Friday News Roundup - Hour 1
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-11-18/friday-news-roundup-hour-1
The “super-committee” faces a Thanksgiving deadline with no real evidence of progress on a debt plan. New York police prevents protesters from shutting down Wall Street on the two-month anniversary of the “Occupy” movement. Energy secretary Steven Chu says the decision to approve the Solyndra loan was not based on politics. Newt Gingrich makes gains in the Republican presidential primary race but faces questions about his lucrative consulting business. And the Supreme Court agrees to hear challenges to President Obama’s health care law. Diane will discuss the week's top national news stories with John Harwood of CNBC, Lisa Lerer of Bloomberg News and Major Garrett of National Journal.
Guests
John Harwood
chief Washington correspondent for CNBC; reporter, "The New York Times."
Lisa Lerer
politics reporter, Bloomberg News.
Major Garrett
congressional correspondent, National Journal.
Friday News Roundup Video
The Diane Rehm Show (http://wamu.fm/sCi0cJ): The panelists talk about this week's arrest of a man accused of attempting to assassinate the president or his staff and explore the possible future of the Occupy Wall Street movement:
Comments
Please familiarize yourself with our Code of Conduct and Terms of Use before posting your comments.
After Republican Politicians doubled the debt, under G. Bush, increased it by more then three-quarters, G. H. W. Bush, more then tripled the debt, under Reagan, and increased it by over half, under Nixon/Ford, hearing them now talk about the need for a Balanced Budget Amendment sounds as sincere as a drug dealer talking about the need for drug education.
camtron: You are correct that net neutrality will soon be gone. These are unaccounted administrative decisions beyond public control.
Philosophically we must ask ourselves how a public forum of information can be maintained when mixed with market corruptions. There has never been an egalitarian marketplace of ideas in the United States, not even within universities. Our politics is supply sided and wealth dominated. We get our "opinions" in neat little mass-produced packages. Even our scientific research outcomes are bought and sold. Electronic communication itself has been poisoned by subliminal techniques. So our expectations of the Internet were too high from the get-go. Now it is a mental superhighway of scams and billboards mostly. Non-conforming information and discussion is treated as grafitti, something to be covered up and rubbed out.
Maybe that is why Wikileaking and anonymous hacking are the most attractive things these days. The parasites and the tapeworms and the provacature agents are always lurking everywhere you surf. Our corporate government wants the Internet to be another Keystone XL pipeline of poison for profit. To Oligarchs it has no other worth. So in lobbying Congress maybe you are shaking a fruitless tree. (Attack them where it hurts worst.
Demand peace.)
Totally agree with the first caller. Lets not forget that only 9% of the american public have any faith in our Reps
At the Occupy LA Teach In American lawyer, academic, author, and former bank regulator Professor William Black stated that during the Savings and Loan fiasco that the Federal Home Loan Bank Board which he was the litigation director of made over 10,ooo criminal referrals in the Savings and Loan scandal. That over one thousand of those referrals were prosecuted.
He asks where is the Dept of Justice on the latest banking scandal?
Do your guest think the Occupy Wall Street groups across the country and justice would be better served if they would focus more on pushing for prosecutions of the banking fraud crimes?
Great panel of journalists today! Very smart conversation with good objective analysis. Thank you for a smart discussion of the issues without the fighting we here on other shows.
Please comment on the issue of immigration. Latinos are being scapegoated and it seems that no one is calling out the candidates on their racist views. I also think there is a conspicuous absence of Latino commentators.
Sally M.- MSM is like waterboarding if you depend on it. They force their excited salespitch down your gullet so that you can't conceive of any alternative. The MSM consumer finds relief only when they confess and abandon their skepticism. Watching TV news for me is torture because I can see the lies but am helpless to alter the corporate line. DRShow is a little less painful.
People behave like rats until they jump the maze and get beyond the rat race.
(Our security state is probably waterboarding rats in a lab somewhere right this minute.) Now there are some rats who try to please experimenters. They advance to electrified mazes and test powerful psychotropic drugs. These are termed P-tardy rats.
Besides the mandate to purchase coverage, what exactly do people object to in the health care bill?
Four men callers allowed through during this round up hour. I bring this up because on many national radio/TV open questions comment programs a disproportionate amount of men are brought through when it comes to domestic or foreign policy. It happens on the Rehm show far too often
Listen carefully.
kathleen: It would not be general assemblies of compassionate activists trying these fraudsters. Considering the leashed nature of our Justice Dept. I would be afraid of show trials. At Occupy I always try to advocate for Peace. Shutting down war profiteering would both slow this train to Hell and give the public an opportunity to reconsider and get in touch with reality and possibilities. In my heart the most important cure is to cap wealth and income, but I know that won't happen before the greedwagon loses momentum. If you prosecute those with endless resources the outcome might be exoneration, and even reparations. It is wealth and power people have been conditioned to worship, not individual players so much. War is the worst crime. I think we must start there.
I respect your passion. When we have nothing at all we are entitled to wish for whatever we can imagine. But always picking our favorites without considering outcomes is like consuming only candy and ice cream. We must sate our thirsts with water and quell our hunger with cornbread to regain our judgment after so long an exile.
Pancake Rankin wrote: "P-tardy rats."
Very cleaver, please explain what is wrong with protesting out of control government spending in light of a 15 trillion dollar federal debt and projections of growth at unimaginable rates?.
Please explain why protesting the federal government intrusion into our personal lives is a bad thing?
This is why the Tea Party is head and shoulders superior to the occupy movement. They have a strong real world coherent message.
kathleen: "If men are to do the warring; let them also do the media whoring", is the traditional fascist view. But the nature of war has changed. Drones kill the Hen and the Chicks while the Rooster is out cockpitting.
(How shameful and mercenary the US pimping of cluster bombs.)
I think the Friday Roundup show gave the Occupy Wall Street Movement short shrift, (although I recognize and appreciate the show Diane did on it earlier in the week). After being evicted from the park, 32,500 New Yorkers rallied in New York yesterday (NYPD estimate) in support of Occupy. This was not mentioned.
What did the commenters have to say instead? Mr Garrett picked out the comment of one protestor about a "police state" to criticize the whole movement. Ms. Laret said: There were a sexual assaults reported at OWS (I believe she works for an organization named what? Let me think... Ah Bloomberg.) Although assault is awful, is it surprising that there were a couple among what? 20,000 protestors across the country camping out for two months? Do these two incidents - the speech and actions of at most a few out of thousands OWSers - characterize the entire movement?
I think the rates of sexual assault among the GOP candidates is a thousand-fold higher than the rates among OWS supporters.
Teece Bowman wrote:
"No, they’ve decimated the economy by creating insane bubbles "
That is the crux of your argument, but it is false.
The FG wading into free markets is what creates bubbles.
PeteG2: So how soon will the Koch's replace Cain with Sandusky?
Those reptiles (with formaldehides) could hardly tell the difference.
Their motto: Noblesse Agresse!
And Obama looks (and sounds) more like a Gekko every time I see him.
"So when we invade Iran I'll brings you a tasty English muffin with butter and jam!"
Republicans resemble AFLAC ducks.
It went without comment when Major Garrett (from the right wing National Review) said that Republicans want to "protect" the Social Security benefits of those over 55. This is just Republican propaganda -- Republicans have been working hard to destroy Social Security (the Koch Brothers set up the CATO Institute in the '70s specifically to come up with strategies and propaganda to end SS), Medicare, and all other federal social programs since they were created in the '30s and '60s.
The only reason the Republicans have structured their attack on Social Security to focus on the young first is that older people vote at a higher rate than younger people do. This is nothing but a strategic move. In the event that Republicans are able to convince the elderly that they should abandon their kids and grandkids to preserve their benefits, the Republicans will simply move to the next phase of the attack which will be (very legitimately): "Those 'greedy geezers' are taking advantage of you, having you pay for their luxurious lifestyles when you are desperately struggling to save for your retirement."
This is the same strategy that they used to dismantle the unions in the U.S. (not as quick and effective as the strategy used in Chile or Columbia: have the CIA set up death squads to massacre union supporters) which has been very effective resulting in a massive transfer of wealth and income from average and poor people to the very rich.
Bottom line: Beware the Right Wing promising to protect your Government Benefits -- they lie continuously and will steal from you at every opportunity.
Mike Larson wrote:
"Bottom line: Beware the Right Wing promising to protect your Government Benefits -- they lie continuously and will steal from you at every opportunity."
Well, Mikie, you figured us out! Conservatives working to secure SS for older people and return control of their retirement to younger people has nothing to do with self determination and freedom after all! It just has to do with stealing from people!
You are too funny.
Hey Mike. If you really believe that tripe and trust the FG with your retirment money, why don't you start a movement to have the FG manage your 401K too?
No ... I didn't think so.
Two points about prophecies:
1) Isn't it amazing how some people are able to post an informed, intelligent, Comment about a show before it even airs!
Oh, wait, they can't?
Never mind.
2) It’s not enough that the commentariat and the punditocracy have to predict the outcome of next year’s elections before even a single primary vote has been cast, now they’re predicting the political reaction to a Supreme Court decision before the briefs have even been written (let alone oral argument has taken place)!
Well, why not? After all, we remember the political fallout from the Bush v. Gore decision. We remember how in 2002 the outrage cost the Republicans in the polls, and how Bush lost the 2004 election too.
Oh, wait, that didn’t happen?
Never mind.
And a point about "racism".
Employing the term "minstrel" in connection with Blacks is no more or less racist than using the term "brainwashed".
cgberht on November 18, 2011 @ 11:26 am wrote: “The FG wading into free markets is what creates bubbles.”
Once again you have things exactly backwards. Mindlessly deregulating the “free market” to allow such things as predatory loans, credit default swaps, derivatives, and actions verging on fraud (if not actually being fraud, which some of the actions by Wall Street certainly qualify as) are what creates bubbles.
Even Alan Greenspan, that disciple of Ayn Rand and Laissez-Faire Capitalism, warned about “irrational exuberance”. It’s just too bad he didn’t heed his own warning!
Mike Larson: Excellent analysis of attacks on our social safety net. Democrats who negotiate away survival benefits are no better than these callous conservatives.
What are the motives of Oligarchs wanting elderly and disabled people, and orphaned children to struggle and starve, be dependent on religious extremists and opportunists? These Grinches are practical more than principled. (Koch money originated in oil deals with Stalin.) While there exists a sadistic tendency in their ideas (mine is sweeter when you have none) their Nirvana is a feudal state with their heirs as Lords. They are genetic Supremacists who fervently believe vicious ruthless accumulation is the best measure of merit, and that wealth is the best measuring stick. And as Supremacists they can't help but endorse the classism, sexism and racism subsumed in their theories. At core they resemble Nazis in their ultimate solution of extermination. And for them, Extermination in itself as an industry can be profitable. And we wondered why there is so much structural violence in our crony capitalist economy.
Fascist idealogues always advocate "choice" for those in an advantaged life stage (healthy, financially self-sufficient) but a better description would be
"every man for himself." On a planet of scarce resources and poor planning this can't help but lead to Soylent Green. (Maybe they advocate cannibalism too, after all, those below them comprise an inferior species: Sheeple.)
Part One
Finally (for now, at least), I'm disappointed there wasn't more discussion about that caller's remark concerning the Ohio elections. While I disagree with the conclusion he drew (why, in a moment), I still think it was an interesting comment that deserved fuller discussion.
Now, why do I disagree with his "reading the tea leaves" and foreseeing disaster for Obama? Aside for the fact that I view all attempts at "prophecy" as foolish, one must consider the underlying cause for the vote.
Was it because of utter opposition to the health care law, or because the Democrats have done such a spectacularly poor job of defending it (when they've tried at all), and the Republicans have done such a spectacular job of relentlessly attacking it?
Poll after poll has shown great support for individual parts of the law, when those parts have been mentioned. It's only when the poll asks about support for the law as a whole that the numbers crash. And what's the root cause of that? The individual mandate and Republi-Con lies.
The mandate is easy to explain: no one likes being told what to do (and its constitutionality is questionable, though not for the libertarian reasons most conservatives offer). But as to the lies - there has been a relentless campaign to convince Americans that (among other things) Congress exempted itself from the law, that the law provides "special protection" for Muslims, and that illegal aliens are covered under the statute. All lies!
If anyone bothers to do the research they will find out the exact opposite is true.
To Be Continued
Part Two
Congress is the one group of people who must purchase insurance approved by the law (that is, insurance through the exchanges it establishes, or which is otherwise approved by the law). The religious exemption provided in the act is a standard one that has been part of our law for decades, and which has mostly benefited Christians (such as the Amish). No Muslims have even applied for the exemption, much less received it. The Affordable Care Act expressly says that "undocumented persons" (the legal term for illegal aliens) are not covered under the law. (Which means, of course, Congressman Joe Wilson was lying when he cried out "You lie"!)
Research this for yourself people, it's not hard to do, or vote in ignorance based on lies.
ecgberht...
"have the FG manage your 401K too"?
Oh because Wall Street did such a wonderful job during the last meltdown! I wouldn't trust anything on Wall Street any further than I could spit it. I'd just a soon bury my money in a Mason jar in the garden than let any of the crook on Wall Street have access to it.
Here is a better break down of where federal dollars go. The middle class is beholden to the rich whether you want to accept it or not. The fact that their constantly vilified is nonsensical. If you want to get into an argument about war spending, do a little research on democrat wars Vietnam and Korea, the stats are staggering.
In fiscal year 2010, the federal government spent $3.5 trillion, amounting to 24 percent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). While the level of 2010 expenditures — as a share of GDP — exceeds those of recent years, the composition of the budget largely resembles the patterns of recent years. Of that $3.5 trillion, almost $2.2 trillion was financed by federal tax revenues. The remaining $1.3 trillion was financed by borrowing; this deficit will ultimately be paid for by future taxpayers. (See box for the recession’s impact on the budget.) As shown in the graph below, three major areas of spending each make up about one-fifth of the budget:
Defense and security: In 2010, some 20 percent of the budget, or $705 billion, paid for defense and security-related international activities. The bulk of the spending in this category reflects the underlying costs of the Department of Defense and other security-related activities. The total also includes the cost of supporting operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, which totaled $170 billion in 2010.
Social Security: Another 20 percent of the budget, or $707 billion, paid for Social Security, which provided retirement benefits averaging $1,175 per month to 34.6 million retired workers in December 2010. Social Security also provided benefits to 2.9 million spouses and children of retired workers, 6.4 million surviving children and spouses of deceased workers, and 10.2 million disabled workers and their eligible dependents in December 2010.
Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP: Three health insurance programs — Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) — together accounted for 21 percent of the budget in 2010, or $732 billion. Nearly two-thirds of this amount, or $452 billion, went to Medicare, which provides health coverage to around 47 million people who are over the age of 65 or have disabilities. The remainder of this category funds Medicaid and CHIP, which in a typical month in 2010 will provide health care or long-term care to about 60 million low-income children, parents, elderly people, and people with disabilities. Both Medicaid and CHIP require matching payments from the states.
Two other categories together account for another fifth of federal spending
Safety net programs: About 14 percent of the federal budget in 2010, or $496 billion, went to support programs that provide aid (other than health insurance or Social Security benefits) to individuals and families facing hardship.
These programs include: the refundable portion of the earned-income and child tax credits, which assist low- and moderate-income working families through the tax code; programs that provide cash payments to eligible individuals or households, including Supplemental Security Income for the elderly or disabled poor and unemployment insurance; various forms of in-kind assistance for low-income families and individuals, including food stamps, school meals, low-income housing assistance, child-care assistance, and assistance in meeting home energy bills; and various other programs such as those that aid abused and neglected children.
Interest on the national debt: The federal government must make regular interest payments on the money it has borrowed to finance past deficits — that is, on the national debt held by the public, which reached $9 trillion by the end of fiscal 2010. In 2010, these interest payments claimed $196 billion, or about 6 percent of the budget.
Only 9 trillion in debt!, ah the good old days.
Teece Bowman wrote:
"Oh because Wall Street did such a wonderful job during the last meltdown! I wouldn't trust anything on Wall Street any further than I could spit it. I'd just a soon bury my money in a Mason jar in the garden than let any of the crook on Wall Street have access to it."
Then you should work with your representatives to try to have the FG take over your 401K, Teece. They'll take good care of it and get you that 1/4 of 1% return that will bury you compared to inflation.
By the way. Most people who held steady during the recent unpleasantness have all or at least almost all of their money back. If you were near retirement and lost a bundle, it was because you were greedy in holding all your soon-to-be-needed money in stocks. I feel for you, but you were stoopit.
You have a lot of hate and anger in you Teece Bowman. You'd better get a handle on it. It will shorten your life expectancy.
Ditto ecgberht....all I have to say. Being a conservative you oughta recognize that phrase.
Do have a lovely weekend, I will no doubt see you around again next week.
"MarcusTullius wrote:
Teece Bowman wrote:
"Herman Cain’s blackness, or lack thereof is not the issue ..."
----------------------------------------------
Correct. The issue is that liberals have an irrational fear and hatred of black conservatives and have no compunction making racist remarks regarding black conservatives without fear of reprisal by Steve Inskeep on NPR."
======================
"monte wrote:
The extreme racism and hatred coming from liberal democrats towards black conservatives or any conservative minority politician is plain to see. In regards to Herman Cain they have done everything to destroy his reputation short of throwing a burning cross on his lawn.
...
November 17, 2011 - 7:53 pm"
How many of you Right-Wingers and Republicans got killed or their heads beaten in in Alabama or Mississippi??
And if you want to talk Race, how about comparing Justice Marshall with Justice Thomas??
In all of His appointments to agencies enforcing Civil Rights, Thomas consistently and deliberately undermined Civil Rights and violated the Laws he was supposed to enforce, at every opportunity.
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/congress/senate/judiciary/sh102-1084pt3/s102-10...
His service in fulfilling the Missions of these agencies have been said to be the most dismal in memory.
Judge Marshall, on the other hand, coming down to Saluda, VA to defend a Woman who refused to move to the back of the bus or waiting at the Train Station of a Deep South Town, with darkness falling and being told,"Boy, you had better be on that Train when it leaves".
Monte Haun mchaun@hotmail.com
Teece Bowman
"Ditto ecgberht....all I have to say."
I don't think so.
My posts tend to be pretty "matter of fact" unless I get attacked by someone specifically on the board. You seem to direct vitriol at anyone with a conservative view of things. Again, it's not good for your blood pressure.
If you can find a a counter-example, please show us.