Last week was the 5th Annniversary of Bush's idiotic "Mission Accomplished" moment. And John McCain tried defending Bush, blaming it on the Navy. This led to a considerable amount of attention on John McCain's own suggestion that we should stay in the Iraq Quagmire for 100 years. Howard Dean in particular slammed McCain for his willingness to sacrifice American soldiers for oil profits for 100 years. Poor John McCain didn't like having people pick on him, so John "wimp" McCain began whining and complaining about it. Well, Mr. McCain, if you can't take criticism of a stupid policy, how the hell are you going to stand up to al-Qaeda? Oh, yeah...just like Bush you plan on wasting time, money, and lives in Iraq for 100 years rather than actually fighting al-Qaeda, the people who attacked us.

Last week I discussed the economic mess we are in. Someone commented that I am making things up and that job growth has been fine under Bush. She claimed I gave no evidence that job growth has been nearly flat during the Bush administration. Well, let me quote Paul Krugman, with an illustration:

Mammon in a New Suit

No one can serve two masters.  He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon.  Matthew 6:24

Compassion and Capitalism don't mix.

Justin Soutar

(NOTE: This article currently appears as the cover story in the inaugural issue of U. S. Politics [April 2008].)

Based on falling congressional approval ratings, Republicans have been publicly implying that Americans don't like Congress since the Democrats gained control in January. In fact, congressional Republicans have far lower approval ratings than Democrats.

Given the recent polling data, Republicans should stop speciously pointing fingers and start asking: 1) why do most Americans view us negatively, and 2) what can we actually do to change that?

Last week's Gallup poll found that more American's trusted Democrats over Republicans to do a better overall job and to handle national security and prosperity. The new Washington Post/ABC poll results contain similarly bad news for Republicans.

"The economy is good -- if you're rich. For the rest of us, there's not much to write home about."~~Richard Walrath

Sometimes I'm amazed at how much I know about the financial markets and the economy. I don't understand any of it, but I know a lot of stuff, thanks to my friend and mentor, Richard Walrath, who's been to the market more than once. He says when George Bush brags that the economy is booming, he's probably right. The economy is exploding with a big boom, and Walrath says now we are engaged in a great battle to see how long this country can endure.

The Fed just poured a bunch of money into the market, which was news to me, but Walrath said the Fed has been manipulating the market for years, especially during the Bush years.

The Senate is considering, amid all the energy legislation, instituting a nation-wide renewable power standard (RPS).  

Oh ... boring ... the snores have begun ...

No

Actually

CRITICAL to moving toward a prosperous and sustainable energy future.  

Take two minutes ... just 2 minutes ... to write your Senators to urge them to support a minimum of a 15 percent RPS by 2020 ...

Confused, follow over the fold to learn more about RPS and why they matter.

   

No wonder new home sales were up – there’s a fire sale going on. Again, according to Reuters, “[the record price drop] showed home builders taking extraordinary steps to move houses”.
 
 

Global Warming skeptics often focus on the messenger, Al Gore, rather than listening to the message. We should hope -- although perhaps could expect -- that the same thing will not occur with the  Clinton Global Initiative's (CGI) Energy Efficiency Building Retrofit Program.

As per Energize America's Energy Smart Communities concept (but, to be honest, $billions ahead of EA2020), this initiative will make real progress in terms of reducing energy use while, at the same time, creating a greater capacity for energy efficiency in the private sector around the globe. Notably, the CGI claims that this program will double the annual investment in building energy efficiency globally.

As most who open this diary are already aware, my passion is clear ... helping my/your family, my/your community, my/your nation, my/our world find a path toward a prosperous and sustainable energy future. A path that will help us (US) navigate the dangerous seas of the Perfect Storm combination of Peak Oil and Global Warming.

What follows is part of the concepts that the next President should embrace ...

President Bush likes to claim that the economy is doing really well, citing record highs in the stock market and relatively low unemployment as proof. Things are going so well that this year the Forbes 400 richest people are all BILLIONAIRES. But the reality for the working class in America is much different and the canary in the coal mine may just have fallen over.

One of the most eye-popping parts of Al Gore's inconvenient truth was when he boarded a crane to illustrate the unprecedented rise in carbon dioxide levels. The inconvenient truth of our economy could be equally well illustrated as the fabulously rich have gotten fabulously richer, while the working class has gotten (to name another pop culture hit) "Left Behind."

Yesterday, markets were pleased with some seemingly positive housing data. Unfortunately, markets failed to learn from past mistakes.

First, a short primer:

Housing Starts: The number of residential building construction projects begun during a specific period of time, usually a month

Housing Permits: The number of legal authorizations (permits) given to build privately owned housing units during a specific period of time.

Housing Completions: The number of residential units with construction completed over a period of time.

Understanding the definition and relationship of these three indicators is critical to understanding the true health of America's housing market.

An alternative plan to the potential Republican plan for solving the crisis, as discussed in my Diary Entry "SOLVING THE CRISES OF THE UNINSURED," is of course to repeal the trillion dollar tax break and work out some kind of subsidized insurance for these poor people.

Last night I attended a showing of the Motherhood Manifesto documentary. This documentary highlights the work of MomsRising.org, a growing movement with over 50,000 members - and particularly their effort to end employment discrimination against mothers.

I'm all for ending that discrimination - my own mother was denied a job because she was asked a question to determine whether she had daughters or sons (one of the benefits the employer offered would have been considerably more expensive for daughters). Yet I was left with a subtle feeling of increased anomie after the show. 24 hours of thinky thoughts later, I think I know the source of my discomfort, and I also have a new outlook on business and labor law.