Author's posts
Jun 12 2009
What are Progressive Values?
| Progressive Values? Howard Dean – Fairness, Responsibility … http://www.youtube.com/watch?v… |
What does the Democratic Party stand for? Howard Dean lists these “Core Values” of the Democratic Party 1) Fairness and Equal Rights for all 2) Strength and Toughness 3) Fiscal Responsibility These are demonstrated by providing Health Care for all. Dean stresses the urgent need for us to express these values, on an emotional level, and not just in Policy Statements. “People vote on their Values — NOT on Position Papers!” |
Jun 04 2009
Obama gets behind Public Option — finally!
well, sort of … in a letter, at least …
msnbc.com
President Obama issued a public letter to Sens. Ted Kennedy and Max Baucus, the two Democrats seen as most key to the design of potential health-care legislation.
June 2, 2009
Dear Senator Kennedy and Senator Baucus:
[…]
In short, the status quo is broken, and pouring money into a broken system only perpetuates its inefficiencies. Doing nothing would only put our entire health care system at risk. Without meaningful reform, one fifth of our economy is projected to be tied up in our health care system in 10 years; millions more Americans are expected to go without insurance; and outside of what they are receiving for health care, workers are projected to see their take-home pay actually fall over time.We simply cannot afford to postpone health care reform any longer.
[…]
I agree that we should create a health insurance exchange market where Americans can one-stop shop for a health care plan, compare benefits and prices, and choose the plan that’s best for them, in the same way that Members of Congress and their families can. None of these plans should deny coverage on the basis of a preexisting condition, and all of these plans should include an affordable basic benefit package that includes prevention, and protection against catastrophic costs. I strongly believe that Americans should have the choice of a public health insurance option operating alongside private plans. This will give them a better range of choices, make the health care market more competitive, and keep insurance companies honest.
[…]
Sincerely,
BARACK OBAMA
(emphasis added)
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com…
Strong Words, need to be followed up with Stronger Actions.
(kind an inconvenient time for a Presidential road trip, eh?)
Jun 01 2009
It can Pay to be on the Inside
Usually they get away with …
Usually they trade their knowledge, for money or power, and no one notices —
But not always:
Insider-Trading Ring Bust May Fuel Hedge-Fund Concern
By David Scheer – March 2, 2007
March 2, (Bloomberg) — The U.S. government’s accusations that Morgan Stanley, UBS AG and Bear Stearns Cos. employees were central figures in an insider-trading ring illustrate why regulators and lawmakers are suspicious of Wall Street’s relationship with hedge funds.
Prosecutors in New York and Washington yesterday brought criminal charges against 13 people, claiming that an executive at UBS and a former compliance lawyer at Morgan Stanley tipped off hedge-fund traders and brokers to new analyst ratings and secret takeover talks. Bear Stearns was home to at least four professionals who traded on information leaked from inside the two firms, according to a complaint filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
(emphasis added)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/…
White Collar Crime, is not any less heinous, because they commit it with a Keyboard, instead of a Handgun. Yet more often than not, in the Wild West of electronic casinos, these criminals can make “a killing”, without having to pull that trigger themselves … without ever having to worry about ever facing their “day in court” …
May 25 2009
The Legacy of War — and Lessons Unlearned
In his farewell address to the nation after spending 8 years as president, in 1961 Eisenhower warns of a growing danger.
Eisenhower on the Military Industrial Complex
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
Why would a respected President, set the sights so high, for his successors, and for America, as the dawn of the Television Age, blazed its path, towards an unknown Future?
May 23 2009
FDR warned about “Economic Royalists” — What was he Talking About?
Economic Royalists:
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in his speech accepting the Democratic nomination for a second term, delivered at Philadelphia on 27 June 1936, said, “The economic royalists complain that we seek to overthrow the institutions of America. What they really complain of is that we seek to take away their power. Our allegiance to American institutions requires the overthrow of this kind of power.”
(emphasis added)
http://www.answers.com/topic/e…
May 22 2009
The Presumption of Innocence, and other Quaint Ideals
The Presumption of Innocence, and other Quaint Ideals
Presumption of Innocence
(Innocent until proven guilty)
A principle that requires the government to prove the guilt of a criminal defendant and relieves the defendant of any burden to prove his or her innocence.
The presumption of innocence, an ancient tenet of Criminal Law, is actually a misnomer. According to the U.S. Supreme Court, the presumption of the innocence of a criminal defendant is best described as an assumption of innocence that is indulged in the absence of contrary evidence
[…]
the presumption of innocence is essential to the criminal process. The mere mention of the phrase presumed innocent keeps judges and juries focused on the ultimate issue at hand in a criminal case: whether the prosecution has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant committed the alleged acts. The people of the United States have rejected the alternative to a presumption of innocence-a presumption of guilt-as being inquisitorial and contrary to the principles of a free society.