Pollster.com

Lincoln's Grave Warning Realized

...a letter from President Abraham Lincoln to William F Elkins on 21 November 1864:

"I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country...corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed."

Eight Principles of Uncivilization

by Paul Kingsnorth and Dougald Hine


‘We must unhumanise our views a little, and become confident
As the rock and ocean that we were made from.’


  1. We live in a time of social, economic and ecological unravelling. All around us are signs that our whole way of living is already passing into history. We will face this reality honestly and learn how to live with it.

  2. We reject the faith which holds that the converging crises of our times can be reduced to a set of‘problems’ in need of technological or political ‘solutions’.

  3. We believe that the roots of these crises lie in the stories we have been telling ourselves. We intend to challenge the stories which underpin our civilisation: the myth of progress, the myth of human centrality, and the myth of our separation from ‘nature’. These myths are more dangerous for the fact that we have forgotten they are myths.

  4. We will reassert the role of story-telling as more than mere entertainment. It is through stories that we weave reality.

  5. Humans are not the point and purpose of the planet. Our art will begin with the attempt to step outside the human bubble. By careful attention, we will reengage with the non-human world.

  6. We will celebrate writing and art which is grounded in a sense of place and of time. Our literature has been dominated for too long by those who inhabit the cosmopolitan citadels.

  7. We will not lose ourselves in the elaboration of theories or ideologies. Our words will be elemental. We write with dirt under our fingernails.

  8. The end of the world as we know it is not the end of the world full stop. Together, we will find the hope beyond hope, the paths which lead to the unknown world ahead of us.



The Dark Mountain Manifesto

(excerpt)
Walking on lava

The end of the human race will be that it will eventually die of civilisation
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Those who witness extreme social collapse at first hand seldom describe any deep revelation about the truths of human existence. What they do mention, if asked, is their surprise at how easy it is to die.

The pattern of ordinary life, in which so much stays the same from one day to the next, disguises the fragility of its fabric. How many of our activities are made possible by the impression of stability that pattern gives? So long as it repeats, or varies steadily enough, we are able to plan for tomorrow as if all the things we rely on and don’t think about too carefully will still be there. When the pattern is broken, by civil war or natural disaster or the smaller-scale tragedies that tear at its fabric, many of those activities become impossible or meaningless, while simply meeting needs we once took for granted may occupy much of our lives.

What war correspondents and relief workers report is not only the fragility of the fabric, but the speed with which it can unravel. As we write this, no one can say with certainty where the unravelling of the financial and commercial fabric of our economies will end. Meanwhile, beyond the cities, unchecked industrial exploitation frays the material basis of life in many parts of the world, and pulls at the ecological systems which sustain it.

Precarious as this moment may be, however, an awareness of the fragility of what we call civilisation is nothing new.

‘Few men realise,’ wrote Joseph Conrad in 1896, ‘that their life, the very essence of their character, their capabilities and their audacities, are only the expression of their belief in the safety of their surroundings.’ Conrad’s writings exposed the civilisation exported by European imperialists to be little more than a comforting illusion, not only in the dark, unconquerable heart of Africa, but in the whited sepulchres of their capital cities. The inhabitants of that civilisation believed ‘blindly in the irresistible force of its institutions and its morals, in the power of its police and of its opinion,’ but their confidence could be maintained only by the seeming solidity of the crowd of like-minded believers surrounding them. Outside the walls, the wild remained as close to the surface as blood under skin, but the city-dweller was no longer equipped to face it directly.

The remainder of the essay can be read online: Dark Mountain manifesto.


Paul is the author of One No, Many Yeses and Real England. He was deputy editor of The Ecologist between 1999 and 2001. His first poetry collection, Kidland, is forthcoming from Salmon Poetry. His website is www.paulkingsnorth.net

Dougald writes the blog Changing the World (and other excuses for not getting a proper job). He is a former BBC journalist and has written for and edited various online and offline magazines. His website is www.dougald.co.uk

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Editorial Notes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The "Eight principles of uncivilisation" are expanded in the Dark Mountain manifesto (also available as PDF or purchased as a limited-edition, hand-stitched pamphlet.

See the site for the blog and information about their upcoming festival May 28-30.

Several Energy Bulletin contributors are on their Blogroll, including John Michael Greer, Sharon Astyk, Rob Hopkins and Dmitry Orlov. Also mentioned are Wendell Berry and Ivan Illich.

George Monbiot recently wrote a column in the Guardian about Dark Mountain Project: I share their despair, but I'm not quite ready to climb the Dark Mountain.

On Common Dreams, Robert C. Koehler wrote a related piece: Dark Green.

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Original article available here
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Our American Objectives

"Our national goals must be to rejuvenate the domestic economy; transfer the economic basis of our nation from consumptive to productive; recapitalize education and the technologies industries; achieve complete energy independence; move towards renewable energy sources;
restore public confidence in the government's ability to undertake large national infrastructure projects, and re-assert its right to set goals and policies to ensure those projects proceed smoothly; define the overarching standards for a reconstructed America including a federal review of the building and planning codes now in use, and probably the writing of new mandates that set out 21st-century standards and priorities for energy use, urban and transportation planning, and environmental design, which once put into law and accepted into general use, will be very difficult to change; commit funding for a massive 10- or 20-year program that will upgrade or replace failing components of America's infrastructure as the nation is broke (as it was in FDR's day) and this kind of spending needs to be seen as the long-term investment in our economic future that it is; restore a fair, honest, broad-based system of public contracting that will put large numbers of Americans to work on these new projects (and write the new rules in a way that ensures that the firms doing the most innovative work don't have to compete with unfair behemoth corporations like Halliburton and Lockheed for the lion's share of the funding) so that once there is a healthy, competitive construction industry that knows how to build sustainable projects—and is relying on the government to keep it in business—we will get a political constituency that will fight to ensure that the rebuilding will continue for the next several decades, regardless of what political party is in power; use the forces of globalization and information to strengthen and expand existing democratic alliances and created new ones; employ these alliances to destroy terrorist networks and establish new international security structures; lead, through our historic principles, on international cooperative efforts in spreading economic opportunity and democratic liberties, nation building, counter-prolification, and optimum environmental protection and safeguards; and cherish, honor, and protect our history and traditions of liberty and freedoms domestically particularly with respect to the Bill of Rights."

"The renewed social contract for America with its middle class and poor must:
  • Raise the minimum wage still higher and on a regular basis. It has fallen far behind increases in inflation since the 1970s, and that affects higher level wages as well.
  • Encourage living-wage programs by local governments. Governments can demand that their contractors and suppliers pay well above the minimum wage. There is substantial evidence that this does not result in an undue loss of jobs.
  • Enforce the labor laws vigilantly. Minimum-wage and maximum-hour laws are violated to a stunning degree. American workers shouldn't be forced by their employers to understate the number of hours worked or be locked in the warehouse so they can't leave on time. Workers often make only $2 and $3 an hour.
  • Unions are not seeking a free pass to organize secretly when they advocate for open check-offs on cards to approve of a union vote. They are seeking to organize without persistent and often illegal management interference. Penalties for illegally deterring such organizing are so light, it makes little sense for management not to pursue strategies to stop organizing even at the cost of prosecution.
  • Request that trading partners develop serious environmental standards and worker-protection laws. This is good for them, bringing a progressive revolution and a robust domestic market to their countries. It is good for America, which will be able to compete on a more level playing field.
  • Demand that the president, governors and mayors speak up about unconscionable executive salaries and low wages. The influence from the top cannot be underestimated. A president who looks the other way sends a strong signal to business. A president who demands responsible treatment of workers will get a response. Business does not like such attention.
  • These measures should be accompanied by serious investment in modernized infrastructure and energy alternatives, which can create millions of domestic jobs that pay good salaries. It should also be accompanied by a policy that supports a lower dollar -- contrary to Rubinomics -- in order to stimulate manufacturing exports again. Accomplishing this may require a new system of semi-fixed currencies across the globe. The unabashed high-dollar policy of the past twenty years has led to imbalances around the world that have contributed fundamentally to US overindebtedness.
  • And finally, the nation needs more balance on the part of the Federal Reserve between subduing inflation and creating jobs. Americans can live with inflation above 2 percent a year. There is no academic evidence to support a 2 percent annual target, although the Fed has made this its informal target."

The Continuing Case for The Second Bill of Rights for All American Citzens

...from Michael Lind on Salon.com on 11 January 2010 ....

The Case for Economic Rights

FDR said it and it holds 66 years later: There are benefits and opportunities every American should expect to enjoy

Three score and six years ago, the greatest president of the 20th century gave one of his greatest speeches. On Jan. 11, 1944, in a State of the Union address that deserves to be ranked with Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address" and King's "I Have a Dream" speech, President Franklin D. Roosevelt called for recognition of a "Second Bill of Rights." According to FDR:

"This Republic had its beginning, and grew to its present strength, under the protection of certain inalienable political rights -- among them the right of free speech, free press, free worship, trial by jury, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. They were our rights to life and liberty. As our nation has grown in size and stature, however -- as our industrial economy expanded -- these political rights proved inadequate to assure us equality in the pursuit of happiness."

Roosevelt did not argue that economic rights had superseded basic, old-fashioned political and civil rights. The argument of authoritarians and totalitarians that economic rights are more important than non-economic liberty was abhorrent to him. Instead, with the examples of the fascist and communist regimes of his time in mind, he argued that the purpose of economic rights was to support and reinforce, not replace, civil and political liberties:

"We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. 'Necessitous men are not free men.' People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.

In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all -- regardless of station, race, or creed."

President Roosevelt was not promoting economic rights that were necessarily enforceable in court, but rather economic benefits and opportunities that every American should expect to enjoy by virtue of citizenship in our democratic republic. Many of the rights he identified have been secured by programs with bipartisan support. These include:

"the right to a good education" (the G.I. Bill, student loans, Pell Grants, Head Start, federal aid to K-12 schools) and

"the right of every family to a decent home" (federally subsidized home loans and tax breaks for home ownership). But even before the global economic crisis, the U.S. fell short when it came to full employment --

"the right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation"

-- and a living wage --

"the right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation."

Roosevelt's vision was controversial at the time and is contested today. When it comes to providing a safety net for Americans, there are three distinct paradigms, which I would describe as economic citizenship, welfare corporatism and faith-based charity.

Supporters of faith-based charity among "theoconservatives" such as Marvin Olasky argue that modern social insurance like Social Security and Medicare was a mistake. The medieval British and colonial American systems of relying on religious institutions to care for the sick and poor should have been continued and built upon, with government subsidies to "faith-based institutions."

The secular business-class right, however, has shown little interest in faith-based charity, perhaps because it is difficult for rent-seeking bankers, brokers and other private sector actors to extract huge amounts of money from tax-exempt church hospitals and church soup lines. The right's preferred alternative to the progressive vision of economic citizenship is what I call "welfare corporatism." Whereas economic citizenship views protection against sickness, unemployment and old age as entitlements of citizens in a democratic republic, welfare corporatism treats these necessities of life as commodities like groceries or appliances, to be purchased in a market by people who are thought of as consumers, not citizens.

Let's contrast ideal versions of the two approaches. In the ideal America of economic citizenship, there would be a single, universal, integrated, lifelong system of economic security including

single-payer healthcare,

Social Security, unemployment payments and

family leave

paid for by a single contributory payroll tax (which could be made progressive in various ways or reduced by combination with other revenue streams). Funding for all programs would be entirely nationalized, although states could play a role in administration. There would still be supplementary private markets in health and retirement products and services for the affluent, but most middle-class Americans would continue to rely primarily on the simple, user-friendly public system of economic security. As Steven Attewell points out, the Social Security Act of 1935 was intended not merely to provide public pensions for the elderly but to establish a framework for a comprehensive system of social insurance corresponding to President Roosevelt's "right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment." Attewell writes: "We need to go back to the original drawing board -- the Social Security Act of 1935 -- to finish the job it began and create a truly universal and comprehensive social welfare state."

In the utopia of welfare corporatism, today's public benefits -- Social Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance and, in a few states, public family leave programs -- would be abolished and replaced by harebrained schemes dreamed up by libertarian ideologues at corporate-funded think tanks like the Cato Institute and the Heritage Foundation. Tax subsidies would be funneled to insurance companies, brokers and banks. Social Security would be replaced by a bewildering miscellany of tax-favored personal savings accounts. Medicare would be replaced by a dog's breakfast of tax subsidies for purchasing health insurance and personal medical savings accounts. Unemployment insurance would give way to yet another Rube Goldberg scheme of tax-favored unemployment insurance accounts. As for family leave -- well, if you're not wealthy enough to pay out of pocket for a nanny for your child or a nurse for your parent, you're out of luck.

The strongest case for economic citizenship instead of welfare corporatism is economic. Economic citizenship is more efficient and cheaper in the long run, because the government need only meet costs, while subsidized private providers must make a profit. The Democratic and Republican supporters of welfare corporatism justify their system of massive subsidies for for-profit healthcare and retirement security with the claim that market competition will keep down prices. If only that were true. Competitive markets are probably impossible to create, in the highly regulated insurance sector and the highly concentrated financial sector that sells private retirement goods and services.

It follows that a policy of subsidizing oligopolies and monopolies, via government subsidies to consumers, in the absence of government-imposed price controls, is a recipe for cost inflation, as the providers jack up their prices, sending the consumers back to Congress to demand even more public subsidies. By its very nature, welfare corporatism funnels public resources, in the form of tax breaks, to rent-seeking, predatory firms in the FIRE (finance, insurance, real estate) sector, with ever-swelling dead-weight costs on the economy. Welfare corporatism equals corporate welfare.

Unfortunately, most progressives have failed to make the case against the libertarian myth of market competition in the provision of social insurance. All too many, including President Obama, have made the too-clever-by-half argument that the public option would keep prices down by means of market competition. In other words, the center-left has borrowed a bogus argument about competition from right-wing free-market fundamentalism in order to defend a token public program that ceased to be of any interest once Obama and the Democrats in Congress ruled that Americans with employer-provided insurance would be banned from joining the public option. When you're reduced to parroting the opposition's erroneous theories, in the process of begging for a slight modification of the opposition's pet program, you clearly don't have the nerve or the patience to play the long game in politics.

In a response to one of my earlier columns, Will Marshall wonders how I can dare to criticize the legacy of Bill Clinton, a Democrat. My reasons should be clear by now. I am not a partisan Democratic operative focused on winning the next election. I am interested only in strengthening the republic through a gradual expansion of economic citizenship in the tradition of Franklin Roosevelt's Second Bill of Rights. If this means criticizing Democratic presidents who expand welfare corporatism instead of economic citizenship, so be it.

As part of his opportunistic policy of triangulation between his own party and the opposition, Bill Clinton joined the Republicans in a three-pronged assault on New Deal economic citizenship. He and the Republican Congress abolished Aid to Families With Dependent Children, a flawed and unpopular means-tested program for the poor that should have been reformed as a national program rather than turned over to the states as the neo-Confederate right insisted. Instead of piecemeal expansion of single-payer healthcare, Clinton pushed a version of employer-based welfare corporatism plus subsidies that came out of the playbook of moderate Republicans like Nixon. And we now know that Clinton secretly agreed to support Newt Gingrich's drive to partly privatize Social Security, in return for dedicating the federal government's imaginary future surpluses to what was left of Social Security. In 2005, Will Marshall argued in favor of private accounts, on the grounds that they would soften up Americans for cuts in Social Security: "If today's workers start saving and investing more in stocks and bonds, the returns they earn would allow us to trim their Social Security benefits later, without reducing their overall standard of living."

While George W. Bush pushed for partial privatization of Social Security, he failed because of massive public opposition. But Bush and the Republican majority in Congress succeeded in enacting the Social Security drug benefit, a flawed but genuine expansion of economic citizenship. Clinton is the only president to have successfully supported the destruction of a New Deal entitlement, while Bush presided over the greatest expansion of the Rooseveltian entitlement system since Lyndon Johnson passed Medicare.

For his part, Barack Obama, like Bill Clinton, rejected single-payer in favor of a moderately conservative welfare corporatist approach to healthcare reform. In contrast, Obama's proposal for student loan reform, an idea discussed in the Clinton years, would move in the right direction, away from welfare corporatism and toward economic citizenship, by replacing subsidized third-party lenders with direct government provision of student loans to needy college students.

Parties are coalitions of interest groups, they are not public philosophies, and presidents, great and minor, are and have to be opportunists. In contrast, reformers only have a chance of succeeding if they stick to their basic principles and keep their eyes on the prize. Progressives should support any politician, Democrat or Republican, who expands economic citizenship to the detriment of welfare corporatism, and they should oppose any politician, Democrat or Republican, who expands welfare corporatism to the detriment of economic citizenship.

Any more questions?

Monetary Cost of Iraq War

29 September 2008

Bailout Legislation Fails; Markets Tank; Great Uncertainty Lies Ahead

The Bush Administration was given a thundering and stunning rebuke on Monday afternoon with the defeat of the Bailout Bill in the US House which shocked and surprised nearly everyone globally. As a consequence, the US stock market dived precipitously as all indices were down by 7 % and more. Count on a similar performance Tuesday. The big concern in reality though is the virtual disappearance of credit across the nation, mainly for business. Many businesses use credit to carry them through periods to meet payrolls and other operating expenses while waiting to get paid by buyers and purchasers. There will be cases that will occur as soon as later this week with payrolls not met and bills not paid by a number of businesses, some with household names and a strong brand recognition by consumers. Businesses will shut down or suspend operations, leading to greater unemployment and the further fall of additional economic dominoes. Banks are in serious trouble, as two of the nation's largest banks failed in the last few days with Washington Mutual and Wachovia having to be bought up for virtually nothing by JP Morgan Chase and Citicorp, two larger institutions that themselves may careen towards collapse sooner than later. That makes twelve banks that have disappeared this year. Another jolt will be coming later this week with the release of the September unemployment report, which is likely to show an increase in the official unemployment rate to perhaps in excess of 7 %. With the US House in recess until Thursday due to the Rosh Hashanah Jewish Holiday, no actions or considerations will be made in the next two days.
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The American Economy is at the precipice of its greatest crisis in nearly eight decades. What will happen next is anyone's guess, but it is very difficult to have any optimism.
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Election '08 Electoral Vote Outlook

Only 36 days remain until Americans go to the polls to finish voting in what is the most important election in over a generation. The first debate between the two presidential nominees is now complete, and the consensus is that Obama was the winner by a small margin over McCain. Polling in recent days reflects the debate results as well as how the candidates publicly handled the economic crisis news and controversy over the bailout plan. Obama seems to be gaining support at this time. As expected, the Palin bump has now ended as the initial exuberance and hysteria over her presence on the GOP ticket has strongly waned with the legitimate concerns over her experience, personal matters, and policy philosophies. Estimates of potential electoral votes tallies now show Obama with around 325 to around 213 for McCain. Key battleground states have moved more into Obama's camp in at least small ways in the last few days. There are ten key states that are in contention according to analysts: NV, NM, MI, OH, PA, VA, NC, FL, CO, and IN. All but NC are now seen as being more likely to be states that will give a majority vote to Obama. Should this trend continue, it is possible to envision other states tipping over to Obama, such as NC, ND, MT, MO, and perhaps even GA and LA. McCain appears to firmly be in the lead in some of the Rockies (ID, UT, WY, AZ); the High and Southern Plains (SD, NE, KS, OK, TX) and most of Dixie (AR, KY, WV, TN, SC, AL, MS) as well as Palin's state of AK. Obama appears to have a firm or growing lead in the far West (HI, CA, OR, WA); growing support in the Southern Rockies (NV, NM, CO); a firm or growing grip on the upper Midwest and Great Lakes (MN, WI, IA, IL, IN, MI, OH) and a lock on the Northeast (VA, MD, DC, DE, PA, NJ, NY, CT, RI, MA, VT, NH, ME). I would expect a small bounce back towards McCain during October but it will short lived. History shows convincingly the candidate with the level of support Obama has at this time (late September) always wins and usually increases his margin. My estimate at this time is for an Obama win with over 325 electoral votes with the possibility of surpassing 350. Instead of tightening, this race appears to be loosening in the early weeks of Autumn.
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http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/
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26 September 2008

House Republicans Shoot Down Paulson Bailout Plan

Days and many hours of tough negotiating seems, at least temporarily, to have ended plans by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke to pump at least $700 billion to bailout banks and investment houses on Wall Street. The original plan proposed is completely dead, and the compromise plan agreed to by Democrats on the Hill and the Bush Administration is in serious threat of crashing and burning from a strong and powerful contingent of conservative Republicans, primarily in the House. This GOP coalition has clearly and definitively repudiated the President and GOP Presidential nominee John McCain in defying their program and plan. Negotiations will continue but there is a growing belief any legislative attempt is headed for failure. Many Americans have inundated their Senatorial and Congressional representation with demands that no bailout occur, and their voices are being heard. Its anyone's guess if the bailout will happen, but I believe something will still come about, perhaps over the weekend. How Wall Street and markets elsewhere globally will respond to this setback is likely to be a negative to some extent, which likely will further pressure legislators to come up with a plan.
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080926/ap_on_bi_ge/financial_meltdown
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22 September 2008

Federal Bailout Plan of Wall Street Leaves Much to Be Desired

With the announcement late last week by Treasury Secretary Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke to rescue Wall Street from collapse with an infusion of at least $700 Billion, most every media source has had a number of articles offering a diverse variety of analysis on the idea and its likely makeup and content. I have tried to read as many of these articles and analyses as I could, and in the end, I think my opinion is that the bailout probably must happen in spite of all the negatives and risks this action brings on, particularly to American taxpayers in the coming decade and beyond. I would hope thoughtful action from Congress (yes, it does happen on a rare occasion, and this is one time where it is essential) will make this bailout subject to some harsh conditions, as have been recommended by former Labor Secretary Reich in his blog. I also hope the warnings and perils being sounded by some including Paul Krugman are taken seriously into consideration. But in the end, I have to believe that the amount of money to be spent on this bailout will probably be in excess of $1.5 trillion and perhaps over $2 trillion. Some of that money will be recouped by the Feds as they are able to sell some of the worthless assets , primarily foreclosed homes and other buildings across the nation, to investors and buyers at prices probably considerably less than what the Feds will credit the various financial institutions with.
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I believe Congress will rubberstamp this bailout proposal within the next two to three weeks, but I firmly doubt the legislation authorizing this expenditure will include the necessary regulations, restrictions and mandates that are so desperately needed to prevent the further and continuing regularity of greed, waste, fraud, and arrogance that has come to firmly symbolize the financial industry across the land in the last decade or so. Heaven help us all if this bailout does not do what Paulson, Bernanke, and others of their ilk are envisioning. Nevertheless, there still remains for a lot of bad financial news to continue in the coming months and next few years as the basic problems of the American worker and consumer remain completely unaddressed, and the standard of living for most is in decline which results in less consumption, particularly now with less credit available for wasteful use. I firmly wish that the alternative of not bailing out these financial fools was the option to be taken, but that would probably be not the best choice for all of us.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/21/AR2008092102534.html
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14 September 2008

2008 United States Senate Elections Outlook

2008 will see 35 United States Senates seats up for election. Twelve of the seats are currently held by Democrats with the other 23 by Republicans. The election of two of the seats are being held as special elections to fill the remaining term: Mississippi, where former Senate leader Trent Lott retired, and Wyoming, where Craig Thomas died tragically and suddenly from leukenia in January 2007. Five of the GOP seats have the incumbent basically retiring: NM, CO, ID, NE, and VA; thus making the elections there for an open seat essentially. Elsewhere, the other 30 seats have an incumbent running for re-election, except for the aforementioned cases in WY and MS where the incumbent was actually appointed to fill the seat by the state's governor until a federal election would be conducted.
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Here are the candidates in each state where a senate seat(s) are up for vote and my outlook.
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ALABAMA: Jeff Sessions, the GOP incumbent and a Son of the South (born Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III) will win re-election easily over Democratic choice Vivian Davis Figures.
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ALASKA: Longtime venerable Ted Stevens (R) is likely to go down to defeat to end his career as Democrat Mark Begich will take advantage of Stevens' deep legal and ethical problems which have resulted in Stevens being under criminal indictment to win this seat for the Dems, a pickup.
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ARKANSAS: Incumbent Democrat Mark Pryor is running unopposed and will win his second term in a state where a Republican opponent should have emerged given the political and philosophical makeup of The Natural State and The Land of Opportunity.
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COLORADO: US Representative Mark Udall will likely edge out former US Representative Bob Schaffer for this open seat being vacated by Wayne Allard, making this another Democratic pickup.
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DELAWARE: Despite the fact that Joe Biden is running for Vice - President, he is also running for a sixth term in the US Senate. He will win easily over a token Republican opponent, unknown Christine O'Donnell. But the real question will be what happens if Biden wins with Obama the White House. Given Delaware has a Democratic governor and will likely continue to after the November 4 election, expect another Democrat, either the current governor, lieutenant governor, or state attorney general, to fill the seat through at least January 3, 2011.
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GEORGIA: There is a chance for an incumbent defeat here, but it remains unlikely. Antagonistic GOP incumbent Saxby Chambliss could be upset by Democratic challenger Jim Martin. The race is viewed as close at this point.
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IDAHO: Disgraced GOP incumbent Larry Craig is vacating the seat after recent obscene behaviors. GOP challenger Jim Risch should win, but an upset by Democratic challenger Larry LaRocco is not out of question. Democratic strategists and finances are focusing on the Potato State in hopes of an upset win.
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ILLINOIS: Dick Durbin will coast to an easy win over GOP unknown Steve Sauerberg. Of probable greater interest in the Land of Lincoln is whom will fill the seat if Obama claims the Presidency. Expect another Democrat to be appointed to fill out the last two years of Obama's term as Illinois has a sitting Democratic governor.
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IOWA: Powerful Senate veteran Democrat Tom Harkin will win another term as he routs Christopher Reed, the GOP candidate.
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KANSAS: In what may be the most expected one-sided contest coming up, GOP incumbent Pat Roberts wins in a cakewalk over Democrat Jim Slattery.
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KENTUCKY: Senate Majority Leader and GOP incumbent Addison Mitchell "Mitch" McConnell is favored to win re-election, but with the taint and stench of corruption and scandal amidst him, an upset by Democratic challenger Bruce Lunsford is not impossible, but unlikely, unfortunately. McConnell is clearly the most corrupt member of the US Senate.
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LOUISIANA: Despite all her shortcomings and likely links to corruption, Democratic incumbent Mary Landreau will win another term with dissension and dissatisfaction over the GOP response to 2006 Hurricane Katrina giving her more than enough of an edge for re-election.
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MAINE: Republican incumbent Susan Collins is the last of a dying breed, a moderate Northeast Republican. She will probably squeak by though for re-election over Democratic challenger Tom Allen, but her victory is no sure thing.
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MASSACHUSETTS: Democratic incumbent John Kerry easily wins yet another term, but the margin of victory may be less than twenty percentage points over GOP choice Jeff Beatty.
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MICHIGAN: The bespectacled incumbent Democrat Carl Levin, a common sight in Senate television coverage, will win another term as the GOP candidate Jack Hoogendyk is routed easily.
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MINNESOTA: In one of the most anticipated and sure to be followed contests, Republican incumbent Norm Coleman is being challenged by Al Franken, best known as a comedian on Saturday Night Live. Franken's pragmatic and plain speaking candidacy is likely to bring out the Democratic vote, and he probably will squeak by Coleman in a photo finish.
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MISSISSIPPI: In the election for the regularly held seat, longtime powerful GOP incumbent Thad Cochran sweeps to victory over Democratic challenger Erik Fleming.
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MISSISSIPPI: In the election to fill the the remaining years for the seat left by the retiring Trent Lott, look for a Democratic pickup as Ronnie Musgrave narrowly ousts appointee Republican Roger Wicker.
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MONTANA: Democratic incumbent Max Baucus, the epitome of a western conservative Democrat, will coast to an easy win over extremist GOP nominee Bob Kelleher.
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NEBRASKA: Republican choice Mike Johanns will defeat Democratic challenger Scott Kleeb to fill the seat being vacated by Chuck Hegel after two terms and recent disgust with George Bush and his policies.
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NEW HAMPSHIRE: Incumbent Republican John Sununu will probably go down to defeat to Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, making this another likely Democratic pickup.
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NEW JERSEY: Frank Lautenberg, the Democratic incumbent, wins another term easily over Republican Dick Zimmer.
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NEW MEXICO: With the retirement of longtime incumbent GOP stalwart Pete Domenici, expect a Democratic pickup with Tom Udall (cousin of Colorado US Senate challenger Mark) to win over GOP nominee Steve Pearce. Both men are currently New Mexico US Representatives.
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NORTH CAROLINA: An Obama victory in the Tarheel State could have coattails as challenger Kay Hagan, the Democrat, has a good chance of upsetting and ousting GOP incumbent Elizabeth Dole, wife of retired longtime Kansas US Senator Robert Dole.
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OKLAHOMA: In what will be the most unfortunate result of the night, right wing extremist and noted global warming naysayer incumbent Republican James Inhofe will win another term easily routing overmatched Democrat Andrew Rice. Pray for a miracle.
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OREGON: Like Susan Collins in Maine, incumbent GOP Gordon Smith is a moderate. He will probably squeak by to get re-elected, but an upset by Democrat challenger Jeff Merkley is more than a possibility making Oregon a good chance for a Democratic pickup.
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RHODE ISLAND: Democratic incumbent Jake Reed takes the seat again with a wide margin of victory over opponent Bob Tingle, a GOP eccentric.
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SOUTH CAROLINA: Important incumbent Republican Lindsey Graham, who should have been the Vice - Presidential running mate of John McCain for this year's presidential contest, will be re-elected easily to another another term over Democratic nominee Bob Conley.
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SOUTH DAKOTA: Incumbent Democrat Tim Johnson, in spite of his recent health issues, will win re-election by a wider margin than when he initially claimed the seat in '02 with a victory over young GOP challenger Joel Dykstra.
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TENNESSEE: Republican incumbent Lamar Alexander will easily win another term over Democratic challenger Bob Tuke.
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TEXAS: Incumbent Republican John Cronyn's re-election is not a sure thing, and the possibility of defeat at the hands of Democratic challenger Rick Noriega is real as this is a close race. A loss by Cronyn would be a deep embarrassment and humiliation to President George Bush.
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VIRGINIA: Longtime Republican incumbent John Warner is retiring, so the contest to fill this open seat is between Democrat Mark Warner (no relation to John) and Republican Jim Gilmore. Mark Warner will win this election making this another Democratic pickup.
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WEST VIRGINIA: In the Battle of the Jays, longtime Democratic incumbent Jay Rockefeller will cruise to victory over GOP challenger Jay Wolfe.
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WYOMING: In the regularly held election for the US Senate seat, incumbent Republican Mike Enzi will win re-election in spite of a lackluster and largely woeful record as a sitting Wyoming senator. Challenger Chris Rothfuss has little chance to pull the upset unfortunately.
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WYOMING: In the special election to fill the remaining four years of the late Senator Craig Thomas' seat, the incumbent GOP appointee John Barrasso will likely hold on to the seat with a victory over Democratic challenger Nick Carter. An upset here would be really sweet.
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Thus at this time, I see the possibility of seven Democratic pickups with seven other seats at least in play to some extent. 50 days until Election Day.
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Latest Presidential Electoral Vote Outlook

Its only about 50 days until the 2008 general elections and, as many have anticipated, the race is extremely tight. Barack Obama looked once to be a sure thing to win the election, but a number of factors, mostly negative, have tipped the odds towards a John McCain election. But with seven weeks left, much can still change. As many suspected, the choice of Alaska governor Palin has helped the McCain campaign at least for the short term as questions continue to rise about her qualifications and background. The Obama campaign has seemed sluggish since the end of the Democratic Convention in late August, but this is probably only a temporary lag. With so much at stake for citizens across the nation as well as for mankind and the future globally, one can expect a continued robust campaign which unfortunately will contain elements of negative campaigning, slurs, pointless jabbering, and just plain blather by the candidates themselves at times, supporters of the candidates regularly and all fueled by the hapless and inane mainstream media trying to distract the public from all the real issues and problems in the nation. All in all, it cannot end soon enough as this 2008 campaign has been going on since December of 2006 for all intents and purposes. That is a long stretch of time and it has resulted in strong political fatigue for many and varying degrees for everyone, particularly with all the incessant political ads in the media that are all plain disgusting, deceitful, and/or irksome.
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The Electoral College outlook at this moment slightly favors McCain. Latest polling and analysis shows ten states that are real close and could go either way. Five of these states -- WA, MN, MI, PA, and CO -- are leaning towards Barack Obama. My estimation is that these current trends will stay the same when the numbers count for real on Tuesday 4 November. The other five states -- NV, NM, IN, OH, and VA -- are showing a small edge for supporting John McCain. These five states are ones I think could wobble back towards support for Obama, particularly NM, NV, and OH. There are some other states that could also wobble back to Obama in spite of current numbers showing them to be supporting John McCain. These states are WV, NC, FL, TX, MO, AZ, MT, ND, and SD. I think at least one or two of these states will end up going for Obama, more likely ones with smaller amounts of electoral votes. Among states that are showing a weak level of support for Obama, NH and WI are most possible to switching over to support for McCain. Today the numbers add up to 270 for McCain and 268 for Obama. That means that any and all states in play are critical and the switch of just one state could turn the election one way or another. Today I think in the end Obama will win with between 275 and 290 electoral votes, with 300 not out of the question.
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The most important factor looming for the remaining weeks will be the upcoming presidential candidate debates, of which three are scheduled starting on Friday 26 September at the University of Mississippi in Oxford. The other two debates will be on Tuesday 7 October at Belmont University in Nashville, and on Wednesday 15 October at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY, on Long Island. Tens of millions of prospective voters will view these debates and the debates will go a long way in swaying opinions and helping voters make decisions. Beyond the debates, there are other factors that will be influential, but many of these factors cannot be anticipated. What will happen is largely anyone's guess...
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13 September 2008

Weekly Review of News Articles and Observations

Here is a boatload of news articles that caught my attention in the last week and a brief reaction to them. With my work schedule lightened in the last week (only one night of overtime), my conditioning becoming more improved, and injuries to my hands and wrists diminishing, I was able to focus more on what was happening and bookmark articles for future use in this post I am making now. The big news in the last weeks were much the same as they have been in recent weeks: the campaign for the presidency and the daily mudslinging and slurs; the ongoing financial meltdown and economic downturn; another powerful hurricane doing enormous destructive damage to a significant population center; and continuing news concerning global warming and the future consequences that await mankind and civilization.


A. The Improving and Future Robust Economy of Montana


Its great to hear news of economic improvements for the Big Sky state, which often seems trapped in the past with an economy of yesteryear largely based on exploitation of natural resources for the most part as other states modernize and impliment technological advances.


http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2008/09/06/news/state/27-montana.txt


http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080907/NEWS01/809070305/1002/rss


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B. Latest on EFCA


Any legislative movement towards enacting this bill will not occur until at least the second quarter of 2009, and it will be dependent on how many Democrats get elected to the both the House and Senate. Even then, the legislation will be DOA if McCain is elected to the White House and I am unsure if Obama is willing to step up and sign it in light of his lesser stances on vital labor and worker industries.


http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2008164694_sirota08.html


http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/09/08-5


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C. An Enlightened Outside Look at the Looming US Presidential Election


This is a superb and objective view of the looming election. The writer, an esteemed economics professor at the University of Montreal, covers all the intangible and tangible factors involved in this election campaign and what very well may happen. I plan to make my own observations and forecasts on at least a weekly basis starting in the next week up to Election Day. And I plan to blog an up-to-the-minute report and analysis on Election Day, similar to what I did on Super Tuesday back on 4 March, but with some improvements.


http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=10098


*****


D. Improving News on the Housing Front


Unfortunately, the news is limited to the Rocky Mountain region and also says prices are still in decline. Elsewhere across most of the nation the news remains gloomy with likely continuations in foreclosure rate increases and declines in both home values and sales still the order of the day for the foreseeable future.


http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/sep/09/housing-prices-inventory-down/


*****


E. The Most Corrupt Members of Congress


Most of the names making the list are unknowns to Americans except to politicos in the state being represented by the crook and die hard political junkies. But many names are recognizeable and have been in the news for their hijinks and indiscretions. Unfortunately, most of this vermin will be reelected and part of the upcoming 111th Congress starting in January '09 for a number of diverse and disappointing reasons. Thankfully, the two names from states in the Mountain region, Renzi of Arizona and Pierce of New Mexico, will not be among them.


http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2008/0910-6


http://www.crewsmostcorrupt.org/


http://citizensforethics.org/files/Beyond%20Delay%20Full%20Report_0.pdf


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F. Supercollider Test Goes Off Successfully


The test done underground in a 27 mile long circular tunnel in Switzerland was the start of some essential scientific research on a number of questions including the origin of the universe. Some naysayers had feared the test would create a black hole which could comsume the planet. As expected, those fears were poppycock.


http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/09/10/lhc.collider/index.html


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080910/ap_on_sc/big_bang


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G. Abu - Jamal Continues His Long Fight to Regain Freedom


Mamia Abu - Jamal was convicted of murder back in 1982 and has waged a struggle to get his conviction and sentence overturned for 26 years now. He has long maintained his innocence and has the support of many whom see many holes in the story used in court proceedings to convict him of the murder of a Philadelphia police officer. Clearly the truth and whole story has not been factually established. Racism and bigotry are factors in this case. I tend to think that where there is smoke, there is fire, and there is a likelihood that Abu - Jamal has been wrongfully convicted. If he is ever exonerated, it would be surprising and a great story.


http://www.alternet.org/rights/97510/


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H. Is Putting Country First Collectivism ?


I tend to think not, but an argument from a contrary viewpoint is in the first link.


http://www.aynrand.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=21175


http://www.freecolorado.com/2008/09/collectivist-president.html


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I. Robert Scheer on John McCain and Sarah Palin

I largely concur with the eminent longtime University of Southern California professor and longtime columnist and observer of the American condition.

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20080909_shes_clueless_hes_worse/

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J. Utah Wasatch Front Among New Economy Leaders

There are an enormous number of favorable factors leading to the Greater Salt Lake City metropolitan area surging forward with employment in high tech and biomedical industries and research related to the new economy. I expect this to strongly continue with the values, culture, and sense of community in that area as factors which help greatly.

http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_10423126

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K. Idaho Starts to Slow Economically

Some of the Mountain States region is doing well economically, while other places in the region are slowing or starting to struggle. One has to expect the national recession to have an impact in more places as time elapses, and the worse is yet to come. Even an area that is relatively remote like Idaho is not immune to the ongoing downturn.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/business/story/498230.html

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L. Another Viewpoint on the Presidential Election Campaign

This article makes another argument stating McCain and Obama are nothing but collectivists, in direction defiance of the philosophies and wishes of the Founding Fathers. Unfortunately, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one in some ways (transportation, laws, environment), and I expect this policy thrust only to continue and further expand much to the discontent of many like the author of this column.

http://www.theobjectivestandard.com/issues/2008-fall/mcbama-vs-america.asp

http://titanicdeckchairs.blogspot.com/2008/09/visual-guide-to-election.html

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M. Travel Destination for Future Reference

This is not really news, but I try to present a positive point every so often in this blog. The places described in this article sound like wonderful locales and a very enjoyable vacation and escape to take advantage for one to two weeks some summer.

http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/a_slice_of_bavaria_in_british_columbia/C564/L564/

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N. An Overwhelming Reason for Our Deficits and Economic Injustice

During the Eisenhower Administration, over one - third of the federal budget was funded by income and other taxes on corporations. Today that number is down to less than 8 %. For America to reclaim its greatness and address it's widespread and chronic social and structural shortcomings and crises, a sharp return to the past is essential. A good start is to address all the widespread pervasive deceit and chicanary with executive and CEO pay and compensation.

http://thinkprogress.org/wonkroom/2008/09/10/cbo-deficit-deteriorated/

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/09/13-0

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O. Analysis of Across the Board Downturn in All Wages

This is a disturbing and deeply troubling trend that really looks challenging to reverse. Establishing a single - payer national health care program would be a step in the direction of slowing this decline. But making political and voter conclusions from this economic analysis seems quite amiss at this time. But ending the corporate market based capitalistic system we have been enduring and tolerating for the last twenty - five plus years would be the most important step that could be taken.

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2008/09/department_of_distressing_trends.php

http://www.brendan-nyhan.com/blog/2008/09/frum-cracks-the.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/magazine/07Inequality-t.html?_r=1&ref=magazine&oref=slogin

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/09/13-1

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P. Some History on American Secessionist Movements

The thought of having one's state either be partitioned or leave the US is a regularly occuring theme in American history. Even a lot of discussion on this matter will result in failure. It is virtually impossible to see a secession movement ever being successful anytime soon. In essence, stories of Palin attending secessionist meetings are utterly irrelevant.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-ketcham10-2008sep10,0,990090.story

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Q. Alaskanomics

Things are different in The Last Frontier than in the lower 48 in many ways, and tax policy is one of the most interesting. The approach is basically to tax outsiders as much as possible and return the monies to locals who lack much in the way of opportunities due to the climate and remoteness of Alaska. I do not think this is such a bad way for government to do business in a place where oil riches are about the only sources for broad revenues. I would like to see this done more in my homestate of Wyoming which has a lot of similarities to Alaska.

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1839724,00.html

*****

R. New Information on the Rosenberg Spy Case

This is a dark moment in American History, and the information stated by Morton Sobell substantiates suspicions that Ethel Rosenberg was innocent and framed by contemptuous federal prosecutors. Her execution was a grievous and horrifying wrong done by this nation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/12/nyregion/12spy.html?_r=1&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=all

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S. The Seventh Anniversary of the 9/11 Terror Attacks

It is now all in the past for most except for those with the eternal painful loss of loved ones always ever present. Clearly the US government and its intelligence and law enforcement agencies bear serious responsibility for the attacks occurring. And the fault lies in both the Clinton and Bush administrations for this tragic and catastrophic lapse and oversight.

http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/the_real_lessons_of_9_11/C564/L564/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sen-mike-gravel/the-real-lessons-of-911_b_63733.html

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T. Summer and August in Climatological History

The analysis shows it was an average warmer and wetter summer across much of the US, which continues the overall recent trend thats been observed in the last two decades. Expect this to continue with fluctuations locally as always.

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2008/20080911_ncdcsummerwrap.html

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2008/images/06-08summerstatewidetrank.png

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2008/images/06-08summerstatewideprank.png

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U. Understanding American Sports Fans

A nice brief analysis of what sports fans in this nation are made up of.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman2/publish/Research_25/Profiling_the_American_TV_sports_fan.asp

*****

V. Chile and 35 Years After the Pinochet Coup

Is Chile better off for having endured a political coup which resulted in massive persecutions and high crimes by an unelected government in return for a level of economic prosperity unprecedented in that nation's history ? I believe the price that was paid by many far outweighs any benefits and positives that eventuated over the years.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-munoz11-2008sep11,0,795790.story

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W. The Florida Everglades Deal -- A Sellout to Big Corporate Sugar

When the news first came out earlier this year about the state of Florida's efforts to further preserve critical habitat and land in and near the Everglades, my reactions were positive. However, as some of the details emerge, it appears that there are a number of troubling elements present and the Everglades is not the big winner as it once seems.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/business/14fanjul.html?em=&pagewanted=alll

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X. Obama v McCain on the Economy and Taxes

The utter truth is that an Obama administrations would be much, much better for most all of us, while a McCain administration would only be better for the bottom line of Fortune 2000 corporations and the wealthy elite. The book by Princeton professor Larry Bartels does a superb of analyzing taxes and policy in the last generation and what the future holds for each of us depending on which party controls the White House after this election.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/31/business/31view.html?em

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/magazine/27wwln-idealab-t.html?fta=y

http://www.amazon.com/Unequal-Democracy-Political-Economy-Gilded/dp/0691136637/ref=sr_11_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1221381254&sr=11-1

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Y. The Next Generation of Newspaper Publishing

It is a visionary technology along the lines of Kindle. But are not we Americans carrying around enough electronic gadgets already ? I do not see this product making a dent at all. What newspapers need is to be able to be projected from a cell phone or other small device into a 3-D display that is of a size and distance from a user. Something like this could work but I do not envision such technology for several years at least.

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003846901

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Z. The Dire Need to Replace a 1.6 Mile Stretch of I-70 in Denver

The stretch of I-70 between Brighton Boulevard and Colorado Boulevard is among the worst stretches of interstate highway in the Mountain time zone, if not the worst. It will cost a tremendous amount of money to replace and upgrade this critical roadway. Somehow monies must be found in the next year or two to address the growing safety issues and the overwhelming constant congestion issues which make this stretch highly dangerous and worrisome for all that use it and their families.

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_10459272

http://www.denverpost.com/portlet/article/html/imageDisplay.jsp?contentItemRelationshipId=2101601

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07 September 2008

Recent News Articles and Observations

Here is my weekly look at some of the recent articles recently in the news and my brief reactions to them. The big news in the last week has been the continued hurricanes threatening and battering the Caribbean and SE US coast particularly the looming monstrous killer Ike; the continuing controversy and discussion of Sarah Palin as the Republican Veep choice and all her shortcomings and ills; Russian stirrings in Eastern Europe; the surprisingly continuing falling gasoline fuel prices across the nation; and the continuing troublesome news on the economic front with the Federal Government's seizure of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and the looming consequences of this move.
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A. Wind Generated Electricity to Power Vehicles
This is an outstanding idea, but I suspect there will be strong resistance to it from the oil and natural gas corporations. An infrastructure will need to be constructed to allow one's vehicle to be recharged throughout the day as most individuals would drive enough miles to require a recharging. I cannot see this in a widespread way for at least several years and probably longer. Parking meters should probably be altered to be power outlets and shopping center parking lots will need power banks placed at some spaces to start with and most over time. And we still need tens of thousands of wind turbines to be constructed in and put in place on the grid throughout the wind regions of the nation.
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B. A Fantastic Computer Game
SPORE is a new computer game being released soon that basically allows the user to create life and a life - supporting environment in a complete evolutionary process. Simulation games like this require users to engage in creativity and thoughtfulness to successfully excecute the programs, unlike most other games that are based on violence using firearms, weaponry, knives, vehicles, and ruthlessness. Expect this to be the game of choice for many that have not been already tainted by the violence oriented spate of games.
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C. Joe Biden and Delaware
There are a lot of blowhards and loudmouths both praising and deriding the poor choice of Sarah Palin as the GOP veep, but this report has a great comparative article on Joe Biden and his many years of service to the citizens of Delaware, many of which are included here. Biden is clearly qualified to be the next Vice - President of this nation, while Palin is unqualified to be a parent, let alone to be a heartbeat away from the most important job on the planet.
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D. CEO Pay Needs Sharp Serious Reductions
Currently if one makes minimum wage for 40 hours per week for all 52 weeks of the year, they earn $13,624. I can see, at the most, money being paid to an executive or owner of a company with minimum wage employees being seventeen times that amount at the most, or $231,608. Federal and state laws need to be enacted that place a full dollar for dollar tax on executive pay that exceeds that amount if the corporation has any business with any government. Greater penalties should be in place for the grossest indiscretions such as being greater than 35 to 1 disparities. Paying executives and high management like sports athletes and actors is one of the largest crises facing the nation. It makes workers and consumers the losers as well as all taxpayers.
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E. Canadian Glacier Ice Melt
This week's regular news of the collapsing ecosystem in the Arctic region.
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F. Seawater to Make Deserts Productive
I expect to see this kind of technology to be in place, perhaps even in Arizona or California, in the next ten to fifteen years, as it shows alot of promise to open up currently largely useless land for productive agricultural purposes with the need to feed the increasing population always a concern.
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*****
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G. The One Issue Republicans Cannot Let Go Of
The more things change, the more they stay the same. There continues to be a large number of Republicans focused exclusively on this issue in spite of all the much larger and important issues out there. Its been that way for over 30 years and probably will for many more years in spite of its overall insignificance.
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*****
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H. Another Consequence of Our Broken Economy
Lets hope this will be a fading issue by the time the 2012 elections come around.
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*****
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I. Governments: Almost Completely Anti - Labor
We used to have governments that worked for the benefits of workers and their families. In the last twenty to thirty years most governments are largely bought and paid for by corporations, the wealthy, the elite, and special interests. And it really shows everyday in most every way.
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*****
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J. Alaskans Clean up on Oil Royalties
Over $ 3200 per person ! Nice compensation for putting up with the high prices, isolation, brutal weather, and risk of being attacked by a wild beast. Too bad Wyoming with all its oil and coal wealth cannot figure out a way to give back to its citizens like me at least to a smaller extent. Oh, thats right, they do not want to tax corporations for doing business in the state and not sharing their profits internally, taking all the monies out of state and not giving back hardly at all to communities throughout the state. It could be done in Wyoming and possibly other states like North Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, and elsewhere with a more enlightened and progressive tax policy towards out of state corporations doing business.
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*****
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K. Pot Empties at Federal Highway Department
This is a grave problem that needs to be addressed soon. I look for a switch from a cents per gallon tax basis on fuel to one that is percentage based. Taxes will also have to go up on commercial vehicles and federal taxes on motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts / services will have to be instituted on a progressive basis in order to ensure adequate funding exists for highway and road maintenance, upkeep, improvements, and new constructions which will always be of a critical important need throughout the nation.
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L. Real Estate Valuation Websites
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