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The Only Way We Can Have A Strong Economy is to Have a Strong Middle Class

By on September 17, 2011 in Politics

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Are Republicans Really for Smaller Government? – YouTube

By on September 16, 2011 in Politics

“We keep hearing fiscal conservatives claiming that the Republican Party is for smaller government, and call for the party to “get back to its roots.” But are the roots of the Republican Party small government? For that matter, have Republicans EVER been for smaller government? This video looks at the history of Republican presidents to answer that question.”

via Are Republicans Really for Smaller Government? – YouTube.

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The Solyndra Story,…so far

By on September 15, 2011 in Energy, Politics

Our government, both the Bush and Obama administrations, pushed ahead with the Solyndra loan guarantees in the hopes that Solyndra with its new and radically different (but perhaps high-risk) technology (copper-indium-gallium-diselenide (CIGS) thin film) that uses less polysilicon than standard panels could help US companies gain a toehold in the solar energy collection equipment industry which is absolutely dominated by the Chinese.

It was thought at the time that given the relative high cost of polysilicon that this could be a disruptive technology and really put the U.S. on the solar energy technology map.

The short sound bite version of what happened was the price for silicon dropped around 80% over a three year period, the Chinese banks were dumping huge amounts of cash subsidies into their solar panel industry and essentially with the price for solar panels falling precipitously as Solyndra was just getting started the revenues they needed just weren’t there and they ran out of money. This chart illustrates just how much backing the Chinese are giving their solar panel companies vs. the U.S. American and European solar companies are faced with an extremely aggressive foe in the global market for solar collection panels.

Solyndra also relied on the idea that the installation of their product would cost less than the more standard solar panel installations but that just didn’t come to pass.

Daniel Poneman,  the deputy secretary of Energy, in an op-ed for USA Today wrote:

 “…Last year, for example, the China Development Bank offered more than $30 billion in financing to Chinese solar manufacturers, about 20 times more than U.S.-backed loans to solar manufacturers.

Unfortunately, expanding production has coincided with short-term softening demand, a product of the banking crisis in Europe and its wider economic effects. The combination has had a dramatic effect on the price of solar cells, which has plummeted 42% in the past nine months. This has taken a serious toll on solar manufacturers everywhere, including the U.S…

…It underwent years of rigorous internal and external review before being approved — before the perfect storm of deteriorating market conditions.”

The idea that the failure of just one company with a new technology is good reason to concede and surrender the solar market to the Chinese just doesn’t wash with me.

My own take is the government should have taken a more cautious, more rigorous in their approach to reviewing the company’s business model instead of betting on it like a horse in the Kentucky Derby.

Zip, nadda, nothing here changes anything about the seriousness of the problems we face due to global warming.

Is what happend at or in Solyndra a federal crime? Was there real fraud on the part of Solyndra’s executives and backers. I tend to doubt that at this point, I think it was just a risky bet and the track got muddy (the price for silicon dropped) and the Chinese horses Solyndra was up against had a lot more backing. But at least we know there is an investigation underway.

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Robert Reich Debunks 6 Big GOP Lies About The Economy – YouTube

By on September 13, 2011 in Politics

Is Social Security a Ponzi scheme as Republican Presidential candidate Rick Perry claims? Noted author and former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich debunks that claim and five other lies the right-wing tells about taxes, government and the economy.

The lies Reich debunks:

1) Tax cuts to the rich and corporations trickle down to the rest of us. (No it doesnapos;t and it never has.)

2) If you shrink government you create jobs. (No, you get rid of jobs that way.)

3) High taxes on the rich hurts the economy. (No, the economy grew when the US did this under Eisenhower.)

4) Debt is to be avoided and it is mostly caused by Medicare. (No, if debt is properly used to grow the economy, it becomes a smaller part of the budget because of increased revenue and Medicare has the lowest overhead of any health insurance plan out there.)

5) Social Security is a Ponzi scheme (No, its solid for 26 years. Social Security is solid beyond that if the rich pay the same percentage in social security taxes as the rest of us do.)

6) We need to tax the poor. (This is what Republicans have been proposing when they say any “tax reform” needs to involve all Americans because poor people pay no income tax. The poor have no money and taxing them will not solve our budget problems.)

Reich was speaking at the “Summit For A Fair Economy” in Minneapolis, Minnesota on September 10, 2011.

via Robert Reich Debunks 6 Big GOP Lies About The Economy – YouTube.

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Searching for Ronald Reagan

By on September 12, 2011 in Politics

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Looking for Ronald Reagan — and Not Finding Him – TIME.
By Patti Davis Thursday, Sept. 08, 2011

“…Note to Mitt Romney, Rick Perry and especially Newt Gingrich — you can invoke my father’s name until your tongues fall out, but you will never be anywhere near his shadow…”

and she concludes with…

“…The moment that would have broken my father’s heart was the moment when applause broke out at the mention of more than 200 executions ordered by Rick Perry in Texas. It was stunning and brought tears to my eyes. This is what we’ve come to? That we applaud at executions?

I remember the first time my father ordered an execution when he was Governor. He and a minister went into a room, got down on their knees and prayed. The real shame of our times is that there doesn’t seem to be anyone on the political horizon with that compassion in his or her heart.”

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Little Green Footballs – Republicans Unconcerned with Economy, Just Want to Hurt Obama

By on September 12, 2011 in Politics

House Republicans are going to continue obstructing absolutely everything President Obama proposes — even on issues Republicans have supported previously.

They have two motivations: 1) avoiding blame, and 2) winning a scorched earth battle against Barack Obama at all costs.

Doing something positive about the US economy isn’t even on their radar.

“Obama is on the ropes; why do we appear ready to hand him a win?” said one senior House Republican aide who requested anonymity to discuss the matter freely. “I just don’t want to co-own the economy by having to tout that we passed a jobs bill that won’t work or at least won’t do enough.”

Even with the presence of so many GOP-friendly provisions in Obama’s plan — like trade agreements and small-business tax relief — some senior lawmakers are pulling back, wondering how the president will ensure his initiatives will not add to the nation’s debt.

“To assume that we’re naturally for these things because we’ve been for them does not mean we will be for them if they cause debt, if they [have] tax increases and if they take money from the free-enterprise sector, which creates jobs,” said Texas Rep. Pete Sessions, who heads up the House Republican campaign arm.

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1.2 Trillion. Goddam. Dollars. | Blue Collar Atheist

By on September 11, 2011 in Politics

Hank Fox, The Blue Collar Atheist, after reading the ThinkProgress article “The $1.2 Trillion Trap: What America Gave Up For 10 Years Of War Since 9/11″ comments brilliantly and poignantly:

With $1.2 trillion, the U.S. could have done the following … every year for TEN YEARS:

  • PROVIDED 63.3 MILLION SCHOLARSHIPS FOR UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
  • GIVEN 58.9 MILLION CHILDREN LOW-INCOME HEALTH CARE
  • GIVEN 23.6 MILLION PEOPLE ACCESS TO LOW-INCOME HEALTHCARE
  • PROVIDED 20.68 MILLION STUDENTS WITH PELL GRANTS WORTH $5,500
  • PROVIDED 15.12 MILLION HEAD START SLOTS FOR CHILDREN
  • PROVIDED VA CARE FOR 14.7 MILLION MILITARY VETERANS
  • HIRED 2.01 MILLION FIREFIGHTERS
  • HIRED 1.76 MILLION ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS
  • HIRED 1.73 MILLION POLICE OFFICERS
  • RETROFITTED 69.4 MILLION HOUSEHOLDS FOR WIND POWER
  • RETROFITTED 26 MILLION HOUSEHOLDS FOR SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC ENERGY

For $1.2 trillion, we could have fed the world’s hungry. Done something about population. Saved the mountain gorillas and whales. Cured a dozen major diseases. Built solar collectors in space to beam down virtually unlimited energy.

Instead, we killed people. Set up a network of secret prisons. Used torture. Assaulted freedoms in our own country. And sent young men and women of America off to die and be horribly injured.

via 1.2 Trillion. Goddam. Dollars. | Blue Collar Atheist.

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Take Action: Tell President Obama to stop ignoring the Clean Air Act

By on September 2, 2011 in Politics

Corporate polluters don’t have to worry about dismantling the Clean Air Act, President Obama is doing it for them. Take action now and let him know that you care about clean air!

Sign the Petition to Tell President Obama to
Stop Ignoring the Clean Air Act

For more on what this is all about:

Obama halts tighter smog rule, citing ‘regulatory burdens’

WASHINGTON — Citing the financial burden in a struggling economy and after Republican protests, President Barack Obama on Friday ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to shelve a proposal to tighten smog standards.

“I have continued to underscore the importance of reducing regulatory burdens and regulatory uncertainty, particularly as our economy continues to recover,” Obama said in a statement announcing the order.

Environmental activists immediately pounced on the move as a retreat by a weakened Obama administration trying to cut deals with Republicans in Congress. And the American Lung Association vowed to fight the move in court.

[…]

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Well that does it for me, I am definitely NOT voting for Rick Perry

By on August 30, 2011 in Politics

This just in:

Anti-global warming Sen. Inhofe formally endorses Perry

By NBC’s Carrie Dann

TULSA, Okla. — Sen. Jim Inhofe, a strident conservative voice in the Senate and a vocal skeptic of global warming, formally endorsed Gov. Rick Perry on Monday, calling him “the only guy who can really win this thing.”

“The one thing that he has that nobody else has is this background of experience, not just him being an administrator but doing the right thing, cutting down the deficit, increasing jobs. And he’s done everything right,” Inhofe said, adding, “No one out there running is as aware as to the cost of all the overregulation that we’re experiencing right now.”

Nah, seriously I was never going to vote for him anyway. As I’ve already said here before both directly and indirectly I think Rick Perry is arguably the worst candidate for President of the United States I have seen in my lifetime. I think his  getting the endorsement from Inhofe, the lead climate change denier in congress, falls under the “why am I not surprised” category.

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Hey Senators McCain and Graham, Stop Apologizing for America!

By on August 22, 2011 in Partisan Idiocy, Politics

Presidential candidates and ex-candidates Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, and Fred Thompson along with conservative talking heads Liz Cheny Mark Levin and many others have all called at one time or another for President Obama to "Stop Apologizing for America" and yet where are they today as Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham released a joint statement apologizing for Americas actions in Libya!

"…we regret that this success was so long in coming due to the failure of the United States to employ the full weight of our airpower."

Unbelievable, geez….

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