It's Always The Economy

post from BuzzFlash.org - Progressive News and Commentary with an Attitude | Fight Ignorance: Read BuzzFlash on 07 August 2008 09:11:17 AM. © BuzzFlash.org - Progressive News and Commentary with an Attitude | Fight Ignorance: Read BuzzFlash

FINDING A VOICE by Ann Davidow

It's always the economy - - here, there and everywhere. At the simplest level, people seek financial security; they don't turn on each other when everyone is a participant in a social contract with a government that protects them from intruders and promotes the general welfare. It is only when governments fail in these endeavors that structures crumble and internal conflicts allow despots and foreign threats to create conditions in which raw power and fear are the determinants of individual lives.

Even tyrants survive if they keep o Bookmark/Search this post with: buzzflash | delicious | digg digg | technorati Technorati Tags: Ann Davidow economy experience financial security

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Another Polling Experience

post from DemConWatch on 07 August 2008 09:11:00 AM. © DemConWatch

Rasmussen has looked at who is voting for whom based on which television network they use as their primary source of news. It appears that people who watch the broadcast networks, CNN and MSNBC are trending towards Obama, while people watching Fox are trending towards McCain.

Please use the comments section to talk about how you think these poll numbers relate to the overall tracking and other "regular" polls.

Online Surveys & Market Research

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Election Central Morning Roundup

post from Talking Points Memo on 07 August 2008 09:02:00 AM. © Talking Points Memo

Obama surrogate Tom Daschle says McCain's new "Celeb" attack ads are having an effect on the race, but not so much as to throw the Obama camp off their game plan. That and other political news in today's Election Central Morning Roundup.To get the very[...]

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Poll Shocker! Obama In Big Trouble As McCain
Drops To 39%

post from Firedoglake on 07 August 2008 09:00:58 AM. © Firedoglake

It's officially time to panic. Barack Obama leads John McCain 45 percent to 39 percent in the latest CBS News poll.Not good. Obama's people better figure out how to respond to McSame's devastating "Paris" ad and all of those relentless tire gauge attacks[...]

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ThinkFast: August 7, 2008

post from Think Progress on 07 August 2008 09:00:00 AM. © Think Progress

House Republicans plan to continue their political stunts on oil drilling “for at least the next two weeks — right up to the start of the Democratic Convention in Denver” on Aug. 25. The memo from House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) to GOP members said that their “protest is making history.”

Officials asserted yesterday said they had evidence that “would have convicted” former government scientist Bruce Ivins in the 2001 anthrax mailings that killed five people, stating that he was the “sole custodian” of the unique anthrax strain. Glenn Greenwald has more.

Across the country, “utility shut-offs for customers behind on their energy bills are increasing…reaching 50% or more in some hard-hit areas.” The increase is the result of an “economic double whammy of high gasoline prices and rising utility bills” in a “sagging economy.”

The budget deficit for fiscal year 2008 will be “around $400 billion,” according to a new Congressional Budget Office estimate. CBO’s prediction is “slightly higher than the White House’s deficit estimate of $389 billion,” both of which “approach the record-breaking deficit suffered in fiscal 2004 of $412.7 billion.” Last month, the White House predicted the deficit could reach nearly $490 billion in fiscal year 2009.

On the trail today: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) plans to return to Ohio with a town hall meeting in the city of Lima. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) campaigns in Minneapolis before traveling to Chicago.

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Don't Hate On EMILY's List-- More On Harold
Ford's Nikki Tinker

post from DownWithTyranny! on 07 August 2008 09:00:00 AM. © DownWithTyranny!

Everyone is entitled to make a mistake and it was damn Christian of EMILY's list to publicly puke on their worst endorsement of the year-- anti-Semitic Blue Dog Nikki Tinker-- just hours before the polls opened in Memphis this morning. I noticed that the papers in Memphis covered it and I sure hope women who admire and respect EMILY's List get the message before they vote for a reactionary bigot like Tinker over Steve Cohen, someone who's world view-- if not his plumbing-- is far more in sync with EMILY's List than Tinkers'.

Even Mr. Hope made a statement about the election this morning in Tennessee's 9th CD. Look how courageous Barack Obama is. He offers me more reasons to not bother to vote every single day:

"These incendiary and personal attacks have no place in our politics, and will do nothing to help the good people of Tennessee. It's time to turn the page on a politics driven by negativity and division so that we can come together to lift up our communities and our country."

Just one missing sentence. He could have used the one he employed to make sure the single most Republican Democrat in Congress, John Barrow, was re-elected over a progressive African-American state Senator in Georgia a few weeks ago.

That said, everyone at Blue America World Headquarters was thrilled today when EMILY's List announced their newest endorsements. Most of them are Blue America faves: Sam Bennett (D-PA), Judy Feder (D-VA), Annette Taddeo (D-FL), and Vic Wulsin (D-OH). "These Democratic women," said EMILY's List president Ellen Malcolm, "are running some of the most exciting, competitive challenger races in the country and gaining critical ground in historically Republican districts. Ranging from doctors, businesswomen, and public servants, these women are leading the way on issues affecting American families every day. EMILY's list members are proud to support these Democratic women and help elect them to the United States House in November."

Let's hope the politics of reactionary divisiveness is defeated in Memphis today and we can all celebrate EMILY's List emergence on the Side of Light. I love their write-up on Annette:

A small business owner and a community leader, Annette Taddeo is running for Congress because she believes South Florida needs a new beginning. As founder and CEO of LanguageSpeak, Taddeo has a 15 year track record as a successful businesswoman and was named Businesswoman of the Year by the South Florida Business Journal and one of the top 50 Latina entrepreneurs in the country by Hispanic Magazine. Taddeo is also a strong advocate for women as the chair of the Women's Enterprise National Council's Leadership Forum and a National Founding Partner and member of the executive board of WIPP-- Women Impacting Public Policy.

Taddeo's priorities reflect the values of the 18th district. She has already raised more than every recent Democratic challenger in this seat combined and the district is seeing historic increases in Democratic voter registration. Annette Taddeo's leadership, experience, and dedication to her community will make her a valuable voice for the working families she will represent in Congress.

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Did Bruce Ivins Start Planning Anthrax Attacks
Before 9/11

post from TPMMuckraker on 07 August 2008 09:00:00 AM. © TPMMuckraker

The first anthrax-laced letter was sent out on Sept. 18, 2001.

And according to the FBI, Dr. Bruce Ivins was probably plotting and preparing his anthrax attacks for several weeks before that -- starting back as early as August 2001.

Among the pile of circumstantial evidence that federal agents compiled against Ivins was a log of his frequent night hours in the lab in 2001. (The military lab at Fort Detrick has electronic locks with swipe cards that allow detailed monitoring of people who have access to the stocks of the world's most dangerous biological agents.)

And the chart the FBI compiled shows that he began spending a lot of extra time in the lab at night in August.

Ivins explained to the FBI that he was having family problems at the time and preferred working late to going home.

On March 31, 2005, Dr. Ivins was asked by Task Force Investigators about his access to [the lab known as] B3 and could provide no legitimate reason for the extended hours other than "home was not good" and he went there "to escape" from his life at home.

Ivins provided that alibi back in March of 2005. The FBI didn't buy it. Which raises questions about why it took the FBI another two and a half years to ask for a search warrant for Ivins' home.

For a comprehensive timeline of the whole anthrax investigation, check out Marcy Wheeler's over here.

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Abbreviated Pundit Round-Up

post from Daily Kos on 07 August 2008 08:58:42 AM. © Daily Kos

Your one stop pundit shop.

David Broder wants the two presidential candidates to return to the high road and hints that if Obama had agreed to meet McCain in a series of town hall meetings, all of this icky negativity could have been avoided.

John Kramm looks at the disparity between how the Chinese people think the world views their country and the reality.

Ted Gup weighs in on the Justice Department's announcement the the case of the 2001 anthrax attacks is solved and closed:

With the presumed suicide last week of Bruce Ivins, the Ft. Detrick biodefense expert and target of the FBI's anthrax investigation, the Justice Department effectively pronounced the seven-year-old case solved and the national nightmare behind us. Sadly, nothing could be further from the truth. Ivins's death only makes it more difficult to resolve the lingering questions about the poison sent by mail in the fall of 2001 and, more broadly, about American justice.

Steve Chapman thinks that Phil Gramm's only crime was telling the truth and that the problem with the economy is simply that we're poorer than we used to be and we all need to suck it up.

Thomas Sowell, drawing on the example of Steven Hatfill and others, decries what he calls "publicity abuse." Sowell says, "the whole country continues to this day to pay dearly for having Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court," after the smearing of poor, misunderstood Robert Bork.

Karl Rove needs new material.

Maurice Ferre believes that the "Latino vote in Florida could make the difference for Obama in this presidential election."

Gail Collins takes a look at both candidate's energy plans, and while Obama doesn't get off scott-free, she saves her best zingers for McCain, including her thoughts on McCain offering up his wife for a topless beauty pagent.

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Cheers and Jeers: Thursday

From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE...

A Case of Whiplash

The American public over the last ~~four~~ ~~six~~ ~~eight~~ twelve months:

Who is Obama??? We don’t know enough about Obama!! How can we elect Obama if we don’t know enough about him??? He's too mysterious to us! He's too unknown! We need to know more...more...MORE!!! Help us, oh traditional media! Help us to learn more about this man who came out of nowhere by airing non-stop coverage of his words, his deeds...his ups, his downs, his smiles, his frowns! Satisfy our curiosity, oh Punditocracy! Fill in our blanks! Feed us the facts!

The American Public now:

Barack Obama may be the fresh face in this year's presidential election, but nearly half say they're already tired of hearing about him, a poll says.

With Election Day still three months away, 48 percent said they're hearing too much about the Democratic candidate, according to a poll released Wednesday by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center. Just 26 percent said the same about his Republican rival, John McCain.

On sale today in the C&J gift shop: neck braces.

Cheers and Jeers starts in There's Moreville... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]

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North Dakota Oil Is Burning Up The Roads

As I?ve driven across Canada and down into North Dakota, I?ve been seeing energy everywhere.

The farms are well tended, and the agricultural productivity is awe inspiring. There are wind farms up, and going up, on many a hillside. Power lines…

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