Grade Government

Rate your representatives here. I have to wonder just who is grading as the bottom, F's, all seem to be democrats (although they probably deserve the grade).

Sample:
531. T. Bishop (D) NY-1st F
530. M. Capuano (D) MA-8th F
529. T. Childers (D) MS-1st F
528. J. Cooper (D) TN-5th F
527. J. Crowley (D) NY-7th F
526. H. Cuellar (D) TX-28th F
525. K. Dahlkemper (D) PA-3rd F
524. S. Davis (D) CA-53rd F
523. A. Davis (D) AL-7th F
522. B. Ellsworth (D) IN-8th F
521. S. Israel (D) NY-2nd F
520. H. Johnson (D) GA-4th F
519. M. Kilroy (D) OH-15th F
518. R. Kind (D) WI-3rd F
517. L. Kissell (D) NC-8th F
516. R. Larsen (D) WA-2nd F
515. J. Larson (D) CT-1st F
514. N. Lowey (D) NY-18th F
513. B. Lujan (D) NM-3rd F
512. D. Matsui (D) CA-5th F
511. J. McGovern (D) MA-3rd F
510. M. McIntyre (D) NC-7th F
509. J. McNerney (D) CA-11th F
508. G. Meeks (D) NY-6th F
507. G. Moore (D) WI-4th F
506. C. Murphy (D) CT-5th F
505. R. Neal (D) MA-2nd F
504. B. Pascrell (D) NJ-8th F
503. D. Payne (D) NJ-10th F
502. C. Pingree (D) ME-1st F
501. J. Polis (D) CO-2nd F
500. E. Pomeroy (D) ND F
499. S. Rothman (D) NJ-9th F
498. L. Roybal-Allard (D) CA-34th F
497. C. Ruppersberger (D) MD-2nd F
496. L. Sanchez (D) CA-47th F
495. J. Sarbanes (D) MD-3rd F
494. M. Schauer (D) MI-7th F
493. A. Schiff (D) CA-29th F
492. J. Serrano (D) NY-16th F
491. B. Sherman (D) CA-27th F
490. A. Sires (D) NJ-13th F
489. A. Smith (D) WA-9th F
488. J. Speier (D) CA-12th F
487. B. Stupak (D) MI-1st F
486. B. Thompson (D) MS-2nd F
485. J. Tierney (D) MA-6th F
484. N. Tsongas (D) MA-5th F
483. T. Udall (D) NM F
482. P. Visclosky (D) IN-1st F
481. T. Walz (D) MN-1st F
480. D. Watson (D) CA-33rd F
479. P. Welch (D) VT F
478. C. Dodd (D) CT F
477. N. Pelosi (D) CA-8th F
476. B. Frank (D) MA-4th F
475. R. Burris (D) IL F
474. S. Kosmas (D) FL-24th F
473. D. Moore (D) KS-3rd F
472. B. Rush (D) IL-1st F
471. H. Waxman (D) CA-30th F
470. B. Filner (D) CA-51st F
469. B. Boxer (D) CA F
468. H. Reid (D) NV F
467. D. Scott (D) GA-13th F
466. C. Wilson (D) OH-6th F
465. J. Murtha (D) PA-12th F
464. M. Waters (D) CA-35th F
463. D. Obey (D) WI-7th F
462. D. Feinstein (D) CA F
461. P. Murray (D) WA F
460. D. Stabenow (D) MI F
459. C. Brown (D) FL-3rd F
458. L. Capps (D) CA-23rd F
457. B. Markey (D) CO-4th F
456. G. Peters (D) MI-9th F
455. M. Watt (D) NC-12th F
454. C. Rangel (D) NY-15th F
453. H. Teague (D) NM-2nd F
452. H. Kohl (D) WI F
451. R. Menendez (D) NJ F
450. B. Lee (D) CA-9th F
449. A. Specter (D) PA F
448. M. Bennet (D) CO F
447. C. Schumer (D) NY F
446. C. Carney (D) PA-10th F
445. K. Castor (D) FL-11th F
444. J. Costello (D) IL-12th F
443. D. Halvorson (D) IL-11th F
442. B. Miller (D) NC-13th F
441. J. Olver (D) MA-1st F
440. A. Schwartz (D) PA-13th F
439. V. Snyder (D) AR-2nd F
438. N. Velazquez (D) NY-12th F
437. D. Wu (D) OR-1st F
436. J. Kerry (D) MA F
435. J. Jackson (D) IL-2nd F
434. X. Becerra (D) CA-31st F
433. D. Boren (D) OK-2nd F
432. S. Kagen (D) WI-8th F
431. Z. Lofgren (D) CA-16th F
430. J. Shaheen (D) NH F
429. J. Rockefeller, IV (D) WV F
428. M. Udall (D) CO F
427. J. Boccieri (D) OH-16th F
426. K. Conrad (D) ND F
425. L. Davis (D) TN-4th F
424. C. Gonzalez (D) TX-20th F
423. J. Himes (D) CT-4th F
422. R. Holt (D) NJ-12th F
421. C. Maloney (D) NY-14th F
420. M. Thompson (D) CA-1st F
419. T. Harkin (D) IA F
418. R. Grijalva (D) AZ-7th F
417. G. Napolitano (D) CA-38th F
416. B. Etheridge (D) NC-2nd F

Buffoonistas

Who are the world's biggest debtor nations?

1st place goes to Ireland - 811%
External debt (as % of GDP): 811%
External debt per capita: $549,819

2nd United Kingdom - 336%
External debt (as % of GDP): 336%
External debt per capita: $153,616

3rd Belgium - 327%
External Debt (as % of GDP): 327%
External debt per capita: $155,362

4th Hong Kong - 295%
External debt (as % of GDP): 295%
External debt per capita: $93,539

5th Netherlands - 268%
External debt (as % of GDP): 268%
External debt per capita: $145,959

6th Switzerland - 264%
External debt (as % of GDP): 264%
External debt per capita: $171,478

7th Austria - 191%
External debt (as % of GDP): 191%
External debt per capita: $100,787

8th France - 168%
External debt (as % of GDP): 168%
External debt per capita: $78,070

9th Denmark - 159%
External debt (as % of GDP): 159%
External debt per capita: $107,026

10th Germany - 137.5%
External debt (as % of GDP): 137.5%
External debt per capita: $63,767

11th Spain - 137.5%
External debt (as % of GDP): 137.5%
External debt per capita: $57,091

12th Sweden - 129%
External debt (as % of GDP): 129%
External debt per capita: $73,245

13th Finland - 116%
External debt (as % of GDP): 116%
External debt per capita: $62,579

14th Norway - 114%
External debt (as % of GDP): 114%
External debt per capita: $118,353

15th - United States - 95.09%
External debt (as % of GDP): 95.09%
External debt per capita: $44,358

Is it just me, or are most of these leading debtor nations also the countries the US left-leaners often claim are icons of social success stories, and we should yearn to imitate their "free" stuff programs?

Bubba, the left-leaning buffoons will claim their debt is the fault of Americans who are sinking the US dollar, at the expense of the above nations, and has nothing to do with the failure of socialist styled governments. But don't listen to 'em Bubba - these folks will cut off their own nose to spite their face.

This Is Your Brain

I am not a supporter of the legalization of marijuana, but I have had a few laughs lately reading the standard arguments of pro-weed supporters; arguments that seem logical only if you are smoking some very good weed (or dream of a future in farming, production, sale of same). But, this latest claim making the Internet rounds has to be the most hilarious - weed cures cancer.

Rick Simpson, a Canadian, has made a name for himself, and a following, with the claims that THC cures cancer. Simpson has a free video on the how and wherefore titled Run From the Cure, and a website Phoenix Tears. Simpson claims to have cured himself of skin cancer. In this video, at approximately 1.45 minutes in, Rick gives you the method of making "hemp oil," the miracle cure. "He's a healer, not a dealer" as supporters like to refer to Rick.



Got that? Place good weed, preferably the buds, with a solvent, mix and stir with either pure naphtha or 99% isopropyl alcohol (naphtha is a petroleum product used in lighter fluid, paint stripper, etc.). Mix well, drain the liquid, take to a well-ventilated area, turn on the fan, use rubber gloves, keep away from flame, boil in a crock pot, pour in container, cool. You have just cooked up in your home lab - the cure for cancer.

Folks, this is the best laugh from Internet follies I've had in a while. Rick has basically just made a potent hashish. I need a rolling on the floor laughing emoticon.

The Struggle Continues: The Phony Revolution

From Cindy Sheehan : "Myth America: 10 Greatest Myths of the Robber Class and the Case for Revolution."

Remember Cindy? The great white progressive peace hope? She is selling a $10 booklet by the above title, listing 10 myths:

Myth One: America: Greatest Nation in the Universe!
Myth Two: Elections Matter
Myth Three: There's a huge Difference Between Dems and Repubs
Myth Four: It is Noble to Die in Robber Class Wars
Myth Five: The Central Banking System is good for the Robbed Class
Myth Six: It's a Privilege to pay Income Taxes to the Robber Class
Myth Seven: Housing, Health Care and Education are Privileges, too
Myth Eight: America has a Free Press
Myth Nine: The Environment, Who Needs it?
Myth Ten: 19 Muslims with box cutters were responsible for 9/11

Cindy divides us into the Robbed and the Robbers, with most of us on the Robbed side. The Robbed are essentially the working class, people who have to struggle for healthcare and higher education.

---- Let me tell you a story, one of many, many stories of the typical struggling working class "Robbed" folks of which I have firsthand information. This segment of the "Robbed" are the folks Sheehan and friends attempt to pander to.

The story is Oleta and Bill, both in their early 40s, with 3 sons ages 4, 6, 8. Oleta constantly feels robbed. She recently applied for foodstamps and bitched outrage for a month because she was not eligible. Bill has a decent job for unskilled labor, bringing in about $35,000 a year. Oleta performs clerical work off and on bringing in another $15,000, and the 2 older children bring in $14,400 from SSI disability (they were preemies with learning disabilities and asthma).

Bill has healthcare at work and the State also covers medical care for the 2 "disabled" kids. At the local health and dental clinic Oleta can have $600 worth of dental work for the sliding scale fee of $25 - and still complains, it should be free because she pays taxes. But, the $200 of Bill's $1400 partial denture, not covered by work insurance - really angered Oleta - she was robbed.

They own their home and somehow Oleta manages to qualify for every program that doles out dollars to low income homeowners, for repairs, upgrades, insulation, a new furnace, etc. Still, she feels robbed when events like the Fema funded cleanup crew after last winter's ice storm did not prune her trees. She might have to pay for that unless Bill decides to do it with help from Oleta's brother who has his own handyman cleanup business - unless she convinces her church she qualifies for free tree trimming, now that those faith-based grants are coming in to help robbed folks like herself.

Oleta has an associate degree - a degree for folks who attend college for 2 years but do not like school and really have no driving ambition or the brains to be higher educated; in the 'hood though an associate degree confers immense bragging rights and status, it's the ghetto PhD. Oleta's 2-year degree took 3-1/2 years to complete and was paid for by affirmative action and grant programs, which would have covered that BA if she had just had the oomph! to go for it. She was robbed again, not because she didn't delay having children for another couple of years, but because the State wouldn't pay for their maintenance while she took her time trying for that BA degree. Oh well, such is the unfairness perpetuated on the robbed class.

Of course Oleta expects her children should have State funded higher education, whether or not they have the mindset or ability is not important. If any of her "disabled" sons are fortunate, they will throw off the label of disabled and get a life, if not, they will draw checks the rest of their life - floating around the 'hood, having kids, brushes with the lawman, smoking the soon to be legalized marijuana and feeling robbed like mom and dad.

Last month Oleta felt robbed because the non-profit local community organization refused to throw some under-the-table work her way - robbed, because she could have used $400 which the organization could have paid her to mop and wax the community room - instead a couple of members volunteered to do it for nothing. Oleta's attitude is how can a righteous woman make a few bucks if some people are ignorant enough to work for free.

Oleta and Bill do not pay actual taxes to the Robber class - they receive $5000-6000 each year in refunds along with any other stimulus/rebate the Robbers deem applicable. Oleta has her own non-profit consulting "business" on the books, on paper, but it never makes any money, other than writing off everything remotely possible as an expense at tax time, computers, cell phones, a portion of home expenses for an office, etc. It was a little scheme she learned in those business courses toward that associate degree.

Oleta and Bill vote once every four years and then forget about it. They don't read much so are unconcerned about whether the press is free or not, besides if it is on CNN then it must be true - but most of their news comes from church bulletins, quasi-Rev. Wright pastors, social program pamphlets, or the uniquely garbled grapevine of Black political interpretation from local community leaders with associate degrees.

If concern for the environment is going to cost them out of pocket or create any inconvenience - forget it, they will feel robbed.

They know there is little difference between democrats and republicans - but they believe democrats always initiate a few more social programs - in fact, Oleta is eagerly awaiting to see if her home-based business qualifies her for a paid consultant position regarding a local low-income housing project. She believes she knows exactly what the "robbed" class here needs - but eeewww weeeee girl! if you could hear her regular gossip about the thieving, low-life lazy bums in the 'hood you would think she couldn't be paid to help them.

Oleta and Bill believe 19 boxcutters are possible because Oleta's cousin Jammer stole 6 cars in 1 day and the cops still don't know where the chop shop is located. Oleta and Bill have never served in the wars of the Robber class - nor have any of their immediate or extended family members - soldiering is for poor folks and fools and why serve when receiving is so respectably easy, especially if you have an associate degree and are slightly smarter than most of the other Robbed folks.

They do sometimes believe the #1 myth though - America the greatest nation in the universe - depending on how much free stuff they qualify for in a given year.

Oleta just returned from an Easter cruise to the Bahamas - her fake hair and nails need to be done after a week on the water and buffet dining, and she is broke until the boys checks come in this month. But even after a vacation Oleta is in a bad mood - always feeling robbed.

As to the case for revolution my dear defenders of the Robbed class - you better have lots of funding, because folks like Oleta and Bill aren't going to do anything unless there is money or a voucher attached.

Arrr Me Matey

You are being lied to about pirates - or so says Johann Hari. According to Hari these people (pirates) "have an extraordinary story to tell - and some justice on their side."

The defense of piracy by the criminal elements of the progressive movement claim pirates are pirating because bad people are dumping toxic waste and trawling in Somali waters - hence justice is on their side. Hari and ilk give new meaning to the word poopdeck.

I read AllAfrica regularly and have not seen anything on toxic dumping as the excuse behind multi-millionaire ransoming Somali pirates. Nigeria did have a group threatening to shut down an Italian oil company for dumping waste in their community, and Uganda protested e-waste being dumped locally. Kenya, Somalia, and Ghana have officially complained to the UN about illegal trawlers. Somalia worked out a deal with Yemeni fishermen who were often caught trawling in Somalian waters. It seems most of the Somali coastal poaching has been by fellow African fishermen.

Hijacked ships are usually hundreds of miles out, not the 12 mile coastal territorial limit for Somalia, although initially hijackings were closer to shore, and blow me down, they were not fishing boats. Yachts and cruise ships are also targeted now. I guess success breeds escalating and expanding business. In the last 24 hours these extraordinary pirates have hijacked in the Gulf of Aden a Lebanese cargo ship, a Greek bulk carrier, and 2 Egyptian fishing ships (Egypt has to go through the Aden Gulf to get to the Indian Ocean, poaching or not).

Part of Captain Phillips Maersk Alabama cargo was food aid for Kenya. How does that pertain to dumping/trawling?

Where has the $100 million (preferably paid in crispy U$D) from piracy fiscal year 2008 been spent? Given to Somali officials for the cause or given to the Somali people? Me thinks not me landlubber friends.

Johann also says "Pirates were the first people to rebel against this world. Once they had a ship, the pirates elected their captains, and made all their decisions collectively. "

Yep Bubba, pirates were egalitarian, socialists. Never mind that such notables as Laffite, Hawkins, and those Barbary Johnny Depps also dealt in the slave trade, they were democratic rebels amongst one another, and a historian or two claim some pirates "took in escaped African slaves and lived with them as equals." Mighty white of 'em, aye Bubba matey?

And what would excuses be if not the usual 400 or 500-year-old excuse of "What I did was to keep me from perishing. I was forced to go a-pirating to live." Surely the gentleman o' fortune Bernie Madoff and lily-livered bonused executives feel the same way today - they were just forced to go a-livin' higher than ye average perishing pirate.

Try as I might me barnacle encrusted biscuit eaters, I cannot make the connection between kidnapping for ransom and legitimate "protest".

Reminds me of brothers in the '60s who robbed armored trucks and claimed it was for the "cause," or the SLA who kidnapped Patty Hearst and demanded $2 million in food ransom for the poor of LA. Many poor had enough sense to be horrified and refused the food because they valued human life more than a sack of ill-gotten groceries.

But, my spongy Bubba baggy pants, that was in the days before so many folks bought into the liberal/progressive idea of criminality is okay if committed by po' folk against rich folk. Yo ho ho.

Progressive Love

The idiocy of youth. Busting a few windows and hurling insults to topple the "capitalist" system - whoo hooo. What do these folks really want? I believe their motto is "social justice." Hmmm. Now what would a more just society entail?

A national healthcare system? Direly needed with the approaching 70% overweight/obese citizenry and associated health problems appearing at a younger age than ever before. The large number of drug seekers and hypochondriacs are plentiful. And the growing numbers of lifestyle "disabled" folks, addicts, slackers, octomoms, etc. who have floundered around their entire lives expecting others to pick up after them and clean up their messes. Not that the global corporatocracy will pay for all these sickly folks, no sirreeee, they will not. The shrinking middle class is expected to generate the tax dollars to cover these folks, for a more just society.

Quality education for one and all? Hmmm, how long has the government been promising quality education? This year alone our local high school has 3 times caught students having sex in the bathroom, 6 blowjobs on the bus, 25 sexting, 5 locker drug busts, and needing more tax dollars to enlarge the nursery for teen mommies (thank you Medicaid) who think they look so cute bringing infant carriers to school. Those teens who behave really badly are sent to the "alternative" school. Lesson? My 16-year-old granddaughter (who happens to be a virgin) can sit between 2 pregnant classmates discussing heartburn and frequent urination while she's trying to grasp the concepts of algebra. Can you see who is sacrificing here my pussface lemming brain comrades?

Human rights and equality. Oh Bubba, that's a hairy one. What are basic human rights/equality? Lets condense that to meaning: The right to personally pursue anything that does not harm others, and equality before the law - and you have these rights/equality simply by virtue of being human. The old right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And if your pursuit happens to cost me directly and indirectly?

Well, don't worry, according to progressive philosophy I'm not allowed to name it, blame it, or shame it - because that would be politically incorrect, however, I can be forced to contribute to the programs to aid whatever slovenly self-destructive pursuit you pursue, as long as you do not rob, beat, mug, maim, or murder me, it's not causing direct harm to me and mine. Right? And if you are incarcerated for anything I can sign a petition to free you because jails are full of guys and gals who didn't do it because cops frame everyone, and some who did commit the crime did so only because they were born in poverty, which is the 40-excuses-and-a-mule card.

We are all free to make our own anti-social bone-headed self-destructive choices and then demand and receive gratuitous pity from those in swanky offices doling out dollars to the slovenly and slattern living in squalor, and call it " social justice." Right?

Other platforms you must support somewhat to be a progressive: Gay marriage, single motherhood, gun control, save the planet, legalization of marijuana, be against capital punishment, and for many, many more programs from BigDaddy Guvteat - to furnish you all the milk of justice and equality you can stand.

Squeeze me again Uncle Sam, harder, harder.

No Volunteer Left Behind

Text of H.R.1388, Obama's Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education, (GIVE) Act.

The NEA (National Education Association) is pleased as they believe the act will:

* Strengthen existing service programs and create new innovative programs to help improve student achievement and graduation in low-income schools, including expansion of mentoring programs to help disadvantaged youth.
* Provide new incentives for middle and high school students to volunteer in their communities, and allow them to earn a $500 education award to be used for college costs.
* Increase the number of AmeriCorps volunteers and increase the education reward they receive to match the maximum Pell Grant scholarship award.

Yessiree Bubba. Now teens and tweens can volunteer for $500, which, if they utilize that benefit, could someday purchase a couple of college textbooks. Perhaps these teeny tweeny volunteers will go on to serve AmeriCorps and get a matching $4700 a year Pell Grant, if they qualify.

Some day Bubba, we'll be bumping into corps alumni all over the place. Sort of like the 1964 LBJ War on Poverty JobCorps program - which has attempted to help 2 or 3 generations of at-risk 16-24 y/o youth live at government funded facilities to get a GED, a "skill", and find a job - something parents should have could have done, if they were interested in their children.

GIVE will also target senior citizens for volunteering. Something many seniors used to do for free, but volunteering for free is so passe, so last century.

Speaking of JobCorps, their centers are operated for the Department of Labor by private companies through a competitive contracting process, e.g., ITT Industries; BDM International/Vinnell; ResCare, Inc. Privatizing welfare is nothing new of course. But the potential problems of profit motivation to minimize costs is always there. Competitive contracting with ITT, winky wink.

Let's see, we have JFK Peace Corps, LBJ Job Corps, Clinton AmeriCorps, now Obama GIVE corp. The GIVE package will give to so many more dot.orgs though Bubba. AmeriCorps NCCC ((National Civilian Community Corps) will triple its numbers to 275,000 invigorating volunteers. Learn and Serve America , another Giver nursing freely on the public teat will benefit, as will Campuses of Service, Clean Energy Corps, Investment for Quality and Innovation, Healthy Futures Corps (which may or may not address abortion) and a host of other corps and their affiliates, to be extended or created, including ACORN. No corps left behind. All promising to bring the poor out of poverty.

KAB interpretation? For a mere initial GIVE package of $6 billion the government will teach you to caulk windows, pick up park trash, hammer a nail, mow a lawn, plant a tree, ladle soup in a kitchen, empty bedpans, and hopefully do something on the p.c. other than porn and games.

Like all the programs which have come before - GIVE will give excessive amounts of tax dollars to overpaid administrators and contractors who will in turn dole out stipends to the serfs who in turn will engage in useless tasks while being told they are noble because they are performing in the name of national service.

No volunteer left behind Bubba, but you're gonna get a big wedgey with your own bootstraps.

Devalued

I would like to hear a similar speech in the US congress.

Global Capos

US backing for world currency stuns markets.

US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner shocked global markets by revealing that Washington is "quite open" to Chinese proposals for the gradual development of a global reserve currency run by the International Monetary Fund.

The dollar plunged instantly against the euro, yen, and sterling as the comments flashed across trading screens. David Bloom, currency chief at HSBC, said the apparent policy shift amounts to an earthquake in geo-finance.

"The mere fact that the US Treasury Secretary is even entertaining thoughts that the dollar may cease being the anchor of the global monetary system has caused consternation," he said.

Mr Geithner later qualified his remarks, insisting that the dollar would remain the "world's dominant reserve currency ... for a long period of time" but the seeds of doubt have been sown.

The markets appear baffled by the confused statements emanating from Washington. President Barack Obama told a new conference hours earlier that there was no threat to the reserve status of the dollar.

"I don't believe that there is a need for a global currency. The reason the dollar is strong right now is because investors consider the United States the strongest economy in the world with the most stable political system in the world," he said.

The Chinese proposal, outlined this week by central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan, calls for a "super-sovereign reserve currency" under IMF management, turning the Fund into a sort of world central bank.

----- Get it Bubba? Washington is "quite open" to Chinese proposals for the gradual development of a global reserve currency run by the IMF. Timmy's "quite open" to the idea, but Barry says "don't believe there is a need for a global currency." Liar. And you thought Obama was your new best friend.

The IMF is quite famous for its practice of Lending to Support Dictators - Pinochet, Duvalier, Suharto, Stroessner, Marcos, Barre, Mobutu, S. Africa apartheid, etc etc.

The IMF has done great work around the world, affectionately known as the international "lender of last resort" - sort of like Vinnie "Two Guns" down at the Social Club. Yea yea let's put IMF in charge.

The Bright Side

Python

Video Iraq

#2 Son First Video From Kirkuk

Make Mischief

This morning I have news on as background noise as I do laundry, sweep, dust. I catch bits or bytes: "... leftwing groups unite to push White House agenda ..." good grief, it is Karl Rove speaking, the former Bush brain according to leftwing groups.

On the web I read "... rightwingers unite to kill more brown people in Afghanistan, Gaza, Obama frees Gitmo ..."

Here we go - the us/them political mischief as usual, with little truth or importance in any of it, nor do these loud and fake pundits represent the thinking of anyone I know; please note - I said "thinking" people - not people who simply seek out those who reinforce their ideas, ideas which may be based on nothing more than someone told them it was a good idea.

Recently, it seems to me that most folks are under the mistaken impression that the "battle" for our hearts and minds, is the fight between Capitalism and Socialism. Contraire Pierre, I believe we are now watching the fight between Socialism and Communism - yes, the "c" word few want to mention. Sneaky folks are still arguing and politely calling it the push to socialism.

But lets look at the bare bones using the reasonable definitions of O'Sullivan:

Capitalism, defined as a system where most ownership is private, social objective is individual freedom, economic objective is efficiency, a system predominantly democratic and ruled by a few.

Socialism, defined as ownership is both public and private, the social goal is "equality", the economic objective is "fairness," and the system is predominantly bureaucratic, ruled by a few.

Communism, defined as ownership by the public, social objective is equality, economic objective is fairness; the system ruled by dictatorship.

Not much of a choice have we?

Using the above, it would appear the US seriously entered the socialist phase in the 1960s. The ideals of equality and fairness, run by bureaucrats, ruled by a few. Although one could argue serious socialism began under Roosevelt and the New Deal.

Using the above definitions, where do you think the US is at the moment? We have seen individual freedom curtailed - from being forced to alter personal habits - smoking, seat belts, helmet laws, sin taxes, etc. to BigDaddy Gov feeding the kids breakfast under the notion that it is social compassion, pretending that it's not mama won't get her butt out of bed to feed the kids Quakers instant oatmeal.

Individual freedom has been curtailed, socially and legislatively, by both Democrats and Republicans; whether bailing out big business or welfare mammies. Some call it the "nannie state." Good term for a nation of grubby incorrigible adults.

Over the past 40 years we have seen a great deal accomplished in the quest for "equality" and "fairness" - much of it earned by the blood and tears of an honorable generation willing to demand human dignity. But life is never completely equal and fair - and although we can all sit at the front of the bus, attend the same schools, live in any neighborhood we can afford - the ideal of equality and fairness pushes forward - but no longer honorably, for the push now is not to level the playing field - but to level the finish line.

To level the finish line the US powers-that-be give us Obama as step one to Communism or whatever future terminology they tag it: Government ownership, and equality/fairness as defined by a dictatorship. Or, if you prefer your reality wrapped in warm-fuzzies - call it a global village, mankind living as one, even if a few billion have to be forced into the village at gunpoint, the enforcers claim it's for their own social and economic good.

The State/public ownership of production seems viable to many, and so far has been gradual - through the heads of state and corporations rutting in the same bed, to State ownership via controlling shares of important business sectors. Those Joe Averages who are ignorant of reality will believe they "own the means of production" etc. The truth is the State will be the CEO and it will be business as usual - enriching corporate heads and government bureaucrats, with the added assurance and insurance that when greed and corruption intentionally drive businesses into the red, the public (you) will be forced to bail them out, after all, why shouldn't you since it is your company too (remember, you are the State).

Unless there is a catastrophic event (world war, big terrorist attack, extraterrestrial invasion;) the move to communism will likely take 1-2 generations. We already see a generation or two without a healthy "self" - devoid of self-motivation, no self-starting, no self-esteem - such qualities replaced with self-absorption, self-degradation, self-destruction - the result of folks who are convinced that doing what they want, when they want, where they want, is only "fair" because they are "free," with no concern for the social blowback and political fallout, and why should folks be concerned - the State "fair" safety net will take care of everything, and you are "free" to babble someone else is at fault for your failures.

Got Slavery?

Republican SC governor, Mark Sanford, chief resister to Obama's stimulus said this week he'd reject $700 million of his state's $2.8 billion share of stimulus money unless he can spend it to pay down debt, and compared Obama's fiscal policies to those of Zimbabwe, saying the U.S. economy could collapse if it keeps spending money.

Along comes Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., who said Sanford's remark was "beyond the pale" and could have racial implications. Yesterday he said Sanford's request to use stimulus money to pay down debt "flies in the face" of Obama's intent that it be used to create or save jobs.

Sanford reasons that if "... you're buying into the notion of we just print some more money that we don't have, send it to some states, we'll create jobs. If that's the case, then why isn't Zimbabwe a rich place?" Sanford says elsewhere the stimulus package is "predatory lending" by the feds - true, as eventually we and future generations are gonna pay for being stimulated.

(Zimbabwe has been in economic meltdown ever since the South African nation began a chaotic land reform program. Its official inflation rate topped 11 million percent in 2008, with its treasury printing banknotes in the trillion-dollar range a.k.a. spending money you don't have.)

Clyburn comments that Sanford, "... happens to be a millionaire... he may not need help for the plantation his family owns, but the people whose grandparents and great-grandparents worked those plantations need the help" ... in the form of federal money.

Clyburn further says that Sanford is comparing Obama to Zimbabwe's Mugabee, is insulting Blacks, and the usual "progressive" (white) bloggers have rallied around also claiming the Sanford's remarks are racial.

So, who is Jim Clyburn? He's majority whip in the House, first elected in 1992 after South Carolina's 6th district was redrawn as a black-majority district. I searched high and low for House bills by Clyburn in his 17 year career, and found one bill he sponsored to preserve and interpret the Gullah/Geechee culture ($10 million over 10 years), a worthy cause if the money goes for what it says it will.

I did find Clyburn cosponsored 224 bills - nearly all frivolous (most of congress is), such as AIDS awareness, commemorative postage stamps, recognizing the contributions of Black basketball players, a bill to establish a Caribbean heritage month, and a bill recognizing the 100th anniversary of the founding of LasVegas.

Personally, I find Clyburn's "plantation" analogy more insulting than Sanford's Zimbawe reference. I don't believe Sanford was referring to race, but to out of control economic policies. Clyburn, on the other hand, is blatently race-baiting with the usual "you owe us" plantation mentality.

It's the modern plantation mentality because too many Black Americans choose to stay on the plantation - exchanging the master's chitlins for foodstamps, the slave cabin for section 8/projects, and instead of master choosing which slaves will breed, most of whom would not know their daddy, today's black men/women willingly breed for the master's prison industry, many never knowing their daddy, or momma.

Guys like Clyburn are overseers - patting your nappy heads like a Sunday preacher and whipping you with the chains of your own thinking.

Michelle Feels Our Pain

(Subtitle: How to Mimic the Clintons Without Even Trying)

Underscoring her commitment to the plight of America's military families, Mrs. Obama used a trip to Fort Bragg as a stage for her first television interviews since the inauguration. One, with ABC's "Good Morning America," aired Friday morning.

In the interview she said she wanted military families to know they have a friend in the White House.

"It hurts. It hurts," Mrs. Obama said of hearing about military families on food stamps. "These are people who are willing to send their loved ones off to, perhaps, give their lives — the ultimate sacrifice. But yet, they're living back at home on food stamps. It's not right, and it's not where we should be as a nation."

Michelle, Michelle, could you not find some other dire-need "cause" to lend your attention to? Gang violence, deadbeat dads, ghettos, political and corporate corruption? Oh, I forgot, the progressives reamed you guys when Barack made his infamous Father's Day speech last year, some called it the Black Men Are Lazy, Stupid, Violent Junkies Speech or Obama Catering to the White Folks Speech. Wouldn't wanna go there again.

GIs on foodstamps is an old gimmick Mickey. Gore and Bush used that sound byte almost a decade ago, back in 2000. Even at that time the number of troops receiving foodstamps was 0.45% of the 1.4 million, or 6300. The need for foodstamps is usually due to average GI Joe having a large family, one income, a lot of credit card debt, and flawed spending habits.

The average enlisted soldier does not expect to get rich on military life, or even live upper class without several years on duty. The lowly E-3 earns $35,105 per year; that includes housing, medical, the px, etc. Not a fortune but not poverty unless spending fast and frivolous.

Progressives/liberals have convinced two generations of Americans that foodstamps are nothing to be ashamed of - unless you're in uniform and then it's shameful. If the Obamas have their way, that shame will be worth $40/month more in military pay. Whooo hoo.

What's shameful (and "hurts") is not teaching our young people, in and out of uniform, how to make responsible choices, to save and spend wisely. What's shameful is 6000 troops on food stamps is not a real issue, but merely fills the air with pseudo-support the troops rhetoric.

What's shameful is the First Lady using old campaign spin as a platform and photo-op for "change." She made the same promises to Norfolk military wives in August 2008 - stumping for votes.

Michelle, as all polcats do, is simply stumping ahead to the next election.

Nancy Fancy

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said yesterday that the federal government may have to spend even more money to shore up the nation's ailing economy, on top of the more than $1.6 trillion so far approved by Congress.

Pelosi's remarks came after senior House Democrats met behind closed doors with four prominent economists, who praised the actions taken by Washington to ease the effects of a recession that threatens to be the most severe since the 1930s. The $787 billion stimulus package, a $700 billion bailout for the U.S. financial system and President Obama's proposal to stem the tide of residential foreclosures are all sound policies that should begin to make a difference in the coming months, they told lawmakers.

Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has obtained documents from the Department of Defense (DOD) detailing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's multiple requests for military air travel. The documents, obtained by Judicial Watch through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), include internal DOD email correspondence detailing attempts by DOD staff to accommodate Pelosi's numerous requests for military escorts and military aircraft as well as the speaker's last minute cancellations and changes. The following are a few highlights from the documents, which are linked in full below:

* In response to a series of requests for military aircraft, one Defense Department official wrote, "Any chance of politely querying [Pelosi's team] if they really intend to do all of these or are they just picking every weekend?...[T]here's no need to block every weekend 'just in case'..." The email also notes that Pelosi's office had, "a history of canceling many of their past requests."
* One DOD official complained about the "hidden costs" associated with the speaker's last minute changes and cancellations. "We have...folks prepping the jets and crews driving in (not a short drive for some), cooking meals and preflighting the jets etc."
* The documents include a discussion of House Ethics rules and Defense Department policies as they apply to the speaker's requests for staff, spouses and extended family to accompany her on military aircraft. In May 2008, for example, Pelosi requested that her husband join her on a Congressional Delegation (CODEL) into Iraq. The DOD explained to Pelosi that the agency has a written policy prohibiting spouses from joining CODEL's into combat zones.
* Documents obtained from the U.S. Army include correspondence from Speaker Pelosi's office requesting an Army escort and three military planes to transport Pelosi and other members of Congress to Cleveland, Ohio, for the funeral services of the late Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones. Pelosi noted in her letter of August 22, 2008, that such a request, labeled "Operation Tribute" was an "exception to standard policy."
* The documents also detail correspondence from intermediaries for Speaker Pelosi issuing demands for certain aircraft and expressing outrage when requested military planes were not available. "It is my understanding there are no G5s available for the House during the Memorial Day recess. This is totally unacceptable...The speaker will want to know where the planes are..." wrote Kay King, Director of the House Office of Interparliamentary Affairs. In a separate email, when told a certain type of aircraft would not be available, King writes, "This is not good news, and we will have some very disappointed folks, as well as a very upset [s]peaker."
* During another email exchange DOD staff advised Kay King that one Pelosi military aircraft request could not be met because of "crew rest requirements" and offered to help secure commercial travel. Kay King responded: "We appreciate the efforts to help the codel [sic] fly commercially but you know the problem that creates with spouses. If we can find another way to assist with military assets, we would like to do that."

--- Gulfstream V, designated C-37A in U.S. Air Force service, the Gulfstream V fulfills missions for government and Defense Department officials. The US Navy also operates one C-37A.

The aircraft has a flight management system with a worldwide satellite-based Global Positioning System. The C-37A is capable of cruise at 51,000 feet. Features include enhanced weather radar, autopilot and head-up display for the pilot. Safety features include Enhanced Vision Systems that allows increased visibility in adverse environments. The aircraft is also equipped with commercial and military communications equipment to provide secure voice and data capability. The U.S. Air Force equips the C-37A with a basic crew of two pilots, one flight engineer, one communications systems operator, and one flight attendant.

--- Apparently, the "ailing economy" has absolutely no effect on government perks.

Gnarly Charlie

Until today I have never heard of Jason Mattera, the reporter in the video below. Apparently he's a roving reporter out to expose liberals/democrats, etc.



One comment on that page claims not to support this "particular tactic" - you know, the tactic of going up to Rangel like a regular Joe Friendly Fan and then asking embarrassing, although true, political questions.

That's right folks, you must immediately inform pols so they know which class face to put on and which side of their mouth to speak from. Rangel would never have said "mind your own goddamn business" to ... to ... hmmm ... well, he was tricked, that's right Charlie was tricked into exposing his bad side.

Pics From Kirkuk

Freddie & Fannie

The Obama administration's new mortgage relief plan, launched Wednesday, aims to help up to 9 million borrowers qualify for more affordable mortgages and stay in their homes.

It has two parts: First, it makes refinancing easier for those who are able to make their payments but pay a high interest rate and would otherwise not qualify because they do not have enough equity. Second, it encourages lenders to make loan modifications by providing $75 billion in incentives to alter the terms of loans.

Who qualifies?

For the refinance plan: Borrowers with mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — generally, those with loans of less than $417,000 — who are current on their payments and who owe no more than 105 percent of the current value of their home, and no less than 80 percent. (That means a homeowner whose home is worth $400,000 only qualifies if her loan balance is between $420,000 and $360,000.)

For the loan modification program: Borrowers with loans of up to $729,750 who are having difficulty paying their mortgage. Reasons for the difficulty, the government says, can include a drop in income from the loss of a job, a medical hardship, or a spike in the mortgage payment. Applicants will be required to document their income and provide an "affidavit of financial hardship," which the government will verify.

How will loans be modified?

Lenders will change the terms of the loan so payments, including taxes and insurance, amount to no more than 31 percent of a homeowners' income. They may lower the interest rate to 2 percent, extend the term of the loan to as many as 40 years, or forgive some principal, although it must be repaid if the house is sold. The government will subsidize some of the cost and provide cash payments to banks as an incentive to work with borrowers.

Not everyone who has a hardship will qualify. Banks will determine whether it makes financial sense to modify a loan.

---------- Government largess to the little people? No, it's politicians funneling money to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The banks will determine which loans make sense to modify. The same banks who thought it made financial sense to make the loans in the first place. I guess the Bush administration's bailout last year was insufficient. Keep throwing bad money after bad money.

Sweet Deals

Bad Actors

I watched Obama's body language, facial expressions, in his speech to the Marines at Camp Lejeune today and twice, yes twice, I believe BHO was scowling. Did Barry's handlers tell him this crowd might not be receptive, not the adoring tingling fans he's accustomed to playing?

Pundits say Obama received a resounding welcome - they did cheer when he mentioned their pay raise, but overall I thought the crowd was subdued, the applause light. I wonder Bubba, do you think they screened the audience for troops who were pro-Obama as the "left" said was done for Bush?

(Answered my own question - "Before President Barack Obama's arrival, service members were asked to greet the president with a "rambunctious" welcome." )

Of course, the bumper sticker to buy now is Out of Iraq in 18 Months - but leaving 35-50,000 troops in country, to cleanup ... or train, advise, and guard that huge embassy ... it isn't really out of Iraq, it's a bone from Obama (or boning). Actually, his plan is only a remake of the Bush idea of "redeployment to other areas in the region."

Because, amidst all the Obama's praise for US troops and the 3-phase withdrawal plan by August 2010, I guess I missed the part where Barry told us that most of those "returning" troops will actually be detouring to the other war - Afghanistan, along with Pakistan. (Again, a remake, Redeployment Part Deux).

And as with nearly all remakes, many of the lines and scenes are same ol' same ol' - BHO has assured the hawks that if the situation on the ground changes - so will the planned withdrawal - which, come to think of it, didn't Iraq War (starring Bush) have approximately the same withdrawal time line? Oh, that's right ... it was called a "horizon for troop pullout," subject to change if conditions in Iraq began to erode, the U.S. would reconsider troop withdrawal.

You see the change Bubba? You change the Bush "timeline" to the Obama "timetable" but keep "if the situation on the ground changes." More or less the same script but a new star playing the president, although many other bad actors return to play the same roles.

Show time! Plunder & Pillage, At Home & Abroad, Part III. Or is it IV?

Medical Reform School

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama would reform the healthcare system with a 10-year fund of $634 billion in a budget proposal he put forward on Thursday. He offered few details but the budget reflects new priorities:

* It stresses a shift from an unwieldy paper-based health system in which doctors and clinics share little information to health information technology, including electronic records.

_______ Ah, remember when computers first came on the scene a few decades ago and we were told by boasting giddy voices the machine would reduce paperwork. Well, anyone who has ever worked in most any field knows that never came true and never will - simply because so much still has a hard copy from which the information is entered into the computer; and a hard copy is excellent CYA if anyone tampers, screws up, or loses electronic records. And those never ending printouts that have to be filed.

* Obama is gambling that although costly in the beginning, the system will reduce errors caused by poor communication and scribbled prescriptions, save tens of thousands of lives every year and billions of dollars that go into the federal Medicare and Medicaid health insurance programs.

_______The majority of deadly errors made are human stupidity and carelessness - and that will continue whether done from a keyboard or handwritten. Currently, written medical information (rx, orders, tests, etc.) are seen by several sets of eyes (physicians, nurses, pharmacy, transcribers, techs), hence more chance of spotting errors. With higher tech methods and a single person directly entering the incorrect drug or dosage or a procedure, it will almost certainly go unnoticed. People tend to have faith that if a computer says so - it must be correct, never mind that computers are only as smart as the person entering the data; even if the computer says you cannot give that much heparin to a newborn how long will it take to chase the chain of command to set it right, and if it's an emergency? Have you seen the young doc whizzing through the hospital p.c. touch screening prescriptions, procedures, labs, etc.? Have you seen him proofread or double check anything? For the love of god, he has to tee off at 3.

* The budget includes a controversial $1.1 billion measure for the federal government to get into the business of comparing medical treatments. This is often left up to the private sector now, and drug companies have little interest in proving the benefits of cheap, generic treatments although studies have shown they often work better against disease such as heart failure and diabetes.

_______ Another government bureaucracy is born. Billions of dollars to compare the fact that Dollar Store aspirin works as well as Percocet on that stress headache - but you can't get high on aspirin, and since you eat narcotic pain killers like candy for those headaches you can't substitute an aspirin because it eats your stomach - better to be a prescription hophead.

* It allocates $6 billion for cancer research at the National Institutes of Health. Cancer is the No. 2 killer of Americans and costs billions of dollars. For instance, the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality estimates the average hospital cost for a single lung cancer patient in 2006 was $14,200 or about $1,900 a day. The total cost for all lung cancer patients was about $2.1 billion in 2007.

_______ Over the last few decades trillions have been spent on cancer research, and some advances have been made for certain types of cancer, yet the 3 oldest ancient forms of treatment are still the norm - cut, burn, poison. Overall, this money would be better spent on preventive health maintenance rather than research on how to cut, burn, poison us more effectively. Besides, there is ample cancer research already, here and worldwide.

NIH will hand out the $6 billion in the form of grants; the same NIH which a couple of years ago "Following a string of high-profile scandals, the US government ... pushed for stricter oversight of grants given by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The trend has many researchers worried that they might have to start accounting for their time and money or face being investigated."

What? Hold researchers and their institutes accountable? Have you lost your mind? These men are gods, gods, I tell you. Also, can someone tell me who the US government "pushes" when it wants stricter oversight? Does it push itself, reluctantly?

The typical "scandal" involves doctors/researchers, recipient of grants, who were also receiving payments from pharmaceutical companies. Or testing drugs on minority foster children.

But! There will be "government oversight." Yessirree, because someone in the government is going to push for it.

* The budget proposes cleaning up inefficiencies and reducing overpayments in Medicare, the federal health insurance plan for people over 65 and the disabled, which covers 45 million people and makes up 13 percent of federal spending.

_______Whut? No more medi-millionaires/billionaires? Like Bill Frist and HCA.

* The budget says that using more competitive bids for Medicare will save more than $175 billion over 10 years. Critics call this unrealistic.

_______ When the government claims it will save money anywhere at anytime on anything, I call it bullshit.

"Competitive bids" - that's politicalspeak for top companies who work out an arrangement and take their turn feeding at the trough. Sort of like mafia dons agreeing on how much and who gets a cut of the take.

I Hear That Train a Coming

A couple of things struck me as oddly ludicrous about BHO's speech last night. One, it resembled a State of the Union address - but it's too early in his term for that. Is there a reason we're getting so much of the new president so quickly? Is time running out or something?

Barack does give a good speech. Average Joes come away feeling euphoria and hope - we will rebuild, we will recover, we are not quitters, the hardest-working people on Earth, now is the time to act boldly and wisely, build a new foundation for lasting prosperity.... rah rah rah.

So .... if we're going to boldly and wisely build a new economic foundation ... why are the hardest-working people on Earth using old Europe ideas?

That's right Bubba, in particular the Italian model from the first half of the last century: Increased State intervention in industry. Italy's Institute for Industrial Reconstruction (IRI) was set up in 1933 to help ailing industries and banks; a giant State firm, using public money to buy shares and "bailout" ailing industries.

IRI was meant to be temporary, but is still around today, offering government genius and business wisdom from experts.

OBAMA: Over the next two years, this plan will save or create 3.5 million jobs. More than 90 percent of these jobs will be in the private sector -- jobs rebuilding our roads and bridges; constructing wind turbines and solar panels; laying broadband and expanding mass transit.

Remember, Benny Il Duce made the trains run on time - he too was big on public works projects. Infrastructure stuff Bubba, infrastructure. Il Duce rail system was mostly propaganda, although Italian railways were repaired post WWI, rail efficiency was hyped to convince Italians of the efficiency of fascism. (Gosh, I hate to use that word.)

In the US, such efficient antics are labeled as necessary, mandatory or else, stimulus packages, a financial stability plan. Brought to you now by the Obama and Tim Geithner. Tim, former employee of Kissinger & Associates (yes, Henry), was a director at IMF, worked under Robert Rubin, etc., you can be sure Tim & friends know how to make and burst bubbles. And Tim was vetted by progressive obamamites?

I suppose Democrats/progressives now favor public liability for private debt? Last September they were shouting "Bush bailouts perverse ... an insidious act of vile turpitude..." Last September progressive/liberal bloggers claimed Bush was using fear to force congress to hand him a $700 billion blank check.

I guess when you own man is turpitudy the word has a different meaning. And don't worry Bubba, VP Biden is going to handle the oversight on this blank check. (Maybe Joe can hire his son and brother to help with oversighting.)

So Bubba, if you mistake what's going on as change - remember the definition of politics: Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. (Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914) - The Devil's Dictionary. )

There is less strife of interests these days Bubba, because, if you do away with the hollow party rhetoric, both parties are on the same track, and you are going to pull the train. Chooo chooo you think you can, you think you can.

For My Daughters & Granddaughters

I Hope You Dance

Robbin' Hoods

The president signaled in his campaign that he would support addressing the retirement system’s looming financing shortfall, in part by applying payroll taxes to incomes above $250,000. But that would ignite intense opposition from Republicans, especially with the economy deep in recession.

Consider too that the super-rich collect most of their income from investments - and investment and corporate income is taxed differently (lower) than earned income - so BHO's plan to tax those "rich folks" making 250K is not going to touch the wealthy elite. Obama today says he will allow the "Bush tax cut for the rich" to expire as scheduled in 2010, but wait and see on that one.

"There were ... 132.6 million tax returns filed in 2005 that had a positive AGI, not just the returns from people who earn enough to owe taxes. From other IRS data, we can see that 90.6 million of the tax returns came from people who paid taxes into the Treasury. That leaves 42 million tax returns filed by people with positive AGI who used exemptions, deductions and tax credits to completely wipe out their federal income tax liability. Not only did they get back every dollar that the federal government withheld from their paychecks during 2005; but some even received more back from the IRS. This is a result of refundable tax credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit." (EIC, or the yearly bribe to the miscreant and/or poor so they don't revolt.)

Earning $250K today puts you in the top 1 or 2 or 5% of earners, depending on who and which stats you look at. Many folks in the remaining 95% believe more taxation on those at $250+K is a good idea.

Consider this though - the majority of these $250K earners are two income earner households, who may be living better than you, but they are nowhere near club members of the wealthy elite. And not everyone earning $250K is corrupt and feeding at the public trough; most are not hiding assets in offshore banks. Many of them are small business owners - not multinationals living off government contracts and nepotism. They are the upper middle class, the largest group of taxpayers, standing between the über-rich and the nonworking/working class poor. But, as in all backward nations, there can only be two classes - rich/poor - so let us hurry and rid ourselves of these upper middles.

The problem in not that taxes are too low on income earners of $250,000 - the problem is government spending. Only the village idiot would think it's a good idea to raise taxes on wage earners and give the government more funds; the village idiot is always convinced these funds will trickle down to him.

Umbrellas

Citigroup Inc. is in talks with federal officials that could result in the U.S. government substantially expanding its ownership of the struggling bank, according to people familiar with the situation.

While the discussions could fall apart, the government could wind up holding as much as 40% of Citigroup's common stock. Bank executives hope the stake will be closer to 25%, these people said.

Any such move would give federal officials far greater influence over one of the world's largest financial institutions. Citigroup has proposed the plan to its regulators. The Obama administration hasn't indicated if it supports the plan, according to people with knowledge of the talks.

When federal officials began pumping capital into U.S. banks last October, few experts would have predicted that the government would soon be wrestling with the possibility of taking voting control of large financial institutions. The potential move at Citigroup would give the government its biggest ownership of a financial-services company since the September bailout of insurer American International Group Inc., which left taxpayers with an 80% stake.

The talks reflect a growing fear that Citigroup and other big U.S. banks could be overwhelmed by losses amid the recession and housing crisis. Last week, Citigroup's share price fell below $2 to an 18-year low. Bank executives increasingly believe that the government needs to take a larger ownership stake in the institution to stop the slide.

----------What does it all really mean? Bailing out who exactly?

Well, obviously the major shareholders of Citigroup. And who would that be?

MAJOR DIRECT HOLDERS
Holder ----------------Shares Reported
MAHERAS THOS ........ 2,440,092
FORESE JAMES ..........1,809,500
PANDIT VIKRAM ...........1,707,503
PRINCE CHARLES .......1,612,732
MILLS WILLIAM .............1,373,229

TOP INSTITUTIONAL HOLDERS (in Citigroup)
Capital World Investors
Barclays Global Investors UK Holdings Ltd
STATE STREET CORPORATION
VANGUARD GROUP, INC. (THE)
Capital Research Global Investors
AXA
DODGE & COX INC
Bank of New York Mellon Corporation
MORGAN STANLEY
UBS GLOBAL ASSET MANAGEMENT (AMERICAS) INC

TOP MUTUAL FUND HOLDERS (in Citigroup)
GROWTH FUND OF AMERICA INC
INVESTMENT COMPANY OF AMERICA
WASHINGTON MUTUAL INVESTORS FUND
VANGUARD 500 INDEX FUND
DODGE & COX STOCK FUND
SPDR TRUST SERIES 1
INCOME FUND OF AMERICA INC
VANGUARD TOTAL STOCK MARKET INDEX FUND
SELECT SECTOR SPDR FUND-FINANCIAL
VANGUARD/WINDSOR II

Own any stock, or maybe your employee pension invested in such companies? Has your retirement plan been giving merit pay to talented investment managers who invested in companies that need bailout? Hmmm. Let's look at one - take Vanguard Windsor II.

Vanguard month-end ten largest holdings as of 01/31/2009
Rank Holdings
1 Occidental Petroleum Corp.
2 Wyeth
3 Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.
4 International Business Machines Corp.
5 Verizon Communications Inc.
6 Imperial Tobacco Group ADR
7 AT&T Inc.
8 ConocoPhillips Co.
9 JPMorgan Chase & Co.
10 Philip Morris International Inc.
Ten largest holdings = 28.9% of total net assets.

Tobacco, pharma, oil, big business ....

Seems like only yesterday Prince Walid bin Talal of Saudi Arabia was the biggest shareholder in Citigroup - oh wait, it was 1991 when the prince first invested in the financially reeling Citicorp. My my, 18 years ago Citigroup's predecessor, Citicorp, was reeling from loan losses in Latin America and real estate.

Travelers Group and banking giant Citicorp wowed the business community with the announcement in April 1998 of plans for the largest merger ever to hit Wall Street. The merger was finalized in October and a new financial powerhouse – Citigroup – was born.

Citi"group", now barely 10 years old - not even out of puberty, and reeling again.

But! Long before Citi, group or corp (aka Citibank), the company operated under the name of National City Bank.

And what/who is National City Bank?

Recap:
On June 16, 1812, with $2 million of capital, City Bank of New York (now Citibank) opened for business in New York City. In 1968, First National City Corporation (later renamed Citicorp), a bank holding company, became the parent of Citibank. After the 1929 market crash the federal government rescued NCB with multimillions. In fact, DC lawmakers blamed National City for the bubble/crash of 1929 and passed the Congress passed the Glass-Steagall Act, which Bill Clinton and congress would eventually do away with.

In the 1980s, Citi ran into trouble over loans made to in Latin America. Citi faced billions of dollars in potential losses when Mexico became insolvent in 1982. The federal government came to the rescue with the Brady Plan to help sell Latin American debt and have the banks write off some of it.

Citi needed help again during the recession of the early 1990s. Holding $10 billion in bad loans, related to leveraged buyouts or commercial real estate, their stock price fell and rumors of bankruptcy began to circulate. Again, the Federal Reserve came to the rescue with several interest rate cuts.

In 1998, all Citicorp divisions merged with all divisions of Travelers Group to form Citigroup Inc. Citibank continues under the Citigroup umbrella.

Get ready folks, you have a lot of large, reeling umbrellas to hold.

Bipartisanship?

Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-CT) has constantly been in the news lately, but his latest remarks about possibly nationalizing some American banks generated front-page news in The Hartford Courant and The New York Times.

Dodd, chairman of the Senate banking committee, was just one of several prominent officials who have raised the possibility of a bank takeover in recent days. Stocks in major banks such as Bank of America had been beaten down and continued to trade lower when the markets opened Friday, as fears of nationalization hovered.

Dodd told The Courant that his remarks were not intended to advocate nationalization. They were "merely suggesting it was a possibility."

"This idea of nationalizing banks is not comfortable," said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). "But I think we've got so many toxic assets spread throughout the banking and financial community, throughout the world, that we're going to have to do something that no one ever envisioned a year ago, no one likes. To me, banking and housing are the root cause of this problem. I'm very much afraid any program to salvage the banks is going to require the government... I would not take off the idea of nationalizing the banks."

---- Oh sure, placing banks under ownership and control of government, temporarily (wink wink), is a great idea. The government is good at running things and good at implementing policies on a "temporary" basis.

In the dreams of Karl Marx - "Centralization of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly"...

Change you can believe in - are we there yet?

Apparently, for now, the idea of nationalizing banks has been dismissed as absurd - until it's done. And then you will see, socialist management is just as incompetent as capitalist management. Probably because it's the same managers, using the same word list: Room for debate, insolvent, government injected capital, majority stake, last resort, momentum, distinguished economists say ____ (fill in blank), and toxic assets.

Yessiree - let's dump all this salvaged toxin into the cook books of the federal government - we're gonna spin straw into gold and live happily ever after.

Doom Doom Everywhere

..."a return to the "violent extremism" of the 1920s and 1930s." Or so Dennis Blair our intel chief says.

This phrase/quote is all over the net with articles of doom and gloom. Prepare - judgment day is coming sayeth the expert bloggers and think tankers, and I particularly cannot stomach Chris Hedges (author of above Alternet piece), even if he is a Bush critic.

HEDGES: The specter of social unrest was raised at the U.S. Army War College in November in a monograph titled "Known Unknowns: Unconventional 'Strategic Shocks' in Defense Strategy Development."

That monograph was written Nov. 2008 by Nathan Freier, retired military brass; his last military assignment as the Director of National Security Affairs at the U.S. Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute (SSI), and now paid by government funded stink tanks to come up with scary bullshit and justification for contingency spending on scary bullshit. The military has always raised the spectre of social unrest. Riots and unrest were common between 1750 and 1800 and between 1800 to 1850, and again between 1850 to 1900, and again between 1900 to 1960, and again. Note we get major wars along the way ... war puts those unrested folks to work ...

To elucidate how genius Mr. Freier is, he also comments in the pdf report that "Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of Kuwait was a strategic surprise." Do you believe DoD was surprised when Saddam invaded Kuwait?

HEDGES: The corporate thieves, those who insisted they be paid tens of millions of dollars because they were the best and the brightest, have been exposed as con artists. Our elected officials, along with the press, have been exposed as corrupt and spineless corporate lackeys. Our business schools and intellectual elite have been exposed as frauds. The age of the West has ended. Look to China. Laissez-faire capitalism has destroyed itself. It is time to dust off your copies of Marx.

Yep, we're all just aching in our bones to live like a billion Chinese peasants.

Freier's paper states "DoD is now doing valuable work on strategic shocks. This work must endure and mature through the upcoming political transition. "

I guess some folks haven't dusted off their Marx and are going to be shocked when Obama drags us into WWIII on the way to the upcoming China-styled political transition?

Or maybe Freier was thinking the political transition to a Black prezident might cause white folks to riot and revolt? Surely he wasn't thinking the Obama administration would really change anything at DoD.

Or maybe Freier was just thinking of his curriculum vitae.

My Valentine

Late, again. ;)

More Oinkers

The French Kiss Off Award
to Representative Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) for $211,509 in olive fruit fly research in Paris, France.

The Taxpayers Get Teed Off Award
to House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) for $3 million for The First Tee in the defense appropriations bill.

The Cold Hard Cash Award
to Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) for $165.7 million in defense pork.

The Tax Dollars on Drugs Award
to Representative John Murtha (D-Pa.) for $23 million for the National Drug Intelligence Center.

The Pantheon of Pork Award
to Senator Robert Byrd (D-W.VA) for $386 million in pork.

The Narcissist Award
to Representative Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) for $1,950,000 for the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service.

The Pig in Sheep's Clothing Award
to Montana Senators Max Baucaus (D) and Jon Tester (D) for $148,950 for the Montana Sheep Institute.

The Unidentified Fiscal Object Award
to Representative Ann Esshoo (D-Calif.) for $1.6 million for the Allen Telescope Array.

The Money Doesn't Grow on Trees Award
to Senator Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) for $344,540 for the city of Chicago GreenStreets Tree Planting Program.

The Porky and Bess Award
for $7.9 million for 36 theaters in 21 states.

The Pacific Fleeced Award
to Senator Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) for $173.2 million in defense pork.

The Taxpayers Get Steamed Award
to Maine Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe (R), and Rep. Thomas Allen (D-Maine) for $188,000 for the Lobster Institute.

This Pork Was Made for Walking Award
to Representative Virgil Goode (R-Va.) for $98,000 to develop a walking tour of Boydton, Virginia.

The Return to Sender Award
to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) for $196,000 for the renovation and transformation of the historic downtown Post Office in Las Vegas.

Obama Diddly

Obama Orders Pay Limits Pay at Banks Getting Aid

Makes good headline but has more holes than a sieve.

Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama called bonus payouts at banks getting rescue funds “shameful” as he and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner announced the government will require financial companies getting aid in the future to cap compensation of top officials at $500,000 a year.

--- Key words - "in the future." Remember folks, tomorrow never comes. Also "pay" is not the issue with these executive fatcats - the bulk of their compensation comes in the form of stocks, perks, bonuses, benefits, etc. The average CEO salary in 2007 was $610,170. Cap pay at $500,000 but top officials will still receive obscene "compensation."

“In order to restore our financial system, we’ve got to restore trust,” the president said at the White House as the administration set out new rules for companies that seek “exceptional” assistance from the Treasury. “And in order to restore trust, we’ve got to make certain that taxpayer funds are not subsidizing excessive compensation packages on Wall Street.”

---- Key word - "excessive." Okey dokey - compensation packages for Wall Street. Who determines what is an "excessive" amount? Gee, I wonder if those boys on Wall Street can give the appearance their packages are from company profit and not taxpayer funds. A little Halliburton style bookkeeping of cost overrun goes a long way. Or heck, start a war and watch real revenues increase.

Obama also urged Congress to finish work on economic stimulus legislation, saying that a failure to act “will turn crisis into a catastrophe and guarantee a longer recession.”

--- Key words - "crisis ... catastrophe ... guarantee recession." Got fear? Extortion 101.

Reacting to public outcry over bonuses paid to bankers getting government bailout money, the administration is imposing conditions that would force greater transparency for expenses such as corporate jets, office renovations, entertainment and holiday parties, and restrict severance pay when executives leave the company.

--- Key words - "greater transparency." Does not mean there will be fewer jets or parties or pay packages, but that the public will continue to clearly see the payoffs ... er, bonuses.

While pay would be limited, there are provisions that would allow additional compensation in the form of restricted stock that can’t be sold until taxpayers have been paid back.

--- Key words - "additional compensation ... until paid back." Cook the books.

Outrage among the public and lawmakers has been building since October, when Congress passed a $700 billion financial-rescue plan for financial firms. Lawmakers complained that the first half of the fund was doled out with little public accounting of how the money was spent. A New York state comptroller report that $18.4 billion in bonuses were paid out to Wall Street executives and employees as the U.S. sank into a recession further inflamed Americans.

--- Key words - "first half of the fund doled out." The best and the brightest had no idea the rescue money would be used for bonuses, winky-wink.

“For top executives to award themselves these kinds of compensation packages in the midst of this economic crisis is not only in bad taste, it’s a bad strategy, and I will not tolerate it as president,” Obama said.

--- Key words - "in the midst of this economic crisis." Bad taste, bad strategy?! How about immoral and evil?

Rules apply to companies that in the future take “exceptional” amounts of bailout money from the Treasury, as Citigroup Inc. and American International Group Inc. have in the past. They don’t apply to companies that have already taken rescue money, although those companies must in the future agree to strict monitoring and oversight.

--- Key words - "future ... exceptional ... don't apply to already taken money." Who determines the amount of "exceptional?" Isn't it convenient that looting laws for the ruling political class never apply to money already taken? Always rules for "the future" but never any vision.

The compensation restrictions announced today are part of a wider White House plan to overhaul rules governing the remaining $350 billion in the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

--- Key word - "overhaul." A doublespeak term pols use; means nothing will change but the "rules" will be overhauled to read as if change has been made. And isn't the program acronym interesting TARP? A tarp is a cover, sometimes used to protect, sometimes to hide something.

On Wall Street, there is concern that compensation curbs would infringe on a company’s ability to attract top-notch employees, and that would lead to a talent drain, Meredith Whitney, an analyst at Oppenheimer & Co., said on Bloomberg Television. “If you cap compensation, the best and the brightest are still going to figure out a way to make money and it may not be on Wall Street, when those minds are needed most,” Whitney said.

--- Keyword - "attract talent." Brain drain, words often used by the best and the brightest in snakeoil sales.

Under the guidelines announced today, top executives at financial institutions would be required to hold stock for several years before they can sell it, thus holding them to long-term objectives, rather than making a quick buck. Rules would require a “say on pay” feature, giving shareholders a voice on compensation, though it would be nonbinding.

--- Key words - "several years ... nonbinding." Three years is considered long-term, and a long time if you are a top executive holding those multi-million quick buck packages. And those new rules would say a shareholder can have a pay say, but your say won't mean diddly binding squat.

Made In a Handbasket

Free trade critics are backing what free trade supporters (including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce) oppose: A federal proposal that would require goods and equipment used in what could be a $1 trillion federal economic stimulus program be “American-made.”

U.S. Sen Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., is sponsoring the “American-made” rule for construction and other equipment that would be used in the economic stimulus program, which funds public works, water, transportation and other construction projects as well as broadband communications deployments and energy research.

Free trade critics such as the U.S Business and Industry Council back the idea, saying it will help American manufacturers and be sent overseas.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce opposes the restriction, worrying it will spark trade retaliation from other countries.

---- As I have always been a proponent of federal contracts using "American made" products, I lean toward support of the above rule - but the likelihood of passing such a rule is nil to none - if a snowball freezes and it does pass, move out of the way of the oncoming political gravy and hog train.

Both progressive and conservative bloggers say the idea is a replay of the 1930s Smoot Hawley Tariff act, the Great Depression era, yadayada, etc. According to these exspurts we have been down this "protectionism" road before, and this made-in-America road rule will lead us to bread lines, double digit unemployment rates, and worldwide misery, as if the world is currently one well-fed, employed and joyful global village?

Yessirree, blogging geniuses are claiming Smoot Hawley created the Great Depression, fostered nationalism worldwide (think nationalism/Hitler). Last week and next week they will tell you the Great Depression was caused by too much credit, or wealth disparity, and/or that only the New Deal saved us - none of it true but never let facts stand in the way of a good-sounding blog post. (These wise guys are usually the first to claim the US needs to return to the gold standard, never mind that the gold standard didn't prevent the Great Depression.)

Made in America rule is not the same as a tariff act - the current debate bans the purchase of foreign construction material for public works projects. Nor does the rule necessarily mean all those made in China items will be gone from the shelves of Wal-mart or beyond your price range because of retaliatory trade practices. Smoot Hawley hiked the tariff on over 800 imports, such as sugar, cattle, shoes, matches, and eggs. Canada retaliated by cutting shipments of bacon and eggs - should they do so again, woe be to us and Mcmuffin?

Spending large sums of the $1 trillion Obama package at home on "goods and equipment" makes sense to me. An oft heard refrain from some folks goes something like this: If Americans made a decent product then Americans would buy made in America.

Swooshing over the heads of such folks is the fact that for average Joe Consumer - most everything he buys, even what he considers the expensive brand name, is still cheap foreign made with cheap labor and cheap materials. Joe is just stupid enough to pay extra for a name label. I remember the era of "you get what you pay for" but have noticed in the last 20 years that is no longer the case. Goods and products that once were dependable for quality are now shoddy. Planned obsolescence.

The drawback to senator Dorgan's rule is the more than likely chance that those corporations in America (many foreign owned) will gouge the taxpayer for the cost of those made in America goods and equipment. Without stringent oversight we will have $600 toilet seats, $800 screwdrivers, and a poor-quality infrastructure that continues to crumble. You do realize, there is no such animal as "stringent oversight."

Meat & Bones

More on the Obama stimulus package: Tax cuts. This will be .... "unlike the $600 per worker lump-sum rebates issued last year, taxpayers would have less withheld from their paychecks." --- Truth is, it is just like the lump-sum Bush rebate, you will just get it in a dribble rather than a lump, approximately $10 per week for Joe Blow's paycheck. The idea is that people would spend more on goods and services immediately, rather than saving the tax cut or using it to reduce credit card debt. It is a "temporary" band-aid. And a headache for accounting offices across the country.

Some folks who are promised a benefit:

Low-income workers, the measure would make the child tax credit more generous by making more people eligible for refunds if they earn too little to pay income tax. The earned income tax credit for the working poor would be made more generous for larger families. --- Rewarding the poor for paying no taxes and having a lot of kids (maintaining the future of the plantation with voters). Many of those who become eligible for refunds will not see refunds as it stays with the State for they are deadbeat dads who owe child support, student loan defaulters, folks who owe the IRS $2000 in back taxes with $20,000 interest and penalties. Predatory payday loan lenders, title leasing, or cash leasing lenders will thank Obama because EIC is all that stands between them and the repo man or the D.A. with a bad check in his hand.

The package would extend unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless through the end of 2009, increase the weekly benefit by $25 and provide unemployment benefits to more part-time workers. --- Part-time is the new full-time, and you have $25 more to hang on by the skin of your teeth, at least until the end of 2009.

Food stamp benefits will go up ... states would get $77 billion in aid for education and $25 billion as a block grant with no strings attached. --- State agencies and their pockets thank you Mr. President. Lenders of student loans thank you. Private school vouchers thank you. And our local high school will thank you b/c now, maybe, they will get funds to remove the asbestos.

Senior citizens receiving Social Security would get a bonus payment of $300 under the Senate version of President Barack Obama's economic recovery plan. Many nursing homes administrators thank you, and my elderly neighbor thanks you because with $300 she can finish paying off her rent-to-own electric stove, and rent-to-own thanks you.

Other programs, such as $1 billion to combat bird flu, are said to likely attract ridicule from Republicans and budget hawks for doing little if anything to create jobs. --- I doubt this program will irk republicans. When Bush did the same thing the democrats called it "a thinly disguised gift for pharmaceutical giants." Democrats will now call it an investment that will lead to medical breakthroughs.

Republicans are pleased with provisions extending tax cuts for the purchase of new plants and equipment and allowing money-losing businesses to claim refunds on taxes paid up to five years ago. --- Ah ha, the meat on the bones. Plants/equipment tax cuts to bring manufacturing to America. But you'll have to explain to me how this will cure unfair trade practices, currency manipulation, and large-scale import dumping in the US market. But, a lot of recent "money-losing businesses" thank you!

These measures are not going to "stimulate" the economy or cure our economic ills or create sustainable living-wage jobs or end a recession. It will increase US debt and guarantee continued poverty for many. And we have yet to factor in the continued cost of 2 wars and Obama's planned "surge" into Afghanistan. (God why does this feel like business as usual.)

In the words of an old Bolshevik, and the apparent meme for the Obama administration, "These are Extraordinary Times" (or the collapse and takedown of the USA).