Today's Liberty: Freedom from forgetting history

Challenger: Jobless recovery stronger than after 2001 recession | Northern Colorado Business Report

In its annual Labor Day outlook, global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. says that positive trends in a number of employment indicators, including the pace of layoffs, the unemployment rate and job creation, are shrouded by the fact that the economy began its recovery in a much deeper hole - the deepest since the Great Depression.

"By most accounts, we are barely a year into the recovery. At this point in the previous two recoveries - following the 1991 and 2001 recessions - the job market was actually getting worse," said John A. Challenger, chief executive officer. "Many people are so caught up looking at the weekly and monthly numbers, that they fail to look at the bigger trends, which indicate just how much the job market has improved over the last 12 months."

By every measure - employment, the stock market, GDP, etc. - the economy has improved faster since the end of the current recession than in this time period after the last two recessions.

Times are tough, but times aren't over. Why aren't we cautiously using this recovery time to build new economic policy that will possibly stop the next recession?

Barack Obama is the most-successful first term President in our lifetimes. A fanatical extreme right wing in our country and a complicit corporate media combine to put out an opposing message. No problem, we need opposing ideas, but unreasonable ideas are presented as reasonable, and enough people believe them to have them cycle around in our culture as legitimate. As much as Rahm Emmanuel wants the White House to avoid distractions from its legislation-led strategy, the distractions keep coming and coming.

He's an empty suit, he's inexperienced, his presidency is illegitimate, black, he's racist, he's not a citizen, he's a Muslim, he's taxing us to death, he's a socialist...Death Tax, Death Panel, Job Killer, Government Takeover, Deficits, Obamacare, Ground Zero Mosque...the list goes on and on.

When we see legitimate,thoughtful opposition or opposing views, they get lost in the vile sauce, too. I oppose many of President Obama's policies, but I don't try to demonize him or de-legitimateize him or his presidency. It's time you, and the media from FOX to NPR, stop trying.

Alveda King, why are you a hater and a bigot?

Meet MLK's Glenn Beck-loving niece - Glenn Beck - Salon.com

Only one generation away from institutional racism and bigotry, and you are filled with fear and hatred of others.

What could possibly be motivating you?

Today's Liberty: Freedom from Slashing!

Ahmed H. Sharif, slashed Muslim taxi driver to visit NYC mayor - CSMonitor.com

FOX-induced physical violence. Anti-American, anti-Constitution, anti-freedom, anti-religion activists are at war with basic American ideals.

T(ea) Party is T(aliban). The Tea Party wants to insinuate government into every aspect of our lives, taking freedoms and rights away on an unprecedented level. This American Sharia gets taught from the FOX-Madrassa of the media and corporate America implements this as they can by owning our Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of government.

This cabbie slasher is a symptom, not the problem.

American Tea Party Equals Afghani T(aliban) Party

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/markos-moulitsas-z/post_743_b_693281.html?utm_source=DailyBrief&utm_campaign=082510&utm_medium=email&utm_content=BlogEntry

Today's Liberty: Freedom from Billionaire Boys' Barack Bash

The billionaire Koch brothers’ war against Obama : The New Yorker:

Boycott Brawny paper towels, Dixie cups, Georgia-Pacific lumber, Stainmaster carpet, and Lycra, along with anything else the Koch cretins own with the trust fund money they inherited from their father, who actually worked for a living.

Corporations are not people, money is not speech, and these boys are pure evil.

"Muslim" is Republican for "Nigger"

Boehner, just fire yourself, OK?

Today's Liberty? Freedom from Boehner!

FT.com / US / Politics & Foreign policy - Boehner calls for economic team sackings

On the day the CBO reports that the stimulus saved a million jobs and boosted GDP by as much as 4.5% http://www.marketwatch.com/story/stimulus-plan-boosted-gdp-by-as-much-as-45-cbo-2010-08-24?reflink=MW_news_stmp, this dolt lies to his constituency about what's going on with the economy.

Everything the GOP and the corporate takeover of our government wanted has happened, and this has led us to the worst economy since the Great Depression. Republican leaders, and anyone who voted for them in the last 30 years, should be ashamed, but they are laughing at us and the people they represent.

Franklin Graham Says President Obama was 'Born a Muslim.' As Pew Poll Shows, More Americans Confused About President's Religion. - ABC News

Franklin Graham Says President Obama was 'Born a Muslim.' As Pew Poll Shows, More Americans Confused About President's Religion. - ABC News

We should also have the freedom to live in a society without bigotry and hatred.

Ignorance can be fixed, a lot easier than belief.

This Graham fellow will never meet his father in heaven, that's for sure...

K Street Mourns Loss of Colleague Bill Phillips - Roll Call

K Street Mourns Loss of Colleague Bill Phillips - Roll Call

Condolences to his family.

Big, big props to Demoracy - one less Lobbyist!

Today's Liberty: Freedom from Corporate Governance.

Every single one of our government Executives, Legislators, and Justices are bought and paid for by wealthy and powerful corporate interests. I hate to express this truth, but I don't apologize for it. No official takes office, no law gets written or passed, and no action is affirmed or denied by the courts without control by corporation.

The recent decisions Citizens United v Federal Election Commission, Kelo v. City of New London eminent domain decision, and scores of others, clearly show that if you are an individual - one person, one voter, one of the People - you no longer have a say or a vote.

There are six or seven lobbyists per congressional representative in Washington! K Street was constructed by Republicans in the '90s to counter a Democratic administration the Rs ginned-up as illegitimate, and it has worked fabulously for the GOP machine. War, economic divide, near-depression...

According to the Center for Public Integrity there are over 10 lobbyists/legislator in California - no wonder we get nothing done here!

Nothing will change until we fundamentally change how our politicians are elected, how they are fed by lobbyist machine, and how they have jobs waiting for them at the end of their terms (or how lobbyists have elected or appointed positions available to them).

We must publicly fund elections and bar lobbyists from meeting with politicians or giving them a dime.

Corporations are not persons!

Money is not speech!

D.I.Y. Solar - Forbes.com

D.I.Y. Solar - Forbes.com

Today's Liberty: Freedom from the grid!

We are ensnared by the dirty coal, gas, and oil industries. Each of this derives great profit to a few already-wealthy and -powerful individuals at great cost to our health, our environment, and our earth.

We in the US use far more energy per-capita than any other nation on earth, and we can only supply a fraction of our needs domestically. Any exploitation of cleaner geothermal, solar, wind, tidal, etc. energy is slammed back two centuries by these wealthy and powerful interests. President Jimmy Carter was slammed by these interests for strongly stating the clear truth that we have to use less of these dirty sources of energy.

I have a suggestion: instead of using billions of federal tax dollars on our deteriorating grid, use far fewer tax dollars to put one of the Clarian Sunfish Plug-In Solar Power devices, or equivalent, on each owner-occupied house in the US. The manufacture of these devices certainly uses resources, but is far cleaner than the production of coal, gas, and oil. The energy these devices would put back into the grid would stabilize the grid overnight, provide manufacturing jobs to US workers, and improve our health and environment, and lessen our ravaging of the earth.

The grid is a tremendous national security risk to the US. We have to spend countless tax dollars to defend this system which is vulnerable to attack and opens us to exploitation and attack when it fails. This should be shouted to the rooftops, but wealthy and powerful interests keep their profit flowing by killing us, along with our air, water, and earth.

In our free society, we, with our insatiable demand for power in many forms, are enslaved by these wealthy and powerful industries. Coal, oil, and gas have their place, but that place should be shrunk to insignificance by the end of our lifetimes.

Sept 11 anniversary set for Muslim center marches | Reuters

Sept 11 anniversary set for Muslim center marches | Reuters

Let's start with our first freedom: Religious Freedom.

Park51's founders have a right to build their facility as long as local zoning, permitting, etc. are observed.

There is nothing more to this story than that. This is not a mosque. These are not terrorists building this. No one in charge here murdered anyone at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Islam did not attack the WTC and the Pentagon on 9/11.

The freedom here should be absolute. 600,000 Muslims live in NYC according to official demographics. If in any area of the US any other religious group was denied the right to observe the opponents would be called anti-American lunatics - what would you say if we denied the LDS church or Seventh Day Anventists to build a facility after proper traffic studies etc., simply because they weren't our religion?

The stated goal of Park51 is to "create a deep tolerance in intra-faith affairs. It’s a place for Muslims to come together in a place where divisions would gradually peel away and a new vision of Islam that is culturally American would emerge." according to one of their founders, quoted in the Wall Street Journal. Tell me you don't want that. Go ahead, I'm listening.

Opposition to this project is about as anti-American and unpatriotic as one can get. Your religion might be next.

Support for this shouldn't have to be a brave act, but it seems nearly impossible to do the right thing to support our values and our Constitution these days. Costs - personal, professional, and political - can be high. Politicians are all over the map on this, instead of remembering the simple constitutional rights we have and defending them. Republicans at this point are deeply divided over most issues and spend their time saying nothing but no and encouraging a complicit media to go along with them. Unfortunately, Barack Obama is our Velcro President, letting all of this stick, to the detriment of our government and society. The Republicans can't even agree on whether the media's fascination on this contrived controversy keeps them on-message to distract us from the good our President is doing, or if they have to keep hammering against anything this administration accomplishes.

Newt Gingrich, John Bolton, Dutch Parliamentarian Geert Wilderset,etc., need to be ignored and put out of public life, forever, for their anti-American activities in this matter.

Barack Obama, Harry Reed, etc., should do their patriotic duty - stand up and unashamedly speak out for Freedom, and Liberty.

Liberty!

It's all about Liberty. And Freedom. And how people want to take away yours.

The Party of Hell No Has To Go!

YouTube
- No You Can't (Featuring John Boehner)

"Baby Killer" "Nigger" "Faggot"

Is this really what we want from our Republican legislators?
Bart Stupak called 'baby killer' on House floor - Jake Sherman and Meredith Shiner - POLITICO.com

GOP Waterloo

Barney Frank: 'Mass hysteria' on Capitol Hill - Marin Cogan and Meredith Shiner - POLITICO.com

As the House was voting on an unrelated bill, Republican Reps. Tom Latham of Iowa, Jo Ann Emerson of Missouri, Brett Guthrie of Kentucky and Gregg Harper of Mississippi stood on south balcony off the House floor — an area known informally as "the beach" — holding pieces of paper that read "kill the bill" to a group of cheering protesters. Some Republican lawmakers waved a "Don't Tread on Me" flag from the balcony, causing the crowd to go wild.

Later in the day, Reps. Steve King, Paul Ryan and others gave the crowd an Evita’s welcome, before gathering together to spell out a “Kill the bill” with individual letter signs. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) stood watching off to the side.

Lawmakers also came down to the crowd, too. Anthony Weiner was watching near the House entrance. “These people are very civil when you talk to them one on one,” he said, “but when they get together, it’s mob rule.”

A deeply misguided and divided Republican party shows just how cowardly and hateful they are with their actions inside and outside the halls of Congress.

The American public shows deep support for all of the components of the historic health care legislation passed on March 21,2010.

It is inconceivable that the Republican party, headed by the worst chairman in their history, Michael Steele, has done nothing to set straight the mobs shouting "nigger" and "faggot' at our legislators. The Republican party will pay politically for their defiance of their constituents' needs.

Polls...Want a ham sandwich?

RealClearPolitics - Election Other - Obama and Democrats' Health Care Plan

Polls that ask whether we support reform of principles of health care clearly show that we Americans support health care reform.

Polls that ask whether we support "The Health Care Reform Bill" show a lack of support.

What's up?

As a statistically relevant sample if they like ham. 60% will say yes. Ask them if they like chesse, 60% will say yes. Bread, mustard, lettuce...60% will say yes.

Poll people on "do you want a ham sandwich now" and the answer you get will be 40% positive.

This says that right now a majority of us do not want a ham sandwich. It does not say that a majority of us don't like the ingredients, or that we don't like sandwiches, or that we don't eat - it says simply that we don't want a sandwich.

Today, Sunday March 21, 2010 may be remembered in history. President Barack Obama, his party, and supporting legislators must be commended for their great fight to do what is right. The opposition seems to be filled with nothing but liars and opposers, shouting nigger and faggot at legislators and their staff, calling out socialist, communist, government takeover, unconstitutional mandate, etc., etc., etc., through a complicit media to a few of us who choose not to think for themselves.

The majority of us who think, and us who feel for others, know we need reform and we need reform now.

Black Members: Tea Partiers Used N-Word - Roll Call

Black Members: Tea Partiers Used N-Word - Roll Call

Rep. André Carson (D-Ind.) said some anti-reform tea party protesters gathered on Capitol grounds shouted racial epithets at him, Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) and Lewis’ chief of staff earlier today.

Carson said the taunts came as the three men — all African-American — walked out of the Cannon House Office Building for votes this afternoon.

“They were shouting the N-word,” Carson said.

Should this surprise anyone?

Teabaggers, opposition to health care reform, and opposition to Barack Obama's presidency, are largely based in racism. It's time to say this, and to hold people accountable.

GOP Team Targets Democrats - Roll Call

GOP Team Targets Democrats - Roll Call

House and Senate Republicans for several weeks have quietly coordinated an intense, disciplined effort to defeat President Barack Obama’s health care reform legislation, timed to scare Democrats just as they prepare for a final vote.

Murderous GOP plots against Americans.

A deeply divided Republican party shows a unified front in Congress to block legislation that could save tens of thousands of lives a year. While corporate funded right wing extremists split the party membership with fiscal conservatives, quasi-libertarians, and other factions, the Republican leadership proves it can corral its legislators and herd them to say no, and to say no yet again.

Despite widespread public support for federal health care reform proposal fundamentals, the Republicans in the House and Senate have been able to speak with one voice, saying no repeatedly, in a pathetic struggle to plant their feet for upcoming political races. Despite clear indication that health care reform proposals will decrease deficits, Republicans continue to oppose this legislation, continuing to act as the deficit doves they have proved to be over the last thirty years. No debt is bad debt to them as long as it positively spins for short term Republican political victories.

40,000 Americans or-so die each year simply because they lack access to adequate medical care. Many of these people are stuck between access to our insurance-company/employer-based medical insurance system and access to public services. They don't go to the Emergency Room to treat high blood pressure or cancer. If their employer does provide insurance with impossible deductions and co-pays, these people forgo regular treatment.

In a universe where elected representatives actually had any fundamental knowledge of and sympathy with their constituents, a majority of Republicans would vote for health care reform as currently being worked on in Congress (and a minority of Democrats would vote against). Republicans could have a meaningful say on specifics of the legislation. Instead, both sides have isolated themselves from the mandate to fix our broken heath care system from the top, in favor or political expediency.

Shame on Republicans in Congress for their March Madness.

Some believe that this November will be a watershed election for Republicans, possibly retaking both houses of Congress. Such a belief system is obviously not based in reality. The reality is that a health care bill will signed by President Obama, soon. American voters love success, they love winners, and Obama's administration is actually winning.

The President’s Proposal puts American families and small business owners in control of their own health care. | The White House

The President’s Proposal puts American families and small business owners in control of their own health care. | The White House

Important!

A public option is a great invention, something between government provided care or insurance and a free market of private companies. Today, we have neither. But - if pre-existing condition denials, rescission on technicalities, etc., are outlawed on a federal basis, the insurance companies, faced with a much broader pool of applicants both healthy and sick, may be forced to provide high quality and affordable coverage instead of the mess they administer today.

A mandate for all is necessary to expand the indemnity pool, so the well pay for the sick - the 80/20 rule. A mandate is working, in fits and starts, in Massachusetts. Mandates have been Republican ideas for a couple of decades.

Buying insurance across state borders is fine. It has to be heavily regulated, so the companies in the worst states have to perform like the companies in the most heavily regulated states, so this is really just another smokescreen. Deregulation and cross-state-line banking sure has been a success! Look at Joe Biden's Delaware state credit card machine.

Tort reform, malpractice reform...few people who use the word tort know what a tort is. Yearly in the US, about 90,000 malpractice lawsuits are filed; about 10% of those reach settlement or trial; of those, only 10% are found in favor of the plaintiff. The culprit here is, drumroll, please, the insurance companies, making things miserable for both providers and consumers for decades! Health care reform as we see it today is insurance reform, which when clearly seen is what will fix malpractice lawsuits (errant lawyers etc. are already regulated by states). And how do we set a cost today for tomorrows sponge left in an abdomen by a tired surgeon or for a the next day's wrong limb amputated after mislabeling by a double-shift OR nurse?

There is no excuse for not shaking our insurance system to the core. Now. Around 50,000 of us die each year simply because they are stuck between government programs and private insurance-robbery. 15% of us don't have any insurance. Many of us make less money than we did a decade ago due to increases in employer-furnished insurance increases of 3-5 times the rate of inflation. Many of us avoid using the insurance we do have - our jobs are unstable in this economy, and we're afraid that we won't be able to buy insurance at any price if we change jobs, and copays/deductibles are so high that they put minor issues and preventative care out of reach.

The radical extremists screaming at town hall meetings and rallies are the ones most affected by this mess, and they should be screaming for rationality in our health care system. The corporatization of our health care, and profitization of our health care dollars, are the real issue. And this issue kills.

Malpractice Reform: A Smokescreen to keep us from achieving true health care reform.

Malpractice Reform: A Test Case for Bipartisanship At The Health Summit - Kaiser Health News

"Sorry Works" is one of many approaches that can decrease insurers' roles in doctors' procedures

...doctors report medical errors to hospital administrators, who would then notify patients and begin negotiations

. Our president clearly supports malpractice reform.

in 2005, while he was still just a senator, (Barack Obama) co-sponsored (with Hillary Clinton) a bill that would have implemented a "sorry works" model nationally. It didn't become law, but Obama kept talking up malpractice reform.

The insurance companies are the common enemy of both consumers and providers of medical care. Lawyers and courts already have solid controls in most states that limit frivolous lawsuits and errant lawyers, and in the states that don't have sufficient controls (typically Republican-dominated southern or western states), more controls should be put in place. Without insurance regulation on a national level, the perceived problem with malpractice lawsuits and insurance increasing costs to consumers (and decreasing care quality) won't go away.

Only about ten percent of malpractice lawsuits make it to settlement or court. Of those, only about ten percent are found in favor of the plaintiff.

Those ranting about malpractice reform either know this, or are too ignorant to join the discussion.