By BobbiV

During the Bush Administration, big energy corporations like Massey got around regulation on a regular basis.  They did this with the implicit okay of the Republican House and Senate with their hell bent rush to remove any and all regulation from corporations.  The way things were set up, a corporation like Massey could file appeals after citations for even gross safety negligence.  The appeals process was a long and delayed one.  During the time the complaint was awaiting adjudication of the appeal, the corporation was free to continue business as usual including the action that drew the citation in the first place.

It didn’t take long with all the paper flying for the government offices overseeing safety and inspections of these corporations to be mired in paperwork and greatly backlogged.  Surprise, surprise!  this entire paper game led to needless and completely avoidable deaths at mines and in other industries.

Now the House of Representatives has taken steps to clear our the backlog and get agencies back on track with enforcement of safety laws and standards.  How did they do this?  By the appropriation of funds that will empower these agencies to catch up to date on their work.  In that way they stop the end around game the corporations have been relying on to delay enforcement of the penalties for their violations.

According to Republican philosophy the” free market will regulate itself without government regulation”. But they always leave out the end of that sentence which is “as long as the government or other enforcement is always looking over their shoulder”.

Tell me Republicans, just how do you do that without government regulation?  The relatives of all the dead workers would sincerely like to know.

Read what the AFL-CIO has to say about this here.

A government regulator reaches toward escape from the tons of paperwork corporations have saddled him with.

By BobbiV

Democratic Senator Al Franken of Minnesota has been quite busy during the short time he has been in the United States Senate.  It doesn’t seem as though his late start caused by Republican sore loser Norm Coleman, has slowed him down a bit.

The first bill that was his very own helped military vets get service dogs.  After passage of that bill Senator Franken went on to speak passionately for the people of this country on the floor of the Senate.  He has made Progressives stand up and cheer with his questioning of bankers and most recently his dismantling of  BPs so called safety executive.

However, he may have topped himself when he spoke to last weeks meeting of Netroots Nation in Las Vegas, Nevada.  His topic was our First Amendment rights under the Constitution of the United States and how they are being threatened by the media mergers now taking place.  He lets us know how our Internet is in danger from what is happening and calls on all of us to stand up before it is too late to do anything.  As Senator Franken says Net Neutrality is the First Amendment  challenge of our lifetime.  He also asks for us to help him in the fight.

The video below is of Senator Franken at Netroots Nation.  Please listen carefully to what he has to say.  We must keep abreast of this issue and work hard to stop any further erosion of our right to free speech.

I don’t know about you, but I will do all I can to help the Senator.  Just tell me what to do and where.  If it is within my power I will be there.

By BobbiV

This happened a couple of weeks ago.  I have been saving it, but I can’t say that I really know why.  Perhaps because I am still shaking at the thought of what BP, with our willing consent, has done to the environment in the Gulf.

The reason I am bringing it out now is really very simple.  After the latest storm  the Gulf of Mexico looks a lot better.  The sheen has dissipated in much of the area that was hit with oil and if you don’t look closely, you might just think everything is just A-OK.

That is a deception.  We still don’t know about the long term impact on the environment, wildlife and the fragile eco-systems of the marshes and swamps.  We also don’t have any idea about the health repercussions for the clean up crews and for Gulf residents.  We have no idea what the dispersants BP pumped into the ocean will do and what they will kill.

However, I don’t intend to let it slip from the consciousness of the people I know and that includes readers of this blog.  So I am putting this video up to remind you of how bad this environmental disaster is.  It will continue to plague this country for many years to come.  We must never forget this and we must not let BP off the hook.  As citizens, our duty is to make sure the Obama administration stays vigilant and collects the money from BP that the Gulf residents are due.

By BobbiV

Ya gotta love the Pentagon and the military.  The DOD has done one great job training these guys.  Now they say they can’t account for eight point seven billion dollars of money that was earned from Iraqi oil sales.  Seems to me I remember Paul Wolfowitz testifying before the House, or maybe it was the Senate, that the Iraqi oil revenues were going to pay for our expenditures in the war.  Actually, he said these oil revenues would more than pay for the war, so no harm, no foul,,,right?  We American citizens don’t have to worry though, because the DOD says the money was just lost due to simple accounting errors.

Noooo… fellas,  simple accounting errors would be a hundred dollars or a thousand dollars,even a million dollars in extreme circumstances.  But we are talking about eight point seven billion dollars. That is no accounting error or group of errors.  It is also most definitely not simple.

From Laurence Lewis at Daily Kos; (emphasis mine)

Now, let’s do the math. $8,700,000,000 divided by $9,100,000,000. That comes to 0.9560. Or 95.6%. Missing. Of the Iraqi oil revenue entrusted to the Defense Department between 2004 and 2007. Which would be during the Bush-Cheney administration. Which would be mostly during the tenure of Donald Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense.

$8,700,000,000.

95.6%.

Unaccounted for. Gone. Missing. Poof. Like magic.

You can read the rest here.

Coming closer to getting the point now, guys?  It wasn’t just the American tax payers you ripped off this time.  We want the money paid back sooner rather than latter and everyone  up through Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld should have to cough up their share.  Out here in the reality based world that is just the way it is.

From The Los Angeles Times; (emphasis mine)

If more money is found to be missing, “Iraq will definitely try to get it back,” said Ali Musawi, a media advisor to Prime Minister Nouri Maliki.

Most of the money covered in the latest audit has been spent, but the study found $34.3 million that should legally have been returned to Iraq in 2007, when Iraq’s government assumed responsibility for its finances.

The Defense Department has not said what it intends to do with the money, which is “at risk” of being spent, the audit said.

In response to the audit findings, the Defense Department concurred with recommendations that it establish better guidelines for managing such funds. But a letter from U.S. Central Command emphasized that failure to establish deposit accounts for the $8.7 billion does not mean it all cannot be accounted for.

Read the rest of this article here.

Okay you guys, left…right…left…right…hup,hup,hup, get back in those little cubicles where you stick the bean counters and start accounting.  And do not stop until you find at least eight point seven billion dollars!

Just to let you know how serious we are about this, take a look at what is going on in Bell, California.  That is over a few million at most.  Imagine when we come after you for billions.  Wait, don’t imagine.  Its too gruesome even for a cardboard cut out, love to wear the medals but haven’t had to do any fighting Pentagon asshat.  It might mess with your sensibilities.

Get going, start accounting, right NOW!

Look how much we spend on you over inflated pieces of crap and this was in 2007. Find the money and stop the waste or we will send you where they don't spend very much at all on the military. To be clear that would be in the "Rest of the World" category on the pie chart. And yes, we will leave you there. Aw....don't cry.

By BobbiV

We all are aware that Helen Thomas has left a vacancy in the White House Press Corps.  The recent departure has left her front row seat at White House press briefings vacant.

Fox really covets this front row seat.  But the question is, do they deserve it?  My answer is no.  In fact, I don’t think Fox should really be at the press briefings at all.  They should go to RNC briefings and press conferences held by Republican lawmakers or candidates.  However, since Fox is an arm of the Republican Party and not  a legitimate news network, it seems to me they should not have a seat at the table, any more than other strictly political organizations should.

National Public Radio would also like to have the front row seat in question.  NPR has been reporting on government for four decades and they have given the public some of the best press coverage available during that time.  In my opinion they deserve the seat and have put in the time and effort to earn it.

Bloomberg is the other news group vying for this coveted seat.  I would much rather see a Bloomberg press representative in the chair than any of the Fox want to be journalist lackeys.

It will be decided Monday just who gets the prized front row seat at White House press briefings.  Credo has a petition up which asks that Fox not get the seat and asks that NPR be moved into the vacancy.

If you feel as I do about this, please sign the petition.  Remember, this seat is a big prize to Beltway journalists.  Lets try to keep the communal Fox head from swelling any further and give the seat to the people who have really earned it.  Besides, it will be fun to hear O’Reilly and the rest whine about losing.  Hey, maybe Beck will cry for us!

Below is the link to the petition.  If you sign it please also take the time to post it on Twitter and Facebook too.

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/fox_or_npr/

Yup, there he is, right on cue, with the Vicks already spread under the eyes.

Soon the big wigs and big donors of the RNC will be gathering for a rally/dinner/fundraiser/ big party in that bastion of the common working man they claim to represent, Beverly Hills California.

With tickets running as high as $60,800 for a couple this is sure to bring out all the hard working 9-5 Joe the plumber types that have the extra cash in their Glenn Beck gold account.  I am also quite certain that whatever posh retreat they are planning to hold the event in is rushing to add hundreds of mobile home power and sewage hookups to their resort to accommodate all the motor homes the tea baggers will be driving in from around the nation.

Needless to say they are not concerned with security at this event.  They think it is okey dokey, fine and dandy to carry loaded weapons in close proximity to President Obama, so I am certain there will be plenty of firepower at this event.  It would just make security guards armed with mere pepper spray and stun guns redundant.

Once you have paid your thousands of dollars, enjoyed the fine wine and food with your wife, mistress, escort or rent boy you will be in for the thrilling speeches.  Ahhh yes! the thrilling and captivating speeches made by those people who embody what the RNC and Republican party stand for.

As these pillars of what you stand for look out over the gun packing, date purchasing crowd of’ working Joes and people from small town America that you so vocally represent I am sure they will be inspired.  They will know that they are speaking straight to the heart of the common man and will give a speech that must be  recorded for all the world to hear and for all posterity.

The main man for the event, the one who shares your values the most is sure to give the best speech of all.  He will after all be the keynote speaker for the entire gathering.  He is the one you paid the $60,800 to see (plus the extra cost of a date and the motor home hookup) and you are looking forward to him inspiring you and telling you how things are in real America.

Enter Andrew Breitbart!!!

Yes, you will be inspired by the master of video tape editing himself Andrew Breitbart!  Yes, the Andrew Breitbart!  The one that is a proven liar!  The man that single handedly took down an organization that represents the dreaded minorities with lies and selective editing of a video.  The man that destroyed what should have been a speech on racial tolerance and turned it in to a racial issue.  The man who ruined another persons life for no better reason than he could!  That Andrew Breitbart.

The man that most represents what the RNC is all about will inspire you with tales of his truthiness.  He will regale you with his video magic.  He will lie to you over and over again just like he lies to everyone else and you will eat it up.

Enjoy your squab, capons, hired dates and fine wine.  Lap up the lies that Andrew Breitbart tells you from the sterling silver bowl they will place in front of you.  Feel good about having lies told to you and the day after you leave Beverly Hills take a drive in your motor home through the rest of Los Angeles and look long and hard at the world around you.

Then you can go home with dose of real truth and not just your own truthiness.

Below are copies of the invitation from Talking Points Memo.  I am posting them here for you to look over until you get yours in the mail.

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Page 3 Showing contribution amounts

Republican candidate for the Senate from Nevada, Sharron Angle has shown over and over again why she is a darling of the tea baggers and the wing nuts.  Its because she is absolutely bat guano nuts!

I’m sure you have seen reports showing this not ready for prime time candidate making a fool of herself just before bolting to run from the press.  Now we will show you new video of our very own Nevada wing nut as she denies what she has previously said.

We must all remember, this is one person who does not want her words or views taken seriously.  Why else would she deny them?  The real problem is Angle, like the rest of her Fox and right wing nut crowd, just can’t seem to get the idea of video tape and voice recorders into her eighteenth century head.

Sharron, you look not only crazy but also stupid when you try to deny what you have already avowed, especially when it is on tape.  As an example, watch Sharron Angle get caught red handed by Ed Schultz on his Psycho Talk segment.

Yes, this whole thing has already gotten out to all the supporters of Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid.  I received this myself in an email from Senator Reid yesterday.  Here is what the Reid folks put together.

When will these conservative right wingers ever get the idea that if they say it on television or in a debate or on radio, it is on the record and can be used against them?

I know….. anytime a tea bagger candidate is asked a question, before they answer, the questioner needs to read them their rights, especially that part about remaining silent.

By BobbiV

Republican Senators, especially those who were roomies at C-Street, claim to be very good Christians with the highest of family and moral values.  How they do this while at the same time keeping a straight face, I will never understand.

The latest in the saga from the C-Street boys is Oklahoma Republican member of the Senate Dr. Tom Coburn turning on his very good buddy Nevada Republican member of the Senate John Ensign.  Yes, that Senator Ensign.  The one who was involved in a salacious affair with the wife of his friend and employee.  The one who had his Mommy and Daddy pay off the friend.  The one who had Tom Coburn by his side during the hyjinx, including having Coburn negotiate the pay off amount for the wronged family.  The one who is being investigated by the Senate Ethics Committee.  The one who is under investigation by the FBI.

Now it seems, Senator Coburn has dropped the dime on Senator Ensign, so to speak.

From Politico;

Coburn told POLITICO that he is cooperating with the Justice Department in the investigation of Ensign, and says he’s willing to submit himself to an interview with the FBI or Senate Select Committee on Ethics, which is conducting a parallel investigation into whether Ensign broke Senate rules.

“We’ve given them everything they wanted,” Coburn said, referring to the Justice Department.

Coburn would not reveal what was in the e-mails he is sharing with federal authorities, but a Coburn aide said the Oklahoma Republican turned over more than 1,200 pages of documents to the Justice Department.

But Coburn’s decision to provide potential evidence to the Justice Department is another blow for Ensign, and could help federal investigators build their case against his fellow Republican colleague.

Read the rest here.

What is that old saying about tangled webs and deceiving?  Looks like Ensign might be remembering it sooner rather than later.

I just know because he is one of the Senators from the state where I live, I wish he would just resign and get it over with.  After all, that is what he said Bill Clinton should do.  What a consummate hypocrite.

Senator John Ensign (R-NV)