President Barack Obama is the most admired man in America

For the third year in a row, President Barack Obama is the most admired man in America according to a USA Today-Gallup poll.

But he does not come close to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was named the most admired woman for the ninth year in a row.

The USA Today-Gallup survey, conducted Dec. 10-12, is based on telephone interviews with a random sample of 1,019 adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Still, perhaps we should not take too much stock in the survey because former President George W. Bush was in the top five in the men’s list and half-term Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice were in the women’s top five list.

However, it’s good to see that some people have respect for the office of President, as well as for President Obama the man. But there are still people who have an irrational hatred for Obama, like the birthers.

These insane people believe the President was not born in the U.S. and has not produced his birth certificate, despite undisputed evidence to the contrary. It seems the only way they will be satisfied is if he personally knocks on their door and presents it to them, but I doubt that will even satisfy them. It’s just amazing that people still believe this.

Now, new Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie wants to dispel conspiracy theories that the President was born elsewhere and find a way to release more information about President Barack Obama's Hawaii birth. The only problem is Abercrombie can’t release the birth certificate because Hawaii's privacy laws have long barred the release of a certified birth certificate to anyone who doesn't have a tangible interest.

That has just given birthers more ammo, and they are claming a conspiracy. This is so simple: if the President was ineligible to be the President, the conservative U.S. Supreme Court would have done said as much. After all, they had no problem making Bush President; they would have no problem unseating Obama.

New contract on America is just old failed polices in a new package

With the mid-term election some six weeks away, Republicans are finally unveiling their alleged plan today with a new contract on America, and, as expected, it’s all the same failed Bush-era polices that created the worst and longest recession since the Great Depression.

House Republican leaders are scheduled to discuss their contract on America at a lumber yard in Sterling, Va. today. The old, failed ideas in a new package are basically a crackdown on government spending, repeal of the healthcare reform law and extension of all the expiring Bush tax cuts that helped squandered the budget deficit Bush was handed and left a deficit for President Obama.

The bottom line is that these those old, failed policies that created the Bush recession, the longest and deepest since the Great Depression, almost killed the economy, and the polices put in place by President Obama and the Democrats have the country going in the right direction and ended the recession.

A better name for this old plan in a new package might be a contract with rich Americans that promises to eliminate all taxes on wealthy Republicans.

Former President Bill Clinton put it best on CBS News when he said this hole was dug over eight years, their argument is we, the Democrats had 21 months to get out their hole, so throw us out and they can do what they did again that dug the hole.

This new “contract” basically stays away from social issues like GOP platforms of years past in an effort to divide and rule by fear, but it does include the promises to “honor families and traditional marriage.”

Unlike the 1994 contract on America, this campaign tactics will not be signed by GOP officials and does not call for term limits or a balanced budget amendment.

The choice in November is even more clear: go with the failed GOP polices that created the worst recession since the Great Depression, or go with the party that averted a depression and a collapse of the financial system and got us out of the Bush recession.

One more reason not to vote for the party of no ideas in November

The news that General Motors Co. reported a second consecutive quarterly profit on Thursday is just one more reason why we should not give the keys back to the party of no in November that ran the economy into the ditch.

GM’s reported a $1.33 billion profit in the second quarter, but we need to remind people that the majority of Republicans were against the government loans that kept thousands of American workers employed and the economy growing after the Bush recession, the worst since the Great Depression.

The simple fact is Republicans have absolutely no plan for the economy, and when pressed for any idea at all, other than no, they basically want to go back to the disastrous Bush polices that almost threw us into a depression. They even want to go back to Bush’s awful plan of privatizing Social Security, and some teabagger Republicans actually want to do away with Social Security and Medicare.

Social Security is the major source of income for most of the elderly, and nine out of 10 individuals age 65 and older receive Social Security benefits. Republicans want to do away with it? I guess that’s not surprising from a party that blocked unemployment benefits for workers while giving huge tax breaks to the richest 1 percent.

I can’t think of a single reason to vote for a Republican in November.

It was Democrats and President Obama who may have diverted another depression. There is no way that can be known for sure, but Economists Alan Blinder of Princeton and Mark Zandi of Moody’s Analytics say Democrats diverted a depression.

According to the Associated Press, when “Obama was campaigning for president in 2008, the country was mired in the worst economic downturn since the 1930s.A crisis with subprime mortgages created panic dominos in the real estate, insurance, banking and auto industries, and credit markets virtually froze around the globe. Home values slid by $3.3 trillion in the last three months of 2008, Zillow Real Estate Reports said. The iconic Dow Jones industrial average plummeted from a high of 14,164 on Oct. 9, 2007, to a 12-year low of 6,547 on March 9, 2009. An average of 620,000 Americans lost their jobs every month from October 2008 to May 2009, and unemployment spiked from 5 percent in January 2008 to 10.1 percent in October 2009. The U.S. economy, as measured by gross domestic product, contracted by an annual rate of 6.3 percent in the last quarter of 2008 and 5.7 percent in the first three months of 2009.”

“Today, by contrast, home prices have stabilized, though unevenly by region; the economy is growing again, albeit at an anemic 2.4 percent in the second quarter; stocks are up more than 60 percent; joblessness remains at a painfully high 9.5 percent.”

The goal today, thanks to Democrats, is to keep the economy moving and increase employment, not to save the country from economic ruin because they already did that.

There is no way Republicans should get the keys to the car back, and we do not need to go back to the failed Bush policies.

GWB is not the worst U.S. President in history; only the fifth worst

There is little doubt that George W. Bush was one of the worst U.S. Presidents in history. The only debate is whether he is actually the worst or just one of the worst, but the Siena College Research Institute’s (SRI) Survey of U.S. Presidents only puts Bush as the fifth worst U.S. President, ahead of such greats as Andrew Johnson, James Buchanan, Warren G. Harding, and Franklin Pierce.

The SRI has conducted the survey five times since 1982. More than 200 presidential scholars ranked the 43 U.S. Presidents on six personal attributes - background, imagination, integrity, intelligence, luck and willingness to take risks- five forms of ability - compromising, executive, leadership, communication and overall - and eight areas of accomplishment, including economic, other domestic affairs, working with Congress and their party, appointing supreme court justices and members of the executive branch, avoiding mistakes and foreign policy.

Franklin D. Roosevelt has been ranked No. 1 since the survey began, and this year the top five includes Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. In fact, in nearly 30 years, the same five presidents have occupied the first five places with only slight shuffling, despite decades of new research on former presidents and the accomplishments or lack thereof.

Bush had entered the survey at 23rd when the study was last conducted one year into his first term in 2002. Today, just one year after leaving office, Bush has sunk to the bottom five at 39th where he belongs. The survey found he rated especially poorly in handling the economy, communication, ability to compromise, foreign policy accomplishments and intelligence.

Although it’s far too early to judge his Presidency, President Barack Obama was ranked as the 15th best President, earning high marks on imagination (6th), communication ability (7th) and intelligence (8th). However, he scored poorly on background, family, education and experience. While I can understand scholars rating him low on experience, I’m baffled at what is wrong with his background, family and education.

My Republican critics on the blog like to point to President Jimmy Carter as the worst president, and Carter is rated low at 32ns; dropping from 25th in 2002. However, as long as GWB is around, there is no danger that Carter will ever be ranked as the worst U.S. president.

GOP saint Ronald Reagan dropped two places from 16th overall in 2002 to 18th today, and that puts him behind Bill Clinton who basically switched places with Reagan, rising from 18th in 2002 to 13th.

Teabaggers trotting out a new treasonous tactic: Nullification

It was not long ago that anyone, mostly Democrats, who questioned the alleged “leadership” of George Bush or questioned the useless invasion in Iraq were called traitors. Why is it that the extremist teabaggers are not called traitors even though they are basically calling for an overthrow of the democratically elected U.S. government?

There latest stunt should seal it. They are calling for a long rejected theory called Nullification, and at least one treasonous Michigan blogger and teabagger is pushing it. Basically - after all, I am not a lawyer and have not studied law- Nullification is a constitutional theory that gives an individual state the right to declare null and void any law passed by the United States Congress which the state deems unacceptable and unconstitutional.

You may recall The Nullification Crisis during the presidency of Andrew Jackson. It was a sectional crisis brought about by South Carolina's 1832 Ordinance of Nullification in a dispute over tariffs. The crisis was diverted when the tariff rates were reduced, but the states’ rights doctrine of nullification was rejected by the nation.

It really never should have been an issue because of the U.S. Supreme Court case McCulloch vs. Maryland of 1819. The court ruled that the authority of the federal government comes from the people rather than the state governments. The U.S. Constitution had not been adopted by the state governments, but by people gathered in state conventions. Therefore, the Constitution gained its authority from the people. For this reason, the federal government, in fulfilling the responsibility given it by the Constitution and ultimately the people, is superior to the state governments. That’s why the Framers included the Supremacy Clause.

However, southern states did not let it go in order to ensure the existence of slavery, and it led towards secession and the Civil War. The bloodiest war in American history was fought to reject nullification, and teabaggers are trotting it out again.

Nullification and so-called “states rights” was also used in the South to deny African-Americans basic rights. But again, it’s back.

I don’t know how you can’t add traitor to the list of words describing the extremist, racist and hate-filled teabaggers.

Fox ‘news’ rolls out another false war

Like the false “war on Christmas” rolled out every single year by Fox “news,” the latest made up war by fox is just as false.

The rightwing media is all aflutter about the false “war on Fox ‘news’” by the Obama Administration. The problem is it’s just made up. The claim is that the White House is attacking Fox for asking tough questions of the President, but that is a typical rightwing lie.

The President chose not to appear on “Fox News Sunday” in favor of real network shows, and Chris Wallace began appearing on every single fox segment whining about it. The simple fact is that Fox is not a news source. It claims its prime time line-up is like the editorial section of the newspaper, but the fact is even the alleged news is nothing but Republican talking points.

The GOP claims MSNBC does the same thing, and that is true for its part-time line-up. However, the news is straight. Plus, we have to endure rightwing Republicans Joe Scarborough, R-Fla., for three hours.

Where is the Democrat or liberal on fox?

The fact is there is a big difference between access and choosing to decline an invitation to appear on the opposition party’s propaganda arm. The White House has not said it will not appear on fox, but they want to make it clear that when they do, they are simply appearing on the opposition network. This crap about “the White House has declared war on Fox” is ridiculous.

However, the White House has not barred any so-called fox “reporters” from asking questions at the White House press briefing, traveling with the President or denied them any of the same access real reporters enjoy. But the fox viewers have drank the Kool-aid that they are being denied access.

Oceola Township resident Betty Cole wrote in a letter to the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus that, “For a sitting president to attempt to block a news station from attending a White House news conference because the White House does not like what the station has to say is unthinkable in our great United States of America.”

I could not agree more, Ms. Cole, but your letter is about eight years too late. The Obama Administration has never barred access to a fox “reporter.” Choosing not to endure their lies and misinformation is not denying access.

You will recall the Bush Administration’s real hatred and war on the press. You will remember during the campaign in 2000 Bush and Dick Cheney were caught on a hot mike calling a New York Times reporter “a major league asshole.” There was no apology, and the war continued.

Former Bush Press Secretary Dana Perino let it slip out - on fox “news,” of course - that they froze out MSNBC. Cheney has called the media un-American, and barred the New York Times from his airplane when he traveled. Bush froze out the New York Times, and in eight years he may have talked one-on-one with a NYT reporter three times, and no one made the claim about the “war on the New York Times.”

Republicans pushing the myth that the “tea party” protest is a grassroots effort

As the April 15 deadline for filing your federal income taxes approaches, right-wingers are buzzing about their misnamed and misguided “tea party” allegedly to protest government spending and taxation.

That the alleged tea party is non-partisan is the first myth, and the second myth is that it is a “bottom-up, grassroots protest.” Nothing could be farther from the truth. This is a partisan, Republican anti-Obama event. What it certainly is not is a tea party. The Boston Tea Party was staged to protest taxation without representation. That’s simply not the case here, and the American people spoke loud and clear when and where it counts the most: at the ballot box.

Many of the events will feature Republican elected officials as guest speakers. The hysterical hate against the President is increasing, and it will be on full display April 15. White supremacist and militias groups will be well-represented at the “tea parties“, and I guarantee that we will see crude, homemade signs there that say crap like “Hitler gave good speeches too,” “Obama Bin Lyin’” and “Impeach Obama.” We saw some of them at the misnamed “tea party” back in February. Is every protest by Republicans called a “tea party?”

It is also not a grassroots effort. The Washington, DC-based, rightwing think tank Freedom Works, chaired by former U.S. House Majority Leader and rightwing Republican Dick Armey, is working hard to organize it. The Washington, D.C.-based rightwing think tank Americans for Prosperity is also organizing the “tea parties. “ It has a web site complete with talking points.

There is even a web site where you can get gear to wear to the event.

The rightwing blogoshere in Michigan is pushing it hard, but they, of course, ignore the fact that the last Bush administration budget rang up a $500 billion deficit and added more than $4 trillion to the national debt over his eight disastrous years. During the first Bush term, when the Republicans controlled Congress, government spending grew on average at an annual rate of over 4 percent — far higher than during the Clinton administration.

If you need further proof that this is an anti-Obama rally, the event is listed by the Michigan Legislative Council as a “Nationwide Chicago Tea Party.”

Rally
Nationwide Chicago Tea Party
East Steps & Walks, North & South Lawn
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

New RNC Chair wants to forget about the Bush years

Anyone who has seen new RNC Chair Michael Steele's frequent appearances on the Fox "News" channel know how petty, hostile and dishonest he is, so it was no surprise to see the latest email to the party faithful on the American Recovery and Investment Act.

He quotes President Obama's Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel as saying "You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what Imean (sic) by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before." I was sure it was taken it out of context, and I was right. It was hard to find the original quote because I had to wade through thousands of rightwing sites to find the correct quote. The rest of the quote is "What used to be long-term problems, be they in the health care area, energy area, education area — things ... that were long-term are now immediate and must be dealt with."

But the most amazing thing is Steele has forgotten about the last eight years. I understand how the GOP wants to forgot about the last eight years. Hell, I don't blame then, and I want to forget about them too. But he forgot how Bush used the national tragedy of 9/11 to justify almost every single policy they wanted to accomplish; from the so-called Patriot Act and torture to an unnecessary war.

He used the deaths of 3,000 people to sell an unnecessary war to the American people that led to the deaths of more than 4,000 U.S. Servicemen and Woman, and no one knows how many Iraqi civilians.

Then we get this lie from Steele, "They have taken advantage of our nation's present economic woes to ram through Congress the biggest spending bill in American history."

He forgot about the Iraq war again, and that is the "biggest spending bill in American history." When all is said and done, it will cost taxpayers more than $3 trillion. Just think what kind of stimulus that would mean to the United States economy if it was spent in the U.S. That's a far cry from the Bush lie that the Iraq oil money will pay for the war.

He then goes on to attack the President for not being bipartisan; saying: "…who talked so much about a new era of bipartisanship and cooperation on the campaign trail, didn't take long to throw that rhetoric out the window to support Nancy Pelosi's liberal spending spree."

The old proverb that "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink" applies here. The President has tried to involve the Republicans in the process, but they do not want to be part of the solution. I say fine; if they want to continue to be obstructionists, that's fine with me. The American people saw through that during the last election, and that's why Democrats have the majority.

Update: Steele is carrying on the GOP culture of corruption. He is under investigation by the FBI for making more than $37,000 in improper payments to his sister's defunct company from campaigns funds from his failed 2006 Senate campaign. According to the Washington Post, campaign records indicate that $37,262 was paid to Brown Sugar Unlimited covered catering and Web services, but it came 11 months after his sister had legally dissolved the company. The charges came to light after a once-wealthy GOP fundraiser, who was finance chairman for Steele's Senate run, made the claims last year during plea negotiations with the U.S. attorney's office in Maryland after he was charged with orchestrating multimillion-dollar frauds unrelated to the campaign, according to a confidential court document.

Bush sorry legacy will include a presidential library

You can turn on any news program or 24-hour cable channel, and it's a pretty good bet you will see soon-to-be-former President G. Walker Bush giving an interview.

The spin in a vain attempt to rescue the legacy of perhaps the worst president in history is in full swing. He even gave a disastrous press conference this week where we learned the only mistakes in his presidency were PR mistakes made by someone else. I recently received an email that really sums up his legacy. I don't normally post anonymous stuff I receive for a couple of reason. First, I want this blog to be primarily my work, and second I don't like posting material without giving credit to the person who actually wrote it.

So, I searched for the originator on the web, and the best I can do is find it posted on Democratic Underground.

The magnificent George W. Bush Presidential Library is now in the planning stages and accepting donations.

The Library will include:
1. The Hurricane Katrina Room, which is still under construction.
2. The Alberto Gonzales Room, where you won't be able to remember anything.
3. The Texas Air National Guard Room, where you don't even have to show up.
4. The Walter Reed Hospital Room, where they don't let you in.
5. The Guantanamo Bay Room, where they don't let you out.
6. The Weapons of Mass Destruction Room, which no one has been able to find.
7. The National Debt Room, which is huge and has no ceiling.
8. The Tax Cut Room, with entry only to the wealthy.
9. The Economy Room, which is in the toilet.
10. The Iraq War Room. (After you complete your first visit, they make you go back for a second, third, fourth, and sometimes fifth visit.)
11. The Dick Cheney Room, in the famous undisclosed location.
12. The Environmental Conservation Room, still empty.
13. The Supreme Gift Shop, where you can buy an election.
14. The Airport Men's Room, where you can meet some of your favorite Republican Senators.
15. The Decider Room, complete with dart board, magic 8-ball, Ouija board, dice, coins, and straws.
Note: The library will feature an electron microscope to help you locate and view the President's accomplishments.

The library will also include many famous quotes by George W. Bush displayed prominently in the public areas:

1. "I've abandoned free market principles to save the free market system." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Dec. 16, 2008
2. "Yesterday, you made note of my -- the lack of my talent when it came to dancing. But nevertheless, I want you to know I danced with joy. And no question Liberia has gone through very difficult times." --George W. Bush, speaking with the president of Liberia, Washington, D.C., Oct. 22, 2008
3. "Anyone engaging in illegal financial transactions will be caught and persecuted." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Sept. 19, 2008
4. "There's no question about it. Wall Street got drunk -- that's one of the reasons I asked you to turn off the TV cameras -- it got drunk and now it's got a hangover. The question is how long will it sober up and not try to do all these fancy financial instruments." --George W. Bush, speaking at a private fundraiser, Houston, Texas, July 18, 2008
5. "And they have no disregard for human life." --George W. Bush, on the brutality of Afghan fighters, Washington, D.C., July 15, 2008
6. "I'll be long gone before some smart person ever figures out what happened inside this Oval Office." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 12, 2008
7. "And so, General, I want to thank you for your service. And I appreciate the fact that you really snatched defeat out of the jaws of those who are trying to defeat us in Iraq." --George W. Bush, to Army Gen. Ray Odierno, Washington, D.C., March 3, 2008
8. "I can press when there needs to be pressed; I can hold hands when there needs to be -- hold hands." --George W. Bush, on how he can contribute to the Middle East peace process, Washington, D.C., Jan. 4, 2008
9. "I don't particularly like it when people put words in my mouth, either, by the way, unless I say it." --George W. Bush, Crawford, Texas, Nov. 10, 2007.
10. "Make no mistake about it, I understand how tough it is, sir. I talk to families who die." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Dec. 7, 2006.
11. "You know, when I campaigned here in 2000, I said, I want to be a war President. No President wants to be a war President, but I am one." --George W. Bush, Des Moines, Iowa, Oct. 26, 2006.
12. "I like to tell people when the final history is written on Iraq, it will look like just a comma because there is -- my point is, there's a strong will for democracy." --George W. Bush, interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Sept. 24, 2006.
13. "No question that the enemy has tried to spread sectarian violence. They use violence as a tool to do that." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., March 22, 2006.
14. "He was a state sponsor of terror. In other words, the government had declared, you are a state sponsor of terror." --George W. Bush, on Saddam Hussein, Manhattan, Kan., Jan. 23, 2006.
15. "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job." --George W. Bush, to FEMA director Michael Brown, who resigned 10 days later amid criticism over his job performance, Mobile, Ala., Sept. 2, 2005.
16. "You see, not only did the attacks help accelerate a recession, the attacks reminded us that we are at war." --George W. Bush, on the Sept. 11 attacks, Washington, D.C., June 8, 2005.
17. "See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda." --George W. Bush, Greece, N.Y., May 24, 2005.
18. "It's in our country's interests to find those who would do harm to us and get them out of harm's way." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., April 28, 2005.
19. "Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB-GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country." --George W. Bush, Poplar Bluff, Mo., Sept. 6, 2004.
20. "Tribal sovereignty means that; it's sovereign. I mean, you're a -- you've been given sovereignty, and you're viewed as a sovereign entity. And therefore the relationship between the federal government and tribes is one between sovereign entities." --George W. Bush, speaking to minority journalists, Washington, D.C., Aug. 6, 2004.
21. "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2004.
22. "I'm honored to shake the hand of a brave Iraqi citizen who had his hand cut off by Saddam Hussein." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 25, 2004.
23. "Security is the essential roadblock to achieving the road map to peace." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., July 25, 2003.
24. "First, let me make it very clear, poor people aren't necessarily killers. Just because you happen to be not rich doesn't mean you're willing to kill." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 19, 2003.
25. "The war on terror involves Saddam Hussein because of the nature of Saddam Hussein, the history of Saddam Hussein, and his willingness to terrorize himself." -George W. Bush, Grand Rapids, Mich., Jan. 29, 2003.
26. "There's an old saying in Tennessee - I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee - that says, fool me once, shame on - shame on you. Fool me - you can't get fooled again." -George W. Bush, Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 17, 2002.
27. "There's no cave deep enough for America, or dark enough to hide." -George W. Bush, Oklahoma City, Aug. 29, 2002.
28. "I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace." -George W. Bush, June 18, 2002.
29. "My trip to Asia begins here in Japan for an important reason. It begins here because for a century and a half now, America and Japan have formed one of the great and enduring alliances of modern times. From that alliance has come an era of peace in the Pacific." -George W. Bush, who apparently forgot about a little something called World War II, Tokyo, Feb. 18, 2002.
30. "We need to counter the shockwave of the evildoer by having individual rate cuts accelerated and by thinking about tax rebates." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Oct. 4, 2001.
31. "I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy….I was able to get a sense of his soul." -George W. Bush, after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin, June 16, 2001.
32. "It is time to set aside the old partisan bickering and finger-pointing and name-calling that comes from freeing parents to make different choices for their children." -George W. Bush, on "parental empowerment in education," April 12, 2001.
33. "My plan reduces the national debt, and fast. So fast, in fact, that economists worry that we're going to run out of debt to retire." -George W. Bush, radio address, Feb. 24, 2001.
34. "They want the federal government controlling Social Security like it's some kind of federal program." --George W. Bush, Nov. 2, 2000.
35. "Never again in the halls of Washington, D.C., do I want to have to make explanations that I can't explain." --George W. Bush, Portland, Oregon, Oct. 31, 2000.

PLEASE GIVE GENEROUSLY!
Sincerely,
Jack Abramoff, Co-Chair
G.W. Bush Library Board of Directors

Wall Street crooks named Grinch of the Year

Wall Street executive’s unchecked corporate greed helped them win the Ninth Annual National Grinch of the Year Award for 2008 sponsored by Jobs with Justice.

After taking nominations from all over the country, voting began on Dec. 2 for the dishonor of the person or group who caused the most harm to working families. The nominees besides Wall Street were anti-worker corporate lobbyist Richard Berman and current U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao.

The Bush administration threw money at Wall Street with zero oversight, while requiring the Big 3 and the millions of blue collar workers they employee to jump through hoops. Over the past 30 years, conservatives successfully gutted regulation and preached 'smaller government' while millions of Americans lost good jobs and Wall Street and corporate America made record profits. Wall Street invented new, more complicated ways to make money off other people’s money Now that the party’s over; Wall Street wants to plunder the rest of us to pay the bill for their greedy rampage. This comes on the heels of news banks refuse to even say what they did with the money we gave them.

That greed helped Wall Street win with 47 percent of the vote.

Like any election, there were write-in candidates. Popular write-in candidates included Blue Diamond, American Airlines, United Airlines and perennial favorite and 2002 winner George W. Bush.

The 'Grinch of the Year' awards began locally with JWJ coalitions around the country highlighting the greedy Grinch in their hometowns, and that tradition continues. Union-busting Western Union edged out Mary Junck, CEO of Lee Enterprises (publisher of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch) and others in a crowded field in Missouri. In Colorado, JWJ delivered Grinch of the Year awards to Jake Jabs, CEO of American Furniture Warehouse, and Steve Ells, CEO of Chipotle Mexican Grill.

Jobs with Justice is a national organization that runs national campaign for workers' rights, with the vision of lifting up workers’ rights and struggles as part of a larger campaign for economic and social justice. Jobs Local Jobs with Justice Coalitions unite labor, community, faith-based, and student organizations to build power for working people.

Party faithful gear up for historic election at MDP convention

LANSING -- Gov. Jennifer Granholm hit the nail on the hard when she questioned the RNC’s convention theme of “A change is going to come” when GOP Presidential nominee John McCain voted with current President George Bush more than 90 percent of the time and has been in Washington for almost three decades.

“We have John McCain out of his own mouth saying he voted with George Bush 90 percent of the time,” she said. “But there he was in Sterling Heights Friday running away from the Republicans.”

Granholm gave a signature fiery speech at the Michigan Democratic Party Convention Saturday at the Lansing Center before an excited crowd.

Granholm said the absence of George Bush, the leader of the Republican Party, and Vice-President Dick Cheney spoke volumes. McCain said he would put the country back on the road to prosperity, but at the same time wholeheartedly supporting Bush’s failed economic policies. He stole Barack Obama’s change theme because he is trying hard not be Velcroed to the failure of Bush.

“People will remember when the country was prosperous a Democrat was in the White House,” she said. “The Republicans are putting on a mask because they are trying to fool the American people.”

Granholm talked about the latest Jobs Report that showed the U.S. jobless rate jumped to a 5-year high at 6.1 percent, and the leading job losses were in the manufacturing sector, automotive and auto suppliers.

“Who gets hit by that, Michigan does,” she said.

Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero welcomed the Democrats to his city, and he outlined how the failed Bush policies have hurt the Capitol City.

“Cities are under siege,” he said. “Cities are canaries of our economy, and they are hurting.”

Bernero said he didn’t watch much of the RNC convention on TV, but it only took him a few minutes to know it was the same old Republicans rhetoric.

“I watched and listened, and I hear the same old thing; get government out of the way,” he said. “They got government out of the way by deregulating the financial industry that led to the foreclosure crisis. They got government out of the way for criminals by getting rid of police and killing the COPS program.”

U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow talked about McCain’s chief economic advisor, the same guy responsible for deregulating the financial industry, who said the recession was a “mental recession” and we are a nation of whiners: former Texas Sen. Phil Gramm.

“Now I ask you: when you lose your job or your wages go down, are you just hallucinating.” Stabenow said. “America is not a nation of whiners, it’s a nation of workers.”

Sen. Carl Levin said the excitement, hope and inspiration generated by Barack Obama’s campaign reminds him of the first political campaign he participated in: President John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign. He said reception Obama recently received by one of our best allies, Germany, demonstrated that Obama can repair our tarnished reputation around the world.

“Barack Obama is greeted by 250,000 cheering people: George Bush is greeted by violent protests,” he said. “That told a lot pf people in this country that our reputation can be won back.”

Longtime U.S. Congressman Dale Kildee introduced the Democratic Congressional candidates, including State Sen. Mark Schauer, who is opposing the most extreme member of Congress; Tim Walberg in the 7th District.

“The Club for Growth certainly got what they paid for, but the people of the 7th District did not, “ he said.

Schauer said he has unseated a Republican incumbent before. He highlighted some of Walberg’s more extreme positions, such as saying everyone has healthcare, they just have to walk into an ER; he wants to drill in the Great Lakes; he voted against Head Start and he believes Saddam Hussein was involved in the 9/11 attacks.

“It takes a grassroots effort to win an election,” Schauer said. “That’s how I beat an incumbent Republican who was also out of touch.”

County GOP continues its thinly-disguised racist rants

The Livingston County Republican Party continues its letter-to-the-editor writing campaign with another thinly-disguised racist rant. The latest one published in the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus comes from Howell Township resident Bob Moriset.

The gist of the letter is that Sen. Barack Obama is unqualified. However, Mr. Moriset used the thinly-disguised use of his entire name, Barack Hussein Obama. This is a signal to other racists that you should not vote for Obama because he is a Muslim with a funny-sounding Muslim name. Now, he is not a Muslim, and if you need any proof of that, just watch the Hatey & Colmes show on Faux “News” where Hatey brings up his Christian minister with every question he asks. Frankly, it should not matter a lick what religion he is, but unfortunately it does.

To make sure the bigots out there know he is not only a Muslim, but black as well, we get this ridiculous sentence from Mr. Moriset. “His orchestrated background, conducted by his liberal guardians and a bureaucratic African father, will be noteworthy.”

If it wasn’t enough the sentence makes no sense, we get the remark that his father was African. Can someone tell me the significance of that statement, other than to point out Obama’s race? Obama’s mother and father separated when he was two years old and later divorced, and he saw his father only once before his death. He was raised by his mother in a single parent household, but this is common knowledge. With a 50 percent divorce rate in this country, he was far from alone.

The rest of the letter is an exercise in code words to the base and outright lies.

Mr. Moriset writes that Obama “may qualify as the most articulate ultraliberal decoy ever to get a U.S. presidential nomination.” First, Obama is a moderate Democrat, much like President Bill Clinton, but he certainly cannot be described as “ultraliberal.” I only wish that were the case. I have no idea what the “decoy” part means. A decoy for what?

He next claims, “His arrival on the scene can only be attributed to a once great, now brain-dead, Democratic Party ruled by a radical bunch determined to wreck the country as we have known it.” I’m not sure if Mr. Mr. Moriset is aware of the shambles the Grand Oil Party really is. As for wrecking the country, he might want to take a look around at events in the country and the shape of the economy after eight years of Bush. Certain events look all too familiar to people who lived through the Great Depression.

Mr. Moriset then claims, “He gained the nomination almost by default over a supremely unqualified opponent.” Is this the same opponent, Hilary Clinton, that right-wingers were falling over each other to support and endorse because they did not have enough dirt on Obama? The answer is yes, by the way.

But he saves the best for last, “This young man we know as Barack Hussein Obama has spent his entire sheltered life learning to hate the traditional values most Americans hold very dear and don't cotton to giving them up easily. President George W. Bush hasn't been perfect; few presidents are. But he is true to American ideals. So is John McCain.”

This is a man raised in a single parent household where money was often tight, to overcome racial prejudice and graduate with honors from Columbia University and Harvard Law School. He did it on his own, and he was no legacy. His grandfather and father were not admirals, nor was his grandfather a U.S. Senator or his father a president. What tradition values is it that he hates? Racial prejudice? Count me among those that hate that traditional value.

As for his unqualified and inexperienced take. They also said that about the greatest Republican president ever, Abraham Lincoln.

Bush is the Joe DiMaggio of vacationers

As you begin to get older, like I am - or you get past your 21st birthday - tearing off the days of your daily calendar get a little less fun, even if it’s a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit calendar. But my “Countdown to when Bush leaves Office” calendar offers me some small pleasure when ripping off the days.

The good new is there are only 201 days left until the national nightmare is over and Barrack Obama is sworn in as president. With just 201 days to endure, it got me to thinking about the Bush legacy. For that we have the worst attack on U.S. soil that occurred on his watch, Bush lied us into what will become the longest war/occupation in U.S. history, the person for planning the attack has not been brought to justice after almost seven years, the war in Afghanistan is falling apart, the economy is in sad shape, home values are plummeting, incomes are declining, home foreclosures are at an all-time historic high, the dollar is declining against all foreign currency, energy costs are skyrocketing and our national debt is skyrocketing. He has trashed the Constitution and our image and standing around the world has been badly tainted and we actually torture people.

But what Bush’s legacy, at better yet, the record, he will leave office with is what my daily calendar revealed today: Bush is the most vacationing president ever.

The record for most consecutive vacation days away from the White House was formally held by another president from the Grand Oil Party who had almost as much scandal as the Bush White House, Richard Nixon with 30 straight days. That record belonged to Bush just six months after taking office.

But Bush holds the all-time record for most total vacation days that may never be broken, and his record will most likely stand as long as Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak. The previous record was 335 days set by another Republican president, who was also the oldest U.S. president, Ronald Reagan. However it took eight years for Reagan to rack up that number, but Bush shattered the record in just four-and-a-half-years. According to the Washington Post, as of January 15, 2007, Bush has racked up a whopping total of 770 vacation days. He will continue to pad that record for another 201 days. When you compare that to the normal American worker, if they have any benefits left any more, who only gets 14 days a year, it’s obscene.

The good news is Bush will go on a permanent vacation in just 201 days.

Rogers is shocked, shocked that people are not happy with the direction of the country

U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton is shocked, shocked I said, that people are not happy with the direction of the country.

Obviously, the Congressman needs to get out of Washington, D.C. once in a while and actually visit regular people in the 8th Congressional District.

According to a story in the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus, Rogers told one of his pat stories to a receptive audience at the Livingston County Republican Party's annual Lincoln Day Dinner that students at Okemos High School “seemed dejected with the state of the country.”

"They honestly believed the world was going to combust in 26 minutes," Rogers said, according to the paper. "I was shocked — shocked, and said, oh, wow, what work do we have to do.' "

The reason for this disillusion? Democrats, taxes and regulations. Well of course. It has nothing to do with the fact that we are in an endless war that did not need to be fought that's costing us millions of dollars a day, the greatest country in the world has stooped to torturing people and gas is almost $4 a gallon because oil companies drafted the energy policy.

If that were the case, the simple solution would be cutting taxes, but that has never worked. Maybe if we cut taxes and wages low enough we can be equal to a third world country where the jobs are going. If those students are really felling that way then I guess Barack Obama was right when he said voters are bitter over the direction of the country.

If Rogers' quote wasn’t ridiculous enough we get one from Michigan Republican chair Saul Anuzis, who said Obama was “unqualified and looking at the world through "rose-colored glasses.” He has more experience than the last Illinois resident to be president and the best Republican president on civil rights. I guess Obama was wearing his rose-colored glasses when he was raised in a struggling single-parent home or worked as a community organizer in the poorest neighborhoods in Chicago.

I actually agree with Allan Filip, chairman of the county GOP, who has proven to be the most insulting chair the local party has had in recent memory. He said “It's important those kids in Okemos realize we live in the best country in the world." I agree, and that’s why I will speak out when we stoop to torturing people, invades sovereign countries for no reason and when our government commits crimes.

McCain campaigning hard for Michigan Presidential Primary

Republican Presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., will maintain a solid presence in Michigan leading up to the Jan. 15 Michigan Presidential Primary.

Cindy Pine, the Hamburg Township Supervisor and the former chair of the Livingston County Republican Party, said McCain’s “Straight Talk Express” will land at 2 p.m. Jan. 13 at the Crystal Gardens Banquet Center, 5768 E. Grand River Ave., in Livingston County’s Genoa Township for a town hall meeting that’s free and open to the public.

McCain is coming off of a respectable fourth place finish in the Iowa caucuses with 13 percent of the vote, and many pundits are calling it a victory for McCain. McCain spent very little time or money in Iowa, instead focusing on the New Hampshire primary set for Tuesday. The surprise win by Mike Huckabee over Mitt Romney- the son of former Michigan Gov. George Romney - in the Iowa caucuses may be a good thing for McCain, who decided several months ago to stake his entire campaign on New Hampshire, where he is ahead of Romney in the polls.

It was not too long ago that McCain was falling like a rock in the polls, and supporters were jumping off the Straight Talk Express like rats from a sinking ship. We have seen that scenarios play out right here in Michigan, which may make McCain’s Michigan visits interesting.

Here in Livingston County, Rep. Chris Ward, R-Brighton, was named as one of four state representatives from Michigan to serve as legislative co-chairs of the McCain campaign way back in September of 2006, and Ward was also named co-chair of the Straight Talk America Michigan Legislative Advisory Team. But Ward announced in June of last year he was backing off of his previous endorsement of McCain for the Republican Presidential nomination and switching his allegiance to former actor and lobbyist Fred Thompson; before Thompson was even running.

In September Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox announced he was resigning his post as Michigan chairman of McCain's presidential campaign.

McCain has had past success in Michigan, winning the 2000 Michigan Presidential Primary over then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush, despite an almost guarantee of a Bush victory and endorsement by former Michigan Gov. John Engler. McCain just recently picked up a Michigan victory of sorts, receiving the endorsement of one of Michigan’s largest daily newspapers, the Detroit News.

But there is also some opposition to McCain in Michigan. The Michigan State University chapter of Young Americans for Freedom is planning to demonstrate against McCain's immigration policies when he appears for a town hall meeting at 4 p.m. Jan. 13 at the MSU Kellogg Center, 55 South Harrison Rd. in East Lansing. The MSU YAF has been designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Other Michigan appearances by McCain include: a Grand Rapids rally and town hall meeting at 10:15 Jan. 9 a.m. at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport Northern Jet Management, 5500 44th Street SE.

A Macomb town hall meeting 10:45 a.m. Jan. 12 at the Andiamo Celebrity Showroom, 7096 Fourteen Mile Rd. in Wayne.

An Oakland town hall meeting 3:30 p.m. Jan. 12 at the Clawson High School Trojan Hall, 101 John M Ave.

A Battle Creek town hall meeting 7:30 p.m. Jan. 13 at the Burnham-Brook Center, 200 West Michigan Ave.

A Kalamazoo town hall meeting, 9:45 a.m. Jan. 14 at Kalamazoo Christian High School, 2121 Stadium Dr.

A Holland town hall meeting 12:15 p.m. Jan. 14 at the Hope College DeWitt Theater, 141 Columbia Ave.

A Spring Lake get out the vote rally and town hall meeting, 4 p.m. Jan. 14 at the Nichols Company, 1391 Judson Rd. in Spring Lake.

A Kent County get out the vote rally, 5:30 p.m. Jan. 14 at the Kent County Republican headquarters, 264 Leonard St. NW in Grand Rapids.

A Traverse City get out the vote rally 8n a.m. Jan. 15 at Northwestern Michigan College Hagerty Place, 715 East Front St.

Oh where have you gone little Homeland Security Advisory System graph?

If you were like me this weekend, the few hours you spent indoors away from the wonderful weather we are enjoying you could not have failed to see TV news reports of the attack on Glasgow's airport terminal on Saturday between innings of the Tigers game.

The thing that stuck me immediately when I tuned into MSNBC, CNN, CNBC and even Faux “News” was, where was that little colorful terror alert graph we saw constantly in 2003 and 2004 leading up to the 2004 Presidential Election? I don’t think I have seen it since Bush was re-elected in his “if you don’t vote for me the terrorists will kill you” campaign theme.

You recall that the Homeland Security Advisory System in the Department of Homeland Security was created by Presidential Directive six months after the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, to provide a "comprehensive and effective means to disseminate information regarding the risk of terrorist acts to Federal, State, and local authorities and to the American people."

The pretty little color-coded system has five colors as follows:
Severe (red): severe risk
High (orange): high risk
Elevated (yellow): significant risk
Guarded (blue): general risk
Low (green): low risk

The little graph was seen on all the cable news networks as part of their rolling scrawl at the bottom of the screen, especially dug the campaign.

With each perceived threat, former Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge ratcheted-up the Homeland Security Advisory System in an attempt to sustain public anxiety and fear even if subsequent information proved the threat was over-hyped. Do you remember the near-panic response caused by the Duct Tape & Plastic Sheeting Advisory in 2003? We had Dick Cheney out there making the ridiculous claim that if a Democrat was elected “we would be hit.” The alert system has never been lowered to the bottom two colors, blue and green.

The perceived “war on terror” was the centerpiece of Bush’s campaign. But the real meat of the campaign was fear-mongering with the same, constant drum-beat statement rolled out at every campaign stop where only Bush supporters were allowed in: "We are fighting the terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan and in other parts of the world so we do not have to fight them in the streets of our own cities."

The fear mongering really went into high gear from Memorial Day 2004 through July 4, and Homeland Security cranked out a series of terror alerts. Shortly after that, they warned us that Al Qaeda could disrupt the November elections.

Apparently, Bush dos not need that graph anymore. However, the system is still in place, but Bush does not need to scare us as much anymore. It appears the little graph-that-could will enter nostalgic status to take its place among pet rocks, 8-track tapes and lava lamps.

Based on the attack in Scotland, airports in the U.S. are orange, and the current national threat level is yellow, where it has been for a long time.

Rogers threat stunt garners the attention he craves

With his party in the minority and Mike Rogers shuttled to the sidelines with the Democratic majority, he has found a new way to both continue his role as Bush’s biggest cheerleader and lackey by going after the biggest Republican target and getting the most recognition and attention he has ever had in his entire political life.

As you are aware, Rogers tried last week unsuccessfully to strike from an intelligence spending bill an item that would restore $23 million for the National Drug Intelligence Center, a facility in Rep. Jack Murtha's Pennsylvania district.
According to Rogers' account, the Pennsylvania Democrat – the chair of House Defense Appropriations Chairman - angrily told Rogers he should never seek earmarks of his own because "you're not going to get any, now or forever." Rogers took the unusual step and called on the full House to reprimand Murtha. Rogers introduced what is called a "privileged" resolution charging Murtha violated House ethics rules when he allegedly threatened to cut off "now and forever" any earmarks for Rogers' district. Luckily, the measure was killed.

For that ridiculous threat, Rogers made just about every newspaper in the country, he was allowed to make the weekly GOP radio address where he attacked Murtha and he was also talked about on my favorite radio show, “The Stephanie Miller Show.” The point they made is this is the way politics have been conducted for years, and he should stop being a whiny baby. I agree. One lawmaker had this to say about Rogers, “put on your long pants and grow up.” How is this an ethics violation? If you need an ethics violation you just need to hear the names Bob Nye, Duke Cunningham and Jack Abramoff.

I challenged people earlier in the week to show what “earmark” – his job – Rogers has brought back to the 8th Congressional District. I’m still waiting. People here in Livingston County complain that we are a donor county because we send more money to Washington, D.C. than we get back, but somehow Rogers has painted properly representing your district as an ethics violation. Isn’t bringing some of that money back to the district what we sent him there for? I guess that’s why he never does, but I thought that was his job?

Murtha did take the high road and apologized to Rogers, but, according to Rogers' spokesperson, he also took the low road and declined not to accept it, “Congressman Rogers does accept the apology, but he is truly hopeful that this whole episode will change the way Congress spends the American taxpayers' money." Please. If Rogers does not accept an apology and his “privileged" resolution is going nowhere, what does Rogers want? He wants to smear Murtha and score political points.

This is from Rogers radio address, “Last Friday, House Republicans discovered that a Member of Congress had hidden a wasteful earmark -- or pet pork project -- worth tens of millions of dollars into a bill designed to fund America's Intelligence operations. It comes down to a choice between spies catching terrorists or pork barrel spending in a Congressional District. We are a nation at war, and when we find wasteful spending, we must stop it. “

Really.

The “pet project" in question is the National Drug Intelligence Center in Johnstown. The center “continues to play an important role in assessing the drug threat, identifying the patterns of distribution and gathering information from documents to help arrest drug traffickers,” Murtha said.

So let’s see if I got this right. Rogers is criticizing Murtha for trying to keep a facility open in his district that provides jobs and helps fight terror, and Rogers has done nothing for our biggest employer and simply watches as plat after plant closes and moves jobs overseas? Great job Mike.

Is it just me or does anyone else remember being bombarded a few years ago with public service commercials saying that by buying illegal drugs you were funding terrorists and terrorism?

Apparently Bush does. President Bush said that drug users aid terrorists who get their money from global trafficking in narcotics. "If you quit drugs, you join the fight against terrorism," he said. Mr. Bush offered a new argument in the fight against drugs while signing a bill to expand a federal anti-drug program over the next five years. The administration has linked the al-Qaida network in Afghanistan to heroin trafficking. The terrorist group, led by Osama bin Laden, is suspected in the Sept. 11 attacks on America.

Has that changed?