Joe Biden Needs To Stop Whining

I heartily recommend the Vice President take his own advice to the Democratic base: Stop Whining.  I have a lot of respect for Joe Biden.  He’s not perfect, but he’s done some good things in his time as a public servant.  But on this issue, he needs to refocus his message.  He needs to be angry at the Republican Tea Party (love his framing on that, btw) and channel his bases’ anger toward the extremists who would destroy our democracy.

Vice President Biden, President Obama, Rep. Pelosi and Sen. Reid, among others, promised the Democratic base real and substantive change in the 2008 election.  I raised my tiny voice at the time pointing out that in the face of Con promises to wreck Obama’s presidency by fighting him for every 1/4″ the President wanted, the President simply couldn’t deliver on what he was saying.  Obama was elected and the country largely expected that real and substantive change to start taking effect.  We all knew it wouldn’t be done in 3 months, or 6 or 21.  But we wanted solid steps on the way toward the change we were told to expect.

What we got instead was largely pre-emptive capitulation by Democrats, behind the lead of President Obama, that led to months and months and months and months of false negotiations between Democrats and the Republican Teabaggers.  One party kept their campaign promise: the Republicans.  They have abused rules in the Senate to bring work in the people’s government nearly to a halt.  What repurcussions have they faced for this abuse?  None, they wear their obstructionist credentials like honor badges.

Of all the Democratic leadership, only one segment of government under Democratic control kept their promises: the House.  Nancy Pelosi has done a stunning job keeping her diverse members together when it counted most, passing literally hundreds of bills that the cowardly Sen. Reid refuses to take up, because he can’t find 1 or 2 Republican Teabaggers to cross the aisle and pass legislation that enjoys majority support from every American demographic.  Unfortunately, it is the more progressive House that will suffer for Reid’s gross mismanagement.  The House is liklier to switch control to the Republican Teabaggers than is the Senate.  The result of which, I’m afraid, will be no change in how Senate Democrats approach governance in the next session.

What the Democratic base wanted all along, V.P. Biden, is at a minimum votes on bills in the Senate.  If elected Democrats had at least shown the base they were trying to pass legislation, but couldn’t because of Con abuse of Senate rules, the Democratic base would by now be extremely motivated to crush the Republican Teabaggers at the polls in November.  If President Obama had decided to use his oversized bully pulpit to extoll the virtues of his agenda, the base would be far more motivated than is the case.  But as usual, Democratic politicians decided to run away from the Cons on issue after issue, pass a pittance of the change we were told was coming and the President chose to show Americans how much more he wanted a label of “bipartisanship” on his legacy than progressive legislative success.  And now we’re being told to “Stop Whining.”

If the Democratic base doesn’t show up this November, I honestly think the unbelievably crappy Democratic “leadership” deserves most of the blame.  The base didn’t convince politicians to run away from the issues in the face of extremist tactics and messaging.  The current crop of top-level Democratic politicians and advisers aren’t that much different than they were during the Clinton years.  Unfortunately for the Democratic base, we’re not getting results that are much different than they were during the Clinton years.  You would have thought that these numb-skulls would have learned their lesson after the debacle of the 1994 election.  They haven’t, and as such are destined to repeat 1994.  Redirect your anger toward your colleagues, V.P. Biden.  Get them to do the work they were hired and are being paid to do.  If you don’t want to do that, keep your unwanted advice on your D.C. cocktail circuit.  You risk frustrating your “base” even further and giving away needed Congressional seats to the Republican Teabaggers you say are extremists.

News Items 10/18/08

John McCain’s campaign continues to flail away helplessly as November 4th approaches.  Republicans think they can win this year by beating on the “taxes are bad” drum.  It has always been nonsensical to do so, but the way in which McCain is doing it right now is especially ridiculous.  According to McCain, his own tax cuts (for the richest only) are “reform”, but Obama’s tax cuts are “welfare”.  Really, John?  Tax cuts for rich people and corporations aren’t “reform”: George Bush Jr., George Bush Sr. and Ronald Reagan implemented them for the past 28 years.  It’s what’s led to the sorry state of America’s infrastructure and threatens Social Security and Medicare.  Americans are obviously tired of the pro-corporate welfare Republicans have pushed for so long.  They realize they’re not getting any benefit from that policy.  By the way, this ridiculous claim is McCain’s 158th lie since February.  Heroes don’t lie.

[Update]: The McCain campaign is trying to scare voters by accusing Barack Obama of being a socialist.  They’re trying to scare voters into believing that Obama’s redistribution of wealth will be a bad thing.  It will be bad … for McCain and his multi-millionaire backers.  They’re the only ones who benefitted from Bush’s tax cuts.  It’s the millionaires that will have to pay more taxes under an Obama administration.  What McCain won’t tell the American people is that his proposal to make Bush’s tax cuts permanent will cause the collapse of Social Security and Medicare.  McCain’s economic policies would mean no more funding for education and no more funding for renewable energy research.  But we would keep occupying Iraq at the exorbitant cost of $10 billion per month.  And millionaires would be allowed to invest even less of their money in the public’s infrastructure that they use so heavily.  That’s immoral.

billmon has a post that well worth the time to read.  McCain’s description of Obama as “socialist” and Palin’s description of only certain regions of America as “pro-American” is disturbing on many levels.  One particularly important paragraph:

We’ve crossed some more lines, in other words — in a long series of lines that have made it increasingly difficult to distinguish between the ultraconservative wing of the Republican Party and an explicitly fascist political movement. And John McCain and his political handlers appear to have no moral compunctions whatsoever about whipping this movement into a frenzy and providing it with scapegoats for all that hatred, simply to try to shave a few points off Barack Obama’s lead in the polls.

This demonstrates something I’ve been saying: Sarah Palin has nothing to offer in foreign policy discussions.  She was not invited to discuss the draft Iraq security agreement with the White House.  Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and John McCain were.  Sarah Palin doesn’t have the experience or qualifications necessary to be Vice-President.

NASA has a new spacecraft that will launch this weekend: Ibex.  Ibex will investigate the region of space where our star’s influence meets the interstellar wind.  Voyager 1 has already moved beyond the heliosphere.  Ibex will study the heliosphere as it orbits Earth.

A planet 1.5 times the mass of Jupiter has been found orbiting its parent star once per local day.  In comparison, Mercury takes 88 days to travel around our star.  WASP-12b is the hottest planet ever discovered: about 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit, or 2,200 degrees Celsius.

The European Space Agency has tentatively delayed the launch of their ExoMars mission by 2 years, to 2016.  Some countries are balking at the 1 billion euro cost of the mission, which doesn’t include 23 possible instrument packages.  The ESA, NASA and the Russian Space Agency are still negotiating who will pay for what portion of the mission.

Jet streams above Jupiter and Saturn flow eastward.  Jet streams above Uranus and Neptune flow westward.  Earth’s tropical jet stream flows eastward.  The subtropical jets flow westward.  A reason why: the amount and location of water vapor in the respective atmospheres.  Condensation of water vapor releases energy in the form of heat to the atmosphere.  Eddies and vortices form from rising water vapor.  As they shear apart, they transport momentum to the jet streams.

Economy: Post Bail-Out & Election: Post VP-Debate

There was a lot of news and commentary this weekend after Bush’s Bailout was passed and Sarah Palin demonstrated just how unknowledgable she is about important domestic and foreign policies.  The economy has been bad for average Americans for years and this election is critical.  So I’m going to stay on top of both issues by pointing to aspects of news and commentary I found.  I’ll update this post throughout the day due to the volume of material I want to cover.

1. Democratic Rep. Mark Udall and Republican Bob Schaffer were profiled in the Rocky Mountain News. Here’s a short bio on both: Rep. Udall has spent a good portion of his career trying to improve our energy policies – in Colorado first, and then nationally.  There is a long road to walk until we have a renewable energy-based society, which is needed for a healthy climate and national securtiy.  Mark Udall will make a decent Senator (note I didn’t say good or great.  I have real problems with his centrist approach in general and his recent vote to retroactively immunize telecom corporations who illegally wiretapped domestic traffic).  Bob Schaffer used to be a Jack Abramoff yes-man.  His actions tell us he is in favor of forced abortions, sweatshops and fossil fuels.  His past is well-paved with corruption and Colorado can’t afford to have a 20th century fringe CONservative blocking work to move forward in the 111th Congress.

2. Bush admitted on Friday as he signed his Bailout that the legislation is just “the beginning”. Really?  The beginning of what, exactly?  The beginning of more taxpayers Bailouts of immoral corporate gambling?  Overall, Americans recognized this Bailout is just that.  There is no part of the legislation that addresses the actual problems in the economy.  No homeowner assitance.  No path towards more jobs.  No increase in income.  The Bush administration will not prosecute the fools that set up this economic collapse.  The bottom line: trickle-down (voodoo) economics does not work.  Dumping larger sums of money at the top will not make any more fall to the bottom.

3. The Bailout passed because of the tax breaks attached to it. There are many reasons why that fact is odious, but I’ll focus on one for now: all of them already exist.  That’s correct: the tax breaks were merely extensions!  Entities like the Denver Post, in fact, spent more time opining about the tax breaks than they did about the underlying Bailout.  The Senate hadn’t extended any of the tax breaks all year, but managed to stick it on the Bailout so it would pass.  Oh, the corporate media also hasn’t reported the reason those extensions hadn’t passed all year: a CONservative Senator from Oklahoma issued a record number of filibuster threats this Congress.  One person alone managed to hold up about 100 necessary bills.  All so the CONS could run ads saying Congress didn’t do anything all year.  CONS put all their focus on elections and none of their focus on governing.

Vice-Presidential Debate Tonight

After the McCain campaign blasted anyone who dared to question Sarah Palin’s qualifications, Republicans are raising a stink about Gewn Ifill, the PBS reporter who will act as moderator in tonight’s Vice-Presidential debate.  They’re questioning her supposed bias toward Obama.  This is interesting considering the content of CONservatives’ defense of Palin: anyone who questioned her was called sexist.  Ifill responds to the Republican criticism by noting, “no one’s ever assumed a white reporter can’t cover a white candidate.”  It’s a good thing Palin is one of the “debaters”.  I’d hate for Ifill to be criticized because she’s not a man.  When will Republicans learn to stop throwing stones?

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The attacks on Ifill are part of the McCain campaign’s efforts to drastically lower expectations for Sarah Palin tonight.  Doing so will make it that much easier post-debate to talk about how much she exceeded those expectations.  It’s somewhat clever because most Americans are unaware of the pre-debate posturing.

So how well does Sarah Palin debate?  Not very well.  She, like other Republicans, works very hard to not answer the question posed to them.  The format of this debate is a perfect setup for her to do this, as follow-ups from Ifill and Sen. Joe Biden won’t be allowed.  Andrew Halco, who debated Palin in 2006, explains her “talents”.

Look for Sarah to adhere to Newt Gingrich’s GOPAC training:

1) repeat back some of the words in the question to establish that you’re “answering” it; 2) parry by steering the frame of your answer toward a talking point that bears some relation to the subect of the question; 3) spray some transitional buzzwords that help you segue from what you were asked to what you have prepared to say, and; 4) deliver the focus group-tested answer you originally planned, even if it’s kind of a non-sequitur.

Her answers to Couric’s and Gibson’s questions appeared meandering and senseless to most Americans.  The above explains part of the reason why that is.  The remainder of the reason has to do with her inexperience at executing the technique.  This is why Republicans can’t govern: they spend more time training how to get elected than they do training on how to run the government.  Of course, when you don’t believe government works, it’s pretty easy to prove that once you get elected.

In the News 9/12/08: Health Care; Sprawl; GOP Troubles & More

John McCain and Sarah Palin are running around the country trying to convince voters that they’re just like them. One important issue facing this country is health care. So for those of us who aren’t Senators or Governors, we should be able to get the same health care as John and Sarah, correct? Eh, not so much, as johne deftly demonstrates. Barack Obama and Joe Biden, on the other hand, have proposed opening up the health care plan they and John enjoy to every American. John and Sarah’s plan: you’re on your own.

California’s legislature passed a bill that would steer public funds away from sprawling development, with projects that meet climate goals getting priority for the $20 billion a year spent on transportation. Setting rewards for behavior instead of punishment is a good way to write legislation. The bill won’t be signed until California Republicans stop holding up passing a budget.

Apparently, there are limits that even the corporate media can’t cross trying to help Republicans win this year. I have never seen a major network figurehead sit down with Obama or Biden and lob softballs at them to smash out of the park. Neither have I seen those figureheads hold a Democrat’s hand while answering questions. Both happened as Charles Gibson sat down with Sarah Palin in last night’s broadcast. But even Gibson couldn’t answer his own questions for Palin as she quite clearly floundered on the most simple questions. And I think the corporate media is recognizing there is only so much help they can provide McCain and Palin.

Gangs in D.C. are becoming a problem. Democrats have gotten less than nothing from forming gangs with Republicans. More fresh blood in the Senate, please.

John McCain’s ads are lies.

The foreclosure news is still terrible: 304,000 households went into default last month and 91,000 families lost their homes. John McCain still has his seven mansions. So really, there’s nothing to worry about.

A Nature article Wednesday announced that the strongest Atlantic hurricanes have become more intense due to global warming in the last 25 years.

What’s In The News 9/6/08: Palin Is Scared, Permafrost, Musgrave and more

John McCain went with a totally “mavericky” choice for VP, right? So is there anything Sarah Palin isn’t ready for? Actually, yes: the media. Is John McCain serious? Palin is supposed to be ready for Putin’s Russia, Iran’s Ahmadinejad and Al Qaeda in every cave on Earth, but the Governor of Alaska will be unavailable for a formal interview with the media until … well, who knows. The McCain campaign won’t say when she’ll be available. Folks, if Palin can’t answer some media questions, how ready is she to deal with leaders that will play hardball? Joe Biden has already had formal interviews with the media. So has Barack Obama. Interesting.

The permafrost in arctic regions is thawing. In the process, the amount of carbon dioxide that could be released into the atmosphere is double previous estimates. The new amount is equal to twice the current atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.

Marilyn Musgrave’s campaign is whining about an ad paid for by a veteran’s group.

The ad shows a number of Colorado veterans who talk about their struggles with high food and gas prices. The veterans say the Fort Morgan Republican voted against a $1,500 combat bonus for service-members but accepted $14,000 in pay raises for herself.

I’m not sure how it’s a smear tactic, as Musgrave is claiming. If she didn’t vote against the combat bonus for the heroes Republicans like to use as props, that should be easy to demonstrate. If she didn’t accept the pay raises, that should also be easy to demonstrate. If she did these things however, then VoteVets is merely informing her constituents what she’s doing in Washington. If Musgrave doesn’t like the truth, she has only herself to blame.

James Hansen was correct 27 years ago: warming can raise sea levels. Denyer talking points include 1970′s forecasts of ‘global cooling’, which never happened. Hansen’s paper demonstrates that just the opposite was occurring.

T. Boone Pickens’ political donations. Is T. Boone non-partisan? Hardly. He has never donated to a Democrat. Not once. His b.s. plan is all about making money, which would be fine if he would stop lying to the public about it.

Related to the Musgrave bit above, she is releasing her own identity ad in response. The ad includes a picture of her with Sen. Ken Salazar and Rep. Mark Udall. Why do extremist Republicans so desperately want the public to think they’re Democrats? Because their policies have failed and the public knows it. What happened to the courage of your convictions, Marilyn?

Conservatives always try to make a big deal about out of state special interests affecting votes in Colorado. Funny then, the continued silence on oil and gas corporations’ donating millions to defeat Amendment 58. Money is only bad when its being donated to liberal issues. Colorado lets fuel corporations keep more tax money that they owe than any other state, including those immediately around us. Oil and gas corporations should pay what they legally owe to the state. While Coloradans continue to pay $3.75 for every gallon of gas, oil corporations have written $1,000,000 checks to whine about how horrible paying their fair share would be.

Economy Is Bad; Elitist McCains & Palins Don’t Care

We’ve seen nothing but bad economic news for the better part of a year or more now. The housing market is collapsing, foreclosures continue to set records, inflation is at 20-year highs, wages haven’t gone up for the majority of Americans in 8 years, now unemployment is once again more than 6% and I’m probably forgetting some measures. Who brought us this horrible economy? Republicans! This is what deregulation and tax cuts for the rich produce. It happened in the late 1980′s, early 1990′s after Reagan and Bush I wrecked it and it’s happening now that Bush II has screwed things up for 7 years.

What issue did McCain not substantively address during his acceptance speech last night? The economy. Do you know why? Because he and his rich, elitist pals are doing just fine. They can absorb 9% inflation because their incomes have increased at a higher rate in the past seven years, unlike 99% of the rest of Americans. They’re not losing their jobs or their houses. Cindy McCain wore $300,000 outfits to the RNC. Sarah Palin has her choice of $500 designer glasses to wear every day. The economy that they live in every day is obviously doing just fine. They can’t fix a problem if they don’t see it.

Unemployment is now at 6.1%, the highest reading in 5 years. 84,000 jobs were lost during August alone, bringing this year’s total to 605,000. 605,000 is 10% of the jobs gained in the past 6 years. The “recovery” from the 2001 recession has produced the fewest number of jobs since any recovery since the end of WWII. And that’s considered a success by Republicans. Here’s why: the only mention of the economy during McCain’s speech revolved around globalization. Sure, the fewest jobs on record were put on the rolls during the Bush-II era. But thanks to economy wreckers like NAFTA, GATT and CAFTA, many more jobs were created overseas. Corporations have continued to make profit and more and more of it has been directed at people who are already rich. The rest of us are on our own.

I’ve written before that the reported unemployment rate doesn’t include everybody who really are unemployed. It’s a false measurement of the state of workers in this country. So conditions are actually worse than what the Labor Department is reporting today.

The economy is the number one concern cited by Americans and has been for months now. What solutions to the malaise did McCain describe last night? None. McCain and Palin want to continue and strengthen the failed Bush economic policies. Instead, McCain (and every other speaker this week) kept trying to scare Americans into voting for them again. Terrorism, Iran and Iraq were major talking points. Isn’t it interesting that the economy, health care and Afghanistan weren’t? Fear, fear, fear. Fight, fight, fight. Those were the themes of the RNC.

More of the same for the next four years? America can’t take it. Our middle class is being devastated. We need elected officials who have a better understanding of the economy the majority of us are facing and who possess the empathy to do something to change things that obviously aren’t working. Barack Obama and Joe Biden have that understanding and that empathy. More than that, instead of being bought off by corporate interests like McCain and Palin, Obama is more beholden to the millions of campaign donors and workers. If he doesn’t enact policies that benefit those millions, do you really think they’ll let him get away with it? If McCain doesn’t enact policies that benefit those millions, what recourse do they have? All he has to please are his corporate benefactors.

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[Update]: With the economy in tatters and getting worse, plenty is being written about it.  I found this while perusing the tubes.  The total U6 (defined as total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of all civilian labor force plus all marginally attached workers) is higher today than it was during any point of the 2001-2003 recession.  The U6 value has actually been increasing since January of last year and it hasn’t peaked yet.  That’s why the economy is the #1 issue on voters’ minds.  And that’s why McCain, Palin and the rest of the Republicans responsible for the economy’s bad shape don’t want to talk about it on the campaign trail.  Since they don’t want to discuss middle class economic issues (they brought up the estate tax during the RNC!), McCain and Palin aren’t likely to do anything about it once they get in office either.  Pay attention to who these candidates are now.  They won’t change if elected.