FOCUS ON THE GOOD
Is JOHN McCAIN showing his age? (unretouched photo) Interesting tidbit: In every U.S. presidential election, the taller candidate has always won — except in the case of George Bush and John Kerry... but in that case, Bush didn't win, AL GORE did.
THE CORRUPTION OF A CAREER POLITICIAN
Independents beware: McCain, when he thought it would help him politically, tried desperately to jump ship and leave the Republican party when he ran against George Bush for the nomination in 2000. He would have done anything to become a Democrat. Then when Republicans gained favor by hook and by crook, McCain began to curry favor with the most bizarre cast of characters, from Falwell to Hagee to the devil himself. He even switched his stance on torture, embracing it — because he knew it would win him the nomination. Remember, this is a man who had an affair while married to his first wife — only when he saw the opportunity to snare a woman of great wealth who could put him back into power in Arizona. Then, in the Keating scandal, McCain proved his corruption. Make no mistake about it: McCain is only looking out for McCain.
Take care of your mother
And remember to be kind,
when the pain of another will serve to remind..
That there are those who feel themselves exiled,
On whom the fortunes never smiled,
And upon whose life the heartache has been piled…
Jackson Browne, "The Only Child"
Obama’s luster may seem to have worn off temporarily, but the truth is often in the spaces — in the time between.
IT'S ALL GOOD
We may not be talking to the leaders of Middle Eastern Countries, but at least we’re talking to each other ABOUT talking to the leaders of other countries. We’re having a national psychology session for the whole world to sit in on. The media repeats every flaw, foible — and embarrassingly racist, misogynistic, nationalistic, patriarchical, fear-based, greedy thought we have. And we let the whole world listen in on our national pathology. And at least we’re thinking out loud and letting every racist fear be known. It’s like free therapy for all Americans.
In any event, it’s all good. Communicating about how racist we are and how bad the media is, can’t be bad.
But does America seem narcissistic? Our arrogance makes us assume we are the most important country on the planet. Do we hear everything going on in France? Does France and the rest of the world listen in on all this bickering between the parties — and all these sex scandals?
Last week in Santa Monica with my wonderful mom and sister. Stop watching the news. Stop listening to the pundits tell us we are defeating ourselves. There is no reason to fear or believe McCain can ever win the upcoming presidential election. He is proving to be a clone of Bush and Cheney — and more about his character is being revealed. In June, the entire matter of the Democratic candidate will be decided and the nominee will have plenty of time to make the case for truth, hope and goodwill in front of the People. In the presence of truth, anything unlike truth, has to come up for healing. The process involves purging the old and brining in the new.
SPRING is a rebirth — and with spring, comes new life. My son and I were hiking at my mom's house yesterday, and a rabbit with a white tail hopped across our path. It must have been the Easter bunny. Bel Air Pres had a beautiful service at the Hollywood Bowl. On Saturday we went to a reenactment of the Resurrection at Vasquez Rocks — a spectacular natural park where they once filmed Star Trek. The rock formations are out of this world.
_________________________________________________________
SNOOP GATE: SECURITY BREACH ON OBAMA'S INFO
SHOCKING! On three separate occasions, three separate State Department contractors illegally accessed Obama's private records -- including his Social Security number, his travel itineraries, passport number and passport history. The breach was leaked to the Washington Times, a highly partisan Moonie-owned, Bush-backing newspaper. The Inspector General did not seem to know about this until today (!!) Who's idea was it to keep it secret, and why was there no investigation? And when exactly were the first two employees fired? It appears that now that these employees have been fired, they are under no obligation to answer any questions. Astounding.
Looking at Obama's File Gets Two Fired
By Glenn Kessler Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, March 21, 2008
The State Department said last night that it had fired two contract employees and disciplined a third for accessing Sen. Barack Obama's passport file.
Obama's presidential campaign immediately called for a "complete investigation."
State Department spokesman Tom Casey said the employees had individually looked into Obama's passport file on Jan. 9, Feb. 21 and March 14. To access such a file, the employees must first acknowledge a pledge to keep the information private.
The employees were each caught because of a computer-monitoring system that is triggered when the passport accounts of a "high-profile person" are accessed, he said. The system was put in place after the State Department was embroiled in a scandal involving the access of the passport records of then-presidential candidate Bill Clinton in 1992.
"The State Department has strict policies and controls on access to passport records by government and contract employees," Casey said.
The department uses contract employees to help with data entry, customer service and other administration tasks. The employee involved in the March 14 incident has only been disciplined so far, because the probe of that incident is continuing, an official said.
Though the workers were caught by a computer system that focuses on high-profile people, Casey said that a computer report is generated on every access to passport records and that spot checks are taken to ensure that employees are not violating the Privacy Act.
"This is an outrageous breach of security and privacy, even from an administration that has shown little regard for either over the last eight years," Obama spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement. "This is a serious matter that merits a complete investigation, and we demand to know who looked at Senator Obama's passport file, for what purpose, and why it took so long for them to reveal this security breach."
___________________________
If you missed our amazing interview with NBC Bureau Chief and award-winning foreign correspondent Martin Fletcher yesterday, you can listen in the archives to one of the best interviews we've ever done.
Award Winning Foreign Correspondent Guests on Basham & Cornell Radio Show...
Martin Fletcher is one of the most respected foreign correspondents in television news. He has covered almost every conflict and natural disaster in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East for thirty-five years, winning five Emmys, a Columbia University Dupont Award, several Overseas Press Club awards, and a cameraman’s award from Britain’s Royal Society of television. Fletcher and his wife, Hagar, have raised three sons. He is currently based in Israel, where he is NBC News bureau chief in Tel Aviv.
If you live in Vegas you can tune in Live or go to our website and listen in the audio archives.
The Basham and Cornell Show broadcasts weekday mornings at 8 am Pacific (11 a.m. Eastern) on KLAV 1230 AM Radio live in Las Vegas. All shows are simulcast on the Internet (and archived) and can be listened to at Basham and Cornell Progressive Talk If you've missed our show, check out the audio archives. We have interviewed John & Elizabeth Edwards, Pat Buchanan, Dennis & Elizabeth Kucinich, John Dean, Valerie Plame, Christine Pelosi, Dahr Jamail, Senator Mike Gravel; Pulitzer Prize winner Charlie Savage, Congressman Charlie Rangel, Senator Byron Dorgan; bestselling authors Greg Palast, Paul Krugman, Greg Anrig, Mikey Weinstein, Paul Krugman; Media Matters’ Eric Boehlert and Paul Waldman are regular guests. Upcoming: Senator Tom Daschle, Senator Lincoln Chaffee, Naomi Klein, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. If you missed any of these shows, check out the archives on our website: Basham and Cornell Progressive Talk
Labels: Easter, McCain dementia, McCain insane, Obama, Passport scandal, snoop gate
posted by Lydia Cornell at
7:16 PM
206 Comments:
You know, the same thing happened to Brittany too.
By
BARTLEBEE, at 8:48 PM
Anyone else been hearing good things about this movie "Stop Loss"?
I've been hearing its the movie to see.
By
BARTLEBEE, at 8:49 PM
This is quite strange. If they can do this too Barack, it means they can do it to any of us without a second thought!
By
Octavian, at 9:15 PM
Octavian said...
This is quite strange. If they can do this too Barack, it means they can do it to any of us without a second thought!"
EXACTLY.........I sincerely hope this gets us to look harder at our Constitutional freedoms, liberties and privacy's that have been destroyed by the Bush fascists in their obsesion with transforming America into a police state.
By
Mike, at 9:50 PM
thanks for posting on this- unreal....and a Presidential leading Candidate with Secret Service Protection should not be having his International Pass Port files rooted through.....and on three very very sensitive dates...after three very tough Primary Rounds....Someone was Looking for a Reason...and Someone Covered It Up....
( I am blogging the hell out of it...it has Watergate written ALL over it...I see Nothing Innocent about it...."imprudent curiousity"????)
BTW Some Good News: Richardson is endorsing Obama today....Finally ;-)
Hope all are well here.....take care....
( okay off to listen to the Fletcher Interview- what an interesting guy...saw him on Colbert too..he is an excellent interview....)
By
enigma4ever, at 2:30 AM
Webb: McCain Refuses to Co-Sponser GI Bill for Post 9/11 Vets
By Ali Frick,
On his first day in office in January 2007, Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) introduced the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2007, intended to be “a mirror image of the WW II G.I. Bill.” A new version with broad bipartisan support was introduced in February to help fund education for service members who had served in active duty since Sept. 11, 2001. Veterans would receive education benefits equaling the highest tuition rate of the most expensive in-state public college or university and a monthly stipend for housing.
The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America hailed Webb’s bill, calling educational benefits “the military's single most effective recruitment tool” and emphasizing that “an expanded GI Bill will play a crucial role in ensuring that our military remains the strongest and most advanced in the world.”
Today, The Hill reports that Webb is still waiting for an important co-sponsor who could help push other Republicans to approve the bill: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ):
"McCain needs to get on the bill," Webb told reporters after a Christian Science Monitor breakfast meeting on Wednesday. He said legislation mirroring the post-World War II GI bill should not be considered a "political issue." […]
Webb's bill has 51 co-sponsors, including nine Republicans. Webb, a former secretary of the Navy, said he may have to get 60 co-sponsors to ensure Senate passage, but then added that many more Republicans could vote for the bill if McCain endorsed it.
McCain prides himself on being “a tireless advocate of our military.” Yet this is hardly the first time that Webb has taken McCain to task when it comes to veterans’ advocacy. In September, McCain refused to support Webb’s bill to ensure service members get adequate time at home between deployments. McCain castigated the effort, declaring he “hoped” Congress would reject the bill because it “would create chaos.”
McCain boasts on his website that he “fought to extend the availability of G.I. bill education benefits for Vietnam veterans.” Yet he has been notably silent on extending those same benefits to today’s veterans. Perhaps, like the Pentagon, he is resisting the bill “out of fear that too many will use it.”
McCain has repeatedly voted to funnel billions of dollars to fund the war in Iraq, whose costs along with the war in Afghanistan, according to some experts, have already totaled more than $3 trillion. By contrast, the cost of the new G.I. bill is projected to be about $2.5 billion a year — roughly the cost of U.S. operations in Iraq for one week.
Another Republican war-monger who really despises the troops.
By
Larry, at 4:01 AM
Update on Passportgate:
Stanley Associates, Of Arkansas one of the Contractors, just had their Current Contract renewed for 570 MILLON dollars$$$$$, on March 18th - last week.....the last Breach was March 14th, and that Employee was merely "reprimanded for imprudent curiousity"
( I looked up the Stanley group- as of 7am- it was proudly put on their website)
By
enigma4ever, at 5:10 AM
It sounds like no candidate was spared. Interesting stuff. Makes you wonder who was looking for what.
On an unrelated note, is there any chance I could talk one of you who blog here into joining the Blogswarm Against Theocracy? Believer and skeptic alike are at risk in a theocracy/ This is an issue of the utmost importance as to the future direction of our country.
By
Jolly Roger, at 10:55 AM
After 8 years of uncle Cletus and the Corndog Crusaders this country is about as far from becoming a Theocracy as is France.
An "Idocracy" perhaps, but not a Theocracy.
Unless something happens to change the current course, we're on our way to being enlightened again.
By
BARTLEBEE, at 11:13 AM
On March 21, 1965, more than 3,000 civil rights demonstrators led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. began their march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala.
If they tried it today, they would wake up in Gitmo.
By
clif, at 12:37 PM
Don't get me wrong JollyRoger. I'm well aware we were well on our way to becoming a Theocracy. In fact, in many ways, we had become one back in 2003 when the so called spiritual warriors sent their armies into the middle east to cleanse the Holy Land and plunder their resources. We simply labeled them "the bad guys" and walla.
The entire Christian right, and much of the Christian left cheered on the little war just as Sam Clemens predicted over a century ago. So we definatley had many of the products of a theocracy, not to mention the mindset.
But I think that times past. The country is "hungry" for more than change. The country is hungry for reason and level headed democracy, just like the Europeans have.
One thing this mess has done for us is educate much of middle America as to whats "really" out there, in the other countries folks like Bush and Cheney are always mocking.
Clem and Corrine Cadiddlehopper in Bumfuk Indiana just found out that folks from Quebec to Tuscany can just walk into a clinic and get an operation without paying a cent, and they're pissed, cause they just took out a second mortgage on the double-wide to pay for Clems hip replacement, when they could have just driven to Ontario to visit their 3rd cousins and gotten it done for free. So like millions of other middle America families, they're done voting republican for a while.
Especially with Clem Junior coming of draft age next summer.
I'm not saying we're out of the woods yet, but I think we're coming up to a clearing.
I'll put it this way. I live in Inbreedia, and all I see are Obama signs on any yards. I haven't seen one McCain sign or bumper sticker ANYWHERE.
:|
Thats pretty good for Inbreedia.
By
BARTLEBEE, at 2:25 PM
To be a patriot, one had to say, and keep on saying, our country, right or wrong, and urge on the little war.
Mark Twain, 1906
By
BARTLEBEE, at 2:30 PM
THIS can't be good;
Dollars tough to sell:
The U.S. dollar's value is dropping so fast against the euro that small currency outlets in Amsterdam are turning away tourists seeking to sell their dollars for local money while on vacation in the Netherlands.
I wonder when China is gonna do this?
By
clif, at 2:38 PM
Wanna see just how much Bush LIES about Iran?
This is from Juan Coles blog;
Just to give you an idea of how wrong Bush is, here is what Ahmadinejad actually said in a recent interview in the Spanish newspaper, El Pais:
' Throughout its history, Iran has always been a peaceful country. We have not attacked anybody. Everything we are doing is aimed at defending the country. We think that the age of nuclear weapons is over. If they were useful, the United States would not have the troubles it currently has and the Soviet Union would not have disappeared. The Zionists have atomic bombs, but they are failing against HAMAS. We not only think that the age of nuclear weapons is over, but we are also not interested in building them, because we consider that they are against human rights and dignity. Our security doctrine is a defensive doctrine. '
Who looks more intelligent, the person who sees Nuclear weapons can't solve a countries problems, and wants something different or the liar who can't understand that basic truth?
By
clif, at 2:46 PM
I prefer to ignore the financial news for now, and instead focus on weathering the storm.
The economy will improve in direct proportion to the closer we get to the elections.
By
BARTLEBEE, at 2:50 PM
Bartlebee some are not so sure the economy "will improve";
Lehman sees risk of double-dip U.S. recession
Investors already coming to grips with the prospect of a looming U.S. recession face the even bleaker notion of a "double-dip" economic downturn, U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers said on Thursday.
The persistent slump in housing will continue to drag on consumers and growth while tight credit conditions, a weakening job market and record energy costs are also taking a toll on the economy, according to economists at the bank.
Double-dip recession last hit the United States in the early 1980s and sent Japan's economy reeling for much of the 1990s.
Lehman economists predicted the U.S. economy will contract 0.5 percent in the first quarter and 1.0 percent in the second quarter, followed by a rebound in the second half. "We expect a feeble recovery in 2009, with the economy threatening to fall back into recession," Lehman economists Michelle Meyer and Ethan Harris wrote in a research report.
World trade decelerates almost to a standstill
Global trade slowed almost to a standstill over the new year, threatening to shrink for the first time since the US economy went into recession in 2001.
An indicator produced by the Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis, a Dutch research institute, showed that in the three months to January world trade in goods rose at annualised rate of 0.2 per cent over the previous three months.
The equivalent growth rate in the three months to October was 6.9 per cent.
"This is a substantial deceleration," the institute said. "World trade volume growth is on a downward trend." Trade figures tend to be volatile but even on a longer-term smoothed basis, comparing the three-month average with the same period a year earlier, the growth in goods trade is at its lowest since 2003.
The data appear to provide further evidence that global economic activity is slowing, as growth in emerging markets has failed to compensate for weaker demand in the US.
The last time annual growth in trade went negative was in 2001, when the shallow US recession that followed the bursting of the technology bubble and the shock of the September 11 attacks caused global commerce to contract.
US economist calls financial crisis worst since 1930s
The current financial crisis is the worst the world has seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s and the US Federal Reserve move to cut interest rates will not make much difference, the Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz said on Wednesday.
"It will have some impact - it will do a little bit to stem the blood - but it's not addressing the fundamental problems underlying the collapse of the financial sector," Joseph said.
Stiglitz, who won the Nobel Prize in economics in 2001, is a former chief of the World Bank and chaired former US president Bill Clinton's council of economic advisers. He is in New Zealand on a lecture tour.
He said the Federal Reserve's move to cut its funds rate by three-quarters of a percentage point was "just trying to ease the economy down rather than try to address the underlying problems."
Stiglitz said the main problem was the fact that an estimated 2 million Americans were going to lose their homes because they could not repay mortgages which exceed the value of their property as house prices fell dramatically.
"As people walk away from their mortgages there will be more and more defaults - that undermines the whole financial system," he said.
Stiglitz said the Bush administration was bailing out banks, but accused it of refusing to do anything to help poor people stay in their homes which would stabilise the housing market.
"It's very easy to do something about it," he said, suggesting the administration could give assistance to write down mortgages to about 90 per cent of the value of a house which would enable people to stay in their properties.
I don't see the economy doing as well as you do.
By
clif, at 2:59 PM
I didn't say I see it doing well. I said I think it will rebound on the arrival of a Democratic President.
As we get closer to the elections, confidence will improve for investors as the real likelyhood of a democratic president becomes obvious. Just like the Stock Markets climbed on the word that Bill Clinton had been re-elected in 1996, so too will they climb as we get nearer to bringing in someone "smart" who will actually do something to help us recover from 8 years of republican bungling.
By
BARTLEBEE, at 4:07 PM
One things for sure. All that doom and gloom isn't helping.
Everytime an investor reads another doom and gloom prediction, his spinchter tightens that much more.
By
BARTLEBEE, at 4:11 PM
"can't you dig how beautiful it is here.. can't you say something righteous, and hopeful for a change?"
Oddball
Kelly's Heroes
By
BARTLEBEE, at 4:12 PM
woof woof
thats my other dog impersonation.
By
BARTLEBEE, at 4:54 PM
I wouldn't un-cork the champagne just yet. Obama calling the white grandmother that raised him a racist didn't help much.
As much as it pains me to say, McCains numbers are up compared to both dems.
By
Voltron, at 6:50 PM
Oh and clif?
Nice to see you believe everything Ahmadinejad says.
"Who looks more intelligent, the person who sees Nuclear weapons can't solve a countries problems, and wants something different or the liar who can't understand that basic truth?"
I REALLY hope that comment doesn't come back to bite you...
By
Voltron, at 6:54 PM
lol, and then of course theres the last few holdouts of Narnia, like Voltron, who think they're going to elect the Cryptkeeper king, and plunder the middle east for another 8 years.
Fortunately the 8 year brainfart that was the Bush presidency has pretty much woken up most of the country, even much of those otherwise prone to voting for local officals named Buford.
The vain babblings of the Volksturm and their trivial minutia won't turn back this tidal wave. Obama is a cool head in a cesspool of muckrackers like Voltron and his fiends at Fox news, and the cool head will prevail.
McCain will be lucky to stay out of a nursing home.
By
BARTLEBEE, at 9:15 PM
The country's ready for a sane person again.
By
BARTLEBEE, at 9:16 PM
The liars like Voltron will try and convince people to be small minded, like themselves, and paint the truth as something racist by quoting it out of context, and focusing on one only 2 or 3 words out of context from an entire speech, and playing them over and over.
Obama speaks the truth, and its like holy water on a vampire to the neocons.
By
BARTLEBEE, at 9:25 PM
Finally someone in a high place just laid it all out, put the political correctness bullshit away and spoke to us like adults.
But the kiddies can't handle it.
By
BARTLEBEE, at 9:27 PM
Obama is a deeply Christian man. In fact, he is one of the few political leaders who behaves as a real Christian, and practices the principles Christ taught.
The hardest thing for me sometimes is to forgive Bush, Cheney and the others for their crimes, but I have to. It's wrong to get so upset to the point I am boiling over.
This is from an article by a writer who had to learn to forgive his enemies too:
"Our prayer uncovered many things that needed healing. The first was the necessity of loving everyone, even if I didn’t agree with their views. I realized I had been holding some deep-seated anger about certain politicians.
I didn’t realize that my opinions had gradually snowballed from mild criticism into a mountain of animosity. I found I had to dig deep into my understanding of God’s love and saving power to forgive those in authority, as well as myself.
I thought a lot about a Bible passage: “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; even for kings, and for all that are in authority.” I realized that these politicians are my brothers. We are all created by God and are all His children.
I knew that I would never allow myself ever to feel such hatred toward any of my own siblings, and that if I really wanted to demonstrate Christianity, even in the slightest degree, I needed to love everyone equally, including all who are “in authority.”
By
LydiaCornell, at 9:38 PM
What I love about Obama is that he truly "hated the sin but loved the sinner."
I wish we would all reach out to prisoners and stop judging them. Many prisoners are there on drug charges and should be in rehabilitation, not prison.
Did you hear about the man whose 10-year old daughter is dying, and they won't let him out to be at her bedside as she begged to see him before she dies?
He is in prison on drug charges.
We are far from a Christian nation as the religious right proclaims we're supposed to be.
Pray for the prisoners and for this man and send an email to Senator Tim Johnson, whose district this is in. He finally healed from his brain hemorrhage and this little girl has a brain hemmorhage too.
By
LydiaCornell, at 9:43 PM
Voltron said...
I wouldn't un-cork the champagne just yet. Obama calling the white grandmother that raised him a racist didn't help much."
You know i'm sick and tired of the retarded lying fools screeching blah blah blah HE CALLED HIS GRANDMOTHER A RASCIST.......blah blah blah HE HATES HIS COUNTRY........blah blah blah HE ISNT A PATRIOT because he doesnt wear a stupid lapel pin...........blah blah blah he's playing the rascist card.......blah blah blah he wont really end the war you cant trust.........blah blah blah HE HATES HIS COUNTRY.
WERENT these same assholes claiming ONLY they are moral and love their country and are patriots the same treasonous assholes who have been deasd wrong about EVERYTHING for the last 7 years.
I find it amazing that these clowns CLAIMING sole posession of patriotism, morality, loving their country and supporting the troops are the same ones sending the troops to die without proper equipment and denying them pay raises and adaquate healthcare when they return, supporting treasonous wars and violations of the Constitution and molesting children when they should be protectin them.
THESE ARE THE LAST PEOPLE ON EARTH that should be saying what patriotism is or........or using demogogery to smear their opponents as hating their country or not supporting the troops.
By
Mike, at 10:07 PM
BARTLEBEE said...
Finally someone in a high place just laid it all out, put the political correctness bullshit away and spoke to us like adults.
But the kiddies can't handle it."
David Gergen said that last night and you are both right..........the MSM is out to destroy Obama but good men like Gergen, Roland Richardson etc..........are stepping up to defend him..........they read Anderson Cooper the riot act last night and stood up for Obama they said the MSM good stand up and do their job and take the high road and the Demacratic party can hold Clinton accountable for going negative and running a smear campaign or let her destroy the party.
By
Mike, at 10:12 PM
LydiaCornell said...
Jolly Roger, I'll check out that blog on theocracy. Do you still feel the religious right is as powerful as it once was? I think they are seeing the light, but with McCain ASKING for Hagee's endorsement, maybe that will all change.
Bartlebee - I love that Mark Twain quote.
Clif - it's important to keep our eyes on the good that is happening, no matter how miniscule. It's a law: our thoughts create our reality. Whatever we focus on is what actually becomes bigger. Collectively we must focus on improving the economy with the new green industries which will create fortunes and goodwill in the world. And we must keep our eyes on the prize.
Volt: EVIL does not win in the end. There are no two bigger liars than Bush and McCain. Bush LIED and twisted the truth out of whole cloth today and the past 7 years. IRAN NEVER SAID IT WANTED TO USE NUCLEAR WEAPONS ON ANY NATION...
And by the way, PETTY TYRANT Ahmadinejad NEVER SAID HE WANTED TO WIPE ISRAEL OFF THE MAP. THIS HAD BEEN MISQUOTED. HE WANTED THE ZIONIST REGIME, THE CURRENT LEADERS TO VANISH. OBVIOUSLY IT'S THE SAME AS BUSH SAYING HE WANTED SADAAM HUSSEIN TO BE KILLED, NOT THE IRAQI PEOPLE.
AHMADINEJAD HAS JEWISH PEOPLE IN HIS VERY OWN CABINET.
IT IS DESPICABLE THAT YOU AND THESE WAR CRIMINALS BUSH AND CHENEY PERSIST IN LYING TO THE WORLD IN ORDER TO FOMENT WAR.
We showed the exact quote on our show, with the expert's analysis, and he never said what you think he said. This was the lie heard round the world.
Nothing could be more dangerous for American than another falsely trumped up war.
Cheney and Bush should be in prison for life."
Great post, the Repugs and the MSM and Cllintons are resorting to any slimy tactic they can think of to slime and smear obama and scare the American people but at the end i think Obama will be the last person standing and he will dismantle the Owellian media sorcery machines and put us on the right track.
By
Mike, at 10:16 PM
LydiaCornell said...
What I love about Obama is that he truly "hated the sin but loved the sinner."
I wish we would all reach out to prisoners and stop judging them. Many prisoners are there on drug charges and should be in rehabilitation, not prison.
Did you hear about the man whose 10-year old daughter is dying, and they won't let him out to be at her bedside as she begged to see him before she dies?
He is in prison on drug charges.
We are far from a Christian nation as the religious right proclaims we're supposed to be.
Pray for the prisoners and for this man and send an email to Senator Tim Johnson, whose district this is in. He finally healed from his brain hemorrhage and this little girl has a brain hemmorhage too."
What I love about Obama is that he REALLY does want to unite us as a people and end all the divisiveness...........one of the first things i said on this blog is i was turned off to religion at an early age because of all of the divisiveness it causes same for all the rabid phony patriotism and nationalism the Reich Wing preaches.......nothing turns me off more than their saying that anyone who criticizes something the USA does wrong hates their country or those that dont support the war arent patriotic and dont support the troops.
i'm sick and tired of the gender and racial divisions where woman automatically support someone just because they are a woman or African Americans support someone just because they are an African American, Christians are blindly loyal to Christians, jews are blindly loyal to jews.
Obama's speech was amazing we are ALL human beings..........gender, race, religion, nationality arent even factored into the equation when i think about a candidate i want the best person for the job those other factors are all issues to divide us and bias us and prejudice our thinking/.
By
Mike, at 10:26 PM
LydiaCornell said...
The hardest thing for me sometimes is to forgive Bush, Cheney and the others for their crimes, but I have to. It's wrong to get so upset to the point I am boiling over.
You can't forgive someone until they acknowledge and turn from their errors.
To do so prematurely is to help perpetuate their sin, and thus condemn them to remaining in it.
By
BARTLEBEE, at 10:31 PM
I see nothing contrary to the teachings of Christ in "boiling over" at the transgressions of a couple of bloodsucking warmongering inhuman butchers.
By
BARTLEBEE, at 10:33 PM
BARTLEBEE said...
LydiaCornell said...
The hardest thing for me sometimes is to forgive Bush, Cheney and the others for their crimes, but I have to. It's wrong to get so upset to the point I am boiling over.
You can't forgive someone until they acknowledge and turn from their errors.
To do so prematurely is to help perpetuate their sin, and thus condemn them to remaining in it."
I have to asgree with Bart on this.......they have to STOP sinning first and ackknowledge it second.
to do so prematurely like he says does condone and perpetuate it.
By
Mike, at 10:34 PM
Obama's speech was great because he talked to us like adults.
He just said it like it is, and trusted that we are capable of comprehending reality.
Its the silly children like Voltron who giggle and try to paint it into something other than what it was.
By
BARTLEBEE, at 10:35 PM
LydiaCornell said...
What I love about Obama is that he truly "hated the sin but loved the sinner."
I wish we would all reach out to prisoners and stop judging them. Many prisoners are there on drug charges and should be in rehabilitation, not prison.
Did you hear about the man whose 10-year old daughter is dying, and they won't let him out to be at her bedside as she begged to see him before she dies?
He is in prison on drug charges.
We are far from a Christian nation as the religious right proclaims we're supposed to be.
Pray for the prisoners and for this man and send an email to Senator Tim Johnson, whose district this is in. He finally healed from his brain hemorrhage and this little girl has a brain hemmorhage too."
There is a big difference praying for and forgiving the oppressed and doing so for the powerful and evil men STILL murdering and oppressing in our name.
By
Mike, at 10:37 PM
Obama showed he's a reasonable and honest individual capable of facing difficult and contraversial issues like race, and dealing with them in a refreshing and mature manner.
And thats got the little kiddies worried.
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BARTLEBEE, at 10:38 PM
Mike said,
I have to asgree with Bart on this.......they have to STOP sinning first and ackknowledge it second.
Not to be picky but first they need to acknowledge it. Just look at the twelve steps. You have to "admit" you've got a problem before you can begin addressing it.
If you don't think you have a problem then you can't correct it.
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BARTLEBEE, at 10:42 PM
Look I dont know if you guys watch CNN or not, until last night i thought Anderson Cooper was ok.........wasnt a huge fan but didnt dislike him either..........i lost all respect for him last night he is noting more that a Reich Wing shill out to destroy Obama..........he was paroting all the Reich Wing talking points that he hates his country isnt patriotic, is cloaking himself in the flag to appear patriotic is playing the race card............he was Trying to twist obama's every word playing that soundbite over and over saying his campaign is over or is imploding and asking leading "so how many times did you beat your wife" type questions.
I've never seen a more biased hack that wasnt on Fox News......it was a disgrace and i'm just glad the panel called him and the rest of the MSM on it.
By
Mike, at 10:43 PM
Bush just said this week that he believes invading Iraq was the right thing to do and it will "always have been the right decision".
He can't repent of that decision if he can't acknowledge it was wrong.
By
BARTLEBEE, at 10:43 PM
I don't watch much news these days Mike.
Too depressing.
I'm just working hard and waiting for November.
By
BARTLEBEE, at 10:45 PM
BARTLEBEE said...
Mike said,
I have to asgree with Bart on this.......they have to STOP sinning first and ackknowledge it second.
Not to be picky but first they need to acknowledge it. Just look at the twelve steps. You have to "admit" you've got a problem before you can begin addressing it.
If you don't think you have a problem then you can't correct it."
Ok point taken............i was thinking more if they were removed from power and tried at the Hague rather than stopping on their own............I realize neither scenario is likely but a guy can dream right?
By
Mike, at 10:47 PM
Lydia.....
I read what you said about Forgiving Bush/Cheney....and it has been rolling around in my head....Here is the thing...I don't think you have to....or even have to think of Forgiveness...Here is why......
At this point Bush and Cheney have to face Justice for what they have done...and that Justice will determine the level of their crimes against Humanity and their Punishment....They are power hungry, war mongers, and hate mongerers...They feel that they are empowered and entitled to the Pain and Agony they have wrought upon millions....There is NO Conscience there...No Remorse.....
It will be Up to Other Entities to decide their Fates and the Penalties and their Punishments.....
If later when they have faced their Fates, and have come forward to express remorse or ask Forgiveness.....then you can decide if you will or wish to forgive them....
But here is the thing...if they have NO remorse and are not asking for Forgiveness....you don't have to Forgive them.....They will have to at some point face a Higher Power for what they have done....
We all will spend years trying to Heal this mess...and letting the World know we are Sorry, and showing them Our Remorse and that we are a Just and Kind and Humane Country....there are many that view this country AS BUSHCO...that is where will need to put our focus to heal this world....and we are the ones to do that....
With Healing...and Justice and refound Humanity and Empathy....perhaps the World can see us in a different light and also maybe it can set a path for Peace....
*********************
( Both Bush and Cheney have been purchasing land in Places they can not be extradited....this is not an accident...they will have to Face War Crimes Charges...and Crimes Against Humanity.....it is coming..)
*********************
About the little girl wanting to see her dad...we as a Country do have an Empathy Deficit and Compassion Defecit...Hopefully as we end this warmongering Police State Phase of our History we can find our way back to empowering entities that rule with Compassion....Compassion needs to start at the Top....raining down on all of us....spreading from person to person...
I am so tired of the LockUp Mentality we are seeing daily....I think many are tired of this...Our Culture is due for a Complete Conscience Overhaul...Prisons are not the Solution...and the Mindset they have created in abundance...
thanks for letting me say all that ..hope it made sense.....
By
enigma4ever, at 10:51 PM
I've been watching a couple hours of CNN.......but I think i might be finished watching AC.
By
Mike, at 10:51 PM
Great post Enigma.......it echoes my feelings completely.
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Mike, at 10:53 PM
Yea that made sense Engima.
And I knew you knew that Mike.
When a parent has a misbehaving child, they don't encourage the bad behavior by being nice and happy.
They get mad, and discipline the kid. Thats the only way the kid has of knowing whats acceptable in society and whats not.
Forgiving Bush and Cheney of their crimes against humanity while they're still comitting them, is not only wrong, it can't be done.
You can't forgive them for crimes of this scale. Who are any of us to presume the power to forgive someone for slaughtering a million people in their homes? Who?
We don't have such power. Thats going to be up to the million people he's ordered killed, and the million more waiting in the wings.
By
BARTLEBEE, at 10:58 PM
By the way the last part of my post was directed to Lydia.
By
BARTLEBEE, at 10:59 PM
If folks want to feel compassion for anyone these days, how about starting with the people who's country we've blasted back into the stone age?
Theres a million Iraqi's dead, and 20 Million mourning them, while they wallow in the mire that we've created of their home.
Jesus.
How can any of us escape damnation?
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BARTLEBEE, at 11:02 PM
Bush has slipped into the "Bunker mentality", and he's slowly losing it. From what I can tell he's "hopped up" on something, most likely anti depressants and stimulants. The nervous fidgeting he displays now, the dishoveled appearance, loss of weight, all dead giveaways.
They did the same thing to Hitler towards the end too. Doped him up to keep him going, like a little propaganda making energizer bunny.
Bush can't even believe what he's saying now. He's just saying it, because he doesn't know the difference.
By
BARTLEBEE, at 11:13 PM
McCain Spiritual Guide Accused Gov't Of Enabling 'Black Genocide'
This past week, Sen. Barack Obama's former pastor Jeremiah Wright has come under heavy fire in part over comments that suggested the U.S. government had introduced AIDS into black communities.
But it turns out he's not the only religious confidant to a presidential candidate who thinks the state has targeted black populations with death and disease.
Reverend Rod Parsley of the World Harvest Church of Columbus, Ohio -- whom Sen. John McCain hails as a spiritual adviser -- has suggested on several occasions that the U.S. government was complicit in facilitating black genocide.
In speeches that have gone largely unnoticed, Parsley (who is white) compares Planned Parenthood, the reproductive care and family planning group, to the Klu Klux Klan and Nazis, and describes the American government as enablers of murder for supporting the organization.
"If I were call for the sterilization or the elimination of an entire segment of society, I'd be labeled a racists or a murderer, or at very best a Nazi," says Parsley. "That every single year, millions of our tax dollars are funding a national organization built upon that very goal -- their target: African Americans. That's right, the death toll: nearly fifteen hundred African Americans a day. The shocking truth of black genocide."
He goes on.
"Right now our own government is allowing organizations like Planned Parenthood to legally take the innocent lives of precious baby girls and baby boys and even footing the bill for it all with our tax dollars, turning every single one of us into accessories to murder," he says. "You know who their biggest fans must be, that must be the Klu Klux Klan, because the woman who founded this organization detested black people.... African Americans were number one on Margaret Sanger's list. So this 'Lady MacDeath,' as I like to call her, studied the works of Englishman Thomas Robert Malthus, and embraced his plan of eugenics."
Unlike Wright's statements, Parsley's are more accepted in conservative circles, in which a strict anti-abortion sentiment is not only tolerated, but applauded. Moreover, as a white pastor expressing anger on behalf of black populations, Parsley's testimony may come off as more sympathetic and less conspiratorial than Wright's.
However, there are issues with Parsley's stats. While black populations in America do have higher abortion rates than white populations, there are far more abortions among white mothers than among blacks. Meanwhile, Sanger, who founded the American Birth Control League (which eventually became Planned Parenthood), was an advocate of both birth control and eugenics. And while she did not publicly denounce Nazi Germany's eugenics program, privately she expressed deep concern.
This is the second time that controversial remarks by Parsley have surfaced on the campaign trail. Last week, David Corn of Mother Jones reported that the televangelist "called upon Christians to wage a 'war' against the 'false religion' of Islam with the aim of destroying it."
The relationship between Parsley and McCain is, to be sure, far less personal -- and more political -- than that of Obama and Wright. In late February, McCain attended a rally in Cincinnati, in which the Arizona Republican was praised as a "strong, true, consistent conservative."
The endorsement, Corn writes:
... was important for McCain, who at the time was trying to put an end to the lingering challenge from former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, a favorite among Christian evangelicals. A politically influential figure in Ohio, Parsley could also play a key role in McCain's effort to win this bellwether state in the general election. McCain, with Parsley by his side at the Cincinnati rally, called the evangelical minister a "spiritual guide.'
Another prime example of a deranged old warmongering moralists living for the next mass grave of tomorrow.
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Larry, at 3:34 AM
Mayhem At Fox News: Anchor Walks Off Set, Wallace Rails Network For "Obama-Bashing"
Fox News' very own anchors are speaking out — and walking off — over what they perceive to be "Obama-bashing" on their network.
This morning on "Fox and Friends," Brian Kilmeade walked off the set after a dispute with his co-hosts Gretchen Carlson (she who celebrates deadly floods) and Steve Doocy over Obama's comment that his grandmother is a "typical white person." Kilmeade argued that the remark needed to be taken in context and eventually got so fed up with his co-hosts that he walked off set.
Later, "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace came on the show and railed against "Fox and Friends" for what he called "Obama-bashing."
Are we supposed to believe these two racist freeloaders have suddenly got a conscious?
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Larry, at 3:39 AM
Bartlbee and Mike, and Lydia ( Clif, Jolly and Larry too)
What I meant was I would not be shocked at All, if the World or UN or Some World Entity decided to Hold Bushco accountable, responsible, or have them tried for War Crimes.....and I don't think that we have the ability to undo what Bushco did....but they would have to face Justice...and we have so many relationships to repair around the world...but we also have much work to be done at home...and even as a country it is time for us to work together and try to take care of all of us.....
we all know that we are facing OUR 1930's....our Depression....that means we must pull together...and take care of each other....Our Country is fragile after 8 years of Hell, and tattered and shredded....there are too many hurting and disenfranchised, and we are the ONEs that we have been waiting for...there is no one else...Our Future is in our hands....
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enigma4ever, at 3:41 AM
Are Evangelical Voters Abandoning the Republican Establishment?
By Kate Sheppard,
Rev. Joel Hunter might not seem like an obvious progressive. He's the pastor of Northland Church, a 12,000-member evangelical congregation just north of Orlando, Fla. He's staunchly pro-life and was an outspoken supporter of Mike Huckabee's bid for the presidency. But Hunter has emerged as a leader among the growing bloc of evangelicals who are concerned not just about abortion and homosexuality, but also global warming, healthcare and poverty -- issues traditionally associated with progressives. And these "new conservatives," as Hunter calls them, aren't necessarily going to be faithful to the Republican Party they've called home for so many years.
There has been evidence of this divide among evangelicals in the primaries this year. While it's difficult to pin down exact figures, as exit pollsters don't ask Democrats if they identify as evangelical, surveys have found that Republicans no longer have a monopoly on these voters. A new survey released last month by the Barna Group, the country's leading evangelical polling group, found that 40 percent of all "born again" adults who plan to vote in November said they would choose a Democratic candidate, while just 29 percent said they would vote for a Republican. Faith in Politics also commissioned its own exit polls in Tennessee and Missouri on Super Tuesday, which found that one in three white evangelicals there participated in the Democratic primary. Huckabee's long run of success in the primaries evidenced this split, as he was the only Republican candidate talking extensively about issues like poverty and the environment.
Over the past few years, Hunter has blazed a trail for these "new conservatives." He serves as the spokesperson for the Evangelical Climate Initiative and is part of a coalition of more than 20 major religious groups calling for government action on climate change. In 2006 he served as the president-elect of the Christian Coalition of America, the hard-right political advocacy organization founded by Pat Robertson, but stepped down from the post following disagreements with the coalition's board of directors over expanding their agenda to include issues like poverty and the environment -- which Hunter says should also be considered "pro-life" concerns.
He's released two books on this growing schism. His 2006 book Right Wing, Wrong Bird is a guidebook for evangelical Christians who feel like the Religious Right's narrow focus ignores these other concerns. His new book, A New Kind of Conservative, released in January, calls for a conservatism not solely concerned with morality, small government and lower taxes, but a larger range of issues traditionally associated with progressives. These new conservatives, Hunter believes, must force change in the Republican establishment -- or abandon it.
While in Florida, I caught up with Hunter at his church to talk about his support for Huckabee's campaign, expanding the evangelical agenda, and whether this new movement creates inroads for progressives with a group that has long been seen as out of reach.
Kate Sheppard: A lot of these the issues that you talk about and that Mike Huckabee was talking about in the primary, issues like climate change and poverty, haven't been discussed by any Republican candidates in recent years.
Joel Hunter: It is something that's new, but it's something that's very needed. Unless Republicans take up these issues that are important to everybody, they're really going to lose the elections. People really do care about everybody having their basic needs met. I'm not talking about a socialist society here. I'm just talking about basic policies that would help people who are really trying. I think that the general population of America is not interested in trying to run the rest of the world by force or trying to buy the rest of the world by a superior economy.
KS: Do you worry that this divides the conservative coalition that has been created over the past decades?
JH: I see it as a great benefit that it divides the coalition. I want for the coalition to broaden. [There is] a certain section of the coalition that says we're going to keep focused on the issues that got us to the dance, so we want small government, we want less taxes, we want strong military. But I think that there's a growing number of conservatives that say, "No, we want a government that is effective in helping people out. It's not the answer, but it's not the enemy either. Yes, we'd love to have lower taxes, but we'd love even more for the government and private industry and the faith communities to be able to cooperate to help people in need with support systems that really make a difference. Whether or not taxes are lowered is not the real question. The question is how well are we assisting people who really have needs.
KS: What are your hopes of electing a Republican that cares about issues like the environment, since that's been a big one for you?
JH: I'm not sure I'll vote for a Republican that doesn't care about the environment. For me, to stay consistently pro-life is to care for the vulnerable outside the womb as well as the inside. I know that our record on abortions in this country is horrible, but I know that lives will be lost due to climate change. As we face the floods and droughts brought about by climate change, we will face starvation because of the lack of ability to make produce out of the land. We will face wars because of the scarcity of resources. We will face disease because of the mosquito-borne illnesses. The literally millions of lives that will be lost because of climate change is also a pro-life issue.
KS: The environment is an issue that has separated you from other conservatives, but do you think that the conservative movement is coming around on this topic?
JH: I know it is. Part of it is that the accumulating evidence more and more marginalizes those voices that say, "Well, science is still divided." Science is not divided on this. The other reason that this is changing is because people of [the younger] generation are just coming out of the woodwork on this. And they don't care about evangelical, not evangelical, left, right, Republican, Democrat. They care about solving problems. And they know this is a problem to be solved. So there is this huge tsunami of the younger generation that says, "Quit debating this thing. Let's do something about it."
KS: Do you see any possibility of the people you're talking about voting for a Democrat if there isn't much of a change within the Republican Party?
JH: I do. [Abortion and gay marriage] will always be core issues for us, but I think that many evangelicals and many Republicans are now looking for a broader agenda, and they're looking at pro-life not just as whether we can get Roe v. Wade overturned. That's a rather limited approach to stopping abortion, because the decisions would come right back to the states, many of whom would still be pro-choice. It's just not a good strategy, and I think as people become more sophisticated politically, they understand that in order to be pro-life when it comes to abortion, you have to affect the heart. Many of the Democratic candidates say they want to lessen abortion. I think that this broader agenda will make Republicans have to work harder for a broader constituency base, and I think if they don't do that, many evangelicals will vote for a Democrat.
KS: It seems it's mostly the big religious and conservative organizations that are pushing the idea that marriage and abortion are your only two issues. Do you see those institutions changing?
JH: I see it changing not because they're changing, but because people are sick of hearing it. People are so tired of this caustic condemnation. The reason that it's been effective up until now is because the easiest way to raise money is through fear and hatred. And it's worked. But I think people are writing that off now. I think that generally there's a shift from those very accusatory voices to the visionary voices. I don't think there's any surprise that Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee have gotten the kind of political traction they have, because their voices have been positive. Nobody can tell what the future will bring, but it's a sign that people are ready for something else.
Poor John Hagee, Rod Parsley, Pat Robertson and Little Falwell. Your flock is leaving as your continued hatred shines through.
By
Larry, at 3:50 AM
Inflation Hits the Poor Hardest
No Income Group Is Untouched, but Staples Are Rising Fastest
By Neil Irwin and Alejandro Lazo
Inflation is walloping Americans with low and moderate incomes as the prices of staples have soared far faster than those of luxuries.
The goods and services Americans consumed in February were 4 percent more expensive than they were a year earlier. But there is a big divide in how much prices are climbing between the basic items people need to live and get to work, and those on which they can easily cut back when times are tight.
An analysis of government data by The Washington Post found that prices have risen 9.2 percent since 2006 for the groceries, gasoline, health care and other basics that a middle-income American family has little choice but to consume. That would cost such a family, which made $45,000 on average in 2006, an extra $972 per year, assuming it did not buy less of such items because of higher prices. For a broad range of goods on which it is easier to scrimp -- such as restaurant meals, alcoholic beverages, new cars, furniture, and clothing -- prices have risen 2.4 percent.
Wages for typical workers, meanwhile, have been rising slowly. In that same time span, average earnings for a non-managerial worker rose about 5 percent. This contradiction -- high inflation for staples, low inflation for luxuries and in wages -- helps explain why American workers felt squeezed even before the recent economic distress began.
"It just doesn't seem like anything is cheap these days," said Faith Tyler, 41, a personal trainer from Baltimore who has reacted to the higher prices for necessities by cutting back on luxuries. "I don't eat out very much, no vacations, nothing extravagant unless it's on sale."
Inflation is not occurring because labor markets are tight or because the U.S. economy has been overstimulated; if that were the case, wages would be driving inflation up, leaving ordinary households in decent shape and doing more damage to those who lent money at fixed interest rates.
Instead, this inflation is driven by global commodity markets. China, India and other developing countries' thirst for oil has been growing faster than producers can quench it, sending the price of oil up about 60 percent since 2006. Prices for oil and other commodities fell yesterday though they remain very expensive by any historical standard.
Expensive crude oil has translated into higher costs to heat a house or drive to work. The average middle-income household must spend $378 more per year on gasoline than it did in 2006 if it consumes the same amount, and an extra $38 on fuel oil.
The rapid growth of developing nations, combined with the increasing use of land to produce ethanol, has led demand for food to outstrip supply. That middle-income family is spending $253 more each year on groceries than it did two years ago, assuming it did not change its buying patterns.
The price for dairy products has risen 15 percent since 2006; fruits and vegetables are up 10 percent. Even routine cereals and bakery products are up 8 percent. Tyler, the personal trainer, complained that soy milk is more expensive: "Why is it going up from $3.49 to $4.10 for a gallon? It comes from a bean, not a cow."
A deeply rooted set of problems in the system has caused health-care costs to rise faster than those of most goods, costing that middle-income family $204 more compared with 2006.
"This is what's at the core of the middle-class squeeze," said Jared Bernstein, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank. "The idea that you can understand the kind of budget constraints that middle-class families face by looking at overall inflation is wrong. You have to look at the core items a middle-class family buys."
The rise in the basic cost of living means that inflation disproportionately affects those with modest incomes. For example, in 2006, the top 20 percent of households by income spent about twice as much on staples as households in the lower-middle bracket. But the top-earning families had almost six times as much income.
In the Washington area, this has been hardest on families with modest to low incomes whose members have to drive long distances to work. However, incomes here are much higher than the national average, so more families are in the top 20 percent of earners nationwide -- those with more than $89,000 in income in 2006 -- and are better able to handle the higher prices.
The pinch of inflation from energy, food and health care is a significant factor in softening consumer spending, which in turn is the reason economic growth is slowing sharply this year. It is not the only reason consumers are pulling back, however. Lower home prices, less credit availability and dropping stock market values are other likely factors.
Those different sources of weakness are affecting different groups of consumers. Poor and middle-income people are suffering the worst from inflation, middle- to upper-middle-income families are bearing the brunt of the softer real estate market, and the affluent are pinched the most by problems in financial markets.
"There's really no segment of consumers that are escaping the slowdown right now," said Scott Hoyt, director of consumer economics at Moody's Economy.com.
The fact that inflation is being driven by commodities has made it tricky for the Federal Reserve as it tries to prevent the downturn from becoming a deep recession. The Fed's interest-rate cuts, for example, have contributed to a decline in the value of the dollar, which is one reason for higher prices. The central bank forecasts that prices for fuel and food will level off this year, but that could prove wrong. But in the Fed's view, there is not much it could have done to prevent the run-up in prices for working-class Americans over the past year, given the international origins of the inflation.
For now, the inflation in staples is forcing people to adjust.
"Everything is going up," said Ren¿ Chavez, 72, of Wheaton, speaking Spanish and sitting in the food court at the Wheaton Mall. "I have a car but now I take the bus, even if it is cold . . . my money now has less value," he said. "I go into a store with $6 and, imagine it, it isn't worth anything."
"Everything has gone up, eggs, milk, everything is very high, and we don't have a remedy," he said. "We have to eat."
By
Larry, at 3:53 AM
Larry:
Did you see the tapes of it ( Huffpost and C&L have it)...it was pretty amazing..I guess 2 people there have Consciences....that is Something....the First Tape with Brian- he was upset- there was something Different in his eye...( Very Un-foxlike)....and then Chris really let them have it....
This WHole thing the Divisions are about Old Wounds and sadly New Wounds....and it is not just DEMS...it is Repugs too...really sad....it should never ever have come to this...this is a great Moment in History....we should be excited...instead certain forces have torn us apart....
How we get past these Divisions is up to each of us....If we want to beat McCain in the fall, Richardson is right, we need to start Uniting Now....it is the only way....
I will never forget that he made his decision at 3am last night..that is when it was released publicly....at 3:01......
Lot of Restless Sleepless nights...people worried...but atleast we are worrying together.....
By
enigma4ever, at 3:54 AM
U.S economy is a war casualty
Barbara Lee
This month marks the fifth anniversary of the start of the U.S. occupation in Iraq, which has claimed the lives of nearly 4,000 U.S. servicemen and servicewomen and wounded more than 28,000 others. Tens of thousands of Iraqi men, women and children have been killed, more than a million Iraqis have fled their homes and live as refugees, and hundreds of thousands have been internally displaced.
Before the vote to enter into this senseless war, I introduced an amendment in October 2002 that would have renewed nuclear inspections and prevented this debacle. But sadly, my amendment did not pass and the nation is now entering the sixth year of an occupation that grinds on with no end in sight. Republicans, most notably Sen. John McCain, plan for the United States to be in Iraq for the next 100 years. What are they thinking?
We have already spent nearly a half trillion dollars on a country that had not attacked us. And a recent analysis by Nobel-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and budget expert Linda Bilmes estimates the occupation will cost American taxpayers at least $3 trillion. No question, America's economy has become the latest casualty of the occupation.
When you consider that 37 million people live in poverty in America and more than 47 million are without health insurance, $12 billion a month for a failed foreign policy is incomprehensible. The reality is the cost of the war is crippling our economy, urgent domestic priorities have gone under-funded, poverty has increased, and the gap between the super wealthy and everybody else has grown at an alarming rate. Under the Bush administration, a disproportionate amount of funding has gone to the Pentagon and to providing tax cuts for the wealthy. Earlier this year, the Bush administration presented Congress with a budget that sharply cuts vital safety-net programs but contained the highest defense spending request since World War II.
The recession is hitting the most vulnerable especially hard. As co-chair of the Progressive Caucus and co-founder of the Out of Iraq Caucus, I recently introduced a resolution (HR1019) detailing the economic impact of the war and calling upon Congress to redeploy our troops and military contractors so we can redirect the billions we waste each month in Iraq and invest it in vital domestic priorities such as health care, education, securing our ports and rebuilding our infrastructure. This would save taxpayers at least $135 billion over the next 18 months.
Republicans, however, continue to debate whether the economy is in or headed toward recession. President Bush has characterized the recession as a "rough time," dismissing the grave reality of the mortgage foreclosure crisis, the increasing unemployment rate and the tanking economy. But there is nothing to debate for America's families who are struggling daily with the economic consequences of the occupation in Iraq. They know that since the launch of the war, the price of a barrel of oil has nearly quadrupled, topping $100 dollars. Even more alarming, a single parent earning the minimum wage must work at least 10 hours just to earn enough to fill up the gas tank. This is unacceptable and the American people will not stand for it any longer.
According to the latest AP-Ipsos poll, more than 3 in 5 Americans believe the country is in recession now and has been for some time, while 68 percent of Americans believe that exiting Iraq would help fix the country's economic problems.
The most important thing we can do to is to end this disastrous occupation and bring our brave U.S. servicemen and servicewomen home. I joined with Reps. Lynn Woolsey, D-Marin, and Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles, last month to introduce the Fully-Funded U.S. Military Redeployment and Sovereignty of Iraq Restoration Act, which seeks to change the course of U.S. policy in Iraq and redeploy all U.S. troops and military contractors within one year. The consequences of the continued occupation of Iraq are too great. Funding for the war needs to be redistributed to domestic and international priorities that will actually help our nation to become more secure.
By
Larry, at 3:55 AM
Lone superpower is on the wane
RUPERT CORNWELL
Even now, here in the U.S., if you turn off the radio or television blaring the latest news of financial apocalypse, you can pretend that it's still business as usual.
Incredibly, those unsolicited loan and credit card offers continue to pop through the mailbox, offering the American dream on the never-never. Do you feel it's time for that oft-postponed home improvement, or that richly deserved holiday you've been putting off? Or are you simply having trouble getting credit? Just call this number and within 15 minutes a qualified officer can approve a loan of $30,000 for you, interest free for the first three months.
Of course, what sounds to be too good to be true, is. But you used to have to wade through the fine print on the back to discover that. Now you just turn the TV back on.
To say so out loud would be an offence against American optimism, but the unspoken truth is that the good old days are gone, probably for a very long while. Like its predecessors, this particular financial meltdo