Conversation No. 11: I Don’t Care If She Is Member Of My Party; Whenever Nancy Pelosi Is In The News It Is Bad News And She Is Back On Her High Horse.
If She Wanted To Be President She Should Have Run For The Office! That Ornament Just Won’t Go Away And The Economy Is Being Auctioned Off In A Congressional Shell Game.
This Is Not Good News!
Anxiety among Democrats as Pelosi tightens her grip
The Hill - Washington,DC,USA
Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) moves since the November elections have shaken up some of her colleagues, with some looking over their shoulders and others ...
See all stories on this topic
Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) moves since the November elections have shaken up some of her colleagues, with some looking over their shoulders and others worried about how the Speaker will lead her expanded majority in 2009.
Next year is regarded as the biggest legislative opportunity for Democrats since 1993, the last time they controlled the White House and both chambers of Congress.
But not all Democrats are celebrating. Liberals are worried about Pelosi’s vow to govern “from the middle” and centrists are concerned that the make-up of the House leadership team has shifted noticeably to the left.
Contrary to the jubilation of House Democrats after they regained control of the lower chamber after the 2006 elections, there is some unease among members heading into the 111th Congress.
“Everybody I talk to, everybody’s worried about something,” said a Democratic staffer.
Pelosi’s effort to make some Democrats anxious could be a calculated maneuver as she seeks to maximize the effectiveness of her caucus heading into 2009. Pelosi’s hard-charging tone and decisions over the past month have sent a message to her colleagues: Don’t get too comfortable.
The seniority system that tempers the power of the Speaker is teetering, having received a body blow from Rep. Henry Waxman’s (D-Calif.) coup at the Energy and Commerce Committee.
When chairmen aren’t flinching at the possibility of a challenge from a junior member, they can look forward to being bounced by term limits in four years. That’s a change that Pelosi quietly endorsed in the 2007 House rules package.
Throughout the past four years, there has been a palpable strain in the Democratic Caucus between the older members who extol the seniority system and younger legislators who believe they deserve a more significant role in decision-making.
Pelosi, the unquestioned leader in the House whose enormous power seems to grow by the day, has sought to placate both factions. And to this point, she has succeeded.
Few members clash publicly with Pelosi. Reps. John Dingell (D-Mich.) and Jane Harman (D-Calif.), who were at odds with Pelosi over the last few years, were stripped of their top committee posts.
Centrists are grumbling that their growing ranks aren’t represented in the leadership team that Pelosi shaped through back-room arm-twisting. The so-called Blue Dogs, while publicly celebrating President-elect Obama’s commitment to “pay-go,” are wondering when the stimulus balloon stops expanding.
There is also growing speculation that pay-go will be waived for healthcare legislation, which is expected to cost hundreds of billions of dollars.
Meanwhile, Congress has swept in and out of town since the election with little to show except for a deposed chairman and a tongue-lashing for auto executives. And to the extent that any decisions are being announced, they’re coming from Obama’s headquarters in Chicago.
Most leadership aides, for their part, say any talk of tension is exaggerated. The word out of Pelosi’s office is not to worry.
“Everyone had and will continue to have a seat at the table,” said Pelosi spokesman Nadeam Elshami. “Her record has been that she’s a pragmatist who gets things done.”
On the day after the election, Pelosi assured that “the country must be governed from the middle.”
But as she spoke, Waxman was seeking to move things to the left. He spent the day making calls to fellow members asking them for the gavel of Energy and Commerce, where the heart of the Obama agenda will be hammered out. About two weeks later, the environmental left prevailed over the business-minded centrists when Dingell, the champion of the auto industry, was ousted.
“We’ll work with the new leadership,” Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-S.D.), incoming leader of the conservative Blue Dogs, said after the Dingell vote. “But to deny a man who defines the modern Congress ... is a mistake.”
Pelosi insists she had nothing to do with it. Her aides claim that she stayed strictly neutral even though Waxman hails from her state and Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D-Calif.), a Pelosi confidant, lobbied heavily for Waxman.
The Pelosi Record
Wall Street Journal - USA
That's a good thing for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, because her record is as bad as any new Speaker's in history. Ms. Pelosi likes to thunder against "the ...See all stories on this topic
Nancy Pelosi: A Speaker? Tries to comment on GM
By Bobbi Lea(Bobbi Lea)
Pelosi on autos bailout Dec. 2: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi comments on automakers plans to reorganize in order to secure government aid. CNBC.
News Cottage - http://newscottage.blogspot.
For the Record: December 2, 2008, Nancy Pelosi Comments on the GAO ...
By alaskakid
Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement on a report issued this afternoon by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on the Treasury Department’s implementation of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP): ...
Financial Economics Today - Wayne Marr - http://alaskakid.wordpress.
The Big Three Ask For Help
WHIO Radio - Dayton,OH,USA
Even before seeing the details, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said lawmakers and experts would give it a full review to see if financial aid is warranted. ...See all stories on this topic
High-flying Pelosi unlikely to deny Big 3
News-Leader.com - Springfield,MO,USA
Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House of Representatives, is busy doling out $700 billion in bailouts. She had told the automakers they could count on her help ...See all stories on this topic
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says Detroit 3 rescue package is ...
The incumbent speaker for the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, has stated that she expects the Detroit 3 will be given government funding in at least some form soon. Pelosi said that even if the Bush administration is hesitant ...
MotorAuthority - Latest News - http://www.motorauthority.com/
Nancy Pelosi Lies to Me About Bankruptcy
By Joe Malchow
Nancy Pelosi fouled my home several hours ago when she came on the radio and said something amounting to "bankruptcy is not an option for the Detroit horseless carriage manufacturers." Since Mrs.Pelosi was saying not two weeks ago that ...
Dartblog - http://www.dartblog.com/
Hey Nancy Pelosi, how 'bout a bailout?
By TV News Grapevine(TV News Grapevine)
Dear Nancy, While I know that the correct way to address you would be "Madam Speaker" I figured, hey, we're both paisans here. Anyway, I've noted that since all those bailout requests seem to cross your desk at some point, I thought I'd ...
tvnewsgrapevine - http://tvnewsgrapevine.blogspot.com/
White House Nixes Tree Ornament for Impeachment
By Scot Vee
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House won't display a Christmas tree ornament that calls for President Bush's impeachment. The ornament was made by Seattle artist Deborah Lawrence, who says she wanted to salute Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., ...
The Progressive - http://www.progressive.org/
Impeachment ornament
By edgeoforever
Jim McDermott of Seattle, a longtime Bush foe who backs impeachment. The nine-inch ball is covered with swirly red and white stripes and features a picture of McDermott. Tiny glued-on text salutes theimpeachment resolution. ...
Not Your Sweetie - http://edgeoforever.wordpress.com/
White House nixes tree ornament for impeachment
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House won't display a Christmas tree ornament that calls for President Bush's impeachment. The ornament was made by Seattle ...See all stories on this topic
Christmas Colors for the White House: Red, White and Impeach ...
Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts share gossip from inside the Beltway and beyond.
Local News | White House nixes ornament backing impeachment ...
The White House now says it won't display a Christmas tree ornament by a Seattle artist that includes a message supporting President Bush's impeachment. ...
White House ornament supports impeachment
Seattle Post Intelligencer - USA
AP WASHINGTON -- An ornament made by a Seattle artist for the White House Christmas tree includes a message supporting efforts to impeach President Bush. ...See all stories on this topic
Hohoho! Merry "Impeachment"?
By The Observer Editorial Board(Charlotte.com)
A Seattle artist sent in an ornament for the White House Christmas tree with the text of a resolution calling for President Bush's impeachment. Said a spokeswoman for First Lady Laura Bush, who solicited ornaments from congressional ...
The Daily Views - http://obsdailyviews.blogspot.
It Really Is Becoming A Congressional Con Game!
My God How The Money Rolls In (Our Money!)
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Dear Ed,
You've bailed out JP Morgan Chase, AIG, Citigroup and other financial giants. Now GM is asking for $12 billion and Chrysler for $7 billion.
Our economy is complicated, and there certainly is no easy solution to this painful recession. Frankly, I'm not always clear where I stand on all of the federal aid draining into the financial and auto industries. But I do know one thing: I'm outraged that money is flowing into industry with little to no oversight.
Americans are giving hundreds of billions of dollars to bail out industry. Ed, please help us demand real oversight and accountability in return »
As our markets plunge, industry executives continue to argue that they don't need more regulation. Of course the fox in the henhouse doesn't want a watchdog. But if Wall Street and industry leaders welcome taxpayer money, they need to accept oversight and accountability as well.
The no-strings-attached money is going to line the pockets of Wall Street execs and industry CEOs – unless Congress starts reining in industry's "anything goes" approach. Tell your lawmakers that industry needs oversight and accountability NOW »
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/290011652?z00m=18288804/feed
Saving the Big 3 for You and Me ...a message from Michael Moore
Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008
Friends,
I drive an American car. It's a Chrysler. That's not an endorsement. It's more like a cry for pity. And now for a decades-old story, retold ad infinitum by tens of millions of Americans, a third of whom have had to desert their country to simply find a damn way to get to work in something that won't break down:
My Chrysler is four years old. I bought it because of its smooth and comfortable ride. Daimler-Benz owned the company then and had the good grace to place the Chrysler chassis on a Mercedes axle and, man, was that a sweet ride!
When it would start.
More than a dozen times in these years, the car has simply died. Batteries have been replaced, but that wasn't the problem. My dad drives the same model. His car has died many times, too. Just won't start, for no reason at all.
A few weeks ago, I took my Chrysler in to the Chrysler dealer here in northern Michigan -- and the latest fixes cost me $1,400. The next day, the vehicle wouldn't start. When I got it going, the brake warning light came on. And on and on.
You might assume from this that I couldn't give a rat's ass about these miserably inept crapmobile makers down the road in Detroit city. But I do care. I care about the millions whose lives and livelihoods depend on these car companies. I care about the security and defense of this country because the world is running out of oil -- and when it runs out, the calamity and collapse that will take place will make the current recession/depression look like a Tommy Tune musical.
And I care about what happens with the Big 3 because they are more responsible than almost anyone for the destruction of our fragile atmosphere and the daily melting of our polar ice caps.
Congress must save the industrial infrastructure that these companies control and the jobs they create. And it must save the world from the internal combustion engine. This great, vast manufacturing network can redeem itself by building mass transit and electric/hybrid cars, and the kind of transportation we need for the 21st century.
And Congress must do all this by NOT giving GM, Ford and Chrysler the $34 billion they are asking for in "loans" (a few days ago they only wanted $25 billion; that's how stupid they are -- they don't even know how much they really need to make this month's payroll. If you or I tried to get a loan from the bank this way, not only would we be thrown out on our ear, the bank would place us on some sort of credit rating blacklist).
Two weeks ago, the CEOs of the Big 3 were tarred and feathered before a Congressional committee who sneered at them in a way far different than when the heads of the financial industry showed up two months earlier. At that time, the politicians tripped over each other in their swoon for Wall Street and its Ponzi schemers who had concocted Byzantine ways to bet other people's money on unregulated credit default swaps, known in the common vernacular as unicorns and fairies.
But the Detroit boys were from the Midwest, the Rust (yuk!) Belt, where they made real things that consumers needed and could touch and buy, and that continually recycled money into the economy (shocking!), produced unions that created the middle class, and fixed my teeth for free when I was ten.
For all of that, the auto heads had to sit there in November and be ridiculed about how they traveled to D.C. Yes, they flew on their corporate jets, just like the bankers and Wall Street thieves did in October. But, hey, THAT was OK! They're the Masters of the Universe! Nothing but the best chariots for Big Finance as they set about to loot our nation's treasury.
Of course, the auto magnates used be the Masters who ruled the world. They were the pulsating hub that all other industries -- steel, oil, cement contractors -- served. Fifty-five years ago, the president of GM sat on that same Capitol Hill and bluntly told Congress, what's good for General Motors is good for the country. Because, you see, in their minds, GM WAS the country.
What a long, sad fall from grace we witnessed on November 19th when the three blind mice had their knuckles slapped and then were sent back home to write an essay called, "Why You Should Give Me Billions of Dollars of Free Cash." They were also asked if they would work for a dollar a year. Take that! What a big, brave Congress they are! Requesting indentured servitude from (still) three of the most powerful men in the world. This from a spineless body that won't dare stand up to a disgraced president nor turn down a single funding request for a war that neither they nor the American public support. Amazing.
Let me just state the obvious: Every single dollar Congress gives these three companies will be flushed right down the toilet. There is nothing the management teams of the Big 3 are going to do to convince people to go out during a recession and buy their big, gas-guzzling, inferior products. Just forget it. And, as sure as I am that the Ford family-owned Detroit Lions are not going to the Super Bowl -- ever -- I can guarantee you, after they burn through this $34 billion, they'll be back for another $34 billion next summer.
So what to do? Members of Congress, here's what I propose:
1. Transporting Americans is and should be one of the most important functions our government must address. And because we are facing a massive economic, energy and environmental crisis, the new president and Congress must do what Franklin Roosevelt did when he was faced with a crisis (and ordered the auto industry to stop building cars and instead build tanks and planes): The Big 3 are, from this point forward, to build only cars that are not primarily dependent on oil and, more importantly to build trains, buses, subways and light rail (a corresponding public works project across the country will build the rail lines and tracks). This will not only save jobs, but create millions of new ones.
2. You could buy ALL the common shares of stock in General Motors for less than $3 billion. Why should we give GM $18 billion or $25 billion or anything? Take the money and buy the company! (You're going to demand collateral anyway if you give them the "loan," and because we know they will default on that loan, you're going to own the company in the end as it is. So why wait? Just buy them out now.)
3. None of us want government officials running a car company, but there are some very smart transportation geniuses who could be hired to do this. We need a Marshall Plan to switch us off oil-dependent vehicles and get us into the 21st century.
This proposal is not radical or rocket science. It just takes one of the smartest people ever to run for the presidency to pull it off. What I'm proposing has worked before. The national rail system was in shambles in the '70s. The government took it over. A decade later it was turning a profit, so the government returned it to private/public hands, and got a couple billion dollars put back in the treasury.
This proposal will save our industrial infrastructure -- and millions of jobs. More importantly, it will create millions more. It literally could pull us out of this recession.
In contrast, yesterday General Motors presented its restructuring proposal to Congress. They promised, if Congress gave them $18 billion now, they would, in turn, eliminate around 20,000 jobs. You read that right. We give them billions so they can throw more Americans out of work. That's been their Big Idea for the last 30 years -- layoff thousands in order to protect profits. But no one ever stopped to ask this question: If you throw everyone out of work, who's going to have the money to go out and buy a car?
These idiots don't deserve a dime. Fire all of them, and take over the industry for the good of the workers, the country and the planet.
What's good for General Motors IS good for the country. Once the country is calling the shots.
Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com
P.S. I will be on Keith Olbermann tonight (8pm/10pm/midnight ET) to discuss this further on MSNBC.
Obama's fundraising obliterates records
USA Today - USA
In 2004, Bush and Kerry raised a combined total of $504.2 million during the primaries and each collected $74.6 million in public funding for the general ...See all stories on this topic
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