Sure, sure, you could look at the Pew Research Center poll that shows President Barack Obama has an 88% approval rating among Democrats and 27% among Republicans and go all apeshit like the Guardian's Ed Pilkington, who writes, "Barack Obama's promise to overcome partisan political divisions and reunite the United States has so far failed to materialize" (spelling Americanized because the Guardian Anglicized the last word in Pew Research Center to "Centre," which is just annoyingly colonialist). Yep, you could do that, essentially blaming Obama. Or you could add in a third number in the poll that Pilkington ignores: independents give Obama a 57% approval rating, which is higher than for any president at the same time in his administration since Ronald Reagan.
You could also look at a New York Times/CBS News poll that had Obama's approval rating overall at 66%, up a few points since February, and approval for Republicans at 31%, "the lowest in the 25 years the question has been asked in New York Times/CBS News polls." Yeah, it's down a few points. Approval for Democrats? 56%.
By the way, other festive shit in that NYT/CBS polls includes:
2% of respondents who think that Barack Obama's administration is to blame for the state of the economy. 33% blame George W. Bush's. 21% blame Wall Street.
63% trust Obama on his decisions on the economy. 20% trust Republicans in Congress. 61% trust Obama on his decisions on national security. 27% trust Republicans in Congress.
57% think that the Democratic Party is more concerned with their lives, compared to 22% who think the same about the Republican Party (which is also the lowest number for them in 25 years).
And 74% think that raising taxes on people making over 250 grand a year is a "good idea," with 65% thinking that the tax code needs to be changed so that middle and lower class people pay less taxes while the wealthy pay more.
Let's toss in a demographic view or two so no one can say this poll is just horribly skewed for one or another reason: 43% said they voted for Obama, 25% for McCain, 24% didn't vote. 23% consider themselves Republican, 39% Democrat, and 30% independent, with 23% calling themselves liberal, 39% moderate, and 31% conservative.
In other words, a charitable reading of this poll and the Pew poll is that Americans are actually pretty goddamn unified on one thing: they support the President. A less charitable reading is that Americans think that Republicans are worthless piles of shit. But that's a unifying belief, too. Indeed, if you were casting around for who to blame for the failure of the dinner party, you'd be utterly wrong to say it's the guy who set the table. Nope. It's the fault of the invited guests who decided to blow it off.
A final note here: apparently the vast majority of Americans are socialist by the nutzoid right wing's degraded standards for that appellation. It's gonna be a mighty lonely revolution for 'em.
So who will be left to bank with Chase in Michigan, you might ask, after JP Morgan Chase forces so many people out of work?
Well, as klynn pointed out, JP Morgan Chase has figured out a way to profit off all the unemployed people it is creating in Michigan. Chase, you see, provides Michigan's unemployment insurance debit cards.
And the services can end up being pretty expensive for beneficiaries. Here's what Chase charges (and will be able to charge those that it causes to lose their job) for use of their debit card.
More than two withdrawals in a 2-week pay period: $1.50 each
Non-Chase withdrawals: $1.50 each
More than one bank teller withdrawal in a pay period: $4.00 each
Transaction denied for insufficient funds at POS, ATM, or teller: $1.50 each
More than one ATM balance inquiry in a pay period: $1.00 for each
Statement delivered by regular mail: 95¢ per statement
Granted, if an unemployed person manages their meager finances well and has Internet access (those inquiries are free), they probably can get by on one weekly withdrawal. But if someone loses track of their spending or doesn't have Internet access or likes dealing with human beings, these fees are going to start to take a huge bite out of what little they get.
Though debit card users can spend all they want in stores. As with Chase customers normally, Chase loves when you use your debit card at stores, because they get a bigger fee from merchants (back in the day when we still banked at Chase, that's what the Chase guy told me) than if you use a credit card. They're profiting coming and going.
Now granted, for a company that already has gotten $25 billion from taxpayers (or $83 dollars from every man, woman, and child in this country), even $5 a month in fees from the 300,000 people JP Morgan Chase is pushing into unemployment is chump change - a mere $18 million a year.
But don't imagine for a minute that JP Morgan Chase hasn't already lined up a way to profit from the unemployment it is causing in Michigan.
Larry Summers can.
$5.2 million in just the last of his two years at one of the world's largest funds, according to financial records released Friday by the White House.Impressive as that might sound, it is all the more considering that Mr. Summers worked there just one day a week.
Oh, my. Should a man who has made a bundle in a hedge fund gambit be the top Econ adviser to Obama?
Unlike most hedge funds, which lost money as the markets plunged in 2008, Shaw posted returns of about 7 percent in its so-called macroeconomic fund.
Seems a little spurious. But then again, Summers, who knows how the system works, may be the best one to craft regulations to secure the system as he knows how they can cheat the system to win.
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More signs that America has a new leader: http://www.teambio.org/2009/04/04/more-signs-that-america-has-a-new-leader/
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GOP slightly more popular than Pakistan: http://griperblade.blogspot.com/2009/04/gop-slightly-more-popular-than-pakistan.html
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NASA captures hand of God reaching across space .... as Ted Stevens goes to court to declare victory
NASA has captured a picture of what appears to be the hand of God reaching across space. Notably, the picture was taken as former Sen. Ted Stevens (R., Alaska) is about to appear in federal court to declare victory after the Justice Department drops its case against him.
Stevens is expected to declare victory today despite the incriminating evidence at trial that is untouched by the prosecutorial misconduct. Scientists believe that the notion of Stevens doing a victory lap around the courthouse after years of alleged corrupt practices may have been enough for God to make such a rare appearance. All NASA cameras have been re-positioned to capture the image of Stevens actually being snatched up and sucked into space around noon Washington time.
Update: Judge Sullivan announced today that he will commence criminal proceedings against (BUSH) DOJ attorneys on the Stevens' case:
http://christyhardinsmith.firedoglake.com/2009/04/07/restoring-integrity-to-justice/
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What's really getting me down right now is the calvacade of lies and stupidity flowing out of the right wing and its media enablers. There is something written in the press's DNA which apparently requires them to intentionally goad this nation's deranged, violence-prone rightwing gun nuts into murderous rampages and then, with exaggerated innocence, wonder just how such a thing could happen.
Here's Allan Gotlieb, among other things, once again equating the left's anger over torture, warrantless wiretapping and an illegal war with the right's unfounded beliefs that Obama will take away everyone's guns and require them to gay marry aborted turtle fetuses:
http://www.cogitamusblog.com/2009/04/down-in-the-dumps-a-bit.html
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This is a full-sized statue of a buxom pirate on display at an antique shop in Girardville, Pennsylvania.
This is not just an infatuation with pirates or cleavage, however. This pirate is special. A Catholic priest in Girardville was so irritated at it that he cursed the statue.
Father Commolly commanded the owners to remove it.
"He pointed to the statue and very dictatorially and said, 'I curse you. I curse this place. I want to see this destroyed. I want her destroyed,'" said pirate owner Peggy Kanigoski.
The madman! With one stroke, he has greatly increased the value of the object, and has probably moved it way out of my price range. Now it's not only a pirate statue, it's a cursed pirate statue.
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Republicans: the Party of Cover-up.
And they aren't the only ones ...
In three separate cases in as many months, the Obama Justice Department has used the same arguments that the Bush administration Justice Department used to attempt to stop judicial review of extraordinary rendition and warrantless wiretapping.
I may be done with Obama: http://eb-misfit.blogspot.com/2009/04/i-may-be-done-with-obama.html
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Somebody with a brain got past Rush Lintball's screeners and gave the gasbag what for:
CALLER: Thanks, Rush. Rush, listen, I voted Republican, and I didn't - really didn't want to see Obama get in office. But, you know, Rush, you're one reason to blame for this election, for the Republicans losing.
First of all, you kept harping about voting for Hillary. The second big issue is the - was the torture issue. I'm a veteran. We're not supposed to be torturing these people. This is not Nazi Germany, Red China, or North Korea. There's other ways of interrogating people, and you kept harping about it -- "It's OK," or "It's not really torture." And it was just more than waterboarding. Some of these prisoners were killed under torture.
And it just - it was crazy for you to keep going on and on like Levin and Hannity and Hewitt. It's like you're all brainwashed.
And my last comment is, no matter what Obama does, you will still criticize him because I believe you're brainwashed. You're just - and I hate to say it - but I think you're a brainwashed Nazi. Anyone who could believe in torture just has got to be - there's got to be something wrong with them.
Rush probably had to drop 2 Oxycontin after that. Heh ...
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Did a steady diet of right-wing radio and Glenn Beck influence Richard Poplawski, the man who allegedly murdered three Pittsburgh cops? Shorter answer: yes: Max Blumenthal reports.
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Real journalists at the Washington Post are smacking down global warming denier and colleague George Will.
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You know, there actually are things Obama's trying to accomplish that I really admire - and this is one of those things:
In an unprecedented move, the Obama administration is readying for a possible confrontation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by briefing Democratic congressmen on the peace process and the positions of the new government in Israel regarding a two-state solution.
The Obama administration is expecting a clash with Netanyahu over his refusal to support the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
In recent weeks, American officials have briefed senior Democratic congressmen and prepared the ground for the possibility of disagreements with Israel over the peace process, according to information recently received. The administration's efforts are focused on President Barack Obama's Democratic Party, which now holds a majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The preemptive briefing is meant to foil the possibility that Netanyahu may try to bypass the administration by rallying support in Congress.
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According to the IMF, "toxic debts racked up by banks and insurers could spiral to $4 trillion," up from the $2.2 trillion predicted by the organization in January. "The IMF's new forecast…will come as a blow to governments that have already pumped billions into the banking system."
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Last night, Bill O'Reilly discussed photos that had surfaced on the internet of American Idol contestent Adam Lambert kissing another man, "which hint that he is gay." Showing the photos, O'Reilly was careful to crop them so that viewers did not actually see two men's lips touching, and seemed incredulous that the "folks" wouldn't vote off a suspected gay man from the show.
Gawker, which posted the real photo, points out that while O'Reilly found the image of two men kissing "so revoltingly gross and icky and offensive" that he had to crop it, he has in the past had no qualms about airing video "that included gyrating, bikini-clad drunk girls humping people during Spring Break."
Bummer for all the girls in the world, but the dude can sing!
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Troops in Baghdad cheer President Obama's surprise visit
"Cheered wildly by U.S. troops, President Barack Obama flew unannounced into Iraq on Tuesday..."
Mission Accomplished
![[Iraqi children fill water containers from a hose pipe laid out at a garbage dump in Baghdad, September 2008. Violence has dropped dramatically across Iraq in recent months, but the fight for a better life is just beginning. (AFP/File/Ali Yussef)]](http://www.commondreams.org/files/article_images/iraqwater1104.jpg "iraqwater1104.jpg")
4,266 soldiers killed in Iraq; 31,102 wounded (20% of which are serious brain or spinal injuries) - excludes psychological injuries
US Troops with serious mental health problems - 30%
1 million Iraqis killed; 5 million orphans; 5 million displaced
In Baghdad, about 2/3 of the city's sewage still flows untreated to rivers and other waterways; waterborne diseases such as cholera and typhoid are endemic; diarrhea is among the leading causes of childhood illness and death in Iraq. 70% of Iraqis lack access to clean drinking water.
Iraqi unemployment rate - 27 to 60%, where curfew not in effect
Consumer price inflation in 2006 - 50%
Iraqi children suffering from chronic malnutrition - 28% in June 2007 (Per CNN.com, July 30, 2007)
Percent of professionals who have left Iraq since 2003 - 40%
Average daily hours Iraqi homes have electricity - 10.9 in May 2007
Average daily hours Baghdad homes have electricity - 5.6 in May 2007
Pre-war daily hours Baghdad homes have electricity - 16 to 24
Cost: $12 billion per month. Cost of deploying one U.S. soldier for one year in Iraq - $390,000 (Congressional Research Service)
Lost & unaccounted for in Iraq - $9 billion of US taxpayers' money and $549.7 milion in spare parts shipped in 2004 to US contractors. Also, per ABC News, 190,000 guns, including 110,000 AK-47 rifles.
Missing - $1 billion in tractor trailers, tank recovery vehicles, machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and other equipment and services provided to the Iraqi security forces. (Per CBS News on Dec 6, 2007.)
Obama praises 'extraordinary achievment' of Iraq war.
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"The remarkable thing about today's partisan Republicans is their capacity to forget instantly and entirely anything that went on for the past eight years."
Read the whole thing here.
Forgetting the past 8 years continued ...
'When it comes to politicians & hookers, the Weekly Standard sets a new standard for hypocrisy.' Below, they vent their outrage over Elliot Spitzer making the comeback trail:
"Not so long ago, when a politician was caught in bed with a whore, it meant not only the end of his political career, but extended exile from polite society. This was particularly true of politicians–Client No. 9, for example–who wore their virtue on their shirtsleeve."
Phil Singer rightfully adds 'But... but... David Vitter!'
Not to mention Newt Gingrich, who's also trying to rehabilitate his image and get back into politics. Or John McCain, who also romped with hookers back in the day. Or Nevada gov Jim Gibbons, who also threatened to rape a cocktail waitress back in 2006 and is still serving as governor.
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WTF is it now? - Party before country
Pukes say it may take a few more months - say, like until maybe around the time of the next election - to resolve the Sen. Al Franken/shameless partisan douchenozzle "standoff." Can't say it any better than BuzzFlash:
Minnesota GOP hack governor Pawlenty won't sign Franken election certificate, thus ensuring his place on the Wall of Republican Infamy and denying the citizens of Minnesota the Senator that they are owed.Comment from here: "It is clear that republicans are in the obstructionist mode. They just cannot conceive of the fact that they lost the election. When they have exhausted the State courts, they will appeal to the US Supreme court. And if they lose there, it wouldn't surprise me if they come up with some whacko idea of trying a world court. Basically, they are saying, 'We absolutely refuse to accept the will of the voters.' Their strategy is to obstruct and delay. The audacity of republicans who have rigged elections all over the country using these tactics against Franken in Minn., is criminal and should be treated accordingly."
I don't know how criminal it is legally, but they should all be run out of the state on a rail, yes. A rail smeared with acid and razor wire. And bears.
And from teh interwebs: "Ahh, those true patriots. Millions of Minnesotans being taxed without representation? No problem, if it benefits the party. To heighten the irony, I wonder how many of those same "never surrender" asspipes have also said "We should have us one of them tea parties to show B. Hussein how much we love freedoms!""
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Chinese and Russian cyber-spies have hacked into the US electricity grid and inserted programs that could be used to disrupt the system, a report said Wednesday.
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/US_electricity_grid_hit_by_cyber_0408.html
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h/t Dick
| Projections* by the Federal Reserve governors and bank presidents: | |||
| 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | |
| Change in real GDP | -1.3% to -0.5% | 2.5% to 3.3% | 3.8% to 5.0% |
| October projection | -0.2% to 1.1% | 2.3% to 3.2% | 2.8% to 3.6% |
| Unemployment rate | 8.5% to 8.8% | 8.0% to 8.3% | 6.7% to 7.5% |
| October projection | 7.1% to 7.6% | 6.5% to 7.3% | 5.5% to 6.6% |
| Inflation | 0.3% to 1.0% | 1.0% to 1.5% | 0.9% to 1.7% |
| October projection | 1.3% to 2.0% | 1.4% to 1.8% | 1.4% to 1.7% |
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