A comparison of the $827 billion economic recovery plan drafted by Senate Democrats and moderate Republicans with a $820 billion version passed by the House. Additional debt costs would add about $350 billion or more over 10 years. Many provisions expire in two years.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/29063134

Unemployment benefits safety net is fraying
As payments dry up, almost half of 11.6 million jobless don’t receive help

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29084715/   Read More »

I dare everyone of you to name one thing that Obama and the Congressional Democratic majority have already said or done to sell out their campaign promises!

It's really not difficult. You click make a comment and think of the economy, healthcare, abuse of power, Iraq, middle-class tax cuts, job loss, job creation, food stamps, intelligent leadership .... and name ONE.

I'll start you off.

(1) Bipartisan collaboration on the stimulus bill will create no stimulus and put the blame directly on the democrats.

The Senate measure was pared back from more than $900 billion to entice a handful of necessary Republican votes in support of the legislation. The House bill passed without a single Republican vote in its favor, a rebuke to Obama's vow to take the debilitating partisan heat out of Washington politics.

Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said he expects Obama's stimulus package to pass the Senate, but he warned that it could damage the U.S. economy in the future.

A stark critic of Obama's approach to repairing the badly damaged economy, Cornyn said he believes passing the measure with minimal Republican support must be a major disappointment to Obama. He argued that the president's stimulus package is loaded with pet Democratic spending projects and is "just spending as far as the eye can see."

Republicans claim that Democrats have failed to learn the lessons of history, arguing that an Obama-style stimulus did not work in the 1930s, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt faced similar economic upheaval.   Read More »

To all my friends and familiars --

I remain proud of my support for my Sen. Hillary Clinton and optimistic of her long-term influence on all policy and political agendas going forward. I am not in the least disappointed, even prior to hearing her speech tonight.

With everything in me I expect she will be the strong voice of every American man, woman and child. Her reflection of the American conscience and people will not be betrayed by the politics of convenience. Her convictions will reflect, just like me, a defeat and a victory.

For today and for me, however, I will allow this to be my last post.

I will continue to work with full conviction for the Democratic party. My mission will remain true ... we must at all costs win this election. The pundit projection that this will be a close election, even if echoed by Obama's advisors, must not be tolerated.

Democrats everywhere must work to make this election, the election of constitutional and law-abiding leadership in every institution of government.

As for my presence here, this will be my farewell. I may on occasion post an impassioned thought -- and I look forward to this -- but it will be occasional.
To close this chapter, is difficult. I will think fondly of differences with many good friends. I will think often and fondly of screen names of all of you.

Thanks.

American citizens are watching a convention which hardly has spoken a word.

There is only one station televising the convention (CSPAN). All of the rest are windbags discussing Hillary Clinton with other windbags. The coverage as described by Newsweek is convention ignorant. (http://www.newsweek.com/id/155635) They spend 80% of the day discussing amongst themselves and not listening to a word from the podium.

Larry King tackled the very same subject last night.

Early this evening it was reported that Obama has read HRC's speech and is pleased. Yet 2 hours later Tom Brokaw and Keith Olberman discuss the same subject as though she was still the loose cannon.

Now my question is this. When talking heads discuss whatever they please from whatever perspective they like, without the benefit of listening to more informed speakers .... is not the problem between the "two wings of the democratic party" simply a question of media ratings?

For me. It's clear. And it's really pissing me off.

All of a sudden there is like no one discussing anything. I paged backward these past few minutes to see what's been gathering attention.

Ben and RJSNJ's working on Georgia. Hot topic, lots of discussion in the papers but not a word here. The work produced by these two guys shows some pretty heafty digging and a couple of scholars who will rip the curtains of the walls when Bush and Cheyney finally admit incompetence.

Griffith is rifling through some more calcuations. Granted some of it may be over our heads, but it's imperitive we be more informed than McCain on the economy.

Peaceman's digging into the Convention and giving lot's of background; Shopman's sharpening the tools of logic and humor that will slice through the ... noise.

and me ? ... I'm at work with no time for anything but observation.

I'm not accustomed to so little back and forth. Once the back and forth verged on bitter. Now, it touches one subject and one thought.

Hope everyone's well and ready for the next storm.

Op-Ed by Nicholas D. Kristoff

Iraq and Afghanistan are the messes getting attention today, but they are only symptoms of a much broader cancer in U.S. foreign policy.

A few glimpses of this larger affliction:

The United States has more musicians in its military bands than it has diplomats.

This year alone, the U.S. Army will add about 7,000 soldiers to its total; that's more people than in the entire American Foreign Service.

More than 1,000 American diplomatic positions are vacant because the Foreign Service is so short-staffed, but a myopic Congress is refusing to finance even modest new hiring. Some 1,100 could be hired for the cost of a single C-17 military cargo plane.   Read More »

Pakistan bombs militants in tribal region

By AP

KHAR, Pakistan: The Pakistani military bombed dozens of houses in a tribal region near the Afghan border Sunday, officials and witnesses said, amid reports that days of clashes have killed at least 100 insurgents and nine paramilitary troops.

Details have been scarce about the military offensive in Bajur, an insurgent stronghold considered a possible hiding place for the Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri.

Sardar Khan, a local police official, said two sorties of aerial bombing had destroyed about 40 houses in several villages. He said bombs had also struck a school occupied by Taliban fighters in Loi Sam, a village that has been a key focus of the fighting.

Two residents of the area, Sher Zamin and Attaullah Khan, said army planes and helicopters had dropped bombs and shells, apparently on suspected Taliban positions.

Meanwhile, a reporter in Khar, the main town in Bajur, saw Taliban militants patrolling and staking out positions on roads with rocket launchers, heavy machine guns and, in some places, anti-aircraft guns.   Read More »

For U.S., bigger issues require Russian help

By Helene Cooper [minimal editing by me]

WASHINGTON: The image of President George W. Bush smiling and chatting with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin of Russia from the stands of the Beijing Olympics, even as Russian aircraft were shelling Georgia, outlines the reality of America's Russia policy. While the United States considers Georgia its strongest ally in the bloc of former Soviet countries, Washington needs Russia too much on big issues like Iran to risk it all to defend Georgia.

And State Department officials made it clear Saturday that there was no chance the United States would intervene militarily.

Bush did use tough language, demanding that Russia stop bombing.

And Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice demanded that Russia "respect Georgia's territorial integrity."

What did Putin do? First, he rebuffed President Nicolas Sarkozy of France in Beijing, refusing to budge when Sarkozy tried to dissuade Russia from its military operation.   Read More »

Change. It's a very common thought today among both democrats and republicans.

It suggests a departure from the policies and procedures, the values and the objectives, of the past. It requires almost a universal willingness for people to make the same global change in direction at the same time in order to generate the power and ability for a course redirect. If politicians thought that they could simply make these changes on their own, they are seriously misguided. It will require all of us to turn and energize that change in the form of Congressional elections, local elections, and personal agendas.

Change, we all accept, is inevitable. And yet, most individuals tend to hate it when it happens on the job or in the purse. In our present global economy, I suspect we will spend more time changing values than realities. This is likely to be a wise investment ... it will provide time for all to acclimatize to new values and directions.

As I watched the olympic ceremonies last night I was in awe at the reverence that Chinese people have for their past and all of the symbols which bear common meanings in their lives today. The serene compllment of mountain and water, the importance of the lessons of water in the avoidance of conflict, and the willing sacrifice of individuality for the cause of global unity. It was amazing.

My conclusion, however, was very different. Chinese reverence the relics of their past. The symbols. In the universal surrender of individuality to drum in unison, to move in unison, to march and to run in unison, I found the buried fields of soldiers. In the celebration of openness, I realized they willingly and openly disregarded two hundred years of closed doors.

Even their religion has been absorbed into the brain-washed politics of their "neo-communist" present. Like water, the lessons of todays China are not to be at peace with nature, global warming, and the international relations. They are to flow aggressively close to the rocks and wear them down. And when resistance is met, bend and flow in the original direction.

From my point of view, there are two ways to deal with the inevitability of change. We understand that it is meant to wear down and alter the pillars of our present thinking and incline us to a new direction. Or, it is something imposed on us by a blacksmith who understands the value of heat and hammer. I suspect we are accustomed to a blend of both of these. The chinese shell game of gut the value and replace with mass-produced conformity .... well, that explains the two hundred years of closed doors.

Making China change will not be easy. They will continue to absorb jobs, dollars, tourists, and corporations. They will continue to hammer on the edges of our global energy crisis, our global warming crisis, and our global relations crisis. This much change I suspect is inevitable. What concerns me more, is that Russia is trending aggressively in the same direction. And none of the pillar's edges have yet begun to complain about the direction the change is preparing to go.

On this morning's news, PBS actually played a recording of G.W. speaking in Mandarin chinese in his speech in Beijing.

The punchline -- the say he speaks Mandarin fluently. They said nothing about his english.

Georgia’s president said Friday that his country is under attack by Russian tanks and warplanes, and he accused Russia of targeting civilians as tensions over the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia appeared to boil over into full-blown conflict.

“All day today, they’ve been bombing Georgia from numerous warplanes and specifically targeting (the) civilian population, and we have scores of wounded and dead among (the) civilian population all around the country,” President Mikhail Saakashvili told CNN in an exclusive interview.

Asked whether Georgia and Russia were now at war, he said, “My country is in self-defense against Russian aggression. Russian troops invaded Georgia.”

Apparently there are also fears of ethnic cleansing, and McCain/Obama have issued statements.

McCain asks Russia to cease fire!

Obama calls on Russia to respect Georgia’s territoritorial integrity.

Arriving at his event in Iowa, he will make his remarks there.

McCain has been an outspoken critic of the Putin-dominated Kremlin, urging that Russia be removed from the G-8

This story will be gathering steam all day. Can we try to collect the headline links and reactions in one place?

As of the moment there is no reaction from Obama, McCain or Bush. That's bound to change. Not even CNBC (economic news is covering the story yet.)   Read More »

Within the last hour it has been released that Bill Clinton has been invited to speak on Wed night at the Convention. The concensus of reviewers is that this was the right thing to do by Obama and that both wings of the party will unite in support of the nominee. It would have been very awkward to have a convention without the former President appearing.

The next story was Hillary is planning a 18 Million march thru Denver. Of course this was a reference to her vote count and not to how many would be in the convention march.

Let's just say that false faces won't mask false unity this time. Two Clinton events will certainly be making their voices and convictions be heard.

As the clock winds down on G.W.'s presidency one would like to believe that he has finally found his conscience.

Breaking oil dependence will help us confront global climate change
"General Time Horizon" for a U.S. troop withdrawal in Iraq
Willingness to talk with Iran
Willingness to talk with North Korea

In fact however, he is only making an easier road for a slow minded McCain to follow. Imagine that, the dumb leading the dumb.

The goal presumably is to achieve something positive before he leaves office. The net effect however is to put McCain in a less confrontational role with Obama.

I don't know .... still sounds like a duck to me.

Two stories vie for my attention today .. both contain grains of similar problems. International upset and the confused involvement of the Bush administration leave not only a trail of uncertainty, but a vulnerability in the 21st century and the necessity for a global rethink of international relations.

Both Pakistan and China are substantial problems for the US in the 21st century and to the next president. Both represent the failed policy of democratizing the world.

Pakistan, the ultimate symbol of essential positive Islamic relations, wavers on the point of tenuous coalition government under a formerly expelled leader, a somewhat powerless elected but unpopular leader, and an increasingly antagonistic and unrepresented population.

China, the poster child of disrespect for Civil Rights, Human Rights, political rights, religious rights, and global warming to name only a few items. It's leadership is quite proud of the success they have had in cornering the cheap labor market and the increased participation of virtually every known global name brand. At the same time, corporate and industrial operations are exclusively Chinese in approach and responsibility.

Failure of American foreign policy to address both of these crises continues to necessitate expensive alliances with two parties in Pakistan and poor negotiations with leaders who may not even survive impeachment proceedings or a lasting coalition afterward. At the same time China continues on a steady path of impoverishing its own citizens while importing every conceivable American industry, educating, training, but not empowering a small middle class service industry, while pocketing the spare change and ignoring air quality, water quality, and the most minimal universal health and living standards.

The return on these investments will only be unsettled government (especially if the most democratic looking Islamic coalition [see Iraq for success rate]), and the likelihood of popular uprisings. An increase in the diaspora of American jobs and the return of cheaply made products which have passed government inspection.

Most importantly, however, is two countries with large understandable populations of ungoverned and unprivileged citizens; both with little or no income, healthcare, or voice. Both proud to say that we are adapting American democratic principles. The proof of success will be demonstrated by their ability to create a greater gulf between the poor and the super rich. Both requiring further US support well into the future because both will continue to nuclear powers in unsteady or unregulated environments.   Read More »

I wrote the following in response to a request for people to work together or find a place where they could work together.

It's an admirable goal, and would be great if it were possible. But every one of us comes home at the end of the day and dumps dissention every where around him like they were shedding their work clothes. Then we go back to work, collect at the water cooler, and vent some more. It's on tape. HR has been watching. They've been reading our IM's. They know where we travel on the internet everyday. Even our quiet subterfuge is screaming dissention to IS and admins across the country.

Yet we don't like it when our own convictions are confronted by dissent. We think the boss is intruding. We think the contrarian is being personal, and why do they always try to push my buttons.

I read this line ... the sentiment is universal so I won't single out the author. It's a fair and honest assessment of how we all react to things we don't like -- our own voices perceived to be misrepresented by the people in power.

"I have seen attacks on the presumptive nominee for president, the House majority leader, and the Senate majority leader. In essence the political leadership of the Democratic Party."

My point here is not freedom of speech. It is that graphic designers depend on criticism to get the job done right. It is that politicians live on polls (even when they deny it) be fall into place.

We all need criticism. You are giving it to some who give it to others. Where would we be today if democrats had not railed as long and hard as they did against Bust until Republicans ALSO started railing against Bush.

If Obama, or Clinton, or Dean, or Pelosi, or Wright, or any member, or any candidate need criticism believe me -- they will get it. Maybe not from me ... or maybe so, in my frequent letters.

Forming the 13 colonies into a nation took a lot of heat and criticism. There was a lot of dissent. A lot of heated debate. A lot of intense disagreement. Those differences were codified into the "Rights of Dissenters" or the Bill of Rights as it is more commonly known. And culturally, New England's local religious congregation based organization has survived as a major difference from the aristocratic Virginia slave traders. And the ever controversial Pennsylvania found itself compelled to bring together pacifist Quakers and beligerent Scot-Irish and Germans in order to unite the surrounding extremists.

And what do we have to show for it ... a north and a south that has historically voted in opposition and distrust. And the lesson that the "Rights of Dissenters" was the proof that all need to work toward commonality even if it takes 350 years. And lots of dissent.