July 28, 2013

The Newsroom (HBO) on drones.

Fair warning I'm a bleeding heart liberal.

I like the show and think they do a very good job for the most part.
However the framing of the drone argument misses the largest reason why it is so wrong in my opinion.
Even if we did get the bad guy is it acceptable to kill 5 or 10 innocent people in the process?
If you got the FBI's 10 most wanted and killed their (U.S.) neighbors while doing it everyone would be outraged, but somehow brown people
on the other side of the world don't count. You can't lead the free world if you treat the rest of the world as if their lives matter less than our own.

July 20, 2013

RE: Detroit

Any discussion that doesn't address the impact of "free" trade is missing a major piece of the puzzle. Manufacturing all over the country has been decimated by these "agreements" among the 1%.

July 14, 2013

FAIR TV July 12, 2013

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July 7, 2013

MURPHY INTRODUCES MAJOR LEGISLATION TO PROTECT & GROW DEFENSE MANUFACTURING JOBS IN CT

If we can't reduce the MIC spending we should at least keep in the USA.

The American Jobs Matter Act will require the Defense Department to consider American jobs when it awards federal contracts

Friday, June 28, 2013

HARTFORD—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) today announced major federal legislation to protect and grow defense manufacturing jobs in Connecticut. Murphy was joined by U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn), an original cosponsor of Murphy’s bill, workers and business owners from several Connecticut defense manufacturers to tell their own stories and discuss how the legislation will impact jobs in Connecticut. U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) are also original cosponsors of this legislation.

“This is a very simple proposal: the Defense Department should give preference to American manufacturers when awarding federal defense contracts,”said Murphy. “Most people assume that the American government already considers American jobs when we hand over our defense dollars to contractors. Well, they don't, but they should. I’ve traveled the state hearing from manufacturers who keep Connecticut’s defense industry strong and the message is clear: every job that we create overseas by awarding contracts to foreign firms is one less job here in America. It’s time to change that.”

Murphy's American Jobs Matter Act (S. 1246) will require the Department of Defense, for the first time, to measure domestic employment as a factor in rewarding a contract. American manufacturing firms will be able to leverage their contribution to the U.S. economy to win federal contracts by demonstrating how many jobs they will create or retain with the award of a contract.

“American dollars should support American jobs,” said Blumenthal. “Our American defense manufacturing workers—particularly those in Connecticut—exhibit exceptional expertise in producing the highest quality equipment for our service men and women. The Department of Defense should make every effort to buy American, promoting economic growth and military security.”

In the last five years, the Department of Defense has spent over $700 billion dollars on manufactured goods. An alarming portion of that spending—over $100 billion since the Department of Defense began to comprehensively keep track—was spent on goods manufactured by foreign workers. During the same period, the United States lost 1.7 million manufacturing jobs.

“Our defense industrial base is still the best in the world, but we must protect it against the outsourcing that has steadily eroded our capabilities,”added Murphy. “We need to begin leveraging the massive amount of taxpayer dollars going to firms for manufactured goods, and this legislation will finally give the key segments of our defense industrial base a leg up to create jobs in our state and our country.”

July 4, 2013

As predicted the GOP is using the ACA delay as a talking point.

WASHINGTON — Republicans seized upon the administration's abrupt delay of the employer mandate in the health care law as fresh evidence that President Barack Obama's signature domestic policy is unworkable and should be repealed, an argument that energizes the party base ahead of 2014 congressional elections.
But the White House's willingness to respond to the concerns of business – and avoid the specter of job layoffs due to the unpopular health care law – spares Democrats one political headache in next year's races.
"The best delay for Obamacare is a permanent one," House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., said Wednesday, hours after the administration announced a one-year delay in requiring businesses with 50 or more employees to provide health coverage for their workers or pay a penalty.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/03/gop-obamacare_n_3542776.html?ref=topbar

July 2, 2013

Sectarian fears as Iraq bombs kill dozens.

Source: Al Jazeera

At least 25 killed in series of attacks in mostly Shia areas of capital Baghdad, medics say.

Read more: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/07/2013725331204534.html

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Remember the surge worked. These people are just upset that we haven't built the statue of Bush they were promised.