Rossi Caught In BIAW Illegal Fundraising Scheme: the Buildergate Scandal

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It seems that Dino Rossi was a co-conspirator with the BIAW in illegal fundraising. "The evidence released today shows that Mr. Rossi was not just a beneficiary of these illegal activities, but was a knowing and active participant. "

This isn't one of those 'oh oops' misinterpretations of the law, this is a major scandal. Not only do Rossi and the BIAW have plenty of malice, they've also got malice of forethought.

STATEMENT OF KNOLL LOWNEY, SMITH & LOWNEY PLLC

Documents being released today show that Dino Rossi was directly involved in the illegal fundraising campaign conducted by the Building Industry Association of Washington (“BIAW”)1 that is currently being prosecuted by Attorney General Rob McKenna through a lawsuit filed September 19th.

The critical documents are official minutes ofthe Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish County (“MBA”). MBA released these documents during formal discovery in an unrelated federal lawsuit, and placed its tracking numbers on the bottom of the documents to indicate that MBA released them.

The enforcement of serious violations of our campaign finance laws is a non-partisan issue. The bi-partisan Public Disclosure Commission was unanimous in finding that participants in this fundraising campaign committed “multiple apparent violations” of campaign finance laws. The violations were serious enough to cause a Republican Attorney General to file a lawsuit to prosecute them.

The Chair of the State Public Disclosure Commission found that the participants in this illegal activity reached a “meeting of the minds” and demonstrating an “egregious lack of judgment.”

The evidence released today shows that Mr. Rossi was not just a beneficiary of these illegal activities, but was a knowing and active participant. The Attorney General’s lawsuit found that the illegal fundraising campaign involved BIAW senior officers soliciting contributions from 15 local building groups. According to the Attorney General’s lawsuit, this fundraising was illegal because BIAW was not registered as a political committee and the proceeds of the fundraising were concealed for over a year. AG Complaint ¶¶ 3.9,4.3.

The MBA was one of the groups solicited for a donation. On April 30, 2007, BIAW President Daimon Doyle attended the MBA’s Board meeting to solicit a donation to BIAW’s campaign fund, which was considered a “Fund for Rossi,” according to Sam Anderson, the MBA Executive Director. Based upon a formula, MBA was targeted for a donation of over $570,000! The Board decided to table the request until the next meeting three weeks later, expressing concern that most MBA members were democrats and may not appreciate the donation and also about other pressing MBA expenses including building repairs.

When MBA leadership met next on May 21, 2007 at a “Chair Officers Meeting,” the discussion turned to BIAW’s pending request for campaign funds. While discussing the request, all three of the MBA’s top officers reported that they had received calls from Dino Rossi. The one call for which additional detail is provided clearly confirms that Rossi called to support a MBA contribution to the BIAW’s governor’s race war chest. The minutes leave no question that Dino Rossi spoke to this officer about whether and when MBA would give to the BIAW’s governor campaign fund. The officers receiving calls from Rossi were then-MBA President Doug Barnes, First Vice President Joe Schwab, and Second Vice President John Day.

It is clear that Dino Rossi was aware of and participating in the fundraising campaign at issue in the Attorney General’s suit. Rossi knew that a solicitation request was pending before the MBA board during that three week period; he made calls to each of the three top officers during this period; and he talked by phone to at least one of the officers and specifically discussed the pending fundraising solicitation. The officers clearly understood that Rossi was calling about the solicitation, since they reported the calls while discussing the solicitation, and John Day communicated to Rossi the Board’s position on the solicitation.

There are many questions that these documents do not answer—questions that should be asked of Rossi, Doyle and others in BIAW and the local builder groups. For example, these participants should disclose the precise assistance that Rossi provided to BIAW’s fundraising campaign including every communication between Rossi and Doyle, other BIAW officers, and the local builders groups during the period in question. The other 14 building groups should make public their documents and meeting minutes from this period so the public and Attorney General can understand Rossi’s full involvement.

The documents released today are not under any protective order and involve violations of law currently being prosecuted by the State Attorney General. As such, we believe their disclosure is appropriate if not ethically required. We are in the process of searching our files for other documents that are relevant to the pending Attorney General lawsuit.

1The term “BIAW” is used herein to refer to BIAW and/or its subsidiary BIAW Member Services Corp., which is consistent with these organizations’ use of the term.
© Copyright 2008 Smith & Lowney PLLCDisclaimer

More at: Buildergate Scandal: Rossi caught soliciting illegal BIAW funds! & Buildergate - Dino and the BIAW - Too close for comfort? & Buildergate: the smoking gun

Kucinich kicks ass and takes names.....

Published on Monday, September 29, 2008 by The Nation
An Appropriately Populist Anti-Bailout Rant
by John Nichols

Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich responded appropriately Sunday, when House and Senate leaders announced early a bipartisan agreement for a variation on Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's $700 billion (plus-plus-plus) bailout plan Wall Street.
full article at Common Dreams

homegrown terrorism

thanks to Thom Hartmann for calling attention to this unreported story.....this is heartbreaking. is this what our country has come to???
from Daily Kos .........

Electioneering Hate Crime
Mon Sep 29, 2008 at 10:09:30 AM PDT
After 9/11, a shell-shocked but not yet totally manipulated press acted responsibly enough to report when hate crimes were committed against innocent Muslims. Sadly, that is no longer the case. This past Friday, September 26, 300 worshipers were sprayed with a chemical irritant while celebrating Ramadan at The Muslim Center of Greater Dayton, sending many men, women and children to local hospitals.
Though reported on Saturday, September 27 in The Dayton Daily News, my local paper, The Cincinnati Enquirer, has not seen fit to write about a hate crime which took place a mere 45 miles up the road. Likewise, no one in the greater main stream media has seen the need to document what portends to be a chilling acceptance of home-grown terrorism, at least as long as the terrorism is directed towards Muslims.

.......Most Americans would shy away from further military involvement in places such as Iran. Not those behind Obsession. As Hermann Goering said in April, 1946, "Naturally, the common people don't want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. . . .. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship . . . . voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."
Obsession only serves to further insinuate a similar extremist neo-con agenda by manipulating fear, tribalism and hatred. It has worked before and certainly can
again.There is hardly a puzzle here. In this deftly managed, organized and far-reaching political smear, swift boating has reached an all-time and very dangerous low while the Fourth Estate chooses to once again, sit back and do nothing.
full post

more from Blue Oregon.......

The Oregonian: Enjoy Dead Bodies & Anti-Islam Propaganda With Your
Sunday Paper
Jake Oken-Berg
Yesterday morning The Oregonian inserted a DVD called “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against The West” into every copy of its Sunday paper. The Oregonian was paid an undisclosed amount of money by The Clarion Fund to run the “paid advertisement.”
I watched the film on YouTube last week. Here’s a quick summary so you don’t have to give yourself an anxiety attack:Within the first five minutes the film shows US Airlines flight 175 plowing into the World Trade Center south tower, dead bodies being pulled from the Madrid train bombing, and lifeless, partially-clothed kids being carried out from the Beslan School Massacre in Russia. All scored with a haunting soundtrack.The next 45-minutes contains quotes, clips, and images of Muslims declaring their intent to kill all Westerners and make Islam the dominant religion across the world.
full post

David Sirota on the corporate heist

David did a great job presenting the case for a NO vote on the biggest heist ever seen. it's another symptom of the cancerous phase of unregulated capitalism. the "greed is good" bill of goods sold to us since the reagan years is playing out before us. our national diagnosis of narscisstic personality disorder is glaring. i can't believe the very people who caused us to be in this terrible position are now on the dole and it looks like the stick up is going to work. unbelieveable!!!!
wake up america!!!! ....... update: BAILOUT FAILS !!!!!!!

Top 5 Reasons to Vote Against Paulson's $700 Billion Bailout

By David Sirota
Campaign for America's Future, 9/28/08

There's news this hour of a congressional deal to bailout Wall Street fatcats with $700 billion of taxpayer cash. Though the deal is better than what Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson originally proposed early last week, it remains an insulting atrocity.
Based on the outlines of the deal as reported in the press, here are the top 5 reasons (in no order) why every single member of Congress - Democrat and Republican - should vote this sucker down. Please feel free to copy and paste this post into an email to your congressperson:

1. BAILOUT'S INHERENT FISCAL INSANITY COULD MAKE PROBLEM WORSE
When an individual consumer uses a new credit card to pay off astounding debt from an old credit card, it's called kiting, and in many cases, it is illegal. Apparently, though, when the government does it, it's billed as Serious Public Policy. Because that's what this supposedly prudent bailout bill would do: Force taxpayers to borrow $700 billion from foreign banks to pay off the bad debt of Wall Street banks. During a crisis that is aimed at preventing interest rates from skyrocketing, nobody has been able to explain how adding almost a trillion dollars to the interest rate-exacerbating national debt would do anything other than undermine the plan's underlying objective. Worse, the U.S. Treasury Department itself admits that the $700 billion number is "not based on any particular data point" - that is, they created it out of thin air because "We just wanted to choose a really large number." Slapping that amount of money onto the national credit card when our government can't even justify the amount is beyond absurd - it is insane.

It didn't have to be this way, of course. As I noted in my newspaper column this week, Senator Bernie Sanders proposed a temporary tax on millionaires to finance part of this bailout. Similarly, Blue Dog Democrats proposed a future tax on financial firms if and when taxpayers lose cash on the deal. These proposals were discarded in favor of language asking the government to "submit a plan to Congress on how to recoup any losses," according to the Associated Press. Not only is that language toothless, but it opens up the possibility of a plan being submitted that says we should raise middle-class taxes or slash middle-class social programs to pay for Wall Street's misbehavior.

2. EXPERTS ON BOTH THE LEFT AND RIGHT SAY THIS BAILOUT COULD MAKE THINGS WORSE

Primum non nocere is the latin phrase for "first do no harm" - the priority principle for any EMT working on a sick patient. It
should be the same priority for Congress at this moment - and a growing group of esteemed experts on both the Right and Left are insisting that this bailout bill could make things worse. Here's a review:

The Washington Post reported on Friday, almost 200 academic economists "have signed a petition organized by a University of Chicago professor objecting to the plan on the grounds that it
could create perverse incentives, that it is too vague and that its long-run effects are unclear."
NYU's Nouriel Roubini, the visionary who had been predicting this meltdown, says "The Treasury plan (even in its current version agreed with Congress) is very poorly conceived and does not contain many of the key elements of a sound and efficient and fair rescue plan."
Harvard's Ken Rogoff, a Former Federal Rerserve and IMF official, insists that the prospect of this bailout is, unto itself, taking a manageable problem and making it into a more intense crisis. He says that credit is frozen primarily because banks want to avoid dealing with other banks that might drive a hard bargain, and instead would rather wait for free money from the government. Without the prospect of that free money, Rogoff suggests that credit would probably begin moving again, if slowly.
Dean Baker of the Center on Economic and Policy Research says that spending so much cash so quickly on such a poorly conceived plan could have the effect of making it impossible to fund economic stimulus that is the real way out of this mess. "Suppose the Paulson plan goes through," he writes. "It is virtually certain that the economy will weaken further and the number of foreclosures and people without jobs will continue to rise. This is the fallout from a collapsing housing bubble...When families respond to their loss of home equity by cutting back their consumption it will deepen the recession. In this context it might prove very important to have the resources needed to provide a substantial stimulus. there is no doubt that this bailout will make further stimulus much more difficult to sell politically." Meanwhile, it's not even close to clear that this is a problem that requires such an enormous response. As mentioned above, the Treasury Department admits it has absolutely no factual basis for requesting $700 billion - an amount equivalent to about 5 percent of our entire economy. Additionally, the Washington Post reports that "Banks throughout the United States carried on with the business of making loans yesterday even as federal officials warned again that their industry is on the verge of collapse, suggesting that the overheated language on Capitol Hill may not reflect the reality on many Main Streets." Indeed, "many smaller banks said they were actually benefiting from the problems on Wall Street" and "even some of the nation's largest banks, which have pushed hard for a federal bailout, deny that the current situation is forcing them to reduce lending."

The questions, then, are simple: In the face of this bipartisan opposition from objective experts, why should a lawmaker instead believe the same Bush officials who helped create this crisis with their deregulation, the same Bush officials who just months ago said everything was AOK? Shouldn't there be almost complete unanimity among both objective and partisan observers before spending 5 percent of our entire economy after just one harried week of White House demands? Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. It's time, as The Who said, that we "don't get fooled again."

3. THERE ARE CLEARLY BETTER AND SAFER ALTERNATIVES

The mantra throughout the week has been that America has
"no choice" but to pass Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's $700 billion giveaway - that, in effect, there are no alternatives. But that's an out-and-out lie - one with a motive: Making it seem as if the only thing we can do is hand the keys to the federal treasury over to both parties' corporate campaign
contributors.

The truth is, there are a number of alternatives. Here are
just a few:
In the Washington Post last week, Galbraith outlined a multi-pronged plan shoring up and expanding the FDIC, creating a Home Owners Loan Corporation, resurrecting Nixon's federal revenue sharing, and taxing stock transactions (a tax that would fall mostly on speculators) to finance the whole deal.
The Service Employees International Union has drafted a plan based around a massive investment in public services and national health care, and regulatory reforms preventing foreclosures and forcing banks to renegotiate the predatory terms of their bad mortgages.
For those in the mindless, zombie-ish "someone has to do something!" camp, consider the possibility that you are under the spell of the same kind of White House fear that led us to
invade Iraq because of Saddam's supposed WMD. Consider, perhaps, that there may not even be a compelling basis for doing anything just yet (or at least not anything nearly so huge), and that the whole reason there is this urgent push right now has nothing to do with the financial situation, and everything to do
with creating the political dynamic to pass a wasteful giveaway - one that couldn't be passed otherwise without a sense of emergency. In two separate posts (here and here), CEPR's Baker says that letting the problem play out could be the best path, because Treasury and the Fed may already have the tools they
need. Following this path, the worst thing that happens is "The Fed and Treasury will have to step in and take over the banks is exactly what many economists argue should happen anyhow," Baker writes. "So the outcome of the worst case scenario is a really frightening day in which the whole world financial system is shaken to its core, followed by a government takeover of the banks. Eventually the government straightens out the books and sells them off again. But the real threat here is not to the economy, it is to the banks." Then there is the idea of simply taking the $700 billion and simply give it to struggling homeowners to help them pay off part of their mortgages. This hasn't even been discussed but the thought experiment it involves is important to understanding why there is, indeed, an alternative to the Paulson plan. If the root of this problem is people not being able to pay off their mortgages, and those defaults then devaluing banks' mortgage-backed assets, then simply helping people pay their mortgages would preserve the value of the mortgage-backed assets and recharge the market with liquidity. That would be a bottom-up solution helping the mass public, rather than a top-down move helping only financial industry executives. On this latter proposal, some may argue that giving any relief to homeowners is "unfair" in that those homeowners created their problems, so why should taxpayers have to help them? But then, is helping homeowners any less fair than simply giving all the money away to Wall Street, no strings attached? I'd say no - and helping homeowners also serves a second purpose: namely, keeping people in their homes, which not only helps them, but helps an entire neighborhood (as any homeowner knows, nearby properties can be devalued when foreclosures hit).

4. ANY INCUMBENT VOTING FOR THIS PUTS THEMSELVES AT RISK OF BEING THROWN OUT OF OFFICE

As a preface, let me state that I think we live in a country where politicians too often listen to their donors and to the Establishment rather than their constituents, not the other way around. America is a country where our leaders dishonestly invoke the concepts of "Statesmanship" and "Seriousness" and their supposed hatred of "pandering" to justify ignoring what the public wants (as if giving the public what it wants is somehow not the objective of a democratic republic). So, in
short, I don't think there's anything wrong with this bill being "politicized" by coming down the pike right before an election - in fact, I think it's a good thing because the election - and the fear of being thrown out of office forces our politicians to at least consider what the public wants. I mean, really - would we rather have this decision made after the election, when the public can be completely ignored?

Polls overwhelmingly show a public that sees voting for this bill as an act of economic treason whereby the bipartisan Washington elite robs taxpayer cash to give their campaign contributors a trillion-dollar gift. As just two of many examples, Bloomberg News' poll shows "decisive" opposition to the bailout proposal, and Rasmussen reports that their surveys show "the more voters learn about the proposed $700 billion federal bailout plan for the U.S. economy, the more they don’t like it."

Any sitting officeholder that votes for this - whether a Democrat or a Republican - should expect to get crushed under a wave of populist-themed attacks from their opponents. We've already seen it start. In Oregon, Democratic challenger Jeff Merkley (D) is airing scathing television ads hammering Republican incumbent Gordon Smith for potentially supporting the deal. Similarly, this morning on Meet the Press, we saw Republican Senate challenger Bob Schaffer (CO) dishonestly papering over his own votes for deregulation and ripping into his opponent Rep. Mark Udall (D) for potentially supporting the deal. Incumbents, get ready for that kind of election-changing heat in your face if you vote "yes."

This, by the way, could play out in the presidential contest.
Barack Obama has been taking the advice of the Wall Street insiders in his campaign in endorsing this bailout. McCain has endorsed the vague outline, but he may ultimately back off once he sees the details, allowing him to then run the last month of the campaign as the economic populist in the race. I'm not
saying it would work, considering McCain's 26-year record of supporting the deregulatory agenda that created this crisis. But such a move could end up help him flank Obama on the defining economic issues of the race.

5.
CORRUPTION AND SLEAZE IS SWIRLING AROUND THESE BAILOUTS - AND AMERICA KNOWS IT

The amount of brazen corruption and conflicts of interest swirling around this deal is odious, even by Washington's standards - and polls suggest the public inherently understands that. Consider these choice nuggets:

Warren Buffett is simultaneously advising Obama to support the deal, while he himself is investing in the company that stands to make the most off the deal.
McCain's campaign is run by lobbyists from the companies that
stand to make a killing off a no-strings government bailout.
The New York Times reports that the person advising Paulson and Bernanke on the AIG bailout was the CEO of Goldman Sachs - a company with a $20 billion stake in AIG.
The Obama campaign's top spokesman pushing this deal is none other than Roger Altman, who Bloomberg News reports is simultaneously "advising a group of investors who are trying to prevent their shares from being diluted in the U.S. takeover of American International Group Inc." - that is, who have a direct
financial interest in the current iteration of the bailout.
Add to this the fact that the negotiations over this bill have been largely conducted in secret, and you have one of the most sleazy heists in American history.

**********

If this bill passes, it will be a profound referendum on the dominance of money over democracy in America. That - and that alone - would be the only thing an objective observer could take away from the whole thing.

Money will have compelled politicians to not only vote for
substantively dangerous policy, but vote for that policy even at their own clear electoral peril. Such a vote will confirm that the only people these politicians believe they are responsible for representing are are the fat-cat recipients of the $700 billion - the same fat cats who underwrite their political campaigns,
the same fat-cats who engineered this crisis, and want to keep profiteering off it. Any lawmaker who takes that position is selling out the country, as is any issue-based political non-profit group - liberal or conservative - that uses its resources to defend a "yes" vote rather than demand a "no" vote. This is a bill that forces taxpayers to absorb all of the pain, and Wall Street executives to reap all of the gain. It doesn't even force the corporate executives (much less the government leaders culpable in this free fall to step down - it lets them stay fat and happy in their corner office suites in Manhattan.

Even if they believe that something must be done right now, lawmakers should still vote no on this specific bill, and force one of the very prudent alternatives to the forefront. They shouldn't just vote no on Paulson's proposal - they should vote
hell no. Our economy's future depends on it.

"Alaskans for Truth" Rally

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Alaskans are furious about the McCain campaign's interference in their State government.
Alaskans Demand Accountability from Palin! HUGE Rally!

On Saturday, September 27, a group called "Alaskans for Truth" held a rally on the Park Strip in downtown Anchorage. Here's what they had to say to Governor Sarah Palin.

meanwhile the rest of America is laughing at McCain's VP pick:
Brooks: Palin could 'rise to mediocrity' in Biden debate

Grim Outlook in Afghanistan

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The economy is in shambles as a result of Republican/conservative rule.

Faced with the need for a bail out to prevent a banking/credit collapse that could plunge the entire economy into a Depression, most Americans have temporarily forgotten about the $650 billion Iraq war/occupation. We'll be living with that deficit spending anchor around our necks for a long long time.

Now, with the election looming, Bush & his co-conspirators are trying to cover up the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan

There's an old saying, a stitch in time saves nine. And of course Bush couldn't get that old saying right, either. His single-minded obsessive pursuit of an ill defined victory in Iraq has lead to the complete unravelling of the situation in Afghanistan

Bush Administration Will Keep Secret 'Grim' Afghanistan Report Quiet Until After Election

According to reports, a secret US intelligence report which says that the political and military situation in Afghanistan is "grim" will be withheld from the public until after the election. Intelligence officials are finishing up the National Intelligence Estimate on Afghanistan, but the report won't be released until after the election, presumably so it doesn't hurt the GOP. Keeping the intelligence report under wraps would likely help John McCain, as his campaign has focused on what he sees as the success of the Iraq "surge," in which the US added troops to lessen violence. Attention to problems in Afghanistan would put the spotlight on President Bush's failures, which might rub off on the Republican nominee since he supported these failures. National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell has said that he doesn't believe intelligence estimates should be made public, though several have recently been released, including one that detailed the US intelligence community's position on Iran's nuclear program.

Presidential Debate

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I really appreciate that Jim Lehrer is trying to get the candidates to speak to each other. I like the idea of a real debate instead of mutually exclusive stump speeches.

Obama is able to adapt to talking to McCain. McCain doesn't seem to be able to do anything but stick to his talking points.

The financial crisis is the big topic of the evening and McCain doesn't get it. It's Wall St., the private sector, that's in trouble but McCain just keeps rambling on about earmarks and tax cuts. McCain has a very limited repertoire, he's just not up to the job. A President has to be able to move beyond his pet issues and deal with whatever situations arise.

6:38 - McCain has finally gotten to talk about Iraq and the Surge. He's repeating his canned spiel about the Surge working and about "winning". Lots of jingoistic slogans and no reality. Clearly he's trying to refight the Vietnam War. He doesn't understand what has happened and what is happening in Iraq.

Obama called McCain out on his claim that Obama voted against funding the troops. Obama pointed out that McCain voted against a troop funding bill with a timetable for withdrawal and He voted against a bill without a timetable. A difference about timetables and not about funding the troops.

McCain clings to the idea that "the Surge" worked even though the Pentagon says it was other factors that reduced violence in Iraq.

6:50 - Afghanistan... McCain says we'll do in Afghanistan what we did in Iraq.

Obama says it'll take much more than just more troops to fix what's wrong in Afghanistan.

Weirdly, McCain claims that Obama suggested attacking Pakistan. Also, McCain thinks Pakistan was a failed state when the Pakistani military overthrew the elected government.

McCain tells an anecdote about a goldstar mother and once again reveals that his thinking is stuck on Vietnam. He want to "win" before he dies because he feels he was "defeated" in Vietnam. He's not able to move beyond the Vietnam War and see the reality of the current situation.

7:00 - Iran... McCain still want to bomb, bomb, bomb Iran. He doesn't seem to have any thoughts about a diplomatic approach to resolve the problem.

Obama says a diplomatic strategy is needed.

McCain rehashes the same old garbage about not talking to foreign leaders unless you love them.

- wrap up - McCain is stuck in the '60's. His thinking on foreign policy and the economy are inflexible, simplistic and dogmatic. McCain's long, long habit of popping up to play at being "the Maverick" when an issue lends itself to grandstanding and then dropping out of sight on tough issues really doesn't make him suitable to be President of the U.S.A..

no bail out for corporate thieves

as we prepare to get the great grandchildren's credit cards out and reward some of the biggest criminals the world has ever seen, a few people from across all political positions joined together at Bellingham city hall and marched to the federal building.

Hundreds of Economists Urge Congress Not to Rush on Rescue Plan
By Matthew Benjamin
Sept. 25 (Bloomberg) -- More than 150 prominent U.S. economists, including three Nobel Prize winners, urged Congress to hold off on passing a $700 billion financial market rescue plan until it can be studied more closely.
In a letter yesterday to congressional leaders, 166 academic economists said they oppose Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's plan because it's a``subsidy'' for business, it's ambiguous and it may have adverse market consequences in the long term.
They also expressed alarm at the haste of lawmakers and the Bush administration to pass legislation.
full article

thanks to SueEllen for forwarding this bargain plan along.....

"We Deserve It Dividend"
This idea sounds just crazy enough to possibly work, so naturally it won't be given serious consideration. How great is our bureaucracy!! An $85,000,000,000.00 bailout of AIG??
Instead, how about giving $85,000,000,000 to America in a "We Deserve It
Dividend".To make the math simple, let's assume there are 200,000,000 >
bonafide U.S.Citizens 18+.Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every
man, woman and child.So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and
up..So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billion that equals $425,000.00. My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a We Deserve It Dividend.

Of course, it would NOT be tax free. So let's assume a tax rate of 30%. Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes. That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam. But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket. A husband and wife has $595,000.00.

What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00 in your family? Pay off your mortgage - housing crisis solved.
Repay college loans - what a great boost to new grads Put away money for college - it'll be there Save in a bank - create money to loan to entrepreneurs. Buy a new car - create jobs Invest in the market - capital drives growth Pay for your parent's medical insurance - health care improves
Enable Deadbeat Dads to come clean - or else

Remember this is for every adult U S Citizen 18+ including the folks who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving in our Armed Forces. If we're going to re-distribute wealth let's really do it...instead of trickling out a puny $1000.00 ( 'vote buy' ) economic incentive that is being proposed by one of our candidates for President. If we're going to do an $85 billion bailout, let's bail out every adult U S Citizen 18+! As for AIG - liquidate it. Sell off its parts. Let American General go back to being American
General. Sell off the real estate. Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up.

Here's my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn't. Sure it's a crazy idea that can 'never work.'But can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party! How do you spell Economic Boom? I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85 Billion “We Deserve It Dividend” more than do the geniuses at AIG or in Washington DC. And remember, this plan only really costs $59.5 Billion because $25.5 Billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam.

Ahhh...I feel so much better getting that off my chest.

Star Spangled Thursday -

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Stars & Stripes FOREVER!

let wall street bail wall street out......

Thom Hartmann gets it right again.... reimpose stock trade transaction fee....could be split between buyer and seller or many options.....let's make it less like a casino and more like an investment tool.....

Medicine for Wall Street: A Financial Transactions Tax

By Dean Baker
- September 16, 2008, 8:24AM
In the best "kick em, when they're down" spirit of American politics, now is a great time to be pushing a financial transactions tax. The greed and incompetence of the Wall Street crowd has thrown the economy into a recession in which hundreds of thousands have already lost their job, millions are losing their homes, and tens of millions of losing their life's savings as their home equity vanishes before their eyes.

In the fallout, some of the big Wall Street firms are going down too, Lehman and Merrill Lynch yesterday, maybe AIG today. Of course Freddie and Fannie sank last week. But even with the collapse of these financial giants we still have a badly bloated financial sector that preys on the rest of the economy.

We should seize on this moment in which the public is rightly outraged by the greed and stupidity of these financial wizards to drive a stake into the heart of Wall Street. With a financial transactions tax we can bring this financial behemoth down to size
once and for all.

.......We have a historic opportunity to correct one of the major distortions to the U.S. economy if we move now. There is no way to reverse the growth in inequality over the last three decades without attacking the elite Wall Street crowd. Those folks who back away from this task simply are not serious about addressing inequality. They have our money. It's that simple.
full article

everything old is new again.......

thanksto Thom Hartmann for bringing this piece up and helping to understand what the hell is going on. and this is the biggest heist ever seen ......i hope we are all planning to have some fun in the next 6 weeks america cuz the price tag (well that's the one they are sharing with us now....they suck at financial planning for our country) is $7,000,0000,000.....i need a new button.....the "making billionaires out of millionaries" is obsolete...... cliff ahead!!!!!! brace yourself, effie!!!!!!!

how much is enough???????

greed is NOT a family value

wake up america

over at The Economic Populist.....

People are Asking the Wrong Question

Wall Street bailout plan
All discussion about the proposed taxpayer-funded bailout of Wall Street banks is centered around the idea of, If we don't bail them out, they will fail.It seems no one is asking a much more important question of, "Will this bailout do any good?" Or to take this one step further, "Will this bailout do more harm than good?"
We badly need to consider what history teaches us before we repeat the same mistakes all over again.

full article

to trust the same greedy bastards who got us here to fix this????? i don't want goldman sach paulson anywhere near my credit cards let alone my great grandchildren's..

wake up america

We Need This Money By The End Of The Week! Henry Paulson pt1

5th Annual International Day of Peace

today was a great day of hope!!! so many good hearted people gathered to share the energy and we all left ready to continue........thank you everybody!!
thank you Whatcom Peace & Justice Center!!!!!!



Freedom is Coming -Kulshan Chorus


Marie Marchand introduced Doris Ferm, a member of Bellingham Friends Meeting and a longtime peace activist, who was awarded the Howard Harris Lifetime Peacemaker Award..

nice coverage at Captain's Log
read Marie's piece at Whatcom View at the Bellingham Herald

Doris Kent invites all to come see The Corporal's Diary at the Pickford Cinema October 15 - 16

Keynote Speaker:
Nobel Peace Prize Nominee Kathy Kelly co-founded Voices in the Wilderness, a campaign that worked to end the UN/US sanctions against the people of Iraq. She has been to Iraq twenty four times since January 1996, and stayed there through the US bombing campaign in March 2003. Kathy has also participated in nonviolent direct action teams in Haiti, Bosnia, Lebanon, and the West Bank of Palestine. She recently returned from Amman, Jordan, where she worked
with Iraqi refugees. Her articles appear regularly on Truthout

find out about her new book: Other Lands Have Dreams, by Kathy Kelly at Everyday Citizen

read coverage in the Bellingham Herald:
Monday, Sep. 22, 2008
Hundreds gather in Bellingham to promote peace
ANNA WALTERS
BELLINGHAM - Hundreds of peace-seekers crammed into the First Congregational Church of Bellingham in a show of solidarity and celebration for the International Day of Peace on Sunday, Sept. 21.
People attended the Whatcom Peace & Justice Center's annual event for countless reasons: Some were protesting the war in Iraq, others were supporting prisoner rehabilitation programs and still some were riding the wave of hope generated by the thought of a new president taking office in January.
"I definitely think that peace day represents the hope people are feeling right now about the election," said Phoebe Wahl, 17, of Bellingham. "People are getting really excited about the change we will hopefully be seeing in our government." full article

more video here

Whatcom - Countywide Voting

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CHARTER AMENDMENT #1 will return County Council elections to countywide voting. The Charter was changed in 2005 to make voting for County Council a District-Only vote. District-Only voting prevents county citizens from voting on who will occupy a majority of the County Council seats.

Here's what the 2008 General Election voters pamphlet has to say:

"CHARTER AMENDMENT NO. 1
Submitted by the Whatcom County Council

The Whatcom County Council has, by Ordinance #2007-069, proposed a charter amendment concerning election of Council Offices. It provides that, in the general election, each voter may vote for each Council Office from each district and for the at-large Council Office regardless of the district in which the voter lives, when those offices are up for election. Each candidate must reside in the district she/he represents, except for the at-large candidate.

Should this amendment be: APPROVED REJECTED"


Explanatory Statement

"Currently, in the general election, each voter may only vote for the Council Office representing the district in which the voter resides and the at-large Council Office, when those offices are up for election. The new law would allow, in the general election, each voter to vote for each Council Office from each district, regardless of the district in which the voter lives, and for the at-large Council Office, when those offices are up for election. Each candidate must reside in the district she/he represents, except for the at-large candidate—this requirement does not change."

Earlier this month, the 42nd LD Democrats invited County Councilwoman Barbara Brenner to visit and talk about the Countywide Voting Charter Amendment.

your palin mccain ticket on energy....huh??

a scooby do moment for sure and that is the nicest thing one can say.....mostly terrifying....

Good Food

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Even though I'm a staunch supporter of the Ferndale Farmer's Market (Every Saturday at the RiverWalk), I personally recommend stopping by one of Bellingham's Farmer's Markets and trying tostadas made by Las Margaritas.

From the Community to Community Newsletter:

Next Wednesday from 12pm – 5pm will be your last chance to attend the Fairhaven Farmers Market behind Village Books for 2008!

Next Wednesday both Cooperativa Jacal’s fresh, organic produce and Las Margaritas will be there. Come eat tasty tostadas and snag some amazing organics this Wednesday in Fairhaven.

Be sure to come down to the Saturday market across from Boundary Bay from 10am – 3pm to eat at Las Margaritas Catering Cooperative and to pick out the best from the farmworker-run Cooperativa Jacal.

42nd LD Candidate Mark Flanders on Eductaion

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State Legislature candidate Mark Flanders (D) talks about a better approach to education funding.

Mark recognizes that supporting public education is the American way and essential to our future. Unlike his opponent, who takes the me-first and to heck with everybody else approach.

It's Still The Stupid Economy

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It was the S&L crisis, then the dot com bubble burst, then electricity rate price gouging and Enron, then the subprime mortgage crisis and now it's the banking collapse. Anybody see a theme developing here? Yep, that's right; deregulation leads to lying, cheating and stealing... and American working families always get left holding the bag while most of the culprits walk away with their loot!

Don't you think it's time to make some real changes? Regulations is just another word rules. Don't you think we should have rules that don't screw the average American? And don't you think the rules should be enforced, so that everybody really does have to play by the same rules?

Maddow & Sirota on McCain's Regulation Flip Flop

The Dream Gone Bad: The Facts

gentle mountain top removal?????

so what are the coal companies doing better....blowing the mountain tops off quieter or more gently....or have they ordered less rain to rush down their beautiful valley fills to ease on the flooding???? bet they'll get it right when they blow the last mountain top off and completely destroy the 2nd most diverse forest on the planet earth-2nd only to the tropical rain forests.

will we destroy planet earth before we change our ways?

McCain: ‘I Do’ Support An End To Mountain-Top Removal, But Coal Companies Also ‘Doing A Much Better Job’»

In a townhall meeting yesterday in Orlando, Sen. John McCain
(R-AZ) was asked if he supported an end to the economically and ecologically
destructive practice of mountaintop removal coal mining. His reply:

I do.

Mountaintop removal is decimating Appalachia — 25 percent of Wise County’s historic mountain ranges have been destroyed forever.

McCain couldn’t let well enough alone. He then incoherently continued, “I’ve seen a
dramatic improvement in the behavior of the coal companies. They are doing a
much better job.”

Watch it:


full post

a previous post: Thursday, August 28, 2008
the myth of "clean" coal

Randi Rhodes got it right....

Randi's got it right on her show today....Louise Slaughter rocks!!!!!......
the Democrats grabbed "drill, baby, drill!" and came out swingin' .....they got it right and Randi was brilliant today in her analysis and presentation.....

Wednesday, Septemeber 17, 2008
RELAX.
STOP WHINING! Please.
We're hearing it on the phones every day. Fear! Ranging from legitimate nervousness about the future to tired, chronic whining about tactics, “Why doesn't Obama do this? Why doesn't he do that? All is lost! Waaaaaah!”
STOP IT. RIGHT NOW! One of the reason's Democrats have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in the past is whining and self doubt. We offer a curious America
great ideas, sound policy, a new, innovative and more prosperous path, honesty,integrity and a CAN DO attitude, and then get whittled down by weak-willed doubters chewing away at their finger nails wondering cluelessly if we're presenting the package with the right colored bow on top. Meanwhile the opposition party MARKETING MACHINE starts their Fear and Smear TV ads telling you don’t trust that guy and oh bythe way 8-12 years of REPUBLICAN FAILED IDEAS are really HIS FAILED IDEAS? WHAT? They do it to you so hard that you start wondering if maybe they’re right about OUR guy.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

full post worth reading

Stuff You Should Know About Rossi & BIAW

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The Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW) is a big, big backer of Dino Rossi and acts as his political attack dog.

It seems the BIAW has been breaking campaign finance laws.

PDC unanimously rules that BIAW and Master Builders broke public disclosure laws

It's not just how BIAW spends money on political activities that's a problem. The way they get their political action cash is also the subject of law suits.

Over at Washblog, Noemie Maxwell has posted some important information about how the BIAW gets it's political action money.

Diagram Shows How Dino Rossi's Biggest Funder Skims Millions from Workers Fund to Attack Gregoire
By noemie maxwell - Tue Sep 16, 2008 at 11:27:14 AM PST

Monday - Banking Crisis

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The economy is tanking thanks to the policies put in place by the people behind John McCains run for the White House. McCain Campaign is run, top to bottom, by lobbyists. McCain's, now you see him now you don't, chief economic adviser Phil Gramm aka Forclosure Phil led the way to the mortgage crisis and on to todays banking crisis. We'll have to wait and see if the banking crisis will spark a stockmarket crash and depression.

McCain Says We're Better Off?

We, average Americans, just can't afford a McCain Presidency. Thanks to Bush and all his Republican/lobbyist pals, middle class families incomes have been declining and now the value of their houses are also shrinking while the cost of food, fuel and healthcare are climbing at an alarming rate. And to add insult to injury, investing in the stockmarket has been a loser; $100 invested in a DJIA index fund when Bush first took office is worth only $83 today. That doesn't put much toward sending the kids to college or retirement, does it.

But McCain thinks the "fundamentals of our economy are strong". We just can't afford a McCain Presidency.

Barney Frank on McCain's financial reform record
by faizshakir

UPDATE:

Krugman on Phil Gramm

the reception you didn't see.....

just in case anyone thought Alaskans are united behind mcsame's running mate

‘Alaska Women Reject Palin’ Rally is HUGE!
...........Never, have I seen anything like it in my 17 and a half years living in Anchorage. The organizers had someone walk the rally with a counter, and they clicked off well over 1400 people (not including the 90 counter-demonstrators). This was the biggest political rally ever, in the history of the state. I was absolutely stunned. The second most amazing thing is how many people honked and gave the thumbs up as they drove by. And even those that didn’t honk looked wide-eyed and awe-struck at the huge crowd that was growing by the minute. This just doesn’t happen here.

full post

nice slideshow here

Employee Free Choice Act, Help It Happen

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Your New Job

freechoiceact.org Think your boss is bad? This CEO think hand sanitizer is healthcare coverage and soda is an employee benefit.

We all know something's out of whack when CEOs rake in hundreds of times what their employees earn, and workers get the boot just for talking about unions.

It could almost be a bad joke if it weren't such a serious problem.

That's why we're hoping you take a minute to join one million people in support of the Employee Free Choice Act after you watch this video we made with the award-winning producers at Brave New Films.

Watch the video, and then sign the petition and help us reach one million signatures at www.freechoiceact.org/page/s/yournewjob

It's The Speculators, Stupid

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The chant from Oil Company Republican politicians has been "drill here, drill now" . They've put on a PR push to lift environmental protections and hand out oil & gas leases, claiming skyrocketing oil prices were a result of an oil shortage.

As anyone who's bought a tank of gas lately knows, the price of gas has been going down. And interesting enough, the price began going down when Democrats put forward legislation to regulate speculation.

Now a study has been released that proves speculation not shortage was the reason for the huge increase in oil prices.

Study links oil prices to investor speculation

By H. JOSEF HEBERT – 1 day ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Speculation by large investors — and not supply and demand for oil — were a primary reason for the surge in oil prices during the first half of the year and the more recent price declines, an independent study concluded Wednesday.

The report by Masters Capital Management said investors poured $60 billion into oil futures markets during the first five months of the year as oil prices soared from $95 a barrel in January to $145 a barrel by July.

Since then, these investors have withdrawn $39 billion from those markets as prices have retreated dramatically, the report said. Oil traded at just under $102 a barrel Wednesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange. ...

Republican's including the "Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)" have continued to push the fantasy that more oil & gas leases would magically solve the runaway price problem. Democrats have recognized that market manipulation has been the problem and the proof that they are right is the drop in gas prices as speculator fled from crude oil futures.

... Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., a sponsor of an anti-speculation bill, said the Masters report challenges CFTC claims to date that supply and demand forces — and not excessive speculation — has driven up oil prices.

"This analysis illustrates that when oil speculators poured large amounts of speculative money into oil markets, prices skyrocketed just as they were hoping ... And when the speculative money got pulled out, prices tumbled," she said. ...(AP article)

Rossi's Vegas Connection

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So now we know why Dino Rossi had the Italian Club of Seattle make a stink about a Gregoire campaign ad that used background music from the TV show "The Sopranos". With huge amounts of cash being pouring in from out-of-state gambling interests, Dino has real worries about appearing to have those pesky old Las Vegas casino/mob connections.

Dino's attacked Governor Gregoire, falsely claiming she's expanded gambling while he's the one getting millions from casino owners.

RGA Rolls the Dice on Rossi

Wednesday, September 10, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kelly Steele, (206) 992-9922

NEW VIDEO: Out-of-State, Right-Wing Gambling Moguls Ante up for Rossi

Right-wing casino owners betting Washington voters won’t see through their Hypoc-ROSSI

SEATTLE – Who won’t Republican Dino Rossi take money from to attack Governor Gregoire? The top two funders of the "Swift Boat" attack ads, check. Tens of thousands of dollars from Big Oil, check. Millions from Olympia’s most powerful special interest lobbying group (who referred to the Governor as a “she-wolf”), check. Now, Rossi is calling in his Republican friends from DC to attack Governor Gregoire for stopping the expansion of gambling with a million dollars from…out-of-state casino owners.

NEW VIDEO: “Hypoc-ROSSI” (click to watch)

The Republican Governors Association (RGA) – which has already spent over $400,000 to get Rossi elected this cycle and deposited an additional $1 million last month into their Washington state political account – went on the air today with an attack ad that has immediately been discredited by two major newspapers.

Seattle PI

“The newest ad is inventive: almost fact free, and especially in all
the relevant detail they ignore to gleefully bash the governor.”

The RGA’s first ad attacks Governor Gregoire for rejecting the largest expansion of gambling in our state’s history, an action she took with the support of Republican and Democratic lawmakers, including the late Republican King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng. Republican Attorney General Rob McKenna has stated repeatedly that Gregoire’s actions were consistent with the law.

What the Rossi and the RGA don’t tell you is that they have spent the last three years filling their coffers with $1.6 million from right-wing casino owners to help fund attack ads.

Hypoc-ROSSI has never stopped the Republican candidate before. After his biggest backers and Olympia’s most powerful special interests, the Building Industry Association of Washington spent millions before the primary election attacking Governor Gregoire to distract from Rossi’s terrible record on transportation and public safety, no one should be surprised to see the latest attack from Rossi and his powerful Republican, DC allies.

The Republican Governors Association, with the help of George W. Bush , has raised record amounts of money from right-wing casino moguls this election season, including a cool $300,000 from Sheldon Adelson, the owner of the Venetian casino and one of George Bush’s top donors.

This isn’t the first time that Rossi has pocketed thousands in campaign contributions from powerful interests bent on expanding gambling in Washington State. Gerry Kingen, a former casino owner and prominent backer of the expansion of gambling, who contributed thousands of dollars to an initiative to expand slot machines in neighborhoods across the state in 2004, has contributed the maximum amount to Rossi this cycle as has his wife.

As part of Kingen’s 2004 campaign to expand gambling, he commissioned a series of racist ads stereotyping Native Americans as reported by the Seattle PI.

Seattle PI Editorial (October 29th, 2004):

“The cartoons depict Indians in loincloths, headbands and feathers
and include the phrases ‘keep 'um cigarette tax, keep 'um sales tax, keep 'um gas tax, too,’ apparently trying to make the common I-892 proponents' argument that tribal casinos have an unfair competitive advantage over non-tribal gambling businesses…The letter claims, ‘Everyday (sic) 125,000 tribal members are scalping our state's other 6.2 million citizens.’"

“Dino Rossi is cashing in on his status as George Bush’s hand-picked candidate with the right-wing’s most powerful special interests who are funding attack ads full of hypoc-ROSSI,” said Kelly Steele, Communications Director for the Washington State Democratic Party. “Just like George Bush, Dino Rossi is relying on millions from Big Oil, lobbyists and casino moguls to attack his opponent and distort their record.”

For more information on the Real Rossi go to: www.therealrossi2008.com
###

Good Food

a film by Melissa Young and Mark Dworkin........ i had the pleasure of watching the movie with them and enjoy a lively discussion on a somewhat cool eve. what a treat!!

thanks to Sustainable Connections for calling attention to eat local week.

thanks to all involved in this......

GOOD FOOD: Sustainable Food and Farming in the Pacific Northwest—a Seattle International Film Festival selection, featuring many familiar Whatcom County faces, tells the story of a local food and agriculture renaissance in our beautiful corner of the world. Good Food will be presented by the award-winning filmmakers, Melissa Young and Mark Dworkin, as well as some familiar faces featured in the film: Rosalinda Guillen of Community to Community, Ben Scholtz of Mallard Ice Cream, Rio Thomas of Small Potatoes Gleaning Project, and Juana Lopez & Martin Garcia-Reyna of Alm Hill Gardens.

Good Food the movie here

Peter Goldmark in Bellingham

Peter Goldmark speaks about the scope of the job of Commissioner of Public Lands. He outlines his personal qualifications, experience and why he should be elected to oversee our public lands in the state of Washington.


Goldmark for Public Lands Commissioner (D)

It was a wonderful evening and I know more than ever why we need Goldmark in this critically important job.


thanks to Mt Baker Group, Sierra Club for making this happen and to Boundary Bay for a great place to gather
more information on what's happening with our lands locally at Chuckanut Conservancy
be sure to check Whatcom County Democrats to see what's being done here to get Goldmark and many other good Democrats elected.

more video here....

post from Noemie Maxwell at Washblog.........
Weyerhaeuser is buying the WA State Lands Commissioner office ($100,000 donation today) read post

Goldmark Fundraiser Today

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Even though most folks probably don't know what the Commissioner of Public Lands does, this is another down-ticket race that deserves everyone's attention.

Tuesday, September 9, 5-7 pm Peter Goldmark fundraiser

Support Democratic candidate for Commissioner of Public Lands, Peter Goldmark. Refreshments and live music. Suggested donation: $50-500

LOCATION: Boundary Bay Brewery, 1107 Railraod Ave, Bellingham

SPONSOR: Mt Baker Group, Sierra Club. CONTACT: Llyn Doremus,360-296-8084

Donations should be made to Goldmark for Public Lands Commissioner, PO Box
12917, Seattle, WA 98111, or www.votepetergoldmark.com

Peter Goldmark for Public Lands Commissioner

Reality Based Politics

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McCain wants to change by staying just the same... he still pledges loyalty to all the failed conservative ideas and policies.

Obama might not be perfect, but at least he has a clue.

Barack Obama on Change in Flint, Michigan

it matters who is our next president

This came up at a meeting i recently attended. Someone downplayed the importance of who got elected president. Takes my breath away!!!! It matters and Norman Solomon espresses it well here....I will not agree with every decision President Obama makes but it is my duty as a citizen to be involved in this participatory democracy and push for America to do the right thing and I must get all my representatives backs when they do. Never before has it mattered so much. We no longer have the luxury of embarrassing(nicest thing that can be said), bellicose, greed is good, win at any cost, criminals looting this nation and causing untold crimes against humanity in the world. We are facing peak everything and climate change on steriods. IT MATTERS !!!

wake up America.

Beyond the Conventions
By Norman Solomon
September 5th, 2008
..............In ways too numerous to count and in realms too profound to truly evoke, this decade has grimly underscored that -- notwithstanding theoretical claims to the contrary -- it matters greatly who is president. From the Supreme Court to thousands of subcabinet positions to executive orders to a vast array of foreign-policy decisions including the potential use of nuclear weapons, the president is able to wield state power with consequences huge enough to be unfathomable.

A popular strand of analysis on the left has downplayed the importance of the president. The story goes that corporate forces rule, and the person in the Oval Office is little more than a figurehead for those rulers. There's some validity to that assessment, but in the face of experience it has tended to calcify into a form of denial.
full post

A noun, a verb and POW

Former POW says McCain is "not cut out to be President"
"To see McCain resort to playing the POW card when answering legitimate questions, in my mind, cheapens that experience. And by cheapening his own experience in war, he degrades all of our experiences in war. He turns the horrific incidents we've all seen, touched, smelled, and felt into a lame excuse to earn political
points. And it dishonors us all."
-- Brandon Friedman, a veteran of both Iraq and Afghanistan

.......Remember how Joe Biden got the press to refer to Rudy Giuliani as "A noun, a verb, and 9/11"? Well, let's actually take Andrew Sullivan's lead here and get the media to boil McCain down to a similar phrase: "A noun, a verb, and POW." Considering how often the McCain campaign invokes his POW story, isn't that what they're already doing?

full post

Former POW says McCain is "not cut out to be President"

Obama Says This Election Is About You

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The Obama campaign has just put out a video of Barack talking about all the things the Republicans didn't talk about during their convention, like how to fix what's wrong and make America a better country.

John McCain and the Republicans had a week to make their case -- and they didn't do it.

The whole Republican convention went by without offering a single idea about how to improve the lives of ordinary Americans.

Barack is making clear what this election should be about. At a campaign stop in Pennsylvania he spoke out about exactly what we didn't hear at the Republican convention.

Watch Barack's response to the Republican convention and help spread our message of change by donating today

Barack Obama in York, Pennsylvania - September 04, 2008

Republican Convention Mocks American Values

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VP candidate Palin mocked community organizers and the Republican Convention cheered. While Palin is a fresh face up on the stage, it's that same corrupt bunch pulling the strings from behind the curtain.

Republicans mocked community organizing because they fear it. Community action is what stops good ol' boy sweetheart deals and turns crooked crony politicians out of office.

The Republican Conventions slogan has been "Country First" but it seems that what they really meant was "Me First".

They mocked community organizing and by doing that, they were also mocking neighbors reaching out to help neighbors. The were mocking every small town and neighborhood in American.

When somethings wrong in a community, there's always a few individuals who stand up and say to their neighbors; "Lets get organized, we can do something about this. Together we have the power".

Barack Obama on community organizing
Added: March 31, 2008
Barack Obama talks about community organizing and how he's carried that
experience into his campaign.

Signs of Hope & Change
Added: September 01, 2008
Over the past 17 months, millions of Americans from every corner of this country have taken part in the political process and built an unprecedented movement for change. This video, featuring footage and photos from supporters across the country, documents this grassroots movement and the supporters who truly are the backbone of this campaign.

Featuring music by The National and sunrise footage courtesy of BlueMarvel.

Don't Be Distracted By Word Games

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Funny how the Republicans have such a complete set of double standards.

As a first term Senator, Republicans try to label Barack Obama as inexperienced.

But on the other hand, with less than two years in office, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is supposed to be looked on as 'not a Washington insider'.

An honest look shows that Palin's "not an insider" label just doesn't fit. Two quick facts: Sarah Palin is a GOPAC graduate. "the premier training organization for Republican candidates for elected office." and Sarah Palin was a director of "Ted Stevens Excellence in Public Service, Inc.," a 527 group designed to serve as a political boot camp for Republican women.

The real question is will we be dragged backward into the same old distraction of the Republican/Religious-Right's culture-war or will we go forward to work on solving our common problems by strengthening our economy, guaranteeing health care coverage and generating clean energy.

CNN's Roland Martin Rips Mockery of Community Organizing

Re-elect Governor Gregiore

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Don't get fooled, Dino's no friend of the people.

Republican Dino Rossi and George W. Bush agree on virtually every issue, putting them at odds with most Washingtonians and most Americans.

Labor Day - Employee Free Choice Act

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Help bring back the middle class, support the Employee Free Choice Act.

See Saw - National Ad for the Employee Free Choice Act

http://freechoiceact.org/ National advertisement promoting the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill to help bring back the middle class. Lean more at FreeChoiceAct.org.

Recommended reading - TAKE BACK LABOR DAY!! -