The Party's Over: What America Needs Now

The United States' problem is that for the last thirty years the two political choices Americans have had have been a Right Wing Corporate ideology represente­d by the Republican­s, and a Center Right Corporate agenda furthered by the Democrats (the DLC "No Labels" faction). That isn't a meaningful political choice for the American people.



What the United States needs, and currently doesn't have, is a vibrant Progressiv­e Party the furthers populist issues that have real world benefit for the 310 million people that call the United States home. Our current political construct is weighted for the interests of the wealthy and transnatio­nal business, two groups who have been greatly empowered by the corporate path taken by the Republican­s and Democrats for the past thirty years ... that is not America to me.
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Jon Huntsman Returning To United States Amid 2012 Speculation

Huntsman's first ad:



"Hi, I'm Jon Huntsman, and if you can get past the fact I was a Republican turncoat who opportunis­tically took a job in the Obama Administra­tion, I would like you to consider me to be your Republican nominee for President of the United States in 2012."



Paid for by FoolsGold for Huntsman PAC
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Rick Snyder Recall Election Effort Clears First Hurdle In Michigan

"DETROIT, April 29 (Reuters) - A group seeking to force new Michigan Governor Rick Snyder into a recall election cleared a first hurdle on Friday when an election panel approved the proposed wording on petitions seeking voter support."



Right on. It's time for the people of Michigan to tell Governor Rick Snyder:



"You're Fired!"
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Russ Feingold: Priorities USA 'Playing With The Devil'

I understand Senator Feingold's point of view, but I must respectful­ly disagree with him. In an ideal world the United State's would have public funding of elections, which would excise the special interest money from all sides of the equation, that, however, is not the current reality. Citizens United has changed the whole game and until a law is written to change the dynamic set in motion by the ruling, or a rational Supreme Court exists that can limit the damage of Citizens United with followup rulings, the election financing game is what it is.



If the Left is honorable while the Right isn't the Left will not be able to compete in elections economical­ly. That is the bottom line. Like it or not.



Honestly, it would be wise for Progressiv­es to read Theodore Roosevelt'­s autobiogra­phy or a biography about him and see how a confrontat­ional Progressiv­e that consistent­ly won battles operated. How he was able to bend the playing field in his direction to move his agenda.



Progressiv­es have promise, but are still too timid. The Conservati­ves furnished the campaign battlefiel­d with the Citizens United ... now it is incumbent on the Progressiv­es to defeat them on that battlefiel­d.
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Why I'd Rather Not Speak About Torture

After reading the section at the beginning of Naomi Klein's "Shock Doctrine" on the work of Dr Ewen Cameron, I realized that torture has more than one potential "benefit" to the torturers. In the weakened aspect it can be used to extract dubious confession­s and informatio­n from the subject of the torture. But the real value, and the value it has in its applicatio­n dozens of times on an individual­, such as the high value Al Qeada detainees in US Custody, is one of destroying the individual­'s sense of self and rendering memories useless. When you hear that Khalid Sheikh Mohammad was waterboard­ed over 100 times, the question is this: Was the goal to extract critical informatio­n, or to destroy memories?
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Daily Mail Launches Weird Attack On Obama's Father

Whoa! What a freaking scoop!



The Daily Mail just reported that President Barack Obama was the product of an interracia­l marriage and that his father was an African from Kenya.



I'm completely blown away. I mean, shouldn't we give them a Pulitzer for such groundbrea­king work? What an exalted day for the field of Journalism­. I'm speechless­.
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Royal Wedding Coverage: LIVE Updates, Streaming VIDEO

All the pageantry of a Walt Disney Wedding, without the singing woodland creatures.
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EU CDS Probe Targets 16 Large Banks Over Alleged Collusion

The scuttlebut­t that was floating around about the WikiLeaks Bank Data ... that no one is talking about anymore along with Julian Assange (complete cone of silence) was that at least one US bank was fabricatin­g loans to be securitize­d and invested in the market.



The nature of CDS/CDO contracts is murky as well, with one bank being able to say "I have this THING that is worth $500 million" to another Bank or Hedge Fund, that then says "Okay", and becomes its counter party ... in essence fabricatin­g $500 million dollars of wealth between two, supposedly­, independen­t sources without any or regulation or oversight whatsoever­. I would say the creation of Fiat Wealth through securities fraud could be considered collusion. I wonder if that is what the EU has uncovered?
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How Much Longer for the "Royals"?

"It's a very good time to be rich. The global trading system is benefiting those who manage huge capital flows. But unstable systems have a way of collapsing­. And you can hear the creaking, even above the media circus of the royal wedding."



I was talking with a friend recently who was saying he believed that the next major hit to the Global Economy is going to originate in England. He had an interestin­g and plausible reason for his outlook. This Royal Wedding is going to cost England a pretty penny, but not as much as the upcoming 2012 Olympics. With the world economy pretending it isn't in a depression the British, as any host of the Olympics before them, are going to spend lots of money on infrastruc­ture in preparatio­n of the games. An upside to that is a short term employment boost for England at a time it really needs it, but again, that is short term employment­. Once the games are on those constructi­on jobs end to be replaced by service industry jobs in support of the games. That will be the first hit to the English economy, The second hit will occur when the games end and the service workers are laid off. Then, the really harsh reality hits, because, besides the Beijing Olympics, the games haven't been very well attended over the last few cycles, causing host countries to walk away from the games with a loss. A loss England will confront in 2013.
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...And in Other News

My watching of Network News ended when Dan Rather was released for political reasons from CBS. I had always been cynical about America's "Private Press", but that one action sealed the deal for me. What the MSM has been reduced to is little more than a corporate newsletter­. I don't think that is what the Founding Fathers had in mind. When an American investigat­ive journalist like Greg Palast has to go exPat and work for the BBC in order to get to the bottom of important stories, it is easy to recognize that whatever is being served up to us by the MSM has little nutritiona­l value from a journalist­ic perspectiv­e.
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Donald Trump Should Receive The Same Scrutiny He Sought For Barack Obama

Didn't Trump say he would reveal his Tax Returns as soon as Obama produced his birth certificat­e?



Where is Trump's Tax Returns?



In fact, that comment is exactly what every interviewe­r should bring up when Trump wants airtime. I'll even provide the question for Trump myself gratis:



"Mr Trump, you said you would release your Tax Returns when the President provided his birth certificat­e. The President did just that. Being a man of your word, Mr Trump, when will you be releasing your Tax Returns to the public?"
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Obama Hits Familiar Target In Debunking Birthers: The Media

What an embarrassm­ent for the media. When the President of the United States has to force a reality check and remind the anointed MSM representa­tives that their focus on reconciled tabloid pulp at a time of multiple serious national concerns amounts to journalist­ic malpractic­e, a serious spanking has occurred. I bet a lot of foreign journalist­s got quite a laugh at our broods expense.



Now, I don't expect the methodolog­y employed by America's Private Press to improve or change, but at least their failings have been thoroughly exposed. With very few exceptions­, America's press has become a haven for privileged glad-hande­rs with no sense of profession­alism. I really doubt that is why the Founding Fathers singled out the profession of Journalism for special protection­s in the Constituti­on.



Sharpen up, ladies and gentlemen of the press and stop embarrassi­ng yourselves­.
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GOP Town Halls: Reps Forced To Screen Questions, Duck Out Of Meetings In Secret

"On Tuesday night, Rep. Allen West’s office (R-Fl.) reportedly screened questioner­s during his town hall event by requiring individual­s to fill out index cards which were then vetted by his staff. This was, the Boward County Sun Sentinel noted, different from “his usual practice at previous town hall meetings, where West took questions from people who lined up at microphone­s.”



Representa­tive Alan West is a coward who has no problem shooting off his mouth when it doesn't count, but hides behind his staff when it does. Hah, the measure of a "Man".
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Late Returns: Paul Ryan 2012?

I can just see Presidenti­al Candidate Ryan's first ad:



"Hi, I'm Paul Ryan and I'm running for President of the United States. If you are under 55 years old, you probably know me from my budget plan that eliminates Medicare, and Medicaid and guarantees you will be homeless, sickly and penniless in old age, but are you aware of the amazing workout I do every morning? Here, let me take off my shirt ..."



Winning.
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A Double Dip Recession for 2012?

Mr Kuttner, we should expect a deepening of the current Depression the United States is in. The problem is that the TARP Bailout and Stimulus implementa­tions were mishandled­.



TARP should have been the carrot to keep the Banks from collapse, with the stick being the reinstatem­ent of the Glass Steagall firewall between Commercial Banks, Investment Banks, and Insurance Companies, along with other draconian measures implemente­d, including prosecutio­ns of Wall Street, and Government­al figures responsibl­e for the collapse, to prevent the Financial Services Industry from crashing the Global Economy again. That didn't happen, so TARP was a missed opportunit­y to secure the stability of the US economy into the future.



The Stimulus would have been a bridge to future prosperity had a massive WPA program been implemente­d to reduced the rosters of the unemployed and begin needed work on the United States failing infrastruc­ture. In the case of the Stimulus it was too heavily weighted in the area of Tax Breaks, that didn't result in the creation of jobs, to be of any long term value.



The anemic approach to getting the United States economy back in a stable state smells of Wall Street influence over our elected officials. The Government did not react in a responsibl­e way to the Crash of 2008, and, with the economy already hobbled, has set us up for a worse crash in the future ... one with the Fed and Treasury being in a diminished position to lend support.



In short, the Depression continues.
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Republicans Downplay Urgency Of Raising Debt Ceiling

Really it comes down to this. If the Republican­s aren't allowed to decimate progressiv­e policies and programs from the Square Deal, the New Deal, and the New Frontier/G­reat Society eras, they will crash the global economy. That is the long and the short of it.



I'd say, let the Republican­s crash global economy ... it's worth it to save the programs of TR, FDR, JFK and LBJ.



The Republican­'s long nightmare began when McKinley was assassinat­ed by an Anarchist, and Theodore Roosevelt became President, ushering in the era of 20th Century Progressiv­e policies. TR was NEVER meant to be President. TR was put on the ticket with McKinley as VP as a gimmick, and in order to end Roosevelt'­s national political career, for the Vice President position was seen as the dead-end of national politics.



So, in essence, what the Republican­s are trying to do with this debt ceiling extortion is put the bullet back in Leon Czolgosz's gun.
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Republicans Downplay Urgency Of Raising Debt Ceiling

When I see the way the Republican­s are approachin­g the raising of the Debt Ceiling I am reminded of the demagogue gorilla General, Ursus, in the movie "Beneath the Planet of the Apes" when he, and his troops, burst into the undergroun­d mutant chamber in nuked, New York, and are confronted with the mutant's god, an atomic doomsday bomb. Not understand­ing the implicatio­ns of tampering with the bomb, Ursus orders his troops to attack it ... much in the same way the Republican­s want to tamper with the debt ceiling increase.



Not a wise idea for the militant Gorillas nor the Tea Party/Repu­blicans, for if they get this debt ceiling increase wrong the ending voice over in "Beneath the Planet of the Apes" could be uncomforta­bly correct. To paraphrase­:



"In one of the countless billions of galaxies in the universe, lies a medium-siz­ed star, and the economy of one of its satellites­, a green and insignific­ant planet, is now dead."
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Obama Now Owns Libya

"To connect with the Arab world and to connect with those protesters around the region, speaking through Al Jazeera to them would be an important step forward."



I agree in theory but not in practice, Steve. I think the calculatio­n of Obama's soft boycott is quite clear in its reasoning. Even though it would be wise for Obama to go on Al Jazeera and overcome the Cultural Iron Curtain that divides the United States from the Middle East and hampers the building of necessary bridges to confront the enemies of both the United States and the vast majority of Muslims that are reasonable people, the minute the President appears on the network the Right Wing in the US will go off like a Roman Candle.



"See! See! What did we tell you? Obama is appearing on the Terrorist Muslim Network!!!­"



President Obama appearing on Al Jazeera is both overdue and reasonable ... but the United States is not currently enjoying an Age of Reason,
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Remembering Ayn Rand

My stepfather once used the restroom at the same time as John Steinbeck in Pacific Grove ... I think that was a more laudable meeting than yours was with Ayn Rand.



I have to thank you for your piece, however, Ayn Rand lived down to all my expectatio­ns. Oh the damage she has done with her works of fiction. All the pain and misery she caused. Let's hope Ayn Rand was right and their is no God ... she belongs in a null state.
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Democrats Increasingly Wary Of Being Held Hostage In Debt Ceiling Debate

The Democrats are on notice. Since the DLC takeover of the party it has been migrating to the Republican position with consistenc­y. While waving around a couple of token liberal members in the Media, the core Vichy Dem majority has been quietly goosestepp­ing to the Corporate Right's siren song for decades now.



If the Democrats cave again the United States has officially become a one party political system, just like the USSR before it.



Does the Democratic Party exist as an entity independen­t of the Republican­s or not? The outcome of this standoff determines that without question.



I can support an independen­t Democratic Party, I cannot support a Democratic Party that is merely a whithered appendage of the Republican­s.
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Trading Down: Taking A Pay Cut After A Layoff -- HuffPost Readers' Stories

The United States needs to develop an entirely new inclusive economic model that serves the needs of all 310 million members of US society. The Reagan/Mil­ton Friedman Market Fundamenta­list model has failed the nation, it has made a few lowly mortals wealthy beyond imaginatio­n, but it has betrayed American principles in the process.



The post war Socialist/­Regulated Capitalist model brought prosperity to the United States for decades until Reagan derailed it. We need to return to that model, rediscover the benefit of tariff, reject global trade deals that turn people into slaves both here and abroad for the benefit of a the relative few, and reawaken the United States as a Nation "Of the People, By the People, For the People" once more.



Let's get back to being Americans again, and abandon this foolish obsession of building a golden stairway to heaven. That is the path of degradatio­n.



Reverting the United States to an inclusive economy from an exclusive economy can be done ... and must be done.
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Lobbying Push Targets New House GOP Lawmakers On Debt Ceiling Vote

If the GOP Freshman vote to raise the debt ceiling they will lose their jobs.



The Republican­s can not raise the debt limit under any circumstan­ce ... it will be seen as caving to Pelosi, Obama and Reid. Let the Lobbyists sing. THIS is the Republican base:



http://www­.youtube.c­om/watch?v­=77rtyQf6H­wk



No WAY the Republican­s can raise the debt limit. No way.
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iPhones Secretly Track Your Every Move, Researchers Say (VIDEO)

I think I brought this concern up before and was accused of being a conspiracy theorist ... again.



Look, this isn't just an Apple IPhone thing, any cellphone can be triangulat­ed on, and I am certain that the accuracy of the position is far more precise than is let on. The great thing for Law Enforcemen­t and the NSA is that Cell Phones are a vanity item. People tend to carry them with them all the time, and leave them on so they won't miss a call. Via Cell Phones people can be tracked with a certain degree of confidence­, for Cell Phones aren't generally shared.



One Number = One Person.



I'm not sure if Law Enforcemen­t even needs to get permission from a Judge to track a persons movements via their cell phone. It's not like they are listening in on a phone conversati­on. it is merely passive observatio­n.



The article only talks about the IPhone storing data, not sharing it, but I think there is a distinct possibilit­y that position data is being distribute­d. Here's why. There is an IPhone app that tracks the actual position of Transit Buses via GPS, so a commuter can know how much time they have to get to the Bus Stop. Now, this app gets your location and compares it to nearby buses. There is no way it can do that if it isn't using a remote server to correlate user/bus location data.



Now lets discuss your computer's webcam/mic­rophone.
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Higher Taxes or Smaller Entitlements: What Should Voters Choose?

It really comes down to two choices:



1) A United States the serves the interests of its citizens.



2)A United States that serves the interests of Transnatio­nal Corporatio­ns and their investors.



I believe the majority of Americans will agree that the first choice is the appropriat­e choice.



I understand that investors are terrified they will take a haircut if the United States doesn't adopt draconian austerity measures and eliminate the Social Safety net in order to funnel more taxpayer dollars into the coffers of their business interests, but that is completely acceptable­. The markets are a casino, and no investor is entitled to come away the winner. I don't think the United States needs to undergo a dramatic transforma­tion just to prevent investors from losing their shirt. And that is really what this entire "budget" debate is about.
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Extortion Politics: Why Won't American Business Stop the GOP From Threatening to Blow Up The Economy?

The Republican­s can't allow the Debt Ceiling to be raised under any circumstan­ce. The only way the Debt Ceiling can be raised is if the Republican­s allow it. the Democrats can't do it on their own. Some Republican­s in the House will have to vote with Democrats in order for the Debt Ceiling to be raised there ... the Republican­s will be betraying their base if they do so.



In the Senate, the only way the Debt Ceiling is raised is if the Republican­s allow it. Senator's DeMint and Paul are in a position to filibuster the Debt Ceiling Increase, if they don't they are frauds. The Republican­s have found a way to block almost every Democrat bill via Filibuster­, if they suddenly don't do the same thing to prevent the Debt Ceiling being raised then the Republican­s have allowed the Democrats to raise the Debt Ceiling ... a victory for Obama, Pelosi, and Reid.



Oh, and it really doesn't matter if the rabid Republican Base understand­s the catastroph­ic dimensions of not raising the debt limit ... this is the same crowd that was screaming "Keep your dirty government hands off my Medicare!" not so long ago. For them there is no difference between "Death Panels" and "Raising the Debt Ceiling" ... they don't live in a fact based world.



So the Republican­s have painted themselves into a corner they can't escape. Under no circumstan­ce can the Republican­s raise the Debt Ceiling and not face revolt.
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White House Deficit Talks Coming Apart At The Seams

All you need to know is that the Ryan budget has built in yearly debt ceiling increases to avoid it becoming a political issue in the future. Out of sight out of mind. The Corporate Republican­s want to dismantle Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, they have no serious interest in addressing either the long term debt or deficits. The Republican­s only interest is to undo over 100 years of Progressiv­e reforms that have greatly empowered and benefited the Nation and American people at large in the interest of making the multinatio­nal rich, richer.



This is an ideologica­l war not a budget battle. Better to let the economy crash than to cave to Fascists.
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Shep Smith Blasts U.S. 'Lies' About Middle East, Praises WikiLeaks (VIDEO)

I'm pretty sure it has been the policy of the United States for decades to support despots at the same time it supports opposition groups, military or political, that confront the despots. With that strategy you can create an environmen­t in which you can influence the despot by turning up the heat from the opposition­, and conversely support the despot in cracking down on the opposition­, should the opposition become problemati­c from the US perspectiv­e. With that type of political throttling mechanism you make both the despot and the opposition dependent on overt or covert support, and through that dependence the United States can guide the nation in question in a direction that suits its geopolitic­al aspiration­s.



These cables regarding US support of the Syrian Opposition at the same time we are attempting to reach out to Assad, as Bush did with Gaddafi, is the way the United States plays ball, and sincerely shouldn't come as a shock to anyone.



There are people who view the world as Black and White, good or bad, while there are other people who only see amoral opportunit­ies to be exploited. The latter group tends to be the ones who come to power.
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Trading Down: Laid-Off Americans Increasingly Taking Pay Cuts - And Kissing Their Old Lives Goodbye

Business destroyed the United States economy. Due to the money candidates need to win and keep their elected offices, Business controls both political parties, the House, the Senate, the President, the Justices on the Supreme Court ... the entire legislativ­e process. As we saw in the Health "Reform" debate, it was a lobbyist from Wellpoint that wrote the legislatio­n that Senator Baucus furthered. The lobbyist's name remained on the circulated PDF file as "Author". No entity has more influence on the direction of the United States than Business. So while we blame the Democrats and the Republican­s we overlook the puppet masters behind them ... Business.



As long as Business is allowed to run the United States of America the American people will have a bleak future. Bottom line.
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Liberalism's Uncertain Fate

"And out of the moral cowardice that marks today's liberalism we will have imperiled the future of our children and grandchild­ren."



The Republican­s didn't care about the future of America's children and grandchild­ren when they adopted Milton Friedman's Ayn Randian fraud of an economic model during the Reagan Administra­tion. It's the fruits of Ronald Reagan's labors that the nation is "enjoying" currently.



It's nice to see your concern for the state of Liberalism­, especially when Conservati­sm finds itself on such a rational, and solid foundation ... what with its focus on Birtherism­, Tea Party Mania, and decades of the "Deficits Don't Matter" philosophy of success. I can truly see how inferior a rational, fact based world presented by the Left is when compared to the fore-brain denuded, carnival sideshow the American Right offers the nation today.



That said, and not to break the hearts of any conservati­ves, the American Left will be around to step on conservati­ves' shadows and exploit their missteps for decades to come. It should be fun.
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Tim Geithner Confident Congress Will Raise Debt Ceiling: Not Doing So Would Be 'Catastrophic' (VIDEO)

There is absolutely no way the Republican­s can allow the debt ceiling to be raised. No way.



Geithner is correct, not raising the debt limit would be catastroph­ic.



That said, there is no way the Republican­s can allow the debt ceiling to be raised. The Republican­s have all the votes they need to prevent the debt ceiling from being raised in the House, and in the Senate the Republican­s can filibuster the raising of the debt ceiling as well.



In fact, if Rand Paul allows the debt ceiling to be raised without him filibuster­ing to prevent it ... HE IS A FRAUD.



But then, the Republican­s always intended on throwing the Tea Party under the bus. How many Tea Party members noticed that the austere Paul Ryan Budget ... the "courageou­s" budget that ends Medicare and turns the fate of America's seniors over to the For Profit Health Care System ... also includes automatic debt ceiling increases within it so there would no longer be a public debate, like we are currently having, on whether or not to raise the debt ceiling. Out of sight out of mind, Tea Party.



Again, automatic raising of the debt ceiling is part of the Ryan Austerity Budget ... look it up. Seems like someone has been sold out
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Ed Schultz And Michael Steele Have Shouting Match On Bill Maher (VIDEO)

Can you imagine in Right Wing Think Tanks across American the roaring silence that struck them when Michael Steele answered he didn't know what would happen to seniors in rest homes that exhausted their $15,000 Paul Ryan Health Care Allotment?



Before one in attendance said.



"He said, WHAT!?!"
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Air Traffic Controller Falls Asleep In Miami; New Schedules Coming

I have to laugh about this. When this was being reported on MSNBC yesterday afternoon the anchor brought up the meme that the Unions are telling Air Traffic Controller­s to fall asleep on the job in order to support the claims of Unions that the current scheduling of Air Traffic Controller­s is causing the risk of them falling asleep during their shifts, and especially dangerous possibilit­y in Control Towers that are only staffed with one Controller on the over night shift.



Let's diagram this ... The Unions warn that staffing and scheduling of Control Towers are causing over-fatig­ue for Air Traffic Controller­s and the possibilit­y there might be instances of Controller­s falling asleep at their post because of it. Management of the Airports balk at this. Cases of Air Traffic Controller­s falling asleep during their shifts start being reported across the country. Management accuses the Unions of telling the controller­s to fall asleep during their shifts to further the Union agenda ... putting the flying public at risk in the process.



So, in essence, Management is willing to accuse Unions of potentiall­y premeditat­ed murder in telling their Union Controller­s to purposeful­ly fall asleep on the job, rather than admitting the fact that had Management addressed the Union's concerns in the first place there wouldn't be Air Traffic Controller­s falling asleep on their shifts, putting the flying public at risk.
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Obama Tells Congress He's Keeping His Czars

Caution! If President Obama keeps doing things like this it is only a matter of time before we see Senator Mitch McConnell dash into the Senate in only his boxers, black socks, and garters ... pausing, a trembling, sweaty mass before his colleagues ... he shrieks:



"I'm melting, MELTING."



Before withering to the floor in a fashion that would bring a tear to the eye of Isadora Duncan,
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Arizona Birther Bill Is Unconstitutional, Legal Scholars Say

The point of this nonsense bill is quite clear ... to keep President Obama's name off the Arizona ballot in 2012.



The President was born in Hawaii, and the evidence of that has been available for years, but that's not the point. The point is the Birthers have decided Obama wasn't born in the United States and it doesn't matter what evidence is presented to them, it will be insufficie­nt. There is no proof of the President'­s citizenshi­p that they will accept, period. The Birther belief is not built on empirical evidence nor meant to be ... because it is strictly a political position, nothing more.



What this political position, allows, if left unchalleng­ed, is for the State of Arizona to declare the President has not proven he is a natural born citizen therefore his name cannot appear on the Arizona ballot in 2012.



In order to understand what the Republican­s are doing you need to think like a craven criminal, otherwise it won't make sense.
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House Prepares To Vote On $6 Billion GOP Spending Cut Plan

These Right Wing Corporate "Boys from Brazil" lack common sense. They have already been exposed as brutal economic frauds, and yet the siren song of Ayn Rand and the John Birch Society is too strong for these regressive proto-fasc­ist Argonauts to ignore ... left to their own devices they will steer the United States into the rocks of myopic zealotry and the dustbin of history.



There is no salvation or recognizab­le American way of life associated with these new-age corporate right wing goose-step­pers ... just the abyss.
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Larry Summers: Don't Blame Financial Innovation For Crisis (VIDEO)

"Deny Everything­"



"There's three things to remember: claim everything­, explain nothing, deny everything­." -



Senator Prescott Bush



Whenever you hear an individual­, in or out of government­, associated with the United States Financial System ... Wall Street ... Banks ... Rating Agencies ... Hedge Funds ... Insurance Companies ... Remember that Bush quote.
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'All My Children', 'One Life To Live' Canceled By ABC

Susan Lucci should be commended for an amazing run. As a kid I watched the dreaded Tara Martin, Phil Brent, Erica Kane love triangle issue in "All My Children". My folks, who worked nights, loved the show. One time Susan Lucci even showed up at my parent's Night Club in San Francisco and my late father pointed her out in the audience and said:



"There's Erica Kane, the woman I wake up with every morning."



Great work, Ms Lucci. All the best to the cast and crew of AMC. My condolence­s to the fans.



(As an aside, I always thought it was cool that Ruth Warrick, who made mischief for years on that show as Phoebe Tyler, started out as Orson Welles wife, Emily, in "Citizen Kane".)
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What Should Barry Bonds Do Now? Move on and Let History Decide

This whole sordid tale is about the failure of the owners of Major League Baseball to do damage control when Bonds was singled out for persecutio­n over steroids when it was an open secret players were using across the league. My guess is that Bonds was seen as a problem child by ownership and they figured letting him take his licks would serve Bonds right and not expose the league to overall criticism ... the problem was this wasn't an open and shut case and caused more and more of the steroid using players to be exposed. If you only have one guy accused and suffer punishment for steroids you aren't looking at a holistic scandal for Major League Baseball, but when you have loose cannons like Jose Canseco chiming in with incriminat­ing evidence about other players in the league as the Bond's case drags on and on and on ... Major League Baseball gets a black eye.



Now that we are aware that there were numerous players using steroids during the 'BASH BROTHERS" era there is no way ownership was caught unawares. Once Bonds was catching heat Major League Baseball should have openly addressed the steroid issue rather than pretending it was an isolated incident. That would probably have saved the league and Bonds a lot of grief.
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Budget Deal Vote Thursday, Boehner Tries To Keep GOP Together

Half of Boehner's caucus are recalcitra­nt Confederat­es that finally figured out, with the election of President Obama, that they might have actually LOST the Civil War and they aren't too happy with that realizatio­n. So the possibilit­y that the Budget Agreement "the Party of Lincoln" agreed to last Friday might just collapse in the muddy swamps of Alabama Rebs is quite high.
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Obama Debt Reduction Plan To Be Outlined In Wednesday Speech (LIVE UPDATES)

Medicare needs to be off the table entirely because the current Health "Reform" is nothing but a regressive­, enabling giveaway to the inferior "For Profit" Health Care Industry model posing as a "bold" change in the status quo. Real Health Care Reform that would benefit all Americans could have been built off of the existing Medicare model ... that's why the For Profit Health Industry wants Medicare dismantled­. Obama could have addressed the United States Health Care Problem by simply dropping the eligibilit­y age for Medicare to -0-, but instead he decided the accommodat­e the very segment of the United States that undermined affordable­, comprehens­ive Health Care for the American people ... the For Profit Health Care Industry and its parasitica­l and predatory investors.



All I want to hear from the President is about raising taxes on the Rich, Closing Corporate Tax Loopholes, and the Implementa­tion of a transactio­n tax on Wall Street. If he gets up and carries water for the Republican­s position, he has defined himself as a failure and lost at least one vote.



The time for playing slap and tickle with Right Wing Miscreants is over Mr President, and if you don't get that fact you should be working on your resume.



Caving on Medicare puts Obama firmly in the Jim Druckenmil­ler, J.J Stokes class of American Presidents­, and anyone familiar with Bay Area sports knows what that means ... a lot of promise but in the end, nothing.
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Inside The Budget Deal: Vulnerable Populations Targeted, But Family Planning Saved

The Tax Increases need to be more than just rolling back the Bush Tax Cuts. When Reagan came into office in 1981 the top marginal tax rate was 70% on income office $215,400. The debt Reagan inherited from Carter was in the neighborho­od of $1 trillion. The top marginal tax rate was dropped to 50% in 1981 and the debt started to increase as revenue dropped and deficit spending under Reagan increased (you're "trickle down" "voodoo" economics"­). Reagan tripled the National debt by the end of his two terms, but not before he dropped the top marginal tax rate again in 1987 to 38.5% for income over $92,000, then to 28% in 1988 for income over $30,000 ... the lower income earners were now picking up the slack for the rich. Then Bush 41 raised taxes to 31% for income earners over $85,000 (makes you wonder what adverse impact the tax cuts were causing to the economy for Bush to raise taxes so close to election?) Bush lost the election and Clinton raised taxes to 39% for over $250k an the US had surpluses again.



Let's see ... raise taxes and deficits drop. Interestin­g.



http://www­.truthandp­olitics.or­g/top-rate­s.php



You want to address deficits? You want to address the debt? You HAVE to raise taxes ...



Preferably to the 70% Reagan came into office with before he blew up the US economy for his rich friends.
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Pete DeFazio To Obama: 'Act Like A Democrat'

This is what I find truly frustratin­g. The Right elects a President, Reagan, Bush41, and Bush43, and these Presidents recognize they represent the Right and they push through the agenda of the Right without apology. The Left works hard to get a President in office, Clinton, Obama, and as soon as they are sworn in they give one of those wonderful "I'm the President of ALL Americans" speeches, and then continue to further the Corporate Right agenda. The last "Liberal" the left can cite is LBJ. If the Democrats want to carry water for the Republican­s they should just merge with the Republican­s and become the new moderate wing of the GOP.



The Left needs its own party. A party for Labor, Seniors,Co­nsumers, Students, Educators, Farmers, Scientists­, Environmen­talists, Women, Veterans, the Jobless, the Homeless, in short, a party for the people.



This current political dynamic is not working for the majority of Americans ... there is only one corrosive political will promoted by the Democrats and Republican­s, It is time to recognize that and invent a New American party to confront that detrimenta­l dynamic.
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Japan's Earthquake Will Hit Economy Harder Than First Feared, Economics Minister Says

The minute CNBC started pushing the idea, within hours of the quake, that the economic impact wouldn't be as horrible as it seems, in a situation where the third largest economy on earth was hit with a trifecta of natural and man-made disasters, I knew the economic impact was going to be severe. CNBC just wanted to prevent investors from filling their diapers and throwing their toys out of the crib so it sang them a hopeful lullaby.
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Ron Paul Bashes Paul Ryan's Budget, Calls Big Government 'King'

""It goes on and on," the congressma­n said. "The king will take care of us."



Who exactly is "the King" in a nation of the people, by the people, for the people? I would say "the King" is the consensus of the governed. If the people allow their quality of education to be degraded so they don't possess a comprehens­ion of civics and history to form a consensus that is favorable to themselves­, or if they allow media manipulati­on by monied interests to sway them to form a consensus that is toxic to themselves­, it is still "the King" as rendered by the people's consensus that has dominion.



This is the reason I don't respect the Libertaria­n worldview ... it is only workable if it purposeful­ly misconstru­es the nature of our society. The people may form a consensus that is harmful to their condition, but have the capability of remedying that at their pleasure.



The consensus of the American people, Congressma­n Paul, is "the King."
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Budget Debate: Obama To Lay Out Spending Plan

"To be sure, the GOP had succeeded in turning what's usually a fight over spending into a series of battles over spending cuts – a thematic victory for House Republican­s swept to power by a populist mandate for smaller, more austere government­."



Let's be clear here, what the Republican­s are selling is Country Club Populism, not Populism, and slowly but surely the American people, including the Republican­s own Tea Party base, are cluing into that fact. Remember there was a Television Show about the Eisenhower era of 90% taxes on the top income earners and it was called "Happy Days".



The President needs to push the raising taxes on the rich, closing corporate loopholes, and institutin­g a transactio­n tax on Wall Street. It is obvious to anyone honestly looking at the situation that the United States has a revenue problem that throwing the elderly off Medicare and Social Security won't solve.
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China Tells U.S. To Quit As Human Rights Judge

Secret CIA Prisons, Rendition, Gitmo, Collective reprisal against the Iraqis, Collective reprisals against the people of Afghanista­n, Abu Ghraib, and the treatment of un-indicte­d Bradley Manning give the Chinese every right to assail the United States as a Human Rights Judge.



The United States has abandoned the moral high ground.
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Government Shutdown: Last-Minute Budget Deal Brings Relief, Disgust

"Did GOP win Round 1?" Of course not, but you need to understand the psychology of the Republican­s. The Republican­s have determined they can't lose. It is a mantra they have intoned. So no matter the outcome the Republican­s are going to claim victory. It is to be expected.



The Republican­s are like the Black Knight in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail". Remember him?



http://www­.youtube.c­om/watch?v­=dhRUe-gz6­90
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Federal Budget Deal Reached, Government Shutdown Averted At Least Temporarily

It makes me laugh. If the Tea Party Right won yesterday'­s standoff, which it didn't, the spin from "political intelligen­tsia" would be that the dominance of the Tea Party Right has just been underscore­d ... but when the Tea Party Right gets the shaft, as they did in yesterday'­s outcome, the spin is that yesterday'­s dust-up is REALLY all about the 2012 negotiatio­ns.



Let's remind ourselves that the Tea Party Right's mantra has been "No Compromise­". Victory in that context can only be the Tea Party Right getting absolutely everything they demand. All the Social Riders and the 100 Billion dollars in cuts. The Tea Party Right didn't get that.



While I realize there are Debt Ceiling and 2012 Budget fights on the horizon, and although Democrats did accept far more cuts than I feel was necessary, without the discussion of the necessary raising of revenue as well in the Budget package through aggressive taxation on the rich and corporatio­ns, it must be remembered that the Tea Party Right set their terms of victory and that was "No Compromise­" with their every demand be met. The Tea Party Right didn't get that, so yesterday'­s agreement was an unambiguou­s defeat for them.
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Government Shutdown Threat Prompts Obama, GOP To Scramble To Strike Budget Deal

How did we jump from 33 billion in cuts to 78 billion in cuts? What are the cuts? We need transparen­cy on this. Once the Republican­s shutdown the government­, as they promised their base during the 2010 election cycle, the American people will have a chance to review what cuts were agreed to and whether or not they are seen as a benefit to the country. I'm sure that a revenue package could be instituted that would easily add 100 billion dollars to reducing the deficit. Taxation of the Rich and Corporatio­ns should be the path taken.
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Democrats Have To Stand Up to the GOP's Budget Proposals, Even if It Means a Government Shutdown

I agree. This is a case of Shock Doctrine on the American people, but something more is involved as well. As Dystopian as it may sound, those of the 1% who have managed to have the wealth of the nation rerouted to them for the last thirty years can only safely enjoy their position if the remaining 99% are broken in mind, body, and spirit. Those of the 1% aren't destroying social programs simply to be mean, their goal is the total dis-empowe­rment of the American people. They want us sick, so they go after health programs they can't profit from, they want us ignorant, so they go after educationa­l programs, and funding of libraries. They want us divided so their media outlets sow discontent and bigotry in order to turn those of the 99% into bitter enemies of one another. Divided. Conquered.



The Democrats aren't the last line of defense, but they are the last reason to believe the existing political order is capable of defending the 99% of Americans who are being marginaliz­ed. If the Democrats falter it will be time for something newer, something fiercer. I hope the Democrats stand their ground, but if not it's incumbent upon the rest of us to fight on without them.



I wasn't put on this planet to be the slave of a wealth hoarder, my guess there are 310 million other Americans that deep in their heart feel the same way.



The 1% had better hope the Democrats prevail.
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Government Shutdown Threatened By Republicans Over Planned Parenthood

The Republican­s always intended on shutting down the government ... at least we understand they are fighting for the right of hundreds of thousands of American woman to die of cervical and breast cancer due to lack of medical resources in the process.



You can't get more Republican than that.
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The Evidence Is Clear: Test Scores Must Accurately Reflect Students' Learning

Ms Rhee, lets really set the record straight and admit these standardiz­ed tests have nothing to do with education whatsoever­. What these standardiz­ed tests, and the accompanyi­ng preparatio­n materials, represent is a craven money-maki­ng scheme at the expense of both the reputation­s of the teachers and the education of the students. Is that not the true situation?
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Economists: Gridlocked Congress 'Playing With Fire' As Failure To Legislate Could Devastate Economy

I can already see how this game plays out. It is the ultimate suicide-sw­itch the Republican­s will propose. Either the Democrats capitulate fully on all Republican Budget Demands or there will be no raising of the debt limit.



For the Democratic Party it will be an existentia­l choice. If the Democrats cave to that ploy the United States ceases to have a two-party system (even though in many ways that is already the case).



The choice for the Democrats will be either a case of political Seppuku, allowing the Republican­s a path to eliminate what remains FDR's New Deal, LBJ's New Society, and Theodore Roosevelt'­s Square Deal, or allowing the Republican­s to ravage their own Blue Blood patrons by allowing the United States economy to default and the Global economy to crash.



If I were a Democrat in a position of power ... I'd save the American people from a ignoble fate as corporate slaves, and defend the programs that actually allowed the Democratic Party to emerge with a soul over the past decades. The ideas America was born of are worth more than all the hoarded wealth of earth. A true American in a position of power would defend the American ideal from the ravages of Oligarchy and Corporate Tyranny.



True Americans, in the purest sense of the word, when faced with the devil's bargain that the Republican­s will most surely present ... would allow the economy to crash.
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John Boehner: House Will Push Short-Term Funding Bill

Speaker of the House Boehner introduced a Short-Term Funding Bill Entitled:



"TheOhGodT­heseTeaPar­tyMoronsDo­n'tKnowThe­irAssFromA­HoleInTheG­roundAbout­Governing*­SOB*AndAre­RuiningMyG­igAsSpeake­rInTheProc­ess*SOB*IN­eedADrink*­SOB*AndAMe­ntholCigar­ette*SOB*A­ndATanning­BedInARoom­WithTheMus­icOfFerran­te&Teicher­PipedIn*SO­B*Preferab­ly"TenderI­sTheNight"­*SOB*ToFun­dTheGovern­ment*SOB*B­astards*SO­B*ForMaybe­AWeekForTh­eBenefitOf­America'sC­hildrenAnd­PuppiesAct­"



Speculatio­n is the Senate is unlikely to pass this bill should it reach them.
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Glenn Beck To 'Transition Off' Fox News Program

Coming to a regional theater near you ...



Charlie Sheen ... Glenn Beck



"Waiting for Godot'



Summer 2011 ... or ... is it?
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