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02:01:26 05/25/12
Myth McConnell
[LESS INFO] 0 VIEWS | ADDED 02:01:26 05/25/12
In the wake of the debt-ceiling crisis he helped manufacture last summer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell boasted it was "a hostage that's worth ransoming" which "also is a new template" for the future. As it turns out, those threats were among the few true words McConnell has uttered. Because while he's promising once again to blackmail the White House over the debt ceiling, the Kentucky Republican claimed it's because "we'd like to do something about the nation's biggest problem, spending and debt, which of course is the reason for this economic malaise." Of course, as the data show, it's the very austerity policies here and in Europe which are costing jobs and hurting growth.
But Mitch McConnell's myth-making hardly ends there. On the economy, taxes, deficits, health care and so much else, virtually all of McConnell's talking points are tried - and untrue.
( Click a link to jump to the details for each below ):
* "Obama Made the Economy Worse"
* "No Evidence Whatsoever That the Bush Tax Cuts Actually Diminished Revenue"
* "Punishing Job Creators"
* "We Look a Lot Like Greece Already"
* Public Sector Layoffs Are a "Local" Problem
* 47 Million Uninsured Americans "Don't Go Without Health Care"
* The Public Option "May Cost You Your Life"
* Democrats Are "Sticking It to Seniors with Cuts to Medicare"
"Obama Made the Economy Worse"
For months, Mitch McConnell (for example, here , here and here ) regurgitated the GOP talking point that President Obama " made the economy worse ." Sadly for the trickle-down mythmakers of the Republican Party , the facts and the overwhelming consensus of economists - including John McCain's 2008 brain trust - prove otherwise. President Obama not only did not make the American economy worse; no thanks to obstructionist Republicans in Congress he saved the United States from "Great Depression 2.0" and put the nation on the path to recovery.
Start, for example, with the conclusions of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Despite Republican mythmaking that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) "created zero jobs," in November the CBO reported that the stimulus added up to 2.4 million jobs and boosted GDP by as much as 1.9 points in the previous quarter. As The Hill explained, the CBO has found that "President Obama's 2009 stimulus package continues to benefit the struggling economy": >
The agency said the measure raised gross domestic product by between 0.3 and 1.9 percent in the third quarter of 2011, which ended Sept. 30. The Commerce Department said Tuesday that GDP in that quarter was only 2 percent total...
By CBO's numbers, the $800 billion stimulus added up to 0.9 million jobs in 2009, 3.3 million jobs in 2010 and 2.6 million jobs in 2011.
Mark Zandi , an adviser to John McCain in 2008, was adamant on positive role of the stimulus. Federal intervention, he and Princeton economist Alan Blinder argued in August 2010, literally saved the United States from a second Great Depression. In " How the Great Recession Was Brought to an End ," Blinder and Zandi's models confirmed the impact of the Obama recovery program and other federal interventions dating back to 2008, concluding that "laissez faire was not an option": >
We find that its effects on real GDP, jobs, and inflation are huge, and probably averted what could have been called Great Depression 2.0. For example, we estimate that, without the government's response, GDP in 2010 would be about 11.5% lower, payroll employment would be less by some 8½ million jobs, and the nation would now be experiencing deflation.
"No Evidence Whatsoever That the Bush Tax Cuts Actually Diminished Revenue"
In his version of the Republican myth that " tax cuts pay for themselves ," President Bush confidently proclaimed, "You cut taxes and the tax revenues increase." As it turned out, not so much.
After Ronald Reagan tripled the national debt with his supply-side tax cuts, George W. Bush doubled it again with his own. (Reagan's performance would have been much worse, had he not raised taxes 11 times to help make up the shocking shortfall.) As a share of American GDP, tax revenues peaked in 2000; that is, before the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003. As the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities concluded, the Bush tax cuts accounted for half of the deficits during his tenure, and if made permanent , over the next decade would cost the U.S. Treasury more than Iraq, Afghanistan, the recession, TARP and the stimulus - combined .
Nevertheless, as the Republican Party waged its all-out attack in 2010 to preserve the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy , the GOP's number two man in the Senate provided the talking point to help sell the $70 billion annual giveaway to America's rich. "You should never," Arizona's Jon Kyl declared, "have to offset the cost of a deliberate decision to reduce tax rates on Americans." For his part, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell rushed to defend Kyl's fuzzy math: >
"There's no evidence whatsoever that the Bush tax cuts actually diminished revenue. They increased revenue because of the vibrancy of these tax cuts in the economy. So I think what Senator Kyl was expressing was the view of virtually every Republican on that subject."
That may have been a view universally shared by virtually every Republican, but it happens to be wrong.
"Punishing Job Creators"
For years, Senator McConnell has been among the legions of Republicans wrongly arguing that even the slightest increase in taxes for the wealthiest Americans is tantamount to " punishing job creators ." As his colleague John Boehner put it: >
"The top one percent of wage earners in the United States...pay forty percent of the income taxes...The people he's [President Obama] is talking about taxing are the very people that we expect to reinvest in our economy."
If so, those expectations were sadly unmet under George W. Bush. After all, the last time the top tax rate was 39.6 percent during the Clinton administration , the United States enjoyed rising incomes, 23 million new jobs and budget surpluses. Under Bush? Not so much.
On January 9, 2009, the Republican-friendly Wall Street Journal summed it up with an article titled simply, " Bush on Jobs: the Worst Track Record on Record ." (The Journal's interactive table quantifies his staggering failure relative to every post-World War II president.) The meager one million jobs created under President Bush didn't merely pale in comparison to the 23 million produced during Bill Clinton's tenure. In September 2009, the Congressional Joint Economic Committee charted Bush's job creation disaster, the worst since Hoover.
That dismal performance prompted David Leonhardt of the New York Times to ask last fall, "Why should we believe that extending the Bush tax cuts will provide a big lift to growth?" His answer was unambiguous: >
Those tax cuts passed in 2001 amid big promises about what they would do for the economy. What followed? The decade with the slowest average annual growth since World War II. Amazingly, that statement is true even if you forget about the Great Recession and simply look at 2001-7... >
Is there good evidence the tax cuts persuaded more people to join the work force (because they would be able to keep more of their income)? Not really. The labor-force participation rate fell in the years after 2001 and has never again approached its record in the year 2000. >
Is there evidence that the tax cuts led to a lot of entrepreneurship and innovation? Again, no. The rate at which start-up businesses created jobs fell during the past decade.
The data are clear: lower taxes for America's so called job-creators don't mean either faster economic growth or more jobs for Americans .
As Jared Bernstein aptly put it earlier this month: >
"Tax cuts and job growth? They're just not that into each other."
"We Look a Lot Like Greece Already"
As their last round of hostage-taking of the debt heated up last summer, Republicans including Mitch McConnell warned, "We look a lot like Greece."
hile FactCheck.org was quick to conclude that "whatever it 'looks like' through Sen. McConnell's eyes -- the fact is that the U.S. is not yet a fiscal wreck of Greek proportions," its analysis hardly does justice to the scale of the Republican myth-making. The Washington Monthly's Steve Benen summed it up quite succinctly: >
New rule: every time a confused Republican lawmakers compare the United States' fiscal conditions to that of Greece, an angel loses its wings.
Look, the very idea is just crazy. The U.S. has extremely low interest rates and foreign investor are happy to loan us money; Greece has extremely high interest rates and no one is eager to loan the country money. The U.S. has our own currency; Greece has the Euro. We have a great credit rating (for now); Greece has an awful credit rating. We have a manageable debt; Greece has a debt crisis. We're a large country with an enormous economy; Greece is a small country with a small economy. We have one of the world's most stable systems of government (at least until six months ago); Greece's government structure is a little shaky.
For his part, Nobel Prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman has been decrying the " Hellenization of economic discourse " for months. "Greece -- with a long history of fiscal irresponsibility, very high public debt, and a country without a currency -- doesn't bear much resemblance even to the other peripheral Europeans, let alone the United States."
>
Here's debt levels (if you ask me the IMF projections for Greece are too optimistic). >
Plus there's the having your own currency thing, and the fact that the interest rate on US 10-year bonds is 3.11 percent, on Greek bonds 16.82 percent. >
Otherwise we're exactly the same.
Public Sector Layoffs a "Local" Problem
Last fall, Minority Leader McConnell led the GOP opposition to President Obama's proposed $400 billion American Jobs Act. The loss of hundreds of thousands of police, firefighter, teacher and other public sector jobs, he insisted, was a "local" problem.
As it turns out, the 600,000 state and local government jobs already lost since December 2008 is very much a national issue. That " anti-stimulus ," it turns out, has added a full point to America's unemployment rate .
Last month, the Economic Policy Institute noted that the private sector had gained 2.8 million jobs while federal, state and local governments shed 584,000 just since June 2009. EPI concluded that the public sector job losses constituted "an unprecedented drag on the recovery": >
"The current recovery is the only one that has seen public-sector losses over its first 31 months."
Back in March, Paul Krugman expressed the same point , but with some inconvenient historical context for the Party of Reagan. "In fact, if it weren't for this destructive fiscal austerity," Krugman explained, "Our unemployment rate would almost certainly be lower now than it was at a comparable stage of the 'Morning in America' recovery during the Reagan era." >
We're talking big numbers here. If government employment under Mr. Obama had grown at Reagan-era rates, 1.3 million more Americans would be working as schoolteachers, firefighters, police officers, etc., than are currently employed in such jobs. >
And once you take the effects of public spending on private employment into account, a rough estimate is that the unemployment rate would be 1.5 percentage points lower than it is, or below 7 percent -- significantly better than the Reagan economy at this stage.
47 Million Uninsured Americans "Don't Go Without Health Care"
McConnell the " strict obstructionist " was naturally in the forefront of the all-out Republican effort to block health care reform at any cost. As he repeatedly put it in June 2009 , "all of us want reform, but not reform that denies, delays, or rations health care." To prove his point, McConnell didn't merely trot out a Canadian patient who came to the U.S. for special treatment, but insisted to NBC's David Gregory that no American does without health care now. >
GREGORY: Do you think it's a moral issue that 47 million Americans go without health insurance? >
McCONNELL: Well, they don't go without health care. It's not the most efficient way to provide it. As we know, the doctors in the hospitals are sworn to provide health care. We all agree it is not the most efficient way to provide health care to find somebody only in the emergency room and then pass those costs on to those who are paying for insurance. So it is important, I think, to reduce the number of uninsured. The question is, what is the best way to do that?
That President George W. Bush, Tom Delay and Paul Broun among other Republicans also claimed "people have access to health care in America...after all, you just go to an emergency room" doesn't make it any more true. As the numbers show -- 50 million uninsured, another 25 million uninsured, 45,000 unnecessary deaths, one in five Americans "self-rationing" care and 62 percent of all personal bankruptcies being related to medical bills -- the crisis is far worse than the one Mitch McConnell pretends doesn't exist.
The Public Option "May Cost You Your Life"
While Mitch McConnell insisted that the lack of insurance doesn't prevent anyone from getting health care, in 2009 he suggested having coverage could prove fatal . Months before the passage of the Affordable Care Act without the so-called "public option," Minority Leader McConnell said it would be deadly.
That irresponsible fear-mongering came during an appearance on Dennis Miller's radio show in October 2009. Blasting the "opt-out" version of the public option then being considered in the Senate bill, the Senator from the state ranked 45th in health care performance insisted access to coverage could kill you : >
MCCONNELL: Well, it doesn't make any difference frankly whether you opt-in or you opt-out, it's still a government plan. You know, Medicaid, the program for the poor now, states can opt-out of that, but none of them have. I think if you have any kind of government insurance program, you're going to be stuck with it and it will lead us in the direction of the European style, you know, sort of British-style, single payer, government run system. And those systems are known for delays, denial of care and, you know, if your particular malady doesn't fit the government regulation, you don't get the medication. >
MILLER: Right. >
MCCONNELL: And it may cost you your life. I mean, we don't want to go down that path.
As a Harvard Medical School study found, each year the path of no health insurance leads 45,000 Americans to the grave.
Democrats Are "Sticking It to Seniors with Cuts to Medicare"
For two years running, Mitch McConnell has been among the 40 GOP Senator voting for Paul Ryan's House budget plan to privatize and inevitably ration Medicare now used by 46 million American seniors. In the late 1990's, McConnell joined in Newt Gingrich's effort to slash almost 15 percent from the Medicare budget so that the program would "wither on the vine." But when the Affordable Care Act called for savings from the private Medicare Advantage program used by only 15 percent of elderly beneficiaries, it was Mitch McConnell who warned seniors about the mythical danger.
In July 2009, McConnell tried to scare America's 46 million Medicare beneficiaries by declaring, "The administration plans to use Medicare cuts to fund yet another new government program." Hoping to build on the momentum of the GOP's disgusting and demonstrably false " euthanasia " talking point, McConnell cautioned: >
"Some in Congress seem to be in such a rush to pass just any reform, rather than the right reform, that they're looking everywhere for the money to pay for it -- even if it means sticking it to seniors with cuts to Medicare."
That salvo comes just two weeks after McConnell promised to defeat health care reform in the Senate, warning America's highest turnout voting block: >
"They are going to pay for this plan by cutting Medicare, that is cutting seniors."
Those claims, the New York Times pointed out the day after the Republicans' overwhelming triumph in the 2010 midterms elections were misleading at best and false at worst. But, sadly, they worked .
And so it goes.
As Joshua Green documented last year in the Atlantic , "Mitch McConnell is a master manipulator and strategist" whose "relentless tactics have made his party victorious." But that doesn't make him a truth-teller, except on those rare occasions when he reveals his true motivations. During the debt ceiling stand-off last summer , McConnell briefly got weak in the knees at the prospect of U.S. sovereign default not because it would be a disaster for the nation, but because it could damage his Republican Party : >
"I refuse to help Barack Obama get re-elected by marching Republicans into a position where we have co-ownership of a bad economy. ... If we go into default, he will say that Republicans are making the economy worse and try to convince the public -- maybe with some merit, if people stop getting their Social Security checks and military families start getting letters saying service people overseas don't get paid. It's an argument he could have a good chance of winning, and all of the sudden we have co-ownership of a bad economy," he said. "That is very bad positioning going into an election."
Especially an election which marks the culmination of Mitch McConnell's work over the past three and a half years: >
"The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president."
(This piece also appears at Perrspectives .)
1 Views
08:29:30 05/15/12
euronews interview - Rehn: 'Greece will be in the euro next year'
[LESS INFO] 1 VIEWS | ADDED 08:29:30 05/15/12
euronews interview - Rehn: 'Greece will be in the euro next year'
www.euronews.com Finland's Olli Rehn is a three-time EU Commissioner, currently in charge of Economic and Financial Affairs; a pretty thankless watch considering the constant turmoil since he took office. As the EU and eurozone enter uncharted territory with the Greek political crisis, a potential change of direction from France, and deepening cracks in Spain's economy a perfect storm appears to be on the horizon. In an interview with euronews he plots a course for recovery. Paul Hackett, euronews. ''Commissioner Rehn, thanks for being with us. The economic road map proposed by you here in Brussels, proposed by Berlin, seems this month to have been rejected by French and Greek voters. Don't you think it's time to change the approach?'' Vice-President of the EU Commission, Olli Rehn. ''I think it's important that we in Europe now combine fiscal consolidation and sustainable growth.'' euronews: ''What do you actually mean by growth? Growth is like world peace, everybody wants it: but what exactly do you mean by growth?'' Olli Rehn: ''That's precisely the problem in the current debate and therefore we have to substantiate and we have to tell the people how growth will come about. Our view is that we have to stay the course on fiscal consolidation because we can not grow by piling new debt on existing debt..." euronews: ''So its more of the same austerity, isn't it?" Olli Rehn: ''...Can you, if you listen to me, I'll tell you. So, first, we have to stay the course on fiscal ... From: Euronews Views: 537 17 ratings Time: 06:54 More in Shows
0 Views
08:29:30 05/15/12
euronews interview - Rehn: 'Greece will be in the euro next year'
[LESS INFO] 0 VIEWS | ADDED 08:29:30 05/15/12
euronews interview - Rehn: 'Greece will be in the euro next year'
www.euronews.com Finland's Olli Rehn is a three-time EU Commissioner, currently in charge of Economic and Financial Affairs; a pretty thankless watch considering the constant turmoil since he took office. As the EU and eurozone enter uncharted territory with the Greek political crisis, a potential change of direction from France, and deepening cracks in Spain's economy a perfect storm appears to be on the horizon. In an interview with euronews he plots a course for recovery. Paul Hackett, euronews. ''Commissioner Rehn, thanks for being with us. The economic road map proposed by you here in Brussels, proposed by Berlin, seems this month to have been rejected by French and Greek voters. Don't you think it's time to change the approach?'' Vice-President of the EU Commission, Olli Rehn. ''I think it's important that we in Europe now combine fiscal consolidation and sustainable growth.'' euronews: ''What do you actually mean by growth? Growth is like world peace, everybody wants it: but what exactly do you mean by growth?'' Olli Rehn: ''That's precisely the problem in the current debate and therefore we have to substantiate and we have to tell the people how growth will come about. Our view is that we have to stay the course on fiscal consolidation because we can not grow by piling new debt on existing debt..." euronews: ''So its more of the same austerity, isn't it?" Olli Rehn: ''...Can you, if you listen to me, I'll tell you. So, first, we have to stay the course on fiscal ... From: Euronews Views: 470 15 ratings Time: 06:54 More in Shows
3 Views
19:51:26 04/06/12
euronews focus - TV: the dinosaur of the digital age?
[LESS INFO] 3 VIEWS | ADDED 19:51:26 04/06/12
euronews focus - TV: the dinosaur of the digital age?
www.euronews.com Television is becoming increasingly global. The programs we see on our screens, whether documentaries or soap operas, quiz programmes or films, are produced in various countries around the world. However there is one place where all of those working in this sector meet up. MipTv, in Cannes, France. It is the largest event of its kind in the world, and over 11000 people from over 100 countries gather in Cannes to buy and sell TV shows. It is a huge market for the television. But how well does this market work? And what products can be found here? Anne de Kerckhove, Director of Entertainment Division at Reed MIDEM told euronews about the event: "So, here it's all about TV. It's where your future police series, detective stories, love romances, telenovelas, reality TV shows, all these shows get discovered here, sold to over 100 countries. It's where really all the makers of the best TV come together and trade each other series and launch new exciting products for the TV". But the economic crisis has hit companies hard, and all now have to deal with certain financial constraints. This makes co-production a very popular money saving option, and many come to Cannes to find a partner who can help finance their projects. Ove Rishoj Jensen of the European Documentary Network spoke of the benefits of co-production: "Co-production and working together across borders can really help with bringing the right amount of financing and really fulfilling the financial needs ... From: Euronews Views: 453 10 ratings Time: 04:10 More in Shows
0 Views
19:51:26 04/06/12
euronews focus - TV: the dinosaur of the digital age?
[LESS INFO] 0 VIEWS | ADDED 19:51:26 04/06/12
euronews focus - TV: the dinosaur of the digital age?
www.euronews.com Television is becoming increasingly global. The programs we see on our screens, whether documentaries or soap operas, quiz programmes or films, are produced in various countries around the world. However there is one place where all of those working in this sector meet up. MipTv, in Cannes, France. It is the largest event of its kind in the world, and over 11000 people from over 100 countries gather in Cannes to buy and sell TV shows. It is a huge market for the television. But how well does this market work? And what products can be found here? Anne de Kerckhove, Director of Entertainment Division at Reed MIDEM told euronews about the event: "So, here it's all about TV. It's where your future police series, detective stories, love romances, telenovelas, reality TV shows, all these shows get discovered here, sold to over 100 countries. It's where really all the makers of the best TV come together and trade each other series and launch new exciting products for the TV". But the economic crisis has hit companies hard, and all now have to deal with certain financial constraints. This makes co-production a very popular money saving option, and many come to Cannes to find a partner who can help finance their projects. Ove Rishoj Jensen of the European Documentary Network spoke of the benefits of co-production: "Co-production and working together across borders can really help with bringing the right amount of financing and really fulfilling the financial needs ... From: Euronews Views: 507 10 ratings Time: 04:10 More in Shows
0 Views
12:51:13 03/11/12
Tsunami survivors remember lost loved ones
[LESS INFO] 0 VIEWS | ADDED 12:51:13 03/11/12
Tsunami survivors remember lost loved ones
www.euronews.com Cities across northeastern Japan have been holding their own memorials for the tsunami's victims, and those of the nuclear crisis that followed. In Iwaki along the Fukushima coastline hundreds gathered for a moment of silence on the beach. Nearly 80000 across the area have been forced to leave their homes due to radiation fears. Katsuko Ishii and her family are evacuees from the exclusion zone. "My home is in Namie town, and so we can't go home. There aren't really any words for it. To be honest, we haven't really had any good signs," said the 42-year-old mother. Politicians and bureaucrats have come under fire over the past year for their response to the nuclear disaster and reconstruction challenge. The political row has even affected children. 12-year-old Shiori Anzai was overcome with tears as she said: "I've hardly noticed the year go by, but you really have to wonder what politicians have been doing the whole time." In Ofunato hundreds of black-clad residents came to the town hall, and laid white chrysanthemums to remember the 420 people from the town who are still missing. While the country observed a minute's silence to mark the time the earthquake struck a year ago, Ofunato paused again 33 minutes later, the moment the 23-metre tsunami engulfed the town of 41000. Despite their grief some managed to look on the bright side. "I've come here to tell my grandfather who was killed that I'm ok and enjoying life," said 21-year-old Yoshiyuki Morishita ... From: Euronews Views: 178 10 ratings Time: 01:39 More in News & Politics
0 Views
12:51:13 03/11/12
Tsunami survivors remember lost loved ones
[LESS INFO] 0 VIEWS | ADDED 12:51:13 03/11/12
Tsunami survivors remember lost loved ones
www.euronews.com Cities across northeastern Japan have been holding their own memorials for the tsunami's victims, and those of the nuclear crisis that followed. In Iwaki along the Fukushima coastline hundreds gathered for a moment of silence on the beach. Nearly 80000 across the area have been forced to leave their homes due to radiation fears. Katsuko Ishii and her family are evacuees from the exclusion zone. "My home is in Namie town, and so we can't go home. There aren't really any words for it. To be honest, we haven't really had any good signs," said the 42-year-old mother. Politicians and bureaucrats have come under fire over the past year for their response to the nuclear disaster and reconstruction challenge. The political row has even affected children. 12-year-old Shiori Anzai was overcome with tears as she said: "I've hardly noticed the year go by, but you really have to wonder what politicians have been doing the whole time." In Ofunato hundreds of black-clad residents came to the town hall, and laid white chrysanthemums to remember the 420 people from the town who are still missing. While the country observed a minute's silence to mark the time the earthquake struck a year ago, Ofunato paused again 33 minutes later, the moment the 23-metre tsunami engulfed the town of 41000. Despite their grief some managed to look on the bright side. "I've come here to tell my grandfather who was killed that I'm ok and enjoying life," said 21-year-old Yoshiyuki Morishita ... From: Euronews Views: 573 12 ratings Time: 01:39 More in News & Politics
102 Views
20:58:10 01/21/12
Skyrim Mod Moment Ep2: Sky UI, Dovahkiin Hideout & Buster Sword w/ Geordie (Gameplay/Commentary)
[LESS INFO] 102 VIEWS | ADDED 20:58:10 01/21/12
Skyrim Mod Moment Ep2: Sky UI, Dovahkiin Hideout & Buster Sword w/ Geordie (Gameplay/Commentary)
www.youtube.com Click here to watch The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: Mod Moment - Link, Lightsabers and QD Inventory (Gameplay/Commentary) Skyrim Mod Moment Ep2: Sky UI, Dovahkiin Hideout & Buster Sword w/ Geordie (Gameplay/Commentary) My second episode of Skyrim Mod Moment. In this episode we cover another User Interface mod (in Sky UI), an additional hidden area for houses and a new creatable item! A big thank you to everyone who showed me support with my last upload, it was a joy to make and it was great to see the positive feedback I received. Again if you love Skryim, come say hello on my channel! DIRECTOR'S CHANNEL: www.youtube.com DIRECTORS TWITTER: www.twitter.com MOD LINKS: SkyUI - www.skyrimnexus.com Dovahkiin Hideout - www.skyrimnexus.com Final Fantasy 7 Crisis Core Buster Sword - skyrimnexus.com Visit the NEW Inside Gaming Blog! bit.ly - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - This Realm video will show you: How to play The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim How to change Skyrims User Interface (Sky UI) How to use mods with Skyrim How to get clouds buster sword in Skyrim - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Like Machinima Realm on Facebook! facebook.com Enlist in the Respawn Army! therespawnarmy.com FOR MORE MACHINIMA, GO TO www.youtube.com FOR MORE GAMEPLAY, GO TO: www.youtube.com FOR MORE SPORTS GAMEPLAY, GO TO: www.youtube.com FOR MORE MMO & RPG GAMEPLAY, GO TO: www.youtube.com FOR MORE TRAILERS, GO ... From: MachinimaRealm Views: 11396 159 ratings Time: 07:59 More in Gaming
14 Views
16:00:56 12/29/11
Mitt Romney's Big Promises - and Bigger Lies
[LESS INFO] 14 VIEWS | ADDED 16:00:56 12/29/11
Click here to view this media
In the election of 1928, the Republican Party of Herbert Hoover promised voters "a chicken in every pot and a car in every backyard." (We all know how that turned out.) Now, Mitt Romney is pledging that "If I'm President" every college graduate will be guaranteed a job, Iran will have no nuclear weapons and the United States will dominate the 21st century. And when Romney isn't making fantastic promises about what he'll do when he gets to the White House, he's slandering the current occupant , Barack Obama.
"I Won't Let Iran Get Nukes"
Governor Romney's guarantees start with Iran and its nuclear program . In a November 10, 2011 op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, Romney pledged, " I won't let Iran get nukes ." Or as he put it 10 days earlier during a GOP national security debate : >
"If we re-elect Barack Obama, Iran will have a nuclear weapon. If you elect me as president, Iran will not have a nuclear weapon."
As to how he'll ensure that outcome, Romney explained that "If you want peace, prepare for war." And despite occasionally acknowledging the complexity of a strike against Iran and even the questionable possibility of success, Romney told the Wall Street Journal this weekend how he would get it done: >
So what would he do about it? "I do not have a top secret security clearance at this stage to be able to define precisely what kinds of actions we could take." But he adds that "the range includes something of a blockade nature, to something of a surgical strike nature, to something of a decapitate the regime nature, to eliminate the military threat of Iran altogether."
No U.S. Decline in Romney's "American Century"
Romney's promise to "eliminate the military threat of Iran altogether" is just part of his larger assurance that the 21st century will be another " American Century ." Pretending that the rise of India, China and Brazil doesn't inevitably entail the relative loss of U.S. power and influence, Romney announced in his October address at The Citadel : >
"This century must be an American Century. In an American Century, America has the strongest economy and the strongest military in the world. In an American Century, America leads the free world and the free world leads the entire world...As President of the United States, I will devote myself to an American Century. And I will never, ever apologize for America."
Not content to rest there, Romney accused President Obama of "waving the white flag of surrender": >
"An eloquently justified surrender of world leadership is still surrender. >
I will not surrender America's role in the world. This is very simple: If you do not want America to be the strongest nation on Earth, I am not your President. >
You have that President today."
Two months later, Mitt Romney repackaged his promise and his slander at the December 15 Republican debate in Sioux City, Iowa: >
"Our president thinks America is in decline. It is if he's president. It's not if I'm president. This is going to be an American century."
As for Romney's charge that President Obama "went around the world and apologized for America," the Washington Post Fact Checker deemed it a Four-Pinocchio lie .
A Job for Every College Graduate
At an event in New Hampshire last week, Governor Romney's pandering went from the sublime to the ridiculous. There, Mitt pledged President Romney would deliver full-employment for all American college graduates: >
"What I can promise you is this -- when you get out of college, if I'm president you'll have a job. If President Obama is reelected, you will not be able to get a job. That's the reason I will hopefully get young people who are in college is to say, You know what, I understand what it takes to get jobs in America."
As the record shows , not so much. After all, as the Los Angeles Times recently documented, Romney's "Bain Capital often maximized profits in part by firing workers." That's why FactCheck.org , the Washington Post Fact Checker and Fortune all refused to vouch for Romney's claim that "In those hundreds of businesses we invested in, tens of thousands of jobs net-net were created."
Obama "Has Not Created Any New Jobs"
If Mitt Romney can't prove his boasts about his own job creation record, neither can he justify his blatant lie about President Obama's : >
"25 million people are out of work because of Barack Obama. And so I'll compare my experience in the private sector where, net-net, we created over 100,000 jobs." >
"I'll compare that record with his record, where he has not created any new jobs."
Sadly for Mitt Romney, the Bush recession began in December 2007. As ThinkProgress rightly noted, "The private sector has added 2.3 million new jobs since March 2010, and it took the Obama economy one year to create more jobs than the economy under President Bush did in eight." As The Economist explained earlier, the recession was not at its deepest just as Barack Obama was entering office, but far worse than official statistics revealed at the time. Romney might also want to check with former McCain economic adviser Mark Zandi as well as the non-partisan CBO , who concluded that the Obama stimulus program "added up to 0.9 million jobs in 2009, 3.3 million jobs in 2010 and 2.6 million jobs in 2011."
Obama's Debt Exceeds All Previous Presidents Combined
Mitt Romney didn't just lie about Barack Obama's jobs record. At the Sioux City debate, he got President Obama's contribution to the federal debt all wrong as well: >
"We all understand that the spending crisis is extraordinary, with $15 trillion now in debt, with a president that's racked up as much debt as almost all of the other presidents combined."
Of course, we don't all understand that, because it's not true . After Ronald Reagan tripled the gross national debt and George W. Bush doubled it again, Uncle Sam's red ink totaled almost $11 trillion when Barack Obama took the oath of office.
Obama is "Taking over 100 Percent" of Health Care
In his desperate quest to win over conservative Republican primary voters, Mitt Romney has turned his back on his signature achievement which he once boasted was a health care model for the nation. And to do it, Romney has been lying for months by telling voters "Obamacare is about taking over 100 percent of the people's insurance in this country."
In a September 15, 2011 interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer , Romney made the same charge: >
"The Massachusetts plan was crafted for Massachusetts, for the needs of 8 percent of our population that didn't have insurance, not for the 92 percent that did. Obamacare is a plan that takes over 100 percent of the people in the country and their health care, and that's one of the reasons why people don't want it."
Sadly for Mitt Romney, repetition of a lie doesn't make it any more true.
The Affordable Care Act passed by Congress and signed by President Obama in the spring of 2010 targets the 17 percent of people (over 50 million people) who are uninsured . As Politifact explained in deeming Romney's fraud another "Pants on Fire" lie: >
According to the Census Bureau, the percentage of Americans without health insurance nationally was slightly under 17 percent in 2009, the year Obama began pushing for the bill. According to a Congressional Budget Office estimate, the number was about the same in 2010, when the measure was signed into law. Other estimates have pegged the national number at about 15 percent.
As Henry Aaron, a senior fellow with the centrist-to-liberal Brookings Institution right noted, comparing 8 percent to 17 percent "would have been apples to apples" when it comes to the impact of the individual mandate at the center of both the Massachusetts and national plans. Sadly, Politifact concluded, Romney was guilty of "a felony case of comparing apples and oranges."
Romney "Will Reverse President Obama's Massive Defense Cuts"
During that same "American Century" speech in October, Governor Romney pledged: >
"I will reverse President Obama's massive defense cuts. Time and again, we have seen that attempts to balance the budget by weakening our military only lead to a far higher price, not only in treasure, but in blood."
Sadly for Romney, as Steve Benen pointed out, defense spending has not only gone up every year of the Obama presidency . It is higher than it ever was when George W. Bush sat in the Oval Office.
Of course, Romney's confusion over matters of war and peace are hardly new. In an April op-ed for the Manchester Union Leader, Mitt forgot about the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan as he denounced President Obama for "one of the biggest peacetime spending binges in American history."
Obama's "Equal Outcomes" and "Entitlement Society"
Last week, the Romney campaign rolled out what may well become the meta-theme and meta-lie for the 2012 general election race.
After President Obama declared in his Osawatomie, Kansas address that Republican trickle down economics "never worked," Romney struck back. Just not with the truth: >
"Just a couple of weeks ago in Kansas, President Obama lectured us about Teddy Roosevelt's philosophy of government. But he failed to mention the important difference between Teddy Roosevelt and Barack Obama. Roosevelt believed that government should level the playing field to create equal opportunities. President Obama believes that government should create equal outcomes. >
"In an entitlement society, everyone receives the same or similar rewards, regardless of education, effort, and willingness to take risk. That which is earned by some is redistributed to the others. And the only people who truly enjoy any real rewards are those who do the redistributing -- the government. >
"The truth is that everyone may get the same rewards, but virtually everyone will be worse off."
By raising the mythical red menace of communism and falsely attributing it to Barack Obama, Romney in the words of Paul Krugman had introduced " The Big Lie " into his " Post-Truth Campaign ." While Andrew Sullivan announced "Mitt Romney is a big, fat liar," Steve Benen lamented that "Romney, allegedly the responsible one in the Republican field, has been reduced to lying uncontrollably." And while Greg Sargent in the past had expressed amazement at "Mitt Romney's casual, effortless falsehoods," New York Magazine's Jonathan Chait explained that Romney's red scare rose to a whole new level of duplicity: >
"This isn't just a casual line. In eight sentences, Romney asserts over and over again that Obama wants to create "equal outcomes" and give everybody the "same rewards." This is nuts, Glenn Beck-level insane. Restoring Clinton-era taxes is not a plan to equalize outcomes, or even close. It's not even a plan to stop rising inequality. Obama's America will continue to be the most unequal society in the advanced world -- only slightly less so. The alternative proposals accelerate inequality even further."
Of course, as the proliferating profiles from the Wall Street Journal , the New York Times , the Washington Post and others show, Mitt Romney is no stranger to inequality. Legendarily cheap and analytical , as a Harvard Business School student Romney gave a presentation to his classmates that "proved the value of family time based not on emotion but on yield." Two Romney quotes - " I love business " and " I love data " - seem to sum up the man.
As for loving the truth, that for Mitt Romney is apparently another matter altogether.
(This piece also appears at Perrspectives .)
0 Views
23:11:37 12/15/11
Gold Prices Lower From Stronger Dollar
[LESS INFO] 0 VIEWS | ADDED 23:11:37 12/15/11
Gold Prices Lower From Stronger Dollar
For more news and videos visit ☛ english.ntdtv.com Follow us on Twitter ☛ http Add us on Facebook ☛ me.lt In China, gold is one of the most popular investments. But losses in bulk commodity future markets and a stronger dollar saw a sharp drop in gold prices earlier this week. Here's more. Gold prices lowered on Tuesday, as the dollar strengthened against the yuan. It also comes as bulk commodity markets slumped, and non-ferrous metals took a sharp decline. The day ended with a 2.75% drop in gold prices down to $53.33. [Zhang Yingying, Galaxy Futures Broker Gold Analyst]: "Gold prices began to slump in early trading in Asia yesterday. It was not caused by sudden, unexpected factors. It was generally the response to the fiscal austerity measures reached at the European Union summit last Friday. The summit failed to work out practical measures on how to amend the EU Treaty. That's the core issue and the major concern of the market. Nor did the summit make any substantial plans on how to tackle the euro zone debt crisis or help funds to materialize." For the fourth time this year, Beijing gold retailers lowered gold jewelry prices to just under $66 per gram. From: NTDTV Views: 69 2 ratings Time: 01:14 More in News & Politics
3 Views
15:00:23 12/07/11
AFL-CIO Launches 'Share Your Story' To Document Unemployment Crisis
[LESS INFO] 3 VIEWS | ADDED 15:00:23 12/07/11
The AFL-CIO launched a new website on Tuesday designed to capture the stories of the unemployed in their own words. The website, Share Your Story allows site visitors to upload their stories and pictures to the site, providing a human face to the issue of unemployment, which politicians talk a lot about, but don't seem nearly as interested in doing something about.
Many of the stories on the site are like those of Pat from San Jose: >
I was a Communications worker for just under 20 years. After I was "surplused" in 1995 I went to work at a non-union job in the same industry which later became Worldcom followed by positions in two other companies. After the dot com bust in 2001, finding a full time job was hopeless. Apparently the rules had changed and I did not have the education to continue doing the work I had done for 25 years. The past 10 1/2 years have held sporadic, temporary and part time positions, most in retail which paid very little and I have now been unemployed for about a year. This track record, along with the fact that I am now 61 years old doesn't offer much for a resume. My thought is to apply for Social Security (a real oxymoron) if the powers that be will allow it. My retirement fund has all but vanished in the wake of what has happened. I don't know what plan the 1% has for us--maybe they expect that we will simply vanish the way our money did on Wall Street.
Janet from Texas questions the whole system: >
I have two masters degree and am all but dissertation for a doctrate in social work. I worked, consistently for the first 30 years of my adulthood and am now unemployed. I am living with friends because I cannot get unemployment. I cannot get unemployment because I quit my last job. I quit my last job because they were not paying me. I am suffering, in chronic pain, because I have no health care coverage. I am substitute teaching to try to cover my expenses so if a permanent job comes through, I will still have a car to get there. My question to you, as I stand in front of a classroom of young people: I am supposed to tell them to get a high school degree and go on to college because...............why?
She is far from alone in being a hard-working person who played by the rules and was still left out in the cold by the system. Even more heartbreaking are stories like that of Marge from Illinois: >
I am writing to say what a profound negative impact joblessness has on a family. My son in law is in the building trades industry. Due to lack of activity he has been laid off for the last two years almost as much as he has worked. This has placed much stress on their young family and marriage. In fact the stress has gotten to the point where my son in law is back to drinking heavily which has led to their separation. I might add that they have two young sons. One is six weeks old. So I have a very strong opinion that we need to do what it takes to extend unemployment benefits. What will families do if they have absolutely NO income? And more than that we need to get the economy back on track. What is wrong with Congress that they are more concerned about seeing someone fail or getting their way than to look out for the good of the people who elected them? I am still hopeful that those members of Congress who have real values will stand firm and do what's right!
AFL-CIO's release urges everyone to participate: >
You need to check out this website, right now.
It’s a powerful reminder of the real faces behind America’s sobering unemployment statistics. It has real pictures and stories from job-hunters and impacted people from all walks of life—from your state and from every state.
I hope you’ll take a minute to look at these powerful stories, share them and add your own.
If Congress fails to act by Dec. 31, extended unemployment insurance will expire for millions.
We never forget these are real people who face the prospect of going hungry and getting thrown out of their homes soon after the holidays if Congress fails to act. Many of us have been there before—or have friends and family who have.
Even though obstructionists in Congress are willing to ignore our joblessness crisis, we refuse to let these stories get brushed under the rug.
Click here to see and share the stories and faces behind America’s joblessness crisis.
Then, share our website on Facebook and Twitter and forward this message to all your friends.
These stories and pictures won’t just live on a website. We’ll share them with the media, hand-deliver them to Congress during our massive day of action on Dec. 8 and promote them widely on the Internet.
If callous members of Congress think they can sit back and allow unemployment aid to expire while they play political games, they’re wrong. With your help we’re going to force them to see this crisis head-on—with real faces of real people who are jobless and struggling in this brutal economy.
See these stories, share them and add your voice.
In Solidarity,
Manny Herrmann
Online Mobilization Coordinator, AFL-CIO
P.S. It’s not just people who are unemployed right now who have stories to tell. Millions of others do, too.
Maybe you’ve been jobless in the past and relied on unemployment benefits to get through. Or you’ve seen firsthand how much unemployment hurts your community and America—and how much unemployment aid helps. Or maybe you can write a brief statement of support for the jobless or urge Congress to act—even in just one to two sentences.
Together, we’re creating a visual display of the impact of unemployment that will be too powerful to ignore. See and share stories and statements in your state and across America. Then, add your own.
0 Views
20:33:56 11/17/11
That Kind of Day - Leap Year (season 1, ep. 6)
[LESS INFO] 0 VIEWS | ADDED 20:33:56 11/17/11
That Kind of Day - Leap Year (season 1, ep. 6)
Click here www.youtube.com to watch That Kind of Day - Leap Year (season 1, ep. 6) The office server goes missing and Bryn faces a crisis of conscience and identity. Aaron, furious over Olivia's and Jack's betrayal, unleashes the full fury of a financial analyst. Season 2 Coming Summer 2012. Leap Year is an original comedy series about 5 friends co-founding a startup while competing for half a million dollars in funding. Presented by Hiscox www.hiscoxusa.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Subscribe to Our Channel www.youtube.com Visit the official Leap Year site leapyear.hiscoxusa.com Become a Fan on Facebook http Follow Us on Twitter www.twitter.com #maketheleap Add Us on Google+ plus.google.com Find Us on Foursquare www.foursquare.com Download original songs from Leap Year on iTunes: itunes.apple.com Leap Year is an entrepreneurial comedy series about 5 friends, with 5 startups competing for half a million dollars in funding. When friends and co-workers Aaron, Olivia, Jack, Derek and Brynn are downsized they decide to 'make the leap' toward the unknown and start their own businesses. Things get complicated when a mysterious investor proposes a contest worth $500000 for one winning startup. Directed by Yuri Baranovsky Created by Wilson Cleveland Written by Vlad Baranovsky and Yuri Baranovsky Produced by Wilson Cleveland, Yuri Baranovsky, Justin Morrison, Dashiell Reinhardt Aaron Morrison.............................YURI ... From: theleapyeartv Views: 0 5 ratings Time: 07:12 More in Shows
0 Views
19:58:00 11/04/11
Tibetan Protestors Call for International Intervention
[LESS INFO] 0 VIEWS | ADDED 19:58:00 11/04/11
Tibetan Protestors Call for International Intervention
For more news and videos visit ☛ english.ntdtv.com Follow us on Twitter ☛ http Add us on Facebook ☛ me.lt As the G20 summit kicks off in Cannes, France, Tibetan protestors in northern India are urging world leaders to help stop oppression by communist authorities in their homeland. They say the only way to end decades of CCP rule in Tibet is for world leaders to speak up against the Chinese regime. Tibetan protestors paraded on the streets of Dharamsala in northern India Wednesday over China's repressive tactics in Tibet, seeking international intervention to save Tibetan lives. The protest comes as world leaders meet in France for the G20 summit. The people here say international intervention is the only solution that will relieve them from the oppression of the Chinese Communist Party. [Tenzing Dorjay, Protester]: "We aim to send a message to the global leaders that we need global intervention in Tibet in order to save Tibetan lives, in order to stop the Chinese government's repression in Tibet, which is exacerbating the situation, causing further loss of Tibetan lives and the only thing that will work, in order to stop this humanitarian crisis in Tibet, is global intervention." The protesters say they want G20 leaders to raise the issues of human rights violations and a crackdown on monasteries by Chinese police. China has ruled Tibet since 1950. An estimated 80000 Tibetans along with their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, fled to India in 1959 after an ... From: NTDTV Views: 288 10 ratings Time: 01:33 More in News & Politics
60 Views
17:31:27 10/17/11
Zachary Quinto Comes Out
[LESS INFO] 60 VIEWS | ADDED 17:31:27 10/17/11
Zachary Quinto Comes Out
The Heroes and Star Trek star revealed to New York Magazine over the weekend he is gay, and has lots of support. HE'S NEVER OPENED UP ABOUT HIS SEXUALITY -- UNTIL NOW. OVER THE WEEKEND ZACHARY QUINTO HAD A CRISIS OF CONSCIENCE, AND NOW HE'S OUT AND HE'S PROUD. THE STAR TREK AND HEROES ACTOR REVEALED HE'S GAY IN AN INTERIVEW WITH NEW YORK MAGAZINE...AND IN AN EMOTIONAL BLOG POST ON SUNDAY HE EXPLAINED THAT IN LIGHT OF JAMIE RODEMYERS SUICIDE, HE DECIDED HE HAD TO COME OUT... RODEMYER, A 14-YEAR-OLD BOY FROM BUFFALO, TOOK HIS OWN LIFE AFTER YEARS OF BULLYING BECAME UNBEARABLE FOR HIM. ZACHARY WROTE, "In light of jamey's death -- it became clear to me in an instant that living a gay life without publicly acknowledging it -- is simply not enough to make any significant contribution to the immense work that lies ahead on the road to complete equality." ZACHARY RECEIVED OVERWHELMING SUPPORT AFTER HE BROKE THE BIG NEWS. ON MONDAY HE TWEETED, "i have spent the day in awe of this outpouring of support and resonance. we. are. in. this. together. NEVER FORGET! i am deeply moved." NEXT UP FOR ZACHARY, THE PREMIERE OF HIS NEW MOVIE, MARGIN CALL.... "Just trust me I need you guys back here now..." ...A THRILLER ABOUT AN INVESTMENT BANK DURING THE EARLY STAGES OF A FINANCIAL CRISIS...MARGIN CALL HITS THEATERS ON FRIDAY... From: CelebTV Views: 1516 19 ratings Time: 01:15 More in Entertainment
1 Views
19:00:00 09/18/11
Bill Clinton Public Private Cooperation Is A Way Out Of Jobs Crisis
[LESS INFO] 1 VIEWS | ADDED 19:00:00 09/18/11
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Former President Bill Clinton appears on This Week With Christiane Amanpour to talk about the upcoming Clinton Global Initiative and its focus on job creation . I was part of a group of bloggers that got to meet with him a few years ago, and he was talking about green retrofits then. As I recall, the energy savings numbers he said could be created by retrofits were jaw-dropping, so this makes more sense than ever: >
AMANPOUR: Now, sir, your mantra right now is jobs, jobs, jobs. What do you think can happen to radically shift the unemployment picture and also pass muster in Washington in these very partisan times?
CLINTON: Well, I don't know that I'm the best person to answer the second part of that question. But I believe that we, those of us who aren't in government, can think of ways to create jobs which will reinforce what I believe are the positive suggestions coming out of Washington. Essentially, the president's plan has big payroll tax cuts in it, which will benefit the economy by lowering the average family's tax bill by 1,500 dollars. And then they can have that to spend. That will help. And then by lowering payroll taxes for employers, will make it more attractive for them to hire new people. But those of us who aren't in government, we don't have anything to do with that. So what we should do is focus on possible areas of job creation that will free up some of the corporate money that's in Treasuries now, that could be invested in America, and make bank loans more attractive to create jobs.
So that's what we try to do. We try to go around thinking about ways to specifically to do that. And if you look at the way the CGI program is set up this year, we also are trying to create more jobs around the world by focusing on the possibilities of green energy elsewhere, because it's not just in America that the green tech jobs are growing at twice the rate of overall employment. It's -- that's true around the world. And by focusing on trying to empower women and girls, because in many other countries, they're left out of the economy. And that's dragging the economic prospects of everyone down.
AMANPOUR: So what will tell the CEOs and the world leaders who come to your Clinton Global Initiative meeting this next week?
CLINTON: Well, I will ask them to put aside for the moment whatever their recommendations are to Washington about changes in the corporate tax laws or the trade bills or, you know, the tariffs that are imposed on component parts that some manufacturers use here but have to import from overseas, and just think about where we are now and what we can do now with the resources we now have. For example, I think we'll have an update on an announcement we made in Chicago, where the AFL-CIO and a couple of its affiliate unions are going to put some of their own pension funds into putting people to work retrofitting buildings and doing other things that will create jobs for their members and for other Americans in a way that will actually make more money for the pension funds than just putting it into the stock market will today. And they'll be in partnership with business instead of having a Washington political fight with them.
AMANPOUR: Where do you see -- obviously, this is all about this stubborn unemployment rate. Where do you see the unemployment, after all of these suggestions, and if they're implemented -- where do you see it standing this time next year?
CLINTON: Well, if you look at the program that the president has outlined, I think if we had the payroll tax cuts and the special incentives to hire the long term unemployed, and we did some of the things that I have been pushing very hard for, to invest building retrofits, which, if we did it right, could create a billions of jobs, the estimates are right across the economic board, including by Mr. Zandy who was an economic adviser to Senator McCain in the 2008 election.
All of the estimates that it will create somewhere between 1.3 and two million jobs, and drop unemployment by approximately one percent, maybe a little more. That's if they're implemented. That's -- we can't do much better than that right now, unless -- unless there is an aggressive action, which seems unlikely in Washington's political climate, to clean up this housing mess, because that's freezing too much investment in place.
So I think that it's a very good program that he outlined. I think if the Congress seriously takes him up on it and they start trying to work through it and get anything approaching the amount of activity that was recommended, they could put about two percent more on the GDP growth of the coming year, and they could drop unemployment by somewhere between one to two million. Or they can create one to two million jobs.
AMANPOUR: You have said in the past that this is not time for Mexican standoff or sort of macho politics. What can be done to make people in this city understand that the country faces a national emergency in this regard?
CLINTON: Well, we need a little bit of help from the American people. I mean, conflict has proved to be remarkably good politics. And it -- that sort of thing, you know, that -- it's very hard for the people in Washington, who got there based on pure conflict, pure attack, pure ideology, to take it seriously when their same constituents are saying please do something positive. That's not how they got elected. We live in a time where there's this huge disconnect between the way the political system works and the way the economic system works. If you look -- there are places all over America, believe it or not, that have low unemployment, high growth, strong home prices, jobs being created, a shortage of skilled workers.
And in every one of those places, they have networks of cooperation. San Diego has the largest number of Nobel Prized scientists in America. It's become the biotech center of the country. Everybody knows Silicon Valley's back. But look at what's happening in Pittsburgh, where they're trading steel for nanotechnology and other biomedical advances. Look at what's happening in Cleveland, around the Cleveland Clinic. Look at what's happening in Massachusetts, with the recovery of high-tech manufacturing around the MIT area. I can give you lots and lots of other examples. Every place the American economy is booming, cooperation is the order of the day. But conflict is still good politics in Washington. So until the American people make it clear that whatever -- however they voted in past elections, they want these folks to work together and to do something, there's going to be a little ambivalence in Washington.
AMANPOUR: Let me ask you this, then: Mayor Bloomberg of New York has said this week that unless something is done to really address this unemployment problem, there could be riots in the street, unrest. Do you -- do you agree with that?
CLINTON: I don't know. There have been demonstrations in many other countries where the same thing is going on. But if you -- the most important thing Mayor Bloomberg said recently is to offer land on Governor's Island or Roosevelt Island or the Navy Yard in Brooklyn for a new world-class science and technology research center. And he said that he'll kick in $100 million worth of investment if a group of universities will put one there, because he wants New York, in effect, to rival Silicon Valley as a technology center. That's the kind of thing that works. If you want put people to work, we've got to focus on what works, and what works is not all this back and forth fighting in Washington.
I think, as I said, I think that if we can't fix the housing crisis now -- which is probably not politically possible, but should be done -- we can't return to full employment . But if we adopt the plan that the president outlined, according to all this economic analysis, it will create between 1.5, 2 percent increase in GDP growth. It will put a million or two million people to work, and we'll be on the way back. We need some signal out of Washington that they understand that cooperation is good economics, even if conflict is good politics.
AMANPOUR: Mr. President, obviously the current situation in various polls are suggesting that people aren't satisfied with President Obama's leadership on this. And there was a special election in New York in District 9 that the Democrats lost after holding it for nearly 100 years. What does that say to you?
CLINTON: Well, the New York case is -- I know that district very well, and they were good enough to vote for me twice. But, I think, Mayor Koch had a big impact on that election because of the controversy surrounding Israel and how they're reacting to the proposal of the Palestinians to get the U.N. to recognize them as a state. I think that had a lot to do with it.
I also think it's a real blue-collar district that is suffering economically. So, it didn't surprise me. And I don't think -- and the Nevada district was a Republican district. So it's just -- it is what it is. We won not very long ago that district in upstate New York that had been Republican for even longer than this district had been Democrat because of the Medicare plan, and the Republicans have stopped talking about their plan to voucherize Medicare. So I -- there's a lot of upheaval now. A lot of, you know, people are feeling disjointed because they're hurting economically and they don't see the country going forward.
10 Views
00:00:21 09/13/11
Bof A To Lay Off 30 000 Employees In Spite Of Corporate Tax Breaks
[LESS INFO] 10 VIEWS | ADDED 00:00:21 09/13/11
Bank of America has made it official: They plan to lay off 30,000 employees to bolster their bottom line and keep stock prices high.
Via Wall Street Journal : >
We knew the Bank of America ax was going to fall, but we didn’t quite know the number. Today — after BofA CEO Brian Moynihan made no direct mention of job cuts during an investor presentation — the bank said it will cut about 30,000 jobs over the next few years.
The job cuts are part of the first phase of a sweeping Bank of America efficiency drive. BofA said in a statement that attrition and leaving vacant jobs unfilled with be a “significant part” of the expected headcount cuts.
That's a whole lot of attrition. As Laura Clawson over at Daily Kos points out: >
Dealbook offers some insight into the lack of detail about 30,000 jobs and the emphasis on stock prices: Bank of America just isn't talking about it. When the bank's CEO described cost-cutting measures, he didn't even mention job cuts; that came later, in a statement that offered no specifics. Because to the big banks, jobs just aren't important. And financial reporters overwhelmingly go along with that.
While I agree with that analysis, there's something else people aren't talking about here that jumped out at me from this Reuter's article: >
The Moynihan speech "was pretty underwhelming. They need to address the bigger issues the bank faces ," said Jason Ware, equity analyst at Salt Lake City-based Albion Financial Group.
Ware is exactly right. The whole "job cuts and attrition" thing is BofA's way of putting employees on the firing line for continuing mismanagement of their mortgage division. Reuter's again : >
Yet it also has one big, fat albatross on its balance sheets: Countrywide Financial. Bank of America acquired Countrywide for $4 billion, a deal that has proven a huge headache not just in dollars and cents, but in terms of the bank's reputation. "Basically all the mortgages that Countrywide produced from 2004 to 2007 were excrement," Geracioti says. "The question is: What are Bank of America's liabilities from Countrywide? Some say $100 billion, others say, 'Who knows?' The liabilities could be ginormous. The government is hassling the bank in a big way."
Bank of America has long held that Countrywide's problems were it own doing. But on September 2, the Federal Housing Finance Agency sued 17 firms - including Bank of America and Countrywide - for violations of federal securities laws in the sale of mortgage-backed securities. In an 88-page filing, the FHFA alleges that around 2005, top executives of Countrywide - which it labels as a "notorious mortgage lender" for its practice - "complained to each other at the time that BOA's appetite for risky products was greater than that of Countywide."
You just have to love how these executives blame the government "hassling" Bank of America for their woes. Never mind that it's totally justifiable in light of how desperately they needed to be bailed out when it all came to light. Bank of America has a systemic problem that it's desperately trying to cover up: It holds billions in toxic mortgages. Those mortgages are probably legally invalid due to the sloppy paperwork/signature issues on many of them, and represent a large chunk of the mortgage scam that landed us in this mess to begin with.
The only good thing to come out of this news is the shiny-bright message that corporate tax breaks do NOT create jobs. BofA paid no corporate income taxes in 2009 or 2010, they received a tax refund of nearly $1 billion in 2010. See how that works? No taxes and a big tax refund equals 30,000 lost jobs.
Where is the money going? Well, let's see. In 2011 alone, $1,570,000 has been paid to lobbyists . How many jobs would that money have saved or created? They paid big cash bonuses to executives, too -- $900,000 in all, though they did manage to tie payment to stock prices, which have plummeted this year. In 2010, they spread around $1.3 million in campaign contributions, and those are just the ones we know about. How many jobs might that cash have preserved?
It's really difficult for me to weep big tears over BofA's mortgage troubles, when they were of their own making and when they drove the engine that drove the crisis . If they're looking to cut costs, they ought to start by dropping executive pay to zero and resolving not to spend even one thin dime lobbying Congress or contributing to candidates. It would be a good start.
