The Legacy of Ronald Reagan….

This is interesting stuff. I already knew that Reagan was one of the worst Presidents that we’ve had. Here’s a new book that details his policies and actions:

The Man Who Sold the World

Ronald Reagan and the Betrayal of Main Street America

by William Kleinknecht

The myth of Ronald Reagan’s greatness has reached epic proportions. The public rates him as one of the most popular presidents, and Republicans everywhere seek to cast themselves in his image. But award-winning journalist William Kleinknecht shows in this penetrating analysis of his presidency that the Reagan legacy has been devastating for the country—especially for the ordinary Americans he claimed to represent.

So much that has gone wrong in America—including the subprime mortgage crisis and the meltdown of the financial sector—can be traced directly to Reagan’s policies. The financial deregulation launched in the 1980s freed banks and securities firms to squander hundreds of billions of dollars and make a shambles of the economy. Boom-and-bust cycles, obscene CEO salaries, blackouts, drug-company scandals, collapsing bridges, plummeting wages for working people, the flight of U.S. manufacturing abroad—these are all products of Reagan’s free-market zealotry and his gutting of the public sector. Reagan pioneered the use of wedge issues like race and the war on drugs to distract America while his administration empowered corporations to lay waste to our traditional ways of life.
read more here

BP Gulf Oil Spill….it isn’t what they say

It’s very sad that the topic of switching to alternative energy was discussed back in the 70’s and here we are in 2010 allowing oil companies to have a chance to do this to our environment.  This live feed is from the AP and was released this week.

Gallegly is Against Healthcare Reform…here’s why

Here  is Gallegly’s 2010 campaign contributions:

Industry	Total	Indivs	PACs
Pharmaceuticals/Health Products	$9,000	$1,000	$8,000
Telephone Utilities	$4,000	$0	$4,000
Defense Electronics	$4,765	$1,765	$3,000
Commercial Banks	$3,000	$0	$3,000
Health Professionals	$5,665	$2,665	$3,000
Electronics Mfg & Services	$3,330	$830	$2,500
Real Estate	$8,562	$6,062	$2,500
Misc Issues	$2,000	$0	$2,000
Home Builders	$2,000	$0	$2,000
Computers/Internet	$2,265	$1,265	$1,000
TV/Movies/Music	$3,000	$2,000	$1,000
Lawyers/Law Firms	$10,999	$9,999	$1,000
Insurance	$2,000	$1,000	$1,000
Crop Production & Basic Processing	$4,650	$4,350	$300
Livestock	$5,514	$5,514	$0
Building Materials & Equipment	$4,600	$4,600	$0
Casinos/Gambling	$2,000	$2,000	$0
Retired	$16,711	$16,711	$0
Trucking	$2,065	$2,065	$0
Business Services	$2,665	$2,665	$0

Here are Gallegly’s campaign contributions for the 2008 cycle:

Pharmaceuticals/Health Products	$36,500	$17,000	$19,500
Telephone Utilities	$11,000	$0	$11,000
Real Estate	$48,244	$37,444	$10,800
Automotive	$18,800	$8,800	$10,000
Public Sector Unions	$9,000	$0	$9,000
Home Builders	$10,000	$2,000	$8,000
Defense Electronics	$10,000	$3,000	$7,000
TV/Movies/Music	$10,600	$4,600	$6,000
Crop Production & Basic Processing	$16,448	$10,648	$5,800
Health Professionals	$10,795	$7,648	$3,147
Securities & Investment	$9,800	$7,300	$2,500
Building Materials & Equipment	$16,250	$13,750	$2,500
Lawyers/Law Firms	$22,120	$19,870	$2,250
General Contractors	$9,050	$7,050	$2,000
Lobbyists	$9,150	$7,150	$2,000
Republican/Conservative	$10,410	$9,410	$1,000
Misc Finance	$9,900	$9,400	$500
Livestock	$14,200	$14,200	$0
Retired	$40,849	$40,849	$0
Casinos/Gambling	$10,600	$10,600	$0

A break down of the later demonstrates this:

Sector	Total	PACs	Indivs
Agribusiness	$46,898	$17,800	$29,098
Communications/Electronics	$29,489	$21,000	$8,489
Construction	$38,949	$12,500	$26,449
Defense	$15,250	$12,000	$3,250
Energy & Natural Resources	$12,750	$12,500	$250
Finance, Insurance & Real Estate	$89,444	$26,200	$63,244
Health	$48,995	$23,147	$25,848
Lawyers & Lobbyists	$31,270	$4,250	$27,020
Transportation	$24,800	$13,000	$11,800
Misc Business	$41,202	$12,564	$28,638
Labor	$12,000	$12,000	$0
Ideological/Single-Issue	$23,861	$11,401	$12,460
Other	$48,499	$0	$48,499

Insurance and Health contributions combined make up for his main campaign contributions. If you want to include Lobbyists, that includes another $31,000.

Add to this misery, Gallegly won’t hold town hall meetings and won’t debate campaign challengers.  Probably because he doesn’t care what his constituents have to say and doesn’t want to be challenged with the facts.

Data provided by Opensecrets.org

Go play with the yearly data there, and you’ll see he’s always been a favorite of the insurance/pharma industries.

Over the course of Gallegly’s Congressional career, here are his totals:

Sector	Total	PACs	Indivs
Agribusiness	$335,074	$120,211	$214,863
Communications/Electronics	$263,672	$192,112	$71,560
Construction	$308,391	$105,050	$203,341
Defense	$156,868	$135,557	$21,311
Energy & Natural Resources	$161,076	$131,018	$30,058
Finance, Insurance & Real Estate	$756,363	$319,949	$436,414
Health	$401,417	$205,322	$196,095
Lawyers & Lobbyists	$219,363	$39,525	$179,838
Transportation	$218,316	$135,120	$83,196
Misc Business	$352,147	$139,545	$212,602
Labor	$58,025	$57,525	$500
Ideological/Single-Issue	$192,638	$127,618	$65,020
Other	$284,506	$500	$284,006

hmmmmm

Sarah Palin’s Left Hand

Unbelievable. Frightening actually. Sarah Palin spoke last night to the Tea Party Convention using notes scribbled on her left hand. If she can’t make it through a speech without notes on the palm of her hand…notes that she needed to respond to a question of what are the top three steps necessary for America, what of importance could she have to say to anyone in this country? I think we can get many handfuls of American citizens to respond to that question without crib notes. Just what were the Republicans trying to pan off on America when choosing her for a Vice Presidential candidate?

There was another time when Sarah Palin had hand issues, that was during the Sarah Palin – Joe Biden Debate

Was this after she hurt her hand?

Obama Admin switching sides on Public Option for Healthcare?

The Remains of Gaza

A last image for the passing administration…

it was that bad and we didn’t impeach, shame

Senate to Middle Class – “Drop Dead”

Senate to Middle Class: Drop Dead
From Michael Moore

Friday, December 12th, 2008

Friends,

They could have given the loan on the condition that the automakers start building only cars and mass transit that reduce our dependency on oil.

They could have given the loan on the condition that the automakers build cars that reduce global warming.

They could have given the loan on the condition that the automakers withdraw their many lawsuits against state governments in their attempts to not comply with our environmental laws.

They could have given the loan on the condition that the management team which drove these once-great manufacturers into the ground resign and be replaced with a team who understands the transportation needs of the 21st century.

Yes, they could have given the loan for any of these reasons because, in the end, to lose our manufacturing infrastructure and throw 3 million people out of work would be a catastrophe.

But instead, the Senate said, we’ll give you the loan only if the factory workers take a $20 an hour cut in wages, pension and health care. That’s right. After giving BILLIONS to Wall Street hucksters and criminal investment bankers — billions with no strings attached and, as we have since learned, no oversight whatsoever — the Senate decided it is more important to break a union, more important to throw middle class wage earners into the ranks of the working poor than to prevent the total collapse of industrial America.

We have a little more than a month to go of this madness. As I sit here in Michigan today, tens of thousands of hard working, honest, decent Americans do not believe they can make it to January 20th. The malaise here is astounding. Why must they suffer because of the mistakes of every CEO from Roger Smith to Rick Wagoner? Make management and the boards of directors and the shareholders pay for this.

Of course that is heresy to the 31 Republicans who decided to blame the poor, miserable autoworkers for this mess. And our wonderful media complied with their spin on the morning news shows: “UAW Refuses to Give Concessions Killing Auto Bailout Bill.” In fact the UAW has given concession after concession, reduced their benefits, agreed to get rid of the Jobs Bank and agreed to make it harder for their retirees to live from week to week. Yes! That’s what we need to do! It’s the Jobs Bank and the old people who have led the nation to economic ruin!

But even doing all that wasn’t enough to satisfy the bastard Republicans. These Senate vampires wanted blood. Blue collar blood. You see, they weren’t opposed to the bailout because they believed in the free market or capitalism. No, they were opposed to the bailout because they’re opposed to workers making a decent wage. In their rage, they were driven to destroy the backbone of this country, not because the UAW hadn’t given back enough, but because the UAW hadn’t given up.

It appears that the sitting President has been looking for a way to end his reign by one magnanimous act, just like a warlord on his feast day. He will put his finger in the dyke, and the fragile mess of an auto industry will eke through the next few months.

That will give the Senate enough time to demand that the bankers and investment sharks who’ve already swiped nearly half of the $700 billion gift a chance to make the offer of cutting their pay.

Fat chance.

AIG pays themselves bonuses afterall! Unbelievable

During the Thanksgiving holiday, and probably attempting to go under the radar, AIG is giving top managers “cash awards” to stay with the firm. We’ve been scammed again. Call your Congressperson and ask what they are going to do about it. Seems AIG should be paying our money back at this point. They are over the top in the definition of bold.

Read the article at Bloomberg News online

Robert Scheer on the Economic Crisis

Dick Cheney and Alberto Gonzales Indicted!

Could it be, the moment many are waiting for is beginning. It is happening in Texas. Read the story here.

Is this a beginning?  When will Bush get his turn?

Let’s hope that the rule of law is returned and transparency in government begins.

Housing Crisis isn’t nothing compared to homeowner associations in California

From: open letter to Barack Obama from American Homeowner Resource Center:

“This letter is not the place for a full exposition of the problems in the housing market. If you desire it, we will be happy to provide any further information that you need. However, there is one particular aspect that we would like to draw to your attention.

We recognize that you are in the midst of drawing a group of people around you to help you with the many issues that face you as the new President. We also recognize that your task requires the hiring of quality people, and that this task is a massive one, demanding the screening of countless candidates. To help you in that task, we would like to suggest the names of some people whom you should NOT hire. We list them here for a variety of actions that they have taken in the housing field. But the common element is that they all have not protected the sanctity of the American home. We will be happy to provide details if necessary.”
Willie Brown, former speaker of the California Assembly. He is the one, who as speaker, initiated the Davis-Stirling Act – the legislation that made California homes into cash registers for lawyers and other vendors. He also stated in a C-SPAN interview that he authored the system of superdelegates in the Democratic Party to nullify the voice of the ordinary homeowner.
Gray Davis, former governor of California. When he was in the California State Assembly, Willie Brown tapped him to author the legislation that would turn California homes into cash registers for lawyers and other vendors. He hired the chief lobbyist for homeowner associatons, Katherine Rosenberry, to write the legislation. She testified a few years ago that Gray Davis asked her to take care of the lobbyists.
Jackie Speier, congresswoman from California. As a member of both the California Assembly and Senate, she refused to introduce legislation to curb the abuses in homeowner associations, even though homeowners repeatedly asked her to do so.
Janet Napolitano, governor of Arizona. Homeowners in homeowner associations in Arizona report that they repeatedly asked Janet Napolitano both when she was Attorney General and Governor, to investigate the fraud and corruption in homeowner associations. She refused to so.
Dan Lungren, former Attorney General of California, and currently a House member of the Congress. Even though homeowners filed numerous requests asking him as Attorney General to investigate housing fraud in homeowner associations, he refused to do so. One homeowner, Jim Trautman, who had been working to clear up corruption in his homeowner association, appealed to Lungren for help after he had been hit with fraudulent judgments. Lungren refused to help. Eventually, Mr. Trautman committed suicide.

This is only a small, partial list, but they represent the very people whom citizens want to remove from the political arena. They are some of the reasons why people want change. They represent the very mindset that you campaigned to change. We are working with the victims of home foreclosure fraud on a more comprehensive list and will be sending it to you. In addition, other homeowners from around the country will be contacting you with other names from their parts of the country.

“We know that the task facing you in so many areas is daunting. But as a home is built brick by brick, so a nation is built by the contributions of each citizen. We hope that the above helps in the re-building of a nation that has been ravaged beyond recognition in recent years.”