Month: March 2011

Limbaugh: The Biggest Ass In America

by digby

Jesus H. Christ:

Nuclear Plutocrats

by digby

Here’s an interesting article about the world’s primary builder of nuclear power plants: GE. Read the whole thing, but this excerpt may at least partially explain why the administration became gung-ho on nuclear recently:

Back in November, President Obama was in India pushing that country’s government to pass legislation exempting GE from liability for nuclear “accidents.” That idea is probably not going to go very far now.

Jeffrey Immelt, the chairman and CEO of GE and a big friend of Obama’s (he was named to an unpaid post as “jobs czar” by the president earlier this year, despite the company’s long record of exporting US jobs to places like China and India), says it’s “too soon” to assess the impact on the company’s nuclear business prospects of the nuclear “accidents” in northern Japan.

I just saw a story on CNN about intense lobbying by the nuclear industry this week on the hill. They aren’t even waiting for the catastrophe to start writing checks.

Considering President Obama’s odd Reagan fixation, their friendship shouldn’t be any surprise:

There seems to be something of a misapprehension among Americans about the influence of Big Business in our politics began in the 1980s. It’s true that this gilded age really took off when the Reagan Revolution hit and they instituted their frenzy of deregulation and tax cuts. But it had long been in the works.

This comes from a speech by GE Chief Jeff Immelt at the Ronald Reagan centennial celebration, which GE is helping to sponsor:

Mr. Reagan walked every assembly line at GE. Every single one. He had lunch with employees in the cafeteria. He listened. He wowed managers and impressed our customers. He hit the Rotary, the local Chamber of Commerce, the Kiwanis, and the Elks.

Our CEO at the time, Ralph Cordiner, told Mr. Reagan: “I am not ever going to censor anything you say. You are speaking for yourself. Say what you believe.”

And so he did, writing and delivering the message that would become known as “The Speech,” his testament of faith in the virtues and abilities of free people and the great country they had built. In 1964, he gave a famous version of that speech before a national audience on behalf of presidential candidate Barry Goldwater, and began one of the most successful American political careers of the 20th century.

GE saw his roving ambassadorship as a way to engage with its workforce. Mr. Reagan saw it as an education.

He had been interested in politics long before that, of course. He was a union leader. But when GE hired him they were grooming him. And he delivered.

Go poke around at that site for a while to get a sense of just how entwined General Electric and Reagan really were. It’s very creepy.

In fact, General Electric and the entire political class have been thoroughly entwined for many decades. And if the BP spill is any example, even Japan is unlikely to change that.

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Michael Moore In Lansing

by digby

You may have heard that the “One Tough Nerd” Governor of Michigan is attempting to turn the state into a full blown kleptocracy. But you might not have heard that there is a huge rally today in Lansing to protest his actions.

Michael Moore’s crew is there covering it in depth. If you need some respite from the horror in Japan, click over. It will make you feel better.

Michael Moore.com

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Now This Is Winning The Future

by digby

In case you were wondering if there’s any way to achieve energy independence without relying on nuclear power — there is:

There are many reasons to move to a sustainable energy system: fossil fuel supplies getting tighter, easy oil increasingly having to be replaced by uneasy oil, accelerating climate change. And most indications are that we’ll have to go there as soon as possible.

But is it possible? And when? At Ecofys, we’ve been working for 25 years on our mission: “a sustainable energy supply for everyone.” Two years ago, we figured it was about time to bring all our experts together to find out whether that really makes sense. Excited by our first findings, we found WWF willing to commission an in-depth study. And since today, the word is out! Or actually, 250 pages of it, in what’s now called “The Energy Report.” And the good news is: it’s possible indeed, by 2050.

Read on. It’s not impossible.

If this nuclear disaster doesn’t wake people up nothing will.

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Ego-Down

by digby

Marcy Wheeler has a post up about the new “smock” that Quantico has given Bradley Manning. It’s quite the outfit:

This is used for people on suicide watch. But Manning isn’t under suicide watch so you have to wonder why they are doing this.

There are some precedents for putting prisoners in a silly get-up for other reasons, however:

From Maj. Gen. George Fay’s investigation:

“There is also ample evidence of detainees being forced to wear women’s underwear, sometimes on their heads. These cases appear to be a form of humiliation, either for [Military Police] control or for [Military Intelligence} ‘ego down.'”

[…]

The investigation notes: “There is no record of an Interrogation Plan or any approval documents which would authorize these techniques. The fact these techniques were documented in the Interrogation Report suggests, however, that the interrogators believed they had the authority to use clothing as an incentive, as well as stress positions, and were not attempting to hide their use.

What’s “ego down”?

Pride-and-ego down is a US Army term that refers to techniques used by captors in interrogating prisoners to encourage cooperation, usually consisting of “attacking the source’s sense of personal worth” and in an “attempt to redeem his pride, the source will usually involuntarily provide pertinent information in attempting to vindicate himself.”

The government needs to realize that these cutesy responses to criticism are leading more and more people to the conclusion that they are behaving suspiciously like the Rumsfeld regime. It would certainly appear that the military didn’t learn much of a lesson from their excesses over the past decade. And this time they don’t even have a violent terrorist attack to provide an unconvincing excuse for their actions.

Manning is an accused whistleblower not a terrorist. (And that’s not to say that they should be treated in these ways either…) The administration sanctioning the arrogant mistreatment of this man in these highly suspect ways is a disgrace.

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Grand Bargains and Adult Conversations

by digby

Yesterday the Wall Street Journal reported that the “adult conversation” about the “grand bargain” had begun in earnest. (And yes, it used those exact phrases, which should tell you something about the thrust of the piece):

Don’t look now, but an adult conversation has begun on the federal budget deficit. Away from the shrill noise of Congress’s battle over spending this year, Washington has quietly begun the most serious debate on long-term deficit-reduction in decades—the “adult conversation” that political leaders have said will be needed to address this fiscal year’s forecast of a $1.65 trillion deficit and the nation’s long-term fiscal woes.

Here is the thumbnail sketch of why the environment is allegedly so ripe for these “adults” to “bargain”:

Among the signs of a changing climate: • When several senators held a policy-heavy briefing on deficit reduction in the middle of an ice storm last month, more than 40 of their colleagues—almost half the Senate—showed up. • Democrats initially wanted to freeze discretionary spending this year, but retreated almost without a fight. Debate on the remaining 2011 budget is now entirely about what, not whether, to cut. • Cuts in entitlement programs, untouchable just months ago, are being pursued by both House Republicans and Senate Democrats, in very different ways. The recent stalemate over cuts to domestic discretionary spending in this year’s budget has underscored how little can be saved in those programs, which make up only 12% of the budget • Some of the most conservative Republicans in the Senate, such as Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, have pushed back against criticism from anti-tax activists, and remained open to revenue increases as part of a broad deficit-reduction deal.

Call me crazy but I’d be skeptical that the Republicans will agree to tax hikes in this environment. And getting Coburn and a couple of others won’t help, although it could entice some Democrats to go out on a limb and have it chopped out from under them in 2012. (I know John Boehner “promised” they wouldn’t run against Democrats on SS if they agreed to a Grand Bargain, but I’m fairly sure David Koch and Karl Rove don’t feel bound by it.

And what’s happening at the White House on this? Well, looks like that “Team ‘O Rivals” are having another spat. The Hill reports:

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling and Sperling’s deputy, Jason Furman — leading figures in the president’s economic team — are pressing Obama to cut Social Security benefits if necessary, say sources familiar with their positions.

But Obama’s political team, led by David Axelrod, David Plouffe and Jim Messina, are urging the president to understand that backing benefit cuts could prove disastrous to his 2012 reelection hopes, sources say.
o were making the
The political team is winning the argument so far, but internal debate rages at the White House as Republicans in Congress insist sweeping efforts to restore government finances must include Social Security reform.

A source is quoted as saying that some of those who were making the spurious point that Social Security is better cut under Democrats than Republicans (Sperling, Furman)are holding fast to that approach despite the fact that the Tea Party wrecking crew is holding more power in the negotiations than ever.

The political folks are smart enough to realize that cutting Social security is incredibly politically risky and they don’t want to try to get Obama (and other Democrats) re-elected with that albatross around their necks.

It’s the “forward leaning” Geithner who is leading the charge. And why? Confidence fairies and bond vigilantes, of course:

Geithner and his lieutenants argue that benefits reform will give the markets confidence that Obama and Congress have the will to address the problem of long-term national debt…

Geithner told the Ways and Means Committee in February that Congress must shore up the trust fund. He said the president would work with lawmakers but would not accept drastic cuts.

“We will reject plans that slash benefits; that fail to protect current retirees, people with disabilities and the most vulnerable; or that subject Americans’ retirement savings to the whims of the stock market,” Geithner told lawmakers.

Democrats opposing any cuts worry that Geithner left the door open to benefit reductions that are characterized as modest by centrist Democratic policy experts, such as raising the retirement age from 67 to 68 by the year 2050.

The word “slash” is a specific talking point. They all use it. As far as I know, no reporter has yet cornered any of them on the difference between “cut” and “slash” and what they mean by it.

Democratic sources who have discussed reforming entitlement programs with senior White House officials say the debate continues behind the scenes.

“It’s not over,” said a centrist Democratic policy expert who has urged the administration to raise the retirement age, recalculate cost-of-living adjustments and raise the limit on income subject to payroll taxes.

“I know there are people in the administration who think Social Security should be done and some people who think it shouldn’t,” said this source. “I think the political people in general think it’s a bad idea and the economic and policy people think it’s a good idea.”

This is an interesting insight because what it really illuminates is the fact that Obama’s economic team’s main job is to “send messages” to the bond market. As Krugman has written extensively, this is a particularly bankrupt and almost desperate move that makes little economic sense unless the Treasury Dept has now literally bought into the idea that they need to sacrifice human beings to appease the market Gods.

It’s not reassuring at all that it’s only the political actors who are arguing against cuts because Social Security is not contributing in any way to the deficit or the current economic challenges. The last people who should be advocating for this are the policy people and the fact that they are is very disturbing. It’s either fantasy or corruption.

Update: The Hill article frames the social security issue in an interesting way:

The trust fund itself has a theoretical $2.6 trillion surplus, but that money has been spent by the federal government like general revenues. The payback has arrived at a very difficult time, when Washington is running a $1.6 trillion budget deficit.

Actually, the government invested the money in Treasury bonds. So I have an idea. Instead of failing to pay off the Treasury bonds that are owed to average Americans, we tell all the wealthy aristocrats who put their millions in T-bills that we aren’t going to pay them instead. The American workers are not the only ones who invest in the American future. There’s no reason why they should be the ones asked to take a lower return.

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The other little creatures

by digby

I was wondering about the animals earlier today. The Japanese are huge cat lovers (as am I.) Obviously, the first concern is for the people but I do hope this determined little guy made it:

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Blue America Chat With Jared Polis

by digby

… happening at Crooks and Liars right now. Howie writes:

Last year, while many Democrats were failing to draw enough of their former supporters to the polls — two incumbents, Blue Dogs Betsy Markey and John Salazar, were defeated in districts adjacent to Jared’s — Democrats and independents in CO-2 were anything but disappointed in their freshman Representative. Jared had run on a strongly pro-jobs, pro-family, pro-equality candidate and few freshmen worked as tirelessly as he did to deliver. He was rewarded with a hefty 57% of the vote (148,720 to be exact, over 15,000 more votes than the Democratic performance in the previous midterm). His latest legislative initiative is H.R. 998, the Student Non-Discrimination Act, a widely supported, bipartisan bill that will add sexual orientation and gender identity to the Title 9 protections afforded students who are victims of bullying. From Jared’s website:

Every day, students who are, or are perceived to be, lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) are subjected to pervasive discrimination, including harassment, bullying, intimidation and violence, which is harmful to both students and our education system. While civil rights protections expressly address discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability or national origin, they do not explicitly include sexual orientation or gender identity and, as a result, LGBT students and parents have often had limited legal recourse for this kind of discrimination. To address this lack of protection and ensure that all students have access to public education in a safe environment free from discrimination, including harassment, bullying, intimidation and violence, the Student Non-Discrimination Act establishes a comprehensive Federal prohibition of discrimination in public schools based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity and provides victims with meaningful and effective remedies, modeled after Title IX.

When I talked with Jared on the phone yesterday, he reminded me to ask everyone to sign up to get action updates from the Fearless Campaign which will help them develop an effective activist base across the country. Please join us in the comments section below for a free ranging chat with Congressman Polis

Defend The American Dream

by digby

All eyes are on Japan, but today might be a good day to be with other people. And here’s a good cause:

Republicans in Congress are holding the middle class hostage—proposing a federal budget that would would cut 700,000 to 1 million jobs from our communities and slash funding to support preschool and college students, pregnant women, unemployed workers, and much more. This isn’t a budget, it’s a slap in the face to the public workers, services, and institutions making the American Dream possible. We have until the March 18 budget deadline to push Congress in another direction. So after work on Tuesday, March 15, we’re mobilizing Defend the Dream events in all 50 states at our schools, libraries, fire stations, hospitals, and parks to stand up against Republican attacks. If we can mobilize thousands of people again for a national day of action before the March 18 deadline, we’ll give progressive fighters in Congress a better chance to stave off cuts and pass a budget that invests in the Dream. We’ll show our support for the public workers, services, and institutions making a difference in our lives—but we’ll also make sure that Congress knows we’ll hold them accountable for their vote.

Find your event here.

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Some myths and facts about radiation poisoning

by digby

Time magazine put together this short article to explain the effects of radiation on humans. I don’t know how comprehensive or even how right it is, but it’s worth reading if you’re wondering. The upshot is that the problems at Fukushima present a serious danger to the Japanese, although how much is in dispute. (There is almost none to the US.) And surprisingly, the threat is apparently less from particles in the air than from it getting into the food chain, specifically in dairy products. I had no idea.

For those of you on the west coast who will be watching the jet stream regardless of the assurances that it would take a major nuclear explosion to affect the US, this assessment from Weather Underground may set your mind at ease:

I’ve been performing a number of runs of HYSPLIT over past few days, and so far great majority of these runs have taken plumes of radioactivity emitted from Japan’s east coast eastwards over the Pacific, with the plumes staying over water for at least 5 days. Some of the plumes move over eastern Siberia, Alaska, Canada, the U.S., and Mexico in 5 – 7 days. Such a long time spent over water will mean that the vast majority of the radioactive particles will settle out of the atmosphere or get caught up in precipitation and rained out. It is highly unlikely that any radiation capable of causing harm to people will be left in atmosphere after seven days and 2000+ miles of travel distance. Even the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, which had a far more serious release of radioactivity, was unable to spread significant contamination more than about 1000 miles.

For the truly paranoid, this environmental reporter is going to be measuring radiation in Santa Monica starting tomorrow if you want to check.

On the other hand, if you want total reassurance, catch the General Buck “I’m not saying we won’t get our hair mussed” Turgidson of nuclear scientists, from the wingnut “Heartland Institute”. He is appearing all over television saying that Fukishima is working perfectly and anyone who says otherwise is a punk:

Heartland Science Director Jay Lehr was a guest on more than a dozen TV and radio programs today, talking about the crisis at the nuclear power plants in Japan. Tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern, Jay will be on “Hannity” on the Fox News Channel. Short version of his message: This is nothing like Chernobyl, and (officially) still qualifies as less serious than Three Mile Island. It was the first “don’t panic” message Jay delivered publicly to the local Fox News station in Chicago on Friday. And others commentators are now repeating it as the MSM starts to catch up to him in its coverage. You can listen to or download Jay’s appearance on the Sean Hannity Show with the player above. Click here to listen to Jay on the G. Gordon Liddy Show.
In what might come as a bit of a surprise to our right-leaning readers, Jay has been on MSNBC twice to talk about this crisis, and might be on again tomorrow. A producer for MSNBC said Jay was “just a fantastic guest.”

Call me nuts but that fellow doesn’t sound all that trustworthy.

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