Open thread

It's apparently a holiday tomorrow. Does everybody have off? Read the rest of this post...

Going on CNN at 10:30pm Eastern to talk about the election

With my old pal Jim Geraghty from the National Review Online. Read the rest of this post...

A word about Nancy Pelosi's speech at the gay rights dinner last night

Last night, Pelosi spoke to the Human Rights Campaign annual dinner in Washington, DC. Her overall good speech included the following:

"I strongly believe that transgender individuals deserve the same rights and the same protections as any other Americans..."

Say what you will about the effectiveness of the Democratic congress, but the Speaker of the House of Representatives last night put the credibility of the entire Democratic party behind openly supporting transsexuals. I tend to lean towards the cultural side of things - meaning, cultural change is at least as important as, and is often a necessary precursor to, legislative change. And I think what Nancy Pelosi did was HUGE in terms of advancing change in the culture. It was also rather risky - I can't imagine a lot of Democrats being thrilled that she said that, as they don't want to be asked on the campaign trail, in front of their constituents in Nebraska, whether they agree with their party's leader that they fully endorse trans rights.

And if you still don't think it's a big deal, imagine Denny Hastert openly embracing transgender rights. Read the rest of this post...

These people don't deserve a bail-out

Stupidity and greed are not valid excuses for bailing these morons out:

“The sales person was saying that they (homes) were going up $1,000 a week,” Dave Gustafson recalls. “So ... we signed right away.”

Builders made it easy. A downpayment of $2,000 to $5,000 was all it took. Buyers could borrow at low teaser rates, requiring payments of nothing more than interest.

As promised, prices were going up faster than the houses themselves.

By the time the family’s new home was completed, the $179,000 base price had climbed to $220,000.

The Gustafsons opted for Corian counters, a pool and whirlpool, adding more than $50,000 to their loan. Payments were fixed for only two years, but they didn’t worry. With prices rising, they’d refinance. In five or six years, the Gustafsons figured, they’d sell for $500,000.

They were hardly the only ones feeling optimistic.

Kris Rowberry, ecstatic when the value of his home in nearby Gilbert took off, bought a second one in the Villages as an investment.

“I was thinking, man, if I could have 10 properties, I could just kind of retire ... and kick back and live off the income,” he says.

Read the rest of this post...

$20 billion of losses on Wall Street and counting

JP Morgan Chase is quiet but will be delivering their numbers soon. The Wall Street experts aren't looking so smart these days and considering the positive response to the ugly announcements, you have to wonder just how much they've learned from this experience. People believe what they want to believe.

So far, investors have been quick to embrace the writedowns, sending shares of Merrill, Citigroup and UBS higher on the belief that the worst of the credit crisis is behind them.

Punk, Ziegel & Co.'s Richard Bove labeled that kind of thinking as "deluded." Mortgage and derivatives businesses at many of these firms have taken a wallop and may not recover for several quarters.

"The assumption that by writing off the stuff, these business will turn around and become vibrant is almost insane," said Bove. "It's not going to happen."

Read the rest of this post...

Why I fight and why we all must.

(Bumped -- This is a MUST read from John Bruhns)

As the war drums were beating for Iraq I knew something was wrong. I was paying attention to President Bush as he continually accused Saddam Hussein of possessing weapons of mass destruction and being linked to terrorist organizations such as Al-Qaeda. Yet, there was no solid proof that any of Bush's accusations had any validity to them. I guess if you repeat the same lies over and over again they begin to sound true. How else could Bush have tricked the nation into an unjust and unnecessary war in Iraq?

At the time I was stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas. It seemed as if the moment I arrived there in June 2002 the only message being sent from the top down was to be ready for war with Iraq. We trained vigorously that summer for war. And in January 2003 my unit deployed to Fort Irwin, California for a month long desert warfare training exercise. Immediately upon returning from Fort Irwin my unit received orders to deploy to Kuwait for the military buildup to topple Saddam Hussein and his government in Iraq.

We scrambled to get our gear and equipment ready for what would be the inevitable war with Iraq. It took a couple weeks to prepare, get medically screened, and write out our wills. Then we were put on standby to deploy at a moments notice.

There was a mixed sentiment among the troops I had served with at the time. For some troops Bush's word was enough for them to go to Iraq to fight and die for what they believed was necessary for our country. There were some who didn't pay attention to the politics. They felt that they were soldiers who had no other option but to go to war and take their chances. In a sense, that is what good soldiers do. I felt alone for the most part because I kept paying attention to what Bush was saying and what the UN weapons inspectors were reporting. To me it just wasn't adding up.

But before I could blink my eyes I was on the border of Kuwait and Iraq ready to invade on day one. It wasn't long before we received our attack orders and pushed into Iraq.

It was a rough ride to Baghdad. Right from the start 150,000 troops were cluttered and stacked upon each other with our vehicles breaking down due to the harsh terrain of the southern Iraqi desert. We were in the middle of nowhere and out in the open. If there were ever a time for Saddam to use his weapons of mass destruction it would have been the perfect opportunity for him. We were in the perfect location for him to attack us -- out in the open desert with no other population. He could have launched the alleged stockpile of WMD directly upon the US military and killed no one but our troops. If Bush really was convinced that Saddam had such a massive WMD arsenal why would he place us in the most vulnerable position for him to use them on us? Probably because Bush knew they did not exist otherwise he never would have allowed such a stupid battle plan to take place.

We pushed into Baghdad facing heavy resistance from the primarily Shiite populated cities in southern Iraq. It was strange being that the Shiites were Saddam's enemies who he had oppressed for decades. To me it was clear that they hated us more than Saddam because we were invaders from the west. Saddam might have been a horrible man, but we were worse in their eyes. It was frightening to realize that the people who Saddam murdered by the thousands actually preferred him to us.

My stay in Baghdad was not much different. It was very confusing because the enemy was so unidentifiable. We didn't know who we were fighting, and that made it extremely difficult to distinguish between the civilian population and the insurgents. As time goes on you stop distinguishing between the two. My perception was that we were fighting the Iraqi people who resented our presence in their country -- not Al-Qaeda as George Bush kept drilling into the minds of the American people.

We were attacked almost on a daily basis by rocket propelled grenades, AK-47 assault rifles, improvised explosive devices, and mortars. This kind of violent activity led to thousands of pre-dawn raids on Iraqi homes. And when you kick in the door you enter the homes as if you are going after Bin Laden himself. In a sense we started to treat the Iraqi people as if they are all terrorists causing them to resent us even more. In the following days of each raid violent activity would double and for some reason no one could understand why.

I participated in the training of the Iraqi Security Forces. Their training cycle was one week long and it was extremely insufficient. There was no trust factor between us and them. During their weapons qualification I can recall being told by my range NCO to stand directly behind the Iraqi soldier just in case he tried to turn the weapon on us. My instructions were to "jump him and kill him." When the training cycle was over we incorporated them into our units to accompany us on missions in order to train them. Prior to the missions we never told them where we were going because we were positive that the insurgency had infiltrated the Iraqi Security Forces. If they knew where the mission would take place they could tip off the larger insurgency element and set us up for an ambush. Almost all of them covered their faces out of fear or shame of being seen with American troops in their communities. As a rifle team leader leading a team of Iraqis wearing hoods and carrying AK-47 assault rifles down a narrow alley in Baghdad it is needless to say that my anxiety level was through the roof.

Before I left Iraq I made a promise to myself that I would do everything in my power to stop this war if I was lucky enough to make it home.

Upon honorable discharge from the US Army in February 2005 I relocated to the Washington, DC area. I immediately became a vocal critic of the war and traveled the halls of Congress going door to door hoping to share my experiences with those who empowered Bush to send us to war. For a few months it fell on deaf ears, but after a while some members of Congress began to listen.

From there on I spoke at rallies, demonstrations, town hall meetings, and on behalf of anti Iraq war candidates running for office. I joined the Democratic leadership in promoting legislation that called for an end to the war.

It's been years now and sometimes I feel out of breath and tired from screaming at the top of my lungs for end to this madness in Iraq. But we are still there and it appears that there is really no end in sight.

Even General Patraeus can't say that we are safer because of the war in Iraq. During our troop surge the Iraqi government fell apart. We have granted amnesty to Sunni militias in Anbar with American blood on their hands, and we are now arming and financing them out of desperation to stop the violence. We are doing the same for Shiite militias loyal to Al Sadr who is a mass murderer of US troops. The Iraqi government, police force, and security forces are rampant with corruption. Is this the Iraq that our troops were sent off to die for? If Bush cared the slightest bit I would love to ask him that question.

Now it has been suggested by General Petraeus that the surge has been such a success that we can bring home 30,000 troops by this summer. Really? That would mean that if there were any gains made by the surge they will evaporate almost immediately into thin air. We will be right back were we started with fewer troops in an extremely hostile environment -- The Rumsfeld Doctrine. What then? Do we have another surge? Is that possible with a broken military? OF COURSE NOT.

Bush and his loyalists in Congress won't even allow our troops to rest after mulitple deployments that go above and beyond the call of duty.

During the last Democratic presidential debate the front runners for the nomination could not even guarantee that our troops would be home by the end of their first term in 2013. For me that is just tragic to hear.

The American people want an end to this war so badly. If the politicians will not listen it is our duty as Americans to make them listen. We owe it to our country and our troops to ensure that our members of Congress no longer allow themselves to be bullied by a coward like George W. Bush. If Bush vetoes legislation for our troops and an end to the war Congress must shove it right back in his face. We must act now while there is still a chance to make Congress do their job as a co-equal branch of government and start bringing this war to an end. They need to be equally as defiant as Bush has been for the last 7 years and fight fire with fire when it comes to this President. After all, that is what we elected them to do.

I will fight for an end to this war with my last breath. We all must.


John Bruhns
Iraq Veteran Read the rest of this post...

Sunday Talk Shows Open Thread

An eclectic mix on the Sunday shows today. Couple Democrcatic presidential candidates, a Bush cabinet secretary and Tony Perkins, who is one of the leading homophobes in the country.

Here's the lineup:

ABC's "This Week" - Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt; Gov. Jon Corzine, D-N.J.; New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, Democratic presidential candidate.

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CBS' "Face the Nation" - Reps. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., and Adam Putnam, R-Fla.; Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council.

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NBC's "Meet the Press" - Former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., presidential candidate.

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CNN's "Late Edition" - Iraqi President Jalal Talabani; Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol; Susan Rice, foreign policy expert at the Brookings Institution; John Prendergast, co-founder of Enough, a project to abolish genocide; former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.

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"Fox News Sunday" - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.; Patti Solis Doyle, Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign manager.

Two Democrats on Fox. Huh. Read the rest of this post...

Bush administration blocked asbestos warnings

Support business at all costs and regardless of the potentially deadly consequences. Rinse, repeat and repeat and repeat and repeat.

In 2002, then-EPA Administrator Christy Todd Whitman agreed with her team of scientists and physicians working in Libby that a "Public Health Emergency" should be declared because of the severe toxicity of the asbestos contamination in the insulation. The declaration would have authorized and provided money for intensified health studies that would quantify the threat from the Libby asbestos, expand the cleanup of the town and the homes, and conduct an extensive publicity campaign to notify homeowners and workers of the dangers from exposure to Zonolite.

Thousands of pages of e-mails, letters and reports document intense efforts from the White House to block the declaration, especially the part that would require the government to tell millions of homeowners that they could be living with a toxic threat in their attic and walls.

In May 2003, EPA said it was launching a "national consumer awareness campaign to provide homeowners with important information on vermiculite attic insulation which may contain asbestos."

It promised extensive television and radio ads, a "blitz" of appearances on national and local news show, the distribution of "tens of thousands" of posters and warning brochures in home improvement stores.

It never happened.

Read the rest of this post...

Who would trust these companies to solve the American health care crisis?

It's a surprise that anyone was even fined by this administration which gives us some idea how bad the problems must be if the Bush team took action against private insurance companies.

Tens of thousands of Medicare recipients have been victims of deceptive sales tactics and had claims improperly denied by private insurers that run the system’s huge new drug benefit program and offer other private insurance options encouraged by the Bush administration, a review of scores of federal audits has found.

The problems, described in 91 audit reports reviewed by The New York Times, include the improper termination of coverage for people with H.I.V. and AIDS, huge backlogs of claims and complaints, and a failure to answer telephone calls from consumers, doctors and drugstores.

Medicare officials have required insurance companies of all sizes to fix the violations by adopting “corrective action plans.” Since March, Medicare has imposed fines of more than $770,000 on 11 companies for marketing violations and failure to provide timely notice to beneficiaries about changes in costs and benefits.

The companies include three of the largest participants in the Medicare market, UnitedHealth, Humana and WellPoint.[My emphasis]

The audits document widespread violations of patients’ rights and consumer protection standards. Some violations could directly affect the health of patients — for example, by delaying access to urgently needed medications.

As I have said before, the system here in France is not perfect but you would simply not hear stories such as this. They have some funny ideas in France regarding health care, where people are treated first and the payment is sorted out later, without insanely ridiculous scams like this.

Why are these companies even allowed to continue doing business with the US government? If they are cheating the US government and cheating their customers, cut them off completely. Let them round up business elsewhere, but of course, they love working with the government and raking in government money so they won't be going anywhere. They all may talk about the fear of national health care, but in a hybrid public-private system (as in France) they do just fine and still make healthy profits. Cut these companies out of government contracts for five years, hell, make it two or even one year, and let's see how they react. I'd be able to hear the screaming and crying all of the way over here in Paris. If only someone would stand up to these America-hating businesses. Read the rest of this post...

Angela Merkel chooses Mugabe over Gordon Brown

Pathetic. You would think that someone who grew up in communist East Germany might show more interest in the plight of the people of Zimbabwe who live under a brutal dictatorship but human rights are apparently only for others. Gordon Brown is right to dig in and ask for European "leaders" to choose between Brown or Mugabe at the upcoming Europe-Africa summit. It sounds as though Merkel is hiding behind the failed "quiet diplomacy" program that has shown no results despite all of the talk from Thabo Mbeki.

Unfortunately this won't be the first time the EU has folded and given in to Mugabe, allowing him to visit Europe despite legislation that forbids his travels to Europe. Perhaps torture, starvation and political prisoners are OK in the new Germany and the new Europe. Read the rest of this post...