This Blog is created to stress the importance of Peace as an environmental directive. “I never give them hell. I just tell the truth and they think it’s hell.” – Harry Truman
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By having a majority Democrat Senate and House to move measures out of committee accompanied by a President willing to sign them !
Senate and House Take Legislative Swings at Secrecy (click here) “This administration has used OLC opinions to develop a secret set of binding rules that fly in the face of laws passed by Congress on matters ranging from torture to warrantless wiretapping,” Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) said in a news release. “By hiding these opinions from view, the administration prevents Congress from restoring the rule of law through oversight or legislation. This bill represents an important step toward curbing secret law and restoring the balance of power between the White House and Congress.” Feingold, who has been among the fiercest critics of the administration's power grabs, introduced the OLC Reporting Act in the Senate, with Rep. Brad Miller (D-NC) introducing companion legislation in the House. It's unlikely the bill will be passed this year -- and even if it was, Bush would almost certainly veto it -- but the legislation provides a starting point for the next Congress to begin undoing Bush's damage.
NAFTA (click here) ...As a former foreign minister of Mexico once remarked, NAFTA was "an agreement for the rich and powerful in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, an agreement effectively excluding ordinary people in all three societies." It should, therefore, be no surprise that NAFTA rules protect the interests of large corporate investors while undercutting workers' rights, environmental protections, and democratic accountability. Hence, NAFTA should be seen not as a stand-alone treaty, but as part of a long-term campaign by the conservative business interests in all three countries to rip up their respective domestic social contract....
We need our economy back and we don't need it back by the same people that destroyed it !
Posted: Oct. 2 3:41 p.m. Updated: Today at 6:29 a.m. Research Triangle Park, N.C. — North Carolina’s economy lost more than 222,000 jobs in 2007 due to the “corrosive effect” of the U.S. trade deficit, according to a new study from the Economy Policy Institute.Focusing on what it calls the “non-oil trade deficit,” the EPI says currency manipulation by China and other countries has triggered an exodus of manufacturing jobs overseas....
"Made in America"
Interesting GPS On Chevy Volt (click here) October 3, 2008 General Motors has a lot riding on the upcoming Chevy Volt hybrid. As it turns out, the Volt has more going for it than just its hybrid powertrain. Yes, it’s nice that you can run on electricity alone or you can opt to use the gasoline engine too, but this GPS trick is awfully neat. GM’s Bob Lutz went to the blogger town hall after the official Volt unveil yesterday, revealing a feature that we had not heard about before. As it turns out, the Chevy Volt will make use of the integrated GPS to constantly determine how far you are from home. Based on this distance, the Volt will then determine whether it needs to run the gas engine to charge the on-board battery pack or not. This is to ensure maximum fuel economy....
Ohio
MyOhioNow Brings Real Facts To Casino Issue In Ohio (click here) Opponents of a proposed casino in Ohio have been pulling out all the stops in trying to convince people not to vote for Issue Six in the upcoming election. The only thing they have yet to bring to the table is actual facts as to why the casino would be a bad thing. Issue Six asks voters to approve a new casino in Ohio. MyOhioNow is the group that has been pushing the issue and they now have brought some facts out through a study that voters should be aware of.... ...In addition to the money that would be generated from the casino, perhaps the bigger impact, the study found, would come from the amount of jobs that would be created. 8,700 jobs are projected to be added from the casino....
The $700 billion isn't going to do anything. It will be soaked up like a sponge, just like all the other 'cave ins' by the Bush Administration.
The $700 billion will ONLY MAKE 'stuff' look better. It will be a Golden Parachuet to the markets and that is all it will be.
It will do nothing to create jobs in the USA. It will not stop this slippery slope. As the commentator states in the video at the bottom of this entry, the markets have been distracted by these enormous amounts of monies generated nearly every other day by the Bush White House through Paulson. The actual value of the markets is based on 'air' not reality. It is the "W"rong time to be throwing money at these institutions.
This 'slide' was begun years ago. All the gold in Fort Knox won't stop this one. The danger to the USA is that this will actually impinge on USA sovereignty, lower its ability to 'tool up' for any national defense stategy as it was able to before WW II and severely dampen the new administration's agenda for change. The future of the USA has to be realized as being left in the hands of a New administration in DC, along with two legislative majorities. The House of Representatives should vote NO on such an ungainly amount of 'bailout.' After all who are we bailing out? Two investment firms? That's all that is left. I don't think so.
All the bailouts, mergers and tax rebates haven't done anything to stem this and they won't. We are not seeing estimations of these current circumstances because it will undermind investor confidence. There comes a time when investors need to realize their own futures and act accordingly. This mess is nonsense. It has been realized because of GROSS incompetence in the Republican Party, blindly following Gramm the ideologue.
Open your eyes people. This IS and HAS BEEN the 'Big One.' The future has to have been secured by the states and local municipalities by now.
I heard someone state yesterday, "This is about credit and lending' and how the banks don't have enough liquidity to make loans. Well, heck making loans is what got them in this mess in the first place and if there aren't controls in place when these monies go out, there won't be any recovery. Within the past year, Carlyle Group (click here) had huge gains in its amounts of liquidity. Sorry if this sounds rhetorical, but, sooner or later folks need to realize when 'the truth' is more than rhetoric. Carlyle has been coming up like roses along side of Goldman Saks. They just have. There is no rhetoric in facts. During the past two years, these firms had huge gains in their assets and liquidity.
...Firms including Carlyle Group (click here) and Oaktree Capital Management LLC exceeded the $323.8 billion gathered in the year- earlier period, according to data compiled by London-based Preqin Ltd. Commitments to distressed funds, which focus on debt and equity of struggling companies, rose 28 percent to $33 billion, while new money for buyout funds fell 18 percent, Preqin said....
...Carlyle, based in Washington, raised $1.35 billion, more than double its $500 million target, for its Strategic Partners II fund. Oaktree won commitments for $10.9 billion, about triple the size of its 2007 fund, according to the report.
Rather than engaging a failing market, they are like a pack of vultures waiting for 'the kill' which is supposed to come in the way of a $700 billion USA bailout.
Why wait?
Why not?
Who will own the USA when this is over?
Its more for those that road the 'wave' of the Paulson manipulations. They're ready. Why do you think Bush is 'out there' soliciting the House Republicans? When has anyone ever witnessed such pandering to the legislature by Bush himself?
Why?
Because Daddy said so.
They could not care less about the people of this country, proven in a long history of their 'trickle down THEORIES.' Anyone that believes Bush is actually acting in the best interest of the nation is sorely diluting themselves. Bushes act to enhance Bushes.
When the Silverado Savings and Loan Bailout was handed to Neil Bush by George H. W. Bush they assaulted the FDIC to accomplish the salvation of their blundering and now they are standing by for the 'biggest play' of the Bush Family Empirer's Wealth Campaign. Carlyle is Saudi Arabia. The $700 billion US's biggest vulture is the Saudis.
Rubenstein: PE to rescue troubled US mortgage assets (click here) The Carlyle co-founder said he and other private equity players would be among the biggest buyers of the distressed mortgage- and real estate-related assets set to be acquired by the US governments’ $700bn financial rescue plan. Posted - 23 Sep 2008 20:31 GMT CET updated - 23 Sep 2008 20:35 GMT CET Zoe Hughes The Carlyle Group is steeling itself to be among the largest buyers of distressed mortgage and real estate assets as part of the US government’s $700 billion financial system bailout, co-founder David Rubenstein has said. Speaking on CNBC, Rubenstein said private equity would play a “significant” part in buying the troubled assets from the government. It came as US treasury secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke urged Congress to act swiftly to put in place the rescue package for troubled assets warning delay would put the economy at risk....
There was a more than annoying analogy intentionally meant to scare folks in a newprint. It is an observation about Campbell Soup and its use by soup kitchens as the subliminal message regarding the USA Economy. Campbell Soup has gone global and is achieving success on that front. It's got nothing to do with soup kitches, they receive donations. What next? The 'tale' in regard to Campbell is there are healthy companies in the market place, and Campbell is one of them.
Credit crisis soups up Campbell's profits (click here) New Jersey-based company posted 46% rise in quarterly profits last month Global financial collapse isn't necessarily bad news for everybody in the business world. A solitary US company, Campbell's Soup, has been standing ever taller while all around have fallen. When Wall Street suffered the worst points fall in its history on Monday, there were 499 fallers in the Standard & Poor's 500 index. There was only one climber – the world's biggest soup manufacturer. Wags quickly suggested this was in anticipation of long queues at soup kitchens in the Great Depression of 2008....
Campbell Completes Sale of Generale Condimentaire Condiment Business in France to Lesieur (click here) WEBWIRE – Thursday, October 02, 2008 Campbell Soup Company (NYSE: CPB) today announced it has completed the sale of its Generale Condimentaire (GECO) business to Lesieur, a company indirectly held by Sofiproteol, the financial arm of the French oilseed producer. Campbell announced the signing of the agreement on July 31, 2008. Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed. The GECO business comprises sauce and mayonnaise products sold under the "Lesieur" brand in France and a manufacturing facility in Dunkerque, France, which employs 100 people. Campbell previously licensed the "Lesieur" name from Lesieur and made annual payments for the use of the brand. Campbell will focus its business in France on driving growth in the simple meals category through its market-leading "Liebig" and "Royco" soup brands.
Electoral map looks good for Obama, but big challenges await (click here) 4:11 PM Thu, Oct 02, 2008 Obama leads in states with 259 electoral votes. Minnesota is still counted as a swing state, but a new poll shows him with a big lead there, and it's likely he'll carry it. Assuming he holds on to all of those states, he'll still need to win several others: Nevada (5 electoral votes): He's been behind most of the campaign here but recent polls give him a lead within the margin of error. He's bolstered by a lot of new registered Democrats. New Hampshire: He has been neck and neck in recent polls in the only New England state that's not a lock for him. A new poll is out today that shows him up 12, by far his best showing. New Hampshire has been trending Democratic, but it's been friendly to McCain over the years. If Obama wins the Granite State and no other swing state, he'd have enough EVs to win the presidency....
The POLL indications for Obama/Biden has been consistently over 50% for the past three days.
From wire reports WASHINGTON – Recently trailing or tied, Democrat Barack Obama now leads Republican John McCain in a trio of the most critical, vote-rich states five weeks before the election, according to presidential poll results of likely voters released Wednesday. The Democrat's support jumped to 50 percent or above in Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania in Quinnipiac University surveys taken during the weekend – after the opening presidential debate – and during Monday's dramatic stock market plunge as the House rejected a $700 billion financial bailout plan. Combined, these states offer 68 of the 270 electoral votes needed for victory Nov. 4. In addition, Mr. Obama held a lead in three new national surveys. The fresh polling is the latest troublesome turn for Mr. McCain, the Arizona senator who is trying to regain control of the campaign conversation amid increasingly difficult circumstances for Republicans.
To wink...to convey a message, signal, or suggestion.
Yes, indeed, like a true Republican. She'll be a smash at the WTO, I'm sure.
And as Cindy McCain would say from any one of her seven homes, "That's Sexist." No, that ain't sexist, honey, that's sexy. My mother once said, "If you have the name, you may as well have the game."
All Palin's answers were rhetorical. She never left a well rehersed party line. The lower 48 doesn't need Alaskan gas. I've covered that before, but, evidently 'selling' the billions US concept is a high priority for the Alaskan governor. And from a Global platform no less. I'd say she should solicit Germany for Alaskan gas rights and have Neil Bush assist with a pipeline through Russia, but, it would seem as though Germany is already solving its own problems.
McCain couldn't provide someone serious here? Give me a break !
Following intensive negotiations, Russian gas giant Gazprom and German utility company E.ON have finally reached an agreement, according to which E.ON will acquire a stake of 25% minus one share in the Siberian gas field Yuzhno Russkoye. Contrary to previous press reports, the deal does not include minority stakes in Hungarian energy companies. In return, Gazprom is receiving E.ON Ruhrgas's 49% stake in the Russian company ZAO Gerosgaz, which holds just under 3% of the Gazprom shares. Via Gerosgaz, E.ON Ruhrgas is the owner of this share package which will be transferred to the ownership of Gazprom. After the transaction, E.ON Ruhrgas will still hold a 3.5% direct stake in Gazprom. Talks between the parties started years ago and it was rumoured that in exchange for the gas field Gazprom will receive minority stakes in Hungarian electricity and gas companies from E.ON....
