http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/category_rss/corps_workers For several years now the evidence of the Alberto Gonzales gang's manipulation of the Federal Civil Service within the Department of Justice has been well publicized. The fact that right-wing political ideologues were being approved for career professional positions based on social issue orthodoxy, rather than competence and qualifications, is yet another blight on the scandalous legacy of the current occupant of the White House. Today's report in the Washington Post reveals that this practice of burrowing right-wing political operatives into the Civil Service is also in-place in the scientific agencies. Perhaps this is the mis-administration's strategy for making permanent the Republican obsession for combating the truth of science with their twisted political and social priorities. The Center for Public Integrity is soon to release their "Broken Government" study. The fund-raising teaser release promises 120 specific cases. This kind of investigative effort to hold the Bushies accountable as the mis-administration fades into oblivion is crucial.  Revealing and acting on the depth and breadth of this conspiracy is vital to the success of any reforms and corrects to the offenses of the past eight years. The Obama-Biden Administration will be stretched and tested to uncover and flush-out these right-wing activists who have burrowed their way into the Civil Service like so many termites. The evidence of these infestations must be met with quick action. Executive appointees selected for positions above these people must be prepared to take every possible action within the laws and regulations of the Civil Service structure to either get them dismissed, or make it too hard for them to stay and accomplish their nefarious goals. Attention to the selection of the Administrator of the Office of Personnel Management will be a key to success in this area. Various Executive agency inspectors general must be supported in investigating these political opportunists. IF they are found to be substantially unqualified for the job description that they were hired to fill, then it should be clear grounds for dismissal as an unlawful appointment. The Obama-Biden appointees who are saddled with these burdens must enforce clear, precise and enforceable performance standards. When confronted with qualitative requirements to enforce and perform based upon laws and regulations that these infiltrators are likely to hold ambitions to undermine and avoid, could more easily force them to resign. Even in its demise the minions of the current mis-administration are appearing to be increasingly unwilling to follow the current occupant of the White House and the vice out of Washington. This certainly adds to the challenge and urgency of establishing the new administration's executive leadership. Too many months and too many acting, caretaker, leaders in the executive departments will make it all the harder to untangle the tentacles of the Bush parasites. http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/ralphtrenary/CQDn http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/ralphtrenary/CQDn/commentary#comments Mon, 24 Nov 2008 10:53:14 MST http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/ralphtrenary/CQDn Ralph T http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/profile_picture/22970b0cb82ab5861b_e6yymv1de.jpg Ralph T 2 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CQDn/ Failed U.S. health care is a major contributor to our systemic economic crisis. Indeed, the excesses of Wall St. and the subprime mortgage catastrophe mirror U.S. health care policy  – both are typified by privatized profit (for investors and insurers), and socialized risk (for taxpayers and consumers). Inflated U.S. health care costs – 16% of GDP and rising – are major contributors to an inflationary economy. Redress of this single aspect of an out-of-control U.S. economy would lift all boats. Comprehensive health care reform would improve the economic status of all, relieving health access concerns of families, individuals and businesses, large and small. So-called "legacy costs" alone, comprised largely of retiree health and pension benefits, have contributed significantly to General Motor’s negative cash flow, prompting yet another request for government bailout. In 2005, costs of health care coverage to GM amounted to $5.6 billion for 1.1 million employees, retirees and their dependents. In 2005 BusinessWeek reported that legacy costs added $1,600 to the cost of each GM vehicle. It’s time to confront the crippling economic effects of employment-linked health coverage that reduces competitiveness of businesses in the world marketplace, reduces effective employee take-home pay, and adds to the costs paid by all for goods and services (note above cost added to each U.S. -made car). State and city budgets, too, are depleted by escalating health costs for employees and retirees. Progressives leaders must do a better job of promoting civic discourse while clearly defining issues, like health care reform. Democrats shoud cease parroting right-wing framing and code words intended to distort the issue, e.g., "government health care" or "socialized medicine," as a couple of recent Colorado candidates have done. We need to refute Republican "free-market" advocacy that treats health care as a commodity to be exploited for maximum profit, with top-skimming of over 25% of health care dollars for private insurance shareholder profits, CEO salaries, excessive administrative costs, marketing, lobbying, etc. "Free-market" health care is as perverse an incentive as free-market police and fire protection would be, leaving everyone vulnerable, at the mercy of the marketplace. Barack Obama showed promise broaching issues during the campaign. He made a start at explaining the high cost of privatizing Medicare (13% higher than traditional Medicare), and the failure of Medicare prescription drug reform that prohibits negotiation of bulk drug rates, as the VA does to save money. The 2003 reform was a giveaway to insurance and pharmaceutical lobbies, with billions of dollars of taxpayer subsidies and inflated costs to benefit their bottom lines. Now is the time to make the case for an improved Medicare for All - a public insurance with true free choice of providers and hospitals. By contrast, for-profit insurance choices are narrowly limited to "in-plan" providers, necessitating change of providers with change of insurance. Comprehensive health care reform shoud be part of a broad economic remedy. U.S. health costs are almost double those of all other industrialized nations, and growing; yet we still experience worse overall health outcomes. Increasing numbers of underinsured pay escalating costs for decreasing coverage. Taxpayers currently pay for over 60% of health care costs, including 70% of legislators’ health coverage. By many accounts, that is enough to provide single-risk-pool coverage for all. In fact, single-payer health care is the only model of reform that has demonstrated in over 20 federal and state studies the capacity to save money and provide comprehensive coverage for all. It is time for reform that benefits the worker as well as the CEO. First posted on Huffington Post 11-13-08 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/micheleswenson/CQDV http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/micheleswenson/CQDV/commentary#comments Sun, 23 Nov 2008 22:33:24 MST http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/micheleswenson/CQDV Michele S Michele S 2 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CQDV/ Josh Marshall: No, don't fret, we're not reorganizing as a bank holding company to access TARP funds. And relative to a lot of other companies our finances are holding up well. But we are considering funding our own micro-bailout ... well, maybe nano-bailout, of one small sliver of the financial services industry. What am I talking about? We're considering hiring a business and finance reporter-blogger. As you'd probably figure, we're not looking to gin up a TPM version of Squawk Box or have some slicked-back-haired right-winger ranting about zeroing out the capital gains tax or yelling about how undervalued the financial sector stocks are. And business and finance news wasn't something I'd really imagined TPM getting into. But we're already making plans to shift a lot of our TPMmuckraker.com resources to muckraking the financial collapse, the resultant bailout and all the shenanigans and self-dealing and new lobbying gambits. One of the things I most prize about TPM is that we've been able to stay nimble and light enough to be able to focus our resources on where the story is. And there's no getting around the fact that this is now where the story is. http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQDM http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQDM/commentary#comments Wed, 19 Nov 2008 13:44:05 MST http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQDM Ken Ken 0 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CQDM/ Who knows how  big Hank Paulson's experiment in letting Lehman Brothers fail will cost? Efluxmedia wrote : A legendary US institution, Lehman employs about 25,000 people and reported debts of more than 600 billion dollars as it filed for bankruptcy Monday in a Manhattan court. Apart from its debts, Lehman was valued at about 637 billion dollars in its bankruptcy filing. Its share price plunged 95 per cent.  Lehman Brothers was an international player.  Look what just showed up on last Friday via The GuardianUK's report of Lehman's European operation: Speaking after the first creditors meeting, a team from PriceWaterhouseCoopers said they had identified more than $1tn in assets and liabilities which need to be accounted for. At the meeting, held behind closed doors in a conference hall at the O2 dome, lead administrator Tony Lomas told hundreds of representatives and lawyers who attended that he had recovered about $5bn out of a potential $550bn of obligations owing to creditors. A further $22.3bn of client assets had been identified, all of which will be returned to their owners. That's right a 1,000,000,000,000 dollars.  Perhaps Mr. Buffet was presicent in stating that "derivatives were “financial weapons of mass destruction” Meanwhile the Dow jumps up with the news that CitiGroup will cut 20 percent of it's workforce.  So 53,000 people will lose their jobs from 250,000 CitiGroup employs worldwide.       http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQzN http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQzN/commentary#comments Mon, 17 Nov 2008 10:51:27 MST http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQzN Ken Ken 0 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CQzN/ Bailout Chrysler, GM or Ford?  Read this article that was on the front page of Yahoo.com and see if this is joke. "It's like nature's law: Only the fit survive," said John Berrotto, 50, a security director in New York who drives a Lexus and said he does not support the idea of a bailout. "Sometimes companies just don't make it," he said. Or this: "I'm not sure they (the automakers) can be salvaged. Part of me says that if Honda and Toyota can make better cars in the U.S. with American workers, so be it," said Tom Reiter, who was interviewed in Los Angeles and drives a 2001 Jaguar XJ he said was a "big gas guzzler." The fact is that millions of jobs are at stake and millions of retirees pensions are at stake. http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQz5 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQz5/commentary#comments Mon, 17 Nov 2008 10:27:54 MST http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQz5 Ken Ken 0 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CQz5/ Republican leaders like House Minority leader John Boehner said : "Spending billions of additional federal tax dollars with no promises to reform the root causes crippling automakers’ competitiveness around the world is neither fair to taxpayers nor sound fiscal policy..." Tell that to the hundreds of thousands of workers and million plus retirees Mr. Face of the Republican Party. The hard numbers of GM and Chrysler, from Boston.com: Chrysler employs about 49,000 in the United States and has about 125,000 pensioners. GM has 177,000 US workers and around 500,000 people receiving pensions. The Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor , Mich., estimates that for each auto manufacturing position, there are 7.5 jobs with parts makers and other companies, meaning the industry accounts for millions of jobs. What bankruptcy would mean for the Big Three U.S. automakers can be understood with the Delphi Company bankruptcy to study.  From 2005 MSNBC.com reports : Delphi, a $29 billion industrial giant, has been struggling to make a profit since General Motors spun off its parts subsidiary in 1999. Last year, Delphi lost $4.8 billion; it lost nearly $750 million in the first half of this year... The most immediate impact will be on Delphi’s 185,000 workers. The company wants to cut wages to less than half of current levels and eliminate a "jobs bank" that gives full pay to 4,000 laid-off workers. Delphi's retirees face similar cuts if the company follows the lead of steel companies and airlines that have successfully used the bankruptcy courts to offload their pension obligations to the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, an agency set up in 1974 that is funded by contributions from premiums paid by companies. Once the agency takes over a pension plan, workers receive only part of their benefits....       http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQzS http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQzS/commentary#comments Fri, 14 Nov 2008 10:03:15 MST http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQzS Ken Ken 2 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CQzS/ A quick question: Does Eliot Spitzer have a role to play in Obama's administration? The USA has dropped all charges against Spitzer. Even though he did wrong in his personal life does that preclude him from serving with the new administration, say, when Obama is reelected? Spitzer has invaluable knowledge about the dirty dealings and dealers on Wall Street. http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQzx http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQzx/commentary#comments Mon, 10 Nov 2008 10:17:21 MST http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQzx Ken Ken 4 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CQzx/ The economic "shock and awe" that Mr. Bush and his cohort utilized to gain over a trillion dollars for Wall Street by increasing the national debt has gained what?  Has there been an economic "stablization"?  Or has there been a further destablization of the economy?  What has Paulson and Bernanke done to the economy with regard to actually providing a new set of regulations that will prevent further collapse of this nation's economy? The smartest boys on Wall Street are joining up with their K Street counterparts in order to create an American "free fraud zone" ala Iraq . While we are experiencing economic hardships, due to Mr. Bush's idolation of the "free market", that has wiped trillions of dollars from the ledgers of millions of peoples savings and retirement accounts I wonder if this "bailout" of Wall Street is just us being played for chumps? http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQ89 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQ89/commentary#comments Sat, 08 Nov 2008 09:44:49 MST http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQ89 Ken Ken 0 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CQ89/ OBAMA CITY, JAPAN :  Banners on parade and dancing in the streets with shouts in English "YES WE CAN" KENYA:  Dancing in the streets - 2 days of national holiday declared amid chants of "YES WE CAN" FRANCE:  People pour into the streets of Paris amid dancing and singing there are shouts "YES WE CAN" LONDON, SOUTH AFRICA....ALL OVER THE WORLD: The REVOLUTION has been legitimized, accepted and praised.               WE actually won the 2nd revolution for the United States of America. http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/Jan/CQ88 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/Jan/CQ88/commentary#comments Wed, 05 Nov 2008 08:26:59 MST http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/Jan/CQ88 The Mad Woman http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/profile_picture/fcb34917d9fd3e3809_u806mvulr.jpg The Mad Woman 2 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CQ88/ The McCain Campaign is out answering the internet blogosphere again. A continuation of the policy of smoke and mirrors... "SO, Mr. McCain, what about the Economy?"   "uh, uh, HEY! Look over here...Obama stubbed his toe and he didn't bleed - proves he's a vampire!!! Afterall,we knew he had to be... He runs with alien terrorists from MARS!!!!! The Washington Post has films of the landing and met with their leader..... We are demanding right here and now....RELEASE THE FILM!!!!!" YES McCAIN and his Campaign are LIKE BUSH in one major way... They will SAY anything (LIE); They think WE are STUPID; And when all else fails, blame the Democrats! http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/Jan/CQ8Z http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/Jan/CQ8Z/commentary#comments Thu, 30 Oct 2008 05:15:10 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/Jan/CQ8Z The Mad Woman http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/profile_picture/fcb34917d9fd3e3809_u806mvulr.jpg The Mad Woman 271 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CQ8Z/ It is time to deny the 70 billion USD bonuses with the 700 billion USD bailout package being paid for by us. UKGuardian.com has this : Financial workers at Wall Street's top banks are to receive pay deals worth more than $70bn (£40bn), a substantial proportion of which is expected to be paid in discretionary bonuses, for their work so far this year - despite plunging the global financial system into its worst crisis since the 1929 stock market crash, the Guardian has learned. Staff at six banks including Goldman Sachs and Citigroup are in line to pick up the payouts despite being the beneficiaries of a $700bn bail-out from the US government that has already prompted criticism. The government's cash has been poured in on the condition that excessive executive pay would be curbed. Perhaps we should be doing this as per the Merkel government. Chris Carey notes : The German government has taken a more stringent approach with banks participating in its bailout program. Companies there would have to cap salaries for top executives at 500,000 Euros, or roughly $635,000. The German plan also would prohibit them from receiving bonuses until the debt to the government is repaid.   http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQ8S http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQ8S/commentary#comments Sun, 26 Oct 2008 21:06:15 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CQ8S Ken Ken 1 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CQ8S/ (and what you can do to help)   No one will be shocked that we're witnessing deception in politics. Someone long ago realized if you have an unpopular cause, you call it the opposite of what it is. We've endured that legacy ever since.   A relentless, decades-long attack on worker organizations   Union pay-scale tends to bring up all wages in a given area. If one company pays better, workers may be tempted to leave their non-union jobs to get the higher pay. Business owners know this, and some have united in the cause of destroying unions. They have one overriding goal: higher profits for business owners and investors, accomplished by reducing labor costs.   Critics of the decades-old campaign to drive down wages observe that “while the National Right to Work Committee purports to engage in grass-roots lobbying on behalf of the 'little guy', [it] was formed by a group of southern businessmen with the express purpose of fighting unions... they 'added a few workers for the purpose of public relations.' ... The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation has received millions of dollars in grants from foundations controlled by major U.S. Industrialists...” [from Wikipedia]   In their relentless drive toward lower wages, less safe working conditions, and diminished political power for working people throughout America, they have harnessed the deception model of politicking. But this campaign isn't just deceptive; it is dishonest, opportunistic, and brutally relentless. http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/richardmyers/CQkK http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/richardmyers/CQkK/commentary#comments Tue, 21 Oct 2008 12:31:38 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/richardmyers/CQkK Richard Myers http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/profile_picture/d7a21bd1f5de483e15_fkshmvxwd.jpg Richard Myers 0 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CQkK/ Please do not vote to retain ANY judges or justices in Colorado! Under Chief Justice Mary Mullarkey's leadership, Colorado's Judiciary and legal system has been turned into a protection racket for corrupt judges, justices, and attorneys. Self regulation is laughed at, and the Judicial Performance Commission's recommendation, cannot be trusted. As an example, see www.coloradoopencourt.blogspot.com Despite overwhelming evidence of judicial corruption, the Judicial Performance Commission recommended Judge David R. Lass be retained in 2004. Until there is real accountability within our judiciary, vote every justice and judge out of office. They are domestic terrorists who destroy the foundation of America, i.e., our inalienable rights and Constitution(s). I also petitioned ALL State Legislators to investigate the corruption and to hold the judges and justices accountable. To date, NO Legislator has made any real effort to protect We The People from Colorado's corrupt Judiciary. Therefore, please vote out EVERY incumbent as well. Please spread this message to everyone you know and ask them to do the same. If they (judges, justices and legislators) refuse to hear the truth, let them hear our vote!! Halena Lewis Halen@axint.net Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) Join my group to support accountability within our judiciary at www.progressnowaction.org/page/group/OPENCOURT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/halenalewis/CZCx http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/halenalewis/CZCx/commentary#comments Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:28:37 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/halenalewis/CZCx Halena Lewis Halena Lewis 1 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZCx/ I was just listening to former Virginia Governor Douglas Wilder on a radio show. He made a critical and brilliant observation about John McCain. His evaluation of the Sarah Palin selection rests on that decision as an indicator of how McSame would later decide on the people to fill the other leadership positions in a supposed McSame mis-administration. This is a powerful indictment of a candidate for president of the US when the nation so despirately needs a clear change of direction. The specter of Sarah Palin equivalent appointments throughout the US Executive Branch shows no chance of reforming, and certainly not reversing, the criminal excesses of the past seven years. There will be no resolution to the US Attorney firings, and little hope of removing the fraudulently hired radical right-wingers who have been peppered throughout the Department of Justice to undermine, rather than enforce, the law. This demonstrated decision-making pattern by John McCain is a screaming warning to America. No other fact shines so brightly than the selection of Sarah Palin to confirm that McSame is the incarnation of a third, and perhaps more devastating, term for the G.W. Bush policies. Considering everything you find important, think your retired relatives who will be hurt if McCain succeeds and leads America down the path of more for the wealthiest and less for the rest. Victory in the race for the White House is critical, but top to bottom electoral victories on the ballot is equally important for our communities and state. http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/ralphtrenary/CZB9 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/ralphtrenary/CZB9/commentary#comments Wed, 15 Oct 2008 13:22:03 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/ralphtrenary/CZB9 Ralph T http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/profile_picture/22970b0cb82ab5861b_e6yymv1de.jpg Ralph T 0 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZB9/ When everything goes to hell, you hold the people who were in charge accountable. You fire them! Isn't that what an employer would do to you if you were responsible for oversight of company funds and they were stolen, embezzled, or 'misdirected?' And if you were in charge of getting your company the best energy prices possible, yet the cost of energy during your tenure went up sixty percent, how long do you think you would have your job? And if your employees watched the company downsize, get shipped overseas, and there jobs go along with it, while their real estate prices eroded because there was no longer any employment in town, would you be expecting a banquet in your honor, and a pat on the back saying 'hope things are better next year?' For the first time in many elections the issues are as clear as 'Guns or Butter,' and if you can digest lead, more power to you... but if you don't want to see bread lines, apples and pencils being sold for a nickle on street corners because there's no other jobs in town, get down to the polls. There's a joke out there that more dead people will be voting in this election than ever before, so its up to the live ones to make your vote count. When you're getting your tail out of your home just in front of the repo man, ask yourself how things went in Iraq today, and then thank the men responsible for the headlines at the polls on November 4th, and may God have mercy on us all. http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/richardplambeck/CZBS http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/richardplambeck/CZBS/commentary#comments Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:23:11 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/richardplambeck/CZBS Doc http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/profile_picture/7fb070b28e7075984a_06bmv2oev.jpg Doc 0 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZBS/ Either Disney has gone to a new generation of Animatronics or we now have proof of pod people taking over the country........ Is SARAH PALIN For real? http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/Jan/CZGh http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/Jan/CZGh/commentary#comments Fri, 03 Oct 2008 18:21:26 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/Jan/CZGh The Mad Woman http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/profile_picture/fcb34917d9fd3e3809_u806mvulr.jpg The Mad Woman 1 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZGh/ Just last week, Gov. Bill Owens [Ritter- My mistake as noted by Kevlar Liberal] has imposed a state hiring and new construction freeze.  Raj Chohan, via AP, reports : Saying uncertain economic times require tough measures, Gov. Bill Ritter on Thursday announced a freeze on hiring new state employees and ordered a halt to new construction.... Today Jim Christie, Reuters News, reports : SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has told Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson that the most populous U.S. state may need to turn to the federal government for short-term financing because a $7 billion sale of notes may be foiled by weak credit markets... "The economic fallout from this national credit crisis continues to drain state tax coffers, making it even more difficult to weather the continuation of frozen credit markets for any length of time," Schwarzenegger said, adding he supports a federal emergency financial rescue plan. California State Treasurer Bill Lockyer said on Wednesday the planned note sale was at risk from the uncertainty gripping financial markets and the lack of a response to it by the U.S. government. "Basically no credit is available -- zero today," the treasurer of the biggest U.S. issuer of municipal debt told Reuters in a telephone interview.... Sean Paul Kelly, The Agonist, writes : Look, if the States can't function we're all hosed. And the so-called Congressional bailout does nothing to address these issues. It's not even remotely close to a 'clear resolution.' Even Krugman says as much, "Aid to cash-strapped state and local governments, which are slashing spending at precisely the worst moment, is also a priority."   Paul Krugman sounds the alarm : The financial and economic news since the middle of last month has been really, really bad. And what’s truly scary is that we’re entering a period of severe crisis with weak, confused leadership... How bad is it? Normally sober people are sounding apocalyptic. On Thursday, the bond trader and blogger John Jansen declared that current conditions are “the financial equivalent of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution,” while Joel Prakken of Macroeconomic Advisers says that the economy seems to be on “the edge of the abyss."... I hope that it [The rescue plan right now being debated in the House - Ken] passes, simply because we’re in the middle of a financial panic, and another no vote would make the panic even worse. As Krugman points out that one of the key factors in the current panic is that Sec. Paulson allowed Lehman Brothers to go bankrupt.  Why?  GJMandinka, in the comments section of HuffingtonPost.com article , notes : There has been a long-time rivalry between Lehman and Goldman Sachs. Hank Paulsen was CEO of Goldman Sachs before he took his current job. Big surprise that he decided to "draw the line" at Lehman.... When Krugman pointed to Lehman Brothers as being a "roach motel" the New York Times article he refers to is this Landon Thomas report : ... Two weeks after Lehman spiraled into bankruptcy, hedge funds that did business with the Wall Street bank are still fighting to get their money out of the firm. For some, it has become a life-or-death struggle. Big funds like GLG, Harbinger, Amber Capital and Elliott Associates have varying degrees of exposure to Lehman Brothers. But even a $6.2 million fund run by students at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia has been caught up in the bankruptcy. The fund, like its larger counterparts, used Lehman as a prime broker, and no longer has access to its money.... For a definition of hedge funds go here .   For a total dollar amount of hedge funds go here .  For tax and regulation (or lack of)  information about hedge funds go here .  Another ticking time bomb. Flooding the international market with over 600 billion USD as Fed. Chair Benanke did hasn't helped to loosen credit because financial institutions are hoarding their money now. Taking over AIG, Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac, while engineering the consolidation of U.S. financial institutions through the use of a little known regulation from 1933 by Bernanke has not helped regain trust in the financial community although it has cost another 600 billion+ USD. Now the House is considering a 700 billion USD injection of liquidity that will only be a stop gap short term "finger in the dike" or prayer measure because Paulson and Bernanke have not thought out real solutions to these problems that are facing America and the world. What does this mean...not a religious armageddon but a financial one if trust cannot be restored through governmental intervention in the capitalist financial system.   http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CZG5 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CZG5/commentary#comments Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:22:51 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CZG5 Ken Ken 3 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZG5/ Congresswoman DeGette, I urge you to reject the $700 Billion bailout for Wall Street. I wish you would review, consider, and then support Rep. Peter DeFazio's " No BAILOUTS Act ". William Isaac, the chairman of the FDIC during the previous worst financial crisis in the United States during the 1980s, believes Congress can address the current crisis with simple changes to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules. 1) Require the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to require an economic value standard to measure the capital of financial institutions. 2) Require the Securities and Exchange Commission to restricting naked short sells permanently. 3) Require the Securities and Exchange Commission to restore the up-tick rule permanently. 4) "Net Worth Certificate Program" - The FDIC would determine banks with short-term capital needs and the ability to financially recover in the foreseeable future. For those entities that qualify, the FDIC should purchase net worth certificates in these institutions. In exchange, these institutions issue promissory notes to repay the FDIC, counting the amount "borrowed" as capital on their balance sheets. 5) Increase the FDIC Insurance limit from $100,000 to $250,000. Thank you for your time and attention to this matter. www.defazio.house.gov/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=441 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/nowmds/CZGC http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/nowmds/CZGC/commentary#comments Wed, 01 Oct 2008 13:20:53 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/nowmds/CZGC NoWMDs http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/profile_picture/fb7bdc7167f99eb19d_h7xmv2a1w.gif NoWMDs 0 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZGC/ The failure is for the Democrats to make a stand for taxpayers especially Speaker Pelosi.  As Kos duly notes : Pelosi thinks we're stupid by kos Mon Sep 29, 2008 at 07:34:43 AM PDT Pelosi : We sent a message to Wall Street - the party is over. Sure, the party is over. But we weren't invited to the party, yet we're the ones left cleaning up the mess and paying for the house they burned down. The message? There are no repercussions to your actions. The plebes will bail you out. And somehow, we're supposed to think this is a big victory? Markos ends with: ... And since half the money will be disbursed before the Obama Administration takes over, that's $350 billion that will be distributed to Bush's friends before the year is over, further stressing our nation's finances and hamstringing the Obama Administration... As for "doing something" in this crisis, there's a perception that Bush's plan is the only one. It's not. It's just that none of the others alternatives have been allowed to see the light of day. But for one, how about taxing any number of Wall Street transactions, as well as temporary increasing the tax rate for those at the highest income levels -- you know, those who have most benefited from this "party"? Make this thing revenue neutral, and my opposition melts away. From an email sent by Micheal Moore, he writes: Friends, Let me cut to the chase. The biggest robbery in the history of this country is taking place as you read this. Though no guns are being used, 300 million hostages are being taken. Make no mistake about it: After stealing a half trillion dollars to line the pockets of their war-profiteering backers for the past five years, after lining the pockets of their fellow oilmen to the tune of over a hundred billion dollars in just the last two years, Bush and his cronies -- who must soon vacate the White House -- are looting the U.S. Treasury of every dollar they can grab. They are swiping as much of the silverware as they can on their way out the door. Micheal Moore links to this report by the New York Times business journalists Jenny Anderson, Vikas Bajaj and Leslie Wayne: Even as policy makers worked on details of a $700 billion bailout of the financial industry, Wall Street began looking for ways to profit from it. Financial firms were lobbying to have all manner of troubled investments covered, not just those related to mortgages. What this means is that all of the crap of derivatives, SIV, CDO, CDL, et.al. that is just paper backed by "trust in the system" meaning each financial institution issues said paper based on internal analysis that is not reviewable by outside firms.  The most worthless of the worthless paper debt held by those corporations that now will want the U.S. taxpayer to pay at premium value- So called Level 3 debt .  Because the "trust" component has been broken between financial institutions. Moore has this to say on Dems: P.P.S. From talking to people I know in DC, they say the reason so many Dems are behind this is because Wall Street this weekend put a gun to their heads and said either turn over the $700 billion or the first thing we'll start blowing up are the pension funds and 401(k)s of your middle class constituents. The Dems are scared they may make good on their threat. That is called extortion.  But will AG Mukasey do anything? The healine on Yahoo.com's front page says it all: Bailout winners, losers The financial industry is a big winner in the proposed bailout, but not troubled homeowners. I point out that the passage from AP writer Tom Raum writes : Homeowners faced with foreclosure or those who have lost their homes get little help from the agreement. Nor will it help people whose houses are worth less than what they owe get refinancing or take out equity loans. It would do little to halt the slide in home values that are one of the root causes of the current economic slowdown. "It doesn't deal with the fundamental problems that gave rise to the problem -- or alleviate the credit crisis," said Peter Morici, an economist and business professor at the University of Maryland A band aid in which the taxpayer gives Wall Street hundreds of billions for nothing in return because it is a case of the fox guarding the hen house.               http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CZMd http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CZMd/commentary#comments Mon, 29 Sep 2008 10:35:13 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CZMd Ken Ken 0 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZMd/ Bailout Bill Defies Will of the People   Contact for your member of the House or Representatives. Image cc White House and Congress Suspend Democracy To Help Wall Street Michael Collins (Wash. DC)  The White House and Congressional leaders from both parties announced a tentative bill to bailout failed financial institutions.  The bill is a response to the $700 billion initially request by the White House last week.  The bill allocates $250 billion to start with a total authorized of $700 billion.  The money will cover the losses of distressed Wall Street firms facing bankruptcy due to bad investments, primarily in risky real estate securities known as subprime securities and "derivatives." There were no provisions announced to bailout citizens facing foreclosure or help with their bad investments. http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/mcollins/CZMf http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/mcollins/CZMf/commentary#comments Mon, 29 Sep 2008 02:56:25 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/mcollins/CZMf Michael Collins http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/profile_picture/de387ab49951f25772_vdkmvykob.jpg Michael Collins 1 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZMf/