For a moving view of what is happening in the US today, visit the site of young photojournalist Mathieu Young at http://www.mathieuyoung.com/. His tent city series http://www.mathieuyoung.com/TC/ is featured in the latest Time Magazine.
Mathieu's photos across the country and around the world express a moving empathy for the conditions of people today.
Every American should see these images!
Thank you Mathieu!
Battle of the Senators: McCain vs Obama Part 1
Battle of the Senators: McCain vs Obama Part 2
These videos compare Obama's and McCain's US Senate voting records on different issues. I only used 30 votes so far but I have more I would like to add. Any ideas or suggestions to make these videos more interesting and informative would be greatly appreciated. Feel free to spread these videos around.
If you're an Obama supporter, as I have been for the last two years, this post may bother you. On the other hand, you may have perceived many of the same ideas while listening to Obama address the Senate yesterday, concerning the bailout bill.
Frankly, I was very disappointed with Obama's support of the bill. I was even more disappointed with his speech! To my ears, Obama used a rusty formulaic structure for his speech, with an unusual amount of fear and guilt lathered on the American people.
From the beginning of the speech, he was talking about blame for the state of the economy - but he didn't mention the Iraq War, outsourcing of jobs, or the plummeting employment rate. He used an analogy of putting out a fire now (by passing this bill in a hurry), but he failed to mention the other truthful part of that analogy - that some fires actually need to happen in order to destroy things so that new things can take place. Example: some of the moldy houses that Katrina visited had to be allowed to burn down, so new ones could be rebuilt. Many people have commented on the similarity between the devastation caused by Katrina, and the destruction to our economy.
Obama went on to accuse the House of failing to act. This is a blatant mischaracterization. The House DID act, just not the way Obama and others wanted it to. This is partisanship, pure and simple. I was surprised to hear Obama go there. He also connected the stock market drop to the House decision to vote down the original bailout bill. I was watching the stock market going down before the voting even started. Plus, it is simply inaccurate to attribute the activity in the stock market to anything other than investors' willingness to invest. Period. There are a multitude of reasons why investors choose to buy and sell stocks. Most of those reasons have nothing to do with what is happening at the same time in Congress.
Bottom line, Obama used fear and guilt in large doses in an attempt to persuade the American people to approve of this bailout bill created in the Senate. The bulk of his speech is chock full of talk about dire consequences, dangerous situations, threats of what will happen if we don't act now to rescue Wall Street. It was horrifying to hear him use causes near and dear, such as mortgages, car loans and college tuitions, payrolls, and bills, to convnce fellow Senators of the viability of this bailout bill. To plead the case for the bill based on a fear of a recession - that most of us already know we're in - well, that was an insult to our intelligence.
Obama also erroneously appropriated credit to the bailout bill for things that the bill simply doesn't guarantee, such as real protections for taxpayers, oversight, accountability, help for homeowners, elimination of golden parachutes, and profits or returns on our taxpayer contributions to this bill. Yes, those things are mentioned in the bill (I've read all 106 pages) - but every condition has a giant loophole for the Treasury Secretary to slide through, without any obligation to Congress, taxpayers, or anyone at all.
There are absolutely NO guarantees that the provisions of the bill will be managed correctly, that any money will be gotten back by the taxpayers, or that there will be any profits whatsoever. Obama clearly stated this in his speech. But didn't he also say previously that he would NOT support a bill that didn't have those guarantees built in?
One key item in the bill, which Obama mentioned in his speech, concerns the possibility Obama described by saying, "If we fall short, we will levy a fee on financial institutions so that they can repay us for the losses they caused." There's a clause in the bill about this, true. However, there are many more clauses in the bill, which indicate the very real possibility, even intention, that the Treasury Secretary will buy up assets and then dismantle the financial institutions. There would be no entity to "bill" a fee to, no financial institution from which to obtain reimbursement for our losses.
Another Senator has called this bailout bill "legislative blackmail."
The conclusion of Obama's speech exhorted the American people to do more to help our economy, to take more action to prevent the economic downfall we face. From this soapbox, Obama launched his familiar stump speech - blaming the runaway spending of the Bush Administration, and saying that many important programs will be delayed or abandoned, in spite of our great sacrifices.
The best line of his speech came at the very end, where he said, "...our destiny is not written for us, but by us." That rang true. Unfortunately, that truth was cloaked in thick political rhetoric, the likes of which has a real potential to derail Obama's voting base.
It's always common to hear people say.. time flies. Well, in the last eight years, time has had a broken wing, or two, or three, I'm not really sure the about the anatomy of time. Let's move on..
I can't describe the sickness I feel, when I think of what has taken place. I really don't even recognize this country from where we were eight years ago. Rep's want to blame 9/11, but if we had just tightened our security, sent the CIA after Bin Laden.. Well, that's tuesday morning quarterbacking. I've made a film. Yes a film.. not a video. This film documents in 7 minutes the 4 largest mistakes of Republican leadership; Iraq, Torture, Katrina response, and Scandals (not named Iraq, Torture, FEMA) Please follow me after the fold for a riveting diary and film. And if you're lucky a poll.
I have put up diaries about this -video- film before. So I promise you, right here and now. This is the last one EVER, about this video. Thanks so much for your patience and your patronage. I won't presume to lecture you about what's happened the last eight years. But I will show you that lecture in video form, and will also encourage you to share this video film to any and all who would like to use/link it. God Bless and Thank you...
I'm working on a new video about the CRA and to try and combat this viral meme that Republicans are trying to push about how Clinton and the democrats created this financial crisis. Any and all links would be helpful for that, I have quite a few of the dkos top journals on that subject, and am trying to condense them into video form. Poll is about this new topic..
Prepare for third paragraph nonsequitar- I'll be in St. Louis Thursday night for the debate, if anyone knows of anything cool going on afterward, send me a message. Peace in the Middle East - Yes We CanCurtis
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2p2hvQzIPY
Low Quality version here---http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z9euD2_Zz4Low Quality part2 here---http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDQKnXerW2E&feature=related
Someone get John McCain a new shirt, cause his belly is YELLOW.
Mr. McCain wants to postpone the debate so he can return to Washington? REALLY?! Wow, it's amazing how McSame always feels the pull of "non-partisan patriotism" towards a crisis when it's politically convenient.
Let's take the Republican National Convention, for instance. Mr. McCain goes to aid in the destruction of Hurricane Gustav and has to postpone the convention. Oh, what a shame...that's exactly when the Republican kryptonite was supposed to speak! WHAT...A...SHAME. But, hey, COUNTRY FIRST.
Now, in the midst of the Wall Street debacle, Super-John must rush to save the day! He's so brave! He's gonna get right in there, forget the partisan politics, to Hell with the campaign, and somehow single-handedly correct the mess which he helped create! WOW. It is, of course, pure coincidence that the debate would be postponed. PURE COINCIDENCE. This isn't just some political stunt and photo-op. This is in no way, in any relation to the fact that the debate would be moved in the place of the Vice-Presidential debate. It is especially in no relation to the fact that the McCain camp is terrified to let Sarah Palin even say her own name in public. Nope. No way. COUNTRY FIRST.
Hey remember that time that Katrina wiped out the Gulf area and all those people were dying/drowning/starving? Remember that? Remember how on the day Katrina hit John McCain reacted with such bravado and non-partisan leadership? Yeah, I do...I think I have a picture of it...
WOOPS!
What a joke. I have a new name for John McCain: McChicken. Luckily, the CPD has seen through this load of spin and stated that there will be a debate. See ya there, McChicken. You bring the cake.
Ever since the Mortgage Meltdown started somewhere around the 04's, there has been talk about bailing out the Homeowner. But just that "a lot of talk".
But NOTHING, not even talk about those of us who already lost our homes.
Now that WE MUST BAIL OUT WALL STREET, administration officials have agreed to include mortgage help for beleguered homeowners but, nothing, not even TALK for those of us who already lost our homes.
I have nothing against help for homeowners, I just worry that is not going to be enough and I think that Congress should examine this measures and pressure the administration if they are not going to help homeowners or the funds are at risk to get lost in a beaurocratic mess; as we experienced after Katrina, believe it or not there are still victims from Katrina who have not been helped or funds still unaccounted for.
It bothers me a lot 'how quick we forget"
Just as the Katrina's victims who will never see help, the homeowners who already lost our homes to the great American mortgage meltdown, will be left out in the cold.
Like the millions of taxpayers who were left out of the stimulus package, because they did not qualify due to the existing tax laws. It amazes me to think that the administration actually made the ordinary folk believe that help was on the way. When most disabled veterans and social security recipients found out that they would not receive any money that would help them at least for that month, pay the rent or buy some extra food or clothing; they were devastated and extremely dissappointed.
The idea was good, not that it would fix the economy, but a band aid (a wet one, that is). It was the idea that it would make ordinary people believe that after its failure they would believe that the goverment did try to help ordinary people with the stimulus package but, the situation has gotten worse and now it is required to bail out Wall Street or things will get a lot worse.
The truth is this: the administration told us that this were extraordinary times that require extraordinary measures, but did not apply extraordinary ecxeptions to the existing tax laws which led to excluding social security recipients, disabled veterans and other taxpayesr who earned the amount required to qualify for the stimulus package but were claimed as dependents on someone elses return. In addition to that, the package was designed to reward with more money those who earned more money, with the max of $1200 for married couples who earned $150,000 plus $300 per child under the age of 17.
I am tired of the injustice, I am tired of watching the least fortunate always getting the dirty end of the stick.
I am not a firm believer of "conspiracy theories" although in retrospect, I have a very good one about the Iraq war.
Today, is becoming obvious that the present administration knew way in advance about the economic crisis we would face. I believe that months ago they (Bush, Paulson, Cheney and other very close players) after realizing that the Republicans did not have a chance to win the White House and, since the economy was about to take a plunge; try to prepare the American people mentally (with the stimulus package) and even more with the initial bail out of Fanney Mae and Freddy Mac and subsequently AIG.
Now that we are all brain washed, we can believe that they really need all that money, just like we believed that Dick Chaney did not have personal interest in United States invading Iraq, when now his company Halliburton is making Billions of dollars in the rebuilding of Iraq. And, I would not be surprised for a second if Halliburton would profit from the Bail Out as well as some foreign institutions.
Only in America you can imagine that the President and his Wall Street cronies are about to rob the bank and distribute the money among themselves. They figure that, with Barak Obama as president, Wall Street is not going to have a free ride, they will be regulated. So might as well take the money now and let Obama deal with the ONE TRILLION debt we will inherit and of course, there will be no money to pay for Universal Health Care or any other social programs that Senator Obama is promissing now.
Since we seem to forget so quickly, during the Obama's administration, when no money is available for those programs mentioned above, republicans will hammer on the fact that the Obama administration did not deliver; then, they will have enough inmunition to take the White House back in 2012.
They tell us that they are borrowing the money and that Wall Street is going to pay us back with interest. If they were no were around when we were loosing our homes, why should we bail them out, oh, is because if we don't there will be no money to keep business open therefore no jobs for no one.
That is call: SCARE TACTICS, republicans are very good at it, they have had plenty of practice, their motto is: keep them uneducated, sick and running scared, I have seen that all my life. I am afraid that we will eventually bail some business out, but hope that will be companies that got caught in the middle and no companies that actually caused and contributed to the crisis, we should find those accountable. If companies responsible for the crisis are rewarded with OUR MONEY, it sends the wrong message to future generations.
I would have no problem bailing out the Banks and Mortgage Companies, as long as I can have my home back.
Well, we gave you (out of your own money) alsmost 1/2 Billion with the stimulus package, why can't you bail us out with 1 Trillion plus dollars. "Folks, we can always count on the generosity of the American people" . Are we generous or stupid? Am I asking for too much when I want my house back?
It does not have to be that way, I believe that some monetary measures should be taken to correct the destructive course the Bush administration has taken our economy thru, but no ONE TRILLION OF OUR HARD EARNED TAX DOLLARS.
Let's not get fulled by the fact that our economy is about 14 Trillion dollars and, 1 Trillion is just a drop in the bucket because, we are 9 Trillion Dollars in debt; thanks to the Bush administration.
When President Clinton left office, left us with a surplus, DO WE WANT 4 MORE YEARS OF REPUBLICAN DESASTROUS POLICIES?
I got totally of the track, WHAT ABOUT US WHO ALREADY LOST OUR HOMES? if you know of anything period, related to this forgotten group of Americans, please post a coment or contact me.
God bless you and get registered to vote,
Mario Lopez
We are in the middle of the Katrina of economic hurricanes. Bush/McCain and gang saw it coming, but they just let it happen. God, do we need a change. They have led our nation like it was the Titanic - straight into this financial iceberg.
Make no mistake about it: This crisis is very serious. We are on the verge of a depression - yes, I said it, a depression. Many of us already can check out our home values on Zillow (http://www.zillow.com/) to see just how far our home values have fallen in just the last month. Others of us can look at our 401(k) accounts and see the massive losses there. Others are being foreclosed upon. Others are unable to afford gas. And sadly, others can't afford food. Yes, this is the real America we are living in now. Not the land of prosperity. Instead, we see our country as the land of greed and division.
From the start we said that Obama was about uniting our country and that our opponents were about dividing us up - into the haves and the have nots. And, now we see this coming to bare. Unfortunately, many Americans, myself included, are at serious risk to their well-being. Our livelihoods may just be going down the drain.
Right now, as Obama said today, this is not about politics. This is not about partisanship (as McCain is trying to make it). This is not even just about Wall Street - and saving the asses of those wealthy bastards that ran this country into the toilet. This is about Main Street - and what we mean by Main Street is you, me. Us.
Obama was right from the very beginning. He is right today. He has not wavered from his stance. In the slog of a politics of distraction, Obama has stood tall - stood calm, fought back as needed - and today, we, all of us, see that he was right.
It's time for us to work together now, throw down politics, and make damn sure that the people who got us into this are punished and the little people, called the middle class and the working class, are not taken, once again, for granted. Because we are about to, all of us, take on possibly 1 trillion dollars in debt in order to save our country. And when we do this, we, not McCain, will be the true American heroes this time around.
-k g+s+ :: come together now :: !!
A friend of mine told me I should post the letters I've written to editors on a blog, so that it can fire up other people on their own to write letters. Also it would put ideas & words out there even if my letters never get printed.
Here's what I submitted to the New Orleans regional paper, The Times-Picayune
John Legend On Barak Obama
Presented on the UpTake.org.
Interviewed by Max Blumenthal
Follow this link: http://the-uptake.groups.theuptake.org/en/videogalleryView/id/602/
I got more than a little frustrated with the mainstream media giving the McCain campaign free air time for its commercials, meaning McThug would air the commercial on the web and the media would give free ad time by discussing it. So, I decided to create a few of my own commercials to counter the McCain campaign, but I need your help.
Here are links to the individual commercials. There will be more to come.
Your help to spread the word is vital and its truly appreciated.
CheersCrystal
New Orleans: The City That Won't Be IgnoredBy Naomi Klein - September 3, 2008
..Gustav should have been political rat poison for the Republicans, no matter how well it was managed. Yet, as Peter Baker noted in the New York Times, "rather than run away from the hurricane and its political risks, Mr. McCain ran toward it." If this strategy worked, it was at least partly because Barack Obama has been running away from New Orleans for his entire campaign....There are plenty of political reasons for this, of course. Obama's campaign is pitching itself to the middle class, not the class of discarded people New Orleans represents. The problem is that by remaining virtually silent about the most dramatic domestic outrage in modern US history, Obama created a political vacuum. When Gustav hit, all McCain needed to do to fill it was show up....It was also the time to recall that during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the official Minerals Management Service report found more than 100 accidents leading to a total of 743,400 gallons of oil spilled throughout the region. To put that figure in perspective, 100,000 gallons is classified as a "major spill.".. ..Obama was not able to make these kinds of arguments when Gustav hit. That's because his campaign had made another "strategic" decision: to compromise on offshore oil drilling. Again a vacuum that had been opened up was rapidly filled by the Republicans, who instantly (and absurdly) linked the hurricane to the need for "energy security."....In moments of crisis, it is possible to speak hard truths with great force and clarity. But when the truth has gone silent, lies, boldly told, work almost as well.
..Gustav should have been political rat poison for the Republicans, no matter how well it was managed. Yet, as Peter Baker noted in the New York Times, "rather than run away from the hurricane and its political risks, Mr. McCain ran toward it." If this strategy worked, it was at least partly because Barack Obama has been running away from New Orleans for his entire campaign..
..There are plenty of political reasons for this, of course. Obama's campaign is pitching itself to the middle class, not the class of discarded people New Orleans represents. The problem is that by remaining virtually silent about the most dramatic domestic outrage in modern US history, Obama created a political vacuum. When Gustav hit, all McCain needed to do to fill it was show up..
..It was also the time to recall that during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the official Minerals Management Service report found more than 100 accidents leading to a total of 743,400 gallons of oil spilled throughout the region. To put that figure in perspective, 100,000 gallons is classified as a "major spill.".. ..Obama was not able to make these kinds of arguments when Gustav hit. That's because his campaign had made another "strategic" decision: to compromise on offshore oil drilling. Again a vacuum that had been opened up was rapidly filled by the Republicans, who instantly (and absurdly) linked the hurricane to the need for "energy security."..
..In moments of crisis, it is possible to speak hard truths with great force and clarity. But when the truth has gone silent, lies, boldly told, work almost as well.
Have you been watching the Republican National Convention? You should. The Republicans seek to run on a platform of reform, of breaking sexual boundaries in the highest offices, and of fighting the oil companies stranglehold on the economy, all wrapped in a frosty coating of wartime patriotic fervor.
Never mind that it is the Republican-ran government of the last eight years they wish to reform, that there were many more qualified people in the Republican Party to be VP but they made their choice based on gender, that it is they who gave the oil companies billions in corporate welfare, and that Democrats and Independents also serve in the military and have died gallantly for our country. The Republicans have made their strategy and they think people will buy it out of fear of the unknown and love of country. We Democrats should fear it, because it is a formula that has worked for them before.
So, how do you get people to see through the FUD and the gimmickry? Print these out, and give them these 20 Questions for John McCain & the Republicans. These will help remind people of the failures and shame Republican government have given us these past eight years.
___________________________
1. Where is Osama bin Laden?
2. Where are the weapons of mass destruction?
3. Who really made the decisions that lead to Abu Graib?
4. Why did America become a country that condoned torture?
5. What happened to "Mission Accomplished?"
6. What happened to habeas corpus?
7. Why didn't we concentrate our efforts in Afganistan?
8. Where did all the money from Jack Abramoff, the K-Street Project, and Tom DeLay go?
9. Why has the the average family lost $2,000 in wages over the last eight years?
10. Why has our economy lost jobs over the last eight years?
11. Why did we go from a surplus to a huge debt?
12. Why did the wealthy enjoy large tax breaks, while wage decreases negated the small break most people got?
13. Why is gasoline so high, when we had two oil professionals in office who should have done something about it?
14. Why are so many Americans losing their homes, losing their jobs, losing their hopes for their children's future, and hope for their own retirement?
15. Why did it take three days for our government to respond to people in New Orleans when it took less time for us to respond to the Indian Ocean Tsunami the year before?
16. Who hired the FEMA director who was in office during Katrina?
17. What was that FEMA director’s previous work history?
18. Given what happened on 9/11/2001, why were we not better prepared for a large disaster?
19. Who made all these bad decisions?
20. Why should Americans, after reading these questions, reward you and your party with another four years in the White House?
_______________________
I hope that everyone reading this can find these questions helpful in explaining to others why it is so important that we elect Barack Obama and Joe Biden as our new President and Vice-President.
Country First
John McCain, George Bush and related Republicans get their propers for truncating their National Convention rituals as Hurricane Gustav threatened the gulf coast, particularly New Orleans, so hard hit during Katrina.
Their support of the coalesced efforts of LA governor Gov. Bobby Jindal, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and FEMA may have saved thousands of lives. Together with MS, Al and TX officials, nearly 2 million folks were safely evacuated over the weekend. (To date, seven hurricane-related deaths have been reported in LA, in comparison to the bloodbath of ‘05.)
And with official RNC business beginning just yesterday at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, the vibe of the Convention...
http://blogs.uptownlife.net/sonyarose/
Almost 3 years ago to the day another hurricane hits the same area, (2) The party of the president who failed to appropriately respond to Katrina victims is holding their convention now, (3) the party and its candidate is trying to put distance between himself and a president with the lowest approval ratings in history, (4) the party is focusing as much attention as possible on having taken their "Republican hats off" to lead the effort to address the needs of the victims of this horrible disaster. Helping is good, I'm just saying. And finally, the name of the current hurricane is "Gustav" which means Staff of God.Staff of God? Who names these things anyway? Hmm. Might this particular name have been chosen just in case someone might think this disaster is anything other than the act of someone’s god? Many, many years ago, I read or heard that scientists would one day be able to harness and eventually create weather patterns. Hmm. Just wondering if there might be some other reason why this most hapless party could end up being so, well, lucky (sic).
