October 2008 Archives

Two very divergent stories both lead to the same conclusion: President Bush and his administration are abusing their position of power and misusing the taxpayer's money to politicize the Department of Justice while at the same time, they have not performed their required oversight of those 'rescued banks'. As a result, the administration has once again abused their power and abused the trust of the American tax payer.

Read these articles and tell me if you agree with my conclusion. (Bolding is mine.)

Article one: "So When Will Banks Give Out Loans" from the NYT's.

“Chase recently received $25 billion in federal funding. What effect will that have on the business side and will it change our strategic lending policy?”

It was Oct. 17, just four days after JPMorgan Chase’s chief executive, Jamie Dimon, agreed to take a $25 billion capital injection courtesy of the United States government, when a JPMorgan employee asked that question. It came toward the end of an employee-only conference call that had been largely devoted to meshing certain divisions of JPMorgan with its new acquisition, Washington Mutual.

Which, of course, it also got thanks to the federal government. Christmas came early at JPMorgan Chase.

The JPMorgan executive who was moderating the employee conference call didn’t hesitate to answer a question that was pretty politically sensitive given the events of the previous few weeks.

Given the way, that is, that Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. had decided to use the first installment of the $700 billion bailout money to recapitalize banks instead of buying up their toxic securities, which he had then sold to Congress and the American people as the best and fastest way to get the banks to start making loans again, and help prevent this recession from getting much, much worse.

In point of fact, the dirty little secret of the banking industry is that it has no intention of using the money to make new loans. But this executive was the first insider who’s been indiscreet enough to say it within earshot of a journalist.

Article two: "Bush Orders DOJ to Probe Ohio Voter Registrations" From the Public Record

George W. Bush late Friday asked Attorney General Michael Mukasey to investigate whether hundreds of thousands of newly registered voters in the battleground state of Ohio would have to verify the information on their voter registration forms or be given provisional ballots, an issue the U.S. Supreme Court weighed in on last week.


The unprecedented intervention by the White House less than two weeks before the presidential election may result in at least 200,000 voters in Ohio not being able to vote on Election Day if they are forced to provide additional identification when they head to the polls.
(snip)
Independent studies have shown that phony registrations rarely result in illegally cast ballots because there are so many other safeguards built into the system.

Is it wrong for the President to insert himself and the Department of Justice in an election matter that the Supreme Court has already ruled on? Yet, by the same token, this administration has refused oversight of the banking industry (Republicans have for decades) which resulted in requiring a taxpayer bailout. Apparently, they never intended to provide oversight of the banking industry, and the banking industry never intended to use that money for the reason that we were told they would receive that money.

These two separate but diverse articles both lead in the same direction...Bush and the people in his administration keep inserting their foot where it doesn't belong, and often do it illegally; while at the same time, they walk away from their responsibilities in the places where it does belong--legally! These abuses of power, neglect, and violations of the Hatch Act are not done accidentally. They have repeatedly occurred. It is their mode of operation. They are planned. And they are harming each of us and harming our democracy.

So with election day 10 days away. And a new Congress and new President two months away, what can we do to make sure the "Great Swindling" doesn't continue?

Let's discuss this and more...

Last Friday, my brother (Trucker D) called me to share with me what he was hearing on his cb as he cruised from Illinois through Indiana, Ohio, and then into Michigan. The cb radio was a-buzz with a few major buzzwords and in a not very pleasant way either.

After John McCain's lamentable performance in the three debates, his supporters were irate and nasty. "We're going to have a n****r in the White House!" "Those thug-liberals are going to really **** up this country!" And "Those liberal commie socialists are going to socialize this country and we'll be destroyed. Say good bye to America."

The nastiness got so bad that my brother decided to turn off the cb and listen to Dakota, his black Labrador, complain to him about her achy joints and her artificial hips hurting from the long hauls he's had to make in his truck since the cost of gas more than tripled since 2000.

Dakota was a lot more fun to listen to but even that was interrupted by his "born again Christian buddy" who called him to tell him to be afraid...be wery, wery afraid...

Not only would Obama take away gun rights, make sure that abortion stayed legal, he was going to socialize this country.

He told my brother to look up socialism.

So. For today's group project, let's discuss the policies on both the conservative side of the ticket and the liberal side. If socialism must meet fascism. There's no better place than here and now.

Chat away...

Ever feel like this guy? I do, so for the most part, my family and I try not to buy corporate. Other factors such as quality and price are important too, but I am a vigilant political boycotter. Some say boycotts don't work, but it's possible to hold the grudge long enough to make lifestyle changes and avoid a product or company for much longer than a day! We are in the middle of an economic downturn and have just bailed out Wall Street, so the last thing we need to do is make companies richer that are contributing to the downfall of the middle class (and those falling out of it or who haven't been able to reach it.) Then there is the issue of the worker who makes the product and how the company treats them. Do they provide benefits? Are they unionized? Do they outsource? If they do, are sweatshops used? Is the product carcinogenic or toxic? It goes on and on. Then there is the issue of political contributions.

Our family has for the most part avoided corporate grocery stores since the last election, for example, with the exception of Costco (we knew their voting pattern) and we seldom eat fast food (that is partly a quality concern). I had avoided Starbucks, since I figured they put independent coffee companies out of business. There was a "Buy Blue" movement going for awhile, but some of the guides that were in vogue then have faded away. I found the guide just recently that I will describe below, which enables me to know the political donation pattern of a variety of companies. Based on this guide, I could look up Starbucks, for example, and I might more comfortably use them somewhat more now - or not - depending upon what I was to find..

I'd like to introduce the Good Guide, which is not the only guide of this type, but it is well organized and useful. On the home page, 61,000 household and personal products are rated for safety and effectiveness, and this is useful in its own right. Mid-page, there is a section where you will see a "donkey" symbol and an "elephant" symbol, and a message that says "Vote With Your Dollars." Click at this point and load the Good Guide for Political Contributions , which tells you how to vote with your dollars. You can then support the companies that make responsible political contributions.

Now go to the left of the guide and click on "Republican leaning companies." You probably won't be surprised to see Walmart, or Coors, or some of the drugs companies, because they are notorious. You will see more companies though, and they are ranked from top to bottom for strength of support. If you click on "Democratic leaning companies," there are Costco and Starbucks and also some of the telecoms and tech companies and the more environmentally friendly cosmetics companies. I hadn't known about Avon, for example. I had somehow gotten the idea that they leaned the other way. Now I won't be so likely to avoid those people in the workplace who may peddle them.

Then we have the sectors: airlines, computer/internet, finance, food and beverages, household chemicals, media and entertainment, personal care, pharmaceuticals, restaurants and drinking establishments, retail sales, supermarkets, telecommunications, tobacco and transportation.

It's possible to enter the name of a particular company. You can also "sort" alphabetically by company, by the largest total contribution, the largest PAC percentage and the largest individual percentage.

Here it says there is a way to embed this information on a blog. Let's try it now. (UPDATE: I used a little different code, from the Good Guide people. If it wasn't working on your computer, now it may - thanks Ryan!)

Democratic

Republican

GoodGuide.com political contribution data for the personal care sector
View data for other companies at GoodGuide.com

That looks pretty cool! Follow the "cookbook" above and move out of just the "personal care" realm. There are other sites like this, probably, but this one alone is enough to go beyond just flying the "corporate flag." Some corporations are probably here to stay and we need to support those that are responsible, along with small and medium size businesses. This is a start.

My colleague Dr. Martha Davis has been working tirelessly to combat torture and the sanctioning of it by the American Psychological Association. She created a documentary hich is not only worth your time to watch, but is worth sharing with your family and friends. Just because there is hope does not mean we can go back to sleep and pretend it isn't happening anymore. FISA etc...remember?

Interrogation Psychologists: The Making of a Professional Crisis

This is a guest post which highlights the documentary video “Interrogation Psychologists: The Making of a Professional Crisis” directed by colleague and friend Martha Davis PhD. Dr. Davis is a Clinical Psychologist and a Visiting Scholar at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. She is an expert in the detection of deception, and has published numerous articles and books on non-verbal communication research. The “Interrogation Psychologists: The Making of a Professional Crisis” premiered at the conference entitled “The Interrogation and Torture Controversy: Crisis in Psychology” held at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Center on Terrorism in New York City on September 12, 2008.

Quoting from Dr. Davis:
“In 2005 the American Psychological Association endorsed the participation of military psychologists in detainee interrogations. This policy incited a firestorm of protest within the profession and around the world, but APA officials held fast, contending that the involvement of psychologists insured that interrogations were safe, ethical and effective. With interviews of experts and documentation of communications between APA and government officials, “Interrogation Psychologists” traces the origins of the policy and why the APA risked massive defections for it. The search leads to the emerging field of national security psychology, which has far-reaching implications for intelligence gathering operations and U.S. treatment of prisoners of war.”

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

(Editor's note: Christy posted some exciting news in the previous thread. In honor of Mason, here is his own thread. Congrats!)

My family has a strange tradition, going back atleast 7 or 8 generations. All of the males that carry our family name have always been named an M name. Miles, Micheal, Matthew, Monroe, ect.

But my father was an only child, and my two brothers never got around to having kids... so it appeared the long tradition was over and there would be no more of an unbroken male line to carry on our family name.

I think my mom even gave up on my brothers. Until the night of the second debate between Obama and mcPOW. My brother Matthews wife gave birth to a son just as the debate was wrapping up. They named him Mason.

But all I could think about that night as I watched Obama overtake/eclipse mcPOW, was what a fitting night it was for him to be born. On that night, of all nights, just at the moment it became obvious a black man could very well win the presidency after all this time... Mason not only ensured one more generation of an unbroken male line, but he is half black and half white too, just like Obama. He has the strength of BOTH races. He is the first known black child in our family line.

If my father knew his name was being carried on by a black child, he would roll in his grave.

(Submitted by Veritas)

I love my dad. He's a role model to me in many ways, full of knowledge and wisdom and experience. We talk about a lot, and often when I'm particularly worried or upset about something, my dad's the first person I call to vent, knowing he'll be accepting, quick to encircle me with unconditional love. But there are two topics we stay well clear of: money and politics.

My father's always been what we now call a Rabid Right-Wing Republican. He couldn't be happier with how the world (the Republican one, since it's the only True worldview) has come around to his way of thinking. He worshipped Nixon. He epitomizes so many right-wing stereotypes - quick to criticize others for his own faults (see: mote, own eye); a card-carrying Christian (who, to his credit, has given much of his money and time to the church) who leads a very un-Christlike life and condemns social justice and just about any sort of social program, even a church-administered one, unless it helps out poor white folks; a cranky old man who complains about small children not related to him (see: lawn, children get off mine); and a lecherous creep who hated Hillary for (among other things) her failure to "wear skirts" - one of the many frustrated old guys who wants to vote for Sarah Palin as a surrogate for, well, doing something the First Dude probably wouldn't appreciate.

As my father has gotten older, his time is increasingly filled by the likes of Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter (whom he also wants to bang, which I find mildly amusing), and lately, an endless string of viral emails forwarded by well-meaning wingnut friends. I used to be on his distribution list, until he sent me some smear back in 2004 about how John Kerry desecrated the graves of Iraq war soldiers who had died in combat. Active duty and greatly respecting Kerry, I was incensed. I politely but extremely firmly replied by debunking all the emailed crap (citing my sources) and then told him in no uncertain terms to NEVER forward that BS to me ever again.

So we don't talk politics. He knows I'm a big Obama supporter (after all, I almost always wear an Obama t-shirt around him) and back in my more idealistic days a year or so ago, I eagerly shared news of my revelationary experiences canvassing in Alabama last January, prior to Super Tuesday. I even sent my dad copies of Obama's books, thinking perhaps that Obama's conservative lifestyle, compelling story of faith and religion, and refreshing honesty about serving in the halls of Congress might impress him. Then the talk-show hosts took over.

Occasionally, I'm afraid, politics seeps through in the context of another conversation, and my father's cognitive chasm astounds me. It's impossible to avoid talking about the election this year; it's such big news. I try to keep my comments strictly non-partisan. So I mentioned how there was so much early voting this year (absentee as well as actual polling places, and vote-by-mail) and that I had already voted. "All this push in the last few weeks may not do very much good if a lot of people have already voted." He said, "I just received my absentee ballot too." Long pause. "I won't tell you how I voted," my dad continued, "because I don't want to start a family fight [his kids are all varying flavors of liberal], so I'll just tell you about two things: I voted No on 7 and Yes on 8."

I've been thinking a lot about time lately. Some say "time is money," but the downturn in our economy makes even that a rather abstract statement.

I received an email this morning, bright and early, that reminded me that Bush has only 99 more days til he leaves office. "99 bottles of beer on the wall," it began. "Bush Countdown Clocks" are counting down all over the country, maybe the world. That is a rather short-term clock, but counting down with urgency.

Earlier this week, I learned about the National Debt Clock, a longer term clock. Hillary Clinton even referred to it in her speech in Scranton, Pennsylvania today. She said that it was requiring another digit now. I had just read in the BBC business news as well that the National Debt Clock in New York had run out of digits to record the government's current debt of about 10.2 trillion dollars. The organization that runs the sign said it planned to update the clock next year by adding two digits so it could track debt up to a quadrillion dollars. The graphic below shows what the clock looks like, though it isn't being updated in real time.

On a larger scale, possibly, I was introduced to another time concept only last week. It's called Earth Overshoot Day and it is more related to the calendar year. We actually passed it on September 23 this year. Earth Overshoot Day moves earlier each year rather than occurring on a set day. Here's why.

Earth Overshoot Day marks the day in each year that humanity has used all the resources nature will generate in that particular year, according to Earth Footprint Network data. Earth Overshoot Day thus marks the day of each year when humanity begins living beyond its ecological means. Beyond that day, we move into the ecological equivalent of deficit spending. At that point, we are utilizing resources at a rate faster than what the planet can regenerate in a calendar year. Globally, we now now require the equivalent of 1.4 planets to support our lifestyles each year. But we only have one Earth. The result is that our supply of natural resources -- like trees and fish -- continues to shrink, while our waste, primarily carbon dioxide, accumulates.

Humanity first went into overshoot in 1986. Before that time, the global community consumed resources and produced carbon dioxide at a rate consistent with what the planet could produce and reabsorb. By 1996, humanity was using 15 percent more resources in a year than the planet could supply, with Earth Overshoot Day falling in November. Last year, Overshoot Day was in October. This year, more than two decades since we first went into overshoot, because we are now demanding resources at a rate of 40 percent faster than the planet can produce them, Earth Overshoot Day has moved forward to September 23. Humans now require the resources of 1.4 planets, for example to be able to water the playgrounds of a golf in the middle of the desert, or to light up Las Vegas, or to ski in the desert in Dubai or to surf indoors in Japan, or even to cruise around in our SUVs.

This brings us to a final clock, the Doomsday Clock. The concept should be frighteningly clear to those of us from the "Duck and Cover" generation. As of this year, the Doomsday Clock reads five minutes to midnight. The Doomsday Clock is a symbolic clock face maintained since 1947 at the University of Chicago. Midnight represents "catastrophic destruction." It used to be more associated with global nuclear war, but now includes climate change and misuse potential for inventions such as nanotechnology as well. The clock was started at seven minutes to midnight. The clock hands have been set eighteen times.

To put things into further perspective, we have those who believe the earth is only 5000 years old, which can not really explain genetic mutation of viruses, evolution of life, carbon dating to measure age or global warming (which some of the same people do not believe in either.) Some such people are even running for high public office. The bottom line is that we are running out of time, and every decision we make needs to take into account not so much just money, but also time, immediate and distant.

(Editor's note: This letter was submitted by Christy. Since nobody knows what to expect tomorrow when the markets open, and the Robber Barons get back to their business of stealing from the poor, this letter is a reminder to us that even though we may be frustrated now, and we have truth on the line as well as peoples' lives, we can still fight for accountability after election day.)

Dear sirs,

I understand you are very busy trying your best for one last great looting spree of the US Taxpayer. So busy, I doubt you will even bother to read this, even though it is a present view of your own immediate future.

We all know you are still involved in election rigging and politicizing the offices of the US Government to ensure republican domination in all aspects of our domestic systems. The questions surrounding 911 are still entirely unanswered. The lies surrounding Valerie Plame and the Iraq war are also still unanswered for. Billions, nay, trillions of dollars have gone missing on your watch. Everything you have touched, you have broken. our military is broken, our soldiers, left behind and forsaken.

Per BRANCHFLOWER:

"I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power..."

PDF

And to give Sarah Palin a bigger migraine, today, the judge ordered her to preserve all her government emails even if sent via her private email account. Now, she is forced to gather all of those and submit them for review.

This isn't a good day to be a Sarah Palin fan but it is a good day if you're an open-honest government fan.

This news is still breaking. So keep you're ears and eyes open for more details.

Barack Obama won the Presidental debate last night, but not because he has resolved his own conflicts and challenges. Barack Obama won the debate because John McCain has not escaped the effects from his imprisonment decades ago.

From the beginning of the evening, both men were grappling with new territory, literally. The Town Hall meeting, with the empty space in the middle and actual voters (not the usual vetted supporters) all around is a challenging space in which to deliberate. The setting resembles both a boxing ring and a one-ring circus more than it does a venue for a side-by-side presentation. Add in all of the people in television land and there is a lot to take into account. Neither man seemed comfortable in the forum, but for different reasons:

Barack Obama lives in the universe of possibilities. His sense of space is vast and often without boundaries. If he were a painter, the canvas he describes as he moves around would be massive, and the colors would run off the edges. Over the past year-plus that he has been a candidate, he has learned how to narrow and focus his message and to add determination and clarity to it. But last night, he was often hesitant, slow to narrow in, and he wandered around looking slightly uncomfortable before nailing his points.

John McCain, on the other hand, began well, with his solidity and clarity present. He is a feisty guy who never gives up. But that is also his flaw. As the evening went on, he became increasingly locked in his body, entrenched in a small enclosed space, often illustrating his own internal contradictions rather than demonstrating solutions: pacing, shifting, side-stepping, restless and deeply uncomfortable.

the second debate was the one where George Bush redeemed himself--to the extent that he did--by looking into the camera and being, if not a leader, at least true to who he was. Right-wingers were so relieved they almost wet themselves. What will John McCain do tonight for his redemptive moment? Enquiring minds want to know.

I am going to watch the debate tonight at my university, and will put my observations here. Feel free to join me on this thread or sip cocoa on a chilly night, eat popcorn, and relax as the economy goes ever downwards...

Before you read more about the bailout and we discuss its long-term ramifications watch this video on the banking/credit industry.

Now that you've watched the video, let's talk.

It looks like the financial wizards at the A.P. finally realized what we've been saying all along: A top-down bailout doesn't work! We need a bottom-up solution.

Read their belated words of wisdom and while you do so think about the video clip you just watched on how the banking/credit industry is run:

Washington's financial bailout plan is now law. So the credit spigot will start flowing again, banks will resume lending, and an economic recovery can begin, right?
Wrong. Experts say the most important thing that needs to happen before the $700 billion bailout even has a chance of working: Home prices must stop falling. That would send a signal to banks that the worst has passed and it's safe to start doling out money again.

The problem is the lending freeze has made getting a mortgage loan tough for everyone except those with sterling credit. That means it will take several months or longer to pare down the glut of houses built when times were good — and those that have come on the market because of soaring foreclosures — before home prices start appreciating.

Housing is a critical component to the U.S. economy and by extension the availability of credit. Roughly one in eight U.S. jobs depends on housing directly or indirectly — from construction workers to bank loan officers to big brokers on Wall Street. A turnaround in housing prices would boost confidence in the wider economy and, experts hope, goad banks into lending again.

"Housing traditionally does lead the economy through a recovery. I think it's going to be critical for a sustained recovery in this cycle, too," said Gary Thayer, senior economist at Wachovia Securities.

In my family we have a phrase for that, "No S*** Sherlock."

Look....the rich were stung by the massive de-regulation that they themselves had begged for and received. But we, the middle-class and the poor, were pinched even harder.

Why is this happening?

...because...
1. There has been an ongoing forty year assault on the middle-class and labor unions.


2. There has been a reversal of higher wages to lower wages--particularly in the last eight years.


3. There has been incredibly high high inflation for our basic needs with a President and administration who told us we could help ourselves and the country by "Spending and shopping...or the terrorists win."


4. The average person didn't understand how the banking system borrows money on credit to create loans and then creates more borrowed money in a vicious cycle.


5. We didn't understand how much the de-regulation had created an inflationary housing bubble that would burst and send home values to the floor. So we borrowed against the home we had to pay down debt, or we bought a home that was presented to us as a sure investment in your future! and we, the-oh-so-gullible, payed more than we should have for it!

And now the A.P. admits what we've been saying all along--although they more politely phrase it as "Wait and see..."--

But when you read the rest of the testimonies in the article from people who aren't buying homes or cars and can't get the loans, it's clear that the remedy to bad credit wasn't simply to give more credit to the institutions who created the bad credit!

The correct remedy was one they didn't even put on the table. The correct remedy would have required a concerted effort across the board, beginning with the people on the bottom who are facing acute financial crisis and job losses and wage reductions and who need the bail out to pay on those loans to the same banks who wrote up those loans.

You probably remember where you were as the last two elections were decided, just as you remember where you were when you heard about the 9/11 attacks, if you are young, and the JFK assassination, if you are my age. I won't go into the particulars of my own memories but I know that yours are seared into your psyche just like mine are. Now, the polls look pretty clear and we know what the candidates have to offer (or not), and we are a month away from voting.

Here are three articles related to election integrity and voting, and some suggestions for how to preserve your right. Please let others know. Also be aware of the deadline for registration and help others to register, if you can. Each state is different, but we are winding down. New registrations have been phenomenal. Yet danger lurks. (I could add some Brad Blog, Mark Krispin Miller, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Greg Palast but I think I'd rather slit my wrists than read through all of it.)

Raw Story - Nonprofit Offers $100,000 Reward for Info About Rove Election Rigging

Are You Registered To Vote? by Senator Ted Kennedy

New Questions About Voter Purging - involves 19 states, battleground ones!

What You Can Do:

1. Confirm that you're correctly registered at www.CanIVote.org, a website maintained by the National Association of Secretaries of State. If you are properly registered, print out a copy and take it with you to the polling place when you vote. (It's also a good idea -- and law in many places -- to also bring a photo ID that shows your address, and a bank statement, utility bill, tax notice, or other document that shows where you live.)

2. If you live in one of the 31 states that allow early voting (basically, absentee voting without having to prove you'll actually be gone on Election Day), then vote as early as possible -- that way, you'll have time to fix any problems before Nov. 4. (Plus, your local party will be able to focus their get-out-the-vote efforts on other people.)

3. Refuse to vote a "provisional ballot" unless you've exhausted every other option. If there's confusion about the spelling of your name, whether you live in the precinct, etc., work to resolve the problem (bring in more paperwork, re-register, demand to see the chief elections officer, contact your Secretary of State's office and ask for help) so that you can vote a REAL ballot by Nov. 4.

Homer Simpson Uses Electronic Voting Machine

(Editor's note: Today's thread article was submitted by Veritas. Thank you, V!)

President Bush and his Bailout Bunch would have you believe that this whole country, from Wall Street to Main Street, is in the grips of a dire economic crisis. Using the same rhetoric of inflated urgency he employed to ram through the Iraq war resolution and the PATRIOT Act, President Bush is hoping his gut-gripping tales of doom will confuse us all into supporting his bloated bailout ideas.

Judging by the pork-a-thon in the Senate today, and the swamping of the House website Monday by angry constituents, not everyone’s buying it…yet.

Angry folks are marching on Wall Street chanting, “The bailout is bullshit. You broke it; you bought it.” Just-as-angry folks in the Rust Belt and across the country, squeezed by their finances, can’t understand why the “coastal elites” are teaming up with isolationist and Republican economic libertarians to curse a “rescue plan”.

“Let the fat cats go broke!” resonates uneasily with “I can’t pay my bills”. Which President Bush hopes will pull strong enough to pass his handoff (costing every American, baby to grandpa, $2300 each).

Here’s the trick: the economic problems of Main Street and Wall Street are DIFFERENT. SEPARATE. Don’t let the president fool you.