Lamest Duck Ever?

How many lame ducks does it take to screw in a light bulb? Trick question, lame ducks can't do jack. Or can they? Many people are calling George W. Bush the lamest duck ever, seemingly trying to hide from this economic crisis that we have found ourselves in. Perhaps W forgot that President-Elect Barack Obama doesn't take office until January 20th, and that until then there can only be one President of the United States.

So what exactly is Bush doing during these last couple months of his presidency? He is not as lame as one may think. Although he has appeared to be hiding from important issues such as our economic crisis, the Bush White House has managed to approve of over 60 new regulations over the past month, and there will be many more to come before Obama takes office on January 20th.



These "last minute" regulations that Bush has approved of deal with environmental, security, social, and commercial matters, and will add an estimated 2 billion dollar stress on our economy. Many of these new rules are nonsensical, a waste of money, and do more harm than good. For example, many of these new regulations help corporations that have had a hard time abiding pollution-control laws as well as wilderness-protection laws simply by easing the restrictions that were previously placed on these companies.

There are several other regulations that the Bush Administration has passed over the past month that are very odd. Most notably they have set standards for what kinds of records must be kept by sexually explicit performers and publications. They have also expanded the collection of DNA samples from federal prisoners, have passed a law that allows truck companies to force their drivers to stay on the road for 11 hours without any breaks, and have also forced the Environmental Protection Agency to remove a law that requires truck manufacturers to install a piece of equipment that monitors the vehicle's pollution. Is it just me, or is it completely irresponsible to be passing all of these silly laws while people are losing their jobs, are being kicked out of their homes, and while our economy remains very fragile?

During Obama's campaign he said that he would reverse many of Bush's policies, most notably dealing with stem cell research, oil drilling, and abortion. These last few months of Bush's lame duck session has only created more unnecessary, tedious work for the Obama Administration. Once Bush's new rules take the form of law, they can only be undone through three complicated means. 1) Through a new regulatory rule-making that would probably take years, 2) through congressional amendments to underlying laws, or 3) through special resolutions of disapproval that must be approved by the House and Senate within a few months after the start of the new congressional session on January 6th, 2009. So until W gets out of the White House he will be as lame as he wants to be, and nobody is going to stop him.

Happy Thanksgiving folks!!!

Fresh Prince of Bill Ayers

William Ayers is a former member of the radical terrorist group called the “Weather Underground”, which has claimed responsibility for several bombings during the early seventies including bombings to the Pentagon, US Capital building, and the NY City Police Headquarters. All of this was done to protest the unnecessary war that America started in Vietnam. The FBI labeled them a “domestic terrorist group”, and although nobody was ever killed in these attacks, several were injured.



Since then Ayers has become a distinguished professor at the University of Illinois-Chicago, has publicly apologized for his acts, and has even written letters of apology to the individuals who were injured as a result of his violence. A lot of controversy arose in 2001 when, in a NY Times interview, Ayers said, “I don’t regret setting bombs” and “I feel we didn’t do enough”. Although on the surface this sounds like more terrorist rhetoric, Ayers corrected the way in which his words were interpreted after the interview was publicized. Ayers said that by “not doing enough” he was speaking in reference to not having done enough to stop the American government from waging an unethical war in Vietnam, and did not mean to imply that he wished he had set more bombs.



Ayers became the center of attention for much of the 2008 political campaign after news came out that President-Elect Barack Obama and Ayers were friends. Vice Presidential republican nominee Sarah Palin went as far to say that Obama “pals around with terrorists” in an interview a couple months prior to the 2008 Presidential Election. All of this talk about Obama being connected to a terrorist arose because between 1999 and 2002 Obama and Ayers were both members on the board of an anti-poverty group called the Woods Fund of Chicago. Obama also received and accepted a 200-dollar campaign contribution from Ayers.

I can understand the concern here with Obama’s judgment with whom he “pals around with” but let’s be serious folks. Obama was 8 years old when the Weathermen were active. Obama has also come out and condemned the acts taken by the Weatherman Underground. It’s not like the two go golfing on the weekends, they simply served on a board together over 15 years ago. Connecting Obama with events that occurred almost forty years ago was a far stretch, and a desperate attempt for the John Mccain-Sarah Palin campaign, and boy am I glad it didn’t work.

Please enjoy a video short made by my friend and fellow Real Talk Politic blogger, Louis Armistead. The video is called “The Fresh Prince of Bill Ayers”, and is set to Will Smiths legendary “The Fresh Prince of Bell Airs”. It gives a great interpretation of the Obama-Ayers connection that Mccain-Palin brought to the spotlight. Enjoy!

Obama tries to bring fresh ideas to Washington

In a speech given today, President-Elect Barack Obama has restated the point that the old way of thinking and acting in Washington will not work anymore, and that "we need fresh thinking and bold new ideas from the leading minds all across America". Today Obama announced a new institution to help his economic team through these hard times by forming the Presidents Economic Advisory Board. This board will be comprised of individuals that are not politicians, but rather people of business and professors of economics. Obama said that they will bring some "fresh thinking" to Washington, which is much needed in our country. Obama announced that this board will be chaired by former chairman of the Federal Reserve Paul Volcker, who has previously served under both Republicans and Democrats and will be a key figure who will work across the isle over the next four years. Obama has also announced that Austin Goolsby will serve as staff director and chief economist of the Economic Recovery Advisory Board. These are just two of the many fresh faces that we will see help Obama guide us through these hard economic times, and slowly but surely we are seeing some real change brought to Washington.







Paul Volcker, chair of Obama's Economic Advisory Board, sits to the right of President-Elect Barack Obama

Iraq war: six years later

This coming March will be the six year anniversary of the Iraq war, and some are talking about continuing it until 2012. You will hear people on the far right like Sean Hannity talk about how much we have changed Iraq for the better and how we haven't seen a terrorist attack in eight years. Keep in mind that while these people on the right say that we have been successful in Iraq, this November there have been 16 U.S. troop murders, bringing the total deaths of American soldiers to 4,206. Thousands of more civilians have been murdered and thousands more wounded. We have also spent roughly 600 billion dollars on this war thus far, all of which could have been used to bail out our economy instead of borrowing 700 billion dollars from China. It is about time we bring our troops home, or at least send them over to Afghanistan so that we can go over the real people who attacked our nation on September, 11th 2001. It's been 6 years and there is still no bright light at the end of the tunnel.


Sons and daughters, fathers and mothers are pictured here being brought back from Iraq in caskets

3 more years in Iraq?

Many people in America, one being President-elect Barack Obama, disagreed with the Iraq war from the very start. Most of those that did not oppose the war back in 2003 oppose it today, and why shouldn’t they. We have spent hundreds of billions of dollars on the war, thousands of lives, thousands of severe injuries, and we still have a long way to go before Iraq can be the peaceful, prosperous democracy we want it to be.

Last year Congress created 18 benchmarks that had to be met until they reach what they believe is a “mission accomplished” in Iraq. This past summer the White House declared that 15 out of the 18 benchmarks were “satisfactory”.

Tomorrow there will be a vote amongst the Iraqi government, which will decide the fate of U.S. troop presence in Iraq. If passed, this piece of legislation would remove all U.S. troops from cities and towns by mid 2009, and would remove all troops by the January 2012.

Even if this Iraqi vote does pass, President-elect Barack Obama is truly the one who will decide the fate of American presence in Iraq. Throughout Obama’s campaign he stated that if he became president he would remove all U.S. troops within 16 months of him taking office. So far Obama insists that he will keep his word.

Over the past few months the Iraq war has taken the back seat on many people’s minds, while the economy has become the number one issue. Americans are more concerned with what is going on here at home with our stock market dropping and our economy falling apart right before our eyes. Yet close to 6 years after starting the Iraq war we are still spending 10 billion dollars a week in Iraq and people are still being killed and deformed every day.

There is a consensus between liberals and conservatives that we need to stop this war, but how we stop it and when we stop it is up for interpretation. Some say we must stay there until all 18 criteria are met, while others say we should pull out today. Must we really make sure all 18 criteria are met, or shall we finally say enough is enough with a war that should have never been started, and finally give some independence to the Iraqi people?

List of the 18 benchmarks that Congress says Iraq needs to meet (courtesy Fox News):

• Perform a Constitutional review;
• Enact and implement de-Ba-athification reform legislation;
• Ensure equal distribution of hydrocarbon resources to Iraqis;
• Form semi-autonomous regions;
• Hold provincial elections;
• Enact and implement legislation addressing amnesty;
• Disarm militias;
• Establish support for Baghdad Security Plan;
• Ensure minority rights in Iraqi legislature;
• Keep Iraqi Security Forces free from partisan interference;
• Provide military support in Baghdad;
• Empower Iraqi Security Forces;
• Ensure Iraqi Security Forces provide impartial law enforcement;
• Reduce sectarian violence;
• Establish neighborhood security in Baghdad;
• Increase the number of independent Iraqi security forces;
• Allocate and spend $10 billion in Iraq revenues equally;
• Ensure that Iraq's political authorities do not undermine or make false accusations against members of the Iraqi Security Forces.

Obama's plan for our economy

While President Bush and treasury secretary Henry Paulson remain fairly quiet about the economic crisis we are in, President-elect Barack Obama has started to give us some hope for the future. He has recently announced part of his economic team, and is slowly revealing details of his economic plan that will ensue immediately after he takes office. Obama’s economic plan is made up of four main criteria.



First he wants immediate action to create jobs here in America. He aims to create an estimated 2.5 million jobs by 2010 rebuilding our roads, reshaping our schools, and creating the next generation of green jobs. Obama will also be giving a tax break for each individual that a company hires here in America, and will raise taxes for companies that send jobs overseas.

Obama has also stressed the point that in order to have a strong economy and a thriving Wall Street that we must first have a strong Main Street. This is why Obama will give immediate relief for struggling families. One way in which Obama will give this relief is by cutting taxes for the majority of families in America. In a recent speech, Obama has said that today’s American families that are making millions of dollars can afford to pay a little more in taxes in order to help the struggling families of the middle and lower class. He added that it’s about time there was some fairness restored to our tax policies.

Obama also wants to see immediate assistance for homeowners. All across the country Americans are losing their homes because they cannot afford to pay their mortgages. Our 700 billion dollars that we have borrowed from China was partially used to bail out the mortgage lenders and banks, but they have not proven to be responsible with the money that Government gives them. Obama will try to modify the terms of mortgages, reform the bankruptcy code, and will provide an estimated 25 billion dollars in state fiscal relief to help states pay for their services without raising taxes.

Last, but certainly not least, Obama wants to see a very aggressive response to our financial crisis. America needs to see a sign of assurance in our financial market. Obama is determined to give this assurance, and has slowly taken steps in the right direction by announcing a strong financial team. In order to overcome this financial crisis Obama said we must create jobs, invest in science and schools, help small business, and most importantly make sure that our 700 billion dollar rescue package is used wisely and does not go to waste. Obama has assured us that he will go through the federal budget “page by page, line by line” and destroy the programs in America that don’t work, and reinvest in the ones that do. Obama has said, “that budget reform is not an option. It’s a necessity.”

In addition to announcing four key players to the Obama economic team yesterday, Obama has also recently chosen Peter Orszag as the director of the Office of Management and Budget. Orszag is the head of the congressional Budget Office, and worked under Bill Clinton as an economic adviser. He is another great addition to the Obama team, and we await more economic announcements from Obama tomorrow.

To bail or not to bail, that is the question

Amidst our current financial crisis the CEO’s of GM, Ford, and Chrysler flew into Washington D.C. last week asking for 25 billion dollars collectively in a desperate attempt to save their dying companies. All three of the largest auto companies in America have been losing billions of dollars over the past several fiscal quarters. For years these companies have been making big gas guzzling cars, and as a result the American people have stopped buying them. They started buying foreign cars like Nissans and Hondas that may be safer, more economical, or better for the environment. Yet they came to Congress practically begging for a 25 billion dollar bailout to split between the three of them without any kind of plan of how they aim to change their failing business strategies. Why should the American taxpayers be putting up 25 billion dollars if GM, Ford, and Chrysler are not going to change the cars they create. After all, these companies have been losing billions of dollars over the past several months, yet they think that for some magical reason if the Government gives them 25 billion dollars to split three ways it will somehow save their companies without them changing a thing to their business plans.





From left to right are automaker CEO's Richard Wagoner of GM, Robert Nardelli of of Chrysler, and Alan Mullay of Ford infront of Congress last week asking for 25 billion dollars










On the other side of things these corporations employ about 3 million Americans who will lose their jobs if these companies go under. There will also be a ripple effect to other industries that make their sound systems, their tires, leather for their interiors, etc. that will create further job loss. For this very reason it is important that we help these automakers as much as we possibly can. Losing all of those jobs would be catastrophic to our country, especially during the economic downfall that we are currently in.

Congress did not go easy on the three CEO’s. Several Senators and Governors asked some critical questions of the “Big 3”. Some, like Mitt Romney, suggested we let these companies go into bankruptcy and then restructure their business models and build up from there. Congress was also certainly not impressed that each CEO arrived on their own personal jet instead of flying commercial. The CEO’s argued that they were literally counting their last blessings, yet they had the audacity to “show up at the soup kitchen in high hat and tuxedo” as Congressman from New York, Gary Ackerman, said it best. After two days in Washington Congress told the “Big 3” to go back to Detroit and to draft up a plan that describes in detail how they are going to use this money, how they are going to become more competitive in the market, and how they are going to ensure that American tax payers get their money back. Hmmm….a plan, that’s not a bad idea. Why didn’t anybody think of this before the automakers flew into Washington with tin cups in their hands?

President-elect Barack Obama has stated that if America’s auto industry is not bailed out before he takes office on January 20th, 2009, he will make it his first priority of business to do so. President-elect Obama understands the profound impact losing these companies could have on our economy, and is not going to have another administration that sits back and does nothing, letting the free market do its thing. Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore shared some interesting thoughts on this matter on Larry King Live the other day. Moore’s father worked for GM for several years, and in the late 1980’s Moore made a film called “Roger and me” that was about the harm that GM has done to America, using his hometown of Flint, Michigan as an example. While being interviewed by Larry King, Moore stated that Obama should “do what FDR did during WWII”. During WWII President Roosevelt told the automakers that they were no longer going to make cars. Government ordered them to make armaments, such as tanks, to help its country through the war. They did just that, and they were successful. Moore suggested that Obama needs to do just as FDR did during the hard times we are in today. Government needs to tell these automakers that if we are going to give you this kind of money, we (Government) are going to tell you what you are making and how it’s made. We need to tell them to make us busses, trains, more fuel-efficient cars, more environmental/economical cars, a mass transit system for our country, etc. Not only would we be putting people to work and creating jobs, we would also be saving the backbone of this country and ensure that we do not hurt our fragile economy any further. This would be a big solution to a big problem. 25 billion dollars is not a big solution, it’s just a lot of money.

Obama's economic team takes shape

President-elect Barack Obama has remained relatively quiet about what he plans to do about our struggling economy when he takes office. Last week he stated that the US only has one President at a time, and until January 20th 2009 that President is George W. Bush. Today Barack Obama gave some insight into his economic agenda by announcing four individuals who will play key roles as his economic team. Obama stated that in order to overcome the economic problems we face “we must bring together the best minds in America to guide us”. We are all hopeful that Obama has formed the right team to help us through this economic crisis we are in.


President-Elect Barack Obama pictured with his newly announced economic team standing behind him, along with Vice President-Elect Joe Biden

First Obama announced Timothy Geithner as his treasury secretary. Geithner was the President of the New York Federal Reserve. Obama stated that he has chosen Geithner because he has a strong understanding of the economic problems we face and shares similar core beliefs about what needs to be done to revitalize both Wall Street and Main Street.

Geithner’s mentor, Lawrence Summers, was announced as chief of the National Economic Council. Obama stated that Summers brings “skill and experience” to the table. Summers was part of the Department of Treasury under Bill Clinton. Obama assured the American people that Summers “has helped guide us threw many economic problems in the past” and will be a key figure in guiding us threw the economic problems of today.

Obama also announced Christina Romer to chair the Council of Economic Advisers. Romer won the Berkley Distinguished Teaching Award as an economics professor at UC Berkley and was also former vice-president to the American Economic Association.

Lastly, Obama announced Melody Barnes as the director of the Domestic Policy Council. Obama said that Barnes will “work hand in hand with the economic policy team”. After all, our economy is not only affected by what happens here at home, but also by what happens in China, Japan, Russia, and other countries that we are dependent on for a successful economy.

During Obama’s short speech he stated over and over that the “key to a strong economy is a strong middle class” and that “we can not have a strong Wall Street without a strong Main Street”. Obama said that we as Americans are all in this together, and that we stand and fall as one nation. For this reason it is important that we not only help Wall Street, but also give help to the struggling families on Main Street.

Obama said there is “a clear consensus” between Republicans and Democrats that we need a large stimulus package to help get this country back on track. Obama was not yet willing to say just how big of a stimulus package we would need to get our economy going again, but some economists have given a figure of over a trillion dollars. Although Obama did not go into full detail about what he plans on doing to revitalize our economy, he did give some insight into what he plans to do during his first couple years in office. For example, he has recently stated that he plans to create 2.5 million more jobs by 2010, putting people to work through repairing roads and bridges, restoring our schools, and creating green jobs for our future. This is certainly a glimpse of hope that Obama promised throughout his campaign; hope that we should believe in.

REAL TALK POLITIC: COMING SOON