Be INFORMED

Saturday, January 24, 2009

President Obama's first Weekly Address...

   was all about the stimulus package and how his American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan will kick the economy into gear.

  As you all know, President Obama's weekly addresses are always on video, so here it is.

   For those of you who would rather read the text, here it is.

We begin this year and this administration in the midst of an unprecedented crisis that calls for unprecedented action. Just this week, we saw more people file for unemployment than at any time in the last twenty-six years, and experts agree that if nothing is done, the unemployment rate could reach double digits. Our economy could fall $1 trillion short of its full capacity, which translates into more than $12,000 in lost income for a family of four. And we could lose a generation of potential, as more young Americans are forced to forgo college dreams or the chance to train for the jobs of the future.

In short, if we do not act boldly and swiftly, a bad situation could become dramatically worse.

That is why I have proposed an American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan to immediately jump-start job creation as well as long-term economic growth. I am pleased to say that both parties in Congress are already hard at work on this plan, and I hope to sign it into law in less than a month.

It's a plan that will save or create three to four million jobs over the next few years, and one that recognizes both the paradox and the promise of this moment -- the fact that there are millions of Americans trying to find work even as, all around the country, there’s so much work to be done. That's why this is not just a short-term program to boost employment. It's one that will invest in our most important priorities like energy and education; health care and a new infrastructure that are necessary to keep us strong and competitive in the 21st century.

Today I'd like to talk specifically about the progress we expect to make in each of these areas.

To accelerate the creation of a clean energy economy, we will double our capacity to generate alternative sources of energy like wind, solar, and biofuels over the next three years. We'll begin to build a new electricity grid that lay down more than 3,000 miles of transmission lines to convey this new energy from coast to coast. We'll save taxpayers $2 billion a year by making 75% of federal buildings more energy efficient, and save the average working family $350 on their energy bills by weatherizing 2.5 million homes.

To lower health care cost, cut medical errors, and improve care, we'll computerize the nation's health record in five years, saving billions of dollars in health care costs and countless lives. And we'll protect health insurance for more than 8 million Americans who are in danger of losing their coverage during this economic downturn.

To ensure our children can compete and succeed in this new economy, we'll renovate and modernize 10,000 schools, building state-of-the-art classrooms, libraries, and labs to improve learning for over five million students. We’ll invest more in Pell Grants to make college affordable for seven million more students, provide a $2,500 college tax credit to four million students, and triple the number of fellowships in science to help spur the next generation of innovation.

Finally, we will rebuild and retrofit America to meet the demands of the 21st century. That means repairing and modernizing thousands of miles of America's roadways and providing new mass transit options for millions of Americans. It means protecting America by securing 90 major ports and creating a better communications network for local law enforcement and public safety officials in the event of an emergency. And it means expanding broadband access to millions of Americans, so business can compete on a level-playing field, wherever they’re located.

I know that some are skeptical about the size and scale of this recovery plan. I understand that skepticism, which is why this recovery plan must and will include unprecedented measures that will allow the American people to hold my Administration accountable for these results. We won't just throw money at our problems -- we'll invest in what works. Instead of politicians doling out money behind a veil of secrecy, decisions about where we invest will be made public, and informed by independent experts whenever possible. We'll launch an unprecedented effort to root out waste, inefficiency, and unnecessary spending in our government, and every American will be able to see how and where we spend taxpayer dollars by going to a new website called recovery.gov.

No one policy or program will solve the challenges we face right now, nor will this crisis recede in a short period of time. But if we act now and act boldly; if we start rewarding hard work and responsibility once more; if we act as citizens and not partisans and begin again the work of remaking America, then I have faith that we will emerge from this trying time even stronger and more prosperous than we were before. Thanks for listening.

Back to The Future Prosecutions Of Bushco

Original Article

Chris Matthews: BushCo Should Be Prosecuted

by srkp23  Fri Jan 23, 2009 at 04:02:04 PM PST

I was just watching Hardball and the last segment with Jonathan Capeheart of The Washington Post and John Heilemann of New York Magazine was extremely interesting:

Should Obama Investigate Bush Administration for Supporting Torture and Surveillance?

(The teasers had been "Should Dick Cheney Be Tried? Dick Cheney and War Crimes," &c.)

Matthews asked his guests if the Obama administration should see if laws were broken with regard to torture and surveillance?

Jonathan Capeheart began by saying that the truth is important and we need to find out what happened. (And to find out how high up it went, interjected Matthews). Capeheart became visibly uncomfortable, saying the problem is, once the truth is known, then what? Then what?

(There is no transcript and no video clip, so I've done a little transcribing myself.)

Matthews responded: "I have an easy answer. You do to the big people what you did to the little people."

Matthews then turned to Heilemann and said that they took the little people, threatened them with serious sentences and loss of liberty and got them to cop a plea. He then asked: "Why don’t we do the same things to the bosses that told them to do it? If you catch them, if you catch them."

Heilemann concurred, saying that Matthews was making a strong argument, that the only real question was if this would cost Obama politically and Heilemann said that he thought it would and that it would run somewhat counter to Obama's stated objective to look forward. Heilemann concluded, however, "I think justice demands certain things."

And then Matthews stated the real crux of the matter just as clearly as possible:

If waterboarding is torture and torture is criminal, and it came from Cheney’s office, I don’t see why there is a problem prosecuting. If waterboarding is torture and torture is criminal, and it’s been ordered from the top, I don’t see the problem with prosecuting unless there’s a political reason to obstruct it and I don’t think that’s justice.

And that's it in a nutshell. Cheney has already admitted to helping authorize the waterboarding:

Cheney's comments also mark the first time that he has acknowledged playing a central role in clearing the CIA's use of an array of controversial interrogation tactics, including a simulated drowning method known as waterboarding.

"I was aware of the program, certainly, and involved in helping get the process cleared," Cheney said in an interview with ABC News.

Asked whether he still believes it was appropriate to use the waterboarding method on terrorism suspects, Cheney said: "I do."

The bipartisan Levin-McCain Report (PDF) has already detailed that the torture policy came from high-ranking BushCo officials (although it doesn't mention Cheney):

A bipartisan panel of senators has concluded that former defense secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and other top Bush administration officials bear direct responsibility for the harsh treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, and that their decisions led to more serious abuses in Iraq and elsewhere.

WaPo

Chris Matthews gets it. We get it. The Republicans sure get it, as they are trying to get Eric Holder to promise that there will be no prosecutions for torture (eh? I thought the Rs maintained that we didn't torture?)

Let me just repeat Matthews' crystal clear formulation of the issue at hand:

If waterboarding is torture and torture is criminal, and it came from Cheney’s office, I don’t see why there is a problem prosecuting. If waterboarding is torture and torture is criminal , and it’s been ordered from the topfrom the top, I don’t see the problem with prosecuting unless there’s a political reason to obstruct it and I don’t think that’s justice.

Let's get Eric Holder to appoint a special prosecutor. There is already ample evidence to warrant opening investigations. Sign the petition.
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And call your congress critters and let them know that justice demands investigations, regardless of political considerations. The country is ready for sunlight and repudiation of the dark Bush years.