Bobby Jindal and the Devil

Since he gave the Republican rebuttal to President Obama's address to Congress, Louisiana Governor Bobby (Piyush) Jindal is getting a lot of press for how bad his speech was. For most American's this was their first exposure to this young, rising GOP star.

However, looking a little deeper into his past, you find the name change.....remember how right wing bloggers and wing nuts insisted on calling Barack Obama "Barry", a name he often used while growing up? Apparently, Jindal was a big fan of the Brady Bunch and decided to change his name from Piyush to Bobby....But there is more than a name change in Jindal's past. In an article he wrote for the Oxford Review back in 1994, Jindal recounts an exorcism that he participated in. It seems a girlfriend was under the control of Satan. Jindal says that "sulfuric" scents hovered around his friend everywhere she went. Eventually, he and several friends in a prayer group, had to perform and exorcism on his friend. To read Jindal's account of the exorcism you can find it here. You will have to pay to read the entire article.

Early Morning Wanderings

Tom Delay was interviewed by Chris Matthews on Hardball yesterday. Tom Delay? I thought he was in jail? And why would Chris Matthews give this clown a forum? Maybe they're both clowns. eh? See the clip here

President Obama is presenting his budget today....any bets on how soon before the Senate Republicans declare it "dead on arrival"?

Taxing the rich to pay for health care? Republicans won't like that! After all, that is socialism...redistribution of wealth and all. So....what do you call it when the rich get a huge tax cut, and the middle and lower incomes get a $600 tax cut? If I understand what Obama is proposing, the value of itemized deductions for those in the 35% tax bracket would be reduced. Thus, the value of itemized deductions would be about $2800, or the same as for those taxpayers in the 28% bracket.

How Can They Be So....Out of Touch?

The extreme right wing nuts, have recently found a new hero in Rick Santilli....a former derivatives trader, turned CNBC commentator...who's rant about "loser" homeowners in default on their mortgages, has worked them into a frenzy.....a frenzy that is so out of touch with a huge majority of Americans.

Here's a poll, taken at the end of last week by USA Today....


Notice that "bailing out banks" is the least favorite option.

Those "losers" in danger of losing their homes? Sixty Four percent of us think we should do something to help them....

How out of touch are these wing nuts?

Great Choice for #2 at Dept. Of Agriculture!

Tom Vilsack has chosen Kathleen Merrigan to be the number two person at Agriculture. This is a huge victory for the organic, and local food movement. After eight years of industrial farming and agrochemical companies calling all the shots, this is very good news indeed!

Amazing!

President Obama is making the closing remarks to the Fiscal Responsibility Summit held over the last couple of days at the White House. Over 100 business, government and community leaders met to discuss budgets and deficits.

So, Obama makes his closing remarks, and then says he is going to open it up for comments from the other participants. Who was the first one he called on? John McCain....the man he beat in November. That strikes me as being extraordinary! How humble is this guy, that he can call on the man he soundly defeated, to offer up his comments on the summit! I was blown away.

Now, others are talking about their "break out" groups, what issues they addressed, what we need to do...what our country...what all of us need to do....to end these deficits, to get our economic house in order....these are Republicans, Democrats, economist....laying it out.

Obama has been President for all of ONE MONTH, and the change is slowly happening. People that differ, are actually acting like adults....for today....and that's a beginning!

**********UPDATE********

Obama just wrapped up the Fiscal Responsibility Summit.....wow! This was an extraordinary display of leadership! Business, labor, Democrat, Republican...all at the table, talking and listening with one another....finding common ground, identifying areas where they differ, looking at how to move beyond the "gridlock" and partisan fighting. One area that everyone seemed to agree needed immediate attention is health care. I will post a link to the video of this summit wrap up when one becomes available.


*************Video Link*********

As promised here's a link to the opening 10 minutes of the closing remarks.....someday I will learn how to embed the video directly...but for now the link will do...even if you have to cut and paste it to open it....I hope you enjoy watching your President as much as I did....when was the last time we had a President that has led like this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8JpN5Pgsyg

Hypocrits!

Every Republican member of the House, and all but three in the Senate, voted no on the Economic Recover and Revitalization bill. The party line was, it contains too much spending and not enough tax cuts. Many Republicans said letting the markets run their course, and doing nothing would be better.

Now the Republicans have scurried home to visit with their constituents and explain why the stimulus plan was so bad and they had to vote no.....or are they? At least 22 Republicans are back home touting the stimulus package....and you would almost think it was all their idea, and a good thing too!

But not Republicans.....down in Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal says he will reject nearly $100 million dollars in stimulus money that would be used to put an extra $25 a week into the pockets of unemployed Louisianans. Jindal claims the "strings attached" to the stimulus money would require a change in law that would lead to an increase in taxes for businesses. But as he points out, the possible tax increase would not come for three years, and at that point the state could opt out, and change their law back to avoid passing along the tax. I bet the 25,000 unemployed workers in Louisiana would like a little extra spending money....if only for the next three years!

Republicans Oppose Largest Middle Class Tax Cut Ever!

Last week when every Republican in the House voted against the economic stimulus plan they were also voting against one of the largest tax cuts in history. A tax cut bigger than Bush's, larger than Reagan's....but primarily for middle class tax payers. Just like Obama promised during the campaign.....what's wrong with these guys?

The Local Rich Guy

I was talking with the local rich guy the other day. He isn't so sure about this stimulus plan. He doesn't feel there's enough tax cuts for guys like him, and all this government spending on road projects and rehabbing schools, is just too much pork.

So I asked him..."rich guy, with all your money, why don't you invest a billion or two of your money in rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure"? And he said..."oh no! I couldn't do that! That's the governments job! Besides, things have been slow, and I've had to lay some workers off."

I looked him in the eye and said, "yeah, pork, the other white meat."

Republicans Play Politics...Again.

It looks as if the Republicans, collectively, are going to vote NAY on the Economic Recovery and Revitalization bill. Once again they are putting politics above country.

Looks like they plan to wait and see what happens, and like Limbaugh, hope Obama fails so they can use their NO vote in the 2010, and beyond, elections if the economy has not started to recover by then....after all...they voted no.

More Krugman

Here's Krugman on the absolute failure of Republicans, and the not quite good enough economic stimulus plan.

When Krugman gets a bad feeling in his gut, it's time to start worrying.

And This Is A Good Thing?

It looks as if a "compromise" has been reached on the stimulus bill. How a party with a majority in both sides of Congress, and a President from their party, has to reach a "compromise" on what may turn out to be the single most important piece of legislation in our lifetime, is beyond me.

Harry Reid was trumpeting the "art of compromise"...a compromise that severally cut tax relief for middle class taxpayers while giving additional tax cuts to corporations and the wealthy....a compromise that came in nearly $100 billion less than the original bill that the House approved....a compromise that will no doubt be too little to do what needs to be done....

Harry...Nancy....Barack...you guys have the White House and both houses of Congress....is this the way things will be for the next four years? Is this the "change we can believe in"? To me, it looks like the same ol' same ol'...the Republicans dictating the agenda and the final outcome of legislation.

If this keeps up...you will never see a second term.

Harry Reid

Obama gets more than 53% of the vote. Democrats win a huge majority in both the House and the Senate. More than 60% of people polled WANT a stimulus plan that benefits Main Street, not Wall Street. Yet, Harry Reid has been letting three Republican Senators push him around and dictate the composition of Obama's stimulus plan! This is simply amazing! The voters demanded change and we're getting business as usual. Sad.

I can not imagine any previous Majority Leader (notice those words, majority and leader) letting someone like Arlen Spector push him around and dictate what this peice of legislation is going to look like...no one...not LBJ...not Trent Lott..no one.

So Reid can't get 60 votes and these three obstructionst filabuster the stimulus plan...LET THEM HARRY!!! Make then stand all day and all night, piss in a bucket, order in cots and pillows...for as long as it takes...grow some balls and call their bluff!

Earth to Obama and the Democratic leadership...YOU WON THE ELECTION....now GOVERN THAT WAY!

I Love Paul Krugman

Day in and day out Paul Krugman speaks wisdom. For that, he will always have a place on this blog.

Corporate media has been paying way too much attention to a handful of "moderate" Republicans and conservative Democrats as they hacked $120 billion dollars in badly needed aid to state governments....aid for education and other programs that might be axed as these states struggle to balance their budgets as revenues decline. Not once have I heard someone from the corporate media explain the logic behind making these cuts, nor have I heard them explain the potential catastrophic results....one only has to look at the local newspaper to see that state governments are grappling with some serious financial sort falls, and that programs, and jobs, will be cut. As these states cut their education budgets, teachers will lose their jobs....as these states look at their contribution to city and towns, police and fire budgets will be cut...this is not going to be pretty.

Krugman called these "moderates" what they are....tax cut loving, people hating, idiots that have no clue about economics....These "moderates" (who really aren't moderate at all) are married to a believe that tax cuts are better than spending that directly puts people to work and money into the economy. As the chart in a previous post shows....tax cuts return a far smaller return....bang for the buck...than investing in jobs, and increasing food stamps and unemployment spending.

We can hope that this money that was cut from the stimulus package can be put back in during conference deliberations.....that is, you can hope Pelosi and other Democratic leaders can get the job done....I'm not sure than will.

Bang For The Buck...Getting the Economy Going Again

I found this over at Mother Jones. The information is from two excellent sources.

All of Them Most Go!

Naomi Klein looks at how the rest of the world is reacting to their own economic crisis.

How soon before we take to the streets with our pots and pans?

Sunday Morning: Where We're At

I think this graph speaks for itself.

750,000 fewer jobs

Ian Welsh over at the Firedoglake blog has a good analysis of what the compromise on the economic stimulus plan with the moderates means for job growth.

Remember, these moderates claim they made these cuts because they would do nothing to create jobs....they basically called them "pork" and excessive, wasteful spending.


*****UPDATE****

A Sunday morning update...Krugman has his initial look at the Senate bill. As he says, this is really, really, not good.

Sorry We Missed This

Ben and Jerry's created a new flavor inspired by Obama....available in scoop shops during January.

Unfortunately we missed it....

Like I Said, Democrats Out Maneuvered Again

With the Republicans threatening to filibuster Obama's economic recovery plan, Harry Reid was once again out maneuvered by the Republicans and a handful of conservative Democrats. It looks like we have a stimulus bill....they cut $100 billion from the plan, mostly money for education, and added a few more tax cuts.

Dear Harry Reid and President Obama.....if the Republicans want to filibuster what will probably be the most important piece of legislation in my life time.....LET THEM!!!!!!!

Did the loss of 550,000 job in January not tell you anything? About five minutes of these guys filibustering this bill and telling us it's wasteful spending, or it doesn't contain enough tax cuts for what's left of their fat cat friends, and I think people would take to the streets looking for Republicans to string up. Grow some balls Harry.

Tax Cuts

Earlier in the day there was a vote on an amendment to the stimulus bill put forward by Senator Jim DeMint, Republican from South Carolina....it was billed as an "alternative stimulus plan" and consisted ONLY of tax cuts....no spending....the amendment failed. However, 36 out of the 41 Republicans in the Senate voted for it! Independent analysis figured it would cost over $3 trillion dollars and create very few jobs.

As Krugman pointed out in his column today, Republican tax cuts are what got us into this mess. And more tax cuts alone will not create jobs and rescue what is quickly becoming a very serious economic crisis.

You have to figure the Republicans are either still in a state of shock over how the country has turned on them and they can't come up with any new ideas, or they don't really care what anyone thinks.

Oh the Irony..

These Republicans (and a handful of Democrats) that think this economic stimulus plan is a wasteful, deficit spending program, are the very same Republicans that approved sending $12 billion dollars, shrink wrapped, and loaded on a pallet, to Iraq. Twelve billion dollars that disappeared, LOST, by the way.

Not to mention the $10 billion we are pissing away over there in Iraq every month....is that economic stimulus...is that irony?

Deputy Secretary of Agriculture

La Vida Locavore has an excellent blog post today about the possible appointment of Chuck Hassebrook as Deputy Secretary of Agriculture and what his appointment could mean for family farms, food security, and economic justice for small farmers. However, as this blog points out, industrial agriculture has some powerful friends in Congress...

Democrats Out Flanked Again

Once again the Democratic Party leadership in the House and Senate is getting hammered by the Republicans. This time it's the stimulus bill.

For the last week there's been a steady stream of Republicans on corporate media criticizing the stimulus bill as nothing more than a big spending pork bill containing all the Democrats pet projects and won't do anything to create jobs. Now, after a week of attacks a Rasmussen poll show a majority of Americans against the plan. Of course a big part of the blame has to go to corporate media and their steady diet of repeating Republican talking points as fact.

Why has this happened? Where's the leadership of the Democratic Party? Where's Obama?

Crocodile Tears

Oh my god, have you ever heard such whining and crying? Of course I'm talking about Obama capping the compensation of those executives that performed so poorly their ailing bank needed a taxpayer bailout. Big old crocodile tears....I was watching Mort Zuckerman on MSCNBC and the poor guy was coming unglued....he kept mumbling..."no one will work for that kind of pay....no one will work for that kind of pay"

And what kind of compensation are we talking about? $500,000 a year. That's right...if you screwed up so bad that your bank needs a bailout, your salary is going to be capped at $500,000 a year....and old Mortie Zuckerman was incredulous...how dare Obama do such a thing! He even said "these guys are the best and brightest, they won't work for that kind of money!" The best and brightest? You're kidding, right Mortie?

JOBS...JOBS...JOBS!!!!

I don't get it. Back in October we had an economic crisis. The entire world economy was going to collapse because people couldn't make their house payments. Everyday we heard about these nasty subprime loans leading to soaring interest rates, and suddenly homeowners were faced with foreclosure. On top of that, or because of that, credit was freezing up...banks were no longer liquid...they couldn't get money to lend even if they wanted to lend.

Unfortunately, the economic crisis was far worse than that. One problem led to another that led to another...like domino's falling. The up shot of all this is people have used up whatever credit they had, and soaring unemployment.... demand for goods has dried up. If no one is working, and you can't borrow anymore, no one is spending.

Along comes the Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Plan....aka..the "stimulus plan" .

The Republicans in the House made it clear they would rather play politics than get serious about solving a once in a generation economic crisis.

And the Senate Republicans? Well...they want tax cuts. It's their answer to every problem. Cut taxes and the environment will be cleaner. Fight a war on terror? Easy, cut taxes. Stimulate the economy and get people back to work? Cut taxes...

Ah, but they also want to do something about this housing crisis. They actually think that housing is the "root of this problem". I heard one Republican Senator say we need to start building houses again. Yeah, we do...someday, but right now we have a glut of homes on the market...prices are falling by 25..35..40%...but who can buy them? I see a lot of homes for sale, and not many people stepping up to purchase....even at these reduced prices.

What the Senate Republicans want to do is force banks...especially those receiving TARP funds to offer low interest rates on home loans to credit worthy buyers. Now, that sounds real nice, I think...but the devil is in the details. Who is considered "credit worthy"? And what happens when that new home owner loses her job? You see, the problem we have faced all along is people could not afford their home. And someone with no job, or someone with a job that might be gone tomorrow, is not going to borrow a couple hundred thousand dollars if they are afraid for their financial future...and building more houses is not a big enough, deep enough stimulus. We have serious problems and we need a big plan.

Tax cuts? We have had nearly 40 years of steady tax cuts and look at how great our economy is today. Yes, there should be some tax cuts in the stimulus plan for the short term kick they can give, but these tax cuts should be to middle class families, not the wealthy, not to corporations. Tax cuts will not create jobs.

Do you remember Bush's rebate last year? Economist figure less than 40% of that $150 billion was actually spent. The majority went to pay off debt. The numbers for the 2001 rebate are no better.

So you see....it comes down to JOBS!!!! We need to get people back to work in jobs that are secure. Put a regular, steady wage in their pockets. Once that happens demand for housing, appliances, cars, etc. will be there. The Senate Republicans know this but they aren't interested in jobs. They'll call it socialism and bigger government...all the old tired worn out slogans that have served them over the years.....never mind that government investment in green technology, and infrastructure repair, means contracting with private contractors and businesses to do the work. They are not interested in a strong middle class. So they have a plan....tax cuts and home building. Ideologically, they have nothing else to offer.

Poor David Brooks

David Brooks is paid big money by PBS, the New York Times, and other major media outlets to provide a "conservative opinion" of what goes on in the political sphere. Personally, I have always thought the guy was a bozo. This piece in today's New York Times is smug, arrogant, out of touch, and does nothing to change my opinion of him.

Check out the comments from the readers....they're priceless!

Daschle Withdraws Name

Well, well....the Washington insiders might finally be getting it. The average person plays by the rules, and pays their taxes....and they get very angry when these people with chauffeured driven cars, hired help, and high paying "consulting" jobs, appear to cheat on their taxes and get away with it...

Now, please Mr. Obama, appoint Howard Dean!!!! Yeah, yeah, I know...he really pissed off all those Washington insiders when he had the audacity to run for President in 2004....and I know, he really pissed off Rahm Emanuel when he stuck by his 50 state strategy as Chair of the DNC....but Howard Dean is a physician, a former governor, a student of health care reform, and apparently, he knows how to win....

Republicans Elect Karl Rove Like Sleeze Ball to Head Their Party

The Republican party is in big trouble. They have lost the last two elections big time, and are finding their message of fear, hate, division, corporate greed, deregulation, and tax cuts for the rich is going nowhere fast.

So what do they do? They elect a big ol' sleeze ball to head the party! Last fall they chose Palin as the answer to Hilary, and this winter they have chosen Micheal Steele as their answer to Obama....

But unlike Obama, this guy Steele is a dirty trickster from way back. He has used race in every election he has been involved with...always in an underhanded way. Now, he gets to lead a party where African Americans number in the dozens and real bigots number in the hundreds of thousands...it should be interesting to see how far this sleeze will go now that he has his hands on the Republican apparatus.

It's Time to Drop Daschle

Tom Daschle was caught doing what any self respecting rich guy would do.....cheating on his taxes. Not only did he not report the use of a driver and a car for the past 18 months to the IRS, but he also kept his little tax problem a secret from the Obama team that was vetting him for the position of Secretary of Health and Human Services.

I say it is time for Obama to say good bye Tom....he does not need, nor do we, another Secretary with a problem paying taxes...

My suggestion to Obama.....drop Daschle right now and recruit Dr. Howard Dean for Secretary of Health and Human Services. Howard Dean has the experience...as a doctor and former governor of Vermont, and as Chairman of the Democratic Party he deserves much of the credit for the Democrats success over the last four years.