A dawg, even a low down dirty Bush loving blue dawg, shouldn’t feel as crappy as I have this week.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
I couldn’t focus. To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From CNN: A 1-by-5-mile sheen of crude oil mix has spread across the Gulf of Mexico’s surface around the area where an oil rig exploded and sank, a Coast Guard lieutenant said Thursday.
"This is a rainbow sheen with a dark center," Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry told reporters.
An Earth Day gift from Big Oil. It’s time to rethink “Drill, Obama, Drill”.
From Alternet: Given the long build-up to Monday’s Second Amendment March on Washington, the result was a bit anti-climactic: a couple of thousand gun-owners assembled in front of a stage facing the Washington Monument. If only the National Rifle Association had given organizers a little support, said march founder Skip Coryell, there would have been at least 10 times the number of people assembled. "They let us down on this one," he said.
Even 1/10 as many gun-crazed Republicans would have been too many.
Today is Earth Day. I’d wish you a happy Earth Day, but I do not feel that would be right, because it is not a happy time for our planet. Here are some options.
Here’s a round-up of Earth Day-inspired resources, events, and celebrations taking place nationwide:
Too busy to get out and do something? No worries! If you’ve got 5 minutes to spare, then you’re set! Thanks to the AARP, you now have an online resource for going green even if you just have 5 minutes! Head to their "Five Minute Ways to Go Green" online listing at www.createthegood.org/gogreen. There, you’ll find topics like: donate your cell phone to a non-profit; reduce post-consumer carpets in landfills; set up a book exchange at work; tell a friend that is appliance shopping that they can research energy-efficient models here; and much more;
The National Organization for Women, California chapter (CANOW) celebrates Earth Day 2010 by announcing NoDryClean.com. The free website and mobile application allows you to enter a zip code and find a listing of the closest nontoxic cleaners nearby;
"Billion Acts of Green" for the iPhone or Facebook: Make a pledge to improve the environment with Earth Day Network and Future Friendly’s "Billion Acts of Green" global grassroots campaign, which seeks to inspire conservation through an interactive Website and other social media tools that enable consumers to make a pledge to improve their environmental impact and promote other environmentally-beneficial habits to friends and family via social media channels. Their goal is to collect one billion pledges. For more information, visit: http://apps.facebook.com/earthdaynetwork/;
In recognition of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, the U.S. Chamber’s BCLC is featuring 70 examples of business partners engaging in environmental stewardship, not just today, but every day. Companies from all industries — from Abbott, Allstate, and ARAMARK to Siemens, Shell, and Southwest — are minimizing their environmental footprint and advancing sustainability;
In honor of Earth Day, Bing hosted a photo contest that will benefit education, especially environmental education, through DonorsChoose.org (which you may have read about here last month!). If you aren’t too familiar, DonorsChoose.org allows teachers to post classroom projects that aren’t able to be funded by school districts. Donors can contribute as little or as much as they’d like to the classroom project of their choice to help provide the tools to give children a good education. Each day, Bing gave the first 20,000 people, who voted in ehe Earth Day Photo Contest, a $5 donation coupon to redeem on DonorsChoose.org. Unfortunately, contest voting ended on April 19th, but you can still help DonorsChoose.org year-round by making a donation here or you can check to see who won the Earth Day Photo Contest here: www.earthdayphotocontest.com;
Earth Day freebie and recycling project: Disney Store will give away free Friends for Change and OCEANS branded "eco-friendly hats" to guests who bring in six plastic bottles or aluminum cans on Earth Day, April 22 (while supplies last). Made from six recycled plastic bottles, the hats are an example of how everyday materials can be reused for entirely different purposes;
FREE conservation activity for kids: Parents can also bring kids to the Disney Store to pick up OCEANS themed activity sheets that teach children about our lakes, oceans, rivers, and streams and how we can reduce the amount of trash and waste in our waterways. OCEANS offers an unprecedented look beneath the sea, and can be a great viewing experience together for families and children;
Nature Conservancy donation: Disneynature’s OCEANS will also contribute to The Nature Conservancy’s "Adopt a Coral Reef," through the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund, on behalf of every person who sees the film in theaters April 22- April 28;
Disney’s new Friends for Change apparel: Disney Channel stars including Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, and many more have come together as Disney’s Friends for Change, teaching kids about activities that can help the planet. A new collection of Disney’s Friends for Change 100% organic Tees in four unique styles are available exclusively at Disney Store. The stand-out "Make a Wave" T-shirt design is inspired by the latest Disney’s Friends for Change anthem of the same name by Joe Jonas and Demi Lovato, currently available on iTunes with all proceeds benefiting the planet through Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund;
New eco-friendly products and apparel: Disney Store’s exclusive "Save Planet Earth" eco-friendly product assortment with the lovable three-eyed green alien from Disney-Pixar Toy Story will be available through Earth Day and includes: "fashionable totes", made from seven recycled bottles that have been cleaned, smashed, melted and reused; children and adult sized "T-shirts made from 100% organic cotton" with the messages "Save Planet Earth" and "Love" and for each tote sold Disney Store will contribute $1 through the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund to help save our oceans by protecting vital coral reefs; green reusable "aluminum bottles"; "journals" made from recycled paper and organic cotton; and a new exclusive "Toy Story plush alien" to commemorate this special occasion;
Exclusive Web videos featuring Joe Jonas and Demi Lovato: An exclusive new Earth Day video message about the program featuring Disney Channel stars Joe Jonas and Demi Lovato can be viewed in select Disney Store locations. You can see this here;
Samsung’s March to a Million in-school education and recycling program, which runs April 1 – June 1, will teach students across the U.S. about the importance of mobile phone recycling and the impact that it can have, both environmentally and socially, and participate in activities that will allow them to educate their peers, parents and local communities. Each participating school has the opportunity to enter a sweepstakes to win either a VIP concert from the pop/rock band, Hey Monday, or one of fifty $1,000 "Green Grants" to put towards making their school more environmentally friendly. For additional information, anyone who is interested in recycling their mobile phone can visit Samsung Mobile’s Facebook page – www.facebook.com/SamsungMobile – and click on the Recycle tab. Here, you can print out a pre-paid postage label to send the phone to Samsung Mobile for recycling… [emphasis original]
Senator Michael Bennet has introduced filibuster reform legislation.
During the past year I’ve had conversations with thousands of people from all parts of Colorado, and I’ve heard a common refrain: Washington isn’t working. Last week, the obstructionist actions of Republican senator Jim Bunning left no doubt that the people of Colorado are right — Washington is broken, and it’s getting worse.
The filibuster was originally intended to protect minority rights and encourage meaningful debate on the Senate floor. Today, this important rule is being abused at an unprecedented rate, and it’s grinding the business of the Senate to a standstill.
That’s why I am introducing new legislation to reform the Senate’s rules — to reform the filibuster in a responsible, practical way. My bill protects minority rights, while allowing the Senate to more efficiently conduct the people’s business and put an end to pointless delays.
The real problem is that the filibuster is being abused with unprecedented frequency. Individuals and parties are using it to obstruct progress, and the American people are paying the price.
Here are the specifics of my filibuster reform proposal:
Ends anonymous holds so senators will have to answer to their constituents;
Requires filibuster supporters to actually show up and vote;
Filibusters at the beginning of debate will be eliminated so we can get back to the business of deliberating bills; and,
Creates incentives to encourage bipartisanship and allows bills with bipartisan support to move more quickly.
The political games that have stopped business in the Senate need to end — we can do better. Please stand with me, and let’s put Washington back to work. Tell your senators to support my bill today.
I urge support for this to keep the issue on the front burner. But have no illusions. It will not pass. To change the Senate Rules in midstream requires 67 votes. The Rules can be changed with 51 votes on the first day the Senate meets next January. Or the Democrats could kill the Filibuster today using the “nuclear option. I trust you all know my opinion.
Except for my morning posts, I spend the day in bed yesterday. Today looks like more of the same.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
I didn’t even try. To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From TPM: Sen. John Ensign’s re-election campaign took in just $50 in contributions, from one contributor, during the first quarter of 2010, according to FEC reports. The paltry take comes as more bad news for the scandal-tarred Nevada Republican, who would run for re-election in 2012.
It would be criminal to allow Ensign to stay in office until 2012.
From Think Progress: DEMINT: I really think a lot of the motivation behind these Tea Party crowds is a spiritual component. I think it’s very akin to the Great Awakening before the American Revolution. A lot of our founders believed the American Revolution was won before we ever got into a fight with the British. It was a spiritual renewal.
Dang! Spiking the tea with Kool-Aid is Teabuggery!
The GOP, realizing that not even their own party believes the leadership lies on Financial Reform has pulled a cowardly about face and are now trying to take credit for it.
It seems like maybe the tactic of defending Wall Street and obstructing reform isn’t something that the GOP caucus is staying united behind.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell struck a markedly different tone on financial regulatory reform today, suggesting an agreement could be struck with Democrats sooner rather than later. And Democrats have taken notice.
"We believe the process to achieve [a bipartisan bill] has now been reconstituted," McConnell told reporters after the Republicans’ weekly caucus meeting this afternoon. "We are all confident that this can be fixed… Senator Shelby [the Republicans’ chief financial reform negotiator] believes that there’s been a very serious effort to re-engage."
McConnell of course gave credit to his letter signed by all 41 Republicans saying they were opposed to the bill as the kickstart for negotiations. To which Democrats respond that negotiations never stopped.
"Talk about taking people taking credit for things–that’s like the rooster taking credit for the morning," Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), the Democrats’ reg reform point man, told reporters after a caucus meeting. "This has been ongoing for people who have been following this thing. Welcome to the discussion…. Where has the [Republican] leader been?"
Now that the Republicans are on the ropes, we should take the opportunity to push for more real reform. Robert Reich has some good ideas.
…The Dodd bill now being considered in the Senate is a step in the right direction. Yet despite the hype, it’s a very modest step. It leaves out three of the most important things necessary to prevent a repeat of the Wall Street meltdown:
Require that trading of all derivatives be done on open exchanges where parties have to disclose what they’re buying and selling and have enough capital to pay up if their bets go wrong. The exception in the current bill for so-called "unique" derivatives opens up a loophole big enough for bankers to drive their Ferrari’s through.
Resurrect the Glass-Steagall Act in its entirety so commercial banks are separated from investment banks. The current bill doesn’t go nearly far enough. Commercial banks should take deposits and lend money. Investment banks should be limited to the casino we call the stock market, helping companies issue new issues and making bets. Nothing good comes of mixing the two. We learned this after the Great Crash of 1929, and then forgot it in 1999 when Congress allowed financial supermarkets to do both.
Cap the size of big banks at $100 billion in assets. The current bill doesn’t limit the size of banks at all. It creates a process for winding down the operations of any bank that gets into trouble. But if several big banks are threatened, as they were when the housing bubble burst, their failure would pose a risk to the whole financial system, and Congress and the Fed would surely have to bail them out. The only way to ensure no bank is too big to fail is to make sure no bank is too big, period. Nobody has been able to show any scale efficiencies over $100 billion in assets, so that should be the limit.
Wall Street doesn’t want these three major reforms because they’d cut deeply into profits…[emphasis added]
Not to be outdone by GOP in Dixie, Arizona Republicans are unveiling their own brand of racism.
Hispanic leaders in the House of Representatives called Tuesday for President Barack Obama Tuesday to act against Arizona’s anti-illegal immigration legislation and to throw his weight behind a comprehensive immigration overhaul.
Reps. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., and Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., demanded a halt to the bill that passed Arizona’s Senate Monday. The state’s House of Representatives passed it last week. If Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signs it into law, the bill would require immigrants to carry alien registration cards with them at all times and police to check people’s immigration status whenever there’s "reasonable suspicion" that they are in the country illegally.
Grijalva and Gutierrez said that if Brewer, a Republican, signs the bill into law, the Obama administration should step in to stop it.
"The president of the United States should simply say, ‘On the issue of immigration, the Constitution is clear, my power is clear — I’m going to regulate immigration in the United States from a federal level,’" Gutierrez said.
Thomas Saenz, president of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund who appeared with the congressmen at a news conference, said that the Department of Homeland Security could end agreements that allow Arizona law enforcement to police immigration laws or the Justice Department could challenge the initiative as a violation of civil rights law.
An Obama administration official said the White House is reviewing the Arizona legislation…
It’s not too often that I delve into politics on the far side of the pond, but this story is worthy noting.
For those inclined to root for a disruptive brand of politics, there’s an election going on for you. It just happens to be across the ocean in the United Kingdom. The nationwide election in the UK is May 6, and for the Liberal Democrats party, it can’t get here soon enough.
During the spring of 2008, I got my first taste of working with the Liberal Democrats, during the London mayoral contest. It was the typical frustrating election that Lib Dems tend to have had over the years. A bit of a rise during the initial parts of the campaign — one that builds up the hopes — and then a swift crushing downfall as the election date neared, ending with yet another third place finish.
That’s because the voters, fearing a wasted vote, usually near the end of the campaign, migrate to one of the more traditional candidates in the Conservative or Labour parties. Two weeks ago, a similar fate might have been about to occur to the Lib Dems. The Conservative party, with David Cameron, was in the lead with 38 percent of the vote; the incumbent Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s Labour party trailed with 30 percent, and bringing up the rear was Nick Clegg and the Lib Dems, with polling numbers at 20 percent. The other 12 percent or so gets distributed among the smaller or regional parties. Over the past week though, running against the conventional wisdom, the Lib Dems have surged in the polls to pull even with the other two parties, each garnering around 30 percent of the vote.
Most point toward Clegg’s shining moment of clarity in the recent national televised debate as the reason. Nick Clegg was unanimously decided the victor in the debate between the three contenders for prime minister. But that seemed more like a tipping point, rather than a single event. Over the past few elections the Lib Dems have been silently laying the groundwork by building themselves up as a national party; and at the same time, British voters have been getting ready for a brand of disruptive politics they haven’t seen in a long time.
When Nick Clegg reassured the voters that they could reject the "old parties" in favor of a future fair, he struck a chord. That last bit of language, "for a future fair" is the slogan of the Lib Dems this cycle, but it’s much less potent than the disruptive parts of the Lib Dems’ message.
The traditional "more of the same vs. change" argument was reframed by Clegg: There are the two-party politics of old that flip back and forth in power with nothing really changing, and the alternative of supporting the Lib Dems. Nick Clegg deftly combined a message of "it doesn’t have to be this way" with a message of a new direction. And what should be noticed here is that Clegg isn’t talking about bipartisanship change, but rather disruptive change.
It’s tipped the standard "a vote for Lib Dems is a vote wasted" argument on its head. Now, to vote for the Lib Dems is to reject the status quo system as something that needs to be disrupted. A hung Parliament? Bring it on. When the Tory’s Cameron trotted out the argument, after Clegg’s winning debate performance, that a vote for the Lib Dems was a vote for chaos, he was effectively throwing fuel on the fire… [emphasis added]
From what I understand, Brown is toast. I soured on Labour when tony Blair cast himself as Bush’s poodle. And Cameron is even further top the right. So I wish Clegg every success.
However, lest we get ideas about emulation this, let me remind you that the deck is far more stacked against third parties here than in the UK. Note that the catalyst was Clegg’s performance in the national debate. Here, any third party candidate would be excluded from the debates and not have that opportunity.
