The Chairman Comes to the 'hood

Karen---

i'll be there on the IRC. can't wait to hear exciting strategy and plans. HOHO-i like that too, images of the man in the red suit and a good laugh at the same time.

i'd ask about eleventeen questions, but that would spoil the chat tomorrow.

i know this dates me, shows my age, but folks.....

"be there or be square"

Dean's job for now will be to preach to the choir. He's good at that, I want to hear more about the bottom up ideas he has. The best thing he ever did for the party was energizing the 18-30 year old vote. At times it feel like a long way to Nov 06, much less Nov 08. Now how do we keep them going?

Thanks Karen I really need to hear that I hope he blows them away, because the bulk of them do not know the meaning of moralty

Sorry I mean the Republican party in the house and in the senate and in the media and on cable

Cool, I look forward to the IRC sessions tomorrow.

It will be interesting to see how Howard's influence shakes out during the coming years. Locally, I know that many, many people here in Iowa didn't appreciate the way he was treated by the press following "the scream." Even people that didn't caucus for Howard still respect him and listen when he talks. They will donate.

I'd really like to see Howard encourage people to give to their local parties and candidates. There are so many great would-be politicians that don't run because they'd have to finance their own campaign. A little help from the DNC would go a long way.

Neglecting Medicare and Cutting Medicaid
24 March 2005

We all know that the Republicans are well versed at avoiding the real issues. This editorial from Thursday’s Boston Globe highlights the looming Medicare problem that no one seems to want to talk about…

Neglecting Medicare March 24, 2005

THE LATEST report from the Social Security trustees contains little new, but it does highlight the dire financial condition of Medicare. President Bush, with his focus on privatizing Social Security, is slighting his obligation to restore the medical insurance system for the elderly to financial health.

The trustees estimate that the Social Security trust fund will be exhausted in 2041 -- a year earlier than forecast previously -- and that the Medicare Part A trust fund, which pays for hospital inpatient care, will run out of money in 2020, a year later than last anticipated. These estimates often change slightly year to year, and in the case of Social Security, they indicate the need for measured deliberation on plans to shore up the system.

http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/default.asp?view=plink&id=614

Karen

I'm going to make a note to try to get on the chat tomorrow... sounds like you have a lot to share!

Wed Mar 23, 6:13 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Army is ordering more people to serve in Iraq (news - web sites) and Afghanistan (news - web sites) involuntarily from a seldom-used personnel pool as part of a mobilization that began last summer.

They are part of the Army's Individual Ready Reserve, made up of soldiers who have completed their volunteer active-duty service commitment but remain eligible to be called back into uniform for years after returning to civilian life.

The Army, straining to maintain troop levels in Iraq, last June said it would summon more than 5,600 people on the IRR in an effort to have about 4,400 soldiers fit for duty in Iraq and Afghanistan after granting exemption requests for medical reasons and other hardships.

Lt. Col. Pamela Hart said on Wednesday the Army has now increased the number of IRR soldiers it needs to about 4,650, which means a total of about 6,100 will get mobilization orders.

The IRR differs from the part-time Army Reserve and Army National Guard, whose soldiers train regularly as part of units. People on the IRR have no such training requirements.

Hart also said 370 IRR soldiers had not reported to the Army by the date ordered and have not requested an exemption from service or a delay in reporting. Hart said none have been declared absent without leave, or AWOL, and the Army was trying to determine whether all of them actually had received their mobilization orders.

"We're giving them all ample opportunity to comply with their orders," Hart said.

The Army has approved 1,866 requests for exemptions or delays in reporting, Hart said.

There are about 150,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, but the number is slated to decline to about 138,000 this month. The Army has defended tapping into the IRR, saying it was a legitimate personnel tool to find soldiers in a time of need.

Army officials have said that they expect to launch a second round of mobilizations from the IRR this summer on the scale of the current round to provide soldiers for future force rotations into Iraq and Afghanistan

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1896&u=/nm/20050323/us_nm/iraq_usa_reserve_dc&printer=1

OT but what a symbol : "Kyrgyz protesters take hold of White House"

Of course it's their WH, but democracy seems to be contagious in some former Russian Empire countries. Will the "Tulips" revolution be successful, we'll see, but they are trying!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/03/24/ukyrgyz.xml&sSheet=/portal/2005/03/24/ixportaltop

Friedman has a creat column today:

George W. to George W.
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

Published: March 24, 2005

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/24/opinion/24friedman.html?hp

I just got this email, along with about 100 other local people: (It sounds like one of this internet-only surveys so not probably done by a real pollster, but still..it's a very large number sampled so that reduces the margin of error & makes it more somewhat more representative, statistically speaking)
Anyway - I appreciate the sentiment!

http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/03/23/schiavo/index.html

CNN HAS DONE A SURVEY OF OVER 250,000 folks re- Who Should Make Decisions About Ms. Schiavo ?

73 % supported her Husband having that responsibility! HEH SHRUB! Would you and your political cronies Buzz Off! And focus on getting this country out of Iraq

I'm sorry I'll miss the IRC chat because I'll still be at work. Recently Dean & Harold Reid spoke to several thousand internet activists via house parties. Reid spoke specifically about action to stop appointment of conservative judges and Dean spoke of how to unify the party and get active.

Harold Reid reminded us that all but 10 Bush judicial nominees were confirmed, so that Bush had his way for 204, and this is unprecedented in American history. He told us that Bush has now renominated 7 of these ultraconservative judges and they need to be blocked. Bush suggests that we are having a "judicial crisis" so he is again using fear to push his extreme politics. He is threatening use of the "nuclear option" in the Senate. Senator Reid reiterated that we need to protect our democracy and freedom of speech and our system of "checks and balances" and that we needed to get the word out.

Howard Dean said that as head of the DNC he would only be able to coordinate with groups in ways legal under campaign finance law, but that working on issues as part of grassroots networks essential. He reminded us that tolerance is a virtue, tht Republicans want to divide us but that we will stick together. He encouraged focus on issues, on winning local races and on election reform especially via local initiatives in states where this can be done.

Dean encouraged activists to make sure damage done so far does not permanently set our country back. He said that young people don't need social security turned over to those who brought us Enron. Dean talked about Lakoff and the importance of framing - "Let's change our language" - we are already the party that champions social and economic justice. We believe in jobs, healthcare and strong public education. He felt that we need to talk in a way that people can understand who don't take time to get really involved in politics. He laid out the plan to have paid organizers in each state, including "red" states and emphasized the necessity of starting out 4 years before the election.

I was especially encouraged by his emphasis on winning local elections and on getting Democrats into positions to count the votes. He advocated for putting election reform referendums onto ballots wherever possible. He did not feel that the general public trusts the voting machines or that they like uncertain elections. Dean suggested California as a good state to introduce such a referendum.

I am looking forward to seeing many grassroots groups working in a positive direction, and being highly complementary to a reorganized and strengthened DNC.

John Edwards has also put his first podcast up on his site.

Of course I'm one of Kerry's number one fans in the universe but have also seen Dean speak 6x. Here are some highlights of Chairman Howard Dean's DNC Plan:

1. Show up! Democrats should never concede a single state, a single district, or a single voter to the Republicans. We must be active and compete in all 50 states and work with the state parties to build a true national party.

2. The success of the national party depends directly on the success of the state parties - we must better integrate our operations by:

Having the DNC pay the salary of each state party executive director to help ensure that the state parties have adequate funds.

Collectively building and sharing supporter lists between the national and state parties.

Recruiting, training, and encouraging candidates to run for office at every level - building tomorrow's farm team from the ground up.

Actively grow local Democratic committees and communities by working with neighborhood activists who can reach out in their communities and enable the grassroots to support state and local candidates.

Maintaining a permanent campaign in every state. We need to establish an ongoing, active presence, which does not have to be recreated every four years for four months.

3. Set core principles that define the Democratic Party and what we stand for and take a bottom-up approach to the development of the Party's message;

4. Use cutting-edge Internet and other technologies to fundraise, organize, and communicate with our supporters;

5. Strengthen our political institutions and leadership institutes to promote our leaders and our ideas - these organizations must work together in a coordinated and integrated fashion to elect Democrats at every level, so that we can take this country back.

Remarks by Governor Howard Dean Accepting the Chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee (excerpts from Feb. speech)

If you told me one year ago that I'd be standing here today, as your choice for Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, I wouldn't have believed you. And neither would have a lot of other people. But let me say that standing here with the opportunity to lead this Party, is a great honor. I am thankful. I am humbled. And I'm ready to get to work. This was the first race for DNC chairman truly driven by the grassroots of this Party. And so, I want you to know this is not my chairmanship, this is our chairmanship. You have given me an enormous responsibility. But it is a responsibility we share.
We can change this Party… but only by working together and competing in all 50 states. We can change this Party… but only by working together and becoming a national party again. We can change this Party… but only by working together at the local level. If we want to win nationally, we have to win locally. With your help, I am certain that today will not mark the end of the process of selecting a DNC chair. Today will be the beginning of the reemergence of the Democratic Party. We have a lot of work to do. But we have a bright future… exemplified by the other candidates who joined me in this race. They are all great Democrats.

(snip)
WHAT WE STAND FOR
We know that we're the party for young Americans looking for a government that speaks to them… we know that we're the party for working Americans desperate for a government that looks out for them… and we know that we're the party for older Americans and veterans and members of the Armed Services expecting and deserving a government that honors them. And we know that no matter where you live or who you are, what you look like or how you worship, ours is the diverse party that welcomes you. But right now, as important as all of that is… it is not enough. We have to move forward. We cannot win if all we are is against the current President.

Republicans wandered around in the political wilderness for 40 years before they took back Congress. But the reason we lost control is that we forgot why we were entrusted with control to begin with. The American people can't afford to wait for 40 years for us to put Washington back to work for them. It can't take us that long.
And it won't take us that long… not if we stand up for what we believe in… organize at the local level… and recognize that this Party's strength doesn't come from the consultants down, it comes from grassroots up. The first thing we have to do is stand up for what we believe in. This week, the Republicans introduced a $2.5 trillion budget that deliberately conceals the cost of their fiscal recklessness. Their budget doesn't account for the cost of the war in Iraq, or privatizing Social Security. It cuts education, children's health, veterans benefits, and community policing.

As far as I'm concerned, this budget does only two things: It brings Enron-style accounting to our nation's capital. And it demonstrates what Americans are beginning to see: Republicans cannot be trusted with your money. The Republicans know the America they want… and they are not afraid to use any means to get there. But there is something that this Administration and the Republican Party are very afraid of. It is that we may actually begin fighting for what we believe [in]; the fiscally responsible, socially progressive values for which Democrats have always stood and fought. Because we are what we believe. We Democrats believe in fiscal responsibility and we're the only ones who have delivered it. The first time our nation balanced its budget, it was Andrew Jackson, father of the Democratic Party, who did it. The last time our nation balanced its budget, it was Bill Clinton who did it. Democratic governors do it every single year. Not one Republican President has balanced the budget in almost 40 years. Borrow and spend. Borrow and spend. Borrow and spend. Americans cannot trust the Republicans with their money.

Americans want a strong and smart national security. It was Democrats who pushed to create a Department of Homeland Security. It was Democrats who pushed to make our airlines safer. It is Democrats who are now working to make sure we close the remaining gaps in our security. It was Democrats who demanded reform of the intelligence community. And it is Democrats who are pushing for a foreign policy that honestly deals with the threats of today, and the threats of tomorrow - like securing the nuclear materials around the world.
Republicans had to be dragged kicking and screaming to our side on all of these issues. There is no reason for Democrats to be defensive on national defense.

We believe that a good job is the foundation of a strong family, a strong community, and a strong country. We're going to work to create good high-paying jobs here in America, and we're going to keep good high paying jobs here in America. And there is no reason for us to apologize for being willing to stand up for our belief that Americans who get up and go to work everyday have the right to join a union.
We believe every American should have access to affordable health care. It is wrong that we remain the only industrialized nation in the world that does not assure health care for all of its citizens, particularly our children. We believe the path to a better future goes directly through our public schools.

We believe that every single American has a voice and that it should be heard in the halls of power every day. And most importantly, it ought to be heard by guaranteeing an open and fair vote on Election Day. And finally, we believe that a lifetime of work earns you a retirement of dignity. We won't let that be put at risk by leaders who continually invent false crises to justify policies that don't work… in this case, borrowing from our children and shredding our country's social safety net in the process.

The President's plan for Social Security does nothing to guarantee Social Security's future. But it will cut benefits and cost an estimated 2 trillion dollars. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, we will have to borrow 4.5 trillion dollars to finance the privatization of Social Security in the first 20 years alone. Let me give you a sense of how much money that is. There are 118 million people under the age of 30 in America today. That means borrowing nearly $45,000 in each of their names. That's a legacy of debt our children don't deserve. Social Security is one of the proudest achievements of the Democratic Party, and we don't intend to let it fall victim to a dishonest scheme that only serves to heap greater debt on America's young people. We need to set the agenda. And we're going to work with Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi and our Democratic governors and local elected officials to do just that.
I met with Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid this past week, and we are looking forward to standing together in the battles ahead. We're all going to need to be united. And we're going to need to be organized. Really organized.

ORGANIZE
That means we frame the issues; Republicans will not tell America what our agenda is. We will do that. Organizing means raising money not only from big donors but small contributors, not only through dinners and telephone solicitations and direct mail, but also through the Internet and person-to-person outreach. Organizing means transforming us into a Party that can communicate with its supporters and with all Americans. Politics is at its best when we create and inspire a sense of community. The tools that were in part pioneered in my campaign; like blogs and Meetups and most importantly, community building; are just a start.

We are going to use all of the power and potential of technology as part of an aggressive outreach to meet and include voters, to work with your state parties, and to get our message out. We cannot run 18 state presidential campaigns and expect to win. You all know we have a strategy for every state and territory. It's very simple. Show up.
People will vote for Democratic candidates in Texas, and Utah, and West Virginia if we knock on their door, introduce ourselves and tell them what we believe. That's what organization allows us to do.

GRASSROOTS
But all of the ideas and organization in the world won't matter if people don't see our ideas as relevant to them, or the political process as connected to them. So, third, we are going to recognize that our strength lies at the grassroots. If we are to take our country back for everyday working Americans, Democrats will have to match or exceed the Republicans' ability to motivate voters.
You might find this hard to believe… but I'm not much of a zen person. But I've found that the path to power, oddly enough, is to trust others with it. That means putting the power where the voters are. That is something Republicans will never understand. But we do.

Standing up for our beliefs… organizing… and transforming our party into a grassroots organization that can win in all 50 states: That's how we will rebuild the Democratic Party. We will rebuild our Party because only we are the party of reform. Republicans can stop progress, but only Democrats can start it again. And we will rebuild our Party because our greatest strength is something the Republicans will never match - the diversity represented in this room. Look around - we look like America. We are America. Republicans stop progress, but only Democrats start it. It's going to take a lot of work. And I'm going to be asking a lot of all of you. It is not my chairmanship; it is ours. Election by election… State by state… Precinct by precinct… Door by door… Vote by vote… We're going to take this country back for the people who built it.

The New Culture of Life

WASHINGTON, April 5 -- In an unprecedented move, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay introduced legislation today intended to prevent millions of Americans from dying each year by making death a federal crime.

The legislation calls for penalties up to 5 years in prison for any person convicted of dying.

Citing the recent election and calls from social conservatives for a "culture of life," DeLay said at a press conference that such legislation was long overdue.

He acknowledged that there were practical problems "but, symbolically to have the United States Congress stand up for life in this way, I think, sends an important message."

The legislation was quickly opposed by Democrats who characterized it as "pointless" and as "a waste of time that could be better spent."

But DeLay was insistent that no effort should be spared in the effort to foster a culture of life.

In related developments, the Bush administration announced earlier in the day that it was seeking $200 million in funding from Congress for research into re-animating the dead.

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said "the President feels very strongly about the need to protect life, and therefore it should come as no surprise that he would be interested in actually restoring life to those who are dead."

However, some critics of the administration suggest there may be a more cynical motive.

A senior official in the Department of Justice said Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has already asked staff to draft a memo arguing that such re-animated individuals, having been pronounced dead, would no longer be entitled to 13th or 14th Amendment protection and could therefore be used for slave labor.

Conservative economists have long argued that re-instituting slavery could serve as an effective check on inflation by reducing wage pressures. Such ideas, however, have never gained much support within the Republican party primarly due to the legal obstacles.

If the administration can find a way to bring the dead back to life it would not only shore up their pro-life credentials but would solidify support from business by providing it with a virtually endless supply of cheap labor.

Despite almost universal agreement from medical professionals that such re-animation is impossible, the Bush administration is optimistic.

"This is an administration that tends to believe what it wants to believe" said Charles Duelfer, who as head of the Iraq Survey Group concluded that Saddam Hussein did not posess WMDs.

By the way, I wish that I could take credit for authoring the above, but I'm just reposting an item posted in the Yankee newsgroup...

In related developments, the Bush administration announced earlier in the day that it was seeking $200 million in funding from Congress for research into re-animating the dead.

Cyrano,

Re-animating the dead? Only Jesus has the techique... But I don't think he might apply for the job and join the team.
How can people tell such nonsense?

Funny, but maybe not funny at all.
Wanted: A Living Will That Will Hold Up in Court

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05082/476126.stm

Jeb Bush and Florida’s social services agency filed a petition in state court to take custody of Schiavo and, presumably, reconnect her feeding tube. It cites new allegations of neglect and challenges Schiavo’s diagnosis as being in a persistent vegetative state. The request is based on the opinion of a neurologist working for the state who observed Schiavo at her bedside but did not conduct an examination of her.

The neurologist, William Cheshire of the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, is a bioethicist who is also an active member in Christian organizations, including two whose leaders have spoken out against the tube’s removal.

But Ronald Cranford of the University of Minnesota, a neurologist who was among those who made a previous diagnosis of Schiavo, said “there isn’t a reputable, credible neurologist in the world who won’t find her in a vegetative state.”

Our very own Casey Morris made an appearance on Northeast Public Radio's Roundtable this morning.

http://www.wamc.org/roundtable.html

She talked about "five minutes a day for democracy" and mentioned the DCP, of course. The host picked up and reinforced the url.

Greetings to all who are here from that mention! Take heart--spring is almost here, and democracy is comin' to the USA!

U.S. Supreme Court rejects Schiavo parents' appeal
State judge who ordered feeding tube removal gets case again

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Thursday an appeal by the parents of Terri Schiavo to have their severely brain-damaged daughter's feeding tube reinserted.

The court, without comment, refused to intervene after the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals twice Wednesday turned down a plea from the parents, Bob and Mary Schindler

The fate of Terri Schiavo is also in a waiting stage on another front -- the Florida circuit court where the judicial wrangling began seven years ago.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/03/24/schiavo/index.html

Way to go, Casey!

I just have to say this. All of the people who have been involved in screaming and hollering about allegations of abuse should be sued by Michael Schiavo. I don't know that he would drag all this out by doing so, but that is among the most DISGUSTING thing that has been used by these sad misguided people.

Posted by: tutterfly at March 24, 2005 10:52 AM

Notice the Attorney General, faily well versed on the topic of abuse, has been virtually invisible in this case.

One very sad circus.

I have a bad feeling about what will happen next in this circus. Anyone else think that Jeb is going to order the state police or national guard (if they aren't all in Iraq) to snatch her out of the hospice? I am sickened by this spectacle. I had sympathy for the parents loss of their daughter 15 years ago but now, after making a spectacle of their daughter to advance an extremeist agenda, I find myself feeling nothing but disgust when I see them on TV.

Benson on the Red Lake school shootings..

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/benson/

Yes, Yes, I know it's always better not to use credit cards, but since Mr Average American now owes approximately 9 thousand dollars on his credit card bill, I think it's interesting to watch the machinations of the credit card companies now that the bankruptcy bill is a shoo-in. I reported on here a couple of days ago that both Wachovia and Bank of America were raising their minimum monthly credit card payment to 4 percent of the outstanding balance- a payment of $360 for Mr Average American on his credit card. It's exactly this sort of thing that is going to win the congress back for the Democratic party in 2006. Now, only this morning, MBNA has announced that they, too, will raise their minimum monthly payment to 4 percent of the outstanding balance. So, the banks are all falling in line behind Bank of America. MBNA passed on a news release to CNN (which now stands for Corporate News Network) , and CNN reported that MBNA believes the payment increase is for the benefit of the debtor, since, unless the payments are increased, the poor debtor will only be paying enough on his debt to cover his interest and his late fees, and will actually not be paying down his debt at all. How kind of MBNA. Increase the interest on the credit cards, add on a few late fees, and then help the credit card holder out by increasing their payment "for their own good."
Personally speaking, I'm transferring all my bankcard debt over to my credit union, but I only have a little, so I'm able to do that. A lot of Americans won't . And they'll be paying through the nose in a couple of months for voting George Bush back into office. Oh well. Ya get what you asked for. It's just a shame the rest of us will have to suffer too.

Posted by: Linda Enterkin at March 24, 2005 12:04 PM

How many more slaps in the face will it take for Mr., Miss & Mrs. Average American to realize who is on the side of big biz versus who is on THEIR side?

Pass the punch.

Support the League of Conservation Voters..
A lot of petitions to try and stop the BushCo rape and pillaging of the environment1

http://www.lcv.org/

Conclusion is the Same: Bush's Privatization Plan Will Only Hurt Social Security

March 23, 2005

Despite President Bush's confused effort to convince Americans the sky is falling, the Social Security Trustees report yesterday changed little about our understanding of the underlying conditions. Although some changes will be necessary to ensure Social Security's long-term solvency, one thing is clear: President Bush's efforts to borrow trillions of dollars and divert Social Security funds into private accounts will only make matters worse.

The Trustees Report does nothing to support the president's claims about Social Security. According to the most recent Social Security trustees report, the program will be able to pay full benefits to all beneficiaries until 2041 without any reforms. Five years ago, the trustees predicted that the program would be to pay out full benefits until 2037. Despite the scare tactic by those eager to privatize the program – Social Security's financial condition has been improving and with modest changes will be solvent for years to come.

Here's a simple idea: repeal President Bush's handouts to wealthy to help save Social Security. Permanent extension of President Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy will cost taxpayers $12.3 trillion over the next 75 years, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. By simply repealing the tax cuts for the top earners, we could save more than enough money to cover the $4 trillion projected shortfall estimated for Social Security over the same period.

Bush's plan to borrow trillions of dollars and divert payroll taxes to private accounts is the surest way to kill Social Security. The president himself admits his privatization scheme will do nothing to help Social Security's solvency. In fact, it will only hasten the demise of the program by taking money out of the program, forcing huge benefit cuts, and borrowing trillions of dollars to finance the transition. In the end, Americans will face a less secure retirement and younger workers will be severely burdened with the costs of Bush's privatization debt.

Daily Talking Points is a product of the American Progress Action Fund.

In recent days, conservative authors have published articles and memos with headlines such as ''With all due respect, Mr. President, You're Wrong," along with protests that the Republican message on Social Security has become ''pay more, work longer, get less."

That pretty much summarizes their SS plan. Pay more, work longer, get less. Newt finally got it right.

"The legal struggle over the fate of Terri Schiavo is exposing what some see as a credibility gap for the Bush administration, Republicans in Congress and social conservatives who want to rid the federal judiciary of so-called activist judges and even strip them of authority," writes Richard Schmitt of the Los Angeles Times.

Interesting point. Repubs want the nuclear option for the Senate in approving federal judges because they believe that many judges are legislating from the bench; judicial acivism. Yet that is exactly what the social conservatives have been demanding all week on their behalf. Judicial activism to support their cause. What hypocrisy.

Hello everyone,

Come on over to the irc (Live Chat on the pulldown tab on the top nav bar under "Discuss") to talk more about last night's event with Howard Dean. Keep in mind that the DCP is non-partisan and we welcome all points of view. Restoring democracy is not a partisan ideal either--but we are very interested in what Chairman Dean will do for democracy too!

Another reason for Bush's SS plan could be unfunded pession requirements.

This is from blogforArizona...

WHY PRIVATE SOCIAL SECURITY ACCOUNTS?
For the many of us who were not invited to discuss matters of state with the President on Monday, it is enough to know that you didn’t miss anything new. The President was relentless on the message of privatizing Social Security, pausing only to wax hypocritical about the Schiavo case.

Now, the President had already admitted that the plan to privatize SS does not address the fiscal problems the program could face 13-15 years from now. He has admitted that the likely hasn’t the congressional support needed to pass the reform. And despite GOP polling indicating that people are seeing the issue as more important relative to other subjects than they did 6 months ago, most people still prefer small and incremental changes, not radical solutions such as private accounts... oops, sorry, 'personal' accounts. So why does George keep pushing this dead horse around America like it was a prize stud?

Why does the GOP want the particular reform it calls for, and why now? The first is easy, because we are essentially a one party state at the moment. If they are ever getting away with any major change to Social Security, it has to be now. But why these specific reforms? Many couch the policy in a negative light: destroy the system, cut the safety net, or break the backbone of the New Deal. Some see a positive, if possibly troubling agenda; create an ‘ownership society’, give people more control over their retirements, or even lining the pockets of traders selling the financial instruments of reform. Except for the last, it is really all just so much hot air; and the commissions from the kinds of highly controlled investments aren’t going to be making traders the cheeva like churning a 401(k).

I’ve become convinced that the real reasons are much deeper and address far more basic needs of Bush’s constituency. That’s when I read the work of Michael Hudson of the University of Missouri in this month’s Harpers magazine (not yet online), and it all clicked neatly into place. For years Michael has been writing about the tech bubble and the growing crisis of corporate pensions funds. Michael puts it simply, "it is not the Social Security system that is broke, but today’s stock markets that need an infusion of cash to cope with shrinking earnings."

Hundreds of major corporations have been systematically under-funding their pension plans in order to use that income to report increasing profits in the 1990s to justify share prices. Of course, that just kicked those unfunded liabilities down the road, and the vultures are starting to roost. Now we face a corporate landscape in which major American firms are facing 100s of billions in obligations they can’t met. Firms are bankrupting to escape those obligations, leaving pensioners holding the bag, and leaving the Federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) with losses of 23 billion last year alone. Bailing out the PBGC could cost taxpayers 100 billion, or more, if the trend continues.

The root cause of this malaise is under-funding of pension reserves, and the stockmarket’s relative doldrums. Most of the pension reserves are stock in the sponsoring company or a diverse sampling of the market. What everyone really needs is a rip-roaring good stock market rally (read, BUBBLE. Pension reserves go up, corporation pull their bits out the fire, everyone who’s rich gets richer, and the little people get a taste of the action. Sounds swell. And it has historical precedent; many a good stock speculation bubble had a government behind it trying to dig its way out of public debts. The British government swapping dowdy old treasury bonds for sure bet stocks in the slave trade caused the South Sea Bubble of 1711. By the time the bubble collapsed, the government had paid off the debt and investors were left holding worthless paper. Bush’s plan really is not that much more complex than the South Sea Bubble, convince Americans to trade those stogy old T-Bills for exciting new growth stocks sure to make them wealthy. Once he’s privatized the risks of default, and socialized the large obligations or corporate owners, well everybody’s happy, except perhaps you if you lost everything in the crash of 2020 just before retirement. But, oh well, we’ll have a debtors prison or a good work camp for you, chump.

Well, like all ponzi schemes there is always the last sucker, and retirees stupid enough to rely on Social Security are Bush’s chosen marks. SS will be missing as much as half its revenue at a time of unprecedented demand from retirees. Bush’s plan almost certainly will boost the stock market; how could hundreds of billions in new dollars chasing the same equity fail to do otherwise? But the market will recede again because those investments won’t be used for real production, they will be used to cover the damage of yesterday’s excess and to continue fattening a financial and executive class who have begun to believe they are entitled to outrageous salaries and perks. The market will recede, as markets do, leaving us all poorer and without a viable system to help the elderly live in dignity in this nation.

A little humor brought to you by Wonkette.......

White House Embraces Culture of Death
The White House calls it an "Easter Egg Roll." We see potentially viable chickens. How come Congress hasn't called an emergency special session to protect the life of Eggland's best? Today's your chance to get answers, in an online chat with Sarah Armstrong, Director of the White House Visitor's Office. —

As one disgusted Times reader suggested in an e-mail: "Americans ought to send Bill Frist their requests: 'Dear Dr. Frist: Please watch the enclosed video and tell us if that mole on my mother's cheek is cancer. Does she need surgery?' "
Touche.

The White House calls it an "Easter Egg Roll." We see potentially viable chickens.

Posted by: nancyjane at March 24, 2005 02:50 PM

Guess we can expect the new chef at the White House to scratch caviar from the menu, eh?

SCRAMBLE

Those eggs would be protected if they were frozen at -320 degrees in nitrogen and their owners didn't want them. The chickens need to get religion if they expect this barbaric egg rolling is to be stopped.

Discussed this morning on Air America Radio...

The American Center for Voting Rights was the ONLY voting rights group allowed to testify on Monday before the House Administrative Committee hearing investigating the 2004 election in Ohio last Monday with Ney and Blackwell... This "non-partisan" voting rights group was formed last Thursday and is led by a guy named Thor. The group has strong ties with Bush/Cheney. Do I need to mention that the testimony was highly biased and anything but nonpartisan? Spread the word...

www.bradblog.com/archives/00001279.htm

This "non-partisan" voting rights group was formed last Thursday and is led by a guy named Thor.

Posted by: tutterfly at March 24, 2005 03:46 PM

In this post-Gluckertgate world we live in, did "they" not think the smart people would do some checking on the only group allowed to testify?

As for Thor... I'm not even gonna touch that one.

Funny marc.

But with Terrigate going on, who knew anything? This group sure is operating much too far under the wire, don't you think?

A neat site that debunks GOP lies.

http://goplies.com/index.php

Look at the article about 60% of union members wanting privatization.
A good discussion about lies and the liars who tell them.

Karen,

I'm channeling CHANGE. Hope it's working!

Great article
In the name of freedom and goodness, thought suppression is in the air

By Joan Chittister, OSB

http://nationalcatholicreporter.org/fwis/fw032405.htm

[snip]
No doubt about it: We have entered a new phase of history. In the name of freedom and goodness, thought suppression is in the air. Now discussion has become dissent.

It is intimidation time in the United States of America. Everybody is expected to follow the flag bearer rather than the Bill of Rights.

It is inquisition time in the church. Everybody is expected to accept clerical answers rather than pursue Christian questions of conscience.

It is the period of the new McCarthyism, the rush to purify the soul of the nation by those who would do anything, however democratically impure, to achieve it.

The unwritten assumption is that to open for discussion what the ruling system decrees to be final is to attack or abandon the system itself.

In related developments, the Bush administration announced earlier in the day that it was seeking $200 million in funding from Congress for research into re-animating the dead.

Cyrano,

Re-animating the dead? Only Jesus has the techique... But I don't think he might apply for the job and join the team.
How can people tell such nonsense?

Posted by: Andrée - France at March 24, 2005 10:12 AM

Re-animating the dead?!!! I believe that's called black magic. This is something that SHOULD cause extreme dismay to anyone who believes in the sanctity of life and the Christian belief of creatinism.

For some fun while re-animating the dead, try "Frozen Dead Guy Days". Sorry you missed it this year. http://www.nederlandchamber.org/FrozenDeadGuyDays/

In an unprecedented move, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay introduced legislation today intended to prevent millions of Americans from dying each year by making death a federal crime.

The legislation calls for penalties up to 5 years in prison for any person convicted of dying.

Posted by: Cyrano at March 24, 2005 09:55 AM

And what about our soldiers killed in Iraq then?

~what???
James Baker3, family consigliore of Bu$hie$, the guy who gave W the WH in '00, is going to do "election reform" now???

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jimmy Carter, James Baker to Convene New Commission on Federal Election Reform; First Meeting at American University, April 18

WASHINGTON, March 24 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James A. Baker, III, announced today that they will co-chair a Commission on Federal Election Reform to examine the state of America's federal elections and recommend improvements.

Carter and Baker have assembled a private, bi-partisan commission whose membership includes former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, former House Minority Leader Bob Michel, former U.S. Representatives Lee Hamilton and Susan Molinari, university presidents, scholars and community leaders.

After the 2000 presidential vote, former presidents Carter and Gerald Ford convened a National Commission on Election Reform, and their report contributed to the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002. Despite this reform, there were many problems during the election of 2002 involving both issues of inclusion and integrity.

The new Commission on Federal Election Reform will look at those and other voting problems, examine the implementation of HAVA, and propose recommendations to improve the electoral process.

"I am concerned about the state of our electoral system and believe we need to improve it," President Carter said. "I have monitored elections all over the world, and there is much we could learn from other democracies and from our own citizens. We will try to define an electoral system for the 21st century that will make Americans proud again."

"America's democracy is the backbone of our society, and only through fair elections can we guarantee that our system remains healthy," former Secretary Baker said. "To help reach that goal, I welcome the opportunity of working with President Jimmy Carter on a bi-partisan commission that will recommend ways to improve our federal voting process. A prior commission, which President Carter co-chaired with President Gerald Ford, made recommendations that resulted in significant changes for the 2004 election. But more can be done to guarantee the integrity and accuracy of our elections."

The Center for Democracy and Election Management (CDEM) at American University will organize the work of the Commission, in association with the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University, The Carter Center, and electionline.org, a national clearinghouse of election reform information sponsored by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

Dr. Robert A. Pastor, CDEM Director, is the Executive Director of the Commission. "We will assemble a group of academic advisors that will prepare background analyses for the Commission," said Dr. Pastor, "and we will reach out to seek the views of representatives from a wide-ranging group of non-governmental organizations involved in election-related issues." Doug Chapin, Director of electionline.org, will serve as Research Director for the Commission.

The Commission plans to hold two public hearings -- the first on April 18 at American University in Washington, D.C., and the second at the James A. Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in Houston at a date in June -- with the goal of releasing a report in September when Congress returns from its Labor Day 2005 recess.

http://tinyurl.com/5d47a

~~ Ira
& others in Houston...the June "public hearing" is in your backyard:

"Federal Election Reform"
The Commission plans to hold two public hearings -- the first on April 18 at American University in Washington, D.C., and the second at the James A. Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in Houston at a date in June -- with the goal of releasing a report in September when Congress returns from its Labor Day 2005 recess.
http://tinyurl.com/5d47a

And what about our soldiers killed in Iraq then?
Posted by: NativeTexan4Kerry at March 24, 2005 06:30 PM

Native, that's a no-brainer: posthumous courts-martial under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

(Actually, the "news" item Cyrano posted was a satire.)

Yeah Bob, but it sounded so "bushCo"...

Battlebob,

Yes, amazingly believable. Even the notion of posthumous courts-martial fits well, since, under this Administration's policies for the troops and for veterans, no sacrifice goes unpunished . . .

Native, that's a no-brainer: posthumous courts-martial under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

(Actually, the "news" item Cyrano posted was a satire.)

Posted by: Bob Evans at March 24, 2005 06:59 PM

ah posthumous court martial- of course! lol

Sorry, I just have to ask...

Does anyone ever get the feeling that a two year old child could run this country better than bush?

The whole argument over the solvency of social security is based on demographics -- projections of the retirement age population and the labor force over a long period of time 40 - 70 years. Has anyone questioned how realistic and stable those projections are? As far as I can tell none of these models close the loop -- they consider the demographic projections as exogenous, given and not influenced by the ratio of aged to young. They do not consider

1) changes to the birth rate -- the popularity of large families among the religious right has been increasing for some time
2) as a rich (relative to the rest of the world) population ages and retires, there will be a growing demand for workers to care for them, and their homes and lawns and places to recreate -- will the projected increase in working age population be sufficient to fulfill that demand? Consider that the potential supply of immigrants is huge and growing much faster. In other words there will be a demand for many more immigrants and there is plenty of supply. So, if we want to solve the social security problem for the next 70 years or so, all we need do is allow more immigration. More workers contributing to the SS fund. Problem solved.

Does anyone ever get the feeling that a two year old child could run this country better than bush?

Posted by: NativeTexan4Kerry at March 24, 2005 07:34 PM

Native,

Avoiding the obvious (and obviously offensive) jokes that could be made, let's try this:

The good news is, this President operates on principle.

The bad news is, it's the Peter Principle.

Hey all, in a few minutes Karen will be on the IRC to talk about Howard Dean's H20 meeting yesterday. See you there in 2 minutes!

"WASHINGTON, March 24 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James A. Baker, III, announced today that they will co-chair a Commission on Federal Election Reform to examine the state of America's federal elections and recommend improvements."

I'm sorry, but Jimmy Carter even discussing election reform with James Baker is an outrage. As a Floridian, I will never forget Baker's little trip down here after the 2000 election when he and his cronies ran all over our state in an effort to stop our votes from being counted. Baker's acts are unforgivable. I know Jimmy Carter is a forgiving person, but Baker has no interest at all in fair elections. He's a Republican's Republican. There's not a shred of honesty in his body. Let me see what else I can say about him. No, the other things I'd like to say about James Baker are unprintable.

The Iranian Threat: The Bomb or the Euro?

By Dr. Elias Akleh

03/24/05 "AMIN" - - Iran does not pose a threat to the United State because of its nuclear projects, its WMD, or its support to "terrorists organizations" as the American administration is claiming, but in its attempt to re-shape the global economical system by converting it from a petrodollar to a petroeuro system. Such conversion is looked upon as a flagrant declaration of economical war against the US that would flatten the revenues of the American corporations and eventually might cause an economic collapse.

In June of 2004 Iran declared its intention of setting up an international oil exchange (a bourse) denominated in the Euro currency. Many oil-producing as well as oil-consuming countries had expressed their welcome to such petroeuro bourse. The Iranian reports had stated that this bourse may start its trade with the beginning of 2006. Naturally such an oil bourse would compete against London’s International Petroleum Exchange (IPE), as well as against the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), both owned by American corporations.

Oil consuming countries have no choice but use the American Dollar to purchase their oil, since the Dollar has been so far the global standard monetary fund for oil exchange. This necessitates these countries to keep the Dollar in their central banks as their reserve fund, thus strengthening the American economy. But if Iran — followed by the other oil-producing countries — offered to accept the Euro as another choice for oil exchange the American economy would suffer a real crisis. We could witness this crisis at the end of 2005 and beginning of 2006 when oil investors would have the choice to pay $57 a barrel of oil at the American (NYMEX) and at London’s (IPE), or pay 37 Euros a barrel at the Iranian oil bourse. Such choice would reduce trade volumes at both the Dollar-dependent (NYMEX) and the (IPE).

Many countries had studied the conversion from the ever weakening petrodollar to the gradually strengthening petroeuro system. The de-valuation of the Dollar was caused by the American economy shying away from manufacturing local products — except those of the military -, by outsourcing the American jobs to the cheaper third world countries and depending only on the general service sector, and by the huge cost of two major wars that are still going on. Foreign investors started withdrawing their money from the shaky American market causing further devaluation of the Dollar.

The keen observer of the money market could have noticed that the devaluation of the American Dollar had started since November 2002, while the purchasing power of European Euro had crept upward to reach nowadays to $1.34. Compared to the Japanese Yen the Dollar had dropped from 104.45 to 103.90 yen. The British pound climbed another notch from $1.9122 to $1.9272.

Economic reports published at the beginning of this month (March) had pointed towards the deep dive of the American economy and to the quick rise of the deficit up to $665.90 billion at the end of 2004. The worst is still to come. These numbers worried the international banks, who had sent some warnings to the Bush administration.

In its economical war Iran is treading the same path Saddam Hussein had started when he, in 2000, converted all his reserve from the Dollar to the Euro, and demanded payments in Euro for Iraqi oil. Many economists then mocked Saddam because he had lost a lot of money in this conversion. Yet they were very surprised when he recuperated his losses within less than a year period due to the valuation of the Euro. The American administration became aware of the threat when central banks of many countries started keeping Euros along side of Dollars as their monetary reserve and as an exchange fund for oil (Russian and Chinese central banks in 2003). To avoid economical collapse the Bush administration hastened to invade and to destroy Iraq under false excuses to make it an example to any country who may contemplate dropping the Dollar, and to manipulate OPEC’s decisions by controlling the second largest oil resource. Iraqi oil sale was reverted back to the petrodollar standard.

There is only one technical obstacle concerning the use of a euro-based oil exchange system, which is the lack of a euro-denominated oil pricing standard, or oil ‘marker’ as it is referred to in the industry. The three current oil markers are U.S. dollar denominated, which include the West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI), Norway Brent crude, and the UAE Dubai crude. Yet this did not stop Iran from requiring payments in the euro currency for its European and Asian oil exports since spring 2003.

Iran’s determination in using the petroeuro is inviting in other countries such as Russia and Latin American countries, and even some Saudi investors especially after the Saudi/American relations have weakened lately. This determination had also invited an aggressive American political campaign using the same excuses used against Iraq: WMD in the form of nuclear bomb, support to "terrorist" Lebanese Hezbollah organization, and threat to the peace process in the Middle East.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8354.htm

NEVER ABLE TO BE CHARGED: ASSASSINATION SQUAD
GOOD BYE ITALY

March 15, 2005—The Bush administration took specific legal steps that cleared a U.S. Special Forces assassination team in Iraq from any future criminal proceedings arising from their assassination of Italian SISMI intelligence number two man Nicola Calipari.

Calipari, the deputy head of SISMI and an experienced Iraqi expert, was accompanying freed hostage Giuliana Sgrena to Baghdad International Airport when their Toyota Corolla was fired on by well-trained U.S. sharpshooter assassins. Calipari was on the phone to the office of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in Rome, where his wife also works, when he was shot in the head. Sgrena and the driver, a Carabiniere officer, were injured in the attack.

Pentagon officials claim the car was speeding past a checkpoint and that shots were fired only into the engine block. The Italians claim the interior light in the car was on, the car was traveling at only 30 miles per hour, and prominently displayed the Italian flag. Italian intelligence officials also believe that the Americans identified the Italian vehicle because National Security Agency systems had intercepted Calipari's cell phone signals and triangulated its specific location.

The legal protection for the American assassination team stems generally from the refusal of the Bush administration to recognize the International Criminal Court (ICC), but more recently and specifically from a new counterintelligence doctrine outlined by National Counterintelligence Executive Michelle Van Cleave, who was once a member of Ronald Reagan's National Security Council staff. That strategy, announced by Van Cleave at a March 5 speech at Texas A&M University in College Station, calls for "attacking" foreign intelligence services by using counterintelligence operations. The immunity from ICC jurisdiction, the new counterintelligence strategy, the Pentagon's approval of special assassination teams in Iraq and elsewhere, as well as approval of a CIA "Worldwide Attack Matrix," now authorizes U.S. military forces and intelligence agents to assassinate those deemed a threat to the United States.

Calipari and Sgrena, according to well-placed Italian sources, had irrefutable evidence of U.S. war crimes in the siege of Fallujah, involving the use of napalm, mustard gas, and nerve gas. Sgrena works for the Italian daily, Il Manifesto.

Calipari's intelligence collection efforts and previous hostage rescue missions in Iraq were supplemented by assistance from the Vatican's own intelligence services, which maintained close ties to Eastern Catholic members of Saddam's government, including former Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz. Calipari's brother is a well-connected monsignor in the Vatican Secretariat.

Calipari maintained liaison with Iraqi resistance fighters, who were formerly members of Saddam Hussein's Republican Guard, to secure Sgrena's release. This did not sit well with the Bush administration.

http://www.onlinejournal.com/Special_Reports/031505Madsen/031505madsen.html

Calipari and Sgrena, according to well-placed Italian sources, had irrefutable evidence of U.S. war crimes in the siege of Fallujah, involving the use of napalm, mustard gas, and nerve gas. Sgrena works for the Italian daily, Il Manifesto.

Rosiann,

She said exactly the same yesterday night in an interview on France 2, while commenting a documentary on foreign journalists' work and presence in Irak.
No one can be trusted, neither the Iraki government nor the coalition forces, as for the police, many of their members are behind the abductions. We only hear of them when it happens to foreigners, but this is a juicy daily business...for former Baath party members.
This is not a democracy it's a war lords country.

Is This A New Dark Age?

Little proof to the contrary that we are indeed in a very long, bleak tunnel. Is there any light? Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist

Then come those times when you read about a 16-year-old girl slashing the throat of a 75-year-old woman for no apparent reason, a woman who was merely walking with her husband near a Berkeley public garden and it's right next to the one about the 16-year-old kid smiling and waving and donning a bulletproof vest before shooting nine people and himself to death in a remote, poverty-stricken region of Minnesota and you can feel the numbness like a wave.

And alongside that is the morbid and insipid case of poor Terry Schiavo and the equally insipid Bush evangelicals who trumpet the backward morality of maintaining her vegetative brain-dead state and the sad, tormented parents who can't face reality and the insidious GOP that has zero shame in using her decrepit body as a political football and that kowtows to its pseudo-religious contingency by making humiliating and rather illegal congressional maneuvers to try and keep a feeding tube in place and you just go, oh my God just stop already.

And it all seems to line up with one of those weird phases when everyone in your own life seems to be getting hit by something tragic or sad or somehow ridiculously painful -- a sister with a neck trauma, a best friend going through major depression, a parent struck by illness, certainly almost everyone on the progressive Left feeling sucker-punched and morally eviscerated -- friends and family and loved ones all seeming to suffer in ways you don't want to imagine and it's all against a backdrop of more war dead and more violence and the most bleak and Bush-ravaged era in recent American history and you say to yourself, what the hell is going on?

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2005/03/25/notes032505.DTL&nl=fix)

(read the rest at the link - lst thing I read this morning - bummer)

This is not a democracy, it's a war lords country.

Posted by: Andrée - France at March 25, 2005 06:41 AM

Are you talking about Iraq or America? Kinda hard to tell these days.

Mark Trager

I had the same thought! Considering that we're imposing the government there, I suppose it's a mini-version.

Rossian

That is one of the most informative articles I've read in a long time. I knew Aziz was a Catholic and tried to forestall the war by consulting with the Pope.

Mark,

I was talking about what I saw yesterday on my program, so that was the reflection about the 3 documentaries on the topic.
Strangely enough there were also American journalists interviewed, and guess what they have to pretend when they get out of their hotels? Being French. It's the only way way of not being slained in the hours following an eventual abduction. They did speak French, but this seemed so ironical!
America? I don't know. It appears as a big mental hospital to me with dangerous fools all the country.
You never take a present back, but some days I feel that the Satue of Liberty should be removerd and reset when democracy is back.

You never take a present back, but some days I feel that the Statue of Liberty should be removed and reset when democracy is back.

Posted by: Andrée - France at March 25, 2005 09:32 AM

Arnold & Co. probably thinks it's too "girlie" anyway.

Mark.

I'm still wondering how a Kennedy could marry that steroid full mouthed guy!

About warlords, I forgot one thing. The Americans have created a special Iraki hostage brigade. It was sceduled to go to a remote suburb in order to arrest 2 guys, and the police convoy started to drive at full speed through the empty streets of Bagdad. Suddenly the officer yelled "The Americans, the Americans... Stop, they are going to shoot..." The Americans yelled as well. It was total mess.
When they arrived to the right area 30 mn later, they had to wait for 30 other minutes for the local police.. Not a word. Of course the guys had gone because they had been told so by the local policemen!!!
Interviewed Iraki complained a lot about corruption inside the police and how insecure they feel every day.
This is a country that always liked order, it was often called the Prussia of Middle East, but they have no one to rely upon anymore.
Each power is working for its own purpose.