The public option, the dead provision from health reform, is back as a form of reducing the deficit. When the public option was first proposed it was as a way to prevent liberals from defecting, they didn’t anyways, and the people wanted it. So house liberals introduced it again. (Long live the public option!) The senate will have to vote on their dread, the public option. As a form of deficit reduction the public option will save $68 billion by 2020. This is a small hole in the deficit but anything will help.
Liberals, like me, are thrilled because this would mean competition and an end to the monopolies. This is not to say the affordable health care act of 2010 was not good. The affordable health care act added millions of uninsured Americans and ended pre-existing conditions for children immediately after it became law. The public option would make the act complete. The public option would stop industry abuses and would not be a government takeover of health care.
The tea party would not be as thrilled: as they would see it as a government out of control. That argument was made throughout the health care debate; only in they were in nice terms uncivil at times. This could if gained momentum spark the ugliness of the health care debate including (most serious to less) acts of random violence, death threats, suggesting fascism, and racist signs. The Glen Becks of the world would be all over this and we don’t want to distract from jobs. The public option is a job saver though and should be treated as such. Any jobs bill should try and have a public option as that at the very least would be the thing to change and not other crucial things, such as the tea party’s favorite thing spending.
The public option has always come back from the dead because of its popularity and the carries of the torch, house liberals. There were headlines throughout the debate, long live the public option, back from the dead, and such. This in March made the Rachel Maddow show have it proclaimed “the public option is dead… long live the public option”. If history has taught us anything the senate will kill it and the house will keep bringing it back. The president shouldn’t push for it, he should be focused on jobs.
The mood among liberals is our views aren’t being listened to and we are expected to act as a wing of the Democratic Party. If we are to energize then the public option would be the perfect way to do that. Liberals are key to the success of the midterms, we need some answers from our leadership, if we will keep anything. Netroots Nation was a perfect example of how they say they wanted a public option but votes weren’t there. If you want to convince us of that then bring the public option for a vote in both houses of congress.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
The media, the senate, and climate change
We all have seen the advertisements from the war implications to the anti oil companies and the ethanol. (Climate Change debate) The media however has always given wrong information. If someone said the sky is blue and 2 people said the sky was green the media would say, is the sky green 2/3 of people say yes you decide. The sky is blue facts are facts C02 traps heat that was proven over 200 years ago this is like arguing with gravity. (Paraphrasing Al Gore, the gravity part) If media is here to inform then they should be giving actual information. It doesn’t matter if all our politicians are deniers, science is the truth the deniers have no idea what their talking about.
Deniers prey on people by spreading misinformation through media advertisement blogs in other words propaganda. Propaganda networks Fox News and Newsmax (others like it are the same) and as some righties suggest blogs like mine. But when denying is not based in fact there is no basis for believing this especially when it is as serious as the future of humanity. Anarchy is what’s at stake and the future of our children and our children’s children. This is not an issue for demagoguery if you have any shred of decency then you will see the need for comprehensive Climate Change reform.
In addition to moral obligation the economic aspects are overwhelmingly in favor of comprehensive climate legislation. A cap and trade system would force energy companies to invest in clean energy causing it to be cheaper and make energy cleaner. The job killer the (R) talk about will actually add millions of jobs alone. However some of the most liberal democrats are against cap and trade such as Sherrod Brown of Ohio and in coal states and industrial states.
The Senate now has a joke of a bill not even worth talking about. However I am so outraged that I and others feel the need to let the people now. Basically the bill has protections of American people to make sure oil companies pay up and little incentives to clean energy. This is all good but what was promised was nothing less than revolution and we will expect at the least a significant change in the next 15-25 years. However in 25 years it will be 2035 and by then the technology will be decided and we should be well on our way to prosperity in a clean energy future. If we are still addicted to oil by then offshore oil drilling in waters possibly 20,000ft below the ocean surface will be not just subsidized but required. If we are still addicted to coal then we will move back to smog blasting types and poison our air and water. Make no mistake we have coal; it is oil I am worried about. (from a deniers standpoint, most however would probably deny that)
A future with coal, oil, and natural gas, is a future with unimaginably high fuel costs and unsafe food and tap water. A scenario would suggest that people from the suburbs could not get to their jobs due to high fuel cost because they and their government cannot afford fuel. This severely damage our economy by not having middle class demand for goods fall sharply and foreclosures would make homelessness skyrocket. In urban areas trade will decrease and create rising poverty which will drive poverty and all the social problems it brings. Losing vast amounts of tax revenue and rising senior population will cause governments to disband social programs resulting in more poverty and a downward spiral. This is a real danger and though it is not popular to do something today to help tomorrow. I find an old Native American saying helpful “we don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors we borrow it from our children.”
A world with clean energy would likely take awhile but some solutions without cap and trade could be necessary if we want the strongest bill possible with the necessary votes. One way is to provide large incentives for clean energy as this president and our governor (Christine Gregoire) has done already. Also a federal agency to research options put forth by the private sector while also giving grants. One such company I find promising is Nano Solar where they print solar cells on to metal creating solar energy. Subsidize machines used to make clean energy so factories can transition to making new things.
If the democrats are committed to saving our future and rising to the occasion then they will pass Climate Change reform. Remember our current path is destructive and we must change. Our future as a country our future as the world rests on what the governments of today are doing. Stay active stay involved there will be an update or just another rant. Thank you for seeing this: one more thing Sherrod Brown J.D Rockefeller, and any other senator willing to step up and rise, (this means you Lindsey Graham) do it for our children and our grandchildren.
Deniers prey on people by spreading misinformation through media advertisement blogs in other words propaganda. Propaganda networks Fox News and Newsmax (others like it are the same) and as some righties suggest blogs like mine. But when denying is not based in fact there is no basis for believing this especially when it is as serious as the future of humanity. Anarchy is what’s at stake and the future of our children and our children’s children. This is not an issue for demagoguery if you have any shred of decency then you will see the need for comprehensive Climate Change reform.
In addition to moral obligation the economic aspects are overwhelmingly in favor of comprehensive climate legislation. A cap and trade system would force energy companies to invest in clean energy causing it to be cheaper and make energy cleaner. The job killer the (R) talk about will actually add millions of jobs alone. However some of the most liberal democrats are against cap and trade such as Sherrod Brown of Ohio and in coal states and industrial states.
The Senate now has a joke of a bill not even worth talking about. However I am so outraged that I and others feel the need to let the people now. Basically the bill has protections of American people to make sure oil companies pay up and little incentives to clean energy. This is all good but what was promised was nothing less than revolution and we will expect at the least a significant change in the next 15-25 years. However in 25 years it will be 2035 and by then the technology will be decided and we should be well on our way to prosperity in a clean energy future. If we are still addicted to oil by then offshore oil drilling in waters possibly 20,000ft below the ocean surface will be not just subsidized but required. If we are still addicted to coal then we will move back to smog blasting types and poison our air and water. Make no mistake we have coal; it is oil I am worried about. (from a deniers standpoint, most however would probably deny that)
A future with coal, oil, and natural gas, is a future with unimaginably high fuel costs and unsafe food and tap water. A scenario would suggest that people from the suburbs could not get to their jobs due to high fuel cost because they and their government cannot afford fuel. This severely damage our economy by not having middle class demand for goods fall sharply and foreclosures would make homelessness skyrocket. In urban areas trade will decrease and create rising poverty which will drive poverty and all the social problems it brings. Losing vast amounts of tax revenue and rising senior population will cause governments to disband social programs resulting in more poverty and a downward spiral. This is a real danger and though it is not popular to do something today to help tomorrow. I find an old Native American saying helpful “we don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors we borrow it from our children.”
A world with clean energy would likely take awhile but some solutions without cap and trade could be necessary if we want the strongest bill possible with the necessary votes. One way is to provide large incentives for clean energy as this president and our governor (Christine Gregoire) has done already. Also a federal agency to research options put forth by the private sector while also giving grants. One such company I find promising is Nano Solar where they print solar cells on to metal creating solar energy. Subsidize machines used to make clean energy so factories can transition to making new things.
If the democrats are committed to saving our future and rising to the occasion then they will pass Climate Change reform. Remember our current path is destructive and we must change. Our future as a country our future as the world rests on what the governments of today are doing. Stay active stay involved there will be an update or just another rant. Thank you for seeing this: one more thing Sherrod Brown J.D Rockefeller, and any other senator willing to step up and rise, (this means you Lindsey Graham) do it for our children and our grandchildren.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Wall Street Reform At last!!!
Yesterday (when I was first writing this) was a day that just a week ago could not be imagined for a second by the most optimistic of people. When the announcement was made some trembled at the thought of rules and the people rejoiced at the thought of rules. Scott Brown (R) from Massachusetts finally listened and let the people win: he will vote yay on Wall Street Reform. This will be the great event to make us once again have rules for all.
However this bill is not perfect, the bill was lied and slandered at by all the republicans. One instance reminds me of the public option, a fund that would be paid for by Wall Street to make sure the government doesn't have to bailout Wall Street. This was slandered as endless bailouts when the government would not step in. Glass Steagle was not put in which would protect the people’s money from “shadow banks” or investment banks which does loopy stuff like Goldman Sachs. This made Washington Senator Maria Cantewell originally not want to vote for it. The bill was of course watered down to the republicans likening most recently Scott Brown but also both Maine Senators. Russ Feingold is the lone democrat not voting for the bill which makes 57 democrats voting for the bill and 3 republicans to beat the Tarintino (filibuster).
As we are on the verge of the greatest reform of Wall Street since the great depression, we must remember what happened to get us here. In the great depression little if any regulation during the 1920s led to a stock bubble that when was valued correctly crashed: much like 1990s. People lost their savings and money was wiped out like 2008. F.D.R. and the congress of 1933 passed Wall Street Reform. This included Glass Steagle which in the literal sense separated investment banks and deposit banks. This was the first reform which kept us from severe recessions till “the glorious Ronald Reagan” and congress repealed reforms leading to the crash of 1987 and the recession that followed.
point is that we shouldn’t have gotten to this point and the congress and president of the 1981-1989 is responsible for this recession. (also Clinton and republican congress of 2000 repealing Glass Steagle) Thank the democratic congress of 2010 Obama or specifically the Senate today July, 15th 2010 for passing the most comprehensive Wall Street reform since the great depression. The big banks can screw as much as regulated capitalism can provide.
However this bill is not perfect, the bill was lied and slandered at by all the republicans. One instance reminds me of the public option, a fund that would be paid for by Wall Street to make sure the government doesn't have to bailout Wall Street. This was slandered as endless bailouts when the government would not step in. Glass Steagle was not put in which would protect the people’s money from “shadow banks” or investment banks which does loopy stuff like Goldman Sachs. This made Washington Senator Maria Cantewell originally not want to vote for it. The bill was of course watered down to the republicans likening most recently Scott Brown but also both Maine Senators. Russ Feingold is the lone democrat not voting for the bill which makes 57 democrats voting for the bill and 3 republicans to beat the Tarintino (filibuster).
As we are on the verge of the greatest reform of Wall Street since the great depression, we must remember what happened to get us here. In the great depression little if any regulation during the 1920s led to a stock bubble that when was valued correctly crashed: much like 1990s. People lost their savings and money was wiped out like 2008. F.D.R. and the congress of 1933 passed Wall Street Reform. This included Glass Steagle which in the literal sense separated investment banks and deposit banks. This was the first reform which kept us from severe recessions till “the glorious Ronald Reagan” and congress repealed reforms leading to the crash of 1987 and the recession that followed.
point is that we shouldn’t have gotten to this point and the congress and president of the 1981-1989 is responsible for this recession. (also Clinton and republican congress of 2000 repealing Glass Steagle) Thank the democratic congress of 2010 Obama or specifically the Senate today July, 15th 2010 for passing the most comprehensive Wall Street reform since the great depression. The big banks can screw as much as regulated capitalism can provide.
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