Rolling Stone: Scheiderman vs. Obanker

by: Soundpolitic

Fri Aug 26, 2011 at 10:59:58 AM EDT

I would assume both citizen journalists came to it themselves, but the new RS  blog by Taibbi is a welcome addition to the voices bringing this issue up.  I recieved it from former State Senate candidate David Weiss in an e-mail, and I hope this gets more attention.  Fat chance it will break through Very Important Nonstop Hurricane Updates, but I implore you, check out Taibbi's full article if these choice quotes mean anything to you:

Obama Goes All Out For Dirty Banker Deal
::
The idea behind this federally-guided "settlement" is to concentrate and centralize all the legal exposure accrued by this generation of grotesque banker corruption in one place, put one single price tag on it that everyone can live with, and then stuff the details into a titanium canister before shooting it into deep space.

This is all about protecting the banks from future enforcement actions on both the civil and criminal sides. The plan is to provide year-after-year, repeat-offending banks like Bank of America with cost certainty, so that they know exactly how much they'll have to pay in fines (trust me, it will end up being a tiny fraction of what they made off the fraudulent practices) and will also get to know for sure that there are no more criminal investigations in the pipeline.
::
So this deal being cooked up is the ultimate Papal indulgence. By the time that $20 billion (if it even ends up being that high) gets divvied up between all the major players, the broadest and most destructive fraud scheme in American history, one that makes the S&L crisis look like a cheap liquor store holdup, will be safely reduced to a single painful but eminently survivable one-time line item for all the major perpetrators.
::
Why? My theory is that the Obama administration is trying to secure its 2012 campaign war chest with this settlement deal. If Barry can make this foreclosure thing go away for the banks, you can bet he'll win the contributions battle against the Republicans next summer.

Which is good for him, I guess. But it seems to me that it might be time to wonder if is this the most disappointing president we've ever had.

Emphasis mine - SP

The same fellow who e-mailed this to me began calling him Obummer a couple years back.  Now, with this, it's worth it to add "Obanker" to the list of worthy aliases attributable to this mockery of a president.

Speaking truth to LATFOR

by: simonstl

Mon Aug 22, 2011 at 17:07:58 PM EDT

New York State legislators have spent at least the past few decades gerrymandering, allowing the Assembly majority to draw district lines for the Assembly, while the Senate majority draws lines for the Senate. Unsurprisingly, we end up with legislative lines badly tilted toward the parties that drew them.

Way back in 2007, while redistricting was mostly theoretical, Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton hosted a forum on the issue, and I posted a transcript and posted an article here about it.

County Legislator Michael Lane was the voice of sanity at that forum, and I'm delighted to see that he's continued to press the issue as LATFOR - the joint legislative committee managing the deals, I mean districting - is holding hearings. In his closing, he even used the accurate word that legislators least like to hear: corrupt.

I would conclude by saying that the current process is undemocratic. Let's do it the right way. If this Task Force, or the Legislature as a whole, recommends districts in the old corrupt fashion, then I hope the Governor will keep his word and veto them. It would not be pretty and court actions might have to come into play. Whatever occurs, it is definitely time that self-serving partisan gerrymandering come to an end. Make it happen.

I've posted his whole statement below the fold, which includes notes on Tompkins County's own redistricting as well as the way the county is treated for congressional and state legislative redistricting.

On Doing Better Than 50%, Or, Could More "Made In USA" Mean More Jobs?

by: fake consultant

Mon Aug 15, 2011 at 21:53:47 PM EDT

They are also going to have to come up with ideas that are pretty much "bulletproof", meaning that they are so hard to object to that even Allen West and Louie Gohmert will not want to be on record saying "no no no!"; alternatively, solutions that work around the legislative process entirely could represent the other form of "bulletproof-ery".

Well, I have one of those "maybe bulletproof" ideas for you today, and it has to do with how "Made in USA" the things are that our Government buys.

On Running Your Own Government, Or, Why Pay The Military?

by: fake consultant

Sat Jul 30, 2011 at 07:15:24 AM EDT

You will hear a lot of conversation about the consequences from others; today, however, you are going to get the chance to be both the President and the Secretary of the Treasury, and you will get to decide for yourself exactly what bills the Federal Government should and should not pay as the cash runs out if a deal is not made by the time borrowing authority runs out.

At that point you'll be able to see what's coming for yourself - and once you do, you won't need me to tell you what ugly is going to look like.

On My Last Weekend, Or, Wanna Save A Few Trillion On Health Care?

by: fake consultant

Sun Jul 24, 2011 at 09:56:21 AM EDT

Instead, I'm going to jump into my own personal life for today's story, and I'm going to do it so that we can stimulate some thinking about where we really need to go to if we ever hope to make some sense out of the crazy way we deliver health care in this country.

Since this appears to be the weekend that a lot of decisions are either going to be made about the future of our "social safety net"...or they wont; we're entirely unsure...let's talk about how it actually works for a lot of us - and how it could work a lot better.

On Being Bumped, Or, Let's Have Another Roundup

by: fake consultant

Mon Jul 04, 2011 at 13:16:19 PM EDT

But that's OK, because the world's been busy doing a lot of other things - and while many of them get media coverage, some don't get a lot of notice at all.

And of course, there are also those stories that look one way at first glance...but look a lot different when you dig a bit deeper.

We'll hit a few of those today, have a bit of fun doing it, and get ready for what promises to be another busy week of strategically not doing things in Washington.

To make things even better, some of the stories will be real, and some won't.

We'll see if you can tell the difference.

Protecting financial reform was a victory for small business

by: Andrew Ohlbaum

Mon Jun 20, 2011 at 16:49:41 PM EDT

The past year has been a roller coaster for small business owners, full of ups and downs.  Following last week's vote to turn down an attempt to delay swipe fee reform, spirits on Main Street are especially high.

Last year, Senator Durbin championed an amendment to rein in excessive debit card swipe fees to ensure that these fees are reasonable and proportional to the actual cost of each transaction.  In the months since, provisions of Senator Durbin's amendment have been under attack -- but have managed to survive several tests.  This has been tremendous for small businesses that have suffered for years due to unfair and excessive swipe fees.

On Hole Cards, Or, "Drill, Baby, Drill"? Why? Is Canada Out Of Sand?

by: fake consultant

Wed May 25, 2011 at 05:34:57 AM EDT

Naturally, this has brought the Sarah Palins of the world back out in public, and once again the mantra of "Drill, Baby, Drill" can be heard all the way from the Florida coast to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

But what if those folks have it exactly backwards?

What if, in a world of depleting oil resources, the last thing you want to do is use yours up?

To put it another way: why isn't all our oil part of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve?

Lobby for Redistricting June 1

by: Roatti

Tue May 24, 2011 at 13:13:46 PM EDT

Please join ACT NOW and our coalition partner ReShapeNY as we head to Albany on Wednesday, June 1st to lobby on behalf of non-partisan redistricting, an essential reform that will end rampant gerrymandering in New York State.

(snip)

LOBBY DAY FOR NON-PARTISAN REDISTRICTING
Where : Albany
 Free buses leave from Manhattan
 Time/Place TBA
When : Wednesday, 2011/06/01 through 2011/06/01

It's not every day that you get to personally meet with legislators and try to convince them of a policy idea you believe in, so this is a great opportunity.  RSVP at the link and I hope to see you there!

Phone Bank for Redistricting

by: Roatti

Tue May 17, 2011 at 14:11:10 PM EDT

Common Cause is holding phonebanks every tuesday and wednesday to call voters in districts of wavering Senators to ask them to apply pressure on those senators.  The details are:

Every Tuesday and Wednesday, 6:00 pm to 8:00 ish
74 Trinity Place, Suite 901
Subway:   R to Rector, or 4, 5 to Wall
Running into June, until the issue comes to a vote in Albany

Crazy Person Greg Ball Backtracking on Redistricting Reform

by: Roatti

Tue May 10, 2011 at 02:29:42 AM EDT

So being a Republican and all, of course that promise is being broken and he is revealing he has lied to the voters in his district last year and is no longer supporting an independent nonpartisan redistricting commission.  

Well now is your chance to let him hear your frustrations:

RALLY AND CANVASS TO END GERRYMANDERING -- GREG BALL EDITION
Where : Pugsley Park in Peekskill, Main Street btw N. Division St. and N. James St. 12PM
 Free buses from W. 33rd Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues at 10AM
When : Saturday, 2011/05/14 through 2011/05/14

You can RSVP at the link and ride up to Westchester on a comfy, New Roosevelt Institute-chartered bus to let the crazy person now that people are indeed paying attention to his actions when they fail to live up to his own words.  

Senate Dems To Hold 'Interactive' Forum On Ethics Tomorrow

by: phillip anderson

Tue May 03, 2011 at 17:42:13 PM EDT

Glad to see my former colleagues still working hard to use new media tools to bring more people into the process, especially on this issue. From the Wall Street Journal:

New Yorkers long fed up with the behavior of politicians in Albany are expected to get a chance to tweet their opinions on a myriad of bills aimed at cleaning up state government.

New York's Senate Democrats plan what they claim will be the first ethics discussion in Albany in which New Yorkers will be able to comment through the Internet. Wednesday's forum will use a technology that will likely include Twitter to allow New Yorkers statewide to comment on the Democrats' proposals.

The bills include creating a nonpartisan commission to redraw election district lines, stripping convicted elected officials of their pensions, and restricting the use of campaign funds.

Democratic Sen. Daniel Squadron of Manhattan said the Democratic minority called the session because the Republican majority has so far refused to grant them a public hearing on ethics bills.

"It will be the first forum that will be interactive," Squadron said. "When you talk about reform, we're taking the bull by the horns, because the Republicans won't take it up."

The forum is scheduled for noon Wednesday in Albany.

I've got a pretty full plate tomorrow, but I'm going to try and host the Livestream and tweet some questions (and I've got plenty of them.) I hope you'll also have some time to make your voice heard as well.

On Happy-ing Their Gilmores, Or, Will Body Bags Be The New Gold Watch?

by: fake consultant

Tue Apr 26, 2011 at 07:23:21 AM EDT

I have been encouraging folks to take advantage of the recent Congressional recess to have a few words with your CongressCritter about the proposed Death Of Medicare and all the proposed cuts to Social Security...and you have, as we'll discuss...and now we have an opportunity to do something on a national scale, just as we did a few weeks ago in support of Social Security.

This time, we're going to concentrate on fighting the idea that retirement ages should go up before we become eligible for Social Security and Medicare (and elements of Medicaid, as well), and that Americans should just keep right on working until the age of 67 or so-which isn't going to be any big problem...really...trust us.

Now that just makes no sense, and to help make the point we have a really cool video that you can pass around to all your friends-and your enemies, for that matter, since they'll also have to worry about what happens to them if they should ever make it to old age.  

Redistricting: the Movie

by: Roatti

Wed Apr 20, 2011 at 14:15:52 PM EDT

Please join ACT NOW and our friends at Living Liberally and Tribeca for Change on Saturday, April 23rd, for a FREE screening of the informative and entertaining documentary, Gerrymandering: The Movie. If you have ever wondered why politicians get to draw their own electoral districts, and what we can do to stop this corrupt practice, you must see this film!

The film will be followed by Q&A with filmmaker, Jeff Reichert.

GERRYMANDERING: THE MOVIE (SPECIAL EVENT)
Where : The Tank
 354 W. 45th Street
When : Saturday, 2:30PM

Hope to see you all there!

On Fighting To Win, Or, A Tale Of Two Kinds Of Democrats

by: fake consultant

Sun Apr 17, 2011 at 17:34:54 PM EDT

Over and over and over people like me have written stories wondering why Democrats, starting with this President, don't get out in a very public way and slam Republican policies, over and over and over-especially when most Americans hate the things Republicans seem to love to support.

Turning over Government to the highest bidder?
Not so popular.

Going back to a heathcare system run by, for, and of the insurance industry?
Again, not so much.

Jacking up taxes and healthcare costs for you and me in order to provide another trillion in tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires?
So unpopular pollsters hardly believe it.

But there is another way, and today's story is in two parts: we're going to talk about how hard it is to get Democrats, as a group, to get loud and get aggressive-and then we're going to talk about Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, who is out there showing any reluctant Democrat just exactly how you can "grow the brand".

DADT Update: The Service Chiefs Report, The Republicans Fret

by: fake consultant

Mon Apr 11, 2011 at 13:43:18 PM EDT

There was a hearing before the House Armed Services Committee last Thursday that had all four Services represented; with one exception these were the same Service Chiefs that were testifying last December when the bill to set the repeal process in motion was still a piece of prospective legislation.

At that time there was concern that the "combat arms" of the Marines and the Army were going to be impacted in a negative way by the transition to "open service"; the Commandant of the Marine Corps and the Army's Chief of Staff were the most outspoken in confirming that such concerns exist within the Pentagon as well.

We now have more information to report-including the increasing desperation of some of our Republican friends-and if you ask me, I think things might be better than we thought.

Social Security: Are You Ready For A Congressional "Video Staycation"?

by: fake consultant

Mon Apr 04, 2011 at 01:00:30 AM EDT

Now what I have for you today starts out as a bit of insider information that came to me on background-but it turns into a chance for those of us who support Social Security to very much get in the faces of our members of Congress, for two whole weeks.

And to make it even better, I'm going to throw out a few direct action ideas "for your consideration" (as they say in Hollywood during Awards Season) that would absolutely make good street actions and YouTube videos, both at the same time...and even more importantly, we'll absolutely make some great Spring Break fun.  

Social Security: Get On The Phone Tuesday And Wednesday And Help Fight Cuts

by: fake consultant

Sun Mar 27, 2011 at 18:10:54 PM EDT

I know that doesn't make a lot of sense, considering the disconnect between Social Security and the deficit-but once again it's "Continuing Resolution" time on Capitol Hill, where some use the threat of an impending shutdown of the Federal Government to extract concessions from the other side...and some on the other side try to make points with the voters by out-conceding their opponents.

So Tuesday and Wednesday of next week, there's a national push on to get voters to call their Senators and remind them to vote for an Amendment that is a big ol' "I'm not willing to cut Social Security just because other people philosophically want to cut Government any way they can" kind of reassurance to the voters, and I'm here to encourage you, once again, to make a couple phone calls and do some pushing of your own.

I've also been storing up a couple somewhat facetious random thoughts which will be the "garnish" for today's dish; you'll see them pop up as we go along.

Draw the Line on Gerrymandering this Saturday

by: Roatti

Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 19:10:53 PM EDT

This Saturday's event will be held in Nassau County, where New York State Senator Jack Martins, a Republican who ran as a "Hero of Reform" in support of non-partisan redistricting, has since gone back on his campaign promises.  We'll be talking to his constituents and to local media about the Senator's pledge and about the importance of redistricting reform to democracy in New York State.  Join us and make your voice heard!

As you may remember, Jack Martins barely defeated Craig Johnson in 2010, by only a few hundred votes.  I bet at least a few hundred of the voters in his district took his campaign promises at his word and didn't expect them to be bald-faced lies.  So this Saturday there is going to be a press event led by the New Roosevelt Institute and co-sponsored by several groups, including Act Now NY, (full disclosure: I am on the Organizing Committee for Act Now NY), who will help arrange transportation from NYC to Nassau this Saturday via buses from Madison Square Garden.  You can RSVP at the link- hope to see you there and we can't let the Senate GOP get away with this!

On Monday Morning Philosophy, Or, Founders Tell America: "You Figure It Out"

by: fake consultant

Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 15:05:16 PM EDT

Some among us have managed to turn their certainty into something that approaches a reverential calling, and you need look no further than the Supreme Court to find such notables as Cardinals Samuel Alito and Antonin Scalia providing "liturgical foundation" to the adherents of the point of view that the Constitution is like The Bible: that it's somehow immutable, set in stone, and, if we would only listen to the right experts, easily interpreted.

But what if that absolutist point of view is absolutely wrong?

What if the Original Intent Of The Founders, that summer in Philadelphia...was simply to get something passed out of the Constitutional Convention, and the only way that could happen was to leave a lot of the really tough decisions to the future?

What if The Real Original Intent...was that we work it out for ourselves as we go along?