ElizabethForMA, with video (01:35):
Elizabeth Warren announces her decision to run for U.S. Senate so she can fight for hard-working Massachusetts families.Howie P.S.: Warren may have appeal as a candidate for national office, someday.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Elizabeth Warren: "My Announcement" (video)
ElizabethForMA, with video (01:35):
"Conservative Democrats Strike Again"
Jonathan Cohn (The New Republic);
If you’ve read this blog lately, you’ve read a lot of criticism of Republicans for talking economic nonsense, placing their political fortunes ahead of the country’s good, or some combination of the two. But sometimes Democrats, particularly conservative Democrats, do the same things. And now is one of those times.
Tom Carper, Mary Landrieu, and Jim Webb – I’m looking at you. MORE...
H/t to Greg Sargent.
Doonesbury on Palin (cartoon)
(CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE)Gary Trudeau:
SMALL BLUE ISLANDJim Davis | Atlanta, GA | September 13, 2011The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has also pulled the Palin strips. They've apparently given in to the fact that they're on a small blue island in a very large red sea. Ralph McGill must be up to 3600 RPM in his grave.
MORE...COPOUTJean Ray | Canton, GA | September 13, 2011I was disappointed, but not surprised, to find that the Atlanta Journal-Constitution is not running this week's strips, due to "stong political content..." What a copout! Keep up the good work.
"Melody Barnes Speaks on the Administration's Accomplishments" (with video)
whitehouse, with video (02:28):
At the Interactive One Open for Questions event hosted at the White House, Domestic Policy Advisor to President Obama, Melody Barnes, talks about the administration's accomplishments since the President took office two and a
half years ago. September 13, 2011.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
From 1-22-2010: "Combative Obama pushes job creation bill" (with video)
AP with video (02:48):
A combative President Barack Obama exhorted Congress Friday to pass a new job-creation bill, taking a populist appeal to America's recession-racked Rust Belt in an effort to recapture the excitement of his campaign.Howie P.S.: I still can't believe this is from 1-22-10.
Obama weaved us-against-them rhetoric into his appearances, telling a town hall audience that he "will never stop fighting" for an economy that works for the hard-working, not just those already well off. MORE...
"Howard Dean: Obama’s America Jobs Act Is A ‘Brilliant Political Move’" (with video)
Zara Golden-MEDIAite, with video (04:03):
“I think the President’s team has been rather brilliant in putting this one together,” said former DNC chair Howard Dean, speaking on the American Jobs Act with Lawrence O’Donnell last night, sounding confident and convinced that the bill puts sufficient pressure on Republicans to get passed. “It would be hard to devise a better bill than this to put these guys on the griddle,” he said. “They’re in big trouble.” MORE...
"Obama Proposes to Cut $467 Billion in Tax Breaks For Companies, Wealthy Americans" (with video)
Democracy Now! with video (14:24):
The White House said Monday President Obama is proposing cutting $467 billion in tax breaks for wealthier Americans and some companies to offset the cost of his job-creation plan. Obama is proposing limiting itemized deductions for Americans making $250,000 or more a year and ending tax breaks for oil companies, corporate-jet owners and investment-fund managers. Jack Lew is the White House Budget Director.
Jack Lew, White House budget director: "At it’s most simple level, what the President said on Thursday night stands and is profoundly true: we can’t afford everything. We have to make choices. And I think if the American people were asked to make a choice between tax breaks for investment fund managers who get preferential treatment for carried interest and oil and gas industry tax breaks that treat oil and gas more favorably than other investments and corporate jets that are treated more favorably than commercial, that is not a hard choice for most Americans. If the choice is creating economic growth and jobs or tolerating the results of many years of inequities in the tax code."
Monday, September 12, 2011
George Packer on Obama's Job Speech (with video)
George Packer (The New Yorker):My guess is that the House will give him just enough of his plan—further cuts to payroll taxes paid by employers and employees—to be able to say, We’re not rank partisans and blind ideologues: we are doing something. But this wouldn’t be nearly enough to reverse the downward economic slide, allowing the opposition to go on playing the game it’s played since Obama’s inauguration—to lay the blame on him for the results of their own acts of legislative sabotage. Power without responsibility requires a high degree of self-restraint, something lacking in the contemporary Republican Party. MORE...Howie P.S.: Greg Sargent says
Anyone who is still wondering whether Obama intends to go all in with his push to get his jobs plan passed as is — and not piecemeal — should be encouraged by the new ad the DNC has released today ratcheting up pressure on Congress to pass the bill. MORE...
Sunday, September 11, 2011
“There’s definitely something going on here at Lewis-McChord that’s not being taken care of.”
Noah Hagemann, 6, holds a picture of his father, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jared Hagemann, who was found dead on June 28 with a gunshot wound to his head. His wife, Ashley Joppa-Hagemann, left, believes he committed suicide., Elaine Thompson / AP PhotoWinston Ross (The Daily Beast):
At an Army base near Seattle, soldiers are committing suicide, murdering their families—and in one case, waterboarding their own kids. Winston Ross reports from a base on the brink.---Hubert wound up at Coffee Strong, where she’s surrounded by folks who agree that the Army isn’t doing enough to help soldiers who come back from war. In the first year the shop was in business, there were about 170 soldiers coming in a month. Now, the number is up above 300, says Carter.
The group is now asking for an investigation at Lewis-McChord to find the root of the suicide problems, says Carter. But he’s already certain of one of them: “They’re sending soldiers on multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, and when they come back they’re expected to be ready to deploy again in a year or 15 months. That’s not enough time to recover from trauma.” Nor do soldiers who know they’re going back to war really want to deal with their issues, he says. “I’ve had soldiers tell me ‘I don’t want to go to therapy. I’ve got to keep my edge.’”
So far, the military solution has been to throw money at the problem, says Carter. The Army recently built a $53-million barracks facility for a transition battalion, for example. “That makes for something you can put on the news, but it doesn’t fix the problem,” he says. “Soldiers are starting to catch on to the fact that if the military really cared about them, they’d be doing more to help.”
Champion wants to see counseling upon a soldier’s return—at least a month’s worth—not as an option but an order, so that there’s no stigma associated with getting help. When her son went into the Army, she told him she wasn’t worried he’d get physically hurt, but that “there are some things you never ever need to see in your entire life. I don’t want you to come back with your head all screwed up. That’s what happened.”
“The Army failed my son. All they do is treat them like a damned number,” she says. “You’re not supposed to bury your children.” MORE...And for failing to help him, Champion blames the military.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
"The President's Story and the Progressive Response"
Mike Lux (CROOKSANDLIARS):
President Obama's speech Thursday night was one of his best ever delivered, and thank goodness he is making a huge political push on the all-important jobs issue. It was a good night for him, and he needed this badly for his political standing. But progressive activists should neither fall into a posture of uncritical support, or just focus on the negative sides of the speech, policy, and political strategy, as sometimes is done by our more hardcore brethren. We should take a critical eye to what is good and bad about the policy, and enthusiastically support the good side while strongly opposing what is bad; we should applaud that he has gone bigger and bolder than conventional wisdom in DC said he would or should, while calling for even more boldness because this package isn't enough to get this economy out of the deep, deep hole it is in. The President needs to have a left flank, not just because of political positioning but because progressives have a moral imperative to stand strongly for what the right thing to do is.
We should not let the fact that we are conflicted on the President's proposal slow down our willingness to take action to fight for what we believe in, either. We need to be strong and clear in what we are calling for, and fight for everything we believe in with every muscle we have. MORE...
"Fordson Extended Trailer" (video)
forsonthemovie, video (05:03):
Fordson" is a feature length documentary film that follows four talented high school football players from Dearborn Michigan as they gear up for their big senior year rivalry game during the last ten days of Ramadan, a month when Muslims traditionally fast every day from sunrise to sundown.
The story is set against the backdrop of the stunningly beautiful Fordson High School, a public high school built by Henry Ford in 1922, which was once all white, but now boasts a 98% Arab population. As our team readies itself to play its affluent, cross town rival, we unearth the adversity faced by a community that is desperately holding onto its Islamic faith and trying to gain acceptance from their fellow U.S. citizens in post 9-11 America.
Through the eyes of the team, their coaches, and their fans, we get an unprecedented glimpse inside the lives of a community that is home to the largest concentration of Arabs in any city outside of the Middle East, and their determination to hold on to the American Dream.
You can contact the producers at fordsonthemovie@gmail.com
Thom Hartmann & Ari Berman - "The GOP War on Voting" (video)
thomhartmann, with video (09:26):
Thom Hartmann and Ari Berman, Contributor-Rolling Stone Magazine; Political correspondent-The Nation Magazine; author "Herding Donkeys" discuss the dirty tricks Republicans will use to disenfranchise you.Howie P.S.: Here's the link to the article Ari wrote for the Rolling Stone that is discussed in the interview. Tidbit:
In a campaign supported by the Koch brothers, Republicans are working to prevent millions of Democrats from voting next year.
Papantonio and Winstead On The ED Show on Obama and the Republicans (video)
golefttv, video (05:31):
Mike Papantonio talks with MSNBC's Ed Schultz and Daily Show co-creator Lizz Winstead about the pathetic "debate" among the Republican presidential hopefuls, as well as the ups and downs of President Obama's jobs speech.
Friday, September 09, 2011
"Congressional Black Caucus cheers Obama's speech" (video)
MSNBC-ED Show, video (07:56).
Howie P.S.: Reps. Donna Edwards, Keith Ellison and Emanuel Cleaver react to President Obama's job speech.
"The world after 9/11: Naomi Klein prevails again"
Gerald Kaplan (The Globe and Mail-CA):Osama bin Laden inflicted a terrible crime on the American people. America’s elites and their allies have done the rest. MORE...
Democracy Now!: "Obama Jobs Plan Bolder than Expected, But Is It Enough?" (video)
Democracy Now, with video (13:00):
Before a joint session of Congress, President Obama laid out a $447 billion package of tax cuts and new government spending Thursday night to help stimulate the economy and create new jobs. His speech comes at a time when 14 million people are unemployed and another 8.8 million are working part-time but seeking full-time work. The official unemployment rate stands at 9.1 percent, and the White House is predicting the rate will not fall below six percent until 2017. The jobs crisis is particularly severe for African Americans, who face an unemployment rate that soared to 16.7 percent in August—the highest it’s been since 1984. We speak with Dedrick Muhammad, senior director for economic programs for the NAACP, and Scott Paul, founding executive director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing. [includes rush transcript]
Fineman: "Obama Puts Passion Into Jobs Speech Rarely Seen In His Presidency" (with video)
Howard Fineman with video (05:49):Most presidents kick off their re-election campaigns with a speech on the campaign trail somewhere, or from the Oval Office. President Obama did it in a novel, telling and shrewdly chosen place: in the middle of an address to Congress.Howie P.S.: Some are not yet ready to celebrate:
If people were wondering what template Barack Obama would choose for his re-election effort -- some had suggested FDR in 1936 or Ronald Reagan in 1984 -- we now have an answer:
Harry Truman in 1948, the "Give 'Em Hell Harry" who challenged Congress to tackle with the post-war nation's problems and castigated the Republican Congress for its obstinate failure to do so. MORE...
Lee_Rosenberg:Obama has given several great speeches in his presidency. And they've often been followed by legislative failures.
Thursday, September 08, 2011
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