Politics and Legislation
Right Wing Billionaires Push Israel’s Agenda in 2012 Elections
Published on Apr 21, 2012 by TheRealNews
Right-Wing Neoconservatives and former Democrats from Wall Street are teaming up to defeat Obama, but can their attacks on his Israel policy divide his funding base?
Published on Apr 21, 2012 by strugglevideomedia
speaking in March 2012 David Swanson of “War is a Crime” speaks at the United National Anti-War Coalition conference in Stamford, CT
The French Election and the Eurocrisis
Published on Apr 21, 2012 by TheRealNews
Gérard Duménil: Most voters want to save social programs and reject austerity
Suu Kyi’s party threatens to boycott parliament opening
Published on Apr 21, 2012 by AlJazeeraEnglish
The party of Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s pro-democracy leader, has threatened to boycott the parliament’s opening session set to take place on Monday.
A senior member of the National League for Democracy’s executive committee said that its 43 newly elected MPs will not take up their seats unless the military-led government withdraws an oath to “safeguard” the constitution, which Suu Kyi wants amended.
Suu Kyi campaigned in the by-elections on a pledge to amend the country’s new constitution which guarantees 25 per cent of all seats to the military.
The NLD has petitioned the constitutional court to change the oath and Suu Kyi has written to Thein Sein, Myanmar’s president, asking him to change the oath by replacing it with a pledge to “respect” the constitution instead.
Larry Jagan, a southeast Asia expert and journalist, has told Al Jazeera that he is optimistic that the boycott would not be a major setback for democratic reforms in the country.
“My understanding is that the boycott is going ahead, but I dont think it means the NLD does not want to work with the government on issues that affect people on the ground, like poverty, development and the ceasefire agreements,” he said.
“The issue with the oath is just deferring them being sworn in.”
NAACP grades Congress; Louisiana Republicans fail
Published: Saturday, April 21, 2012, 9:00 PM
The NAACP has issued its Legislative Report Card for the first session of the 112th Congress, giving Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, A’s, and the Republican members of the state’s Congressional delegation straight F’s. According to the ratings, based on 20 House votes and 15 Senate votes, Richmond was right 100 percent of the time and Landrieu 93 percent of the time, while Sen. David Vitter, R-La., didn’t vote with the NAACP view a single time.
The Louisiana Republicans had plenty of company with their low grades. The civil rights organization flunked nearly half of all senators, and more than half of House members. Senators were judged on such issues as whether they backed implementation of health care overhaul, opposed a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, supported public employee job creation, supported the nomination of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau and supported the Davis-Bacon prevailing wage law.
The only Landrieu vote the NAACP found fault with was her failure to support EPA efforts to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act.
Whistleblower bill addresses reports of sexual abuse of a minor by a co-worker
Published: Saturday, April 21, 2012, 8:30 PM
A bill aimed at preventing a repeat of the Penn State University sex abuse scandal is heading for final passage in the Louisiana House. Senate Bill 158, which has already been approved by the Senate, was easily approved by the House Labor and Industrial Relations Committee on Thursday.
File photoSen. J.P. MorrellSponsored by Sen. J.P. Morrell, D-New Orleans, the bill would extend whistleblower protections to employees who report the sexual abuse of a minor by a co-worker. The bill was inspired by the case of assistant Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky, who has been accused of molesting children for years. Officials at the school are accused of covering up for him.
Another Morrell bill inspired by the Penn State scandal, SB 4, would increase requirements for reporting the sexual abuse of a minor. That bill has already passed the Senate and is headed to the House Criminal Justice Committee.
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Economy
Falling Energy Prices: Good for Jobs, Not as Good for Gasoline
By Jeff Macke
Americans suspect one of two things about oil and gas prices: crude is either getting propped up by “speculators” or through the actions of Big Business. In either case, prices at the pump are inflated by capitalism run amok, to the detriment of the American consumer.
It’s not exactly wrong, but there’s another side to the relationship between energy and profit-seeking—one that’s bringing jobs back to the U.S.
In the attached video, David Lutz managing director at Stifel Nicolaus lays out the big picture, starting with why the price of crude oil seems to fall while gas prices either stay where they are or move higher. Lutz says the price of oil is declining because of the “glut of oil we have in the United States.”
Yes, we have too much oil and the price is falling. But that’s only in the U.S., where we quote the price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude. “Brent is the global benchmark for oil,” explains Lutz. In that case, the price of WTI has less of an impact on gasoline than generally assumed—which isn’t to say corporate America isn’t doing its part.
“Refiners here in the country are taking cheap WTI and refining it into diesel or petrol, then they’re shipping it overseas.” Plainly put: Big Oil doesn’t artificially inflate gas prices at all; it simply maximizes profits. For a variety of reasons, both corporate and political, there are too few refineries in the U.S. to meet the demand for Europe’s gas mix and the type of gas used in American cars.
Earnings, Fed to prove skeptics wrong
By Rodrigo Campos and Ryan Vlastelica
NEW YORK (Reuters) – After a strong first quarter, Wall Street has gotten a case of the jitters.
A spike in bond yields has brought Europe’s debt crisis back to the forefront. U.S. economic figures point to steady-but-uninspired growth, and stocks have backed off the sharp gains that recently pushed indexes to near four-year highs.
Stocks returned a bit to their winning track this week after strong earnings reports, and investors are waiting to see if more positive surprises from U.S. companies are in store.
Nearly 180 of the S&P 500’s components will report earnings next week, and heading into a seasonally weak period, the market will need strong reports to offset the perception that there’s no more room to rally.
“It is very encouraging that the majority of the news flow is about earnings rather than Europe,” said Leo Grohowski, who oversees about $171 billion in client assets as chief investment officer at BNY Mellon Wealth Management in New York.
Earnings are “alleviating our concerns about economic growth and making us feel more comfortable about our estimates for the year.”
Next week will see earnings releases from several bellwethers. The most important will likely be Apple Inc (NSQ:AAPL – News), which reports after the market close on Tuesday.
While the largest U.S. company by market capitalization has a history of blowout quarters, many say the company’s meteoric rise so far this year has created unrealistic expectations. For the first time since December 2008, the stock fell more than 4 percent in back-to-back weeks.
Fears Rise That Recovery May Falter in the Spring
By: Annie Lowrey
Some of the same spoilers that interrupted the recovery in 2010 and 2011 have emerged again, raising fears that the winter’s economic strength might dissipate in the spring.
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Photo: Peter Dazeley | Photographer’s Choice | Getty Images
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In recent weeks, European bond yields have started climbing. In the United States and elsewhere, high oil prices have sapped spending power. American employers remain skittish about hiring new workers, and new claims for unemployment insurancehave risen. And stocks have declined.
There is a “light recovery blowing in a spring wind” with “dark clouds on the horizon,” Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund ![[cnbc explains]](https://i0.wp.com/media.cnbc.com/i/CNBC/Sections/News_And_Analysis/_News/_CNBC_EXPLAINS/_IMAGES/CNBC_explains_icon1.gif)
, said Thursday, at the start of meetings here that will focus on Europe’s troubles and global growth. Ms. Lagarde implored world leaders not to become complacent.
Forecasters have said that the trends point to a moderation of economic growth in the United States, but they still expect the recovery to continue this year. The slowdown in part reflects an unusually warm winter, which pulled forward economic activity, making January and February seem artificially good and perhaps making recent weeks look worse than they truly were.
Still, the breadth of the recent weakening of activity shows that the economy remains fragile, as is typical in the years following a financial crisis.
The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index had been generally rising from last summer through March, but has fallen more than 3 percent since early April. Initial jobless claims had been on a long, slow fall since 2011, but have jumped about 6 percent in the last three weeks, according to a Labor Department report released Thursday.
MF Global: The Untold Story of the Biggest Wall Street Collapse Since Lehman
Only on Wall Street can you bankrupt a company; misplace $1.6 billion of customers’ money; lose 75 percent of shareholders’ money in two weeks; speed dial a high priced criminal attorney and get a court to authorize the payment of your multi-million dollar legal tab from the failed company’s insurance policies; have regulators waive your requirements to take licensing exams required to work in the securities and commodities industry; have your Board of Directors waive your loyalty to the firm; run a bucket shop out of the UK; and still have the word “Honorable” affixed to your name in a Congressional investigations hearing.
This is not a flashback to the rotting financial carcasses of 2008. This putrid saga has been playing out in five Congressional hearings since December with the next episode scheduled for Tuesday, April 24, before the Senate Banking Committee under the auspicious title: “The Collapse of MF Global: Lessons Learned and Policy Implications.” (The title might more appropriately be, “MF Global: Lessons Never Learned and Policy Implications of a Wild West Financial System Just One Trade Away from the Next Taxpayer Bailout.”)
Dutch prime minister says austerity talks collapse
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The ruling Dutch minority government was on the brink of collapse Saturday after anti-EU lawmaker Geert Wilders torpedoed seven weeks of austerity talks, saying he would not cave in to budget demands from “dictators in Brussels.”
New national elections that will be a referendum on the Netherlands’ relationship with Europe and its ailing single currency are now all-but-certain.
But before Prime Minister can tender his resignation — possibly as early as Monday — he must consult with allies and opposition parties on how to run a caretaker government that will have to make important economic decisions in the coming weeks and months.
“Elections are the logical next step,” Rutte said.
Opposition leader Diederik Sansom of the Labor Party joined others across the political spectrum in calling for new elections as soon as possible.
“In the meanwhile, we in parliament will take responsibility for a careful budget in 2013,” he said.
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Wars and Rumors of War
UN approves Syria monitor mission
Published on Apr 21, 2012 by AlJazeeraEnglish
The UN Security Council has unanimously adopted a resolution that authorizes an initial deployment of up to 300 unarmed military observers to Syria for three months to monitor a fragile week-old ceasefire in the country’s 13-month old conflict.
The Russian and European drafted resolution said that deployment of the UN observer mission, which will be called UNSMIS, will be “subject to assessment by the Secretary-General [Ban Ki-moon] of relevant developments on the ground, including the cessation of violence”.
Saturday’s resolution also noted that the cessation of violence by the government and opposition is “clearly incomplete”.
Al Jazeera’s Kristen Saloomey reports from the UN in New York.
‘Gasoline kills West’s concern over abuses in Bahrain’
Published on Apr 22, 2012 by RussiaToday
Patrick Henningsen, a journalist and editor of the 21st Century Wire, believes that the West will not care about human rights issue in Bahrain as long as it acts and votes in accordance with US foreign policy. “Generally they don’t care in Washington or London what the Bahrainis do to their own people.” He points out that Bahrain is a satellite state of Saudi Arabia and a satellite state in the region of the US and Britain. “They have incredible vested interests there in terms of petroleum contracts etc.” The journalist also stresses the island’s proximity to Iran makes it a strategic defense location in the Persian Gulf.
Gen. Dempsey: US in for ‘wild ride’ in the Middle East over the next decade
By Carlo Munoz
America is heading into an increasingly tumultuous decade in the Middle East, punctuated by repeated popular uprisings that will continue to dismantle long-standing power structures in the region, according to the Pentagon’s top uniformed officer.
Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he believes the fallout from the ongoing Arab Spring movement will eventually lead to a more democratic Middle East.
“I think getting from here to there is going to be a wild ride. And so I think we’re in for 10 or 15 years of instability in a region that has already been characterized by instability,” Dempsey told members of the House Armed Services Committee during Thursday’s hearing.
That approaching period of increased instability comes as the Pentagon is beginning to shift its focus from the Middle East to the Pacific. The move was a key tenet in the White House’s new national security strategy issued in February.
But as the U.S. military sets its sights on greater Asia, defense lawmakers wanted to know if the Pentagon is prepared for the looming chaos Dempsey predicted in the Middle East.
Read Full Article Here
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Articles of Interest
ACLU says more debtors are sent directly to jail
Should you go to jail for being unable to pay a small bill? Debtors’ jail has been abolished in the United States since the 1830s, but a study by the American Civil Liberties Union has pointed out a de facto debtors’ prison has emerged, with debtors put in handcuffs for showing “contempt of court” when creditors harass them with summons at what the ACLU calls increasingly alarming rates. One teacher’s aide and breast cancer survivor was thrown in prison for not paying a $280 medical bill that she had been told she received in error. Using public courts and services funded by tax dollars to pressure collection of private debts is even encouraged by some states, such as Alabama and Florida, which add hefty collection fees to debtors’ payment plans.
Jailed for $280: The return of debtors’ prisons
- By
- Alain Sherter
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(istockphoto)
(MoneyWatch) How did breast cancer survivor Lisa Lindsay end up behind bars? She didn’t pay a medical bill — one the Herrin, Ill., teaching assistant was told she didn’t owe. “She got a $280 medical bill in error and was told she didn’t have to pay it,” The Associated Press reports. “But the bill was turned over to a collection agency, and eventually state troopers showed up at her home and took her to jail in handcuffs.”
Although the U.S. abolished debtors’ prisons in the 1830s, more than a third of U.S. states allow the police to haul people in who don’t pay all manner of debts, from bills for health care services to credit card and auto loans. In parts of Illinois, debt collectors commonly use publicly funded courts, sheriff’s deputies, and country jails to pressure people who owe even small amounts to pay up, according to the AP.
‘Presidential’ vs. ‘Political’ Trips: A Blurry Line, and Tricky Math
Luke Sharrett for The New York TimesPresident Obama heading to fund-raising events last month in Chicago and Atlanta.
By JACKIE CALMES
Published: April 21, 2012
Doug Mills/The New York Times
Presidential travel in election years has long been an issue.
And that was the nonpolitical stop on Mr. Obama’s swing-state itinerary for that day early this month. The president sandwiched the 34-minute speech, billed as an official address on his so-called Buffett Rule for a minimum tax rate for the wealthiest Americans, amid three overtly partisan fund-raisers that accounted for the bulk of his time along the south Florida coast.
Mixing policy and politics, Mr. Obama is picking up the pace of his travel with that ultimate incumbent’s perk — unlimited use of Air Force One. The trips are mostly to about a dozen swing states that will decide the election and to two reliably Democratic states, New York and California, for campaign money.
And Mr. Obama is not the only frequent flier with a re-election agenda. Both Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and the first lady, Michelle Obama, are increasingly stumping around the country as the campaign seeks to repeat its fund-raising success of 2008 and counter a building wave of G.O.P. cash.
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