Compromising on Tax Cuts

GOP begin their Washington Takeover

A STATEMENT TO THE VIEWERS OF COUNTDOWN

           

by Keith Olbermann

I want to sincerely thank you for the honor of your extraordinary and

ground-rattling support. Your efforts have been integral to the remedying of

these recent events, and the results should remind us of the power of

individuals spontaneously acting together to correct injustices great or small. I

would also like to acknowledge with respect the many commentators and

reporters, including those with whom my politics do not overlap, for their

support.

I also wish to apologize to you viewers for having precipitated such anxiety

and unnecessary drama. You should know that I mistakenly violated an

inconsistently applied rule – which I previously knew nothing about – that

pertains to the process by which such political contributions are approved by

NBC. Certainly this mistake merited a form of public acknowledgment and/or

internal warning, and an on-air discussion about the merits of limitations on

such campaign contributions by all employees of news organizations. Instead,

after my representative was assured that no suspension was contemplated, I

was suspended without a hearing, and learned of that suspension through the

media.

You should also know that I did not attempt to keep any of these political

contributions secret; I knew they would be known to you and the rest of the

public. I did not make them through a relative, friend, corporation, PAC, or

any other intermediary, and I did not blame them on some kind of convenient

'mistake' by their recipients. When a website contacted NBC about one of the

donations, I immediately volunteered that there were in fact three of them; and

contrary to much of the subsequent reporting, I immediately volunteered to

explain all this, on-air and off, in the fashion MSNBC desired.

I genuinely look forward to rejoining you on Countdown on Tuesday, to

begin the repayment of your latest display of support and loyalty - support and

loyalty that is truly mutual.         

Commodity Prices

---

November 8, 2010, 5:40 pm

For everyone who thinks that we should view commodity prices as the right measure of inflation: they’re very, very volatile. Here’s the annual rate of change in the IMF commodity index over time:

IMF

So, were all the people screaming about inflation now screaming about deflation a year and half ago? Why not? In terms of level, by the way, the recovery in commodity prices has now brought the overall index about back to where it was in December 2007.
And for those who insist that we need to look at inflation in stuff like gasoline, bread, and milk: well, the BLS has convenient average price data, so let’s compare some of those prices to what they were, say, three years ago, when Bush was in the White House and all was well with the world. Over those three years, the price of gasoline has soared by … well, actually gasoline is a bit cheaper now than three years ago. OK, but milk … actually, milk prices are down substantially since three years ago. But it’s true: bread has gone up in price.
Again, I don’t remember people making a big fuss about the deflationary meaning of falling gasoline and milk prices.

Pelosi to throw reception to celebrate 'accomplishments' of Dem Congress

November 8, 2010, 2:57 pm by Christina Wilkie

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will host a reception Wednesday afternoon on Capitol Hill to celebrate "The accomplishments of the 111th Congress," according to an invitation sent out Monday.

The event will offer congressional Democrats, many of whom will not be returning to Congress next January, an opportunity to reflect on the party's legislative victories over the past two years. These have included the passage of major healthcare reform, financial regulatory reform, and climate and energy legislation.

Not likely to be lost on attendees, however, is that the unpopularity of many of these "accomplishments" among voters went far to contribute to a wave of Democratic losses in last week's mid-term elections, in which Democrats lost control of the House and their majority in the Senate was weakened.

There may also be a secondary motive for the timing of such an event: Pelosi has announced her intention to seek the position of minority leader in the 112th Congress, which she will likely win.

The reception is scheduled to take place at 3:30 p.m. in the Caucus Room, 345 of the Cannon House Office Building.

What's the deal with a government shutdown?

• 
  By Laura Conaway

   - 

  Tue Nov 9, 2010 1:03 PM EST

  
  

  (Chart of national debt by president by viewer Rick Seaman.)

  Republicans want to repeal the health reform law and -- so they say -- cut spending. Democrats would like the government to function. The natural strategy for Republicans, then, is to threaten a shutdown of the government if Democrats won't give them what they want.
  GOP lawmakers in the House get their first crack at it when Congress has to increase the amount the federal government is allowed to borrow, usually a routine order of business. From Talking Points Memo:
  

  If the debt ceiling is not raised before the federal government uses up its current borrowing authority, then sometime in February the U.S. government will no longer be able to issue more debt. What does that mean? In short all hell will break loose.

  For starters, the government would be forced either to slash all spending painfully, immediately, across the budget -- which could plunge us back into recession and cause immense personal pain -- or stop making payments on its outstanding debt, in which event the global economy would keel over. Really, it's that dire, which is why the vote to raise the debt ceiling has generally been a symbolic one. And yes, no one likes piles of government debt, but you can't get two wars, a recession and an economic recovery without it.
  Bear in mind, of course, that Republicans are still out hunting in the weeds for spending cuts to fund the $700 billion in Bush tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans.

Meijer will install West Michigan's first electric car charging stations

Published: Thursday, November 04, 2010, 9:35 AM Updated: Friday, November 05, 2010, 5:31 PM
Shandra Martinez | The Grand Rapids Press Shandra Martinez | The Grand Rapids Press

Courtesy PhotoAn electric vehicle charging station hosted by Meijer.

WALKER -- Supercenter retailer Meijer Inc. will install West Michigan's first electric car charging station in a few weeks.
The retailer plans to place the charging station at the Holland Meijer store, 746 East 16th St., a few miles from the JCI-Saft and LG Chem plants that will produce lithium-ion batteries for the Chevy Volt and other electric and hybrid vehicles produced by General Motors and Ford Motors Co.
As the first mainstream plug-in electric cars roll into Michigan showrooms early next year, efforts are underway by utilities to establish a network of charging station across the country. Meijer appears to be the first retailer in the state to install the technology. The Walker-based company is spending $100,000 to put stations at three of its stores. Another 10 to 20 will be installed at other Meijer stores through five Midwest states in 2011 -- including one in the Grand Rapids market.
The first charging station was to be unveiled this morning at the Warren Meijer store, across the street from GM's technical center. The second also will go up on the state's east side -- where the auto industry has installed other charging stations -- at the retailer's Allen Park store, located a few miles from Ford's headquarters.
The electric charging stations will be free for customers to use.
"This is a very exciting step for Meijer as we continue to look for ways to expand our sustainability initiatives," said Julie Croll, senior vice president of properties and real estate for the retailer.
"The key to our success through the years has been innovation, and we look at sustainability the same way," Croll said.
Some of Meijer's green efforts have included offering reusable grocery bags, installing rooftop wind turbines on stores, building LEED-certified stores and selling ethanol fuel at its fuel stations.
The charging stations -- which could be mistaken for an air pump -- will be located next to the store -- in an area designated in green. The idea is that customers could charge their cars while they shop.
The stations will provide 120V and 240V charging options, which meet the SAE J1772 standard adopted by automakers. The plug-in charging stations are manufactured by Campbell, Calif.-based Coulomb Technologies. Meijer purchased the stations through Roseville, Mich.-based Shocking Solutions and they were installed by the Waterford, Mich.-based ChargeNow.
Meijer's announcement surprised Randy Thelen, president of Lakeshore Advantage, the economic development group credited for wooing the two battery-makers to Holland. Thelen said he had been working with local officials to develop charging station infrastructure throughout the community.
"This is great news," said Thelen. "We have two of the biggest advance battery plants in the country under construction. It's important for us to be the leader in this field, and for Meijer to be an early adopter of this technology is exciting."
E-mail Shandra Martinez: smartinez@grpress.com and follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/shandramartinez

Maddow litany of accomplishments by House of Representatives with Nancy Pelosi as Majority Leader

Unions Surprisingly Unpopular with… Their Own Members?

Posted by Solomon Kleinsmith

In full disclosure, I had the pleasure of being a part of a sheet metal workers bargaining unit while working for a manufacturing company for a few years (general factory work, shipping & forklift operation mostly), and for the most part thought the union had a positive impact on my time there. But there were some down sides, and because of those, the majority of people who worked there opted out of joining the union as full members, including myself.

I thought of this as I read a piece today at US News & World Report, where Paul Bedard discusses some numbers put out by republican pollster Frank Luntz, that should send shivers down the spines of union bosses around the country. It should be no surprise that union bosses are getting more ire from their members, as they helped push a number of unpopular legislative efforts through the last couple years, most notably the the card check provisions in the absurdly named Employee Free Choice Act, which polling showed didn’t even have majority support among union members, much less the general public.
Far before I ever even seriously thought about having my own blog, I posted from time to time at various blogs, under various names, and way back in March of 2009 I posted a critique of the EFCA bill at a left leaning political blog covering mostly Nebraska state politics. I just reread that post, and found a nugget near the end, where I made a prediction that ended out being somewhat prophetic:

“I knew it was bound to happen sooner rather than later, but in this case, I’m seeing the first bold faced example that matches the hyperpartisan nature of some of the W’s greatest hits… that even scare away some moderate D’s. If the Democratic majority continues to serve up bills like this, and pork laden omnibus bills, 2010 is going to be a year where it may become even more likely that Dems see themselves farther from that 60 vote majority in the senate than the other way around.”

They did, in fact, continue to put up pork laden bills, as well as push a slew of other unpopular legislation that, on top of over promising and under performing on job growth, has led to exactly what I predicted.
This all follows a trend… that Luntz picks up on in his analysis of the polling data:

“Congress got whacked by voters who felt they were being ignored or abused. Now it might be Big Labor’s turn to face the ire of its audience: dues-paying union members. “The trend is the same,” says pollster Frank Luntz. “Union employees feel their representatives just don’t represent them.”
Luntz’s group, The Word Doctors, has completed a new poll that finds union members angry with their labor bosses over several issues. Sixty percent say it’s a “wasteful and unnecessary use” of union dues to support Democrats; 72 percent say union leaders must be held more accountable; big majorities disagreed with union leaders backing health reform, Wall Street’s bailout, and stimulus spending; and 52 percent said the best days of unions in America are “behind us.”
And after unions spent some $53 million on Democrats in the 2010 midterms, which failed to hold off a Republican wave that put the House in GOP hands, Luntz predicts there will be a labor backlash. “They’ll ask, ‘How did we waste so much of our money? How did we have so little influence?”

Unions are the only organizations that have dues paying members in some places that have no choice but to give money to an organization that uses their money politically. I can see the logic of having to pay a small amount to cover collective bargaining costs and general union things, but paying dues money into political funds should be entirely voluntary and opt-in, meaning it only happens if the worker specifically asks to make it happen.
Nobody, under any circumstances, should have the choice made for them to put money into any kind of political organization. This is just another example of how concentrated money can twist rules to make exceptions that no other type of organization can get. Unions should never be limited in their efforts to organize their membership and motivate them to take action in support of candidates, causes and issue they support, but the power that comes from their concentrated money should be taken away, just as it should be taken away from corporations and the wealthy.

Luntz: Voters Will Turn on Unions Next

Washington Whispers

By Paul Bedard

Posted: November 8, 2010

Congress got whacked by voters who felt they were being ignored or abused. Now it might be Big Labor's turn to face the ire of its audience: dues-paying union members. "The trend is the same," says pollster Frank Luntz. "Union employees feel their representatives just don't represent them."
Luntz's group, The Word Doctors, has completed a new poll that finds union members angry with their labor bosses over several issues. Sixty percent say it's a "wasteful and unnecessary use" of union dues to support Democrats; 72 percent say union leaders must be held more accountable; big majorities disagreed with union leaders backing health reform, Wall Street's bailout, and stimulus spending; and 52 percent said the best days of unions in America are "behind us."
And after unions spent some $53 million on Democrats in the 2010 midterms, which failed to hold off a Republican wave that put the House in GOP hands, Luntz predicts there will be a labor backlash. "They'll ask, 'How did we waste so much of our money? How did we have so little influence?' "
Luntz, who has ties to the House Republican leadership, is even suggesting that Congress probe unions' political spending, on behalf of the angry membership. "Union leaders be warned," he tells Whispers. "You are next." His idea: Hold hearings and ask union leaders why they spent political contributions from union members on candidates the members don't support. "It would give Republicans a unique and unprecedented opportunity to break bread with the union rank and file" while punishing labor bosses, says Luntz.
Not so fast, says the AFL-CIO. "Wow, this is a complete load of dribble!" barks spokesman Eddie Vale, who says that union members aren't taxed to pay for political activities, but sign up to support the political action committee COPE. "Very small amounts of dues can be used as well, but any member can exempt all of their dues from any political activity simply by checking a box on a form," he adds.
And Vale dismisses suggestions that labor bosses aren't accountable. "At the local, state, and national level, all leadership is elected by a majority vote. On the issues, the AFL-CIO's election poll found support for Democrats and demands that Republicans compromise.
Still, the survey is worrisome for labor because it parallels the election results. Angry voters broke form and even tossed out their local lawmakers.

• See which industries give the most to Congress.
• See a slide show of 10 celebrities who give big to Democrats.
• Become a political insider: Subscribe to U.S. News Weekly, our digital magazine.

AMERICAN HEART

“Jon David’s
American Heart is the anthem
for THE RED WHITE
& BLUE BLOODED AMERICA”
-Elisabeth Hasselbeck

For the Veterens

© Jon David 2009
They say our reputation
Needs a new coat of paint
and a delicate melody
But I say I like the bruises

And a melody don’t mean a thing
If we don’t have the strength to sing
I won’t be made to ever feel ashamed…
…that I’m American made
I got American parts
Got American faith
In America’s heart
Go on raise the flag
I got stars in my eyes
I’m in love with her
And I won’t apologize
They say that we need changin’
As if all the Founding Fathers
seem to get it wrong
But I say I still believe in
The greatest Liberator, Innovator, Cultivator
Freedom knows
So I suggest you take a look inside
I think you changed already
You went and lost your pride
But I’m American made
I got American parts
Got American faith
In America’s heart
Go on raise the flag
I got stars in my eyes
I’m in love with her
And I won’t apologize
Dress her up so you don’t recognize her
She’ll still be there if you wake up in the night
‘Cause a mother can always find her child
Even when that child don’t know he’s lost
I’m American made
I got American parts
Got American faith
In America’s heart
Go on raise the flag
I got stars in my eyes
I’m in love with her
And I won’t apologize
I’m in love with her
And I won’t apologize
I’m in love with her
And I won’t apologize            

Palin tells Bernanke "cease and desist": report

  By David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tea Party favorite Sarah Palin on Monday weighed in on the global debate over the Federal Reserve's $600 billion plan to buy up government debt, suggesting Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke should "cease and desist."
"We shouldn't be playing around with inflation," Palin, who is widely seen as a prospective 2012 Republican presidential candidate, said in remarks prepared for a Monday speech in Phoenix.
"We don't want temporary, artificial economic growth bought at the expense of permanently higher inflation, which will erode the value of our incomes and our savings. We want a stable dollar combined with real economic reform. It's the only way we can get our economy back on the right track."
Excerpts of the remarks were published online by the conservative National Review magazine. Palin's staff was not immediately available for comment. The report said the remarks would be delivered in a keynote address at a trade association convention.
Palin, the former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, is a top Republican Party figure and leader of the Tea Party movement, which helped Republicans recapture control of the House of Representatives last week.

FED AUDITS, ABOLITION?


The loosely organized political network includes conservatives and libertarians, some of whom would like to abolish the Federal Reserve system, which operates independent of the federal government.
Voter outrage over Fed bailouts and other actions helped propel many Republican candidates on Election Day, including Kentucky Senator-elect Rand Paul, who has favored abolition of the agency.
His father, House Republican Ron Paul, another Tea Party favorite who has run for president twice, intends to push to audit Fed monetary policy decisions next year if -- as expected -- he wins control of a congressional subcommittee that oversees
the central banks.
Representative Paul Ryan, expected to become chairman of the House Budget Committee when Republicans take control of the chamber in January, said on Sunday the advantages of the central bank's move to inject more money into the U.S. economy "are very low."
"I think it's going to give us a big inflation problem down the road," Ryan said.
President Barack Obama and other U.S. officials defend the Fed's decision to buy $600 billion in U.S. Treasury debt as a means to stimulate the economy and maintain global stability.
Palin's remarks add her to a growing list of critics, including officials from China, Germany and Brazil, who are concerned that the Fed plan could bring instability instead.
"If it doesn't work, what do we do then? Print even more money? What's the end game here?," she asked. "All this pump priming will come at a serious price."
She appeared to align herself with recent criticism from German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble.
"The German finance minister called the Fed's proposals 'clueless.' When Germany, a country that knows a thing or two about the dangers of inflation, warns us to think again, maybe it's time for Chairman Bernanke to cease and desist," Palin said.
Palin has not said whether she will make a White House bid in 2012. But she has been using public appearances to build up her political and policy credentials for the job.
(Editing by Philip Barbara)
Copyright 2010 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.