The ghosts are in the machine: Has anyone here noticed that the Heritage Foundation (a virulent right-wing organization) is scheduling events to mobilize opposition and win converts from the Obama camp using the OFA website?
Check out their recent postings for events they are scheduling in October in the Twin Cities. Seems we need a strategy to counter. Anyone involved in deriving or applying one?
Check Out This clip from the 1960s Batman Tv series. It has such Uncanny similarities to the recent events of this years election campaign its actually SCARY!!
The old tricks aren’t working any more. The government’s tools for a weak economy have been to lower interest rates, borrow and spend, or have a war. Now, interest rates are so low that you can’t earn enough on your savings to keep up with inflation, the government owes $31,666 for every man, woman and child in America, and we have two of the longest running wars in U.S. history. We need something new, something smarter.
Here’s a radical suggestion. Let’s stop collecting taxes in ways that hurt us. All we need are two simple changes to our existing system.
Al gave another great speech yesterday. Take a hard look at it. This plan puts the stake in the ground where it needs to be.
It's time to take a cold shower in the numbers and wake up. As Barack's mom would tell him, "this is no picnic for me either, buster". I think Obama knows very well how big this is. $150 billion is nowhere near what we need to meet the goal of energy security.
I think we are ready for the challenge, but let's be realistic- this is going to be tough. Gore's decade sounds like a long time, but it isn't when you consider the production bottlenecks involved with moving from fossil fuel electricity generation. Don't picture Apollo. Picture WWII.
Our total electricity output is 3 terawatts. 50% is from coal, and 20 is from Natural gas, so Al is talking about replacing about 70% of our capacity, or 2100 Gigawatts of power. Gore rightly highlights in his July 17 speech the interstate energy transmission network we need to move power around the nation. We don't have that right now. To get power from Geothermal, Solar, and Wind energy from the western states that are rich in these sources to the big cities in the east and along the coasts we need a whole new ultra high voltage transmission network. Never mind the cost of that generation for a moment- look at the cost of the transmission network.
An example, a recent USAEE report* stated that it would cost $31 billion to ship 16 GW of wind energy from the western regions of the Midwest ISO to states in the Northeast. That's 5% of Obama's 150 billion right there, and that is "only" 16 GWs. Remember- we have to replace 2100 gigawatts of capacity.
That's just the transmission problem. Besides money, we have a problem with time.
It is worth noting that Obama's economic advisor, Professor Goolsbee of the University of Chicago, published an article several years ago showing that when business investment is attracted to a low tax environment, hiring increases and employee market power increases, and thus wages rise. He is thus a guy who will understand the fact that our current tax system, which penalizes corporations for placing operations in this country, is not only reducing jobs but suppressing wages, helping to drive the increasing over concentration of wealth we have been seeing.
http://faculty.chicagogsb.edu/austan.goolsbee/research/cps.pdf
An increasing number of people are catching on to this fact (though thy need to be educated on the practical mechanism for affordable and progressive reform set forth at
http://www.sharedeconomicgrowth.org/home/summaryslideshow.html )
For example, John Endean, President of the American Business Council, is quote on TaxVox as follows:
"John Endean raised an intriguing idea the other day in response to my blog on whether business executives would be willing to give up targeted tax breaks in return for a lower corporate rate, as John McCain has suggested.
John, who is president of the American Business Conference, said that one of his CEO members has a different swap in mind: Completely repeal the “terrible” corporate income tax and pay for it by raising rates on top-bracket taxpayers. In effect, this would directly tax the owners of capital rather than doing so through the backdoor of the corporate tax."
McCain's economic advisor, former senator, Phil Gram, is meanwhile denying that anything is wrong with the economy. I guess he's better off than he ever was, so he does not see a problem. If one judges a man by the company he keeps, who should American employees favor?
“…widespread agreement that no single factor is responsible for rising food and energy prices. The hungry, high-growth economies of India and China are fundamentally affecting worldwide demand, while uncooperative weather and government policies on trade and ethanol are among the many factors affecting supply. Commodities, priced in American dollars, tend to rise in price as the dollar weakens, making commodities a popular haven for investors fearful of inflation. …Unlike hedgers — the farmers, miners, refineries and other commercial interests that actually make or use the commodities themselves — the speculators, like day traders in the stock market, are simply trying to profit from changing prices. ...But while federal law orders commodity market regulators to prevent “excessive speculation,” the law does not define the term — and neither has Congress. “That’s what regulators are for,” Senator Levin said. “It’s up to them to put some flesh on that term.” Senator Lieberman disagreed, saying Congress must clarify the standard for regulators to enforce. America must not hang a sign on its commodity markets saying, “no speculators allowed,” he said. “There is a difference between speculation and excessive speculation.” But Congress has to “define and legislate that definition better,” he added…” Read the whole article http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/13/business/13speculate.html?ref=todayspaper&pagewanted=allA Bull Market Sees the Worst in Speculators By DIANA B. HENRIQUES Published: June 13, 2008 New York Times
Commodities, priced in American dollars, tend to rise in price as the dollar weakens, making commodities a popular haven for investors fearful of inflation. …Unlike hedgers — the farmers, miners, refineries and other commercial interests that actually make or use the commodities themselves — the speculators, like day traders in the stock market, are simply trying to profit from changing prices. ...
But while federal law orders commodity market regulators to prevent “excessive speculation,” the law does not define the term — and neither has Congress. “That’s what regulators are for,” Senator Levin said. “It’s up to them to put some flesh on that term.”
Senator Lieberman disagreed, saying Congress must clarify the standard for regulators to enforce. America must not hang a sign on its commodity markets saying, “no speculators allowed,” he said. “There is a difference between speculation and excessive speculation.” But Congress has to “define and legislate that definition better,” he added…” Read the whole article
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/13/business/13speculate.html?ref=todayspaper&pagewanted=all
A Bull Market Sees the Worst in Speculators By DIANA B. HENRIQUES Published: June 13, 2008 New York Times
Everyone in Washington, including Bush43, is targeting commodity speculators for the current relentless spikes in oil and food crops that are traded as commodities. This article is decent primer in explaining who trades in commodities, and who in Washington is doing what. Senator Lieberman is holding an important hearing on June 24.
Some say as much as $50 of the current price of a barrel of oil is due to market manipulation by speculators. The value of the US dollar probably has as much effect.
Are speculators driving the price up as global capital seeks a home because other equity markets have been destabilized by the mortgage crisis? (that's the dotcom to real estate to commodities theory of asset bubbles)
My bigger question is why isn't Congress voting to remove the current 54 cent per gallon import tariff on Brazil's sugar ethanol THIS WEEK! Why isn't anyone listening to Senator Lugar, R, IN, and taking direct action now instead of this ongoing bi-partisan support for US corn-based ethanol? McCain voted against the Farm Bill, and Obama voted for it - so who is really interested in changing the way Congress works, besides Lugar?
Removing the U.S. import tariff on Brazilian sugar ethanol should be a lot easier than figuring out whether speculators are really manipulating oil and food markets...
“…Brazilian ethanol costs less to produce than corn ethanol because cane is cheaper than corn, labor costs are lower in Brazil, and the sugar distilleries need no outside energy source. They run on the waste from the cane. Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, recently suggested cutting the ethanol tariff as a way of holding down food prices. In Congress, Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., has argued that ending the tariff would strengthen U.S. ties to Latin America while reducing U.S. dependence of imported oil, an oft-stated goal of the U.S. ethanol industry. The Bush administration has expressed some support for that idea but pointedly stopped short this year of proposing anything in the president's 2009 budget. A provision in the Senate-passed farm bill would extend the tariff through 2010. The future of that extension is in doubt because of the Bush administration's opposition to including tax measures in the farm bill. …”source: http://www.truthabouttrade.org/content/view/11331/54/ "...Brazil is on the cusp of a burdensome Sugar Production year. They have excess capacity for Ethanol Production Capacity available. Wholesale prices for Ethanol Produced from Sugar in Brazil is about $1.64 per gallon. The current average price for U.S. produced Ethanol is around $2.55 per gallon. The article goes on to say that the export price for Brazilian Ethanol is about $2.18 considering the 54 cent U.S. import tariff. Add freight to the U.S. and one will know when Brazilian Ethanol will be available in large quantities for U.S. Consumers. ..." source: http://www.glgroup.com/News/Brazilian-Sugar-Ethanol-May-be-a-Big-Player-in-U.S.-Ethanol-Supply-Soon-23560.html
A provision in the Senate-passed farm bill would extend the tariff through 2010. The future of that extension is in doubt because of the Bush administration's opposition to including tax measures in the farm bill. …”
source: http://www.truthabouttrade.org/content/view/11331/54/
"...Brazil is on the cusp of a burdensome Sugar Production year. They have excess capacity for Ethanol Production Capacity available. Wholesale prices for Ethanol Produced from Sugar in Brazil is about $1.64 per gallon. The current average price for U.S. produced Ethanol is around $2.55 per gallon. The article goes on to say that the export price for Brazilian Ethanol is about $2.18 considering the 54 cent U.S. import tariff. Add freight to the U.S. and one will know when Brazilian Ethanol will be available in large quantities for U.S. Consumers. ..."
http://www.glgroup.com/News/Brazilian-Sugar-Ethanol-May-be-a-Big-Player-in-U.S.-Ethanol-Supply-Soon-23560.html
The media would have us believe that the economy is like the weather and that a recession is a force of nature. You know the line, when the economy slumps, everyone suffers just like when it rains everyone gets wet. The fact is, not everyone suffers and it is no force of nature; it is an artifact of our antiquated system and a sure-fire way for big business to keep those profits flowing, even when the rest of us are hurting. Given the record profits and all-time highs in CEO pay, it seems we've been had. Now that the massive layoffs have begun, it is apparent that this "phenomenon" is far from a force of nature. Companies left and right are laying off good hard-working people and cutting budgets to the bone to assure that their owners continue to receive their expected share of the profits. What makes collecting on this profit insurance policy so damning this time around is that big business and their toady politicos in-tow are asking us simulataenously to tighten our belts and spend, spend, spend. Which is it Mr. Misanthrope Businessman? Do we spend whatever we have left to minimize the payout on your policy or brace ourselves for hard times ahead because you've done bled whatever juice was left in the system to achieve maximum payout of profits?
Come on Barack! With Scottie's book out now, it's time to hit 'em in the labonza!
It is very sad the way the media and even members of the Democratic party portray the needs and interests of white workers as being different than those of black workers, hence their alleged different electoral preferences. Racism is a poison that has been used to divide and exploit the aggregate working class for years. The promoted perception that a well-heeled millionairess representative of the ruling class has more appeal to white blue collar workers than does a true mixed son of the working class because of so-called "issue differences" is evidence of how powerful racism still is in our society. Rather than promote an anti-racist agenda that unites working people of all races together into a powerful political force and neutralizes the sham of racial politics, tribute is paid by the parties and the media to the near Hitlerian racial-divide that exists among working people in the US today, further legitimizing the divisions that have been painstakingly created over the years to control the democratic process and assure continuing class divisions.
The only way for Obama to win is to tackle this issue head on and bring his consitutents together. Sooner or later, someone will blow the kayfabe on race in America, how it has been used to divide and exploit people and why African-American blue collar workers are a leading force for working class progress overall and not an obstacle to any white worker's dreams. It might as well be Obama. He need not be timid on this point as he needs to address this division now or it will destroy him later. Lead the way brother, but please do not obfuscate this vital issue!
