Monthly Archives: July 2010

Army Suicides Hit a Record High

16 Friday Jul 2010

Posted by in Afghanistan, Iraq, war on terror

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As if another reason to get the hell out–and I mean completely out–of Iraq and Afghanistan were needed:

“The U.S. Army on Thursday reported a record number of suicides in a single month among active duty, Guard and Reserve troops, despite an aggressive program of counseling, training and education aimed at suicide prevention.

Suicides for the first half of the year are up 12 percent over 2009. In June, 32 soldiers are believed to have committed suicide, including 21 on active duty.

[…]

Army officials have been grappling in recent years with how to prevent suicides among soldiers dealing with the stress of multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Last year, suicide claimed the lives of 163 soldiers on active duty and 82 Guard and Reserve soldiers not on active duty.

The problem is not isolated to the Army. In 2009, 52 Marines and 48 Sailors took their own lives in 2009, according to a report by the American Forces Press Service. Air Force officials reported 41 active-duty suicides, a 12.5 per 100,000 ratio, in 2009.”

Supporting the troops means bringing them home. Not next year or when “conditions on the ground” are right, or when Vietnamization Afghan forces taking responsibility for their own country is complete. Now.

Ed Schultz Fired Up Over Corporations Sitting on Stacks of Cash

16 Friday Jul 2010

Posted by in Congress, economy, financial reform, Politics, Republicans, Unemployment, Wall Street

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Ed Schultz commenting on this Washington Post report that corporations are sitting on nearly $2 trillion in profits but still not hiring:

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Hammer. Nail. Bam.

Move Along, No Racism Here

15 Thursday Jul 2010

Posted by in Racism, Tea Party

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Nah, nothing racist here:

“You’re dealing with people who are professional race-baiters, who make a very good living off this kind of thing. They make more money off of race than any slave trader ever. It’s time groups like the NAACP went to the trash heap of history where they belong with all the other vile racist groups that emerged in our history,” Williams said.

That’s Mark Williams, whose own web site claims “is a founding Tea Party Patriot and spokesman for the Tea Party Express.”

Certainly nothing racist in this imaginary letter to Abraham Lincoln either. Also from the demented mind of Mark Williams:

“Dear Mr. Lincoln

We Colored People have taken a vote and decided that we don’t cotton to that whole emancipation thing.  Freedom means having to work for real, think for ourselves, and take consequences along with the rewards.  That is just far too much to ask of us Colored People and we demand that it stop!

In fact we held a big meeting and took a vote in Kansas City this week.  We voted to condemn a political revival of that old abolitionist spirit called the ‘tea party movement’.

The tea party position to “end the bailouts” for example is just silly.  Bailouts are just big money welfare and isn’t that what we want all Colored People to strive for?  What kind of racist would want to end big money welfare?  What they need to do is start handing the bail outs directly to us Colored People!  Of course, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is the only responsible party that should be granted the right to disperse the funds.

And the ridiculous idea of “reduce[ing] the size and intrusiveness of government.”  What kind of world would we have is I  ever  to control and be responsible for my life own?  As Colored People we must have somebody care for us otherwise we would be on our own, have to think for ourselves and make decisions and if you do not agree than there is not enough Colored in your People, as we labeled Ken Gladney.

The racist tea parties also demand that the government “stop the out of control spending.”  Again, they directly target Colored People.  That means we Colored People would have to compete for jobs like everybody else and that is just not right.

Perhaps the most racist point of all in the tea parties is their demand that government “stop raising our taxes.”  That is outrageous!    Totally racist!  The tea party expects Colored People to be productive members of society, especially when our mission is to convince them that progress is impossible for them based on the color of their skin?

Mr. Lincoln, you were the greatest racist ever.  We had a great gig.  Three squares, room and board, all our decisions made by someone else.  Please repeal the 13th and 14th Amendments and let us get back to where we say that belong.

Sincerely

Ben Jealous, Tom’s Nephew  National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Head Colored Person”

And nothing racist in this response to a USA TODAY/Gallup poll of Tea Party supporters:

Nearly half say blacks lag in jobs, income and housing “because most African Americans just don’t have the motivation or willpower to pull themselves up out of poverty.”

They’re just people upset about government spending. Who just happened to find their outrage after Election Day, 2008. Pure coincidence.

It’s True Harry, and You Have Only Yourself to Blame

15 Thursday Jul 2010

Posted by in Congress, Democrats, economy, financial reform, Politics, Unemployment, Wall Street

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Welcome to the party, Harry. You’re a little late, but glad you finally got here:

“Republicans hope unemployment rates jump higher to give them a better shot at retaking Congress, Majority Leader Harry Reid said Wednesday.

At a press conference announcing a package of proposals to help small business, the Nevada Democrat said Republicans were obstructing legislation to help the economy for political reasons.

“They think the worse the economy is come November, the better they’re going to do election-wise,” Reid said.

Reid cited an extension of unemployment benefits as an example of legislation that would help the economy but was being blocked by Republicans.”

They don’t care about extending unemployment benefits. That money goes mostly to the vanishing middle-class that Republicans have been trying to kill off since 1980 anyway. This will just accelerate the process in the direction of their goal of a two-class society—the very rich and the poor. The fat cats on Wall Street are hiring and doling out the big bonuses again, and that’s all that matters to the GOP.

BTW, Harry. If you’re looking for someone to blame, find a mirror. If you and the other Dems would have had the balls to change that stupid-ass 60 vote rule in the Senate 18 months ago, none of this would have been possible. We could have had a REAL stimulus package, REAL health care reform, and REAL financial reform.

Democrats didn’t want to change it because they were anticipating some time in the future when they were in the minority and could use the filibuster to their advantage.

That time will be here a lot sooner than they thought.

NAACP Strikes a Nerve

14 Wednesday Jul 2010

Posted by in Conservatives, Obama, Politics, Racism, Republicans, Tea Party

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A wise man once told me, “When you throw a rock at a pack of dogs, the one that gets hit is the one that yells first and loudest.” Yesterday, the NAACP threw (emphasis added):

“Late this afternoon the NAACP passed a resolution calling on all people — including tea party leaders — to condemn racism within the tea party movement.

“We feel it’s very important that we educate our membership about the tea parties,” said Anita Russell, head of the Kansas City branch of the NAACP, as the debate on the resolution began. “We are concerned that there is a racist element within the tea parties.”

Delegates said they wanted to make it clear, however, that the resolution wasn’t indicting the entire tea party movement as racist.”

And immediately, without reading the entire statement, the St. Louis Tea Party yelled:

“Normally, we ignore childish hostility from belligerent people and groups. But the NAACP today intends to condemn 20 million tea party activists as racists.”

The St. Louis TPers also referred to  the NAACP as a “bigoted”  “partisan attack dog organization” Then the people that allegedly wants the government out of everyone’s lives called on the IRS to investigate the NAACP and consider taking away their tax-exempt status.

The TPers often claim that the racist signs on display at their rallies are just a few isolated incidents, and don’t reflect the sentiments of the tea party movement as a whole. Having attended local tea parties I don’t buy that, but for the sake of argument let’s imagine that’s true—it’s just a few random people scattered among the crowd. What about the leadership?

What about Dale Robertson, founder of teaparty.org who carried this sign at the Houston Tea Party last February:


What about Mark Williams, chairman of the Tea Party Express? Williams wrote on his blog last September that President Obama is “an Indonesian Muslim turned welfare thug, and a racist in chief.” Williams in May of this year called Muslims “animals of Allah” who “worship a monkey-god.”

What about Amy Kremer, national coordinator of the American Tea Party movement? Last July Ms. Kremer wrote in support of David McKalip who was forwarding this picture on a tea party mailing list:


“David, we all support you fully and are here for you. I can assure you of one thing and that is we will protect our own. We all have your back my friend!

Let me know what I can do to help. I am here for you if you need me David.”

That’s the leadership of the tea party movement, not just a few random nuts carrying a few random signs. I’d say the NAACP is being lenient, it’s not just a racist element within the tea party movement. This fish is rotting from the head.

Kyl: No Need to Pay For Tax Cuts

13 Tuesday Jul 2010

Posted by in budget, Congress, Conservatives, economy, George W. Bush, Politics, Republicans

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Given their history, why anybody would give one ounce of credibility to any Republican and their faux concern about deficits is beyond me. But for those few amnesiacs who did, John Kyl should have cleared that up yesterday with this:

“Surely Congress has the authority, and it would be right to — if we decide we want to cut taxes to spur the economy, not to have to raise taxes in order to offset those costs. You do need to offset the cost of increased spending, and that’s what Republicans object to. But you should never have to offset cost of a deliberate decision to reduce tax rates on Americans.”

Two other deficit hypocrites, Judd Gregg and Eric Cantor chimed in:

“Sen. Judd Gregg (N.H.), the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, joined House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) in pushing for the extension of a series of taxes set to expire at the end of this year, including a series of cuts for households making more than $250,000 per year.

“If you want to do something to stimulate the economy, you could make clear that tax rates aren’t going to go up at the end of the year,” Gregg said during an appearance on CNBC. “If this administration really wants to stimulate, say they’re going to continue those tax rates — all those tax rates.”

Never mind that when it came to extending unemployment benefits Gregg said, “we are on the path of passing on to our children a nation which they will not be able to afford as a result of the massive debt which is being put on their backs.”

That was over $33 billion. Extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy will cost about $700 billion.

But, but, but, extending the tax cuts will “spur” and “stimulate” the economy, right? If this sounds familiar, here’s why. January, 2004:

“The tax relief the president has given to this economy is working,” Commerce Secretary Don Evans told CNN’s “Late Edition.” “On three separate occasions over the last three years, he’s provided additional tax relief for American workers, American families, businesses across America, and guess what? It’s working. The results are showing that it’s working.”

…Treasury Secretary John Snow predicted that hiring will pick up in 2004.

“All the evidence points in that direction,” Snow told ABC’s “This Week.” “And everything we know about economics indicates that, as you get an economy into high gear, as you get a strong recovery under way, it does translate into jobs.”

The result? “The worst private sector jobs record of any administration in 75 years.”


The Bushies were right about one thing. The tax cuts did work—if you happen to be in the top 1%, that is.

Obama and Axelrod’s Mixed Messages

12 Monday Jul 2010

Posted by in Congress, Democrats, economy, Obama, Obama administration, Politics, Republicans

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To whom it may concern at the White House and the DNC:

If you want to lose the House and possibly the Senate in November, if you want to increase the possibility of the 2 most dreaded words in the English language—President Palin—becoming a reality in 2012, keep the lack of a cohesive message coming. And keep on waiting for the GOP to get on board.

First have President Obama come out on a Thursday with a speech focusing on job creation—saying how we can’t afford to give the keys back to the Republicans because they’re the ones whose policies “gave us the economic crisis” and drove the economy into the ditch. This is called firing up the base for the upcoming mid-term elections. (BTW, mid-term elections are all about turning out the base, and in case you haven’t noticed the Republican base is ready to vote today).

Then have David Axelrod go on This Week on Sunday and say that “there is no great desire on Capitol Hill” for more spending to stimulate the economy and that “we’re hoping we can persuade enough people on the other side of the aisle to put politics aside and join us.”  This makes your base throw up their hands (or just throw up) and say ‘For cryin’ out loud, somebody get a freakin’  clue. The Republicans don’t want anything that resembles economic growth, now or in the next 2 years. When are you guys gonna get it?’

Here are some steps you might want to consider and some advice you might want to listen to. First from Atrios:

“So let’s say Obama’s people have correctly deduced that there’s no chance in hell of getting anything through Congress. They have two basic options. First, they could get on the teevee every day and say, “This is my plan to help. Republicans in Congress won’t pass it.” They could hold rallies in Maine. Allies could run ads. At least people would know who is for and who is against…and just what it was that people are for or against.”

Option two is back off proposals you’ve previously made and have Axelrod get on the teevee and say, “there is some argument for additional spending in the short-run to continue to generate economic activity.”

Paul Krugman adds:

“I have no idea what they’re thinking. It would be one thing if polls suggested a tolerable outcome in November, so that playing it safe could possibly make sense as a political strategy. But that’s not the way it is; and it’s hard to see what possible motivation there is for pulling punches.”

Steve Benen at Washington Monthly:

“My sense is that President Obama really hates — and actively avoids — picking fights he fully expects to lose…The defeat would leave him weaker, exacerbate intra-party tensions, and at the same time signal that the White House lacks confidence in the strength of the economic recovery.

But the current alternative is far worse, especially given the fact that the White House should lack confidence in the strength of the economic recovery. It makes a lot more sense to push an ambitious jobs bill — like, now — invite Republicans to do what they always do, give Democrats something to fight for, and have the debate.

[…]

Yes, Republicans will block any measure intended to improve the economy, and it’s largely too late for a new stimulus effort to boost the economy before November. But it’s still worth having the fight — force the GOP to stand in the way of job creation, and show the public that Democrats are prepared to fight to improve on an unsatisfactory status quo.”

To sum up, you’re quickly approaching (if not already at) ‘nothing to lose’ stage. In sports terminology, this is not the time for basketball’s 4-corner offense or football’s prevent defense. (Long-time Houston fans can tell you how both of those work out, and it ain’t good. See UH–NC State and Oilers vs. Buffalo Bills). For those who don’t follow sports, let’s go with “faint heart never won fair maiden.” And faint heart never kicked the shit out of an obstructionist Republican either. It’s time to go bold and force the other team to re-act to you, not you to them.

Just my $0.02.

Time for a Leader, Not a Politician

07 Wednesday Jul 2010

Posted by in budget, Congress, economy, Obama, Politics

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“The easiest thing in the world for a politician to do is tell you exactly what you want to hear.”—Senator Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign when the other candidates were calling for a gasoline tax holiday in the face of soaring oil prices.

It’s time for President Obama to take some advice from Senator Obama and not from his political advisers in the White House, like David Axelrod and Rahm Emanuel, who are telling him that the public mood is anti-spending and anti-deficit, and that it will be politically advantageous in the upcoming mid-term elections for him and the Democrats to play to the fear of a deficit boogeyman being ginned up by the right-wing noise machine and the president’s political opponents. Opponents who, let’s face it, don’t want to see unemployment go down or the economy improve between now and November. If the Republicans can get the president to focus on the deficit and cutting spending while unemployment hovers around 10%, they’ll be happy as pigs in slop, so to speak.

President Obama doesn’t help to counteract  the fearmongering when he does things like proposing spending freezes and initiating a debt commission stacked with deficit hawks and Social Security privatizers. In my opinion, this is a golden opportunity for a teaching moment.

If I were advising the president I would suggest a series of television appearances like Ross Perot did during his short-lived presidential campaign in 1992, (before he went all black helicopters, that is) complete with charts and graphs to illustrate his points. The American people, for the most part, aren’t stupid. We get a lot more than politicians and their political advisers give us credit for.

The president could start with a history lesson from 1937. About how FDR gave in to the deficit hawks of his day and started cutting spending before the country was out of the Great Depression which led to a “recession within the Depression” and delayed the recovery.

He could explain the stimulative effects of unemployment benefits. How that every dollar which goes out comes back as $1.64. How that almost half of the unemployed have been out of work for 6 months, something that hasn’t happened since the Labor Dept. started keeping that statistic in 1948. How the unemployed aren’t lazy bums looking for a handout—another popular meme of the noise machine—but that there are 6 applicants for every job opening, and that those over 50 who are disproportionately affected are Americans who have worked for the better part of their lives and have been caught up in an economic situation beyond their control. In their time of need they need our compassion, not our condemnation.

He could use the Gulf oil spill as a springboard to re-invigorate American manufacturing jobs in the field of clean energy, which leads to more people paying taxes and reduced deficits. We could be a country that makes things again, and in the process breathe new life into the rapidly disappearing American middle-class. As Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) said recently:

“We know what happens when the economy depends only on financial services and the creation of wealth through bookkeeping. Manufacturing jobs are good paying jobs that support families and communities, create spin-off jobs, and leads to innovation…We’ve spent the last 30 years pandering to those who have taken manufacturing off shore and in turn we lost the heart and soul of our country. We need to see ‘Made in the USA’ again.”

With signs of a slowing economy and the prospects of a double-dip recession looming, this is not the time for a politician with his finger in the wind gauging public opinion or re-acting to the misinformation and disinformation being put out by his opponents. This calls for someone to lead, educate to populace, and shape public opinion, not react to it.

Quote of the Day: Andrew Sullivan on British Torture Inquiry

06 Tuesday Jul 2010

Posted by in Obama, Politics, torture

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Andrew Sullivan at The Daily Dish after British Prime Minister David Cameron announced “an inquiry into the alleged collusion of British intelligence officials in the torture of detainees.”

“After July 4, only one country in the Anglo-American alliance is still dedicated to the rule of law and the prosecution of war crimes: the old country. And it has taken a Tory prime minister to do what Barack Obama has not the slightest spine (yet) to tackle here.”

BP’s Financial Impact Plan Went Into Effect Immediately

06 Tuesday Jul 2010

Posted by in BP, Deepwater Horizon, Energy, Environment, Gulf Oil Spill

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In the days following the Deepwater Horizon explosion, BP, aided and abetted by the Coast Guard, initially said there was no oil leaking. Later that was expanded to 1,000 barrels a day and then to 5.000 barrels a day. At the same time, BP execs like Tony Hayward and Dave Rainey were saying the effects of the spill would be “modest” and “minor,” and Hayward added that BP was “focused on doing everything in our power to stop the flow of oil, remove it from the surface and protect the shoreline.”

It turns out the only thing BP was doing “everything in their power” to stop the flow of in that early period was litigation. And what they sought to protect was not the shoreline, but the company from legal liability caused by that non-existent spill and the “minimal” damage it might have:

“In the immediate aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, BP publicly touted its expert oil clean-up response, but it quietly girded for a legal fight that could soon embroil hundreds of attorneys, span five states and last more than a decade.

BP swiftly signed up experts who otherwise would work for plaintiffs. It shopped for top-notch legal teams. It presented volunteers, fishermen and potential workers with waivers, hoping they would sign away some of their right to sue.

[…]

Robert J. McKee, an attorney with the Fort Lauderdale firm of Krupnick Campbell Malone, was surprised by how quickly BP hired scientists and laboratories specializing in the collection and analysis of air, sea, marsh and beach samples — evidence that’s crucial to proving damages in pollution cases.

Five days after the April 20 blowout, McKee said, he tried to hire a scientist who’s assisted him in an ongoing 16-year environmental lawsuit in Ecuador involving Dupont.

“It was too late. He’d already been hired by the other side,” McKee said.

Apparently, BP did have a working financial impact plan ready to be implemented on a moment’s notice, if not an environmental one. Priorities.