Month: June 2010

Cut Spending Now!

We all have heard the conservative tag line….”Cut spending NOW!”……..it has been a popular conserv tag line for decades……and today it is more important than ever to the GOP…..it will win them elections and more clout in Washington…..

The whiz kid of the GOP, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, is leading the charge on this issue….I have said many times that I believe that he is sharp and knowledgeable.  And like the dutiful son he echoes the tag lines, slogans and stands of the elders of the Party………

The starting point for tackling this challenge is the federal budget. For families, organizations, and businesses alike, a budget sets priorities and forces tough decisions.Our proposal would create a legally binding federal budget, with enforceable limits on spending and deficits, force Congress to address our entitlement crisis and budget for our long-term liabilities, and allows for budgetary oversight by moving from the frenetic annual calendar to a biennial budget and appropriation process.

Budget process reforms can help limit the excesses of spendthrift lawmakers — but real restraint requires a commitment to get spending and deficits under control.

Among the proposals:- Cancel unused bailout funds. The financial rescue package has morphed into a Washington slush fund for special interests. To prevent its continued abuses, we should terminate the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

– Cancel unspent “stimulus” funds. We need more jobs, not more debt.

– Reduce government employment and freeze government pay. We need to grow the economy, not government.

– Cut and cap discretionary spending. After an 84 percent increase in discretionary spending, Washington has added trillions of dollars to our debt, yet failed to produce the jobs promised. We should return spending to pre-Obama levels and establish discretionary spending caps.

– Reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. We need to phase out the federal control of these mortgage giants, limit taxpayer exposure and combat crony capitalism.

I have been commenting on the proposals that they are offering as a way to lessen the impact of the budget deficit….and I agree with the original statement….to cut taxes now!  But I would do it in other ways……like ending two wars and most readers know how I feel about the taxes thing…in case you are unaware……EVERYBODY pays the taxes on ALL their income and all their FICA payments on ALL their income……those three would go a long way to tackling the deficit….this mamby-pamby approach helps NO one but those that are NOT paying the fair share.
But I guess they would not be Repubs if it were not that way.

McChrystal Should Go

Daily Agitator

By now the media is flooded with so called experts analyzing everything that the US commander in Afghanistan has said, especially in his latest gaff in an issue of the Rolling Stone……it seems that he has disparagingly made some unfortunate comments about the President, VP, Adm. Mullen, the head of the CIA and others.

I have heard many call for McChrystal’s head when he meets with the president.  And I have heard some call his words unfortunate and lame, but that he should remain at his post in Afghanistan.

He has been commanded to appear in person at the White House for an official meeting and a private meeting with the president.  This will be strike three.  His first strike was a leaked memo where he said that the prez was unprepared and intimidated by the brass.  Next, he made some really unfortunate statements that the prez met him in London and held a meeting on Air Force One.  So today’s meeting is strike three and in baseball we all know what that means.

But shoulkd he go or should he stay?

According to the Uniform Code of Military Justice…..he should go.  Why?

§ 888. Art. 88. Contempt toward officials

Any commissioned officer who uses contemptuous words against the President, the Vice President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department, the Secretary of Homeland Security, or the Governor or legislature of any State, Territory, Commonwealth, or possession in which he is on duty or present shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

Pretty straight forward.  Now if this had been a ranking NCO or some private, he would get busted in rank and some would be given a discharge….none would be allowed to retire to avoid punitive action!

But if McChrystal leaves the military he will be allowed to resign so that he can keep his dignity and his pension and all the benefits that go with the word general.  Personally, he should be barbecued for insubordination and made an example of for future morons that cannot keep their mouths shut when dealing with the media.

Will There Be An Insanity Defense?

From the VOMITORIUM

For all those that follow the sensationalism in the media…you know those pea brains that cannot live with Britney or Lindsey or Kate and her 8 or any of the gossipy crap that floods the media….you know…if you are one of those……

I personally hate gossipy crap….but I will admit that one and a while there comes a story that I cannot pass up….and van der Sloot is one of those stories…..

You know that sleazoid a couple of years ago was the prime suspect in the death of the Alabama blonde….he was arrested more times than I have hairs on my butt and released because there was no case…no body….no witness….NOTHING!  And now this same little rich turd is being accused of killing a 21 year old Peruvian woman……

He was arrested in Chile and sent back to Peru to face the charges….first he confessed to the crime and then he retracted and then he said it was a burglar and then confessed again and …….the show continues.

But that is not what I want to talk about…….unless you are a complete moron or in a coma then you pretty much know the story….what I want to address is his defense.

My guess is they his attorneys are going to go for an insanity plea.  Why?  Easy!  All the games this Sloot dude is playing…..confessing then retracting then confessing and all the antics he is pulling in police custody.  And then games he has been playing trying to make hay out of the blond’s disappearance in Aruba a couple of years ago….trying to get money for the location of her body and the confessing to that and then not knowing anything other than he left her on the beach.  But now his Moma is involved in a recent interview she stated:

CBS News correspondent Betty Nguyen reported on “The Early Show” Monday that van der Sloot’s mother, Anita van der Sloot, has spoken to a Dutch newspaper and says her son suffers from mental problems and needs psychiatric help. But even more shocking is that she is quoted in the same report saying that he may have had something to do with the death of Stephany Flores.

Anita van der Sloot told the paper, “I now believe that Joran may have indeed done something to Stephany in Peru. Maybe in a burst of anger? I don’t know.”

She said the two spoke on the phone just after Flores’ murder. She told him, “You’re being searched. A girl is dead. Where are you?”

Joran van der Sloot reportedly replied, “It’s not Stephany, is it? No, not Stephany.”

My first thought was, “if not Stephany, then who is dead?”

All this theatrics smell like the set up for an insanity plea.  I do not know what the insanity laws are in Peru, but I would bet that it would be better to be judged insane than to spend 25 years in a Peruvian prison.

IMO, this arrogant tool is a murder….he is just playing games trying to somehow beat the rap.

2010 Anal-Ocity #25

And they just cannot shut up!  Repubs are showing their true colors when it comes to the Gulf oil spill…..Barton apologizes to BP for them having to contribute to a fund to pay costs of the spill and now Mississppi’s governopr Haley Barbour is echoing the same type of sentiment about the oil spill…

Mississippi’s Republican governor, Haley Barbour, said on Sunday that the temporary moratorium on offshore drilling imposed by the Obama administration is worse than the catastrophic oil spill caused by the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig.”Governor, what’s worse, the moratorium or the effects of this spill on the region?” asked “Meet the Press” host David Gregory on Sunday. Barbour responded, “Well, the moratorium… the spill’s a terrible thing, but the moratorium is a terrible thing that’s not only bad for the region, it’s bad for America.”

Amazing huh?  A moratorium is more devastating than the spill…….and the people of Mississippi voted this idiot into office….TWICE!  This shows his lack of concern for the people of the state and how they make a living…there is also the fact that he, like Barton, are only reciting what most Repubs are thinking and believing….and this is a guy who could make a run for the presidency…..if he wins…God save the country!

From Rep. Ryan: Cancel Remaining “Stimulus” Funds

Inkwell Institute

Federal Budget Deficit Reduction:

Paper #2

In continuing with the series on fighting the Federal deficit according to the office of Wisconsin’s Rep. Paul Ryan….next this all seems to be the same song different Congress from the GOP……This installment is entitled:

Cancel Remaining “Stimulus” Funds

The cancellation of the program would save $273 billion over 10 years.  The savings would be directed to the reduction of the Federal budget.

I will agree with Rep. Ryan, which I seldom do, that the stimulus money should be rescinded from its current proposals…I do disagree with Ryan in that it should be used to stimulate demand….instead of the programs it is trying to fund now…

With demand created…jobs will be created….production will increase…..and revenue will be increased……I know how to create demand?  One way could be refunds to people who make less than the official poverty level….they will spend any extra income they have …..this is not perfect but it will create a demand and could kick start a sluggish jobs market and create a bit of a recovery from below……the recovery from above that Ryan and his cohorts helped to create has done NOTHING to improve the lives of the American people…all it has done is save some massive corporations from taking a dirt nap.

I may agree with Ryan, at least somewhat, but the stim money would be spent on infrastructure and if it is canceled then the states will have to make up the cash shortfall and the way these self-indulgent people are acting….the only way to make it up is by slashing all funds for services.  Ryan’s idea sounds pretty good but in the long run may help bankrupt more states than California.

Is It Gender Specific?

Inkwell Institute

Professor’s Classroom

Subject:  Political Theory/Feminism/

Paper #19

It would be difficult to try and teach political theory without injecting gender into the mix…..in today’s world gender and politics is as important as any other issue and if one looks at the most recent primaries then you can understand why I make such a statement……women are coming of age, especially in the GOP which in the past had been a cultural wasteland for women candidates….all that is changing and we need to see what it will mean in the future…..

In the US the Democratic Party has long held that women are very viable candidates, but it has not been so with the GOP in the past…but today’s political climate is giving conservative women an outlet for their political ambitions….especially on the shirt tails of the Tea Party…..this can only increase the democrat process…but in today’s political sphere there are a few philosophies about gender….personally, I like the idea of more gender diversification in politics….

But different philosophies view gender in very different lights……not all view it in a positive way….and some even see it a the hue of the Cro-Magnon man…..

I will begin with Liberals (I know I also begin with Liberals) who have traditionally viewed differences between man and woman as being a personal and private  significance.  In politics, all people, regardless of gender, are equal….gender is irrelevant as is race and social class.

Conservatives have emphasized the social and political significance of gender divisions and argue that the sexual division of labor between men and women is natural and hierarchical.

And now the Socialists…..like liberals have seldom treated gender as politically significant….they view the divisions between men and women as a reflection of deeper problems with economic and class inequalities.

Everybody’s a/hole the Fascists who see gender as a fundamental division of mankind, where men are naturally the leaders, while women are more suited for domestic, supportive and subordinate roles.  (No wonder these guys have little success)

Feminists also see gender as a political and social distinction, but see these divisions are manifestations of male power, otherwise there is NO distinction….

Now my fav, the Religious Right who regard gender as a God-given division and as such is critical to social and political organization.  So with that said, they tend to see the leadership by men as natural and desirable.  (Silly people that they are)

We could carry on with this discussion of gender and politics, but that would take a whole semester and then we would be where we were when I began this  post.  I realize that my definitions are short, sweet and overly simple but unfortunately that is the way people think and I try to be accurate as I can and as informative as I can in the least amount of space……enjoy…..

In The Beginning………

Daily Agitator

In the beginning there was a massive amount of anger leveled at the Wall Street banks that took the US to the brink of collapse……..so much anger that the Congress set about to stop the gambling on the taxpayer’s dime…..regulation and oversight was the call of the day…..it showed promise….it showed that the Congress got the idea and started acting on behalf of the people……that was in the beginning….now it is something way less than the original intent…..

When the Senate bank reform legislation passed in May, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) said it sent the message to Wall Street that they can no longer “recklessly gamble away other people’s money.” The bill told Main Street, “you no longer have to fear that your savings, your retirement or your home are at the mercy of greedy gamblers in big banks. And it says to them, ‘never again will you be asked to bail out those big banks when they lose their risky bets,’ “

The bill the Senate passed did protect the taxpayers from reckless gambling by the big banks, largely due to the last-minute inclusion of strong derivatives reforms authored by Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-Arkansas). So why is it that Senate and House leadership are now busy behind these scenes trying to kill the best provisions in their own banking reform legislation?

Behind the scenes, Senate Banking Chair Chris Dodd (D-Connecticut) and House Financial Services Chair Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts) have made it clear they are not fans of Lincoln’s proposal. Neither is the U.S. Treasury Department. Treasury official Michael Barr has been running around telling anyone who will listen that these derivatives rules were not part of the administration’s four “core objectives” for financial reform.

But opponents of strong derivatives reform have a big problem. They can’t just yank it out of the bill with an outcry from consumer advocates and reform groups like Americans for Financial Reform, who have been working hard on the issue. So they have cooked up a new scheme. They will replace the Lincoln language with the strengthened version of the Volcker Rule offered (but never voted on) by Senators Merkley (D- Oregon) and Levin (D-Michigan). They want to convince everyone that a strengthened Volcker Rule takes care of all the issues raised by Lincoln.

In case you are not sure what the Volcker rule is…let me help….The Volcker Rule deals importantly, but narrowly, with derivatives trading for a bank’s own account. This is called “propriety trading,” and banks would be barred from trading any financial instrument (mortgage-backed securities and stocks, as well as derivatives) for their own as opposed to a customer’s account. Merkley-Levin would make this reform a statutory ban rather than leaving it to the discretion of regulators and would further crack down on Goldman-style conflict of interest trading. But big banks would still be allowed to deal and trade on behalf of their clients and their derivatives business would still be backed by the taxpayer guarantee.

Watch the slight of hand by the Congress…the bill that is the final version will be far from the regulation needed to prevent the economy from collapsing again….with the Congress being paid by the banks to water any reform down….we can look ahead ten years or so and see all this economic woes occurring again…….Politicians need to think about that when they are so concerned about our children’s future…….

Thoughts Without Posts #7

Once again I find myself with far more notes than I have time for posts and as usual I put these down as thoughts Without posts to see if I can get a rise out of my readers….sometimes I even get more….LOL

1–The nudist lobby is headed to Capitol Hill this week to discuss issues important to it with Congress.

The American Association for Nude Recreation sent out a colorful press release Monday morning announcing the visit.

May I suggest that these people stay away from the offices of a couple of people…Sens. Vitter and Ensign…it could prove to be more than these guys could stand and they might do something embarrassing……

2–I hate carrot cake

3–Greece approaching China to assist in their stabilization program….thinking…..China is quickly becoming the Masters of the Universe…at least economically.

4–Little broad is found okay in disabled sailboat…..now the family is whining that they cannot afford the $300,000 they owe for the rescue…..I am sorry but they need to shut up and pay up…..this was a stunt to make money with NO concern for the safety of their child…..they will CASH in on her attempot one way or the other….Pay Up Assholes!

5–#4 makes me think of other dipshits like Mountain climbers that get trapped in winter by snow and need to be rescued….I think all of them should be MADE to pay for their rescues…if one is NOT bright enough to realize that mountain climbing in winter as a sport is dangerous then they should pay or die…pretty simple….

6–XE, formerly known as Blackwater is for sale……for the right price you to could own a private army of mercenaries…..be all you can be!

Muzzle Your Idiots!

That title statement is for the GOP……..for about a month or more they have been winning the PR war with the Obama admin….people were seeing the admin as ineffectual against BP and corrupt (some believe)…..but as usual they, the GOP, has squandered their political capital.

What I am talking about?

BP was on the Hill for hearings into their part in the Gulf oil spill….the CEO was being grilled for hours…though he seldom answered a question…the day was overshadowed by Texas Rep. ‘Smokin” Joe Barton when he said……

“I apologize,” he said to Hayward. “I do not want to live in a country where every time a corporation does something wrong, it’s subject to a political process that amounts to a shakedown.”

Before that statement he had said…..

“I think it’s a tragedy of the first proportion that a private corporation can be subjected to what I would call a shakedown,” the Texan said. “In this case a $20 billion shakedown.” Barton said the administration has no authority to ask for this “$20 billion slush fund” and that litigation provides adequate due process for awarding damages.

As soon as Smokin’ Joe had uttered his now famous words….the GOP leadership scrambled to get in front of the media and distance themselves from the comments of Barton.  Minority leader Boehner call Barton into his office and shortly after that Barton issues a non-apology apology.

Politically speaking, this is devastating to the GOP this Fall…Barton’s words will be used in campaigns by the Dems…..mainly because Barton is the3 senior member of the GOP on the energy committee and if the Repubs re-take the House he will be the chairman of that committee.

The GOP cannot afford this liability and if the story stays in the Media then I look for them to remove him from the committee altogether.

As a political theorist may I suggest the the GOP leadership have a meeting of ALL their members and lay down the law, that if they say something incredibly stupid and that statement can be used in the Dems attacks during an election, they need to be removed from ALL committees.

If the GOP wants to be successful in the Fall then they need to put a strong “muzzle” on the idiots in their midst.

Politics Of An Oil Spill

From the VOMITORIUM

By now hopefully you have heard about the world’s largest oil spill and all the drama that has gone with it trying to put a ‘cork in the hole’….all the political back and forth….all the political theater….all the accusations….and all the lunacies…..but with all that said there is another part of the story that few seem willing to cover, other than a 30 second sound bite and the rumblings from the radio loudmouths that have NO idea what is happening other than their convoluted sense of reality……and what would that be, Professor?…….the politics of an oil spill…..

There has been a wealth of hearing on the Hill about the spill and the response and who is to blame…..Newser.com has reported on yesterday’s House hearing with the CEO of BP….

While other congressmen were heaping abuse on BP CEO Tony Hayward in this morning’s hearings, one Republican abruptly shifted gears in his opening remarks and apologized to the man in the hot seat. Rep. Joe Barton told Hayward he was “ashamed” of the pressure the White House put on BP to create the $20 billion escrow fund to cover losses to victims of the spill. “I think it’s a tragedy of the first proportion that a private corporation can be subjected to what I would call a shakedown,” the Texan said. “In this case a $20 billion shakedown.” Barton said the administration has no authority to ask for this “$20 billion slush fund” and that litigation provides adequate due process for awarding damages. “I apologize,” he said to Hayward. “I do not want to live in a country where every time a corporation does something wrong, it’s subject to a political process that amounts to a shakedown.” Later, Dem Rep. Ed Markey begged to differ, noting that litigation by victims of the Exxon Valdez spill took years to be settled, and criminal charges in the 1984 Bhopal disaster in India more than a quarter century.

Smoking’ Joe Barton of Texas?  Would like very much to see which of the oil companies pays his salary in Washington….of course, the GOP jumped his butt and forced him to apologize to the American people….which he did but he was NOT sincere….

Oh, there is always more when dealing with something as hot and volatile as the oil spill….there is a fight going on in the Senate about the liability of an oil company when they cause an environmental and economic disaster……

From Meredith Shiner of Politico:

Democrats attempted Thursday to create unlimited liability for oil companies, and for the fourth time since the Gulf crisis began, Republicans objected.

But Republicans worry that by setting unlimited liability for companies wishing to drill for oil, smaller domestic companies effectively would be shut out of the market. Inhofe, echoing the sentiments of colleague Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), who has rejected Menendez’s requests in the past, said that by passing this bill, Congress would be favoring the Big Oil entities Democrats have been maligning.

The Repubs want to save the “mom and pop” oil ops……..okay reality check!  How many “Mom and Pop” oil ops are there in the gulf?  Sorry but it takes lots of money to drill in the Gulf and if you are drilling there you are NOT a “Mom and Pop” operation.  It sounds good that they are trying to protect us “small” people from the government, but this one is just f*cking silly.
And then we have my fav…the governor of Mississippi, Haley Barbour…who recently said:

Mississippi’s Governor Haley Barbour  said Wednesday he has concerns over the $20 billion BP is required to put into an escrow to compensate victims of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Mr. Barbour says he has concerns because BP may need the assets in order to fund drilling and oil operations.

“If they take a huge amount of money and put it in an escrow account so they can’t use it to drill oil wells and produce revenue, are they going to be able to pay us?” the governor told The Associated Press.

“We need them to generate revenue to be able to pay us,” said Mr. Barbour, a Republican. “I worry that this escrow account reduces the chance of that rather than increasing the chances of that.”

The part about this is that there is politics being played with the lives of the people of the Gulf Coast…..I am sorry but this is not acceptable….but at least we as voters can see who is on the payroll of the massive oil companies…..so far I would bet the Vitter and Barton are for sure and possibly Barbour, who is a lobbyist by trade……Remember that at election time!