n/t

PB 2.0 - Supplement the wonk!

appropriating the legacies of progressive heroes of yore, so it's surprising how reluctant he's been to position himself as the new FDR.

Well, he's also very prone to running out the clock instead of playing a four-quarter game, so perhaps again he won't miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.

But you'd figure just for marketing purposes, it would be smart business for him to burnish his brand with some New Deal goodness, to go along with the Jesus Fitzgerald King, Jr. positioning.

Is he afraid to remind some of his well-heeled supporters of That Roosevelt Man?

move the health care part to the front of the list. otherwise, wonderful. this is *exactly* what the PB2.0 is good at. make this one viral, everyone, pass it on to your friends and families in an email. clear, direct, logical, apolitical. wonderful.

i am virtually giving you a standing ovation.

What a novel concept -- real ideas, presented in a positive and forward thinking manner that do not try to deny the monumental problems facing us -- actual specifics that would provide enormous and necessary help for the American people and would be good for the Democrats in general and Obama specifically.

Thank you very much for this. This is being emailed to those who cannot believe that I don't plan to vote for Obama with the subject heading "This is all it Takes: My Vote for Obama."

Haw.

[ ] Very tepidly voting for Obama [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.

but he's not listening--at all--tragically.

From USA Today a couple of days ago.

The Senate has scuttled a Democratic stimulus proposal to pump $56 billion into public works projects, jobless assistance and Medicaid funding for states, The Associated Press reports.

The 52-42 vote fell eight short of the 60 votes needed to break a Republican filibuster. The White House had promised a veto, saying the measure would not work and would cost too much.

From Reuters

The House of Representatives plans to consider a slightly different stimulus package as soon as Friday afternoon but chances of any stimulus bill becoming law appear slim as the White House has threatened a veto.

The bill would have kept in place a ban on development of domestic oil shale deposits that expires next week.

PS, I don't know where the bible link is coming from in the text about the 52 to 42 vote.

I am not an economist. I don't even play one on the intertubes. But I think there's something wrong with the math in that equation.

We can admit that we're killers ... but we're not going to kill today. That's all it takes! Knowing that we're not going to kill today! ~ Captain James T. Kirk, Stardate 3193.0

THis is a test post.

I guess we need to add her to our calls lists--I'd hoped she would vote against it, but that was probably silly thinking given she's the jr. senator from NY--and most of the state's and city's revenues come from Wall Street.

But, maybe call her and stress that Paulson/Bernanke said they could get away with $150B through January. LImit the damage he and BushCo can do. Use the time to work on things which will actually have a better chance of working. Have hearings for opinions different from the WH/Paulson/Bernanke/Rubin. Like those economists who called it right on just how bad this horror show could be.

Remind her that if $7B is blown, next session the hue and cry will be that we can't afford of any of the programs which worked in the past, like HOLC. Like infrastructure public works/jobs programs. Like Universal Health Care, which will relieve all businesses of the burden of dealing with the rapacious for-profit health insurance companies. Entrepreneurs can focus on great ideas instead of how the insurance companies will raise their rates by double figure percentages each year.

BTW, I heard on NPR yesterday that HOLC requires retail (individual attention) treatment, not wholesale. Up to 20,000 people were employed by HOLC to implement the mortgage assistance to, well, individuals. It will be a jobs program.

I'm disappointed--lost my post which emphasized my disappointment, which may be all to the good.

Now, will try for 3rd time to post--breaking into smaller comments. TBCont'd.

The text of Senator Clinton’s comments in New York follows.

Senator Clinton: Thanks to [Congressman Anthony Weiner] and [Congresswoman Nita Lowey], and to all of the House Democrats and the approximately one third of the House Republicans who stood up today and put partisanship aside, forgot what got us here for just a moment with a focus on what would get us out of the mess we’re in, and voted not only for Wall Street, but for Main Street.

This is not a situation any of us are happy to be in. This is a very tough time for our country and not only for our economy, our financial credit markets, but indeed for the world. There will be plenty of time to figure out what went wrong and how we’re going to come up with new regulations and oversight and demand more accountability.

But we now have to go back to the drawing boards, work together in a bipartisan way and come up with a solution that will actually make a difference for the problems that we are facing. I hope that we’ll be back in Washington as soon as we can. The only reason we’re not still there is because of the Jewish holidays—which everybody understands—but we will go back. I know the Senate will be back on Wednesday. We’re going to see what we can do to try to pick up those additional votes. We were ready to vote today or at the latest on Wednesday because we have faced up to the very unfortunate consequences that inaction produces.

This is not a time when doing nothing will see us through. We have to take action. It’s not a bill that any one of us particularly likes or that we would have written. It’s a compromise. And it’s a heck of a lot better than what we were sent by the Bush Administration last week. It does give us a lot more in the way of tools to try to get at the real problem, to have the kind of accountability and oversight that was needed, to distribute the money in installments so that we can wait and see how this is working.

We’ve got to get back together and I know that the New York delegation stands ready to work as hard as we can. Because despite what are clearly national and international ramifications, this really comes home here. We have tens of thousands of people who are dependent upon the financial services industry, we have thousands of people who run businesses across our state who can’t get the credit they need to stay in business, and we have thousands and thousands of employees. We’ll see the unemployment rate, I predict this week going up dramatically. I’ve talked to a lot of employers here in New York in the last week. They’re laying off people, they don’t see any end in sight unless we get a grip on this and that’s what we’re asking that everybody begin to do again in a bipartisan manner.

Source: Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (My emphasis)

From a blog I found googling.

I guess she's following the Barry-Harry-Nancy-Barney line that Paulson's Fix is the best we can do? Obama is going full bore in favor of it--with the big change being raising FDIC insurance limits to $250K. Wow.

Anyway, Obama is totally wrapped in the bailout policy of President 28% and creator of the largest deficits and debt in the nation's history. Way cool.

Even if the DC pols have decided to call it Recovery for Main Street, it's still the Banker Boiz Bailout. And the only good possibly for Main Street comes in trickling down from the Big Banker Boiz....nasty image.

As I mentioned yesterday, our Dem leaders (NuDems?) have decided that Reagan was right, that trickle down is the way to go. Hopefully, Hillary still believes she can push through what she campaigned on....

Finance types available to staff a HOLC style program these days.

Congressional server overloaded w/ constituent email.

the politicians, or close to that. To not hold them hostage with all these emails and phone calls!!!

And, just now on NewsHour, Sen. McConnell said the market had spoken yesterday and showed it didn't like that the House hadn't passed the Paulson Fix Is In. He promised they R's? D's? Both?) would listen to the market. (Not exact words, best recall as I ran to the PC to type this.)

Okaaaayyy. Let's see: Millions of voters speaking in emails, enough to crash the system, and telephone calls and faxes vs. Big Banker Boiz and Wall Streeters--who get secret private conference calls from Treasury

Who will win the hearts of our Congress Critters???

The MCM is doing yeoman's work in bestirring fear in the hearts and pocketbooks of voters, I notice. Give the MCM (mainstream corporate media) long enough to swamp the airwaves with the messages of the powerful and create doubt and fear--and, lo, hearts and minds may change....

dizzy telling us that all along the Paulson Fix Is In was always about Main Street. Why, it was just that Bernanke and Paulson are such smart money men that they don't even think about marketing aspects of naming legislation.

Honest, they both said, gyrating wildly, it was never a bailout for Wall Street! We were always working on rescue for Main Street! Really.

Now, Tinkerbell will fly in and with her magic wand, make you all understand that "bailout" never existed.

I noticed on NPR that while I was listening there was not one dissenting voice, and there were segments about small business people experiencing some kind of credit problems (ir think they might).

Here on another NewsHour segment, the two economist/pundits are all pro-Paulson Fix Is In. And they're terribly scared about the irresponsibility all around us, Wall Street and politicians. And, for goodness sake, do not get out of the market at this point! But good time to retrench, like putting off buying a different car. Good time to buy a house, if you need a new house. Pay off credit card debt. Economize as we might be in for some bumpy times. (Well, major and multiple D'uhs, gang.)

in, oh, about a week and a half, maybe longer?

Those correctly calling being disappeared from public view?

hmmmmmmm, I wonder who sponsors the NewsHour

OMG, it's PacificLife! wonder if they are looking for a federal handout?

Wonder if we could crash The NewsHour server?

Tell them to put on Roubini and/or James Grant. Time to hear from the people who got it right.

They were going to give Goldman $acks Amerika the money anyway, and Paulson's original proposal is revealed for what it was: a naked grab for unlimited power and money.

No Hell below us
Above us, only sky