BOO ... and one HISS
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Political Waves
Oct 30, 2009, 2:28:03 PM10/30/09
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In just a few hours it will be a Happy Halloween, Full Moon in Taurus and the entry into Samhein, as well -- if you open the door on this couple tomorrow night ... list readers, go to the blog ... throw some demonic, witch-blessed candy in their sack but do NOT let them ask you any questions. Boo!
Now, in case you thought politics was All Bad, All The Time ... Pelosi unveiled the House version of the healthcare legislation yesterday and dedicated it to the memory of Teddy Kennedy. I think the final product should carry his name -- as did the history making Shepard-Byrd Hate Crime Prevention Act, passed this week, those of hate-crime victims Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr.
BuzzFlash reports it thus:
House speaker Nancy Pelosi unveils $894 billion health care package that would provide insurance to up to 36 million people by broadly expanding Medicaid, the state-federal insurance program for the poor, and by offering subsidies to moderate-income Americans to buy insurance either from private carriers or a new government-run plan.
There's a lot of iffy problems with all this and nothing's signed and nothing's sure, but we're looking at Good News today, so we'll leave that for later -- having produced anything at all is a break with precedent and a major accomplishment.
Now, in case you thought politics was All Bad, All The Time ... Pelosi unveiled the House version of the healthcare legislation yesterday and dedicated it to the memory of Teddy Kennedy. I think the final product should carry his name -- as did the history making Shepard-Byrd Hate Crime Prevention Act, passed this week, those of hate-crime victims Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr.
BuzzFlash reports it thus:
House speaker Nancy Pelosi unveils $894 billion health care package that would provide insurance to up to 36 million people by broadly expanding Medicaid, the state-federal insurance program for the poor, and by offering subsidies to moderate-income Americans to buy insurance either from private carriers or a new government-run plan.
There's a lot of iffy problems with all this and nothing's signed and nothing's sure, but we're looking at Good News today, so we'll leave that for later -- having produced anything at all is a break with precedent and a major accomplishment.
Meanwhile, the stimulus money is being reported as having saved or created upwards of 388,000 jobs this year alone which is good news for a president assaulted from both Right and Left. He's also succeeded in cutting military spending across the board, surprising many, and has turned his attention toward creating a smart grid, which is so long overdue I'm amazed we're still well lit in this nation [the Pea Patch comes and goes.]
And ... exhaling, here ... he's also stepped up on climate change; you can read more about that in my weekly piece, here. And if you thought healthcare conversation was a pistol, wait until we open up dialogue about climate change -- the entirety of this nation appears to be paddling its canoe down a river in Egypt! You'll find reads on all this below.
Still, I can't let the weekend pass by without a Hiss at Joe Lieberman. The Good News is we get to see Jon Stewart do his Droopy Dog imitation once again, back to back with Colbert skewering Joe on a spit -- the Bad is that this schmuck is showing up again to obstruct whatever he can and call attention to his arrogant, duplicitous, ego-maniacal self. Talk about an unwelcomed Halloween trick and discouraging specter from the past!
Few of us had ever heard of Joe before Al Gore picked him to brush away the stain on Monica's dress ... which Joe had loudly declared a monument to ethical decline ... so I'd suppose that the Good/Bad news about Gore's stolen election is that Joe didn't park his smug old ass in so high an office. Still, in case you've forgotten the wreckage he's left in his wake these last years, review 15 of his most memorable moments, here, and Glenn Greenwald and Rachel Maddow discuss his selling out of his constituents here. Joe will be trick-or-treating as a crony Capitalist, money changer and corrupt politician this weekend ... and he won't have to dress for the occasion.
A last bit, Obama went to Dover in the wee-smalls this week, to salute the incoming body of a fallen warrior -- the first such personal presidential acknowledgment since 2001. In the tit/tat over who gets to see these bodies return or see pictures of them fall, perhaps this would all change if ... as in yesteryear ... our military was acquired by draft; the notion is repugnant, but so is the cover-up of death and dismemberment that returns home in a steady stream of body bags. Obama speaks of his late-night excursion here.
Safe and rollicking Halloween, dearhearts --
Jude
Early reports: Job gains signal stimulus impact
Brad Heath and Matt Kelley, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON - States have reported using stimulus money to create or save more than 388,000 jobs so far this year, buttressing the Obama administration's claim that the $787 billion plan has had a significant impact on the economy.
That total, based on a USA TODAY review of reports from 33 states and Puerto Rico, includes teachers, construction workers, and others whose jobs were funded by stimulus money awarded to states. The administration plans Friday to release reports from all 50 states, providing the broadest accounting yet of the stimulus plan's impact.
FORECAST: Jobs may rebound in 2010
Until now, the administration has relied on economic estimates to assess national job creation. The states' reports were meant to actually count the jobs, though that gauge has proved to be imprecise - particularly for jobs saved. "The numbers ... should be taken with a grain of salt," said Ethan Pollack of the Economic Policy Institute.
Still, Frank Lichtenberg of the Columbia Business School says the figures show a significant economic impact. Obama's Council of Economic Advisors estimated that the stimulus had saved or created 600,000 to 1.1 million jobs. Lichtenberg said the states' reports "make that sound like a reasonable estimate."
Kevin Hassett, once an economic adviser to President George W. Bush, said the reports "vastly overstates" job gains. He said the USA would have shed more than the 2.7 million jobs lost since March without the stimulus, "but just how many is impossible to know."
Elizabeth Oxhorn, an administration spokeswoman,said the reports show governors credit the stimulus for "creating jobs across the economy."
Data released last week showed federal contractors created or saved 30,000 jobs with stimulus funds. Friday's report also will provide jobs created by more than 103,000 federal grants and loans.
The states' reports suggest the biggest impact has been at schools. Twenty-three states that have reported school job numbers said more than 156,000 jobs had been created or saved.
Carol Bingham, director of fiscal policy for the California Department of Education, estimated the stimulus saved about 20,000 teaching positions. But she and others warn that precisely counting saved jobs has proved almost impossible. "It was intended to be a count. The way it was done, I think it's going to end up being an estimate," she said.
Indiana officials reported that the stimulus had created or saved about 13,000 school jobs. Asked whether he had any idea how many layoffs the plan had prevented, state Education Department spokesman Cam Savage replied: "I really don't."
Contributing: Andrew M. Seaman; USA TODAY correspondents: Clay Carey of The (Nashville) Tennessean; Keith Matheny of The (Palm Springs, Calif.) Desert Sun; Didi Tang of the Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader; Jordan Schrader of The (Asheville, N.C.) Citizen-Times; Laura Ruane of The (Fort Myers, Fla.) News-Press; Tracy Loew of the (Salem, Ore.) Statesman Journal; Tim Evans of The Indianapolis Star; Jeff Martin of the (Sioux Falls, S.D.) Argus Leader; Brian Passey of The (St. George, Utah) Spectrum; Deb Peterson of the (Mountain Home, Ark.) Baxter Bulletin; Trevor Hughes of the Fort Collins Coloradoan
President Obama announces smart grid plans
Politico
10/27/09
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1009/28772.html
President Barack Obama announced a $3.4 billion investment of stimulus funds to modernize the electric grid Tuesday, saying that creating the nation's new clean-energy economy will require an "all-hands-on-deck approach" like the one that put a man on the moon.
"The growth of clean energy can lead to the growth of our economy," Obama said at a solar-energy facility in Arcadia, Fla. But he predicted some would fight the changes, including his proposed legislation designed to reduce greenhouse gases, but called on the nation to seize the initiative in pursuing clean energy.
"The closer we get to this new energy future, the harder the opposition is going to fight," Obama said. "It's a debate between looking backwards and looking forward, between those who are ready to seize the future and those who are afraid of the future, and we know which side the United States of America has always come down on."
Obama announced that 100 private companies, utilities, manufacturers, cities and others will receive grants of between $400,000 and $200 million to help build a nationwide "smart energy grid" that will cut costs for consumers and make the nation's electrical system more reliable.
The grants are expected to create tens of thousands of jobs and also lay down the infrastructure to create a new renewable energy industry, one of Obama's longstanding goals.
The stimulus funds will draw an additional $4.7 billion in private investment to match the grant awards.
"The smart grid is something that has a transformational impact on how energy is delivered," Carol Browner, Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change, said ahead of Obama's speech. "This is about building more than just miles of wire, it's about building.something that works."
Also, Vice President Joe Biden announced a plan to reopen a closed General Motors factory to produce plug-in hybrid cars in Wilmington, Del.
Obama's speech put climate and energy initiatives center stage, just as the Senate kicks off hearings about a climate bill sponsored by Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Barbara Boxer, (D-Calif.) On Tuesday, the Senate Environment and Public Works committee will hear testimony from five top administration officials on the legislation.
The bill would create a cap and trade system that would cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 and 83 percent by 2050.
Improving the electrical grid, say administration officials, will increase energy efficiency and independence by encouraging growth in renewable power sources like solar, geothermal, and wind. The administration has set a goal of getting at least 20 percent of energy from renewable sources by 2020.
The funding will be used to install 700 automated substations, more than 200,000 smart transformers, 170,000 smart thermostats, 40 million smart meters, and other new technologies. The projects will cut electricity costs for consumers and give consumers in 49 states access to renewable power sources.
They'll also help prevent power outages, which the administration says costs consumers about $150 billion annually, and help utilities respond more effectively when electricity disruptions occur.
Jared Bernstein, Biden's chief economist, said the funding will create new jobs for manufacturers, electricians, equipment installers, business analysis, IT system designers, data entry clerks, and others. ++
Victory for Obama Over Military Lobby
CHRISTOPHER DREW, NYT
October 28, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/29/business/29defense.html
"The growth of clean energy can lead to the growth of our economy," Obama said at a solar-energy facility in Arcadia, Fla. But he predicted some would fight the changes, including his proposed legislation designed to reduce greenhouse gases, but called on the nation to seize the initiative in pursuing clean energy.
"The closer we get to this new energy future, the harder the opposition is going to fight," Obama said. "It's a debate between looking backwards and looking forward, between those who are ready to seize the future and those who are afraid of the future, and we know which side the United States of America has always come down on."
Obama announced that 100 private companies, utilities, manufacturers, cities and others will receive grants of between $400,000 and $200 million to help build a nationwide "smart energy grid" that will cut costs for consumers and make the nation's electrical system more reliable.
The grants are expected to create tens of thousands of jobs and also lay down the infrastructure to create a new renewable energy industry, one of Obama's longstanding goals.
The stimulus funds will draw an additional $4.7 billion in private investment to match the grant awards.
"The smart grid is something that has a transformational impact on how energy is delivered," Carol Browner, Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change, said ahead of Obama's speech. "This is about building more than just miles of wire, it's about building.something that works."
Also, Vice President Joe Biden announced a plan to reopen a closed General Motors factory to produce plug-in hybrid cars in Wilmington, Del.
Obama's speech put climate and energy initiatives center stage, just as the Senate kicks off hearings about a climate bill sponsored by Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Barbara Boxer, (D-Calif.) On Tuesday, the Senate Environment and Public Works committee will hear testimony from five top administration officials on the legislation.
The bill would create a cap and trade system that would cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 and 83 percent by 2050.
Improving the electrical grid, say administration officials, will increase energy efficiency and independence by encouraging growth in renewable power sources like solar, geothermal, and wind. The administration has set a goal of getting at least 20 percent of energy from renewable sources by 2020.
The funding will be used to install 700 automated substations, more than 200,000 smart transformers, 170,000 smart thermostats, 40 million smart meters, and other new technologies. The projects will cut electricity costs for consumers and give consumers in 49 states access to renewable power sources.
They'll also help prevent power outages, which the administration says costs consumers about $150 billion annually, and help utilities respond more effectively when electricity disruptions occur.
Jared Bernstein, Biden's chief economist, said the funding will create new jobs for manufacturers, electricians, equipment installers, business analysis, IT system designers, data entry clerks, and others. ++
Victory for Obama Over Military Lobby
CHRISTOPHER DREW, NYT
October 28, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/29/business/29defense.html
When the Obama administration proposed canceling a host of expensive weapons systems last spring, some of the military industry's allies in Congress assumed, as they had in the past, that they would have the final say.
But as the president signed a $680 billion military policy bill on Wednesday, it was clear that he had succeeded in paring back nearly all of the programs and setting a tone of greater restraint than the Pentagon had seen in many years.
Now the question is whether Mr. Obama can sustain that push next year, when the midterm elections are likely to make Congress more resistant to further cuts and job losses.
White House officials say Mr. Obama took advantage of a rare political moment to break through one of Washington's most powerful lobbies and trim more weapons systems than any president had in decades.
Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff, said Wednesday that the plan was to threaten a veto over a prominent program - in this case, the F-22 fighter jet - "to show we were willing to expend political capital and could win on something that people thought we could not."
Once the Senate voted in July to stop buying F-22s, Mr. Emanuel said in an interview, that success "reverberated down" to help sustain billions of dollars of cuts in Army modernization, missile defense and other programs.
Mr. Emanuel said the strategy emerged when the defense secretary, Robert M. Gates, told Mr. Obama they needed to "shake up sacred cows and be seen as taking on fights."
Military analysts said Mr. Gates, a holdover from the Bush administration, also aimed at the most bloated programs. And Senator John McCain of Arizona, the former Republican presidential candidate, who has criticized the Pentagon's cost overruns, provided Mr. Obama with political cover to make the cuts without being seen as soft on the military.
"They probably get an 'A' from the standpoint of their success on their major initiatives," said Fred Downey, a former Senate aide who is now vice president for national security at the Aerospace Industries Association. "They probably got all of them but one or maybe two, and that's an extraordinarily high score."
Still, Mr. Obama said at Wednesday's signing ceremony, there is "more waste we need to cut."
The act authorizes $550 billion for the Pentagon's base budget in fiscal 2010 and $130 billion more for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. That compares to a total of $654 billion for both accounts in fiscal 2009.
The measure also includes a ban on hate crimes that Democratic leaders attached to the bill.
Mr. Obama has said that he does not intend to reduce military spending while the nation is engaged in two wars. But Mr. Gates also wants to cut more futuristic programs to free money for simpler systems like helicopters and unmanned spy planes that can help the troops now.
Winslow T. Wheeler, a military analyst at the Center for Defense Information, a Washington analytical organization, said another key to Mr. Gates's success was regaining control of the budget from the armed services.
But the administration has had to make some compromises, and some issues remain to be decided in a separate spending bill.
Mr. Obama had wanted to cancel an alternate engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, a new plane that is expected to be a mainstay for the Air Force, the Navy and the Marines. He had also threatened to veto the military bills if they took money from plane purchases to keep developing that engine.
But Congressional leaders say they believe that the second engine will provide crucial insurance for the $300 billion fighter program. And they say they will take money from other parts of the military budget to save it.Mr. Obama has also threatened to veto any attempts to salvage an early version of a new presidential helicopter that the administration canceled.
The policy bill that he signed Wednesday does not contain any money for it. But the House version of the spending bill does, and that issue remains to be resolved.
Still, even White House officials say they were surprised at how far they got in reshaping the weapons programs.
"In terms of sort of bringing fiscal responsibility to Washington and changing the way the place works, you couldn't have picked a more challenging area than the defense budget," said Rob Nabors, the deputy director of the White House's Office of Management and Budget. ++
White House Steps Up Climate Efforts
JOHN M. BRODER, NYT
October 28, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/28/us/politics/28climate.html
WASHINGTON - The Obama administration and some Senate Democrats expressed fresh urgency on Tuesday about the need to address climate change and refashion the nation's energy economy.
But they faced determined opposition from Republicans, new concerns from some Democrats and reminders of the financial, technological and political hurdles in remaking the way the nation produces and consumes power.
In a Senate hearing on a new climate change and energy bill and in coordinated appearances by President Obama and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., the administration promoted measures to cap greenhouse gas emissions and support new means of fueling homes and vehicles with far less carbon dioxide intensity. Mr. Obama appeared at a solar energy installation in Florida and Mr. Biden at an auto plant in Delaware that will produce electric vehicles, talking about the potential of alternative energy to create jobs.
On Capitol Hill, five senior administration officials appeared before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to speak in support of a bill to address global warming and encourage development of nonpolluting energy sources. They said such measures were important not only to the environment but to the nation's economic competitiveness.
"When the starting gun sounded on the clean energy race, the United States stumbled," Energy Secretary Steven Chu told the Senate panel, saying that spending on green energy technology in China and several European nations was far outstripping that of the United States. "But I remain confident that we can make up the ground."
He added, "When we gear up our research and production of clean energy technologies, we can still surpass any other country."
The climate change measure, sponsored by Senators John Kerry of Massachusetts and Barbara Boxer of California, both Democrats, aims to cap emissions of the gases linked to the warming of the planet by setting up a program under which industries can buy and sell emissions permits.
The measure also provides a variety of incentives for new energy technology, including billions of dollars in subsidies for research on capturing and storing carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.
Republicans on the committee dismissed the bill as an overly complex one that will harm the economy, kill jobs and favor some parts of the country over others. Democrats generally defended it as a market-based approach to a serious environmental problem that will create jobs by spurring energy innovation.
Senator Max Baucus, the Montana Democrat who is the second-ranking member of the environment committee and chairman of the Finance Committee, warned his fellow Democrats that the Kerry-Boxer bill went too far and could end up delaying any action on global warming for months or years.
"The legislation before us today is about our economy," Mr. Baucus told the committee. "Montana, with our resource-based agriculture and tourism economies, cannot afford the unmitigated impacts of climate change. But we also cannot afford the unmitigated effects of climate change legislation."
He said the bill's target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent below 2005 levels was too ambitious. He criticized the measure's failure to limit the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to impose additional regulations on carbon dioxide emissions beyond those in the bill.
And he warned Senator Boxer against using her committee's 12-to-7 Democratic majority to pass a bill without some support from moderate Republicans and Democrats.
"We could build that consensus here in this committee," Mr. Baucus said. "If we don't, we risk wasting another month, another year, another Congress without taking a step forward into our future."
Senator George V. Voinovich of Ohio, considered by some a potential Republican vote for climate change legislation, also said the committee was moving too quickly on a complex bill that few understand.
"Why are we trying to jam down this legislation now?" asked Mr. Voinovich, who is retiring at the end of next year. "Wouldn't it be smarter to take our time and do it right?"
In Arcadia, Fla., Mr. Obama stood in the midst of the nation's largest solar power generation array to highlight $3.4 billion in stimulus spending for projects to modernize the electric grid through projects across the country.
"At this moment, there's something big happening in America, when it comes to creating a clean-energy economy," Mr. Obama said. "But getting there will take a few more days like this one, and more projects like this one." ++
Jeff Zeleny contributed reporting from Arcadia, Fla., and David Stout from Washington.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/28/us/politics/28climate.html
WASHINGTON - The Obama administration and some Senate Democrats expressed fresh urgency on Tuesday about the need to address climate change and refashion the nation's energy economy.
But they faced determined opposition from Republicans, new concerns from some Democrats and reminders of the financial, technological and political hurdles in remaking the way the nation produces and consumes power.
In a Senate hearing on a new climate change and energy bill and in coordinated appearances by President Obama and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., the administration promoted measures to cap greenhouse gas emissions and support new means of fueling homes and vehicles with far less carbon dioxide intensity. Mr. Obama appeared at a solar energy installation in Florida and Mr. Biden at an auto plant in Delaware that will produce electric vehicles, talking about the potential of alternative energy to create jobs.
On Capitol Hill, five senior administration officials appeared before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to speak in support of a bill to address global warming and encourage development of nonpolluting energy sources. They said such measures were important not only to the environment but to the nation's economic competitiveness.
"When the starting gun sounded on the clean energy race, the United States stumbled," Energy Secretary Steven Chu told the Senate panel, saying that spending on green energy technology in China and several European nations was far outstripping that of the United States. "But I remain confident that we can make up the ground."
He added, "When we gear up our research and production of clean energy technologies, we can still surpass any other country."
The climate change measure, sponsored by Senators John Kerry of Massachusetts and Barbara Boxer of California, both Democrats, aims to cap emissions of the gases linked to the warming of the planet by setting up a program under which industries can buy and sell emissions permits.
The measure also provides a variety of incentives for new energy technology, including billions of dollars in subsidies for research on capturing and storing carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.
Republicans on the committee dismissed the bill as an overly complex one that will harm the economy, kill jobs and favor some parts of the country over others. Democrats generally defended it as a market-based approach to a serious environmental problem that will create jobs by spurring energy innovation.
Senator Max Baucus, the Montana Democrat who is the second-ranking member of the environment committee and chairman of the Finance Committee, warned his fellow Democrats that the Kerry-Boxer bill went too far and could end up delaying any action on global warming for months or years.
"The legislation before us today is about our economy," Mr. Baucus told the committee. "Montana, with our resource-based agriculture and tourism economies, cannot afford the unmitigated impacts of climate change. But we also cannot afford the unmitigated effects of climate change legislation."
He said the bill's target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent below 2005 levels was too ambitious. He criticized the measure's failure to limit the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to impose additional regulations on carbon dioxide emissions beyond those in the bill.
And he warned Senator Boxer against using her committee's 12-to-7 Democratic majority to pass a bill without some support from moderate Republicans and Democrats.
"We could build that consensus here in this committee," Mr. Baucus said. "If we don't, we risk wasting another month, another year, another Congress without taking a step forward into our future."
Senator George V. Voinovich of Ohio, considered by some a potential Republican vote for climate change legislation, also said the committee was moving too quickly on a complex bill that few understand.
"Why are we trying to jam down this legislation now?" asked Mr. Voinovich, who is retiring at the end of next year. "Wouldn't it be smarter to take our time and do it right?"
In Arcadia, Fla., Mr. Obama stood in the midst of the nation's largest solar power generation array to highlight $3.4 billion in stimulus spending for projects to modernize the electric grid through projects across the country.
"At this moment, there's something big happening in America, when it comes to creating a clean-energy economy," Mr. Obama said. "But getting there will take a few more days like this one, and more projects like this one." ++
Jeff Zeleny contributed reporting from Arcadia, Fla., and David Stout from Washington.
"I'm asking you to believe. Not just in my ability to bring about real change in Washington ... I'm asking you to believe in yours."
~ Barack Obama
~ Barack Obama
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