http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/blog_rss/kennethdebacker Some thoughts and poems about America and the World. This is bad for democracy because it gives ESS monopoly power for controlling elections in the US. The voting irregularities in past elections concerning equipment manufactured by ESS and Diebold should be ample warning that giving monopoly power to one electronic voting machines manufacturer should never be tolerated in a democracy. McClatchy News' Washington Bureau scoop of the day: " WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Camden, N.J., agreed late Friday to hear a request for an emergency injuction that could halt Election Systems & Software's announced acquisition of Diebold Inc.'s Premier Election Solutions. The quietly arranged shotgun wedding between the two voting-machine giants would give ES&S control of election systems in use in almost 70 percent of the nation's voting precincts. Federal Judge Robert Kugler agreed to hear Tuesday the request for immediate injunction brought by a small competitorm, Hart InterCivic Inc...." http://www.mcclatchydc.com/politics/story/76093.html http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CZS2 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CZS2/commentary#comments Sat, 26 Sep 2009 09:48:21 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CZS2 Ken Ken 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZS2/ Fulbright Scholar Program for US Faculty and Professionals for 2010-2011 is open The Fulbright Scholar Program offers 105 awards in lecturing, research or combined lecturing/research in economics, including seven Fulbright Distinguished Chairs and the Middle East and North Africa Regional Research Program. Even better, faculty and professionals in economics also can apply for one of the 144 “All Discipline” awards open to all fields. The application deadline is August 1, 2009. U.S. citizenship is required. For a full listing of all Fulbright programs and other eligibility requirements, please visit our website at www.cies.org or send a request for materials to scholars@cies.iie.org. For a detailed listing of Fulbright opportunities in economics, please consult our website at: http://www.cies.org/award_book/award2010/discipline/ECON18.htm. Katherine Matheson Program Associate for Outreach and Communications Council for International Exchange of Scholars 3007 Tilden Street NW, Suite 5-L Washington, DC 20008 (202) 686- 7866 kmatheson@cies.iie.org From March to August 1, 2009, U.S. faculty and professionals are invited to apply for *Fulbright scholar grants at www.cies.org. For monthly updates, write us at outreach@cies.iie.org for a complimentary subscription to The Fulbright Scholar News, an electronic newsletter. *The Fulbright Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, is the U.S. government’s flagship international exchange program and is supported by the people of the United States and partner countries around the world. Since 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 286,000 participants from over 155 countries with the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, to exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns. For more information, visit http://fulbright.state.gov/. http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CZxT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CZxT/commentary#comments Wed, 13 May 2009 17:47:57 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CZxT Ken Ken 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZxT/ Bloomberg reports : The U.S. government and the Federal Reserve have spent, lent or guaranteed $12.8 trillion, an amount that approaches the value of everything produced in the country last year, to stem the longest recession since the 1930s...  The money works out to $42,105 for every man, woman and child in the U.S. and 14 times the $899.8 billion of currency in circulation. The nation’s gross domestic product was $14.2 trillion in 2008.  Look at the table: =========================================================== --- Amounts (Billions)--- Limit Current =========================================================== Total $12,798.14 $4,169.71 ----------------------------------------------------------- Federal Reserve Total $7,765.64 $1,678.71 Primary Credit Discount $110.74 $61.31 Secondary Credit $0.19 $1.00 Primary dealer and others $147.00 $20.18 ABCP Liquidity $152.11 $6.85 AIG Credit $60.00 $43.19 Net Portfolio CP Funding $1,800.00 $241.31 Maiden Lane (Bear Stearns) $29.50 $28.82 Maiden Lane II (AIG) $22.50 $18.54 Maiden Lane III (AIG) $30.00 $24.04 Term Securities Lending $250.00 $88.55 Term Auction Facility $900.00 $468.59 Securities lending overnight $10.00 $4.41 Term Asset-Backed Loan Facility $900.00 $4.71 Currency Swaps/Other Assets $606.00 $377.87 MMIFF $540.00 $0.00 GSE Debt Purchases $600.00 $50.39 GSE Mortgage-Backed Securities $1,000.00 $236.16 Citigroup Bailout Fed Portion $220.40 $0.00 Bank of America Bailout $87.20 $0.00 Commitment to Buy Treasuries $300.00 $7.50 ----------------------------------------------------------- FDIC Total $2,038.50 $357.50 Public-Private Investment* $500.00 0.00 FDIC Liquidity Guarantees $1,400.00 $316.50 GE $126.00 $41.00 Citigroup Bailout FDIC $10.00 $0.00 Bank of America Bailout FDIC $2.50 $0.00 ----------------------------------------------------------- Treasury Total $2,694.00 $1,833.50 TARP $700.00 $599.50 Tax Break for Banks $29.00 $29.00 Stimulus Package (Bush) $168.00 $168.00 Stimulus II (Obama) $787.00 $787.00 Treasury Exchange Stabilization $50.00 $50.00 Student Loan Purchases $60.00 $0.00 Support for Fannie/Freddie $400.00 $200.00 Line of Credit for FDIC* $500.00 $0.00 ----------------------------------------------------------- HUD Total $300.00 $300.00 Hope for Homeowners FHA $300.00 $300.00 ----------------------------------------------------------- he FDIC’s commitment to guarantee lending under the Legacy Loan Program and the Legacy Asset Program includes a $500 billion line of credit from the U.S. Treasury.Makes you proud? Or does it make you think...what a rip off?Remember the canary in the coal mine? Welcome to the future : MENDOTA, Calif. — The customer seemed interested in a black blouse offered for $1 at the thrift store. But instead of buying it, she set it on the front counter. Maybe tomorrow, she told the cashier, she would have the money. Or the next day. But not now. "That is the way people are now," said the cashier, Alicia Reyes, as she watched the middle-aged woman walk out of the store. "They just come in here and look. They just come in here to kill the time. And then they take off." Welcome to life in Mendota — the unemployment capital of California. With a 41 percent jobless rate, the town's social fabric is tearing at the seams. Alcoholism and crime are on the rise. To save money, some mothers wash and re-use disposable diapers. Unemployed men with nothing to do wander the streets and sit on benches.... The national Katrina is here and now.     http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CZg8 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CZg8/commentary#comments Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:59:17 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CZg8 Ken Ken 1 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZg8/ This really, really cheeses me off when I read this McClatchy report : WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Monday will reject requests for almost $22 billion in new taxpayer bailout money for General Motors Corp. and Chrysler, saying the car makers have failed to take steps to ensure their viability. But..butt-boy Geithner wants this : March 30 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said some financial institutions will need substantial government aid, while warning against any attempt to tax investors who join a federal program to buy tainted assets from banks.  Right!  Just because AIG has lost almost 100 billion USD in the last six months and the American taxpayer has bailed out AIG to the tune of almost 250 billion USD in the last four months. Meanwhile... GM and Chrysler have already received $17.4 billion in government rescue money. The two companies faced a Tuesday deadline for the government to approve plans they'd submitted weeks ago in hopes of persuading the Obama administration that they could remain in business anad deserved additional money. I suggest reading " Why GM Matters " and " American Theocracy" to understand that what is happening is the collapse of American industry.  The collapse in no way should be happening except for the fact that the political and mass media systems has been utterly corrupted by the Wall Street Banksters. Why we can give the crooks and grifters on Wall Street trillions of dollars?  But when it comes to real jobs that create real products there is the "kick in the teeth" for GM and Chrysler? http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQYh http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQYh/commentary#comments Sun, 29 Mar 2009 22:34:09 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQYh Ken Ken 2 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CQYh/ Why does the economic plans by Geithner trump the ideas that Nobel Prize winners Paul Krugman and Joseph Stiglitz have?  Because President Obama picked "Timmeh" Geithner as Secretary of Treasury simply because he was "an insider"? [BTW- Some wag suggested that former New York governor Eliot Spitzer should be the new Secretary of Treasury!  Why?  Because then we would see real rules and rules that would be strictly enforced for the "Masters of the Universe" who are nothing more than WATB (see this ).  For example Spitzer just recently wrote about AIG and not the executive compensation but the billions of dollars that was being paid out by AIG to counterparty foreign banks.} So, the economists who have some ideas on how to handle the financial crisis are not the ones in charge (Krugman, Stiglitz, and Roubini) but the same people who created or had oversight on the financial " bucket " games going on. Will Obama fail his Katrina moment?   http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQYJ http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQYJ/commentary#comments Thu, 26 Mar 2009 18:18:26 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQYJ Ken Ken 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CQYJ/ The Roosevelt Institution is currently seeking applicants for the following full-time staff positions in Washington D.C.: Director Communications Director Policy Director About the Roosevelt Institution Click here for a full listing of these and other Opportunities with Roosevelt Director of the Roosevelt Institution Campus Network Position classification: Full-Time The Roosevelt network is in a period of rapid growth and requires a Director who can strengthen and sustain chapter operations while building network-wide policy capacity and leadership development programs. The Director will report to and work closely with the President of the Roosevelt Institute. The Institute, with offices in Hyde Park, NY, New York, NY, and Washington, DC, is itself in a period of significant expansion and will become more active in progressive idea development and national policy debates in 2009 and beyond. The director will oversee and advance the broad programmatic and chapter-building goals of the Roosevelt campus network by: * Managing a small full-time staff of recent graduates in Washington and part-time student staff distributed around the country; * Further developing its national leadership and career development programs; * Serving as a public figure for the campus network; * Representing the network in - and bringing student voices into - the progressive youth and policy sectors in Washington and beyond; * Communicating on behalf of the network and the campus chapters with stakeholders (policy makers, opinion leaders, and strategic partners within the progressive movement) and bringing student voices into stakeholder conversations; * Working with student leaders, including members of the Roosevelt Student Advisory Board, to ensure high levels of student participation in governance of the network; * Working with the Roosevelt alumni network to encourage alumni participation in ongoing programs; * Working with the Institute President to meet the campus network's funding needs and on the larger Institute's overall growth and direction. We encourage applications from candidates with experience in public policy research and advocacy, as well as from candidates with work experience in - and preferably management experience with - a chapter-based organization. Experiences in organizing, budgeting, and fundraising are also desirable. The position is based in Washington, D.C. To apply, please send by e-mail a cover letter explaining your interest, a resume, a writing sample (not to exceed five pages), and the names and contact information of three references to Rooseveltjob@feri.org, to the attention of: Andrew Rich President and CEO The Roosevelt Institute Applications should be received by Friday, April 3 to be considered fully. We hope that the successful candidate will be available to start work in June or early July 2009. The Roosevelt Institute is an EEO/AA/ADA/IRCA Employer. We especially encourage applications from women and people from diverse backgrounds. The Roosevelt Institute's website is www.feri.org. The campus network's website is www.rooseveltinstitution.org. National Director of Communications Position classification: Full-Time Summary The Roosevelt Institution has an opening for the National Director of Communications. The director will be responsible for maintaining internal and external communications for Roosevelt, developing its online and print narrative, creating and maintaining relationships with media outlets, writing press releases and amplifying Roosevelt's work, and organizing and supervising national and regional journal development, web and print material. The principal focus of work will include facilitating web communications and supervising policy journal creation. Responsibilities include but are not limited to the following: * Supervise and manage regional and national policy journals * Manage website and web communications (including monthly newsletter) * Write press releases for Roosevelt events and achievements * Facilitate blog, articles and op-eds written by students * Build relationships with and work in coalition with media outlets * Attend/represent Roosevelt at conferences and events * Some travel required Requirements: o Proven management experience o Excellent research, analytical, and written communication skills o Excellent web and computer skills + Proficiency in Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator preferred o Ability to lead under pressure/tight deadlines in a fast-paced environment o Ability to multi-task and prioritize o Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work on a team To apply, please email a cover letter and resume to applications@rooseveltinstitution.org. No phone calls please. National Policy Director Staff reporting to this position: National Policy Strategy team Position classification: Full-Time Summary The Roosevelt Institution has an opening for the National Policy Director. The director will be responsible for planning, developing, and facilitating Roosevelt's policy work at chapters across the country. The principal focus of work will include leading the national policy team and guiding our policy priorities, developing relationships with legislators, policy makers and other partners, and speaking as a a voice for Roosevelt on a national level. Responsibilities include but are not limited to the following: o Supervise and manage National Policy staff o Supervise and support policy creation at chapters o Prepare articles and op-eds o Speak at panels, symposia, and other discussion events o Build relationships with and work in coalition with other organizations o Some travel required Requirements: o Proven management experience o Experience working with and managing students o Policy experience o Excellent research, analytical, and written communication skills o Ability to lead under pressure/tight deadlines in a fast-paced environment o Ability to multi-task and prioritize o Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work on a team To apply, please email a cover letter and resume to applications@rooseveltinstitution.org. No phone calls please. http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQYG http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQYG/commentary#comments Tue, 24 Mar 2009 08:23:35 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQYG Ken Ken 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CQYG/ Remember the big Mid-West floods?  Well there was an underreported story on the affect of flood waters on agricultural lands and the runoff that was loaded with fertilizers.  The fertilizer laced river water that is injected into the ocean causes huge algae blooms such blooms trigger "dead zones" in the ocean.  Dead zones are regions of the ocean which lack oxygen.  However another effect of nitrates and algea is this: Surface blooms of the algae known as Pseudo-nitzschia can generate dangerously high levels of domoic acid, a neurotoxin blamed for bizarre bird attacks dramatized in Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 film "The Birds." Reuters reports that there are two long term dangers the most visible is the above quote.  However the second danger is that particulates with domoic acid sink to the bottom of the ocean.   They found that large quantities of domoic acid were sinking to the ocean floor, invading the deep-sea food chain. And the toxin appears to linger. So not only will we harm life on the surface but all marine life, even life that lives in thousands of feet below the ocean's surface.   http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQYx http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQYx/commentary#comments Sun, 22 Mar 2009 20:56:53 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQYx Ken Ken 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CQYx/ What is it with President Obama that he can talk but when it comes to "the walk" there isn't the fortitude?  From the Wall Street Journal (h/t Talkingpointsmemo.com) reports: President Barack Obama said Monday that he would "pursue every single legal avenue to block" $165 million in bonuses to American International Group Inc. employees who were in part responsible for the insurance giant's near collapse. But hours later, administration officials said the payouts made Friday couldn't be extracted from their recipients without a legal fight that would cost the taxpayers even more. But wait what does that mean?  Well, AIG produced a white paper about their "contracts" and Emptywheel, Firedoglake.com, provides the understanding : In other words, I take this to be a threat: "if you don't give us our bonuses, we'll trigger a default event that will cost AIG the US government tens of billions of dollars."  It's just a polite way of saying, "Pay us the $100 million ransom or we start exploding the suicide bomber vests we're wearing." Terrorists in three piece suits are much worse than terrorists living in caves.  http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQsl http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQsl/commentary#comments Tue, 17 Mar 2009 09:46:50 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQsl Ken Ken 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CQsl/ What!  It was 450 million dollars in the teaser from the Wall Street Journal.  But Talkingpointsmemo says : AIG gives out 1.2 billion taxpayer dollars for bonuses!  [Guess they can afford to get a subscription- thanks Josh!] So we just keep on giving the Wall Street psychos more of their drug- money.  Without accountability or asking too much because it might upset them because they are blackmailing this nation with fiscal destruction. AIG and the Treasury Department have both said that they can not stop the bonuses because of their nature of the contracts. Do you believe that? Are they willing to have anyone believe in that excuse? When there is a crisis of such magnitude then the "rules change" because the world has changed.  (Heh!  I remember the monster who said that!) http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQs2 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQs2/commentary#comments Sun, 15 Mar 2009 18:02:16 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQs2 Ken Ken 1 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CQs2/ The real meaning of theft lies with the "big boys" on Wall Street and not with the penny ante thugs and punks in the 'hood.  Chris in Paris writes : The sense of entitlement among CEOs like Lewis simply does not register with the rest of the country. If the best thing someone can say about you is that "someone else *could* have lost even more money, it's a challenge to see how you can keep your job. So what is the result of having been done wrong in the 'hood?   Retribution.  The eye for an eye because you have been challenged.  But on Wall Street there are people who are the "masters of the universe" who have paid millions in protection money which is called "donations" for laws to be created to protect themselves from the righteous anger of the people whose money is being stolen. The war zone in the 'hood, which might as well be in Baghdad, because the two worlds are seperate.   http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQs3 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQs3/commentary#comments Sat, 14 Mar 2009 14:50:35 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQs3 Ken Ken 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CQs3/ I caught this off Huffingtonpost.com about Jim Cramer and his boasting of what he did as a hedge fund manager: -On manipulating the market: "A lot of times when I was short at my hedge fund, and I was positioned short, meaning I needed it down, I would create a level of activity before hand that could drive the futures," -On falsely creating the impression a stock is down (what he calls "fomenting"): "You can't foment. That's a violation... But you do it anyway because the SEC doesn't understand it." He adds, "When you have six days and your company may be in doubt because you are down, I think it is really important to foment." Check it out     http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQst http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQst/commentary#comments Wed, 11 Mar 2009 10:48:24 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQst Ken Ken 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CQst/ Josh Marshall, Talkingpointsmemo.com, found this little backgrounder about Tim Geithner: ...Sandy Weill, the guy who in the 1990s built Citi into the mammoth systemic risk Death Star it is today wanted the job [CEO] to go to Tim Geithner. So if Geithner is ousted from Sec. of Treasury then he could simply jump on the Citigroup ship?   This is what Felix Salmon, Portfolio.com, thinks .  What a marvelous stinking revolving door.  While we the taxpayers are stuck with people like Geithner who still talk of "free market" and "private companies" as being the be all and end all for the American economy. BTW- Meanwhile, President Obama thinks of the netroots and bloggers in this light: And part of the reason we don’t spend a lot of time looking at blogs is because if you haven’t looked at it very carefully then you may be under the impression that somehow there’s a clean answer one way or another – well, you just nationalize all the banks, or you just leave them alone and they’ll be fine, or this or that or the other.  Duncan Black, Eschaton blog, writes : I find it more amusing than annoying that Obama has joined with many others in employing the rhetorical trick of attributing any views you wish to marginalize as coming from bloggers. I guess we, the netroots and bloggers, are just too darn new, still!   Perhaps Obama is still an intermediary step in the new political landscape and political process; i.e., Dean for America as version 1.0 then MyBarackObama as version 2.0 but what will version 3.0 look like? http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQsR http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQsR/commentary#comments Tue, 10 Mar 2009 09:06:46 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQsR Ken Ken 1 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CQsR/ Isn't it about time to have our government start a new financial system?  Bloomberg News has estimated that we are now in debt to the tune of over 11 trillion dollars for bailing out grifters.  The biggest rip off in history. Sign this to tell Congress no more bailout money for con men.  It is time to start a new financial system. Firedoglake.com has a petition to sign .  The Fed's Vice Chair Donald Kohn has refused to comply with requests from both the House and the Senate for the names of banks receiving federal funds, angering Republicans and Democrats alike. Bloomberg estimates that the government has spent more than $11.7 trillion to save the financial system since the crisis began, but Fed has refused to comply with Bloomberg's requests for details under the Freedom of Information Act. We know now that $80 billion of the $162 billion used to bailout AIG went to pay off its derivative trading partners at the full value of their contracts, despite the fact that values had tumbled. Economist Nouriel Roubini calls it "a nontransparent, opaque and shady bailout of the AIG counterparties: Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and other domestic and foreign financial institutions. The House passed the TARP Reform and Accountability Act on January 16, which would provide increased conditions, transparency and accountability for Wall Street bailout funds. The Senate is refusing to take up the legislation." http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQsN http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQsN/commentary#comments Mon, 09 Mar 2009 10:56:42 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQsN Ken Ken 2 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CQsN/ Still living in the past are Republicans when they say this : President Barack Obama should fill vacant spots on the federal bench with former President Bush’s judicial nominees to help avoid another huge fight over the judiciary, all 41 Senate Republicans said Monday. Obama should call the party of "No"'s bluff. http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQsj http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQsj/commentary#comments Tue, 03 Mar 2009 14:11:17 EST http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQsj Ken Ken 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CQsj/ Admiral Mullen seems intent on playing up the fears of a nuclear weapon possessing Iran.  In interviews over the weekend he spoke that Iran had enough fissile material to produce a nuclear weapon.  However Secretary of Defense Gates said that Iran does not have the bomb grade uranium that is necessary for producing a nuclear weapon within a short time period. Read this LA Times article and come to your own conclusion. I would say that there are two components to building a strategic weapon- 1). the warhead and 2). a delivery system. What is lacking is the necessary enrichment production system and a ballastic missile that has the range and accuracy system. Eventually there will be a MAD doctrine for the regional powers in the Middle East if there is not real diplomatic progress both overall and specifically with the Palestine/Isreal problem. http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQsg http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQsg/commentary#comments Mon, 02 Mar 2009 10:45:46 EST http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQsg Ken Ken 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CQsg/ I caught this off Talkingpointsmemo.com on the secret meetings going on in the Senate: Many of the parties, from big insurance companies to lobbyists for consumers, doctors, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies, are embracing the idea that comprehensive health care legislation should include a requirement that every American carry insurance. I think that this is shows that all stakeholders are involved in the process but the plain truth is that even though patients do have a voice it could very well be drowned out by the "Big Bucks Boyz" of BigPharma and Big Insurance. Read the list of who is at the table: ....The 20 people who regularly attend the meetings on Capitol Hill include lobbyists for AARP, Aetna, the A.F.L.-C.I.O., the American Cancer Society, the American Medical Association, America's Health Insurance Plans, the Business Roundtable, Easter Seals, the National Federation of Independent Business, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, and the United States Chamber of Commerce.... Tell me if what comes out is what will be good for people or for the bottom line? http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQ9W http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQ9W/commentary#comments Mon, 23 Feb 2009 10:32:32 EST http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQ9W Ken Ken 1 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CQ9W/ I was reading this Yahoo Finance article called, " Credit Card Issuers: Buy Something or Else! " that states the credit card companies are now cutting off your credit card if you don't use it enough.  What really caught my eye was this: Even years of loyalty and regular spending won't spare some cardholders. David Good of Houston, used to be devoted to American Express, with which he had two credit cards: an unlimited charge account and a $7,500 revolving account. Yet a solid credit score, eight years of on-time payments and fairly frequent purchases on the cards -- including more than $100,000 last year alone -- weren't enough to save his accounts. In December, Good received a written notice that the issuer had closed both due to "low activity in the past six months." "I was shocked," he says. "They lost my trust, totally." http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQYQ http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQYQ/commentary#comments Fri, 13 Feb 2009 00:53:11 EST http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQYQ Ken Ken 1 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CQYQ/ Paul Krugman : What do you call someone who eliminates hundreds of thousands of American jobs, deprives millions of adequate health care and nutrition, undermines schools, but offers a $15,000 bonus to affluent people who flip their houses? Answer: Susan Collins, Ben Nelson and Arlen Specter. And it's Obama's fault for being bipartisan. If you want to see how Republicans govern during an economic crisis at the state level then look to California.  From Robert Cruickshank, the Courage Campaign, writes : When we watched the helicopter carry George W. Bush away from our nation's capital many of us hoped we had finally seen the end of lawlessness as governing policy by Republicans in our country. And though President Obama has moved to restore the rule of law in Washington D.C., California Republicans are demonstrating the problem persists here in the Golden State. David Dayen has written about how Mike Villines' insistence that Republicans would only vote for a budget deal by trading votes on new taxes for votes to gut labor and environmental protections were a likely violation of Section 86 of the California Penal Code Sign their petition to UpHold The Law.   http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQlM http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQlM/commentary#comments Mon, 09 Feb 2009 13:39:18 EST http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQlM Ken Ken 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CQlM/ If news reports are true then this makes a mockery of change and rule of law as reported by AP (h/t to Talkingpointsmemo): The Obama administration will not prosecute CIA officers who participated in harsh interrogations that critics say crossed the line into torture, CIA Director-nominee Leon Panetta said Friday. Asked by The Associated Press if that was official policy, Panetta said, "That is the case." Why? CIA officers who acted on legal orders from the Bush administration would not be held responsible for those policies. On Thursday, he told senators that the Obama administration had no intention of seeking prosecutions for that reason. Makes me wonder how Lyndie England and the rest of those low ranking military personnel feel? http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQlf http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQlf/commentary#comments Fri, 06 Feb 2009 16:25:06 EST http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQlf Ken Ken 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CQlf/ If this is true then we, progressives and liberals, have our work cut out for us. Progressive Breakfast: Light Up The Phones "Here in Washington, D.C., the word on the street is that the Right is killing us with phone calls to Congress. One congressperson said the calls are running 100 to 1 against the Obama economic recovery plan. Now is the time to call Senator Udall and Bennet or visit your local Senate office to let them know that we stand for economic recovery by investing in America's future and not the failed economic policy of the past- tax cuts for the corporations and rich. http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQTZ http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQTZ/commentary#comments Tue, 03 Feb 2009 13:03:55 EST http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQTZ Ken Ken 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CQTZ/