Be INFORMED

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

A Call For Impeachment!

George Bush and Dick Cheney promote an imperial presidency. They assert that the executive is the most powerful branch of government, undermining the judiciary and Congress in violation of the Constitution’s bedrock principle of shared power among three co-equal branches. This subverts the very nature of our system of government.

This is an attempt by the president to have the final word on his own constitutional powers, which eliminates the checks and balances that keep the country a democracy. … That’s a big problem because that’s essentially a dictatorship,” Fein said. CommonDreams            ( blogger's emphasis ) 

The national movement to impeach is a non-partisan effort to restore the Constitution and the rule of law. People across the political spectrum can unite to preserve the Constitution and civil liberties given to us by the founders. Impeachment is the peaceful, orderly, constitutionally prescribed way to rid ourselves of a lawless administration.

The issue is not about removing Bush and Cheney as much as it is about preserving the Constitution and redeeming the office of the executive. The Constitution is the contract of governance between the people and the government. What happens when major portions of the contract are violated?

Congress has failed to call the president and vice president to account, so citizens must turn up the heat. Members of Congress who fail to demand investigations are covering for criminals. Every elected official has sworn an oath to “support and protect the Constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic.” Anything less than impeachment and a full repudiation of the Bush administration’s crimes and violations of the law is a dereliction of duty and a betrayal of the public trust.

If we want our democracy back, we need to roll up our sleeves and get to work to clean out the House.   CommonDreams

  It is way past time to get off of our asses and to get this ball moving!

Sunday, November 25, 2007

The U.S. Economy Turning Into A Outlet for Foreign Shoppers

  I got bored this morning and thought that I'd browse a few online newspaper sites to see what they had up today. THIS article caught my eye in particular because of all of the bullshit that the Republicans tell us about how our economy is in great shape and only getting better.

   If that was the case then our dollar won't be going down in value against the Euro and others. Because of our declining value, it seems that many Europeans and other foreigners have decided that the United States is the place to come and do their holiday shopping. It's cheaper to get a plane ticket, even at the high cost, and fly to the U.S. to buy goods than it is to buy in their own countries.

    The Boston Globe

   ... America is one big discount bin, thanks to a weak dollar that slid this week to another record low against the euro. As a result, tourists are spending thousands to travel to the United States to snag blockbuster bargains on everything from iPods to designer clothes and handbags.

By 4 a.m. yesterday, Kinsella had rung up nearly $2,000 in Christmas presents and winter clothes, including a $79 black leather jacket at Guess that she estimated would cost more than $250 in Ireland.

"The bargains for us are so great," said Kinsella, who paid $1,000 for a flight and hotel but expects to save even more on purchases here.

But now American wares are even more of a bargain as the slowing US economy has weakened the dollar. Further, as the Federal Reserve has cut interest rates to boost the economy, the dollar has lost even more value, and global investors have realized they won't earn as much when they park their cash in greenbacks. As a result, the euro has shot up by 33 percent compared with the dollar since 2002, so Europeans who exchange 1,000 euros now get close to 1,500 US dollars. And the Canadian dollar is worth as much as the US dollar for the first time in three decades.

  So the foreign shoppers get great deals by shopping in the United States and the citizens of the U.S. are tightening their purse strings because of a lousy dollar, bad real estate market and other not so great reasons.

   Only in America can outsiders do better than we insiders can. But in case of emergency, we can always buy Chinese!

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