Monday Morning Open Thread
Good morning.
President Barack Obama delivers remarks on the economic benefits of the Recovery Act after touring the Fairfax County Parkway Extension bridge construction site, a Recovery Act project, in Fairfax, Va. Photo by Lawrence Jackson.
Comments (84) «
good morning pam. gonna see if i can phone bank for the democrat in ny 23. got to be one of the coldest districts in the universe.
277gregg on November 2, 2009 at 07:54 AM
Great, Gregg. I know you do a terrific job.
I KNOW it is one of the coldest spots, the St. Lawrence River Vally is where I grew up! I have to call my relatives still up there, and make sure they are all voting for Owens. But then, they are all smart, so I am sure they understand, that they do not need any more desolation in that part of the state. It reminds me of Hinckley, MN when I travel back up there----100 years into the past.
Good morning, DEMS!
NO TROLLS ALLOWED!
Pam, the latest jobs report is out for certain sectors of the economy.
The Manufacturing Sector has had the "greatest growth since April, 2006, and hiring is up big time.
The Manufacturing Sector has had the "greatest growth since April, 2006, and hiring is up big time.
2Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo on November 2, 2009 at 11:37 AM
I heard, DooBee,
And this:
Ford surprises with $1B profit; sees profit in '11
credits Cash for Clunkers as part of their success !
thank God for President Obama, and the Democrats.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091102/ap_on_bi_ge/us_earns_ford
Housing numbers have just been released.
Sales of existing homes reached a 3 year HIGH last quarter.
this news is REALLY gonna tick off the Repugs, DooBee.
3 strong economic reports lift hopes for recovery
NEW YORK – Hopes for the fledgling economic recovery got a boost Monday from better-than-expected news on manufacturing, construction and contracts to buy homes.
U.S. manufacturing activity grew in October at the fastest pace in more than three years, according to a private group's measure. It was driven by government spending, businesses' need to rebuild their inventories and higher demand from overseas.
The Commerce Department said construction spending rose in September on the strength of home building. The report supported optimism that the ailing housing sector is starting to revive.
And the number of signed contracts to buy previously occupied homes rose for the eighth straight month in September, according to the National Association of Realtors.
The trio of positive reports about areas of the economy that could help power a recovery drove Wall Street higher in midday trading. The Dow Jones industrials added about 115 points, and broader indexes also rose.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091102/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/us_economy
Saw a great bumper sticker when I was out this morning
HEY RUSH, I HOPE YOU FAIL !
I thought it was so appropos, considering Obama and America is NOT failing at all .
rush must be so angry!
Good morning, all.
Is there no real news left in the world for the MSM to cover? Earthquakes, military coups in South American, Iranian nukes, or the loss of the American Dream are no starters?
Are the media divas so stupid or just too lazy to confront and address the big issues of the 21st Century?
Or is it that they are so in the habit of being fed conservative talking points they can't function without them? Writing stories about other pundits and entertainment political commentators is headline news these days?
The country is involved in two foreign occupations with troops dying daily. Millions of American jobs have been sent overseas and our credit markets have been vandalized by "banks" on Wall Street. Yet this is what Yahoo News considers the top story of the day:
Nov 2, 2009
Pro-Fox Democrats draw fire
They get hate mail from viewers and heat from their own party — but some Dems still stick by Fox News.
Or how about this publicity release which must have been lifted verbatim from the Club for Growth mailing without even being edited:
Conservatives take aim at leaders, Crist, other races
Politico
Alex Isenstadt, Jim Vandehei
Mon Nov 2
The conservative coup in upstate New York did much more than lay bare the power of conservative activists: It exposed how little control GOP officials hold over this surging and formidable political movement.
In the wake of conservatives’ role in forcing liberal Republican Dede Scozzafava out of Tuesday’s special election in New York’s 23rd District, GOP officials are trying to make it seem as if they are helping to stoke the passion — and can harness it to upend President Barack Obama and Democrats. They didn’t — and they can’t.
Many of the activists who helped knock out Scozzafava told POLITICO that the passion is building despite — and sometimes to spite — Republican leaders in Washington.
“I don’t give a crap about party,” said Jennifer Bernstone, a tea party organizer for Central New York 912, which helped to lead the anti-Scozzafava charge. “Grass-roots activists don’t care about party.”
Says Everett Wilkinson, a tea party organizer in Florida: “We are not going to allow our [movement] to be stolen by the GOP or by any political party.”...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20091102/pl_politico/29008
"Conservative coup"
"power of conservative activists"
"surging and formidable political movement"
"liberal Republican"
"the passion is building"
This is the most pathetic example of journalism I've ever seen. If this is any indication of how Politico and other internet outlets are going to take up the torch and save the free press, the MSM is deluding themselves big time.
They are allowing a small group of extremists in the conservative side to take the spotlight away from real issues instead of focusing on the problems this country faces. It's totally trivializes the political process and alienates the general public.
Why let the lunatic fringe of either side of the political spectrum shout their absurd accusations over the true concerns of the majority? The corporate media is obviously content to watch itself implode along with the these dysfunctional sore losers.
Who cares about the internal politics within the parties when the economy, military families, and the unemployed/underemployed are suffering? The issues and problems are what voters want addressed in the media.
There is something wrong in the country alright. But it has nothing to do with this silly stuff coming from the Far Right and the MSM's obsession with the absurd.
No wonder the ratings for news broadcasts and the circulations of magazine/newspaper are falling rapidly along with ad revenue. Our media is about as respected and routinely ignored as Pravda was right before the fall of the Soviet Union.
Enough with the silly stuff. Where's the pride in getting the facts right about important matters instead of feeding the fire of useless controversy?
Just so there are no distortions out there about all of this:
The Details Of Reform
On Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) unveiled the re-tooled Affordable Health Care for America Act (HR 3962). The $894 billion bill would extend coverage to 96 percent of Americans by 2019 and reduce the budget deficit by $104 billion over 10 years. "Leaders of all political parties, starting over a century ago with President Theodore Roosevelt, have called and fought for health-care reform and health-insurance reform," Pelosi said. "Today we are about to deliver on the promise." Democrats successfully lowered the price tag of the original House legislation from $1.04 trillion by expanding the Medicaid program to Americans with incomes 150 percent of the federal poverty line and removing the fix to physicians'' Medicare reimbursements from the bill. (That measure will be introduced seperately.) The House bill will also "strip the health insurance industry of a long-standing exemption from antitrust laws covering market allocation, price fixing and bid rigging" and "give the Federal Trade Commission authority to look into the health insurance industry at its own initiative." The bill allows the Secretary of Health and Human Services "to negotiate drug prices for Medicare" and "requires pharmaceutical companies to rebate the government for drug overcharges that arose after 2003 when low-income elderly people who got their drugs through Medicaid" were enrolled in Medicare Part D. Debate in the House is expected to begin this week, "and the Senate will soon take up its version."
A ROBUST HOUSE BILL: The House bill is "a better product than whatever's likely to emerge from the well-intentioned efforts of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid," Slate's Timothy Noah concludes. Indeed, the legislation includes a national public plan that independently negotiates reimbursement rates with provideres, a robust individual mandate, higher subsidies and cost sharing protections, and requires large firms to offer coverage. Eighty-six percent of firms (companies with payrolls of less than $500,000) are exempt from the requirement, but large employers would have to "pay 72.5 percent of the costs of benefits for employees who are single, and 65 percent for employees with families. It would exact penalties for non-compliance on a sliding scale depending on the size of a company's payroll, going up to 8 percent for those with a payroll over $750,000." Like the Senate measure, the House bill is financed through a series of improvements in the Medicare and Medicaid programs and taxes on the health industry. But while "the Senate is expected to propose a series of annual fees on the health-care industry and a 40 percent tax on high-cost insurance policies; the House would raise the bulk of its new revenue -- $460 billion over the next decade -- through a 5.4 percent surtax on the richest 0.3 percent of tax filers."
REID OPTS FOR PUBLIC PLAN: On Tuesday, Reid announced that the merged Senate legislation would establish "a national insurance plan with government seed money and be run by a private, not-for-profit board." The plan would negotiate its own reimbursement rates with providers and allow state legislatures to opt out of the option by 2014 if they can provide comparable coverage in order to exit out of the federal plan." States may also choose to establish a consumer-driven cooperative, although "states that opt out of the public plan could not offer co-ops." Unlike the House legislation, the Senate bill will not require employers to provide coverage, but requires "companies with more than 50 employees that do not offer insurance to pay a fine for each of its workers who gets a government subsidy to buy health insurance." The bill, in effect, "could encourage employers to hire people who already make enough to afford health insurance or to dump low-wage workers who would qualify for the subsidy," the New York Times concludes. While details of the final legislation are still emerging, Senate aides are saying that Reid has increased the penalty for employers who fail to provide health insurance for their employees from $400 a person to more than $700, reduced a tax on medical-device makers to between $15 billion and $20 billion over a decade, and increased the threshold for high-cost insurance plans that would be subject to a 40 percent tax.
I have no idea what you are talking about there Dufus Dannyboy. I have no yugo !
The fumes from your'ranch', boss hog, must be getting to you! All those swine relatives making such a stink ! You are a foolish, childish, impotent, simple old man. Such a waste of all that obesity! Go slop the pigs, and make sure you give your wife an extra pailful.
The WSJ thinks so well of the dopey liberals plans.
14CactusDanny on November 2, 2009 at 12:54 PM
Just more Rupert Murdoch crapola, what do you expect from a pug paper? The Wall Street Jurnal, has always been a bootlicking Pug Paper, but it has got worst since Murdoch bought it.
Email from bill Owens. Throw him a few buck is you can.
"Wow, where to begin…In the last 72 hours this race has become even more exciting than before. This past Saturday my Republican opponent, Dede Scozzafava, announced that she was suspending her campaign and on Sunday she announced that she was endorsing my candidacy for Congress!
Why you might ask? She dared to have the courage to stand up for the principles and values that she believes in, even when they don’t fit nicely into the far right’s notion of the GOP. This could not stand.
With the GOP’s national political figures: Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, and Rush Limbaugh, giving their support and resources to Conservative Party candidate, Doug Hoffman, whose campaign and misleading attacks have been bankrolled by right wing extremist groups like the Club for Growth and the national tea party movement; Dede no longer felt that she could stay in the race. I respect her decision and thank her for her commitment to the people of Upstate New York. I am truly honored to have her endorsement and support.
Dede’s endorsement means that the GOPs vote is up for grabs! We have less than 24 hours until the polls open. Please contribute $24, $48, $72, or $125 TODAY so that we can turn out Democrats and moderate Republicans on Tuesday!
Now with only hours left our field teams are working around the clock to reach out to Dede’s supporters. Voters that care more about moving the interests of the district forward than being the puppet of the extreme right’s failed economic agenda. Voters who are more interested in finding common sense solutions to create jobs in Upstate New York than fighting partisan battles. Doug Hoffman, the Conservative candidate, has been rigid in his commitment to the far right’s extreme policies-extending the Bush Tax Cuts for the rich, privatizing Social Security, and tax breaks for companies that ship our jobs overseas.
Endorsements matter, but only if Dede’s supporters hear about it! We have less than 24 hours. Please contribute $24, $48, $72, or $125 TODAY so that we can reach out to her supporters for Election Day.
I’m so grateful to have Dede’s support. Help me honor her courage; with a coalition of moderate Republicans, Democrats and Independents I know that we can be successful on Tuesday!
Thank you for your continued support,
Bill
Yet another poll with big support for public option. Bloomberg: "The [Quinnipiac] poll found voters support a government-run plan to compete with private insurers 61 percent to 34 percent."
"E.J. Dionne notes incremental, immediate reforms will have the biggest political impact in 2010: [3] "...since most of the changes don't become effective until 2013, the next few years will be a time of uncertainties and unknowns. Citizens typically want to know what's in this for them, and what they'll get right now. That's why the most important document House Democrats released when they unveiled their bill last week was a list of 14 benefits that would be created immediately. These include insurance reforms to ban lifetime limits on coverage and an end to 'rescissions,' under which insurers abruptly nullify patients' policies after they file claims. One of the most popular reforms in the bill -- barring insurers from denying coverage to those with pre-existing conditions -- wouldn't take effect until later. So the House bill creates an interim high-risk pool to help those who need coverage in the meantime. There are also particular benefits for Medicare recipients, including an immediate reduction in drug costs, and a very popular provision that would allow parents to keep their children on the family health plan through age 26. Especially important are new investments in community health centers and in efforts to increase the number of primary care doctors."
If the stinking, stupid Republicans had let Obama have his way----we would probably be creating a lot more jobs by now, too!!!
"The good news is that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, a k a the Obama stimulus plan, is working just about the way textbook macroeconomics said it would. But that’s also the bad news — because the same textbook analysis says that the stimulus was far too small given the scale of our economic problems. Unless something changes drastically, we’re looking at many years of high unemployment.
And the really bad news is that “centrists” in Congress aren’t able or willing to draw the obvious conclusion, which is that we need a lot more federal spending on job creation.
About that good news: not that long ago the U.S. economy was in free fall. Without the recovery act, the free fall would probably have continued, as unemployed workers slashed their spending, cash-strapped state and local governments engaged in mass layoffs, and more.
The stimulus didn’t completely eliminate these effects, but it was enough to break the vicious circle of economic decline. Aid to the unemployed and help for state and local governments were probably the most important factors. If you want to see the recovery act in action, visit a classroom: your local school probably would have had to fire a lot of teachers if the stimulus hadn’t been enacted.
And the free fall has ended. Last week’s G.D.P. report showed the economy growing again, at a better-than-expected annual rate of 3.5 percent. As Mark Zandi of Moody’s Economy.com put it in recent testimony, “The stimulus is doing what it was supposed to do: short-circuit the recession and spur recovery.”
http://caf.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=FXp1%2BbIaPWhRSAYZABQd83dE1Dxt15wW
Well, if Owens should lose, it will not be because of Palin!
NY-23: Biden Defends Palin After Crowd Boos Her
Bobby isn't here but Stevie's sock puppet is.
It's going to be a Dickens of a Scrooge Christmas...
* NOVEMBER 2, 2009
Jittery Companies Stash Cash
After Crisis, Big Businesses Hoard Most Bucks in 40 Years; Google's $22 Billion Cache
BY TOM MCGINTY AND CARI TUNA
Stung by the financial crisis, companies are holding more cash -- and a greater percentage of assets in cash -- than at any time in the past 40 years.
In the second quarter, the 500 largest nonfinancial U.S. firms, by total assets, held about $994 billion in cash and short-term investments, or 9.8% of their assets, according a Wall Street Journal analysis of corporate filings. That is up from $846 billion, or 7.9% of assets, a year earlier.
The trend appears to have continued in the third quarter, despite an improving economy. Of those 500 companies, 248 have reported third-quarter ...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125712303877521763.html?mod=WSJ_hps_LEFTWhatsNews
The Bush Legacy:
Nobody trusts American business especially other businesses. And they don't trust banks to extend credit any longer, underemployed consumers to spend with their new paltry middle class standard of living, or that there isn't another Bush economic bomb waiting to go off whenever they least expect it.
How to destroy the world's largest economy without giving it another thought...that's the conservative philosophy. Republicans proved they don't have any idea how to run an economy. We're still living with the effects of their irresponsibility and will be for a long time.
When Democracy for America endorsed Alan Grayson for Congress last year conventional wisdom in DC said Grayson was a long-shot at best. No one thought he would win. No one, that is, but DFA members on the ground who were working hard every day to deliver results.
Alan Grayson hasn't looked back since Election Day. He's not afraid to say what it takes to get the message across and fight back against Republican lies and misinformation.
Now, one year from today, Alan Grayson is up for reelection and Republicans have put a giant target on his back. It's pretty straight forward why -- they're afraid of him. They're going to pull out all the stops to defeat him. We can't let that happen.
So today, DFA members are joining with others across the progressive movement for a one-day contribution "money bomb" in support of Alan Grayson. If we raise $400,000 today, we'll send chills down the spine of every single right-wing blowhard around the county.
CONTRIBUTE TO ALAN GRAYSON RIGHT NOW
So why DO the Republicans hate Grayson so much?
Well, Republicans spent the whole summer yelling lies about "Death Panels" and how President Obama was going to pull the plug on grandma. And all August, Democrats in Congress went from town hall to town hall playing defense and trying to figure out what hit them. Alan Grayson had enough. There is no Republican plan on healthcare. They would rather do nothing, than fix it. Recognizing that over 42,000 Americans a year die because they don't have health insurance under our current system, Representative Grayson decided it was time to go on the attack and put the Republicans on defense.
"The Republican's healthcare plan: 1) Don't get sick 2) if you do, Die Quickly"
One sentence and Rep. Grayson reclaimed the debate. Everyone was talking about it. How many Americans don't have insurance? How many Americans die each year because of it? What actually IS the Republican plan?
SUPPORT A DEMOCRAT WITH SPINE - CONTRIBUTE RIGHT NOW AND LET'S HIT $400K TODAY
DooBee, RJ has been working very hard for Corzine, and I hope Corzine can pull it off.
Win or lose tomorrow, the GOP is still all Losers!
Love it!!! You have those who understand that angry old white men cannot win votes, and then you have those who are too angry to change!
GOP victory Tuesday won't erase party's problems
WASHINGTON – For Republicans, an election win of any size Tuesday would be a blessing. But victories in Virginia, New Jersey or elsewhere won't erase enormous obstacles the party faces heading into a 2010 midterm election year when control of Congress and statehouses from coast to coast will be up for grabs.
It's been a tough few years for the GOP. The party lost control of Congress in 2006 and then lost the White House in 2008 with three traditional Republican states — Indiana, North Carolina and Virginia — abandoning the party.
So even if political winds start blowing harder behind them and even if they can capitalize on Democratic missteps, Republicans still will have a long way to go over the next year because of their party's own fundamental problems — divisions over the path forward, the lack of a national leader and a shrinking base in a changing nation.
The GOP would overcome none of those hurdles should Republican Bob McDonnell win the Virginia governor's race, Chris Christie emerge victorious in the New Jersey governor's contest, or conservative Doug Hoffman triumph in a hotly contested special congressional election in upstate New York.
In fact, 2009 seems to have underscored what may be the biggest impediment for Republicans — the war within their base.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091102/ap_on_el_ge/us_election_rdp
SandyH on November 2, 2009 at 02:58 PM
I find it somewhat comforting that companies are holding more cash assets if for no other reason than to insure payroll is met and to have something onhand for capital investments. The bloated fat cats on Wall St. should be left out of the loop at every opportunity. The same applies for individuals. Early last year, if memory serves, we were at a -0.1% savings rate in the U.S.. This changed after the second Bush 43 recession began and now, I believe, we're at about 5%. We need to save more money individually. And we should be doing it in local banks instead of the big multinational entities.
I know, Pam, but King Troll is convinced he's here 24/7/365 just like him. The difference is that rj is not insane. The troll IS.
and here's another, by right wing Politico of all places:
Conservatives take aim at leaders, Crist, other races (they're talking about real Conservatives here, not rabid angry fringe element haters)
The conservative coup in upstate New York did much more than lay bare the power of conservative activists: It exposed how little control GOP officials hold over this surging and formidable political movement.
In the wake of conservatives’ role in forcing liberal Republican Dede Scozzafava out of Tuesday’s special election in New York’s 23rd District, GOP officials are trying to make it seem as if they are helping to stoke the passion — and can harness it to upend President Barack Obama and Democrats. They didn’t — and they can’t.
Many of the activists who helped knock out Scozzafava told POLITICO that the passion is building despite — and sometimes to spite — Republican leaders in Washington.
“I don’t give a crap about party,” said Jennifer Bernstone, a tea party organizer for Central New York 912, which helped to lead the anti-Scozzafava charge. “Grass-roots activists don’t care about party.”
Says Everett Wilkinson, a tea party organizer in Florida: “We are not going to allow our [movement] to be stolen by the GOP or by any political party.”
This energy on the right seems to exist outside the control of the conventional political structure, and GOP politicians and operatives are as likely to be victims of this anger as beneficiaries.
GOP leaders are about to learn the lesson again, several conservatives warned. Grass-roots activists are ready to turn their fire on Republicans in a host of races across the country, said Adam Brandon, a spokesman for FreedomWorks, an organization that helped gin up the tea party protests and town hall flare-ups.
“If you look at other bellwether races, we’re still going to be on opposing sides,” said Brandon, who pointed to the Florida Senate race, where a conservative former state House speaker is taking on GOP-establishment-backed Gov. Charlie Crist as the next major conservative electoral stand.
There are going to be other conflicts,” said Brandon. “We have a lot of work to do. The [Doug] Hoffman campaign was the beginning. It was not the climax.”
Tom Davis, former head of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said this rage against the GOP machine might feel good for disgruntled conservatives, but it could also land Republicans deep in the minority for years to come.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20091102/pl_politico/29008
I smirk when I see Thomassss like to call himself a 'Conservative', instead of a Extreme Right Wing Asshat, that is despised by the Republican Party
...or that there isn't another Bush economic bomb waiting to go off ...
Sandy, there already are 2 more bombs loaded and ready to explode:
1) Commercial Real Estate (office buildings, shopping malls, hotels and condo/apartment complexes), and
2) Upper tier private housing. Already some houses are going for only 50% of the asking price after sitting on the market forever, and some are now being foreclosed on and sold at auction.
DooBee, Stevieboy has been around here long enough, that he KNOWS the different personalities here, and he knows that RJ has never been anyone but RJ . He just likes to show off in front of the other girlies, and pretend that there is no one here but one person named bobby. And WHY he would pick on RJ is beyond me----he is one of the few that never said anything to or about Stevie boy, except to post Correcting Factual Truth to Stevie's lies. But of course, Stevie used to love Esme too. Remember the crush he had on her? But then she mentioned how he WAS mentally ill and should seek treatment and that was it!
And now we have the German liar, saying he is the owner of some estate on Olympic Pennsylvania, WA and we have Dufus Dan bragging about some fantasy ranch he owns in Tucson! these guys have gone right over the cuckoo's nest----
Like Dufus Dan could sit here 24/7, owning a ranch! unless it is a chicken one, and the old lady gets the eggs and sells them! Funny, Dufus had to go out and get a Part Time job though! I know this---if Dufus lives on a ranch, it is because his Father in Law died, and they moved onto the ranch with the Mother in law! No way someone with Danny's IQ could ever manage to own anything more than a double side trailer on his own.
Fellow Democrats, it is my sad duty to announce that, barring an unforseen set of circumstances, Sen. Deeds (D-Bathe Co, VA) will lose the gubnetorial race tomorrow to the "barefoot and pregnant" candidate for the GOP, AG Bob McDonnell. There are a few reason for this.
The first is that VA for the last century, or so, has always elected a governor from the different party than that controlling the White House. We had Mark Warner, now our junior Senator, and Tim Kaine, now our DNC chairman, to get us through the Bush 43 years. Our governors have term limits to wit; no consecutive terms.
The next is that Creigh Deeds did not run a strong campaign. He focused too much on running against former President Bush instead of running on all the positive things we Democrats have done with the Commonwealth over the past eight years. I respectfully remind those who read this that VA has been named the best managed state of the union, or one of the top three, for all eight years a Democrat has been in our governor's mansion.
Finally, we find ourselves in a similar situation as we did in 1993. The Democrats elected nationally have not delivered on their campaign promises. The change we can all believe in is being hindered by the gross incompetence and subsequent clean up of the previous national administration however, you can't fit that on a bumper sticker therefore, the average person in VA wants to give the other party a shot.
They will pay the price for it. Bob McDonnell will drive this Commonwealth right into the crapper as his predecessor did, Jim Gilmore, and his predecessor who was none other than Mr. Macaca himself, George Allen.
Therefore, my best advice is to concentrate on NJ and NY23 for tonight and tomorrow. Our blue dogs in the Commonwealth have maintained a fairly healthy rainy day fund to get us out of the trouble that lies ahead from Republican incompetence. We will do our best to take back the governor's mansion in 2013 and return VA to the sensible. But for now, the inmates will run the asylum. May God have mercy on us all.
The Truth-O-Meter Says:
"For the last decade the climate has been cooling."
Mary Matalin on Thursday, October 22nd, 2009 in CNN's Situation Room program
Matalin claims the Earth is cooling
FALSE !!!!!!
So, Matalin acknowledges that the Earth's temperature is changing, but she's not so sure that those changes are man-made. We'll save the debate over whether climate change is caused by human activity for another day. For now, we're going to check Matalin's claim that the Earth has been cooling in recent years.
Last spring, we checked a similar claim made by the Cato Institute, a free-market think tank. The group claimed that there has been no net global warming for over a decade; we found that False because the climate scientists we spoke with said that, while temperatures have remained relatively static over the last decade, very little can be learned about climate change in a 10-year window.
Matalin's office sent us a few articles pertaining to the issue, two about a new book by Christopher Booker, a British author and climate change skeptic, who wrote in the Oct. 25 issue of the British newspaper the Telegraph that, "as the world has already been through two of its coldest winters for decades, with all the signs that we may now be entering a third, the scientific case for (carbon dioxide) threatening the world with warming has been crumbling away on an astonishing scale."
Another study, published by Bob Carter, a professor of geology at Australia's James Cook University, in the Jan. 20 issue of the Australian newspaper argued that "global atmospheric temperature reached a peak in 1998, has not warmed since 1995 and, has been cooling since 2002."
Carter is correct that global temperatures hit a high point in 1998. Several entities — including NASA, the Climate Research Unit in the United Kingdom and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the United States — track temperature changes. Generally speaking, their records show that 1998, a year when a warming pattern called El Nino ruled the weather, is the hottest we've had since scientists started collecting temperature information in the mid 1800s. NASA, on the other hand, pins 2005 as the hottest year on record.
But no matter how you slice the data, temperatures have indisputably fluctuated in the last decade, contrary to Matalin's suggestion that they have cooled. This graph from NASA shows that the temperature increased slightly between 2000 and 2001, dropped in 2002, and rose once again the following year. In this case, the annual mean temperature goes up and down, and the five-year mean is on a steady rise. This graph from NOAA shows a similar trend, with temperatures dipping slightly at the beginning of the decade and peaking once again in 2005.
We asked Richard Heim, a meteorologist at the NOAA National Climatic Data Center Climate Monitoring Branch, what to make of all these ups and downs.
At the most, it shows a plateau, he said. But certainly not a cooling trend.
"With climate change, not every year is going to be warmer," Heim said. "It's two steps up, two steps down — that's not a indication we're on a massive cooling trend."
NOAA climate monitoring chief Deke Arndt recently told the Associated Press the same thing:
"The last 10 years are the warmest 10-year period of the modern record," he said. "Even if you analyze the trend during that 10 years, the trend is actually positive, which means warming."
If 1998 is the starting point, a year many climate skeptics tend to cite, everything looks cooler in comparison, said Raymond Bradley, a climate scientist at the University of Massachusetts. He also pointed out that, when evaluating the impact of climate change on temperature, it's misleading to look at only the last 10 years.
Keep reading:
sorry to hear that Bob, but it has been expected I guess for the last few weeks. I spoke to my niece down there, that works for the State of VA, Health Dept, and she is rounding up all she can to get out to vote for Deeds. Don't give up---don't ever give up !
28
PamB on November 2, 2009 at 03:33 PM
The only "Ranch" he has ever seen is the stuff they serve with the chicken wings at Chili's.
Well, if this ain't the bulldog turning around and biting the Master's ass I don't know what is.
If history had taken a different course, Doug Holtz-Eakin would be inside the McCain White House driving the Republican president's domestic agenda, including health-care reform. But now, one year after Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) lost the presidential election, the man who was by McCain's side as the campaign's top health-care guru remains unemployed -- and his COBRA health coverage is running out.Irony of ironies, it gets worse. Holtz-Eakin, who is about to start shopping for insurance on the individual market, is 51. And he has one of those pesky "preexisting conditions" that insurance companies often cite in denying coverage.
(He had a kidney transplant a few years ago.)
He's a Pug. Someone should tell him to just quit whining and get a second job (or a first) and let God sort it out.
He is reaping what he has sown.
BobVADemocratHawk on November 2, 2009 at 03:13 PM
Perhaps we should be happy they aren't still expanding overseas?
But I suppose it doesn't matter. American business has created new competitors who are now strong enough that they don't need a bunch of traitorous American industrialists charting their course.
American capitalists have outlived their usefulness in the emerging world economies. They don't need our equity any longer to build their infrastructure nor our consumer markets to grow. Their own consumer base is flush with cash and loyally spending it on products made at home. Growth hasn't even slowed in most of these economies.
And they aren't going to fund our debt much longer either. So when does the nationalization of all those American-built factories begin?
If I was the CFO of an American company, I'd build up my reserves, too. You can't destroy your business opportunities abroad and consumer base at home without having major difficulties ahead.
The only problem with your argument, Bob, is that millions of America's unemployed and those kids coming out of school without jobs and big student loans don't have anything to save. They're lucky they're surviving...without health insurance coverage.
I read someplace the other day that there are now three kinds of middle class Americans: the underemployed, the disenfranchised young, and older Americans who feel lucky to still be economically stable.
First the conservatives killed the middle class and now they're trying to kill off the democratic process. Onward Christian soldiers; servants of the top 2%.
The only "Ranch" he has ever seen is the stuff they serve with the chicken wings at Chili's.
32Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo on November 2, 2009 at 04:26 PM
HAHA, is that what is all stained down his bolo tie? and that wet stain on those cowboy boots?
Like I said, if Dannyboy is on any ranch, it was owned by somebody else, because there is no way Dannyboy could even buy a fence post on a ranch.
My guess is the Father in law, but could be the Father. I doubt the Father though. if he had been smart, old Dufus Danny would have been drowned by him long long ago.
PamB on November 2, 2009 at 04:03 PM
There will be no white flags waived in the Commonwealth, my friend. The last time that was done was 1865 and for good reason.
History worked against us in this election, Pam. But to make sure we don't see a repeat of 2009 in 2010 and 2012, our national Democrats need to get on the ball and get Healthcare Reform passed as well as the other major points of the POTUS' agenda. Also, unemployment needs to get below 8% by election day in 2010 otherwise, we may see a repeat of 1994, IMHO. We do not want to see a repeat of 1994. 1994 lead to 2000. We know what happened after that; the near demise of American society.
SandyH on November 2, 2009 at 05:46 PM
...First the conservatives killed the middle class and now they're trying to kill off the democratic process. Onward Christian soldiers; servants of the top 2%.
That sums it up perfectly, Sandy. But I believe a significant portion of the Christian right, namely the sane ones, are seeing the GOP for what it really is, a party that cares for nothing or no one but those with money. If we can capitalize on that, the GOP will be stuck at 20% support until the baby boomers die off then we'll see the GOP dwindle to third party status.
we may see a repeat of 1994, IMHO. We do not want to see a repeat of 1994. 1994 lead to 2000. We know what happened after that; the near demise of American society.
37BobVADemocratHawk on November 2, 2009 at 05:55 PM
Bob,
This country just absolutely could not take any more Republicanism for many years to come. They have almost destroyed this country yet again.
I always liked this one written a while back:
Open Letter to the Republican Traitors (From a Former Republican)
You Republicans are the arsonists who burned down our national home. You combined the failed ideologies of the Religious Right, so-called free market deregulation and the Neoconservative love of war to light a fire that has consumed America. Now you have the nerve to criticize the "architect" America just hired -- President Obama -- to rebuild from the ashes. You do nothing constructive, just try to hinder the one person willing and able to fix the mess you created. [...]
With people like Limbaugh as the loudmouth image of the Republican Party -- you need no enemies. But something far more serious has happened than an image problem: the Republican Party has become the party of obstruction at just the time when all Americans should be pulling together for the good of our country. Instead, Republicans are today's fifth column sabotaging American renewal.
President Obama has been in office barely 45 days and the Republican Party has the nerve to blame him for the economic and military cataclysm he inherited. I say economic and military cataclysm because without the needless war in Iraq you all backed we would not be in the economic mess we're in today. If that money had been spent here at home on renovating our infrastructure, taking us toward a green economy, putting our health-care system in order we'd be a very different situation.[...]
For the party that created our crisis's of misbegotten war, mismanaged economy, the lack of regulation of our banking industry, handing our country to rich crooks... to obstruct the one person who is trying to repair the damage is obscene. [...]
After Obama was elected, you Republican leaders had a unique last chance to send a patriotic message of unity to the world -- and to all Americans. You could have backed our president's economic recovery plan. Since we all know that half of our problem is one of lost confidence and perception, nothing would have done more to calm the markets and project resolve and confidence than if you had been big enough to take Obama's offered hand and had work with him -- even if you disagreed ideologically. You had the chance to put our country first. You utterly failed to rise to the occasion.
The worsening economic situation is your fault and your fault alone. The Republicans created this mess through 8 years of backing the worst president in our history and now, because you put partisan ideology ahead of the good of our country, you have blown your last chance to redeem yourselves. You deserve the banishment to the political wilderness that awaits all traitors.
Thomassss, you who are without a job, who are on COBRA and unemployment benefits, who may yet lose their house, had better hope and pray that Republicans do not take back over either. The only thing keeping you going are Liberal given benefits your guys fought against.
If you are REALLY as smart as you like to think, maybe just sit back and let the Democrats straighten things out like they did when Clinton cleaned up Reagan and Poppy bush messes ! Perhaps by then, you will also have some candidates you would be PROUD to call your leaders of your party, too.
Harpo_TheWatchman on November 2, 2009 at 06:02 PM
For that to happen, you'll have to hope for the failure of the U.S. and\or the POTUS. You'll have to hope for continued high unemployment, soaring deficits, inflation, and prolonged wars with no sight of their ends. Is that what the GOP has devolved to, Harpo?
Say what you want to about us Democrats but, when we were in the minority, we did not hope for the U.S. to fail, we hoped enough people would listen to us to throw out the party that was creating all of these problems so we could fix them. The public finally recognized in 2006 that it was conservative policy that was wrecking the country. Maybe you've stumbled onto the GOP's best 2010 campaign theme. It was our mess to begin with. Let us clean it up.
Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo on November 2, 2009 at 03:21 PM
DPD,
The Reagan Revolution continues to provide dividends for the top 2% and multinationals and it will for years to come.
Has anybody in Washington (much less the press) taken a look at what Phil Gramm might have stuck inside all those deregulation measures? It's like we've been so busy dealing with the current mess that nobody is preparing for how to move through the land mines we know they hid in the fine print.
And why hasn't Congress shut down the casinos on Wall Street along treating their irresponsible gambling addiction. It's not investment when you are betting on things to fail. That's fraud.
No, Dufus, I NEVER referred to in-laws giving wealth, until you? MY did I strike a nerve? hmmmmm? so it was your in-laws! Knew it. You are too stupid, with your lie"I was in law enforcement", then "I had my own business", and god know what else you did to earn a few bucks. I honest to God, pity your wife.
back later Dems.....This is my night to babysit for a couple hours. TTYL.........
Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo on November 2, 2009 at 05:46 PM
hiya, dpd. I thought folks were supposed to have yard sales and beg the local churches?
BobVADemocratHawk on November 2, 2009 at 05:55 PM
Bob, I think it's a mindset in the White House. It's like they are afraid of their own success and are refusing to use the power given to them by the electorate.
I can't believe the foot dragging. I can't believe that they all took off in August and went on vacation. It allowed the opposition to take over the momentum and they are still swimming up stream to get it back.
If you aren't willing to use power when it's given to you, why bother to run? Resign and let others who do know how to use it take over.
I'm sorry to hear your candidate in Virginia is not polling well. It points out the importance of fielding strong, progressive candidates and not trying to placate a middle that no longer exists. A Democrat can't campaign like a Republican better than a Republican.
Actually, in this brave new world of Birther politics, a Republican can't campaign like a Republican better than the Conservative Party candidate.
CactusDanny on November 2, 2009 at 06:26 PM
Yeah, because President Carter was so wrong when he pointed out in 1977 that we need to be energy independent. Had we listened to him, Japan wouldn't be leading the way with battery techonolgy and Germany with solar technology.
I suppose President Carter was also wrong when he pointed out that peace in the Middle East would only be achieved by Israel making peace with its neighbors such as Egypt. To date, that peace agreement has not been broken. And I suppose President Carter was wrong for bringing home all of those hostages from Iran without blowing Iran off of the map as well.
You may be right. President Obama may be another President Carter. The problem is a majority of the electorate is too dumb, such as yourself, to recognize brilliance when they see it. That is another fundamental difference between us Democrats and you Republicans. We want someone in the Congress and the White House who is smarter than us. Y'all want an equal. You had your equal with George W. Bush. You see where that got us.
thanks for your insight, bob. I do hope the governors election goes well, not too close to call and having election officials get the blame!
Maybe you've stumbled onto the GOP's best 2010 campaign theme. It was our mess to begin with. Let us clean it up.
BobVADemocratHawk on November 2, 2009 at 06:09 PM
Bob,
To which voters will say, "Those incompetents? They don't know how to do anything right."
When you catch people cheating you and giving the proceeds to their wealthy friends, you don't ask for more of the same treatment. What is our leadership thinking? We have the upper hand.
Has the entire younger generation been brainwashed into thinking only conservative ideas exist in the world much less have EVER succeeded? The voters are counting on us to change Washington not keep the corrupt, worthless system afloat.
I'm just preaching to the choir here. Forgive me my rant. I know getting Congress to move faster than a snail is delusional. You have to herd them with a cattle prod and never let up on the pressure.
We may need to put a woman in charge of the Senate, too. Nobody nags better nor knows how to use guilt and intimidation as a tool.
SandyH on November 2, 2009 at 06:50 PM
...We may need to put a woman in charge of the Senate, too. Nobody nags better nor knows how to use guilt and intimidation as a tool.
HRC would've been perfect. Sen. Reid (D-NV) is too nice.
56CactusDanny on November 2, 2009 at 06:57 PM
and what are you doing about it? you spend day and night, week in and week out, here on a political blog bitching and moaning about it.
ya limp noodle slacker.
CactusDanny on November 2, 2009 at 06:31 PM
Since Obama still has over three years (plus a second term) yet, you're faith will be tested aplenty. At the rate he's moving, you haven't even begun to see what he has in mind for you Birthers. I'd be afraid. Hide the gun and your bible in the Moosehead on the wall fast. Secure your ill gotten gains in a foreign tax haven. Get thee to a teabagger event; there is safety in really small numbers?
The lord's work? More like the House of Lords.
Enough with feeding the Munchkins.
Good night, all.
48
Esmeralda on November 2, 2009 at 06:27 PM
Hey dere {{Esme}}
I forgot all about those car washes and bowling nights that were all the rage last Summer.
Oh, and according to the Pugs he can just walk into an Emergency Room any time he wants and get another kidney.
In 15 minutes. Zip Zop, he's done. Just like going to a barber.
CactusDanny on November 2, 2009 at 07:01 PM
President Carter did not have a cap and trade policy. That was invented by VP Gore. President Carter advocated energy conservation and renewable fuels.
Interest rates soared because it was the Fed, not the POTUS who set them. They also soared as a direct result of inflation when Nixon took us off of the gold standard.
The high unemployment rates were due to the GI's coming home from Vietnam which started under the Ford Administration. And the military being in a shambles was a direct result of us losing in Vietnam which falls at the feet of Presidents Johnson and Nixon.
But, of course, you Republicans like to write your own version of history. So how many chapters are there in the Republican history book between Jesus rode a dinosaur to Jerusalem and President Carter; three or four maybe?
CactusDanny on November 2, 2009 at 07:06 PM
Would the Lord want healthcare for everyone or just those who can afford it? Would the Lord want unemployment benefits and food stamps for the unemployed or would He prefer to see them go hungry? Would the Lord want us to invade Iraq for no good reason? Would the Lord want you to use His name is attempting to further the GOP agenda?
We know who your lord is, Dan. It ain't who you're saying it is and maybe it was a Freudian slip that you failed to capitilize His references. We were warned there would be people like you. Those who come to us in sheep's clothing and profess they are of the Lord when, in fact, they are servants of the Lord's enemy. That light you're shining is not what you're professing it to be. Y'all have about 20% of the electorate fooled, for now.
Harpo_TheWatchman on November 2, 2009 at 07:12 PM
Socialist this and socialist that; is that all y'all have? If you want socialism, go here: http://www.sp-usa.org/ . They're the real socialists.
I must admire your zeal though. You'd call a peanut butter sandwich socialist if it would further the GOP agenda of providing rights and liberties, human, social, civil, and otherwise, to only those who can afford it.
Harpo_TheWatchman on November 2, 2009 at 07:29 PM
Wrong again, Harpo. The taxes would be imposed on those who pollute as well they should be. And in your shiny little caveat emptor society, the businesses who produced without pollution would have the higher profit margins, therefore lower prices, therefore capitalism lives on. Of course, if you want to keep our markets open to a bunch of Chicoms who don't mind killing off a few hundred million of its citizens, and ours for that matter, for the good of the public, keep right ahead and supporting the failed conservative policies you currently do.
Good night fellow Americans. Keep the Faith and keep the faith. Yes we can, yes we will, and yes we did!
...The torch [was] passed again to a new generation of Americans. So with Barack Obama and for you and for me, our country will be committed to his cause. The work begins anew. The hope rises again. And the dream lives on.
his playing it forward...
Harpo_TheWatchman on November 2, 2009 at 07:12 PM
Do I detect a new wrinkle in the RNC call center? Are we breaking in a new intern tonight? What did you do with the dumb, angry one?
Stuff him in a closet or send him up to New York to defeat a fellow Republican when a Tweet would have worked faster and better without the added travel expenses?
Smart move on your part. Send him to Alaska next and tell him to clock how fast all the glaciers are receding...or advancing in your conservative opinion.
But you won't be that lucky. He'll be back. Bad news always resurfaces.
The Birthers own you now. They aren't going to let go now that they've tasted blood or sense fear from the rest of the party. You can't control them. They're going to spin their new conservative movement into a dance of death for the few remaining attractive Republicans in the country like Crist.
I'd ask daddy to get you an internship with GE instead. Much better company and clientele.
Bye.
Evening all great Dems. Just a quick post and run. Did everyone see this over on Think Progress?
Why Hatch Is Really Blocking Health Reform: Americans Will Love The New System And Vote Democratic
In a new interview with CNS News, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) repeated his concern that requiring Americans to purchase health insurance is unconstitutional. Hatch offered typical run-of-the-mill conservative arguments about “socialized medicine.” But at one point, he let it slip that the real reason he is trying to stop health care reform is that the American public might really like it and therefore vote for Democrats:
HATCH: That’s their goal. Move people into government that way. Do it in increments. They’ve actually said it. They’ve said it out loud.
Q: This is a step-by-step approach —
HATCH: A step-by-step approach to socialized medicine. And if they get there, of course, you’re going to have a very rough time having a two-party system in this country, because almost everybody’s going to say, “All we ever were, all we ever are, all we ever hope to be depends on the Democratic Party.”
Q: They’ll have reduced the American people to dependency on the federal government.
HATCH: Yeah, you got that right. That’s their goal. That’s what keeps Democrats in power.
Watch it (at approx. 19:50):
A scenario whereby the two-party system is abolished because of government-run health care is unlikely at best. Republicans were also fear-mongering about the “socialized” system that became Medicare. In 1961, Ronald Reagan stated:
[I]f you don’t [stop Medicare] and I don’t do it, one of these days you and I are going to spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it once was like in America when men were free.
Republicans, of course, have had no problem getting elected with Medicare in place, and they now wholeheartedly support the program (recognizing that it’s popular with American seniors). For months, it’s been clear that electoral considerations are behind the GOP’s efforts to block reform. In July, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) said that if they could “stall” or “block” any legislation, it would be a “huge gain” for the 2010 elections.
In June, President Obama pointed out Republican’s illogical opposition to a public plan, saying that if government-run health care will really be as bad as they say it will be, how could it “drive” private insurers out of business anyway?
Well hello there Cleveland, aka Sally, i noticed that you threaten me last night. After you posted that info about Pam's Property. All i can say little old man, take your best shot at me. Cuz everything that i own is in my kids name, which you don't know their names, and you never will. But if you would somehow come across it and publish it here on this blog, i will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law. And you can take that to the Felon Bank? Just try me little Man!!!
Your worst then a 2 year old stomping his feet if things don't go your way. Your a Prick plain and simple.
Jimmy Carter became President in January 1977, Dufus.
his cap and trade policy sent gas prices through the roof, if you could FIND gas to buy.
Arab Oil Embargo, 1973 (Oops, Dufus is wrong)
*He did not bring them home, bob.
Yes he did, and RayGun was doing everything he could to throw a monkey wrench into what eventually became knows as 'The Algerian Accords".
15% prime loan rates
Which are set by the Federal Reserve, which is a PRIVATE CORPORATION (BTW, they were back and forth and circling ~ 10 - 11% during Nixon and Fords terms too)
11% unemployment
Unemployment Rates -January, 1977 to January, 1981:
Start:
January 1977 7.5
January 1978 6.4
January 1979 5.9
January 1980 6.3
January 1981 7.5
So, WHERE is that mythical 11% Unemployment Rate?
You must mean under the Alzheimer Doddering old fool!
Unemployment Rates, September, 1981 to May, 1984 (The RayGun Recession):
7.6
7.9
8.3
8.5
8.6
8.9
9.0
9.3
9.4
9.6
9.8
9.8
10.1
10.4
10.8
10.8
10.4
10.4
10.3
10.2
10.1
10.1
9.4
9.5
9.2
8.8
8.5
8.3
8.0
7.8
7.8
7.7
7.4
The">http://www.forecast-chart.com/chart-unemployment-rate.html">The Bureau of Labor Statistics is LAUGHING at Dufus!
Oh well, just a few more Zombie Lies that the Pugs put out and only stupid people believe them.
You know, their BASE.
Hey Doo-Bee, i think that Dufus runs a Rattlesnake ranch in his play-pen.
He reminds me of that so called clown that killed and buried all of them young men, in the crawl space of his domicile. Ya know that serial killer, can't think of his name off hand. But would recognize it in a heartbeat.
Henry Lee Lucas, if you all get a chance to read this book read it, the name of it is, THE HAND OF DEATH, him and his partner Ottis O'Toole, is thought to be the ones that delivered the poison to Jim Jones. He confessed to over 300 murders. If you start reading this book i guarantee you won't put it down, until you read the last page.
65Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo on November 2, 2009 at 08:48 PM
Excellent post Doo Bee
I checked out your house
Only in your far fetched dreams.
How's that rattlesnake ranch under your house going Danny/? You got one hell of a playpen going on don't ya? Is John Wayne Gacy your uncle?
Harpie said that ford was doing great thats B/S lookie hear.
The stock fell 3.8 percent to $7.29 in aftermarket trade after Ford announced the equity raise plan, debt repayment and extension.
76CactusDanny on November 2, 2009 at 10:44 PM
Wrong Bobby Danny
Stevie, why don't you just post as Sally, instead of your sock puppet names.
79CactusDanny on November 2, 2009 at 10:51 PM
Oh that was hard wasn't it since i posted it hear several different times, Your so dumb.
81CactusDanny on November 2, 2009 at 10:55 PM
Thats right Steven Thornberg, 34394 Cedar Creek Rd. Hinckley Mn. off of old governor's HiWay!
85chassie321 on November 2, 2009 at 11:06 PM
Oh and i forgot convicted Federal Felon.
Stevie just loves to play his games. You know the rules, Stevie------
so for starters, let's have everyone go in and ring the clicker on your 3rd grade website !
http://www.farmsteadproducts.com
this pretty much tells everything about you.
Here's the EBAY site. NOTE STEVIE'S WALLS IN HIS HOUSE, NOT EVEN FINISHED OFF! also note how he must try and tear down his competition, because his tin can is so inferior. There has to be a way I can put up some kind of Warning---this guy is a known Mail Fraud seller of these machines. I will have to work on that!
Now, maybe tomorrow's edition will include the kid's mug shot. Shows her name and where she went to school, etc. (also that she is homelier than a bag of anuses).
My "Shack in the woods" is valued at $300,000.
105Cleveland on November 3, 2009 at 04:13 AM
REALLY???????
Funny, seems the county only values it at $139,500!
Thank Goodness for that Credit "Aid paid by State", plus another credit "agricultural market credit by state", otherwise you might actually have to pay more than this year's $888 tax. Last year was only $712. $652 in '07!
That Pine County website is so informative, isn't it? I might pay the fee to open a User account, and dig a little deeper into a picture, etc. But then I think of what a liar and loser you really are----and is it worth it to humiliate you anymore than you do yourself????
why gee whiz, Thomasssss.
You sit there and don't say a word when Dufus and Stevie post personal info on DNC bloggers! WHY is that you are so hypocritical, old man?
Is that just another gene that is planted deeply in the Fringe element, extreme Right Wingers Party?
maybe in YOUR honor, Thomasssss, I shall post Stevie's daughter's mug shot ! How about them apples, huh? Bet you would love to peek at it also, right? Just afraid to ask him. OH, do you ever get a chance to go visit German Burd, or is there not enough room in that basement apartment in his in-laws basement for company? Bayern is so lovely this time of year.
Hahahahahaha - what an idiot.
(Industry uses 300 tons of gold per year mainly for circuit boards and electrical connectors)
98Cleveland on November 3, 2009 at 03:18 AM
===================================================================================
Oh yeah that Gold sure has got one hell of a small foot print compared to copper. Here's a example of just one industrial use of COPPER, and their is many, many more.
==================================================================================
Copper Wire & Cable Products
Wire and cable products are by far the major users of copper in the United States and, indeed, worldwide. In fact, in the USA more than 60% of all copper and copper alloys consumed are used because of electrical conductivity, and about 80% of that is wire and cable. Nearly all newly mined copper, the main interest of this conference, goes into the production of wire rod, and thence to wire and cable products. (Most of the copper consumed by the brass mill and foundry industries is recycled copper-base scrap, some fraction of which is re-smelted or re-refined before charging into the brass mill or foundry furnace.)
To draw conclusions allowing one to accurately predict the future for wire and cable, each wire and cable product – building wire, magnet wire, telecommunications cable, power cable, automotive wire and others – must be studied by itself as each has its unique characteristics, and the individual product trends are in many cases counter to each other. We will therefore develop the overall picture for copper wire and cable by analyzing the major products individually in order to better understand the future outlook for copper’s most important market.
In 1994, the latest year for which data are available (albeit preliminary), 1,541,000 tonnes (metric tons) of copper wire and cable were shipped, all but 85,000 of which was insulated. The trend has been generally upward and 1994 was in fact a record year. Over the last 25 years the average growth rate in copper use has been 1.4%/year.
Although the scope of this paper is limited to the USA, many of the trends it analyzes are in fact worldwide. The mix of copper shipments by cable type, however, is radically different from country to country, depending on local practices and traditions. In the USA electric utility power cable is installed predominantly overhead and is aluminum, while in other countries, for example the Netherlands, the tradition is to install power cable underground, and to use a significantly greater proportion of copper. The US standard for electrical service to homes is 120/240 volts (v), rather than a straight 240 v as in much of the rest of the world. This means that, for a given wattage of demand, the electric current in the US 120 v circuits is twice as large, resulting in the need for correspondingly larger wire on average, since conductor wire must be sized according to current. However, there are far more similarities than differences from country to country in wire and cable usage, and that is why this paper on US practices and trends is offered in an international forum.
Good morning, all.
Let the sun shine in. The rain has finally quit in the Mississippi Valley and we still may be able to finally harvest the soybeans and get in the winter wheat yet.
Is Rahm’s Luck Running Out?....
Gee, I hope so. I'd like to see David Plough brought back in to run things in the White House. Rahm is ineffective. He divides more than he conquers.
Well, globalization worked...for the rich conservatives at least.
Global wages falling this year, UN says
Eliane Engeler, Associated Press Writer
GENEVA – Real wages fell in the United States and some other wealthy nations in the second quarter of the year, raising questions about whether workers are sharing in any economic recovery, the U.N. labor agency said Tuesday.
The International Labor Organization said inflation-adjusted wage growth fell sharply around the world last year to 1.4 percent, from 4.3 percent in 2007. It said wages are falling in a number of countries so far this year.
"The picture on wages is likely to get worse in 2009, despite the beginning of a possible economic recovery," the 15-page report said.
The ILO analyzed data from 35 countries including Brazil, Britain, Japan, South Africa and Ukraine. It did not specify where wages have fallen the most or the least, and China and India, which provide large amounts of the world's workers, were excluded from the report because they did not provide data.
Monthly wages have fallen almost 2 percent in the United States since January, said Patrick Belser, an ILO economist....
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091103/ap_on_re_eu/un_un_global_wages
Just imagine how low this average would have gone if countries like China and India were also included.
This was the conservative Republicans' wet dream and sure enough they made it come true. It's time to reverse all those NAFTA-type trade deals and abolish all tax incentives to outsource jobs and move headquarters to escape regulation and taxation.
We need to contain the conservative graft and cheating within our own borders so we can deal with it instead of exporting our economic corruption elsewhere.
While the Birthers and teabaggers play "Chicken" with the GOP, let's get some work done.
Harpie that Gold is not quite as scarce as you think it is.
============================================================
RBI buys half of IMF's gold for sale; who's next?
Tue Nov 3, 2009 5:49pm
MUMBAI/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund has sold 200 tonnes of gold to the Reserve Bank of India for $6.7 billion, quietly executing half of a long-planned bullion sale that has threatened to slow gold's ascent.
The deal, which surprised traders who expected China to be the most likely buyer, will relieve the gold market of some uncertainty over how and when the IMF would sell 403.3 tonnes of gold, about one-eighth of its total stock. The deal will increase India's gold holdings to the tenth largest among central banks.
It also fuelled speculation that other governments -- including Beijing -- may be ready to diversify their reserves even at near-record gold prices, helping soak up IMF supply that the fund may otherwise be forced to sell on the open market.
"Central banks in India and China will be happy to accumulate gold at these levels. I will not be surprised to see even some Southeast Asian banks buying gold," Aaron Smith, Asia head of the $1.65 billion technical trading fund Superfund, told Reuters.
For graphics on the world's top gold reserve holders click here
Spot gold prices earlier rose by nearly one percent, but later reversed those gains to trade little changed at around $1,058 an ounce on Tuesday, within striking distance of last month's $1,070.40 record despite a rallying dollar. Traders said the IMF news could add to the market's upward momentum.
"Its potentially bullish from several points of view," said Commerzbank analyst Eugen Weinberg. "Gold was kept off the market and sold directly to cental banks so potential sales on market are limited by this."
"Secondly, it showed large buyers are ready to accept the current price levels. Thirdly, the central banks are increasing their gold reserves. Last but not least the central bank gold agreement sales of 400 tonnes ... is half empty already."
The Reserve Bank of India said the purchase was an official sector off-market transaction and was executed during Oct. 19-30 at market-based prices.
An IMF official said the sale was concluded at an average price of about $1,045 an ounce and that the transaction would be paid in hard currency and not in IMF Special Drawing Rights.
SURPRISE BUYER
Although the IMF's plan to sell a share of its gold holdings in order to increase low-cost lending to poor countries had been flagged for a year before it was formally approved in September, the speed, scale and identity of the buyer were a surprise.
"It was always thought that some of it would be sold off market but it was a bit of a surprise that as much as 200 tonnes had been sold off market," said Simon Weeks, director of precious metal sales at Bank of Nova Scotia.
Although India is the world's biggest consumer of gold, primarily in the form of jewellery and investment among its billion-plus people, its central bank had given few signs of seeking to diversify its reserves pool into bullion.
The proportion of gold as part of its total foreign reserves has fallen from over 20 percent in 1994 to just under 4 percent.
India's foreign exchange reserves held at the central bank totalled $285.5 billion on Oct. 23, of which gold comprised just over $10 billion. The latest purchase will lift its share of gold holdings from near 4 percent to about 6 percent, much less than most of the developed world but four times China's share.
The RBI does not officially talk about its diversification strategy. On Tuesday, the RBI said the purchase of IMF's gold was done as part of its foreign exchange reserve management.
For a graphic on the share of gold in central bank reserves click here
But there may also be a geopolitical motive behind the deal: India, like China, is also seeking closer ties with the IMF to assert its authority on the global economic stage.
"This transaction is an important step toward achieving the objectives of the IMF's limited gold sales program, which are to help put the fund's finances on a sound long-term footing and enable us to step up much-needed concessional lending to the poorest countries," the IMF's managing director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, said in a statement on Monday.
NO MARKET DISRUPTION
A senior IMF official, speaking on condition of anonymity, declined to say whether other central banks have expressed interest in buying the remaining gold for sale.
He said if no other central banks came forward, the IMF would proceed as planned to sell the gold in the market, but reiterated that the fund would publicize its intentions before doing so to avoid disrupting the market.
Still, the threat of further open-market sales remains a source of concern for gold traders, mindful of the five-year pact among European central banks to sell down a maximum 400 tonnes a year of their holdings, an agreement that was renewed in August and includes the IMF volume.
The market's focus has now shifted to China, which has reportedly been in talks with the IMF about buying some of the fund's bullion as Beijing seeks to shift some of its more than $2 trillion in foreign exchange reserves away from the U.S. dollar.
"Now people may think China will buy the other half," said Ronald Leung, director of Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong.
Already the world's top producer of gold and rivalling India as a consumer, China revealed this year that it had quietly lifted its own government holdings of gold stocks to 1,054 tonnes from 600 tonnes when it last reported its holdings in 2003.
It is the first time since 2000 that the IMF has sold gold to a central bank. Between December 1999 and April 2000 in separate transactions, the IMF sold a total of 12.9 million ounces of gold to member countries Brazil and Mexico.
(Additional reporting by Lewa Pardomuan and Sambit Mohanty in SINGAPORE and Jan Harvey in EDINBURGH; Editing by Jonathan Leff)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
Just in time for Thanksgiving...
Uncivil War: Conservatives to challenge a dozen GOP candidates
Alex Isenstadt, Charles Mahtesian
Politico
Tue Nov 3,
In what could be a nightmare scenario for Republican Party officials, conservative activists are gearing up to challenge leading GOP candidates in more than a dozen key House and Senate races in 2010...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20091103/pl_politico/29057
Some of our posters from Florida have said that Crist was well liked by everyone. So the Religious Right is going to cruxify him?
I guess teabaggers want to make Christmas into Good Friday? It makes sense to them? Sure it does. You know what they say about those that eat their own.
Boy, those guys over at Politico are frothing at the mouth over the prospect of a blood bath. It somehow doesn't seem appropriate during this upcoming holiday season. They and the Birthers want to hang Republicans from the tree not ornaments?
How Jack Crow of them. But then that is who these people are.
Gotta run. later.
If you guys were not desperate, you would not be cyber stalking... PamB on October 31, 2009 at 03:57 PMYou two-faced bitch.
well, first of all, thomasss, WE are not desperate. WE WON, YOU LOST. What part of that did you miss?
Stevie made a choice 6 years ago. Keep coming in here, making a fool of himself, ASKING for revolation about his personal life, or slinking back into the night. He Chose to have himself exposed----after all, it was him who decided to share his information with a Democrat !
OH, and for clarity's sake, Stevie's itty bitty, 1280 sq foot rambler, with 2 bedrooms, is worth $90,300. The land cost more than the house !Told ya he is a compulsive liar !
Just thought you would like to know..........
We don't need more NOT republicans(Bush Thinking RINO Party people)which is the huge majority of the republican party any more than we need troublesome democrats.
Could the nation use some 65 new faces AND 20 more NEW faces in the demo party? Absolutely.
Here's the deal. National Health Insurance is not a free ride and never will be perhaps with few exceptions.
You see my tax dollars will pay for my portion therefore no one else would be paying for MY National Health Insurance coverage.
However if you listen to the republican party NOT and Max Baucus you would be led to believe that my tax dollars are not my tax dollars. How can that be?
The fact that National Health Insurance would come from the rather substantial tax dollar cookie jars simply means that no monthly or weekly deductions would come out of my pay check per se..
Since federal, state, and local governments collect trillions in taxes of all kinds—income, sales, property, corporate etc etc this is how medical bills would be paid as it is now.
You see as we speak the government tax dollars support medical insurance payments to the tune of at least $1.2 trillion which is quite a gravy train I'd say. Next year this will increase by changing nothing and not passing the National Health Insurance Act.
In essence MY tax dollar amount to pay MY portion of National Health Insurance would be about $2700 annually for the entire family.
What coverage would this buy the family:
*long term care such that cancer demands
*prescription drugs
* hospital
* surgical
* outpatient services
* primary and preventive care
* emergency services
* dental
* mental health
* home health
* physical therapy
* rehabilitation (including for substance abuse)
* vision care
* hearing services including hearing aids
* chiropractic
* durable medical equipment
* palliative care
A good deal that would free up more expendable cash to be spent elsewhere thus creating new jobs. Things like birthdays,christmas,home improvements,taking better care of my lover and investments would benefit.
« Hide Comments
Comments are now closed for this entry.
