Saturday, January 31, 2009

Friday, January 30, 2009

RNC ELECT AFRICAN AMERICAN, MICHAEL STEELE, WHILE STILL REACHING OUT TO RACISTS AND MALCONTENTS

The other day, I sent an email to Boehner or some Republican House member and asked "Why is it that racists and malcontents are attracted to your Party?"
Well, it must have scared the hell out of them ... cause, guess what?
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The Republican Party elected African American Michael Steele [moderate Republican, proponent of "drill baby drill" and high deductibles for health insurance] as RNC chair; however, by virtue of their love for Rush Limbaugh, we believe, at this time, they are using Mr. Steele as a smoke screen for their Republican agenda.
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Now I'm not going to take all the credit, because what really scared them was the election of an African American male by the name of Barack Husein Obama; who is part Caucasian, part African Muslim, Christian, great family man, has lived in Hawaii and South East Asia, etc. This could have only happened in the Democratic Party.
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WOW! That must have really shook the "core" of the Republican Party.
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Didn't shake Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity or Bill O'Reilly.
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This week several Republicans rebuked Rush Limbaugh for remarks made to President Obama, saying he "wished Obama would fail"; however, one of those Republicans apologized to Rush and admitted he agreed with Rush.
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We are in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, with thousands of people losing their homes and millions out of work, and Rush, who some consider a leader in the Republican Party; wishes that President Obama would fail. Never would have heard that from a Democrat [kiss of death]; however, the Republican Party like some of their elitist "Wall Street" corporate buddies are an arrogant bunch.
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Ok, readers, here's more news ....I'm so excited, cause it makes my point [didn't know it was going to be that easy] ...
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According to Wikipedia:
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"Steele then entered the Georgetown University Law Center and in 1991, he received his Juris Doctor degree. He worked as a corporate securities associate at the Washington, D.C. office of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton. From 1991 to 1997, Steele specialized in financial investments for Wall Street underwriters, working at Cleary’s Tokyo, Japan office focusing on major product liability litigation and at its London office on corporate matters. Steele left the law firm and founded the Steele Group, a business and legal consulting firm..."
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Does that not make my point about Republican buddies, or what? A defender of big business and "Wall Street". [Umm]
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Now back to Rush Limbaugh and his loyal followers.
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May 6, 2008, Rush called Latino Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa "A Shoeshine Guy"
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Rush attracts racists and malcontents and they seem to flock to the Republican Party.
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According to Professor Ekwueme Michael Thelwell ... after the Voting Rights Act of 1965, [that outlawed discriminatory voting practices that had been responsible for the widespread disenfranchisement of African Americans in the United States], the racist Southern Dixiecrats flocked to the Republican Party.
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"To our distress, what happened was the Dixiecrats, the racists, the segregationists simply migrated wholesale into the Republican Party and since that time, there have only been two Democratic presidents, and both of them from the South. You know, so that the law of unintended consequences, we won a victory by which the whole country suffered, as a consequence of the taking over of the Republican Party by these really renegade, undemocratic, reactionary, backward elements from the Southern Dixiecrats. And they have run the Republican Party ever since."
Amy Goodwin Interview, Aug 2005
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Republicans tend to attract in smaller numbers ... upper class African Americans and Asians; and some Hispanic Catholics who may have abandoned the Party in this past election. But a large majority of Republicans come from the South [that includes Evangelicals] and Mountain West; and, they embrace elitist members of the financial community, the management of large corporations, [esp. those who are anti-union] and certain segments of the small business community.
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Republicans have a vested interest in keeping corporate taxes low because those are their very largest contributors. In the last 48 - 72 hours of the Presidential election, there were huge donations made from the above named groups.
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I've never known a racist (you know, the ones who violently hate minority groups and Jewish people) to join the Democratic Party [probably because Democrats have a large number of African Americans, Jewish people, and members of the Hispanic Community].
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Democrats reflect every ethnic group and economic class; however, it has been the only party to consistently reach out to.. and look out for... "Women, and also the Low Income and Middle Income" working class; who without them, this country would be devastated. The erosion of the Middle Class (pushing them lower and lower into the lower rungs of the economic ladder) has largely contributed to the state we are in now.
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Republicans are strongly anti-union and, if you recall, just the other day, every male Republican except Arlen Spector of Pennsylvania, voted no on the "Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act".
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Republicans have fiscal policies that benefit their largest contributors - which in 2008 was ATT, (the corporation that allowed Bush/Cheney intelligence to spy on civilians)**
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Unless the Obama administration disallows this, I will have to change telephone and Internet providers.
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One more thing, I'm really tired of Republican women referring to Sarah Palin as being the first woman nominee for Vice President. Excuse me, Geraldine Ferraro (a Democrat) was the first VP nominee.
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The Controversy surrounding Republican Chip Saltsman:
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For Christmas 2008, Saltsman sent a music CD of songs intended to be political satire to members of the Republican National Committee. The CD of 41 songs included one entitled "David Ehrenstein's 'Barack the Magic Negro' " set to the tune of "Puff, the Magic Dragon". Its title was drawn from a Los Angeles Times column, written by Ehrenstein, who is partly of African-American descent,[13] that suggested President-elect Barack Obama appealed to those who feel guilty about the nation's history of mistreatment of African-Americans.[14] Saltsman said the song, penned by his longtime friend Paul Shanklin, a white conservative parodist songwriter, who performs it using his impersonation of Al Sharpton, "should be easily recognized as satire directed at the Times."[15]
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Deborah Mathis fired back on BlackAmericaWeb.com .. December 29, 2008...
"What a pathetic bumpkin Chip Saltsman turns out to be.Saltsman is bound to have learned some things from managing Mike Huckabee’s once-quixotic presidential campaign, which actually had some momentum for awhile.But basic human politics escape him ...
Frankly, that’s the way I like it. I prefer bigots who are too country, too primitive, too proud, and too shallow to cloak their feelings – or even know how to – as opposed to those sophisticates who serve their racism cold and on a bed of pretense.What makes Saltsman’s transparency not only preferable, but vital is that he had hoped to be chairman of the Republican National Committee, which now understands clearly that black and brown support is no longer a luxury, but a necessity.
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The last thing it needs is to be identified with racial divisiveness and insensitivity.As Mike Duncan, the current RNC chairman, noted, “The 2008 election was a wake-up call for Republicans to reach out and bring more people into our party.”
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Duncan expressed outrage “that anyone would think this is appropriate as it clearly does not move us in the right direction.”In short, Saltsman’s chairmanship ambitions are toast.For sure, the Tennessee Republican isn’t the only one who got a kick out of “Barack, the Magic Negro.”
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It was, after all, Rush Limbaugh who introduced the country to it via his radio show.But the blustery, perennially offensive Limbaugh was not in line to set the agenda for a major political party. Now, neither is Saltsman.
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Interestingly, another would-be RNC chairman is sounding more forgiving of Saltsman than is the current GOP leadership. Ken Blackwell, the former Ohio secretary of state and apologist for the state’s squirrely voting system, blames the media for “hypersensitivity” on race and would not condemn Saltsman’s action.Blackwell, you may recall, is a black man. Apparently, rather than take the party forward, he is more concerned with not offending the bigots in his party by pointing out their bigotry, so as to assure them that he is not the angry black man of legend than he is on taking the party forward. We’ve seen that type before too. The accommodationist, tap dancing his way into favor. The type who would probably be flattered had the magic Negro of note been “Ken,” not “Barack.”
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The Republican Party (a party that racists and malcontents are attracted to) says that they haven't changed their fundamental core values.
Why have they really elected Michael Steele? Smoke screen?
1. Can a leopard change its spots?
2. If it acts like a duck, talks like a duck, then it's probably still a duck.
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Interesting Facts:
Steele on Jobs:
Corporate Globalization Fact Sheet
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-Sources:
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THE EDUCATED CITIZEN AND PROGRESSIVE MEDIA

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We're constantly being fed mainstream establishment and right-wing tainted media. Stations like CNN and FOX NEWS.
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We need transparency and inside information and we haven't been receiving it.
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We believe the sites below offer our citizens, government transparency, provide our citizens with vital information, and disclose what's really going on behind closed doors.
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Wouldn't you like THE TRUTH or at least OPEN DISCUSSIONS with real and frank dialogue?
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NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO (NPR)
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GRITtv
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MEDIA MATTERS




Center For U.S. Global Engagement

MS. PRIVATE SCHOOL MIKA BRZEZINSKI SNUBS HER NOSE AT THE JOBLESS, HOMELESS. POOR AND DISADVANTAGED BY ASKING "HOW MUCH OF THE STIMULUS IS "WELFARE"?"

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Mika Brzezinski, co-host of "Morning Joe" and daughter of former National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter, seems to be snubbing her nose at the jobless, homeless, poor and disadvantaged by asking how much of the stimulus is "welfare"?."
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Experts say that if you give tax cuts to those at the lower rung of the economic ladder (which includes low-income wage earners and those who are on unemployment), they will spend more on things that stimulate the economy than those at the higher rungs. Hence, why you want to give that group tax cuts.
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We've already covered (in a previous post) how "family planning" saves money ..but that point is moot since it was removed from the stimulus plan.
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Mika, poor choice of words or something else? You could have said social agenda, but she used the negatively and racially charged word "welfare".
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What do you think readers?
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Please stop/pause music player to the right of this page before starting the video.

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Go to Media Matters for answer to Mika's statement: http://mediamatters.org/discuss/200901300014

Thursday, January 29, 2009

LILLY LEDBETTER FAIR PAY ACT SIGNED BY PRESIDENT OBAMA and VOTED AGAINST BY EVERY MALE REPUBLICAN EXCEPT ARLEN SPECTOR

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BREAKING NEWS!
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We are so proud of our women leaders in Congress and the Senate for getting the "Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act" passed.
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Every male Republican voted against it, with the lone exception of Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter
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For more information about the Act:
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REPUBLICAN STRATEGY TO DERAIL STIMULUS PACKAGE AND FIRE UP THEIR BASE

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Ok readers ... our group has set forth a strategy. We're not going to let you know what it is right now; but, we'll let you know if it works.
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Did you notice that the Cato Institute [a conservative think tank], fueled by right-wing Republicans and some conservative groups, has a big spread this morning talking about more tax cuts being the way to improve the economy and they're running tons of ads trying to convince you they are right. Well, in case you don't remember, Republican economic policy (which included tax cuts) along with Republican foreign policy and lack of regulation and oversight has driven us into this mess. Remember? That's why you voted for change.
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That said, tax policy that allows for tax credits and tax incentives [not tax cuts] for businesses is much healthier.
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Now, if you combine massive infrastructure spending with tax credits and tax incentives for businesses, we're headed in the right direction.
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Let's see if our government does the right thing. Hey people, government is us ... speak up!
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Wednesday, January 28, 2009

REPUBLICANS CONTINUING TO MISLEAD THE PUBLIC ABOUT THE CBO, JAPANESE STIMULUS PLAN AND TAX CUTS

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First let me give a Kudos "shout out" to "Morning Joe"'s frequent guest, Dylan Ratigan and to CNBC's Maria Bartiromo for their insightful and enlightening remarks this morning. We need more people getting angry with what's going on in the financial world, in corporations, and in the Congress and the Senate. You guys keep up the good work; and I urge citizens/consumers to keep a "watchful eye" on these entities and hold them accountable.
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"Rolling Stone" writer claims no one came forward to address corruption regarding Blagojevich. Not true ... Jesse Jackson Jr. did speak to certain federal investigators when the Governor asked for a donation of $25,000 from Jesse in exchange for hiring his wife. Kudos to Jesse.
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Yesterday, I sent quite a few emails to the House and the Senate dealing with myths, lies and half-truths.
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1. Republicans state study by CBO shows vast majority of money in stimulus package won't be spent until after 2010.
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The facts:
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"Reports of a recent study by the Congressional Budget Office, showing that the vast majority of the money in the stimulus package won't be spent until after 2010, have Democrats on the defensive and the GOP calling for a pullback in wasteful spending.
Funny thing is, there is no such report.
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"We did not issue any report, any analysis or any study," a CBO aide told the Huffington Post.
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Rather, the nonpartisan CBO ran a small portion of an earlier version of the stimulus plan through a computer program that uses a standard formula to determine a score -- how quickly money will be spent. The score only dealt with the part of the stimulus headed for the Appropriations Committee and left out the parts bound for the Ways and Means or Energy and Commerce Committee.
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Because it dealt with just a part of the stimulus, it estimated the spending rate for only about $300 billion of the $825 billion plan. Significant changes have been made to the part of the bill the CBO looked at. ..."

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See entire 1/23/08 post at:
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2. Republicans claim that stimulus didn't work with the Japanese therefore it won't work now.
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The facts:
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The Journal [conservative "Wall Street Journal"] editorial listed stimulus policies enacted by Japan between 1992 and 1999 and concluded that "Japan's economy grow [sic] anemically over that decade, but as the nearby chart shows, its national debt exploded ... Now we're told that a similar spending program -- a new New Deal -- will revive the U.S. economy. How do you say 'good luck' in Japanese?"
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Contrary to the Journal's suggestion that stimulus spending was ineffective in Japan, Adam Posen, deputy director of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, wrote in his September 1998 book, Restoring Japan's Economic Growth, that "the 1995 stimulus package ... did result in solid growth in 1996, demonstrating that fiscal policy does work when it is tried. As on earlier occasions in the 1990s, however, the positive response to fiscal stimulus was undercut by fiscal contraction in 1996 and 1997."
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He concluded:
Similar contractions undertaken both openly and by hidden means in 1994, 1996, and 1997, with reference to announced but unimplemented spending, had destructive effects. Future government packages must recognize that when the Japanese government paid for fiscal stimulus in 1995, it got economic growth, and that when it mistakenly pursued fiscal austerity in most of the remainder of the 1992-97 period, it got economic contraction.
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A 1999 budget brief from the Japanese Ministry of Finance demonstrates that the consumption tax was indeed increased from 3 to 5 percent in 1997. Other economists and media figures agree with Posen that the positive effects of the mid-decade stimulus packages were curtailed by these attempts to scale back spending and increase sales taxes.
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For the entire December 22, 2008 article:
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3. John McCain says broadband spending will not stimulate the economy.
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The facts:
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Rachel Maddow caught John McCain stating (during the campaign) that spending on broadband would stimulate the economy. She even played the video with those words flowing out of his mouth.
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4. Republicans claim that (supply side, etc.) tax cuts help stimulate the economy more than spending. They have even front loaded up the Internet search engines directing you to blog posts and articles (that were non existent a few days ago) that repeat distorted/misleading assumptions, trying to sway you to their side.
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The Facts:
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Go to:



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Tune into GRITtv with Laura Flanders
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Tuesday, January 27, 2009

THE STIMULUS PLAN, GUANTANAMO BAY AND CATERPILLAR

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I'm tired of hearing half-truths and out and out lies.
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Regarding the Family Planning portion of the Stimulus package:
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According to Think Progress (which I trust more than Republican "speak")
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"As usual, in addition to throwing out insults, conservatives are distorting and simplifying the facts.
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Here is the actual text from the stimulus package’s summary:
State Option to Cover Family Planning Services. Under current law, the Secretary has the authority under section 1115 of the Social Security Act to grant waivers to states to allow them to cover family planning services and supplies to low-income women who are not otherwise eligible for Medicaid. The bill would give states the option to provide such coverage without obtaining a waiver. States could continue to use the existing waiver authority if they preferred.
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Like other portions of the stimulus bill, this measure would not only
aid states, but also provide preventative, cost-saving health care to help low-income women support their families and keep working. It focuses on access to recommended services and contraception to prevent unplanned pregnancies and promote maternal and infant health — not abortion. ThinkProgress has learned that an upcoming Congressional Budget Office report estimates that this change would save $200 million over five years and $700 million over 10.
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No one would be forcing states to pay for family planning services. States can now cover low-income women if they get a state waiver, but approval can take a long time. Despite these bureaucratic hassles,
27 states have already “obtained federal approval to extend Medicaid eligibility for family planning services to individuals who would otherwise not be eligible.” This bill would simply allow states to skip the administrative delays."
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This stonewalling, tax cut focus by Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats, or do nothing attitude by extreme right wing Republicans and some Libertarians, I predict, will cause such a rift between the haves and have-nots, that you will see such civil, social and criminal unrest as you have never seen before.

Are you willing to let more and more Americans lose jobs, lose their homes and be homeless?

There will be rioting in the streets, militant groups springing up [just like in Europe and Asia], people dying needlessly, and the crumbling of this so-called Capitalistic system.

The United States will become more isolated and seen by others as a Nation that cannot even solve its own problems.

That will isolate us even further from the rest of the world.

The next thing you will see is a huge breach in National Security which will give those people who hate us more credibility; that will follow with more military attacks against the United States.

You think this is dire, let those people keep on opposing President Obama, and this Nation may slide into such a deep depression that it may take 20 or more years to recover from, if it ever does recover.
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Regarding Mitch McConnell
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1. He wants the entire stimulus to be about tax cuts.
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2. He claims the stimulus plan is full of earmarks. Not true.
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Concerning Caterpillar’s remarks:

Caterpillar appears to be telling half-truths concerning the language about "buy American". They know that some Americans will continue to buy things produced in other countries. A lot of people can't even distinguish between what is American or foreign imports. The other thing, Caterpillar also has a market in other countries.

Whenever management speaks, it simply means they are afraid of hurting their jobs, their salaries and bonuses.

This just shows me that there is nothing patriotic about business. This is all about profits.

Yes, you must have profits, but how much is enough, and what is management and their work force willing to sacrifice so that the gap between the haves and have-nots doesn't get wider.

You can move your operations to other countries, but there is growing unrest in the rest of the world about this widening gap too. Pretty soon there will be nowhere to run.

President Obama is trying to narrow the gap between the haves and have-nots, stimulate the economy and reach out to the rest of the world to help bring peace and unite us together.

Republicans are narrowly focused as usual, and they are unwilling to sacrifice ... they just want the rest of us to sacrifice.
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On Guantanamo Bay (the myths):
Please go to:
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Thursday, January 22, 2009

JOE SCARBOROUGH and the "GITMO" PROBLEM

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Joe Scarborough co-host of "Morning Joe" doesn't have a problem with "Gitmo", or former President Bush's policies on detention and torture; and was visibly extremely angry with people who do not believe as he does.
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My response to Joe:
There you go getting your “knickers twisted up” Joe. No one has a problem prosecuting terrorists. The problem was/is, a group of people of Muslim descent who we thought/think may be linked to terrorist organizations weren’t prosecuted; they were detained indefinitely and in secret; and some even tortured.

Let me ask a question. Was it ok to detain Japanese Americans?
Is it ok to profile Muslims, African Americans and Hispanics, etc. by virtue of their ethnicity or color of their skin? Do you absolutely know the face of Al Qaeda, what they look like?

How about domestic terrorists … those groups who want to kill and have killed Americans, African Americans, gays, Jews, Hispanics, etc … it’s their mission … ok, is it ok to detain or detain indefinitely and in secret, members of those groups?

You’re walking a really fine line here Joe. Look, no one has ever profiled you … you walk a line of privilege. Therefore, it appears that you aren’t real worked up when people of another race, ethnicity and/or color are profiled and detained ... worse, profiled, detained, tortured in secret.

The Bush/Cheney administration by virtue of its policies of profiling, torturing and detaining indefinitely and in secret have created this huge problem for America and how Americans are perceived in the Muslim world and other parts of this world.

We are a young country in a big world and a global economy. We were seen as a leader of the “FREE” world.
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What happens here, in the United State, spreads to the rest of the world. We are largely responsible for the mess in this global economy. We must also bear some responsibility (due to our policies) for this world not being a safer place.

President Obama (and it is President Obama, not Obama ... since you love civility, tradition and respect) is extremely aware of the violations of all people’s rights and liberties.

If you want to go there, Joe, my suggestion is you don’t travel anywhere outside of the United States, because one day, someone may not like the fact your Caucasian, see Caucasians as aggressors; who they may view as a people seeking to advance their own interests over the interests of others, and willing to use military force to advance it; and then they confine you indefinitely and secretly in some foreign country. Perhaps we’ve been seeing that backlash for some time now.
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The Facts:
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*I want to add that I do not think Joe is a racist; but his remarks were insensitive and not well-thought out.
He simply represents the growing fear in the United States regarding America's safety. That said, policies such as what occurred during the Bush administration, may cause those who witness, are tortured or hear about what we've done, to lash out and retaliate.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

AMERICA'S SONG

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PLEASE STOP/PAUSE MUSIC PLAYER TO THE RIGHT OF THIS PAGE BEFORE PLAYING THIS VIDEO.

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THE MAKING OF "AMERICA'S SONG"

Millions online have viewed Grammy-winning artist Will.i.am's music video "Yes We Can," a song set to President Barack Obama's New Hampshire primary speech. He followed that with another celebratory song and video, "It's a New Day." Now, Will.i.am and music producer David Foster have teamed up in honor of this special time in our nation's history to create "America's Song."

DEAR PRESIDENT OBAMA

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You said you were going to close “Gitmo”, you must close it. My suggestion is to get leaders of the “FREE” world and “U.S. friendly” Muslim world and hold a World Tribunal. That’s the first step before closing “Gitmo”.
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Tuesday, January 20, 2009

PRESIDENT OBAMA TAKING THE OATH OF OFFICE

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INAUGURATION SWEARING IN AND SPEECH (ABOVE)
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THIS IS THE TEXT
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