This gave me a laugh… 30 September 2008
Posted by marisacat in 2008 Election, DC Politics, Democrats, Inconvenient Voice of the Voter, U.S. House, U.S. Senate, WAR!.89 comments
An image of the US president (C) and Indian leaders is displayed at a protest in Hyderabad against an India-US nuclear deal. [AP via BBC]
From the SFGate.com/San Francisco Chronicle coverage (I laughed all the way thru it, rich in quotes and characterisations!):
Members have described themselves as hostages. Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks (Los Angeles County), who voted against the bailout, said the original Treasury plan was “a ransom note that said if you ever want to see your 401(k)s again, send us $700 billion in unmarked bills.”
Dennis Byrne from Chicago Trib…
That an upstart public would flood Congress and the administration with unscripted, immediate and overwhelmingly negative reaction was, itself, considered a disaster of unprecedented proportions. You could read in the faces of the Wall Street types on CNBC and elsewhere their astonishment that anyone would dare defy their wisdom. Jim Cramer, the popular stock guru, expressed it best when he stated that the folks who opposed the deal are “not knowledgeable or sophisticated.”
As if everyone who disagreed with him is stupid.
Just hearing none other than O Reilly pushing the Bail Out… LOL… gotta love the bird feathers that get stuck together…
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Bay Area delegation’s roll call
By a vote of 228-205, the House defeated the $700 billion bailout package. How the Bay Area delegation voted (a “yes” vote is a vote in favor of the bailout):
Voting Yes
Anna Eshoo D-Palo Alto (14th District)
Mike Honda D-San Jose (15th District)
Zoe Lofgren D-San Jose (16th District)
Jerry McNerney D-Pleasanton (11th District)
George Miller D-Martinez (7th District)
Nancy Pelosi D-San Francisco (8th District)
Jackie Speier D-Hillsborough (12th District) part of her district runs thru a SF neighborhood as well..
Ellen Tauscher D-Walnut Creek (10th District)
Voting No
Barbara Lee D-Oakland (9th District)
Pete Stark D-Fremont (13th District)
Mike Thompson D-St. Helena (1st District)
Lynn Woolsey D-Petaluma (6th District)
… and Pete Stark has been happily going on all the Bay Area talk radio, deee-lighted to chat. What a hoot! He was just ready and waiting this am on KGO, on another line was supposed to be George Miller (confidant of Ms Pelosi) who was then… not on the line!
Fun.
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Hey! Alla youse! Cheer up!
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (left), Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C. (center), and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md. (second from right), head for a news conference after the bailout was voted down. (Getty Images)
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halfway between sleep and wake this am, I caught a stray comment about this, off early am local TV news, later searched both SFGate.com and SJ Mercury News, nada. Supposedly Sheehan will join them… Finally I googled and found the PR at the Nader/Gonzalez 08 site…
Monday, September 29, 2008 at 12:00:00 AMNews Advisory
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ryan Mehta, 408-348-0681, rmehta@votenader.org (National HQ);
Lynda Hernandez 714-803-9676, (Local)PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE RALPH NADER TO HOLD PRESS CONFRENCE AT FED
WHO: Ralph Nader and Matt GonzalezWHAT: Press Conference
WHEN: Tuesday September 30 at 10:00am
WHERE: Federal Reserve Bank, 101 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94105
On Tuesday September 30 at 10:00am, consumer advocate and Presidential candidate Ralph Nader will host a press conference with his Vice Presidential candidate Matt Gonzalez at the Federal Reserve Bank, 101 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94105
The Nader/Gonzalez campaign will speak out against the unjust, restrictive, and undemocratic Commission on Presidential Debates. The CPD, a corporation headed since its inception by two former chairs of the Democratic and Republican parties, shuts third party candidates away from public view, maintaining a stranglehold on the two party system and stifling the political conversation in this country.
The Nader/Gonzalez ticket is encouraged by AB 1945, which has passed in both the Assembly and the Senate. If signed into law, the bill will make it illegal for insurance companies to cancel the medical coverage of their clients for accidental mistakes in their medical history. This loophole is currently sometimes used throughout the country in order to deny legitimate claims on the basis of medical history technicalities. The bill would require the insurance companies to prove that a client intentionally misrepresented their medical history.
Proposition 6, the so-called “Safe Neighborhoods Act,” * would make prisoners out of children. In the country with the most per capita citizens in jail already, this would be an unacceptable further step in the wrong direction. Care should be taken to instead invest in rehabilitation for criminals generally and of course children specifically. The money spent on sending children to jail could be used in various other productive and beneficial ways. It could be used to improve the destitute healthcare system in California which leaves 6.6 million Californians uninsured, according to the California HealthCare Foundation. It could be used to fund public schools in California, which receive one-fourth the money per student as prisons do per prisoner. Instead of locking California children in jail, Nader/Gonzalez believes we should secure their future with single-payer healthcare and increased funds for public education. ::snip::
It’s practically illegal to be a child now. Or a youth……………. and, while you are a youth, be certain to dress like a Mormon missionary…
* all I could find was a YES on Prop 6 site, it seems to be the old Stop Gangs Now, Cops Will Save You! Give Us Money! Now!
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Via Ambinder, just a full text snag… 😉
Pew Research, which last week found that 57% of Americans support government intervention to save the economy, finds this week that public support has dropped; only 45% support a “government plan to invest or commit billions to secure financial institutions.” 38% say they’re opposed; the rest don’t know.
Independents are the least likely to support it (42%); Republicans are the most likely (49%) Two thirds say they’re “angry” about the plan, which independents being the angriest and Republicans being the least angry.
Note that Pew does not poll the term “bailout.
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ObRama Speaks.. in NV (I am sure McC is being just as useless out there, but Ob’s quotes are riding at the top of The Page):
“There will be time to punish those who set this fire, but now is the moment for us to come together and put the fire out.”
“Right now our job is to put out the fire, and we can’t forget that.”
Adds:“This financial crisis is a direct result of the greed and irresponsibility that has dominated Washington and Wall Street for years now.” [but is nowhere near Chicago!! NONE!! — Mcat ]
Some more!
“What it means is that if we do not act, it will be harder for you to get a mortgage for your home or the loans you need to buy a car or send your children to college.”
“What it means is that businesses won’t be able to get the loans they need to open new factories, or hire more workers, or make payroll for the workers they have…Millions of jobs could be lost. A long and painful recession could follow.” [pick up your garlic and crucifixes on the way out, it is what we have to offer! …Mcat]
Stiglitz this am is out with a quote, he predicts we get ObRama AND a long recession. Lessee, the alternative is McCain and a long recession?
Cancel the confetti and balloons, at least! No? But She told me the party was OVER!!
Whoops… 29 September 2008
Posted by marisacat in Inconvenient Voice of the Voter.69 comments
AP via The Page
The Financial Services Chair says during a presser that he doesn’t understand the GOP leadership’s strategy. “Because somebody hurt their feelings they decided to punish the country.”
Comes after Rep. Boehner and others say Pelosi’s partisan floor speech is to blame for the financial rescue bill’s defeat.
And from Jesus leader side of the bed:
The failure of the government bailout took Mr. Obama and his aides by surprise. A copy of his speech that was distributed to reporters upon arriving here, declared:
“Today, Democrats and Republicans in Washington have agreed on an emergency rescue plan that is our best and only way to prevent an economic catastrophe.”
To be fair, I am sure there is just as much deshabille in the McCain compass-less wagon train…
<!– — Updated: 4:04 pm –>
September Surprise
The House has voted down the bailout bill, to everyone’s surprise.
So much for party discipline. This bill was supported by John McCain and Barack Obama, the presidential candidates who, between them, have the support of nearly every member of the House.
But a majority of the House voted along with Bob Barr, the Libertarian who said, “We need to make Wall Street take the hit for its irresponsible investment decisions,” and Ralph Nader, the independent candidate who described the bill as “a bailout for Wall Street crooks.”
I had assumed the House leadership could assure that enough members of both parties held their noses and voted yes to gain a narrow margin for passage. But what we have here is a rejection of what Mr. Nader calls the two “corporate candidates.” ::snipsnappy!::
Ooopsie Whoopsie Doopsie… just as long as we are not duped! ya know… … LOL
Giddy? 28 September 2008
Posted by marisacat in DC Politics, Inconvenient Voice of the Voter, U.S. House, U.S. Senate, WAR!.108 comments
The first shot run with the middle of the night NYT story of a possible deal… LOL I noted their demeanor at the time I linked to the story….
In a bit they changed the pic. (The schnauzers at NRO caught it.)
I can’t imagine why…
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The 106 page or 150 page draft document, page count depending on whom one listens to… is online at
http://www.financialservices.house.gov OR http://speaker.house.gov (Merry Christmas! Just not to you or me!)
If one can get thru!
endless war roar 27 September 2008
Posted by marisacat in Inconvenient Voice of the Voter.87 comments
The 69th anniversary of the Battle of Westerplatte, the start of the German invasion of Poland and outbreak of the Second World War, is commemorated in Gdansk-Westerplatte (Adam Waroawa/EPA)
Not much to add… this from Cockburn at Counterpunch is better than I had expected… but he should have titled it, “E v e r y t h i n g is blown to hell…”
Obama was already meekly playing along, with talk of bipartisanship. And then… McCain blew his golden opportunity. Since he’s now lagging ominously in the ratings, McCain needed to ignite at least one or two firestorms Friday night, starting with the bailout. Now the chance has gone.
The first function of any presidential debate is to demonstrate to the Big Money that both candidates are “safe”, first on the matter of keeping the rich secure from worry. The second function is to assure all relevant lobbies that they are ready and willing to blow up the world if American “security” requires it.
In the requisite demonstrations Obama and McCain sang in unison. They are as one with Wall St. They are ready to blow up the planet. Three times Obama said he completely agreed with the elderly madman opposite him. The interactions became progressively more hackneyed and absurd. Obama pledged to “take out” Osama bin Laden. McCain vowed to prevent another Holocaust of the Jews. Obama respectfully agreed with McCain that Putin is a potential problem and that plucky Georgia needs America’s succor. It was nauseating. Most of the world and its problems didn’t feature at all. Latin America? Free trade?
Latin America? Need you ask? In Putin’s grubby little hands, while we put our faith in the Fourth Fleet. Free trade? We’re for it!
I’d turn away, but we are nowhere near bottom…
Did it end? 26 September 2008
Posted by marisacat in Inconvenient Voice of the Voter.147 comments
The end seems to be some loyalty oath to war… but frankly my brain broke down. It gave up.
They’re on! 9 PM ET – Ole Miss – Oxford MS 26 September 2008
Posted by marisacat in 2008 Election, DC Politics, Inconvenient Voice of the Voter, U.S. Senate, WAR!.143 comments
People drink Raki, Turkish liqueur flavoured with aniseed, as they watch the camels from the hills surrounding the arena during the annual camel-wrestling tournament in the western Turkish town of Selcuk January 20, 2008. Camel wrestling is a popular and spectacular event in the Aegean region of Turkey, and this is one of the biggest annual camel wrestlings held with around hundred camels watched by thousands of enthusiasts. The bull camel are usually long-haired cross breed reared for their aggression. REUTERS/Fatih Saribas (TURKEY)
well… With Ob and McC it’s a cross between watching paint dry and wondering if a 2 ton truck will come thru the wall as the paint dries. Or, the tension of the past couple of days (to say nothing of the ads back and forth!) has exacerbated their dislike of one another.
LOL If you are not revved up (are you?) Michelle has a vid just for you. Warning, you may have the same reaction to her choice of clothing (not to criticise a woman’s wardrobe) that I did… I hid both my arms and tried, at the same time, somehow, to cover my large veins.. I feared she would jump out of the screen and prep me for a pic line, hook me up to a drip of sucrose and soma, so I’d fall back in line. LOL as if they care.
I think it is too easy to say Drink! for every “uh” or stammer on the Ob side, but far be it from me to stand between anyone and their libation or poison… For McC there is a certain look he gets when challenged, where I always think he might growl. Nothing too bestial, sort of a small growl. I might tip back a drink if I catch sight of some of those.
May no one win! My guess is that Ob has the advantage tonight, but it is just a guess.
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We’re trapped in a game show! 25 September 2008
Posted by marisacat in Inconvenient Voice of the Voter.74 comments
Did anyone who was ever on daytime TV ever end up looking good? I sort of doubt it. But there we are – trapped.
Just for a different view, two of the High Holies of the Anglican Church, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York, have weighed in, lecturing broadly.
How have they gone public?
The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams launched the opening salvo with an article for this week’s Spectator magazine defending Karl Marx’s attacks on “unbridled capitalism”. And on Wednesday evening, during a speech to religiously-minded business folk at the Worshipful Company of International Bankers’ annual dinner, Dr John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, waded into the row by criticising those involved in the practice of short-selling and lambasting rich governments for failing to live up to their aid promises.
Well, that is nice. But it’s not as if the Church of England is a NON investor. But, carry on, everyone is lecturing everyone else.
What about the Church’s own investments in the City?
Considering the Church of England has enormous amounts of wealth invested in the stock market the Archbishops’ comments certainly risk accusations of “pot calling the kettle black”. According to its own website, the Church oversaw assets worth more than £5.67bn at the end of 2007, much of it invested in the stock market, real estate and private equity investments.
The body in charge of managing the investments has also done rather well. The Church Commissioners made a return of 9.4 per cent in 2007, smashing its benchmark of a 7 percent return for comparable funds.
How has the City reacted?
The Archbishops’ criticism of short-selling drew an angry response from The Association of Private Client Investment Managers and Stockbrokers, the representative body of the stockbroking industry. In a statement sent yesterday the group’s chief executive, David Bennett, said: “It is market abuse which is wrong, and this can occur both when holding either long or short positions. Transparency is the key here.” But the two most senior clergy in the country, who oversee a Church of more than 77 million believers worldwide, may have felt compelled to give spiritual advice at a time of global financial crisis. As Dr Sentamu reminded people in his speech: “Money is the root of all evil.”
HA! Another root is RELIGION. LOL Just another game show!
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CSTAR posted this at the end of the last thread…
pleas from a Treasury secretary who knelt before the House speaker and appealed for her support.”
I’m such a romantic.. I’d like to think that the Treasury Secretary got down on his knees and said
Madame speaker let’s run off to the Caribbean somewhere and leave all this mess behind us
*** close of comment ***
Oh I am working so hard not to envision La Nan and Paulson cavorting on a palm frond. Ew no….
What a race… 25 September 2008
Posted by marisacat in Inconvenient Voice of the Voter.100 comments
Lillies – Golden Gate Park – San Francisco
Onward!
Oh I don’t know… 23 September 2008
Posted by marisacat in DC Politics, Inconvenient Voice of the Voter, Lie Down Fall Down Dems, U.S. House, U.S. Senate.114 comments
I think his image of Christmas baby greed and lechery suits the times, in fact, suits the moment… I can see Paulson in a red snood from the finest velvet with ermine trim… he is looking quite papal .. achieving some sort of Holy Goldman Sachs Empire…
Deep Thought
Why did Bush ruin the country?
–Josh Marshall
I dunno Josh, why did he have so many HELPERS? – and I am not claiming that as a Deep Thought, either!
LOL:
“I believe if the credit markets are not functioning, that jobs will be lost, that our credit rate will rise, more houses will be foreclosed upon, GDP will contract, that the economy will just not be able to recover in a normal, healthy way.” —Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke
“Nobody is happy.” — House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md.
“I understand speed is important, but I’m far more interested in whether or not we get this right.” — Rep. Chris Dodd, chairman of the Senate banking committee
“What he is saying here is, this program that they think is very important, we need it to get the economy out of the doldrums, but if it is going to nick them of a couple of million of the millions that they already have, they are going to boycott it.” — House Financial Services Committee Chairman Rep. Barney Frank on Paulson’s objections to restrictions on CEO pay-outs
“Just because God created the world in seven days doesn’t mean we have to pass this bill in seven days,” said Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas.
“You worry about taxpayers being on the hook?” he replied at one point. “Guess what – they’re already on the hook.” — Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson
“If we get consensus and everybody is popping champagne, then I’ll probably go back to campaign with folks who are having a tough time in Ohio and Michigan,” Mr. Obama said. “If this ends up being a close vote or a vote where the outcome is at all in question, then obviously this is a top priority.” — Sen. Barack Obama
“Whether calling for a bipartisan oversight board or prohibitions on golden parachutes, Barack Obama is simply following in John McCain’s footsteps while trying to respond to this financial crisis, as he followed in John McCain’s footsteps when he attempted to respond to the recent crisis in Georgia.” — Tucker Bounds, spokesman for the McCain campaign
“The truth is, every time somebody tells you that you’ve got to do the deal right now, it usually means they’re going to get the better part of the deal.” — Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind.
“The party is over for this compensation for CEOs who take the golden parachute as they drive their companies into the ground. … The party is over for financial institutions taking risks [and] at the same time privatizing any gain they may have while they nationalize the risk, asking the taxpayer to pick up the tab.” — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
“This massive bailout is not a solution. It is financial socialism and it’s un-American.” — Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky.
“I think you should think of that as unthinkable.” — Tony Fratto, White House spokesman, when asked what would happen if the bail-out didn’t pass
“They are saying this is failure of the free markets of capitalism when, in fact, this is a failure because government injected itself into the free market, created this easy credit, these guaranteed loans, and these loans are what have turned into the bad paper that are bringing all these financial institutions down.” — Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C.
“Nobody wants to do this. Nobody wants to be involved in this. Nobody wants to take the chance, but I would argue… if we do nothing, we are jeopardizing our economy, jobs and people’s retirement security.” — Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio
And the winner is… former Democrat, now ranking member of the Banking Committee…
“What troubles me most is that we have been given no credible assurances that this plan will work. We could very well spend $700 billion and not resolve the crisis.” — Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala.
Time to retreat to the 1950s era fall out shelters! It’s not “the Russians are coming”, tho (and it never was!)…
[the roll call of quotes, all bundled up and ready to go, is thanks to some industrious schnauzer at Weekly Standard, not me… LOL –Mcat]
I say we embrace failure and order up some more! Seconds please…?
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I cannot resist! I have no idea when PBS’s The News Hour put together today’s segment (entitled,
Confidence, Openness Mark Obama’s Decision Making Style), but talk about rocky synchronicity:
Just the opening shot of the segment:
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), Illinois: Now, with Joe Biden at my side, I am confident we can take this country in a new direction.
MARGARET WARNER: If you want to get an idea of how Barack Obama would govern at president, look at whom he picked for vice president and how.
DAVID AXELROD, Obama Campaign Chief Strategist: He’s very methodical in how he evaluates decisions. He asks a series of questions. He’ll engage you in dialogue on the options. And then he’ll make a decision. And he doesn’t look back at that decision.
MARGARET WARNER: His chief political strategist, David Axelrod, said the choice of the far more experienced Senator Biden was no fluke.
DAVID AXELROD: You know, there were those who said, “Well, you don’t want Joe Biden because Joe has been around a long time. He’s got a lot of opinions. He’s a strong personality.”
And Barack said, “No, that’s exactly what I want.” He’s completely comfortable with very bright people. He doesn’t mind being challenged. He enjoys it.
MARGARET WARNER: The novice presidential candidate built a formidable campaign organization just that way: with a multilayered brain trust of aides and advisers. Insiders say Obama manages by hiring people he trusts and giving them a long leash. His light-handed management style became an issue this spring.
TIM RUSSERT, Former Host, NBC’s “Meet the Press”: You said one of your weaknesses is, quote, “I’m not an operating officer.”
SEN. BARACK OBAMA: Well, I think what I was describing was how I view the presidency. Now, being president is not making sure that schedules are being run properly or that paperwork is being shuffled effectively. It involves having a vision for where the country needs to go.
LOL I don’t think Biden ever got on board… this week, just so far, has been a whirlwind from his corner.
Good Luck — to someone!
Beautiful is a change of pace 21 September 2008
Posted by marisacat in Inconvenient Voice of the Voter.114 comments
Acacia vittata (Leguminosae) – Lake Logue wattle; native to south-western Australia – fruit
Picture: WOLFGANG STUPPY / ROB KESSELER
I was leafing thru the photographs at the UK Telegraph, where I often have luck… and landed on this. The gallery was said to be fruit [under the electronmicroscope), but the code on the photograph says “magnified seed”, which makes more sense…
Anyway, I did not bother to google the legend, just grabbed it and ran with it…
Marisacat 