Well it seems the Republican members of the Congress can dish it out (like Joe ‘You Lie’ Wilson) but can’t take it.  The Republican representatives got quite offended today by Democratic Representative Alan Grayson from Florida.  Were our Conservative and wingnut friends so insulted by being told the truth, or were they upset that Representative Grayson’s charts were superior to theirs?

You judge:

Of course, the mightily offended Republicans were upset!  They even followed Representative Grayson from the Chamber loudly demanding an apology.  They compared the representatives statement to the “You Lie” yelled by Joe Wilson and said it was incumbant upon the Democratic leadership to make Representative Grayson apologize.

But the Republicans should be careful what they wish for.  Representative Grayson does not have a good track record for cow-towing to their blather.  Take this example from Wikipedia:

In early 2009, Grayson responded to controversial comments by talk radio personality Rush Limbaugh, in which Limbaugh stated that he wanted President Barack Obama “to fail” … by saying, “Rush Limbaugh is a has-been hypocrite loser, who craves attention. His right-wing lunacy sounds like Mikhail Gorbachev, extolling the virtues of communism. Limbaugh actually was more lucid when he was a drug addict. If America ever did 1% of what he wanted us to do, then we’d all need pain killers.”

On March 3 of that year, satirizing incidents in which prominent Republican officials (including Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele) were forced to apologize to Limbaugh for criticizing him, Grayson released a second statement, in which he said, “I’m sorry Limbaugh called for harsh sentences for drug addicts while he was a drug addict. I’m also sorry that he’s bent on seeing America fail. And I’m sorry that Limbaugh is one sorry excuse for a human being.”

Democratic Caucus Chairman John Larson (Conn.) said Grayson’s remark wasn’t as serious as Wilson’s outburst, but still said he should apologize. Wilson apologized privately to the White House, but was officially scolded by the House when he wouldn’t apologize on the House floor.

“It’s not the same magnitude, clearly, and didn’t deal with decorum, as it did in the case of Joe Wilson, but I would encourage Alan to apologize,” Larson told reporters. “And I would encourage members that, as we get into a very heated and emotional and visceral debate, that we keep in mind the rules of the House and the way we treat and respect one another.”

Okay, the stage was set for an apology……and here it is.

Oh! SNAP!!!!  Hey, I like this guy.

Article by Guest Blogger BobbiV

I must admit that I have for many years believed large corporations in most cases to be abominations.  I truly thought there was no end to their profit at all costs mentality, their greed and their complete lack of feeling.  But, I must also admit that even I was shocked to learn about Dead Peasant Insurance.

Dead Peasant Insurance is sometimes used as a shorthand reference for life insurance policies that insure a company’s rank-and-file employees and name the company as the beneficiary. This means that the company receives the life insurance benefits when the covered employees die even if that employee no longer works for the company.   This insurance may also be called janitor insurance.

In other words, your employer takes out a life insurance policy on you and when you die they get the insurance payoff along with other benefits.  This is totally without your knowledge and without your family realizing anything from the insurance policy, not even burial costs.

What other benefits?  Corporations gain not merely from the tax-free life insurance benefits they receive when current or former employees die but also can borrow money against these policies. Many companies even deducted the interest on these loans from their taxes.  In 1996 Congress moved to limit such deductions, and the IRS has sued some 80 corporations, including Winn-Dixie and American Electric Power, to collect back taxes on such loans.

Now, I can see insuring the life of a business owner or an absolutely key employee and making the business the beneficiary in order to be sure that the business goes on with as little interruption as possible and to keep the employees working.  I cannot see insuring the rank and file employee for the benefit of the business instead of their families, and I certainly cannot see insuring anyone in any case without their knowledge.   This whole practice seems ghoulish at best and extremely greedy to say the least.

The Wall Street Journal reports that death benefits were used to fatten executive compensation.  Why am I not stunned by this?

Herb Perone of the American Council of Life Insurers told the San Francisco Chronicle: “Nobody gets upset when a company insures its plant or its fleet of cars or land or any other business asset. To think that your labor force is not a business asset is extremely shortsighted.” 

Shortsighted perhaps, but Mr. Perone at the very least the policies should be dropped once an employee leaves the business.  At that point they are no longer an asset of the firm.  Corporations do not claim as assets a plant or car or land that is sold or disposed of in some other way.  Why employees, unless they are just sucking every bit out of them and care nothing for them as people?  And, Mr. Perrone, in case you haven’t noticed a plant or a fleet of cars or land is not a living breathing human being.  You also depreciate your plants, auto and land for tax purposes.  Are you suggesting you get to depreciate people, too?

It is often difficult for a person to learn whether he or she was covered by a “Dead Peasant” policy. These insurance programs became popular during the mid-1980s and have been an available investment opportunity for large companies since that time. Prior to 2006, however, there was no federal law that required employers to disclose the policies to insured employees. Any disclosure requirements that existed before 2006 were only through state laws, which were ignored in many instances. So, the only way a person could learn about the policies was through the employer’s voluntarily disclosure.

Does corporate greed never end?  The next time a company touts their great benefits and the wonderful things they do for their employees just remember….you may be worth more to the company you work for if you are dead.

Well the war hawks have taken flight again and they are screeching loudly indeed.  To many of us the reason for their screeching is quite clear.  The reasons they claim President Obama is facing a direct challenge to U.S. security are quite transparent and the fear they hope to instill in the American people is quite real for some.  The roots of the right wing arguments are based in the same places that they have been for quite some time, that is money, power and politics.

When in the 1960′s the Soviet Union placed land based nuclear missiles in Cuba they were directly threatening United States soil with nuclear weapons that could be delivered at a moments notice.  Many military bases and metropolitan areas could be vaporized by these weapons before our military chain of command could respond.  In essence there was no other reason for the Soviet’s to place these weapons in Cuba other than a preplanned  first strike against the United States.

Then President John F. Kennedy ,with the full backing of our allies, placed Cuba under a naval blockade to prevent these weapons from being deployed.  His actions and the Soviet response brought the entire world to the brink of a third world war, this time fought with nuclear weapons.  Eventually the Soviet’s backed down and removed the missiles from Cuba thus averting war and the possible extinction of human life.

I personally can find very few, if any, reasons to compare the current situation with Iran and its recent missile test with the Cuban missile crisis.  That is, reasons other than to try to scare the American people, attempt to embarrass President Obama and pump big bucks to military contractors that make big donations to the hawks campaigns.

First off Iran is not a nuclear power yet.  The news reports and talking heads I have seen have stated that Iran is at least two years away from developing nuclear weapons.  Those statements lead me to believe that Iran may have much further to go in their weapons program than we think.  Remember these are the same intelligence gathering organizations that reported a vast array of W.M.D.’s in Saddam Hussein s possession that led us to war in Iraq.  Of course these same groups reported that North Korea was no where near having nuclear capabilities and were stunned when North Korea tested its first nuclear bomb.  Bottom line is we do not know for certain how close Iran is to joining the nuclear family but we do know that as of now they have not.

Second is the recent missile tests that seem to have disturbed the hawks.  These tests were not deployment of missiles into a new area.  They were not even the deployment of a new weapons platform.  They were scheduled test firings of existing weapons that the Iranians have made no secret that they possess.  Granted, the timing of the test can be questioned given the G-20 summit and recent U.N. gathering but they were still just  tests.

Why did they test these weapons?  The answer to that is simple.  Iran tested these weapons systems for the same reason any other nation would and as every other nation does every single day.  First is the most obvious, to make sure that they are working properly.  Second is to demonstrate to those who might attack you that you possess the ability to attack them right back.  In the case of this particular test I believe the country being sent a clear message was Israel, not the United States.

Israel, most likely part of that exclusive nuclear weapons club has been opposed to Iran developing any sort of nuclear technology for weapons or for energy.  They have sought to launch preemptive air strikes against Iran for years now.  The only thing that has been holding them back is a lack of U.S. support for this option.  Even President G.W. Bush, who so famously named Iran as part of the “axis of evil”, refused any dialog with them and was rumored to be seeking war with Iran would not back this Israeli plan.

Witch leads us to the next thing Iran has done to cause the hawks to bear their talons.  After years of threats from Israel and the U.S. the Iranians had the audacity to build an underground facility for their nuclear research program.  A facility that would preserve their research in the event of Israeli air strikes.  Imagine the gall of wanting to protect your nations resources!  Damn those Iranians!  Guess they want to protect their nation just as any other government would.

Now the ball is in the court of the U.N. not the American military industrial machine.  One of the things that brought us back from the brink during the Cuban Missile Crisis was a dialogue between Soviet Russia and the United States.  The situation was in the end talked out, not fought out.   That is what we need now, a dialogue.  What we do not need is a rush to place lots and lots of itchy trigger fingers on high tech weapons in an already tense situation.

Meetings will take place this week to determine weather or not Iran will allow U.N. inspectors into their research sites.  I think we should first allow those talks to take place before we rush to a ‘war’ footing.  I also think we are better off with a President of the United States who is willing to talk to other nations than shut them out and ignore them.  We already have seen the benefits of a dialogue with North Korea given the release of two American reporters.  That would never have happened under the last President.

If the Iranians allow the inspectors into their nation and it is found that they are truly researching nuclear power and not weapons then the entire ‘crisis’ is a non issue.  If they do not allow the inspectors then we should proceed, along with the rest of the world from there.

What I really do not understand in either case is the stand the right wing hawks are taking on this issue.  They are screaming for the “missile shield” to be deployed.  We do not have a missile shield! We have wasted hundreds of millions of dollars trying to develop on in the last thirty years but in weapons testing it has never, ever worked.

Look closely at what your Republican leaders are calling for.  These leaders are the champions of big business in our country and if they have not shown their true colors enough for you yet then perhaps they will now.

While over ten times more American lives are lost every year to lack of health insurance than in the 9/11 attacks, they claim that we cannot afford a public option.  While four out of every ten insurance claims are denied every day by those who pay for their insurance, they claim that the insurance industry is taking good care of us.  At the same time that we supposedly cannot afford to care for our own citizens, they want funding for the ‘star wars’ defense reinstated and wish to see a weapons system that has never worked deployed to defend our nation.  As if two wars in the Mid-East are not enough, they are seeking to move us toward a third.  All in the name of taking your tax dollars and funneling them into the pockets of their big business buddies.  Our lives are what they spend freely weather a solider in war or a citizen who is unlucky enough to fall ill.  As long as big business is well defended they are happy.

Lets look at the worst case here.  If Iran had nuclear weapons today and ifthey were stupid to launch against Israel, southern Europe or any American military base, what would happen?  The response from The United States, NATO and even Russia would be so massive and devastating that Iran as a country would cease to exist.  It would be a nuclear wasteland for the next thousand years.  Sounds like a no win situation to me.

Even the most insane and isolated leader in the world, Lil’ Kim of North Korea did not get nuclear weapons and then launch an attack.  Every country that possesses nuclear weapons knows the result of a first strike.  Complete and total reprisal from all of the other nuclear powers in the world.  In other words, certain death.

So for you wing nuts saying this is another Cuban Missile Crisis,,, lets review:

Is Iran a nuclear power as the Soviets were….. no.

Is Iran capable of striking United States soil….. no.

Would an attack from Iran today draw the entire world into war…. no.

Do we have a dialogue open with Iran as we did the Soviet Union to settle this matter diplomatically…. yes.

Would the result of an Iranian attack result in a global nuclear war….  no.

Is the Iranian test of existing weapons on their own soil the same as placing first strike weapons in another country…. no.

You hawks can sooth your ruffled feathers and return to your nest.  Go back to doing what you do best and letting your insurance buddies kill more of us every year than died in the Pearl Harbor attack.  Go back to screaming about death panels and how we now have a socialist government.  Go back to looking like huge fools instead of massive morons!

I will close this article with a quote from Albert Einstein, shortly after he witnessed the first test of a nuclear bomb:

“I do not know who will fight world war three, but I do know world war four will be fought with sticks and stones.”

War hawks never met a weapon they didn't like, even those that could bring an end to the entire world.

I have been reading a site lately called Doctor Housing Bubble.  The people that write this blog seem to really know the scoop on real estate and the foreclosure situation.  They are mainly talking about Southern California where prices don’t seem to have come anywhere near the bottom yet.  Anyway, these are not the only articles I have read recently about shadow inventory that is out there and the coming second wave of foreclosures.  The truth of this whole situation seems to be that we will realize it is happening when it happens.

I personally feel a little queasy every time I hear President Obama or one of our other leaders say that the economy has turned around.  I want to believe, but my gut says it may just have readied itself to turn down the hill again.

From Doctor Housing Bubble:

The “huge shadow inventory,” reflecting mortgages already being foreclosed upon or now delinquent and likely to be, compares with 1.27 million in 2005, the analysts led by Laurie Goodman wrote today in a report. Assuming no other homes are on the market, it would take 1.35 years to sell the properties based on the current pace of existing-home sales, they said.”

If that isn’t enough to satisfy the doubting Thomas in you, take the word from Bank of America:

“(WSJ) we are going to see a spike from now to the end of the year in foreclosures as we take people out of the running” for a loan modification or other alternatives, says a Bank of America Corp. spokeswoman. Foreclosure sales had dropped to “abnormally low” levels in response to government efforts to stem foreclosures, she adds.”

Sept. 23 (Bloomberg) — The crash in U.S. home prices will probably resume because about 7 million properties that are likely to be seized by lenders have yet to hit the market, Amherst Securities Group LP analysts said.

This kind of news doesn’t make me feel anymore confident in what lies ahead.  But, I hope and pray our leaders have things up their sleeves to bring us back to some sense of normalcy….soon!

Read the rest of the article here.

Has the money grab paired with crooked deals by the banks and Wall Street and the crash it caused put even the most modest of homes out of reach for the majority of our population?

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The Chamber of Commerce is a group that claims to be for the promotion and assistance of small business.  In truth, they have become nothing more than a huge lobbying and propaganda tool for big corporations.  They promote and push for laws that kill smaller businesses.

The Chamber of Commerce is also losing members and they are not all smaller businesses.  We told you a few days ago about PG&E leaving the group due to the Chamber’s stance on global warming.  You can read that post here.  Another energy company, PNM also announced last week they that when it comes up they will not renew membership in the Chamber.

Now Exelon, the biggest electric utlity company in the country is following suit.  They are leaving the Chamber of Commerce also due to incompatibility with their views on global warming and climate change.  If the CofC keeps bleeding large members like this, how long before they are no longer the largest lobbying force in the nation?  Or will they change their views on global warming in order to retain that position? 

Read the entire article from Think Progress here.

Maybe someday wind farms like this will supply the lion's share of our energy needs. Look no radio active waste, no smoke stacks. Why isn't this a no brainer for everyone, including conservative Republicans? Could it be that the wind does not pay them off as well as the mining and nuclear industries?

Article by Guest Blogger BobbiV

I admit to being a CSPAN and a politics junkie.  I have followed politics for most of my adult life.  Its quite like watching a great game of chess, calculating the moves and watching the trap be laid and the opponent drawn into it, only to realize his fate when it is too late.  Geek alert!  Right?  Okay, I’ll give you that, but every once in awhile there is a move that is so beautiful in its simplicity yet so devastating to the opponent that it takes your breath away.

Some Democratic members of the House executed just such a move last week.  Republicans were rabid with the thought they had gained some traction because of the baloney that has been pulled on ACORN and they were in a frenzy to press their imagined advantage.  The Democratic side seemed to be going along and all seemed well in the Republican game.

Then the language was added to the resolution to defund ACORN.  The language says any contractor that defrauds the United States Government must be defunded.  What was a Republican to do?  If they voted NO they were explicitly saying they were for contractors committing fraud against the government and at the same time backing down on ACORN.  If they voted YES they were biting the hands of the very corporations that feed them.  Long story short, the Republicans went along with it and the resolution passed the House of Representatives.

I don’t know enough about ACORN to say if anything they have done is fraud.  I do know Republicans have been frothing to stop their voter registration drives because they register poor and minority voters that tend to vote for Democratic candidates.  I do know the names of some corporations that have been found to have frauded the government.  These include Blackwater or XE as they are now known, KBR which is a former subsidiary of Halliburton and numerous defense department contractors.  The list is long and filed with the names of many large corporations.

Now what happens?  Will the Senate pass similar legislation?  I wouldn’t hold my breath.  But if enough citizens get behind it, who knows?  I can dream though, that the military-industrial complex President Eisenhower warned us about would have its sails trimmed drastically by the simple language forced into a minor resolution in the House by some astute and aware Democratic Congress people.  Well played, indeed!

Watch the video for further explanation.

God and country.  It is saying I have heard all my life and I have no idea where it came from, meaning from what country or time period.  What I do know is  this… you loud mouthed, do nothing conservatives look to the rest of us for the meaning of those words but you have absolutely no idea what either of them mean yourselves.

This part is for the reverend Beck and the anal can’t fight guy, Rush.  I do not want to hear about your God on the airwaves my tax dollars pay for!  The way I was raised, what you believe in and your relationship with God is between you and God.  Not a shock jock, his ranting loudmouth, you and God.  But you and God only.   Religion is a very personal topic and I do not appreciate you trying to tell me what I should believe in.   Just as I do not appreciate the commercials on the television from the Mormons or  Scientology.  When did it become O.K. in this nation to advertise religion on T.V.?  About the same time it became O.K. to advertise doctors, drugs and law firms.  Where would twenty four hour a day T.V. be without your combined advertising dollars?

We all live in this world no matter what religion we follow.  The sooner we all learn some tolerance the better.  Though I in no way, shape or form agree with terrorist attacks I can see why they happen.  For nine hundred years the Irish were called terrorists.  For half a century the Palestinians have been called terrorists.  Now it is a group of radical Muslims that we call terrorists.  What motivates these people to sacrifice their very lives for what they believe in?  Is it just God or does country play a role as well?

Truth is it is a mix of the two.  When England occupied Ireland they not only took away the country and government of Ireland they brought with them a new religion as well.  Not only were Irish homes, lands and lives taken away, but the last thing that could give them comfort, their religion, was threatened as well.  Catholic churches were burned and later Catholic children were stoned and mocked going to and from school.  When faced with such hate and so little hope, what were the Irish to do?  Without a government or an army how would you have fought invaders doing the same to your family and home?

After suffering the Nazi onslaught in WWII and being forced into extermination camps because of their religious beliefs, the Jews sought a homeland at the wars end and they were supported by the U.S. and Great Britain in this quest.  They only sought a place where their people could live in peace and security.  They wanted a country where they would be free to pursue their religious beliefs.  After what they suffered as a people they deserved it.  There were several offers of unoccupied land from nations around the world where the Israelis could start their new nation.  Instead they forced others to suffer a fate similar to their own under Nazi or Communist rule.  They chose to occupy their ‘holy land’.  The only problems with this were that there were already people living there and it was their ‘holy land’ as well.

So with the backing of U.S. and British soldiers the nation of Israel was reborn.  After more than a thousand years the Jews returned to their homeland.  The Palestinians and others were forced from their homes and out of the world they knew.  They became refugees with nowhere to go.  Forced into relocation camps where they had to fend for themselves and cut off from the places they drew religious strength from, no government to represent them and no army to fight for them, what should they do?   Did the Jews have a right to come in after a thousand year absence and force them from their homes and take their country away?

Then we have today’s ‘radical Muslim terrorist’.  Many of these terrorist leaders were once allies of and trained by the good old U.S. of A.  They were our friends and allies during the SovietAfghan war when we fought beside them and gave them weapons.  In the spirit of continuing friendship they agreed to allow U.S. military bases on their ‘holy ground’ during the first Iraq war with the understanding that when that war was over the U.S. military would leave.  Well the war ended with a U.S. victory.  We encouraged friendly Muslims to stand up against the Dictator Saddam Hussein in Iraq and left them to get slaughtered without our promised support but our military bases remain to this day.

Would you feel betrayed if your people were killed because your supposed friends promised support they never delivered?  Would you feel lied to if your friends promises were never kept?  Would you feel outrage at the occupation of your ‘holy ground’ by a foreign army that ignores all of your religious beliefs?  Well. they did.

What would you do Mr. Beck and Mr. Limbaugh, if you were forced from your home?  What would you do if you were stripped of your wealth?  What would you do if believers of another faith occupied your church and started killing your friends and family, drinking on your sacred ground and diddling with little boys and girls?  You could not call the police for there are none.  You could not hope for military help for there is no military.  Your government could not protect you because it no longer exists.  So, I ask again what would you gentlemen do?  Would you bow to your supposed fate of squalor and death?  Would you suffer every indignity dished out to you?  Would you try to stand and fight?

Armies throughout history have occupied foreign lands.  Those who understood people and human nature had empires that grew and prospered.  Those who did not were short lived.

I would point to the Roman Empire as a combination of both understanding and intolerance.  I would also point out that the Founding Fathers based our country on the Roman Republic.  The longest period of peace in the Western World was under Roman rule and that lasted for only five hundred years.

When a Roman army defeated that of another nation they did not ask that nation to become Roman.  The people kept their homes and businesses.  Leaders that bowed to Roman rule were left in power.  The nation still had its own military under Roman command.  The people were free to worship whatever God they wanted.  They had representation in the government and the Romans began projects that improved the life of the people while at the same time improving their empire.  People were allowed to become citizens of Rome and one law ruled the land.

With power came envy and the ambitions of some hurt the many.  Many were jealous of the power of Roman leaders and wanted it for themselves, so infighting began.  For the average Roman subject however, this did not involve them or affect their lives, except in the amount of taxes they paid.

In my opinion the infighting did weaken the Romans to outside attack.  However, the fall of the empire came only after the Roman leaders banned the people from following any other religion aside from their own.  It was that turning point that caused wide spread anger amongst the common man and the Empire slid into a state of decline that could not be reversed.

People could call themselves Romans and give up their country but the Romans came to insist that they abandon their religious beliefs as well.  I believe that was the source of their downfall.

When you take a mans country away you steal a part of him.  When you take his home and land you steal his lifes work.  When you ridicule him you hurt is feelings.  When you kill his friends and family you harden him.  When you try to  take his religion you are trying to take his soul.  When you shove him into a corner at that point he will strike back what ever way he can.  That is what terrorists are,  men and women who feel they have nothing to lose and everything to die for.

We know that tolerance, respect and understanding works to reduce terrorist attacks.  Look at Ireland today.  Compared to the eighties it is almost peaceful.  Why?  Irish were given an area that they rule and  in which they can pursue their religion.  The establishment of a Palestinian homeland has greatly reduced terrorist attacks by the P.L.O. and I sincerely hope this trend continues.  It proves that tolerance and cooperation go much farther than dismissal and oppression.

We are all people.  None of us want to die, we want to live our lives and the average man does not seek war.  The problems begin when a powerful force takes away everything worth living for and leaves you no one to appeal to for help.  That is where terrorists are born.  They honestly believe they have absolutely nothing left to lose so they gladly die for the hope of a better life for their people.

The United States of America is not, nor was it ever supposed to be an empire.  It was designed to be a country of free men with the right to believe as they choose.

Those on the right claim to lead us as a nation and in a belief system.  I for one reject them.  I also do not support the idea of bringing sliced bread and track homes with a church on every corner to those who do not want them.

I urge Glenn Beck to actually read part of the Constitution before he claims part of it was a fee for entering this country as opposed to a tax for bringing slaves into this country.

I urge Rush Limbaugh to go to Iraq or Afghanistan and fight for what he preaches, not hide behind his anal cyst as he did during Viet Nam.

I urge Chuck Norris to be proud of the flag of our nation and not ask people to desecrate it.  I ask him to take pride in what we have accomplished in the last two hundred years and not shame those who gave their lives to defend the ideals of the thirteen colonies he seems to hold so dear.

I urge Americans as a people to extend the right to people of other nations to do the same as us.  To have their own government and their own beliefs.

I urge the people of the world to respect their neighbors and not try to force them into what you believe.

Who knows.  A little respect and tolerance could make terrorism a footnote in the history books.

Number of terrorist incidents 2009 through June.

As promised, here is the second of the two parts of the speech by President Obama to The Congressional Black Caucus.  In this part President Obama speaks more about healthcare reform and also gives time to education and parental responsibility.

After listening to this, let us all redouble our efforts to make the dream of a truly inclusive and fair United States of America become a reality.  Don’t do it for Obama or the Republicans or the Conservatives or any other faction or party.  Do it for the people of this country.

Listen, watch and enjoy.

Sorry about the Fox logo.  That’s the way the video came.