Marxism? Socialism? what ism are you?

I find it amusing to see how easy folks seem to throw out labels to describe President Obama’s actions in a time when the jig is up so to speak…

Wall Street’s creative accounting procedures finally came to an ugly head … the once epic documentary House of cards by David Faber on Cnbc was a cruel reminder and or an awakening at how greed affects the mind, it was a truthful documentation of the nasty journey our economy took … for whom, by whom and how it (they) brought all of us down with them knowing the Government would pay for it all … Unfortunately, the current movie doesn’t look at all like the one I watched shortly after our financial system collapsed

And

If we have to subscribe to labels … call me a Marxist who believes in Socialism at this time… We need someone who cares, who is socially responsible and who believes the gap between the haves and have none needs to shrink; school me …what can be wrong with caring for all the people of the US … not just the one percent… especially since that one percent has been wheeling and dealing starting from the house of bush and trickled down to main street .  You have to admit it is time for a change.

Obama is not a socialist or a Marxist … he is a centrist, a person whose political opinions are not extreme: a person whose beliefs fall between those of liberals and conservatives

Be a Seed for Change

What Does $2,000 Mean to You?

Surrounded by Americans who had written into the White House in support of his plan, President Obama today renewed his call to prevent a tax increase on the middle class:

“If Congress does nothing, every family in America will see their taxes automatically go up at the beginning of next year,” the President said. “A typical middle-class family of four would see its income taxes go up by $2,200. That’s $2,200 out of people’s pockets. That means less money for buying groceries, less money for filling prescriptions, less money for buying diapers. It means a tougher choice between paying the rent and paying tuition. And middle-class families just can’t afford that right now.”

To help find an agreement President Obama pledged to keep up the pressure — meeting with lawmakers, labor leaders, and business executives. And he called on the American people to speak up and add their own voices to the debate.

Add your voice – tell us what $2,000 means to you and your family.

In Case You Missed It

Here are some of the top stories from the White House blog:President Obama Welcomes Mexico President-Elect Enrique Peña Nieto
Yesterday afternoon, President Obama welcomed Enrique Peña Nieto, the President-elect of Mexico, to the Oval Office.Giving Tuesday
America has a tradition of generosity. Yesterday was Giving Tuesday, a new nationwide effort to raise attention and motivate action for the common good. It’s a trend worth encouraging.

Fighting Human Trafficking in Cambodia
On each leg of his trip to Southeast Asia this week, President Obama raised with foreign leaders one of his priority human rights issues: ending human trafficking, a form of modern-day slavery

The Untouched Landscapes of Antarctica​

 

The Untouched Landscapes of Antarctica Does Africa seem tame to you, with its conga lines of safari vehicles and camps with crystal chandeliers? Do you long for that frisson of the in&#64257nite? Then Antarctica is the place for you&#8212immense, unowned, unspoiled, and populated by some of the world’s most enchanting (and brutal) creatures.

Conde Nast Traveler

the CBO : Unemployment Insurance : Recession

H.R. 6429, STEM Jobs Act of 2012

As posted on the Web site of the House Committee on Rules (Committee Print 112-34) and later amended on November 28, 2012

Estimate of the statutory Pay-As-You-Go effects for H.R. 6429 and Effects on Direct Spending and Revenues for H.R. 6429

Unemployment Insurance in the Wake of the Recent Recession

The unemployment insurance (UI) system is a partnership between the federal government and state governments that provides a temporary weekly benefit to qualified workers who lose their job and are seeking work. The amount of that benefit is based in part on a worker’s past earnings. CBO estimates that UI benefits totaled $94 billion in fiscal year 2012 (when the unemployment rate was 8.3 percent, on average), a substantial increase over the $33 billion paid out in fiscal year 2007 (when the unemployment rate was 4.5 percent, on average).

CBO Releases a Report on Unemployment Insurance

Unemployment insurance benefits topped $150 billion during 2010—when the annual unemployment rate peaked at 9.6 percent—up from $33 billion in fiscal year 2007.

As discussed in today’s CBO report—Unemployment Insurance in the Wake of the Recent Recession—benefits grew not only because of increased layoffs of workers, but because of several changes to the unemployment insurance (UI) system over the last few years.

Tell Republicans to DITCH the Pledge

Grover Norquist’s iron grip on Republicans in Congress is so strong that they’re afraid to raise taxes on billionaires even one red cent.

But now some Republicans claim they’re coming to their senses about Grover and his anti-tax pledge.

If you agree that it’s time to stop protecting tax cuts for the rich, then sign our petition to Boehner, Cantor and the Republicans.

Click here to help us reach 250,000 strong telling Republicans to abandon Grover Norquist and his pledge to protect millionaire tax breaks.

The fiscal cliff deadline is only weeks away. If you agree that President Obama’s plan to end reckless tax breaks for the rich is the right course for our nation, now’s the time to say it.

Add your name right now and tell Republicans to ditch Grover and his pledge to protect millionaire tax cuts once and for all.

must see Vids

 

President Obama and President-elect Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico + 5 videos by whitehouse   142 video   West Wing Week PLAYLIST by whitehouse CNBC Anchor Accuses Democrat Of Tanking Stock Market On Air + 4 videos by tpmtv   Haiti’s Treasures: Out of the Rubble – Working Through a Worst Case… + 3 videos by smithsonianchannel Jane McAlevey: Building the Labor Movement in Obama’s Second Term

Monday mashup … &some News

just another rant …

Fall back y’all and we did.

The President and Mrs. Obama are at the APEC summit in Hawaii. The rest of us have to hear the continuous drone from Teapublicans who still think Americans want repeal HCR, Wall Street reform, cut Education by 20%, replace and eliminate social service programs that women, vets, older folks and the new poor use. I have to say Teapublicans in Congress must have taken a Pledge to wear earplugs in order to get through all their just say not campaign. Suffice it to say if these Teapublicans continue to go after the Middle Class Social Security Medicare/caid instead of JOBS it would definitely seem to be a recipe for trouble and likely force the USA into a double dip or deeper recession and will be the reason they will become unemployed; hopefully. I happen to think we went right into a depression what with losing 750 thousand jobs a month even before President Obama took office. The current rhetoric has absolutely nothing to do with JOBS or the Economy …If people are listening they have no intention of helping Americans unless it is on the backs of the Middle and Lower classes people …get that in your head!!! The Party of NO will be in control for about a minute and what we as Democrats need to remember is that we have to call Teapublicans out on every move they make to ruin the current President instead of focusing on and or creating Jobs. I have to say anyone with any common sense knows that the top 2% will not spend their tax cuts to create an environment so that people will be hired or create jobs and if they do it will be to outsource them for lower wages in China, Mexico etc. If you do not believe it, just tune into CNBC occasionally, and hear the words coming from various Teapublicans Ludlow and associates trot out on any given day.

I hope everyone is asking their Teapublican member of Congress what exactly the top 2% did with the Bush giveaways because it could not have been on hiring and creating jobs or we would not be in worse shape since the 2010 Midterm elections or see the mess all around us. I feel that after three years of gridlock from the Teapublican Party of No things are about to get heated within their own Family Values Platform party. Reports are and maybe Teapublicans need reminding that over 70% of Americans want to tax millionaires and billionaires, most do not want cuts to Soc.Security or Medicare, over half  of us want the new Affordable Health Care Act to be law. Yet, conservative members of Congress have given themselves over to Mr. Norquist as well as the big money brothers Koch and if you start to think about it that ditch President Obama pulled us from is a whole lot closer now that we have an extreme part of Congress controlling the House of Representatives … The question is do Teapublicans care what happens to their own family friends and co-workers jobs  and status in life if they continue this lemming march toward disaster?

 Anyway -

“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.” -George Orwell

I personally do not want to go back to colonial days we must move forward stay in the present so discrimination fails …the past fails and equal rights for all prevails.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the World. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” -Margaret Mead

Jus sayin

Other News …

Congress Returns to Negotiate Another Short-term Funding Bill

House Considers Expanding Gun-Carry Laws

Blue Cross CEO Discusses Health Care Business

House Democrats Examine Voting Law Changes

President Obama Opens APEC Summit

Grover Norquist Discusses Taxes and the “Super Committee”

News and Documentary Emmys Awarded

was it something you said …wily Wednesday & some News

Today, the weather here is kind of ominous and though it definitely is not at all like what is going on in the SE part of our Country it still is kind of important to experience Spring maybe in a string of days not one day a week … sigh. I will survive make no mistake but sunshine no rain is lovely. I have had some negative interactions  … the doubter’s haters and those who fear the unknown or who keep engaging in typical fear mongering via the interwebs

My response …

i respect your opinion, I may not agree but i will not call you names or think less of you. i do not know you, however i did vote for Obama and will again because Republicans/Conservatives have honestly proved themselves useless… they have no one in charge and those who call themselves leaders are proving they are not qualified to lead let alone the fact that they have no solutions only complaints. The solutions they do have would give advantages to the top 2% and that 2% has been getting breaks for far too long. If we had fair and balanced in Congress they would all work for the greater good but in our need and financial crisis the Republican Tea Party felt a new tone and moved toward race as a tool which they felt would divided and conquer causing or continuing the attack by ex-Governor Sarah Palin. In my opinion Bush, Cheney and Paulson all f’d us and because of that, i personally am subscribing to what works and that is the Government right now. We all need reminders every now and then about what happened in 2007 leading up to the 2008 Presidential elections. In some parts of the U.S., folks believe that the financial abyss or ditch we suddenly found ourselves in started slightly before the 2008 elections the fact is it started in 2007, maybe earlier. In addition, as Americans prepared themselves to vote for the next President of the United States. The idea that we needed the government to work for All Americans not bicker, fight or have tantrums was a no brainer right. However, our two party Political systems was failing to work as well and in the long run after some bold and nasty comments and or votes the Republican Tea Party decided this was their moment to possibly change American into something it is not and continue to do daily. I find it quite amusing and yes offensive that even today as the Political Party of No is clearly being rejected by their own constituents. It is becoming clear that they do not seem to be hearing the obvious buyer’s remorse being voiced with shades of a new possible dip or as they say double dip into that ditch, which scares me and pushes the need to be vocal about the financial web of deceit by the next generation of crooks and liars. Now, after a couple of years of suggesting people watch the House of Cards, a film created by CNBC’s David Faber. I will no longer do so because for one; the original was pulled and was replaced with what I think are fabrications, my take and it is truly sad because it was a film that was definitely worth the time. The original film definitely could have helped those still wondering, help you understand why Wall Street types, those capitalists like Bernie Madoff and others like him engaged in creative accounting, why AIG created a monster and the pay out by AIG to various Banks was big and how it worked its way overseas to become something too big to fail. Republicans want to continue on this same path of less regulation and people need to see it as it is. I wonder why after all that has happened since the mid-term elections would anyone with common sense feel this is the kind of Capitalism you want and if you are still expecting Republicans to solve our problems with every American in mind… I have to say you are foolish…

Capitalism does not mean firms should engage in cooking the books, secret transactions and or becoming bigger than their sum value or investing in schemes … that — is what happened …

We the People need capitalism with a small c and more regulation … with a huge R

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Other News

Mo. woman dies when told of dad’s tornado death

What lessons will GOP take from losing New York-26 House seat?

Obama, Cameron unite on Libya, differ on Palestinian UN effort

German airports reopen as ash cloud diminishes

Floodwaters in South falling, but misery remains

Yemenis flee sporadic gunbattles in capital

Kim Kardashian Is Engaged!

Heat Vs. Bulls, Game 4: Mike Miller Comes Up Big For Miami In Fourth Quarter

CSPAN

Vice President Biden hosted another deficit reduction meeting with members of Congress & White House officials at the U.S. Capitol. Following the meeting, the Vice President made brief remarks. President Obama first appointed Biden to lead these negotiations back in April.

http://c-span.org/Events/Vice-President-Biden-Remarks-on-Debt-Reduction-Meeting/10737421781/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Geithner Discusses Debt Limit, Deficit Reduction

Bill Clinton, Senators attend Fiscal Summit

http://c-span.org/Events/Geithner-Discusses-Debt-Limit-Deficit-Reduction/10737421779/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

House Debates Military Operations in Libya

War Powers Act called up in committee
http://c-span.org/Events/House-Debates-Military-Operations-in-Libya/10737421748/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

wicked weathered Wednesday &some News

Beware the weather is churning March Madness is heating up and the nonsense in Politics and the behavior by Politicians is getting even worse.

After then Senator Barack Obama became President, someone said the sky was falling, that Marxism and or Socialism was coming to America and we will lose our freedom … oh and that certain Muslims are not to be trusted unless they become FBI informants and or give up their rights – freedom of religion

I thought this was the 21st Century people! I find it amusing yet it brings me to tears to see how easy folks seem to throw out labels to describe President Obama’s actions in a time when the jig is up so to speak. We all see and hear the rhetoric out there in I guess a desperate move to try and make Americans feel that “other” thing relevant again. I am hoping folks have had enough of it and can see through the Republican Tea Party for what they are and refuse to drink the Kool-Aid. If you need to get a blast from the past, engage in movements to make the tea party base scared see what the McCarthyism days were like just tune into the Peter King hearings and see what a racist who holds public office looks like. It is as if these people holding public office not only forgot the oath they took, they decided to use their positions of power to do whatever they can to alienate working American families by separating them from jobs, social services and education to name just a few things jumping around on the chopping block of the Republican Tea Party. Republicans have made a choice and it ain’t for the Middle Class.

I would like to remind anyone thinking of voting right of center in 2012 because they are not happy about the status of your own life at this very moment. After years of so-called creative accounting, procedures from Wall Street finally reared its ugly head. Life for middle America changed as we all know it and again like I keep saying the show House of cards by David Faber on CNBC was a cruel reminder and rude awaking at how greed affects the mind … a truthful documentation of the nasty journey our economy took … by who, for who and how it brought us all down …

I am definitely a part of the Democratic Party but if we have to subscribe to labels … call me a Marxist who believes in Socialism at this time. We need someone who cares, who is socially responsible and who believes the gap between the haves and have none needs to shrink. If that is wrong, school me. Even though my question is rhetorical, think about it. What could be wrong with caring for your fellow man no matter what race, sex, creed, and or religion not just the 2% who got their bonus dollars after holding the Middle Class hostage for what about two years but still not satisfied until they destroy what America use to be about. The fact is that 2% has been and continues to wheel and deal with folks like the Koch brothers and the US Chamber of Commerce beginning or ending at the house of bush is not clear. However, it is obvious they intended to make money at the expense of all investors and the crap trickled down to Main Street.

“We the People” need to admit. It’s time for a change and if you believe in equality, it you believe in Working Families, Working Class American Workers instead of Corporate American or the Rich we all need to make sure that the Democratic Party regains control and correct the blatant BS and or mess that Republicans have made of our country.

Other News …

 **Peter King defends his hearings and will bring in other Muslims to prove it

**Libyan rebels might be losing the fight

**clashes in Tahrir square – 11 killed senselessly

**NPR CEO resigns amid tea party flap

**7.2 earthquake off coast of Japan

**41 in the Italian crime grp are being looked for

**Ben affleck talks about the horrors in Congo

**Mortgage Apps uptick to 16%, highest since June

**Suicide bombings in Pakistan killing dozens 

**hey Glee with Gwenth Paltrow was great

CSPAN …

Senate to Vote on Competing Spending Bills

http://c-span.com/Events/Senate-to-Vote-on-Competing-Spending-Bills/10737420087/

Sec. Duncan Defends FY2012 Education Budget

http://c-span.com/Events/Sec-Duncan-Defends-FY2012-Education-Budget/10737420052/

Capitol Hill

Hearing to Ask if Federal Workers are Underpaid

pay-for-performance system evaluated

http://c-span.com/Events/Hearing-to-Ask-if-Federal-Workers-are-Underpaid/10737420051/

Committee Starts to Deal with Housing Finance Reform

first in series of hearings

http://c-span.com/Events/Committee-Starts-to-Deal-with-Housing-Finance-Reform/10737420082/

First Lady Michelle Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hosted the annual International Women of Courage Awards ceremony at the State Department. Afterwards, two award winners, a prosecutor from Afghanistan and a journalist from the East African nation of Cameroon, spoke with reporters.
http://c-span.com/Events/State-Department-Press-Briefings/10737420056/

a message from Boone …

From the desk of T. Boone Pickens

Army:

I hope you watched President Obama give the State of the Union Address last night. I went on CNBC‘s Squawk Box and then MSNBC‘s Morning Joe this morning to give some of my thoughts on the energy section of the speech, and I’d like to share them with you now. I hope the attention he gave to America’s energy crisis will help kick-start bipartisan action.

I agree with the President’s goal of moving toward battery-powered vehicles and other technologies but we need to get more options into the mix. The reality is that today a battery has limitations-it won’t move an 18-wheeler, for example. So on a barrel-for-barrel replacement for foreign oil and diesel, only natural gas can can step in now and have an immediate impact starting today, not years down the road. The value of using our abundant natural gas as an alternative to foreign oil is simple-if we had all 8 million 18-wheelers on natural gas, we would cut OPEC imports in half. These natural gas trucks would be 30 percent cleaner, and fuel would be a dollar per gallon cheaper-it’s that simple.

I noted that Abu Dhabi recently announced that they are moving toward natural gas as a transportation fuel. Why are they doing that? It’s a smart business decision for them: natural gas is cheaper. They can use cheaper natural gas in their vehicles and sell the expensive oil to the United States.

We need immediate action. One way President Obama can get things moving is to issue an executive order requiring all federal vehicles purchased in the future to run on American resources-natural gas, ethanol, electricity, or other domestic options. Anything American-as long as it’s American.

I’m excited about what I heard and optimistic about the future. I think we’re headed down the right track by recognizing that we need to get on our resources to solve our energy crisis-that means using everything, including renewables like solar and wind, along with nuclear, natural gas and other American resources.

But we need to quit buying oil from the enemy starting today. I appreciate what Joe Scarborough said to me this morning: “I will tell you this right now though. I would like that $2 billion a week to invest in what you’re talking about, Boone, and that is transforming our economy and breaking our dependence on foreign oil from OPEC.”

I know we get get this done by working together.

Boone

PS I hope you’ll watch me on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart tomorrow night-as you know, I’ve been on before and it’s always a great experience.