Awakening to Reality, Acting with Courage

I have just signed a Petition (circulated by CREDO/Working Assets) that demands the removal of Joe Lieberman from the Senate Chairmanship of the Homeland Security Committee. In doing do, I wrote the following letter, which I have since been encouraged to share. I do so willingly, but more, with the same Hope I experienced last November when I cast my Vote - along with 54% of my Citizen-Sisters and Brothers - for "Yes. We. Can.": for Change: we believed in then, and want to Believe in as much today. And more: with a new Hope: that the Obama Administration, that the Democratic Majorities in The People's House and in the United States Senate will recognize that some of their membership have become so dazzled by the Brilliance of their political prowess as to become blinded to The People and Their Causes that they were, as a matter of law, elected to Serve.


Senators Reid, Durbin and Schumer,

With all due respect allow me to assert that to the extent you allow Joe Lieberman to control whether Americans will receive what they voted for last November by an indisputable, and compelling Majority (54% of the voting public), you will demonstrate just as indisputably and compellingly your own corruption. That Joe Lieberman is controlled by the Insurance Cartel, as well as other corporate interests of the Military Industrial Complex, has been clear for years. You each now must demonstrate your own integrity and courage in the face of your own past Faustian Deals. In short: Fall. On. Your. Swords. for America and Her People.

Gentlemen: much has been made of "death" in the melodrama that is the Media - in Rome, it would have been The Circus - but, Gentlemen, "Death" has never been the Enemy; the Enemy, Gentlemen, is suffering.

And, Americans are suffering.
Right Now.
Because they cannot get to others who can relieve their pain, and live with them through what can be for many the harrowing changes of sickness, and aging, and what for others is becoming the Tragedy of childbirth, the Heartbreak of Childhood.

Healthcare for All should never have been "a dream that will never die" in America.

Healthcare for All should have been long ago recognized as part and parcel of Life in America. A reality. A non-negotiable, market-immune element of the Society and Community we create out of our respect and honor for every individual who, living The Dream of America, insures that, "America Will Never Die."

Remove Joe Lieberman from his Chairmanship. And. Get. This. Done.: Healthcare FOR ALL Americans.

Respectfully,
Annie Morrissey


You need not "imagine Death".
You need not engage in any Dickensian reviews of Ghosts from the Past or Future.
All you need to do is this: look into the eyes of your beloved, your son, your daughter, your friend. Now: imagine this: You. Cannot. Do. Anything. But Watch Them Suffer.

Now.
Act.
As and For America.

Now: Nationalize. The. Banks.

I'm only gonna say this one more time: Nationalize. The. Banks.

Point: We need bankers, not banks. What we've had since for the past thirty years or so - specifically helped along by the repeal of Glass-Steagall - is an array of gambling houses called "Investment Banks". Anyone with a computer can show you the new Bankers: They Are Us: We the People. P2PBanking. Uncrunch.org. And more: Craigslist. Barter. Even the New York Times has a page now called "Household Budgeting", and in the last installment (link to come, as I'm on the go) professionals shared stories of trading professional services for professional services.

As for the gambling houses? As I've said, "You won. Congratulations. We the People have no more Money to play with. None." Didn't these guys ever play Monopoly as kids? No Credit Derivatives in that game, one duly notes....

Time for the New Paradigm to be created. Now. Nationalize. The. Banks.

Three Words: NATIONALIZE THE BANKS

There's no other reasonable option now: the U.S. Government MUST nationalize the Banks, beginning with Citi and Bank of America.

Forget about the DOW and NASDAQ for the time being; they're both trailing indicators, and as The Oracle of Omaha has said about his own Berkshire-Hathaway, day to day share values per The Markets have not so much to do with the value of "the farm". In Fact: the Obama Administration has to take the lead on a "new Paradigm", the one my grandmother held sacred: Invest to Hold, look for steady, long-term, balanced growth, and conservative profits. If "Capitalism" is really the economic model the World wants to keep, then today, it must be deconstructed failing Bank, by failing Bank.

Cable chatter on the "business" channels is hyperbolic and panicked. Who would listen to these guys even on good days? But on the "bad days", well, these are the guys who are clearly losing their heads in a crisis. What they need to be told, in no uncertain terms is this: You needn't fear any longer about losing your shirts; you already have.

And millions and millions of your vaunted "consumer base" are Citizens who voted for a change - a paradigmatic change if necessary - to right the Ship of State. FT reported early this morning on China's recent discussions, internally and externally, that America needs to be a whole lot "nicer" to them; China's international Bank is making it clear that it will not buy America's "paper" forever.

That Citi and BofA are both lending to their best customers on this day is no surprise; they never stopped lending to their best customers: How do you suppose some of the Dividends paid in the Third Quarter were managed? But, to those customers to whom they extended credit before their Ponzi Scheme began to be revealed? Not a dime.

The U.S. Government must set up something along the lines of the Resolution Trust Corporation to "reset" The Game of Monopoly the likes of Larry Kudlow and Raging Santelli are so hot to chatter about.... Point: the Captains of Industry "won"; Americans have no more "money" to play with. Until that simple fact is realized, no amount of cash infusions from China or the U.S. Treasury will help. Indeed, President Obama and his Team have a choice: will they act to see that Americans are assisted in "servicing personal debt" so that they can participate in our society, including our economy, or simply assist giants who constructed the Ponzi Scheme in the first place.

Oh, yes, and just By the Way? We all need to be saying this: We are in a Global Depression.

Say it.

Just say it.

Once we hit Bottom, we can begin, truly to recover.

Obama in Mesa: On the Foreclosure Crisis - Not Enough

Nope. This is not enough. In fact, it's way too little.

Elizabeth Warren explains:

We have known that we are in a foreclosure crisis for more than a year now. And with each passing day, it's thousands of families who are moved out of their homes and thousands more who-- who hang on the edge trying to scramble and find a way not to fall over. And yet, we have offered them nothing but empty promises; hope for homeowners, other fancy named programs, big estimates on how many people are going to be helped. And what do the numbers eventually show? The number of people we've helped can be measured in the hundreds in an area in which we're talking about literally now, millions of foreclosures.

The sense of urgency, I-- I don't know how to make it more intense than it is. These are families. These are families with children. These are older people who can't sell their homes and move to other facilities that they need to. These are-- these are people who can't leave Ohio to take a job in South Carolina because they can't sell their homes.

This is a freezing up of the economy, not on Wall Street, but down at the family level. If we don't fix that problem, we cannot fix our economy. We just can't.

This is, therefore, a disappointment, to say the least.

More in my next.

Obama On Stimulus One, Signed in Denver

A game-winning Three Pointer.

Namaste.

Corporate Media Spreading Lies Again on MTP [UPDATED]

Importantly, crucially, REMEMBER: Corporate Media is making sure - making Damn Sure - that their propaganda is screamed from the burning rooftop (to use Claire McCaskill's analogy) that is our Economy. We are in a War: Corporations versus Individuals.

Don't get angry. Don't get sucked in. Just Call Your Senators, and All Moderates that are "on the fence" or willing to talk. (Go to Links below for Calling Senators)

[UPDATE] Okay. It's hard not to get angry at this: Ensign and Pence have no idea what is happening in the States. Do they not realize that California is ready to declare Bankruptcy? States will absolutely let police and firefighters go...there is no money left!

Ah: Pence concedes the point: Government spending does stimulate economy. (All spending I might add....)

Point to Make in Your Calls: How much do you make? Most of us, MOST American Households, earn between $60,000 and $80,000 with TWO incomes. We the People are The Working Poor. We don't need tax cuts, we need money. Jobs. Assistance. A "tiding over". We have no savings. We have not credit. People are hungry. And my bet is that the Unemployment Rate as we speak, when under-employed Citizens and Citizens who've fallen off the the Unemployment Rolls are counted, not to mention heard, is at least 20%. Twenty Percent.

Call.
Find an Economic Recovery Meeting. Go.
Propose: A March on Washington for Economic Justice

Robert Reich Calls Out Gingrich, GOP

Brilliantly, as usual, Robert Reich called out The Gnewt on THIS WEEK saying that the recalcitrance and intransigence of the Congressional Republicans on The Stimulus Package is founded upon their Strategy for Mid-terms 2010: that is, "We wanted Tax Cuts, not Spending. See? Things are not better. Not like they promised. So elect us. We'll make it better. And Cut Taxes."

We ALL need to talk about this Fact: regardless of what is passed in this (first) Stimulus Package, we very likely will NOT see huge changes to the Economy for at least two years. Yes, there will be Jobs created, but Times are Going to Be Tough. We're in a deep, deep hole that took at least eight years and as long as thirty years to create. What we're working for here, what we're looking for are measures - And No Half Measures - to prevent a Depression. Knowing this, Reich asserted, that Republicans have already determined that they will campaign (beginning now, my thought) for the Midterms by saying, "We didn't vote for this, we wanted Tax Cuts, and if they'd cut taxes, and not spent like drunken Democrats, we wouldn't be in this fix."

Reich hit the nail on the head. Gingrich and George Will were stuffed, and now, we all can go out and work to stuff these this strategy and all of its Talking Points associated with it.

Michael Steele on THIS WEEK Redefines "JOBS"

LOL...oh my god...Michael Steele has just redefined "jobs": if it's "just work" it's not a "job"...a "job" he says "doesn't end...."

Is anyone really paying attention to these people?

Steele on PELL Grants, "...I'm not against Pell Grants but how does a Pell Grant get me a job?" Uh...Pell Grants are for students and school....

Claire? Claire McCaskill! Here's another IDIOT! You're on, Senator...to the floor of the Senate! It's time to call out the idiots in the Senate.

Uneffingbelievable....

Oh yes...will someone please yank Miss McConnell into the library and show him the Economic History of the Great Depression. FDR's New Deal worked until he tried to compromise with the GOP and backed off the Program....Krugman recounts this in his interview with Joe Scarborough, another Idiot.

Experts on The Senate's "Compromise": Not Big Enough, Cutting What Works and Plain Dumb in Places [UPDATED] [2d UPDATE]

Adam S. Posen Deputy Director of the Peterson Institute for Interational Economics (not exactly a bastion of "Liberal" thought, read his Bio, folks) commments with fluency on the Senate's "compromise", and specifically notes that the Senate's cuts in monies for Teachers, Firefighters and other public servants and the addition of a $15,000 tax credit for people to "buy homes" are - I'm paraphrasing here - just plain dumb. Read more at the link. AND (please note well): The Package Needs to Be Bigger. Paul Krugman has been hitting this note for awhile: BIGGER. Here he is on MorningJOE Friday, February 6, 2009:




[SECOND UPDATE] At the link Paul Krugman's Blogged on the Senate Bill with specificity. Note well in your comments to Senators and Reps during your Calls.

Hitchhiking once again on Hillary's coinage of the Obama Administration's theme of "Smart Power", I'd suggest it needs to be a whole lot "Smarter", too. Memo to The United States Senators: You really need to drop your contempt for The People's House, and listen to Madame Speaker, and less to the Corporatocracy that is whispering in your ears even now about Campaign 2010. Media Coverage - that is Corporate Coverage of the Stimulus Package - has been replete (no surprise) with inaccuracies and outright lies. Read: Republican Talking Points!

Let's All Shout it Out Now Together: All Government Spending is Stimulative! Mention this when you call your Senator. While you're on the phone, please take a moment to Call moderates who need our attention as well.

For more, on the Media's Corporate Bias, go here.

And, finally, if I hear one more man (Republicans all, led by John BoNER and egged on by the spitting Chris Matthews) speak disparagingly, if not contemptuously and with the High Dudgeon, about the "inappropriateness of the Contraceptives portion" of the House Bill, I will personally escort him to the nearest office of any Ob/Gyn to let him discover the medical costs any woman under the age of 55 incurs to 1) pay for the doc's professional services just to have an Annual Examination, and 2) to obtain and then pay for Birth Control. What just exactly do you NOT UNDERSTAND about the links between the physical, emotional and mental well-being of any woman - not to mention the couple involved - who does not and is not stressing about becoming pregnant? About having to address this financial crisis with a pregnancy? Have you been paying absolutely No Attention to the number of women who have told their heart-rending stories concerning the question of abortion and financial resources? If you're ready to offer A Modest Proposal of your own, say it. You are ALL wealthy white men, many of whom pay for The Little Blue Pill...and many of you have insurance coverage for that little prescription. I would curse you to eternal damnation myself if, by your own profound ignorance and sexual irresponsibility you had not already so condemned yourselves.

A Note to Madame Speaker and Rep. David Obey: In Conference Committee, return the Contraceptives Section to the Joint Bill, call it a Tax Cut: "Dependent Deduction Prevention". JesusMaryandJoseph.... And to Cecile Richards: Send out another Petition, and I will sign it. Meantime, I'm sending you what little I can spare for more action.

I have to stop. My rage and roar are rising...soon I'll be spinning in my chair like Keith used to (nice touch with the reasonable, moderate voice, man...and you've got a great voice....)....

more later.