The Fiscal Cliff Is A Diversion: The Derivatives Tsunami and the Dollar Bubble (tags)
The fiscal cliff is a bipartisan excuse to introduce austerity measures in the form of "needed" cuts to social safety net programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. The stage is set for "Jason vs. Freddy" or Obama vs. Boehner as we the people wait to see which politician serial killer will be cutting the U.S. people with their sharp knives of austerity.
Whittemore indicted on conduit contribution charges, lying to FBI (tags)
Nevada mega-developer Harvey Whittemore was indicted Weds. for illegal conduit campaign contributions to Senator Harry Reid from the Wingfield Co. (shared with another mega-developer Albert Seeno). It is understood that these contributions were to allow Wingfield's Coyote Springs housing development to proceed despite violating numerous environmental laws and requiring the contruction of the $15 billion SNWA pipeline from the rural districts 300 miles to the north.
Trying To Bend Both Ways (tags)
There really isn’t any way to say you stand staunchly against a position if you hope to remain credible for long - not in the eyes of the public. It’s like a person claiming to be fasting from food for the greater good passionately and openly, but then getting caught feasting on barbeque spare ribs and lo mein at the Chinese restaurant on the opposite side of town. It’s like the person claiming to be against drugs getting videotaped selling crystal meth. It’s like the human rights activist businessman getting caught using child labor. Whether to the right or the left of the political spectrum no one likes it.
The Washington establishment suffers a serious defeat (tags)
"Today was Waterloo for Fed secrecy," a victorious Grayson said afterwards. The bill still faces substantial hurdles in becoming law, of course, but yesterday's vote has made that outcome quite possible, and it's worth noting several important points highlighted by what happened here: (1) Our leading media outlets are capable of understanding political debates only by stuffing them into melodramatic, trite and often distracting "right v. left" storylines. While some debates fit comfortably into that framework, many do not. Anger over the Wall Street bailouts, the control by the banking industry of Congress, and the impenetrable secrecy with which the Fed conducts itself resonates across the political spectrum, as the truly bipartisan and trans-ideological vote yesterday reflects. Populist anger over elite-favoring economic policies has long been brewing on both the Right and Left (and in between), but neither political party can capitalize on it because they're both dependent upon and subservient to the same elite interests which benefit from those policies. For that reason, many of the most consequential political conflicts are shaped far more by an "insider v. outsider" dichotomy than by a "GOP v. Democrat" or "Left v. Right" split. The pillaging of America's economic security by financial elites, with the eager assistance of the government officials who they own and who serve them, is the prime example of such a conflict. The political system as a whole — both parties' leadership — is owned and controlled by a handful of key industry interests, and anger over the fact is found across the political spectrum. Yesterday's vote is a very rare example where the true nature of political power was expressed and the petty distractions and artificial fault lines overcome.
BTL:Media Spins Nov. 3rd GOP Victories as "Change Election" (tags)
BETWEEN THE LINES Syndicated Radio Newsmagazine
Homeowners' rallying cry: Produce the note (tags)
ZEPHYRHILLS, Fla. (AP) — Kathy Lovelace lost her job and was about to lose her house, too. But then she made a seemingly simple request of the bank: Show me the original mortgage paperwork. And just like that, the foreclosure proceedings came to a standstill.
Green Party Presidential Debate, Sunday, January 13th, San Francisco (tags)
Green Party Presidential Debate, Sunday, January 13th, San Francisco
Green Party: A Presidential Debate That Matters, Jan. 13 (tags)
SAN FRANCISCO – The first, and only, live debate between candidates on the Green Party’s California ballot for President of the United States – featuring a former Democratic Party member of Congress, consumer protection icon, professor and environmental engineer – is scheduled here January 13, 2008, said John Morton of the Green Presidential Debate Committee
Blackwater's Run for the Border (tags)
There are signs that Blackwater USA, the private security firm that came under intense scrutiny after its employees killed 17 civilians in Iraq in September, is positioning itself for direct involvement in U.S. border security. The company is poised to construct a major new training facility in California, just eight miles from the U.S.-Mexico border. While contracts for U.S. war efforts overseas may no longer be a growth industry for the company, Blackwater executives have lobbied the U.S. government since at least 2005 to help train and even deploy manpower for patrolling America's borders.
Approval of Bush policy on Iraq declines (tags)
Americans' approval of President Bush's handling of Iraq has dropped to the lowest level ever,
Article on CIA Child Trafficing (tags)
They count on the fact that the more bizarre and perverted they act the safer they are because the average joe cannot even fathom the depths of evil that this agency perpetrates.
Bush's Road Trip: Potemkin Town Meetings and a Potemkin Opposition (tags)
The president is tightly controlling who gets into his Social Security public gatherings. No surprise there. But why aren’t Democrats complaining that tickets are only being offered to Republican members of Congress?
BTL:Ohio's Official Presidential Election Results Challenged by Recount and... (tags)
...Lawsuit Filed in State Supreme Court ~ Interview with Cliff Arnebeck, lawyer representing the Alliance for Democracy, conducted by Between the Lines' Scott Harris
The battle for Congress heats up (tags)
“I have never considered myself a partisan person, but the Republican Party left me behind, so I had no choice but to leave the Republican Party behind,” Steven Brozak told delegates to the Democratic Convention this summer.
GOP-Corporate PAC funded TX take-over, perhaps illegally (tags)
The group gained financial traction largely by tapping Warren Robold, a Washington-based fund-raiser already affiliated with Americans for a Republican Majority, a political arm of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Sugar Land.
Nader Backs Kuccinich For Prez (tags)
Kucinich swore off corporate donations and relies heavily on relatively small fund-raisers such as a breakfast Saturday with about 40 supporters and community activists, where he waved his labor union card in calling for a "workers' White House."