Social Security

SOCIAL SECURITY – THE LENINIST STRATEGY: How has Social Security privatization, once an unspeakable notion on Capitol Hill, moved to the top of President Bush's agenda? As the Los Angeles Times reports, nothing less than a twenty-year right-wing "economic education campaign" inspired by the work of Russian Bolshevik Vladimir Lenin. "Our reform strategy involves what one might crudely call guerrilla warfare against both the current Social Security system and the coalition that supports it," Heritage Foundation analysts Stuart Butler and Peter Germanis wrote in a 1983 Cato Journal article titled "Achieving a 'Leninist' Strategy." Today, as President Bush musters support for his plan, he is able to draw "on a deep reservoir of resources – including policy research, ready-to-hire experts and polling on how to discuss the issue – that conservatives have created over the last 20 years." And despite the fact that conservative predictions about Social Security's financial collapse have proven false, and that the privatization model in Chile they hold with high regard has left Chileans worse off, the "education campaign" continues.

SOCIAL SECURITY – "YOU CAN'T GET OUT WHAT YOU CAN'T PUT IN": When the president starts bemoaning the life expectancy gap between minority groups and whites, it should give us hope that our government is finally going to begin tackling health care access, community violence, high unemployment, disparate wages, and other social ills. It should not be a ploy to garner support for an ill-fated Social Security plan. Unfortunately, President Bush has decided to step up his privatization rhetoric by taking advantage of a sad statistic: the discrepancy between the life expectancy of blacks and whites. In fact, President Bush neglects that some of the actual realities of life for blacks in America – lower wages and a higher chance of disability – are part of the reason why "the [Social Security] program may actually benefit blacks more than whites." And analysts from the AARP, economic scholars, and the Social Security Administration's own actuaries agree with this conclusion. As economist Jeffrey Liebman stated, "If the problem we're trying to address is African-Americans having lower life expectancy, increasing their retirement benefits and their ability to pass wealth on to their children is not the way to do that." In response to President Bush's latest Social Security sales tactic, Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) replied, "It is one of the cruelest things that I have ever read, and I regret that it comes from the office of the president."

'The haves and the have-mores'

"US influence in the world is largely negative and view Americans negatively as well"
Al-Ahram Weekly | International | 'The haves and the have-mores'

No Principle, Just Interest

Being American now means thinking you can always have what you want when you want it. So what if we're mortgaging our paychecks to the folks at Visa and our country to the folks in Beijing? Let us eat cake.
MSNBC - No Principle, Just Interest

Dick (Go Fuck Yourself) Cheney reinforces his douchebag image

International news from swissinfo, the Swiss news platform: "Cheney criticized for Auschwitz attire"

Design your own hell!

Design your own hell!

Iraq: This election is a sham

Iraq: This election is a sham: "In any event, virtually no Iraqis, not even those benefiting from the American presence, see the superpower either as a friend or as a promoter of human rights and democracy. Each U.S.-dictated self-governance milestone has therefore backfired, just like the current election has, generating wider support and bloodier attacks by an insurgency that has grown more effective in thwarting American ambitions.
Despite its search for greater legitimacy for its preferred Iraqi leadership, the United States has studiously avoided the UN Security Council, since it knows most of its members abhor what is being done to Iraq (but have found it easier to keep their counsel and let this adventure self-destruct).

Debt For Everyone

Think the budget deficit is too large, but not really something you should worry about? Think again, says former labor secretary Robert Reich. The deficit may be so large as to seem abstract, but it translates to higher prices on everything you buy. Our economy is steadily slowing down, choked by debt—all so tax cuts for the rich can become a permanent fixture.
TomPaine.com - Debt For Everyone

The Parrot In The Bathroom / Our dog-loving columnist finds the bird life surreal indeed. And you thought your cat was strange

Mark Morford provides a bit of welcome relief from the insanity served up daily from our nations' capitol.
The Parrot In The Bathroom / Our dog-loving columnist finds the bird life surreal indeed. And you thought your cat was strange

The Black Commentator - Rice Arrives Just In Time To Oversee U.S. Decline

The Black Commentator - Rice Arrives Just In Time To Oversee U.S. Decline - Issue 123: "The Bush men (and woman) loot the American treasury and threaten world order in the service of corporations that have already abandoned their U.S. nationality, and now seek to destroy the sovereignty of all other nations. They have initiated a war against everyone.
Civility cannot long exist where savages rule. In questioning the perennial prevaricator Condoleezza Rice, Minnesota Senator Mark Dayton found it impossible to keep up the pretensions of the upper chamber. 'I don't like impugning anyone's integrity, but I really don't like being lied to,' Dayton said. 'Repeatedly, flagrantly, intentionally.'
The entire planet is rejecting blatant American lies and aggression, and actively conspiring to undermine United States military, economic and political domination. This aggression now has a new face that of a Black woman. We are saddened at the historical irony, but so be it. "

White House Memo: Bush Finds a Backer in Moynihan, Who's Not Talking

The New York Times > Washington > White House Memo: Bush Finds a Backer in Moynihan, Who's Not Talking
The administration is pressing for accounts that would be financed out of the payroll tax levied on workers; the accounts would replace part of the benefit paid to retirees by the government. Mr. Moynihan favored accounts that would be layered on top of Social Security, paid for by taxes on top of those directed into Social Security, to supplement the government benefit payment.

Education chief rips PBS for gay character

Thirty six GI's die today in Iraq but this shit gets headlines! First it was SpongeBob Squarepants and now its animated Buster. Have these people nothing else to concern themselves with?
MSNBC - Education chief rips PBS for gay character

A Degrading Policy (washingtonpost.com)

A Degrading Policy (washingtonpost.com)

Writer Backing Bush Plan Had Gotten Federal Contract (washingtonpost.com)

Of course $21,500 is chump change compared to the Armstrong Williams ripoff of $241,000.
Writer Backing Bush Plan Had Gotten Federal Contract (washingtonpost.com): "But Gallagher failed to mention that she had a $21,500 contract with the Department of Health and Human Services to help promote the president's proposal. Her work under the contract, which ran from January through October 2002, included drafting a magazine article for the HHS official overseeing the initiative, writing brochures for the program and conducting a briefing for department officials. "

No On Gonzales

For Alberto Gonzales to put the "law of the Whitehouse" above the law of the land is an affront to every American. He should not be confirmed as Attorney General.
Daily Kos

Bush Wants $80B More for Iraq, Afghan Wars

Get out your checkbooks folks. Here comes bush with his tin cup and billion dollar handouts for Halliburton and his war machine cronies.
Yahoo! News - Bush Wants $80B More for Iraq, Afghan Wars

Gonzales: Did He Help Bush Keep His DUI Quiet?

MSNBC - Gonzales: Did He Help Bush Keep His DUI Quiet?

New Strategy on Social Security (washingtonpost.com)

With Some Risk, Bush Officials Invoke Clinton, Moynihan
New Strategy on Social Security (washingtonpost.com)

A Bunch of Krabby Patties

"SpongeBush SquarePants!

We can only hope that Dr. Dobson doesn't pick up on the resemblance. SpongeBob, as his song goes, "lives in a pineapple under the sea/absorbent and yellow and porous is he!" SpongeBush lives in a bubble in D.C./absorbent and shallow and porous is he!"
The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: A Bunch of Krabby Patties

Missing Money: Mystery in Iraq as $300 Million is Taken Abroad

I would bet that bush/cheney/rummy know exactly where the loot is and who got it. Who else has control of aircraft in and out of Iraq but the US military?
The New York Times > International > Middle East > Missing Money: Mystery in Iraq as $300 Million is Taken Abroad

Ground Control to Mr. Bush

One has to wonder when the 50+ million morons who voted for bush will suddenly realize they voted against their own self interest. Will it be when their own job goes to China?
Ground Control to Mr. Bush -- In These Times
Inauguration: Lifestyles of the Rich and Heartless

Due to $17 million worth of inaugural security – paid for by the city of Washington, D.C. – the Progress Report is unable to access its office. Never fear – it takes a lot more than that to keep us down. We put this list together for you ahead of time. Your regularly scheduled Progress Report returns tomorrow.

A look at this week's festivities by the numbers:

$40 million: Cost of Bush inaugural ball festivities, not counting security costs.

$2,000: Amount FDR spent on the inaugural in 1945…about $20,000 in today's dollars.

$20,000: Cost of yellow roses purchased for inaugural festivities by D.C.'s Ritz Carlton.

200: Number of Humvees outfitted with top-of-the-line armor for troops in Iraq that could have been purchased with the amount of money blown on the inauguration.

$10,000: Price of an inaugural package at the Fairmont Hotel, which includes a Beluga caviar and Dom Perignon reception, a chauffeured Rolls Royce and two actors posing as "faux" Secret Service agents, complete with black sunglasses and cufflink walkie-talkies.

400: Pounds of lobster provided for "inaugural feeding frenzy" at the exclusive Mandarin Oriental hotel.

3,000: Number of "Laura Bush Cowboy cookies" provided for "inaugural feeding frenzy" at the Mandarin hotel.

$1: Amount per guest President Carter spent on snacks for guests at his inaugural parties. To stick to a tight budget, he served pretzels, peanuts, crackers and cheese and had cash bars.

22 million: Number of children in regions devastated by the tsunami who could have received vaccinations and preventive health care with the amount of money spent on the inauguration.

1,160,000: Number of girls who could be sent to school for a year in Afghanistan with the amount of money lavished on the inauguration.

$15,000: The down payment to rent a fur coat paid by one gala attendee who didn't want the hassle of schlepping her own through the airport.

$200,500: Price of a room package at D.C.'s Mandarin Oriental, including presidential suite, chauffeured Mercedes limo and outfits from Neiman Marcus.

2,500: Number of U.S. troops used to stand guard as President Bush takes his oath of office

26,000: Number of Kevlar vests for U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan that could be purchased for $40 million.

$290: Bonus that could go to each American solider serving in Iraq, if inauguration funds were used for that purpose.

$6.3 million: Amount contributed by the finance and investment industry, which works out to be 25 percent of all the money collected.

$17 million: Amount of money the White House is forcing the cash-strapped city of Washington, D.C., to pony up for inauguration security.

9: Percentage of D.C. residents who voted for Bush in 2004.

66: Percentage of Americans who think this over-the-top inauguration should have been scaled back.

Op-Ed Columnist Maureen Dowd: Don't Know Much About Algebra

The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: Don't Know Much About Algebra: "It is puzzling that if you add X (no exit strategy) to Y (Why are we there?) you get W2: George Bush's second inauguration. "

Ho Hum, More War And Death / What happens when habitual warmongering and BushCo lies become part of our daily diet?

And then you read the appalling little story about how BushCo is now "taking steps" to further the investigation into why their original intelligence on Iraq was so painfully, treasonously, colon-clenchingly wrong, why they thought Saddam had giant Costco-sized warehouses stacked to the rafters with snarling nukes and nasty biotoxins and active warheads when, in fact, he had nothing but a couple Dumpsters full of rusty 20-year-old shell casings and a bucket of stale glue.
Ho Hum, More War And Death / What happens when habitual warmongering and BushCo lies become part of our daily diet?

New Doubts On Plan For Social Security

House Republican Says Bush Plan Is Doomed, Seeks Review of System
New Doubts On Plan For Social Security (washingtonpost.com)

Social Security: There Is No Crisis -

The Blog Political Action Committee has launched a major online offensive exposing the manufactured Social Security "crisis".
Social Security: There Is No Crisis -

Security Lockdown for Corporate Inauguration

"An estimated 100 square blocks of downtown will be off-limits to the public during inaugural festivities, and about 7,000 troops will be deployed," according to the Washington Post.
a href="http://www.airamericaradio.com/">Air America Radio America's Progressive Talk Radio Network

Cuts in disability benefits seen in Social Security plan

Currently, disabled workers move seamlessly through the Social Security system, often unaware they draw their benefits from the disability program until they reach retirement age and shift to the retirement program. That would change with investment accounts, advocates say, with people falling through holes in a new system.
Boston.com / News / Nation / Washington / Cuts in disability benefits seen in Social Security plan

THE COMING WARS

“Rumsfeld will no longer have to refer anything through the government’s intelligence wringer,” the former official went on. “The intelligence system was designed to put competing agencies in competition. What’s missing will be the dynamic tension that insures everyone’s priorities—in the C.I.A., the D.O.D., the F.B.I., and even the Department of Homeland Security—are discussed. The most insidious implication of the new system is that Rumsfeld no longer has to tell people what he’s doing so they can ask, ‘Why are you doing this?’ or ‘What are your priorities?’ Now he can keep all of the mattress mice out of it.”
The New Yorker: Fact

No Call for Agency to Sell Fix for Social Security?

I hope Frank Rich or some honest journalist is following the money on this media blitz. Does anybody really expect anything but lies from this administration. (See the previous Paul Levy article "The Madness of George W. Bush" on Bush's illness ‘malignant egophrenic' which seems to have infected the whole administration).
The New York Times > Washington > No Call for Agency to Sell Fix for Social Security, Aide Says

Frank Rich: All the President's Newsmen

It's high time that real journalists start exposing the fake news and fake journalists 'bought and paid for' by the bush Whitehouse. "So far he (Williams) is refusing to name names - a vow of omertà all too reminiscent of that taken by the low-level operatives first apprehended in that "third-rate burglary" during the Nixon administration". Could this be bush's "Williamsgate"?

The New York Times > Arts > Frank Rich: All the President's Newsmen

Social Security Agency Is Enlisted to Push Its Own Revision

The New York Times > Washington > Social Security Agency Is Enlisted to Push Its Own Revision

The Nation | Editorial | None So Blind | The Editors

A majority of Americans are already experiencing buyers' remorse; Bush's razor-thin victory on election day may have witnessed the height of his popularity. The central question of his second term is how soon Americans, recognizing their error, will demand a change in direction.
The Nation | Editorial | None So Blind | The Editors

The Madness of George W. Bush: A Reflection of Our Collective Psychosis | BaltimoreChronicle.com

The Madness of George W. Bush: A Reflection of Our Collective Psychosis BaltimoreChronicle.com
Malignant egophrenia, unrecognized and misdiagnosed until now, has wreaked havoc all throughout human history, and is at the very root of our current world crisis. By recognizing the nature of this collective psychosis, we snap out of being part of it.

The Wal-Mart PR Offensive

What good is $250 billion in revenue if nobody loves you? Yesterday, Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott launched a public relations campaign aimed to restore the company's tarnished image. He's begun lashing out at the company's critics, claiming Wal-Mart is the victim of a misinformation campaign. Displaying its trademark light touch, Wal-Mart placed 100 full-page advertisements in major newspapers laying out its side of the story. The advertisement declares, "everyone is entitled to their own opinions about our company, but they are not entitled to make up their own facts." But Wal-Mart presents an incomplete and dishonest account of how it treats its employees. Here's the straight story:

DENYING HEALTH CARE BENEFITS: Wal-Mart brags about the generous benefits package it extends to employees. But the company fails to mention that "only 40% of the company's one million U.S. employees are currently enrolled in its healthcare plan, leaving close to 600,000 of its employees acquiring health insurance elsewhere — or not at all." Part of the reason behind this embarrassingly low uninsured rate – the national rate for insured employees at other large companies is 66 percent – could be the obstacles Wal-Mart places in front of workers seeking access to the health care plan. In spite of an astounding 60 percent annual turnover rate for its employees, the waiting period for enrollment eligibility was increased to six months for full-time employees and two years for part-time employees. If part-time employees make it over this hurdle, they still cannot buy coverage for spouses or children. It's also a wonder why their employees would even want to sign up for the health insurance plan as Wal-Mart "shifts much of the health care costs onto employees."

LEECHING OFF GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE: In the advertisement, Wal-Mart continues on to praise itself for paying "almost twice the federal minimum wage" to its hourly store associates and listing the many benefits that come with employment. However, wages for many Wal-Mart employees are so low that they are forced to rely on government assistance – especially for health care. In Washington State, subsidized insurance for the workers who aren't covered by their employers costs taxpayers "several million dollars annually." Some state lawmakers have had enough. Legislation has been drafted that would "force big business to help pay for the state's Basic Health Plan." The legislation has been nicknamed the "Wal-Mart bill." And not without justification – of those enrolled in the taxpayer subsidized health plan who are employed, more work at Wal-Mart than anywhere else. Citizen interest in the bill "drew crowds of people to a hearing last week in Olympia." In Georgia, a new AFL-CIO study found 10,000 children of Wal-Mart employees were enrolled in Georgia's public health insurance program. As comparison, the next highest employer was Publix, with 734 children enrolled.

ABUSING HOURLY EMPLOYEES: Wal-Mart claims that "seventy-four percent of [its] hourly associates in the United States work full-time." What the company chooses not to address is the nearly 40 wage-and-hour lawsuits currently filed against them. In Washington state for example, a class-action lawsuit against Wal-Mart alleges that the corporation routinely "engaged in a 'systematic scheme of wage abuse'" in which it "pressured hourly employees not to report all their time worked, failed to keep true time records…failed to give employees full rest or meal breaks, threatened to fire or demote employees who would not work off the clock, [and] required workers to attend unpaid meetings and computer training." (Be sure to read about other ways Wal-Mart keeps its employees after hours and takes their hard-earned and dutifully deserved wages.)

DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN: The self-aggrandizing advertisement also highlights the claim that Wal-Mart promotes "from within." It just doesn't get into the messy details of who gets the "tap on the shoulder." According to a report citing findings from a 2003 article in The Financial Times, "two-thirds of the company's hourly workers are female [but] women hold only one-third of managerial positions and constitute less than 15 percent of store managers. And June 22 marked the certification of Dukes v. Wal-Mart as a class-action lawsuit brought against Wal-Mart for discriminatory practices in its wage payments and promotion decisions. The judge determined that the sex discrimination suit "presented largely uncontested statistics that women are paid less than men in every region, pay disparities exist in most job categories, that the salary gap widens over time and that the higher one looks in the organization, the lower the percentage of women.'" Up to 1.6 million current or former female employees stand to benefit from the suit.

DENYING WORKERS THE RIGHT TO ORGANIZE BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY: Of the many "perks" that should come with being employed at Wal-Mart, workers' right to organize – internationally "recognized as a core labor standard and a basic human right" – is not mentioned. This glaring absence is not a mistake: "Wal-Mart has consistently stated that it will not bargain with any union, and has repeatedly taken drastic steps to prevent workers from organizing in stores across North America." Managers at Wal-Marts even have a "hotline to call so that company specialists can respond rapidly and head off any attempt by employees to organize." The various strategies that Wal-Mart has employed to get around unions have resulted in the company being hit with over 100 charges, complaints, and rebukes by United Food and Commercial Workers, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and the United States government. Despite facing grand jury investigations, National Labor Review Board judges, and class action suits, behind closed doors, Wal-Mart applauds its "union avoidance strategy."

Bush does not want to hear bad news

IRAQ – "WE'RE LOSING": Outgoing Secretary of State Colin Powell has issued his bleakest assessment of Iraq yet, just two weeks out from the country's first elections since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's government. Relaying an account from former U.S. ambassador Chas Freeman, the Financial Times reports that Bush recently asked Powell for his views on Iraq. "'We're losing,' Mr Powell was quoted as saying. Mr. Freeman said Mr. Bush then asked the secretary of state to leave." The anecdote appears to confirm two recent developments regarding U.S.-Iraq policy. On the one hand, prominent Republican moderates like Powell are issuing increasingly downcast prognoses of the prospects for stability in Iraq even after the election, and are openly discussing the possibility of withdrawing U.S. forces. On the other hand, according to the insider D.C. tip sheet, the Nelson Report, President Bush is consciously refusing to consider unpleasant reports about the situation in Iraq. According to the report, "attempts to brief Bush on various grim realities have been personally rebuffed by the President, who actually says that he does not want to hear 'bad news.'"

MSNBC - Social Security, solvency and political spin

How credible are President Bush's dire predictions?
MSNBC - Social Security, solvency and political spin

Bush's Crash Test Economics

TomPaine.com - Bush's Crash Test Economics

Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall

Social Security is no longer just a concern of us old fogies. Everybody has a vested interest (unless you're independently wealthy) and should be paying attention to how bush plans to destroy it. Wake up America!
Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall

Protesters Get Prime Spot for Inauguration

I sure would love to be there with a couple dozen eggs.
Yahoo! News - Protesters Get Prime Spot for Inauguration

The Black Commentator -Armstrong Williams - The Biggest Whore of All

'He is the Hardest Working Man in Ho' Business.' One might wonder how friends Clarence Thomas (candidate for chief supreme) and Stedman Graham (Oprah boyfriend) may try to distance themselves.
The Black Commentator - Cover Story: Armstrong Williams - The Biggest Whore of All - Issue 121

Bush administration comments on WMDs

That was before;now it's after. I'm sure we'll hear the explanation at the SOU address.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer: AP - Washington, D.C.: Bush administration comments on WMDs

Is Al Qaeda Just a Bush Boogeyman?

Is Al Qaeda Just a Bush Boogeyman?: "The fact is, despite the efforts of several government commissions and a vast army of investigators, we still do not have a credible narrative of a 'war on terror' that is being fought in the shadows.

Consider, for example, that neither the 9/11 commission nor any court of law has been able to directly take evidence from the key post-9/11 terror detainees held by the United States. Everything we know comes from two sides that both have a great stake in exaggerating the threat posed by Al Qaeda: the terrorists themselves and the military and intelligence agencies that have a vested interest in maintaining the facade of an overwhelmingly dangerous enemy.

Such a state of national ignorance about an endless war is, as 'The Power of Nightmares' makes clear, simply unacceptable in a functioning democracy."

Search for Banned Arms In Iraq Ended Last Month

One has to wonder why so much time, effort and money had to be spent on this search program when Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld and Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz knew exactly where the shit was from day one. I suspect that this final report will be quietly swept under the rug when released rather than being announced at the State of the Union speech.
Search for Banned Arms In Iraq Ended Last Month (washingtonpost.com)

White House: Williams Case Was Isolated

"Questions have been raised about that arrangement, it ought to be looked into, and there are ways to look into matters of that nature," yeah right, like the criminal outing of Valerie Plame was "looked into".
My Way News

In GOP, resistance on Social Security

For bush, selling Social Security privatization is like selling a 'pig in a sack'. Just hire a "consultant", pay them $240,000 like the Armstrong Williams NCLB scam, and presto, even the GOP sceptics will fall in line.
MSNBC - In GOP, resistance on Social Security: "Yesterday, the House Republican Conference invited GOP press secretaries to a Friday 'Social Security Briefing' with a New York consultant who helps corporations sell products and has conducted research on Social Security messaging. 'Learn to Use the Arguments that Work the Best, Avoid Words that Fall Flat,' the flier promises."

White House to Ohio: Go Cheney yourself!

The Raw Story White House to Ohio: Go Cheney yourself!: "�The case resembles a poorly drafted script for a late night conspiracy-theory movie.�"

For the Record on Social Security

One has to wonder why this administration doesn't try to solve the REAL problems facing this country.
The New York Times > Opinion > For the Record on Social Security

Are the Bush Twins Influenced by the Evil Liberal Press?

BuzzFlash > Editorial > Are the Bush Twins Influenced by the Evil Liberal Press?

Inaugural Excess

$50 million for a coronation and yet the troops have to dig in scrap heaps for armor
Inaugural Excess (washingtonpost.com)

Has U.S. threatened to vaporize Mecca?

WorldNetDaily: Has U.S. threatened to vaporize Mecca?
Let bin Laden stay free?

Super Bowl--Alltel Stadium; Jacksonville, Fla.

Indianapolis 27, Philadelphia 20
Welcome to Comcast High-Speed Internet!

SinclairAction

A way to put your consumer dollars to work. Promoting Fair and Balanced news reporting by writing letters to advertisers on Sinclair does work.
SinclairAction

Do SUVs Make You Stupid? / Pointless, dangerous and vain as ever, land tanks still sell millions. Only one explanation possible

Do SUVs Make You Stupid? / Pointless, dangerous and vain as ever, land tanks still sell millions. Only one explanation possible

Don't Torture Yourself (That's His Job)

Mo Dowd gets it right most of the time. bush's choice for attorney general has to formally pledge not to support torture anymore.
The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: Don't Torture Yourself (That's His Job)

Bush quake aid group to be dissolved

FT.com / News in depth / Asian earthquake disaster - Bush quake aid group to be dissolved
Any way you slice it, the most powerful nation on earth still looks stingy.
Top 20 tsunami aid donors
Country/entity Pledged amount ($m)
Australia 765
Germany 665
Japan 500
US 350
World Bank 250
Norway 182
UK 96
Italy 93
Canada 80
Sweden 75
Spain 66
China 60
France 56
South Korea 50
Taiwan 50
EU 41
Netherlands 36
Saudi Arabia 30
Switzerland 23
U.A.E

CNN Will Cancel 'Crossfire' and Cut Ties to Commentator

Smart move for CNN. This so called conservative commentator's main claim to fame is his knack for shouting down opposing viewpoints. Good riddance!
The New York Times > Business > Media & Advertising > CNN Will Cancel 'Crossfire' and Cut Ties to Commentator

Democrats to Force Debate on Ohio Results

At Last!! A democratic senator with real balls...........umm, er, uhh.....I mean ovaries!!
Yahoo! News - Democrats to Force Debate on Ohio Results

In the Texas 'ledge' it's called 'prior-roarities'

In bushista land it's called screwing the old folks
WorkingForChange-Lynching Social Security

Hazardous Weather Outlook

Rain, rain go away. This is just too much. The sump pump in the basement is running full bore and all we need now is freezing rain to take the power out. I do have the backup battery pump and this may be a test of how long that will operate before needing a recharge.
Weather Hazards for Indianapolis, IN

Choose and Lose

The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Contributor: Choose and Lose: "The Bush administration should be honest with the American people and ask us if we want to do away with Social Security, without pretending that privatization will solve the problem of financing the trust fund without pain. I suspect that the American people would reject this effort to transform their 'old-age insurance' into another opportunity to roll the dice in the investment casino. "

Social Security formula weighed

Bush plan would cut promised benefits
MSNBC - Social Security formula weighed

A credible liar for Social Security: Dreier

Social Security, as the administration has informed us without a shred of irony, is this year's Iraq. So it should come as absolutely no surprise that they will be floating a bunch of strange spokesmen spouting even stranger justifications for Team Rapture's assault on the heart of the welfare state.
The Raw Story A credible liar for Social Security: Dreier

Bush Fails a Global Test

But at least he maintained his record as the most disingenuous president since Richard Nixon.
The Online Beat

Our new governor in Indiana

Why Did Mitch Daniels Really Resign: Allegations of Insider Trading, Of Course! - BuzzFlash News Analysis

The Ends of the World as We Know Them

One of the most thought provoking articles I've read in a long time.
The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Contributor: The Ends of the World as We Know Them