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Saturday, March 14, 2009
President Obama meets President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva of Brazil
President Barack Obama and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva discussed the economy, energy and the environment Saturday during their first White House meeting.
Both leaders said the Oval Office sit-down was productive and they looked forward to seeing each other at the Group of 20 nations meeting in London early next month, followed by the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad in mid-April.
"I have been a great admirer of Brazil and a great admirer of the progressive, forward-looking leadership that President Lula has shown throughout Latin America and throughout the world," Obama said after the meeting.
"We have a very strong friendship between the two countries but we can always make it stronger," he said.
Silva said one of the points he raised was "the importance of President Obama's election and what it represents to the world and, especially to Latin America."
He said he and Obama "are truly convinced" that decisions coming out of the G-20 can resolve the economic crisis.
In a lighter moment, Silva said he tells people at rallies in his country that he prays more for Obama than he does for himself. With so many problems facing Obama in his short time in office, "I don't want to be in his position," Silva said.
To which Obama added: "I'll tell you what. You sound like you've been talking to my wife."
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Just Blame Bush for it ALL
It is hard for anyone to not blame the former administration. Let's be real here, does anyone think the economy just all of a sudden fell of the cliff since Obama took office? Remember the emergency meeting of congress with former Treasury Secretary Paulson and the need of 700 billion dollars to save Wall Street? Let's not talk about how Bear Stearns went into demise, then Lehman Brothers fell off the cliff. And of course, AIG and the many banks lined up needed cash to just stay afloat.
The job numbers were eroding during Bush's tenure, but he was too stubborn and full of it to admit the "R" word for recession. Bush's administration spent this country into the deficit it is in now. So, to be honest, he left this country in far worse shape than better economically and internationally.
Blaming Bush? Not a hard one to do.
It hasn't taken long for the recriminations to return — or for the Obama administration to begin talking about the unwelcome "inheritance" of its predecessor.
Over the past month, Obama has reminded the public at every turn that he is facing problems "inherited" from the Bush administration, using increasingly bracing language to describe the challenges his administration is up against. The "deepening economic crisis" that the president described six days after taking office became "a big mess" in remarks this month to graduating police cadets in Columbus, Ohio.
"By any measure," he said during a March 4 event calling for government-contracting reform, "my administration has inherited a fiscal disaster."
Obama's more frequent and acid reminders that former president George W. Bush left behind a trillion-dollar budget deficit, a 14-month recession and a broken financial system have come at the same time Republicans have ramped up criticism that the current president's policies are compounding the nation's economic problems.
The above emphasis is mine, but does anyone disagree with that? The fact is that is what former President George W. Bush left to the Obama Administration. No wonder he was running to get away from the "kleeg lights".
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Friday, March 13, 2009
CBS Evening News with Katie Couric hits it out of the park on the "Jon Stewart and Jim Cramer" (Video)
NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, etc.....to just IGNORE IT....bad call......now NBC "big wigs" tells producers of all the shows NO MENTION OF CRAMER?........Did Network Drink Wall Street Kool-Aid? and to view the whole Stewart, Cramer show down, view it all here.
And White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs on the CNBC vs. Daily Show Fight
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Madoff net worth over 823M....that is a damn shame...
When is he and his family going to pay back those they SCAMMED from and when is the court system going to INSIST they do so....
Newly filed court documents show Bernard Madoff and his wife had a net worth of more than $823 million at the end of last year. The document detailing the Madoffs' assets was contained in papers his lawyers filed Friday in an effort to get him freed on bail.
The document shows the Madoffs owned four real estate properties worth $22 million and had $17 million in cash and a $7 million yacht, among other assets.
Madoff was sent to jail Thursday after he pleaded guilty to 11 felony counts, including securities fraud. His $10 million bail was immediately revoked.
The 70-year-old Madoff faces up to 150 years in prison at a June sentencing.
Double DAMN SHAME..... for real.....
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FLOTUS, Michelle Obama on Good Morning America , "It hurts military families on food stamps...."(Video)
First lady Michelle Obama wants military families to know they have a friend in the White House, she told "Good Morning America's" Robin Roberts in an exclusive interview today at Fort Bragg, N.C. -- her first network television interview since her husband took office.
"It hurts. It hurts," the first lady said of hearing about military families on food stamps. "These are people who are willing to send their loved ones off to, perhaps, give their lives -- the ultimate sacrifice. But yet, they're living back at home on food stamps. It's not right, and it's not where we should be as a nation." read more here
h/t jimstaro
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Jon Stewart, The Daily Show vs. Jim Cramer, CNBC, March 12, 2009 (Video)
This was the best take down of CNBC, Cramer you will ever see. All these talking cable moderators including morning joe or joke, should just STFU when it comes to Jon Stewart.
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
And now the OUTTAKES minus the bleeps...
Outtake One
Outtake Two
Outtake Three
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Thursday, March 12, 2009
It is over for Cramer and CNBC to some extent.
I sat in utter awe at the tenacity, seriousness and the keepin' it real attitude of Jon Stewart. Stewart reminded me of the time he was on CNNs now defunct Crossfire and his mocking of Tucker Carlson.
I give Jim Cramer just one credit, that's for showing up. He should have canceled. If you have not seen this show, after watching it you would agree. He should have canceled.
Jim Cramer should have allowed Jon Stewart, who is one of the current greatest satirists, to have his say about CNBC and let it go, even if it took a personal hit on him. This was one bus Cramer should have let ride by without getting on and paying the fare. But he didn't. His pride and reputation meant too much.
Cramer responding to Jon Stewart was the nailing in his coffin. Tonight Jim Cramer is six feet under.
I don't understand why these so-called "media consultants, commentators, analysts" get their panties in a bunch when a comedian mocks them. When you have satirists, comedians like Jon Stewart, David Letterman, etc. go after you, just STFU and let it ride. Folks remember McCain and how Letterman destroyed him because he LIED about an emergency back to Washington, DC? Did Cramer not get that memo?
Cramer going on NBC and then morning joe was not only a joke, but more fuel to a heated fire for Jon Stewart. Stewart not only mocked and made Cramer look more like a fool, but Joe Scarborough the morning joke of his show was called out. One thing for morning joke, the next day he showed restrain for a "white and bitter" guy. He got the message from Jon Stewart the night before and drank a cup of STFU the next day.
Lastly, Stewart's whole montage from the beginning was about the irresponsible reporting of CNBC and other financial news organizations. They are not interested in reporting on the up and up because they are afraid that they will not have access to these CEOs. The sad part about all of this is that financial news organizations as, CNBC, have also been played by these CEOs. These CEOs have had a platform, sounding board to pump their companies up while dumping their stock for the millions, leaving shareholders high and dry. That is the real ponzi scheme on Wall Street.
After watching Jon Stewart tonight, everyone should be DONE with listening to these gas bags on CNBC. I remember growing up when my parents read the financial section and THEY picked the stock based on their own investigation.
Maybe it is time for us to start using our brains, follow our own intuitions and make our own deals. We all could do a hell of a lot better than follow the likes of Cramer and CNBC which will drive you over a cliff, a financial cliff that is.
cross-posted @ Daily Kos
Full Video and Outtakes of Jon Stewart vs. Jim Cramer
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South Carolina don't have a pot to piss in, but does their governor care?
Governor Mark Sanford has been leading the crusade against the stimulus bill. Sanford will refuse money to extend unemployment in his state and deny unemployment for part time workers. South Carolina is one of those southern states that is at the bottom or scraping the bottom of the barrel in just about everything, especially education. Remember, the young African-American girl, Ty'Sheoma Bethea of Dillon, South Carolina? She was 
featured during President Obama's Joint Session of Congress speech. She is a young woman who attends a school over 100 years old in South Carolina. This school has no air conditioning, the building shakes when the train goes by, total disrespect to the students, parents and the faculty that have to teach in such abominable conditions. Young Ty'Sheom wrote to President Obama asking that some of the stimulus money go to her dilapidated school. But South Carolina has the "holier than thou" Governor Mark Sanford to deny stimulus money. He does not think the state needs any stimulus money, especially when the education of his people is scraping the bottom of the barrel. Sorry, rolleyes here, but the man don't have a pot to piss in, nor a window to throw it out of. His state is at the bottom for practically EVERYTHING in comparison to other states. Turning this money away for possible higher political aspirations, to have the tag "the most conservative" is the most selfish thing Sanford can do. But this is on South Carolinians, it is up to them to ask when is enough really enough.
Sanford and the Republican-led General Assembly have cut the state's budget three times since last summer by a total of $871 million, or 13 percent -- among the deepest reductions in the nation.
The cuts have limited state agencies' ability to help the growing numbers of people in need. The state's Medicaid program, for instance, is reducing mental health counseling, cancer screening and dental coverage.
The reductions are constricting the private sector's capacity, too. The Department of Social Services has pared its contracts to nonprofit groups by an average of 10 percent, reducing funding for emergency shelters and employment training programs.
While other states have looked to Washington for assistance, Sanford has been a foremost critic of the federal economic stimulus package. Yesterday, he challenged the law's intent, announcing that he will ask the White House for a waiver to use $700 million -- the part of South Carolina's share of the money over which he has direct control -- to lower the state's debt, instead of putting it toward new spending.
Asked whose mission it is to help the widening pool of people in financial pain, the governor said that such aid "has to be leveraged through church, civic and private hands. . . . If you take care of the need in government circles, you dissipate the ability of civil society to take care of that need."
Timothy Ervolina, president of the United Way Association of South Carolina, worries that the web of philanthropic and nonprofit groups may not be able to fulfill the governor's expectations. Ervolina has watched fundraising fade at United Ways across the state, even as calls pour in to their crisis hotlines.
"Policymakers have said, 'You guys are just going to have to step up to the plate.' I hear that," he said. "But when I step up to the plate and no ball even is coming at you, it's pretty hard to make a hit."
He added: "We are increasingly taking on the role of a community grief counselor. Something has got to give, and that something is going to be people's lives."
[snip]
As in Washington, residents of Columbia have viewed their city as recession-proof -- aside from the state government, it is home to the main campus of the University of South Carolina; big banks, insurance companies and hospitals; and Fort Jackson, the Army's largest basic-training site. So they have been stunned as Columbia's unemployment has rocketed up -- 11.7 percent in November, 13.1 percent in December, 14.1 percent in January.
Amid the job losses, lives are coming unglued. Sheila Turman turned to Columbia's largest food bank, Harvest Hope, a few weeks ago -- the first time in her 52 years she had ever asked a nonprofit for help.
"I was hungry," she said. "You don't know how I wanted a glass of milk."
Turman had worked steadily since she was 15, until she was laid off from her job as a leasing agent at her apartment complex before Christmas. Two weeks after she missed her February rent payment, an eviction notice came. She borrowed a neighbor's car to go to the Department of Social Services to try to get food stamps. But after waiting more than 2 1/2 hours, she had to leave to return the car.
"That wasn't even to apply," she said. "That was to get an appointment to apply."
At Harvest Hope, she was given bread, milk, lettuce, six eggs, sugar and a big box of hot dogs. Staff member Cheryl Davis also handed her a list of nonprofit groups to call for more emergency assistance.
"I called every one," Turman said. One group couldn't help because it serves the working poor and she doesn't have a job. An organization that helps pay utility bills said it was out of money.
She tried the Salvation Army. Overwhelmed by requests, the charity now sets just one day a month for people to schedule appointments. Turman was told to call back on the designated day. They weren't giving out appointments at the moment.
Unlike in Rust Belt communities, where economic erosion is an old story, or in towns where a dominant employer has shut down, the loss of jobs here in Columbia and across South Carolina is diffuse, a sagging of a broad swath of the local economy. According to the state's Employment Security Commission, the nearly 43,000 jobs that vanished from South Carolina in January included almost 12,000 in retail, and about 6,000 each in manufacturing, hospitality, and professions and business.
For more than a year, Sanford has had a public spat with the commission. The governor contends that unemployment is not as severe as the official statistics show. He says the commission has refused to examine questions he has raised: the impact on the figures, for instance, of retirees who work part-time. "Do you guys," he said rhetorically of the commission, "have any clue of what your numbers are?"
Still, Sanford said that, in his state, "there absolutely are people in pain, and absolutely empathy with those people." To help them, he said, "there ought to be a social compact" that is defined "more broadly than simply government."
It is that view that guided his decision to ask the White House to use $700 million of the state's federal stimulus money to retire debt rather than on fortifying social programs or on other state spending -- and, if the administration refuses, to reject the money altogether. "We believe it is . . . financially reckless," he said in announcing his decision, "to borrow from future generations to attempt to address today's economic problems."
Not all state legislators like what South Carolina is doing. "Nonprofits have felt the hammer, because we do not have the money to give them," said Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter (D), a social worker by profession who sits on the House Ways and Means Committee. "The private sector can't do it. In a lot of cases they are suffering as well."
Sanford wants to use the federal money from the stimulus bill to pay his debt down? While his people are hungry, unemployment has skyrocketed? Anyone got a WTF pill laying around?
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Madoff off to jail. THANK GOD!!! (Video)
This man is despicable of the worst caliber. For anyone who thinks that he pulled this scam off without the help of his family are living under a rock. Anyone complicit with Madoff should go to PRISON. INMATE #61727054
And his wife, Ruth Madoff, the one who was taking millions of dollars out prior and trying to HIDE money. What about her?
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