ThinkFast: July 14, 2008
ThinkFast: July 14, 2008
Nine American soldiers died yesterday, in “the worst against Americans in Afghanistan in three years.” The killings “illustrated the growing threat of Taliban militants and their associates, who in recent months have made Afghanistan a far deadlier war zone for American-led forces than Iraq.”
As a result of eroding confidence in the nation’s two largest mortgage finance companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the administration “asked Congress to approve a sweeping rescue package that would give officials the power to inject billions of federal dollars into the beleaguered companies.” Paul Krugman writes that the storm of concern over these lenders “is overblown.”
$4.109: The average price of a gallon of gasoline today, setting a new record. According to AAA, gas prices have risen 40 percent in the last year.
“U.S. and Iraqi negotiators have abandoned efforts to conclude a comprehensive agreement governing the long-term status of U.S troops in Iraq before the end of the Bush presidency.” Instead, the two governments are now working on a “bridge” document that would “allow basic U.S. military operations to continue beyond the expiration of a U.N. mandate at the end of the year.”
On the trail today: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) will start in Michigan at an event with Mitt Romney and will then travel to San Diego to deliver a speech to the National Council of La Raza conference. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) will deliver remarks at the NAACP’s 99th annual convention in Cincinnati.
Though Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) frequently exhorts young people to serve “a cause greater than their own self-interest,” McCain “has yet to offer any proposals to expand or transform national service outside of the military.”
The “memorial to an estimated 1,600 fatalities” and “the resting place for 85 bodies that remain unclaimed nearly three years after” Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast has “dissolved into a project that is forgotten, frustrated and delayed — much like the Katrina recovery itself.”
The ACLU will today announce that the federal government has added the millionth name to its terrorist watch list. The estimate “stems from a Justice Department inspector general’s report last year that put the watch list roster — four years after its creation — at more than 720,000 in April 2007, and growing by 20,000 records a month.”
Spending on military construction in the recently approved supplemental funding bill for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars signals that Congress “plans on a long-term military presence in Afghanistan.” Spending for a $62 million ammunition storage facility and $41 million for a 30-megawatt power plant at Afghanistan’s Bagram Air Base are said to be indicators of the U.S.’s long-term intentions in the country.
And finally: Where in the world is Vice President Cheney? Evidently, he’s spending time at pony camps. U.S. News caught Cheney recently at a pony camp in Maryland, where “lots of kids and parents approached him for snapshots and he stayed until everybody got their picture.” (See a photo of Cheney looking sunburnt and posing with campers here.) “It’s quite nice to see that he is just like us sometimes,” said Jeanne Coley, a mom of the campers.
What did we miss? Let us know in the comments section.
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Iraq Vets Place Ad in WaPo Challenging Bush!
First Major Print Ad by Such a Group, Critical of Admin’s Vet Health Care Budget
Ad Text: ‘Mr. President, You’re Either With Us or Against Us’
As if Dubya didn’t have enough (self-inflicted) problems…OpTruth.org, a coalition of U.S. veterans of the Iraqi and Afghanistan wars whose slogan is “Really Support the Troops – Listen to Them!”, is taking out an ad in tomorrow’s Washington Post critical of the Bush Administration and calling on Bush to “provide leadership” by meeting the needs of healthcare for returning vets.
OpTruth.org founder Paul Reickhoff — who we’ve previously covered here and more recently here, quit his Wall Street job after 9/11 to fight in Afghanistan and has been critical of Bush’s level of support for troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Reickhoff tells The BRAD BLOG that this ad represents the “first time an Iraq vets group has taken out a major print ad.”
The text from the OpTruth ad is as follows…
THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION recently admitted that they miscalculated the health care costs for Veterans of the War on Terror this year by at least $1 billion. In 2006, the shortfall will be $3 billion.
WITHOUT IMMEDIATE CHANGES, four out of five returning Veterans could be turned away from care at VA hospitals. That’s a raw deal the American people will not tolerate.
A UNANIMOUS, BIPARTISAN SENATE has moved quickly to cover this year’s outrageous budget gap with a $1.5 billion emergency supplemental. Congress should adopt the Senate’s plan, and should make up the 2006 budget gap as well.
MOST IMPORTANTLY, President Bush needs to act immediately and provide the leadership that will prevent Veterans from being shortchanged now and in the future.
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=1611
Hopefully this ad will generate an outpouring of emails and phone calls of outrage that this administration is not taking proper care of its vets. I’m glad these vets are letting the public know just how “unpatriotic” our President really is. That he has never had their back covered, his idea of patriotism is giving hollow speeches about “Supporting the Troops.”
July 14th, 2008 at 9:01 amFears that UK will bow to China in vote to ease ban on ivory
The Government will be coming under pressure today to take a stand against a renewed international ivory trade by opposing the attempt by China to become a licensed ivory buyer.
Britain has a vote on the Chinese application, to be heard by a UN committee in Geneva tomorrow but has so far not made its voting intentions clear. Environmentalists and an increasing number of politicians suspect that Britain is fearful of getting into an international row with China and does not intend to oppose it. But they warn that if China’s application does go through, it will pose a new and dire threat to the survival of African and Asian elephants.
They say that massive new Chinese demand for ivory will give a huge boost to the illegal trade, which is supplied by poachers, and are demanding that Britain must cast its vote against the application. The legal ivory trade was banned in 1989 by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) after African elephant populations plummeted by more than half at the hands of poachers, from 1.3 million to 625,000, in a single decade.
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/fears-that-uk-will-bow-to-china-in-vote-to-ease-ban-on-ivory-866869.html
For me this ranks right up there with killing whales. When in the world are people going to learn there are alternatives. Is killing off entire species for perfume and ivory really worth it? It never ceases to amaze me how little respect certain countries have for endangered species. Or will our epitaph be that in our greed and disrespect for all living creatures we caused their demise.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:06 am“U.S. and Iraqi negotiators have abandoned efforts to conclude a comprehensive agreement governing the long-term status of U.S troops in Iraq before the end of the Bush presidency.”
Meanwhile, Bush has abandoned any significant supports for our returning Veterans. Our ADHD President doesn’t have time for planning or even acknowledging the fact that post active duty soldiers aren’t getting the help they need.
Bush’s energy & resources right now are all focused on invading Iran. The next 6 weeks will tell the story. Even thought we’re losing more young soldiers in Afghanistan than Iraq, Bush’s efforts will remain fixed on Iran.
One Trick Pony. One issue Administration.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:10 amThe ACLU will today announce that the federal government has added the millionth name to its terrorist watch list.
Well, this list has become useless. If we have one million suspicious people living in this country, we are in much more trouble that anyone knew. It is nothing more than another way for our government to harass innocent citizens.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:11 amAs Oil Firms Seek Drilling Access, Exports Set Record
While the U.S. oil industry wants access to more federal lands to help reduce reliance on foreign suppliers, U.S.-based companies are shipping record amounts of gasoline and diesel fuel to other countries.
A record 1.6 million barrels a day in U.S. refined petroleum products were exported during the first four months of this year, up 33 percent from 1.2 million barrels a day over the same period in 2007. Shipments this February topped 1.8 million barrels a day for the first time during any month, according to final numbers from the Energy Department.
The surge in exports appears to contradict the pleas from the U.S. oil industry and the Bush administration for Congress to open more offshore waters and Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling.
“We can help alleviate shortages by drilling for oil and gas in our own country,” President Bush told reporters this week. “We have got the opportunity to find more crude oil here at home.”
“As a nation, we can have more control over our energy destiny by supplying more of the oil and natural gas we’ll be consuming from resources here at home,” Red Cavaney, president of the American Petroleum Institute, said in a letter last week to U.S. lawmakers.
SNIP
The biggest share of U.S. oil products exported went to Mexico, Canada, Chile, Singapore and Brazil.
U.S. consumers are paying record prices for gasoline and diesel fuel, which the Bush administration blames in part on tight supplies.
(Emphasis is mine}
Read the entire article at:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/25518912
**Well, of course, those countries receive the biggest share of our petroleum exports. We are sending them all of our jobs so now they need fuel for their citizens to do our work. We have to stop this madness.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:11 am“We’re both unsuited to sunlight,” as she transmuted into her natural form and flapped her membranous wings into the night.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:13 amRegarding gas prices, the mantra from the president’s administration goes: “This situation didn’t occur overnight, and it’s not going to be solved easily.”
Baloney.
It’s been 100 years since the Model Ts started rolling off the assembly line. For ninety-nine years and eight months of that, the price of gas stayed at or below $3 a gallon.
Since March 2008, the price has risen to today’s $4.10.
Once again, the administration adopts a false line and repeats it frequently with the hopes that we’ll forget the truth.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:14 amby voting Republican.”
July 14th, 2008 at 9:15 amFreedom Rebel Says:
WITHOUT IMMEDIATE CHANGES, four out of five returning Veterans could be turned away from care at VA hospitals. That’s a raw deal the American people will not tolerate.
This has already been happening. Veterans returning from the Middle East have been getting the shaft since Bush started his war of conquest. Its good it is finally getting some news, but like everything else Bushco has been getting away with, it won’t stop until someone that actually gives a damn gets into the White House.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:17 amA record 1.6 million barrels a day in U.S. refined petroleum products were exported during the first four months of this year, up 33 percent from 1.2 million barrels a day over the same period in 2007.
This is something that needs to be publicized every time the Bushies start yelling about more drilling in our country and offshore. If our gasoline prices are high because of short supply, then Congress needs to pass a bill that no oil can be exported from this country unless all our needs are met first. This is the main argument against offshore drilling.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:17 amAs a result of eroding confidence in the nation’s two largest mortgage finance companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the administration “asked Congress to approve a sweeping rescue package that would give officials the power to inject billions of federal dollars into the beleaguered companies.” Paul Krugman writes that the storm of concern over these lenders “is overblown.”
This is all due to “Foreclosure Phil”, McCain’s Economic Guru. This was like letting the fox guard the chicken coop. “Great Idea by the GOP” Please spare us all your next brainstorm, we might not survive it.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:20 amthe two governments are now working on a “bridge” document that would “allow basic U.S. military operations to continue
Another ‘bridge to nowhere’.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:20 amReport: Iran explores new oil field
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian state TV says the country is exploring a newly discovered oil field believed to contain more than 1 billion barrels of crude oil.
The report quotes Iranian Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari as saying the area holds about 1.1 billion barrels of crude oil. He says about 220 million barrels are “recoverable.” He did not elaborate.
The report broadcast on Sunday says the oil field is located near Andimeshk, in the oil-rich province of Khuzestan, located about 290 miles southwest of Tehran.
Iran is the fourth-largest oil producer in the world and ranks second in output among OPEC countries. It controls about 5 percent of the global oil supply.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jR–cLhnGUed4AOKT001QDFdgepAD91SVOFO0
**Do you think this might be one of the reasons we will continue to strike Iran for their nuclear efforts? That’s why the “October surprise” in July and the downsizing of troops in Iraq. There is a hell of a lot more to plunder in Iran than Iraq and Bush’s crime family is poised to be the ones to lay first claim to the booty. Downsize Iraq and prepare to strike Iran. The writing is on the walls.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:21 amthe federal government has added the millionth name to its terrorist watch list.
Only 5.9 billion to go, and only five months to do it in.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:22 amOf course all of these news considered whining by Fox Barnes,ABC George will,and Phil Gramm.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:23 amPaul Krugman writes that the storm of concern over these lenders “is overblown.”
The financial problems of Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac may both be overblown, but the financial problems of John Q. Public, losing their homes to foreclosure isn’t.
The Democrats had said that they would not vote on FISA until they had passed a bill helping out the millions of Americans close to foreclosure. Guess what. They lied. They didn’t pass a housing bill and they did pass FISA. I’m betting they will pass legislation to help out the financial industry before they pass legislation to help out the struggling homeowners.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:23 amTerrorism is effective in a nation fed on fear.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:24 amYour tax dollars “at work”:
Iraq handing out cash to people on the streets
BAGHDAD (AP) — It is a politician’s dream: Handing out cold, hard cash to people on the street as they plead for help. Iraq’s prime minister has been doing just that in recent weeks, doling out Iraqi dinars as an aide trails behind, keeping a tally.
The handouts by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and a handful of other top officials are authorized — as long as each goes no higher than about $8,000, and the same people don’t get them twice. Aides say they are meant merely to ease the pain a bit, and are motivated by a belief that better conditions will lead to more security.
LINK
July 14th, 2008 at 9:24 amNow, if Afghanistan had had some oil instead of Osama we might have actually made an effort to conquer and occupy the country in force.
We may not be equipped to battle the Taliban, but wedding parties don’t stand a chance.
Look for the rightie-tighties to blame it all on Nato.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:25 amDo you Fear me now?
As our millionth name is added to the terrorist ‘list’, Americans can smell the taint of the 3rd Reich emanating over our Nation.
Fear & Smear is the game, Bush & McCain are our names
July 14th, 2008 at 9:28 am#9 Wayne Says:
Freedom Rebel Says:
WITHOUT IMMEDIATE CHANGES, four out of five returning Veterans could be turned away from care at VA hospitals. That’s a raw deal the American people will not tolerate.
This has already been happening. Veterans returning from the Middle East have been getting the shaft since Bush started his war of conquest. Its good it is finally getting some news, but like everything else Bushco has been getting away with, it won’t stop until someone that actually gives a damn gets into the White House.
Good Morning Wayne :) I couldn’t agree more. Another disturbing fact is that they are not including in their statistics the number of veterans that are committing suicide that are not in a VA Hospital. The latest one was a guy riding his motorcycle at 130 mph, and he wasn’t intoxicated. He had only been home for 3 months from Iraq.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:28 amBilbo Hussein Baggins Says:
The Democrats had said that they would not vote on FISA until they had passed a bill helping out the millions of Americans close to foreclosure. Guess what. They lied.
For some reason covering Bush’s a$$ and shielding the lawbreaking Telcos is so much more important than “minor” things like the Constitutional rights and financial well being of the peasants, don’t you know?
July 14th, 2008 at 9:29 amIraq handing out cash to people on the streets
I think we found the “missing” billions of US dollars, now conveniently converted to dinars…
July 14th, 2008 at 9:30 amcheney does the pony circuit while nine heros die as a result of his, bush’s and condi dozing off when it was time to protect America. Now they will offload on the American taxpayer the sins, they so enabled, of their compatriots on wallstreet that are related to the morgage debacle, much like general motors has offloaded their responsibility to honor the pensions of American workers. yet again, their duty to protect this country a total failure.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:38 amTraitors, I call them.
5-deferment Dickhead Cheney is in pony camp.
hey, hey, Dick Cheney
July 14th, 2008 at 9:39 amhow many kids
did you kill today?
Cheney is at pony camps?
July 14th, 2008 at 9:41 amHmm, with the multiple exposures of the Bush/Cheney crimes, he must need additional supplies of horse-sh!t.
#13 And the beat goes on Says:
Report: Iran explores new oil field
**Do you think this might be one of the reasons we will continue to strike Iran for their nuclear efforts? That’s why the “October surprise” in July and the downsizing of troops in Iraq. There is a hell of a lot more to plunder in Iran than Iraq and Bush’s crime family is poised to be the ones to lay first claim to the booty. Downsize Iraq and prepare to strike Iran. The writing is on the walls.
Good Morning :) Their window of opportunity is getting smaller and their greed for oil in Iran gets bigger. I believe the downsizing of the troops is for two reasons. The one you stated, I completely agree. Also, the GOP wants to make it look like they are “planning” to send troops home around the election to get votes. I think that part is a manuever to fool the uninformed.
Great Post And the beat goes on….
July 14th, 2008 at 9:43 amHey TP, why no mention of the offensive New Yorker cover showing Obama and Michele as terrorists? I think that is an important subject to cover.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/13/yikes-controversial-emnew_n_112429.html
July 14th, 2008 at 9:45 amThe ACLU will today announce that the federal government has added the millionth name to its terrorist watch list. The estimate “stems from a Justice Department inspector general’s report last year that put the watch list roster — four years after its creation — at more than 720,000 in April 2007, and growing by 20,000 records a month.”
____________________________________________________________
Why don’t they just put EVERYBODY on the TWL and be done with it? As it is, the list is so long as to be unwieldy, cumbersome, and of about as much use as if we were all on it.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:47 amWhere in the world is Vice President Cheney? Evidently, he’s spending time at pony camps.
_____________________________________________________________
There’s a punchline here somewhere…
July 14th, 2008 at 9:49 amwhat’s a “pony camp”, and what’s cheeeney doing there?
July 14th, 2008 at 9:53 amBilbo Hussein Baggins Says
July 14th, 2008 at 9:11 am
Well, this list has become useless. If we have one million suspicious people living in this country, we are in much more trouble that anyone knew. It is nothing more than another way for our government to harass innocent citizens.
____________________________________________________________
And having one million names on the list means that many, many more than one million people are being harrassed. If there’s a “James Smith” on the list, for example, EVERYBODY who has that name will be harrassed if they try to fly anywhere, apply for a job, apply for credit, or anything else. Even newborn infants have been questioned if they show up at the airport in their mothers’ arms and they just happen to have a name that appears on the TWL.
Meantime, there are actual known terrorists who don’t show up on the list for “security” reasons. I’m still scratching my head over that one — but I suspect that it’s just further evidence that the list is for harrassment, not actual security.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:57 amFear sells and the gullible are buying.
July 14th, 2008 at 10:02 am“Imagine a terrorist network with Iraq as an arsenal and as a training ground…” – [President George W. Bush giving reason why we should invade Iraq 11/4/02]
Ever ask yourself where the Taliban are learning these deadlier new tactics that they weren’t using five years ago?
July 14th, 2008 at 10:08 am“U.S. and Iraqi negotiators have abandoned efforts to conclude a comprehensive agreement governing the long-term status of U.S troops in Iraq before the end of the Bush presidency.” Instead, the two governments are now working on a “bridge” document that would “allow basic U.S. military operations to continue beyond the expiration of a U.N. mandate at the end of the year.”
Whatever happened to “we’ll leave when they ask us to leave”? Bush wasn’t lying was he?
http://progressiveworldreview.com
July 14th, 2008 at 10:09 ammisshusseinmolly:
The only thing that came to me regarding Cheney was that I wouldn’t want him any closer to kids than Michael Jackson.
Regarding the list, even John Jacob Jingleheimer Smith is in trouble, since his name is my name too!
July 14th, 2008 at 10:10 amApparently after seven long years, fresh puppy blood is no longer “doing it” for our beloved VP. This past weekend Mr. Cheney was spotted sculking around various pony camps in the Maryland area. One camper tells an unsubstantiated and ghoulish story of how she spotted Mr. Cheney hiding behind a row of bushes by the stables. She claims that whenever a pony was led out to excercise in the corral, Cheney would aim a slingshot at the foal in an apparent attempt to take down the graceful creature. The anonymous witness tells us that Mr. Cheney was successful at least once. The young horse, after being struck in the leg with an unidentified projectile, fell to the ground in seeming agony. Mr. Cheney and a cadre of secret service men approached the foal’s owner, feigning concern. It is reported that Mr. Cheney, after convincing the horse’s owner of the futility of further raising a hobbled pony, instructed his security detail to carry the horse around the back of the stable where our informer followed stealthily. She attests that she then witnessed an obviously sexually aroused Dick Cheney knealing over the felled but still very much alive pony. He proceeded to clumsily gnaw at the creature’s neck as the security men held it down and after an agonizing several minutes, succeeded in piercing the horse’s jugular vein with his bare teeth. The Vice President then clamped on to the young foal’s throat for all it was worth, slurping the blood from the still live and writhing animal for several minutes before rising, face covered in blood and smiling ear to ear before strolling away and leaving explicit instructions with two of his security men on how to drain and preserve what blood remained in the now deceased foal.
How’s that, misshusseinmolly?
July 14th, 2008 at 10:16 amEven the airline pilots agree that the “theater security ” measures are ridiculous when cargo and cargo handlers are not screened thoroughly. June Readers Digest.
July 14th, 2008 at 10:19 amHas there ever been a more incompetent government in our history ?
Via Raw Story
A slice of cool, fresh watermelon has effects similar to the impotence drug Viagra, researchers say.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/health/watermelon-like-viagra-study/2008/07/04/1214951032675.html
And this (hopefully coming to a KFC near me)
Naked protest arrests – but police not annoyed
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/nude-protesters-nabbed-in-sydney-protest/2008/07/14/1215887513588.html
July 14th, 2008 at 10:19 amAs a result of eroding confidence in the nation’s two largest mortgage finance companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the administration “asked Congress to approve a sweeping rescue package that would give officials the power to inject billions of federal dollars into the beleaguered companies.”
Wait a minute – I thought Republicans were AGAINST government bail-outs, assistance, and any help in general?
The government should tell them to go help themeslevs and pull themselves up by their own rather sizable bootstaps…
July 14th, 2008 at 10:22 amBilbo Hussein Baggins Says: If our gasoline prices are high because of short supply, then Congress needs to pass a bill that no oil can be exported from this country unless all our needs are met first.
Isn’t it interesting that no one, except us, has even mentioned it?
Verifies that it’s all about oil profits, especially to our elected ‘representatives’ who get campaign donations from tehse pigs, and not the American people. It’s never about helping us. And, it never will be. Not until we take our country back.
July 14th, 2008 at 10:25 amWho woulda thunk there were that many librul bloggers?
July 14th, 2008 at 10:25 am9 more military lives gone in Afganistan…just how does mccain propose to invade and hold onto the entire Middle East I wonder ? Using high tech bombing from Nevada but you still need boots on the ground. Wonder how those voting him into office will like their child drafted ?
July 14th, 2008 at 10:27 amDemocrats Look to Lobbyist to Finance Convention
In terms of lobbyists, few are more connected — both west of the Mississippi and in the corridors of power in Washington — than Steve Farber, a Denver lawyer whose political contacts have thrust him into a central fund-raising role for the Democratic National Convention.
Steve Farber, a politically connected Denver lawyer, is the chief fund-raiser for the Democratic National Convention in August.
Mr. Farber’s vast contact list could prove crucial in raising the millions of dollars needed by the Denver host committee to showcase Senator Barack Obama and the Democratic Party in August in Denver. But Mr. Farber’s activities are a public display of how corporate connections fuel politics — exactly the type of special influence that Mr. Obama had pledged to expunge from politics when he said he would not accept donations from lobbyists.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/14/us/politics/14convention.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
July 14th, 2008 at 10:27 amThis administration believes in de-regulation (thank you Phil Gramm) and free enterprise which means oil can be sold to the highest bidder. So much for making your own country strong before selling it out.
July 14th, 2008 at 10:29 amThough Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) frequently exhorts young people to serve “a cause greater than their own self-interest,” McCain “has yet to offer any proposals to expand or transform national service outside of the military.”
Does John McCain have any other strategy besides repeating Obama’s? As if copying Obama’s slogan wasn’t obvious enough. Sheesh…
July 14th, 2008 at 10:31 amWhy are conventions needed this year especially when both candidates have been selected by “super” delegates ? Does anyone else feel they have been bypassed and their vote really isn’t going to be counted ?
July 14th, 2008 at 10:31 amActually mccain has supported his own self interest all his life so he would be an expert on what is self interest. Dropped one wife for a newer, richer model BEFORE his divorce was final. See Crooks & Liars for that tidbit. mccain is such a delusional, senile, liar.
July 14th, 2008 at 10:34 amFrom the article on oil exports:
We have record prices here in the U.S. because of “tight supplies” and the oil industry is shipping 10% of their product overseas. Now the White House is saying that if they don’t ship overseas and instead sell that fuel here in the U.S., prices could go up?
You heard it right; a 10% increase in fuel supplies would lead to a price increase.
That’s why we have to open up every last possible drilling place, regardless of what it will do to the environment. But, according to Bush-logic, the more we produce, the higher the price!
July 14th, 2008 at 10:38 amBnF,
According to a post above, we’re exporting 1.6 million bls/day.
That’s about 580 million barrels a year, or $8.5 Billion in net value at $147 / barrel.
I thought most of it was going to Japan, but that must be the Alaskan oil.
This is beyond crazy. We’re allowing unregulated commodities to hold our Nation hostage.
Big Oil is holding America hostage!
July 14th, 2008 at 10:45 amSen. John McCain (R-AZ) frequently exhorts young people to serve “a cause greater than their own self-interest,”
It takes a major pair of balls to say something like that. What an a$$wipe.
July 14th, 2008 at 10:51 am#51 Exit Stage Left Says:
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) frequently exhorts young people to serve “a cause greater than their own self-interest,”
It takes a major pair of balls to say something like that. What an a$$wipe.
Good Morning Exit :)
I completely agree, but you have to admit it wouldn’t take much of an effort by “young people” to serve “a greater cause” than McCain did. All it would take is for them to NOT vote for him in the next election would do it…
Have a good day!
July 14th, 2008 at 11:29 amMark Ash, truthout.org a letter to Senator Obama, good post, check it out….After reading maybe some here will come close to why I believe the way I do…I will never vote for any one who vote’s against my constitution, country and rule of law..Blessing all and have a good day..
July 14th, 2008 at 11:32 amThe Weasel pops up (from C&L):
Where in the World is Karl Rove?
Karl Rove is roving the beaches of the Crimea, not the committee rooms of Congress. Andrew Malcolm of the Los Angeles Times reached the former White House Senior Svengali by cell phone in the Eastern European resort to ask for his reaction to the death of Tony Snow.
Mr. Rove ignored a subpoena and failed to appear for testimony before a House Judiciary subcommittee. According to Rep. Linda Sánchez (D, CA-39), Mr. Rove’s lawyer, Robert D. Luskin (a partner in Patton Boggs LLP), “forgot” to tell committee staffers that his client had scheduled what Rep. Chris Cannon (R, UT-3) described as a “long-planned trip” abroad.
The Crimea, on the Black Sea, is a famed tourist area, a peninsula that was part of the USSR. Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, the area, ancestral homeland of the Tatar people, has become an “autonomous republic” within Ukraine. This seems to be controversial, as some Ukrainians see the ”autonomous republic” status as the start of a separatist movement; others see it as a smoke screen for continued Russian interference in the peninsula, long a strategic naval asset.
Ukraine does not have an extradition treaty with the US, according to the Congressional Research Service, and ”Contempt of Congress” may not be a crime in the Crimea. At least we don’t have to worry about Mr. Rove obtaining undue influence over the Crimean president — there isn’t one. The Head of State of Crimea is the President of Ukraine (Viktor Yushchenko).
______________________________________________________________
Rove heads for an extraditionless vacation-spot.
He must have been a little scared of the prospect, after ducking out on the congressional subpeona, and needed a safe place to strategize from, in the short term I wonder what “deals” Bush has made with the Ukrainian president, to secure this little administration safe-haven
July 14th, 2008 at 11:51 amSure jabberjaw. You already posted that elsewhere. Why not get off your ass and hit the streets with your Nader agenda or is it that you are insincere?
July 14th, 2008 at 12:29 pmIsn’t Nader two years older than McCain? I’m sorry, but electing someone that old invites political disaster. Who’s his running mate? That’s the important question.
July 14th, 2008 at 12:34 pmIn response to the report that favors are being offered in return for donations to the libraries, White House spokesman Tony Fratto simply responded, “[T]here’s no connection between any official administration actions and the library.”
I already knew that it would be full of lies, but he didn’t have to come right out and say it…
July 14th, 2008 at 12:34 pmVice President Cheney? Evidently, he’s spending time at pony camps. U.S. News caught Cheney recently at a pony camp in Maryland,
Good Kreist, he’s graduated from puppy to pony blood!!
July 14th, 2008 at 12:56 pmSo Nader has about four more opportunities to wait until the election year every foursome, and pretend to be relevant?
July 14th, 2008 at 12:57 pmAh, Life’s a breeze when your Lebanese. Eh jabberjaw. So since you have a pretend chubby going would you like to share with us how you personally have been assisting the Nader campaign? Yip yapping about his mom here doesn’t really count. I am talking more hard dollars, time and effort type stuff…
July 14th, 2008 at 12:58 pm#53 Witch1 Says:
Good to see you :) Miss you, I hope everything is going well for you….
July 14th, 2008 at 1:05 pmShades of Obama!
Matthew Edward Gonzalez was born in McAllen, Texas, to a Mexican mother, Oralia, and Mexican-American father, Mateo. Gonzalez spent his first four years in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Gonzalez family migrated to New Orleans, Louisiana; Baltimore, Maryland; and Louisville, Kentucky, before the family returned to McAllen when Gonzalez was eleven years old.
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Perhaps Eddie can get a deal on smokes for Obama, since his dad is a VP for Brown and Williamson.
July 14th, 2008 at 1:37 pmcome on jabberjaw. Clue us in on how and when you came around to the Nader way and how you have worked to advance the cause. Remember yip yapping at a keyboard doesn’t count…
July 14th, 2008 at 1:58 pmHi Freb…How are you today? Taking care of Ohio until I get there? :)~
July 14th, 2008 at 2:35 pmHere in San Diego, gas has gone down to 4.33. Bet we are down to 3.00 gas by election day.
July 14th, 2008 at 2:46 pmHello Freb, thank’s for the notice…Not posting much, having one of my good day’s today….Hope all is well for you also…Blessings
July 14th, 2008 at 4:25 pm#69 Exit Stage Left Says:
Hi Freb…How are you today? Taking care of Ohio until I get there? :)~
Doing good, how’s it going in your neck of the woods?
July 14th, 2008 at 6:05 pmIf that rate continues for 1 year and 9 months ( somewhere around April 2010)then the price of gas will be around $8.00 per gallon. If it continues for 3 years 6 months (somewhere around Jan. 2012) the price will be $16.00 per gallon.
July 14th, 2008 at 6:07 pm