Day: March 14, 2009

Is That Reincarnation Approved?

A top Chinese official warned on Friday that the central government in Beijing must approve the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation, and would not recognise any candidate that it had not endorsed, the official Xinhua agency said.

The Dalai Lama’s succession has become a prickly issue, as the Nobel Prize winner ages and his health declines.

He has suggested that his incarnation might be found outside China, or even that Tibetans themselves could order a vote on whether to continue an institution that once gave one monk both spiritual and temporal sway over Tibet.

But the Chinese leadership appears determined not to cede any kind of authority to a candidate beyond their control.

Now this has got to be the ultimate in government intervention into a private life.  I mean reincarnation is preordained, or at least I thought it was.  But now the Chinese government has said that it has the final say in the process.  Damn!  I thought government banning porno was an intrusion…but what do I know?

Democrats Growing More Nervous

It seems the party of “no” is having its effect on the party in power.

Some Democrats are increasingly concerned about President Obama’s $787 billion financial fix for the ailing economy, and are demanding greater transparency on further spending.

With the White House seemingly comparing the nation’s economy to a house on fire, some congressional Democrats are asking, where’s the fire truck?

As a nod to moderate concerns, Obama took steps to make his budget more transparent. He included items former President George W. Bush passed separately in recent years to obscure the true operating cost of the government, such as the money for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, an annual multibillion-dollar fix of the fees Medicare pays physicians and Alternative Minimum Tax relief for the middle class.

Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Indiana, who along with Nebraska Democrat Ben Nelson and Connecticut Independent Joe Lieberman is one of the so-called Gang of 15 — a coalition of moderate Democratic senators — says it’s all about the messaging.

“Like getting health care costs under control is important to the economy and getting the deficit down,” he said. “Sustainable sources of energy at reasonable prices is also important to the economy. Dealing with the financial crisis is obviously important to the economy.”

House Democrats, CNN has learned, heard that message in a meeting with top economists, who predicted the president’s stimulus plan will fall short of saving or creating three to four million jobs, as he promised.

“Over the first two years about 2 1/2 million jobs saved and created,” said economist Allen Sinai. “A little less than the administration and perhaps Speaker Pelosi has said … the jobs created may be a little disappointing.”

But budget hawks in the party don’t like the sound of that.

“I mean, if we were to take a vote this afternoon, the stimulus package would probably fail,” said Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-North Dakota. “If they want substantial, more public funds committed, they’re going to have to go out there and explain precisely how this is going to work.”

Is The Government Here To Help?

Good damn question!  So far they do not seem to be helping anyone that is truly in harm’s way other than Wall Street.  The new plan to save people from foreclosure is not really all that much help either……the people that need the help the most are the ones that will be screwed in the long run……not much change there, huh?

The Obama administration’s housing plan is intended to help 9 million struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure, but it leaves out tens of thousands of borrowers in the most battered housing markets who won’t qualify because their homes have lost too much value.

The program detailed Wednesday offers refinanced mortgages or modified loans with lower monthly payments. Yet its refinancing plan is limited to borrowers who owe up to 5 percent more than their home’s current value. Loan modifications, supported by $75 billion in federal funding, are unlikely for severely “underwater” borrowers.

The plan doesn’t help homeowners in states “that are at the epicenter of the housing debacle,” said Greg McBride, a senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com.

The ineligible households are concentrated in California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona, but can also be found in struggling cities such as Detroit and Grand Rapids, Mich. Even houses in the outlying suburbs of the nation’s capital, where the economy is relatively healthy, have dropped substantially in value.

Government officials acknowledge that the initiatives are only a partial fix for a sweeping problem that has helped plunge the U.S. economy into the worst recession in decades.

Of the nearly 52 million U.S. homeowners with a mortgage, almost 14 million, or nearly 27 percent, owe more on their mortgage than their house is now worth, according to Moody’s Economy.com.

The program has two parts: one to work with lenders to modify the loan terms for up to 4 million homeowners, the second to refinance up to 5 million homeowners into more affordable fixed-rate loans.

For the modification program, which runs through 2012, borrowers who are eligible will have to provide their most recent tax return and two pay stubs, as well as an “affidavit of financial hardship” to qualify. In the affidavit, applicants will have to cite the reasons behind their financial woes, such as job loss or a drop in income. The government will then take steps to verify the information.

Borrowers are only allowed to have their loans modified once, and the program applies for loans made on Jan. 1, 2009, or earlier. Mortgages for single-family properties that are worth more than $729,750 are excluded.

Lenders could reduce a borrower’s interest rate to as low as 2 percent for five years. Rates would then rise to about 5 percent until the mortgage is repaid.

In case you are interested……this plan will help about 11% of those with mortgage problems…now there is a plan that we should get behind (sarcasm intended).

While the government is here to help…more and more home owners who were crapped on by the unscrupulous lenders will continue to lose their homes…how is this helping those of us on Main Street?

US Troops In Danger

A newly leaked military document appears to show the Pentagon knowingly exposed US troops to toxic chemicals that cause cancer, while publicly downplaying the risks exposure might cause.

Because of the difficulties in testing samples, investigators could not prove that chemicals exceeded military exposure guidelines. But a military document released last December found that chemicals routinely exceeded safe levels by twice to six times.

The leaked report was signed off by the chief for the Air Force’s aeromedical services. Its subject is Balad Airbase, a large US military base about 70 kilometers north of Baghdad.

“In my professional opinion, the known carcinogens and respiratory sensitizers released into the atmosphere by the burn pit present both an acute and a chronic health hazard to our troops and the local population,” Aeromedical chief Lt. Colonel James Elliott wrote.

Last December, the Pentagon issued a “Just the Facts” sheet about the burn pits to troops. While acknowledging that lab tests from 2004-2006 had found occasional carcinogens, it asserted that “the potential short- and long-term risks were estimated to be low due to the infrequent detections of these chemicals.”

Strikingly, however, it does acknowledge that air samples taken in 2007 found particulate matter levels higher than military recommendations in 50 of 60 cases — some two times allowable toxic levels, but others as many as six times.

The flyer given to troops appears to contradict assertions by the Air Force’s own investigators. In the leaked document, titled “Burn Pit Health Hazards,” Air Force Bioenvironmental Engineering Flight Commander Darrin Curtis expressed shock that troops were knowingly exposed to such risks.

Curtis noted that the chemicals associated with burning plastics, rubber and other common trash items included arsenic, benzene, formaldehyde, hydrogen cyanide, sulfuric acid and various other chemicals.

“Just the Facts,” while playing down long-term risks, also identified dioxins among tested samples. Dioxins were also present in Agent Orange, the notorious herbicide used during the Vietnam War. Benzene is known to cause leukemia, and cyanide and arsenic have throughout history been used as poisons to induce death.

And there is more!

The general in charge of the Army’s more than 9,000 wounded soldiers said Wednesday he is ordering a review of how the ones at Fort Bragg are being punished for minor violations. Brig. Gen. Gary Cheek said he is asking the Army Surgeon General to look at all discipline that has been taken against soldiers in the base’s Warrior Transition unit to make sure each case was fair.

More than a dozen current or former soldiers who have been assigned to the transition unit at Fort Bragg told the AP that its officers are indifferent to their medical needs and punish them for the very injuries that landed them there. Officers who oversee the unit said they hold the wounded soldiers to the same performance standards as able-bodied troops, arguing that it helps them get back into fighting shape.

Sad that nothing has changed in 40 years for the vets that have served their country proudly…they were asked to give all and in return they are treated like shit!  There is something we all can be proud of (sarcasm intended).