BP Getting Off the Hook Two Years After Oil Spill

Two years after BP was responsible for the Gulf Oil Spill which killed 11 people and left potentially irreversible damage to marine life, it is lobbying against Congress taking action to rstrict offshore oil drilling.  With the help of mostly Republicans in Congress, oil companies lobbied in 2010 against provisions to lift the liability for oil spills from $75 million to $10 billion after the Gulf disaster.  President Obama wanted unlimited liability for companies involved in oil spills, but the Senate filibustered the raising of the liability cap.  Last year, BP made $8.43 million in lobbying expenditures aimed at protecting its tax breaks on its $26 billion in profits.  Even in a highly partisan environment, one thing that the vast majority if Americans agree on is that no company that destroys the environment should be allowed to make huge profits, pay their executives lavishly, and lobby Congress to stop legislation designed to hold companies like BP accountable for disasters like the Gulf Oil Spill.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/12/bp-oil-spill-gulf-of-mexico-oil-lobbyists_n_1335556.html

Reagan Raised Taxes and Spending More Than Obama

Under President Obama, government jobs have disappeared, particularly at the state and local levels.  The unemployment rate would probably be lower than 7% if government jobs now kept pace with the number of government jobs as a share of the entire economy from the Ronald Reagan Presidency.   There would be 1.3 million more government workers in teaching, responding to emergencies, and keeping our streets safe, among other things.  Increasing government spending that raises the National Debt during an economic crisis, often referred to as Keynesian economics, is what historically brings about a full recovery that eventually balances the Federal Budget to pay down the National Debt.  Republicans have referred to Obama as someone who harbors socialist ideas, such as huge government spending, raising taxes, and stifling businesses with regulations.  Ironically, Reagan is much more Keynesian than current Republican political idol, Ronald Reagan, whom conservatives adore for his small government and lower taxes rhetoric.  State and local governments, under Reagan, invested in education and infrastructure to support a growing population.  Also, Reagan boosted military spending to deal with foreign security threats.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/05/opinion/krugman-states-of-depression.html?_r=1

Rick Santorum: Obama a "Snob" for Wanting People to Attend College

Rising GOP Presidential contender Rick Santorum said over the weekend, "President Obama wants everybody in America to go to college.  What a snob."  Santorum believes that colleges indoctrinate their students and that Obama apparently wants to control their minds by wanting all Americans to pursue post-secondary education so that they can handle the jobs of the 21st Century.  But, Obama negates that point on thought control with his penchant for conpromise.

What does this accusation by Santorum mean?  It shows him to actually be a snob and an elitist who is out of touch with educated Americans.  Santorum is the one who practices thought control.  His children are educated at home, not public schools.  Which means he has taught his children his own rigid ideas, including those on economic inequality, sexuality, and American Exceptionalism.  Which means he wants them to think that it is all right for CEOs to make millions of dollars annually while laying off thousands of workers or to automatically despise President Obama.  The things he probably did not or will not teach them about are those related to social justice, which tells us to take of the poor and the oppressed.  Santorum also shows himself to be the biggest ally of America's most irresponsible corporations, who can get away with environmental degradation, human rights abuses, and excessive profiteering by hiding these problems from any uneducated American.  Since schools have become obsessed with test-taking instead of creative or critical thinking, there are plenty of Americans that irresponsible corporations can hide their abuses.  Educated and informed Americans are most often the ones smart enough to find these problems.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/02/27/1068825/-Rick-Santorum-calls-Obama-a-snob-for-wanting-people-to-attend-college?via=blog_1

GOP Attacks Chrysler Ad; Mitt Romney Wanted Detroit to go Bankrup in 2008 (For 2/6/12)

During the Super Bowl, Chrysler aired a Super Bowl ad, known as "half-time in America" starring Clint Eastwood. It highlighted Detroit's recovery from the financial crisis. Republicans such as Karl Rove criticized President Obama for robbing taxpayers to give free advertising to automakers that his adminstration bailed out in 2009 for a total of $12.5 billion. Just as significant, Mitt Romney wrote an editorial in 2008, "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt." He argued that Detroit Automakers would continue to lose jobs and global market share due to product deficiencies. They have labor and pension costs that are too much for the market to handle. Therefore, he thought they did not deserve the bailout they got. However, much of the problems Detroit Automakers had resulted from the financial crisis that hit the stock market that year and rising healthcare costs during the last ten years. When all people nationwide lost much of their savings due to the September 2008 stock market crash, they cut back on big items such as new cars. All of sudden, the revenues of General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler dropped sharply in late 2008. Since one in ten American jobs is linked to these manufacturers, there was public pressure for a bailout in early 2009 after Wall Street got theirs. When Romney wrote this editorial, America was losing 700,000 to 800,000 jobs per month and headed for a Second Great Depression. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/us-election/9065539/US-Election-2012-Clint-Eastwood-defends-himself-over-political-Chrysler-Super-Bowl-ad.html http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/opinion/19romney.html

Obama Has Huge Electoral Vote Advantage Despite Failures (For 2/4/12)

In spite of high unemployment, a very flawed healthcare reform bill, extending all of the Bush Tax Cuts through the end of this year, and failure to break up the Big Banks, President Obama still is likely to get re-elected this November. He has also signed bad trade deals, still has not ended all of George W. Bush's wars, expanded offshore oil drilling, and failed to reform the tax code. Twenty states with 259 electoral votes have him currently leading the Republican candidate. Republicans have only 106 electoral votes from 15 states in good shape for November. There 173 electoral votes up for grabs. Bill Clinton had 153 votes from 14 states at the same time in 1996 and cruised to re-election. The Republicans are fielding their worst field of candidates in a long time. Approval ratings are at 35% for Mitt Romney and 30% for Rick Santorum. Only 26% of the public approves of Newt Gingrich. Stephen Colbert, as a comedian who uses his sarcasm to do great impressions of conservatives, has a 38% approval rating. Most conservatives, though, do not see how bad he makes them look. Most Occupy Wall Street protesters, on the other hand, want the GOP to realize their failings. They certainly would like to see an opposition party that challenges Obama to come up with better solutions and bolder ideas to our economic problems. http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/11449339-shocker-obama-holds-huge-electoral-vote-advantage-in-statebystate-polling-

Cantor Wants to Stop Insider Trading Ban? (for 2/3/12)

President Obama challenged Congress in last month's State of the Union address to pass a bill outlawing insider trading by members of Congress. The bill, known as the Stop Trading On Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, has 273 co-sponsors. But, Eric Cantor is holding up the bill to include other kinds of unrelated economic activity such as land deals. This is an effort on his part to water down or even kill the bill and deny Obama a big public relations victory that will boost his re-election efforts. It shows the corruption that exists in Congress and why Congressional approval is at an all-time low. This commonsense bill should pass without being watered down and not be subjected to any individual Representative's desire for any special exemption. Therefore Cantor is totally corrupt and unworthy of the Office he holds. http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/02/02/417767/cantor-insider-trading-ban/

Obama Picked Off for Touting Fracking, While Americans Don't Want It (for 1/26/12)

President Obama is like a highly-drafted quarterback who throws far too many interceptions. This a solid analogy, with the Super Bowl about to be played. Companies involved in natural gas development have spent millions of dollars on elections, lobbying, and on advertising to sway public opinion in favor of natural gas development. All of which acts like a fierce pass rush on President Obama or anybody else who would sit in the White House. In the State of the Union that he gave on January 24th, Obama mentioned that the U.S. has a century's worth of natural gas on our soil. He said his Administration will advocate safe exploration and utilization of this resource. Obama apparently thinks hydraulic fracturing, often referred to as fracking, can be done safely. But, evidence suggests otherwise. Fracking yields staggering amounts of cancerous wastewater. Fracking has caused numerous small earthquakes in Ohio because of the extensive deep Earth drilling involved with it. Americans have started grassroots movements to oppose fracking. Half of Ulysses' 3,000 registered voters oppose fracking within their city limits in the State of New York. Officials in Otsego County in New York have also expressed concern about the dangers of fracking. This is a solid example of what has happened during Obama's Presidency. Too often, Obama has let his 2008 voters down. Many of them want stronger protections on the environment, more aggressive pursuit of Wall Street Banks that robbed millions of Americans of their homes or jobs, and and end to the Bush Tax Cuts for the Wealthy. Too often his Administration does not deliver enough to solve these problems. http://rt.com/usa/news/fracking-obama-drill-union-707/

Eric Cantor Wants to Stop Automatic Defense Cuts (for 1/25/12)

Eric Cantor, leader of the House GOP, wants to stop $600 billion of cuts in long-term defense spending and enact additional domestic cuts instead. Congress passed these trigger cuts back in August when it raised the U.S. debt limit. Congress seqestered $1.2 trillion in cuts, with the other half hitting domestic spending, that will take place after the SuperCongress failed to come up with a plan on additional spending cuts. Cantor failed to explain what he would cut. But, in May 2011, he showed a lack of compassion as he demanded additional spending cuts to pay for aid to tornado victims. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/01/23/1057722/-Eric-Cantor-details-plan-to-renege-on-debt-ceiling deal-?via=blog_1 http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/05/24/978844/-Cantor:-No-emergency-aid-for-tornado-victims-without-spending-cuts

75% of Americans In States w/o Access to Affordable Healthcare (for 1/23/12)

Nearly two years after President Obama fulfilled one of his top priorities by signing healthcare reform into law, 75% of Americans still reside in states with expensive healthcare. States should supposedly help enact the biggest healthcare reforms since the birth of Medicare and Medicaid. States have inconsistently enacted the various reforms. States with Republican governors have stated that healthcare reform is unconstitutional. Some of these states include Texas, Wisconsin, and Kansas. Texas Governor Rick Perry believes it will bankrupt the country, ignoring the fact that his state has 7.6 million uninsured residents. While Occupy protesters may want deeper reforms such as single-payer healthcare for all Americans, they surely would welcome the sight of states putting forth more effort to lower healthcare costs and provide more affordable health insurance. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/23/affordable-health-care_n_1223230.html?ref=business

George W. Bush Not Mentioned in GOP Debates (1/20/12)

The GOP Debates have featured its eccentric candidates, American flags, and moderators unable to sway the Presidential contenders away from Republican ideology. George W. Bush, the last Republican President, is something they do not want to talk about, even as he is now three years removed from an eight-year tenure. President Obama got mentioned 560 times in the 16 debates so far, but Bush only came up 56 times. They have brought up Ronald Reagan 221 times, even though it is now over 20 years after his term as President and seven since his passing. Perhaps, Republicans are ashamed and embarrassed by Bush. Or they want to blame everything on Obama. After all, it was Bush who ran up much of the National Debt with the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. The biggest factor in the budget deficits and rise in the National Debt has been his tax cuts for the wealthy, with indifference to reforming the tax code to eliminate loopholes. These tax cuts have proved difficult for Obama to end. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/in-the-loop/post/george-w-bush-in-the-gop-debates-a-taboo-topic/2012/01/19/gIQAmG0vBQ_blog.html

Mitt Romney's Investments Scattered Around The World (1/18/12)

Mitt Romney his hiding his tax returns for a very good reason. They will not help him win the November 2012 Presidential election. While at Bain Capital, he probably moved much of his wealth to accounts abroad to take advantage of various tax breaks used by only the wealthiest bankers and investors in the Top 1%. Bain funds have key international connections for moving money offshore. Romney shifted his wealth to Delaware, the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Hong Kong, and Ireland. Romney's family got over $1 million in 2010 from one Cayman Islands investment, Bain Capital Fund VIII. What does this mean for President Obama? In the 2008 campaign, he ran into Joe the Plumber, who questioned why Obama wanted to raise his taxes. Obama can effectively use the phrase, "spread the wealth," and have more credibility than Romney, who spreads his wealth -- around the world, that is. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/yet-another-tax-advantage-for-romney/2012/01/18/gIQAvh017P_blog.html

Fox News: Majority of Americans (for 1/15/12)

According to a Fox News poll as of December 2011, 51 percent of American voters think President Obama has done a poor job in his first three years in office. But, Democrats have an 82%/11% approve-to-disapproval rating of Obama's overall performance across the entire term to date. Poll participants stated at a 94% rate that the struggling economy needs improvement or growth. But, Obama still stands a good shot at re-election due to GOP's failure to produce a strong candidate who would reform the tax code and clean up the corruption in the banking system. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/12/09/fox-news-poll-disapproval-president-obama-is-up/

Four Times More Illegal Corporate Political Spending (for 1/12/12)

Just one percent of respondents to the 2009 National Business Ethics Survey saw businesses breaking the law on political spending. That just jumped to four percent. The big reason this activity is occurring is the upcoming 2012 Election, with many in the business community dissatisfied with President Obama's handling of the economy. The Supreme Court's 5-4 decision on Citizens United in January 2010 is the vehicle that let this happen, by allowing unlimited campaign spending by third parties without disclosure. Also, employees report more instances of bribery and illegal payments to governing authorities. http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/01/12/403738/survey-illegal-corporate-campaign-contributions-up-400/

Romney Tax Plan Least Generous to Top 1% Among GOP Candidates (for 1/8/12)

Mitt Romney wants to give millionaires and billionaires even more tax cuts they don't need. But, among GOP Presiential candidates the least generous to the Top 1% of the wealthiest Americans. He would still tax a millionaire's income at an effective rate over 25% on everything above $1 million. Newt Gingrich's plan would see even steeper tax cuts for the wealthy, as nobody would face a rate over 18%. Millionaires would face an effective tax rate of 11-12%. Under Rick Perry, Nobody would face a rate of ovr 20% and millionaires would face a rate of 15%. Under Herman Cain and his infamous "9-9-9 Plan", millionaires would pay the lowest tax rate of everyone. This is the worst plan of all as everyone from $35,000 to $200,000 would face the highest tax rates. Millionaires currently face a top rate of 35%. They are not suffering. They cannot get more tax cuts with the possibility of Medicare or Medicaid cuts in the near-future. That would be inhumane. http://news.firedoglake.com/2012/01/06/relative-to-gop-field-romney-tax-plan-gives-less-to-the-rich/

President Obama: Economic Recovery Could Take Years (for 12/11/11)

President Obama says in 60 Minutes interview that it will take years before the economy is stable again. He is not sure if the unemployment rate can be cut to 8% by next November's election.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/10/obama-60-minutes-interview-economic-fix_n_1140521.html?ref=unemployment

Tea Partiers Oppose Four Popular Social Programs (for 12/1/11)

Four popular social programs that Tea Partiers now oppose include School Lunches, Food Stamps, Community Health Centers, and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).

In 2004, both Houses of Congress easily passed bills to fund school lunch programs. Of all Representatives and Senators, only Ron Paul voted against this program. In December 2010, the vast majority of House Republicans voted against funding this program.

George W. Bush urged increasing food stamp funding to legal immigrants during his Presidency. Now, Congressman Paul Ryan wants to turn food stamps into block grants that will cover less people as time goes by.

Spending on community health centers rose 100% during President George W. Bush's term in office. Bush praised them for keeping patients out of hopsital emergency rooms. The current House has cut its funding by over a third.

The EITC opposition by current Republicans may be most noticeable thing they have fought. In the 1980's, President Ronald Reagan described the EITC as the "best job-creation measure" Congress passed during his term in Office. Both Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush strengthened this measure. But now, Republicans like John Cornyn and Michele Bachmann think of it as either a form of welfare or income redistribution.

All of these shifts in the Republcians' attitude towards social spending occurred once Barack Obama assumed the Office of President of the United States. That is the most important point to remember on these issues.
http://www.alternet.org/economy/153014/compassionate_conservatism_4_popular_safety-net_programs_tea_party_republicans_have_turned_against_in_the_age_of_obama?page=entire