Obama’s huge reward to Wall Street looters
Obama’s Perilous Compromise with Wall Street Looters
By Jeffrey Klein, Huffington Post
Posted on January 5, 2009, Printed on January 5, 2009
Looters have taken over America’s Treasury. The executives who successfully ransacked their own banks, investment funds and insurance companies have set their eyes on Obama’s stimulus. Tragically, the architects of the current economic fiasco have been placed in charge of America’s recovery.
President Obama has made an enormous mistake. Instead of cracking down on serial looters and complicit regulators, he wants to guarantee the financial sector’s obligations, which are several times larger than America’s economy. This is a Ponzi scheme far beyond Bernie Madoff’s imagination. Simply put: The government is breaking the rules of capitalism to reward the most reckless capitalists.
Is it unfair to criticize President Obama before he and his experienced team have a chance to enact new laws and regulations? For guidance on this question, let’s turn to the father of capitalism, Adam Smith. Here’s how Smith concludes Wealth of Nations, Book I:
“The proposal of any new law or regulation of commerce which comes from this order [the capitalists], ought always to be listened to with great precaution, and ought never to be adopted till after having been long and carefully examined, not only with the most scrupulous, but most suspicious attention. It comes from an order of men, whose interest is never exactly the same with that of the public, who have generally an interest to deceive and even to oppress the public, and who accordingly have, upon many occasions, both deceived and oppressed it.”
It’s NOT the rockets that pushed Israel into Gaza: Richard Falk
Understanding the Gaza Catastrophe
By Richard Falk
United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories
January 2, 2009
For eighteen months the entire 1.5 million people of Gaza experienced a punishing blockade imposed by Israel, and a variety of traumatizing challenges to the normalcy of daily life. A flicker of hope emerged some six months ago when an Egyptian arranged truce produced an effective ceasefire that cut Israeli casualties to zero despite the cross-border periodic firing of homemade rockets that fell harmlessly on nearby Israeli territory, and undoubtedly caused anxiety in the border town of Sderot.
During the ceasefire the Hamas leadership in Gaza repeatedly offered to extend the truce, even proposing a ten-year period and claimed a receptivity to a political solution based on acceptance of Israel’s 1967 borders. Israel ignored these diplomatic initiatives, and failed to carry out its side of the ceasefire agreement that involved some easing of the blockade that had been restricting the entry to Gaza of food, medicine, and fuel to a trickle.
Israel also refused exit permits to students with foreign fellowship awards and to Gazan journalists and respected NGO representatives. At the same time, it made it increasingly difficult for journalists to enter, and I was myself expelled from Israel a couple of weeks ago when I tried to enter to carry out my UN job of monitoring respect for human rights in occupied Palestine, that is, in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as well as Gaza. Clearly, prior to the current crisis, Israel used its authority to prevent credible observers from giving accurate and truthful accounts of the dire humanitarian situation that had been already documented as producing severe declines in the physical condition and mental health of the Gazan population, especially noting malnutrition among children and the absence of treatment facilities for those suffering from a variety of diseases. The Israeli attacks were directed against a society already in grave condition after a blockade maintained during the prior 18 months.
Franken’s lead “insurmountable”
With Recount Complete And More Ballots Counted, Franken’s Lead Appears To Be Insurmountable
By Eric Kleefeld - January 3, 2009, 6:54PM
Today’s events in Minnesota make it appear that a Norm Coleman victory is now pretty much impossible — and it just so happens to have occurred on the day his Senate term officially expired. A nice extra touch.
Election officials today counted through about 950 absentee ballots that both campaigns agreed had been wrongly rejected, completing the recount unless there is any new court intervention. The result: Al Franken’s paper-thin lead of 49 votes has now jumped to 225 votes — way beyond what most people crunching the numbers expected, based on the geographic spread of the newly-counted ballots.
With these new figures, it’s worth examining just how slim the odds would be of Coleman finding some way to win this thing, should he follow through on his campaign’s vow to challenge the result in court.
First, there’s Coleman’s claim that 25 selected precincts double-counted a bunch of absentee votes for Franken, netting Franken about 110 votes. During the recount, the state Supreme Court ruled that Coleman could only raise this issue after the recount concluded and an apparent winner was determined. But if courts agree with him on that and took those votes away from Franken, Coleman would still lose. Then there’s the canvassing board’s decision to restore to Franken a net total of 46 votes that went missing from a single precinct during the recount. Coleman’s campaign has indicated that they plan to contest that decision, but winning on it would still have him behind.
On Burris, Franken and the law
From Michael Collins:
No wonder things don’t work. The entire Senate seems unaware of the Constitution and
precedents on seating U.S. Senators.
Amazing, but true. HAPPY NEW YEAR! Michael Collins
Franken, Burris and the US Senate: Try Following the Rules
A government gains legitimacy through the ascent to shared rules and laws by the vast majority of citizens. No government can retain legitimacy, however, when the legislature fails to enforce and live by the very laws that they are sworn to protect.
Democrats and Republicans are now unified along party lines in their defiance of the laws. Is this the new national unity we’ve been hearing about?
Yet this is exactly what is happening in the cases of the legally appointed Senator from Illinois, Roland Burris, and the soon to be certified winner of the Minnesota senatorial election, Al Franken. SNIP
Franken followed every single rule. He did what many candidates fail to do. He fought for the right of Minnesota voters to have their ballots counted and the right of all citizens of that state to have a Senator elected by a majority of the voters. Norm Coleman, the initial winner, chided Franken for taking the option of a mandatory recount. Franken didn’t back down or complain. He simply followed the rules and will very likely be certified as winner and therefore U.S. Senator from Minnesota.
Article link: http://www.apj.us/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2121&Itemid=2
BuzzFlash.Net - Buzz it (registraiton required, but worth it)
Peace
ABC refuses ad for clean energy
Sam W. has just read and signed the petition: ABC Refused to Air Clean Energy Ad - Speak Out!
You can view this petition at: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/tell-a-friend/2709685
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Will the GOP fight Franken’s win?
And another, even more important question: Will Al Franken now change his tune vis-a-vis election fraud? (Something tells me that he won’t–even though there’s solid evidence that the Repubs tried, in various ways, to steal it from him.)
MCM
Franken leads as Minn. recount nears finish line
By BRIAN BAKST - 3 hours ago
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Victory in Minnesota’s drawn-out Senate race moved within Democrat Al Franken’s grasp Saturday when he increased his lead over Republican Norm Coleman as the statewide recount drew to a close.
The state Canvassing Board will reconvene Monday to declare which candidate received the most overall votes in the election. Barring court intervention, it will be Franken.
Franken’s lead now stands at 225 votes after gaining 176 votes more than Coleman in Saturday’s review of the formerly sealed absentee ballots. Franken started the day with a 49-vote advantage.
SPECIAL PROSECUTOR QUESTION IS NOW #1 ON THE OBAMA SITE
SPECIAL PROSECUTOR QUESTION NUMBER ONE NOW ON THE OBAMA SITE
Thanks to your valiant participation, the question we told you about,
asking about a special prosecutor for the gravest crimes of the
Bush/Cheney administration is now NUMBER ONE on the official Obama
site. And as of last check they are still open for voting. So if
you have not voted already, the easiest way to find the question is
1. Sign in at
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http://change.gov%2Fopenforquestions
and remember you have to set up a login for yourself at that site to
vote
2. Click on \”Additional Issues\” under \”Pick a Topic\” on the left
3. The special prosecutor question started by \”Bob Fertik\” should
be the one leading the top of that section (and now leading all
questions over all topics with 16,000 votes).
4. Look right for the checkbox, mouseover it so it goes from white
to dark, then click to cast your vote
Please cast your vote as soon as possible, as the voting may close at
any time. They may not work straight through holiday weekends, but
we DO,
What this means is that Obama will now have to ANSWER this question
on his official site, just as if he had accepted this question at a
real press conference. And we\’re going to keep the heat on in every
other possible way, just stay tuned.
THEN GET YOUR NEW CONVICT DICK & W CAP TO DEMONSTRATE WITH
As we in the White House accountability movement look forward,
whether it\’s impeachment, federal prosecution, or state by state
prosecutions as a last resort, the key work is \”convict\”. And that
is why we are introducing a new cap to wear to continue to carry the
ball with that says \”CONVICT DICK & W\” in red, white and blue. If
you want to be one of the first to get one of these new caps please
submit the page below.
New Convict Dick & W Cap:
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http://www.usalone.com%2Fconvict_cap.php
We are not setting a price for these. You can have one for a
contribution of any amount. We just want to put as many out there as
possible. And we will have much more news for you soon about planned
actions to pressure prosecutors at all levels to step up to the plate
and do their duty.
We are in this thing for the long haul, folks. The criminal
dictators of the future can only be constrained by pursuing
prosecution NOW of the criminal dictators of the present and past.
In some cases it has taken many years of work by dedicated activists
to bring criminal former heads of state to justice.
We the people will never forget the crimes of the Bush/Cheney
administration. How can we? Their willful disasters will cripple
our economy, our military, every aspect of our government and our own
personal lives for many years to come. But if we just continue to
speak out, someday soon enough there WILL be prosecutors at some
level who will have the integrity, backbone and determination to do
what Congress to their eternal shame did not.
Please take action NOW, so we can win all victories that are supposed
to be ours, and forward this alert as widely as possible.
If you would like to get alerts like these, you can do so at
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http://www.usalone.com%2Fin.htm
The US role in Hamas’s rise to power
So, as with Osama bin Laden and his “heroic” Mujehaddin–hailed as “freedom fighters” back when the US armed and funded them against the Soviets–and just as with so many other of America’s official enemies (like Manuel Noriega and Saddam Hussein), Hamas was initially empowered by US foreign policy (and Israel’s).
This detailed piece by Stephen Zunes is essential reading.
MCM
America’s Hidden Role in Hamas’s Rise to Power
By Stephen Zunes,
AlterNet
January 3, 2009
No one in the mainstream media or government is willing
to acknowledge America’s sordid role interfering in
Palestinian politics.
The United States bears much of the blame for the
ongoing bloodshed in the Gaza Strip and nearby parts of
Israel. Indeed, were it not for misguided Israeli and
American policies, Hamas would not be in control of the
territory in the first place.
Israel initially encouraged the rise of the Palestinian
Islamist movement as a counter to the Palestine
Liberation Organization, the secular coalition composed
of Fatah and various leftist and other nationalist
movements. Beginning in the early 1980s, with generous
funding from the U.S.-backed family dictatorship in
Saudi Arabia, the antecedents of Hamas began to emerge
through the establishment of schools, health care
clinics, social service organizations and other
entities that stressed an ultraconservative
interpretation of Islam, which up to that point had not
been very common among the Palestinian population. The
hope was that if people spent more time praying in
mosques, they would be less prone to enlist in left-
wing nationalist movements challenging the Israeli
occupation.
Jeb’s chances–and Mike Connell
Subject: Re “Jeb Bush for President”, reality and doubt
Posted Sun, 01/04/2009 - 10:28 by luaptifer
Dear George H. W. Bush (affectionately, ‘41′),
Regarding
FOXNews - Sunday, January 04, 2009: The first President Bush said he would like to see his other son, Jeb, become president one day, but if now’s not the time he’d be an “outstanding senator.”
…During an interview on “FOX News Sunday,” the nation’s 41st president said Jeb, the former governor of Florida, is “as qualified and as able as anyone I know in the political scene” to be president.
Absolutely, 41, absolutely! But first I hope you can be patient enough to help America address a couple of niggling doubts.
“Walk the walk on climate change,” NASA scientist tells Obama
NASA’s James Hansen is a hero, having fearlessly defied the Bush regime by speaking
out on global warming. Now Hansen has sent President-elect Obama an important open
letter, telling him that current policies on climate change have failed, and must be changed
at once, and radically.
Here’s hoping that Obama pays attention, as he seems in need of just such urgent guidance.
According to the Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/03/washington/03enviro.html),
Obama’s cabinet is divided on this issue, with Carol Browner, his coordinator of energy
and climate policy, calling for dramatic action, while Larry Summers, leader of Obama’s
economic team, urging a go-slow approach. “While Mr. Summers’s thinking on climate
change has evolved over the last decade,” John M. Broder reports, ” his views on the
potential risks to the economy of an aggressive effort to limit carbon emissions have not.”
It’s hard to find the words to capture the insanity of that position, which sounds an awful
lot like what we’ve heard from Bush & Co. these last eight years. In any case, here’s
hoping that, on this all-important issue, Pres. Obama listens not to Larry Summers and
his gnomes but to Prof. Hansen, whose expertise is pertinent, and vital to us all.
MCM
Climate change policies failing, NASA scientist warns Obama
Award-winning researcher James Hansen says new president’s rhetoric must be backed by action
James Randerson, science correspondent
www.guardian.co.uk, Thursday 1 January 2009 15.23 GMT
Prof James Hansen sent an open letter to Barack Obama’s science adviser.
Current approaches to deal with climate change are ineffectual, one of the world’s top climate scientists said today in a personal new year appeal to Barack Obama and his wife Michelle on the urgent need to tackle global warming.
With less than three weeks to go until Obama’s inauguration, Prof James Hansen, head of Nasa’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, asked the recently appointed White House science adviser Prof John Holdren to pass the missive directly to the president-elect.
Obama spoke repeatedly during his campaign about the need to tackle climate change, and environmentalists fervently hope he will live up to his promises to pursue green policies.
