DVD Talk Forum - Politics and World Events

Union is upset because Eagle Scout cleaered a walking/biking path in local park.

grundle — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:04:15 GMT

Never mind war, poverty, AIDS, famine, etc. We need to go after the real enemy!

http://www.mcall.com/news/all-a8_5sc...,6238384.story

Union troubled by Eagle Scout project in Allentown

After layoffs, SEIU president complains about city's use of volunteers, contractors

By Jarrett Renshaw

OF THE MORNING CALL

10:59 AM EST, November 15, 2009

In pursuit of an Eagle Scout badge, Kevin Anderson, 17, has toiled for more than 200 hours hours over several weeks to clear a walking path in an east Allentown park.

Little did the do-gooder know that his altruistic act would put him in the cross hairs of the city's largest municipal union.

Nick Balzano, president of the local Service Employees International Union, told Allentown City Council Tuesday that the union is considering filing a grievance against the city for allowing Anderson to clear a 1,000-foot walking and biking path at Kimmets Lock Park.

"We'll be looking into the Cub Scout or Boy Scout who did the trails," Balzano told the council.

Balzano said Saturday he isn't targeting Boy Scouts. But given the city's decision in July to lay off 39 SEIU members, Balzano said "there's to be no volunteers." No one except union members may pick up a hoe or shovel, plant a flower or clear a walking path.

"We would hope that the well-intentioned efforts of an Eagle Scout candidate would not be challenged by the union," said Mayor Ed Pawlowski in an e-mail Friday. "This young man is performing a great service to the community. His efforts should be recognized as such."

Balzano said Saturday the union is still looking into the matter and might cut the city a break.

"We are probably going to let this one go," Balzano said .

The possible entanglement of a local Boy Scout in a union dispute underscores the frustration and anger SEIU members feel after being the lone city union to suffer layoffs in the ongoing financial crisis. It may also serve as a preview of future labor battles as the city tries to outsource some necessary jobs as a result of the layoffs.

Anderson, a junior and varsity soccer player at Southern Lehigh High School, is a member of Boy Scout Troop 301 of Center Valley.

He got the idea for the trail while taking hikes along the partially complete, 165-mile Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor. He noticed there were a few missing connections to the trail in Kimmets Lock Park, which is on the Lehigh River near Dauphin Street. He already has logged 250 hours trying to carve out a walking and biking trail along the river.

"I decided to do my part in completing this part of the trail. In that way, others could enjoy walking along the river, without having to walk on the busy road," Anderson said in an e-mail Friday.

During last week's budget hearings, where City Council reviewed the Public Works and Park and Recreation departments' funding requests, it was made clear that the layoffs and early retirements -- all of which have led to the lowest city staffing levels in two decades -- are bound to create union disputes in the weeks and months ahead.

For example, the city currently does not have an electrician available because of the layoffs and an employee on an extended sick leave. As a result, the city has been forced to hire an outside union electrician to oversee the installation for the popular Lights on the Parkway holiday display.

"In the spirit of the holiday, we decided to let that go," Balzano said.

Greg Weitzel, head of the Parks and Recreation Department, which lost 17 full-time employees as a result of the layoffs and retirements, said the low staffing levels will require more outsourcing of labor and a greater reliance on volunteers.

"There are some things that we can do in-house and other things we will have to bid out," Weitzel said Tuesday. "We originally had plans to do more with our labor force, but now we have to bid out that work."

What to do with TARP Money?

Venusian — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:01:37 GMT

I didn't know which thread this fit under best so I figured I'd start a new one.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/200...politico/29749

Quote:

Congressional Democrats could be careening toward a head-on collision with the White House over $200 billion in leftover bailout money � money that Republicans think should simply be returned to taxpayers.

The Treasury Department is pushing for fiscal prudence and wants to use the money to pay down the deficit and keep a small rainy-day fund in case of economic catastrophe.

But Democrats are salivating over the possibility of $200 billion in unspent money.

House Democratic Caucus Chairman John Larson of Connecticut wants dough to fund job-creation legislation. Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank, the powerful chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, wants to direct $2 billion of repaid Troubled Asset Relief Program funds to loans for unemployed homeowners so they can avoid foreclosure. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California admits that �there�s a good bit of interest� in spreading the money around to various economic projects.

And Senate Democrats want to put a big chunk � say, $40 billion � toward loans to small businesses.

Republicans, who regret ever voting for the $700 billion bailout in the first place, are moving in for the kill, convinced that a deficit-weary nation would thank them for pulling the plug on the great bank bailout of 2008.

�We don�t need it anymore, and the American people never liked it. Let�s just do away with it,� Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) told Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner during a hearing Thursday.

The White House realizes its goals clash with Democrats in Congress.

�As people on the Hill realize that there was money allocated and not spent, it becomes attractive. We need to find ways to make that less attractive,� said a senior administration official.

News reports in recent weeks and sources close to Treasury indicate that Geithner and his team are leaning toward extending the bailout fund beyond its Dec. 31 expiration date while putting some of the funds toward the deficit. But administration officials pushed back against those reports Thursday, stressing that no decisions have been made and that an announcement on the issue is far from imminent.

Geithner did some pushback himself, telling members of the Joint Economic Committee, �We are working to put TARP out of its misery, and no one will be happier than I am to see that program terminated.�

But under Burgess�s pummeling to just end the program, Geithner said that �this economy still faces tremendous financial challenges,� ticking off the continued problems in the housing market and small-business sector.

The conflicting messages coming from the administration highlight the perils of its position on this issue.

The White House has signaled that it wants to dedicate 2010 to deficit reduction, and putting the bulk of TARP funds into paying down the debt could please budget hawks on the Hill. But it also wants to keep an emergency fund just in case.

�The question is, what can you keep in your hip pocket for if the world collapses again?� said the senior administration official.

�They need it. We�re not out of the woods yet. ... [But] they�re struggling because the optics suck,� said an industry official familiar with the situation.

�They were leaning toward doing it, but now it gets even messier ... with Geithner�s latest troubles over AIG,� the official said, referring to a report by TARP�s watchdog this week that slammed Geithner�s handling of the American International Group bailout while heading up the New York Federal Reserve Bank.

But while administration officials are trying to see the big picture on the deficit, lawmakers see a chance to play the populist role.

�It was taxpayers who rescued Wall Street. Now it is time for Wall Street to contribute to the growth of Main Street,� Larson said this week.

Alaska Sen. Mark Begich, one of more than two dozen Senate Democrats who support directing some TARP dollars toward loans for small businesses, said �that�s where it should have gone.�

Begich said his constituents �saw the big banks walk away with these bailouts and then at the same time ended up with huge salaries,� while the small-business folks in his district wonder what happened to their help, he said.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) said Congress needs strong assurances that any future TARP money is going to be directed at Main Street, not big banks or credit card companies. �We need to insist on that, on a plan that ordinary people can relate to,� she told POLITICO.

Some Democrats are concerned that TARP�s image is so tarnished that no amount of refashioning the program as a lifeline for regular folks will help.

�If it were up to me, I would scrap TARP and all of the baggage that goes along with it, and I would do something specifically for the community banks, so we don�t depend on the bureaucracy and workings of the administration, etc., to make sure that it happens,� said New York Rep. Dan Maffei.

On Tuesday, Maffei was one of three Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee to vote in favor of a GOP amendment to force the sunset of TARP. Maffei said he�s concerned that voters back home just aren�t going to buy the notion that money used for unpopular bailouts of Wall Street firms and American automakers is suddenly going to help them.

�Branding matters,� said Maffei, a former Hill communications director. �Frankly, even if I believed that this would now be used for the smaller community banks, etc., I don�t believe my community banks would.�

Will Obama finally take the leadership role he says he will and start reducing the deficit?

The money was supposed to be for emergency use. Will Congress be willing to give up $200B in bribe money for votes ;)

I like the administration's idea. Set aside some for an emergency fund (with strict rules on how it can be used), and give the rest back to China.

Jobs created in districts that don't exist.

kvrdave — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:48:04 GMT

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/jobs-...ory?id=9097853

Quote:

Here's a stimulus success story: In Arizona's 15th congressional district, 30 jobs have been saved or created with just $761,420 in federal stimulus spending. At least that's what the Web site set up by the Obama administration to track the $787 billion stimulus says.

There's one problem, though: There is no 15th congressional district in Arizona; the state has only eight districts.

And ABC News has found many more entries for projects like this in places that are incorrectly identified.

Late Monday, officials with the Recovery Board created to track the stimulus spending, said the mistakes in crediting nonexistent congressional districts were caused by human error.

"We report what the recipients submit to us," said Ed Pound, Communications Director for the Board.

Pound told ABC News the board receives declarations from the recipients - state governments, federal agencies and universities - of stimulus money about what program is being funded.

"Some recipients clearly don't know what congressional district they live in, so they appear to be just throwing in any number. We expected all along that recipients would make mistakes on their congressional districts, on jobs numbers, on award amounts, and so on. Human beings make mistakes," Pound said.

The issue has raised hackles on Capitol Hill.

Rep. David Obey, D-Wisc, who chairs the powerful House appropriations Committee, issued a paper statement demanding that the recovery.gov Web site be updated.

"The inaccuracies on recovery.gov that have come to light are outrageous and the Administration owes itself, the Congress, and every American a commitment to work night and day to correct the ludicrous mistakes."

Millions will have to repay part of tax credit

nemein — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:52:18 GMT

Frankly I don't recall see much difference around that time anyway... maybe I didn't qualify or just didn't notice.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091116/..._credit_pickle

Quote:

WASHINGTON � More than 15 million taxpayers could unexpectedly owe taxes when they file their federal returns next spring because the government was too generous with their new Making Work Pay tax credit.

Taxpayers are at risk if they have more than one job, are married and both spouses work, or receive Social Security benefits while also earning taxable wages, according to a report Monday by the Treasury Department's inspector general for tax administration.

The tax credit, which is supposed to pay individuals up to $400 and couples up to $800, was President Barack Obama's signature tax break in the massive stimulus package enacted in February.

Most workers started receiving the credit through small increases in their paychecks in April. The tax credit was made available through new withholding tables issued by the Internal Revenue Service.

The withholding tables, however do not take into account taxpayers with multiple jobs or married couples in which both people work. They also don't take into account Social Security recipients with jobs that provided taxable income.

The Social Security Administration sent out $250 payments to more than 50 million retirees in the spring as part of the economic stimulus package. The payments were meant to provide a boost for people who didn't' qualify for the tax credit.

However, they went to many retirees who also received the credit. Those retirees will have the $250 payment deducted from their tax credit � but not until they file their tax returns next year, long after the money may have been spent.

"While implementing a credit through reduced withholding is an effective way to provide economic stimulus evenly throughout the year, it is difficult to account for everyone's circumstances," said J. Russell George, the Treasury inspector general for tax administration. "More than 10 percent of all taxpayers who file individual tax returns for 2009 could owe additional taxes."

The tax credit is also available for 2010. Russell said the problems will continue in 2010 if they are not resolved.

The credit pays workers 6.2 percent of their earned income, up to a maximum of $400 for individuals and $800 for married couples who file jointly. Individuals making more than $95,000 and couples making more than $190,000 are ineligible.

"Making Work Pay was designed to deliver much needed boosts to the paychecks of 95 percent of all working Americans," said Nayyera Haq, a Treasury Department spokeswoman. "Since enactment, more than 110 million families have benefited from as much as $60 in additional take home pay each month to put toward their family budgets, serving as a steady boost to spending and consumption."

For many, the new tax tables will simply mean smaller-than-expected tax refunds next year. The average tax refund this year was about $2,800.

The IRS, in a response to the audit, advised taxpayers to check their withholding throughout the year to make sure they don't get hit with an unexpected tax bill.

"The withholding system must approximate the tax liability of tens of millions of Americans, and therefore, cannot be tailored precisely to fit every individual situation," Richard Byrd Jr., commissioner of the IRS' wage and investments division, wrote in the agency's response to the report.

(This version CORRECTS Corrects average refund amount to $2,800 sted $3,000; UPDATES with administration response. Moving on general news and financial services.)

9/11 trial

mhg83 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:43:17 GMT

Lawmakers differ on Gitmo trial decision
McCain warns of 'mixed message' sent by trying detainees in civilian court

WASHINGTON - The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said Friday that the decision to take Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other Guantamao detainees to New York to put them on trial in a federal civilian court is the right one.

Democrat Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said that federal courts are capable of trying high-profile terror cases.

Putting the self-proclaimed 9/11 mastermind and the other suspects on trial in federal courts demonstrates to the world that "the most powerful nation on earth also trusts its judicial system," he added.

But former Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said that suspected terrorists should be treated as war criminals and tried in military tribunals.

The Obama administration's decision to bring the detainees to trial in civilian court "sends a mixed message about America's resolve in the fight against terrorism," McCain said in a written statement.

Republican Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona said that bringing Mohammed to New York is an "unnecessary risk" that could also lead to the disclosure of classified information.

He said the trial of Omar Abdel Rahman � the man known as the "blind sheik" � in a plot against New York City landmarks caused "valuable information" to be revealed to al-Qaida.

Republicans are not the only lawmakers voicing concerns about the decision.

Democratic Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia, who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, also supports the use of military tribunals in terrorism cases.

Bringing Mohammed and the other detainees to New York for trial could be "disruptive, costly, and potentially counterproductive," Webb said Friday.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33913564/ns/politics/

-First of all how the fuck has this guy not been on a military tribunal for years? He should've been executed a long time ago. This just makes it look like Obama wants to put the Bush administration on trial.

2010 Senate Elections

Venusian — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:01:47 GMT

Never too early to start speculating...

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1109/29343.html

Quote:

After struggling for two consecutive cycles on the Senate battlefield, Republicans seem poised to make a comeback in 2010. With 37 seats up for grabs � and Democrats defending 19 of them � the GOP is flexing its muscles in Democratic-leaning states like Delaware, Connecticut and Illinois. Recruiting coups by National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn of Texas are one big reason Republicans feel a new sense of confidence. Democrats, meanwhile, are taking on an increasingly defensive crouch as the party in power, which must defend President Barack Obama�s ambitious � and expensive � agenda.

Without further ado, here is POLITICO�s list of the 10 best pickup opportunities among next year�s Senate contests.

Delaware

Republicans turned Delaware into their top pickup target when they nabbed Rep. Mike Castle, the state�s nine-term moderate congressman, to run for the open seat. Delaware remains a deeply Democratic state, with Vice President Joe Biden � the former occupant of the seat in question � as the state�s political godfather. But Democrats and Republicans agree that Castle is the only Republican in the state who could make this a real race. Now all eyes are on Biden�s son, Democratic Attorney General Beau Biden, who is said to be leaning toward a run.

Connecticut

Republicans would typically have no business contesting a Senate seat in deeply blue Connecticut, but given Chris Dodd�s still-tenuous political standing in his home state, Republicans see a possible pickup. Dodd has seen his approval ratings dip well below 50 percent as he has come under scrutiny for his ties to Countywide Financial. Former Rep. Rob Simmons once seemed to be the obvious GOP contender, but Simmons now faces an increasingly difficult primary against former Ambassador Tom Foley, anti-tax activist Peter Schiff and deep-pocketed former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon.

Colorado

The White House and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee are circling the wagons around appointed Sen. Michael Bennet � a clear sign that the Washington Democratic establishment views former state House Speaker Andrew Romanoff�s potentially divisive primary challenge as a threat to the party�s hold on the seat. Even with the support, Bennet might now be forced to move to the left on a series of tough votes � starting with health care � that could put him at a disadvantage in a tough general election campaign. Former Lt. Gov. Jane Norton is the likely GOP nominee, but she faces a contested primary.

Nevada

Republicans missed out when Rep. Dean Heller and former Rep. Jon Porter � two potential contenders who could have put a serious scare into Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid � passed on the race. The GOP is left with former state Republican Party Chairwoman Sue Lowden, a less-than-perfect nominee who is certain to come under a hail of fire from Reid, who has nearly $9 million in his campaign bank account. It�s Reid, more than any other 2010 incumbent, whose fortunes are tied to the national political environment, and his reelection will be viewed as a referendum on the Democratic majority and Obama.

Illinois

While Democrats failed in their efforts to woo state Attorney General Lisa Madigan into the race, Republicans scored a major recruiting coup when they signed up Rep. Mark Kirk, a mammoth fundraiser known for his success in holding a tough suburban Chicago House seat. Both sides agree that Kirk will make the race for a Democratic seat competitive. Democrats, meanwhile, have struggled to find a candidate they are comfortable with � state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias has emerged as the front-runner in the Democratic primary field, though his background in banking may provide fodder for opponents.

Pennsylvania

Former GOP Rep. Pat Toomey, once regarded as an unelectable conservative in an increasingly Democratic state, is emerging as a strong contender. Toomey has raised a cool $3 million and has pulled even with or ahead of Sen. Arlen Specter in polls. Specter faces an uncertain path to the Democratic nomination, however, as he and Rep. Joe Sestak are headed for the kind of tough, expensive primary that always makes party higher-ups nervous.

Ohio

With Ohio trending Democratic in recent years, the state has emerged as the top Democratic pickup opportunity in the country. Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher is the all-but-certain Democratic nominee in the race to replace retiring GOP Sen. George Voinovich, though Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner has stubbornly remained in the race despite raising less than $600,000. Former White House Budget Director Rob Portman, poised to run on the GOP side, has already raised more than $6 million for the contest � a hefty sum that has Democrats on edge about Fisher�s less-than-stellar cash figures.

Missouri

The race to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Kit Bond offers Democrats one of their strongest pickup targets, as Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan is almost certainly the strongest Democratic recruit of the cycle. Carnahan � the daughter of former Gov. Mel Carnahan and former Sen. Jean Carnahan � has already taken in more than $3 million for the contest. Rep. Roy Blunt, a former House GOP whip, avoided a tough primary against former state Treasurer Sarah Steelman, but he still faces an uphill general election battle.

Kentucky

The increasingly competitive GOP primary between Rand Paul, son of Texas Rep. Ron Paul, and Secretary of State Trey Grayson has created an opening for Democrats to compete in this Republican-friendly state. Paul is tapping into the base of anti-tax, conservative activists his father cultivated during his failed presidential bid to pad his campaign bank account, while national Republicans have lined up behind Grayson. On the Democratic side, Attorney General Jack Conway and Lt. Gov. Dan Mongiardo, who gave retiring Sen. Jim Bunning a scare in 2004, are locked in an increasingly bitter primary of their own.

New Hampshire

Though Democrats are rallying around Rep. Paul Hodes in the race for the seat of departing GOP Sen. Judd Gregg, the second-term congressman has yet to establish himself as strong contender. Hodes has just over $1 million in his campaign bank account and came under fire over the summer for avoiding health care town halls. National Republicans, meanwhile, are placing their hopes on Kelly Ayotte, a former state attorney general. While Ayotte has revealed little about her platform, Democrats hope that the prospect of a primary battle with former State Board of Education Chairman Ovide Lamontagne and Republican National Committeeman Sean Mahoney, among others, could force her to the right.

I think it is too early to tell for a few seats like NV. Like politico says, it'll be a partial referendum on where the country is.

KY looks interesting. A Paul in the Senate could be fun.

Operation Northwoods and 9/11

jeffbase34 — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:58:34 GMT

I read an article last week about this declassified proposed OP, and it floored me. While the proposal was rejected in 1962 by President Kennedy, it chills me that top brass would even consider such a thing.

The operation called for staging a fake US invasion, then blame it on Cuba so we have justification to go to war with Cuba. This one really stuck out:

"Hijacking attempts against civil air and surface craft should appear to continue as harassing measures condoned by the government of Cuba"

I immediately thought of the 911 attacks. I've always maintained that the 911 conspiracy people are just nutballs, and I still do for the most part, but one thing unnerves me.

Why did Bush so calmly react to the news of the attacks and keep on reading? Maybe we just have a Hollywood image of our president springing to action, but it sure looks like he had foreknowledge.

And if they could propose something like Operation Northwood, could it be proposed again to start a new war? Scary just how much power our leaders have.

You can read about the op here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Northwoods

The fall of the Berlin Wall - 20 years ago today

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:55:55 GMT

Quite an anniversary being celebrated. Brown, Sarkozy, Walesa, Gorbachev, and even Medvedev are there.

Quote:

Merkel, Sarkozy Mark 20 Years After Berlin Wall Fell

By Patrick Donahue

Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Chancellor Angela Merkel called it the “happiest day in German history.” French President Nicolas Sarkozy drove all the way from Paris to witness it, and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said it helped build trust.

World leaders are gathering in the German capital today to mark the fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago, an event that precipitated the collapse of communism across eastern Europe, the end of the Cold War and led to German reunification within less than a year.

“This day changed the lives of many people, mine included,” Merkel, who grew up in East Germany, said in a video message posted on the Chancellery Web site two days ago.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are among those who will be at the Brandenburg Gate, which once loomed over the barbed-wire barrier that divided East and West Berlin for 28 years until the night of Nov. 9, 1989.

Merkel and the representatives of the four powers that controlled Berlin from the end of World War II until then -- Britain, France, the U.S. and Russia -- will symbolically walk through the gate at the climax of the “Fest der Freiheit,” or Freedom Festival.

“The wall that had imprisoned half a city, half a country, half a continent, half a world for nearly a third of a century was swept away by the greatest force of all: the unbreakable spirit of men and women who dared to dream,” Brown will say in a speech tonight, according to excerpts e-mailed by his office.

Lech Walesa

The party will feature 1,000 giant dominoes made to look like Wall segments lining a 1.5 kilometer (0.9 mile) stretch of the original. Lech Walesa, leader of the Solidarity movement who went on to become Polish president, is due to topple the first domino, setting off a chain across the city.

The commemorations began with a service at the Gethsemane Church in eastern Berlin, center of the peaceful protest movement that helped bring down the Wall.

From there, Merkel, Walesa and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, architect of the policies that loosened Moscow’s grip over its East European dominions, walked over the bridge at Bornholmer Strasse, a former east-west crossing point. That was where thousands of East Berliners amassed 20 years ago demanding passage to the West, after an unexpected announcement by the communist government allowing visa-free travel.

While there was confusion about the law, border guards at the checkpoint were unable to turn back the crowd and gave way, triggering the breakdown of the heavily guarded border.

Merkel’s Crossing

“We weren’t the first in Germany, but we were there when the Cold War collapsed,” Merkel told crowds at the spot where she herself crossed into the West when the wall came down.

Bornholmer Strasse was the epicenter of events 20 years ago, said Jan Techau, an analyst at the German Council on Foreign Relations.

“After it was really open, people immediately began to attack the Wall itself, to chisel away at it,” Techau said.

Among them was a 34-year-old Sarkozy, then a lawmaker in France’s lower house of parliament. He had jumped in a car that morning with Alain Juppe, a future prime minister, to witness the change they felt was coming. When they arrived, the Wall was already being breached and Sarkozy joined in.

Sarkozy’s Pickaxe

“We headed for Checkpoint Charlie to see the eastern side of the city and finally confront this Wall and I was able to take a pickaxe to it,” Sarkozy wrote on his official Facebook Internet site yesterday. He attached a photograph showing him in front of the Wall.

The images beamed around the world of Germans and others hacking away at the Wall often took place with the Brandenburg Gate as the backdrop. Daniel Barenboim will conduct the Staatskapelle Berlin in front of the Gate. The evening concludes with fireworks and a dinner for leaders hosted by Merkel.

The Berlin Wall’s fall “was an iconic moment,” yet “there wasn’t anything inevitable about it,” Clinton said in a speech to the Atlantic Council in Berlin yesterday. “History could have gone another way -- and in some parts of the world it did and it has.”

Putin, who served as a KGB agent in East Germany at the time, told Russia’s NTV television yesterday that Russia “might have done something differently to protect our interests.”

“What had to happen, happened,” Putin said of the events of 1989 and 1990. “Dividing the nation had no future. It was obvious to me that it’s impossible to hold back a nation in the modern world.”

The commemoration events have also brought together many of the key players who shaped events in 1989. On Oct. 31, former President George H.W. Bush joined his German counterpart from the time, Chancellor Helmut Kohl, and Gorbachev at a ceremony in central Berlin.

Merkel, the first chancellor from former East Germany, said that Kohl’s promise to bring “flourishing landscapes” in the east has come to pass over the past 20 years.

“Things have happened over that period that we simply wouldn’t have thought possible,” she told ARD television.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...d=aGw047TM3jDI

I'm confused about why President Obama didn't go and just sent Hillary Clinton instead. This seems quite an important celebration and a strong symbol of how freedom can be provided to millions of people by countries working together. The White House has blamed a "scheduling conflict". Did they just find out about it?

Bill Clinton and George W. Bush to debate in NY

DGibFen — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:03:39 GMT

Quote:

Bill Clinton to debate George W. Bush
By Eric Zimmermann - 11/03/09 05:42 PM ET

Former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush will face off in a debate that organizers are calling "the hottest ticket in political history."

The event is scheduled for February 2010 at Radio City Music Hall in New York, according to the NY Post.

Tickets will cost anywhere between $60 to $1250.

The New York Post:

The event is part of MSG Entertainment's third annual "Minds That Move The World" speakers series.

[snip]

"We hope that [the debate] will not only provide guests with an informative and empowering experience that will help them make educated political decisions, but also encourage people to engage in continued dialogue surrounding the most significant current events of our day," said Melissa Miller Ormond, who serves as COO of MSG Entertainment.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefi...-george-w-bush

This should be fun.

Some Chicago Aldermen don't like being searched it seems...

jfoobar — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:31:25 GMT

...to the point of threatening budgets.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/cityhal...chme31.article

Quote:

Don't search me, aldermen warn
Hearings chief told to cut it out or face possible budget cut

October 31, 2009
BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter

Chicago aldermen with their noses out of joint Friday demanded to know why they are searched along with the masses at the city's central headquarters for administrative hearings.

Scott Bruner, director of Administrative Hearings --the department Chicagoans love to hate -- was put through the wringer again during City Council budget hearings, but for different reasons.

Normally, Bruner gets pummeled for presiding over a "kangaroo court" of rude, cavalier and predominantly white hearing officers who don't give the accused a fair shake, critics say.

This time, he was ambushed by aldermen, some of them attorneys, who show up at 400 W. Superior and are searched and put through metal detectors like everyone else.

Ald. Freddrenna Lyle (6th) noted that aldermen are shown far more courtesy at the Daley Center and the State of Illinois building.

"If I present my attorney identification card and the sheriff's ID, I don't get searched [in those buildings] as an officer of the court. I am offended that you would think that this administrative hearing process is superior to or has a greater security risk than the Circuit Court of Cook County or the Appellate Court of the state of Illinois," Lyle said.

Budget Committee Chair Carrie Austin (34th) was so "offended," she warned Bruner what might happen if he fails to "take another look at your policy."

"It's not a matter of giving anybody any preference. But us that are aldermen -- we are the ones who set your budget. If we're the ones setting your budget maybe we'll take an adjustment" downward, if the policy is not rescinded, Austin warned.

Bruner initially defended the policy, telling aldermen, "It's not my intention to offend anyone. It's only our intention to make sure that people coming through are searched. . . . We're trying to treat everyone equally."

But by the time the hearing ended, he had clearly gotten the message.

"We will go back and look at the policy. We'll talk to the vendor about what they are comfortable with, and we'll see what, if anything, we can do to address it," Bruner said.

The alderwomen actually have a point. If they can enter courthouses and, presumably, City Hall, without being searched just to go into administrative hearings. That does seem to be an inconsistency not in keeping with logic. Courthouses normally have very tight security.

However, when you publicly threaten someone's budget over something like that, you have obviously leaped over the line of reasonable professionalism.

Election Day 2009 Preview

chowderhead — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 20:23:25 GMT

Election day is Tuesday Nov. 3. There are two governor's races. Republicans are strongly favored to pick up the Virginia governor's seat along with all the down ballot races with state Attorney General Bob McDonnell.
In New Jersey, Governor Jon Corzine is tied in the polling with former state Attorney General Chris Christie. The race has gotten very nasty and a third party candidate may siphon enough votes to act as a spoiler. Obama is holding rallies for Corzine in the hopes of pushing him over the finish line.

In NY-23, the Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava has dropped out of the race and endorsed the Democratic candidate Bill Owens. A strong third party candidate, Doug Hoffman looks to ride momentum and conservative anger into office.

Maine has a ballot measure on gay marriage.

There is another house race in California but that doesn't look to be as competitive.

THE NRCC and the RNC have now endorsed Hoffman, the Conservative Party candidate in NY-23. The Republican candidate has endorsed the Democratic candidate. It's totally wild and the polling is very fluid. It should be an exciting election night.
Here is Dede Scozzafava's endorsement of the Bill Owens, the Democrat. She probably did it because Cuomo or Obama promised her something but it could also be she is pissed off the conservatives slammed her and some of the National Republicans left her for dead.

Is Schwarzenegger veto letter the F-bomb?

movielib — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:06:59 GMT

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp...ksmvpjFE06jCxA

Quote:

Governator's 'F-bomb' a coincidence, says aide

(AFP) � 16 hours ago

LOS ANGELES � From "I'll be Back" to "Hasta La Vista, Baby", Arnold Schwarzenegger has always had a way with words.

But the charismatic California governor raised more than a few eyebrows with the wording of a recent letter to a political opponent announcing his intention to veto financing for a San Francisco waterfront project.

Viewed as a letter, Republican Schwarzenegger's missive to San Francisco assemblyman Tom Ammiano, a Democrat, appeared to convey a not-so-hidden message.

Read vertically, the first letter of each line spelt an obscene two-word insult, the first word beginning with "F" and the second word being "You."

Local media reports speculated that the message was the result of Ammiano's recent heckling of Schwarzenegger at a Democratic gala event.

Ammiano, who is gay, was reportedly angry at Schwarzenegger over state budget cuts which slashed funding to AIDS programs.

However Schwarzenegger's spokesman Aaron McClear said Wednesday that the odd wording was nothing more than a quirk of coincidence.

"It was a strange coincidence," McClear told AFP. "We draft hundreds of letters each year and it was just a coincidence, nothing more to it than that."

The language seems quite contrived, something that might be necessary to get a desired result. And string theory physicist Lubos Motl figures the odds of coming up with this by chance at 8 billion to one.

http://motls.blogspot.com/2009/10/ar...abilities.html

Quote:

Thursday, October 29, 2009
Arnold Schwarzenegger & probabilities

Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed a bill about the funding of projects in the San Francisco area, proposed by an aggressive homosexual activist. That wouldn't be important enough a fact to be discussed at this blog. However:

Unlike other texts, Schwarzenegger's veto must be read vertically to get the key message. ;-) Now, the governor's office claims that it is just a coincidence. How likely is it? Well, 26^7 is equal to 8 billion or so.

That's like a 7-sigma evidence against the "noise" explanation. :-) And who knows - maybe we should also count the spaces and/or the initial "I" before the verb :-) which would make the odds even more spectacular. Moreover, there exists additional, microscopic circumstantial evidence supporting the "intelligent design" explanation in this case.

"Kicking the can" sounds too poetic for a political memorandum (they needed a "k"), "overwhelmingly" seems redundant for describing how Californians deserve something (they needed an "o"), and the repeated occurrence of "unnecessary" (they needed a "u" twice) would probably be adjusted away if the good style mattered more than the vertical message.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is pretty creative although we could have doubts whether he has created the letter himself. Good sense of humor.

The message could have been made excessively contrived, too. The end of the letter, from "Sincerely", could have said "Respectfully [newline] Arnold [newline] Schwarzenegger [newline] Sincerely". (Be sure that I could give a smoother solution to this problem, but this simple one is OK as a proof of a concept.)

Then the hidden vertical message would be much longer - "I *u** your *s*." That would bring us to 10-sigma evidence against noise.

Motl calculates the odds against this occurring by chance using a 1/26 probability for each beginning letter. But, of course, all letter are not equally likely and this message includes more than a few letters that are relatively uncommon so I think Motl is being generous.

As he says, it is highly unlikely the governator composed this letter himself but I do not buy the "coincidence" story.

Cap and trade discussion

nemein — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:17:54 GMT

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091027/...s_climate_bill

Quote:

WASHINGTON – Top Obama administration officials are looking to make their case before the Senate for aggressive action to combat climate change, even as Republicans show no sign of softening their dislike of a Democratic bill that would dramatically cut heat-trapping pollution.

Senate Democrats have all but abandoned the likelihood of getting a climate bill passed this year, although they hoped that they could show some progress at a Senate hearing on the issue — such as clearing a bill out of a key committee — in advance of international climate negotiations in Denmark in December.

Tuesday's hearing is the first of three planned by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, on the bill introduced last month and recently revised and updated with additional details.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., the leading sponsor of the Democrats' climate bill, said U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Monday and said it was urgent for the United States to show "some movement in the Senate" on restricting greenhouse gases ahead of the upcoming talks in Copenhagen on international efforts to combat global warming.

"We're just going to keep pressing on, we're going to keep working. We're going to do as much as we can," Kerry said after meeting with Reid. Kerry acknowledged that the Senate's tight schedule and heavy focus on health care has made action on climate difficult.

The White House has made clear its support for the 900-page Democratic bill that would cut greenhouse gases by 80 percent over the next 40 years. It was sending three Cabinet secretaries and the head of the Environmental Protection Agency to the Senate hearing in hopes of persuading some wavering senators to support the measure.

Similar to a House-passed bill, the legislation would cap greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and large industrial facilities. Polluters would have to obtain emission permits, and the number of permits would be ratcheted down gradually to achieve the reductions. To ease the transition, polluters would be able to buy and sell allowances as necessary to meet the government-imposed caps.

Republicans have denounced the so-called cap-and-trade approach as a massive energy tax.

Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe, the committee's ranking Republican, said in an interview Monday that he expects Democrats to push the bill through the committee, but that it won't pass the Senate. Still, he said he and the other six GOP committee members are united in wanting to see additional information on the cost of the legislation beyond a cursory analysis provided by the EPA in a report released by Boxer late Friday night.

The EPA said that the Senate bill is so similar to the House-passed bill that the economic impact would likely be the same — between $80 and $100 in additional energy costs a year for an average household. Critics of the bill argue the costs would be much higher.

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., a member of the committee, told reporters Monday that the cap-and-trade approach "is fundamentally flawed" and would raise energy prices and cost jobs. Instead Alexander called for 100 new nuclear power reactors to be built, incentives to make half the country's cars run on electricity and expanded natural gas development.

Meanwhile on Monday, Boxer turned to the Internet and YouTube to plead for action to combat global warming. The video, nearly a minute-and-half long, features the senator with her 10-month-old grandson, Sawyer, interspersed with images of congested highways, flooding from Hurricane Katrina and ice chunks falling off glaciers.

"A lot of people ask me `Why does this matter?'" she says in the video. "Right here. This is a beautiful grandchild of mine and it is his world that I worry about and we all should worry about."

Officials to testify are Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and Jon Wellinghoff, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Maybe this would be better for the climate change thread but I thought the politics of this specific bill might merit its own thread. If people disagree let me know and I'll merge them.

Actually what I really wanted was to post this GoRemy video I found last night ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si-htSSHxsE

Health care pt5

nemein — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:18:01 GMT

continued from http://forum.dvdtalk.com/politics-wo...re-pt-4-a.html

Obama ties Bush on Golf!

kvrdave — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:58:08 GMT

http://www.politico.com/click/storie...h_on_golf.html

Quote:

President Barack Obama has only been in office for just over nine months, but he's already hit the links as much as President Bush did in over two years.

CBS' Mark Knoller � an unofficial documentarian and statistician of all things White House-related � wrote on his Twitter feed that, "Today - Obama ties Pres. Bush in the number of rounds of golf played in office: 24.

Took Bush 2 yrs & 10 months."

This news comes on the heels of today's news that Obama played golf with a woman � chief domestic policy adviser Melody Barnes � for the first time since taking office.

Remember all the news about how much vacation time Bush took? Wonder if we will ever get a story about how much time off the Obama takes.

Yes, slow news day. But it is weird to see the picture of him on the course. I was under the impression that the king's new clothes were invisible.