President Obama Gets Middle Class Crumbs…

 

    ….from the Republicans and their wealthy,corporate masters,for giving them an extra tax cut. so folks, there’s another big chunk of change that the government will have to do without. $700 billion in tax cuts for the rich and infamous! What a fucking joke this party of Democrats have turned into over the past 2 years. I think that maybe they should all seek some kind of counseling since they all appear to be one massive group of mentally deficient jack-asses.

   Mr. Obama is giving a news conference at the moment talking about how the tax cuts will be up for another vote in a few years and that maybe then those cuts for the rich will be done away with. WTF? In a few years the Republicans will have not only the House, but they will also have the Senate and possibly the White House. Does anyone really think that the Republicans are even going to think about dropping those cuts for the wealthy once they have even more control of the government? I think not.

   So folks, look for our employment rate to begin going down in the near future,and for more citizens to end up on the unemployment line. Cuts for the rich will help create jobs? Didn’t work under Reagan,nor under George Bush Jr.,and it will not work this time around either.

   This may be the first time in a long time that the United States economy will not improve under a Democratic President. Same thing may happen to Wall Street. It’s doing okay now, but Obama has 2 more years to help make it tank even though business has posted record profits. With all of those profits we should have had a pretty good increase in jobs for the workers looking for them.

   President Obama is right on track to become a one trick pony,and that trick (health care reform) was half assed.

Technorati Tags: Tac Cuts,The Wealthy,Corporate Profits,Middle Class,News,Current Events,The Economy,Republicans,Democrat Party,An american Gothic

Windows Reinstall…

 

…once again I’ve had to reinstall Windows 7. Tired of having to do this every 3 months because of problems which should have been fixed by Microsoft by now.

  No further posting until Tuesday,December7

 

Technorati Tags: Windows 7,Blogs

WikiLeaks Site Mirrors

 

   Oh yes, the United States government and many others around the world are still attempting to keep WikiLeaks off of the internet because of those damned embassy cables that the site posted online.

    I am happy to say that those government efforts are not going so well,as many other site online have taken to mirroring the WikiLeaks site. Good for them.

  You still want to keep up with the cables? Great, then go check out SaveWikiLeaks.Net to view those cables.

Technorati Tags: WikiLeaks.SaveWikiLeaks,Embassy Cables,News,Current Events,Amazon,Julian Assange

 

President Obama’s Problem

 

    Not only has President Obama lied to those of us who went out and raised lots of cash for his campaign for the office which he now occupies, but the man has also shown  his supporters that he is also a wimp when it comes to governing the United States. Not only is this an Obama problem,it is a problem that the Democrats have in general. A spineless group of folks who cannot stand up for what they are supposed to believe in,and they are certainly not standing up for the average joe when it comes to the major issues of importance to you and I.

    Let’s take those Bush tax cuts for an example. Our president has been busting his ass in order to gain a compromise with the Republicans over the cuts for those making $250,000 a year or more. The problem with Obama and his compromise is that overall, 50 percent of those surveyed say that they only want the tax cuts extended to those making less than $250,000 a year.

    So, is Obama just flat out not listening to the American people or is he just inept,or is he now also on the take? He is,after all,one of those who would benefit from those Bush tax cuts.

   Frank Rich got it right in his editorial in the N.Y.Times on Sunday regarding Obama’s White House meeting with his hostage takers from across the aisle.

Hardly had this staged effusion of happy talk been disseminated than we learned of Mitch McConnell’s letter vowing to hold not just the president but the entire government hostage by blocking all legislation until the Bush-era tax cuts were extended for the top 2 percent of American households.

The captors will win this battle, if they haven’t already by the time you read this, because Obama has seemingly surrendered his once-considerable abilities to act, decide or think.

   Maybe Obama should shut his so-called advisors up and learn to think for himself once again. Then again,maybe it is to late.

Technorati Tags: Bush Tax Cuts,President Obama,Mitch McConnell,Democratic Party,The Economy,The Middle Class,Frank Rich

Tax Cuts: Let The Republicans Eat Crow

 

Let ALL the tax cuts expire and hang it on the GOP

by Walt starr  @DailyKos      Sat Dec 04, 2010

The answer is simple. The votes have been taken. Let the debate end there.

All of the tax cuts expire on January 31 because Republicans are unwilling to compromise.

The GOP has handed the Democrats the single best talking point ever handed to them, and they gave it up on a silver platter.

The Republicans did not vote for tax cuts.

Fine, let them be the anti-tax cut party. It's how they voted, now let them reap the consequences of their actions.

The Democrats control the Senate and control the agenda. There's no need to ever let tax cuts for the rich make it to the floor of the Senate. No tax cuts for the rich ever need get out of any committee.

This is the single best winning issue the Democrats could have.

So let them all expire and let the blame sit where it  belongs, with every Senator who voted "NO" to extending any tax cuts.

Technorati Tags: Tax Cuts,Republicans,Democrats.,Bush Tax Cuts,The Economy

Senate Votes On Bush Tax Cuts…

 

…and I should note that this was the first vote on the measure to extend that extra gift to the wealthy.

   DailyKos    (edited)

Nothing really reflects the absurdity of this debate better than this exchange from the morning's debate between Senators Schumer and Grassley. The Dems argue on facts, the Republicans argue nonsense, and will win the day. On behalf of billionaires. Against the rest of the country.

Mr. Schumer: I thank my colleague. And through the chair, I'd simply like to ask my colleague this. I understand we have a different point of view here. We both care about deficit reduction. Could he please explain to me why it is okay to take $300 billion of tax cuts for those at the highest income levels, above a million, and not pay for it and yet we have to pay for unemployment insurance ex extension?

Mr. Grassley: I thought I made that point very clear, because the taxpayers are smarter than we in Congress are. They know that they give another dollar to us to spend and it's a license to spend $1.15. So it just increases the national debt. And when it comes to paying for unemployment compensation, we can pay for unemployment compensation because the stimulus bill was supposed to stimulate the economy and it's not being spent. And if you put money from stimulus into unemployment, you don't increase the deficit and you'll also have the money spent right away. 

Mr. Schumer: I would just say that the answer doesn't deal with deficit reduction. If you care about deficit reduction, the two should be treated equally. A dollar of tax break for millionaire and a dollar of increased unemployment benefits increases the deficit the same amount. However, every economist -- I saw we had a chart up about economists before -- will tell you that a dollar into unemployment benefits stimulates the economy about four times as much as a dollar into tax decreases for millionaires. That's pretty universal. Mark Zandy, John McCain's economic advisor during his campaign, said that a dollar of tax breaks for millionaires stimulates the economy about 30 cents worth. A dollar of tax -- a dollar of unemployment benefits increases the economy by about $1.62.

The fact that Republicans will be able to obstruct the Dem package today does not change any of the facts that extending the tax cuts for millionaires will continue to cost the country, dearly. Maybe instead of negotiating with the terrorists Senate Republicans, it's time for President Obama to start talking about the veto pen.

The first vote is happening now. For the highlights of the debate, check out the liveblog.

Update: Ok, then. As of now, Senators Feingold, Webb, Ben Nelson, Manchin, and Lieberman vote with the GOP on the first vote. That really helps. Presumably, Feingold did it because he doesn't want any of the cuts to be extended. Fails 53-36.

Update 2: We now know what the definition of "middle class" is for Senators Manchin, Ben Nelson, and Webb--$1 million in income. They all voted yes on the Schumer amendment. There were more no votes among Dems on this one--Feingold, Rockefeller, Harkin, and Durbin voted against it, as did Lieberman. Fails 53-37.

It's not clear at the moment what happens next with the tax cuts. Presumably, negotiations continue.

And in other business. Reid says that there will be cloture votes on DREAM Act, 911 firefighter health, firefighter collective bargaining and $250 cola for seniors on Wednesday.

 

Technorati Tags: Bush Tax Cuts,Economy,Unemployment,Stmulis Bill,Republicans,Democrats.,The Senate

Employment Stats For November 2010…

 

    ….are not as good as expected,but still,it does look better than has been previously. The economy is chugging along, just at a slower pace than we would like.

Bureau of Labor

The unemployment rate edged up to 9.8 percent in November, and nonfarm payroll
employment was little changed (+39,000).

The number of unemployed persons was 15.1 million in November. The unemployment
rate edged up to 9.8 percent; it was 9.6 percent in each of the prior 3 months.
  Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (10.0 per-
cent), adult women (8.4 percent), whites (8.9 percent), and Hispanics (13.2 per-
cent) edged up in November. The jobless rate for blacks (16.0 percent) showed
little change over the month, while the rate for teenagers declined to 24.6 per-
cent. The jobless rate for Asians was 7.6 percent, not seasonally adjusted. 

Among the unemployed, the number of job losers and persons who completed tempor-
ary jobs rose by 390,000 to 9.5 million in November. The number of long-term un-
employed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) was little changed at 6.3 million
and accounted for 41.9 percent of the unemployed. 

The civilian labor force participation rate held at 64.5 percent in November, and
the employment-population ratio was essentially unchanged at 58.2 percent

Technorati Tags: BLS,Labor Statistic,Employment,Unemployment,Jobs,News Current Events,The Economy

WikiLeaks Switches To Swiss Domain..

 

…after being taken off of the servers of their host,EveryDNS. The hosting site say that WikiLeaks was disrupting service after suffering quit a few denial of service attacks coming from unknown sources. The new address:WikiLeaks.ch

    

Technorati Tags: WikiLeaks,Cablegate,Embassy CablesNews,Current Events

  

United Kingdom Covered Bush Administrations Investigation Over Iraq War…

 

…which is really no big surprise,is it?

    Here is another embassy cable by way of WikiLeaks.

¶9. (S/NF) Day opined that “mobilizing” NATO allies after General McChrystal released the results of his review would be “very difficult.” “Our message” to the U.S. is “bear with us... we will continue to work closely with you,” Day said. He pledged to work closely with the U.S. on the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) and National Posture Review (NPR) as well as on the UK’s Strategic Defense Review. In regard to the UK review, Day observed that he had worked on the last review in 1997-98, and he bemoaned the lack of institutional memory within HMG regarding the review process.
¶10. (S/NF) Day also promised that the UK had “put measures in place to protect your interests” during the UK inquiry into the causes of the Iraq war. He noted that Iraq seems no longer to be a major issue in the U.S., but he said it would become a big issue -- a “feeding frenzy” -- in the UK “when the inquiry takes off.”

Technorati Tags: WikiLeaks,Embassy Cables,Cablegate,Bush Administration,Iraq,Iraq War

Hey Democrats: If You Extend Those Tax Cuts For The Wealthy…

 

….the elections in 2012 will be a bloodbath for your party. Did you group of morons not learn anything from the 2010 mid-terms?

    Stop being a bunch of pussies,and grow some balls for once. The wealthy in this country do not need an “extra” tax cut which serves only to increase the  size of their bank accounts and stock portfolios.

Get a grip!

  

Technorati Tags: Bush Tax Cuts,Democrats.,Republicans,Economy

Pakistan:Embassy Cables

 

Embassy Cable:

Thursday, 16 October 2008, 10:16
C O N F I D E N T I A L RIYADH 001541 
SIPDIS 
EO 12958 DECL: 10/15/2018 
TAGS PREL, PTER, SA, PK 
SUBJECT: PAKISTANI RELATIONS WITH SAUDIS “STRAINED” 
REF: A. (A) ISLAMABAD 3249  B. (B) RIYADH 1510  C. (C) RIYADH 1175  D. (D) ISLAMABAD 2405
Classified By: CDA David Rundell, reasons 1.4 b & d.
¶1. (C) SAUDIS UNHAPPY WITH ZARDARI: Echoing Pakistani interlocutors in Washington and Islamabad, in an introductory call with PolCouns, Pakistani DCM Sarfraz Khanzada (protect) characterized Saudi-Pakistani relations as “under strain.” This was due, he said, to a lack of Saudi confidence in the Zardari government. He cited a sharp reduction in Saudi financial assistance to Pakistan, and said that the Saudis had not provided “a single drop” of oil at the concessionary terms promised last year (refs c & d). Instead, during 2008, the Saudis had provided assistance in the form of a single $300 million check, considerably less than in previous years, but “beggars can’t be choosers,” he lamented. Khanzada opined that the Saudi government appeared to be “waiting for the Zardari government to fall.”
¶2. (C) NAWAS FAVORED: Khanzada said the Pakistanis are convinced that Saudi King Abdallah would prefer to see Pakistan run by former PM Nawas Sharif, and were cutting back assistance to Pakistan to hasten this eventuality. Nawas “practically lives” in Saudi Arabia, Khanzada declared, claiming that Nawas had even been favored with reserved prayer space in the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina. Because Nawas’ daughter is married to a grandson of King Fahd, he has “become a member of the Saudi royal family.” (Comment: Embassy is not able to confirm whether this is true. End comment.)
¶3. (C) AFGHAN MEDIATION: Khanzada claimed that the Pakistani government was not directly informed about the Saudi Afghan mediation effort, though they suspected that Nawas had been present, since he was in Mecca at the same time. While the Pakistani government did not oppose such talks in principle, they believe they have little chance of succeeding without U.S. and Pakistani participation.
¶4. (C) COMMENT: Khanzada’s remarks track with reporting from Islamabad and Washington regarding Pakistani concerns about deteriorating relations with the Saudis. While our Saudi interlocutors tend to be less forthcoming, they’ve made no secret of their reservations regarding Asif Zardari. Nevertheless, officials continue to insist that Saudi Arabia supports efforts to stabilize Pakistan, and we expect that Saudi officials will participate in the next round of meetings of the Friends of Pakistan. End comment. RUNDELL

Technorati Tags: Embassy Cables,Cablegate,WikiLeaks,Pakistan,News,Current Events