Republicans' Debt Ceiling Charade Is Downright Dangerous | Swampland

Republicans' Debt Ceiling Charade Is Downright Dangerous | Swampland

US debt deal 'really, really close'

US debt deal 'really, really close'

Let's fucking hope os, and hope the compromise is coming from both fucking sides, and fairly so.

As per my letter in the LA Times, again,
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jul/07/opinion/la-le-0707-thursday-20110707

Debts that must be faced

Re "Obama calls meeting to break debt impasse," July 6

So House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) said budget talks will be "fruitless" unless the president abandons calls for any tax increases. "The American people simply won't stand for it," he said.

Which American people? Not most, because repealing Bush-era tax cuts for the uber-wealthy isn't raising taxes on average Americans, and the 2% at the top are the only segment of Americans prospering in the post-recession anyway. To suggest that their largesse is sacred while programs such as Medicare and education grants must be cut should make moderates run from the Republican Party.

G. Colby Allerton

Some Good News for the Planet on Fuel Efficiency - NYTimes.com

Some Good News for the Planet on Fuel Efficiency - NYTimes.com
Nice by Obama and the automakers! We're moving modestly into the right direction, and a more desirable, sustainable future....

Dams to Be Removed in Washington to Replenish Salmon - NYTimes.com

Dams to Be Removed in Washington to Replenish Salmon - NYTimes.com
Good news!

John McCain unloads on the tea party | The Ticket - Yahoo! News

John McCain unloads on the tea party | The Ticket - Yahoo! News

Some straight shooting by a man who looks to be a latter-day moderate Republican again.

Too much drama, bring back GOP moderates - baltimoresun.com

Too much drama, bring back GOP moderates - baltimoresun.com

If John Boehner is a moderate, we have a problem

The nation needs jobs, not ideological war

by Dan Rodricks

I heard someone use the term "moderate Republican" the other day, and I looked around for Mac Mathias. Of course, the great Maryland senator departed this life in January 2010, at the age of 87. He had retired in 1987, having served in Congress for 25 years. Once upon a time, Senator Mathias was aligned with something called the "influential liberal wing of the Republican Party," a phrase you could never conjure today without first doing some herb — and, even then, it would have to be really good stuff....

Hungary Destroys All Monsanto GMO Maize Fields

Hungary Destroys All Monsanto GMO Maize Fields

Good.

Forget Anonymous: Evidence Suggests GOP Hacked-Stole 2004 Election

http://www.benzinga.com/news/11/07/1789905/forget-anonymous-evidence-suggests-gop-hacked-stole-2004-election

Holy fucking shit.
What many of us feared, actually happened.
Democracy's foundations have been cracked and bludgeoned, perhaps irreversibly.
People should go to jail for a long time for this.

Obama: Rich should pay 'fair share' of debt reduction - The Oval: Tracking the Obama presidency

Obama: Rich should pay 'fair share' of debt reduction - The Oval: Tracking the Obama presidency

As Congress weighs competing debt plans, President Obama said today that "the wealthiest Americans and big corporations" should pay their "fair share" to reduce the nation's red ink if valuable programs are to be cut.

Some HUGE COMPANIES still pay ZERO or ALMOST NO TAXES.
AMERICAN TAXPAYER MONEY bailed out WALL ST.
Now, they are keeping their gains, and programs for for average - low and middle class Americans - are scheduled to be cut.
THIS IS NOT WORKING, SUSTAINABLE, or FAIR.
Support balanced efforts to reduce the debt, have the big companies (and Bush-era tax cut wealthy) pay us back.
It is ONLY FAIR.

Living With the Greenhouse Effect - NYTimes.com

Living With the Greenhouse Effect - NYTimes.com

Swerve when car's headed over cliff, or go with it?

Living With the Greenhouse Effect - NYTimes.com

Do you swerve when a car's headed over cliff, or go with it?

FOX News = Flat-Earthers, Die-Hard Extremists

E-mail Message to FOX News

Stop promoting an anti-climate agenda
Dear Fox News,
The heat wave most of the U.S. is experiencing is a continuation of the weather extremes we've seen in many parts of the country this year. As Mother Jones recently noted, "We're seeing records fall in all directions this year--wettest, driest, warmest, coldest, snowiest, stormiest, fieriest--across the globe."

While no particular weather event can be blamed on global warming, science has shown that global warming is indeed contributing to the changes in weather and temperatures that we are experiencing. Across the globe, scientists have predicted that unmitigated climate change would cause more extreme weather events, including more severe heat waves, more intense droughts and stronger deluges.

Yet FOX News is actively pushing an agenda of climate science misinformation. FOX News has distorted scientific works and the statements of scientists, repeatedly suggested that snow disproves global warming and promoted the bogus climate-gate scandal. Additionally, FOX News' Washington managing editor literally directed his staff to deny that the earth is warming.
I urge FOX News to stop promoting its anti-climate agenda and start providing accurate coverage of the climate crisis.
By not mentioning the great likelihood that man-made global warming and climate change are affecting weather patterns, you put yourself in a category of 'flat-earthers' -- die-hard extremists who very soon will have no place in the real world in which we live.

Summary of the "Gang of Six Plan" - Newsroom: U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (Vermont)

Summary of the "Gang of Six Plan" - Newsroom: U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (Vermont)

Senator Bernie Sanders: "The latest idea to emerge in negotiations over a deficit-reduction package came from a group of senators that calls itself the Gang of Six. The proposal would be a disaster, Sen. Bernie Sanders warned. "The plan would result in devastating cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and many other programs that are of vital importance to working families in this country. Meanwhile, tax rates would be lowered for the wealthiest people and the largest, most profitable corporations. "This is an approach that should be rejected by the American people. At a time when the rich are becoming richer and corporate profits are soaring, at least half of any deficit-reduction package must come from upper income people and profitable corporations. We must also take a hard look at military spending, which has tripled since 1997."

The Fed Audit - Newsroom: U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (Vermont)

The Fed Audit - Newsroom: U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (Vermont)
"Sanders said one thing already is abundantly clear. "The Federal Reserve must be reformed to serve the needs of working families, not just CEOs on Wall Street.""

Snapshot: Developments in debt talks | Reuters

Snapshot: Developments in debt talks | Reuters
This is the "progress status:"

Snapshot: Developments in debt talks

8:11pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Here is what is happening on Saturday in negotiations to raise the government's $14.3 trillion debt limit by August 2 and avoid a credit default:

* President Barack Obama holds White House meeting with House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell. Obama is trying to get agreement on a way to raise the debt limit after negotiations with Boehner on a broad deficit reduction package collapsed on Friday.

* Boehner, Pelosi, Reid and McConnell meet at the Capitol after the White House meeting. Pelosi tells reporters that lawmakers have to come to agreement soon. "We cannot default," she says, adding that she wants a long-term debt ceiling extension.

* Boehner holds a telephone conference call with Republican House members to discuss status of the talks. One lawmaker on the call says they talked about the potential market reaction if lawmakers fail to report progress before financial markets open in Asia on Monday.

* Republican aides following the White House meeting say lawmakers are putting together a $3 trillion to $4 trillion package of deficit reduction that will follow a two-step process. Lawmakers hope to show progress on the last-ditch effort to raise the debt ceiling by 4 p.m. EDT (2000 GMT) on Sunday, which would be just hours before Asian financial markets open.

* In a written statement following the White House meeting, Boehner says "Congress will forge a responsible path forward." He says leaders are working to find a bipartisan solution to reduce federal spending and to avoid a U.S. credit default.

* McConnell, in a statement, says the bipartisan leadership is committed to crafting new legislation to prevent a U.S. default and to cut spending.

* Congressional staffs are asked to "work together throughout the weekend" to try to craft a deficit reduction bill to clear the way for a debt limit increase, an aide says. The goal is to have legislation ready by Monday for Congress to consider, a senior Senate aide says.

* Financial markets are growing more edgy and U.S. banks and businesses say they are making contingency plans for the possibility of a debt default. If Congress fails to act by the August 2, deadline, when the U.S. government will run out of enough money to pay all its bills, interest rates will jump, the value of the dollar will sink and the effects will ripple through economies around the world.

Worst. Congress. Ever. - By Norman Ornstein | Foreign Policy

Worst. Congress. Ever. - By Norman Ornstein | Foreign Policy
They're acting like it.

"...Three years after publishing the second edition we could write a third, entitled The Far More Broken Branch. Yes, the 111th Congress, during the first two years of the Obama presidency, produced an impressive spate of major legislative accomplishments, from a stimulus package to a sweeping health-care reform bill to major financial regulatory reform. But all were passed after contentious, drawn-out, partisan battles that left most Americans less than happy with the outcomes.
>>>>>And look what we have now: a long-term debt disaster with viable bipartisan solutions on the table but ignored or cast aside in Congress; an impasse over the usually perfunctory matter of raising the statutory debt limit placing the United States in jeopardy of its first-ever default; sniping and guerrilla warfare over two major policy steps enacted in the last Congress, health-care reform and financial regulation; no serious action or movement on climate change, jobs, or the continuing mortgage crisis; and major trade deals stalled yet again despite bipartisan and presidential support....<<<<<<<<<"

Obama Praises 'Gang' Plan as Debt Debate Begins - ABC News

Obama Praises 'Gang' Plan as Debt Debate Begins - ABC News

Declaring "11th hour" urgency" to raise the
government's borrowing limit, President Barack
Obama on Tuesday hailed a plan by "Gang of Six"
senators from both parties to reduce federal deficits
as the kind of balanced approach that could break the
economy-threatening deadlock. He said it was time
for Congress to rally around such a proposal.

"We don't have any more time to engage in symbolic
gestures, we don't have any more time to posture. It's
time to get down to the business of actually solving
this problem," the president said.

Obama spoke even as House Republicans pushed
toward a vote on separate legislation that would
require trillions in spending cuts and agreement on a
balanced-budget constitutional amendment in
exchange for an increase in the debt ceiling, which
the government says must be raised by Aug. 2 to
avoid economic calamity. That House plan, expected
to come to a vote Tuesday evening, was unlikely to
get through the Senate, and Obama has said he would
veto it if it ever arrived at his desk.

Facing the deadline in two weeks, Obama said he
would call House Speaker John Boehner after
Tuesday's vote to invite him and other leaders back to
the White House for meetings in coming days.

Obama, Boehner and other top leaders met last week
for five days straight without reaching agreement,
leading to warnings from credit agencies about dire
consequences if the U.S. defaults on its obligations
for the first time, rendering it unable to pay its bills.

Obama added his own warning Tuesday, saying that
while financial markets have shown confidence thus
far in Washington, it won't last much longer if
lawmakers fail to act.

But he found cause for optimism in the announcement
Tuesday by leaders of a bipartisan "Gang of Six"
senators that they're nearing agreement on a major
plan to cut the deficit by more than $4 trillion over
the coming decade.

"I think it's a very significant step," Obama said,
calling it "broadly consistent with the approach I've
urged."

The Gang of Six plan calls for an immediate $500
billion "down payment" on cutting the deficit as the
starting point toward cuts of more than $4 trillion
that would be finalized in a second piece of
legislation. It would raise revenues by about $1
trillion over 10 years and cut popular benefit
programs like Medicare and Medicaid — dealing out
political pain to Republicans and Democrats.

That mixture of cuts and new revenue is the "balanced
approach" Obama has urged, though it's rejected by
many Republicans because it would require higher
taxes for some.

Rep. Dave Camp, Republican chairman of the House
Ways and Means Committee, said the spending cuts
and budget mechanisms in the plan could form the
basis of a deal but tax increases would be a big
problem for him and fellow GOP lawmakers.

"A trillion dollars is a lot, by any measure," Camp said
of the tax increases in the plan.

While praising the broader plan, Obama said it was
still important to have a "Plan B" option being worked
on by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell as a fallback. The
McConnell-Reid plan would give Obama the ability to
raise the debt limit by $2.5 trillion in three

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Obama Praises 'Gang' Plan as Debt Debate Begins

installments over the next year without a separate
vote by lawmakers. Instead, a panel of House and
Senate members would be created to recommend cuts
in benefit programs, with their work guaranteed a
yes-or-no vote in the House or Senate.



While all that was going on behind the scenes,
advocates of the legislation to be voted on in the
House on Tuesday said it would cut spending by an
estimated $111 billion in the next budget year and
then by more than an additional $6 trillion over a
decade — and require Congress to send a balanced
budget amendment to the Constitution to the states
for ratification — in exchange for raising the debt
limit by $2.4 trillion.

With the measure facing a veto threat from the White
House, Boehner said he was exploring other
alternatives to avoid government default.

"I do think it's responsible for us to look at what Plan
B would look like," he said at a news conference a few
hours before the opening of debate on the legislation
backed by conservative lawmakers.

Said Obama: "The problem we have now is, we're in
the 11th hour, and we don't have a lot more time left."

On a day of political theater, a group of House
Republicans also boarded a bus for a 16-block ride
to deliver a letter asking Obama to disclose his own
plan for reducing federal deficits.

No administration officials were present to meet the
delegation when the bus rolled to a stop outside the
White House gates, and lawmakers gave copies of the
letter to reporters.

Democrats said it was urgent that the debt ceiling be
raised.

In a closed-door meeting in the Capitol, House
Democrats listened to an audio of Republican
President Ronald Reagan urging lawmakers in 1987
to raise the debt limit. "This brinkmanship threatens
the holders of government bonds and those who rely
on Social Security and veterans' benefits," he said
then.

Nearly a quarter of a century — and numerous
trillions of dollars in debt — later, Obama needs
acquiescence from the Republican-controlled House
and the Democratic-controlled Senate to win another
debt ceiling increase. So far, efforts to agree on a
package of spending cuts — the price demanded by
GOP lawmakers for their votes — have proved futile.

Barring action by Congress to raise the $14.3 trillion
debt ceiling, the Treasury will be unable to pay all the
government's bills that come due beginning Aug. 3.
Administration officials, Federal Reserve Chairman
Ben Bernanke and others say the resulting default
would inflict serious harm on the economy, which is
still struggling to recover from the worst recession in
decades.

Reid announced Monday that the Senate would meet
each day until the issue was resolved, including
weekends.

———

Associated Press writers Erica Werner, Stephen
Ohlemacher, Darlene Superville and David Espo
contributed to this article.

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"

Clean Energy Investment Rises 22% on Solar Boom, New Energy Says - Bloomberg

Clean Energy Investment Rises 22% on Solar Boom, New Energy Says - Bloomberg
Sustainable; nice.

In debt talks, Obama as grown-up in the room - CNN.com

In debt talks, Obama as grown-up in the room - CNN.com

GOP Tries to Hijack Budget, & Obama reports progress in debt talks, calls for next meeting on Sunday

On The Budget Hijacking
Re "Obama calls meeting to break debt impasse," July 6 So House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) said budget talks will be "fruitless" unless the president abandons calls for any tax increases. "The American people simply won't stand for it," he said.
Which American people? Not most, because repealing Bush-era tax cuts for the uber-wealthy isn't raising taxes on average Americans, and the 2% at the top are the only segment of Americans prospering in the post-recession anyway. To suggest that their largesse is sacred while programs such as Medicare and education grants must be cut should make moderates run from the Republican Party.
G. Colby Allerton
Venice
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jul/07/opinion/la-le-0707-thursday-20110707
 ___________________________________

'At today's White House meeting, "people were frank," Mr. Obama said. "We discussed the various options available. We've reconfirmed the importance of completing our work and raising the debt ceiling."
Leaders from both parties came into the meeting "in a spirit of compromise," the president continued.'

Good.

'Mr. Obama said today that leaders and staffers would work through their differences over the weekend, in preparation for another White House meeting on Sunday. That meeting, he said, will be held "with the expectation at that point the party leaders will at least know where each others' bottom lines are and will hopefully then be in a position to start engaging in the hard bargaining that's necessary to get a deal done."'

My letter in the LA Times Re: The Rich, The Budget, Moderates and the GOP

Letters - letters, reader letters, reader feedback, reader opinions - latimes.com - latimes.com

Re "Obama calls meeting to break debt impasse," July 6

So House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) said budget talks will be "fruitless" unless the president abandons calls for any tax increases. "The American people simply won't stand for it," he said.

Which American people? Not most, because repealing Bush-era tax cuts for the uber-wealthy isn't raising taxes on average Americans, and the 2% at the top are the only segment of Americans prospering in the post-recession anyway. To suggest that their largesse is sacred while programs such as Medicare and education grants must be cut should make moderates run from the Republican Party.

G. Colby Allerton

end-40-hour-workweek-mainstreet: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

end-40-hour-workweek-mainstreet: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

U.S. Plunges, privileged snake-oil black-souled execs dancing in cash

Executives' Pay at Big Companies Rose 23 Percent Last Year | Truthout

The government bails out Wall St., is read to go bankrupt, and some cagey privileged snake-oil black-souled execs have upped their median salaries above $10 million per year.

As a friend once reported, "Picture ain't right."

"...Brace yourself.

The final figures show that the median pay for top executives at 200 big companies last year was $10.8 million. That works out to a 23 percent gain from 2009. The earlier study had put the median pay at a none-too-shabby $9.6 million, up 12 percent.

Total C.E.O. pay hasn’t quite returned to its heady, prerecession levels — but it certainly seems headed there. Despite the soft economy, weak home prices and persistently high unemployment, some top executives are already making more than they were before the economy soured...."

D. Tutu Lays it out re: Ending Nuclear Evil | Truthout

Ending Nuclear Evil | Truthout

"Eliminating nuclear weapons is the democratic wish of the world’s people. Yet no nuclear-armed country currently appears to be preparing for a future without these terrifying devices. In fact, all are squandering billions of dollars on modernization of their nuclear forces, making a mockery of United Nations disarmament pledges. If we allow this madness to continue, the eventual use of these instruments of terror seems all but inevitable."

Phoenix sets record heat for day at 118 degrees - Yahoo! News

Phoenix sets record heat for day at 118 degrees - Yahoo! News

What can you say? We could ask those in Phoenix what they think about the global warming.

Exxon oil spill prompts evacuations | KGET TV 17

Exxon oil spill prompts evacuations | KGET TV 17
Again? Again. And again, and again....

Hemingway, Hounded by the Feds - NYTimes.com

Hemingway, Hounded by the Feds - NYTimes.com
How much of our (non-existent) federal budget goes to hounding writers and the innocent?
Awful, and not sustainable.

Energy Concerns Could Make Panetta First Green DOD Chief - NYTimes.com

Energy Concerns Could Make Panetta First Green DOD Chief - NYTimes.com
Good.

Barry Estabrook - 'Tomatoland' - How Industrial Farming 'Destroyed' The Tasty Tomato : NPR

Barry Estabrook - 'Tomatoland' - How Industrial Farming 'Destroyed' The Tasty Tomato : NPR

We need enlightened sustainability, not just lowest common denominator techniques.

Like almost everyone, the everyday supermarket tomatoes I ate X decades ago were tasty. Not anymore.

To find them now: go to a backyard, or a farmer's market: heirloom, local, organic, delicious. And funny looking!

Burbank bonuses: Burbank has given $4 million in city bonuses since 2007 - latimes.com

Burbank bonuses: Burbank has given $4 million in city bonuses since 2007 - latimes.com
Not sustainable.