Morning Open Thread
Chat away...
Comments (51) «
repost from last thread:
Train travel is finally becoming a third rail of politics. The first one to fry over it might be John McCain.For years, McCain, in the comfort of cheap gasoline for autos and airplanes, made Amtrak a personal whipping boy. Despite the fact that governments in Western Europe and Asia zoomed far ahead of the United States by supporting high-speed trains to relieve congestion, promote tourism and now as we are coming to know, save the planet, McCain has spent considerable capital in denying the passenger rail system the capital to modernize.
In 2000, when he was chairman of the Senate Science, Commerce and Transportation committee, McCain killed $10 billion in capital funding for Amtrak. He denounced Amtrak as a symbol of government waste, claiming, "There's only two parts of the country that can support a viable rail system -- the Northeast and the far West."...Suddenly, the traveling public is demanding the development of commuter and high-speed intercity rail. According to the American Public Transportation Association, light rail (streetcars) was up 10 percent in the first quarter of this year, commuter rail was up by 6 percent, and subways were up 4 percent (Boston subway travel was up by 9 percent).
The House and Senate have passed bills calling for new investments in passenger rail, creating the same federal incentives for states to invest in rail service, offering 80 cents for every 20 cents spent by the states. Barack Obama is a cosponsor of the Senate bill. Noting on his website that he is committed to the development of high speed rail, Obama said, "In many parts of the country, Amtrak is the only form of reliable transportation."
In the section of McCain's website called "reforming our transportation sector," there is no mention of rail. There is only his clean-car challenge to automakers, his $300 million prize to design battery cars, and enforcing only existing gas mileage standards. When The Washington Post reported on how President Bush's fiscal 2006 budget did not include a subsidy for Amtrak, would kill both $20 million for the next generation of high-speed rail, and $250 million for railroad rehabilitation, it quoted McCain as saying on television, "I'm glad the president is coming over with a very austere budget."
That means I am smarter than 98% of you. Or in my specific case (based on other testing) - 99.99% of everybody.P.S. you appear to be a dope.
Posted by Sally*Sally* on July 2, 2008 at 04:51 AM
Typical Pug twisting....That's 98% of those taking the same test as you, menson.
Of course, it is possible you're a genius...just like your idol, Hitler. More likely you are closer to Rain Man.
Have a nice day.
Posted by Kristen on July 2, 2008 at 09:37 AM
So what does Obama have to say about rail travel?
Good morning, all.
Posted by Kristen on July 2, 2008 at 09:37 AM
Kristen,
Our country could benefit from developing both light rail in urban areas and renewed train connections to rural communities. I can see those bullet trains connecting the major cities and moving people across the country in record times.
With a little imaginationan and a national commitment to making it happen, we would be back on the right track again. It would be like starting a new industry with millions of jobs.
We could do this while setting millions to work seeking to unlock the mysteries of gene research, and go to Mars. We don't need to make war profiterring and the oil industry our top priority.
If we rejuvinate our rail system to the hugh number of jobs that could be generated by making the rest of our lives "green", it could ignite a renewed Renissance of the American spirit. We need to start building something again.
The Republicans have made it their lives' work to tear down and discard whatever they didn't think was of value. It's so foreign to human nature to be that destructive.
Take a look at the junk yards that line the railway lines throughout this country and you'll find all the broken hopes and dreams that could have been something special...just like our battered Bill or Rights.
Gotta run. later.
More trains! We need passenger rail through southern Montana where our cities are, not up on the highline where they are 4 hours away by car from anywhere except Great Falls.
Flying is a hassle, uncomfortable, and expensive. Driving is a tiring grind especially across the Dakotas, and expensive.
I'm not saying the cost of a train ticket would be all that cheaper, but at least you can stretch your legs out, have meals while you're moving, have someone else driving, and easier on the environment if you take a train.
I keep worrying that they'll reduce speed limits like back in the '70s.
Driving 55 back east, where everything's closer together and you're stuck in traffic jams most of the time anyway, isn't that bad, in Montana where everything's a lot farther apart, and traffic jams are far fewer, it means that you have to start earlier, get there later, and take longer, Our scenery is great, but a 55 it seems like you get to know the all the mule deer and antelope on a first name basis. ;-p
i guess everyone is just too discouraged by the blog difficulties to bother anymore.
Hey! What's this "Too many comments have been submitted by you in too short a time" thing?
The screen tells me to sign in, I do that about three times, don't know if the comment took any of those times, then I try to submit a second comment and get that message.
How long is "too short a time" anyway????
But did the post about Obama coming to Butte for the 4th go through????
not all Swedes are as stupid as our trolls:
Swedes Outraged Over New Email Spying Law
http://www.truthout.org/article/swedes-outraged-over-new-email-spying-law
(still curious how the troll plans on disputing the Global Warming FACTS I posted, particularly the one saying Minneapolis is the #1 city that has Global Warmed! that blubber about it being mumbo jumbo crapola doesn't do it! will be waiting )
Lat's see if this works.
I guess things aren't going all that well in Camp Gramps. He has demoted his campaign manager and replaced him with one of Karl Rove's dirty tricksters, who was also a counselor and spokesman for Cheney.
Grampy Grumpy is going to really start shoveling the dirt and slinging mud. Let the smears begin.
BREAKING: McCain Replaces Campaign Manager
"Are you as fed up as we are about what looks like an upcoming capitulation by the Senate next week on FISA and telecom immunity? Make some noise about it!
This weekend, your senators are likely to be making the rounds in your state, marching in parades or speaking at other Fourth of July events. Based on last week's cloture vote, it looks like very few senators are on the right side of this issue at the moment -- all the more reason to make sure they hear from you and other constituents about your opposition to this terrible bill.
Here are five things YOU can do, to honor the true spirit of Independence Day and to take a patriotic stand for the Constitution:
Print out this flyer, or make your own flyer or poster to display (or hand out) at July 4th events or parades, especially events attended by your elected officials. Big placards with slogans like "Warrantless Spying is Not the American Way" or "Illegal Spying is Not Patriotic" could get some attention -- if you get photographs of you or others holding signs like these, or if your activism gets picked up by the press, please send photos or links to pfaw@pfaw.org with the subject line "July 4th."
Download and print this petition to collect signatures and then send them to us (we'll get them to the appropriate senators before the July 8 vote).
Use these talking points to spread the word to your friends and family and ask them to join you in making noise.
Call in to talk radio shows (right-wing, left-wing, neutral, whatever -- let's flood the airwaves).
Write a letter to the editor of one of your local papers.
And after having a little fun making noise, enjoy your holidays!
-- Your Allies at People For the American Way
Posted by Butte on July 2, 2008 at 01:26 PM
Not only is he going to be in Butte on the 4th, he's going to be in North Dakota tomorrow. He has agreed to do a face to face with Ed Schultz, and Ed is asking listeners for question suggestions. His show ends in 45 minutes (from when I type this, who knows when it will post, or on what day). Or you can submit them through his contact page.
Posted by Butte on July 2, 2008 at 10:32 AM
The single most important improvement we could make to our national rail system would be to construct a two track network between major hubs. Presently, the rails are owned by the railroad companies and freight trains have the right-of-way. This means passanger trains must side rail until the track is clear. If train tracks were more like highways where traffic can move in both directions, delays would be substantially reduced, travel times would be shorter, ridership would increase, and a lot of fuel would be saved. I don't recall exactly but I believe in terms of passenger miles per unit of energy, trains are about 50% more fuel efficient than planes.
Posted by PamB on July 2, 2008 at 01:51 PM
I, too was very upset about this until I heard this from Keith Olberman on Countdown (MSNBC).
Obama’s FISA opportunity
Olbermann: Criminal prosecution loophole is candidate’s big chance
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25463360/
If they pass this law as written, all involved are open to criminal prosecution. This FISA bill only protects them from civil prosecution. Do you think W and Cheney will look good in stripes?
Posted by Butte on July 2, 2008 at 10:32 AM
man! the way this blog has been acting lately is almost enough to make a person switch parties...to the left, of course.
The single most important improvement we could make to our national rail system would be to construct a two track network between major hubs. Presently, the rails are owned by the railroad companies and freight trains have the right-of-way. This means passanger trains must side rail until the track is clear. If train tracks were more like highways where traffic can move in both directions, delays would be substantially reduced, travel times would be shorter, ridership would increase, and a lot of fuel would be saved. I don't recall exactly but I believe in terms of passenger miles per unit of energy, trains are about 50% more fuel efficient than planes.
interestingly the idea that being a jet bomber pilot and getting shot down and being a pow has little to do with commanding the entire armed forces or for that matter the country is catching on.
i was talking to my dad, a battle of the bulge vet, and he said being in the battle and freezing his ass off that christmas in europe qualified him to drive a milk truck when he got back to the states and that is probably what mccain ought to be doing...
Posted by gregg on July 2, 2008 at 01:22 PM
I agree with your Father, gregg.
WTF does being such a piss poor pilot as to get shot down, first of all, to then get caught secondly have to do with how one will run the military? If anything, me thinks he has proven already he is a poor choice!
whew, afternoon newspaper says that Obama has a 21 point lead over McCain in this state. With all the 'unaffiliated" or Independent voters here, I was afraid more of them would be fooled than there appears to be!
We have a Republican governor here, a dumb blonde broad, who took over when Rowland, the Republican criminal was booted out and went to prison, and now her numbers are dropping down the toilet, because the economy here is crummy. Hopefully next election she will get the boot!
We need to get rid of one more Republican Representative here in this state, and we will be True Blue!
Posted by PamB on July 2, 2008 at 03:31 PM
If McCrash's service record is any indication of good judgement or his ability as a commander in chesse, then perhaps the fact that he crashed more than one airplane, deserves mention.
This is a pilot that you do not want on a stick. He cost the pentagon a bundle in fucked up jets.
His record as a POW is also suspect. There are existing public records of his capitulation, with his captors, the North Vietnamese and how he recieved special treatment as the fair haired son of a commander.
McChatty, has also done everything in his power, with generous assistance from the pentagon to keep his war and pow records sealed.
If he is a "hero" as he say's he is, why are those not available to the fawning public? This is also the same man that returned to a loving and faithful wife, who was seriously injured and disabled, but true to his "hero" character, paraded around Washington with his dick in his hand and subsequently left her for a barbie doll bimbo.
Yep, that's a real american hero.
Have people lost their minds? This is not the action of a hero or a man with sound judgement. This is the action of a narcissistic prick who was born and bred into privilege.
Stupid People. Ignorance and the lack of literacy is our downfall. When the history books are written about what happened to the united states of america, the first chapter will be about how our culture was taken over primates and fuckwits who rely on 36' flat screens for information and an education.
Later Guys and Girls...This is like snail mail now. What a shame. Is there nothing that can be done to speed the blog up. Are there to many filters with our new system?
Good afternoon, all.
So what does Obama have to say about rail travel?
Posted by GregL on July 2, 2008 at 10:21 AM
Go West, young man?
Afternoon all good Dems,
I heard on the news yesterday that Starbucks is going to close 600 of their outlets and lay off 12,000 employees. I wonder how bush will spin this?
*********************
I received the following from Senator Bingaman(D)today:
"Throughout my tenure in the Senate I have strived to enhance the benefits received through Medicare in a cost effective manner. I recognize the critical importance of Medicare to New Mexicans, and I am committed to addressing Medicare reimbursements as well as other critical Medicare issues. I cosponsored bipartisan legislation, the
Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (S. 3101), that would have prevented a scheduled 10.6 percent cut in Medicare
payments to physicians and made some significant improvements to the medicare program. On June 12, 2008, I voted to invoke cloture and
consider this bill. Unfortunately, the minority party (meaning the prick neocons) prevented this
legislation from even being considered by the Senate.
Most recently, the Senate worked with the House of Representatives again to develop bipartisan legislation, the Medicare Improvements for
Patients and Providers Act (H.R. 6331). On June 24, 2008, the legislation overwhelmingly passed the House of Representatives with a veto-proof majority of 355 to 59.
I am deeply troubled, however, that on June 26, 2008, the legislation failed by one vote to pass the Senate. (Again the cheap bastard prick neocons blocked it.)
Every member of the majority (Democrats) party in the Senate supported the legislation and we also received the support of nine members of the
minority party. However, unlike the vote in the House of Representatives, a minority of the Senate decided to ignore the interest of beneficiaries and providers and block this important effort.
The Bush White House also issued a Statement of Administrative Policy (SAP)threatening to veto the bill. (President cheap bastard Asshole) I have urged Majority Leader Reid not to give up on this important legislation and the Majority Leader has agreed to bring it back up quickly once the Senate is back in Session next week.
I am sick of these f**king cheap bastard neocons in the Senate. They don't give a f**k about older Americans or our troops who retire with Medicare.
These cheap bastard neocon Senators must be removed from office. I am furious and will not take much more of this shit. They should all be impeached.
Well, this may show up in 45 minutes to an hour. I'll give it a shot and wait.
While Lindner was CEO of Chiquita, the company began sending money to the AUC through its shipping subsidiary Banadex. A report by the Organization of American States states that Banadex also engaged in arms trafficking, helping to deliver 3,000 Nicaraguan AK-47 rifles and millions of rounds of ammunition to the AUC in 2001. According to federal prosecutors, when company officials realized the arrangement was illegal, they switched to making the payments in cash.
McCain Backer's Firm Pleaded Guilty To Funding Terrorist Group In Colombia
PamB,I hope this goes through!How anyone can not understand what Gen. Wesley Clark stated would have to have a drooling problem.Really, it`s hard for me to hear this as a cheap shot. Gen. Clark is stating a clear distinction that should at least bring forth a question in any rational persons mind. Being a P.O.W. does not qualify him to be president.I can only agree with that statement.
Posted by PamB on July 2, 2008 at 03:31 PM
Pam,
It just proves how easily McCain can get trapped.
His recent behavior is even more telling and disturbing. He can't keep facts straight.
Can't you just imagine a foreign leader or Bin Lauden tricking him into doing something stupid... not to mention the neocons or the corrupt lobbyists that he surrounds himself with?
We can't afford to let this country slide even further. We are at a crucial crossroads.
What we do immediately after Bush leaves office could be the difference in whether this nation rises from the ashes or sinks even deeper into an abyss.
So it's important that each and every voter be asked the question:
Would you trust your child or grandchild in the care of this person?
LOOOOOOOONG list of Grampy Grumpy's flip-flops. If he picks the Mittster it would be "Flip & Flop, the acrobatic twins".
It’s a delicate dance, and John McCain is ‘liable to break a hip’
hot stuff:
WSJ
July 2, 2008, 2:52 pm
McCain Denies Senator’s Account of 1987 Sandinista Meeting
Susan Davis and Laura Meckler report on the presidential race.
John McCain today strongly denied an account offered by his Republican Senate colleague Thad Cochran of Mississippi to his home state’s Sun Herald newspaper in which he said the expected Republican nominee’s temper flared and he acted out of line during a 1987 diplomatic trip to Nicaragua.
“It’s simply not true,” a smiling McCain told reporters traveling with him in Cartagena, Colombia. “I made many many trips and I had many many meetings with the Sandinistas,” McCain said. “There was never anything of that nature. It just didn’t happen.”
Cochran told the paper that during a diplomatic mission led by then Sen. Bob Dole in the fall of 1987 there was a meeting with Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, head of the Sandinistas. During the meeting Cochran noticed a disturbance at the other end of the table in a room lined with armed personnel.
“McCain was down at the end of the table and we were talking to the head of the guerilla group here at this end of the table and I don’t know what attracted my attention,” Cochran told the paper. “But I saw some kind of quick movement at the bottom of the table and I looked down there and John had reached over and grabbed this guy by the shirt collar and had snatched him up like he was throwing him up out of the chair to tell him what he thought about him or whatever. I don’t know what he was telling him but I thought, good grief, everybody around here has got guns and we were there on a diplomatic mission. I don’t know what had happened to provoke John but he obviously got mad at the guy and he just reached over there and snatched him.”
McCain and Cochran have had tense relations in the past. The Mississippi senator originally endorsed Mitt Romney in the Republican presidential primary and told the Boston Globe that he thought McCain ill-suited for the Oval Office.
“The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine,” Cochran said in late January. “He is erratic. He is hot-headed. He loses his temper and he worries me.”
We are having a thunderstorm and it is dropping marble sized hale. The temperature dropped ten degrees and it is making a hell of a racket. This is the third day in a row we have had rain. The monsoon is here with a vengeance.
GOP Envisions Gephardt as Possible Obama Running MateBy Paul Bedard
Wed Jul 2Republican strategists trying to game Sen. Barack Obama's choice for a running mate are focusing more and more on the possibility that he might pick former House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt, a friend of labor and blue-collar workers.
"Gephardt is the one we're most afraid of," said a key GOP strategist and Bush ally.
Hillary Clinton...news.yahoo.com/s/usnews/20080702/ts_usnews/gopenvisionsgephardtaspossibleobamarunningmate
Isn't this interesting and probably one of the most outrageous red herring ever to be thrown out by the RNC?
So the GOP is making it known that this is the guy they want to run against most? Oh, I bet they would like to run against a familar and frequent Republican target that could rally their base to unite.
Obama is this unknown quanity. The Republicans can't buttonhole him.
So they want a flaming liberal on our ticket to throw jabs at instead of a guy who currently inspires Independents and even younger evangelicals?
While Gephardt would be a great Secretary of Labor, I wouldn't put him on the ticket to get the votes that Hillary is sure to deliver.
We need a V.P. who can energize some of those purple Western states or add some punch when we vie for those all important New South Atlantic states that are now trending purple.
We could also use someone who is identified as one of the new, younger breed of Democrats as opposed to the RNC's old, worn-out Bush agenda and ass kissers.
Leave it to the GOP to show their hand even as they are holding such a bad one. The more they play their cards, the easier it's getting to see how this game is going to end.
BTW, Gephardt was my congressman for decades before the GOP legislature jerrymandered his distric to look like a snake.
Dick's yard sign was one of the first that went up on my front lawn when I decided to get back into the Democratic fold after being an Independent. Till the end of his career, Gephardt was a champion of the working man and the kind of FDR Democrat my parents adored.
But they are gone now. And I'm old enough to know we need something new and compelling to run against the dire situation we face in this country.
Let Rove conjure up another wet dream to tantalize the fat cats on the RNC fundraising list. But he better not expect any of Bush's Rangers to lay out a dime to get McCain elected.
They know a bad investment when they see one. We all do now. No one wants a third Bush term.
Posted by GregL on July 2, 2008 at 01:58 AM Got a flight to catch tomorrow
I see that GregL is still working for Vice President Dick Cheney and is off once again to look for Saddam's nuclear program. GregL clearly does not have the aptitude for this kind of work.
I think we would all be better served if he would work for Paul Wolfowitz and be tasked with convincing the Chinese to make Supply Side "economics" the cornerstone of their economic policy.
Being a P.O.W. does not qualify him to be president.I can only agree with that statement.
Posted by virgo on July 2, 2008 at 04:59 PM
I can't see anything in his biography that would qualify him to be president.
Millions of soldiers have served valiently in the past. He didn't distingush himself any more or less than othrs who were POWs. You don't see them crowing about it.
By allowing his staff to use his military service as a marketing tool, McCain is only tarnishing the image he wishes to project of a humble, simple man...
...a humble, simple man who divorced a disabled wife who had waited faithfully for years for him to come home from Vietnam for a rich, younger woman who could help finance his political ambitions.
Besides, only the senior officers operating out of war rooms were military strategists. Pilots followed orders.
* * * * *
I love it. Scarborough just asked, "Why the hell is McCain in Columbia?" One of the pundits on MSNBC replied, "He likes the food?"
Hahahahahahhaha
More War, Less Jobs McCain just continues to putter around aimlessly in foreign countries looking for votes and trying to get himself caught by another enemy.
Didn't the Columbians just today liberate a group of kidnapped Americans who had been held for years? It makes you wonder if Rove steered McCain in that direction on purpose.
OMG! Are you watching as Bush and McCain are trying desperately to find ways to take credit for the capture of those 5 Columbian hostages???
Bush saying he has been working on this for 5 Years? WTF, he doesn't even know how much a gallon of gas is, or where the hell Omaha is located, and he wants us to believe he CARES a shit about a few American hostages in Columbia??
Get Real, Chimp in Chief!
And McCain! hahahahahaha, the old fool, saying he was briefed prior to the operation ! Like somehow he is to be trusted by world leaders! In a cat's ass, he is to be trusted. All we have to do is let the world know-----if McCain gets in, they are looking at another 8 years like the last ---aggression, arrogance, ego, power trips, etc!
nd for those waiting with baited breath for news of Kennedy's demise----he still has work to do and is doing it!!!
Kennedy Leads Renewed Effort on Universal Health Care
After undergoing brain surgery, Senator Ted Kennedy renews efforts to move toward a system of universal health care. (Photo: Paul J. Richards / AFP)
Kennedy presses for bipartisan support before new president takes office.
http://www.truthout.org/article/kennedy-leads-renewed-effort-universal-health-care
Since this amateur site only refreshes once per hour now, I'll check back in in 59 minutes to see what magically appeared after dorsano's post @ 6:07.
Time to grill.
Posted @ 6:17 CDT. It MAY show up in 45 minutes to an hour.
(Pssst., DNC HIRE SOME HIGH SCHOOLERS TO FIX THIS POS OR GO BACK TO THE 2004 SOFTWARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
McCain Said Military Service Doesn't Make Someone Better Equipped To Be President
http://mccainsource.com/mccain_fact_check?id=0017
OOPS!!!!
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