My Answer to George Bush on Bailout…Hell NO!

Does it not amaze you like it does me that President George Bush is asking that the average American voter dig down in our pockets to bail out the big banks on Wall Street. However listen to what happened as Americans faced a number of issues:

When gas prices started to shoot up Hillary Clinton and John McCain proposed a tax holiday and the response was we can’t afford it because it would reduce the highway trust fund. Barack Obama proposed a $1,000 emergency energy stimulus check to help families pay their gas and energy bills. It would out right be too expensive.

When Americans started to be forced out of their homes because of the unfair and outright bogus loans these very banks issued and Democrats called for restructuring power for judges in bankruptcy courts the GOP called for leaving the free market alone.

Now that big bank billionaires on Wall Street are in trouble we are “days away from our very economy clasping” and must approve $700 BILLION DOLLARS in aid. To them I say not just no but HELL NO!

Congress should send this bill back to the White House and demand a billion dollar financial plan to protect and bail out the American tax payer who doesn’t have tax shelters that cut into our share of the pot for the federal coffers. We need a new stimulus package that brings jobs to the out of work and not just a shopping spree to get Americans back to work and able to pay their own debts. That is real reform and real help. This bill is just a blank check to Wall Street after a “good talking to” by the Principal and then let go out and play. These plans don’t call for the firing of the directors who got us into this mess. These plans don’t call for executive compensation reform to ensure that our hard earned dollars don’t end up in the pockets of the CEO failing banks. This is a bad plan, a bad deal, and therefore a bad bill. For the record I agree with Senator Sanders if a bank is too big to fail then it is too big to exist.

Tha-Kid JK

tha-kid@revkitchen.com

An Open Letter to My Fellow Clinton Backers on Biden…Get Over It

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Dear Fellow Clinton Supporters;

It is official Senator Barack Obama has picked Senator Joseph Biden to be the Vice Presidential nominee of the Democratic Party of the United States of America. As this choice made news other things came to light about the process for vetting and selecting the number 2 spot of our party and with respect to Hillary and Bill Clinton. Let me be the first to say that Senator Obama and the Obama campaign seriously dropped the ball on this issue and big time.

For weeks after Hillary Clinton left the primary and threw her support behind Obama for President the candidate himself promised that she was well qualified to be on “anyone’s” shortlist. Sadly that anyone didn’t include him. Leaks continue to come out that his campaign never seriously vetted Hillary Clinton and never really considered her as the future Vice President despite his promises she would. To say the least it pisses me off. However on the selection of Joe Biden it was a great choice.

The story of a regular Joe is no one other than Joe Biden. The Senior Senator from Delaware who is the poorest member of the United States Senate, doesn’t own a home in Washington but instead commutes everyday back to his only home in Delaware will reach those in the lunch-bucket towns of PA, IN, and OH. However more importantly this is a pick that has worked hard on a large number of the issues that we supported Hillary Clinton on.

Violence Against Women’s Act- This was and still is one of the most powerful pieces of legislation every passed by Congress to combat domestic violence. Not only did he support it but he wrote it back in 1994 and worked hard with then- President Clinton to pass it. The VAWA has it is called contains a broad list of measures to fight a rapid rise in domestic violence and gives billions of dollars in federal funds to address the gender based crimes. However many will remember in 2000 the Supreme Court threw out that gender based section as unconstitutional but that didn’t stall Biden. He worked with Congress who at the time was swaying back and forth between Democratic and Republican control to reauthorize the VAWA. More to his credit when people started to criticize the problems at the National Domestic Violence Hotline, it was Biden who worked with technology companies to find the problems and donate their own equipment and expert experience in fixing it.

Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993-Again working with President Clinton to fulfill a campaign promise, Joe Biden joined a group of Senators as strong advocates for its passage in 1993. This is a strong bill that provides for 12 weeks of leave for parents after the birth of a child, caring for a sick child or parent, or being too ill to perform the job.

These two major acts of congress are just a drop in the bucket on the others that aligned our dream President with the hopefully next Vice President. It is okay to be angry and disappointed at the failure of what a growing number of Americans see as an arrogant Obama campaign. However to seek to sink this ship and turn the keys to the White House over to John McCain borders on treason.

We know that if Obama is elected President he will work to bring our troops home and end the war in Iraq while winning the war in Afghanistan. We know that if Obama is elected President he will fight for real middle class tax cuts, higher taxes and revoked financial assistances to the oil companies. We know that if Obama is elected President he will bring real reform to an urban education community that has been under attack by No Child Left Behind that came with all new standards but forgot all the money.

These are real issues that affect real people and real lives. No one is above these issues, yes no one, not even Hillary Clinton. It is time to realize she lost and get over it.

Tha-Kid JK

tha-kid@revkitchen.com

Hersh: Congress Agreed to Bush Request to Fund Major Escalation in Secret Operations Against Iran

Veteran Investigative Journalist Seymour Hersh has published an article in the New Yorker Magazine that asserts that congressional leaders agreed to a request from President Bush last year to greatly increase funding, to 400 million dollars, for a major escalation of covert operations against Iran. This escalation of these covert and secret activities is meant to destabilize the religious leadership of Iran. Hersh wrote his article based upon information from “current and former military, intelligence, and congressional sources.” The article notes that covert activities by the United States are not new in Iran–we have been conducting cross-border operations from Southern Iraq since last year.

The request for the $400 million was described in something called a “Presidential Finding”, signed by President Bush, and, under Federal Law, these Presidential Findings “must be issued when a covert intelligence operation gets under way and, at a minimum, must be made known to Democratic and Republican leaders in the House and the Senate and to the ranking members of their respective intelligence committees”. The article by Hersh noted later that, “In other words, some members of the Democratic leadership—Congress has been under Democratic control since the 2006 elections—were willing, in secret, to go along with the Administration in expanding covert activities directed at Iran, while the Party’s presumptive candidate for President, Barack Obama, has said that he favors direct talks and diplomacy.” This is a glaring contradiction and hypocrisy that is certainly not unfamiliar to the politics of the United States.

I hope that we all can now clearly see that the Republican Party is a war-like party of imperialists and interventionists. And I hope that we can now also clearly see that the Democratic Party is a war-like party of imperialists and interventionists, through their aiding and abetting of policies that are as such. I hope that we can now clearly see that both political parties are about policing the world, and spending huge amounts of taxpayer dollars to do so. We are spending 400 million dollars alone on trying to destabilize one single country. That money could have gone to education. That money could have gone to healthcare. That money could have gone to infrastructure. But, out of all of the needy areas of our country, our political leaders, of both parties, decided to direct the money instead towards destabilizing another country. 400 million dollars! That could not be described as “spare change”. Obviously, though, there is no “change” that our leaders can spare. And the small, superficial change that they do provide is worthless.

But Iran is not the only country targeted by the United States. According to Dennis Kucinich’s 35 Articles of Impeachment against President Bush, “On September 30, 2001, then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld established an official military objective of overturning the regime in Iran, as well as those in Iraq, Syria, and four other countries in the Middle East, according to a document quoted in then-Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith’s book, ‘War and Decision’.” The four other countries in the Middle East were, according to Wesley Clark, Libya, Sudan, Somalia, and Lebanon.

It is my opinion that the United States has been the interventionist policeman of the world for too long. And especially covert interventions, because that promotes “blowback”, defined as a term used in espionage to describe the unintended consequences of covert operations. Hatred in the Middle East towards the United States as a result of our covert operations targeting Middle-Easterners, and then Middle-Easterners demonstrating their hatred in a terrorist attack, is an example of blowback.

Is it honestly in our best interest to undertake operations such as this, especially when domestic issues are in such dire need of attention? And, ask yourself, do we even have the right to interfere in and destabilize another country, someone else’s country, as such? My personal opinion is that we have neither the right nor the obligation to try to destablize the governments of other countries and throw them into political chaos. Aside from the concerns of blowback and the misplacement of tax money, it is very important to do unto others as you would want done unto yourself.

Kucinich reads Bush Articles of Impeachment on the House floor

I flipped on my television at approximately ten-thirty Eastern time on Monday night, and I was pleasantly surprised to find Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) speaking on C-Span. Kucinich was talking about President Bush and his various crimes against the United States, and I soon became aware that the Representative was introducing Articles of Impeachment against President Bush (also known as House Resolution 1258).

Dennis Kucinich had begun his long trudge through the Articles two hours earlier, and he would continue his reading, to an almost empty House chamber, for nearly another three hours. There were 35 Articles in total, each one detailing a crime that Bush had committed that warranted impeachment. I congratulate Kucinich for having the courage and conviction to undertake this task.

A summary of each offense for each Article, as provided by the index of the Articles of Impeachment, reads as follows: Read more

Obama Is The Detox The Government Needs

In the past, I’ve called Obama a steaming pile of charisma, but now I’m convinced that he is MY steaming pile of charisma. First, the man’s wife can admit that sometimes there are reasons not to be proud of America. Then I read about that he is a civil libertarian. Now he has officially stated that he will review all of President Bush’s executive orders and throw out any that are unconstitutional. The clinches it. Obama is the candidate who will best serve America, and he will do it by reversing at least some of the damage done by Bush.

I was afraid that Obama would become president and just sit there for 4-8 years, but clearly he is would actually do some good as president.

The most important topics for the next president have to be Iraq, the national debt, and reversing the damage that Bush has done. Oh wait, both those first two things are very related to what Bush has done as president. With that in mind, it is even more important that the next president pledge to turn the country around and go in the opposite direction of President Bush.

Obama’s pledge to review and discard illegal and unconstitutional executive orders is the first step towards completely removing any remnants of Bush administration policy from America. He has even gone so far is to say that warrantless wiretaps are not just outrageous and undemocratic, they are also unrepublican. An overhaul of the federal government will have to be done once President Bush leaves office, and Obama has the backbone to do it.

Executive Efficacy Expanded

Many, many people in these united states long for the day upon which George W. Bush will vacate the Presidency. During Bush’s terms in office, he has gotten us into a Quagmire in Iraq (and has engaged in a generally arrogant and foolish foreign policy), deftly removed many of our civil liberties from us, racked up record deficits, exploited the people’s fear of terrorism (which helped him to win elections, achieve his agenda, and rob us of our apparently undeserved liberties), and, most importantly, greatly increased the power and influence of the Executive Branch. The People long for Bush’s exit because they are tired of these repeated abuses and usurpations, and with the hope that, once Dubya leaves, we’ll be able to get a Democrat or at least a moderate in office and get America back onto the right track. This perspective is not in agreement with my own; in point of fact, I disagree with it very strongly. It seems to me that this belief is the product of the very ignorance which allowed Bush to expand his office and worsen the state of the country in the first place. Let me take just a few moments in order to explain my thoughts more clearly on this matter. Read more

McCain assembles a steering committee in my home state of VA; Only I seem to care.

From The Shad Plank:

Here’s the list of lawmakers who have signed on with John McCain’s Virginia campaign:

 

Co-Chairs
Former Attorney General Jerry Kilgore
Delegate Chris Saxman
U.S Senator John Warner

 

Steering Committee
U.S. Representative Tom Davis
Former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger
Delegate Dave Albo
Delegate Bill Carrico
Delegate Tom Gear
Delegate Phil Hamilton
Delegate Clarke Hogan
Senator Robert Hurt
Delegate Terry Kilgore
Delegate Joe May
Delegate Don Merricks
Senator Ryan McDougle
Delegate Dave Nutter
Delegate John O’Bannon
Delegate Glenn Oder
Delegate Robert Orrock
Delegate Ed Scott
Delegate Bob Tata

The McCain campaign also put out a press release, from which the following snippet was taken:

U.S. Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign today announced its Virginia Leadership Team that will lead the growing grassroots organization on behalf of John McCain’s candidacy in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

 

“Thirty-five years ago, when I was Secretary of the Navy during the war in Vietnam, I came to know Commander John McCain well,” said Senator John Warner. “We established a bond of strong friendship and respect that has extended through our many years in the U.S. Senate.”

 

“John has a strong and unwavering commitment to the principles that he has so clearly put forward in this campaign. He is a proven leader. It has been a privilege for me to campaign for him and by his side in both South Carolina and Florida, and I look forward to working with this remarkable leadership team right here in Virginia as Senator McCain campaigns for the Presidency of the United States.”

 

John McCain thanked his Virginia leadership, saying, “I thank Senator Warner for his support and friendship. I am very proud of the team of supporters we have in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and I am confident that with their leadership we are well on our way to victory on Super Tuesday.”

Let me just say as a brief aside that I have nothing but respect for Sen. McCain. He’s one of those people whose views are in opposition to my own on issue after issue, but whose views seem to have been reached honestly, and not merely for the benefit of a Liberal Massachusetts electorate political convenience. Furthermore, he has a likable demeanor and a dry sense of humor that once resulted in the near spewing of milk across my living room. With that said, a number of things are worth noting about this newly-minted steering committee:

1. Jerry Kilgore used to be Rudy Giuliani’s Virginia campaign chairman. Giuliani undoubtedly put some pressure on his key state level supporters to get behind McCain, which explains Kilgore’s new position as a co-chair for McCain’s Virginia effort.
2. Del. John O’Bannon has earned a seat on the McCain steering committee. Hopefully, this newfound responsibility will distract him from his unnecessary crusade against trippy plants.
3. Rep. Tom Davis is on the steering committee. Yes, that Rep. Tom Davis. I thought at first that maybe they were referring to Rep. Thomas Davis, a former Congressman. That Tom Davis, however, died in the late 1800’s and wasn’t a Virginia leader; he served in Rhode Island. Therefore, I can say with certainty that the Tom Davis on the McCain steering committee is Virginia’s own 11th District Representative. I can understand why Tom Davis would be politically friendly to the McCain campaign, and they to him, but I can’t understand why anyone would want to tap Tom Davis for his campaign steering skills.
4. Del. Terry Kilgore is listed as a committeeman. This was a smart move on the part of the McCain campaign. No campaign steering committee should be without a pair of twins.
5. It’s nice to see Secretary Eagleburger active in politics these days as one of McCain’s Virginia co-chairs. Let’s just hope this doesn’t mean that he’s putting his plans for an eponymous, politically-themed fast food chain on hold.

Lastly, and in all seriousness, I was genuinely confused by the quote from Sen. McCain at the end of the press release:

“I am very proud of the team of supporters we have in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and I am confident that with their leadership we are well on our way to victory on Super Tuesday.”

Is Sen. McCain under the impression that Virginia’s primary is on Super Tuesday, or does he just think that his leadership in Virginia will somehow result in strong showings in the Super Tuesday states? I’m sure he believes the latter. I, however, think that McCain’s Virginia campaign leadership will have minimal impact on the results of the Virginia primary, let alone the primaries and caucuses of Super Tuesday states such as New York and Minnesota, where most of the names on the list above mean nothing to the average voter, just as the backing of one of the Democratic candidates by a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives would mean nothing to me.

Is Hillary Demoting Her Own Role As First Lady?

Hillary Clinton seems to have just shot herself in the foot. Her campaign has so far relied on a delicate balancing act. She must assure Americans that she is not Bill, while not turning away voters who just want to see Bill back in the White House. In addition, she must convince doubters that she is more experienced than just spending a few years as a senator. She has done this by talking about her time as First Lady as though it was a full on staff position in the executive branch. This balancing act is getting tougher and tougher for her to maintain. Read more

The only thing we have to fear is…

Franklin Roosevelt said in his First Inaugural Address, during the thick of the Great Depression, to a frightened, uncertain, and despairing population: “Firstly, I would like to assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is… fear itself.” Roosevelt, arguably one of the greatest Presidents of these united states, gave new hope and comfort to the down-trodden population with his first address to the American people. And, ultimately, he would assuage the people’s fears altogether by lifting them out of the terrible Depression. 

In 1933 and the years following Roosevelt’s Inauguration, the leaders of yesteryear triumphed over the problems facing them. We must face many new challenges in this new millennium, and it seems to me that we have something new that should be feared above all. Read more

Impeachment: the biggest research subject ever

A big issue right now is the impeachment of Bush and Cheney, and I think it’s time we role up our shirtsleeves and do some heavy investigating into their political careers. Read more

Attorney General Appointee Doesn’t Know What Torture Is And More

Torture is illegal and unconstitutional. Even George Bush admits this. I am not an expert on torture. What I can say is that torture is defined by federal law as “means an act committed by a person acting under the color of law specifically intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering (other than pain or suffering incidental to lawful sanctions) upon another person within his custody or physical control”. Mental pain or suffering is defined as “the prolonged mental harm caused by or resulting from - (A) the intentional infliction or threatened infliction of severe physical pain or suffering; (B) the administration or application, or threatened administration or application, of mind-altering substances or other procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses or the personality; (C) the threat of imminent death; or (D) the threat that another person will imminently be subjected to death, severe physical pain or suffering, or the administration or application of mind-altering substances or other procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses or personality.” You can’t argue that the definition is something different from what it says right there is in the legal code. You can argue that it is a bad definition, but you can’t argue that it isn’t the definition.
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Bush Declares War on Iran, Sort Of

Knowing the congress would not approve of an invasion of Iran, Bush has labeled a segment of the Iranian army as terrorists. This means that anyone who aids the Iranian Revolutionary Guard is aiding a terrorist which is a crime. It also makes it easier for Bush to go after them military.

Of course the DoD (which is becoming more like a campaign machine everyday) has claimed the Revolutionary Guard is supplying weapons and men to the Shia’s Mahida army in Iraq. I suppose we’re all supposed believe that just like we did about those WMDs. And when I say the DoD is like a campaign machine, it seems half of what it does is to improve the Bush administrations image. For example one of my family members works for the NGA, which is part of the DoD. According to that person, they have televisions in every room that plays a steady stream of Bush’s speeches. But I’ll get off that rabbit trail into 1984.
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New Laws Require Millions Fired by Next Month

Bush has again circumvented the will of the American people, and their representatives in Congress by approving sweeping immigration law. He calls for the firing of all illegal immigrants within 30 days.

Now I’m truly scared for my safety, Homeland Security. Unemployed people equals bored people. It equals angry people. Angry plus bored people equals criminals. That’s what happened in Iraq, they did away with all government and military employees and now those unemployed people have become insurgents.

Then there’s the issue of what this will do to our economy. Never have we had millions of people fired from their jobs in one month. What will this do to the farms that counted on this labor when they planted their crops? What about the money that immigrants contribute to our economy, by purchasing goods in America? What will happen to the stock markets now that investors know cheap labor is gone?

Dennis Kucinich seems to be the only viable candidate who has real solutions to our economic/immigration issues. He believes in restoring America’s welcoming of immigrants - and creating ways for many, many, more to come with legal paperwork. It’s been shown that countries with open borders have a better economy. And then we don’t have worry about more American jobs being shipped off to China. I would rather see American dollars being spent in America, then our money being spent exclusively in China.

Update

According to an LA Times article, the move is going to cost the Social Security Adminstration 7 billion a year, furher hurting long time citizens.

The White House is Falling Down on Them

Karl Rove Subpoenaed by Senate Judiciary Committee

In another fatal blow to the Bush administration, Karl Rove now joins the never ending list of White House subpoenas brought forth by Democratic leaders.
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