tagged w/ American Politics
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The video outlines the challenges America faced as President Obama took office at the height of the worst recession in almost a century and details the progress that has been made reclaiming the security of the middle class and building an economy that's meant to last, where hard work pays and responsibility is rewarded.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/101725237
"I believe it is very Important for Folks to remember all that BO has struggled for, for a Better America!!!" =)The video outlines the challenges America faced as President Obama took office at the... more
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KB723
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1 month ago
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****Warning, what follows is a highly explicit, unforgivably partisan rant.****
****It will greatly insult many who read it, and most won't agree with it. ****
****But, as a nation, we're at a point where I think it needs to be said. ****
****It's way too long, and I don't know that it's worth your time, but ****
****hopefully, I'll make you see our situation in a radically new way. ****
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I have something I need to get off my chest, something I've felt occasionally for a long time, but never as fiercely and as nagging as I do right now, and you likely feel the same way.
I say it now not because things have gotten bad enough that I have to, but only because I believe I've had a moment of clarity about it I hope I can share with you.
That feeling, of course, is that the United States is becoming increasingly fucked up, and reaching the point of no return.
Those of you privvy to history know that the U.S. is accustomed to these ups and downs, and that, in the long run, it at least has the capability of recovery.
Hell, even statistically speaking, things aren't nearly as bad right now as they were in some of the crests of the 20th century.
But I'm also willing to bet those of you know who know that still feel the way I do, and that even with those qualifications in place, there's still something uniquely fucked up about 21st century America, even the world for that matter.
What follows is not a scholarly, well-researched, carefully fact-checked, polite, logically organized essay attempting to explain where we are, where we've been, and where we're heading. What follows is a venting of a combination of anxiety and rage based on what I believe to be the larger truth about our situation and the general trajectory our nation, and the world, is taking....
This post is way too long for current. If you want, read the rest at...
http://shorttext.com/GYBWFK
...or scroll down to the comments below.******************************************************************************... more
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Source: Think Progress
After Backing Anti-Birth Control Blunt Amendment, McCain Now Says GOP Needs To ‘Get Off’ War On Women
GREGORY: Are you concerned at all to see the focus, with certain elements of the Republican Party, on social issues? In your own state of Arizona, there’s this contraception bill that even the governor has said would put women in the uncomfortable position where they had to say to their employers why they wanted contraception, and why it should be covered — is that a bad road?
McCAIN: I am confident that that legislation will not reach the governor’s desk and if it did it would be vetoed. . . . It certainly does not reflect, in my view, the majority view of the people of Arizona.
GREGORY: Do you think that there is something of a war on women among Republicans?
McCAIN: I think we have to fix that. I think that there is a perception out there because of how this whole contraception issue played out — ah, we need to get off of that issue, in my view. I think we ought to respect the right of women to make choices in their lives and make that clear, and get back onto what the American people really care about.
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/03/18/446721/after-backing-anti-birth-control-blunt-amendment-mccain-now-says-gop-needs-to-get-off-war-on-women/
"Sometimes this Old Fart actually makes sense!!!" =)Source: Think Progress
After Backing Anti-Birth Control Blunt Amendment, McCain Now... more
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KB723
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added this
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2 months ago
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By Kenneth Quinnell
Members of the United Auto Workers expressed extreme displeasure with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's comment that rather than bail out the auto industry, "we should have let Detroit go bankrupt." They said that Romney doesn't understand that the bailout didn't just save companies and jobs, it saved careers and families. They went further to say that when conservatives like Romney attack unions, what they are really attacking are working people.
The full press release:
UAW members reacted strongly to Mitt Romney's claim that "we should have let Detroit go bankrupt," when the economy and the auto industry were about to collapse.
"He's trying to rewrite history and attack President Obama and the UAW for successfully saving the auto industry," said UAW President Bob King. "He is misleading voters about the president's bold and decisive rescue of the auto industry and about sacrifices made by workers. But voters deserve the truth."
Even prior to the emergency rescue loans, UAW members made deep sacrifices beginning in 2005 to save the company, giving up pay increases, overtime pay, holidays, agreeing to a reduced pay and benefit structure for new hires, and other concessions. President Obama demanded additional concessions and shared sacrifice from both labor and management in exchange for the loans.
In return, America's carmakers retooled to create the energy-efficient cars of the future and repaid their outstanding loans years ahead of schedule.
Rescuing the auto industry saved more than 1.4 million jobs up and down the supply chain.
"There's not a person in Michigan who doesn't have a sister or brother or cousin or friend who is tied to the auto industry," said Stacie Steward, a UAW Local 1700 member and an electrician from Chrysler's Sterling Heights Assembly Plant (SHAP) in Sterling Heights, Mich. "Every Michigan citizen should be appalled by what Mitt Romney said."
"It's an attack on American workers," said Jeff Klayo, also of Local 1700 and from SHAP, which was scheduled to close before Chrysler received the loans. "We're out there trying to get the American dream. We're trying to keep our jobs, for a good wage for our family, put food on our table, pay our taxes, continue to work for the company and get the rewards.
"If the company's successful, we can be successful. If the company takes a downturn, we take a downturn with it," he added.
"The president's rescue loans helped the auto industry survive the darkest hour of its history and return to thriving operations today," said King. "These workers from SHAP are evidence. They, along with hundreds of thousands other workers who depend on the auto industry for jobs, were facing a very uncertain future, but today, they are making the Chrysler 200, one of Detroit's new, hot-selling models. UAW members completed negotiations with the domestic automakers this fall with a strategy to make the company successful and to share in its success. And that strategy paid off."
"Americans deserve to know the truth," King added. "The emergency loans worked. GM is once again the world's top carmaker. Its 2011 profit was its largest ever. The auto industry added more than 200,000 jobs in the last two-and-a-half years, and 2011 was the strongest year of industry job growth since 1994. Demand for their cars is going up, so GM, Ford and Chrysler are starting to run three production shifts a day at many plants. Added shifts and new facilities mean jobs for thousands more workers in Michigan, Ohio and other places across the country."
Romney seems to care more about appeasing his allies in the business community than helping out actual working Americans. Good to see that working Americans are fighting back against the lies that Romney and other conservatives are spreading about them.
http://crooksandliars.com/kenneth-quinnell/united-auto-workers-criticize-rom
"I am thinking Romney is going to get his Ass handed to him in his own State!!!" =)By Kenneth Quinnell
Members of the United Auto Workers expressed extreme... more
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KB723
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added this
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3 months ago
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Good short article on the possibility of another stupid damn war in the Middle East. Follow the link for "...a nationwide day of action on Saturday 11 February..."Good short article on the possibility of another stupid damn war in the Middle East.... more
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Brace Yourselves: The great Reddit blackout of 2012 is nigh. The site's administrators announced that they would shut down the website on Wednesday, January 18, 2012 from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM EST. The Daily Blender will be joining in the fight. Will you join with all of us? Stop American Censorship.Brace Yourselves: The great Reddit blackout of 2012 is nigh. The site's... more
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Former Vice President Al Gore, former Gov. Jennifer Granholm and “The Young Turks” host Cenk Uygur examine proposals made in the Iowa Republican debate that suggested tax cuts without accounting for its true impact on economic policy or job creation. “In the context of what’s going on with Occupy Wall Street and the 99 percent-1 percent debate — which has really profoundly changed the political dialogue in America — I do think that the agreed upon positions by all six of these candidates we heard tonight is squarely with the 1 percent,” Gore says. “Every single one of them is designed to benefit the wealthiest 1 percent. There’s nothing in it for the other 99.”Former Vice President Al Gore, former Gov. Jennifer Granholm and “The Young... more
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Video at the Link
Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry's campaign is facing meltdown after one of the most humiliating debate performances in recent US political history.
His chances of securing the Republican nomination slipped after one painful minute in which he could not recall the name of a government department he is planning to kill off.
Perry reeled off two of the three departments he wants to axe, but could not remember the third. Some Perry supporters declared his campaign over and suggested he head back to Texas to focus on his job as governor.
Perry, conscious of the damage he has done to his chances, came out to face the media in the spin-room immediately afterwards rather than leaving it, as is normal, to his press staff. "I'm sure glad I had my boots on because I sure stepped in it out there," he said.
The Republican presidential debate in Rochester, Michigan, had been predicted to be dominated by the sexual allegations against one of his rivals, Herman Cain. Instead Cain escaped unscathed and all the focus was on Perry's gaffe.
Perry's moment of embarrassment came when he was asked about one of the main planks of his policy for cutting federal spending, the elimination of three departments.
"It's three agencies of government when I get there that are gone: commerce, education, and the uh ... what's the third one, there? Let's see." He went on to say: "The third one. I can't." He made it worse by adding: "Oops."
Fifteen minutes later he attempted to undo the damage, saying: "By the way that was the department of energy I was reaching for a while ago." But it was too late.
Although he has millions of dollars in campaign funds accumulated it will be hard for him to recover. A Perry donor sent a tweet to the Washington Post: "Perry campaign is over. Time to go home."
Larry Sabato, profesor of politics at the University of Virginia, tweeted too almost immediately on seeing Perry stumble. "To my memory Perry's forgetfulness is the most devastating moment of any modern primary."
Perry's brain freeze, reminiscent of some of the awkwardness associated with George Bush, was shown live on television nationwide and will be shown repeatedly over the next few days.
He was already struggling in the polls, having dropped from frontrunner status to single-digit figures. He alienated many Republicans when he described as heartless anyone who did not agree with his relatively liberal approach to the children of illegal immigrants.
He had been talking before this debate about pulling out of future ones, an acknowledgment that he is a poor performer.
Cain, asked afterwards if Perry was finished, was charitable. "I would not say that. The American people can be very forgiving," he told NBC, which hosted the debate.
Cain acknowledged the last 10 days had been rough as he faced allegations from four women of sexual harassment. Although the debate bad been billed as primarily about economics, one of the journalists on the panel asked him about the allegations.
The mainly Republican audience booed the journalist for raising the issue and applauded Cain when he complained of being tried in the court of public opinion.
There were further boos from the audience when the journalist asked Mitt Romney, the former government of Massachusetts, about the allegations. He sidestepped the question, to applause from the audience.
Romney gave another confident, calm performance that will have cemented his frontrunner status. With Cain facing the sex allegations and Perry's campaign in deep trouble Romney's chances of securing the nomination increased on Wednesday night.
Although there is resistance to him among rightwingers, he is doing much better and is more relaxed than he was in 2008 when he lost out in the race for the nomination to John McCain.
The former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is at present in third place in the polls and could face scrutiny over his role as a consultant to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the organisations that provided the mortgages to those with poor credit ratings, precipitating the economic slump.
The organisations hired consultants and lobbyists to avoid federal regulation.
During the debate Gingrich claimed he had warned Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac against giving out such mortgages. He received $300,000 in 2006 for his consultancy role.
The other candidates on the stage failed to make any significant impression.Video at the Link
Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry's campaign is... more
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pdy
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7 months ago
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Financial power behind the war on unions in the USA
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It has been said that "reality" is based in perception... just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder... so is "reality". The difficulty, the devil, is in the details.
While digging through history books, congressional records, and the writings of wise people who have come before us... it becomes blatantly clear that our modern version of history; its events, condition of life, principles of human interaction, and governance are widely misunderstood. Of course there are grains of truth in what we are force fed that works to give it all some validity... and each person will view this "information" and form their idea of "reality", often around what fits their expectations and desires, but we must realize... in the end there can't actually be a multitude of realities... only perceptions, and much of what is factual is often left behind.
There is a factual reality... it is however obscured by misinformation, half truths, the spin of agendas, and the individual perception of those who digest it... belief once realized becomes a prison of the mind... and is unfortunately the catalyst for the perpetuation of obfuscation and spreads like a plague through the minds of individuals with similar perception.
Once... that was me, and few spoke louder and spread a twisted perception more than I. Yet... somehow I continued to become more and more unsettled as things just didn't add up. It is a mind wrenching and heart breaking experience to challenge ones own beliefs... yet I was compelled by my desire for knowledge, and to understand why things "are the way they are" when nearly everything I had been taught didn't "jive" with our current condition.
It is a journey many people are not willing to take and that is understandable... picking the lock on ones mind and getting past the comfort in denial are hard enough but the difficulty and pain associated with such an undertaking can be so great as to turn one from that path once the journey has begun... and attempt to rest again in the comfort of previously held belief. I know... because that is exactly what happened to me, yet that respite was brief because once the door of the mind is opened... there isn't any intellectually honest way to turn back. The "tickle" in my mind ate away at me as I attempted to live with my preconceived ideas while holding knowledge that more than challenged that belief... it shattered it... I had to move forward.
There is so much misinformation and literal "crap" out there that it is difficult to sift through it all, I had to find a way to separate the chaff from the grain; finally I decided that the "details" were the problem as so much of it is impossible to verify... thus I began at the beginning... and found a solid foundation to start from in the principles of Natural Law as that was the POWER behind the Declaration of Independence and IS the reason, if we realize it or not, that we recognize our Individual Natural Rights. Once I had that firm understanding I began to look at what currently conflicted with it as those issues are easier to verify, I looked for the actions that precipitated those conflicts to find the "grain of truth" as it is easy for words to lie... actions are much more apt to lead in the direction of facts but in instances when that doesn't hold true... I have found looking for motivating factors to be important, but in the end, I often let those questions go as simply "mysteries" I cannot solve.
To eyes willing to see... it is glaringly obvious that our country and indeed the world we live in is not congruent with Natural Law or with what we have been led to believe. To be honest... in my opinion the first is much more important; how we find ourselves in this position and the falsehoods we have been led to believe are not nearly as important as the condition of respect for our Natural Rights, a perception rooted in Natural Law, and a burning desire to correct the condition of how we experience and enjoy our inherent Natural Rights to Life and Liberty. All other issues simply tend to get in the way and work with great effectiveness to keep us at each others throats and divided when it is vitally important for us to be united... to hell with our differences and beliefs rooted in perception... let us recognize that those are "personal" and thus should not be forced upon another... instead we should be united for ourselves and the good of mankind, just as those who came before and sacrificed so much, and demand that once again Natural Law be recognized and that our Individual Natural Rights be respected as "untouchable"; inherent and unalienable. Declare our Independence from Tyranny once again and as many times as we must.
We need not live with the idea that we must choose between governments, countries, or varying degrees of tyranny... no... instead let us understand that our Individual Natural Rights are already ours... inherent... unalienable... and that no country... no government... no man or group of them... has the RIGHT to infringe upon them. When they do... it is a crime, not against some arbitrary "man-made" law, but against Natural Law, the God of nature, and an act of war against humanity.It has been said that "reality" is based in perception... just as beauty is... more
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President Obama, who won the hearts and minds of the American people through a well funded & well executed media campaign in 2008, has set a goal to raise only $60 million for his re-election campaign in 2012. Even though that sounds like an outrageous amount of money, to compare, he was able to pull in $58.6 million during the first six months of his campaign in 2007, and when all was said and done, his 2008 election collected a reported total of $750 million.
Read More:
http://www.politicalfailblog.com/2011/06/obama-sets-60-million-goal-for-re.htmlPresident Obama, who won the hearts and minds of the American people through a well... more
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Is humanity forming en-masse? for lo, tyrants tremble, crowns grow dim,
The earth, restive, confronts a new era, perhaps a general divine war,
No one knows what will happen next, such portents fill the days and
nights;
Years prophetical! the space ahead as I walk, as I vainly try to
pierce it, is full of phantoms,
Unborn deeds, things soon to be, project their shapes around me,
This incredible rush and heat, this strange ecstatic fever of dreams
O years! – Years of the Modern- Walt Whitman
The great American poet Walt Whitman wrote these words in 1859. Whitman was trying to peer into a future of uncertainty. He was sure the future would be bleak. He had visions of phantoms. Maybe he saw the 600,000 souls who would lose their lives in the next six years. Whitman had captured the mood of a country entering the Fourth Turning. He didn’t know what would happen, but he felt the beat of war drums in the distance. Whitman did not have the benefit of historical perspective that we have today.
There have been three Fourth Turnings in American History. The American Revolution Fourth Turning ended in 1794 with the Crisis mood easing with the presidency of George Washington. Whitman didn’t realize that, 64 years after the previous Fourth Turning, the mood of the country was ripe for revolution and the sweeping away of the old order. When the stock market crashed in 1929, 64 years after the exhausting conclusion to the Civil War Fourth Turning, Americans didn’t realize the generational constellation was propelling them toward a new social order and a horrific world war. It is now 66 years since the conclusion of the Depression/WWII Fourth Turning. All indications are that the current Fourth Turning began in the 2007 – 2009, with the collapse of the housing market and the ensuing financial system implosion.
I find myself vainly trying to pierce the veil of events yet to be. The future is filled with haunting phantoms of unborn deeds which could lead to renewed glory, untold death and destruction, or the possibly the end of the great American experiment. Walt Whitman captured the change of mood in the country with his poem. History books are filled with dates and descriptions of events, battles, speeches and assassinations. What most people don’t understand is Fourth Turnings aren’t about events, but about the citizens’ reaction to the events.
The Boston Massacre did not start the American Revolution Fourth Turning, but the Boston Tea Party did. John Brown’s attack on Harper’s Ferry did not start the Civil War Fourth Turning, but the election of Abraham Lincoln did. World War I did not start the Great Depression/World War II Fourth Turning, but the 1929 Stock Market Crash did. The 9/11 terrorist attack did not start latest Fourth Turning, but the Wall Street induced housing/financial system collapse did. In each instance, the generations were aligned in a manner that would lead to a sweeping away of the old civic order and a regeneracy with the institution of a new order. Old Artists disappear, Prophets enter elder hood, Nomads enter midlife, Heroes enter young adulthood—and a new generation of child Artists is born.
One hundred and fifty years ago this week Fort Sumter was bombarded by upstart revolutionaries attempting to break away from an overbearing Federal government based in Washington D.C. Exactly four years later the butchery and death concluded dramatically with Robert E. Lee surrendering to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theatre. For the next four years we will celebrate the 150th anniversary of various battles that marked the Civil War. What people will not consider are the similarities between that tumultuous period in our history and the period we are in today. Fourth Turnings are marked by different events but the same mood of upheaval, anger and fury.
As Strauss & Howe note in their book, the morphology of a Fourth Turning follows a predictable pattern:
Continue at:
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/guest-post-years-modernIs humanity forming en-masse? for lo, tyrants tremble, crowns grow dim,
The earth,... more
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Charles and David Koch both agree that President Obama is anti-business."He's the most radical president we’ve ever had as a nation,"… "And has done more damage to the free enterprise system and long-term prosperity than any president we’ve ever had.
Those poor little Rich boys.
Influencing our Politicians to further their billion dollar interests isn’t enough for them. Now they are the victims of a Marxist plot. We ordinary,(little) people should be kissing their filthy rich asses and thanking them for polluting the environment, not paying taxes and greatly contributing to making life miserable for the working-class.
Here’s a sample of what they think is so unfair.
Since Obama was inaugurated, the Dow Jones has increased more than 50% -- from 8,000 to more than 12,000; the wealthiest received a massive tax cut; the top marginal tax rate was three times less than during the Eisenhower years and substantially lower than during the Reagan years; income and wealth inequality are so vast and rising that it is easily at Third World levels; meanwhile, "the share of U.S. taxes paid by corporations has fallen from 30 percent of federal revenue in the 1950s to 6.6 percent in 2009." During this same time period, the unemployment rate has increased from 7.7% to 8.9%; millions of Americans have had their homes foreclosed; and the number of Americans living below the poverty line increased by many millions, the largest number since the statistic has been recorded. Can you smell Obama's radical egalitarianism and Marxist anti-business hatred yet?
Where would this Country be without super wealthy, delusional cretins whining about how unfair it all is? Oh, the inhumanity of it all!
If all of us little people pitch in our extra spending money maybe together we can afford buy them each a pair of socks for the Holidays this year. I suggest a note to go along with the packages stating, “Stuff these where the sun doesn’t shine”!
Read on… and don’t forget to bring a bucket and some tissues for all the tears you will shed.
http://www.salon.com/news/wall_street/index.html?story=/opinion/greenwald/2011/03/27/kochCharles and David Koch both agree that President Obama is... more
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Boxing promoters Don King and Bob Arum visit the L.A. Times on March 7 and as expected they make little sense.Boxing promoters Don King and Bob Arum visit the L.A. Times on March 7 and as expected... more
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This music video in support of immigration reform and the Dream Act showcases marches and activism in AZ and around the country. The song Marching into the Light was originally written in response to SB1070 and the racial profiling it would entail in Arizona and is available as a free download at www.andresuseche.com
" We can't let prejudice keep us from passing laws like the DREAM Act which will benefit the USA's economy and national security. We can't turn our backs on children who did nothing wrong and only want a chance to educate themselves and give back to the community they grew up in. Please share this video and join us in the struggle to achieve comprehensive immigration reform. Help us cherish the beautiful diversity that makes up these United States of America. Peace be unto you and your loved ones. " A.U.
(scroll down for song and video credits)
SONG LYRICS:
Marching into the Light
by Andres Useche
She worked all night long
She cleaned up 6 floors
Her working day is now beginning
He worked all day long
He picked up the crops
His swollen fingers are still bleeding
They work in the offices, serve in the restaurants
These hands keep lifting America
Some came from the South, some came from afar
Tell me just who is the Native American?
Did you forget we are human?
Don't you know we are the same?
Did you forget that you are my sister, my brother?
Don't you feel we share your pain?
Out of
the shadows
We are walking together
and into the light
(bis)
Estamos
unidos
Marchemos juntos
hacia la luz
Estados
Unidos
Marchemos juntos
Hacia la Luz
Did you forget we are human?
Don't you know we are the same?
Did you forget that you are my sister, my brother?
Don't you know we feel your pain?
Estamos
unidos
Marchemos juntos
hacia la luz
Estados
Unidos
Marchemos juntos
Hacia la Luz
Out of
the shadows
We are walking together
and into the light
(bis)
SONG CREDITS:
Music and Lyrics by Andres Useche
Lead vocals and guitar: Andres Useche
Recorded and produced by: George Shaw
Back-up Vocals: Oya Thomas, Hilary Fraser- Thomson, Valerie Stern, Grace J. Lee, Dawen Wang, Paul KwoElectric Guitar: Eugene HuangPiano, sequences: George Shaw
VIDEO CREDITS:
Written and Directed by Andres Useche
Edited by: Bian Torres and Andres Useche
Cinematography by: Martin Linss, , Brian Torres, Andres Useche.
Still photography by: Vinh Tran, Andres Useche, Bill Barber cc.
Special Thanks to : Carolina Camargo, Gabriela Ortiz.
Some shots come from the 9500 Liberty documentary by Eric Byler and Annabel Park who worked with me on Obama's Si Se Puede Cambiar video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ky8Hv...This music video in support of immigration reform and the Dream Act showcases marches... more
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Trillion-dollar back scratching at the intersection of business and government has become one of the most widely recognized and resented problems in modern politics. You might think, then, that a Harvard research center founded to “advance the state of knowledge and policy analysis concerning some of society’s most challenging problems at the interface of the public and private sectors” would place priority on restoring some accountability to American democracy. You might think that Summers’ move to such a center would mark a turn away from the influence of money towards the integrity of critical research and debate.
Think again. Private profit is undermining the legitimacy of academic institutions as well, and recent studies of conflicts of interest and disclosure in the economics profession have demonstrated how pervasive the quiet flow of money in the academy can be. Summers is still highly respected as an academic in the mainstream, even though he has earned millions from speaking and consulting to banks in recent years. That’s partly because Summers, like most economists, doesn’t disclose potential conflicts when he publishes economic articles or opinion pieces. Of course, he has an incentive not to: his Wall Street ties, milked in private, are good for power and money, but threaten his public reputation as an intellectual and public servant. What’s incredible is that many leading economists, who spend their days thinking about the mechanics of incentives and self-interest, don’t even seem to know what a conflict of interest is. Charles Ferguson’s excellent documentary, Inside Job, illustrates this phenomenon in interviews with top economists at Columbia and Harvard who served in the White House and Federal Reserve. Ferguson’s talk with Glenn Hubbard, Bush’s first NEC director and architect of the Bush tax cuts, is particularly revealing:
FERGUSON: Do you think that the economics discipline has, uh, a conflict of interest problem?
HUBBARD: I’m not sure I know what you mean.
FERGUSON: Do you think that a significant fraction of the economics discipline, a number of economists, have financial conflicts of interests that in some way might call into question or color –
HUBBARD: Oh, I see what you’re saying. I doubt it. You know, most academic economists, uh, you know, aren’t wealthy businesspeople.
…
FERGUSON: I’m looking at your resume now. It looks to me as if the majority of your outside activities are, uh, consulting and directorship arrangements with the financial services industry. Is that, would you not agree with that characterization?
HUBBARD: No, to my knowledge, I don’t think my consulting clients are even on my CV, so –
FERGUSON: Uh, who are your consulting clients?
HUBBARD: I don’t believe I have to discuss that with you.
FERGUSON: Okay. Uh, uh –
HUBBARD: Look, you have a few more minutes, and the interview is over.
…
FERGUSON: Do they include other financial services firms?
HUBBARD: Possibly.
FERGUSON: You don’t remember?
HUBBARD: This isn’t a deposition, sir. I was polite enough to give you time; foolishly, I now see. But you have three more minutes. Give it your best shot.
The faculty at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government (CBG), which Summers will now direct, probably wouldn’t have better answers than Hubbard. The CBG is a part of the Harvard Kennedy School, a graduate school for government policy makers that houses policy research and discussion groups, much like Brookings and CFR. The Center was founded in 1982 and lengthened its name in 2005 when Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani, an oil man, and his wife Sharmin, a Goldman Sachs executive, gifted the Center $15 million.
(more at link)Trillion-dollar back scratching at the intersection of business and government has... more
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Thoughts On The Shootings In Arizona
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Cartoon about the use of torture to gain "information".
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