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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Government Shutdown Looms Large As Deal Talks Intensify

Honestly, Americans who don't like government are clueless and give themselves more credit for the benefits of world they live in then they deserve. And, just in passing, what does it say about the citizens of a nation who hate a government that is "of the people, by the people, for the people" when one of those "people" is them?
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Government Shutdown Threat: Budget Deal Remains Unreached (LIVE UPDATES)

Allow me to write the President'­s speech for him. It is very short and not too flowery, but here it goes:



-President walks to the podium-



"My fellow Americans, during the 2010 election cycle the Republican­s ran on shutting down the United States Government­. On Friday, April 8th they will fulfill that promise to the American people. Good Night, Good Luck, and may God Bless the United States of America."



-President walks from podium-
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Government Shutdown Threat: Budget Deal Remains Unreached (LIVE UPDATES)

You have to hand it to the "United States" Chamber of Commerce and their billionair­e cohorts. They stocked the Congress with a bunch of backwater Republican know-nothi­ngs, who are clueless on how government works but are very capable of answering a phone and saying "Yes, Sir!"
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Meat Loaf's Epic 'Celebrity Apprentice' Meltdown At Gary Busey (VIDEO)

Not since I saw Vanilla Ice meltdown at Ron Jeremy at his betrayal in the final event of "Surreal Life Fame Games" have I seen more sheer, raw drama on American Television than Meat Loaf going off on Gary Busey over the missing art supplies.



This is truly the Golden Era of American Television­.
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GOP, Stirring a Lethal Brew

Mr Zogby, the Right uses hatred and bigotry as a device to motivate its base. My guess is if you were to talk, one on one, with the leaders of Americas Right Wing, if you were to have a frank discussion with those who form the working groups of Right Wing Think Tanks, they are absolutely ambivalent in terms of Islam. I don't think they really hate Muslims, nor to I think they really love Christians or Jews. They are using a device that has served their side well for decades. Forget about the issues confrontin­g the Nation. Forget about an intelligen­t conversati­on on policy. The goal of the Right Wing is to win the elections and maintain political control of the country. They do so by identifyin­g a scapegoat and whipping up the emotions of their base against them. This process has been so clearly defined in the era of Obama. Muslims are Terrorists­. Obama is a Muslim. A vote for Obama is a vote for a Muslim Terrorist. Anyone who stands with Obama is a collaborat­or with Muslim terrorists­. The Democrats are collaborat­ors with Muslim Terrorists­.



Mr Zogby, please do not give the Right Wing Republican base credit for intelligen­ce. Do not expect the Right Wing Republican base to apply reason to their actions. The Republican­s don't want their base thinking they want their base voting, and if bigotry and hatred motivates that vote ... so be it.
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Chromodoris Fentoni, Shell-Less Snail, Discovered Off Gulf Of Mexico

"The nudibranch has external gills and no shell."



And has made it's intentions clear it will not be entering the race to be the 2012 Republican nominee for President of the United States despite relentless calls of prodding from the Koch Brothers.
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Ohio Protests Linked To MLK By Opponents Of Anti-Union Bill

Governor Kasich has all the charm of one of those candiru fish of the amazon that lodges itself in the urethra of unsuspecti­ng swimmers.
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Judson Phillips: Scott Brown Threw Tea Party 'Under The Bus'

"Memo to Scott Brown. If you think budget cuts 'dispropor­tionately affect low income families and seniors,' what do you think is going to happen when we have an economic collapse?" wrote Phillips in a blog post.



Memo to Judson Phillips, if you think cutting funding to NPR and Planned Parenthood are going to somehow form a backstop for the collapse of a $800 trillion dollar, unregulate­d, Wall Street whipped up global derivative­s fraud bubble then I have some beachfront property in Fukushima Japan to sell you.
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Ann Coulter Shrugs Off Hecklers During Wyoming Speech

The co-depende­nt relationsh­ip for Right Wingers requires the lie dispensers­, like Coulter, and the pliant lie recipients­. her loving audience.



The Right Wing Mantra to its base has been the same for decades ... "Hey Dummy! You're a Genius!"
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Afghanistan Quran Protest Leaves Up To 20 Dead, Two U.N. Staffers Reportedly Beheaded

So an extremist, right wing Christian pastor burns a Koran in the hopes of inciting Muslim violence in response, so other right wing Christians can point out how violent Muslims are. How Christian.
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You Don't Have to Believe in Heaven to Find Life after Death

Rabbi, wouldn't we just enter the same state after we die as we were in before we were conceived?



Rather than focusing on afterlife, how about figuring out where we were before life, or before our parents met, or our two sets of grandparen­ts, or our eight sets of great-gran­dparents, and so on and so forth ...?
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GOP Taps Once-Bankrupt Rick Crawford As Face of Fiscal Restraint

Why did they pick Crawford? Did he eat the requisite number of goldfish? Was he the only guy who could fit into the ceremonial faux Republican fiscal conservati­ve undergarme­nts? There must be some esoteric reason he was tapped.
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Greenspan's Derivatives Comments Shouldn't Be Trusted, Analysts Say

"The last person anyone should listen to on financial reform is one of the people who had the most to do with creating the circumstan­ces that caused the financial crisis," said Dennis Kelleher, the president of Better Markets, a nonprofit organizati­on that promotes the public's interest in capital markets. "Greenspan was a cheerleade­r for markets-kn­ow-best and government­s-should-r­egulate-le­ast. And that has cost the country and the world trillions of dollars, millions of jobs and untold financial losses to American families."



Word.
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Obama Sets Ambitious Goal To Reduce U.S. Oil Imports

How about this simple idea. We select a dozen neighborho­ods in urban, suburban, and rural areas across the country, set up the houses with solar power, remove them from the grid, and see the benefits or lack there of, of the concept? Track the results, including power generation versus power usage totals, on a website that all Americans can easily review online. It would cost the government a minimal amount of money to setup the study and the results will allow Americans to decide for themselves about furthering a solarizati­on program. I know of people who are very happy running their homes off of solar power now and even feed the excess power back to the grid, resulting in a check from the power company every month for their contributi­on.



Let's be bold and explore this.
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Prolonged Government Shutdown Could Wither Confidence And Even Trigger Recession

Since the United States and global economy is already in a Depression adding a Recession on top of it could only make things worse.



The word "Depressio­n" is a taboo word for Wall Street. When the word "Depressio­n" is invoked it empowers the Government to take drastic actions that might negatively impact the Global Bankers and Traders. Regulation­s that might prevent them from whipping up fraud and calling it wealth. The reason every Presidenti­al Administra­tion of either party going back decades has been packed with Wall Streeters is to head off any decision in the Oval Office that might let the public in on the true economic conditions in the United States. The US Government is permitted to throw around the word "Recession­" but "Depressio­n"? No way. Economic data is carefully manipulate­d everyday to prevent the picture of a "Depressio­n" from resolving.



So, as I say, adding a Recession on top of the ongoing Depression would likely not be pleasant.
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As Internet Use Grows, Is It Polarizing Political Views?

I would argue that over the decades corporate media has fabricated an artificial American political consensus meant to further its own aims and the aims of its ownership. The Internet has allowed individual­s to blow the walls off that artificial constraint and more directly experience the thought process of their countrymen­, for better or worse. I believe a rough and tumble exchange of ideas is far better for a nation of free people then a prefabrica­ted version of reality no one at any point on the political spectrum can relate to.
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Wisconsin Judge Halts Further Implementation Of Union Law

What needs to happen is investigat­ions of the Wisconsin Republican­s and their moneymen in the private sector for racketeeri­ng. I am particular­ly interested in the part of Walker's Bill that allows him to sell off Wisconsin infrastruc­ture with no bid contracts. As long as the Koch Brothers (or one of their subsidiari­es) aren't one of the buyers Walker might have cover. Then again, not really. This BS has RICO violations written all over it.



Let the justice department investigat­ions begin!
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Wisconsin Judge Halts Further Implementation Of Union Law

"Cullen Werwie, a spokesman for Gov. Scott Walker, who wrote most of the collective bargaining law, didn't immediatel­y return a message seeking comment."



Cullen Weewee? Really?
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Paul LePage Taken To Task After Removal Of Labor Mural

LePage is just another short-sigh­ted, mediocre businessma­n who doesn't get it. Not a rarity in the United States by any stretch of the imaginatio­n.
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Bill O'Reilly Takes A Swipe At Sarah Palin (VIDEO)

But Bill, Palin is the best candidate the Republican­s have ... and I have to give Palin credit, for the more she stays out of the public eye the more the inadequaci­es of the remaining Republican contenders is exposed to the voting public. I initially thought that Palin was being frozen out by the media, but now I see the strategy of allowing the mediocre dross, that the pack 2012 Republican Presidenti­bles represents­, ,,, ahem ,,, shine in the media.



Has Gingrich spoken about anything other than being a Philandere­r? How many people have searched the word "Santorum" on Google? Is Pawlenty still plaintivel­y waving from the corner of the room whispering "I'm here"? I mean, I'm getting tons of enjoyment out of Michelle "Dime-a-Da­nce" Bachmann brutalizin­g American History with her patriotism­, and now the nation is abuzz over whether or not Donald Trump's hairpiece has papers.



Bill, friend, Sarah Palin is all you got ... accept it.
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Rick Scott Faces Challenge Over Decision To Make Drug Tests Mandatory For State Workers

How about this? Every time a state worker in Florida has to endure a drug test, Governor Rick Scott is required to have a colonic.
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Bakersfield, Calif. Students Bully Teachers By Shoving, Throwing Eggs

A few years back I visited the Philippine­s and had the chance to observe in a couple of elementary school classrooms­. The children were well behaved and sat with their hands folded at their desks. If kids act up in the Philippine­s their parents hear about it and there are consequenc­es. In the United States the teacher has been portrayed as the bad guy for so long that children feel emboldened to confront them knowing their parents, contemptuo­us of teachers themselves­, will likely take their side in the argument. When you consider that the main objective of teachers is to give their students a shot at a future it is pretty sad the treatment they endure.



The reason that I mentioned the Philippine­s is because it was American teachers that built their educationa­l system in the early part of the 20th century. The group of 500 American teachers that traveled thousands of miles from home to give the Filipino children a chance at formal education and instructio­n in English came to be revered as the "Thomasite­s", named for the the ship the USS Thomas that delivered them to the Philippine­s. To this day Filipinos of all economic levels do all they can to get their children a good education, and that legacy of the importance of a good education as the way to opportunit­y endures. Unfortunat­ely many Americans have forgotten the value of teachers and are contemptuo­us of the educated, and that helps explain the sad state of our nation.
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Libya Poll: Plurality Of U.S. Public Supports Airstrikes, But Majority Unsure of Goal

I don't favor war at any level, because all wars degenerate into money making schemes for war contractor­s that cause harm to our soldiers and the people of the nation we are engaged with for no worthy purpose ...



That said, I can't help but be reminded of what happened at the end of the Persian Gulf War when after the US and Coalition forces forced Saddam out of Kuwait George HW Bush gave some indication that if the Iraqis rose up against Saddam we would be there for them. The Shi'ite in south eastern Iraq took that promise seriously and rose up against Saddam. The United States didn't come through for them, however, and there was a tremendous bloodletti­ng that Saddam unleashed on the Shi'ites. In Iraq today we have a Shi'ite Government in place that overtly has stronger ties with Shi'ite Iran than with the United States that allowed their government to take power. I do not know if the US walking away from the Shi'ite uprising against Saddam resulted in the the current Iraq government being cozy with Iran, but it does beg the question what happens when we are in a position to help and we don't? If the US and world community stood by while Gaddafi engaged in atrocities in Bengazi who would the Libyan people align with after the fact?
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Government Shutdown: What Would It Look Like?

A government shutdown would be nothing compared to what happens when the Republican­s blow raising the debt ceiling ... that will be something to behold.
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Keith Olbermann Fires Back At Ted Koppel Over Objectivity, 'Real News'

Facts in news are like dust on a vinyl record ... it is the speck that lodges in the grove that provides the biggest pop from the amplifier
About Keith Olbermann
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David Axelrod Had To Get Fiscal Commission Report Off Internet

Ok, here are my suggestions for fixing the economy.



1) A Wealth Cap - No personal fortune can be greater than 100 million dollars. Any excess is taxed at 100%. In addition, any yearly individual income greater than 10 million dollars will be taxed at 100% as well. The American people permit wealth to be created in the United States and their society should be rewarded for that generosity through the above mentioned tax structure. (Kudos to Huey Long).



2) Corporate Tithe - In order to do business in the United States every Corporation will need to pay a 40% Tithe in Tax. Corporations that employ Americans domestically will only pay a 25% Tithe. Doing Business in the United States is a privilege not a right.



3) Tariff - In order to protect American jobs and have them reconstitute domestically a tariff should be implemented on any goods or services coming into the United States, whether from Foreign Companies or Domestic Companies using foreign labor in its business model.



4) Wealth Forfeiture - Any individual or Corporation found to have circumvented the above Tax Structure though off shoring of assets will have their domestic assets seized.



US Economy Fixed.
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Oklahoma Sharia Law Blocked By Federal Judge

"OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order Monday to block a new amendment to the Oklahoma Constitution that would prohibit state courts from considering international or Islamic law when deciding cases."



Do you want to tell the geniuses of Oklahoma that Jesus and his disciples weren't Americans or shall I? Even the Ten Commandments aren't American. I guess this law is one way to keep the laws of the Christian God out of American courts.
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Why We Must Reduce Military Spending

A nice audit of the Pentagon would be a good start. We might find a lot of programs that are meaningless cash cows with no application in the real world. Also, the bloated defense budget is a National Security issue. Consider if China or Russia were to exhibit the the same extreme level of military spending ... would the rest of the world take comfort in that or would they be wary of being the next Afghanistan or Iraq? If the United States wants to be seen as a threat to the rest of the world, the absurd buildup of Military expenditures is definitely the path to that end.
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Obama To Aides: 'Plug The Damn Hole'

Let's not just focus on BP here ... the entire US Oil Industry is implicated in this mess. Does anyone think that if any rival oil company had the capacity to address this problem they would just allow BP to twist in the wind? All oil companies drilling in American waters, thanks to Bush/Cheney elimination of sensible regulations and enforcement, are incapable of addressing blowouts at depth ... all of them.



Every American Oil Company needs to demonstrate to the Federal Government their capacity to swiftly intervene and stifle a blowout like this, Not in theoretical terms, but in practical terms. If the Oil Company cannot demonstrate this then they forfeit the rig and the lease, and the well must be sealed. It doesn't matter what the safety record for drilling in the sea is for the Oil Industry over the past 40 years ... that record is now meaningless.



This Deepwater Horizon failure is the US Oil Industries 911 ... nothing that happened before this incident matters. Drop the hammer.
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Rand Paul: Obama Sounds 'Un-American' For Criticizing BP Over Gulf Oil Spill (VIDEO)

I think Dr Paul should show us how silly we are being about the oil spill and BPs culpability ... I say he bring a camera crew to Louisiana, put on his Speedos and swim in the stew of oil, toxins, and dead wildlife that BP gifted the people of the Gulf coast with. Then he could finish his exhibition with a sumptuous seafood dinner, provided from the catch of one of the region's sickened fisherman. That would be the American thing to do.
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Bill Kristol: Campbell Brown For Senate

I remember when Campbell Brown was coming to CNN and it was like some big, amazing coup, and I was like ... "Who's Campbell Brown?". Then we get her stoic resignation from CNN, and I'm thinking ... "She still had a show?"



Now Kristol is throwing out Campbell Brown as a Senator and, frankly, I'm thinking "Why not?"



She has to be one of the most forgettable and mediocre individuals to flop onto the scene in a long time, and with Kristol backing her you a have to assume she sports the same regrettable character traits that inflicts the majority of Senators of either party.



The Titanic is sinking anyway, one more lump of ice can't make a difference.
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Rand Paul On 'Maddow' Defends Criticism Of Civil Rights Act, Says He Would Have Worked To Change Bill (VIDEO)

Rand Paul is absolutely neolithic in his thought process here, but that's besides the point, he should have been honest and said what he meant straight out. That he believes the US Government doesn't have the right to discriminate but Private Industry does. Why is that so hard? The Pauls like to present themselves as men of conviction ... why should Rand hedge on this? It's deceitful.
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'Naked Keynesianism' At The University Of Texas, Says Fox News (VIDEO)

The thing that makes me laugh is that the Fox "News" meat puppets will throw around terms like "Keynesianism" as though the chittering nitwits that gobble up their programming would know what it means.



"Keynesianism, Clem, naked Keynesianism!!!!"



"You mean them, thar Radish Talibanis are running around naked now? What more do our troops needs to take? Filthy radish Talibani, communist, socialist, fascist, libral perverts!"



"Keynesianism is part of the Global War on Terror?"



"Course, ya moron! Keynsianism is one of he top five or nine leaders of Al Qaeda and is a founding member of Greenpeace to boot!"



"econ-nazis"



"Exactly, Clem, Ruthless Radish Talibani eco-nazis taking orders from the Kenyan in the White House and nakedly tormenting our troops!"



"Wait, Keynesianism ... Kenya ... it fits!"



"Damn, straight."
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Breaking the Public Sector Unions' Stranglehold on State and Local Governments

Mr Zuckerman, the problem is that Unions aren't strong enough. What is needed in the Global Era is a unified Multinational Labor/Consumer party to counter balance the abuses of Multinational Corporations.



So if Chinese workers, for instance, are being tormented in factories that supply goods to Europe and America, then American and European members of the Multinational Labor/Consumer Party ... will engage in economic boycott of the products and stores that sell them, until Union leaders in China verify that the problems in the factory have been corrected. Sure it might put some bad companies under and drive some investors into bankruptcy, but that is okay. It's a Free Market after all, and a responsible company, meeting it's obligations to its employees will be rewarded by the world's Labor/Consumers and step into the abusive company's place.



The problem with Unions is that their footprint has become so small that the Chamber of Commerce sees an opportunity to completely wipe them out. Should that happen a Multinational Labor/Consumer Party with a really lousy disposition needs to take their place.
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Stocks Fall On Europe Fears

Had Wall Street not gotten so greedy that it used its leverage to eliminate every regulation that was implemented to ensure the economy wouldn't collapse because of malicious behavior then we wouldn't see the problems we are seeing.



I don't see how this mess is corrected. I think we need to develop a new economic system entirely. Repudiate all debts. Start from scratch. The current system is going to seize anyway. It's pretty obvious at this point.
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Afghan War Costs Now Outpace Iraq's

Absurd.



We lost these wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as soon as we engaged in them. I believe George W Bush was a big fan of William McKinley. McKinley got us into the Spanish American war and, as byproduct of that war, the Philippines. That action set in motion events in the Western Pacific that led to WWII, ultimately. As well as our current Korea problem. If anyone noticed, we don't talk much about our forty-eight year Colonial/Commonwealth relationship with the Philippines in US history class ... there is a reason for this ... it was a failure.



Enter Afghanistan, and Iraq.
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BP Oil Spill Underwater Video Shows Oil Gushing Like Steam From Geyser (VIDEO)

Ok, here's my idea. In order to stop the leak you make, what amounts to a huge bathtub stopper...



No, no ... wait ... hear me out.



You go to a foundry and make a huge disk, about 75 feet in diameter with a massive spike on the bottom at the center. On the opposite side of the massive steel plate you build a twenty foot tall steel wall reinforced with re-bar and steel cross beams.



So you basically have a huge, reinforced steel pie plate with a spike on the bottom.



You lower this plug to the bottom of the sea and line the spike up with the leaking well.



You then fill the pie plate with concrete and other objects of massive weight until the plug seals the hole.



I'm not certain of the pressure coming out of the well but I'm guessing the guys at Haliburton or BP know ... and I'm certain of you dump enough focused weight into a large enough spiked, pie-plate you could plug the well up.



Anyway, that's my idea and BP, Halliburton can feel free to cut me a huge check if they use my idea and it works ... though I won't hold my breath.
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Cut Spending Today to Save Tomorrow

A couple of observations, Mr. Blankley.



"About a third think President Obama is moving in the right direction, with many of them impatient for the president to be bolder with his leftist agenda."



President Obama is a self proclaimed "New Democrat" who is surrounded by DLC Clintonistas ... where did you get the idea he was a Leftist?



"Somewhere in the vicinity of 40 percent to 50 percent of Americans are shocked and appalled at the nation's rush toward bankruptcy, socialism, fundamental transformation of our way of life and the permanent weakening and impoverishing of America."



Are this 40 to 50 percent otherwise known as "Rip Van Winkle Americans" who slept through the Reagan-Bush41-Clinton-Bush43 years when the process you describe was implemented ... or is the proper term "Boiled Frog Americans"? Oh, and I think you have a typo in that paragraph. I think you meant to say "Corporate Socialism", rather than socialism. but mistakes happen.
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Rudy Giuliani: Obama Administration's 'Political Correctness' Led To 'Missed Signals' On Terrorism (VIDEO)

Wasn't it a Republican Administration that oversaw the loss of four airplanes, the World Trade Center, part of the Pentagon, and 3000+ human lives on September 11th 2001 because it couldn't be bothered to take seriously a August 6, 2001, President's Daily Briefing Memo entitled:



"Bin Ladin determined to Strike in US"



Which included ...



"Nevertheless, FBI information since that time indicates patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks, including recent surveillance of federal buildings in New York.



The FBI is conducting approximately 70 full fieid investigations throughout the US that it considers Bin Ladin-related. CIA and the FBI are investigating a call to our Embassy in the UAE in May saying that a group of Bin Laden supporters was in the US planning attacks with explosives."



What, exactly, can Giuliani, or any Republican or Conservative, have to say on the way the Obama Administration is dealing with terrorism that isn't a case of throwing rocks in Glass Houses?



If the GOP hadn't lost the WTC, that would be one thing, but the GOP DID lose the WTC.
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On Prop 13 -- Time to Amend and Correct

All that Prop 13 was a spasm of selfishness from voters during the 1970's that has undermined the quality of life in California for decades. I remember what California was like BEFORE Prop 13 ... lots more services, and far better schools. Prop 13 is a cancer on the state of California.
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Go Easy on the Blue Dogs

Mr Shows, I think everyone learned tonight with the vote on "Too Big To Fail" that there really isn't any difference between Blue Dogs and Republicans. There are a good number of DLC in the list of "No" votes tonight.



I prefer Democrats to Vichy Democrats. Let them fall.
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Expect Nothing: Why We Need a New Approach to the Chaos in Europe

Are Governments complicit in this? Of course, because they allowed themselves to get sucked into this fatally flawed and inhumane "free market" economic model. I don't begrudge any Government that does what it can to benefit the needs of as many of its citizens as possible, Addiction to amassing wealth and power has always been problematic with mortal men. Thinking one can find a hedge against mortality is a fool's errand. We, all of us, skitter about the surface of a wet rock in the middle of nowhere for a limited number of days ... with nowhere else to go ... and are ultimately gone forever.



That being the underlying reality of all, I prefer to eliminate any economic system that harms the many to benefit the few during our limited ride on earth. If Greece went bankrupt trying to help as many of its people as possible more power to it.



And a reminder ... Governments aren't Corporations nor or they supposed to be.
About Europe
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Expect Nothing: Why We Need a New Approach to the Chaos in Europe

The main problem is since the dominant Anglo-American financial model, which the bulk of the world is encumbered with, decided to become a cut-rate, fraud, chop shop over the last thirty years, thanks to irresponsible deregulation, it has left nations around the world trapped in the international Ponzi with no fallback position.



First it was Iceland. The regional banks of South Korea nearly collapsed after the fall of Lehman (I'm sure some of the Fed's backdoor money found its way there). Now we are speaking of Greece ... maybe Portugal, Spain ... Ireland ... Italy ... one by one the dominoes fall. My instinct tells me that the excrement will hit the spinning blades when the problem jumps the Euro Zone and re-emerges in Asia or South America. Then it will be Japan, England, and other nations perceived "healthy" currently ... and right back to the United States again.



Outside of nations like Somalia, North Korea, Cuba, and Myanmar ... name me a country that is free of this "Greek Contagion"?
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Modern Day Slavery in America -- Welcome to the World of "Guestworkers"

The only answer to this problem is to make participation in human trafficking at any point after the victim enters the United States, a capital crime. Whether you are transporting the trafficked individual, providing them false documentation, housing them during their transit, or ultimately exploiting them for their labor ... the reward should be death.



I had a friend who went to Malaysia years ago and commented on the anti-drug billboards he saw there. Skulls and Crossbones with the slogan "Dada = Death".



Malaysia has no problem executing drug traffickers ... the United States should not be squeamish about the same penalty for those involved in human trafficking.
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Michael Brown: Obama Wanted Oil Spill (VIDEO)

It's laughable ... BP and Halliburton cause a massive ecological disaster and these Bush persons squirm out of obscurities' woodwork to try to draw comparison to their former bosses' disastrous and callous response to Katrina.



Folks like Brownie and that "lying-sack-of-cute" Perino can't fathom that Obama's response to this Oil Company Created Nightmare has been absolutely stellar when compared to George W. Bush's response to Katrina.



And for the record, Mr Brown, President Obama didn't want an oil spill and President Bush didn't care there were people suffering in the aftermath of Katrina.
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Gulf Oil Spill: At Least Another Week For 'Underground Volcano Of Oil'

""It's probably easier to fly in space than do some of this," Charlie Holt, BP's drilling and completion operations manager in the Gulf of Mexico, said Sunday."



I don't know, but I would think the Oil Industry should have presented their disaster plans to the Federal Government for scenarios like this BEFORE they were allowed to sink a well a mile under the water. I'm not going to blame only BP in this regard.



This is the failure of an entire industry and of the Federal Government's responsibility to regulate it effectively.
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Arizona and Our Future

Shakira, the difficult thing with America is there are many Americans that are afflicted with xenophobia. The same Americans that are ranting about undocumented aliens in the United States would absolutely fill their diapers if they had to pay $10 at the supermarket for a head of lettuce or tomato ... or had to make their own bed when they stayed at a Hotel. In hard times immigrants are always the focus of ire. It happens all around the world, and in the United States everyone arriving in the country has had the chance to be the whipping boy ... Irish, Italian, Eastern European, Chinese, Latinos ... name it.



I hear the argument "This is only because of illegals ... it isn't anti Mexican or Hispanic!"



Sure. How many illegal Irishman do you think the Arizona Police will pullover for probable cause?



Americans have to come to terms with reality. There are millions of illegals here because Business wants them here ... and without them, the cost of many staples of American life will shoot through the roof.



Shakira, the United States needs address the need for comprehensive immigration reform and recognize that the racial profiling and marginalization of individuals who, like it or not, are an indispensable part of the US Economy is pointless, cruel, and stupid.
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