Celtic Frost

One thing you don’t hear too much about in the primary fights so far is…..Iraq….

Oh yeah, before you start, I’m not saying that nothing is said about this issue or that the citizenry does not rank this festering sore created by Mr. Decider, ‘Lil Boots’, George W. Bush, America’s Greatest Conservative President God save him and keep him safe in Paraguay….home of all fascist scum. Nor am I going to continue arguing with those who say that since the One Million Iraqis killed by Herr Leader are not Amerikkkan citizens that we, you and I, homer are not living in a Fascist State. Nope….I just want to bring your attention, as I have many times before, to the most important of all measures for Amerikkka.

That would be the geetus, cabbage, scratch…you know the cash. Here is a quote from: The True Cost of War a book by Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes reviewed for the Guardian by Aida Edemariam which sets the scene for the writing of this book here:

‘Some time in 2005, Stiglitz and Linda Blimes, who also served as an economic adviser under Clinton, noted that the official Congressional Budget Office estimate for the cost of the war so far was of the order of $500bn. The figure was so low, they didn’t believe it, and decided to investigate. The paper they wrote together, and published in January 2006, revised the figure sharply upwards, to between $1 and $2 trillion. Even that, Stiglitz says now, was deliberately conservative: “We didn’t want to sound outlandish.”‘

Well me and malcontent, then writing as -c were not so shy. We posted:

The Profiteers back in 2006

I blogged about Stiglitz and the cost of war back in:

Military Keynseianism: A Slideshow for yer Wingnut Friends back in 2007

And of course I went right to the dirty, corrupt heart of Amerikkka with my post:

Military Keynesianism: What is that and why should I care?

And superawesomestuff pointed out the following:

One Of Many Costs Of The War

I pointed out some facts here:

The Stink of Money: DOD Version

Back to Edemariam’s review. Stiglitz describes the Republican pushback on his original 2005 work:

‘So what did the Republicans say? “They had two reactions,” Stiglitz says wearily. “One was Bush saying, ‘We don’t go to war on the calculations of green eye-shaded accountants or economists.”

Stiglitz a vocal critic of the World Bank and not a shy or retiring went back to the records and from lots of hard work a picture emerged which, to those of us familiar with the Liar-in-Chief, was not a surprise:

‘Stiglitz and Bilmes dug deeper, and what they have discovered, after months of chasing often deliberately obscured accounts, is that in fact Bush’s Iraqi adventure will cost America – just America – a conservatively estimated $3 trillion. The rest of the world, including Britain, will probably account for about the same amount again. And in doing so they have achieved something much greater than arriving at an unimaginable figure: by describing the process, by detailing individual costs, by soberly listing the consequences of short-sighted budget decisions, they have produced a picture of comprehensive obfuscation and bad faith whose power comes from its roots in bald fact. Some of their discoveries we have heard before, others we may have had a hunch about, but others are completely new – and together, placed in context, their impact is staggering. There will be few who do not think that whatever the reasons for going to war, its progression has been morally disquieting; following the money turns out to be a brilliant way of getting at exactly why that is.‘

Bold by me. As malcontent will tell you the ‘why’ of the Iraq War and continuing occupation despite the large majority of Americans who want us out takes us to the various and sundry underlying reasons our government is no longer responsive to the needs, desires even the will of the people.

Hopefully, the upcoming clash between the Democratic nominee and the ‘uber-Hawk’ ‘Reverse Ace’ John McCaine will throw some light on some very dark and heinous goings on under the pathetically tattered flag of ‘Promoting Democracy’ I can assure you that malcontent and I will be on the scene to attempt to do justice to story so dark, bloody and dire that many don’t even want to hear it.

This quote should give you taste of the unpalatable truth everyone is gonna have to face in the near future. Except for ‘Lil’ Boots chillin’ in Paraguay because Miss Nancy and ‘SellOut’ Reid were in on the scam. Here ya go:

‘But the rising price of oil has also meant, according to Stiglitz and Bilmes, that the cost to oil-importing industrial countries in Europe and the Far East is now about $1.1 trillion. And to developing countries it has been devastating: they note a study by the International Energy Agency that looked at a sample of 13 African countries and found that rising oil prices have “had the effect of lowering the average income by 3% – more than offsetting all of the increase in foreign aid that they had received in recent years, and setting the stage for another crisis in these countries”. Stiglitz made his name by, among other things, criticizing America’s use of globalization as a bully pulpit; now he says flatly, “Yes, that’s part of being in a global economy. You make a mistake of this order, and it affects people all over the world.”

And the borrowed trillions have to come from somewhere. Because “the saving rate [in America] is zero,” says Stiglitz, “that means that you have to finance [the war] by borrowing abroad. So China is financing America’s war.” The US is now operating at such a deficit, in fact, that it doesn’t have the money to bail out its own banks. “When Merrill Lynch and Citibank had a problem, it was sovereign funds from abroad that bailed them out. And we had to give up a lot of shares of our ownership. So the largest shareowners in Citibank now are in the Middle East. It should be called the MidEast bank, not the Citibank.” This creates a precedent of dependence, “and whether we become dependent on Middle East oil money, or Chinese reserves – it’s that dependency that people ought to worry about. That is a big change. The amount of borrowing in the last eight years, on top of the borrowing that began with Reagan – that has all changed the US’s economic position in the world.”‘

And when Stiglitz says, ‘…..that has all changed the US’s economic position in the world’. He does not mean it’s changed for the better folks.
How long does McCain, Clinton or Obama think this can go on?

$16bn
The amount the US spends on the monthly running costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – on top of regular defence spending

$138
The amount paid by every US household every month towards the current operating costs of the war

$19.3bn
The amount Halliburton has received in single-source contracts for work in Iraq

$25bn
The annual cost to the US of the rising price of oil, itself a consequence of the war

$3 trillion
A conservative estimate of the true cost – to America alone – of Bush’s Iraq adventure. The rest of the world, including Britain, will shoulder about the same amount again

$5bn
Cost of 10 days’ fighting in Iraq

$1 trillion
The interest America will have paid by 2017 on the money borrowed to finance the war

3%
The average drop in income of 13 African countries – a direct result of the rise in oil prices. This drop has more than offset the recent increase in foreign aid to Africa

Even the dope dealers on the corners of every American city know that this sort of cash drain can’t be goin’ on for too much longer. Are Amerikkka’s leaders dumber than an illiterate fool on the corner with bag of rock and a nine?

Chicago Dyke speaks for me! Warning, warning this is a Meta-Post!

…..in her post: Goodbye Cruel World: In Which CD Bows Out of the Wars
Here’s the teaser quote:

‘Inspired by the lovely responses in this post, I’ve made up my mind after much discussion, thought and sleep on it. I’m done. I’m not going to write or comment on the Democratic candidates anymore, not until there is a real need. Right now, there’s too much poo-throwing, I’m tired of it and it’s ruining all the good blog parties. I am afraid of my email boxes, I can’t speak frankly in mixed librul company, and I’m bored. So go ahead: fight it out, pick one, tell me when it’s time to be Unified. There are plenty of other stories that matter that are happening, right now. If blogs ever had a job, it is to cover that which affects us all, but the SCLM ignores.’

Who is Chicago Dyke you may wonder. She’s an acquaintance of mine, from YearlyKos I, way back in 2006. A most perceptive lady who with her fellow blogmates Lambert and other reside in the awesome Corrente building. CD lives and blogs in D.C. she’s a sharp cookie and like many of the LBTG community not inclined to accept the conventional wisdom whether it be about sexual matters or The Great Orange Satan and CheetoLand. Now I’ve been troll-rated so many times at CheetoLand that there’s a big capital T on my ass. I don’t really care at this point. Kos has lost whatever grip he had on his creation and I’ve lost what once was a tremendous respect for him. ‘Winning’ has become so important to the cult of Obama that they’ve lost track of, if they ever did have a handle on, winning what? Obama’s nominating Crazy Joe the Liarman to SCOTUS?

Hell, nobody knows.

So…..

I have decided to imitate CD’s approach. The Democratic Nomination will proceed without me which I’m sure will not present a problem for either candidate. Let me repeat: ‘I have no dog in this fight’. I don’t really see the difference between Senator TweedleDee and and TweedleDum. I intend to start posting more about things I think, yeah that’s right I think, are important for the progressive movement to be blogging and thinking about. malcontent seemingly agrees with me as his first post in a while is about an issue I will be literally beating to death with words: A sustainable economy which must have as it’s foundation sustainable energy generation.

I’ll also be keeping abreast of the FISA fight an the movement to elect ‘More and Better Progressive Democrats’ and work being done to build a progressive infrastructure which many in the ’sphere are now dedicating themselves to in the absence of a true progressive candidate for President. And in case you want to argue that…I stand ready but before you open yer pie-hole check my newly revised sidebar widget, ‘Is Your Congressperson Progressive?’ Go ahead compare Obama vs. Clinton. Our pal Josh at Progressive Punch has got the kinks out and PP now produces something much more meaningful to help you analyze your Rep. or Senator.

And just because I said I didn’t have a dog in the fight does not mean I won’t point out which one has the worst case of mange.

And yeah I’ll still link to CheetoLand if they’ve got the goods. scout finch and mcjoan still crank out some good stuff and meteor blades, old codger that he is, can still bring it. Kos…not so much.

Onward: To a Progressive Future with: Peace, Health and Prosperity for Everyone.

Open Letter to Rep. Jerry McNerney…..

The Honorable Jerry McNerney,

I’ve looked at the ‘energy’ section of your ‘Issues’ division on this website.

Frankly it strikes me as pretty ‘conservative’ and antiquated from a guy who made his bones on windpower.

Check out the following and give me a response to this question:

‘When is the government going to take our proven technology and the best of the many, many plans out there to reduce our dependency on foreign oil to Zero?’

For those who don’t know this is entirely possible as the following links show:

The Solar Grand Plan:

That’s already under construction by the way:

Power islands:

And Jerry the Texans are now whippin’ our ass.

What’s up with this?

In short you don’t seem to be advocating for real transformative technologies which ALREADY EXIST.

Just going along with the program ain’t gonna cut it no more Jerry.

Please respond in detail. Perhaps if we in the netroots who helped you beat the excreable Pombo can help you with this.

Thanks for your time and attention.

Flash Update: Here’s where you can find how your representative or Senator voted on sustainable energy in 2007; 2008 has no qualifying votes yet.

Should Congress renew the Clean Energy Tax Credit?

The following is from “inhabitat.com”:

World’s Largest Solar Power Plant Coming to Arizona in 2011

by Mahesh Basantani

The lucky sunny state of Arizona is about to become home to the world’s largest Solar Plant! Thanks to a just-announced contract between Abengoa Solar and Arizona Public Service Company (APS), the enormous solar plant called Solana will power up to 70,000 homes, and will be the first example in the country of a major utility getting the majority of its energy from solar. The 1900 acre plant will be completed by 2011 – IF AND ONLY IF Congress renews the clean energy tax credit that’s set to expire at the end of 2008.

This could be a momentous environmental energy venture for the US, so now is the time to get political — we should not let this amazingly positive opportunity slip through the cracks!

The Arizona solar power plant has been named Solana, which means “a sunny place” in Spanish, and will be located 70 miles southwest of Phoenix, near Gila Bend, and cover 1,900 acres. The capacity of the power plant has been projected at 280 megawatts — a capacity which could power 70,000 homes and create 1,500 jobs. The electricity generated by the plant will be sold to APS to the tune of around $4 billion for over next 30 years.

Solana will make use of Abengoa Solar‘s Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) technology, which is based on solar radiation concentration to generate steam or hot air, which is used by an electric plant to run steam turbines.

The CSP technology uses three different approaches to concentrate solar rays: tower technology, parabolic trough technology, and dish Stirling technology. The Solana power plant would primarily employ parabolic trough technology.

Abengoa Solar is presently operating the world’s first commercial CSP solar tower plant in Spain – which we wrote about last year. This new enormoust solar power plant could be a huge boon for renewable energy, the environment, and the local economy with all the new jobs it will create. But there’s one catch- this week the house will be voting on the renewal of a clean energy bill which would shift about $18 billion in tax breaks from oil companies to renewable energy. Essentially, Abengoa’s ambitious solar plan hinges on the passing of this bill. The current clean energy tax credit will expire at the end of 2008, which would effectively make Solana impossible if it did. So while Solana would be a huge step in the right direction for our society, the fate of its realization lies in the hands of policy makers this week.

+ Abengoa Solar

Via BusinessWire via SolveClimate

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A Good Article about What It Will Take to ‘Change’ the System….

Here’s the teaser quote:

‘When I first got to Albany, I received a T-shirt, a cup and a toothbrush from a "tort reform" group, all emblazoned with the slogan Trial lawyers: They don’t make the things you use, they make the things you use more expensive. I have seen the NRA work on the public’s perception of gun control from Buffalo to the Bronx to stop us from passing legislation to ensure that gun store employees receive proper training and that gun dealers are held accountable for knowingly selling guns to criminals.’

Read the entire article by Eric Schneiderman, a progressive activist and lawyer, is currently serving as a New York State Senator representing Manhattan and the Bronx here, online, at The Nation. I found it to be a real good read with acute analysis, good story telling and, most importantly, a call for action which every progressive can follow.

Read it.

Why Obama matters…..

Like him or not if he becomes President he’s gonna be important. Very important, this sound obvious to you does it? Well Sara Robinson of Orcinus has been on a sabbatical from there to produce a post I believe everyone needs to read.

Here’s the teaser quote:

There’s one thing for sure: 2008 isn’t anything like politics as usual.

The corporate media (with their unerring eye for the obvious point) is fixated on the narrative that, for the first time ever, Americans will likely end this year with either a woman or a black man headed for the White House. Bloggers are telling stories from the front lines of primaries and caucuses that look like something from the early 60s — people lining up before dawn to vote in Manoa, Hawaii yesterday; a thousand black college students in Prairie View, Texas marching 10 miles to cast their early votes in the face of a county that tried to disenfranchise them. In recent months, we’ve also been gobstopped by the sheer passion of the insurgent campaigns of both Barack Obama and Ron Paul, both of whom brought millions of new voters into the conversation — and with them, a sharp critique of the status quo and a new energy that’s agitating toward deep structural change.

Sounds like a fairly typical post about Senator ‘Change’ and his effect, so far, on the political process this Presidential election year. Well, when you read the title of this piece, please clik on same and read the whole thing, which is:

When Change Is Not Enough: The Seven Steps To Revolution

You will quickly see that it is anything but that. As Bush has cheerfully assured his followers ‘Politics has consequences…’ and Obama repeatedly asserts, ‘I am about change….’ politics now becomes perhaps the most important thing in every citizen’s life. We no longer have the luxury of ignoring politics and by extension what our government, yes it’s still ours if we can muster the spine to assert our ownership, does to protect and foster our success as a society. The good times are over homer and they will remain unreachable until you and I climb up and demand our government, that is the people in it, start doing what is required to rebuild what the raving lunatics of the ‘conservative’ ReichWing have destroyed.

Care to Comment Senators?

Yeah….didn’t think so.

News from a real Progressive…..

I’ve had many a conversation with Stevan and he’s one of the most knowledgeable and progressive people we’ve had attend our D/L, Oakland events. Here is an announcement from him regarding his candidacy for State Assembly 15.

Toward a California that is "governable" and works for the citizens

California faces a number of hurdles and challenges that make it close to ungovernable by the legislature. In my view, the only way to get to the reform that we need is to put it forward as a package. There have always been a fair number of people who don’t trust the legislature and historically there is some basis for that. All too often legislators are working for their own interests or special interests, not the interests of the majority of citizens who vote for them.

California is one of only a very few States that requires a 2/3 vote to pass a budget. The California economy is the 7th largest in the world. It’s shrunk, it used to be 6th. An economy this large, that requires a 2/3 vote to pass or be held hostage to a tyranny of a minority is absurd. It will take a Constitutional amendment to change.

Campaign finance reform. Our system now is one of legalized bribery. It’s time for truly "Clean Money" provided by public financing so our elected representatives will be working for us, the people who put up the money to get them elected.

Competitive redistricting with no "safe seats." There will always be a few natural enclaves, but there are many more areas where if we do rational and competitive redistricting that truly makes sense, citizens will be far more likely to trust their representatives. It’s time to compete on ideas that actually work for the people trying to live the California dream.

End term limits! Term limits destroy all institutional memory and promote short term thinking to long term problems. It would make more sense to limit the amount of time a legislator can be speaker of the Assembly or Pro Tem of the Senate, than to throw the good legislators out with the bad.

Proposition 13 reform. California is revenue challenged. In 1974 when this proposition passed, it was sold to the citizens as a way to keep retired people from losing their homes due to increasing property taxes. Why then are commercial properties like oil refineries that never change hands, covered under Prop. 13 when they are making record profits? Real Estate Limited Partnerships also can have a complete turnover of all the partners without triggering a sale that would change their tax status. Why is any commercial property that charges market rate rents given what amounts to a huge windfall tax subsidy at our common expense? Another point is when Prop 13 was passed, the top Federal tax rate on millionaires was 71%. When Reagan cut that to 33%, we went from being a country that could afford a space program and be the creditor to the world to one that now can’t even repair infrastructure and we’re the largest debtor nation in the world. California’s share of Federal tax dollars is correspondingly smaller.

Making a "package deal" of these essential reforms would go a long way to making California governable, making the legislature relevant and effective again, and making the California dream something once again in reach of most Californians.

I’ve spent a great deal of time over the last several months doing what’s necessary so my parents are less likely to lose their home in San Francisco. It’s going to take many more months over the next year. Therefore I am withdrawing from the Assembly race in District 15.

Thank you for your support and interest in my campaign.

Stevan Thomas
Elected Delegate Assembly District 15
California State Democratic Central Committee
Member I.B.E.W.

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