The first attack was by the French. Cruise missiles then followed from American warships in the Mediterranean soon to be followed by jets from Qatar and the Emirates all aimed at stopping Muammar Gaddafi's attacks on his own people. It should not be lost on anyone the attacks come on the ninth anniversary of the beginning of the war with Iraq. This time, however, is much different. The United Nations voted to establish a no-fly zone over Libya and approved any means necessary to protect civilian life. President Obama supported the resolution and was immediately criticized by critics for dawdling while Libya burned. These same critics gave no thought when they approved invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, but they have the testicular fortitude to attack the President for deliberating too long before coming to the aid of the Libyan people.
The President inherited two disastrous wars and has expanded one while winding the other down. Obama has not been a profile in courage on the Afghan war, escalating the US presence at a time when the Afghan government is rife with corruption, the Taliban is protected by Pakistan and he has no definition of what victory would look like. The Libyan crisis, along with the crises in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen and Bahrain are all his and he appears to want to actually deliberate before he acts. It's a trait his predecessor was incapable of grasping.
Obama's critics say he should have acted more than a week ago. If he had, he would have had to order American military strikes on missile defense systems ringing Tripoli and other cities...attacks on ground forces including tanks, APC's and ground troops, and Libyan civilians would have died along with some American military personnel. He would have opened America to more criticism in the Middle East and the Arab world, accusing America of being the enemy of Islam. Gaddafi would have used the situation to portray himself as another victim of the West's attempt to destroy Islamic countries. Instead, by waiting, Obama moves against Libya with UN support. He also moves with the support of the Arab League, which he did not have one week ago. It was only the last week, as Gaddafi's violence against his own people escalated, the Arab League and the UN were moved to condemn him. It is not an accident both China and Russia abstained rather than veto the resolution. Gaddafi's actions frightened or worried them enough to sit this one out. A week ago, their vetoes would have been automatic. Now, Obama is calling on Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to lead any establishment of a no-fly zone and their jets are expected to patrol along with French and British fighters. All of this is possible, including asking the Arab league to foot the bill, because of the UN resolution and because Obama waited.
Obama still faces some serious complications. He justifies his actions against Libya by claiming the purpose is to protect the right of citizens to peacefully protest and bring about democracy and regime change. In Bahrain and Yemen, two countries that are allies of ours, protesters site those same goals and yet the US does nothing when the governments of both countries use violence to quell protests and the US doesn’t protest the use of Saudi troops to put down protests against the government of Bahrain. The word hypocrisy will be flying fast and furious through the region.
When the Serbs were trying to ethically cleanse the citizens of Kosovo, to prevent them from declaring independence, I was opposed to the use of NATO forces to stop the slaughter. It wasn’t our fight. Then I was sent to report on the conflict and went to Macedonia and Kosovo and saw for myself the untold carnage which had been loosed on the people of Kosovo. I watched women and children and families torn apart and die right in front of me. I changed my mind. I welcomed the intervention of NATO to stop the killing. Soon after they intervened, the Serbian leader capitulated and stopped the attacks. I was wrong. These innocent people needed someone to protect them from a butcher. Gaddafi is also a butcher and his people need protection. He possesses weapons and an air force, which are game changing if not opposed by equal or greater force.
I am not Obama's biggest fan, but it is clear, waiting to get the UN and the Arab League on board...waiting to let events on the ground drive the debate...waiting to give Gaddafi enough rope to hang himself has paid off. If President Bush, or more importantly members of Congress, had waited for the inspectors to do their job and waited to give permission go to war, thousands of Americans would still be alive and hundreds of thousands wouldn’t be wounded, billions of dollars saved and we wouldn’t still be fighting two unnecessary wars. People like David Gergen, John McCain, John Kerry and others who were so wrong about Afghanistan and Iraq are wrong again now. We don’t know the end game yet, but in this case waiting is exactly what we should expect from the commander in chief and letting others take the lead is good politics. Nine years ago, it would have been good politics as well.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
GLOW LITTLE GLOW WORM...
A coalmine explosion in West Virginia kills 20-30 miners. A drilling platform explodes in the Gulf of Mexico killing nine and befowling the environment. A nuclear plant explodes, melts down and an entire region may be off limits for the next 200 years. All of our choices about energy carry risks, including exacerbating global warming, but nuclear power is a choice where one mistake will result in devastation for generations to come. Some things are too big to endorse.
The crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station is illustrating all the problems associated with nuclear power. It also shines a light on the reality many of these problems have not been adequately solved; and yet President Obama and even some environmental groups, are supporting the expansion of nuclear power plants in this country. At the top of the list is the question about the physical plant itself. Japanese officials admit the plant was designed to survive a quake ranging in size from 7.0-7.5 on the Richter scale. They site scientific findings which claim that range is the highest quake possible from the fault line near the plant. We now know, more recent scientific data was not factored in to any upgrades in the plant structure. (Data, which show a much larger quake, was possible.) We also now know they did not take into account the affect a large tsunami would have on the physical integrity of the plant. This from the nation who gave us the word to begin with. As radiation reaches the West Coast, a 200 mile evacuation zone is being created and the crisis enters its second week. Defenders of nuclear power ask you to pay no attention to the nuclear plant behind that curtain. They say "trust us", it couldn't happen here.
The Diablo Canyon Nuclear reactor sits almost on top of the San Andreas fault and the San Onofre reactor is within five miles of a major fault line. Spokespersons say San Onofre is built to withstand a 7.0 quake and Diablo Canyon up to a 7.5. This is not welcome news. You and I know the San Andreas Fault could easily produce an 8-9 sized quake as could the fault near San Onofre. As of this writing, no one from either plant has spoken about how the reactors are, or if they are, protected from a tsunami. A 9.0 quake off the Pacific Coast, an area scientists say is ripe for a big quake, could produce a huge tsunami reaction. What would happen to these plants then?
The physical integrity of the nuclear reactor is not the only concern. One of the biggest worries in Japan are the pools containing spent fuel rods and their ability to keep these rods cool and submerged. The Fukushima plant is ringed with such pools and plant workers have been unable to keep water in the pools from escaping and exposing the rods. The resulting radiation leaks and potential for fire and explosion are a clear and present danger. Why are these pools, containing hundreds of spent rods, ringing the nuclear plant? The answer is because there is no way to safely dispose of nuclear waste. Every nuclear plant in the world has similar pools. The dirty little secret of the nuclear power industry is this waste is a huge danger and no one knows what to do about it. There was an attempt to bury waste in the Nevada desert in deep salt caves. When they tested how secure the caves were, it was discovered they leaked and over time the radioactive waste would get into the underground aquifer and contaminate it throughout the state. There are even those now who propose shooting the waste into space to get rid of it. The defenders of nuclear power never talk about the waste and they know there is no place to put so it sits in pools and needs to be constantly cooled and covered in 30 ft of water to protect radioactivity from escaping.
P.G. & E. run Diablo Canyon. This is the same company, which claimed its natural gas pipelines were safe. It is the same company which has failed to produce safety records and test records of its thousands of miles of pipelines and its the same company which claimed it used seamless pipes under populated areas. We now know the pipe in San Bruno was not seamless and a faulty weld could have been the cause of the recent disaster which killed 8 people. Do you trust P.G. & E. when they claim Diablo Canyon is safe?
A coalmine disaster or oil platform explosions are both terrible events, which have huge costs in human lives and environmental damage. However, they don’t come close to the calamity, which would be caused by a nuclear accident. Until the problem of the structural integrity of nuclear plants is solved...until a solution is found for what to do with the spent fuel rods currently stored at these plants, the last thing we should do is build more of them and place time bombs all over this nation any one of which could do more harm to this nation than a dozen terrorist attacks similar in nature to the attacks of September 11th.
We control our own fate on this one. Don't we?
The crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station is illustrating all the problems associated with nuclear power. It also shines a light on the reality many of these problems have not been adequately solved; and yet President Obama and even some environmental groups, are supporting the expansion of nuclear power plants in this country. At the top of the list is the question about the physical plant itself. Japanese officials admit the plant was designed to survive a quake ranging in size from 7.0-7.5 on the Richter scale. They site scientific findings which claim that range is the highest quake possible from the fault line near the plant. We now know, more recent scientific data was not factored in to any upgrades in the plant structure. (Data, which show a much larger quake, was possible.) We also now know they did not take into account the affect a large tsunami would have on the physical integrity of the plant. This from the nation who gave us the word to begin with. As radiation reaches the West Coast, a 200 mile evacuation zone is being created and the crisis enters its second week. Defenders of nuclear power ask you to pay no attention to the nuclear plant behind that curtain. They say "trust us", it couldn't happen here.
The Diablo Canyon Nuclear reactor sits almost on top of the San Andreas fault and the San Onofre reactor is within five miles of a major fault line. Spokespersons say San Onofre is built to withstand a 7.0 quake and Diablo Canyon up to a 7.5. This is not welcome news. You and I know the San Andreas Fault could easily produce an 8-9 sized quake as could the fault near San Onofre. As of this writing, no one from either plant has spoken about how the reactors are, or if they are, protected from a tsunami. A 9.0 quake off the Pacific Coast, an area scientists say is ripe for a big quake, could produce a huge tsunami reaction. What would happen to these plants then?
The physical integrity of the nuclear reactor is not the only concern. One of the biggest worries in Japan are the pools containing spent fuel rods and their ability to keep these rods cool and submerged. The Fukushima plant is ringed with such pools and plant workers have been unable to keep water in the pools from escaping and exposing the rods. The resulting radiation leaks and potential for fire and explosion are a clear and present danger. Why are these pools, containing hundreds of spent rods, ringing the nuclear plant? The answer is because there is no way to safely dispose of nuclear waste. Every nuclear plant in the world has similar pools. The dirty little secret of the nuclear power industry is this waste is a huge danger and no one knows what to do about it. There was an attempt to bury waste in the Nevada desert in deep salt caves. When they tested how secure the caves were, it was discovered they leaked and over time the radioactive waste would get into the underground aquifer and contaminate it throughout the state. There are even those now who propose shooting the waste into space to get rid of it. The defenders of nuclear power never talk about the waste and they know there is no place to put so it sits in pools and needs to be constantly cooled and covered in 30 ft of water to protect radioactivity from escaping.
P.G. & E. run Diablo Canyon. This is the same company, which claimed its natural gas pipelines were safe. It is the same company which has failed to produce safety records and test records of its thousands of miles of pipelines and its the same company which claimed it used seamless pipes under populated areas. We now know the pipe in San Bruno was not seamless and a faulty weld could have been the cause of the recent disaster which killed 8 people. Do you trust P.G. & E. when they claim Diablo Canyon is safe?
A coalmine disaster or oil platform explosions are both terrible events, which have huge costs in human lives and environmental damage. However, they don’t come close to the calamity, which would be caused by a nuclear accident. Until the problem of the structural integrity of nuclear plants is solved...until a solution is found for what to do with the spent fuel rods currently stored at these plants, the last thing we should do is build more of them and place time bombs all over this nation any one of which could do more harm to this nation than a dozen terrorist attacks similar in nature to the attacks of September 11th.
We control our own fate on this one. Don't we?
Sunday, March 20, 2011
NEVER FEAR! New posts comming soon!!!
We have heard from "Our Lion" and he says he has been a bit preoccupied with personal issues and just hasn't been focused much writing. However he asked for info on nuclear plants and is doing research as we speak and expects to have a new post ready any time now, so keep checking back. Thank you much for your support.
Yours Truly ED the IT guy! :)
Yours Truly ED the IT guy! :)
Sunday, February 27, 2011
HOW FULL IS FULL?
I was sitting with a group of men discussing a passage from the Christian scriptures. It was from the gospel of John and concerned the good shepherd. One verse said "...I came to bring you life and life more abundantly." This line has been one of my favorites for many years. I was raised a fundamentalist Catholic and our goal was to get to heaven. Everything was geared towards this goal. We could even get special deals, indulgences, to make it easier and we had a bus stop, purgatory, to hang out and get things right in order to continue to the pearly gates. However, as an adult it became clear to me the message of scripture, actually the message of all moral systems, is the same. The reason to adhere to any one of them is because you can have life and life to its fullest. The reason to love your neighbor and enemies, turn the other cheek, forgive an infinite number of times and be the most human you can be is because your life will be amazingly fulfilling and joyous and wonderful. Heaven may be cool, but the promise of Jesus and Buddha and Mohammed as well as the promise of great humanists is the promise of an abundant life.
As the discussion continued, and this is such a powerful gathering every Sunday night which includes Fr. Louie Vitale OFM for a few more months, I asked if anyone could define what it means to have an abundant life...what does it mean to live life to its fullest...what is the definition of a truly filled existence? Everyone had their own take on it. I thought it would be an easy question to answer. Yet, the more we talked the more I realized how elusive the concept is. I had what looked to most like a full life. A wonderful, accomplished wife, 4 children each with so many individual gifts and strengths who I love with every ounce of my being, a great job which gave me a forum to voice my opinion, stroke my ego and even help some who couldn't help themselves. I lived in the best city in the world surrounded by other family and friends and had all the material goods we say define success. It is obvious to me now, something was missing. I was chasing something which I couldn't define. The joy, which should have been ever-present, was intermittent and anger showed its ugly head frequently. (Any of you who listened to me know, if you are honest, I could be terrible to callers and would get so angry and so worked up it became unlistenable at times) Whatever it was which was missing, led me to take risks and ignore warnings and make stupid decisions and ultimately I threw everything away and left my family in utter ruin and disappointed and embarrassed my friends and family.
So now I ask you this same question. What does it mean to have an abundant life? What does it mean to live life to its fullest? Please give this some thought. There is a temptation to answer it quickly with clichés and possibly even flippantly, but it is the key to everything I believe. We know what our culture says defines a full or abundant life. We know what a lot of famous preachers say and I think in our hearts we know that any life which is not full or abundant will lead us to chase it even if we don't know what it is we seek. I ask you to ask your family and friends this question. Don't let anyone, or yourself, off easy on this. It's too important. It's so important; Jesus says it is why He was sent to us to teach us and tell us and show us. I suspect Buddha and Mohammed and Moses and Confucius and many others would say the same thing.
At the end of John's gospel, he says he could have included a lot more stories but picked the ones he did so that you might believe and have life and life to its fullest. Are you living an abundant life now? If not why not? How do you know if you can’t define it? Have you spent much time examining what it might mean for you and yours? I spend every day trying to answer this question convinced I have to have an answer before I return to the real world. Our everyday lives leave so little time for contemplation and reflection. I'm giving you permission to stop and take some time because this is just too important to put off.
I wish I had taken this time before and avoided the stupidity and mistakes, which I brought on myself. I am so grateful to be able to write and to share with you and maybe help to remind you this is a quest well worth engaging. I look forward to your thoughts and please encourage anyone you know to add theirs. I wish you could join us on Sunday nights. It's truly an extraordinary time.
As the discussion continued, and this is such a powerful gathering every Sunday night which includes Fr. Louie Vitale OFM for a few more months, I asked if anyone could define what it means to have an abundant life...what does it mean to live life to its fullest...what is the definition of a truly filled existence? Everyone had their own take on it. I thought it would be an easy question to answer. Yet, the more we talked the more I realized how elusive the concept is. I had what looked to most like a full life. A wonderful, accomplished wife, 4 children each with so many individual gifts and strengths who I love with every ounce of my being, a great job which gave me a forum to voice my opinion, stroke my ego and even help some who couldn't help themselves. I lived in the best city in the world surrounded by other family and friends and had all the material goods we say define success. It is obvious to me now, something was missing. I was chasing something which I couldn't define. The joy, which should have been ever-present, was intermittent and anger showed its ugly head frequently. (Any of you who listened to me know, if you are honest, I could be terrible to callers and would get so angry and so worked up it became unlistenable at times) Whatever it was which was missing, led me to take risks and ignore warnings and make stupid decisions and ultimately I threw everything away and left my family in utter ruin and disappointed and embarrassed my friends and family.
So now I ask you this same question. What does it mean to have an abundant life? What does it mean to live life to its fullest? Please give this some thought. There is a temptation to answer it quickly with clichés and possibly even flippantly, but it is the key to everything I believe. We know what our culture says defines a full or abundant life. We know what a lot of famous preachers say and I think in our hearts we know that any life which is not full or abundant will lead us to chase it even if we don't know what it is we seek. I ask you to ask your family and friends this question. Don't let anyone, or yourself, off easy on this. It's too important. It's so important; Jesus says it is why He was sent to us to teach us and tell us and show us. I suspect Buddha and Mohammed and Moses and Confucius and many others would say the same thing.
At the end of John's gospel, he says he could have included a lot more stories but picked the ones he did so that you might believe and have life and life to its fullest. Are you living an abundant life now? If not why not? How do you know if you can’t define it? Have you spent much time examining what it might mean for you and yours? I spend every day trying to answer this question convinced I have to have an answer before I return to the real world. Our everyday lives leave so little time for contemplation and reflection. I'm giving you permission to stop and take some time because this is just too important to put off.
I wish I had taken this time before and avoided the stupidity and mistakes, which I brought on myself. I am so grateful to be able to write and to share with you and maybe help to remind you this is a quest well worth engaging. I look forward to your thoughts and please encourage anyone you know to add theirs. I wish you could join us on Sunday nights. It's truly an extraordinary time.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
A CRISIS IS A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE...
The Republican governor of Wisconsin wants to use the state's budget crisis to break the teacher's and public employee's unions. 40 other states are watching to see if he gets away with it. If he is successful, it will be a victory in a war against working- class Americans that started in the early 20th Century. This last battle started with Ronald Reagan, and will be finished by regressives in state houses and in Congress. Under the guise of a fiscal emergency, Wisconsin's governor has proposed eliminating the ability of teachers and state workers to collectively bargain for wages and benefits. Without the ability to collectively bargain, unions cease to have a function. Without collective bargaining, employers can play groups off against each other, pick off weaker employees and prevent workers from banding together to demand a fair wage, decent working conditions, health care and some kind of provision to provide for them when they can no longer work.
In the late 50's and early 60's, when America was at its economic zenith, union membership was close to 40% of the American work force. American workers earned enough to create the largest middle class in the world. Unions proved Marx was wrong when he said there had to be a war between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. He said capitalism would create great wealth but the capitalists would never share that wealth with the workers. Unions forced the capitalists to share some of their profits through the use of collective bargaining. The entire work force has more bargaining power than any individual. As unions fought for 40-hour workweeks and higher wages and better working conditions as well as pensions and health care, even non-union workers saw their boats rise with the tide. Putting money in worker's pockets created consumers and those consumers became 2/3 of the economic activity of this nation. The capitalists hated it. They hated having to bargain. They hated not being able to impose their will. They hated bending to demands and they fought and were willing to kill to prevent it from happening. When Franklin Roosevelt signed legislation allowing for collective bargaining, corporate America increased their political contributions at the fastest rate in history in order to defeat him in 1936. That record will be broken in 2012 when corporate America attempts to retake the Senate and the White House. They really don’t like to share.
The campaign against workers and unions has been so successful, working Americans are willing to turn on each other in a death spiral of eroding earnings, hazardous working conditions (can anyone say Deep Water Horizon or the Upper Branch Mine?) and gutted pension systems. While the richest Americans enjoy tax rates not seen since 1950, while the richest 1% see their taxes cut, working Americans tax burden continues to rise and the money pays for less and less in terms of government services and aid. In Madison, Wisconsin average Americans turned out to attack teachers and state workers who were protesting the loss of their bargaining rights. In the 1920's, corporations paid private cops and local thugs to break up labor rallies and stop the move towards workers rights. Today, so many Americans have swallowed the corporatist's kool aid; they are willing to attack other workers fighting to preserve the few bargaining chips they have left.
Their is a belief in this country our fiscal woes are the result of greedy, ungrateful workers. As we watched trillions of dollars transferred from Main Street to Wall Street, as we watched the bonuses and salaries being paid at Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase and even AIG, as American's had more homes foreclosed in 2010 than any time in history, there is this myth, which has taken root, we are in economic trouble because of the unreasonable demands of workers. Wall Street is back to pre-depression highs, corporate profits are soaring, corporations are sitting on trillions of dollars in "cash" and yet unemployment sits at 9%. Why should they hire someone when they are making so much money as things are now? Even as the protests continue in Wisconsin, the US Chamber of Commerce is pushing Obama and Congress to approve new free trade pacts with Columbia, Panama and South Korea. Even as more jobs are taken overseas and America's manufacturing base withers and dies, corporate America fights to preserve tax breaks they get by keeping profits offshore and push for new agreements to take more jobs from Americans. They are even pushing the president to cut the corporate tax rate. Even as the rich and powerful pour hundreds of millions into regressive campaign coffers, they seek to dilute and eliminate the one counterweight to their greed and rapaciousness.
The governor of Wisconsin talks of the need for "shared sacrifice" even as he and his fellow Republicans refuse to raise taxes on the wealthiest 1%. They rule out any additional taxes on corporations. They refuse to invest in the country's infrastructure and ignore the jobs that would be created. "Shared sacrifice" is a code word for continued attacks on unions and continued erosion of the working middle class. Regressives excoriated Obama for propping up General Motors and Chrysler. They didn't care about the hundreds of thousands of jobs they represented; a decision that has paid huge dividends for both companies, returned taxpayers money with interest and added 56,000 jobs in the industry. They wanted to share in government largesse but the workers would do the sacrificing.
Will public employees have to accept pay cuts and layoffs? Yes. Will they have to contribute more to their pension plans? Probably. Will they have to pay more for health care? Not if we had a single payer health care system not dependant on individual states as employers. Since we don’t, the answer is yes they will pay more. Should they be able to collectively bargain to make the best deal, to protect the most vulnerable, to make sure the sacrifice is shared not dumped on their backs? Absolutely. Taking away collective bargaining is only necessary if you want to bust the unions. It is not necessary to get workers to make the sacrifices we all know need to be made to get our fiscal house in order.
It is no coincidence as union membership declined, the gap between the rich and working Americans widened. It is no accident as workers turned on each other, the richest 1% increased control over at least 60% of the wealth in this nation. It is not happenstance Wall Street was bailed out, while workers had to fight for help for companies like General Motors and it is not bad luck a government program aimed at helping Americans stay in their homes is called a failure and faces cancelation while corporate America is reporting earnings not reached since 2006-2007. If we want a healthy, vibrant and strong America, we have to have a healthy, vibrant and strong middle class and collective bargaining aids in that goal. That's why regressives hate it and unions so much. What do you think?
In the late 50's and early 60's, when America was at its economic zenith, union membership was close to 40% of the American work force. American workers earned enough to create the largest middle class in the world. Unions proved Marx was wrong when he said there had to be a war between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. He said capitalism would create great wealth but the capitalists would never share that wealth with the workers. Unions forced the capitalists to share some of their profits through the use of collective bargaining. The entire work force has more bargaining power than any individual. As unions fought for 40-hour workweeks and higher wages and better working conditions as well as pensions and health care, even non-union workers saw their boats rise with the tide. Putting money in worker's pockets created consumers and those consumers became 2/3 of the economic activity of this nation. The capitalists hated it. They hated having to bargain. They hated not being able to impose their will. They hated bending to demands and they fought and were willing to kill to prevent it from happening. When Franklin Roosevelt signed legislation allowing for collective bargaining, corporate America increased their political contributions at the fastest rate in history in order to defeat him in 1936. That record will be broken in 2012 when corporate America attempts to retake the Senate and the White House. They really don’t like to share.
The campaign against workers and unions has been so successful, working Americans are willing to turn on each other in a death spiral of eroding earnings, hazardous working conditions (can anyone say Deep Water Horizon or the Upper Branch Mine?) and gutted pension systems. While the richest Americans enjoy tax rates not seen since 1950, while the richest 1% see their taxes cut, working Americans tax burden continues to rise and the money pays for less and less in terms of government services and aid. In Madison, Wisconsin average Americans turned out to attack teachers and state workers who were protesting the loss of their bargaining rights. In the 1920's, corporations paid private cops and local thugs to break up labor rallies and stop the move towards workers rights. Today, so many Americans have swallowed the corporatist's kool aid; they are willing to attack other workers fighting to preserve the few bargaining chips they have left.
Their is a belief in this country our fiscal woes are the result of greedy, ungrateful workers. As we watched trillions of dollars transferred from Main Street to Wall Street, as we watched the bonuses and salaries being paid at Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase and even AIG, as American's had more homes foreclosed in 2010 than any time in history, there is this myth, which has taken root, we are in economic trouble because of the unreasonable demands of workers. Wall Street is back to pre-depression highs, corporate profits are soaring, corporations are sitting on trillions of dollars in "cash" and yet unemployment sits at 9%. Why should they hire someone when they are making so much money as things are now? Even as the protests continue in Wisconsin, the US Chamber of Commerce is pushing Obama and Congress to approve new free trade pacts with Columbia, Panama and South Korea. Even as more jobs are taken overseas and America's manufacturing base withers and dies, corporate America fights to preserve tax breaks they get by keeping profits offshore and push for new agreements to take more jobs from Americans. They are even pushing the president to cut the corporate tax rate. Even as the rich and powerful pour hundreds of millions into regressive campaign coffers, they seek to dilute and eliminate the one counterweight to their greed and rapaciousness.
The governor of Wisconsin talks of the need for "shared sacrifice" even as he and his fellow Republicans refuse to raise taxes on the wealthiest 1%. They rule out any additional taxes on corporations. They refuse to invest in the country's infrastructure and ignore the jobs that would be created. "Shared sacrifice" is a code word for continued attacks on unions and continued erosion of the working middle class. Regressives excoriated Obama for propping up General Motors and Chrysler. They didn't care about the hundreds of thousands of jobs they represented; a decision that has paid huge dividends for both companies, returned taxpayers money with interest and added 56,000 jobs in the industry. They wanted to share in government largesse but the workers would do the sacrificing.
Will public employees have to accept pay cuts and layoffs? Yes. Will they have to contribute more to their pension plans? Probably. Will they have to pay more for health care? Not if we had a single payer health care system not dependant on individual states as employers. Since we don’t, the answer is yes they will pay more. Should they be able to collectively bargain to make the best deal, to protect the most vulnerable, to make sure the sacrifice is shared not dumped on their backs? Absolutely. Taking away collective bargaining is only necessary if you want to bust the unions. It is not necessary to get workers to make the sacrifices we all know need to be made to get our fiscal house in order.
It is no coincidence as union membership declined, the gap between the rich and working Americans widened. It is no accident as workers turned on each other, the richest 1% increased control over at least 60% of the wealth in this nation. It is not happenstance Wall Street was bailed out, while workers had to fight for help for companies like General Motors and it is not bad luck a government program aimed at helping Americans stay in their homes is called a failure and faces cancelation while corporate America is reporting earnings not reached since 2006-2007. If we want a healthy, vibrant and strong America, we have to have a healthy, vibrant and strong middle class and collective bargaining aids in that goal. That's why regressives hate it and unions so much. What do you think?
Friday, February 11, 2011
NOW THAT'S PROGRESSIVE...
Most Americans don't deserve America. A nation founded on basic principles of freedom and civil liberties is a nation where its people should have a healthy skepticism about the reach and power of government. Instead, Americans have diluted and diminished and given away their liberty and privacy out of fear and indifference.
The latest assault on privacy comes from auto insurer Progressive Corporation. The company is offering up to a 30% discount on auto insurance if a customer will allow them to attach a small device to the car's on board diagnostic computer. The device would measure when customers use their vehicle, how far they drive and how hard they brake. Progressive would use the information to determine which drivers are less likely to get in an accident. So far at least 25% of customers who are eligible have signed up to participate. Allstate, State Farm and other insurers are rushing to follow with similar offers.
I know some claim we have no privacy left anymore so why worry. The Wall Street Journal has run a series of articles chronicling all the ways advertisers are spying on you every time you go online. They are now able to "fingerprint" your computer and track where you go, what you see and search, and what you buy whether you want them to or not. The "cookie" is now so yesterday. Cars are sold with On Star and other services connecting you to some central control. Your cell phone can be tracked even when it's off and even the Fast Pass you use on Bay Area bridges tracks your movements and the information is available to be subpoenaed.
There are companies like Foursquare which reward you for "checking in" to a store or restaurant and letting others know you are there. Add Facebook and Twitter, and maybe it would appear those under the age of thirty find privacy to be an outmoded concept. Now, to save a few bucks, you can allow insurance companies to monitor how you drive. Really? Insurance companies?
It doesn't take any kind of psychic abilities to see the potential abuse of this latest "advance". At first it will be voluntary. Eventually, it will be mandated to get auto insurance. The devices will get more sophisticated and measure speed, driving habits etc and all of this information will be stored and available to the government and to any lawyer with a subpoena. If this had existed after September 11th, can you imagine what Bush and company would have done? They would have demanded every piece of information about every driver under scrutiny or maybe just every driver in the country. We know corporate America will cooperate and they don't even require a warrant.
I have to admit I'm baffled by the cavalier attitude Americans seem to have when it comes to their privacy and the right to move freely, talk freely, shop freely, email freely, and search freely without anyone knowing what they are doing. The old saw,"...if you aren’t doing anything wrong, you don't have anything to fear," is such an anachronism when the people who write the laws, and prosecute and determine guilt, are the same ones watching what you do. Even if it's not the government, the idea corporate America is building profiles on each online user in order to sell products, without any permission, smacks of a big brother Orwell couldn't have fathomed.
The same people who populate Tea Party rallies and scream about intrusive Obama care, are the same ones who championed the Patriot Act and defended warrantless searches, secret national security letters and illegal data mining of private communications and now they are handing over their personal habits and data to an insurance company to make a couple of bucks. Who says irony is dead.
Perhaps this is a fight we have already lost. Will there be a car sold in this country which won't connect to the Internet? In a Super Bowl ad, Chevy bragged about the "cruise" which connects real time to Facebook. Smartphones have apps where the phone can spy on you and apps which allow you to use it to spy on others. However, to save a few bucks I will not be handing any driving information to any insurance company so they can have me in their central file and I will continue to raise alarms about the continued assault on our privacy. The right to freedom of movement and association and personal shopping and other habits...now that's progressive. What do you think?
The latest assault on privacy comes from auto insurer Progressive Corporation. The company is offering up to a 30% discount on auto insurance if a customer will allow them to attach a small device to the car's on board diagnostic computer. The device would measure when customers use their vehicle, how far they drive and how hard they brake. Progressive would use the information to determine which drivers are less likely to get in an accident. So far at least 25% of customers who are eligible have signed up to participate. Allstate, State Farm and other insurers are rushing to follow with similar offers.
I know some claim we have no privacy left anymore so why worry. The Wall Street Journal has run a series of articles chronicling all the ways advertisers are spying on you every time you go online. They are now able to "fingerprint" your computer and track where you go, what you see and search, and what you buy whether you want them to or not. The "cookie" is now so yesterday. Cars are sold with On Star and other services connecting you to some central control. Your cell phone can be tracked even when it's off and even the Fast Pass you use on Bay Area bridges tracks your movements and the information is available to be subpoenaed.
There are companies like Foursquare which reward you for "checking in" to a store or restaurant and letting others know you are there. Add Facebook and Twitter, and maybe it would appear those under the age of thirty find privacy to be an outmoded concept. Now, to save a few bucks, you can allow insurance companies to monitor how you drive. Really? Insurance companies?
It doesn't take any kind of psychic abilities to see the potential abuse of this latest "advance". At first it will be voluntary. Eventually, it will be mandated to get auto insurance. The devices will get more sophisticated and measure speed, driving habits etc and all of this information will be stored and available to the government and to any lawyer with a subpoena. If this had existed after September 11th, can you imagine what Bush and company would have done? They would have demanded every piece of information about every driver under scrutiny or maybe just every driver in the country. We know corporate America will cooperate and they don't even require a warrant.
I have to admit I'm baffled by the cavalier attitude Americans seem to have when it comes to their privacy and the right to move freely, talk freely, shop freely, email freely, and search freely without anyone knowing what they are doing. The old saw,"...if you aren’t doing anything wrong, you don't have anything to fear," is such an anachronism when the people who write the laws, and prosecute and determine guilt, are the same ones watching what you do. Even if it's not the government, the idea corporate America is building profiles on each online user in order to sell products, without any permission, smacks of a big brother Orwell couldn't have fathomed.
The same people who populate Tea Party rallies and scream about intrusive Obama care, are the same ones who championed the Patriot Act and defended warrantless searches, secret national security letters and illegal data mining of private communications and now they are handing over their personal habits and data to an insurance company to make a couple of bucks. Who says irony is dead.
Perhaps this is a fight we have already lost. Will there be a car sold in this country which won't connect to the Internet? In a Super Bowl ad, Chevy bragged about the "cruise" which connects real time to Facebook. Smartphones have apps where the phone can spy on you and apps which allow you to use it to spy on others. However, to save a few bucks I will not be handing any driving information to any insurance company so they can have me in their central file and I will continue to raise alarms about the continued assault on our privacy. The right to freedom of movement and association and personal shopping and other habits...now that's progressive. What do you think?
WALL STREET VS. MAIN STREET
Eighty percent of the banks and major financial institutions in this country were in danger of failing during the early days of the depression of 2008. This is the conclusion of a federal panel investigating the causes of the economic meltdown. Those same banks are now making strong profits due to some $12 trillion in help from the federal government and Federal Reserve. Meanwhile, a government watchdog reports a program aimed at modifying home mortgages and saving homeowners from foreclosure, is a failure and regressives want to shut it down.
John Paulson, a hedge fund manager, made $5 billion in 2010, as the economy recovered and cheap money made it possible to borrow low, lend high and take advantage of the improved corporate balance sheets world wide. Mr. Paulson is the same man who made $4 billion in 2008-2009 betting against collateralized mortgage securities being sold to pension funds and large institutional investors. In fact, Mr. Paulson helped Goldman Sachs set up one such vehicle called "Abacus". Mr. Paulson was allowed to pick which packages of bundled mortgages would be included in the offering and it appears he picked the worst mortgages to be sold to investors, and then bet they would fail, and made a fortune. No one knew of Mr. Paulson's involvement in "Abacus" which was a clear conflict of interest and caused the Securities and Exchange Commission to sue Goldman Sachs.
General Motors, Chrysler and other corporations were allowed to declare bankruptcy and get rid of a huge amount of debt and got the debt modified and restructured. Airlines like United used bankruptcy to throw their retirees under the bus getting permission to no longer pay for pensions and health care promised to their workers. Citadel Corporation, which owns KGO Radio, was allowed to go into bankruptcy and shed hundreds of millions of dollars in debt and re-emerge to continue operating and to give top executives huge bonuses. Yet, the one program aimed at helping average gum-chewing Americans stay in their homes, is a failure and should be shut down.
Neil Borofsky, the special inspector general for the government's bank bailouts, says the $341 billion bail out worked and returned the banks to profitability. He says the mortgage program "...which was the program that was supposed to help Main Street," is a failure. Originally intended to help 3 to 4 million homeowners stay in their homes, so far it has only helped a little over half a million. One of the worst offenders is JP Morgan Chase, which has modified just 67,722 out of over 200,000 mortgages while the company received tens of millions in tax payers funds to keep it solvent.
There are those who argue many of the homeowners don't deserve help because they borrowed more than they could afford to repay. The federal panel investigating the causes of the depression chronicled multiple abuses of the system, poor decision making by financial institutions, fraud, deception, poor regulation as reasons for the economic disaster. Despite all of these poor decisions...despite taking on huge debt and hiding it in many cases...despite almost destroying the economy in this nation, these institutions were bailed out. No one went to jail and now they are paying out billions in bonuses. Do you smell something rotten in Washington?
This home mortgage modification program is running on fumes at the moment. Main Street is once again being screwed while Wall Street returns to its profligate ways. If you are as outraged as I am, contact your representatives and demand the program be saved. Call, email or text Rep. Darrel Issa, a regressive Republican who chairs the House Oversight committee and demand he investigate JP Morgan Chase and others as to why they refuse to modify home mortgages.
It's called the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). Will we really watch as the John Paulsens of the world make billions in bonuses and salary and corporate debt is "modified" in bankruptcy, while Americans, who can pay something, are kicked out of their homes? Wouldn't it be nice if instead of his new initiative to cozy up to corporate America, for once President Obama would draw one of his famous lines in the sand and stand up for Main Street? What do you think?
John Paulson, a hedge fund manager, made $5 billion in 2010, as the economy recovered and cheap money made it possible to borrow low, lend high and take advantage of the improved corporate balance sheets world wide. Mr. Paulson is the same man who made $4 billion in 2008-2009 betting against collateralized mortgage securities being sold to pension funds and large institutional investors. In fact, Mr. Paulson helped Goldman Sachs set up one such vehicle called "Abacus". Mr. Paulson was allowed to pick which packages of bundled mortgages would be included in the offering and it appears he picked the worst mortgages to be sold to investors, and then bet they would fail, and made a fortune. No one knew of Mr. Paulson's involvement in "Abacus" which was a clear conflict of interest and caused the Securities and Exchange Commission to sue Goldman Sachs.
General Motors, Chrysler and other corporations were allowed to declare bankruptcy and get rid of a huge amount of debt and got the debt modified and restructured. Airlines like United used bankruptcy to throw their retirees under the bus getting permission to no longer pay for pensions and health care promised to their workers. Citadel Corporation, which owns KGO Radio, was allowed to go into bankruptcy and shed hundreds of millions of dollars in debt and re-emerge to continue operating and to give top executives huge bonuses. Yet, the one program aimed at helping average gum-chewing Americans stay in their homes, is a failure and should be shut down.
Neil Borofsky, the special inspector general for the government's bank bailouts, says the $341 billion bail out worked and returned the banks to profitability. He says the mortgage program "...which was the program that was supposed to help Main Street," is a failure. Originally intended to help 3 to 4 million homeowners stay in their homes, so far it has only helped a little over half a million. One of the worst offenders is JP Morgan Chase, which has modified just 67,722 out of over 200,000 mortgages while the company received tens of millions in tax payers funds to keep it solvent.
There are those who argue many of the homeowners don't deserve help because they borrowed more than they could afford to repay. The federal panel investigating the causes of the depression chronicled multiple abuses of the system, poor decision making by financial institutions, fraud, deception, poor regulation as reasons for the economic disaster. Despite all of these poor decisions...despite taking on huge debt and hiding it in many cases...despite almost destroying the economy in this nation, these institutions were bailed out. No one went to jail and now they are paying out billions in bonuses. Do you smell something rotten in Washington?
This home mortgage modification program is running on fumes at the moment. Main Street is once again being screwed while Wall Street returns to its profligate ways. If you are as outraged as I am, contact your representatives and demand the program be saved. Call, email or text Rep. Darrel Issa, a regressive Republican who chairs the House Oversight committee and demand he investigate JP Morgan Chase and others as to why they refuse to modify home mortgages.
It's called the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). Will we really watch as the John Paulsens of the world make billions in bonuses and salary and corporate debt is "modified" in bankruptcy, while Americans, who can pay something, are kicked out of their homes? Wouldn't it be nice if instead of his new initiative to cozy up to corporate America, for once President Obama would draw one of his famous lines in the sand and stand up for Main Street? What do you think?
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