US fish are druggies

It's unfortunate that the fish closest to our cities is becoming inedible. Between farm runoff and pharmaceuticals, eating fish is becoming risky business. An uncle who had lived near the Chesapeake Bay had been told by his oncologist to immediately stop eating seafood from the Bay due to the rapidly increasing rates of cancer in the area. Maybe now that we've moved past the GOP "anything business wants" days, we can start looking into how we can protect Americans and not just business. From the AP:

Fish caught near wastewater treatment plants serving five major U.S. cities had residues of pharmaceuticals in them, including medicines used to treat high cholesterol, allergies, high blood pressure, bipolar disorder and depression, researchers reported Wednesday.

Findings from this first nationwide study of human drugs in fish tissue have prompted the Environmental Protection Agency to significantly expand similar ongoing research to more than 150 different locations.

"The average person hopefully will see this type of a study and see the importance of us thinking about water that we use every day, where does it come from, where does it go to? We need to understand this is a limited resource and we need to learn a lot more about our impacts on it," said study co-author Bryan Brooks, a Baylor University researcher and professor who has published more than a dozen studies related to pharmaceuticals in the environment.

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Obama and marijuana

I've been hearing through the grapevine that a lot of people are upset that Obama didn't come out in favor of legalizing pot today.

Uh, okay.

What happened was that Obama held his online town meeting today. During that town meeting, he answered some of the most popular questions that regular people submitted on the White House Web site (as judged by the number of votes people gave to each question). One question that got a lot of votes was about legalizing marijuana. In fact, there were several. It appears there was an organized effort to make pot legalization one of the top questions for Obama to answer.

Here, for example, is the number two question in the "health care reform" section of the site:

Why is marijuana still illegal? Cigarettes and alcohol are far more harmful, and with the taxes put on the legal distribution of marijuana the US could make millions"
Ben R, Washington, DC

And here was the top-voted question in the category "Green jobs and energy":

""Will you consider decriminalizing the recreational/medical use of marijuana(hemp) so that the government can regulate it, tax it, put age limits on it, and create millions of new jobs and a multi-billion dollar industry right here in the U.S.?”"
Green Machine, Winchester,Va

And here was the top-voted question under the topic of "Financial Stability":

"Would you support the bill currently going through the California legislation to legalize and tax marijuana, boosting the economy and reducing drug cartel related violence?"
Anthony, Warrington, PA

Actually, the top four questions in this section were about legalizing pot, and none of them were about medical marijuana - they were all about legalizing all pot:

"Has the administration given any thought to legalizing marijuana, as a cash crop to fuel the economy? Why not make available, regulate, and tax something that that about 10 million Americans use regularly and is less harmful than tobacco or alcohol."
Sarah, Atlanta, GA

"Growing up I have noticed many around me always talk about legalization of marijuana, and I always thought, why not put a tax stamp on it. If marijuana was legalized it could really change a lot of things. America had the same problem with Alcohol."
Peter McNamara, Minneapolis, MN

"Could legalizing marijuana and laying a tax on it, given restriction allow the government make back some of the glaring debt considering it's inelasticity and the history of economics of prohibition?"
Andy Drake, New Brunswick, NJ

If you visit the remaining categories on the WH Web site, you'll also find that the top-voted questions are about legalizing pot - again, none of them about medical marijuana, all of them about making pot totally legal for everyone. The most popular question of them all was the one about legalizing pot to save us from the recession. It's the one Obama read on the air. Needless to say, Obama read the question, laughed, and said no.

Now people are upset.

Well too bad. It was an idiotic question to ask the President of the United States. The question wasn't about medical marijuana, it was about legalizing pot 100%. No President of the United States, today, can come out in favor of such a thing. It's political suicide. I can't even believe some people are upset with Obama over this. They ought to be upset with whoever organized the campaign to get the stupid question asked, rather than the intelligent question. Maybe next time they'll actually ask a question about medical marijuana, and not make the number one question about legalizing pot across the board.

Garbage in, garbage out. Read More......

Roubini sees another stock drop, large bank failure

One of these days he's going to be wrong about the economy but I don't think it's this time, unfortunately. With AIG still hanging in the balance and it's possible negative impact on others such as Goldman, the stories of big financials (including Goldman) paying back the TARP money is a real concern. Obviously they want to avoid the pay restrictions but for the health of the industry, there are problems. Onto Roubini:

U.S. stocks will fall and the government will nationalize more banks as the economy contracts through the end of 2009, said Nouriel Roubini, the New York University professor who predicted last year’s economic crisis.

“The stock market is a bit ahead of the real macroeconomic and financial news,” Roubini, a professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business and the chairman of consulting firm Roubini Global Economics, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television in London today. “We’ll have some major banks going belly up that will need to be taken over.”

The global equity rebound in March that sent the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to its best monthly advance in 17 years is a “bear-market rally” and U.S. Treasury yields will “remain relatively low” as investors flock to the safest assets, Roubini said. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s new plan to remove toxic debt from financial companies won’t be enough for insolvent banks, he said.

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The House Republicans are now afraid of Michelle Obama

Not that they shouldn't be. The woman could clearly kick most of their asses. But they're so afraid of her that they're now trying to pas laws reining her in? The Republican obsession with targeting their enemies' wives is alive and well in the form of GOP Rep. Darrell Issa of California. Issa is trying to pass a law governing how Mrs. Obama conducts her meetings (I didn't realize she was having any). Maybe someone should start passing laws about Darrell Issa's wife. I'm sure that married to such a neanderthal, Kathy Issa must havef a word or two in private about her husband that we'd all love to hear. Read More......

Palin says McCain's campaign staff was unworthy of prayer

Palin informs us this week that John McCain's presidential campaign staff was unworthy of being prayed with. Considering Jesus reached out to even the harlots, that's quite a charge from Palin. It's hard to come up with a better example of what's wrong with the Republican party today. Sarah Palin, and the rest of the conservative wing that runs the Republican party, think they literally speak for God, judging who is and isn't worthy of the Lord. It's pretty sickening that this deluded woman had a chance at running our country.

Later in the speech, she told a story about praying for strength before last October's Vice Presidential debate with Joe Biden in St. Louis.

"So I'm looking around for somebody to pray with, I just need maybe a little help, maybe a little extra," she said. "And the McCain campaign, love 'em, you know, they're a lot of people around me, but nobody I could find that I wanted to hold hands with and pray." As the crowd laughed, Palin grinned and said she meant no disrespect to the McCain campaign. She said she ultimately prayed with her daughter Piper.

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Drug tests for welfare recipients? What about bailout recipients?

Sure, let's test everyone, politicians included. The Republicans are always too anxious to do everything possible to demonize individuals on welfare but why is it only for the poor? Let's test everyone at every company that receives bailout money as well and apply the same rules. If anyone fails, the entire company loses the money and thrown to the gutter. The GOP never offers anything more than "no" or demonizing the poor but somehow miss the largest welfare recipients in the world.

Lawmakers in at least eight states want recipients of food stamps, unemployment benefits or welfare to submit to random drug testing.

The effort comes as more Americans turn to these safety nets to ride out the recession. Poverty and civil liberties advocates fear the strategy could backfire, discouraging some people from seeking financial aid and making already desperate situations worse.

Those in favor of the drug tests say they are motivated out of a concern for their constituents' health and ability to put themselves on more solid financial footing once the economy rebounds. But proponents concede they also want to send a message: you don't get something for nothing.

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What do you call a budget with no numbers, no ideas, no detail and no plan? The House Republican budget

DailyKosTV has great video from the big announcement of the GOP budget today. The big news is that there really is no GOP budget. No numbers, no ideas, no details, no plan. They are the party of "NO" -- No future:


At Huffington Post, Ryan Grim detailed the exchange between reporters and GOP House Leader John Boehner:

Reporters -- mainstream, liberal and conservative -- greeted the Republican document with a collective scoff.

"Are you going to have any further details on this today?" the first asked.

"On what?" asked Boehner.

"There's no detail in here," noted the reporter.

Answered Boehner: "This is a blueprint for where we're going. Are you asking about some other document?"

A second reporter followed up: "What about some numbers? What about the out-year deficit? What about balancing the budget? How are you going to do it?"

"We'll have the alternative budget details next week," promised Boehner. Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) had wisely departed the room after offering his opening remarks. ("Today's Republican road-to-recovery is the latest in a series of GOP initiatives, solutions and plans," he had offered.)

A third reporter asked Boehner about the Republican goal for deficit reduction, noting President Obama aimed to cut it in half in five years. "What's your goal?"

"To do better," said Boehner.

"How? How much?"

"You'll see next week."

"Wait. Why not today? Because he asked you to present a budget."

"Now, hold on," said Boehner. "The president came to Capitol Hill and laid out his blueprint for his budget during the State of the Union. He didn't offer his details until days later."

"In general, where do you see cuts coming?" the Huffington Post asked.

"We'll wait and see next week," he said.

Another reporter reminded Boehner that he has "criticized Democrats for throwing together a stimulus quickly and nobody knew what they were voting on. Are you saying that your budget will be unveiled on the same day that the House is expected to vote on it?"

"No, I expect it'll be out next week," he said, though the House is expected to vote on the budget next week. "But understand that a budget really is a one-page document. It's just a bunch of numbers."

Though not today, of course.

Of course. The Republican leaders are a bunch of clowns. This is all a big political game for them. But, it's a game their losing, big time. Read More......

Misery loves company

Once again, France capitalizes on the mood of the world. Personally I thought a "Gallic shrug" and that raspberry-like noise that I taught my niece was plenty, but why not extend it online? (Yes, her mother - my sister - appreciated this new response to every question from her teenage daughter.)

"Vie De Merde" -- which means roughly "Life Sucks" -- was launched 15 months ago around a simple concept: tell the world a one-liner about your day that is guaranteed to give strangers a chuckle.

The site's English version, "FMyLife.com" -- "FML" for short -- became an overnight sensation in the two months since its launch, with some 1.7 million people logging on each day, and huge fan groups on Facebook and Twitter.

Got dumped by your girlfriend? Humiliated by your boss? Lost your wallet -- or your job -- for the umpteenth time? Here is a place to vent your despair, a collective blog where public grumbling is elevated to an art form.

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Republican state senator Dewayne Bunch in Tennessee calls Jewish colleague a Nazi

Why? Because the "Nazi" opposes new legislation that would increase the size of pop cans the kids can buy from 8 oz. to 12 oz. Watch the video, the Nazi part starts around 1:41. Watch the colleague behind Bunch cringe as he makes the reference about Senator Andy Berke, the only Jewish member of the state Senate. Don't forget that the Tennessee Republican party is about as racist and backward as you can get.

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Obama's Online Townhall has begun

The White House is live streaming Obama's townhall from the East Room here. He'll be taking the questions, relating to the economy, that received the most votes in each category. According to the website, "92,920 people have submitted 104,116 questions and cast 3,606,819 votes." The President will also take questions from the audience.

Jared Bernstein, V.P. Biden's chief economic adviser (and a blogger) did the intro, he just said, "The goal is to open up the White House to the American people." Read More......

Jindal Spurns Obama’s Jobless Aid as Mayor Pleads ‘Help Me Now’

But Bubbah Bobby wants to president. And he can't do that by helping the little people. Though, remember how in his response to Obama's "State of the Union" Jindal criticized George Bush's non-response to the Katrina disaster? Wonder if Jindal's next speech will be criticizing his own non-response to the economic disaster in his own state? Remember, Republicans aren't in office to help people. They take office in order to take higher office, and then hold it. Everything is a stunt. Nothing is intended to make anything or anyone better.

Bloomberg:

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, a Republican, cited fiscal responsibility when he turned down about $98 million in unemployment aid that was part of President Barack Obama’s $787 billion federal stimulus package.

That doesn’t make sense to Clarence Hawkins, the mayor of Bastrop, Louisiana. An International Paper Co. mill closed in November as pulp demand fell worldwide, leaving the town without one of its biggest employers.

“Give me something now,” said Hawkins, a Democrat whose city of 12,500 lost more than 400 jobs. “Help me right now. I need to survive today.”

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Does living in a tent city count as sacrifice? How about losing one's job?

At the press conference Tuesday night, NBC's Chuck Todd asked Obama why he hadn't asked the American people for specific sacrifices. And, Todd wanted something specific. I thought it was an odd question considering how many jobs and homes have been lost across the country. Almost everyone who has a 401-k has watched it tank. Things just aren't good. But, Todd wants more. Obama basically told him the American people are suffering enough. That seemed lost on Todd. That exchange revealed just how deep the chasm is between reality and the DC elite.

Perhaps Mr. Todd could visit one of the tent cities springing up around the country. Obama was asked about them, too, on Tuesday, by Kevin Chappell from Ebony who noted "With shelters at full capacity, tent cities are sprouting up across the country." But, that question might have gone over the heads of Todd and his colleagues.

Today's NY Times reports on the growth of tent cities across the country. Atrios calls them "Bushvilles." I imagine the people living in Bushvilles would consider it a sacrifice.

Meanwhile, the unemployment numbers continue to increase:

In another snapshot of the ailing economy, the number of workers collecting state unemployment benefits rose to a record 5.56 million earlier this month, while new claims climbed to 652,000 last week, a separate government report showed.

I imagine the new people who signed up for unemployment last week would consider it a sacrifice.

No wonder Obama is talking directly to the American people as often as he can. Read More......

Geithner to launch regulation & oversight plan

Sounds good in theory but in practice may be another story. Overall it's a decent start to add in what needs to be in place but the problem still remains, it's led by Geithner. Wall Street and friends will surely re-start the cries of "socialism" but isn't that what they always do? It's critical for the bulk of Americans that the financial system is healthy and growing but it's equally critical that the system avoids the excesses of the past. Wall Street bragged about the growth in recent years but as we all know today, it was a mirage. The growth wasn't growth for anyone except those who pocketed commissions pushing deals that were hot air. (Again, nobody in power has asked for any of that to be re-paid so AIG et al can go Cheney themselves.) This also means the retirement system is going to need to be updated unless Washington would like more problems ahead.

Looking at how pro-Wall Street Geithner/Obama - not to mention Congress - have been so far, having confidence in this plan is a real challenge. It's a start, but until I see otherwise I will remain skeptical. Geithner has cowered to Wall Street so what's going to be different this time? Just as with the market, we need confidence and at the moment it is severely lacking.

Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner plans to propose today a sweeping expansion of federal authority over the financial system, breaking from an era in which the government stood back from financial markets and allowed participants to decide how much risk to take in the pursuit of profit.

The Obama administration's plan, described by several sources, would extend federal regulation for the first time to all trading in financial derivatives and to companies including large hedge funds and major insurers such as American International Group. The administration also will seek to impose uniform standards on all large financial firms, including banks, an unprecedented step that would place significant limits on the scope and risk of their activities.

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Thursday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Today at 11:30 a.m. Eastern time, the President is going to answer questions about the economy submitted to "Open for Questions." You can also vote on questions until 9:30 a.m. I think we'll see a caliber of questions that actually reflect the interests and concerns of the American people, not the elite of the DC press corps (who aren't really experiencing the recession.) This is another way for Obama use new media and new technology to interact with the all of his constituents. He's not limited to the traditional media. Obama knows it. They know it.

Start threading the news. Read More......

AIG execs now crying "blackmail"

Fine. Shut the damned company down and let it go under. The more I listen to these people complain the more it becomes obvious they need to go completely under and restart. Quite frankly I don't care what those in London or NY find offensive or not because the entire country finds them offensive. Let us know how "offensive" the unemployment line is and get back to us. If possible, please send to the NY Times for publication.

AIG Financial Products unit head Gerald Pasciucco told a staff meeting for UK and Paris employees on Monday that he thought a demand for repayments was to a certain extent "blackmail," said a London-based recipient of one of the retention bonuses from the bailed-out insurer.

"The vast majority of people in London have made the decision that the request is pretty offensive," the employee said. "It effectively constitutes blackmail whether it is criminal or not. There is no moral reason to give it back."

A company spokesman, however, said American International Group had no concerns as to the legality of any repayments.

Morals? Are they really talking about morals at AIG? What next? A lecture on business ethics? Read More......

GM, perhaps, but why Chrysler?

I've been waiting to see how long before GM was back for more money. No one is thrilled with the idea but the economic impact is so far reaching, it's hard to let the company completely fail. Chrysler is another story. The pampered CEO Bob Nardelli is no stranger to the Hall of Shame for CEO's and it strikes me as odd to ask taxpayers to fund a company owned by one of the richest capital management firms, Cerberus Capital Management. Have they gone bust? Why not squeeze a few more billion out of them? They were all so happy with the cheap deal that they found with buying up the company so let them fork over more.

Carl Levin of Michigan said on Capitol Hill that "it is clear" more help is on the way and any assistance for General Motors and Chrysler LLC would be tied to new conditions on restructuring.

The Wall Street Journal, citing interviews with task force members, reported late on Wednesday that the panel was preparing a recommendation for more help with new strings attached.

The task force has a March 31 deadline to determine whether GM and Chrysler, controlled by Cerberus Capital Management, can be competitive and worthy of up to $22 billion in additional bailout funds.

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Agent Orange probably sounded like a great idea to some as well

What were they thinking? The residents on either side of the Rio Grande have every reason to demand thorough testing and alternative methods. Maybe this herbicide is safe but without testing it's hard to say what kind of impact it could have on people, wildlife and the water supply. Agent Orange still has an impact in Vietnam today.

Applying herbicides on a 1.1-mile stretch of the U.S. side of the river was part of a test project, Prichard said, but the CBP decided to postpone the $2.1 million experiment to address community concerns.

Residents of two Hispanic communities near Laredo, Texas -- Barrio de Colores and Barrio El Cuatro -- filed a lawsuit late Tuesday asking a federal court to intervene. Prichard said Wednesday morning he was unaware of the lawsuit.

Among the complaints in the lawsuit, the communities allege the CBP failed to assess the environmental impact adequately, failed to consider reasonable alternatives and failed to notify the public adequately.

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