Obama has to face facts and give in to Hillary

There is much speculation about who the respective presidential candidates will chose for there running mates, but for Obama there is really only one choice. Since Opting out of public financing he's really left with very little choice.

On foreign Policy, perhaps a man in his position, and looking to a new era of global relations consideration should be given to Joe Biden. As Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and a senior Senator he's a solid choice to bring experience to the campaign. There are a few other choices Obama might consider, but does he really have a choice?

The Hillary supporters talking about voting for, and in fact it's reported now some are donating to, McCain are the old money Dems. These are deal breakers for Obama. He's already walked away from a promise to and in doing so walked away from money in the bank.

Hillary supporters are furious with him and he's going to have to bend over the entire way to keep them happy. And to secure there vote he will need Hillary as his running mate.

It's just a game and as this plays out we'll see Obama is just a rock star, and he's going to need Hillary to pull it.

When push comes to shove many Hillary people will just vote for the rockstar over the warmonger. But lets face the facts, much of the Haliburton contracts were handed out under Bill's tenure anyway, there isn't much difference, people will vote where the money is.

Maybe one of these guys might actually resort to having a plan. I won't hold my breath.

Obama's books demonstrate an eloquent writing style, a mastery of sentence structure and grammar, a lot of hot air and no plan.

For many of Hillary's Big money supporters, war for another decade is a better plan than no plan. At least there is profit in war. Maybe Obama should sit down with T. Boone.

Ethanol from Corn costing a fortune

In July 2005, the passage of the Energy Policy Act combined with previously enacted legislation designed to shift the ethanol subsidy from the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) to a direct raid on the U.S. Treasury. The ethanol lobby also garnered a guaranteed mandate for new production levels at 2012. Thus, big ethanol forced oil companies and motorists alike to swallow the additive and a resultant steep gas spike at the pump. No one has yet figured out how to replace the billions siphoned from the HTF for a quarter century, and the nation's infrastructure remains in much need. Massive diversions of corn from feed/food uses to ethanol -- also a result of the Energy Policy Act -- have sparked large price hikes for meat, milk, other dairy products, and beer at the nation's grocery stores.

Biofuels & Ethanol: The Storey we Already Knew

Paulson Blames American Citizens for Bankers lies

"There is little public policy-makers can, or should, do to compensate for untenable financial decisions,"

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told a forum on mortgage lending to low and medium-income homeowners.

"We must not lose the benefits of the subprime market as we eliminate its flaws," Paulson said as shifted the blame from financial institutions to Americans in spite of mounting evidence of fraudulently practices by the lenders themselves as well as
a growing number of stories relating the epic scale of the push to scam the American population.

Paulson said on Tuesday that home
foreclosure starts may hit 2.5 million this year, many of them the
borrowers' own fault for taking out loans they couldn't afford.

Ethanol from Corn costing a fortune

In July 2005, the passage of the Energy Policy Act combined with previously enacted legislation designed to shift the ethanol subsidy from the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) to a direct raid on the U.S. Treasury. The ethanol lobby also garnered a guaranteed mandate for new production levels at 2012. Thus, big ethanol forced oil companies and motorists alike to swallow the additive and a resultant steep gas spike at the pump. No one has yet figured out how to replace the billions siphoned from the HTF for a quarter century, and the nation's infrastructure remains in much need. Massive diversions of corn from feed/food uses to ethanol -- also a result of the Energy Policy Act -- have sparked large price hikes for meat, milk, other dairy products, and beer at the nation's grocery stores.

Dick Cheney continues his march to destroy the truth

As reported by CNN Dick Cheney is at it again deleting congressional records and

attempting to oppress the truth about global warming.

When six pages were cut from testimony on climate change and public
health by the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
last October, the White House insisted the changes were made because of
reservations raised by White House advisers about the accuracy of the
science.

But Jason K. Burnett, until last month the senior adviser on
climate change to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen
Johnson, says that Cheney's office was deeply involved in getting
nearly half of the CDC's original draft testimony removed.

"The Council on Environmental Quality and the office of the vice president
were seeking deletions to the CDC testimony (concerning) ... any
discussions of the human health consequences of climate change,"
Burnett has told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

At this point it's impossible to find out exactly what information is being delete,
but if as they claim it's based on bad science we still have a right to see it, why the cloak and dagger.

14 pages of deleted testimony from CDC Director Julie Gerberding in regards to climate change and public health.

Cheney's office, "requested that I work with CDC to remove from the
testimony any discussion of the human health consequences of climate
change," wrote Jason K. Burnett, until last month the senior adviser on climate change to
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson.

Cheney's office also objected last January over congressional testimony by Administrator
Johnson that "greenhouse gas emissions harm the environment."

Cheney's office and the White House Council on Environmental Quality
(CEQ) worried that if key health officials provided detailed testimony
about global warming's consequences on public health or the
environment, it could make it more difficult to avoid regulating carbon
dioxide and other greenhouse gases, Burnett believes.

This isn't the first time the CEQ has been involved in cover-ups.

Former CEQ chief of staff Philip Cooney, was previously a lobbyist employeed by
the American Petroleum Institute.^[5] In June 2005, the New York Times
published a memo internal to the CEQ which showed he had repeatedly
edited government climate reports in order to play down links between emissions and global warming.
Cooney, who says he had been planning to resign for two years, resigned
two days after the scandal broke "to spend more time with his family."^[6]
Immediately after resigning, Cooney went to work for ExxonMobil in their public affairs department.^[7]

Vatican angry with Church of England. "Jesus only wanted men"

"This decision will have consequences on the dialogue which had brought good fruits," the Vatican statement said. in regards to a resolution passed Monday night by the Anglican Church to allow women to be ordained. A resolution sharply dividing the church as traditionalists argued Jesus only wanted men in leadership positions.

Some traditionalists have threatened to abandon the Anglican Church for the Roman Catholic Church if women become bishops. Several hundred Anglican priests made that move when women were first ordained 16 years ago.

The final hurdle for the consecration of female bishops is expected in
February with a vote on a "code of practice" intended to protect people
who as "a matter of theological conviction will not be able to receive
the ministry of women as bishops or priests." As reported by CNN.

No doubt some entertain that the Church of England will be better off as hardliners head for the Catholic Church.

Christina Rees, with the pro-women lobby Women and the Church, described what was at stake as "an acceptance by the Church of England of women on equal terms as men in the ordained ministries."

Many see it as a much needed victory for equality.

Ten Fold Increase in US Exports to Iran Under Bush

The AP continues it's probe of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of exports to Iran under the Bush administration including weapons, electronic, tobacco and military parts in the face of on going and increasing rhetoric and hostility towards Iran.

Despite decades of sanctions in some cases a ten fold increase in exports to the "axis of evil" nation have flourished under the Bush White House.

Sanctions are intended in part to frustrate Iran's efforts to build its military, but the U.S. government's own figures showed at least $148,000 worth of unspecified weapons and other military gear were exported from the United States to Iran during Bush's time in office. That included $106,635 in military rifles and $8,760 in rifle parts and accessories shipped in 2004.

The Bush administration looked into those shipments after AP questioned whether the U.S. really approved the export of military rifles to Iran. A review found the rifles and parts actually went to Iraq; the wrong country was entered on the shipping record, Treasury Department spokesman John Rankin said. The government will correct the data, he said.

OOPS

"I understand that these exports have increased," Gonzalo Gallegos, a
State Department spokesman, said Tuesday when asked by reporters about
AP's findings. "However, we believe that they are increasing to a
segment of the population that we want to reach out to, we want to know
and understand that the U.S. government, the U.S. people want to be
friends with them, want to work with them to integrate them into the
world economy and become partners in the future."

In other words he's not really sure what's going on, does this guy work at the FDA on weekends?

Farm Bills Corn and Bad Energy

As the small plane made it's approach across a sea of corn to an airport in the south east of Illinois, I comforted myself with assurances that no matter how bad things would be, at least I was sure to have good steak and a nice cob of corn for dinner.

The steak was tender and delicious, but as I bit into the corn I was so horrified I had to stop the poor waitress and ask how this could be, in the midst of all of this corn, how come I was eating the worst corn I had ever tasted.

The lady, smiled and said "that corn isn't grown here silly, it's trucked in from somewhere." as she turned with a smile--two gentlemen, she clearly knew, across the small room were laughing and smiling--she added, "that's all dint".

The next day I would find out what she meant as I drove around with the man I flew out to meet. His families fortune was in the corn fields, but I was there to talk to him about software. When the subject of lunch came up I mentioned the bad corn and he laughed.

"It's all feed corn, mostly yellow 'dent'. You don't want to eat it, at least not as corn." He smiled as we pulled into a sushi restaurant and I braced for the worst.

The sushi was good and I would be there for some time so the conversation drifted from work back to corn as we got to know each other. He told me about Earl Butz and it was the first time I have heard the name. He referred to him as the King of Corn. It was the first time I had heard the name.

In 1971, President Richard Nixon appointed Butz as Secretary of Agriculture, a position in which he continued to serve after Nixon resigned as the result of the Watergate scandal in 1974. In his time heading the USDA, Butz revolutionized federal agricultural policy and re-engineered many New Deal era farm support programs. His mantra to farmers was "get big or get out," and he urged farmers to plant commodity crops like corn "from fencerow to fencerow." These policy shifts coincided with the rise of major agribusiness corporations, and the declining financial stability of the small family farm.

While there has been much made about the connection between an overweight America and this countries passion with corn perhaps the biggest impact of these bad policy choices is still to come.

When the spotlight shifted back from fat to fuel, in early 2003, Volkswagen started the production of the Volkswagen
Gol Total Flex, the first full flexible-fuel vehicle, that supports any percentage of ethanol and gasoline used as fuel.

And cameras turn to Brazil, a South American country that until now much of the west had considered a party town was on it's way to energy independence in the form of Ethanol it had started blending with is gasoline. A movement it had begun in earnest in the 1980's with a series of low interest loans and incentives.

Ethanol Brazil made from sugar cane. Ethanol they began to blend more and more with gasoline made from oil it increasingly began pumping from it's own shores.

While sugar cane is ideal as both a source of sugar and the production of alcohol since the stock itself is the money, most of the energy used to grow corn is wasted as it's only the kernel from which the sugar is extracted. So far the technology to produce cellulose ethanol on a large scale is still in it's early stages. Critics charge more energy is put into the production of corn than is extracted in regards to fuel production.

In the face of growing criticism on both environmental and heath issues Earl Butz farm policies have marched on. Instead of investing in family owned farms and sound environmental and energy policies our congress has largely chosen to continue this countries investment in large corporate farms and corn.

The farming industry is still largely bound to the use of fossil fuels if for no other reason than the production of nitrogen base fertilizers. And Brazil's march towards fuel independence has been inextricably bound to an aggressive offshore drilling campaign.

A quick look at the most up to date tables from the EIA show no appreciable gains in net output from Solar or Geo-thermal output since 2002, as of 2007 net annual fuel ethanol production--predominantly from corn has--had increased from 2004 levels of 3,535 million gallons to 6,498.6 million gallons. Wind energy output has almost doubled since 2002 but this has largely been almost exclusively private investment.

With the spotlight now on Billionare T. Boone Pickens investing heavily in wind energy, it's not only important for us to fix our energy policies but it's a great time to get off corn. If biofuel is going to be a sustainable part of our fuel policy we need to shift it to a more viable crop.

Disastrous farm bills have plagued this nation and continue to fund massive corn yields as well as 958 million dollars in tobacco payments in 2006.

Iraq Begins to stand up and says "Get out"

In the first substantive evidence that Iraq is really on the road to becoming a stable nation again, it's national security adviser according to AP's Sally Buzbee has said his country will not accept a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) unless it includes specific dates for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq.

Supporting this position Ali al-Adeeb, a Shiite lawmaker and a prominent official in the prime minister's party, told The Associated Press, "Our stance in the negotiations underway with the American side will be
strong ... We will not accept any memorandum of understanding that
doesn't have specific dates to withdraw foreign forces from Iraq".


"This is what the Iraqi people want, the parliament and other Iraqi leaders," said al-Adeeb.

With the Bush imposed deadline of July 31 approaching this is the biggest challenge to American authority in Iraq and the battle line for sovereignty has been clearly drawn in the proverbial sand.

This will play well for Obama's post election status if he wins, since he's essentially staked his reputation to a 16 month withdrawal.

It seems the Iraqi's have the advantage for once, who's face will this egg land on.

Fed begins to riegn in the chaos

While people talk about inflation and interest rates, the focus is begining to shift to the reality that the basic instability in the markets is panic, and this is a result of weak regulations and major gaps.

As reported by the NYT

“The financial turmoil is ongoing, and our efforts today are
concentrated on helping the financial system return to more normal
functioning,” Mr. Bernanke said, according to an advance text of his
speech issued by the Fed.

“If these firms are strong, well-regulated, well-capitalized and
focused on their mission, they will be better able to serve their
function of increasing access to mortgage credit, without posing undue
risks to the financial system or the taxpayer,” he continued.

“Although short-term funding markets remain strained, they have
improved somewhat since March,” Mr. Bernanke said, reflecting both the
intervention of the Fed in offering loans to Wall Street and “ongoing
efforts of financial firms to repair their balance sheets and increase
their liquidity.”

In short bad loans were made by firms that didn't have the capital to cover them.

The Federal Reserve is expected to announce new mortgage lending rules
at a meeting on Monday. It is not known whether the Fed will
significantly change the proposal it made last December, which provoked
more than 5,000 letters, including heavy criticism from the mortgage
industry and other parts of the housing industry.

Industry lobbyists maintained that at a time of tight credit,
tougher rules could make many mortgages more expensive by creating more
paperwork and potentially exposing lenders to more lawsuits. They also
complained that the restrictions were too broad and would restrain
lenders from issuing otherwise creditworthy loans. Three of the
industry’s most influential trade groups — the American Bankers
Association, the Mortgage Bankers Association and the Independent
Community Bankers of America — separately filed letters criticizing the
proposals.

On the other hand, consumer groups complained that the
proposed rules would not be strong enough. They maintained that any
efforts to further weaken the proposal would render it all but useless.

This is a crucial moment for the future, do we want an honest transparent system or do we want the bankers to be able to steal peoples money then bail out while the markets collapse on us? We are here now because of short term greed and not enough controls to keep it in check.

Can "Betsy" save the Fed as Buffet and Bernanke but heads

Many people are critical of Bernanke and the Fed these days, and with the Oracle or Omaha essentially calling him a moron Bernanke is left defending what many see as an indefensible position. Many are looking to Elizabeth "Betsy" Duke to stir things up at the Fed and put us on the right track.

So far the Fed's position has been to attempt to shore up the economy by loaning out somewhere around $75 billion every few weeks to failing bank. Much of this is probably in the form of short-term low interest "repo" loans. The Fed has also forced interest rates to remain at relatively low rates.

The bulk Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio consists of interests directly effected by commodity prices so for Mr. Buffet interests rates and inflation are issues that can cost hundreds of millions in a short time frame. Since inflation and interest rates are tied together he's clearly at odds with the Feds position.

Mr. Buffet pointing to the devaluation of the dollar and inflation as the biggest threats to the economy, and clearly to his economy it is.

But Bernanke holds firm. "The committee expects inflation to moderate later this year and next
year," the Federal Open Market Committee said in holding the fed funds
rate steady at 2%.

Though prices are clearly moving up across the board the Feds position is this is due in large part to shifts in supply and demand and market speculation and not apt to be influenced by inflation.

It also could be said that until Congress gets it's act together and comes up with a plan to protect it's citizens, Mr. Bernanke is the only guy in government protecting hundreds of thousands of Americans from foreclosure and financial catastrophe by holding down interest rates.

Along comes "Betsy", tough as nails, died-in-the-wool banker. Fought here way up from the trenches as a teller. A graduate of the University of North Carolina who majored in theater.

According to Fortune magazine Lacy Hunt, a former Fed economist who is now the chief economist at
Hoisington Investment Management. "The regulatory process obviously
broke down in a massive way; and one can't help but wonder whether we
should have had more actual bankers on the board."

Till now the board has been made up of academics and economists and Duke will be the first banker on the Federal Reserve Board of directors. This is the top level of the Fed appointed by government to oversea the bankers and set policy.

One thing bankers have shown is a complete lack of concern for is a major component in the economy, the American consumer. While inflation hurts the average person, the biggest threat to this section of the economy is unmanageable debt that would drive many over the edge should rates shoot up to double digits as Alan Greenspan is suggesting.

Sandra Pianalto, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and
a voting member this year of the Federal Open Market Committee,
explained in a speech last month. "Oil prices have ratcheted up over the past nine years and the dollar
has depreciated for more than six years. Nevertheless, as long as a
central bank is not creating an excessive amount of money, these
relative price pressures ought to be transitory, As consumers spend more money for higher-priced petroleum and
agricultural goods," she continued, "they eventually have less money to
spend on other goods and services. Other relative prices must then
fall."

The regulatory system is what failed here and at least one court has agreed to hear a class action lawsuit in regards to wide spread fraud allegations. Credit cards policy is under heavy review for wide spread fraud.

Though Duke has clear interests in bankers concerns many expect her force drastic changes to regulatory policies. For now the Fed is taking a wait and see approach.