Daily Revolt

White House Stops Pretending It Has a Debt Plan

noreply@blogger.com (99 Percenter) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:31:00 +0000

RealClearPolitics - White House Stops Pretending It Has a Debt Plan

We've Moved!

noreply@blogger.com (99 Percenter) — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 14:30:00 +0000

I've decided to dedicate my blogging time to build a movement that I believe will save America...and the world. If you are interested in making a difference, please visit The new blog dedicated to a political awakening or go directly to the movement's main site, that I've created, which is destined to transform America: The American Independence Party.

Study: False Statements Preceded Iraq War

noreply@blogger.com (99 Percenter) — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 02:53:00 +0000

The facts speak for themselves:

A study by two nonprofit journalism organizations found that President Bush and top administration officials issued hundreds of false statements about the national security threat from Iraq in the two years following the 2001 terrorist attacks.

The study concluded that the statements "were part of an orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanized public opinion and, in the process, led the nation to war under decidedly false pretenses."

The study was posted Tuesday on the Web site of the Center for Public Integrity, which worked with the Fund for Independence in Journalism. White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said he could not comment on the study because he had not seen it.

The study counted 935 false statements in the two-year period. It found that in speeches, briefings, interviews and other venues, Bush and administration officials stated unequivocally on at least 532 occasions that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction or was trying to produce or obtain them or had links to al-Qaida or both.

"It is now beyond dispute that Iraq did not possess any weapons of mass destruction or have meaningful ties to al-Qaida," according to Charles Lewis and Mark Reading-Smith of the Fund for Independence in Journalism staff members, writing an overview of the study. "In short, the Bush administration led the nation to war on the basis of erroneous information that it methodically propagated and that culminated in military action against Iraq on March 19, 2003."

African-American Backlash will Cost Clinton Election

noreply@blogger.com (99 Percenter) — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 12:50:00 +0000

Jesse Jackson said this morning (on FOX Business channel) that Bill Clinton stands the chance of alienating black voters by attacking Obama. It was also reported this morning that some prominent Democrats are telling "Slick Willie" to shut his trap.

It is too late. The damage has been done. On election day, in the Fall many African American voters will stay home, thus cost her the White House. And she, and Bill, will have only themselves to blame. Tragically, the smears directed against Obama by Billary have succeeded. Hillary will win the nomination.

But was is typically Clintonian they will have done it by destroying the Democratic Party's chances of winning the Presidency. We've seen it all before. In 1994, Democrats lost control of the Congress, and never regained it for the rest of Bill Clinton's presidency. It occurred because of the duplicitous, unprincipled tactics of the Bill and Hill. They not only lost the Congress, but lost the 2000 election, despite 8 years of a "prosperous" Clinton reign. The Democrats only regained control of the Congress in 2007 because of George Bush's unprecedented incompetence.

The Clintons are all about themselves. And as Mike Barnacle pointed out, they will do just about anything to gain and keep power:

Bill and Hillary had probably assumed that the love for him could be seamlessly transferred to her, that African American fealty to the Clinton brand was a given in Democratic politics. But the steady ascendancy of Barack Obama - and the Clintons' ham-handed, racially tinged attempts to stymie his rise - now threaten to sever those ties.

Hillary has sought to lower the temperature in recent days, but shorthand impressions linger, and she has not helped her standing by seeming to minimize the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (perhaps due to a poor choice of words), and by sending out surrogates who seemed to be implying that Obama was once a stereotypical black drug dealer.

[...]blacks were starting to bail on the Clintons long before the Clinton camp launched its veiled insinuations (surrogate Andrew Cuomo said the candidates needed to converse with the voters, because "you can't shuck and jive at a press conference"). I doubt there was a mass exodus from Hillary just because surrogate Bob Johnson compared Obama to Sidney Poitier, who played a well-mannered black seeking a white family's approval in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, but clearly the Clintons' trademark pugilism has made matters worse.

There once was a time when blacks instinctively rallied to the Clintons. They liked Bill's style; they liked the fact that he curbed black poverty more than any predecessor, and, during the Lewinsky sex scandal, they likened Ken Starr's pursuit of Bill to the FBI's wiretapping and harassment of King.

But that was so 10 years ago, back when the Clintons were stuck on defense. Now, they're back on offense, playing for the highest stakes, and their target is a black guy who embodies the black American dream. If Hillary takes him down, she will face a massive repair job in the black community[...]

FBI Denies Existence of File Believed to Contain Nuclear Secrets

noreply@blogger.com (99 Percenter) — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 03:25:00 +0000

This is a major scandal if the charges are correct:

The FBI has been accused of covering up a key case file detailing evidence against corrupt government officials and their dealings with a network stealing nuclear secrets.

The assertion follows allegations made in U.K.'s Sunday Times two weeks ago by Sibel Edmonds, an FBI whistleblower, who worked on the agency’s investigation of the network.

Edmonds, a 37-year-old former Turkish language translator, listened into hundreds of sensitive intercepted conversations while based at the agency’s Washington field office.

She says the FBI was investigating a Turkish and Israeli-run network that paid high-ranking American officials to steal nuclear weapons secrets. These were then sold on the international black market to countries such as Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

One of the documents relating to the case was marked 203A-WF-210023. Last week, however, the FBI responded to a freedom of information request for a file of exactly the same number by claiming that it did not exist. But The Sunday Times has obtained a document signed by an FBI official showing the existence of the file.

Scapegoat: Teen Arrested for Bhutto Assassination

noreply@blogger.com (99 Percenter) — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 15:35:00 +0000

They found their scapegoats. More coverup. Does this sound right to you? What are their names? Where are they from? Will they be allowed to speak? Al Qaeda and the Taliban continue to deny complicity. Since when do these groups deny involvement in a terrorist act:

A 15-year-old detained near the Afghan border has confessed to joining a team of assassins sent to kill Benazir Bhutto, officials said Saturday, announcing the first arrests in the case since the attack that killed the opposition leader.

Police also announced they had foiled new suicide attacks against the country's Shiite minority.

Interior Secretary Kamal Shah confirmed the arrest of two people in the town of Dera Ismail Khan in North West Frontier province, and said one — a teenage boy — had confessed involvement in the Dec. 27 attack that killed Bhutto. He said interrogators were trying to get corroborating testimony from the other detainee before accepting the confession.

Once again, too convenient:

In the southern city of Karachi, meanwhile, the police chief said officers detained five men with explosives, detonators and a small quantity of cyanide intended for attacks on this week's Shiite Muslim festival of Ashoura.

"With these arrests we have foiled major attacks," said police chief Azhar Farouqi, adding that the militants may have wanted to put the cyanide into the municipal water supply.

Establishment Candidates McCain, Clinton will be Nominees

noreply@blogger.com (99 Percenter) — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 03:25:00 +0000

It is clear after tonight that the establishment candidates will be the nominees of the Republican and Democratic parties. Both McCain and Hillary are ahead nationally and in the important states. Once again, connections have won out over those who are willing to challenge the system, even if that challenge is superficial:

Republican John McCain called his victory in South Carolina's presidential primary on Saturday evidence that his campaign "can carry right through" Florida into the giant round of caucuses and primaries on Feb. 5. "I know it's not easy," he told The Associated Press, "and we've got a long way to go."

South Carolina was where McCain's presidential prospects died eight years ago, and he savored the victory this time.

"It just took us awhile, that's all," he said in the interview. "Eight years is not a long time."

This time, he said, "It sure was nice to have a lot of our old friends be happier that we won."

Asked if he was now the front-runner for the GOP nomination, McCain demurred.

"I don't know," he said, "we like to run from behind."

Still, he expressed optimism going forward.

"I'm very confident that we'll win in Florida," he said.

The Clinton dirty tricks succeeded:

Whites and women helped Hillary Rodham Clinton to victory while blacks overwhelmingly backed Barack Obama in Nevada's Democratic presidential caucuses Saturday, a survey found. In the state's Republican caucuses, one in four participants were Mormons and nearly all of them supported Mitt Romney as he romped in a barely contested race.

Meanwhile, early results of exit polling in South Carolina's Republican primary indicated older voters, conservatives and white evangelical Christians were turning out heavily. Veterans were about a quarter of the overall vote.

Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge Says Waterboarding is Torture

noreply@blogger.com (99 Percenter) — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 01:21:00 +0000

King George is unmoved:

The first secretary of the Homeland Security Department says waterboarding is torture.

"There's just no doubt in my mind -- under any set of rules -- waterboarding is torture," Tom Ridge said Friday in an interview with the Associated Press. Ridge had offered the same opinion earlier in the day to members of the American Bar Association at a homeland security conference.

"One of America's greatest strengths is the soft power of our value system and how we treat prisoners of war, and we don't torture," Ridge said in the interview. Ridge was secretary of the Homeland Security Department between 2003 and 2005. "And I believe, unlike others in the administration, that waterboarding was, is -- and will always be -- torture. That's a simple statement."

Waterboarding is a harsh interrogation tactic that was used by CIA officers in 2002 and 2003 on three alleged al-Qaida terrorists. The tactic gives the subject the sensation of drowning.

The CIA has not used the technique since 2003, and CIA Director Michael Hayden prohibited it in 2006, according to U.S. officials. The debate was recently revived when the CIA revealed it had destroyed videotapes showing the interrogations of two alleged terrorists, both of whom were waterboarded.

Republicans in Democrats’ Clothing

noreply@blogger.com (99 Percenter) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 13:02:00 +0000

It's good to see an article in the Times, albeit an opinion piece, exposing the truth about the lack of difference between the two parties:

Nothing is more self-defeating in presidential politics than a candidate trying to be something he or she is not. Sometimes the incongruity is visual — Mike Dukakis photographed riding atop a tank — but more often it concerns a policy stand or a position that seems opportunistic and inauthentic. In such instances, the departure from form may produce some short-term political gain, but in the long run, it leaves voters confused and alienated.

Take Mike Huckabee’s television ads on economic policy that strike populist tones about the loss of manufacturing jobs and his stand as the guy who reminds voters “of the guy they work with — not the guy who laid them off.” Or Mitt Romney, who won the Michigan primary with the promise of a $20 billion plan of government support for the auto industry, and is now campaigning in South Carolina on pledges to combat job loss in the furniture and textile industries, “where Washington watched” and failed to act. These are the leading Republican candidates for president? These are the conservatives?

If you want to know where this epiphany of government economic intervention comes from, read Erik Eckholm’s article in Wednesday’s Times. Mr. Eckholm’s piece relates the heart-wrenching tale of middle-aged workers whose economic future has been turned upside down by changes in the manufacturing economy.

Still don’t see the connection between the economic trend captured in Mr. Eckholm’s article and the political trend of a G.O.P. reversal on economic issues? Then take a look at Mr. Eckholm’s dateline: Jackson, Ohio. That’s right, Ohio, as in “the battleground of all battlegrounds” in the 2008 general election. No Republican has ever won the presidency without winning Ohio, and no Republican could feel very good about the party’s economic positioning in Ohio after reading Mr. Eckholm’s article.

With this as a backdrop, it is no surprise that some Republicans are finding a new perspective on government intervention in economic policy. Earlier this week on this blog, David Brooks compared Mr. Romney’s newly activist approach to “how the British Tory party used to speak in the 1970s.” It isn’t a hopeful metaphor, since the Tories were out of power for nine of the decade’s 10 years. More important, the biggest problem for the new Republican economic activists isn’t that they are mimicking a playbook that failed in Britain, but rather that their message is little more than a pale knock-off — a bad impression — of Democrats here in America. I’m not sure if the Republicans can formulate a winning economic message in 2008, but I’m absolutely certain they won’t win with an inauthentic effort to sound like Democrats.

A recent column by Mr. Brooks elaborating these new “Republican” ideas was telling. The column included a list of “new” Republican economic policy proposals that were taken straight out of every Democratic campaign of the last two decades: wage assistance for laid-off workers, job training and government-financed 401(k)’s. It even cited a plan for a “$1,000 at birth savings account” that is shockingly similar to the “baby bonds” plan set forth by Hillary Clinton last September to Republican ridicule. What a difference a date with the voters makes.

CIA, Pakistan Concur on Bhutto's Killer

noreply@blogger.com (99 Percenter) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 11:36:00 +0000

Coverup. The fact that the CIA would go along with this obvious bogus theory that al Qaeda/Taliban killed Bhutto shows the Bush administration's total disregard for democracy and justice. They are in fact in complicity with the cover up of the Bhutto assassination:

The CIA believes that Pakistani Taliban commander Baitullah Mahsud and his associates, some linked to Al Qaeda, were responsible for the assassination last month of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, a U.S. intelligence official said Thursday.

"There are strong indications that Baitullah Mahsud was behind the Bhutto assassination," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. "There is certainly no reason to doubt that Mahsud was behind this."

The intelligence official said he could not disclose how the CIA had reached that conclusion, including whether the assessment was based, at least in part, on a telephone call that Pakistani authorities say they intercepted shortly after Bhutto was killed. In that call, a man said to be Mahsud congratulates a cleric who claims that his associates carried out the killing.

Mahsud has denied involvement in the attack on Bhutto on Dec. 27 after a political rally in the garrison city of Rawalpindi. But Mahsud, a tribal leader in northwest Pakistan, has not publicly commented on the purported call.

The CIA assessment concurred with that of Pakistani officials, who have said they believe that Mahsud was most likely behind the assassination, as well as an attack on Bhutto's convoy in October, hours after she returned to Pakistan from a self-imposed eight-year exile.

But an associate of Bhutto's said Thursday that her Pakistan People's Party was deeply skeptical of the CIA's assertions, especially when so little in the way of a forensic criminal investigation has been done. Party officials say that most, if not all, of the evidence in the case was destroyed by police and firefighters who hosed down the site within hours of the shooting and suicide attack, making it virtually impossible to gather evidence to help determine who else might have been involved.

This why we need The People's Platform.

Huckabee says Let SC Decide on Confederate flag

noreply@blogger.com (99 Percenter) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 04:14:00 +0000

He sounds like an old time segregationist:

Republican Mike Huckabee said the government should stay out of disputes over the Confederate flag in South Carolina.

"You don't like people from outside the state coming in and telling you what to do with your flag," Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, told supporters Thursday in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

"In fact, if somebody came to Arkansas and told us what to do with our flag, we'd tell 'em what to do with the pole, that's what we'd do," Huckabee said.

Arkansas' flag includes four stars surrounding the word "Arkansas" - one above it and three below it. The one above stands for the Confederacy, according to the state code.

He would not say whether he considers it offensive to fly the flag, a symbol of racism to some and Southern pride to others, saying only that the matter should be up to the states. That was the position of his rival John McCain when he ran for president in 2000; after losing, McCain said he had not been honest about his feelings and that the flag should go.

Pressed later on whether he finds the flag offensive, Huckabee refused to give an opinion.

This is another reason why we must turn away from the two-party system.

Romney in Heated Exchange over Lobbyist Claim

noreply@blogger.com (99 Percenter) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 03:45:00 +0000

Another lie from a presidential candidate:

South Carolina (Reuters) - Presidential candidate Mitt Romney was challenged on Thursday over the role of lobbyists in his campaign as he sought to portray himself as more of a Washington outsider than his Republican rivals.

A reporter took issue with Romney's assertion that no lobbyists were running his campaign, leading to a heated exchange with the former Massachusetts governor at a campaign stop in an office supply store in South Carolina.

"I don't have lobbyists running my campaign," said Romney, who is seeking to win the state's primary on Saturday after taking this week's Michigan primary, keeping alive his bid to become the Republican presidential nominee for the November election.

"I don't have lobbyists that are tied to my ..."

Associated Press journalist Glen Johnson interrupted at this point to say that Ron Kaufman, one of Romney's top advisors, is a lobbyist.

"Did you hear what I said, Glen?" a clearly irritated Romney said. "I said, 'I don't have lobbyists running my campaign,' and he's not running my campaign. He's an adviser. And the person who runs my campaign is Beth Myers, and I have a whole staff of deputy campaign managers."

Kaufman is a registered lobbyist for Dutko Worldwide. His clients have included Fedex, Sprint Nextel, Union Pacific and United Health Care.

1 in 5 Returning Troops may Have Brain Injury

noreply@blogger.com (99 Percenter) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 03:28:00 +0000

Bush's legacy:

As many as 20 percent of U.S. combat troops who fought in Iraq or Afghanistan leave with signs they may have had a concussion, and some do not realize they need treatment, Army officials said Thursday.

Concussion is a common term for mild traumatic brain injury, or TBI. While the Army has a handle on treating more severe brain injuries, it is "challenged to understand, diagnose and treat military personnel who suffer with mild TBI," said Brig. Gen. Donald Bradshaw, chairman of a task force on traumatic brain injury created by the Army surgeon general.

Homebuilding: Sharpest Drop in 27 years

noreply@blogger.com (99 Percenter) — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 15:38:00 +0000

The bad news on the economy keeps coming. Something has to be done before we have a panic on the world markets. Where is Bush on this crisis? Where are candidates talking about what needs to be done now to avert a disaster, not what they would do a year from now:

Housing starts and building permits plunged in December much more than expected, resulting in a full-year decline in new home construction that was the sharpest drop in 27 years.

And there is little sign things will get better soon. According to government data released Thursday, the full-year total for building permits posted the biggest drop in 33 years. The sharp dropoff in building is one of the reasons that many leading economists are growing increasingly fearful that an economic recession is near, if it hasn't already struck.

The pace of housing starts in December dropped 14 percent to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 1.01 million in December, according to the Census Bureau report.

[...]"These figures confirm that the housing recession continues to deepen," said Mike Larson, a real estate analyst for Weiss Research. "Slumping consumer confidence and tighter lending standards have already taken their toll on demand, and the broader economic slowdown we're starting to see unfold now threatens to make a bad situation worse."

For the year, housing starts fell 25 percent to 1.35 million. That decline represents the biggest drop since the recession year of 1980 and the third largest drop since the Census Bureau started tracking this activity in 1959.

It's called a recession:

Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Sandra Pianalto said on Thursday the economy has shifted to a lower growth track given restraints led by weak housing prices and falling equities prices.

"The residential real estate market still appears to be in freefall," Pianalto said in remarks to the Association for Corporate Growth, her first comments on the economy in three months.

"We are also seeing a related slowing in consumer spending, perhaps in response to reduced household wealth. Tightened credit market conditions could also hinder economic growth this year for both businesses and consumers," she said.

Pianalto said the U.S. economy should gain traction later this year and into 2009, but added she was concerned about the downside risks to that outlook.

Even as the economy falters, there is a risk that the public's confidence in the Federal Reserve's commitment to price stability will be shaken, Pianalto said.

Apparently the so-called leaders in the economy and in Washington are doing very little to stave off a disaster. Therefore, the people must come up with a solution.

Anger over Gates' NATO Criticism

noreply@blogger.com (99 Percenter) — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 13:57:00 +0000

Gates has obviously learned from his boss on how to antagonize your allies. What this dummy doesn't mention is that it was Bush's decision to invade Iraq, and then occupy that nation, that led to resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan. This is really a cop out by the White House, they want to distance themselves from inevitable defeat in Afghanistan:

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates' criticism of NATO allies' performance in Afghanistan led to major diplomatic back-peddling in Washington.

A Los Angeles Times interview quoted Gates Wednesday as saying he was "worried we have some military forces that don't know how to do counterinsurgency operations."

That rankled the governments of Australia, Britain, Canada and the Netherlands.

Soon after the article was published, Gates phoned Canadian Defense Minister Peter MacKay to express "regret and embarrassment," Canada's Globe & Mail newspaper reported.

Canadian soldiers are getting killed at about three times the U.S. rate in combat in Afghanistan, the newspaper said.

Dutch Defense Minister Eimert van Middlekoop summoned the U.S. ambassador to explain Gates' remarks, while NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer dismissed the criticism in Brussels.

The Washington Post said unnamed NATO sources were particularly angered by Gates' claim U.S. forces "are doing a terrific job ... They've got the (counterinsurgency) thing down pat."

2007 Inflation up by Largest Amount in 17 years

noreply@blogger.com (99 Percenter) — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 15:55:00 +0000

This is very serious. I wished that the Presidential candidates showed more concern, not just lip service. We need leadership right now. And we certainly aren't going to get it from that clown in the White House:

Higher costs for energy and food last year pushed inflation up by the largest amount in 17 years, even though prices generally remained tame outside of those two areas. Meanwhile, industrial output was flat in December, more evidence of a significant slowdown in the economy.

Consumer prices rose by 4.1 percent for all of 2007, up sharply from a 2.5 percent increase in 2006, the Labor Department said Wednesday. Consumers felt the pain when they filled up their gas tanks or shopped for groceries. Prices for both energy and food shot up by the largest amount since 1990.

Global Markets Fall on Fears for U.S. Economy

noreply@blogger.com (99 Percenter) — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 13:56:00 +0000

It is getting very dangerous. This could easily snowball into a panic (I won't use the d-word). We need to wake up. There are very serious problems with the U.S. economy, and that impacts the rest of the world markets:

Global shares fell Wednesday as burgeoning U.S. mortgage loan problems and soft economic data provoked fears that the world's largest economy may enter a recession and drag down smaller economies with it.

The Nikkei 225 stock index fell 3.4 percent in Tokyo to its lowest closing in more than two years. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was off 4.3 percent. The CSI 300 index in China also declined 3.4 percent. The decline gave the Nikkei a return of minus 11.8 percent so far in 2008.

"Equity markets are declining as global investors are less willing to take on risk with subprime loans still in the news," said Kazunori Takahashi, Head of Equity Market Research with Daiwa Securities SMBC in Tokyo. "This is feeding concerns the U.S. economy may go into recession, which also makes it difficult to buy risk assets such as equities."

Citigroup, the biggest U.S. bank, on Tuesday reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $9.83 billion. The biggest loss on record for the 196-year-old company reflected write-downs on subprime mortgage investments of $18 billion.

This is what Glenn Beck had to say in November:

The national debt, just packed $9 trillion for the first time ever, and it took our country from George Washington all the way to Ronald Reagan to reach the first one trillion. Of course, the debt, largely owned by foreign countries like, let`s say, China, who when it`s in their best interest, will just get rid of that debt, collapse our economy and assume global dominance, all without ever firing a single shot. Never happened before in history.

That scenario, on top of everything from the housing recession to the dollar collapse, is what scares money manager Jim Melcher. He told "The New York Sun," quote, "I am worried about a recession, not a normal one, but a very bad one, the worst since the 1930s."

Jim is a Wall Streeter and a very successful Wall Streeter, so he didn`t want to say the actual words and ruin his credibility, so allow me. I`ve got no credibility. He`s talking about something on the scale of the Great Depression.

Meanwhile, despite the media`s indifference, our credit crisis is far from over. In the last two weeks alone, Citigroup came out and devalued another $11 billion in assets. Morgan Stanley wrote down another $6 billion. Bank of America just today wrote off $3 billion.

Wachovia and E*Trade have admitted to another billion dollars each. In E*Trade`s case, at least one analyst is concerned that nervous clients could be scared into closing their deposit accounts.

If I may translate again to English, I believe that`s called a run on the banks. I hope I`m wrong. It`s always triggered by fear, and it always leads to hunger.

So, America, here is what you need to know tonight. This is not about panic; it`s about information and preparation. Depressions cannot be predicted, so I`m not certainly not saying we`re headed for one. But mark my words, if you wait for fear and hunger to be your motivation to plan, then you`ll have waited far too long.

Something is happening. Something is coming. And if we`ve learned anything from history, it should be that, when it happens, our government will only make things worse.

- It is clear the politicians do not have an answer. We need the people to come up with solutions. There are plenty of part-time or retired participants in the stock market that probably have some insight into what is going on. Visit The People's Platform and share what you believe to be the answer.

Nevada Democratic Presidential Debate 1-15-08

noreply@blogger.com (99 Percenter) — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 04:21:00 +0000

Here's the transcript (some problems with their version) of Tuesday's Nevada Democratic Presidential debate. Also the NY Times has the complete transcript.

Did Obama and Hillary kiss and makeup?:

CLINTON: Well, I think what’s most important is that Senator Obama and I agree completely that, you know, neither race nor gender should be a part of this campaign.

[...]So I very much appreciate what Senator Obama and I did yesterday, which is that we both have exuberance and sometimes uncontrollable supporters; that we need to get this campaign where it should be....We’re all family in the Democratic Party.

[...]OBAMA: Well, I think Hillary said it well. You know, we are, right now, I think, in a defining moment in our history. We’ve got a nation at war. Our planet is in peril. And the economy is putting an enormous strain on working families all across the country.

[...]OBAMA: I think our party has stood for that. Dr. King stood for that. I hope that my campaign has inspired that same sense, that there’s much more that we hold in common than what separates us.

And that is how I want to move this campaign forward and I hope that’s how it moves forward.

What a strange criticism. Williams is equating what Hillary did and Obama did. Sounds like something out of the Clinton playbook:

WILLIAMS: But another given was at the last televised debate, when you, in a comment directed to Senator Clinton, looked down and said, “You’re likable enough, Hillary.”

That caused Frank Rich to write, on the op-ed page of the New York Times, that it was “your most inhuman moment, to date.” And it clearly was a factor and added up.

Senator Obama, do you regret the comment, and comments like that, today?

OBAMA: Well, I absolutely regret it because that wasn’t how it was intended. I mean, folks were giving Hillary a hard time about likability. And my intention was to say, “I think you’re plenty likable.”

This was really tough from Obama, but right on:

I have to say that when Senator Clinton uses the specter of a terrorist attack with a new prime minister during a campaign, I think that is part and parcel with what we’ve seen the use of the fear of terrorism in scoring political points. And I think that’s a mistake. Now, I don’t want to perpetuate that.

Read the entire debate...

Here's an alternative to the same old politics as usual that we are hearing from the candidates.

Citigroup May Cut Thousands of Jobs

noreply@blogger.com (99 Percenter) — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:39:00 +0000

Sounds like a recession to me:

Citigroup Inc. is expected to announce thousands of job cuts after posting dismal results for the fourth quarter, when the bank's mortgage-riddled portfolio lost billions of dollars in value.

Citigroup Inc. swung to a loss of nearly $10 billion in the fourth quarter as it took a write-down of $18.1 billion for bad bets related to the mortgage industry, the bank said on Tuesday.

On the hunt for cash, the nation's largest bank said Tuesday it also got a $12.5 billion investment from outside investors, including $6.88 billion from the Government of Singapore Investment Corp.

Other investors were Capital Research Global Investors, Capital World Investors, the Kuwait Investment Authority, the New Jersey Division of Investment, shareholder Prince Alwaleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia and former chief executive Sanford Weill and his family foundation.

Citigroup also took a net charge of $3.31 billion for loan-loss reserves in its U.S. consumer credit business_ primarily for delinquencies on mortgages, credit cards and auto loans. A year earlier it reversed $127 million in loan-loss reserves. Citi cited increasing signs of weakness among the consumer—something many others have pointed to as a potential indicator of a recession.

- This is why we need the People's Platform

Hillary Campaign Smearing Obama...Again

noreply@blogger.com (99 Percenter) — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 13:54:00 +0000

The Clintons' are playing dirty again. They had Bob Johnson, the founder of BET, smearing Obama with references to his drug use. Morning Joe did a great job in exposing Johnson's lame attempt at trying to defuse the issue. They played the tape that clearly makes a tongue-in-cheek reference to the Illionois Senator's drug use during his youth. It doesn't wash that the Billionaire backer of Hillary claims he didn't besmirch Obama. It is clear that the Clinton campaign will continue it's rough tactics directed at their main opponent for the nomination.

Bush has not given up his plans to attack Iran. During his visit to Israel he, along with the Prime Minister, tried to outdo each other in seeing who could be tougher on the "axis of evil" country. The disgraced President is totally dismissive of the NIE report. Although, it did slow down his timetable for military action against Iran. The President was ostensibly making a trip to the Middle East to promote peace. He is in fact doing the opposite.

Rudy's campaign has gotten so bad that he is asking for prayers. He is obviously watching the surge of John McCain's campaign (pardon the pun). He might want to pull a Hillary, and shed a few tears. Terrel Owens' cried after his team's defeat Sunday, a sign of what could be the norm from now for famous people wanting sympathy? So, If prayer doesn't work for the Giuliani he might want to get misty-eyed just before the Florida primary.

Republicans are fond of calling for tax cuts. They might want to look at Canada which faces it's first deficits in over a decade.

Angry Hillary Clinton on Meet the Press

noreply@blogger.com (99 Percenter) — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 16:49:00 +0000

A combative Hillary Clinton appeared on Meet The Press (read the transcript here) this week. She even brought along her cackle. Repeatedly she interrupted the host, Tim Russert, and even accused him of being "unfair" and "mischaracterization" of her views. All the while she attacked Obama's invoking of MLKjr., which has offended some. The NY Senator kept coming back to the same idea: Obama is unfit for the Presidency. She also attacked the Illinois Senator's flip-flop on the war in Iraq. Russert juxtaposed videos of Hillary and quotes from Obama to suggest She was wrong on the war. Ms.Clinton dismissed the implication.

The message that she is more qualified to be President worked for her in New Hampshire. Will it work for the rest of the campaign. It seems at this point the new defiant Hillary is feeling confident, if her arrogance is any indication.

Hillary Clinton: Unstoppable?

noreply@blogger.com (99 Percenter) — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 15:22:00 +0000

Hillary has not only survived but could be on her way to victory in the primaries. And she can thank the media, especially Chris Matthews. The Senator is ahead in most of the upcoming primary states (including Super Tuesday), excluding South Carolina.

The slim victory in New Hampshire saved her candidacy. It was the result of last minute voters whom were influenced by the press' piling-on and those fake tears; not to mention Bill's attack on Obama's record.

If she can survive Tim Russert, It looks like Billary will get the nomination.

Chris Matthews a Target for Clinton fans

noreply@blogger.com (99 Percenter) — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 13:48:00 +0000

Matthews originally praised Hillary's candidacy:

He's become the target for critics who think a backlash against the media played a part in Hillary Clinton's surprise win in New Hampshire. Chris Matthews laughs off that idea, and insists he has a lot of respect for her.

The MSNBC "Hardball" host had more explaining to do after Clinton's victory when he said that the reason Clinton is a candidate for president "is that her husband messed around."

[...]Matthews was the focal point for the anger many women felt at how Clinton's candidacy seemed to be written off with lightning speed following a loss in Iowa and foreboding poll numbers in New Hampshire. He is a man and he is ever sure of himself.

He also had a history: The liberal watchdog Media Matters for America counted more than eight negative remarks Matthews made about Clinton for every positive one during September, October and November.

Spy Chief: Waterboarding Would Torture me

noreply@blogger.com (99 Percenter) — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 13:26:00 +0000

Tortured logic:

The nation's intelligence chief says waterboarding "would be torture" if used against him or if someone under interrogation actually was taking water into his lungs.

But Mike McConnell, in a magazine interview, declined for legal reasons to say whether the technique categorically should be considered torture.

"If it ever is determined to be torture, there will be a huge penalty to be paid for anyone engaging in it," McConnell told The New Yorker, which published a 16,000-word article Sunday on the director of national intelligence.

[...]As McConnell describes it, a prisoner is strapped down with a wash cloth over his face and water is dripped into his nose.

"If I had water draining into my nose, oh God, I just can't imagine how painful! Whether it's torture by anybody else's definition, for me it would be torture," McConnell told the magazine.

A spokesman for McConnell said he does not dispute the quotes attributed to him in the story by Lawrence Wright, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 2007 for The Looming Towers, a book on al-Qaeda and the Sept. 11 attacks.

McConnell said the legal test for torture should be "pretty simple."

"Is it excruciatingly painful to the point of forcing someone to say something because of the pain?" he said.

Here's FOX's spin:

The nation's intelligence chief says waterboarding "would be torture" if used against him or if someone under interrogation actually was taking water into his lungs.

But Mike McConnell, in a magazine interview, declined for legal reasons to say whether the technique categorically should be considered torture.

"If it ever is determined to be torture, there will be a huge penalty to be paid for anyone engaging in it," McConnell told The New Yorker, which published a 16,000-word article Sunday on the director of national intelligence.

The comments come as the House Intelligence Committee investigates the CIA's destruction of videotaped interrogations of two Al Qaeda suspects. The tapes were made in 2002 and destroyed three years later, over fears they would leak. They depicted the use of "enhanced" interrogation techniques against two of the three men known to have been waterboarded by the CIA.

Banks Probed For Hiding Risky Loan Details

noreply@blogger.com (99 Percenter) — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 03:20:00 +0000

The banks don't care whether loan takers get into debt, they profit from it:

Authorities in New York and Connecticut are investigating whether Wall Street banks hid crucial information about high-risk loans bundled into securities that were sold to investors, Connecticut's Attorney General said Saturday.

The investigations, first reported Saturday by The New York Times, center around "no-doc" or "exception" loans, that did not meet even subprime standards, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said.

"The loans were made to people who did not have any documents to verify their income or other verification for key requirements normally applied to mortgage borrowers," he said. "Many of the lenders made large amounts of loans, so that the exception swallowed the rule, or became the rule."

The loans were sold by subprime lenders to Wall Street firms that bundled them with other, less risky, loans into securities.

Investigators want to find out whether the banks properly disclosed the high risk of default on those loans when selling those securities to investors in Connecticut and elsewhere, Blumenthal said.

"The investment banks may have used very broad, boilerplate disclaimer language that effectively failed to disclose fully and fairly all the information," he said.