Obama said now that Phony Debt Ceiling crisis is over, the country can start to focus on jobs. Huh? Congress is beating it out of town for the next five weeks. But wait! Obama's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness had a forum livestreamed from the White House website this afternoon. (I thought Joe Biden had vowed to get rid of wasteful government websites!) Anyway, it was a bunch of CEOs lolling around on a stage commiserating about this and that and mostly about THEMSELVES. Steve of AOL says we need a Silicon Valley States of America. We need government to be more friendly to businesses so they can have the confidence to invest. We need a program so all their hoarded overseas profits can be "repatriated" to evade American taxes. There might have been talk of actual jobs instead of entrepreneurship and how the rich can get richer. I don't know. I turned it off after 15 minutes. It was a waste of time, and I am in austerity mode, cutting back on my government propaganda so I can save for college and win the future.
One bit of pleasantly surprising news: Kirsten Gillibrand, the junior senator from my homestate of New York, broke ranks with bank-licking Chuck Schumer and voted against the Debt Ceiling extortion bill. From her statement:
“The fact is, there is nothing in this deal that will address the significant jobs crisis we are facing. This deal, cut behind closed doors with zero transparency, is an unbalanced approach that cuts deeply into discretionary spending while being overwhelmingly stacked in favor of large corporations who exploit loopholes and the wealthiest among us. It is simply not in the best interests of the middle class and the larger economic recovery."Doubly surprising, given Gillibrand was the top recipient of Wall Street largesse during her campaign. Somebody obviously read the emails and phone messages from her pissed-off constituents. (including me) So good on Kirsten, whom I have oftimes criticized for being in the pocket of the banks. The five other Democrats who voted against the bill in the Senate are both New Jersey senators, Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez, along with Tom Harkin of Iowa, Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Jeff Merkley of Oregon. Names to remember come election time.
The Economy by Numbers in all their horrifying reality, are here.
And last but not least, by popular request, here is the link to Keith Olbermann's "Special Comment" call to action. Enjoy.
That was an inspiring speech by Keith Olbermann and I hope many Americans heard it and are forwarding it to their friends. Apathy and waiting for someone else to do the work and take the risks are the two things keeping the Middle Class from taking our country back from the Oligarchy. It isn't up to someone else it is up to us. Taking our country back and restoring functioning Democracy isn't now and won't be a spectator sport.
ReplyDeleteAsk not for whom the bell tolls…
ReplyDeleteAlarm bells from Greece and the rest of Europe…where the economic disaster and soaring unemployment and anger against the political establishment have made conditions ripe for a fascist, right-wing rise.
“Got that 30s feeling, all the way,” says Paul Krugman.
The leader of a violent far-right neo-Nazi group, who is an Athens city councilman, says a nationalist revolution is coming. "We have a bankrupt economy and the thieving politicians responsible go unpunished," he said. "How long do they think they can keep lying and fooling the Greek people?”
A U.N. refugee agency warns that the growing social unrest has resulted in daily attacks on immigrant scapegoats by fascist groups in central Athens. It reports that there are areas of Athens where fascist groups have established an “odd lawless regime.”
“The despair brought by unemployment comes not only from the threat of destitution, but from the sudden view of a vast nothingness ahead,” writes Eric Hofer in The True Believer. “The unemployed are more likely to follow the peddlers of hope than the handers-out of relief.” A German said of pre-Hitlerian Germany that “The feeling of having come to the end of all things was one of the worst troubles we endured after the lost war.” A ruined middle class with many new poor were the main supporters of the Nazi and Fascist revolutions in Germany and Italy. Seeing themselves as victims of degrading and unjust unemployment, they were willing to listen to those who called for change.
“And slime had they for mortar.” – Genesis II
One addition to your list of Democrats in the Senate who voted against the "debt ceiling extortion bill" is Senator Nelson from Nebraska. That was a vote based upon his support for seniors. He opposed the attack on entitlements. Given that he is up for reelection in 2012, that was a solid no vote. It would have been much easier for him to have voted "red" to match the color of the State's politics. All of the "NO" democratic voters showed some guts about standing up for what is right.
ReplyDeleteI love your efforts here in your own column and elsewhere!!
From-the Heartland
@From-the-Heartland,
ReplyDeleteThanks for pointing out the omission - has been duly corrected.
Phony, phony, phony. You can't state it enough, especially if our mainstream media decided to ignore this very pertinent fact and instead reports "default averted". Of course, it doesn't help when our commander in chief is selling this same narrative.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that "deals cut behind closed doors with little transparency" have been a hallmark of this Administration
ReplyDeleteRichard