Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, joined by Thune of South Dakota made an anemic grandstanding display regarding the EPA ruling on Greenhouse Gases.

Today, Lisa Murkowski actually stood on the Senate floor and stated she had a draft to submit for passage to stop the EPA ruling regarding Greenhouse Gases (click title to entry - thank you). She apologized though that she was conducting her grandstanding during the week nations were meeting in Copenhagen.

Sure. Allow me to explain why Lisa is and will continue to be unsuccessful. She is a army of a few.

Five Decades. Count them, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and now the beginning DECADE of the 21st Century.

Five Decades the USA government had to 'get it right.' To rein in Greenhouse Gases and stop the dangers of Human Induced Global Warming.

Five Decades. Get the feeling no one intended to do it at all, until, we elected President Obama? Huh? I do.

The EPA is a part of the Executive Branch. A Cabinet Level agency. It carries clout and its own authority. That is what facilitated the ruling regarding Greenhouse Gases. Any legislator has a right to challenge the ruling. Murkowski has to prove her case on the Senate floor and then it requires a vote to pass her objection. That isn't going to happen, she has no proof that the EPA should not be doing what it is currently proceeding to develop and that are very stringent regulations to control Greenhouse Gases. I suppose she could try to bring in outside agencies to support her arguments, but, it is going to be tough to exceed the scientific standards of NOAA and NASA.

What Ms. Murkowski is really kicking herself in the butt over, is the fact there isn't legislation to do this and the EPA can really get tough. Really tough. Like, CAPPING without trading. There is nothing the EPA has to do regarding any market strategy. Nor do they have the authority to proceed in such a manner. Their role is simple here. They accept the science, make a ruling and uphold that ruling.

That is what I have advocated for years. In 2003 I testified at The New Source Review, a proceeding under The Clean Air Act. I stated carbon dioxide is a toxic gas when at certain levels in the troposphere which compromises the 'safe' and 'secure' use of Earth by human beings. And indeed it does. High levels of CO2 cause melting of ice caps and ice fields which result in huge dangers to the tropospheric climate of Earth.

We know that for a fact and the out of control current climate of Earth reveals all to clearly the result of decades of neglegence of Greenhouse Gases in the troposphere including droughts and unpredictable heating events that result in human deaths, ie: France and the loss of 10,000 lives. There should be a memorial at Copenhagen to them.

The EPA is proceeding and they must. They have no alternative but to protect the lives and the biotic content of this nation. Scientists within the borders of the USA have openly stated on many occassion there is peril in delaying any longer. A California scientist has stated there will be vast forest fires to even tropical systems that would further increase the negative feedback loop of Human Induced Global Warming.

This is not that difficult for this society. We have accepted the science on a societal level long ago and have moved to make our culture flexible to mold a new reality for energy and transportation. A 'saved' American company in GM is presenting The Volt for the first time this year. It will prove to be wildly popular and they won't be able to keep up with the demand.

We have proceeded with experimental renewables for decades in progressive states like California. This has provided the foothold for our new energy reality. We are building those wind farms and solar fields. We are beginning a new grid. And consumers across the board seek to understand their carbon footprint.

The USA is a great nation. We accepted our part in this long before our government did, but, it was necessary to have our Executive Branch on our side to finish the job. I am very proud of us as a country. We are and have been ready to launch a new energy and transportation reality for a long, long time. I am looking forward to high speed rail in this country. It will be affordable and easy to access. We must make it secure and safe while elevating it above roadways and out of the curiosity of children.

The USA is becoming World Class it isn't ambitions to lead the 21st Century. I simply can't wait and I am more than happy with the performance of the Obama EPA. I thank them.

There is some very good work being done in the Senate for Health Care Reform Legislation.

Senator Bernard Sanders, Independent from Vermont

Earlier today, Senator Landrieu of Louisiana provided insight to the positive highlights of the Senate Health Care Reform Bill. She noted she and Senator Lincoln had been working closely to include a Small Business focus for women owned businesses.


Senator Bill Nelson of Florida made an impressive appeal to the Pharmaceutical Industry to rethink their participation in the reform legislation. Senator Nelson stated there was a far better way to 'close the donut hole' in Medicare and it would provide $20 billion in profits to the pharmaceutical industry.

Let me explain as it seems strange a USA Senator would actually be advocating for profits for Wall Street firms.

Senator Bill Nelson asked the pharmaceutical industry to make the medications received by Medicare patients 'in the donut hole' (approximately annual costs to each person between $2100 and $6000) 100% funded and free. The reason for this is obvious. It will provide excellent medications from name brand pharmaceuticals to patients, but, would result in profits to pharmaceutical companies after the maximum of the 'donut hole' was reached and entered catastophic coverage, or any amounts over $6000 annually.

If the pharmaceutical industry would provide 100% coverage of all the medications in the donut hole it would then exceed the costs of the medications over $6000 sooner and would provide them with funding from the Medicare Perscription Catastrophic Coverage. In other words, the donut hole would be fully funded by the pharmaceutical companies and after Medicare recipients exceeded $6000 annually the Federal government would again pay the bill.

That would supply a consistent quality of medications to Medicare recipients while keeping them out of the hospital due to the inability to afford medications. It would result in a net savings for the country as there would be fewer hospital admissions and therefore less cost to Medicare A.

I thought his advocacy for Medicare recipients was brilliant and I look forward to cooperation from the American pharmaceutical industry in keeping our seniors and neediest among us healthy.

Sometime following, a colloquium of three Senators took the floor, Senator Sanders of Vermont, Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Senator Al Franken of Minnesota. Talk about The Three Muskateers. Like, WOW !

Senator Franken immediately asked for clarification from Senator Thune from South Dakota. Senator Thune had just spoken and reiterated the same thing he has been stating for three days along with other Republican rhetoric right out of the Right Wing Media Playbook.

Senator Thune had a poster that stated the taxation that would accompany the Health Care Reform Legislation would begin January 1, 2010, but, the benefits would begin in 2014. Therefore, the cost of the legislation was lopsided and was actully two and a half times more than the Democrats were stating. This was an attack against the credibility of the bill and the Senators in support of the bill and I have mentioned this before.

My defense then was weak. I haven't read the Senate Bill and was not very familiar with its provisions, except, it had amended the House Bill and that was a good thing. Basically, I had stated before there was much preparation that goes into such a large change in an entire industry and there was no valid reason for Republicans, like Thune, to complain against taxes that began in 2010.

But, Senator Franken took it further. It would seem there are vast changes that begin January 1, 2010 along with the taxes. One of those changes was a tax credit to small businesses that provide health care insurance.

The Donut Hole provision would also take effect immediately. As the provision stands now, the donut hole would be covered by 50% by the pharmaceutical industry.

So, basically, Senator Franken gave Senator Thune an opportunity to answer somewhat to the allegations he lied, but, he did so unsuccessfully.

That wasn't the best part.

The best part is that Senator Sanders decided to add an amendment to the bill that would finance the entire bill in the same fashion as the House Bill. Basically, there would be a surtax on the very wealthiest Americans to finance what the elimination of Medicare Advantage didn't cover. The Amendment would eliminate any and all taxes on any other insurance policies.

Especially noted by Senators Brown and Franken is the reality of the sacrifice by employees to companies in wage concessions. By providing wage concessions to employers, the employees were able to maintain their comprehensive medical insurance packages as a benefit. Their rational was rather heroic. They stated, why should people that have sacrificed wage increases to provide a better business platform for their employers while being able to keep their insurance packages intact be asked to pay a tax on those policies.

Earlier in the session, Senator Sanders stated he would be putting forth an amendment to the Health Care Reform Bill asking for Single Payer. He stated in the same breath, he didn't believe it would pass, but, it was a good beginning to the conversation the nation should be having even after the passage of the Reform Bills that will go to the President for signature.

Today was a lot of movement toward early reconciliation with the House Bill in the way the Health Care Reform legislation would be funded. Now, with the Amendment to change the surtax from every health care insurance policy to simply those most able to pay above the $2.4 million income for single filers and $4.8 million for married filers the cost was contained to Americans that would be receiving the Lion Share of the benefits without added cost to their households.

To say I was proud of the Senators today is an understatement. They rose above the frey and delivered reasonable, affordable health care to the people of the USA. I am looking forward to the passage of the Senate Health Care Reform Bill and having President Obama sign it soon.

Doesn't the USA Senate know obstruction when it sees it?

According to Politico, Joe Lieberman is simply obstructing the passage of the Senate Health Care Reform Bill. He is doing NOTHING to add constructive measures to its passage and is 'pulling' all kinds of grandstanding to obstruct its passage. There needs to be an ethics review of his tactics because it is a form of lying.

Not only that, but, it has Speaker Pelosi chasing ghosts. These people don't care about lowering the age for Medicare eligibility to age 55. Not many Americans could afford a health insurance policy that would cost an individual nearly $700.00 per month anyway.



This is not a workable solution to the problems this country faces in providing affordable health care insurance. It needs to be abandoned and a Public Option passed by both the House and Senate.

Joe Lieberman says no to Medicare buy-in (click title to entry - thank you)

By MANU RAJU | 12/13/09 10:49 PM EST

Sen. Joe Lieberman told Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Sunday that he couldn’t support a new Medicare proposal floated as a compromise to the public option, a development that complicates the bill’s path towards passage before the end of the year.

In a meeting in Reid’s office just off the Senate floor, aides said the Connecticut independent reiterated his concerns with the public insurance option and told the Nevada Democrat that he couldn’t support a new plan to allow people as young as 55 to buy into Medicare...

Average Americans are beginning to view their federal government as meaningless in their lives. It needs to solve the problems of the people and stop playing politics. They were elected to office to do exactly that and not simply to run chronic political campaigns as witnessed in the past eight years.

The Health Care Insurance Reform needed in the USA has long been studied. The bills in the House and Senate have been given years of consideration. They were composed with thoughtful fulfillment of achieving affordable health care for all Americans.

Quite frankly, if all the Republicans can do is submit 'last minute' amendments to much needed and long sought reform, nearly two decades now, then they better be prepared to 'rescue' the country in the future and take on Single Payer when the current system collapses.

This is just 'another' form of Democratic White Elephant that is floated for its popularity, we have an imploding health care insurance industry. Somewhere is lost the fact that if these reform measures, which HAVE TO include a Public Option, doesn't get done, in a short period of time, the Federal government will be faced with a majority of Americans unable to access good and comprehensive care to facilitate their lives. The USA will become immoble as its work force becomes increasingly ill and unable to produce products.

If this isn't accomplished, in the not too distant future the federal government will have to not only support health care insurance reform, it will be forced to nationalize it and supply the American people with their health care from birth to death.

The Republicans are glibly treating this as a political issue and up for debate. The debate is over. The legislation has been researched, written and now needs a vote. There needs to be a Public Option in this legislation to bring balance to the industry and be available for employers that 'opt out' of providing health care to their employees.

Enough already. The vote needs to be conducted and there needs to be sixty votes to pass the Senate Bill. The American people are not going to stand by and watch their vital services diminish to nothing, including health care insurance that allows a good quality of life.

The Senate needs to get on with business including a Public Option and now.

The "Fat Albert" Syndrome

Aerostat Mission (click title to entry - thank you)

The Tethered Aerostat Radar System is a balloon-borne radar. The primary aerostat mission is to provide radar data in support of other federal agencies involved in the nation's drug interdiction program. One aerostat, located at Cudjoe Key, Fla., transmits TV Marti, which sends American television signals into Cuba for the U.S. Information Agency...

There are millions, if not billions of US dollars in Pork Projects in the federal budget that need to be cut and the "TV Marti" initiative is a stark example.

Senator Dorgan worked to remove the funding for a completely ineffective program called, "TV Marti." The balloon, later replaced with a plane, would send a signal to Cuba for a program that broadcast the concepts of participatory democracy. The signal was and is effectively blocked by the Cuban government.

In all honesty, why would we want to have a hostile program with Cuba outside the dictates of good diplomatic relations anyway? Why is it that TV Marti has to be covert, rather than welcome by the Cuban government? I am sure there are programs that can be produced in the USA, the Cuban government would welcome including educational programs that would uplift the educational opportunities of children and illiterate adults. So, the entire definition of this program is offensive and quite frankly unnecessary. There is no reason why the Cuban people cannot receive television transmissions from the USA through diplomatic channels


Dorgan Works to End Ineffective TV Marti Program (click here)

In an effort to cut out government waste, Senator Dorgan successfully included a provision to stop funding for TV Marti, a failed program that attempts unsuccessfully to broadcast anti-government programming to Cuban residents, into the FY 2010 State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations bill.

TV Marti, unlike the successful Radio Marti program, has not been effective because it is blocked by the Castro regime. Over the past twenty years, Congress has spent about $250 million for TV Marti, despite the fact that it only offers 27 hours of original programming a week and the signal is blocked in Cuba.

After years of being broadcasted from a giant balloon tethered above Cuba, the signal is now sent out via a Gulfstream jet, which costs the taxpayer $6 million a year.

Senator Dorgan believes it is wasteful to spend millions of dollars, year after year, to broadcast a television signal that virtually no one sees.

The point is there are potentially billions of dollars US that can be cut safely and efficiently from the federal budget and it is those dollars that first need to be addressed in reducing the federal budget.

There needs to be legislation to scour the federal budget and discover programs that are unproductive and simply DON'T ACCOMPLISH THEIR GOALS. Goals are important, even in conservation which is a 'pet focus' of Republican cuts, but, in programs such as "TV Marti" the goals are unattainable and are better pursued through the State Department anyways.

The Democrats can bring legislation that will facilitate a review of such spending and end it effectively.

BUILDING PLANS AT SMALL NORTHERN PORTS OF ENTRY WOULD WASTE OVER $200 MILLION, DORGAN SAYS (click here)

Saturday, September 19, 2009

CONTACT: Justin Kitsch
or Brenden Timpe
PHONE: 202-224-2551

(FARGO, N.D.) - The plan to construct new $15 million buildings at each of the 22 small northern border ports of entry, including nine in North Dakota, would waste over $200 million according to U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) who blew the whistle on the plan earlier this week.

The day following the Senator’s complaint, the Secretary of Homeland Security stopped work and ordered a review of the spending at the ports of entry.

“I’m in favor of strengthening security at our borders, including the border between the U.S. and Canada,” Dorgan said. “But the proposal by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to spend an average of $15 million at each of the small northern border ports was way out of line.”...

NOT A LAUGHING MATTER: DORGAN ANNOUNCES THAT THE PUBLIC DEBT OFFICE CANCELS PROPOSAL TO HIRE CARTOONIST (click here)

Friday, July 17, 2009

CONTACT: Justin Kitsch
or Brenden Timpe
PHONE: 202-224-2551

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) announced today that after being contacted by his office, the Bureau of the Public Debt (BPD) cancelled its plans to hire a contractor to “create cartoons on the spot” as part of a “Humor in the Workplace” seminar....


Other Dorgan Favorites (click here)

With the exception of the Defense Department the Federal Government is AGAIN fully funded.

Once again the Federal government is fully funded after years of draconian cuts and downsizing of the Federal infrastructure. Under Bush and Cheney the USA Budget was treated as an enemy except for war funding. That is going to stop and the people of the USA will find their rightful place among the priorities of their government.

The Omnibus Bill that was passed in the Senate on Sunday was necessary and a monster of a bill with plenty of 'earmarks' because the Republicans have been playing with the Senate Health Care Reform Bill. Literally, the Omnibus Bill was necessary because of the obstructionist tactics of the Republicans. If they had spent the time seeking solutions to the nation's problems rather than increasing the problems of the USA, these would have been individual bills that could have been treated differently and reduced in cost. The entire obstructionist process the Senate Republicans are engaged in have hampered the ability of the Executive Branch and others from cutting costs. It forces such measures rather than inhibiting them.

For the 'entire' Bush years, the Republicans have strategized against the American people. They targeted the Federal Budget and divided it into 'war funding in supplements' and 'federal budget funding that included entitlements.' The entire motivation in reducing the federal budget was to bring a disproportionate amount of funding to the entitlements of Medicare and Medicaid that would set off a 'trigger' to destroy the entitlements completely. So, whether the Federal Budget was appropriately reduced in any area was not the issue, it was whether the Federal Budget was yet cut enough to destroy Medicare and Medicaid along with SSI.

The Democrats that walked the halls of the House and Senate through these destructive years did their level best to insure that imbalance would not occur. Literally, while the Federal Debt grew it was not funding our government, but, simply funding war. It is always necessary to have cuts in domestic services and to even modify domestic economies to reflect 'a nation at war,' but, to the extent the imbalance was to result in the dissolution of our entitlements was grossly inappropriate and clearly illustrates a hostile party in the Republicans.

The Federal Budget this year is not simply reflective of 'extravagance' as Democrats are always accused of as a 'stereotype' to the party, but, it strongly reflects a return of vital services and supports to the people of this country. It reestablishes the federal budget while accommodating our entitlements in 'proper balance' with Federal expenditures. I congratulate all those, including many Republicans, that found the insight to return function to our federal government through proper budget measures. It is unfortunate it had to be addressed in an omnibus bill due to obstructive measures by the Senate Republicans that wasted valuable time in regard to Health Care Reform legislation.

...The measure, a year-end package that covers about half of all federal programs (click title to entry - thank you), goes to President Barack Obama for his signature. The Senate vote was 57-35 on Sunday.

The bill includes about $650 billion in mandatory payments for federal benefit programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.

Democrats, who supplied most of the votes, say the spending increases were needed to meet the needs of a recession-hit nation.

Looming in the week ahead is a separate spending package to encourage growth in the job market.

Republicans assailed the new spending in the face of mounting federal deficits....

The Congressional Black Caucus is absolutely correct. If they can't get minority issues resolved under this President then they never will.

The African American Community across the USA came out in large measure for the election of President Barak Obama. Let that be a noted and strongly held truth for this administration. He is not discriminatory in his focus, but, the President along with the Black Caucus needs to move forward with legislation that will improve the quality of life of our minority citizens.

The legislation the Congressional Black Caucus is proposing will do more than simply remove impoverished conditions from the inner city, it will enhance the economy across the USA based on poverty rates accompanied by unemployment rates.

We are counting on them to bring improvements to our minority communities. This is their time as well as that of Democrats. They have a President that celebrates the American Black Experience at every opportunity where it has been oppressed and neglected. It is time for the Black members of the House and Senate to address the issues besetting these areas of our country to resolve them.

The USA has always longed to correct the path of our impoverished from the Appalachias to the inner city. Now is the time. In states such as Michigan where unemployment is a chronic condition to the citizens there and among our youth with a current unemployment rate of 27% are all areas of concern. It isn't enough to simply see our unemployment rates comes down, it has be with a recovery of the impoverished as well and it will be with the help of the Congressional Black Caucus that it will receive focus. I wish them the best in pursuing their mission to reveal the country of its poverty.

Federal Funds Coming to Help Struggling African-Americans (click title to entry - thank you)

Congressional Black Caucus Walk-Out Effective

Last Updated Dec 2009
(December 12, 2009) - A boycott by 10 Congressional Black Caucus members of a Financial Services Committee vote has resulted in $6 billion in aid targeted at the African-American community.

According to reports, $3 billion to be added to the committee’s Wall Street regulation bill will assist unemployed homeowners by providing for low-interest loans to prevent foreclosure. Another $1 billion was added to the same bill for neighborhood revitalization programs.

To a proposed job-creation bill, $1 billion was designated for public housing repairs and $1 billion to create a trust fund for affordable housing. The money for these initiatives will come from the $700 billion bail out funds approved last year.

The caucus said more directed assistance is justified because of the significant racial disparities that exist....