Rove Is Contemptible

Karl Rove continues to thumb his nose at a Congress subpoena with George W Bush’s blessing. This is how far friendship with George W Bush reaches.

Since Karl Rove ignored the House Judiciary subcommittee summons to appear before them Congress just might vote to hold him in contempt. I’m sure this will really scare Karl Rove into appearing. It is laughable that this Congress thinks a Congressional contempt charge will hold any threat to the likes of Karl Rove? This is just more proof of how impotent this Congress has become under the Bush administration concerning legal matters.

Republicans are calling the legal action “a partisan stunt” while the rest of the country is calling for him to be arrested. But we already know how much weight the demands of taxpayers hold.

I call it business as usual.

They Built a Bomb, and They Dropped It

1, 2, 3, 4 What are we fighting for
Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn
Next stop is Iran

5, 6, 7, 8, open up them pearly gates
ain’t no time to wonder why
Whoopee! We’re all gonna die

Why can’t we just let the Iranians flex their muscle? Why do we have to take their response to our threats of war against them as a threat of war against us?

Why don’t you freaking war hawks just continue playing your silly war games with your fake bombs and leave the real bombs packed away? Trust me, we won’t think any less of you for it.

Let Iraq and Afghanistan take care of themselves and leave the rest of the world alone?

We are tired of dying for the world’s leaders lame ego trips. Everyone knows who has the biggest missiles, why kill more people to prove it?

Instead of feeling obligated to finish what some other country wants to start let them fight it out amongst themselves in a boxing ring? The politicians are the ones causing all of this friction, leave the innocent men and women in uniform on the parade field where they can march away to their hearts content.

Let’s lock all the warring politicians from Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, Hamas, and the U.S. in a room to war against each other and we will run the world for ourselves. I am certain we can do a much better job.

America, Are We All On the Same Team Here?

We give and give but the idiots in charge screw it all up. Sound familiar? Isn’t this the end result of pretty much everything we try to do in this country?

After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck the Gulf Coast in 2005 leaving hundreds of thousands of people homeless, compassion for their situation and the desire to help filled news reports. Many throughout this country were willing to open their homes to victims. Monetary donations as well as food, clothing and household basics were freely given. It is one thing that makes this country great. But then government agencies get involved. And we quickly have a cluster of confusion surrounding ‘who is responsible for helping who’ and rules governing ‘who is to get what’.

We have government and private organizations set up to ensure aid is given where it is needed most. But when it comes time to putting their grand plans into play human traits like ego, jealousy, greed, apathy, and laziness all prevent the plans from seeing well-intentioned results. I don’t know if there are any inter-agency power struggles taking place but there certainly is a lack of communication and oversight.

FEMA was criticized for not acting quickly enough to get on the scene to assess damages and prepare plans for aid distribution. Why were they not ready? It is the central responsibility of that agency. It is why they exist. When they finally did act by providing mobile homes for the homeless, those homes set empty in storage facilities until they rotted. When they finally did act by providing household items, those items sat in warehouses undistributed. But when the cash came out everyone was trampling over each other with their hands out for their ‘fair share’ and a lot of them were not even victims.

FEMA has guidelines in place to ensure that aid assistance is directed to where it is most needed, namely to the actual victims. These guidelines must be in place because we all know that there are low-life thieves amongst us who will lie to get something for nothing, even if it means taking away from the actual victims. Because of these scum bags, aid cannot get to where it is intended in a timely manner. It is a sad fact that we will always have to deal with these situations which is basically a lack of compassion for the victims of Katrina.

Another sad fact is that government offices and volunteer groups ended up with items that were intended for the actual victims of Katrina. Prisons in Mississippi got coffee makers, pillowcases and dinnerware; Mississippi’s Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks took more coffee makers, cleaning supplies and other items; Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration received household items; and colleges, volunteer fire departments and other agencies received even more. Where is the compassion for Katrina’s victims?

Insurance companies, paid handsome premiums by homeowners who thought they were covered, weaseled out of their contracts hiding behind small print and big lawyers. No compassion for Katrina’s victims can be found here.

Contractors, that should have been happy to get jobs rebuilding the many homes destroyed in this natural disaster, created their own disaster by over charging and doing shoddy work so they could hurry on to the next job site for the promise of making even more money. Still no compassion for Katrina’s victims.

FEMA says they were not informed of any qualified aid organizations in Mississippi who were authorized to receive these items so they locked the items away. Yet FEMA knew these items were needed, so why didn’t they see to it that they were distributed? This shows a clear lack of compassion for Katrina’s victims.

State agencies knew of people who needed these items and did not pressure FEMA to get these items to needy victims. No compassion here for Katrina’s victims.

FEMA says nonprofit organizations that help the needy or homeless must meet federal guidelines and register with the Mississippi's Surplus Agency yet many of these organizations claim they did not know the agency existed. Lack of communication within the state of Mississippi? Perhaps, but if everyone involved in these organizations (Mississippi's surplus agency as well as all others) were truly compassionate about fulfilling their promise of aid victims of any natural disaster then somebody should have seen to it that they were all registered just in case they were needed. This shows an obvious lack of compassion for future victims.

So where did the reported compassion for Katrina’s victims come from? The unorganized masses of citizens without affiliations to aid organizations. Everyday taxpayers who want to do something. The very people who actually give the hard aid, such as cash, food items, household items, a warm bed and a house to stay in.

Since we have seen many times that our donations are more than likely to end up in thieves pockets or sit locked up in warehouses or rot unused in padlocked fields surrounded by chain link fences topped with barbed wire, what incentive do we have to give after the next disaster?

Federal and state government has failed us again, this time in a most egregious way.

Everyone involved in all of these failures, all of this ‘business as usual’, will cover their own butts as best they can and pass the blame elsewhere.

FEMA says it is conducting an internal probe into the storage of household supplies, but we already know what the outcome will be. We have seen it too many times in past ‘internal probes’ to muster enough surprised when they come up with a token person to be shuffled to another department or give the usual ‘policy changes are being made’ answer. And news agencies will all merrily report the governments results and go on to the next popular news item without any further investigation. And no one will apply pressure to ensure these failures don’t happen in the future.

I know it is pure fantasy to think we Americans are all supposed to be working together for our collective good. But when our tax dollars are being used to devise disaster plans then I bloody well want to see results when a disaster happens. I don’t want to hear excuses and see fingers pointed and victims still living in trailers on their property after three years struggling to afford to rebuild their homes because our aid organizations and insurance companies failed them. This government used to help take care of its citizens. This government now only goes half-heartedly through the motions of pretending to care.

Is it any wonder some people will no longer give assistance to victims because our aid distribution network is fraudulent and corrupt or simply inept?

Yes, we are supposed to be on the same team but ineptitude and mismanagement of our government agencies and private organizations is destroying what used to make this country great and it is causing our compassion to fade away.

Another G8 Conference

Still making plans after all these years.
The goal of the G8 is to discuss workable (profitable) solutions to world problems has produced little substance.

In their first meeting in 1977, then known as the Library Group, they set a lofty goal for themselves to "…work to increase the flow of aid and other real resources from the industrial to developing countries, particularly to the 800 million people who now live in absolute poverty; and to improve the effectiveness of aid." The World Bank was going to help improve "access to international finance" for poor countries. In other words, not so much as giving money (aid) but lending money (debt).

Over the course of subsequent annual meetings the group has repeatedly declared its “concern” and an “overriding priority to improve the plight of the world’s poor.”

Today, this group represents 65% of the Gross World Product, the majority of the global military power and 96-99% of the world’s active nuclear weapons and yet they have only followed through with less than 10% of their total pledge. In 2005 they had pledged $25B in aid to Africa and have only given $3B.

Just how meaningful is it for leaders of the world’s eight richest nations to take a break from their regular duties to meet in various locales around the globe just to discuss lofty goals and pledge money that never actually gets followed up on?

One of their topics of discussion will be high fuel prices. Since they collectively use two-thirds of the worlds oil, perhaps they should consider cutting back on its usage. They could provide better incentives for industries within their own borders to clean up their air polluting factories and develop cleaner fuel sources. They could also force the production of more fuel efficient automobiles without driving up food prices.

While we are on the topic of fuel conservation one suggestion that comes up would be to stop traveling all over the world to these meetings. Just how much fuel is consumed to fly these people and their entourage all over the world? Especially when there is seemingly no real benefit to doing so. We now have a technology called teleconferencing that should fit into these people’s schedules quite nicely thereby saving a lot of time, money, and fuel. Maybe they can give themselves carbon credits.

Since China and India are quickly becoming such economic powerhouses and consuming a much larger share of the oil supply to do so shouldn’t they have a seat at the table? Shouldn’t this group be the G10?

And what about Saudi Arabia? They hold a large share of the world’s oil production so shouldn’t they have a seat at the table? This would make it the G11.

High food prices will certainly be on the agenda. And since this exclusive club of eight produces 41% of the world’s wheat and 48% of the world’s corn (the number increase to 58% and 68% respectively if you include China) and consumes most of it, they should be able to come up with a better method of storage and distribution to help feed those countries that are not blessed with the excesses that the U.S. and Europe have. In fact, we have so much in the U.S. that its farmers are paid not to plant crops. Why can’t those unused fields be used to grow grains for the starving people of the world?

Then there is the problem of climate change, another ‘key’ topic for these leaders of the world’s richest and most polluting nations. This topic was discussed in some detail at last year’s summit in Germany where the only thing to come out of it was they would ‘seriously consider’ a global goal of cutting the world’s greenhouse gas emissions by half by the year 2050. More talk, little action.

Africa is going to be a major focus this time again due to it’s ongoing problems with poverty, starvation, diseases and another dictator who is making a joke of democracy.

What they need to discuss foremost is gathering up the political courage to actually do more than just talk about these very pressing and mounting problems. And until they do these meetings are nothing more than chat groups.

It Should Be Obvious…Bush has Failed the American People

Is isn’t any secret that higher gasoline prices are affecting every person and every business. The effects are being felt in many ways that a lot of us did not even consider. Some communities have cut school bus routes, police patrols, traveling libraries and lawn maintenance. The St. Paul Police Department is encouraging officers to use horses and bikes. Other police departments are asking police officers to park their cars and return to foot patrol. Holly Springs, Georgia is beginning to add a “fuel surcharge” to all moving violation tickets that police issue. A number of state agencies, including those in Utah, are going to four-day workweeks to save energy costs and reduce commuting expenses for their employees.

Rising gas prices are affecting every product that is made, transported, eaten and sold at your local shopping center. Well, the list goes on. But the people who are hardest hit are those who depend on others to bring them the daily care they desperately need. I’m talking about the elderly and homebound without the ability to care for themselves. These people depend on volunteer agencies to deliver food, transportation assistance and home care.

In a recent survey by the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, more than half said they had already cut back on programs because of gas costs, and 90 percent said they expected to make cuts in the 2009 fiscal year. In the survey of agencies, more than 70 percent said it was more difficult to recruit and keep volunteers.

The obvious answer for these people may be to place them in nursing care facilities. But the unfortunate sad fact is that many of them cannot afford this very expensive solution. Many are on social security which just barely covers their basic daily necessities. If they are placed in facilities they will become an additional financial burden on the taxpayer.

Agencies have suffered from Medicare cuts in recent years and are lobbying Congress to account for fuel inflation in reimbursement rates and to reinstate special increases for providers in rural areas, a program that expired in 2006.

Now, one would think that since higher gas prices are forcing people to drive less that less gas is being purchased which means those record profits that oil companies enjoyed last year are going to suffer. So is it really in the best interest of oil companies to keep jacking up their prices? Just what is the cause of rising gas prices?

Bush claims demand is raising gas prices. Our population size did not suddenly increase two-fold to justify a doubling of demand and therefore doubling of gas prices. The 13-nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) disputes his claim. The true reason for the increase is the U.S. economy and President Bush’s policies are directly to blame for it. He keeps spouting “It should be obvious...” Well, Mr. Bush, saying it should be obvious is not a valid argumentative point. Give us some proof. People are driving less but the prices keep going up.

No sir, the biggest cause of higher oil prices is the demise of the American dollar and investors reactions to it. Oil is traded in dollars. A weak dollar means that foreign investors can buy more oil, which helps drive up the price so here is where your twisted view of demand comes into play. Huge institutional investors start buying oil as a safe place to put their money, safer than the dollar or the stock market.

"Oil is the new gold," said James Burkhard, director of global oil market analysis at the Cambridge Energy Research Associates consulting firm. "Oil has some intrinsic value, and that value remains even if the dollar depreciates."

It was only in March of this year that analysts said the fundamental issues of oil supply and demand should bring oil prices down. "At some point, the fundamentals have to reassert themselves," says Burkhard. "At some point, this has to stop, unless the dollar is in a terminal freefall."

The U.S. economy has been losing steam since last year's mortgage meltdown, which can be blamed on irresponsible home mortgage lending practices and the unscrupulous lenders who reason they will be bailed out by the government if it all fails. The weakening economy has investors uninterested in putting their money in the stock market so they put it in oil, the value of which has tripled in five years. When less money goes into the stock market the ripple effect brings the economy down even further.

This administration seizes the opportunity when discussing fossil fuel price increases to push their “commitment to renewable energy”, mainly the use of corn for biofuel production which feeds yet another corporate moneymaking scheme through even more federal subsidies and pushes food prices up as well. He is trying to refocus our attention from the real problems he has caused, because he doesn’t have any answers, to a positive spin that we will soon be free of foreign oil dependence. But this amounts to a load of rubbish.

We will be forced to pay an ever higher cost of living in America for fuel and every product that requires it for transportation whether it come from foreign shores or America’s own corn fields. We will be forced to pay ever higher costs for food because it will continue to be shipped from foreign shores because of Bush’s “world open market” economic policies. And corporations will continue to reap record profits.

Bush claims that a growing demand for fuel in China and India are placing pressure on the fuel supply to America. If this were to be true then China and India should pay the higher prices, not the U.S.

The bottom line is that this administration’s poor economic policies and rich corporate welfare policies has forced an increase in:

food prices,
gas prices,
the number of Americans losing their homes,
the number of Americans who are going hungry
the number of Americas poor

So I ask, has this president been good for America? It should be obvious.