Hazel McCallion Gives us Hope

Hope I can be as sharp when I'm 88. Worth the six minutes to renew your faith in the possible. Heart warming.



Out and about in the City of Mississauga with 88 year-old Mayor Hazel McCallion.

Sources:
via CBC's Rick Mercer Report.
Pulp Friction Blog

Too Big to Fail....

... Too Big to Exist*.


There's a simple solution to the "too-big-to-fail" problem: Break up those huge financial institutions.

Now is the time to act, when the failing financial corporations should be dissected into parts that support main street, and the speculative parts should be allowed to fail.

START, by Signing the petition to Congress:
http://www.democrats.com/break-up-the-banks

Then, take to the streets:

On Saturday April 11, A New Way Forward will lead protests all across the country to demand these changes. Find one near you:
http://www.anewwayforward.org/rally-list.php

And if you're in New York City on Friday April 3, join the National March on Wall Street:
http://www.bailoutpeople.org/april3-4.shtml

* If an entity needs to be too big to fail, then it should be tightly chartered and regulated like a utility.

SOS: Campaign to Hammer Bill O'Reilly

Woody, of Walled-in Pond Blog, has a special way with words presented in their full glory below. BUT, searing words aside, the bottom line is a campaign to get Bill O'Reilly to stop stalking and harassing his critics. The campaign is contacting O'Reilly's advertisers, and apparently, UPS has had enough of Toxic Bill.

You can TAKE ACTION HERE at the "Stop Supporting the O'Reilley Harrasment Machine" campaign, which Woody urges us to call "SOS" Stop O'Reilly's Shit (or Stalking depending on the company).

Read about it all only as Woody can say it:

Rightwing Arch-fucktard, serial sexual harrasser, and vicious, villainous, lying sack of shit Bill O'Reilly has a trick. (Well, according to Andrea Mackris, he has a couple of them, but only one is relevant here.)

When somebody pisses him off--say, they contradict one of his many egregious lies, or otherwise hold him up for the ridicule he so richly deserves--he dispatches a team of flying-monkey trolls, led by particularly nasty, feculent bit of work, the baby-faced, fascist fuckwit Jesse Watters, to ambush his accusers, trying to embarrass them on tape, which O'Reilley will then use on his tv show to exact revenge for the other's having had the temertity to fuck with Big Bill-o. It has happened AS MANY AS 40 DIFFERENT times.

It occurred most recently when Falaffel Bill dispateched his team of feculent orcs to trail and ambush a blogger named Amy Terkel. She'd criticized O'Reilley for hypocrisy (the easiest charge in the world to level and prove against that bill-ious duckwhistle) in seeming to support some sort of post-rape intervention while simultaneously seeming to hold women responsible for rapes if they were seeming to "ask for it." THE DETAILS ARE HERE. In short:

On Saturday, March 21, Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly sent one of his producers to stalk, harass, and ambush ThinkProgress.org’s managing editor Amanda Terkel. Upset over a ThinkProgress report that noted O’Reilly’s insensitivity to rape, O’Reilly sent two men to track Amanda in a car for two hours, and then confronted her with hostile questions while she was on vacation.

The good folks at ThinkProgress decided upon a strategy to reply, by contacting Bill O'Loofa's advertizers.

They didn't complain about the toxic, rampant racism of BO's usual discourses. They didn't complain about his easily provable lying. They didn't mention his fascistic, simple-minded, ideological pur-blindness. No. They simply asked if the advertizers were comfortable supporting someone who used his public persona to stalk and attack his opponents. This is how Keith Olberman phrased it:

ThinkProgress.org contacted the sponsors of O’Reilly’s TV program, asking — not if they support his right-wing stances, his hypocrisy, his racism, his misogyny, his fact-optional approach — but if they could stomach him time after time stalking people who had dared to criticize him in print or online. And tonight, UPS has said enough.

All this is preface to what, in the scope of the whole enterprise, is really nothing so much as a quibble: the name that TP assigned to their campaign. They called it "Stop Supporting The O’Reilly Harassment Machine." But it strikes me as overly recondite and wordy, so I am suggesting an alternative title: the simple, widely used, S O S: Stop O'Reilley's Shit (or Stalking, if you're telling your mom).

Similar campaigns have been waged semi-successfully against such other Rightard bags or reeking shit as Michael ("Savage") Weiner in the past. Some tens of thousands of bloggers and other citizens have joined the campaign, and I encourage my reader, devoted as s/he is, to join the campaign, too, whatever they call it, and request sponsors of Bill-o's toxic dump to reconsider their support for this clearly psychopathic, probably dangerous, shitwhistling fucknozzle.

Argentina's Shame in Paired Photos

File this under "pictures say a thousand words." A set of paired photos of friends and family "before" Argentinian's dirty war disappearances and "after"...

Disappeared thanks to the Ten Percent blog for sharing the artistic work of Gustavo Germano.

One of the photo pairs below (click to enlarge):

Argentine photographer Gustavo Germano’s exhibition, “Absences”, explores the universe of the victims of “disappearances” during Argentina’s “Dirty War” (1976-1983). Photos are juxtaposed in pairs, one old and one recent. On the new one, a person is missing. Disappeared for ever, without leaving a trace.

Coincidentally, I sat at a bar in Washington, DC just over a week ago and chatted with a young guy from Argentina. We discussed Argentina's dirty war among other topics.

GDAE Podcast Episode 9

Episode 9 - March 28, 2009 

• Seymour Hersh in his own words on Cheney Assassination Teams;
• Prosecution of Bush is not a fringe issue, Obama and Stephanopoulos on the people's most popular question to Obama;
• American Prospect founder Robert Kuttner predicts Geithner gone in 60-days. A solution? A Resolution and Finance Corporation (RFC);
• Business reporter who exposed ENRON, Bethany McLean, on who will eat the losses?;
• Former IMF chief economist Kenneth Rogoff on biting the bullet now or facing a "lost decade". Also, here comes inflation.
• Nobel economist Paul Krugman's despair over Obama's rehash of the Bush bailout plan. 
  
  You can take ACTION:  AskDOJ@USDOJ.gov   Urge Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate Bush administration officials for wide ranging crimes.

Play GDAE Podcast Episode 9 from this page.

Previous Episodes & 60-Sec Promo:

GDAE Podcast Episode 8 March 15, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 7 March 1, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 6 February 17, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 5 February 6, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 4 January 24, 2009
GDAE Podcast 60-Second Promo

US Dollar Glory Days are Waning

Well, we knew it was coming

Economics Nobel laureate Dr Joseph Stiglitz called for a fundamental change of the world economic order by creating a new global reserve system and new multilateral institutions to restore the global economy.

The system is broken, evidenced by an elephant in the room:

“It's clearly a very strange global economic phenomenon that the global economic system requires the richest country to consume beyond its means to keep the global economy growing.”

Stiglitz points out additional evidence of the failed corporate free market economic system:

“Growing economic inequality means that we are moving money and assets from those who can spend it at the bottom to those who cannot spend it at the top. We told the people in the bottom to consume and kept lending to them.”

He went on to emphasize that the growing inequality “is not just in the US but in most of the countries in the world.” The abundance of empty houses and homeless people in the US and the problem of poverty and massive unemployment in developing countries show “the system of bringing together supply and demand is not working”, which is “a fundamental problem [that] needs to be addressed.”

Stiglitz is not alone in his call. He led a United Nations Commission of Experts to study the world financial crisis, which issued it's draft recommendations on March 26, 2009. A final report is due in May, 2009, which will serve as an input for the United Nations conference on the financial crisis in June.

The Commission's central recommendation, according to Stiglitz is....

The central idea is that the current system of depending on a single currency and the political and economic management of that currency is volatile.... It’s a matter of moving to multiple currencies. Over time you would replace the dollar as a reserve currency. No one thinks it would happen overnight.

The international decision making body on economic policy would also change. It has been the Group of Seven (G7) nations, but recently that has shifted to the G20 nations, recognizing the reality of a shift in the wealth. But that may be short lived if the Stiglitz Commission's ideas prevail, as described in this interview exchange:

Q – You are also proposing replacing the G20 with a United Nations body. What’s this all about?

A – We are calling for a Global Economic Coordination Council. There is no rhyme or reason to the current system other than who President Bush invited to it. The new body would have more political legitimacy and a broader mandate. It could demand, for instance, that the World Bank and the IMF report to it and evaluate how they are performing.

Q – Why not fix the G20 rather than creating a new body? Is what you propose likely to happen?

A – Yes. [German Chancellor] Angela Merkel is strongly pushing the idea. People in the G20 are saying this is how we need to go.

There would also be a move to break-up and prevent "too-big-to-fail" corporations.

Further, a financial regulatory board and competition authority – which would both answer to the Coordination Council – could prevent the expansion of multi-national firms that threaten competition or become problematic when they become too big to fail, the experts said.

Get ready for the value of the dollar to drop. Inflation is on the way.

Psssst... Do Something

• Contact the Broadcast Media
  
• Contact the Newspapers
  
• Contact the US Senate
  
• Contact the House of Representatives

Sources:

Stiglitz Calls for a Change of the World Economic Order and China's Vital Role, Leanne Wang, March 17, 2009.

Business Week, The Oil and Glory interview: Joseph Stiglitz, March 25, 2009.

United Nations, Global finance structures must be revamped, says UN expert panel, March 26, 2009.



UN Expert Commission on Global Financial Crisis Releases Draft Recommendations, March 26, 2009.

How Can We Stop the Gang-Rape?

One way to stop a gang rape is to say something rather than standing around dumbfounded. Simply raising one's voice can have a profound effect.

I just sent the following message to Obama at WhiteHouse.gov

Matt Taibbi Writes:

So it's time to admit it: We're fools, protagonists in a kind of gruesome comedy about the marriage of greed and stupidity. And the worst part about it is that we're still in denial — we still think this is some kind of unfortunate accident, not something that was created by the group of psychopaths on Wall Street whom we allowed to gang-rape the American Dream.

I feel like we're being gang-raped in the bailout process. Can you stop it?

Psssst... Do Something

• Contact Obamaa>
  
• Contact the Broadcast Media
  
• Contact the Newspapers
  
• Contact the US Senate
  
• Contact the House of Representatives

Sources:

Rolling Stone, The Big Takeover: The global economic crisis isn't about money - it's about power. How Wall Street insiders are using the bailout to stage a revolution, Matt Taibbi, March 19, 2009.

Is this Corporate Fascism?

According to Matt Taibbi's Must Read article, as a result of the financial stabilization process the federal government has been turned

into one gigantic, half-opaque holding company, one whose balance sheet includes the world's most appallingly large and risky hedge fund, a controlling stake in a dying insurance giant, huge investments in a group of teetering megabanks, and shares here and there in various auto-finance companies, student loans, and other failing businesses. Like AIG, this new federal holding company is a firm that has no mechanism for auditing itself and is run by leaders who have very little grasp of the daily operations of its disparate subsidiary operations.

But who owns who? Some people say that the government is nationalizing the banks. To me it looks like the banks have privatized the US government to meet their cash flow needs. Being too big to fail and too complex to untangle, US government, and it's tax-payer assets, is now effectively owned by the mega-financial institutions. The government allows the continued employment of the people who caused this mess, because these are some of the few people on the planet who understand how to untangle the web of shaky financial instruments they've created. The government seems powerless to reverse this relationship.

Tell me we the tax payer are not on the hook to stabilize these corporations, and I'll reverse my statement about the US government being privatized .... I'm afraid the die has been cast. So, that leads to an unnerving conclusion.

"The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism - ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or any controlling private power." -- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Lets not tolerate it.

Psssst... Do Something

• Contact the Broadcast Media
  
• Contact the Newspapers
  
• Contact the US Senate
  
• Contact the House of Representatives

Feeling Shafted by Obama

So, we hear Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman tell us Obama has gone with a "zombie idea" ... a bad idea that won't die. Yes. Obama has bought into the original Bush administration idea of having the government take the bad assets off the banks books, granted in slightly more confusing formula that nobody understands. This places most people in the position of hearing the government say "Trust us." Comforting, eh?

Not only is the Bush era idea a zombie, the approach is creating zombie financial institutions... institutions that should be allowed to die, but keep living. Now, I'm not saying the too-big-to fail institutions should simply be allowed to die. We need to harvest their functional organs in the process, the organs that support pensions, university endowments, and services to the real economy (not the phony financial house-of-cards economy).

I predict we will eventually get to this alternative solution, but not after a lot of the inside crowd are able to extract more wealth from the system at our expense. This sure-to-fail approach will also place us at risk of what the Japanese know as their "lost decade."

The sooner we push Obama to the solution of "harvest and let die" the better we all will be. That solution also has the benefit that, as the organs are harvested and spun off as smaller, independent firms, we will find ourselves in a future without the too-big-to-fail zombie financial monopolies stalking the earth.

Psssst... Do Something

• Contact the Broadcast Media
  
• Contact the Newspapers
  
• Contact the US Senate
  
• Contact the House of Representatives

Sources:

Democracy Now, “The Zombie Ideas Have Won”–Paul Krugman on $1 Trillion Geithner Plan to Buy Toxic Bank Assets," March 23, 2009.

Who's to Blame? Naming Names

Here are just a few of the better known names and the write-ups on an impressive analysis of "Who's to Blame" for the economic meltdown:

Phil Gramm: As chairman of the Senate Banking Committee from 1995 through 2000, Gramm was Washington's most prominent and outspoken champion of financial deregulation. He played a leading role in writing and pushing through Congress the 1999 repeal of the Depression-era Glass-Steagall Act, which separated commercial banks from Wall Street. He also inserted a key provision into the 2000 Commodity Futures Modernization Act that exempted over-the-counter derivatives like credit-default swaps from regulation by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Credit-default swaps took down AIG, which has cost the U.S. $150 billion thus far.

Joe Cassano: Before the financial-sector meltdown, few people had ever heard of credit-default swaps (CDS). They are insurance contracts — or, if you prefer, wagers — that a company will pay its debt. As a founding member of AIG's financial-products unit, Cassano, who ran the group until he stepped down in early 2008, knew them quite well. In good times, AIG's massive CDS-issuance business minted money for the insurer's other companies. But those same contracts turned out to be at the heart of AIG's downfall and subsequent taxpayer rescue. So far, the U.S. government has invested and lent $150 billion to keep AIG afloat.

Aside: You MUST read "The Big Takeover" Article by MATT TAIBBI to truly grasp the fact that Joe Cassano needs to hire serious security and legal counsel.

George Bush: From the start, Bush embraced a governing philosophy of deregulation. That trickled down to federal oversight agencies, which in turn eased off on banks and mortgage brokers. Bush did push early on for tighter controls over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but he failed to move Congress. After the Enron scandal, Bush backed and signed the aggressively regulatory Sarbanes-Oxley Act. But SEC head William Donaldson tried to boost regulation of mutual and hedge funds, he was blocked by Bush's advisers at the White House as well as other powerful Republicans and quit. Plus, let's face it, the meltdown happened on Bush's watch.

Bill Clinton: President Clinton's tenure was characterized by economic prosperity and financial deregulation, which in many ways set the stage for the excesses of recent years. Among his biggest strokes of free-wheeling capitalism was the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which repealed the Glass-Steagall Act, a cornerstone of Depression-era regulation. He also signed the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, which exempted credit-default swaps from regulation. In 1995 Clinton loosened housing rules by rewriting the Community Reinvestment Act, which put added pressure on banks to lend in low-income neighborhoods. It is the subject of heated political and scholarly debate whether any of these moves are to blame for our troubles, but they certainly played a role in creating a permissive lending environment.

Robert Rubin, Lawrence Summers (On Team Obama) and Gary Gensler (Recently Nominated to Team Obama) all actively promoted the deregulatory schemes that have brought down the US Empire. Not sure we shouldn't congratulate them instead of heaping blame....
Robert Rubin

Psssst... Do Something

• Contact the Broadcast Media
  
• Contact the Newspapers
  
• Contact the US Senate
  
• Contact the House of Representatives

Sources:

Thanks to GingerAsia.com and By Edward Moulton, author of Global Recession: Who's to Blame?..... I guess TIME gets some credit too.

Bonuses for Hand Jobs

According to a Must Read article by Matt Taibbi, referring to whiz kids in the AIG Financial Services unit at the center of the economic meltdown:

The bonuses are a nice comic touch highlighting one of the more outrageous tangents of the bailout age, namely the fact that, even with the planet in flames, some members of the Wall Street class can't even get used to the tragedy of having to fly coach. "These people need their trips to Baja, their spa treatments, their hand jobs," says an official involved in the AIG bailout, a serious look on his face, apparently not even half-kidding. "They don't function well without them."

Extortion money is what I call it. "Pay us, or we walk, and we know where all the skeletons are hidden."

Psssst... Do Something

• Contact the Broadcast Media
  
• Contact the Newspapers
  
• Contact the US Senate
  
• Contact the House of Representatives

Sources:

Looking Back on the AIG Buzz

A few reflections on the last couple of week's frenzy over the American Insurance Group (AIG). I don't want to dwell on the AIG issue because it is getting so much attention elsewhere. Only a few brief points:

• AIG's insurance of exotic Wall Street derivatives helped give the false sense of security that allowed the financial industry house of cards to grow so astoundingly large, ... where were the regulators?

• The argument that bonus contracts are sacrosanct is bogus on two levels: First, the sanctity of contracts is applied hypocritically to the white collar financial industry, but not blue collar auto industry... an industry that actually produces something tangible. More important, AIG is effectively bankrupt and survives only because tax-payers are propping it up. AIG should be treated like a bankrupt corporation and the contracts should be voided.

• Most of the money going to AIG is actually going to.... the huge financial institutions, Citigroup, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, So A) the dollar figures of tax-payer bailout funds you hear begin quoted for these monopolistic banks should also count the pass-thru money going to them via AIG. And B) Why are our tax dollars going to pay the insurance on bad gambles? ... insurance payments on gambles that, under further investigation, might actually be founded on fraudulent financial actions?

• If you're not angry enough already, DemocracyNow reports:

"As AIG faces the loss of its bonuses, it’s quietly filed a lawsuit to recoup more than $300 million in what it says are overpaid taxes. The company says it overpaid the government in charges for using offshore tax havens. The suit effectively means AIG is using US taxpayer money to sue its majority owner, the US taxpayer. The government owns an 80 percent stake in AIG following its $170 billion bailout."

• I heard a disturbing idea from Brian of WakeUp Am Podcast.... he posits that all of these bonuses, not just to AIG, smell like hush money.... You get your million-plus and promise not to talk about what you know.

• Finally, a disturbing AIG factoid: Again from Democracy Now:

"A top Obama administration official is coming under scrutiny for his ties to AIG. Richard Holbrooke, the US special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, served on AIG’s board from 2001 until early last year. Holbrooke is believed to have collected up to $800,000 during his AIG stint."

Psssst... Do Something

• Contact the Broadcast Media
  
• Contact the Newspapers
  
• Contact the US Senate
  
• Contact the House of Representatives

How to Subscribe to a Podcast

Many people are still just learning How to Subscribe to a Podcast. The previous "how to" link includes links to "iTunes" & "Juice" podcatching software, both available for free, both work on macs and PCs.

There are different ways to subscribe to podcasts:

1) If you have iTunes or similar software, an easy way for you to subscribe right now is to click on the "Subscribe to GDAE Podcast" button in the right column of this blog page. (You don't have to use iTunes... you're given the option to select other MP3 playing software).

2) Another approach mentioned in the "how to" refers to copying and pasting podcast RSS feeds. Here's mine:
http://podcast.gdaeman.com/podcasts-only/rss2.aspx

RSS stands for "really simple syndication." So, you shouldn't be too intimidated by the notion of subscribing.

3) If you use "My Yahoo," or similar pages tailored to feed you particular news, sports, entertainment, etc, you're already "subscribing" to RSS feeds. To add GDAE podcast, Click on "Add RSS Feed" in your "My Yahoo" page and paste in the RSS feed URL I've provided above. Links to new episodes will appear in "My Yahoo" and you can then listen to them right from your "My Yahoo" page. Similar social networking pages that allow you to taylor your content most likely also allow you to subscribe to podcasts.

To give you some comfort, you can maintain total control of what is downloaded to your computer. That is, the "how to" instructions that say the podcasts are "automatically downloaded to your computer;" however, you have the option of NOT having the podcatcher automatically download podcasts... I've got mine set so I'm in control... I click "refresh" to download the newest episodes of my favorite podcasts .... It's not a big deal... you can always delete podcasts you no longer want on your computer and you and unsubscribe too.*

If you're curious, experiment. You can always delet your subscriptions.

* Note: If you use dial-up modem, downloading podcasts might take a while... perhaps too long, unless you're comfortable letting it chug away for an hour or two.

Republicrats Expose Themselves

Here's some must know information, thanks again to the Godless Liberal Homo blog. Seems that a group of conservative Democrats is coalescing around Senator Evan Bayh to challenge Obama's legislative goals.

In addition to Senators Bayh and Lieberman, others joining the group are Tom Carper of Delaware, Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, Mark Udall and Michael Bennet of Colorado, Mark Begich of Alaska, Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Herb Kohl of Wisconsin, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Bill Nelson of Florida, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, and Mark Warner of Virginia.

File under: phonycrats, dismalcrats, rebpulicrats.

Bush Prosecution Ground is Swelling

Charges being brought against Bush, Cheney in DC on March 20:

3:15-4:15 p.m. on March 20, 2009, at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, 1889 F Street, N.W., Washington, D.C., 20006

AfterDowningStreet.org reports, "Colleen Costello of Human Rights USA will present evidence of human rights abuses by the U.S. government and will ask the Commission to issue recommendations to the United States that it investigate and prosecute former high-level officials responsible for authorizing or directing torture and other major human rights abuses."

More Info.

This event precedes the March on the Pentagon (March 21)

Psssst... Do Something

• Contact the Broadcast Media
  
• Contact the Newspapers
  
• Contact the US Senate
  
• Contact the House of Representatives

Sources:

After Downing Street . ORG



Graphic Credit: GDAEman. Pentagon storm troopers, enhanced, March 17, 2007.

GDAE Podcast Episode 8

Episode 8 - March 15, 2009 

• Music by Ryan Harvey about a Swimm'n Hole;
• Nancy Pelosi on the Prosecution of Bush administration officials (Rachel Maddow Excerpt);
• Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi on the Depths of the Financial Crisis (Media Matters Excerpt);
• E-mails and Protest Placards
• Nationalizing banks, a Definition.

Play GDAE Podcast Episode 8 from this page.

Previous Episodes & 60-Sec Promo:

GDAE Podcast Episode 7 March 1, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 6 February 17, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 5 February 6, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 4 January 24, 2009
GDAE Podcast 60-Second Promo

Visit GDAE Podcast webpage - CLICK HERE.

Cramer Taken Down by Jon Stewart

Surely, a historic event.... but will anything change?

On Jon Stewart's interview of Jim Cramer,

So nice to see you and Colbert daring to speak your minds and reveal the crude truth in this post/present politically correct world in which we still find ourselves... where no one wants to step on anyone's toes, especially in the media. It WAS an uncomfortable interview and it made me realis how long it's been since I've seen such an authentic interview. It reminded me of some of the fabulous comedians and reporters of the 60s and 70s that dared stand up to the establishment. What a relief to see people like you and Colbert with the balls to unveil the world's hypocracies...we see too little of it these days. -- Kim Silvert

Every American should watch this episode of the Daily Show: http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/index.jhtml?episodeId=220533

Yea, everyone is buzzing about it. People have been Twittering about how many people are Twittering about it.

See the Three Parts Below:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Jim Cramer Unedited Interview Pt. 1

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Jim Cramer

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Jim Cramer Unedited Interview Pt. 2

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Jim Cramer

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Jim Cramer Unedited Interview Pt. 3

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Jim Cramer

Psssst... Do Something

• Contact the Broadcast Media
  
• Contact the Newspapers
  
• Contact the US Senate
  
• Contact the House of Representatives

Sources:

CNN's Cohen Biased on Single-Payer Healthcare

... along with Congress, Obama, and the rest of the establishment. (There's that E-word).

Thanks to Fair and Accuracy in Media (FAIR) and the Godless Liberal Homo blog, we have something to do.

CONTACT:
Elizabeth Cohen, CNN
404-827-1500
elizabeth.cohen@turner.com

Let her know that you'd like her to include the single-payer proposal, Medicare for All, as an option in the healthcare reform debate.

Why does she need to be reminded of this? Here are a couple snippets:

Cohen recently argued:

"Fifteen years ago you sometimes heard--actually you heard quite a bit--people saying: "Let's have a single-payer system like in Canada. The government is going to be the health insurer for everybody."

FAIR reports:

Cohen is right that there were many people in favor of single-payer 15 years ago; as a FAIR Extra! article from that era (7-8/93) pointed out, New York Times polling since 1990 had "consistently found majorities--ranging from 54 percent to 66 percent--in favor of tax-financed national health insurance." The numbers today? A New York Times/CBS poll (1/11-15/09) found 59 percent in favor of government-provided national health insurance.

But CNN's Elizabeth Cohen tried to argue that we have a better chance of health care reform now than in the Clinton era, by claiming

Fifteen years ago you sometimes heard--actually you heard quite a bit--people saying: "Let's have a single-payer system like in Canada. The government is going to be the health insurer for everybody." You don't hear that as much as you used to. So more people are on the same page more than they once were.

Her logic would make sense if her underlying presumption was correct, but as FAIR points out, It's just not true that more people have rejected a single-payer system. In fact, by the end of this debate, I'm willing to bet public opinion will be even more supportive of Medicare for All than they are now, because more will be educated about it... no thanks to the corporate, advertiser controlled media.

Psssst... Do Something

More on the D-Word

This is a bit creepy:

Another poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports showed 53% of Americans believe a depression like the 1930s is likely, up from 44% who felt that way two months ago. Thirty-nine percent said a 1930s-style depression was unlikely in the next few years. [1]

Tho I heard Economist Ha-Joon Chang say:

Well, I think we are facing the biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression. Now, it probably wouldn’t get as bad as the Great Depression, because, unlike in the Great Depression, governments are more willing to intervene with deficit spending and nationalizing financial institutions and giving subsidies to industry and so on, whereas in the 1930s they more kind of adamantly held onto free market doctrines, which they subsequently abandoned, but, I mean, there was a period of time when they just held onto it and lost the opportunity. So I don’t think the impact would not be as severe as what it was in the 1930s, but yes, I mean, there’s no question that this is as big or possibly even bigger a crisis than what we saw in 1929. [2]

Sources:

1. Market Watch, Pelosi open to another stimulus if necessary Economists say it's working, but may not be big enough, March 10, 2009

2. Democracy Now, "Economist Ha-Joon Chang on “The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism”, March 10, 2009.

Medicare For All

It's a simple concept. Even conservative seniors like their Medicare. But, we've been told by the Republicrat aristocracy that a single-payer system is "off the table."

Well, if the majority of the public thinks non-profit Medicare For All is affordable and makes sense, and we live in a democracy, then, shouldn't it become the law of the land? And if it doesn't become the law of the land, do we live in a democracy?

Lets put that question to a test. Lets call for a national referendum on Medicare for all as part of Obama's. But, since that will take two years to organize....

You can Act Now to voice your vote. Sign this petition supporting HR 676, non-profit Medicare for All sponsored by Rep. John Conyers.

Psssst... Do Something Else too!
Please take a little more time to Contact President Obama and urge him to support HR 676 non-profit Medicare for All.

• Contact the Broadcast Media
  
• Contact the Newspapers under development
  
• Contact the US Senate
  
• Contact the House of Representatives

Rethink Afghanistan

Film producer Robert Greenwald needs our support to produce "Rethink Afghanistan" now. Here's his 2-min request for support:



Trailer:



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Visit Rethink Afghanistan.COM Donate and sign the petition calling for congressional hearings.

Bringing it Out in the Open

Below is a comment left on a petition in support of HR 676 Nonprofit Medicare for All. It speaks for itself.

MELISSA g.a. LA
IT IS SHAMEFUL WHEN A PERSON HAS TO GO THROUGH SUCH LENGTHS JUST TO GET HELP WHEN THE PEOPLE WHO READ THIS IF THEY DO, HAVE NO PROBLEM ABOUT WORRYING ABOUT HEALTH CARE. I AM JUST ASKING FOR HELP IN FINDING OUT WHY I STAY SICK, I HAVE TAKEN PENICILLIN 3 TIMES, CIPPRO, AND JUST FINISHED THE AVELOX 400 MGS 1 PILL FOR 10 DAYS, GUESS WHAT ?--STILL SICK! NONE WORK. JUST FINISHED THE CELEXA AND WILL NOT CONTINUE ON ANY MORE. THIS IS WHERE OUR PARISH WOULD RATHER SPEND THE MONEY. Last week the Calcasieu Police Jury agreed to buy an 11 story building on Lakeshore Drive to be used for office space and parking by the District Attorney's office and nearby courts. The cost was nearly $5 million. It was purchased from an investment group that paid around $3 million for the site just a few weeks earlier. Do you approve of Calcasieu Parish government purchasing the 11 story "white building" from a local investment group for just over 1.5 million dollars more than the group paid for it a few weeks ago? IS THIS WHAT THEY WOULD RATHER SPEND THE MONEY ON, DESK SPACE AND PARKING? ""JUST DENIED AGAIN FOR THE THIRD TIME FOR SSIDI IN LOUISIANA. SHAME, SHAME, SHAME ON THE GOVERNOR OF LOUISIANA."" LOOKS SO SHAMEFUL ON THE GOVERNOR'S PART, I SENT E-MAIL AFTER E-MAIL CONCERNING MY HEALTH PROBLEMS, EVEN A COPY OF THE E-MAIL SENT TO ME FROM THE FDA ABOUT ALL THE MEDICATIONS I AM ON, OH, BY THE WAY, STILL SICK!YES, I RECIEVED HIS LETTER OR WELL THE OFFICE'S LETTER LETTING ME KNOW THAT THE DHH WOULD BE CONTACTING ME IN REGARDS TO GETTING HELP. WELL GUESS WHAT,,YEP, NO SUPRISE, EVERYTHING THAT THEY RECOMMENDED DOING OR CONTACTING OR GOING THROUGH, I ALREADY AM, WHY DO YOU THINK I AM STILL TRYING TO GET HELP? SHAME, SHAME, SHAME ON THE GOVERNOR, HE PROMISED TO GET BETTER HEALTH CARE FOR THE PEOPLE OF LOUISIANA. I HAVEN'T GOTTEN YET. SULPHUR,LA 70663 ---READ ALL---READ ALL---READ ALL---READ ALL--- VERY LONG E-MAIL---VERY LONG E-MAIL---VERY LONG E-MAIL--- PLEASE IF YOU HAVE A HEART OR IF YOU CARE PLEASE READ THIS. !!!!!!!!!!READ ALL OF THIS---READ ALL OF THIS---READ ALL OF THIS---!!!!!!!!!! IT IS VERY LONG, PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO SIT AND READ ALL OF THIS. YOU ARE NOT GOING THROUGH WHAT I AM. MS. WENDY IN BATON ROUGE RECOMMENDED THAT I STAY ON THE CELEXA AND START THE RELPAX WHEN IT COMES IN, DESPITE WHAT THE FDA SAYS. Dear Ms.********: Thank you for your inquiry to the Division of Drug Information at the Food and Drug Administration. You are correct, you are on quite a bit of medications. One of the concerns that I have is that some of these medications have side effects that may increase some of you symptoms of depression, headache, and drowsiness. Another issue that should be brought to the attention of you doctor/pharmacist is that if you have an allergy to the drug Imitrex, you may have some reaction to the Relpax. Dilantin is a drug that is used to help control you from having seizures, it's a drug that is considered to have a very narrow therapeutic window, which means that the levels of the drug should be monitored otherwise, if elevated or reduced, there is a increased potential for a seizure to occur. Neurontin is another medication to prevent seizures. However, it can cause drowisiness. In addition, both Celexa and the hydrocodone that you have been prescribe will cause additional drowsiness. It is not recommended to take Celexa and Relpax at the same time, as it may lead to what is referred to as serotoinin syndrome. DO YOU WANT TO TAKE ALL OF THESE MEDICATIONS, AND BE TOLD GO HOME AND SLEEP OR AS SSI SAYS, GO BACK TO WORK, WHEN YOU HAVE 3 KIDS? WHY IS IT SO HARD TO JUST SAY ADMIT HER FOR 3-4 DAYS, DO ALL TESTS, ALL, AND INTRAVENOUS MEDICATIONS. HOW HARD IS THAT? YOU COME PAY FOR ALL OF THIS. AND STILL PAY BILLS, BUY GROCERIES, AND AT THIS TIME TRY TO GET PRESENTS FOR YOUR KIDS WHEN YOU DO NOT HAVE A JOB, AND YOUR BOYFRIEND IS WORKING OVER TIME TO TRY TO DO IT ALL. STILL BEING DENIED FOR ANY HELP. SAY BOYFRIEND MAKES TOO MUCH MONEY, WELL, I WONDER WHY, BUT YET THEY DO NOT WANT TO ADD UP ALL THE BILLS AND SUCH THAT THE MONEY GOES TO AND WHAT IS LEFT OVER. JUST HOW MUCH IS MADE A YEAR, NOT BROUGHT HOME. 32 yoa, epileptic since childhood, current medications on a"" DAILY BASIS "" , YES DAILY, 100mgs- dilantin - 2 pills 3 times daily-(600) 600mgs- neurontin -1 pill 3 times daily-(1800) 97.2mgs- phenebarb- 1 pill at bedtime 40mgs- celexa- 1 pill at bedtime (may break in half if too strong)-JUST FINISHED ceron-dm syp- 1 teaspoon 2 times daily-JUST FINISHED 400mgs- avelox abc- 1 pill daily for 10 days-JUST FINISHED 7.5/500mgs- hydrocodone- 1OR 1 & 1/2 pill every 4-6 hours as needed for pain-THREW OUT WAITING ON PHARMACY TO CONTACT ME AND LET ME KNOW WHEN THE LAST PRESCRIPTION HAS COME IN, HAD TO BE ORDERED, SOMETHING LIKE OR CALLED "" RELPAX "" FOR HEADACHES. ALSO WAS ADVISED TO CONTINUE ON MUCINEX IF HELPS. IS ALL OF THIS GOOD FOR MY BODY? I ALREADY GET SICK JUST WHEN THE WIND BLOWS. NOW, I AM HAVING LOWER ABDOMEN PAIN, ON THE RIGHT SIDE, CAN'T STOP HAVING TO GO PEE. AND PLEASE DO NOT JUST E-MAIL ME AND TELL ME TO CONSULT MY PHYSCIAN, I GO THROUGH OUR LOCAL LSU CHARITY HOSPITAY, AND THE ONLY WAY TO TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR IS TO JUST GO TO THE E.R., AND THEN HOPE THEY GIVE YOU AN EARLY APPOINTMENT, NOT ONE THAT IS 4 MONTHS AWAY, BECAUSE YOUR PCP ONLY SEES YOU EVERY 3 MONTHS. I HAVE TRIED EVERYTHING.DON'T TELL ME TO CONTACT MY LOCAL SENATORS OR CONGRESSMEN IN MY DISTRICT!!!!!!!!!! I ALREADY HAVE!!!!!!!!!! NO HELP. I AM JUST SO READY TO BE ADMITTED INTO THE HOSPITAL AND GIVEN THE ANTIBIOTICS THROUGH AN I V STRAIGHT IN MY BLOOD STREAM AND GIVE ME PAIN MEDICATION SO I CAN FINALLY HAVE A GOOD NIGHTS SLEEP. SO WHAT IF THEY HAVE TO KEEP ME FOR A FEW DAYS AND RUN TESTS, BUT MAKE SURE THEY RUN PROPER TESTS. FIND OUT WHY THE SAME INFECTION KEEPS COMING BACK AND DESPITE ALL THE OTHER ANTIBIOTICS I HAVE ALREADY TAKEN, WHY HAVE THEY NOT WORKED? WHY DO I KEEP HAVING THE SAME PROBLEMS ALL THE TIME AND CANNOT GET THE RIGHT HELP? SUPPOSEDLY MY CT AND MRI COME BACK NEGATIVE, BUT I AM NOT GETTING ANY BETTER. WHAT IS WRONG? WHY ARE THEY NOT TRYING HARDER TO FIND OUT?????????? WHAT IS WRONG?????????? WARNING: WARNING: WARNING:, THIS IS A LONG E-MAIL, PLEASE IF YOU CARE, READ ALL OF IT, IF NOT THEN DO LIKE THE REST WHO DOES'T CARE, SELFISH PEOPLE AND DELETE IT. i am just tired of begging congressmen, senators, charity hospital administrators, hospital social services, every one for help. because i do not have any insurance or medicaid, i have to go through charity hospitals, after spending over a week making phone calls and begging shreveprot charity to finally get the neurologist i was referred to look at my results, now they say i need to contact lafayette charity and talk with the ear, nose, and throat clinic whom i was also referred to, to check my information and see if i have an appointment yet, NOT UNTIL FEBRUARY 2009. it took finding and getting lucky the phone number of the chancellor's office at shreveport for someone to finally give me information. now, it is time to start fighting to get something done in lafayette. i am contacting you to see if you can help or know an ear, nose, and throat speacilist close by that is willing to and for the sake of the holidays, take on a charity case much needed free of charge, which will also and may boost his holiday and everyday business, or even getting in touch with the dean or chancellor at U M C LAFAYETTE, and they do have all my information and referral, to get me in this week, only 45 minute drive, i need to be seen, cannot continue on all these medications, and be an epilelptic person. please if you can help with keeping me out of the news or on tv, i WOULD SO MUCH BE SO VERY, VERY, VERY, GRATEFUL. HAVE ALREADY went to the e.r. , and they gave me a breathing treatment, morphine, and said i only had a cold and told me not to cough. sent me home with a prescription for hyrocodone 500 mgs. never did they treat the infection in my upper pallet of my mouth, which has been swollen and badly infected for well over a month FINALLY THE SWELLING WENT DOWN, BUT FOR HOW LONG, THE INFECTION ALWAYS COMES BACK. even my dentist has treated this before it was this bad 3 times, then i got an ear infection and my mouth swollen up again. since it has never been cured. my dentist said i need to see an EAR, NOSE, AND THROAT SPEACILIST, and so did the pcp doctor i see at our lsu w.o. moss regional charity hospital, in lake charles, la. he wrote a referral to go to lsu charity in lafayette, la, but now they say it might or could take up to 3 months before i am even seen. my goodness, now wonder people or so cautious to vote on an health care issues, while it may help the people in office, it does nothing for those who made the vote and need the help. i have more wrong with me than just a cold, and i cannot be doped upped 24-7. i am 32 yoa, and deserve a life, and deserve to enjoy that life with my family. why do people have to beg so much for help, when it is only 45 minutes away?????????? i have even begged them to just admit me until the e. n. t. can look and treat me, nothing. why??????????no, medicaid, they denied me, no SSIDI, this is the third time DENIED AGAIN, last two times denied, even though i received SSI from child hood into my 20's when they cut me off, yes, i am epileptic also. AS YOU SHOULD KNOW EPILEPSY HAS NO CURE. I AM TO THE POINT I WANT BACK PAY FOR CUTTING ME OFF, SO I CAN PAY THE E.R. MEDICAL BILLS THAT TOTAL TO MORE THAN OVER $8,000. I SHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN CUT OFF OR DENIED.!!!!!!!!!! and please do not tell me or referr me to contact my senators or congressmen in my district, already have. i'm sure they know my name pretty good by now, as well as the epilepsy foundation of louisiana. i went to see my pcp doctor at moss regional in lake charles,la, and he didn't look at my mouth or my ears, we had a few arguments, me and him, he told me i had mood swings and needed to see a psychiatrist, told me to ignore the pain i have, don't think about it, don't take pain medications either, that is when i dropped my pants all the way to the floor and showed him all of my bruises on my legs and body, that i do not know how i got, he said i had to much estrogen, but when i said wrong answer, i had a partial hysterectomy almost 11 years ago, he then said, let me rephrase that, you have or might have low or high estrogen then. as a doctor, he should have looked at my medical chart RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM, and seen that i had a partial hysterectomy almost 11 years ago, before just blurting out a diagnoses, and then having to retract what he said. after arguing for awhile and many tears, trying to just walk out, but my mom stopped me, he then just wrote 3 more prescriptions, never looked at my mouth or ear or asked me about my neck pain. i had TWO filled for $5 and $6 the other 1 is sitting at the hospital pharmacy. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THE MEDICAL SYSTEM?????????? EVEN MS. WENDY IN BATON ROUGE AT THE LSU CHARITY HOSPITAL THERE, CONTACTED THE HEAD NEUROLOGIST IN SHREVEPORT, DOCTOR KELLY, AND WAS TRYING TO GET AN E.N.T., AN APPOINTMENT FOR ME SOONER THAN ----MARCH OF 2009, BUT ALL SHE WAS ABLE TO ARRANGE, WAS IN JANUARY OF 2009 AT 8:00 A.M. CT, SO WE WILL HAVE TO LEAVE HERE ABOUT 3:00 A.M., JUST TO GIVE TIME FOR TRAFFIC AND GETTING LOST. NO I WILL NOT BE CELEBRATING THE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS, I AM SENDING MY KIDS TO THEIR DADS FOR THEIR 2 WEEK HOLIDAY VACATION, THEY WILL COME BACK AFTER CHRISTMAS. WHY SHOULD THEY HAVE TO SUFFER OR BE STRESSED OR WORRIED ABOUT ME. LET THEM HAVE SOME ENJOYMENT. I WILL I GUESS JUST HAVE TO SUFFER AND MANAGE. (((((MERRY, MERRY, MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL), ISN'T THAT WHAT THE SAYING IS?????????? WELL, NOT FOR ME, AND MY BOYFRIEND, HE HAS WORKED ALMOST 80 HOURS IN ONE WEEK, TRYING TO GET A GOOD PAYCHECK TO MAKE SURE WE CAN PAY EVERYTHING. LAND TAXES WERE DUE ALMOST $600, BY DECEMBER 31,2008. RIGHT AT CHRISTMAS TIME. HOPE YA'LL ALL ENJOY YOUR HOLIDAYS, PRESENTS, WATCHING YOUR FAMILY LAUGH AND SMILE, WHILE YOU LAUGH AND SMILE AT THEM, I WILL BE SO DOPED UP ON MEDICATION, I WILL SLEEP FROM MORNING TO NIGHT, GET UP FOR A COUPLE OF HOURS, AND SLEEP AGAIN TILL MORNING. --LOUISIANA HEALTH SYSTEMS AND SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEMS ARE GREEDY AND THEY SUCK. THEY SHOULD BE NAMED #1, #1, AS THE WORST STATE FOR HEALTH CARE, AND SOCIAL SECURITY. --- I HAVE THREW OUT THE HYDROCODONE AND RAN OUT OF MUCINEX. ARE THEY TRYING TO KILL ME OR GET ME TO FILL MORE PRESCRIPTIONS SO THE STATE GETS A CUT, BECAUSE IT COMES FROM A CHARITY HOSPITAL? NOW I HAVE TO GET THE NEURONTIN FILLED IN 3 WEEKS FOR A 90 DAY SUPPLY AND THAT WILL BE ALMOST $200, AND THE phenobarb FILLED WHICH WILL BE ALMOST $15 AT THE SULPHUR,LA WALMART. WHY AM I NOT APPROVED FOR SSIDI WITH A DISABILATY THAT HAS NO CURE AND WHY DO I NOT GET MEDICAID? THIS STATE IS ""VERY, VERY, VERY, GREEDY, I SHOULD BE RECIEVING BOTH. NO MATTER WHAT MY BOYFRIEND GROSSES A YEAR, HE DOESN'T BRING ALL THAT HOME,AND THEY DO NOT ADD UP ALL THE BILLS, NEEDS, GROCIERIES, """""PRESCRIPTIONS""""", ETC....., EVEN THE DOCTOR WROTE A LETTER THAT SSIDI HAS A COPY OF SAYING I CANNOT WORK FULL TIME. !!!!!WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH LOUISIANA AND THE HEALTH AND SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM????? CAN YOU TELL ME, LOAN ME YOUR INSURANCE, ADD ME TO YOUR POLICY!!!!!!!!!! CAN'T TALK WITH DOCTOR HE IS IN CLINIC OR NURSES ARE WITH DOCTOR, OR PATIENTS. JUST TOLD GO TO E.R. some state we live in. boy i tell you. all this money for car companies, and buying buildings for better office space and parking, but none for the health of the people. WHY IS IT THAT I WAS APPROVED FOR SSI FROM CHILD HOOD INTO MY 20'S AND THEN AT THE CUT OFF AGE I WAS STILL APPROVED? I HAD TO RE-APPLY EVERY YEAR, BUT I WAS APPROVED, UNTIL I STARTED GOING TO THE LSU MEDICAL CLINIC IN LAKE CHARLES,LA. EVEN MY OWN CASE WORKER, MR. CHARLIE ELLIS, FOR SSI, INFORMED ME THAT I WAS CUT OFF BECAUSE THE DOCTOR I WAS APPARENTLY SEEING, TOLD SSI THAT I WAS CURED. *****HELLO- THERE- IS - NO- CURE- FOR- EPILEPSY- *****

Psssst... Do Something

Maybe you're doctor in Louisiana?

Sign the Petition for HR 767 Nonprofit Medicare for All.

Say it to Obmama

It's easy to contact Obmama. Just do it. Here's what I had to say to the poor sap that reads his e-mail:

We support you, BUT

+ Let them prosecute Bush admin officials for crimes. Let us have the justice that legitimizes our nation.

+ Afghanistan is the grave yards of Empires, and the US is an empire. Do the math.

+ "It's wealth distribution stupid" A good bumper sticker, no?

+ did is say prosecute Bush officials? If we don't the fabric of our society will unravel.... people will re-discover vigilante justice because the official system isn't doing it's job.

Psssst... Do Something

Contact Obmama

Jon Stewart Eviscerates CNBC and Rick Santelli

The Daily Show... some of the only real news on MSM. You must watch this to the end for a kicker. Jon Stewart says, on the air, what we would all like to say if we had a TV show.



The Daily Show videos typically get between 30,000 - 70,000 visits. Some shows get over, 100,000. This episode broke a million visits when I checked: 1,167,657.

Thanks to Dusty of The Sirens Chronicles for the tip-off (tho her video link didn't work too well), and gbCerberus37 for posting this to YouTube.

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Send your THANKS to the Daily Show via This E-mail Form. Here is my praise of the March 4, 2009 Daily Show segment:

Wow, I never thought I'd see a colostomy surgery on US TV. The job that Jon Stewart did on Rick Santelli was fascinating. The audio editing job at the end of the segment was top notch. Keep this material coming... over 1 million hits... 10-times your typical traffic. You're onto something here.

IMF Uses the D-Word

This might be old news, BUT on Febrary 7, 2009 Bloomberg News reporters Angus Whitley and Shamim Adam wrote an article, which stated:

Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Advanced economies are already in a "depression" and the financial crisis may deepen unless the banking system is fixed, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said.

Why is it in the IMF's interest to use the eye-popping term "depression"? Because their original job description, before being captured by corporate powers, was to bail out entire national economies. The IMF is trying to use shock value to convert the non-believers, like many in the Republican Party, that the unraveling of the economic system is for real.

Meanwhile, Anarchists and Rush Limbaugh are cheering for the failure of the state.

Psssst... Do Something

• Contact the Broadcast Media
  
• Contact the Newspapers
  
• Contact the US Senate
  
• Contact the House of Representatives

Sources:

Bloomberg News, IMF Says Advanced Economies Already in Depression, February 7, 2009, Angus Whitley and Shamim Adam.

Bloomberg News, G-7 loses its financial savior status, By Simon Kennedy, February 13, 2009.

GDAE Podcast Episode 7

Episode 7 - March 1, 2009

• Breaking the Power of the Bankers. A once-in-a-lifetime chance.
• Music from Bela Fleck that might challenge the musical intellect.
• Prosecution of Bush: Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and former UN High Commissioner on Human Rights shares her views.

Here's a Link to the GDAE Podcast Webpage.

Play GDAE Podcast Episode 7 Now.

Obama Talk'n Like a Populist

Under the headline "Obama challenges lobbyists to legislative duel" we hear some words form Obama that are supposed to comfort the angry masses:

The system we have now might work for the powerful and well-connected interests that have run Washington for far too long... But I don't. I work for the American people. [1]

We have reason to doubt that statement. In the context of setting the direction of the financial industry bailout, Obama sided with the Wall-streeters in his administration rather than the internal administration faction that urged taking a harder line. According to a February 10, 2009 New York Times article,

“The Obama administration’s new plan to bail out the nation’s banks was fashioned after a spirited internal debate that pitted the Treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, against some of the president’s top political hands.

“In the end, Geithner largely prevailed in opposing tougher conditions on financial institutions that were sought by presidential aides, including David Axelrod, senior adviser to the president.” [2]

As featured in the upcoming Episode 7 of GDAE Podcast, even if the Obama administration takes the right technical steps, there are many subjective decisions yet to be made. These policy decisions will be subject to intense pressure from the powerful and now-desperate banking elite. Obama knows this and is talking tough:

I know these steps won't sit well with the special interests and lobbyists who are invested in the old way of doing business, and I know they're gearing up for a fight... My message to them is this: So am I. [1]

We are at a historical juncture that demands a historical level of public pressure on Obama, and other officials, to ensure they make decisions consistent with his populist rhetoric. This is a once-in-a-generation moment when our collective voices could change the course of the people's history. Let's make noise!

Psssst... Do Something

• Contact the Broadcast Media
  
• Contact the Newspapers
  
• Contact the US Senate
  
• Contact the House of Representatives

Sources:

1. Associated Press, Obama challenges lobbyists to legislative duel, February 28, 2009.

2. New York Times, Geithner Said to Have Prevailed on the Bailout, February 10, 2009.