AfterDowningStreet's David Swanson makes the case for ditching a dysfunctional and anti-democratic anachronism:
The Filibuster
The Subpoena
Q&A
Q&A (cont.)
Standards: Bush’s Torture Memos Author OK with Nuking Civilians, Draws the Line at Crushing Children’s Testicles
George Bush's senior Justice Department legal adviser John Yoo defended comments that the president could unilaterally "massacre" civilians in wartime in a newly released interview.
The rest of the story:
Top Bush adviser defends using nuclear weapons on civilians by John Byrne (RawStory).
The rest of the story:
Top Bush adviser defends using nuclear weapons on civilians by John Byrne (RawStory).
Health Care Reform: The elephant in the room
"Distinguished leaders went round and round on Thursday debating the problems of delivering and paying for health care for the American people without finding actionable agreement. Not one mentioned a simple known model to cut costs dramatically and deliver care efficiently to everyone -- Medicare for all.Of course that just might be because no senator or representative who supports single-payer -- Medicare for All -- was allowed in the room; neither the president nor the health care industry's paid representatives in Congress want to talk about it. Ever since the House leadership took single-payer "off the table" at the insistence of the Obama White House, discussion of the only system that reliably can deliver affordable, universal health care has been verboten. As the senior White House correspondent Helen Thomas put it the other day, "In my opinion, Obama blew it big time when he refused to fight for a single payer program." You think?
"No one dared to recommend this common-sense way to extract the poisons of useless costs and unnecessary complexity from the system." -- Connell J. Maguire, Riviera Beach, Fla., Letter to the Editor (New York Times 2010-02-27).
The Economic Elite Vs. The People of the United States of America - Part I
By David DeGraw, AmpedStatus Report
This is the first part of a six-part report. I will post the remaining sections over the next few days. If you can't wait, you'll find the subsequent portions of DeGraw's essay at AmpedStatus or you can follow these links:
It’s time for 99% of Americans to mobilize and aggressively move on common sense political reforms.
Yes, of course, we all have very strong differences of opinion on many issues. However, like our Founding Fathers before us, we must put aside our differences and unite to fight a common enemy.
It has now become evident to a critical mass that the Republican and Democratic parties, along with all three branches of our government, have been bought off by a well-organized Economic Elite who are tactically destroying our way of life. The harsh truth is that 99% of the US population no longer has political representation. The US economy, government and tax system is now blatantly rigged against us.
Current statistical societal indicators clearly demonstrate that a strategic attack has been launched and an analysis of current governmental policies prove that conditions for 99% of Americans will continue to deteriorate. The Economic Elite have engineered a financial coup and have brought war to our doorstep. . . and make no mistake, they have launched a war to eliminate the US middle class.
To those who feel I am using extreme rhetoric, I ask you to please take a few minutes of your time to hear me out and research the evidence put forth. The facts are there for the unprejudiced, rational and reasoned mind to absorb. It is the unfortunate reality of our current crisis.
Unless we all unite and organize on common ground, our very way of life and the ideals that our country was founded upon will continue to unravel.
Before exposing exactly who the Economic Elite are, and discussing common sense ways in which we can defeat them, let’s take a look at how much damage they have already caused.
I: Casualties of Economic Terrorism, Surveying the Damage
The devastating numbers across-the-board on the economic front are staggering. I’ll go through some of them here, many we have already become all too familiar with. We hear some of these numbers all the time, so much so that it appears as if we have already begun “to normalize the unthinkable.” You may be sick of hearing them, but behind each number is an enormous amount of individual suffering, American lives and families who are struggling worse than they ever have.
America is the richest nation in history, yet we now have the highest poverty rate in the industrialized world with an unprecedented number of Americans living in dire straits and over 50 million citizens already living in poverty.
The government has come up with clever ways to downplay all of these numbers, but we have over 50 million people who need to use food stamps to eat, and a stunning 50% of US children will use a food stamp to eat at some point in their childhood. Approximately 20,000 people are added to this total every day. In 2009, one out of five US households didn’t have enough money to buy food. In households with children, this number rose to 24%, as the hunger rate among US citizens has now reached an all time high.
We also currently have over 50 million US citizens without healthcare. 1.4 million Americans filed for bankruptcy in 2009, a 32% increase from 2008. As bankruptcies continue to skyrocket, medical bankruptcies are responsible for over 60% of them, and over 75% of the medical bankruptcies filed are from people who have healthcare insurance. We have the most expensive healthcare system in the world, we are forced to pay twice as much as other countries and the overall care we get in return ranks 37th in the world.
In total, Americans have lost $5 trillion from their pensions and savings since the economic crisis began and $13 trillion in the value of their homes. During the first full year of the crisis, workers between the age of 55 - 60, who have worked for 20 - 29 years, have lost an average of 25% off their 401k. “Personal debt has risen from 65% of income in 1980 to 125% today.” Over five million US families have already lost their homes, in total 13 million US families are expected to lose their home by 2014, with 25% of current mortgages underwater. Deutsche Bank has an even grimmer prediction: “The percentage of ‘underwater’ loans may rise to 48 percent, or 25 million homes.” Every day 10,000 US homes enter foreclosure. Statistics show that an increasing number of these people are not finding shelter elsewhere, there are now over 3 million homeless Americans, the fastest growing segment of the homeless population is single parents with children.
One place more and more Americans are finding a home is in prison. With a prison population of 2.3 million people, we now have more people incarcerated than any other nation in the world - the per capita statistics are 700 per 100,000 citizens. In comparison, China has 110 per 100,000, France has 80 per 100,000, Saudi Arabia has 45 per 100,000. The prison industry is thriving and expecting major growth over the next few years. A recent report from the Hartford Advocate titled “Incarceration Nation” revealed that “a new prison opens every week somewhere in America.”
Mass Unemployment
The government unemployment rate is deceptive on several levels. It doesn’t count people who are “involuntary part-time workers,” meaning workers who are working part-time but want to find full-time work. It also doesn’t count “discouraged workers,” meaning long-term unemployed people who lost hope and don’t consistently look for work. As time goes by, more and more people stop consistently looking for work and are discounted from the unemployment figure. For instance, in January, 1.1 million workers were eliminated from the unemployment total because they were “officially” labeled “discouraged workers.” So instead of the number rising, we will hear deceptive reports about unemployment leveling off.
On top of this, the Bureau of Labor Statistics recently discovered that 824,000 job losses were never accounted for due to a “modeling error” in their data. Even in their initial January data there appears to be a huge understating, with the newest report saying the economy lost 20,000 jobs. TrimTabs employment analysis, which has consistently provided more accurate data, “estimated that the U.S. economy shed 104,000 jobs in January.”
When you factor in all these uncounted workers — “involuntary part-time” and “discouraged workers” — the unemployment rate rises from 9.7% to over 20%. In total, we now have over 30 million US citizens who are unemployed or underemployed. The rarely cited “employment-participation” rate, which reveals the percentage of the population that is currently in the workforce, has now fallen to 64%.
Even based on the “official” unemployment rate, just to get back to the unemployment level of 4.6% that we had in 2007, we need to create over 10 million new jobs, and most every serious economist will tell you that these jobs are not coming back. In fact, we are still consistently shedding jobs, on just one day, January 27th, several companies announced new cuts of more than 60,000 jobs.
Due to the length of this crisis already, millions of Americans are reaching a point where the unemployment benefits that they have been surviving off of are coming to an end. More workers have already been out of work longer than at any point since statistics have been recorded, with over six million now unemployed for over six months. A record 20 million Americans qualified for unemployment insurance benefits last year, causing 27 states to run out of funds, with seven more also expected to go into the red within the next few months. In total, 40 state programs are expected to go broke.
Most economists believe that the unemployment rate will remain high for the foreseeable future. What will happen when we have millions of laid-off workers without any unemployment benefits to save them?
Working More for Less
The millions struggling to find work are just part of the story. Due to the fact that we now have a record high six people for every one job opening, companies have been able to further increase the workload on their remaining employees. They have been able to increase the amount of hours Americans are working, reduce wages and drastically cut back on benefits. Even though Americans were already the most productive workers in the world before the economic crisis, in the third quarter of 2009, average worker productivity increased by an annualized rate of 9.5%, at the same time unit labor cost decreased by 5.2%. This has led to record profits for many companies. Of the 220 companies in the S&P 500 who have reported fourth-quarter results thus far, 78% of them had “better-than-expected profits” with earnings 17% above expectations, “the highest for any quarter since Thomson Reuters began tracking data.”
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national median wage was only $32,390 per year in 2008, and median household income fell by 3.6% while the unemployment rate was 5.8%. With the unemployment rate now at 10%, median income has been falling at a 5% rate and is expected to continue its decline. Not surprisingly, Americans’ job satisfaction level is now at an all time low.
There are also a growing number of employed people who, despite having a job, are still living in poverty. There are at least 15 million workers who now fall into this rapidly growing category. $32,390 a year is not going to get you far in today’s economy, and half of the country is making less than that. This is why many Americans are now forced to work two jobs to provide for their family to hopefully make ends meet.
A Crime Against Humanity
The mainstream news media will numb us to this horrifying reality by endlessly talking about the latest numbers, but they never piece them together to show you the whole devastating picture, and they rarely show you all the immense individual suffering behind them. This is how they “normalize the unthinkable” and make us become passive in the face of such a high casualty count.
Behind each of these numbers, is a tremendous amount of misery, the physical toll is only outdone by the severe psychological toll. Anyone who has had to put off medical care, or who couldn’t get medical care for one of their family members due to financial circumstances, can tell you about the psychological toll that is on top of the physical suffering. Anyone who has felt the stress of wondering how they were going to get their child’s next meal or their own, or the stress of not knowing how you are going to pay the mortgage, rent, electricity or heat bill, let alone the car payment, gas, phone, cable or internet bill.
There are now well over 150 million Americans who feel stress over these things on a consistent basis. Over 60% of Americans now live paycheck to paycheck.
These are all basic things that every person should be able to easily afford in a technologically advanced society such as ours. The reason why we struggle with these things is because the Economic Elite have robbed us all. This amount of suffering in the United States of America is literally a crime against humanity.
This is the first part of a six-part report. I will post the remaining sections over the next few days. If you can't wait, you'll find the subsequent portions of DeGraw's essay at AmpedStatus or you can follow these links:
I: Casualties of Economic Terrorism, Surveying the Damage“The American oligarchy spares no pains in promoting the belief that it does not exist, but the success of its disappearing act depends on equally strenuous efforts on the part of an American public anxious to believe in egalitarian fictions and unwilling to see what is hidden in plain sight.” — Michael Lind, To Have and to Have Not
II: The Rise of the Economic Elite
III: Exposing Our Enemy: Meet the Economic Elite
IV: The Financial Coup d’Etat
V: Overcoming the Divide and Conquer Strategy
VI: How to Fight Back and Win: Common Ground Issues That Must Be Won
Yes, of course, we all have very strong differences of opinion on many issues. However, like our Founding Fathers before us, we must put aside our differences and unite to fight a common enemy.
It has now become evident to a critical mass that the Republican and Democratic parties, along with all three branches of our government, have been bought off by a well-organized Economic Elite who are tactically destroying our way of life. The harsh truth is that 99% of the US population no longer has political representation. The US economy, government and tax system is now blatantly rigged against us.
Current statistical societal indicators clearly demonstrate that a strategic attack has been launched and an analysis of current governmental policies prove that conditions for 99% of Americans will continue to deteriorate. The Economic Elite have engineered a financial coup and have brought war to our doorstep. . . and make no mistake, they have launched a war to eliminate the US middle class.
To those who feel I am using extreme rhetoric, I ask you to please take a few minutes of your time to hear me out and research the evidence put forth. The facts are there for the unprejudiced, rational and reasoned mind to absorb. It is the unfortunate reality of our current crisis.
Unless we all unite and organize on common ground, our very way of life and the ideals that our country was founded upon will continue to unravel.
Before exposing exactly who the Economic Elite are, and discussing common sense ways in which we can defeat them, let’s take a look at how much damage they have already caused.
I: Casualties of Economic Terrorism, Surveying the Damage
The devastating numbers across-the-board on the economic front are staggering. I’ll go through some of them here, many we have already become all too familiar with. We hear some of these numbers all the time, so much so that it appears as if we have already begun “to normalize the unthinkable.” You may be sick of hearing them, but behind each number is an enormous amount of individual suffering, American lives and families who are struggling worse than they ever have.
America is the richest nation in history, yet we now have the highest poverty rate in the industrialized world with an unprecedented number of Americans living in dire straits and over 50 million citizens already living in poverty.
The government has come up with clever ways to downplay all of these numbers, but we have over 50 million people who need to use food stamps to eat, and a stunning 50% of US children will use a food stamp to eat at some point in their childhood. Approximately 20,000 people are added to this total every day. In 2009, one out of five US households didn’t have enough money to buy food. In households with children, this number rose to 24%, as the hunger rate among US citizens has now reached an all time high.
We also currently have over 50 million US citizens without healthcare. 1.4 million Americans filed for bankruptcy in 2009, a 32% increase from 2008. As bankruptcies continue to skyrocket, medical bankruptcies are responsible for over 60% of them, and over 75% of the medical bankruptcies filed are from people who have healthcare insurance. We have the most expensive healthcare system in the world, we are forced to pay twice as much as other countries and the overall care we get in return ranks 37th in the world.
In total, Americans have lost $5 trillion from their pensions and savings since the economic crisis began and $13 trillion in the value of their homes. During the first full year of the crisis, workers between the age of 55 - 60, who have worked for 20 - 29 years, have lost an average of 25% off their 401k. “Personal debt has risen from 65% of income in 1980 to 125% today.” Over five million US families have already lost their homes, in total 13 million US families are expected to lose their home by 2014, with 25% of current mortgages underwater. Deutsche Bank has an even grimmer prediction: “The percentage of ‘underwater’ loans may rise to 48 percent, or 25 million homes.” Every day 10,000 US homes enter foreclosure. Statistics show that an increasing number of these people are not finding shelter elsewhere, there are now over 3 million homeless Americans, the fastest growing segment of the homeless population is single parents with children.
One place more and more Americans are finding a home is in prison. With a prison population of 2.3 million people, we now have more people incarcerated than any other nation in the world - the per capita statistics are 700 per 100,000 citizens. In comparison, China has 110 per 100,000, France has 80 per 100,000, Saudi Arabia has 45 per 100,000. The prison industry is thriving and expecting major growth over the next few years. A recent report from the Hartford Advocate titled “Incarceration Nation” revealed that “a new prison opens every week somewhere in America.”
Mass Unemployment
The government unemployment rate is deceptive on several levels. It doesn’t count people who are “involuntary part-time workers,” meaning workers who are working part-time but want to find full-time work. It also doesn’t count “discouraged workers,” meaning long-term unemployed people who lost hope and don’t consistently look for work. As time goes by, more and more people stop consistently looking for work and are discounted from the unemployment figure. For instance, in January, 1.1 million workers were eliminated from the unemployment total because they were “officially” labeled “discouraged workers.” So instead of the number rising, we will hear deceptive reports about unemployment leveling off. On top of this, the Bureau of Labor Statistics recently discovered that 824,000 job losses were never accounted for due to a “modeling error” in their data. Even in their initial January data there appears to be a huge understating, with the newest report saying the economy lost 20,000 jobs. TrimTabs employment analysis, which has consistently provided more accurate data, “estimated that the U.S. economy shed 104,000 jobs in January.”
When you factor in all these uncounted workers — “involuntary part-time” and “discouraged workers” — the unemployment rate rises from 9.7% to over 20%. In total, we now have over 30 million US citizens who are unemployed or underemployed. The rarely cited “employment-participation” rate, which reveals the percentage of the population that is currently in the workforce, has now fallen to 64%.
Even based on the “official” unemployment rate, just to get back to the unemployment level of 4.6% that we had in 2007, we need to create over 10 million new jobs, and most every serious economist will tell you that these jobs are not coming back. In fact, we are still consistently shedding jobs, on just one day, January 27th, several companies announced new cuts of more than 60,000 jobs.
Due to the length of this crisis already, millions of Americans are reaching a point where the unemployment benefits that they have been surviving off of are coming to an end. More workers have already been out of work longer than at any point since statistics have been recorded, with over six million now unemployed for over six months. A record 20 million Americans qualified for unemployment insurance benefits last year, causing 27 states to run out of funds, with seven more also expected to go into the red within the next few months. In total, 40 state programs are expected to go broke.
Most economists believe that the unemployment rate will remain high for the foreseeable future. What will happen when we have millions of laid-off workers without any unemployment benefits to save them?
Working More for Less
The millions struggling to find work are just part of the story. Due to the fact that we now have a record high six people for every one job opening, companies have been able to further increase the workload on their remaining employees. They have been able to increase the amount of hours Americans are working, reduce wages and drastically cut back on benefits. Even though Americans were already the most productive workers in the world before the economic crisis, in the third quarter of 2009, average worker productivity increased by an annualized rate of 9.5%, at the same time unit labor cost decreased by 5.2%. This has led to record profits for many companies. Of the 220 companies in the S&P 500 who have reported fourth-quarter results thus far, 78% of them had “better-than-expected profits” with earnings 17% above expectations, “the highest for any quarter since Thomson Reuters began tracking data.”
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national median wage was only $32,390 per year in 2008, and median household income fell by 3.6% while the unemployment rate was 5.8%. With the unemployment rate now at 10%, median income has been falling at a 5% rate and is expected to continue its decline. Not surprisingly, Americans’ job satisfaction level is now at an all time low.
There are also a growing number of employed people who, despite having a job, are still living in poverty. There are at least 15 million workers who now fall into this rapidly growing category. $32,390 a year is not going to get you far in today’s economy, and half of the country is making less than that. This is why many Americans are now forced to work two jobs to provide for their family to hopefully make ends meet.
A Crime Against Humanity
The mainstream news media will numb us to this horrifying reality by endlessly talking about the latest numbers, but they never piece them together to show you the whole devastating picture, and they rarely show you all the immense individual suffering behind them. This is how they “normalize the unthinkable” and make us become passive in the face of such a high casualty count.
Behind each of these numbers, is a tremendous amount of misery, the physical toll is only outdone by the severe psychological toll. Anyone who has had to put off medical care, or who couldn’t get medical care for one of their family members due to financial circumstances, can tell you about the psychological toll that is on top of the physical suffering. Anyone who has felt the stress of wondering how they were going to get their child’s next meal or their own, or the stress of not knowing how you are going to pay the mortgage, rent, electricity or heat bill, let alone the car payment, gas, phone, cable or internet bill.
There are now well over 150 million Americans who feel stress over these things on a consistent basis. Over 60% of Americans now live paycheck to paycheck.
These are all basic things that every person should be able to easily afford in a technologically advanced society such as ours. The reason why we struggle with these things is because the Economic Elite have robbed us all. This amount of suffering in the United States of America is literally a crime against humanity.
Reform: Can the Senate II
Two-hundred and ninety bills passed by the House of Representatives this year, some major, some minor, have seen no action by the Senate.
According to a report by The Hill, "The list of stalled bills includes both major and minor legislation: health care reform; climate change; food safety; financial aid for the US Postal Service; a job security act for wounded veterans; a Civil War battlefield preservation act; vision care for children; the naming of a federal courthouse in Iowa after former Rep. Jim Leach (R-Iowa); a National Historic Park named for President Jimmy Carter; a bill to improve absentee ballot voting; a bill to improve cybersecurity; and the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act." Nor does that take into account the dozens of presidential appointees still awaiting Senate confirmation.
Government is not broken. The Democratic Party is not broken. The Senate is broken. It will stay broken as long as it misapportioned -- as long one citizen ≠ one vote, as long as .5 million people in Wyoming have the same ballot power as 37 million Californians. It will stay broken until senators are chosen by the people instead of the corporate oligarchy, until it is no longer America's most exclusive country club, until campaign finance reform levels the playing field. Fixing it won't be easy. But until it's fixed, it will be all but impossible to fix anything else.
See, also How to fix the Senate? by Mack McClarty, Norman J. Ornstein, Mark J. Penn, Warren Rudman, Sarah Binder and Forrest Maltzman, Dana Perino, and Rob Richie (The Washington Post, 2010-02-21)
According to a report by The Hill, "The list of stalled bills includes both major and minor legislation: health care reform; climate change; food safety; financial aid for the US Postal Service; a job security act for wounded veterans; a Civil War battlefield preservation act; vision care for children; the naming of a federal courthouse in Iowa after former Rep. Jim Leach (R-Iowa); a National Historic Park named for President Jimmy Carter; a bill to improve absentee ballot voting; a bill to improve cybersecurity; and the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act." Nor does that take into account the dozens of presidential appointees still awaiting Senate confirmation.
Government is not broken. The Democratic Party is not broken. The Senate is broken. It will stay broken as long as it misapportioned -- as long one citizen ≠ one vote, as long as .5 million people in Wyoming have the same ballot power as 37 million Californians. It will stay broken until senators are chosen by the people instead of the corporate oligarchy, until it is no longer America's most exclusive country club, until campaign finance reform levels the playing field. Fixing it won't be easy. But until it's fixed, it will be all but impossible to fix anything else.
See, also How to fix the Senate? by Mack McClarty, Norman J. Ornstein, Mark J. Penn, Warren Rudman, Sarah Binder and Forrest Maltzman, Dana Perino, and Rob Richie (The Washington Post, 2010-02-21)
The Long War: Obama's war in Afghanistan is unwinnable
Amy Goodman: "In Afghanistan, the number of civilian casualties continues to rise. On Tuesday, at least eight people died after a bomb exploded in the southern provincial capital of Lashkar Gah amid a major US-led offensive in the area. Local authorities said all those killed in the attack were civilians. Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s government has condemned a NATO air strike on a convoy on Sunday that killed twenty-seven civilians, including four women and a child. NATO commander General Stanley McChrystal went on Afghan television to apologize for the attack....Last year was the deadliest of the war for civilians and foreign troops. And while there is no reliable count of the number of Afghans killed, the number of US soldiers killed in the war has reached 1,000."
According to Phyllis Bennis, the only way to put an end to civilian casualties is to end the war. (Democracy Now! 2010-02-23):
Read: Ending the Us War in Afghanistan: A Primer by David Wildman and Phyllis Bennis (2010)
See, also: Kucinich Challenges Sec. Gates on Civilian Casualties in Afghanistan (AfterDowningStreet 2010-02-23)
According to Phyllis Bennis, the only way to put an end to civilian casualties is to end the war. (Democracy Now! 2010-02-23):
Read: Ending the Us War in Afghanistan: A Primer by David Wildman and Phyllis Bennis (2010)
See, also: Kucinich Challenges Sec. Gates on Civilian Casualties in Afghanistan (AfterDowningStreet 2010-02-23)
Obama and the Left: It's about policy not personality
"...unjust wars and occupations, mega-bankers’ bailouts, U.S. torture practices, secret paramilitaries and executions, illegal domestic wiretaps, drone attacks on defenseless women and children and other terrible policies are just as unacceptable when carried out by an 'eloquent' and 'dashing' black Democrat from Chicago as when they are carried out by a boorish white Republican moron from West Texas." -- Paul Street
Read Paul Street at ZSpace.
Read Paul Street at ZSpace.
quote unquote: British liberal theorist Leonard T. Hobhouse on the Titans of Industry
The organizer of industry who thinks he has 'made' himself and his business
has found a whole social system ready to his hand in skilled workers, machinery, a market, peace and order -- a vast apparatus and a pervasive atmosphere, the joint creation of millions of men and scores of generations. Take away the whole social factor, and we have not Robinson Crusoe with his salvage from the wreck and his acquired knowledge, but the native savage living on roots, berries and vermin. - L. T. Hobhouse
Extra credit: excerpts of Liberalism (1911) by L.T. Hobhouse
has found a whole social system ready to his hand in skilled workers, machinery, a market, peace and order -- a vast apparatus and a pervasive atmosphere, the joint creation of millions of men and scores of generations. Take away the whole social factor, and we have not Robinson Crusoe with his salvage from the wreck and his acquired knowledge, but the native savage living on roots, berries and vermin. - L. T. HobhouseExtra credit: excerpts of Liberalism (1911) by L.T. Hobhouse
Democracy: Can the Senate
If we don't keep in mind what a working democracy would look like we won't achieve even the minimum changes we need to address our most pressing problems. It might be widely understood that the Senate is a failure as an instrument of governance, but, okay, we can't can it yet.
In the meantime, reform is the word of the day. Campaign finance reform. Electoral college reform. And, this week, filibuster reform. A point of order, supported by 51 votes, could get rid of the filibuster today. More likely, we'll have to wait til the Senate reorganizes next January. Will the Democrats, shellshocked from the shellacking they're going to suffer in November, still be in the mood for change by the new year? Will they even have 51 votes when they convene in January? While we wait to find out, we have Sen. Tom Harkin's chuckle-headed mini-reform to keep us busy.
Question: why doesn't the majority just call the minority's bluff and let them get out the bottled water and sleeping bags and filibuster if they dare? That would be fun.
Reforms should target two-party stranglehold, power of incumbency
George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley doesn't think the most widely supported reforms go nearly far enough. "For decades," he wrote in an op-ed the other day,
Finally, I think Turley agrees that third parties offer the best mechanism for pursuing reform. Voters who live in states like New York and California that already have third parties in place would do well to get involved. For people residing elsewhere, it's time to get to work. If you've been persuaded by the argument that a third party vote is "wasted," consider this: there is nothing to be lost by combining strategies, for example, challenging incumbents in the primaries and then supporting third party candidates in the general election if they better represent your political values. Democratic primary candidates like Jonathan Tasini for U.S. Senate in New York or Marcy Winograd who is running against security state representative Jane Harman in Califoria are worthy of support, although it would be helpful to the causes they believe in if they would commit to supporting independent and third party pro-labor and anti-war candidates in November if their primary bids fail.
The rest of the story: Reforms should target two-party stranglehold, power of incumbency by Jonathan Turley (Baltimore Sun 2010-02-15)
See, also: Rachel Maddow On Busting The Filibuster (video - MSNBC)
In the meantime, reform is the word of the day. Campaign finance reform. Electoral college reform. And, this week, filibuster reform. A point of order, supported by 51 votes, could get rid of the filibuster today. More likely, we'll have to wait til the Senate reorganizes next January. Will the Democrats, shellshocked from the shellacking they're going to suffer in November, still be in the mood for change by the new year? Will they even have 51 votes when they convene in January? While we wait to find out, we have Sen. Tom Harkin's chuckle-headed mini-reform to keep us busy.
Question: why doesn't the majority just call the minority's bluff and let them get out the bottled water and sleeping bags and filibuster if they dare? That would be fun.
Reforms should target two-party stranglehold, power of incumbency
George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley doesn't think the most widely supported reforms go nearly far enough. "For decades," he wrote in an op-ed the other day,
political reform in the United States has largely meant campaign finance reform. It is a focus the political mainstream prefers, despite the fact that it is akin to addressing an engine with a design defect by regulating the fuel.On this page, we have made the point that without third parties viable representative democracy is impossible. Turley argues forcefully that barriers to third parties need to be removed or modified, including complicated registration regulations and impossible petition requirements. "Moreover," he writes,
Many of our current problems are either caused or magnified by the stranglehold the two parties have on our political system. Democrats and Republicans, despite their uniformly low popularity with voters, continue to exercise a virtual monopoly, and they have no intention of relinquishing control. The result is that "change" is often limited to one party handing power over to the other party. Like Henry Ford's customers, who were promised any color car so long as it was black, voters are effectively allowed to pick any candidate they want, so long as he or she is a Democrat or Republican.
Both parties (and the media) reinforce this pathetic notion by continually emphasizing the blue state/red state divide. The fact is that the placement of members on the blue or red team is often arbitrary, with neither side showing consistent principles or values.
The Supreme Court's recent decision to strike down restrictions on corporate campaign giving has prompted some members of Congress to call for a constitutional amendment to reinstate the restrictions. But that would merely return us to the same status (and corrupted process) of a month ago.
We can reform our flawed system, but we have to think more broadly about the current political failure.
we should require a federally funded electronic forum for qualified federal candidates to post their positions and material for voters. And in races for national office, all candidates on the ballot in the general election should submit to a minimum of three (for Congress) or five (for the presidency) debates that would be funded and made publicly available by the government.Turley's list of needed changes is no less urgent for being familiar. He would end gerrymandering and require that congressional districts be apportioned uniformly. He would make it easier to run in primaries and mandate that the top two vote-getters in primaries would be the candidates in the general even if they were from the same party. He would abolish the electoral college. And he would require a majority for a president to be elected.
If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, there should be a runoff of the two top vote-getters -- as is the custom in most other nations. This would tend to force candidates to reach out to third parties and break up monopoly control of the two parties.None of this is likely to happen any time soon, unfortunately. The small states will not willingly give up power, no matter how unfair their advantages, so putting together the required majorities in the Congress is a lost cause. Turley might be willing to risk a constitutional convention despite the likelihood that it would be dominated by corporate interests and could get sidetracked by divisive social issues like same-sex marriage and abortion.
Finally, I think Turley agrees that third parties offer the best mechanism for pursuing reform. Voters who live in states like New York and California that already have third parties in place would do well to get involved. For people residing elsewhere, it's time to get to work. If you've been persuaded by the argument that a third party vote is "wasted," consider this: there is nothing to be lost by combining strategies, for example, challenging incumbents in the primaries and then supporting third party candidates in the general election if they better represent your political values. Democratic primary candidates like Jonathan Tasini for U.S. Senate in New York or Marcy Winograd who is running against security state representative Jane Harman in Califoria are worthy of support, although it would be helpful to the causes they believe in if they would commit to supporting independent and third party pro-labor and anti-war candidates in November if their primary bids fail.
The rest of the story: Reforms should target two-party stranglehold, power of incumbency by Jonathan Turley (Baltimore Sun 2010-02-15)
See, also: Rachel Maddow On Busting The Filibuster (video - MSNBC)
Health Care Reform: National Single-Payer Conference Call Tomorrow
Improved Medicare for All: Still the One
Join leading single-payer advocates on a national conference call at 8pm (EST) tomorrow Monday, February 15th for a discussion of the rise and fall of the public option and why improved Medicare for All is still the leading policy solution to our health care crisis.
Featured speakers include:
Kip Sullivan, steering committee, MN chapter of PNHP
Kay Tillow, All Unions Committee For Single Payer Health Care--HR 676
Andy Coates MD, Capital District chapter of PNHP
Moderator: Katie Robbins, National Organizer, Healthcare-NOW!
Action: Register for single-payer health care national conference call.
Join leading single-payer advocates on a national conference call at 8pm (EST) tomorrow Monday, February 15th for a discussion of the rise and fall of the public option and why improved Medicare for All is still the leading policy solution to our health care crisis.
Featured speakers include:
Kip Sullivan, steering committee, MN chapter of PNHP
Kay Tillow, All Unions Committee For Single Payer Health Care--HR 676
Andy Coates MD, Capital District chapter of PNHP
Moderator: Katie Robbins, National Organizer, Healthcare-NOW!
Action: Register for single-payer health care national conference call.
Ending 'The Long War': Vigils Against War Funding Spread Across the Nation
Brownbaggers Not Teabaggers
On January 20th, Progressive Democrats of America organized "brownbag" lunch vigils against war funding at noon at the district offices
of 22 members of the U.S. House of Representatives.
On February 17th -- next Wednesday -- Progressive Democrats will be joined by CODEPINK, Democrats.com, AfterDowningStreet, the California Nurses Assn/National Nurses United, and United for Peace and Justice in holding brown bag lunch vigils outside (or, better yet, inside) at least 36 congressmembers' offices.
What Needs To Be Done:
Brownbaggers are asking members of the House to publicly commit to voting No on any bills that fund wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan or Yemen,
and to publicly urge their colleagues and the House leadership to make the same commitment. As lesser steps in the same direction, representatives are being asked to cosponsor HR 2454, calling for an exit strategy from Afghanistan, and HR 3699, prohibiting any increase in the number of U.S. Armed Forces in Afghanistan. Congressmembers' commitments are tracked at DefundWar.org.
Brownbaggers are demanding commitments to vote against more money for war. Slogans on their posters include: "Healthcare not Warfare," "Corporations out of Politics," "Bailout Main Street not Wall Street" and "Brownbaggers not Teabaggers."
Vigils have been planned in the following districts: AZ-5, CA-6, CA-9, CA-10, CA-18, CA-22, CA-23, CA-40, CA-42, CA-45, CA-46, CA-48, CA-50, CA-53, FL-9, FL-10, FL-17, ID-01, IN-9, MA-1, MA-2, MA-3, MA-10, MI-9, NY-18, NY-28, OH-13, OH-17, PA-02, PA-7, PA-15, WA-2, WA-3, WA-6, WI-3, WI-7. These are almost all at noon on Wednesday the 17th, but a few are at odd times, so check the brown bag lunch vigils schedule for details.
Here's how to get involved:
Print these posters:
Brownbaggers Poster 9
Brownbaggers Poster 10
Brownbaggers Poster 11
Thanks to AfterDowningStreet and Progressive Democrats of America for their leadership.
On January 20th, Progressive Democrats of America organized "brownbag" lunch vigils against war funding at noon at the district offices
of 22 members of the U.S. House of Representatives.On February 17th -- next Wednesday -- Progressive Democrats will be joined by CODEPINK, Democrats.com, AfterDowningStreet, the California Nurses Assn/National Nurses United, and United for Peace and Justice in holding brown bag lunch vigils outside (or, better yet, inside) at least 36 congressmembers' offices.
What Needs To Be Done:
Brownbaggers are asking members of the House to publicly commit to voting No on any bills that fund wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan or Yemen,
and to publicly urge their colleagues and the House leadership to make the same commitment. As lesser steps in the same direction, representatives are being asked to cosponsor HR 2454, calling for an exit strategy from Afghanistan, and HR 3699, prohibiting any increase in the number of U.S. Armed Forces in Afghanistan. Congressmembers' commitments are tracked at DefundWar.org."We have to choose between jobs and wars," said Tim Carpenter, national director of Progressive Democrats. "The American people are on one side, but our so-called representatives in Congress are on the other. The Supreme Court is busy increasing corporate control of our elected officials. We need to be busy enforcing the people's control before it is too late."Learn more about brown bag lunch vigils.
"Without wasteful war and military spending," said deputy director Laura Bonham, "we could have healthcare, jobs, housing, education, retirement security, environmental sustainability, diplomacy and foreign aid. No longer will we take seriously anyone's claim to support these things while voting to fund more war."
Brownbaggers are demanding commitments to vote against more money for war. Slogans on their posters include: "Healthcare not Warfare," "Corporations out of Politics," "Bailout Main Street not Wall Street" and "Brownbaggers not Teabaggers."
Vigils have been planned in the following districts: AZ-5, CA-6, CA-9, CA-10, CA-18, CA-22, CA-23, CA-40, CA-42, CA-45, CA-46, CA-48, CA-50, CA-53, FL-9, FL-10, FL-17, ID-01, IN-9, MA-1, MA-2, MA-3, MA-10, MI-9, NY-18, NY-28, OH-13, OH-17, PA-02, PA-7, PA-15, WA-2, WA-3, WA-6, WI-3, WI-7. These are almost all at noon on Wednesday the 17th, but a few are at odd times, so check the brown bag lunch vigils schedule for details.
Here's how to get involved:
1. Find a brown bag lunch vigil near you. If you don't see a vigil near you, look below to see how to create one.To create a BBLV event:
2. Download the Healthcare NOT Warfare flyer and the Why do we need brown bag lunch vigils? flyer. Customize the BBLV flyer for your group, and make copies of both flyers. Grab your promotional Healthcare NOT Warfare materials.
3.Go to the National Priorities Project to find data on the actual cost of the wars and on the social programs your community could have funded with those tax dollars. Use these figures to make signs for your vigils.
4. Spread the word! Write about your brown bag lunch vigil on your blog, Facebook, and Twitter.
5.Don't forget your brown bag lunch and Healthcare NOT Warfare stickers. Take your lunch in PDA's Healthcare NOT Warfare canvas tote!
1. Schedule your brown bag lunch vigil here. Your vigil will be promoted to our calendar so others can find you. For more information, contact the team at bbv@pdamerica.org.Print useful anti war information from DefundWar.org.
2. Send a personalized copy of this letter on defunding our wars to your representative and this letter on war defunding to your senators. Find your representative and senators here. Or schedule an in-person meeting with your member of Congress or the legislative aide on miltary issues to determine your representative's or senator's support.
3. Report on activities and developments pertaining to your lobbying effort using the brown bag lunch vigil Google document. Check coalition partner AfterDowningStreet.org's DefundWar.org to see how your legislators have voted on war funding.
4. Submit articles for publication on the Progressive Democrats website detailing your experiences to Laura@pdamerica.org. It is especially important to share what works and what doesn't with other activists.
Print these posters:
Brownbaggers Poster 9
Brownbaggers Poster 10
Brownbaggers Poster 11
Thanks to AfterDowningStreet and Progressive Democrats of America for their leadership.
Change Watch: ...plus c'est le même chose
Who made the following statement in response to criticism of U.S. counter-terrorism policies?:
“Politically motivated criticism and unfounded fear-mongering only serve the goals of al-Qaeda.”
Admit it. You're not surprised. With Bush-era policies that undermine civil rights and civil liberties continuing unchallenged and unabated by the administration of Barack Obama, it is hardly surprising to hear the president's minions repeating the same tired rationalizations employed by their discredited predecessors.
In an op-ed in USA Today today, 'We need no lectures': Administration disrupts terrorists’ plots, takes fight to them abroad, Brennan -- sounding like he's channeling Dick Cheney -- writes that politics "should never get in the way of national security. But too many in Washington are now misrepresenting the facts to score political points, instead of coming together to keep us safe." This is the security state at its most transparent. No debate. No consideration by the citizenry of tactics, strategies, morality, common sense. Just shut up and do what we say. We need no lectures, indeed.
More: Obama's embrace of Bush terrorism policies is celebrated as "Centrism" by Glenn Greenwald (Salon 2009-05-15)
“Politically motivated criticism and unfounded fear-mongering only serve the goals of al-Qaeda.”
a. John Yoo, assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel during the George W. Bush AdministrationAnswer: c.
b. Alberto Gonzales, Attorney General of the United States under George W. Bush
c. John Brennan, Barack Obama's Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism
Admit it. You're not surprised. With Bush-era policies that undermine civil rights and civil liberties continuing unchallenged and unabated by the administration of Barack Obama, it is hardly surprising to hear the president's minions repeating the same tired rationalizations employed by their discredited predecessors.
In an op-ed in USA Today today, 'We need no lectures': Administration disrupts terrorists’ plots, takes fight to them abroad, Brennan -- sounding like he's channeling Dick Cheney -- writes that politics "should never get in the way of national security. But too many in Washington are now misrepresenting the facts to score political points, instead of coming together to keep us safe." This is the security state at its most transparent. No debate. No consideration by the citizenry of tactics, strategies, morality, common sense. Just shut up and do what we say. We need no lectures, indeed.
More: Obama's embrace of Bush terrorism policies is celebrated as "Centrism" by Glenn Greenwald (Salon 2009-05-15)
Democracy: Campaign Finance Reform - Now!
On Thursday, HR 1826, the House Fair Elections Now Act, introduced by Democratic caucus chairman Rep. John B. Larson (D-CT), gained its 134th co-sponsor; more than half of the Democrats in the House now support the bill.
With the cost of elections soaring to all-time highs, PACs proliferating, and the likes of Michael Bloomberg essentially purchasing their offices, even before the Supremes ruling eliminating restrictions on election spending by corporations it appeared that the time for campaign financing reform had finally arrived.
Among other reforms such as limits on donations, the bill replaces the complicated current federal election financing system with genuine campaign finance reform. The measure has the backing of organizations across the political spectrum, from the NAACP and the SEIU to religious leaders, the League of Young Voters, and managers of major corporations from Ben & Jerry’s and Crate & Barrel to Delta Airlines and Hasbro. Similar pressure is being applied to the Senate in support of its version, S 752.
Another take: Public financing key to future campaigns (The Olympian 2010-01-28)
Actions: Tell Congress to pass campaign finance reform now.
Contribute to Fair Elections Now (groups backing the umbrella organization in support of campaign finance reform, the Fair Elections Now Coalition, include Brennan Center for Justice, Change Congress, Common Cause, Democracy Matters, Public Campaign, Public Citizen and U.S. PIRG).
Contact an organizer in your state.
Also, see:
Corporation Runs For Maryland Congressional Seat To Protest SCOTUS Campaign Finance Decision
and (Think Progress 2010-01-28)
With the cost of elections soaring to all-time highs, PACs proliferating, and the likes of Michael Bloomberg essentially purchasing their offices, even before the Supremes ruling eliminating restrictions on election spending by corporations it appeared that the time for campaign financing reform had finally arrived.
Among other reforms such as limits on donations, the bill replaces the complicated current federal election financing system with genuine campaign finance reform. The measure has the backing of organizations across the political spectrum, from the NAACP and the SEIU to religious leaders, the League of Young Voters, and managers of major corporations from Ben & Jerry’s and Crate & Barrel to Delta Airlines and Hasbro. Similar pressure is being applied to the Senate in support of its version, S 752.
Another take: Public financing key to future campaigns (The Olympian 2010-01-28)
Actions: Tell Congress to pass campaign finance reform now.
Contribute to Fair Elections Now (groups backing the umbrella organization in support of campaign finance reform, the Fair Elections Now Coalition, include Brennan Center for Justice, Change Congress, Common Cause, Democracy Matters, Public Campaign, Public Citizen and U.S. PIRG).
Contact an organizer in your state.
Also, see:
Corporation Runs For Maryland Congressional Seat To Protest SCOTUS Campaign Finance Decision
and (Think Progress 2010-01-28)
Resource: Guide to Current War Dept. Expenditures
Trillions to Burn?
Commonwealth Institute's Project on Defense Alternatives has made available A Quick Guide to the Surge in Pentagon Spending, a series of charts and graphs that make it easier to understand the unconscionable expansion of the military budget under George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
The rest of the story: For more detailed analysis, see An Undisciplined Defense – Understanding the $2 Trillion Surge in US Defense Spending and The President’s Dilemma: Deficits, Debt, and Defense Spending (both Project on Defense Alternatives 2010-01-18).
See, also: Pentagon’s Black Budget Tops $56 Billion by Noah Shachtman (Wired 2010-02-01)
Commonwealth Institute's Project on Defense Alternatives has made available A Quick Guide to the Surge in Pentagon Spending, a series of charts and graphs that make it easier to understand the unconscionable expansion of the military budget under George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
With his decision to further boost defense spending, President Obama is continuing the process of re-inflating the Pentagon that began in late 1998 – fully three years before the 9/11 attacks on America.You'd think that it would hardly need repeating that none of America's domestic problems -- decrepit infrastructure, declining schools, chronic unemployment, the crisis in health care, and so on -- can be addressed so long as the Pentagon is gobbling up resources.The FY 2011 budget marks a milestone, however: the inflation-adjusted rise in spending since 1998 will probably exceed 100% in real terms by the end of the fiscal year.
Taking the 2011 budget into account, the Defense Department has been given about $7.2 trillion since 1998, when the post-Cold War decline in defense spending ended. Approximately $2.5 trillion of this total is due to spending above the annual level set in 1998. This added amount constitutes the post-1998 spending surge.
The rest of the story: For more detailed analysis, see An Undisciplined Defense – Understanding the $2 Trillion Surge in US Defense Spending and The President’s Dilemma: Deficits, Debt, and Defense Spending (both Project on Defense Alternatives 2010-01-18).
See, also: Pentagon’s Black Budget Tops $56 Billion by Noah Shachtman (Wired 2010-02-01)
Military Funding: Some anti-war candidates
If you are looking for candidates to get behind in upcoming primaries and the 2010 general election, here are several dozen representatives, all but one of them Democrats, who when Bush was president pledged to end war funding: Rep. Lynn Woolsey (CA); Rep. Barbara Lee (CA); Rep. Maxine Waters (CA); Rep. Ellen Tauscher (CA); Rep. Rush Holt (NJ); Rep. Maurice Hinchey (NY); Rep. Diane Watson (CA); Rep. Ed Pastor (AZ); Rep. Barney Frank (MA); Rep. Danny Davis (IL); Rep. John Conyers (MI); Rep. John Hall (NY); Rep. Bob Filner (CA); Rep. Nydia Velazquez (NY); Rep. Bobby Rush (IL); Rep. Charles Rangel (NY); Rep. Ed Towns (NY); Rep. Paul Hodes (NH); Rep. William Lacy Clay (MO); Rep. Earl Blumenauer (OR); Rep. Albert Wynn (MD); Rep. Bill Delahunt (MA); Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC); Rep. G. K. Butterfield (NC); Rep. Hilda Solis (CA); Rep. Carolyn Maloney (NY); Rep. Jerrold Nadler (NY); Rep. Michael Honda (CA); Rep. Steve Cohen (TN); Rep. Phil Hare (IL); Rep. Grace Flores Napolitano (CA); Rep. Alcee Hastings (FL); Rep. James McGovern (MA); Rep. Marcy Kaptur (OH); Rep. Jan Schakowsky (IL); Rep. Julia Carson (IN); Rep. Linda Sanchez (CA); Rep. Raul Grijalva (AZ); Rep. John Olver (MA); Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (TX); Rep. Jim McDermott (WA); Rep. Ed Markey (MA); Rep. Chaka Fattah (PA); Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (NJ); Rep. Rubin Hinojosa (TX); Rep. Pete Stark (CA); Rep. Bobby Scott (VA); Rep. Jim Moran (VA); Rep. Betty McCollum (MN); Rep. Jim Oberstar (MN); Rep. Diana DeGette (CO); Rep. Stephen Lynch (MA); Rep. Artur Davis (AL); Rep. Hank Johnson (GA); Rep. Donald Payne (NJ); Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (MO); Rep. John Lewis (GA); Rep. Yvette Clarke (NY); Rep. Neil Abercrombie (HI); Rep. Gwen Moore (WI); Rep. Keith Ellison (MN); Rep. Tammy Baldwin (WI); Rep. Donna Christensen (USVI); Rep. David Scott (GA); Rep. Luis Gutierrez (IL); Rep. Lois Capps (CA); Steve Rothman (NJ); Elijah Cummings (MD); Rep. Ron Paul (TX); Rep. Chris Murphy (CT); Jesse Jackson, Jr. (IL); Rep. Mel Watt (WA); Rep. Corrine Brown (FL); Rep. Gregory Meeks (NY); Rep. Anthony Weiner (NY); Rep. Dave Loebsack (IA); Rep. Dennis Kucinich (OH); Rep. Peter DeFazio (); Rep. Sam Farr (CA); Rep. Henry Waxman (CA); Rep. Mike Thompson (CA); Rep. John Tierney (MA); Rep. Lloyd Doggett (TX); Rep.Anna Eshoo (CA); Rep. Richard Neal (MA); Rep. Louise Slaughter (NY); and Rep. Mazie Hirono (HI).
Residents of these districts should let their representatives know that their past efforts are appreciated and that they are counted on to continue opposing war funding. Those whose congresspersons are not on the list would do well to call their offices and find out why.
Action: Donate to antiwar candidates. Most elected officials have a mechanism on their websites that enables contributions. Contributions to Democrats, including senatorial candidates, can also made through ActBlue.
Note that Brad Sherman, Howard Berman, Jane Harman, Adam Schiff, Nancy Pelosi, Jackie Speier, George Miller, Patrick Kennedy, James E. Clyburn and David Obey are among those not on the list, although it is to be hoped that some of them, at least, are opposed to continued military adventurism. Also note that, although they are on the list, Henry Waxman and Lynn Woolsey have actively endorsed security-state advocate Jane Harmon against progressive antiwar candidate Marcy Winograd in the upcoming Democratic primary.
Residents of these districts should let their representatives know that their past efforts are appreciated and that they are counted on to continue opposing war funding. Those whose congresspersons are not on the list would do well to call their offices and find out why.
Action: Donate to antiwar candidates. Most elected officials have a mechanism on their websites that enables contributions. Contributions to Democrats, including senatorial candidates, can also made through ActBlue.
Note that Brad Sherman, Howard Berman, Jane Harman, Adam Schiff, Nancy Pelosi, Jackie Speier, George Miller, Patrick Kennedy, James E. Clyburn and David Obey are among those not on the list, although it is to be hoped that some of them, at least, are opposed to continued military adventurism. Also note that, although they are on the list, Henry Waxman and Lynn Woolsey have actively endorsed security-state advocate Jane Harmon against progressive antiwar candidate Marcy Winograd in the upcoming Democratic primary.
Health Care Reform: Where it's at
"Is health care reform dead, clinging to life, or simply pining for the fjords? Brian Beutler and Peter Suderman explain how the undead bill could rise again through the mindboggling process of pre-amendment. Bill Scher and Conn Carroll debate whether liberals are too divided to pass a bill. Jonathan Cohn and Timothy Noah examine how abortion could throw a wrench into any House-Senate compromise. Taking a larger view, Mark Schmitt and Brink Lindsey wonder whether Washington can still accomplish big things:
."
-- From bloggingheads.tv
."
-- From bloggingheads.tv
Con Law: Free speech is a human right
There are many proposals to extend the reach of democracy by revising the Constitution, from excising the electoral college to remodeling the Senate, but no proposal to amend the document has gained more traction than the effort to add a clause declaring that corporations should not be considered "persons" and cannot claim the same rights under the law as human beings. Since the Supremes based their recent ruling that corporate spending to influence elections is a free speech right flowing from the legal fiction that corporations are persons, the proposed amendment would undermine the foundation of the court's decision. A coalition of public interest organizations has launched a campaign to overturn the ruling. The groups -- Voter Action, Public Citizen, Center for Corporate Policy, and the American Independent Business Alliance -- say the Court's ruling in Citizens United v. FEC poses a serious and direct threat to democracy. Their aim, through their constitutional amendment campaign, is to correct the judiciary's creation of corporate rights under the First Amendment over the past three decades.
For more information on the constitutional amendment campaign, visit Free Speech for People.
Listen to a press call on the Supreme Court decision.
View the Supreme Court ruling.
See, also: Politics: Representative Democracy and the Power of Corporations (Impractical Proposals 2010-01-24)
Actions:
Sign Campaign to Legalize Democracy's Move to Amend petition.
Spread the word by urging others to visit www.freespeechforpeople.org for information on the constitutional reform campaign.
For more information on the constitutional amendment campaign, visit Free Speech for People.
Listen to a press call on the Supreme Court decision.
View the Supreme Court ruling.
See, also: Politics: Representative Democracy and the Power of Corporations (Impractical Proposals 2010-01-24)
Actions:
Sign Campaign to Legalize Democracy's Move to Amend petition.
Spread the word by urging others to visit www.freespeechforpeople.org for information on the constitutional reform campaign.
Resource: DoD strategic defense policy summaries
The Department of Defense has undertaken four distinct but related major defense reviews, each of which focuses on a dimension of our national security spending: Quadrennial Defense Review, Ballistic Missile Defense Review, Nuclear Posture Review, and Space Posture Review. The legislatively-mandated Quadrennial Defense Review outlines the Pentagon's view of the long-term threats and challenges faced by the nation and sets out the strategies, capabilities, and forces the military believes will address today's conflicts and tomorrow's threats.
More: Interview (mp3) with Robert Hale, Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) and Chief Financial Officer for the DOD about the proposed military budget for fiscal year 2011. He discusses budgetary support for programs and initiatives within the department and make comparisons to budgets from previous fiscal years.
Gates seeks to change 'out of date' vision of military challenges by Mike Mount (CNN 2010-02-01)
More: Interview (mp3) with Robert Hale, Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) and Chief Financial Officer for the DOD about the proposed military budget for fiscal year 2011. He discusses budgetary support for programs and initiatives within the department and make comparisons to budgets from previous fiscal years.
Gates seeks to change 'out of date' vision of military challenges by Mike Mount (CNN 2010-02-01)
Politics: The Endless and Quixotic Search for Bipartisanship
President Barack Obama dropped in on House Republicans at their annual retreat for a little televised tête-à -tête. The New York Times called it “a rare, sustained and unscripted exchange over the best way to address the nation’s ills.” If you've wished our national leader was exposed to something like the PM's reports to the House of Commons, the exchange will offer some satisfactions, despite the mismatched abilities of the participants. Now if the president would just take on somebody his own size, like say, the House progressive caucus. C-Span has the full video:
The Long War: AfPak Accountability
Blackwater’s Youngest Victim: Father of 9 Year-Old Killed in Nisour Square Gives Most Detailed Account of Massacre to Date
Here is a Democracy Now! exclusive report from Jeremy Scahill about "a nine year old boy, shot in the head and killed by Blackwater in the infamous Nisour Sqaure massacre. His father, who is suing the private military contractor, provides the most detailed eyewitness account of the massacre to date.Last weekend vice president Joe Biden announced that the US Justice Department would appeal the dismissal of the criminal case against five Blackwater operatives accused of being behind the infamous Nisour Square massacre in Baghdad in September 2007. Some 17 Iraqis were killed and more than 20 wounded in fifteen minutes of sustained gunfire. On New Year’s Eve, federal judge Ricardo Urbina threw out the cases, but not for lack of evidence or because the men are not guilty. Urbina charged that prosecutors had committed gross misconduct in the case and violated the constitutional rights of the Blackwater men. Despite Biden’s assurances that the US would seek justice for the Iraqi victims, legal analysts say the appeal is an uphill battle and Blackwater’s lawyers predict it will fail.Democracy Now! correspondent Jeremy Scahill, the National Security reporter for The Nation magazine, has conducted an in-depth investigation of the massacre and of nine-year old Ali Kinani’s death. Blackwater's Youngest Victim:
Nisour Square was the highest profile deadly incident involving Blackwater -- or any private war contractor. And was supposed to be the case that stuck, the case that showed the US would hold private security companies accountable for their alleged crimes. The indictment of the Blackwater shooters was the first time the Justice Department had taken any meaningful action against the company. To the Iraqi victims, the New Year’s Eve dismissal was shattering. Adding insult to injury, several of the Iraqi victims say they were pressured into a settlement with Blackwater earlier this month for what many considered a paltry sum. As it stands now, there is only one remaining legal case against Blackwater in the United States -– a lawsuit brought by Mohammed Kinani, father of the youngest victim that day -- his nine year old son, Ali who was shot in the head and killed by Blackwater forces. Ali’s father may well be the one man now standing between Blackwater and total impunity for the Nisour Square massacre.
The rest of the story: Blackwater’s Youngest Victim by Jeremy Scahill (The Nation 2010-01-29)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
