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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2013-14 Season Opens Sept. 23 with New Production of Eugene Onegin
September 6, 2013 New York, NY – The Metropolitan Opera (click here) will open its 2013-14
season on September 23 at 6:30 p.m. with a new production of
Tchaikovsky’s romantic tragedy Eugene Onegin, directed by Deborah Warner in her Met debut. Valery Gergiev returns to the Met for the first time since 2010 to conduct the performance, which will feature Anna Netrebko—the
first soprano in Met history to star in three consecutive opening night
performances—in her first company performances as the naïve heroine
Tatiana, whose infatuation with the title character has tragic
repercussions....
Blankfein was at the White House today. He isn't my favorite person, but, this surprised me. He must be looking at something adverse to economic growth and national stability, otherwise, I sincerely believe he would not have bothered.
He was given the President's time in a short period of time. This was not about politics. He must have had something to say important enough to be in the Oval Office practically overnight. Let's face it the ranting of the Republicans isn't about upholding sovereignty of the nation or of concern for the economy. This is all politics. Pushing an economy over the cliff to play politics is hostile to most professional standards across the board. Blankfein is worried about predictability. Wednesday, 2 Oct 2013 1:08 PM ET
...Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein, (click here)while stressing that the business leaders who met with Obama
represented diverse political views, implicitly criticized Republicans
for using their opposition to the health-care law as a weapon that could
lead to a U.S. default....
Goldman Sachs launches small business initiative (click here)October 02, 2013 11:50 EDT MIAMI (AP) -- Miami Dade College and Goldman Sachs are launching an initiative to help small business owners.
Goldman Sachs is investing $500 million in cities across the U.S. to
boost small businesses by providing entrepreneurs with opportunities to
obtain a practical business education and access capital and support
services. The program is already operating in nine cities and several states. South Florida is site of their next location.
Miami Dade College will run the initiative. The institution will
receive a five-year grant from Goldman Sachs and plans to serve about 80
small business owners in its first year. The partnership was announced Tuesday.
Goldman Sachs is seeking investments from European pensions. US Bonds can be the backbone to Europe's confidence. It is a loss of confidence in US Treasury Bonds. It is happening already.
Credit Default Swaps Published: Wednesday, 2 Oct 2013 | 6:57 AM ET The cost of insuring (click here) one-year U.S. government bonds
against default rose 5 basis points to 35 basis point on Wednesday,
above the rate of insuring five-year debt for the first time since July
2011, according to data from Markit. One-year U.S. credit default swaps
were at their highest since August 2011. Five-year CDS fell 1 basis
point to 31 basis points. Both rates remain very low, however....
...Just before the U.S. open, the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield was slightly lower on the day at 2.6391 percent....
These banks have a lot on the line and as much as Americans are angry with them, they are taking up risk to float the boat. I don't envy them. At this point, they really are taking chances with risk to build confidence and it may all fall apart and it wasn't their doing.
The Koch Brothers are directly related to this market instability. The Koch Brothers is a private institution in 60 countries. They deal mostly in commodities. They aren't risk takers and don't care to have relationships with banks that ride the bubbles and prevent implosion. I don't think either are heroes, but, there is some sincere issues Koch might even like to see happen. One has to wonder what is occurring behind the Iron Curtain in the House Speakers' Office. The USA is not in the same space as in 1995. The US House is courting disaster. There needs to be an investigation whom the Republicans are taking advise from and if it is tied to their political funding organizations. This could be "Probable Cause" to require subpoenas regarding participants in Superfunds.
It just might be this entire burgeoning disaster could serve the best interests of Koch Industries. I don't write that here out of political intent or concern it lightly. This is the sovereignty of the country in balance with a Private Industrial Company. Dissolving the USA's federal government DOES serve Koch. Absolutely. Koch is counter-culture.
By Jerry Siebenmark The Wichita Eagle
...On Tuesday, (click here)Robertson and Charles Koch made brief comments while
thousands of Wichita employees joined them on the campus to break ground
on the company’s three-story, 210,000-square-foot building that will
house 745 employees. Koch and its companies, which earn about $115
billion in annual revenue, need more space for the nearly 800 employees
they’ve added in Wichita in the past 13 years. Their total Wichita
employment stands at 3,000 workers....
They are making major investments in Carbon Dioxide and Methane. I am sorry, but, it all fits.
Published: Oct. 2, 2013 at 8:16 AM BEAUMONT, Texas, Oct. 2 (UPI) --A division of Koch Industries (click here) said operations at its first liquefied
natural gas production facility in the Eagle Ford shale play in Texas
will start in 2015. Stabilis Energy and Flint Hills Resources, a Koch Industries
subsidiary, announced plans to build five LNG processors in the Texas
shale play. Their joint venture aims to produce LNG for oilfield fuel
applications in Eagle Ford, in southern Texas. "Stabilis will provide our oilfield customers with a reliable source
of LNG fuel that will help them reduce operating costs using a reliable
domestic fuel source," Casey Crenshaw, the company's president, said in a
statement Tuesday. Texas is one of the largest oil and natural gas producers in the country thanks in part to shale fields like Eagle Ford....
And. All of a sudden, Apple has a landlord. This was a recent shift in focus for Koch. They dismissed purchasing into the news business and stated they were going into electronics. I thought they were investing in R&D. This is not R&D.
Apple needs to diversify their suppliers. If Molex has little to no competition in supplying parts to Apple, it will become expensive for Apple. Apple has bring in more suppliers to remain competitive. Molex is China. Apple needs to move some of their suppliers to USA soil.
By Nick Turner & Scott Moritz -
Sep 9, 2013 4:34 PM ET Molex Inc. (MOLX), (click here)a maker of electronic components for products such as Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s
iPhone, agreed to a $7.2 billion acquisition by Koch Industries Inc.,
the holding company controlled by the billionaire Koch brothers. Koch
will buy Molex’s shares for $38.50 apiece, a 31 percent premium over
the publicly traded common stock, according to a statement today. The
companies expect to complete the transaction by the end of the year.
Wrong, MOLEX Inc is MOLEX, USA. (click here) If Apple diversifies by bringing in more suppliers in the USA it will be a very competitive market. Currently, Koch hasn't lost anything on their $38.50 investment, but, it is fluctuating. Traditionally, MOLEX is a safe stock with a 25 PE in the past twelve months. This was not a risky venture for Koch. It was mostly guaranteed.
Koch Industries would never do what Goldman Sachs does, but, that is due to personal wealth and greed as opposed to an incorporated bank where officers have their own personal holdings outside the company. Sure they hold shares and they are loyal to the company they work for, but, it is different than Koch. Kochs are NOT risk takers. They want tried and proven profit. They don't care about economic growth or providing jobs so long as their company and personal wealth are intact. It is a different relationship than Blankfein and Goldman.
Lloyd's right to be at the White House. Absolutely. I doubt he had the same conclusions I have written here, though. His insight is more about reading the tea leaves than protectionism as Koch is. I am quite confident Blankfein was bringing the news to the President based on current changes in the 'character' of the USA Bonds. Let's face it, Russia has moved ahead of Germany.
The US Justice Department needs to begin to look at this stalemate with the USA House seriously. I think the US House, no matter how well veiled, is playing to their financial backers rather than the entire well being of the country. I believe the US House wants to stalemate the budget for a long time. It serves their purpose and that of their financial backers.
I don't want to hear how all this mess seems like a coincidence.
THIS IS NOT KINDERGARTEN!
Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2013/10/01/3032436/koch-to-break-ground-on-headquarters.html#storylink=cpy
Perry obtained them illegally, but, hey the drug companies would have sent them to Texas anyway just for the asking. Amazing. Look, they are gonna die, what difference does it make!
I mean to tell you, Texas is first class. The room is painted pretty and that is by far the most comfortable execution bed in the country. No pain when dyin'. Puts every other state to shame.
By Jim Forsyth
SAN ANTONIO, Texas Wed Oct 2, 2013 4:48pm EDT
...Texas is turning to the new execution drugs (click here) in a desperate
attempt to keep the United States' most active execution chamber
operating despite dwindling supplies of the drug traditionally
used for lethal injections, a lawsuit filed by the inmates says. The inmates, one of whom is scheduled for execution on Oct.
9, allege the Texas Department of Criminal Justice used the
address of a hospital unit shuttered three decades ago in order
to obtain the three new drugs.
They say the drugs - propofol, midzolam and hydromorphone -
would likely not have been supplied if the manufacturers knew
the purpose they would be used for, according to a lawsuit filed
this Tuesday in federal court in Houston.
Texas prison officials declined to comment on the
allegations made in the lawsuit.
They said Wednesday that they have enough pentobarbital, the
barbiturate used in Texas executions since 2012, to last them
until at least next year. The state recently received a fresh
supply of the drug from a Texas compounding pharmacy, after
warning in August that their supplies were nearly exhausted.
"The purchase will allow the agency to carry out all
currently scheduled executions," state officials said in a
statement.
Texas has seven executions scheduled, including two in
October. The state has executed 13 inmates so far this year....
...Travus Clark, a 17-year-old sheetrocker and friend of the family, was also in the shop.
“I don’t like how they’re not paying Border Patrol agents for working
when the United States is shut down,” he said. “What’s going to happen
without those agents? Gonna have a lot more Mexicans in Texas!”
Cheryl Pratt, 47, co-owner of Johnson City Sign Shop and Print, had a
different concern. The National Park Service is a client, and it has
frozen its orders until further notice.
“It doesn’t look good for tourism, either,” said Pratt, who wore a
red T-shirt showing the U.S. states in the shape of a heart culminating
in an oversize Texas at the base. “We’re still going to get up and work
and do our thing and keep pushing forward. We’re a mom-and-pop shop. We
better get up and work, because no one’s going to support us.”...
...He produced a $10 bill, which bore a red stamp that read, “Vote the
Bastards Out.” Many similar notes circulate in Johnson City, Bowker
said. “If we’re going to overthrow the government, now would be a good time to do it. They’re closed!” he said with a smile.
One patron, Jim Edwards, 63, a mechanic with a greasy shirt and mutton-chop facial hair, was less amused.
“I think it’s a joke, but so is the government,” he said.
Johnson City is home to the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical
Park, which is operated by the National Park Service. As a federally
funded entity, the park is closed.... ...Similarly, Lance Center, 49, a harried CPA, grabbed his grocery cart
and said over his shoulder, “It’s time to quit fighting and get some
things done.”
Another 37 miles farther along a ribbon of country road punctuated by
water towers and grazing cattle is the city of Llano, in a county where
76 percent voted for Cruz.
Buddy Miller, 64, a retired federal worker from the U.S. Geological
Survey, snorted, “Did the government shut down? I hadn’t noticed!”...
...“I think the shutdown’s stupid,” he said. “It’s not going to
accomplish anything other than make people angry. The government ought
to compromise on things that are workable and stop wasting time on
things that we have no hope to accomplish.”
Sandy Deatherage, 50, an off-duty bartender wearing rainbow
flip-flops and a warm Texas smile, sat on a bench outside her bar
drinking a beer. Flocks of grackles in the nearby town square serenaded
the setting sun.
“I think Obama’s full of s---,” she said. “I mean, the means of
collecting our money is still open, but the means of helping people is
shut down. I’ve never been an Obama fan, but this shutdown has
definitely made it worse.”
Oops.
Published October 01, 2013
FoxNews.com
...A Texas homeowner (click here) was shot dead by police after he shot and killed a
career criminal who broke into his home Thursday night, authorities say.
The Dallas Morning News reports police did not realize 57-year-old
William Keith Hall was defending his home when they arrived, and that
Hall ignored the officers’ repeated demands he drop his weapon.
Maj. Jeff Cotner tells the paper Hall pointed a pistol at police
officers and witnesses on the scene, and that he had plenty of time to
“de-escalate the situation.”
“He was given plenty of notice, and he didn’t choose a path other than to confront officers,” Cotner said....
Media coverage of Gary Ridgway's recent overtures from Walla Walla misses the point: Why he was able to get away with it for so long. His victims deserve more. (click here)
The Green River Killer's widely-publicized offer on KOMO News last week to help investigators find additional bodies upset activists and some of the victims’ family members.
They represent a growing community of advocates who would like to see less attention paid to the killer, and more public empathy and assistance for victims of sexual violence and exploitation. This nascent group is working to build support — holding community meetings and fundraisers — for a permanent memorial for the victims that Gary Ridgway killed, most of whom disappeared in the early 1980s and were still teenagers when they died.
But because many of his 49 confirmed victims were also prostitutes, their lives and deaths have not been honored in the same way as other murder victims, says Noel Gomez. Gomez is a cofounder of the Organization for Prostitution Survivors (OPS), a year-old local non-profit that provides services, meals, therapy and basic support to women involved in "the life."...
By discriminating against prostitution when there are murders only provides permission for more to take place. The Green River Killer, whom doesn't deserve a name, managed to kill and kill and kill again because the women were stated to be prostitutes. Such bias creates an atmosphere of self-righteousness that promotes more deaths.
Vol. 25: 191-216 (Volume publication date August 1999)
Cecilia L. Ridgeway Lynn Smith-Lovin
...(a). People perceive gender differences to be pervasive in interaction. (b). Studies of interaction among peers with equal power and status show few gender differences in behavior. (c). Most interactions between men and women occur in the structural context of roles or status relationships that are unequal....
Today, our approach to prostitution is much different. It is considered Sex Trafficking and a very dangerous practice. A woman or teen can be made to compromise herself by men through coercion and become estranged from family and a life of reasonable morality for fear of death. I believe these many women and possibly more to be discovered need to be considered to be victims, not just of death, but, of circumstances outside their control. There is rarely a prostitute that will admit they live to conduct their profession without wishing they didn't have to. It is always the money. So, when remembering any woman that has had this insult to their lives, it is necessary to realize our society failed them in some way that allowed their personal aspirations to slip away from them. These many women were victims and ultimately did pay the higher price for a life out of control. It wasn't their fault. They were victims of a murderer that hated women. By Tim Sharp Published Sun, Sep 29, 2013 7:48 am DatelineAthens, OH Updated Mon, Sep 30, 2013 4:06 pm
Sheriff Pat Kelly said Ellen Mays, 27, of Binder Basin Rd, in Glouster was charged with compelling prostitution and trafficking in persons after she told deputies she set up meetings with an Athens man to exchange sex for drugs and money.
The man, Fred Kittle, Sr., 69, of Rocky Point Rd. was also charged with compelling prostitution and importuning.
Both are being held in the Southeast Ohio Regional Jail.
According to Kelly, Kittle is a convicted registered sexual offender in Athens County.
The girl is in the care of children's services.
Kelly said the investigation will continue Monday to determine whether others are involved.
Just two months ago, four men were arrested on suspicion of pimping in Sonoma County as part of a national crackdown on child prostitution. Three teenage girls — ages 15 to 17 — who had been working in prostitution were rescued during operations in Santa Rosa and Petaluma. According to Sonoma County sheriff’s officials, one was a local resident.
According to U.N. figures, of the estimated 800,000 people who are transported between countries each year, an estimated 14,500 to 17,500 are brought across the U.S. border....
An upper level low (click here) northwest of Kauai will continue to move away from
the islands today and allow for weather conditions to gradually improve
during the next couple of days. High pressure far northeast of the
aloha state will also be moving away, keeping generally light to
moderate easterly winds in place through the rest of the work week and
possibly into the weekend.
Updated: 10/02/2013 3:30 am HST
The Russian economy (click here) is operating well below its potential and a 3.1%
labor productivity rate is intolerably low for the country poised to
become Europe’s biggest, President Vladimir Putin told the 5th Russia
Calling! investment forum in Moscow.
“The key bottleneck for the Russian economy is its low
efficiency,” the President told businessmen, investors, and
state officials at the Forum.
In terms of GDP, "we are poised to become Europe's number one
economy and the fifth biggest in the world," Putin said,
adding that Russia is on a par with other countries in the EU in
terms of per capita GDP and consumption.
In 2012 Russia overtook Germany in the World Bank ranking to take 5th place on the list of the world’s
biggest economies in terms of purchasing power parity
(PPS)
However, labor productivity is now less than half the level of
most developed economies – at 3.1 percent. In coming years,
productivity must increase by 5%-6% a year, twice the current
rate. "Only in this way can we overcome the efficiency gap,"
the president said. "I am confident that we are capable of doing
that," he concluded.
The current abyss between consumption and productivity is
dangerous, Putin said. “Living off rent from natural
resources, at the expense of future generations, unearned wealth
cannot be stable or long term," he added.
Oil and gas revenues now provide for more than a half of Russia’s
budget, with various institutions repeatedly warning that such a
‘oily black hole’ could soon swallow the
country’s economy.
The
Republicans have a very dangerous group within their caucus and
unfortunately it is the newest upspring of anarchy, namely The Tea
Party. The longer this government shutdown goes on the longer it can go
on simply because the people will become used to it. Anarchy to the Tea
Party means they rid the country of the Sixteenth Amendment. It is one
of their cornerstones. It has been a huge mistake to allow the Tea Party
the majority voice in the House.
By Michael A. Memoli and Lisa Mascaro October 1, 2013, 8:50 p.m.
As Democrats remain unified, (click here) the gap between the GOP center and
right is widening. Republican moderates believe their calls for
compromise will eventually be heeded....
This
is not 1995. This is very different and there was no anarchic rhetoric
involved in any stalemate of government budget control. There is today.
There are elements in the Tea Party that are just fine with the way the
shutdown is going and want to continue it until the nation becomes used
to being on their own without a federal government.
The Democrats can't end this. The President is correct. The more latitude the Tea Party takes from governance, the more they will take. The Republican Moderates have to come forward and lead; that might mean calls for bipartisanship and removing The Hastert Rule from the House Floor. Since, the Speaker is not capable of anything except rhetoric interspersed with "...ah, ah, ah..." the Moderates need to consider forming their own caucus and leading.
By JEFFREY COLLINS and RUSS BYNUM, Associated Press Updated 3:25 am, Wednesday, October 2, 2013
...In
military towns across the U.S., the political battles in the nation's
capital are directly affecting the bottom line as military contractors
and other small business brace for the worst — already forced to cope
with mandatory budget cuts and promised reductions in the size of the
nation's armed forces. Now they're taking another blow, this time from the budget battle in Washington. "Nobody
is making any decisions in Washington for the whole year. This is
nothing new. This is just a complete failure for 18 months," said Kent,
whose company revenues have already dropped amid uncertainty over
mandatory military budget cuts in 2012. "Our plans for expansion have
been on hold for this whole year. If anything, we're making plans
for contraction." Kent
is hardly alone in Fayetteville. As with large numbers of contractors
and business operators in military towns across the United States,
business boomed during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one of the
deepest recessions in decades made barely a ripple....
Can President Obama please sign an Executive Order to end the confusion of our troops? Thank you. Many Americans would rather they be home, but, in the light of that not happening, the troops have a right to their clear understandings.
Confusion reigns over troops' danger pay in shutdown (click here)
Oct. 1, 2013 - 05:22PM ...For the roughly 54,000 troops currently deployed to Afghanistan,
danger pay provides an additional $7.50 a day, or a maximum of $225 a
month. Troops in other designated countries or waterways also are
eligible for the incentive pay. A spokesman for the Office of the
Secretary of Defense, Navy Cmdr. Bill Urban, said the Pentagon has not
made a final determination about whether troops will receive danger pay
and similar incentive pays. The question will likely be resolved
before Oct. 15 military paychecks are processed by the Defense Finance
and Accounting Services.
I think "Normal Duty Status" causes some confusion about Combat Pay.
This was the President's Message:
As the government shutdown took effect at 12:01 a.m. Eastern time Tuesday, President Obama issued a message to U.S. troops:
“Those
of you in uniform will remain on your normal duty status. The threats
to our national security have not changed, and we need you to be ready
for any contingency.
“Ongoing military operations, like our
efforts in Afghanistan, will continue. If you’re serving in harm’s way,
we’re going to make sure you have what you need to succeed in your
missions. Congress has passed, and I am signing into law, legislation to
make sure you get your paychecks on time. And we’ll continue working to
address any impact this shutdown has on you and your families.
“To
all our DOD civilians, I know the days ahead could mean more
uncertainty, including possible furloughs. And I know this comes on top
of the furloughs that many of you already endured this summer. You and
your families deserve better than the dysfunction we’re seeing in
Congress. Your talents and dedication help keep our military the best in
the world. That’s why I’ll keep working to get Congress to reopen our
government and get you back to work as soon as possible.
“Finally,
I know this shutdown occurs against the background of broader changes.
The war in Iraq is over. The war in Afghanistan will end next year.
After more than a decade of unprecedented operations, we are moving off a
war footing. Yes, our military will be leaner, and as a nation we face
difficult budget choices going forward.
“But here’s what I want
you to know. I’m going to keep fighting to get rid of those
across-the-board budget cuts, the sequester, which are hurting our
military and our economy. We need a responsible approach that deals with
our fiscal challenges and keeps our military and our economy strong.
And I’m going to make sure you stay the greatest military in the
world—bar none. That’s what I’m fighting for. That’s what you and your
families deserve.”
The $13.5 million Norfolk Naval Shipyard Scott Center Annex
Commissary in Portsmouth, Va., opened in May. The military is closing
all of its domestic commissaries starting Oct. 2, although overseas
stores will remain open. (Rick Brink / DeCA)
...About 12 million people — including military personnel, retirees and
their families — are eligible to shop at the 246 commissaries on
military installations worldwide. The commissaries typically carry
everything a national supermarket chain would — including brand-name
products — but at much lower prices than their commercial competitors.
The
military is required to sell goods at its commissaries at cost. While
there is a 5 percent surcharge on all products to help pay for new
commissaries and improve existing ones, there is no sales tax on the
products sold....
The Affordable Care Act won't change Tricare coverage, but many
beneficiaries have heard otherwise. Has anyone told you your benefits
would change?
2013-10-02 By Yu Wei in San Francisco (China Daily)
...Xuan, who is from China's Sichuan province, (click here)said he would never
consider buying an electric car in China because of the lack of charging
stations there. "Unlike in the US where people can charge their cars in
their garages, most people in China live in high-density apartments,
where it is impossible to install a charger." Tesla started formal pre-order bookings for the Model S on the
Chinese mainland last month. The country's increasingly wealthy middle
class, the government's new push for clean energy, and 300-plus orders
in Hong Kong have all given the Palo Alto-based manufacturer high hopes
about its prospects there. According to Bloomberg News, China's government is targeting
cumulative sales of 5 million electric vehicles by 2020, even though
just 12,791 were sold there last year. And there are only 168 public
charging stations nationwide, which seems to justify Xuan's worries. Leping Huang, an analyst at Nomura in Hong Kong, said the lack of
charging infrastructure is a bottleneck for EV popularity not only in
China, but in the entire world...
NEW YORK, October 1 (RIA Novosti) – An international team of experts
on a mission to eliminate Syria’s stockpile of chemical weapons opened a
logistics base in the capital Damascus on Tuesday, the world’s chemical
weapons watchdog said.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW),
which has 189 member states, said in a statement that the Syria team
comprised 19 chemical weapons experts and 14 UN officials. They arrived
safely in Syria from Beirut, accompanied by Syrian government forces.
Earlier reports said the multinational group included representatives
of Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic,
Uzbekistan, China, Canada, the Netherlands and Tunisia.
Within the next few days, the group will focus on planning its
further activities and checking information provided by the Syrian
government about its chemical arsenal.
According to the UN and OPCW schedule, such preparatory work should be completed within a month.
Wednesday 02 October 2013 Rupert Cornwell
And so (click here) – absurdly, shamefully and almost
incomprehensibly – it has come to this. The legislature of the richest,
most powerful country on earth, that likes to present itself as a model
of democracy and good sense, has failed in its basic task of providing
funds to keep the federal government running....
...President Obama was left to rail against the "ideological crusade"
against Obamacare, vowing not to "give in to the reckless demands by
some in the Republican Party to deny affordable health insurance to
millions of hard-working Americans"....
Nor is a shutdown without precedent....
...Back then, the economy was strong. Today,
recovery from the 2008 financial crisis is still fragile. At the very
least, the closure and the accompanying lay-offs will reduce consumer
confidence and spending. And in a deeper sense, the impasse reflects an
ever more polarised and dysfunctional political system, where compromise
is a dirty word.
Both sides are to blame. But the root
of the problem, beyond argument, is a Republican party that is losing
touch with reality. Even its control of the House of Representatives is a
distortion. In the Congressional vote in 2012, Democratic candidates
polled half a million more votes. But thanks to gerrymandering by
Republican-run state legislatures, the GOP ensured itself a majority....
...Which leads to a third difference with 1995-96. That
shutdown was a dispute about fiscal policy, the eternal debate over
taxes and spending. This one is about policy, namely President Obama’s
2010 health reform, whose delay (and ultimately demise) Republicans seek
as the price of a new CR.
The classic definition of
insanity is to go on doing the same thing, and expect a different
outcome. And so it is now. The Republican House has passed 40-odd
resolutions to overturn Obamacare, and each time the Democratic Senate
has said, no. Now it is trying again, and the outcome – utterly
predictably – is the same.
What happens next is anyone’s
guess. The public blame the Republicans for the shutdown; even the US
Chamber of Commerce, normally a staunch ally, has expressed displeasure
at the party’s tactics. For his part, President Obama vows not to give
an inch. So, however, do the Republicans....
Under the US constitution,
the president cannot unilaterally bring in legislation. And despite
weeks of talks, Republicans continue to include cuts and delays to
Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act in the budget legislation they sent
up to the Senate. The House of Representatives is controlled by
the Republican Party, whose Tea Party movement remain deeply opposed to
Obamacare. They tried to use the budget as leverage to crowbar changes
to the Act. The Senate, which is under the control of Obama's Democrats,
has stood firm....
...Why doesn't it happen in other countries? (click here)
The shutdown
situation is a product of the US democratic system. The president is
both head of state and head of the federal government, without a
guaranteed majority in either of the legislative bodies where new laws
are debated and voted upon (because presidents, congressmen and women
and senators are elected separately). The president can't simply ram
laws through Capitol Hill. In Britain, for example, tax and
spending policies are outlined in the budget, presented to parliament by
the chancellor of the exchequer. These changes are brought into law in a
finance bill in the House of Commons. That's in effect a confidence
vote in the government, and even the most fractious backbench MP would
balk at rebelling on it. Finance bills are also one area where the
elected House of Commons has the upper hand over the unelected House of
Lords. The Lords have no power to reject a money bill; they can only
delay it for a month....
The US is a key growth markets for South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor
1 October 2013Last updated at 21:28 ET More than 700,000 employees face unpaid leave due to the shutdown
which was triggered after the two houses of Congress did not agree on a
new budget. Hyundai said affected employees who currently own its
vehicles will be given a payment relief "for as long as they are out of
work". Employees looking to buy a new car will be given a 90-day payment deferral. "We recognize the impact on family budgets that the furlough
will drive," John Krafcik, chief executive of Hyundai Motor America, said in a statement....
Representative Patrick J. Kennedy, center, leaving court in June with
Representative Jim Ramstad after pleading guilty to impaired driving.
By MARK LEIBOVICH
Published: September 19, 2006
...The two men (click here) share a keen sense of the twin burdens that being an
addict and congressman impose, Mr. Kennedy says. “To some degree, all
politicians lead a double life, a public one and a private one,” he
said. Mr. Ramstad has emphasized the importance of integrating what he
calls “the political game face” with “the real person inside.”
Being
a Kennedy carries its own weight, Mr. Kennedy says, given the legacy of
drug and alcohol abuse in his family. His mother, Joan Kennedy, has
endured a long battle with alcoholism, and his father was involved in a
string of alcohol-related episodes earlier in his career. (Senator
Kennedy says he will drink a glass of wine at home at night or in social
settings. He describes himself as being “well” over the last 15 years, a
recovery he attributes to his current wife, Victoria.)
In a
phone interview, Senator Kennedy says he shares a meal with Patrick once
a week. His son is doing well, he says, thanks in large part to “the
incredible generosity of spirit” of Jim Ramstad...
Neither of these men are in Congress anymore. This phenomena in Washington, DC crosses all parties and faiths, Mr. Rmastad is an Evangelical. I strongly suggest Speaker Boner sober his party and bring the federal budget for a vote without the Hastert Rule as soon as possible.
As a matter of fact, in the light of the alcoholism that exhibited on the eve of a government shutdown I INSIST Congress dissolve their Hastert Rule completely.
Comment from The Sydney Morning Herald.
Paul McGeough October 2, 2013 - 5:11PM
...For all their bluster, (click here) it seemed the Republicans did not have the
stomach for a total shutdown – on Tuesday, they suggested that maybe the
deal could be softened by adding the Department of Veterans Affairs,
national parks and the entire District of Columbia to a significant list
of "essentials" that have been excluded from the shutdown madness.
For now, the tipping is that the Republicans can't win. At
least that's how a slew of commentators are reading opinion polls and
it's what their last two presidential contenders, former Massachusetts
governor Mitt Romney and Arizona senator John McCain, are telling them.
But political wind is a fickle beast. Measured by opinion
polls, Obama and congressional Democrats are stronger than the
Republicans, but if the shutdown continues to the point of inflicting
serious pain to voters and/or the economy, both sides might suffer –
especially if this wrangle runs into the next round of argy-bargy, just
weeks away, over limits to federal borrowing.
The dilemma for the Republicans is that they allowed hatred
to pass for good political sense, by making the continued operation of
the government dependent on taking an axe to Obamacare, a tactic that
worries the public, notwithstanding their antipathy for the health
scheme....
From the New Zealand Herald Business Pages:
10:41 PM Wednesday Oct 2, 2013
...Some investors fear the budget standoff (click here)could spill over into a
dispute about raising the nation's borrowing limit. Treasury Secretary
Jack Lew said last week that the government would run out of borrowing
authority by roughly Oct. 17.
The last time the borrowing limit,
or debt ceiling, issue came up in August 2011, it led to a downgrade of
the United States' credit rating by Standard & Poor's.
"Everyone
is very cautious about how to react to the U.S. shutdown," said Andrew
Sullivan at Kim Eng Securities in Hong Kong. "There's a lot for people
to worry about. In such cases, people prefer to hold their cash on the
sidelines."
Japan's Nikkei 225 index plummeted 2.2 percent to
close at 14,170.49 after the government Tuesday announced it would go
ahead with a sales tax increase in April. The tax, intended to offset
the country's soaring public debt, will rise from 5 percent to 8
percent.
Markets in mainland China were closed for public
holidays, so couldn't react to a survey showing that manufacturing in
the world's No. 2 economy barely expanded in September. Tuesday's report
by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing showed
manufacturing expanded for the third month in a row. But the
group's purchasing managers' index rose by only a fraction to 51.1 last
month from 51.0 in August, less than economists expected.
Benchmark
oil for November delivery was down 52 cents to $101.52 per barrel in
electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract
fell 29 cents to close at $102.04 on Tuesday. In currencies, the euro fell to $1.3529 from $1.3518 late Tuesday. The dollar fell to 97.42 yen from 98.02 yen.
So the drunkards in the Congress are most worried about refusing women birth control through their health insurance coverage. Sounds right. It is time to remove the Hastert rule and allow those that are still sober to vote to run the federal government. Birth control?
