BuzzFlash Mailbag for March 20, 2009

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Subject: Iraq War and Bush

Six years ago today, President Bush sounded the alarm, “Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. Invade Now.” We did, and now we’d like to leave, but how? Bush’s recklessness consigned his successor to the awful choice of cutting our losses and risking chaos, or stay in the mire indefinitely.

Six months ago this week, President Bush sounded the alarm, “AIG is too big to fail. Give me 700 billion dollars now." We did, and now we’d like to take it back and let the buzzards go bankrupt. But how? Bush’s recklessness consigned his successor to the awful choice of cutting our losses and risking chaos, or stay in the mire indefinitely.

Candy Delacourte

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Subject: Kyl Is One Freaking Hypocrite

Hi BuzzFlash,

Jon Kyl is one freaking HYPOCRITE!!!!!

First, Jon Kyl slams Obama for flying off to do the Jay Leno show and then tells the cameras outside the Senate Chamber what HE would do to solve this financial mess.

"My suggestion is that he come back, since he’s the taken full responsibility, to get his people together and say all right, I want to know exactly what’s happened, who knew what when and how are we going to prevent it from happening in the future."

Then Kyl goes on the Fred Thompson Show and tells Thompson ...

"The first thing to think about is, whenever politicians start railing about other peoples’ behavior - - particularly in the private market - - put your hand on your wallet and start asking questions, you know. Because politicians love to criticize others for what they do, and this is an easy issue to demagogue."

Video of Kyl. http://www.dailykostv.com/w/001034/

Excuse me, but wasn't Kyl in The Senate when this happened under the Bush Administration - and wasn't Kyl (and all the other Republicans) one of Bush's biggest "Pom Pom Cheerleaders" for all this DEEE-Regulation that got us into this MESS?

Hey Kyl, "I think" we know the "Who, What and When" of the investigation you want!

As for the "How Are We Going To Get Out Of This Mess" part of the investigation you want, that's easy. Have all the Republicans "Just Say NO" to other people's ideas and then do a lot of hotheaded blathering!!

What a Hypocrite!!

Tom Wieliczka
Windsor Locks, CT

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Subject: 6th Anniversary of Iraq War

This 24-hour, “let’s keep this story alive because my kid needs braces” AIG story is SO stupid and shame on the media for joining in this feigned outrage and milking it like a fat cow in a bull pasture! Should the story be reported on—YES…should it be the entire focus of hour long news shows—NO!

Did anyone at all even notice that today is the 6-year anniversary of the biggest scam in American political history? No, not Bernie Madoff…the Iraq War? This greatly failed and ill-conceived war has cost our country thousands of lives and over $800 billion (with a B) taxpayer dollars (and still counting…) and these morons (i.e. congress, media, pundits, etc.) are going back and forth like 12-year old school children arguing over who’s to blame over $165 million dollars. Yes, it's a lot of money but compared to where MOST of our taxpayer money has gone (and continues to go), AIG doesn't even scratch the surface!

Six years ago today, our trusted media let itself be blinded and its attention diverted like a kid fascinated by a shiny nickel. You let us all down--please don’t do it again! People are hurting…our children are hurting…America is hurting! You are our voice! Please get over it and get on with helping to fix our country already!

Dee Evans
Dallas, Texas

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Subject: Is Geithner Part of the Solution or Part of the Problem?

Timothy Geithner is starting to look like a mistake. His thinking seems too similar to the architect of the Bush bailout. Oh wait. That was Tim Geithner. So what was Obama thinking? Not only by appointing Geithner, but the other Bush holdover, Robert Gates?

Well, it’s like this: If you own a field full of land mines, and you want them gone, who do you call? The guy that hates the landmines the most? The guy that has dedicated his life to protesting landmines? Nope. You have to call the guy that put ‘em there. He stands the best chance of retracing his steps and finding those bad boys. IF he can be convinced to do so. Big if.

SOURCES:

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2008/11/obama-taps-larry-summers-recalling-summers-days-regulation-foe

http://crookedtimber.org/2008/10/09/brooksley-born-and-alan-greenspan/

http://www.propublica.org/article/obama-regulatory-pick-blocked-influence-of-agency-hell-now-head-1219#When:09:44:25Z

http://www.mydd.com/story/2009/3/18/5237/17851

http://www.businessinsider.com/henry-blodget-geithner-now-out-of-the-loop-resignation-talk-begins-2009-3

http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/finance/dodd-cracks-aig---time/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/18/dodd-treasury-officials-i_n_176609.html

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/3/20/710854/-An-Ode-of-Thanks-to-Amy-GoodmanDemocracy-Now
(scroll down to Amy's interview with Scheer and Gonzales)

Rob Gallegher

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Subject: Bush Ties Up Traffic in Florida

We live in St. Petersburg, Fl. How is it that George W. Bush as EX President gets to shut down part of St. Pete as he moved through to visit someone who has been a long time supporter? He was in his bulletproof car and convoy with all police agencies and helicopters (including military) blocking off streets along the way and setting up hours in advance. I had a number of friends around the county reporting the unusual activities.

When government agencies are supposedly stressed financially, then who paid for all this security and use of resources which had to cost a considerable sum? I don't see this happen for Ex President Carter, for example, do you? Why all the special treatment as if he were still a sitting President? Something to ask as things don't add up, do they? Does he get this treatment forever at our expense?

We are the employers and George W. Bush is a former employee who still is costing goverment agencies (who we finance and work for us) a lot of resources. Why? Something doesn't add up, does it? Should we be paying for all this mega security? Does he get this all the time? When does it end? Normally they only get a couple of Secret Service don't they?

Daryl Purchase

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Subject: WISHFUL THINKING

I realize this is a mean thing to say, but I wish the beautiful and talented British actress Natasha Richardson could come back from the dead and the evil, ugly Rush Limbaugh would die and take his rightful place in hell.

Shirley Dianne Jackson
Portland, Oregon

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Subject: Outrage Over Bailout Bonuses

Concerning An Average American’s Anger Over The Recent Payout Of Bailout Money For A.I.G. Bonuses

I am writing this piece to potentially enable me to grasp and posit some resolution of the anger that presently grips the population in this country - of which I represent approximately 1/400 millionth - over the payout of “Bail-Out Money” to executives of A.I.G in the form of contract dictated bonuses - which anger is at rage level in some - an assumption I choose to make in light of the reported threats of bodily harm to A.I.G. executives and their families, and present C.E.O. of A.I.G., Edward Liddy’s reluctance to release the names of said bonus recipients because of fears for their personal safety.

Perhaps it will be helpful for me to compare this situation to a tool box, with our elected government representing the craftsman. It would seem that the hand tools in the box (the screw drivers, hammers, wrenches, etc. which might represent what are regarded as the unskilled - i.e. the workers at the lower echelons of the hierarchy and which make up the largest number of actual tools in the box) are currently near the point of revolt against the power tools (no pun intended here), the drills , saws, routers, etc. who take up much more room proportionally (but are far fewer in number than the other class and might represent upper management) because of what the hand tools regard as grossly unfair advantages and privileges that are enjoyed and exercised by those in high places.

Notwithstanding that, when a screwdriver loses its edge, and has already been worn down to the point that further grinding would be useless, or the wrench which is sprung to the point that it slips on the bolt, it is either unceremoniously retired as an antique, or if it hasn’t enough tenure to be retired, is simply discarded without second thought and replaced by a new item. After all, screwdrivers are, figuratively speaking, a “dime a dozen,” anyhow. Yet when an expensive drill motor finally begins to wane, every effort will be made to refurbish it, often times even going to the lengths of rebuilding the motor. But then we accept the aforementioned scenario as simply the way things are - hand tools are expendable and power tools being more expensive deserve to be rescued if at all economically feasible.

As important as power tools are in accomplishing the overall task (and the following is perhaps something that the current A.I.G. executives have overlooked), the cutting of materials to the proper size, angle, or orientation, etc, as in the case of the saw, the pilot hole which facilitates the driving of the screw in the case of the drill, or the finishing or decorative edge on the table or counter top, as in the case of the router, none of these functions would have any meaning whatsoever, if the hand tools were absent from the box and,consequently, their various potentials unrealized. The completion of the overall task, whether the “powers that be” can afford to admit it or not, is a communal effort with each tool necessarily performing its function in order that the other may complete its designated work.

So, rather than aggrandize themselves with the rationalization process to the point that they have come to believe that the services that they render to the project are so much more valuable than the contributions of countless “lesser employees,” that they not only deserve what were designated as “Retention Bonuses,” but have both a moral as well as a legal right to those funds. Perhaps had the lowly chalk box spilled out a grain of perspective on them from the straight and narrow its message implies, they might have been forced into a different view of things.

Moreover, insofar as retention is concerned, I might ask in the current economy, and with their track record at A.I.G., exactly where would these folk go and command the salaries that they were paid if they were not retained - let alone paid “Retention Bonuses?” If you worked in personnel at some comparable company, would you seriously consider employing someone with such an employment history? I mean, SERIOUSLY CONSIDER?

Additionally, perhaps the first question that should have been asked is “Why would A.I.G. want to retain these individuals under any circumstances - again, given their performance record?” Are many of these bonus recipients not exactly the same people whose cavalier attitudes, reckless business dictums, greedy stratagems, and lack of consideration for clients and stockholders alike sank the company to the bottom of the financial well in the first place?

If one can refute any of the above, please explain to me why any one of these people who held contracts which stipulated that the bonuses would be paid is any better than the thousands of municipal workers, civil service employees, teachers, and government workers (all of whom are contractual employees) who have been forced into furlough situations, through no fault of their own, in order that budgets could be met. Why then did the above mentioned executives deserve any kind of bonuses at all (performance, retention, or otherwise) given their generous contributions to the colossal financial failure of A.I.G.? And speaking of contributions, which failure (A.I.G.’s) has undoubtedly also

made a major contributive (if not precipitative) impact on the current recession which has cost a mere four million screwdrivers (a number which is growing daily) a permanent furlough.

Finally, and this point needs to be made most stridently, no one buys a drill, saw, or router for its own sake.

We buy a drill because we want a hole, we buy a saw because we need materials shorter, and we buy a router because we like finished edges on materials which don’t come from wherever we buy them with finished edges. When the saw won’t saw, when the drill won’t drill, or when the router won’t rout, in other words, when any or all of the above tools will not, does not, or cannot accomplish the job which we expect from it, we put it or them out of the tool box, period! We don’t praise them; we don’t reward them for their failure; we rid ourselves of them, and we replace them.

These executives didn’t do their jobs. Not only should they not receive retention bonuses, we need (and I say we, because we, the taxpayers, own some 80% 0f A.I.G. now) to clean out our tool box before these apparently derelict power tools fail to drill the holes, saw the materials, or finish the edges of our next project.

And certainly, not the least of the considerations presented herein, there might be some merit in holding those responsible for said failure to perform somehow accountable for the reckless damage that they have done to the security of the tool box as a whole. Do you hear me MR. CRAFTSMAN?

Dan R. Phillips

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Subject: Condi, Ari and Dick -- still trying to cover butts

Cheney was on TV last Sunday still trying to link Saddam to 9/11 or at least justify them saying Saddam had links to 9/11.

Ari Fleischer comes on and says they believed he was connected. And then on Charlie Rose, last night Condi says they never tried to link Saddam to 9/11.

Condi: We believed that the weapons of mass destruction threat was growing because that he'd reconstituted his

Charlie: but you didn't believe it had anything to do with 9/11?

Condi: no, no one was arguing that Saddam Hussein somehow to do with 9/11. Well I was certainly not, the president we were not arguing that.

So, why did we attack Iraq again?

Karen Webb
Moore, OK

[BuzzFlash Note: Rachel Maddow did a great job on that issue Thursday night. The video is posted on the BuzzFlash home page.]

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Subject: Is the Stock Market Fixed?

I believe the stock market is fixed. I believe there is a small number of people who can make it go up or down. I think it's done through mutual funds. There are a small number of mutual fund companies. They control a large percentage of all stocks. I would like to see an expose on who had short contracts or long contracts on the days it goes down or up.

Philip Nute

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Subject: Nationalization Of Banking & Finance Is The Only Sure Way To Prevent Another Meltdown

"Why not just go for tightening the regulations on banking & finance?"

"Any improvement would be temporary at best."

"The reason being?"

"By way of its political contributions the industry could successfully prevail upon Congress to weaken whatever new regulations had been put in place."

"Based on?"

"Over the past three decades, despite several serious meltdowns that required government intervention, Congress' only response has been to weaken regulations."

"Rather than nationalizing what's always been a privatized industry why not just go after the greedy ones whose actions brought about this latest meltdown?"

"Because where there's so much to be made for doing so little, resisting temptation can't be counted on."

"The answer being?"

"Remove the temptation."

"How?"

"Nationalization."

"Anything else?"

"Total transparency."

A BuzzFlash Reader

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Subject: Who Runs The U.S.?

Freeman’s Fight: The Israel Lobby Gets Its Man—And Tips Its Hand

By Philip Weiss

http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/

March 19, 2009 "The American Conservative" -- -Charles Freeman Jr.’s withdrawal of his acceptance of a high-level intelligence position in the Obama administration was a national-security drama more riveting than an episode of “24.” The moral was clear: even a president who owes his job to a progressive movement in American politics could not support a longtime public servant who had made the mistake of criticizing Israel. Fierce advocates of the Jewish state, notably Sens. Chuck Schumer and Joe Lieberman and Reps. Eric Cantor and Steve Israel, played important roles in Freeman’s exit, while present and former officials of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee flitted in and out of the wings. The message to all office-seekers is obvious. “They want to kill the chicken to scare the monkeys. They want other people to be intimidated,” Freeman told The American Conservative just before he withdrew his name to be chairman of the National Intelligence Council. He went on, “If the administration does not stick with me, then it’s destroying the argument that the Israel lobby is only a mythic entity and does not control the public space. … It will show the world that it is not able to exercise independent thinking on these issues.”

If there was encouraging news in the administration’s collapse, there it was. When Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair announced Freeman’s withdrawal late on the afternoon of March 10, the matter was on center stage, in plain sight of what Freeman calls “the American political class.”

Three hours later, Freeman issued a statement directly accusing the Israel lobby of “doing widening damage to the national security of the United States.” He wrote that its tactics “plumb the depths of dishonor and indecency and include character assassination, selective misquotation, the willful distortion of the record, the fabrication of falsehoods, and an utter disregard for the truth.” He continued:

I believe that the inability of the American public to discuss, or the government to consider, any option for U.S. policies in the Middle East opposed by the ruling faction in Israeli politics has allowed that faction to adopt and sustain policies that ultimately threaten the existence of the state of Israel. It is not permitted for anyone in the United States to say so. [more]

A BuzzFlash Reader

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Subject: AIG, credit card interest

President Obama was inaugurated into the biggest mess of any president in recent history. There is no one IMHO who could better handle the job.

Barely two months since Obama took office and the Repugs are playing their same old game: harass and blame, find fault and make demands. In spite of the rampant violations by the Bush bunch of the Constitution, ethics, and justice, there was not a peep out of the Repug pluralities for eight long years.

There was an understood hurry by the President to take action to heal the economy. I can see how some things could be overlooked. I doubt if anyone could even imagine the size of the bonuses given out by AIG, or for that matter, that there would be many persons who would receive them. In my experience, bonuses have, in most times, been awarded to individuals whose work performance and results were outstanding.

The audacity of AIG in giving bonuses under the circumstances is mind-boggling. We need to know who in AIG would give such bonuses when the big corporation was failing. Liddy can claim he only took over as CEO recently, that he is only paid $1 a year, and that he was not aware of the retention bonus portion of certain employee contracts. Still, he had great knowledge of the company and should be able to tell us the names and positions of the jerks who authorized the retention bonuses.

I do not believe President Obama or Secretary Geithner would deliberately enable such bonuses. They are both faced with voluminous problems inherited from the previous administration, and I say, give them a break.

There are many horror stories I could tell about working in the midst of Republicans, but I would not be believed. They are masters of intimidation, it is impossible to find a lawyer who will take a case against them, and the media are owned by them. "Truth" and "facts" are not in their vocabulary.

Creed Ballew
Arkansas

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Subject: GOP Hypocrisy on A.I.G.

It's interesting to watch the Republicans change their tune. After a week of railing about the immoral AIG bonuses, they are now against taxing those bonuses so the taxpayers can get their money back. When it comes to ripping off the taxpayers, the Republicans side with those who are stealing from us. There's a big difference between the way Republicans talk and how they vote.

I'm Marc Perkel - And I approved this message!

Marc Perkel

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Subject: Geithner's Wall Street Ties and Actions

I have been a long time fan of BuzzFlash, but you guys have really jumped the shark! You call for Geithner's (sp?) head with all the reasoning and gusto of thoughtless lunatics. He isn't the evil person you are making him out to be (Krugman is a good guy, but it's easy to be God when no one is holding you responsible for anything), and if Obama were to cut him loose now, it would be the end of Obama's budget, which would give Repubs room to further their failed ideas.

I think BuzzFlash has become a reactionary site totally disenfranchised from reality. You people are actually fighting to end Obama, which would only bring about the next right-wing regime -- probably worse than Bush. Get your heads out your asses and pay attention, huh?

A. Alexander

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Subject: Bleeding America Dry

A lot of people are talking about the financial institutions bleeding Americans dry, especially the middle class. But no one is talking about why are they bleeding us dry.

My answer? To have a continual supply of money for them. If the people are paid more equitable salaries they can save up to buy a car or house and then have no need for loans that earn A LOT in interest for them. It is essentially a big TAX that the corporations collect for themselves. Keeping Americans poor makes sure that they will have an endless supply of workers who have to take their jobs. They will not be able to save up money and start their own businesses which might compete successfully with major corporations instead of failing through lack of funds or paying high interest to the financial institutions.

Bleeding the majority of the country dry means their money is more important and they have an easier access to luxury goods, with less competition for those goods. More land for their big houses and more access to every other nice product in the land. Most of us would be wearing linen and silk instead of polyester if we had more disposable income and our children would have a greater chance to go to major colleges and universities which would not leave room for 'legacy' students such as George Bush. Little Georgie would have to compete with intelligent students to attend college and would never have been the 'successful' man he claims to be.

Think about it. The upper class calls it socialism, but the fact is that what they are really afraid of is COMPETITION!

A BuzzFlash Reader

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Subject: Financial Giants Are Too Big to Bail, But Not Too Big to Jail

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2009/03/financial-giants-are-too-big-to-bail.html

And: There Is Still Hope

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2009/03/there-is-still-hope.html

George Washington
California

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Subject: Nationalize 'The Fed', not banks

Most Americans are unaware that the so-called Federal Reserve is owned by a consortium of PRIVATE Banks, it is not a part of the Federal Government (even though its name suggests it is) and its reserves are questionable - in the end its reserves are the taxpayers' wallets. Rep. Dennis Kucinich will propose a bill to effectively nationalize "The Fed", bringing it under the control of the Treasury Department.

A BuzzFlash Reader

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Subject: Selling Our Businesses Short

Dr Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com, lays out the case in the video on his blog, outs players in the hedge fund world that profitted enormously at the taxpayers' expense, and makes a credible case that laws were broken in the process. They were allowed to get away with it and continue to be allowed to because the SEC refuses to enforce the law and is in fact beholden to the criminals that have done this to the rest of us.

http://www.deepcapture.com/the-short-heard-round-the-world/

Noah Stern

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Subject: Which Will It Be, Mr President, Lost Adrift The Undertow Or Aloft On A Rising Tide Of Populism?

"If it's the former?"

"Four years and out with nothing to show for the effort except for those shattered dreams."

"And if he rides the tide of populsim?"

"Change that we can believe in."

"Based on?"

"Yes we can."

A BuzzFlash Reader

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