Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Fox News Runs The Republican Party - MSNBC Report
MSNBC host Cenk Uygur speaks with syndicated columnist David Sirota, Jane Hamsher of firedoglake.com and Adam Green of the PCCC on a report that Fox News president Ailes is unhappy with the Republican presidential candidates. They also discuss Trump 2012, Biden 2016 and voters opposing Social Security and Medicare cuts.
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T-PAW Behind the Times
Former Minnesota Tim Pawlenty (R) decided to run for President on Monday.� Let?s see if it?s a decision he sticks with.� Because when it comes to environmental decisions, he has a habit of repeatedly changing his mind.
A quick review of Pawlenty?s career shows that, in the past, he has often worked to protect public health and the environment in the past. He pushed for expanding mass transit in his home state, and he even backed the cap-and-trade approach to fighting climate change.
Or at least his did temporarily. Once he set his sights on the White House, he decided to renounce his support of cap and trade in a hat tip to the Tea Party. Plenty of politicians reverse course during their professional lives. But what Pawlenty generally does is more troubling than your average flip flop: he only flip flops when it seems fashionable.
Instead of leading the way, Pawlenty waits for the crowd to move, and then he jumps on the bandwagon. That?s not what I call leadership.
For years Pawlenty opposed a commuter rail project, but changed his mind when the G.W. Bush Administration concluded that the project would be cost-effective and save commuters time. He backed another light-rail project that would have connected Minneapolis and St Paul? until 2008 when he followed a group of Republican governors who were refusing to accept federal money for green infrastructure investments like high-speed rail.
Even in his reversal on climate action, Pawlenty says he is just following a trend. As governor, Pawlenty signed a climate law in 2007 designed to reduce Minnesota?s carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050, he helped launch a regional climate initiative within the Midwest, and he and then Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano made a radio ad calling on Congress to address climate.
Yet when asked why he is now saying cap and trade is a ?clunker,? his defense is essentially ?all the kids are doing it?:�� "As to cap and trade, almost everybody who's run has got the same problem," Pawlenty said at the Conservative Political Action Committee conference recently.
Pawlenty likes to embrace new trends, but only after the trend-setters have stated their position. He?s the guy who will start wearing bell-bottoms when the cool kids are tight-rolling their jeans. Just take his nickname. He actually calls himself T-Paw. Even then, you have to wonder why he is copying a Jennifer Lopez handle from 2002. Couldn?t he be a little more current?
His pack-mentality makes him a safe, predictable choice?he isn?t likely to propose anything radical or cutting edge. But considering the state of our economy, environment, and position in the world, America could use a trend-setter, not a follower.
We don?t need someone who will only be moved by major events or political pressure. We need someone who will take a stand and define the path forward.
Considering the major threats looming over our country?prolonged economic recession, two protracted wars, a changing climate?we desperately need strong leadership. This is not the time for fence-sitters.
Tim Pawlenty seems destined to let someone else define his environmental agenda.� If his track record is any indication, I am nervous that that someone is the Tea Party. He might occasionally veer off in one direction or the other, he might support clean energy or he might decide that climate change isn?t a problem anymore. But he is not likely to set his own course for America.
And we need someone with the courage to do that.
This blog was originally posted on NRDC Action Fund?s The Mark Up.
�
A quick review of Pawlenty?s career shows that, in the past, he has often worked to protect public health and the environment in the past. He pushed for expanding mass transit in his home state, and he even backed the cap-and-trade approach to fighting climate change.
Or at least his did temporarily. Once he set his sights on the White House, he decided to renounce his support of cap and trade in a hat tip to the Tea Party. Plenty of politicians reverse course during their professional lives. But what Pawlenty generally does is more troubling than your average flip flop: he only flip flops when it seems fashionable.
Instead of leading the way, Pawlenty waits for the crowd to move, and then he jumps on the bandwagon. That?s not what I call leadership.
For years Pawlenty opposed a commuter rail project, but changed his mind when the G.W. Bush Administration concluded that the project would be cost-effective and save commuters time. He backed another light-rail project that would have connected Minneapolis and St Paul? until 2008 when he followed a group of Republican governors who were refusing to accept federal money for green infrastructure investments like high-speed rail.
Even in his reversal on climate action, Pawlenty says he is just following a trend. As governor, Pawlenty signed a climate law in 2007 designed to reduce Minnesota?s carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050, he helped launch a regional climate initiative within the Midwest, and he and then Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano made a radio ad calling on Congress to address climate.
Yet when asked why he is now saying cap and trade is a ?clunker,? his defense is essentially ?all the kids are doing it?:�� "As to cap and trade, almost everybody who's run has got the same problem," Pawlenty said at the Conservative Political Action Committee conference recently.
Pawlenty likes to embrace new trends, but only after the trend-setters have stated their position. He?s the guy who will start wearing bell-bottoms when the cool kids are tight-rolling their jeans. Just take his nickname. He actually calls himself T-Paw. Even then, you have to wonder why he is copying a Jennifer Lopez handle from 2002. Couldn?t he be a little more current?
His pack-mentality makes him a safe, predictable choice?he isn?t likely to propose anything radical or cutting edge. But considering the state of our economy, environment, and position in the world, America could use a trend-setter, not a follower.
We don?t need someone who will only be moved by major events or political pressure. We need someone who will take a stand and define the path forward.
Considering the major threats looming over our country?prolonged economic recession, two protracted wars, a changing climate?we desperately need strong leadership. This is not the time for fence-sitters.
Tim Pawlenty seems destined to let someone else define his environmental agenda.� If his track record is any indication, I am nervous that that someone is the Tea Party. He might occasionally veer off in one direction or the other, he might support clean energy or he might decide that climate change isn?t a problem anymore. But he is not likely to set his own course for America.
And we need someone with the courage to do that.
This blog was originally posted on NRDC Action Fund?s The Mark Up.
�
Memorial Day 2011: Two Names That Matter
�
by Walter Brasch
�
Unless you were in a coma the past few years, you probably know who Charlie Sheen, Lindsay Lohan, and Paris Hilton are.
You heard about them on radio, saw them on television.
You read about them in newspapers and magazines, on Facebook, Twitter, and every social medium known to mankind.
�Because of extensive media coverage, you also know who dozens of singers and professional athletes are.
Here are two names you probably never heard of. Sergeant First Class Clifford E. Beattie and Private First Class Ramon Mora Jr.
They didn't get into drug and alcohol scandals. They didn't become pop singers or make their careers from hitting baseballs or throwing footballs. They were soldiers.
Both died together this past week from roadside bombs near Baghdad.
Sgt. 1st Class Beattie, from the small rural suburb of Medical Lake, Wash., spent 17 years in the Army, and was in his third tour of duty in Iraq. On the day he was killed, according to the Spokane Spokesman?Review, he had participated in a run to honor fallen soldiers. Sgt. Beattie was 37 years old. He leaves two children, one of whom was three weeks from graduating from high school; four sisters, a brother, and his parents.
PFC Mora, from Ontario, Calif., a city of about 170,000 near Los Angeles, was in his first tour in combat. He was 19 years old. "He was a very serious student, and education was important to him," Carole Hodnick, Mora's English teacher and advisor, told the Ontario Daily Bulletin. Hodnick also remembers him as having "a charisma about him, and the students just fell in line with him."
Clifford E. Beatttie and Ramon Mora Jr. were just two of the 6,049 Americans killed and 43,418 wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan in war the past decade, the longest wars in American history.
You can't know or remember all of their names. But you can remember two.
Clifford E. Beattie. Ramon Mora Jr.�
Two Americans. One near the end of his Army career. One not long out of Basic Training. A White Caucasian and a Hispanic. Two different lives. Two different cultures. Two Americans.
Clifford E. Beattie. Ramon Mora Jr. Killed together more than 7,000 miles from their homes.
As you prepare for Memorial Day barbeques, surrounded by celebrity-laden news, remember the names of Clifford E. Beattie and Ramon Mora Jr., and all they stood for. Theirs are the names that matter.
�
[Walter Brasch is a social issues columnist and author. His next book is Before the First Snow: Stories from the Revolution, available at amazon.com and other stores after June 20. For more details, see YouTube.]
�
�
by Walter Brasch
�
Unless you were in a coma the past few years, you probably know who Charlie Sheen, Lindsay Lohan, and Paris Hilton are.
You heard about them on radio, saw them on television.
You read about them in newspapers and magazines, on Facebook, Twitter, and every social medium known to mankind.
�Because of extensive media coverage, you also know who dozens of singers and professional athletes are.
Here are two names you probably never heard of. Sergeant First Class Clifford E. Beattie and Private First Class Ramon Mora Jr.
They didn't get into drug and alcohol scandals. They didn't become pop singers or make their careers from hitting baseballs or throwing footballs. They were soldiers.
Both died together this past week from roadside bombs near Baghdad.
Sgt. 1st Class Beattie, from the small rural suburb of Medical Lake, Wash., spent 17 years in the Army, and was in his third tour of duty in Iraq. On the day he was killed, according to the Spokane Spokesman?Review, he had participated in a run to honor fallen soldiers. Sgt. Beattie was 37 years old. He leaves two children, one of whom was three weeks from graduating from high school; four sisters, a brother, and his parents.
PFC Mora, from Ontario, Calif., a city of about 170,000 near Los Angeles, was in his first tour in combat. He was 19 years old. "He was a very serious student, and education was important to him," Carole Hodnick, Mora's English teacher and advisor, told the Ontario Daily Bulletin. Hodnick also remembers him as having "a charisma about him, and the students just fell in line with him."
Clifford E. Beatttie and Ramon Mora Jr. were just two of the 6,049 Americans killed and 43,418 wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan in war the past decade, the longest wars in American history.
You can't know or remember all of their names. But you can remember two.
Clifford E. Beattie. Ramon Mora Jr.�
Two Americans. One near the end of his Army career. One not long out of Basic Training. A White Caucasian and a Hispanic. Two different lives. Two different cultures. Two Americans.
Clifford E. Beattie. Ramon Mora Jr. Killed together more than 7,000 miles from their homes.
As you prepare for Memorial Day barbeques, surrounded by celebrity-laden news, remember the names of Clifford E. Beattie and Ramon Mora Jr., and all they stood for. Theirs are the names that matter.
�
[Walter Brasch is a social issues columnist and author. His next book is Before the First Snow: Stories from the Revolution, available at amazon.com and other stores after June 20. For more details, see YouTube.]
�
�
From Rand Paul to Barbara Boxer: The Cliches of Campaign Debates
Round-Up of Senate, Governor Races in Colorado, Illinois, Ohio, Washington and Wisconsin14 days ago
A Congratulatory Note to Our New Grads (With a Caveat)
By Robert Valencia
My niece?who is pursuing a degree in psychology?asked me a week ago to review her essay on the American Dream for one of her English courses. Her essay began explaining what the ?American Dream? ought to be: economic mobility, home ownership, and better education. But the remaining two pages offered a gloomy viewpoint: the American Dream has become more and more elusive for her.
Though she?s two years shy from obtaining her bachelor?s degree, her disappointment in finding a job (or in her case, a paid internship) very much reflects not only what our latest�Public Opinion Monthly�found with regard to the mounting pessimism surrounding the ?Dream? premise, but also the economic outlook many of the brand-new college graduates face today. According to a recent article from�The New York Times, employment rates for new college graduates have fallen sharply in the last two years in tandem with their starting salary: $27,000, down from $30,000 for those who joined the workforce in 2006 to 2008.
Some of the lucky members of the Class of 2010?56 percent?have held at least one job during the spring semester. However, some the jobs these graduates attain do not necessarily require the skills they learned in college; we hear stories from chemistry majors working in retail stores or Latin American studies graduates tending bar or waiting tables. What?s more, many of these students are having trouble paying student loans, which have reached a median of $20,000 for graduates in the classes of 2006 and 2010.
To make matters worse, some researchers point out that many of our new graduates are not being taught the necessary critical thinking and writing skills during their undergraduate years. NYU Professor Richard Arum co-authored the book�Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses, a study that shows a large number of students who showed no progress on initial tests of critical thinking, complex reasoning, and writing. The book went on to say that many of them had minimal exposure to rigorous coursework, and that the average student only spent 12 to 13 hours per week studying. The authors believe that academic investments have become a lower priority, as many schools prefer to invest in ?student centers, deluxe dormitory rooms, and expensive gyms.?
As we approach a new electoral cycle, it is imperative to remind our elected officials that expanding economic and educational opportunities for all must be paramount in their political agenda. Despite such a bleak outlook, our recent graduates deserve a fair chance to achieve their full potential, and where they start out in their lives should not predetermine where they end up. Our country should adopt programs like student loan counseling (for recent grads) and worker retraining (for the more experienced workforce) that will in turn strengthen our economy.
All in all, we salute all the new graduates in the prime of their professional lives?an effort that in the end will pay off financially and intellectually, even though unemployment and other negative factors stand in their way for now. And here is perhaps a note of relief: We?re all in this together, and it?s our responsibility as a society to create and hold on to basic tools and resources to provide security for ourselves and our families. To read more about The Opportunity Agenda?s work on economic recovery and opportunity, click�here.
My niece?who is pursuing a degree in psychology?asked me a week ago to review her essay on the American Dream for one of her English courses. Her essay began explaining what the ?American Dream? ought to be: economic mobility, home ownership, and better education. But the remaining two pages offered a gloomy viewpoint: the American Dream has become more and more elusive for her.
Though she?s two years shy from obtaining her bachelor?s degree, her disappointment in finding a job (or in her case, a paid internship) very much reflects not only what our latest�Public Opinion Monthly�found with regard to the mounting pessimism surrounding the ?Dream? premise, but also the economic outlook many of the brand-new college graduates face today. According to a recent article from�The New York Times, employment rates for new college graduates have fallen sharply in the last two years in tandem with their starting salary: $27,000, down from $30,000 for those who joined the workforce in 2006 to 2008.
Some of the lucky members of the Class of 2010?56 percent?have held at least one job during the spring semester. However, some the jobs these graduates attain do not necessarily require the skills they learned in college; we hear stories from chemistry majors working in retail stores or Latin American studies graduates tending bar or waiting tables. What?s more, many of these students are having trouble paying student loans, which have reached a median of $20,000 for graduates in the classes of 2006 and 2010.
To make matters worse, some researchers point out that many of our new graduates are not being taught the necessary critical thinking and writing skills during their undergraduate years. NYU Professor Richard Arum co-authored the book�Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses, a study that shows a large number of students who showed no progress on initial tests of critical thinking, complex reasoning, and writing. The book went on to say that many of them had minimal exposure to rigorous coursework, and that the average student only spent 12 to 13 hours per week studying. The authors believe that academic investments have become a lower priority, as many schools prefer to invest in ?student centers, deluxe dormitory rooms, and expensive gyms.?
As we approach a new electoral cycle, it is imperative to remind our elected officials that expanding economic and educational opportunities for all must be paramount in their political agenda. Despite such a bleak outlook, our recent graduates deserve a fair chance to achieve their full potential, and where they start out in their lives should not predetermine where they end up. Our country should adopt programs like student loan counseling (for recent grads) and worker retraining (for the more experienced workforce) that will in turn strengthen our economy.
All in all, we salute all the new graduates in the prime of their professional lives?an effort that in the end will pay off financially and intellectually, even though unemployment and other negative factors stand in their way for now. And here is perhaps a note of relief: We?re all in this together, and it?s our responsibility as a society to create and hold on to basic tools and resources to provide security for ourselves and our families. To read more about The Opportunity Agenda?s work on economic recovery and opportunity, click�here.
Fox News Runs The Republican Party - MSNBC Report
MSNBC host Cenk Uygur speaks with syndicated columnist David Sirota, Jane Hamsher of firedoglake.com and Adam Green of the PCCC on a report that Fox News president Ailes is unhappy with the Republican presidential candidates. They also discuss Trump 2012, Biden 2016 and voters opposing Social Security and Medicare cuts.
�
putin Blagojevich financial regulations Tony Hayward bill clinton
Fact Sheet: U.S.-Poland Business Roundtable
Release Time:
For Immediate Release
Fostering Greater Collaborative Commercial Cooperation
During his trip to Poland, President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Donald Tusk discussed their countries’ common interests to enhance U.S.-Poland commercial relations. Poland is an important commercial partner for the United States; the value of U.S. investments in Poland is $30 billion and our two-way trade last year totaled $6 billion. Nonetheless, the United States is the world’s largest economy and Poland is one of Europe’s fastest growing, and we seek to stimulate more commercial activity between our countries.
To that end, President Obama and Prime Minister Tusk announced the convening of a high-level U.S.-Poland Business Roundtable that would foster a collaborative government and private sector discussion to identify new commercial opportunities, promote innovative research and development cooperation, and to address obstacles that hinder commercial growth. This announcement demonstrates a commitment by both governments and their private sectors to raise bilateral economic and commercial relations to a higher level and to substantially increase trade and investment flows.
The Department of Commerce and the Polish Ministry of Economy will organize the roundtable event, which will include participation by other U.S. Government agencies and Polish Ministries and organizations.
The United States will work with the Polish Government to convene this roundtable in the fall-winter of 2011.
Prior to the roundtable, the U.S. and Polish private sectors will canvass their respective business communities to identify and prioritize business opportunities and constraints. An interim report would be presented to the two governments by October 1, 2011. The final report developed by the private sectors will identify roundtable agenda topics for discussion.
Senior level government officials from the United States and Poland will participate in the roundtable. Participation of Polish and U.S. business executives will be drawn from the American Chamber of Commerce in Poland; the U.S.-Poland Business Council; the bi-national Polish Shale Gas Producers Association; the Polish Confederation of Private Employers; and other business organizations.
In conjunction with the roundtable, the United States and Poland will seek to hold an executive session of the U.S.-Poland Economic and Commercial Dialogue (ECD). The ECD, co-chaired by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Polish Ministry of Economy, last met at an experts-level in Warsaw, Poland in April 2011. The annual ECD fosters a high-level dialogue between both governments to promote bilateral trade and investment and to further bilateral Poland economic and commercial relations.
For Immediate Release
Fostering Greater Collaborative Commercial Cooperation
During his trip to Poland, President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Donald Tusk discussed their countries’ common interests to enhance U.S.-Poland commercial relations. Poland is an important commercial partner for the United States; the value of U.S. investments in Poland is $30 billion and our two-way trade last year totaled $6 billion. Nonetheless, the United States is the world’s largest economy and Poland is one of Europe’s fastest growing, and we seek to stimulate more commercial activity between our countries.
To that end, President Obama and Prime Minister Tusk announced the convening of a high-level U.S.-Poland Business Roundtable that would foster a collaborative government and private sector discussion to identify new commercial opportunities, promote innovative research and development cooperation, and to address obstacles that hinder commercial growth. This announcement demonstrates a commitment by both governments and their private sectors to raise bilateral economic and commercial relations to a higher level and to substantially increase trade and investment flows.
The Department of Commerce and the Polish Ministry of Economy will organize the roundtable event, which will include participation by other U.S. Government agencies and Polish Ministries and organizations.
The United States will work with the Polish Government to convene this roundtable in the fall-winter of 2011.
Prior to the roundtable, the U.S. and Polish private sectors will canvass their respective business communities to identify and prioritize business opportunities and constraints. An interim report would be presented to the two governments by October 1, 2011. The final report developed by the private sectors will identify roundtable agenda topics for discussion.
Senior level government officials from the United States and Poland will participate in the roundtable. Participation of Polish and U.S. business executives will be drawn from the American Chamber of Commerce in Poland; the U.S.-Poland Business Council; the bi-national Polish Shale Gas Producers Association; the Polish Confederation of Private Employers; and other business organizations.
In conjunction with the roundtable, the United States and Poland will seek to hold an executive session of the U.S.-Poland Economic and Commercial Dialogue (ECD). The ECD, co-chaired by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Polish Ministry of Economy, last met at an experts-level in Warsaw, Poland in April 2011. The annual ECD fosters a high-level dialogue between both governments to promote bilateral trade and investment and to further bilateral Poland economic and commercial relations.
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