Obama Set for a Campaign Blitz for his Stimulus Package

Peter Nicholas of the Los Angeles Times reports: "President-elect Barack Obama is preparing to lead a full-scale marketing blitz to pass the massive new stimulus package that he says is needed to revive the slumping economy and put the nation on the course he laid out during his campaign... after he is sworn in, he will use the bully pulpit to make the case for passage of a stimulus package of up to $775 billion, an aide said." Obama and other members of his administration plan a full scale effort across the nation to "make clear to people why we need to do what we're doing, why it's the size it is, what the individual component parts are, and why they are an important part of the equation in terms of short-term recovery." Obama intends to use his strong network of grass root supporters to involve "the American people... in this discussion." The GOP will try to hinder Obama's efforts but the President-elect "doesn't want to see his first legislative initiative bog down in partisan infighting. So he will quickly strive to shape public opinion, casting the substantial stimulus package as crucial to the nation's recovery." Speaking for the incoming Obama Administration (David) "Axelrod said that the slumping economy and other domestic concerns were "front and center because it's what the American people are living with every day."

Katrina Was Just One of Many 'Tipping Points' for Bush

Editorials, commentaries, and articles are appearing during the final days of the Bush Administration that Katrina was the tipping point that signaled the public's loss of trust in the administration. The main source of the theory comes from writer, Todd Purdum's ""oral history" of the Bush administration included in the February issue of Vanity Fair magazine." Mr Purdum is a fine writer whose diligent research has provided gainful insights into the inner workings of the Bush Administration. James Oliphant writes in the Chicago Tribune that it was "(t)hree years ago, (when)Hurricane Katrina and its chaotic aftermath produced a collage of indelible images. Among those was a photo of President George W. Bush, viewing the devastation below from the comfort of Air Force One as it jetted to Washington. Now, some of Bush's closest advisers say his administration's response to the disaster marked a turning point in what has become the most unpopular presidency in modern history. After Katrina (Bush's) tenure entered a downward spiral from which he never recovered." The problem with this analysis is that Bush only held significant popular support from the World Trade Center attack of September 11th, 2001 to the declaration of "Mission Accomplished" on May1st, 2003 . Before and after that short period of time Bush struggled to achieve popular consensus. He was not significantly popular during the elections of 2000 or 2004; barely eking out highly contested and controversial victories. The public never fully embraced Bush; they were deceived into supporting his administration through the strategic use of misinformation, outright lies and unchallenged deceit, the maintenance of fear of imminent terrorist attacks, the outright rejection of constitutional rights, the politicization of the Justice Department, the abrogation of international law and treaties, cronyism in the awarding of government monies, contracts and lands; the list goes on. Bush built his presidency on deception from the very beginning of his stay in office. Purdum's analysis suggests that Bush had a decent streak that somehow turned unresponsive to the needs of the American people. Bush never cared about the sanctity of the Office of the President, the Constitution or the American people. Purdum's contention that a 'tipping point' existed proves too gentle a manner to analyze Bush. Bush took office filled with a taint of corruption and a brazenness that Bush fully took advantage of as he operated the levers of American power to suit his deceitful needs.

The Keynsian Return

Scot Lehigh in the Boston Globe paraphrases John Maynard Keynes prescient observation "that recessions weren't necessarily self-correcting, as economic conventional wisdom assumed, and that governments needed to intercede to boost economic activity in troubled times. Keynes view on economics took root in America during the struggle against the Great Depression and helped to form the dominant economic outlook of the nation. With the "conservative ascendancy" of Ronald Reagan, Keynesianism was supplanted by supply side economics. An economic theory that was first mentioned by conservative commentator Jude Wanniski in 1975 and was based on the work of Robert Mundell and Arthur Laffer. Commonly referred to as "trickle down economics," Supply Side adherents ridiculed "Keynesian notions of government intervention, and particularly deficit spending to spur economic activity." Although GOP presidents amassed "large budget deficits created by tax cuts" conservative ideologues ignored the debt and "put their rhetorical faith in untrammeled free market economics, (while preaching) the importance of fiscal discipline." With the rush to deregulate the financial markets in the 1990s under President Clinton and a Republican Congress, actions were taken that set the stage for the economic crisis we are currently experiencing. Luckily, Keynesianism has made a return as a viable method to achieving economic recovery. Even George Bush 43, the MBA president, has "been a deficit-spender for almost his entire presidency,.. has now gone further, arguing that the prospect of calamity necessitates wide-ranging government intervention to stabilize the economy. Bush, the Ronald Reagan-inspired conservative free marketer and supply sider, has chosen to take a Keynesian approach to get us out of our current mess. "Meanwhile, amid a growing consensus that only more government spending can stave off a deep recession, President-elect Barack Obama is planning a major stimulus program to inject more demand into the economy ... All in all, it's quite a vindication, one that would both gratify and amuse John Maynard Keynes." We are not quite out of the woods yet, however. We face many uncertainties and better days are years away. The economic policies foisted upon America over the last 30 years by the conservative Reagan Revolution have created conditions that could surpass the damage inflicted by the Great Depression and we can only hope that Keynes return can relieve our economic misery. If we are lucky and Obama's recovery plan succeeds, let us gain from our experience and never allow Keynesian policies to be shoved aside again.

RNC and Congressional Republicans Differ Over Direction of Party

Ralph Z. Hallow reports in the Washington Times that: "Republican Party officials say they will try next month to pass a resolution accusing President Bush and congressional Republican leaders of embracing "socialism," underscoring deep dissension within the party at the end of Mr. Bush's administration. Those pushing the resolution, which will come before the Republican National Committee at its January meeting, say elected leaders need to be reminded of core principles. This would be the first time that the Republican National Committee established a course of action for a policy issue. In the past, the RNC left policy decisions up to elected officials. "We can't be a party of small government, free markets and low taxes while supporting bailouts and nationalizing industries, which lead to big government, socialism and high taxes at the expense of individual liberty and freedoms," said Solomon Yue, an Oregon member and co-sponsor of a resolution that criticizes the U.S. government bailouts of the financial and auto industries. Republican National Committee Vice Chairman James Bopp Jr. wrote the resolution and asked the rest of the 168 voting members to sign it. The Bopp Resolution stands against Republican support for president-elect Obama's infrastructure public works proposal. The resolution also puts "the party on record opposing the $700 billion bailout of the financial sector, which passed Congress with Republican support and was signed by Mr. Bush, and opposing the bailout of the auto industry. The auto bailout bill was blocked by Senate Republicans, but Mr. Bush then reversed course and announced that he would use financial bailout money to aid the auto manufacturers." Some members of the RNC see the resolution as an attempt by party officials to connect the party platform directly to actions of lawmakers. RNC officials feel justified that their resolution represents the only decisive course of action that they can take, otherwise the party "will become less relevant." The question remains whether elected officials will go along with the RNC resolution. "House Minority Leader John A. Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, both of whom voted for the financial bailout but opposed the auto bailout, declined to comment. White House spokesman Tony Fratto defended the Bush administration's actions, saying, "We understand the opposition to using tax dollars to support private businesses we also oppose using tax dollars to support private businesses. But this was the necessary and responsible thing to do to prevent a collapse of the American economy." What remains uncertain is whether the RNC can enforce compliance on GOP elected officials.
... The Bopp Resolution states: "WHEREAS, the Bank Bailout Bill effectively nationalized the Nation's banking system, giving the United States non-voting warrants from participating financial institutions, and moving our free market based economy another dangerous step closer toward socialism; and WHEREAS, what was needed, and is still needed, to fix the banking industry is not a bailout, but rather a commitment to fiscal responsibility."

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on Global Climate Crisis

Ban Ki-Moon, secretary-general of the United Nations has issued a plea for cooperation among the nations of the Earth to formulate a unified strategy to solve the worsening global climate crisis: "The past year will be remembered for the global financial crisis. But next year will be no less dangerous, albeit for a different reason. Lost among the economic headlines is an even more important fact: emissions of carbon dioxide, the leading greenhouse gas, rose by an unexpected 3 percent in 2007.This revelation means that the 50 percent targets for carbon cuts set by Europe and elsewhere by 2050 are already out of date. Scientists now say reductions of 60 to 80 percent will be needed to avoid a catastrophe. There is other bad news. Everyone knows about the accelerated melting of Arctic sea ice. Now recent U.N. reports offer evidence of less visible but equally troubling changes. Our planet's species are going extinct at an unprecedented rate, according to the U.N. Environment Program. Massive "dead zones" are multiplying in the oceans as pollutants are absorbed, killing off coral reefs and decimating fisheries. Incidents of extreme weather, such as the hurricanes that devastated Haiti and Myanmar, have grown more frequent. Insurers predict that 2008 will set yet another record for economic losses. Meanwhile, U.N. refugee agencies believe that as many as 50 million people will be displaced by climate-related disasters by 2010, and the figure could hit 200 million by 2050. All this points to a stark truth: though we can overcome the financial shocks of 2008, we will not overcome the climate-change crisis unless we act fast. This means 2009 will be the critical year for the critical challenge of our era."

A recent meeting in Poznan, Poland brought world leaders together to lay the foundations for future climate strategies that will be extensively discussed in 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark when the nations of the Earth will attempt to establish an extensive agreement of principles to deal with global climate change. It is hoped that developed and developing nations can agree to establish a unified front in which the new United States Administration of Barack Obama takes the lead in solving climate change. With the United States in the lead, it is hoped that nations such as China, Brazil, India and other "newly developed nations" can follow the United States lead and work to combine various methods and technologies that will foster global economic growth while finding practical ways to slow down and solve global climate troubles.

Ban Ki-Moon realizes that the path to solving the climate crisis presents world leaders with many tough choices: "Some experts advocate strict emissions limits. Others favor voluntary targets. Still others debate the pros and cons of "cap and trade" carbon markets versus taxes and national conservation regulation. In truth, there is no single solution to climate change. We need all of the above. The important thing is to act, and to act now. When it comes to climate change, it's make-or-break time."

A Group of Atheists Present Legal Challenge to Inauguration Prayer

The Washington Post reports: "A group of atheists, led by a California man known for challenging “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools, plan to file a lawsuit today to bar prayer at the swearing-in of President-elect Barack Obama. Michael A. Newdow, 17 other individuals and 10 groups representing atheists sued Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., several officials in charge of inaugural festivities and Rev. Joseph E. Lowery and pastor Rick Warren." The lawsuit charges that: “...Defendants will have an invocation and benediction during the inauguration,” a draft of the lawsuit reads. “Both of these activities are completely exclusionary, showing absolute disrespect to Plaintiffs and others of similar religious views, who explicitly reject the purely religious claims that will be endorsed, i.e., (a) there exists a God, and (b) the United States government should pay homage to that God.” This writer supports the complete separation of church and state activities including the removal of religious rituals from public activities such as the inauguration of public officials.

Wall Street Journal Commentary Pushes Lies About Obama Health Care Plan

Unfortunately, to the detriment of the American people, The Opinion Page of The Wall Street Journal continues to spread lies and feebly attempts to scare citizens about the horrors of a national health plan. This time the plan of attack employs Canadian Sally C. Pipes, president and CEO of the Pacific Research Institute, a well funded right wing think tank. Her task is to talk down to the millions of Americans who are depending on Obama and his team to deliver health care legislation into law. Ms. Pipes claims clairvoyant powers by declaring: "we can predict both the strategy and substance of the new administration's health-care reform." This line of false prognostication attempts to charge that Obama intends to "ration" health - not true. She then retreats to the old canard that: "Americans can expect a quick, hard push to build more federal bureaucracy, impose price controls, restrict medicines and technology, boost taxes, mandate the purchase of health insurance, and expand government health care." Instead of discussing her charges in depth she decides to proceed with ad hominem assaults on Mr. Obama and the soon-to-be secretary of Health and Human Services, Tom Daschle. Still determined to charge that health care will be rationed but providing no proof for such an absurd charge, Ms. Pipes wallows through the standard right wing attack on Medicare and Medicaid. Then, showing how desperate the right wing is to stop national health care, she proceeds to assault the Massachusetts plan that had been created by Republican governor, Mitt Romney. I guess Ms. Pipes has no problem vilifying a former Republican candidate for president who touted his Massachusetts plan as a model for America. With her ammunition running low, Ms. Pipes charges that: "Mr. Daschle and the Democrats have spent years developing both the policy and political strategy to make the final push for taxpayer-financed universal health insurance. They have the players on the field, a crisis providing a sense of urgency, and a playbook filled with lessons learned from years of health policy reform disasters -- most recently that of HillaryCare in 1994." I guess the temptation to attack Hillary Clinton was too much for Ms. Pipes to neglect. Ms. Pipes ends on a note of sanity though, when she admits: "With employers and most insurers reportedly on board with the new administration's desire for radical overhaul, who will step in to ask the tough questions? Will these issues get raised in time to provoke a meaningful, fact-based debate?" Ms. Pipes is correct, there is overwhelming support for health care reform among employers, insurers and everyday people and there is a need for strict attention to the details of the plan. My hope is for a coalescence of support for quickly moving, constructive discussions to proceed that result in the creation of a world class health care plan for all Americans that avoids the fear tactics and ad hominem attacks of charlatans such as Ms. Pipes.

Bush Just Never Gave a Damn About His Responsibilities as President of the united States

BOB HERBERT asks in his commentary: "Does anyone know where George W. Bush is? You don’t hear much from him anymore. The last image most of us remember is of the president ducking a pair of size 10s that were hurled at him in Baghdad. We’re still at war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Israel is thrashing the Palestinians in Gaza. And the U.S. economy is about as vibrant as the 0-16 Detroit Lions. But hardly a peep have we heard from George, the 43rd." Herbert suggests that when Bush leaves office: "There should be a great hue and cry — a loud, collective angry howl, demonstrations with signs and bullhorns and fiery speeches — over the damage he’s done to this country." Herbert suggests that Bush's legacy amounts to nothing but eight years of "deceit." Herbert concludes his assessment of Bush: "The catalog of his transgressions against the nation’s interests — sins of commission and omission — would keep Mr. Bush in a confessional for the rest of his life. Don’t hold your breath. He’s hardly the contrite sort. He told ABC’s Charlie Gibson: “I don’t spend a lot of time really worrying about short-term history. I guess I don’t worry about long-term history, either, since I’m not going to be around to read it.” Herbert points out Bush's incredible lack of remorse for all he has done to bring ruin to the United States: "The president chuckled, thinking — as he did when he made his jokes about the missing weapons of mass destruction — that there was something funny going on." This writer believes that somehow, someway, someday Bush fully deserves to be held accountable for his complete failure to abide by his oath to the Constitution. Let Bush be remembered for all time as the deceitful scoundrel that he has proved himself to be.

NASA's Troubled Path for Manned Missions to the Moon and Mars Faces Uncertain Future

JOHN SCHWARTZ reports in the New York Times that NASA's attempts "to replace the nation’s aging space shuttles" with a newly designed and never flown rocket system known as the Ares I rocket and the space craft known as the Orion is proving to be technically difficult, expensive and politically vexing. "The issues have become a focus of the members of the presidential transition team dealing with NASA, and the space program could undergo a transformation after Barack Obama takes office." Another significant problem regards the transition from the current space shuttle fleet to the new rocket and space capsule system. There is the definite possibility that there will be a five year long window between the retirement of the shuttle systems and the completion and launch of Ares I and Orion. During this estimated five year period, the United States will not have the ability to put humans into space. The U.S. would have to rely on other nations; Russia being most often mentioned, to get our astronauts to the International Space Station. This situation has caused a great deal of concern among many Americans and alternative means for U.S. controlled missions into space using current Atlas and Delta rockets are being hastily discussed. In addition: "Pressure has grown to keep the shuttles flying. In July, former Senator John Glenn of Ohio said in testimony before the House Science and Technology Committee that he favored flying the shuttles until the Constellation craft were ready to fly" explains Mr. Schwartz. Glenn also remarked at the hearing that: “I never thought I would see the day when the world’s richest, most powerful, most accomplished spacefaring nation would have to buy tickets from Russia to get up to our station,.." Mr. Schwartz further explains similar views expressed by the Obama team Assessing NASA: "Continuing shuttle flights has also been proposed by the New Democracy Project, a group with strong ties to John D. Podesta, a co-chairman of the Obama transition team.” The most pressing question asks; which path into space in the near term and over the long range of years will the United States decide upon?

Religious Rituals Foster Self-Control Among Believers

JOHN TIERNEY, who describes himself as a "nonbeliever" and who apparently does not attend church reports in the New York Times that psychologists Michael McCullough and Brian Willoughby, two self described "social scientists," have ventured far afield from their discipline and "concluded that religious belief and piety promote self-control." The two psychologists profess their attempt "to understand why religion evolved and why it seems to help so many people." Mr. Tierney claims, without citing proof, that: "Researchers around the world have repeatedly found that devoutly religious people tend to do better in school, live longer, have more satisfying marriages and be generally happier. These results have been ascribed to the rules imposed on believers and to the social support they receive from fellow worshipers..." Mr. Tierney's article exposes religion to describe it as a hierarchically-based social structure that depends on the participation of "devout" followers of religion who organize around an authoritarian arrangement that promotes self-control. “We simply asked if there was good evidence that people who are more religious have more self-control,” Dr. McCullough (added)... "When you add it all up, it turns out there are remarkably consistent findings that religiosity correlates with higher self-control... Brain-scan studies have shown that when people pray or meditate, there’s a lot of activity in two parts of brain that are important for self-regulation and control of attention and emotion,” Dr. McCullough conjectured. “The rituals that religions have been encouraging for thousands of years seem to be a kind of anaerobic workout for self-control... It looks as if people come to associate religion with tamping down these temptations (like drugs or premarital sex),” Dr. McCullough said. “When temptations cross their minds in daily life, they quickly use religion to dispel them from their minds.” What Mr. Tierney fails to mention is whether the two psychologists, Dr. Michael McCullough and Dr. Brian Willoughby studied religion as a manifestation of authoritarian control. A question the two psychologists seem unconcerned with. Authoritarianism requires it's participants to submit to the self-control of restraint in order to maintain unquestioned belief or faith. Self-control motivates believers to willingly accept the authoritarian nature of religion. Dr. McCullough makes the case for the tendency of some individuals to devoutly hold onto the authoritarianism of religion: "Sacred values come prefabricated for religious believers,.. The belief that God has preferences for how you behave and the goals you set for yourself has to be the granddaddy of all psychological devices for encouraging people to follow through with their goals. That may help to explain why belief in God has been so persistent through the ages.” The work of Dr. McCullough and Dr. Willoughby engages questions that far exceed the scope of Mr. Tierney's article and suggests a more rigorous examination of hominid neurological development and the relevance of hierarchical structures used to explain the natural and the supernatural. At most, Mr. Tierney has produced a cute and seasonal tale that attempts to praise religion at the expense of those not so taken by it's powers.

Geologist Claims Meteorite Caused a Tsunami off the Coast of New York Region 2,300 Years Ago

KENNETH CHANG reports in the New York Times that: "... several geologists have collected evidence indicating that something very big and unusual occurred in waters near the New York area around 300 B.C., give or take a century. And Dallas Abbott, a research scientist at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, is asserting that a meteorite, landing somewhere in the Atlantic, generated the tsunami." Scientists further speculate that a "furious onrush of water left sediment a foot and a half deep on the Jersey Shore, and debris cascaded far up the Hudson River... Although American Indians had long been living in and around the area that became New York, Dr. Abbott said there was no archeological evidence of a tsunami or known legends of, say, a terrible flood." Dr Abbott has built her theory on evidence of "minute carbon spheres and smaller-than-dust diamonds in sediment layers, which she said were the distinctive calling cards of a meteorite’s impact... “I think it’s pretty convincing,” Dr. Abbott said. “We always find the impact ejecta in the tsunami layer, never outside.” What tends to make a number of geologists skeptical of Dr Abbott's claims is the failure to find a crater in the ocean floor that had been left by the meteorite. "The carbon atoms inside some of the diamonds (Dr Abbot found) are lined up in a hexagonal crystal structure instead of the usual cubic crystals. The hexagonal diamonds have been found only within meteorites and at impact craters, said Allen West, a geologist who performed the diamond analysis for Dr. Abbott’s New York sediments.

Illinois Governor Blagojevich to Fill Obama's Senate Seat Today with the Appointment of Roland Burris

According to Monica Davey, in a story filed at 12:30pm ET in the New York Times: "Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich of Illinois will name Roland Burris, a former Illinois attorney general, at a 3p.m. ET press conference in Chicago, to replace President-elect Barack Obama in the United States Senate, someone with knowledge of the governor’s plans confirmed on Tuesday." Details on Mr Burris, a 71 year old Democrat, describe him as "a longtime political player in this state, who has run for governor before, including mounting a primary challenge against Mr. Blagojevich. Mr. Obama backed him over Mr. Blagojevich in that race." The appointment of Mr Burris was not expected by the Chicago Tribune or the Chicago Sun Times and certainly stirs the pot for plenty of local and national media attention. The New York Times further reports: "Mr. Blagojevich, who faces federal corruption charges including allegations that he tried to sell Mr. Obama’s former senate seat for a high-paying job or money, had not been expected to try to fill the seat. As recently as ten days ago, his lawyer, Edward Genson, said he would not attempt to make an appointment, since Senate leaders had indicated they would not accept anyone whom the beleaguered Mr. Blagojevich had appointed."

New Congress to Lean Heavily on Californians for Legislative Direction

Lyndsey Layton reports in the Washington Post that: Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Henry A. Waxman, and Senator Barbara Boxer are some of several "California Democrats (who) will assume pivotal roles in the new Congress and White House, giving the state an outsize influence over federal policy and increasing the likelihood that its culture of activist regulation will be imported to Washington. In Congress, Democrats from the Golden State are in key positions to write laws to mitigate global warming, promote "green" industries and alternative energy, and crack down on toxic chemicals..."California has always valued protecting the environment and health and safety of our people," Boxer said in a telephone interview.. Boxer predicts "a renewed effort to enforce existing consumer protection and workplace safety rules and environmental laws." Yet: "Environmentalists and industry expect Waxman, Boxer, Pelosi, Sutley and the others to take on the oil and gas companies."

Republican National Committee Ready Opposition to Bailout Legislation

Susan Davis reports in the Wall Street Journal: Conservatives demonstrate their ability to promote forward thinking ideas and encourage an "anti-bailout resolution at (the) RNC. "“I think the bailouts are just wrong and take us in a profoundly radical, left wing direction,” said prominent Republican attorney James Bopp Jr., a vice chairman of the RNC and author of the resolution,.." The resolution, "(if) approved, it would also put the party committee at odds with the White House and many Republican leaders on Capitol Hill who supported bailouts for the financial industry and the Big Three auto-makers. But it also captures the anger many conservatives feel towards bailout legislation. In the latest WSJ/NBC News poll conducted in mid-December, 73% of self-identified conservatives disapproved of the federal government’s handling of the financial crisis."

American People's Trust in Government and Business Frayed

Eric M. Uslaner is professor of government and politics at the University of Maryland-College Park and author of "Corruption, Inequality, and the Rule of Law: The Bulging Pocket Makes the Easy Life."Mr Uslaner comments in Newsday: 2008 was a year of scandals in America." Yet by world standards, the United States is relatively "clean." It ranks 20th out of 180 countries in the annual Corruption Perceptions Index produced by Transparency International, an anti-corruption organization based in Berlin." In other country brides often keep the accused out of prison. "In the United States, guilty parties in both politics and business go to jail, and politicians charged with dishonesty almost always lose their seats...We have not faced an economic crisis of this magnitude since the Depression - and then there were few charges of corruption. If the economy does not rebound within a year, we could be entering uncharted territory - or at least a situation unknown since the Depression. The public could demand far more widespread regulations of business, and the stage could be set for a more serious challenge to both political parties by populists of the left and the right."

Lowery Uses the Culture Wars Card Against Obama

In his commentary in the New York Post: Rich Lowery's pathetic attempt to keep the culture wars alive by blaming Obama for re-igniting them underscores the absolute dearth of ideas the conservatives can generate. You see, in Rich's estimation "Barack Obama's election was supposed to signal the end, or at least the diminishment, of the cultural issues that the GOP had feasted on electorally for 30 years." Rich's story centers on Obama's invitation to "evangelical Pastor Rick Warren to deliver the invocation Jan. 20." That invitation, according to Rich indicts the "the cultural left" for promoting a culture war. Rich is a youngster with diminishing prospects for a conservative revival so he pulls out the culture war card and hopes for the best because that's all he's got. Old tactics and wedge issues of a young man and a collection of unpopular conservatives without ideas or support.

Soros Urges Market Regulation Kept to a Minimum

George Soros comments in the Miami Herald: "We are in the midst of the worst financial crisis since the 1930s. The salient feature of the crisis is that it was not caused by some external shock like OPEC raising the price of oil; it was generated by the financial system itself.This fact -- a defect inherent in the system -- contradicts the generally accepted theory that financial markets tend toward equilibrium, and deviations from the equilibrium occur either in a random manner or are caused by some sudden external event to which markets have difficulty in adjusting. The current approach to market regulation has been based on this theory but the severity and amplitude of the crisis proves convincingly that there is something fundamentally wrong with it...While international regulation must be strengthened for the global financial system to survive, we must also beware of going too far. Markets are imperfect, but regulations are even more so...Regulations should be kept to the minimum necessary to maintain stability.""We are in the midst of the worst financial crisis since the 1930s. The salient feature of the crisis is that it was not caused by some external shock like OPEC raising the price of oil; it was generated by the financial system itself.This fact -- a defect inherent in the system -- contradicts the generally accepted theory that financial markets tend toward equilibrium, and deviations from the equilibrium occur either in a random manner or are caused by some sudden external event to which markets have difficulty in adjusting. The current approach to market regulation has been based on this theory but the severity and amplitude of the crisis proves convincingly that there is something fundamentally wrong with it...While international regulation must be strengthened for the global financial system to survive, we must also beware of going too far. Markets are imperfect, but regulations are even more so...Regulations should be kept to the minimum necessary to maintain stability."

Viguerie's Idealism for Small Government Defies History

Richard A. Viguerie makes the worn out conservative call to arms: "Republicans are making a huge mistake by turning away from the principle of small government." The face is Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Bush 41 and Bush 43 all made government bigger, not smaller, and you can't blame the GOP's love affair with big government on the Democrats.Viguerie's rants are nothing more than an appeal to old fairy tales -- it's time we put outworn rhetoric to bed and get on with the business of government -- working to better the lives of ALL Americans and move the nation forward.

Global Warming Causing the Moose Population to Die off in the Upper Midwest

Tim Jones reports in the Los Angeles Times: "It wasn't long ago that thousands of moose roamed northwest Minnesota. But in two decades, the number of antlered, bony-kneed beasts from the North Woods has plummeted from 4,000 to fewer than a hundred.They didn't move away. They just died.The primary culprit, scientists say, is climate change..."When moose are in trouble, they don't move. They die," said Rolf Peterson, a researc

The Inescapable Reality of Class and Money in America

Ernest Hebert comments in the Boston Globe: "...Before the election, if you raised a class issue you were told you suffered from class envy, which meant shut up...Class divisions in the United States are mainly about money, not how much you have but how you acquire it...We have Big Old Money, Big New Money, Celebrity Money, Power Tie Money, Tenure Money, Hunger Money, Funny Money, Phony Money, Boho Money, No Money, (etc.)...Some No Money people keep out of the public eye. Some hold their hand out. Some live in cars, crummy apartments, other people's dwellings, and under bridges. A lot of the No Money people are kids. They are our shame."

Obama's Gorbachev Moment

James Carroll comments in the Boston Globe: "TWENTY YEARS AGO this month, Mikhail Gorbachev stood before the UN General Assembly and said, "The compelling necessity of freedom of choice is also clear to us. The failure to recognize this . . . is fraught with very dire consequences, consequences for world peace."... The "decisive year" for which Gorbachev called two decades ago may now be here - for our side. Americans stand today, as the last Soviet dictator put it then, "on the threshold of a year from which all of us expect so much...Is it too much to expect Barack Obama to change history? Make peace? Transform an economic system? Rescue the Earth? Build a political program around the truth? Restore a great nation's decency? Are we kidding ourselves to place such hopes in him?... just such a transformation took place once before...it is not too late to match the greatness with which Gorbachev acted 20 years ago, an overdue acceptance of his historic invitation."

Bush's Bubble of Unreality Suddenly Bursts

Steve Chapman, a columnist for the Chicago Tribune comments in the Baltimore Sun: "When President George W. Bush had to duck a pair of shoes thrown at him by an irate Iraqi journalist at a news conference in Baghdad, the depressing part was not just that his administration has managed to alienate many Iraqis. It was also that the president of the United States had to go to Iraq to find himself face-to-face with anyone who openly rejects his policies. Here in the land of the free, that is almost unheard of. When Mr. Bush ventures into contact with ordinary Americans outside the White House, his aides do their best to keep him from realizing that many of his constituents regard him as a disaster...maybe Barack Obama will take a different approach and accept the fact that occasionally seeing people express dissenting views is just part of the president's job. And not just on visits to Baghdad."

Expansion of Rail Links are Vital to Nation's Economic Growth

John W. Frece of the Baltimore Sun reports: "...Trains are once again moving onto the public agenda ... Jim Charlier, a transportation planner from Colorado...On behalf of a coalition of housing, environmental, public health, urban planning, transportation, real estate and business groups...has drafted an ambitious plan to link the 10 biggest "mega-regions" of the United States by high-speed rail by 2030...What supporters of these projects have in common is the belief that an expanded rail system serves multiple purposes at a time when we can no longer afford the luxury of single-purpose investments. They see rail as a way to reduce greenhouse gases, to offset high gas prices, to mitigate or at least avoid highway congestion, and to save rural resources by fostering more compact, transit-oriented city living."

A Sustainable Economic Recovery Plan is Needed for America's Future Economic Health

Andrew L. Yarrow and Michael Rose report in the Baltimore Sun: "...Instead of a simple bailout, we should be asking: How can we retool America's auto and auto-parts factories to produce goods that we need, and can sell to the world, in the 21st century? Choose your own products and industries - sustainable means of transport, including mass transit and high-speed rail; solar, hydrogen or other green-power infrastructure and consumer goods; next-generation telecommunications hardware; etc. Although continued auto production is necessary in the short and long term, we can seize this moment to rethink our manufacturing priorities. When we fail to imagine ourselves 30 to 50 years into the future, we also fail to remember our experience of 50 to 65 years ago...The auto industry shouldn't be allowed to die now." Washington "must get serious about forging farsighted industrial, energy and transportation policies that address...environmental needs and the need for a strong, new industrial base."

New Study Contradicts FBI Info on Young Black Homicides

The Associated Press reports: "The number of young black men and teenagers who either killed or were killed in shootings has risen at an alarming rate since 2000, a new study...by criminologists at Northeastern University in Boston, comes as FBI data is showing that murders have leveled off nationwide.Not so for black teens, the youngest of whom saw dramatic increases in shooting deaths, the Northeastern report concluded...The study partly blamed Bush administration grant cuts to local police and juvenile crime prevention programs for the surge in crimes by young black men and teens...The number of young white men who committed gun-related homicides also rose over the same period, the Northeastern study showed, but not as dramatically."

1963 Milgram Experiments on Power of Authority Still Prove Viable

ADAM COHEN of the New York Times reports: The shocking truth that a recent replication of the Milgram experiment, originally conducted in 1963, which demonstrated "that ordinary people were willing to administer a lot of pain to innocent strangers if an authority figure instructed them to do so." Has shown that participants produced " results (that) were nearly identical to Professor Milgram’s. Santa Clara University's Professor Jerry Burger conducted the replication of the Milgram research with "one slight change in the protocol, in deference to ethical standards developed since 1963. He stopped when a participant believed he had administered a 150-volt shock. (He also screened out people familiar with the original experiment.)" There is little doubt that "(m)uch has changed since 1963. The civil rights and antiwar movements taught Americans to question authority. Institutions that were once accorded great deference — including the government and the military — are now eyed warily. Yet it appears that ordinary Americans are about as willing to blindly follow orders to inflict pain on an innocent stranger as they were four decades ago." The Milgram and Burger experiments clearly demonstrates the tendency of individuals' to willfully accept the commands of authority figures "to inflict abuse on others." To this writer, the experiment's results give people an even greater right if not duty to question authority when dealing with questionable orders.

Governors forced to make tough decisions during current financial crisis

PAUL KRUGMAN of the New York Times comments: As Obama "tries to rescue the economy, the nation will be reeling from the actions of 50 Herbert Hoovers — state governors who are slashing spending in a time of recession, often at the expense both of their most vulnerable constituents and of the nation’s economic future." Governors are "cutting back because they have to — because they’re caught in a fiscal trap...(they are forced to) cutting public services and public investment right now...shredding the social safety net at a moment when many more Americans need help isn’t just cruel. It adds to the sense of insecurity that is one important factor driving the economy down." It is being done because "state and local government revenues are plunging along with the economy — and unlike the federal government, lower-level governments can’t borrow their way through the crisis." Governor Ted Strickland of Ohio has suggested that relief must include: " funding for food stamps and Medicaid; federal funding of state- and local-level infrastructure projects; and federal aid to education." The overriding problem facing the nation, Krugman concludes; that the federal government needs to ensure "that the fiscal problems of the states don’t make the economic crisis even worse."

William Kristol continues his obnoxious streak

As the saying goes: Once a neoconservative, always a buffoon! In Kristol's case an unpatriotic buffoon who is "leaving the country the day of Barack Obama’s inauguration. It’s nothing personal...It’s just that I happen to have a speech to give in Canada." So Kristol puts money ahead of witnessing one of the most historic events in American history! Kristol is not just a buffoon; he's an unpatriotic buffoon who places profit above country. Kristol, you are nothing but a self-serving scoundrel.You are a crass opportunist and an un-American ideologue. As for the blather that fills your column; it comprise nothing more than cheap insults that fail to veil your fervent hope that this country and it's new government will fail. Your final sarcasm: "Now that’s a presidency I can believe in." Does nothing but highlight the last eight years of criminal contempt and felonious failure against the American people that you supported with every fiber of your un-patriotic, un-American buffoonery.

Select group of former government officials set to profit from current economic woes

ERIC LIPTON and DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK report in the New York Times that "... former senior government officials who were central players in the savings and loan bailout (Resolution Trust Corporation) of the 1990s are seeking to capitalize on the latest economic meltdown ... as private lawyers, investors and lobbyists...these former officials are helping their clients get a piece of the bailout money or the chance to buy, at fire-sale prices, some of the bank assets taken over by the federal government...L. William Seidman, the first chairman of the R.T.C., (is)...sharing ideas with Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. and ... President-elect Barack Obama — even while they are separately directing investors or banks on how to best profit from this advice...The busiest money-making arena so far... is in helping distressed banks line up cash infusions from the Treasury...The biggest profits will ... be made ...by those who ... benefit from what could turn into one of the greatest fire sales of bad debt and bank assets in American history."