Full Text: Governor Ted Strickland – Ohio State of the State Speech, January 26, 2010
Believing in Ohio:
Gov. Ted Strickland’s 2010 State of the State Address
January 26, 2010
(Source: Office of the Governor, State of Ohio)
Speaker Budish, President Harris and Chief Justice Moyer. President Harris and Chief Justice Moyer will both be retiring at the end of this year. This is their last State of the State as public officials and I want to thank them for their service to Ohio. Leader Batchelder and Leader Cafaro, Lt. Governor Fisher, statewide elected officials, members of the Cabinet, and a special word of thanks to Director Terry Collins who is retiring after 33 years of service to the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, members of the General Assembly and the Supreme Court, distinguished guests, First Lady Frances Strickland, and my fellow Ohioans…
I believe in Ohio.
Morning Clips – 1/11/2010
- New York wants less salt in food – New York Times
- Now N. Korea wants peace treaty to keep talking - New York Times
- Blagojevich says ‘I’m blacker than Barack Obama … ‘ – Chicago Tribune
- Illinois’ unpaid bills reach $5 billion – Chicago Tribune
- Flare up of violence in Tijuana – L.A. Times
- A complaint in China could land you in a ‘black jail’ – L.A. Times
- AP Analysis: Stimulus has had no effect on employment – Associated Press (via The Plain Dealer)
- Heineken bids for FEMSA – MarketWatch
- Goldman Sachs Execs May be Forced to Give to Charity – CNBC
- China now world’s largest auto market – Bloomberg
Sen. Harry Reid
- Reid Apologizes for ‘Negro’ remarks – New York Times
- Op-Ed – Sandy Banks: It’s Not Reid Who Should Apologize – L.A. Times
- Dems launch offensive to save Reid – Politico
- GOP claim Lott-Reid Double Standard – Politico
Transcript: Joe Biden on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopolous – July 5
Filed under: Economy, Foreign Policy, National Security, Politics
(Source: ABC News)
ABC’S “THIS WEEK WITH GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS”
STEPHANOPOULOS: Major milestone this week here in Iraq with the American troops pulling out of the cities. And I wonder if you can put the broader American mission in context. Are we in the process of securing victory or cutting our losses to come home?
BIDEN: Securing victory. Look, the president and I laid out a plan in the campaign which was twofold. One, withdraw our troops from Iraq in a rational timetable consistent with what the Iraqis want. And the same time, leave behind a stable and secure country.
And one of the reasons I’m here, George, is to push the last end of that, which is the need for political settlement on some important issues between Arabs and Kurds and among the confessional groups. And I think we’re well on our way.
Sanford Admits Affair, Cleared Apple Sack in Argentina, Now Ready to Clear Mind in Appalachians
This guy is a freakin’ basket case. According to the shit show I just watched on CNN he met some gal several years ago and began boinking her a year ago. Apparently he wasn’t in the Appalachians clearing his mind – he was in Argentina clearing his apple sack.
The Lovernor said years ago he counseled his now mistress to save her own marriage because it was God’s Law (is he Jewish?) and for her kids. Apparently when it came to to his toeing the line of God’s Law and honoring his own kids (and wife) the calculus was different.
This is another Family Values Hypocrite for the Hall of Shame. No politician should ever lecture anyone on “values” and get religious on us when they have no idea what pox will come down upon their house.
Transcript – Secy of State Hillary Clinton on ABC’s ‘This Week’ – Obama Meets the 3 a.m. Test
(Source: ABC News This Week with George Stephanopolous)
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, HOST: Madam Secretary, thanks very much for doing this.
HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: I’m glad to see you, George.
STEPHANOPOULOS: You know, we were just talking about Cairo, did you ever imagine you’d be here as secretary of state?
CLINTON: Never. (LAUGHTER)
CLINTON: Never crossed my mind. And what an extraordinary honor to be here, especially for this speech today.
STEPHANOPOULOS: The president has a very high-powered team, Vice President Biden, General Jones, Secretary Gates. You’ve got envoys for Iran, Afghanistan, North Korea. How do you fit in?
(LAUGHTER) CLINTON: Well, I&
STEPHANOPOULOS: What is your role, exactly?
Must Read: Wall Streeters Call for Reform & Say Federal Efforts to Combat Financial Crisis Inch Wide, Mile Deep
America and the world have found out the hard way how Wall Street’s fast and loose ways hurt regular folks more than the fatcats with Gulf Stream jets and golden parachutes. It’s heartening to see at least two creatures of The Street find religion and evangelize the good news of reform.
Sandy B. Lewis and William D. Cohan do just that in an op-ed piece headlined, The Economy is Still at the Brink, in Saturday’s New York Times. It’s a shame that the editors at the Times decided to run their important message in Saturday’s edition rather than Monday morning when it might have attracted more attention from the likes of CNBC or the day’s cable news cycle. Cast against the constant stream of “Everything’s Fine,” from the Obama Administration to the likes of Jim Cramer, Lewis and Cohan’s message is succinct and important to the long run of the U.S. economy.
In short, the pair are telling us that the structural issues with American high finance are still there, Bush and Obama Administration efforts to staunch the bleeding are merely fingers in Wall Street’s dike, the current system is too heavily weighted in favor of ‘insiders’ and a program of real reform is needed to restore full confidence and ensure a system that works for all levels of the economy.
Here are some take aways from their piece:
- If nearly everyone agreed six months ago that our banking system was a sham, why is every government program or action directed at preserving the old order? Lewis and Cohan say to start with compensating executives well for moving the ball, but create a system where their net worth is tied to their failures as well.
- The writers wonder why so many federal resources are going to propping up those at the top of the financial pyramid – the big banks and insurers – when recovery will come only when the bottom of the pyramid gets more confident.
- Rather than talk of the “imminent return” of the “good times” President Barack Obama should be messaging America with “living within our means.”
- For the “long term health of the market” shareholders and other investors in the big banks need to feel the “market’s wrath.” No more rescues for the banks that created the mess.
- More market discipline and fewer government bailouts – where will the federal government draw the line?
- Fewer academics should be advising the president and he should make room for more folks saavy in trading and markets – not to have the fox guard the henhouse, but to design incentives that will work to revive the capital markets.
- More transparency in the entire system – from providing the same real-time market information to citizens that’s available to Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley – to replacing the marketing exercise known as financialstability.gov with real information.
- Go after the bigwigs who brought this pox upon us – either through truth commissions or the same way the FBI prosecutes the mafia.
There’s a lot more detail in what Cohan and Lewis wrote – go check it out.
Daily Graphic: Gallup Shows Cheney More Popular Than Pelosi
Daily Graphic: U.S. Public Opinion and Guantanamo Bay – WTF Are People Thinking?
Does anyone else think it’s troubling that more than half of Americans think that an extra-judicial, unconstitutional prison camp run by the U.S. government is O.K.?
Jeffrey Dahmer killed man-boys, butchered them, stored their choice cuts in the freezer and made stew with the rest. We put that sick fuck in a U.S. prison. The analysis of this should say, ” 75% of Americans aren’t even thinking this one through …”
Go Check Out Gallup’s Polling on This Subject
Abramoff’s Bloodsucking Lawyers & The ‘Pro-Family’ Republican Party
As the former bag man for the Republican Party, Jack Abramoff, serves a federal jail sentence his wife and five kids are apparently languishing just above the poverty line in a house they can’t afford with a leaky roof.
The Washington Post reports tonight that Abramoff’s lawyers are petitioning the federal government to release – to them – a $500,000 tax refund owed Abramoff by the federal government. Ostensibly, this is so Abramoff can pay his bills. How much you want to bet that those first in line to be paid are Abramoff’s attorneys?
The Post also points out that Abramoff is under a court order to make restitution to Indian tribes he bilked out of tens of millions before any of his assets go anywhere.
Jack Abramoff and his lawyers should go pound salt. His wife and kids on the other hand, someone needs to sack up and take care of them.
Norquist Could Fix Mrs. Abramoff's Roof He Was a Decent Person
How do you think it was in Abramoff’s heyday? Jack had all the access to most of the levers of power and was the crown prince of Tom DeLay’s K Street Project. He made a ton of money and he made a lot of other people money through opening doors and working his once ample Rolodex. Jack used his connections and when time and events were right, his connections used him.
I’m sure it was all smiles and backslaps and cocktails.
Fast forward to Abramoff’s undoing and in the time it takes to chomp the olive off the end of the little plastic sword, Jack’s got no friends.
Here’s an idea for Grover Norquist and Ralph Reed, former Abramoff confidantes and eternal fucknuts. Guys, why don’t you pull out your “family values” talking points, circa 1994, and begin calling your friends. Try Dr. Dobson, Tom DeLay, Newt — call ‘em all. Take up a collection, pass the hat. For goodness sake, take care of Jack’s wife and kids.
If Reed Had a Pair, He'd Man Up & Raise Some Funds for Abramoff Family
If you’re afraid firing up the old Christian Coalition phone bank will attract too much attention, how about the two of you pooling your resources and getting Mrs. Abramoff’s roof fixed?
You know, when I read the Post story tonight I wasn’t surprised about lawyers trying to bleed the last $500,000 out of Jack Abramoff. I guess I’m not surprised about the Republican “family” not helping out Mrs. Abramoff — just disgusted.
Waste of Paper: White House “Readout” of Obama Meeting with Saudi King
This is kind of annoying – for it’s total lack of saying anything of any substance:
Readout of The President’s Meeting with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia
President Obama and King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia met today and discussed a wide range of issues including Middle East peace, the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan, energy, Iran and other matters affecting the region. The President and the King also discussed the President’s upcoming speech to the Muslim world. The President and King pledged to remain in close contact in order to continue to make progress on these and other issues central to the US-Saudi relationship.
###
This came, “Immediate Release,” for God’s Sake! LMAO. How about if the White House just released the President’s public schedule each day. For the 30 minutes it took some young press aide to sweat over the drivel above and the layers of approval it probably went through, is it really worth it?
Exercises like the one above are not transparency.
Full Text: Sen. John McCain Speech – A World Without Nuclear Weapons
(Source: Office of Sen. John McCain)
(Editor’s Note: This speech was given on the floor of the U.S. Senate June 3, 2009)
Mr. President, today we celebrate the unveiling in the Capitol of a statue of Ronald Reagan, one of our country’s great presidents and a personal hero to me throughout my political life. While there are many aspects of President Reagan’s legacy we might reflect on today, I’d like to take the opportunity to discuss just one of them: his dream of a world free of nuclear weapons.
Speaking before the Japanese Diet on November 11, 1983, President Ronald Reagan said, “The only value in possessing nuclear weapons is to make sure they can’t be used ever. I know I speak for people everywhere when I say our dream is to see the day when nuclear weapons will be banished from the face of the Earth.” That is my dream, too, and it is one shared by many of our most distinguished national security practitioners. In 2007, former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and George Shultz, along with former Secretary of Defense William Perry and Senator Sam Nunn, authored an article titled “A World Free of Nuclear Weapons,” in which they laid out their vision of the globe free of the most dangerous weapons ever known.
Look Out, Congress Has Its Back Up Over Auto Dealers …
Personally, I believe the president when he says he never wanted to be in the car business. I fully expect that the White House will unwind taxpayers from stakes in car companies long before we are completely and safely out of Uncle Sam’s positions in banks and other financial services companies.
Congress on the other hand, these guys scare me.
The great strength of Congress is that local and regional representations may be made concerning public policy. That parochial nature of the legislature is also its greatest weakness. There are some big picture things that we need members of Congress to quash their urges to consider merely on the merits of “How does this affect my district?”
Today the Senate Commerce Committee will hold hearings on U.S. auto dealers affected by right-sizing efforts underway by Chrysler and GM. Autodealers will claim something terrible has happened and Senators – especially those whose campaigns are partially funded by fat cat car salesmen – will wring their hands and agree.
If the politics stops here with a show of indignation and gnashing of teeth, we’ll be O.K. If the show gets a run in the House, then the trouble starts. Members of the House, with their ultra-parochial world view could end up with legislation attempting to reverse dealership closings by the automakers, or worse yet, extending dealers some sort of bailout. The bailouts need to remain at the macro level of the economy. All we need is 435 bailout plans for this and for that.
Reuters reports ahead of today’s hearing what the national organization representing car dealers will say:
General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC, both bankrupt, will try on Wednesday to ease congressional concern, and in some cases anger, over their plans to slash more than 2,400 dealerships.
Members of the Senate Commerce Committee plan to grill GM Chief Executive Fritz Henderson and Chrysler President Jim Press about the lone aspect of restructuring that has triggered a broad response from Congress since dealers are nationwide.
“Rapid dealer reductions increase unemployment, threaten communities and decrease state and local tax revenue without any material corresponding decrease in an automaker’s costs,” said John McEleney, chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association who sells vehicles made by GM, Toyota Motor Corp and Hyundai Motor Co in Iowa.
We can’t dispute what McEleney says about the economic impact of auto dealers. I’ve heard reported that the average employment of a new car dealership is around 50 to 60. The point behind the pain being felt by anyone connected with the U.S. auto industry today – from boardrooms to union halls – is that the whole system was bloated. Everyone is taking a hit. If the industry is to regain any semblance of health, everyone needs to take a hit.
Here’s hoping Congress doesn’t try to micromanage the U.S. government’s temporary investment in the auto industry. We elected the president to be the executive and too many competing interests pushing for setting aside the hard choices for interest groups will just water down the whole enterprise. What Congress should be doing is oversight. The auto dealers shouldn’t be on the Hill today, the Administration and the top management of GM should be on the Hill today explaining what this all looks like in six, twelve and 24 months.
Interview Transcript – President Obama on NPR – Mideast Relations, Guantanamo
Filed under: Barack Obama, Foreign Policy, National Security, Politics
(Source: White House Press Office) 4:02 P.M. EDT
Q Mr. President, welcome to the program.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you so much.
Q Mr. President, thank you for joining us — that we could join you, in this case. If you want to improve relations with the Muslim world, do you have to change or alter in some way the strong U.S. support for Israel?
THE PRESIDENT: No, I don’t think that we have to change strong U.S. support for Israel. I think that we do have to retain a constant belief in the possibilities of negotiations that will lead to peace, and that that’s going to require, from my view, a two-state solution; that it’s going to require that each side — Israelis and Palestinians — meet their obligations.
I’ve said very clearly to the Israelis both privately and publicly that a freeze on settlements including natural growth is part of those obligations. I’ve said to the Palestinians that their continued progress on security and ending the incitement that I think understandably makes Israelis so concerned — that that has to be — those obligations have to be met.
Video: Obama Interview with BBC
Full Text: White House Fact Sheet on Government’s 60% Stake in GM and Bankruptcy Plan
The Obama Administration released the following fact sheet at 10 p.m. Sunday night regarding the path forward for GM and the government as 60% owner.
Click for White House Fact Sheet on GM Bankruptcy, Government's Role
ELCA Has Nothing to Say About Murder of George Tiller?
Where the far-Right sees one’s stance on the abortion question as a litumus test for Christian faith, not so for most. George Tiller, one of the few American doctors who perform late term abortions was shot today at his church, Reformation Lutheran Church, in Wichita, KS.
Killed on Sunday, at church it’s a situation ripe for the flock to seek some context or greater understanding from church elders. Being an ELCA Lutheran myself, I visited their website to find some understanding, some context.
There’s nothing. Not a message from presiding bishop, Mark Hanson, nor even a message to pray for those left behind at Reformation Lutheran in Wichita.
The political system has failed both sides of the abortion rights question for the decades since the Roe decision. The fact that this wedge issue continues to divide Americans and rile the basest instincts in some is testament to that. Another fact is that this issue is so difficult because it is so many things – politics, religion, biology – it’s not the sort of public policy issue that should ever be cast in all or nothing terms but it is by the noisy crowds for and against.
It may seem like nitpicking to call out my church for being quiet on the event of Dr. Tiller’s death, but because the underlying abortion rights debate is so multi-faceted and so completely wrapped up in our individual concepts of morality, this is exactly the time for the Church to be available.
This is the Internet age. The opportunity is always there for immediate communication. Too often the ease of communication today leads to garbage and “ill communication.” It wouldn’t have today, though.
Video: Gibbs Answers Question on Obama Birth Certificate During Press Briefing
I’m surprised it’s taken this long for the question to be asked in a White House press briefing. There is a fairly large amount of folks out there in Amerika who believe that President Obama has not released his birth certificate; that it resides behind lock and key in a vault somewhere in Hawaii.
Un-f*&cking believable. You can see the president’s birth certificate here. The tards on the right who continue to wring their hands over this issue say that the document is not what they expect for some reason. According to Snopes.com, a site that never lets us down when it comes to debunking, the document linked above is consistent with other certificates of live birth from the time in Hawaii.
Lester Kinsolving is the fellow who asks the question. Kinsolving a radio host and “correspondent” for Internet conservaporn World Net Daily has every right to ask the question, but it should be noted that WorldNet Daily has been the standard bearer for all things anti-Obama.
Daily Graphic: GOP Identification Down, Conservative Identification Not
Last week the Pew Center for the People and the Press released the latest in a series of polls going back to the late eighties measuring political values and core attitudes in the American public. From business and Wall Street to social issues, the poll is a snapshot of where the polity stands today four months into a new presidency. One of the interesting points made by the report writers and the data is that the waning fortunes of the Republican Party do not necessarily mean the demise of conservatism in America. Go check out the entire report here.
Video: Sotomayor – Appeals Court is Where Policy Is Made …
Oopsie.
Perhaps when Judge Sonia Sotomayor was on a panel at Duke University and told the audience that “All of the legal defense funds out there, they’re looking for people with court of appeals experience, because it is – Court of Appeals is where policy is made …” she wasn’t thinking about facing the fire breathing dragons on the right during Senate confirmation hearings.
Let’s just say that explaining this statement is the first chapter of her briefing book. She’s a smart lady, she’ll do it. It should also be noted that “morgenr” the person who posted this video to YouTube only posted around 20 seconds of what was surely a longer statement.
Sotomayor’s Background & Bio
(Source: White House Press Office)
Judge Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Sotomayor has served as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit since October 1998. She has been hailed as “one of the ablest federal judges currently sitting” for her thoughtful opinions,i and as “a role model of aspiration, discipline, commitment, intellectual prowess and integrity”ii for her ascent to the federal bench from an upbringing in a South Bronx housing project.
