Happy New Year. It is the end of a decade. What are your memorable moments from the past decade. Here is NPR’s take - (if the embed doesn’t work - follow this link)
What is yours?
What would you add?
Comment away.
It has been suggested that I focus on local politics, local issues. Indeed, I said that I would try.
We’re getting a new library in Mendon. The framing of the building is in progress. It’s not the library I envisioned, but it is certainly adequate for this point in time.
But, as far as having enthusiasm for anything else local, that has kind of dwindled since I lost congressional representation. I used to have someone who actually cared about the things I care about. Now I have a congressman who hunts rabbits with a Bazooka.
Why am I so depressed? (one might ask.)
Well, we’ve talked about the “God Illusion” before. Now, here’s George Carlin to tell you about the “Choice Illusion”
Commenter Andrea thinks the writers at RT should inject more humor into RT. OK, here you go.
Jimmy McMillian is going to challenge Obama.
Jimmy McMillan of “The Rent Is Too Damn High Party” fame is attempting to take his black-gloved act national.
He announced his campaign for the presidency on the libertarian-leaning Revolution Radio yesterday.
The tag line: ”Tell Obama I’m coming after his black ass.”
I think the buzzer just rang on someone’s 15 minutes of fame.
Hat/tip to JM
“In the back of my head, I keep wondering if all of Obama’s perceived failures are due to Republican maneuvering… but after Obama’s response to wikileaks, calling them “high-tech terrorists”, and now the FCC giving up on net neutrality… I’m starting to think he has his own agenda and it doesn’t really involve what his supporters want. There seems to be a huge disconnect between Obama and the people that tried really hard to get him elected. I almost feel like the crazy Tea-Baggers might see a few patterns that progressives and liberals refused to pay attention to. Earlier on Obama made a lot of bad choices and we chalked it up to him compromising… but maybe he just doesn’t plan on doing what he said he would. Now I’m reading that Obama wants to indefinitely hold people at Guanantanmo Bay (source: http://www.facebook.com/l/5e312;www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/21/AR2010122105523.html) Tax cuts for the rich, no real healthcare reform, giving majority of the house to the Republicans… it’s really becoming a disaster. It’s strange to say but I think people should support Julian Assange and him releasing the truth instead of Obama and his agenda. Wikileaks has the power to make the changes most of progressives are asking for. The truth is pretty powerful.. anyway this is way too long a comment, hope I didn’t embarrass myself!
No, my friend, you did not embarrass yourself. I’ve been feeling much the same. I believe that Assange/Wikileaks is our last refuge of independent journalism. I believe that if we loose that along with Net Neutrality, we will become the mindless drones of Matrix fame. Of course, then we’ll be able to focus on the important things like Lady GaGa’s clothes and “The Jersey Shore” and Justin Bieber’s amazing talent.
I don’t get it. Who is being polled, here?
A Magellan Strategies poll in New Hampshire finds President Obama in little danger in the unlikely event he’s challenged in a Democratic presidential primary.
He leads Hillary Clinton by 31 points, 59% to 28%, and tops Howard Dean by 68 points, 78% to 10%.
I still haven’t watched it, but I understand that it is very good:
Well, it wasn’t exactly what we had in mind, but it’s a start:
Environmental groups said Paterson’s executive order set a “national precedent,” praising him for the “timeout” on hydrofracking. But they were critical of Paterson for vetoing what they considered a stronger option — the moratorium.
“Governor Paterson has signaled that he understands fracking is a dangerous process that poses serious health and environmental threats. The moratorium makes New York the first state to insist on protecting the health and safety of its citizens and drinking water, before allowing drilling to proceed. Unfortunately, Governor Paterson issued this order while simultaneously vetoing a stronger bill passed by overwhelming bipartisan majorities in the New York State Senate and Assembly.
“Unlike the moratorium bill, the Executive Order does not protect against the dangers of all fracking wells, but allows so-called vertical wells-exactly the kind of wells that were responsible for ruining nine square miles of aquifer and poisoning the drinking water of more than a dozen families in Dimock, Pennsylvania, along with many other pollution incidents in Pennsylvania-to move forward. This loophole still leaves New Yorkers at risk and gas corporations are already threatening to exploit it.”
According to the text of the legislation, the moratorium would have expired May 15, 2011. So while groups may question the strength of this executive order, the order will last longer.
So, it looks like the governor may have gotten his cake and eaten it, too. Could we hope for more of the same from Cuomo?
There has been a a lot of back and forth with the proposed compromise to borrow more money from China to extend 10 year old tax cuts, and unemployment benefits. Compromise, all we could get, blah blah blah. I really don’t think it is being viewed like this.
10 years ago, Congress and President Bush reduced taxes. These reductions were based on a series of predictions and assumptions that extended out 10 years and there was a catch - the reductions would expire - sunset- in 10 years.
What were those predictions and assumptions? Who cares. Seriously who cares. What wasn’t part of those predictions or assumptions were wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, housing bubbles, wall street folly and the accompanying ballooning of the deficit.
So, President Obama cuts a deal with the GOP to prolong the life of these tax cuts beyond their projected 10 year life in exchange for extending unemployment payments that are about to expire.
How are we doing it? borrowing real money from the metaphorical “China.” We’re increasing our deficit by decreasing revenue and increasing spending and asking “China” to pay for it.
Why are we doing this?
The vote is today. Call your senators:
Kirsten Gillibrand: Tel. (212) 688-6262
Chuck Schumer: Tel (212) 486-4430
This is an issue of national security and civil rights. Make the call.
This extension of the Bush tax cuts is bound to help the middle class…somewhere. Enjoy Hightower’s opinion.
I do.
Oh, yeah. Made a deal with the Republicans to extend tax cuts if they would agree to extend unemployment benefits. What an excellent deal! We are so lucky to have such a forward thinking president!
Even though Democrats will control both houses of Congress until January, Obama insisted the deal was necessary to ensure enough Republican support in Congress to extend unemployment benefits that also are about to expire, and he said a long, bloody battle with the GOP would be detrimental to recession-weary Americans.
“This isn’t an abstract debate. This is real money for real people,” he said. “This package will help strengthen the recovery. That I’m confident about.”
Obama called the news conference in the face of Democratic criticism of the agreement, which still needs House and Senate approval.
It was part of a full-scale defense, with the White House arguing the deal would pump billions into the economy at a time it is recovering from the worst recession in eight decades and unemployment stands at 9.8 percent.
The plan calls for extending tax cuts from the Bush era that are due to expire at year’s end, renewing jobless benefits through the end of 2011 and granting a one-year cut in Social Security taxes. Several officials said the package could add $900 billion or more to the federal deficit over two years.
Obama said he expects the unemployment rate to go down because of the compromise, although he would not predict by how much.
Really? And how, exactly, does that work, Mr. President?
Had an argument today with a colleague about this very issue. It’s the same old tired, “well at least it isn’t John McCain and Barbie.” and “It’s not an easy job” and He’s doing the best he can under difficult circumstances”. (Those last two excuses work for Governor Paterson, but not for President Obama). Somebody tell me, please, how it would have been so much different under a Republican administration. Have we closed Gitmo? Did we lead in Copenhagen? Do we have health care reform that was written by someone other that the health insurance companies themselves? Have we reversed DADT? Have we preserved Social Security for future generations? Have we scaled down the war in the middle east? Have we stopped spying on American citizens in the guise of national security? Has the Obama administration done anything about gun control? And last, but not least, before the off-shore drilling disaster in the gulf of Mexico, who had taken up the banner of “Drill, Baby, drill?”
Tom Degan from a recent Rant had this to say:
The policies of low taxation for the obscenely wealthy that have played so huge a part in our current economic catastrophe will be allowed to continue. The Republicans have made it abundantly clear that they plan to hold the government hostage unless the Bush tax cuts, scheduled to expire on the last day of this month, are allowed to be continued indefinitely. That means “forever”. It also means a loss of four trillion dollars in revenue over the next decade; a lousy deal any way you dice it or slice it. The president of the United States, far from being the Progressive warrior his base was praying for when we sent him to the White House two years ago, appears hellbent on caving into their demands. As Theodore Roosevelt once privately said of President McKinley, “He has all the backbone of a chocolate eclair”.
And Keith Olbermann sums it up quite nicely in his “Tax Cut Special Comment“(Listen to the whole thing when you can):
“It is not disloyalty to the Democratic party to tell a Democratic president he is wrong; it is not disloyalty to tell him he is goddamned wrong…it is not disloyalty to remind the President that he was elected by people to whom he had given a clear outline of what he would do for them, and if he does not steer out of the skid of what he is doing to them, he will not only not be re-elected, he may not even be re-nominated.”
I have nothing more to say.
In Suffolk County’s 1st Congressional District of New York, incumbent Democratic Congressman Tim Bishop has won re-election by a slim several-hundred vote margin. Well over a month after the election, NY-1 was the last House race in the country left outstanding. The NY-1 race was called for Bishop on election night, but because of a technical glitch, the AP accidentally reported 2,000 extra votes for the Democrat. After the incorrect reporting was fixed, the Republican candidate Randy Altschuler led briefly by the thinnest of margins. But after several weeks of counting ballots and court wrangling, Rep. Bishop was in the lead by 263 votes at the close of business last night.
Seeing the writing in the sand, Altschuler has conceded the race. From the Washington Post:
Altschuler’s camp also announced that it is dropping its legal challenges regarding the remaining uncounted absentee ballots. Altschuler’s team had contended that many of the absentee ballots were invalid due to residency issues.
“After consulting with my family and campaign staff, I am ending my campaign and offering congratulations to Congressman Tim Bishop on his victory,” Altschuler said in a statement. “Although Newsday, The New York Times and the Bishop campaign have all called for a hand recount of all the ballots cast on Election Day, I will not support such an action as I feel its cost will place an unnecessary burden on the taxpayers of Suffolk County.”
With this result, the total number of Republican pickups is 6 in New York state and 63 nationwide. What a disaster…