I have to admit, I'm somewhat bewildered at the support Hillary Clinton has garnered. Of course I'm equally baffled by Trump and Cruz supporters. But the Hillary Clinton supporters seem completely willing to ignore her voting history as a Senator, her corporate involvement history (you don't get to be on Walmart's board of director's by being someone whose principles can't be bought), her history of speaking for and accepting Wall Street money, (and she's continuing to accept these moneys) her dismal record as Secretary of State (obviously, that is not all on her). One of her largest PACs, Priorities USA Action, has raised $11.5 million for her in the last month. The PAC's biggest contributors? Wall Street billionaires. This is less than a month from the PAC saying they were spending no more money on the primaries. The PAC is led by Clinton's 2008 campaign manager. Does anyone really believe that she is different now? What evidence do we have of that? Until Sanders started making her sweat, her campaign platform was basically maintain the status quo. To this day, her website is filled with "I believe"s and "I'm against"s with out really fleshing out ANY sort of economic OR foreign policy - except if you count "I will continue the fight", which isn't very meaningful. She clearly has not vowed to change anything. Does anyone really believe that things don't need to change? THAT'S what bewilders me.

As Economists Predicted, We are Still Paying for Bush....think about that next time you're considering Mittens

Not surprisingly, our country is still suffering from what the republicans inflicted upon us during the Bush presidency.  The tax cuts to the rich still exist, along with the loopholes that you can only truly take advantage of if you already have a ton of money(capital gains, assorted write-offs.)  And people still fault Obama for what he has or hasn't done.

It's to sit back for a moment and ponder what might have been.  McCain and Palin(shudder) have won.  Already the most free market in the world, is going to become a whole lot freer.  M&P will have to step up to our enemies, because they promised they would.  Escalations in Iraq and Afghanistan would be a given.  Iran would most likely be bombed to cinders.  The rest of the world's hatred would grow exponentially.  If you've forgotten, during much of Bush's presidency, American students tooling around Europe would put a Canadian flag on their backpacks.  This really happened.  Have we already forgotten how much we were hated then?  

And since a large portion of our country seemingly has its head up its ass, they don't see what the foreign press or governments think of a Romney presidency.  Even they know it would be disastrous for the world and our country.  Spend some time reading foreign press.  Then you may understand what is really going on.  Our big stick method of diplomacy.  Our woefully shortsighted congress and senate.  Banks running the country.  They can all see it.  Perhaps it's too close to our eyes, and everything is fuzzy.

We are laughed at by the rest of the world for failing to invest in renewable energy (including China.)  We are considered incredibly poor world citizens for the way we treat our environment, and all of our natural resources.  Is this the country you wanted when you were growing up?

It's time to act.  Re-electing Obama, while the right next step, undoubtedly will not be enough.  The banks and the super rich need their world shaken up.  And if our elected officials won't do it, pretty soon this country will have to make a decision if they're going to do it themselves.

Gingrich's Baldfaced Lie

Newt has no problem lying and cheating.  He has shown that ability to obfuscate the issues, not with a half truth sprinkled here, and little white lie over there.  He just out and out lies.  His promise of $2.50 a gallon of gas, if believed by anyone who has no concept of market and supply and demand, is on it's face a lie.

His solution lies in opening up public lands for more exploration, more drilling, more fracking, done at such a fever pitch, with the relaxation of rules like environmental impact statements.  This duty would fall on the government to complete the EIS, and the government would only be allowed a limited time to finish it. Otherwise the oil company would be allowed to move forward if not finished within the allotted time.  Sort of like having to charge someone with 24 or 48 hours, whatever it is, or you have to let him go.  If the EIS is not finished in time, the oil company would not be bound by it's findings, and the requirement to ameliorate their impact would no longer be their problem.  And don't expect the companies to suddenly start looking out for you or your children.  That just isn't going to happen.

What he (and other just drill baby proponents) decide not to mention is that drilling and exploration has exploded in the last twelve years.  In 2000, there were some 700 oil and natural gas rigs in the country.  Today there are over 1,900.  And despite the best efforts of the federal government AND the producers, the price of oil has still risen.  Cars have become more efficient, almost all energy consuming parts of the economy have decreased their usage.  Producers have found more efficient ways to harness the energy stores they find.  So why do oil prices continue to rise?  Because ITS A GLOBAL MARKET.  And while we as Americans are looking for ways to decrease the size of our energy footprint, the rest of the world is just now catching up to us in manufacturing and modernization.  Hence their use has risen astronomically.  And as with any marketplace, when demand goes up, and continues to rise, the prices will go up regardless of supply.  As an example, a huge oil and natural gas field was (literally) just discovered off the coast of Cork, Ireland.  But don't expect that to lower prices.  Because Ireland isn't about to flood the market with oil (even if they could, which is doubtful), because they'll want that same premium price OPEC and Norway and Venezuela are enjoying.

Another of what Newt calls a key arrow in his $2.50 quiver is that he would (along with the rest of the right) okay the Keystone Pipeline.  While this would be something tangible people could touch, see, and feel, (as opposed to increased demand in other parts of the world) it would actually only add less than .5 percent to the daily global supply.  And it is the daily global supply that dictates price, no matter where it comes from.  So oil found and produced in the United States costs the same, the only savings is in cartage.  And while that is sizable, they don't talk about how much shipping costs are when oil prices go up, they talk about barrel cost.  So if the global market is supporting (however spuriously that support is created) $103 a barrel, oil producers in America price their oil at $103 a barrel.

So despite Newt's desire to pretend that the price of oil is something the President can dictate through his actions, the fact of the matter is there is really very little we or the President can do about the price of a barrel of oil.  Becoming self sufficient will only come through sustaining green energy initiatives.  And that scares the oil companies.  Because they know they don't own the sun, wind or tides.  And probably never will.

Santorum: Education bad, stupidity good

So now Rick Santorum calls President Obama an elitist, liberal snob for wanting to make college available to as many people as possible. The reasoning being that colleges and universities are run by liberals and this is the President's method of seeding the liberal political base.

Perhaps.

But anyone who has been to college knows that basically the largest lesson you should come away with, regardless of your major, is learning how to think critically. Regardless of your teacher's political bent. And Santorum knows this. He also knows his base. He knows they are largely ignorant, and their ignorance leads to fear. Fear of change, fear of culture, fear of people different than them. Fear of people with more education than them.

And I'm sorry to say, that also means they are fairly religious. Not necessarily church going religious. But look to religion for their guidance. And there quite possibly could be no worse guide than organized religion.

GOP War with Iran would be on the 99%'s backs.

So all the GOP candidates want to appear all tough and "I got your cojones right here, asshole". Let's take a brief look at what that war would entail.

It would surely allow the GOP a reasoning to fall back on for rescinding their promise to the American people to cut military spending. It would most likely cost TRILLIONS, not billions, of dollars. Iran would fight like a cornered badger. Taxes would go up on all but the wealthiest, because as we know, the job creator's can't be denied the capital they need to create these war machine jobs. Jobs actually may rise for a bit. For a bit. It would even further destabilize the middle east. Israel would sit back, and holler out every so often, "Don't worry, we got this little trIangle covered" from behind the weaponry we provided them with. And once again, an unnecessary war would be fought on the backs of the poor and middle class.

Just as the wealthy castigate the poor for having no play in the game of taxes, the wealthy have no play in the game of war. Until a complete and all-encompassing draft is installed (as horrible as that sounds) the wealthy will have no play. When they start seeing their children come home in body bags, then the reality of what they have wrought will hit home. And it may have the unintended consequence of making them realize having some humanity isn't a weakness, or a bad thing.

Even their advocates can't describe private equity with a straight face

A professor Macey (I used a lowercase p deliberately) from Yale Law school was on the Daily Show this evening. As he tried to describe how private equity firms work, and John would point out that the firms didn't even follow the rules/laws the professor said they operate under, he was reduced to smiling uncomfortably, or saying "Oh dear". He eventually had to leave admitting that not very much of what firms like Bain Capital is above board or even kosher by law. They just pay the SEC the fine, which is usually a small percentage of what they have already milked out of the company they bought.

It's a self policing system, which when you're dealing with the kind of greed the rich are apparently imbued with, doesn't stand a chance of operating as a self governing system. And this is a surprise how?

Newt's Time is limited, maybe that's a bad thing

While this country's short term memory seems to have been replaced by the MSM, a fact that could be said of a large portion of all brain activity, Newt Gingrich enjoys what is sure to be a short-lived popularity. One has to wonder how much the media has to do with this, considering Newt's philandering ways don't exactly smell like the religious right. Who's shit, in case you were unsure, smells like auto air freshener. Whichever one is most popular at the local car wash. His being drummed out of the Republican party of the '90s isn't really any sort of hindrance to the Tea Party embrace. After all, back in the '90s the Republican still occasionally sounded sane. Sanity is not in play with the religious right, and most certainly not with the Tea Party (aka Koch's Idiots).

But think for a moment what a Republican nomination of Newt would bring about. It would show the whole country how craven AND insane the Republican party has become. And almost undoubtedly result in a Obama landslide. Gingrich's lack of new ideas, his eventual embracing of the religious right (which he will have to do to have a ghost of a chance of winning the nomination) will leave such a horrible taste in most american's mouths that he will be an easy opponent.

Something people seem to forget, is that the religious right has been rising up about every eight to ten years, to waggle their bibles, shout sinner, and proclaim the country christian. The problem is they haven't been learning that MORE radical, means a bigger putdown. And they are right now about as radical as they ever have been. And in large part that is what makes them most frightening. And what will ultimately make them ineffective.

There are other effects occurring as we speak. Spending is slowly but surely increasing. Corporations are actually seeing the light regarding their parsimonius ways, and watching themselves being left in the lurch. The CEO's whose corporations have been holding onto cash and buying back stock have pretty much used up the shareholders goodwill and bonuses they can garner through this method. Eventually they have to do something, and if they wait too long, it will be too late. GE is one company that is starting to see the light, however slowly. Others will fall into line, especially as a company like GE's needs from supporting industries increase. The recovery will actually happen faster once this snowball starts. Obama is going to catch the windfall, not necessarily through his own doing, but because of something as simple as timing. Gas prices are slowly dropping. Food prices are stabilizing. Spending is slowly but surely increasing. All of these things bode well for Obama.