Counting continues in Minnesota

Counting of ballots continues in Minnesota from the senate elections that took place on November 4th, almost two months ago. The senate race is between republican Norm Coleman and democrat Al Franken, both of whom are famous entertainment figures. Coleman won the initial count by 215 votes, but after the Franken campaign found out that some 12,000 absentee ballots were disregarded, they demanded a recount. In the recount Franken is maintaining an approximate 50 vote lead.

Both Coleman's and Franken's campaign are arguing that certain ballots shouldn't be counted for a variety of reasons. No matter who wins, the other side will be forced to take it in stride, but deep down will feel that the win was illegitimate. I thought that we had this voting ballot thing fixed after what went down in Florida during the 2000 presidential election. We sent people into space about 50 years ago, but in 2009 we are still having issues with our voting system. We can do better.

Rod Blagojevich, defiant to say the least

What has Rod Blagojevich been drinking? Everybody from Democrats to Republicans, citizens to Senators, reporters to President-elect Barack Obama has been asking that Blagojevich resign from his position as Illinois Governor in order for there to be a fair and just way to select a Senator to fill Barack Obama's vacant senate seat. Blagojevich, who was arrested less than a month ago for trying to sell this very senate seat, not only disregarded the calls to resign by all 50 democratic Senators and officials throughout Illinois, but even had the nerve to appoint Roland Burris to the senate seat.



I am not doubting that Burris, former Attorney General of Illinois, will not do a fine job as a Governor of Illinois, nor am I doubting that he has absolutely no connection to the Blagojevich scandal. What bothers me however is that Blagojevich has some very serious allegations against him, and it is very unlikely that his choice to appoint Burris to the senate seat will have any bearing when this is all said and done. Blagojevich insisted that "this is about Roland Burris as a U.S. senator, not about the governor who made the appointment". Unfortunately Mr. Blagojevich, it is about you. See, if you are found guilty of the allegations against you, your appointment will have lost all value. The circus that went on in Illinois today went as far as to bring the issue of race to the table when it was said that people "should not hang and lynch the appointee as you try to castigate the appointer".

It is obvious that Blagojevich is in complete denial. Even if he is found innocent when this is all said and done, he will still not have the trust from the people who once elected him fit to be governor of their state. Blagojevich is in his own little world, not even able to take the word from his lawyer who recently said that there would be no point in the governor naming someone to the Senate because leaders there would reject his appointment. My advice to you Mr. Blagojevich, resign so that your name is not tarnished more than it already is, thus allowing for a more just way to select a senator to fill Obama's seat. In the mean time enjoy this video of today's press conference, in which Blagojevich gets some much deserved heat from reporters.

Blagojevich Nominates Roland Burris to Senate Seat

Despite looming threats from Senate Democrats to block Blagojevich's pick, the corrupt Illinois Governor has gone ahead and done so anyway.

"The people of Illinois are entitled to have two U.S. Senators," said Blagojevich, whose arrest on corruption charges earlier this month places Burris' appointment under a cloud. "If I don't make this appointment then the people of Illinois will be deprived."

Man, this guy's got balls. Everyosne knows he's blatantly guilty but he just goes on and puts his man out there anyway. He's the Suge Knight of Politics.
So far, this Burris guy seems to be clean. No prostitutes, mattress money, or evidence of Chicago thuggery yet; impressive for an Illinois politician.

By the way, is it me or is Caroline Kennedy seeming like more of a bitch lately?

Israel-Hamas at war again

It looks like President-elect Barack Obama has another major issue to deal with when he takes office in less than a month. A full out war has once again ensued between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas, based in Gaza. There is no way this fighting will come to an end without a powerful nation, such as the United States, stepping in with some kind of diplomatic solutions.

The six month Egyption-brokered cease fire between Hamas and Israel ended when Hamas began to launch missiles into Israel just a few days ago. Since then Israel has fought back very aggressively, killing more than 350 Palestinians. The White House has spoken out against Hamas, saying that "Hamas has once again shown its true colors as a terrorist organization that has refused to recognize Israel's right to exist...in order for the violence to stop, Hamas must stop firing rockets into Israel and agree to respect a sustainable and durable ceasefire." This did not stop Hamas from launching another 100-some missiles on Sunday and Monday.

President Bush did not condemn Israel for their attacks against Gaza, he just asked Isreael to avoid civilian casualties. There have been at least 50 civilian deaths in Gaza over the past 3 days, but the vast majority of deaths have been Hamas militants. The problem is that Hamas bases much of their strongholds near populated civilian towns, as well as near universities and mosques. In order to help the civilians that have been killed and wounded, Israel allowed more than 50 trucks carrying relief aid into Gaza on Monday, in addition to 40 on Sunday.

United Nations Secretary Ban Ki-moon condemned the rocket attacks by Hamas, but also spoke out against Israel. He had this to say, "While recognizing Israel's right to defend itself, I have also condemned the excessive use of force by Israel in Gaza. The suffering caused to civilian populations as a result of the large-scale violence and destruction that have taken place over the past few days has saddened me profoundly".


To make things worse, several other anti-Israeli leaders are calling on Arabs across the middle east to "get involved". For example, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's religious leader, condemned the silence of some Arab countries.

In both Syria and Beirut protesters flocked to the streets burning Israeli and American flags while waving Hamas banners and Palestinian flags. Violent protests have also been taking place in Britain, Greece, and Turkey.

In addition, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Lebonese Shiite militant group "Hezbollah", expressed his support for Hamas and told his followers that he beleives Israel may wage a two-front war against them as well, something that Israel did in 2006. He also spoke out against Egypt for helping Israel by closing its borders to Gaza, telling them that “If you don’t open your borders, you are accomplices in the killing".

Things in the middle east are bound to get worse before they get any better. Obama, as if he didn't have enough on his plate already, will have some major work to do in the middle east when he takes office on January 20th, 2009. A cease fire can only last for so long, some real progress needs to be made in the war torn land. Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton will be key figures in trying to broker a solution to the middle eastern dilemna that has been going on for decades.

Auto Bailout

I hope by now you are all familiar with the problems that have been facing the American auto industry, most notably GM, Ford, and Chrysler. I have spent a great deal of time talking about the American auto issue because this sole industry alone could have drastic effects on our economy, which is already in the ruts. If you are not that familiar with the problem, please read the articles on this blog entitled "To bail or not to bail, that is the question" from November 24th, "Bail the big three?" from December 2nd, and "Bailout right around the corner" from December 8th.

The American auto industry is in very bad shape. If the American auto industry goes, so do at least 3 million American jobs. The CEO's of Ford, GM, and Chrysler have been asking for a 35 billion dollar loan from congress in order to help their companies stay afloat. Recently, congress apporved of a 17.4 billion dollar loan, almost 20 billion smaller than what they were asking for. Unfortunately, this money is slowly dissapearing with absolutely nothing to show for it. The companies have continued to go on with their old ways, and have not figured out a way to become competitive with foreign auto comapanies like Toyota, Nissan, Honda, etc. Congress handed over this loan with almost zero conditions, just asking that the auto companies get their wage structure in line with foreign carmakers.



I think that congress and the Bush administration did a horrible job with the auto bailout situation. I think that congress should have told GM, Chrysler, and Ford that if we (government) are going to give you (auto industry) this loan, you (auto industry) must completely change your way of doing business, which has obviously not been working. Instead, government asked the auto industry to cut wages, making the middle class poorer, and aside from that the auto industry has been going on with business as usual. Michael Moore wrote a letter to the American public in which he was also very critical of how congress and the Bush Administration handled the auto bailout situation, please take a minute to read it. (Note that Moore was very critical of the republicans in his letter, blaming them for the cut in autoworker wages that congress voted upon. I disagree with Moore in this regard, because the Democrats have the majority in congress, and the bill would not have passed if it were not for a majority vote.)

Friends,

They could have given the loan on the condition that the automakers start building only cars and mass transit that reduce our dependency on oil.

They could have given the loan on the condition that the automakers build cars that reduce global warming.

They could have given the loan on the condition that the automakers withdraw their many lawsuits against state governments in their attempts to not comply with our environmental laws.

They could have given the loan on the condition that the management team which drove these once-great manufacturers into the ground resign and be replaced with a team who understands the transportation needs of the 21st century.

Yes, they could have given the loan for any of these reasons because, in the end, to lose our manufacturing infrastructure and throw 3 million people out of work would be a catastrophe.

But instead, the Senate said, we'll give you the loan only if the factory workers take a $20 an hour cut in wages, pension and health care. That's right. After giving BILLIONS to Wall Street hucksters and criminal investment bankers -- billions with no strings attached and, as we have since learned, no oversight whatsoever -- the Senate decided it is more important to break a union, more important to throw middle class wage earners into the ranks of the working poor than to prevent the total collapse of industrial America.

We have a little more than a month to go of this madness. As I sit here in Michigan today, tens of thousands of hard working, honest, decent Americans do not believe they can make it to January 20th. The malaise here is astounding. Why must they suffer because of the mistakes of every CEO from Roger Smith to Rick Wagoner? Make management and the boards of directors and the shareholders pay for this.

Of course that is heresy to the 31 Republicans who decided to blame the poor, miserable autoworkers for this mess. And our wonderful media complied with their spin on the morning news shows: "UAW Refuses to Give Concessions Killing Auto Bailout Bill." In fact the UAW has given concession after concession, reduced their benefits, agreed to get rid of the Jobs Bank and agreed to make it harder for their retirees to live from week to week. Yes! That's what we need to do! It's the Jobs Bank and the old people who have led the nation to economic ruin!

But even doing all that wasn't enough to satisfy the bastard Republicans. These Senate vampires wanted blood. Blue collar blood. You see, they weren't opposed to the bailout because they believed in the free market or capitalism. No, they were opposed to the bailout because they're opposed to workers making a decent wage. In their rage, they were driven to destroy the backbone of this country, not because the UAW hadn't given back enough, but because the UAW hadn't given up.

It appears that the sitting President has been looking for a way to end his reign by one magnanimous act, just like a warlord on his feast day. He will put his finger in the dyke, and the fragile mess of an auto industry will eke through the next few months.

That will give the Senate enough time to demand that the bankers and investment sharks who've already swiped nearly half of the $700 billion gift a chance to make the offer of cutting their pay.

Fat chance.

Yours,
Michael Moore

American Economy: Good or Bad?

A recent poll conducted by CNN shows that more than 9 out of every 10 American citizens believe that the economic conditions in this country are very poor. With the economy being the number one issue for Americans today, it was not surprising that 93% of those polled thought that the state of our economy is absolutely horrible. What was surprising was that there were 7% who believe the economy is in good shape. These 7% must also be the same people that made up the 1% who said Dick Cheney was the best vice-president in American history, in another recent CNN poll (see article below). Here are some facts about the economic conditions America is facing today:

1. Energy costs have gone way up. Rising costs of gasoline, electricity, and natural gas are hurting everybody in America.
2. Housing market is horrible. American's are being kicked out of their homes, the property value of their homes have dropped, and people are unable to attain home loans.
3. Incomes have declined dramatically. From 2000 to 2007 the average household income decreased by $2,0000. It has gotten much worse with the recession we have found ourselves in over the past year.
4. Unemployment has gone way up. About 2 million Americans have lost their jobs in 2008 alone. If nothing is done unemployment is expected to jump to a national average of 9% over the next year.
5. There have been record deficits and debt. Our national debt has increased by over $3 trillion under President Bush.
6. College education costs have risen. Over the past 8 years college tuition has gone up by an average of 60%.
7. Healthcare costs have risen. Over the past 8 years healthcare costs have increased by an average of 78%.
8. Hard working people aren't able to retire. Retirement savings accounts have lost $2 trillion.
9. The stock market has gone way down. Markets have fallen 40% in less than a year. About 3 months ago, on September 29th, the Dow Jones Industrial fell 777 points. It was the biggest single day drop in history.

Make your own assumptions about the American economy, do you think it's good or bad?

Dick Cheney reveals the truth in interviews

This past week Dick Cheney was interviewed by Fox News and ABC News. With less than 30 days left in office, Cheney talked about his past eight years working with the Bush administration, in which he said he had no regrets or apologies. Cheney, who Joe Biden called the "most dangerous" vice-president in US history, said several things that troubled me during the interviews.

1. He suggested that the Bush administration would have gone to war with Iraq even without intelligence proving that Saddam Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction.

2. He said that he approves of coercive interrogation tactics, including waterboarding.

3. He said that in the event of a nuclear attack, the president should not need any permission to launch a nuclear weapon back, and start a nuclear war. He was quoted as saying (on the topic of launching a nuclear weapon) “The president doesn’t have to check with anybody. He doesn’t have to call the Congress. He doesn’t have to check with the courts. He has that authority because of the nature of the world we live in".

4. Although we are still at war in Iraq, and our economy is going down the drain, and we have not caught Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind behind 9/11 and whole reason we started the "war on terror", Cheney still said "I'm very comfortable with where we are and what we've achieved".

5. He did not regret or apologize for saying "fuck off" on the senate floor to Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont.

6. He doesn't believe politicians should follow polls, and shouldn't use them as a measure of how good, or in his case bad, of a job they are doing. He was quoted as saying "Frankly I would not want to be one of those guys who spends all his time reading the polls. I think people like that shouldn’t serve in these jobs".



Is it just me, or is there a serious problem with Dick Cheney? The majority of Americans agree with me that Cheney was a horrible vice president. In a recent poll conducted by CNN, 1 out of every 5 US citizens said that Cheney was the worst VP in American history. In addition, 64% of those polled said that Cheney was either the worst VP or a poor VP. However, there were still 34% that said Cheney was a good VP, and an entire 1% that thought he was the best VP in American history.



After further study, the poll showed that 100% of the 1% who said Cheney was the best VP have a mental illness. And that is some real talk.

What Will Continue?

Condolezza Rice recently commented that she expects Barack Obama to continue to follow on with Bush's foreign policy. While this may not exactly be the "change" we've been waiting for, I am curious to see how, or even if Barack Obama will strip the country of Bush initiatives.

Here are some questions I have about the upcoming Obama administration:

1. Will he repeal No Child Left Behind?
2. Will he allow the releasing of photos of dead soldiers returning in coffins?
3. Will he gut the Patriot Act?
4. Will NSA wiretapping be absolved?
5. Will he actually pull out of Iraq?

The rhetoric was great, but when he's actually in power, will he have the balls to follow through, or will the Bush Doctrine just be modified?

More bail

A little over 2 months ago the United State's government borrowed 350 billion dollars from China to stimulate our failing economy. Unfortunately, it did not do much, and has apparently gone to waste. The stock market is still falling, unemployment is still rising, families continue to be kicked out of their homes, and not much else is looking good. In fact, Obama's economic team predicts that next year as many as 4 million jobs could be lost, raising unemployment to 9%. Although many are saying that we could be headed into another great depression, which is very possible, unemployment during the great depression reached 25% at its worst.

Obama and his economic team are currently working on another bailout package that will make our previous bail out package of 350 billion look like peanuts. The package that Obama and his staff are working on is looking like a minimum of 600 billion, and could easily reach one trillion. Yes, this is a lot of money, but we have a serious problem on our hands and nobody else is offering a better solution. Hopefully this money will not go to waste, and not be squandered by companies like GM and Chrysler. I have faith in Obama, and believe that he will not hand the money over to irresponsible companies like the ones mentioned, and instead give it to companies that are creating jobs here in America, and use it to help families stay in their homes. In addition to another stimulus package, Obama also has plans to create as many as 3 million jobs in efforts to lower our unemployment rate. Will the Obama administration be able to save us, only time will tell.