President Obama's Ohio speech was thorough.

What you see is what you get. He did what he always does, he puts forward the facts, sets priorities based in reality and maps out the path forward. 


I thought it was a great speech. It was not a stump speech if that was what everyone was looking for, and it may be there was so much enthusiasm at the rally he believed they deserved to hear it like it is and how it is going to be.


I liked it, enjoyed it and I believe in him. No doubt, no worry, we have a clear path forward to bring continued change to this country in education, energy, employment opportunity and economic growth. What does anyone want? 

Nothing new in Romney's Ohio Speech.

Same old rhetoric with no ideas. He is relying on exploitation of the USA's natural resources without regulation. 


The facts are plain, President Obama was able to place priorities on the coal industry and mountain top mining is prohibited where mine shafts can serve the same purpose. Regulating the coal industry to stop the raping of our forests, pollution of our air and water has put miners back to work. It isn't possible to remove coal with environmental responsible methods with earth movers, large backhoes and trucks the size of buildings. But, coal extraction is possible with skilled labor, safe conditions and good pay. President Obama did that. He put miners back to work, saved the air and water from pollution and safeguarded forests important to the people of West Virginia and the Appalachians. Romney will again remove the regulations, cause layoffs and again provide profiteering as the real way to make a living in the coal industry.


There is nothing new. Romney has no ideas. He has rhetoric and the exploitation of natural resources already depleted for future generations. We have alternatives and we need to be vigilant to moving those priorities forward. Romney will move them backward.

I believe the military is losing its perspective.

The USA military stated the national debt of this country was a problem for the them. The country is reducing that national debt and the military has had plenty of time to prepare for it. 


Now, I don't know why the military seems so upset about all this when the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs can't be specific about the outcome of the budget cuts to the military. I believe working on 'theory' is unbecoming the USA military. I am quite confident this can occur without severe disruption of our readiness.


Perhaps the military leaders need to remind themselves about how the USA participated in WW II. They might begin to appreciate readiness can happen FIRST within the infrastructure of our country and not just at our military bases.


In actuality, the USA military budget is greater than the sum of all other military spending on a global basis. I would think that was shameful, especially given the fact the country is still rebounding from the 2008 depression which was encouraged by the huge spending of military prowess in the eight years before.


When the USA says in diplomatic circles we advocate peace and democracy and doesn't reflect that in our overwhelming readiness then it doesn't carry much validity. I would hope standing down from overwhelming force enough to PROVE the USA is serious about peace and nuclear non-proliferation is far overdue!


And to the US Army that believes full page ads are necessary to thank the people of the USA, "You are welcome." But, in all honesty, the thanks is from the nation to those that pay the highest price to their country when and only when the time comes to defend this country's borders. Perhaps some of the Public Relations budgets need to be cut first, after all other departments of the government can't really afford NASCAR participation.

I appreciate the fact the USA military is a global enterprise that fights wars on foreign soil for whatever reasons politicians find handy, but, in all honesty we need to curtail that mess. And when it comes to drones patrolling within the USA borders that has to stop. If pictures of landscapes are necessary for the departments of the government it can be done from planes like it always has before. I don't consider domestic use of drones a prudent expense and quite frankly it is as hostile toward citizens as the size of the military budget is to the rest of the world. 

..."We can't yet (click here) say precisely how bad the damage would be, but it is clear that sequestration would risk hollowing out our force and reducing its military options available to the nation," Dempsey told the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee. "We would go from being unquestionably powerful everywhere to being less visibly globally and presenting less of an overmatch to our adversaries, and that would translate into a different deterrent calculus and potentially, therefore, increase the likelihood of conflict."...

The American Jobs Act could save or return 500,000 teachers, police and firefighters to work. That is a fact.

There has been a loss of one half a million jobs in the public sector lost since 2008 due to short falls in State funds. The American Jobs Act would stop the loss and return people to work.


The next section of the bill is:



TITLE III – ASSISTANCE FOR THE UNEMPLOYED AND PATHWAYS BACK TO WORK


Subtitle A – Supporting Unemployed Workers


This subtitle may be cited as the “Supporting Unemployed Workers Act of 2011”.


Sec. 301. Short Title


Part I – Extension of Emergency Unemployment Compensation and Certain Extended Benefits Provisions, and Establishment of Self-Employment Assistance Program


Sec. 311. Extension of Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program


Sec. 312. Temporary Extension of Extended Benefit Provisions


Sec. 313. Reemployment Services and Reemployment and Eligibility Assessment Activities


This wasn't a passive bill. President Obama knew the jobs lost with the 2008 Depression were gone. There were now workers literally 'stranded' within out society whom no matter how long they looked for work were not going to find it.


The housing bubble ended a lot of jobs in construction including electricians, plumbers, masons, etc., etc. These skilled laborers were not going to find gainful employment in the near future which means impoverishment to them and their families.


To date those people are still not finding the work they need, the housing industry is slowly returning to a place where skilled labor could find work on a regular basis. Work without interruption. These workers are working with periods of unemployment or part time permanently if they are lucky. Retraining is very important people without a solid future. So, this bill emphasized in this section how and why it was important.



“(2) DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES.—The reemployment services and in-person reemployment and eligibility assessment activities provided to individuals receiving emergency unemployment compensation described in paragraph (1)—
“(A) shall include—
“(i) the provision of labor market and career information;
“(ii) an assessment of the skills of the individual;
“(iii) orientation to the services available through the One-Stop centers established under title I of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998;
“(iv) job search counseling and the development or review of an individual reemployment plan that includes participation in job search activities and appropriate workshops and may include referrals to appropriate training services; and
“(v) review of the eligibility of the individual for emergency unemployment compensation relating to the job search activities of the individual; and
“(B) may include the provision of—
“(i) comprehensive and specialized assessments;
“(ii) individual and group career counseling; and
“(iii) additional reemployment services.


The requirements were fairly unyielding. If one was on unemployment and the Labor Board of any state knew the industry was tanking, the services to retrain were nearly mandatory. So this was not a government handout as it is portrayed, so much as a bridge to a new way of earning a living. Any reluctance on the part of people receiving these monies was to be discouraged by mandatory participation. They weren't to get a participation ribbon either, so much as a new way to bring home a pay check to their families. The training was to have an end result.


“(3) PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENT.—As a condition of continuing eligibility for emergency unemployment compensation for any week, an individual who has been referred to reemployment services or reemployment and eligibility assessment activities under this subsection
shall participate, or shall have completed participation in, such services or activities, unless the State agency responsible for the administration of State unemployment compensation law determines that there is justifiable cause for failure to participate or complete such services or activities, as defined in guidance to be issued by the Secretary of Labor.”

Sec. 314. Federal-State Agreements to Administer a Self-Employment Assistance Program


The 2008 Depression hit the construction industry very deeply. Depending on where one lives in the country the self-employed is the same as union labor in the understanding since the work was gone people were stranded. In some states where self-employment is the only way to make a living there had to be measures to provide for them. Just because they were an independent small business didn't define wealth, so much as making ends meet. That is why this section was important to include. 



“(i) AUTHORITY TO CONDUCT SELF-EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.—


“(1) IN GENERAL.—


“(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—Any agreement under subsection (a) may provide that the State agency of the State shall establish a self-employment assistance program described in paragraph (2), to provide for the payment of emergency unemployment compensation as self-employment assistance allowances to individuals who meet the eligibility criteria specified in subsection (b).



Sec. 315. Conforming Amendment on Payment of Bridge to Work Wages


This is more of a transition for the unemployed. The unemployment benefits may actually have paid more than a new job would pay if indeed someone was hired. It wasn't as though the President was trying to lie to the unemployed. This section of the bill literally states the circumstances were very bad and the work obtained may not pay what one is used to, but, a bridge to that lowering paying job would provide people with time to adjust to their new reality.


“(j) AUTHORIZATION TO PAY WAGES FOR PURPOSES OF A BRIDGE TO WORK PROGRAM.—Any State that establishes a Bridge to Work program under section 204 of the Supporting Unemployed Workers Act of 2011 is authorized to deduct from an emergency unemployment compensation account established for such individual under section 4002 such sums as may be necessary to pay wages for such individual as authorized under section 204(b)(1) of such Act.”.


Sec. 316. Additional Extended Unemployment Benefits Under The Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act


(1) by striking ‘‘June 30, 2011’’ and inserting ‘‘June 30, 2012’’; and
(2) by striking ‘‘December 31, 2011’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 2012’’.

Part II—Reemployment NOW Program


Here is the reality of the program today in Philadelphia. 

Reemployment NOW! (click here)

This event is no longer available and has been removed by the planner. To find out information about upcoming events, feel free to contact the planner directly.

Sec. 321. Establishment of Reemployment NOW Program


It was a measure for people on emergency unemployment still unable to find work. 


AUTHORIZATION AND APPROPRIATION.—There are authorized to be appropriated and appropriated from the general fund of the Treasury for fiscal year 2012 $4,000,000,000 to carry out the Reemployment NOW program under this part


Sec. 322. Distribution of Funds
Sec. 323. State Plan
Sec. 324. Bridge to Work Program



(b) DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM.— In order to increase individuals’ opportunities to move to permanent employment, a State may establish a Bridge to Work program to provide an EUC claimant with short-term work experience placements with an eligible employer, during which time such individual—
(1) shall be paid emergency unemployment compensation payable under title IV of the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008 (Public Law 110-252; 26 U.S.C. 3304 note), as wages for work performed, and as specified in subsection (c);
(2) shall be paid the additional amount described in subsection (e) as augmented wages for work performed; and
(3) may be paid compensation in addition to the amounts described in paragraphs (1) and (2) by a State or by a participating employer as wages for work performed....


One of the possibilities for this program could mean public employment in administering this law in the way of construction of school infrastructure. The bill was putting jobs into the market place and those receiving emergency unemployment were to receive the jobs being generated by this new law. The law created jobs for much needed renovation of schools and classrooms, but, also targeted the unemployed as those to be considered for the jobs generated.



...(1) CERTIFICATION OF ELIGIBLE EMPLOYER.—A State may certify as eligible for participation in the program under this section any employer that meets the eligibility criteria as established in guidance by the Secretary of Labor, except that an employer shall not be certified as eligible for participation in the program described under subsection (b)—
(A) if such employer—
(i) is a Federal, State, or local government entity;
(ii) would engage an eligible individual in work activities under any employer’s grant, contract, or subcontract with a Federal, State, or local government entity, except with regard to work activities under any employer’s supply contract or subcontract;
(iii) is delinquent with respect to any taxes or employer contributions described under sections 3301 and 3303(a)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or with respect to any related reporting requirements;

Sec. 325. Wage Insurance


Another transition measure. These monies would have allowed people to support their current responsibilities for two years without losing wage labor. That is a long time. It would allow people to reassess their financial circumstances, sell or remortgage their home(s), sell cars and purchase different ones, pay off bills that otherwise would result in bankruptcy. Bankruptcy would deepen the depression and prolong it. 



(b) BENEFITS.—The wage insurance program provided under this section may use funds allotted to the State under this part to pay, for a period not to exceed 2 years, to a worker described in subsection (c), up to 50 percent of the difference between—
(1) the wages received by the worker at the time of separation; and
(2) the wages received by the worker for reemployment.


Sec. 326. Enhanced Reemployment Strategies


(a) IN GENERAL.—A State may use funds allotted under this part to provide a program of enhanced reemployment services to EUC claimants. In addition to the provision of services to such claimants, the program may include the provision of reemployment services to individuals who are unemployed and have exhausted their rights to emergency unemployment compensation under title IV of the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008, (Public Law 110-252; 26 U.S.C. 3304 note). The program shall provide reemployment services that are more intensive than the reemployment services provided by the State prior to the receipt of the allotment under this part.


Sec. 327. Self-Employment Programs
Sec. 328. Additional Innovative Programs


President Obama never assumed he was the only one with the right idea to return people to work and provide for transition. Section 328 literally allowed the State to write initiatives known to work for their people. If North Carolina knew they needed more people in the forestry department due to drought and fires, as existed in the last two years, the state had the right to conduct a program for eligible candidates for those jobs. President Obama has a lot of respect for others who can facilitate hope in people's lives. This is one of those humble moments in his Presidency where he never assumed to know everything there was to know to put people back to work. In Section 328 he sought to empower those willing to put hope back into the future for people stranded.


(a) IN GENERAL.— A State may use funds allotted under this part to provide a program for innovative activities, which use a strategy that is different from the reemployment strategies described in sections 324-327 and which are designed to facilitate the reemployment of EUC claimants.


Sec. 329. Guidance and Additional Requirements


Oversight and compliance to the Secretary of Labor from the states receiving the funds.


The Secretary of Labor may establish through guidance, without regard to the requirements of section 553 of title 5, United States Code, such additional requirements, including requirements regarding the allotment, recapture, and reallotment of funds, and reporting requirements, as the Secretary determines to be necessary to ensure fiscal integrity, effective monitoring, and appropriate and prompt implementation of the activities under this Act.


Sec. 330. Report of Information and Evaluations to Congress and the Public


Oversight and compliance from the Secretary of Labor to the Congress for assessment of programs and evaluation of what worked best, what was new and innovative and where success occurred most often.


The Secretary of Labor shall provide to the appropriate Committees of the Congress and make available to the public the information reported pursuant to section 329 and the evaluations of activities carried out pursuant to the funds reserved under section 322(a)(1).


Sec. 331. State

PART III – SHORT-TIME COMPENSATION PROGRAM


SEC. 341. TREATMENT OF SHORT-TIME COMPENSATION PROGRAMS.


There are ten provisions in this section of which three are below. This was to keep employers operating with a reduced workforce familiar with that industry and already knowing their jobs if that employer found a need to downsize their work force. The employees remaining on the job would be eligible to receive unemployment to supplement their loses of wage labor. 

“(1) the participation of an employer is voluntary;

“(2) an employer reduces the number of hours worked by employees in lieu of layoffs;

“(3) such employees whose workweeks have been reduced by at least 10 percent, and by not more than the percentage, if any, that is determined by the State to be appropriate (but in no case more than 60 percent), are eligible for unemployment compensation;

This was actually a great opportunity for employers, both small and larger corporations. It provided room for cash flow to allow employees to remain on their jobs in support of stressed businesses, but, also to cut back on working hours so the employers treasury had a break should their income be disrupted. Such relief for a company's treasury could also have been used to upgrade the business. Such cash flow improvement could literally help rebuild the economy, both in improvements in production and longevity of the business with the new upgrades.


This section is as much a support to employers to help retool the economy as to the employees experiencing disruption in their own cash flow. 



Sec. 342. Temporary Financing of Short-Time Compensation Payments In States With Programs In Law
Sec. 343. Temporary Financing of Short-Time Compensation Agreements
Sec. 344. Grants for Short-Time Compensation Programs



(b) AMOUNT OF GRANTS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The maximum amount available for making grants to a State under paragraphs (1) and (2) shall be equal to the amount obtained by multiplying $700,000,000 (less the amount used by the Secretary under subsection (e)) by the same ratio as would apply under subsection (a)(2)(B) of section 903 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1103) for purposes of determining such State's share of any excess amount (as described in subsection (a)(1) of such section) that would have been subject to transfer to State accounts, as of October 1, 2010, under the provisions of subsection (a) of such section.

Sec. 345. Assistance and Guidance In Implementing Programs


The Secretary of Labor was to be a consultant to the states to help the programs develop and be successful.


Sec. 346. Reports


Reports as per usual ultimately to the Congress and President.

All these sections are mostly self explanatory. These sections say the state would receive 100% reimbursement of funds used for the purposes here. There were not state funds needed to have these programs available for citizens. These programs were completely financed by the federal government through the IRS code and states could help their people without causing budget shortfalls. 


Subtitle B – Long-Term Unemployed Hiring Preferences


Sec. 351. Long Term Unemployed Workers Work Opportunity Tax Credits


(a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (3) of section 51(b) of the Internal Revenue Code is amended by inserting “$10,000 per year in the case of any individual who is a qualified long term unemployed individual by reason of subsection (d)(11), and” before “$12,000 per year”....


...“(11) Qualified long term unemployed individual.
(A) In general. The term “qualified long term unemployed individual” means any individual who was not a student for at least 6 months during the 1-year period ending on the hiring date and is certified by the designated local agency as having aggregate periods of unemployment during the 1-year period ending on the hiring date which equal or exceed 6 months.


(B) Student. For purposes of this subsection, a student is an individual enrolled at least half-time in a program that leads to a degree, certificate, or other recognized educational credential for at least 6 months whether or not consecutive during the 1-year period ending on the hiring date.”;...


That mostly defines this section. There are provisions for employer tax credits under certain circumstances.


Tomorrow I'll finish up Title III in reviewing:


Subtitle C - Pathways back to work.

Shoulda, woulda, coulda. Jamie Dimon at the Senate today,

Banking CEO James Dimon Details JPMorgan Chase Loss

WASHINGTON, DC
Wednesday, June 13, 2012

JPMorgan Chase CEO James 'Jamie' Dimon goes before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee Wednesday to provide a better understanding of the company’s recent massive trading loss.

On May 10, JPMorgan Chase announced approximately $2 billion in trading losses from a complex trading strategy. The FBI and other government agencies are investigating the matter....

An unbalanced portfolio with sparse supervision including Dimon is the word today. I think I guessed that much. It is the shoulda, woulda, coulda that needs to be legislated. 


It is more than obvious Mr. Dimon does not want the US Federal authority regulating JP Morgan. His opinion in that respect is understandable, JP Morgan is well managed by their Risk Committee. It was the only bank, no different than Ford was the only company not requiring bailout funds. JP Morgan was required to participate and have paid back the loans as soon as possible.


However, he is also a politician and makes the statement "...loans are their greatest risk." The Tennessee committee member stated, $800 billion worth of loans. Loans are not his greatest risk. If loans were his greatest risk, "Proprietary Property/Assets," the $2 billion would not have happened. So, both he and the Senator from Tennessee are manipulating the words emphasized in the exchange.


Additionally, loans are not JP Morgan's greatest risk because loans are backed either by surety bonds, insurance or loan guarantees. 


Mr. Dimon is probably the best banker in the business and JP Morgan the most stable, that is obvious, however, that doesn't mean what is occurring in JP Morgan does not effect the stability of governments and even governments much smaller than the USA as they are in Europe. 


While Mr. Dimon has a job to do, it is also the job of the USA government to be sure Mr. Dimon and his peers are not endangering the stability of the USA economy and their allies. To that end, the Volcker Rule has to be well written, implemented with strong oversight.


End of discussion as the Right Wing likes to 'dummy down' the laws of the USA of which even a CEO such as Dimon is more than willing to let happen.


-------------------------------


The banking collapse occurred. There were signs leading up to it. A company like Morgan knew there were signs leading up to it. They carry their own insurance against a negative balance that would destroy the bank and make it insolvent through liquidity available to them. To put it plainly, Morgan could take a substantial financial loss without it disrupting their 'daily business capital.' That is very smart management. 


I think Jamie Dimon was very smart to go pubic with this loss, because, regardless of the disappointment it might have raised with shareholders, the questions would come anyway and it would look as though he was covering up more than actually happened. 


While mortgages are a commodity that can be secured with assets, in 2008 the amount of land being traded was too large and the failures too many to secure away from the disaster of insolvency for the majority of banks because they over leveraged and created all kinds of fancy mechanisms to try to protect themselves from the disaster. 


The housing bubble occurred because of legislation in 2002, which is entered on this blog post collapse, encouraged by the idea owning a home would solve all peoples problems. That wasn't the case. The banking system accommodated the idea because it was the backbone of American fiscal stability on a personal and government level (Government is land and people.), but, it also allowed too much recognition by the financial markets that if they were in trouble only a government would have the capital to cover their losses. That is not a good precedent.


The Republicans are to blame here. They are a party of wealthy backers, in many ways like Wall Street. The wealthy in the USA receive recognition for extraordinary lifestyle very few can afford. Their justification for that wealth is the idea they worked hard. They seek more wealth by driving down labor costs and demonizing organizers of unions that would seek the Middle Class stable and growing. Those 'mind speak' dynamics are as wrong as the idea Morgan and its peers can exist without regulation. 


The markets are open in a sort of democratic way, so long as a purchaser has the money necessary to trade within that structure. It is for that reason no legislator should apologize for regulations to protect the USA from fiscal collapse. When Dimon goes into the market to balance the fiscal stability of Morgan he is vulnerable and that is obvious. It is a very safe statement to say Morgan is in a class by itself, that still doesn't exempt the company from regulation stabilizing the overall dynamic. Actually, the regulation will probably weed out the contenders more than not.


Americans are unique people in that what is the focus of success for one is not the same for the next. Some people like making money and some people like dancing Swan Lake. For many Americans both are as equally talented in different ways and should have the same equity in the real world when it comes to fiscal stability and political power. Hence, the USA. All aspects of the USA are not equally as lucrative even though there is this equality of importance in a well balanced society with joyful life experiences. 


The Republicans have a problem in getting elected to office in the USA, they have to appear not to favor only the wealthy and make example of opportunity to all Americans through what might be the best government program ever conceived allowing all Americans to enjoy the quality of life of the wealthiest of their citizens. The housing bubble resulted in many ways because Republicans convinced themselves if everyone had a job and had the opportunity to purchase a house, life would take care of itself. What resulted caused a great deal of strife in the USA that hasn't yet resolved. 


Romney stated the best way for Americans to manage the education of their children is to be allowed to put them in private schools called Charter schools while receiving vouchers and ultimately eliminating pubic education. So, now we'll see the education bubble and the remains of its collapse are far more human than any housing bubble could be. 

If only eveyone was a millionaire the USA would be perfect. Well, the Republicans have to come to terms with the fact the Federal Reserve can't continually print money to make everyone a millionaire if they expect the financial markets actually have value.

Morgan is a well run institution with longevity, I would like to think the USA and its departments of government would seek to maintain the same integrity.

Senator Cornyn needs to apologize to Attorney General Holder.

This is a loop of Cornyn on June 6th in regard to the leaks investigation being told by someone other than Attorney General Holder that any Special Prosecutors are not warranted. Less than a week later and after President Obama called for an investigation Cornyn is stating AG Holder should resign. Cornyn is out of line. He is not the country's Dicator and Chief to tell the USA Justice Department how to conduct business.

...Cornyn said that Holder agreed that there should be an independent investigation into the leaks of sensitive intelligence information.

“He’s shown himself incapable of separating himself as an arm of the Obama administration and an independent attorney general that’s supposed to be the chief law enforcement for the country,” said Cornyn. “So, it’s time for him to go.”

Lee asked Cornyn to clarify if he was asking Holder to resign over Fast and Furious or the leaks specifically.

“It’s a combination of the two,” said Cornyn. He went on to say that he has always had reservations about Holder prior to his confirmation. He went on to accuse Holder of providing “political cover” for the Obama administration....

I should have kept count on how many times AG Holder has at the House Committee due to the harassment of Issa and now risking political problems in California, he defers to Cornyn. If Senator Cornyn is confused regarding all the information make available to the Senate Justice Department he might want to ask the House for transcripts of the hearings there to all the AG to do his job rather than cater to Right Wing politics.

Russia is interested in one thing, "Stable Political States."

The actions by Russia in Syria is the 'same ole,' 'same ole.' 


When are the Russians going to realize as soon as they start their moralizing over stable political states to justify violence in a country like Syria there will always be Amerrcan Neocons hot on their trail and preparing for the next Iraq? After decades of playing this stupid game I would think Vladimir Putin of all people would 'get the country's communists OVER IT!'


The actions of the Russians, by supplying helicopters to Assad, is the same idiotic baloney that occurred in Afghanistan and look where we are today?

Russia defends Syria arms sales (click here)

2012-06-13 14:06Moscow - Russia's arms export agency said on Wednesday its deliveries to Syria were in line with UN regulations but declined to comment specifically on US claims that it was sending attack helicopters to the regime.

Rosoboronexport "does not supply weapons and military technology in contradiction with UN Security Council requirements and other international agreements", a spokesman told the state-run RIA Novosti news agency.

The news report said the agency spokesperson "did not comment" when asked about the specific charges....And then of course there are the Oligarchs and we are off to the races again! Oh, Syria doesn't have Iraq's oil? True, but, foreign arms sales in Russia equates to foreign arms sales in the USA. It always works that way. Last updated: June 13, 2012 12:40 pm

Over 50 killed during Iraq pilgramages (click here)

By Michael Peel in Abu Dhabi

Car bombs apparently targeting Shia Muslim pilgrims killed more than 50 people across Iraq on Wednesday, piling more sectarian pressure on a country grappling with an escalating political crisis.

The attacks – one of the bloodiest since US troops ended their near-nine year occupation in December – began at dawn, with at least 10 blasts, seemingly timed on the anniversary of the death of a saint venerated by Iraq’s majority Shia population....

The Neocons of the USA simply love to instill fear into the USA's electorate to have them actually believe there is a reason to believe Russia is still the evilest of empires. It is a hideous game that should have ended with Khrushchev. 

The Shi'ites and the Sunnis will be bitter theocratic enemies for infinity. The USA and Russia need to stop playing into this hatred and stop the ethnic violence by supplying the 'weapons food chain."


The theocratic differences between the Shi'ites and the Sunnis stems from the status of women and their right to add to the genetic footprint to Mohammad. Go ahead, try and stop that mess with attack helicopters.

Massachusetts Job Growth, 2003 to current.

Willard Mitt Romney was in office from 2003 through 2007. What was so special about his Governorship with Bush as President as compared to Patrick and President Obama as President?


Massachusetts Employment Changes (graph above - click here)

The charts below shows the monthly job growth for Massachusetts as measured by the CES and CPS surveys. To illustrate the trend, the 3 month moving average change in employment is shown in green.

Current Population Survey (CPS) - US Census conducts this.

Current Employment Statistics (CES) - Bureau of Labor Statistics records this.

Time to read more of The American Job Act.

Strong Leadership - He just isn't what his ads say he is. He is the man of half-truths.

Romney is dishonest. He is untrustworthy for an electorate. He is deceiving. And he has had election success in dealing in half truths.

Seeking Taxes, Romney Went After Business (click here)

Alan LeBovidge, Mitt Romney's revenue commissioner, said the governor “wanted us to go after the big game” to find income.

By MICHAEL BARBARO

Published: October 1, 2011

BOSTON — Much of the business community in Massachusetts was puzzled. Mitt Romney, a Republican with high-caliber corporate credentials, had run for governor pledging to sweep aside barriers to business and act as the state’s “top salesman.”

But just a few months after Mr. Romney took office in 2003, what he delivered seemed anything but friendly to the C.E.O. crowd: a bill to financial firms for what they saw as $110 million in new corporate taxes — and a promise of more to come....

...For the next three years, the Romney administration relentlessly scoured the tax code for more loopholes, extracting hundreds of millions of corporate dollars to help close budget gaps in a state with a struggling economy. It was only after Mr. Romney was gearing up in 2005 for a possible White House bid that he backed away from some of his most assertive tax enforcement proposals amid intensifying complaints from local companies and conservative anti-tax groups in Washington....

By every indication he did in Massachusetts exactly what President Obama and the tax proposal of Simpson-Bowles states needs to be done. Yet, today and his ambitions of the past ignore that fact and side with exploitation of standards that support the Middle Class. He is flip flops and waivers on everything. His position on anything is as fluid as the people he is speaking to at the moment.

Stand by your man.

I don't have a lot of faith in setting bail for George Zimmerman. The couple has funds and if they believe there is nothing to lose by leaving the country, they would have the means to do so. Her bail was $1000 and she made it, age twenty-five with a record now. I just can't see how a husband would allow this to occur. He allowed her lie for him, while compounding all that by lying himself. He never put dignity or her innocence before his involvement? There are character issues with both George and his spouse Shellie.

The Associated Press

June 12, 2012

 1:49 p.m.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Authorities say the wife of Trayvon Martin's shooter faces one count of perjury on an accusation that she lied to a judge about their finances during his bond hearing.

An order issued Tuesday by assistant state attorney John Guy charged Shellie Zimmerman with knowingly making false statements during the April hearing. George Zimmerman has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in the shooting. He was granted $150,000 bond at that hearing and released.

The judge revoked that bond earlier this month after state attorneys argued that Zimmerman and his wife had lied to the judge about their finances, especially about money raised from a website. 

George Zimmerman is back in jail. 


Why was the label ripped off the iced tea can? I guess that is just the can. It looked as though a section of label was removed.


Trayvon Martin's cell phone below.

I am no detective, but, this is the shell casing?

The leaf shows where it was found in both pictures immediately above and below. Where was the struggle, I would think it was obvious. I mean the leaf is laying there after it fell off the tree. It wasn't much of a struggle.

Romney on bus tour through rural towns he didn't consider significant during primaries.

Some say the 2012 GOP candidate is running among the most secretive campaigns in recent history. (click here)

By Kasie Hunt, The Associated Press / June 11, 2012

Keeping his secrets, Mitt Romney tends to lift the veil on his finances and campaign only if the law says he must.

The Republican presidential candidate refuses to identify his biggest donors who "bundle" money for his campaign. He often declines to say who's meeting with him or what he's doing for hours at a time. He puts limits on media access to his fundraisers. And he resists releasing all of his tax returns, making just a single year public after facing pressure to do so.

"We've released all the information required by law and then some," Romney said last month about his tax returns.

He's indicated that part of the reason for his secrecy is to avoid political problems in his race against President Barack Obama.

He has said of his election foe: "He's going to try and make this campaign about the fact that I've been successful, that I've made a lot of money. So he wants to be able to get all the details on each year and how much money I made this year and that year. I'm not going to get into that."...

Political problems like the Koch Brothers? The Brothers that are purchasing the country? Those political problems?

Romney Campaign Memo: The Koch Brothers Are The ‘Financial Engine Of The Tea Party’ (click here)

By Lee Fang on Nov 3, 2011 at 3:10 pm

Tomorrow, billionaire David Koch and presidential candidate Mitt Romney are set to speak at the a Tea Party conference financed by the same Koch brother’s fortune. The Defending the Dream Summit, a conference funded by Koch and sponsored by his Americans for Prosperity group, is a yearly event where Republican politicians come to praise the Koch brothers and their political network. For instance, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), as he was seeking the Republican nomination, paid tribute to the Koch’s political network at the same event in 2007....

TUESDAY, JUN 12, 2012 08:26 AM EDT

Romney would fire teachers, too (click here)

BY ALEX SEITZ-WALD

Romney to fight firefighters with firings: The Romney campaign has refused to “provide any clarification on the record of what else Romney might have meant to say” when he criticized President Obama for wanting to hire more firefighters, other than that he wants to fire some, despite being “asked repeatedly for elaboration” by reporters.

When the campaign has spoken on the record, it has suggested that Romney would indeed seek to lower the number of firefighters, as top surrogate John Sununu did on MSNBC yesterday.

Teachers too: Rival-turned-surrogate Newt Gingrich said last night on CNN that Romney would go after teachers too. “Does that mean there will be fewer teachers? The honest answer is yes,” he said. Romney has previously suggested bigger class sizes would be an acceptable way to cut education spending....

To privatize the educational system in the USA using a voucher system will mean the public system will stop to exist and eventually will no longer be 'vouchered,' but, only tuition. It will return to Revolutionary War USA and the private educational system exampled by The Pinkerton Academy.

By TRIP GABRIEL

Published: June 11, 2012 

“Voucher” is a fighting word in education, (click here) so it may be understandable that when Mitt Romney speaks about improving the nation’s schools, he never uses that term.

Nonetheless, as president, Mr. Romney would seek to overhaul the federal government’s largest programs for kindergarten through 12th grade into a voucherlike system. Students would be free to use $25 billion in federal money to attend any school they choose — public, charter, online or private — a system, he said, that would introduce marketplace dynamics into education to drive academic gains.

His plans, presented in a recent speech at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, represent a broad overhaul of current policy, one that reverses a quarter-century trend, under Republican and Democratic presidents, of concentrating responsibility for school quality at the federal level....

This speech at the Chamber of Commerce is typical of his 'style' if you want to call it that. He removes all references to 'known' content and substitutes his own definition of understanding problems. He basically disorients the electorate to challenge them to understand their concerns 'his' way. It keeps the electorate guessing to understand him. He has control. I am sure that technique served him well in the private equity and fortune hunting venue when striking up deals, but, 'public beware.' Literally, Romney talks out of both sides of his mouth at the same time.

...I’d love to stand here today (click here) and join you in celebrating the end of our education crisis. Wouldn’t it be great if we could look back on the last four years with confidence that the crisis had been confronted and we’d turned the corner toward a brighter future?

But sadly, that hasn’t happened.  (That statement starts the beginning of the 'Romney Mind Speak. I mean he is a crook through and through, beginning with robbing the electorate's dignity to hammer a different reality.) And the tragedy is not just a matter of test scores and international rankings. (He throws out STANDARD and measurable indications of success.) It’s the frustration of a sixth grader who wants to learn more, but is stuck in a class that’s moving too slowly. It’s the embarrassment of a 10th grader who knows he can’t read the books he’s assigned. It’s the shame of a 12th grader who’s supposed to be ready to graduate, but hasn’t mastered the skills he or she needs to succeed in life.... (And creates an individual measure that is different for every person. Individuality is the measure of the USA, so it is a rather interesting way of flag waving without the flag.)

...But America’s public education establishment shows no sense of urgency.  Instead, there is a fierce determination to keep things the way they are.... (That statement is a direct attack on unions. He is stating unions cause problems in education by remaining the same. I don't know any teacher in the USA that has lesson plans approved by the union. It is not the union here that would be to blame if that were the truth, which it is not, but the higher education system of the USA that educates teachers from ancient textbooks and methodologies. That is a lie. Teachers in the USA have incorporated all kinds of media and computerization to their classrooms, with some advanced classes being taught remotely. Romney is a liar and nearly every word he states is contrived without solid reference to reality. He only has his own rhetoric and reality to rely on. I have never been so annoyed with a speaker in my life. I can listen to anyone, Beck, Hannity and Liimbaugh; in my opinion some of the slickest rhetorical inventors in the world without being as annoyed as I am listening to Romney.)

See, indeed, Romney is going to be every parent's answer to any problem their child(ren) have in achieving their first million or more.

...Let’s not kid ourselves – we are in the midst of a National Education Emergency. The only reason we don’t hear more about it is because our economic troubles have taken our national attention away from the classroom.  But if unemployment was where it should be and home values were going up, there is no question that the crisis in American education would be the great cause of this campaign....

My, my Willard Mitt is the only one alive worried about our educational system. God bless his sorry ass.

...Much as you have in your own business careers, I’ve found that you can’t expect dramatically different results unless you are open to dramatic change.  As president, I will pursue bold policy changes that will restore the promise of our nation’s education system.

First, I will expand parental choice in an unprecedented way.  Too many of our kids are trapped in schools that are failing or simply don’t meet their needs.  And for too long, we’ve merely talked about the virtues of school choice....

How many Mr. America? How many children don't pass muster? How many is the USA educational system failing? I want numbers, Bubba, not simply pie in the sky dreamscapes. And how DRAMATIC are the changes you are proposing and where can you show EXACTLY how, once implemented, they are going to change the outcomes of our young people? Success of same in Massachusetts? Changes in the educational system there? Dramatic turn arounds and now Massachusetts kids are exceeding expectations on a global basis. 

What are the EXACT particulars to the Romney promises and what are the exact outcomes, because, if he wants to promise all these wonderful things, he needs to back it up and not simply promise wide sweeping changes to a country at loss and in pain from the last two term President and his lack of ideas ,but, only godly extolling? 

...As President, I will give the parents of every low-income and special needs student the chance to choose where their child goes to school.  For the first time in history, federal education funds will be linked to a student, so that parents can send their child to any public or charter school, or to a private school, where permitted.  And I will make that choice meaningful by ensuring there are sufficient options to exercise it. 

To receive the full complement of federal education dollars, states must provide students with ample school choice.  In addition, digital learning options must not be prohibited.  And charter schools or similar education choices must be scaled up to meet student demand....

Small government, sir? Digital choices, like homeschooling and making remote learning the pinnacle to American education that will put every child's mind surpassing anyone on a global level? Is that the American Dream we are all hoping for? Electronically produced children where someone somewhere controls the content of learning so they all turn out to be 'screen dependent robots of the system?" Is that the future of our children?

DC Opportunity Funding for all? Is that it? 

The DC Opportunity Funding, one program introduced by George W. Bush as written by the Heritage Foundation increased by $3,451,600 in seven years. TWENTY FIVE PERCENT in costs in seven years. I don't think so! Eventually, this program will be unsustainable and that is exactly why the GOP candidates from sea to shining sea promise to end the Department of Education. Romney wants to end it too, but, that isn't electable now is it?

Funding Status

2011

• Appropriation: $17,369,000

2010

• Appropriation: $13,200,000
• Number of New Awards Anticipated: 0
• Number of Continuation Awards: 1

2009

• Appropriations: $14,000,000

2008

• Appropriations: $14,800,000
• Number of New Awards Anticipated: 0
• Number of Continuation Awards: 1
• Average Continuation Award: $12,694,186

2007

• Appropriations: $13,860,000
• Number of New Awards Anticipated: 0
• Number of Continuation Awards: 1
• Average Continuation Award: $12,454,200

2006

• Appropriations: $13,860,000
• Number of New Awards Anticipated: 0
• Number of Continuation Awards: 1
• Average Continuation Award: $12,454,200

2005

• Appropriations: $13,888,000

2004

• Appropriations: $13,917,400

Of course, unions will not be needed as they are the sole responsibility of the entire US educational system. 

...The teachers unions don’t fight for our children.  That’s our job.  And our job keeps getting harder because the unions wield outsized influence in elections and campaigns....


Wow, unions are taking over the minds of our children. Who knew?

...Here in America, every child deserves a chance.  It shouldn’t be reserved for the fortunate few. 

Who are the reserved few? Who are those few children in the USA that have reserved their place at the table of high achievement? What are the few children Mr. American has in mind to model an entire national school system after?

If America is going to continue to lead the world in how much we build, create, and invent, (The USA leads the world in all that? Where? Show me the statistics and the money. Show me the money it will take for every child in the USA to be number one globally? I want to see it!)  then we must transform how we teach, train, and educate.  We already have good teachers, engaged parents, and big ideas.  What we need now is strong leadership and the political will.

A choice for every parent means a chance for every child.  That can be more than our hope – it can be our future.  It can begin this year, in the choice you make, so I ask for your help, your support, and your vote on the sixth of November.

Thank you all, and God bless America.

Well, I'll be darn, Mr. Fix It All has arrived on the scene. God Bless It.