bipartisan:
Yes but this vote showed who the greedy thieves are in both parties. Remind these people where you stand before the next vote or next election. In a way maybe the Reps are happy those Dems showed their real colours before the election. Real bad when by the looks of things the MAJORITY of American are against the bail out and only 13 votes could have changed the outcome.

Are the elected people in the US even aware this is a democracy????

Makes you wonder if Moore knows what the meaning of the word bipartisanship is? This Bill is brought to you by both parties anxious to fleece the treasury. Funny, I don't read anything in this article that mentions that FACT. Moore's tripe is better suited to the National Enquirer.

"A large chunk of this $700 billion is going to be given directly to Chinese and Middle Eastern banks. There is NO guarantee of ever seeing that money again."

Mike:
You don't get it and neither do the American people. The American economy should have collapsed in August 2007, over a year ago, the reason it didn't was because of massive infusions of capital by Chinese and Middle Eastern banks into our financial system. This went on until July of this year, when after a series of financial and political mistakes, the Chinese, Middle Eastern, and European banks lost confidence in the U.S. and started pulling out their money.

Eight weeks later Lehman collapsed. The Fed tried to pull another Bear Stearns bailout, the Chinese had rescued Bear with a $10 billion bailout and later got screwed, hence no buyers for Lehman. Game over.

So, now that the Bushies can't get foreigners to bailout their friends, they come to the American taxpayers to try and rescue their friends. American people have said No Thank You.

We are debtor nation, without foreign investment, the country collapses. They keep our huge budget deficits going. If we don't cover their loans with American taxpayer money, they will not invest anymore of their surpluses in the U.S.

What is at stake here is more than the U.S. economy - it is the U.S. Empire.

snydly
THE TOP 1% HAS DECIDED TO SAVE THE TOP 1%.
I CAN'T REMEMBER ANOTHER TIME WHEN THE MSM WAS SO CANTED TOWARD AN ISSUE.
PERHAPS NOT SO SURPRISING---EVERY ONE OF THOSE PUNDITS LOST AT LEAST A MILLION YESTERDAY.

THIS VOTE HAS SHOWN US THAT THE POLITICAL SPECTRUM IS NOT A LINE WITH TWO ENDS, BUT A BROKEN CIRCLE WITH THE ENDS CLOSER TO EACH OTHER THAN TO THE "MIDDLE".
LOOKS LIKE A WINNING COMBO---DENNIS/RALPH/RON TRIUMVIRATE PRESIDENCY.
THE THIRD PARTY IS PURPLE...WITH A HEAVY GREEN TINT!

I say lets wait 2 weeks on a second vote ( if there is one) and see what the market does on its own. Right now it is a buyers market. Stocks are down like never before so I can see that % of people who own stocks in America will start to jump back in. Yesterday was a knee jerk reaction.

zSept....
Why are you against phoning ( that is our democratic right) Why are you by the looks of things agaist democracy? If you opened a few sites in other postings you would find that some elected members are getting as many as 100 phone calls per minute. The lines are jammed with calls. Americans are sick of the direction the country is going and a few members had the nuts to stand up to the pressure and voted for what is best for America.

It is also your right to a degree to be anti American same as it is my right and others to phone whom ever the heck I want. Remember these members are VOTED in.

z: So you think anyone but the surveillance guys are reading these posts? I think that's what Georgie and pals talk about when they insist we got free speech. people call their representatives for a whole slew of reasons... only a few of them have to do with being heard. I know my rep, and I know he listens...

So don't phone the goldurned congress... sheesh... but somethin happened yesterday that kept that bizzarro Kafka more-money-to-the-rich bill from passing like so much gas in a house after a heavy polish meal.

and anyways, whatcha gonna do z? Sit on yer tookas and pray fer antacid pills? bitch and moan and kibbitz at yer keyboard?

and what's this BS against taking jewish holidays off? who are these anti semites and where do they live? make them eat blintzes and potato pancakes, make them work on their xmas holiday....

Bless you Mike. I agree - time to demonstrate.

If this "crisis" were all that critical, dont you think that congress and wall street would go to work tomorrow, instead of taking the day off and celebrating the Jewish New Years?

this is BIZARRE!..since when did the US Congress close for Jewish holidays?

Whos is REALLY in charge here?

"The only means of strengthening one's intellect is to make up one's mind about nothing, to let the mind be a thoroughfare for all thoughts." - John Keats

Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.” — John F. Kennedy
The down trodden the masses and the proletariat have began to erect and sharpening the guillotines
The Wall Street Aristocrats and Bourgeoisies in this New immerging World ignores the down trodden and masses at their peril
It will be David and Goliath , Gulliver and the Lilliputians and Finally the storming of the Bastille
Edward Bernays mind games are slowly being exposed for what it is , It was Bernays who taught the ruling class how to manipulate the masses he who was one of the first to manipulate public opinion using the psychology of the subconscious.
For they The down trodden the masses and the proletariat will not eat cake

700 billion you say? That money must be worth a fortune.

You'd best be advised to count the silver as the Bush cartel leaves, they can't be trusted, you know.

Anyone who votes either Democrat or Republican is a fool. It's time for an Independent Revolution. Then we can figure out who to get out the ropes for.

Sorry for my lack of decorum, Bobv, but seriously, "phoning our representatives"? It's absurd to think they are listening. If you think they are merely waiting to hear the will of the People, then why do they oppose us when we raise our voice on torture, war, spying, or impeachment? Maybe HP is a dreamy eyed idealist, but it's insulting when Michael Moore instructs us to protest, write letters, and make phone calls. It equivalent to suggesting we simply pray the wars away. In either case, we're simply talking to ourselves. People show up in these forums preaching the need to "take to the streets" or focus on "People power", but they never respond when their ideas are challenged.

I haven't yet read the article, but based on the title, the following certainly seems to be related enough, if not more than only enough.

"Game Theory: Playing Craps with Your Life, or: Some Poor Schnook with a Blog vs...Krugman!",
by Arthur Silber, powerofnarrative.blogspot.com, Sep 26 2008,

http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m47533

And I also believe that the following is also related, but from a different angle, say. It's an audio interiew with ex-Jesuit Fr Malachi Martin. This past weekend is when I first began listening to some of the things he said and he definitely seems to be of sound of mind and knowledgeable from what I can tell, so far anyway; while I doubt that that view will change. He seems to be of a steadfast sort of soundness (of mind, heart, soul). And I believe to have briefly read that he was excomm'd, axed, like due to "stepping on toes" of (nasty) people possessing ... power; temporal power.

"Malachi Martin On Who Controls Vatican", 03:26,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptHRUrqH78Y

That's a very short piece, but he clearly and well enough states that the Pope really is or certainly has become nothing more than a figurehead, paper pusher, ..., maybe even assasinated, now and then, etcetera; while the real controllers keep him under their control, dominion, .... And he uses former Pope JP II for an example, evidently a very concrete one or kind. There have been reports of schmuck or fiend Henry Kissinger having visited the Pope and I'm not sure if it's both, but if not, then either JP II or Ben. XVI; Kissinger, and maybe more than once, as well as possibly other U.S. "elite" fiends.

I recall that the or a televised portion of the funeral of Pope JP II showed a lot of people (or what look superficially like people anyway) attending, and they were all seated outside in the large lot there. It immediately struck me, for it was a very strange audience. Where were the true members of the church? FAR in the BACK of everyone else, barely noticeable; while getting premium (whatever the better term is) seating were world "dignataries", "elites", and surely many of them are of the dark, i.e., [evil], fiend kind; murderers, liars, etcetera. Huh, ... and ugh; sickening!

Anyway, there's the related videos page (maybe all audios, but while downloading as Flash videos), which, and among other pieces with him, has some (a few, I believe) with Fr Martin speaking on the topic of some mysterious Planet X and the year 2012. It's not that he believes in that stuff, and I've only listened to one of those pieces, so far (last night); but that piece is about some apparently major astro-observatory that the Vatican (along with another group) built or runs on top of some mountain in Arizona. It's being used to watch for some sci-fi like Planet X-related event that's purportedly to happen in 2012.

I respect the Mayans with their 2012 belief, while not accepting it for myself; but the Vatican getting into the above topic is to very much stray from Jesus. Vatican must be searching for its members' heads, for they seem to have gone missing.

However, my point is that when we have world leaders, political, legal, ..., and religious, starting to get into the sci-fi or occult sort of mindframe, that sort of way of viewing life, then I'm definitely not comfortable about it at all. What the ... are such people doing in any leadership positions at all?! They cannot be entrusted with such positions; although we clearly don't have much say about this and have to live ... disgusted, frustrated, ..., about it all.

To make sure I don't leave this latter stuff from Fr Martin misunderstood in terms of my inclusion of it, it's only included for this post with respect to the real ruling "elites" of imperialism, wars of aggression, economic crises, ecetera, etcetera. It wasn't meant to innclude religion, but only the relationship between churches and world ruling "elites", or those in the West anyway. Association with the churches has drastically declined in the imperialist, colonialist, ... West, and for various reasons, sometimes out of conscience, while other cases may be out of hatred or other reasons. BUT, I've read that many RCs in South American countries, f.e., hold the church, RCC, the Vatican, and what many incorrectly call the "holy father" when speaking of the mere human pope; many members of the church in these countrues are devoted to the Vatican and Pope. That makes him or his position potentially very useful to the imperialist, ... ruling "elites"!

If that wasn't true, then Kissinger and other imperialism, ... "elites" wouldn't bother with the Vatican, but they do and not because they are members or have any real faith and fellowship with Jesus, etc.

Bunch of FIENDS!

The banks are afraid of lending? I've got a cure for that, tax standing balances so that they're losing money if they don't invest it. That'll break the log jam so fast, we'll be wondering what all the fuss was about.

Michael's right, this is just a game of chicken. The Haves versus the Have-nots. Do you really think the rich are willing to forgo their interest earnings for long just because some bad mortgage-backed securities are out there? I know people who would rather sell their daughter to a perverted sheik than allow their income stream to dwindle. Just make sure they're not sending their money overseas and they'll let loose their grip.

I'm afraid my fellow Dems are even more gullible than they are soft-hearted.

I guess Michael Moore will publish something tomorrow thanking the REPUBLICANS for their opposition and stopping of the big bailout. If he doesn't, he just reveals himself as someone who supports Obama and Democrats no matter how they vote. Clearly, this would not be a man of principle.

Okay Michael,

After much debate, we had concluded that you had sold out... taken the poison pill... sipped the kool-aid... looked adoringly in the eyes of Obama the savior and... either became functionally brain-dead... or lost your way so completely as to not even know you were once on a righteous path.

Perhaps this little "screw you Mike... and your good friend America" has opened your eyes once moore... and partial sight has returned.

Yes... it is all you suggest and moore.

Get back into the fold... and don't be swayed by the bright lights again.

There's real work to be done.

The collapse of America is a real threat... but not from the "menace" that CheneyOilCo would like us to believe. Strip the masks away. You were once good at that. Look at all those (including Obama) who would sell us to the corporatists for a sad song.

Report it.

BREAKING NEWS !! NANCY PELOSI TO TRY AGAIN !!

http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE48S76Y20080929

But Michael, why does your new hero, Barack Obama, support this massive taxpayer hand out to corporate America?

He's also against your health insurance plan.

Wake up.

Barack Obama was for single payer before he came out against it.

FLUSH THE RASCALS OUT
by Arthur Lukas

Well congress, in the words of Ronald Reagan, "There you go again!"

Our representatives (sic) in congress are doing it to us again. The Patriot Act, the Iraq War, the Military Commissions Act, the ex post facto telecommunications industry immunity from prosecution for illegal wire tapping, . . . were not enough. Now congress is putting us all in debt to the tune of $700 billion. And we all know how these things work—if the $700,000,000,000 doesn't do the job, our beloved congress, with much hand wringing, will have to add a few more hundred billion to the pot to protect their original bet. There they go again!

Once again the American people have risen up and made our voices heard and our wishes clear—NO BAILOUT. Of course we have done this before; like when we came out in the hundreds of thousands to stop the invasion of Iraq before it happened. Our representatives (sic, sic, sic) listened to us then just as they are listening to us now. There they go again!

How do we get those who are supposed to be representing us to listen and do what we are asking them to do? We do what American citizens have done so many times in the past—"Throw the rascals out!" We throw them out by voting them out of office.

There is a simple equation, which even the corporate sponsored congress will understand—your vote for the $700,000,000,000 bailout of Wall Street bankers equals my vote against you on November 4, 2008. We can get rid of each and every senator and representative who casts a yes vote on the bailout by simply voting against each and every one of them in the next election.

Rather than thinking of this as throwing the rascals out, think of it as cleansing the system by flushing out the muck of soulless politicians who have sold out to the highest bidder.

We can start flushing the rascals out by sending a strong message to congress before the final vote. Tomorrow night (September 30) at 9 PM Eastern Daylight Saving Time (8 PM Central, 7 PM Mountain, and 6 PM Pacific) we can flush our toilets. Across America hundreds of thousands of toilets will be flushed. Communities throughout this great nation will feel the effect of a temporary fall in water pressure. This will let those rascals in D.C. feel the power of the people. It might even stop their rascally madness.

If tomorrow's flush doesn't get their attention, our vote in November will.

FLUSH YOUR TOILET SEPTEMBER 30 – FLUSH THE RASCALS OUT NOVEMBER 4

I hope they destroy America! Bring it on! I want more of it! I want to see this country suffer! And then we take back our country.....

And I.....

Get to do some old fashion hangin... get a rope!

Coffee,,,,,

I'd appreciate it if people who are committed to third party candidates, as I am, would refrain from climbing all over the backs of those who are not, but who still have admirable and moral progressive ideals and stances. I became so frigging disgusted by the way I was treated and what I was blamed for by Democrats when I opted out of the two party boondoggle in the last two elections that I am completely intolerant of anyone's rabid insistence that to speak progressive one absolutely must vote one way or another (and it certainly reinforced my reasons NOT to vote Democrat unless I couldn't help it or was truly impressed)... why I suppose there are even those, somewhere out there, who vote Republican and who have good progressive values at heart (and if you lived in Michigan in the seventies and eighties and knew/know Governor Bill Milliken and his wife, you'd know exactly what I mean)

This BS is truly not partisan... unless we can be kind to one another and accept the sheer magnitude of the variety of viewpoints and reasons for voting any particular way, we have no right to hope for a return of some kind of semblance of democracy,... we need people like Michael Moore now and we will need him after the election, no matter who he votes for....to z especially

HP,

Phoning? Are you joking? Are you f-ing joking?

RogerC
No not read to much but think about when you have just 5 weeks till you retire and the bank vault door is wide open and no one would say a thing? This is those who know that party is over lining their pockets for the last time.

PHONE PHONE PHONE YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS NOW NOW NOW AND TELL THEM NOT TO VOTE FOR THE BAILOUT THE NEXT TIME IT COMES UP

OR THIS IS GOING TO BE OUR OCTOBER SURPRISE TIME???????????

Has any of you people phoned your elected official saying DON"T VOTE FOR THIS BAIL OUT when it comes up again??????????????????????

Silence of the Lambs, that's what Americans have become. YOU HAVE GIVEN UP JUST WHEN YOU HAVE THEM ON THE RUN. NOW IS THE TIME TO TRIPLE THE CALLS TO THESE PEOPLE AND LET THEM KNOW YOU VOTE FOR THE BILL ( NEXT TIME IT COMES UP) AND I OR MY FAMILY DON'T VOTE FOR YOU. This is even if it is a Dem you are phoning. Use a phone both if you don't like call display Bring back the power of the people to run America again.

Surreal or possible? - Could this dire state of the financial world be JUST the right kind of emergency that Bush and the neocons would be able to claim as a just reason for declaring martial Law? - especially if (as seems likely) the bail-out package they requested/demanded will not be passed. Could its failure have been the goal all along,thus making it plausible that to defend the whole nation from the possible looting and social disorder that would occur from an actual melt down such a declaration would be an act of necessity?

Or have I read too many conspiracy theories?

Michael, will you please take the time to respond to Carl J. Mayer?

http://www.counterpunch.org/mayer09222008.html

Remember, Michael, these are your words,
"I have seen the slippery slope that type of behavior leads to in the baby boom generation. First, you start with little chips away at your conscience. You agree to do things that don’t seem to directly harm any living thing, actions in which you convince yourself, “I guess I can live with that ’cause the alternative would be worse!” But bit by bit, as you start to abandon what you believe in and compromise your values, you end up being able to rationalize any action. Before long, you give up and head to the middle. You learn that it is safe there. If you strive for complacency and mediocrity, the system will reward you. Promise not to upset the apple cart and you will end up with more money, a nice house, lots of gadgets, and oodles of things. Who wouldn’t want that! But all of this compromise — not doing what you know in your heart of hearts to be right — not only destroys you as an individual, it weakens our democracy."

The economy should be deeply connected to actual human beings and their real lives.

And thank you Jacob.

Opal

"The biggest robbery in the history of this country is taking place as you read this."

The Republicans voted against it, the Democrats voted for it. What's the point of Slacker Uprising? Vote Democrat.

Since Michael has moved from being an activist the being a Democratic party cheerleader, it seems he can't keep his talking points straight.

Michael, here's how it works, you are supposed to ignore any flaw the Democrats have, just like you have done with Obama, Kerry, and Clark.

"THESE DEMOCRATS ARE ONLY AS STRONG AS THE BACKBONE WE GIVE THEM."
Hysterical. I guess I'll blame you then.

BTW isn't it great when he talks about "people power", you know, what WE can do to help. 1) write letters, 2) have a parade, 3) make phone calls.
Michael Moore, your descent into mainstream politics has only made you funnier.

Bravo Michael!

You have effectively captured all the talking points that I too believe have led to the demise of the once cherished American institution.

Your next film should be “The MIC” Military Industrial Complex 101. Let me help you make it; I have already drafted the script.

Our President/Administration/Congress sold us out to the highest bidder! Greed and political paybacks reigned over the rule of constituency.

Mark this day in your history books! The new game is called Global Depression.

I've heard there's 500 trillion of bad derivatives out there. If so, 700 billion would simply be lost. A little more time and investigation may shed light.

Well, since the give-away didn't fly in the House, and they hadn't decided whether to go back to the drawing board when I switched channels, and the Senate won't be trying to push their bill through until tomorrow or later, maybe those fat cat Wall Street thugs will start working to save themselves.

Pelosi held up a paper and said that 75% of Americans wanted the Congress to bail out the thugs, and that's why they were working so hard to do what we expected them to do. Any idea where she came up with that figure?

I am glad it has not passed. There is a better way out. Abide by the rules.
Work for the commonwealth.

Google

LATEST FALSE PROSPECTUS FROM 'PAULSON'S' TREASURY
and
SECONDARY SAUSAGES FROM THE D.C. SAUSAGE MACHINE

for an equally damning assessment as Moore's

The bailout went down! Yes! But they're already talking about trying again next week. It looks like the phone/protest campaign had a real effect---given the election is coming up. We can't let up. Call the congressmen/women who voted against it and thank them for their courage. Call the others and tell them they won't get your vote. Keep the pressure on! It's not over.

Fuck’em. Let their golden parachutes burn like roman candles. Let the country go broke… maybe it will put an end to our demokrazy empire building war crimes.

I tip my hat for those 94 democrats who voted their conscience and not the fear mongering that reached its zenith during the vote for fraudulent Iraq war. These thieves would still have come back for more even if we had given them the $700 Billion. Their insatiable greed is like a black hole in the universe. It does not have a bottom.

The coup is coup-less.....They lost this one!

Quoting from an article by Patrick Martin, entitled: "A Travesty of Democracy;
Democrats, Republicans Conspire to Remove Wall Street Bailout From Election Campaign."

"Both parties (the Democrats and Republicans) agree on one fundamental principle: The American people will have no say whatsoever in an arrangement that will compel them to pay for the losses of bankers and speculators who created the financial disaster. That is the content of the demand on all sides that “politics” be kept out of the bailout talks.

"Democrats were particularly insistent on this question. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said after Thursday’s meeting at the White House blew up in acrimony, “When you inject presidential politics into delicate negotiations, it’s not necessarily as helpful as it needs to be.”

"Congressional Democratic leaders followed suit. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said, “The insertion of presidential politics has not been helpful.” His deputy, Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, added, “Bringing the presidential political campaigns to the halls of Congress is not going to make this any easier.”

"THIS IS THE SAME ARGUMENT MADE BY SOME OF THE SAME DEMOCRATS IN OCTOBER 2002, WHEN THEY RUSHED THROUGH A VOTE AUTHORIZING THE USE OF MILITARY FORCE AGAINST IRAQ ONLY WEEKS BEFORE THE OCNGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS, TO AVOID HAVING THE ELECTIONS BECOME A REFERENDUM ON THE BUSH ADMINISTRATIONS'S DRIVE TO WAR.

"If America were a democracy in any meaningful sense of the term, it would be considered obligatory to have a full discussion and debate in the course of an election campaign over plans to raid the federal treasury and mortgage future generations to guarantee the riches of the financial elite.

"But if the bailout were on the ballot November 4, the voters would repudiate it overwhelmingly. It is precisely because of this opposition that the conspirators of both parties are seeking to reach an agreement this weekend, preempting the issue and depriving the American public of any say in a decision that will profoundly affect the future course of the country.

"Neither party wants to go before the American people with its real program.

"The Democratic Party, as the past week’s events have clearly demonstrated, is the servant of Wall Street. Long gone are the days when liberal Democrats postured as opponents of the moneyed interests.

"There is virtual unanimity among the Democrats on the need to bail out Wall Street and grant the treasury secretary full authority to deal with the crisis in the credit markets. The Democrats privately welcome the opportunity to implement the plan before the elections, in order to provide an all-purpose excuse for an Obama administration to abandon its campaign promises and implement austerity policies. ...

"The financial crisis has demonstrated the economic failure of the capitalist system and the bankruptcy of its political structure. There is no way for the interests and concerns of working people to find genuine expression through the two big business parties.

"The Democratic Party, long used by the ruling elite as a safety valve for popular grievances, is now completely identified with corporate America and Wall Street. In the current crisis, the Democrats and the Bush administration have formed a united front."

(Caps added.)

Click here for the entire article -- http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/sep2008/bail-s27.shtml

Bill just failed to pass - Monday, Bloody Monday.
You're watching history folks.

“Here's the truth: The number one cause of people declaring bankruptcy is because of medical bills. Let me state this simply: If we had had universal health coverage, this mortgage "crisis" may never have happened.”

Moore points out, that the lack of universal health care is key. So why are the leading politicians, running for office, who support single payer universal healthcare omitted from his piece?

Like many Americans, Moore supports McCain or Obama, who both are explicitly against universal coverage. The Greens and independent that support it are not worthy of mention by Moore, apparently.

So, I’m still perplexed. Where is the disconnect? I hear that many visitors to this website would like to see universal healthcare in the US. Almost all the people that comment do. So, what gives? Can anybody, perhaps a first time poster, add anything to the usual “Obama is better than McCain”?

So America...How did you enjoy your little Empire? Was it fun playing Caligula while you set fire to the rest of the world?

Assholes.

"The only means of strengthening one's intellect is to make up one's mind about nothing, to let the mind be a thoroughfare for all thoughts." - John Keats

"In November 2007, Obama came out against a bill that would have reformed the notorious Mining Law of 1872. The current statute, signed into law by Ulysses Grant, allows mining companies to pay a nominal fee, as little as $2.50 an acre, to mine for hard rock minerals like gold, silver, and copper without paying royalties.

"Yearly profits for mining hardrock on public lands is estimated to be in excess of $1 billion a year according to Earthworks, a group that monitors the industry. Not surprisingly, the industry spends freely when it comes to lobbying: an estimated $60 million between 1998-2004 according to The Center on Public Integrity. And it appears to be paying off, yet again.

"The Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2007 would have finally overhauled the law and allowed American taxpayers to reap part of the royalties (4 percent of gross revenue on existing mining operations and 8 percent on new ones). The bill provided a revenue source to cleanup abandoned hardrock mines, which is likely to cost taxpayers over $50 million, and addressed health and safety concerns in the 11 affected western states.

"Later it came to light that one of Obama's key advisors in Nevada is a Nevada-based lobbyist in the employ of various mining companies (CBS News "Obama's Position On Mining Law Questioned. Democrat Shares Position with Mining Executives Who Employ Lobbyist Advising Him," November 14, 2007).

"The New York Times reported that, while campaigning in Iowa in December 2007, Obama boasted that he had passed a bill requiring nuclear plants to promptly report radioactive leaks. This came after residents of his home state of Illinois complained they were not told of leaks that occurred at a nuclear plant operated by Exelon Corporation.

"The truth, however, was that Obama allowed the bill to be amended in Committee by Senate Republicans, replacing language mandating reporting with verbiage that merely offered guidance to regulators on how to address unreported leaks. The story noted that even this version of Obama's bill failed to pass the Senate, so it was unclear why Obama was claiming to have passed the legislation. The February 3, 2008 The New York Times article titled "Nuclear Leaks and Response Tested Obama in Senate" by Mike McIntire also noted the opinion of one of Obama's constituents, which was hardly enthusiastic about Obama's legislative efforts:

""Senator Obama's staff was sending us copies of the bill to review, and we could see it weakening with each successive draft," said Joe Cosgrove, a park district director in Will County, Ill., where low-level radioactive runoff had turned up in groundwater. "The teeth were just taken out of it."

"As it turns out, the New York Times story noted: "Since 2003, executives and employees of Exelon, which is based in Illinois, have contributed at least $227,000 to Mr. Obama's campaigns for the United States Senate and for president. Two top Exelon officials, Frank M. Clark, executive vice president, and John W. Rogers Jr., a director, are among his largest fund-raisers."

"On energy policy, it turns out Obama is a big supporter of corn-based ethanol which is well known for being an energy-intensive crop to grow. It is estimated that seven barrels of oil are required to produce eight barrels of corn ethanol, according to research by the Cato Institute. Ethanol's impact on climate change is nominal and isn't "green" according to Alisa Gravitz, Co-op America executive director. "It simply isn't a major improvement over gasoline when it comes to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions." A 2006 University of Minnesota study by Jason Hill and David Tilman, and an earlier study published in BioScience in 2005, concur. (There's even concern that a reliance on corn-based ethanol would lead to higher food prices.)

"So why would Obama be touting this as a solution to our oil dependency? Could it have something to do with the fact that the first presidential primary is located in Iowa, corn capitol of the country? In legislative terms this means Obama voted in favor of $8 billion worth of corn subsidies in 2006 alone, when most of that money should have been committed to alternative energy sources such as solar, tidal and wind.

"Obama opposed single-payer bill HR676, sponsored by Congressmen Dennis Kucinich and John Conyers in 2006, although at least 75 members of Congress supported it. Single-payer works by trying to diminish the administrative costs that comprise somewhere around one-third of every health care dollar spent, by eliminating the duplicative nature of these services. The expected $300 billion in annual savings such a system would produce would go directly to cover the uninsured and expand coverage to those who already have insurance, according to Dr. Stephanie Woolhandler, an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and co-founder of Physicians for a National Health Program.

"Obama's own plan has been widely criticized for leaving health care industry administrative costs in place and for allowing millions of people to remain uninsured. "Sicko" filmmaker Michael Moore ridiculed it saying, "Obama wants the insurance companies to help us develop a new health care plan-the same companies who have created the mess in the first place."

Click here for the entire article -- http://newsblaze.com/story/20080302075722tsop.nb/topstory.html

Right, Michael. ... And who do you support for president? ... ANSWER: The corporatist candidate, Barack Obama.

Quoting from an article by Matt Gonzalez, Ralph Nader's vice-presidential running mate, entitled "The Obama Craze; Count Me Out" --

"In 2005, Obama joined Republicans in passing a law dubiously called the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) that would shut down state courts as a venue to hear many class action lawsuits. Long a desired objective of large corporations and President George Bush, Obama in effect voted to deny redress in many of the courts where these kinds of cases have the best chance of surviving corporate legal challenges. Instead, it forces them into the backlogged Republican-judge dominated federal courts. …

“Obama has a way of ducking hard votes or explaining away his bad votes by trying to blame poorly-written statutes. Case in point: an amendment he voted on as part of a recent bankruptcy bill before the US Senate would have capped credit card interest rates at 30 percent. Inexplicably, Obama voted against it, although it would have been the beginning of setting these predatory lending rates under federal control. Even Senator Hillary Clinton supported it.

"Now Obama explains his vote by saying the amendment was poorly written or set the ceiling too high. His explanation isn't credible as Obama offered no lower number as an alternative, and didn't put forward his own amendment clarifying whatever language he found objectionable.

"Why wouldn't Obama have voted to create the first federal ceiling on predatory credit card interest rates, particularly as he calls himself a champion of the poor and middle classes? Perhaps he was signaling to the corporate establishment that they need not fear him. For all of his dynamic rhetoric about lifting up the masses, it seems Obama has little intention of doing anything concrete to reverse the cycle of poverty many struggle to overcome.

"These seemingly unusual votes wherein Obama aligns himself with Republican Party interests aren't new. While in the Illinois Senate, Obama voted to limit the recovery that victims of medical malpractice could obtain through the courts. Capping non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases means a victim cannot fully recover for pain and suffering or for punitive damages. Moreover, it ignored that courts were already empowered to adjust awards when appropriate, and that the Illinois Supreme Court had previously ruled such limits on tort reform violated the state constitution.

"In the US Senate, Obama continued interfering with patients' full recovery for tortuous conduct. He was a sponsor of the National Medical Error Disclosure and Compensation Act of 2005. The bill requires hospitals to disclose errors to patients and has a mechanism whereby disclosure, coupled with apologies, is rewarded by limiting patients' economic recovery. Rather than simply mandating disclosure, Obama's solution is to trade what should be mandated for something that should never be given away: namely, full recovery for the injured patient.

(Continued)

Again, let's review:

Rounding up for easy math, each $1 trillion of TAXPAYER money gifted to the bank robbing cartel divided by 130 million TAXPAYERS equals $8,000 PER TAXPAYER.

So: we got the present bailout scheme at $1 trillion ($700 billion + $300 billion because we all know we're being lied to, again): $8,000 PER TAXPAYER. And we got this, just today: "Fed pumps another $650 billion into foreign banks...": that's $4,800 PER TAXPAYER.

Ya with me? We're at $12,800 PER TAXPAYER. Add in the $2 trillion in bailouts and cash-pumpings so far this year (that we're aware of,) for another $16,000 PER TAXPAYER. And, let's be conservative, another $2 trillion in "toxic" Freddie/Fannie "assets," for yet another $16,000 PER TAXPAYER.

That's $44,800 PER TAXPAYER, the average of whom nets $25,000/year.

IOW, the Fed is handing the bank robbing cartel about 2 years worth of the average taxpayer net income PER TAXPAYER.

Not a little pissed off yet? Then toss in another $24,000 PER TAXPAYER to cover the Iraq/Afghanistan illegal invasions/occupations (4700+ dead US soldiers, 300,000+ physically/mentally maimed, millions of dead/maimed innocent natives,) $8,000 for the just passed $1 trillion Pentagon budget, and - ta da! - $80,000 PER TAXPAYER to cover the National Debt.

Yea, go ahead, call Obama - and ask him if he's gonna give back the more than $21 million he received from the bank robber cartel. I'm sure you're call will be sooooo effective...

I think that horse (the coup) left the barn back in 2000. Today's desperate rush for the lifeboats as the ship goes down is a predictable manifestation in a country that has for decades revolved around the interests of a handful of powerful movers and shakers. The only way to prevent this sort of Congressional obsequiousness to the rich is to eliminate private campaign contributions and end personhood for corporations.

Dave
http://daveeriqat.wordpress.com/

Progressive Review (www.prorev.com) has the best funny thing I've seen:

Dear American:

I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude.

I am Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America. My country has had crisis that has caused the need for large transfer of funds of 800 billion dollars US. If you would assist me in this transfer, it would be most profitable to you.

I am working with Mr. Phil Gramm, lobbyist for UBS, who will be my replacement as Ministry of the Treasury in January. As a Senator, you may know him as the leader of the American banking deregulation movement in the 1990s. This transaction is 100% safe.

This is a matter of great urgency. We need a blank check. We need the funds as quickly as possible. We cannot directly transfer these funds in the names of our close friends because we are constantly under surveillance. My family lawyer advised me that I should look for a reliable and trustworthy person who will act as a next of kin so the funds can be transferred.

Please reply with all of your bank account, IRA and college fund account numbers and those of your children and grandchildren to wallstreetbailout@treasury.gov so that we may transfer your commission for this transaction. After I receive that information, I will respond with detailed information about safeguards that will be used to protect the funds.

Yours Faithfully Minister of Treasury Paulson

FUBAR!

Oh, and type twowheelrevolution.org to watch my movies...

I Cover the Waterfront...

Om Shanti, may all being be happy!

This article showcases both MM's strengths & his weaknesses.

He's exactly right that "The Rich Are Staging a Coup This Morning .... The biggest robbery in the history of this country is taking place as you read this."

He's not quite right about this part: "...After stealing a half trillion dollars to line the pockets of their war-profiteering backers for the past five years.... Bush and his cronies...are looting the U.S. Treasury of every dollar they can grab...."

- It isn't just "Bush and his cronies" -- unless MM counts the Democrats as being among Bush's cronies. (Which of course they are, but MM doesn't quite realize that.) The looting of the country is completely bipartisan. If anything, the Democrats seem even more eager to fork over the money than the Republicans.

When MM urges people to "call Senator Obama," this is knee-slappingly hilarious. Obama supports the bailout every bit as much as Bush or McCain. When it comes to the speed with which they prostrate themselves before Wall Street, there is truly no difference between the parties.

When MM urges you to call your congressman, that is an OK idea. (I did it.) It doesn't hurt, though it probably doesn't help, either. They really don't care what you think.

The final knee-slapper in MM's piece is the "P.P.S." at the bottom, where he offers a feeble excuse for the Dems' abject servility to the financial overlords. Is it only the Dems who are "scared they [ie, the Wall St gangsters] may make good on their threat"? Why would such an excuse apply only to D's, and not R's? // It's ridiculous to assign a benign interpretation for the Dems' support of the bailout, while viewing the R's support as "wicked." Support is support. How silly to claim that D-support is "well-meaning," while R-support only proves what bastards they are!

Dear Sen. Smith, Sen. Wyden and Rep. Wu,

Like Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Bear Stearns, Lehman, AIG, etc. etc, I've made some bad decisions that have cost me money.... one bad marriage, some bad career choices, some investments that went down instead of up.

Unlike the leaders of those businesses, I never got signing bonuses, salaries, stock options, annual bonuses, or golden parachutes in the millions when things went wrong. Life's not fair.

But when you vote to subsidize the screw-ups of the fat cats, do you think you could add another $500,000 for me? I know I made some stupid decisions along the way, but if you bail me out just this once, I promise not to make any more misteaks.

You are NOT anyone's friend here, Michael.

This guy said it best:
http://www.counterpunch.org/mayer09222008.html

Whatever Happened to Voting Your Conscience?

An Open Letter to Michael Moore (AKA God's Pen Pal)

By CARL J. MAYER

I HAVE contacted my Congressman. I thanked Darrell Issa (R-CA 49th) for his opposition to the bailout.

Further, I asked him to protect us from the Democrats.

I find this ironic.

Dear Michael,

Will you please wake up and stop supporting Obama NOW?? He does not support our positions on issues. He does not love us. He will do what his corporate bribers have told him to do. Yes, we are being robbed; but it is with the full cooperation and complicity of BOTH major parties.

Just don't worry about the details,

concentrate the mind,

withdraw from the Moloch system,

and don't be unkind.

there are no real worries whatever goes down--make your own lives in the right way--ride a bicycle, plant trees and gardens, don't get too angry at the follies of the moment...

everybody knows about the emperor's clothes...

Om Shanti, may all being be happy!

Just don't worry about the details,

concentrate the mind,

withdraw from the Moloch system,

and don't be unkind.

there are no real worries whatever goes down--make your own lives in the right way--ride a bicycle, plant trees and gardens, don't get too angry at the follies of the moment...

everybody knows about the emperor's clothes...

Om Shanti, may all being be happy!

So, contact friends and members of Congress.

WW11 pulled te country out of the depression because industry insured every body was put to work making ships, tanks, jeeps, clothing, all trash was recycled into new materials. the prosperity continued because of education provided by the government. People Had dreams again. all of the remaining war surplus was put to use in society for many fudemental things.

this current war is only about greed, Haliburtn and KBR have moved ofshore to

NOT PAY TAXES ON TAXPAYERS MONEY.

all employees are contractors mostly not even us citizens, no healthcare no taxes no SSN.

OUTRIGHT THEFT OF US MONEY BY CHENEYS FRIENDS

soldiers bought their own equipment, used trash to fix equipment while

BUSH SAT ON HIS ASS

to not even ensure Armor suppplied to troops and soldiers who used 300 dollar "KBR monogramed" towles to wipe up the blood.

THIS WAS THEFT OF OUR NATIONS WEALTH ON THE GRANDEST SCALE EVER!!!!!!

It was Nixon who (in post WWII America) began the idea of stealing everything, even if it was nailed down. He was the Bob Ford of American politics, shooting democracy in the back and basically getting away with it. Yes, he was forced from office but he never went to prison. Each successive Repimplican president has grown more brazen, each was dumber than the one before, each determined to grab everything, never thinking of the consequences because consequences are for suckers, i.e., us.

The filthy rich complain about 'death tax' but it is becoming obvious that the 'tax' part will be the least of their worries.