Sorry

I wrote a single blog but the HTML got messed up so I had to break up the entire thing into parts (which doesn't work so well) but at least its all here.

Bobby Rindel's Rebuttal

Rebuttle (Gov. Bobby Jindel)

We completed a redemptive journey – all moved by president’s personal story

My parents came from a distant land – Worked out an installment plan with the doctor. Dad from India – extreme poverty. Bobby American’s can do anything… when we pull together

We are now in a time of challenge – worried of losing health care and jobs

We are ready to work together

Where we disagree Repubs have a resp. to offer better ideas

In Washington they think govt. will take care of everything

Used Katrina as example of government red tape!

Its not govt. that gets us through, it’s the spirit of amer. People

Lead by empowering you, the amer. People

Lower income tax rates for small business, incentives, new tax credit for home buyers. Dems rejected this, instead of trusting us to make dec with our own money, they passed big spending wasteful spending

He becomes condescending (monitoring volcanos)

Saddle generations with debt!!! – unbelievable

Dems are irresponsible!!!

We cut earmarks, we cut taxes six times, we worked to together in Louisiana

Increase conservation, efficiency, renewable feuls, nuclear, increase drilling

Crisis in health care – no American should worry about losing health care

No govt. run health care

Education – new charter schools, vouchers!!!

Transparency to Washington – never see the passage of a spending bill again!

Terrorists – don’t dismantle our defenses

We look for hope in different places

We place our hope in you the American people!!!

Our party got away from our principles. Repubs lost your trust and rightly so.

We are determined to regain your trust.

The principles the made this the greatest county (are repubs)!

Summary of the Speech/Outline

Agenda:

1. begins with jobs

2. debt we inherited, not a fan of big govt.,

3. clean up the credit crisis – (must restart lending).

a. Create a new lending fund (republicans stand up)

b. Housing plan to lower monthly payments (save 2000/yr?)

c. confidence in banks – hold accountable those responsible, support

(repubs stand up), cost of action will be great cost of inaction will be greater.

4. Reform Regulatory System

5. Long Term Investments – health care, schools. Budget is a blueprint for the future (but he said he doesn’t try to fix everything). We all have to sacrifice something.

6. Energy – (China launched the greatest efficiency)

a. Get jobs back here

b. Double green energy

c. Science and technology

d. Power lines

e. Retrofitting buildings

f. Clean renewable energy – cap on carbon pollution – renewable energy

g. Clean coal, biofeuls, efficiency in cars

h. Auto industry – retooled, reimagined auto industry,

7. Health Care – cause 1.5 million to lose home, bankruptsy every 30 seconds.

a. Can’t afford to put heath care reform on hold –

b. The health care to kids

c. Electronic health records

d. Cure for cancer

e. Preventive care investment

f. Quality affordable health care for every American

8. School Reform –

a. One of the highest HS dropout rate in industrial world

b. College affordable for 7 million more students

c. More Reform – New incentives for performance

i. Charter schools

ii. Commit to 1 year of higher education

iii. Leaving HS is not just quitting on yourself its quitting on your country. By 2020 America will have highest proportion of college graduates in the world.

iv. If you can give back one year of service we will guarantee payment for a college education.

v. Responsibility for education starts at home – an American issue

9. Don’t pass on a debt they can not pay – (this is the magic trick for Obama!) – I knew we could get consensus – then he hits the repubs (deficit we inherited).

a. Identified 2 trillion dollars of savings in the budget

b. End Education programs that don't work

c. End payments to agribusiness

d. Eliminate no bid contracts (IRAQ)

e. Reform out defense budget – no cold

f. Waste and abuse in Medicaid

g. Fairness and balance tax codes – end breaks that ship jobs overseas.

h. End tax breaks for weathiest 2% of Americans

i. He rejects the tax raising taxes issue

ii. Tax cut for 95% of working families

10. Medicare and Social Security – tax free savings accounts

11. Honesty and Accountability to our budget – including the full cost of fighting war

No longer will we hide its price

12. The wars:

a. Iraq – responsibly ends this war.

b. Afghan/Pakistan – no terrorists plotting

c. The army – unyielding support. Raise Pay, Veterans, More troops,

d. Uphold our values – Closing Guantanomo, seek swift justice for terrorists

Living our values makes us safer and stronger

NO TORTURE

13. Foreign Policy – Cant shun negotiating table, confidence and candor

Israel – peace

Terrorism, cyberthreats, pandemic disease, economic crisis that is global, avoid protectionism, spur demand for US goods.

In our hands lies the ability to shape our world.

Leonard Abess- gave his bonus to his employees (didn’t tell anyone)

Bob Dixson – rebuilt all green town

Te’sheoma Bethea – typed a letter asking congress for help. We are not quitters

Everyone loves this county and wants it to succeed

Content when Republicans did not stand or clap

He tried to connect the progressive agenda of the 20^th century as the basis for all of USA growth and progress in the 20^th century (and in between the lines the conservative agenda being at fault for the crisis).

Republicans not clapping or standing while Obama spoke of the following:

1. the stimulus package

2. the issue of rich over poor

3. Saving jobs in mineapolis

4. 75% will see tax cut

5. 2500 tax credit for college

6. extended unemployment benefits

7. Nobody messes with Joe (?) – oversight

8. health care to kids

9. deficit we inherited

10. Tax raise for 2% wealthiest

THE REPUBLICANS NOT STANDING FOR SOME OF THESE ITEMS WAS SO PROBLEMATIC... And in fact I think they realized their mistakes and began to stand up a lot more

My problem with this speech was that while there were specifics to some extent - there seemed to be little real concrete specific means for achieving these goals. I really don't know how he will do these things: for example spending trillions and at the same time balancing the budget??? These items:

a. Identified 2 trillion dollars of savings in the budget

b. End Education programs that don't work

c. End payments to agribusiness

d. Eliminate no bid contracts (IRAQ)

e. Reform out defense budget – no cold

f. Waste and abuse in Medicaid

g. Fairness and balance tax codes – end breaks that ship jobs overseas.

h. End tax breaks for weathiest 2% of Americans

don't seem to make enough of a cut to get to a balanced budget to me!!!

Comments on the Rebuttal - My Main Points are in Here!

The republican rebuttal: my commentary

(its all the same policies over and over again - vouchers to improve schools, tax cuts, the idea that republicans trust you and they trust govt, more drilling and fossil fuels, the fake dicotomy of us = strong military they = wimps). These policies are the exact policies that led us to this disaster. In addition he tried to coop the progressive agenda which led to 20th century benefits as conservative values -- this is the biggest and most amazing distortion of reality. It was not conservatives who wanted to give up slavery, it wasnt' conservatives that wanted people to have voting rights, civil rights, medicare, social security, equality, workplace safety, restricting child labor, exploitation of workers and working class, mass education, women's rights, balanced budgets, regulation, environmental regulations, wildlife protection, and so many other great protections and rights we have today. The claim that southern "conservatives" have been a part of achieving these great American ideals is absurd at best and a violent and distorted lie on the other. The idea that the republican governor of Louisiana would refer to the Katrina debacle as evidence for how government doesn't work when it was the republican adminstration that caused the entire problem in the first place and at the same time blame government for spending money to come to the aid of people in need when Louisiana has taken trillions in recovery money (I read that it is 2.3 trillion!) is again and absurdity of monumental proportions and such hypocracy that this comment itself shoud dismiss everything else the guy said.

I can’t believe he invoked govt. failure on Katrina to support his position!!!

some interesting links

I have had so many thoughts about what has gone on over the past two months since i have written but I have been too busy to write. I am extremely distressed by several things that have come up: 1. the stimulus package and how the republicans have been dealing with this.
2. retreating on Bush's terrorism laws, extraordinary rendition, and guantanamo
3. Obama's bipartisan foibles
4. Netanyahu being the prime minister of Israel
5. sending more troops to Afghanistan (such a stupid decision)
6. bombing civilians in Afghanistan and Pakistan
7. Taliban being 100 miles from Islamabad by Pakistani government acquiescence
8. The oncoming depression that will be worse than 1930s
9. The manner in which both banking executives and wall street executives live in a
totally ego centric world - giving themselves millions in bonuses
10. The fact that, during this financial debacle no one seems to be really discussing the
underlying issues - that is the utter failure of our economic system to retain
stability over the long run. Since the late 1970s we have had one major downturn
after another with seeming recoveries and balooning growth that ends up deflating.
We should be smart enough to design a system that serves everyone rather than
the top 1%.

Here are some links to several articles that I think capture some of these issues in a very serious way:

High Noon: Geithner v. the American Oligarchs

Former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), MIT Sloan School of Management professor and senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, Simon Johnson examines President Obama's plan for economic recovery.

Dump the GOP

Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.
- Mark Twain

Former GOP Congressman Joe Scarborough was doing his MSNBC morning yak-fest on Friday, and made a comment about how President Obama's newly-finalized stimulus package has "greatly offended Republicans." His guests all agreed with solemnly nodding heads, yeah, you're right, Joe, Obama offended the Republicans. Greatly and stuff.

Ending the Hidden Agenda Behind Tax Cuts

Something as simple as a metaphor can mean the difference between shared prosperity and widespread suffering.

It's time to tell the truth about tax cuts. This phrase dominates political discourse and is coughed out every time a conservative public figure opens his mouth. It is treated like the basis of sound reasoning, yet no one points out what should be obvious - that "tax relief" and "tax cuts" are just code words for destroying the capacity of government to serve the public.

We've heard over and over again that the source of society's problems is the government.

Have fun!