Obama Presidency Watch/post election & first 100 days

reply to post by xpert11

I haven't had much to say on this thread because my thoughts have been on the home front where the budget deficit is equal to one or two grand per person and the idea of building a cycle lane that goes the length of the country to create jobs, rather then fix existing infrastructure problems.

Well, Mr X11, it is hard for me to feel sorry for Kiwi’s owing $2,000 each! That’s when American’s now owe $33,000 each. And to get us out of this ditch into which the Republicans have led us, will cost another $15,000 in debt. Each!

Do not forget the Republicans held sway from 1981 to 2007, with a short - all too short - interval in 1993-1994 when the Dems held both the WH and the Congress. It was those Dems voting up and down - all Dem v. all GOP - that raised tax rates to the point where in 1999 the REVENUES exceeded the EXPENDITURES for the first time since 1961. And early in 2001, George W. Bush - called 'Dumbya' by his friends - GAVE it all away, mostly to his already ULTRA rich friends and the rest to Halliburton.

I suggest NZ consider a (New Deal type) WPA - Works Progress Administration - program which would give any person who shows up $20 and a healthy lunch for working 7.5 hours building the national cycle trail. Pay them at the end of each day’s work. You show up, you get a number, you work, you get paid and we don’t give a dam what your name is. Minimal bookkeeping. Almost no bureaucracy to construct.

Anyway Obama should make hay while the Sun Shines. Clearly the Republican Party is in disarray like many party's are when they are out of government for the first time in a long time. Rush [Limbaugh] has been the spiritual head of the Republican Party for a while now. Just look how he led the charge to frag [the] McCain campaign last year.

Yes, we're not 40 days in and the Dems have already been STUNG by the Republicans. They talked the sweet talk of bi-partisanship but NEVER walked the walk. In the end, after Obama doubled the planned tax cuts in a failed effort to get (some of) the GOP onboard, the Dems got ZERO help in the House to go along to get along. Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire!

In the Senate where arcane rules require a super majority of 60 instead of 51 - hey, Dems have used that to advantage especially to BLOCK the looney-tunes judiciary appointments Bush43 and the 2 certifiable legal dingbats Ashcroft/Gonzales tried so hard to saddle America with - the REAL Bush Legacy.

The Dems were lucky to find THREE of the GOP types who are old time Eastern Establishment Republicans which means they have both intelligence and a conscience. (The Western or Goldwater wing of the GOP never finds both desirable qualities in one person. That wing is now appropriately labeled the Limbaugh-Palin wing).

As you may not know, the GOP holds NO House seats in the once solidly Republican New England. (It was Maine and Vermont that became famous in 1936 as the 2 states that voted GOP against FDR). Only the 2 senators from Maine, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins along with Pennsylvania’s Arlen Specter - Warren Commission staff - voted with the Dems to overwhelm the 41 obstructive vote bloc count in the GOP.

NOTE: Betrayed by New Hampshire’s Sen. Judd Gregg, who the Dems offered the Commerce Department to, and then he hurriedly backed out leaving Obama in a lurch. Gregg then voted NO on the STIMULUS package. The Dems were willing to go this far: They solicited an agreement from the Dem governor of NH that he would appoint a GOP to the Gregg seat so as not to upset the 41 vote bloc of the GOP in the Senate. (To GOP sycophants: DO NOT tell me the Dems have not tried hard to be BI-PARTISAN). End.

Limbaugh, Palin and now that nincompoop from LA, Jindal, are the TOP spokespersons for the GOP. That says the intelligent Mitt Romney was neutered when the not so intelligent Gov. “The Huck” Huckabee of AR smashed him for being a Mormon! All the GOP candidates stood by in SILENCE* when the intolerant BAPTIST from AR mocked Mitt for his admittedly zany religion, but then, all their religions are equally zany in their own way. Mitt’s was no worse than any of the others. Just not as old.

*
"In Germany, they came first for the Communists,
And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist;
And then they came for the trade unionists,
And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist;
And then they came for the Jews,
And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew;
And then . . . they came for me . . .
And by that time there was no one left to speak up."
Pastor Martin Niemöller


[edit on 3/6/2009 by donwhite]

Limbaugh, Palin and now that nincompoop from LA, Jindal, are the TOP spokespersons for the GOP.

Then the GOP is a death party right now. as the second good for nothing party is still in power in Washington.

Still

Obama is coming out with the most irresponsible spending bill in the history of this nation.

His Priorities are Misguided, he thinks that creating bigger government and squandering billions on zombie banks will help the economy recuperate.

Now universal health care is in the works, because let face people Free trade has robbed the nation from qualifying employers that were able to afford health care to their employees.

Now as the unemployment raises so the millions of people without health care.

Off shoring and "free trade" have destroyed employer-provided health coverage for millions of employees. Private health care coverage can cost as much as one-third and even one-half of a person's earned income, and some people are not insurable. National health insurance seems to be in the cards -- only there is no money for it. All the money is being spent in pointless wars and on bailouts of financial fraud. The Obama budget puts bankster bailouts and pointless wars ahead of the health of the American people.

Taxing the rich and small business owners into oblivion and socialized health care seems to be the agenda that the markets doesn't like.

The only change we have from Obama and the Democrats is for the worse. Bush's FY 2008 budget deficit was $450 billion. The FY 2009 deficit is projected at $1.2 trillion. The budget deficit in Obama's first budget is $1.75 trillion, a fourfold increase in two years.

America is becoming to expensive to handle.

www.economyincrisis.org...

The very fact that mush loosebowels can be such an issue is proof positive of their disintergration...He is urging them to become even more conservative when the election proves more than anything that voters have totally rejected their version of conservatism.

They were given 12 years control of congress with an extra 2 years of blocking everything the Democratic party tried as well as 8 under bush minor... they have been tried and found to be more than wanting.

If they follow mushes advice and move further to the right they might as well send their elephant to a glue factory.

Another Obama blunder, Obama is like a Movie director he wants to recreate regular Americans unsing people that is as far from the regular Americans as the Rockeffelers.

He created a task force to deal with the problems facing everyday Americans.

While that sound noble and altruistic the problem is that the people in this task force has nothing to do with regular Americans as all of them are high income earners that never had to worry about harships in their lives.

The administration has created a Middle Class Task Force, charged with developing solutions to the problems facing average Americans. The problem is, not one single member of the task force has been considered middle class for quite some time, if ever.

The task force will be led by Vice President Joe Biden and will be comprised of the Secretaries of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Commerce, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, and Agriculture. In addition, it will include Directors of the National Economic Council, the Office of Management and Budget, the Domestic Policy Council, and the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors.

No wonder our nation is so screw up when the people that is taking care of regular Joes have no clue what it is to be a regular joe.

Still, the middle class may have a better shot at making ends meet than at influencing the Middle Class Task Force. That's because no member of the Middle Class Task Force is actually middle class. While defining America's most beloved demographic group has never been an exact science, most academics agree that the term refers to anyone earning between $30,000 and $100,000 a year. (Median household income in the U.S. hovers around $50,000.) Every member of the President's task force — from Biden ($227,000) to Council of Economic Advisors Chairwoman Christina Romer ($172,000) to Energy Secretary Steven Chu ($191,000) — makes well over $150,000, putting them in the top 5% of wage earners.

www.economyincrisis.org...

reply to post by grover

The very fact that mush loosebowels can be an issue is proof positive of [Republican] disintegration... that voters have totally rejected their version of conservatism. They were given 12 years [1981-2007?] control of congress .. they have been tried and found to be more than wanting. If they [GOP] follow mush's advice and move further right they might as well send their elephant to a glue factory.

Ronnie Reagan, the FIRST Neo Con Republican, wanted to play the money game BIG TIME but with NO referee! Reagan promised us a trip to Nirvana if we followed his prescription. Instead it turned out to be a re-run of the Hindenburg disaster. And it will cost us upwards of $15 trillion to fix if we are lucky! Thank you Ronnie! You mucked up the world.


[edit on 3/7/2009 by donwhite]

reply to post by donwhite


It may be beneficial to the reader for me to point out that the budget the New Zealand government ran was in a surplus while economic times were good unlike the US that has been running a budget deficit pretty much continuously for a decade . Infrastructure spending needs to be prioritized I don't dislike the idea of a national cycle path but fixing the Electricity Grid and the Rail system is far more important .

Otherwise I have found Obama talk of reducing the US budget deficit to be amusing in light of his support for the so called stimulus bill .

reply to post by xpert11


I agree his stimulus and fiscal budget is well beyond anything this nation has seen in history.

Still unless he cut dramatically on Defense spending and Medicare I don't see any money coming from any where else than the printing presses in the Treasury department and the lenders abroad.

reply to post by xpert11

It may be beneficial to the reader for me to point out that the budget the New Zealand government ran was in a surplus while economic times were good unlike the US that has been running a budget deficit pretty much continuously for a decade.

Infrastructure spending needs to be prioritized I don't dislike the idea of a national cycle path but fixing the Electricity Grid and the Rail system is far more important. Otherwise I have found Obama talk of reducing the US budget deficit to be amusing in light of his support for the so called stimulus bill.

What’s happening? Here I am a BIG government advocate and I’m urging nickel and dime actions and the LITTLE government or NO government types are advocating LARGE expenditures all the more so in areas where the private operators OUGHT to have already been deep into! Sheez! The world is turned up-side down.

My concern is to provide MONEY - call it income call it a hand out but let’s call it money - to the LITTLE guy who needs it to live day by day. It seems the uppity-ups don’t want to give ANYONE but themselves A HAND UP. Sure, rail and electricity are more important than riding your bike from north of Whangarel all the way south to Invercargill. And stopping over at Wellington to say “hello” to the PM John Key on the way. I suppose you take a Cook Strait ferry boat over from the North Island to the South Island? What’s the tab for that short ride? Is it free to pedestrians and bicycle riders? It should be.

Yes, all our electric grids ought to be up-dated both in capacity and “hardened” to resist that nemesis of little children, the mighty EMP! The exploding atom bomb induced electro magnetic pulse! The earth’s equivalent of the Sun’s solar flare!

And of course rail can always be made better. High speed trains are defined by the EU as any train capable of exceeding 200 km/h (125 mph). Whichever island (North or South) that needs it most should have that upgrade first followed by the second island. And maybe add a TUNNEL under the Cook Strait if you have money left over and are still looking for a way to STIMULATE the economy!

I read in Wikipedia the maximum length north to south in NZ is about 1,000 miles. (1,500 km). My vision of a national bicycle trail is this. A 5 meter wide rubberized asphalt paved roadway with 2 meter walking paths on each side. Painted yellow stripes along each edge and a green stripe dividing the center. Lighted for 24 hours usage. Every 5,000 meters would find a lay-by with a flushing toilet, water to drink, and places to park your bike securely while you take a rest.

Rather than following the terrain, I’d want to see cut and fill giving a maximum grade of 5-6%. At all particularly advantageous locations I’d want a “look-out” or viewing place for travelers to pause and observe the natural beauty of the land. Every 50 km (30 miles) I’d want a fully staffed rest-stop for overnight stays, as in a hostel with food at the ready. It could be quite a nice thing and might come to attract foreigners to visit Kiwi-land.


[edit on 3/9/2009 by donwhite]

reply to post by marg6043

I agree his stimulus and fiscal budget is well beyond anything this nation has seen in history. Still unless he cut dramatically on Defense spending and Medicare I don't see any money coming from any where else than the printing presses in the Treasury department and the lenders abroad.

Regrettably I believe if you will review our recent history - post War 2 - Americans prefer war to peace. If you don’t accept that proposition, then I offer this: it is easier to START a war than it is to END one.

After the “fall” of the USSR, 1989-1991, we had the GOLDEN opportunity to MAKE peace our game. The new RF - Russian Federation - was BROKE! The PRC - China - had not yet come into its powerful position as the world’s MAJOR lender. Well, I don;’t know how much the combined Persian Gulf sheikdoms have loaned out but China is surely No. 2 if not No. 1.

Bush43 ran his baby - the War on Terror - off budget. It grew to the current $10 b. a month. That was on top of the $550 b. DoD on budget tab. I think Obama is stopping that foul practice. I call it foul because the reason Bush43 choose that “option” was A) a weak Congress under tight GOP control and B) it gave him absolute control.

Hey, he was Commander in Chief, which according to those 2 nincompoops who served as AG plus VP Cheney, a natural born warmonger, he, Bush43 could do anything! He was C-in-C for LIFE! Next in power only to GOD. Aside: I hope we have re-learned (after 2006) as a people that Congress cannot STOP a war. That lesson was first taught to us as a people in the Vietnam War. 1959-1975. If we did not learn it then, maybe we will this time.

I cannot take it overly seriously when I hear laments over the budget exceeding the income. My hearing is still 20/20 and I have never heard anyone in politics especially Republican, even mention the half trillion dollars a year deficits since 2001 the Bush43 team ran.

Now suddenly when the Dems begin to run a few trillion in debt for PEACE and JOBS, we hear SQUAWKING from all sides. You know what I think? “Methinks she doth protest too much!”

On taxes go here to see what REAL men did when the going got tough!
www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/Content/PDF/toprate_historical.pdf


[edit on 3/9/2009 by donwhite]

Originally posted by donwhite
What’s happening? Here I am a BIG government advocate and I’m urging nickel and dime actions and the LITTLE government or NO government types are advocating LARGE expenditures all the more so in areas where the private operators OUGHT to have already been deep into! Sheez!

Don't get me started on the way the private sector trashed the NZ Rail system or how the private sector and SOE let the electricity grid get so bad .

My concern is to provide MONEY - call it income call it a hand out but let’s call it money - to the LITTLE guy who needs it to live day by day. It seems the uppity-ups don’t want to give ANYONE but themselves A HAND UP.

Hey giving someone a job rather then welfare is always the best way to go . You will get no argument here . Out of control work place safety regulations and ignorant HR people are the first barriers that spring to mind when getting such a noble idea off the ground . Sure I wouldn't be without OSH but that doesnt mean that things should get out of hand .

Sure, rail and electricity are more important than riding your bike from north of Whangarel all the way south to Invercargill. And stopping over at Wellington to say “hello” to the PM John Key on the way.

Geographical you are correct . I suspect that Auckland would be the starting point due to its international airport .

NZ government snoops take note Don White a possible future visitor to NZ has endorsed the national length cycle path . Other wise I had this conversation with some friends . The counter argument and I am sure that this could apply where applicable in the US is that you could employ just as many people to work on the Rail system and Electricity Grid . You have to start some where when you repair from wreckage .

I suppose you take a Cook Strait ferry boat over from the North Island to the South Island? What’s the tab for that short ride? Is it free to pedestrians and bicycle riders? It should be.

Everybody pays to use the Cook Straight ferry service . There is no such thing as a free lunch . If catch the specials advertised on TV you can head across Cook Straight for a decent price .

And of course rail can always be made better. High speed trains are defined by the EU as any train capable of exceeding 200 km/h (125 mph). . And

Now you are just about starting to give Kiwi Rail Fans a wet dream .

maybe add a TUNNEL under the Cook Strait if you have money left over and are still looking for a way to STIMULATE the economy!

Now don't Key or to many business leaders ideas .

Every 5,000 meters would find a lay-by with a flushing toilet, water to drink, and places to park your bike securely while you take a rest.

Sounds good to me . At least the project would pay for itself in the long term in terms of bringing the tourism dollar to the country . This means that I am not as mad at the government as I could have been for not addressing our current infrastructure woes . Although some road projects have been brought forward and as plans to insulate and build new state houses . But I still stand by my views on this matter .





[edit on 10-3-2009 by xpert11]

[edit on 10-3-2009 by xpert11]

reply to post by xpert11

But I still stand by my views on this matter.

Don’t look on this dichotomy as socialism versus capitalism. That’s old style. Think of it more as for profit versus non-profit.

Hey giving someone a job rather then welfare is always the best way to go. You will get no argument here. Out of control work place safety regulations and ignorant HR people are the first barriers that spring to mind when getting such a noble idea off the ground. Sure I wouldn't be without OSH but that doesn’t mean that things should get out of hand.

First, get a new perspective. Don’t look on it as we GIVE a person a job or welfare. Instead, we do what is needed to be done in each situation. A range of factors come into play including the paramount factor: immediacy! And “always” is a long time.

Next. Look to history. Cornelius Vanderbilt owned the New York Central Railroad. In the late 19th century it was the most valuable single commercial enterprise in America. By the 1890s air in the City was getting too polluted for the R&Fs to breathe! Cornelius called “Commodore” for his yachting expertise, acquired 8,000 acres (3,200 hectares) in the rolling hill country of western North Carolina on which to build a summer retreat. He built a retreat called “Biltmore” which word looks to me to be a contraction or invented word as in “He built More.” 225 rooms. The largest private residence in America, even to this day.

I have said a lot to say this. About 5,000 men died every year operating the brakes on fast moving trains. In the 1880s George Westinghouse invented the air brake and a system to put it on trains. No more walking the always tossing and sometime slick rooftops of freight cars to set the brakes. For more than 10 years Vanderbilt (and the other owners) refused to install the new system due to its poor cost benefit ratio. A dead brakeman cost the railroads about $500. It would have costs $1000s to put the brakes on trains. Finally, in the 1890s, our newly created ICC - Interstate Commerce Commission - ordered the brakes on all trains. Lesson: Profiteers say capitalists are always profiteers. And always will be. www.biltmore.com...

Geographical you are correct. I suspect that Auckland would be the starting point due to its international airport.

it looks to be about 300 miles (500 km) from Auckland to Christchurch? At 12 mph and riding 12 hours a day, that would make it a 4 day 3 overnight trip on a good bicycle. Now I’m too old for that, so I’d be riding a 49 cc assisted bike! If that was legal.

NZ government snoops take note Don White a possible future visitor to NZ has endorsed the national length cycle path. Other wise I had this conversation with some friends. The counter argument and I am sure that this could apply where applicable in the US is that you could employ just as many people to work on the Rail system and Electricity Grid. You have to start some where when you repair from wreckage.

Two objections. 1) Relative cost. Up here such a 700-800 miles long bike trail as I described it would cost $300,000 to $750,000 per mile depending mostly on the required cuts and fills to level out the terrain. $210 million to a max of $600 million, pocket change for us up here, hardly worthy of a debate. (Anything under a billion cannot make it into the news). With 15 overnight hostels and a maintenance staff I can see 150 regular full time employees. That implies a managing staff of 15 bureaucrats. Wow! Now that is stimulating!

Second. We’ve allotted $10.9 b. for the upgrade of our electric grid. (We ought to take an ownership share). Which the electric companies should have been doing all along but they “knew” in their “au/h2o heart of hearts” that if they just sat by, the taxpayers would ultimately step up and do the job. It will take about $100 b. to complete that task and probably be done over 10 years. So cross your fingers North Korea does not explode a nuclear bomb over the northeast US and thereby shut down half the country!

Everybody pays to use the Cook Straight ferry service. There is no such thing as a free lunch. If catch the specials advertised on TV you can head across Cook Straight for a decent price.

“The Staten Island Ferry is run by the City of New York for one pragmatic reason: To transport Staten Islanders to and from Manhattan. Yet, the 5 mile, 25 minute ride also provides a majestic view of New York Harbor and a no-hassle, even romantic, boat ride, for free! One guide book calls it "One of the world's greatest (and shortest) water voyages." www.siferry.com...

I think the Cook Strait is 25 km across, about 15 miles, so it is 3 times as far to travel as the Staten Island ferry trip. Or course, the taxpayers of NYC pay for the ferry and its day to day operations. But if I was running for office in NZ, it would be my promise to work earnestly for a free ride to pedestrians and non-motorized vehicles. And I would charge $1 per wheel on the ground for all motorized vehicles.

Sounds good to me. At least the project would pay for itself in the long term in terms of bringing the tourism dollar to the country. This means that I am not as mad at the government as I could have been for not addressing our current infrastructure woes. Although some road projects have been brought forward and as plans to insulate and build new state houses.

Is NZ ready for Obama-ism?

[edit on 3/10/2009 by donwhite]

As many capitalist Democracies of Europe and elsewhere have proven that the diacotomy between socialism and capitalism or even socialism and democracy is a false one... in fact most of the 1st world nations blend them into what can be called capitalist social democracies.

I for one think that the stimiulus package will work but that the hole we are in is so deep that its impact will be muted.

Don't tell Semperfortis (he will never let me live it down LOL) but I actually agree with the Republicans that the bad banks should be allowed to fail... as long as we continue to prop them up, they will continue to be a drag on the economy... plus letting Citicorp and Bank of America to fail would send a loud and clear message that this crap will no longer be tolerated.

Also I fully agree with the head of the FDIC who suggested on 60 minutes last Sunday that banks should be limited in size... I have said it once and I will say it again... no bank, business or whatnot should ever be allowed to get so large that its failure would have such a dramatic and adverse effect on the national economy.

reply to post by grover

Don't tell Semperfortis (he will never let me live it down LOL) but I actually agree with the Republicans that the bad banks should be allowed to fail... As long as we continue to prop them up, they will continue to be a drag on the economy... Plus letting Citicorp and Bank of America to fail would send a loud and clear message that this crap will no longer be tolerated.

It certainly seems fair, to let the super ego guys take a fall! For sure they have "earned" it! At out expense. BUT, I suspect Obama has considered that and appears to have decided NOT to reinvent the wheel! Far quicker, far more likely to produce a predicable outcome and likely to be far cheaper, to GREASE the squeaking wheel rather than trying on a new and untested one. IMO.

Also I fully agree with the head of the FDIC who suggested on 60 minutes last Sunday that banks should be limited in size. .. I have said it once and I will say it again. .. No bank, business or whatnot should ever be allowed to get so large that its failure would have such a dramatic and adverse effect on the national economy.

Been there, done that. Sherman Anti-trust Act. July 2, 1890. See Note 1. That was imperfect and was followed by a drastic overhaul, the Clayton Anti-trust Act. October 15, 1914. See Note 2.

From Day 1 the R&Fs fought tooth and nail along with their secret collaborators in Congress, and often in the White House, to UNDO the power and purpose of those 2 main acts.

You can see how both are TOTALLY ignored. Acquisitions. Mergers. There is not 1 in a 100 that is not approved. Both laws killed in the main as part of the Reagan Revolution! As he the Great Communicator so aptly put it, “Get the government off your back!” Or sometimes he would aver “The Government is the problem not the solution!”

And here we are. 2009. An unregulated debacle that will cost the next 2-3 generations their opportunities to fix. Thank you Mr. Reagan.


Note 1.
The Act also provides: "Every person who shall monopolize, or attempt to monopolize, or combine or conspire with any other person or persons, to monopolize any part of the trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, shall be deemed guilty of a felony.
en.wikipedia.org...

Note 2.
To add further substance to the U.S. Antitrust law regime by seeking to prevent anticompetitive practices in their incipiency. That regime started with the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, the first Federal law outlawing practices considered harmful to consumers (monopolies and cartels).

The Clayton act specified particular prohibited conduct, the three-level enforcement scheme, the exemptions, and the remedial measures.
en.wikipedia.org...


[edit on 3/10/2009 by donwhite]

We have to accept the fact that just as the recession of 2000 was created by Greenspan (remember we have to cool down overheated markets?) and talked up by the Republicans as an excuse to push their tax cuts for the wealthy... this financial crisis was man made as well and for an equally political agenda... to run the nation so into debt that the government has no choice but to eliminate services... the right wing has been planning this for decades and have pulled the wool over everybody's eyes.

reply to post by marg6043

His Priorities are Misguided, he thinks that creating bigger government and squandering billions on zombie banks will help the economy recuperate.

It is MUCH worse than that. Rosa Delauro puppet of Monsanto (Google Hubby Stan Greenberg and Greenpeace) has bills to make a Czar of Food and regulate food growing out of existance. (fine up to $1,000,000 a day)

In my state we have 53930 farms only 171 Farms are not Family held.


MONEYS PUMPED ITO THE STATE ECONOMY BY FARMING (2002 census report)
$3,145,202,000 spent on supplies
$617,679,000 spent on labor.

$3,762,881,000 TOTAL added to the states economy.
Then add in the Horse Population of 256,000 horses with a Total Economic Impact: $ over 704 million and you get 4.5 BILLION. A real healthy chunk of change.


Here is parts of HR875

The Administrator, in order to protect the public health, shall establish a national traceability system that enables the Administrator to retrieve the history, use, and location of an article of food through all stages of its production, processing, and distribution.

set good practice standards to protect the public and animal health and promote food safety;

conduct monitoring and surveillance of animals, plants, products, or the environment, as appropriate ...

....have a written food safety plan that describes the likely hazards and preventive controls implemented to address those hazards;

include, with respect to growing, harvesting, sorting, and storage operations, minimum standards related to fertilizer use, nutrients, hygiene, packaging, temperature controls, animal encroachment, and water

include, with respect to animals raised for food, minimum standards related to the animal's health, feed, and environment which bear on the safety of food for human consumption;

But the best part is the self feeding Empire building mechanism

(e) Penalties Paid Into Account- The Administrator--

(1) shall deposit penalties collected under this section in an account in the Treasury; and

(2) may use the funds in the account, without further appropriation or fiscal year limitation--

(A) to carry out enforcement activities under the food safety law; or

(B) to provide assistance to States to inspect retail commercial food establishments or other food or firms under the jurisdiction of State food safety programs.

The bill specifically says within state claims will not be honored as a means to get around the bill.

They distinguish between "animal" and "animals raised for food" but both are included under the bill and there is nothing that exempts pets or gardens. The Animal Welfare act specifically exempted Livestock and dog breeders with less three or less litters a year, so the lack of exemptions really bothers me.

I would like to see Obama look towards resolving the question that surround the Status of Taiwan . IMO such a move is long over due as the current situation is must surely border on the ridicules. As I understand things as they stand the US would defend Tawian ( even thou its not regarded as an interdependent state by the US and most of the world ) in the event China was to invade .

Now to be honest I am not even sure that in reality the US would defended Tawian if China decided go the road of unification by force . Aside from the fact that China could pull the plug on the US economy there is the whole implications of going to war with China in the first place . Tawian should be encouraged to hold a referendum on its future . Should the people of Taiwan chose independence then admittedly the US would be put in a tight spot due to the reasons I have already outlined but at least the matter would be resolved .

reply to post by grover

We have to accept the fact that just as the recession of 2000 was created by Greenspan (remember we have to cool down overheated markets?) and talked up by the Republicans as an excuse to push their tax cuts for the wealthy... this financial crisis was man made as well and for an equally political agenda... to run the nation so into debt that the government has no choice but to eliminate services... the right wing has been planning this for decades and have pulled the wool over everybody's eyes.

C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S! Mr. Grover. You have said in 500 words or less and better than what I would have used 5,000 words to say and not so well! B R A V O!

Let me add this. Ronald Reagan HATED what he thought was the WELFARE STATE. He believed he could cause Congress to VOTE it out of existence. He thought that by adding the race hating Southern Democrats to his economic neanderthal Western Republicans he could make a working majority. See Note 1. But Reagan, like all presidents from George Washington to Barack Obama, misunderstood the modus vivendi of and underestimated the power of Congress.

Reagan was surprised to learn that Congress would NOT vote out of existence ANY of the New Deal and Great Society programs that Reagan had targeted for elimination. The public actually liked - and still does - those programs despite paying lip service to a general distrust of big government. A phenomenon somewhat akin to the soldier’s unstoppable “right” to gripe! The government you love to hate! So Reagan shifted to a new tack! He would DEFUND the welfare state. He’d spend all the available money on war-making stuff. Ipso facto, the end of the welfare state.

But as so often the best laid plans of mice and men go astray, so the Congress was still under the Dems control. They surprised Reagan by both funding his program - mainly Defense - and their own, the welfare state - which kept them in office. And so the ensuing gridlock launched the juggernaut of DEBT piled on more DEBT.

Don’t be snookered into laying any blame for this debacle on Bill Clinton. Newt Gingrich figuratively “killed” Bill Clinton in 1994, but not before Clinton and the Dem congress elected with him in 1992 succeeded in a straight party line vote in raising taxes. That in turn led to the balanced budget in 1999 and a surplus in 2000. Which Bush43 promptly gave away in 2001 with tax cuts to the R&Fs and increases in the Defense budget. Republicans do love war.

Aside: Each congressperson is elected in his or her own right. None of them “WORK” for the House or Senate leadership. And especially they do not “WORK” for the president. The best you can get today is to have them work “WITH” you. This was not always the case. Until the passing of Speaker Joe “Mighty Joe” Cannon in 1911, and the adoption of the 17th Amendment in 1913, congressional leadership dominated. See Note 2.


Note 1. Southern Democrats were called “Boll Weevils” in the 1980s. The cotton killing insect. Pro segregation and resisters of the 1954 Brown v. Topeka Supreme Court case that not only de-segregated schools but overruled Plessey v. Ferguson (1896) that legitimated Jim Crow. Interposition and nullification were their watchwords. The ways of the Old South - say racist South - was legally DEAD. Ronald Reagan invited those miscreants into the Republican Party where they immediately rushed to join their political kinsmen! We are still fighting to overcome that racist legacy, by the way.

Note 2. Joseph Gurney Cannon (1836 – 1926) was a United States politician from Illinois and leader of the Republican Party. Cannon served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1903 to 1911, and historians generally consider him to be the most dominant Speaker in United States history, with such control over the House that he could often control debate. Cannon is the second longest-serving Republican Speaker in history. en.wikipedia.org...


[edit on 3/13/2009 by donwhite]

reply to post by crimvelvet

In my state we have 53,930 farms only 171 Farms are not Family held.

In what state are you?

reply to post by xpert11

I would like to see Obama look towards resolving the question that surround the Status of Taiwan. IMO such a move is long over due as the current situation is must surely border on the ridicules. As I understand things as they stand the US would defend Taiwan (even though its not regarded as an interdependent state by the US and most of the world) in the event China was to invade.

History: Senator Bob Dole was nicknamed the Senator from Archer Daniels Midland (ethanol), and Senator Humphrey was referred to (behind his back) as the Senator from Cargill (bread), so also was Senator Bill Knowland of California called the Senator from Formosa (Methodist missionaries). “Formosa” being of course the Portugese word for “beautiful island.” And which Japan had took from China in 1897.

There were about 1.5 million Formosans on the island in 1949. (I don’t think anyone had ever taken a western style census). The Formosans were totally unarmed and were entirely peaceful. A few policemen carried sidearms. Defenseless Formosa was suddenly invaded by 400,000 armed and deadly Chinese Nationalist soldiers under Chiang Kai Shek fleeing from Mao Zedong and the famed Chinese 8th Route Army.

Generalissimo Chiang immediately declared MARTIAL LAW and imposed harsh restrictions on the native Formosans. Americans - always so anti-communist that we accepted anything and anyone who claimed to be anti-communist - accepted the invasion as a rightful “maneuver” by our ally Chiang and fully discounted any claim of RIGHTS by the inhabitants of the island. We even changed the name we used here back to Taiwan so uninformed Americans would not readily connect the two. Out of sight, out of mind!

Aside: if you can, you should read this book “Hitler’s Beneficiaries: Plunder, Racial War and the Nazi Welfare State” by Gotz Aly, 2005. The very excellent explanation "why do good people do bad things" can as well explain America’s blind side to anti-communist dictators. End.

The Taiwanese ruling Kuomintang Party held its first free election in 2005. The new government is at last freed of the propaganda that had constrained establishing better relations between Beijing and Taipei for a half century. WAR may now be abandoned by both sides. And I suppose the offer made by the CCP years ago to allow Taiwan the same status as Hong Kong for 50 years still obtains?

I am not even sure that in reality the US would defended Taiwan if China decided go the road of unification by force. Aside from the fact that China could pull the plug on the US economy . .

Uh, that relationship is totally symbiotic! In fact, we are now beginning to use the term CHI-MERICA to refer to that close relationship. And as you may have read in another post of mine, China owns 9% of US national public and private debt. See Note 1. That is the largest fraction owned by any country. The US is not entirely dependent on Beijing. Japan is our No. 2 creditor at about 6.5%.
en.wikipedia.org...

Taiwan should be encouraged to hold a referendum on its future . Should the people of Taiwan chose independence then admittedly the US would be put in a tight spot due to the reasons I have already outlined but at least the matter would be resolved.

I really think Taiwan is fully independent of US influence. And I also think Taiwan and Beijing have reached a modus operandi. I believe you will get your wish in your lifetime!


Note 1. Federal debt is divided into 2 parts. Public debt is that held by anyone buying US Treasury paper in its various forms. Bonds, notes and bills depending on the time before the due date. This part amounts to about 65% of the total national debt.

Private debt is that held in Trust Funds. This amounts to the other 35% of the total national debt. It is money we owe ourselves. It is taxes collected for Purpose A but spent on Purpose B. There are many trust funds. I believe the earliest one was the Highway Trust Fund. It began n the 1920s when the US decided to build a national highway system. The US levied a penny a gallon tax on gasoline. If the states would also levy a similar tax, the US would match the state funds. To get the matching money, the states had to build roads in conformity with nationwide standards.

Other trust funds were established. The Federal Flyways Fund is funded by a tax on shotgun shells to kill ducks. The money goes toward maintaining the natural flyways used by migrating ducks. An Airport Trust Fund taxes aniline tickets and the fund is used to buy land to construct new airports.

The largest trust fund is the Social Security Trust Fund. It was created in 1935, and is funded by a tax on workers, 6.2% of wages up to $88,000 a year. The tax is matched by employers. However in the case of the self-employed, it is 12.4% of net income up to the limit. This fund has over $2 t. in it. It is still operates in the black taking in more than it pays out. It artificially lowers the “apparent” annual deficit by about $200 b.

The next largest trust fund is the Medicare Trust Fund begun in 1965. It is funded by a tax of 1.45% on wages without limit. It too is matched by the employer or the self employed pay 2.9% of all wages without limit. Can you imagine how much Medicare tax Bill Gates or Warren Buffet pay every year? Ever hear either of them gripe about that? Hm. I’d bet both are Democrats because if you are a Republican, it is de rigeur to bitch about taxes. The Medicare Trust Fund has about $1 t. in it.

The Social Security tax called OASI - Old Age and Survivors Insurance - and the Medicare tax are collected under the FICA. Federal Insurance Contributions Act. Note: Medicaid is completely separate, and is funded 100% out of the general fund for poor people. Of which we have plenty!
www.ssa.gov...

The problem is ALL the trust fund money is spent as it comes in. It becomes merely a bookkeeping entry except the Social Security which by law actually receives certificates from the Treasury Department for its money. All trust funds are “paid” interest based on a complex formula but in the case of SS, it turns out to be about 2-3% per year.

This is why the Bush43 decision to VOID the Clinton tax rates and to give away the projected $1.5 t. surplus - over 5 years - by tax cuts to the rich and famous, hurts us so much now. See Grover’s excellent perception in his post above. Under Clinton, we would have paid down the $6 t. debt to be better prepared for the shortfall in SS we know will hit around 2018 and last for 20 years. The baby boomer generation. Instead, Bush43 ran the national debt to $10 t. His L E G A C Y to America.

[edit on 3/13/2009 by donwhite]

reply to post by donwhite

During the Cold War up until the 70s the US was happy to use Chiang and Taiwan as a political counter weight to Red China . Taiwan didn't play the role in the Cold War that Chiang would have the country do so . Truman declined to use Nationalist troops in Korea . After Nixon recognized main land China Taiwan eventually ended up in the position it is in today . Taiwan adopting the Honk Kong model of governance or Constitution is worthy of examination .

If Taiwan was free of US influence the matter would have been resolved by now . Also Taiwan wouldn't make arms purchases from US if it was free from that country influence . IMO as time goes the likely hood of reunification rather then independence for Taiwan grows because of China recent economic growth and the focus of the US being elsewhere . Still the matter does does need to be resolved so the US can stop trying to appease both sides .