Sunday Loon Watch

post from Daily Kos on 07 June 2010 11:56:03 AM. © Daily Kos

As you may have seen, yesterday Markos was on ABC's This Week hosted by Jake Tapper, joining Arianna Huffington, George Will, and Liz Cheney in the roundtable discussion. You won't be surprised to learn that when Will and Cheney tried to rebut Markos, they tripped all over themselves.

Here's a highlight reel of Markos and the attempts by Will and Cheney to dispute his arguments (see below for a summary):

Here's a summary of their discussion on BP's spill:

MARKOS: People are worried that BP will get away with destroying a valued part of America. People are realizing that 'drill, baby, drill' isn't a good idea, and that we need regulations protecting people from companies like BP.

WILL: BP was regulated and it was the regulators fault that this disaster happened. People understand that regulation is the problem and they want corporations in charge.

CHENEY: What people are really afraid of is that we're not going to have any more deep water drilling. (Notwithstanding polls showing people oppose more deepwater drilling.)

And a summary of their discussion on Israel and the flotilla:

MARKOS: Israel incompetently undermined its own interests, alienated a key Muslim ally (Turkey, which in a slip of the tongue Markos called an Arab nation, but meant Muslim), and put the U.S. in a bad position. Cheney's "with us or against us" attitude that got us into this mess is as discredited as ever.

CHENEY: People who say thinks like Markos just did are Israel's biggest challenge. Turkey was against Israel and is for Iran and is against us.

MARKOS: The government of Turkey is a NATO ally.

CHENEY: The position you guys are taking is that Israel doesn't have the right to stop a flotilla.

MARKOS: Who said that? All I said was that Israel handled this incompetently. There are better ways Israel could have handled this.

CHENEY: Yes, but Markos...

That last line is a direct quote from Cheney's lips. Anytime you get her to say "Yes, but..." you know you've pwned her.

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http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/Nh7ckT4J0Ps/-Sunday-Loon-Watch

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Blue Dogs self-immolate

post from Open Left - Front Page on 07 June 2010 11:34:10 AM. © Open Left - Front Page

Congress returns to session this week. In case you missed it, after passing Afghanistan war[...]

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molate

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Blue Dogs self-asphyxiate

post from Open Left - Front Page on 07 June 2010 11:34:10 AM. © Open Left - Front Page

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Senate at Stake: The Three Big Primaries Tomorrow

post from Firedoglake on 07 June 2010 11:31:12 AM. © Firedoglake

Tuesday, June 8 is one of the biggest days in politics this cycle with primary elections in 11 states: California, Iowa, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia and Arkansas, which hosts a primary runoff.[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://elections.firedoglake.com/2010/06/07/senate-at-stake-the-three-big-primari
es-tomorrow

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The Best Example of a Group of People Who Don't
Want Big Government Until "They" Need It

post from BuzzFlash.org - Progressive News and Commentary with an Attitude | Fight Ignorance: Read BuzzFlash on 07 June 2010 11:19:06 AM. © BuzzFlash.org - Progressive News and Commentary with an Attitude | Fight Ignorance: Read BuzzFlash

Conservatives seek gov't solutions after oil spill: "All along the Gulf Coast, where the tea party thrives and "socialism" is a common description for any government program, conservatives who usually denounce federal activism suddenly are clamoring for it."

Ironic that hypocrites always yell the loudest for "their" rights!

Read The Full Article:
http://blog.buzzflash.com/dailybuzz/948

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Second Act for South American Left: Are Greens
The Answer

post from BuzzFlash.org - Progressive News and Commentary with an Attitude | Fight Ignorance: Read BuzzFlash on 07 June 2010 11:16:28 AM. © BuzzFlash.org - Progressive News and Commentary with an Attitude | Fight Ignorance: Read BuzzFlash

NIKOLAS KOZLOFF FOR BUZZFLASH

Having overstated the political potency of Colombia?s Green Party, I?ve felt a bit shame faced in recent days. In the Andean nation?s first presidential runoff election, Green Party candidate Antanas Mockus garnered more than 20% of the vote, which allowed him to proceed to the second round on June 20th. But while the news was certainly encouraging for environmentalists across South America, Mockus's electoral performance failed to live up to expectations.

Indeed, prior to the election some pollsters predicted that Mockus might even beat conservative challenger Juan Manuel Santos outright in the first round. Such prognostications led me to pen an article speculating about what a Mockus presidency might mean for the wider region in an environmental and geopolitical sense. In the end, however, Mockus received less than half the votes which Santos garnered, and some observers now openly suggest that the Green Party faces daunting electoral math and cannot hope to prevail later this June.

Read The Full Article:
http://blog.buzzflash.com/contributors/3260

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Where the hell is my money, BP

post from Daily Kos on 07 June 2010 11:10:03 AM. © Daily Kos

Thus read a sign posted in the Gulf region. Yesterday's New York Times article about BP's processing of claims from individuals and businesses hurt by its negligence has got to be one straw too heavy to bear:

When President Obama visited here on Friday, he said he did not want to hear that BP was "nickel-and-diming fishermen or small businesses here in the gulf who are having a hard time," while spending billions of dollars on dividends and millions of dollars on advertising.

Well, sir, hear it and hear it loud and clear. People are not being paid what they deserve. That makes absolutely no sense since BP reported $6 Billion in profits last quarter. The corporation announced Saturday that it will pay a second month of claims that will bring total payments to $84 million by the end of June. What is really infuriating about that press release is this nugget:

Claimants, who have provided documentation that demonstrates their loss of income or net profit was larger through May than the initial advance payment received, also will receive a supplemental payment for those losses. This payment will be provided after direct consultation with a claims adjuster.

Net profit? A claims adjuster? So, if you happen to be a fisherman who would earn $10,000 a month in net profit, you're going to get another check for $5000? BP doesn't care that net profit is based on normal operating expenses and normal income. Well, both are now not in anyway normal. Having to prove to a claims adjuster how your business operates and what it could have potentially earned is what is causing the bottleneck in claims being paid.

There is a better way to do this. BP should simply pay all operating expenses of directly affected parties as if in normal operations. People could still continue to collect their paychecks. Related parties like vendors or landlords would still continue to get paid. That will help all the gulf stay afloat. Businesses should simply be allowed to submit their current and upcoming bills, period. Process the profit and loss claims later. BP needs to set up a compensation fund run by the EPA or FEMA or I don't care who, and provide it with enough money to hire staff to process claims quickly. Authority would pass Congress in a heartbeat.

"Remember, we’ve got to make enough money to save for the whole winter," he said. "And we’ve just been making all these repairs to our boats, getting ready for the shrimp season. My bank loans are $5,000 a month for just this live bait shop. Right now, I’m barely floating."

If this doesn't make you mad enough, try reading BP's claims manual. Put your beverage down before you do.

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/CsscSae67ks/-Where-the-hell-is-my-
money,-BP

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Regional Oil Spill Response Plan What BP Knew
Might Happen

post from Firedoglake on 07 June 2010 11:05:02 AM. © Firedoglake

Next time BP whines about "who could have known?" the answer is: they could have, and they did.[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/53281

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Varney contradicts private analysts, economists
with claim that stimulus failed

post from Media Matters for America - Latest Items on 07 June 2010 11:02:06 AM. © Media Matters for America - Latest Items

Fox business analyst Stuart Varney claimed -- without evidence -- that President Obama's Recovery Act was "wasted money" and that it "did not produce jobs." However, Varney's statement stands in stark contrast to that of prominent private analysts and economists who estimate that the stimulus has in fact aided economic recovery.

Citingno evidence, Varney claimed stimulus "did not produce jobs"

Fromthe June 7 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends:

VARNEY: Who can understand $13 trillion, which we will passalong to our children and grandchildren.
GRETCHEN CARLSON [co-host]: But it was the stimulus plans,I think, that got Americaawakened to the whole thing.
VARNEY: Yes, because it was so much wasted money. Atrillion dollars did not produce jobs.

Independentand private analysts agree stimulus significantly raised employment over whatwould have happened otherwise

CEA: ARRA raisedemployment "by between 2.2 and 2.8 million." In its third quarterly report on theAmerican Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Council of EconomicAdvisers (CEA) stimulusprogram, according to the economists' median estimate. The difference wouldtranslate into another 1.2 million lost jobs.

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.mediamatters.org/~r/mediamatters/latest/~3/9EVHb4Vvb14/201006070015

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They Already Made the Movie

I've mentioned in a few posts the hypothetical Waiting for Guffman type movie about inept jihadis. And I just found out from TPM Reader CK that it's already been made and was actually shown at Sundance this year. Given the quite controversial subject[...]

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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Talking-Points-Memo/~3/QvJb--wUj-k/they_already_ma
de_the_movie.php

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