The Iran Nuclear Update

A report by William Broad and David Sanger of the New York Times reports the International Atomic Energy Agency of the United Nations said it had discovered an additional 460 lbs. of low enriched uranium, a third more than Iran had previously disclosed.  The Agency made its find during its annual physical inventory of nuclear materials at Iran's desert enrichment plant at Natanz.   Iran had produced a total of 1,010 kilograms of low enriched uranium. 

 

Those who want war with Iran will try to use this information as a pretext to invade that country and will soon start a fear campaign to sway public opinion.  The discrepancy came to light when the report noted that the new total came from the addition of 171 kilograms of new production to 839 kilograms of old production.  But the agency had previously reported the old production as 630 kilograms.  Iran is actually operating 200 more centrifuges that is used to enrich uranium than listed in the previous agency report and has 1600 more in the wings.  The head of the agency, Mohammad ElBaradei said Iran appeared to have made a political decision to do less enrichment than it physically could.

 

What does all this mean?  It means that the agency who is responsible for monitoring the situation is doing its job and disclosing the facts as they know exists in Iran.  On the other hand, Israel, Pakistan and India continue their nuclear weapons program without checks and balances from the agency.  No one knows what those 3 countries are doing.  It should be obvious that the greatest threat to use WMD would come from those countries.  Iran, because of its leadership make up, has a more stable government than Israel, Pakistan or India.

 

The Obama administration and its new foreign policy team will have an opportunity with the right approach to bring the situation under control and prevent another tragic war in that part of the world.  The President and world leaders must also call Israel, Pakistan and India to account for their nuclear programs and open them up to inspection like the U.S., British, French, Germany, Iran and other countries who are part of the Nuclear Non Proliferation  Treaty.  If that is not pursued other nations will feel they should be free of constraints to develop WMD. 

Bailouts And Stimulus

President Bush and his Treasury Sectary Paulson asked congress to pass a bail out package for Wall Street financial institutions in the amount of $700 billion.  Congress did so, Bush signed the bill and his administration gave out $350 billion with no strings attached.  The second $350 billion was turned over to President Obama to use.

 

President Obama urged congress to pass a stimulus package and congress did so to the tune of $787 billion and Obama signed the bill.  Every one knows the reasons given by Bush and Obama for the legislation.  There has been much pro and con on both pieces of legislation concerning taxpayers money being used for the purpose stated.  The American people have a right to be concerned and should insist that safeguards be attached to protect their tax investments.

 

There is hope for the people in all of this.  The government bailed out Chrysler and Mexico a number of years ago with tax payers money and the money was repaid with interest.  So the government does know how to safeguard the taxpayers investment.  There were voices at that time that said Chrysler and Mexico would never repay the money and they were wrong.

 

The opposite happened concerning the Savings and Loan crisis in the 80's during the Reagan administration.  That meltdown was different and resulted in the closure of hundreds of S&L and cost the taxpayers over $150 billion which has never been recovered. 

 

In my judgement the biggest problem with the two expenditures is it will add $1.4 trillion to the deficit and national debt on top of the 8 years of record deficits and debt by the Bush administration.  I do have confidence that the Obama administration will make deficit reduction a priority in line with bringing back the economy and creating jobs.  Obama has already  made the commitment.  Bush never made a commitment to balance the federal budget  That is a huge difference.  The American people need to hold President Obama and congress responsible for returning the government to balance budgets.  It was accomplished before after 12 straight years of deficit spending and debt by Reagan and Bush 41 and it must be accomplished again. 

Food For Thought That Matters

With the economy in the shape it is in, Americans still losing their jobs, bail outs and stimulus plans, it is time to take a good look how past Presidents performed in office fiscally and how they protected or wasted the taxpayers money.  The current talk is all about future deficits so lets see what Presidents in the past really showed and executed leadership on the subject. 

 

Presidents don't spend federal dollars but it is their leadership that points our fiscal house in the right direction with a sound fiscal and economic policy, the veto pen and the wisdom to recognize problems.  Why is looking at the past so important?  Because it is the key to the future of changing the status quo and understanding the wrong decisions of the past.  Only fools make the same mistake twice and when we are talking about trillions of taxpayers dollars wasted that is criminal.  Below is the list of Presidents who served beginning with fiscal year 1970, Nixon's first budget year and ending with Bush 43 fiscal budget year ending 9/30/08.  Bush's final fiscal budget year does not end until 9/30/09 so no numbers are available for that year yet.

 

Fiscal Years 1970-1977:  The Nixon-Ford Presidency: 

 

Did not balance one federal budget in the 8 years served.

Accumulated a total budget deficit of $250.8 Billion during that term in office.

That worked out to be an average yearly deficit of $31.3 billion.

Nothing was paid down on the governments public debt.

 

 

Fiscal Years 1978-1981:  The Carter Presidency:

 

Did not balance one federal budget in the 4 years served.

Accumulated a total budget deficit of $252.7 billion during that term in office.

That worked out to be an average yearly deficit of $63.1 billion.

Nothing was paid down on the governments public debt.

 

 

Fiscal Years 1982-1989:  The Reagan Presidency

 

Did not balance one federal budget in the 8 years served:

Accumulated a total budget deficit of $1.4 Trillion during that term in office.

That worked out to be an average yearly deficit of $176.5 billion.

Nothing was paid down on the governments public debt.

 

 

Fiscal Years 1990-1993:  The George Herbert Walker Bush Presidency

 

Did not balance one federal budget  in the 4 years served:

Accumulated a total budget deficit of $1.03 Trillion during that term in office.

That worked out to be an average yearly deficit of $258.9 billion.

Nothing was paid down on the governments public debt.

 

Fiscal Years 1994-2001:  The Clinton Presidency.

 

Ran declining deficits the first 4 years in office to the tune of $496.5 billion.  Ran surpluses last 4 years in office with balanced budgets in last 4 years in office. 

Accumulated a budget surplus of $62.8 billion during his term in office.

That worked out to be an average yearly surplus of $7.9 billion.

Paid down $453 billion on the governments public debt.

 

Fiscal Years 2002-2008:  The George W. Bush Presidency.

 

Did not balance one federal budget in first 7 years in office.

Accumulated a total budget deficit of $2.13 Trillion during his first 7 years in office.

That worked out to be an average yearly deficit of $304 billion.

Nothing was paid down on the governments public debt.

 

Note:  Mr. Bush has one more fiscal year budget that ends 9/30/09.  The CBO has already reported the deficit for Mr. Bush's last fiscal year budget will run approximately $1 trillion. 

 

The above represents over $5 trillion of deficit spending not counting Mr. Bush's last budget which is slated to add another $1 trillion to the total.  When you add the interest Uncle Sam has paid on the borrowed money to finance the deficit spending it comes to over $7 Trillion.  That's a total of over $12 trillion.  If any one thinks that is being fiscally responsible, may God help America.  That $7 trillion paid in interest did not educate one child or improve the quality of life for the people. 

 

The past dictates that the future has to change and that Presidents have to set a new course and be fiscally responsible with the taxpayers money.  Real economic and fiscal plans that work and are realistic have to be adopted.  Meanwhile, the people should tune out CNBC and CNN's so called money advise shows.  Journalists on those programs never touch on the massive deficits and debt.  They along with the financial institutions who love those trillions of dollars in interest paid on the debt have failed the American people.

 

The numbers of the Bush 43 Presidency have been devastating.  The American people need to demand change and never take no for an answer.  This is a critical time that should never have been with the proper fiscal Presidential leadership.  It is ironic that those Presidents who claimed to be conservatives hurt our country and people the most with their reckless spending.  They not only failed the test, they were given 28 years at the helm of the American ship and failed big time. 

Above information on Budget numbers taken from Congressional Budget Office Reports.

A Time To Move Forward

Now that the Presidents stimulus plan has been signed into law and his proposal to help rescue millions of Americans because of foreclosure on their homes has been announced, it is time to look forward and work for a better world for our children and grand children.  There is still much to be accomplished to reverse the greed and damage that the nation has experienced but the people can not and should not be side tracked from the journey ahead.

 

No matter what happens, the negative voices on radio and television will continue to try and divide America and its people.  We know from the past those voices have nothing to offer for the advancement of idea's that will carry our nation and people in the right direction to solve the problems of the past that have been with us far to long.

 

Our country has not survived over 200 years of history by accident.  We have had more good leaders than bad who put country and its people first, who overcame doubt with positive action.  A nation with ideals was our founders compass and every time we strayed from those ideals, a new leader emerged to get us back on tract.  We live in an imperfect world and we and our leaders are imperfect people, but we know right from wrong, good from evil, truth from lies and fact from fiction.  Therefore we have the ability to tune out those negative no nothing voices who try to divide us. 

 

Our people have to become once again leaders instead of followers.  Our future depends on that attitude, that can do spirit that rise above all the petty ideology that has harmed the country with personal superiority that is preached by those negative voices.  The future is ours to improve and safeguard for future generations.  We know the way because we have experienced the past and the failures.  All of us have a stake in life to make it better and for all of us to share in the benefits of what can be.  Anything short of that is a betrayal of what America is all about. 

AWOL On Obama's Stimulus Plan

Louisiana U.S. Representatives in congress, republicans Anh Joseph Cao and Steve Scalise met with port of New Orleans executives and other industry leaders to promote the ports master plan for 2020 reported the New Orleans Times Picayune in an articled published February 18.  The story pointed out port CEO Gary LaGrange said the key to job creation and to keep those jobs was more investment in the port by the state and federal governments.

 

Scalise said money needs to be poured into improving the port because it has been neglected for years by the state.  It was noticeable Scalise failed to point out he served in the state legislature during that time.  It was also noted that the meeting coincided with President Obama signing the stimulus plan passed by congress and opposed by both Scalise and Cao.  Their excuse for not supporting the stimulus plan in congress made them feel inadequate so they met with port officials to push for state and federal help for the port.

 

The stimulus plan passed by congress will put industry and people to work and ship material thru the port of New Orleans but Scalise said the plan was not responsible at a time when we need to control spending.  He was obviously talking about the record deficit spending and debt created by Mr. Bush the last 8 years.  The American people can be sure that the next President to control spending and balance the federal budget will be another democrat.  Mr. Scalise and Mr. Cao's party have no record to run on when it comes to controlling spending and balancing the budget.

 

Scalise and Cao may be new republican faces in congress but their ideology still represents the failed policies of the past that has been devastating the country and the people.

The Democrats Respond To Corporate Greed

The $787 billion economic stimulus plan that passed the House and Senate contains a provision that would impose restrictions on executive bonuses at financial institutions.  The provisions would prohibit cash bonuses and almost all other incentive compensation for the 5 most senior officers and the 20 highest paid executives at large companies that receive money under the TARP program, the New York Times reported.

 

The provisions was written by Democratic Senator Chris Dodd and would bar top executives from receiving bonuses that exceed 1/3 of their annual salary.  Bonus money would have to be in the form of long term incentives, like restricted stock, which cannot be cashed out until the TARP money is paid back in full.  The new rules will help ensure that taxpayer dollars non longer effectively subsidize lavish Wall Street bonuses Dodd said.  The top economic advisers to President Obama opposed the pay restrictions.

 

I believe that Dodd's provision and the Democrats willingness to embrace this common sense approach captures the feeling of the people concerning Corporate greed and the need to control this transfer of wealth.  It should be noted that only 3 republican Senators voter yes for the economic stimulus plan while all republicans in the House voted No.

 

President Obama and those that voted for the plan were willing to face the severe problem the economy is in and take action they believe was required.  Future action by the President and congress should be progressive and tackle those problems that have been left to fester by the previous administration.

 

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal

Does he really represent a new thinking for the republican party like people in the news media say as they promote him the rising star of the GOP.  The press in Louisiana is promoting him as such every chance they have.  As of this writing his accomplishments have been little in the year that he has been governor.  Obviously that is not long enough to judge the merits so lets look at some of his comments to try and understand what his ideology may really be.

 

In the February 12 issue of the Times Picayune on page A-15 Jindal told an audience in North Carolina that voters in 2006 and 2008 fired the republicans in congress and in the minds of too many the republican party has become the party big government spending, earmarks and the party of corruption in Washington, the party of Wall Street and big corporations.  No one can disagree with that description of the GOP but he forgot to mention that the GOP is the party of record deficit spending and debt creation.  In fact the last 5 republican Presidents in the last 38 years have not balanced one federal budget in all those years.  He neglected to mention that the republican party has no record of creating a sustained economy or job creation.

 

Jindal's was reported to say his solution would be to restore what he calls America's core cultural values, which he says are under assault by Television, Hollywood, the music industry and the Internet.  If that sounds familiar it should because that is the same ideology Ronald Reagan ran on almost 30 years ago and every republican President since.  There is nothing new there for Jindal.  It is the same divisive issues used in the past by the republican party.  One would think with the U.S. in the deepest economic trouble in 50 years, with massive job loses the governor would have something to say to address that priority.  It should be noted that Governor Jindal said that if he was still a member of congress he would have opposed both the House and Senate version of the stimulus plan as reported by the Times Picayune on Feb. 11, page A-4.  Jindal did not say what he would do to help the economic recovery.

 

Gov. Jindal failed his leadership role when he was silent when the Louisiana legislature raised its members pay which outraged the public and finally the governor vetoed the measure when it got to be his hot potato.  He supported the cancellation of the Stelly Tax plan which the Time Picayune reported cost the state a loss of over $300 million in revenue.  Now with the next state budget projecting a huge deficit the governor has mandated cuts in higher education and other area's. 

 

Commissioner of higher education Sally Clausen said her staff and the state's college system presidents have been looking at economies in programs as they face cuts as much as $382 million in the coming year as reported in the Times Picayune of Feb. 13, page A-2.  The loss in revenue of the Stelly plan has made the budget crisis worse.  There is no question there are times to cut taxes but republicans have a history of cutting taxes for votes and then get into the pockets of the average citizen 100 different ways.  Governor Jindal talks a good game but real action on important issues are lacking. 

 

Jindal has had fund raising events out of state in North Carolina, Arkansas, Florida, Texas, Connecticut and Mississippi so far to date.  It is obvious his mind is on a national office.  I have no problem with that but his priority should be the people of Louisiana.  A changed republican?  The record so far does not support that conclusion.

Update on Previous Commentary of Politidose

This will update Part III of "The U.S. Economy, What Party Performs Best" published on February 25, 2008.

 

The budget deficit is in for fiscal year ending 9/30/08 concerning Bush's second to last budget.  The deficit came in at $454.8 billion.  Another record for Mr. Bush and it does not even contain any of the $700 billion bail out package Mr. Bush urged congress to pass.  That will come in Mr. Bush's final budget ending fiscal 9/30/09.  The 2008 budget deficit is just another reminder of the damages caused and created by republican policies.  Mr. Bush's administration has the distinction of having the four worst budget deficits in U.S. history and still has one more budget to go.

 

The damages caused by Bush's reckless spending and debt is compounded by the loss of the projected $5.6 trillion surplus projected by the Clinton administration that Bush used to justify his tax reductions that benefited the wealthy the most.  One can understand why the economy has failed and so many jobs have been lost under Mr. Bush's administration.  Conservative republicans?  Their record proves otherwise. 

Another First For Politidose

Current economic conditions has prompted journalists in the news media and our elected officials in congress to finally speak out against Corporate America's greed that has been rewarding CEO's and executives lavish bonuses and other financial benefits while their companies are loosing billions of dollars and their workers loosing their jobs and benefits.  However, they have been silent for far too long.  Make no mistake this transfer of wealth goes back to the Reagan years.

 

The problem was pointed out in politidose in two articles dated November 23, 2007 titled, "Corporate America, Leaving The Average Worker in The Dust:"  And one reported on July 23, 2008, titled, "Innovation, Lost In America."  This was long before the people found out about the meltdown on wall street and the financial markets.  The media and the republicans have also been silent during the same time concerning the massive deficits and debt created by Ronald Reagan, Bush 41 and Bush 43 during the 20 years they served and ran the country.

 

Journalists and republicans now want to talk about future deficits after the damage has already been done.  Their lack of credibility on the subject speaks for itself.  Both will also forget about Corporate greed in the next few months and will continue to support Corporate greed and the transfer of wealth as legitimate business decisions in a free enterprise system.  That has always been their position in the past.

 

Also look for journalists and republicans to use the current economic situation to open the door for the elimination of Social Security and Medicare.  That is one of the main reasons why the last 3 republican Presidents created so much debt for the country.

Republican Lies And Ditto Heads

For the past eight years our people have been exposed to the lies of President Bush, Dick Chaney and the republicans.  They adopted the philosophy of Karl Rove that if you keep repeating the same lies over and over the people will start to believe they are fact.  President Obama's stimulus proposal before congress is bringing our the same Karl Rove philosophy from some republicans.

 

As reported from the Washington Bureau published in the New Orleans Times Picayune dated February 6, republican Senator David Vitter said this.  "The extra spending (concerning the stimulus) will put the country on a spiral of deficit spending for many years to come."  Fact:  Mr. Vitter forgot to remind the public that the last three republican Presidents have already put our country on a 20 year spiral of deficit spending and debt.

 

Mr.Vitter also said, "I don't know anyone, democratic or republican who wouldn't trade the current economy for the job growth that the Bush, Reagan and Kennedy tax cuts produced."  Fact:  The current economy is the Bush economy that has lost over 3 million jobs in the last 13 months and has produced the lowest job growth since the Eisenhower administration that ended 47 years ago.  President Carter who only served 4 years had a better job growth rate than Bush who served 8 years.  Fact: President Kennedy's tax cut did not favor the wealthy and the Kennedy-Johnson administration produced the only balanced budget besides President Clinton in the past 40 plus years.  The job growth under Reagan does not even come close to Clinton's job growth and of course Reagan never balanced one federal budget in his 8 years in office.  Republicans don't even know the meaning of the word "surplus."

 

Now lets look at what republican Steve Scalise had to say in reply to President Obama's statement that past republican tax cuts have failed and helped to give us the present economic meltdown.  "History shows us that tax cuts have proven to grow the economy and increase revenues to the federal government while also creating jobs.  The problem has been that both republican and democrat have spent even more money thanthe tax cuts brought in."  Fact: History has shown just the opposite.  Republican tax cuts that favor the wealthy and known as trickle down economics have never produced a sustained economy, sustained job creation, low unemployment or a balanced budget.  The unemployment rate is now at 7.6%.  When George Bush took office it was 4.2% thanks to the Clinton administrations fiscal and economic policies.  Fact:  In the past 28 years only republican administrations spent more money that tax cuts brought in.  President Clinton's fiscal and economic policy and selected tax cuts gave the country the greatest economy, created a record number of new jobs and created surpluses.  No republican administration can match that.

 

It is obvious why Mr. Vitter and Mr. Scalise never mentioned the Clinton administration.  It would only remind the people of how well they did during those 8 years and that republicans have no record to run on. Karl Rove's philosophy is still playing out in the name of Vitter and Scalise.

 

Note:  The U.S. Labor Department reported that for the year 2008 the economy lost a net of 2.9 million jobs.  The highest job losses in a single year in the history of our country.  That is Bush and the republican record of what trickle down economics has produced.  Vitter and Scalise do not know the meaning of truth or facts.  Trickle down economics is a myth of those republicans who feel so inadequate they can not tell the facts.

A Conversation With Corporate America

More and more details are coming out each day how CEO's and executives of Corporate America have been fleecing their own companies and their average worker with lavish bonuses for themselves taking billions of dollars.  CNN's Headline News reported that CEO's and executives of wall street, financial firms and other businesses received almost $100 billion in bonuses in 2008.  Yea you read right, that's billions.

 

I reported earlier how Merrill Lynch gave its CEO's and executives approximately $4 billion in bonuses one month early because of the Bank of America buy out.  It matters not that Merrill Lynch was losing billions of dollars at the same time.

 

One can imagine the conversation coming out of Corporate America's board rooms between their CEO's and executives.  I think it went some thing like this.

              Our company is losing billions of dollars and will be reporting that in our financial statements soon.

              We need to reduce our work force, cut salary, cut back working hours, reduce our compensation or

              eliminate our contribution to our workers IRA and 401 plans, reduce insurance benefits and warn

              our employees there will be more cuts to come.  Mean while we will reward our CEO's and

              executives with bonuses, stock options and other benefits despite these difficult times.

 

I believe this type of conversation has taken place in many board rooms in Corporate America and I believe the facts as they are unfolding and being made know every day prove the existence of this type of conversation. 

 

We have a recession that started in December 2007, over 2.6 million jobs have been lost just in the last 12 months and more are announced every day.  Workers pay have been cut and benefits reduced or eliminated, home foreclosures at an all time high and the list goes on and on.  The transfer of wealth from the average worker to Corporate America has been complete.  Greed is the corrupting influence and the people responsible for this transfer of wealth need to be dealt with.  They do not deserve any respect and have no place in the board rooms of Corporate America.

Living With The Cycle Of Time

Most everyone has heard the expression, "things seem to happen in cycles."  That expression is usually used when several events happen in a short period of time.  The truth is we do live in a cycle of time and everything we do is related to that cycle.

 

We count time because of the movement of earth and the moon.  Planet earth takes 365 days to make one complete orbit of the sun.  That cycle of time we count as a year on earth and we also celebrate birthdays on that cycle of time.  At the same time earth is orbiting the sun it is rotating on its axis and takes 24 hours to make one complete revolution.  That 24 hour rotation is the cycle of time we call a day.  The day is divided into twelve double hours that we designate day and night.

 

Our calendar is based on these cycles of time and is a solar calendar.  The Muslim calendar is based on the movement of the moon and is called a lunar calendar.  Earthly time began on earth in 3760 b.c. and the Jewish people still use that calendar today.  The Jewish calendar reads the year 5769 instead of the western world calendar of 2009.

 

The cycle of time fits a mathematical scheme.  The cycle of 60 seconds equals one minute and the cycle of 60 minutes equals one hour.  What do the numbers 12, 24 and 60 have in common?  They can all be divided into 360 evenly, the number of degrees in a circle.  The number 12 has always been considered a sacred number.  There were 12 Apostles, twelve tribes of Israel and 12 houses of the zodiac.

 

Our ancient ancestors built temples that were oriented to earth's movement to tell time and to celebrate various events.  Our nation celebrates Easter on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox.  That is Easters cycle of time.

 

Everything we do in life is related to our way of counting time.  A change in the cycle of time as we know it would result in a disruption of our hours, days, weeks, months, years, night and day, our four seasons and just about everything we touch. 

 

For those who worry about their age factor keep this in mind.  Since we use the cycle of 365 earth days to count one year on our planet, a person who is 75 on earth would be only 6 years of age if he lived on Jupiter because it takes Jupiter approximately 12 earth orbits around the sun to complete one year on Jupiter.  So age is related to the cycle of time of the planet one lives on.  This should give people another perspective how to look at ones age.

 

The average person does not give it much thought but our cycle of time keeping is very orderly and fits in with our place in the universe.

Sean Hannity And Rush Limbaugh: A Sad, Sad Story

Both right wing neocons have popular radio shows and Hannity also has a T.V. show called Hannity's America on the Fox News Network.  Both are going after President Obama since his election but attacking democrats is not new for them.  It is standing procedure even when the republicans ran the country. 

 

People in their line of work could do so much good for the country and its people but their lack of character, truth and facts have betrayed what the broadcast industry should stand for.   They are so full of hate for the people they disagree with it has warped their sense and soul.  Why do these two spend all of their broadcast time attacking people?  I believe the answer is a lack of character that started early on in their lives.  The cause I do not know but I know they do not act like responsible journalists.

 

Both men are still trying to sell their brand of conservatism.  They still say the country is conservative but the last two congressional elections and the recent Presidential election proved them wrong once again.  They fail to recognize that the conservatism they and republicans preach is not the same conservatism the people practice. 

 

Hannity and Limbaugh's vision of America is not the America I know and want nor is it the America our founding fathers fought for and died to establish.  Their ideology is division that along with their conservative allies try to establish.  Wrapping themselves in the American flag is their way to gain attention because they failed to serve during their generations war while most of the people they criticize did. 

 

Their problem runs deep and they are unable to compete in the market place they serve and which makes them incapable of articulating what they and conservatives really stand for.  That is why they spend all their broadcast time attacking others.  They dare not try to justify their little boy world.

 

The type of journalism Hannity and Limbaugh broadcast has no redeeming value because it is based on division without regard for facts or truth.  Their bottom line is to divide and sell an ideology that is incompatible  with American ideals and the foundation America was built on.  The content of their programs is an indication of how inadequate they feel about themselves.

 

Both men have lived over half their life.  Next time they look in the mirror they should ask themselves how did their lives get messed up so much with their phony ideology and figure out what they can do with what ever time they have left to join the human race and be a positive force for America.  Having a popular radio or T.V. show may be the ultimate accomplishment for some but that is not what makes the world go around.  Maybe it is too late for Hannity and Limbaugh to face their problem but they need to look in the mirror soon. 

American-Cuban Relations

I wrote a post on 11/23/07 titled "Cuba, A Missed Opportunity For America."  I explained why opening up diplomatic and normal relations with Cuba was in the best interest of America.  We not learn from wire reports and reports out of Moscow that the President of Russia and Cuba signed a strategic partnership and several other documents aimed at rekindling their faded cold war alliance and pledging to expand cooperation in agriculture, manufacturing, science and tourism.

 

Cuba, being only 90 miles from our shore and once an ally should be a natural ally of America once again.  The reasons why are so obvious they do not have to be stated here.  There can be no doubt that Fidel and Raul Castro would embrace an American contact of good will.  Our 50 year old embargo against Cuba should be replaced with trade, commerce and normal relations.

 

Cuba is no military threat to the U.S. and will not be so into the future if we pursue a foreign policy with common sense towards that island. Had President Kennedy lived we know he was going to make a strong diplomatic effort to bring Cuba back into their normal sphere of influence.  The embargo policy against Cuba has failed to break Castro and has only hurt the people of Cuba.  President Obama should immediately set in motion a diplomatic effort with Cuba to reverse our misguided foreign policy.

The Republican National Committee

The former lieutenant governor of Maryland, Michael Steel, is the first black chairman of the RNC.  With Mr. Steele's selection,  the Republicans will try to enlarge their base and try to build political coalitions that have been lacking.

 

Mr. Steele said he would bring the republican party to every neighborhood and every corner and that its time to try something different.  He also said the republican party has an image problem and that the American people has lost faith in our leadership.  The results of last November's election is clearly visible as to what is going thru the minds of republicans.

 

However, the test for republicans will not be Mr. Steele, it will be who emerges as their party's leader for President.  As of this writing there has been no change in the attitude of the republican leaders in congress.  Will neocons like Newt Gingrich, Bill Bennett, Mitch McConnell, John McCain and others still set the divisive republican tone.  Will Mr. Steele tell the neocon right wing journalists such as Sean Hannity, Bill O'Rielly, William Kristol and Rush Limbaugh to just shut up or will they also continue to be divisive?

 

My recommendations to Mr. Steele is to lead the republican party away from those guys because they have been wrong about everything.  Let go of the phony conservative ideology that your party preaches, confess that republican moral values are no better than the average Americans and that the republican agenda for the future will be an American agenda.  It has already been established that a conservative agenda is a phony agenda.

 

It will be interesting in the next few months to see if there will indeed be a change in the party and its leaders.

Executive Bonuses Investigation

The Associated Press reported New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is investigating bonuses Merrill Lynch paid executives just before being sold to Bank of America.  The investigation will center on trying to determine why the time table for paying bonuses was moved up to December from its normal period in January .

 

Other questions that need to be answered are who knew about the bonuses, how could Merrill Lynch pay those bonuses when it was going to report a $15 billion loss for the 4th quarter and Bank America was seeking more federal funds to help it absorb losses at the investment bank.  Bank America said it knew about the bonuses but had no authority over the pay outs because the Merrill Lynch sale had not been completed.  The Associated Press said the bonuses were in the billions of dollars.

 

Those Merrill Lynch's executives got their greedy bonuses at the same time their company was loosing billions of dollars.  It is not hard to figure why the paying of those bonuses were moved up a month.  Give us our greedy bonuses while the getting is good.  The Attorney General of every state should investigate every financial, wall street and any other firms who received government funds and make  sure none of that money is dedicated to bonuses for the greedy executives.

 

It is really not hard to answer the question; how is all of this happening?  Its corporate greed pure and simple.  The massive wealth that has been transferred to Corporate America's top earners is criminal.  The average American should understand what has been happening to his earnings and buying power and demand change. 

The Quest For Monopoly Continues

The number one drug maker Pfizer said it is buying number twelve drug maker Wyeth for a reported $68 billion.  If this sounds like the economic melt down of the financial industry, wall street and the automotive industry join the club.  Pfizer also announced they plan to cut 8,000 jobs thru 2011 and a total of approximately 11,500 more from the combined total, reported the Associated Press.  Another blow to the economy and the job market.

 

Analysts saw no benefit for consumers.  Pfizer had a $2.3 billion legal settlement over allegations it marketed pain reliever Bextra and possibly other products for indications that had not been approved.  The transaction is supposed to cut cost and make Pfizer more competitive  and of course increase their profits.  But in the final analysis what this buy out will do is transfer wealth from the average worker to the executives and CEO's of the newly structured company.  One almost predicts the layoffs in the future will exceed those already announced and the combined companies will offer our economy nothing positive. 

 

This mega deal should be stopped by the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department.  It will result in a monopoly whereby only the executives and CEO's will benefit and will do nothing to help the economy or the average worker.  It will also guarantee future large increases in the price of their products. 

Democrats Make Their Move On Economic Recovery

The House of Representatives voted 244-188 for the stimulus package President Obama urged them to pass.  Not one republican voted for the bill.  No American is happy about the federal government having to spend $800 billion in order to put the economy back on track and producing jobs for our people.  But the people do understand what has happened to the economy under republican rule that has made it necessary for drastic measures to be taken. 

 

Republicans in the House offered all kinds of excuses why they voted no.  They wanted more tax breaks for corporations;  does that sound familiar?  John  Boehner was proud his party voted no because of the belief a unified position of opposition would force democrats to make concessions;  the economy and job creation would not helped in the short term;  they wanted more tax breaks for the wealthy.

 

If all of that sounds familiar, it should.  Lets rewind to 1993 when newly elected President Clinton sent his economic, fiscal and deficit reduction package to congress.  The democrats who controlled congress at the time passed the package without one republican vote in the House or Senate.  The republicans predicted doom and gloom if the package passed.  They were wrong and Clinton's proposals produced the greatest economy and a sustained record of job creation that any one can remember.  Plus surpluses.

 

At a time when the number of Americans claiming unemployment benefits is the highest since 1967 the republicans want to continue their ideology of trickle down economics that is the main cause of where the economy is today.  They continue to promote those policies that transfer wealth from the middle class.

 

One would think the republican party got the message in the November elections but Senator Mitch McConnell, republican minority leader in a speech to the Republican National Committee told that audience the GOP should embrace its conservative principals.  There in lay the republican problems.  They should abandon their phony conservatism and act like Americans.  We already know the conservative record, record federal deficits and debt, a wrecked economy, high unemployment, record job losses and a core belief in using divisive issues to divide the country. 

 

President Obama and the democrats need to have an American policy based on reality and a roll back of the transfer of wealth from the middle class to the wealthy.  The controls placed on any stimulus plan should work for the benefit of the taxpayer and the country.