Lindsay Graham lies about reconciliation

They're liars. The Democrats need to remind the American people, over and over, that the Republicans got us into the entire mess we are in, and that they are liars. Lindsay Graham leading the pack - the following is an outright lie:

GRAHAM: Well, reconciliation will be used to clean up the Senate bill to make House members happy. House members are going to vote for the Senate bill and they hate it. And the Senate and the president saying, OK, we’re going to change what you don’t like.

And when it comes to the Republicans, you all don’t matter anymore. You just need a simple majority. So reconciliation will empower a bill that was very partisan. We’ve had reconciliation votes, but all of them had received bipartisan support. The least was 12 when we did reconciliation with tax cuts.

Now the truth, from ThinkProgress:

Graham’s claim that “the least” amount of Democratic votes a GOP reconciliation bill received “was 12″ is flat out false. As The Wonk Room’s Igor Volsky has detailed, during the Bush presidency, the Republican-controlled Senate passed three reconciliation bills with three or less Democratic votes. The 2003 Bush tax cuts were supported by only two Democrats and needed Vice President Dick Cheney’s tie-breaking vote to pass.

The White House and the Democrats in Congress are dealing with skilled liars. They need to start acting like it. Read the rest of this post...

Well that was a long break

Joe, Chris and I decided a long time ago to keep writing the blog on the weekend. Traffic drops, a lot, on the weekends, and some blogs don't even bother updating. For whatever reason, we just kept blogging, albeit at a much less frequent pace (we also try to put less heavy news up on the weekends, but not always).

Anyway, today it was finally 60F in DC, and I've been out all day, and it's been wonderful. I love the snow, and winter has its merits, if only to make you appreciate the change in seasons (I'll never forget a friend attending Stanford and complaining about every day being 80F and sunny!). So, today was spent bopping around Georgetown at shops a tad more expensive that I'd like to afford, checking out a unit for sale in my building (always good to keep up with the Joneses), and then I went to a housewarming of a relatively new friend, Amanda, who I do a panel with at the Shakespeare Theater here in DC. For whatever reason, the theater thought it would be interesting to get non-experts (that's us) to talk about the various plays they produce throughout the year - everyone is invited, it's free to the public, and the discussion is hosted by someone with the Shakespeare Theater who actually IS an expert. It's really been quite fun. Our next one is Saturday, April 10, at Harman Hall in DC - 5pm, free to the public, and we'll be discussing the plays Richard II and Henry V. Come join us, whether or not you've seen the production - it'll be taking place downstairs, it's called "Classics in Context."

Anyway, it was a fun time at Amanda's, meet a few journalists with the Australian ABC (not be confused with the US version, that has nothing to do with the Aussie one), and a guy writing for Reuters. And even met a guy who produces plays out in the suburbs - a rare animal in a town usually populated by lawyers, politicos, and those who serve them.

So, finally home, back to the blog (oops), and going to settle down with my cheap Comcast version of TiVo. I promise to post a nightcap in a few hours. JOHN Read the rest of this post...

Iceland overwhelmingly reject bailing out failed bank debt

Wow, 93% is an amazing percentage for any vote. It's not going to make their plans to join the EU any easier but how can you blame them for not wanting to bail out the bankers? Let the high-flying bankers find the billions that they lost. Why should an entire country be held hostage to the irresponsible behavior of a few gamblers?

Still furious over the crippling aftermath of the global financial crisis, Iceland's voters on Saturday resoundingly rejected a $5.3 billion plan to pay off Britain and the Netherlands for debts spawned by the collapse of an Icelandic Internet bank, according to initial results.

Results returned from around 83,500 ballots — or more than 40 percent of the total ballots expected — counted so far showed that 93 percent of voters said "no" in the referendum, compared to just 1.5 percent who said "yes." The rest were invalid ballots.

Read the rest of this post...

The voters have voted in Iraq

It's Election Day in Iraq. The polls have now closed.

There was violence across the country early in the day:

A concerted wave of attacks struck Baghdad and other cities across the country on Sunday as Iraqis voted to elect a new parliament and possibly a new prime minister. Explosions reverberated across the capital moments before the polls opened and continued through the morning haze for the first hours of voting.

At least 38 people were killed and dozens more wounded in Baghdad alone by the time polls officially closed there, the Interior Ministry reported.

But, it looks like the Iraqi people still voted:

By late afternoon, it was still too early to measure turnout, though Western election observers noted a significant increase in voting as the day passed. Polls closed at 5 p.m. In parts of Baghdad, the city seemed far from hunkered down, with shops and restaurants opening and families walking on the streets.

These elections are another step in the process of removing the U.S. from Iraq, a war George Bush started by lying to the American people:

In a briefing at the White House last week, senior advisers who spoke on the condition of anonymity hammered home two messages: "We can't and we will not tell them how to conduct their affairs," an official said of the Iraqis. "That's up to them." In addition, he said, "we see nothing that would divert us from the track we're on . . . to end the combat mission in August," even in the face of sectarian violence.

We should have left Iraq's affair to Iraq back in 2003. And, let's hope nothing diverts us from getting out. Finally. Read the rest of this post...

Sunday Talk Shows Open Thread

With the end in sight (maybe) for the health care reform bill, it's the main topic on the Sunday shows. The Obama administration's spokesperson for the day is HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. She's doing appearances on ABC and NBC.

Senator Orrin Hatch, who got called out for lying about reconciliation in his Washington Post op-ed, will also be on NBC. Any bets that David Gregory doesn't challenge Hatch's lies? Gregory never questioned Bush's lies about Iraq, so it's unlikely. Mitch McConnell will be pushing the GOP lies on ABC.

It's also Election Day in Iraq. CNN's State of the Union Fareed Zakaria GPS hosts General David Petraeus, the mastermind behind the surge. He will also explain more fully his position on the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. I saw a preview on Friday. We'll see Petraeus say, "this is something that can be worked through, frankly." Frankly, he's right.

Also, for some reason, CNN's State of the Union has an interview with Tom DeLay. He just won't go away.

The full lineup is here. Read the rest of this post...

Okou

A reader mentioned Okou yesterday. Thanks! A very nice sound that I need to start following.

Despite the cooling (but not cold) temperatures yesterday, I had a wonderful ride along the Marne. Lots of sunshine and enough cyclists and walkers on the trail to make it feel cozy. Everyone is shaking off the winter and getting ready for warmer times. Jojo found a busy little rhododendron for €10 but we're sheltering it from the cold until it warms up a bit more. The camellia's are all getting closer but I think they're going to be 3-4 weeks later than the last few years. Anyone starting to work on the garden yet? Read the rest of this post...

Rich buying farm land and water rights in Africa while locals go hungry

The wealthy countries repeatedly find new ways to screw Africa. They're purchasing the fishing rights and denying locals the rights to fish the sea or selling more guns or owning profitable enterprises that ought to be owned locally. In this case, buying fertile land and denying it to locals is sick. The local governments aren't much better for allowing it but the countries to the north appear to have forgotten about their disastrous colonial legacy.

This is another example of the new wave of colonialism that is blocking Africa from making progress. Even worse, part of what is driving the effort is fuel. How many more examples like this do we need to see before people stop using food growing land to generate fuel? Instead of encouraging this, it's time to tax the hell out of these plans that are taking food away from people. The Observer:

Ethiopia is one of the hungriest countries in the world with more than 13 million people needing food aid, but paradoxically the government is offering at least 3m hectares of its most fertile land to rich countries and some of the world's most wealthy individuals to export food for their own populations.

The 1,000 hectares of land which contain the Awassa greenhouses are leased for 99 years to a Saudi billionaire businessman, Ethiopian-born Sheikh Mohammed al-Amoudi, one of the 50 richest men in the world. His Saudi Star company plans to spend up to $2bn acquiring and developing 500,000 hectares of land in Ethiopia in the next few years. So far, it has bought four farms and is already growing wheat, rice, vegetables and flowers for the Saudi market. It expects eventually to employ more than 10,000 people.

But Ethiopia is only one of 20 or more African countries where land is being bought or leased for intensive agriculture on an immense scale in what may be the greatest change of ownership since the colonial era.

An Observer investigation estimates that up to 50m hectares of land – an area more than double the size of the UK – has been acquired in the last few years or is in the process of being negotiated by governments and wealthy investors working with state subsidies. The data used was collected by Grain, the International Institute for Environment and Development, the International Land Coalition, ActionAid and other non-governmental groups.

Read the rest of this post...