Prime Minister George Papandreou’s Socialist government inherited this debt crisis. Over the previous five years, the conservative government recklessly expanded public payrolls. That kept unemployment down but ruined public finances and forced Athens to borrow more and more to pay the rising wage and pension costs.
Let's hope the Greek government does a better job than Democrats in the states of reminding their people, every single day, just who created this mess.
Read More......
The current approach is far off track so something needs to change. The UN can only do so much and political leaders have to step up instead of side step one of these days. Where's the leadership?
De Boer said that he was not quitting the key UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) post because the Copenhagen climate talks in December were widely seen as a failure. "We were about an inch away from a formal agreement. It was basically in our grasp, but it didn't happen. So that was a pity," he said.
But he was known to have been frustrated by the outcome, and doubtful whether anyone could steer through a major global agreement between wildly diverging rich and poor countries. Today he said that the talks were "on track", but that he was uncertain that a full treaty could be finalised this year.
The Birchers make the Teabaggers look like, well, they're kind of equally nutty, but the Birchers are quite possibly even worse. From ABC News:
According to Ian Walters, a spokesman for CPAC, it’s the first time the John Birch Society has sponsored the conference. That’s not surprising, considering that the Birch Society has long been considered wacky and extreme by conservative leaders.
William F. Buckley famously denounced the John Birch Society and its founder Robert Welch in the early 1960s as “idiotic” and “paranoid. ” Buckley’s condemnation effectively banishing the group from the mainstream conservative movement. Welch had called President Dwight D. Eisenhower a “conscious, dedicated agent of the communist conspiracy” and that the U.S. government was “under operational control of the Communist party.” Buckley argued that such paranoid rantings had no place in the conservative movement or the Republican party.
On its website, the Birch Society describes it mission as to “to warn against and expose the forces that seek to abolish U.S. independence, build a world government, or otherwise undermine our personal liberties and national independence. The John Birch Society endorses the U.S. Constitution as the foundation of our national government, and works toward educating and activating Americans to abide by the original intent of the Founding Fathers. We seek to awaken a sleeping and apathetic people concerning the designs of those who are working to destroy our constitutional Republic.”
Joe just posted this on AMERICAblog Gay. But it's such a powerful video, I'm posting it again here. At the nation's largest conservative conference today - and we're talking right-wing conservative - a right-wing youth goes on a tirade against gays, talking about the natural order of things, about sex being for procreation, etc. The audience boos him. Then they boo him more loudly. A moderator had to get up and calm down the rather large audience. Watch it, then a bit of commentary.
No one wants Sarah Palin to be President. But we're talking about our civil rights. I think a lot of straight Democrats don't get that. They see out and proud gay people, a lot of us have good jobs, nice clothes, get to travel the world (and a lot of us don't, but they don't ever meet them), so they think our civil rights battle is some kind of champagne party to us, as if we're doing it for fun because we really have everything we could ever want. Well, anyone who thinks that didn't grow up gay. They didn't grow up thinking they were a pervert. That they were sick. That they'd never find love, never get married, never have children or a family of their own - because God made them wrong. They didn't grow up thinking they'd have to kill themselves once they hit the age of 30 because they'd be single, and people would 'figure out' that they were gay, and then they'd lose all their friends and family and their job and career. And they knew they couldn't live with that.
That last point is important. Pick any political issue, any political constituency, and ask yourself how many of those issues, how many of those people, considered killing themselves over their issue. Not a lot, I'm guessing. Now you're starting to understand why gay civil rights advocates, why gay people, care so fervently about their "issue." It's not just an issue for us. It's our lives.
That's what it's like to be gay in America.
We're talking about our lives. And when the Republicans increasingly say the right things, like repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell now, and even supporting marriage, and all the Democrats show is political homophobia, gays get the message.
Some gays and lesbians will vote for Democrats regardless of how blatantly the Obama administration and the Democratic party back away from their promises to repeal DADT, repeal DOMA, and pass ENDA. Regardless of how clear it is that the White House will appoint an openly gay cabinet member or an openly gay Supreme Court justice when hell freezes over. But I think, come November, and come many more Novembers in the future, a lot of gays and lesbians, are going to realize that we're talking about our lives, rather than our right to attend a cocktail party. And when it comes to our lives, and voting for someone who treats us with the same kind of shame every single one of us grew up with, I think you're going to see an increasing number of gay Americans distancing themselves from the Democratic party with their donations and their votes. They may not vote Republican, nor should they - they simply may not vote at all.
To the White House, the DNC, and our leadership in Congress: You are messing with people's lives, and we know it. And the day that an anti-gay bigot gets booed at CPAC, you all better start being very afraid.
Read More......
You have to see the video when they open it up the fancy hand held device and you see nothing inside. Not that a piece of empty plastic with a car antenna isn't nice, but it sounds expensive for results that the Thai government says are lower than random choice. How does anyone buy something like this? They say Iraq and Afghanistan have also purchased this piece of equipment so one hopes the US is not footing the bill unless they saw radically different results.
Read More......
Big political news on a Friday afternoon from Greg Sargent:
In another surprising step forward for the public option, Senator Harry Reid’s office says that if a final decision is made to pass health reform via reconciliation, the Majority Leader would support holding a reconciliation vote on the public option.
With more and more Senators signing on to the letter urging Reid to hold an up or down vote on the public option under reconciliation rules, Reid spokesman Rodell Mollineau sends over a statement signaling Reid’s qualified support for the move:
Senator Reid has always and continues to support the public option as a way to drive down costs and create competition. That is why he included the measure in his original health care proposal.
If a decision is made to use reconciliation to advance health care, Senator Reid will work with the White House, the House, and members of his caucus in an effort to craft a public option that can overcome procedural obstacles and secure enough votes.
That’s a fairly big step forward: Up until now, Reid, while supporting the public option throughout the process, had been silent on whether he’d support a reconciliation vote on it.
Last night, Adam Green reported that the Obama administration would support the public option if Harry Reid would. So, this should be game on -- if the Senate Dems. go the reconciliation route on the health care reform legislation. But, we've all been played too many times on this already.
Read More......
The poll finds that a big majority, 65%, supports the decision to Mirandize the Christmas bomb plotter. But it gets better. The public also thinks all terror suspects should be Mirandized as a matter of policy:
As you know, the police and FBI agents always inform suspects of their constitutional right to remain silent and to have a lawyer present during any questioning. Do you think law enforcement officials should or should not follow this practice for people who are suspected of attempting to commit an act of terrorism?
In an acknowledgment that throws a wrench in Republican talking points, former Attorney General John Ashcroft said on Friday that the criminal justice system does, indeed, have a role to play in trying terrorist suspects.
In an interview with the Huffington Post at the Conservative Political Action Conference, the former Bush administration official said that there are "a variety of tools that ought to be available to an administration" in its efforts to curb terrorism and bring terrorists to justice.
Asked specifically about holding civilian trials for terrorists, he said such a venue "has use and utility."
We reported yesterday on a Facebook page set up to honor anti-government nut, Joseph Andrew Stack, who flew his small plane into an IRS office yesterday. There's more reporting on it now,
On the popular social networking website Facebook, various groups commemorating disgruntled pilot Joseph Andrew Stack were formed on Thursday evening. Earlier that day, in what has been described as an act of "domestic terrorism," Stack intentionally crashed his small passenger plane into an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) office building in Austin, Texas. So far, he is the only reported fatality.
On the information page of the first group named "The Joe 'Take My Pound Of Flesh' Stack Anti-IRS Fan Page," one administrator wrote, "[This page is] dedicated to a man, frustrated as so many of us are with our corrupt, inept government, sacrificed his life to make a statement. Will history see him as a patriot or terrorist? Depends on who is doing the writing." This particular group had approximately 250 members.
Another group called "The Philosophy of Joe Stack" apparently came out against the attack, yet sympathized with its reasons: "This page is NOT to glorify his actions, but simply to say that after reading his note, we can agree with...Joe Stacks' thoughts." However, one member went as far to suggest that the United States "need[ed] a revolution" and "voting for a Democrat or a Republican is not revolutionary, it is big business as usual."
A third group titled "Joseph Andrew Stack, we salute thee" was supposedly against violence towards others. One administrator did write, "We hope that everyone is okay and accounted for. It is our belief that his intention was not to hurt anyone, but just to prove a point."
On the wall of a forth group, known simply as "Joseph Andrew Stack," creator Emily Walters of Louisville, Kentucky, wrote: "Finally an American man took a stand against our tyrannical government that no longer follows the constitution and is turned its back on its founding fathers and the beliefs this country was founded on."
Officials are expected to announce Friday afternoon that former Army scientist Bruce Ivins was responsible for mailing anthrax to politicians and journalists in 2001...
Last April, we got wind of a new Department of Homeland Security report on domestic terrorism. It was chilling.
Paralleling the current national climate, rightwing extremists during the 1990s exploited a variety of social issues and political themes to increase group visibilityand recruit new members. Prominent among these themes were the militia movement’s opposition to gun control efforts, criticism of free trade agreements (particularly those with Mexico), and highlighting perceived government infringement on civil liberties as well as white supremacists’ longstanding exploitation of social issues such as abortion, inter-racial crimes, and same-sex marriage. During the 1990s, these issues contributed to the growth in the number of domestic rightwing terrorist and extremist groups and an increase in violent acts targeting government facilities, law enforcement officers, banks, and infrastructure sectors..
Rightwing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups), and those that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.
Why doesn't the Obama administration just admit it was right, and bring the report back?
Read More......
It's a Mitt two-fer! The tale of Mitt Romney's harrowing "attack" on an airplane yesterday just got more interesting. The man who allegedly attacked him is a member of a major rap group, LMFAO. And the rapper did a video explaining what "really" happened. His sidekick is probably the most enjoyable part of the video. Here's the video. And more from TMZ.
Read More......
Ben Smith reports that "CPAC embraces the New Mitt Romney." Apparently, this "new" Mitt is a big hit as he gears up for the 2012 race.
But, there's potentially a new hurdle for Mitt. And, it comes from that new GOP star from Massachusetts, Scott Brown, according to The Hill. Yep, it's Mitt vs. Scott. And, the Romney people are taking it seriously enough to do some trash talking of Brown:
Former advisors to Romney’s presidential campaign have talked down the likelihood and viability of a Brown bid for White House.
“Scott Brown’s going to be a great senator and run for re-election,” said one former Romney adviser.
A second Romney advisor said Brown would present “the wrong profile to compete against [President Barack] Obama.”
The source said it would be difficult for Republicans to argue that Obama should be replaced by a “celebrity phenom with no experience,” especially considering the GOP strongly criticized Obama’s celebrity and lack of experience in 2008.
The Brown people aren't exactly backing down. And, quotes like this one, albeit anonymous, sure make it sound like they've already given some thought to the idea:
But the adviser noted his appeal on the national stage.
“A Republican from the South doesn’t stand out but a Republican from New England does stand out. He’s an attractive all-around charismatic personality and that helps anyone as a candidate. Anyone who wants for president has those qualities.”
Mitt's been busy creating "the New Mitt Romney" (but his position on DADT remains unchanged.) And, Mitt thinks he created Scott Brown. This could get ugly. An intra-party, intra-state, intra-mentor/mentee battle could be fun to watch.
Read More......
Obama is holding a town hall meeting in Henderson, Nevada this morning. While he's been out-of-town, the frenzied Obama-bashers have been gathering at CPAC. That event is being held at the Wardman Park Marriott, which is in the next neighborhood from my place. The CPACers are all over the place. Packs of them are walking around with their blue CPAC bags. (They're probably told to travel in packs, especially when walking through Dupont Circle.)
One startling development at CPAC was Liz Cheney's announcement of support for the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. This woman is a hard-core conservative. Like her father, Liz is a vicious attack dog. And, she trumped some other right-wingers at CPAC who were holding a press conference to rail against the repeal of DADT. It pains me to write anything remotely positive about the Cheneys. And, we did it twice this week because Dick thinks it's time for DADT to end, too.
But, let's face it. For the traditional media, there's only one news story today: Tiger Woods is speaking. NBC is covering it live and I suspect the other networks will, too. I still don't get why this story matters.
Let's get it started before the news becomes wall-to-wall Tiger.
Read More......
Despite all of their panic last year that if the bankers were held accountable - even a little - they would all pack their bags and leave the UK. (As if their value was so critical after the credit collapse.) Unfortunately those who led the way in the credit bubble creation failed to leave. Better luck next time.
Fears of a mass exodus by London's financiers to the more favourable tax climate of Switzerland appear to have been exaggerated: fewer Britons applied for permits to work in the Swiss financial services sector last year than in 2008.
Alistair Darling's announcement of the bonus tax in December's pre-budget report provoked growls of irritation in the City, with many senior bankers threatening to depart for foreign shores.
For those still making plans, I hear Dubai is great.
Read More......
Again, what about the costs to individuals? Sure it's going to cost more for business though the drive for higher and higher profits has had a phony feeling to it for a while. Were Lehman profits real? Were the profits of businesses who sold lead-tainted kids toys or tainted pet food real? And what about the health care costs that everyone else needs to pay because the corporate world is overly driven to produce unrealistic profits? What about places like the Chesapeake Bay that has become a polluted disaster with tainted wildlife due to the drive for profits without regard to anyone or anything else? Call me crazy, but I'm more concerned with living without being polluted by corporate profits than by corporate profits. But that's just me.
Businesses need to think a lot more about their impact on the world but they don't. It helps that political systems around the world have corporatists in charge who only care about what's good for business. The Guardian:
The study, conducted by London-based consultancy Trucost and due to be published this summer, found the estimated combined damage was worth US$2.2 trillion (£1.4tn) in 2008 - a figure bigger than the national economies of all but seven countries in the world that year.
The figure equates to 6-7% of the companies' combined turnover, or an average of one-third of their profits, though some businesses would be much harder hit than others.
"What we're talking about is a completely new paradigm," said Richard Mattison, Trucost's chief operating officer and leader of the report team. "Externalities of this scale and nature pose a major risk to the global economy and markets are not fully aware of these risks, nor do they know how to deal with them."
