Obama responding to the latest Israeli/Palestinian crisis at a press conference in Thailand on 11/18/12 at the start of a three-nation tour in Asia:
"Let's understand what the precipitating event here that's causing the current crisis and that was an ever-escalating number of missiles that were landing not just in Israeli territory but in areas that are populated, and there's no country on Earth that would tolerate missiles raining down on its citizens from outside its borders.”
Obama actually said "There's no country on Earth that would tolerate missiles raining down on its citizens from outside its borders.”
BLANKFEIN: You're going to have to undoubtedly do something to lower people's expectations -- the entitlements and what people think that they're going to get, because it's not going to -- they're not going to get it.
The absolute gall! The President will take to the road in January, after the Bowles-Simpson-type "framework" has already been passed and signed into law. And he will lead the charade that there is still time to change the outcome of "entitlement reform." Even worse, he will do this with the backing of none other than Senator Bernie Sanders.
I reach this conclusion because of the wording of one of Ed's questions to Senator Sanders:
"So Senator, you want President Obama to hit the road after the first of the year (to which Sanders nods), and go sell the American people, just like Bush did in 2005, when he won relection?"
This is an interesting video. An excellent example of "Senate Doublespeak," by pretty much every senator who spoke at this press availability. Read below the fold...
"Necessitous men [women] are not free men [women]," said FDR in his 2nd Bill of Rights speech. This phrase is said to come from a English property law case in 1762.
This morning in the second hour of "UP" with Chris Hayes, Chris had on Greg Fletcher of Our Walmart, Raymond Castillo of Warehouse Workers United, Heather McGee of Demos, and David Frum of free market vampirism. I watch this show to get a bead on what the Democrats are up to and occasionally something really good slips in like hearing real workers talking economics. Read below the fold...
Apparently, many health care insurance experts--most of whom are economists, not health care professionals--believe that federal taxpayer monies spent on healthcare for seniors (Medicare), do not represent an investment, like education spending does.
This is based upon the fact that most Medicare expenditures are for retirees, or "for folks who are no longer productive--or in the work force." So reform, to bring these costs under control is the order of the day.
And the mission is to reform Medicare, turning it into a defined contribution, rather than a defined benefit plan.Read below the fold...
[Hat Tip Radio Show Host Thom Hartmann For Mentioning This Article Several Years Ago--Finally Found It!]
Just thought that it might be of interest. Today's "Grand Bargain" is just the culmination of years of planning by Washington's elite to lower Americans' standard of living. Read below the fold...
"Fiscal Cliff As A Policy Opportunity" -- PLEASE WATCH.
Pete Peterson calls Bowles and Simpson "heroes and patriots."
Alan Simpson calls Peterson "a Prince."
Bowles says: "Pete Peterson laid the foundation for this, we stand on his shoulders."
Then Bowles states the real reason for eviscerating the social safety net: "We have to have the money for investment (infrastructure, R&D, education) to compete in a knowledge-based world." Read below the fold...
Like many others, I'm not worried about the so-called fiscal “cliff,” and the ravages to the economy that are likely to occur if Congress doesn't do something about it before the end of the year. That's because a lot of the impact can be cushioned in the short run by Executive Branch manipulations while negotiations continue to go on. But if measures aren't taken to reverse the contractionary effect of the sequestration-induced changes, we're looking at deficit cuts of $487 Billion over 9 months of the fiscal year. Read below the fold...
[Hat Tip to kgblogz.com for allowing me to link to my blog post there.]
Apparently, the link to this video clip is no longer working at C-Span, so it rendered the link in my previous diary here, inoperable. Here's a new version:
If this doesn't work, here is a link to a working embedded version of this 1 minute clip.
Also, here is the C-Span link to the entire Conrad interview at the CEO Council.
Senator Conrad ticks off the Bowles-Simpson prescription for Social Security reform. One revenue change, adjusting the cap on wages up several thousand dollars over many years, and of course, the three (3) recommended "cuts" to Social Security.
REVISION: Please take a moment to view this video. And please Retweet the "Tweet" below, which links to the kgblogz post and video.
Conrad outlines the very worst scenario. And, unfortunately, the most likely one. Read below the fold...
