Those Who Turned Away….

Every Senator steps forward on his first day in office, puts his hand on the Bible and then utters these words…..

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic;
…

The Fourth Amendment, considered by most to be part of the Constitution states the following……

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

These are those following who allowed unwarranted wire tapping by the government to continue….. five more years. It was voted in 2008 to expire on Monday.

R Andrew Alexander TN
R Kelly Ayotte NH
R John Barrasso WY
D Michael Bennet CO
D Richard Blumenthal CT
R Roy Blunt MO
R John Boozman AR
R Scott Brown MA
R Richard Burr NC
D Benjamin Cardin MD
D Thomas Carper DE
D Robert Casey PA
R Clarence Chambliss GA
R Daniel Coats IN
R Thomas Coburn OK
R William Cochran MS
R Susan Collins ME
D Kent Conrad ND
R Robert Corker TN
R John Cornyn TX
R Michael Crapo ID
R Michael Enzi WY
D Dianne Feinstein CA
D Kirsten Gillibrand NY
R Lindsey Graham SC
R Charles Grassley IA
D Kay Hagan NC
R Orrin Hatch UT
R Dean Heller NV
R John Hoeven ND
R Kathyrn Hutchison TX
R James Inhofe OK
R Johnny Isakson GA
R Mike Johanns NE
R Ron Johnson WI
D Timothy Johnson SD
D John Kerry MA
D Amy Klobuchar MN
D Herbert Kohl WI
R Jon Kyl AZ
D Mary Landrieu LA
D Carl Levin MI
I Joseph Lieberman CT
R Richard Lugar IN
D Joe Manchin WV
R John McCain AZ
D Claire McCaskill MO
R Addison McConnell KY
 D Barbara Mikulski MD
R Jerry Moran KS
D Clarence Nelson FL
D Earl Nelson NE
R Robert Portman OH
D Mark Pryor AR
D John Reed RI
D Harry Reid NV
R James Risch ID
R Charles Roberts KS
D John Rockefeller WV
R Marco Rubio FL
D Charles Schumer NY
R Jefferson Sessions AL
;D Jeanne Shaheen NH
R Richard Shelby AL
R Olympia Snowe ME
D Deborah Stabenow MI
R John Thune SD
R Patrick Toomey PA
R David Vitter LA
D Mark Warner VA
D James Webb VA
D Sheldon Whitehouse RI
R Roger Wicker MS

The world didn’t end after 2008… It may not end now in 2012.. but estimates are currently that over 10,000 Americans have been picked up and held like Joe Padilla somewhere without access to an attorney, without access to communication, without access to due process, because of the Patriot Act.

One day we will ask how this could happen. Who was too blame? Who could have stepped up and stopped it, but instead, chose to turn away?

This will be their answer.

SOPA BLACKOUT DAY

Image direct result caused by actions of the stupid fools impersonating a US Congress

This Wednesday, on January 18th 2012, we too will be participating in SOPA Blackout Day… I encourage every true American patriot left, to do likewise.

Raining Fire In The City

London is ablaze. Rioting.

Why?

Cuts to their budget, just like the ones we are about to do to ours….

The only reason Americans haven’t rioted so far, is because of Obama and the Democrats insistence that Federal money is being spent as part of the stimulus plan…

In Greece, Israel, and now London, Liverpool, and Birmingham, people have been without…

Which as I said above, is exactly where we soon will be…

Not to sound callous, but perhaps one must consider the British deserve it? Likewise so will we if we too follow through with austerity cuts as did all these countries that have been rioting…

In every case, austerity cuts are the instigator….

Now austerity cuts, are really a stupid way out of a budget mess.

When you get to where your expenses are greater than your revenue stream, there are two ways to solve it… One, lower expenses so they match the revenue stream; two, raise the revenue stream so it matches the expenses… Best if you do both…

Where they failed in these nations, was to tax the wealthiest to pay for these necessary programs… Just in the numbers alone it makes so much more sense if you have to piss off someone to piss of the one percent at the top,…. than piss of the 99 percent on the bottom…..

“Hey, lets give whatever the “one-percenter” asks for.. just give it to him, and what ever it is he wants, we will take it out of the little the 99% have to fight over on the bottom…. ”

So Britain did that, and now they’ve got 99% of the population mad enough to riot, and there is only 1% with any resolve to stop them…

On the other hand, if they had taxed the wealthiest one percent (just for the sake of illustration) everything he had…. he’d be pissed. But 99% percent of the population would have jobs, would buy cars again, pay rent on time, would go out to eat, would shop to refurnish their house… 99% of the population would have jobs…..

So when the one wealthy per center, strode into the poor sections of town, and began throwing firebombs at the 5 And 10 Cent Store… 99% of the populations would descend on him, and nip his riot in the bud… “Uhh, no, you ain’t doing that here…”

So from hell it appears this notion came from, that we have to cater to the top 1% …. no, we don’t; we should be catering to the 99% of those on the bottom…. What they need, and therefore, what we need, … is to raise taxes just a tiny bit, up to 40% on the top marginal rate… and re tax capital gains, up to 40%…

Pretty soon, everyone will be too busy working to even think about throwing a firebomb through a store front window…..

Why I Read The Foreign Press Instead of The Crap Found In American Ones

I’m printing this article in full: tell me, where in America can you find journalism this “fair and balanced”?

Another crisis in the horizon?

A | A | A |
Winarno Zain, Jakarta | Tue, 07/19/2011 7:00 AM A | A | A |

It seems the world economy has faced endless threats preventing it from sailing smoothly into a strong recovery this year.

First there was the Greek debt crisis that jolted several major banks, and then a political uprising in the Middle East that pushed up oil prices, and then a tsunami in Japan that disrupted manufacturing activities in many countries.

The world economy has not fully dusted off the adverse impacts of these three events. Yet another headwind is looming large on the horizon. This time it is the possible default of the US government of its debt on Aug. 2, if the US Congress fails to approve an increase to its debt ceiling as requested by President Barack Obama. By that date, the US government debt would have reached its maximum allocated limit of US$14.3 trillion.

The current negotiation between representatives of Democratic and Republican parties on the US budget deficit has run into a deadlock, and so the possibility is real that there won’t be any substantial agreements reached, since the dateline is nearing. Major rating agencies such as Standard and Poor, and Moody’s have warned they are ready to downgrade the US government debt rating from top grade AAA.

This would be the first time in 90 years that the US government debt has been downgraded.

It is not hard to imagine what will happen if by Aug. 2 the US government has exhausted its credit ceiling and can not get additional debt to pay for its spending needs.

The US government would have to curb its spending, and because some of these relate to payments to government employees, pensioners and other social benefits, this would strike a severe blow to the consumer spending that is so essential to the US economic recovery.

With debt default and credit rating downgrades, it would be difficult for the US government to get loans. Faced with increasing risk, investors would ask for higher returns for US government bonds. This would push interest rate higher, further depressing the economic recovery.

The US dollar would plunge, triggering a surge in commodity prices and another round of inflation around the world. A deadly combination of inflation and economic stagnation could spin the world economy into a tailspin as happened in the early 1970’s.

How would this worst case scenario affect the Indonesian economy? As capital flows out of the US, investors have tended to seek safe havens elsewhere. Commodities, especially gold and oil, would be their first targets. Emerging markets could be the next destination of this capital flight, depending on the assessment of investors on the strength of its economy and their vulnerability and exposure to the US economic fallout.

But financial crises always result in a loss of confidence and produce negative sentiments in the financial markets. They put financial markets into disarray, and as investors panic, capital starts flowing out of emerging economies.

During the global financial crisis in 2008-2009, capital moved out from emerging economies back to the advanced economies. At that time, the US government bonds and commodities like gold were considered safe havens.

If the US government defaults on its debt payment this time, the question is will the situation change? Will the US government bonds still be considered a safe haven for investors? If not, then where else will they put their money? Or maybe they would prefer to keep their money in the same place and not move it anywhere. If so, the Indonesian economy could get some benefit and may not have to face another shock.

In the longer term, however, the situation may change. No country is immune to the negative ripples of a US economic crisis. As US imports plunge from weakening domestic demand, exports from emerging countries will also suffer. The extent to which these negative impacts affect each country will depend on their trading and banking exposure to the US economy.

What is disturbing about this debt talk is the use of this debate as a political game. This is especially apparent in the Republican stance.

Economist, market analyst and CEOs of financial institutions and even the IMF itself have warned that if Congress fails to raise the ceiling of the US government debt, the world economy would slip into deep recession.

The Republicans did not fully accept Obama’s proposal to raise the debt ceiling. They only agree on a smaller number, but even it was given with some conditions. The Republicans asked Obama not to raise taxes, especially for the wealthy, and Obama should cut social spending, a sacred cow for the Democrats.

By using tit for tat tactics in the negotiation and by seemingly ignoring the impending consequences and dangers, the Republicans were trying to push Obama into an intricate political dilemma.

If the US economy slip into another crisis, economic contraction would be inevitable. Corporate bankruptcies would spread, and jobless rate would surge.

A presidential election is still slightly more than one year away, and Obama’s reelection prospects are solid. But his popularity rating is highly dependent on the unemployment rate. That is why the Republicans think the only way for them to erode Obama’s popularity now is by pushing the US economy into crisis.

As the stakes are high, the two political parties should temporarily set aside their ideologies and adopt a pragmatic stance for the interests of saving the world economy from another catastrophe.

President Obama demonstrated his willingness to compromise his political ideology during the global financial crisis of 2008-2009. Being a Democrat, Obama’s political inclination is generally anti-big business.

Obama realized that it was reckless lending by some big banks on Wall Street that triggered the financial crisis. But he also realized that saving these banks from bankruptcy was key to saving the world economy from further disaster.

His decision to pour $800 billion of taxpayer’s money to bail out these banks was hard to swallow by his fellow party members, but it worked. Now it is expected that the Republicans will be willing to do likewise.

The writer is an economist.

America’s Net Worth

Senator Landrieu of Louisiana dropped a bombshell today. From one of her committee hearings this past year, one of those testifying mentioned the median figure of America’s family’s net worth was around $47,000….

She asked it they had those figures broken down by race.

“Sure,” she was told.

The median level … that is the point where 50% are above and 50% are below, for whites, was $67,000 dollars. (Net worth is where they take all a familiy’s assets, and subtract from it, all they owe.) The median for Hispanic families, ….. is $8000, dollars… That means that 50% of Hispanic families are below a net worth of $8,000 dollars. And for blacks…. that figure is $4000 dollars.

And now Obama and the Republicans are telling us, that the top 1%, needs the $970 billion dollars more than any of these people. And that they need it sooo bad, that if they don’t get it, no one else can have tax relief either, nor can unemployment be extended, and what’s most unfair, Mr. President, is that we will have to borrow that money, just to give it to them, and then, at some point in the future, figure out over time, how to pay it back… with interest.

Mr. President, there are a lot better uses for $970 billion dollars.