Energy Policy for Future Generations

I am firmly entrenched in the renewable energy mindset. I look at the way that our nation lives and how we abuse energy in oh so many ways. We bitch and moan about the cost of gasoline and yet we continue to buy vehicles that get less gas mileage than the cars built in the early seventies. We bitch and moan about our dependence on other nations for our energy needs and yet refuse to look at the vast resources right here in the United States that are renewable. It seems to be ironic that we have an energy policy in this country that isn't about how we can sustain it or reduce it but how we can get more out of it by doing nothing.

President Obama was on topic in Miami recently when he spoke of the need for new sources of renewable energy that are right here in the good old USA....




You know there are no quick fixes to this problem. You know we can’t just drill our way to lower gas prices. If we’re going to take control of our energy future and can start avoiding these annual gas price spikes that happen every year -- when the economy starts getting better, world demand starts increasing, turmoil in the Middle East or some other parts of the world -- if we’re going to avoid being at the mercy of these world events, we’ve got to have a sustained, all-of-the-above strategy that develops every available source of American energy. Yes, oil and gas, but also wind and solar and nuclear and biofuels, and more.

As President Obama pointed out, that's a vision toward which we are making progress:

In 2010, our dependence on foreign oil was under 50 percent for the first time in over a decade. We were less reliant on foreign oil than we had been. In 2011, the United States relied less on foreign oil than in any of the last 16 years. That's the good news. And because of the investments we’ve made, the use of clean, renewable energy in this country has nearly doubled -– and thousands of American jobs have been created as a consequence. - The White House

As the president said, we can bitch and moan about the forever cost of our energy needs or we can ask the people to act on it. Get your ass out in your garage and find the next best solution to heating your home or water. Find a new way to power your lawn mower other than gasoline. Discover some new solution from your garden that can convert compost into high grade fuel for your car. A wise man once said that there is nothing that the mind can think of that is not achievable. It would be a wise president of the United States of America to put that thought to good use when speaking to the people.

The funny thing about leaders like the president is that sometimes they are talking to the wrong people. He went to Miami and its great University to give a speech on renewable energy but needed to talk to all of the people that tinker in their garages and basements with every conceivable possibility of making something better if not a totally new concept. The greatest resource that America has is the ability of its people to see that there is always a better solution. The president should tap that renewable resource right away.

I am and have been designing Solar Boxes that can heat your home during the winter. The same boxes can heat your hot water year round when the sun is shining. What are you doing?

As the president said... "A bumper sticker is not an energy strategy to solve our energy challenge."

Papamoka

Affordable Health Care for America

This is the meat and potato of the new AFFORDABLE health care for America plan according to the Ways and Means of the US Congress. Word for word or you can click here to go to the Committee on Ways and Means to see it for yourself. Nobody is hijacking your health care, and nobody is going to be screwed over anymore because of your age, a pre-existing health condition, or a lifetime cap set by your insurance company. This is the health care bill recently signed by the President and passed by the congress via reconciliation. I like the idea of health care for all but I'm not very comfortable with any legislation when one political party uses special rules to pass any bill. The Republicans jammed garbage down our throats under President Bush and I'm not so sure if tit for tat by the Democrats under President Obama is any better. Castor oil still tastes like crap and it doesn't matter who is holding the spoon as you are forced to take it. The end result is that you are the one left with the bad taste in your mouth. On the surface this looks like a good thing for the American people. According to some polling results people are coming around to liking it now that the truth is coming out as to what real health care reform is.

KEY PROVISIONS THAT TAKE EFFECT IMMEDIATELY UNDER SENATE BILL AS AMENDED BY RECONCILIATION BILL

FOR SMALL BUSINESSES
SMALL BUSINESS TAX CREDITS—Offers tax credits to small businesses to make employee coverage more affordable. Tax credits of up to 35 percent of premiums will be immediately available. Effective beginning for calendar year 2010. (Beginning in 2014, small business tax credits will cover 50 percent of premiums.)

FOR SENIORS
BEGINS TO CLOSE THE MEDICARE PART D DONUT HOLE—Provides a $250 rebate to Medicare beneficiaries who hit the donut hole in 2010. Effective for calendar year 2010. (Beginning in 2011, institutes a 50% discount on brand‐name drugs in the donut hole; also completely closes the donut hole by 2020.)

FREE PREVENTIVE CARE UNDER MEDICARE—Eliminates co‐payments for preventive services and exempts preventive services from deductibles under the Medicare program. Effective beginning January 1, 2011.

HELP FOR EARLY RETIREES—Creates a temporary re‐insurance program (until the Exchanges are available) to help offset the costs of expensive health claims for employers that provide health benefits for retirees age 55‐64. Effective 90 days after enactment

FOR THOSE PRIVATELY INSURED
NO DISCRIMINATON AGAINST CHILDREN WITH PRE‐EXISTING CONDITIONS—Prohibits health plans from denying coverage to children with pre‐existing conditions. Effective 6 months after enactment. (Beginning in 2014, this prohibition would apply to adults as well.)

IMMEDIATE HELP FOR THE UNINSURED WITH PRE‐EXISTING CONDITIONS (INTERIM HIGH‐RISK POOL)—Provides immediate access to insurance for Americans who are uninsured because of a pre‐existing condition ‐ through a temporary high‐risk pool – until the Exchanges up and running in 2014. Effective 90 days after enactment. (Beginning in 2014, health plans are banned from discriminating against all people with pre‐existing conditions, so high‐risk pools would phase out).

NO RESCISSIONS—Bans health plans from dropping people from coverage when they get sick. Effective 6 months after enactment.

NO LIFETIME LIMITS ON COVERAGE—Prohibits health plans from placing lifetime caps on coverage. Effective 6 months after enactment.

NO RESTRICTIVE ANNUAL LIMITS ON COVERAGE—Tightly restricts new plans’ use of annual limits to ensure access to needed care. These tight restrictions will be defined by HHS. Effective 6 months after enactment. (Beginning in 2014, the use of any annual limits would be prohibited for all plans.)

FREE PREVENTIVE CARE UNDER NEW PLANS—Requires new private plans to cover preventive services with no co‐payments and with preventive services being exempt from deductibles. Effective 6 months after enactment.

NEW, INDEPENDENT APPEALS PROCESS FOR NEW PLANS—Ensures consumers in new plans have access to an effective internal and external appeals process to appeal decisions. Effective 6 months after enactment.

MORE FOR YOUR PREMIUM DOLLAR—Requires plans to put more of your premiums into your care, and less into profits, CEO pay, etc. This medical loss ratio requires plans in the individual and small group market to spend 80 percent of premiums on medical services, and plans in the large group market to spend 85 percent. Insurers that don’t meet these thresholds must provide rebates to policyholders. Effective on January 1, 2011.

NO DISCRIMINATION BASED ON SALARY—Prohibits new group health plans from establishing any eligibility rules for health care coverage that have the effect of discriminating in favor of higher wage employees. Effective 6 months after enactment.

EXTENDING COVERAGE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE UP TO 26TH BIRTHDAY THROUGH PARENTS’ INSURANCE – Requires health plans to allow young people up to their 26th birthday to remain on their parents’ insurance policy, at the parents’ choice. Effective 6 months after enactment.

GENERAL REFORMS

COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS—Increases funding for Community Health Centers to allow for nearly doubling the number of patients served over the next 5 years. Effective beginning in fiscal year 2010.

MORE PRIMARY CARE DOCTORS—Provides new investment in training programs to increase the number of primary care doctors, nurses, and public health professionals. Effective beginning in fiscal year 2010.

HEALTH INSURANCE CONSUMER ASSISTANCE—Provides aid to states to establish offices of health insurance consumer assistance to help consumers file complaints and appeals. Effective beginning in FY 2010.

CREATES NEW, VOLUNTARY, PUBLIC LONG‐TERM CARE INSURANCE PROGRAM—Creates a long‐term care insurance program to be financed by voluntary payroll deductions to provide benefits to adults who become functionally disabled. Effective on January 1, 2011.

MORE REFORMS THAT BEGIN IN 2014 (WHEN EXCHANGES HAVE FORMED)

NO DISCRIMINATION AGAINST ADULTS WITH PRE‐EXISTING CONDITIONS

BAN ON HIGHER PREMIUMS FOR WOMEN

PREMIUMS BASED ON AGE CAN ONLY VARY BY A MAXIMUM OF 3‐TO‐1 RATIO

CAP ON OUT‐OF‐POCKET EXPENSES for private health plans

OFFICE OF SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI MARCH 22, 2010

Do all of your friends and family a favor and email this post to everyone. There is so much dis-information out there that it isn't even funny anymore. Time to educate the masses that have been getting screwed over by the health care insurers as to what the real deal is under the new deal for affordable health care in America.

Papamoka

*** My twin brutha from anotha mutha at the Gun Toting Liberal has linked in! Thank you GTL!

The President On Health Care

I'm thinking that people really need to see this speech from our President on the current healthcare debate. This is from MSNBC in President Obama's visit to the folks in Montana.

I found it interesting that small businesses will get a tax cut for providing health insurance and the employees can still shop for their own health care insurance. Another intresting point is that 80% of the proposed legislation is already agreed upon in the Congress? Did you know that? I sure as hell didn't. Another factoid if you will, pre existing conditions will no longer be a reason your healthcare provider can cancel your health insurance, or cap it or make you go into bankruptcy over and illness. I'm shocked at the number of people health insurance providers screwed over, or let die for the sake of the almighty dollar. And as President Obama said in this speech, "There but for the grace of God go I".

Check out the speech from MSNBC...

Video Link

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Just and additional thought, Newsweek has a great piece out today on the reality of what is being proposed as healthcare reform. True or False format...

Papamoka

Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor

President Obama made his pick for the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) today and can I give myself props for knowing the pick on May 6, 2009 and posting on it? Not the name but the sex, ethnicity, personality, and credentials. Judge Sonia Sotomayor is a very qualified moderate with liberal leanings and I happen to like the fact that her credentials are beyond question. I don’t think I need to mention the fact that her Hispanic aka minority heritage is a bonus to the President and everyone on the left side of the political aisle.

Republicans are furious and don’t have a clue as to how they are going to go after a first in her class law student from Princeton nominated to SCOTUS. A woman with better credentials then the highest court in the land has seen in over one hundred years. How are they going to attack someone they confirmed to the federal bench under Republican rule? How are they going to smear this woman before America when Michael Steele is trying to sell the GOP to the Hispanic and African American community of voters? Republicans want minority votes, they just don’t want minorities in public lifetime appointments. I certainly wouldn't want to work on commission under those circumstances for the GOP as a salesman!

President Obama just cleaned the GOP clock for 2010 and possibly the 2012 elections. It gets better, Rush Limbaugh and other Republican thugs are calling it “Reverse Racism”? How the hell does it get any better than that? We can have a black Justice on SCOTUS but only if he is a Republican nominee? All you Hispanics, nice try, work hard, get an education, excel in law, but your credentials just are not good enough for the Republican Party to accept you as a Supreme Court Justice. Screw you Limbaugh and John Yoo. Speaking of Yoo…

President Obama’s nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor shows that empathy has won out over excellence in the White House. Sotomayor has sterling credentials: Princeton, Yale Law School, former prosecutor, and federal trial and appellate judge. But credentials do not an excellent justice make. Justice Souter, whom Sotomayor would replace, had an equally fine c.v., but turned out to be a weak force on the high court.

Obama had some truly outstanding legal intellectuals and judges to choose from—Cass Sunstein, Elena Kagan, and Diane Wood come immediately to mind. The White House chose a judge distinguished from the other members of that list only by her race. Obama may say he wants to put someone on the Court with a rags-to-riches background, but locking in the political support of Hispanics must sit higher in his priorities. - Memeorandum Link

John Yoo, if you didn't recall, he is the guy that wrote the legal memo under President Bush defining torture and why it was legal. Just a factoid there for ya. Something we wrote about here as well about water boarding. How it just might be torture. Note to self: Don't let John Yoo ever babysit the kids.

Where was I? Oh ya, the Supreme Court!

I think that we can all pretty much assume that if President Obama appointed God to the SCOTUS then the GOP would rail and scream that God was not qualified and just might be biased. This is politics at its worst and I hope that Judge Sotomayor has the guts and toughness to get through it all. Congratulation to you Sonia Sotomayor, you earned this distinguished appointment.

Personal thoughts, I’m glad President Obama chose a woman and a Hispanic, and I’m thinking that he has this site, Papamoka Straight Talk, bookmarked on his Blackberry! Maybe, it could happen ya know!

Papamoka

It’s all about Style

President Obama on his world tour found many nations willing to join in his campaign and message to promote that there is a new sheriff in town in the USA. There is finally a President of the United States that is willing to listen to other nations rather than demand that they assimilate. There is finally a President of the United States that is willing to work with our allies rather than demand that they tow the line. There is finally a President that can and will listen to the rest of the world. There is finally a President of these United States of America that knows that we do not live in this world alone, that message is clear and obvious by the support President Obama has had in every country he has visited.

If you want the world to follow you, then you can not force them to do so by threatening them with a billy club mentality. President Bush used the “With us or against us” approach and it failed miserably. One does not deter terrorist actions by pissing off the leaders of nations that could stop terrorist actions internally with their own police forces. President Obama made nice nice with the folks overseas and he is coming back home to face many more battles on many more fronts. And he is up to the challenge. It is pretty clear to this writer that he is not afraid to answer or tackle any of the toughest issues facing his own people. As long as he is honest and straight forward with all of the people then he will have a Presidency that has never been seen in modern times.

The difference between Obama and Bush is night and day. One President told and dictated his desires and consequences followed, the other is listening and being a true statesman. Night and day and you can not argue how different these two Presidents are on policy. While Bush ruled from his gut, Obama is listening and learning from his heart. Big difference, HUGE!

Papamoka

Obama Pit Stop in Iraq

President Obama today made an unscheduled stop in Iraq to visit the troops and pass out appreciative hugs and medals. The European trip for the President has been a non-stop love fest and the troops in Iraq were very happy to see President Obama drop in to just say hello to them. Over at the New York Times they have this story on the visit…

By STEVEN LEE MYERS and HELENE COOPER
Published: April 7, 2009

BAGHDAD — President Obama made an unannounced trip Tuesday to Baghdad, punctuating his week-long overseas trip with a stop to talk to American troops and Iraqi leaders.

Addressing hundreds of troops gathered at a military base here, Mr. Obama said that it was time for Iraqis to “take responsibility for their country,” winning enthusiastic applause. His praise for the performance of the troops was effusive.

“You have given Iraq the opportunity to stand on its own as a democratic country,” the president said, news services reported. “That is an extraordinary achievement.”

Mr. Obama’s trip here was his first since becoming president. Mr. Obama opposed the war and has quickly moved to reshape it since his inauguration, announcing plans to draw down troops as he begins to shift the military’s focus to the troubled war in Afghanistan. - New York Times

With this trip came a healthy bounce upward in the President’s approval rating and it is so comforting to see that he is admired and appreciated not just here in the states but by world leaders all over the world. Russia loves the guy, China loves the guy, India loves the guy, Turkey loves the guy, Germany and France love the guy, and the list goes on and on, he is the equivalent of a world wide rock star and he is our American President. Then he has the added bump by the additional love fest from all of the regular folks in Europe as well. If you had the chance to see any of his town hall meetings, the people were mesmerized and infatuated with President Obama.

President Obama brings such a change in message as to who and what America really is and the people of the world have been starving for that message. America doesn’t have to carry the biggest stick simply because we have it. America doesn’t want to be seen as the world police and or school yard bully. We just want to be seen as the friendly neighbor in the world and this President has nailed the task at hand with this trip.

Latest Video from MSNBC on the visit to the troops in Iraq...

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

More can be accomplished with a smile and a kind word than one fist can ever achieve in strength. You done did good Mr. President, damn good!

Papamoka

G-20 Outcome and Winner

Some people will say that President Obama diplomatically moved the world summit of economic leaders in a direction toward progress and others will say it was a disaster. If you look to the facts it was an American success story and a President that handled it with the cleverness of Thomas Jefferson. That summation isn’t entirely correct because he also handled the summit with the humility of Lincoln as well. That to does not work because the ideology of Wilson was present as well. It doesn’t matter, the end result is that President Obama was the focus of the summit but choose not to be and worked the politics of the summit to achieve his end goal. A consensus on where the world needs to go to focus on bringing back the world economy. Not even the best of detractors could argue with that point. Jobs in small town America sometimes depend on jobs thousands of miles away in a distant country. We are all stuck in an economy that is reliant on other nations whether we like it or not.

The real star of this G-20 summit was the love fest with our First Lady, Michelle Obama. Even the Queen of England broke protocol to hug her. Make no mistake about it, Michelle Obama is Barack Obama’s biggest weapon on toning down anyone that wants to argue about what the people around the world really think about America. Michelle could tame a lions den with a smile and just her presence. You have to love her for that and I do. If the Queen of England felt the need to embrace Michelle then that tells you a lot in itself. The Queen does not touch anyone and nobody touches the Queen. It just isn’t done! But it happened?

When I voted for Barack Obama I won and got a two fer. I’ll let him do all the political garbage and enjoy the love fest that America and now the world will have with his wife Michelle. She is just the perfect fit for the perfect politician for our times. Even the Queen of England wanted to hug her and I don’t blame her.

While her husband is making serious decisions that will change the way we look at our world from a business and environmental perspective, Michelle Obama, our First Lady, is winning the hearts and minds of millions of people every single day. Politically, Democrats, could not ask or hope for anyone better than Michelle Obama. God bless her, she is the hope and future that we all seek.

If we could just bottle the exuberance and love for Michelle Obama, then her husband could serve two terms and then she could serve the next two!

Needless to say, the reall winner of the G-20 Summit was Michelle Obama. She moved the people in a land not of her own. She won their hearts and her husband didn't do so bad either.

Papamoka

We are going to be Okay

For the average person it is understandable that you can’t sort out the facts from the hype when it comes to the economy. I believe we can all chalk that up to massive over speculation on both sides of the Main Stream Media shilling for their political perspective and audience. So what is a guy or gal to do when reading reports about the economy? My answer, nothing. Just live your life like you always have, clip the coupons to save a dollar or more on your grocery bill, research big buys like a new car like you have always done, and just live your life like you always have. Storm troopers are not going to drag you from your bed at night if you lock yourself into the MSM hype and fear engine.

If you are lucky enough to have a job in a stable company then go the extra step to help the company out by finding cost savings, new ideas, or just doing the job they are paying you to do. In the long run the economy will fix itself because of the American way of life. We as a people don’t like old appliances, old cars, old anything when you get right down to it. Our nation has a built in mentality that the best product on the market is what we want for our families and somebody is always coming out with the latest replacement for the 8-Track player. America is a nation of cutting edge technology on everything under the sun and other nations copy it cheaper and provide it at a better price for the average consumer. As sucky as that sounds it is the way of the world today, have you shopped at Wal-Mart lately?

Back in the 1980’s I worked for a company that was always experimenting with new product ideas. Vendors of the company participated in the experiments and out of that practice makes perfect trial and error experimental process came a product line that boomed for the company for almost a decade. Cheaper copies of the same product hit the market eventually but the company was already working on dozens of other new products by then. Ingenuity and willing to take a risk is what drives business and it isn’t always about the bottom line of today. Same goes for America, we have to reinvent ourselves every couple of decades to make sure we know that we are the land of the free and the home of the brave. If you look at all of the products made in China today, most likely they originated in the USA a decade or more ago! It’s what we as Americans do, and they duplicate and sell ten years afterward.

My two cents on the economy is that President Obama and his team are on the right track, Wall Street loved his recent news so much that the market jumped the highest percentage in over seventy plus years in one day. That my friends is the first step in building confidence in the American economic engine that actually runs the world today. President Obama is the voice we need to hear, it’s the voice business needs to hear, and it is the voice that the American people elected to hear.

Franklin Roosevelt faced a barrage of skeptics under his New Deal theory and the economy was in far worse shape than it is now by a margin of mega proportions. Opponents fought him over every single idea he raised but he stuck to his guns and managed to get the best of them passed. Not all ideas in Congress get a green light and you shouldn’t expect that from this President either. George Bush wanted to privatize Social Security, aren’t you glad that didn’t work out now?

Healthcare, jobs, and education is the agenda for President Obama and he has always said that throughout his campaign for President. The collapse of our economy is an added bonus having him in charge instead of a “Hand’s Off” right side of the aisle leader. All I have to say is that it is damn well time for the sun to shine and this video covers it…

Video Link



Go about your life like you always have, there is nothing to see at this accident other than some bankers and insurance executives asses being spanked for being arrogant and over zealous for mega profits. The next wave of the American innovation experiment is about to begin and its going to be one hell of a political ride to get it started.

Papamoka

Lincoln, Bush and Obama on Jeopardy

I was laughing my butt off over this political video from Jay Leno with a presidential panel of constestants on Jeoparday.

Video Link



Feel free to email this post to all your friends...

Papamoka

The tightrope

Alex says: So the stimulus bill has got through, smaller than what was needed but still the largest spending measure since World War II. Geithner’s bank bill is on its way, bringing to well over $2 trillion the total spending and investment by the US government since the crisis began a few short months ago. And we should see more spending on the public sector – education, health care, insurance – and environment in the next months, both to fulfil Obama’s ambitious agenda and as a method of further job creation by the back door.

The first casualty of this conflict was bipartisanship: a mythical phenomenon that has never really existed in Washington except as a political tactic (See my post from last September). Given the majority power that the Democrats now have across two of the three branches of government, it would have been inconceivable that they concede the substance of their political goals to make an unnecessary alliance with people who advocate policies they don’t believe in. To Democrat leaders it would have been a betrayal both of their principles and their supporters ... so it didn’t happen.

That said, this is a debate that’s doomed to an early death. No-one will be giving two hoots about bipartisanship within a few months. As the social consequences of unemployment continue to multiply, social polarisation based on public fury will take over, and bipartisanship will seem like a quaint concept from a bygone era. Prime Minister Brown gained early credit in his response to the banking crisis, and his bold and decisive action helped him reconstruct support that had almost completely evaporated in the preceding year, but a few months have passed and that is a thing of the past now. Now a significant majority of Britons believe that the government has spent too much time worrying about banks and not enough time worrying about jobs. The anger is palpable, building, and threatens in the medium term to split the Labour party: my only amazement is that no leaders have yet emerged to articulate and organise it. But with a million more people likely to lose their jobs this year, it won’t be long before that happens.

Obama’s battle with polarisation will be much more dangerous than the debates over bipartisanship precisely because it is based in social reality not the idealistic hopes we might have for a more civilized world of political debate. One phenomenon is about compromise in D.C. to get bills passed; the other is about a fragmenting society. If the jobless numbers grow at the rate most of us expect them to this year, if the ranks of long-term unemployed rise as dramatically as it appears they will, and if people continue to lose their houses, the anger at the ruling elites – which has so far only produced some fairly pointless public flagellation of bankers at congressional hearings – will boil into something much more than that, and Obama will be sitting right on top of it. I don’t think many of the politicians in Washington yet have any idea what this tiger of public anger will do when it gets its claws into them.

On the one hand, Obama believes that the path to recovery lies through ambitious yet fundamentally conservative policies: renewing faith in the banking sector, raising consumer confidence, and creating jobs for Americans (which, given the modern economic system, will entail big aid to big corporations, not just money to the little man). But in the context of a rising tide of populist anger, this runs the risk of seeing him associated too closely with these forces of privilege himself. That’s what’s happened in the UK, where the Labour party is now seen as little more than a stooge of the banking industry: an unfair accusation, arguably.

This was the tightrope FDR delicately had to walk in the 1930s: first wooing the big industrialists and allowing them to consolidate to keep prices up; then, in the mid-1930s moving dramatically leftwards to respond to the challenge from populist leaders like Charles Coughlin, Huey Long, and Frances Townsend; then, moving back to the fiscal centre (disastrously) with the spending cuts early in his second term; and finally reconstructing his political support by pronouncing the death of 'Dr. New Deal' and birth of ‘Dr. Win-the-war’.

That’s how you win four elections: and that will be the real test of Obama’s political skill.

Alex Goodall
Papamoka’s European Contributor
From A Swift Blow to the Head

Handle with Care

In these foreboding times in our nation it is up to all of us to handle our economy with care. While we have all been beat up and shot down our reputation and place in the world is to lead with confidence and to some degree arrogance and yet with some form of humility. Our future as a people and nation has not been robbed from us but simply misplaced. It is up to each one of us to lean on one another to find the path out of this mess and we can clean it up together. Our nations government and its reputation is on the line with the bailout packages that they are proposing but that is just a drop in the bucket of what this nation really needs. We need to join together, stop being fooled and listen to one another and act accordingly with one another. Stop acting as if the next great depression is upon us and listen to the traffic outside your window and that my friends is America alive and well and working. Non stop fear mongering by the media is driving the mentality that we should all tighten our belts and forget that we are the economic engine of the world. That is bull and we all know it deep down.

Video Link



Everybody has a part to play in this economy and everyone can excel at their part in fixing it by simply not acting out of fear. Give the time needed for change to happen and by all means, if you can hire one person to do a job in your small business, then do so. If you can take the time out of your life to volunteer at your local police or fire department, parks department, schools, or wherever your service to the community you live in will help, then just do it!

One thing is certain, when any group of people acts like a bed of clams and closes their shells tightly out of fear, eventually the entire bed will die off from lack of oxygen. The same scenario is true when the American people stop using their overall purchasing power that does in fact run the world economy.

Make no doubt about it, fear is the main driving force that is running the American economy right now and the only thing we have to fear, is fear itself. A wise man once said that to his people in a similar situation. Who was it that said that? His name is on the tip of my tongue but I'm drawing a blank... Help me out here.

If you are waiting for better times to replace the things you need to replace just in case then the fear is in your heart. Let it go and let God. Replace that old car or truck with a new one, replace that television or fridge or washer and dryer with a new one, replace that living room set that you hate anyway. Not because you have to, but because you want too! That my friends is the key to the American way of life. We do things simply because we want to and that got us to the moon with the inspiration of a President some four decades ago. So what is stopping you from replacing or upgrading the stuff you already have? Is it fear? Now ask yourself who sold you that fear in a wrapped package?

Papamoka

Now We Change to Evolve

Hello Papamoka Bloggers - We did it! We voted for change! The Republicans are out of power! So, what's different already? A great example could be seen on the National Mall yesterday, as well as at celebrations around the nation and the world.

People everywhere were celebrating the victory of a man who speaks about the hopes and dreams of families, communities and nations, and not just about those of individuals - especially selfish individuals. We elected a man who understands how America and the world, our very lifestyle, cannot survive without change.

His inaugural themes echoed his campaign, but were more blunt. He stressed more cooperation, sacrifice and charity. He's challenging us to help him heal our nation, and hopefully help the world. "A new era of responsibility...to ourselves, our nation, and the world" is a good start to a presidency that is required to return balance to a suffering world.

If I heard him right, personal ambition is now less important than creating jobs that will employ all Americans. Wall Street is now less important than Main Street. Free trade is now less important than fair trade. Health care for some Americans is now less important than health care for all Americans. There's no doubt a lot has changed today.

Priorities also changed. I heard him describe a government no longer focused on saving the wealth of a few. That was yesterday. Today we want corporations and the banking industry to help people keep their homes, and create good jobs for average Americans. Wall Street helping Main Street! I heard a man talk about jobs. Jobs, jobs, jobs!

If you listened carefully, you could hear him say that a rising tide will lift all boats - or at least close to it. That rising tide will be the middle-class.

I also heard him talk a lot about helping others. "The selflessness of workers who rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job" is a great example of self-sacrifice at a time of great suffering. Tough times require us to help our fellow Americans. I've done okay in life, so I'm prepared to help if I can. Are you?

It shouldn't have to be said, but after Reaganism, trickle-down economics and the "small government" Bush years, it must be said: Americans need to know their president, and their government, will not allow them to starve in the streets. That's what changed yesterday. Obama's "spirit of service" is infectious, and people need to know they will be okay.

Let us hope that Obama renews the original ideas embodied in our Declaration of Independence, where life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness suggests hope to all. We should not live in a selfish society. The only way mankind is going to survive on this small planet, with billions arriving each generation, is to work together.

Other western, capitalistic democracies know it. It's time for more Americans to figure it out. Selfishness and unilateralism is a luxury we Americans can no longer afford.

Michael Boh
Papamoka's Left Coast Contributor
from Our Rants & Raves Blog

Obama Inauguration Speech Video

Video Link

The End of a National Nightmare

Good Morning Papamoka Bloggers - I was an early Obama supporter, having donated to his campaign nearly three years ago. I made an early choice that I liked his positions, and that we needed new blood in politics, and more diversity.

After months of volunteering and financial support, I am very proud to be witnessing his inauguration. I too want to celebrate this historical event, and extend my best wishes to African-Americans and others who are standing a little taller today.

It is also wonderful to celebrate Obama's ascent close to the day we honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It's amazing when you think about it; only four decades ago the haters were openly killing people because of their skin color. We've come a long way. I guess dreams can come true, even in politics.

I acknowledge the historic nature of this inauguration, but I also want to acknowledge the defeat of everything we've been fighting against over the past eight years. George Bush and Dick Cheney are leaving the White House in disgrace today. They are leaving as the most unpopular president and vice-president in American history.

Despite what their supporters say, newspapers at home and around the world are celebrating their departure. We may not have impeached them, thanks to Pelosi and the Democrats, or thrown them in jail yet, but we will be free of them. Their actual exit, which was considered questionable by many, is a victory to be celebrated.

So, let's celebrate Barack Obama as the next President of the United States, but it's just as important to celebrate the departure of the WORST dynamic duo to ever occupy the White House. The criminals are being forced out, and there's nothing they, or their supporters, can do about it.

Our nation will hopefully once again be lead by individuals who believe in the rule of law, and the concept that nobody, no matter how powerful, is above that law. We'll continue to fight to bring them to justice, but in the meantime it's enough to know they are leaving. The nightmare is finally over. Thank you God.

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!

Michael Boh
Papamoka's Left Coast Contributor
from Our Rants & Raves Blog

Obama Egg Salad Inauguration

We buy eggs by the 18 count at the grocery store simply because we have five baby girls to feed. Depending on what supermarket we go to, the eggs in the 18 count pack will be brown or white. Makes no difference to me, eggs are eggs, the kids just love eggs for breakfast, lunch, or anytime. Over easy with buttered toast and bacon, hard boiled straight out of the shell, egg salad sandwiches, egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches, omelets with ham and cheese, and of course, our family favorite, Westerns with ground up ham and onions and the rest of the desired additional ingredients served up personally by Papamoka aka Daddy for each member of the family. Most of all they love egg salad sandwiches. Mom makes it one way and Dad another. End result, full bellies, happy bellies, and happy children. Eggs are just eggs no matter the color of the shell.

Over at Reuters they have this on race relations and the incoming 44th President of the United States…

Obama inauguration turns page in race relations
Sun Jan 18, 2009 1:18pm EST

By Matthew Bigg
ATLANTA (Reuters) - Anyone looking for evidence of the change represented by the United States electing an African-American as president could start with the White House itself. It was built 200 years ago using black slave labor.

Tuesday's inauguration of Barack Obama marks a feel-good moment for the country. Many hope it is a sign that America's travails over race, older than the country itself, are being resolved.

Outgoing President George W. Bush was quick to make the point in his farewell address, saying that Obama's story -- his black father was from Kenya, his white mother from Kansas -- represents "the enduring promise of our land."

For black Americans, the moment is particularly poignant.

"When Barack raises his hand, every black person in the nation should raise their hand because there's a new sense of pride that we have in being an American that we've never had before," said Lawrence Carter, dean of the Martin Luther King International Chapel at Atlanta's Morehouse College. - Reuters

Racism in America makes about as much sense as segregating brown eggs from white eggs while you are boiling eggs for egg salad sandwiches for lunch. Just today we had half a carton of white eggs and half a carton of brown eggs in the fridge. All of them went into the same boiling hot water and it came to me that I was making an Obama egg salad! Politically, he has brought the racism out of politics and turned a page on how our future will be for all people in America. We are all in the same melting hot pot together in today’s economic crisis and the only difference between us all is the color of the shell on the egg. And what do we all do with the shells of the eggs when we peel them away to reveal the gem underneath to make egg salad? We toss the shells in the damn trash. All eggs are the same, and so are all people. Especially here in America.

Much like snowflakes, nobody makes egg salad the same but we all love it! I wonder how Martin Luther King Jr. would have liked his egg salad on Tuesday? I’m pretty sure he would have loved to taste a bite of the Obama egg salad sandwich.

Happy Birthday Doctor King. Your work and tragic loss made this all possible. Have a sandwich, all we have is egg salad! Your dream has come true and it comes with a mix of special ingredients we all call Americans. And my congratulations to Barack Obama for having a job that nobody in their right mind would want during these difficult days. Grab an egg salad sandwich Barack, you are going to need to keep your strength up my friend.

Papamoka

Crisis, Republicrats, and "Change" Elites Can Believe In

As the saying goes, I don't come around here much any more. It's not for lack of interest. To the contrary, my interest in the political health and happenings is as strong as ever. Certain things beyond my control limit my ability to write. So you might say I'd have to get fairly fired up to print anything.

No one was more pleased on November 4th last year to see Barack Obama win the presidency. For, like many, I believed. I believed an unprecedented crisis called for a cessation of "more of the same." The nation simply can't afford it. I repeatedly said that if Barack Obama turns out to be another Bill Clinton; we're screwed. Not since March of 1933, when Herbert Hoover handed a flaming torch to Franklin Roosevelt has there been such a stark choice put before those who govern.

That is, play the same game, side-tracking onto issues that fit an ideology, or really DO something about the steady, corrosive dismantling of the middle class in America. The people of the United States do not have the luxury of pretending that this whole mess is just a little hiccup on the road to "recovery"...that is, recovering the status quo prior to the economic collapse in September 2008. In fact, the collapse was nothing more than the end result of 40 years of separating politics from economics.

Mr. Obama has not even assumed the office of president, and already the signs are there of the choice being made. Same 'ole same 'ole....throw the old bums out; put the new bums in, as Stephen King put it once. The first is the S-CHIP program, voted on this week. It involves a $33 billion dollar budget for a very laudable and worthy program. However, in light of current events there is something disconcerting about depending so strongly upon tobacco taxes.

S-CHIP will benefit those of lower incomes who make too much for Medicaid yet not enough to afford private insurance. Congress (and the new President) are ensuring an extension and expansion of S-CHIP by levying a huge tax increase on the lower economic strata. It's simply a fact that most smokers are not well off; in fact most are not far above or are below the poverty line. But smoking is evil, etc., and that's just too bad. After all, it's .....FOR THE CHILDREN!!

So our new government is going to transfer a huge amount of money from the bottom and to the bottom. Now that is an exchange any Wall Street banker can believe in.

Additionally, President-elect Obama is making noises about "fiscal responsibility" that involve Social Security and Medicare. Granted, Medicare is a mess, especially after that ridiculously irresponsible "drug benefit" launched by an idiot president and an equally idiotic congress.

But Social Security has been stolen from EVERY YEAR since the mid-1960's. Remember, even the "surpluses" at the end of the Cinton years wouldn't have looked so rosy if the money stolen from Social Security was not included. If the word "stolen" seems a little excessive, I'm just quoting the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who, testifying before a senate committee many years ago, made that claim. I clearly remember him telling the committee that if General Motors was doing with their pension funds what the congress was doing with Social Security, the board of directors would have been in prision a long time ago. But, legality is not a problem when you're the ones making the laws.

Nevertheless, the Obama administration is making it clear that this "Grand Bargain" is going to require some people in the country to bend over. And it isn't going to happen on Wall Street.

So lately I'm asking myself what the difference is between this new era of "change" and the status quo? A Democratic Party that is more like the Republican Party means the change is in the rhetoric, not the substance. Peeing on my leg and telling me it's raining is not change.

I personally don't matter. The nation matters. And if, through stupidity and myopia the "leaders" in government kow-tow to the elites who have fairly well run us over a cliff and into a manure pile, ....well that DOES matter.

Obama Needs to Be More Concerned About Justice

Hello Papamoka Bloggers - I was going to write about the lack of regret shown by George - "I never made a mistake as president" - Bush at this morning's official final press conference, but something else caught my eye that made me even more upset. So, after my rant about choosing Warren to speak at the inaugural, I now offer my second RANT against Obama.

Unlike Republicans, we're not afraid to criticize our leaders in public.

The Internet is filled with snippets of Barack Obama's interview on ABC with George Stephanopoulos yesterday, which I missed because I do try to get away from political news in favor of a life outside on weekends. I can't believe it, but Obama said that Guantanamo Bay is not a priority for him, and even more disturbing is how he doesn't seem very concerned about the crimes committed by the Bush administration.

"We have not made final decisions, but my instinct is for us to focus on how to we make sure we're moving forward, we are doing the right thing. That doesn't mean that if somebody has blatantly broken the law that they are above the law, but my orientation is going to be moving forward," Obama said. THERE IS PLENTY OF EVIDENCE ALREADY THEY'VE BROKEN THE LAW, so what the hell is he talking about? Start talking about BRINGING THEM TO JUSTICE!

Now, I'm aware that we have an economic crisis that needs to be THE priority, but that doesn't mean that his Justice Department is unable to begin investigations into the crimes of the past eight years. The statement worries me a great deal. HE NEEDS TO MAKE IT A PRIORITY TOO.

We understood how he might have avoided the issue during the election, but what is preventing him from letting justice take its course now? NOTHING! There will be a grassroots DEMOCRATIC PARTY UPROAR if the Obama Justice Department doesn't do their job of going after the lawbreakers of the past eight years. Core constituents will be VERY ANGRY!

Numerous human rights and civil liberties groups are calling for senior Bush administration officials to be prosecuted for a series of alleged abuses, and OBAMA KNOWS IT. There are too many to list, but a few major ones include lies related to Iraq, war profiteering, the illegal detention and torture of terrorist suspects, domestic spying, destruction of White House records, lying before Congress, obstructing justice, and on and on. There are Congressional Reports that clearly state where the lawbreaking occurred, and OBAMA KNOWS IT!

Obama criticized Vice President Dick Cheney for his public defense of "extraordinary" interrogation methods used against top terrorism suspects, including waterboarding. "Vice President Cheney, I think, continues to defend what he calls extraordinary measures or procedures when it comes to interrogations and from my view waterboarding is torture," Obama said. "I have said that under my administration we will not torture."

TALK IS FINE, but they broke domestic and international laws so GO AFTER THEM AND THROW THEM IN JAIL! If you don't do it Obama, then I believe the international community should do what we're obviously too pathetic to do ourselves. Unfortunately, that would be worse, and make us look very bad.

I will do everything I can to give future President Obama every benefit of the doubt, but we elected him to do many things at the same time, and that includes restoring real justice. So fix the economy while REESTABLISHING JUSTICE in the country. WE WANT INDICTMENTS, PERP WALKS, TRIALS, and CONVICTIONS! It is not negotiable. My message to the Obama team is that justice is not optional. Do the job we hired you for, and restore the nation to its former glory. Equal justice under law is its cornerstone.

Michael Boh
Papamoka's Left Coast Contributor
from Our Rants & Raves Blog

Let's Focus on Fixing What They Broke

Hello Papamoka Bloggers - Well, it looks like George W. Bush is leaving office having eliminated nearly 4 million jobs and leaving us in a nightmare of a recession. He didn't quite wipe out the gains of the nineties, but he came close. WOW! That is amazing, and sad.

The official unemployment rate is now at 7.2% and when you throw in the under-employed and those who simply fell out the system, economists say it's more like 14%. Of course the far right is already saying that it's the Democrat's or Obama's fault, but the rest of us know better. They were in charge - despite their ignorant belief we were after the 2006 election, filibusters be damned - and they destroyed our system. Now we need to tune them out and pick up the pieces.

So, despite the bad news, I chose to rave this morning. Why? Because I choose to remain optimistic. One way to remain optimistic and start the healing process is to reflect on success in the past. In 1992, when Bill Clinton was elected President, the American economy was barely creating jobs, wages were stagnant, and the unemployment rate was 7.5 percent. Sound familiar? That was under another Republican, and a Bush. I guess the Republicans loved those days so much they elected his son to do it all over again.

Obama's new economic plan is similar to Clinton’s at that time, however, whereas Clinton focused heavily on fiscal responsibility and debt reduction, Obama is forced to to renew parts of Roosevelt's New Deal. His bold economic strategy is focused on: government spending designed to spur growth, investing in education, and health care reform.

Once the bleeding has stopped, he also wants to focus on investing in green energy and other new industries. It's sill unclear what he'll do about Clinton's love of trade deals, so I guess we'll have to wait and see. I only hope he cares more about FAIR TRADE at the expense of free trade.

Still, if you consider what Clinton achieved, the strategy helped create over 22.4 million jobs and contributed to the longest economic expansion in U.S. history. WOW! Despite the idiotic opposition that always tries to take credit for the good while passing the buck on the bad, Democrats should be confident that we have what it takes to fix what George Bush and the Republicans broke.

So, let's try to be optimistic. Obama is not just a new beginning, he's a brilliant man, well suited to fixing the mess we're in now. He's working on creative solutions, perhaps taking the best of Clinton while adding his own bit of ingenuity.

That's what is so cool about the American system. Over the past eight years we Americans, or at least Democrats, have been envious of other countries with Parliamentary systems. We all know Bush would have suffered a vote of no confidence years ago. Our system is flawed, but the abusive presidents like Bush are few, while the number of very good, creative presidents, who accomplished great things, are clearly the majority.

So, we should be happy. We sustained a great deal of damage, the unemployment rate continues to skyrocket, but the ship of state is still afloat, and we have a captain who understands what must be done to repair her. It's not going to be easy, but then again, tough times aren't meant to be easy. They're meant to challenge, test men of good character, weed out the bad ones, and create new solutions. It's time for a fresh start, and soon we will have it.

Michael Boh
Papamoka's Left Coast Contributor
from Our Rants & Raves Blog

Politics and 2008

The year 2008 was all about change no matter how you look at it politically. We started the year off wondering how to gas up our cars and looking at green energy with a new perspective and ended up with gas at more than half the price. I mention gasoline because the political world revolves around energy and energy is money and the politics of it all comes down to the almighty dollar. About eight or nine months ago I predicted the crash of oil prices here on this site just prior to George W Bush leaving office and oops… I was right. The scary thing to think about is that Bush could have gone down in history as the defender of America against terrorism but he succumbed to political pressure of the have too much and want more of too much. While he may have kept our nation safe from terrorist attacks he will be remembered as the President that let Wall Street kill Main Street. Then Elm Street, then Oak Street, then South and West Main Street and the list goes on.

Then we had the meltdown of politicians mostly from the right side of the aisle that seemed to exit stage right in disgrace and you can check the list at Republican Offenders website. Speaker of the House resigned, Senate President resigned, and a slew of congressmen and senators left because the picking were not looking so good with the Justice Department fast on their heals.

Out of almost nowhere comes this Senator from Illinois that speaks from his heart, talks common sense, and his mission is change. It doesn’t matter to the voters what his nationality is, his background and experience is or even if he smokes. He churns up the young people of America to get involved in politics and they do so for the first time in many generations. Much like FDR he promises hope, change, and a new beginning and it sold well at the polls. It wasn’t an easy win for Barack Obama but he did it with the help of many people that thought their voice should be heard too.

Anywho… I found this video for ya on politics and 2008 that I thought you might enjoy from You Tube…

Video Link




2009 should be interesting to say the least. We can look forward to many changes courtesy of the exiting President and insisted on by the new President. How it will all work out is anyone’s guess but I’m leaning to the positive side of life.

I filled the wife’s mini van from a quarter tank of gas for just under $22 today and just a couple of months ago it cost me over $60. I like that kind of change so far and Obama has not even been sworn in yet. How much more change are we going to be able to keep in our pockets once he is sworn in?

Papamoka

Rick Warren is No Billy Graham Mr. President-Elect

Good Morning Papamoka Bloggers - I understand it, but I can't believe it. Barack Obama has chosen Orange County preacher Rick Warren to give the invocation at his inauguration. It makes sense politically (for the next election at least), but it's a real slap in the face to the people who feel that Rick Warren isn't the open-minded saint many make him out to be.

The move positions Warren to succeed Billy Graham as the nation’s preeminent minister, but Billy Graham was known to be very bipartisan - or apolitical. Warren has been involved in many political movements, at least here in California. He was a main supporter of Proposition 8 that TOOK RIGHTS AWAY from gays and lesbians. He's also known as a major supporter of Republican causes.

As I always promised, I WILL CRITICIZE DEMOCRATS when I feel they deserve it. In this case, I think Barack could have made a better choice. I would have preferred Jeremiah Wright, if only to piss off the far right. No matter what, there were many better candidates. I think Warren was a very bad decision, no matter how political it may be. Rick Warren will need to evolve before I consider him representative of all Americans. Bad choice Barack.

Michael Boh
Papamoka's Left Coast Contributor
from Our Rants & Raves Blog