October 2008 Archives

Last night, in the final debate in CO's senate race, Mark Udall called out Schaffer on Schaffer's proposal to abolish the Dept. of Education. Schaffer called that "baloney". Schaffer lied:

Remember when there was a story on three people who wanted to assassinate Obama at the DNC?  Remember that U.S. Attorney Troy Eid did not press charges?

Brad Jacobson, RAW Story, writes:

In downplaying the threat, the US Attorney's spokesman also characterized the physical evidence recovered from the suspects "including, along with methamphetamine, two high-powered rifles with scopes (one threaded with a silencer), 85 rounds of ammunition, a bulletproof vest, wigs, two walkie-talkies, three fake IDs, tactical pants and camouflage gear" as merely "tools of the drug trade."

...one of the most highly decorated former DEA agents in agency history and an expert witness in over 300 federal and state criminal and civil cases, (Michael) Levine also disputed the characterization of the weaponry recovered. "They are not tools of the trade," he said, explaining that while some drug dealers carry weapons, real evidence of drug dealing is the seriousness and amount of trafficking materials, primarily packaging materials, records of buyers' names and contact information, and evidence of witnesses who've said they've purchased from them.

How does this non-prosecution reconcile with the recent attempt by neo-Nazi skinheads?  Irish Times Washington reporter Mark Hennessey writes:

TWO WHITE supremacists arrested in Tennessee planned to assassinate Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama while dressed in white tuxedos and wearing top hats and shooting from a speeding car, court documents released yesterday allege....

Describing the two as neo-Nazi skinheads, local authorities alleged that they had planned to kill 88 people - and to behead 14 more in a school in Helena, Tennessee.

The numbers 14 and 88 have symbolic significance in skinhead culture.

I can only guess that there have been, and to our shame, will be many more plots to assassinate Barack Obama in the coming months and years. 

BTW- I think the white suits is an influence of the Wachowski brothers Matrix films' "twins" in Reloaded.

 

Sent to our network today:

Dear Neighbor,

I know you're being bombarded with election mailers, TV commercials, and emails, but I need your help to defeat one of the most deceptive and harmful measures on the Colorado ballot next Tuesday.

Amendment 46, if passed, would alter the Colorado Constitution and roll back critical civil rights protections. This would result in an damaging precedent, eroding equal opportunity and diversity programs that are vital to the economic and social well-being of America.

Click here to join me in opposing Amendment 46:

http://progressnowcolorado.org/stop46

Amendment 46 would force our colleges and universities to worry about being sued for any program that fosters diversity, or encourages women or minorities to pursue fields in which they are currently under-represented.

Amendment 46 is a fraud. The author of Amendment 46, Ward Connerly, created Amendment 46 to be intentionally deceptive, vague and confusing. He has used allegedly fraudulent methods to obtain signatures. Numerous Colorado voters demanded that their names be removed once they learned the truth about Amendment 46.

Petition-gatherers led signers to believe they were actually supporting equal opportunity laws. Little did they know the proposed amendment would actually dissolve those rules in Colorado!

Amendment 46 is misleadingly called the "Colorado Civil Rights Initiative," but the Ku Klux Klan supports Amendment 46. In fact, a Michigan news report cited Connerly saying "he despises the KKK, but accepts the support." ("Connerly criticized for Klan comments," Associated Press 11/4/2006)

"If the KKK was endorsing equal rights, God bless them," Connerly was quoted as saying.

Don't be fooled. Pledge to SAY NO to Amendment 46:

http://progressnowcolorado.org/stop46

NO on Amendment 46 needs your support RIGHT NOW to beat this terrible proposal. Recent polls show support for Amendment 46 has dropped dramatically as more people learn the truth. Click here to make a contribution to the campaign:

https://secure.progressnowcolorado.org/page/contribute/46IsAFraud

Thank you for standing up for civil rights in Colorado. This isn't over yet!

Sincerely,

Rep. Rosemary Marshall

I was outside Channel 4 tonight as part of the Udall cheering squad. (I was wearing my dorky DAV hat and wearing a Vets for Udall shirt with some of the Iraq vets in the campaign.)

At first, the crowd was about equal in size, but about when Udall showed up, a mob of mid-teen kids and their parents showed up with the usual Pro-Bob signs. One teenie girl decided she needed to debate Veterans issues with me, in a nice, perky way.

After the usual partisan banter, I asked her where she lived. "California - we all came out to help Bob Schaffer win!"

The whole mob of nice, clean safe teenagers and their parents were trucked in by Schaffer and the GOP to be in the crowd. Conservative Carpetbagger Bob Schaffer can't even muster enough support to have COLORADO volunteers at his own rallies.

There's sad, and there's Bob Schaffer sad.

Here, and in 9 other battleground states nearly 1,600 have signed up to volunteer in the critical 96 hours before the election.

We're putting out names down for the last 96 hours because we worry this race could be much closer than the polls predict.

Will all of the hard work and long hours be enough?

With your help, it will be.

Click here to Volunteer in the final 96 hours

Here are a couple of reasons why we shouldn't take anything for granted.

* Record turnouts are expected on Election Day, but it's unclear if polling places are ready for the deluge of new voters. With long waits and new voting technology in several states, polls can't predict how voters will react.
* Polls -- even exit polls -- got it wrong in 2004. Not much has changed: On the eve of the New Hampshire primary, the polls showed Barack Obama up by 8.3 points in the average of all state polls. The media had started to write off Hillary Clinton and declare Obama the winner. By the end of the day, Hillary Clinton was declared the winner with a margin of victory of 2.6 points. The campaign that was supposed to be "over" went on for another five months.

The lesson of this polling story is clear. It ain't over until it's over.

So as we work for an environmental leader in the White House and champions in Congress, don't take anything for granted.

Do what you can. Join us on the campaign trail so that on November 5th, you'll be able to say that we did enough.

Click here to Volunteer in the final 96 hours

Thanks as always for making it all possible.

Paradox at TheLeftCoaster writes:

Surfing the net these days will garner financial advice from almost any site, folks are rightly worried sick in these troubled times and want to know the best practices for their money. The articles always say to keep investing in your 401k, no matter what. Yuck.

I rolled over my 401k funds this year and now I’m extremely sorry I did; it’s not that the value has been chopped by 35%, I don’t trust Wall St. or American business in any sense, and I don’t want my cash supporting Wall St. companies and institutions.

I, like most Americans, are stuck with this lousy 401k system, more and more companies are abandoning even any contributing matching funds. In theory I could get out, I don’t mind paying the taxes, but the IRS penalty is a killer. Still, I’m thinking about it.

What are your thoughts on retirement funding?  I know that my latest statement shows about a 15 percent decline (I'm in a conservative option on my 401k).

Money market?  Bonds?  T-bills?  Pork bellies?

 

The attacks by the McCain campaign, accusing Obama of being a Socialist, sound like a reversion back to something from the 1950s. That is the way the media portrays it, as an amusing and ridiculous jab being made by a desperate campaign that is on the ropes with nothing better to offer. Even Obama's dismissive response about sharing his toys as a child seems to regard it that way.

But the attack is much more insidious and subtle than that. The fact that it is being rolled out in the last week of the campaign suggests to me that the Republicans think that this is the most powerful shot left in their arsenal, and could be the game-changer they rely on to win the election at the last minute.

As McPalin describe it, the socialist accusation is a claim that Obama will take "your" hard earned money and give it to "them." Given the demographics of the group that is being targeted with this pitch - blue collar and middle class whites - it is not hard to see who "they" are.

Just as George H.W Bush's Willie Horton ads were not about crime, and Ronald Reagan's railing on about welfare Cadillacs was not about welfare reform, this socialist line is not about economics or even ideology. Nor is it about painting Obama as outside the main stream.

It is all about stoking the residual and ill- concealed racism that remains a powerful factor in America. It is designed to evoke stereotypes of lazy, shiftless, unemployed blacks in the south and Midwest, drunk Indians in the southwest, and illegal immigrants in big sombreros sleeping in the sun, all supported by the welfare funds taken from "your" hard earned dollars. The campaign is brilliantly indirect, but it is the nastiest attack yet on Obama. It is the McCain campaign playing the race card.

Maybe it is right for us to treat the attack as a throwback to McCarthyism that merely reflects on the age of McCain. Maybe the attack is too subtle and the American people too dumb to respond as the Republicans intend. Maybe America is not as racist as they think. Maybe the fall of communism makes the whole thing irrelevant. But the Republicans would not be rolling it out as their dying gasp of the campaign if they believed that.

Or should I say "stumpfsinniger". Someone needs to remind Schaffer that FDR was a Democrat.

I've been thinking that Amendment 58's opponents are Big Oil.  Their ads are a classic bamboozlement because the production and distribution of natural gas/oil are two seperate entities.

What the opponents of Amendment 58 fail to state is this- excerpt from NaturalGas.org:

One of the primary differences in the current structure of the market is the existence of natural gas marketers. Marketers serve to facilitate the movement of natural gas from the producer to the end user. Essentially, marketers can serve as a middle-man between any two parties, and can offer either bundled or unbundled service to its customers. Thus, in the structure mentioned above, marketers may be present between any two parties to facilitate the sale or purchase of natural gas, and can also contract for transportation and storage. Marketers may own the natural gas being transferred, or may simply facilitate its transportation and storage. Essentially, a myriad of different ownership pathways exist for natural gas to proceed from producer to end user.

Does this sound familiar?  One only has to look at the case of California and electrical power "middle men" like Enron.

What is being eliminated is the 300,000,000 USD free ride for gas/oil producers at the well head in Colorado.  This money could then be used for infrastructure, education, health, recreational, and environment solutions that would make Colorado a better state.

Amendment 58's opponents are banking on using the "dog whistle" approach of the bogey man "tax hike" to scare you and I into voting against the state's real needs in times of economic hardship that is here.

I would argue the case of Alaska, which makes so much money from their severance taxes that the state has no income tax.  As a matter of fact every Alaskan resident gets a rebate from that severance tax wealth from Big Oil.

But who is crying all the way to the bank?  Big Oil is doing all the crying.  From AP's report this morning:

HOUSTON - Exxon Mobil Corp., the world's largest publicly traded oil company, says it shattered its own record for the biggest profit from operations by a U.S. corporation, earning $14.83 billion in the third quarter. bolstered

The McCain Campaign is out answering the internet blogosphere again.

A continuation of the policy of smoke and mirrors...

"SO, Mr. McCain, what about the Economy?"

  "uh, uh, HEY! Look over here...Obama stubbed his toe and he didn't bleed - proves he's a vampire!!!
Afterall,we knew he had to be...

He runs with alien terrorists from MARS!!!!!

The Washington Post has films of the landing and met with their leader.....

We are demanding right here and now....RELEASE THE FILM!!!!!"

YES McCAIN and his Campaign are LIKE BUSH in one major way...

They will SAY anything (LIE); They think WE are STUPID; And when all else fails, blame the Democrats!

Watch the pollsters discuss this poll. Really incredible:

Is this what ABC should be doing?  Asking people if a fantasy show is more important than the reality of who should be our next president?  This exposes the essential greed of corporate television because high ratings translates into bigger advertising fees a network can charge for a show. 

See ABC's promo here.

 

Check them out and interact:


On Prospect, west of College in Fort Collins
Text KISSES to 69866 to caption this singular photo.


Highway 34 Bypass at 11th Avenue, Greeley
Text MUSGRAVE and STAY or GO to 69866 to answer the 4th Congressional District's most pressing question.

Amendment 54 is a free speech issue. Free speech is guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. There's a reason it is the first amendment. Without freedom of speech, you cannot protect any of the provisions of the Bill Of Rights.

Here are commentaries from Colorado newspapers.

The Rocky Mountain News

The ban applies not just to the agency the contractor is doing business with but to any state or local candidate or party. We can't fathom why, say, a paving contractor in Weld County would be considered corrupt if he and his partners donated to a state House candidate on the Western Slope, or the Democratic Party.

It gets worse. The amendment applies not only to the contractor, but also to "immediate family members," including spouses, children, siblings, grandparents, in-laws, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and domestic partners.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/oct/01/the-gag-amendment/

(continued)

The "right-to-life" movement that elevates embryonic life above women's lives is more accurately termed "right-to-prenatal-life." One of the most extreme 2008 anti-abortion, anti-contraceptive ballot measures is the so-called Colorado "Personhood" amendment - number 48 - defining fertilized eggs as "persons" with Fourteenth Amendment rights to "life, liberty and due process of law." Simultaneously, rightists have opposed the same rights for women as "reading feminism into the Constitution."

Both Amendment 48 and a rule change proposed by the Bush administration Department of Health and Human Services would re-define pregnancy as the point of conception, disregarding the medical definition of pregnancy - "the implantation of a fertilized egg." They would effectively categorize as abortion any contraception (e.g., the pill, IUD, emergency contraception, contraceptive patch) that interferes with the implantation of a fertilized egg, thus outlawing most contraception - the primary means to reduce the need for abortion.

In a slippery slope to 19th century status for women, rightists have promoted "conscience clauses" permitting pharmacists' and others' refusal to fill prescriptions or provide health care for women. The HHS proposal states, "[T]he conscience of the individual or institution should be paramount in determining what constitutes abortion..." - holding women's health hostage to anyone's professed religious/ideological beliefs.

It is time to recognize that abortion serves as surrogate for a spectrum of unspoken issues related to female personhood and male entitlement. The anti-abortion political litmus test was introduced by Paul Weyrich, who dictated that women step aside and "make way for new life." It serves dual purposes - the marginalization of women and the lightning rod around which to mobilize political coalitions, notably, Evangelicals and Catholics. The elevation of fetal life over women's lives, coupled with conservative strategist Howard Phillips' euphemistically described goal of return to "one-family-one-vote," is calculated to marginalize and disenfranchise women, consistent with the ultraright tenet that ultimately, only select white Christian males should retain the right to vote or hold office.

Rickie Solinger concluded from her historical research of women's health care that women's rights have often been held hostage by politicians and others with "political agendas hostile to female autonomy and racial equality" (Wake Up Little Susie: Single Pregnancy and Race Before Roe v. Wade, 1992). The criminalization of contraception and abortion, and the widespread U.S. adoption black market that assigned value to babies and punishment to women based on race, were some effects of pre-Roe efforts to control women's reproduction.

At core, Weyrich's anti-abortion, anti-contraceptive and abstinence-only ideology serves as cornerstone of an anticipated male supremacist theocracy. It is the platform upon which the majority of Republican candidates continue to run in 2008. The greatest conceit - that pregnancy is not a health issue and women's lives are expendable - underlies the dual standards of Republican Party pronatalist policy demanding female submission to males who presume the right to hold women hostage to personal beliefs.

Just heard on MSNBC that Alaska's U.S. Senator Ted Stevens was just found GUILTY on all counts. Tough, tough year for the right wing.

With thousands of wells drilled and thousands more planned, no wonder the oil-and-gas industry has a big interest in the Garfield County commissioner races. Two seats are up for contention and if Democrats finally get a majority after 24 years of political drought, there could be big changes concerning impact fees, managing man camps, and monitoring drilling activities especially in regards to water and air pollution.

The Post Independent reported that over $45,000 has been spent by outside interests to influence the outcome of the GarCo commissioner races. In one example, Paul Rady, the chief executive officer of Antero Resources Corp, a company drilling in GarCo, donated $20,000 to Western Heritage, one of the 527 committees spearheading media campaigns in support of the Republican candidates.

GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colorado - Five groups from outside Garfield County have spent about $45,700 in the last two months to sway voters in this year's two county commissioner races.

State campaign finance reports, court documents and local advertising rate cards show that three of the outside groups have connections to the several active state GOP members.

Those people include the Colorado Republican Party's outside legal counsel, the chief of staff for former congressman Scott McInnis, and a Republican political consultant with ties to several state organizations. The groups supporting the Democratic candidates are a Montana-based environmental coalition, which includes Grand Junction-based Western Colorado Congress, and a Denver-based left-leaning organization.

The money flooding the two races comes as many state officials see Garfield County as the epicenter of energy development in Colorado.

Republican Larry McCown is vacating his seat after 12 years and former county judge Steve Carter, a Democrat and Republican Mike Samson, a school administrator, are vying for the open seat. Both live in Rifle.

Democrat Steve Bershenyi, a blacksmith and artist, is challenging Republican John Martin, who is seeking his fourth term. Trési Houpt, a Democrat, is not up for re-election this year.

Both Democratic commissioner candidates have promised tighter regulations for the oil and gas industry in Garfield County and want to enact impact fees to help pay for industry impacts on roads and local services. Houpt, who is also member of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, has been often silenced by a 2-to-1 vote on oil-and-gas issues.

Martin was the swing vote to approve a $23 million tax credit for Chevron to reimburse the expense of rebuilding County Road 204 to their gas fields, a plan some locals have dubbed, "The Road to Nowhere." The funds could come out of the severance tax revenues given to the county to mitigate drilling impacts, about seven year's worth, if the two Republican commissioners have their way. Last spring, Martin and McCown also approved a variance in the county planning and zoning regulations that allows oil-and-gas man camps of eight men or less on private property without the owner's consent, an infringement on private property rights some landowners have claimed.

Both Carter and Bershenyi have received help from environmental groups concerned with oil and gas development. The Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC), a Billings, Mont.-based environmental and advocacy group, has spent about $13,550 in support of the Democratic candidates.

Ballot returns and early voting in Garfield County have been very slow, perhaps a sign that there are still a lot of undecided voters in this battleground.

References: http://www.postindependent.com/article/20081027/VALLEYNEWS/110279991/1083&ParentProfile=1074&title=Garfield%20County%20races%20see%20about%20$46K%20of%20outside%20money

http://www.postindependent.com/article/20081026/VALLEYNEWS/810258690&SearchID=73334238374511&parentprofile=search

Bob Schaffer's out of touch, wrong on critical issues rap-sheet grows by the day. I found this latest charge in Ed Quillen's column in the Sunday Denver Post.

Read the whole column online at http://www.denverpost.com/quillen/ci_10799075

or scroll down to the extended post text.

The Referendum A test still carries a lot of weight with me.  Once again here's a case where Bob Schaffer sided with big-monied interests and against Colorado farmers, ranchers and communities.

Hopefully, he'll be sliding into the dustbin of Colorado political history by 10:00 PM on November 4th.  Being too cozy with the "drill baby, drill" crowd of oilies is bad enough, but working on the wrong side of water policy is unforgiveable.

PS - If you get a chance, drop a complimentary email to Ed (his email link at at the end of the Extended Post Text).  It is so hard to find something worthy of praise in the Denver Post these days that we should encourage Ed to continue his good work.

I've seen a few recent stories giving Howard Dean some credit for driving the 50-state strategy that, in hindsight, seems to have been pretty wise. The latest is an article in the Las Vegas Sun. The money line:

Republicans better find themselves a Howard Dean, and fast.

This ongoing negotiations between US and Iraq is not being reported by US corporate television or, especially, local television but it certainly is being followed by the rest of the world's nations.  Since Mr. Bush is leaving office he simply doesn't care about what this nation used to stand for because he wants to lock in the US to Iraq for the next president. 

From McClatchy Washington Bureau, reporters Roy Gutman and Leila Fadel write:

BAGHDAD _ The U.S. military has warned Iraq that it will shut down military operations and other vital services throughout the country on Jan. 1 if the Iraqi government doesn't agree to a new agreement on the status of U.S. forces or a renewed United Nations mandate for the American mission in Iraq.

Many Iraqi politicians view the move as akin to political blackmail, a top Iraqi official told McClatchy Sunday.

In addition to halting all military actions, U.S. forces would cease activities that support Iraq’s economy, educational sector and other areas _ "everything" _ said Tariq al Hashimi, the country’s Sunni Muslim vice president. "I didn’t know the Americans are rendering such wide-scale services."

While readers on this site will be outraged.  It is time for our Senators to become involved.  In the past Mr. Bush has tried to circumvent the Senate's confirmation of treaties power.  This "Status of Forces Agreement" should roundly be condemned by Senators as a whole. 

The only way this will happen if we put some pressure on our Senators to make this an issue.

Ask them is it ethical to blackmail Iraq "partner" into a new agreement by the torture and blackmail President?  Ask them if "status of forces" agreement is a transparent attempt to circumvent the constitutional duty of the Senate to confirm "treaties"?

What do you think Senator Salazar would say?  Allard?  How about candidates Udall or Shaffer?

 

It is time to deny the 70 billion USD bonuses with the 700 billion USD bailout package being paid for by us.

UKGuardian.com has this:

Financial workers at Wall Street's top banks are to receive pay deals worth more than $70bn (£40bn), a substantial proportion of which is expected to be paid in discretionary bonuses, for their work so far this year - despite plunging the global financial system into its worst crisis since the 1929 stock market crash, the Guardian has learned.

Staff at six banks including Goldman Sachs and Citigroup are in line to pick up the payouts despite being the beneficiaries of a $700bn bail-out from the US government that has already prompted criticism. The government's cash has been poured in on the condition that excessive executive pay would be curbed.

Perhaps we should be doing this as per the Merkel government.

Chris Carey notes:

The German government has taken a more stringent approach with banks participating in its bailout program. Companies there would have to cap salaries for top executives at 500,000 Euros, or roughly $635,000. The German plan also would prohibit them from receiving bonuses until the debt to the government is repaid.

 

Reports are coming in that Barack Obama's Colorado appearances today were record breaking. One Democratic Party insider says that the Denver Rally pulled in over 100,000 supporters.

I was within a softball toss of Barack in Fort Collins. One early estimate claims 45,000 attended; it sure looked like a lot more than that to me.  The Eastern half of the CSU Oval was filled with people, and more were crowded into the Southwest quarter of the Oval.

If I were priviledged enough...I would paste in one of my low-res pictures of the crowd.  But, even Barack said that the setting was incredible.  The trees surrounding the Oval were in full color.

Barack's message has evolved, even from the acceptance speach at Mile High.  Focused, positive and thoroughly inspiring.

I was struck by several uses of "the future" today.  Each time was full of hope and desire for the best for all Americans.  Barack's comments were on-target for a number of topics:  the economy, healthcare, primary education, secondary education, jobs and how John McCain is out of touch.

The program started with a prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance and an a capella performance of the National Anthem.  Betsy Markey gave one of her best speaches as did Governor Bill Ritter.

Other news organizations will have a full transcript of the speach.  The press contingent was impressive.  But, news coverag does not compare to being there...being there to see the future President.

Take special note of the children acting like monkeys and calling Obama the "monkey president". The cursing man with the baby was also a special treat:

UPDATE: And now we learn that the story out of the Pittsburgh area about a supposed attack on a McCain supporter by a black Obama supporter was a fake. That's right, the girl admits she made it up to provoke racial animosity. The McCain / Palin campaign will FOREVER be remembered as the most racist, hateful, despicable campaign in modern American history.

Call for McCain to apologize for hypocrisy:

Disabled persons thrown out by McCain this morning, apology demanded

For Immediate Release
Friday, October 24, 2008
Contact:  Michael Huttner
(303) 931-4547

Denver-ProgressNowAction called for McCain to apologize to people with disabilities after having his running-mate recently cover up his terrible record on voting against the disabled.  The group also captured photos and video of McCain's campaign throwing out people with disabilities at the McCain speech in Denver this morning. 

"McCain & Palin are hypocrites when it comes to special needs funding and disability rights," stated Michael Huttner, Executive Director of Colorado's largest online progressive organization. "His running mate is calling for funding for the disabled, while McCain is throwing people with disabilities out of his event, and more importantly voted against them 18 times." 

McCain has voted throughout his career against special education funding, children's health care, and disability funding. (see specific research on specific votes below) 

This morning, Sarah Palin claimed that "In a McCain-Palin administration, we will fully fund IDEA." (Palin Remaks, 10/24/2008) 

"Their speeches reek of hypocrisy," stated Huttner.  "On the same day McCain is throwing out disabled community members. We call for McCain to apologize immediately." 

Note to Press:  The members of the McCain campaign and the Denver Police officer in the photo are the same team that unlawfully arrested the 60 year old librarian, Carol Kreck, outside a McCain event earlier this year at the Denver Center for Performing Arts. 

# # #

McCain Consistently Voted Against the Interests Of People With Disabilities

McCain Opposed a Program to Encourage Community-Based Services to Individuals with Disabilities. In 2003, McCain voted against an amendment that would establish a demonstration project under Medicare to encourage community-based services to individuals with disabilities. The amendment failed 50-48. [S 1, Vote #247, 6/26/03]

McCain Voted Against Establishing A Reserve Fund To Help People With Disabilities Become Employed.  In 1998, McCain voted against consideration of an amendment that establishes a deficit neutral reserve fund of up to $2 billion in FY 1999-2003 to finance disability programs that allow disabled persons to become employed and remain independent.  The motion failed 47-51.  [S.Amdt. 2224 to S.Con.Res. 86, Vote #82, 4/02/98]

McCain Voted Against Covering Spina Bifida For The Children of Veterans.  In 1996, McCain voted against the germaneness of an amendment that would extend veterans health care and related benefits to the children of Vietnam Veterans suffering from spina bifida, a spinal cord birth defect that causes neurological damage.  The amendment was judged germane 62-35.  [HR 3666, Vote #276, 9/5/96]

McCain Voted Against $19 billion For Military And Veterans' Hospitals.  In 2006, McCain voted against an amendment that provided $19 billion for military and veterans' hospitals, offset by limiting the dividend and capital-gains tax rates to individuals earning less than $1 million.  The amendment failed 44-53.  [HR 4297, Vote #7, 2/2/06]

McCain Voted Against Mental Healthcare For Veterans.  In 2005, McCain Voted against an amendment that provided an additional $500 million per year for the next five years for mental health services for veterans. The funding would be offset by deferring tax cuts for those making $1 million per year.  Amendment rejected 43-55.  [S 2020, Vote #343, 11/17/05]

McCain Opposed a Measure to Create Home and Community-Based Long-Term Care.  McCain voted against an amendment that would have created provide States with funds for home and community-based long-term care services for people with disabilities. Motion Rejected 45-54. [S. 1357, Vote #533, 10/27/95]

McCain Voted Against Closing Medicare Coverage Gaps & Ending The Benefit Shutdown for Those With Disabilities. In 2003, McCain voted to table an amendment that rectified language in the underlying bill that would force people with disabilities (15% of all Medicare beneficiaries) to pay all of their drug costs for an average of four months each year. The motion to table passed 54-42. [S 1, Vote #236, 6/24/03]

We have operatives in this country committing massive election fraud. But it's not ACORN.

It might not get published, so I wanted to share it here.....

In response to Senator McCain's latest round of inscrutable advertising, I've decided that I would like to do an ad in the same vein as "Joe the Plumber." I'd call it "Dan the Iraq Vet."

I met Dan the Iraq Vet at the Stand Down for Homeless Vets in Colorado Springs last week. Dan was an Army Infantryman from Fort Carson, and had 7 years of service, which included deployments to Iraq and other countries in the Middle and Far East. He also had some time at West Point, carefully herding clueless Army Cadets thru weapons instruction.

Dan the Vet wanted an Army Career, but he was wounded in Iraq, and suffered severe shrapnel wounds to his head and neck. The Army patched him up, but wasted no time hustling him out with crappy transition classes, no Purple Heart and no mentorship to transition him to civilian life. That was 2005 or 2006...Dan has trouble remembering.

Dan the Iraq Vet lives in a tiny apartment now in Colorado Springs, but he only recently managed to land a minimum wage job that could help pay for that. Before that, he was either living on his buddies' couch, or out of his car. Dan the Iraq Vet drinks a lot - before he goes to work, when he tries to sleep, and when he's with his friends. It's the only way he can keep going day-to-day without being angry or depressed.

He finally has a disability rating from the VA, but he still hasn't managed to get an ID card for treatment, or attend any therapy sessions....they're during the day, which would force him to choose between attending his session and getting fired, or missing his session and keeping his job.

In short, Dan the Iraq Vet got screwed over by his country. When he answered the call to defend our nation, our Constitution and our way of life, he did not hesitate. He took the toughest and most dangerous job the Army had for him, and he very nearly paid the ultimate price for his patriotism.

In my ad, I would tell Dan the Iraq Vet's story, and I would say what Senator Obama would do for him. Senator Obama will make sure the VA takes care of Dan the Vet, including PTSD therapy and proper medical attention for his wounds.

That's because Sen. Obama took his job on the Senate Veteran Affairs committee seriously, and he's consistently voted for funding for the VA, especially mental health counseling. Because of this, he has an 80% rating from Disabled American Veterans.

Senator McCain would tell him to go see a private doctor who might figure out what's wrong, and he'd use a "plastic card" to pay for it - IF the doctor takes the card.

And if the doctor doesn't want to take the "Plastic Card", then he can wait in line for the limited service the VA would have under McCain's idea of a budget. See, Senator McCain always votes for the least amount of money for the VA, like he has every year since 2004. Dan the Iraq Vet wouldn't get extra counseling for his mental illnesses, because Senator McCain fought against funding that program.

Senator McCain, the 100% disabled vet from his Vietnam service and his torture as a POW, will not help vets from Iraq and Afghanistan. Because he wouldn't help vets from ANY conflict his entire term in Congress. That is why he has a 20% rating from Disabled American Veterans. It is his record, and it is shameful.

And that's why he does not deserve to be the President of the United States. And if people would see an ad about Dan the Iraq Vet, and if America would talk about him, and remember his sacrifices and troubles, they will not vote for Senator McCain.

AP Poll - Setup for a Stolen Election?

AP Poll "Tightens" Race to a Point

Michael Collins

The Associated press came out with a remarkable poll Thursday.  It claimed that the presidential race had tightened from the consistent leads Obama has shown over the past weeks to become one of those "too close to call" national elections.  Their poll, conducted by German polling firm GfK, showed 44% for Obama and 43% for McCain.

How could this be?  In the Real Clear Politics average of major national polls, Oct 24, Obama's average lead is 7.5%.  The four national polls conducted on the same days as the AP poll show an average 9.2% Obama lead.  The polls after the AP "tightening" effort shows an 8.7% Obama lead.  Clearly the AP-GfK poll is an exception or outlier, as those are called.

Yet the AP presents this as news, not opinion

Trouble in right-wing paradise. From the blog of the Coloradoan's Editor:

The Family Research Council Action Political Action Committee is protesting the National Republican Congressional Committee's decision Wednesday to cancel $400,000 of advertising it had planned over the last week of Rep. Marilyn Musgrave's re-election campaign. The FRC accuses the NRCC of "abandoning social conservative candidates" after it scaled back spending plans for Musgrave and Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn.

Here's the letter from FRC Action PAC President Tony Perkins to Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, chair of the NRCC:

"You have made a grave error in judgment by pulling your funds from the Michelle Bachmann race in Minnesota and the Marilyn Musgrave race in Colorado.

"The left is attacking both of these outstanding women because they are true conservatives. They vote pro-life and pro-family. Both Congresswomen are against taxpayer funding of abortion. Both oppose embryonic stem cell research, and both are for a Marriage Protection Amendment. These are issues that motivate voters. These are issues they and other conservative candidates have won and can win with.

"Reps. Bachmann and Musgrave are both in winnable districts. Pulling funds from their campaigns sends the wrong message to their supporters and gives their opponents a chance to produce headlines that the NRCC has undermined these campaigns. It appears that the NRCC is abandoning social conservative candidates and the issues for which they stand, particularly if they are championed by some of the most promising female legislators in the Congress. This is no time to cut and run from a fight.

"I will urge supporters of the FRC Action PAC to stop giving to the NRCC until it starts supporting and fighting for conservative candidates in close races.

"My supporters and I urge you to reconsider these decisions."

Two years ago I was fortunate to see Barbara O'Brien and Jeanne Ritter devote some of their campaign time to the cause of military families. It is so good to see that continue.

Politico.com has posted a great story that is popping-up in several of my veterans e-newsletters. The example and precedent that Michelle Obama is setting is not only the right thing to do, but holds great promise for correcting a decades-old problem within the Democratic Party.

Here's the link, and the full story is in the Extended Post Text.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14733.html

I continue to see signs and symptoms of a Colorado Democratic Party that hasn't figured out how to get past the Vietnam-era paradigms of domination by anti-war activists. Perhaps with Michelle's example we'll see more Democratic Party officers who will behave as if they are not afraid of the Pledge of Allegiance or National Anthem, and will remember to include either/both of those in party functions.

The barrier between Democratic events and spoken prayer is lowly crumbling. Releasing the anxiety for Democratic candidates to speak openly about religion.

But, there are still too many occassions where a Democratic event will include a 10-foot tall American flag and silence on that final Patriotic step of including the Pledge or Anthem. Democrats who have served in the Armed Forces and would like to continue their service in political office are often dismayed and disappointed by this behavior.

There are too many really nice renditions of the National Nathem available to not allow the 2-minutes it takes to play one on a tape deck or over the PA system. Yet every time a group meets, and the American flag is in the room, the failure to make this Patriotic effort will disappoint a veteran, offend a veteran's family member or friend, and the favorite charge by the opposition of Democrats being "un-patriotic" is perpetuated.

The Rocky Mountain News weighs-in this morning with a good report on the growing revelations of the GOP voter suppression agenda. Curiously, this shows in Colorado as a fight between the GOP Secretary of State and two strong GOP County Clerks.

The County Clerks, Republicans Scott Doyle (Larimer) and Pam Anderson (Jefferson), are holding the line for what is right and just in the face of CD-6 Candidate and Secretary of State Coffman's fixation on a questionable policy. This year's election controversy is increasingly looking like valid charges of radicals in the GOP deliberately using technicalities and irrational procedural hoops to deny eligible citizens the right and opportunity to vote.

The contemporary "voter fraud" cries of the GOP are a manufactured issue with the sole purpose of suppressing likely Democratic voters. There is no problem other than the radical conservatives seeing their political clout wither with each succeeding election. The facts of the miniscule number of REAL cases of Federal and State voter fraud charges and convictions in recent history defy the hysteria of the GOP.

Doyle and Anderson are providing leadership and good public policy for all of Colorado. Too bad that there is some other influence keeping Mike Coffman from recognizing, and acting on, that good example. Maybe it is too much for him to run for Congress and be responsible for a fair election.

Read the Rocky's full story online at:

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/oct/22/secretary-of-state-stands-by-registration-check/

 

Pretty pricey! But what is price when history will be made? 

From the Chicago Sun-Times today:

WASHINGTON---The Obama campaign is putting a hefty price tag on the best camera and reporting positions for news organizations covering Barack Obama's outdoor election night activities in downtown Chicago. If a reporter wants access to the file center--which will be the best place to find Obama officials and spokesmen--be prepared to write a check for $935. The cheapest place a reporter could stand on a riser with a view is $880.

That $935 covers one reporter in a heated file tent, power, cable tv, internet and food. I am told by an Obama spokesman who did not want his name used that this just covers costs and they are not turning a profit on this. The planners could have built in more al a carte options for Grant Park coverage.

Coloradans deserve clean water. But Reps. Marilyn Musgrave and Bob Schaffer have consistently taken the side of polluters in opposing stronger protections for our waterways.

Full report on Rep. Musgrave

Full report on Bob Schaffer

Report follows:

The Overwhelming Majority of Scientists Say NO to 48

Everyday there is something new that the proponents of Amendment 48 twist and lie about. Yesterday there was a radical radio show featuring Kristi Burton from the pro-48 campaign in which the hosts ranted on about "the left" worshiping Hitler, Stalin and how the left "likes killing babies and old people." Its inflammatory talk like that can incite people to violence. If those who are pro-48 were dedicated to espousing the truth and against killing, Kristi would have corrected the hosts, instead she agreed. That goes too far.

Today a press release from Colorado for Equal Rights was broadcast claiming doctors are in support of Amendment 48. In it Kathleen Klotz Puls, M.D. says that the Colorado Medical Society says vote NO on 48 but she disagrees with them.

Also from the release, Dr Sam Alexander, a supporter of 48 unwittingly says "but we can't establish truths based upon what consequences we desire" when in reality, this amendment is the epitome of a culturally biased desire; a sneaky way to sweepingly outlaw abortion.

To include a fertilized egg in the definition of a person is not a definition that is legally or scientifically feasible, it is a definition that is culturally and religiously relative.

Kristi Burton:

It is time for Colorado citizens to realize that many, many physicians are on the side of science and technology


I agree Kristi. Many doctors are on the side of science and technology which is why they are against the amendment. Just take a look at the list below.

Please donate to the No on 48 campaign.

The following list can be found here

The Colorado Medical Society says vote no.

The Colorado Gynecological-Obstetrical Society says to vote no.

For more information go to http://noon48.blogspot.com/2008/10/numerous-organizations-who-will-vote-no.html

(and what you can do to help)  

No one will be shocked that we're witnessing deception in politics. Someone long ago realized if you have an unpopular cause, you call it the opposite of what it is. We've endured that legacy ever since.  

A relentless, decades-long attack on worker organizations  

Union pay-scale tends to bring up all wages in a given area. If one company pays better, workers may be tempted to leave their non-union jobs to get the higher pay. Business owners know this, and some have united in the cause of destroying unions. They have one overriding goal: higher profits for business owners and investors, accomplished by reducing labor costs.  

Critics of the decades-old campaign to drive down wages observe that “while the National Right to Work Committee purports to engage in grass-roots lobbying on behalf of the 'little guy', [it] was formed by a group of southern businessmen with the express purpose of fighting unions... they 'added a few workers for the purpose of public relations.' ... The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation has received millions of dollars in grants from foundations controlled by major U.S. Industrialists...” [from Wikipedia]  

In their relentless drive toward lower wages, less safe working conditions, and diminished political power for working people throughout America, they have harnessed the deception model of politicking. But this campaign isn't just deceptive; it is dishonest, opportunistic, and brutally relentless.

Per the secretary of state's website, Amendment 47 says:

Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution concerning participation in a labor organization as a condition of employment, and, in connection therewith, prohibiting an employer from requiring that a person be a member and pay any moneys to a labor organization or to any other third party in lieu of payment to a labor organization and creating a misdemeanor criminal penalty for a person who violates the provisions of the section?

The tricky or sneaky part of that is that mandatory union membership is already illegal in every state according to the Taft Hartley Act of 1947. Before this bill, unions could have closed shop agreements where every employee had to be a member of the union. The next step down is simply called a union shop, where new employees usually have 30 days to become members of the union. Then there are agency shops where not everyone is required to join the union but they do have to pay some amount of fees or dues to the union for their representation. However, federal law allows non members to have money meant for political purposes to be refunded. That doesn't sound so bad does it? If you don't want representation then don't join the union. Isn't that what Amendment 47 would do? Nope. According to many documents and case files, unions are required to represent all employees of the company with which there is an agreement whether that employee is a member of the union or not. This is spelled out most clearly by this document from the Legal Aid Society of San Francisco. Considering that the language of Amendment 47 does not at all address changes to this provision, know as "duty of fair representation", we must assume this would remain intact. This, in effect, creates union free-loaders.

If that's the case, why would anyone pay union dues if the union would continue to bargain for them and be forced to represent them in the case of a grievance? This is simply an effort to further weaken unions.

When the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that 8.7% of Coloradans are members of unions why is this even important? Because Jon Caldara (who just called union members terrorists), Pete Coors, and Jake Jabs want no unions what so ever in Colorado.

The backers of Amendment 47 talk about worker choice and freedom. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Colorado Labor Peace Act (pdf) sets up a unique second vote when establishing a union. If a super majority of 75% votes for it, then non-members must contribute some fees to support the bargaining process and filing grievances. If the vote fails, non-member don't have to pay a dime, but they do get that union support. Amendment 47 would do away with this vote. So, workers already have plenty of choices and freedom to decide what kind of union they want. Vote No on Amendment 47.

October 20, 2008
McCain camp looking for way to win without Colorado
Posted: 06:40 PM ET

From CNN Chief National Correspondent John King

(CNN) -- The McCain campaign is looking at an Electoral College strategy heading into the final two weeks that has virtually no room for error and depends heavily on a dramatic comeback in Pennsylvania, which hasn't backed a Republican for president in 20 years.

While Iowa, New Mexico and Colorado are still officially listed as McCain target states, two top strategists and advisers tell CNN that the situation in those states looks increasingly bleak. Iowa and New Mexico always have been viewed as difficult races, but the similar assessment of Colorado reflects a dramatic shift for a campaign that had long counted on the state.

"Gone," was the word one top McCain insider used to describe those three states.

This source said while the polls in Colorado remain close, he and most others in the operation were of the opinion that the Obama campaign and its allies have a far superior ground/turnout operation and "most of us have a hard time counting on Colorado."

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/10/20/mccain-camp-looking-for-way-to-win-without-colorado/

Is this the loneliest campaign?

Columbia Missourian reports:

The Republican presidential nominee from Arizona landed at the Columbia Regional Airport around 12:30 p.m. As McCain disembarked from the plane, a man yelled, "Go get 'em, John."...

A crowd of about 15 people assembled outside the airport's fence to see him descend from the plane....

 

New numbers from Rassmusen:

Obama 52, McCain 45
Udall (D) 51, Schaffer (R) 44

UPDATE: Take a look at the Pollster.com aggregate trendline for Colorado:

He announced this morning on Meet the Press. Some reasons:

Powell was concerned about McCain's response to the economic crisis.

About Palin: I don't believe Sarah Palin is ready.

Powell was angry about the Bill Ayers and how it was used by the McCain camapign and the Republican party.

Supreme Court "I would have difficult with two more (conservative) appointments to the Supreme Court"

On the use of religion as a divisive issue in : "We have got to stop polarizing ourselves this way"

h/t AmericaBlog

post text

Call for Musgrave to Reimburse Taxpayers for Campaign Visits: 

Musgrave requested trip, not simply White House 

For Immediate Release
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Contact:  Michael Huttner
(303) 931-4547 cell 

Denver -- ProgressNowAction called on Rep. Marilyn Musgrave to immediately reimburse taxpayers for the unethical and possibly illegal visits by Bush political aides to support her 2006 re-election bid.  The group pointed out that Musgrave still has on her website evidence that she requested the visits, working deliberately with the Bush Administration. 

"We call on Musgrave to immediately reimburse taxpayers for her unethical and possibly illegal visits by Bush political aides on the taxpayers' dime," stated Michael Huttner, Executive Director of ProgressNowAction, Colorado's largest online progressive advocacy organization. 

A report released by the House Committee on Government and Oversight Reform shows that Rep. Marilyn Musgrave directly benefited from the improper and unethical use of taxpayer money to support her 2006 re-election bid. 

"Musgrave's website still shows how she brought a Bush official to help her, under the guise of a public forum," stated Huttner.  "Instead of pointing fingers, Musgrave should take responsibility for her unethical and possibly illegal actions." 

Musgrave, on her own official house website, still shows her May 19, 2006 release entitled: "Veteran's Secretary Addresses Colo Vets At the Request of Rep. Musgrave". Her release describes how she "requested", "brought" and "hosted" a forum during her 2006 re-election campaign.  Click to see this release:

http://musgrave.house.gov/News/DocumentQuery.aspx?Year=2006 

The House report shows that Rep. Musgrave abused taxpayers help for her 2006 campaign on four separate occasions:

To see the full House report click:

http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=2222

###

...Ed O'Neill, the actor who portrayed the embattled husband and father on "Married with Children" came to Youngstown, Ohio, to stump for the Democratic nominee.

...

Then he recalled growing up here, and urged a vote for Obama. The crowd in this working-class town loved it.

Read the rest here http://washingtonbureau.typepad.com/election2008/2008/10/al-bundy-stumps.html

Please do not vote to retain ANY judges or justices in Colorado! Under Chief Justice Mary Mullarkey's leadership, Colorado's Judiciary and legal system has been turned into a protection racket for corrupt judges, justices, and attorneys. Self regulation is laughed at, and the Judicial Performance Commission's recommendation, cannot be trusted. As an example, see www.coloradoopencourt.blogspot.com Despite overwhelming evidence of judicial corruption, the Judicial Performance Commission recommended Judge David R. Lass be retained in 2004.

Until there is real accountability within our judiciary, vote every justice and judge out of office. They are domestic terrorists who destroy the foundation of America, i.e., our inalienable rights and Constitution(s). I also petitioned ALL State Legislators to investigate the corruption and to hold the judges and justices accountable. To date, NO Legislator has made any real effort to protect We The People from Colorado's corrupt Judiciary. Therefore, please vote out EVERY incumbent as well.

Please spread this message to everyone you know and ask them to do the same. If they (judges, justices and legislators) refuse to hear the truth, let them hear our vote!! Halena Lewis Halen@axint.net

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)

Join my group to support accountability within our judiciary at www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/group/OPENCOURT

Voter Fraud - The Dog that Didn't Bark

Michael Collins
Also published at the ACLU Blog of Rights

We're having our quadrennial encounter with the menace of voter fraud.  We are to believe that gangs of undocumented aliens and the unemployed will vote illegally or, if registered, on multiple occasions.  They'll do this to capitalize on the fraudulent registrations secured by paid operatives who can't make money in any other way.  We're told that this alleged pattern is a menace to democracy.

This is not a new part of the political dialog.  The charges have been around for decades.  They've been revived with real vigor over the past eight years.

They took perhaps McCain's best moment from the debate last night, and turned it on him. Obama's campaign has been amazing to watch. They've rarely missed an opportunity.

CBS poll of undecided voters:

Who won the debate?

McCain (R) 22
Obama (D) 53

Shares your values

Obama, Before the debate: 54
Obama, After the debate: 63

McCain, Before the debate: 53
McCain, After the debate: 56



CNN poll of voters who watched debate:

Who won the debate?

McCain (R) 31
Obama (D) 58

Favorable/Unfavorable

Obama, before debate: 63/35
Obama, after debate: 66/33

McCain, before debate: 51/45
McCain, after debate: 49/49

I was just listening to former Virginia Governor Douglas Wilder on a radio show. He made a critical and brilliant observation about John McCain.

His evaluation of the Sarah Palin selection rests on that decision as an indicator of how McSame would later decide on the people to fill the other leadership positions in a supposed McSame mis-administration. This is a powerful indictment of a candidate for president of the US when the nation so despirately needs a clear change of direction.

The specter of Sarah Palin equivalent appointments throughout the US Executive Branch shows no chance of reforming, and certainly not reversing, the criminal excesses of the past seven years. There will be no resolution to the US Attorney firings, and little hope of removing the fraudulently hired radical right-wingers who have been peppered throughout the Department of Justice to undermine, rather than enforce, the law.

This demonstrated decision-making pattern by John McCain is a screaming warning to America. No other fact shines so brightly than the selection of Sarah Palin to confirm that McSame is the incarnation of a third, and perhaps more devastating, term for the G.W. Bush policies.

Considering everything you find important, think your retired relatives who will be hurt if McCain succeeds and leads America down the path of more for the wealthiest and less for the rest. Victory in the race for the White House is critical, but top to bottom electoral victories on the ballot is equally important for our communities and state.

Pols is speculating that the NRSC may be set to abandon Bob Schaffer's failing campaign in a move to save some of their endangered incumbents in other states. It's true enough that the Republicans have a very serious cash disadvantage, a terrible environment for their candidates, and a host of endangered incumbents. Pols lists three races where the incumbent is in trouble: 1) MN, where Franken now leads Coleman; 2) NC, where Hagan now leads Dole; and 3) KY, where Lunsford is rapidly closing on McConnell. But there's also GA, where Chambliss is in a dead heat with Martin. And OR, where Smith is now trailing Merkley. And AK, where Stevens is trailing Begich. In MS, Musgrove is giving Wicker a run for his money. In TX, Noriega has been closing the gap big-time on Cornyn. And there are even signs that Allen may be closing on Collins in ME. The strategy of the NRSC at this point has to be: fall-back, regroup, and choose the best spots they can to concentrate their efforts and try and hold off the Democrats from gaining the a 60-seat majority, which seems more and more possible every day.

We've been reading online for weeks about the fact that Todd Palin has been a member of a militaristic, separatist party in Alaska. And Sarah Palin has been "palling around with" leaders of that party for more than 10 years, including this year in the official capacity of governor. FINALLY, someone from the mainstream media has reported on this:

Not that it's a must-attend event by any means, but the candidate turnout for the Colorado United Veterans Council was pretty astounding by any political junkie's standards. And all for 3 minutes of speaking time!

In attendance at the VFW Post 9644 were the following Senate/Congressional Candidates:
Ed Perlmutter
Mark Udall
Jarid Polis
Scott Starin
Hal Bidlack
Betsy Markey
Doug Lamborn
Hang Eng
Mike Coffmann
George Lilly (CD1)
John Lerew

And pretty much everyone else running for State House and Senate Offices. Candidates made their case, 3 minutes at a time, starting at 830-ish and went until noon.

With this lineup, who were the No-Shows? Candidates with crummy Veterans' records, of course:

Bob Schaffer
Marilyn Musgrave
Diane Degette

Testicular Fortitude Moment - Scott Starin telling a room full of disabled vets that he wants to stop building veterans hospitals.

Comment most heard: "I know it's been said already, but I want to take you for your service.." I guess they need it for their press releases.

Political Position most take: Don't raid the State Veterans Trust Fund!

With the exception of some brave NeoCons who were making fun of the Dem candidates in the corner behind a female vet Obama supporter, this was a respectful, interesting and calm meeting of candidates. Hopefully, more folks will go next year!

Call for Schaffer to Disclose His Relationship between Controversial Group and his oil company:
Group to endorse Schaffer may have actually helped him on war profiteering

For Immediate Release
October 14, 2008
Contact: Michael Huttner
(303) 931-4547 cell

Denver - ProgressNowAction called on ex-Congressman Bob Schaffer to fully disclose his relationship between his oil company and a controversial group that plans to endorse him tomorrow in Colorado Springs.

"We call on Schaffer to disclose whether he ever worked on Iraq oil contracts with this controversial group before they endorse him," stated Huttner.

Schaffer is planning to be endorsed by Moving America Forward (MAF), which originated in a public relations firm that worked to attract international oil companies and other firms to do business in northern Iraq against U.S. policy. (GJS, 10/14/2008)

"This relationship doesn't pass the smell test," stated Huttner.  "We want to know whether Schaffer worked with any one involved in MAF on his war profiteering."

Schaffer was one of several executives from Denver based Aspect Energy who went to northern Iraq to lay the groundwork for an oil deal between his company and the regional government, in violation of U.S. State Department Policy recommendations. (RMN, 10/14/2008)

The controversial endorsement is set for 10:00am Wednesday in Colorado Springs.

# # #

SNAP!  "White Shift" for Obama in Virginia,
North Carolina, and Florida

Obama on the way to a standing room only speech to thousands at
George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia   Image cc

A 900,000 Vote Shift to Obama

Michael Collins

(Wash. DC)  An amazing political and social event is under way in three critical swing states.  Virginia and North Carolina show a major shift by white voters benefiting Sen. Barack Obama.  Florida whites are also moving but at a somewhat slower rate.  The total number of white votes shifting from McCain to Obama is around 900,000 currently.  That number will vary depending on turnout and campaign events.  The exact size of the vote shift is important but it's not nearly as significant as the "white shift" phenomena.

Remember how Bob Schaffer voted for the Iraq War when he was in Congress and then left Congress to go work for an oil company trying to secure oil contracts with the Kurds in Northern Iraq? Well, the story is now back in the news. Check out this post on Colorado Pols that tears Schaffer a new one.

And check out this new ad:

Head to www.theuptake.org to follow the Musgrave/Markey Debate tonight and give your comments!

GEN Clark will be in Aurora, Pueblo and Colorado Springs for one day on Oct. 22nd. I'm working on getting the details for the So. Colorado events, but he'll be in Aurora at the Retired Enlisted Association #3, 1599 Dayton Street at 9am. The event is open to the public.

You know that GEN is not afraid to pull any punches when it comes to talking about the GOP, and esp on John McCain. This should be a delightful event as he speaks his mind!

Brian Burnham Jones 2896 Kalmia #302, Boulder, CO 80301 Brian.b.jones@colorado.edu (415) 269-5357 www.dynamichealer.com

Objective: To develop legendary wellness communities focused on natural health and sustainable living.

EDUCATION

Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado Boulder, CO MBA Candidate: Emphasis in entrepreneurship and sustainable real estate development Aug. 2007 - May 2009 Focus on sustainable communities, schools, hospitals, wellness resorts and spas

Heartwood Institute, Garberville, CA H.H.P. Holistic Healthcare Practitioner: Integrative, alternative and natural health therapies Feb. 2004 - Sept. 2005

Stanford University, Stanford, CA MA, Master of Arts: Psychology, Psychophysiology (mind/body studies) Jan. 1998 - Dec. 1999 BA, Bachelor of Arts: Religious Studies, Comparative Philosophy of Religion Sept. 1994 - Jan. 1998

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Turnkey Development Management, LLC Northern Colorado Denver full-service real estate development firm focused on green, multi-use, construction. Feb 2008 – Present Officer of Sustainability and Competitive Intelligence. • Coordinated new in-house sustainability programs and business development models • Developed systems of “competitive intelligence” for emerging trends in sustainability • Strategize whole-system sustainable approaches with teams of designers and builders • Project planning and innovation at “Riverwalk” (a 350 acre waterfront development)

Ace Parking Management Inc. Largest privately owned parking company in USA with annual revenues over $350 million San Diego, CA Director of Advertising and Public Relations June 2006 - July 2007 • Coordinated all media and PR with clients, www, radio, TV, print, & trade shows • Innovated in-house ad sales which increased revenues by estimated $100,000/year Director of Real Estate and Land Resources Dec. 2001 - Sept. 2002 • Sole commercial agent: bought & sold over $8 million in company property • Successfully marketed in-house sales working with local and international clients Downtown Parking Operations Manager Sept. 2000 - Dec. 2001 • Supervised 150+ personnel: at hotels, garages, and valet stations in San Diego, CA

Cloud 9 Spa and Wellness Center Since 1991, premier local wellness spa in affluent Silicon Valley suburban community Los Gatos, CA Holistic Healthcare Professional Sept. 2005 - May 2006 • Provided private health coaching: in yoga, massage, meditation, and exercise • Led group classes: in nutrition, Chinese medicine, & meditation for ongoing clients

Bay Area Youth Center Non-profit residential foster care organization with 8 houses for teens around Oakland, CA Hayward, CA Live-in Group Home Counselor & Team Leader Sept. 2002 - Jan. 2004 • Supervised & mentored court ordered foster-care teens towards independent living • Managed, scheduled, and trained full time staff of 8 counselors

Psychology Dept., Stanford University The leading psychology department among American universities for decades Stanford, CA Psychophysiology Lab Manager June 1997 - Dec. 1999 • Led team of 9 researchers on NIH study and thesis on “emotional intelligence” • Wrote and published research results in journal of Biological Psychology, vol. 58

The Nobel Prize for Economics was awarded to Paul Krugman today, for work he did three decades ago!

Arvind Panagariya, Forbes.com, writes:

...Krugman, no less a giant, revolutionized the field [of trade theory]...

While descriptive explanations of these phenomena existed, a tight theory explaining them was lacking.

Starting in 1979, Krugman published a series of papers that successfully tackled these and many other related questions. He postulated that consumers like variety in what they consume. For the same expenditure, their satisfaction is greater if they have a larger variety of products available. This creates the incentive for firms to produce a large variety of products. But the production of a new variety has setup costs. This leads to declining per-unit costs as a larger quantity of the variety is produced and places a limit on the number of varieties the market can profitably supply. A firm produces a new variety only if it can capture a large enough market to allow profitable sales.

This seemingly simple structure gives rise to a tight theory that leads to rich implications: Countries gain from trade not only because larger market allows them to better exploit scale economies, but also because consumers can access a larger variety of products. And even identical economies can gain from trade through scale economies and a larger variety of products. The theory also brought imperfect competition into a formal trade model....

 

Digby says:

Have you ever watched people identified on TV as a "political consultant" and thought to yourself, "geez, I could do better than that." Well, now you can prove it...

This is a really fun concept. The ads are great and the idea that we can all contribute directly to put these ads on the air is a fantastic new empowerment tool.

And it's going to drive the insiders nuts ....

Here is the Blue America - SaysMe TV homepage to get started.

The ad will be narrowcast on cable channels NOT broadcast.

OK, I've always been pissed that the mainstream media ALWAYS lets McCain get away with his "I have a perfect voting record on Vets issues." Whenever McCain is confronted over his horrible record on veterans' issues, his usual response is "Not it's not" and the reporter meekly shrugs their head and moves on to the next bogus question.

Seeing how well that's worked for the GOP candidate for President, Gov Palin now is saying her guilt is "resting after an extended squawk " (per CBS News)

"In a brief conference call with press reported by the Anchorage Daily News, Palin said, "I'm very, very pleased to be cleared of any legal wrongdoing … any hint of any kind of unethical activity there. Very pleased to be cleared of any of that."

And, as usual, the mainstream media rolled over obediently and moved on to the next question.

Folks, we need to make sure that our own little part of the 4th Estate that despite how many times the candidates deny there's a dead parrot in the cage, they need to follow up and report the truth.

The statement we need to repost on every news website is this:

"The report affirmed that, as governor, she had the constitutional right to hire and fire at will, and therefore her termination of Monegan was lawful.

However, the report found that Palin, her husband Todd, and her subordinates used pressure and intimidation to try to force the firing of Michael Wooten, beginning before her swearing-in ceremony took place, and therefore broke the law.

The investigation said she violated Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act, which states, "… each public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust."

GET BUSY!!!

Public Policy Polling's latest poll shows Barack Obama and Mark Udall pulling away from their opponents in Colorado. Udall leads Schaffer 49-39 and leads among every demographic and 3 out of 4 age groups. Obama leads McCain 52-42, also leading among every demographic, including a whopping 71-21 lead among Hispanics. PPP says it doesn't look good for McCain in Colorado:

The numbers paint a picture that shows it nearly impossible for McCain to win the state at this point. Only 6% of voters are undecided, and among those who do have a preference currently only 6% say there's any chance they could change their mind. Obama's lead at this point is such that McCain would have to win virtually every undecided, keep everyone who could change their mind currently supporting him in his camp, and win over almost 100% of current Obama supporters who say they aren't totally committed to him. The chances of all those things happening? Not very good.

Ed Snider, the owner of the Philadelphia Flyers, is a major donor to the McCain/Palin campaign. That's his right. But using the Flyers' home opener tonight to prop up the failing McCain/Palin campaign was not his right. It was an offense to the Flyers fans. So you just knew this was coming:

And before the game, our friends at Keystone Progress had a treat for the Flyers fans. The "Alaska Disasta" trading cards that they distributed outside the arena:

Good for John Lewis:

"George Wallace never threw a bomb," Lewis noted. "He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights. Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama."

"As public figures with the power to influence and persuade, Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are playing with fire, and if they are not careful, that fire will consume us all," Lewis said today. "They are playing a very dangerous game that disregards the value of the political process and cheapens our entire democracy. We can do better. The American people deserve better."

First, you have to know that Norm Coleman is running an ad saying that Al Franken is "angry" and "unfit" for office, using this clip:


Then watch this:

I'm sure many of the Palin-hating blog posters here on ProgressNow are dancing behind your keyboards with last night's release of a report that found Gov. Palin guilty of abusing her power in office. And while in the short term the McCain campaign will be busy lying and weaseling their away around this development, in the long term THEY are the ones who are dancing with joy.

Why? Now they have an excuse to cut Gov Palin loose, choose a more competent running mate (prob Sen. Dole of NC), bash the media, and allow GOV Palin a political retreat that will solidify her future Right-Wing Nutjob career.

Here's what will happen - the McCain campaign will send out the usual Media-bashing "it's a partisan stunt" press release crap over the weekend, but will also loudly proclaim that Sen McCain will be having a closed-door meeting with Gov. Ditz on Sunday, prob before or during the talk shows,

Gov Palin will call a lonely press conference, and declare that due to the partisan bias of the liberal left-wing media, she has been unfairly declared guilty of crime she did not commit. However, she'll be stepping down from the campaign for the good of the Republican Party, and she'll return to Alaska to fight for God and Country and restore her good name in politics. For the remainder of the campaign, she remains the darling of the mainstream media, and attacks the Dems and Obama with impunity, all the while repeating the usual crap about the left-wing liberal media attacking her reputation.

Meanwhile, Libby Dole (losing large in the NC Senate race, and prob with no chance to come back) will declare her willingness to sacrifice her Senate race for the good of the country, and proudly accept the VP slot. She then goes on the road as the "GOP Experience Dream Team," nicely bashes Obama and Biden, and brings back the Uber-Right of party, and attempts to seduce independent and undecided voters with the Dark Side of the Republican Force.

Unlikely? Worked for Tricky Dick Nixon....

This was not the one-word headline I expected to see in this morning's Foreign Policy magazine Morning Brief email.  Similarly, the Financial Times brought gloomy articles confirming the depth of the current fiscal decline.

 

"Falling by more than 20 percent over seven straight trading days, the U.S. stock market's recent performance now meets the standard definition of a crash."  - FP Morning Brief, 10 October 2008

 

this is the first attention grabbing fact from FP.  Realistically a seven point consecutively repeated 20% downward trend line is what I've always called a "death-slide." 

 

It's a very effective way to get the attention of executive decision-makers and mid-level managers.  I've seen motivation and attention to detail factors show a marked increase. 

"Investors have lost an estimated $8.4 trillion dollars so far this year, with the Dow Jones industrial average sinking another 678 points or 7.3 percent Thursday."  - FP Morning Brief, 10 October 2008 

My proposal is to add this figure to the existing National Debt burden enacted by the current occupant of the White House.  In addition to being a condemning legacy of this presidency, it should be a lesson in who, and how, to elect the next president.

 

Personally, I'm watching the value of my supposedly solid Federal employee Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) account in a similar decline.  Holding a large percentage of my shares in a Standard & Poors 500 fund isn’t such a happy place at the moment.

Here is the opinion.

UPDATED: Music to my ears:

"Interpreting our state constitutional provisions in accordance with firmly established equal protection principles leads inevitably to the conclusion that gay persons are entitled to marry the otherwise qualified same sex partner of their choice," the majority wrote. "To decide otherwise would require us to apply one set of constitutional principles to gay persons and another to all others."

UPDATED: Here's the link to the Hartford Courant's coverage.

There was a fascinating interview on CNN with Anderson Cooper, Republican strategist Ed Rollins, Democratic strategist Paul Begala, and conservative political advisor David Gergen. Here's the link to the transcript. But the following quote from Gergen is the one that stuck out:

GERGEN: Yes. There is this -- I think one of the most striking things we've seen now in the last few days. We've seen it in the Palin rallies. We saw it at the McCain rally today. And we saw it to a considerable degree during the rescue package legislation. There is this free floating sort of whipping around anger that could really lead to some violence.

I think we're not far from that.

Not sure what's gotten into the DSCC. In years past, I've often thought their ads were pretty weak. But this year, and especially in the Udall/Schaffer race, they've had some pretty powerful ads. Like this one:

One of the most disagreable experiences I've had during this year's political campaign came when national, and local, groups viciously attacked the integrity, motivations and message of General Petraeus. Yet, on Wednesday the conservative Heritage Foundation heard policies and concepts from Petraeus that confirm the campaign platform of Barack Obama.

The complete story from the "Washington Independent" is in the Extended Post Text (via Foreign Policy magazine's Daily Brief service). This is an online news outlet associated with Colorado Confidential.

This can't stay a minor story. Petraeus' comments must be shared, and the Obama campaign should advertise these policies and tactics with enthusiasm.

Part of the value in this this is seeing a competent national leader, Obama, openly discuss a strategic vision and mission for the US military.  Now we're seeing that a widely praised general is able to accept that mission and describe the operational policies and tactics to accomplish what is apparently Barack Obama's security policy in opposition to McCain's irrational Iraq fixation.

Denver Commission on Aging The Denver Commission on Aging is comprised of volunteers who advise the Executive Director of the Denver Agency for Human Rights & Community Relations and the Mayor’s Office on the special problems of the aging community in the City & County of Denver. The mission is to make Denver the best community for older adults through education, partnership, advocacy & advising. If you are interested in being considered, please contact my office for an application or Suzan Moore, Director of Boards & Commissions at 720-865-9034. The deadline is October 31, 2008.

Citizen Oversight Board The Citizen Oversight Board assesses the effectiveness of the Independent Monitor’s office and makes policy level recommendations regarding discipline, use of force and other policies, address rules, hiring, training, community relations and the complaint process. The Board also addresses any other issues of concern to the community, members of the Board, the Monitor, the Manager of Safety, the Chief of Police, the Under Sheriff, or the Fire Chief. The Board is for new applicants with sufficient background and experience to develop objective views and opinions relating to issues significant to Denver law enforcement and the community. To apply you must be a resident of the City and County of Denver and may not be an employee of the city. No member of the Board nor any of their immediate family members shall have ever been employed by the Denver Police, Sheriff or Fire Department. This is a four-year term beginning on 1/1/2009. The Board meets the first and third Friday morning of every month and conducts quarterly public meetings that are televised on Denver Channel 8. Each Board member receives a stipend of $100 a month. For further information, please contact the Monitor's Community Relations Ombudsman, AJ Clemmons, at 720-913-3307.

Election 2008: The Difficulty Stealing It This Time

Image cc

New 2008 Democratic Primary Voters Are The
Key to Election Protection

Michael Collins
"Scoop" Independent News

(Wash. DC)  There's one major obstacle blocking a theft of the 2008 presidential election.  It's highly significant and challenges even the most devious minds.   That obstacle is "net new" Democratic primary voters in 2008.  "Net new" Democratic primary voters represent the difference between primary turnout in 2004 and 2008.  More on that in a moment.

Our friends at the Courage Campaign outdid themselves with this one. Really funny:

Gotta hand it to Doug Lamborn to be stand tall with Phil Graham in believing Americans are "whiners". 

Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2008.

Doug Lamborn is one of 28 Republicans to vote against this bill.

Final vote tally-  Yay- 368 to Nay- 28 (all Republicans)

Hey, even wingnuts Musgrave and outgoing Tancredo voted yay.

In 1961 Martin Luther King, Jr., addressed the very issue that Colorado voters will consider when they go to the polls on November 4. In 1961 (and by its proponents ever since), it was referred to as "right to work." Today we call it simply "work for less."

Dr. King observed,

In our glorious fight for civil rights, we must guard against being fooled by false slogans, such as 'right to work.' It is a law to rob us of our civil rights and job rights. It is supported by Southern segregationists who are trying to keep us from achieving our civil rights and our right of equal job opportunity. Its purpose is to destroy labor unions and the freedom of collective bargaining by which unions have improved wages and working conditions of everyone…Wherever these laws have been passed, wages are lower, job opportunities are fewer and there are no civil rights. We do not intend to let them do this to us. We demand this fraud be stopped. Our weapon is our vote.

As we contemplate going to the polls this election, we must keep in mind that the longterm right wing agenda to drive down wages hasn't ended. Indeed, the proponents of Work For Less laws have crafted a constitutional change for Colorado that would throw people into jail for doing exactly what we (business owners and working people) do in Colorado every day.

Watching Nightline last night they had a segment on "mud slinging" by both presidential campaigns.  I could not find the entire segment on the Nightline website but could find an abridged segment in politics section of ABCNews.com. 

As many others have noted is that corporate media is still insisting on the inaccurate view of making equivalences between "a" and "b" when there are none.  Whereas McCain is utilizing "guilt by association" between Obama and Ayers (that has been debunked) the ABC Nightline segment then makes an equivalancy with Obama's website on McCain being a part of the Keating 5.

What the Nightline segment did was basically whitewash the involvement of McCain in Lincoln Savings and Loan, headed by Keating, which failed and that cost taxpayers over two billion dollars.  The Chicago Sun-Times does a fact check.

Is this informing the viewer or is it just to keep the ratings up in the interest of garning viewers and higher profits?

 

Unlike the McCain campaign's ridiculous attempt to link Obama to Ayers, there are plenty of skeletons in the Really Old Senator's Closet that deserve speculation. I could see the Keating 5 coming out, but this morning news broke that McCain was deeply tied to Iran-Contra:

McCain linked to private group in Iran-Contra case
By PETE YOST - 7 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AP) -- GOP presidential nominee John McCain has past connections to a private group that supplied aid to guerrillas seeking to overthrow the leftist government of Nicaragua in the Iran-Contra affair.

McCain's ties are facing renewed scrutiny after his campaign criticized Barack Obama for his link to a former radical who engaged in violent acts 40 years ago.

The U.S. Council for World Freedom was part of an international organization linked to former Nazi collaborators and ultra-right-wing death squads in Central America. The group was dedicated to stamping out communism around the globe.

The council's founder, retired Army Maj. Gen. John Singlaub, said McCain became associated with the organization in the early 1980s as McCain was launching his political career in Arizona. Singlaub said McCain was a supporter but not an active member in the group.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jzQtw1kATj1xCqPcAmwgCKDtNpDQD93LGSJG0

So, yes, if the Right wants to start digging around in the Past, let 'em. They might not like what turns up.

You probably saw the poll over the weekend by the Denver Post (i.e. Singleton Post), showing tie in Colorado's presidential contest. The poll was conducted by the very right-leaning Mason-Dixon polling firm. Well, another (also conservative) poll out today (Rasmussen) contradicts those numbers:

Colorado 10/5, 1,000 LV 3%
Obama 51, McCain 45, Barr 1, Nader 1, McKinney 1

In a wonderful article, Peter W. Galbraith reviews the recent history and current status of the war in Iraq. He starts by looking at the definitions of victory used by President Bush - a unified, democratic and stable Iraq. McCain's definition is similar - an Iraq that is a "democratic ally." So the issue on the table is the path that makes democrats out of theocrats, sidelines Iran and "reconcile Kurds and Sunnis in Iraq's new order.

According to Galbraith, the surge has not been the main reason for the decline in violence. Rather, it is the rise of the Sunni "Awakening" that, supported by the Americans, have driven out al-Qaeda from the Sunni areas and diminished the awful attacks on the Shiites. This enabled the Shiite Moqtada al-Sadr to order his Mahdi Army to stand down, thinking that the US presence was temporary, and keep his powder dry for a subsequent renewed civil war with the Sunni.

But once the Shiite party most closely aligned with Iran assumed power in the central government under Maliki, the Shiite national army with American help was used to oust the Mahdi Army from most of Basra and reduced their power in Sadr City, Baghdad's Shiite slum. So in 2007 and 2008, according to Galbraith, Sunnis and Shiites fought civil wars, the Awakening (not the Americans) emerged to defeat al-Qaeda, the ruling Shiites undercut the Mahdi Army. So it was not the Shiite Iraqi army defeating insurgents but the Sunnis.

Maliki wants the US to withdraw so that he can turn his forces against the Sunni and the Kurds because he leads a Shiite party that wants to turn Iraq into a Shiite Islamic state, allied with Iran. Until 2007, the Americans fought alongside the Shiite-led Iraqi army, but under General Petraeus backed the Sunni Awakening that is deeply hostile to the Shiite government. So Maliki want the US to get out. With Americans gone, the Iraqi army and police could attack the Awakening. And Iran would back them up.

Meanwhile the Kurds in the north, who are secular, pro-western and democratic according to Galbraith, have been attacked by the central government forces at Khanaqin. Although the forces withdrew later, it was a danger sign to the Kurds, who have opposed us slaes of F-16s to Iraq because they fear they will be used against them.

Meanwhile, the political reconciliation that was supposed to happen once the surge bought some time has not occurred. For Maliki, the Kurds and Sunni are obstacles to achieving a Shiite Islamic state. Iran, not the US, is his primary ally, and he is a hard lineShiite militant from the Dawa Party, having spent twenty years in Iran and Syria.

John McCain says often that due to the surge, we are winning the Iraq war and that he wants to continue supporting a government and Iraqi factions that are Iran's closest allies in the Middle East. "He praises the Awakening and but [sic] seems not to have realized that the Iraqi government is intent on crushing it." His denunciations of Obama and Biden offer no protection to Iraq's Kurds.

"George W. Bush has put the United States on the side of undemocratic Iraqis who are Iran's allies. John McCain would continue the same approach. It is hard to understand how this can be called a success - or a path to victory."

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When everything goes to hell, you hold the people who were in charge accountable.

You fire them! Isn't that what an employer would do to you if you were responsible for oversight of company funds and they were stolen, embezzled, or 'misdirected?'

And if you were in charge of getting your company the best energy prices possible, yet the cost of energy during your tenure went up sixty percent, how long do you think you would have your job?

And if your employees watched the company downsize, get shipped overseas, and there jobs go along with it, while their real estate prices eroded because there was no longer any employment in town, would you be expecting a banquet in your honor, and a pat on the back saying 'hope things are better next year?'

For the first time in many elections the issues are as clear as 'Guns or Butter,' and if you can digest lead, more power to you... but if you don't want to see bread lines, apples and pencils being sold for a nickle on street corners because there's no other jobs in town, get down to the polls. There's a joke out there that more dead people will be voting in this election than ever before, so its up to the live ones to make your vote count.

When you're getting your tail out of your home just in front of the repo man, ask yourself how things went in Iraq today, and then thank the men responsible for the headlines at the polls on November 4th, and may God have mercy on us all.

Eight years of Hoover/Bush/Schaffer/McCain economic policy leaves us in such desparate shape that60% of Americans think we're headed into a depression. Do everything you can between now and November 4th to ensure that NO RIGHT WINGERS are elected to any office anywhere.

Johne at SquareState has blogged about how deceptive and injurious this amendment would be to Colorado's working people.

 

Work until you die as your 401k and IRA disappear under this crisis.  I was wrong to think a few weeks ago that this was a "faux crisis" after reading extensively on mortgages and the rise of "side bets" by the financial institutions.  There is nothing "faux" about what is happening now because the crisis is global in nature now.

What is telling is that I have not read of any coordinated financial strategy with the industrialized nations, but it seems to be "everyone for themselves" to solve this breakdown in "trust" which has frozen credit markets.  What has Sec. Paulson said about international cooperation?  Bernanke?  Bush?  

Jody Shenn and Carol Sallas, Bloomberg.com, write:

European stocks fell today as the credit crisis deepened in the region and after European leaders meeting in Paris this weekend pledged to bail out their own nations' banks, while stopping short of a coordinated rescue.

Meanwhile, Sec. Paulson has named Neel Kashkari to head the  Office of Financial Stability on an interim basis, until the Senate can hold a confirmation hearing that will occur probably after the elections.

Heidi N. Moore, Wall Street Journal, notes:

Kashkari (above left) is an Indian-American who has a few things in common with Paulson (above right). Both are former Goldman Sachs bankers, though Kashkari, at 35 years old, is much younger and was just a vice president-level banker in Goldman’s San Francisco technology banking effort when Paulson tapped him to join Treasury.

I could not agree more with Josh Marshall's point:

For all I know this guy's a friggin' genius. But did Hank Paulson really just put a 35 year old former Goldman Sachs VP in charge of the entire bailout program? 

Way to instill confidence Sec. Paulson!

 

 

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Is this what the neocons want?  Where the enemy is "known" and "understandable" with conventional hard force use that the military-industrial complex can create weapons for?  Cold war strategies based on war gaming studies of "Fulda Gap" utilizing an NBC combat environment would be "comforting" to the neocons because it is based on the past fifty years of mutually assured destruction philosophy of Herman Kahn and his ilk.

(h/t to Buzzflash.com)

From Novosti, Russia News and Information Service, press release:

MOSCOW, October 2 (RIA Novosti) - Russian strategic bombers will conduct training flights with full combat payloads and live fire all cruise missiles on board for the first time in over two decades, an Air Force spokesman said.

The live firing exercises in Russia's northern latitudes on October 6-12 are part of the Stability-2008 strategic maneuvers in various regions of Russia and Belarus with the goal of practicing strategic deployment of the Armed Forces, including the nuclear triad, to counter potential threats near the Russian border....

Is the eastward expansion of NATO a wise decision?  Wouldn't Russia see this as provocative due to it's history with western Europe?

 

Pop Quiz - which of the two presidential candidates has a Gay Chief Of Staff?

1) Sen. Barack Obama or
2) Sen. John McCain,

Surprise! The correct answer is #2!!!!

http://blog.blowfish.com/culture/greta-christina-why-i-do-care-about-john-mccains-gay-chief-of-staff/851

Now, overall, this should be a non-issue. If the Republicans truly believed their own rhetoric about qualifications being the ultimate arbitrator of hiring practices, it should be widely celebrated that John McCain is progressive enough to ignore the hate and bigotry in his own party to have Mike Buse be in such an important position.

But it's not that simple. Because Senator Creepy Old Guy was so heavily involved in writing his Party's platform, he can be called ANYTHING but progressive. The GOP is running this election on an engine of hate and intolerance that would make the Klan stand up and cheer.

So, how can he, in any good conscience, rely on this man to be his Chief of Staff?

There's two answers:

1) John McCain hates gays in all forms with every fiber of his personal and political being, but is more than willing to surrender those views to surround himself with those people to help him win an election.

2) He genuinely gives a crap about anyone sexual orientation as long as they can do their job, but is willing to surrender that view in order to appease his Party and win an election.

Is one any better than the other?

McCain-Palin scoriated. Barack Obama-Biden endorsed by the Humane Society for the United States.

Standing on the sidelines is no longer an option for us.

If Palin is put in a position to succeed McCain, it could mean rolling back decades of progress on animal issues.

I'm proud to announce today that the HSLF board of directors--which is comprised of both Democrats and Republicans--has voted unanimously to endorse Barack Obama for President. The Obama-Biden ticket is the better choice on animal protection, and we urge all voters who care about the humane treatment of animals, no matter what their party affiliation, to vote for them.

Voters who care about protecting wildlife from inhumane and unsporting abuses, enforcing the laws that combat large-scale cruelties like dogfighting and puppy mills, providing humane treatment of animals in agriculture, and addressing other challenges that face animals in our nation, must become active over the next six weeks to elect a president and vice president who share our values. Please spread the word, and tell friends and family members that an honest assessment of the records of the two presidential tickets leads to the inescapable conclusion that Obama-Biden is the choice for humane-minded voters.


Paid for by Humane Society Legislative Fund and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

Read the entire article here [ yes, there is a lot more....]

http://hslf.typepad.com/political_animal/2008/09/humane-society.html

Either Disney has gone to a new generation of Animatronics or we now have proof of pod people taking over the country........

Is SARAH PALIN For real?

How about a bailout for the Addie Polk's of the world.

Just last week, Gov. Bill Owens [Ritter- My mistake as noted by Kevlar Liberal] has imposed a state hiring and new construction freeze.  Raj Chohan, via AP, reports:

Saying uncertain economic times require tough measures, Gov. Bill Ritter on Thursday announced a freeze on hiring new state employees and ordered a halt to new construction....

Today Jim Christie, Reuters News, reports:

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has told Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson that the most populous U.S. state may need to turn to the federal government for short-term financing because a $7 billion sale of notes may be foiled by weak credit markets...

"The economic fallout from this national credit crisis continues to drain state tax coffers, making it even more difficult to weather the continuation of frozen credit markets for any length of time," Schwarzenegger said, adding he supports a federal emergency financial rescue plan.

California State Treasurer Bill Lockyer said on Wednesday the planned note sale was at risk from the uncertainty gripping financial markets and the lack of a response to it by the U.S. government.

"Basically no credit is available -- zero today," the treasurer of the biggest U.S. issuer of municipal debt told Reuters in a telephone interview....

Sean Paul Kelly, The Agonist, writes:

Look, if the States can't function we're all hosed. And the so-called Congressional bailout does nothing to address these issues. It's not even remotely close to a 'clear resolution.' Even Krugman says as much, "Aid to cash-strapped state and local governments, which are slashing spending at precisely the worst moment, is also a priority."

 

Paul Krugman sounds the alarm:

The financial and economic news since the middle of last month has been really, really bad. And what’s truly scary is that we’re entering a period of severe crisis with weak, confused leadership...

How bad is it? Normally sober people are sounding apocalyptic. On Thursday, the bond trader and blogger John Jansen declared that current conditions are “the financial equivalent of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution,” while Joel Prakken of Macroeconomic Advisers says that the economy seems to be on “the edge of the abyss."...

I hope that it [The rescue plan right now being debated in the House - Ken] passes, simply because we’re in the middle of a financial panic, and another no vote would make the panic even worse.

As Krugman points out that one of the key factors in the current panic is that Sec. Paulson allowed Lehman Brothers to go bankrupt.  Why?  GJMandinka, in the comments section of HuffingtonPost.com article, notes:

There has been a long-time rivalry between Lehman and Goldman Sachs. Hank Paulsen was CEO of Goldman Sachs before he took his current job. Big surprise that he decided to "draw the line" at Lehman....

When Krugman pointed to Lehman Brothers as being a "roach motel" the New York Times article he refers to is this Landon Thomas report:

...

Two weeks after Lehman spiraled into bankruptcy, hedge funds that did business with the Wall Street bank are still fighting to get their money out of the firm. For some, it has become a life-or-death struggle.

Big funds like GLG, Harbinger, Amber Capital and Elliott Associates have varying degrees of exposure to Lehman Brothers.

But even a $6.2 million fund run by students at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia has been caught up in the bankruptcy. The fund, like its larger counterparts, used Lehman as a prime broker, and no longer has access to its money....

For a definition of hedge funds go here.   For a total dollar amount of hedge funds go here.  For tax and regulation (or lack of)  information about hedge funds go here.  Another ticking time bomb.

Flooding the international market with over 600 billion USD as Fed. Chair Benanke did hasn't helped to loosen credit because financial institutions are hoarding their money now.

Taking over AIG, Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac, while engineering the consolidation of U.S. financial institutions through the use of a little known regulation from 1933 by Bernanke has not helped regain trust in the financial community although it has cost another 600 billion+ USD.

Now the House is considering a 700 billion USD injection of liquidity that will only be a stop gap short term "finger in the dike" or prayer measure because Paulson and Bernanke have not thought out real solutions to these problems that are facing America and the world.

What does this mean...not a religious armageddon but a financial one if trust cannot be restored through governmental intervention in the capitalist financial system.

 

Sarah Palin's training and experience as a TV personality dominated her performance last night. It was a theatrical performance. She stuck to her script and provided no more than the kind of idle chatter expected of a small-market TV news sub-anchor.

We now have the answer why she has been so distant and untouchable for the past few weeks. The McCain team has been prepping and coaching her at an unprecedented level.

She did not demonstrate the depth and scope needed to rise to the level of serious consideration of filling the job of VP, and certainly not reach any level of assurance that she is competent to follow fragile John McCain into the Oval Office. The GOP is so off-course to continue to promote her presence on the ticket as qualified in any sense of the word.

The dodge and weave she demonstrated throughout the night was infuriating. The WingNuts succeeded in their pre-emptive intimidation of Gwen Ifill. Necessary and justified follow-ups and clarifications were obviously by-passed by Ifill to avoid post-debate vilification by the Radical Right.

Palin's few clear pronouncements on security and foreign policy issues were deplorable. The casual mention of moving the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem is a toxic position that surely pleases the American Radical Religious Right (i.e., Talibangelist Mullah Dobson), but is an idea that has been known for decades to be immeasurably inflammatory to every Muslim influenced government in the world.

By side-stepping the question on nuclear weapons and nuclear non-proliferation she definitively disqualified herself in this election. The balance between deterrence and pre-emption has been horrifically blurred by the current mis-adminstration. Sarah made it even murkier.

Sarah Palin's performance last night was too close to the narrow, partisan message of the GOP Convention and totally devoid of any promise of potential to serve in the highest executive office. The best that could be offered is that she's now completed the crash course of study to be a good spokesperson for the McCain campaign. Competently reciting talking points with no further depth or capability.

AP calls McCain pulling out of Michigan a "major retreat":

John McCain conceded battleground Michigan to the Democrats on Thursday, GOP officials said, a major retreat as he struggles to regain his footing in a campaign increasingly dominated by economic issues.

These officials said McCain was pulling staff and advertising out of the economically distressed Midwestern state. He also canceled a visit slated for next week. Michigan, with 17 electoral votes, voted for Democrat John Kerry in 2004, but Republicans had poured money into an effort to try to place it in their column this year.

NY Times says it's a "major blow":

Ceding Michigan is a major blow to the McCain campaign, which had spent heavily on television commercials there and where Mr. McCain had campaigned repeatedly in the hopes that he could appeal to enough blue-collar voters, so-called Reagan Democrats and independent voters, to bring the state back into the Republican column in November.

But as the rippling financial crisis shook up the presidential election, and Mr. McCain's somewhat unsteady response to it appeared to cost him support in a number of recent polls of battleground states, his campaign decided to pull out of Michigan and redirect its resources to other swing states where they felt Mr. McCain had a better chance.

The McCain campaign has spent nearly $8 million on ads in Michigan, according to the Campaign Media Analysis Group, a company that monitors political advertising, and now it has no more plans to advertise there, campaign officials said. And Mr. McCain canceled a visit he had planned to make to Michigan next week.

Mr. McCain had long made it clear that the state was central to his presidential hopes, returning there to campaign again and again and bluntly telling a crowd at a factory in Belleville this July that "the state of Michigan, as it has in many elections in the past, will determine who the next president of the United States is." His campaign announced its retreat on a day that the news of his ceding the state was almost sure to be drowned out by the buzz created by the much-anticipated vice-presidential debate.

The McCain campaign's withdrawal will free the Democratic nominee, Senator Barack Obama, to redirect some of his resources from Michigan to several states that President Bush won in 2004 but where recent polls show Mr. Obama gaining ground, including Florida, Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia.

In a CBS post-debate poll of uncommitted voters who watched the debate, 46% thought Biden won and 21% thought Palin won.

In the CNN poll, Biden won 51-36:

Qwen Ifill asked both vice-presidential candidates about a situation in which the top of the ticket could no longer fulfill presidential responsibilities (i.e., incapacity or death.) Joe Biden spoke with gravity in his voice, talking first about what a tragedy that would be, and then promising to continue Barack Obama's policies. Governor Palin briefly agreed that it would be a tragedy and then discussed to what extent she would continue John McCain's policies. But there were two aspects of her response that were unsettling. She was smiling as she considered her own ascendancy to the presidency under such circumstances. And, she talked about the need to introduce Wasilla sensibilities to governance of the country.

While there is nothing wrong with the Wasilla comment per se, her expanding on the vision of her 72 year old running mate, who has had four bouts with cancer, could not have come at a worse time, in response to this very serious question. It suggests that she has thought about this, and she would be too willing to step into McCain's shoes. Dana Milbank also found Palin's response incongruous, if not jarring:

Asked about the possibility that she would assume the presidency if the president died in office, she found herself saying, "I think we need a little bit of reality from Wasilla Main Street there, brought to Washington, D.C." 

It is all too convenient to argue that she consciously connected "we need" with the idea of McCane's demise. But could there be a subconscious thought process at work here?

Palin, 5 seconds into responding about a possible McCain death or incapacity

Palin, 9 seconds into a several-minutes-long response about a possible McCain death or incapacity -- was the smile insensitive? Does it suggest something about Palin's ambitions?

I'll be interested to hear what readers think about this. The only innocent explanation that i can think of for such light-heartedness while discussing McCain's possible illness or death, is that Governor Palin's response rambled a lot. She very briefly (six seconds) agreed with Biden's somber reaction; chatted about her differences ("a team of mavericks") with McCain; returned for a moment to the possible reality of death; jumped immediately to the opportunity to bring Wasilla to Washington; then drew some distinctions between families and Washington.

Viewing the photo above, however -- and given the topic she was addressing -- it struck me as too brief a period of solemnity.

You're in a position to rise to the most powerful leadership position in the world, but you would do so at someone else's expense. Think about the implications of the question -- assassination, debilitating illlness, return of deadly cancer; then count off nine seconds to yourself -- and then ask yourself, would you have such a smile, so quickly?

• Whatever one thinks of lawyers, at least most of them are trained to have respect for the law. My experience with business types like the current gang running the executive branch is that the law is something to be ignored whenever possible, manipulated when necessary, and selectively interpreted when forced. The consequences have been awful- Iran/Contra under Reagan and Bush 1, and wholesale assault on the Constitution, the disrespect for international law, and the contempt for the legal process under Bush 2 and his henchmen, especially Dick Cheney. So the lawyers get my vote.
• Texas has a well-deserved reputation as having a frontier ethos, characterized by god, guns, and football as well as an anti-intellectualism that solves complex issues with simple, easy - to-understand answers that are wrong. Arizona and the O.K. corral is not far behind, but the only place that is more rabid along these lines is Alaska. I've had enough of "common sense" and ideology driving the definitions of problems and their solutions. So no votes for the shoot-from-the- hip types.

If true, this is huge.

Amy Goodman is the first journalist to receive the Right Livelihood Award, widely recognized as the world’s premier award for personal courage and social transformation. The annual prize, also known as the Alternative Nobel, will be awarded in the Swedish Parliament on December 8, 2008. [From the Democracy Now! website.]

Show your love by supporting Democracy Now! on Channel 12 KBDI.  Let KBDI know by calling them and telling them you watch Amy Goodman.

This will make her "untouchable" to the anti-abortion wingnuts.  Courtesy to Ms. Couric, CBSNews:

Couric: Do you think there's an inherent right to privacy in the Constitution?

Palin: I do. Yeah, I do.

Both dday, Digby's blog, wrote:

I don't know if she believes in the right to privacy or if she believes in the words "right" and "privacy" and saw them together and took a stab at it. But this is a major, MAJOR no-no for the fundies and the wingnuts. She undermined the entire intellectual argument against Roe without even recognizing it. Taking her logic (if it can be called that), if there's a Constitutional right to privacy then there's a right to keep medical decisions confidential, not a state's right but a fundamental Constitutional right....

and Johnathon Singer, MyDD.com, noted:

Nevertheless, at a time when the conservative cognoscenti is beginning to abandon the GOP Vice Presidential nominee in the wake of serious misstatements and a glaring inability to engage on even the simplest issues of policy -- which does have the potential of trickling down to the electorate (if the Republican base, which is still less enthused than the Democratic base, becomes dejected over Palin's weaknesses, a real rout could be a possibility)

Christy Hardin Smith, Firedoglake.com, looks to failed Supreme Court nominee and Federalist Society ranter Robert Bork, quotes:

'Judge Bork said, but the Court's remedy was worse. ''It comes out of nowhere and doesn't have any rooting in the Constitution,'' he said, maintaining that lacking such a rooting in text or the Framers' intent, judges invite ''disastrous'' consequences...'

Way to shore up the base, Sarah -- heckuva job! And I mean that!

In reading the comments section on John Aravosis' AmericaBlog.com about this "gaffe" by Sarah is akin to what I find in kids taking CSAP.  There is a lot of facts the kids know but there is nothing to connect those "facts" into a coherent whole.  The facts are just there for questions to a test that they have to take. Understanding the theories which these "facts" support is missing.

This one of the key comments made:

sukabi1 13 hours ago 1 point I think her "trainers" have tried to cram in too many of their talking points / positions and she's getting them all mixed up... she's basically repeating McCain's supposed positions and doesn't really understand what she's saying. Chances are her "trainers" haven't bothered to take the time to explain them to her...

Really, how much can you really learn AND UNDERSTAND in a couple of days of "cramming"? This really is a failure of McCain, for picking a grossly unqualified person. And a failure of his campaign staff for trying to cram in "talking points" without taking the time to explain the terminology they expect her to use.

Since Palin/Mc$ame will be in Colorado this week isn't it time to ask her if she still stands by her claim, and does John "Anger Management" McCain support his VP's statements?

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Call to remind McCain to calm his erratic temperament

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
CONTACT: Michael Huttner
(303) 931-4547 cell



Denver: With Senator McCain to arrive in Denver Thursday afternoon, ProgressNowAction called on those who are attending to return real marbles to Senator John McCain to remind him that we need more even-keeled temperament for our country. The group displayed a McCain bowl with hundreds of marbles and cited a record of issues important to Colorado where McCain appears erratic or irate.

"We call on McCain to get control of his temper, and be less erratic on issues such as the economy," stated Michael Huttner, Executive Director of ProgressNowAction, the state's largest online progressive advocacy organization.

The group plan to hand out marbles to those attending McCain's event and ask that they return the marbles to McCain to remind him that we need our leaders to be calm and collected, not temperamental and erratic when making important decisions.

"We need those attending tomorrow to return his marbles," stated Huttner. "He is erratic on the economy, hot-headed on when it comes to developing sound policies, and all over the place when it comes to protecting Colorado's water," stated Huttner.

Congresswoman DeGette,

I urge you to reject the $700 Billion bailout for Wall Street.

I wish you would review, consider, and then support Rep. Peter DeFazio's "No BAILOUTS Act".

William Isaac, the chairman of the FDIC during the previous worst financial crisis in the United States during the 1980s, believes Congress can address the current crisis with simple changes to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules.
1) Require the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to require an economic value standard to measure the capital of financial institutions.
2) Require the Securities and Exchange Commission to restricting naked short sells permanently.
3) Require the Securities and Exchange Commission to restore the up-tick rule permanently.
4) "Net Worth Certificate Program" - The FDIC would determine banks with short-term capital needs and the ability to financially recover in the foreseeable future. For those entities that qualify, the FDIC should purchase net worth certificates in these institutions. In exchange, these institutions issue promissory notes to repay the FDIC, counting the amount "borrowed" as capital on their balance sheets.
5) Increase the FDIC Insurance limit from $100,000 to $250,000.

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.

www.defazio.house.gov/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=441

Suggesting that water from Colorado be taken and given to Arizona was probably the dumbest thing McCain has done in this election. And that's saying something. Obama hasn't wasted the opportunity to make sure Coloradans know about McCain's plan to steal our water.

h/t Kos:

FLORIDA
Quinnipiac University. 9/27-29. Likely voters. MoE 3.4%

Obama (D) 51
McCain (R) 43

OHIO
Quinnipiac University. 9/27-29. Likely voters. MoE 3.4%

Obama (D) 50
McCain (R) 42

PENNSYLVANIA
Quinnipiac University. 9/27-29. Likely voters. MoE 3.4%

Obama (D) 54
McCain (R) 39

AP reports that Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund will begin running the Palin / wolf slaughter ad in Colorado. Here it is again below. Be warned before you watch. It's brutal. And probably the most effective ad I've seen this year. The aerial wolf slaughter in Alaska is a brutal, inhumane practice. That Palin upped the ante with a $150 bounty for every severed forearm of a wolf makes her, in my book, an despicable, unredeemable, heartless jackass.

The only sound I hear are crickets as Wall Street CEO's still have not said "Sorry".

This is why Americans have rejected the Wall Street "bailout".  Scott Colter Walls, HuffingtonPost.com, writes:

William Black -- a deputy director of the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation during the "Keating Five" scandal that nearly ended McCain's political career -- says the Arizona Republican's chief errors at the time were underestimating the importance of regulation and relying too heavily on slanted advice from captains of industry.

This is exactly what the Senate version of the "Bailout" is doing.  

Call or write Colorado Senators Salazar and Allard and tell them "NO" taxpayer money for Wall Street and "YES" for saving homeowners on Main Street.

I've been following the posts and rants on this fine website for the last two weeks, and the one constant in all of the post is the willingness to repeat the same STUPID bumper sticker mentality that says "No Welfare for Wall Street!"

I've tried to dispassionately tell you all you're focusing on a stupid bumper sticker talking point, and you're missing the big issue. So I guess I need to go with an brutal force insult instead of informed debate:

You're all being a bunch of webpost DUMBASSES!

You guys can do all the cut 'n paste web stories you want, and you still don't get the jist of the fiscal meltdown we're facing. It has nothing to do with the money blown by investment firms on dumbass gambles. None of the money discussed in the bailout is going to those companies.

This is a CREDIT Crisis - and since the American Economy now runs almost exclusively on credit, any freeze in that process will melt down our economy and at least put us in a deep recession, if not a real depression.

The real issue is this - banks and other similar institutions now have so much bad debt that they no longer have the money to lend to each other, much less to other customers. (This is Federal law that they're required to have so much in assets at any one time.) In the case of banks, a large portion of those assets are mortgage-based, and thanks to the housing bubble, they aren't worth as much as they say....even though most of those mortgages are being paid.

When banks stop lending to each other to fuel the complex financial instruments that our economy uses now, they then stop lending to everyone else. (The interest rate they charge each other when they do has shot up to the point that no bank can afford the loan.)

It starts with the so-so-credit, most of which is the American Consumer and his staggering load of consumer debt. It keeps going and engulfs small and medium business which use credit, rather than cash to buy inventory, ship goods, make payroll, etc.

History shows that when this happens, a broad economic crisis can follow, for instance, the Great Depression and Japan's decade-long recession in the 1990s.

"If nothing is done, the potential for these markets to seize up in a big way is definitely there," said Frederic S. Mishkin, an economist at Columbia University who was a Federal Reserve governor until last month. "When you look at the history of these crises, when things spin out of control, the cost to fix it later goes up exponentially."

Which goes back to my original point - al the posts and dumbass commentary is centered around the mistaken idea that all of the money proposed for the bailout is going to the investment and brokerage firms that bought the subprime mortgages as corporate bonds from these banks in trouble.

THAT"S NOT WHAT THE CURRENT BAILOUT BILL IS ABOUT!!! It's a combination of buying some of the mortgage debt, and providing some cash to the banks so they can walk the line of keeping so much in assets AND lend money in the form of credit to keep the economy going.

Now, over 200 non-Wall Street economists say this in-between approach is a bad idea....they signed a petition started by a University of Chicago Professor that stated the current bailout bill sucked. Their statement is either give it all to the banks to get them back on track, or buy all the bad mortgage debt.

With either approach, the debate NEEDS to be how the American taxpayer can get a chunk of these banks, and make we get our money back once the crisis is resolved.

But none of the commentary posted on this website does this -- AND IT NEEDS TO STOP!!