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Subj: Fwd: Money in Politics Alert -- SEC Chairman Nominee William H. Donaldson
Dear BuzzFlash,
Does Bush know anyone who is not a borderline crook, or worse? No, he does not and he does not care. "I am running this country and I will destroy it when I get bored. But right now God wants me to kill Iraqis for Jesus. It's just me and my pal Sharon against the world."
How does a crazy, lying bastard convince so many people to blindly follow him? There are plenty of examples throughout history, but so many people have started wearing diapers just to get through the day, all THEY can do is pray for the insane idiot. This dude is starting to make Capt Queeg look like a normal guy. That's it: Saddam is hiding the goddamn strawberries and he (we) must pay the price. Man, I'm ready to volunteer as a human shield against Bush's shit mobile.
Bob Gaiek
Lawrenceville,
GA
CENTER FOR RESPONSIVE POLITICS
MONEY IN POLITICS ALERT
Vol. 7, #4; February 13, 2003
tel: 202-857-0044, fax: 202-857-7809
email: info@crp.org, web: www.opensecrets.org;
www.capitaleye.org; www.fecwatch.orgA Friendly Face: How Soon-to-Be SEC Chief William Donaldson Wooed the Senate Banking Committee
By Sheryl Fred
By most media accounts, William H. Donaldson, President Bush's pick to replace Harvey Pitt as head of the SEC, should have had a tough confirmation hearing Feb. 5.
Fortune, Forbes, Business Week and Bloomberg all reported that a number of investors had questioned the wisdom of approving Donaldson--who has a corporate governance record that's spotty at best--for the post at the embattled agency.
As head of Donaldson Enterprises in the '80s, the investment banker ran an offshore fund incorporated in the Cayman Islands. As head of the New York Stock Exchange in the early '90s, he allegedly ignored millions of dollars in illegal floor trades and pushed to weaken accounting rules for foreign companies listed on the exchange. As CEO of Aetna Inc.--where he was paid nearly $20 million for just over a year of service--he reportedly covered up accounting misstatements. As a member of the board and compensation committee for EasyLink Services Corp., an Internet transaction company, he voted to forgive a $200,000 loan to the CEO when EasyLink's shares fell precipitously last April. And finally, Donaldson, who founded one of Wall Street's most prominent investment firms, denounced the SEC rule that mandates fair disclosure of market-sensitive information as "terrible" and "crazy" in statements made last year.
Subj: Democrats Should Use This
Dear Buzz,
Last night on Lou Dobbs Moneyline, a Republican senator, I believe it was Grassley, was commenting on the need for financial aid for states from the federal government. He flatly stated that it wasn't the federal government's fault if states spent too much or cut taxes too much. The Dems should pick up the tax cut part and prepare to use it against the Repubs. This is one way of defusing the tax cut fervor, point out what Grassley said. Of course if he is called on it he'll probably try to worm out of it but he did say it.
A BuzzFlash Reader
Subj: Big Brother Bush
Dear BuzzFlash,
AOL's labeling of Bush as "Big Brother" is hysterically funny. It comes as no surprise that AOL would miss the Orwellian meaning, but in addition it reminded me of an old late 60's protest song by Rare Earth. I'd like to submit it as a poem for the delight of Laura's poetry group.
Big Brother by Rare Earth
Hey Big Brother
as soon as you arrive
you better get in touch with the people Big Brother
and get them on your side, Big Brother
and keep them satisfied.
Welcome to the beat of the city street
walk on now and don't be shy.
Take a closer look at the people you meet,
and notice the fear in their eyes
Focus your eye on the filthy sky,
just as far as you can see,
everybody's getting tired of waiting,
cos nobody wants to cry
cos nobody wants to die.
A BuzzFlash Reader
Subj: Baghdad Stock Exchange discussed in the Chicago Sun Times Feb 18
Dear BuzzFlash,
There is an interesting capitalist story on the Baghdad Stock Exchange in the Chicago Sun Times Feb 18. This would make an interesting read for BuzzFlash.
Not only are some of these people Christians and many are educated and women are allowed to work and all of them are sitting on liquid gold, but they are capitalists. Wow. No wonder Bush wants to take them over.
FYI
zebrah
Dear Buzz,
I just read this in a story over on Yahoo, of all places.
Bush said that the size of the protests against a possible U.S.-led war against Iraq was irrelevant.
"Size of protest, it's like deciding, 'Well I'm going to decide policy based up on a focus group.' The role of a leader is to decide policy based upon the security —in this case —security of the people."
Um...isn't this from the same administration who "tested" the recent orange alert using focus groups?
--Z
Subj: February 15, 2003 "shock and awe for peace"
Dear BuzzFlash,
Saturday's world-wide protest against Bush's Iraq attack was a stunning and historic example of the power of the common people. The world-wide protest had no precedent in history. It exemplified the power we the people of the world now have thanks to internet communication. Yet, this historic event was treated as merely "news" by the cable networks, as they reported on it with furrowed brows and stilted rhetoric.
This protest taught a valuable lesson to we dissenters and the Bush mis-administration. We dissenters saw the power we have in terms of numbers, if we boycotted a few select Bush mouthpieces such as CNN, or Fox News, or their advertisers, in these same numbers, we could change a few things there too. We could "liberate" them from the constant stream of bullshit they are forced to put out. They could be real journalists again. The world wide demonstrations taught the Bush Cartel a lesson too, if they thought they could baffle the entire world with bullshit, they were (as usual) wrong.
A BuzzFlash Reader
Subj: From a Peace Marcher
Dear Buzz,
I am a fifty year old mother who marched in Los Angeles with my seventeen-year old son, twenty-two year old daughter and five of her friends. We were part of the massive march in Hollywood that was certainly much more than the thirty thousand reported by police, probably more like one hundred thousand. To know that everywhere in the world in every continent (even Antarctica!) people were demonstrating for peace was an incredible feeling. The millions of us who marched represented millions more who didn't join us but share our fervor. The brilliant energy of a transcultural, multicontinental, planetary shared thought has been activated and will not dissipate but will continue to grow and spread even further.
Today Bush compared the protestors to a "focus group" that he didn't need to consider when making policy. We are not a focus group. He should realize that we are citizens and as a "public servant" it is us he serves. What Americans need to do now is make sure that each one of us who believes in peace VOTES against Bush in the next election. I'm registering voters at the next march and each of us should not only vote ourselves but register as many new pro-peace voters as we can. I am also calling my Senators and Congressional reps and asking them where they were on Saturday. Isn't it time for our Democratic elected officials to stand shoulder to shoulder with us for peace and against Bush?
Leslie Anderson
BuzzFlash
Reader
Subj: Just Vote Editorial
February 18, 2003
Dear Editorial
Page Editor
Washington
Post
Dear Sir or Madam:
I just read your editorial exhorting the Democrats to cancel their filibuster and vote for Miguel Estrada. Are you kidding? When Ann Coulter says publicly that Miguel Estrada would overturn every law that Paul Begala loves, it causes me to worry. Ms. Coulter’s language and behavior (not to mention her dismay that the editorial board of the New York Times weren’t victims of Tim McVeigh in Oklahoma City) are not the type of recommendation that would reassure most Americans. Why doesn’t it scare you? Why should the Democrats cave in to the far right wing of the Republican Party?
Are you aware of Lawrence Silberman’s background as reported by David Brock in Blinded by the Right? I think you should review it before using him as a reference for Mr. Estrada. Judge Silberman should be impeached for judicial misconduct. Are you aware that Judge Silberman has been accused of threatening to assault other Judges?
When President Clinton was in office, the Republicans didn’t even give many of his nominees a HEARING! At least the Democrats have been respectful of the nominees even if they are not respectful of their ideological positions.
I have encouraged all of the Democrats in the United States Senate to filibuster this nomination for the following reason. Miguel Estrada helped the Republican Party effect the coup of 2000 that brought George W. Bush to the White House. I call it a coup deliberately. If this had happened in any other country, you would have correctly called the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the constitutional provisions regarding voting in both the United States and Florida constitutions as a coup. Instead, the media (including the Washington Post) encouraged the American people to accept this as fait accompli.
The Bush Administration is illegal. Allowing an illegal administration to have an impact on our laws for the next several decades is a travesty of justice. Sincerely,
Harolynne
Bobis
Seattle,
WA
Dear BuzzFlash,
just HOW pathetic can Dems (dems) get? YET ANOTHER horrendous bush outrage!! cancels ed. funding for soldier's children !!! Servile dems play silent doormat ... yet again!
LJBK
Schools brace for loss of federal funding for military dependents
Area districts could lose millions under proposalBy Sherry Parmet
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
February 16, 2003
As thousands of sailors and Marines are sent abroad for a possible war with Iraq, the Bush administration is proposing to cut education funding for many children of military families.
The president's plan would eliminate funding for military students who live in apartments or homes off base, a proposal that has incensed educators who say the timing couldn't be worse.
http://signonsandiego.com/news/education/20030216-9999_1m16fedcuts.html
Subj: Dubya & Ridge: Focus Group Hypocrisy
"First
of all, you know, size of protest, it's like deciding, well, I'm going
to decide policy based upon a focus group."
-- Dubya,
2/18/03
"In
this White House, Dee Dee [Myers], we don't poll on something as important
as national security."
-- Dubya,
reported in W. Monthly, 4/02
"[I
will govern] based upon principle and not polls and focus groups."
-- Dubya,
from campaign 2000 (also in W. Monthly)
"As
we roll out the broader communications strategy, [we] have done quite
a bit of work with professionals around the country -- who include
focus groups..."
-- Tom
Ridge, Chicago Tribune, 2/14/03
More on this hypocrisy at: http://www.liberaloasis.com/archives/021603.htm#021903
Subj: Bush calls us a Focus Group?
http://www.iht.com/articles/87216.html
You know I was musing that the "intelligence" that feeds Bush about the state of the world had been doing a very poor job since they were obviously surprised that 10 million people around the world held enough animosity towards him to go out into the streets and mock him and derided him and wish him very ill will.
Now he says the ten million are only a "focus" group.
I guess his intelligence works differently.
I wonder how he is going to explain it away when it doubles again and then again.
Rgds,
Linda Deak
Dear BuzzFlash,
In response to the protests all over the world Bush said, "Size of protest, it's like deciding, well, I'm going to decide policy based up on a focus group."
Comparing the large protests to a focus group should go down in the Bushism's Top Ten. A focus group is a "small" sampling of people who are gathered to voice an opinion on a potential product or to generate ideas. So there you have it folks. Bush is comparing the huge protest turnouts to a focus group which is comprised of a "small" grouping of people. The Prince of Anal couldn't tell you the difference between a focus group and an eye exam, yet he holds the lives of thousands in his hands.
The U.S. and the world are hostages of a arrogant and ignorant man.
~ Cathy
Subj: Laurence Silberman
Have you read Barbara Honegger's book "OCTOBER SURPRISE?" Lawrence Silberman is portrayed as a key player in her supposition that Regan-Bush campaign operatives delayed the release of the Iran hostages for sinister political gain.
Laura Fogel
Subj: The Iraqis are Not Democrats
Buzz:
Someone needs to tell Bush and Rove to be careful invading Iraq. The Iraqi's are not Democrats and will probably fight back.
Denny
Subj: Halliburton already preparing to re-build Iraq's infrastructure?
Hi,
I live here in Atlanta, GA, and a fellow progressive co-worker of mine found this classified ad in last week's edition of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Read it and weep: they're looking for anybody and everybody who can hie over to "Central Asia" (the Middle East, in other words) and basically either service tanks and armored vehicles or re-build infrastructure. Why are all these people going to be necessary? Why these skills specifically? Is Halliburton already counting on this invasion going down? And how might they have the inside knowledge on this -- is Cheney still funneling intel to them via Pennsylvania avenue? Unless I'm totally unaware of present-but-legit Halliburton ventures in the region that require this kind of massive talent search (which admittedly is possible), what I get when I read between the lines of this ad is troubling to say the very least. I just wanted to bring it to the attention of my fave progressive political sites and see if any of you were aware of it, and if not perhaps wanted to look into it further. For what it's worth, I have the original clipped-out newspaper ad as proof this isn't some made-up thing.
If Bush & company push forward with their personal war and Halliburton comes in after the fact to pick up the pieces, then you saw it here first. ;-)
If you want to attribute this, just say it's from "an alert reader in Atlanta".
Thanks for your hard work, and I hope this is of some use.
Mike
PS Take some comfort in the note at the bottom that says they're equal opportunity employers. ;-)
Subj: A Cancer on the Presidency
Dear BuzzFlash,
The article from the L.A. Times and posted by BuzzFlash 2/19 brought back the insanity of an out-of-control President Nixon. Thanks BuzzFlash for bringing us the article. Americans needed that refresher course on a wayward president.
Nixon drummed up a plan to fire-bomb the Brookings Institute in order to have his aides rush in and confiscate their files. Nixon demanded that his aides get the files. History shows that the Nixon administration was corrupt and casted some of the darkest days in America.
John Dean was a presidential aide to Nixon and at one point, told Nixon that there was a cancer on his presidency. Translated, I took Dean's statement as the beginning of the end and noting cancer (at that time) that there was no hope. Nixon was being exposed for the underhanded and corrupt things that he had done. He was a (my way or the highway) president, and stooped to corruption to attain his means. Investigators had concrete evidence from the Nixon tapes. After Nixon's resignation, Americans breathed a sigh of relief and figured that the dark days of presidential corruption would never occur again.
Reading article on top of article on Bush, it is clear that the dark days of presidential corruption have returned. Exposure of Bush and his band of thugs reads like rap-sheets of a felons. And we only know what has been exposed so far. Will Americans some day find out about the corruption that wasn't exposed in the Bush administration?
Alarmingly, it appears that history is repeating itself. Again, there is a cancer on the presidency.
~ Cathy
Subj: Iraq War Costs/Payments
Dear BuzzFlash,
Can Iraqi oil pay for the war? Iraq currently owes $361 Billion to other countries. Add to that deficit the costs of the war and rebuilding ($100-$300 Billion?) and the total cost is likely in the $500-$700 billion range. Iraq has $20 million people so that is $25,000- $35,000 per person. Average income is nowhere near that.
Lowball interest at 4% and the debt service on $361 Billion is $14.4 billion per year. 4% Interest on $700 Billion would be $28 Billion per year. Iraq currently produces about 2 million barrels of oil per day. Peak production was 3 million barrels. So at peak that is about 1 billion barrels per year. At $35 dollars per barrel, that is only $35 billion dollars, or $20 billion per year above the cost of debt service ($14.4 Billion) (not counting new debt created by war). That would leave $1000 per person to pay for development. If oil output could be doubled, then substantially more money would be available, but if Iraq were producing 6 million b/d would the price stay at $35? It would likely be considerably lower.
Yes Iraq has some money for investment, but if they are saddled with significant debt, most of the oil money will be required just to pay the debt.
This is the way I see the numbers. It would be interesting to see the Administrations numbers that back up their claims of this war paying for itself.
bakho
