms.
Isn't this the reason that we attacked Iraq? It sounds eerily similar to me.
In 2003 Seymour Hersch wrote about the lead up to the war in The New Yorker magazine;
This begs the question, what is different this time? Well for one thing, we now know that Iraq was only pretending to have nuclear weapons. In contrast, Iran makes no secret of its desire to become a nuclear state. They say that such technology will only be used for peaceful purposes but their consistent testing of missiles capable of carrying warheads with greater and greater range, their continued belligerence to the west and their stated desire to wipe Israel off the map makes that assertion hard to believe. In fact, it would be downright dangerous.
If this report is true, coupled with recent US and Israeli intelligence reports estimating that Iran will have the capability to build a bomb within 3 to 5 years, if not sooner, it is an ominous sign.
So the question is, when all else fails; sanctions, negotiations, threats etc., as I believe they will, will we be as willing to go to war with Iran over facts that we know to be true as we were to go to war with Iraq over assertions that, it turns out, we knew at the time were unreliable and probably untrue?
The time for talking is rapidly running out. It is only a matter of time.
According to the deal, Iran will supply Zimbabwe oil in exchange for access to potentially huge deposits of uranium ore - which can be converted into basic fuel for nuclear power, or could also be enriched to make nuclear arms.
Isn't this the reason that we attacked Iraq? It sounds eerily similar to me.
In 2003 Seymour Hersch wrote about the lead up to the war in The New Yorker magazine;
"According to two of those present at the briefing, which was highly classified and took place in the committee’s secure hearing room, Tenet declared, as he had done before, that a shipment of high-strength aluminum tubes that was intercepted on its way to Iraq had been meant for the construction of centrifuges that could be used to produce enriched uranium. The suitability of the tubes for that purpose had been disputed, but this time the argument that Iraq had a nuclear program under way was buttressed by a new and striking fact: the C.I.A. had recently received intelligence showing that, between 1999 and 2001, Iraq had attempted to buy five hundred tons of uranium oxide from Niger, one of the world’s largest producers. The uranium, known as “yellow cake,” can be used to make fuel for nuclear reactors; if processed differently, it can also be enriched to make weapons. Five tons can produce enough weapon-grade uranium for a bomb. (When the C.I.A. spokesman William Harlow was asked for comment, he denied that Tenet had briefed the senators on Niger.)".
This begs the question, what is different this time? Well for one thing, we now know that Iraq was only pretending to have nuclear weapons. In contrast, Iran makes no secret of its desire to become a nuclear state. They say that such technology will only be used for peaceful purposes but their consistent testing of missiles capable of carrying warheads with greater and greater range, their continued belligerence to the west and their stated desire to wipe Israel off the map makes that assertion hard to believe. In fact, it would be downright dangerous.
If this report is true, coupled with recent US and Israeli intelligence reports estimating that Iran will have the capability to build a bomb within 3 to 5 years, if not sooner, it is an ominous sign.
So the question is, when all else fails; sanctions, negotiations, threats etc., as I believe they will, will we be as willing to go to war with Iran over facts that we know to be true as we were to go to war with Iraq over assertions that, it turns out, we knew at the time were unreliable and probably untrue?
The time for talking is rapidly running out. It is only a matter of time.
CAPTAIN COURAGEOUS NO MORE
Perhaps you have noticed that I am not a big fan of the right and it baffles me how anyone ever could be and sleep at night but when one of its members steps up, does the right thing and tells the truth it should be acknowledged.
Watch Joe Scarborough as he steps up right here on the issue of Arizona's new immigration law.
Now I know he is not running for anything but contrast Scarborough's principled position to that of John McCain's whose flip flop on the issue makes him look like a freshly caught fish on the deck of a weekend charter.
In a recent interview with Bill O’Reilly on Fox News, McCain said: “The state of Arizona is acting and doing what it feels it needs to do in light of the fact that the federal government is not fulfilling its fundamental responsibility — to secure our borders.....it is a good tool”
Compare that to his previous positions wherein he had taken pride in bucking conservatives in his party who turned up the heat on him for his support for changes to immigration laws that would have provided a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.
In 2004 he opposed an Arizona ballot measure to deny some public services to illegal immigrant and require proof of citizenship to vote. He said at the time "Things are terrible, and we’ve got to fix it,’’ he said at a debate then in his campaign for re-election to his Senate seat. “But we’re not going to fix it until we have comprehensive immigration reform.”
“When there’s a demand, there’s going to be a supply,’’ he added, “There are jobs that Americans will not do, so we have to make it possible for someone to come to this country to do a job that an American won’t do and then go back to the country from where they came.”
In 2006 he said "They tell me my poll rate has plummeted over this, but I’m a big boy, I can take it".
In 2007, "I think some of the rhetoric that many Hispanics hear about illegal immigration makes some of them believe that we are not in favor, or seek the support of Hispanic citizens in this country"
What ever happened to his courage? Over the years it has been beaten out of him in the ideological prison that is the republican party. Alas, they have accomplished what the North Vietnamese at their most brutal, never could.
Watch Joe Scarborough as he steps up right here on the issue of Arizona's new immigration law.
Now I know he is not running for anything but contrast Scarborough's principled position to that of John McCain's whose flip flop on the issue makes him look like a freshly caught fish on the deck of a weekend charter.
In a recent interview with Bill O’Reilly on Fox News, McCain said: “The state of Arizona is acting and doing what it feels it needs to do in light of the fact that the federal government is not fulfilling its fundamental responsibility — to secure our borders.....it is a good tool”
Compare that to his previous positions wherein he had taken pride in bucking conservatives in his party who turned up the heat on him for his support for changes to immigration laws that would have provided a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.
In 2004 he opposed an Arizona ballot measure to deny some public services to illegal immigrant and require proof of citizenship to vote. He said at the time "Things are terrible, and we’ve got to fix it,’’ he said at a debate then in his campaign for re-election to his Senate seat. “But we’re not going to fix it until we have comprehensive immigration reform.”
“When there’s a demand, there’s going to be a supply,’’ he added, “There are jobs that Americans will not do, so we have to make it possible for someone to come to this country to do a job that an American won’t do and then go back to the country from where they came.”
In 2006 he said "They tell me my poll rate has plummeted over this, but I’m a big boy, I can take it".
In 2007, "I think some of the rhetoric that many Hispanics hear about illegal immigration makes some of them believe that we are not in favor, or seek the support of Hispanic citizens in this country"
What ever happened to his courage? Over the years it has been beaten out of him in the ideological prison that is the republican party. Alas, they have accomplished what the North Vietnamese at their most brutal, never could.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
DISGRACEFUL, DISGUSTING, IMMORAL, DESPICABLE & UNAMERICAN
News Item: "The Oklahoma Legislature voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to override vetoes of two highly restrictive abortion measures, one making it a law that women undergo an ultrasound and listen to a detailed description of the fetus before having an abortion.
Though other states have passed similar measures forcing women to have ultrasounds, Oklahoma’s law goes further, requiring a doctor or technician to set up the monitor where the woman can see it and describe the heart, limbs and organs of the fetus. No exceptions are made for rape and incest victims.
The second measure passed into law Tuesday protects doctors from malpractice suits if they decide not to inform the parents of a unborn baby that the fetus has birth defects. The intent of the bill is to prevent parents from later suing doctors who withhold information to try to influence them against having an abortion.
Gov. Brad Henry, a Democrat, vetoed both bills last week. The ultrasound law, he said, was flawed because it did not exempt rape and incest victims and was an unconstitutional intrusion into a woman’s privacy. He painted the other measure as immoral." NY Times 04/27/10 (Click on the title of this post to read the whole article)
After reading that, almost nothing else really needs to be said, does it? But just to spell it out, it is disgraceful, disgusting, immoral and un-American and the people who voted for this should be prosecuted and then publicly flogged. They are despicable!
Behold the work of republicans in concert with the religious right. The same republicans who preach "getting government off of our backs." Of course for them this need to limit government only applies when it comes to its getting in they way of their business pursuits. The rest; the guns, the military spending...support our troops, (as in sending them to war without body armour and properly armored vehicles) the "family values", the anti abortion, actually puts government on our backs and in our bedrooms and now in our doctors offices. For the republicans, it is an old game, pandering to the most extreme and narrow minded groups out there so as to split the electorate and secure the votes needed so that they can achieve political power and manage the government in a way that maximizes their profits. If in the process, they trample upon our rights and personal freedoms and those of our families well, that is just the cost of doing business. So much for family values.
These hypocrites are the first ones to be caught in scandal, caught in the very acts and lifestyles that they rail against as immoral. Well, they have been caught again because nothing could be more immoral than passing a law to torment women who want to exercise their constitutional rights to privacy by coming between her and her doctor. It is despicable. If such laws are constitutional then there truly is something wrong with our constitution.
This is America. I don't expect you to have to live by my values, why do you want to force me to live by yours? It is disgraceful, disgusting, immoral, despicable & un-American!
Though other states have passed similar measures forcing women to have ultrasounds, Oklahoma’s law goes further, requiring a doctor or technician to set up the monitor where the woman can see it and describe the heart, limbs and organs of the fetus. No exceptions are made for rape and incest victims.
The second measure passed into law Tuesday protects doctors from malpractice suits if they decide not to inform the parents of a unborn baby that the fetus has birth defects. The intent of the bill is to prevent parents from later suing doctors who withhold information to try to influence them against having an abortion.
Gov. Brad Henry, a Democrat, vetoed both bills last week. The ultrasound law, he said, was flawed because it did not exempt rape and incest victims and was an unconstitutional intrusion into a woman’s privacy. He painted the other measure as immoral." NY Times 04/27/10 (Click on the title of this post to read the whole article)
After reading that, almost nothing else really needs to be said, does it? But just to spell it out, it is disgraceful, disgusting, immoral and un-American and the people who voted for this should be prosecuted and then publicly flogged. They are despicable!
Behold the work of republicans in concert with the religious right. The same republicans who preach "getting government off of our backs." Of course for them this need to limit government only applies when it comes to its getting in they way of their business pursuits. The rest; the guns, the military spending...support our troops, (as in sending them to war without body armour and properly armored vehicles) the "family values", the anti abortion, actually puts government on our backs and in our bedrooms and now in our doctors offices. For the republicans, it is an old game, pandering to the most extreme and narrow minded groups out there so as to split the electorate and secure the votes needed so that they can achieve political power and manage the government in a way that maximizes their profits. If in the process, they trample upon our rights and personal freedoms and those of our families well, that is just the cost of doing business. So much for family values.
These hypocrites are the first ones to be caught in scandal, caught in the very acts and lifestyles that they rail against as immoral. Well, they have been caught again because nothing could be more immoral than passing a law to torment women who want to exercise their constitutional rights to privacy by coming between her and her doctor. It is despicable. If such laws are constitutional then there truly is something wrong with our constitution.
This is America. I don't expect you to have to live by my values, why do you want to force me to live by yours? It is disgraceful, disgusting, immoral, despicable & un-American!
I GUESS YOU CAN ARGUE WITH SUCCESS
News Item: General Motors pays off its government loans five years ahead of schedule with interest. Not only have the taxpayers been paid in full, they made a tidy profit.
If we would have listened to the likes of Jeff Sessions, Bob Corker and Richard Shelby, republican senators from southern states that host foreign owned, non union, auto manufacturers, we would no longer have a US auto industry. It would have been a terrible mistake.
Clearly their position was not based upon what is good for the whole of America but rather on what is good for them politically and their friends at Toyota et al. They cynically wanted to use the crisis as a way to break the unions who have traditionally supported democratic causes.
News Item: The US Treasury to sell 1.5 billion of the shares it owns in Citigroup at a profit to the taxpayers of just over $2 billion.
The original concept of the tea baggers was put forth by Congressman Ron Paul to stress his support for fiscal conservatism. The idea was then picked up by slick republican operatives who then took it to another level with the help of an avalanche of republican lies and talking points relentlessly pushed by Fixed News. Whipped into a frenzy, the tea party, at it's base, coalesced around their anger over the federal government's bailouts of the financial and automobile industries.
Now there is nothing wrong with being fiscally conservative but a time of spiraling deflation and raging recession demands public investment as a spur to recovery.
If we had followed calls for fiscal conservatism at just the wrong time and failed to act decisively, the results in terms of lost industries, not just individual businesses, would have been catastrophic for the American and indeed the world economy, the effects of which would have been felt for decades.
They say hind sight is 20/20 but aren't we fortunate to have a forward looking leader who has confidence in the future of American Capitalism. A leader who at a time of great economic crisis, not of his own making, understood the need to invest in the future of America and not give in to fear and retrenchment.
So with the taxpayers earning handsome profits on their investments they can thank the President for not only his money management skills on their behalf but also for saving the US auto and financial industries at the same time. It's time for anyone who opposed those investments in America to admit that they were wrong.
The question that comes to mind, at this point is, what is the purpose of the Tea Baggers?
I guess you really can argue with success.
If we would have listened to the likes of Jeff Sessions, Bob Corker and Richard Shelby, republican senators from southern states that host foreign owned, non union, auto manufacturers, we would no longer have a US auto industry. It would have been a terrible mistake.
Clearly their position was not based upon what is good for the whole of America but rather on what is good for them politically and their friends at Toyota et al. They cynically wanted to use the crisis as a way to break the unions who have traditionally supported democratic causes.
News Item: The US Treasury to sell 1.5 billion of the shares it owns in Citigroup at a profit to the taxpayers of just over $2 billion.
The original concept of the tea baggers was put forth by Congressman Ron Paul to stress his support for fiscal conservatism. The idea was then picked up by slick republican operatives who then took it to another level with the help of an avalanche of republican lies and talking points relentlessly pushed by Fixed News. Whipped into a frenzy, the tea party, at it's base, coalesced around their anger over the federal government's bailouts of the financial and automobile industries.
Now there is nothing wrong with being fiscally conservative but a time of spiraling deflation and raging recession demands public investment as a spur to recovery.
If we had followed calls for fiscal conservatism at just the wrong time and failed to act decisively, the results in terms of lost industries, not just individual businesses, would have been catastrophic for the American and indeed the world economy, the effects of which would have been felt for decades.
They say hind sight is 20/20 but aren't we fortunate to have a forward looking leader who has confidence in the future of American Capitalism. A leader who at a time of great economic crisis, not of his own making, understood the need to invest in the future of America and not give in to fear and retrenchment.
So with the taxpayers earning handsome profits on their investments they can thank the President for not only his money management skills on their behalf but also for saving the US auto and financial industries at the same time. It's time for anyone who opposed those investments in America to admit that they were wrong.
The question that comes to mind, at this point is, what is the purpose of the Tea Baggers?
I guess you really can argue with success.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
OIL... IT'S WHAT'S FOR DINNER
News Item: Oil Leaking Underwater From Well in Rig Blast
About 1000 barrels or 42,000 gallons of oil a day have been discovered leaking from the sea bed, a development that a senior Coast Guard official on Saturday called a “game changer.”
The rainbow-colored sheen of oil stretched 20 miles by 20 miles on Saturday -- about 25 times larger than it appeared to be a day earlier.
It could take months to seal the leak.
Neptune, we have a problem.
About 1000 barrels or 42,000 gallons of oil a day have been discovered leaking from the sea bed, a development that a senior Coast Guard official on Saturday called a “game changer.”
The rainbow-colored sheen of oil stretched 20 miles by 20 miles on Saturday -- about 25 times larger than it appeared to be a day earlier.
It could take months to seal the leak.
Neptune, we have a problem.
Friday, April 23, 2010
SPILL BABY SPILL
News Item: Oil Rig Sinks, Raising Fears of Major Spill & Signifigant Enviornmental Damage.
They say timing is everything.
As thick, black, poisonous crude oil, flows unabated, out of a man made hole deep in the ocean floor, the only thing flowing from the party of drill baby drill is an eerie silence. Shame on them for always putting the interests of big oil and corporate profits ahead of the public interest in protecting our environment. Shame on them for lying to us by telling us that drilling was environmentally safe. For the republicans, this is nothing new but for democrats it is uncharted territory.
I wonder if The President now regrets his decision reversing long standing Democratic opposition to offshore drilling. It was an opposition based upon the understanding that it only takes one major accident to foul our oceans and devastate our environment in ways that we may never fully understand or recover from.
While The President has been right on almost every issue to come across his desk, he was wrong on this one. No one bats 1000.
But the absolute poster child for drilling in environmentally sensitive areas has got to be Sarah Palin, who, it is rumored, has now changed her campaign slogan to SPILL BABY SPILL!
Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?
They say timing is everything.
As thick, black, poisonous crude oil, flows unabated, out of a man made hole deep in the ocean floor, the only thing flowing from the party of drill baby drill is an eerie silence. Shame on them for always putting the interests of big oil and corporate profits ahead of the public interest in protecting our environment. Shame on them for lying to us by telling us that drilling was environmentally safe. For the republicans, this is nothing new but for democrats it is uncharted territory.
I wonder if The President now regrets his decision reversing long standing Democratic opposition to offshore drilling. It was an opposition based upon the understanding that it only takes one major accident to foul our oceans and devastate our environment in ways that we may never fully understand or recover from.
While The President has been right on almost every issue to come across his desk, he was wrong on this one. No one bats 1000.
But the absolute poster child for drilling in environmentally sensitive areas has got to be Sarah Palin, who, it is rumored, has now changed her campaign slogan to SPILL BABY SPILL!
Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?
Thursday, April 22, 2010
YOU GO GIRL
I have not generally been a fan of New York's junior senator Kristen Gillibrand but today she said something I could not agree with more;
“Clearly, we need to take a tougher stance against companies tied to Iran’s refined petroleum capacity,” said Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrat of New York, who has been pushing for hearings on companies doing business in Iran. “Companies need to make a choice: do business with the U.S. or with Iran – not both. Companies whose profits fuel Iran’s nuclear ambitions should not be allowed to do business with the U.S. or benefit from the U.S. economy— period.”
"Last month, The New York Times reported that over the past 10 years, the federal government gave more than $107 billion in contract payments, grants and other benefits to foreign and multinational American companies while they were doing business in Iran. That includes nearly $15 billion paid to companies that defied American sanctions law by making large investments that helped Iran develop its vast oil and gas reserves."
Actions speak louder than words.
Go get 'em Kristen!
“Clearly, we need to take a tougher stance against companies tied to Iran’s refined petroleum capacity,” said Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrat of New York, who has been pushing for hearings on companies doing business in Iran. “Companies need to make a choice: do business with the U.S. or with Iran – not both. Companies whose profits fuel Iran’s nuclear ambitions should not be allowed to do business with the U.S. or benefit from the U.S. economy— period.”
"Last month, The New York Times reported that over the past 10 years, the federal government gave more than $107 billion in contract payments, grants and other benefits to foreign and multinational American companies while they were doing business in Iran. That includes nearly $15 billion paid to companies that defied American sanctions law by making large investments that helped Iran develop its vast oil and gas reserves."
Actions speak louder than words.
Go get 'em Kristen!
SO YOU DON'T WANT TO BUY HEALTH INSURANCE
Amazingly, there are many people out there who say that they do not need or want to buy health insurance even if it is required. After all, they say, we do have our rights and if we get sick it is our responsibility.
Their reasons range from its too expensive, I can't afford it, to I am healthy now and I live a healthy lifestyle so I don't need it, to I don't feel as if the government should be able to require me to buy something I don't want. (Yes I drive a car and yes I buy the liability insurance that is required by the government but don't confuse me with logic).
Well I would be good with that if the law were amended so that anyone without coverage would not be allowed to get treated at an emergency room without first paying up front for the care.
You see I do believe that you have a right to personal freedom as long as that right comes with a large measure of personal responsibility. If you don't buy health insurance it is only fair to the rest of us that you be required to sign a DNR order on your life and on the lives of your minor children so that in the event of an unforeseen accident or illness where you or they need care but cannot pay for it up front your wishes not to be treated will be respected. It is the ultimate personal responsibility. After all, you do have your rights.
What, you don't like the sound of that? Well, being the proponent of personal freedom and responsibility that you are, you didn't expect the rest of us to pay for your life saving treatment when you refused to, did you? After all you do have your rights but so do the rest of us.
Oh one more thing, its one thing for you to potentially put your life at risk but it is quite another to put the lives of your children at risk. So, should you willfully refuse to purchase health insurance for your children that should, by law, be deemed child abuse and you should be held personally responsible and subject to the fullest punishment the law allows. After all your children have rights too.
Their reasons range from its too expensive, I can't afford it, to I am healthy now and I live a healthy lifestyle so I don't need it, to I don't feel as if the government should be able to require me to buy something I don't want. (Yes I drive a car and yes I buy the liability insurance that is required by the government but don't confuse me with logic).
Well I would be good with that if the law were amended so that anyone without coverage would not be allowed to get treated at an emergency room without first paying up front for the care.
You see I do believe that you have a right to personal freedom as long as that right comes with a large measure of personal responsibility. If you don't buy health insurance it is only fair to the rest of us that you be required to sign a DNR order on your life and on the lives of your minor children so that in the event of an unforeseen accident or illness where you or they need care but cannot pay for it up front your wishes not to be treated will be respected. It is the ultimate personal responsibility. After all, you do have your rights.
What, you don't like the sound of that? Well, being the proponent of personal freedom and responsibility that you are, you didn't expect the rest of us to pay for your life saving treatment when you refused to, did you? After all you do have your rights but so do the rest of us.
Oh one more thing, its one thing for you to potentially put your life at risk but it is quite another to put the lives of your children at risk. So, should you willfully refuse to purchase health insurance for your children that should, by law, be deemed child abuse and you should be held personally responsible and subject to the fullest punishment the law allows. After all your children have rights too.
SO YOU WANT TO VOTE REPUBLICAN, HUH?
So lets see, to be a right winger you need to be;
Go ahead vote republican. Vote for the very people who got us into this mess in the first place. Believe the endless lies you hear on Fixed News and ignore the positive direction our country has taken on almost every issue since the election of Barack Obama despite uniform, lock step opposition from republicans who despite the merits of an issue will do or say anything to regain power.
Go ahead vote republican, you will get an angry, selfish, narrow minded America. An America feared perhaps throughout the world but not admired or respected.
Go ahead vote republican and surely you will get the America that you deserve.
- Against a woman's right to choose.
- Against any effective gun control.
- Against effective regulations to maintain clean air and water.
- Against effective financial regulation.
- Against fair minimum wages.
- Against, effective worker and consumer safety laws.
- Against tax cuts for the middle class and for them for the top 1%.
- Against equal rights for those who are gay.
- For torture and unnecessary wars of choice.
- For Christian prayer in our schools and eliminating the constitutional separation of church & state.
- For insurance companies and big banks over people.
- For allowing our iconic domestic auto manufactures to go out of business just so you can break their unionized workers and give advantage to foreign owned automakers who built state subsidized non union factories.
- For predatory student and home loan lending practices.
- For unconstitutional warrantless wiretaps
Go ahead vote republican. Vote for the very people who got us into this mess in the first place. Believe the endless lies you hear on Fixed News and ignore the positive direction our country has taken on almost every issue since the election of Barack Obama despite uniform, lock step opposition from republicans who despite the merits of an issue will do or say anything to regain power.
Go ahead vote republican, you will get an angry, selfish, narrow minded America. An America feared perhaps throughout the world but not admired or respected.
Go ahead vote republican and surely you will get the America that you deserve.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
THE UNDIVIDED CAPITOL OF ISRAEL
My position on Jerusalem has always been firm, it is and should remain the undivided Capitol of Israel.
Unlike when it was in Jordanian hands, it should remain a city open to all who wish to worship and live in peace.
Of course we all know such an undivided Jerusalem almost certainly means no peace. It is a dilemma for Israel as well as the United States and the Palestinians too. Israel chooses to live with terror, the Palestinians choose to allow their people to live in squalor, all in the pursuit of Jerusalem.
There are those who are worried that the current tensions between Washington and the Israeli government portend a permanent rift. To them I would say that The United States chooses, to this day and minute, to protect not only Israel's right to exist but should it ever come to it, her very existence itself. To this day and to this very minute.
The United States will never let anything happen to Israel and Israel (at least under this government) will never be cowered by an American government into acting against what it sees as its own interests, so relax. This President is not in my opinion abandoning Israel any time soon.
What I think the United States should do is declare peace and lead the world in an effort to get the Palestinians out of the squalor that they live in by building anew in those areas which both sides have already agreed will be a part of the Palestinian state. People with hope are more likely to look for a job and less likely to blow themselves up.
It's one approach anyway. The other involves blacktop.
Unlike when it was in Jordanian hands, it should remain a city open to all who wish to worship and live in peace.
Of course we all know such an undivided Jerusalem almost certainly means no peace. It is a dilemma for Israel as well as the United States and the Palestinians too. Israel chooses to live with terror, the Palestinians choose to allow their people to live in squalor, all in the pursuit of Jerusalem.
There are those who are worried that the current tensions between Washington and the Israeli government portend a permanent rift. To them I would say that The United States chooses, to this day and minute, to protect not only Israel's right to exist but should it ever come to it, her very existence itself. To this day and to this very minute.
The United States will never let anything happen to Israel and Israel (at least under this government) will never be cowered by an American government into acting against what it sees as its own interests, so relax. This President is not in my opinion abandoning Israel any time soon.
What I think the United States should do is declare peace and lead the world in an effort to get the Palestinians out of the squalor that they live in by building anew in those areas which both sides have already agreed will be a part of the Palestinian state. People with hope are more likely to look for a job and less likely to blow themselves up.
It's one approach anyway. The other involves blacktop.
THE FACTS ABOUT HEALTHCARE REFORM
It is amazing how many of the people who are opposed to the new health care reform law have no idea what is in it.
THESE ARE THE FACTS:
The new law, being national in scope, mainly provides for reform in the individual insurance marketplace. If you are covered under an employer sponsored group plan in NY State you already have most of the protections provided under the new law such as no pre existing conditions etc. The law extends those protections to all American's be they covered under an individual policy or an employer based group policy.
SPECIFICALLY THOSE PROTECTIONS ARE:
All coverage will be provided by private insurance companies. Round up the ususal suspects. To be clear, nothing about this plan is government run health care.
HOW IT IS PAID FOR
The current Medicare payroll tax would be applied to investment income, beginning in 2013. A new 3.8 percent tax would be imposed on interest, dividends, capital gains and other investment income for individuals making more than $200,000 a year and couples making more than $250,000.
The new law increases the Medicare payroll tax by 0.9 percentage point to 2.35 percent on wages above $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for married couples filing jointly.
In 2018 a tax would apply to those plans whose annual premiums exceed $10,200 a year for individuals and $27,500 for families.
To sum it up, if you make under $200,000., as an individual or under $250,000. as a family you will not pay one dime extra in taxes for this plan.
The fact that 32 million more people, many of whom are young and healthy, will be required to purchase health insurance thereby greatly spreading the risk, means that over time this plan should slow, not stop, but slow the rate of increase to health insurance premiums.
Furthermore, the independent, non partisan, Congressional Budget Office says that this plan will lower our deficit Click here: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/03/cbo_health-care_reform_bill_cu.html Ezra Klein - CBO: Health-care reform bill cuts deficit by $1.3 trillion over 20 years, covers 95% of Americans.
THESE ARE THE FACTS:
The new law, being national in scope, mainly provides for reform in the individual insurance marketplace. If you are covered under an employer sponsored group plan in NY State you already have most of the protections provided under the new law such as no pre existing conditions etc. The law extends those protections to all American's be they covered under an individual policy or an employer based group policy.
SPECIFICALLY THOSE PROTECTIONS ARE:
- An End To The Exclusion Of Pre-Existing Conditions From Coverage
- Small Business Tax Credits - businesses with fewer than 50 employees will get tax credits covering up to 50% of employee premiums.
- Seniors Will Get A Phased In 'Donut Hole' Rebate
- More Young Adults Covered On Parents' Plans
- No Lifetime Caps
- New Insurance Plans Must Include Preventative Care
- The End Of 'Recissions'
All coverage will be provided by private insurance companies. Round up the ususal suspects. To be clear, nothing about this plan is government run health care.
HOW IT IS PAID FOR
The current Medicare payroll tax would be applied to investment income, beginning in 2013. A new 3.8 percent tax would be imposed on interest, dividends, capital gains and other investment income for individuals making more than $200,000 a year and couples making more than $250,000.
The new law increases the Medicare payroll tax by 0.9 percentage point to 2.35 percent on wages above $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for married couples filing jointly.
In 2018 a tax would apply to those plans whose annual premiums exceed $10,200 a year for individuals and $27,500 for families.
To sum it up, if you make under $200,000., as an individual or under $250,000. as a family you will not pay one dime extra in taxes for this plan.
The fact that 32 million more people, many of whom are young and healthy, will be required to purchase health insurance thereby greatly spreading the risk, means that over time this plan should slow, not stop, but slow the rate of increase to health insurance premiums.
Furthermore, the independent, non partisan, Congressional Budget Office says that this plan will lower our deficit Click here: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/03/cbo_health-care_reform_bill_cu.html Ezra Klein - CBO: Health-care reform bill cuts deficit by $1.3 trillion over 20 years, covers 95% of Americans.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
STRUTTING A SHOWY IGNORANCE
I did not write this but I loved it. This wonderful, spot on paragraph was written by Timothy Egan and appeared in The New York Times as part of a piece on the Supreme Court vacancy.
"Nor do I see much merit in the mindless elite-bashing practiced by people who drop their g’s and strut a showy ignorance for the sake of cable television ratings. We should celebrate smart, accomplished people. The kind of elites who do deserve derision are politicians who feign populism while demanding that “the private aircraft must be a Lear 60 or larger,” for travel to their appearances, and a bendable straw at the lectern, as the Sarah Palin contract found in a California dumpster this week stipulated."
"Nor do I see much merit in the mindless elite-bashing practiced by people who drop their g’s and strut a showy ignorance for the sake of cable television ratings. We should celebrate smart, accomplished people. The kind of elites who do deserve derision are politicians who feign populism while demanding that “the private aircraft must be a Lear 60 or larger,” for travel to their appearances, and a bendable straw at the lectern, as the Sarah Palin contract found in a California dumpster this week stipulated."
THEY WERE FOR IT BEFORE THEY WERE AGAINST IT
To follow up on our previous post regarding the extension of unemployment benefits;
And then there was one...
Only one republican had the courage to vote his convictions by voting with the Democrats today to move the bill to extend unemployment and COBRA benefits for Americans in need, towards final passage by voting for the extension without paying for it in the current budget.
Forty republicans voted to block the bill. That is three more than voted against it a few days ago.
Just one month ago, twenty one republicans in the Senate voted for virtually identical temporary legislation extending these benefits without paying for them in the current budget.
So, what happened? Politics, plain and simple.
These people are such phonies. They did not all of sudden change their views on the need to help vulnerable families. The only reason they flipped is politics. It is raw politics and the country be damned.
These people never do what's best for the country, only themselves. They show it to us everyday.
If it is not apparent to you by now that the republicans will attempt to obstruct or block whatever This President proposes regardless of the merits, it should be.
On this issue, as with health care before it, where the main idea of the plan that was enacted was originally a republican one, they were for it before they were against it.
Have you seen the new republican campaign slogan....?
republicans, fighting for ourselves everyday
The country be damned.
And then there was one...
Only one republican had the courage to vote his convictions by voting with the Democrats today to move the bill to extend unemployment and COBRA benefits for Americans in need, towards final passage by voting for the extension without paying for it in the current budget.
Forty republicans voted to block the bill. That is three more than voted against it a few days ago.
Just one month ago, twenty one republicans in the Senate voted for virtually identical temporary legislation extending these benefits without paying for them in the current budget.
So, what happened? Politics, plain and simple.
These people are such phonies. They did not all of sudden change their views on the need to help vulnerable families. The only reason they flipped is politics. It is raw politics and the country be damned.
These people never do what's best for the country, only themselves. They show it to us everyday.
If it is not apparent to you by now that the republicans will attempt to obstruct or block whatever This President proposes regardless of the merits, it should be.
On this issue, as with health care before it, where the main idea of the plan that was enacted was originally a republican one, they were for it before they were against it.
Have you seen the new republican campaign slogan....?
republicans, fighting for ourselves everyday
The country be damned.
Monday, April 12, 2010
ARE YOU FEELING THE URGE YET?
For those of you who continue to vote republican even in the face of overwhelming evidence of their hypocrisy, lies and wrong headed policies that continue to damage America, I guess Will Rodgers said it best;
There are three kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.
The rest of us are left to ask, are you feeling the urge yet?
There are three kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.
The rest of us are left to ask, are you feeling the urge yet?
WHERE WERE THEY?
Only four. Only four republican Senators voted with the Democrats today to temporarily extend unemployment benefits and COBRA subsidies to Americans whose state benefits have expired. Only four republican Senators understood the very real and very urgent needs of everyday Americans who are hurting as the result of the republican’s running our economy into a ditch.
Shame on the rest (37 in all) of those republican Senators. All of a sudden, they are so concerned about the deficit?
Well, where were they while W., with their help, was running up the largest deficits this country had ever known?
Where were they when they were voting for George W. Bush’s unfunded, deficit busting $1.3 trillion tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans?
Where were they when they voted for an unnecessary war of choice and refused to even make it a part of the budget and therefore pay for it at the time? NO, there was no emergency, no exigent circumstances which required us to attack Iraq without paying for the war. Rather, the republicans chose to forward the bill to future generations.
Now, when there are literally thousands of real emergencies all across our country in the form of hard working Americans who have lost their jobs because of republican incompetence and wrong headed policies, now when people with families really need the support and understanding of these Senators so that they can feed their children and provide needed medical care to them, now, only now, are the republicans worried about the deficit.
Give me a break! All of a sudden they are worried about the deficit? Well, as with everything else that the republicans do, the only reason that these republicans are against increasing the deficit at this point is…you guessed it, their political consultants (you know, people like Karl Rove) have calculated that it will help them in the midterm elections.
While there is a real reason to be concerned about the effects of the deficit on our long term economic strength, you can be sure that the republicans have seized upon the issue because they see it as a winning political argument, just as they did those tax cuts.
Surely extending the lifeline of unemployment benefits to tens of thousands of Americans who are just fighting to survive everyday is as worthy of deficit spending as providing $1.3 trillion dollars of tax cuts to the top 1% of Americans who have not had to worry about where their next meal is coming from for a very long time, if ever.
But for the four, Americans urgently in need of help, would today be asking of the republicans, where were they when we needed them?
Shame on the rest (37 in all) of those republican Senators. All of a sudden, they are so concerned about the deficit?
Well, where were they while W., with their help, was running up the largest deficits this country had ever known?
Where were they when they were voting for George W. Bush’s unfunded, deficit busting $1.3 trillion tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans?
Where were they when they voted for an unnecessary war of choice and refused to even make it a part of the budget and therefore pay for it at the time? NO, there was no emergency, no exigent circumstances which required us to attack Iraq without paying for the war. Rather, the republicans chose to forward the bill to future generations.
Now, when there are literally thousands of real emergencies all across our country in the form of hard working Americans who have lost their jobs because of republican incompetence and wrong headed policies, now when people with families really need the support and understanding of these Senators so that they can feed their children and provide needed medical care to them, now, only now, are the republicans worried about the deficit.
Give me a break! All of a sudden they are worried about the deficit? Well, as with everything else that the republicans do, the only reason that these republicans are against increasing the deficit at this point is…you guessed it, their political consultants (you know, people like Karl Rove) have calculated that it will help them in the midterm elections.
While there is a real reason to be concerned about the effects of the deficit on our long term economic strength, you can be sure that the republicans have seized upon the issue because they see it as a winning political argument, just as they did those tax cuts.
Surely extending the lifeline of unemployment benefits to tens of thousands of Americans who are just fighting to survive everyday is as worthy of deficit spending as providing $1.3 trillion dollars of tax cuts to the top 1% of Americans who have not had to worry about where their next meal is coming from for a very long time, if ever.
But for the four, Americans urgently in need of help, would today be asking of the republicans, where were they when we needed them?
Saturday, April 10, 2010
IT'S OUR TURN TO FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY
There is an objective truth out there and since the time the first person carved images of what he saw in his daily travels into wet clay, through the invention of the printing press, right up to today, it has always been people's desire to know it that has fueled the growth of the news media in one form or another.
The founders of this country enshrined the concept of freedom of the press in the constitution because they knew how vital a free press, on an unfettered quest for objective truth, is to a democracy where presumably (slavery and women aside) everyone’s vote was to be accorded equal weight. They envisioned a robust press that would take on the job of finding out and reporting on the issues of the day so that people could then make informed decisions about the issues that affect their futures.
Trust was always the currency that the news media traded on. It was that bond with the people that gave them their legitimacy and allowed them to flourish.
Traditionally, those outlets that could be trusted to deliver accurate news in a timely fashion were rewarded with the most readers or listeners or viewers. The New York Times motto of “all the news that’s fit to print” implies that while there are many things that can be printed, presumably those without basis in fact should not be unless clearly stated to be opinion.
CBS News was, for decades, the most trusted source of television news because Americans trusted people like Ed Murrow and later Walter Cronkite, who came to be known as “the most trusted man in America”, to give it to them straight.
Of course not every one who is in the media has the same passion for the concept of objective verifiable truth as these venerable outlets and their brethren. William Randolph Hurst and the most current purveyor and enabler of misinformation Rupert Murdoch immediately come to mind. Their brand of journalism distorts the truth and thus reality. It plays upon the fears of the American people often created by its very lies. It is inherently dangerous to democracy. It is dangerous to America because it seeks to divide us as a people and thus must be considered our enemy. Cynically, it plays upon these divisions for profit, not necessarily because it believes all that it puts out there.
There are no shortcuts in a Democracy. Our Democracy is a living thing. It has never been guaranteed to us. We have always had to fight for it. The battlefields of the world attest to that. We always boast that we provide our troops with the finest equipment to get the job done. Well, the enemy is ignorance and intolerance and fear and those such as Glenn Beck & Rush Limbaugh who perpetrate it.
As a nation we have to fight this enemy or it will surely bring us down. Our citizens and our children are our troops in this fight. We must equip them with the finest, most effective weapon of mass destruction ever devised, an education.
An educated person is one who has been taught how to think critically and independently. Using those skills an educated person is in a much better position to discern objective truth and make an informed decision.
It is our moral responsibility to arm our troops. We must provide our troops with the night vision and body armor of a good education to allow them to see through the darkness and protect them from becoming casualties of the explosions of misinformation and outright lies that are being visited upon them by the enemies of Democracy.
Only an educated citizenry can defend America against its enemies and cause the Glenn Beck’s of this world to fall of their own weight back into the darkness where they exist and thrive.
Support our troops, educate America.
Its our turn to fight for Democracy.
The founders of this country enshrined the concept of freedom of the press in the constitution because they knew how vital a free press, on an unfettered quest for objective truth, is to a democracy where presumably (slavery and women aside) everyone’s vote was to be accorded equal weight. They envisioned a robust press that would take on the job of finding out and reporting on the issues of the day so that people could then make informed decisions about the issues that affect their futures.
Trust was always the currency that the news media traded on. It was that bond with the people that gave them their legitimacy and allowed them to flourish.
Traditionally, those outlets that could be trusted to deliver accurate news in a timely fashion were rewarded with the most readers or listeners or viewers. The New York Times motto of “all the news that’s fit to print” implies that while there are many things that can be printed, presumably those without basis in fact should not be unless clearly stated to be opinion.
CBS News was, for decades, the most trusted source of television news because Americans trusted people like Ed Murrow and later Walter Cronkite, who came to be known as “the most trusted man in America”, to give it to them straight.
Of course not every one who is in the media has the same passion for the concept of objective verifiable truth as these venerable outlets and their brethren. William Randolph Hurst and the most current purveyor and enabler of misinformation Rupert Murdoch immediately come to mind. Their brand of journalism distorts the truth and thus reality. It plays upon the fears of the American people often created by its very lies. It is inherently dangerous to democracy. It is dangerous to America because it seeks to divide us as a people and thus must be considered our enemy. Cynically, it plays upon these divisions for profit, not necessarily because it believes all that it puts out there.
There are no shortcuts in a Democracy. Our Democracy is a living thing. It has never been guaranteed to us. We have always had to fight for it. The battlefields of the world attest to that. We always boast that we provide our troops with the finest equipment to get the job done. Well, the enemy is ignorance and intolerance and fear and those such as Glenn Beck & Rush Limbaugh who perpetrate it.
As a nation we have to fight this enemy or it will surely bring us down. Our citizens and our children are our troops in this fight. We must equip them with the finest, most effective weapon of mass destruction ever devised, an education.
An educated person is one who has been taught how to think critically and independently. Using those skills an educated person is in a much better position to discern objective truth and make an informed decision.
It is our moral responsibility to arm our troops. We must provide our troops with the night vision and body armor of a good education to allow them to see through the darkness and protect them from becoming casualties of the explosions of misinformation and outright lies that are being visited upon them by the enemies of Democracy.
Only an educated citizenry can defend America against its enemies and cause the Glenn Beck’s of this world to fall of their own weight back into the darkness where they exist and thrive.
Support our troops, educate America.
Its our turn to fight for Democracy.
Friday, April 9, 2010
IT'S GETTING BETTER ALL THE TIME, BETTER, BETTER, BETTER
If I ruled the world, Americans would realize that under President Obama’s leadership things are looking better all the time on a wide variety of issues confronting the nation and the world. All one has to do is look at the headlines found everywhere but on fixed news.
Intelligent, focused, leadership at work. How refreshing.
The only people who can't see that things are getting better are those unwilling to see because it does not fit their agenda.
You've got to admit it's getting better, better
A little better all the time, it can't get no worse
You have to admit it's getting better, better
It's getting better everyday since 1/20/09
Intelligent, focused, leadership at work. How refreshing.
- Russia and U.S. Sign Nuclear Arms Reduction Pact
- China Appears Set to Make Its Exchange Rate More Flexible
- Numbers Point To US Economic Recovery
- National Job Gains Are The Best In Two Years
- More Terrorists Found and Killed by Obama Administration in the Past Year Than In All 8 Years of the Bush Administration Combined.
- US Troops Will Largely Be Out of Iraq By the End of the Year.
- China & Russia Signal Their Opposition to Iran Becoming A Nuclear Power.
The only people who can't see that things are getting better are those unwilling to see because it does not fit their agenda.
You've got to admit it's getting better, better
A little better all the time, it can't get no worse
You have to admit it's getting better, better
It's getting better everyday since 1/20/09
Thursday, April 8, 2010
I'M SHOCKED, SHOCKED TO FIND GAMBLING IS GOING ON IN HERE!
Rupert Murdoch's recent statement that Fox news should not and as far as he knows is not supporting any political party including the Tea Party must be news to everyone who works at fixed news.
His protestations reminded me of those of Louie of Casablanca fame who when told by the Nazis that he was to find an excuse to close Rick's American Cafe proclaimed I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here just as he is being handed his winnings from his time at Rick's tables.
Anyone who has even a passing familiarity with fixed news over the last 6 months knows what a blatent lie Mr. Murdoch is guilty of all while raking in big profits. Profits earned at the expense of objective truth and the national good. Indeed, would the Tea Party be where it was today if not for fixed news' 24/7 promotion of its events and ideas.
If I ruled the world Fixed News would be required to show a health warning at the top of the screen similar to the Surgeon General's warning on cigarettes.
To paraphrase Shakespear, Me thinks Mr. Murdoch doth protest too much. I wonder how long Murdoch's investigation is going to take? I suspect it will be like waiting for Godot.
For the objective truth take a look at Media Matters on the subject:
http://mediamatters.org/press/releases/483110
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
TELL ME HOW AND TELL ME WHY
Tell me how it is that republicans can so consistently get people to vote against their own interests? There is not a single major issue of the day on which the republicans are on the side of the people and not big business, not one. Be it education, clean air, clean water, health care, consumer safety, worker safety and on and on.
Take the issue of worker safety as an example, which in light of recent events is highly illustrative.
Let's start with the fact that the biggest industry in West Virginia is coal mining. Naturally, mine safety is among the most important issues concerning the people of West Virginia whose husbands, wives, sons, daughters, fathers and brothers are at risk everyday.
With this in mind, let us examine the results of the 2008 presidential election in West Virginia.
McCain 56%
Obama 43%
Now back to the future where 25 West Virginian Miners were killed this week in an explosion in a mine with a questionable safety record -
Deaths at West Virginia Mine Raise Issues About Safety
Mines Fight Strict Laws by Filing More Appeals - NYTimes.com
Back to 6-13-06;
In 2006 President Bush nominated the chicken to be in charge of the hen house.
"The former coal industry executive who told the U.S. Senate the nation’s mining laws are adequate—just weeks after a series of disasters killed 15 miners—faces a critical vote Tuesday in the Senate, as the Bush administration attempts to make him the top coal mine safety cop.
While Richard Stickler’s nomination to head the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has been on hold by Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) who opposes the nomination, 2006 coal mine deaths have climbed to 33—more than in any full year since 2001. If Senate Republican leaders win a cloture vote to end the hold, they’ll move to a confirmation vote on Stickler. Cloture requires 60 votes, but confirmation needs only a simple majority.
The Mine Workers (UMWA), the AFL-CIO and other workplace safety advocates oppose Stickler’s nomination.
UMWA President Cecil Roberts says:
Mr. Stickler spent the overwhelming part of his career as a coal mine executive….The nation’s miners cannot tolerate another mine executive running the agency responsible for protecting their health and safety. Too often these mining executives place priority on productivity, but fail to focus on miners’ health and safety. Too many times, MSHA has not done all it is charged to do to promote miners’ health and safety.…Miners need someone leading MSHA who makes their heath and safety their number one priority.
At his Senate confirmation hearing, Stickler declined to endorse new mine safety rules, such as those passed by the West Virginia Legislature in January in response to the Sago explosion that killed 12 miners and other mine deaths." Bush and mine safety
Now tell me again why these people voted for McCain in 2008?
Take the issue of worker safety as an example, which in light of recent events is highly illustrative.
Let's start with the fact that the biggest industry in West Virginia is coal mining. Naturally, mine safety is among the most important issues concerning the people of West Virginia whose husbands, wives, sons, daughters, fathers and brothers are at risk everyday.
With this in mind, let us examine the results of the 2008 presidential election in West Virginia.
McCain 56%
Obama 43%
Now back to the future where 25 West Virginian Miners were killed this week in an explosion in a mine with a questionable safety record -
Deaths at West Virginia Mine Raise Issues About Safety
Mines Fight Strict Laws by Filing More Appeals - NYTimes.com
Back to 6-13-06;
In 2006 President Bush nominated the chicken to be in charge of the hen house.
"The former coal industry executive who told the U.S. Senate the nation’s mining laws are adequate—just weeks after a series of disasters killed 15 miners—faces a critical vote Tuesday in the Senate, as the Bush administration attempts to make him the top coal mine safety cop.
While Richard Stickler’s nomination to head the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has been on hold by Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) who opposes the nomination, 2006 coal mine deaths have climbed to 33—more than in any full year since 2001. If Senate Republican leaders win a cloture vote to end the hold, they’ll move to a confirmation vote on Stickler. Cloture requires 60 votes, but confirmation needs only a simple majority.
The Mine Workers (UMWA), the AFL-CIO and other workplace safety advocates oppose Stickler’s nomination.
UMWA President Cecil Roberts says:
Mr. Stickler spent the overwhelming part of his career as a coal mine executive….The nation’s miners cannot tolerate another mine executive running the agency responsible for protecting their health and safety. Too often these mining executives place priority on productivity, but fail to focus on miners’ health and safety. Too many times, MSHA has not done all it is charged to do to promote miners’ health and safety.…Miners need someone leading MSHA who makes their heath and safety their number one priority.
At his Senate confirmation hearing, Stickler declined to endorse new mine safety rules, such as those passed by the West Virginia Legislature in January in response to the Sago explosion that killed 12 miners and other mine deaths." Bush and mine safety
Now tell me again why these people voted for McCain in 2008?
THE TRUTH BE TOLD
Did you know that it is a crime to lie to a federal officer even when not under oath and that it is not a crime for a federal or state officeholder to lie to the American people?
If I ruled the world it would be a crime for any sitting officeholder or party nominee running for office to knowingly lie to the American people. It only seems fair, they work for us and we have a right to expect fair dealing and the truth from our employees. In what other enterprise would lying to the boss be tolerated even for a second?
The punishment upon conviction?
(A) Become very quiet in Washington and the various statehouses around the country
(B) Cause a significant increase in our already over crowded prison population
or
(C) Mean that we would finally, finally have the chance to be well served by the people we hire to represent our interests.
Either way, we the people win.
If I ruled the world it would be a crime for any sitting officeholder or party nominee running for office to knowingly lie to the American people. It only seems fair, they work for us and we have a right to expect fair dealing and the truth from our employees. In what other enterprise would lying to the boss be tolerated even for a second?
The punishment upon conviction?
- Immediate removal from office
- A fine of $100,000. per material falsehood
- A mandatory 1 year in jail
(A) Become very quiet in Washington and the various statehouses around the country
(B) Cause a significant increase in our already over crowded prison population
or
(C) Mean that we would finally, finally have the chance to be well served by the people we hire to represent our interests.
Either way, we the people win.
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