CAUTION:NAUGHTY LANGUAGE AHEAD.
DO NOT PROCEED IF EASILY OFFENDED.
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American Republican conservatives are the whiniest, wierdest, whacked out, knucklehead, idiot-stick mother-fuckers on this whole round garden planet! Don't believe it? click~n~read
The "party of NO asserts itself loudly!"

AN UPDATE FROM MY STATE REPRESENTATIVE HERE IN WASHINGTON STATE:

Dear Neighbors:

Last week, President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The bill contains $326 billion in tax cuts and $463 billion in spending-- a total of $789 billion for the entire nation. Funding is targeted to many critical areas, including energy, community development and human services.

Here in Washington, we also received $671 million dedicated to transportation. Of the $492 million dedicated to highway projects, $151 million will go to local jurisdictions and $341 million is slated to be allocated by state government. Local jurisdictions are also set to receive $179 million directly for transit projects.

Also on the table is additional ARRA funding in the form of grant money for which states can apply. More than $11 billion in federal grants is available in project categories that include rail, ferries and highways.

This investment comes at a critical time. We know that an average of 10 jobs are created or retained for each $1 million in highway spending – meaning that this stimulus will not only provide needed highway improvements, but will also put thousands of people to work within three months, and keep thousands more on the job for a year or longer.

After working closely with the Obama Administration and Governor Gregoire, this week we introduced the 2009 Economic Stimulus Transportation Funding Act to appropriate Washington’s share of the federal economic recovery funds. A $341 million transportation proposal is a key piece of that measure. We will create 3,300 jobs across the state, put people to work and improve our state’s transportation infrastructure.

We have made sure that priority will be given to projects throughout the state that create jobs, improve freight mobility, enhance safety and meet shovel ready time-frames.

Here are some of the projects that will put people to work all over Washington:

· $56 million for long-overdue concrete and asphalt work on I-90 between Snoqualmie Summit and Ellensburg. This is an important freight route, and a critical link between eastern and western Washington.

· $70 million for I-5 HOV lanes in Pierce County, a critical north-south corridor that serves the entire West Coast.

· Nearly $12 million for US 395 paving improvements Spokane County

· Nearly $31 million to rebuild the Valley Mall Boulevard interchange at I-82 in Yakima

· $10 million to rebuild the SR 501/Ridgefield interchange

Projects in the 19th District include:

· Paving of I-5 near Castle Rock

· Painting the Washington side of the Astoria-Megler Bridge

· Paving a long strip of SR 103 on the Long Beach Peninsula

· Local projects to be determined



All told, nearly $150 million in projects will be in contractors’ hands within 90 days, another $71 million within 120 days, and the final $124 million within 360 days.


In addition to the projects funded by the federal stimulus, Washington is investing over $4 billion in other transportation projects all over our state in the next two years – thanks in large part to the citizens’ vote to uphold the 9.5 cent gas tax approved in 2005, and the 2003 nickel gas tax. These tax increases funded more than 400 projects all across the state over 16 years. As a result, the upcoming two years will see the biggest transportation construction season in our history, at a time when these jobs and investments are desperately needed.

A complete project list is available at the Washington State Department of Transportation website.

Washington State is ready to move forward. I am confident in our ability to work together to save or create thousands of jobs and improve our roads and bridges.

Please continue to send me your ideas. I appreciate all your support and look forward to hearing from you. Your voice keeps our democracy working.

Until next time,

Brian

**********************

WHAT ABOUT THIS TIM GEITHNER , OBAMA'S TREASURY SECRETARY? HE SEEMS TO ME TO BE A HUGEBANKCO INSIDER. BANKING INSIDERS TO REGULATE THE BANKERS? SOME THINGS JUST MAKE YOU GO HMMM...

There was a revealing incident in the Senate Finance Committee last week when Senator Bernie Sanders challenged Geithner. Here's the transcript:

SANDERS: "In 2006 and 2007, Lloyd Blankfein, the CEO of Goldman Sachs, was the highest paid executive on Wall Street, making over $125 million in total compensation. Due to its risky investments, Goldman Sachs now has over $168 billion in total outstanding debt. It's laid off over 10 percent of its workforce. Late last year, the financial situation at Goldman was so dire that the taxpayers of this country provided Goldman Sachs with a $10 billion bailout.

Very simple question that I think the American people want to know. Yes or no, should Mr. Blankfein be fired from his job and new leadership be brought in?"

SECRETARY GEITHNER: "Senator, that's a judgment his board of directors have to make. I want to say one thing which is very important. Everything we do going forward has to be judged against the impact we're going to have on the American people and the prospects for recovery. And every dollar we spend will have to be measured against the benefits we bring in terms of---"

SENATOR SANDERS: "Mr. Secretary, you're not answering my question. You have a person who made hundreds of millions for himself as he led his institution that helped cause a great financial crisis. We have put, as taxpayers, $10 billion to bail him out and we have no say about whether or not he should stay on the job?"

SECRETARY GEITHNER: "No, I didn't say that. I think there will be circumstances, as there have been already, where the government intervention will have to come with very tough conditions, including changes in management and leadership of institutions. And where we believe that makes sense, we will do that."

Predictably evasive, Geithner refused to say whether or not Blanfein should be fired. That's because Geithner believes that the function of government is to serve the interests of the big banks not the public.

FULL STORY HERE

Unemployment Rate is 70% for Ex-Bush Administration Officials

Awww - aint that sad?

Think Obama's A Good Guy? I KNOW! I Did Too! WAIT TILL NEXT WEEK for the big "Fiscal Responsibility Summit"

"...They want to cut Medicare and Social Security so they can fund two wars and more bailouts for Wall Street. And they will call it "fiscal responsibility." Watch out for this kind of change, it will kill you... " GO.READ

If he thinks messing with MY Social Security Disability income is a good idea, I suggest he just stand by and see what happens when he does! There will be a spark up his ass so hot that it makes his eyeballs boil!
Before he ships more "lost money" out to Iraq or goddamned Afganifuckingstan, or any of his bank buddies, he had better be thinking clearly about the real AMERICANS.

CNBC SO EVIL IT SHOULD JUST CLOSE IT'S DOORS!

Almost the entire crew of CNBC anchors and reporters shares Santelli’s belief that all things money are good and all things not are either bad or just don’t matter. And they share the fantasy that they’re all just regular people, banging out a living, punching the clock at CNBC and the CBOT. Santelli went so far as to invoke that glorious Nixon-era image of the “silent majority.” Some of us remember those good people, who opposed civil rights and wanted to nuke Vietnam. Things are just so simple for the “silent majority,” so much clearer. VIA

Exxon Valdez Spill Approaches 20th Anniversary: The Tragic Saga Began Long Before the Accident CLICK~N~READ

It's no goddamned wonder I am sad so much of the time...

WEEKEND AT BERNIE'S

HOW THE FEDERAL MORTGAGE RELIEF PROGRAM CAN HELP YOU

This week, President Obama unveiled his plan to help families avoid losing their homes. If you're at risk you may qualify for help under the President's plan. CLICK!

DeSoto Grilles from 1958 MOTOR'S Auto Repair manual

Just say NO to Chrysler. The corporation just DOES NOT GET IT, and NEVER HAS. We the taxpayers bailed the stupid fuckers out in 1979.

"...It was Chrysler's management, rather, which put it on the road to bankruptcy. Throughout the late 1930s and into the early 1940s, Chrysler was actually the second largest car manufacturer in the United States, ahead of Ford. The company's problems began shortly after World War II, when it decided to stick with prewar manufacturing and styling methods instead of retooling to meet the expectations of postwar automobile buyers. Ford and General Motors, in contrast, developed a sleek and streamlined design that sold well.

By the time Chrysler's management admitted their mistake in the 1950s, the company had slipped to third place among the nation's automakers. But because Chrysler's new management reacted by emphasizing sales and production over engineering, the firm's cars were little more than delayed copies of Ford and General Motors products..."LINK

NOW we are looking at this newest bailout for a long-time poorly managed corporation that has NEVER really cared what the hell the buying public WANTS, knowing that they will buy whatever is put out there and advertised as "cool".

Chrysler bought Jeep when it was broke and had NO business buying another auto company. They turned THIS into THIS piece of undependable shit and called it a Jeep. SHAME ON YOU. NO BAILOUT FOR A COMPANY THAT WOULD DO THAT!

IN SHORT - THIS COMPANY WILL NEVER BUILD AN ELECTRIC CAR OR ANYTHING ELSE CUTTING EDGE OR USEFUL.

SMOKE THIS RECESSION/it's simple: first we tax the booze, then we legalise the pot. DONE DEAL

"...Translation: Money's tight, baby. City's in trouble. State's deep in the hole. Nation's broke.

Solution? Upend the system. Think differently. Get creative. Demolish Ye Olde Ways. And maybe get a really nice buzz on while you're at it.

Where to begin? How can the city/state refill their empty coffers and further gouge the populace to make ends meet? Increased bridge tolls? A new per-mile driving tax? Heavier parking fines? State parks abandoned and left to seed? Child's play, darling..."GO.READ

I sent another email to my Senators (Murray & Cantwell) and Representative (Baird) this morning:

Out here in the real WASHINGTON, we want to see the big shot bankers and "derivatives traders" going to prison. We want to see it on the television news. We want to hear it loudly. We want to see that they are miserable for what they have done to ALL OF US.

We ALSO STILL want to see the BUSH/CHENEY crew prosecuted, and am hoping the noises we are hearing out of Congress about this are serious.

Thanks again for all you do.

you just gotta stay up in their face or, evidently, they forget. You too, can email your congresscritters by going to CONGRESS.ORG and clicking on OFFICIALS, then find where you can click to go to their personal websites to send email from. IT'S EASY!

BUY AMERICAN? OBAMA HAS A GREAT IDEA - except...Italian firm has contract for new Presidential helicopters!

"...Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn) and others have alleged that the contract for 28 Marine One helicopters was awarded to the Italian firm Finmeccanica as a thank you for Italy's participation in the Iraq War. The evidence, however, indicates that the contract was more specifically a payoff to the Italian government for supplying the forged documents showing Saddam had obtained weapons grade uranium from Niger..." GO.READ!

Fairly comphrehensive rundown on the Australian wildfire

U.S. authorities are quick to order mass evacuations during wildfires; they prefer to get civilians out of the way so professionals can douse the flames. Australian officials are more likely to hand homeowners shovels and put them to work. MORE

It turns out that Wall Street, rather than Islamic jihad, has produced our most dangerous terrorists. PLEASE USE OUR HANDY CLICK~N~READ!

Thank you so much,
Mr. Bill WTO Clinton
and republicans to follow.
CLICK~N~READ

Global warming will be worse than expected, scientist warns. I AM NOT SURE, BUT THINK THIS MAY BE PRETTY IMPORTANT INFORMATION

The impact of global warming has been underestimated and will be much worse than previously believed, a leading climate scientist has warned.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

By Sarah Knapton

Professor Chris Field, the author of a landmark report on climate change, claimed future temperatures "will be beyond anything" previously predicted.

Speaking at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference in Chicago, he said greenhouse gases increased far more rapidly than expected between 2000 and 2007.

"We are basically looking now at a future climate that is beyond anything that we've considered seriously in climate policy," he said.

Prof Field said his 2007 report, which predicted temperature rises between 1.98F (1.1C) and 11.52F (6.4C) over the next century, seriously underestimated the scale of the problem.

And he blamed the unexpected increases on the burgeoning economies of India and China which are burning massive amounts of coal for electric power.

The warming planet is likely to dry out tropical forests, making them susceptible to wildfires.

The rising temperatures could also speed up the melting of the permafrost, vastly increasing the amount of carbon in the atmosphere, Prof Field warns.

"Without effective action, climate change is going to be larger and more difficult to deal with than we thought," he said.

Prof Field is the director of the Carnegie Institution's Department of Global Ecology, Professor of Biology and Professor of Environmental Earth System Science, at Stanford University. SOURCE

For some forums on energy and environment (positive information for everything from jobs to hardware) please CLICK HERE

DC Journalists Love GOP Obstructionists [aka Losers], But Americans Don't

Jane Hamsher: There appears to be a pretty big gap between what DC journalists think Americans think, and what Americans actually think. No better example of this can be found than the "winners" and "losers" that DC media are proclaiming in the wake of the passage of the stimulus bill, and what polling on the subject indicates. The people who live in DC, who pretend to speak for the rest of the country, have no direct experience with what is happening there -- and their attempts to handicap DC politics have more to do with the inside baseball games that seek to protect their own interests above all else. The fact that three and a half million Americans will have jobs as a result of the passage of this bill, or that people who are unemployed or living on food stamps will continue to be able to eat, doesn't seem to graze their analyses. Click here to read more.

SOME NEWS TO READ OVER THE WEEKEND:

• ARE OBAMA'S OWN GENERALS PLOTTING TO UNDERMINE HIS EXIT STRATEGY FOR IRAQ?

By Gareth Porter, IPS News
A network of senior military officers appears to be engaged
in an effort to mobilize public opinion against Obama's
decision to leave Iraq.
http://www.alternet.org/story/125795/

• IRAQ FROM AN ARMORED BMW: WHERE U.S. 'RECONSTRUCTION' FUNDS ARE REALLY GOING

By Dahr Jamail, Tomdispatch.com
Fallujah remains devastated, even as the U.S. military
delivers shrink-wrapped bricks of $100 bills to the sheiks
in charge.
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/126825/

• PENTAGON PROPAGANDA SPENDING EXPLODES: 'WE HAVE SUCH A MASSIVE APPARATUS SELLING THE MILITARY TO US'

By Joshua Holland, AlterNet
This year, the Pentagon will employ 27,000 people just for
recruitment, advertising and public relations.
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/waroniraq/125720/

• WILL OBAMA ALLOW AMERICANS TO 'SEE THE FULL HUMAN COST OF WAR?'

By Satyam Khanna, Think Progress
CNN's Ed Henry asked President Obama a hard-hitting question
yesterday.
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/mediaculture/126216/

• Obama Will Fight with Us to Quash the Campaign to Loot Social Security -- Right?

By William Greider, The NationBehind closed doors, powerful interests are pushing Obama to tap Social Security to pay for bank bailouts. How he responds will shape his presidency.

• Don't Get Duped Like Obama: Here're the Top 5 Myths About Coal

Tara Lohan, AlterNet

The coal industry has spent millions trying to fool the American public, Congress and the president. Here's how to beat the hype.

• Michael Moore Needs Your Help To Expose Wall Street Swindle.

Michael Moore is about to uncover “the biggest swindle in American history,” and he needs your help. In an e-mail yesterday, Moore asked for anyone connected to Wall Street or the financial industry to contact him at bailout@michaelmoore.com with information about the economic meltdown. All correspondence with him will be kept confidential.

SPREAD THE WORD - IT'S TIME.

TO THE STREETS!CONGRESS REMOVES PROVISIONS TO
LIMIT WALL STREET BONUSES
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS

GET WALL STREET OUT OF MY ECONOMY! THEY PRODUCE NO PRODUCT, THEY EMPLOY FEW, YET THEY SWING LOTS OF WEIGHT. GET EM OUT!

click graph to biggen the graph story - above for wall street story.

Or, if you like, from the gifted keyboard of DRIFTGLASS (if you are not aware of this blog, and you love intelligent snark, do yourself a favor)

ALSO, does Geithner work for US or for the bigs of the banking/money laundering industry? I hope he gets it figured out before we are ALL reduced to living under blue tarps! Here's MORE

SOME ENERGY NEWS FROM BRITAIN AND EUROPE

• Pelamis P-2 powers on in Orkney

  12 Feb 2009

  Edinburgh based Pelamis Wave Power (PWP) has won an order from UK renewable energy generator E.on for the next generation Pelamis Wave Energy Converter, known as the P-2.
  

• Strong winds in EU power sector

  05 Feb 2009

  Statistics released by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) this week show that 43% of all new electricity generating capacity built in the European Union last year was wind energy, exceeding all other electricity generating technologies including gas, coal and nuclear power.
  

• €5bn for EU offshore energy grid

  05 Feb 2009

  Workboat operators will be heartened by the announcement this week from specialist asset investment company Imera that it plans to build North Sea and Atlantic electricity grids, connecting key markets and offshore wind farms as the foundation for a pan-European offshore electricity network.
  

Planning for the future! What a concept! I wonder if our American Congress has thought of it?

IN CASE IT HASNT OCCURRED TO YOU THAT THESE HUGE BANK CEO'S ARE HUGE ASSHOLES:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

These guys are used to coming to Congress and TELLING Congress how it is going to be. THIS is a new day, Buckaroo.

I have always believed if Republicans are not pissed off, we are not doing our jobs. We must be doing a hell of a job today.

I LOVE WHEN REPUBLICANS GET THEIR PANTIES IN A TWIST! THIS IS FROM TODAY WHERE THIS GANG OF THEM (I ASSUME) ARE ATTEMPTING TO SHOW US JUST HOW GODDAMNED STUPID THEY CAN BE.

LISTEN, ASSHOLES, JUST BEFORE OBAMA WAS INAUGURATED, YOU AND YOUR CREW GAVE 350+ BILLION DOLLARS TO THE INVESTMENT AND BANK BIGS WITH NO PLAN. REMEMBER THAT? - YOUR TAX CUTS HAVE NOT WORKED AND YOUR TAX CUT MANTRA IS EXACTLY WHAT HAS GOT US INTO THIS HOLE WE ARE IN, SO DO AS ANY INTELLIGENT PERSON MIGHT DO: PUT DOWN YOUR SHOVELS AND LOOK AT THE HOLE YOU GOT US INTO.

SAFETY? NO-A THOUSAND TIMES NO!
SCHOOLS? NO-A THOUSAND TIMES NO!
COMPUTERS? NO-A THOUSAND TIMES NO!
NEW DIKES AND LEVEES? NO-A THOUSAND TIMES NO!

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce should be stripped, legally denied the ability to use United States in their title.

anti-American assholes.

What we have got here is a PERFECT STORM (the simultaneous occurrence of weather events which, taken individually, would be far less powerful than the storm resulting from their chance combination. Such occurrences are rare by their very nature, so that even a slight change in any one event contributing to the perfect storm would lessen its overall impact.

The chances of having had all of the political bullshit leading up to this impending depression line up perfectly like some sort of fiscal super eclipse are exceedingly rare. Rare it may be, but here we are: the shit has hit the fan.

I am not much on praying and church-ey stuff, but I am sure hoping hard that our imperfect Congress and President can figure out some way to reign in the bankers and criminal stock brokers to a reasonably low noise level. Seems to me there is only X amount of money to go around, and there are a bunch of people who feel entitled to having very many people's share in their own personal portfolio. These people have no compunction whatsoever of firing thousands and thousands of American workers to be replaced by cheaper legal immigrants and offshoring. This aint gonna work.
One of the things that I am doing to try to get prepared for what could be a long weird trip is I have gotten me a raggedy old used rototiller and am starting a big 'ol vege patch. I am real angry, and real frightened about our future, or lack of it.

Over 20 years ago I gave up on living way out in the mountains and trying to eke out a completely self-sufficient, organic lifestyle. Sometimes I wish I could go back, but the truth is I drank a lot back then, and life changes, if one is willing to allow it to. We are pretty satisfied with the little life we have here at the beach, in spite of being ready to sell it all and move off to New Zealand for a calmer, warmer existence.

"Centrists" please go sit
with the Republicans.
You are of no use.

THE PRESS IS PUSHING HARD FOR THIS 'BIPARTISAN' CRAP, AND HUGGING REPUBLICANS AS IF THEY WERE NOT THE ONES WHO FUCKED EVERYTHING UP:

• "Unless he comes up with a new incentive for Republicans to change their position, Mr Obama's bipartisan aspirations could go up in smoke before he has completed a week in office." [Financial Times]

• "The solid Republican opposition, led by House Minority Leader John Boehner (R., Ohio), raises questions about whether the new era of bipartisanship that Mr. Obama promised during the campaign is truly within reach." [The Wall Street Journal]

• "If it gets no Republican votes -- a growing possibility -- the plan could trigger the kind of ugly, divisive partisan fight that Obama has been trying mightily to avoid." [McClatchy Newspapers]

• "Republicans are expected to press the president strongly on the stimulus bill, and if the meeting becomes tense, it would quickly remind voters that partisanship in the nation's capital -- despite Obama's vow to reduce it -- is alive and well." [The Hill]

• "President Barack Obama's pledge of bipartisan cooperation with Congress will be tested as he tries to fulfill a campaign promise to close Guantanamo Bay and establish a new system for prosecuting suspected terrorists. The undertaking is an ambitious one. Fraught with legal complexities, it gives Republicans ample opportunity to score political points if he doesn't get it right." [Associated Press]

PRESIDENT OBAMA, IF I MAY, I SUGGEST THAT YOU TELL THE REPUBLICANS TO GO FUCK THEMSELVES. THINK YOU GOT THE BALLS TO DO THAT? IF YOU DON'T YOU ARE GOING TO GO DOWN THE SHITTER WITH THE REST OF US. GOT IT? GOOD!

The word on the street is that the right is killing us with phone calls to Congress on the Obama economic recovery plan. One congressperson said the calls are running 100 to 1 against it.

What's at stake...

$142 billion for a middle-class tax cut
$47 billion to extend unemployment benefits
$16 billion to expand food stamps
$17 billion in one-time payments to low-income Americans
$26 billion to expand access to health care
$87 billion to help states pay for Medicaid
$24 billion to modernized health information technology
$46 billion to fix bridges and roads
$80 billion to improve public education
$19 billion for school construction
$14 billion to make college more affordable
$32 billion for clean energy

… for starters, and, of course, millions of jobs.

So, what can you do? You can…

…pick up the telephone and call 202-224-3121 (or use the toll-free service at 866-544-7573). Ask the Capitol operator to transfer you to one of your state’s U.S. senators. When you’re connected, say you’re calling to urge your senator to “support the Obama economic recovery plan and oppose all conservative amendments.” Call back and repeat for your other senator. Then contact everyone you know and urge them to do the same.

Did I say you can? Check that.

You must.

If, as I do, you reside in Washington state:
Cantwell: (202) 224-3441

Murray: (202) 224-2621

I have done it. If I can do it (and I aint so brite), YOU certainly can, so DO IT NOW.

After 8 YEARS of the bush Crew not giving one single shit about children's (or anyone else's) health care, isn't it nice that President Obama finally gets the SCHIP bill signed?

Tom Daschle BEFORE HE GOT SENATIZED

We're borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet. Every bit of that's got to change.

"We have arrived at a moment of decision. Our home - Earth - is in grave danger. What is at risk of being destroyed is not the planet itself, of course, but the conditions that have made it hospitable for human beings..."GO.READ


When Technology Fails: How to Survive the Long Emergency:
Finally, a book for the millions of people who realize that making the shift to sustainability is a matter of economic and ecological survival. GO.READ

MORE THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO HMMM....
I read that many of the bonus sucking brokers and dinks of Wall Street dearly love to eat in joints like this Cipriani Downtown restaurant. I also read that the food is half-assed as is the service in this joint. Personally I am fukking amazed that people who are so stupid that they stand in line to spend this kind of money for this kind of food even GET bonuses, much LESS that WE THE TAXPAYERS should give them money to spend on shit like this! I read that there is a LOT of whining on Wall Street. TOO BAD, DIPSHIT, YOU SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN A JOB WHERE YOU ACTUALLY PRODUCE A USEFUL PRODUCT!

Soups & Appetizers
Minestrone Soup 12.50
Clam Soup 15.50
Turkey Tonnato 21.50
Mortadella with Pickles 21.50
Speck with Cerignola Olives 21.50
Prosciutto Cotto with Cacio Cavallo 21.50
Prosciutto Di Parma with melon or mozzarella di bufala 23.50
Fried Calamari served with tartar sauce 25.50
Bresaola with rucola and parmesan 25.50

Chef Salad season leaves, ham, swiss cheese, tuna, egg, and tomato 19.50
Club Sandwich 19.50
Chicken Salad 19.50
Ciabatta beef filet, tomato and lettuce 19.50
prosciutto, ruccola, parmesan 19.50
Ciabatta Club 19.50
Hamburger with onions and french fries 25.50

OH YEA - GET ME ONE OF THOSE $25.50 HAMBURGERS - WITH A FUCKING ONION SLICE!

Arianna Huffington: Stimulus Package: If You Jump Halfway Across a Chasm You Fall Into the Abyss

"...As Niall Ferguson said "It is time to start new banks; the old banks need to be completely restructured." And this includes an end to paying dividends to shareholders -- not to mention an end to bonuses, redecorating, new jets, Super Bowl parties, and stadium naming deals.

This is a mad-as-hell moment (see Sen. Claire McCaskill), and Obama needs to make it clear to the bankers that the American people are not going to take it anymore. And this requires more than finger-wagging -- it requires disgorging.

After all, there were three flaws with the old economy that has crashed: it favored consumption over production; debt over smart savings; and environmental damage over environmental renewal. Some parts of the stimulus package seem to be more of the same -- trying to prop up the old, failed economy..."

Where is the NEW THINKING that we heard all the talk about during the campaign? Huh? WTF?

PLEASE GO READ

SOME THINGS JUST MAKE YOU GO HMMM...

• As the credit crisis eats away the value of their assets, millionaires are paying back cash they borrowed for investment purposes to reduce risk, private bankers say. "We've seen leverage vanish completely almost overnight from the beginning of November,"

I am guessing that just because you are a millionaire does not mean you are particularly bright. It don't take a fukken rocket scientist to see the folly of borrowing money to invest.

• Bailed out Bank of America throws huge extravagant Super Bowl parties. WTF?

Like the millionaires in the above story, these damned bankers just do not get it. They are the scumbags in this new scenario, and we are the sheriff who is going to put their asses in jail. If you are not pissed off, you are not paying attention.

• "Petraeus made the mistake of thinking he was still dealing with George Bush instead of with Barack Obama." Petraeus, Gates and Odierno had hoped to sell Obama on a plan that they formulated in the final months of the Bush administration that aimed at getting around a key provision of the U.S.-Iraqi withdrawal agreement signed envisioned re-categorising large numbers of combat troops as support troops. That subterfuge was by the United States last November.

Looks to me as if the new President had better be watching his backside, and/or he had better send his attack dogs to have a "word" with these extremely dangerous dirty dealers who think that the US will continue to be run by liars.

Obama picks legal counsel on economy — an insurance executive who sought bailout CLICK HERE

So, instead of picking someone who actually knows how the person on MLK Avenue who is losing thier job, house, etc., he picks this lawyer who works/ed for a "financial services group". Isn't that the very sorts of people who GOT us into this depression? Story here. More about the loopholes in Obama's rules here.

I expect people to be skeptical, but goddammit President Obama, sometimes you act like the old guard that you are supposedly cleaning out.