Charlotte Front and Center

Gore Has Advice on Big 3 for Obama

Al would not be happy with simple watchdogs over the "Big 3". He wants Obama to force the automakers to go with plug-in hybrids...Read below...

(Newser) – Al Gore doesn't want a White House job, but he has advice for Barack Obama: Use the bailout plan to transform the Big Three. As vice-president, Gore rolled out a billion-dollar program to pay for fuel-efficient Detroit vehicles—"but as soon as they felt they were off the hook, they pulled the plug and walked away," Gore tells Newsweek. Now Obama can transform Michigan into a plug-in hybrid electric car hub, he says.

Gore praises his old plan to raise gas taxes, and lower payroll taxes, to wean America from its oil addiction. But he admits that Obama's cap-and-trade alternative would be "effective." Once America takes the lead, Gore says, China and India will agree to curb carbon emissions. They may be building a coal plant per week, "but, as the old saying goes, instead of cursing the darkness, light a candle."

SOURCE Newsweek

California Priest Orders Obama Voting Parishioners to Confession

First it was Father Newman in Greenville,S.C. who chastised any in his congregation on voting for Obama, and now Rev. Joseph Illo of Modesto, Ca. has done the same with his parishioners in his homily and a letter:

"If you are one of the 54 percent of Catholics who voted for a pro-abortion candidate, you were clear on his position and you knew the gravity of the question, I urge you to go to confession before receiving communion. Don't risk losing your state of grace by receiving sacrilegiously".

Obama has been clear in his stance on abortion, agreeing that it should be legal in all 50 states up to the moment of a woman giving live birth. It seems Obama's clear stance has been the factor in upsetting so many priests. 

I am sure it is only a matter of days before this priest will be forced to apologize.  If a priest is telling you that you need confession before receiving the sacraments, you have committed a "mortal sin" and will be staring Lucifer in the face should you die before getting to confession.  At least this is what was drummed into my head over the years.

All this aside, I could give these parishioners 101 reasons why they should not have voted for Obama, but I wouldn't condem them to Hell so quickly- not yet anyway. 

Just think of all the politicians we have voted for who have been guilty of breaking the Ten Commandments.  If Catholics followed this line of thinking, we would never vote again.  Imagine the line to Confession California would have for allowing the likes of Nancy Pelosi.  It staggers the imagination. Perhaps we need one big, general absolution so we can get busy dealing with these serious issues. To threaten the souls of so many after the fact is rediculous.

TRedwine

Source:  "The Baltimore Sun"

Hillary Passed on 'Appropriations Chair...'

 Hillary Clinton passed on Appropriations chair to become Obama's Secretary of State

BY KENNETH R. BAZINET
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU

excerpt:  The Senate slot was offered as a consolation prize after her bruising White House  and snub from Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), who refused to let the former First Lady join his health care task force.

"Kennedy wasn't happy about how some things were handled in the campaign, but it was really a seniority issue. Hillary didn't have the seniority" - and hence the clout - to shepherd health care through the Senate, said a source familiar with the matter.

"Kennedy knew it and [Senate Democratic leader] Harry Reid knew it," the source added..... CONTINUE

"Closed" Due To Economic Crisis"

In retail, whether it is a small shop or a giant outlet, businesses react to the latest economic news just as you and I do.  The very first thing business will do to save costs is to cut labor costs of the hourly worker.  It is the quickest and fastest way to save a company money. A lot of this is happening now based on the economic forecasts and the doom and gloom of the media. It's the Christmas Season, and labor has been cut drastically as I write this.  Full time workers in turn will not have the money they need for essentials resulting in less consumer spending.  The media isn't helping matters. Sure there are serious issues, but the fear tactics the media is using is also serving to prep us for a different mind set in politics: more government interference and control.  "Fear" is an age old tactic politicians use when trying to change core beliefs, and the upcoming administration is dishing it out.  TRedwine

Don't let economic news fool you

By Ben Hillyer (Contact) | The Natchez Democrat

Published Friday, November 28, 2008

The sign on the door sent a clear message Tuesday afternoon.

As other downtown shop owners were preparing their stores for the busy Thanksgiving weekend, one store sat in pitch-black darkness — the doors locked to potential shoppers.

As I reached for the door handle, the letter-size piece of paper caught my eye.

“Closed due to the economic crisis,” it said.

If the words didn’t cause alarm, the computer generated image of a man pulling his hair out in frustration did.

The store had cut its business hours in half, no doubt trying to target the weekend when tourists and locals were most likely to be shopping.

“It really is that bad,” I thought as I walked away looking for another store.............continue

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Heckuv A Lot of Wind For Palin

Web Users Still Can't Get Enough Palin

Posted 36 minutes ago in Politics

(Newser) – We just can't seem to let Sarah Palin go. Nearly a month after the election, she continues to dominate user lookups on search engines, cable news sites, and YouTube, reports Politico. Alaska's governor ranks near the top of virtually every major search tool, including Yahoo, AOL, and Lycos, where she dominated the incoming president until just last week. “People are still searching for her in record numbers,” said a Lycos spokeswoman. “How bizarre is that?"

Earlier this month, Palin brought a 928% spike in traffic to the Anchorage Daily News website. The attention—even among those finding videos to mock her—presents opportunity for the celebrity politician, says an online politics buff: "There's a heckuva lot of wind out there for Sarah Palin. Now she has to put up a sail to catch it."

Source Politico

 

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New New Deal : Bad Bad For Economy

Beware the New New Deal.  It took America a long time to crawl out of the Depression of the 1930's.  History points out time again that it was WWII that put America back to work...not the WPA...Tredwine

That New New Deal

Not for repeating.:

By Mona Charen

‘This is the best deal since 1932.” So said House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D., Mass.) regarding the increased public appetite for government intervention in the economy. Incoming White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel echoed the sentiment when he told the Wall Street Journal, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.” Oh, boy. While Barack Obama’s appointments so far have been fairly moderate, other Democrats are whistling “Happy Days are Here Again” and dusting off their wish lists for federal spending. “The House and Senate Appropriations committees hope to use December to negotiate a $410 billion omnibus measure that can be swiftly approved when the new Congress convenes,” reports thePolitico. Wasn’t it just two months ago that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi — supposedly outraged that the Congress was being asked (by Bush and Paulson) to pony up $700 billion to prevent a total freeze of credit markets around the globe — intoned “SEVEN HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS.” She repeated it for emphasis: “Madame Speaker, when was the last time anyone ever asked you for SEVEN HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS? It’s a staggering figure.” continued

Obama Facing First Defeat From Gov. Palin

Telegraph, UK

by Gerald Warner

"Please join me... on Tuesday, December 2, and head to the polls just one more time this year." That plea came from Barack Obama in a recent radio advertisement supporting Jim Martin, the Democrat candidate in next Tuesday's run-off election in Georgia for the state's Senate seat. If you thought the US elections were over - think again. Barack Obama knows they are not. He also knows he is facing probable defeat next Tuesday, in what will be the first major setback for his fledgling administration.


Big guns out: McCain has weighed in on behalf of Saxby

The Republicans, on 40, need just one more seat to mount a filibuster in the Senate against contentious Obama legislation. And there will be plenty of that, not least his Freedom of Choice Bill mandating unlimited abortion across every state of the Union. Obama's hit-the-ground-running, brook-no-opposition instincts demand a filibuster-free Senate. Two seats are still to be declared: Minnesota, where the recount will go on to mid-December and beyond. The Republicans have a wafer-thin 238-vote lead, with thousands of ballots in dispute. ...Continued

Harry Sad Terrorists Missed Their American and British Targets?

On the Early Show, Harry Smith strangely seems to say he's sad the Mumbai terrorists missed their intended American and British targets and hit Indians.

Obama and Media Remorse

How this must make some of us feel...say:  PURE DISGUST For The MSM...TRedwine

from CBS NEWS

(MarketWatch) I'm starting to feel a little guilty about the media's treatment of President-elect Barack Obama -- and I may not be the only one.

Chalk it up to a phenomenon I'd like to call "Obama-remorse." You know how you feel buyer's remorse after you've spent a lot of dough on some big-ticket item, only to realize that you might have made a mistake? Well, it's going to happen to the president-elect as well. read more

Obama's Macho Stimulus Plan

from the BOSTON GLOBE

The macho stimulus plan

By Randy Albelda

November 28, 2008

PRESIDENT-ELECT Barack Obama has convincingly argued for a stimulus package that creates jobs that produce things we desperately need and want. "We'll put people back to work rebuilding our crumbling roads and bridges, modernizing schools that are failing our children, and building wind farms and solar panels; fuel-efficient cars; and the alternative-energy technologies that can free us from our dependence on foreign oil and keep our economy competitive in the years ahead."

Yes, we need bridges, roads, and schools. And yes, we should invest in green jobs - stimulating the economy as well as building a strong basis for economic growth in the future. However, there is a crucial missing link in this package - both on the employment side and the investment side. That link is women. This might as well be called the macho stimulus package.

Jobs in construction and many of those that come with green investment often pay decent wages with benefits. But they are overwhelmingly held by men. 

Read More

Wall Street Fat Cats

Obama's Plan To Kill Government Programs 'No Longer Useful'

What a turn-a-round for Obama. Back in May he missed the roll call on the vote in the Senate where Bush proposed to put a cap on farmers subsidies if they earned over $200k in income.  In fact, Obama attacked Bush when questioned why he had missed the senate vote saying how the needs of the American farmer were overlooked. So I suppose as Obama proceeds to get his education upon ascending the Presidency, he realizes that about 3,000 farmers earning incomes over 2.5 mil are receiving these subsidies.

I know it is too much for a citizen to ask that the American taxpayer come first. This simply shows the issues with our two-party system when most congressmen and senators can not vote with our interests at heart, but vote along party lines as instructed.  It also leaves our representatives ignorant on the issues that affect our everyday lives.

Incidentally,Kent Conrad, who led the fight against the bill passage, was instrumental in getting Obama's new budget director, Orzog, the job.

Final word on purpose of farm subsidies:  “Farm subsidies are intended to raise farmer incomes by remedying low crop prices. Instead, they promote overproduction and therefore lower prices further. Expensive programs to restrict plantings are then implemented to raise prices back up.”...TRedwine

Celente, America's Nostradamus

There is a lot of lot of talk about the guy who predicted the 1987 stock market crash and the fall of the Soviet Union. Roughly six days ago Arnaud De Borchgrave, who is an Editor for UPI , reported these bothersome predictions from Gerald Celente.   Celente is now forecasting revolution in America, food riots and tax rebellions.  This will be within the next four years, and Celente points out that 'putting food on the table will be a more pressing concern than buying Christmas gifts by 2012'.

 

Gerald Celente, the CEO of Trends Research Institute, is renowned for his predictions and for their accuracy as well.

Celente says that by 2012 America will become an undeveloped nation, that there will be a revolution marked by food riots, squatter rebellions, tax revolts and job marches, and that holidays will be more about obtaining food, not gifts.

“We’re going to see the end of the retail Christmas….we’re going to see a fundamental shift take place….putting food on the table is going to be more important that putting gifts under the Christmas tree,” said Celente, adding that the situation would be “worse than the great depression”.
“America’s going to go through a transition the likes of which no one is prepared for,” said Celente, noting that people’s refusal to acknowledge that America was even in a recession highlights how big a problem denial is in being ready for the true scale of the crisis."

It is all rather chilling.  Celente talks of a new third party that results from this new paradigm shift.  

The above is a recap, but it is worth your while to register for the full article and read Arnaud De Borchgrave's article at UPI.....Redwine

President Washington Proclaims America’s Duty to ‘Obey’ God and ‘Be Grateful for His Benefits’

Source: CNS.COM

 

Thursday, November 27, 2008
By Staff

In September 1789, Congress asked President George Washington to “recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging, with grateful hearts, the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a Constitution of government for their safety and happiness.”
Washington complied, and in early October sent a proclamation to the governors of the states. Read More

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Nancy Pelosi is Never Neutral

We have heard Nancy Pelosi tell us she has remained neutral before when contests were going on, and then to have it be just the opposite behind the scene. We saw such a thing as this with the super-delegates this past summer.  All the talk from the press  is how Obama will govern from the middle.  We don't know that yet in spite of the fact we see many Clintonians appointed to the Cabinet.

Consider what went on behind the scenes with the House Energy and Commerce Committee this week and Waxman challenging Dingell for the Chairmanship. This action reveals more in what we will see in the near future as far as governing from the "left".

 An excerpt from CNSNews explains behind the scenes action: quote:

"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., claimed she was neutral in the Dingell-Waxman contest. Reliable sources said she twisted arms in favor of Mr. Waxman. She hated Mr. Dingell's independence. In the end, Mr. Waxman won; the vote was 137 to 122.

This is a signal. There has been all of this speculation that President-elect Barack Obama has to govern as a moderate. Don't you believe it. With an activist leftist like Mr. Waxman winning in the Democrat caucus, it is clear this is Mr. Obama's preference.

Had the president-elect, with his strong mandate, indicated he needed Mr. Dingell to help govern as a moderate, he would have prevailed. Right now the president-elect has that kind of credibility. John Dingell became the first sacrificial lamb of the move to the left."

read more

AIG FATCATS Continue BIG Bonuses

AIG to pay retention bonuses to executives

Financial Times

By Greg Farrell in New York

Published: November 26 2008 23:41 | Last updated: November 26 2008 23:41

One day after announcing strict limits on salaries and bonuses for its top tier of executives, AIG revealed that some of those executives will receive millions in “retention bonuses” next year.

In a regulatory filing on Wednesday, the insurance group disclosed that Jay Wintrob, an executive vice-president, had put off receiving the first instalment of his $3m retention bonus from December to April 2009.

read more

Could The Big 3 Operate Like Canton, Mississippi ?

When thinking of the Big 3 in Detroit, it is pretty obvious to all what brought on this crisis.  Since there are so many arguments for and against the bail out, there will have to be powerful watchdogs for these car makers. "We the people" will be paying for this dollar by dollar. It is a shame that the government will be so involved, but it may be a necessary evil. 

Though producing cars in the South shows how it can be done, and done correctly, we need to keep in mind the tax incentives that were offered to get these manufacturers to build in the South.

Canton, Mississippi: Nissan, $368 mil

Tupelo, Mississippi:  Toyota, $286 mil (in progress)

Birmingham, Alabama:  Merceded-Benz (undisclosed but more than previously spent).

The accuracy and precision of Japan, along with the Arab oil prices, determined how these plants would and do operate.  It is something to keep in mind when and if we go for re-structuring The Big 3 . 

 Read below on how they are looking at the Big 3 in Senatobia....Redwine

from The Democrat

Senatobia, Ms.

An Editorial

No evidence of Detroit enlightenment

The new president will face many complex questions when he takes office in January, not the least of which is what to do about the present condition of Detroit's Big Three.

Decades of greedy demands by unions and poor decisions by management have brought the U.S. auto industry to an economic abyss.

There is nothing historical about a possible taxpayer bailout. Taxpayers bailed out Chrysler. Congress has already approved $25 million for Ford, GM, and Chrysler. In reality $5 to $10 per hour workers all across the country have been subsidizing $50 to $75 per hour auto workers for decades. We taxpayers have already guaranteed their bankrupt pension fund.

The auto executives and union bosses have consistently feathered each other's nests at the expense of the rest of us. Yes, even at the expense of their own union members and their own product quality.

Japanese attention to detail and Arab oil prices should have sounded the alarm bell 30 years ago, but the Detroit duo of unions and management - protected by stupid U.S. government policy - chose to ignore the early warning signs and declared business as usual.

Now, to borrow a phrase from the president-elect's former pastor, "Their chickens have come home to roost."

The victims of Detroit's blindness are in every city that has an American automobile dealership struggling to make payroll and in every city that taxpayers face paying the bill for the incredibly expensive bailout. The cost of letting Detroit go bankrupt would, indeed, be high. We have seen no evidence, however, that the companies and the unions have learned 
anything from their current predicament other than how to go to Washington with a tin cup in hand.

We in the south have learned how to build quality cars at a profit and still make a good living. Why can't Detroit learn how to do that?

Further, it was an insult for the Big Three execs to fly to Washington seeking our money without having a written plan to present.

They want us to subsidize all their past and future mistakes with a blank check.

Nancy Pelosi: Why Aren't You Investigating Charlie Rangel?

Are the taxpayers paying the price for Charlie Rangel's scandals in New York. Why is Rangel resisting?  My question to you Senator Pelosi is: Why do you have no urgency?

from New York Times, (editorial)

More questions are being raised about the doubtful ethics of Representative Charles Rangel of New York, the chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee. The latest sniff of scandal — a breakfast meeting with a donor seeking tax protection — provides more grist for the House ethics inquiry that’s supposed to be under way into Mr. Rangel’s tangled affairs. continued

Labor pained: Labor sec. not on econ team - Ben Smith - Politico.com

 

The markets rose on the news of Barack Obama’s economic policy team Monday, but some labor spirits fell.
Obama’s team of treasury secretary and four top economic advisers, introduced as the hands that will steer America’s economy, had no particular ties to the labor movement. And Obama’s secretary of labor was not introduced as part of that team — a suggestion that that post will retain its second-tier status and quiet voice in matters central to economic policy.
“I wish that [the secretary of labor] would have been among them,” former Michigan congressman David Bonior, a labor stalwart and member of Obama’s transition team, said of the group at the Chicago press conference. “I hope they take that job seriously.”
Labor’s low profile in Obama’s transition is striking because of unions’ vital role in the general election campaign. While Wall Street split its contributions between Obama and John McCain, labor, after dividing its efforts in the Democratic primary, united behind the Democrat and emerged as by far the strongest outside force in the general election. Unions reportedly spent well over $100 million communicating with their members and other voters. The Service Employees International Union alone spent more than $30 million on an independent campaign for Obama, while many of the AFL-CIO unions played key roles in overcoming potential prejudice among their older, white members.
“You can make the case that Obama wouldn’t have won without the labor movement — troops, money, key states,” said the executive director of the pro-union Labor Research Association, Jonathan Tasini, reflecting a widespread view in the labor ranks. “But when it comes down to it, they don’t have the kind of juice to say, ‘This is how we want the economic team to look.’”
That doesn’t mean labor has no agenda in the transition. They’re expecting a pro-union labor secretary — a shift from Bush’s low-profile Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, who was often at odds with organized labor. (Chao is best known as the answer to a trivia question: Who is the only Bush cabinet secretary who will have served all eight years?) Labor is also focused on the job of United States Trade Representative. And they’re debating how hard to push Obama on the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill that would make organizing easier.

Labor pained: Labor sec. not on econ team - Ben Smith - Politico.com

 

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Obama's Agenda Tilts Left—If He Can Pay for It - Politics news

 

Newser) – Will Obama be a progressive president or more of a centrist? Stop looking at Cabinet picks, suggests Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com, and look instead to the president-elect's website. Silver went through Obama's policies and charted them on the political spectrum. The result tilts strongly left on domestic policy, less so on economic policy, and moves to the center on foreign affairs. The real question, though: How's he going to pay for all this?

To get much of his agenda in place, Obama needs two of three things to happen: a roll-back of the Bush tax cuts, a cut in defense spending, or a stronger than expected economic recovery. "The fight over the Bush tax cuts, it seems to me, could be the fight of Obama's first year in office," says Silver. "But in the longer term, the fight over the defense budget, which will probably trade off more or less explicitly with Obama's domestic policy prerogatives, could be the key flash point between progressives and the administration."

Source FiveThirtyEight.com

Obama's Agenda Tilts Left—If He Can Pay for It - Politics news | Newser: Know More. Search Less.

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Sarah Palin: Just Like Us

The country was so estatic when Gov. Palin made her national debut.  She is a common American who happened to be whisked into the greater public eye by complete surprise. "Woo-hoo" we said. No matter what part of the USA you hail from, she finds a lot in common with many of us. So as deer season opened last weekend in Mississippi, I thought of her, and of my Grandmother, and other relatives who have or had no qualms about killing wildlife. It serves a purpose in nature and has always kept things balanced. Elitists miss out on this. In fact, I don't think they get it at all.  So the jokes continue, and I wonder is the media laughing just at Sarah Palin?  Maybe they are laughing at me and too many Americans. I also thought of the turkey ordeal Sarah dealt with. It is a good thing NBC never saw my Grandmother wring a chickens neck.  David Schuster would have been traumatized.  There would be no going back.

Perhaps rural America will always be laughed at by those who consider themselves superior and of a higher sort. I can't help that. But maybe if they had an inkling of  why so many Americans do what they enjoy, maybe the elitists will become enlightened and fully educated.  A journalist who works for The Clarion-Ledger from Jackson, Mississippi, put his reasons for hunting down this way:

Why Do I Hunt?...

David Halperin, The Clarion-Ledger

I hunt because I have seen more breathtaking sunrises and sunsets in a season than most people will notice in a lifetime.

I hunt because seeing a deer still makes my heart beat faster.

I hunt because turkeys are really, really funny to watch. So are squirrels. So are raccoons.

I hunt because figuring out where a deer goes, what he does and why he does it is unraveling a mysterious secret.

I hunt because some of my fondest memories of family and friends surround it.

I hunt because my daddy taught me.

I hunt because shouldering a rifle or drawing back a bow means I have been successful whether or not I pull the trigger or let the arrow fly.

I hunt because making that decision is a serious one and harvesting game is something to be done ethically and well.

I hunt because it makes me sit down, be quiet and remain still for hours at a time.

I hunt because reading a good book is even more enjoyable sitting 20 feet up in a tree.

I hunt because I want to be there when the morning explodes with birds singing and at night when things get quiet and the coyotes begin to howl.

I hunt because cold mornings make me feel alive.

I hunt because nature is a gift. Whether I just watch deer or if I am fortunate enough to "harvest" one, I kneel and thank God.

Everyone who hunts has his or her own reasons. It's hard to explain, and lot harder to write about than some political issue. So, I'll leave the outdoors writing to Bobby. I just plan to enjoy another deer season.

Why Canada Loves Nancy Pelosi

from The Wall Street Journal

Canada and Colombia signed a trade agreement last week. But Pelosi would not let it come to a vote in the House. That's good news for Canada, but the American farmer and other U.S. companies will not be able to compete with Canada. In other words, Canada does not owe unions anything and they can do what is best for their citizens.

Read More

Obama Should Look Into Putin's Record

from The Wall Street Jourrnal

Garry Gasparov

Obama Should Look Into Putin's Record, Not His Eyes

The U.S. has the chance for a fresh start on Russia relations.

Even as Barack Obama faces front-page issues like Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan, he will still have to find the time and courage to deal with a certain nuclear-armed autocracy that controls much of the world's oil and gas.

AP

How should Mr. Obama deal with Russia's official president, Dmitry Medvedev, and Russia's real leader, Vladimir Putin? The choice is straightforward: Mr. Obama can treat them like fellow democratic leaders or like the would-be dictators that they are. His decision will tell the world a great deal about how seriously he takes his promises of change.

The Kremlin is very eager to be accepted as an equal. It apparently hopes that Mr. Obama will send the signal that democracy in Russia doesn't matter, that the Kremlin's crushing of the opposition and free speech is irrelevant, and that annexing pieces of neighboring Georgia is a local issue and not an international one.

continue

How Pumas Dealt with "the ugly side 'Beyond Race' "

In reading an article in the L.A. Times today on "the ugly side of Beyond Race"  by Gregory Rodriguez, it brought to mind how Pumas dealt with racial issues before they were even called "PUMAS".  Shortly after Iowa Caucus, PUMAs began to feel the first onslaught of verbal attacks involving racial prejudice from Obama supporters, and  the "loving" media.  Though complicated factors lay hidden behind the accusations of PUMAS being tagged as "republicans in disguise", or "outright racist", it was still a constant onslaught they countered the entire election season.  For the most part, we handled it graciously, and that is largely due to the fact we knew why we were PUMAS to begin with. PUMAS didn't disagree with the issues, but by the means Obama and the DNC "manhandled" the primaries. The second point was we fervently believed and still do,that Obama is not better qualified or suited for the Presidency than Hillary Clinton. 

So as we watched the election play out, the left wing hushed its insults, and we began to hear right-winged observers say that election results proved affirmative action is no longer needed, and that race issues are healed to such a degree it is hard to imagine how we ever felt differently. This could be so. Rodriguez thinks it is impossible to believe that America dealt with the race issues so swiftly overnight. True or not, the election of a bi-racial man has changed the political landscape permamnently. Proposition 8 is the tell-tale sign that begins to make this claim proof-positive.  For the first time, Afican-Americans will have to deal with the attacks from the left wing in the Democratic Party.  The Black population was out of step with the liberal gay section of the party.  This is the demographic that had just handed its support of Hillary Clinton over to Obama. So now we have another split?   

How does the Democratic Party look at PUMAS who wouldn't vote for Obama, Gays  who were supported by liberal white Americans, and the African- Americans who wouldn't support a liberal issue? Amazing it is this new segmenting of the Party.  African -Americans will now be held accountble for their actions along with PUMAS and evey other voting group  of citizenry. This is interesting to me as a PUMA, and so much more as a woman: Rodriguez says African-Americans have not achieved equality yet, but my point to Rodriguez is- ready or not, African-Americans are responsible for their voting behavior the same as PUMAS, women,Gays and all those still looking in from the outside....Redwine

Read "the ugly side of "Beyond Race" by Gregory Rodriguez

Obama's Donors

from the Minnesota Independent

Obama’s army of small donors?

By PAUL DEMKO 11/24/08 11:00 AM

A major theme of the presidential campaign was the stunning ability of Barack Obama to tap into an unprecedented universe of donors, many of them outside the realm of fat-cat contributors who typically fill campaign coffers on both sides of the aisle. But according to a new study by the Campaign Finance Institute, donors giving less than $200 accounted for just 26 percent of Obama’s total contributions — roughly the same level as George W. Bush in 2004. John McCain received just 21 percent of his contributions from such small donors, while 20 percent of John Kerry’s campaign was funded by donors giving less than $200 in the last presidential election.

“The myth is that money from small donors dominated Barack Obama’s finances,” said CFI’s executive director Michael Malbin, in a statement announcing the report’s findings. “The reality of Obama’s fundraising was impressive, but the reality does not match the myth.”

continued

The Face Of The Great Depression

We have a lot to be thankful for. This video is close to 10min. long, but the faces will draw you into our past.

NewYork Daily News: Hillary Can Be Great ...ONLY IF

The Liberal MSM can't quit their gushing over Obama.  Now they are worried Hillary will outshine Obama as Secretary of State. The fact is: She will. They can't even give their guy any credit for having chosen Hillary!  Perhaps the MSM and journalists such as Mike Lupica can quit looking for DRAMA.  Hillary is a bright, hardworking woman who happens to STILL have 18 million supporters.  So what if she is still ambitious? All the more reason for her to do a good job.  Sounds like some of the guys can't deal with the girl!

P.S. The pic they use of Hillary is the one with all the cleavage...OF COURSE.

The New York Daily News 

by Mike Lupica

Hillary Clinton can be a great secretary of state if she puts presidential ambition aside

Hillary Clinton was not a great candidate, even as her husband and her sidemen kept saying she was, as if saying it often enough would finally make it true. She would not have made a great President. She can be a great secretary of state, but only if she does this right, which means she stops running now.

This is a time in America when Barack Obama asks everybody to find the best in themselves. Something like that might as well start with the woman he defeated for the nomination. Hillary has the chance to be better in this job than in anything she has done before it, and that includes the Senate. Only if she can do it without the usual drama. This is about the good of the country this time, not the Clinton brand.

continued for the brave

Change We Can Believe In ?

by Marc at Marc's Musings

During President-Elect Obama's election campaign he offered little in the way of concrete economic policy. Near the end of the campaign he made some remarks to say that he favored policies that would be good for the middle class, but nothing specific. Obama's economic team leads us to believe that we can expect an economic policy similar to the Clinton administration. However, this is not 1992 and the unravelling of the economy is not something that can be fixed with financial band aids. Rather we need some radically new thinking to restructure the entire foundation of our economy. Ravi Batra, Professor of Economics at Southern Methodist University, said in a recent radio interview that Obama's election would bring a revolution. I have trouble seeing where this revolution is going to come from.
What's more likely is that the new administration will use the fear of economic collapse much like Bush used the fear of terrorism to continue the economic policies that suppress the middle class and strengthen the power of the coalition between the economic elites and the political elites in the U.S.A. The old saying in politics is "follow the money", and during the presidential campaign a lot of money went into the Obama campaign from Wall Street. We are starting to see now what that money bought.
I don't see any real possibility for economic change until we get public financing of political campaigns, and we already know what Obama thinks about that. And even then, we will need to get some courageous people in the government to implement it who are not afraid to think in new directions and make fundamental changes in the way our economy works. Otherwise, the only change we can expect is the coming great depression.
Robert Reich, former Labor Secretary in the Clinton administration, says in his book "Supercapitalism" that the only way to bring about what he calls "democratic capitalism" is for the public interest to impose itself on the economy through legislation. However, as long as private money controls public elections, through campaign contributions and control of the media, this will never happen. What we really need is economic democracy which comes from people participating in local economies through institutions like cooperative banks, small businesses, and local agriculture and manufacturing. If we get a major meltdown on Wall Street, this might be our only recourse.
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Posted By Marc to Marc's Musing at 11/24/2008 03:15:00 PM

 

IceRocket Tags: Robert Reich,Obama,Change,capitalism,Ravi Batra

Obama Wins, Muslims Divided - article by Daniel Pipes

 

Ali ibn Abi-Talib, the seventh-century figure central to Shiite Islam, is said to have predicted when the world will end, columnist Amir Taheri points out:

 

 A "tall black man" commanding "the strongest army on earth" will take power "in the west." He will carry "a clear sign" from the third imam, Hussein. Ali says of the tall black man: "Shiites should have no doubt that he is with us."

An Iranian in Tehran sports a badge of Barack Obama. (AP: Hasan Sarbakhshian)

Barack Hussein in Arabic means "the blessing of Hussein." In Persian, Obama translates as "He [is] with us." Thus does the name of the presumptive American president-elect, when combined with his physical attributes and geography, suggest that the End of Times is nigh – precisely what Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been predicting.

Back down on earth, the Muslim reaction to Obama's victory is more mixed than one might expect.

Obama Wins, Muslims Divided - article by Daniel Pipes

 

IceRocket Tags: Obama,Muslims,Amir Taheir

Pelosi and Reid Work On Economy