More on Elizabeth Warrn from Joe Nocera in the New York Times. What struck me . . .was the bluntness of her language. She used words like “tricks,” “fleece,” and “bribe” to describe the actions of mortgage and credit card lenders. And I think a lot of her appeal stems from that simple fact: she [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Obama administration’
Elizabeth Warren for sheriff
Posted: 21st August 2010 by Brant in politicsTags: banks, economy, Elizabeth Warren, Obama administration, Wall Street
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Has the President lost his mind?
Posted: 5th August 2010 by Brant in culture, politicsTags: civil rights, Obama, Obama administration, wackos
President Obama remains opposed to same-sex marriage, bit claims to support equal rights for gay citizens. Here is a statement from David Axelrod: The president does oppose same-sex marriage, but he supports equality for gay and lesbian couples, and benefits and other issues, and that has been effectuated in federal agencies under his control. Axelrod [...]
FBI wants more warrantless data (updated x2)
Posted: 29th July 2010 by Brant in politicsTags: civil liberties, FBI, Obama, Obama administration, privacy
Chalk this up as another Obama breach of campaign promises. He claimed that he would rebalance civil liberties in national security matters, at least partially restoring traditional privacy rights of citizens. Instead, he is proposing a broadening of the information that the FBI can require ISPs to produce regarding individuals. And this production can be [...]
The intervention worked
Posted: 28th July 2010 by Brant in biz, politicsTags: Bush administration, economy, Obama administration, stimulus
The New York Times highlights a report from two prominent economists that indicates that the various Federal actions in the wake of the economic collapse substantially improved the situation. In a new paper, the economists argue that without the Wall Street bailout, the bank stress tests, the emergency lending and asset purchases by the Federal [...]
Obama = Bush Light, part 3
Posted: 17th June 2010 by Brant in politicsTags: Bush, civil liberties, Gitmo, Obama, Obama administration, terror
Jon Stewart sets out chapter and verse on the failure of President Obama to follow through on his campaign promises to restore the rule of law in the “war” on terror. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c Respect My Authoritah www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party [...]
Obama = Bush Light, part 2
Posted: 10th June 2010 by Brant in politicsTags: civil liberties, DOJ, Obama, Obama administration, privacy, wiretapping
Once again, President Obama is adopting positions inconsistent with his campaign promises and consistent with his predecessor. His Department of Justice is taking a position that the US government is immune to all claims of warrantless wiretapping, a position even more damaging to privacy rights that Bush’s. The DOJ claims that the U.S. Government is [...]
Shameful quote of the day (updated)
Posted: 3rd June 2010 by Brant in politics, sadTags: Bush, Bush administration, justice, Obama, Obama administration, torture, war
Yeah, we water-boarded Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. I’d do it again to save lives. –Former President George W. Bush, speaking in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Wednesday. It is amazing to me that a former president of the United States can speak so openly and proudly of violating US law, US treaty obligations, and general human decency. [...]
Obama = Bush Light
Posted: 22nd May 2010 by Brant in politicsTags: Bush administration, civil liberties, justice, Obama, Obama administration, torture
The Obama Administration continues following the lead of the Bush Administration in regards civil liberties and pursuit of what used to be called the “war” on terror. Most recently, the Obama DOJ argued successfully that foreign nationals held by the United States in prison at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan have no habeas corpus rights [...]
NSA’s warrantless wiretapping ruled illegal (updated)
Posted: 31st March 2010 by Brant in politicsTags: Bush administration, civil liberties, DOJ, justice, Obama administration
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Finally. A federal judge, Vaughn R. Walker, has ruled that George Bush’s warrantless wiretapping program was in fact illegal. This despite the efforts of the Obama administration to fight the result. In a 45-page opinion, Judge Vaughn R. Walker ruled that the government had violated a 1978 federal statute requiring court approval for domestic surveillance [...]
What victory looks like
Posted: 31st March 2010 by Brant in politicsTags: Democrats, healthcare, Obama, Obama administration
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Let’s see the Republicans run on repeal against this sort of advertising.
Economics quote of the day
Posted: 29th March 2010 by Brant in biz, politicsTags: banks, Bernanke, economy, Obama administration
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The impact on the broader economy and financial markets of the problems in the subprime market seems likely to be contained. –Ben Bernanke in congressional testimony, 3/28/07 (via The Cunning Realist)
Healthcare reform is going to pass (updated)
Posted: 21st March 2010 by Brant in politicsTags: healthcare, Obama, Obama administration
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I don’t want to jinx this, but now it seems obvious that healthcare reform will pass. What does it mean? It means more than 30 million Americans who are currently uninsured will have healthcare insurance. It means that insurance companies will not be able to decline coverage due to pre-existing conditions. It means that the [...]
Father does not know best
Posted: 17th March 2010 by Brant in culture, politicsTags: healthcare, Obama administration, religion
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That is, the if the fathers are bishops. It turns out that Catholic nuns (at least 59,000 of them) are urging passage of the Obama healthcare reform bill, noting that providing healthcare to mothers is the truly pro-life position. This is contrary to the Catholic Bishops. More from CNN: The letter argues that the legislation [...]
Waterboarding is torture
Posted: 9th March 2010 by Brant in politicsTags: Bush administration, CIA, civil liberties, justice, Obama administration, torture
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If you have any doubts that waterboarding is torture, take a look at this article from Salon which summarizes the contents of internal CIA documents recently released. The documents … lay out, in chilling detail, exactly what should occur in each two-hour waterboarding “session.” Interrogators were instructed to start pouring water right after a detainee [...]
Political quote of the day
Posted: 9th March 2010 by Brant in politicsTags: Ebert, healthcare, Obama administration
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As it now stands, if it’s any more watered down, Obamacare will be homeopathic. – Roger Ebert, via Quotation of the Day Mailing list