Full script of Obama's speech - CNN.com

Full script of Obama's speech - CNN.com

I disagree with most of the analysts---I think this was a very good speech--one that Europeans will appreciate.

More Congressmen Hospitalized

Sorry, but this is the result when we allow these guys and gals to spend 50 yrs in the Congress. It is called old age.

Sen. Robert Byrd, the oldest member of the U.S. Senate and a fierce opponent of the Iraq war, was taken to a Washington-area hospital for observation on Monday after a caregiver noticed that he was lethargic, a spokesman for the West Virginia Democrat said.

Byrd, 90, was at work in the Senate earlier in the day and had gone home where his caregiver grew concerned about his condition, spokesman Jesse Jacobs said.

Byrd first won election to the Senate in 1958.

There has been a wealth of these people having to go to the hospital...I realize that I may seem a bit cold, but I do think that there should be a two term limit on all these guys and gals. Ifr they stay longer then they start acting like it is their god given right to rule.

Colombia: Open Letter To Nancy Pelosi and the US Congress

Upside Down World - Colombia: Open Letter To Nancy Pelosi and the US Congress


The trade agreement that Bush and boyz were pushing with Colombia was not seen as the great savior of out time but all people. This letter was written to Pelosi and others in Congress.

What Congress Did Last week

This are the issues that Congress dealt with...some good...some not so.....

House

1. Strategic oil reserve (HR 6022): The House voted 385-25 to require the administration to stop filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for the rest of the year or until the price of crude oil drops below $75 per barrel. The Senate passed the measure 97-1. A yes vote supported the bill.

2. Farm bill (HR 2419): Voting 318-106, the House approved a five-year farm bill, providing farm subsidies and funding nutrition programs. A yes vote supported the bill.

3. War funding defeat (HR 2642): Voting 141-149, the House defeated an amendment to appropriate $162.5 billion for additional war costs in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many Republican members voted present — officially tallied as not voting — to protest being frozen out of deliberations. A yes vote supported the funding.

4. Iraq troop withdrawals (HR 2642): Voting 227-196, the House approved an amendment requiring the administration to start withdrawing troops from Iraq within 30 days of enactment, but setting no deadline for finishing the pullout. A yes vote backed the amendment.

5. New GI Bill (HR 2642): The House voted 256-166 to establish a GI Bill to pay post-9/11 veterans’ college costs and use tax increases to pay for the program. A yes vote supported the bill.

Senate

6. Farm bill (HR 2419): The Senate voted 81-15 in favor of a five-year farm bill. A yes vote supported the bill.

7. Republican energy plan (S 2284): Voting 42-56, the Senate rejected a Republican plan to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil drilling, as well as take other steps to increase energy production. A yes vote supported the plan.

8. Police and firefighter unions (HR 980): The Senate voted 69-29 to take up a bill granting limited union rights to police, firefighters and other public safety personnel in all states. A yes vote was to take up the bill.

Professor's Congressional Scorecard

My monthly feature of scoring how our dynamite US Congress is doing continues. They spent more time in hearings than on anything of substance, but I found a few issues that they weighed in on.

So far in 2008, here is how I see the Congress.

Jan--1 step backwards
Feb--No step--a stand still
Mar--2 steps backwards

And for the rating for the month of April 2008.

Colombia Free Trade Agreement--a no step--a horrible agreement and they tried to stop it.

Vote to commend wrestler Rick Flair--backwards

Offer new media bill--forward

21st century GI Bill--forward

Student loan bill--no step--did not go far enough, but is a start.

Finally they are moving forward, but fast enough, the rating for the month is 1 step forward. A side note, I am being extremely lenient on them.

We will see how they do in the coming months. So far for the year they are still moving backwards as they did last. They are not delivering on the promises of 2007.

Syria's Nuclear Facility

The Bush administration has made a strong case that Syria built a nuclear reactor with North Korean help but should not have waited until months after Israel destroyed the suspected facility to share its intelligence with Congress, two U.S. lawmakers said Sunday.

I have a problem with this. Why is this being offered now? The facility was destroyed last year, but now they offer proof of the claim that was a nuclear site. But 7 months is plenty of time for doctoring these photos to tell the story they want to tell.

Why am I suspicious? WMDs come mind. Saddam's involvement in 9/11 also. Basically, they have lied before and they could be lying now.

My suggestion is to have the photos checked out by experts and look for tampering.

Trust come to mind and the Bush clan has none to offer.

Lott's New Gig

Jackson Free Press: Jackson, Mississippi - Noise - Lott Uses Old Campaign Cash to Help Lobbying Clients


Gee, Trent is not wasting anytime becoming a inside moving and shaking. But let me see, should not that money be used for something other than feathering Lott's bed? Let me see the money was donated to help Lott out during his political heyday. Here is a thought. Why does that money belong to a candidate if they are no longer running for office, if it was given in that spirit? The money was given in good faith to a candidate to serve the people, not add to his personal bank account. Since he was a "servant of the people" the money belo0ngs back where it originated

Congress Gets Its Props

I have been one of the biggest critics of the Congress. I have called them do noting and lame, but I will give props where props are deserved.

The media has been allowed by president after president to be owned or controlled by corporations and senator Dorgan is trying to stop this control.

The Federal Communications Commission defied some members of Congress in 2007 by easing a ban on ownership of a newspaper and a broadcast station in the same city.

Yesterday, the lawmakers took the first step toward getting even.

The Senate Commerce Committee unanimously approved a rare "resolution of disapproval" to invalidate the FCC's new rules, as concerns about media consolidation escalated in the wake of News Corp.'s negotiations to buy a second New York newspaper.

"We really do literally have five or six major corporations in this country that determine for the most part what Americans see, hear and read every day," said Sen. Byron L. Dorgan, a Democrat from North Dakota who is the lead sponsor of the resolution. "I don't think that's healthy for our country."

Both Sen. Clinton and Obama are signed on board of this effort. The real test will be if the Prez vetoes, will they overrride.

Escape from Recession: What you should know about the economic stimulus package

Escape from Recession: What you should know about the economic stimulus package


What everyone should know about the economic stimulus plan that the Pres and Congress have authorized.

Iraq Hearings

Yes, I am a political geek, I watched both Iraq hearings on the tube. Just about the most boring day I have ever spent. As we would expect, the Repubs for the most part, did the "at a Boys" and the Dems ask real questions. But the Ambassador and the general gave the same basic speech they gave 6 months ago. It was a diatribe of what is going right and little said about what was going wrong. They all ask the same basic question, will the Iraqis be able to stand on their own? The answer was a 10 min diatribe of what ifs and maybes.

Then in the Foreign Relations Ctme hearings it became a bit more clear, at least for me. Sen. Biden's opening statement was just amazing (will post as soon as it is available) Hagel ask hard questions, as did Obama, but the answers were not as well thought out as the questions.

All in all, not many questions were answered, as it was 6 months ago, basically it was all the good news we could stand and little about the crap that is really going on. The hearings at the Armed Services Cmte was all partisan, lots of back slapping and lots of questions--little answers.

The testimony before the Foreign relations was a bit more detailed than the previous hearing. Lots of excellent questions, few excellent answers. Nothing new the same rhetoric by Bush cronies. All is well in Iraq and we need to stay much longer.

Crackdown on Militias Raises Stability Concerns - New York Times

Crackdown on Militias Raises Stability Concerns - New York Times


Yet more info that needs to be covered in the hearings with Patraeus/Crocker. But will it?

McClatchy Washington Bureau | 04/07/2008 | Gen. Petraeus' Iraq strategy on trial in Congress

McClatchy Washington Bureau | 04/07/2008 | Gen. Petraeus' Iraq strategy on trial in Congress


The general will be in Washington to echo the policies of the Prez. And thanx to that Iraq will be back in the news and the political pundits will be forced to talk about the war. Since all three presidential candidates will be present it will be interesting to see if their stump speeches show their faces in the hearings.

General Speaks: Yet Again!

Patraeus is due to testify before Congress this week and he will have his work cut out for him. With the escalation of violence in Iraq, it will be a hard sell.

"General Petraeus really has a very difficult issue on his hands because Sadr City is home to the Mahdi Army and militia loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr, one of the most powerful and popular in the country. It's densely populated.

For the U.S., They are on the outskirts of Sadr City but for them to move deep into this area, they risk a potential bloodbath. Nobody wants to see that happening.

The U.S. has been looking for a political solution to that, trying to bring Moqtada al-Sadr on board. They've been successful to a degree but what has been seen in the last few weeks - and there were 20 people reportedly killed overnight in clashes between U.S. forces and the militia inside Sadr City - what you've seen is a very determined defense by these militias not wanting to give up the rocket launch sites, or any ground.

His defense of the Bush policy will be put to the test. Repubs will do a lot of back slapping and hopefully the Dems will do a lot of face slapping. The truth is ugly, but the lies are unforgivable.

Professor's Congressional Scorecard

This past month of March, the Congress spent as little time as possible on actual legislation. And as usual I will give my analysis of the past month's work for our Reps. But first, the scores so far this year:

January 08--1 step backwards

February 08--No step--a stand still

Mar ch 08--

1--failure to override torture veto--backwards
2--Failure to override FISA--backwards
3--Failure to pass the Empolyees Freedom of Choice Act--backward
4--Hearings on oil profits--forward--not a good step but in the right direction.

Those were the major issues that the Congress faced and the score for March is 2 steps backwards.

Since the new Congress has taken over, they have NEVER moved forward. Now someone remind me of why we sent these people to Washington?

What About Your Congress

With all the bullsh*t about the Dems and their campaigns, your Congress has been able to get relief from the heat they had been taking before the primaries. They are still a do nothing bunch of wealthy individuals that do not want to buck the White House.

They voted for a war, then they continue to support it with funds and they will allow more torture and they will allow more domestic spying on Americans and then they will allow more kids to go unfunded in health care. Now where is the voting on the mandate they said they has when they took control in 2007?

Please explain to me their function as of your last Civics class

(LONG PAUSE FOR EFFECT)

Now that the fantasy is out of the way, let us move on to reality. The truth is that this legislature exists as public relations gesture toward the people to make it appear that here is democratic participation of the people, but without ant substantial power. The people voted a majority of Dems into the Congress, and how has that worked out? Voting is a powerful mechanism, but it is only a trade off for the political elite to remain in control. All it accomplishes is to legitimize the whole process of a government controlled by the elite over the will of the masses.

Howard Zinn said it best, "voting is easy and marginally useful, but it is a poor substitute for democracy, which requires direct action by the citizens". Never a truer bunch of words have been spoken. But the American voter does not want to be involved beyond every four years. They want someone to tell them what is best for them. Nothing will be accomplished for the people of the country until that thinking is eliminated and that is my job.

Professor's Congresional ScoreCard

It is that time of the month when I rate the US Congress on their actions or inactions. With all the election stuff going on it was a short month for our legislators.


Jan.08--1 step backwards.


Feb. 08

economic stimulus package--forward
to outlaw waterboarding and other torture--forward
FISA bill pass--backward
Steroid hearings--backward


With the rating system I use, step forward, step backward and no step; Feb 08 the Congress accomplish nothing it was rated at a stand still. For the year they are moving backwards which is not what they were sent to Washington to do. can you now understand why their approval rating is about 20%?

Steroid Scandal

Please, what part of this is necessary for Congress to be involved? Personally, I think they have more important things to consider, like impeachment, FISA, and such. Steroid use is not something that they need to pursue, let the Justice dept handle it. OK?

The American people need much more concern for their welfare than to worry about which overpaid athelete is injecting themselves with crap. If their head swells and explodes think of the money the owners will save.

I do not care! The american need more action and less crap from their reps.

Professor's Congressional Scorecard

I apologize for being late with my assessment of the Congress this month. There has been so much crap flying around that it was on the back burner.

My scorecard is done monthly and the scoring is a positive step for the Congress will be forward, negative will be a backwards step and then if there is nothing really to report it will be a no step. January was a short month thanks to the holidays.

Last year the Congress took 4 steps backwards. Not exactly what they were sent to Washington to accomplish. We can only hope that '08 will be a better year or will it?

Scorecard for Jan '08

1--Work on steroid abuse--backward--a waste of time people

2--Pelosi gets house cafeteria menu changed--no step--yet another waste of time

3--Health care veto on hold--backward

4--Response to The missing CIA tapes--forward

5--the FISA Bill--backward

6--the move on the economic stimilus plan--forward--only because that they are working together to try an help the American people.

That is about all they did in the month of January and if you are counting, the congress took 2 steps backwards. And it looks like the trend will continue for '08. God help us!

Bush's Economic Stimulus Package

Tonight is the big night.....The last state of The Union speech to be given by GW. He will dance around about how well his strategy in Iraq has worked. And then he will go to his new economic stimulation plan will benefit Americans and Corporations.

Let us begin with the tax rebates. The theory is that the taxpayer will go out and spend this money on consumer goods thus massaging the economy back to health. NO! This is an economic band-aid. Why? The normal taxpayer will use the rebate for their mortgage or their credit cards or something similar. The poor, who do not own a house in trouble or have the luxury of multiple credit cards, will probably spend this rebate on toys or electronic or such--consumer goods. So they will be the only ones using the money in the economy, but they will not be that effective in the slide of the economy.

Ok, let's move on to the REAL benefit of the package. Corporate Incentives. Corporate tax credits will help create jobs, according to the President. In what world does he live? Consumer demand creates jobs, not corporate tax breaks. Do you honestly believe that if a company has an extra $2 billion, that they will say darn we need to create more jobs? You are dreaming! If their is no demand, they will not invest it in production. It is just that simple.

The small amount of jobs that will be created will NOT be in the US. since almost all consumer goods are imported, from, India, China, Thailand and so on, any jobs created will be in those countries not here. The consumer goods that will be bought, like toys, china, clothing, are all made overseas. So where will these jobs be created in this country. Any jobs created will be low paying jobs and that too will be a drag on the economy.

The real questions that should be asked are: we have a $7 trillion deficit and this package will cost about $140 billion, where will the money come from to pay for this plan? If they print more money, then that will be yet another drag on the economy. In the past, how many high paying jobs have past corporate tax cuts created? Not enough!

IMO, Bush's plan is just a way to make the economy look good for a short period of time. until he is out of office and then when the economy tanks, someone else will be in office and will take the blame.

Do not be ignorant! This plan is a band-aid for a gunshot wound. There is no way it can be a good thing for the future. Someone will have to pay for this plan.

Professor's Congressional Scorecard

It is the end of the year and I along with my sister blog, The Oracle Of Inkwell, have scored our Congress. The total results can be viewed by clicking on the link on this blog.

Here is the breakdown from month to month:

1--Aug--a step backwards

2--Sept--a step backwards

3--Oct--a step backwards

4--Nov--no step--basicall a stand still

5--Dec--2 steps backwards

The total for the year is 5 steps backwards. Hopefully, '08 will be a better year, but do not hold your breath.