Thursday, October 26, 2006
So that's what happened to the media!
Watching Democracy Now! this morning, I saw veteran investigative reporter Bob Parry discuss his experience covering the Iran-Contra Scandal.
As he talked it became clear to me that after Nixon and Watergate, the Regan Administration was very nervous of the media. In fact as they saw reporters investigating what was going on in Nicaragua they started to lean on the press. Those that didn’t fold ended up having their careers virtually ruined, whereas those that toed the line were promoted.
So the years slipped by and we now find those same toadies in control of the nations media. Is it any wonder that when leaned on again, they are happy to toe the line one more time?
As he talked it became clear to me that after Nixon and Watergate, the Regan Administration was very nervous of the media. In fact as they saw reporters investigating what was going on in Nicaragua they started to lean on the press. Those that didn’t fold ended up having their careers virtually ruined, whereas those that toed the line were promoted.
So the years slipped by and we now find those same toadies in control of the nations media. Is it any wonder that when leaned on again, they are happy to toe the line one more time?
Are the Republicans helping small business?
Not as far as 13 federal investigations are concerned. They say that this administration has been cutting funding to the Small Business Administration for the past 5 years and will continue to do so.
I understand that by law, the government has to give 23% of all money given in federal contracts to small businesses with 100 or less employees. They aren’t getting it. It’s fraudulently going to big corporations and it doesn’t look as if the chambers or small business organizations are doing anything to help.
The Democrats are trying to get Transparency in Contracting passed so that we can find out where $79.6 billion that was announced by the SBA went. In fact, Lloyd Chapman of the American Small Business League www.asbl.com has offered $10,000 to anyone who can tell him what has happened to the money!
I understand that by law, the government has to give 23% of all money given in federal contracts to small businesses with 100 or less employees. They aren’t getting it. It’s fraudulently going to big corporations and it doesn’t look as if the chambers or small business organizations are doing anything to help.
The Democrats are trying to get Transparency in Contracting passed so that we can find out where $79.6 billion that was announced by the SBA went. In fact, Lloyd Chapman of the American Small Business League www.asbl.com has offered $10,000 to anyone who can tell him what has happened to the money!
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Electoral Rx
Pharmaceutical & Drug companies hold our fate in their hands.
The Wall St Journal reports that pharmaceutical corporations are panicking as Nancy Pelosi says if she takes over as Senate Majority leader, one of the first things she will do, is have Medicare negotiate with the drug companies for discounts.
The Veterans Association bargains and pays $120 a person a year for High Blood Pressure medication, yet that same medication costs Medicare $1000 per person a year. That pure profit goes straight to each company and rich investors.
These companies are funding all the Republicans that are in close races. Rick Santorum created those favorable rules for them, so his campaign has been given $500,000 plus more for TV ads. 7 others like Oren Hatch and Joe Lieberman are getting from $370k to $170k. These corporations know who will look after them
The Wall St Journal reports that pharmaceutical corporations are panicking as Nancy Pelosi says if she takes over as Senate Majority leader, one of the first things she will do, is have Medicare negotiate with the drug companies for discounts.
The Veterans Association bargains and pays $120 a person a year for High Blood Pressure medication, yet that same medication costs Medicare $1000 per person a year. That pure profit goes straight to each company and rich investors.
These companies are funding all the Republicans that are in close races. Rick Santorum created those favorable rules for them, so his campaign has been given $500,000 plus more for TV ads. 7 others like Oren Hatch and Joe Lieberman are getting from $370k to $170k. These corporations know who will look after them
Sunday, October 15, 2006
The Difference in Ititiatives
It is quite frustrating to see all the ‘Yes on I-933 It’s only fair’ signs around because I know that every signature that put the initiative on the ballot was paid for by property developers and their cohorts.
Unlike the Renewable Energy Initiative ‘Yes on I-937’ where thousands of us went out and volunteered our time for months to gather over 175,000 signatures to get it on the ballot. That’s the people of Washington State seeking to do what 20 other states have already done and where research has found that it makes plus or minus 1% difference to energy costs.
I also know from research that I-933 goes too far. Anyone will be able to build a strip mall, gravel pit or adult video store on their property and we won’t be able to stop them unless we pay them for their profit lost. No city could afford to do that, so our taxes will go up and funding to our schools, police & fire will get cut. Real farmers hate this bill as they see the countryside being chopped up into housing developments and farmers livelihoods being ruined. Don’t be fooled by the signs. Vote No on I-933.
Unlike the Renewable Energy Initiative ‘Yes on I-937’ where thousands of us went out and volunteered our time for months to gather over 175,000 signatures to get it on the ballot. That’s the people of Washington State seeking to do what 20 other states have already done and where research has found that it makes plus or minus 1% difference to energy costs.
I also know from research that I-933 goes too far. Anyone will be able to build a strip mall, gravel pit or adult video store on their property and we won’t be able to stop them unless we pay them for their profit lost. No city could afford to do that, so our taxes will go up and funding to our schools, police & fire will get cut. Real farmers hate this bill as they see the countryside being chopped up into housing developments and farmers livelihoods being ruined. Don’t be fooled by the signs. Vote No on I-933.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
What you won't hear in the U.S. Press
Newsweek International explains what is really going on with North Korea, but you won’t see it in the U.S. media.
On Sept 19th 2005, North Korea signed a denuclearization agreement with the United States, China, Russia, Japan and South Korea to “abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs.” In return, Washington agreed that the U.S. and North Korea would “respect each other’s sovereignty, exist peacefully together and take steps to normalize their relations,” but the U.S. negotiating team was divided about this.
Four days later, the U.S. Treasury Department brought huge financial sanctions on North Korea, stopping them from accessing international banking systems. The administration says it’s was a coincidence.
The North Koreans saw it as the start of a process to cut the Sept 19th accord and squeeze the regime and ultimately bring it down. They saw it as a direct threat to their national honor and hoped that their recent missile tests and nuclear test would jump start direct two way talks with the U.S. to stop the financial squeeze. The way they see it, they have nothing to lose. Read the whole story. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15175633/site/newsweek/
On Sept 19th 2005, North Korea signed a denuclearization agreement with the United States, China, Russia, Japan and South Korea to “abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs.” In return, Washington agreed that the U.S. and North Korea would “respect each other’s sovereignty, exist peacefully together and take steps to normalize their relations,” but the U.S. negotiating team was divided about this.
Four days later, the U.S. Treasury Department brought huge financial sanctions on North Korea, stopping them from accessing international banking systems. The administration says it’s was a coincidence.
The North Koreans saw it as the start of a process to cut the Sept 19th accord and squeeze the regime and ultimately bring it down. They saw it as a direct threat to their national honor and hoped that their recent missile tests and nuclear test would jump start direct two way talks with the U.S. to stop the financial squeeze. The way they see it, they have nothing to lose. Read the whole story. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15175633/site/newsweek/
Sunday, October 08, 2006
No on I-933
Watch out for Initiative I-933. We are being told by the building industry that funded the signature gathering that “It’s Only Fair”. It is, as long as you don’t care about your neighbors or are an unscrupulous building developer.
Let’s say you have 5 acres, and so do your two neighbors. One of them decides to turn their mobile into an office and open a gravel pit, or use it to open an adult movie store or put up 12 houses or a strip mall. Your choices with I-933 are either let your neighbor do any of the above, or pay what your neighbor will loose by not going ahead. The initiative is unfunded and cities won’t be able to afford it, so they will have to either put up our taxes or cut down on services to pay for it, or just let your neighbor do what they want.
Cities across the state are in panic and are saying NO to I-933 and so are farmers who fear neighboring land will be turned into housing tracts, making it impossible for them to farm. I-933 is far worse than Oregon’s Measure 37 and has been projected to cost Washingtonians anywhere between 4 and 8 billion dollars.
In Oregon, Measure 37 (The Fairness Fix) has been on the books for 2 years. It’s resulted in 2,940 filed claims for almost 4 billion in what has become a high stakes development bonanza. One resident is rethinking his position after his neighbor filed a claim that will allow him to convert a 40-acre berry farm into almost 300 homes if he is not compensated. Another Measure 37 supporter now wishes he could vote again - as his neighbor is taking steps to open a gravel mine on property right next door to him.
Farm Bureau leaders who support I-933 say that “if it’s worth it, taxpayers can chip in to compensate affected landowners”. I understand that farmers are concerned about off-limits streamsides, but do we have to put the whole state up for sale to fix that problem?
Let’s say you have 5 acres, and so do your two neighbors. One of them decides to turn their mobile into an office and open a gravel pit, or use it to open an adult movie store or put up 12 houses or a strip mall. Your choices with I-933 are either let your neighbor do any of the above, or pay what your neighbor will loose by not going ahead. The initiative is unfunded and cities won’t be able to afford it, so they will have to either put up our taxes or cut down on services to pay for it, or just let your neighbor do what they want.
Cities across the state are in panic and are saying NO to I-933 and so are farmers who fear neighboring land will be turned into housing tracts, making it impossible for them to farm. I-933 is far worse than Oregon’s Measure 37 and has been projected to cost Washingtonians anywhere between 4 and 8 billion dollars.
In Oregon, Measure 37 (The Fairness Fix) has been on the books for 2 years. It’s resulted in 2,940 filed claims for almost 4 billion in what has become a high stakes development bonanza. One resident is rethinking his position after his neighbor filed a claim that will allow him to convert a 40-acre berry farm into almost 300 homes if he is not compensated. Another Measure 37 supporter now wishes he could vote again - as his neighbor is taking steps to open a gravel mine on property right next door to him.
Farm Bureau leaders who support I-933 say that “if it’s worth it, taxpayers can chip in to compensate affected landowners”. I understand that farmers are concerned about off-limits streamsides, but do we have to put the whole state up for sale to fix that problem?
Why does sex trump all else?
Lot’s of important things get done on a Friday afternoon in Washington DC because everyone knows that it will probably get lost in the weekend news cycle. While this news cycle has been completely taken over by the Foley sex scandal, we missed a lot.
Congress voted on a Homeland Security Bill that said because of the Hurricane Katrina fiasco, “it is imperative for the head of FEMA to have knowledge of emergency management and not less than 5 years of executive leadership”. On Friday, the President signed the bill while adding yet another signing statement, saying that he could ignore the new restrictions.
On 28th September the U.S. Constitution as we know it, ended. The Military Commission’s Bill now allows the President at his pleasure to put any American citizen, legal U.S. resident or green card holder in prison for as long as he wishes with no ability to have their day in court, (Habeas Corpus). Non-citizens could be held until “the war on terror” is over!
Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., chairman of the Senate judiciary committee, announced, "I'm not going to support a bill that's blatantly unconstitutional ... that suspends a right that goes back to the Magna Carta (Habeas Corpus) in 1215." He then went ahead and voted for it!
Congress voted on a Homeland Security Bill that said because of the Hurricane Katrina fiasco, “it is imperative for the head of FEMA to have knowledge of emergency management and not less than 5 years of executive leadership”. On Friday, the President signed the bill while adding yet another signing statement, saying that he could ignore the new restrictions.
On 28th September the U.S. Constitution as we know it, ended. The Military Commission’s Bill now allows the President at his pleasure to put any American citizen, legal U.S. resident or green card holder in prison for as long as he wishes with no ability to have their day in court, (Habeas Corpus). Non-citizens could be held until “the war on terror” is over!
Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., chairman of the Senate judiciary committee, announced, "I'm not going to support a bill that's blatantly unconstitutional ... that suspends a right that goes back to the Magna Carta (Habeas Corpus) in 1215." He then went ahead and voted for it!
