Obama Evening News & Roundup -- St. Patrick's Day!
Today is St. Patrick's Day. As the New York Times reported yesterday, the heavy hitters are concerned that the race will continue to drag on, nothing will get resolved, and John McCain will benefit because people would see him as above the fray. We know that there was a high-level meeting recently between Barack Obama and Al Gore. What I'm hoping is that people will come together, meet with Hillary Clinton, and tell her that she has two weeks to get out of the race with dignity.
But there were rumors that Edwards would, in fact, endorse Hillary. But that was simply the opinion of one talking head. As of this writing, there was nothing on Drudge or Raw Story indicating that at all. All of this is conjecture at this point. We need to stay focused, keep doing what we are doing, and let the chips fall where they may. We need to operate under the assumption that there will be a primary fight until the convention, unless Hillary or Obama throws in the towel.
On another note -- Allan Greenspan writes in a Financial Times op-ed that this is the worst financial crisis since World War II. Greenspan is a media darling, and everyone treats his word as gospel truth. And yesterday, there was a recommended diary that hit the top of the list about the collapse of Bear Stearns.
All this means is that Jeremiah Wright will be forgotten -- there will be a lot more important things to worry about for the Very Important People in the media. What we have to do is keep a message of hope alive in a world that is full of turmoil these days. When the power elites who have held so much sway over things lose their way, now is the time for us to step in and show everyone the way -- Democratic, Republican, Independent, radical, rich, poor. Barack Obama is the right man for the right place at the right time.
While Barack Obama is preaching a message of hope, the forces of fear are still out there. Our Conservative Spirit, a right-wing fundamentalist blog is engaging in the kind of McCarthyite tactics that are part of the modern Republican party. These are the people who we are running against.
First of all, Our Conservative Spirit (OCS) engages in inflammatory language, calling Obama a "bloodsucker." Now, last time I checked, Jesus taught us that we are to be our brothers' keeper. And OCS is guilty of a factual error -- Martin Luther King, whom Obama is channeling, specifically denied Communism in his writings, saying that it was incompatible to Christianity.
When Barack Obama uses the term "justice," he does not mean "individuals are responsible for their decisions." He means producers of substantial wealth are not deserving of the fruits of their decisions, and those who do not produce substantial wealth must be protected from learning the lessons the results of their decisions are trying to teach them.
This sort of inflammatory and divisive language is not found in the Bible, but in the daily rants of hate radio; specifically, Rush Limbaugh. But OCS is pushing the same sort of failed policies that led to the Great Depression in the first place -- specifically, the notion that if you were poor, it was somehow your fault. This sort of contempt for the poor and class envy has driven the Republican Party for the last 40 years, to the point where they cannot relate to people like you and me.
Let me ask this -- was it everybody's fault that they lost everything that they had when banks failed? Was it everybody's fault that they lost everything they had in the stock market? Was it the employees' fault that they are now without a job when Bear Stearns collapsed? Was it the investors' faults that Enron collapsed?
OCS does not speak for most Christians. But s/he would cite this passage:
O you of little faith? So do not be anxious what you will eat, and what you will drink, and let not your mind be disturbed by these things. For worldly people seek after all these things; and your Father knows that these things are also necessary for you. But you, seek the kingdom of God; and all of these things shall be added to you. Do not be afraid, O little flock; for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give them as alms; make for yourselves purses which do not wear out, and a treasure in heaven that does not run short, where the thief does not come near, and moth does not destroy. For where your treasure is, there also will be your heart. (Luke 12:28:34)
The implication is clear, and smacks of the extremism of Ken Copeland rather than the teachings of Jesus -- if you are poor, it was because you did not have enough faith; therefore, it was your fault. But who are we to judge other people for their struggles in life? Last time I checked, we were not supposed to judge people, but to let God judge them.
Man is created in the image of God. But if we are created in the image of God, then we, like God, have a responsibility to provide for our brothers and sisters around the world so that they do not have to worry about where the next meal will come from . And the very passage s/he would cite smacks their whole right-wing ideology down:
Sell your possessions and give them as alms; make for yourselves purses which do not wear out, and a treasure in heaven that does not run short, where the thief does not come near, and moth does not destroy. For where your treasure is, there also will be your heart.
The implication is clear -- the government has a responsibility to ensure that we all have the resources that we need to succeed in life. Last time I checked, there was no exception contained anywhere in the Bible for those in power. Amos, for instance, is an entire rant against the leaders of Israel for not providing for the poor in their kingdom.
A free market does redistribute wealth, but by means of voluntary transactions and voluntary charity which affords spiritual benefits to all. To grasp the unnatural insanity of Obama's agenda of using taxation (government force) to redistribute wealth, it is only necessary to imagine a reasonable person covered with leaches. Might as well just lay there and let the leaches go on sucking ... true or false? In other words, how long are producers of wealth going to continue producing wealth knowing it will be redistributed by force?
All of us on the Democratic side believe in a free market system. But let's just use Daily Kos as an example. Daily Kos is a self-moderated community where the users determine who is a troll and what comments are appropriate. Most of the time, it works well -- this country is a free market system and has been for the last 225 years. But there are times when the self-moderating system fails and the administrators have to step in and take action. In the same way, there will be times when the free market system fails and the government has to step in and take action. One such action is stepping in and redistributing the wealth when there is too much inequality between rich and poor. And the fairest way to do that would be taxation. let me put it this way -- If I make one million, I can handle a 60% tax a lot better than if I made $15,000 and had to worry about making ends meet. A fair system of taxation both rewards wealth and ensures that everyone gets the resources they need. They are not mutually exclusive.
Jesus Christ tells us in his modern day revelation, A Course in Miracles, that taxation was invented by mankind, not God. And He tells us that we will abolish taxation when we wake up. Until then we might have to convert Barack Obama and his followers to true Christianity.
I have but one thing to say:
John McCain and 100 more years of war in Iraq:
Senator John McCain arrived in Iraq on Sunday morning on a trip that was described as a visit by an official Congressional delegation, but that also served to showcase his foreign policy credentials as he campaigns for the White House.
Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, was scheduled to meet with officials including the American ambassador to Iraq, Ryan C. Crocker, and the senior American military commander in the country, Gen. David H. Petraeus. He was also scheduled to meet with the Iraqi prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, said Yaseen Majid, a media adviser to Mr. Maliki.
Many Iraqi politicians are closely monitoring the American presidential race, and some said the visit bolstered their belief that if Mr. McCain, of Arizona, succeeded President Bush in the November election, the American military would have a large presence in Iraq for a very long time.
"This visit confirms that the Republicans believe that the Iraqi war is very important in the fight against terrorism in the Middle East," said Wael Abdul Latif, an independent Shiite member of the Iraqi Parliament. "It’s a message to Iran that the United States will never leave, even after Bush is gone."
This underscores exactly what is wrong with John McCain. The problem is that John McCain is too radical for what this country needs. Either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama would leave Iraq in a responsible way which would allow for peace in the region. John McCain has no plan whatsoever to resolve this conflict, but would keep our troops there for the next 100 years.
And there is an ongoing pattern of right-wing radicalism in John McCain's policies. He would abolish the Federal Minimum Wage, attack Iran, and appoint radical right-wing judges to the Supreme Court. These things have everything in common; what he would do is create two entirely different classes of Americans. One would be the haves, who can afford the exhorbant gas prices, medical bills, and other things. The have-nots would have no choice but to either engage in cheap labor in a race to the bottom, with companies undercutting each other in a cuthroat manner to maximize profits, or enlist in the military and fight John McCain's wars in Iran and Iraq. Thus, he would be the polar opposite of what John Edwards fought for when he called for One America.
Obama supporter Barbara Lee gives a talk on Iraq:
But, actually, I finally found her this time. "We must get out of Iraq," she said. "We cannot afford to stay in Iraq. We need those resources here at home. And we must trim the military budget as well. Sixty-five billion dollars is being wasted -- right now -- on buying obsolete Cold War weapons that we can no longer use. Congress needs to allot enough money to protect our troops and contractors in Iraq and then bring them home -- and with no long-term military bases left behind."
Apparently George W. Bush has signed six different congressional bills that would make it illegal for him to build long-term bases in Iraq. And Rice, Negroponte and Bush have all agreed to this. "But then Bush made a signing statement on this last bill saying that he was above the law. And you know what I have to say about this? 'See you in court, Mr. President [sic]!' They are also trying to get around these laws by signing side-agreements with Iraq without Congress's approval." That's illegal too.
"We need to prevent the invasion of Iran. And we need to impeach Vice-President [sic] Cheney. There is a long list of things that we need to do. But they have to get done. We have been misled about Iraq. They lied. This war has been going on for five years now. And now we also have to lead America out of a Bush-led economic recession as well. We can't wait until November. We have to build the pressure NOW, to put on some street-heat NOW. We have to bring our troops and contractors home NOW."
Lee touted the video "War Made Easy" by Norman Solomon; here is the video:
Universal Healthcare and cancer:
The Edwards News Roundup does an entire feature on cancer this week. You can read more about Barack Obama's Universal Healthcare plan here. In addition:
Obama is a co-sponsor of the Childhood Cancer Act of 2007, which would increase funds for research.
"We now face an opportunity — and an obligation — to turn the page on the failed politics of yesterday's health care debates... My plan begins by covering every American. If you already have health insurance, the only thing that will change for you under this plan is the amount of money you will spend on premiums. That will be less. If you are one of the 45 million Americans who don't have health insurance, you will have it after this plan becomes law. No one will be turned away because of a preexisting condition or illness."
Joseph Story is a seminal figure in American legal history. He was a member of the US Supreme Court in the early 19th Century, helped start Harvard Law School and wrote commentaries on the law that provide great weight in determining the original understanding of the American Constitution and common law. He is often cited for a conservative reading of the religion clauses, and has some quotations which, taken out of context, could support the "Christian Nation" ideal. For instance, a quotation that the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist invoked, and currently invoked by this conservative historian, informs:
The real object of the amendment was not to countenance, much less to advance, Mahometanism, or Judaism, or infidelity, by prostrating Christianity; but to exclude all rivalry among Christian sects, and to prevent any national ecclesiastical establishment which should give to a hierarchy the exclusive patronage of the national government. It thus cuts off the means of religious persecution (the vice and pest of former ages), and of the subversion of the rights of conscience in matters of religion, which had been trampled upon almost from the days of the Apostles to the present age. [Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States, 5th ed. (Boston: Hilliard, Gray & Co., 1833), 701]
Story’s "real object" discusses what he saw as the underlying purpose of the First Amendment. However, constitutional scholars note it’s not the underlying purpose of a particular text that controls, but the original meaning of the text itself. Liberal scholars, for instance, Justices Stephen Breyer or David Souter, offer quotations from other Founders (e.g., James Madison who played a more important role than Story in passing the First Amendment) that show other underlying purposes of the First Amendment, for instance to take the religious passion out of politics by consigning religion to the private sector, or to the realm of "individual conscience" as opposed to "public policy." If "underlying purposes" controlled, Justices can (and many of them do) simply choose from a number of differing underlying purposes to suit the results they desire, offer selected quotations from Founders, and proceed to subvert the text of the Constitution itself!
Barack Obama on the fierce urgency of now:
If we are to have a diverse country and fulfill the dreams of pioneers like Story, we have to create a country in which people can succeed without regard to race or religion. Joseph Story laid the basis for a pluralistic society long ago; Obama seeks to fulfil that promise. It is not enough for a country to give lip service to tolerance and then only provide for a select group of people. We must, as Jesus stated, provide for all.
New report lays blame of My Lai on William Westmoreland policies:
Documentary evidence from U.S. army archives shows, however, that the Peers report misrepresented a key directive from the top commander in Vietnam, Gen. William C. Westmoreland, describing it as calling for a blanket policy of humane treatment of civilians in villages controlled by the Communist movement.
The directive in question, a copy of which has been obtained by IPS, makes it clear that the policy of humane treatment did not extend to civilians in areas which had been under long-term Communist rule, as was the case with My Lai. That revelation would have placed the responsibility for the orders on the My Lai operation squarely on Westmoreland’s shoulders.
The Peers report found that the troops who entered My Lai and three other hamlets of the village of Son My had been led to believe that everyone in the village should be killed. Testimony before the Peers inquiry also showed that the platoon leaders involved in the operation had been given that same message by two company commanders.
Now, we are hearing similar stories of civilian deaths from the Winter Soldier Conference. This all goes back to what Obama said about the fierce urgency of now -- we can't wait to get out of Iraq in a safe and responsible manner. The more we stay in Iraq, like John McCain wants, the more civilian shootings that we have and the more moral outrage that the world has against our leaders.
Bremer's decision to dissolve Iraqi army bypassed government policy.
When President Bush convened a meeting of his National Security Council on May 22, 2003, his special envoy in Iraq made a statement that caught many of the participants by surprise. In a video presentation from Baghdad, L. Paul Bremer III informed the president and his aides that he was about to issue an order formally dissolving Iraq’s Army.
The decree was issued the next day.
The broad outlines of the decision are now widely known, defended by proponents as necessary to ensure that Saddam Hussein’s influence did not outlive his ouster from power.
But with the fifth anniversary of the start of the war approaching, some participants have provided in interviews their first detailed, on-the-record accounts of a decision that is widely seen as one of the most momentous and contentious of the war, assailed by critics as all but ensuring that American forces would face a growing insurgency led by embittered Sunnis who led much of the army.
The account that emerges from those interviews, and from access to previously unpublished documents, makes clear that Mr. Bremer’s decree reversed an earlier plan — one that would have relied on the Iraqi military to help secure and rebuild the country, and had been approved at a White House meeting that Mr. Bush convened just 10 weeks earlier.
The interviews show that while Mr. Bush endorsed Mr. Bremer’s plan in the May 22 meeting, the decision was made without thorough consultations within government, and without the counsel of the secretary of state or the senior American commander in Iraq, said the commander, Lt. Gen. David D. McKiernan. The decree by Mr. Bremer, who is known as Jerry, prompted bitter infighting within the government and the military, with recriminations continuing to this day.
Obama warned that this would happen.
260 reasons why you should vote for Barack Obama.
Volvo invests billions of dollars into plug-ins.
See this video:
Obama, Cantwell, and Hatch introduce bill to promote plug-in cars in the US:
"One of the most immediate actions we can take to fight climate change is to dramatically reduce our oil consumption by pushing electric vehicles into the marketplace," said Obama. "We have the technology, but we must provide incentives for consumers and manufacturers so that it is made available to the driving public. Producing electric vehicles and energy efficient technology could help the U.S. auto industry regain its competitive edge."
Their plan will lay out a three-pronged strategy to promote Plug-in Electric Drive Vehicles (PEDVs), which would include pure battery electric, extended range electric, plug-in hybrid electric, and plug-in fuel cell vehicles.
First, their proposal would provide significant tax credits to consumers who purchase PEDVs. The provision will be patterned after the CLEAR ACT, sponsored and passed by Hatch as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which is currently providing financial incentives for consumers to purchase alternative fuel and hybrid electric vehicles.
Second, their proposal would provide tax incentives for the U.S. production of PEDVs and PEDV dedicated parts.
Third, the proposal would give incentives for electric utilities to provide rebates to customers who purchase PEDVs. These incentives would be scaled in a manner that would provide the largest incentives to utilities producing the greenest energy.
Check out this video detailing FOX News' lies about Obama:
To sign a petitioin demanding the media stop spreading FOX News attacks, click here.
More lies from the media:
Newsmax reported falsely that Obama was at one of Jeremiah Wright's controversial sermons on July 22nd of last year. It turns out that he was not, and he was in Miami giving a speech to the La Raza Convention. Here is the video:
This week is Sunshine Week, and Public Citizen is sponsoring an online panel discussion on how we can monitor our taxpayer dollars at work.
Panel I. "The Secret Executive -- What Can Congress and the Public Do?"
- Ann Beeson, Director of U.S. Programs at the Open Society Institute and previously Associate Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union. - Mickey Edwards, Director of the Aspen Institute-Rodel Fellowships in Public Leadership and former Republican member of Congress from Oklahoma for 16 years (1977-92). - John Podesta, President and CEO of the Center for American Progress, Chief of Staff to President Clinton from October 1998 until January 2001.
Moderated by Patrice McDermott, Director of OpenTheGovernment.org
Panel II. "Citizen Self-Help: Finding the Information You Need"
- Bill Allison (Sunlight Foundation) - Sheila Krumholz (Center for Responsive Politics/OpenSecrets.org) - David Moore (OpenCongress.org) - Sean Moulton (FedSpending.org) - Daniel X. O'Neil (EveryBlock) - Gary Bass (OMB Watch)
Moderated by Greg Elin of SunlightLabs.org
If you have questions, you can email them to mailto:questions@openthegovernment.org
Barack Obama is one of the leaders in the Senate when it comes to transparency in government, even when it hurts him. With Senator Tom Coburn, he sponsored a bill that led to the creation of the USA Spending website that allows citizens to track how their taxpayer dollars are being spent.
"Today, we mark an important milestone on the path to greater government transparency," Senator Obama said. "This site helps us to achieve a very simple and powerful vision: a vision that, in a democracy, people ought to know how their government is operating. This isn’t Democratic vision or a Republican vision. It’s a vision that rejects the idea that government actions and decisions should be kept secret.
"We can’t reduce waste, fraud and abuse without knowing how, where and why Federal money is flowing out the door," Obama added. "This site will provide a window into the federal budget so all Americans can see how their tax dollars are being spent – how their nation’s resources are being used and obligated, where money is going as well as where it is not going. I thank Senator Coburn for his leadership on this effort and for all of the groups who have helped launch this website today."
Obama on CNN:
Obama has a comprehensive plan on transparency in government which you can read here.
Click here to sign this petition to support the Fair Elections Now Act. This bill, co-sponsored by Obama, would create a public financing system for Senate campaigns. Adam B's diary here explains how the law would work:
Seed Money: Candidates can raise up to $100 per individual/PAC to get a campaign off the ground (up to a set limit), in an effort to finance their bid to ...
Gather Qualifying Contributions: To qualify for public financing, Senate candidate needs to demonstrate her seriousness and base of support by obtaining a set number of $5 contributions (and no more than $5) from citizens across the state. Obtain enough (based on the size of your state), and you receive ...
The Benefits: For agreeing not to accept private funding, a candidate instead receives a large sum of money to run her primary campaign, and if she is successful, a larger sum for the general as well. That sum is based on the size of the state and its media costs, and if the candidate is facing an opponent receing private money or support via independent expenditures, it can be as much as tripled (the "fair fight fund") to ensure a level playing field.
Let's put some numbers on it to make this tangible. A Senate candidate in Delaware could raise up to $75,000 in seed money in order to gather the two thousand $5 contributions necessary to qualify for primary funding; upon obtaining that sum, $500,000 would be immediately available for the primary (and up to $1.5M if needed for a fair fight), and $750,000 for the general (and up to $2.25M if needed). In California, a Senate candidate could raise up to $465,000 in seed money in order to gather the 28,000 $5 contributions necessary to qualify for primary funding; upon obtaining that sum, $5.7M would be immediately available for the primary (and up to $17.1M if needed for a fair fight), and $8.5M for the general (and up to $25.6M if needed against a privately-financed opponent).[Moreover, there will be a media market adjustment to address variations among states, and participants would receive vouchers for purchasing broadcast airtime and would receive a 20% discount beneath the lowest unit cost on all advertising purchased near the end of the primary and general campaigns.]
Here, of course, is the beauty of the system: the system first forces grassroots organizing at the early stages, and then with the burdens of fundraising removed, frees up the candidates to spend much more time with citizens than they can right now. And once elected, they're no longer dependent upon the continued support large donors to get re-elected, but on citizens alone, which could change the dynamics on a wide range of policy issues.
Moreover, it's voluntary: a candidate can choose to stick with private contributions, but he'll have to be able to raise a huge amount, because all that effort will otherwise just be matched by automatic "fair fight" grants to his opponent. The voluntary nature of this also avoids any constitutional questions about restricting candidates' or contributors' rights.
While Barack Obama is a co-sponsor of this bill, Hillary Clinton has not co-sponsored it.
Please recommend this diary by Johnny Venom about green collar jobs. He has started a series on green manufacturing, and he discusses how manufacturers can make things more efficiently:
So what's lean manufacturing you may ask? The quick and dirty answer is that its cutting the fat out of the building process. Implement technology to improve productivity, but also try and use less materials if possible. For example, if your factory produces a unit of plastic from petroleum that is a pounds worth, but at the end of the day only a quarter of that is being used and the rest thrown out. Instead, one could retrofit the system to be able to produce more product with the remaining 75% leftover plastic. Also, investing in ways to recycle old plastic instead of having to use fresh petroleum. There is an untold number in tons worth of plastic rotting away in our garbage dumbs, and those heaps are getting bigger.
Once again, here lies an opportunity for a new industrial economy. Find better and better ways to melt down that plastic. And not just plastic. Investment can go into recycling almost everything we use, taking garbage and making it useful will require a workforce. People needed to build machines for sorting, machines for breaking down materials, machines for processing. I've been talking to some enviromentalist friends of mine, and many say that while the technology isn't there yet, eventually we'll be able to take almost all of our stuff and reuse it. In the 1980s, we had silicon valley, surely just in taking our old stuff and making them of use is a whole other industry ripe for growth?
Barack Obama has a 10-year $210 billion plan to create a green economy:
Democrat Barack Obama said Wednesday that as president he would spend $210 billion to create jobs in construction and environmental industries, as he tried to win over economically struggling voters.
Obama's investment would be over 10 years as part of two programs. The larger is $150 billion to create 5 million so-called "green collar" jobs to develop more environmentally friendly energy sources.
Sixty billion would go to a National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank to rebuild highways, bridges, airports and other public projects. Obama estimated that could generate nearly 2 million jobs, many of them in the construction industry that's been hit by the housing crisis.
You can check this EPA site for more information about green manufacturing here.
Check this video from Darcy Bruner on an effort she has led to end the occupation of Iraq:
CNN Poll shows Obama leading 52-45:
That is why we should not worry too much about polls. These numbers are fun to look at, but they do not tell you everything. This poll contradicts a Gallup poll that showed Clinton leading for the first time in 10 days. What is important is how well we can relate to the people of Pennsylvania and win them over. We should not get too high over a poll like CNN's or too low over a poll like Gallup's.
John McCain on taxes:
First, he opposed the Bush tax cuts. Now, he wants to make them permanent.