December 3, 2010
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I have argued that a key goal of a Dump Obama movement should be to generate new progressive leaders, ones with backbones. Progressives should be going after the UAW leadership, and I would say that, if Trumka doesn’t, this alone is a good reason to go after him (as a de facto leader of American labor, in general). I don’t think Obama should be spared any justified exposure of his betrayals, but I also think that other progressive so-called leaders deserve tons of blame, and shouldn’t be spared justified criticism, either.
Hamsher put things more poetically:
Labor Secretary Hilda Solis has also been on the phone, pressuring labor presidents into supporting the trade deal. As someone who raised money for her and supported her when she was in congress, she can officially kiss my ass in Macy’s window.
A mystery buyer has cornered the London copper market, sitting on up to 80 per cent of the physical stockpiles traded on the capital’s metal exchange.
The London Metal Exchange did not identify the buyer, who, data showed, controls between 50 to 80 per cent of the cash warrants traded on the bourse. The warrants correspond to the 352,425 tonnes of copper sitting in LME-approved warehouses, meaning that the buyer owns up to 281,940 tonnes of the red metal. At $8,711 per tonne, the hoard could be worth anything from around $1.5bn to $2.5bn.
At 80 per cent of LME’s warrants, the buyer would own over half of the copper traded on all major world exchanges…
State Department To University Students: "DO NOT Discuss WikiLeaks"
(HousesofProgress)
Well this is normal and so free, and btw dont discuss what you read in the newspaper, or see on tv either. We do not (sorry DO NOT) want you discussing the lies told by the government that tricked America into thinkli9ng there was good reason fpor the war either, dont discuss the Downing Street Memos, and nothing you hear, (you listen?) on Democracy Now!
And we mean anywhere, not in your dorms, not when you get home, not on the phone, not on the cell phone, and dont post on facebook.
An email from SIPA's Office of Career Services went out Tuesday afternoon with a caution from the official, an alumnus of the school. Students who will be applying for jobs in the federal government could jeopardize their prospects by posting links to WikiLeaks online, or even by discussing the leaked documents on social networking sites, the official was quoted as saying.
"[The alumnus] recommends that you DO NOT post links to these documents nor make comments on social media sites such as Facebook or through Twitter," the Office of Career Services advised students. "Engaging in these activities would call into question your ability to deal with confidential information, which is part of most positions with the federal government."
While the massive disclosure of once-classified documents detailing some of the nation's most tightly-guarded secrets has inflamed allies and enemies alike, the move by the State Department represents a new front in the administration's camapaign against unauthorized leaks.
The U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv expressed concern to the State Department over the “sharp increase” of organized crime in Israel, in an unclassified diplomatic cable dispatched in May 2009 and revealed by WikiLeaks this week.
Entitled “Israel, a promise land for organized crime?”, the cable notes that while organized crime has “long-standing roots” in Israel, certain factors indicate that a “widening crime war” has begun to spiral…
“You want to come up here?” Christie shouted. “You come up here … Let’s have a conversation..”
Chaudruc, who stands 5’6″ and weighs about 160 pounds, backed away until the governor insisted “bring him up here,” and a state trooper escorted him to the stage.
Christie, a few inches taller and several pounds heavier, loomed over Chaudruc as he launched into a tirade.
“Your wonderful increase in taxes would have killed jobs in this state,” Christie said pointing his index finger at Chaudruc. “You and I have different ideas of what being a Republican is all about because I’m not going to raise taxes.”
Before he could get another word in, Chaudruc was ushered off the stage and out of the room by a trooper.
Democrat who ran on 'tax the rich' message wins Minnesota Gov. recount
(doubledown)
CNN calls it.
Dayton, a former U.S. Senator, lead Emmer by more than 8,715 votes with 99.99 percent of all ballots recounted.
An additional 765 ballots remain challenged by the Emmer campaign, too few to affect the final outcome.
From Politics Daily:
Minnesota hasn’t had a Democratic governor in nearly a quarter of a century. A former senator who’s making an improbable political comeback hopes to change that this year. Mark Dayton bucked the Democratic Party establishment with a self-financed campaign to upset primary opponent Margaret Anderson Kelliher, who was endorsed by both of the state’s Democratic senators. The liberal Dayton, who ran on a “tax the rich” message, faces anti-tax conservative Republican Tom Emmer in November.
Yea team. Seriously. This sounds like something the progressive blogosphere should have been following a lot more closely – or at all.
It’s believed that the Republicans were busting their asses to delay Dayton’s seating as governor so that new Republican majorities could railroad rightwing legislation into law if Pawlenty had to temporarily remain as governor during court action.
Dem senator likens working with GOP on taxes to negotiating with 'terrorists'
(doubledown)
Heh. We already knew this but it’s helpful to see it amplified up into the MSM.
Sen. Robert Menendez said Friday that if the Democratic-controlled Senate agrees to extend all of the Bush-era tax cuts it could be akin to acceding to terrorist demands. Republicans immediately blasted the New Jersey Democrat for his comparison.
Menendez asked at a news conference, “Does the majority not only have a responsibility to get something done but to get something done that makes sense for the country?”
“Do you allow yourself to be held hostage and get something done for the sake of getting something done, when in fact it might be perverse to the ultimate results? It’s almost like the question of do you negotiate with terrorists?”
Will the Detroit Pistons be a future source of teabagger outrage?
(Anthony de Jesus)
The NBA franchise is for sale and the list of potential buyers includes a group from Dubai. The current supposed front-runner is billionaire Tom Gores, born in Nazareth to a Palestinian (or possibly Greek) father and a Lebanese mother, but raised in Michigan. Though he is reported to be apolitical, his cousin Hala Gores is a Palestinian-American activist.
I could see some conservatives barely acquainted with the facts seeing Tom Gores as a specter of infringing Islam without realizing he comes from a Maronite family and they would certainly flip their collective lids if that Dubai-based investment group is deemed to be a serious contender to buy the team.
Do you remember when it seemed like the Japanese were buying everything? Prepare your responses now for when the conservative machine hears of this and combines it with Qatar being awarded the 2022 World Cup as evidence that Muslims are trying to conquer the world via sports.
Biden backs House-passed tax cut plan, IS THIS MOVEMENT?
(HousesofProgress)
Biden's statement is still night-and-day compared to yesterday's defeatist statement in which the White House declared its impotence in the face of GOP obstruction. Obviously, it won't mean a damn thing if the White House doesn't follow through and ratchet up the pressure on Senate Republicans to allow a vote on extending middle-class tax cuts, but Biden's statement at least rekindles some hope that the administration might decide to fight after all.
And that this is from dKos, considering the language, is good news too. Lets all let them know, its time for spine. Thanks Joe, thanks a lot.
Corporate Democrat Failure: A Case Study
(Mark Matson)
One of the joys of Facebook is you can find old friends you haven’t heard from in decades. One of the pains is that moment you realize “oh no, they got him too”. My mother had that moment recently. Check out this thread. After a bit of conservative ranting, this interesting point came out:
well.. they pay them off of course.. like hte big drug companies that made it so the drugs don’t have to have a 10yr trail and testing before htey go on the market (now we are the guinipigs here), also the manufacturers that pay the law makers to pass laws that require us ot buy there “SAFETY” devices, and so on…
It gets wacky after that. But notice how he temporarily makes a liberal case against conservative policy. The reference here, apparently, is the FDA Modernization Act of 1997, passed under Clinton. (Republican congress, but who’s paying attention to that?)
I have no knowledge or opinion about the specific bill and I certainly don’t think one change could make this guy vote the other way. But at the margins, don’t you think a clear separation between Democrats fighting for people compared to Republicans fighting for corporations might break through the noise a bit? Some percentage who call themselves conservative might change their vote. Without that separation, why not just vote for the party that is better at saying “God” a lot?
Today, teacher and blogger Anthony Cody — who spearheaded the Teachers’ Letters to Obama campaign that won him a conference call from Arne Duncan — informs us that a number of teacher/education groups are organizing to “mobilize the largest number of teachers possible for a march and conference in Washington, DC, from July 28 to 31.”
In a speech to the American Enterprise Institute last week Arne Duncan called for us to adjust to the “new normal” – larger class sizes, fewer resources, elimination of seniority protections. Last Spring our conversation with him went nowhere. We need to up the ante. Writing letters was not enough. A conference call with Duncan himself was not enough. Online teach-ins and roundtable discussions among ourselves were not enough. We need to raise the stakes. We need to show up in person, and raise our voices in the largest numbers we can muster.
One of the first letters I got last year was from Jesse Turner, who wrote about his mother would have him and his siblings walk around in their unheated apartment to stay warm. Jesse walked from Connecticut to Washington, DC, last summer, to protest NCLB and Race to the Top. When he got there, he met with others – and now plans are in the works to return to DC – in much larger numbers.
We are forming an alliance with other groups to mobilize the largest number of teachers possible for a march and conference in Washington, DC, from July 28 to 31.
What do you think? Are you ready to march? How should we get organized?
3 hours ago
14 Dems wants vote on Catfood Commissions non-recomendations
(David Kaib)
Via Digby, The Hill shows that the game is unfolding as planned (and predicted):
“Prompt action is needed to bring the country’s deficit into balance and stabilize our debt over the long term,” the group wrote. “Regardless of whether the Commission’s report receives the support of at least 14 of its 18 members, we urge legislative action to address these problems.”
The group’s letter came as the president’s 18-member fiscal commission fell short of the 14 vote necessary to approve the report and send it to Capitol Hill, where leaders had guaranteed it an up-or-down vote if it had been approved.
One commission member, former SEIU President Andy Stern, an opponent of the plan, has urged a vote on the proposal anyway.
The 11 commissioners who did vote for the plan includes a mixture of liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans. The bipartisan vote has spurred hopes that a plan in the mold of the fiscal commission’s recommendations might come up before Congress, especially with a GOP-held House eager to enact spending cuts.
The 14 senators hailed the commission’s recommendations on Social Security, healthcare, and tax reforms – three cornerstones of the plan on which support for a plan could hinge.
“There is no easy way out, and Washington must lead the way,” they said. “The strong bipartisan support its recommendations have already received demonstrates we can, and must, come together to solve this impending fiscal crisis. Every day that we fail to act the choices become more difficult.”
It’s bipartisan!
Here’s the list of Senators who signed this letter – if they don’t feel the heat, it’s hard to see how this ends other than in disaster:
The signatories were Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), Mark Begich (D-Alaska), Michael Bennet (D-Colo,), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Kay Hagan (D-N.C.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Mark Udall (D-Colo.).
Here’s a question – anyone know if any of these people have attacked the idea of extended massive tax cuts for the opulent because of their concern about the deficit?
As a bonus, the story notes that former SEIU head Andy Stern, who voted against the report, still thinks Congress should vote on it.
As Digby said, “All hail the new bipartisan baseline.”
