Bush

Where's Our Bailout? by: 123idaho Sun Nov 23, 2008 at 13:54:45 PM PST Do you know any Americans being hit hard by mounting layoffs, falling home prices, and a plunging stock market? While Washington gives billions to banks and perhaps automakers, ailing consumers wait for help. Congress was unable to muster support for a broader $61 billion stimulus bill that would have done more for consumers; President Bush threatened to veto it, wrote webjournalist Aaron Task. And FDIC chief Sheila Bair is having a hard time getting support for her request to deploy a mere $25 billion for mortgage relief from the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) approved by Congress in October. Anything major, it seems, will have to wait for the new Administration and Congress in January, Task said. Some people have even resorted to burying cash.   Here's a breakdown of where the first portion of that $700 billion TARP bailout has gone: • $125 billion: America's 9 Biggest Banks• $80 billion: For additional bank relief• $45 billion: Relief for smaller banks• $40 billion: AIG rescue. (Source: Bailoutsleuth.com) Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke believe that by shoring up the banking system, they are providing relief to Americans, Task wrote. A sickly banking system means no loans to businesses or consumers and much less economic activity, so there's merit to that argument. The problem is there's no guarantee the money is being used the way it was intended. According to Task, not only are banks hoarding their cash rather than lending it, reports continue to surface of banks using bailout money to pay executives big bonuses or throw lavish junkets, as in the case of AIG, which has received a total of $150 billion in government aid so far. While big, the government's rescue of AIG is but a small part of a ongoing bailout effort that has already exceed $3 trillion. Here's the tally for all government aid to banks including TARP: • $2 Trillion: Emergency Fed Loans to Financial Firms• $700 Billion: TARP (including $40B for AIG)• $200 Billion: Fannie/Freddie• $140 Billion: Tax breaks for banks making acquisitions• $110 Billion: Loans to AIG. (Source: Bailoutsleuth.com) » Read Aaron Task's Analysis Sincerely, Rodham: A woman so liberal, she should be your mother. See: http://www.123idaho.blogspot.com/ 123Idaho's blog on 43rdStateBlues   Discuss :: (0 Comments)

Groundhog Day: Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton ... ... by: pat malach Fri Feb 01, 2008 at 10:23:09 AM PST I've been a bit remiss in failing to note that my favorite New York Times op-ed columnist Nicholas Kristof, who grew up on a sheep and cherry farm near Yamhill, Ore., has recently returned to his column after an extended book leave. Kristof has often been a solitary light in the mainstream media consistently trying to draw attention to the tragic genocide taking place in Darfur. And you'll remember that he was one of the loudest voices in the MSM willing to question the accuracy of Bush Administration claims that Iraq posed an "imminent threat." It's certainly good to have him back. That's especially true when he writes about things nobody else wants to seriously discuss. His Jan. 31 column "The Dynastic Question" is a great example. We Americans snicker patronizingly as "democratic" Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Singapore, India and Argentina hand over power to a wife or child of a former leader. Yet I can’t find any example of even the most rinky-dink "democracy" confining power continuously for seven terms over 28 years to four people from two families. (And that’s not counting George H.W. Bush’s eight years as vice president.) Perhaps there is some such "democracy" somewhere: If you know of one, report it on my blog, and I’ll support you for president in eight years time ... and then your spouse ... and then your eldest child. ...We remember John Quincy Adams as intelligent and diligent, but his presidency is diminished by the hint of dynastic succession and is seen as emblematic of a parochial time when America was ruled by an incestuous elite. Some day, I suspect we may detect the same narrowness in the rise of the Bush Dynasty and, if there is one, in the Clinton Dynasty. ...Certainly, it’s easy to see why voters nostalgic for peace and prosperity might yearn for a Clinton Restoration. Maybe we want another political dynasty, but we shouldn’t back into one without discussion — again. In a country of several hundred million people, the idea that two families are put in charge for nearly three decades really flies in the face of a populist democracy. And it doesn't speak well for the imagination of our populace or its leaders. Maybe we ought to start calling this government a "nepocracy" and change the National Anthem to the theme from Sanford & Son. (Cross-posted @ WMD). Discuss :: (2 Comments)

your most traumatic Election Night ever? by: Portlandia Thu Nov 08, 2007 at 17:08:21 PM PST On Tuesday I got to reminiscing with some cronies about the worst two Election Nights I could remember. It occurs to me that everyone has a story about Election Night, and if you're a Democrat and old enough to use BlueO, you are guaranteed to have memory of at least one bad one.  There's More... :: (4 Comments, 357 words in story)

Smith: Bush was right when he said "mission accomplished" by: carla Wed Aug 08, 2007 at 20:07:55 PM PDT So distancing himself from Bush on the Iraq War that Gordon Smith has been trying on?  Uh..not so much: “When the president stood on the aircraft carrier (and said) ‘Mission accomplished,’ he was right. He was right as to all we could win. All we could win? Seriously? We've set off a powder keg in this region. We've totally and completely underminded our credibility. And Smith is still talking about what we can win???? Oy. Discuss :: (8 Comments)

Bush's top trade official to visit Portland by: ORFTC Wed Aug 08, 2007 at 12:36:55 PM PDT U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab will be met by protestors when she attends an event hosted by the Portland Business Alliance in downtown Portland this Thursday evening -- and rightly so.  Ambassador Schwab is the President's cabinet-level trade advisor, and was the lead negotiator of the recently-signed Free Trade Agreements with Peru, Colombia, Panama and South Korea. Given that these trade pacts still await Congressional approval, Ms. Schwab will undoubtedly call on business leaders to lobby hard in support of the deals.  The would-be lobbyists face an uphill battle.  Members of Congress from either political party would have to be nuts to help the Bush administration advance its job-killing trade agenda.  Voters are sick to death of trade deals that send jobs overseas and that chip away at living standards for the U.S. middle class. The Bush administration has lately tried suggesting that these trade deals are necessary to improve U.S. relationships with other countries.  What they don't mention is that the people of Peru, Colombia, Panama and South Korea have been fighting these pacts tooth-and-nail, with literally millions of people out in the streets opposing them around the world.  Labor and human rights advocates will be gathering at SW Salmon St and Park Ave in downtown Portland this Thursday, Aug. 9, from 4:30 to 6:00 pm to tell the Bush administration just what we think of it's trade agenda.  Please join us! For more info, call 503-736-9777. Discuss :: (0 Comments)

Spanning the State--Dubious Connections Edition by: carla Sun Jul 29, 2007 at 09:28:08 AM PDT Last week, Democratic activist Jenni Simonis announced herself as a candidate for Gresham City Council. Yesterday her opponent John Kilian had an LTE in the Gresham Outlook crowing that GOP Rep John Lim endorsed him for the job. Given Lim's inability to put the best interests of his constituents ahead of politics, Kilian's bragging rights here are dubious. And now let's Span the State! :::::::::::::::::::gong:::::::::::::::::::::: There's More... :: (3 Comments, 194 words in story)

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