Republican candidate for for Governor, Chris Dudley, is wrong for Oregon. He’s a rich man representing the wealthy. He evaded Oregon income taxes by maintaining his official residence in Washington, during his lackluster years as a Trailblazer bench warmer. At the same time, he still lived in Lake Oswego, Oregon, to avoid Washington sales tax. He even kept his car registered in Oregon, because the fee here is lower. So it should be no surprise that he’s about cutting taxes for the rich. But to justify the flood of corrupt corporate cash financing his campaign, he’s willing to throw Oregon’s renowned environmental quality under the bus by opposing needed regulation.
Like Christine O’Donnell and other know-nothing Tea Party candidates, Chris Dudley — the Republican nominee for Oregon’s governor — doesn’t know and doesn’t care if global warming is caused by fossil fuel pollution. Toeing the party line, Dudley opposes the Western Climate Initiative global warming agreement as a “cap-tax-trade” system that would “do damage to the economy and job creation.” He even bashed a weatherization initiative as a boondoggle. “Climate change is probably caused by a variety of factors,” Dudley said in a September interview with the Oregonian, “but that debate is beside the point.” In a gubernatorial debate on September 30, Dudley finally admitted he doesn’t know if pollution is causing global warming…
Yesterday I felt quite exhausted and slept for most of the day. Today I have a month’s groceries being delivered. Getting everything put away will be a chore, because my COPD is still severe. In addition, it’s a holy day in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb. My Broncos are worshiping in Baltimore to kick a little bird butt. The services will be televised here. I hope to get back to comments tomorrow.
Jig Zone Puzzle: (This one’s a real dog!)
Today it took me 4:25. To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From TPM: We learned yesterday that the Republican running against Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) has the unique hobby of donning an SS costume to honor fallen Nazis. Until last night, the GOP included the candidate, Rich Iott, on a list of promising potential members called Contenders — a notch below their so-called Young Guns. Now he’s gone, without a trace.
That’s more than the Republican leadership will tolerate. What a nerve! A Republican dressing up as a… Republican,
From McClatchy DC: A group founded by Republican political operative Karl Rove has dropped $800,000 on television advertising opposing Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, just part of the independent expenditures that have flooded into the Washington state Senate race in the past week.
Patty has already neaten Reichmeister Rossi a couple of times, but I worry that this filthy fascist money could matter.
The jobs report that just came out is bleak, and Republicans are goose-stepping in lock-step in their deceptive claim that the blame lies with Obama and the Democratic Party. While neither side is completely blameless, the Republican claim is a lie. No surprise there. That’s what Republicans do. If we examine what both Democrats and Republicans have done, it becomes clear that the overwhelming majority of the blame, not only for the current economic dilemma, but also for the sluggishness of the recovery, lies with the Republicans. What Democrats have accomplished has been effective, and more is needed, but Republicans are intentionally crucifying American workers to rise to power on their suffering.
The nation’s economy continued shedding jobs in September, as modest increases in the private sector were offset by steep losses in government employment, the Labor Department reported on Friday.
The unemployment rate remained at 9.6 percent in the final jobs report before the midterm elections. It marked the 17th consecutive month that the nation’s jobless rate has been above 9 percent, sharpening the challenge facing President Obama and congressional Democrats, whose policies have failed to produce significant new hiring.
"We have yet to make a real dent in unemployment, and now we are entering the holiday season anxious about how consumers will respond," said Christine Owens, executive director of the National Employment Law Project.
House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) used the tepid jobs report to again blast Obama’s economic policies – which are supported by many congressional Democrats – as not doing enough to create jobs.
"Over the past two years, the policies pursued by the president and Democrat leaders in Congress have created a cloud of uncertainty and fear that has inhibited productivity, innovation and job creation," Cantor said in a statement.
Speaking at a masonry company in Bladensburg, Obama trumpeted the gains in private-sector job growth, although he acknowledged that the overall employment picture remains troubling.
"Yes, the trend line in private-sector job growth is moving in the right direction," Obama said. "But I’m not interested in trends or figures as much as I am interested in the people behind them, the millions of honest, hard-working Americans swept up in the one of the most devastating recessions of our lifetimes."
Obama again called for greater infrastructure investments. He also chastised Republicans for delaying legislation that would provide tax incentives to encourage small-business growth. And he repeated his call to extend the George W. Bush administration’s tax cuts for family income below $250,000 while allowing the rates for income above that to rise.
Overall, employers cut 95,000 jobs in September. Private firms added 64,000 jobs, but the loss of temporary census jobs and increasing cuts by state and local governments resulted in the the elimination of 159,000 government positions… [emphasis added]
The latest bikini graph I could find is missing September, but it would show as a downward blue bar almost halfway to the first line. The red section of the graph shows that Bush and the Republicans trashed the jobs market. The blue portion of the graph shows that Obama and the Democrats have almost completely undone the damage to it, in spite of unprecedented Republican obstruction. That is so severe that, on several occasions, Republicans have actually filibustered their own proposals, when Democrats agreed with them. Why? Republicans want to keep Americans out of work, to deceptively blame Democrats and retake power. If they do, we can expect a return to the red secti9on of the bikini graph, or worse. Keith Olbermann dedicated two segments of last night’s show to documenting this. In the first, he discussed it with Ezra Klein.
In the second, Bernie Sanders, the Senate’s best Democrat who isn’t one, documents it from his Independent perspective.
Last month’s losses were public sector. Republicans promise to cut public sector spending. Republican plans to freeze federal spending at 2008 levels would deny the infrastructure spending and investment in green energy so necessary to complete the Democratic recovery from the Republican recession. In addition, Republicans plans would gut the safety net that stands between millions of workers and abject poverty. And who would benefit? The richest Americans would get a huge tax cut. Republicans govern exclusively for the benefit of criminal corporations and the richest 1%.
Barack Obama’s choice to replace Gen. James Jones as national security advisor has good and bad points. Jones needed to go. He, Gates, and Petraeus have not served Obama well, as they have tried to be tails that wag dogs. But is Donilon the right choice?
Retired Marine Gen. James Jones resigned Friday as the White House National Security Adviser and was replaced by his deputy, Thomas Donilon.
Like other top changes in the White House, President Barack Obama turned to a familiar face already on his team, and the swap will have little impact on policy. However, it could strain relations between the White House and the military.
While Jones has deep ties to the military, Donilon didn’t serve in uniform, and his lack of experience helped make him suspect to top Defense Secretary Robert Gates and other Pentagon officials, according to Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward’s new book “Obama’s Wars.”
Jones, 66, had told people for weeks that he planned to leave at the end of the year. Three officials, who all requested anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak to the media, said his departure was hastened after he was quoted criticizing both White House staff and Donilon in Woodward’s book.
Jones referred to political staffers in the White House as the “Politburo” and “water bugs,” Woodward reported. Jones lauded Donilon’s organizational skills, but he also thought that Donilon was prone to making rash decisions.
After last year’s earthquake in Haiti, for example, Woodward wrote that Donilon rushed into Jones’ office to demand that the head of the U.S. Southern Command be relieved for a slow response. “Calm down,” Jones told Donilon, according to the book. “It was an example of how Donilon made impulsive statements and snap judgments,” Woodward added.
Jones also criticized his deputy’s lack of experience overseas — Donilon hadn’t been to Afghanistan or Iraq. “You have no credibility with the military,” Jones told Donilon, the book reported.
Gates shared the concerns about Donilon, Woodward wrote. “Gates felt that Donilon did not understand the military or treat its senior leadership with sufficient respect. The secretary later told Jones that Donilon would be a ‘disaster’ as Obama’s national security adviser.”
Gates said Friday that he welcomed Donilon’s appointment.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Gen. Jones and I have had a very productive and very good working relationship with Tom Donilon, contrary to what you may have read,” Gates said. “And I look forward to working with him.”
Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also welcomed Donilon… [emphasis added]
That Gates and Jones dislike him is a big plus. He disagrees with Petraeus on COIN, another point in his favor. Also good is his close working relationship with Obama. On the other hand, I’d prefer someone with military experience, who would better know what is and isn’t realistic when military options are discussed. Also he is a perennial Washington insider with bankster ties. I’m reserving judgment for mow, but I think I’d prefer Colin Powell.
Yesterday dawn found me outside Oregon State Penitentiary. For the first time in almost three years, one of the members of our 7th Step group there was released. Danny went to prison a year before I did and has been there for twenty one years. I knew him well and have watched the work he has done to change and learn to become a good citizen. I felt proud to be the first to shake his free hand. I spent the rest of the day helping him get done all the things he needed to do. Needless to say, I’m worn out. I probably should not have gone, but there is no way in hell that I was going to miss this. I’m hoping to be back to speed by Monday.
Jig Zone Puzzle: Today it took me 3:29. To do it, click here. How did you do?
Lefty Bloggers Plus:
Players don’t forget to set your lineups for this weekends games.
Short Takes:
From Washington Post: In an interview with the National Review, Alaska GOP Senate candidate Joe Miller said that if Republicans take over in November, they might shut down the government.
He claims to have support from Bitch McConnell in this endeavor. They have zero concern for the suffering such a move will cause.
From Bloomberg: Attorneys general in about 40 states may announce by next week a joint investigation into potentially faulty foreclosures at the largest banks and mortgage firms, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.
As much as I support this move, we need a federal investigation as well.
From Right Wing Watch: I am used to seeing right-wing leaders claim that gay marriage or abortion or atheism or voting Democratic or what-have-you will destroy America … but I have never an explanation quite like the one Rick Santorum gave to World Magazine about how health care reform will destroy the US by forcing massive cuts in military spending, just like "the left" always wanted.
Frankly, we need massive reordering of military spending to transform our military from a cold war force to a 21st century force. If that includes a cut in spending, bravo, but repairing our military from its over-deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan will be costly. HCR will have nothing to do with it. Santorum is lying. That’s what Republicans do.
This article could have just as easily been entitled, “How Republicans Pulled a Fast One”. They wanted to make it easer for Banksters to foreclose on homeowners, so they had an obscure Rep put forward a stealth bill for unanimous consent, without their usual fanfare, and it worked. The Bill moved to the Senate, where everyone thought it must be non-controversial, so it passed by unanimous consent there too. Thank goodness someone in the White House actually read the damn thing!
President Obama stepped into a growing political furor over the nation’s troubled foreclosure system Thursday by vetoing a little-known bill that critics say would have made it easier to evict homeowners who missed their payments.
The decision to block the measure, which Congress passed without debate, came as members of the president’s own party have urged the administration and federal regulators to more actively address the crisis over flawed foreclosures.
Meanwhile, attorneys general from about 40 states vowed to band together to investigate reports of fraudulent documents and of banks seizing property without having clear ownership of the mortgages.
At least 10 states – with Iowa and Delaware being the latest – are seeking to expand a voluntary freeze on foreclosures by some of the nation’s largest mortgage lenders to include more companies and more regions. And calls have increased for a nationwide moratorium – a move that could deal a blow to the earnings of big banks and grind to a halt the sale of millions of properties in foreclosure.
In the middle of a heated election season, a growing number of politicians have been eager to weigh in on the matter – and are taking pains to rebuke the financial institutions at the core of the controversy.
Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, called Thursday for the national freeze, and Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D) demanded that big lenders stop foreclosures in his home state of Nevada.
This week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and other key Democrats called for federal investigations of allegations that mortgage lenders improperly evicted people from their homes.
But Democrats were trying to figure out Thursday how they allowed a bill to pass that critics say would introduce more fraud into the system, a Pelosi staff member said. It was sponsored by Rep. Robert B. Aderholt (R-Ala.), the first measure he sponsored that passed.
Even he was surprised that it passed, his spokesman said.
"There is absolutely no connection whatsoever between [the bill] and the recent foreclosure documentation problems," Aderholt said in a statement.
The vetoed bill, which is two pages, would have required local courts to accept notarizations, including those made electronically, from across state lines. Its sponsors said it was intended to promote interstate commerce. Lawmakers saw no problems when the House approved it in April by a voice vote, which leaves no record of votes. The Senate passed the bill unanimously last week.
But as the lack of a proper paper trail in mortgage documents came to light, the idea of relying on electronic notaries triggered protests from real estate lawyers and consumer advocates. Relying more on electronic notaries, they warned, could allow more fraud into the system… [emphasis added]
I don’t really blame Republicans for this. They govern exclusively for the benefit of criminal corporations and the richest one percent. So for them to try to sneak a bill that helps banksters and screws American homeowners is nothing new. That’s just what Republicans do, and any voters dumb enough to believe their lies and vote for them risks their own well-deserved punishment, Republican government.
However, I am furious with my own party, the Democrats. How dare you allow a bill to pass the House and the Senate without having any idea what it contained?!!? You should hang your heads in shame! Never let such a travesty happen again!
On October 1, I posted an article about the stealth funding for Art Robinson, who is challenging Rep. Pete DeFazio in Oregon’s 4th Congressional district. Robinson was living on the Social Security while trying to hawk home-school textbooks for the Theocon and InsaniTEA wings of the Republican party. He also published a newsletter in which he pontificates on a wide variety of conspiracy theories. One of his favorites is denying global climate change. That is probably why corporate special interests stood him up as a candidate and are financing him in secret. Last night, he appeared on the Rachel Maddow show, made a complete fool of himself, and demonstrates that it is possible to make Christine O’Donnell look comparatively sane.
But first, this is an excerpt from a letter to the editor by a resident of Oregon’s 4th.
I never heard of Art Robinson until his signs began popping up all over. Who is he? Where does he stand?
I looked up what his position was about education, and found a lot more. And was I shocked!
Here’s a quote from his 1997 Newsletter, Access to Energy: ‘Public education (tax-financed socialism) has become the most widespread and devastating form of child abuse and racism in the United States. Moreover, people who have been cut off at the knees by public education are so mentally handicapped that they cannot be responsible custodians of the energy technology base or other advanced accomplishments of our civilization. These ignorant people vote and their votes are beginning to destroy our way of life. Can this problem be corrected? Yes. Can it be corrected by improving the public schools? No — only by abolishing them."
And he said it again just last year in his speech at the International Conference on Climate Change, March 2009. See the clip on YouTube: Art Robinson: I think the public schools should be abolished… [emphasis added]
And that doesn’t even scratch the surface. Move your coffee cups away from your computers, lest you spray your screen and keyboard.
Who could have predicted that we could think of Christine O’Dingbat as the comparatively sane one? Sprinkle radioactive waste? AIDS a government conspiracy? Wacky-doodle-do!!
Note that he kept talking about protecting the environment, but slipped and said what he meant, protecting the environment for exploitation by US companies.
Seriously, if Republicans and their corporate shills will put such a man forward for public office, is there and depth to which they would not stoop?
It has become increasingly clear that the US Chamber of Commerce, the biggest purveyor of attack ads on behalf of Republicans, is not only accepting contributions from foreign corporations and governments, but also soliciting such contributions for the stated purpose of influencing US politics, mixing the money in the same 501(c)(6) account that pays for the attack ads, and asking us to trust them that no foreign money is being used for that purpose.
For at least 44 years, it has been illegal for foreign corporations, countries and individuals to make political contributions in the United States for any election, either directly or indirectly. It is even against the law to solicit such contributions. But in this Wild West year of political money, that longstanding ban is being set aside. The United States Chamber of Commerce — one of the biggest advertisers in midterm races around the country — is actively soliciting foreign money, and government enforcers seem to be doing nothing to stop it.
According to a report issued Tuesday by the Center for American Progress, a liberal policy group in Washington, the chamber is getting “dues” payments of tens of thousands of dollars from foreign companies in countries such as Bahrain, India and Egypt, and then mingling the money with its fund to advocate for or against candidates in the midterm races.
The chamber firmly denies the charge, saying its internal accounting rules prevent any foreign money from being used for political purposes. Money, however, is fungible, and it is impossible for an outsider to know whether the group is following its rules…
While still issuing these pathetic denials, they are holding a grand reception today for the Bank of Bahrain, no doubt seeking funds for more lying attack ads.
Here’s coverage from Keith Olbermann and Leo Gerrard, a labor leader.
And the chambers wants is to believe them because of their integrity? Remember that they had the integrity to run attacks ads against Health Care Reform, claiming that Obama was instituting death panels to kill grandma.
Like Christine O’Donnell and other know-nothing Tea Party candidates, Chris Dudley — the Republican nominee for Oregon’s governor — doesn’t know and doesn’t care if global warming is caused by fossil fuel pollution. Toeing the party line, Dudley opposes the Western Climate Initiative global warming agreement as a “cap-tax-trade” system that would “do damage to the economy and job creation.” He even bashed a weatherization initiative as a boondoggle. “Climate change is probably caused by a variety of factors,” Dudley said in a September interview with the Oregonian, “but that debate is beside the point.” In a gubernatorial debate on September 30, Dudley finally admitted he doesn’t know if pollution is causing global warming…
The nation’s economy continued shedding jobs in September, as modest increases in the private sector were offset by steep losses in government employment, the Labor Department reported on Friday. 
Retired Marine Gen. James Jones resigned Friday as the White House National Security Adviser and was replaced by his deputy, Thomas Donilon.
Yesterday dawn found me outside Oregon State Penitentiary. For the first time in almost three years, one of the members of our 7th Step group there was released. Danny went to prison a year before I did and has been there for twenty one years. I knew him well and have watched the work he has done to change and learn to become a good citizen. I felt proud to be the first to shake his free hand. I spent the rest of the day helping him get done all the things he needed to do. Needless to say, I’m worn out. I probably should not have gone, but there is no way in hell that I was going to miss this. I’m hoping to be back to speed by Monday.
President Obama stepped into a growing political furor over the nation’s troubled foreclosure system Thursday by vetoing a little-known bill that critics say would have made it easier to evict homeowners who missed their payments. 
I never heard of Art Robinson until his signs began popping up all over. Who is he? Where does he stand?
For at least 44 years,