Blogs
Submitted by Gina on October 10, 2008 - 17:14.
Meanwhile, At The McCain Rally
Submitted by Gina on October 10, 2008 - 17:01.
Friday Happy - Putting His Money Where His Mouth Is Edition
Now that is a good American.
Submitted by Gina on October 10, 2008 - 12:43.
Micah on the Upside of the Crisis
I also believe we are on the verge of a revolution in participation in government, powered by new technology that is making it possible for many more of us to connect together and have a meaningful voice in the process. The bailout bill, and the process by which it is being jammed through Congress, is an affront to those democratic values. We can do better. And the vote Monday showed, in nascent form, how the same forces that are eating away at the underpinnings of "broadcast politics," the capital-intensive way of electing a President whose demise we've been chronicling here at techPresident, are also starting to unsettle "business as usual" on Capitol Hill.
Submitted by Gina on October 1, 2008 - 21:58.
So This Is Why Barack Had A Little Cough at CBC
I think Barack's grandmother would have advised him to wear the hat.
Submitted by Gina on September 28, 2008 - 12:03.
A Good Way To Begin Sunday Morning
if you're willing to put your shoulders to the wheel of history; if you're willing to march with me and get people registered to vote and stand with me in November, then forty years from now, our children will be able to look back and say that, like those who came before us, we did not shrink from the challenges we faced. Like those who came before us, we held fast to our ideals of equality, justice, and opportunity for all. Like those who came before us, we remembered the words of the scriptures, and cast off everything that hindered our way, and ran with perseverance the race that was set before us.
Submitted by Gina on September 28, 2008 - 11:21.
Me on Civility
Dan Zak of the Washington Post asked me to comment on the blogosphere and civility because, you know, I'm so civil:
"I don't think it's a waste of time," says California blogger Gina Cooper, founder of the liberal bloggers' convention Netroots Nation. "I think it's important: Online, you build a community, and communities are built around common values." It's up to individuals to create and uphold codes of conduct in their own spheres of influence, she says.
As a result of her work in politics and on the Web, a stream of explicit and hateful messages has flowed to Cooper's inbox. Responding would only reward bad behavior, she says. A forum with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) at July's Netroots convention provided a keen example of how incivility benefits no one. The forum was addled by protesters bent on causing a ruckus, not contributing substantive objections to the debate, Cooper says. The same can be said for the heckling during Sen. John McCain's acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention this month. There's a difference between calmly expressing frustration and disrupting an event.
Either way, Cooper expects online anonymity to erode as we live our lives more and more online.
Submitted by Gina on September 26, 2008 - 17:09.
Linky Post - The Bush-Paulson Wall Street Welfare Plan Is A Diaper Load Editon
David Cay Johnston advises, "Journalists, start your skepticism."
Reporters, hit the streets and telephones to ask business owners if their credit lines have been frozen. Look at swings in the stock market and put the recent swings in perspective.
Look on the Internet and see all of the ads for the very toxic mortgages that are supposedly at the core of this mess. Ask why are 1.9% loans (in which you pay that in cash and the rest of the interest is added to your mortgage balance) still being sold? Find out who continues to buy these loans.
Lets do our job -- be skeptical and ask the core questions, not the detailed ones around the edges,
Michael Isikoff gives us a reason to be skeptical of McCain campaign manager Rick Davis' motives:
But neither the Times story—nor the McCain campaign—revealed that Davis's lobbying firm, Davis Manafort, based in Washington, D.C., continued to receive $15,000 a month from Freddie Mac until last month—long after the Homeownership Alliance had been terminated. The two sources, who requested anonymity discussing sensitive information, told NEWSWEEK that Davis himself approached Freddie Mac in 2006 and asked for a new consulting arrangement that would allow his firm to continue to be paid. The arrangement was approved by Hollis McLoughlin, Freddie Mac's senior vice president for external relations, because "he [Davis] was John McCain's campaign manager and it was felt you couldn't say no," said one of the sources. [McLoughlin did not return phone calls].
Robert Reich weighs in noting that one of the assumptions behind the bailout is that once all this "bad paper" is gone that everything will be fine. Unfortunately, job losses and an otherwise crappy economic outlook promise more foreclosures in the near future.
The culprit isn't just those sub-prime loans. With jobs and wages are dropping across America, many people who had been able to pay their bills no longer can.
It's no coincidence that states where mortgage delinquencies are highest are also states with the highest rates of job losses. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the official rate of unemployment in California last month was 7.7 percent. That's up from 5.5 percent a year ago. In Florida, unemployment has climbed to 6.5 percent, from 4.1 percent a year ago. No surprise that bad debts are mounting fastest in California and Florida - and elsewhere around the country where jobs are evaporating fastest.
The Constitutional Accountability Center reminds us that the states saw this coming a long time ago, and tried to stop it:
What many do not realize, however, is the extent to which state lawmakers across the Nation attempted to protect consumers from predatory lending practices in recent years, only to be blocked by the Bush administration. Facing a rapidly-escalating foreclosure crisis states sought to restrict predatory lending practices both through their own laws and by calling on Federal Reserve to tighten regulations on the mortgage industry at the federal level. These state officials were stymied at every turn by the Bush Administration.
In other news:
Experts expect average home energy prices to increase 17 percent this winter compared to last year, with heating oil soaring 30.1 percent above last year’s prices. In addition, climbing jobless rates have contributed to a 9.5 percent increase since last year in the number of people unable to pay their energy bills. According to NEADA, 15.6 million households owed almost $5 billion asof March 31, 2008, an increase of almost $640 million over the same period in 2007.
And what's it been now, 41 days since a McCain press conference? The media is starting to get surly:
Relations between John McCain and the press corps that was once described as his "base" have fully deteriorated. After an appearance in Strongsville, Ohio, on Tuesday, the Senator blissfully ignored questions about the bailout plan from nearby reporters, prompting one journalist to scream out: "Has your bus become the No Talk Express?"
McCain offered a smirk at the line but kept on walking. "Ok, pool, back to the vans!" said an aide. "That was fun."
I bet someone pays for that last remark.
Submitted by Gina on September 24, 2008 - 11:56.
And Now a Word From Your Republican Party Platform
(HT: Political Wire)
"We do not support government bailouts of private institutions. Government interference in the markets exacerbates problems in the marketplace and causes the free market to take longer to correct itself."
-- The 2008 Republican Party Platform, adopted earlier this month.
Submitted by Gina on September 24, 2008 - 08:42.
Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights and Mental Health Parity Legislation Passed
Good news! Congress stood up to Big Finance and Big Insurance yesterday and passed two important pieces of legislation.
First, The Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights bans some of the underhanded practices that have become all too familiar:
Ends unfair, arbitrary interest rate increases, by requiring ample notice before rate hikes and permitting lenders to raise rates on existing balances only if minimum payments are more than 30 days late (except for increases caused by changes in stated variable and introductory offers)
Ends penalties on cardholders who pay on time, like charging interest on already repaid debt
Protects consumers from due date gimmicks by requiring credit card companies to mail bills 25 days (instead of 14) before the due date
Ends the credit card practice of applying consumer payments to lower interest debt first
That aught to eliminate a couple pages of fine print in the "terms and conditions."
Second, the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act bans the practice of insurance companies discriminating against people with mental illness, a most important move considering the number of Veterans returning home with PTSD. As Speaker Pelosi notes:
Untreated mental illness results in 1.3 billion lost days of work or school in our country every year. Yet bipartisan and independent research shows there is no significant cost to insuring mental illness like any other medical disease. With this legislation, we are making an investment in the strength and productivity of our nation. This will also benefit some of our returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan who later become employed in the private sector. For those brave men and women who served in the National Guard and the Reserves, but don’t receive VA care for their entire lifetime, this will help ensure they receive treatment if they ever struggle with mental illness.
