Month: May 2010

You Were Warned About Change (Redux)

Daily Agitator

I am sick of all the Lefties that go on air a bitch that Obama is NOT doing what he promised during the ’08 election process…..the change that he promised…

This is a repost of a piece I wrote on Daily Kos on 25 Feb 2008…..I was whacked on the pee-pee for NOT supporting Obama and now many of those from Kos are on air bitching about the lack of change from Obama….and of course, I thoroughly enjoy saying “I TOLD YOU SO!”

First, I have heard Clinton called a populist and a progressive.  All I can say to that is WTF?  By no stretch of the imagination can she call herself those titles.  Her positions are straight out of the playbook of the DLC and, to use Bill’s terms. if you believe that “I have some land I wanna sell ya”.  But I digress!  Obama has been called a progressive also.  Thinking…thinking…It is possible to use that label, but it will take a bit of an imagination to do so.  I will agree that change is just a word and not necessarily a progressive one.  The belief that one can actually bring about political change is definitely a progressive idea.

We have all heard the diatribes by the Clinton camp on Obama.  The inexperience, hollow promises and not much Congressional success, all are tried to be used against him.  These things are valid to question, but does not preclude failure.  The approach to change will be the indicator to watch.  Will Obama surround himself with people that actually want to change Washington?  Voters need to realize that the positions of Obama during the primary season, will be altered for the general election.  Politicians will be adding and subtracting from the positions until they get a platform they consider to be a winner.

OK, I realize that so far I have said nothing that has not been mentioned in the MSM.  Here is where I will look for the indication of real change. His acceptance speech, if he is nominated, will lay out what direction his administration will follow.  But, IMO, the most telling indicator will be who is chosen to be the vice-president.  Why?  If his Veep is pulled out of the DLC, then he has sold out to this “conservative” organization and any change will be solely symbolic.  Change will NOT occur only reform.  Reform is not what is needed.  Reform is easily overturned and will have little positive effect for the average working stiff.

If Obama is nominated, then watch the convention and watch it closely for there is where you will know if you have been duped.

Take that Nostradamus!

2010 Anal-Ocity #17

Once again the motor mouths in the Congress are at it again….first he was a socialist, then a Marxist and now he is a Fascist…..

One of my fav boneheads in the US House of Representatives, Michele Bachmann….she is at it again…as reported in Huffington Post……

“Let’s remember really what this is. This has a lot in common with Italy in the 1930s and they way Italy dealt with economics,” she said. “It still continues private ownership of business but government is in control.”She continued, “So government control of the private business, while it’s private ownership, that’s still at the end of the day the federal government virtually having a say over private business. We lose freedoms; we lose economic competitiveness.”

These are the people that are running this country and yet she sees it is run by a Fascist….if you are one of those who subscribes to her looney tunes then he need professional help…..get it soon.

What A Difference A Word Makes

Daily Agitator

The economy in the US is going to crap in a hand basket…..we need massive financial reform if we are to ever avoid the same meltdown that was suffered in 2008….the Congress is working on FinReg as we speak…..but there is a slight problem….it is the word “significant”…..one word can bring the whole reform thing to a halt because somebody somewhere wants to turn it into a political game…..this is what we have as far as governance goes….the games people play.

As reported on Newser:

Republicans have found another reason to oppose financial reform: They claim it will impose regulations on dentists, florists, and plenty of other small businesses, all because of a single word: “significantly.” The Senate bill states that the Consumer Protection Agency will only regulate those who provide significant consumer financial products. But it doesn’t define what’s significant, Republicans argue, meaning it could apply to financing small businesses provide their customers. The argument comes straight from a Chamber of Commerce talking point, Politico reveals. Democrats are willing to better define the word—Chris Dodd worked with Olympia Snowe on an amendment that should clear things up—but find the whole kerfuffle disingenuous. “I realize the word ‘significantly’ is what people want to work on, and I am willing to listen,” said Dodd. “But don’t make me debate completely false allegations about what is in the bill.”

The Chamber has become a lobbyists tool in the past decade or so…they do the bidding of every corporation and industry that will pay them the big bucks for their opposition…..they seem to have NO principle other than the opposition to whatever bill that will control the practices of an industry….

It is NOT about protecting the taxpayer and consumer…it is about stopping all reform…it seems everyone is dancing to the beat of the banks…..a casino industry with NO regulations…..gambling with taxpayer money, where they win they keep all the profit and if they lose the taxpayer assumes the responsibility for their loses…..a great way to gamble, too bad you cannot get this deal from the government YOU fund…..

Are You Economically Confused?

Daily Agitator

If you do not have a degree in economics or finance and try to listen to the “experts” on TV then you are so confused that you would agree to anything just to get these people to shut the hell up……

For instance, the US gain 290,000 jobs in April but yet the unemployment rate went from 9.7% to 9.9%….if you gain jobs how does the unemployment rate get larger?  Easy if you listen to the “experts”……it seems that more people went back to looking for work because the jobs market is looking better……that is the official announcement……but if the people were unemployed in April and are looking for work then they are still unemployed…so how does the rate expand?  It is all in the metrics of the science…that would be the science of bullsh*t…….all reporting is that the “real” unemployment rate is more like 15+%….but yet they have come up with a way for the dismal unemployment rate to appear more optimistic……it is all for the investor to get them excited about using their cash……never is it about the true outlook of the recession….

If you feel totally confused, then you are what I call an average person and NONE of the economic reports are for you….NONE of the economic reports take your life into account……..remember….YOU ARE the back bone of this economy and if your life is in recession then the rest of the country is in recession…..the investors and speculators will ALWAYS make their money, whether you are employed or not…

The problem is that they are gambling with YOUR money…the cash of the taxpayers is used in this casino called Wall Street….

What Are They Yelling About?

Daily Agitator

I am referring to the Tea Party folk……I see the signs about over-taxation and taxed too much and taxation without representation and on and on and……..ad nauseum!

But the TRUTH and I hope you realize the emphasis on the word TRUTH…..is something a bit different than what the GOP and the TP would have us believe……

You wouldn’t know it from the clamor of anti-tax protests, but Americans turned over a lower share of their income to the taxman last year than at any time since the Truman administration, according to a USA Today analysis. State, local, and federal taxes took up 9.2% of income last year, the lowest proportion since 1950 and well below the average of 12% over the last 50 years.

The tax rate paid by all Americans has shrunk 26% since the recession began in 2007, largely because of tax cuts in the stimulus package and lower consumer spending reducing the amount of sales tax paid. Do the figures mean all those Tea Party tax protests are wrong-headed? Not so, says Adam Brandon at protest organizer FreedomWorks. The real problem, he says, is runaway spending and the huge deficit, which is going to have to be paid for by future taxes.

That from a post on Newser on 12 May 2010.

Just what are they worked up about?  If the taxation thing is not it, then what?  Could it be a color thing and the tax thing is just a cover?  What are these uninformed people really protesting?

Taxes Owed?

Daily Agitator

I recently heard a Repub Senator, Judd Gregg, mention that we should collect all the taxes that are owed to help solve part of the deficit problem…..now I had to have a good chuckle at this….

First, there are lawyers waiting in line to see that YOU do NOT pay all your taxes…just watch the tube….you will see at least 4 different firms that are clamoring for your business…..second, what a crock of crap!  Do you think that any wealthy person or corporation is going to pay their fair share of the taxes?  If you do think you need to return to the ICU for a Thorazine shot…..

Here is an idea!  The GOP is pushing for tort reform as part of any health reform…as a matter of fact it is in their top 5 reasons we need reform…then why not go the next step and demand tax reform?  Why not make it damn near impossible to NOT pay your taxes?  And that includes our lovely batch of Reps in Washington, who always have a better idea but somehow never involves them…..

A couple good ideas….but…..we will NOT see these anytime soon…..why?…..corporate cash for politicians program….so they only things you will see as a way to help the deficit is entitlements…….seniors will be forced to work until they are 80…..Medicare will be made harder to get……and social security will be attacked to the point that they try to eliminate it in favor of some lame ass savings account…..there are the answers they have to the deficit…..and you elected these guys…..how is that working out for you?

Politicians keep saying that they have to make “hard choices”….laughable at best….why?  They make the decisions that are most politically advantageous for them there are no “hard choices” to be made…only actions that NEVER help the people …..actions that will help in winning their next election.

Can you feel the love?

The Ballet Of An Oil Spill

I would suspect that just about everyone in the US has heard about the massive oil spill threatening the Gulf Coast…..the people are angry and are demanding restitution, they are demanding that the company makes everything whole again….but is that a realistic hope?  And so the Ballet begins!

There have been some that suggest that the Obama Admin may have been at fault for the disaster, not as deeply involved as BP, but still should share some of the blame as an accomplice…..

A May 11, 2009 legal brief written on behalf of Obama’s secretary of the interior, Ken Salazar, requested that the Washington, DC federal court of appeals overturn or amend an earlier decision blocking new drilling in the Gulf of Mexico’s outer continental shelf. The petition referred specifically in several instances to site “206”—the same area where the Deepwater Horizon would explode in a blowout less than one year later.

“Salazar approved BP’s exploration plan without any environmental analysis on April 6, 2009, knowing that the lease could get struck down by an active lawsuit,” said Kieran Suckling of the Center for Biological Diversity. “When it was struck down 11 days later, he went back to court to get the BP exploration drilling (and other areas) removed from the vacature. His success in this legal maneuver allowed BP’s exploration drilling to take place, resulting in the April 20, 2010 catastrophic disaster.”

Even since the explosion on the rig, the Obama administration has continued to grant “categorical exemptions” for deep sea oil drilling—27 in all, according to the Center for Biological Diversity.

If this research done by Tom Eley of wsws.org is true then Obama and the boyz are and should be blamed for this disaster, or at least held accountable…the way they keep saying that BP will be held accountable.

Now the CEOs of BP, Halliburton and Transocean are on the Hill testifying at what happened and what is to be done.  But the game got to the inevitable point of blame.

BP America President Lamar McKay stressed the failure of the blowout preventer owned by rig operator Transocean. “The systems are intended to fail-close and be fail-safe,” McKay said. “Sadly and for reasons we do not yet understand, in this case, they were not.”

But Transocean chief executive Steven Newman said the blowout preventers “were clearly not the root cause of the explosion.” He said they might have been damaged by debris made of cement and steel casing material blown upward because of other failures.

Halliburton’s Tim Probert also tried to deflect blame, saying, “We understand that the drilling contractor . . . proceeded to displace the riser with seawater prior to the planned placement of the final cement plug.” That plug was designed to keep the oil and gas in the well, a final step before pulling the drilling rig away from the well. Probert said that the final cement plug was never set.   (Thanx to WaPo for the excerpts)

This was a predictable thing….NO one is to blame, especially those with an interest on the rig.  The media will run amok with the hearing transcripts; they will show the CEOs in the most unflattering light, but I would bet my last dollar that the report from the Center of Biological Diversity will get little to no play in the media……..any bets?

BP IS too blame….Transocean IS to blame…..Halliburton IS to blame…..and yes politicians are too blame, especially the Obama Admin……I am sure there will be a plausible explanation to why the Admin pushed deep sea drilling without the proper documentation…….but I want them all to take RESPONSIBILITY for the disaster that they alone have created.

You Really Want A Middle East Peace?

Inkwell Institute

International Group

Middle East Desk

First of all, I do not think that anyone in this conflict wants it to end or maybe no one has an idea that will suit both sides.

How many years has the idea of “peace” been pursued?  How many times has the hope of “peace” been dashed?  Does anyone have an idea of how to promote and then establish a lasting peace?

First of all, the “war” or “conflict” or whatever one chooses to call the situation has been going on for 60 years and it is now an institution  It has become such a tradition that absolutely NO one knows how to break the change of events.

I recently read an article in the Haaretz newspaper and Haggai Alon made some excellent points….like:

Gaza is Israel’s big problem. Because of the political, security and civic failure of the disengagement, the road to a solution of the problem of Gaza runs through Ramallah and Jerusalem. In Ramallah, it is in the hands of one man – Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. But Benjamin Netanyahu’s government refuses to accept that fact. So Abbas is preparing a surprise for it in the form of a “no-partner” declaration.

Gaza is the fuel for the anti-Israel struggle. It is the symbol of that struggle throughout the Arab and Muslim world, even among those who live in Western countries. And it is up to us to uproot the anti-Israel cells the flourish there. Gaza’s hunger is the fuel of the struggle. We must dry up this fuel. It is not a tool for getting Gilad Shalit back, or for toppling Hamas.

Any one that has half a brain or has spent time wondering what the Hell is going on in the ME, knows that Gaza is the fuel for the anti-Israel fire……..and as put in the excerpts above…there can be NO peace without a solution to the Gaza problem….no matter how much talking and negotiating goes on…if Gaza is still the way it is today….there will be NO peace.

So what is the answer?

First of all, the need is to recognize Hamas for what it is….yes it can be called a terrorist organization….but beyond that….they were elected by the people of Gaza to represent them…….Hamas needs to show good faith that they are truly a representative of the people and call off all terror attacks…then Israel needs to show that they have the best interest of the Palestinian people in mind and restore ALL humanitarian aid to the area….next the world nations need to guarantee to help the area economically once Israel and Hamas show that they are adults and actually care about the people.

Since the conflict has become an institution and the only way to break the hold of the hatred is to have ALL parties behave as adults and not spoiled children.  As it stands today, the conflict is more about hatred than the plight of the Palestinians or the safety of the Israelis.

Kagan For SCOTUS

By now we all know who Pres. Obama has picked for the open position on the Supreme Court….just in case, it is Elena Kagan…..and immediately the Repubs have said that it is a disturbing choice or that she has NO litigation experience, she is the Solicitor General of the US, the top litigator in the government so that has a BS statement….what they are really pissed off about is that she has a short paper trail and it is one that the Repubs cannot use against her, with the exception of the recruiter thing.

If you recall back in the day when Sotomayor was in her hearings the Repubs were most concerned with activist judges…they are always concerned with activist judges unless they are conservative, then it is somehow okay for them to be opinionated……

But since Kagan has NOT worn a black robe she has NO trail that would be used to attack her on…..and since she has NOT been a judge, would not that make her perfect for the GOP to vote for, since she could NOT be an activist judge if she has not been a judge?

Just wondering…….it will be interesting to see how far the GOP is willing to go to defeat her and give Obama a loss in the political game…the one to watch will be Alabama’s Jeff Sessions….why?…..he was once nominated for a judgeship and did not make it….he has lots of animosity and will exact some small measure of revenge….

Entitlement Reform?

Daily Agitator

Subject:  Budgetary Issues/Entitlements

The whole damn world is in hock up to their butt cheeks and the answers are simple (at least that is what the leaders tell us) we have to control our spending….”we have to make the hard decisions”…… is the daily rant by politicos.  And those hard decisions are mostly likely be the entitlement programs.  You know those hot bed of problems for the government….social security, medicare and medicaid…

I know I have ranted on this pile of lies for awhile now and I will continue to beat these guys up until they TRULY make some hard decisions.  These demented little toads have not made a tough decision in decades.

Have you noticed that those who say we must make hard decisions, especially in SS are the ones that do not need SS to retire?  The hard decisions will be for the working poor….they will have less benefits for retirement, they will have to work until they die….but those that made the decisions can retire comfortably and whenever they feel like it….watch the politicians…. they are the ONLY ones saying that hard decisions must be made….I have heard NO one on my street saying such….why?  Because unlike those people making plenty of money, SS is their ONLY option for retirement….none have massive retirement accountants or a stock broker on speed dial…..the call has gone out from Repubs as well as Dems…..but not one of them is talking about Caterpillar or Citcorp…it will always be YOU that has to sacrifice for the good of the country…and you can bet that no in Congress will be standing next to you……

The hard decision would be to make the wealthy pay the same as the worker…that would mean that they pay their FICA and Medicare taxes on every dime they make….I have to….why not them?  But NOOOOOOOOO…..the working people will be FORCED to make the decisions, without their consent, and the same batch of wealthy will continue to get all the benefits out of this country.  These people do NOT care that a normal person will probably die before they get their retirement or maybe that is just their simple plan.

“Hard Decisions”….if you are hard worker and make enough to barely get by, when you hear that….my suggestion is to grab your ankles and give them easy access…..